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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
Wellness Trends: What’s Helpful and What’s Hype
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Episode 120
Cold plunges in winter seas, “Miracle Morning” pressure, supplement stacks that cost a fortune, and trackers that tell you how you slept before you even know how you feel… wellness trends are everywhere, and they can be equal parts helpful and ridiculous. We get honest about what we actually like, what we secretly side-eye, and how to stop trends turning into yet another to-do list.
We talk cold water therapy and why it can feel brilliant (and why some of us still cannot face it), plus the difference between a quick cold shower and the full sea dip experience. From there we unpack realistic morning routines, especially when you have kids and a busy schedule, and why a calm 10 to 15 minutes can beat a forced 5am overhaul.
Then we get feisty about massive supplement stacks and “longevity” bundles, what targeted supplements should look like, and why quality matters. We also dig into tracking, hormone hacks, protein obsession, fibre, fasting, matcha, green powders, nervous system regulation, and exercise trends like HIIT and reformer Pilates, always coming back to the same point: foundations first, tools second, and your body gets a vote.
If you’ve ever felt pulled between curiosity and overwhelm, this chat will help you choose what’s worth keeping and what’s safe to ignore. Subscribe, share with a friend, and leave us a review, then come tell us what trend you love or hate in our free Facebook group.
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Welcome And Wellness Trends Mindset
SPEAKER_02Welcome to Far Too Fabulous. How do you call Julie and Catherine? Join us on a mission to embrace your fabulousness and redefine wellness. Get ready for some feistiness, inspiration, candy chat, and humour as we journey together towards empowered well-being.
SPEAKER_03Let's dive in. Hello and welcome to another fabulous episode of the Far Too Fabulous podcast.
SPEAKER_02I think you empathised emphasised another. Too much then.
SPEAKER_01Oh, it's another one.
SPEAKER_03I was almost, I was coming at it like, and here's a here's another one. Are you lucky, guys? We're still here recording and we haven't run out of anything to talk about yet. I don't know if that's ever possible. No, probably not. What are we talking about today? Well, you know, we were looking at wellness trends and we were just having a bit of a chat about whether we love them or or just loved them, but we didn't tell anyone we loved them, or we really hated them, or we secretly hated them because we knew we should be doing them, but we don't want to know that kind of thing.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So let us thought we could go through and just see what what we think about them.
Cold Plunges And Cold Showers
SPEAKER_02Because there are so many health trends. Trends. Oh my goodness, mate. And actually, it's gonna be interesting because I think that there are elements of each of the trends that are really, really good, and then there are horrific elements to them. Yeah, yeah. And you can't possibly do them all, so no, that that's so true. And when I'm I've been in Vitality Rooms, each month we've been concentrating on a certain thing, and I'm almost lagging a month. So, like last month, can't even remember now. Say it was water. This month I've been really good with water, and we're put we've been concentrating on protein. So hopefully next month I'll be really good at protein. But I mean, the water bit may then have gone out the window. Well, we shall see.
SPEAKER_01We shall see.
SPEAKER_02So, what wellness trend should we discuss first? Well, I I think the the marmite wellness trend between the two of us has got to be ice plunges or cold plunges, or I mean, I don't Are you still doing this cold plunge, Malate? Absolutely, absolutely. I'm in the sea as much as I can. Not anywhere near as much as I used to be. Why is that then? I just I don't know, I don't seem to have the time to do it. Oh, that's that's a shame. It's rubbish, it's utterly rubbish, and I need to get my cold plunge tub out of the bottom of the garden, which it got where it got thrown at one point, and I haven't uh cleaned it off.
SPEAKER_03No, you need to get that out because soon the temperatures will go up and it won't be a cold plunge anymore.
SPEAKER_02No, well, that's the thing, especially in the summer, it's not it's not as exciting. Even going in the sea, I don't find as exciting. I find it much more exciting in the winter. I love it. But uh you well, I haven't convinced you into it at all, have I?
SPEAKER_03Do you know what? I'll let you into a little secret. A small part of me feels slightly envious of the people that are going in the sea in the winter, yeah, because I know that they love it and they get a lot of benefit from it, but I just cannot bring myself to do it. Because it really is your bag.
SPEAKER_02Like the whole thing, the whole craziness about going into the sea in the middle of winter is totally you. How is it totally me in the window? I know it's got you written all over it, like running into the sea going and screeching when it's freezing cold.
SPEAKER_03I do that in the summer. I'm such a wuss, honestly. As soon as it touches my belly, I'm proper like I can't breathe. I am really pathetic when it comes to the water like that.
SPEAKER_02Honestly, I I think one if you did it once, you would secretly, secretly love it. I think that's why you don't like it so much. Maybe, I don't know. She's gonna get addicted to it. But and don't think for one second, every time I go in, I'm not there going, oh my god, why am I doing this? But I do need to do it more because my temperature regulation is a little bit all over the place at the moment. And I am um do I admit that I think that maybe I'm having the odd hot flush? I don't know. It's definitely related to sugar as well. Like the last few weekends we've just had we've had big, big weekends and not been as control in control of my food and drink and all that sort of stuff, and it's without a doubt it's related to that. However, there are there have been some warm moments, and I think that cold water therapy really helps, and I think that when I'm doing it more regularly, that will become more stable again. But that said, I am still doing cold showers pretty much every day for about 30 seconds at the end of my oh, sounds so grim.
SPEAKER_03I I have never had a hot sweat or a hot flush or whatever you want to call it. I've never had that, so I'm thankful for that. Yeah, so I feel like I don't need to do this then.
SPEAKER_02Now you've started to sound like one of our clients. Okay, there I mean, there are massive, massive benefits to this. I'm not gonna list them off. There is some doubt for women as to whether you should plunge in such cold waters.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Um, that said, there are also benefits to that. So I think it's working out what you are doing it for, how frequently you do it for. So the shower, I know, although it feels absolutely freezing, I know isn't anywhere near as cold as when I get into the sea because they've got they've got a cut off, haven't they, on the shower? So it never gets that cold. Um, so you're not increasing the stress, you're just getting the benefits of the cold water. That said, the whole I don't think the whole experience of going into the sea or going into a a lake or going into a cold plunge is it's part of it. Whereas the cold shower is just the benefit of the cold water. I don't enjoy the cold shower. I just do that for the benefits.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And to wake me up a bit. I don't know if I convinced her if you could see her face. We will, we will get us on YouTube in the uh in the future, and then you could see Julie's face about what she thinks about.
SPEAKER_03Maybe if I was somewhere nice where I knew that the water didn't have sewage in, that would be a good starting place. This would be a good starting place. And I could get into a sauna afterwards straight away. Then maybe I could come around to the idea of it, but yeah. Little Arctic trip, then would you like that?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, let's do that. Let's do that.
Morning Routines Without The 5am Club
SPEAKER_01And then you can then you can make your final call on cold plunges.
SPEAKER_02How about the trend of over-the-top morning routines?
SPEAKER_03Right, so this one's interesting because I personally love a morning routine, yeah, but I'm not in the 5am Miracle Morning Club. No. I like the idea of it, I think it's hugely beneficial, but I don't think you necessarily need to get up at five o'clock in the morning to do this. Yeah. I think just a few things that you do consistently every day. As you know, I've spoken about it. I always do my calm meditation in the morning. There are just certain things that I do every day, pretty much without fail. Yeah. Takes about 10-15 minutes before I get up.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_03How are you on this one?
SPEAKER_02I want to love it. I really, really want to love it. Now I did the Miracle Morning for about five months. Probably about five years ago. And great things happened. Yeah. Like I implemented. There's things in my business now that are still there that I implemented at that point, or things that I did, and it was brilliant. I am not very good at getting up. That said, I have been lots, lots better at going to bed. And how refreshing it is to wake up not feeling completely strung out.
SPEAKER_03I've just got to say to you because this is so funny. Right, the reason why you don't like getting up in the morning is because you go to bed too friggin' late.
SPEAKER_02I know, I know, I know, and I would like to get up early in the morning. I I I I really like that time in the morning. It feels calmer, it feels more peaceful than any time of the day. I appreciate that it's actually good for me. I don't want to do like a full-time job before 5am in the morning. I don't I don't want to do that. That said, I would really I'd like an hour's routine in the morning just for me. However, if I need to do that, I'm then with the kids from seven. It needs to be from six o'clock.
SPEAKER_03But you don't have to like start with an hour. No. You could literally say, I'm gonna start with 15 minutes. So when you wake up in the morning, what's your morning, what's it look like now? What actually happens?
SPEAKER_02I I literally I get up just before I need to be up for kitty and I go straight downstairs. I make this is I'm gonna make people grin. Fest. I make my children their their breakfast and their cups of tea, and then I make their lunches ready for them to go off to college or school. What? That's what I do.
SPEAKER_03Right, these kids can make their own lunch and their own tea and their own breakfast.
SPEAKER_02They are utterly, utterly spoiled. And you know what? They don't even realise it. Right. How long does this take you? So you get up and you do this for them. How long does it actually take? Kitty's out of the house by half past seven, so it's only it's like half an hour.
SPEAKER_03Right. So you could so that half an hour could be yours. It could be, but Kitty wouldn't leave with their lunch. But she could make her own lunch the night before.
SPEAKER_02She could make her lunch the night before. Mostly it is it is put together, it's mostly made the night before. It's just putting it together.
SPEAKER_03I do, I have to admit that I do often make my kids their lunch. They they are supposed to do it themselves in the evening, but what I will do is, and they do a lot of the time, but there will be moments like this morning. I noticed that I looked in the fridge to see if their lunches were in there and they weren't. Yeah. And so I did make lunches for them this morning.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03Yeah. It's just, do you know you know that sometimes it's just easier to do it yourself. I'm not doing their breakfast and tea though. That is not happening on my watch.
SPEAKER_02They come, they have honestly, they have they have breakfast. Mikey has breakfast in bed. Mikey has his bagel and his coffee in bed. Oh my God.
SPEAKER_03I know, not even I get that. I don't get breakfast in bed ever. Right, you need to sort this one out because you like you know that the morning routine worked for you. Yeah, lots of good things happened. It doesn't have to be at 5am. No.
SPEAKER_02To be honest, I mean, I could then do I've often got an hour before my classes. That could be could be the time as well.
SPEAKER_03So what so what happens? I'm intrigued now. What happens? So the kids have got out the door, they've had their breakfast, and you've made them their lunch and pampered them, and then they've left, right? And then you've got an hour before your class. So what are you then doing in that hour?
SPEAKER_02I have my breakfast and I have coffee. Yeah. And sometimes, actually, often that time is my time, but it's not necessarily doing what you'd imagine for a miracle morning. So I'd have my breakfast, have my coffee, and maybe I'll grab a book and I will either sit in if I can I turn in the dog into the dog and I go and find a slot of sunshine and go and sit in that, or if it's in the winter, I go and crawl back into bed and I and I read my book in bed, which is nice. But I would like to create some sort of miracle morning-esque looking routine, but um, yeah.
SPEAKER_03Okay, well, watch this space for Catherine's very cool morning.
SPEAKER_01Watch this space for like the last I don't know, eight years probably. I'm gonna keep prodding you about this one thing.
Supplement Stacks And Smarter Choices
SPEAKER_02Do it. Okay, this is an interesting one for you.
SPEAKER_03Massive supplement stacks. Oh my god, this winds me up something chronic. This wellness change uh trend of the supplement stack. Stack. Who comes up with this crap? Honestly, a supplement stack.
SPEAKER_02I don't think, so I I don't think I've ever noticed this as a trend, like really noticed it, until we've just looked and talked about this now, and I and now I'm thinking about it. You're gonna notice it all the time. Yeah, this supplement stack. And I hadn't didn't even I mean I didn't take much notice of it, but I didn't even think about it.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, there's quite a big link between the stack and longevity. It's like you've got to take there's a lot of supplements.
SPEAKER_02So this is so this is just so companies, for instance, just selling you a block of supplements saying that these all should be taken together.
SPEAKER_03Is that what this is? Yeah, there are companies that do the supplement stack. Okay, but it is also influencers and things that are saying you must have this, this, this, this, and this. Okay, yeah, and you stack it and you get it done. Bish bash rah bro. You know what do you know what I mean? This is bro supplements, is it? It feels like that. And I'm not saying like I am not anti-supplements. I take my supplements. I think in today's world, if we could if we could eat organic food and live in a stress-free environment and all of that, and our soil wasn't depleted, and we could manage, but we can't manage optimal health without supplements. Yeah, can't do it.
SPEAKER_02But and also things like um like ashwagandha and things like that, I'm I'm fairly sure we can't pick up in England. No. So those sorts of things, you know, we've gotta we've gotta use the supplements for as well.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and there's obviously when I'm working with clients, I'm doing a very targeted supplement plan with them. But this is what they should be, how they should be used, right?
SPEAKER_02Yeah. For a reason. Yeah. Not just like randomly scattering supplements all over the place and hoping that something sticks.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and also when you go into the my favourite health food shop, you know, with the with the H B and B one. Yeah, and you go in and you speak to their advisors that have done their two-hour training, um, and you say, Oh, I've got this going on. There'd be a supplement for this symptom, a supplement for that symptom, a supplement. The amount of times that people come to see me and they bring a carrier bag of supplements, and I say, Why are you taking this one? They go, Oh, I can't remember now, but I'm sure someone in a in a health food shop or a read online or something, yeah, that was good for something, so I'm taking that. That's the kind of even if it wasn't a problem in the first place. Oh, I can't stand it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, now that's really interesting. I for me, supplements are almost they're almost a medicine, I think, for me, and uh and a support, but I would take it for a specific reason, and also I've been I've been sort of messing around with um supplements and things, and the fact that some of them are not designed to be taken long term, you're supposed to be taking them like on that short blast of time, like for instance, Ashwagander. I've just I I'm just about to finish my I think second month of, and you can correct me if I'm wrong, but I got the impression that actually it's probably good to have just like two month or month blasts of them, and f uh and around a certain time when it's a quieter time of the year. Um that's that's what I'd I'd picked up and read, and so I haven't just kind of randomly gone, ooh, Ashwaganda, that's popular. Yeah. I'll have that. I've actually looked and seen whether it fitted in with what I wanted for it. I did try it out for a month or two just to see if it's made any difference. It's been lovely for my sleep, actually, and I've added it to my magnesium, which again you'll have to peel out of my cold dead hand. You're never having that away from me. Um, but just yeah, knowing like not yeah, just not kind of like scattergunning the supplements.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and they're expensive as well, so you don't want to be spending money on something that you don't need, or it's in a form. I mean, we will do a separate podcast episode about supplements because I think there is a there's a lot of misunderstanding about the the forms and the the brands and the cost of them, and there is a huge difference between buying something from Tesco's or Super Drug versus buying a good quality supplement. So, yeah, we will we will discuss that. Yeah, but yeah, it does um the the stack thing is just irritates me. Can you tell?
Tracking Data Without Losing Intuition
SPEAKER_02Yeah, no, that is it's completely bonkers. You're absolutely right, absolutely right. How about tracking everything?
SPEAKER_03Well, I don't want to track everything, but I do find tracking can be really beneficial in certain in certain cases. I do like when I wore the continuous uh glucose monitor, I only did it for a short while just to understand my relationship with food. I thought that was absolutely brilliant, but I'm not gonna be over obsessive about tracking everything. Sometimes I like to check in. I do have a a Garmin watch that that does track certain things for me, and I will check in and see. And I do have my blood tests that I have done and and have a look and see what's going on there, but tracking obsessively, I think obsessive, yeah.
SPEAKER_02It it's then detrimental because it's then another stressor, it's then something else that you have got to like monitor and keep up, yeah, which is goes against everything that you're doing in the first place. I what you've just said about like doing those short amounts of time, it's the awareness.
SPEAKER_03Such good information for you to then use going forwards. But the thing I find funny with people that are obsessive, you can tell because if you were to ask someone who's obsessive about tracking everything, what how was your sleep last night? Yeah, it's a passive one. Well, not only that, but they won't go like, Oh, how did I sleep last night? They will look at their watch and go, oh yeah, I had um I had X amount of hours sleep, some of it was REM, some of it was they will know the detail, but they they don't know like they couldn't answer that question without looking.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, that's really interesting.
SPEAKER_03Or food is another one. How did I fit how do I feel? How do I actually feel? Yeah, what does my watch? Yeah, and that's where it gets dangerous, and when you're tracking calories and all your macronutrient, I haven't got time for it. I just can't be bothered. No, it's a lot of work.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, do it for a do it for a snapshot, check in on where you are, make adjustments, maybe, maybe check in again in a month's time, see if they've worked, see if they haven't worked, but not constantly. I completely, completely agree. I think, although, so if we are if we're secretly saying so, I would like um a watch that's that did monitor my sleep a little bit because I'd just be really interested in in what's it not does it not track yours? It does, but it's a really old and it doesn't do it that well or a loop band, don't you? Yeah, but then but then I would get obsessive about it, and I don't want to do that, and I don't want to spend too much money on it, but I would like something that gave me a better overall description of my sleep. But again, just as a snapshot, I wouldn't be like checking it every single day. We've got a birthday coming up soon.
SPEAKER_03These garmin, these Garmin watches, they're not that expensive, you know. I do, just letting you know. Then I'd have to let go of my old my old faithful Garmin watch. It might be time, it might be time to let go of that one. But promise me, if you've got a new watch that you would not connect it to your phone for calls. So my one, it will it it will connect, but I have it switched off.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So I don't have that constant, oh looking at my wrist all the time, which you do all the time.
SPEAKER_02Which I do. The notifications are gone, it is only the phone calls now that come through on the yeah. Yeah. I do I love my I do love my watch, and I use it as my alarm clock, so I don't have my phone next to my bed. This is my alarm clock because one of the things I really love about it, and it doesn't, it isn't like a big, like all bells ringing, terrify the life out of me thing. It's just got a little a little buzz and a little vibrate, which is quite nice. Yeah, that is good function, actually. Yes. What else?
Hormone Hacks Versus Real Foundations
SPEAKER_03What other um faddy things have we got? Well, we could go right down the rabbit hole with the hormone hacks.
SPEAKER_02It's very on trend at the moment, isn't it?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, but it's just that it's everything is blamed on the hormones. Yeah. We've spoken before about looking at the basics, the foundations, are they in place before we blame everything on the hormones and then all of these quick fix things for hormones. Yeah. I keep seeing an advert come up for something about um these that my hormones. Have done this and it's got, I can't even think now. It's it's the it's a recurring theme of how much my life has been affected by my hormones changing, and this is the solution. And when you click on the solution, it literally is a supplement. That supplement is not gonna fix all those issues, yeah.
SPEAKER_02Like hailing the supplements as the uh as the all fixing thing, yeah. Yeah, no, I mean there are some things like but do you know what? It's these are not hacks, the things that are gonna help your hormones are the things that we talk about every single day, like eating a balanced diet, making sure you're getting plenty of protein so you're not starving and then grabbing for other things, weightlifting though so you are challenging your body enough to have that response in your body to support you and your hormones or lack of. Um, yeah, just being hydrated, being able to sleep as much as you can, and then maybe having to look at specific things around that. I don't even think that the word hormone and the word hack should be in the same sentence.
SPEAKER_03No, I mean I do like the raising of awareness around hormones, but I don't like the way that it's being pushed up. I'm trying to monetized. Well, yeah, there's that, but also I'm trying to find the right words that it's like this this situation where in other countries it's not even a thing, this menopause thing is not even they haven't even got a word for it, yeah. It's just a natural transition, and the way that those people are supported, those women are supported in those environments, it's completely different, and just expecting us to live like we do, work like we do, eat like we do, and then that transition be okay is not right, is it? And then just push in the fact that everything is is blamed on that perimenopause, yeah. That doesn't really sit right with me.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, no, I totally get that. I agree. Uh, another one I think I mentioned this already is protein obsession is another, is it another fad? Is it definitely a trend?
SPEAKER_03It is a trend, and I have to say that I am a bit protein obsessed, yeah, because it is so important, and I think the latest research is that the official figures for protein have been too low, and at our age, with things happening as well, that there is a need for it, yeah, but you can't just eat protein and expect everything again to be a magic fix, you've still got to do your strength exercise and the other things. So I think I am a little bit obsessed with protein. I do make sure that I get my protein in because if I don't, I certainly do know it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, no, I completely agree, and the more or not the more, the better I am at getting the right amount of protein in, the better I feel, and then the almost the more obsessed I come become with it. Yeah, because you're like, this is working, this is actually this is keeping me fuller for longer, I feel strong, I feel awake. Exactly. Yeah, however, like you said, it's just another tool, it's not to be done all on its own.
SPEAKER_03No, it's not to the detriment of other things, like when we are like like the lunch that you that you made us, it's got vegetables and fibre in it, it's got some good carbs, it had the protein, it's got other things, it's not that we just focus so much on on protein that we've just that's all we're eating, yeah, or all our focus is on, yeah. But I think it is an important component, and I'm quite pleased that there is a trend that's awakening people to the fact that oh, hang a minute, we do need to eat our protein, yeah.
SPEAKER_02And the same with fibre as well, isn't it? That that's starting to come to the forefront as well. I know we're really deficient in that, so I think that that is probably something if that becomes a trend, that'll be that'll be a good thing.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, the fibre situation is really shocking, actually. So we did did we do a podcast episode on fiber?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. So we need to keep championing that.
SPEAKER_03We could start the trend. Yeah, it definitely, like you said, it definitely is starting to filter through with the fibre, but fibre will probably be the new protein, won't it? Yeah, at some point.
SPEAKER_02Hopefully, hopefully, and on the flip side of that is not alienating certain food groups, like not alienating fat, not alienating carbs, like knowing that they've all got their place in this in this little foodie dance that goes on.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I mean, we could certainly lead into trends around diets, couldn't we? With things like fasting or keto diets, um that kind of thing. Again, these trends are you know pushing you into eating a certain way without necessarily you checking in with yourself. Does this work for me? Does this suit me? Yeah, does this fit? Yeah, I mean, we could say the same about vegan diets. A few years ago, the plant-based foods were really being pushed, which is why you see all of that in the supermarket, all that processed vegan stuff, which is no good for you. And yeah, we do benefit from eating more plant-based foods. There is no disputing that, yeah. But some people feel worse on a vegan diet than others. So again, you've got to do what's right for you, and looking at the supermarkets is a really good way of seeing the trends because you see that protein trend because you've got protein. I saw protein on a packet of biscuits the other day. I'm not even joking. High in protein in some biscuits. Oh, you try anything to get you to buy it, won't they? But this is the thing, isn't it? It's like because they know that people are focused on protein, yeah, companies are looking like, how can I get this person to you know, how can I get them to buy my product? Do you think that there's going to be high in fibre on the digestive biscuits packet next, then? I wouldn't be surprised. I would not be surprised. Make me buy it as long as it's got chocolate on top of it. The one that used to make me laugh um was the probiotic chocolate that came out a few years ago. I missed that one. Yeah, it it doesn't seem to have have stayed, but if you think about it, chocolate is m it's got a lot of sugar in it, and probiotics are supposed to be feeding the good bacteria.
SPEAKER_02Like mainstream chocolate has got loads of loads of sugar in it. I that definitely would have done.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it just doesn't work that those two go together. I have the same issue with yakhul. Yes. Yogurts. Exactly. Why are they full of sugar? That's feeding the bad bacteria, and then there's a minuscule amount of good bacteria in a yak-t. What's the point?
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it makes me angry. It's like you are taking us for fools and mugs, and I really it makes me very cross.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, you'd be much better just eating some pickled cabbage, quite frankly.
Matcha, Green Powders, And Quality
SPEAKER_02Yeah, lovely. Um, how about now? I went into Starbucks the other day, and I had a protein matcher, I think it was. Oh. So it was a it was like a matcher. Was it cold or hot? It was cold, I think. Was it hot? God, I can't remember now. And then it has what they've called this protein foam on the top. Yeah. So they're jumping onto the whole protein bandwagon, but they're also like things like matcha, you can see in all of the coffee shops and stuff now, and they've really jumped onto that as well. And it was, I mean, it tasted nice. I was under no illusion that it was probably full of sugar as well, so it probably wasn't doing what it said on the tin. Uh, however, hopefully, I was getting my my dose of matcha, which Julie tells me I should have.
SPEAKER_03So at least it was at least it was doing that. I do like the matcha, but I've become since I went to Japan, I've become very snobby about my matcha. Have you? Yeah. Tell me more. Well, just because of the the the levels of like the quality in matcha, and when you're in Japan, they have ceremonial grade matcha, yeah, which is what you want for all the benefits, really. Yeah. Whereas we don't always get that type of matcha in places like Starbucks. They're not going to have ceremonial grade matcha. No, they're going to have massive packets of it. So whilst you get the flavour of the matcha, which I really like. I don't. Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_02Then you're I'll get nothing out of that then. I don't dislike it, but it needs to be disguised in like oat milk or almond milk or something.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
SPEAKER_02Which is why I don't drink the green tea.
SPEAKER_03I tell you what though, next time you come over, I will make you a proper matcha drink because it does not taste, it doesn't have that bitter taste, it's completely different. It's got no um, it's not got added sugar, it's got a natural sweetness, it's completely different. So because we host Japanese students, yeah, and they know that I'm obsessed about my matcha, yeah, they send me it from Japan. Oh we just had a parcel turn up last week with and and green tea as well, proper green tea, and they send me it. It's so kind of them, but last time we had a visit from a student that we'd had a few years ago, yeah, she bought me the proper matcha whisk and the cup and everything to make it properly. So I will make that for you, and this may change your opinion of it.
SPEAKER_02And then I'm gonna have to I quite like the ritual, so I do try and create a bit of a ritual around, and maybe I have it in between the kids going and me starting my classes, around having matcha in some way, shape, or form. Because I know that I should have it daily, and I often make it dirty and I add to add the uh coffee to it as well. So that'd be interesting to uh I want I want it in the cup and everything. I want to see you whisk it.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah. Well, you will see it because you can't I can't make it before and then it's made and there is a you've got to be mindful about it. Yeah, it's done in a certain way, and it's so so nice. So yeah.
SPEAKER_02Because I do that with the um with cacao as well. If I'm after something sweet after dinner, that often I will I will make a grab for and make like a hot chocolatey cacao, and I'll blend some um dates and maybe some chili and some salt and maybe some cinnamon in and then and make that as a a cacao, and then I will kind of really savour it and sort of make it quite ceremonial.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and that's not because that is a mindfulness exercise again, isn't it? Yeah. So doing those things are really important. Why did we get onto the matcha? I can't remember now. Where were we?
SPEAKER_02Because we were talking about green powders and and drinks and Starbucks and all that sort of stuff.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, green powders, yeah, green powders generally. So they can be really good, but again, you've got to be careful of where they're coming from. Yeah. Because a lot of those multi-blend green powders, when they're tested, they do have some but no, they can have high levels of toxins in them. Okay. So you do have to be a little bit careful where you source your green powders from. I do have one that I um put in my smoothie that's a green powder, and it's got things like spirulina in and things like that that have got benefits, and if I'm making a smoothie, I'll just put a bit of a bit of that in. So I think with that trend, I don't have a problem with it, but it's a bit like the supplements, you've got to know as long as it's high quality, yeah, and you're yeah, you're doing it for a reason, not just following the trend.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_03Exactly.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, definitely. Another one, now this is I quite like the fact that the word nervous system is becoming regularly said and regularly known about. So I quite like that, but when you add the word hack or trend or whatever, maybe it's just that word that makes me prickle.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and maybe it doesn't need to be, maybe you don't need to use the word hack or I mean we spoke before on the podcast about just seeing nervous system regulation coming up all the time and how it was I I was finding it a bit irritating, but I think it's really important that people understand their nervous systems and that their nervous system impacts everything. Yeah, and it goes back to stress that we were talking about on a recent episode. Yeah. Again, it's really important for us to regulate that that side of things in today's world. Yeah, I think so.
SPEAKER_02Because it's almost before now, it was almost stuff of myth and legends. Do you know what I mean? It was a bit woo. Yeah. And so for it's becoming mainstream, I think can only be good. I mean, yeah, we can't get like protective over these things. We can't keep all of these, this knowledge and stuff like into ourselves. Like everybody needs to know about it. So I think, yeah, as long as it doesn't become a bit of a a fad, and that it is used and spoken about and thought about as a a long-term thing, like an all-the-time thing, not just uh, we're just gonna do it for this this bit just before we go on our summer holidays or that sort of thing. Yeah, like a dummy.
SPEAKER_03I mean, generally speaking, when you think about hacks and and trends, there's a quick fix element to them, and we don't want to have that side of it, do we? But I remember talking about like vagus nerve stuff years ago with people and then not going, what? Vegas nerve, what's that? What I've got a vagus nerve, but nowadays when you talk to people are like, oh yeah, I do some I do some uh vagus nerve stuff, and I go, like, what sort of thing do you do? Oh, I hum or I hum when I'm in the shower or in the car. I'm like, go you! Yeah, that sort of thing is really good for you, isn't it?
Exercise Trends That Actually Help
SPEAKER_02Yeah, no, that's exciting. I mean, I don't yeah, I think it's still fairly niche, but I think it's it's getting out there.
SPEAKER_03What about like fitness uh exercise hacks and trends? Because I mean, when I think back to the type of exercise I did when I was, I don't know, in my late teens, twenties, it was steparobics and there are all sorts of funny trends. I remember being on this um sliding mat, and we had these special shoes that we had to put on. We did this sliding thing, and yeah, and and all of those trends in in the work that you do and the world that you you're in, those trends have changed. Like there's there's always something new, isn't there?
SPEAKER_02There is like the um like Zumba or the Nike Rock Star. I remember doing doing that. Yeah, there's it's always sanity, yes. Um yeah, just trying to think of all of those different and like Les Mills, obviously they've got all of their classes that that keep going. I think most of them, because they're based on either like cardio element or strength element or something like that, are I mean are alright. It gets put and especially when you're younger, it just gets you doing stuff, doesn't it? And if it's fun and you enjoy it, as long as you're not using it as a punishment for yourself, then you know, then it's fabulous. We can work out with Lizzie to our heart's content, and it's and it's great. And I I think then you've got things like um hit really high-intensity interval training really exploded, what, maybe about five or so years ago, maybe a little bit, maybe earlier.
SPEAKER_03Even longer because I remember watching a program before I really knew anything about HIT. I think I'd I'd heard the word hit. I think there was a program on TV, it might have even been Michael Mosley that did a programme about doing HIT training, and there was this study came came out about you don't need to exercise for an hour. Yes, just a short burst, and I think I can't remember how many minutes it was, yeah, but suddenly there was that trend of oh, I don't need to go and do um spin class for an hour, I can literally go and do HIT and get all the benefits in like seven minutes or whatever it was.
SPEAKER_02No, absolutely, and so this has been a pretty good fad, I think. It's been it's I think it's lasted longer than a fad now, and then the more that we now know about how midlife women, perimenopausal women should train, hit is exactly what we should be doing. We should be doing those short, sharp, absolute blasts of intensity, and then pulling back and recovering, yeah, and then going again and then coming back, and so and that for our muscles, for our for our lungs, for our heart, for our VO2, all of that is hugely beneficial. So, I mean, it's just it's I don't know, is it is it lucky, but also like lots of us are doing it already. So when we start looking for the holy grail of what we should be doing, we're probably doing it already. Yeah, hopefully. Hopefully, yeah. But it's no, it's great. I love here, it is it's super super efficient and and it's fun, like and it does it. We don't need to be in the in the studio or in the gym or whatever for for hours, and I apply that then to to loads of things that we do. So poloxin that we do in vitality rooms, we do the same, we'll have a blast of energy and then we'll and then we'll pull it back and recover, and then we'll have a blast of boxing, and then we'll pull it back and recover, and it's only ever sort of two or three minutes maximum, these high intensities, and then we come back and recover again. And I do exactly the same actually with my running now. I do I Jeff most of the time, and I'm quite strategic about it, like I will do sort of four minutes, one minute, and then when you get towards the end of the four minutes, and you think, Oh, I'm gonna have a rest for a minute, so then you you get to go a little bit faster faster, go a little bit harder because you know that you've got that rest coming up.
SPEAKER_03That's quite a change for you though, isn't it? Because I remember not that long ago that we were talking about this walk-run, walk-run thing, and you've almost felt like it was a bit of a failure to go to a walk that you had to just keep running, keep running, keep running, keep running, keep running.
SPEAKER_02And I remember saying this um when I was running with Mark that I used to just keep going, keep going, keep going, and he'd stop and then he'd catch up with me. But yeah, research shows that you need that little bit of recovery, and it's good for you. It's very good for my pelvic floor as well, it's very relieving. It's like thank you for stopping, gives you a chance to recover, and then away you go. Because your body doesn't know that you're gonna burst back into exercise again, so it immediately you stop, it starts repairing at in that instant, so then you get like a minute or whatever your rest time is, repair, and away you go again.
SPEAKER_03What are the current trends in exercise? Is there anything random like back in the day when we did the the slide and the steparobics or the what about like reformer Pilates? Is that like a trend now or is that properly blowing up? Oh okay, but it's been around for a long time, hasn't it?
SPEAKER_02I mean the reform's been around for as long as Pilates has been around. He created he actually created this it in the UK. It is it's blowing up now. I I see it absolutely everywhere. And I mean I love reformer training. I've never done it, so what exactly is it? So you're on a um basically, so he created it on a bed. So if you think about a bed frame and you think about it a sprung bed frame, so with pulleys and stuff, yeah, that's what you've got with the reformer bed, and you've got a um a bed in the middle that's almost like a trolley that moves up and down, and then you've got springs either side, and so you can use a resistance bands attached to whichever spring you want as is the strongest, depending on how much resistance you want. And there are, I mean, there are countless amounts of exercises on there. So it's basically that it's resistance training, but it's also it applies all the other stuff with Pilates, so just lengthening, strengthening control of your core, your breathing, knowing where you are in time and space, the element of danger, you're balanced on this on this small bed, and you could be pinged off at any minute. Right, I don't think I don't think you planned that bit, but you just it's that concentration using your breath, it's brilliant. I think the height is is also that it's really expensive. Like, I mean, the reformer beds are really expensive, the training is really expensive, but it's definitely placed itself as marketed itself as an expensive exercise.
SPEAKER_03I wonder why it's so expensive. If it's like it sounds to me, and I may have misunderstood here, but it sounds a bit like a a multi-gym for people who like yoga and stuff, right? It is like a baby play gym for people who like yoga, it's exactly what it is, yeah. And you'd think, given how much the home gym stuff has come on and the prices are more affordable, what what's going on here? Why are the reformer not more affordable?
SPEAKER_02So you can. Um Aldi was selling home reformer beds for like 125 quid or something like that.
SPEAKER_03But were they any good? Probably not. Right. This is the problem, isn't it?
Fasting As A Tool Not A Rule
SPEAKER_02But and I mean also so. In my classes, I mimic so many of the exercises with resistance bands and stuff that you can do on the Pilates bed. I think the reason there is so expensive is if you want to go to a class, somebody has got to have a studio, they've got to have a a decent amount of reformer beds each at like the space for it, right? So, and then and then people you do have to be co highly qualified and really confident with it to be able to get things right. But they are but again, it's it's not you can't just do reforma platis, like you've got to use it as a tool along with your hit or along with your running, whatever you want for your kind of cardio element, whatever you want for your strength element, because this is very much there is there is definitely strength training, as much as maybe people that are that really champion um weight lifting will perhaps suggest that Pilates does not build muscle. I they've clearly never done a good Pilates class. No, there is some serious intensity going on there, but it has to be just one of the things that you use.
SPEAKER_03Hmm, okay. How do we feel about fasting? We did an episode about fasting, didn't we?
SPEAKER_02We did, and we've done, but I mean, like us, I don't know whether the rest of the world is caught up. Like we loved fasting initially, and it looked from a viewpoint of longevity, so not necessarily from a viewpoint of like losing body fat, from a viewpoint of sort of your cells renewing when you weren't constantly eating. And then we did a bit more research, didn't we?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and it was really interesting because there is a lot of research done into fasting, and if you think about that connection with religion as well, yeah, with fasting and certain cultures, and the fact that it is it's been around for years and years, yeah, forever probably. But then there was this almost like a push of extreme fasting, the water fast and the extended fast, and and we were almost swept up with that excitement of it and what it what it promised, yeah. But then on the flip side, it was like, oh, and by the way, if you're female and you're active, this might actually screw everything up for you. So I think fasting has definitely got its place. Yeah, you do need to be a little bit careful with it as a female, especially if you exercise. I do make sure that my clients do eat before they exercise. But normal eating window and fasting overnight, even if you just go there, yeah, there's massive benefits.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. I completely agree. And I mean, I loved intermittent fasting. It really worked for me. Waiting until lunchtime and then eating between lunch and eight really it worked for me in the way of my daily routine. It didn't work for my body. No, and I am much more healthy, much more energetic, and yeah, just far more benefits from just having that normal healthy window between sort of seven and seven, and and eating, eating in the middle is yeah, I I feel much better. It just it fitted with my life quite well. It's very annoying.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I think one of the problems with it is the fact that it's it's being pushed as being able to solve every problem again. Yeah, that's that's an issue. And when you look at when you start looking at the data on it, it does work really well for people that have got um blood sugar instability, being overweight, and and other health conditions, the same as when we look at the keto diet and its impact on type 2 diabetes and things like that. You've got to look at it from uh is does will this work for me? Is this good for me? Yeah, you can even try it and know whether it fits you well or not.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's again, it's another tool, isn't it? I'm gonna I've got this specific problem, and I'm gonna use this and see if it helps me with it. And and then yeah, and then assess, and if it and if it doesn't, then you've got to try something else. And if it does, then I think the danger is then if it does, you're like, right, that's how I'm gonna do it forever. And perhaps it's not, perhaps it's your like it helps you change things, and then maybe you're adding food in and stuff afterwards, but it's a it just it's another tool, yeah.
SPEAKER_03I mean, I particularly love it if I'm under the weather and I know that I'm not gonna be because I don't feel great, I'm not gonna go and be doing my exercise and stuff. Then actually, fasting allows the body to go into that repair and heal more effectively and things like that. So I think you can play around with it, and there are definitely benefits to it, but just for everyone though.
Barefoot Shoes, Foot Health, And Comfort
SPEAKER_02No, that's it. You have to look at the reasons for an individual, not just a blanket. Everybody should do this fasting. Yeah, no, I completely agree.
SPEAKER_03Let's talk about barefoot shoes. Well, we're fans. Oh my god, I just I can't even wear any other shoes now. It's it's undone any chance of me ever wearing any any nice shoes for a nice outfit. Yeah, I'm a proper just addressing a trainer girl now. Yeah, because my feet feel so much happier in the barefoot shoes.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_02No, I completely, completely agree. And anytime that I'm looking at buying any new shoes, it's I mean it it makes it easier because it really narrows down where you can where you can shop and where you can buy things, but yeah, my foot comfort and foot health is far more important now than you know a killer pair of heels. I couldn't wear a pair of heels now.
SPEAKER_03No, I I definitely couldn't, and I do a lot of walking with the dog like you do as well, and I just I just love them.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03The barefoot shoes. And in fact, I like being barefoot anyway. I do. In the summer, I love it when you can just wear like just walk around with nothing on your feet, and yeah. I mean, I do with my gymnastics, we're barefoot, with my karate, I'm barefoot, so I do a lot of activities that are barefoot anyway, and there is definite benefits to putting your feet, your bare feet, firmly on the ground outside.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, a hundred percent. It's so interesting. I said this in my class actually the other day. It's so interesting that we have spent almost our entire lives being told that putting our feet in these rigid, not foot-shaped shoes is good for us. Even things like DMs and those sorts of things, they are so rigid, you can't your feet can't move properly. And it really highlighted it when I was I did I mention I did a trek in the Sahara. Did you?
SPEAKER_03I had no idea you did that.
SPEAKER_02When I did it this one time, when I did a trek in the Sahara, when we were training, my walking boots were so solid, like there was no movement. My ankles, my calves, when we really upped the walking, was so uncomfortable and it started kicking off my plata fasciitis. And I was like, Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, which I was irritated about getting in the first place because I thought that my feet were quite strong, but anyway, anyway. So moving, I didn't have time to move into like proper barefoot um like trainers or shoes, but I I kind of went to a middle ground with a kind of a trainer-y boot, which was which was fabulous, but it just really highlighted how solid these shoes, these boots were, and how that would have been marketed as a good thing, yeah. But my feet couldn't move, my feet couldn't do what they were designed to do. Why, as humans, this this really oh you've started me now. Why as humans do we think that we know better than how our body is built that we shove these our feet in shoes that mean that our feet then can't do what they're supposed to do? No, why do we think that we're better and cleverer?
SPEAKER_03No, I feel like the same should be said for bras. Burn them. I cannot Dan. That's my favourite thing to do at the end of the day. Burn them is just get my bra off.
SPEAKER_02Like I hate them. I don't have very many. Weirdly, actually, today I've got one on that I very, very rarely wear, mainly because I've just run out of everything else. I couldn't find anything and it had to go on. But I wear like sports bras, yeah, um, or little like little crop top things, or if it's in the summer, I've now got these, I can't remember what they I think they're called bubbles, and they're just like little stick, no, they're not little, they're quite big, yeah. Sticky boob things. Alright. So if I've got like a vest top on or something, I can stick them on there. So basically, and you're not being poked, your eyes aren't being poked out by my nipples.
Community Rant Invite And Goodbye
SPEAKER_03Yeah, but also there's no support there, so if your boobs are round your waist, you you you don't have that problem. But I mean, well, I mean they could be round my waist, and I'm actually getting to the point that I don't care. You don't care, no, they could be round my waist. Don't care. No, I love the tangent there. So burning our bras, we've gone from barefoot shoes to burning our bras. That's my fault, wasn't it? Just sticking things on your boobs. Oh, geez. So that's quite I mean, that's quite a few trends and things we've gone through. We've been talking for quite a while, you know.
SPEAKER_02We have, we have indeed.
SPEAKER_03I think if you are listening and there's a trend that you like or you hate or you want to ask questions about, then do post them in the far too fabulous Facebook group.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, come and rant with us. We shouldn't just have to rant alone. Until next week. See you then. Thank you so much for joining us today. We love creating this for you. We'll be back next week with another great episode.
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