November 8, 2023 • 30 mins
It seems to be the secret ingredient hidden in everything we eat, it gives us energy only to take it away later, and gives us insatiable cravings. Sugar. It feels inescapable and a natural enemy of our diet getting in the way of healthy living, but in this episode, nutritionist Michelle Chevalley Hedge, explains the full effects of sugar, and how to live a low-sugar life, not a no-sugar life.
Plus, Sam answers questions around strength training around building muscle, the frequency of strength training in your routine, and weight training and pregnancy.
Have a question for Sam? Guest suggestion? Or some positive news to share? Submit it to The Wood Life Inbox HERE.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Get everybody Sam here. I know I'm here to inspire you,
motivate you. Oh I'm so tired. China is just the
most uninspiring, crappy thing to say to you all. I'm
just being honest, just sharing modesty. I feel like I'm
limping to the finish line of twenty twenty three, but
we're going to get there, and we're going to get
there strong. It's just been a massive few weeks with
(00:26):
everything that has been going on, the launch of my
new protein brand, twenty eight Go, which is now Woolly's
across the nation. I'm going to give it a plug.
Yes I am, and yeah, kids and end of year
and Evey finishing school and so much going on. But
it's it's been a brilliant twenty twenty three in really
excited about what the future holds, and really excited about
today's episode because we have an old friend of mine
(00:48):
who is just a bundle of joy, a barrel of laughs,
and she's going to talk about a really important topic
that is probably the big issue globally when it comes
to nutrition. So I'll give you a little teas there
and you have to stick around and see what that's
going to be. And then I'm going to answer some
of your strength training questions. We're getting a lot of
(01:11):
questions recently on strength training. There's a few of those
that I really want to address because I think my
answer will not only help you, but help lots of
our listeners. That's all coming up next on the WOODLFE.
(01:43):
I'm thrilled today to be joined on the wood Life
by an old friend of mine who is absolutely one
of the nutritionists on a global scale that I look
up to the most. She is wonderful, She's written three
books and I actually talk to our guests today if
I'm being honest, on thirty different nutrition topics for three
(02:05):
days straight. But what I wanted to drill down on
is a subject matter of hers that she's an absolute
expert in. We are thrilled to be joined today by
Michelle Very Hedge. Michelle, welcome to the WOODLFE. And it's
so lovely to hear from you again.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Oh Sam. It is absolutely my pleasure to be here
and really really lovely to reconnect with you almost like
full circle right, and meant to be meant to have this.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Conversation absolutely absolutely. It's funny when I first started my podcast,
a year and a half ago. You've been on my
list this whole time, and it's wonderful to finally get
the opportunity to talk today. I just teased it a
little bit to our audience because the topic I want
to drill down with you today on is sugar, because
(02:48):
I just I know you're an absolute expert in this area.
You've written Low Sugar Lifestyle book, you speak globally on
this and a whole bunch of other critical nutrition education pieces,
and I'd love to get your take on it because
it's just a constant question that comes up from our listeners.
You know, what about sugar? Am I eating too much?
(03:09):
Is this the main reason I'm gaining weight? What about
all the other ramifications from a health perspective that come
with it? You can start anyway you like, Michelle, take
this conversation in any direction. I know how passionate you
are about the subject.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Well, I was going to say that that's a pretty
wild introduction there to say I can get going.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
I might regret that you could, Yes.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Desay, living in Australia for thirty three years, I'm still
a type a female from New York and who's deeply
passionate about this topic. So if people only want the
top thing that they could do to change their physical
and mental well being, if there was only one thing
that it could take a dive on, it would absolutely
(03:53):
one thousand percent be the conversation around added sugar. The
great job at corporate you're doing at masking and marketing
healthy quote quote healthy looking things that it's hard for
us as adults to get our head around, let alone
our poor kids. So yeah, let's talk about those added
(04:16):
sugars that are still in a lot of these healthy smoothies,
healthy sports strengths and things like that, and the ramifications
of them.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
Isn't it interesting, Michelle when you have that light bulb
moment with someone when you tell them something that they
have consumed regularly and always thought in their mind is healthy,
and you go, you know that those muffins or musy
bars or you know, smoothies are actually full of sugar
and it's not that different from having a can of coco,
(04:48):
you know, like it is, but you know there's some
nutritional value in there, but they have no idea.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Absolutely, Sam and I always take this conversation from a
non extreme approach. So, for example, the World Health Organization
the greatest researcher, scientists, doctors in the world talk about
optimal health maximum six added teaspoons a day. That means
we're consuming six times the amount of added sugar on
(05:17):
a daily basis. That's a weekly basis, that's a monthly basis,
that's a yearly basis. Most people are consuming three to
four to five six times the amount of added sugar.
So then once you get that aha moment and people go, wow,
I didn't really think that was me. I say, first
of all, number one, no beating yourself up like this
(05:39):
is not about never having sugar again. That's dumb. That's silly, right.
I mean, I have sugar, I have wine, I have coffee.
This conversation is about awareness. And then I say, so,
let's go to the awareness component, which, from an evidence
based perspective, what does the added sugar really due to
(06:00):
us physically and mentally? What's this doing? And this type
of added sugar. Number one, let's talk about gut health.
Number one creates this, you know, dys biosis. Okay, that's
a big word for what burping, farting, diarrhea, belching, poor
Tommy bed, timmy dad. I got a puffy tummy. What's
(06:21):
wrong with my tummy?
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Dad?
Speaker 2 (06:22):
I don't understand that type of IBS like symptoms that
often a doctor will go, gee whiz, you have IBS.
Not too much that we can do about that. But
what we do know is that kind of added sugar
can really create that dys biosis, that gut dysfunction. But
here lies the biggest cracker of all of this, Sam.
(06:46):
It is our gut that creates our serotonin. Our serotonin
is made in our gut. So does it not make
sense when our gut is fed with real whole foods, fats, protein,
smart carbs, lots of fiber, that we are maximizing the
(07:07):
ability for our body to create our happy hormone, the
very thing that we want for all of us as adults,
but definitely for all of our kids.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Let's just let our audience have that sink in a
little bit, because I think you've said at a lot
there already. There's a few people don't understand how much
they should be consuming. And it's really good that you've
articulated has added so not just sugar in a natural sense,
but added sugar. How much you should be consuming and
how much on average we are consuming then there's the tool,
(07:39):
or at least the education to start to be more
curious about how much you are consuming and how much
added sugar is in these things that were potentially eating regularly.
But then there's the most important thing, because I've had
that conversation to that point with lots of people, and
particularly if they're not overweight, because it's kind of oh, yeah, exercise,
(08:02):
you know, but it's actually doing all of these other things,
you know, gut dysfunction and inability to create our happy hormone.
I mean, what is the most important thing in life
to people to be happy? And you've just joined those
dods beautifully. I mean I knew what you were going
to say, and I still had an aha moment, genuinely,
(08:24):
I was, I knew where you were going, and I
still went, Oh that hits home so hard. It resonates,
and probably more as a dad than thinking of myself.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Oh one hundred percent, Sam. I mean, I am a
parent two of three children, and a former teacher and
really passionate about my work in the school system. But
can I go back, Sam to something that you mentioned
about the slim person?
Speaker 1 (08:50):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (08:50):
Please, Yeah, this is a really important conversation. This is
something that I call the slender Ruster conversation. I almost
feel Sam more concerned with people that have a fast
metabolic profile, people that I called like race horses, right,
(09:11):
Their metabolism is going really really rocking and rolling strong.
So they eat whatever they want. They eat a lot
of grab and go food, a lot of hidden sugars,
but they stay slim. But the slender Ruster is quite
often someone we see in our clinical practice is Sam,
who's this slim person and we end up doing blood
pathology on them and they have insulin resistance, they're pre diabetic.
(09:36):
There are thousands and thousands of young females becoming insulin
dysfunction and developing polycystic ovary syndrome. Sam, And that is
not the pathology of a dysfunctional ovary. That is a
pathology that is linked to a dysfunction and insolent because
(09:58):
a lot of those people are slender rusters. In fact,
the name for polycystic overy syndrome is probably going to
be changed to metabolic reproductive syndrome. That is extraordinary, Sam, Like,
if you were going to talk to your wife about this,
and any woman listening to this podcast, they know tons
of women with polycystic ovary syndrome and fertility issues and
(10:22):
don't realize the ramifications that that sugar is having on
your liver, your hormones and insolent dysfunction.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
I mean, that's a wonderful you know, true, not even extreme,
but a wonderful example. To really drew that point home.
What did you call it? The slender ruster.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Slender ruster the person that's slim but is rusting and
oxidizing on the inside. And it's quite alarming wile people
get their blood sugar done or their their you know,
all their blood pathology and things come back and you
can see that there's severe dysfunction going on. But for
(11:02):
years they've been able to get away with it, sam
because outwardly they don't look like people that are gaining weight.
But it doesn't matter. You know, weight is just a
measurement of gravity, sad it does not measure somebody's true
well being. You can be two street kilos overweight, four
kilos overweight and metabolically still fit. You could be a
(11:24):
super slim person and completely unfit metabolically, and that is inflammation.
That is that's liver dysfunction, that's hormone dysfrunction. That's all
the things that we can't see underneath.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
I couldn't agree more. And it was really interesting that
you brought up the demographic of young females. I mean,
I have an eighteen year old daughter. It's you know,
an age group that I say a lot and I
worry a lot about. You know, it's they love the
diet everything. You know, the diet, drinks, the diet, it's
all about, Yeah, I can eat that, I get the kick,
(11:59):
I get the taste. It's a diet whatever. You know.
They energy drinks, diet drinks, and just and very poor
foundational nutrition.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
Yes, I say to a lot of these young people,
you know, this university kind of group, is say, if
you can harness the power of nutrition, now, that is
your X factor. If they start to realize the way
they eat has an impact on their sleep, the way
(12:33):
they exercise, and the way they stress, hack, they will
realize that that is their superpower and it doesn't have
to be extreme.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
No, I love that. That's my regret. I wish I
had this X factor as a twenty year old, and
there was no reason I didn't accept that. I kind
of just got away with it because I was exercising
a lot and had a good metabolism and was you know,
would have been one of these slender rusters. Absolutely, and
I'm definitely I would definitely be a healthier version on
the inside a decade down the track than I would
(13:06):
have ten years ago. So I think that's a really
good point. I just what about the people out there?
And I've spoken to thousands of them, and no doubt
you've spoken to tens of thousands of them that say
I've tried it, I just can't. The cravings are too
bad a cave. What is your practical advice to beating cravings?
Because that's something I get asked about all the time.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
People everyone who's listening to this will know this, right.
People are so aware of what is happening with nutrition
and the evidence space behind it, and people are like, Wow,
I want my skin to look better, I want my
hormones to be better, I want my energy be better.
I see the science. The science is loud and clear.
This is amazing, interesting stuff. But boy, I can't go
(13:51):
from where I am to that place because that jump
is so big, it's so extreme. It's hard, that's punished.
I'm busy and I'm deserving and I don't deserve to
be punished. Well, I totally get that right. So the
key to make this happen and to move into a
lower sugar way of life and a healthier way of
(14:14):
life is by small, tiny hacks, things that are so
darn doable that you do them every day. You finish
the day and you go, hey, that didn't feel like punishment.
I think I can do that tomorrow. Then you do
it the next day. By the end of the week,
you're like, hey, man, I kind of feeling lighter in
(14:34):
the head, and all of a sudden, this thing's got
a rhythm to it, and you're like, wait a minute.
This hasn't been punishment. This feels okay. I can take
on one more task or one more step. It's these small,
tiny hacks that all of a sudden, eight weeks down
the track, you're kind of doing this thing and you're going, okay,
(14:56):
I can do this. I'm not perfect, this doesn't need
to be perfect. I feel darn good. So where to start.
First place I always say to people, and I know, Sam,
you and I are speaking the same language here. First
place I say is beware of your packaged foods. If
we can move to whole real foods mainly on packaged
(15:20):
and on processed, even if it's just one week of going, okay,
I'm just going to buy more real whole food, more chicken,
more fish, more nuts, more vegetables, more rice, not even
talk about portion size, not even talk about sugar, just
the first week making an adjustment to real whole food.
(15:44):
Real whole food has natural sugar, it doesn't have added sugar.
So when you start getting people to say, when I
say to people, that's what I want you to do
the first week, I don't want you to worry about
your portion control. I want you to have a big
handful of nuts.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
Hey.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
In fact, if you need to have two chicken breasts
at dinner, I want you to have two chicken breasts
at dinner. Because what happens then, Sam, as you and
I already know when people start to fill up with
protein and smart carbs and good fats, they lose their
satiation for sweets. And people come into our clinical practice
(16:24):
all the time, Sam and say the same thing. Never
eat so much damn food in my life, never, never, never.
I can't believe how much weight of loss and how
good I'm sleeping.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
It's so true. I mean that the one that I
have a conversation with whether people really struggle is after dinner.
So after dinner snacking, we're the window. You may have
had that really big, high protein, good dinner. But if
your dinner was at six thirty and you're not going
to bed till eleven, there's a lot of time seeing
(17:00):
and a lot of temptation within that time window to
you know, get into the sweet snacks, the biscuits, the lollas,
whatever it might be. What's the best advice specific to
that time if they have done what you've just said
regarding a good, healthy, high protein dinner.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
Yeah, and Sam, that is it's such a great question
because I was the perfect example of that. And so
what I had to do was shift a couple of things.
And this is what we get our clients to do,
and I talk about all the time. Is this behavioral change.
First of all, one ask yourself, Hey, did I have
(17:39):
enough fat or protein at lunch or dinner? Most people
eat a bird like lunch like full of salad with
no protein or smart carbs in it. As soon as
they shift that they got three o'clock. Oh, I don't
feel the need for those sweets. But it's the same
thing at dinner time, so shift that to make sure
you put you know, you nudge up the protein, nud
(18:00):
jump the fact, get your avocado out, get your olive oil,
top up your dinner, your veggies with some you know,
flax seeds, seeds and nuts. But then let's say you
have this habit where it's the evening and you want
something sweet. I say one change your behavior. So if
you if that's sweet craving comes while you're sitting and
(18:22):
watching a Netflix just for a little while, just to
break some habit, you know what, go jump in the shower,
go have a bag.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
Little circuit breaker as soon as it hits.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
Yeah, circuit breaker from the habit. And then my next
thing is I wish I had stock in this company.
I believe so greatly in this delicious tea called Bengal Spice.
It's by Celesteel Seasonings. And people always laugh at me.
They're like, Michelle, you are such a nut. And I said, yes,
(18:53):
I do know that. But if you want to break
a sugar habit, you buy this Celesteel Seasonings Bengal Spice,
and it's a cinnamon a tea. Put two or three
tea bags in your tea, let it soak for two minutes,
take it out. It is so naturally sweet with chickory root,
which is a prebody great for our gut function. But
(19:16):
you will get the same effect with a licorice tea.
But don't be shy. If you really are a sugar addict,
then you need to break the sugar craving. And I
get it because I was one of those people. Break
the habit. Physically remove yourself from where you normally are,
you know, having that sugar, create a different routine, but
(19:36):
also get a nice big cup of one of those
types of sweet teas. And hey, if you need to
have a half a teaspoon or a teaspoon of honey,
well go ahead and have it, because it's not going
to be the six seven, eight tea spoons that you
get in some of these powdered drinks, these powdered chy teas,
(19:58):
these powdered green teas that appear healthy looking but have
buckets of sugar in them.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
I love the attitude of let's not try and be
too restrictive, you know, like if you move to real food,
don't worry about your macros don't worry about your galleries,
don't worry about your portion sizes. Just eat the real food.
We are running out of times. I'm just going to
finish with one more question.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
I have a good topic Sam to kind of raise
a little bit.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
Would you mind not not at all?
Speaker 2 (20:25):
Well, something that comes up all the time is okay,
So Michelle, I'm moving to this lower sugar way of life.
I want to talk to you about sugar substitutes, artificial
sweetener and other things. What can I use? So first
of all, what I say to everybody is please do
not use artificial sweetness. I'm really not a fan. I'm
all about evidence based research. I'm actually quite a research nerd,
(20:49):
and we're looking at some of the scientific evidence and
the links to cancer and neurological dysfunction. So no, no
artificial sweetness. And I don't say no to anything really like,
but no to artificial sweeteners. Second thing is, if you
need to bridge the gap as you're walking into a
lower sugar way of life, think about using a bit
(21:10):
of stevia or monk fruit. It's also called lohan. Right now,
monk fruit is really emerging. It's a little bit of expensive,
but people like that a little bit more than Stevia
because Stevie can tend to leave a bit of aftertaste.
So go ahead and explore those types of things. And
then the last part of this sugar equation is, hey, Michelle,
(21:33):
what about sorbitol? What about all these sugar alcohols that
end with hyphen ol? I always say about that is okay,
if you're going to have one of those sugar alcohols,
you better have really good gut function because any of
those things that end with ol, those sugar alcohol they
(21:55):
really give you the windy pops and I mean, you know, burping,
party booing. I mean, there's a reason why there's an
asterisk that says excessive consumption me cause diarrhea. So you know,
and Sam, as you would know, one out of four
people have got dysfunction or some type of digestive dysfunction,
(22:15):
So just be aware of that. And Sam, I'm sorry.
I know I could talk forevery but you can see
I'm still so passionate about this topic. So if you
ever want me to come back on again, bring me
back on, because there's a million other things.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
We give, and I will take you up on that
because I do think this will scratch the surface for
a lot of people and open up a really important conversation.
What a lovely place to finish. Michelle, thank you so
so much for joining us on the wood Life today.
So wonderful to catch up with you again. And you
have educated me and my wonderful producer, Indy. She's been
sitting here taking notes and nodding, and I'm sure all
(22:51):
of our listeners have loved that chat. So thank you
so much, and take care and we'll talk again soon.
Speaker 2 (22:55):
Excellent Sam, thank you, Thanks Amy, thank you.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
Oh wow, that really was a lightning bolt moment. When
Michelle told us that we actually con chimed six times.
That added sugar that we're meant to If you love
that chat as much as I did, and you want
to follow up Michelle's work, she does public speaking all
over the world. She's got Brillian courses and information on
(23:28):
her website, which is a healthyview dot com, so make
surely you check that out. We've gone from talking about
Michelle's favorite topic to now going to be talking about
probably my favorite topic, which is strength training, and we've
had some great questions come through. That's coming up next.
First question is from Beck.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
Hey, Sam, I'm just wondering what ratio of my workouts
should be weight training, and also how intense should it be.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
Thanks so much, I think you should do three strength
training sessions a week as a sort of an ideal foundation.
If you love your weight training, you can do five
or six, probably have one rest day, but if you
also like cardio and Ballard's and whatever, try and have
(24:16):
your foundation be three three days, or if time doesn't
quite laly do that at least two. So if I
was to do two, I'd do an upper body and
a lower body, and if I was to do three,
I'd do a split where I do push pull lower body,
which means I do all my pushing movements so chest, shoulders, triceps,
(24:37):
bit of core work in there, all my pulling movements,
so any deadlifting, pull downs, bicep curls, anything that sort
of back biceps, glutes hemis and then legs your glutes
hemies again, but also lots of quads and a bit
of carbs. So if you're doing a three day split,
I love that push pull legs. And if you're doing
(24:58):
a two day split, bit more volume in each workout,
perhaps because you're only training it twice, you're only doing
waits twice a week or is this trained twice a
week and I do an upper body day and a
lower body day. Next question is from Mitch. Hey, mate,
I've been going to the gym for the last couple
of years, but I'm really not getting the gains I
was having for Is there a reason why? Great question,
(25:19):
mich It could be a few reasons. First of all,
when was the last time you changed your program? Second
of all, are you lifting heavy enough often, enough enough volume,
enough intensity. Third of all, and probably the biggest one,
are you getting enough recovery nutrition between the sessions. So
it's all about breaking the muscle down with the intensity
(25:41):
and the volume of the workout, and then it's about
building it back up again by giving it the rest
and the right nutrition. And a big part of that
nutrition is protein and it doesn't take that much adjustment
to get things moving in the right direction again. You
get great gains, great results in the first six weeks
to six months because you've kind gone from a you
(26:01):
were starting at a low base, so your body responds beautifully.
Then as you get a bit more conditioned and you're
in better shape to continue to move the bar, you've
got to work a bit harder. You've got to do
a bit more. You've got to shake things up, you've
got to change things. You've got to shock your body
with drop sets, with different workouts, with changing your program,
(26:21):
with being a bit more meticulous with your nutrition. If
you really want to shape that last twenty percent, that's
where the discipline and that's where the sort of shock
factor has to come into it. And the last question
on strength training is from Renee, just wondering if I
should be lifting weights when I'm pregnant and if so,
how far into my pregnancy. First of all, congratulations Renee,
(26:44):
and second of all, absolutely so. My advice when with
all training when pregnant is don't start something new, So
don't fall pregnant and then decide you want to do
marathon training, or don't fall pregnant and then decide you
want to do powerlifting. But if you are already doing
who are already running or are, then you can absolutely
keep doing that in a safe manner. So the things
(27:07):
you need to look at for is your body temperature
doesn't get too high, so train in a nice ventilated
cool area, stay really hydrated, don't get your heart rate
up too high with long sort of cardio bouts, but
from a strength training perspective, good form, nice and stable.
You lose a bit of stability through your hips as
your hip shape is starting to shift to prepare you
(27:29):
for having a baby, so hip stability becomes really important.
You don't need to be going for pbs during this
period personal bests, but it absolutely will help you during
the pregnancy, particularly if you keep your core and your
back really strong because you're going to be carrying extra
weight at the front, and it will absolutely help you
(27:49):
through the pregnancy and then to recover post pregnancy. So
I'm a huge advocate for doing some kind of resistance
training well pregnant. Just make sure you're doing the right
program at the right intent, Citty. And to answer your
question to how long you can keep doing it for,
there's always going to be different challenges through all different phases.
If you're pregnancy, you know, first tromester, second dremster, third tromester. Obviously,
(28:11):
as you start to get bigger, it gets a bit
trickier to do some movements and you're already carrying a
lot of extra weight. But I've trained many women to
thirty seven, thirty eight, even thirty nine weeks and the
amount of thanks that they have given me after having
the baby to say it really helped them mentally and
(28:32):
physically during and after the birth has been always the case.
So it's a bit of an individual situation and you
work with your doctor on it, but don't feel like
there's a specific cut off at thirty weeks or something
where it has to stop it. Really a lot of
people can do resistance training and keep their exercise routine going,
whatever it might be, you know, really deep into the pregnancy.
(29:00):
Here you go, I feel like I've just had a
little thought. I'm going to bring on a strength training
guru on an episode in a few weeks. In the
next couple of episodes, I've got there's a guy that
I've worked with. He was kind of the strength training
guru on the gym floor when I came in as
a little twenty year old from Tasmay and you're over
to Melbourne. He taught me a lot and he continues
(29:22):
to teach me a lot. Actually, the way he continually
educates himself and evolves is just he really leads by example.
He's one of the best strength training experts in Australia.
I'm going to get him on a future episode of
The Woodlife, so look out for that because it really
is a topic that I think we should talk about
more and people need to understand. And with that in mind,
if you do have other questions you'd like to pick
(29:44):
this guru's brain, please send them through of course, with
any other questions on any other topics that you'd like covered.
Have a fantastic end of your week and weekend, and
I'll see next week. Jeers
Get everybody Sam here. I know I'm here to inspire you,
motivate you. Oh I'm so tired. China is just the
most uninspiring, crappy thing to say to you all. I'm
just being honest, just sharing modesty. I feel like I'm
limping to the finish line of twenty twenty three, but
we're going to get there, and we're going to get
there strong. It's just been a massive few weeks with
(00:26):
everything that has been going on, the launch of my
new protein brand, twenty eight Go, which is now Woolly's
across the nation. I'm going to give it a plug.
Yes I am, and yeah, kids and end of year
and Evey finishing school and so much going on. But
it's it's been a brilliant twenty twenty three in really
excited about what the future holds, and really excited about
today's episode because we have an old friend of mine
(00:48):
who is just a bundle of joy, a barrel of laughs,
and she's going to talk about a really important topic
that is probably the big issue globally when it comes
to nutrition. So I'll give you a little teas there
and you have to stick around and see what that's
going to be. And then I'm going to answer some
of your strength training questions. We're getting a lot of
(01:11):
questions recently on strength training. There's a few of those
that I really want to address because I think my
answer will not only help you, but help lots of
our listeners. That's all coming up next on the WOODLFE.
(01:43):
I'm thrilled today to be joined on the wood Life
by an old friend of mine who is absolutely one
of the nutritionists on a global scale that I look
up to the most. She is wonderful, She's written three
books and I actually talk to our guests today if
I'm being honest, on thirty different nutrition topics for three
(02:05):
days straight. But what I wanted to drill down on
is a subject matter of hers that she's an absolute
expert in. We are thrilled to be joined today by
Michelle Very Hedge. Michelle, welcome to the WOODLFE. And it's
so lovely to hear from you again.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
Oh Sam. It is absolutely my pleasure to be here
and really really lovely to reconnect with you almost like
full circle right, and meant to be meant to have this.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Conversation absolutely absolutely. It's funny when I first started my podcast,
a year and a half ago. You've been on my
list this whole time, and it's wonderful to finally get
the opportunity to talk today. I just teased it a
little bit to our audience because the topic I want
to drill down with you today on is sugar, because
(02:48):
I just I know you're an absolute expert in this area.
You've written Low Sugar Lifestyle book, you speak globally on
this and a whole bunch of other critical nutrition education pieces,
and I'd love to get your take on it because
it's just a constant question that comes up from our listeners.
You know, what about sugar? Am I eating too much?
(03:09):
Is this the main reason I'm gaining weight? What about
all the other ramifications from a health perspective that come
with it? You can start anyway you like, Michelle, take
this conversation in any direction. I know how passionate you
are about the subject.
Speaker 2 (03:22):
Well, I was going to say that that's a pretty
wild introduction there to say I can get going.
Speaker 1 (03:28):
I might regret that you could, Yes.
Speaker 2 (03:30):
Desay, living in Australia for thirty three years, I'm still
a type a female from New York and who's deeply
passionate about this topic. So if people only want the
top thing that they could do to change their physical
and mental well being, if there was only one thing
that it could take a dive on, it would absolutely
(03:53):
one thousand percent be the conversation around added sugar. The
great job at corporate you're doing at masking and marketing
healthy quote quote healthy looking things that it's hard for
us as adults to get our head around, let alone
our poor kids. So yeah, let's talk about those added
(04:16):
sugars that are still in a lot of these healthy smoothies,
healthy sports strengths and things like that, and the ramifications
of them.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
Isn't it interesting, Michelle when you have that light bulb
moment with someone when you tell them something that they
have consumed regularly and always thought in their mind is healthy,
and you go, you know that those muffins or musy
bars or you know, smoothies are actually full of sugar
and it's not that different from having a can of coco,
(04:48):
you know, like it is, but you know there's some
nutritional value in there, but they have no idea.
Speaker 2 (04:53):
Absolutely, Sam and I always take this conversation from a
non extreme approach. So, for example, the World Health Organization
the greatest researcher, scientists, doctors in the world talk about
optimal health maximum six added teaspoons a day. That means
we're consuming six times the amount of added sugar on
(05:17):
a daily basis. That's a weekly basis, that's a monthly basis,
that's a yearly basis. Most people are consuming three to
four to five six times the amount of added sugar.
So then once you get that aha moment and people go, wow,
I didn't really think that was me. I say, first
of all, number one, no beating yourself up like this
(05:39):
is not about never having sugar again. That's dumb. That's silly, right.
I mean, I have sugar, I have wine, I have coffee.
This conversation is about awareness. And then I say, so,
let's go to the awareness component, which, from an evidence
based perspective, what does the added sugar really due to
(06:00):
us physically and mentally? What's this doing? And this type
of added sugar. Number one, let's talk about gut health.
Number one creates this, you know, dys biosis. Okay, that's
a big word for what burping, farting, diarrhea, belching, poor
Tommy bed, timmy dad. I got a puffy tummy. What's
(06:21):
wrong with my tummy?
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Dad?
Speaker 2 (06:22):
I don't understand that type of IBS like symptoms that
often a doctor will go, gee whiz, you have IBS.
Not too much that we can do about that. But
what we do know is that kind of added sugar
can really create that dys biosis, that gut dysfunction. But
here lies the biggest cracker of all of this, Sam.
(06:46):
It is our gut that creates our serotonin. Our serotonin
is made in our gut. So does it not make
sense when our gut is fed with real whole foods, fats, protein,
smart carbs, lots of fiber, that we are maximizing the
(07:07):
ability for our body to create our happy hormone, the
very thing that we want for all of us as adults,
but definitely for all of our kids.
Speaker 1 (07:17):
Let's just let our audience have that sink in a
little bit, because I think you've said at a lot
there already. There's a few people don't understand how much
they should be consuming. And it's really good that you've
articulated has added so not just sugar in a natural sense,
but added sugar. How much you should be consuming and
how much on average we are consuming then there's the tool,
(07:39):
or at least the education to start to be more
curious about how much you are consuming and how much
added sugar is in these things that were potentially eating regularly.
But then there's the most important thing, because I've had
that conversation to that point with lots of people, and
particularly if they're not overweight, because it's kind of oh, yeah, exercise,
(08:02):
you know, but it's actually doing all of these other things,
you know, gut dysfunction and inability to create our happy hormone.
I mean, what is the most important thing in life
to people to be happy? And you've just joined those
dods beautifully. I mean I knew what you were going
to say, and I still had an aha moment, genuinely,
(08:24):
I was, I knew where you were going, and I
still went, Oh that hits home so hard. It resonates,
and probably more as a dad than thinking of myself.
Speaker 2 (08:35):
Oh one hundred percent, Sam. I mean, I am a
parent two of three children, and a former teacher and
really passionate about my work in the school system. But
can I go back, Sam to something that you mentioned
about the slim person?
Speaker 1 (08:50):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (08:50):
Please, Yeah, this is a really important conversation. This is
something that I call the slender Ruster conversation. I almost
feel Sam more concerned with people that have a fast
metabolic profile, people that I called like race horses, right,
(09:11):
Their metabolism is going really really rocking and rolling strong.
So they eat whatever they want. They eat a lot
of grab and go food, a lot of hidden sugars,
but they stay slim. But the slender Ruster is quite
often someone we see in our clinical practice is Sam,
who's this slim person and we end up doing blood
pathology on them and they have insulin resistance, they're pre diabetic.
(09:36):
There are thousands and thousands of young females becoming insulin
dysfunction and developing polycystic ovary syndrome. Sam, And that is
not the pathology of a dysfunctional ovary. That is a
pathology that is linked to a dysfunction and insolent because
(09:58):
a lot of those people are slender rusters. In fact,
the name for polycystic overy syndrome is probably going to
be changed to metabolic reproductive syndrome. That is extraordinary, Sam, Like,
if you were going to talk to your wife about this,
and any woman listening to this podcast, they know tons
of women with polycystic ovary syndrome and fertility issues and
(10:22):
don't realize the ramifications that that sugar is having on
your liver, your hormones and insolent dysfunction.
Speaker 1 (10:31):
I mean, that's a wonderful you know, true, not even extreme,
but a wonderful example. To really drew that point home.
What did you call it? The slender ruster.
Speaker 2 (10:42):
Slender ruster the person that's slim but is rusting and
oxidizing on the inside. And it's quite alarming wile people
get their blood sugar done or their their you know,
all their blood pathology and things come back and you
can see that there's severe dysfunction going on. But for
(11:02):
years they've been able to get away with it, sam
because outwardly they don't look like people that are gaining weight.
But it doesn't matter. You know, weight is just a
measurement of gravity, sad it does not measure somebody's true
well being. You can be two street kilos overweight, four
kilos overweight and metabolically still fit. You could be a
(11:24):
super slim person and completely unfit metabolically, and that is inflammation.
That is that's liver dysfunction, that's hormone dysfrunction. That's all
the things that we can't see underneath.
Speaker 1 (11:39):
I couldn't agree more. And it was really interesting that
you brought up the demographic of young females. I mean,
I have an eighteen year old daughter. It's you know,
an age group that I say a lot and I
worry a lot about. You know, it's they love the
diet everything. You know, the diet, drinks, the diet, it's
all about, Yeah, I can eat that, I get the kick,
(11:59):
I get the taste. It's a diet whatever. You know.
They energy drinks, diet drinks, and just and very poor
foundational nutrition.
Speaker 2 (12:12):
Yes, I say to a lot of these young people,
you know, this university kind of group, is say, if
you can harness the power of nutrition, now, that is
your X factor. If they start to realize the way
they eat has an impact on their sleep, the way
(12:33):
they exercise, and the way they stress, hack, they will
realize that that is their superpower and it doesn't have
to be extreme.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
No, I love that. That's my regret. I wish I
had this X factor as a twenty year old, and
there was no reason I didn't accept that. I kind
of just got away with it because I was exercising
a lot and had a good metabolism and was you know,
would have been one of these slender rusters. Absolutely, and
I'm definitely I would definitely be a healthier version on
the inside a decade down the track than I would
(13:06):
have ten years ago. So I think that's a really
good point. I just what about the people out there?
And I've spoken to thousands of them, and no doubt
you've spoken to tens of thousands of them that say
I've tried it, I just can't. The cravings are too
bad a cave. What is your practical advice to beating cravings?
Because that's something I get asked about all the time.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
People everyone who's listening to this will know this, right.
People are so aware of what is happening with nutrition
and the evidence space behind it, and people are like, Wow,
I want my skin to look better, I want my
hormones to be better, I want my energy be better.
I see the science. The science is loud and clear.
This is amazing, interesting stuff. But boy, I can't go
(13:51):
from where I am to that place because that jump
is so big, it's so extreme. It's hard, that's punished.
I'm busy and I'm deserving and I don't deserve to
be punished. Well, I totally get that right. So the
key to make this happen and to move into a
lower sugar way of life and a healthier way of
(14:14):
life is by small, tiny hacks, things that are so
darn doable that you do them every day. You finish
the day and you go, hey, that didn't feel like punishment.
I think I can do that tomorrow. Then you do
it the next day. By the end of the week,
you're like, hey, man, I kind of feeling lighter in
(14:34):
the head, and all of a sudden, this thing's got
a rhythm to it, and you're like, wait a minute.
This hasn't been punishment. This feels okay. I can take
on one more task or one more step. It's these small,
tiny hacks that all of a sudden, eight weeks down
the track, you're kind of doing this thing and you're going, okay,
(14:56):
I can do this. I'm not perfect, this doesn't need
to be perfect. I feel darn good. So where to start.
First place I always say to people, and I know, Sam,
you and I are speaking the same language here. First
place I say is beware of your packaged foods. If
we can move to whole real foods mainly on packaged
(15:20):
and on processed, even if it's just one week of going, okay,
I'm just going to buy more real whole food, more chicken,
more fish, more nuts, more vegetables, more rice, not even
talk about portion size, not even talk about sugar, just
the first week making an adjustment to real whole food.
(15:44):
Real whole food has natural sugar, it doesn't have added sugar.
So when you start getting people to say, when I
say to people, that's what I want you to do
the first week, I don't want you to worry about
your portion control. I want you to have a big
handful of nuts.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
Hey.
Speaker 2 (16:01):
In fact, if you need to have two chicken breasts
at dinner, I want you to have two chicken breasts
at dinner. Because what happens then, Sam, as you and
I already know when people start to fill up with
protein and smart carbs and good fats, they lose their
satiation for sweets. And people come into our clinical practice
(16:24):
all the time, Sam and say the same thing. Never
eat so much damn food in my life, never, never, never.
I can't believe how much weight of loss and how
good I'm sleeping.
Speaker 1 (16:35):
It's so true. I mean that the one that I
have a conversation with whether people really struggle is after dinner.
So after dinner snacking, we're the window. You may have
had that really big, high protein, good dinner. But if
your dinner was at six thirty and you're not going
to bed till eleven, there's a lot of time seeing
(17:00):
and a lot of temptation within that time window to
you know, get into the sweet snacks, the biscuits, the lollas,
whatever it might be. What's the best advice specific to
that time if they have done what you've just said
regarding a good, healthy, high protein dinner.
Speaker 2 (17:17):
Yeah, and Sam, that is it's such a great question
because I was the perfect example of that. And so
what I had to do was shift a couple of things.
And this is what we get our clients to do,
and I talk about all the time. Is this behavioral change.
First of all, one ask yourself, Hey, did I have
(17:39):
enough fat or protein at lunch or dinner? Most people
eat a bird like lunch like full of salad with
no protein or smart carbs in it. As soon as
they shift that they got three o'clock. Oh, I don't
feel the need for those sweets. But it's the same
thing at dinner time, so shift that to make sure
you put you know, you nudge up the protein, nud
(18:00):
jump the fact, get your avocado out, get your olive oil,
top up your dinner, your veggies with some you know,
flax seeds, seeds and nuts. But then let's say you
have this habit where it's the evening and you want
something sweet. I say one change your behavior. So if
you if that's sweet craving comes while you're sitting and
(18:22):
watching a Netflix just for a little while, just to
break some habit, you know what, go jump in the shower,
go have a bag.
Speaker 1 (18:31):
Little circuit breaker as soon as it hits.
Speaker 2 (18:33):
Yeah, circuit breaker from the habit. And then my next
thing is I wish I had stock in this company.
I believe so greatly in this delicious tea called Bengal Spice.
It's by Celesteel Seasonings. And people always laugh at me.
They're like, Michelle, you are such a nut. And I said, yes,
(18:53):
I do know that. But if you want to break
a sugar habit, you buy this Celesteel Seasonings Bengal Spice,
and it's a cinnamon a tea. Put two or three
tea bags in your tea, let it soak for two minutes,
take it out. It is so naturally sweet with chickory root,
which is a prebody great for our gut function. But
(19:16):
you will get the same effect with a licorice tea.
But don't be shy. If you really are a sugar addict,
then you need to break the sugar craving. And I
get it because I was one of those people. Break
the habit. Physically remove yourself from where you normally are,
you know, having that sugar, create a different routine, but
(19:36):
also get a nice big cup of one of those
types of sweet teas. And hey, if you need to
have a half a teaspoon or a teaspoon of honey,
well go ahead and have it, because it's not going
to be the six seven, eight tea spoons that you
get in some of these powdered drinks, these powdered chy teas,
(19:58):
these powdered green teas that appear healthy looking but have
buckets of sugar in them.
Speaker 1 (20:04):
I love the attitude of let's not try and be
too restrictive, you know, like if you move to real food,
don't worry about your macros don't worry about your galleries,
don't worry about your portion sizes. Just eat the real food.
We are running out of times. I'm just going to
finish with one more question.
Speaker 2 (20:19):
I have a good topic Sam to kind of raise
a little bit.
Speaker 1 (20:23):
Would you mind not not at all?
Speaker 2 (20:25):
Well, something that comes up all the time is okay,
So Michelle, I'm moving to this lower sugar way of life.
I want to talk to you about sugar substitutes, artificial
sweetener and other things. What can I use? So first
of all, what I say to everybody is please do
not use artificial sweetness. I'm really not a fan. I'm
all about evidence based research. I'm actually quite a research nerd,
(20:49):
and we're looking at some of the scientific evidence and
the links to cancer and neurological dysfunction. So no, no
artificial sweetness. And I don't say no to anything really like,
but no to artificial sweeteners. Second thing is, if you
need to bridge the gap as you're walking into a
lower sugar way of life, think about using a bit
(21:10):
of stevia or monk fruit. It's also called lohan. Right now,
monk fruit is really emerging. It's a little bit of expensive,
but people like that a little bit more than Stevia
because Stevie can tend to leave a bit of aftertaste.
So go ahead and explore those types of things. And
then the last part of this sugar equation is, hey, Michelle,
(21:33):
what about sorbitol? What about all these sugar alcohols that
end with hyphen ol? I always say about that is okay,
if you're going to have one of those sugar alcohols,
you better have really good gut function because any of
those things that end with ol, those sugar alcohol they
(21:55):
really give you the windy pops and I mean, you know, burping,
party booing. I mean, there's a reason why there's an
asterisk that says excessive consumption me cause diarrhea. So you know,
and Sam, as you would know, one out of four
people have got dysfunction or some type of digestive dysfunction,
(22:15):
So just be aware of that. And Sam, I'm sorry.
I know I could talk forevery but you can see
I'm still so passionate about this topic. So if you
ever want me to come back on again, bring me
back on, because there's a million other things.
Speaker 1 (22:28):
We give, and I will take you up on that
because I do think this will scratch the surface for
a lot of people and open up a really important conversation.
What a lovely place to finish. Michelle, thank you so
so much for joining us on the wood Life today.
So wonderful to catch up with you again. And you
have educated me and my wonderful producer, Indy. She's been
sitting here taking notes and nodding, and I'm sure all
(22:51):
of our listeners have loved that chat. So thank you
so much, and take care and we'll talk again soon.
Speaker 2 (22:55):
Excellent Sam, thank you, Thanks Amy, thank you.
Speaker 1 (23:05):
Oh wow, that really was a lightning bolt moment. When
Michelle told us that we actually con chimed six times.
That added sugar that we're meant to If you love
that chat as much as I did, and you want
to follow up Michelle's work, she does public speaking all
over the world. She's got Brillian courses and information on
(23:28):
her website, which is a healthyview dot com, so make
surely you check that out. We've gone from talking about
Michelle's favorite topic to now going to be talking about
probably my favorite topic, which is strength training, and we've
had some great questions come through. That's coming up next.
First question is from Beck.
Speaker 2 (23:49):
Hey, Sam, I'm just wondering what ratio of my workouts
should be weight training, and also how intense should it be.
Speaker 1 (23:56):
Thanks so much, I think you should do three strength
training sessions a week as a sort of an ideal foundation.
If you love your weight training, you can do five
or six, probably have one rest day, but if you
also like cardio and Ballard's and whatever, try and have
(24:16):
your foundation be three three days, or if time doesn't
quite laly do that at least two. So if I
was to do two, I'd do an upper body and
a lower body, and if I was to do three,
I'd do a split where I do push pull lower body,
which means I do all my pushing movements so chest, shoulders, triceps,
(24:37):
bit of core work in there, all my pulling movements,
so any deadlifting, pull downs, bicep curls, anything that sort
of back biceps, glutes hemis and then legs your glutes
hemies again, but also lots of quads and a bit
of carbs. So if you're doing a three day split,
I love that push pull legs. And if you're doing
(24:58):
a two day split, bit more volume in each workout,
perhaps because you're only training it twice, you're only doing
waits twice a week or is this trained twice a
week and I do an upper body day and a
lower body day. Next question is from Mitch. Hey, mate,
I've been going to the gym for the last couple
of years, but I'm really not getting the gains I
was having for Is there a reason why? Great question,
(25:19):
mich It could be a few reasons. First of all,
when was the last time you changed your program? Second
of all, are you lifting heavy enough often, enough enough volume,
enough intensity. Third of all, and probably the biggest one,
are you getting enough recovery nutrition between the sessions. So
it's all about breaking the muscle down with the intensity
(25:41):
and the volume of the workout, and then it's about
building it back up again by giving it the rest
and the right nutrition. And a big part of that
nutrition is protein and it doesn't take that much adjustment
to get things moving in the right direction again. You
get great gains, great results in the first six weeks
to six months because you've kind gone from a you
(26:01):
were starting at a low base, so your body responds beautifully.
Then as you get a bit more conditioned and you're
in better shape to continue to move the bar, you've
got to work a bit harder. You've got to do
a bit more. You've got to shake things up, you've
got to change things. You've got to shock your body
with drop sets, with different workouts, with changing your program,
(26:21):
with being a bit more meticulous with your nutrition. If
you really want to shape that last twenty percent, that's
where the discipline and that's where the sort of shock
factor has to come into it. And the last question
on strength training is from Renee, just wondering if I
should be lifting weights when I'm pregnant and if so,
how far into my pregnancy. First of all, congratulations Renee,
(26:44):
and second of all, absolutely so. My advice when with
all training when pregnant is don't start something new, So
don't fall pregnant and then decide you want to do
marathon training, or don't fall pregnant and then decide you
want to do powerlifting. But if you are already doing
who are already running or are, then you can absolutely
keep doing that in a safe manner. So the things
(27:07):
you need to look at for is your body temperature
doesn't get too high, so train in a nice ventilated
cool area, stay really hydrated, don't get your heart rate
up too high with long sort of cardio bouts, but
from a strength training perspective, good form, nice and stable.
You lose a bit of stability through your hips as
your hip shape is starting to shift to prepare you
(27:29):
for having a baby, so hip stability becomes really important.
You don't need to be going for pbs during this
period personal bests, but it absolutely will help you during
the pregnancy, particularly if you keep your core and your
back really strong because you're going to be carrying extra
weight at the front, and it will absolutely help you
(27:49):
through the pregnancy and then to recover post pregnancy. So
I'm a huge advocate for doing some kind of resistance
training well pregnant. Just make sure you're doing the right
program at the right intent, Citty. And to answer your
question to how long you can keep doing it for,
there's always going to be different challenges through all different phases.
If you're pregnancy, you know, first tromester, second dremster, third tromester. Obviously,
(28:11):
as you start to get bigger, it gets a bit
trickier to do some movements and you're already carrying a
lot of extra weight. But I've trained many women to
thirty seven, thirty eight, even thirty nine weeks and the
amount of thanks that they have given me after having
the baby to say it really helped them mentally and
(28:32):
physically during and after the birth has been always the case.
So it's a bit of an individual situation and you
work with your doctor on it, but don't feel like
there's a specific cut off at thirty weeks or something
where it has to stop it. Really a lot of
people can do resistance training and keep their exercise routine going,
whatever it might be, you know, really deep into the pregnancy.
(29:00):
Here you go, I feel like I've just had a
little thought. I'm going to bring on a strength training
guru on an episode in a few weeks. In the
next couple of episodes, I've got there's a guy that
I've worked with. He was kind of the strength training
guru on the gym floor when I came in as
a little twenty year old from Tasmay and you're over
to Melbourne. He taught me a lot and he continues
(29:22):
to teach me a lot. Actually, the way he continually
educates himself and evolves is just he really leads by example.
He's one of the best strength training experts in Australia.
I'm going to get him on a future episode of
The Woodlife, so look out for that because it really
is a topic that I think we should talk about
more and people need to understand. And with that in mind,
if you do have other questions you'd like to pick
(29:44):
this guru's brain, please send them through of course, with
any other questions on any other topics that you'd like covered.
Have a fantastic end of your week and weekend, and
I'll see next week. Jeers
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!