A focused 30-day challenge can reveal much more than what is on your plate. Amy Hudson and Dr. James Fisher use The Exercise Coach’s 30-Day Metabolic Comeback Challenge to explore five lessons about food, habits, intentional choices, community, and the basic health practices that compound over time. James is preparing to participate for the first time, while Amy shares what repeated challenges have taught her about energy, cravings, consistency, and sustainable change.

TRANSCRIPT

Implementing these choices is brick by brick, and you build it over time, and that’s why it’s important. We’re learning about that process. Now, it’s not about perfection, it’s about consistency. So, it’s about then taking some of those things we’ve learned and carrying them on on a day to day basis. Welcome to the Strength Changes everything podcast, where we introduce you to the information, latest research, and tools that will enable you to live a strong, healthy life. On this podcast, we will also answer your questions about strength, health, and well being. I’m Amy Hudson. I own and operate three exercise coach studios.

My co hosts are Brian Sagan, co founder and CEO of The Exercise Coach, and Dr. James Fisher, leading researcher in evidence based strength training. And now for today’s episode. Welcome back to the Strength Changes everything podcast. I’m Amy Hudson here with my co host, Dr. James Fisher. Today we have a really special episode. About the upcoming 30 day metabolic comeback challenge that the exercise coach puts on for clients all across the country nationwide two times a year. And I am super excited about this because I have seen firsthand the way it personally helps clients transform their health. But also, there’s a lot we can learn about ourselves when we participate in a focused period of what we call the 30 day metabolic comeback challenge, which consists of twice weekly strength training workouts combined with whole food eating, making choices that support your healthy metabolism, reduce inflammation, improve digestive health, lower blood sugar levels to create a whole new you, we like to say. And when we frame this opportunity to clients to participate and join their local studios, 30 day metabolic comeback challenge or join it nationwide, a lot of times what we like to do is we We frame it as a really wonderful opportunity do something good for yourself.

And in today’s episode, I want to make the case to you about why participating in a 30 day metabolic comeback challenge can teach you things about yourself and help you long term as an individual. And I hope that listening to these five bullet points today will inspire you to take action and to do this for yourself upcoming here with us. So, Dr. Fisher Are you ready to hear my great ideas about this and tell me where you’re at? Have you ever participated in a 30 day metabolic comeback challenge before? Yeah. So, this is the question, Amy. This is coming. No, I’ve never participated in the metabolic comeback. And this year I am going to do so. So, we’re about four or five weeks out as we record this. So, I’m already kind of mentally getting in my head the things that I will need to do and rearrange my kind of. Traditional shopping list and so forth. And it’s really interesting because we’re all creatures of habit to some extent, right? So there are some foods that I great at eating. I’m pretty good at fruit and vegetables, but I eat apples routinely. I eat bananas a lot and pears occasionally, but that’s it.

I’m not really great at other fruits. And then vegetables, I’m pretty good with broccoli and green vegetables like spinach or peas. But again, I don’t reach for, I don’t know, buying squash or other things like that when I go shopping. So and I’ve always known, you know, I’ve always touted that people should do things like eat the alphabet or eat the rainbow so that you eat some of different colors. But actually, now is the time to really kind of put my money where my mouth is and live through this metabolic comeback challenge. So I’m really excited to do so.

And I am really excited to hear these points that you have about what you learn about yourself and by engaging in this kind of challenge. Yeah. And you’re so that idea leads right into my first. My first one. So, number one, the first thing you can learn about yourself is to learn how to love the foods that love you back. So this one is two pronged, right? Learn how to love foods, certain foods that support your best health, foods that love you back. You also will learn how you feel when these foods make you healthier.

So what I mean by this is many times during the challenge, you can learn how to cook. Some of our clients really never cook. We provide so many recipes and thinking about and preparing meals consisting of things that You’re more intentionally choosing with a wider variety of vegetables than you may be used to. If you only eat broccoli, for example, and chicken all of the time, this is your opportunity to branch out into more variety of that healthy fiber, vegetables, and different kinds of proteins that will support what you’re doing. And also learning how to prepare a multitude of different dishes that you enjoy, but also loving. How you feel eating these foods. So, what most of our clients will experience in choosing the whole foods that we’re eating during a challenge is less bloating, better energy, better mood, better sleep, better focus, mental clarity, reduced joint pain. And so, when you start to experience these, you love how you feel and you realize that it’s because you’re making different choices. I still remember during the first medical. Comeback Challenge, I ended up like reorganizing my entire house because I had so much energy and I was feeling so great.

And so I made the connection for the first time that the foods I was eating was giving me this physical result and it was very eye opening. So learning how to love the foods that love you back is my first one. I love this. And I think The contrast of this is realizing the foods that don’t love you back. I often, you know, talk to my son. He’s nine years old. I’ve talked about it before. And I often talk to my son about, you know, if he eats junk food, if he snacks on sweets, on candy, or on crisps, then there’s maybe a quick rush of sugar and then there’s a crash.

But that’s an emotional thing as well. So it makes him less able to manage his emotions. It makes him maybe more stressful in certain situations or more quick to be frustrated by things. And of course, that would happen to us. It happens to a child. It would happen to an adult as well. We’re all human beings. And while we might respond differently to different foods, we probably would respond very similar to those hormonal fluctuations as a response to, you know, sudden carbohydrate intake in that form of very, very processed sugars. Absolutely. And I’ve heard participants say that exact thing is after a 30 day challenge, you know, they’ve eliminated certain things for a while, they feel great, then they go back to eat something and they make that connection is, wow, I ate something sweet and now I feel anxious and jittery, you know, or whatever the result may be. I had a big bowl of pasta and now I just feel so uncomfortable, you know. And they maybe didn’t connect those dots before, but that is exactly right. That is the opposite side of the coin. So making connections between foods and how you feel is huge.

It’s very, it’s huge. Awesome. All right. The second one. So learn how to love the foods that love you back is number one. Number two is build habits that set you up for a healthier long term. So this is really important. Because when it comes to nutrition, a lot of times people either believe that people know how to do this or they don’t. I have the skill of eating healthy and maintaining a healthy weight or I don’t. But it’s not true. This is a habit. Healthy habits that keep somebody healthy and thriving are built over time. Thrive is built over time. And there’s something called the compounding effect the more days in a row you make good choices, the healthier you are by a long shot, longer term. It’s kind of like building a tower. Healthy habits are built repetition by repetition, by brick. And they’re built by iterating, course correcting, reflecting on what worked and reflecting on what didn’t work, and then making those adjustments.

And so Thank you. And making those adjustments. And so we build and practice building these habits of making good choices that once they are built, they become then second nature later. Most of us really want to be at that second nature right away. I wish this was just easy for me. The secret is it will become easier the more often you do it. And that’s why I’ve done 12 to 15 30 day metabolic comeback challenges. Because each time it’s a reset and a revisiting for me to build upon my previous knowledge. And I learned something new every single time I do it.

And then what’s really cool is you get to the point where your lifestyle is built. It’s not that hard later on because it’s something you don’t have to think so much about. Kind of like when you’re getting a new skill, like riding a bike, You have to think about that a lot. You have to work really hard at not falling over. And it’s a lot of focus at first. But then once you learn how to ride a bike, you learn, you know how to ride the bike and it becomes more second nature. Any, just like driving or anything like that.

Implementing these choices is brick by brick and you build it over time. And that’s why it’s important to continue to revisit it. But then you’re five years in, you are so much better off. I love this. And one of the things. You said was learn. And I think that we all, like you said, we all want to be further down the path. We all want to be, oh, this is my routine. I already know all these things. But actually, we have to stop and say, hey, there’s things I don’t know and I have to learn them. And the idea of just committing to something for 30 days, learning about nutrition, learning about these factors we’re talking about today, learning about how foods impact us, you know, we’re learning about that process. Now, it’s not about perfection, it’s about consistency. So it’s about then taking some of those things we’ve learned and carrying them on on a daytoday basis.

And of course, you know, the halo slips some days. I’ve talked previously about my love for peanut MMs and, you know, I’m not going to say that I’m never going to have a bag of peanut MMs again, but just because I have that doesn’t mean I can’t go back to a healthy lifestyle for the next meal or so forth. So, I love the idea of learning through this process. Yeah. And James, you might have, you know, during the first week, those sugar cravings, if that is something that you have, it’s very common to experience sugar cravings, especially if it’s your first challenge. Even people that don’t feel like they eat that much sugar, we have a lot of it embedded in various places in our standard diet. And so, very common to have that withdrawal symptoms or cravings, you know, for something sweet, even if you’re not hungry. And so even if you have a slip up where you reach for something that isn’t really part of what you’re supposed to be on or what you are trying to choose, it doesn’t mean you throw the whole thing out the window. You can course correct and go right back on the train the next day.

And that is the key because as soon as you throw it out the window, it’s a slippery slope back downwards on that negative metabolic trajectory, right? That got you where you are in the first place. All right. So, number one, learn how to love the foods that love you back. Number two, build habits that set you up for a healthier long term. Number three, that you’re going to learn about yourself is how to choose intentionally versus live on default mode. I’m going to tell you, I feel like it’s very invigorating to go through life with a little bit of intentionality, a sense of purpose and intentionality. And even the minor reality that every day it’s up to me now today to choose wisely. And intentionally, what I’m going to eat is just one area of my life that I’m exercising a level of agency over my outcomes. And it feels good to feel like what you’re doing, you have some, you know, agency over the results that you’re getting. And there’s a difference between kind of what we call the standard American diet. And James, I know you’re in the UK, but the standard American diet, you know It’s a thing.

It’s called SAD. And it’s sad because it consists of a lot of processed food, typically, right? Cheap convenience items, fast food, heavily sugar, many ingredient foods, not whole food, right? That’s the standard kind of lifestyle that people have. If that’s your standard, you know, eating only whole foods is a big shift and it requires a lot of intentionality. But what you’re doing. There is you’re teaching yourself to get off of default mode and you’re learning how to get on what we call a positive metabolic trajectory. I think this is a really important thing. So we’re always either on a positive metabolic trajectory or a negative metabolic trajectory. By default, most of us are going to live on a negative metabolic trajectory, meaning we’re getting worse and worse over time. Why is that? One, because naturally We’re going to be losing muscle mass as we age unless we strength train intentionally. And number two, our default nutrition is not going to be perfect. That’s just reality. And so by default, most of us are going to be on a negative metabolic trajectory, which will show up in how we feel and how we look and everything else.

But these two habits alone that we’re doing when when on a challenge, choosing to eat whole healthy foods and strength training twice a week puts us on a positive metabolic trajectory where we’re maintaining and gaining muscle mass, which is the engine of our metabolism, and supporting that metabolic health by choosing whole foods, which keep us on a positive trajectory. And so, those are simple choices we can make, but they’re challenging to make on a daily basis. But if we can keep those choices going, we will maintain a positive metabolic trajectory, which has implications for us a year from today and five years from today. And I think there’s something extremely powerful about that in terms of our long term health, of course, and disease risk and everything. I love this, and one of the things that excites me about the challenge with regards to this this learning point. That you’ve raised is the idea of what I’m going to have in my in my cupboards and in my fridge at home. So the idea of having less snacks to go to so that if they’re the snacks that I default to, so I don’t want to have access to them, so I’m going to make more intentional decisions to have other things.

But also if some of those snacks still exist, because maybe my son likes them or my wife or so forth, then making that deliberate decision to reach for something else or just not to have a snack at all. And the same goes for drinks as well, as I’ve talked talked about diet sodas and things like that. I think we all have, like I said earlier, we all have these processes that we follow and this default of what we eat. I’m excited to change that, to try new things and to have this intentional dietary choice. Absolutely.

For sure. You’re so right on. Because again, if I’m living in default and I know my default is to subconsciously reach for a Diet Coke or something, by removing the Diet Coke from my fridge, I take that option away because I’m not trying to choose that right now. So that’s exactly so true and very wise. I think the intentionality also. Might come in when I go grocery shopping. So it’s that, that’s that decision not to buy such and such a snack or to buy such and such a fruit, but to look around and kind of head up and see what else is there down the aisle or what else is there on the stand and things like that. So that’s something that personally I’m quite excited to kind of broaden. Yes, your eyes may become open to all these other possibilities. And it’s optional, but we do have a sample 30 day challenge menu of. Breakfast, lunches, and dinners that are all whole food based that you can use and follow or to a tee or just maybe picking and choosing if you want, but quite a huge variety there. And so if you follow that, you know, you’re going to be experiencing a whole variety of different wonderful things out there that maybe you’re not used to, but then you’re having this, this collection of things that you can enjoy and then go back to later as I liked that meal.

I’m going to keep making that. You know in the future because it was really good and not something that was already in my repertoire, right? All right. So then the fourth one is You’re going to learn how to open yourself up to community and support. You don’t have to be a lone ranger on your health journey. In fact, you are more likely to succeed not as a lone ranger. So, you know, with our health, anytime we choose to make healthier choices or sort of do something more proactive, you know, health can be a very personal journey and nutrition and Anything related to, you know, our weight or our body fat and things like. That. But if we keep it so internal and never let anybody in on our journey, we’re going it alone. And when you go it alone, you’re so much higher risk to talk yourself out of things. That’s just human nature. So being a part of a large challenge with people just like you who are doing the exact same thing you are doing, sometimes for the first time, who can give you ideas feedback, support, and encouragement is so empowering for you to succeed.

It makes all of the difference. By doing a 30 day metabolic comeback challenge as a client at the exercise coach, not only are you letting your coach that trains you in on this journey with you, who’s going to help you stay consistent in your workouts and check in with your progress with the nutrition piece, you also have a gigantic. Facebook group of daily content being shared, encouragement, recipes, questions, answers, where you have the opportunity to interact with people to support you and learn what’s working for people so that you can then assume a new identity as part of a group of people who are healthy people. Identity is a Huge piece of behavior, as we know. And we’ve talked about this a little bit before. If I identify as somebody who makes healthy choices, then it’s not going to be such a struggle for me to make healthy choices because it’s a part of my identity. Like it’s not just something I have to fight for, it’s part of who I am. And once you gain a new identity, you know, that healthy lifestyle becomes sustainable. Part of the way we gain a new identity is to identify with and interact with other people like us who are also on a health journey.

And so, learning how to let people in and become a part of a community of people that will lift you up in the direction you’re trying to go is huge. Yeah. Yeah. Sounds exciting. And we’ve talked, as you said, about engaging in exercise with other people and creating greater adherence to exercise and accountability when we, when we, engage in something with other people. So, yeah, exciting times and definitely a key lesson. Yeah, absolutely. And then the fifth one. So, we’ve covered five big ones. The learn how to love the foods that love you back was number one, build habits that set you up for a healthier long term. Number two, how to choose intentionally versus live on default mode was three. Number four, how to open yourself up to community and support. And number five is that the combination as old as time, which is whole food eating, healthy whole food eating and exercise is the first domino to all of your other goals. So what I mean by that is there’s a lot of information and misinformation out there about, you know, nutrition and the diet industry and all of the magic pills and the crazy things that we need to do to be healthy or to be at a healthy weight.

It’s been out there since the beginning of time. We’ve all seen the trends that have come and gone drink these shakes, don’t eat, only eat this, drink this cayenne pepper and lemonade mixture, you know, whatever it is. But it’s always been these basic two things exercise at a level that regulates your insulin levels, strength train, stay strong, and rev your metabolic. Engine up by strength training and choose healthy foods. And those two are the keys. If you can dial those two in, that creates health in the body. It creates health at a base level of insulin regulation, digestive health, and metabolic health that then leads to the external and the often visible results that many people are looking for. We hear all the time from our clients that they’ve tried all kinds of crazy, difficult things over the years that have cost them a lot of money, time, effort, energy, calorie counting, a lot of rules, a lot of prepackaged things, just a lot.

They’ve tried a lot over the years. And when they do a 30 day metabolic comeback challenge with us, they realize that this feels good. It is far easier and kind of satisfying than they expected it to be. And they are getting better results, meaning fat loss versus just losing weight, including muscle mass, you know, by participating at a 30 day metabolic comeback challenge, which is including that strength training. And so clients are often delighted in what they can achieve and how good it feels to do that and how sustainable it feels for them to feel like they can continue making a lot of these healthy choices ongoing in what we call the 8020 lifestyle.

You know, after a 30day metabolic comeback challenge, we’re not living this way our entire life long, but we are keeping up with our exercise habits and then choosing these whole foods at least 80 of the time to sustain that positive metabolic trajectory that we’ve learned during the challenge and that’s it. And it’s surprisingly achievable. And so we love to see clients see this and experience this firsthand because it is something that they can keep up and that they actually enjoy doing. Fantastic. Fantastic. I mean, I’ve got the strength training dialed right in and my nutrition is pretty good. So one of the key things from my point of view with this is that I’m not so interested in weight loss. I’m interested in very much in the health element and what I can learn from engaging in the challenge. So yeah, very excited to engage in this. I really appreciate those five points. Yeah, I hope if you heard this today that you’ll see the challenge is a really gift, a gift you can give yourself. If you’re on the fence about whether to participate, I would challenge you to do this for yourself in order to teach yourself any of these five things.

If you can learn any of these five, man, that is a win that will help you for years to come. I’m going to end the episode today with a testimonial of a person who did our 30 day challenge, Lisa C from Gilbert, Arizona. Some of her, what she has to say ties into the themes that we just talked about here with these things that we can learn about ourselves. Lisa says, This challenge was just what I needed. It helped me not only reset my metabolism, but my attitude and motivation. It’s been really easy to let fear and complacency set in during this pandemic, but the exercise coach has remained a bright light for me. The workouts are challenging and inspire confidence, and the staff of coaches is so positive and Encouraging that helps me rise to the challenge and push myself further each time I come in I can see how much strength I’m building and knowing that I can fit the session into my schedule helps me stay committed. As challenging as the sessions are, I know I can get through them. The 30 day metabolic comeback challenge period really gave me the motivation to pick up and plug into the nutrition plan.

Changing some big blocks in my diet really helped me move the scale down, and that has been a struggle for years. Thank you for the opportunity to participate in this challenge and get focused. So, this testimonial is very similar to what many clients say is that this is the first time something like this has meant this much to me after years of trying other things. I hope that’s the case for you. No matter what your starting point is, no matter what obstacles you’ve run into in the past, you can benefit greatly from participating. So, I hope that you’ll do that. Encourage you to sign up at your local exercise coach studio to do this with us shortly coming up here. This fall. Any closing thoughts, Dr. Fisher, besides how excited I am for you to participate in your first challenge coming up? I’m looking forward to engaging with everybody on the Facebook group and on social media and learning from everybody who’s already done the challenge, but is repeating it. So, yeah, I’m just excited to be a part of it. Awesome. All right. Well, thanks for listening today. I encourage you to do this for yourself and I look forward to helping support you along the way.

We will see you next week on the podcast. Until then, we hope you remember strength changes everything. Thanks for listening. If you enjoyed today’s episode, please share it with a friend. You can submit a question or connect with the show at strengthchangeseverythingcom Join us next week for another episode and be sure to follow the show on Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts so that you never miss another episode. Here’s to you and your best health. Thank you.