Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Getting a flu shot is one of the most important things you can do to stay healthy this year. Flu shots are available and free to University of Alabama students at sites across campus and at the UA Student Health center and Pharmacy. Check out our schedule at CCHS UA EDU flu shot. Call 205-348-6262 for a flu shot appointment at the student Health center or walk
[00:00:23] Speaker B: up Monday through Friday from 4 to 4:45pm WVUAFM, Tuscaloosa.
[00:00:36] Speaker C: Happy Sunday, y'. All. You are listening to Fit to be tied with Sheen and Whitney on 90.7 the Capstone. And we're close to Halloween. Do you dress up for Halloween?
[00:00:45] Speaker D: I used to. Okay. I mean, if I had somewhere to go and like, a really fun adult slash kind of immature party to go to, because I don't really view myself as, like, I like the fun things, but I probably would dress up.
I like dressing up, but I just don't have anywhere to go. And, like, I don't have kids, so it's not like I can go dress up with my kids. It's just, Yes, I would just be by myself and dressed up.
[00:01:08] Speaker C: No, you make a good point because I'm like, oh, I have kids. I guess I could dress up with them.
[00:01:14] Speaker D: Yeah. But also, I don't want to spend the money for a costume. It has to be something smart and thrifty that I have at my house because when I was a kid, I danced and so I had, like, dance, dance costumes everywhere. So I would actually, I would do a costume change. I would take a lap around the neighborhood, then I'd do a costume change, and then I'd go for another lap for, like, extra candy. Okay. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now, do you trick or treat with your kids? Do y' all trick or treat or trunk or treat?
[00:01:39] Speaker C: We, we do a little bit of different things. Like, we'll go to, like, activities like, on Halloween. We, the kids have just been too tiny to, like, do the full blown, like, door to door stuff. Although this year is the first year that we're wanting to attempt the thing that Student Athletic association does where it's like, in the indoor football complex. And, like, so, I mean, my kids are not gonna understand, like, oh, yeah, I get to meet Bryce Young. But I mean, me and Terri would be excited about that.
[00:02:10] Speaker D: Yeah. You know, I just, I just remember this because we, we came off of active aging week last week, and I do a lot of work with Capstone Village on campus, and they do trick or treat for the residents there.
[00:02:20] Speaker A: Really?
[00:02:20] Speaker D: Yeah. And so I'll have to get some more information, but they'll do. I think it might just be, like, in the garden home area, like a safe place to trick or treat. And you. At Capstone Village, they're awesome. I've learned so much about just people and what they do and that, you know, at any age, you need to be active. And so since I've been working with them, I forgot that they had that event coming up. So I'll get you some more information if you want, like, more places to trick or treat. How fun would that be?
[00:02:46] Speaker C: That would be super fun. And now. Okay, so thinking about the dance class that you do with Capstone Village, what has been, like, your. Like, what has been the most popular songs that the residents have enjoyed? Has it been, like, a lot of Elvis or you.
[00:03:00] Speaker D: Surprisingly enough, I haven't put one Elvis song on the playlist, which you think I would. That'd be my first go to. But I've played like, oh, my gosh, Tutti Frutti, like Little Richard, like, that whole. That same genre of music. But what's most interesting is I'll watch the residents start dancing. Like, I'll just choreograph something simple, easy. We dance, we move. But I'll see them start to do their dance moves from back in the day. It's like they remember these steps that they did. And I'll be like, oh, let's all learn that. Like, how do you do that? Like, what is this dance? So it's been very educated because I don't really, like, I have a dance background, but I don't know those particular types of dances. Like, I don't know how to jitterbug. And I had to have Jane shout out to. Jane had to teach me how to jitterbug. So I have them. Like, none of the guys ever want to dance. It's always the women. So I get the women to, like, partner up, and they'll jitter bug with each other. And it is so fun to watch because it's from such a different time period. You know, it's really fun. So for active aging week, this past week, we did a tour of the rec center. We did a dance class at the rec in our studio, and then we did a chair yoga class and a bounce and a mobility class. And it's just really fun to see, like, all the college kids coming into our facility. But then you have, like, the villagers, what I'm coining, literally, that's what I call them. Like, the villagers, like, the Hippest. Yeah.
[00:04:20] Speaker C: I don't even know.
But like, that is an awesome, like.
[00:04:24] Speaker D: Well, because they don't want to be considered older grandmas and grandpas. I mean, they're pretty hip. And so we call them the eye circ, call it the villagers. But like, to see their clientele come in with the 18 year olds working out and them wanting to still be active, it's pretty cool.
[00:04:37] Speaker C: That is amazing.
[00:04:38] Speaker D: Yeah, I just.
[00:04:39] Speaker C: I had to ask about that when you started talking about your.
I'm just gonna call them your friends.
[00:04:44] Speaker D: They are village. Oh, yeah, we're tight.
[00:04:46] Speaker C: You know, that made me think of that. And even though that that's not necessarily what we're gonna be talking about today, it kind of goes hand in hand when we think about just, you know, things that we can be doing in terms of lengthening our longevity, I would think in terms of quality of life and all the good things. But we're gonna leave you on that cliffhanger and teaser for a minute, get some hydration, run to the restroom, do what you gotta do. You are listening to fit to be tied with sheena and Whitney on 90.7, the capstone.
[00:05:20] Speaker B: Wvuafm tuscaloos.
[00:05:29] Speaker D: Welcome back. You're listening to fit to be tied with sheena and Whitney on 90.7, the Capstone and Sheena. I just realized we don't have a guest today. It's just me and you, girl.
[00:05:37] Speaker C: You know, but before you guys think, like, oh, man, did you know, did they have a guest that just bailed
[00:05:43] Speaker D: on them or did they drop the ball? Which could have happened, I don't know.
[00:05:46] Speaker C: You know, there's so many scenarios. But we have to let y' all know today was intentional.
[00:05:51] Speaker D: It was.
[00:05:51] Speaker C: We thought, you know what, we have a topic that you and I both geek out about and we're just gonna do it. So we're gonna talk about mind.
[00:05:59] Speaker D: Right, Right. Mindfulness. It's so weird because, like, I feel like I'm trying to be mindful in myself.
[00:06:04] Speaker C: I know, Me too. I'm like, let me be here.
[00:06:05] Speaker D: Yeah, here and now. But like, you know, that's one of those words. I feel like that is being thrown around a lot. And I think I've always heard it just from a yoga perspective and teaching yoga that we always talk about mindfulness. And I know that, you know, there's meditation, things like that out there. But like, Sheena, I'm curious how you would define mindfulness just in your own words. What do you think mindfulness means?
[00:06:28] Speaker C: You know, I think it's really being present in the mom.
And then I think that depending on what we're wanting to be mindful about, really having that mind body connection, whether that's in our movement or our eating or anything else. Because I feel like there are so many times now where we're physically somewhere, but our mind is literally somewhere else. And we miss so many different moments. I think we're not able to have the memory, the rich memories that we need to have when we're in certain moments. Even just from a practical standpoint of information retention too, because we're constantly in this whole mindset of zoning out or thinking about the next thing. And I started thinking about when I kind of casually talked to folks about mindfulness before.
That isn't necessarily in our industry.
And it's funny because it made me think of my friend Laura. So shout out to my friend Laura.
And so before the pandemic, me and another friend of mine, we got invited by Laura to watch her do some improv. She had been taking some improv classes and now she's actually in a current class where she's learning how to write like stand up jokes. So I'm like living vicariously through her. That's so cool. So we'll have to like, yeah, about this. That'll be another. I might have to get Laura to
[00:07:57] Speaker D: come up with that actually.
[00:07:58] Speaker C: That would be fun. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we'll do that. But with the improv, you know, if you think about it, you've got to be. It was weird because she was like, you've got to be mindful. Like, you've got to be present in the moment because you've got to like be there and know what the other person is talking about. But then you're also trying to simultaneously plan for how you're gonna respond. Because since there's no script, the person that you're doing improv with, they could totally take the scene in a completely different direction. So you can't just zone out for like even a half second because, you know, and I just thought like, that is a very random but exact situation where you would need to practice mindful and kind of a stealthy mindfulness of like, you're in the moment, but you're in the moment because you need to have a response like immediately after, you
[00:08:46] Speaker D: know, as you're talking about this. All my office fans will totally get this. Makes me think of when Michael Scott was in improv and he kept like going rogue with like, I can't remember what he was doing. But it was like they had to kick him out of the improv group because he kept going rogue and changing the script. But, you know, I mean, that's literally what I think.
[00:09:02] Speaker C: That's exactly it. Do you know what I'm talking about?
[00:09:04] Speaker D: Exactly what you're talking about. So he was either zoning out or he was planning it the whole time. Who even knows? But I think that's okay. Great practice and exercise. You know, I really do think nowadays, and I mean, we know this, but like, our cell phones really do get the better of us because we literally have in our hands a mini computer that you can communicate with a drop of a dime. You can check email, you can check your schedule. And I really think that that is a major culprit and part of the distraction so that people cannot stay in the present moment. And what's weird is I don't think like, like, I know our jobs are demanding in the sense that like, we need to check email. I mean, I know us being, you know, salaried employees, we're always, you know, kind of like on call in a way towards like, you need to communicate. But I think we have to figure out how to set healthy boundaries so that we aren't constantly getting on our phone or we put silent mode on at the end of the day. Because I really do feel like that's what, what's getting the better of us and us not being mindful. And I mean, just to like take it a step further, you think about your relationships with people. Yes. You think about your partners, your spouses, people in your life. I can't tell you how many times I've been on the phone with my mom. And she'll talk forever and that's just how she is. But I'm checking my phone and doing stuff and I'll catch myself going, I'm not even giving her my time. I'm just like listening kind of to her as I go through my email. Whatever I may be doing on my phone when that time's not always gonna be there to do that. And I think it's a little deeper. And I think that we need to be aware that we need to spend time and be mindful during certain situations.
[00:10:44] Speaker C: I agree. And you know, thinking about today's show and you know, certainly whenever we are talking about different things, it's so helpful for us to really share that evidence based information as to why the things we're talking about are beneficial to people's health. And so when I was thinking about us talking about mindfulness today, I was doing some.
The Internet, and, you know, they're talking about different benefits to mindfulness. And so it was really interesting to read things like decreased depression, increased emotional regulation, even just reduced anxiety and stress. And there were some, you know, some other things too, like cognitive improvements. And, you know, I think when you hear some of those buzzwords, it can really get someone to be a little bit more intentional about the being mindful, other than just saying, like, oh, well, you need to do it or you're gonna miss out on whatever. Cause sometimes people are like, oh, whatever, mindfulness, I'll do it later. But it's like, no, no, no. This actually really helps with your cognitive effectiveness.
[00:11:48] Speaker D: Well, and so as you were talking about that, I was thinking about just things that I read and trainings that I've gone through for trauma and PTSD with yoga. And we can talk really in depth about breathing because it's mindful when you can't find regulation in your body. You know what I mean? So it's like, meditation is really hard, and your mind is going to just constantly be on. And so meditation partly is not just shutting off your mind, but learning how to kind of navigate those things in your head. So I was thinking, like, what you were saying about how these things are important and just for a little nerding out there for you guys, but your vagus nerve is responsible for regulating your body. Your internal, internal organ functions, digestion, heart rate, respiratory rate.
And what's interesting is when we've had trauma in our lives or when we can't, like, stop and we constantly go, go, go, go, go, or when we have anxiety, that vagus nerve is stimulated. It's almost like you can't get back to autopilot and regulate your body. And so mindfulness is really helpful in that, in the sense of breathing. And I did a little this weekend because.
Or actually it was last weekend.
A friend of mine who has been trained in the melt method, which is like, it's not myofascial release work of fascia in the sense of, like, foam rolling, but it's like a softer way of doing things. Because what we're finding is, like, foam rolling is a little too intense for the body. It's not supposed to cause pain. It's supposed to be very relaxing and bring, like, rehydration to the fascia and the muscles and things like that. So I started thinking about it. I know you're like, where is this even headed?
But I started thinking about that and breathing and breath work and visualization of Your actual diaphragm and your lungs. You know, going through this process, it does bring your vagus nerve down and it stimulates positive things in your body.
Cellular regrowth.
It actually helps you to find that kind of autopilot so that you're not constantly on all the time. So I think when we think of mindfulness, sometimes we need, like, little tools to kind of help us get there. And so I'm just a proponent for deep breathing and visualization of deep breath work.
[00:14:05] Speaker C: I love that. And, you know, you're definitely geeking out about this with the right person. I know in a minute we'll have to take a break. But one thing that I was thinking about in all of this, so when I've been doing a lot of work with students with intuitive eating and also too, when we're thinking about someone who's had a history of an eating disorder and getting them to become an intuitive eater, part of that process is them having more body awareness. And so for a lot of folks, when we're talking about kind of becoming more in tune with those, like, biological signals, like hunger and everything else, those could feel still quote, unquote, triggering for the individual. So one of the exercises that we do with the person in terms of mind, body connection and just mindfulness of the body is being mindful of what their heart rate feels like. So it's something unrelated to, like, food and the stomach, but it gives them something to directly, like, slow down, like, try to be very cognizant, try to feel in their body. And I just, I don't know, like, all of this.
[00:15:10] Speaker D: Yeah, it's a great. It's a great tool. Your body teaches you a lot.
[00:15:14] Speaker C: It does, but. Okay, we gotta take a break. We'll be back in just a second. You are listening to Fit to Be Tied with Sheen and litany on 90.7 caps. Now.
[00:15:26] Speaker B: Wvuafm tuscaloosa.
[00:15:35] Speaker D: Welcome back, friends. You're listening to Fit to Be Tied. And we are hoping that today on this Sunday afternoon, the end of homecoming week, you are trying to be mindful and practice mindfulness, which is, we mentioned the other segments that, you know, it's like, what is mindfulness? And Sheena, you nailed it when you described it as being all in, like, mind and body connection. And it's kind of hard for people to get that because I think it comes with a level of maturity. I don't think it means the older you are, you get it. I just think the more aware of yourself and your body, it kind of Makes more sense. And so, you know, I kind of went off on this, like, total geek out of the vagus nerve and breathing techniques. And I mentioned a little bit about, like, the melt method, which, in case you're wondering, it's just. It's a great way to massage your body in a very subtle way. So you can check that out online if you're ever interested, looking into it. But, Sheena, you were asking me during the break.
Well, we're kind of talking about, you know, little tidbits in the show about physical activity and mindfulness and kind of how all that works. And then, of course, you have info on mindful eating, which I don't know if I ever mindfully eat. I feel like I'm always, like, cramming my face to, like, get food in my body. But, you know, in physical activity, it's very easy to talk about mindfulness in the sense of yoga, Pilates, meditation.
I would even, like, take Pilates out of the picture. I would say specifically yoga. But one thing I've learned as a yoga instructor and being in fitness is that mindfulness can be in anything that you do, whether it's cardio, whether it's strength, whether it's stretching. And I know that some people, when they're doing their physical activity, they almost want, like, an escape from the pain of it all.
[00:17:17] Speaker C: Yeah. Yeah.
[00:17:18] Speaker D: Do you know what I mean? It's like watching something.
[00:17:20] Speaker C: Yeah. I was almost honestly gonna ask you about that. If you found that most people enjoy or is there a benefit to being mindful in that moment of, like, you know, churning it out on the treadmill or really embracing the sensations that are happening as someone is doing, like, a deadlift or whatever. Because like you said.
[00:17:40] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:17:40] Speaker C: I see so many people that are kind of. Of mindlessly walking on the treadmill. They're going into their Netflix show. The people that read textbooks while they're on the treadmill. I can't wait.
[00:17:50] Speaker D: That is so dangerous.
[00:17:52] Speaker C: That makes me feel nauseated. To the fact that somebody has the ability to do that. Great. But I don't know. I feel like there's a sense of just full body experience when you're letting yourself really think about the sensations that's happening, the heavy breathing that's happening. I don't know.
[00:18:10] Speaker D: Well, I think. No, I mean, I think that's right. And I'll go back 100 years ago to judge of Pilates, when he created his Pilates method. And the principles of Pilates. And breathing is one of the components. Whole body movement, concentration, precision, he basically said less is more. And so in particularly I would say with strength training and with maybe your stretches and things like that, mobility, being all in and present, you will do less. Less, you will have a better workout and you will be more efficient. I'm not sure about cardio. I feel like cardio is hard, at least for me. Cardio is hard because I feel like I don't do enough of it because it's just you're putting so much stress on the body anyway that you almost want a little escape from it. So I wonder. I would almost imagine I'd have to look up on the research, but it'd be like, like strength training. If you're all in and you're feeling it, you're thinking about the muscles that you're recruiting for the exercise where you're cognitively, there's so you have, you're firing those muscles better.
At least for strength training. I would imagine just from my experience in Pilates and yoga, it's a better experience.
I mean, I hate to say it, but you're probably gonna burn more calories too. I know that's like something we don't really ever say. But when you're all in and it's a whole body movement or physical movement, mind and body together, it's more, it's beneficial, it's more efficient that way.
[00:19:34] Speaker C: Yeah. And I feel like you probably have a better self awareness of how exertion you're actually doing. Because I think say with somebody being on the elliptical, they might just be going in the motion of like, oh, I'm on here. But if they were really mindful about things, they might be like, wow, I'm noticing like within my legs there's actually not a lot of resistance happening for me. I'm kind of just like going with the momentum of the machine, you know. So I'm thinking like just checking in with yourself of like, what level of exertion is happening here on that scale.
Whenever we're trying to think of how hard we're actually working within a workout.
[00:20:13] Speaker D: Well, and also thinking about injury prevention.
If I say, okay, I'm gonna get on a piece of cardio equipment for a whole hour, which is a really long time to do that, and you're watching Netflix and you're not really in it, and maybe your brain's in a different place, you can increase the risk of injury. I mean, the people that are on the treadmill with textbooks, you're definitely increasing your risk of injury. Because I mean, you know how I mean, the Machines aren't super safe all the time. There's a reason. There's. I mean, they have guidelines on how you're supposed to use them. So I do think that that's important. And I'm curious, Sheena, from the eating perspective, because this to me is newer, I think, because I think people, when it comes to, you know, exercising, going all in. Like our athletes are that way. They have to be all in. They have to focus. But like, with eating, what does intuitive meaning eating even mean?
[00:21:01] Speaker C: Yeah, absolutely. So with mindful eating and intuitive eating, sometimes you'll hear folks use them interchangeably. There are some key differences. Although with mindful eating in particular, as we're thinking about today's show, mindful eating is more so focused on how you're eating. Like, basically how you're eating versus what you're doing eating. So thankfully, with mindful eating, there's not like this judgment about the food that you're eating. There's no like, quote unquote diet mentality stuff to it. Like, eat this. Not that it's when you have food in front of you or you're about to choose food, be mindful about what kind of food are you craving? Is your body wanting something that is a cold, creamy texture? But you're, you, you don't have something like that, so you're giving your body something else and then you find you're unsatisfied after that meal. It's like, well, if I'm honest with myself and I'm being kind of mindful and in tune with my body, my body didn't want something salty and crunchy. It was wanting something kind of cold and creamy and smooth. And I use examples like that all the time where I'll tell folks like, hey, I sometimes will keep little protein shakes in my mini fridge at work as a point of convenience. But if I have that, like three or four days in a row, my taste buds or like, hey, like, glad you got some nutrition. But we need, we need different textures. We need this. So I think even just being, being mindful about what your body wants. Yeah. Another part of that too is being mindful about how your body is communicating hunger and fullness and respecting those signals. Because I think so many times we put off that, that very gentle level of hunger. And then we don't eat until it's really aggressive. And because we wait till that aggressive level of hunger, that completely changes the types of foods that we're choosing. And we may even go against our general food preferences because now we're at the point of like, animal instinct, hunger versus nutrition wisdom.
[00:23:02] Speaker D: Yeah. Wow. It's interesting because it's very similar to what we do with fitness. Because I was just thinking about people that maybe exercise a little too much sometimes and not really in being intuitive with their bodies. And there could be a lot of factors that go on. I mean, maybe you just enjoy it. Maybe there's something deeper that's going on. But I mean, listening to your body, whether it's with food and hunger and fullness and being in tune to what you need, and you may not know what you need, maybe that's why you need to practice this. But then also in physical activity, it's the same thing. I could take a participant that's deconditioned and there's no way I'd say, okay, go do this class and take, you know, two back to back classes.
They wouldn't be able to do it. And hopefully, I mean, they might do it if they aren't listening to their bodies. But it's the same thing with food. You kind of have to find your balance.
[00:23:55] Speaker C: Yes. You know, yeah, definitely. And you know, it's funny because you were mentioning with mindfulness earlier, like literally just a second ago, saying, like, yeah, you know, that'll kind of of help you figure out like, what you want or maybe you don't know what you want. And I think one cool thing about kind of ridding yourself of the diet mentality or even like different rules about food, is that when you kind of take all of those rules off the table, you can practice full mindfulness and get to know what you actually like. Because I think again, when we're starting to think about the foods that we choose, so many of us only choose to eat or what to eat based on external factors. Like, say, for example, if it's 7:30 at night and my body is getting hungry, depending on what kind of diet I'm following, I might be like, oh, sorry, you're hungry. Don't you know that I decided to intermittent fast because that's what this Instagram influencer told me to do. Like, not gonna listen to my body. You don't know any better. Like, don't you know I'm following this, like, program? Or, you know, if my body is craving something that seems like a very obvious, like carbohydrate, and I might be like, don't you know I'm doing Atkins right now?
[00:25:15] Speaker D: Isn't that interesting?
[00:25:16] Speaker C: Yeah. So when we have all these different food rules, like, you know, when people finally get rid of them, they can actually know, like, oh, I do like this. Yeah. No, I don't like this. And it's not because it feels, like, scary or unsafe. It's like, no, legit. I don't like the taste of that. Like, you know.
[00:25:33] Speaker D: Well, no, no, I think that's right. And we're gonna have to come on a break, but I think on the other side, we should definitely. Cause in my head, I'm going mindfulness eating is really good. But then what if you throw all the rules out, then what does that mean? You know? So I think we should take a break.
[00:25:46] Speaker C: Okay, Sounds good. You're listening to Fit to be Tied with Sheen in Whitney on 90.7 the G.
[00:25:56] Speaker B: Wvuafm Tuscaloosa.
[00:26:04] Speaker D: Welcome back. You're listening to Fit to be tied. And I asked Sheena kind of a question before our break, and so I'm just gonna say it again in case you're just now joining us, but we're talking about mindfulness eating, intuitive eating, and listening to your body. And that when you do that, you're able to kind of free yourself of some parameters and rules, and you can. You can listen to your body and actually know what it craves. My question is, what if you're like, I'm free, and then you just let all the rules go? And then instead of being healthier and choosing healthier options, it's like, you know what? I want to eat Mexican food every night or pizza. You know what I mean? Like, what's the balance? I mean, what would you suggest?
[00:26:41] Speaker C: No, that's a really great question. And that's actually probably one of the biggest questions or arguments that come comes up when people hear about mindful eating, intuitive eating, they're like, well, this isn't healthy, because this is just eat what you want whenever you want, no regards to health. But actually, if you look at the research and I'll explain kind of what this ends up looking like in a little bit. But There are over 100 studies today that correlate intuitive eating with actually a better quality diet. So people end up having lower blood pressure, better cholesterol levels, less engagement in disordered eating, like binge eating.
And the reason that that happens is that with intuitive eating, when somebody is implementing it, because it's definitely a process.
One of the very last steps to intuitive eating is incorporating gentle nutrition.
The first step to intuitive eating is getting rid of the diet mentality, like the weird rules that make us do funky things. So once you kind of get rid of that thought process and then as you start to incorporate general nutrition. And what general nutrition is is like honoring what your body is telling you, but then also using nutrition knowledge and wisdom about yourself, like, oh, I have really high blood pressure. It probably is beneficial for me to choose some lower sodium options when I can. Or, oh, I really love bread. I want to make, make a sandwich. Oh, but I also know that if I choose the whole grain kind, that's gonna have a little bit of higher fiber. So basically, you're allowing yourself to explore what you have a craving for. But then you also have that wisdom in the back of your mind. But how is this gonna make me feel physically, like I have lactose intolerance? Yes, I'm craving ice cream, but do I really wanna have diarrhea after that?
[00:28:35] Speaker D: No, I don't.
[00:28:36] Speaker C: You kind of like, you have that balance of. I'm, I'm not giving myself rules, but I do want to use some common sense about this too. In regards to how it's going to make me physically feel.
[00:28:46] Speaker D: It's very positive.
Because as you were saying, like, the decrease in your blood pressure, I'm sitting here going, well, yeah, because you're probably not stressing out thinking, I can't go out to eat with my friends because I can't eat this and this and this. And you probably don't really eat as much because I feel like when there's like an obsession about what you're going to get, like if you hold out, hold out, hold out for that one cheat meal or whatever, you're going all in. But if it's just kind of like I'm eating because this is what we do as humans to stay alive on earth and I can incorporate some good food. I think that's how I eat.
When you were explaining that, I was thinking to myself, I mean, I am a vegetarian, and that's strictly because I don't care for meat at all. I mean, plus I love animals. I will have said that. But I started thinking about myself and, and I was like, you know, I kind of do that in a way because I don't put restrictions on myself. But I also really love incorporating a healthy something into my food. So I always, if I eat some kind of meal and there's no green, I have to have a green. And it's become this, like, thing that I just want now. It's like, I gotta have some broccoli or a salad. And when you were describing, I was like, oh, my gosh, I think I've been doing that. And I didn't even know it.
[00:29:56] Speaker C: No. Yeah.
[00:29:57] Speaker D: You know what I mean?
[00:29:58] Speaker C: And, you know, and I don't know if this falls completely under that umbrella, but, you know, Whitney, I know you and I, we were talking a little bit earlier about our involvement with some of the programming for the law school's Wellness Week. And I had done an intuitive eating presentation for them. And one of the points that I made about the benefits of kind of taking, like, rules away from ourselves is that one of the biggest tips that I tell folks about, like, going into the winter break or the holidays season is don't go into the holiday season with a plan that you're gonna lose weight in January, because if you're like, oh, well, I'm gonna be in a DIET Starting on January 1st or 2nd, you're gonna want to eat, like, everything in sight during that holiday. You have that last supper mentality. But if you don't have those plans when you're in that holiday season of food and you're just like, you know, I'm just trying to enjoy this food but not go crazy with it, you have a little bit more intention. You're not like. And then also to you. Another example I'll use with folks is, I like almonds. I don't think about almonds all the time. But if you told me that starting tomorrow, I could not have them anymore or I was going to be allergic to them, I'm going to eat a bunch of almonds tonight. And I didn't even want that to begin with. It's just that whole. You just added some kind of weird to that.
[00:31:20] Speaker D: It's very psychological. It really is. But that's what I like about the whole intuitive eating and mindfulness with exercise is you are literally. You have guidelines, right? And we have guidelines for nutrition, and we have guidelines for fitness and wellness just to have some sort of basis based on research to decrease the risk of disease, which is valid, and we need that. But also, we have to think about, like, you have to know your body. And I think that goes not just for physical activity and nutrition, but know your body in every sense. Like, when you go to the female doctor and they're asking you questions about. I mean, unless you're a male, you go to the male doctor or whatever. But if you go to the doctor and they're asking questions about things, you need to be able to know well enough about your body and how you feel if something is irregular or not. Right. If you go to the eye doctor, I mean, the doctors have the knowledge, the fitness professionals and the Dietitians have the knowledge, but they work with you, so you have to be able to answer questions that they ask you. And that goes into this whole mindfulness idea.
[00:32:23] Speaker C: Yeah, like, you know, what's normal for your body.
[00:32:25] Speaker D: Exactly.
[00:32:26] Speaker C: So you're going to be able to vouch when something does seem irregular. So definitely, I would say, also, too, with this. You know, just from a practical standpoint, if somebody was like, well, how do I implement this? What does this look like?
So, just to let you all know, and I think I've shared this on the show before, it takes about 15 to 20 minutes for your brain and stomach to chemically communicate and actually give you a sensation of fullness after you've started a meal. A lot of times we end up eating our desk fest or our lunch while we're checking emails. We're kind of mindlessly. Did you say deck desk fist?
Yeah, I've heard that be called when you're eating breakfast at your desk kind of in the morning. So when you're, like, multitasking like that, you're not really getting to, like, sit down, enjoy, and savor that food. You're eating it really fast.
But, you know, if you really take the time to savor something, you might actually be surprised that it takes less of that food than you think to actually get you satisfied. So say if somebody is eating ice cream. I'm using that because we both enjoy ice cream. Yes. So if somebody is eating that pretty fast, you know, they're eating it pretty rapidly, not thinking of anything, you know, for the most part. If they're eating it fast, that ice cream doesn't really have the full ability to get all over those taste buds on the tongue. It might not be until the, like, 15th or 16th bite that the body has gotten full exposure to, like, the full fat of that ice cream, like, the good sugar and the flavor of those ice creams. But if somebody got, like, one of those, like, little containers of, like, Haagen Dazs or whatever, and they're sitting there and they're like, I'm just gonna sit here and savor this and enjoy it for the next 10 minutes. It might only take, like, the third or fourth or fifth bite where you're like, I just got my finger fix of, like, the good high octane stuff, you know, because I think that people end up eating the whole container of Halo top. Not because it's like. Cause they can. It's because it's gonna take that much volume to finally get some, like, satisfaction. Whereas if you let yourself have that, like, good full throttle, like, you know, wonderful, rich stuff.
[00:34:42] Speaker D: Look, I've eaten a lot of ice cream in my day. Let me just put out there. And what's funny is now that I'm 37, gonna be 30, 38. I don't eat as much ice cream now. Because your body does go through changes and you feel like. Like you want to eat different things or whatever. I do that now to where, like, I don't really eat ice cream as much as I used to. And when I do have ice cream, I kind of just like eat it slower. I don't know. It's just something's changed and it almost makes me, like, too full to even finish it.
[00:35:07] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:35:07] Speaker D: And I used to get eat like two or three bowls, and I would just sit there and eat it. And of course, it could be because I was a little younger and I was doing a lot of, like, high intensity stuff and my body was. You're acting very differently. But I mean, it is. I mean, if you kind of slow down when you're eating, because that's my biggest thing is I remember growing up, my mom would say, you got to slow down while you're eating. And I have blame it on the school system because they only gave us like 20 minutes for lunch.
[00:35:27] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:35:28] Speaker D: So that's my two cents. But I mean, just taking the time to sit there, eat slowly, or doing your workout and giving yourself a certain amount of time and not thinking, it's got to be an hour long. Because, I mean, I know that some research is out there about weight loss. I think that's where our minds can kind of shift to different thoughts. But one thing I was gonna say before we take a break is because I was thinking about mindfulness, and I have a tendency to, like, trail off in my thoughts. I think we all do. So, like, I can be listening to you, Sheena. And then I. I have to be very intentional following the conversation. That's been a particular goal of mine I've had lately, is actively listening. And that is a sense of mindfulness, of being present in the moment when you are talking with somebody. And it might just be like a little brief conversation, but thinking about what you've said in that conversation, if you can remember that for the next time you see them, because it also gives back to that person as well.
[00:36:19] Speaker C: Yeah, no, that's a good point. It definitely honors that person that you're in conversation with. And my husband has called me out because I have not honored him sometimes in conversation.
[00:36:28] Speaker D: But I mean, it's hard to do. It really is. We have so much going on in our heads, but it's no excuse. We just have to be disciplined and work at it.
[00:36:35] Speaker C: Yes. Okay, time to take a break. You're listening to Fit to Be Tied with Sheen and Whitney on 90.7, the capstone.
[00:36:45] Speaker B: Wvuafm Tuscaloosa.
[00:36:54] Speaker D: Welcome back, everybody. You are listening to Fit to Be Tied, and we are closing out. Another great show. It's just been me and Sheena, but sometimes I feel like when it's just me, me, and you, we have really good conversations.
[00:37:03] Speaker C: Yes, we do.
[00:37:03] Speaker D: We kind of forget the mics there. We just talk about life and things. And so we hope that after listening to the show, you'll practice a little bit more mindfulness. You'll give it a shot, you know, just see if you can incorporate it in your food or maybe in your exercise or breathing or actively listening to a friend or coworker. But during the break, Sheena, we were talking a little bit because our question over the past. Well, actually, this whole semester has been been to our guests, what gets you hyped? And so I was like, sheena, you know what gets you hyped? And you're like. And so did you think of something that gets you hyped?
[00:37:37] Speaker C: Not really. You know, I think.
And I get inspired every time we have a guest because I'm like, oh, that does get me hyped too.
[00:37:45] Speaker D: Nothing like payjacker, though.
[00:37:47] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:37:47] Speaker D: The organization.
[00:37:48] Speaker C: Love it. Yes. Between that and then when something on your calendar is canceled but not by you, and then you have some free time that you weren't expecting, that definitely.
[00:37:57] Speaker D: That was Charles, I think.
[00:37:58] Speaker C: Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. So I don't know. But music still in general. And then we kind of. We started talking about boy bands a little bit. We did.
[00:38:06] Speaker D: Well. So lately, I don't know why, but I've been listening to Backstreet Boys a lot. Like the old. Like, I want it that way. I don't know why. It reached me to a really, like, happy place in my life. And by the way, I've been listening to it on an actual cd.
[00:38:17] Speaker C: Oh, really?
[00:38:18] Speaker D: So I. There was one I found at my mom's house the last time I visited. I was like, oh, my gosh. That's my backstory boy cd. So I've been, like, bumping it. Yes. My car has a. Even a CD player. I know they don't make them that way anymore, but I don't know, like, the nostalgia of, like, skipping to the next and hearing the little sound is kind of cool, but, yeah, I've been rocking out to Backstreet Boys, but there's been a little bit of sad news.
I don't know if any of you are BTS fans if you're army, but we just found out that they're going to start their military service. So if you are from South Korea and you're a male, you have have to serve by the age of 30. Military service, I think. Isn't that crazy?
[00:38:54] Speaker C: Yes, you know, because that's a little bit different how we do it in America. But it makes me think, like, what if it was like that in the US And I'm thinking about, like, all of these, not just people we know, but, like, celebrities.
[00:39:09] Speaker D: They would have to do it. Isn't that crazy? And this is one thing I really do respect.
You know, they're huge worldwide, like, stars. I mean, like, everybody knows who they are, but yet they still have to serve their country, and they're willing to do it because they love their country. And so it's kind of sad, I think, for the people that like to listen to bts because it means that we won't get anything for, like, forever until, like, 2025, but at the same time, like, they'll be fine, you know? Or will they? I mean, they're pretty, like.
I mean, they're pretty pampered, so I don't know.
[00:39:40] Speaker C: Yeah. I'm like, are they gonna know how to, like, rough it?
[00:39:43] Speaker D: I don't know, so.
[00:39:45] Speaker C: And with that said, we're gonna end the show so that you can look this up on the Internet. Yeah. You're like, I didn't know about that. But anyways, we hope you have a fabulous weekend. You have been listening to Fit to Be tied with Sheena and Whitney on 90.7, the capstone.
[00:40:02] Speaker B: Wvuafm Tuscaloosa.
