Step It Up with Steph

Hi, welcome to Step It Up with Steph. I'm your host, Stephanie Mansour and this is your weekly dose of health, fitness and lifestyle entertainment. I've been coaching women for over a decade in health and weight loss and nothing excites me more than helping people reach their goals. My background is in communications, psychology and women's studies, and I'm certified in personal training, yoga, Pilates and life coaching. I've been honored to be featured on National Outlets for my comprehensive approach to tackling everyday wellness issues. Each week we'll be meeting a new guest who's ready to step it up. We'll provide everyday solutions for your wellness problems, talk to experts, give you food advice and also a workout to help you live healthier. So, join us. It all starts now on Step It Up with Steph.

Clifford Law Offices

A Personal Injury and Wrongful Death Law Firm. Potash Markets. Family owned since 1950. Arnicare. Plant-based pain relief. Hand-picked from nature. You can visit www.LifewayFoods.com to learn more about probiotic Lifeway Kefir. On today's episode, we'll be meeting with a guest who's a successful workaholic but is having a hard time balancing her personal life with her professional life. We've got some experts who are going to help her get healthier and help her put her personal life back on the map. Plus we've got some meals and foods that you can easily grab when you're on the go, and a five-minute workout that you can sneak in at your desk. But first, let's take it to the streets and see how random, everyday people stay healthy when they're extra busy with work. How do you fit healthy eating and exercise into your life? Look at me.

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Clifford Law Offices

You got the wrong guys.

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Clifford Law Offices

Personally, I don't. Okay. You make time. Make the time. You probably schedule it like you schedule everything else. Take a walk around the building and then go back to work. Take an hour to squeeze that in. Do you guys make the time? Not as much as I should. Well, thanks so much for having me, Ann. Oh, it's so great to see you. I you too. I really like having you here. Oh, good I'm glad. It's really exciting. Good. Well, for starters, I wanted to ask you, so I know you're a CEO of a major association. Yes. And time has kind of escaped you. It has. And you travel. Yes. A lot. Okay. How often would you say? About 70% of my work week can be travel. Okay. All right, so when you're not traveling, Ann, what does a typical night at home look like for you? Oh,

a typical night after a stressful day is three things

Pizza, pajamas, and wine. -Okay.

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a typical night after a stressful day is three things

-Those are my go-to's. And then in terms of your work kind of taking over the majority of your life, how has it affected you personally in a negative way? You know, at this stage of my life and in my career, I'd really like to be dating. So, I've done some online efforts. Okay. But, at the end of the day, that too, felt like work. So when you come home at night and you're in town, what are some things that you can do relax? Yeah, I have a ritual that I do every morning and every night. Okay. One of the things I really put into my routine is essential oils.

Steph

Oh? The best part is I can just do a remote control to turn it on, and I can add music to it as well. Ooh! And I can keep it where it'll stay going for up to three hours. So, I just love immediately walking in and changing that for the whole place. That's great. What else do you around your home to help you feel relaxed? Well, my home is really my sanctuary. And about five months ago, I decided that I wanted to put a fireplace in. Because fireplaces, to me, really indicate home and hearth. Oh, that's great. And just make me feel warm and cozy. Yeah. That was a really important thing to me. Yeah. And, of course, the other thing is my family. I've got three grand kids age 10, 8, and 3, and they're really just special. We have dinners here around my table every Sunday night. And they're so darn cute.

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Steph

One of the things they all love is gathering around the Sunday dinner table here at my house whenever I'm home. That really fills me up. Oh, that's awesome, Ann. Well, it sounds like you've tried a lot of things. I have tried everything! All right. Well, are you ready to get even more work/life balance? I am. I am. I am committed to getting this done. Okay, good. We're going to bring in some experts and get things back in balance. -Great. -All right. Fantastic.

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Steph

We've brought in our experts to help us get a better work/life balance. So, thanks for joining us, Dawn Jackson Blatner -Hi. --a registered dietician and nutritionist. And also, Todd Puckett who is a licensed therapist who specializes in working with executives. Thanks for joining us. So, for Ann, what would you recommend, Dawn, in terms of her eating? She's on the go, traveling. Yes, I say the most important thing is to calendar manage. Three meals a day, water, and sleep actually don't happen because they're on the calendar. We're just like, "What am I supposed to do next? What am I supposed to do next?" Three meals, water, sleep. Great. I mean, do you think that that would help? My life is kind of so all over the place at times that having three regular meals and a snack and sleep is a big challenge. Particularly if I'm traveling internationally. There really is no pattern to my life. What do I do when there is no pattern? That's why, I think, calendar management is so great. Looking at it day-by-day when you have such a crazy fluctuation is the magic of it. Do you have any cravings? Or anything that you turn to like when you're really stressed? Oh, for sure. I think like most women when you're running a really busy schedule and you get to that moment of ahh! So my go-to is something to crunch. So, my favorite is chips. If I can have a bag of chips, I am good to go. Yes. So, what can I substitute so it's not chips? So, it could be anything from like nuts like pistachios or almonds are great to travel with, right? So, you don't have to refrigerate them. One of the things that I like about snacking

is to pair two things

produce and protein. So, with nuts, to keep the portions in check, often times I say have some sort of produce item to fill you up. So, like an apple or some carrots or a banana or an orange. And then naturally, you won't want as many. But I'll tell you the other trick is, you know, pistachios-- Yeah, because you have to work at it. Yeah. They take forever to work. So those often times for those moments when you're feeling like real stress eatey, pistachios could be a good one. That's a great suggestion. And when you're on the go in the airports too, Ann, you were saying, it's hard for you to find those healthy options. What would you suggest to grab at an airport, Dawn? Well, it used to be that you were very much of victim of like oh, whatever is in the airport. But nowadays, there really are healthy options around. So if I do have what you might call a "fast food" restaurant, what are my best options there? I can answer that. However, I would like to challenge us. You really are a high-powered boss.

Ann

Mmm-hmm. You really have resources. You have the ability to potentially get assistance to help us like scope out areas for little treasures that you might not know about even in small towns. We might be able to say like to ourselves, like oh, my gosh, I already know this is going to be a challenging city. You know, my assistants looked around and there's nothing. I'm going to double pack my goodies for the trip. Oh, so you're saying do that in advance of going? Yeah. There's this thing I love, it's a saying called "Know Before You Go." Okay? "Know Before You Go" just means have the lay of the land ahead of time. Okay so speaking of traveling now, I want to talk to you, Todd. What questions do you have for Ann? I know you deal with a lot of busy executives who are always on the go. Do you have any questions for her? What can you do when you're out on the road, for example, to balance and relax in the evening? Are you doing anything now as far as exercise or are you doing anything for fun in the evening? Or do you even have time? I have a tough time saying, "No, I'm going to stay in and just relax." I say yes too much. You don't get a break at all. Especially during the day. So, one thing that has to be done is kind of blend this work/life balance. And sometimes you do have to say no to these friends. Is there anything going on where maybe Ann feels like she has to be so much for so many people so she's putting that pressure on herself? Sure. Sure. First of all, I want to say one thing that life doesn't have to be perfect to be amazing in this journey that we're on. Which is-- that's one thing. It sounds like you're trying to be perfect to a lot of different people, so tell me-- I have that saying right next to my bed.

Todd

Are you serious? Yeah. Right next to my bed. That exact saying. -Wow. That's amazing. -Yeah. Yeah. So, when you see that every day, what is that doing in your life? Is it changing anything? Is it helping you to be able to say, "I might have to say no to several people today?" And also getting a balance with your team. Have you really sat down and analyzed with yourself how much you could give up to some of these other individuals? What could you do to release some of what you do every day so you could gain a life back? Well, one of the things to break the mental thoughts for me is it's kind of like that little angel and Devil on the shoulder, you know, where the angel is saying, "Oh, it's wonderful. "You know what to do. "You can talk to people, you can relieve some of your stress. You know what to do." And the Devil is saying, "The minute you do that, you're going to lose your edge. The minute you do that, the world is going to fall apart." So, at times, I feel like I'm talking to the angel, talking to the Devil, the mental back and forth and back and forth can really be draining of my energy. Of course. Of course. So I'm really looking to both of you to build my energy through better nutrition. Yes. And help me through the mental thoughts that really drain the energy right out of me. To me, it seems like a combination I've been missing. Whatever that battle starts, which is probably going to be a few hours in your day, that, just the awareness of that is going to make a huge difference. With the executives I work with, I talk to them sometimes every day. It may be just briefly or may be just for five minutes or it may be just be a text. But you're going to have somebody that you're accountable to-- And can intercept this in real-time. Absolutely. And even just having to know that you're going to report that to somebody. Or that somebody else knows this about you makes a huge difference, and it starts to build momentum. One of the things that I'll also, hopefully, be working with you in the next few weeks is a set of 15 primary goals. You already have work settled in--

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Todd

--at least 10 of those 15 goals to be about you and about balancing--

Steph

Personally, yes.

Todd

--your world. And I know you like challenges. You've had a challenge -Obviously. with your career all of this time. And so I'm going to challenge you with your relationship and dating life. I'm going to challenge you with your work/life balance. I'm going to challenge you with a number of these things. Dawn, what would you say, what are your, you know, top three tips for Ann to eat healthier? All right so travel. Number one is, know before you go. So, you survey, where are you going? Small town? Big town? Where's my hotel? Where's the closest grocery store? Where am I going to eat lunch? Having the lay of the land before you go is going to be huge. Second is don't overcomplicate. Simplify. It's literally just three meals a day. If you eat those three meals a day you become less snacky, you have blood sugar to your brain to make healthy decisions. So, if you focus on those three meals, you become a player, right? You become somebody who can make good decisions because you're not just like run down, you know? And then finally, I would actually say have a good time, right? Don't make this about dieting. I'd like to have this pizza and I'd like to have this salad so both my health nut and my wild child are happy at the same time. -Right. -Do both all the time. Be happy. Okay. Something else I want you to integrate into your daily life, Ann, is just a little bit of exercise. So, I have something called the cubicle crunch which is exercises and stretches you can do at your desk. -Perfect. -Or when you're on an airplane. And I also, you know, what Todd was saying, and also Dawn, scheduling this into your daily life so having that calendar-- The calendar. --yes, as the visual reminder as well. So, you're going to see your name on your own calendar and that's going to reinforce that it's time to do something good for you. If we can get you to repeat these positive affirmations about yourself and how you want to operate, maybe when you're not having a problem right now, you can still read this and read about how great you are at saying no and putting yourself first and that's going to help you when the time does come and you do need to say no, it's going to be a little bit easier for you. So, the five minutes a day of the cubicle crunch -Yes. Got it. -and the positive mantras are what I want you to focus on as well. Fabulous. Easy to do. Yes. -Easy to do. -All right. Awesome. Well, we're going to check up with you in a few weeks. Great. Can't wait. Okay.

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Todd

That's right. All right, well thank you to our experts as well. Yeah, thank you both very much.

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Todd

Any tips on how to eat healthier throughout the day when you're on the go and like just crazed? No, I haven't managed that one yet.

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Todd

I do not eat healthy during lunch. I like to pack my lunch. Not eat meat like I'm doing. Become a vegan for a month. More veggies. Some whole wheat pasta. I say you can eat what you want if you burn it. Workout so we can eat more. Drink more water. Quinoa as well. Yes. Love the Quinoa. Plan to go somewhere where you know it has healthy food. Yeah, just being conscious of what I'm actually eating. If you're a workaholic like today's guest, being prepared with healthy food options is key to being well nourished. So that's why I've brought in health coach and holistic nutritionist, Erin Clifford, to show us how. Hey, Erin! Hey, Steph! All right. So, when people are working so much, sometimes they forget to eat and then they end up overeating at night and it's just not a good situation.

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Todd

Exactly. So, the trick is that you want to be prepared. And one way that you can actually do that is by setting eating alarms. Ooh! So sometimes we get to work and then we get so caught up and all of a sudden, it's three in the afternoon. Yeah. So instead, set an alarm around 12pm, 1pm, to make sure that you're getting that lunch in and also a late afternoon snack. I love that. Okay. So, let's start with the meals. You've got a couple of easy meal ideas that people can prep in advance. Exactly. So, I love these. They're my little egg muffin cups. -They're crustless quiche. -Ooh! And you can fill them with left over vegetables, any of your favorite meats, and they freeze really well. So, this is something that you can grab on the go, throw in the microwave and you're all set. I love that. Okay. And then for people on the go with lunches or dinners, you've got this beautiful box. Exactly. So, this is a fun little bento box. A lot of people use these with their kids, but I think they're fun for adults.

Steph

Yeah!

Erin

So, what I love to do is fill it with a protein option so you got some chicken salad there, we threw in some fruit. A little salad with a little salad dressing, as well as some whole grain crackers. A perfect meal on the go. Yeah. This is great. And, you know, you see this sometimes in restaurants or carry out places. But I like the idea of making this on your own and then just taking it with you. -Exactly. -Great. Okay. So then what are some healthy snack options for people that are working a lot? So, you always want to pair a protein with a fiber. So that protein's going to give you energy while the fiber is going to fill you up and keep you satiated so you don't end up overeating. Right. Go to the vending machine. Yeah. So, we have a few options here. We have some vegetables and hummus. We also have an apple and some string cheese. In a bind you could always just grab some almonds, any kind of nuts. I love to keep them in my purse or in my desk. Yeah. That's a great idea. Okay, good. So, the key is to be prepared, you know, plan in advance with your meals and snacks, and then also, I love the idea of setting the alarms. -Me too. -Yes. Okay, great. Thanks, Erin. Uh-huh. If you're a workaholic and have a hard time pulling yourself away from your desk to get in a workout during the day, I've got the perfect solution for you. The cubicle crunch is a series of exercises and stretches that you can do at work, at your desk, and feel more rejuvenated and more relaxed. So, to start, we're going to do some shoulder rolls. Bring in the shoulders up towards the ears, back and down. Good. Breathing in through the nose.

inhaling

Erin

And out through the mouth.

exhaling

Erin

Great. And now we're going to switch directions. So, bring in shoulders up, forward, and back.

breathing sounds

Erin

This really loosens up the neck and helps to relieve any tension you might be feeling throughout the day. Next, bring your shoulders to a neutral position and drop your right ear towards your right shoulder, feeling a stretch along the left side of your neck. Breathe here for about 10 seconds.

breathing sounds

Erin

And then go ahead and bring your head back up to center and switch to the other side, feeling a stretch in the opposite side.

breathing sounds

Erin

And come back to center. Next, reach the arms out to the side and up as high as you can, clasp the hands at the top, press up, take a deep breath in.

inhaling

Erin

And exhale. Reach over towards the right. Good. Deep breath in.

inhaling

Erin

And exhale.

exhaling

Erin

And then come back to center, inhale.

inhaling

Erin

And exhale to the other side.

exhaling

Erin

And come back to center. Hold it here, we're going to pull the abs in and round the spine, reaching the arms forward, spreading between the shoulder blades, take a deep breath in.

inhaling

Erin

And exhale.

exhaling

Erin

And inhale, reach the arms up, overarch here, so really stretching the front of the body. Inhale.

inhaling

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Erin

Come back to center and release the arms all the way down. Now, we're going to twist over towards the right. Good. Inhale.

inhaling

Erin

And exhale.

exhaling

Erin

Come back through center, twist to other side.

inhaling

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Erin

And come back to center and twist to the right and then left. Good. Right and left. This is great to do right after lunch too because this helps improve digestion. Three more.

inhaling

exhaling

Erin

Last one, to the right, and left. Good. Back to center. Crossing the right ankle over the left knee, flex the foot, inhale, and exhale, fold forward as far as feels comfortable for you. So, this is really getting into the glutes here and the outer hip. And this can get really tight if you're sitting at work for a long period of time. So only go as far forward as you feel comfortable. Holding this here.

inhaling

exhaling

Erin

And pressing back up to center and switching. Crossing the left ankle over the right knee, flex that foot, inhale tall.

inhaling

Erin

And exhale. Fold forward.

exhaling

Erin

And pressing back up to center and begin marching the feet, just to get a little bit of that blood circulating. And you can keep doing this for the rest of your day at work. Well, Ann's taken a break from work to give us an update on how things are going with her work/life balance. It's good to see you, Ann. Great to see you too. Thanks. Well, it's been almost two months since we started implementing all these changes. So how are things going? Things are going great. Awesome. With all the little tips I've learned, improving every day. Awesome. Okay. Let's start with your travel schedule and food and exercise. How's that going? Well, my work has been been frantic as usual. But I've really learned to take a look at the hotel menu in advance. I can easily look at that online and compare my schedule and be able to decide in advance what I'm going to order or what I'm not going to order when I'm stressed out.

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Erin

That's awesome. So, you're prepared. I'm prepared. Yes, all right. Planning in advance. Did you feel like you were able to integrate your workouts into your chaotic life a little more easily? I did but it required planning. Where I would normally say oh, I only have half an hour so I'm not going to do anything, I turn my thinking around to say, "I have half an hour to get outside and that helped a lot." Yes. Okay. What about the affirmations? I had told you to say these positive affirmations over and over. -Yeah. -Did they help? -They helped. -Okay. What I found is I have a typical nature of over complicating things and the affirmations break the cycle. Great. So when I would get in a negative thinking loop, I could do an intervention almost and say the affirmations and it broke the negative thinking. Awesome. Way to go, Ann! I'm learning!

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Erin

You're doing great. All right, we're going to bring Todd in and see what he has to say about all this. Great. Well, hi, ladies, how are you? Hi, Todd. It's good to see you. It's good to see you too. Tell us what's been going on with Ann. And this lady has been absolutely amazing in her work. Aww. Thanks. What specifically were you working on with Ann? Well, one of the main things that we worked on was the work/life balance. Which has been, I think, incredibly successful-- It has. --in your day-to-day life and your balance between travel and life at home. Another one of the great things was you stepping out, becoming more comfortable, stepping out and going on that first date. Yes, yes. That was incredible and your view of yourself once again. You became much more confident and you just relaxed with that It seems. Is that? Yeah because as we discussed, dating felt like work. Right. So I had to change my mindset of just being able to relax there and not having to feel like I was in charge of the date. In reality, you both helped me because Steph helped me look at it as it's just breakfast. That's a great-- It's just breakfast. That's great. And you helped me kind of get my head in the right space of just enjoy it. That's right. And know that I'm still in control of my life and what I'm doing on the date but it's just breakfast.

Steph

Right. What about that list of goals that you had initially set with her? Is she working through those? Well, she set those goals very clearly and the thing that was so incredible about that was she made them very specific and very attainable. It wasn't like a life goal that is for ten years out or five years out. It was something that could be accomplished most likely within the next 30 days. Or even a week. Or even every day. Accomplishing a goal every day felt great. Right. I think that's what's key. You know, with successful people they've gotten there because they can see the future, they can plan ahead. But you were really getting her to just kind of look at the tip of her nose. Yes, and she already does the look at way ahead for her corporation and probably even your life I would say. Mmm-hmm. Mmm-hmm. But these things were all being accomplished on a regular basis. Todd, I know aside from setting goals with clients, you also have some like games that you can play with them? Absolutely. It's playing almost these childhood games and making those into a form of therapy or wellness. We did that with the game of Twister. Ooh! Can I do that!?

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Steph

Well, of course! Okay! Let's go! I love Twister!

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Steph

So if you're like today's guest, Ann, and successful and setting professional goals, take a different approach when it comes to your personal goals. Create small, achievable things that you can do each day, such as exercising or eating healthier or giving yourself some time for your personal life. Thanks for watching and remember to always step it up.

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Clifford Law Offices

A Personal Injury and Wrongful Death Law Firm. Potash Markets. Family owned since 1950. Arnicare. Plant-based pain relief. Hand-picked from nature. You can visit www.LifewayFoods.com to learn more about probiotic Lifeway Kefir.

Steph

For more information and for healthy tips to help you step it up in your life, visit www.stepitupwithSteph.com. You can also download our health guide and join the "Step It Up With Steph 21-day Challenge."

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