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Nourishing the Mind and Body: Gina Iovino's Insights on Nutrition's Role in Veteran Wellness · Your Thoughts Your Reality

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: Welcome to your Thoughts, your Reality with Michael Cole, the podcast that shines a compassionate light on the journey of veterans battling through life's challenges.
• 0:11
  Speaker 1: Michael is a dual elite certified neuro encoding specialist in coaching and keynote training presentations dedicated to guiding military veterans as they navigate the intricate pathways of post-deployment life.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: Join him as we delve into the profound realm of neuroencoding science, empowering these brave individuals to conquer universal battles procrastination, self-doubt, fear and more.
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: Together, let's uncover the strength within you to re-engage with families and society, forging a new path forward.
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: Hello, hello, hello Everybody.
• 0:50
  Speaker 2: We have a very special guest near and dear to my heart, gina Iovino.
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: She is a nutrition coach, a neuro wellness coach as well.
• 1:00
  Speaker 2: She works with veterans and does all kinds of amazing work out there.
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: So I just want to welcome, tina, thank you for being here.
• 1:09
  Speaker 3: Thank you for having me.
• 1:10
  Speaker 3: I'm really excited about this conversation.
• 1:12
  Speaker 2: Oh, absolutely Absolutely.
• 1:14
  Speaker 2: So let's start off with you know, tell us a little bit about yourself.
• 1:20
  Speaker 3: Yeah, well, I'm a functional nutritionist and also, like Michael said, a neuro wellness coach, so it's not just fad diets and quick fixes, but it's actually learning a nutrition lifestyle for the rest of your life and using that in ways that I know.
• 1:38
  Speaker 3: They say out there that food is medicine, but I like to say that actually food equals communication, because we could possibly eat the same thing, right.
• 1:47
  Speaker 3: Some people are allergic to peanuts.
• 1:49
  Speaker 3: I am not allergic to peanuts, so if I gave that to somebody, that actually wouldn't be medicine for that person, who could actually potentially have really have a lot of harm.
• 1:59
  Speaker 3: So that's why I like to say that food equals communication, and so I love to help my clients find out what kind of food is going to communicate correctly with their body, so that way that they have more energy, they feel more vitality and that they just feel better in their body.
• 2:15
  Speaker 3: Right, and then, as a result, the positive thing is that the weight comes off.
• 2:19
  Speaker 2: So Amen.
• 2:21
  Speaker 2: So you know I never thought about it that way.
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: I've really never thought about that.
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: You know peanuts, or my wife's allergic to peanuts and walnuts, so I've never thought about.
• 2:32
  Speaker 2: You know, you think that's just nutrition and a good thing, and maybe sometimes it's not.
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: It's a great point, excellent.
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: So I know you work with Project Refit.
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: You want to talk a little bit about that.
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: Yes, yes, project Refit is near and dear to my heart.
• 2:48
  Speaker 3: I have three brothers that are Marines, and so that's why I went into the volunteering service, because they serve their country, and so I wanted to do my part as a civilian to give service back.
• 2:59
  Speaker 3: So I've been doing fundraising for a very long time now, probably close to 18 years.
• 3:04
  Speaker 3: Been doing fundraising for a very long time now, probably close to 18 years Recently, just with Project BeFit over the last two years and our mission is to combat isolation, whether it's online or offline.
• 3:12
  Speaker 3: We do that in retreats.
• 3:13
  Speaker 3: We have a radio check, so if you're listening and you're a veteran or first responder, we have radio checks every Monday and Friday.
• 3:19
  Speaker 3: That means you can jump on and you can talk in a community where you're supported and you're heard, and so it's just fantastic.
• 3:27
  Speaker 3: So I absolutely love it.
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: Well, thank you, thank you for what you do with them.
• 3:31
  Speaker 2: I know they're.
• 3:32
  Speaker 2: They, you know, have a whole big program that you work with and that I see you on all the time doing stuff.
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: So thank you, of course, for all of our veterans.
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: So let me ask you as far as nutrition in veterans and families too, because everybody you know is focused on the veterans.
• 3:50
  Speaker 2: I talk a lot about how the families are the silent heroes as well, because everybody's when you're a veteran, everybody is affected in a sense.
• 3:58
  Speaker 2: So how give me a couple of ideas or thoughts that you have as far as how nutrition, fitness, those kinds of things help with the, the mental aspects of isolation like you brought up, and things like that?
• 4:14
  Speaker 3: Yes, and I love that you bring up this topic.
• 4:17
  Speaker 3: And something that I'm also very passionate about is I trained under Dr Daniel Amen and I love his philosophy, which, yeah, he like.
• 4:26
  Speaker 3: He says if you don't look, how do you know, which means is we don't look into the brain when our first responders and veterans are suffering things from things like PTSD, tbi, how do we know what part of the brain is hurting, unless, unless we look?
• 4:40
  Speaker 3: So I feel like it's the same thing too when it comes to nutrition and to fitness.
• 4:44
  Speaker 3: Look, so I feel like it's the same thing too when it comes to nutrition and to fitness.
• 4:51
  Speaker 3: Let's see first what is going on biologically, maybe with somebody, before you know, we go into the other routes of you know.
• 4:56
  Speaker 3: You know medicines or SSRIs.
• 4:57
  Speaker 3: I know there's psychedelics now, but sometimes what can happen is you know, our gut is a beautiful, magnificent organ and it starts from our mouth and it goes all the way down to our anus, so it's a very long.
• 5:10
  Speaker 3: It's not just the stomach.
• 5:13
  Speaker 3: People usually think the gut is just the stomach and it's not, but in there is a community that lives inside there and they make our dopamine, our serotonin, they help us with sleep, gaba, our immune system.
• 5:26
  Speaker 3: So if we're not providing our body with the things that we need to to fuel those neurotransmitters well, then you could be feeling depressed.
• 5:35
  Speaker 3: You could have a lot of extra anxiety on top of maybe what you already have going on there.
• 5:41
  Speaker 3: So it's always a great way just to look inward first and see what we can do as far as nutrition of food maybe it's supplements and other holistic approaches towards healing and maintenance to on top of it.
• 5:56
  Speaker 2: So when you start to feel depressed or you start having those kinds of feelings, is there something you would suggest Like you know, for me, of course, with neuroencoding it's, you know, get up, change your state, you know, change some physical activity and so on.
• 6:11
  Speaker 2: I'm sure you as well I mean you're part of the NEI, just like I am Are there certain nutrients that you suggest?
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: I mean I'm not going to suggest go out and drink 18 gallons of coffee.
• 6:23
  Speaker 2: I mean I'm not going to suggest go out and drink 18 gallons of coffee to get up and get moving.
• 6:27
  Speaker 2: But are there other nutrients or programs, things that you would bring up?
• 6:30
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I would say, first of all, if you're feeling that way and sometimes you know what depression is OK, we can all experience that.
• 6:37
  Speaker 3: So a little bit of depression is normal.
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: I think when you should be concerned is when it becomes prolonged or it's happening on a daily basis or it's interrupting in the quality of your life in other areas.
• 6:49
  Speaker 3: That's when you should start saying hey, you know, maybe I need to talk to somebody, I need to get some help.
• 6:53
  Speaker 3: But one of the things that you can do nutritionally to support yourself is omegas right, oh, those omega threes coming from our fish, salmon.
• 7:03
  Speaker 3: That's a great way to do it.
• 7:05
  Speaker 3: I for my kids to get extra in.
• 7:07
  Speaker 3: I get extra virgin cod liver oil that you can get organically cold pressed and I use that instead of olive oil.
• 7:15
  Speaker 3: I'll mix it in with my salad dressing.
• 7:16
  Speaker 3: So that way we're all getting another boost of omegas that way, which is really good for you.
• 7:21
  Speaker 3: So that's one of the things I think we're very deficient.
• 7:24
  Speaker 3: Another huge one is vitamin D.
• 7:26
  Speaker 3: We don't realize, especially spending so much time indoors, how depleted we can get from vitamin D.
• 7:32
  Speaker 3: So taking a quality vitamin D supplement can also help with that.
• 7:35
  Speaker 3: Also, too, I love that you said, change your state.
• 7:38
  Speaker 3: A lot of times I even have my clients, even if they're not depressed, I just love for them every 60 to 90 minutes when they're working from home, to get up and get out either of their house and just get up, take a break, breathe in fresh air.
• 7:52
  Speaker 3: Don't bring the phone with them, you know, actually look at the light in the sky.
• 7:57
  Speaker 3: There was a great research that was done just in the impact that it had on people that were depressed that they just spent a lot of quality time out in nature, how much it actually lowered their rate of depression and made them feel better for being just being, you know, in touch with nature.
• 8:17
  Speaker 2: Absolutely, you bring up sunlight.
• 8:21
  Speaker 2: Obviously that your D3 as well, right.
• 8:27
  Speaker 3: Yes, yes.
• 8:27
  Speaker 3: Vitamin D is great on your skin.
• 8:28
  Speaker 3: That's the natural, natural way of getting it in.
• 8:31
  Speaker 2: I've also heard a lot recently and I it's I kind of hear about it, then it goes away, but I I'm hearing about and doing a lot of research now, actually just about grounding.
• 8:40
  Speaker 2: When you're outside and getting that D3, take your shoes off, put it in the grass, you know, just reconnect with nature and it has a lot of benefits as well.
• 8:49
  Speaker 2: Do you agree with that or do you have any?
• 8:50
  Speaker 3: information.
• 8:50
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I agree with that 1000% and I know firsthand.
• 8:54
  Speaker 3: I actually started a garden last year.
• 8:57
  Speaker 3: One of my favorite things to do was in the morning, when the kids were home during the summer it was kind of like before we had breakfast we all went outside and let the kids run around in their PJs, I tended to the garden, put my hands in the soil same thing, no shoes, and just being able to have that time and it really um, and it really does set you up for the rest of the day, just to kind of be out again, getting that sunlight in.
• 9:21
  Speaker 3: And what we don't realize is that a real sunlight, not the artificial that comes inside from the house, is when we're outside.
• 9:27
  Speaker 3: Actually, we have mechanisms and we are supposed to move and flow with the earth and the sun rising, the sun falling.
• 9:34
  Speaker 3: So if we can get outside and then natural light, it will also tell us that, hey, it's like time to wake up, start waking up our system, and that way that natural you know cortisol that we all have can start to rise, getting us ready for the day, and then that melatonin, when it's supposed to kick in, can kick in when it does at nighttime.
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: Amen.
• 9:52
  Speaker 2: Circadian rhythm right, yeah, yeah.
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: So as far as with the mental aspects of that and just feeling good, I mean, that alone it has, from my experience, is tremendous, you agree?
• 10:09
  Speaker 3: You're saying, in the form of eating healthier foods compared to, like, ultra processed foods?
• 10:14
  Speaker 2: No, I was actually sorry.
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: We had a little glitch there.
• 10:17
  Speaker 2: Sorry about that, Gina.
• 10:17
  Speaker 1: Sorry, we had a little glitch there Sorry about that, Gina.
• 10:19
  Speaker 2: No, just getting outside getting grounded, getting out in the sun, getting some movement, just really has some great mental benefits by itself.
• 10:34
  Speaker 3: And just breathing, like I mean, how many of you two, how many of us out there shallow breathe, like how many times are we really breathing and expanding, and, just, you know, opening up our lungs, and a lot of us are hovered over, we're shallow breathing.
• 10:42
  Speaker 3: We're constantly on our phone, you know.
• 10:44
  Speaker 3: I mean, I used to be guilty of it and I I try not to do it like anymore.
• 10:48
  Speaker 3: But how many times do people wake up and right away they're like grabbing the phone like an instant, like I need an instant dopamine hit, and then normally what's on there, you know, is judgment, comparison, you know.
• 11:00
  Speaker 3: And then what you're doing is then you're telling yourself already in the morning like I'm not good enough, or how come I don't have this done?
• 11:05
  Speaker 3: Oh, I'm supposed to have the perfect morning.
• 11:07
  Speaker 3: And so then you set yourself up for, you know, sometimes going downhill instead of going up and so being able to go outside.
• 11:13
  Speaker 3: I think leaving the phone sets you up better for just some more personal self-care for the rest of the day.
• 11:20
  Speaker 2: I love that.
• 11:21
  Speaker 2: I truly do so.
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: It's funny you bring that up about breathing, so I was just watching.
• 11:26
  Speaker 2: I'm not going to get into who and what and all that stuff, but just about when you watch a baby breathe when there's no stress or anything what's that?
• 11:36
  Speaker 3: I love it.
• 11:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah, go ahead, belly breathing, bigy, breathing, breathing, you know, which I've known for a long time.
• 11:58
  Speaker 2: But when it put in perspective about the baby and the stress, it connected something different, you know.
• 12:03
  Speaker 2: So it's really, really great you brought that up.
• 12:05
  Speaker 2: So, as far as nutrition, what are some of the just best nutritional foods?
• 12:13
  Speaker 2: Or, I don't want to call them diets because I don't, I'm not a diet guy.
• 12:17
  Speaker 2: I believe in changing relationship with food so that it's consistent and sustainable, because when you get into and don't get me started fad diets, they all are tools, but most aren't sustainable and not last.
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: That's why they're fad diets, right.
• 12:33
  Speaker 2: So are there any specific?
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: Let's start off with fad diets and then we'll circle back to the good stuff.
• 12:38
  Speaker 2: Are there any fad diets you generally suggest to stay away from?
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: Yeah, the cabbage soup diet.
• 12:44
  Speaker 3: The cabbage soup diet, right, normally the calories are very low.
• 12:48
  Speaker 3: So, yes, you might, off the bat, see weight loss, but a lot of times it's just that's inflammation, which is water.
• 12:54
  Speaker 3: People don't realize is that when you have a high carbohydrate diet, you actually retain more water with a higher carbohydrate diet.
• 13:02
  Speaker 3: So with that, you know, you will see a lot of water weight that you're losing.
• 13:06
  Speaker 3: And then what you're also doing is you're actually you're you're ruining.
• 13:10
  Speaker 3: Everybody has a set thermostat for how many calories that their body loves to burn.
• 13:15
  Speaker 3: Ok, this is your basal metabolic rate, and so when you do a diet like that, what happens over time is it kind of works and then then it starts to decrease.
• 13:22
  Speaker 3: So you're actually ruining your metabolism.
• 13:25
  Speaker 3: Metabolism, it decreases and decreases.
• 13:27
  Speaker 3: So then we go back to eating, let's say, food where you're having more calories.
• 13:32
  Speaker 3: That's why the weight comes back on, because you have, you know, lowered your basal metabolic rate so low that now all the influx of calories is being packed on as weight.
• 13:44
  Speaker 3: So I don't like that one.
• 13:47
  Speaker 3: You know what.
• 13:47
  Speaker 3: All those other ones, though, too, like keto.
• 13:49
  Speaker 3: If you're vegan, you know vegetarian, all of the all those diets do work for certain people.
• 13:54
  Speaker 3: So I don't like to say that any one specific diet is right or it's wrong Everybody, and that's why they all work right.
• 14:02
  Speaker 3: Something might work, might work for me where it doesn't work for somebody else, and there's a lot of reasons why.
• 14:07
  Speaker 3: First of all, usually it's because of the gut, what's going on there, but I would say that's it.
• 14:15
  Speaker 3: Another thing is is the like Atkins?
• 14:17
  Speaker 3: That's a great tool, but that's not something that you would want to do sustainably.
• 14:20
  Speaker 3: Another one is even like Atkins.
• 14:20
  Speaker 3: That's a great tool, but that's not something that you would want to do sustainably.
• 14:21
  Speaker 3: Another one is even like with keto.
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: They call it like the dirty keto.
• 14:24
  Speaker 3: That's another one that you'll see everywhere where it's really high in fat, high in protein, high in cheese and that's not really a true ketogenic diet.
• 14:33
  Speaker 3: So I think those are kind of like the couple I would say bad diets, like let's just not do it anymore.
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and when keto, I think, first started, I actually did kind of a keto thing before keto became a thing and you know I didn't do all the cheeses and all of that stuff.
• 14:50
  Speaker 2: So when I saw that start coming out it was like can that really be all that great for you?
• 15:03
  Speaker 2: I understand good, good, good fats, good oils, that kind of stuff, but that just didn't seem like it was something that was going to be good long term.
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: You know, clean keto, where you're still putting carbs in there with vegetables, those kinds of things I think is great, but I had serious concerns when you said dirty ketos like I remember that.
• 15:16
  Speaker 2: So so let's move it to.
• 15:20
  Speaker 2: You know a good diet Like for me, for instance, what I found sustainable is literally getting rid of the boxes, getting rid of all the refined sugars and processed sugars, and you know all of those things and just got back to basics.
• 15:36
  Speaker 2: So you know, that's how.
• 15:39
  Speaker 2: What really changed your relationship with food for me?
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: Are there tips or thoughts that you have on that?
• 15:45
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and I love that.
• 15:46
  Speaker 3: You said that that's a great way to start or a great way to change your lifestyle, and I always tell people to is.
• 15:53
  Speaker 3: You know, start where you can.
• 15:54
  Speaker 3: Okay, I know, and I think this is another reason why when people want to switch into a healthier lifestyle, while it doesn't, over time, work out, is because they try to cram all this information into a short amount of time.
• 16:08
  Speaker 3: That's not sustainable for their habits, their lifestyle, with their kids, you know, their, maybe their social circles, and so it becomes like a crash and burn situation.
• 16:17
  Speaker 3: So start where you can.
• 16:20
  Speaker 3: My philosophy is you are running a marathon of your life and, like I help people is just to get to that next mile marker.
• 16:28
  Speaker 3: So whether you're going to walk, you're going to run or you're just going to jog is up to you, but you have to decide what kind of a pace of a person you are and then take that, that information and those tools and apply them just to get to that next mile.
• 16:42
  Speaker 3: And then, once you can accomplish that behaviorally, then let's move on to concentrating on our focus for the next mile.
• 16:50
  Speaker 2: So that that has to make it so much easier.
• 16:52
  Speaker 2: I mean, everybody's like okay, I want to drop 78 pounds.
• 16:58
  Speaker 3: I mean because we see, right, we go on social media and as we're scrolling we're seeing all this.
• 17:03
  Speaker 3: People are only posing the after picture of like oh, look at me.
• 17:07
  Speaker 3: But like, rarely you really get to see the daily struggle or the long months that it took to lose that 40 pounds and to lose it to where your body is also healthy.
• 17:18
  Speaker 3: And to lose it to where your body is also healthy, Because we all know that those bad crash diets can actually put you into into disease.
• 17:27
  Speaker 3: You know so, um, yeah.
• 17:29
  Speaker 3: So I think we always do like we want a quick fix, we go to a doctor for a quick fix, we can watch anything we want on a quick fix, and so I think we tend to think that the weight, you know, if we just drink water all day, that tomorrow 20 pounds will be gone.
• 17:40
  Speaker 3: And the weight, you know, if we just drink water all day, that tomorrow 20 pounds will be gone.
• 17:41
  Speaker 3: And that's, you know, realistically, that's not how it works.
• 17:45
  Speaker 3: So, yeah, me too Cheers, but you know so, yeah.
• 17:54
  Speaker 3: So I just say, you know, do it slow, because that's how you're going to make it sustainable, mastering one thing at a time, whether you might say you know what I need to just get, pop out of the house Like that's the one thing, then just start with that one thing and then, once it becomes easy and you're like, okay, I can do this, I'm going to move to the second thing.
• 18:12
  Speaker 3: You know, maybe we're not going to eat out five days a week Now.
• 18:15
  Speaker 3: We're going to eat out three days a week.
• 18:16
  Speaker 3: So now you've done something else.
• 18:20
  Speaker 2: You know, I got, I got to share something, um, changing and drinking more water, number one, um, and for you know, a salad without the dressing you get from the store.
• 18:32
  Speaker 2: You know, susan, susan, my wife anybody that doesn't know yet she makes very simple.
• 18:39
  Speaker 2: I mean, literally fresh squeezed orange juice is sometimes a little honey and that's not even necessary.
• 18:46
  Speaker 2: It's one of my favorites now.
• 18:47
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's just fantastic.
• 18:49
  Speaker 2: So you can really simplify things.
• 18:51
  Speaker 2: And how long does that take to make, compared to you know, making some big, crazy high fat with bad fats dressing?
• 18:58
  Speaker 2: You know, so you can really simplify it and I think that's what people are looking for a lot.
• 19:04
  Speaker 2: Is I just want it fast, right, that's what we have become.
• 19:08
  Speaker 2: Is I just want everything fast and easy and and so on, and it can be just one little thing at a time.
• 19:17
  Speaker 3: And you know, another thing when I work with clients is I really have to get a history, because I have to understand their relationship with food.
• 19:23
  Speaker 3: Sometimes, with some people, there also is an addiction component to it, which, for a lot of us, I can see why A lot of the foods that are ultra processed inside of these stores are specifically chemically made to trigger that bliss point in your brain.
• 19:39
  Speaker 3: So you want more.
• 19:41
  Speaker 3: One of the examples I like to give is okay, I want you to sit down, you know, eat five baked potatoes.
• 19:46
  Speaker 3: Well, it's hard to eat five baked potatoes, but I bet you could sit down and eat a whole bag of chips like nothing and not even realize that it's the same amount of food.
• 19:56
  Speaker 3: But because the way that it's presented to your body it's going to have a different effect on those hormones, like like ghrelin and, you know, leptin.
• 20:07
  Speaker 3: So that's why, you know, we also want to take a look at the quality of the food coming into as well.
• 20:13
  Speaker 3: So in helping with that kind of stuff and I also need to see too, because if they are addicted to these things, I need to help them with their cravings which means we need to change their palate over time using things like spices and other combinations of flavors, so that way they don't feel like they're missing out, because that's a big piece of it too is people are used to things that are like really high, salty or sweet, and so it's also helping them and taking them through that journey too as well, and helping them with a meal plan, that kind of mimics what they've been eating, to make the process a little bit easier too.
• 20:50
  Speaker 2: So thank you.
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: That's great information.
• 20:53
  Speaker 2: It truly is, and it just simplifies it.
• 20:55
  Speaker 2: So you're talking about getting them past it mentally, right.
• 21:00
  Speaker 2: What are some tips and tricks?
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: Are there certain things?
• 21:06
  Speaker 2: I mean, when they do something, do they?
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: Do you have them celebrate, pat themselves on the back?
• 21:10
  Speaker 2: I mean, what are some some little tips and tricks?
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: When they are successful, even if you're not around, can you give people when they make those little switches of, hey, I didn't drink that soda, I drank that bottle of water no-transcript.
• 21:52
  Speaker 3: maybe they haven't, they haven't drank.
• 21:54
  Speaker 3: You know, in a couple of hours they're actually dehydrated, they're not hungry.
• 21:58
  Speaker 3: So maybe I got to do that first.
• 22:00
  Speaker 3: And usually when they go through the circles, that also disassociates them from that immediate response of wanting to go grab for food, you know, for food or cravings, and they can actually address really what's going on.
• 22:12
  Speaker 3: Maybe with some of them too, they just got off a phone call from work that was very stressful.
• 22:17
  Speaker 3: So that's the stress trigger.
• 22:19
  Speaker 3: So maybe instead of, you know, again grabbing for the food we talk about.
• 22:24
  Speaker 3: So what can you do in place of going for the food?
• 22:27
  Speaker 3: Can we go outside?
• 22:28
  Speaker 3: Can we go sit in another area?
• 22:29
  Speaker 3: Can you go grab a tea and be comfortable and relax?
• 22:33
  Speaker 3: So we kind of go through those things and I always have them choose what it is that they would like to do, because ultimately I'm not going to be there to hold their hand.
• 22:41
  Speaker 3: They have to do it themselves and I want them to enjoy it when they do it as well.
• 22:45
  Speaker 3: Right, so that becomes, you know, a habit.
• 22:47
  Speaker 3: And then again celebrating too, like when we get on calls.
• 22:49
  Speaker 3: You know, I just had one of my clients, you know, tell me that too, that you know she saw a plate of food and she was able to say, no, I don't need that.
• 22:56
  Speaker 3: So you know, being able to recognize when you're able to say no, look at yourself and and be grateful for it.
• 23:02
  Speaker 3: And, like you said, we got to celebrate it.
• 23:05
  Speaker 2: We do and hey, you know, we're both Neuron Coding Institute graduates here.
• 23:09
  Speaker 2: Joseph McClendon III would say get up and shake your ass, Get some attitude right, yeah and hey when you do that, you're exercising too.
• 23:19
  Speaker 3: Yes, yes, yes.
• 23:20
  Speaker 3: And get the kids involved.
• 23:21
  Speaker 3: I always say that too.
• 23:22
  Speaker 3: When you do something, you make good choices, Like get the kids involved, spin them around, dance with your kids, pick them up, give them a hug and kiss.
• 23:28
  Speaker 3: You know, have that connection that way in your celebration as well.
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: That's fantastic.
• 23:33
  Speaker 2: That's fantastic.
• 23:34
  Speaker 2: So I want to circle back to something you just mentioned, because you just went through four amazing things.
• 23:39
  Speaker 2: I just oh, no one saw I did five.
• 23:41
  Speaker 2: I meant four.
• 23:42
  Speaker 2: So when you talk about hydration hydration and you talk about you think you're hungry, but maybe you're just dehydrated, you need some water it's something I found as well.
• 23:55
  Speaker 2: So talk about how somebody might know the difference or how to address that.
• 23:59
  Speaker 3: If you will, please, I'd love to hear more yeah, well, there could be a couple things like maybe you got to think about what did I do the night before.
• 24:06
  Speaker 3: You know, sometimes, like with the holidays, we might go eat you know holiday traditional holiday dinners that are very high fat, salt, sugar, we're drinking, you know those kind of things.
• 24:18
  Speaker 3: So then the next day when we're cranky and we just feel blah, maybe it's because of what we did the night before or even up to 72 hours before that.
• 24:28
  Speaker 3: So if you know offhand, like you know you go out and you're having some drinks, well, maybe you got to know the next day like, hey, maybe I should rehydrate with good foods and water so I can reset what I offset the day before.
• 24:42
  Speaker 3: So that's one of the things you know.
• 24:45
  Speaker 3: Another thing too is I always tell people just to try it.
• 24:47
  Speaker 3: You know, like if, if you're sitting there and you're like I think I'm hungry, well, maybe just try having a glass of water, If that curbs your hunger, then you're not hungry.
• 24:56
  Speaker 3: If it's still there, then your body's telling you something.
• 24:59
  Speaker 3: Listen to your body.
• 25:00
  Speaker 3: You know we all have to be in tune to what you know, the feelings that we're having and that's coming up for us, and so you know if you need to eat, then go ahead and address it.
• 25:14
  Speaker 2: But yeah, and I found that a lot, I found exactly that tip is I'm hungry, am I?
• 25:16
  Speaker 2: Let me have some water and all of a sudden, you know what, that was enough and I get a little extra energy from hydrating, so it works out well.
• 25:25
  Speaker 2: So thank you for that information.
• 25:28
  Speaker 2: So a couple of things.
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: I hear you have a free five day challenge.
• 25:33
  Speaker 3: I want to talk about that a little bit please, yes, yes, I know we're moving into, so we kind of got out of the slump.
• 25:39
  Speaker 3: Spring is here and for a lot of people, I think what happens?
• 25:43
  Speaker 3: We get into a routine, we get into a rut.
• 25:44
  Speaker 3: We keep saying I'll start, you know, monday or I'll start next month.
• 25:48
  Speaker 3: This is the time that if you've been on the fence and you're like I need a jumpstart because I do need to get healthy, I want to learn my body, I wonder, want to have more energy and I just want to feel better, and I want to feel better at summer, when summer's coming, you know, jump in, join me's going to be other women inside of there.
• 26:05
  Speaker 3: It's going to be free for five days to get that momentum and get the ball rolling.
• 26:09
  Speaker 3: So that way you have a solid foundation so that you can either continue, even if it's not working with me, but at least you have a foundation where you can get started and just to get yourself moving, because sometimes we need that little kick in the rear, right?
• 26:23
  Speaker 3: Just to get us going and to get us out of some of our comfortable habits that we kind of slip into right.
• 26:31
  Speaker 2: Absolutely, absolutely.
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: That's exciting.
• 26:33
  Speaker 2: So can you give me, can I ask for a little bit of a sneak peek?
• 26:38
  Speaker 2: What is it?
• 26:39
  Speaker 2: It's five days, so what do you kind of go through?
• 26:42
  Speaker 3: Well, we're going to be jumping in every day, and what I love, too, is that you don't have to worry about, you know, making sure that you're there at the time that I go live, because everything will be recorded and it's going to be for you to go at your own pace, because I know some people work, which is fine, and I'm also going to be there answering questions.
• 26:56
  Speaker 3: So don't feel like if you didn't see something that I can't help you.
• 26:59
  Speaker 3: I will be there.
• 27:00
  Speaker 3: One of the next thing we're going to do is we're going to do a fun little assignment that I call of us getting in the kitchen, because I feel like that's where all the magic and the love happens.
• 27:11
  Speaker 3: So we're going to get reacquainted with our kitchen.
• 27:14
  Speaker 3: We're going to go through some stuff, some spices.
• 27:16
  Speaker 3: We might throw things out.
• 27:17
  Speaker 3: We're going to do an audit of our cabinet so that way, we are set up for what we need, which is healthy, to keep us going.
• 27:26
  Speaker 3: So we're going to do that.
• 27:27
  Speaker 3: We're also going to talk a little bit about understanding what those macros are and how we need to be eating those macros to live a healthy lifestyle.
• 27:35
  Speaker 3: We're going to talk about scheduling how you can make this a priority, a little bit about self-care, and then also, too, I'm going to give you some great resources so that way you can start building.
• 27:44
  Speaker 3: What I call is like your your recipe blueprint, which is going to help you later for all that milk prepping, so that way you're never sitting there going, oh God, what do I make?
• 27:54
  Speaker 3: I don't know what to put on the table.
• 27:56
  Speaker 3: So we're going to, we're going to help you with that too as well.
• 27:59
  Speaker 2: That's fantastic.
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: So I have to say, the last thing you touched base on is, I think, one of the one of the heart touched base on is, I think, one of the one of the heart.
• 28:11
  Speaker 2: It's one of the easiest, but one of the things that sets you up for success more than anything else.
• 28:14
  Speaker 2: There is meal prepping, because how often and I'm guilty of it, I think everybody is right when you don't know what you're going to have for dinner, you end up going for something easy.
• 28:25
  Speaker 2: You go for crap Generally, I mean, unless you're just you have nothing in your refrigerator or cabinets, et cetera, which, amen, that's the way to go, but don't have the potato chips in there, then they're not an option, Right.
• 28:41
  Speaker 2: But when you don't meal prep and Susan and I do this all the time it's like okay, well, we, we didn't plan out this week's meals and oh hey, look what we had for dinner, you know.
• 28:51
  Speaker 2: So I think that is one of the key things for me for success.
• 28:56
  Speaker 2: So that's awesome that you go through that.
• 28:59
  Speaker 3: Yeah, and I'm a mom, I know I have five kids, everybody's in sports, everyone's running around, so I know sometimes you need to have stuff on hand and so I also show you to better.
• 29:10
  Speaker 3: There are better products out there that if you need them in a quick jam, I would rather have you do that and put it together very fast so in the time that you think, oh, I don't have something, I need to go drive, you can have it done like minimal ingredients ready to go, because I know we are, all you know, short on time.
• 29:24
  Speaker 3: You know, or we have to get a meal to the table in 30 minutes because maybe we have to go pick up somebody from you know their activity, so I go over that too as well.
• 29:33
  Speaker 2: Fantastic and I think when you have a plan and you have those tools in your tool belt, you can pull out a meal in 30 minutes.
• 29:42
  Speaker 2: Yes, you can.
• 29:44
  Speaker 3: And I like to make it enjoyable.
• 29:46
  Speaker 3: Like I'm an Italian, we love food.
• 29:48
  Speaker 3: I feel like we wouldn't have this palette if food wasn't supposed to taste beautiful and exciting.
• 29:53
  Speaker 3: So, yeah, let's celebrate food.
• 29:57
  Speaker 3: I mean, really, we shouldn't, you know, diminish not, diminish it.
• 30:02
  Speaker 3: But you know, we want to celebrate food too as well, and so I really want to my my heart really is to get people back into the kitchen.
• 30:10
  Speaker 3: I want you restaurants are fun and they're fine once in a while but I would rather have you in the kitchen.
• 30:15
  Speaker 3: Let's bring you back in the kitchen.
• 30:17
  Speaker 3: Let's have fun with our families.
• 30:18
  Speaker 3: Let's start conversations.
• 30:19
  Speaker 3: Let's touch food.
• 30:20
  Speaker 3: Let's see.
• 30:21
  Speaker 3: You never know, you might be a culinary like chef deep down inside that was there and maybe just needed the opportunity to release it.
• 30:31
  Speaker 2: you know I love it.
• 30:32
  Speaker 2: I love it, gina, I love it, and we'll be coming to your house soon for dinner.
• 30:37
  Speaker 2: So what I'd like, if you can, we're.
• 30:42
  Speaker 2: We're over time now, but that's shocking.
• 30:44
  Speaker 2: Can you give us, first of all, how do people reach you?
• 30:49
  Speaker 2: How do they get involved in your free five-day challenge?
• 30:53
  Speaker 3: Yes, you can reach me at Gina Iovino.
• 30:55
  Speaker 3: I am on Facebook.
• 30:56
  Speaker 3: I have a page there.
• 30:57
  Speaker 3: You can get me there and then, when you do too, either under this live, I'll also make a posting too, with the five-day challenge.
• 31:06
  Speaker 3: It's in there.
• 31:06
  Speaker 3: It was in my story.
• 31:07
  Speaker 3: Live.
• 31:08
  Speaker 3: I'll also make a posting, too, with the five day challenge.
• 31:09
  Speaker 3: It's in there, it was in my story.
• 31:11
  Speaker 3: You can just message me and say hey, yeah, I'm interested, wave at me and I would be happy to send that information to you.
• 31:14
  Speaker 3: I'm also at Instagram at Gina will show you, so you can also find me there too as well.
• 31:18
  Speaker 2: Fantastic.
• 31:19
  Speaker 2: So if you can always throw people under the bus, on this one before we go, three quick tips to get people further faster, especially, you know, veterans and veterans families.
• 31:32
  Speaker 2: They need exercise, they need good nutrition all those things Everybody does, but of course, both of our passion is veterans.
• 31:40
  Speaker 2: So let's bring this back to veterans and three tips for them.
• 31:45
  Speaker 3: Yes, and again I want to say to all of them out there, thank you so much for your service and especially our first responders that also to serve every single day inside of their communities to keep us very safe.
• 31:57
  Speaker 3: So we, we love and support you all so much.
• 31:59
  Speaker 3: And I would say, for you guys getting started, you know, the first thing to sit down is, I would start with just addressing what it is that you want to accomplish and how are you feeling in those areas Again that we talked about.
• 32:12
  Speaker 3: How are you feeling about in the area of your body?
• 32:14
  Speaker 3: How are you doing as far as movement and fitness, flexibility, self-care and then your relationships.
• 32:21
  Speaker 3: So start, take a look at that, because sometimes I'll find, with clients that come in, before we really jump heavily into, you know, nutrition, maybe they have to address their relationship first.
• 32:31
  Speaker 3: Maybe that's really really what's weighing them down, Because sometimes when these circles are unbalanced, you know it pulls and weighs on other things.
• 32:39
  Speaker 3: I did a course, so if anybody wants the course, they can grab it, but it's my three to one method.
• 32:44
  Speaker 3: So it's three things that you should take out, two things that you should introduce and one thing that you should be doing every day.
• 32:50
  Speaker 3: So if you also want to start, I would say always tell people.
• 32:54
  Speaker 3: If you cannot count the ingredients on 10 on your hands, put it back 10 or more, leave it alone.
• 33:00
  Speaker 3: Don't go for it.
• 33:02
  Speaker 3: Start getting in that water in, because you don't realize how dehydrated we are and just start moving.
• 33:07
  Speaker 3: Start looking at your watch, counting your steps.
• 33:13
  Speaker 3: That's an easy way to get started and get moving and it'll keep you out of the kitchen and keep you active and so many other great things for your brain too as well.
• 33:19
  Speaker 2: Excellent.
• 33:19
  Speaker 2: Thank you so much.
• 33:20
  Speaker 2: Absolute love all the tips and all the information.
• 33:24
  Speaker 2: Thank you so much for being here.
• 33:25
  Speaker 2: I say it every time Time is the most precious resource we have as humans.
• 33:31
  Speaker 2: Thank you for spending time with us and our listeners.
• 33:34
  Speaker 2: Thank you so much.
• 33:36
  Speaker 2: You've been fantastic.
• 33:37
  Speaker 2: The last thing is up in the top right-hand corner blue QR code all kinds of resources for veterans and their families.
• 33:46
  Speaker 2: We have free eBooks and all kinds of good stuff.
• 33:48
  Speaker 2: Please reach out, please use them.
• 33:51
  Speaker 2: They're there for a reason.
• 33:52
  Speaker 2: We want to support you.
• 33:53
  Speaker 2: So, gina, again, thank you so much, and I know we just barely scratched the surface.
• 33:58
  Speaker 2: There's so many other cool things we could talk about.
• 34:00
  Speaker 2: I'd love to have you back on.
• 34:02
  Speaker 2: I'd love to.
• 34:03
  Speaker 2: All right, fantastic.
• 34:04
  Speaker 2: Thank you again, and everybody we are out of here.
• 34:11
  Speaker 1: Thank you for joining us on another insightful journey of your Thoughts your Reality podcast with your host, michael Cole.
• 34:18
  Speaker 1: We hope the conversation sparked some thoughts that resonate with you.
• 34:21
  Speaker 1: To dive deeper into empowering your thoughts and enhancing your reality, visit empowerperformancestrategiescom.
• 34:28
  Speaker 1: Remember your thoughts shape your reality, so make them count.
• 34:33
  Speaker 1: Until next time, stay inspired and keep creating the reality you desire.
• 34:38
  Speaker 1: Catch you on the next episode.