Podcast Episode #322: Movement, Mindset, & Motivation with Emily Schromm

Topics

1. News and updates from Diane [1:42]
2. Something new our guest is into: banded lifts [6:36]
3. Introducing Emily Schromm [10:06]
4. Emily's journey with food [12:40]
5. Accurate consideration for movement and activity [23:22]
6. Learning to listen to your body [31:43]
7. Recovering from an adrenal crisis [37:16]
8. Intermittent fasting and what works for you [48:26]
9. Being in the right mindset [51:33]
10. What's coming up for Emily [1:01:03]

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You’re listening to the Balanced Bites podcast episode 322.

Diane Sanfilippo: Welcome to the Balanced Bites podcast. I’m Diane; a certified nutrition consultant, and the New York Times bestselling author of Practical Paleo and the soon to be released 21-Day Sugar Detox Daily Guide. I live in San Francisco with my husband and fur kids. I’m the co-creator of the Balanced Bites Master Class, with my podcast partner in crime, Liz. And we’ve been bringing you this award-winning podcast for more than 6 years.

We’re here to share our take on modern paleo living, answer your questions, and chat with leading health and wellness experts. Enjoy this week’s episode, and submit your questions at http://blog.balancedbites.com or watch the Balanced Bites podcast Instagram account for our weekly calls for questions. You can ask us anything in the comments.

Remember our disclaimer: The materials and content within this podcast are intended as general information only, and are not to be considered a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Before we get started, let’s hear from one of our sponsors.

Liz Wolfe: The Balanced Bites podcast is sponsored in part by the Nutritional Therapy Association. The NTA trains and certifies nutritional therapy practitioners and consultants (including me; I’m an NTP), emphasizing bio-individuality and the range of dietary strategies that support wellness. The NTA emphasizes local, whole, properly prepared nutrient dense foods as the key to restoring balance and enhancing the body’s ability to heal. Nutritional therapy practitioners and consultants learn a wide range of tools and techniques to assess and correct nutritional imbalances. To learn lots more about the nutritional therapy program, go to http://www.NutritionalTherapy.com. There are workshop venues in the US, Canada, and Australia, so chances are you’ll be able to find a venue that works for you.

1. News and updates from Diane [1:42]

Diane Sanfilippo: Alright you guys. Before I get into my interview with Emily Schromm, who is just one of my favorite people in general. I just love her. I always have such a great time hanging out with her in real life, which is pretty much my way of; I don’t know. It’s kind of like my meter for just everything in general. Do I like spending time with people? Do I like their energy and their vibe? I went to dinner with Emily; I forgot to talk about this in our interview. But I went to dinner with Emily and a friend of hers last year, and we were up at the NTA conference. I just had the best time at dinner. So I love that. And I love having these connections in this community.

But a couple of updates for you guys before I get into that chat. I will be on book tour in January, leading into February. There will be more dates announced. However, right now confirmed are San Francisco, Atlanta, Kansas City, Denver, and Phoenix. More are coming soon. I’m looking at something in the Philly area. It might be Cherry Hill, New Jersey, where we were before. Nashville, and possibly northern Virginia, DC area.

It’s really tough, you guys to find the right venues for all of these. Often times there’s a town or a city that’s kind of the right area, but the book store in that area, if it’s a Barnes and Noble for example may or may not be one that’s ideal for actually hosting events. And we get so many people to the events, which is amazing. And I absolutely; I’m reflecting on it right now as we’re planning out this tour. I’m like; this is my favorite part. I love coming to meet you guys. It’s physically grueling to be on the road for that long. But it’s just honestly the best freaking thing ever. Because we’re behind our computers all the time. So I just love those couple of hours that we get to share in real life and in a room.

So anyway, long story short. Sometimes a store that you think is a great location just doesn’t have the ability to put a whole bunch of chairs in one area of the store. So it is kind of a tricky thing. Anyway; stay tuned. There are more dates coming. I think I put an aggressive tour together; about 12 to 16 cities for the month of January. And then I’ll have a little bit of a break. I know I’ll be probably in the Salt Lake City area for at least one, because I’ll be at the Sundance Film Festival. You guys know I love going to that. You’ve probably heard about it a few years on the podcast now.

And then I’ll continue again probably in February. I’m looking to hit Texas; a bunch of cities in Texas and then some other areas as well. And then the pacific northwest probably in early March. I’ll definitely be in Portland for the NTA conference. You can definitely also catch Liz and I together in Kansas City. Liz will be there with me. Juli Bauer will be a special guest with me in Denver. And Kristen Beamer from Living, Loving Paleo will be a special guest with me here in San Francisco event.

And then first weekend of March; March 1st, to be exact, Liz and I will be teaching a class at the NTA conference on business. So if you're one of our NTA grads, or alums, or students, or someone who is even just interested. You don’t have to actually be a student or grad to go to that conference. It’s in the Portland area. Definitely check it out. We would love to see you there.

Diane Sanfilippo: Alright, just a couple of other quick, quick updates. If you have been looking for a way to kind of talk to like-minded people about staying health before the holidays, don’t forget to join my Healthy for The Holidays Facebook group. just go to www.21DaySugarDetox.com/H4H, short for Healthy for the Holidays. It’s essentially a way to talk about staying healthy without necessarily being on the 21-Day Sugar Detox for the months of November and December. And then if you are curious about, or want to take part or participate on the 21-Day Sugar Detox come January, we’ll obviously be talking about rolling into that. Because we will have a huge group of folks doing it, because we’ve got the new book coming out. So it’s going to be super fun.

The 21-Day Sugar Detox online program is going to get a bit of a relaunch, so stay tuned for more details on that. I know tons of you are already members of the online program. If you’ve been curious about it, if you're not already a member, definitely stay tuned. We’ve got some great things coming and all of our existing members will have access, of course, to all of that as well.

And I believe that’s it, you guys. I can’t wait for you to hear this interview with Emily. It was a fantastic conversation. I just love sitting down with her. So that will be it from me for now for updates. And here’s the interview.

2. Something new our guest is into: banded lifts [6:36]

Diane Sanfilippo: Alright you guys. Welcome back to another episode of the Balanced Bites podcast. I’m super excited to have a guest with me today; Emily Schromm. And I’m actually going to let her introduce herself. But actually, before I let her tell you about herself, let’s just break the ice with a new think that Emily is into. So Emily, why don’t you tell us a new thing you're into. It can be a food thing, or a fitness thing, or just a life thing. Whatever it is; something new.

Emily Schromm: Oh my gosh. You know, I just got back from the gym. So I’m trying not to be super stereotypical, but I’m really into. {laughs} This is so meathead. I’m really into banded bench press. If you’ve never done; that’s what I did today so that’s on my mind. Banded bench press, basically it’s part of my conjugate method program that I have built. It’s just a really cool way to mix up; whether it’s banded squats or banded bench press, or even banded deadlifts to increase your dynamic strength. So I’ve had a lot of fun. You don’t have to worry so much about heavy, heavy, heavy, you’re worrying more about speed, speed, speed. So that’s kind of been my thing and my new programming. Taking a step back from CrossFit and just focusing on being a better athlete.

Diane Sanfilippo: I love that. I’ve never done; I don’t think ever, banded. I don’t think I’ve done banded lifts like that. But I’m just getting myself back to working out after a month off, so. {laughs}

Emily Schromm: {laughs} Have you done …

Diane Sanfilippo: I’ll save that.

Emily Schromm: Have you ever done chain work, or work with chains on the barbell?

Diane Sanfilippo: I don’t remember. I feel like the only time I ever had a chain was around something where I was doing pullups. Where it was a chain and some kind of weight and.

Emily Schromm: {laughs}

Diane Sanfilippo: I know. I’m a meathead too. I’m just not consistent about my meatheadedness. {laughs}

Emily Schromm: When I saw your video of your old trapeze.

Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs}

Emily Schromm: I was like; oh my god. I just gained a whole new level of respect for you. I already respected you.

Diane Sanfilippo: For me? 10 years ago, though! That was so long ago. Maybe not 10.

Emily Schromm: You're so strong. And we need to figure out a picture, if you have a picture of this chain around your neck, that’s amazing. {laughs}

Diane Sanfilippo: NO, not around my neck. It was wrapped around my waist, and some kind of clip thing. I don’t know what it was. But yeah. When I did trapeze, 10 strict pullups was part of the warmup. {laughing} So it’s like…

Emily Schromm: I love it.

Diane Sanfilippo: When I did CrossFit after they, and they were like; who is this girl? I’m like, I’ve been doing other things. Whatever.

Emily Schromm: Especially the trapeze. It’s incredible. Because Cirque de Sol, I’m obsessed with. I just can’t even imagine the work that these people go through. And I think they’re they most athletic.

Diane Sanfilippo: They are.

Emily Schromm: Genetically blessed.

Diane Sanfilippo: They are.

Emily Schromm: Ugh, it’s incredible.

Diane Sanfilippo: I mean, I think I need you to go do some aerial skills. I think you would be awesome at rope or silks or; trapeze, yeah. But I feel like I could see you with silks. I think that would be a good thing for you because I feel like you would get super into it. Because it’s a little hippie.

Emily Schromm: Oh yeah. That’s me.

Diane Sanfilippo: Or the rope. Which is not like a hemp rope the way you’re picturing. It’s got vinyl over it, so it won’t burn. Anyway. It might burn, but not the same way. {laughs}

Emily Schromm: {laughing}

Diane Sanfilippo: OK, I digress. Awesome. I love that. That’s very cool. Banded lifts; banded bench press.

Emily Schromm: Banded bench press. Getting jacked. {laughs}

3. Introducing Emily Schromm [10:06]

Diane Sanfilippo: Alright, {laughs} so why don’t you; {brrp} this is my rewind noise. Give us a quick intro. Tell our listeners about yourself. I will pull, while you're introducing yourself, I’ll pull up a reference to our previous episode that we did together. But you and I just kind of sat down. We’re sliding into home. We’re like, we’re going to do an interview for an upcoming show because I just think you need to be on the show right now. But you have been on the show before. So why don’t you give us a quick intro, and while you do that, I’ll grab the episode number that folks can listen to after this one. Because they’re going to love you so much, they want to hear the other one.

Emily Schromm: {laughs} Perfect. So I’m Emily Schromm. I live in Denver, but I kind of travel all over. So I’m a personal trainer, nutritional therapy practitioner, and I also invented a backpack that turns into a weight training bag. So the EmPack. That’s been such a fun piece of my business where I’m no longer just doing service, and meal plans, and workouts. But I have this product. I can put it in people’s hands. But most of my business revolves around teaching people how to strength train. Teaching them how to eat well, and honestly just helping them empower themselves, you know? It has nothing to do with me and teaching them the answers. I want you to figure out the answers for yourself.

Diane Sanfilippo: That’s why I like you so much.

Emily Schromm: {laughs}

Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs}

Emily Schromm: And I like you, Diane.

Diane Sanfilippo: I’m like, that is why. I know. We’re so dorky about just actually enjoying each other as people. Which is not always the case. Sometimes you're in a community with other people, and you kind of get forced into; oh, I should interview them because they have this thing. And I’m like; no. Let me just bring Emily on the show so I can talk to my friend for an hour because it’s really fun.

So it was episode 187, which feels like; oh that should have just been a minute ago. But it was probably a couple of years ago now.

Emily Schromm: I think it was.

Diane Sanfilippo: So 187. And I don’t think the EmPack existed yet, so how cool is that. So proud of you. So excited for you. I think that’s totally awesome. I’m pretty sure several women on my team have them or have purchased them for their sons or daughters or whoever. So I think that’s really cool.

Emily Schromm: I love it. Tell April hi for me. {laughs}

Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs} April is your legit number one fan.

Emily Schromm: {laughs} I love her.

Diane Sanfilippo: Like, when she got her, “I completed the superhero challenge T-shirt,” it was probably the best day of her life.

Emily Schromm: {laughing} Yes!

Diane Sanfilippo: I love April. She’s the best. She’s such a good fan. You know?

Emily Schromm: Yeah.

4. Emily’s journey with food [12:40]

Diane Sanfilippo: Anyway. So, what we want to talk about today are a few different topics that our listeners, which are obviously primarily women. Many of them are also NTPs, so peers in that way. But a lot who come to our show to just hear a balanced perspective or a variable perspective on different topics surrounding nutrition and health and fitness and mindset and all of that.

And some of the most common things we get asked about are carbs and keto diets and exercise and women’s health and how all of that kind of comes together. And I know this is stuff that you totally work in and dabble in and recommend to people, or don’t recommend to certain people and all of that. So I just wanted to get your take. We’re just going to have a conversation about these topics and see where it goes.

Just to start off with; where did you initially root with the whole, let me start eating better, better nutrition? And then how did you end up getting to this place where, from what I see with what you do. You’re pretty low-carb except maybe surrounding exercise. You’re pretty specific about the way that you time your carbohydrates.

Emily Schromm: Mm-hmm.

Diane Sanfilippo: Which I would say is pretty much how I would tell anybody {laughs} who wants to eat low carb, but also train pretty hard.

Emily Schromm: Mm-hmm.

Diane Sanfilippo: But how did you get from point A to point B with all of this? What did you learn in that process?

Emily Schromm: Oh yeah. So it’s been a journey, for sure. As all of us; it’s all a journey. And it’s really just, I think the most important thing for me to tell clients, or even other practitioners, is to be gentle in your journey. Because you will evolve. Things will change. Your training will change. And you have to be flexible. I think so many times we pigeon-hole ourselves into an ideology with food; whether I’m a vegetarian, or I’m keto. And that becomes your identity. It doesn’t allow you to be flexible, and finding out what actually works for you.

So, I started off; 7 years ago, I actually moved to Colorado from Missouri. And I lived in the mountains in Keystone Colorado, and kind of through this process it was actually because I saw myself on TV for the first time. I was on a reality TV show, and it was really hard for me to watch it, because I’ve never had to face the fact that I didn’t like my skin, and now other people are seeing my skin. I didn’t like the way I looked. And also, my gut issues have happened since I was 4 or 5.

I’ve had brain issues; concussions, traumatic brain injury. I think they’re all interconnected, as we know. So I’ve always had gut issues, therefore I’ve always had more anxiety and struggled with depression as long as I could remember. So it was when I was in Colorado that I finally decided; I’m not going to just keep hating myself. I have to do something about this. And I don’t want to be anybody else. I just want to know what it’s like to be a happy version of me. And to me, that meant, at the time, just going to the gym and figuring out how to eat well.

And even though the eat well was kind of the standard; not the Standard American Diet. I’m going to call it the standard bodybuilding diet. {laughs} this is like the chicken, and the tilapia, and the broccoli, and really low-fat. Kind of what you see with any macro counting program. I definitely saw changes. It wasn’t that I didn’t see changes in my body composition. But none of the other things went away. So anxiety was still there.

I was living my life with food. So I was counting down the minutes until I was able to eat again. And I remember picking up a Larabar, being like, “oh my god! I want to eat this so bad but it’s just too many calories!” I was always restricted, and I was living my life based on the food on my plate, and I hated that feeling.

So moving to Denver I was becoming a trainer. I got into CrossFit. As I became a trainer, I actually remember starting CrossFit, walking into the gym pretty soon after I started CrossFit. The gym owner at the time, who ended up being my coworker, he handed me the Paleo Solution with Robb Wolf. And the only reason I think I really took it seriously was because he said something about the skin and gut. And I was like; wait, my skin issues could go away? My acne could disappear if I eat this way? Are you kidding me? And I can eat fat?

So my mind just was; I mean, instantly threw everything away in my cabinet. All my whole grain Ezekiel breads and all the foods that I wanted to get out. I remember starting a blog. That’s when I first started my blog, bacon and skinny jeans. Which I think I told you about. And it was just fun to relearn about food in this whole different way. And then seeing; oh my god, food doesn’t run my life anymore. This is incredible. I can relax. I don’t have to eat every three hours. I don’t have to count calories.

So that was when I realized; there’s something here. There’s something I want to teach people. Because how many people are not being liberated by the food they eat? It’s always just restriction. It’s never a celebration. So getting back to that was really important to me. I wanted to share it.

And also, when people are trying to change their body. So for paleo, and what I see kind of in the world right now with paleo and keto. We just will always do it, and it’s ok to do it, but try to catch yourself doing it, is when I see clients want the perfect answer, and I always say; how is this any different than cutting calories and counting your grams of fat and feeling restricted? You never want that to be the case when it comes to the food on your plate.

Because most of the reasons we are not getting our results that we want are stress. It’s the stress we have in our head, it’s the stress we hold in our body, and it’s the way that we perceive the food that we’re eating. If it’s stressful to you, if it’s causing you havoc; what do you think that’s doing internally?

So I really just talk to people. If someone comes to me, they are wanting to see body composition changes but they still want to be fat adapted and get the benefits of a higher fat diet. Which I think is so important. Blood sugar is regulated. You're going to be really great at thinking. Your memory is going to be clear. You're just going to be a happier human when you can have more fat. But you also have to know that if fat is there, and fat is more prevalent, then carbohydrates have to be monitored. You can’t do both. It’s not a win-win situation when we have higher-fats and also don’t think about the carbohydrates we eat. So being really conscious of those carbs.

So what I’ve found is best is if an individual is really high stress; whether that’s they’ve got a lot going on. They have autoimmune issues. Maybe they just CrossFit like crazy and they’re constantly pushing their body, and hitting the anaerobic exercise they’re doing, they should not be decreasing their carbohydrates, in my opinion, under 100 grams. I just think it’s not healthy long-term. I think you're going to cause your body to get into more stress long-term.

And especially with keto being more popular these days. And as amazing I think it is, for some people; one, it’s not super sustainable, and two, you're really, really pushing your body into a higher stress state. Especially if you are a stressed out individual or your workouts are causing some stress and cortisol. So I really just think it’s important for me, when I eat carbs, I know I’ve had too many during the day when I’m a little bit grumpy, a little bit irritable. I start to get just off, and more anxiety. I could always plug in on My Fitness Pal and be like; oh. That’s a little bit more than I usually have.

So it’s really just finding out what that number in grams means for you. For some people, it’s 50 grams. For some people it’s 150 grams. And trying to work with somebody, or just work with yourself and be gentle with yourself as you figure out that process.

Diane Sanfilippo: I love that. I think; you said so many things, that I was taking notes over here.

Emily Schromm: {laughs}

Diane Sanfilippo: Because I think early on in what you were talking about; I love the, be gentle in your journey. Basically the concept that you sort of hold onto is not for people to be super dogmatic about any one thing. Which I think is wise. Because I think we see this happening in the nutrition world. As soon as somebody is sure that something is the way, and the right answer, it’s just bound to not be true 100% of the time. Nothing really is, you know what I mean?

There are plenty of people that believe a vegan diet is the answer. And I’m like, that’s fine. And it might be for someone, and a lot of someone’s, perhaps. Obviously, you and I don’t believe in that as the optimal approach. But I would never say that there isn’t somebody for whom that really works well. But unfortunately, it could work really well for someone and then they proselytize that out to everyone, and it’s just not the truth for everyone.

And unfortunately; I don’t know. I think what happens; and this is something I think you were also kind of touching on. I don’t know if this happens to women more than men, or it’s just we come in contact with more women than men. But somehow, we stop trusting ourselves in this process. And there are a lot of things that we’re not all experts on. But how our own body feels every day is something that we’re the only person who’s an expert on that.

I think what you mentioned about having gut issues; you probably looked healthy and fit on the outside, and this is something that Liz and I have experienced so much with women at our seminars. They would come up to us, and they were a picture of health from the outside and they would always say, “I’m having the worst gut issues.” Or they were having trouble with hormonal balance or all these other things. You really just never know what’s going on with someone. But I think getting people, and women especially, to tune in to how they feel. Which is kind of what you were touching on there with, “Hmm, I’m feeling kind of sluggish, or foggy, or depressed. Did I kind of overdo it with the carbs?”

I think you and I have a similar threshold for that stuff, too. I don’t train the way that you do, and I’m not in that place. But I think my body responds the same way. I do fine with some carbs, but too many, and I’m like, “Why do I not feel great?” I definitely feel a lot better mostly not eating too many carbs.

Emily Schromm: Mm-hmm.

5. Accurate consideration for movement and activity [23:22]

Diane Sanfilippo: So you talked a little bit about the anaerobic activity. And I think a lot of times, people are quick to write off either the amount of exercise or the type of exercise they do, and say they don’t really need the carbs. I only worked out for 10 minutes. This happens a lot on my sugar detox program, which is why some of the rules and outlines are being changed. I’m changing it in the new book so that people frame it differently in their mind. {laughs}

Emily’s cat is currently on the screen, which is amazing.

Emily Schromm: He loves Diane. {laughs}

Diane Sanfilippo: He’s my biggest fan.

Emily Schromm: He is.

Diane Sanfilippo: But I think; what was I saying about that? Oh, so people are quick to minimize the impact of the exercise that they’re doing. Or to your point, the stress in their lives. So what are a couple of ways that you can help women to put their finger on this. If they’re listening, and they’re like; well I don’t know if I’m not getting enough carbs. I’m doing this keto thing. Maybe it feels good, but maybe this other stuff that I’m still experiencing could be better if I did add more carbs. Like, what are some ways that women can know this is really working for me, or this isn’t working for me, that might not be so obvious you know?

Emily Schromm: For sure. It’s so much more common for probably our clientele to underestimate their activity. To always feel like it’s not enough, or it’s not nearly as intense as it could be. It could be more, more, more, more.

And it’s just so fun when you help somebody understand that less is sometimes so much more. And most issues coming from people that hit weight loss plateaus, or are having adrenal issues; slowing it down and sometimes taking time off, whatever that means for you, can be the most beneficial thing and actually getting the results you want. So I think that’s one thing I just want to say is, we just don’t even realize what we’re putting our body through.

We have BMR, basal metabolic rate, that you can check when you get your body fat tested, to see if you just sat in bed all day, how many calories you would burn. And it’s always surprising to people, because then on top of that, they’re going to work, they’re eating food, they’re running to the bus station and then all of a sudden, they’re adding their workout. And it adds up very quickly, how many calories you actually do burn.

So I think knowing and having that honest conversation with yourself or with your trainer to help you figure out, how many calories is this burning? And sometimes those Fitbits can be helpful, but it doesn’t ever take into consideration strength training, and the extra stuff that happens after you strength train and after you lift weights.

So, I would say very tangibly some signs that you maybe would do better with some carbs pre and post; and I start with just 25 grams before. That could be 30 minutes before, that could be an hour before. But try not to do too much further. And then I do 25 grams post. And that’s where a good starting point is.

Really, it’s are you hitting a wall in the middle of your workout? Are you doing burpees, burpees over a barbell and all of a sudden you hit round three and you feel like you want to die. What happens in that case is your body is going to make up for it. You're not going to stop. Your coach is yelling at you, your teammates are yelling at you. You're going to keep going. So you're going to fire up adrenaline, you're going to fire up cortisol. And you're going to get through it. But it just causes havoc long-term.

So if you feel like you keep hitting a wall. If you get migraines after you finish working out. Maybe you just feel like it takes you 5 hours to recover from a workout. I remember the first time recently I walked away from a CrossFit workout and I felt happy. I was like, oh my god! I’m so used to going through these workouts and just giving myself three hours to just decompress. It’s like a 10-minute workout, and a 5-hour recovery period. What is that saying about our body? This is not a healthy place to be! {laughs}

Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs} There are so many people listening who are like; oh shoot.

Emily Schromm: {laughs}

Diane Sanfilippo: I’m making Emily spit out her tea.

Emily Schromm: I know. {laughing} It’s true because I’m that person. I love being hardcore. I love pushing myself. But I hit some horrible adrenal issues where I had nothing in me. And for me, it translated into SI pain. It translated into me never getting a good night’s sleep. Having 10 cups of coffee and not waking up until 3 p.m. I know your listeners know about those adrenal issues. I think that CrossFit is the worst thing for your adrenals.

So instead of just saying, cut CrossFit altogether or change your workouts; one, just play around with your food. Maybe we can fuel appropriately so that you're able to adapt to those workouts. Some other solutions are maybe taking a week of just strength training. So don’t do anything that’s high intensity. Or, the opposite where a lot of people just go on an aerobic kind of kick. So maybe jump on the Stairmaster. Maybe you haven’t touched the Stairmaster in a long time, and walk the stairs at level 5 for 15 minutes. Just get your body moving. It’s still going to be hard, but it’s not the same kind of hard.

And you can kind of adjust; for me, if I’m doing aerobic exercise only. So running, swimming; I don’t swim. I don’t even know why I said that. But running, swimming, biking. {laughs} If I’m doing aerobic or I’m just going on a hike, then I don’t really worry about the carbohydrates as much. Because like you said, that’s my favorite phrase. My gut instinct; I will crave carbs when it’s time for me to have them.

I have my favorite oatmeal; it’s like this gluten free oatmeal with seed mix. And I’m obsessed with it. It’s so good. But I used to think if it was in my house, it would eat it until it was gone. And now I trust myself and I know I’m eating enough of the good stuff. I’m cutting my cravings by eating vegetables, greens powder. I’m getting the multivitamin I know my body needs. So the only time I crave that oatmeal is when I know my body needs it. So it’s really just the practice of listening to what your gut is saying.

Diane Sanfilippo: I love it. {laughs} I just, that’s always my comment. But I went through that exact same thing when I was eating on a macros plans for a little while. I actually did ok with paying attention to when I needed more carbs. I obviously didn’t maintain that for the long-term, but it did teach me something in the shorter term. Because my carbs weren’t unlimited or super high on that. It was kind of moderate fat, moderate carb when I was doing it. Because I was like; I can’t do 35 grams of fat in a day. No. Just no.

But I remember that feeling that you're talking about of post-workout, or just sometime during the day when I felt like my cells were hungry for something, and whatever I just ate wasn’t it. And I would make this oatmeal. It was oatmeal! {laughs}

Emily Schromm: {laughs}

Diane Sanfilippo: Which is so funny, because it’s like we came into this paleo thing and then all of a sudden oatmeal is a thing. But it’s not like we’re starting our day with that whack of oatmeal like we used to, where it was just sugar in the morning. It’s this; oh I worked out. And if I eat this oatmeal instead of eating a pile of cookies, or whatever that’s loaded with additional sugar or sugar and fat together. It literally feels like; oh. My cells are just chilling out now. That is what I needed. And I think it’s so great to have that feeling and that body awareness. And recognize that it’s not a craving that’s emotional or mental. It truly is a physical; my body wants this food, then I eat it, and my whole body feels kind of chilled out now. And it’s all good. And I didn’t have to have a sleeve of Oreos to make it happen. I could have something that was pretty healthy. It doesn’t have to be a huge deal.

Emily Schromm: Yeah.

Diane Sanfilippo: I think it just takes people sometimes a lot of time to get to that place through trial and error.

Emily Schromm: Mm-hmm.

6. Learning to listen to your body [31:43]

Diane Sanfilippo: I also think; and I’m sure this is something that you talk about a lot with your women clients. I think a lot of times, we are looking at food as the thing we want to manage and micromanage. And when we pull back and actually start improving other areas of our life, then the need to control the food actually starts to fade away. When I start sleeping better, when my stress level gets better. When I’m doing everything else in my life in a way that feels a little more balanced, then the decisions I make around food just seem to be more chill.

Emily Schromm: Yes. I agree with that, for sure. And it’s interesting with kind of the carb thing. You know it’s oatmeal; but some people, if they don’t quite know it yet, they feel like, I will never get to that point. Then I just look at what’s their pattern with eating. Do they go really well for a week and then binge on those Oreos? Or feel like when they start eating sugar, they can’t eat enough? Those are also signs that you’re probably not listening to your body early on in the week and therefore it’s going to translate. Because you think that oatmeal is bad for you. You know?

And some people, I agree. Just like what you said, with breakfast. We don’t want it for breakfast like most people. My favorite time to have it; seriously, I have my protein shake and then I have a bowl of oatmeal right after I workout. It’s my favorite thing in the world. But for people that don’t know that they’re craving that, then just look at your sugar cravings and kind of your cycles. Do you crave sugar every night? Do you wake up in the middle of the night? Do you have these kinds of binges that you can’t seem to control? And I think that’s always so important to help say, Oh ok. There might be something here. Versus, it’s me and my cravings therefore that whole shame concept that Brené Brown speaks to so much.

Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah. It becomes this morality issue of, my choice was bad. Or I shouldn’t have had that. And yeah, that is something that I think; I’m trying to remember. {laughs} I’ve written about all these topics or talked about them in so many places, I’m like, where did I put that?

Emily Schromm: {laughs}

Diane Sanfilippo: I really need to do better at reviewing my own stuff so I know where it was. But I’m pretty sure; because this is a topic that comes up a lot with the sugar detox. Where I am pulling out a lot of high carb, a lot of sugary foods for people. But I’m really specific about saying, if you need carbs, eating real food carbs is going to help you carve sugar less. Which is exactly what you were saying. And it shouldn’t be something that anyone feels badly about. It’s totally cool to eat some good carbohydrates and get that food in and let your body just chill out.

Because, I mean, you were talking about this before. The biggest reason why women don’t see the fat loss they want; which, let’s just put that out there because that’s the thing that we’re dealing with so often, is stress. And it’s like; if we can do work that’s the minimum effective dose. And you train really hard. So it’s probably really easy for people to look at you and say, I should strain as had are Emily.

I think it’s just a different perspective, because not everybody has the same life in the full picture of what’s going on in their life.

Emily Schromm: Yeah. And for my workouts I totally feel; I have gotten so much better at this. Especially after the adrenal issues. If I go to the gym; and I kind of have this 8-minute rule. I don’t actually set a clock. But I do it with TV shows, too. If a TV show sucks at 8 minutes, I’m like, {meh} next.

Diane Sanfilippo: I like that.

Emily Schromm: {laughs} It’s a good rule. Because then you’re not committed. I know. And same with the gym. If I walk in, I start warming up, I start moving, and I definitely give it 100% while I’m just moving and warming up with the intention and I still feel like a bag of rocks and things aren’t moving well, I listen to that. And before I would just push through it anyway, and then I would feel exhausted. So my workouts have totally changed. Especially with new businesses coming on.

I always say we have so much our body can handle. And if I wanted to be a CrossFit athlete, then I was not going to be able to be successful with my Kickstarter and EmPack. And I had this very big come to Jesus moment where I realized that, and I wanted to do it all. But the EmPack was my second business, so there was going to be something that failed if I also put that much effort into the workouts that I was doing. So it cycles through. If I have a low-key week; like this week, I’m home. Then I go a little crazy. But if I know I’m graveling, if I’m on the road, I allow myself to slow it down. Take an extra rest day if we need to. And that whole gentle thing. I still work on it, not being mad at myself for taking that time.

Diane Sanfilippo: Today’s podcast is sponsored by Vital Choice seafood and organics. Purveyor of premium sustainably sourced seafood and a certified B corporation. Vital choice offers a wide range of fish, shellfish, humanely raised meat, protein rich bone broths, and paleo friendly snacks like organic dark chocolate, super antioxidant trail mix, and bison jerky. My favorites from Vital Choice are the king salmon and the scallops. And Liz’s favorites are the salmon and the tanner crab. www.vitalchoice.com is your source for real food.

7. Recovering from an adrenal crisis [37:16]

Diane Sanfilippo: So I was talking to a trainer that I’m going to be working with; like a distance trainer. Who I’ll talk about eventually. I just want to have my experience before I start talking about everything. But one of the things I told her about how I feel on a daily basis, and how much I think I can handle metabolic conditioning wise. I was like, I haven’t been moving a lot, but I feel physically, because of what my brain has been doing with the work. I feel like I’ve been running all day, because the adrenal and the cortisol. And just the amount of energy that goes into how much thinking and how many decisions I’m making all day with finishing a book to get it off to print and having a new online program launching. All these different things. The amount of stress that that gives me is so much, that I ended up hurting myself a month ago. And it took me two weeks to recover from that, and then I hadn’t worked out for two weeks, and it’s like, ugh! Two more weeks! It’s just easy not to.

But that feeling; I think a lot of people don’t listen to that or don’t tune into it. So I think what you said about an 8-minute rule, or whatever the rule is going to be for anyone. I think it’s especially true in the CrossFit environment. It’s really tough for people to show up, and then feel like, I’m not going to do what’s on the board because I just don’t have it in me. And then there’s the pressure of the coach saying something or the class, or whatever. I think we all have to find a way to know ourselves. And I think that balance is really hard for a lot of people. Because if training isn’t your best skillset. If you're not naturally like, I know how to train and what to do.

I think sometimes there are some people who kind of underestimate their abilities, or underestimate what they’re capable off. However, a lot of listeners are kind of in the type A camp or in the pushing too hard camp. It would be great if they kind of showed up one day at the gym and they were like; “you know what, I’m here. Because I want to be here, and I love being here. But coach, I have to do something else today. Can you give me a modification on this? I can’t do metabolic conditioning today.” Or something, where you're like, I just have too much stress going on today.

People look at it as they’re outlet. But unfortunately, sometimes it just physically piles too much extra stress on, and then it leads to that stuff that you were talking about. The adrenal fatigue. I’d love for you to talk more about that. Because now that I think about it; as you're talking about having experienced that. Yes, I’ve definitely seen a shift in what you share on social, like maybe a year to two years ago there would have been more workouts that I would have been like, um, ok. You're also a lot younger than I am, so whenever I see people training super hard, I’m like, whatever, I’m almost 40. So we’re fine.

Emily Schromm: Yeah. {laughs}

Diane Sanfilippo: I’m like, let me just give them 10 years and I’ll check back on their Instagram. I don’t think people realize how old I am sometimes {laughs}. I’m like, I’m ancient! I’m ancient!

Emily Schromm: You look young. You’ve just been in this industry. You’ve seen it all.

Diane Sanfilippo: It’s because I don’t have kids. That’s the only reason I can stay looking young.

Emily Schromm: {laughs}

Diane Sanfilippo: I mean, there are plenty of people who have kids and stay looking young. But yeah, why don’t you talk about what happened. How did you even realize, aside from, as you mentioned, needing hours to recover? That’s obviously a huge part. But what was going on that other people might be able to identify in themselves?

Emily Schromm: For sure. I still, even after I kind of recovered, I still gave it another go at CrossFit, because I love competing in CrossFit. And I was competing quite a bit. Never regionals or Games, by any means. But as far as local, pro competitions, always been able to hang with the top dogs. And I always loved that. It almost kind of became my identity, I think, for so many years. Because coming out of a reality TV show, it was like, I have to kind of prove that I’m not just this reality TV show. I’m also an athlete. And that was the big driving force.

And really, the answer like you said, how you have to dig into the answers of other aspects of your life. Figuring out the why’s behind why you're doing something is always so important. So for me, I was just full on, I’m going to make regionals. This is everything I care about. I just want to make regionals.

I also got my wisdom teeth taken out right before the opening; bacterial infections, dry sockets. It was just a nightmare. There was so much that happened within 4 weeks. And then I also was doing a big challenge launch with the EmilySchromm.com stuff. And I just felt like I’ve always been able to do it, so I’m fine. I’ll just keep doing the CrossFit workouts like I’m able to, and crush them, and everything’s fine.

And then I got really sick. Like 102-degree fever. It almost felt like; you know some people with adrenals, it’s kind of this gradual, just pushing, pushing, pushing and then we kind of drop off the cliff. For me, I think I flew off the cliff. {laughs} And I was like; this is wrong.

When I talk about adrenal health, we have two patterns. Obviously, our normal pattern, but too dysfunctions. We could have too much cortisol, and we could have too little cortisol. So for me, I think I’ve always lived in somewhat too much cortisol. I’ve always been a go, go, go. I don’t want to sit still. To get really nerdy, I think my concussions have actually made me that way, as well. That’s how I function. That’s how I process. And after all this stuff kind of piled on; the bacterial infection, the CrossFit workouts that I was doing. I just completely bombed, and I dropped down.

So then I started feeling just really exhausted, just really under recovered. My muscle mass changed. I remember seeing; I’m putting so much work in the gym, but my muscle definition is getting worse. Which was so bizarre to me. I didn’t understand that concept quite yet about cortisol and being catabolic. And then seeing my actual hormone panel, and how my hormones were really depleted. So my DHEA was low. Everything was low. And I was like, oh my god. This has been happening for a while. I’ve been pushing through for a long time.

So I knew that my cortisol was no longer becoming cortisol, it was getting shuttled over, and my body was just in survival mode. So for me, it translated outside of just exhaustion, I think the biggest thing was my SI joint. My hip pain. And I love talking about kind of hip pain and lower back pain. How that’s connected with our glutes. People in the CrossFit world, they can’t fire their glutes no matter how much sling shot band walking they’ll do. It’s like; it doesn’t matter. As soon as I start squatting, my glutes aren’t firing and it’s all quads and hip flexors. And shifts in your hips and leg length being different.

And that’s why I got so into nutritional therapy. Because just that test alone; realizing that I could have a bigger butt, or I could squat more and deadlift more if my adrenals were working appropriately. And how many clients was I seeing that had those issues of tight hip flexors and quad dominant? And it just blew my mind; when you start taking care of the adrenals and the stress levels, that that really changed their hip structure and their squat and the way they squatted wasn’t shifted. It was just mind blowing to me.

So I had to take some serious time off. And that looked like; I ended up finishing the open, but realizing I’m just going to try to get through this. And then I cut coffee completely. I actually, I have a herbal coffee blend coming out, because it’s what saved me during my adrenal dysfunction. I drank coffee every day since I was 12 years old, so to cut coffee for me; it was an emotional journey. I cried every morning. I was like; I can’t just have green tea; this is bullsh*t. {laughs} It was just so impossible for me. So I created this kind of herbal coffee blend that I’m obsessed with. And that helped a little bit. But it still was hard. I mean, I was still trying to stay at the gym, telling people I have to tone it back.

And I almost wish for gyms; I want to educate trainers more. Because sometimes people are really responsive. Sometimes CrossFit owners are like; “you know what, you’re right. I’m trusting you that you aren’t doubting your capability, you just have had a really rough day. And I’m going to listen to that and modify; add more rest, add lighter weight.” But the majority of the clients I work with, they say that they come back and their coaches basically make them feel like sh*t for slowing it down. And I understand that they want to push and make people better. But if they only understood the impact of these workouts for adrenals and how they’re just pushing this person deeper and darker into the hole that they’re trying to get out of, it’s just. It’s like; it’s so frustrating. So I think it’s important for any trainer and for anybody in the gym to really push that every coach there should know about adrenal issues. {laughs} I think that’s just so necessary.

Diane Sanfilippo: Your cat is killing me.

Emily Schromm: {laughs}

Diane Sanfilippo: He was literally staring at me, and also I have mine now.

Emily Schromm: Oh, Griff; look!

Diane Sanfilippo: He’s here on my lap.

Emily Schromm: Griffin look at the KitKat.

Diane Sanfilippo: Look at this guy.

Emily Schromm: Aww!

Diane Sanfilippo: Oh my gosh. Your cat is fixated. He’s hilarious.

Emily Schromm: He really is.

Diane Sanfilippo: He’s like; just looking around. Oh my gosh. Now I probably; go ahead buddy. That was it. Eww, I think his nose leaked on me.

Emily Schromm: He’s just staring at me.

Diane Sanfilippo: Hopefully Scott will put an ad break in there.

Emily Schromm: {laughs}

Diane Sanfilippo: Sorry. So I’ll bring it back, but I also realize that I’m so glad I made you record, because I forgot to hit the other button! {laughs}

Emily Schromm: {laughs} So you have a backup.

Diane Sanfilippo: So now we have just one recording. I was just like, oh that record doesn’t say recording. I didn’t push that button when I thought I did. But the independent Quick Times are recording.

Emily Schromm: Perfect.

Diane Sanfilippo: I would be so fired from all of this work.

Emily Schromm: I also; just so you know. I always think I should experience everything, right? So I’ve tried a lot of diets. I mean, I lasted in college like 2 days on a vegetarian diet, so that really didn’t happen. But as far as macros and really trying to figure out what works for me, I did try going to 30% fat and I thought I was going to die.

Diane Sanfilippo: That’s basically what the Zone is right? 40/30/30.

Emily Schromm: Yeah.

Diane Sanfilippo: 40% carb, 30% fat, 30% protein. Yeah.

Emily Schromm: I did a 40/30/30 just so I could, 1, say I did it. And two, keep an open mind. Never want to be closed minded and I always want to try new things. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done. Ever, ever. Maybe not the hardest.

Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs}

Emily Schromm: When I was 20% fat, that was pretty hard. But the 30% fat, I’m like; god I love my life. I love the way I eat. I love it. It’s so fun.

8. Intermittent fasting and what works for you [48:26]

Diane Sanfilippo: I think people are trying to push a lot of levers in that sense. And right now, Scott and I are both testing out intermittent fasting. Which, to me is a lever in a sense. Like, ok let’s pull this and see how I feel and what happens. But what I like about it; it’s definitely difficult in the early part of the day. When we get to eat, when it’s our go time to eat in the beginning part of the day, it’s like I spend 2 hours being; what can I eat? I eat a normal meal and that’s really it. But it feels like; ok now we can eat! And it’s a little crazy that first hour or two. But the rest of the day actually feels totally normal and fine.

And I’m curious to see in the longer term how I might feel. Because in the time that we eat, it’s like an 8-hour feeding window, 16-hour fast each day. I feel totally normal and not like; oh, I can’t have this thing or that thing. I’m not doing any counting of anything or any of that. I’m just feeling like I’m eating normal food and it’s not restricted or whatever in the meantime.

Emily Schromm: I want to respond well to intermittent fasting so badly. It would fit perfectly with my lifestyle of; I travel, I don’t have time to think. But it doesn’t. I feel, it’s just something I’ve tried probably six times on various occasions. I’m finally accepting, and maybe one day when stress is lower. I just don’t feel like it works well for me, and I hate it. Because it works so great for some people, and I want it to. Because it sounds so appealing, of less thinking, kind of just don’t think about it, here it is. But I just can’t do it. I’ve noticed such a difference when I have breakfast.

Diane Sanfilippo: I think that’s important, you know? Because it’s not for everyone. The thing that I’m noticing right now is I feel just as hungry in the morning if I eat breakfast or I don’t. I’m still just as hungry when it comes time to eat at noon as I would have been if I had eaten breakfast. I’m pretty much always hungry {laughing}.

Emily Schromm: {laughing}

Diane Sanfilippo: My appetite metabolism situation thinks I’m an athlete like you are. {laughs} Thinks I’m at that place. But I’m definitely not.

Emily Schromm: Griff!

Diane Sanfilippo: He’s aggressive.

Emily Schromm: I know; why Griff.

Diane Sanfilippo: We should make this a video podcast. People would be like; that was the best episode I’ve ever seen. All our cat lovers would be like; he’s my favorite cat. He’s literally sitting next to Emily on her desk, partially staring at her, and then smashing his face into her shoulder and her face. He’s just so happy she’s sitting still. He’s like, I’m just going to be right here. It’s amazing.

Emily Schromm: I know. I’m going to embrace this. Gryffindor Hemmingway. {laughs}

9. Being in the right mindset [51:33]

Diane Sanfilippo: Oh my gosh. So what do you want to tell people; I think that was such a great insight, knowing yourself and knowing how much you know about how beneficial it could be to do intermittent fasting, but saying, “I’m not doing it. I’ve tried it, it keeps not working for me.” And maybe in the future you’ll try it again. Because you’ll be like; well, my lifestyle is really different right now. Let me just see how it feels. But what do you want to tell people about that? I guess it’s the idea that this thing seems to work, and be super beneficial for a lot of people. How do we help them get around what everyone else is doing?

Emily Schromm: I think it’s always worth trying something, right? So if you really want to try keto. If you really want to try intermittent fasting. Two to three weeks is enough time to know what your body is going to do. I say 3 weeks, because 2 weeks we tend to get impatient and just say, screw it! It’s not working. I haven’t adjusted.

But if you really {laughs} Gryffindor. If you really dedicate some time, and make sure that you're doing it by the book or whatever the recommendations are for the practitioner you’re working with and commit to it. And don’t just dabble in it and say; this doesn’t work. Which I think I see a lot with people. It’s like; “Oh yeah, that so didn’t work for me.” I’m like; well, how did we do it? Kind of like what we were talking about before we hit record. With the gut protocols or really extreme protocols. There are sometimes when if you're really looking at healing something, there’s got to be some strict rules.

But for this, I think; ok for me, I tried it. I really worked on it. Part of the reason intermittent fasting doesn’t work for me is because I used to have eating disorders. And I’ve never remembered; I thought in my mind I was so away from that. That feels like a lifetime ago. But there is something that triggers me, where I feel slightly deprived. I feel slightly inadequate, and there’s just this shift in my mental focus. Especially the first few days of going back into intermittent fasting and trying it. I don’t like the place I go to. So that’s one component, is the mental piece.

The physical piece is; I never felt like I could get enough protein the rest of the day in order to maintain the muscle composition that I wanted. So I noticed big changes with just my body composition and my muscle mass. And it could have been really slight, and I think only you will know. But there are definitely changes where I felt a little too lightheaded in the workouts that I was doing. Even if I had a meal before, if I missed too much, I think it ended up being a caloric thing. And also just not seeing the muscle definition that I wanted. I didn’t see the results.

As soon as; ok, I’m accepting that this did not work. Maybe I’ll come back to it. Incorporating breakfast and usually just a higher fat breakfast. Pretty low carb outside of some veggies and maybe some blackberries. It was like, in 3 days I felt like my muscles were back, you know? So that’s a horrible reference of level of, my muscles were there, my muscles were not. But that was something I noticed pretty quickly, is with muscle definition, with fatigue, and then also the mental component of not wanting to go to that dark place that I have proudly come out of.

Diane Sanfilippo: I think that’s really, really important. The; how do you feel mentally and emotionally while you do it. Because I often feel sort of the opposite. I think this is because I’m an Abstainer, and you might be more of a Moderator. Where for you your balance is there when you feel like nothing is off limits. So you're super chill about all of those decisions. For me, having the limits or the construct of; ok, I don’t eat before this time, but when it is time to eat, it’s kind of eat my healthy foods and whatever. It tends to feel easier or less stressful for me. And I think that’s a really good sign. I think that right there is like; do you enjoy it? Even if it is a little difficult sometimes. Because, you know, eating healthfully is difficult at times all the time. {laughs}

Emily Schromm: Yeah, it is.

Diane Sanfilippo: You go out with your friends, and it might not be easy to make that choice of something healthy versus not. I’m just saying, it’s easy or not is maybe not the thing. But just mentally and emotionally does it make you feel more stressed or more anxious or like you hate it. Don’t hate it! {laughs} Don’t do it and hate it. Do it and be like; I kind of like doing this. This is kind of; I don’t know.

Emily Schromm: Same with workouts, right? People say they hate a certain workout. But usually, I always say; don’t do a workout if you hate it. Obviously find something you enjoy. But when you dig deeper into why they hate it, it’s usually because they feel a little insecure about it, or self-conscious about it. And so I’m a firm believer that no woman hates the barbell, or weight lifting, or strength training. {laughs} Maybe that’s not true, there might be some people. But for the most part, it’s usually just allowing yourself to; ok, I might hate it but why do I hate it. Let’s dig into the question why. Do I hate it because I feel silly? Because I don’t know what I’m doing? I feel self-conscious? Same with the barbell. It’s hard.

And food, too. It’s hard. Are you hating it because; I guess with food, you hate it because it feels restricted. So as long as that doesn’t go into a dark place of that cycle that all of us have been in at some point in our life.

Diane Sanfilippo: And I think your point about giving it two to three weeks. And I think three is good. I think that’s probably why we both have different challenges that are three weeks.

Emily Schromm: 21 days.

Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah. So, Emily has got the 21-Day Superhero Challenge, and then 21-Day Sugar Detox. I think three weeks is a really solid amount of time to learn something. The first week everyone is pretty much like; it’s hard, but I’ve got this, you know. And the second week is kind of like your make or break. And that third week is like; no now this is when we’re going to see how you can really continue this or not.

Emily Schromm: Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Diane Sanfilippo: And I think that’s totally true of something like intermittent fasting or eating low carb, or just trying something. And I don’t think you would do too much damage, per se, trying anything for that amount of time. You know what I mean? So try it. Even if it is eating less animal foods, or eating more animal foods if you're not. Whatever it’s going to be. More carbs, less carbs. You’ll get a feel for it both physically and emotionally in that time. And then you can kind of make judgement and go from there.

Emily Schromm: And this is going back to kind of what we talked about in the very beginning. I have totally been the extremist. Even when I first started the 21-Day Superhero Challenge, which has to evolve for reasons I am annoyed about to the EmFit Challenge. With the Superhero think, I feel like it’s so important to understand; I have so been there where I thought I had the answer for everybody. I was like, paleo changed my life, it’s going to change yours. And high fat is going to change yours. This is how it was for me.

So I had most people, when I first started that challenge 4 and a half years ago, it was very, very high fat. And then I was seeing; why are these people not digesting fat well? Why are these people getting negative results from this? So then when you study about digestion of fats and how not digesting fats can cause gut trauma. When you talk about gallbladder and gallbladder function, you’re taking somebody that’s never ate more than 30 grams of fat a day, because they thought it was bad, and you’re piling on 100 more grams; what does that do to the system? The gallbladder is not ready for that.

And all my NTPs listening know this, for sure. But then even more importantly I think it’s the genetic piece. There are things in your genes that say you're going to do really well at assimilating fats, and you’re not. And it sucks, because it sounds so liberating. But for the clients that are getting the blood work and they realize; ugh! I’m actually gaining weight on keto. What’s happening here? There’s a reason for it. So it’s just so cool to see that bioindividuality of that.

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10. What’s coming up for Emily [1:01:03]

Diane Sanfilippo: Alright, well we have sucked up a lot of your time. And I think your cat would like to take you back.

Emily Schromm: {laughing}

Diane Sanfilippo: To his time. And my cat is actually going to start meowing loudly for food any second now. This was the most cat involved episode I think we’ve had.

Emily Schromm: I know. I love it.

Diane Sanfilippo: They’re super into it. They’re like; you're sitting still, I’m here, we’re making this happen. Well thanks for coming and chatting with me today. It’s been really fun.

Emily Schromm: Yeah, this has been so great. You're awesome, Diane.

Diane Sanfilippo: You're awesome. You know what’s funny; I didn’t even know that you were on a reality; I mean, I knew now that you were on a reality TV show. But when I first knew anything about you; I’m too old to know I think {laughs}.

Emily Schromm: {laughs}

Diane Sanfilippo: #NotAMillennial. So I’m pretty sure I’m at the tail end of Generation X; I think. That’s how old I am. But I didn’t know that about you. It’s probably nice to be like; oh, this person didn’t know anything about.

Emily Schromm: I love it.

Diane Sanfilippo: I’ve never seen you on any kind of show. I have no idea. I just like you because I like you. {laughs}

Emily Schromm: I appreciate that. I’m actually; I’m going back on the show in a couple of weeks for the first time.

Diane Sanfilippo: You are?

Emily Schromm: I haven’t done one in over four years. And I can’t even believe it’s happening. But November 21st, I don’t know when this will air. But I did it for this charity challenge, so it’s called Chance versus Stars. And it’s on November 21st on MTV.

Diane Sanfilippo: On MTV. I’ll see if I can find that on my app. My cable app.

Emily Schromm: {laughing}

Diane Sanfilippo: I’m such an old person. I’m like; I can’t figure out how to actually watch the television, but I’ve got my iPad, and I’m like, I can just push this and then I get my shows.

Emily Schromm: I’ll post the highlight reel, how about that? {laughs}

Diane Sanfilippo: I will watch whatever it is. I’ll watch any friends of mine on their TV shows, because that’s awesome.

So the EmFit challenge, that’s what it’s called now. EmFit Challenge. Do you have a group that you kick off, what’s the scoop on that? When can people get in on that?

Emily Schromm: Yeah. So I’m going to do a free 8-day holiday challenge over Thanksgiving. So November 19th is kind of a mini challenge that you can sign up for free. I’m not sure when this airs, but November 19th, you can jump in whenever. Even if it’s after, you can jump in and get recipes and workouts for throughout the holidays. Which is just a good reminder to; we might be eating more sugar and drinking more wine. But as long as you can move and do what you can and be surrounded by some good people, it’s going to be ok. So the whole balance approach.

I am going to launch in January the next 21-day EmFit challenge, which will be really just basics of proteins, carbs, fats, gut health, adrenal health, all the things that I love to talk about. But what I’m really excited about, and this is something we’re going to talk more about, is the Body Awareness Project. That’s something coming up in 2018 that I just am really passionate about, because I want to dig deeper into those topics that we all care about. So all things are on EmilySchromm.com. And also EmPack.com to check out the backpack.

And then I also have a podcast that you are going to be on, hopefully soon. I would love to have you on. Meathead Hippie.

Diane Sanfilippo: Any time. Yeah.

Emily Schromm: Meathead Hippie. I renamed it, and I’m just so glad I renamed it. I love it. {laughs}

Diane Sanfilippo: It just feels; I saw that and I was like, what is that? And then I was like, that makes sense. I like it.

Emily Schromm: Yeah. {laughs}

Diane Sanfilippo: I like that. That’s so awesome. I love it. I’m really excited for all of that stuff for you. I think it’s awesome. I love my fellow female entrepreneurs and I love to see people just going after their dreams and making things happen. So I’m proud of you, even though I have no hand in anything that you're doing. But I just feel proud of you because I don’t know. Maybe I just feel like a big sister or something to everyone {laughing}.

Emily Schromm: Yeah, you’ve helped with some oh sh*t, I’m stuck moments. You’ve always been such a; I know I speak for everyone when I say that you're a role model and you're a badass and you do it with grace. Which is rare to find, and I’m just grateful that we’ve connected.

Diane Sanfilippo: Aww. Well I appreciate that. Thank you so much.

Emily Schromm: Of course. Well thanks for having me on, this was wonderful.

Diane Sanfilippo: We’ll bring you back again sometime soon when you're going to talk about more new stuff that’s coming up. So thank you so much for being here.

Emily Schromm: Of course.

Diane Sanfilippo: Alright you guys, that’s it for this week. Don’t forget, you can find me at http://dianesanfilippo.com. You can find Emily at www.EmilySchromm.com. We’ll put a link in the show notes so you can link over to that. And of course, you can always find her on Instagram at Emily Schromm.

Emily Schromm: Mm-hmm.

Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs} It’s like wait a minute, did I have that right?

Emily Schromm: Shot in the dark.

Diane Sanfilippo: You can always find her there too. So we’ll see you guys next week.