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Healthy Lifestyle Tips For Your Very Busy Life...

With Michele Riechman & Samia Bano

To connect with Michele, visit:

Have you put your #selfcare on the back burner because of your very #busylife?

Listen now to this interview with Michele Riechman, #personaltrainer, #healthcoach & #yogateacher, to learn how you can create a #healthylifestyle with fun and ease!

Note: As a very busy #workingmom of 4 kids, Michele shares invaluable life wisdom that will help you finally get in shape, optimize your metabolism, and lose weight for good without dieting. 

To learn even more, check out Michele's "Healthy Beyond 40" Podcast at: https://www.micheleriechman.com/podcast

You can also connect with Michele at:https://www.facebook.com/groups/micheleleefitness

#busylife #healthylifestyles #healthylifestyletips #selfcaretips #selfcareisnotselfish #SelfCareMatters #busylifestyle #HealthyLifestyleHabits #busylifehacks #busylifebalance #healthylifestylesolutions #selfcaretipsformoms #busylives

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ABOUT SAMIA:

Samia Bano is the #HappinessExpert, author, speaker, podcaster & coach for coaches and healers. Samia is most known for her book, 'Make Change Fun and Easy' and her #podcast of the same name. With the help of her signature Follow Your Heart Process™, a unique combination of #PositivePsychology and the spiritual wisdom of our most effective #ChangeMakers, Samia helps you overcome #LimitingBeliefs, your chains of fear, to develop a #PositiveMindset and create the impact and income you desire with fun and ease…

Samia’s advanced signature programs include the Happiness 101 Class and the Transformative Action Training.

Samia is also a Certified #ReikiHealer and Crisis Counselor working to promote #MentalHealthAwareness.

Samia models #HeartCenteredLeadership and business that is both #SociallyResponsible and #EnvironmentallyFriendly.

Samia is a practicing #Muslim with an inter-spiritual approach. As someone who has a love and appreciation for diversity, she is a #BridgeBuilder between people of different faiths and cultures.

Although Samia currently lives in California, USA, she has lived in 3 other countries and speaks Hindi, Urdu, and English fluently.

To Book your Free HAPPINESS 101 EXPLORATION CALL with Samia, click: tps://my.timetrade.com/book/JX9XJ

Full Interview Transcript

SAMIA: Hello, Salaam, Shalom, Namaste, Sat Sri Akal, Aloha, Holah, Ciao, Bonjour, Buna, and Privet! It's really, really good to be with you again. And I know you'll be happy you have joined us today because we have a very cool guest. It's Michele Riechman, who is a Personal Trainer, Health Coach and Yoga Teacher. That is so cool... Welcome, Michele…

MICHELE: Thank you so much for having me here today…

SAMIA: Yes. And Michele, please tell us more about who you are and what you do…

MICHELE: Yeah. So in addition to my credentials you gave there, I'm also a mom of four. So my life is very busy, so I like to keep things simple… and that’s how my journey started on how I work with people because I love helping women find really simple ways to get healthy and do it without dieting. So really working on changing their habits, finding an exercise that's quick and effective, so that they can start to put these pieces together of their health in a way that feels good and that is easier…

SAMIA: Yes. Well, we love easy... We're all about make change fun and easy... 

MICHELE: Yes, yes. I love that…

SAMIA: Yes. Oh, I'm so happy to have you with us. So tell me more... You mentioned you're a mom of four. Wow, that's amazing... 

MICHELE: Yeah…

SAMIA: What would you say has been, like, in your experience, one of the big challenges that you have faced as a mom and just a very busy person in general, in terms of taking care of yourself?

MICHELE: Yeah, yeah… I started, I have two stories I would love to share today. The first one starts a little over 10 years ago. So my husband, he was active duty, he is now. But we kept waiting to have our next child. And then we finally… he got a six-month deployment, he got notification of it. So we're like, "Okay, we'll try." So all within 48 hours, we got pregnant, they changed his deployment from six months to a year, which means he wouldn't be there for the baby. And then his brother also passed away. So it was a really, really hard 48 hours… And so we had to really take some time... Like, we had a couple of months left before he was going to leave… and really being able to like work through some of that hard stuff. But how can we also enjoy this time that we had left with him because I also had a daughter at the time. So we wanted her to enjoy her dad before she wouldn't see him for a year. And I reached out to a friend. And I remember, just like bawling my eyes out. And I'm not one who cries that much. But being able to like release some of that and have someone like point me in a good direction with hope was really helpful. And then I also used yoga, because yoga is such a great way to move our bodies, to relieve stress, but also to really calm the body... So when we start doing yoga, and we're doing that deep breathing, and we're stretching and we're moving, we can start to bring down those stress hormones that are in our body. And I also read more of my Bible and did more prayer. And that helped to start to shift my mind to… and it was really a time of growth for me. So that was one of probably the hardest times of my life but where I felt like I really came out well… in the year he was gone, I don't look back at it as a bad year. I got to spend time with my family. And, you know, through using these different tools of self-care, to do yoga, to walk, to move, to talk with friends and all that really helped me to get through that time…

SAMIA: Wow, that definitely was very intense and full year, like, in terms of everything that was going on for you. And I'm so happy to hear that you were able to find some support and sense of direction in terms of how to help yourself in that, in that context... Tell me more about the yoga part. Like, so many times I hear people talking about yoga here, like in America, it's like they're talking about just, you know, like, any other form of exercise. And I don't know if Americans always have the knowledge and understanding of what makes yoga really unique and special… And you gave some, I think, some perspective on that in what you were just sharing, and I'm just wondering if you have any, anything more you would like to share…

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MICHELE: Yeah, yeah... So yoga for the most part is very different in America. And so I use yoga in two different ways. So one, I do you use it for an exercise. So to build my muscles, to stretch my muscles, to work on my balance. And at that same time, when I'm doing that, I'm still working on my deep breathing… and it really puts a lot together for a good workout. But also, the other piece is using yoga for that deep breathing… you can use it as a time of prayer… and really sometimes stretching your body… So having a little bit of movement with deep breathing can really be a calming practice to help reset your nervous system. So depending on what I need, I use it for either one of those. So just this week, a couple days ago, I'm like, I knew I needed to have a more calming practice. So for me, that looks like stretching and deep breathing… but I'm the type of person that I also just feel better mentally if I'm moving a little bit too. So I don't necessarily have to have my muscles burning or working out hard. But if I'm just moving a little bit, I think it just helps to keep me a little more focused. And that just feels good to me. And I think it goes also back to the idea of really noticing what works for you, and what's calming to your nervous system. And really figuring that out. Because everybody is a little bit different… like, someone may want some like classical or relaxing music when they want yoga. Maybe you don't want anything, maybe you want to do it outside… there's so many different ways you can do things. And at different times you're gonna find different things are more calming to you.

SAMIA: That's a really excellent point. I mean, there's definitely, I think, as a person, in general, you may have things that work better for you. But then there's also sometimes a matter of the time that you are going through, in that moment, where different techniques may work better for you. I know like for me, as an Indian, who actually lived in India, first eight years of my life, anyway… you know, yoga is a huge part of our culture. And I remember, like, even as a little kid, you know, learning about yoga postures. So for example, you know, like, I took these things very much for granted in terms of like being able to sit in the proper lotus position and being able to do certain other stretches and postures. And/but like you said, it wasn't just about the physical postures… to understand that it's really one of the main goals of yoga as, as a practice of the tradition, certainly in, in the Indian cultural context, has been to, you know, like, help us, you know, create that sense of union between mind and body and spirit. And so to see yoga as not just any other form of exercise, but really, to have those additional aspects of, you know, the breathing and how that awareness and coordination of body movement and breath actually does impact your mind… and using that to sort of help us learn better focus and more calmness… and eventually, you know, as you go deeper and deeper in the practice, it's also about, you know, developing… like, you know, when you are more calm and relaxed, really, it's like, you don't want to be just calm and relaxed for the purpose of being calm and relaxed. But to recognize that when you're more calm and relaxed, you're also more open from a spiritual perspective to receiving spiritual love and guidance. And you know… so there's just like, so much meaning and depth to it… to that practice for me. And I'm so happy to hear that, you know, you connect to so much of that as well.

MICHELE: Yeah, I really have found deep breathing to just be so helpful for so many areas of life. Once you really learn how to take a deep breath and like, let that belly rise, instead of it just being a breath from your chest… that can be more shallow or anxiety… when you really learn how to do that deep, slow breath, it can be so helpful because you don't have to necessarily be on a yoga mat. You know, if your kids are stressing you out, or maybe someone said something mean to you, it's so easy to just take a deep breath, and it really resets your mind… you know, I like to tell my kids, for those who can see I'm making a fist with my hand and my thumb is on the inside. And when we're stressed or anxious, I say we flip our lid. So my four fingers just went up, and we just sort of see that thumb. And we can't use our thinking brain. So we have to, like, calm ourselves calm our mind to get our thinking brain back on. And deep breathing, I think is one of the like the easiest ways to do that…

SAMIA: Yes, yes, exactly. And actually, in the context of yoga wisdom, when you have better body posture, it actually also helps you breathe better. So it's like the thing, the things that you learn in the yoga context, they sort of all work together and support each other…

MICHELE: Yeah, yeah… your posture… how your chest is up or down, or your shoulders are rounded or forward, can… can change how you take that deep breath and how your lungs work… and even how like the mobility you have in your ribs and your lungs in your chest, how that moves, how you can breathe…

SAMIA: Yes, yes... And also, just wow… you're making me think about so many different lessons I've learned… you know, there's also the idea of, you know, like… we're not just physical beings... Yoga also recognizes that we are also energetic beings. And so just in the context of how the energy flows through our body, and what are more optimal ways of energy flow, those are also impacted. So just like at a physical level, your posture can either hinder or improve your breathing, just by, you know, like, for example, having that more open posture frees your chest to and your stomach to expand and contract… in a similar way that more physically open posture is actually also a more energetically open posture in terms of allowing that energy to flow more optimally through your body. And so again, you know, it has that more enhanced, calming, and relaxing impact, whether you look at it from the energy perspective or the physical perspective…

MICHELE: Yeah, and sort of like a little science to go with that, you know, I think our heart is electrical... So there's like energy going through our body because I think a lot of us don't really know that here in the US, or we don't think of that. And then also, we were at... I've seen this in two different places, we were at a science museum. And there was this thing you can put both your hands on, and it shows how the current goes through your body… you take one hand off, the current doesn't go… but I could stand there with my child hold one of his hands, he holds the others, and we're making this chain. And you can see the current goes through our body once we break that… and you could keep adding people. So even scientifically, there's this link… energy, electrical current in our bodies… and even in the sense of, if we think, if we cross our arms in front of our chests, like, we're sort of closed off… and we have these different postures we do throughout the day that sort of show our energy and how we are to.

SAMIA: Yeah, oh my gosh, thinking about different postures throughout the day makes you think about, wow… like for example, when we were learning chair yoga postures, or I should say, I was learning yoga postures… Those are, I mean, I think some of my favorites because especially in the last few years, I've been spending so much of my time just sitting in front of my computer, on my desk, and sometimes, you know, I don't have a lot of time or space to be able to, you know, go and put out that yoga mat on the floor and just stretch out in that kind of, in that kind of way. But you know, you don't have to feel restricted in those ways when it comes to yoga. Because yeah, you can like, really literally do different kinds of postures, whether you're sitting or standing or lying down. So can you maybe give us some tips around that? Like, how you help people incorporate yoga, or other forms of exercise, in the context of a busy workday?

MICHELE: Yeah. So as I said, I have four kids. And that is sort of how this idea of doing quick and shorter workout started. Because after I had the third kid, I was just really struggling. I wasn't making time for myself. I had actually like, sort of lost my pregnancy weight. And then I was starting to gain weight… like, what's going on? And then I remember going up a flight of stairs and just being out of breath. And I'm like, I'm way too young for this. But I couldn't really see how I could do this. How can I make time for myself and trying to feed these kids, keep them alive, clean the house… there's just a lot going on... And then it got me thinking… if I just need to go up this flight of stairs, I don't need to work out for super long. And I think a lot of times change does not seem fun because we over complicate it… but if we can keep it simple and uncomplicate it… Like, can I just do five or 10 minutes to start with... And that's what I did. I started with some 10-minute workouts, and then I built up from there. And at the most I only do 30 minutes. And I like to walk in addition to that, but not necessarily fast like a workout. So you can keep it really simple and do really short workouts. And I always recommend people when they're starting, first, pick something you enjoy. So if that's just turning on some music and dancing, or it's going to class, figure out what it is you're gonna enjoy, because that's what's gonna get that momentum going and get you started. And then once you got that momentum going, really think what are your goals… if you want to put on strength, or if you're having achy knees, and you really want to build that strength or flexibility around your knee… doing workout specific for that to help with your goal… but sort of get started first and keep it short. Keep it quick and keep it fun.

SAMIA: Yeah... You're actually reminding me of some research I read a few years ago, where they were talking about how, according to the latest research, they found that actually doing exercises in short periods of time… like seven… I think it was like seven to 10-minute chunks of time… is actually just as a fact of as doing like a really like a long workout. So like, like you were saying… if the goal is like 30 minutes a day. And I think the research was also talking about how for most people, like, if your goal is to maintain good health, 30 minutes is sufficient. And you don't have to do all 30 minutes at one time… you could chunk it up into 7-to-10-minute or so chunks... And that's just as effective.

MICHELE: Yeah, yeah. And especially when it comes to the metabolism and people looking to lose weight... and I don't know if this might be what you found… Typically when people do cardio, and they're doing it for a long time, a big chunk of people… think this was a study… a big chunk of people did not lose weight. A very small piece did. And the very small piece also gained weight. Because when we do cardio, and we're pushing ourselves hard, we're losing a lot of calories in a short amount of time. And what that does to our metabolism is, like, hey, we need to refuel. And people typically… the hormones that make us feel hungry get kicked up, and we want to eat more because our body wants to refill all that we just lost so quickly. So HIIT workouts, high-intensity interval training, you can still get a little bit of that cardio, but again, like that 10 minute is good, but you're working hard and you're taking a rest… working hard and taking a rest. And they actually found in some of these studies that doing the short interval training where you're working at your max and you're resting, and overall you're doing it for a short time, had the same or sometimes even better than someone doing like a long cardio workout. So, again, I mean when you go to look at the science, you don't have to do a long run or a long bike ride or anything like that.

SAMIA: Yeah, yeah. And I mean, especially… now I’m thinking about the relationship between food and exercise... I seem to remember one of doctors that I was talking to… I actually went with my family to a health center. And the goal that we had was to learn about how to take better care of our health, particularly in the context of eating better, but also exercise and sleep. And I think one of the doctors or trainers over there, was talking about how… like, to think about exercise as a way of losing weight, in a direct sense, for most people is not really going to work. Because if you think about… like, losing weight through like exercise, in the direct sense, you have to be like, okay, then I have to burn more calories than I consume. But if you start calculating… like the number of hours of exercise or the intensity at which you would have to do different kinds of exercise to burn the… all the calories that a typical person would eat on a typical day, that you need as part of a healthy diet, most people are not actually going to be able to meet that requirement. But he said, but that doesn't mean that exercise is not helpful. You do need to absolutely do exercise and have it be part of your self-care and healthcare routine. And it's a very important companion to eating healthy. But it's not in the very… always in the very direct sort of ways that most people think… It's more about, you know, like the overall regulation of your metabolic system… And, you know, maintaining flexibility and tone… and, you know, these other benefits to exercise. So…

MICHELE: Yeah, I agree with that. And I like to tell people, you know, our bodies are meant to move, and we live in this really sedentary society. So we really want to move a lot. So that means walking around our house… walking outside… and I don't mean walking fast, just walking. So we want to move a lot. And we want to actually exercise a little… because sort of like when you're saying when we start to exercise a lot, that actually can lower our metabolism. So when we exercise, we want to exercise very targeted to… so I tend to favor stuff that does strength training, because it helps to put on muscle mass, it helps to build our bones, that helps our metabolism… and especially as women are getting older, and you're getting hormone changes, building muscle is really key as you age. But it should really be a small part, and you can't outrun what you're putting in your mouth. And so, you know, if you're eating a bunch of cookies, or bagels, or just overeat in general, you can't go out and run and just burn off all those calories. And I think the whole idea of, you know, we consume this many calories, and we're burning that many… there's so many more things that go into it. It's not like this simple equation like that… for example, when we consume protein, it… our body takes more energy to break that protein down. So we don't necessarily consume all of those calories. So maybe it's 100 calories of chicken that we're eating, but we're not consuming all those… But it is like… a piece of bread… our body… it's already broken down, our body is going to ingest all those calories. So it's not always this, like, complete equal sign with our metabolism, like, we sort of have thought for a while.

SAMIA: Yeah. Oh my gosh. That's a really great insight, also... yeah, and another way to sort of think about the complexity of the relationship between food and exercise and losing weight and all of that. Wow... That is such an excellent point. So to tell me more…

MICHELE: Yeah, yeah… let's see... We'll talk about the metabolism just a little bit more, because I think we hear that word and, you know, we don't know what it means. And it sort of goes back to that, I eat this, I have to burn off that. But there's all these other things that can affect our metabolism… sort of, like I was saying, with the cardio, when we do long, a long thing of cardio, it's actually going to slow our metabolism down. So we need to be aware of these other pieces. Like I was also saying the types of food that you eat… whether you're eating more protein, or like quick carbs, or more complex carbs, is going to affect how your metabolism works. And then also the way your blood sugar is impacted by the way you eat. And that affects your metabolism and hormones. And there's all these, like, things going on in our body that we're not aware of, and all these systems together, that can really impact how we feel… and the energy… and if we're energized or not, you know. If we don't start our day with a good breakfast, then we may have a little energy right after we eat, and then that energy may dip. So really starting to put these different pieces together so that you can feel better and that your body is working like it was designed to.

SAMIA: Yeah, yeah. You know, you mentioned earlier also… the word hormone… sort of, like triggered in my mind a thought about… Actually, we were talking about this in my family, just like the other day… My dad, you know, he loves… he's the person in my family who sort of does all the research and like, you know, then he… it was because of him we went to the health center in the first place and all that. But anyway, this latest bit of research or insight that he was sharing with us, was related to how, you know, historically, a lot of the research that got done was, you know, by men, and on men. And it didn't take into account how women's bodies are different, and therefore, the needs of women are different. And the strategies for creating change for women need to be different. Because, you know, like, hormones, you know, it's just one aspect of how, you know, our bodies work differently as women, you know. So I was wondering if you had any more you could share with us in terms of how, especially for women, what they can do differently, to help ourselves…

MICHELE: Yeah, things are different for women. And one thing that I think is a little bit of a buzz topic right now is like fasting. And you know, some people doing those longer fasting… but if for a woman who is still cycling, her body is trying to, you know, produce each month, so it wants energy. So sometimes women who are still cycling may not do as well with fasting. And there's so many different types of fast. So especially like, with those more extreme ones, it can put their body under stress, and then that can shut down our reproduction. So that's like an impact that doesn't happen with men. The other big thing that happens with women is… we sort of, we also use more stuff, different lotions, different things we're putting on our body, or makeup, and we can absorb more toxins and chemicals. And there's a really big… autoimmune issues are way higher in women. And that's like one piece of it. But we do have these different bodies and different hormones, and there's a different impact that happens. And I think it always goes back to the idea of really noticing what's happening in your body. And if you're starting to try something new, noticing, like, am I actually feeling better? So if you're trying a different way of eating, or maybe you're tinkering with what you're eating for breakfast… really tracking how you're feeling, what's happening in your body… and sometimes there's going to be that short term, you may see a difference and there's also sometimes that long term… so it may take a while for some things to catch up with you. If you you know, aren't eating enough it may take a while for that to catch up with you… but also keep in mind I know that short-term and that long-term picture in mind. And then with women, you also get to sort of that perimenopause, which is before menopause, and then and in menopause. And you're just having really big hormone changes here. And some people like to call it like the second puberty, because, you know, when you first go through puberty as a kid, your hormones can be really up and down. And that's why sometimes you might see more dramatic symptoms. And that happens as we age too. And keeping in mind… it's a normal part of life, like, that is supposed to happen. And I think sometimes we, like, we don't look at it as that… we think it's terrible, or… and some people can have more symptoms than others, but it's also sort of that natural cycle of our life and something a lot of mammals don't… there's only a few other mammals that go through menopause, you know. And it's something that our bodies are designed to do too.

SAMIA: Yeah... Oh my gosh. I mean, okay, you made me just think of a bunch of things. But, you know, I remember reading about the other mammals. And the fact that there are so few other mammals that go through menopause. And I think I remember correctly, they were saying that one of the reasons that might actually be the case is because of life span issues... In that humans are among the, among the very few mammals that have as much of a lifespan, as we do. I mean, and even in the context of human lifespans, it's actually only in the last, relatively speaking, you know, human history... I don't know, I'm forgetting the stats on… But, you know, like, for example, 2,000 years, for sure… even the human lifespan was much shorter… you know, most people would be dead by the time they were in the 30s or 40s… especially a lot of women would because there was a so much higher rate of women passing away with childbirth and stuff. A lot of women died pretty young. So they died way before they even had the opportunity to hit this phase of our lives where you could experience menopause. And so, you know, like, actually, in some ways, like, I'm thinking, you know, that it's like a blessing if you get to live long enough that you can, you know, go through the experience of this phase of life. Wow... that's actually a really amazing blessing.

MICHELE: Yeah, I love how you put that… that is a great way to look at it too. And I think, you know, especially if you go into menopause in a way that you're, like, taking care of your body, that you're moving it, that you're managing your blood sugar… that becomes an important thing... If you're doing that, you'll typically go through it, you know, with a little bit more ease too. So yeah…

SAMIA: Oh, my gosh. And you know, the other thing that you, you mentioned, that I love to talk about, and we may have to do like a whole other episode on this… but you know, the idea of fasting… because, you know, I'm a Muslim, and in my faith tradition, we do religious fasting. And my family… because I've always lived as part of an observant Muslim family… I grew up, you know, watching, certainly all the adults around me fasting. And even myself, since I was like a little kid, I started practicing how to fast. So I think the very first time, like, I fasted for a whole day… and for us, the whole day means from like sunrise… well, it's technically dawn… dawn to sunset... the very first time in my life I fasted for a whole day, was when I was like, maybe seven years old. And then, you know, by the time I fasted for a whole month, like, every day, from dawn to sunset, of the whole month, I was like 14, maybe 15 years old... And since then, I've been doing that every year without fail. I've never missed a year where I've not fasted for the whole month of our month of fasting from dawn to sunset. And so, you know, like, for me, fasting just became a part of how I live my life and it’s just something that I, like, learned to settle into. And so like, at this point, it doesn't feel hard to me to engage in fasting… like… I mean hard at a physical level… you know, we're always constantly trying to evolve and grow and deepen our experience of fasting. But at a physical level, you know, it does not feel challenging to me anymore. And I have a certain mindset and a relationship with this practice of fasting. But, like I said, we always fasted, or I always fasted, in a religious context for spiritual purposes. And then, you know, after coming to America, like, especially in the recent years, we started hearing about people fasting for health reasons. And what I found was that a lot of times when… especially in the popular culture, when people are talking about fasting, they're talking about using fasting as a weight loss technique. And I'm like… that…. I mean, to me, based on my experience, that didn't make any sense. And then, you know, when I started to look more into this practice of fasting for weight loss… sure enough, like when you look into the research, you start to find all these problems that people report. For example, there… you know, you can lose weight at one level very fast with fasting… at least, like with some kinds of fasting, blah, blah, blah... But then, pretty much you gain the weight back when you resume eating. I'm like, yeah, that totally makes sense to me. I don't know why anyone thinks fasting for weight loss is a good idea.

MICHELE: Yeah, yeah, there is like some good research. Can I ask you… so when you fast from like, sunrise to sunset, do you eat like before the sunrise or after the sunset?

SAMIA: Yes. So you're allowed... we are allowed to eat when the sun's not out, right. So we are encouraged to have like a small light meal before we start fasting… so we actually wake up before dawn, and we were encouraged to eat something and drink definitely, like, drink lots of water, take in fluids at that time… you know, and then we have like this whole… again, if you're being observant… because for us, it's not about giving up food… we don't eat or drink anything, by the way, when we fast. And so for us, it’s for a spiritual purpose. So it's not that we're giving up food and water for its own sake. And so like for us, you know, you don't just get up to eat because you're going to be not eating for the rest of the day. It's just one aspect of, you know, a larger process that we go through in terms of prayer and meditation and, you know, recitation of the Quran, which is our holy scripture and stuff... You know, so there's a whole context. And, you know, and similarly, throughout the day, there's different practices that we're engaging in, that are about, you know, growing yourself spiritually. And so really, you know, you're not really even in a mindset of… like, the focus is not, "Oh, I'm not eating or I'm not drinking"... but rather, the focus is on… Yes, doing all of these other really positive practices to grow spiritually. And then when we do break fast, yes, we do eat. And usually, that's the most fun time…

MICHELE: Yeah.

SAMIA: ...because, you know, the community loves to get together. I mean, they're really gung-ho folks, I mean, that'll get together like at the mosque or in their own family circles, even at the pre-Dawn time... I usually… I'm like, I’m certainly not leaving my house pre-dawn, I don't have that much motivation.

MICHELE: Yeah.

SAMIA: But like, certainly at break fast time I'm like, Yes, I want to go to the mosque or go to, you know, be with community at break fast time in the evening. And so then you know, you're... again, it's not just about… the focus isn't just on the food. It's about being together, and you know, engaging in this practice together, and you know, we support each other in that context. And like for those people for whom fasting is challenging, whether it's at a physical level or mental level, emotional level, spiritual level, then you know, we talk… it's an opportunity for us to talk and learn from each other about how to manage those challenges and improve our ability to fast… you know, so there's like, all of this other stuff going on…

MICHELE: Yeah, yeah, I love how you started that at such a young age. And I almost think wonder if your body gets a little more adjusted to it, especially if you're doing it at a such a young age. But yes, even like Christians, some do, like biblical fasting, too. You know, a little bit different. But definitely, in America, for the most part, when someone hears fasting, they're thinking, weight loss. And I think why it's become a thing is obviously, because we overeat, and we're around so much food, and our bodies are designed to go without food, you know. So one fast that everybody should do is, like, a 12-hour overnight fast. So you know, if you stop eating at eight, you don't eat till eight in the morning, like, even kids… and it just allows your body to rest and digest. But we have all this food at our fingertips that we're snacking at night, and we're doing all this other stuff that leads to us being overweight, leads to hormones not functioning good, our blood sugar getting too high… all these different health problems. So there can be some benefit to doing fasting. And then, you know, there's a bunch of different types of fasting that go up from there. But just for everybody to sort of keep in mind that, you know, our bodies are meant to go a little bit without food… and especially if you think of the way we evolved as hunter-gatherers, and all these things, I mean, we went a lot longer without food than what we're doing now. So those body systems are in our body to be able to go through those times without food… Our body is not designed to be eating all the time. That's, you know, a new modern-century problem that our body hasn't had to deal with before.

SAMIA: Yes, yes… no, I absolutely agree with you. I mean, I appreciate that our bodies do have the capacity to fast, you know, and fast for even longer periods. Like there's other traditions, religious and spiritual… I'm more, you know, familiar with, for example, again, being an Indian… you know, in India, it's not just Muslims who fast... I mean, in India, fasting… there's many communities… like in the context... Like Hindus, for example, are not a monolith… Hindus are a very diverse community of people. And so there's different forms of fasting practiced in different parts of the Hindu community. And, you know, so like, I also like grew up being familiar with the fact that, you know, there's these different forms of fasting… and so for example, in the Hindu tradition, they will do different kinds of fasts that go on much longer than the Muslim fast that's from, you know, basically dawn to… dawn to sunset. And whereas, you know, like some Hindu fasts will be like 24 hours, some of them will be like several days long. Sometimes when they're doing like the several days long or even weeks long sometimes, Hindus will engage in fasting that's weeks long. I mean, we do a whole month of fasting, but when the Hindus do it, and they're doing it weeks long, usually what they do is they have a more restricted diet, as opposed to... So they'll only eat... They're like, just restrict, and there'll be like, we’ll only eat like, for example, raw foods, like fresh fruits or raw veggies, that can be eaten raw. And then they'll maintain that while they're maintained that raw foods diet during the period of fasting, so their body is still getting some nutrition. So you know, you're able to keep functioning. But, you know, at the same time, you know, you're going through this specific kind of fast… But again, you know, in the Hindu community, when people are doing these fasts, it's mostly for religious/spiritual purposes. And it's not about weight loss. Like, we don't… we don't fast... like, I don't know, any religious spiritual tradition where we're, like, fast for weight loss. I mean, that's where I… my mind feels boggled by…

MICHELE: Yeah, I don't think any religion has that part of it. I think that's just a modern, modern-time problem that people then use that tool to help…

SAMIA: Yeah, I think there's maybe like, just, when we think about health, so much of like, the mindset has become focused on weight loss as…

MICHELE: Yeah.

SAMIA: ...the meaning of what it means to be healthy, that even when you think of a practice like fasting, people just sort of don't… or maybe reducing it to the focus on weight loss because weight loss is the primary context within which so many people think about being healthy. And it's like, I think for me, the disconnect is there… that, you know, no, being healthy is about so much more than weight loss…

MICHELE: Yes, yeah... And our culture is so stuck in diets. And, you know, I really try to focus on people… what's a sustainable way to get healthy… because some people do need to lose weight, but we need to do it in a way that's healthy. And when people start following these diets, or like, following a program where you eat, like, six of those companies bars a day… like, that's not sustainable, it's not healthy. But I think people just get caught up into… this is laid out for me. It seems like this is gonna be the easy thing to do… instead of like, eating more fruits and vegetables, you know, focusing on this, like general idea… I think that seems too vague to people to just, like, eat healthy and eat real foods. But that's what we need to shift to when we want like true health in our body… when we want our hormones to function well, our metabolism, our blood, sugar, all these things… we really have to focus on health. And if you have weight to lose, and you're doing it rightly, that will come along with it… but really focusing on health because we want to function and live well. We don't want to be struck down by diabetes or heart disease or all these conditions that pretty much most people, it's from their lifestyle… 

SAMIA: Right, right. Yeah... Oh, man... Michele, I'm having so much fun talking with you. And we need to start wrapping up…

MICHELE: Yes, yeah, this was great. And I just loved our conversation and just the openness about everything.

SAMIA: Oh, thank you, and really appreciate everything that you have shared as well... Do you have any last thoughts, any last words to share with us?

MICHELE: Yeah, just keep it simple. Because when you start to overcomplicate your health, or thinking you need to follow a diet, or you need to sort of do this really difficult thing, you're not going to get there and you're not going to stay there. So starting really small, whether that's those quick workouts I was talking about, or really small on your nutrition… maybe just work on your breakfast, maybe just working on getting a couple more veggies a day. And that's what I like to do with my clients, is just really start in this small sustainable way. And just keep adding from there... And if you guys find this interesting, my podcast will be out when this launches. So it's called "Healthy Beyond 40". And it's sort of focusing on what we're talking about here… really focusing on how to become healthy, put these pieces of nutrition, exercise, and that mind-body connection together… as we're getting older and things are changing, we have aches and pains... And how do we do that in a way that's healthy where we can still lose weight and feel good and get stronger…

SAMIA: I love it... And I can't wait to start listening to your podcast on a regular basis. Actually, you know what? Probably, for those of you who are listening to us right now, I bet... I bet Michele's podcast is already launched and out. So go check it out right now. We'll make sure we include the links for you in the show notes as, well as any other links, so you can connect with Michele, and learn more from her about how to take really good care of yourself and be healthy -- especially if you're really, really busy…

MICHELE: Yes, yes…

SAMIA: Okay, so then, I guess the only other thing I want to say is… I just wish you lots and lots of peace and joy until we connect next time. :)

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