322. Jumpstart Your Nutrition with Brad Jensen

I’m Jody Moore and this is Better Than Happy, episode 322: Jumpstart Your Nutrition with Brad Jensen.

Did you know that you can live a life that’s even better than happy? My name is Jody Moore. I’m a master certified life coach and a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. And if you’re willing to go with me I can show you how. Let’s go.

Hello everybody. How we doing today? I have an awesome message to share with you today, I should say my dear friend, Brad Jensen has an awesome message and I’m so delighted that I get to share it with you. But I want to give a little context around why I have this message coming out today for you here on the podcast. So, if you’re new to me you maybe haven’t heard me talk about Brad Jensen. But if you’ve listened to me much at all you probably have because I’ve talked about him a lot, especially over the last couple of years as he’s been my nutrition coach.

I hired him originally about a year and a half ago when I said, “Hey, I think I finally want to get rid of this 20 to 25 pounds that I’ve been carrying around for the last couple of years. And I would like some extra help doing so.” And I have worked with other nutrition coaches before but never had the level of success. And I don’t blame any coaches for that by the way. But I just was not in a place to be able to utilize other people’s methods in a way that I was able to succeed at. All of them though I’m so grateful for what I learned, they got me to where I was.

But when I finally met Brad and just applied the methods that he recommended, and just having his guidance and his expertise and his support is honestly a huge reason why I was able to be successful losing that weight and keeping it off. And so anyway, I’m a huge fan of his. He has a great podcast too called The Key Nutrition Podcast. So, if you like what you hear today from Brad, you might want to go check out more.

But before you do that, Brad and I are going to be teaching a two day live event together. And we’re both super stoked about it. We both keep telling the other one, “I’m so excited, thanks for doing this with me.” And I think we both feel like we’ve won some kind of prize getting to work with each other. Because we both have slightly different areas of expertise but they align really well. And we’re both really passionate about helping people and we’ve just enjoyed working together. And so, I said, “Brad, listen, let’s get together and teach this to people.”

I want to take his expertise and my expertise and combine them and create a really amazing powerful two day event that will set you up for success. So, whether your goal is to lose some weight like mine was when I first hired Brad, or to build muscle and strengthen your body, or just to feel better and improve your relationship with food, or to love your body better, love yourself better without changing a thing, or love yourself and change some things about your body.

We’re going to be covering all things nutrition, weight loss and mindset because they all go together. And Brad is going to be teaching you all the things that he taught me over the course of the year plus that I’ve worked really closely with him. And I’m going to be there to also add my expertise in the field of mindset because it’s one thing to learn what to do, what to eat, what not to eat, learn exercise routines and all that. But the mindset piece which Brad teaches as well, but I’m going to be teaching in my way how to get yourself to do it.

That’s a challenge. I know I should stop eating so many Oreos and eat more fruits and vegetables and protein. But how do I get myself to do it? That’s where I come in. So, it’s going to be an amazing event and we have very limited seating because I didn’t want this to turn into a huge 1,000 person event, which I think we could honestly fill a room. There are so many people wanting to lose, what do we call it, the quarantine 15? Or whatever, there’s so many people.

I love following Will Smith. He’s like, “You all, I’ve never been in a worse shape in my life.” And now he’s like, “Let’s get it, let’s get back in shape.” I think a lot of people are feeling that drive right now. So, I do think that the seats are going to sell out very quickly. So, if you want one, don’t delay. It’s in Scottsdale, Arizona, it’s two days, October 20^th and 21^st. And all the pricing and all of that is on the ticket page if you go to jodymoore.com/mandm. We’re calling this event Macros and Mindset.

So, the mandm just like the candies, mandm, so A-N-D mandm, that’s where you go to grab your seat, get a friend to come with you. And let’s hang out in two days in Scottsdale, Arizona in October, me and you and Brad Jensen, it’s going to be amazing.

Okay, so if you’re not coming or even if you are coming I want you to listen to this message from Brad. Here’s where it comes from. Last month I did a VIP event in Salt Lake City for all my VIP Be Bold people, super fun. You’ve got to be there next year. So, if you’re not in Be Bold get in there because that was an amazing day. But at any rate I asked Brad to come and speak at that event and he did such an amazing job. I didn’t get very much criticism about the VIP event, everybody loved it overall.

But the little bit of criticism I did get was, “We would have liked to have heard more from Brad and less from you, Jody.” And I’m right there with you, next time I will talk less and let the Brad Jensens and other people talk a little bit more. And people didn’t really say it in that way but people did love Brad and wanted to hear more from him. So, I have his talk from the VIP event here for you to hear, his actual talk we recorded it and I love this message because it’s not just applicable if you’re going to lose weight. But it is important if you want to lose weight.

It’s the way to jumpstart your success and it’s relevant though no matter where you are in your finished journey. And the things that he talks about, he talks about why they’re so important, why they’re so overlooked and that they’re actually the easiest things to do. And that is what I love about working with Brad is he makes it sound so easy and he makes it so that it is really easy.

So, without further ado please enjoy this message from my good friend, Brad Jensen.

                                                                                                                   

A big shout out to Jody. I didn’t know Jody was as big a deal as Jody was when I started working with her. So, it was probably a really good thing. Everyone’s like, “Oh my gosh, you’re working with Jody Moore?” I was like, “Now I’m a little nervous but we’re three weeks in so we’re good.” And for putting on this event, inviting me to be here and for our live event we’re going to do in October which she’s going to tell you guys about. And for her friendship really, so thank you, Jody, wherever you are.

Alright, so I get these cue cards because I showed up. I didn’t prepare anything. But I know the information I’m going to talk about, this is what I do all day. But I walked in those doors and I looked and I said, “Holy crap, okay, there’s a lot of people here.” And then Jody had cue cards, so I was like, I should probably write some cue cards. So, we’ll see if I even use them, but I’ve got them. Yeah, I was definitely not prepared. My girlfriend said, “Did you get a PowerPoint?” I’m like, “A PowerPoint, for what? Am I supposed to have a PowerPoint? I’ve got nothing.”

Alright, so I’m going to talk to you guys today about before starting a diet, but really these are just healthy tips. But let’s frame it up maybe, just I mean you guys should be doing these things anyways. But definitely starting a dieting phase. Now, what that means is just an intentional phase of trying to lose some fat. How many guys have been on a diet? Okay, for those who didn’t raise your hands, either you’re a genetic freak like Jen or you’re a liar. So, it’s not bad, it’s just bad to chronically diet which I’m going to talk about at the live event.

But dieting in itself is not bad. So, here’s the thing about dieting. How many guys have just been off the rails, off the wagon, eating whatever you want, not working out and you’re like Monday, it’s on, cleaning up everything, I’m done, I’m doing this complete 180? I’m going to get better sleep, hydration. I’m going to workout five times a way, I’m going to eat perfect, no sugar, how many guys have tried that? I mean I have. And it doesn’t usually work because as we know, changing habits and behaviors takes a lot of time.

So, I wanted to frame this up, if everyone could think this way, if they were like, hey, I wanted to lose 20 pounds, like Jody said. And if before that for the first month before even attempting to cut calories down, increase expenditure and lose weight, you did a few simple habits and lifestyle changes, the chance of your dieting journey is going to be far more successful. Me and Jody, we lost that 20 pounds, we ended – she maintained within a few pounds of where she ended, which by the way is normal.

Whatever low point you hit, just know probably a couple of pounds up from that is where you’re going to maintain if you do this correctly. But one reason that she has and she’s kept all these things I think. Where is she? Maybe she hasn’t. For the most part she’s kept all these things in check which is how you actually change your habits. If you’re going to do a diet and you’re white knuckling the whole time, you’re going to gain that weight back because nothing changes.

So, let’s dive into that. Sleep, number one, she talked about sleep up there, she mentioned, by the way that gal was up here talking about sleep, you were hilarious, wherever you are, that was funny. I got a good kick out of it, good job. I don’t know if you were trying to be funny but you were funny, wherever you are. But yeah, we’ve got to get you up before eight. I’m just saying, where are you, hey? I was like, eight. If I sleep in till eight I feel like I’ve missed half my day. Not that I’m the guy who wakes up at 5:00am either, I just want to make that clear.

So, sleep, how many guys feel like you get enough sleep? That’s literally 10% of the audience. So, it’s about right. But I’m not trying to get up here and give you guys exact numbers of hours you should be sleeping a night because really it depends on the quality of sleep in that duration. One really important thing with your sleep is what’s called your circadian rhythm. And I’m not going to dive too much into that right now because it’s probably a 30 minute presentation but I’m going to do at the live event.

But I want to talk to you guys about sleep and why it’s so important, you’re going to be less cranky and you’re going to be nicer, let’s just get that out of the way. Nobody is nice on low sleep for too long. So, here’s the thing, they did a research, just four days of insufficient sleep, four in a week time, drops your body’s ability to process insulin by 30%. And I’m going to dive into that research study at the event. But what that means is that your body’s ability to handle carbohydrates will drop by 30%, meaning your insulin resistance kicks up. This is because your body gets some fight or flight.

Now, here’s the thing, your body’s ability to handle carbs decreases when you’re sleep deprived, but what’s the one thing you crave when you’re sleep deprived? Yeah, you’re not like, “I just want a steak, I think that sounds really good.” You’re like, “I want sugar, I want candy. I want chips”, whatever it is, carbs, because your body’s looking for that instant energy source. So, we’ve kind of got this catch 22. Your body’s craving more carbs, yet your ability to handle them is lower.

Not usually the best combo there, also your energy goes down obviously. So, the next thing we talk about when we get down to your steps, your ability to move decreases because your body’s trying to preserve energy because you’re sleep deprived. Also, your decision-making becomes – let’s call it sketchy at best. You’re not making the best decisions with your food, your fitness, maybe your kids, all this thought work that Jody talks about, it sometimes goes out the window because you’re tired, you’re just like, “Shut up.” Just talked about the yelling things works, maybe you go right to that.

So, sleep is really important and I think honestly it is the most underestimated and underrated part of any physical transformation out there. Now, I’m not perfect at sleep either. But one thing with sleep is we almost treat yourself like a child. You’ve got to give yourself a bedtime. That is the vast majority of my clients’ problems. I’m not saying it’s the vast majority of your problems but is getting into bed on time. If we could just get into bed earlier and put down this device, or the TV, or any of that, your chances of actually getting better sleep will increase immensely.

And that’s very anecdotal evidence of mine, but it works, you get into bed earlier. So, one thing I’d encourage you guys to do is literally set a bedtime for yourself like a child and try to stick to it. One of the best things you can do is on the weekends if you can also go to bed within an hour of that time and wake-up within an hour, you’re going to be a lot better off. How many guys have on the weekends, you go to bed real late but you sleep in till like nine and you can’t figure out why you’re tired all day but yet you slept a lot?

It’s because you messed up that circadian rhythm, that body’s natural clock. So, sleep is really underestimated and incredibly important. But it’s an evergreen issue that we’ve got to keep focusing on. So that’s why at the live event there’s going to be probably a whole hour just on sleep.

So, the next thing, get more steps and activity. I don’t know if any of you guys listen to my podcast, if you do, thank you. Thank you. I’ve been accused of being obsessed with steps. And so that’s fine. The reason is because that’s what’s called our NEAT expenditure. So that’s your non-exercise activity thermogenesis. We are very inherently lazy as a society. Technology has made it that way. We don’t have to walk as much anymore and we don’t have to do these things.

So, we’ve gotten really, really lazy as a society altogether. But we’re more fundamentally built to walk, that’s what we do. We are built to walk. It is not a stressful form and anyone who tells you walking is not exercise, you can hit them over the head with a tack hammer and say I told you to do it, because it’s not true. It is a form and it’s not the same as going and lifting weights or any of that. But I’ve had clients lose a lot of weight just by walking and eating at a moderate calorie deficit, getting 10,000 steps in a day.

There’s a reason why they have the 10,000 steps too, if anyone’s ever wondered that. I won’t dive into them all right now. But they did a whole research study that showed what happened with the difference between people who got 5,000 steps a day, 7500, or 10,000 steps a day. But simply by getting 10,000 steps a day, what they found is this test group lost more body fat than all the other ones obviously, blood markers improved among many other things. So, get your step.

And things to do, I don’t know if you guys, anybody follows me on Instagram but I used to do this thing about parking in the back, I did that during the pandemic. Anywhere I went I’d park in the back. It’s little hacks like that to get your steps in. If you’re really bored with me talking right now, I don’t mind if you just start pacing and getting some steps in, that’s fine too. I won’t be offended. In fact, I might try to move up here, try to get some in. So, steps, just that basic activity.

Things like aiding in digestion, one really big tip I can give you is after a meal or if you could take a five, to seven, to 10 minute walk you get blood flow going. If any of you guys notice you’re bloated after certain meals. By the way, that’s not super normal if you’re bloated all the time, which we’ll get into as well. But taking little, short walks like that after meals will immensely aid in digestion, bloating, nutrient partitioning, meaning how those nutrients are absorbed.

Give it a try if you’re able to, it will help a lot. If you guys don’t have something to track steps, you probably do because even our phones do it, now, they’re not the most accurate but there is everything from Apple Watches, to Fitbits, to Oura rings, to any kind of little step trackers. I suggest doing it and just seeing where you’re at, you’ll be surprised, 7500 to 10K is considered moderately active, 10K and above is considered definitely active and above 12 is very active.

But if you could fall anywhere between that range, those little habits of being more active, walking, doing things with your kids, again, we get really, really lazy as we’re all sitting here all day. But you know what I mean. So that would be the second tip I could give you.

And again, all these things right here, if you are looking for a physical transformation, that could be fat loss, muscle gain, changing the shape of your body, changing even your relationship with your body and food. I think all of these things are part of a successful transformation journey. So, they’re things you’re going to have to do anyways if you want this to stick long term. So that’s why I’m so big on them. And it’s why Jody’s just asked me to kind of share just a tidbit here. These are just a sprinkle in the ocean of what we’re going to talk about at the live event.

So, number three, drink more water. How many guys feel like you drink a lot of water? That’s actually pretty good. I’ll take that, that was good, let’s drink some, alright. How many guys drink a lot of diet coke? Yeah, I’m all about it, yeah, zero sugar Mountain Dew, A&W Zero is my favorite, diet coke, I don’t have a problem with those at all. And in fact, anyone who tells you that by drinking diet coke is why you’re putting on body fat. It’s not very educated, because they have zero calories.

Here’s what I will tell you. That if you drink more water a funny thing will happen, you’re going to drink less diet coke because you don’t want to pee 24/7. Especially all you who have had kids, you’re peeing 24/7 drinking water. So, you don’t want to keep drinking the diet coke, it’s annoying, everywhere you go, “Where’s the bathroom, is it over here?” I have to use the bathroom every hour, I’ve just gotten used to it. But a couple of things, and half your body in ounces plus 15 if you work out, that’s the pretty standard recommendation that holds true.

Now, why is that important? One thing is water aids in satiety a lot, meaning it’s going to help keep you full. We don’t, oftentimes we’re so dehydrated we go into meals. Another thing is some research has shown that it can actually – dehydration can cause cravings in salt and sugar, especially salt because your electrolyte balance gets off. So, you’re like, “Oh, those potato chips look so good.” And then almost a secondary response is, “Oh, and hand me that water, please.” If you just stayed hydrated before it you might be able to make a better choice.

And if you want to eat the chips I don’t care but know that water will aid in keeping you full immensely. Another thing is aiding digestion, we just talked about that, which we’re going to dive into gut health a lot at the live event as well. Man, so many people just run around, we just walk around so – let me tell you, if you’ve gotten to the point where you’re like, like I am right now, if you’re parched, you’re already dehydrated. You should be kind of curbing that before, little tips to help get that in because a lot of my clients struggle.

For me I set a goal, 50 ounces before noon. And if you don’t want to drink a gallon like I do a day, that’s fine, maybe it’s 30 ounces before noon, but set little, small things to help you get that water in. You’ll actually be – I’m always shocked how many clients that tell me that one little thing of drinking sufficient amounts of water every day consistently has helped them.

Another thing is it’ll help with the scale a little bit because your body won’t be retaining water as much. So, if you go through phases of being hydrated, then super dehydrated, then rehydrated, your body’s going to retain more water because the fluid imbalance is off. So oftentimes if people, they hop on the scale in the morning my clients and they’re like, “I think I really did go.” And they hope and they’re like, “Up .4.” And I’m like, “You’re fine, okay.” But one thing about that is oftentimes I’ll say, “Okay.”

Or let’s say they’re up 1.5 pounds and they’re pissed and I say, “Did you get enough sleep?” “No.” “Did you drink enough water?” You say, “No.” Usually it’s one of the two. Are you stressed, which I’m not going to get into today, but stress is a big thing. One of those three is usually a yes. And so that’s one reason why you’re going to see fluctuations in the scale even more. Now, you’re going to see them regardless, especially as a female because you guys have it super rough with this thing called the cycle.

Shout out to you guys, it’s rough. I don’t know what it’s like but us guys have it so easy. Are there are any guys in the room? I’m so much harder on my guy clients. We have it so easy. We have one hormone and it’s testosterone. And even if it’s declining, it’s at such a slow rate, a decade later we’re like, “I think my testosterone’s getting low.” It’s crazy. Females, really, I’m going off tangent here. But took this women’s health certification. And I’m just most fascinated by what you guys have to go through.

You’re in charge of the survival of the human race. Thank you. That’s a big deal. And if more guys understood what actually is physiologically happening with their wife when she is going through a menstrual cycle I think maybe they’d give her a little more grace. I know it helped me, I was like, “Whoa, that’s snarly, all these hormones are just rough.” Anyways, I’m being serious. That’s probably why 80% of my clients are female because I’m like, “I just feel bad for you, I’m just so sorry.”

Okay, back on the subject, sorry. Number four, stop eating once you’re full. It sounds like a no brainer but I’m telling you guys, if you stopped eating once you’re full, you would eat less food. People have said to me, “Hey, what’s the best exercise to lose belly fat right here, just right in this region?” And I’m like, “You just push the plate away once you’re done and you walk away. That’s it. You’re just going to eat till your full and then you just push it away, right there.” It’s the best one.

Just do those plate pushers, that’s all you’ve got to do. One thing with that too and I’m kidding there but seriously, it’s something that just obviously makes sense but yet we don’t do. Now, one reason for that is we eat really fast. Watch people eat. It’s like they’re never going to have a meal again. We eat really fast. Part of that is we’re a go, go, go society. I don’t know if you guys have noticed, it’s a little crazy. Everything is move, and move, and go, go.

If you slowed down when you eat your food, a couple of things, chew your food slower, okay, actually enjoy that food. Chew it more, I know that sounds silly, take your time eating your meals, try to not plan your meals when you’re in a big rush. So, I had to do this back when I competed in bodybuilding which was a horrible experiment but I lived through it, so thank you. I was hungry. I was hungry. I was not getting enough food. And my coach recommended for me to start eating slower. So, I started eating really slow and I practiced this habit.

And it saved me a lot of calories because I get full quicker. One bad thing about it though is now I go to a business lunch and everyone leaves. I’m like, “I’ll just finish all just by myself.” I’m not even kidding, I’m always the last person eating because I’ve trained myself to do that. Sometimes it does not work in my favor. But one reason is we have – there’s a hormone in our body called leptin. Now, leptin is responsible for many things but one of those is telling your brain you are full. Now when you eat food, you process it, you chew it, it goes in your digestive tract.

Leptin doesn’t immediately spike up in your brain and say, “Hey, Brad, you’re full, stop eating.” There’s a delay of time, maybe 15/20 minutes, the research isn’t quite clear but there’s definitely this delay. It’s not like you eat one bite of a cheesecake and you’re like, “I’m full.” Even if you ate the whole cheesecake, it takes a minute before you’re like, “Oh, I’m full.” If you ate slower you would actually be able to produce that leptin in your brain that says you’re full. The faster we eat the body can’t catch up and say, “Hey, you’re good, dude, stop eating”, until you’re like, “I’m bloated.”

And you have to push, so chew your flood slow, eat slow, savor your food, enjoy it. Enjoy that food, enjoy the way it tastes. When it comes to sugar, treats, there’s so much shame around that. And then if you guys have followed me or listened to my podcasts, I’m really big on flexibility and balance and not demonizing any one food group. Part of that is I just see people, they eat the sugar, really, really fast because there’s a lot of shame. I don’t want people to see me doing this.

This is bad so I must be bad for eating this cupcake. No, it’s a cupcake and it’s delicious and that’s why you’re eating it. You’re not bad. It’s not a bad food. But if you actually slowed down and enjoyed it you would actually be able to enjoy that moment instead of just pounding it in real quick. So, stop eating once you’re full, slow down, enjoy your food, try it. But be conscious of that, this next week be conscious of how fast you are eating, you’ll be surprised. And then you’ll notice how quick everyone else eats. No wonder they get seconds, they haven’t given their body chance to say, “I’m full.”

So, if you have to go back and get seconds, there’s a chance you didn’t put enough on your plate the first time or you ate way too fast. So, the last one and kind of like a no brainer is make healthier choices. But seriously it’s kind of a no brainer, it’s not hard. Think about this actually, it’s kind of crazy how 2021 we have more awareness and information which can be bad, the information part because a lot of it’s skewed, but around food and nutrition. In fact, in McDonald’s, they have all the calories listed now right next to them. It’s not hard to see which one’s the better meal.

I went to Café Rio and I was like, “The pork salad is 1400 calories.” And tostada without the dressing, which is lame, anyways. But, well, it’s like 400 or 300, yeah, we still get the pork salad, which is fine. But there’s more awareness behind, the calories are listed. And it’s not also hard to know that okay, at a restaurant you’re like, “Oh, this chicken fried steak with gravy and mashed potatoes or there’s a grilled chicken sandwich.” It’s not really hard to figure out which one’s probably the lower caloric option. But just practicing it.

I think so often if you’re at a restaurant and you’re looking and you see two things that look good, one for sure you know is going to be less calories, one is super high calories. We always just go, “Well, I’ll just get this one.” But I’m not telling you to make yourself suffer but try to look for some opportunities to pick a little better meal. Also notice how you feel after.

That’s a lot of what I talk to my clients about is, “Well, how did that make you feel?” “Well, I felt sluggish. My stomach hurt.” I ate a lemon custard at lunch or yeah, and I kind of felt sick after. And that was just a small thing but pay attention to how you feel too, how does this food make you feel. But try to just practice making some healthier choices, because that’s part of this deal. Every time you go out if you just – and you go out a lot, especially and you order the highest caloric thing on the menu, it’s probably not going to be the most advantageous for you long term.

So, I’m not saying don’t get what you want, I’m just saying try to see if there’s any sacrifices you can make to make a slightly healthier choice. Thank you guys for letting me come share with you guys. Thank you for all you guys who follow me.

                                                                                                                   

Who is your life coach? If you don’t have one I would be so honored to be your coach. I created a virtual coaching program called Be Bold that I want to invite you to join me in. We can address challenges, we can work on goals, and we can do it in so many different ways.

We have group coaching, individual private coaching, and online chats along with hundreds of hours of courses and content that I’ve created just for you. When you’re ready to really take what you’re learning on the podcast to the 10x level, then come check out Be Bold at JodyMoore.com/membership.