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Far 2 Fabulous
Join Catherine & Julie, your feisty hosts at Far 2 Fabulous, as they lead you on a wellness revolution to embrace your fabulousness.
Julie, a Registered Nutritional Therapist with over 20 years of expertise, and Catherine, a former nurse turned Pilates Instructor and Vitality Coach, blend wisdom and laughter seamlessly.
Off the air, catch them harmonising in their local choir and dancing to 80's hits in superhero attire. Catherine braves the sea for year-round swims, while Julie flips and tumbles in ongoing gymnastics escapades.
With a shared passion for women's health and well-being, they bring you an engaging exploration of health, life, and laughter. Join us on this adventure toward a more fabulous and empowered you!
Far 2 Fabulous
The Four-Part Framework for Lasting Change
Episode 69
We explore a powerful framework for creating sustainable lifestyle changes by focusing on four simple actions: starting something new, stopping an unhelpful habit, doing more of what serves you, and doing less of what doesn't.
• Breaking the all-or-nothing approach to wellness using this four-part framework
• How the "start, stop, more, less" method can transform sleep habits and energy levels
• Why turning off notifications and setting boundaries with technology improves wellbeing
• The concept of "weight release" versus "weight loss" and why language matters
• Four simple changes that support healthy weight management
• Using this framework to reduce anxiety through meditation, nature, and reducing triggers
• Practical techniques for interrupting catastrophic thinking patterns
• How making these small changes can create powerful ripple effects in your life
Come join us in the Far Too Fabulous Facebook group and share what you're starting, stopping, doing more of, and doing less of to reach your goals.
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Thank you for listening.
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We look forward to you joining us on the next episode.
Welcome to Far Too Fabulous hosted by Julie and.
Speaker 2:Catherine, join us on a mission to embrace your fabulousness and redefine wellness. Get ready for some feistiness, inspiration, candid chats and humour as we journey together towards empowered well-being.
Speaker 1:Let's dive in. Do not make me laugh. Hello and welcome to. We did it really good last time. Come on. No, it's because we had somebody to make us behave. No, we did. But anyway, welcome to this. Hello and welcome. We did it really good last time. Come on. No, it's because we had somebody to make us behave. No, we did. But anyway, welcome to this week's episode of the Far Too Fabulous podcast. Now, this week, we're going to talk about something that I just kind of heard in the background when I was listening to another podcast, and it was to do with when you want to change something or you're working towards a goal. You know, we did the, the rules before with the. I can't even think what it was. Now, the two, the two-day rule oh yeah, yeah yeah. You know where we were saying about just don't miss two days. It's a bit like that how you get yourself into new habits. They were talking about stopping something, starting something, doing less of something and doing more of something, so I thought that was brilliant yeah, it sounds like a.
Speaker 2:Really I'd love that you can apply. You know that I I love to hate rules, so I know they work for me. I hate that, that that actually happens, but it's something that you can really apply to and it plays into our whole thing about not doing like everything, all, or nothing approach.
Speaker 2:Yeah, exactly, so we've been thinking about this before we came on to record this and we thought we would give you a few examples, so a big one. Well, probably for me. Actually, is this why we is this, why we chose sleep as the first one? Yeah, yeah, that was specifically for you, just for me. I have actually been through the training and the lead up to the marathon. I have actually been really, really good at going to bed and it just makes such a difference yeah, it really does make such a difference.
Speaker 2:And actually this week when I've been post-marathon and off, um, I've been a bit rubbish because I think, well, you know, don't, I don't have to do very much this week, I'm just resting, and so I've been a bit rubbish so you're just resting, so you're having less sleep.
Speaker 1:Yeah, figure that one out, I know it's one of those ones where the thinking is backwards, isn't it? Yeah it's like that. I need to have some, some time to myself, some quality time after the kids are going to bed or after work, or whatever it may be. But what that quality time is is basically sitting on the sofa watching a load of rubbish, delaying your sleep, probably triggering you more to snack on things, because you're in that environment where that's where these things are connected right these habits are connected, also for tv snack yeah, the three go together, yeah, absolutely, yeah, yeah, and it's completely.
Speaker 2:but I mean, that's like when somebody says to me so you know, I really want to come and do your class, but I'm going to get fit first, and you're like what, that's the entire point of doing my classes. But yeah, no, it is funny and I love when I'm looking at things. I love looking at things the other way around. So it really does make me laugh that I completely fall into that trap every single time anyway, I want to know.
Speaker 1:Sorry to interrupt you before you go on to this. You know before we spoke about there is always a benefit to a bad habit. Yeah, I wonder what the benefit is for you when you do this delay to your sleep.
Speaker 2:I think sometimes I think it's because I think I'm fitting in more stuff Plays into the whole I haven't got enough time, kind of thing, and it also backs up the I'm a night owl story. Oh, that old chestnut. Yeah, yeah, it totally backs it up. You're like, yeah, look see, here I am awake. And I get that backed up because if I message my mum or I message my sister, they're both awake. They're awake, yeah.
Speaker 1:If you message me, you don't get any response, do you no, literally?
Speaker 2:And it's so funny, I know, if I go to message you and it's gone nine o'clock, I'm like, well, well, there's no point doing that then is there because you just know, because I know.
Speaker 2:But how lovely is that and it's, it's so interesting the stories. So, um, my mum's neighbors go to bed that their whole house is dark by about 9 30, and this totally baffles mum. She just can't get her head around it. And we do all say, you know, like we're talking about going to bed early and we're talking about like 10 30, when when normally I think probably going to bed early would be nine o'clock or 8 30. It's, yeah, we're totally, totally skewed and I am aware, I am aware of it. Uh, but at least you're very, it's very easy to slip back into those patterns, yeah, but it is really nice to have the energy through the day when you know that you've had a good night's sleep and it's so nice to wake up feeling fresh. I think that's my favourite. It's not like dragging my sorry arse out of bed.
Speaker 1:The motivator for it. I think that when you do these habits and you and they and you know that they're not necessarily good like this is a classic example. This night out thing is that when you can, when you keep doing the behavior, you reinforce the behavior and you give your brain evidence that that is the right way to go. Yeah, and then that becomes more difficult to break, doesn't it? Yeah yeah, yeah, because you've got cool bullshit on yourself.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and no one wants to do that, but yeah, absolutely it's, and and I'd like to be, because I can see my children doing the same things and I would like to like be that, that, uh, that habit disruptor right now and and set them off on a on a better path. So that I mean for me that's. I know that the your why should really about be about yourself, but actually that's quite a strong motivator it is a strong motivator.
Speaker 1:I had a client this morning and she's doing really well, but one of the things that she was saying is that by me doing all these things, I'm being a really good role model for my daughter.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I thought yes, you are yeah, because I mean, that's what we get to be the generation that is more self-aware. We get to be the generation that that looks at our habits and if we're brave enough to say, actually what I'm doing is not, is not helpful, and I'm going to do something different to, you know, 95% of the population that are just carrying on their routines. It's a hard thing to do, but I think we are more self-aware and and more and more people will break those sort of generational habits.
Speaker 1:I like that sleep study that was done just going back to sleep with the subject that we're going to talk about in a minute. The study that was done on sleep where they had people in an environment where they didn't have artificial light and they had no idea of what the time was and how they got into a sync with their circadian rhythm after even it was only a few days yeah and then they were doing that, going to bed with the as the sun yeah, sun went down, getting up when the sun rose and the difference in how they felt.
Speaker 1:I thought that was really, really, really fascinating yeah, I love that when we go camping.
Speaker 2:That's the kind of thing yeah yeah, and you end up going to bed relatively early because you can't see anything.
Speaker 1:You can't see anything and you know that that sun is, that light's gonna come up and gonna wake you up early anyway but then it's the best time at camping in the morning, isn't it? When you get up early and you sit out with your cup of tea or whatever. It's nice, yeah, yeah, no, I love it I miss camping. Can't go camping now because of the dog.
Speaker 2:Oh, I know that's another subject we have been camping with luna, but it is like if something starts them off in the middle of the night, you're like shut up bundle onto the dog.
Speaker 1:She's not hyper reactive like bowie, though could you imagine what it was like? We did attempt to go, and then I ended up having to come home in my pajamas. I just put him in the car and bring him home, because every little thing yeah, he was a nightmare, love him.
Speaker 2:How could we apply this to bowie's sleep? So we've got an example of we're going to do more of something, less of something, start something and stop something. So, with regards to sleep, we thought that we could start a bedtime routine, or you were talking about this setting on your phone like a bedtime mode or something yeah, so on my phone, which is an android, it's got a nighttime setting where the phone goes gray, gray.
Speaker 1:It's so uninviting. Yeah, and I don't get notifications, because I realize that it's the notifications that make you look at your phone all the time. If you turn those off, it makes a huge difference. But basically, at my bedtime is set, my hours are set and the phone basically just says no, you're done now for the day. I'm going grey and I'll see you at 7 o'clock in the morning. I love that.
Speaker 2:So two things to that One. I have just gone through my Instagram profile and I have taken out the things that make me doom scroll that. Hook you in. Yeah, I've taken out the things that make me doom scroll you in, yeah. Yeah, I've taken out um heart. I've taken out. I haven't taken out ellen, I just couldn't do it.
Speaker 2:She makes me laugh too much you gotta laugh yeah and I and I've left david beckham in there as well, just for good measure um, but yeah, but things like even like the bbc news, where I will, I'll sit and I'll watch the newsreels and stuff no, it's miserable. And so now it is really unappealing to me, which is fantastic Because I definitely can get lost down that rabbit hole and it's trying so hard to keep me there. The sponsored posts, the suggested posts you can see how hard it's trying to keep me there. The sponsored post, the suggested post you can see how hard it's trying to keep me on that screen. It's. It's really, really interesting and so actually that that thought about it trying so hard to keep me.
Speaker 2:And the notifications you said about notifications. It really annoys me that I am a slave to my notifications, like it annoys me that someone will message me or I don't know there's a notification on one of the apps or something, and that I am expected to immediately stop whatever I am doing and answer it like no, no, yeah. When has that ever been a thing other than your mate knocking on the front door, which never happens anymore, does it?
Speaker 2:no, no when does that ever happen? You choose whether you pick up the phone. You choose whether you answer this message. There's this whole thing the kids go on about being left on unread. Have you come across this? They get, they get are right that somebody has seen. They can see that someone's seen the message, but they haven't replied to them immediately.
Speaker 1:So well, maybe they're getting on with their lives yeah, or they could be like me and have their settings so that you can't see if I've read it or not. I've changed that, so you, you can't tell if I've read it or not?
Speaker 2:no, no but I mean, even if someone has read it, it doesn't automatically mean that they have to reply to you.
Speaker 1:I know it really stresses the kids out, though, doesn't it? Yeah, yeah, they've seen that message and that.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, perhaps they're busy, yeah perhaps they've got a life anyway, yeah, so I hate being a a slave to my notifications and I have taken I took loads of them off whilst I was doing the marathon, because they then Not only does it come up on my, I was going to mention about your watch.
Speaker 1:It comes up on my watch, yeah, and. I notice that you do that when it comes up.
Speaker 2:Because it vibrates.
Speaker 1:I have mine switched off again. Yeah, I can get messages and calls and stuff through my phone, through my watch, but I don't.
Speaker 2:I've got it switched off. Yeah, so I, most of my um notifications are turned off, I turned. So I turned all of them off whilst I was, uh, running the marathon, mainly because I thought it might kill my watch battery and in if I didn't load it up on strava, it meant that I hadn't done it, so so we had to have the watch still going. But I mean, if I had my, if I had my strava notifications on, that would be just going all day. It does. Also, it kills my battery. But yeah, yeah, an absolute slave to them and it really annoys me. So I have very, very few notifications on. I mean, it is handy sometimes, but yeah, but no, so, yeah, that's it. That's it. So, starting a bedtime routine or setting your phone to a very dull bedtime mode, which is brilliant, um stop, we thought caffeine might be a really useful thing to stop about midday?
Speaker 1:Yeah, because if you want to improve your sleep and quality of sleep yeah, I clocked you, did you just get a notification?
Speaker 2:I just got a notification. Yeah, immediately she looked.
Speaker 1:We're going to have to sort this out for Catherine. Yeah, Get rid of it. Just, you're a slave to it. I am a slave to it. Do not let it control you, and then it's you're a slave to it I am do not let it control you.
Speaker 2:And then it's become automatic, hasn't it? Yeah it just. It vibrates on my wrist. I'm like oh, what's that panic, what's?
Speaker 1:going on. Yeah, I forgot what I was saying. Oh, caffeine, yeah, so, so, caffeine, the way that it metabolizes it takes quite a while, and some people are really sensitive to it and it stays in their system for a long time me, me being one of them. So, midday, in order to make sure that it's completely cleared by the time you want to go to sleep, it's like six to nine hours, isn't it? Yeah, yeah, it's a long time.
Speaker 2:So if you want to improve your sleep, you've got to cut the caffeine, yeah, and even if you are somebody like I used to be, I could have an espresso after dinner or something if you were out for dinner and be absolutely fine to go to sleep. That doesn't happen now. There's definitely a perimenopausal switch that has stopped that. To that, however, I bet I did, or I know that there is no way I had the same quality, no way of sleep, with that amount of caffeine coursing through my veins without a chance, without a doubt. So again and that's a story, isn't it? Someone says oh, you know, I'm fine drinking caffeine at this time of night, it you might be able to go to sleep, but there is no way that you will have the quality of sleep that you would have if you stopped it about midday.
Speaker 1:Same with alcohol. A lot of people will use that to be able to sleep. Yeah, and it does, because it basically sedates you. Yeah, but if you ever track your quality of sleep, it's really rubbish it's rubbish, really rubbish.
Speaker 2:And again, when you're into those perimenopausal years, I know when I've had a drink, I will. I will wake up early, I will be hot, yeah, I'll be uncomfortable. The dreads kick in early in the morning, you think the sky is gonna fall and it's just horrible. And then and often I I add, that's the point where you think God, was it even worth it?
Speaker 1:But even if you don't get those feelings, because there are some people that are so used to drinking that they actually don't notice that that's how they feel. They don't necessarily know what it's like to feel without, so that just feels normal. Yeah, and they just think well, I'm okay'm okay, I can still get up, go to work and carry on without having any any appreciation for the impact it's having on their body.
Speaker 2:Yeah, at some point it will show yeah, you know what you said about, um, when you don't feel very well, it's a a moment of time to reflect on how how people that aren't at their full energy feel a lot of the time and you're able to kind of empathize with that, and that's the same sort of thing, is I? Just? I so want people to know what it feels like to have that full energy, that full vitality, that full kind of like zest for life. Yeah, and we were talking about we were talking before we came here to record about conspiracy theories and things, weren't we? And do we? Do we think that that could play into it? Do we think that, uh, we're just being kept, kept numb and low energy? I mean, why would you allow the mass population to just merrily drink themselves into a grave? This is a whole different.
Speaker 1:This is probably a whole different conversation.
Speaker 2:I was thinking so a couple of weeks ago we had one of our first really, really sunny days and the beach was packed. Uh, arnia works at a local pub and restaurant. That was absolutely packed. I'd gone in, gone in there to, I think I'd gone in there to use the toilet actually, and it was, it was jolly. But you knew that it uh, very, very soon it was going to turn quite volatile and that was all down to alcohol and you knew that the whole kind of feeling of the town was like one side of the other was either like crazy joy because people are really drunk, or and it just there's that real balancing act where it slips into aggravation and violence and it's just freely available.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that, I don't even know what to say to it. It's such a it's a very controversial subject to talk about, isn't it? Isn't it?
Speaker 2:perhaps we do need to do a whole podcast. I'm just gonna leave that floating out there anyway. Yeah, so that was our call and we thought so we've done. Start stop. So more hours of sleep, quite simply yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:So you've got to set yourself a time to go to bed. So the way that I will work it out is that if you were able to establish what your actual everybody's different what sleep do you actually need? It's normally the from when you go to sleep to when you wake up. Without having anything influencing it tends to give you that average of what you need. Mine is a lot more than your average bear, and that's just how it is. Yeah, so I'm like a nine hour type of girl. Yeah, we have these sleep cycles that are on a 90 minute cycle time.
Speaker 1:So when we're looking at that sleep I often talk to people about this when they set their alarm. If they feel particularly rubbish, I say set it half an hour earlier or half an hour later, because you might be hitting, you're in the middle of a sleep cycle. Oh, interesting, and that can make a difference. But if you can establish how many hours do I actually need, yeah, then decide what time do I need to get up or do I want to get up and work back from there, and then you need to allow yourself that routine to kick in to allow you to be asleep at this time. So this is where people go wrong say they go right. Okay, I need to get eight hours sleep because that's what the the average is. Right, I need to get eight hours sleep, so I'll go to bed at like half past 10, but you need to be asleep at half past 10 for most people, because we have to be up at like half six, seven o'clock in the morning.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah yeah.
Speaker 2:So then you, yeah, you start your bedtime routine at 10 30 and you're still not in bed by level 11 30 and it's not working.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and then you're not really asleep until midnight. Yeah, but but in your brain you've gone. Well, I went to bed at half past 10, yeah why do I feel so rubbish?
Speaker 2:yeah, I love that's really interesting. I never thought about moving your wake time slightly to just make sure that you are not in that real deep.
Speaker 1:You completed a cycle. Yeah, yeah, it can make a huge difference.
Speaker 2:We really can, that's really interesting and, potentially, if you've not got enough time through that sleep cycle to kind of move it forward, moving it back, although you're going to be getting a little bit less sleep, you might feel a bit more alert because you're not dragging yourself out of that deep, deep sleep. Yeah, oh, I love that. Thank you very much for that one. And the other thing is the less, and we thought this is an obvious one, isn't it? Less scrolling and Netflix.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think the biggest problem that we all have with streaming tv is that it continues. The next episode. They leave you on a cliffhanger, yeah, and then it just automatically continues and it is really hard to press the off button so hard.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I like if mark walks, mark's really good at it, kitty's really good at it and I'm sat there in the living room going don't leave me, don't leave me with it continuing to play. I can't do it.
Speaker 1:I can't turn it off yeah, and even when you think, when it leaves it on a cliffhanger, you think I'll just watch the next five minutes to make sure that sanso's all right, or whatever happened. They don't show you that in the first five minutes, do they? No, they make you watch more. They're very clever they're very clever.
Speaker 2:I even did this with an audiobook that I was listening to. They did exactly the same thing that they. They at the end of the chapter was a cliffhanger, and I'd be like, oh no, and I'd set my right sleep timer to the end of that chapter, and then it would all go quiet and I'd be like, no, I need to know what happened yeah, it's really mean.
Speaker 1:And then, in fact, if you think about it, having that just before you go to bed is not good because you start to think about it. Have you ever gone to bed and you've watched something and you're thinking about the characters, or what if they did that? Or all of this going on in your head? So when you're thinking about a sleep routine and you're thinking about the characters, or what if they did that, or all of this going on in your head, so when you're thinking about a sleep routine and you've got a time that you need to go to bed, the hour before is almost even more crucial yeah, yeah, needing to make sure that everything is calm, and there are so many things we have done.
Speaker 2:An episode on sleep. So if sleep is your Achilles heel, then definitely go back and listen to that, because there were some really good, good tips in that one.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. So basically, we're starting something, we're stopping something, we're doing less of something and we're doing more of something in order to achieve a particular goal, which, in this example, was more sleep.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, it's brilliant, so we're not going to take. Well, I'm not going to say we're not going to take as long we got some other examples for you. So a blindingly obvious one for both of us, for both of our clients, is um weight loss, or we should call it weight release.
Speaker 1:Do you know what? I listened to a fantastic podcast episode with Lizzo recently.
Speaker 2:You know Lizzo has lost a lot of weight.
Speaker 1:And she's been getting quite a lot of flack for it, I think in America. I think mainly because of the way that she champions bigger girls and all that kind of stuff and she's lost a lot of weight, but she spoke about the fact that she changed her wording around it. She's done it in a healthy way, actually, from what she was saying, and she's been doing it over a long period of time, but she was disappeared from public eye because of the scandal and everything was all bullying that happened yeah and so she realized that she needed to, like, basically look after herself.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and she was looking at all the things going. Oh my god, what am I putting in my body? What she had? I think she had a bit of a real enlightenment moment yeah and um.
Speaker 1:Yeah, she was basically saying that she needed to change the wording around it, but she'd been disappeared for out the public eye for a while. Then, the first time anybody saw her, it looked dramatic, yeah, but she said you literally hadn't seen me for about a year. Yeah, I'd been hidden away working on myself because she'd had a very low point and it's a really interesting, I think. Who is she talking to? I can't even think now, but anyway, it was really interesting. But I've always used that term release and I said to my clients if you lose something, your body, your brain will want to try and find it again and you don't want that, so you're releasing it. And she spoke about that reframing of the words and the power of it.
Speaker 2:That's yeah, it's so important and it kind of ties in with just with everything about weight loss that it is not just that one single thing, you're not like doing a calorie deficit or you're not beasting yourself in the spin class, that it's holistically you're, you're releasing. It's about emotions, it's about traumas, it's like everything, yeah, all all rolled into one. Yeah, absolutely, I like I do, I love that. And I mean also, I don't like talking about weight loss or weight release. I can't, I don't mind weight release. Actually, I'm I'm happy with that one, but it's, it's fat loss we're we're getting rid of. We're not. You know, we can, like, I always say you can cut your hair, have a big poo and a big wee, uh, get back on the scales and you're lighter. Is that what we want? No, yeah, we do not want that. Yeah, so I like that, I like release. So we thought to stop snacking yeah, I think snacking.
Speaker 1:The trouble is with it is that most snacks are going to be high in sugar. They're not necessarily going to be healthy and they're just adding a load of extra calories which you don't need. And every time you eat you're going to get a spike of insulin, yeah, and so your body is going to have to do something with that excess that comes in. So, unless you're running a marathon and you need to constantly snack while you're doing that, it's not good.
Speaker 2:If your goal is to release weight, just stop the snacking. And because it also, once you've had a snack, it feeds into making you want the next snack.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:And again, and again, and again, yeah. So if you could, and also it's good that you've given your body a break in between eating. That's so important, yeah, and it's and it. We have food and drink around us all of the time and it's really difficult to do that. And so if you've given yourself a rule around it, like I'm not going to snack in between meals, or if you have, if you are somebody that is not going to eat between, say say, work at lunchtime, work is 12 o'clock and dinner time is six o'clock, then you are, then you're planning what you're having to snack in between that and you're not just like grabbing something.
Speaker 1:Yeah it's a completely different approach. Yeah, if you're looking at it that way, and then if you're someone because this comes up all the time with my clients I say, oh, but I like whatever it is that they like, and I just say to them have it as dessert. So you're not missing out, but the change in how that is processed through your body is so significantly different.
Speaker 2:I love that. That's really really simple, simple and effective change that they can do and they don't feel like they're missing out, Because again it's like playing into that whole weight loss or like you're, you're being like having things taken away from you and nobody, nobody wants things taken away from, especially not nice things exactly yeah, you don't want to be in deprivation, do you we? Get that good, that's great.
Speaker 1:So stop snacking, stop moving, moving obviously yeah, you cannot expect to release weight if you are not moving your body no no, that's the end of it. It's just just do it yeah, just add it into.
Speaker 2:Add it into your daily life. Do like we were saying uh with joe last week. She was talking about, like you know, carrying your shopping bags, parking a bit further away. Start with those things. Start simple again. You don't have to go and train for a marathon. It's ridiculous idea. Going. Don't go. Do that. Start small and start building it up and then and then find a lovely fun membership class to come along to yeah, and then call it going out to play.
Speaker 1:Yes, because again that's such a different approach. Yeah, play time, play time it's not torture. It's not something you have to do or punish yourself with. You do it because actually it feels really nice to move your body yeah, yeah, absolutely Less processed food, yeah. We spoke about this. Yeah, we covered this quite recently. The trouble is is that the way that the processed food is going to be utilised in the body. There is a direct link between that and weight gain.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you're just you're starting off on the back foot. Yeah, even if you are using processed food as kind of as part of a I don't know I'm I was going to say controlled calorie, and I don't like that either. I don't know what that even if you're using this as part of your weight release program, you are still starting off in the back foot with everything that's in it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because we spoke about how that affected your, the way that your digestion works, the way that you absorb your, the way that your digestion works, the way that you absorb nutrients, the way that your gut microbiome respond to it everything. So if you want to release weight, then you've got to look at eating less processed food. Yeah, just keep it simple stupid.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it is literally about keeping it simple. Is it after we recorded that I have been so aware of the balance in my trolley and it is in its? It's unbalanced and it's become more unbalanced and it's amazing how you, just if you're not aware of it, how you can just really slip into that convenience foods yeah, yeah, because it's easier, yeah, and they're just there in front of your face at the right level, and everything but again, is it easier, Like how easy is it to just shop in that first aisle with all the fresh fruit and veg?
Speaker 2:I know you've got to chop it up. I've got some sort of repetitive strain injury from chopping up all the living sweet sweet potatoes or butternut squash oh, that's hardcore, isn't it? Absolute killer. You can also. I mean the frozen, chopped up.
Speaker 1:Frozen stuff's pretty good, I'm gonna say you can get it ready chopped. If that, if that's going to be an excuse or a barrier or an obstacle for you, then that's head to the road. Just take that away.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely but it is about keeping it. Keep it simple and uh, yeah, it's really good to be aware of that.
Speaker 1:And then more water, water yeah, it's such it's another simple one, because it impacts every single cell in your body. So if you again, if you're looking to release weight, these are just four things that we're just suggesting, but you can do this yourself. You can look at your lifestyle and go what do I need to stop, what do I need to start? And I think the vast majority of us will know deep down yeah, what we need to stop. Start.
Speaker 2:Do more of, do more, do less of yeah, and I loved I I we have been here talking to you for ages, but I love this last example that uh, julie came up with, because I said to her like what are the, what are the main things that people come to us with? Sleep, obviously is my one, weight loss is one that that everybody, everybody thinks that that is the problem. What I like about this actually is that you start off with what we think is the problem. However, with these start stop less more. It addresses so many other things like we've got water in there. We've got like with weight loss, maybe you need to sort your sleep out. You need to sleep more because your body can't function otherwise properly Like the processed foods, the moving.
Speaker 2:The moving affects so many other things than just weight loss. Yeah, I love that that you're not just and then it gives you an opportunity to not just laser focus on weight loss, weight loss, weight loss you get all these other benefits as well, yeah, and we're just asking you to do four things.
Speaker 2:Yeah, get all these other benefits as well. Yeah, and four. And we're just asking you to do four things. Yeah, like you can do that, right, anyone can do four things. Four things yeah, love that. The last example is anxiety, and I don't think we need to with what we've suggested here. I don't think we need to like differentiate between whether it is anxiety that you suffer with all of the time or whether you think that it has been brought on by menopause or anything like that. I think that's just covers all bases here. So start, stop more, less what we're starting.
Speaker 1:I think meditation is a brilliant one to start with. Yeah, for anxiety or any of those mental health kind of spectrum things, let's say, because if we meditate, we know that it's having an influence on lots of things the pathways our breathing it's. It's huge and it doesn't have to be complex, does it? It doesn't have to be long, you don't? It doesn't have to be.
Speaker 2:Oh, I need to be in the right environment, you know, with the candles and blah, blah you don't have to build a shed in the garden and sit next to buddha there's, you don't need to do any of that, and I know that people find it really challenging, maybe scary, to spend time with themselves, especially as we're not used to it because we are, you know, netflix, audiobooks, scrolling people, just constantly, constantly, constantly, or the what's. What was I talking to you about the other day?
Speaker 2:the um, the word wordle oh yeah, the game on the phones constantly having something to entertain you, and so it is challenging to start with to do meditation even though you're sitting there doing nothing. You think that that should be easy. It is challenging, it does take a little bit of work, but it is so worth it. It literally changes your brain. It changes the density and the shape of your brain. Yeah mean, how freaking amazing is that? Just sat there breathing. It's not, and it's not that you don't have to. You're trying to clear your mind of everything.
Speaker 1:No.
Speaker 2:We're not after nothing in our mind and levitation. We're not after that at all. No, just giving yourself some time and some space and some breath.
Speaker 1:And there's some really good resources for this. Yes, really good. I mean, I subscribe to the Calm app and they do an introduction to meditation where on day one you do 30 seconds, yeah, day two you do 60 seconds and it builds you up to do 10 minutes. That's all it's aiming for.
Speaker 2:It's brilliant, really good, yeah, it is absolutely brilliant. Yeah, so that's a perfect one that you can be able to fit into your day. Stop catastrophizing. It's a great word, it's not a great word, it's not fun to do, but no, and and I appreciate that we're gonna say, yeah, just stop.
Speaker 1:Just stop catastrophizing yeah, just stop doing that. It's easy, right, yeah, right I appreciate it is absolutely not easy it's.
Speaker 2:First of all, I think it's the awareness that you're doing it and that you can stop it, that you have the control to stop it yeah, what's the saying with that?
Speaker 1:anxiety is like 99 of thinking of things that are never going to happen.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Something like that, isn't it?
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah. Yeah, we are worrying about things that are never going to happen that are never going to happen.
Speaker 1:So I think it gives you the chance to kind of put the stop in place. That pause, you know before we spoke about just having a pause before you do a habit yeah, it's put the pause in place and then reframe it, yeah there's a you can use like, either like a punch or a clap or something that's like a stop gap, that's uh.
Speaker 2:What is it like? Um, like a disruptor yeah, disruptor yeah so you can, just so, if you find yourself doing it, do something physical to make you aware and to make you stop it. So you think you're, you're like you're ruminating about something that's never going to happen, potentially, and then you either, just like you know, clap your hands.
Speaker 2:My one was a, like a punch in the air, like a, I don't know, like a freddie mercury or a yeah, nice john travolta, punch up in the air and that physical movement kind of goes, oh yeah, I'm doing it again, and then starts you on another path I know some people have worn like hairband around their wrist and they ping it yeah things like.
Speaker 1:Things like that yeah.
Speaker 2:It just almost wakes you up from it and then, like you said, you get to look at something differently. So you could, once you've done that kind of thought interruption, if you want to look back at what you were ruminating about, if there's not a danger of you then like disappearing back in and thinking, like thinking, overthinking it again, how can you look at it differently? How could whatever you were thinking about play out differently and play out in your favor?
Speaker 1:yeah, I was talking to my gymnastics friends about this voice that we have in our head that we're going to die. When we do stuff. And, uh, we all it seems to be a gymnast thing that we all get this. Yeah, we have this thought just before we're about to do something that that you know, we get that voice saying you know, what are you thinking? Why are you doing this? You're going to die. And then we have this other thought where we ask the, the, the voice in our head that's telling us that we're going to die. Where is the evidence of that? Yeah, and then the other person is saying, like I've done this move, I've practiced this move, I've done the steps for this move, I can do this move. Therefore, the one that's saying that you're going to die just has got no legs to stand.
Speaker 2:You've got no power yeah, you're like where are these dead gymnasts all over the gym? Yeah, they're not here yeah, yeah, absolutely, and it's I. I mean, I appreciate it. It is sometimes it's easy to to disappear down those, those thought processes, but I love that. Yeah, where is the evidence? Where is the evidence? Yeah, I love that.
Speaker 2:Imagine um I was having the conversation that there is a very, very small percentage of people that don't have like an internal voice, really no internal monologue. That would be so bizarre, um, I so I think they have to. They. They speak it out out loud, but they don't, they can't kind of like think to themselves.
Speaker 1:They don't have that running commentary in their head.
Speaker 2:Wow, I mean it would be quite quiet, which would be nice sometimes because mine's constantly chatting away and I think there are two of them.
Speaker 1:Definitely two. Yeah, definitely two.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:The angel and the devil, and then sometimes you yourself are the third person. You're not one or the other, you're in the middle, going uh, hello, um. No, I don't agree with that, or you know, it's so funny yeah or are we completely mad?
Speaker 2:I'm sure it's not just you and me. I'm sure it's not. No, the men in little white coats are just on their way. Now, though. I hope we're championing the fact that we all talk to ourselves. It's great. It is actually one of my human design things as well. Yeah, yeah, the human design. Yeah that I talk a lot to myself. I get much more sense out of myself sometimes, yeah, well, sometimes.
Speaker 1:If you want a really logical and sensible answer, you have to have a word with yourself, don't you?
Speaker 2:yeah, you know so true, it's brilliant, right. So we are starting meditation, we are stopping catastrophizing and we've given you a few ways that we can do that. We are doing more outside in nature things.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because we know that that directly impacts our emotional health. Yeah, so, let's just get out there and experience that yeah.
Speaker 2:And for anybody that wants that. Their conscious mind that wants to know about this. It brings your vibrations down to know about this. It brings your vibrations down. So if we are um in our houses, if we were in the city or we're just, you know, around people and machinery and things, the vibrations are up. I can't remember. It's something like 12 to 18. What do we measure it?
Speaker 2:in megahertz, something megahertz something like that I can't remember what the back bit is whereas nature vibrates at about seven, so you think you're almost doubling that vibration. And then when you take yourself out of that environment and you go back into the environment we were designed to be in, and you get to match and it and it literally brings your own vibrations back down to that of nature. Interesting, so it's a yeah, it's, it's a good thing, just for your conscious mind. If you wonder why hugging people are hugging trees, that's why trees have a lot of energy.
Speaker 1:They're nice.
Speaker 2:Yeah, don't give a tree a hug whilst talking to the three people in your head yes, are we helping? Um? And then the last thing oh god, do we even go down this one again? Less alcohol, caffeine and sugar yeah again because it's it.
Speaker 1:We know. Yeah, we know that triggers anxiety. Yeah, it impacts how the neurotransmitters are formulated. It impacts our blood sugars, everything. If we wanted to really cause ourself anxiety, just have those things a lot of them I used to associate panic attacks with caffeine and alcohol.
Speaker 2:I bet one, the first panic attack that I ever had and again I didn't even associate, I didn't even think it was a panic attack, I didn't know what it was. I had had a, an enormous cup of coffee and I was in just the biggest mess. And I didn't touch caffeine for years after that and alcohol because it just really exacerbated the whole thing. Just the thing on sugar sugar annoys me as much as notifications annoy me. Okay, I, because you're a slave to it yeah like you want it all of the time.
Speaker 2:It's yummy, you want it all of the time and that irritates the life out of me, that it kind of takes my power away from me.
Speaker 1:Yeah yeah, so addictive. And yeah, we're just hardwired for it, aren't we? So it's really hard, especially again when it's just readily available there. Yeah, I'm glad all the Easter eggs are gone, oh don't.
Speaker 2:I have got so many Easter eggs on my coffee table. I was kind of I was reframing this again earlier on today I was kind of pleased that they hadn't just annihilated all of their chocolate eggs that they had got and that they were just I mean, they're clearly not that bothered about them. There's loads of them just on the coffee table. They haven't taken them up to their rooms.
Speaker 1:That's good.
Speaker 2:Actually, mikey's got one up in his room, but he hasn't even eaten that, so it was kind of like that was good that they've not just sort of devoured them in one sitting. However, they are just sitting now. Are they starting? To speak to you well, yes, yeah, the the lint one was speaking really loudly oh, I bet yeah.
Speaker 2:So then now I've got chocolate voices in my head. The Lindt one was talking and the Galaxy one was talking. So I thought I had to do an experiment to see how different they tasted. They taste very different, but both very nice. Just in case you were wondering, and had one of the Cadbury's ones been open, I would have added that to the experiment. But there wasn't one open, thankfully, that's the thing. They've left them open and the eggs cracked Like if the eggs were whole.
Speaker 1:So you could just break a little bit off. Now I want to notice there's loads of bits broken off already. Yeah, yeah, it's really hard. So just make life easier for yourself and just don't have it in the house.
Speaker 2:No, with the kids, when they were younger and they didn't know how many eggs and things they had, we used to just make, um, cornflake chocolate, cornflake cakes, and then I'd just share them out with their friends and then get rid of all the chocolate yeah, perfect yeah, but yeah, I think they'd notice now, although actually I don't know if they would quite like a cornflake cake.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they are nice, my goodness me, you've taken us down the chocolate route again. Episode, you do this and you know what?
Speaker 2:I don't really like chocolate. I mean, I like chocolate. As a kid I didn't like chocolate at all. It's very weird. I've like trained myself to like it okay.
Speaker 1:So getting back on track for a second, yeah. So the whole point of this episode is to get you thinking about something, you want to achieve a goal, and then just look at those four things start something, stop something, do less of something, do more of something, and then let us know what that is in the far too fabulous facebook group yes, give us some good ideas of what it is that you want to change.
Speaker 2:What I like about this is again like we were talking about the weight loss thing is that it's you can have a positive spin about it. It's not like that you're taking stuff away, that you. It means that you're empowering yourself and you're able to do something. I really, yeah, it's a good one. Yeah, do come and let us know in the facebook group what you're, what you're able to do something. I really, yeah, it's a good one. Yeah, do come and let us know in the facebook group what you're, what you're changing and what you are starting stopping doing less of and doing more of.
Speaker 1:Yeah, look forward to seeing what you guys come up with.
Speaker 2:See you soon thank you for keeping us company today. If you enjoyed the podcast, don't forget to subscribe and leave a review.
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