The Uneducated PT Podcast - #31 Martyna Gut - Female Fitness Coach

Episode Date: May 23, 2024

In this episdoe of the Uneducated PT Podcast we speak to female fitness coach Martyna Gut about moving to Ireland when she was young and moving into a career path that helps women achieve their fitness goals through realistic habits and without restriction. Martyna Instagram

Maritina, welcome to the podcast. Thank you. Thanks for having me on. First question, you moved to Ireland that eight years of age, correct? Correct. My research is very good. What was that like moving over to Ireland? So when you're that age, you are kind of in the area of trying to make new friends and kind of explore your interests and try new hobbies.

And I was at a place where I moved countries. So people that moved schools, even at that age, would resonate. that it's quite hard and quite a transition. But I also didn't know the language. So my priorities weren't on making friends, kind of exploring what I enjoy and my interest, but more so, okay, first I need to learn how to ask simple questions such as, Ms, can I go to the bathroom?

Or can I use a sharpener? Stuff like that. So it definitely delayed kind of exploring what I enjoy and who I am at that point when I moved. such a young age to a country which wasn't my native speaking language. Where in Ireland did you move to? Roskaman. Roskamen. I wouldn't imagine there was lots of Polish moving over there at that time, was there? No, there wasn't. So lucky enough for me, my father moved a year before we did and he became

friends with a guy who had a daughter my age who was also Polish. So when I arrived there, I had at least one person. So it made it a little bit easier. But if I'm being honest, it was was quite an isolating experience because I'm also an only child. So it's not like I had siblings that I could be around. And a lot of my time was spent studying because I needed to catch up. I needed to work harder than everyone else my age due to the language barrier. And also my parents had me in Polish school on the weekends because their intentions were like come to Ireland, save a little bit of money and then move back. So then thinking long term, they were like, we don't want our daughter to be behind. So we're going to get her to keep up with the syllabus. So yeah, essentially most of my time

was spent just trying to keep up with the study that I had to do, like just in my primary school here in Roskaman, and then also on top of that, all my Polish syllabus just to keep up. So it was difficult it was isolating and I felt like that shift in order to figure out like who I was and fit in was like pushed out a little bit because my focus was like just try and learn the language to at least be able to communicate somehow but you never moved back to Poland then in the end no no no that did so I'm in Ireland 17 years now yeah what was their reason for staying they just settled in and were like okay this is home now pretty much yeah I feel my parents always had the intention to move over

they actually bought a house over there and we're like, okay, let's try and get ready to move over there. But as they started building their life in Ireland, it was like they didn't even see themselves moving over. And myself, I was like, I have no intentions whatsoever to go there because, of course, I build a new life. Like all my friends were here, all the study I was doing was here. So even if they were to decide to move, I probably was at a place where I'm like, no, I wanted to stay. And obviously, we'll talk about your study and what you've transitioned. in terms of what you do for work now in the fitness industry, but you originally were an accountant, is that correct?

Yeah. Okay, why accountancy? I was 17 when I sat the leave and start. And at 17, I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life. So I went and looked at what subject I was good at, and also what was a highly paying job. And business and accounting was something that I was good at, and also it just turned out to be that, like,

becoming an accountant is one of the highest paying jobs in Ireland. So I was like, okay, that works great. Let's go into that area in terms of pursuing like further studies and going to college. Looking back, I definitely think my interests lied in art and creativity. I actually picked up art as an additional subject to my leaving service just to make things hard for myself. But I did enjoy it, but there was that, I suppose, scarcity mindset of where like I came from, low income back. This is why my parents immigrated to Ireland. So I was like, no, there isn't much jobs in it. Like, what am I going to actually do?

So it made more sense, this is what I'm good at. This is going to pay off long term. And that's basically the reason why I went into it. Yeah, so more of a security reason from obviously coming over here as well. And you don't, you're not in that industry at all now? No, so I'm full-time online coach. Okay. When was the kind of transition when you decided that I was going to,

to go from, you know, accountancy to, you know, work in the fitness industry. So I kind of fell into the fitness industry. Obviously, my background is in business and accounting, and I never even seen myself as being a personal trainer, as an online coach. I mean, even a couple of years ago, I didn't even know a job like this existed. Like, what was an online coach? Okay? Like, you only seen it as like, oh, a fitness trainer coming to train people.

Yeah. But it definitely stemmed from my own journey of fitness. and where I went, the mistakes I made, the transformation I achieved through investing in myself, both like mental and physical, that I grew a passion for helping other people because I seen it as a way, I was at a place of being very insecure,

low self-esteem, low confidence, and what fitness did to me. And I was like, there's so many women that were in my position and that have so much potential, but they just need the right steps. And also how long it took me because I went sideways instead of letting it. It's such a straightforward route, which you can make it so much smoother and easier for yourself. But I made so many mistakes.

And looking at women, I was like, I just don't want them to be either forever in the position where they're just unhappy with their lifestyle, where their body, or having to go through all the like mistakes and hardship I did to get to a place where you're finally like confident. So that passion stemmed from like what I went through in terms of like starting my own fitness journey and then wanting to help other people. So do you think that because you made a lot of mistakes on the way that almost ignited your passion to help other people and to coach them even more? Yeah, 100% because I made those mistakes but then I figured out a hat that is a lot smoother to get there. And I was like, there is another way. Like, you don't have

to go through all these hardships to get there. So I was like, if I can actually jump in and show people the like ropes and steps to get there, then they're going to live more fulfilling lives. It's going to be a smoother route for them. So what would be some of the common mistakes that you made along? Let's take even your, because I know you're, you're a very experienced in the you're always putting up content of your training. What are some of the mistakes that you made starting off even in the gym? Interesting question, a lot. So I started the gym purely from, well, like to increase my confidence, but I tied being fit and healthy, small and skinny.

Okay, so like I started the gym to lose weight. So one of the mistakes that I made was choosing cardio over weight training, for example, because I associated cardio with. with weight loss. So when I went into the gym, I would have stuck to the cardio machines, like your treadmill, your bike, and hopping from one to the other. And also I had a view, like lifting weights is only for men. And, you know, the weightlifting section is dominated by men, women shouldn't lift, it's going to make them big and bulky. And obviously, that was something that I wasn't striving for. I'm just like small and skinny. So choosing cardio overweight training was definitely one mistake and also view an exercise as a mechanism of burning

off calories. It was like, okay, if I ate a little bit more, that's fine. I can just hop onto the treadmill and burn that all off. And that's led to a negative relationship with exercise, like big time because I always viewed it as a chore. I was like, this is something I have to do. And I never really enjoyed it. Another mistake starting off was not having a plan. Just going in and doing random stuff from one machine to another or following like my favorite fitness influencers programs and I had the mentality of like if I just follow what they're doing I'm going to look like them and I'll forever be changing my routines because I had zero patience I'd be going in and doing someone's routine one week and then another person's routine that they put up on like YouTube

another week and there's no plan and I think that also led to frustration because I didn't stick to something long enough to actually see a substantial result. What else? There's definitely, there's definitely more the all or nothing mentality when it came to training as well, where I was like, okay, if I can't get into the gym for like an hour, an hour and a half, no point doing it at all. Or I skip one day of training. Well, there's no points training for the rest of the week now because like there's no, there's no point. Did you have spells of like struggling with your consistency because of that? Yeah. 100% like at the start like I couldn't stay consistent with it at all so although like I got into

training and I knew I wanted to change my body I still struggled because like some of the reasons I mentioned the mistakes that I made because I was doing cardio machines and like there's no progression there like it's just the same thing over just punishing yourself on the treadmill of course yeah and I was like am I supposed to be doing that for the rest of my life no fucking way so yeah consistency not having a plan again was a struggle with consistency too because I didn't have ambitious or goals I suppose and like a clear path on how I'm going to get there so again switching things up I was like oh kind of getting demotivated that I'm not getting anywhere I'm not seeing results like is this even working so then I would

give up for two weeks and then I would feel shit in myself so I'm like let's muster the energy to start again so so so when did the when did the switch start to change in terms of changing your reasons for training and also like transitioning from understanding that you know you can lift weights and actually weights are going to have a positive benefit on what you actually want to achieve

yeah so when I started off there was the struggle of finding a consistent routine finding motivation actually like sticking to it but then as I got into it more I actually became really obsessive about it And it got to the place where I was exercising every day. And I was sometimes exercising twice a day, eating little to nothing,

and being so hyper-focused on my body, where it almost became my identity. I tied my value to the way I looked. And that obsession kind of continued for so long until I was at a place where I'm like, when enough is enough. you know it was sort of like i missed out on social occasions exercise was no longer viewed as a way to like make me fit and healthy but more so a punishment and a chore food wasn't there to like provide me with nutrients to actually like thrive and have energy but more so it's something that is making me

fat and evil and to avoid and i guess the transition was when i was like my had awful mood swings low energy, lost my period. And I was like, I didn't sign up for this when I wanted to just become more confidence and increase my self-esteem. I went on to do, before I even became a personal training, I went to do a nutrition course just to improve my knowledge because it was something I was super interested in.

I was like, I want to know more. I'm just going to do a nutrition course. And that kind of opened my eyes up to what, like, fitness and health actually is and what food can actually do for you. And then there was that like mental switch of like, I don't only want to be small and skinny. I actually want to be healthy, have more energy. Initially, it was I want to have more muscle

and be more toned and grow my glutes. So it was still external goals that I was chasing, no longer like striving myself or view an exercise as a chore because I was like, okay, like lifting the weights is what's going to change my body composition. and I need that food to grow, but it was still external. And after a while, it was only working to a certain point where I was like, okay, this no longer motivates me.

And I still wasn't the definition of health. I was still just like surviving rather than thriving. And that's when I started to focus more on like longevity and doing things to improve my health. I want to be more focused, more sharp. Like I also started a business. So I was like, okay, productivity was a big thing for me. And I was noticing how exercise is adding to that to improve in my mood, to show

and up better, to having better sleep. So I started to look at my health and fitness in a holistic way as opposed to just like chasing numbers, chasing a size, chasing a body composition, but more so, okay, like can I optimize my sleep, lower my stress? Like, how can I eat that I feel good all the time? So that's kind of where the switch was and where I suppose I am now where I really just view it as a whole instead of like very black and white. Yeah, you're you have the awareness now to see that whereas probably before when you're in the like really in the depths of it you were probably you didn't probably notice how bad it was getting in terms of like excessive exercise, you know, excessive, you know, focusing on eating as little as you can, poor body image. So like it took you a while to actually get out of that place

in terms of a slow progression over time. Yeah, no, totally. Like only now that I reflect back and I have that self-awareness, I was like, that was so disordered. Yeah, yeah. And that was so obsessive. But like, as you said, when I was like,

in the midst of this, I didn't know that anything that I was doing was not actually improving my health. Just when I stepped out of it, I'm like, what was I doing, you know? So let's say someone's in a similar position now where like, you know, they're struggling with their body image,

they're struggling with their relationship with food, and they know something's off, but they don't understand what it is. Like they understand that they're chasing this goal, but instead of feeling happy and feeling confident, they feel like you felt, what are some steps they could take to start to improve their body image?

Yeah, so, you know, it's kind of hard nowadays because we live in a society where we're, with external appearance. And obviously there is a lot of pressure put on us through social media and through society because we are painted with this idealistic body image. Obviously now with technology improving and us being obsessed with social media and everyone spending hours on their phones, we're constantly being fed these unrealistic standards.

And it's all well and good saying, like don't compare yourself to somebody. but if that's all you're consuming. Literally on your phone every second of the day, yeah. For sure. And even subconsciously, you can get to your head. Like, I am not good enough. I am not worthy enough because I don't look like that person. And unfortunately, being a certain size shape is celebrated,

which is the sad reality of it. But there are steps to take in order to improve that. And I've been there, like, you know, I've been kind of obsessed with my body image. and as I said, tied my self-worth to my appearance. First thing I would say is kind of refining what beauty actually means to you. And a good exercise like I do with my clients as well is looking at, say, your parent, your mother, or best friend.

And like, do you view them as what size clothes they were? Or do you look at them as like, oh, like, I like having you ask my friend because you weigh X on this case. Like you never think that. Like you never look at your best friend or your mom or like a parent or a partner and judge them by their appearance. Like you look at like they're smart or how they treat you, how kind they are. And it's something to start doing with yourself as well because what we think and what we say about ourselves like play such a big part on how we're going to feel then internally.

Like if we're constantly putting ourselves down. And I feel like in Ireland it's just part of the culture. culture to just like have a laugh at your staff. And I'm like yeah, okay, good. Like it's a bit of humor, but it goes so far. Like if you're constantly just critiquing yourself, then you are going to become what you think. Yeah, you can't, if you can't take a compliment ever. Yeah, exactly. And I actually found that really difficult for years. Actually, you know, somebody would compliment something and straight away, you'd be like, no, no, no, would you stop? You just kind of reject it and throw it back in their face almost. And I was, you know, somebody.

doing an exercise with my client as well and I was like every morning write down three things that you like about yourself that have nothing to do with your appearance and she found it so hard like extremely hard she's like I'm cringing at myself Martina and I was like yes because we're not used to that like we're not used to be celebrating ourselves I mean you go out of your way all the time to give compliments to other people and it's like why is it so different about you so first thing I would say it's like refine what beauty means to you because it's so much more than just the way you look or your external appearance. Then be aware of the content you consume.

Obviously, we're saying we're on our phones all the time, but you can take steps to expose yourself to like positive content. And there are accounts that obviously don't promote a positive body image. And on one hand, it is your responsibility as well to filter out that content. And I would really just even be skeptical about what you consume. because what we see on social media is a highlight reel, 1% of somebody's life. And it's so easy to think when we see a person,

is that how they look all the time? But it's under the perfect angles. Lightning, very highly edited often. And we are looking at this, maybe sitting down where we're kind of like, oh, my body doesn't look too great. Biscuits on my belly. Yeah, exactly.

So being skeptical and filtering out of the context, content that you consume. And lastly, as well, having respect for your body and daily and continuously. What does that mean having respect for your body in your opinion? So fueling your body with good food, food that actually like make you feel good on daily basis. Okay. So obviously there's another thing, the relationship we have with food, you know, a lot of people kind of labeling food as good or bad. There's no such thing because like all food has a place. Like there's more new. nutrient dense foods and there's foods that's going to like fuel your soul and it's just important to kind of body check and be like what is going to make me feel good today and fueling it with

good nutritious foods most of the time movement self-care and self-care doesn't necessarily mean like taking bubble baths or you know watching Netflix in bed all day sometimes it's uncomfortable but actually having practices that you take out a couple of minutes of the day to yourself to like check in with yourself so that you're not just like on autopilot so having in place these like strategies on daily basis that allow you to um feel more like alive energetic healthy such as I'm going to prioritize my sleep so like self-care might be I'm not going to go on my phone the hour before bed that's self-care as well because you're thinking of your future self how do you want to feel tomorrow not right in the most

moment and so important to kind of establish those practices that are realistic for you and that are going to make you feel better the next day, a week down the line. Self care almost nearly translate a lot to self-discipline in terms of that in terms of already putting the phone down, you know, an hour before bed, having breakfast even though you're not hungry because you know you're going to be out all day, you know, going for the walk or going for the gym session, even though, you know, you don't feel like doing it because you know you're going to feel better after. Yeah, for sure. You also spoke about, I remember you putting up a post about the difference between, you know, body acceptance and body positivity. Can you tell me a little bit about that?

Yes, so body positivity is bullshit, in my opinion. Because I feel like it just creates even more pressure. So body positivity, the message behind it, like while it has some merits, I feel like it also has some downsides to it. It promotes the message that we should love our bodies all the time, which I feel like it's so unrealistic. You know, what are you going to stand in the mirror and tell yourself you love yourself even though you don't? Yeah, you've been struggling with self-confidence and self-esteem for years and then it's just a little switch that, oh no, I look great. Yeah, it's not going to happen. And I feel like it's very unrealistic and it puts even more pressure on somebody to try and love every part of their body every single day. where I really like the concept of body acceptance

because body acceptance is being happy and content with your body despite being like 100% satisfied with how it looks. And there's definitely some practices to achieve body acceptance that are more realistic than just going like fully body positive. What kind of practices do you think people could act on to help them to just, even if they don't like they look at the moment, they can accept that their body has, you know, functionality. For sure. So first of all, you mentioned functionality. I think looking at your body

as way more than it's just appearance and what it can do for you. So, you know, you getting out of bed, like having the gratitude of what your body is actually capable, like outside of just looks. So, you know, you being able to get out of bed each morning, going for a walk, how strong you are, like if you are like in the gym and lifting or your fitness levels to be able to go for a run or play a specific sport. even like small things like going groceries or driving like what can your body actually do for you it keeps you alive all the time and appreciating it for that rather than just like size shape or number is so important in terms of having

that acceptance and appreciation so that's one thing second thing I would say is to stop comparing yourself to other people but also to the past version of yourself yeah that's something people do a lot isn't it like I wish I looked like I did when I was 19, that's when I was happiest. Yeah, for sure. And I done it for so long. And sometimes I even catch myself doing it now that, you know, you get memories. And it kind of, there's a split second where I'm like, oh, I miss my smaller body. But then I'm thinking of how I felt in that smaller body and what I had to do to be like 20 kagey lighter than I am now.

And I'm like, okay, no, that wasn't held. And would you, and would you replace everything that you have now to be that 19 year old girl again? like, you know, all the businesses, all the knowledge, all the courses you've done. Like, because you have to, if you're going to look back to when you're 19, you have to trade everything, not just how you look. Exactly. And I think that's something that we often forget as well when we're comparing ourselves to other people too.

It's like, we pick one part that we might be like envy or jealous of. And suddenly we feel crap in ourselves because we don't have that. But we have to take like a bigger picture and be like, if you have to exchange your whole life to get there. So, like, would you give up your friends, your family, the work that you have, you know, your day-to-day life to be that person? And a lot of people wouldn't exchange that. So in terms of the comparison side of things, I think that's a good.

Like you mentioned, you know, would you, like, go back and reverse out, like, all the courses and, like, businesses and stuff and your mindset, I suppose, to be in that place. No, you probably wouldn't. You also touched on even to get into the gym and to be stronger and that can help. in terms of body acceptance and just to improve your overall self-esteem and how you feel about yourself. Do you think performance-based goals and that have had a big part to play in terms of you and improving your overall body image?

Yes, I do definitely think so because, again, you're shifting the focus away from just looks and then appreciating your body for what it can do. So, like, going back to my point one and having strength-based goals really helped. And I think lifting weights is so empowering. And that might be a bold statement, but I think every woman should do weight training because it has an array of benefits just outside of how it changes your body. As we age, it helps to preserve muscle.

And if people want to think, like, shoot themselves forward into the future, being 70-year-old, being able to get out of bed by themselves, being able to bring in the groceries, like lifting weights will help with that. And that's actually a point as well in terms of. of overcoming the fitness myth of lifting weights is going to make you bulky. I absolutely want. You should do it because not only it will help you build and preserve muscle, but it's also going to help you regulate your hormones,

your appetite, increase your mood, decrease any cardiovascular diseases. So it has so much benefits. And I think every person should do it. And having then goals around performance, whether that be able to do, do an unsupported push up by yourself, be able to do a pull-up or squat, body, or double-weight. Like, it's so empowering. Like, I don't think women even relies until you're there. Like, I never realized that when I was doing all the cardio, and then I got into lifting weights.

I'm like, oh, my God, I want it. And that's what builds consistency as well, because you have something to aim for. You have that, like, progression of, I'm going to go into the gym and I'm going to see how strong I can be. Yeah, that's a good point in terms of the consistency. Like when you're doing something to focus on what your body can do versus what your body looks like, there's, there's sustainability across that across like years and years. Like you can do the, you can, you can be doing the exact same thing. Like you can be running on the treadmill like you said, but you can be running on the treadmill because you want to improve your 5K time or because you hate how you look and you're just

trying to burn off calories. Like it's the same. It's the same. It's the same. It's the same. action but your perception and mindset around that, you know, equate the completely different outcomes. Yeah, no, I definitely agree. It is your mindset towards why you're doing it. And I think it goes back as well to what is your why. Yeah. What is the reason for you doing it? And look, I don't think there's anything wrong in particular for getting into the gym from vanity reasons or aesthetics because that's what got me started. If I didn't have that goal of wanting to lose I probably wouldn't have gotten into the gym in the way I did, but it only gets you so far.

You need to have some intrinsic motivation as well, something that goes beyond just like body composition and aesthetics to get you going long term. Yeah, I completely agree. It's like you can have something that gets you started, but it's what keeps you going because that's what gives you the real results in the long run. It's what keeps me here doing this year after year. Yeah.

Yeah. I want to talk to you a little bit about client issues and the people that you work, So what are some of the main issues or struggles that you see come up with the women that you work with? A lot of it has to do with diet, definitely. One of the issues in terms of diet is women not eating breakfast. Like there's so many and I was like so shocked how many women just skip it or have a coffee. I'm like coffee is not breakfast. It's not and I know like the fitness industry kind of ruined it for people in terms of breakfast

because it was demonized as the bad thing. thing and like I think intermittent fasting is coming back in like big time again and is viewed as such an evil thing but this is where a lot of women are getting it wrong they think they're saving calories for later because that's when they're most hungry but then they are the most hungry in the evening because they're serving themselves throughout the day we need the most energy and fuel early on in the day to function properly and to be able to complete everyday tasks so it's something that first of all from a mindset shift that they need to realize no like it's okay to eat as you wake up it's going to have benefits for you in terms of balancing out your hormones which is going then

lead to actually being able to control yourself around food and not feeling like you need to overeat because skipping out on that then leads to like binging then at night too so breakfast skipping breakfast is one big thing that women struggle with. Not having enough protein is a big one. From, not really sure, but like, you know, from research, most women eat 50 grams of protein or less, which is like far too little to, for what they need for a person. I think main, some of it is because they have the perception of like, I only should be eating protein if I'm lifting and if I want to get big and bulky and jacked.

And again, fitness industry and marketing, you know, like protein powders being marketed as that. But protein is so essential for so many functions, for building and repairing muscle, for recovery, for like all our cells in our body, healthy, hair, nail, skins. So not having that is something that women do really struggle with, kind of coming up with maybe meal ideas as well in terms of how can I incorporate that. another one would be gym intimidation and anxiety. A lot of women do struggle to, even like some women might want to lift weights. Like they understand the benefits that it's going to bring them. And even if they want to change their body composition, like that's so fine.

They know they should be doing it. But they're just anxious to get into the gym because let's be honest, it is like a male-dominated area. I feel like it got like way better over the last couple of years. but say 10 years ago it definitely was very rare to see what advice do you have for clients then who do struggle with kind of gym anxiety

and showing up to the gym? How do you get them in there and doing the things that you want them to do to get the results that they want? So from a mindset perspective, first of all, we reframe their mindset around it that they have the ultimate permission to take up space just like anybody else in the gym

because I feel a lot of women come to me, say they have like a bench press and they're like, I'm not going to do a bench press with like 10 KG if there's like men waiting for it to do a hundred. It's like you can take up as much space in there as you wish. Like you know, there is, you're paying the same membership as anyone else in that gym. So that's the mindset also that nobody actually cares what you're doing or you look like in the nicest way possible. Like stop putting so much spotlight on yourself because it's in your head that people are judging you. They are way to concerned about their own journeys,

probably their own insecurities as well that they're trying to fight. And the gym is actually such a friendly place because everyone goes there for a reason to improve themselves. And although the people you're looking at, you might think, well, they're so far ahead. They were once starting at zero. and anyone that I came across in the gym is more than happy to just help out because they know how it feels to be a beginner.

So reframing their mindset of being like just because somebody knows what they're doing, it's time. They just had more practice. They just went in and trying to push them outside of the comfort zone. I'm like, it's going to feel uncomfortable because you haven't done that. I bring clients back to say when they were starting their first day at a new job. our first day of college. I was like, did you feel nervous?

Yes. Did you feel anxious? Yes. I'm like, of course you're going to feel anxious going into the gym for the first time. You haven't been there before. But in order to build up that consistency, in order to break down the anxiety, intimidation, you have to get outside of your comfort zone. Like you have to, although you feel like you don't want to, that's exactly why you should go.

So that's mindset, but then also more practical terms, like having a plan. I feel like the anxiousness is coming from just not knowing what to do and how to do it. So going into the gym and hopping from one piece of equipment to another and then it's like, am I doing it right? And then you're second guessing yourself, you're scrolling TikTok in between sets and being like, save video. Yeah, save, save. And it's like how many workouts can you save before I can go in and doing it?

So when you have a plan that is structured, you know what you're doing on which day, what exercises you have to do, then it puts you more at ease. What are there things are people missing out on in terms of getting the best results possible when trying? What are they missing out on? I feel that a lot of people are looking for a quick fix and jumping for things that play a minor impact

on their actual fitness journey before mastering the basics. So I have this, pyramid that I developed. I don't know, maybe somebody developed it before, but I actually kind of took inspiration from Eric Helms. I don't know if you heard of it with the pyramids of nutrition and training. So something like this, but more so geared towards lifestyle clients as opposed to like Eric Helms like toxic in like the bodybuilding side of things. So before like where people go on is like what supplements should I take at what times should I eat my meals. It's like this is so irrelevant to your journey. They're they're stepping over big rocks.

to pick up stones essentially. Yes, exactly. So when we look at this pyramid, first of all, it's like mindset. I'm so big on mindset because change starts in your head first. If you don't reprogram your subconscious and think, like, you know,

break down like the all or another mentality, set the right goals rather than being unrealistic with your expectations, your relationship with your body and food, then we're going to look at your sleep and your stress, which is, again, something that is not spoken about enough. I actually had a person on a consultation called there two days ago,

and I was like, we're going to look at your sleep and stress. And he's like, oh, I never heard like a personal trainer talk to this. I'm like, it's so obvious, you know, that's going to help you with your adherence to nutrition and your adherence to training. So optimizing your sleep and stress or, you know, a personal listening who wants a better result, actually getting a handle on them first is going to lead you to actually being able to achieve. better things from your nutrition, from your training. Then we're going to look at like your diet,

not only how much you eat, but also the quality of food too. Then you're training, steps and training, and then, okay, supplements and all the fancy stuff that are like up at the top, you know. Yeah, you kind of have to earn the right to even talk about that stuff. Like, if you're someone who is getting four hours of sleep a night because you're scrolling on TikTok till 3 in the morning, like, the last thing you need to be thinking about is, you know, what create age

should I be having and stuff like that's like just get the bed earlier and like get a good night's sleep because you know it means that you're not going to feel as hungry it means you're going to have more energy more energy to produce in terms of your workouts

and it just it kind of it scales up for everything scales up from that yeah exactly you move up in levels and like you say you have to kind of earn the right to look at the more fancy stuff and it's like oh is it I went over by 20 grams of carbs today is it going to matter

on the impact on my results. I'm like, no. Like you're saying, if you're sleeping four hours and you're running around like a headless chicken, it's not going to matter. So I think for anyone wanting to achieve the best results, it's like focus on the basics because that's what works

rather than trying to look for all the fancy stuff and quick fixes. And we were talking about consistency there and how to get people to be more consistent. Like, you're not going to be motivated to go and train if you're like underslept? Yeah. Yeah. What are some tips or advice you would have someone who,

let's say, is struggling to, you know, psychologically struggling to, like you said, they're skipping breakfast. They think that they need to eat a low amount of calories in order to get results. So like what tips are advice would you have for someone who is struggling to encourage them to eat more to actually get the result that they want. Yeah, that is a very hard mindset shift, actually, for a lot of women, because it is led to believe that the less calories you eat, the better results you're going to achieve.

But it's not because oftentimes the less you are eating, you're depriving yourself. And you can only go so long with that before it's just going to end up in hugely overeating and completely going off plan. And this is why so many women are yo-yo dieting because they go in to a diet eating 1,000 or 1,200 calories and they only can sustain that for about two weeks because these aren't even enough calories for a toddler.

They're not going to fuel your basic needs such as survival, never mind give you the fuel and energy for your training and to actually thrive and fear optimal. So one thing is like do not fear food because it is literally your best friend. It's going to help, if you're training, it's going to help you build muscle. It's going to help you recover.

It's going to help you sleep better. It's actually going to help you achieve a better body composition as well. Because, again, like you're just going to get to a point where you're feeling low in mood, low in energy, and lose the motivation right away. Because if you think this is how you should be eating forever,

then you'd be like, I can't go more than like a month like this, like never mind five years. So anytime that I speak to people about their diet, I'm like, is the way you're eating a way that you see yourself eating for the rest of your life? If the answer is no, I'm like, well, you need a new diet. Like I'm sorry. It should be sustainable. Like you should have balance in terms of including all food groups, including all foods. You know, we mentioned that there's foods that are more nutrition dense than others, but there's no such thing as like food mortality. There's no good or bad. And there's no reason to feel guilty for eating because unless you've literally committed a crime, you haven't done anything bad for enjoying food. And that

was the best thing I've done for myself, actually eating more. People think like if I eat more, I'm going to put on weight. But no, you won't because you're harming your hormones, you're harming your metabolism when you're eating this low. Yeah. And it's just not a very good way to live in general. No. And like you even said there, if you can't see yourself doing this for the rest of your life, what's the point in doing it for the next six weeks? And that's what I'd say to clients all the time.

It's like, oh, should I stop eating chocolate for the time that we're together? Like, why would you do that? It's like, you know, do you see yourself giving up chocolate for the rest of your life? No. Well, then why would you do it on the time that we're working together? Because you want to make sure that anything that, like the actions and behaviours that you achieve to get your results, Like if you can't continue them actions and behaviours long term, then you won't maintain your results.

Yeah, 100%. And one exercise that I do with clients in terms of improving their relationship with food, something that I had to do myself as well because I had really like disordered, like relationship with food is making a list of foods that you deemed like unhealthy or off limits and actually picking one food a week that's on the bad list and eating it every single day in moderation. And clients freak out because it's like, am I not going to totally binge on it?

And at the start, you might feel like you will overeat on it because if you didn't allow yourself to have it, you might think you want it all the time. But the more you have it, the more you realize, like it's always available to me. Like, why would I make myself feel sick eating like a family-sized, like chocolate bar rather than just a couple of squares? So...

They do that with... They do that with like foods that people are afraid of consuming in case they, you know, they don't trust themselves around that food. They think they're going to binge around that food. So like they have it. It's like exposure therapy. It's like, okay, well, you're going to have this, you know, meal or this food every single day. So you can realize that it doesn't have any control over you essentially.

Yeah. Yeah. I heard you say if you're waiting to lose weight to be happy, you'll be waiting a long time. What do you mean by that? For sure, because goals always change. your goal pose will always move as well, but bodies always change. And that depends on like the circumstances you're in. It might be a life transition that you're going through

and your body changes. It might be pregnancy. It might be unintentional weight gain or weight loss. And if you tie your happiness and your self-worth to a certain number you have in your head, like that's arbitrary. Because like what makes you think that X amount of weight? on the scale is what's going to bring you happiness.

Like, who dictates that? And it's always going to be moving. Like, you're going to get to a place where you think happiness lies, where the, like, gold pot is. But you get there, and then you're like, I want more. And you will forever want more because that's how we're programmed as humans. Like, we want, first of all, what we cannot have. But also, like, once we get closer to the goal, we set ourselves,

where suddenly our confidence level to achieve something, increases so we want more. I had that as well with myself when I set myself a goal of like losing weight. First I was like, oh, I want to be skinny. Then I was like, oh, I got to be like X weight. I'm like, oh, now I want abs. And then you want more. And you'll never, you'll be waiting forever to be happy if you're tying yourself to either a number on the scale on like a size tag or appearance. Last question, Martin. What do you think your coaching philosophy is? To achieve confidence through realistic habit change in a holistic way. Where can people find you if they wanted to reach out and ask some more questions

about some of the things that we spoke about today? Instagram is definitely somewhere where I'm always open to like questions, anyone send me DMs. So at it's underscore Martina Gutt. So ITS underscore Martina Gutt. I'm also on TikTok, on podcast. on podcast on YouTube if you type my name Martina with the Y you'll find me

but if anyone wants to reach out to ask questions Instagram is the place thanks for watching if you like that episode and you want to see more content like this make sure you're subscribed and I'll see you on the next one