Getting Started in Fitness: The Key to Hormone Support and Better Health

In this episode, host Neil D addresses the importance of incorporating health and fitness into your lifestyle, especially for individuals who are new to fitness. He emphasizes the significance of prioritizing hormone-supporting habits and activities, and provides insights on stress reduction, healthy diet, adequate sleep, and regular exercise. Neil shares valuable tips and encourages small actions that can lead to significant results, ultimately aiming to guide listeners towards improving their quality of life. Join us in exploring practical advice and motivating insights on Just Start.

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Transcript

voice guy:

This is Just Start, helping Gen X live the health and fitness lifestyle for fat loss, mobility, and muscular development. You're about to get real and raw info on how to change your life. Welcome them to just start. Now your host, Neil Dee.

Hey, guys. Welcome back to the show. Last week, I was had the opportunity of being a guest On Jason Mellon's podcast, The School of Impact. He was a American Ninja Warrior back in the day, and he's still very active in the milieu. He is a a fantastic coach, and he also coaches other coaches. Now one of the questions that Jason asked me was what I would like to Share with people who are perhaps new to fitness. Thinking about that, I was like, you know what? This would be a great opportunity for this episode. So here we go.

Perhaps what I would wanna share most with somebody who is new to fitness, And I know there's a lot of, you know, a lot of people pushing out there for, you know, cardio or resistance training or, you know, heart health or nutrition, And there's a lot of school of thought here. Okay? But when it comes down to it, if there's one thing that I would wanna prioritize or suggest To anybody who is new or getting back into fitness, there's one thing that I would want for you to consider is to prioritize hormone supporting habits and activities. Now I'll talk about I'll talk from a guy's point of view. K. Now everything I'm gonna say right now, it's gonna be as good or as valuable for a woman as it will be for a man. K. But I'll mention testosterone specifically, k, which is important an important hormone for men, and it's also an important hormone for women. Alright? Now here's the thing.

We can talk about sleep, exercise, health, diet, Stress reduction, all these things. Okay? But at the end of the day, if there's one thing that you can focus on For improving the quality of your life through a fitness lifestyle is supporting habits and activities which prioritize A healthy hormone profile, and especially as we get a bit older. Okay? So here's a list, and I don't necessarily mean to put this list In the order of which they're given, all of them are important, and I'd like you to consider this episode as perhaps a bit of a buffet. If you hear something you like, Take it, make it yours. K. And we're not gonna go super in deep, but we're gonna touch on some basics, and I'm gonna tell you why. So if you like something, grab it, take it, Make it yours. Okay.

And in no particular order we're gonna talk about first stress reduction. Alright? Stress reduction. What does that look like? Well, first of all, chronic stress, it elevates cortisol. We've heard we've talked about this before. This is a hormone that negatively impacts testosterone. So Activities like, you know, meditation, deep breathing, you know, low impact cardio, like leisurely walks, stuff like that, is gonna help you manage stress levels other things that are gonna help you manage stress levels okay super important and there's a ton of them We're gonna focus on 3 right now. Okay? 1st 3 1st of the 3, healthy diet. K? Focusing on a balanced Diets rich in whole foods is your foundation.

Okay? Now when I say whole foods, I know that So much of what we have today is processed, but there's a big difference between minimally processed and heavily processed. You get it, you know, like a whole chicken. Well, that chicken has been processed, but it's minimally processed. You get, you know, some, You know, very sweet multicolored cereal box, that is a heavily processed food. An egg is even, like, you know, processed to a certain degree. Why? Because It's gone through a it's it's it's been it's in a package. Okay? So there's minimally processed, and there's heavily processed. If you can focus the majority of your Nutrition of what enters into your into your mouth, if it can be the majority of it can be in whole foods, okay, or minimally processed, You're gonna be in a much better place.

We can get into protein. I've done, you know, macronutrients, protein, fats, carbohydrates. I've Done, another podcast on that. It's great to go back as reference. But bottom line, at the end of the day, If you can focus on whole minimally processed foods, this is a great place to be. Now I'm gonna add something into this. Okay? There's a reason that many of you who know me, know me well, know that I I'm a big supplement user. I use supplements.

Why do I use supplements? Well, At the end of the day, I know what my body needs to function optimally. Is my body functioning Optimally, am I in the best shape of my life? No. I would say that I'm not. But am I close? Am I in good shape? Am I in great shape for my age? Am I in, you know, Perhaps above the average curve, I believe that I am. The, you know, I I as a matter of fact, I'm a 100% certain that I k. And this is in part as a result of the nutrition that I focus on. Now supplements. Where do supplements come in? When you understand what your body requires, you also understand that sometimes it's not always an easy thing to get what it is that your body requires for Any variety number of reasons or sometimes it's just you know, it could be situational.

It could be the logistics. It could be, finance. It Could be a a a ton of things. Supplements are an equalizer. Supplements can equal level the playing field and make it easier for you to get What it is that your body actually needs. Some of the supplements that I like, use regularly, appreciate the most, that I actually notice a big difference. Okay? I'm a big whey protein guy. K.

I take, certain vitamins and minerals through another product that I use called Proganic. It's, I I love this product. I I think it's, it's it's, you know, it's it's high in fiber. It's like having a it's like going to the salad bar and wrecking the salad bar, Being asked to leave by the restaurant because you've destroyed the solid body. You've just eaten so much of it. That's organic. I also use creatine. I use Glutamine.

I use HMB. These are products that I I I find a lot of value In there for myself, in, muscle maintenance, in recovery, in the way that I'm able to perform, not just When I'm working out, but also, like, in my regular life. Right? So healthy nutritional balance. Okay? Whole foods, minimally processed foods, the right Supplements. I'm not telling you to go out and find what, you know, the the fanciest label that you can with the, you know, most publicity behind it. You gotta do your homework. Okay? It's it's key. Okay? And ingredients are key.

K? You gotta you gotta you gotta be selective. K? But healthy nutrition. Number 2. K. Number 2, sleep. This is a big one. And if you waited for somebody perfect to tell you about this, it would not be me. K? But aiming.

At least aiming. Okay? You got your you're stirring down the barrel. You're aiming for 7 to 9 hours of sleep per night. Is that gonna happen? Oh, boy. Probably not. It's probably not gonna happen. I've heard the majority of us. Listen, the majority of people out there, you're getting up.

I don't know. Anywhere between 57 and you know, you're going to bed between, you know, like 11, 12 at night. Yeah. Get like, you're you're probably getting 6 hours of sleep at night. I'm gonna guess for the majority of people. K? But guess what? If 7 to 8 hours 7 to 9 hours is optimal for the majority of people out there and there's plenty of The sleep studies scientists and whole bunch of people who agree with that, and I happen to be one of them. Okay? If you're aiming for or if you need 7 to 9 hours to, you know, truly get the restorative sleep that your body actually needs. You're only going 6 hours a night.

How can you reconcile that? Well, here's one thing that that I do that I'm gonna suggest and I know works for plenty of people, your weekends. Your weekends is not a time to go and trash yourself worse in the sleep department. Your weekends are a time if you're usually going to bed, like, you know, whatever, 11, 12 o'clock, or whatever just simply because you need that you time. It's the only time that you have for that you time. I get it. But on the weekends, Don't trash yourself by going to bed at 1, 2 o'clock because you wanna watch Netflix all night or this or that. Yeah. Sure.

You're gonna go to a party every now and again? Sure. Go have fun. But In the mornings. K? Just turn your alarm off, and if you wake up a few hours later, enjoy it. Don't be guilty. Enjoy it. But do not and I really suggest, do not say it's the weekend. I can go to bed at 2 o'clock every single weekend, you know, 3 o'clock in the morning single weekend, and I'll wake up just like later and everything.

You're messing up your circadian rhythm. You're messing up your, you know, your sleep, balance, your internal clock. It's It's just gonna be that much harder, that much more brutal on Monday. It's not worth it. Go to bed at at worst case scenario, go to bed at the same time And, you know, wake up whenever it is that you wake up. K? Enjoy. Whatever. Are you gonna work you might work on your sleep deficit a little bit.

Is it optimal? No. Now If you wanna go from, you know, whatever, 6 to, you know, like, say 7 hours of sleep a night, fantastic. The majority of people that I know, It's really hard. You know what? Okay. I'm gonna speak for myself here. It is super hard for me. It's like I feel that if I sleep, You know, 8 hours a night for, like, 1 or 2 nights or something, all of a sudden, it's like, I'm so energized. I can't even I can't if I wanted to, for the life of me, I couldn't sleep more than, like, 6 or 7 hours the next night is what it is.

Okay? If you're at 6 hours or 5 hours, wherever it is that you are. Let's say you're under 8, 9 hours, and you feel that you need a little bit more because on the weekends, you're, you know, sleeping much longer than you expected to, and your body's telling you, hey. I need to sleep. Well, what you can do, and I find works for me, I don't even try to, like, go, you know, and, like, go to bed, like, 2 hours earlier than normal. Sometimes what I'll do is I'll I'll have to get myself into the into the pattern by sleeping, you know, 15 minutes earlier for a couple of nights in a row and just adding, you know, 15 minutes Every couple of nights. And before you know it, at the end of the week, you just add an extra, you know, hour, hour and a half onto your onto your sleeping and, you know, you can maintain that for a while. And you know what? It's important. Your body's gonna really help you, and it's gonna be great for your hormone profiles.

Right? Because sleeping, Lack of sleep severely disrupts your hormone levels. Okay? Estrogen, progesterone, and, yeah, In men, testosterone. Women too, testosterone gets big big time disrupted. During sleep, your body rejuvenates and balances your hormone production. So you cannot go wrong with extra sleep. So we talked about healthy diet, we talked about adequate sleep. Okay? And now you knew this was coming, exercise. Alright.

Regular physical activity, especially trained training. K? It can significantly boost your test levels. And it's also it's excellent for muscle growth, for fat loss, both of which are linked To improve hormone balance. Okay. Across the board across the board for men and for women. Now regular exercise, It can be hard for some people to start. Right? Now I said in the beginning that, you know, what are the things that we could, you know, share with people who are new to fitness. So that means if new to fitness that you might not be exercising at all, but you need to.

K? You need to. The reality of this is that if you let's say, you know, up until you're 40, You're coasting. Some people might well, some people may not wanna hear this, but up until you're 40, you're coasting on the laurels of your youth. K. At 20 years old, everybody's in shape. Everybody you know, even if you're not in shape, you're still strong. You're still young. You're still healthy.

You know? Like, Okay. You're a bit overweight. Okay. You're underweight. Whatever. You're still functioning well, but by the time you get hit 40, my friends, you know, That youth, it's slipping away. You no longer have the merits of youth. You got aches, You got pains? Guess what? You're gonna feel them.

You're gonna pay for them, and they're on you. K? Now if you do something about it, fantastic. You're gonna Claim a lot of that youth. But let's say you're 40 or something. All of a sudden you're 50. Now you're 50 years old. You know, you're having a hard time getting out of the chair. Sitting is painful, getting out of the chair is hard, you fall, you hurt your hip, you oh, you're told all of a sudden you need a cane, you need a walker.

Hey. This happens. And 50, boys and girls 50 is is not old okay so exercise You you wanna prioritize exercise. You wanna prioritize exercise that stimulates muscle growth, and then you wanna maintain it. Okay? And the one thing that does that The one thing that does that is bingo. You guessed it, resistance training. Now do I wanna throw you went to a gym with a bunch of heavy dumbbells right off the bat and barbells? No. No.

That's gonna probably hurt most people more than anything else. There's a there's a progression to get you there, but the Endgame. The endgame, my friends, is resistance training. So reduce the stress, healthy diet, adequate sleep, resistance training. Is there one more important than others? Let me choose. No. They're all equally important. They're all equally important.

Which one do you prioritize? Well, that depends on where you are, where you wanna start, you know, your The logistics of your life, but they're all equally important. They all play an important role in a important game Which leads in either the salvation of your autonomy or the loss of that autonomy. Okay? Because if you're not if you're not prioritizing your health, Okay. Yeah. We can both get hit by a bus tomorrow. But if that bus doesn't kill us and we just happen to Live a little bit longer. The person who's in better shape is gonna recover faster and return back to a higher quality of life than the person who's not, and that's just the way that it simply is. K.

Here's one of those random facts that I think actually has some value in repeating here. K? I was reading, a study that basically showed for people who are not in good physical condition, Who, for example, they're walking with aches and pains. If they break a hip, they'll walk with a walker. If you're already walking with a cane or a walker you break a hip, you're gonna be in a wheelchair. And if you're already in a wheelchair and break a hip, well, I don't know. Maybe you're racing down the hill or something, whatever. You break a hip or you break something, you'll be bedridden. And as soon as you're bedridden well, as soon as any of those Things happen

Life gets a little bit more difficult, but for people who are bedridden, who are a little bit older, they lose the will to live. Right? And that is that's not fun. That's not good. There's nothing awesome about that. You know? Oh, wow. You know? I'm so happy. My life was amazing. I did nothing to prioritize my health.

What a great life I live. No. It's not gonna be like that. It's gonna be like, if only I could go back in time, but you can't. Okay? So now is the time. Now is the time that you're wishing for. And The the the 40 year from now you, the 30 year from now you, who's bedridden, you know, because they've been sedentary, is wishing that You could go back to this time in your life listening to coach Neil saying you gotta get into shape. K? So that's it.

Okay. Regular exercise, adequate sleep, healthy diet, stress reduction. These are the things that are gonna keep you strong, healthy, happy With a good, strong, healthy, balanced hormone profile, and these are the things that are important that are gonna give you a higher quality of life. So guys, if there are people amongst you who want to begin incorporating fitness, a healthier lifestyle, They want to improve the quality of life and just don't know where to start. I get it. Okay? It's there's there's a lot of information out there. How do you sift through it? It's hard. There's a lot of misinformation, bad information, information which might be good, but it's just not appropriate for you at this point in your life where it is that you're actually starting from.

So if you wanna work with somebody who has experience in this domain, I'm starting a community. And in this community, we're gonna be going over regularly, You know, on a personalized level, everything that you need to start off with exercise, everything that you need to improve your sleep patterns, everything you need for nutritional awareness to help you getting eating better, And at the end of the day, to reduce your stress and improve the quality of your life. So if you're interested, check out the links in the show notes. So I wanna thank you very much, for listening and for spending your time with me. I know that, time today is super valuable, so thank you. And And the last thing I wanna leave you with is hope and a promise that your small actions actually can lead to big results. I know they can. They will for you.

They will brothers. And if you start now, you'll be looking back in 30, 90 days saying, hey. You know what? I feel better as a result of your action to begin. Alright. That's it for now, guys. I'll see you in the next show. Alright. Take care.

Talk soon. You've been listening to Just Start. Early in life, Neil Dee went from a skinny to a muscular physique. When trends and lifestyle choices led him down a path of fat gain and lost motivation, his my nation to end the madness became a transformative system, and a passion for helping Gen x live the fitness lifestyle for fat loss, mobility, and muscular development. We hope you liked the show. If you did, like, rate, and review. For more info and to reach out to coach meal deep personally. Find us on Facebook and Instagram.