Motivation, Multiplied #159

Julia Clukey:

You know, I kind of believe that everything's connected and I believe that positive energy is important when you're facing a challenge or facing an obstacle. I believe in those type of things, that every little detail you're involved in matters. It kind of fits together at the end into a puzzle and you have to pay attention to the little pieces to make sure it all goes together.

Damon Moschetto:

If health isn't a top three value for you, it's going to be very hard for you to turn the corner, so to speak. You know, maybe you family and financial security and different values and that's fine. But when you actually talk to most people about it, health is down the line. It could be five, six or seven. And what I found, if that's the case, it's gonna be really, really hard to make that change to a healthy lifestyle.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

This is Dr. Lisa Belisle and you are listening to the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and podcast show number 159, Motivation Multiplied, airing for the first time on Sunday, September 28, 2014. How do we maintain motivation for achieving goals big and small? Hearing the stories of others and sharing our own story can make this happen. Today we speak with Olympic Luzier and Girls Summer Camp founder Julia Kluecke and Damon Macheto, athletic trainer and author of High Performance Living. Listen in to hear what keeps them motivated and find motivation for your own life. Thank you for joining us. Well, today we have a new Dr. Lisa Radio Hour milestone. This is our first Olympian that we have in the studio with us today and I have great respect for individuals who have committed themselves in such a way to important things like the Olympics. Today we have Olympian Julia Kluge, who is a member of the US luge team, and Julia competed in the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. She's also a spokesperson for the Maine Beer and Wine Distributors Association. Each summer she hosts Julia Kluecke's camp for girls on Maranacook Lake in Reed Field, Maine.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Julia, thanks for coming in and bringing your presence into our studio.

Julia Clukey:

Thank you. I'm very happy to be here.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You're doing something that's important to you, and it came out of, I think, an earlier an experience in your life that maybe didn't have as much to

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

do with the Olympics.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

As a spokesperson for the Maine Beer and Wine Distributors association, it seems like

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

it's not something that every Olympian would choose.

Julia Clukey:

Yeah. After the 2010 Olympics, the President of the Maine Beer and Wine Distributors association approached me about their responsibility campaign, that they were looking to grow in reaching young people and in trying to keep them away from their products and make them be responsible for themselves and make good decisions, because that's what we all want. We want kids to be healthy and safe. It really was perfect timing. I was just moving back to the state of Maine from living in Lake Placid, New York, for almost a decade. And I was looking for a way to reconnect with my community and give back in the way that I felt I had been given over the course of my career. And that's really where the partnership started. And it's just grown every year since then. And I'm very passionate about connecting with Maine youth and sharing my story athletically and personally with them so that they go home realizing that, one, you can do anything. It doesn't matter where you come from. Two, that they own their own potential, and they decide how hard they're going to work, where they're going to go with whatever activity they're passionate about, and then also to stay healthy and to make good decisions for themselves, because if you make bad decisions, those can follow you down the road. So it's important to be thinking about where you want to go and how you want to get there.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So tell us about your story.

Julia Clukey:

So I got involved in the sport of luge very randomly. The US luge team came to Portland, Maine in 1997, and a friend and I read about it in the paper. And the very bottom part of the ad was that we'd get a free T shirt if we came out for the day. So being 11 year olds, that was all it took for us to go out for the day to try the sport of luge. From there, I got invited to go to Lake Placid, New York, and try the sport in the wintertime. And that's when I got hooked to the sport and made the US Development team, which is the low level So I was on the team for many years, and 12 years later, I made my first Olympic through lots of ups and downs in my career.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

For people who don't watch the Olympics, which sport is luge?

Julia Clukey:

So luge is a sliding sport, and it's the one where the individuals are lying on their back going feet first, so it's the fastest of the three sports.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

That sounds a little crazy.

Julia Clukey:

It's a little bit. You know, we do have quite a bit of control with our sleds. We spend a lot of time with our equipment fine tuning them. You know, when you first start in the sport, you start really low down on the track, and you work your way up until you're comfortable with the higher speeds and the equipment. So, you know, I do have quite a bit of control, and it certainly isn't a sport for everyone, but I enjoy it very much.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

What was it like being part of a sport that didn't have as much

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

understanding as sports like hockey or in

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

the wintertime or figure skating?

Julia Clukey:

It certainly made it difficult starting out as far as fundraising, trying to cover my expenses, my equipment needs in 98, 99. This was before the Internet was really very popular. And so I spent a lot of time just explaining what the sport was. Now it's a little different because everything's so accessible. So it was tough at the beginning, but year after year, I kept doing it, kept doing it, kept improving in the sport, and then got more fans, more followers in my community, got behind me.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Tell me about your family and their impact on what you've managed to accomplish.

Julia Clukey:

My family has been a huge influence. You know, first off, my parents for allowing me to do the sport of luge is a great sacrifice. And by the time I was 13, I was traveling to Europe with the Junior World cup team, and I was gone six or seven months a year. And that's a big sacrifice for a parent to let their kid go off into the world. And, you know, so I owe a big, big thank you to them for selflessly allowing me to go after my dreams. And then my sisters, you know, they all. They're both athletic growing up, and, you know, I think there were certainly times where they didn't understand why I was gone for so long, and it got frustrating, you know, coordinating all my travel and whatnot. But, you know, they too have been very supportive of me. And, you know, nothing's better to me than having my family watching me compete. You know, Lake Placid, New York's the closest track, so every winter they try to get out there and watch me do my thing.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Where did you grow up and go to school?

Julia Clukey:

I grew up in Augusta, Maine, and I graduated from Coney high school in 2003.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And this must be one of the reasons why you've chosen to have a camp in Reed Field.

Julia Clukey:

Yeah, so I moved back to the Augusta area in 2010. I've lived there ever since in my off seasons. And, yeah, I wanted to, you know, to give back to the community where I grew up. You know, my childhood was so important to me. I feel like I had a great childhood. I was exposed to so much, you know, being growing up. Augusta's a relatively small town, but there were so many great rec programs and art programs, and, you know, my parents just did a great job of exposing us to a lot. And I want to do the same to kids coming behind me to make sure I can give back and give them opportunities to try new things.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You've also had some real tragedies in your life. Your father passed away when you were only 19 of a heart attack. That's a very young age to lose your father.

Julia Clukey:

Yeah, it was just after his 51st birthday, and it was really tough to deal with, you know, but especially mentally. He was kind of my person always. He was a big sports guy, and so we had a similar mindset. And it was very easy to talk to him about my career, about, you know, problems I was facing on the track or whatnot. So to lose him so suddenly was, you know, took me a while to adapt to that. A couple years to really get over not having him, you know, to talk to every day about what was going on, especially, you know, as an athlete.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And you also lost your sister Olivia in 2010.

Julia Clukey:

Yep. That was probably the hardest thing I've ever. Or it is the hardest thing I've ever dealt with. My sister passed away from mental illness about six weeks after I competed in the Vancouver Olympics. So I went from the highest moment of my life quickly to the saddest moment of my life. And there's not a day I don't think of her and think of the struggles she faced. And that's another part of my summer camp is giving back to young girls to ensure that they never feel poorly about themselves. And if I can give them skills as they enter middle and high school, so they're finding activities that they're passionate about and they're comfortable in their skin and they have a positive self message for themselves, then hopefully that'll carry with them through life.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, tell me about some of the Things that you do with the campers

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

so that this type of message is put out there.

Julia Clukey:

Yeah, so half the day is spent with me doing different activities around setting goals. So we do a lot of, you know, we talk about why we set goals for ourselves, how we set goals for ourselves, and then understanding the difference between like a big goal and then small daily goals that you can do for yourself. You know, whether it's improving your school grades or a sport. You know, it's really the little goals you set that are going to carry you through to reaching that, you know, that final goal. Some of the other things we do is we look at magazines and advertisements and the way they're targeting girls and the message that the media is sending out there and trying to understand that, one, you can't avoid it, it's going to be there. And two, you don't have to not read magazines, but make sure you're making opinions for yourself and you're not allowing this outside force to dec how you feel about yourself. And then a lot of the other activities we do is just understanding how important it is to love yourself and to be who you are and to be proud of that person. So we do arts and crafts projects and discussions again, and then focus on positive body image, how to build a positive body image, how to take care of yourself, you know, mentally and physically.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You also impacted 10,000 high school students. As of May, you've presented at more than 30 high schools across the state. And part of this is your association with the Maine Beer and Wine Distributors association and responsibility. What are some of your major themes?

Julia Clukey:

Yeah, so at my high school presentations, there's really three things that I hit. First is how important it is to try a lot of new things, especially when you're young, because I got involved with the sport of luge so randomly, like I said. And when you find things that you're passionate about, it makes it so much easier to live a healthy life, I think, because you love what you're doing and you want to pour all your energy into that. Second is how important, how much hard work goes into things that you can't just rely on your talent or skill, that you have to be ready to work hard day in, day out, and it can take 12 years to reach a big goal like it did me to make the Olympics. And lastly, or actually, I guess four things. You know, my most important thing is understanding that you own your own potential yourself. You know, you have to set goals for yourself. You have to set big goals for yourself if you want to go far in sports and school and that you get to decide, you know, your future and those things. And lastly is you have to be ready, you know, for challenges and life is a roller coaster sometimes and you have to have plans in place so that when things do get a little rough or you find yourself, you know, facing a tragic situation, that you have a good support system and you have a good plan to allow yourself to heal, whether it's mentally, physically or whatnot, and move forward from that positively.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I have children who have gone through the school system and I know that the athletic code is a big part as athletes. I know the athletic part is code is a big part of what keeps them from drinking.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I would love to believe it's because they're just really great kids and they would never want to drink, but that

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

code kind of keeps them on track. But there have to be bigger messages

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

that we're giving to our kids about that.

Julia Clukey:

Yeah. And certainly, you know, the Maine Beer and Wine Distributors association, they're eight family owned businesses in the state of Maine. So they're very passionate about their communities. They all have kids and families mostly most school age. And so you, you know, they care very much about keeping kids safe and keeping them away from their product. They understand that their product comes with a responsibility and they want to be out in front of that, you know, so with our partnership, the message that I'm giving to kids is, you know, bad decisions can follow you and you're not invisible, you know, as well, you know, we read, no one wants to read in the paper about a fatal accident or, you know, an injury or sickness from over drinking. And so trying to get kids to realize that they're not invisible, that it can happen to them. And, you know, we live in a great state. There's so many things you can do to fill your time, you know, so just to focus on those and wait till you're older and able to make those decisions for yourself.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Here on the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and podcast, we've long recognized the link between health and wealth. Here to speak more on the topic is Tom Shepard of Shepherd Financial.

[Unidentified voice]:

Sometimes I meet with married or partnered clients, and when we get to talking about their financial lives, a cultural divide bubbles to the surface. One person feels one way about their money and the other seems to be on their own financial island with a set of beliefs and rules that have created unnecessary borders and boundaries. It's not an uncommon thing. And when I hit those situations, I do my best to help both people understand that neither is 100% right or wrong that they simply have to take a step back and look at their own financial life in a new light. It is also true in politics and economics. What we need to do is see money as a living thing that can be used to grow our lives together without disagreement or so called border issues. It's a great feeling for me. It's like I'm helping people negotiate peace treaties with their money. Be in touch if you want to know more. Tom at Shepherd Financial Maine will help you evolve with your money.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So there is also a role modeling aspect to being an athlete. And really at any level. I know that in our town in Yarmouth, if you're a high school athlete who's been going up through the system, you've been an athlete, but you've also coached the younger kids. You're recognizable on the playing field and so to act responsibly in whatever area, whether it's not drinking or whether it's living a goal oriented life, that's something that you're not just putting out there for yourself, you're putting that out there for people around you.

Julia Clukey:

Yeah, certainly. And you know, I especially think so many high schools are the community. You know, if you the high schools, everyone in the town reads about them and they want to read good things about their kids and the community. And you know, I feel the same way. And that's another thing. My summer camp we talk about like it's okay to stand out for good things. I think, you know, sometimes at middle school and high school level kids don't want that positive recognition. They feel uncomfortable with it. And that's kind of a sad thing when you think about it, that kids feel bad about getting good recognition because they're worried about what their peers are going to think.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And what has it been like for you to be a role model as an Olympian?

Julia Clukey:

I enjoy it very much. You know, I have a story both as an athlete. You know, my career has had peaks and valleys, my life has had peaks and valleys. And I feel very fortunate to be where I am today. And that's the result of a lot of people supporting me through the years and keeping me grounded and allowing me to stay focused on the positive things. And, you know, I want to give back to young kids the way I really feel. I've been given through the closest people in my life. And I'm very fortunate because of luge, that I have a little bit of a stage and the ability to do that, and I don't want to waste that opportunity. You know, there's not many times you'll find me saying no to an event to meet kids or to. To interact with kids. It has to be some significant schedule glitch.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

This past season, you did very well on the World cup scene. You missed qualifying for the 2014 Olympics by 13,000ths of a second.

Julia Clukey:

Yes.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

That must have been pretty devastating.

Julia Clukey:

It was. It was very much so. You know, I came into the season one of the strongest athletes, and early in the season, I had a couple small problems with equipment, a couple bad races, and then finally got things back where they needed to be, but came up just a hair short, literally, in that quest for the Olympics. But, you know, really, I'm able to sit here today, not looking back with a list of what ifs. I really feel that I gave it everything I had to make it back to the Olympics, and I came up short. And, you know, that's another important message, that sometimes you're going to set goals and you're not going to make those goals, you know, on that day. And it's okay to reset, refocus, and make new goals for yourself and not allow yourself to be defined by that failure.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You also had to work your way

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

through an injury, an injury that could have been career ending, really. You had a knee injury?

Julia Clukey:

Yeah, I tore my knee in 2009, just a couple weeks before the season started. I meniscus and mcl and fortunately, I was in late class in New York. We have a great medical staff there. And we ran into surgery, and nine days later, I was competing again. And I wasn't off my crutches yet, but I was very determined to not let anything get in my way of making that Olympic team. You know, everything I'd gone through to that point in my career, you know, had prepared me for that moment.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You have a lot of grit.

Julia Clukey:

So I'm stubborn, but in a good way. I think.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

No, it's a good thing. I say this in a. I'm very

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

admiring of your grit because it's not everybody that could have that significant knee injury, go forward, compete, deal with, you

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

know, the loss of a father at a young age, deal with the loss of a sister at a young age, deal with finishing 13,000ths of a second

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

away from making it to the Olympics.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And you're still sitting in front of me.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And you seem like a genuinely happy individual in your life.

Julia Clukey:

Yeah, I am. I don't have a lot to complain about, really. You know, athletically, when I do come up short in races, 13,000ths of a second short, honestly, my life experiences have made that easier to handle with because that's not the bigger picture, you know, of what matters to me. And through losing my father, my sister, I've learned those lessons the hard way of what really matters to me, you know, in the core of myself. And my sister had a son, Lucas, who's my nephew. He's five. And we're very fortunate to have a big involvement in his life. And so, you know, that's really where most of my energy goes to, is raising him and being there for him and being a person in his life. And, you know, luge is what I do, but it's not who I am as a person. And I think that's what allows me to, to not shrug it off. Of course I care very deeply. It hurt a lot to not make the Olympic team, but it doesn't define me at the end of the day, and I'm okay with that.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

My observation of the Augusta area is that it tends to be a pretty. You have a pretty close knit community.

Julia Clukey:

It is. It's a pretty fairly small city, you know, and it's a very active city. Like I said, there's a lot of rec programs for kids growing up from a young age. There's a lot of the Y is a staple in the town with swim programs, outdoor activities. So it's a pretty tight group of people and I very much enjoy living there. That's kind of why I came back to Maine, because I miss that community feel of when you go into the grocery store, you probably are going to run into five people that you know and have. It's going to add on a half hour to your grocery shift. Catching up.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So both of your parents were teachers and your sister Amelia is now a teacher at Hall Dale Middle School in Hallowell. You took classes at the University of Maine and you're now studying to become an engineer.

Julia Clukey:

Yes.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So education is important to your family and to you?

Julia Clukey:

Yeah, it is. Both my parents were educators, principals. So growing up School was, you know, the number one priority. My mom, mother always told me my job was to be a good citizen. It used to drive me crazy, but now I understand. So it was to get good grades. We had to volunteer a couple times a week and read 20 minutes every day. But I'm very fortunate. That carried over to my athletic career. It carries over to my life, my involvement with youth. I just learned that if you're going to do something, you have to do it fully and to go all the way. And I'm grateful to my parents for that lesson and grateful that they put the focus on school. It's something that still is a priority to me and I'm very happy that I'm on the home stretch of getting my degree.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

What will you do with your engineering degree when you're done?

Julia Clukey:

So it's electrical engineering. I'm a little bit more on the computer side of things. I like the computer software, computer programming. I'm not sure exactly where I'll end up, but I enjoy that aspect of my degree the most.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Is there a spiritual aspect to the work that you are doing, the work that you have done as an Olympian?

Julia Clukey:

You know, I kind of believe that everything's connected and I believe that positive energy is important when you're facing a challenge or facing an obstacle. You know, I believe in those type of things, that every little detail you're involved in matters, it kind of fits together at the end into a puzzle, and you have to pay attention to the little pieces to make sure it all goes together.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And you're actually a big fan of puzzles.

Julia Clukey:

I am a big fan of puzzles. It's probably why I use that analogy.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So it seems like there's a lot of things about your life that you kind of like to tinker with and to kind of place in the right spots.

Julia Clukey:

Yeah. So I, you know, I kind of joke that I wear a lot of hats, but I think I wear them well. And, you know, I've seen athletes that just do their sport, and I don't think that's very. For me, that was never very fulfilling. When I was younger, it was because I didn't understand really the opportunity I had to grow as an individual. But, you know, now being an adult and being a 16 year veteran in the sport of luge, really, that's the most important thing to me is what I can do as an outreach, what I can give back to young kids, you know, and if winning races give me, gives me more of a platform for that grade. But in 10 years, I don't want to just be known for, you know, someone that won a couple medals. I want to be known for someone that's given back to the community and has been a staple in young girls and young people's lives.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Julia, how do people find out about your Julia Kluge's camp for girls or

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

the work that you're doing as a spokesperson?

Julia Clukey:

My website is klugeluge.com, c l u k e y l u g e.com and there's a lot of information there about both the camp, my high school presentations. High schools can sign up there. It's a very easy, you know, one form and then we look at dates and figure out something that works as well. I'm on Facebook and Twitter, the social media avenues, so I'm very accessible and I like that way because I love when I visit a school and then six months down the road I get a Facebook message from a student telling me they decided to go to this college or they tried softball and they're now on the softball team and things like that. So I try to make myself very accessible.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

We've been speaking with Olympian Julia Kluecke, who is a member of the US luge team and a competitor in the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. I'm so impressed with your grit, your

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

determination and the foresight that you have and the work that you're doing to connect with the kids in Maine. So thank you.

Julia Clukey:

Thank you very much. Thanks for having me.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

As a physician and small business owner, I rely on Marcie Booth from Booth Maine to help me with my own business and to help me live my own life fully. Here are a few thoughts from Marcy

[Unidentified voice]:

when asked, most of my clients say the same thing about what keeps them up at night money making. Certain cash flow is there to meet day to day operational needs. Oh my gosh, is payroll going to be able to make it? When we dig deeper, we understand that those sleepless nights are symptoms of poor planning and forecasting. And more often than not, the reasons for not doing it are a lack of time and a lack of resources. So here's a suggestion. Instead of living in fear of the numbers and losing sleep over them, make peace with them by paying closer attention to the financials and creating positive cash flow. I'm Marcie Booth. Let's talk about the changes you need. Boothmain.com

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Today on the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and podcast. It is our great pleasure to have

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

with us in the studio Damon Macheto, who is a fitness coach who has

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

traveled all around the US Working with

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

fitness trainers and gyms to create better wellness programs. He's an advocate for healthy living and the host of the High Performance Living podcast. He's also the author of the NoBS

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Guide to High Performance Living. He lives in Naples, Florida and works with Florida fitness coaches. Thanks so much for coming in.

Damon Moschetto:

Thanks for having me. Glad to have you to be here.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And we are very lucky to have you because obviously, if you live in Naples, Florida, not Naples, Maine, this is a bit of a distance for you.

Damon Moschetto:

Yep. Yeah, just up. You caught me on a quick vacation up here, so that's pretty nice.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And you have ties to this area anyway.

Damon Moschetto:

Yeah, actually, I was born and raised here, so I moved out of here about 12 years ago. But yeah, I've been. I'm a Mainer at heart.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You're a huge proponent of better living for all individuals, and I had the chance to listen to several of your podcasts, also read the book that I downloaded to my Kindle app.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And you just.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You want people to live better, healthier lives. How did you come to this place?

Damon Moschetto:

Well, I think it really. Well, it started with myself. I think it always does. It starts with yourself trying to take care of yourself. I was trying to find out really what I wanted to do. And then just in that along that process, I just, you know, found out how it affected me, you know, when I'm feeling good, you know, when I'm taking care of myself as opposed to when I wasn't. And then from there, kind of the passion grew in terms of wanting to help people just, you know, basically live their best. I know that sounds kind of corny in a way, but really, at the end of the day, you know, when for me, it all comes down to the physical, I feel like if you can master the physical, you can master anything. And I don't mean that in terms of having to be in the best shape possible in terms of bikini body or whatever, I just mean whatever that is to you, whether that's simply losing weight, simply running a marathon or anything. But if you can master something physically, I just feel like that translates to everything else in life. So that's kind of where I come from at it.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

When I was reading your book, you did talk about the physical, and you Talked about nutrition, but you also talked about quiet time, regular quiet time. And you discussed the fact that it takes about four days to kind of detox yourself from emails and all this sort of clutter that our minds cling to.

Damon Moschetto:

Yeah, there was a. There was a study that I cited in the book. And what they did was they wanted to see how long they took people. I think it was up into the mountains. And they wanted to see. They did brainwave. They tested their brains and everything, and they wanted to see how long it took them to actually kind of get back to what they would consider normal. And we're so. And the point was, is that we're so on all the time, where we're so connected all the time, that we never really allow ourselves to just kind of almost decompress in a way. And it's just really, really important, in my opinion, to actually, you know, when it comes to, if we're talking about living a high performance life, to actually just be quiet. And I think we've gotten to that point where people just can't even take five minutes to just be alone with themselves and kind of like, just for lack of a better term, chill out. And what I find when working with clients is that when I can get them to actually. You say the word meditate to somebody and then they freak out and they think it's some voodoo thing. So I don't use that word because it's not really what I mean, but it's really simply being quiet. And if I can just get them to be quiet for five minutes and just, hey, look, close your eyes and breathe. It's amazing what that actually does to them. Just to just feel better, calm down, and it just releases some stress.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

It can be hard for people to

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

lose weight if they've been under stress

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

for quite a while. Their cortisol levels are elevated, and it seems as though no matter what they do, they just. They're kind of running to standstill. So is this one of the things that you believe helps address that issue?

Damon Moschetto:

Absolutely. It plays a huge role. I think there's a lot of that goes into fat loss. Like just a lot of the things that you're talking about, hormones and, and different things, stress levels and so forth. But I think that another thing that happens is that people will come into us. Like you're talking about losing weight. And they come in and they're extremely stressed out. And in their minds when it comes to working out, what they think they need to do is go kill themselves. Working out. And actually it's the worst thing they can do because we actually, we call it working in. We need to get them to actually work in first as opposed to working out. And what that means is work on stress techniques that might be just, hey, let's just do some corrective exercise, some stretching, you know, again, corrective exercises, things like that, that aren't stressful on the body, that gets you to a level. And then we'll add that exercise and then we'll add more metabolic work, strength training, stuff like that. Because if you think about it, if you're already stressed out, if you're in a really high stressed body that has your hormones are out of whack and then they turn around and they come in and say, hey, I'm gonna do a boot camp. It's like a recipe for disaster. But it's a hard sell because some people, unfortunately, when you look in the media, it's like, if I need to lose weight, I need to kill myself. And it's just not true.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And that is one of the things that you addressed, I think, in one of your podcasts, but also in your book, is that we tend to be very extreme in our approach to diet, exercise, lifestyle, and that people go way too far in one direction, but it's not sustainable for them over the long term.

Damon Moschetto:

Yeah, definitely. I mean, I think that's, that's, that's something that we see. That's a good point, is that they'll come in and if it's not realistic, if it's not going to fit your lifestyle, you're just not going to be able to maintain it. So maybe you can stick with it for four, six, eight, maybe even 12, 12 weeks. And maybe you do get results, maybe you do lose weight. But the problem with that is that when I see that person six months to a year later, they're right back where they were in the beginning, or sometimes worse. So it's. And it's because they. That the approach that they take, like you said in the beginning, is like, all right, you know, I'm going from zero to 60, and then they go 60 to zero. And you really kind of have to, like, we call it taking the A to B approach instead of A to Z. People want to jump from, you know, I'm at point A and I want to go to Z. It's like, no, you got to go B, C, D and get there, because it's going to be something that you can actually implement on a daily basis and just take little small steps. And it's going to be. Once you build on those things, steps, you can maintain them, and it just becomes part of your lifestyle as opposed to kind of just jamming it, you know, down your throat to, hey, I can do this, I can do this, I can do this. But it really doesn't work.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You also suggest that you really hope people will firmly have a habit ingrained before they move on to the next. I think one of the examples you gave in the book that you wrote was you want people to be good about getting up and eating breakfast and having 50 ounces of water a day before you actually will move them forward. You want the habits there. Is there a reason that you approach it that way?

Damon Moschetto:

Yeah, because what I found that is like. So I guess an example would be a lot of times people will come in and they want to know what to eat, you know, what to work out, and they want to do all things at once. And the problem is that when they're. When they're coming in and before they're asking that question, and I ask, well, what have you been doing? And the answer is, nothing. Like, I really haven't been eating healthy or whatever, I haven't been working out. So what you're trying to do is say, all right, I'm going to change all these habits overnight. And it just doesn't work. So, I mean, and it depends. So nutritionally is usually a little bit harder from a consistency standpoint, because if you're asking someone to work out and maybe it's beginning it's three days a week, and maybe it's going for a walk or whatever and they can fit that in, maybe it's going to the gym and they have that in their schedule, that's fine. But nutritionally just seems to be the challenge that, like, if you say, you know, you gotta maybe change this particular food group or whatever, and it's just hard to stick with it. So I like to start like water you gave was the example. That's just simple. Most people just don't drink enough water. They're dehydrated. So it's real simple. You know, I need you to get up, you know, I need to drink 50 ounces. We recommend half your body weight in ounces. So I need you to get that habit down first. Now, if you haven't been. If you've been drinking like one glass of water a day, I'm not going to tell you to do that. I'm going to say, all right, can we just double that? Give me two to three glasses. Because it has to Be realistic. It has to be something that you can do. But get that down first because if you proved. And it's also a mental thing because your mind starts saying, hey, I can do this, I did it, I was consistent with it, so I can go on to the next thing versus alright, let's do five things. And your mind just gets overwhelmed and says, no, you know, it's not going to happen. I'm just going to go back to my old ways. It's easier.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Yeah. I believe one of your podcast guests, you were talking about sort of these micro changes and he gave the example of a guy who had written a book who wanted to exercise and write. And he started by doing one push up a day and writing like 10 words a day or something like that. And he was able to kind of keep moving the ball forward in an incremental way.

Damon Moschetto:

But, and I think that's the key is that I really think that comes back to the mental edge, is that your mind, it's easier to believe it. I guess, for lack of better way of saying it is that it's like, Yeah, I did 10 push ups, I can do 11. That's realistic. It's not versus doing zero and saying I need to do 11. It's just your mind, it doesn't grasp it. I think like an example with, for goal setting, for example, like they talk about, they say like, hey, when you're setting goals, don't set something that like, you know, use, use money. So let's say, you know, you made A, you know, $50,000, don't set the goal for next year to make half a million. Your mind just can't wrap it can't wrap around. It can't wrap itself around that. So but if you say, all right, I'm going to increase by 50%, your mind can say, hey, I can do that. It's realistic. It's still a little bit of a stretch goal, but it's not out of the realm where it's like too unrealistic. I think that's kind of the way I look at from habits for people too is like, it has to be something that they can get behind and feel good about too. Because the other, the flip side would be when I don't do it, then I feel bad about it and then I feel worse. Now I'm gonna go eat that chocolate cake or whatever, go have a couple drinks. You know, it just depends.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

In another podcast, you spoke with a doctor about the difference between, I guess, what is, what is normal and what is good. Or something like this. So I guess I'm trying to remember exactly the terms that were used. But, you know, 2/3 of our country is overweight and obese. So what would be considered normal within our society is really probably not good for us in any way, and it doesn't make us feel good. So even though it's normal, it's not the right path. You are trying to get people on what the right path is for, for themselves and have them have their own normal, their own right way, right?

Damon Moschetto:

Yeah, yeah. I mean, everyone's individual. I mean, everyone needs to find out what it is they're looking for. But I think that most people aren't addressing that at all, though, today. I don't even think like when you say two thirds is overweight. So there's a big. Obviously that's a big number. And unfortunately that number's not getting better. That's been getting worse year after year after year. So how do we, you know, get people to get. I don't want to say get excited, but actually just make it a priority. And what I. This is probably a better way of saying is what I like to tell people is that from a health perspective, if health isn't a top three value for you, it's going to be very hard for you to turn the corner, so to speak.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Speak.

Damon Moschetto:

So, I mean, you know, maybe you put family and financial security and different values and that's fine. But when you actually talk to most people about it, health is down the line. It could be five, six or seven. And what I found just in work, you know, over the years and working with people, if that's the case, it's going to be really, really hard to make that change to a healthy lifestyle versus the people that are, you know, if you, the people that are living a healthy lifestyle, if you ask them, you know, right off that health is a top three priority. It's a top three value. It's very, very important for them. So it's part of what they do. It's what they. It's like putting on their clothes in the morning. It's just health is just what they're going to do. And I think that's one of the things that we're trying to do, is that if we can make that more important to people or they can see that, hey, you know, everything's great when you do it this way. And it's. And I think the other thing that people think is like, it's a big sacrifice and it's not. It's just that how you approach it.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I really like what you just said about how it doesn't have to be a sacrifice, that it can actually be enjoyable. And it's not just how good you feel when you're in good shape, but it's also how good you feel when you're getting in good shape while you're out there being active. And I think that's something that people sometimes forget. They think, well, you know, I'm gonna lose £50 and after I lose £50 then I'll feel good. But it's, that's really, that's not the way that it needs to, to be looked at.

Damon Moschetto:

No, exactly. And I also think too is if you asked if you polled someone on the street, maybe what do you think you need to do to lose weight? Oh, well, first thing is I need to go on a diet. Which diet is bad word. No one wants to hear that, number one. And then number two, I have to kill myself working out. So if that's the impression that people have of being healthy, I kind of get why it's, you know, 2/3 of the, of the population overweight, it makes kind of sense. So if we can get that, so if we can get that message out that it, you don't have to diet number one. Number two, you don't have to kill yourself working out to live a healthy lifestyle. I think we could actually change the tide a little bit. But that's just, you know, that's, that's where we need to start is getting people's perception of how they look at, you know, what a healthy lifestyle is. Because usually if you ask them, it's just, it's a, they think it's torture and it's just not.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So you seem to be a proponent of interval training versus, you know, long distance running, for example. You seem to think you can get exactly what you need in very well thought out workout regimens that don't necessarily take that long.

Damon Moschetto:

Yeah, absolutely. But, well, that's kind of come back to the point is like people think they have to work out forever to get results and you just don't. Most people either a just kind of don't know what they're doing in terms of randomly working out, which turns into working out too long. But yeah, interval training is a great way from not only a health standpoint, but from a fat loss perspective. Studies show time and time again it's more effective than long drawn out bouts of endurance training. And it's nothing against endurance athletes or people who like to run and like to do that thing. If you like to do that, that's great. I just personally don't. But if you come to me from a goal of all right, for instance, fat loss, I just know it's not as effective. And really. So we break it down for like, for fat loss, for instance, if we talk about that for a second, really it comes down to, we call it the hierarchy of fat loss. And number one, it's nutrition. It comes down to nutrition. That's the first thing. The second step is C number one, because that's how important it is. You have to have your nutrition in line. The third thing is strength training. Strength training is much more effective for fat loss than people realize. And then the fourth thing would be interval training or metabolic training. And the last thing is just moving more. And if that's cardio, that's running, whatever. But just getting you to move more, that's kind of the, the hierarchy that we follow and see the best results.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

So tell me about your recommendations for nutrition.

Damon Moschetto:

Well, here's the thing with nutrition. What I believe is that everybody's an individual. And I think that what's going to work for me from a fat loss standpoint or a health standpoint might not work for you. It might be a little bit different. You kind of have to definitely find that. But there are some principles that we absolutely recommend. So the first thing, it's real simple is we just follow a whole foods approach. If you could just. That's the first step. If you just did that one thing and basically didn't eat anything out of a Box or packaged food and just eat more whole foods. So whether that's, you know, vegetables, fruits, nuts, meats, whatever, fish, things like that, that alone would be great. But I mean, there's all kinds of. Whether you're vegan, you're paleo, you're vegetarian. I really don't kind of. I don't get dogmatic in any of the approaches because I just find that, again, it comes back to the individual. So start there and then find out what works for you. So with whole foods is the first step, and then the second step is finding out. You know, some people can get away with eating more carbohydrates, for instance. Some people. So you kind of have to experiment with that.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, I know that there has been a. We've gone back and forth on should we have no fat in our diet, should we have carbs replacing the fat in our diet? Now we're all the way over on let's have meat and no carbs. And, you know, I think you're right. I think every person is very individual. And I've seen some of what happens when people take chunks of nutrients out of their diets, and maybe it helps them lose weight. In fact, oftentimes it does. But a lot of patients that I've seen come in who have, for example, removed all carbohydrates from their diets. You know, carbohydrates are very good for serotonin levels and for mood. And so when you take all those carbohydrates out, sometimes the mood suffers and sometimes they have difficulty sleeping. So I am with you that, you know, I think it's got to be a balance, and it really has to. To be every person figuring out what works.

Damon Moschetto:

Yeah, absolutely. And I think that, for instance, let's talk like, if you take a ketogenic diet, for instance, which is zero carbohydrates. Well, there are certain instances where people do really well on that, and they need to maybe, because from a health standpoint, and that's fine. And then if I, you know, I couldn't do that, you know, so it's really. But to knock. It is not fair, you know, because if that's working for you, meaning, like, say your weight's stable and you've done blood work and everything's coming back a okay, then how can we knock that? And that drives me nuts because of the dogmatic approach of, like, you know, couldn't be more opposite. If you take a paleo person and a vegan person, I mean, that's just, you know, put Two of those people in a room, it's hilarious. So. But if it's working for, you know, let's say the Paleo person is feeling great, their health markers are excellent. How can. The vegan person shouldn't be able to knock them and vice versa. So that's how I look at it. And another thing you mentioned about how things have changed. Well, I don't eat the same way I ate 15 years ago. I look at the way I did eat and I laugh. The amount of fat in my diet now as opposed to 15 years ago, it's, you know, comical. You know, if you told me I'd be eating, drinking Coke, putting coconut oil in my coffee in the morning, I sort of told you you're crazy. But. But there's the part of that too is like, when you're looking at the research, it's not that we, you know, things are. I don't know how to say this, but change. Just new research came out. We just didn't know at the time. So when the research comes out and it's solid research, you know, and we can, you know, practice it, put it into play, that's what happens. And I don't think it makes us a bad person for giving this recommendation 15 years ago. It was just that that's what we knew and things are changing and hopefully for the better. The more we learn, the more we know. And I think someone said this, and I think it's a great point. Our body's like a chemistry lab. You know, we really just, you know, there's a lot we can do with it. And there's more and more we're finding out, especially when it comes to nutrition. It's amazing.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, I think that's true. And I remember advertisements where doctors were actually called in to give recommendations about smoking. I think there was some cigarette, it was toast your throat. So doctors were asked to be proponents of that. And then we found out, of course, that that's the opposite of what we want to be doing. So that's a very fair point, that things have evolved and we know more than we used to. And even, frankly, we need to be approaching things differently just by virtue of the fact that we're now two thirds overweight and obese. Even our culture just needs to be doing things differently. So I think we are always going to be in some transition. Yeah, transition. Which leads me to another question I have for you, dealing with flexibility. I mean, you talked about strength training and interval workouts and what types of flexibility work do you do with Your clients.

Damon Moschetto:

That's where we start. Actually. We, in our system, we call it our quote, ramping program, which is range of motion activation and movement prep. So for us, everyone goes through a functional movement screen. So what we do is we find out, and everybody has some type of deviations, issues. You know, it is what it is just, you know, because the way we, most of us sit all day long. But so from there, what we do is we find out what muscles are tight, what muscles are weak. Because if you have a tight muscle, you're going to have an opposing weak muscle. So just to stretch out the tight muscle and not activate the weak muscle, that's not good either. So you really have to have that approach. So that's how we do the first. Before we actually start training, the first thing we do is our clients come in and they go through because they've been assessed and they know what muscles are tight, what muscles are weak, and so forth. And we work that first. So flexibility and corrective exercise is a huge part of what we do.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And then I believe you're right that it does ultimately come back around to the mental. Because I think you were talking. I do recommend people who are listening to the. To us talk that they go and they look at your. Listen to your podcast, because I got some great information, you know, 30, 40 minutes worth of conversation that you had with various people, authors of various books and experts in the field. And one of the things that really hit home was making sure that you're hanging out with the right people.

Damon Moschetto:

Oh, yeah, that's huge.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

That, you know, the mental aspect of all this is really big. But if you have set these great goals for yourself and you're doing all the right stuff, but all the top five people that you hang out with on a regular basis, they're not moving you forward in the right direction. And you really have to.

Damon Moschetto:

Yeah, you have to assess that. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's a. That's. Yeah. So if you, I mean, sticking with the health theme, if you're, if you're trying to, like, make a change, how you're trying to eat better and work out, maybe lose weight or whatever, and then all the, you know, the people that you surround yourself with don't work out, don't eat right, drink all the time, that's their lifestyle, it's going to be really hard for you to make that change. So at that point, you're probably going to want to make. Find some new friends or find some new people to hang out with or whatever. And I mean, Sometimes it can be harsh, but if they're not positive in your life, you really need to think that through.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And that is a tough one. I mean, you're just talking about making dietary changes, but sometimes you hang out with a bunch of people that say, you've got a dream to open a business, and all these people are saying, you know, don't do that. We don't believe in you. You shouldn't believe in yourself either. You're crazy. I mean, then you're. Then, yeah, it's awfully hard to kind of keep moving yourself in the right direction.

Damon Moschetto:

Yeah, for sure. Yeah. And then. And, yeah, that's a. I think it was Jim Rohn who said, show me the, you know, five people you hang around with and I'll show you your net worth, or something like that. You know, it's pretty true, usually so. But I think I had Andrea Owen on one of my podcasts, and she's a life coach, and she. She. I was adamant about, like, you know, if they're not positive in your life, they need to go. It's just easier said than done, that's all.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Well, that. That is certainly true. It's. It's. Especially if you say, have married one of these people, are giving birth to them or something.

Damon Moschetto:

That's different. Well, family's different, I think. Family's different, I think, for sure. I mean, but friends, I think, is like, that's, you know, are they really your friends at that point?

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

I guess I also think it's interesting for people to understand that you did not. You weren't born into what you're doing, that you actually had a corporate job for 10 years. And granted, it was in the health field, but, you know, you've had a variety of injuries, and you were pretty upfront about this in your book. You tore your ACL. You know, you traveled around the country for 10 years, you lived out of hotel rooms. So you've done all the things that I think a lot of people use as. I don't want to use the word excuses, but they kind of are to keep them from getting healthy. And you still were able to maintain health as a priority. So it is possible.

Damon Moschetto:

Absolutely. I think that I went from having a training business to work, like, as you said, going into the corporate world and traveling. And, I mean, I was on the road from Tuesday through Friday. You know, hotels, airports, you know, I mean, we all know how easy it is to eat in the airport, right? Healthy, I mean, so. But yeah, I mean, I did it. I made it, you know, and to your point is, like, it's a choice. That's what it comes down to. It's a choice. You can either choose to say, oh, I'm traveling. I'm gonna eat junk. I'm going to, you know, not work out. I'm going to just sit all day, whatever. It's a choice. And that's what it comes down to. And I, Yeah, I didn't. I mean, I made sure that I. I worked out when I was on the road. I made healthy choices when I could, when it came. When it came to nutrition. So, you know, yeah, it can absolutely be done. It's a choice. And I don't want to say it's easy. I'm certainly not going to say, oh, it's like, you know, it's a piece of cake. You got a health food store in every airport in the country. You don't. But you can make it happen. You can make choices if you try. And if you. Sometimes people just need help. I have clients that have, you know, they travel for, you know, I coach them online, and they, you know, that's what they do for a living. So we have to work through that. And we, you know, once we just point out a few simple tips, like, oh, wow, I never thought of that. I'm like, well, there you go. So you're good. But, yeah, I guess that's ultimately what I could say. It's a choice. People either choose to be. You know, it comes back to that value thing that I was talking about. It's either a top three for you or it's not. So it's a top three for me. So it was probably easier for me to make that choice. So I would come back to the value situation. First is like, you have to make that a priority. Then it's going to be a lot easier for you to choose when you're in those situations.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

Damon, how can people find out about

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

your book, your podcast, the work that you do with clients?

Damon Moschetto:

Best place to look is probably on my website. My online website is highperformancelivingonline.com or I'm on Twitter. Just my handle is Damon Macheto. And Facebook, the same thing.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

And we also want to thank you for having such a wonderful sister, Marcy Booth, who is a longtime supporter of our show and also has been a longtime financial advisor to me. So she's kind of kept me on the straight and narrow as far as that's concerned. So you guys come from a good bloodline?

Damon Moschetto:

Yeah, she's pretty good.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

She's pretty good. We've been speaking with Damon Macheto, who is a fitness coach and host of the High Performance Living Podcast and author of the no BS Guide to High Performance Living. Thanks so much for coming in today.

Damon Moschetto:

Thanks for having me. I really appreciate it.

Dr. Lisa Belisle:

You have been listening to the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and podcast show number 159, motivation multiplied. Our guests have included Julia Kluge and Damon Macheto. For more information on our guests and extended interviews, visit doctor. Org. The Dr. Lisa Radio Hour and Podcast is downloadable for free on itunes. For a preview of each week's show, sign up for our E. Newsletter and like our Dr. Lisa Facebook page, follow me on Twitter and see my daily running photos as bountiful1 on Instagram. We love to hear from you, so please let us know what you think of the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour. We welcome your suggestions for future shows. Also let our sponsors know that you have heard about them here. We are privileged that they enable us to bring the Dr. Lisa Radio Hour to you each week. This is Dr. Lisa Belisle. I hope that you have enjoyed our Motivation Multiplied show. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of your day. May you have a bountiful life.