Food addiction, short workouts and training on low iron

0:14Welcome to Muscle Science for Women. It's your favorite host Ashleigh, you're Ashleigh Yeah, that's my name. Usually- Yeah … you say your name and then- I was waiting to see if you'd do it … and then you do it. I'm Rachel, that's Ashleigh. Yeah. Hello. Yeah. We're ready to go. We were doing a little bit of, a gossip talk- offline that we decided we were going to bring on, onto- At the- … the show today, so stay tuned for that. But before we even dive into that, any, any updates, any life updates?

0:40What's going on since we last chatted? How you doing? Oh, man. I'm doing okay. Yeah. Well, I think, just what's top of mind is- Yeah … I feel like, at least because as we're recording this, our emotional- Mm-hmm eating shame- Mm-hmm … episode went out yesterday. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And so I've gotten some feedback on that. Mm-hmm. And a lot of positive feedback. and it is just kind of, an area, like, me, when I'm struggling with something, I take a deep dive- Mm-hmm … into it as much as possible. And so that has been kind of, peptides is one, one thing, and then the emotional brain, like, n- not necessarily emotionally, but like the, the brain and the reward cycle and addiction and stuff like that.

1:32Those are like the two things that I'm just really diving into right now. Hmm. and when I say addiction, I just mean, we talked about in the last episode how, when we're coping with things, we turn to what's comfortable, what we've kind of patterned ourselves. And me and you mentioned, like, we don't drink alcohol, we don't smoke. Mm-hmm. Like, whatever. And food, in a sense, like there's kind of a new terminology that's going around, which we can dive into later, and as I'm researching more about it, called food addiction.

2:02Have you heard of this? Mm-hmm. Have I heard of food addiction? Like, l- but like the actual terminology that's- Yeah. Yeah, yeah … not just like something that someone says. Sure. Like, it's an actual thing. Yes. Yeah, yeah, yeah. because it's like, alcohol addiction or addicted to smoking, like those are all common things, but if someone says food addiction, you immediately think, how can you be addicted- Mm … to food? Mm-hmm. But it is actually something that is emerging. So I'm just, not s- not saying that I'm addicted to food, maybe on the spectrum of it.

2:28Mm-hmm. I get a lot of pleasure out of food. I've always had, always have as a kid. I remember I used to go home and watch the Food Network channel every day after school and do my homework. And so yeah, anyways. Mm-hmm. So I'm diving a lot into that and, it, it is spurring from this kind of period of time where the last few months I definitely like leaned on food- Mm-hmm … as my like main coping mechanism to a point where I was like, this is- This is becoming a little bit too much. Like, there, and then just to full transparency, like there was one night, like a few weeks ago, and you're gonna laugh, that I literally ate an entire, and I think I talked about, an entire tub of Greek yogurt.

3:12Mm-hmm. Like Fage Greek yogurt. It's called protein maxing for the kids. Okay. Yeah. But like it was after I ate an entire dinner- Sure … and I wasn't hungry. Sure. So I had this whole tub, and I was just trying to numb and just didn't wanna feel the feels. Mm-hmm. And it was like a huge tub of Fage with berries, and I'm like thinking to myself I, I just wanna, kind of wanted to like think about it more and more. And so I'm diving into that, and there's a lot behind like the reward centers of your brain when it comes to s- specific types of food.

3:45Obviously, we know that with processed food and all that stuff, but even things like yogurt and cottage cheese and berries, like the texture, frozen, it's anytime, but the texture of it can create more reward signals. So you're like more, the, the pleasure that you get out of it is way higher than you maybe normally would- Mm-hmm … or that someone else would- Mm-hmm … even though it's a healthy, high protein thing. And so it's not necessarily the, the food itself that we're paying attention to. It's more so like- Am I getting… Like for you it's chocolate, right?

4:23Mm-hmm. Like how much reward am I anticipating, which is dopamine- Mm-hmm … you're anticipating the reward, from this specific food, and is this keeping me caught in this pathway, and how do I get out of it? Mm-hmm. And so that's what I'm kind of working on now to try to dive into, and the first step for me is I've got, I've put Greek yogurt on hold. So- Hm. Yeah … yogurt's out of the house for now, and I'll keep you posted. It will be interesting to see with this like sort of formal diagnosis of food addiction how that impacts how different support systems can help people with this, because I know there are people out there, at least up until very recently, who… And fitness professionals, health professionals who will adamantly say food addiction is not a real thing and it's all about creating better habits and, environments and things like that.

5:22And of course that's stuff we talk about all the time, is that creating better habits and environments can s- can help you achieve your goals and help you break out of cycles that you don't wanna have. but I think the thing that makes food addiction so uniquely tricky is that, when we talk about drug addiction and we talk about alcohol addiction, these are things that we can all kind of universally accept are not great things for us. They're coping mechanisms only, and they're things that we can cut cold turkey out of our lives.

5:48I mean, that's, that's an acceptable thing to do, whereas you can't cut food out of your life. It- Mm-hmm … has to be a part of your daily routine, whether, whatever your relationship to it. So I think that that's where people have a hard time kind of getting their head around, like how can you be, how can there be an addiction to something that is like something you still need to have and- Yeah but I mean, we just have to look at the current state of, I mean, certainly c- global culture, but like Western culture, and look at how the ways that people abuse food and what it's doing to our health to know that- Mm-hmm … we have an environment that is very, more than any other time in, in history, uniquely set up to make us have dysfunctional behaviors towards food, the, the type of food, food culture, all that kind of stuff.

6:32And then you see what we're doing with it and how we're, how we're using it. It's, it's obviously a real thing. Mm-hmm. Yeah. so I think it'll be really interesting to see how having some more formal, understanding of food addiction- Yeah … will impact people's ability to deal with it. I think that's a very good thing. Yeah. And one, one more thing. I won't go off on this forever, but the thing I also think about is like there are, known disorders that are- directly related to food. Mm-hmm. BED, binge- Mm-hmm … eating disorder, bulimia nervosa, anorexia- Mm-hmm … those are all related to that.

7:09and with the food addiction, quote-unquote, side of things, I think that, like what you said, yes, you have- you need to eat food to survive, but it's more thinking about the specific foods that trigger those heightened reward pathways in your brain. Mm-hmm. and a lot of people are like, "Oh, you're just res- like, you're probably so fat, like, fixated on that food 'cause you're just restricting so much." And I think that that, at least to me, is starting to kind of come together. Like, that's not true for everyone.

7:41I'm not restricting Greek yogurt. Mm-hmm. I'm also not restricting calories. Like, I've been eating in a, a surplus for weeks, months. so I'm not in, like, a restriction, restriction mode, right? Or whatever. And so it's, like, thinking about, okay, like, is this… Are there two separate parts of it, where there's the restriction and then the addiction, right? Obviously, those kind of overlap in some ways, but I just think that- people who shut the, quote-unquote, "food addiction" down, right away, it's like y- there could, like you, you don't actually know what these people are feeling.

8:20And so I think that, like you said, the more we can kinda dive into, like, the, the brain, like what's happening in the brain? Like, that's what I'm interested. What's happening in the brain? What's happening with th- those reward pathways? and the kind of getting it out of the… Like, for example, getting the yogurt out of the house. The thing that I thought about is, like, I've been turning to this, yogurt 'cause it, I, the Fage has really great texture. I love it. I really look forward to having it, and it's now it's causing a little bit of a too much of a reward.

8:48So yes, I'm gonna remove it from my house for a while to see if that helps. And I kind of thought about it, like, oh, if someone's an alcoholic and they're, they're in their first stages of recovery, they're not gonna… Someone's not gonna be like, "Oh," like, "You're not gonna come hang out at the bar with me?" You can just have a couple beers. Like, of course. Like, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So it's kind of, obviously, that's to an extreme, in that, in the sense of yogurt versus alcohol. But it, first you gotta look a little bit deeper than that.

9:17I think you gotta look- And again, it's not- … more so at the individual … you're not, you're not cutting out the yogurt because you're like, "This is so bad and I'm gonna get fat if I eat it." You're cutting it out- Yeah … temporarily because of the way you're using it is, is a- Exactly … it's, yeah, it's doing something to your brain that you're, is not beneficial for you right now, and so you're, It's funny 'cause I had a very similar reaction to the sourdough chocolate chip cookies that a neighbor makes.

9:41we have a farm stand- Sounds good … 'cause this is how far out in the country I live. There are farm stands where you just go and, like, pick up this person's sourdough and their, like, baked goods, and you just, like, y- you transfer the money. And we go every weekend 'cause they make the best sourdough, really good sourdough. That sounds really good. And they make sourdough baked goods, and so I'll usually get them for, like, if people are coming over and, like, to have a little treat or whatever.

10:00And I was telling Alex the other day 'cause I've wor- I've gotten them q- quite a, a bit recently, and it's crazy. Like, I am just coming out of, again, like a somewhat restricted phase where or f- at least a phase where I was eating a lot less sugar and treats. And the minute that I put one of these in my mouth, I'm like, "I don't even need to be a fit person. I don't care. I don't care." Like, that is the reaction. That true, like, and I'm not even kidding you. Like, I literally would eat one of these and I was like Fitness does not matter to me.

10:26Like I don't, I don't, all that work I just did over the last few months to lose like 10 pounds, F it. I don't, I don't care, 'cause that's how good this tastes in this moment. Yep. And so once I got the taste of it out of my mouth, I was like, "Alex, I can't have these in the house anymore. Not right now." 'Cause it's bad. Yeah. 'Cause it, it does, it, yeah, exactly what you just said. Like we're all probably- There are- on a spectrum somewhere. I know people who literally can eat a piece of their favorite dessert on the planet and then walk away from it and have zero whatever.

10:55Mm-hmm. There are people like that, 'cause we're all on a spectrum. And I can do that sometimes too. Not me. And that's what I'm saying, like you go through different, there's different things. And it's like, just like life is always changing, there's different things that maybe are rewarding you more at different times of your life. Mm-hmm. And it's like if you can just like- collect the data, I'm a nerdy nerd like that- Mm-hmm … and like really kind of see what is this and, and be, be very honest with yourself, I feel like you can start to, like, again, implement these tools.

11:25And for example, the last few nights I've literally had p- potatoes and egg whites as my last meal of the night because I'm trying to dim down that period of time where I'm so, like, at night- Yeah … sitting on the couch is a trigger for me to want to- Just waiting for your treat or whatever. Yeah. Yeah, we talked about this. Yeah, so I'm, like, waiting for that thing. Like, even the Ninja CREAMi, I've taken that out for a little bit because I'm like, let me, let me try to, like, just like the dopamine reset that we talk about, like our challenge.

11:52Mm-hmm. Hey, if you haven't checked that out- You can do that … Muscle for Women. That's a good, that's a very good segue. You're good at this because if people- … like listen to the… We should've, we should've segued that- Yeah … in the, in the, emotional eating episode. But if you're somebody who's listening to this and you're like, "Yeah, so this is 100% me, and I just crashed out over a chocolate chip cookie a minute ago" - … and like if you're really, like if you're really vibing with what we're s- we're saying here, we did create a very, like, short, very accessible dopamine reset challenge that literally is the kickstart to getting out of- Mm-hmm this kind of rut that we're talking about.

12:26So we'll put it in the show notes and we'll- Yeah … it's on our website, but, this is exactly what we're talking about. Yeah. So yeah, sorry. ' Cause it's like you're adding… So like at night, it's like sitting on the couch is a trigger where I look forward to. Then I'm adding the really great texture of the Greek yogurt that I love with the frozen berries. Then I'm on my phone scrolling. Then I'm watching a show I really like. It's like all these things are adding up to reward, reward, reward, and I need, like you kind of need to bring that back down at a certain point, and that's exactly what the dopamine challenge does.

12:55So anyway- Yeah … I'm gonna shut up. We'll talk about this more- Yeah … later. Okay, so we, there were a couple… I put out a thing on Instagram saying, "Hey, is there anything you want us to talk about?" And there were a couple, like, very topical kind of things that came up that are like a little bit, I'm just gonna use the word trashy, that I tend to… I have very mixed feelings about adding my two cents to things, 'cause I'm somebody, like I s- I do spend a lot of time on social media, but I'm the person who, like, errs on the side of not giving my opinion because even if I usually have one- Because I'm like, you don't need another person giving their unprofessional two cents on some trashy thing that everyone's talking about just to get attention on social media." what I mean?

13:40Yeah. I tend to, even if it's big stuff, if it's political stuff, if it's whatever, if me and you ask me my opinion, I will always give it to you, but I'm not the person who's going on social media and like, "Hey, guys, guess what I think about this BS that just happened?" Like, I just am not that person. With that said, there are two kind of funny thing things that have been in the news recently, but I'm gonna tease this, and if we have time at the end of the episode, we're gonna get to some, listener questions first because that's, like, real stuff- Mm … that's actually educational and probably adding to the world.

14:08If we get through that and we have some time, we'll talk about the trashy stuff at the end. How's that? Well, I'm teased. 'Cause I'm, I'm still, I, yeah, I'm still a little, I'm still a little, like, on the fence about whether we even should talk about this stuff. But anyway, let's dive into the questions 'cause that's the real meat and potatoes, egg whites and potatoes- if you will, of this podcast. Let me clarify. It was full eggs plus egg whites plus potatoes. I mean, that's delicious. That's- Carbs, fat, and protein … you're talking to a former bodybuilder, okay?

14:32One of my favorite meals, I don't know if we've ever talked about this, but one of my meals when I am trying to keep my calories in check that I know will be, actually quite satisfying for me that is completely a holdover from my bodybuilding days, and I think people will think that I'm nuts, is oatmeal and m- with egg whites mixed into it. Oh, yeah. Cooked egg whites mixed in, probably an egg or two as well, and cinnamon and, like, a little bit of, like, sweetener, like a stevia. So the eggs are basically sweet.

14:59Okay. Yeah. That's my- I, I'm into it … that's my pre-workout almost every day. Yeah. There's zero fat, which, whatever- People are like when you're trying to lose weight. And I- From the egg, if you use a whole egg, you get the fat … a little bit, right? But, like, that- Yeah … I've been eating that consistently on, when I'm trying to be good since my- Yeah … bodybuilding days, like a decade ago. It works. And when you find those meals that work, like- Mm-hmm ground beef and sweet potato with a little bit of, like, fermented vegetables or whatever.

15:23Like, you find these meals that you just are like, "This is good. It's not incredibly delicious." Yeah. Like, I don't wait for it every day. Exactly. But it's good. Exactly. And it's satisfying. Mm-hmm. And I know it has what I need for my body, and you can eat that for the rest of your life. Yeah. That's it. Wait, okay, can I just… We're gonna get into the questions, but do you, have you ever been to, like, one of those carnival- The carnivals and you, there's like the, the thing that goes up and down and you have to like hit the thing super hard- Oh, yeah … and you try to- Uh-huh … get it to the top.

15:48Yes. Okay. I don't know why this just made me think about it. Like, if you're thinking about the reward in your brain, if all of your meals get that far to the top, or if there's meals that you have or snacks or foods or whatever that are so high and hit that top thing, and you get that stuffed animal reward, if that's happening all the time, again, like you are programming your brain, your mind, your body to want those things more and more and more. But if you have these meals that kinda get like halfway up there- Yeah … that's kind of where you wanna be, right?

16:19The middle ground. And then if you have meals that are all, always at the bottom, like literally just- Miserable … plain rice and broccoli and chicken- Ugh … you're not, that's miserable. You're not gonna… Maybe once in a while, but you need to be kind of like in that balance, and then in the middle there, and then on occasion, the higher ones, right? And anyways. 100%. I don't know why I just thought about that. Maybe 'cause my family- That's actually- … owns a carnival … a very good visual. Wait, what?

16:46What? You didn't know that? What? Yeah. My, my family owns a carnival. I'm sorry. That's, like, one of my fun facts when people are like, "What do you mean fun fact?" Kelly owns a carnival. it's called The Strait Show. My mom grew up on a carnival, like a train that goes through, and it's a carnival with, like, the carnival stuff. Okay, we're talking about this offline because what the hell? That's amazing. Are you, do you, were you, like, a carnie growing up? My mom was. I wasn't, because it was back in the day, but it's still around.

17:16You can Google it, The Strait Show. I would not have guessed that about your mom. It's my grandmother's twin brother's carnival. Okay, so- Anyways … we'll do, we'll, we're gonna do a Muscle Science for Women after dark behind-a-paywall episode about that- because I wanna know all about it, but I guess we have to continue on talking about fitness now after that. How long have we been recording- Anyway … and we haven't even gotten to the, the meat and potatoes? We've been talking about health stuff.

17:38This has been very- Yeah, it's fine … helpful to people. and that actually is a really good visual, and it's, and again, it just goes back to what we always talk about, which is consistency. You cannot live in the margins. Nobody lives in the margins. It doesn't, it doesn't, or you don't for a long time. Then look what happens. This Bryan Johnson guy who spends $800 a day to, like, hide inside and never see the sun so he can live to be 150, and now he has, like, an autoimmune disease and he's, like, super ill.

18:03You can't, when you're extreme- Is that what we're talking about at the end of this? No, no. Okay. But it's, you're, you're not as on top of these- I don't, I don't know anything. Like… But anyway. Sorry. People who are listening get it. You cannot be super extreme for long periods of time, and the people, I literally was just on a client call just before this, and I was telling her, and, I know she's heard it from us before, but the fittest, healthiest, most successful people are the ones who are able to be consistent over time.

18:29It's not the people who can be the strictest. It's not even the people who can work out the hardest or most impressively. It's the people who can take care of their body consistently the way they're supposed to o- over time, long periods of time. That's it, period. So- Hallelujah … not sexy, but truth. Mic drop. Let's end this podcast now. Forever. Just kidding. Okay. What? Okay. Ooh. Let me get into the questions. All right. All right. First question from our friend and dear listener, Hannah. She says, "Hey, friends.

19:00I'd love your take on the efficacy of small strength sessions throughout the day rather than a single long one. I have an extremely busy schedule, work full-time, parent of two small kids." Hey-yo, I get it. "I notice I can fit in three or four sets of maybe two movements in about 10 minutes, but then I have to stop and come back to it later. We're used to longer gym sessions. this just isn't feasible for me right now. What do you think?" What do you think? Well, you're mom. Yeah. Do you wanna start?

19:26Well, my voice is back. I mean, I think the easiest- First of all, thank you for, being nice, and thank you for sending a lovely message. Mm-hmm. And you're already doing more than, most people, considering the load that you're under. So just be- give yourself a pat on the back for that. I think the easiest, quickest answer is that at the end of the day, what matters for getting fitter and stronger is progressive overload and challenging yourself appropriately. And you can do that in multiple sessions over a day if you want to.

19:56It's not ideal for most people, 'cause it's just not convenient and it's harder. You have to get back into the zone. You gotta maybe warm up again a little bit, or you have to get over to where the weights are, or whatever it is. But that's your only option it seems like. And so, and we all know that parents of young kids, we are not doing anything optimally. Everything we're doing is under duress, and with no sleep, and stressed out and in a rush. So this is a period of your life where you're not gonna be doing things maybe the optimal way.

20:23You're gonna do the best you can with what you have, and that still can get you, that can get you places. so the answer is yes, you can. You just need to- Mm-hmm … still, y- shorter periods, shorter multiple periods over a day doesn't translate to rushed, not really paying attention, and kinda half-assing it, right? You still have to, whatever your goal is, if you're trying to actually, build muscle or if you're trying to lose a bit of body fat, or if you're just trying to maintain and stay s- keep a certain level of fitness, you still need to, for those, three 10-minute sessions during the day, you still need to, eh, make sure your body is primed appropriately to whatever you're about to do, and then you still need to do it properly with the proper intensity and difficulty and challenge to your muscles.

21:05So- Mm-hmm … and that, that do- that is a little bit harder when you're doing it the way that you're doing it. But yes, you can. Do you have anything- Yeah … to add to that? No, I agree. I think that, first of all, something is better than nothing. Right. So if this is your only, the only way that you can get your workouts in, 100%, go for it. It's not gonna be like this forever, right? Mm-hmm. and the second thing is, It, it kind of reminds me of, have you ever heard the term exercise snacks? Yeah.

21:31Yeah. So like different… Like during the day doing these little exercise snacks, like things that are just getting your body moving. not necessarily to the degree where you're, splitting a session up into the, to multiple times throughout the day in terms of like strength training. But again, feasible. And I do think, like you said, the biggest concerns that I have is, one, just making sure that you are like warmed up going into each of- Yeah … those little pockets so that you don't injure yourself.

21:58Mm-hmm. and two, making sure that to some degree you are tracking progressive overload because that's gonna be the biggest thing over time. And I would say the difficulty thing here is that with kind of a, a, a regular 45 to 60-minute workout, it's kind of easy to standardize, especially if you're following the program week to week Shout out to Muscle Science Women Program. Mm-hmm. and building off of the previous week, we wanna make sure that if your main goal is to continue to build muscle and continue to shape your body, that you're not just doing random workouts, right?

22:34And so, we always talk about that with the boot camp style stuff and not being able to track. So that is what I would make sure that you're paying attention to. Mm-hmm. And keeping at least that part standardized as much as you can for each of those segments. Mm-hmm. Yeah. No, that's, that's very good advice. And then, yeah, I guess the last thing I would say too, 'cause when you mentioned exercise snacks, also, Hannah, if you're in a place where you're like, "Maybe I can't always…" Like, the progressive overload thing is just, like, a lot for me to handle right now.

23:02Like she's saying, like, "I'm working full time. I've got two kid-" Mm-hmm. Like, you got a lot going on. Maybe this period too isn't about progressing or moving forward. It's about showing up for yourself. Like you said, sort of something is better than nothing. And I, I… Like, I'm coming out of a year and a half of doing that. Like, I'm just getting to a place now where I actually feel like I'm trying to build muscle and really challenge myself. For the first year, it was like, just do something because endorphins-wise, it makes you feel better.

23:30It can give you more energy. Giving yourself some time that's just for you, that you're doing something for yourself can help with your mental health and your sanity during such a very busy period of your life. And it's also just, again, the, what we keep saying is this, like, habit stacking of consistency so that when you do come to a f- a place where maybe you do get a couple hours a week where you can go and dedicate yourself to the gym, you've already built up this consistency that's like, "Yep.

23:54This is what I do. I go to the gym. I work out. I take care of myself," because you've been doing it even when it's not optimal, even when it doesn't feel the best, even when it might be hard on your ego because you're just doing some squats and pushups in your house. Mm-hmm. You still are showing up for yourself, and it's, your body remembers it, and your brain remembers it, and that's what it's about. So like we just said, you can absolutely still build muscle and improve with this, this, approach that you have, but even if that's not what you're doing, even if it's just maintaining, holding onto your sanity, and giving yourself, Mm-hmm … a little bit of a, a boost a couple times a day, that's also good and important and will help set the foundation for you to do more when the time is right.

24:35Yeah. Yeah, and normalize the season of life that you're in, right? Mm-hmm. Like, we talk about this. The dial is being turned up and down throughout your whole life. There does- Mm-hmm … it doesn't always need to be on max, even for us. Like, even for me. Mm-hmm. The past year and a half has been a complete- sh- shit show, for lack of a better word. Mm-hmm. And workouts have been all over the place. Like, there's maybe a month period of time where I've, I get really into it. I'm like, "Oh yeah, I'm really grooving here," and then something happens and I'm just like, "Okay." So you just have to know when to like, like what season of life you're in, understanding that life is always going to life and shit's gonna happen.

25:13And if you can, not e- give, not make excuses for yourself, but if you can, like we talked about last time, give yourself some compassion in these higher stress times or these times where you already are, like your capacity is already so high. That's another thing, capacity. We can talk about that next time, but a lot of that is going into kinda the brain stuff with the food thing, food addiction thing that I've been researching. but like understand like where your capacity's at, because y- like, like you just said, you have to like be okay with doing a little bit less and still showing up to keep that habit going, no matter what, what that is.

27:49Tiana. "Hi, ladies. Long time listener and have learned so much from you both." Oh my God, I always love when… Thanks. Thanks, Tiana. I know, I love it when people- Thank you … are nice. That's so nice. " I am currently going through some tough health, health issues. It's primarily…" Sorry. It's primarily… Oh, no. Menor- heri- herigia? Menorrhoa- menorrhagia? Mm. Very healthy, very heavy cycles. Very heavy bleeding. Oh, okay. I've never heard that term before. Yeah, I've never seen or seen it either.

28:22Interesting. Okay, so ve- very heavy cycles which has led to extremely low iron. I've been working with all kinds of doctors, and am hopeful that healing is coming. However, I'm struggling with my fitness. My very consistent three to four times per week lifting sessions have needed a dramatic- … pullback in intensity and frequency. With the extreme fatigue I'm having, pain and tiredness have also made caring about keeping my diet really tight also not a big priority. "Do you ladies have any encouragement for someone in my spot who is facing chronic fatigue or extended healing and feeling so off? I don't wanna be lazy, but I also feel so depleted physically and emotionally."

29:01Hmm. Yeah. I feel like this builds off of the last one a little bit. Yeah, totally. And I mean, we do have words of encouragement. First one being, like, we will extend the kindness to you that I'm sure you would extend to someone in your life going through this that you may have a hard time extending to yourself, which is you're going through something really tough, and to give yourself some grace and just be, acknowledge that you're going through something tough. And this isn't you being lazy. This is you having a medical issue that is making other parts of your life very difficult.

29:33And I know there are so many women listening who have very, tough cycles, very heavy bleeding, very uncomfortable s- like, have been through this and get it. And I can say, just to try to, connect on some level, I know it's not the same, but going through pregnancy, you, almost every woman gets low iron at some point in pregnancy, even people who love to eat red meat as much as I do, because growing and having a baby just, really sucks the iron out of you specifically, like a lot of micronutrients, but iron specifically.

30:03And I suffered some of the ef- effects of that, and so I understand, like, the just bone-deep exhaustion that comes from, to a certain extent, that comes from this particular issue. and I've dealt with people, I know people who have had, like, chronically low iron that need blood transfusions to, like, function during the day. Like, it's a real thing. It's a really, really serious thing. So It's a big, it's a big deal what you're going through, so you, don't, don't, make light of what you're, what you're dealing with and what you're trying to f- to, to work through, Mm-hmm.

30:37So hopefully you feel supported by people in your f- in your life. and, obviously we can only speak so generally to that because we are not experts in this, and we can't say like, "Here's what you should do, and here's how you should eat." but what we've just talked about and what Rachel was saying earlier is, like, there are seasons, and we very much hope that your team is gonna help you get through this and figure it out so that it improves, and your energy comes back, and you can kind of get back to what you're used to doing and what you wanna be doing.

31:06But to a certain extent, fighting, trying to fight through something like this could maybe cause more problems than you want, and I think- Mm-hmm … that there's a certain element, too, of kind of control what you can, So you mentioned, "I'm super tired, I'm exhausted, I'm kinda miserable. I can't really work out the way I want to, and it's also making it really hard to, like, eat well." And so there, again, we say, like, you probably can control maybe the diet more than the exercise at this point.

31:34You're, you're probably gonna have to really, really dial back the working out in a way that sucks for you but is necessary. But the food, you probably, you probably do have a bit more control over that, even if it feels crappy to do it. and I'm sure that there are me- that medic- a medical team can, provide some information on ways that you can be eating to really sort of try to help the situation that you're in. Mm-hmm. But, and there's still, like, there's movement that you can do that, i- is gonna be beneficial rather than, than, draining you further.

32:03Like, I know again, when I was in a period where, like, literally every step that I took hurt, and I was enormous, and I was low iron, and I was miserable, and I'm like, it's such an ego death to be like, "My strength is gone. My mobility is gone. My ability to, like, move my body pain-free is gone right now," and that's really hard to deal with. But again, I think the attitude of somebody who is successful and consistent and can kind of get through these things is not the like, "Well, I can't do what I used to do, so everything's done and my life is ruined." It's like, "What- Mm-hmm … can I do?" "Can I go for a walk?

32:38Can I do a yoga class? Can I, y- stretch my body? Can I…" Anything, anything- Mm-hmm … that you're still just giving your body attention and love and some form of movement. what can you do? And focusing more on that versus what you can't do right now, which I understand. I get it. Mm-hmm. But it's just not a productive use of your, your very finite energy to be like, "Well, I can't do, the stuff I wanna do." Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I agree, and I think that, like, just kind of being, the kind of looking at this period of time from the food pers- exercise s- side of things, yes, you can, control that to a degree.

33:14But it's like this, this is definitely not the time to, to try to go into any deficit. Mm-mm. You wanna be main- you wanna be at maintenance minimum. You wanna be looking at- Nourishing … your food to fuel you, to nourish you. and it kinda goes back to what you were talking about in the beginning, like thinking about, and you said, you said, "Pain and tiredness have also made me, made caring about keeping my diet really tight not a pri- priority." So it's like, okay, we don't necessarily have to keep your diet super, super tight, but we don't wanna go to the other degree and just, have the F it mindset and like we talked about on the other episode that I had for a while.

33:49because that's just gonna kinda keep you in that cycle. So it's how can we find that balance? and how can, you have support with this too because obviously, you have support from your doctors, but this is where… And again, like- I'm not pitching anything right now. I'm just being super realistic. Like, I always, when I'm in these times, I have to, I have to hire a coach, and I have to hire someone who I know can, that I can, that can support me in the season I'm in. And this is actually, I don't know if I told you that I hired a, a coach, and then I just hired- You did, yeah … a new one.

34:23Yeah. Okay. But I just hired a new one. Oh, like really recently? She's actually a, like, like a f- like two weeks ago. she's a nutritional, nutritional practice… Oh my God, an NTP. Okay. So more on the behavior side of stuff, which I'm like, "I definitely need that." So anyways, having support for the season that you're in to be able to, understand that one, you're obviously not alone in this. Two, what are some things that maybe feel really daunting and feel like, overwhelming and you, and you just can't, like, grasp them, and so you end up in this cycle?

34:56What are some of those things that maybe somebody else can help you To be that outside set of eyes looking in. Not just, obviously accountability is a piece of it, but more so, like, the support and, like, you're not alone in this, and someone who can kinda teach you to implement these little things so they don't feel so, big and scary, right? Mm-hmm. And they're f- they feel like things that you can implement during this specific season of your life. And so, yeah, hire us. No, I'm just kidding. And maybe, again, maybe right now, it's not appropriate to hire even a nutrition or a health co- Maybe your full-time job for the next however many months is literally getting yourself back to baseline, getting back to health.

35:37Like, I- Yeah … I feel like one thing I've noticed with some, like, former athletes and stuff in my circle, people who tend to… Like, again, you wanna focus on the, like, sexier, funner, more productive feeling things of, like, I wanna get back to, like, how can I figure out a way to still work out despite X, Y, Z problem? And it's like maybe you should be approaching your, all of your, your spare time that you would normally be devoting to a fitness routine or, like, whatever, your nutrition to, like, he- like, health.

36:06Like, working with your, whatever that health, that medical team to, like, figure out… 'Cause this is a, this is a serious- Mm-hmm issue that you're dealing with. And so maybe, you obviously strike me as somebody who is a fitness-minded person for whom this is part of your life, and you're gonna get back to it when you can. But maybe it's, like, literally just paring it all back and being like, w- how do I get to the root of this problem, fix my health, and my body's functioning properly so I can come back into it?

36:32And it, it might mean taking a full break. Like, I mean, we don't, this isn't something we talk about a lot. We talk about deload weeks, and we talk about phases of, of, Yeah … bulking and cutting and stuff. But, like, sometimes people take six months or a year off of, their rout- their, their regular training, strength, nutrition routine- Mm-hmm because something else happens, And, again, in the grand scheme of things, if you, like, look back over your life, it's not the end of the world, and it may be exactly what you needed, Yeah.

37:01Yeah. And I think recognizing that too, like, like, for example, I took the summer off of any coaching, right? And then when I came out of that- like severe depression cycle, which we talked about in the other episode, I was like, "Okay, I'm ready to go." And so I hired a performance- Mm-hmm … style coach 'cause I was like, okay- Zero to 100. That's my Rachel … I want a new goal. Okay, but, but hear me out. And then I got into that and I was like, "Uh-uh." Oh, no. Yeah. " I'm not ready for this."

37:31Yeah. I'm like, I need, like 'cause then some other things were coming up and I was like, "No, this isn't it." So I went and did some more research and I was like, okay, I need to hire another therapist on top of my regular therapist to help get my brain and my behaviors a little bit more in check before I now try to go back into what I've done in the past, right? So it's, it's like, okay, I'm actually, I'm proud of myself for being able to like recognize that faster than I- Mm-hmm … would have in the past.

38:04And I think that's also something too. It's, there's so many people out there who specialize in different areas of things and can support you in different areas and, I, I feel so much more equipped from s- a lot of things that I've learned and coached over the years, but it's just because I've, we've been in this industry for so long that we've seen so many different things and we've learned so much. But, I, I just think that the support side of it is important 'cause- Yeah … we can be, we can go in our heads, just spin around, spin around, and then we're just stuck in this cycle of like feeling like we're not doing enough.

38:34And then it's just, it's, it's a bad cycle to be in. So yeah. Everything that you said and- Mm don't hesitate to, reach out- Mm … for support or join a support group or something that you can kind of anchor to, that can help you, f- just like feel okay. Yeah. That's really- Anyways … really well said. we wish you the best, Tiana, Tiana. And also, you said at the very end- Thank you like depleted physically and emotionally, like maybe another thing too is to try to find some other things that can fill your cup emotionally that are not so tied to the fitness element.

39:09Because a lot of us, we do, it is a really big part of our identity and our personality is being like the fit person, the person who works out, the person who cares about their fitness, and when that is just stopped in its tracks for a reason outside of your control, that can be really debilitating. But it's also important to remember that that is still, even if it's really important, and that's okay, it's still only one part of your y- who you are. You, you have other, I'm sure, interests and things that you love to do and things that make you feel good about yourself and things that make you feel happy.

39:40And so maybe that's another thing that you can just during this sort of interim or like what are some other things I can maybe focus more on while I have to focus less on the working out or whatever it is. Mm-hmm. Yeah. 100%. Okay All right. Do you want to… Do you want me to, like, just- Do you wanna briefly talk about your social media, Okay. So again, I'm conflicted. I'll give you 10 minutes. There's two, there's two things, and one of them, uh, I kind of don't wanna talk, 'cause you don't know about it.

40:11Like, if you knew, like when I mentioned… When I just said the word Hyrox and you didn't know what I was talking about, I'm like, I honestly don't know if I- No, I know what Hyrox is. You do know. But I don't know what the situation- This… Exactly. That's what I'm saying. All right. Give us the, give us the lowdown. I'm not… I'm gonna start the other one, because that one- All right, fine … Alyssa, I really wanted to tell you offline first, just because, again, there might be some people listening who are like, "I absolutely want no part of this conversation," and I don't blame you.

40:31but it's just one of those things where, again, my initial response is like, I don't wanna respond to this at all, and then I'm thinking, "Wait a minute. We do have a podcast about fitness." We have a podcast? And maybe… Yeah. And maybe some people listening want to hear what we have to say about these things. And then when I put the thing up on social media, a couple people were like, "Hey, what do you think about this? What do you think about this?" Hmm. And I was like, "Okay, so, like, we'll talk about it." But anyway, so I'm gonna talk about the other one first, 'cause you apparently have been totally living under a cave and don't know about either of these two things.

40:57This has been all over my algorithm. These two things have been all over my algorithm for the last, like, 48 hours. They'll probably be old news by the time this podcast comes out. Okay. The first one, long story short, lots… I follow a lot of women s- athletes and fitness influencers on social media, and a lot of people have been getting really up in arms over a recent ad for a sports betting company that was… The ad is Sydney Sweeney. So do you know who Sydney Sweeney is? My algorithm is all peptides and heartbreak, okay?

41:29Great. I'm sorry. Okay, it's fine. I'm just asking if you know who this actress is. Anyway, she's basically… And again, there's no judgment. I don't care one way or the other. This, this person is known predominantly for just being hot. She's got really big boobs. Oh. She's hot, and she, you know, is very comfortable, using her sexuality- Looking her up. You're, like, looking her up. Sydney Sweeney, look her up. I mean- I'm not a boobs person … anyway, she's not everybody's type. But she's very popular.

41:56Okay, I'm listening. She's very popular with men. And she did a, an ad for a sports betting company that's just, like… It's absolutely, like, male gaze, sexy ad 101. It's just her, like, covering her boobs and, like, a basketball and, like, s- bending over and, like, just… It's just, it's like- I must see this … everybody's seen it. It's not anything, like… It's not… What they did was they knew it would probably create some outrage, and it did. Are you watching it? I just looked at her Instagram.

42:25Okay. And the first two pictures are pretty, Is it… Am I describing her- I'm surprised Instagram allows this. Okay, so there you go. So anyway. But here's the thing. So she, she… They did this kind of gr- like, just sort of very, kind of boring, expected, sexy ad about, "Hey, boys," like, "bet on sports. Look at my boobs." Like, they… That's what it is. Whatever. Wow. And it went hyper, hyper viral because people were really outraged, because people were like, "This is just too much overt sexuality," and it, it makes a mockery of, like, women in sports and women, and objectifying women in general and all of this stuff.

43:01And so, again, my feeling is like- It, I don't really actually have a super strong opinion about this. I'll tell you kind of my thoughts. But when you go online and you talk about it, you are literally doing what the advertisers hoped that you would do. Because if this person did this ad and the people for whom it was intended, men between the ages of 18 and 60, whatever, saw it and signed up for the sports betting, okay. But what it did instead was everybody, everybody talked about it and showed it and clipped re- like, did the little reel thing, and everybody saw it.

43:37People who never, were not the intended audience at all, all saw it and joined the conversation and made it so much bigger than it initially was. And my biggest feeling about it is not the sexiness of it or anything like that. It's that I personally believe that sports betting, online sports betting, online gambling in general, and I think it's not even just about sports. I think these, this particular company, what's really insidious about it is that there are, like, these betting, gambling sites now where you can literally s- bet on, like, how long will this celebrity couple stay married or, like, just, like, stuff that isn't even- Mm-hmm sports anymore.

44:15It's, like, betting on, like, just misfortune and stuff. It's, like, super gross. Yeah. And in recent years it's, it's becoming more apparent that online gambling is becoming, like, a real- issue for, especially men and young, young men. And there's, obviously a fine line between sort of freedom, to do what you want with your own money, and it's legal and whatever, and also the fact that this is a pretty, overtly negative, kind of shitty part of, humanity right now that is not good for most people.

44:47so that's one argument you could make that like, well, it sucks that this person is using her image to promote, and, and making money off something that's awful and causing a ton of, of suffering. But what my thing is, and this is why this is a bigger conversation, is that you're seeing a ton of women influencers and, fitness influencers and athletes saying like, "Sydney Sweeney doesn't know what women's sports are," and like, "This is what a woman athlete really looks like," and, "Sydney Sweeney sucks"- Mm-hmm and all this stuff.

45:13And it's like, this was never about female athleticism and empowerment. They're not, we're not comparing apples to apples here. Like, this is just about a naked woman making money to promote something for men. That's what it was. And you can be offended by it if you want, and you can also think that it sucks that she's doing it. you can think- Yeah … that it sucks that people pay more attention to that than they do to female athletes. Like, you can have all these arguments, but the outrage literally helps them, and this is something that is a, a specific problem with the way we take in and, and d- discourse about s- current events now is that it's really about whatever creates the most outrage.

45:56It's not about what's the most educational. It's not about who has the most educated take. It's literally just about will this piss enough people off that it will get me more attention? And that's from, again, politics to health to- Yeah everything. Everything, right? And so, it, it was a, it's still going, it's still like happening. I think probably the news arc is falling off, which is another thing. It just every couple of days there's like a new outrage. but I just think it's interesting that one of the, one of the new things we're seeing is because everybody has a platform and everybody wants to give their two cents, again, us included 'cause I'm doing it right now- Mm-hmm We don't, we don't seem to get what the purpose of it is.

46:38Like, now we just have outrage for the sake of outrage. We have our two cents just for the sake of our two cents. There is no, like, I'm trying to fix a problem or I'm trying to, address a real issue 'cause I think it can make the world better. It's just this pissed me off, and so I have to let everybody know, and unfortunately, people are monetizing outrage now. Yeah. And it's just, it's, very interesting. But you didn't even see the ads, so I guess you don't really have much to- I didn't see anything about this until- To this.

47:08Like, I don't… Honestly, I don't watch I don't watch the news and not my own… My algorithm- Yeah … I s- I could do that is- Very peptide focused right now. Is peptides- But that's the other thing is I didn't ask for this … and heartbreak. Like, I, I follow heartbreak. I follow and I d- and I curate my, my social media where, like, a lot of my stuff, there's fitness- Me and that … and health-related, and then it's, like, parenting, and then it's, like, cute baby gorillas. Like, I'm not trying to know- Send me some of those so I can get- I- … that on my algorithm, please.

47:37I'm all over it, okay? Just wait. You're gonna get so many cute baby gorillas, you're not gonna know what to do with it. Mm-hmm. but yeah. Like, I don't wanna be outraged, but they send it because they're like, "Oh, well, but you do follow this, like, fitness woman who has a lot to say, and she just happened to say something about it, so…" And then I s- I looked at it because again I'm like, "Whoa, what's everybody freaking out about?" And now that's all I see because that's what social media does, is it tries to piss you off.

48:01It tries to piss you off. Yeah. So yeah, wild times. Mm. I don't know. I would like people to weigh in on this. Like, I- Mm not even necessarily tell me what you think about the Sydney Sweeney thing. If you want, tell me what you think about the outrage economy if you want, but also, like, is this the kind of stuff that you want? Do you want us to talk about super current events? 'Cause we tend to avoid it. Like, we tend to avoid the, like, stuff that just- Yeah pops up for a week and then goes away.

48:27We tend to talk more about, like- Because I feel like- … fundamentals … I feel like, yeah. I feel like, in my opinion, it's like I don't really care what's going on. But to be fair, let me stop you there because I don't care about AI, but it's topical- Yeah … and everybody's talking about it, and so we have to talk about it. Well- what I mean? And like, yeah- Yeah … you can say, of course, that, that it relates to our business or whatever, but just because we personally might think it's stupid or uninteresting doesn't mean it's not part of the- Yeah I hear you … the industry that we're in, right?

48:57So anyway, that's why, like- I hear you and I'm sure we'll get people being like, "F this, I don't care," but there, Yeah … there are obviously people interested or else it wouldn't be on, like, 4,000 reels over the last, like, 24 hours. Yeah. Yeah. one thing I, that just popped in my head is I do want to, announce, are we announcing that our YouTube channel is starting to get some- Pop off videos on it. so if you enjoy listening to us, but you might enjoy watching and listening to us more, or you are interested in, you're like, "I don't feel like listening to a whole episode, but maybe I want some glimpses of it," we are starting to put out the full episode on YouTube, plus about, like, eight to 10 clips of different topics so that you can, like the shorts, you can go on, instead of maybe scrolling Instagram, you can scroll the shorts on YouTube and get educated.

49:48And if you see something that you like or hear something that you like, you can click on it and then find the video for the full episode and learn more about it. so yeah. Follow us on YouTube because we're popping off. YouTube. And I think Rachel said in, like, in the last episode, speaking of Sydney Sweeney, I think she said that we'd, like, wear less clothes if that's what you wanted. Oh, yeah. Sure. Sure. So you let us know. I'm clearly not doing it right now. If, if you want us to put basketballs in front of our boobs to teach you about, nutrition- I don't have- Basketball or my boobs?

50:18No, I have boobs. Okay. I mean, I have less these days. Two years of breastfeeding will do that- Honestly, though- to a girl … I knew I was gaining weight in such a short period of time because my boobs got- Your boobs came back, yeah … really big, and I was like, "All right." Nice. "Let's dial this in." So funny, depending on who you are, that's either, like, the best news or the worst news. you're like, "Ah, man- I don't care the boobs are coming back." Yeah. But I just know what it, what it means.

50:38You're boob neutral. yeah. Cool. I love a butt, though. Like, give me a juicy- I mean, who doesn't? … booty. Who doesn't? Is that R-rated? Should I not have said that? My mom listens to this podcast. I mean, but again- Hi, Mom … you literally just said a universal truth. There isn't a person on the planet who doesn't agree with that, so- Wants a juicy boo- … wait, did I, did I tell you that I was putting some, Oh, this is also… Okay, we'll finish here. I was playing around with your favorite AI- Yeah … to develop potential, things to put on our shirts- Oh, cool … for Muscle Science for Women.

51:11And- Some design, you're saying? Yeah. Some designs, yes. And, I was like, "I don't know what…" Like, all, I was coming up with all these corny sayings, and then one of… I was like, "F this." And then I was like, I told my friend, and I made it, and was, and I should have sent it to you. I was like… Or did I send it to you? I was like… The saying is, "Want a juicy booty, question mark?" And then on the back, it's like, "We got you, musclescienceforwomen.com." This is why AI sucks. This is why we need to get, like, a- No, th- that was me … actual designer.

51:38Oh, okay. Well, this was- That was my- This is still why we need to get an actual designer no, because the phrases were so corny, and I was like, "No one's gonna wanna wear this on a shirt, so let's just go, like, really off the rails." But obviously- Yeah … we're not gonna do that … I don't think anyone would want that shirt- Anyways … either. I think we need to, I think we need to- Okay … continue to brainstorm. But to be continued, because we do get a lot of people being like- Do we? … "Where's the merch?" And I'm like- Okay … I would love us to have some cool merch, but easier said than done.

52:01Well, my, yeah, my friend owns a screen printing company- Yeah, yeah, yeah … and she was like- We gotta talk about that … "We'll make you some stuff." Yeah. Anyway. Yeah, it's just the design piece. I think- Well, TBD, guys. Yeah, and if you have any fun things that you'd wanna, like, that you would actually wear on a shirt that's related to anything- But we're not gonna pay you- … that we talk about … royalties, so don't, We'll, we'll credit you. We'll give you a shirt. Yeah. But we're not gonna pay you, so.

52:24We'll give you a shirt and shout you out on- Yeah, we'll shout you out- … the podcast that- … if you have any good ideas … has, is gonna eventually blow up in soon- Yeah … since we've been doing this for years, and it's about time we get some… Right. Anyways, goodbye. And- Now I'm getting mad we're done. And we're done. It's okay. All right. all right, well, this, this was good. We didn't do a, a listener Q&A for a while, so- Yeah just a reminder that it's open, and we read your emails, and we'd love to have you be a part of it.

52:54So send us- Mm-hmm … send us your questions, your topic ideas, your thoughts, what, what you want our opinions on, whatever, anything we haven't covered yet. you can just go to our website, musclescienceforwomen.com. There's a little form there you can fill out. You can email us at musclescienceforwomen@gmail.com. That's the number four. You can reach out to us- Mm-hmm … on social media. We're around looking at baby gorillas or peptides- Mm-hmm … depending. We're here for you. So let us know what you want- Or crying … and we'll do our best to deliver.

53:24And until next time, don't be insane. And don't do stupid shit. And- Would you wear that on a shirt? I mean, I… Maybe. Maybe. We'll work on it. We'll work on it. Okay. Goodbye. All right, we love you guys. Bye. Love you. Bye.