The Health HubIs there a right and wrong way to set goals? How do you maintain your health and fitness in a cost of living crisis?
Tim Beveridge is joined by Kent Johns on The Weekend Collective to discuss all this and more.
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You're listening to the Weekend Collective podcast from News Talks be.
And welcome back to the show. This is the Weekend Collective. I'm Tim Beverage Bob the way, if you missed the Politics Century, you can check out our podcast. We had an interview with with Erik Stanford the Ministry of Education following their terrible stats on year eights and they're how far behind they all are on maths and how the government's going to bring it forward, and also David Carter on the climate, environment and politics, on discussions on race, personal attacks and everything. Fantastic hour, So thanks to them, but you can check it out with you podcasts. Well. Right now it is time for the Health and we want your calls. I WA one hundred eighty ten eighty text two and joining me in the studio from Kent John's Health is hardly did a drum roll. Imagine if it wasn't Kent John's, you've brought some stuff on it with someone else. But anyways, Kent John's high.
Yeah, in three or four or five years, you never know. But at the moment.
It's just me, Yeah, sadly, good to see you, hey, But by the way, loving the Olympics, are you.
Oh yeah, yeah. It always takes me two or three days just to warm until it start to get the routine. But and then you're hooked once. Once you hooked, and then of course you gets sad when it's over.
Yeah, I'm not looking forward to that, but of course we're still it loves to look forward to because we've got our We've got Lisa Carrington and Amy Fisher and the K two, the K four, the K one or you know, we've got all that stuff to come. But the track and field, to me, that.
Is it's always the best.
The stadium looks magnificent and I love the color purple.
Yeah, it's been great. I watched the men's ten thousand yesterday.
Oh that was okay.
I believe these guys ten k in twenty was at twenty six minutes and.
The kick at the kick the guy who won had at the end.
It's astonished. It's mind bogglingly fast to go at that pace. If most of us couldn't do one that quick.
I reckon we'd struggle to do two hundred meters at their pace. I agree, Yeah, that would be sad. I mention that just all you have to do term is sprint for two hundred meters and keep up with them and.
Like it's astonishingly fast and you get you get goosebumps watching them at the end. The crowd's going ape and like the French crowd. I mean, they're as good as anyone at rousing for an occasion, aren't they. And these guys are just tuning around with two hundred four hundred to go and you're finding yourself getting God, I didn't even care who won. I didn't know any of the athletes, but I was just the adrenaline was surging.
I think we were looking for those wonderful moments of inspiration. And it's the drama of it all, isn't it. I mean, I mean there are a couple of guys who were disqualified from the one hundred meters because they broke I saw that last night, and it's it's brutal. It's brutal because they've trained, and they've trained, here's the Olympics, and.
But what is to happen? You know why they changed it from having one.
Because people were trying to anticipate the guns and.
They were doing it strategically. Yeah, oh break yeplaying playing silly buggers with their opponents. That's right, and actually, well, so they had to do it. And in the case like that, he's seen the guy next to him twitch, so he's off, but the gun never went, so he has to go.
I actually one of my favorite things was watching Zoey Hobbs having her go it. And I know that, you know, we get hung up on medals and all that sort of thing, but I'm not sure that I'm not sure that everyone really under understands the amazing achievement of her becoming what the only athlete under eleven seconds in Oceania, but making a semi final, even she is a phenomenal athlete, and I just think and I felt for her too, because if she had executed a better race, she would have had a time that would have got her in the finale, which would have been just to be there.
It's the only time a sports fans we get hooked up on who gets third, and it's only because they give out medals. And I think about Erica Feir, weare the finishing fourth. Well, the three I think I'm right in saying that the three that beat her are the fastest three athletes in that discipline of all time.
In fact, I think too.
Fourth at the Olympics in that event is tremendous achievement, but it will get overlooked because she didn't meddle.
And actually, I think funny enough you mentioned it. And while we're sort of doing a bit of retro Kent John's on Sport here to Beverage on Sport, we're going to get into the topic. But just the two of my favorite moments were actually when we won silver. I loved the response of Emma Tweig to her to the woman who beat her in the women's single skulls, the camaraderie and the Hagen and the appreciation and the warmth and generosity of spirit, and Hayden Wild as well he got silver, and his response to alex Y and to his teammate who had helped draft him in the cycling to get him back up up in gold medal contention. That was amazing.
Yeah, that was tremendous sports. I didn't see Twig last night because I was out, but I heard about it, but I saw Wild and I just couldn't belie he didn't win that race.
You're still in denial.
I can the guy that chased him down alex Ye, you're a runner, Tim You're a runner. I know you're not a triathlete, but you were a runner. To think that, to think that alex Ye hung in there, he was hurting because Wild pretty much broke him, right, he broke him. But to hang in there in the hope, the desperate hope that I might have a kick at the end, and he found it. So Wild had the almost the perfect race plan and to get piped at the end would have been heartbreaking for him, but it was a spectacular finish.
And the reason we talk about the Olympics is one because we both love it and they're on right now and our commentary team at ZB doing a magnificent job with all that fantastic sports gennoes. So you should keep up with the coverage on on ZB as well and on gold Sport. But because out of the Olympics, sometimes we decide, you know, it's an inspiring time to set goals. And so the first question I've got Kent, is setting a goal when you decide that something you need to change something in your life and you need a fitness goal and effect, is the goal the point or is there some other way to get yourself exercising so you don't ruin it for yourself, because a lot of people go I've got the grand ambitions and they decide they want to get running, so they go out and they give themselves a miserable experience and about a week later they've given it up because that sucked. So is there an art or is there a science or just some sensible good advice on how you should set goals? Probably sensible good advice.
There's definitely science, is there. There's definitely science. I don't think there's an art to it. I think if there was an art, it's trial and error by figuring it out for yourself. So I don't think there is an art to it, but there's certainly some science behind behavioral change, and exercise is a great example of how to make change in our lives where we're thinking, you know, I want to make some adjustments because often particularly around our fitness, body, body composition and shape, and we're conscious of how we look. Vanity, Yeah, there's vanity a reason it does play. But we often I must do this, or I should do this, or I need to do this. But do we ever ask ourselves, why is it important that I do this? Why really can I sit down just for a few minutes and ask myself, why is it important I go to the gym? That is, why is it important that I try and run five k's.
Because I was if I look back at my own By the way, you can give Kent a call anytime, I know one hundred and eighty ten and eight if you want to, if you want some advice on changing your life, getting fit, getting healthy, changing the game that you're playing, whether you're sitting on the couch, eating too much takeaways and just and your version of exercises, getting on the esports. But so, but just from my own point of view, the pattern I've had in my life is usually okay, when you're young, I played volleyball competitively, and you got fit because you wanted to win a tournament. But it's hard later on when you are just keeping fit for keeping fits sake. And I gravitated from one form of exercise going to the gym to this to that, boxing to this, and I never kept it up. But the one thing I have kept up in the last few years, at least for four years now is running. And actually can't work out why I know. I do sort of know why I do it, But I'm quite curious as to how I've managed to make this form of exercise last when I maybe had other fads where I came and went.
But I know why you keep running because we've talked about this before.
Tell me, because I think I've lost track of it.
But you know it's good for you. You feel great afterwards, and you enjoy it, and so you keep coming back to it, and so.
You're the habit too. There's it is a habit, I think, all right.
So you don't have to kind of think as hard about why you're doing it as someone who isn't doing it who would aspire to do it. So the why comes at the start. It's the first question we should ask ourselves when it comes to goal setting or behavior or change. Why am I doing this?
Okay?
Weight loss is another classic example where people say I need to lose weight. Okay, great, great aspiration? What is important about losing weight that will help just get you into the behavior of That's an interesting team. And it might be because that shit's scared to have a heart attack at fifty five because they lost their father young, or it could be because they want they want to be an active dad, or they want to be fit and healthy grandfather, and they want to be flexible and moving get down on the ground with the grandkids. There's a million reasons, but just to say I want to lose weight is often not enough, so we have to be a little bit more specific with what we want to do.
Actually, the losing weight is an interesting one because I think I partly exercise because I don't want to gain weight, but it's actually not I'm not. Actually I feel the psychology of how I feel about myself has instantly changed by exercise, even if I haven't lost five pounds or whatever. It's because I've gone for the run and I go, well, I feel good. I don't you know, do I worry about how I look naked?
Yes?
Probably, yes, probably, let's be honest. But it's your perception of yours, of the way you your perception of the way you appear, changes just by the act of exercising anyway, does it? Does it? Or is that just me? I don't know A few.
You've obviously got mirrors at home.
Well, yeah, I mean that's the thing. We've redonated bathroom. We're a hugely spectacular mirror and I must have met. I think when I'm shaving, if I'm just sit standing there after a shower, I do suck it in a bit, just for my own safe.
Anyway, we won't like a mate of mine who played rugby for years and every tie. He's a big lock forward and he probably carried a little bit too much around his middle, and he would say when it was time for the photos, he'd say, suck it in, boys, and I latched the ebects for the photo.
I think it's quite a good air exercise anyway, it's sucking it? Is that a workout? And I think I sucked my gut? And just as you were chatting there, what okay, let's say here's an interesting question. I think it is you'd be the judge on one hundred and eighty ten eighty, So you did the for instance, is an exercise thing that you did where you used to go for cold swims. Yes, and I don't know if you're still doing it. But what was your why for that?
Because that's a really good question. Because I was curious about whether I could cope with it.
Oh, it's a personal chance.
It was a personal challenge. I tapped into the growth mindset and I thought, well, you're wanting to shy away from this, but the benefits, the scientific benefits are enormous. So I read about it, I researched it, and thought, you know what, what have I got to lose. I'm going to give this a crack. So my why was a little challenge to myself to establish whether I was someone that could adopt this as a habit or whether it was I was someone who would run a mile from it.
And okay, what was your first expence?
Surprise myself, I actually quite enjoy it.
You still do it? Yeah? Oh you're crazy? Actually, okay, so you did it. You overcame the challenge. You persist in doing it because what.
Because I noticed the benefits from doing it. So then you come back into feeling great about what it is that you're doing. So your brain goes right. The reward center in your brain says, hey, I'm going to bank where that I know where I feel good and make sure I come back to it, which is what you experience with your runners high, when you've got the endorphins going and all of the neurotransmitters in your brain are lighting up and you feel great afterwards. It's the same when you go for a cold swim, it's a challenge at the time you're putting your body. It's a process of whole mesis. So it's stressful, stressful on your body, stressful on your mind. You're having a little bit of self talk, but the benefits come afterwards. So then you soak up all of that great stuff and that's enough to make you go back and do it again.
Good on you, by the way, you are looking in pretty good shape. So as far as an advertisement for Kent John's health, he's looking good. So the proof of the pudding there.
Well, the proof of the pudding is the proof of the putting. That is probably the wrong metaphor, I think, Well, the proof of the pudding is normally the check up with the doc. Oh really, he can look healthy and not be. So I'm pretty vigilant to make sure that I'm okay. I'm ticking over.
You know what.
You obviously you have clients who you coach into better health outcomes and all that. Do you how often do they come to you with a goal and end up changing it? Because I mean, you're not going to tell anyone what do you try and nudge them in the right direction? I guess, But what are some examples of goals where it's like, well, we're going to need to break that down a bit, because I think I've got one.
Okay, you young guy. I was coaching a few months ago and we were chatting away about a few different things, and he wanted to change what he was eating because he was feeling like he was a bit out of shape. And then I said, okay, what next? And then we went on to some exercise. I said, right, what is it you want to be doing? He said, oh, I think I'm one of those people I need to have an event to train for.
Yeah.
I said, great, Yeah, that's a goal. Great, what events have you got coming up? Because again, you have to be specific. You've got to keep breaking the stuff down. And he figured out there was a ten k run where he was living in two or three months time. I said, okay, so that's the goal to run ten k's And let's say it was two months. I think it was about two months. Right, when are you going for your first run? He said? This week? I said, okay, And what likelihood will you be able to run ten ks on Tuesday? He said not probably none. I said, okay, So what's the plan?
And it wouldn't be wise to have attempted it either, So.
What's the plan? So he decided to go for two and a half k. Then the next week I think he got up to three point four or three point eight, and then the next week he was at five. So after by the third run he was at five k's. After that's after two weeks. That's quite good, isn't it, And just building up, building up, building ups until he could get to ten. So here's a great word to use if you're unsure about yourself, and it is the word yet. And so listen to the difference here to him in the two context, tim, I can't run ten k's. I can't run ten k's yet. Yeah, see the difference. You've gone from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset with a use of one word.
Actually, I was just thinking, you've got to be kind to yourself. That probably everyone who's listening thinking, would I even want to run ten k? I think that's and that's the thing. It's just choosing the goal that you want to do, of course, as well as opposed to I should I should do this?
I want to run ten k In twenty seven minutes like the Olympians yesterday. Far out far out was it? What was the time? Was it?
Twenty seven minute?
Astonishing? So that's astonishing. But my point is he was a young guy who in the first month no chance to run ten k's, but after four or five weeks he could do it. He could do it because he broke it down. He started by the way the twenties.
Oh yeah, okay, the probably for us forty ok.
But let's go back to five k. Let's let's say you're forty eight years old and you haven't run for years, and all of a sudden you've got an itch to do a five k park run. Start with five hundred.
Meters, yeah, or a walk even or a walk.
It's a run walk. There's many ways in which you can get there.
Actually, when I started mine, people have heard this before, so I won't take too long. But I followed some walk program ex It was building up to doing a half hour run, and it started with I think the first thing was maybe not even any running, it was just walking, and then you do a minute run and a three minute walk, and then you run for a bit longer. It just built it up slowly, brilliant and it's still funny enough. I still did Macalfe, still did Macalves a couple of times because it just took a while from my body to get used to it. But then again, by then I was like, I just got to get over this and drey and keep moving. And now I don't worry about it. But I guess it's just getting the right of us. You don't blow a food food straight away technical word. Anyway, we want to have your calls I e. One hundred and eighty ten eight you any questions for Kent John's. You've got a goal, you want to get into it, and you're concerned whether it's the right goal or the wrong goal, or the right why or the wrong why, or if you've got an example you want to share with us on how you started when you thought all hope was lost. Because I think the probably the biggest challenge for people who want to get fit is when you feel you've let yourself go so far that you don't know just how to begin, because you're thinking, look where I've ended up. I'm in terrible shape. I don't even know what day one looks like. Give us a call, O eight one hundred eighty ten eighty Text nine nine two is twenty four past four news took si'd b. Did you know that one on six New Zealanders experienced hearing loss and choosing the right hearing solution for your individual needs is important. Your local trite and hearing team will work with you to find the best hearing solution for your listening needs, lifestyle and budget. So if you or someone close to you as considering hearing aids, the twenty twenty four Consumers Guide to Hearing Aids is out now and available exclusively from Triton Hearing. It's the only truly independent guide in New Zealand, so you know you're getting the best advice. Find out about the latest hearing aids from top brands. There's information on everything from features and styles to a priced guide to help you choose the right hearing devices for your lifestyle and budget. To order your free twenty twenty four Consumers Guide to Hearing Aids, simply visit Tritonhearing dot co dot Nz or call on eight hundred forty five forty five forty two. That's eight hundred forty five forty five forty two.
Property, Parenting, Politics plus health, money and the week's figure issues. It's all on the Weekend Collector with Tim Beveridge used talksb.
Yes, my guest is Kent John's from Kent John's Health, talking about getting started, basically setting a goal. Are there some goals that are unhelpful or helpful? Actually, let's have a look at a couple of texts. I've got a question about. I think there'll be a lot of people I'll hold that thought actually got Hi, guys, this is so interesting. Used toill love competitive sport, but the only thing that got me running was that in I'm was that in an older dad. I'm an older dad and I really don't want my laziness stopping me coach or play with the kids, which is a great, Well, that's a great Why isn't it being active for your kids?
And you know what, it's not that that person will be lazy. They're probably low on energy. That's what it'll be. There's no I don't know anyone who's lazy.
Well, let's deal with that question because we touched it. We had a bit of a chat on the break about this. But I think there are a lot of issues where people think I'd love to give that a game but I've left it too late or let myself go, and you just you've gotten into this habit you're used to not exercising you and you just feel I just can't see the way ahead because I'm in a really bad way.
Very common, Yeah, very common. Happens all the time. I've coached many people, many people now who have been in that position, and the great thing is they reached out and in this my case, they came to me. But it would be good if I'd reached out to anybody. So just making a start is the way to go. But in so many cases, tim and it might be counterintuitive for people to think this is the case. But if if you're down on energy and you're feeling you're feeling lazy, or you're labeling yourself as lazy, it'll be because you don't have the energy. Okay, so you don't have the energy, you don't have the inclination to exercise. You're not wanting to move, You're not wanting to go out an exercise, even though so I should, I must, I really need to, but inherently you don't want to. And the reason why is because you don't have the energy. So if you want to be someone who's fit and active and who moves more, eat better food. Things will change for you.
So don't even think about the exercise.
Don't worry about that.
Stress the diet first. Yes, okay, So if you're talking to someone who's starting from that point, what advice do you give them?
Cut out process food, cut out sugar, see what happens, Really can do it for two weeks all sugar, or just yeah, see what happens.
Don't have a biscuit. Yeah that sounds tough.
Well, I that's what I did and look at worked for me, and I've seen it work for many people. However, it also doesn't work for everybody. I reckon. This is what I've broken the numbers down here because someone asked me about this recently. How many people are successful when it comes to dietary change. I think for every six people that I've coached or have spoken to about making change in particularly around diet, I think four out of six i e. Two thirds do really well pretty much straight away. The fifth person will battle and struggle a little bit but still see the benefits. And the sixth person probably just can't quite get there.
Are there?
You know?
For the problem is that people who are used to their sugary treats. I guess you know, having a round one is probably not the biggest sin of all, but there will be, you know, people who just have this craving. Do you actually have to literally get rid of that stuff from your house? Like take it? Is it in your house, get it out of the house. If you walk past in the supermarket, take it off and aisle just don't put yourself in. Do you actually have to be that sort of hard exactly right.
It's called won't power because we can't trust willpower. It doesn't work. It might do for a day or two. But if you watched Mike and Ganessa's show on TV and Z, I think it is called eat Well for Less.
I've interviewed both those guys.
So my kids love that show. They love it, so we watch it as a family. It's very easy family viewing. And all of the families on there that need to make over are exactly the same. They all have treat drawers and they all go to the supermarket without a plan, without a shopping list. So it's just a bit of this and a bit of that, and most of the food on New Zealand Supermarket shelves is ultra process rubbish. So it's no wonder if you don't go to the supermarket with a plan and you have a treat drawer or a snack draw a special area for this stuff, it's no wonder that you'll keep topping it up. So you need to lean into won't power. I won't buy it, so I won't eat it. Now, that's actually very powerful, and it's very affirmative, and it does work. And it takes two to three goes at the supermarket for you to bed that in. That's all.
Do you find that? Actually? How did you cut with you with the sugar? Did you have cravings? Did you find it tough to change? Or are you just lucky that you just stopped and you went, Oh, I didn't miss it.
I was determined to do it for the two weeks and that was long enough for me to notice an enormous difference, massive change because what happened in those two weeks. And this is going back a few years ago now, But hey, look I've seen this now many times myself where others what.
I meant cutting out alcohol too, wouldn't it alcohol?
Yeah? You could do that, sure? Yeah, if you really wanted to.
I mean, that's a sugar.
Well, just put alcohol to one side. Even if you kept drinking alcohol, just even minimizing the amount of package food and sugar that you ate regardless of alcohol, you probably should see results. Cutting back on alcohol, hey even better. But what happens to and when we cut back on sugar a number of things happen. Our energy levels actually increase, and that's because our inchlin levels have dropped dramatically so that we can now access the energy that's been stored on our fat cells. So we think if I have a chocolate bar, I get the surge of energy for thirty minutes. I need the sugar, and then we get the crash afterwards. It's not that you're getting a surge of energy.
You are.
Your brain is lit up. The dopamine receptors in your brain are going whole. I love this. It makes me feel good. So we feel energized, we feel hyped up. Our body is not actually going to get much of that energy though, because in a very short space of time, all of that sugar has been cleared out of our blood and has been stored somewhere i e. Our fat cells. So when we cut back on sugar, our inchlin levels come down, and all of that energy is being taken out of our fat cells. So we're using that, we're burning the energy, We're actually using it rather than storing it. That's when we see weight loss, and that's when we see our inflammation come down. So old old footy injury, saw elbows, bad knees, bad hips. That can turn around in a very short, astonishingly fast time.
I can imagine that actually, because even just recently, I'm I'm quite fond of a spud from time to time and rice and things like that. And it doesn't mean they don't eat it, sure, But the other the other day, I think my my wife had made a sort of main dish of chicken and things, but I had to do some other vegetables just for myself, and I thought, you know what, I might just cut the might cut the spuds out, and I just had some broccoli and some carrots. Actually, I decided to sort of try and be a bit of a master chef with saut aid carrots sort of thing like that. But because it was a lighter meal, it was colorful, you know, it sort of had they say, you know, it's good to have color in your vegetables and things. And I think there was a mixture of two things virtue, but actually it was a really satisfying meal. Right that. Now, even just that quickly, I'm actually now got an alternative when I'm thinking I need to when I'm quite hungry, that I don't need to revert to the spuds, because sometimes, you know, spuds, you can sort of mashed potatoes. Its face, we can all over do that a bit, can't.
We for sure? Yeah? Anyway, But there's probably a couple of things there to Number one, your taste buds can change. So if you deny yourself something that you think you can't go without, it turns out actually you can cope, and your taste buds do change. But also you've got the little guy on your shoulder who's saying, do I really want the buds now? And look, sometimes you say yes to what the hell I'm going to have them? And other times the little guy is powerful enough to deter you, and you go off and do something a little bit healthier. So now you are mindfully eating. And I don't know anyone who's gone from being a mindless eater who's just eating whatever they want without thinking about it and the consequences to becoming a mindful eater who's then gone backwards. It doesn't happen once you develop that self awareness around food and my experience, that does not leave you. Okay again, something to really aspire to and to look forward to. And it's it is not as difficult as people think it is. It really isn't right.
We're going to take another moment and come back and just to tap because it's thing to have the goal and then it's another thing to get going with it. We're gonna have a chat with I'm gonna have a chat with Kent. You can join us if you like, I know, eight hundred and eighty and eighty on does does it need to be an expensive exercise because a lot of people think, oh, you know, I've got to join a gym I can't afford to. Therefore, no, what are the good ways of getting fit that aren't actually gonna hit your bank balance too much? Either? I think that the answer might be some common sense, but you know what, I don't think it's that straightforward. I think so many people I know say, oh, I'm gonna have to join a gym. You know, there there it goes on tech. Can you know how much of it is a year fifteen hundred bucks or whatever. Anyway, we'll discuss that in just a moment. It's twenty two minutes to five new stalks. He'd b's.
She's a challenge where part of this.
Together and welcome back to news Talks to be this is the week in collective. My guest is Kent Johns from Kent John's Health. Talk about setting goals and sticking to it. If you decide, you know, you might be watching the Olympics and thinking, you know, look at these guys, they look magnificent. I need to try and get half way to that magnificence. I don't know eedged towards it. Actually, I was thinking I mentioned just before the break about finding an exercise habit without it having to cost your arm and a leg. But in some ways you do need to have an investment in what you're doing. That it's maybe it doesn't need to be financial, but for instance, people join a gym and they think, I've got to go to the gym because I'm paying for it. It's like if people engage you, I would say the job's done. If you've gone to see a health coach. Then you are paying to get advice and support and coaching. You are well on the way to probably making some changes because you've made a commitment.
Yes, but fair.
But is there another way of that? Do you have to be committed in some financial aspect either other? How do you actually get a commitment going?
Well, it's there's a time commitment, there's an energy commitment. There could be a commitment to somebody else. Maybe you agree to do it with someone else. We call that having an accountability buddy. I think that can often be just enough to get someone over the line. I told Dave i'd meet him tomorrow for a run I really need. I don't want to let him down because I look at those pelotons. It works.
I look at the pelotons going around the water and think, I can't think when they would like less to do. But of course every guy in that or girl in that peloton is probably an element of you know, I've got to turn up that. You know we're going to We've arranged a meet on this day. I've said I'm going to be their bingo. Job done.
Yeah. Some people are great self starters. Other people need help. They need to be alongside others, or have a coach, or have a mentor, or have a buddy. It just depends on the makeup of you the person. There's no wrong answer.
What if you can't afford to join a gym or pay for a coach or something like that, and you know, I think that's the thing in the lack of exercise also as an isolating thing sometimes as well, you feel that your you know, everyone else is doing their thing and there you are. You know, you need you want to have some company to do something. I guess you've are there particular strategies or groups you can join or aren't necessarily something you've got to pay for or what?
Well, I suppose you could. There are one off classes for equa aerobics and stuff like that you don't necessarily have to join as a member, but again that you're still paying for that. There are only so many activities you can do for free, quote unquote, But if you want it to be a runner or a walkie, you need a decent pair of shoes. It's all about movement for me, Tim, just just moving, getting out there and doing something. Find something that you enjoy. I know we've talked about this one hundred times find but that is that is one of the keys to success is to find something that you enjoy and go and do that.
Actually, the other thing is as well, you can probably sacrifice a couple of those caps of coffee per week, which it might be part of your unhealthy habit, and spend that on a gym because actually gym memberships. There are all sorts of gyms that don't have to You don't have to go to the Tang for Tang sort of top gym and the.
Different options, and you can buy ten passes just to see how it goes. Like the gym where I frequent up not far from where I live, you can buy a ten pass membership just see how you go. And if it's not for you, if you become a gym donor and you're not interested, well you've only wait, you know, you've only thrown a couple hundred dollars down the tube rather than a few hundred or a few thousand.
Part of one of the things for Greg Pain advised me to get a new pair of running shoes with the injury. And when you've splashed out for a good pair of running shoes, you just can't leave them sitting on the floor. I think I've got to use those things. I guess that's some sort of investment.
But there are good yoga classes and meditative practice pilates online you can find for free, like most things you can find for free somewhere, and if you're prepared to have a look, you don't have to necessarily fork out a heap of money.
I got a couple few techs here, guys. I'm fifty four. I do jiu jitsu. Oh gosh, sounds it's got to be one of the hardest things I've done physically, with the training and sparring rolling, And you cannot do it without eventually getting you into a high level. Oh, you can't do it without eventually getting you into a high level of fitness and strength. I'm not sure if he's selling it to me. It says it's worth all the pain. I wake up in the middle of the night in agony from sore neck and back and everything else. But it gives out adrenaline kick we still need at this age, says Steve. I'm not sure what the moral of the story is there, Steve.
It sounds like Steve's thriving, albeit in some pain.
Yeah, well, he at this stage, the reward is worth the discomfort, right.
I have a friend who does that and she swears by it, but then she hurt her shoulder quite badly, so I don't know.
Yeah, well it's like that. Did you see that rugby match that they played the celebrity the parliamentary team in Northland versus the Northland team And I looked at I just thought they must have had defibrillators on standby for that, because that looked like a recipe for disaster. I okay, Shane Jones was lacing up, Andrew Saville was in it, Save was playing. Yeah, yeah, he was an e broker's finger. He described himself, I think on Hoskin's show as getting out of the petrol station on the way home and looking like a half open pocket knife rest for himself. Hey, just joined. I'm not sure if this is the right place for the question. What's the best way to get belly fat reduced? I'm sixty seven one hundred and seventy three centem is reasonably fit, not over weight, but excess belly fat. Need to get the sugar levels down. Yes, it helps getting the fat off, but yeah, question answer you go?
So sugar. The problem with sugar is that fifty percent of sugar is fructase. Yeap right, fruct Toast gets matabilized in the liver exclusively. Glucose gets metabolized up and down the body. Fruct toast gets metabolized in the liver. Okay, So if we have too much sugar, we're asking our liver to do too much work. That's when we can get liver fat and visceral fat around our organs. That is some of that big belly fat. It's the most dangerous fat to carry. So we need to get that down and reducing alcohol, reducing sugar will do the job. And it makes perfect sense.
Right.
We know alcohol gets metabolized in the liver. Alcohol is made from fermented sugar, so why wouldn't fructast be the same. I wish that wasn't true, Tim, but it is. We can't escape that. So you're reducing sugar will go a long way to help it.
Okay. Another text, great conversation. I think a lot of people can benefit out of cooking their own food, and it can be as simple as trading McDonald's for your own home cooked burgers. Same food, but vastly healthier. Even googling high protein versions of their favorite foods. I actually, if you do start cooking your own food, that has to be the beginnings of eating better, doesn't it.
In New Zealand, the protein that we buy is quite expensive. Seafood is really expensive, and sometimes it's disheartening to see the price of lamb, for example, minced beef. It is not quite as bad. But we look at beef and we think it's really expensive. But we can surround our protein with cheaper things and go home and put a beautiful meal together and work out what is the cost per serving. That will go a long way to making things appear to be a little bit cheaper, and so therefore it's more sustainable and it's doable. And yeah, you put a whole lot of ingredients in a shopping trolley and you go home and do your own burgers, way cheaper, way cheaper than the perception of a cheap, nasty takeaway exactly.
Actually, I'm a big fan of the homemade burgers. Yeah, Chris today.
Oh hi, I look just a bit of a fit in the story without a gym. I was always a week in recreationally on the hills and the bush, and that sort of stuff, but not that flash. I bumped into some people a year and they taught me into doing a half marathon walk, which is way beyond anything I looked at before. From Boxing Day one year to the around the Bays, which was I think about the twentieth or something. In February, so something like two months, I did the Colonial Knob steps, which is seven hundred and twenty steps over about two kilometer I think it is. And by the time i'd done that, I did that fifty three times over the two months, and I did the half marathon walk with ease.
What was it again, you call it the color I didn't quite catch them thing.
It's called Colonial Knob. It's and potty doer.
Oh okay, And it's just going up steps.
It's just coming up steps. And it just the stamina that gave me. I mean I was fifty eight when I was doing this, and I just went from a very average weekend bushwalker and I did the half marathon walk and I think it was under two hours fifty good.
Actually, you know something you mentioned there, Chris, I think is forgetting the ease of one form of exercise, go for a walk, eat better, and go for a walk walking.
Yes, all you did was reduce sugar and go for stroll. The Italians call it the pussy ajecta, which is fifteen minutes stroll after dinner just to loosen you know, they go for a stroll and it's because it helps with your insulin sensitivity. It helps just move your metabolism along. So, yeah, movement. People underestimate walking. Walking's got a bad rat for some reason because people think that they have to be runners. They don't. Walking is a fantastic form of exercise.
And you, Kelly, was key was the uphill steps? Yeah, sor it was the uphill steps that seemed to make the difference because the people, the people I was talking to set you've got to train three hours a day, three times a week, so nine ten hours a week. I didn't have that time. So these steps were very close to my workplace. So I was doing three times up and there I could do it in an hour, and I was doing three hours a week. It's probably the ten hours.
Probably the bit careful on is coming down. Actually, i'd imagine you know, absolutely we're just leadings. But thanks for call good story. In fact, that is good story. That is probably one of the simplest things. If you want to get started on something and you've you've given up on yourself, just start eating better and start walking and then see where it goes from there.
As Mark Twain said, the key to getting your head is getting started. That's the key. You make your decision to do something. Tim you make a start, you're fifty percent of the way.
There, then go okay, we'll be back in a moment to wrap it up. It's eight minutes to five news Talk z B two ways. Let's welcome back to the weekend collective. That almost wraps up the health ub with Kent John's from Kent John's Health. But we've had a couple of calls and some texts on one issue when it comes to cutting out sugar. What a weirdness fruits in that?
Oh?
Fair question, really fair question. Get that A lot fruit's fine because fruit has fiber. So if you eat whole fruit, the fiber and the fruit protects your metabolism from the front toast that's within the fruit. Fruit juice is no good because all of the fibers being taken out, so then your body is exposed to the front toe. So eat whole fruit. You'll be all right, and it.
Deals with the craving as well. Instead of having a couple of lollies eaten apple.
Headful of fresh berries or some strawberries is actually sweet enough, but if you eat a lot of chocolate, your appreciation for those berries won't be the same because your taste buds have changed.
Muzz Is asked, what about V if I have it without sugar? Lucky?
Last find out what else is in the you?
Muzz Yeah, just actually just keep away hand good luck, Just keep away from it. I'm sorry, you know, red Bull V whatever it is.
All of that stuff is garbage soft drink if you can just avoid it.
Guess what, try just soda water. It feels like you're having a drink when you're not really having a drink, and it's just harmless soda water. Oh, I'm gonna have a word with my producer who looks like she might be having one of those drinks you just referred to. Will there be even words in the brain having one?
She's held the can?
Okay, anyway, Hey, keep good to see it, John's Health dot Co audience it yees, buddy, excellent, and we'll be back with the smart money. Amanda Burrows joining us back shortly News Talks MP
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