This is an episode of Crush It Mondays.  Each week, I’ll bring to you an inspiring message, habit, or contemplation to get your week off to a powerful start.  In this week’s episode, I want to talk about how changing just a few words can make a big difference with your perspective and attitude.

How many times have you felt like you had to do something?  I have to go to work.  I have to take out the trash.  I have to do intervals today.  I have to take my kid to soccer practice.  Even if you don't always intend for it to be this task you are forced to do, saying I have to makes it sound like a chore. And let's face it, sometimes they are just chores and you would rather be doing something else.  Simply rephrasing how you talk about things you have to do, whether it be in your head or out loud, it makes a difference.

So instead of saying you have to do something, trying saying you get to do something.  Saying I get to go to work, I get to take out the trash, I get to do intervals today, I get to take my kid to soccer practice helps us have more gratitude and not take for granted things that we get to or have to do.  If you lost your job, you would not get to or have to go to work.  If you didn't have trash pick up, you would not get to take the trash out.  And I have to say, from the third world countries I've visited, I've seen what it looks like when people don't have trash pick up.  Having time and being healthy enough to get to go out and do intervals is a privilege, even if it's hard.  Having time or even making time to be there for your kid and take them to soccer practice is also a privilege if you choose to look at it that way.  Next time you find yourself saying "I have to" and you feel like it's a pain or you aren't really that happy about having to do something, try saying you get to do it.  It takes time, but this practice really helps!

The next word I want to talk about is a word that helps you practice a growth mindset (that is, believing that things like your talents, athletic ability, intelligence are not a fixed level that you are born with).  People who have a growth mindset believe they can cultivate their efforts to improve. A lot of times people say they can't do something...but that sounds so definitive. So say that you can't do it ... yet!  If you use the word yet, you can say that you aren't there now, but you can get there with more time and effort.  Some examples, "I can't make it up the hill... yet.  I don't get it... yet.  I can't do a stage race... yet."  For the majority of things you say you can't you do, you actually can if you choose to put more work in and keep going.  When you start using the word yet, you also realize there's a lot more opportunity waiting for you. Recognizing that you have a choice and that you can choose to improve is really powerful and gives you back some power when you feel like you have no control over something.

Listen Now

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The Grow the Good Podcast is produced by Palm Tree Pod Co.

Did you know your body has more gut bacteria cells than human cells?  The emerging field in gut health has made huge strides in how we view our health and how we treat diseases.  A newsflash: everything you put in your mouth also feeds your gut flora.  Many autoimmune diseases live in the gut and the bacteria in our gut even have an effect on our neurotransmitters like serotonin.  90% of serotonin is produced in the gut- this has a tremendous impact on depression.  That means that our gut can dictate parts of our personality. So how do you make sure you have a healthy gut?

Well, that's where Dr. Will Bulsiewicz comes in!  As he liked to be called, Dr B is an MD, a gastroenterologist and internationally recognized gut health expert He is passionate about the incredible healing power that lives inside you—your gut microbiota. Dr. B's medical training involved 16 years at America's elite institutions. He completed a bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University, a medical degree from Georgetown University, and Master of Science in Clinical Investigation from Northwestern University. Dr. B was also the chief medical resident at Northwestern and the chief gastroenterology fellow at UNC, and received the highest award given by both his residency and fellowship; and he completed an epidemiology fellowship at UNC's prestigious Gillings School of Global Public Health.

Dr. B has published more than 20 papers and presented more than 40 times at national meetings, and he is the author of a highly anticipated book on gut health to be published by Avery, an imprint of Penguin Random House. For more gut health pointers, follow Dr. B on Instagram at @theguthealthmd.

The biggest takeaway from this show is that you should eat as much variety of whole plant foods as you can.  Diversity is key and that's something I put into practice after recording this episode.

 

Topics Discussed in the Podcast 

• what is the microbiome?
• how does our gut flora affect our personality and mental health?
• Decoding cravings
• Diseases and the gut
• The study that changed how Dr. B practices medicine
• Demystifying antibiotics, probiotics, and prebiotics
• discussion about candida overgrowth
• are we over sterilizing our world?
• the best foods for your gut
• the danger to your gut with fad diets like paleo, keto, cutting out legumes, etc
• is kombucha good for you?

Listen Now

15:50

You are not the victim of the genetic profile that was handed to you.  You have control over your health which I find to be very empowering and it's your choices during your lifetime that ultimately will determine whether or not you actually manifest disease.  You will have predisposition. Ther are certain things that because of my family I am more prone to. There are certain things that I"m fortunate because of my family that I am not as prone to. But it's my lifestyle choices that will ultimately will lead to the manifestation of those conditions.

 

 

Resources

• The study that changed how Dr. B practiced medicine
• Follow Dr. B on instagram
• Dr. Will Bullsiewicz Dr. B's Website

 

 

Support the Show

If you would like to support the growth my show, I’d love your contribution on.  Patreon.  The current production of this free show is primarily supported out of my own pocket and a small portion is covered through the donations on 

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The Grow the Good Podcast is produced by Palm Tree Pod Co.

This is an episode of Crush It Mondays.  Each week, I’ll bring to you an inspiring message, habit, or contemplation to get your week off to a powerful start.  In this week’s episode, I want to talk about how changing just a few words can make a big difference with your perspective and attitude.

How many times have you felt like you had to do something?  I have to go to work.  I have to take out the trash.  I have to do intervals today.  I have to take my kid to soccer practice.  Even if you don't always intend for it to be this task you are forced to do, saying I have to makes it sound like a chore. And let's face it, sometimes they are just chores and you would rather be doing something else.  Simply rephrasing how you talk about things you have to do, whether it be in your head or out loud, it makes a difference.

So instead of saying you have to do something, trying saying you get to do something.  Saying I get to go to work, I get to take out the trash, I get to do intervals today, I get to take my kid to soccer practice helps us have more gratitude and not take for granted things that we get to or have to do.  If you lost your job, you would not get to or have to go to work.  If you didn't have trash pick up, you would not get to take the trash out.  And I have to say, from the third world countries I've visited, I've seen what it looks like when people don't have trash pick up.  Having time and being healthy enough to get to go out and do intervals is a privilege, even if it's hard.  Having time or even making time to be there for your kid and take them to soccer practice is also a privilege if you choose to look at it that way.  Next time you find yourself saying "I have to" and you feel like it's a pain or you aren't really that happy about having to do something, try saying you get to do it.  It takes time, but this practice really helps!

The next word I want to talk about is a word that helps you practice a growth mindset (that is, believing that things like your talents, athletic ability, intelligence are not a fixed level that you are born with).  People who have a growth mindset believe they can cultivate their efforts to improve. A lot of times people say they can't do something...but that sounds so definitive. So say that you can't do it ... yet!  If you use the word yet, you can say that you aren't there now, but you can get there with more time and effort.  Some examples, "I can't make it up the hill... yet.  I don't get it... yet.  I can't do a stage race... yet."  For the majority of things you say you can't you do, you actually can if you choose to put more work in and keep going.  When you start using the word yet, you also realize there's a lot more opportunity waiting for you. Recognizing that you have a choice and that you can choose to improve is really powerful and gives you back some power when you feel like you have no control over something.

Listen Now

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The Grow the Good Podcast is produced by Palm Tree Pod Co.

If you're familiar with my podcast, I'm sure you've heard other episodes with the acclaimed researcher and environmental physiologist, Dr. Stephen Cheung.  Dr. Cheung is not only a well of knowledge on the topic of environmental physiology, but he is an avid cyclist himself.  He is a professor at Brock University in the Department of Kinesiology.  He also is an author of the textbook Advanced Environmental Physiology and the books: Cutting-Edge Cycling, and Cycling Science.  You may have heard him on the show in Episode 93 talking about how to heat train or Episode 114 on how to train for altitude.  He was on sabbatical from Brock University earlier this year in my hometown of Kelowna, BC and I was fortunate enough to pick his brain on all kinds of topics.  In his spare time, he is the Sports Science & Training editor for www.pezcyclingnews.com. I'm excited about this episode because it involves something we have all experienced- wanting to slow down while exercising.  There are several schools of thought and fascinating research about perception of effort, whether limits live in our mind or in our body, and how to even trick ourselves to go harder for longer.  If you enjoy this episode, I highly recommend you check out my episode with Alex Hutchinson and his book Endure or my episode with researcher Dr. Walter Staiano. All of these episodes I've mentioned are in the show notes. It was fun to sit down with Dr. Cheung on this topic because the theory of what causes us to slow down is controversial and Dr. Cheung offers a pretty balanced view.  He has also done a lot of research in his own lab by seeing how heat affects the body and also how motivational self-talk affects how soon someone slows down.  

Topics Discussed in the Podcast 

• Temperature study // Theories of fatigue
• Central Governor (Tim Noakes)  vs Psychogiological Theory of Motivation via Samuel Marcora
• how to train your brain to push yourself harder
• motivation, relativity and benchmarking of pain
• how to know if you're mentally fatigued or just not motivated
• role of motivational self-talk & examples of good self-talk
• getting out of the rut of quitting
• how to know when you should quit because of danger to your health
• motivation in a lab vs a race setting
• does the deception of data work to get someone to go harder?
• does music help you go harder?

Listen Now

 

Resources

• Interconnections between thermal perception and exercise capacity in the heat
• Heat Podcast with Dr. Cheung
• Altitude Podcast with Dr. Cheung
• Advanced Environmental Physiology
• Cutting-Edge Cycling
• Cycling Science

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The Grow the Good Podcast is produced by Palm Tree Pod Co.

Gary Dudney has ran 70 100 mile running races...and he is 66 years old.  His goal is to get to 100 100 milers.  Gary is the author of the 2 books: The Tao of Running and The Mindful Runner where he writes about using mindfulness to combat common problems when tackling a big event: thinks like quitting, staying positive, getting through the dark moments, expectations and acceptance, and how to view the bad things as good things. He is a long time columnist at Ultrarunning Magazine.  In this episode, we get into what it takes to have mental endurance.  

Topics Discussed in the Podcast 

• how gary got into running
• progressing to 100 miles
• how he started writing
• how not to quit, how to get out of a quitting rut
• techniques to stay positive and keep going
• why mindfulness is a useful tool
• mantra: Infinite patience, steely determination
• 4 horsemen to positive thinking
• expectations & acceptance
• how to make bad things good
• story of 3 vinegar tasters

Listen Now

 

 

Resources

• taoofrunning.com
•  

 

 

Support the Show

If you would like to support the growth my show, I’d love your contribution on.  Patreon.  The current production of this free show is primarily supported out of my own pocket and a small portion is covered through the donations on Patreon. With my Patreon page, you can donate directly to the show which will help me cover the costs and help it grow! Even 4 bucks a month- the cost of one coffee per month helps a LOT! Thanks, I really appreciate your support!

Crowdfunding on Patreon – thank you!

Shop my products! 

Leave a review or share on social media

Don’t forget to subscribe!

Apple Podcasts

Stitcher

Google Play

Spotify

Thanks for listening!

--------------
The Grow the Good Podcast is produced by Palm Tree Pod Co.

This is an episode of Crush It Mondays.  Each week, I’ll bring to you an inspiring message, habit, or contemplation to get your week off to a powerful start.  In this week’s episode, I want to talk about a random and awesome thing that happened in the grocery store.

Listen Now

 

I was at the grocery store admiring all the summer produce.  As a side note, I counted and there are about 10 types of fruit in my fridge right now- one of the perks of summer. As I was lost in my own thoughts, a guy came up to me and said, "Hey...Sonya?"  It turns out he knew me from my racing and my online content.  I'm always super humbled when this happens, so thank you to the guy that said hi- you made my day.  He told me he was about to leave for Europe to take on a bikepacking race. He wanted to know if I had any advice for him.  I wanted to give him something that I thought would be useful, but I kind of froze for a minute because I was caught a bit off guard!  I loved it.

The first thing that came to my mind is advice I've given before and experienced many times.  I told him that he shouldn't expect to feel good all the time. He should expect to feel like the quitting at times.  I was worried it would come across as negative, but for the vast majority of people, even people who are winning a race, the thought of quitting because it's hard crosses your mind - especially when it's long! How many of us have asked ourselves, "why did I sign up for this?!" but then are happy when we finish and want to do it again?  I remember a long time ago... like over a decade ago, my friend and former teammate Yuki Ikeda and I were talking after a race. He did so well and I remember he told me he wanted to quit so bad.  That was the first time I realized that it wasn't just me.  I really appreciated his honesty because if I thought about quitting, I'd harshly label myself as mentally weak. But being mentally strong is pressing on despite wanting to quit.  Being mentally strong doesn't mean you don't ever feel doubt, misery, or frustration.  It means you let those feelings in, accept them, and keep moving.

Now I'll take this for another turn. I told the guy that yes, expect to have dark moments, accept the feelings, and it's okay. However, he should expect to have extreme moments of elation, moments of raw emotion, moments where he would be overwhelmed with beauty or inspiration.  That's what you sign up for when you are pushing yourself to the limit, especially for loooong races. It happens in short races too, but I think it's more pronounced the longer the event because you take yourself to a place of physical exhaustion and keep going for hours and in some cases, days or weeks.  It truly shows you that thing the hard moments won't last forever if you keep going and that they will get better.  You just have to be willing to go through the storm and come out the other side.

 

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The Grow the Good Podcast is produced by Palm Tree Pod Co.

A common question I get emailed to me is what I eat on race day.  Race nutrition is very individual - what works for one person may not work for another.  In this episode, I sat down with GU Energy LabsNutrition & Performance Research Manager, Roxanne Vogel  to help give you guys some guidelines on how to create your own personalized race nutrition plan.  This applies to any endurance sport.    

Topics Discussed in the Podcast 

• • The keys to structuring your race nutrition plan
  • how many calories to start with per hour
  • how long to digest gel vs solid food
  • how to come back around when you make a nutrition mistake
  • chews vs gels
  • hydration strategies
  • how to use caffeine in endurance racing
  • what to eat and when on race morning
  • what to eat after your workout for recovery
  • do you need to carbo load?
  • supplements to take and protein
  • what to eat on a recovery day
  • how to eat for weight loss/fasted rides

Listen Now

 

 

Resources

• Ask the GURU 
• Roxanne's instagram
• Roxanne on Everest

Support the Show

If you would like to support the growth my show, I’d love your contribution on.  Patreon.  The current production of this free show is primarily supported out of my own pocket and a small portion is covered through the donations on Patreon. With my Patreon page, you can donate directly to the show which will help me cover the costs and help it grow! Even 4 bucks a month- the cost of one coffee per month helps a LOT! Thanks, I really appreciate your support!

Crowdfunding on Patreon – thank you!

Shop my products! 

Leave a review or share on social media

Don’t forget to subscribe!

Apple Podcasts

Stitcher

Google Play

Spotify

Thanks for listening!

--------------
The Grow the Good Podcast is produced by Palm Tree Pod Co.

This is an episode of Crush It Mondays.  Each week, I’ll bring to you an inspiring message, habit, or contemplation to get your week off to a powerful start.  In this week’s episode, I want to talk about how our thoughts affect our emotions, and how it can alter the consequences of a situation.

Listen Now

I was prepping for a new format of a speech that I just had the opportunity to give at the Inspired Your Ride event in Nampa, ID.  I have my usual topics I love to discuss, but I came across the ABC Model in Cognitive Behavioral Psychology.  I often think about and discuss the importance of being aware of emotions.  It's hard sometimes... sometimes you feel disrespected and get angry, sometimes someone says something that makes you feel embarrassed.  And maybe you say or do something that you wish you hadn't.

In this model, we are going to break down a situation into A,B,Cs.

Let's start with A.

A is the adversity that you are experiencing. It's something that happened to cause you stress, make you worry, or just cause an emotional response.

B is the belief about what happened.  It could be why we think it happened, what we think will happen next or even a combination.  It's our interpretation of the adversity or event.  Often times, due to this belief, we will create limiting beliefs or negative self-talk.

C is the consequence of the belief.  It is your behavior like acting out, excessive rumination, yelling at someone, feeling guilt or shame.

D is the disputation of the belief. Asking yourself- is the belief true?  Can you change your irrational belief?

E is the New Effect of challenging and changing your belief. 

Without considering this model, many of us may think that the adversity actually causes the behavior or consequence.  The gist of it is that the adversity does not actually cause emotion, but our beliefs about that emotion is what causes the behavior.

The key to putting this to use is actually noting and even writing down when you've had a strong reaction or emotion to something.  You can decode what causes you to be reactive and learn how to challenge your beliefs.

I'll start with a very basic example that applies to bike racing, and then I'll give a more inflammatory example.

Okay... so I did a 6 day race in Spain last year in February.  The expectations everyone had was that it would be sunny and warm- a nice escape from winter.  If you follow my instagram, you've probably seen a photo from this race.  It was sunny for one or two days and then the rest of the race had torrential rain.  So much so that they ended up canceling the later stages (which I actually found disappointing, but realized that safety for those not prepared is a real issue).  So what happened? I wake up and it's cold and pouring rain.  Adversity.  Of course I would rather ride in nice weather.

So, here is one scenario:

A: it's cold and raining, and I have to race my bike.

B: in this case, the belief is rooted in what we think will happen next.  I'm worried I'm going to be cold and miserable or it's going to be slippery and I'm going to crash.

C: I'm really grumpy and dreading the start. I start going down the rabbit hole of negativity telling myself I didn't come all the way to Spain to ride in the rain, it always rains on me when I try to go somewhere warm, I'm dreading how horrible it will be.  My bike is going to get messed up. I really don't want to start.  I shut down mentally and given up. I have already lost before I get to the start line.  I probably perform poorly as a result.

Okay, so now let's challenge that belief. - our disputation

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The Grow the Good Podcast is produced by Palm Tree Pod Co.

Steph Gaudreau's mission is to help women create bigger, bolder, fiercer lives — by building health from the inside out.  From her incredibly powerful instagram posts of 200k followers to her best selling books, she creates meaningful content to help people change for the better.

Her new book, The Core 4 is coming out on July 30 and you can actually pre-order it on Amazon now!  It cover 4 pillars: Eat nourishing foods, Strengthen your body Recharge your energy, and Get your mindset right.  I personally enjoyed this book because it's very interactive with worksheets and even journal prompt. She is also the host Harder to Kill Radio.

Steph is well-versed in creating changes in life.  Steph was a teacher for 12 years and created a successful food blog. She transitioned again and spend her time as a Nutritional Therapy Consultant, author, blogger, podcaster, and also is the host and founder of the Women's Strength Summit.

 

Topics Discussed in the Podcast 

• where Steph came up with the Core 4 and holistic coaching
• how to change your narrative to have more self compassion
• celebrating success and a healthy relationship with success
• ultradium rhythm and energy management
• what to do during a break from work
• body image, perception of what the scale says

 Listen Now

 

Links

• Get the Core 4
• Harder to Kill Radio: Steph's podcast
• StephGaudreau.com
• Steph's Instagram
• my other episode with Steph

Support the Show

If you would like to support the growth my show, I’d love your contribution on.  Patreon.  The current production of this free show is primarily supported out of my own pocket and a small portion is covered through the donations on Patreon. With my Patreon page, you can donate directly to the show which will help me cover the costs and help it grow! Even 4 bucks a month- the cost of one coffee per month helps a LOT! Thanks, I really appreciate your support!

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The Grow the Good Podcast is produced by Palm Tree Pod Co.

This is an episode of Crush It Mondays.  Each week, I’ll bring to you an inspiring message, habit, or contemplation to get your week off to a powerful start.  In this week’s episode, I want to talk about health.

Listen Now

What comes to mind when you hear the word "health?"  For me, the first things that come to mind are things like absence of illness, whether someone exercises, and the food that someone eats.  When we say that someone that looks healthy, it usually means that look fit and maybe have healthy looking skin.  But health goes far beyond exercise and the plate.  It's something that we often forget.  For example, you can look healthy and still have an eating disorder or mental illness.  You can look healthy but maybe be suffering from burnout or you can even look healthy and have heart disease.

After reading Dan Buettner's work with National Geographic a few years ago in Blue Zones and Blue Zones of Happiness, it reshaped what health meant to me. If you haven't heard of the Blue Zones, the Blue Zones are places in the world where people live and prosper even at age 100, and have the highest concentration of centenarians.  What contributes to this health span into old age?

Directly from his book, Dan Buettner suggests health and longevity includes:

• engage in regular, low-intensity physical activity, often as part of your work
• eat until you're 80% full.
• eat a diet with a "plant slant" and limit intake of meat and processed foods
• drink red wine in moderation (but bear in mind alcohol is linked to causing certain types of cancer and can has toxic effects on your organs when daily consumption exceeds a glass or two)
• take time to see the big picture
• downshift and take time to reduce stress (examples like not rushing around and meditating)
• participate in a spiritual community
• make family a priority
• be surrounded by people who share blue zone values

I've translated Dan's work with the Blue Zones to my own life in these ways:

• Exercise, and exercise with a positive perspective. i.e. don't use exercise as punishment and don't overtrain. Make sure you give yourself enough recovery from exercise.  Also, for me, exercise is always very cardiovascular focused. Stretching, doing yoga, or working on strength and mobility are important to overall health- and I struggle to make this a priority.

 

• Eat as close to a whole foods, plant-based diet as you can. For me, I don't consume any animal products, but I admit that going out to eat because I'm too lazy to cook, or eating too many treats or eating vegan processed food can creep in if I don't watch it.

 

• Spend time with friends and family- whomever makes you feel happy. This one actually is hard for me.  When I'm really passionate, I want to apply all my focus to my work.  It's embarrassing to admit, but when I'm in the thick of my work, I don't want to stop and spend time with friends or family.  I remind myself I need to make time because it's important. After I do, I always feel better.  There are even studies that show that working longer and avoiding social time does not equate to doing better work.

 

• Spend time looking at the big picture and the meaning of life by reflecting on death and impermanence by reading spiritual text or philosophy that inspires you so that you can connect to something bigger.  Sometimes we think that we are individual, but we a

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The Grow the Good Podcast is produced by Palm Tree Pod Co.