Sitting is the New Smoking | India Is Dying Quietly ft. Shwetambari Shetty

Sitting is the New Smoking | India Is Dying Quietly ft. Shwetambari Shetty

Author Name:Something Bigger Show by Rodrigo Canelas

Youtube Channel Url:https://www.youtube.com/@somethingbigger

Youtube Video URL:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWTyZ4q1dZQ



Transcript:
(00:00) say sitting is the new smoking. So, you don't need to be a smoker, you just need to sit long hours and your health is going to be equally [music] bad. So, we are just going to leading in everything in diabetes, heart disease, everything if you continue to be sedentary. It's as simple as [music] that.
(00:17) There's a lot of people in India think walking is also an exercise. Don't make walking as the exercise in your life. Walking is something that you should just do. What frustrates you the most? People who prioritize exercise over sleep, wrong. You know, I don't want to be where [music] my mom is today. She's not happy being dependent on all of us.
(00:41) As a woman, once you get into [music] the middle of your 40s and perimenopausal, weight loss becomes harder. Do you have any story [music] with someone that you worked with and at the end it didn't work? What are the consequences for people who live a sedentary life today and they don't exercise? What are the consequences let's say in 5, 10, 15 years for for these people? I mean, I it started at home for me.
(01:15) I'll tell you from my my own father's experience, right? My dad growing up was he loved sport and he played a lot of sport, tennis being his favorite sport. But again, he was also in a he grew up in such a controlled at my you know, environment and very difficult environment where I remember him telling me that he had to study under the street lamp.
(01:40) Right, you know, there were difficult situations, but then when they got themselves into college through whatever funds available, he found sports and he found the love for sport. But then what happened after that? You find a job and then that job becomes so important for you because you need to survive.
(01:58) You have to support your family, right? And then you forget about the sport. And you get so pulled into your career that you suddenly from become being a very athletic person, you become sedentary. At age 35, my father had diabetes. Right? Because he was supremely fit. He would walk everywhere. He would cycle everywhere.
(02:22) He would take a bus everywhere because no means of transport, so you walk a lot. Right? And then played so much sport and then suddenly you're sitting for 8 hours and just eating and working and movement has been removed from your life. Right? And this I'm talking about my dad is 75, 76 right now. He got diabetes at age 35 and instantly he understood why he got diabetic, right? So, he brought movement back into his life.
(02:53) And that's when So, I was about 5, 6 at that point and then for me, it was all normal because then I saw him exercise in the morning. I saw him try to eat right because he had to contain his diabetes. But then it carried on. He added movement then at 49, he had a heart attack. Right? But luckily for us, you know, he had he got a stent in his heart and then he survived it.
(03:19) And then he continued his movement and exercise because he just knew by then it was so important, right? So, he kept doing his job, doing the thing that he needs to for his family, kept exercising every single morning, wake up and be out of the house for 1, 1 and 1/2 hour, do his thing. And then at 70, Rodrigo, he had colon cancer.
(03:41) Right? And all of this is your lifestyle, your food. So, he battled through that that as well and he's seven I think 76 now or 77 I can't even correctly recall, but he lives a good life. You know, and the only reason he's had the worst of lifestyle diseases and still lives a good life, is on medication, is because he does not fail to exercise a single day.
(04:10) Right? By the time uh Like by the time we wake up sometimes when we're together, he we don't live together. At like 7:30 a.m. or 8:00 a.m. he comes to me and he shows me his watch and he's like, "You have moved 2,000 steps. I have moved 17,000." He's like, So, my conclusion is that I've seen it in my own family.
(04:31) With or without a disease, okay? You need to move. You need like movement is of supreme importance. Exercise, movement, it it's everything you have to be able to age gracefully. And when you're sedentary, imagine this I'm talking about my father who was never really sedentary. It was only for a few years of transition.
(04:53) But then there are human beings who are just sedentary all the time. Right? You you won't see it coming very early on. Some Of late, times have changed. People start seeing a lot of diseases even at like, you know, mid-30s, late 30s, but I'm just saying diabetes is diabetes is a big big concern in India. Right? Huge. Heart disease is becoming very prevalent amongst younger folks.
(05:20) Right? Why? Because of our lifestyle. At least back in the days we can say that people did their own household chores, moved a lot more, doing at least that. But right now, we all have great amount of help. You know in India how it is with labor, right? It's very easily available, accessible, affordable.
(05:42) So, we can have more than one help at home and not have to do anything. So, movement even within our house is limited. We don't have to cook anymore. We don't have to clean anymore. So, there's nothing and then we're sitting all day. We're sitting for long hours in traffic. So, it's this constant sitting disease.
(06:04) You know, like like Rujuta says sitting is the new smoking. So, you don't need to be a smoker, you just need to sit long hours and your health is going to be equally bad. So, we are just going to be, you know, leading in everything in diabetes, heart disease, everything if you continue to be sedentary.
(06:24) It's as simple as that. Your body is designed to move. That's why we have the ankle joint, knee joint, hip joint. That's why we're designed the way we are. If we had to be sitting all day, then our body would be designed differently. Yeah. Yeah, and it it is true. I speak with a lot of doctors and they all say the same.
(06:47) It's so the the the the current health situation I mean, to be honest, not just in India, but let's talk in India. It's just so the you mentioned diabetes heart heart pressure and also the chronic disease are increasing so fast and that and the people at very very young age, which was not there before. Um and I think um I think what happens is that all these disease, they are slow. They are slow.
(07:17) So, people don't see it coming and then it's too late, right? Yeah. And you know why also Rodrigo, people don't see it coming because in India, again, I'll only talk for us. We don't believe in doing blood work. We don't believe in like regular health checkups. You know? It is the easiest way to see something going wrong in the body.
(07:41) Right? It is not about how you look, it's about how you feel. If you're going to constantly feel tired, fatigued, you know something's wrong inside. Don't blame it on the weather all the time. Don't blame it on the fact that you have a lot of stress at work. Yes, everybody has different stresses. Right? And the other thing is there's so many things Rodrigo, but let me start with the foundation, right? Sleep.
(08:08) We like to work late into the nights. We don't follow our circadian rhythm because like you charge your phone every single day, you have to charge your body every single day and that happens in sleep. Your rest, your recovery, your repair of the body and the mind happens in your sleep.
(08:26) So, I think the first and foremost for all of us is to fix our sleep. Again, people who prioritize exercise over sleep, wrong. Everything is counterproductive, right? So, I think first we need to teach Yeah, there are people who think that Oh my god, I didn't get my workout today, but I only slept like 5 hours and it's been okay, but let me just push this workout through. Counterproductive.
(08:49) Yeah, so what you say just prioritize the first thing is sleep is rest. >> First thing, first thing, first thing. Second thing, nutrition. Right? Let's see, you know, how we love our carbs in India. Right? And it's okay to love your carbs, but the thing is our plate is dominated by carb. So, that needs a big change. The beauty is that there is so much education today happening on fiber and protein and how to plate.
(09:16) So, more and more people are understanding this concept. Uh so, I think we're in the right direction there. The food availability is becoming better, you know? So, we're okay. We're not we're not set, but the education is strong. So, if you fix nutrition, like for me at this age right now, I treat food as medicine. So, when I'm eating something, I look at my plate and I'll be like, okay, how is this going to benefit me? You know, because I want to perform, you know, in my in in in my races or in my everyday workout, I want to have high
(09:49) energy because my days are all 12 hours. I start my day at 5:00 a.m. and my end my day at 5:00 p.m. or 6:00 p.m. So, I need to sustain 12 hours working. Right? And then if I have to do this, I need a lot of energy and energy comes from food. Energy comes from sleep. Energy doesn't come because you've done a good workout in one in the morning.
(10:10) That's the dopamine you get dopamine hit you get for a while, but if you've not slept well, if you've not fueled well, the crash is very hard. Right? So, a whole lot of things need to fall in place in that order. Right? And I And we also tell people that walking is fantastic. Right? Keep walking, keep moving, and all of that.
(10:35) But don't make walking as the exercise in your life because it isn't. Yeah. Hey, walking is great, but that can't be the single most uh like the single exercise that you do for ever. Mhm. >> Because a lot of people in India think walking is also an exercise. Oh, I see. >> Yeah.
(10:55) Walking is something that you should just do. You know what I mean? Like don't put it in the bracket of exercise. Walking is movement which you have to just keep doing. Exercise should be separated. >> Okay. >> Walking should be default every single day of your life. >> Mhm. Exercise can even be 3 days a week. Right? But yeah, we have we we have a problem in hand because right now amongst our kids we're heading in the direction of becoming we're already I think the second largest with kids obesity.
(11:27) Okay, so kids are not moving. Kids are not moving. Kids are not moving. The parents are not moving, so kids are not moving. Yeah. Mhm. I see. >> So, it has to start with you. It has to start at home. Yeah. Then you will have a better future for the kids. Like when we were growing up, for me like I said I was fortunate to see my parents, but not everybody's fortunate to see, you know, a parent exercise at early age in and make it a habit.
(11:58) For me I was lucky to have that, but then most people don't have that at home. >> Yeah. I see. When you look at like you know, the way we are living our lives without movement, you know, like not having enough sleep, and also not being very intentional about our food, what frustrates you the most? >> [snorts] >> Ah. Uh what frustrates me the most? The fact that there are so many of us who keep giving the advice free of cost but nobody wants to listen. Oh. Okay.
(12:41) That is the most frustrating. And I'm not I'm not saying this uh just, you know, from like I I'm present online quite a lot, right? Like through my social media and all of that. And then I have a huge presence offline because I have the gym and etc. You know, and then sometimes I feel like I'm just talking to the wall because you you keep repeating yourself on the importance of A, B, C, D in that order, and people will come back and make the same mistake in that order.
(13:12) You know, and that frustrates me the most. See, it's one thing to not know, Rodrigo. Yeah. Right? Then you don't know. Simple. Okay? And but if you know, you can't make that mistake. Yeah. And if you have somebody giving you the constant advice take it. People are paying big money for advice. For consultation, for guiding.
(13:38) Right? And sometimes I get very upset and angry, and I'm like, you know what? I don't think anybody wants to take free advice. So, I'm like, I'm going to keep charging for every advice [laughter] piece of advice that I give because a lot of the advice that we give is not just about reading it from our books or textbooks or studying, right? We've lived it.
(13:55) I'm 46. I've been working out for a decade. >> You're 36. >> I'm 46, Rodrigo. I'm [laughter] Yeah. Yeah. But I have I have >> great for 36. [clears throat] >> Thanks. I mean, I take care of myself. You know, I don't deprive myself. I love my life. I live my life, but I take great care of myself. Mhm. Right? Because I want to age gracefully.
(14:19) I don't want to have my mother's Parkinson's or my father's diabetes or heart disease or cancer. Sometimes things can happen no matter how well you take care of yourself. But can I do everything possible to keep that away from me? Yes, I can. Nice. So, let me do it. Nice. That's what I want everyone to start feeling.
(14:41) So, my frustration comes from the fact that people know, but people don't act. If you don't know, you're fine. Yeah. It's okay. That's not your fault. Wow. And that's what you said like at the beginning you said like people need to have intention. Today the the problem is not there's lack of information because the information is available.
(15:02) But then what it comes is that intention to to take that step and to to to take the the action, right? >> Exactly. And take the help. Yeah. Yeah. There are amazing coaches out there, nutritionists out there, physiotherapists out there. Take the help. And honestly, if you ask me, like from what I see, people also now have that money to spend, you know, on like health and fitness.
(15:31) Right? But what upsets me also, Rodrigo, is the fact that >> more there. I'm happy that you are able to get out everything out. This is like a therapy session. >> Yeah, I actually yeah, I think I can feel it. Like I'm like I'm just venting right now everything that I'm going through online and offline. But you know, when people come and ask you for I just because I spoke about money, I thought of it.
(15:54) Like when I go to a restaurant, I don't dare ask for a discount after a meal, right? I eat, I enjoy my meal, I pay, and I come out. But when I go to a gym, I'll always ask for a discount. Can I get a better membership? Why? Why do you think I have over quoted you or quoted you differently from the other person? And why do you think you should get a discount? You know, you you you don't ask for a discount at a restaurant.
(16:23) Right? So, that upsets me as well. And I have I come like my gyms, whatever I've done so far, the first gym back in 2014 and to this now, I've never believed in the concept of discount. I will We will set a price that works for us. You know, and we will do everything to take care of you. But if that price doesn't work for you, it doesn't work for you.
(16:49) It's And I understand it doesn't work for you. You may have to just find another place for yourself. Right? But when you come, you go don't you don't go to the hospital and ask for a discount, right? They're not going to entertain you. Yeah. Yeah, you because that at that point you're desperate because you need the medical attention, but a gym is a place that can save you from that medical attention.
(17:13) So, you got to respect this place far more. Yeah. Mhm. Right? And And like at least in our gym, Rodrigo, we do a lot more in the sense we're not like okay, come and work out and we give you a good workout. A lot of places that give you a good workout. Like we go a little bit more deeper. We ensure we do like assessments with a physiotherapist for our clients.
(17:37) So, let's say you walk in, right? I don't know anything about you. I can take you straight up as a beginner on the floor, and you know, it can be okay, but it could be that you may just get a small injury, who knows? But when we do an assessment with a physiotherapist, then we understand you better because then the physio will look at you then say, okay, there is a slight imbalance here, there's a weakness here.
(18:01) So, then we as coaches know that okay, this is where we may need to work with you. Right? Then we do a blood work. It's mandatory. For us, all the members that come in, we've built the blood work into the membership so that you don't have to pay separately, and we've struck a deal with that company which does the health check.
(18:21) So, we do certain parameters, you know, like your liver function, kidney function, vitamin D, B12, and stuff because if I see your blood report, Rodrigo and I see that you have vitamin D deficiency, which almost all Indians have, but if it's very very low, chances of you injuring yourself while you work out are way higher. Mhm. >> It's very easy for you to work out and blame the gym, but in reality, the problem was with your body not the gym.
(18:50) Right? Your body was already brittle. Your immunity was already compromised because your vitamin D's and stuff was already low. Mhm. Right? So, there are so many things that one can point a finger at the gym for, but in reality, it won't even be our fault. So, we do the blood work, then we do like this body composition analysis to just It's a very simple easy stuff to do to help you understand how much fat, how much bone, how much, you know, muscle in the body, and how to kind of set goals for it.
(19:20) And then we also of course do goal setting and whatever your goal is. It could be a running a marathon. It could be just losing 10 kilos and stuff like that, which most people do. But assessments and, you know, blood works and etc. are supremely critical. It It You have to When you come and work out, work out doesn't, you know, single out from health.
(19:42) Right? It's all one thing, one one large thing. So, you have to see where are the dependencies for you to be healthy, and you being healthy is not just the fact that you exercise. I see. Right? And then when we do all of this, we also put you with a nutritionist. Mhm. We have a tie-up with the nutritionist where they will tell you what you should do based on your goal, how you should eat, and they also give you meal subscription if you need.
(20:11) Like they will calculate your meals and send it to your doorstep. Mhm. You know, so that you don't overeat, nor do you under eat. So, it's it's it's that uh we do as a gym, and it's not just about come and work out with us. Yeah. You know, and and I'm hoping that more and more gyms start just following the same philosophy because then it just becomes easy for a customer to know and to live well. Exactly.
(20:38) So, what you're saying is like, okay, it's important to do exercise, but also it's important for you to know well how to do exercise. And also to how to do a good exercise, it depends on your physiology and your situation. So, it's important for people to to assess Correct. and also to do blood work, so then then they can be more accurate and work on something that works with them.
(21:03) Did I summarize it well? 100%. Very good. >> [laughter] >> Absolutely. Uh when you we I'm still trying to get in terms of uh helping people to understand the importance of of fitness. Do you have any story with uh that someone that you worked with and at the end it didn't work? Oh. >> [laughter] >> You know, everyone asks like, do you have a successful story? And everyone is like, wow.
(21:36) No, I still have so many stories like that. Oh my gosh. >> me a story of like someone that it didn't I mean, you work you did everything, but at the end it didn't work. >> the end it goes back to square one. >> Exactly, yeah. Tell me that story because maybe people will resonate with that. Unfortunately, these are all my close friends.
(21:53) [snorts] >> [laughter] >> You know, the part that >> tell them they're close friends because the friends are different. Now, tell me a a a >> in the sense it's very like, you know, when you come as a customer, sometimes it's easy to change your perspective, easy to do transformations, right? Yeah. But what happens to people who you know well, Mhm.
(22:16) you will get them to work out, you will make a transformation happen. And it's very easy for them to probably you're a coach, but you're also a friend, so not take you too seriously and go back to square one again. Because I have a few people that I've been working with and training for probably 10 years now. And it's like this, the graph.
(22:43) We get to some point, we again crash. >> Do you We get to some point. Tell me a a real story, not from your friends because your friends are a little bit different, but from a client that worked with with you and you did everything everything, but at at the end it didn't work. It went again to square Yeah, yeah, yeah.
(23:00) So, No, but okay, so here's a lady, right? She came to me obese, wants to lose a whole lot of weight. What is obese for you for example? Like you give me an example like When I say obese, I would say like you know, like you're in your 90 kilos. Ah. Okay, that's obese. >> 85 kilos, yeah. Yeah, and you have a ratio, right? For this much height, this much weight and stuff like that.
(23:25) So, obviously and very very clear that she wants to lose weight. You know, that intent was strong, like I have to do this. So, we worked with her and this >> why she wanted to lose weight? Yeah, because she was fed up of being that way. All right, yeah. You know, and and when you're in your late 30s, entering your 40s, you usually want to change.
(23:48) >> Yeah. Because you know, the 40s for women especially is not going to be very easy. It's a part and parcel, but it's not going to be easy. So, at that point a lot of women I think you know, they also become quite successful with their work and stuff, and then they realize like, look, I've been doing everything for my work work work work work, not some anything for myself.
(24:10) It's always been like family work family work, and then there's a sudden change in thought and say, okay, now I want to take control of my own body and mind and let me lose weight. This typically I've seen women's graph, right? Okay. Uh so, we helped uh it took us about two to two years plus where we really helped her lose a lot of weight and you know, it's like almost from a size XL L to a size M and under M.
(24:35) Really? Yeah, it was beautiful because she ate well. >> [snorts] >> She focused like she put her work aside for a while. Uh she did a lot of training, consistent smart training. And then uh in I think about 3 years or something, the weight started coming back up again. Certain lifestyle changes happened. There was not consistent workouts happening.
(24:59) Food went a little haywire. The thyroid that she always had again started elevating because of lifestyle changes, work stress, and everything. And then it became and the second time it became very hard. It wasn't as simple as the first time. Right? Because now you are also aging. Mhm.
(25:24) You are also getting into the perimenopausal zone. As a woman once you get into the 40s, you know, in the middle of your 40s and perimenopausal, weight loss becomes harder. And you have thyroid. So, the combination of these things almost made it impossible for us to help her lose weight. Yeah, it was just I don't know, it was very difficult to understand, but then I think when you look at it from a medical standpoint, you know that anyone with very chronically elevated thyroid, it's very hard to make them lose weight unless we bring that thyroid back into
(25:56) place. But now with thyroid, you're dealing with hormonal imbalance because of perimenopause, so it becomes even harder. So, here you have a person who's weight training, who's doing all the walks, you know, the 10, 15, 20,000 steps a day, eating right, but yet the scale is not budging. Wow. Yeah.
(26:18) So, then yeah, then you need deeper intervention basically. When I say deeper intervention, then you're talking to you know, a doctor. Then you're trying to see what can I change here, you know, to make this better. But do you do you know what was what when was the moment that what happened when she started going down in terms of going off track? In Do you know what happened? >> the inconsistency with workout.
(26:41) So, okay. Yeah, so suddenly you're you're like working out like 5 to 6 days a week. Now, that has changed to like maybe 3 days a week. >> Yeah. And then your food you were following a strict disciplined plan, and that has also changed a little bit. You're not because you're not with the same nutritionist anymore.
(27:00) So, you've changed your eating patterns. And when when you have like things like thyroid, PCOS, or certain lifestyle conditions, you have to have the support of a nutritionist for a long time. Either you understand it all yourself and try to make those changes, or you have the support of a nutritionist or a doctor and listen.
(27:20) And sometimes the best intervention will be the doctor's intervention, right? It could be an endocrinologist, it could be you know, somebody who can basically uh help you with medication as well. I see. So, not just not just supplementation, but the right kind of medicines to like keep your thyroid under control. Uh and some of these thyroid diseases sometimes also become autoimmune diseases. Mhm.
(27:46) So, then it becomes even harder. Yeah. Uh if you can share like she went from 90 to she reached What was the lowest that she reached? >> she went was 65. My god. Yeah. Wow. And then she went back to 80. Yeah, 80 82. Yeah. Yeah. Do you have a story a same story with a man? So, that we are aware Well, yeah, I do. >> [laughter] >> I'm happy.
(28:09) >> You know, but this man's story is very interesting because he uh was always obese all his life. Mhm. Right? As a kid. So, tell me what which level of obesity where he was. Very very bad, all in triple digits. Triple digits. Yeah, the weight is all in triple digits. I'm talking about 140 and 150. And then here is a person who was that obese, brings his weight to double digit.
(28:37) Wow. Like like in the 90s category, and this happened because he got extremely extremely disciplined. He trained really hard. He ate right. He also became a coach. Yeah. So, you double down and you do everything possible, and it was very sustainable. It was not fast, you know, it took a few years. But then there was a personal crisis.
(29:01) And the personal crisis led them to gain all the weight back up. And back to double triple digit again. Not as bad as the first, but it was still in like your 130 135. And our current situation is that very very strong, doing everything he possibly can, but very hard to drop it down. Yeah, so and also you're aging.
(29:33) Now you need to work harder. >> Work harder, yeah. Yeah. Wow. >> So, yeah. Obesity is a is is a real disease, you know what I mean? Like it's something that you have to address at a younger age. Some of us have genetic predisposition. Then you have to be even more careful because I see that as well. I see kids who have the genetic predisposition to obesity work hard, but even that hard work sometimes is not enough.
(30:03) Okay. It is so hard. So what you're saying is like there are two things. Well, first what I see there there are two things. One is like a the I mean the when we get older it's harder in terms of metabolism flux going down. That's harder. So that people need also to take that into account to to start as early as they they they can so that they can prevent whatever it is and then they can also adjust as they they go.
(30:35) But what I found very interesting in those two stories there were similarities and that's what I would like to to to to to talk which was at some point something happened in their life. Mhm. And suddenly the the the the discipline the consistency went away and it it it is the same. So we already spoke about the importance for people to start.
(30:58) Now, let's talk about to maintain. Yeah. What's your advice for people like they start and a lot of times they start or we all start very motivated, you know, but then at some point it goes down again. >> Yeah. What is your advice for people to to to to keep that consistency even when they don't see results even when like life happens, you know, like something happens in our life.
(31:30) What is your advice for people? You have to keep going. Okay, I'll I'll ask you a question. You are working somewhere. Okay. It's been going good. And suddenly things are turbulent with your job. And you don't like it anymore. You're not going to just stop working. >> Exactly. That's a good thing. Right? Because you need the job.
(31:56) And at one point it gets so hard to work there that you quit. Okay. Now, are you going to quit and sit at home for the rest of your life? No. You quit, but now you're going to go and find something else for yourself. Right? We're wired to always protect our career protect our jobs, you know, protect our loved ones and all of that, right? But my the the reason why I keep going Rodrigo is I'm also very wired to protect my own self. Yeah.
(32:39) Right? So I think everybody should not start to understand that when I exercise I could be exercising for a reason. I have a goal. I want to be size zero. I want to be muscular. I want to just be stronger. I want to be able to run faster. Goal could be anything. But I just request and urge everybody that think of 30 years from now. What you're doing today and how that's going to compound.
(33:11) Yeah. The job that you do today, the savings that you do today, how that's going to compound. And it's going to come for you when you retire. Right? That money you made, the savings you've done. It's all for a rainy day. It's all for your future. Exactly that. Wow. Every day that you show up at the gym whether you like it or not you are doing this for the person you want to be 10, 20, 30 years from today.
(33:40) That's how I have started looking at it in the last decade Rodrigo. Before that it was about I feel like I look great. Yeah. I'm you know, I love the muscle on me. I love the lean body all of those things. And then there's a mindset shift that happens at some point in everybody's life where you think and I think for me this is this happened when my mom got diagnosed with Parkinson's.
(34:05) And then I'm like my mom for me was someone who I looked up to and said how was this woman always so active? Always present for everybody. Always makes everyone happy. Never really sitting down. You know, just there there for my father, there for me, there for my sister, there for my whole family. And then suddenly one day she can't get up.
(34:30) Right? I'm like I don't want to be there. So everyone needs to understand first of all why are they doing what they doing? And this goes for life. This goes this I apply in everything. Right? If I'm doing a certain job I'm like why am I doing this job? Is it making me happy? Is it giving me a lot of money or is it giving me the satisfaction of doing something for the community? Right? There has to be some purpose with everything or it has to be your passion.
(34:58) Like today I do my passion project, right? But whatever you do same thing when you're with somebody why am I with this person? Why do I want to marry this person? Right? Or why do I want this person to be my my best friend or this person to be my workout buddy? I will choose to workout with someone who probably will make me stronger than I already am or gives me that push to be better.
(35:23) That's the person I want to workout with, right? So when you choose to workout you always have a short-term goal and you have a long-term goal. When you have a long-term goal you will never quit. Yeah. You will be consistent. You can have a drop off. You can have an injury. You could travel. You have a family member who's sick and you have to be available for them.
(35:46) So you know, every all your focus is there and you can't workout. But because you have a long-term goal Rodrigo you'll always come back. And that long-term goal can be different for different people. The long-term goal for me is I want to age gracefully and I don't want to be dependent on anybody because I see what dependency is within my own family and I say it loud, you know, I don't want to be where my mom is today.
(36:12) Because she's not happy being in her own skin. She's not happy being dependent on all of us. Right? And it's not a life well lived. So you know, you you work so hard all your life. You do so much for everybody and then there comes a time when it's time for you to enjoy your money and you don't have it anymore.
(36:32) You can't. So my sole purpose is like I honestly uh don't look at the physical aspect so much in the sense I don't look at size so much. For me it's about energy. It's about strength. It's about keeping diseases at bay as much as I can. That's my That's my long-term goal. Yeah. >> My short-term goal goal will be like go, you know, do a good marathon or a half marathon or a 10K or now my current favorite thing to do is high rocks.
(37:05) So do well there. Be in the top, you know, 10 or five or try to be the number one in India. Or that's something all short-term goals. You can't keep doing that forever. Mhm. But I think that's what we all need to teach our uh the new generation that you know things like movement and exercise is forever. Uh it's not today or tomorrow or day after.
(37:30) Like even when I'm on a holiday um wherever I am whichever part of the world I would just go out every morning or every afternoon or every evening. Whenever I get 30 minutes I just go out for a run. Right? And it'll be just like 3 km, 4 km, 5 km. But I do it every single day. >> [snorts] >> Every single day.
(37:52) Like if it's a 2-week holiday every day I've I'm out in my running shoes and I'll just go around wherever I'm living. Do like 3 to 5 km because it just makes you feel good. It's it's it's that's all there is. It's not like you're guilty because you've eaten so much or you drank a few beers or you drank some wine and you're trying to you know, make up for that. It's not.
(38:13) It's just about what makes you happy. And for me movement and fitness makes me happy. That's all. And I think I have successfully uh managed to pass that what do you say or influence people or pass that energy or vibe to everybody who's around me. You know, at least every life I touch I know that's one thing that I have taught them that become consistent. Um yeah.
(38:40) Yeah, because my gym honestly the one problem I don't have is retention which the gyms all over India worry about. Like we have no retention problems. I have the same people coming to our gym for 3 years now. Because they they just love it and they you know, it's like a good community. Everybody is consistent.
(39:00) Everybody pushes each other because that's the one thing I want to teach everyone. Be consistent in anything and everything that you do in life. Oh. Yeah. >> Yeah. There was a couple of things that come one is as a personal experience myself. So you said something that really resonated with me and so I myself I'm I'm okay in terms of exercise.
(39:23) So I go on an average three to four times. But what happens sometimes is sometimes I if one week I I go for example two times then I kind of lose a bit the momentum and and I feel like oh, now I need to wait a little bit more to go again. But what you said I what I like it is in those moments the important thing is to understand the first thing is like okay, you're doing this for whatever you want now.
(39:49) Your your your energy, to to to feel good, to to look better. That's one thing. But what you helped me was like in those moments, it's important to understand the deeper meaning which is the long term, which is aging gracefully, which is like not having disease Yes. in 20, 30 years. And that should be motivation enough 100% >> going, right? So I love that.
(40:19) And the second thing that you said, and and I have an opinion on on that on people who say I don't have time. I don't have time for this or that. For me it doesn't mean that people don't have time. What people are saying is not that they don't have time. Exactly. It just It means that it's not Exactly. >> So rather than a problem of time, it's a problem of priority.
(40:45) >> Yes. 100% >> what you're saying for example, people if people don't see exercise as a priority, then there will never be time. And the the the most incredible thing is if people think today that in 30 years, whatever they gave priority before, which was the career, which was whatever it was, is going to make them sick in 20, 30 30 years. Yeah.
(41:11) So if the priority today is changed to to movement, to sleep and nutrition, in 10, 20 years, the life can be much much better than giving now the priority to let's say just career or yeah. So that is something that I really want to talk to you about. >> you an example Rodrigo and this exactly what you said, that's what reminded me.
(41:34) So there's this person I was talking to, she had just delivered a baby and she spoke to me about uh postpartum fitness, right? So I asked her a bunch of questions and she was telling me how she's feeling and then we spoke about the cost and everything and then she thought it was expensive, okay? So here's my point.
(41:54) Now you've given birth, your body has gone through a lot of changes. You have something called an incontinence, okay? Where when you cough or even you jump, you'll you'll feel like you're going to uh leak. Like urinate right there, right? So your pelvic floor is weak. So it's like a tap partially open. Any time, you have no control over your bladder because your pelvic floor is weak.
(42:18) So when she she So you have a big problem and that can become a big problem in the future if you don't address. So my point to you is we need to fix that. So you need like X number of sessions on a one-on-one basis before I push you into a group class where we can't give you one-on-one attention.
(42:38) So chances are that your situation can get worse. But you're saying this is too expensive for you and I'm saying that you don't need to do this for life. You're only doing this for a few sessions till we strengthen you. If you have a leak in your house, what are you going to do? You're going to live with the leak? You have a broken wall or a broken whatever, right? And there's water coming in.
(42:58) Are you going to live with that? No. You will spend any amount of money to fix that leak because you have to live in that house. Why do we fail to understand that this is our first house? This is your home. You have to live in this body from the day you're born to the day you are dead. Right? Even a man without shelter sleeping on the road is able to survive because he's still sleeping somewhere.
(43:26) He's resting his body. It could be under a tree, it could be under a bus stop. Yeah. Right? He's still able to protect himself. But what is the point of having a beautiful home that you can live under if you don't have a wonderful strong body? You know? So I just tell people I said, first home is this. Take care of this.
(43:48) And when you do take care of this, trust me, you'll just be able to give so much out to the world. Exactly. You know? And when you're able to give so much out to the world, you'll receive Yeah. so much more. And that that's my philosophy Rodrigo, that's all. Like I I will not pour from a cup half empty or completely empty.
(44:11) I will fill my cup and then I will pour unconditionally. Beautiful. Yeah. And I think that the beauty is that when you when we focus on what we're talking about, our our body, then the everything works, you know? Our relationships get better, our jobs get better, our our passions get better, you know? Everything gets better. So I think the the the the issue what you said is the people don't give the the right priority. It comes at the end.
(44:36) And it should come at the beginning, which is the the the the first thing, you know, our body our mind our mind, yeah. and then the rest will come. Wow. Very good. Okay, we spoke a lot about we people already know why they need to do exercise, why they need to work on themselves. So now in order to to to in order to to put it into practice, Yeah.
(45:00) can we go into the the the three buckets that you said, the three habits that we we we said, that you you mentioned, which is a kind of your framework? >> Yeah. Can you can you go to the first one? Can we start with the most important one, nutrition? Oh, nutrition. No, I was just joking. I was [laughter] just testing you. Yeah.
(45:17) >> to see if I'm awake or not. Okay, let's start with sleep, which is the first one. Like what what can we do in terms of sleep? >> It's I'll just give everybody one simple thing to do Rodrigo. It is not necessarily about how many hours you sleep, right? It's great if you can get 7, 8, 8 and 1/2 or even 9, but I do understand that there are challenges for some people to get longer hours. It's not that.
(45:47) A, it is about the quality of your 6-hour sleep if 6 hours is all you can get, okay? B, it's the sleep-wake cycle. The you have to set a routine. Now, I go to sleep between 9:00 and 9:30 every day. Okay? Sometimes 9:45. And then I wake up every day around 4:50 a.m. With alarm or without alarm? Mostly with alarm, but now the body slowly like automatically kind of waking up, but I prefer an alarm to not miss it.
(46:20) So like if your body's too tired, it may just sleep through, right? So then I put an alarm. So it's the same cycle almost every day. But on the weekends, I change a little bit because like let's say a Friday evening and a Saturday evening, I would go to bed a little later. So instead of 9:30, 9:45, it could be 10:30, 10:45, 11:00 because I'm thinking I don't have to wake up too early, so let me watch some TV.
(46:50) Like once or twice a week I get to watch TV, so I do that. Uh same thing on Saturday. Saturday evening if I go out, if I have a social commitment or something to go for or if not, I just sit at home and watch TV. But I have shifted my sleep time by about 1 and 1/2 hours. Right? And I wake up instead of 5:00 a.m.
(47:12) , I'll wake up a little later, maybe 7:00, maybe 7:30. Like I'll sleep in a little extra. That's all. That's the maximum change, you know? There won't be a change where I'll sleep at 1:00, 2:00 a.m., wake up at 11:00 a.m. the next day. So once in a while maybe, you know, when you're traveling and stuff, things can go haywire. So it is very important for everybody to first fix a routine, a sleep-wake cycle.
(47:39) It can get It can go up and down, you know, now and then. It's okay. But try to stick to a window. Have a window. Okay, you are somebody who finishes work only by 10:00, 10:30. So go to sleep at 11:00. But go to sleep at 11:00 every day. Right? Or 10:45 or 11:15. Keep a window. And wake up exactly how many ever hours later.
(48:04) It could be six, it could be seven, could be eight. And when you have that routine, right? Trust me, your sleep quality will improve because the body then knows because the body understands everything. The body's like, okay, now is the moment it's like 9:00 p.m. for me or even at 8:30, my body starts like winding down on its own.
(48:26) So if I want to be awake, I have to keep it alert, right? I have to do something to keep it alert. Same. So first teach your body a routine with sleep. That's my request for everyone to fix sleep, right? Do not confuse the body by sleeping at 10:00 p.m. one day, 1:00 a.m. one day, you know, like random hours.
(48:47) Now if you're someone who also has this habit of napping in the afternoon, try to keep that nap every day. There's nothing wrong with it. Like it could be a 30-minute nap, 1-hour sleep also, but do it every single day. Like and this is again, this is science, but this is also what my father taught me. He has a routine and that routine doesn't change no matter what.
(49:09) Right? His sleep-wake cycle, his no nap post lunch, everything is set. And I feel like all of that has worked for him so beautifully all these years. So fixing sleep has to be your number one priority if you don't have it already. And I tell people that if you everything you've done, it still doesn't fix, take help.
(49:29) Yeah. Right? Like there is no Of course there are melatonins that doctors will recommend, but don't just do it on your own you know, like buy it as a uh over-the-counter thing and do something because uh these are things that you can get addicted to also. So, like we all talk about magnesium glycinate being the one supplement that can really kind of calm you down.
(49:52) It's not a sleeping pill, but it can calm the body and it can slowly ease you into sleep, right? So, similarly, talk to a doctor, talk to a nutritionist, figure out ways you can actually allow your body to wind down uh if you're too wired and if you feel like I'm not able to sleep. But there are ways to do it.
(50:11) You need to just want to do it. I know of people. I know I have clients who have real sleep issues. Okay, and those sleep issues are now uh making them pile on weight. Yeah. They're not able to lose weight no matter what they do. They train well, they eat well, but the one thing that's not right is sleep, and that's why instead of losing weight, they're putting on weight. Wow. Yeah.
(50:35) It is a problem. Sleep it just fixes your body. Yeah. But what what what I like I like two things that you said is one is Okay, there are many things that you can do, but at least have a sleep routine. >> Yeah. And also what I love is that I mean life it's also like we do a lot of things, so also allow yourself to change a little bit that routine like the weekend. But not huge.
(51:02) So, what you say is like our body is made of we are made of habits. Yeah. >> So, get your body used to a sleep routine and that will improve a lot. And actually, what you say is that that will also help you with your weight goal, whatever [clears throat] it is. Management. Very good. So, that's the the the the first one.
(51:23) Second, let's go into nutrition. Yeah. Uh so She's saying like Don't mess this. >> [laughter] >> Yeah. >> Nutrition. But tell me, Rodrigo, how what do you eat typically? Uh myself I'm I'm uh from from Portugal. I have a Mediterranean uh Yes, which is known to be one of the best diets in the world. >> so something that we we have is is we we have a lot of dry food.
(51:48) We have a lot of grilled food. We don't have a lot of oily uh food. We don't have a lot of spice. >> Yes. >> of spice. We have a lot of vegetables which are mostly either boiled or salted. >> Uh we we have a lot of fish because we are a coastal >> Yes. in the in the coastal Um yeah, it's a pretty solid diet. And and and the more study that happens in nutrition, Mediterranean diets come out to be the top. Yeah. Yeah.
(52:20) for health. Yeah. Right? Like if you want to be in best health >> Yeah. they say choose a Mediterranean diet. So, I just tell everybody like for example, a staple breakfast in India, okay, in South of India it can be a idli or a dosa right? Or a upma or a poha. All of these are carbs. Of course, millets and everything fermented, all of that good.
(52:49) Now, if I only eat that and get on with my day, what is going to happen? I mean, I will have a nice energy surge because of the carb and then it'll dip because there's an energy crash. Now, to balance it, you need the protein and the So, I tell people who are non-vegetarians, I said okay, you have that one idli, but keep two eggs.
(53:11) Keep some nuts. Keep some seeds on your breakfast plate. For the vegetarians who don't eat eggs, I'll say keep a source of Greek yogurt. Right? Because it's high protein, yeah. And put some nuts and berries or something into it like dry fruits like you said. The the the yogurt also becomes tasty.
(53:32) You're also getting the dry fruits. You're getting, you know, from almonds and all of that. You get some source source of protein there as well. You get some good fat. Okay, you get some fiber through all your seeds. It's very simple. Right? And then I have my lunch. So, if I'm only going to eat rice and dal, and especially my vegetarians thinking that dal is a big source of protein, it's not.
(53:55) It has some protein, but it's also a big source of carbs. So, if only rice and dal is going to be very carb dense. Right? So, can I have a big portion of vegetables which I consume first? Right? And then can I also have a big or at least some source of protein there through vegetables or, you know, broccoli, mushroom. Again, put in chickpeas, rajma, make a mix which can give you the fiber, give you some carbs, will give you some protein.
(54:24) So, you have to just be mindful. Right? And same thing for dinner. I'm like, look at your plate. Now you see again, you're going to eat rice or roti. Again, it's carb. So, first learn to look at your plate and see do I get my fiber? Do I get my protein? Then look for the carb. And honestly, you don't have to look for the carb, it'll be there.
(54:48) >> [snorts] [laughter] >> I see. You know? >> Yeah. And that's how we I mean, even with so much understanding, Rodrigo, I sometimes find it difficult when I look at my plate, when, you know, our helps gives me food in the evening and I'm like, okay, is that all you're giving me? Like you're giving me dosa, you're giving me sweet potato, everything carb carb carb carb.
(55:08) I'm like, give me something more. Give me like an egg. Give me some chicken. Give me some fish, you know? So, you have to first learn. And once you've learned how to plate, it's becomes very easy to cook your meals or you'll depend on, you know, somebody like sourcing your meals. So, we are talking a lot about protein protein protein protein.
(55:28) Protein is supremely important, but I would also tell everybody because uh I I see like the gut issues right now are on the rise. Like a lot of people are having a lot of gut issues because I think I don't know, maybe some you know, imbalance with our macros, the way we're eating and stuff. But I've started telling especially women after like 35, 36 entering into perimenopause, focus a lot on fiber.
(55:54) Because our gut is going to take you know, a beating when the estrogen progesterone changes happen with perimenopause. So, the gut needs to be given a lot of love, not just the muscles with a lot of protein. So, I say start looking at your plate. First is fiber and protein. Then the carb. That's all.
(56:17) That's all you need to keep in mind. Every meal, look at the protein source, look at the fiber source. Third, look at your carb source. Yeah. Things change a little bit when you're an endurance athlete. Yeah. >> Right? For them it's very different. They have to do a lot of carbs. But for the regular people who do, you know, jobs which are sedentary, please fiber forward, protein forward.
(56:39) Fiber forward, protein forward. If you've got this, you're sorted. Yeah. It's not rocket science. Mm. Actually, uh we're coming to the end and I have just one last question. Uh you mentioned in before that you are 46 and you want to be at your best. You want to or you want to be at your best. Tell us a little bit more about like you know, after 40, like or how do you do and what's your advice for people like to get older and to keep going with our uh fitness? >> Yes.
(57:15) Uh first of all, for all the women especially listening, there is no age to start. Right? Your fitness journey, your health journey, whatever it is. It could be your career. You want to do something new with your life, right? There's literally no age to start. I started at the age of 30. Although I was very active even before that with dance, but my real fitness journey started after 30.
(57:40) 31, 32 is when I really started, you know, doing my cardio, doing my weight training and everything. After 40, Rodrigo, a lot of things change. Right? It's uh your body changes, especially for a woman. Not so much for a man yet. And the chances of you putting on weight abruptly are very high because of our hormonal imbalances that happen through perimenopause.
(58:06) So, even if a woman wants to start working out at 40 or 45 or 50, it's not late. And you can do wonders for the body, you know, even at that point preserving your muscle mass, preserving your bone mass. Because as we enter the perimenopausal phase, the muscle and the bone deteriorates faster. Anyway, it deteriorates as we age.
(58:30) We all know that. But now with perimenopausal, it deteriorates even faster. And the brain also ages faster. So, if you want your brain, your gut, your body, your muscle, your bone to feel stronger, to age gracefully, you have to incorporate movement. And the right thing to do would be to do strength training. Like I can just say movement and people can do any sort of movement, but I will point out that the right thing to do, literally no replacement for strength training.
(59:06) It creates the stimulus that your body needs which estrogen could have created all these years. But now with estrogen going haywire and depleting, you need that stimulus. And that stimulus can come from strength training. Right? I'm looking at it from that perspective. I'm saying I'm 46. I'm perimenopausal. How do I fight it? Because it is a part of your life that you have to embrace.
(59:37) Right? That's your only way. You embrace and you do the right things and fight it. You don't fight it by getting angry and frustrated that oh my god, you know, these periods. Oh my god, why am I born as a woman? Why do I have to deal with this? This is how we're born. This is nature's way. So, I tell people, and this is something I learned from the Japanese culture, how they embrace the perimenopausal phase and beautifully go through it without too much of fluctuations in the body.
(1:00:08) It's happening, but also their diet is rich in, you know, fish and omega and everything. So, they feel differently. So, women, especially after 35, need to need to need to start training. It's never late. My aunt, I remember started training at the age of 60, strength training. She's 72 right now.
(1:00:29) She comes to the gym. Trust me, Rodrigo. You should see her doing her headstands, her full splits. Even the 30-year-olds can't do what she's doing. Yeah. So, there's no age. She started at 60. Until then, she was working, she was building, etc., etc. Then her kids went away and then she suddenly became, you know, this person. She's alone.
(1:00:51) She's like, "Now what do I do? You know, I have to take care of myself." And she's living her best life right now. So, I want to live my best life. You know, and for me, I know that the only way to do that is just show up at the gym every day. Work hard on yourself. And I feel like all my life I struggled to pursue a sport before marriage, right? When I lived with my parents, like my my dad was a sports personality.
(1:01:22) He saw it in me. I have his genes. I could have pursued a sport when I was younger and done so well with it. And I keep telling my father, I could have probably bought a medal for this country. You know? And I and I and it's always been a dream. And then when I started exercising, when I started weight training at early 30s, I saw this strength in my body that I can't imagine I would have had.
(1:01:50) So, it mentally and emotionally made me stronger. I felt like, "Okay, I may not be highly educated in the education system. I'm only a B.Com graduate. But this newfound confidence that I have got now through [clears throat] strength training and through fitness is something that nobody can crush. You know, like nobody can make me feel small or inferior because I know my physical strength is far more.
(1:02:21) You know, and that really helped me become who I am today. My journey into entrepreneurship. When I look back, I'm like, "Me? An entrepreneur? I mean, even if I work at a place long enough, it'll be a big deal." You know, I never had the confidence. But fitness has made me this this person that I didn't think existed in me.
(1:02:44) And I'm supremely grateful for that first. But then I'm like, "Oh my god, you know what? Everyone believes in my strength. People people think I'm capable of doing these races and doing so well." So, I'm like, "I'm going to push." I'm far more stronger at 46 than I was at 36 and 26. And I want to just get stronger.
(1:03:08) And now my goal is I want to do something, pursue some sport, and be number one in India. It could be anything. And I want to make women believe that yes, we all age. Yes, we all will perimenopause. But if you do the right thing, it's beautiful. This phase of our life is also beautiful. Nothing can stop us. I absolutely love this conversation.
(1:03:36) Thank you. It was beautiful and it's a a big I want to amplify more, I mean, voices like you that are pushing us to move, which is super important not just now, but also for the future generation. >> Yes. So, thank you so much for coming. It was an absolute pleasure. It was so lovely talking to you, Rodrigo.
(1:03:58) I think you really I I felt like I was talking to a therapist. >> [laughter] >> I really vented a lot in a nice way. But it was great. Thank you so much. It's wonderful meeting you. Nice.