757: Get Clarity on Your Goals to Build Healthy Productivity and Weight Loss Habits with Business Consultant Ann Hartwig

announcer 0:00 Marketer of the day, 757 get clarity on your goals to build healthy, productivity and weight loss habits with business consultant Anne Hartwig, Hey

Robert Plank 0:14 everyone, and welcome back to the marketer of the day podcast. We are here with leader, consultant, mentor and coach and Hartwig from healthfulliving.net and if you have ever been stuck about clarity on your goals, building healthy habits or or anything related to wellness or their brain or whatever, then you're going to want to pay special close attention, because we have an expert on the call, Ann Hartwig, and glad to be talking to you.

Ann Hartwig 0:40 Thanks so much for having me today.

Robert Plank 0:43 I'm glad to have you and so yeah, what do we need to know? I mean, what's kind of the big problem that it seems like we're all having that you can help us out with today.

Ann Hartwig 0:53 So interestingly enough, obesity is, is a is a worldwide pandemic. At this point, really, about 66% of our country is either overweight or obese. And so it's it's a big problem that that we have currently,

Robert Plank 1:11 and how do we get there? Is it just the bad habits, the sitting at the desk, the TV dinners are easier than the fresh fruit I or all the above.

Ann Hartwig 1:24 It's really a combination of everything. And so the science on this is so interesting in that there's, there are different components that that go into it. And so certainly, as we're all sheltering in place, working out of our homes, we're just not as active. You know, pre covid, certainly this was also an issue. And just we didn't always get the exercise that that we need and that that heart really needs to to, to be worked out and so to get cardiovascular activity every day. Sometimes we're just too busy to fit that in. But on top of that, then it's the food choices that we make. And so really, being of a healthy weight is is 80% diet and about 20% physical activity. And so if you think about all of the foods that you eat every day, and sometimes you think, well, this is not as unhealthy as you know, as it could be, like those extra calories, and where those calories come from can certainly be problematic. And you know, so really, it's, it's the fast foods, it's the chips that we might have at lunch, it's, it's all of those things. And then we oftentimes don't get as much water as as we could. So my co workers kind of joke about going from, you know, coffee to wine, and there's no water in the middle. And so, you know, sometimes really need to focus on on the fluid consumption as well. But then there's also, you know, more, you know, more medical factors. And so some of us have either disabilities or, you know, genetic conditions that that might impact our weight as well. And so really, it's a, it's a whole mix of things that really complicate obesity,

Robert Plank 3:10 okay? And so something that you mentioned that stuck out to me was you said that there was something along the lines of, you know, with covid Now we're staying at home, and it feels like, with all this covid stuff, it's just it's brought to light a lot of things that were already there to begin with. But just that we're not we're just now realizing, like, when people like, there's always discussions about like, well, how dangerous is covid? Well, only if you have one of these extremely commonplace, pre existing comorbidities, like the the obesity and even even slightly so. And what it reminds me of, too, is I used when I had a nine to five jobs, like 12 years ago, I used to walk to work. It was like a mile each way. And then as soon as I started working from home, I feel like I gained 1015 pounds overnight. And then I had to make it a habit. I had to, like, purposefully say when I wake up before doing anything else, I'll go for this walk around, this kind of 30 minute stretch. And I noticed that on the days, and I still I'm not great on doing it every day, but on the days I miss it. The brain just doesn't quite work, and I don't feel as physically active. And I feel like a lot of people who are now kind of doing the sheltering in place or maybe having to go through that transition of there are things that maybe we we did to begin with, just to like, get to work or get to wherever, but now that the schedules thrown a little bit out of whack, we need to maybe be a little bit more conscious. And so you mentioned things like the fast food and the water being maybe, like, easy things, like easy wins we can go after. And so, like, how much water? Because I always hear about, like, the eight or the 10 glasses, which seems like a lot. And then with the fast food, I'm never sure. Like, is once a week, okay? Is once a month? Okay? Or is it have to be like, none. Like, what's okay? As far as the. Acid in the water.

Ann Hartwig 5:02 So really, everything is is good in moderation, you know. So certainly water intake, you know, there are some diets out there that that want you to drink one gallon every day, and that can be a little bit extreme, and you can actually flush out nutrients when you drink that much. So a good rule of thumb is to take your your body weight, cut that in half, and drink that many ounces every day. And so let's just say that you're 200 pounds, you should be drinking 100 ounces of water every day. Is just quick math for you. And so that that's a good rule of thumb, certainly, if, if you know you you have, like, a, you know, Camelback water bottle that you have sitting there. Maybe you you set an alarm on your phone to actually get up and and refill that. Not only do you get some steps and in the process, but then you also get some more water in that, certainly with, with regards to food, you know, there's, we're all very, very busy in life and and so certainly, there's going to be times where we have to eat out or that it's just, you know, you're just too tired to come home and make dinner and do all that. And you know, so you know, certainly thinking about healthier fast food options, you know, versus burger and fries. Is there a grilled chicken option? Can you do that with, you know, with, with her or without bread. And so really kind of thinking about it from that perspective as well. So not to say that you have to cut anything out, you know, because it seems like when we start to cut stuff out, we start to crave it more. And so, like, I, you know, like, I wouldn't want people to think, am I gonna? I can't have this because you're just, you're just going to want it more, but to think about it in terms of moderation. So if you think about, you know, you if you're someone that loves to have, you know, carbohydrates, other rices or pastas, maybe you have one serving size, and you actually weigh that out, like on a food scale, so you understand what one serving size is, because oftentimes we eat two and three serving sizes without even realizing that that's what we're doing. And so it is taking a really mindful approach to to how you eat and what you eat,

Robert Plank 7:09 yeah, and it's, it seems like, so we're kind of on this theme here, of, there's the moderation, and then also the awareness. And I mean, I can't, I feel kind of ignorant, because up until a few years ago, I didn't even know how much like, 200 calories was or 500 calories was. Once, suddenly now that there's like, late like, calorie labels on so many things now, even in restaurants, I'm like, okay, like 50 calories and 100 calories is not much, but if I have like, 1000 calories in a meal, that That's huge, that's maybe too much. And what you're making me think of too is that the wife and I, we've definitely these last few years, cut down on the fast food, but many times we'll get, like, just the burger, right, won't get the fries, or won't get the drink, and then we'll have like a salad on the side, or have like, water as the drink instead. And it's like, I feel like I'm kind of on the right track there. Like you said, if you go to extremes, if you cut all of it out, or if you cut down the things you like, then it's like you're, you're, you're, I don't know, being miserable. And he also might fall off the wagon, even worse than then. Then, you know when, then when you started. And so all this, first of all, talking about all this is kind of making me hungry, but also it makes me curious about kind of your own personal journey. Like, was this the kind of thing that that like you've gone through? Have you have any kind of struggles? And I mean, I feel like we all kind of have our own struggles to a certain extent. But how has this affected you personally?

Ann Hartwig 8:35 Interestingly enough, that you know, like I am someone that is is a small stature, so I sit on about a five foot, five inch frame. And at one point I was 230 pounds, and so that that's a lot of weight to carry around on a five foot, five inch frame. I mean, if you're, you know, six foot three, maybe it's not a big deal, you know. And like I have, I have struggled with my weight my entire life. And a few years ago, I was walking upstairs and I was out of breath, and I thought, wow, like, I just walked up seven stairs and I'm out of breath. And it was a it was a terrifying thing, you know, like, the the weight so much is not the worst piece of it. Like, you know, lots of people live with extra weight, and that isn't what kills you. It's all the other things that that go alongside it. So it's it's the not exercising, it's the poor diet that that then stack on top of that weight that make your body have to work harder for what it needs to do, and so walking up seven stairs and being out of breath was terrifying to me, and I also look at at my family history, and my mom has has forever struggled with this, and she's in poor health now for a whole host of reasons, not just this, but like I just had this flash forward to 20 years. From now, and I'm like, Oh my goodness. Like, what is life going to be like? And it terrified the crap out of me, really. And so really, I made that decision right then and there, that I needed to do something and through diet and exercise. And it took a while, but I lost about 85 pounds. For people that have extreme weight loss, about 80 to 90% of that population actually regain the weight, you know, because you come at it from from a perspective of cut everything out, and at some point, the brain wants what it wants, and you're hungry and you want to eat, and so you start to build back in some of the poor habits that you worked so hard to get rid of, and so some of the weight starts to come back. And so it is very much a just a just a struggle to maintain. You know, one of the things that I think would have helped me five years ago is this, is, if I had never had the mindset of I've gotten to where I need to be, and now I can relax. I think that you know health and how you want to live is a lifelong journey, and it's not something that you're going to reach a certain destination and it's going to be done. You're always going to be on that path to live your best life and and if, if we can keep that in mind, I think that it makes the perspective just different, and it keeps us focused on where we want to go.

Robert Plank 11:29 Well, that's great, and that's I think, I think we can relate to a lot of that, especially the like, the difference between like, the weight, which is just a number, versus like, how you feel, and how there's that, there's that tendency to say, oh my gosh, my weight is here. I need to get it down there. But then will you be sabotaging yourself in the long term, and maybe, like, gaining the weight back and then some by just like, pursuing this one time goal, or, I mean, I think we all know someone who had a weight loss goal and then hit the goal and then just like, took a break and stopped. It's like, well, hang on, you need to kind of keep those, those habits going. And so like, Do you have any personal I mean, I know we already mentioned a few, like, kind of, like, easy tricks or hacks or whatever. But like, do you have anything that that you think has been really helpful? Because sometimes you hear about things like, like, have the smaller plates, or like, do intermittent fasting, or things like that. Like, do you have anything? Anything that comes to mind, as far as like, things that are like unique to you, or that are like, like tips that you specifically like a lot, as far as like, the exercise, diet habits, the mental game, all that stuff,

Ann Hartwig 12:41 absolutely so there's, there's a couple different things. First of all, I meal prep every week. And most people that hear that think, Oh, my goodness, you spend like, six hours in the kitchen twice a week to do this. And I don't like I've, I've built efficiency around it, where I can actually meal prep for the week and about an hour and a half. And so really, what that entails is understanding what I'm going to have for breakfast, what I'm going to have for snacks, what I'm going to have for for lunches and and what's for dinner. And I do this very, very easily. And so I actually write it all out, and I actually post it on our fridge. And you know, so I know what I'm doing, but even as I sit here in my office, like, I'll sometimes bring up my actual lunch bag that has a ice pack in it, but it's got all my food in there, so that way I know, like, I don't have to go downstairs and stare at the chips that my kids are going to eat this afternoon. Like, I can just literally, you know, pull out my next meal and, you know, sit here and eat that. You know, one of the other things that I do, like, you know, many of us are sheltering in place, but we used to have commutes. And whether you commuted for an hour or an hour and a half or whatever, you know, if you spend 30 minutes and institute a morning commute, maybe you go for a two mile walk. And so, like, that's a great way to get some steps in, to get some fresh air. And it's the same thing that you would have done anyway, had you been going to an office right now anyway. So it's, it's sort of like a great, you know, sort of a way to get exercise in. Also, like, I, you know, I have a corporate job, and my conference calls are typically stacked all day long. I will actually schedule maybe 15 minutes of just downtime, and I'll go and do like, 20 push ups, 20 squats, 20 sit ups, you know, and just do that maybe three times during the day. And that's, that's also, it's a good way to get in extra movement.

Robert Plank 14:45 That's all really great. And that's a good reminder to that it's basically impossible to to fit everything in, right, to maximize and, like, fill up that whole schedule. And I really like the way that that you put that, that, you know, we used to have a morning commute, and then now the. We're at at home, where you can still have that kind of self imposed structure throughout the day. And again, you're making me think back to when I when I first started working from home. I remember my very first day, my very first morning. My girlfriend, at the time had not yet. She was like, off going to work in a little bit after that, but I was getting dressed, and she said, Well, if I was working from home, I would just stay in my pajamas all day. And I said, Well, if I did, I'd feel sluggish, I'd feel all sweaty, and I wouldn't take it seriously. There's something to be said about if you used to take 30 minutes to drive to work and listen to the radio or music or podcast, just keep that going and used to, you know, clean yourself and bathe yourself and put on day clothes. Why not do the same thing, if nothing else, just for your own kind of mental well being,

Ann Hartwig 15:50 absolutely. And you know, what's interesting is that is that I actually put on, you know, workout clothes. Like, maybe I'll put on, like a sweater and so, you know, so I'm not sitting here in like a T shirt, but, like, I'll actually put on workout clothes because it's a, it's a good reminder of, yes, I need to get movement during the day, you know, so that that kind of gives me that excuse of, I'm not going to put clean workout clothes in in my laundry tonight, like, I want to go out and sweat and do something and, you know, earn that workout. So that's also just a just a really great tip to make sure that you get some movement in during the day.

Robert Plank 16:26 Well, cool, and it seems like our conversation is kind of like moving more and more into like, the brain, the mental side of things. And I noticed that you coach people. You help people to like, achieve their goals and develop good habits. What do you have for us in that territory. What do you have to say about, like, being organized and creating goals? Because, I mean, it's, it all seems kind of interconnected, right? Like, not only with the workout on the diet, but you're mentioning, like, you know, meal prep, so there is some kind of time management in there. So, I mean, what do you have for us in the kind of the goal setting region,

Ann Hartwig 16:59 you know? So, you know, goals are very important. And you know, because how do you know where you want to go? Unless you physically, like, maybe, you know, map it out, write it down. And, you know, like, I love the SMART acronym, so specific, measurable, action oriented, you know, the like, you know, to create a SMART goal is going to really incorporate all of those things. You know, the the important thing, I think, is, is to not be unrealistic. And so, you know, let's just say that that you want, you know that you have a goal to get more sleep every night. You know, if you're currently getting four to five hours, you're not going to jump to getting 10 hours of sleep every night. It's just not going to happen. So maybe you want to start small and say, Okay, well, you know, I really want to, like, get six and a half hour sleep or seven hour sleep, and so then to kind of back into that and think, What do I need to do in order to make that happen? Because that's going to be really like a lifestyle switch. So maybe you can't be watching TV at midnight if you have to be at work at 7am so how you know? How do you back into that? The the goal process is, is really important, but also understanding how you're going to get there, like some of us just say, Well, you know, I want to do this. And they think that it's that it's that it's going to happen, we have to think about, you know, what it is that that goal actually means, why it's really important to us to be able to do that, and to think how, how we're going to do it. So to build out, like a, like a roadmap. So in, in some situations, people want to lose 20 pounds. So let's think about how, how we're going to do that, and what's currently in our lives. That is, is really prohibiting us from doing that today, and we can start to make healthy choices. You know, part of this is, is having some realistic perspective about what you can do and the timeframes in which you can do it, like you're not going to lose 10 pounds in a week. So, you know, like, if you lose one to two pounds, and even two pounds is on that upper limit, you know? So you would, you really want to set realistic goals on what it is that that you want to accomplish, but build out that roadmap for how you're going to get there. Like, the mind is an incredible thing, and it's, it's amazing at how much our perspective and our outlook impacts what we do every single day. And so, you know, the message is to not beat yourself up over times where you're anxious, or maybe times where you feel like you're not doing your best to meet your goals, like we all all go through stress. And right now with covid, it's it's so much more because, you know, so many of us are having to be homeschool teachers, and we're dealing with sick relatives, and we're trying to work full time, and there's a lot going on. And so to be patient with yourself and understand that, you know, yes, you're going to get there. It is one step at a time.

Robert Plank 19:56 I like that a lot. Give yourself a break, and I. Even this morning, I was even thinking, because, like, I mean, with we all feel like we're falling behind in so many different ways. But even this morning, I was thinking, Okay, well, am I at least making progress every day? And maybe it's a matter of, maybe it's slower progress than I would like. But like you said, not beating ourselves up about it and and you're so right that that whole thing with smart goals, that simple, measurable, actionable, relevant, time bound, it's so helpful. And even like, the you're kind of emphasizing the the A and the R, right, the the actionable, like, Am I like, are there specific things I'm doing that maybe are like, easy wins to get me there and then relevant? Are they connected to my other goals, so that we were just, you know, cutting out one or two things out of the diet, putting in a little bit of the the exercise, and kind of easing into it. That way, we don't just crash and fall back into the the old habits that they were just, you know, like, kind of like you said, giving ourselves a break and then slowly getting there and maybe not catastrophizing things and over exaggerating things. If it's really not, it's a little bad, but it's not really like that bad. And so this is like so much for us to think about. This is such great stuff, and I want to make sure that we let people know how to contact you, why they should be contacting you, and what sorts of problems are we solving here?

Ann Hartwig 21:25 Sure, so, so right now, you know it was interesting is that I'm actually finishing my my doctorate. It's a Doctor of Education in in health and human performance, and I'm also doing a coaching certification, and so certainly a lot of knowledge and insight from from those two areas. I actually have a have a website called healthfulliving.net and so certainly you can check that out. It's healthfulliving.net there's contact information for me there both email and cell phone number. So certainly reach out there. My LinkedIn pages still is set up currently under, it's my my corporate page, and so I, you know, by day, currently I'm an HR manager. And so you'll, you'll be able to find me there. It's just under Ann Hartwig, and certainly there's, you know, contact information for me there as well. Would love to reach out and to talk really, my my passion is really around health and fitness and but certainly, because of my vast HR background, I definitely have some some good insights to share on, you know, career development, career pathing, change management, business consultation, all of those things. So by all means, reach out.

Robert Plank 22:53 Fantastic. And so that is Ann Hartwig on LinkedIn. That's a n, n, H, A, r, t, w, I, G, and healthfulliving.net and if you're the kind of person that knows that things can't continue in this direction, you want that change. You are looking to grow that career. Maybe you're looking for for health coaching or something along those lines, then reach out to Anne on LinkedIn and@healthfulliving.net so as we wrap up, wind down here, and do you think that there's, there's any last minute information to fit in here, in these last couple of minutes? Anything you think that we left out that just so important it has to go at the very tail end of this episode?

Ann Hartwig 23:37 You know, I just, I, I feel like, you know, each of us have our own challenges, and each of us is really struggling in our own way, and but we're all very smart people, and sometimes navigating our own journeys is is difficult because we're just too close to it. So, you know, so sometimes it helps to have someone to just kind of, you know, bounce ideas off of or to talk with certainly, I think that that the answers that we need to find are all within us. It's just a matter of how we get them out. And so certainly happy to to, you know, help you navigate any of those challenges.

Robert Plank 24:18 I love it awesome. And you're so right. Sometimes we just need to talk to some other person, get the words out, get the ideas out. We already have the answer. We just might need someone else's nudging to get it out. So Anne Hartwig on LinkedIn and healthful living.net we will see you there. And thank you, Anne, for stopping by and for being real and personal with us and sharing this some things that we really need and and maybe it's been a long time coming for some people. So thank you.

Ann Hartwig 24:43 Thank you so much for helping, for having me. Appreciate it.

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