Latest / Tom's Hirschsprung's Podcast / Episode 12 - Interview with Aliz David @thechronicallyfitcoach

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Episode 12 - Interview with Aliz David @thechronicallyfitcoach · Tom's Hirschsprung's Podcast

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You are listening to Tom's Hirshbrung's podcast, where I provide a look into the
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remarkable experiences of the most inspiring people around Hirshprung's disease and sports. Hello and
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welcome to episode twelve of Tom's Hirshprung's podcast. My guest this week is Ali's
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David, who works was also known as the chronically Fit Coach on Instagram,
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specializing in holistic health and well being as well as empowering people with their chronic
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health conditions at lease. Welcome to the podcast. Thank you for anyway Before
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we go into your story, if we start with where you are now as
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as the chronically Fit Coach, Why did you get into health and well being
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and fitness? So? I was diagnosed with IBD Crowns disease in twenty twelve,
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and it was very like everyone else. I was absolutely devastated. I
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was twenty one that time, twenty two, and I had my daughter and
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a lot of times I just struggled. I got medication doctors. When I
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first had like just a basic ultrasound scan, the lady told me it was
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like, this is definitely Crowns, which is like normally we don't Diagross diagnosed
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Crowns on an ultrasound, but she there and then said it was well,
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it's definitely Cron's disease that that image or that recording should be taught on the
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university. And I never heard about that condition before, which is like you
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can imagine. It freaked me out. I was like that, how do
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you treat it? What you're doing? And she looked at me like,
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oh, you poor think and then I was like, well, sometimes medication,
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sometimes surgery. I was like, but obviously I like you speak to
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your doctor and see. I was like, what is the next steps for
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you? And then straight away I was referred to the gastrent theology. I
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was admitted to the hospital for a week infusion for metro, and then I
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got medication, and then I was kind let's go with like, okay,
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we're gonna monitor you. You can go and live your life. However you
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can last now if there is any issues. So I didn't really get any
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help and so on. And my boyfriend that time was very into fitness and
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like he was that sort of person that liked to do research and educate himself
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on different things. And then when he learned that I have got IBD.
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It was like, Okay, let's see what you can do to make you
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feel better, because all I've done is just maybe go to work and sleep.
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And yeah, my energy levels were bad, my appetite was bad.
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I didn't know how to manage it. And when we moved to the UK,
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I was like, right, so this is the time. So it's
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like change of environment, new life, new chances. It's like, right,
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so this is my time. Like I want to start exercising. I
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want to start looking into dieting, because he was saying it was like if
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you have got a healthy diet and you exercise, it was like, you
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probably can manage it. And like he had like a naughty commenters like and
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then you would have an ass as well, and I'm like great, thanks,
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But I couldn't be mad because he was right, Like I didn't look
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healthy, I didn't feel healthy. I didn't have the energy to take my
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daughter to the playground or do anything with her because my stomach was hurting no
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matter what medication I was taken. I was tired. I was like I
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was in a situation which a lot of other people is like I can't do
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anything. And the first time when I started exercising. All be done is
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just we got a cat level that I started doing some resistance training at home,
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and then I started doing Palleo diet, which was kind of helpful.
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It was very restrictive for me, so I still lost a lot of weight,
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but my symptoms were gone, which was obviously. I went from processed
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junk food, inflammatory foods to the other side of the nutrition and I adopted
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my lifestyle to that completely, which is like, obviously it's not going to
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be like one day process. But over the years I've got into remissions.
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So I started going to the gym, I started getting stronger, I had
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more energy, so obviously I wasn't like full of energy, but I managed
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to stay consistent with my workout. I managed to go a day or two
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without naps, and then eventually I didn't have to have a nap, which
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was a big thing. And then now since I'm in remission, I actually
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can do stuff with my children, which is amazing. So I gained a
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lot of passion about fitness and nutrition and I've learned a lot of like I've
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done a lot of courses around sports, medicine, nutrition and so on.
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And in the past year or two more than two years now. It's like
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my I'm specializing in ib the and chronic conditions as well, so I'm a
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qualified cheaper for our culture now and also level five nutritionist to which is specializing
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in gut health, specializing in woman's fitness, woman's nutrition, and many things.
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I listed everything. I'm not everything, but I'm getting there. That's
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brilliant. I mean there's two things that I pick out from there and two
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parts. Especially when people start fitness or restart fitness, two issues that they
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tend to struggle with are they either start too quickly or too large and not
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stay consistent. And those are two things that you did. Started small,
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said with the kettlebell, started with small weights, and you kept it consistent.
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And I think that they sound harder than no, they sound sound easier
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than they are. Is to is to try and stay consistent with that which
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is which which is so so important. Did you find that it was easy
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to stay consistent? Did you have a routine or how did that go?
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Very interesting now you're mentioning that I do record that obviously when I started exercising
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at home, and I'm not talking about a lot of exercise, so basically
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I just I asked my boyfriend to, okay, show me some exercises that
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I can do. Then we looked up online cat Leber workouse Catleber exercises that
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I can do at home. Now that time, obviously maybe we moved from
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Hungary, so we rented the room so I didn't have too much space to
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do exercise. We lived in like it was even a double room, okay,
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and we shared the room. We had a little space where I could
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do squats, lunches, push ups, sit ups, like general exercises.
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And I did the same mistake as a lot of people. I started doing
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exercise every single day and it very quickly depleted my not much on edgy and
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that he was saying. It was like, well, you shouldn't be exercising
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every day anyway, so why don't you do restes? I was like,
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oh, does that work? I was like, yeah, of course.
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So then we done agreement that one day I'm exercising, he cooks dinner,
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and that evening I'm cooking dinner. He didn't exercise in the room. But
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yeah, it was like helping and helped me staying consistent as well, and
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that helped me a lot to manage my energy and just make sure that yeah,
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I stay consistent. And after that it was much easier, but not
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much easier, but easier. And for like six months when we moved from
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London to Crawley, that's what I said, it was like right now,
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we joined an up in the gym because I felt like ready. It was
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like, okay, I am lean, I lost body fat I just want
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to be stronger. And that was a great step because then I had more
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variety of workout. I started doing more complicated exercises. I started increasing the
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weight instead of like having one was that eight k'lo cat leber. I started
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lifting more and more weights, which was beneficial, and I still struggled with
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fatigue a lot, and like my flares. Bear in mind, since I
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moved to the UK, I didn't take any medication because I didn't have a
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doctor here. I I didn't like it. I didn't feel much better from
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it. If I'm if I'm honest, and I'm not suggesting that everyone to
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do the same, but this is just my story and was my decision.
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And then over the time, like I still needed the naps, so I
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went to work. I woke up early, went to work, do the
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afternoon schore run and I needed a nap before I went to the gym.
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But like for me to realizing that, okay, before workout, I'm tired,
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I've got tommy paines, I've got symptoms this and that and have to
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workout, I don't. So I went to work out, not have a
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Tammi pain and make sure I'm sleeping well. And after as I learned more
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and more, I got really so I've got ADHD as well as now we
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know. I got very very miserable at my workplace. So I worked in
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a coffee shop. It was very high demands, so it was a very
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busy coffee shop. It wasn't for spoonies who has got fluctuating energy levels and
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like I had, I don't know because of that or ADHD or fatigue or
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anything, but I had issues with the management. So it's like they didn't
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understand me. And I didn't blame like I never blamed my fatigue or anything
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on my like I can't do this, I can't do that. I try
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to keep up. I want it to be normal. So I never had
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this issue that oh i'm here, I can't do that, I'm this,
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and I can't do that now I'm trying to advocate for myself a little bit
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more because I do understand that it can lead to burn out of the flare
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up. But there and then, it was just my motif that I want
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to feel normal. I want to be normal, and then that consistency.
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Even if I had a bad day, I had more symptoms or anything,
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I always kept in mind like how I'm gonna feel after and a lot of
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people that's on I'm teaching for my clients as well, that there and then
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you might not feel like it. You feel tired, someone pissed you out
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off at your workplace, you don't want to do it. But like the
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difference like how you feel now and how you're gonna feel after the workout is
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like how you make your decision if you go or if you not go.
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It's a big, big difference. And yeah, I think that's what I
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understood at the early stage, is that, yeah, if I'm giving up,
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I'm gonna be tired anyway, so you might as well do it.
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Yeah, definitely, definitely. And if we go back a step or so,
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were you into sports as a child as well, or is this something
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that's happened later on in life. No, I was an overweight child.
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I was asthmatic. I didn't want to do pee eve when I was in
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school, I always tried to was like, oh, I don't want to
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do it, and then my mom was like, how she's asthmatic led her
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not to do pe, and my teacher knew, like, obviously she must
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have learned it at that time as well that it actually helps, because I
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was all, wait, it wor since asthma it worsens anything. And I
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still took apart PE lessons and a lot of times, like we played volleyball,
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for example, and my teacher was obsessed with volleyball. And when I
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went to secondary school, I was so skilled volleyball player that my pee teacher
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there was saying it was like, Alix, can you join the team and
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then come and help us in And I'm like nah, nah, I was
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just not interested. I was interested in dancing. I really really enjoyed dancing
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and still do. But my parents try to force me doing more like swimming
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or stuff because I've got already broad shoulders, so I'm already built like that,
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so right back, white shoulders. I liked swimming, but not if
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like like I had to there's like a lot of people. I was like,
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oh, if you have to do something, you don't want to do
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it. And then if it was just through the summer, we had a
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swimming pool. You couldn't take me out of the swimming pool. So I
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did like swimming, but on my own terms. Yea, so it was
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very different. But I did want to go like dancing and stuff. My
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parents didn't let me. And then I was just like, no, I'm
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not interested, which was, yeah, it's very interesting. I wasn't into
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any sports, no, not at all, not at all. So and
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then very much found. Did you find that you're more than into individual sports?
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So you said about going into sort of pt work, which obviously in
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itself is very individual, Do you prefer individual sports or individual exercise now rather
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than teamwork. I'm not gonna lie. I never really done like classes until
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I started teaching them. So now I only recently started yoga. What yoga,
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and now I'm obsessed with it. Like obviously, now I learned that
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I shouldn't compare myself to other people who's got better balance, who is more
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flexible or anything. I'm not flexible at all. My balance is not this
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shit. So it's not my strength. I'm there to improve it and I'm
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trying to like get better at certain moves, like I'm not like totally terrible,
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but I'm conscious like obviously I'm not going to post any yoga workout anytime,
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so because that's not my strength. And yeah, I was. I
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always started like I always did, like weightlifting about bodybuilding, and that's what
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I've done for almost ten years. Never really done anything else lately. I
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was because I'm working as a PT now for like eighty nine years. Sorry,
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when when my life evolves around the gym and lifting weight, like my
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work, my social life, my own hobby, it got kind of gray.
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And that's where I started looking into different type of exercises as well,
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so just for enjoyment. So if it's like a dance class, I will
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sign up. That's why I tried yoga, like I'm trying to, like
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I go swimming with my kids as well, and even if it's a rest
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day, I'm trying to plan an active rest day with my kids, Like
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we're going jump in play trampling just to get the heart rate up, just
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to move around instead of just laying in the bed all day and not doing
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anything. So I do find it's quite important, definitely, definitely, and
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it's good as well. I tend to find and I found this when teaching
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as well. You tend to teach sport all day or pt or pe or
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whatever it might be, and then almost forget to or don't have enough time
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to then do it yourself. So I find that it's really important as well
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that you do get the time to work on your own fitness and your own
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activities and as you've said, the dancing and the yoga. So yeah,
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I think having a timetable and making sure that you find time for you as
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well is really important. Yes, yeah, I do agree. So one
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is don't forget to enjoy your physical activity. And the other thing that people
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often think that oh you are a pet, you are an instructor, you
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probably can exercise, Like yeah, but when I have got like eight clients
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a day or or classes or this, and that, I don't have time
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either. So I do have commitments. I have to drop off the child
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to school, I have to pick up much out of school, so I
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only have got so much me time as well, So it doesn't in that
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I can exercise all the time. And yes, blocking out time for your
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workouts is social important because it's an appointment. It's like you go to the
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hairdresser's, you go to the dentist or or like something for your well being
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or self care, and the same as like you blockout times like now I'm
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going to exercise this and this time, and then yeah, of course you
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can move it if anything comes up, but it's like for me, it's
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it's just becomes such a non negotiable. Yeah, definitely. I've read in
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your and your opening part on on Instagram that you specialize in and I know
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I said at the start as well, specializing holistic health and well being.
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For those who are sort of unsure what holistic health, holistic health and well
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being is, what would you say to sort of sum up what that means.
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Yeah, a lot of people are there think was like Ohays trying to
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teach something vovo or anything like this. No, holistic approach is basically anything
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outside the medical well the medicine journal. It's a holistic approach for me is
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looking after your body with nutrition, with exercise or movement is medicine. Food
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is medicine, Mindfulness is medicine, So sleep is medicine. So looking after
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these habits and making sure that that you have got the optimal environmental factors in
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order to support your healing, whether you take medication or not. But I
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do believe that until you start focusing on these aspects of your like you can
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take whatever medication your doctor is giving you, you're not gonna feel that much
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better. Yeah, definitely, And I think that's an important point you bring
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up that when you see people are personal trainers and they specialize in exercise and
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whatever it might be, the very best of which you definitely seem to be
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take into account. Lifestyle, they take into account, sleep, They take
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into account so many other things rather than just running, jumping, sprinting,
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throwing, lifting, whatever it might be. Sorry or the colorI deficit please
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talk about it all the time. Definitely. Yeah, it seems as though
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you take a lot of things into account when teaching people. When assessing people,
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do you do sort of like a pre if you have a client for
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the first time, do you do sort of an assessment and sort of questionnaire
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or do you just sort of ask them, you know, how much do
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you get diet, et cetera, et cetera. So, yeah, So
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when a client wants to sign up with me, Obviously I am trying to
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filter out if that client is right fit for my coaching or not, because
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it can be for many reasons that they are not the right fit, and
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one reason we don't get along to a second reason her condition, her or
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his condition is way more complicated that I can support online. Or the third
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condition is that she or he is not committed enough. So when a client
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is committed and it's the right fit for my coaching, so I already get
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a lot of information, like, for example, you are a client,
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I get a lot of information about you. It's like what are your goals,
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what are your struggles, and what is your lifestyle like? And then
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when the client signs up, they fill out a consultation form which is like
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a lifestyle question like any nutritional needs, requirements, any medications, what conditions,
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stress levels, sleep levels, how many meals they are eating, a
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die and many many other questions. So it's quite long, so they tend
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to take it very very short and not giving me too much informations. But
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obviously throughout the first week or two when I give them a program, it's
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again it's going to be a trial error. So I'm giving a program,
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keeping in touch with the client because I don't know the client that time.
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I'm gonna know better in a month, two or three months. But there
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and then I am trying to tap in. I was like, okay,
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this is the like by by my knowledge, but from from what I've learned,
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from what I've experienced with other clients, and then fine tuning their program
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to see what is the best for them, like depends on what they struggle
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with. Is it staying consistent, is it staying eating enough? Is it
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energy? Is it sleep? Why is the sleep? So a lot of
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people they think was like, here you go, here's your program, and
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then it's sorted out. Even if it's just a basic fact loss program,
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that's not gonna work. So it's like for me to give you an individualized
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program, I need to ask questions. I need to get to know you.
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I need to It's like a relationship. To be fair, It's like,
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okay, we are right fit, Let's work together, Let's work on
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the issues. Let's work on like fine tuning, make compromises, make make
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adjustments. Let's okay, is that better? Is that worse? What is
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that you can do? And I think it's it's very very important to understand
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that you're working with someone who supports you and someone who is having a lot
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of knowledge but still has to get knowledge about you. If that makes sense,
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yes, absolutely definitely. And just finally my last question really for the
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future of your business, where where do you see the future of your your
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PT business going? So I'm really hoping that I can help more people online,
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so there is a more programs in in in in the line what I
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found with one to one coaching, which is obviously the most personalized, but
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a lot of times it's quiet draining on people's bank account because if you want
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to do consistently like coaching and stuff, even if it's like you break down
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on daily costs, it's like a coffee a day at the Starbucks, but
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that a lot of people need a lot more knowledge in general. And what
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I'm trying to do is doing like group coaching programs where I can collectively spread
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information other than my Instagram account because that's so general as well, I cannot
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put out so much information that people need to know. But also like just
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just make sure I'm giving more more and more value as because I'm only just
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one person, so I only can do so much of course, one to
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want coaching is definitely something I do. I do enjoy personal training at the
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local gym and K two, which is a great for people who want to
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learn and they need more confidence, like I want to do exercise, but
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I'm scared to make my be honest verse, which is also like I reassure
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people that they can be guided online, so I've got the tools for that
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as well. But yeah, it's just like just trying to help people want
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to want to group coaching as well. Brilliant And just lastly, where can
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people find you? What is the best place people find you? So I
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believe that's Instagram at chronically fit coach, the chronically Fit Coach and through the
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links you can find different ways to book. So if you want to do
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like pity sessions and you are around the area, you can book a pity
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taster session with me, or you can book a discovery call which is completely
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both completely free. So if you have got question, just pick my brain
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on on what could be the right direction for you, then yeah, it's
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it's it's there. Brilliant. Well, I wish you best luck with your
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your pet business in the future, and thank you ever so much. For
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joining me. Thank you, Thank you for listening to the podcast. Find
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us on Instagram Tom's Underscore Hirshbrun's Underscore podcast. Listen to previous episodes on Spotify
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by searching Tom's Hirshbrung's podcast