I’m experimenting with a different format this week: an exclusive podcast just for Newsletter subscribers! Transcript and links below. Let me know what you think!
TRANSCRIPT:
Hello everybody, this is Laura the Health Coach, and we're experimenting with a new format today (this week) for this week's newsletter issue. I've gotten some feedback from some people that I know who are interested in in fitness and health, and they really love podcasts; and as you know, I do have a separate podcast that sometimes I link to. It is a free podcast (I do it through the anchor platform) but it's available on Spotify and Google podcasts, and there's like a whole list-I can't even remember-but pretty much any anywhere you can get a podcast you can get my podcast for free.And I do publish, not as often as I I'd like because I put most of my energy into the newsletter.
Anyway, I'm going to be experimenting with doing exclusive podcast episodes just for my Substack subscribers, so that's what this is: this will not be on my regular podcast, this is just for you so you can listen; and there’ll also be a transcript (as you can see, if you've clicked the issue open and are listening to this, you can already see that the transcript is included) so anyway...
I'll be talking about three things in this week's issue; and the three things (like I always do I always have three topics that I like to bring to your attention about health, health and wellness) and first 1) I'm going to talk about motivation and action, 2) I'm going to talk a little bit about hydration, and 3) I'm also going to be talking about adult coloring books (and one in particular that I really do recommend) so let's get right into it.
So, action and motivation: this is something that's been on my radar for a while, and I know like many of you I sometimes (believe it or not yes, even I Laura the health coach- even health coaches and fitness trainers and people like that) have trouble getting motivated to do things. You have trouble getting motivated to exercise of course, obviously, you know, you might wake up and just be tired you might be either physically or even just emotionally and spiritually exhausted and not want to exercise; you might not be motivated to maybe do some chores or complete a task that maybe isn't pleasant; there's all sorts of ways that this can manifest and what I've been reading about and I find it's really true in my case and I'll share with you is the theory that action precedes motivation. We usually think of it as the other way around: like we'll say to ourselves for example, if only I could get motivated to do [blank ], like you feel like you need the motivation before you can actually do the action, the thing that you're putting off or procrastinating on, and it actually works in the reverse, believe it or not: you have to do some action to get yourself motivated to do the thing. And if you don't believe me (even though this has been scientifically proven) you can try it out for yourself.
Always you know, you're probably the best way to experiment to see if it works for you. For example, if you're not motivated to exercise you can just unroll your yoga mat or take out your weights or turn on your treadmill or whatever it is that you do.
There are, you know, some days when I don't feel like doing a workout workout like a, a weight training workout or a body weight workout or something like that; my other go-to (and not that it's any less of an exercise but it's probably the easiest for me to do) is to take a walk around the neighborhood if the weather is nice. I’m very fortunate that I live in Southern California where most of the time, not all the time, but most of the time the weather is appropriate for walking around the neighborhood.
So if it's a day when I don't even feel doing feel like doing that, I will simply just put my earbuds in because I always listen to music or podcasts when I go for a walk, I'll just put my earbuds in; and that will motivate me to take my phone and open up my music app or my podcast app and then that'll motivate me to put my walking shoes on, and before you know it I'm out the door.
So try this and let me know how it works for you. See if taking even just a little bit of action can motivate you to do the thing: if you're trying to get back into a hobby, like writing for example, you know, some people during this pandemic when they're spending more time at home, they're trying to kick-start some passions or hobbies that they've put aside, and so maybe writing is just an example.
Maybe if you don't feel motivated to write, open up your writing app and make yourself a cup of tea, and sit down at your computer: and that's taking an action. Sometimes for me, something like that, I might download a different word processing app.
Now not that I need one, I don't need another one, you know, I could I could type in the body of an email and that's considered writing: but if maybe you know, maybe just something with a fresh look or maybe getting a fresh new notebook or a new pen might be the thing.
So give it a try: Action Precedes motivation. See if that works for you.
So on to the next topic is hydration and we all know that hydration is important, right? You've all heard the statistic (whoever came up with it) our bodies are 80% water and how important hydration is and we don't drink enough water, blah blah blah and all of that.
So as we get older our hydration needs change. So if you are part of my target audience, and of course my target audience-- I like to think of my target audience as being anyone who is a human being--but I know that some of my target audience are people who are in a similar age group as I am; and that would be the over 40, over 50 age group and and when you get older you need to hydrate more. We don't hydrate enough, our nutritional needs change, and it's much more important to hydrate.
So we think of hydrating as just drinking water, but there's more to it than that. There are other ways to hydrate, and hydration doesn't just mean drinking fluids but [also] replacing electrolytes in your body. Electrolyte balance is extremely important to a lot of functions in your body.
When I was teaching in a hot yoga studio, (it was about a year ago last time I did that when I was teaching a hot yoga studio) and I was teaching in very hot temperatures,I started drinking hydration drinks a lot more. And when we think of hydration drinks, you may think of Gatorade; which we know is probably not the best choice, just because Gatorade has a lot of added sugar. That's probably the main reason why I would stay away from it (even though they do have a sugar free version) Certainly nothing wrong with drinking Gatorade, if you're really sick: like I know there've been a couple of times when I've had a stomach bug or something like that and you're losing a lot of fluid “that way” there’s nothing wrong in a pinch that drinking Gatorade (or I know some people drink Pedialyte) but there are there are better options, and I started drinking a lot of these hydration drinks because honestly, people would be sending [free] samples of these hydration drinks to the studio.
You know, there would either a Salesperson would physically bring samples or send samples in the mail, and we'd get samples that we would put out for the instructors and students: and I got into the habit of drinking these hydration drinks and I found that not only were they palatable (which of course if it tastes good you're much more likely to consume it) but it also really helped me. It helped me feel a lot better.
I know that a lot of my fellow instructors would drink this stuff which I'm sure you're familiar with, called Emergen-C (not the word “emergency” but emergen [hyphen] letter C) and Emergen-C is a supplement, I'll call it. It's a powdered supplement that does replace electrolytes.
It's great if you're sweating a lot, but really the main thing about it is that it has a very very high concentration of vitamin C; and this is also designed to be something to consume if, you know, if you buy into the theory (which has been hotly debated) the theory that vitamin C will boost your immune system, you know.
I personally believe that the best way to boost your immune system is to have the appropriate amounts of of all micronutrients, not just vitamin C; but because vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin, if you are dehydrated you probably have a deficiency of vitamin C and it is a vitamin that comes out through your urine: so yeah, so anyway, you know, so that it's great for that.
So my point though is that maybe Emergen-C is not the best daily hydration supplement because, to be quite honest if you consume too much vitamin C that's not a good thing either: you'll start peeing bright orange because it comes out in your urine as I just said... but it doesn't just stop there my friends. It sometimes will cause you to (how can I put this delicately?) go to the bathroom and do a lot more of the “number two” in addition to number one, and it might cause diarrhea. It may cause diarrhea and you know, that's certainly no fun.
So, maybe just hold off on Emergen-C for times, again, that you need it: like if you've been really sick. So all right getting to the point: what are some hydration drinks that I recommend? Even though I don't teach in heated environments anymore I've still been keeping up with my consumption of hydration drinks. And I find it really does help me feel better.
And the good thing about electrolytes and water soluble micronutrients is that if you consume a certain amount of them that once you get to the point where your body no longer needs to absorb it, it will come out in things like your urine and your feces. So, you know, whatever you don't need will go into the toilet.
One of the supplements that we first started getting at the studio was Propel. Propel is I think it's actually the propel company is now owned by either Pepsi or Coke or one of the Really really big soft drink manufacturers.
I could be wrong. I'll have to check on that* [*note: Propel is owned by PepsiCo] but the thing about Propel is that it tastes really good. It tastes really salty. You definitely can taste the sodium in it, and the thing that I would say is the best thing about it is that it is very very palatable but it does have artificial sweeteners and I'm not a big fan of artificial sweeteners.
I think it's a chemical that your body definitely doesn't need: and in fact. I would almost rather consume a very small amount of sugar (even though sugar is not great either) I'd rather have a small amount of real sugar than chemically artificially produced sweeteners. So that's my big gripe with Propel.
But it, you know, does the job: it definitely has a lot of sodium. By the way, don't worry so much about the sodium content of these drinks. I know some people don't want to consume hydration beverages because they're afraid of getting too much sodium, you know, it's really not likely that you're going to consume too much unless you already consume a lot of sodium in your diet, which You know, why would you be doing that? then you'd have cause for concern. But if you don't consume a lot of sodium then it should be fine, you know, I would say unless your doctor has told you explicitly to avoid sodium products or products containing sodium.
I think it's very safe to consume a reasonable amount of these beverages. So that's just you know, I am not a medical doctor. I'm just a health coach but I will put that out there. I think and I know there's a lot of research to support this.
I think that this sodium hysteria is a little out of proportion, especially for people in my age group. Okay, so Propel: good taste artificial sweetener, boo.
My favorite hydration beverage that I consume pretty frequently is something called Liquid-IV (and by the way, I'm going to put the links to these products in the notes in the transcript).
Liquid IV hydration multiplier does have sugar in it: and I know that a lot of people don't like that. They say (the manufacturers of this product say) that the sugar is actually essential to delivering the nutrients to the cellular level. You know, and that's a little bit more like that, that's a higher level of chemistry than I'm familiar with, but that's what they say. It does have a lot of sodium but it definitely I would say of all of the hydration drinks (and it does come in a powder form) I would say that it checks all the boxes for me. It has the right amount of electrolytes, it makes me feel the best, and it definitely has the best taste.
It is just extra yummy. I would stick to just one a day because it does have some calories and it does have 500 milligrams of sodium in a tube; so you know, don't go bananas.
Another product that I really like is called Nuun N-U-U-N. Nuun is a little less sweet than Liquid-IV ;and this one comes in a slightly different form This one comes in like a, they're like these discs, like you know, a little flat alka seltzer shaped, you know, like a checker's piece. Anyway, it comes in a tube so it's very portable and definitely not that sweet at all.
It isn't sweet, but it tastes okay: and it comes in a lot of different flavors, and it comes in a lot of different formulas- like some have caffeine, some don',t so really read the label before you buy this stuff because you want to make sure that it it's serving your needs.
I actually kind of feel like their product line is a little, there's a little bit too much choice, you know? I think it's always I think it's a good idea to just pick one thing that you do well and stick with it, but I guess they want to have it something for everybody.
So: Nuun is good. I know Nuun was very popular with a lot of my instructors that I worked with. The biggest complaint I have about Nuun is that when you, first of all, if you are drinking out of a water bottle (which most people when they go to the gym are doing, or people if you're working out at home, but you want to keep your water cold in a water bottle), it doesn't fit in the mouth of the bottle unless it's a wide mouth water bottle, it's not going to fit. You’ve got to break it up, and then it never dissolves all the way. I find that I can shake it like crazy and there's still like half of an undissolved disc at the bottom of my water bottle. You know by the time I drink it it's still there, so I'm not even getting the full benefit. So that's my big gripe about Nuun, but otherwise it's pretty good.
Then I just recently got this stuff from Amazon called Drip Drop; and Drip drop (and I think liquid IV does this too) Drip drop and Liquid IV both give a portion of their profits to a charity, some sort of charity which is amazing. Drip Drop, I think, was actually developed as a hydration formula for people in underdeveloped countries who didn't have access to a good water source and therefore were not getting proper hydration; so they developed this formula and now they sell it to the general public. Drip Drop comes in again, these little powdered tubes that are very portable, you can take it around, and what's cool about drip drop is (and I say this, you know, respectfully because I know many people who have been affected by the pandemic who have lost their jobs and might find themselves temporarily on food stamps on on snap or EBT).
***I don't know if you know this, but on Amazon (Amazon Fresh) you can buy groceries using your SNAP card, your EBT card: and some other products besides groceries like Drip Drop you can purchase. So if let's say you're to help supplement yourself, your family you’re using the food stamps or an EBT card, you can use that to purchase Drip Drop and that's I think that's pretty cool, you know, it's like hey, sometimes we need help and and better to to spend your you know, your EBT points on something like that not soda, right? You know, it's much better for you.
So those are some of the products; and I've also used Hydrant but I didn't like the taste of Hydrant at all.
I also wanted to say: Drip Drop, some of the flavors are good, some of them just taste really weird; you know, I think I was so spoiled by liquid IV that because it really does taste good and when I started drinking drip drop I was like, “this doesn't, this just sort of like it tastes like you know, like something that's made of chemicals”, but you know, better living through chemistry!
All right folks, well that's all I have to say about hydration! If you've used any sort of hydration beverage, well, let me know in the comments!
And then last but not least:
I have more to talk about believe it or not, yeah last but not least let's talk about coloring books, let's talk about “adult coloring books’! So a lot of people (allegedly, I've heard) during the pandemic, you know, because it's a time when a lot of of us have undergone some feelings of stress, to manage our stress and anxiety we've been engaging in activities that are calming: you know, not just meditation, (you know meditation is not for everyone) but some people have started connecting with things that brought us joy as children; and you know that could be very soothing. One of the things that we have done that brought us joy as children was coloring; coloring was always fun, you know, you could sit in the back seat of the car on a road trip and color in your coloring book.
I don't know, do kids still do that? I have no idea. Anyway, so adult coloring books have been flying off the digital shelves. I suppose you can download them, and print them out through your printer, you can order them through Amazon and things like that, and anyway...
I have a very good friend: she is a former co-worker, she's also my neighbor, she lives in my building, and she actually helped me get through my level two Reiki attunement (if you don't know what Reiki is, it's an ancient form of energy healing and if you'd like to learn more about Reiki, again, you can leave a comment but not to digress about that, but anyway) so I did my my level two Reiki attunement and she got me, she facilitated that.
Her name is Michelle Shea Walker. Michelle Shea Walker is (how can I describe Michelle?) She is an actress, she's a writer, she is a Reiki healer. She does Akashic readings, and you know, this is stuff that is not as scientific as some of the things we talk about here on the podcast/newsletter, but she has published a really cool coloring book which features (and she drew these herself!) it features images from a tarot deck that she created--but wait now, hold on: before you start saying, “tarot? wait, this is getting very woo-woo, very metaphysical”...she created a tarot deck in which all of the “figures” I'll call them are represented by 90’s female icons: like actresses from 90’s TV shows and movies and in the music industry (you know, because she's a child of the 90’s as maybe maybe some of you are--I was already, you know, pretty old in the nineties) but anyhow she's taken all of these 90’s women icons and made them into these tarot goddesses: and the name of the deck is called the Total Betty Goddess Deck (you know like “total Betty”, you know is a phrase from the 90s) so the total Betty Goddess Deck is available on her Instagram, there's a link in her Instagram and you can also order the total Betty Goddess Coloring Book.
So if you don't want to, if you're not into Tarot, if you're not into reading tarot cards, but you want to maybe do some sort of divination, you can color in one of these figures. I have a copy of it and I can't wait to start coloring in it, and it's pretty cool, you know.
And maybe not only will it help keep you calm, but it may actually produce some sort of revelation and you know just so you know, for those of you who are skeptics (which is totally, okay) remember that that Tarot doesn't it doesn't read...It's not reading a crystal ball. It's not looking into your future. It's basically a tool that tells you something that you already know; whatever you learn in a tarot reading is stuff you already knew, it just kind of reinforces it and that's the same thing with these Total Betty figures and icons. It’s really really cool.
So check it out. So you can either go to her personal Instagram, which I'll post below. It's Michelle Shea [Walker] (@michelleshea) or you can go to the Instagram account for the deck, which is the Total Betty Goddess Deck (@totalbettygoddessdeck).
Okay, and that's it. Well, that's all I have for this week.
Thanks for listening and tuning in, and let me know what you think of this format or if maybe you want it to be shorter or longer, or I don't know, different in some sort of a structure. Remember that the whole purpose of this newsletter is to provide value to you, so if I can provide value to you in another way or a different way, I'd love to hear about it.
Until we meet again, I do hope that you will Be Well.
-Laura (the Health Coach)
LINKS:
Action Precedes Motivation: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-addiction-connection/201708/the-myth-motivation
Emergen-C https://www.emergenc.com/
Propel https://www.amazon.com/propel-powder/s?k=propel+powder
Liquid-IV https://www.liquid-iv.com/
DripDrop https://dripdrop.com/
Hydrant https://www.drinkhydrant.com/
Michelle Shea: https://linktr.ee/michelleshea
Total Betty Goddess Deck: https://michellesheawalker.com/shop/total-betty-goddess-deck
Total Betty Guidebook (Coloring Book): https://michellesheawalker.com/shop/total-betty-coloring-goddess-guidebook
This week: Action & Motivation, Electrolyte drinks, 90’s Icons Coloring Book (Podcast)