Ben: 0:04

All right, here we go, Lindsay. We are officially in 2025. Welcome to Cut the Noise Wellness Simplified. I'm still very much Ben and you are still very much you.

Lindsay: 0:17

Very much me Actually.

Ben: 0:18

no, you're the new and improved version of yourself, aren't you?

Lindsay: 0:20

New you, new year, bullshit.

Ben: 0:23

No, no, you've got all of your new year's resolutions nailed down. This is the year right, ready to go changing everything everything all at once starting right now what are we changing me?

Lindsay: 0:33

yes, yeah, and we are in episode. What number did we say 44?

Ben: 0:38

yes 44, first episode of 2025 happy january, if you're listening to this Happy January, happy New Year.

Lindsay: 0:45

Real time. If you're not listening to this in real time, happy, whatever day it is for you.

Ben: 0:50

Yeah, well, it's exciting. I mean it would be rude of us not to address the fact that many people are rushing out and buying gym memberships and revolutionizing their diet and changing all of the things and revolutionizing their diet and changing all of the things which we are in support of trying to improve your life and health, for sure, but we are maybe somewhat cynical about the approach. Yes, actually, that's not fair. We're never cynical. But we definitely see a lot of activity at this time of year where people really try and revolutionize everything overnight, really try and revolutionize everything overnight, right?

Lindsay: 1:24

Yeah, I think the thing with New Year's resolutions that I don't love is that people think that if they write down their 10, 20 things they want to accomplish, they want to accomplish it overnight. Yet for the entire year before that they weren't able to accomplish any of that. And maybe you did have some success and we appreciate and celebrate everything that you do towards your health and fitness, whatever that looks like. But what we see a lot of the times at this time of the year is going all out. You know, balls to the wall and do it.

Ben: 1:52

Well, I think you know. One of the things that always springs to mind with this for me is that you can't sustain that amount of change in that shorter period of time.

Ben: 2:02

It becomes too much, right, it becomes too much you know, you see people that haven't been going to the gym, all of a sudden commit to going to the gym five and six times a week, five days a week. Yeah, by you know, maybe by the second week, third week, they're so sore, they're so tired because they've gone from zero to a hundred miles an hour just overnight and it's just impossible to sustain that level of change. The word is progression, right, that's what people need to follow, whether it's their food or whether it's exercise, and I think that's why we have an issue with New Year's resolutions. It's just because we try and change too much overnight and it's just unsustainable.

Lindsay: 2:36

Yeah, and we. You know, if you've been listening to us for a while, or if you've worked with us, or if you know us well, one of the things that we really try to speak about is this idea of the all or nothing mentality.

Lindsay: 2:46

And when New Year's resolution comes along it feels like that all or nothing is pushed so far into I'm going to do it all, I'm going to do it all, I'm going to do it all. And then when, as Ben said, it isn't sustainable, they're like well, I can't do anything, I'll just give up.

Ben: 2:58

You know I like I like New Year's resolutions in the sense of people identify the elements of their life that they need to change.

Lindsay: 3:05

Yeah, we love that, and if you haven't listened to some of our podcasts towards the end of last year, we talk a lot about January being almost like a new time, a new place to really evaluate what you did, what you didn't do, what you're moving forward.

Lindsay: 3:17

So we're not taking away from the fact that January is fantastic for that part, but what we don't want you to do is just look at all the things that you want to do that maybe you didn't do last year, or you started out doing last year and didn't finish, and think that it's going to be different this time. The only way it's going to be different is if you take one right. We talked about the one, one or two small things and make it consistent over time. So, rather than all or nothing, one of the things that we've been talking about I have definitely been talking about with my clients this week because yesterday, being the first day of the month of the year, was always something. So, instead of all or nothing, it's always something, which means just doing something towards your goal every single day.

Ben: 3:57

Yeah, I've heard of that referred to and speak to. That sometimes is what they call no zero days.

Lindsay: 4:05

Right, no, zero days or no, don't miss two days, or whatever it feels right to you. But the goal with which is why I really like always something is maybe you can't necessarily go to the gym today. Okay, so let's say something happened and you weren't able to go to the gym. Well, that doesn't mean you just go and screw eating the you know your healthy food, or forget doing my journaling, or I'm just going to go to bed at midnight tonight because I couldn't go to the gym. Now, always something means maybe it's not perfect, but you're still able to do one, two things that you had planned to do. So I couldn't go to the gym today, but I'm going to still have my, my really great dinner tonight and it's the same with food as well.

Ben: 4:39

I mean, it's just, it's a process, right? And I think that's's the thing that we always want to look at is it's this idea of small steps, right? You know, if you listen to any of our previous podcasts, you know we could be talking about this in June, or we could be talking about it now in January, and the idea is it's great to identify all of those areas of your life that you want to change. Once you do that, probably the most important thing to do is which one of those identify, which one of those has the greatest impact and then ultimately prioritize that thing. So, for most people, for most people, it's moving their body and eating better, right, there's a lot of other things you can do, but really, when it comes to best bang for the book, it is often those two things. Well, and I think too.

Lindsay: 5:19

I talked to my clients about the idea of low hanging fruit. Right, the idea, this, this is what you can look at. That's, that's already somewhat in place and you know whether it is going for a walk or whether it is doing some, some fun things with your kids in the kitchen, or whatever it is. It's finding something that you can do that doesn't take a whole change of your entire existence to do so. I'll use the gym as an example. I tried to go to the gym a few times in the last you hate the gym I hate the gym, even with my kids.

Lindsay: 5:50

Like my daughter is like I really want to go to the gym. I was like, okay, let's try it, we'll go to the gym. Most of the time I was already trying to figure out excuses on how to get out of it, but for her I would do it, etc. So at the end of the of the month we did month to month. That's what you can do here. I evaluated it and I found that I was constantly finding reasons or pushing time and don't give me. Is that what you?

Ben: 6:12

think, because I I thought I do that anyways I thought you were constantly bitching and complaining about having to go to the gym. That's.

Lindsay: 6:18

That's what I kind of experienced from my side to be fair, though, what did I say just before we jumped on this podcast?

Ben: 6:24

it's like we got to do the podcast recording because what do I have to do?

Lindsay: 6:27

I got to do my workout oh my god I am not great at picking a time and doing it. Anyways, I will constantly make excuses and push and push totally but at the gym. I just feel like I could find a reason where, when I'm at home, I I can't you do it you do it you.

Ben: 6:41

It's funny, you remind me of me about maybe eight, nine years ago, 10 years ago, with running, where I'd say to you, okay, I'm going to go for a run today, and you would say to me when are you going? I'm just like sometime this morning, right, which would then turn into sometimes this afternoon.

Ben: 6:56

Later afternoon, which would then turn to like six o'clock, 6.30 in the evening. So would make it, and I got to the point where I was uber tired of like that, because I was doing that so much that I'd end up running late. And then I'd get home and I'd be a bit wired and I wouldn't be able to sleep and for me the big change was anchoring the run to dropping the kids off at school I think this is a coaching session.

Ben: 7:20

Now, guys, I think you need to get your workouts done early and I think you need to prioritize them, and I think you actually probably need to follow the advice you give your clients, which is put it in your calendar, make it a appointment with yourself or just get the damn thing done. I don't disagree with that.

Lindsay: 7:35

However, that's not the point of this conversation it is, that's all.

Lindsay: 7:38

That's all we're here to talk about the whole reason I brought up the gym is it may not be what needs to happen right now. So when I talk about low hanging fruit with my clients, I'm not talking about creating a brand new habit that maybe you've never done before or that you don't like. So if going to the gym seems too much grabbing your running shoes, going for a walk or grabbing not even I mean I'll tell you I've worked out in my pajamas multiple times, just to get my workout done, grabbing not even.

Lindsay: 8:01

I mean, I'll tell you I've worked out in my pajamas multiple times just to get my workout done, and so I think it's understanding that you don't have to revolutionize the entire existence of something to do it.

Ben: 8:11

I think it's definitely a big thing. I mean, all of a sudden, I think this conversation is going to explode into a few different directions, but I think you know, for me, it's this idea that a lot of people are sat there right now, they've put together these New Year, they think is the only way for them to do this thing, how it should be done. Right, because you know, guys, there's only one way to do this. It's not personalized to you, it doesn't have to fit into your lifestyle, it's just one way. Clearly sarcasm, which, of course, as you know, is total bullshit. You've got to find your way, and everybody's journey into a healthier lifestyle looks different because we all have like different access points. Right, looks different because we all have like different access points.

Ben: 8:53

You know, I always say that for some people, working on their food first is beneficial, right, improving their breakfast, maybe improving the snacks that they take to work, that's a good start. For other people that might seem like a bigger leap. For other people it might be. I'm going to go for a walk three or four times a week, you know, before work, during lunch, after work, whenever works for you, and it doesn't matter which one you do, it just matters that you do one and start to try and build it into a consistent habit, because that's the thing right when you're trying to build a new habit.

Lindsay: 9:27

It's hard when you're trying to build 12 new habits all at one time, it's impossible which is why New Year's resolution tend to fail, and I'm actually going to go back to what Ben just said about his running and what he? Ended up doing is he anchored it to dropping the girls off at school, which was something he had to do because the girls had to get to school, so he ended up anchoring it to a habit that was already in place a duty that was already in place.

Lindsay: 9:49

So that tends to be something that we really encourage our clients to do and people who are looking to get started is find something that's already existing and add it. It's called habit stacking or anchoring, and it's a great way to do it.

Ben: 10:00

I think you know it depends on how old you are, but I would imagine most people that listen to what we have to talk about are in their 30s, majority in their 40s and then people in their 50s.

Lindsay: 10:10

And.

Ben: 10:10

I'm not saying people outside of that as well, but I guess what I'm saying is we get to a certain age where we know ourselves right and I've said this before, so this isn't new news. We've got to stop bullshitting ourselves, saying we're going to do something that we've never managed to do before, and the reason we've never managed to do it before is we probably try to do too much too soon, or we're trying to pretend to be something that we're not. Because I'll tell you for me personally, stacking the actual run and the gym even though the gym falls into that, now that I'm not running as much is easy for me to do. I've got it nailed. But when the kids are on vacation, I still go, but I maybe go 45 minutes to an hour later. No reason why I shouldn't. I just don't have a deadline now and it's the deadline for me.

Ben: 10:58

If it required me getting out of the house on my own free will, I'd look a lot more like you. I think so. For me it would be, and it is taking the kids to school. It has historically been me getting to work an hour earlier and hitting a gym in the local area. That's the only way I could do it For me, if it required doing it after work. It's difficult, probably unlikely to happen or it wouldn't be as quality of a workout. So I think, when you think about that, all or nothing mindset is, we've got to be honest with ourselves as well and turn around and say like, are we being realistic with ourselves?

Lindsay: 11:37

There's a difference between an aspiration like something that you really would love to do in a perfect world, which is admirable, yes, and then there's the reality, yeah, and I think I think the big thing too is often we see and it's funny because yesterday and today I met with a lot of clients from from doing their workouts or doing their, their setup for their coaching or whatever and I found a lot of the theme was getting bogged down by the details and I don't mean like, yes, of course you need to understand certain things, but getting bogged down by all the details takes away from doing the actual thing.

Ben: 12:05

Yeah, totally, and I think we do a lot of that at this time of year. There's a lot of noise. I'll give you an example, and I taught you about this this with regards to me, and also when I speak to clients, it's this idea of okay, I'm going to make this change, and I'm always asking well, what are you going to get from making that change? Right, if you're going to make a change, you want an outcome that's fairly juicy. Right, it wants to be fairly significant. We don't want to do things that don't really have an outcome. So we can start to fuss around small details that are insignificant, right. Or we can do the big things. And you know, when you ask about goals, for the majority of people it's probably moving their body more and it's probably eating better, whether it be eating better snacks, better at work, better at home, whatever, like they're. The two things that I mean exercise and food are going to get you what like 95% of the way there.

Lindsay: 12:56

Yeah, and I think I think with, with just even getting bogged down in the weeds or whatever the metaphor is that you would say for something like that is that we often get so distracted by that part. Then it's almost like it gives you an opportunity to not actually do the work and it's kind of like being busy, and Ben and I talk about this a lot. Right, a quote unquote. Busy time is doing whatever it is, whether it's for your business, for your kids, for whatever. You're busy, busy, busy. It makes you feel like you're being accomplished, but actually busyness isn't getting anything done. So when I look at you know what should my macros be, or what should this look like? Oh my gosh, I need to know this number before I can do that. And these are the weeds that I'm talking about. It makes you feel like you're doing good but yet you're not actually doing anything.

Ben: 13:41

Reminds me of the difference between planning and preparation. Right, right, planning is I'm going to. I intend to put my clothes out so that I can work out in the morning.

Lindsay: 13:51

I'm going to do this.

Ben: 13:52

Preparation is actually putting them out.

Lindsay: 13:54

Right, and I mean, what's that quote where it says you know, if you have to cut down a tree, you'd spend 95%? Of your time sharpening the ax or something like that and that's kind of the idea of what I'm talking about with weeds and action and planning and busyness, because it can feel like we're doing a lot but yet we're not actually doing the things that are making the biggest impact.

Ben: 14:15

And we've talked about it before.

Ben: 14:17

Like you, you know, I always remember this kind of saying and I've said it to you before and I don't know if you looked at me blankly at the time or I didn't articulate it particularly well, maybe, but it's like this this idea between the difference between cannonballs and bullets right, if you're going to make some changes, make them have the same impact as a cannonball, not just a bullet. In other words, make them, make them, make them have a significant outcome. That's on the upside, right, right, like versus like, what I would call like an aesthetic change, not to your body, but I'm gonna make this change. It's gonna, it's gonna be a change, but it's not really going to get me anything. So, if you're, you know, if you're looking to lose weight, um, you know, maybe working on going to bed an hour earlier, even though that's a great thing, isn't your thing, isn't your thing, right, you know, it's like. It's like we gotta, we got to tackle the thing that's going to give us the biggest outcome in the area that we're trying to improve in.

Lindsay: 15:17

Right, and I think, even with that in mind, moving from New Year's resolutions to just what should January look like is understanding that it is we're trying to find the biggest bang for your buck, and what that means is, as Ben said, like sleep is important, stress is important. Like these things is important, stresses is important, like these things are important. But what's going to make the biggest impact? And I said to my clients almost all of them over christmas, where it's really hard to focus on all the things it was like okay, just focus on getting enough protein in and move your body for at least 15 minutes, and that was it, and it wasn't so structured or concerning because you could throw turkey on your plate if you're having totally dinner and over the holiday season.

Lindsay: 15:57

There's absolutely nothing wrong with maintenance but one week out of the year, versus right maintenance. You know success might look like.

Ben: 16:04

You know, you just didn't really change weight. If you're looking to lose weight, you flatlined right for a couple of weeks. Okay, you didn't put on weight. Usually. What in the past? You've put on 10 pounds. Okay, what do you put on this year? Nothing, perfect. You maintain it. Then you renew again in in january. So we've got to remember that. You know sustainment maintenance is is a positive, particularly for a difficult season where your routines broke. That's that's the thing that I've noticed the most. The underlying thing in speaking to clients over the last couple of weeks is my routine is out of whack. Why is that? Well, I'm not working. Why is that? Because the kids are off school. Maintenance during that period is definitely hugely beneficial. In actual fact, I'll go as far to say the summer can feel a bit like that, as well, the summer definitely can.

Ben: 16:51

So you think about it, you've got these golden times. January is a golden time, february is a golden time. Depending on the holidays for kids around Easter, that can be a maintenance time. And then you come back in May, june good months. So you've got four out of the five months up until June where you've got the opportunity to really dig in, and then the other times might be natural plateaus or maintenance, where you just consolidate the great work you've been doing.

Lindsay: 17:18

Right. Well, and I think and really, really important to ask yourself and Ben mentioned it and I'm just going to bring it up because I want to make sure that you guys heard that is that if you in the past, which you know, they say the average American gains like eight pounds over Christmas, If you say the average American gains, like eight pounds over Christmas.

Ben: 17:40

Um, if you didn't do that awesome.

Lindsay: 17:41

But if in the past eight, yes, eight pounds, are you sure? Yes, it feels kind of uh, is it so loud? Eight on Christmas day? No, but if you, uh, usually do gain weight over Christmas and you didn't this year, that is a win that's amazing right, and I think the thing is is we forget that we can celebrate those things. The other thing to keep in mind and this is this is the real, this is where it's like the jab and the kind of gut. Ask yourself the honest questions have you ever kept New?

Ben: 18:06

Year's resolutions were Right.

Lindsay: 18:12

So if you have tried it in the past and it hasn't worked, and if you've tried it multiple times in the past and it hasn't worked, the question is, why would you do it again?

Ben: 18:22

Right, I think you know we, lindsay and I, do things the same, but a bit different sometimes with clients, and I just went through an exercise with goal setting with clients for 2025. Right, not New Year's resolutions.

Ben: 18:34

Yeah for an exercise with goal setting with clients for 2025, not new year's resolutions like what is the big? What is the big goal? I didn't say goals, I said goal that you want to try and accomplish. And people came, I gave them a guideline to be able to work that out, and then we sat down and we basically established a process goal, like a systematized process goal. So if someone said to me I'm looking to lose 50 pounds, the real question is well, what do you need to be doing day to day, week to week? Forget the outcome. Let's focus on the journey. Let's focus on the steps you need to take day in, day out to be able to accomplish that over the course of 2025. Now, if you look at 50 pounds over the course of 12 months, it looks very different to your New Year's resolution of 50 pounds over 30 days.

Ben: 19:20

Yeah, exactly Because, of course, even if you do great work for those 30 days, you aren't going to lose 30 pounds, because that's just not how it worked. It didn't take you 30 days to put on 50 pounds. It probably took you years, so it is going to take longer. So, having a realistic timeframe and I don't think New Year's resolutions have a realistic timeframe- no, and I actually don't know.

Lindsay: 19:41

It's interesting, right. I mean, I haven't done enough research on like where it even came from in terms of new year's resolutions and where I think it's just new beginnings, but where is it supposed? To get you, like you said, the time frame like what's new year's resolutions time frame well, I don't think there is a good idea as to what it is and I think that's just the funny part about new year's resolutions they just come and they've come, but nobody's been like.

Lindsay: 20:01

Well, when should I do this? And so even the master class I did last month, where we talked about looking at the end in mind the end in mind is December 2025, right, when you're sitting in your chair, december 2025, if this is when you listen to this, cool, but what? And work backwards, what does each of those areas look like in your health and fitness plan?

Ben: 20:20

You know, I think the challenge is that New Year's resolutions are very outcome focused and what we need to do is we need to be process focused. Right, we need to be process focused in terms of what I just said, like, what do we need to be doing day to day or week to week, month to month? The other part that we need to focus on in addition to that is learning to love the journey. We've talked about that a lot. Right, fall in love with the process, and that's why it's super important to find ways that you enjoy eating that are healthier not healthy, healthier than you currently are. I mean, it'd be good to get to healthy yeah, something you enjoy.

Lindsay: 20:55

Exercise wise something you enjoy I had a client.

Ben: 20:59

I have a client that uh had said to me she'd bumped into, uh, to an old friend that she hadn't seen for 30 years since they left high school and and she had said it was really nice to bump into somebody her age that was looking after her fitness as well. And this is a client that's lost a lot of weight and has lost a lot of weight and kept it off for quite some time now three or four years and they got chatting and just bonding over the fact that they prioritized their health and they're looking out for their well-being and so on. And she said she told me that she pole dances as a way of exercising which is actually really common, and it's so hard I'm telling you, I've done it and it is muscles that you don't even know you have.

Ben: 21:40

And I saw this look in her face and I said to her give it a shot.

Lindsay: 21:44

Yeah, try it.

Ben: 21:46

Like, give it a shot. I'm sure, like most places, they give you like an introductory, free kind of trial. Yeah, so give it a shot. You know. You just don't know what that thing is. And obviously pole dancing I don't know people's reaction to that. Like I'm sure some people like that sounds fun.

Lindsay: 21:59

Other people are like oh my God, I have a client who has a pole in her living room. Really she loves it so much.

Ben: 22:04

Of. So you know you're in a situation that's the whole point right, you, you have to find, like you know, one of the things I worry about when we talk is like, for example, we we talk about my running. Right, my running is my thing. Yes, I love it. You don't have to run to be fit and healthy.

Lindsay: 22:20

And I think you know your thing could be pole dancing, right, somebody else's thing could be dancing jumping hobby horse riding we were looking at hobby horses, the flares, uh, trampolining, right, what are they called bound running or bound jumping?

Ben: 22:33

I think I mean that, like it could be paddle tennis, it could be pickleball, it could be, it could be hiking with friends, it could be yoga. Come on, let's just hammer them off right now, honestly, 120 of them.

Lindsay: 22:47

You could try, and whether you live in cold or warm, you know snowshoeing, you know cross-country skiing. The thing is, it doesn't have to be what anybody else does now. It's fun to go and play pickleball with your, your crazy people.

Ben: 22:58

That's cool, but it doesn't have to be and it's the same for eating as well, like I think I've said this to you before, but you know we've just explained and just said, as'll all probably appreciate, that there's value in finding the thing you love when it comes to moving your body Right. So I often turn around and say, ok, so now let's talk about food Right, and let's talk about what is constantly kind of pushed towards us, which is this is the way to eat healthy. But in actual fact, you have to find your way to healthy eating. So, for example, if I have a client that you know is African American and they have been brought up in a southern culture, then there's going to be a certain palate and a certain type of food that is their go-to food right. Now, let's say I've got a client that is of Asian descent, okay, so they're going to have a certain not necessarily, but a certain cuisine that they lean towards.

Ben: 23:53

Or people who live in Mexico Right, mexican. There's definitely different ways Eastern European, for sure, british, like, whatever. You have a history that's tied to your family culture, so your food and your palate is going to be skewed in a particular direction. So it's super important to recognize. Let's say, for example um, how do I healthfully within my type type of food style, my food culture because you know, it's like turning around and saying to somebody that is, you know, eats a certain way. Well, we all have to eat the same way, whether you come from this background or that background or the other. It's bullshit. You find your way and that's why it's super important to to basically um run experiments like how do you make something that you like healthier? Right, because that could be the first step.

Lindsay: 24:44

You don't necessarily even have to change it no, it's actually jemma and I were just in the kitchen literally five minutes before we sat down here, and we were making something um and it. It was good, it was tasty and I'll share it.

Lindsay: 24:56

But one of the things I was saying- to her is that there is going to be things that you can find that you enjoy, that you can probably make a little bit healthier or add protein to it or whatever, and then there's going to be things that you just can't and it's not going to be good and you're not going to find a substitute. And that's okay too, because you are okay to have some of these things that you really love on a regular basis, just making sure that you put it in your balanced food. But there just is a dependent on if you can find something that's a healthier alternative or not.

Ben: 25:23

Yeah, and I think you know we always talk about the fact that certain things well, not certain things, things if you really do like things and really enjoy them, we've got to find a way to try and keep them in amongst the eating. But I think a lot of that becomes on frequency, right, how often you eat it, right, and the other part of it is how much of it you eat right.

Lindsay: 25:42

I remember I had a client once years ago turn around to me and say I'm never going to give up coffee and I'm like, well good, because I'm never going to ask you to give up coffee like that just doesn't make any sense, so well it doesn't make any sense either, because I mean, like, let's face it, we're not struggling, we're 20 pounds because we drink too much coffee.

Ben: 25:57

But actually saying that though, saying that I'll take that back. I'm thinking coffee, coffee, not frappa latte, latte cha cha, you drink coffee with?

Lindsay: 26:06

milk, and that's it you don't put anything else in it. I don't drink coffee, so I can't. I can't say anything about it. But also it's like what ben said you, we're not going to tell you to go run if you hate to run. We're not going to tell you to stop drinking coffee when you love coffee, you know. So there's always these things and that's what happens.

Lindsay: 26:21

I've seen so many posts in the last day or two that's like no sugar, no pasta, no this, no that. And I'm like I'm all for having a challenge. We all love challenges in this house. It's fun, it's it's exciting to kind of push yourself. But if you are absolutely obsessed with something and you're like no sugar, no pasta, no coffee, no pop, no whatever, and that's your new year's resolution, and you last 10 days, let's say, because you can do pretty much anything for 10 days, maybe you might be miserable, but eventually you go back to it and then you feel like shit. Because you feel like pretty much anything for 10 days, maybe you might be miserable, but eventually you go back to it and then you feel like shit because you feel like you failed.

Ben: 26:52

You know, I was going to say that to you. Actually, the thing that I think affects me most about New Year's resolutions and when you see people, inevitably what is it like the 21st, 22nd people fall off. You know, it's the fact that they then look at themselves and say, well, you do these things and you can never actually follow through on them.

Lindsay: 27:10

I've never been able to be successful. I'm never going to lose weight.

Ben: 27:13

But the problem was never the individual. I mean, yeah, for sure, there's lots of work to be done to challenge and overcome your own BS, but often they, from the moment they stepped out of the gates, it was failure because it was just an unrealistic expectation, right?

Lindsay: 27:26

One of the things I think both Ben and I love the most and we'll wrap it up here is that the person who turns around to me and says I've tried everything and it's never worked. Right To take that person and break down what we talk about on a regular basis our systems, the processes, the small challenges, the small things that you do consistently over time and, seeing it, we always say like, oh, I can't wait for her to be my next success story. And it has nothing to do with either Ben or I. It has to do with the fact that you can see just that little fire. It's just burning, so small right now but it's soon going to get bigger and bigger and bigger. Because after month one when you're like Holy shit.

Lindsay: 28:03

And then the next month and the next month I'm working with a client I've actually talked about her before where she started five minutes of walking because her back and her knees and she wasn't doing well. Now she's at 25 minutes. We started weight training and she just said to me today in our session she's like I think I can go heavier on this week and I on this weight, and I was just like, oh, it's like hell, like it's amazing, totally chose it and I didn't. So it's like this tiny little flame that burns slowly, slowly, because if you think that you can't do this, I promise you it's probably not you. It's probably the system or the process that you've tried to follow in the past that has failed you I like that.

Ben: 28:38

I like that flame analogy, because often I'll talk about the idea of, let's say, a piece of wood represents a habit and you pour 30 pieces of wood on that tiny little flame. What happens to it? It gets smothered, right, and I think that's the idea. You know, if you think about food like lindsey said about her client building up the time that she was working out and walking you can do the same thing with food, right. So it's like, rather than trying to overhaul your whole diet, have a kick-ass breakfast right. Work on that for jan. Then, when you feel pretty good about you've nailed that it's become second nature, then take on your lunch, right.

Lindsay: 29:14

Right, but, ben, that's too slow. It doesn't give me the results I want.

Ben: 29:17

It's true, but like, how are those results going for?

Lindsay: 29:18

you Exactly.

Ben: 29:19

So it's like one of those things. It's like it's too slow. I'll kick ass and do all of this stuff for 21 days and then I'll just go back to my old ways, or because think about it like if you took this philosophy, you could revolutionize your body and your eating lifestyle. So it's simple, as this keys to the kingdom straight January, you work on your breakfast, right, get that nail down. Okay, in February, we're going to work on adding a healthy lunch. Maybe you're going to pack that lunch and take it to work with you five or six days a week. You're going to do that. You're going to basically do that for all of February, okay. Then March, we're going to do the same thing. So we're going to hold on to January and breakfast, we're going to hold on to lunch for February, and now we're going to work on March, which is going to be our dinner. So we're going to work on that and then we're going to consolidate that. So maybe what we're going to do in April, rather than add something new, is we're just going to get more practice balancing those out.

Ben: 30:16

And May comes along. You know what? I'm going to tackle my snacks, actually, no, I'm going to tackle my snack, my morning snack. So in April I work on my morning snack. It's not quite as big because I'm packing it. It's a little bit easier to get my head around. It requires less practice and less preparation, but I'm going to do that in May. Okay, that's my May, all right. In June I'm going to do my afternoon snack. So in the first six months I've addressed all of those things and all I'm going to do for the latter half of the year is I'm going to consolidate practice and maintain those things and I'm going to see all of the momentum that's been built from that first six months by just introducing one change per feeding session per day.

Lindsay: 30:58

And here's the thing I mean. Ben said it's the keys to the kingdom. And here is the ultimate truth. We have worked with thousands of people with this exact system and we have seen success with it. So we're not just saying this to you because it sounds good. Most people are like, actually that doesn't sound good, we want faster. But what happens is, if you look at it and break it down that way and that's just one example there's multiple ways to do it, depending on yours and your area.

Lindsay: 31:21

But if you do that, instead of this all out balls to the wall 21 days until you fail because you will when you try to change everything all at once for new year's resolutions, you'll have more success than you could possibly imagine you may even turn around and say you know I'm ready for something else or maybe that that what you've just described feels a little fast, right, and that might be right as well.

Ben: 31:42

So then again, based on you and based on your own experience and what you feel confident about focusing on, just hear that for a second.

Lindsay: 31:49

I'm going to say it again because it's so important, based on you right and some people are doing that with exercise. Some people are doing that with food. Some people are okay with breakfast, but they're really struggling with drinking their calories.

Ben: 32:01

It's so dependent on you, so it's not cookie cutter if I was looking to lose 30 or 40 pounds, this is what I would do. I like the idea of what I just laid out and it works. For some people I've seen it work really well, but other people it can be. I focus on that breakfast for two months, january and February. Right, I focus on lunch, basically March and April, and all I do is just double up that timeframe. So yeah, by 12 months. The next 12 months you're practicing and sustaining, but after 12 months you've basically revolutionized breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks and you, literally, could change your life with this so you've 40 or 50 pounds lighter.

Ben: 32:38

If you choose to be a new, eat right and obviously there's guidance required on what you need to be eating and getting enough protein and managing your carbs right. Carbs aren't bad, but there's certainly some carbs the slower burn carbs, the ones that don't affect the insulin spike in the same way as some of those simpler carbs.

Lindsay: 32:55

There's certain rules that we need to look at and adapt to, but it never feels overwhelming because we're just tackling a breakfast or we're just tackling a lunch our the biggest compliment you can ever give when ben and I are coaching with our clients is this feels too easy, right, and the reason for that is because that's the whole point. We're trying to make it simple. We're trying to make it so that you can maintain it long term for the rest of your life Right.

Ben: 33:21

I've worked with clients that have spent the last 10 years doing New Year's resolutions for a month. So they've got 10 months of New Year's resolutions, 10 years doing New Year's resolutions for a month. So they've got 10 months of New Year's resolutions and they're pretty much in the same or worse position. And then we've worked with clients through this process multitude of times where after 12 months they've changed forever.

Lindsay: 33:41

Yeah, and you know obviously I was joking there about the revving of the engine, but I'm not at the same time, because so many people they, you know, they're kicking up to January 1st with their you know revving their engine, revving their engine getting ready to go, and then it's basically like speeding out and then crashing like two minutes away.

Ben: 33:58

I'm just going to hold my hand up and say we're all like that, we've all done it. No, no, we're all like. Doesn't want to change their world in one month. Oh, wouldn't it love me.

Lindsay: 34:07

It'd be amazing If we had a pill for that.

Ben: 34:08

Right. But if we appeal to our logic, it just doesn't work right. Like that's the reality. There's no examples we can give ourselves where we've done that before and it's been successful.

Lindsay: 34:18

Right, nobody has done that before.

Ben: 34:19

But it'll be different this time.

Lindsay: 34:20

Yeah.

Ben: 34:21

I'm sorry, but it won't be that ourselves first-hand experience personally and professionally worked with clients the same ways. You know the slower in some respects that you you lose the weight. I don't mean like painfully slow, but you know, a pound, pound, a pound a week, whatever over the course of 52 weeks. A pound a week over 52 weeks, guys, is 52 pounds yeah, you know, you have 52 pounds to lose.

Lindsay: 34:46

It's there you go.

Ben: 34:47

Even if you're only doing half a pound a week, that's 25 pounds. That's pretty amazing for somebody that maybe has never lost the weight that they plan to, or they've lost and come back and lost and come back. So all right, we're going to wrap it up because, again, I feel like this is something that Ben and I could talk about quite a bit about, because we're both very passionate.

Lindsay: 35:13

Well, it's what we talk about quite a bit about, because we're both very passionate. That's what we talk about all the time. Yes, so new year's resolutions out right.

Ben: 35:14

We're not doing the all or nothing mentality. We're doing always something. I'm gonna go a step further. Actually, I know you want to wrap this up. Lindsey doesn't like us going too long, but sometimes we need to. And I'm gonna say this we could close it the way that you want to close it, but I think we should close it this way. You, you might be sitting here having actually produced New Year's resolutions like we're talking about. You need to just look inside and turn around and really say am I being realistic? Because you still have time to turn around and say hang on a second, these ideas that I've got are good, but I've got too many of them or it's too big what I'm trying to do, so let's break it down and make it smaller. So we are going to promote New Year's resolutions light that actually lasts for 12 months.

Lindsay: 35:56

And, as always, guys, if you're like this is amazing information, you guys are hilarious, we love listening to us, but you don't know how to do it yourself. That's when you can reach out, ask questions. Reach out to either Ben or I and we can. We can help you. I know one of my clients did exactly what ben just said. He wrote that she wrote down all the information and then they came to me and was like, how do I take this to the one that you're telling me to take it to? And so we broke it down and kind of talked through it and all of those things. So we understand that sometimes that's challenging and if you need support, reach out sometimes you can just be too close to it, right?

Ben: 36:30

it's like you know you have a problem. You go to a friend and they say it totally differently to you and it's the same idea, right?

Lindsay: 36:36

sometimes we're so close to it that we can't see our own noise, because it is your life, it is your goals, it's your plan, it's the things you want to accomplish, where, with ben and I, we can look at it. You know of all from experience and, second of all, being able to be taking away a little bit from the fact that you don the year.

Ben: 36:53

Just look at them again through fresh perspective and say am I setting myself up to be success successful for the long term or am I being unrealistic and expecting things to change too soon, too quick, too much, too many?

Lindsay: 37:20

absolutely well, have yourself a fantastic week, enjoy the first week of 2025, and we will speak to you next week yes, we will speak to you next week. Yes, we will speak to you soon. Bye.