A diet is a phase of the journey… it’s not supposed to BE the journey.

But once the diet is over we revert back to past habits and behaviors that made us want to make a change in the first place... 

So we go from being ALL IN → to realizing we can’t realistically maintain such a dialed-in approach to our goals → to falling completely off track.

And then we start over again. And again. And again.

That’s the classic cycle of “yo-yo” dieting.

In order to break the cycle we have to understand that a diet is a phase — and have the habits and structure in place to transition OUT of that phase without feeling like you’re going from “all in” to “doing nothing.”

That’s where these 4 foundational habits come in.

Sleep. Hydration. Movement. Nutrition.

They give you a framework that allows you to decide how dialed in you want to & are willing to be - whether you’re in a dialed-in phase working toward a specific goal or in a maintenance phase focused on keeping the progress you worked so hard for.

Because you’re a human, not a robot, and you can’t be “on” 24/7…

Which is why we want to learn how to make this whole health & fitness thing a lifestyle not just a PHASE of the lifestyle.

Was there something I said in this episode that you want to hear more about? Let me know: https://forms.wix.com/f/7052348738324398977

Ways we can work together:

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29. The 4 Foundational Habits for a Sustainable Fitness Journey 

There's a difference between surviving and thriving, and most don't notice a difference until we're already stuck in a cycle of managing health issues that stem from years of avoiding basic habits that keep your body thriving.

It's the same concern health professionals have when someone takes a GLP-1 without a strategy, rather than as THE strategy.

Traditional medicine is not designed to look at your foundation , which is unfortunate because most go to their doctor to get healthier.

But we can't get healthier if we're not having a conversation about how the food you eat affects your health... or how the muscle you build directly impacts your insulin sensitivity.

The habits you practice each day affect your health in a big way - for the good or not so good.

Dr. Jason Shumard has spent 20 years in functional medicine watching people do everything their doctor told them to do and still get worse. Because nobody was looking at the root cause. Nobody was connecting the dots between what you eat, how you move, and what is actually happening at a cellular level.

If this was helpful, subscribe so you don't miss an episode so you can keep growing in your journey.

If you want to learn more about, and work with Dr. Schumard, go to his website: drshumard.com 

Follow me on Instagram: instagram.com/habitconsulting

##GLP1 #MuscleLoss #OzempicWeightLoss #InsulinResistance #BloodSugar #FunctionalMedicine

27. Healthcare is covered by insurance - Illness is an out of pocket expense

Your fitness journey has a lot more to do with your mindset and perspective than you might realize.

Coaches have a unique way of helping our clients move beyond relying on willpower alone — building a strategy and system that works with their life, challenges them to grow, and makes showing up feel less like something you have to do and more like something you choose to do.

Coach Jason Nelson has trained everyone from everyday people to competitive bodybuilders, and what he has found after years of coaching is that the tools are exactly the same. The only difference is intensity and timeline. Which means the reason most people keep starting over has nothing to do with how hard they are working and everything to do with how they are thinking.

In this episode we get into:

 * Why mindset is the single pillar holding everything else up
 * The all-or-nothing mentality and why it is the number one reason people quit
 * What bodybuilding and sustainable fitness actually have in common
 * How to stay consistent when life is pulling you in every direction
 * Why fat loss is the entry point, not the destination
 * The ripple effect of showing up for yourself

If this was helpful, subscribe so you don't miss the next one.

Want to work with Jason? Find him at bodyimagefitnessli.net [http://bodyimagefitnessli.net/] or on Instagram @JayNelson0580

#MindsetCoaching #FatLoss #SustainableFitness

26. The Problem Isn't Your Willpower - And Your Coach Knows It

Running on 4 hours of sleep, told your labs look normal, trying to manage cholesterol by treating the symptom versus root cause -

That is surviving. And so many of us have normalized it.

We are so focused on managing numbers and chasing quick fixes that we keep skipping the basics that actually determine how we age, how we feel, and how long we thrive. Dr. Melanie Icard is a functional medicine doctor who has spent her career asking why - not just treating what shows up on a standard lab panel, but digging into the root causes of heart disease, metabolic decline, and the everyday habits that are either investing in your future or borrowing from it.

In this episode we cover:

 * Why your cholesterol number is not the full picture and what actually predicts heart disease
 * The calcium connection to plaque, joint pain, and aging nobody is talking about
 * How muscle mass directly affects blood sugar and insulin sensitivity
 * Why your normal lab range is based on a sick population, not a healthy one
 * The post-meal habit that drops blood sugar in real time
 * Sleep, stress, and the long-term cost of running on empty
 * Basics vs biohacks — what actually moves the needle long term

Because the other side of investing in the basics — more energy, better labs, stronger body, longer life — is where you actually thrive.

If this was helpful, subscribe so you don't miss the next one!


Ready to work with Dr. Mel? Find her at: drmelanieIcard.com



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#MetabolicHealth #InsulinResistance #FunctionalMedicine

25. Muscle, Fiber, and Sleep Are More Powerful Than Any Biohack — A Functional Medicine Perspective

Two practitioners in two completely different fields come to the same conclusions.

In this episode I sit down with Morgan Rojas, Licensed Massage Therapist and founder of Find Aligned, and what struck me most about this conversation is how differently we got to the same place. Morgan works with the body from the outside through muscle, fascia, and nervous system regulation. I work with it from the inside through nutrition, strength training, and habits. But when it comes to what actually moves the needle for people, we agree that basics done consistently for your specific body will always beat generic advice. Every time.

We discuss why the same exercise, the same diet, and the same advice works for one person and fails another, why stretching only provides temporary relief and what your body is actually signaling when it feels tight, how your nervous system interprets movement as safe or threatening and why nervous system regulation looks different for everyone, why online advice — carnivore, keto, meditation, red light therapy — works for the person sharing it but won't automatically work for you, and why sleep, hydration, protein, and consistent movement will always outperform optimization.

Work with Morgan:
@morgan.findaligned | findaligned.com

Work with me:
→ 1:1 Coaching: https://form.jotform.com/habitconsulting/coachingapplication
→ Train With Me 4x/week: https://coach.everfit.io/package/EQ664047
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#strengthtrainingforwomen #fitnessadvice #musclerecovery #nervoussystemhealth #healthyhabits

The Basics Done Consistently for YOUR Body Beat Generic Fitness Advice Every Time — with Morgan Rojas, LMT

We look at exercise as a burden — something we have to do to get ready for an event, and when that event is over we're back to normal. But we forget moving our body isn’t finite - the goal of getting in shape is to stay in shape. And there's a lot more to moving your body than just changing how it looks.

I talk about what happens when we only move our body to reach a specific goal, and why the real purpose of strength training goes way beyond how you look. I share three real client stories to provide a different perspective on what strength training can do for your overall quality of life.

Whether you're trying to stay active as you age, keep doing the activities you love, or just get more out of your everyday life — strength training for longevity is how you get there. And it doesn't have to be as complicated as you think.

Join the next Train With Me cycle that starts June 29 - Listeners get 50% off your first month with code BASICS. 3 or 4 days a week, home or gym, no contract.

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#strengthtraining #strengthtrainingforwomen #longevity #mobilitytraining #functionalfitness #fitnessover40 #progressiveoverload #strengthtrainingforlife

23. Training for a Goal or Training for Life? 

Signs your body is surviving, and not thriving, include things like having low energy, increased hunger, slower digestion, weaker lifts, and increased cravings.

Those are just some negative biofeedback markers that would tell us something is off, and to learn to avoid the stress your body is dealing to even show red flags like that in the first place.

Those are signs your body is surviving and not thriving & we need to remember a diet is a PHASE of our journey… not supposed to BE the journey.

So many live in a constant state of restriction, chasing their smallest self, and deal with negative biofeedback markers like this as part of their normal everyday lives.

A calorie deficit is a tool for fat loss and weight loss. It is a phase of the journey, not the journey itself.

When we normalize chronic dieting, we normalize surviving instead of thriving & we don’t want to sacrifice our overall health for a short term goal.

In this episode we cover five biofeedback categories to pay attention to in a cut — hunger, digestion, energy, strength, and cravings — what is normal, what crosses into red flag territory, and why the goal of any fat loss phase is to get in, do the work, and get out.

Because the other side of a successful cut — more food, more energy, stronger lifts, less food noise — is where you actually thrive.

If this was helpful, subscribe so you don't miss the next one.

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#CalorieDeficit #FatLoss #ChronicDieting

22. If These Are Your Normal, You Have Been In A Deficit Too Long

GLP-1s are one of the most controversial topics in health and fitness right now, and most of the conversation is missing the point.

In this episode we're breaking down why they work, who they actually make sense for, and what you absolutely need to be doing if you're on one to protect your health long term.

Because 85% of people who take a GLP-1 gain the weight back. Here's how to not be in that group.

Topics covered:

 * What GLP-1s actually do and why they work
 * The muscle loss problem nobody is warning you about
 * Why protein and strength training are non-negotiable on GLP-1s
 * How to shift your nutrition focus when appetite is suppressed
 * Breaking the stigma around who uses them and why

If this was helpful, subscribe so you don't miss the next one.

#GLP1 #MuscleLoss #OzempicWeightLoss

21. GLP-1s: What You Need To Know Before, During, and After

Have you ever hit your macros but still have calories left over?

This is super common and there's a really simple explanation for why your macros and calories don't match when you're tracking your food. 

A big part of it comes down to how accurate nutrition labels actually are — and the answer might surprise you. The FDA legally allows nutrition labels to be up to 25% inaccurate, which means even if you're tracking everything to the gram and following your calorie deficit, you could still be off without realizing it.

In this episode I discuss why this happens, why net carbs aren't actually a real thing, how to read a nutrition label more accurately, and whether you should be following your macros or your calories. 

If you've ever wondered why things don't add up this episode will help clear up a lot of confusion so you can get back to focusing on what matters - showing up and doing your best so you can keep going. 

Work with me: 

→ 1:1 Coaching: https://form.jotform.com/habitconsulting/coachingapplication

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20. Why you have calories left over even though you hit your  macros 

Protein intake isn't one size fits all. 

Following a generic number you found online, or copying what someone else eats, isn't going to get you where you want to go.

It's also not an arbitrary number that your coach came up with - there are variables that determine how much protein you need to eat, and I cover those variables in this episode to help you understand how your age, weight, height, gender, activity level, type of training, and your goals affect what your intake should be.

Because the right amount of protein for a 45-year-old woman in a strength training program looks very different than it does for a 28-year-old doing mostly cardio. And a blanket RDA was never going to capture that.

If you've been guessing at your protein intake or following a generic recommendation, this episode will help you understand what actually goes into finding the right number for you.

Topics covered:

→ The old RDA guidelines for protein intake compared to the updated guidelines

→ How age, weight, height and gender factor into your protein needs

→ Why your training type and activity level shift the equation

→ How your specific goals change your protein targets

→ What to do with this information to start eating with more intention



Have a question or topic you want covered on the show?  https://forms.wix.com/f/7052348738324398977 [https://forms.wix.com/f/7052348738324398977]

Join the newsletter for more brain gainz:  https://forms.wix.com/r/7064968032702955562 [https://forms.wix.com/r/7064968032702955562]



Ways we can work together:

1:1 Coaching Application:  https://form.jotform.com/habitconsulting/coachingapplication [https://form.jotform.com/habitconsulting/coachingapplication]

Train With Me — Training Membership

4x/week  https://coach.everfit.io/package/EQ664047 [https://coach.everfit.io/package/EQ664047]

3x/week  https://coach.everfit.io/package/JR998021 [https://coach.everfit.io/package/JR998021]

Custom Nutrition Plan https://checkout.square.site/merchant/ML7X4SRS7V5FV/checkout/O6K2ROWQXKXKWVZ5FLXLTM2V



#proteinintake #nutritiontips #nutritioncoach #highprotein #macros #strengthtrainingforwomen #fatloss #healthyhabits #nutritioncoaching #proteinfood

19. Variables That Determine How Much Protein You Need

Ariella  Bocian (@abocian) · Zencastr

Ariella  Bocian (@abocian)

Breaking down the basics of building a balanced lifestyle and discussing practical ways to create a strong body & mind so you can focus on what matters in order to grow, evolve & keep going.

Train With Me Training Membership

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The Basics of Balance