Podcast Episode #187: CrossFit, weightlifting, motivation, and more with Emily Schromm

Topics:
1.  What’s new for you from Diane [2:17] 2.   Introducing our guest, Emily Schromm [5:42] 3.  Transitioning from cardio junkie to Crossfit/lifter  [12:37] 4. Lifting without a trainer with proper form [14:34] 5. Tips for improving pull-ups [19:30] 6. Tips on kettlebell swings [23:48] 7. Strengthening low back muscles [26:31] 8. How do I build my strength and keep from getting discouraged [28:57] 9. Never lifted weights; how to become a superhero? [34:43] 10. Tip for self motivation [37:56] 11. How to balance in your everyday life [42:43] 12. Why all grains are excluded in the superhero challenge [50:49] 13. Making sure to get enough carbs [55:55] 14. Dealing with haters [1:01:32] 15. Liz’s BMB tip of the week: probiotics for group B strep [1:11:05]

Links:

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Diane Sanfilippo: Hey everyone! Welcome to the Balanced Bites podcast, number 187. Today I have a very special guest, and I believe soon we’re going to have a couple of episodes mixed in with my cohost Liz again, so I’m really excited to get to talk to her pretty soon. We’ve been texting a little bit, and it’s been great hearing from her. So I think we’ll be able to get her looped in soon. Before we jump into this episode, let’s hear from our sponsors.

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1. What’s new for you from Diane [2:17]

Diane Sanfilippo: Ok, so a couple of things I want to update you guys on right before I get into this interview today; number one, I’m not sure if you need to resubscribe to the podcast. If you’re not seeing episodes load into your iTunes or wherever you’re getting the show, we did switch hosts, and I know everyone is really happy about that because the show has been coming through without the crazy weird ad that was on the beginning that we did not approve. But if you’re not seeing the episodes load in, if you just clicked on today’s, just make sure you go into iTunes and resubscribe. So that’s thing number one.

Thing number two, I want to tell everyone I have no idea when this will be happening or how long it will happen for, but I’ve seen this week a couple of times, and yesterday it happened again, that Amazon dropped the price of Practical Paleo to $17 and some change, which basically means it was less than 50% of the original price. Now they’ve got it at $20 and some change, which is actually just about 50% off. So I just wanted to give you guys a heads up that they’ve been knocking the price way down, and Wal-Mart.com has done the same thing, which I know they have free shipping if you spend $50 or more.

But, this is a big deal because if some of you are trying to grab the book in Target stores, you may have heard that you can bring it up to Customer Service, show them the price on Amazon, or Wal-Mart, or wherever, and they’ll price match it for you. So it’s marked $39.95, which the book is well worth, on the shelf at Target or wherever, but if you bring it up to their Customer Service, they’ll price match it. So of course, the book is still in Barnes and Noble and some Costco stores here and there, but I love for you guys to be able to get it at a really great price.

I know people have had it in their cart and on their wish list, and whenever I see those prices I try to let you guys know about it all over social media as much as possible, because I have no control over it, but I love to make sure that you’re saving money if you can. So heads up there.

Last couple of things; if you’ve been interested in the 21-Day Sugar Detox Coaches Program, just a reminder to join the Facebook group. You can go to 21DSD.com/coaches and I think I’ve got a link right there to it. This is something that’s going to be open, and I would say recommended best for folks who are doing some coaching already. So if you’re a nutritionist, an NTP, an NC, or maybe you’re a personal trainer, you have some other way that you generally coach people now. It’s not a requirement, you can just kind of be any everyday person who’s done the program and really wants to help people.

But what I’m seeing with my beta group is the people who seem to be able to move things along quickly, get a group together, and get it going are people who have experience with that. Obviously, I want to make sure that everyone who is in that program is as successful as possible with it. But anyone is welcome, I just wanted to let you guys know that that is coming up soon. We’re going to open the enrollment, I’m not exactly sure when, but within the next 4 to 6 weeks I would say, that’s kind of the timeframe we’re looking at.

The very last thing I want to tell you guys, just next week I’ll be in Austin, Texas from April 24th through the 26th, and a bunch of my talks will be on Sunday, the 26th, and I will be on a panel with my guest today. So I’m really excited about that, because today we’re “meeting”, but we’ll actually get to be hanging out and face to face at PaleoFx.

Emily Schromm: Yay! {laughs}

Diane Sanfilippo: Yay! So that’s Emily. Welcome Emily!

2. Introducing our guest, Emily Schromm [5:42]

Emily Schromm: Hi, how are you?

Diane Sanfilippo: Good, how are you?

Emily Schromm: I’m good, I’m excited to be here. This is so fun to meet you via technology before in person. {laughs}

Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs} I know, I love it. And thank you for joining me so early your time. It’s really early for her, you guys.

Emily Schromm: {laughs} its ok.

Diane Sanfilippo: Well, let me give a quick introduction here, and then we’ll jump into the show. Emily Schromm is a former reality TV show personality who learned how to love herself by way of the gym and through proper nutrition. Her lifestyle change was so impactful, she knew it was her calling to help other girls and guys unleash their inner superhero. Starting her own business, Unleashed Fitness, in Denver, Colorado in 2012.

Always learning more, she’s finishing her NTP program, running online challenges, filming Women’s Health Next Fitness Star DVDs, and loving the adventure of life every step of the way.

Emily Schromm: {laughs}

Diane Sanfilippo: I love that! That’s probably one of my favorite bios so far.

Emily Schromm: Thank you. You know what’s so hard, is to say “Women’s Health Next Fitness Star DVD”. I can never, that was the first time I’ve said that without tripping on my words. I think I need to work on that.

Diane Sanfilippo: I’m just reading it, so.

Emily Schromm: {laughs} That was impressive.

Diane Sanfilippo: Awesome. Well, welcome! I’m really excited to get to chat with you today. We had a ton, ton, of awesome questions, not just from my fans and followers over on Instagram and Facebook, but your folks over on Instagram. So quickly for my listeners, or our listeners since this is Liz and my show; I’m like, I miss her! And Liz is the one who actually formally introduced us. So thanks Liz! We love you!

Emily Schromm: Yes. Liz is great.

Diane Sanfilippo: Love her. Why don’t you do a really quick background on yourself? I actually first heard you over on Robb Wolf’s podcast, and I was like, oh she sounds awesome. {laughs}

Emily Schromm: {laughs}

Diane Sanfilippo: But that was a while ago. So why don’t you tell people a little bit about yourself.

Emily Schromm: Ok, so I live in Denver, Colorado. About 6 years ago I was in Missouri; I was born and raised in Missouri and I was kind of at this point in my life where, I guess it’s been a little longer than 6 years, but I was frustrated with this career path I was on. I was going to Mizzou, I was studying biology, and I was realizing slowly but surely that I did not want to be a veterinarian, which is what I had planned my whole life, since age of 2. Then all of a sudden my life kind of unraveled. I was like, what am I going to do with my life? I’m not doing what I should!

Coincidentally, around the same time, I worked at Starbucks on campus, and I got approached by someone I did not know at the time was a casting director for an MTV show.

Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs}

Emily Schromm: {laughs} I actually was making fun of MTV, and he thought that was awesome, and I ended up getting cast for a show that I never even seen Real World before.

Diane Sanfilippo: {laughing}

Emily Schromm: Which is so ironic, my dad actually blocked MTV growing up because he thought it was such trash, so I really had never seen it. I’m such a believer in do what’s handed to you and just go with it, so I went with it. I’m really glad I did, I think it was a very hard experience, but it was good for me to see myself in that sense where you film something and you see it 3 months later.

Diane Sanfilippo: Mm-hmm.

Emily Schromm: That’s a very bizarre thing. It’s not very normal to have to relive your life experiences, and talk about them, and not always your proudest moments {laughs}

Diane Sanfilippo: {laughing}

Emily Schromm: So it was good. It was very healthy, although hard, and I saw myself; basically I saw how I saw myself. I think originally it was that I didn’t like the way I looked; it was a very superficial point of view where I saw myself and didn’t like this about me, and I didn’t like that about me, so I was like, I’ve got to do something about it. I ended up moving in this process to Colorado, because I wanted to get away from everything, and was trying to run away from this feeling of, I’m so insecure and insignificant. {laughs}

But I ended up really finding this kind of self empowerment by doing that, by saying I could take my life into my own hands and I could do whatever I want, I could be whoever I want, and started from scratch and used the gym as a way to be happy about myself, but found out that it was being happy with myself that started first, and then the gym was a really great complement to that.

So then I lived in Colorado, I worked on the mountain, I snowboarded. I soon realized that wasn’t going to be my life, {laughs} so I decided to get certified in NASM, which is just a certified personal training certification in Denver, and then I found Crossfit a couple of years later; or, I guess a year later, and then Crossfit certified turned into Crossfit coaching full time, and now I train clients online and in Denver, do some health and wellness coaching out at a corporation here. Just a really good all over health and wellness field that I’ve jumped right into.

Diane Sanfilippo: Awesome. Well, I know our listeners from the show have a ton of fitness related questions for you, since Liz and I don’t normally talk much about that and we recently had Jen Sinkler on the show, who we’ll also see over at PaleoFx. Have you ever met Jen Sinkler?

Emily Schromm: No, I’m so excited to. I’ve heard great things.

Diane Sanfilippo: So that was a really fun show, I always love talking with her. Our listeners absolutely loved that show, so I know they have lots of fitness related questions, and I know that your Instagram followers had a ton of nutrition questions because they know that you’ve been doing more studying in nutrition lately. Obviously our show is a hub for all things nutrition, as well.

Emily Schromm: Yes.

Diane Sanfilippo: So I think we’ll kind of try and dabble a little bit back and forth in both of those. I just wanted to remind everybody who is listening who is maybe new to the show from Emily’s page, or wherever you found us. We cover tons of nutrition stuff; we have whole archives on, if you go to BalancedBites.com, there’s a podcast tab, and there are archives there, so if you’re looking for information on any random information on nutrition, you can search by topic. And just on that page you’ll see alphabetical all kinds of topics. I love to point people there because we’ve been doing the show for over 3 years, so we’ve got tons of content.

Emily Schromm: Lots of good stuff.

Diane Sanfilippo: It’s crazy! Yeah, it’s crazy. And pretty much even anything that’s back in the archives, I would say 90-95% still everything we’ve always said, we’re pretty on board with.

Emily Schromm: That’s awesome.

3. Transitioning from cardio junkie to Crossfit/lifter  [12:37]

Diane Sanfilippo: It hasn’t changed that much, because we’ve always been pretty judicious with our recommendations. We’re not zealots about anything {laughs} too hard core. So anyway, a couple of beginning questions; I know that you work with a lot of folks who are new, obviously as a trainer, but one question I really loved was, “What’s the best way to transition from being a typical cardio junkie to Crossfit and lifting without sending your body into chaos?”

Emily Schromm: Well, I feel like being a cardio junkie is chaos. {laughs} So I think, I mentally feel like it’s really great for you to be that kind of check out, just run, or just move where you just are doing that same motion. I think that that’s a big piece as far as when people switch from cardio to lifting weights, they miss that. So I think it’s good to keep that.

I think a really easy transition is 2 days a week have that moment of, I’m going to run or I’m going to move. I think long slow distance, meaning just going for one pace for a long time isn’t that great for your body unless you have impeccable running form. But if you are smart about it, if you know that you have great shoes, you’re not injuring yourself; if you keep that twice a week, and incorporate some strength training, whether that’s Crossfit or whether that’s lifting on your own 3 days a week, I think that’s a great combo.

Then you can kind of go by feel. What do you feel makes you happy? Are you enjoying Crossfit more than running? Are you feeling like this is too much? Balance it out that way.

Diane Sanfilippo: I like that. Because I think also a lot of people do; I’m one of those people too where sometimes I just want to zone out, and sometimes I want to really pay attention to what I’m doing and learn something and kind of get into it.

So this is a really good next question; I didn’t have names, because everyone was using their handles on Instagram, and I’m like, I have no idea what your name is, but.

Emily Schromm: {laughs}

4. Lifting without a trainer with proper form [14:34]

Diane Sanfilippo: This is questions is, “I can’t get over my fear of starting lifting weights because I’m afraid to have bad form and hurt myself.”

Emily Schromm: Yeah.

Diane Sanfilippo: I think it’s a female, she said, “I can’t afford to join a Crossfit gym as much as I want to. My husband works too many hours to be with me at the gym to be my spotter, none of my friends are into fitness either so I kind of need things I can do solo. Are there tips you have to ensure a safe, yet effective transition? I’m already pretty fit, but would like to be stronger. I’m an ex/sometimes runner, and sometime yogi.”

Emily Schromm: That’s awesome. I so agree with that, because as much as I post about barbell movements, it can be as simple as a squat that’s so intimidating and is very technical, even though it looks simple. It’s just a squat, and crossfitters we do it all the time. For a beginner, it could go really wrong really quickly. I think one of the things, and this isn’t a plug at all, but it was so important. I put this barbell blueprint thing together, so it’s like over an hour of footage broken up into videos so you can see for squat and for dead lift, just if you want to transition to a strength training program, that’s there on my site, if you are interested in that. It’s a pretty cheap package for what you get; it’s just really great, kind of fundamental stuff for the barbell moves.

I really think if you can’t afford a Crossfit gym, even if you could find a trainer that’s capable of teaching you proper moves, which is also kind of hard to find, even one hour of working with someone. I wished you lived in Denver.

Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs}

Emily Schromm: Whoever, if this person lives in Denver, just having one hour of just some solid technique work for simple moves and building off of that on your own, but it’s worth it. You have one body, and you can mess things up when you’re in a strength training program without eyes. That’s why that barbell blueprint is so great, because I actually have you guys film your moves, and then send them to me so I can critique it. That’s the only way I knew how to kind of keep my eyes on people.

Diane Sanfilippo: I love that.

Emily Schromm: Yeah. And, there has to be someone that is interested in strength training. One of your friends, If you tell them how great it could be. So I think so many women think it’s going to make you bulky and make you manly. So if you just prove to them or kind of explain to them that that’s not the case at all, maybe they would be more interested. That might be something you could do.

Diane Sanfilippo: I love the advice though of even getting one hour or even one hour every couple of weeks or something of checking info training on form. Because that is something that if you can’t afford to join the Crossfit gym to have that as your regular thing, maybe there’s, there might even be somebody else who wants to train with one of the trainers at the gym and also doesn’t want to do it on their own; maybe for price or something else. A lot of times, they do group training, small groups. So one of the trainers at the gym might take 2 or 3 women, or a mix of women and men, and just kind of help you for an hour on who knows what.

Emily Schromm: Yes.

Diane Sanfilippo: I know at our gym, they’d be totally fine if you were like, here’s what I really need help with. They’d be like, ok sure, you know, we can help you with that, and then set you up to do whatever you’re going to do.

Emily Schromm: Absolutely.

Diane Sanfilippo: A good coach or trainer should be there to help you with whatever your goals are. I don’t know, I’d be willing to bet there are some gyms that they can do that coaching without you being a member, since you pay separately for it.

Emily Schromm: Yeah.

Diane Sanfilippo: And it doesn’t have to be a Crossfit gym. I think we’ve probably seen a lot of trainers in a lot of different gyms, and there are great trainers everywhere, and there’s also not great trainers everywhere.

Emily Schromm: For sure. And I see them, when I started my career at 24-hour Fitness, and so I’ve seen so many bad gyms {laughs} or bad trainers, but I also have seen really good trainers.

Diane Sanfilippo: Yep.

Emily Schromm: I think you just have to know, look at technique, whether that’s through sources. What’s a good, Diane Fu might be a little too intense for beginners, but she will always show good technique, and kind of get an eye for what’s good and what looks bad. It’s pretty easy to see, you can tell when someone is not doing form correctly, because they look like they’re in pain.

Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs}

Emily Schromm: So just kind of look for a trainer that you have that respect for, and then it’s worth investing, even just an hour of their time with.

Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah, for sure. I’m with you. I’ve worked out at 24-Hour Fitness, and I have friends who have started there as trainers, and who have gone off to do their own thing. Actually, one of the trainers I worked with for the longest time originally started at a 24 and now has his own place, so, there’s some great ones there, too guys. But if they’re there for like 10-plus years…

Emily Schromm: That’s a sign.

Diane Sanfilippo: That’s probably a sign.

Emily Schromm: That’s a sign {laughing} for sure.

Diane Sanfilippo: We’re terrible.

Emily Schromm: {laughs}

5. Tips for improving pull-ups [19:30]

Diane Sanfilippo: Ok, let’s keep peppering in these fitness questions, because I’ve got a bunch of nutrition questions kind of mixed in here too, but I have a couple of other good fitness ones here. There’s a really good question about pull-ups. This one, “I’ve been doing Crossfit for a while and I’ve mastered many of the movements, but I still can’t do one unassisted pull-up. Any advice on how I can accomplish this goal?”

Emily Schromm: Yes! I love this question. All women should, I think it’s so great to get a pull-up. It’s just such an, especially girls, so empowering, watch this, you know? So how do you do it? I think for my people at my Crossfit gym and at where I train my own clients, you have to think of a pull-up just like a squat or a dead lift. It is a strength move, so you can’t just keep trying one pull-up, and failing, and getting frustrated.

Use it by what I call a 5 by 5; so 5 sets of 5 whatever you are able to do. So if you are at a Crossfit gym, you have access to those assisted bands. So get to whatever band it is that number 5 is really, really hard, but still doable; do a set of 5, take a break for maybe 2 minutes, and then do it again for 5 rounds of that. That’s kind of the best way, if you do that once, maybe even twice throughout the week, it’s like the best way to kind of get into that pull-up strength mode quickly.

You could also do, if you’re not at a Crossfit gym, lat pull downs, where it’s like a total meathead move, but you’re sitting with the bar overhead and using those, it’s kind of like an assisted pull-up.

Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs} Meathead move.

Emily Schromm: {laughs} Total meathead move {laughs}. You could get a cutoff as well and that may help the strength.

Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs} For full effect.

Emily Schromm: For full effect. And then also, something that I did before I started Crossfit, I was such a meathead, I really was, and I did biceps curls and I did, where you do negatives, where you jump up to the top of the pull-up bar and you hold as long as you can. Those kinds of moves are great accessory work, instead of just doing pull-up over and over and over again. Think of the muscle groups you’re working; it’s biceps and it’s lats, so maybe some meathead moves, again, to help get that pull-up quicker.

Diane Sanfilippo: I love that. When I was training pull-ups a long time ago; I was lucky, when I started Crossfit I had been training with a trainer for a long time first, and then I was {laughs} I came to Crossfit after training at the circus center for a while, so pull-ups for me, I was like, I can kip, now this whole thing is totally different. This is easy.

Emily Schromm: {laughs} Yes.

Diane Sanfilippo: Because they used to train us on trapeze to do a minimum of 10 strict pull-ups. Not that I could do those right now, because boy you have to train for it, and it comes and goes.

Emily Schromm: I did not know that you worked at the circus!

Diane Sanfilippo: I worked out there. I trained there for a year and a half. Not actually in the circus, but where people who did go on to be in the circus trained. People are always like, oh my gosh, watching Crossfit athletes doing X, Y, Z is so amazing. I’m like, yes it is. However. {laughs}

Emily Schromm: Wait till you go watch a Cirque du Soleil show.

Diane Sanfilippo: Oh my gosh. Those people, watching hand balancing. Forget handstand walking. These people are like contorting and handstand walking. It’s amazing.

Emily Schromm: It’s my favorite thing. Oh that’s so cool.

Diane Sanfilippo: It’s really cool. It gives you a whole new respect for watching any kind of circus performance, because you’re like, they make that look so effortless. That’s the other part; watching a Crossfit competition, it’s grunting and grueling.

Emily Schromm: Yes.

Diane Sanfilippo: But an aerial performer is working really hard, but they look like a dancer, you know.

Emily Schromm: They’re happy, and they’re toes are pointed, and it’s like unreal. {laughs}

Diane Sanfilippo: Which was the part that I could never, the graceful part was never my thing. I’m like, wait, I just did that, that was really hard, I’m really proud of myself for doing it. Oh, I was supposed to make it look graceful? No. {laughs}

Emily Schromm: Too much.

Diane Sanfilippo: I was like, that was supposed to follow music? Anyway. So crazy. You would be an amazing aerial performer, though.

Emily Schromm: {laughs} I did trapeze in DC, and then again in Denver. Oh my god, it was the most fun I’ve ever had, but I don’t know if I would be great. {laughs}

Diane Sanfilippo: I think you’d be great at it.

Emily Schromm: Thank you.

6. Tips on kettlebell swings [23:48]

Diane Sanfilippo: Let’s see, a couple of other little fitness questions here before I roll over to some other nutrition questions. A couple of questions; this one is about kettlebells. So, “How do I perform kettlebell swings without having my lower back wrecked the next day. I check my form, and I feel great when I’m doing them, but the after is killer.”

Emily Schromm: Oh, that’s never a good thing. So I think with kettlebell swings, it depends, I don’t know if this person is used to Olympic lifting or not, but what I think of when I have a brand new client who’s never done Olympic lifting or kettlebells or anything, I have them plant their feet on the ground, and just do a jump forward. Drop their hips, and jump as far forward as they can. With the kettlebell, it is seriously that same hip drive forward, except your feet are planted. Which I know sounds very counterintuitive, but if the kettlebell is too slow coming off your hips, so if I take too long from getting the kettlebell from in between my legs to above my head or to my eyes, if that process is a little bit slower; and it might feel fast to you. But it could be so much faster, I promise you.

So it’s this huge hip drive forward, and that hip pop is what actually gets the kettlebell to work the right muscles. So I wish I could see a visual of your kettlebell; if your chest is kind of falling forward, and at the bottom of your kettlebell you are looking at the ground, that’s not a good thing at all. So you could use more of a squat, as the kettlebell is going between your legs. That’s my biggest advice. I see a lot of things fixed when you can actually hip pop forward.

And then also, don’t let the kettlebell go too low. I think a lot of people try to get the kettlebell right in between their knees, but it really is right in between your legs. Like, right under your, you know, all that stuff. You don’t want to hit yourself, but you want to make it right under your body. Don’t let it get too low.

Diane Sanfilippo: That’s great advice. I think too the people who have done Olympic lifting start to understand that when you're moving a weight from low to high, that there should be this sort of moment of weightlessness of the weight, where it’s like you’re just using your hips to transfer the weight from where it is to where it’s going.

Emily Schromm: Yes.

Diane Sanfilippo: Instead of lifting it up there, and that’s the part with when I first learned kettlebells. {laughs} It’s like, you think you’re supposed to use your arms so much, but your arms are there to just…

Emily Schromm: Follow through.

7. Strengthening low back muscles [26:31]

Diane Sanfilippo: Follow thought, and make it go where it’s going to go, but really pushing the weight is all about your hips. I think that’s awesome advice. Here’s the sort of flipside question to that from someone else; “How do you recommend strengthening low back muscles.”

Emily Schromm: Yeah. I saw that question, that’s great. I’m kind of wondering the root as to why she asked this; is it because it gets sore? Because if you’re lower back is getting sore, then that might not be a sign of lower back strength, it might be a sign of glute, maybe we need to activate your glutes, maybe we need to strengthen your stomach, your core. So I would say if it’s because your lower back is getting sore, start doing some glute activation exercises, which I have a really great YouTube video for everybody, it’s literally called Activating Your Glutes. So that’s step one.

But, if you are just trying to get a lower back, then I would say the easiest thing, especially for beginners, are supermans or skydivers, so just laying flat on your stomach with your hands overhead and lifting up and kind of squeezing butt, squeezing shoulder blades, that’s a really easy one. I wish I could have a video. I’m doing the move on my kitchen floor.

Diane Sanfilippo: {laughing}

Emily Schromm: {laughs} Another great lower back exercise is proper dead lifts. So if you are able to kind of engage that core, engages hamstrings, you shouldn’t feel dead lifts in the lower back, 80% of the time you shouldn’t, unless you’re an experienced strength builder, but I think it’s a great way to strengthen all the muscles and to engage the core so that you don’t use the lower back improperly. So dead lifts are a great way to do that.

This is the last one I’ll say, straight legged dead lifts or RDLs, Romanian dead lifts, those are alternative forms of dead lifts that can not only strengthen the hamstrings, so while you’re doing the movement, you feel like a hamstring stretch, that’s kind of the best way to know that you’re doing it correctly. But you are in turn strengthening the lower back as well.

Diane Sanfilippo: I love that. Dead lifts are definitely a posterior chain all over back strengthening move, but there’s a line between feeling those muscles working and then hurting, you know.

Emily Schromm: Yes.

Diane Sanfilippo: That’s one of those lifts too, where if it’s hurting, it’s like, ok, maybe back off a little, you know.

Emily Schromm: Yeah.

8. How do I build my strength and keep from getting discouraged [28:57]

Diane Sanfilippo: If you’re just a little sore, that’s one thing. But yeah. We have a cool question here, she says, “I’m pretty strong for my size and gender.” I’m guessing she’s female; people don’t say {laughs}, but she says, “5’8 and 130, but I have crazy long limbs and I struggle with pull-ups, L-sits, pistol squats. How do I build my strength and keep from getting discouraged. Can I ever achieve these things?”

Emily Schromm: Yes!

Diane Sanfilippo: These are the slightly more gymnastic style moves that I think tall people feel like they’re not for them, you know.

Emily Schromm: For sure. I’m so with you on that. So I’m 5’8, and my whole length is in my torso and my arms {laughs} so I get that. It’s very frustrating. I always hear, Crossfit is not for tall people, and that’s what tall people say.

Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs}

Emily Schromm: It’s very true. There’s a reason why gymnastics; you know, when you watch the Olympics, the average height of gymnasts is probably, I don’t know, 4’9. It’s very compact, and there’s a reason they’re a little bit better at it. The first thing, you can’t ever get discouraged, because there’s so many things that I’m sure you’re good at, including rowing and wall balls, that will always make up for lack of, what’s the word, efficiency at handstand pushups, or pistols. So don’t get discouraged.

Diane Sanfilippo: Wall balls.

Emily Schromm: Yeah. So you’re always going to make up for it with your long limbs in another move, which is a beautiful thing about Crossfit, is that it’s always balanced in that sense. I think it can be a little harder; I used to be horrible at handstand pushups because I had such long arms. But I was so determined to get them, that I did them at least 3 times a week, and now that’s one of my strengths. So just use it as fuel for the fire. Make it to where you know you suck at it, and you know you should work on it; don’t avoid it, don’t make an excuse for, I’m tall, I’m not ever going to be good at it. Just tell yourself, I’m going to be good at this.

Totally change your way of thinking on it. Don’t dread it, get excited about it, and I think that’s always a really good thing for me. When I suck at something, if I keep telling myself that I suck at it, and I’m not good at it, I will keep sucking at it. For me right now I’m swimming, and I’m horrible at swimming, but I’m telling myself when I’m driving to the pool; I’m going to be great this. I’m going to be so good at this. {laughs} I’m going to love this. And it really does help that shift. So do that with the moves that you feel like you aren’t very great at, and you’ll see a difference pretty quickly in the way that you approach it, and then your efficiency at them.

Diane Sanfilippo: I actually, when I was saying wall balls, I actually meant she would be better at wall balls.

Emily Schromm: Yes.

Diane Sanfilippo: And those are my totally, I’m like, what, there were wall balls in that workout. Oh, that’s not why I didn’t come in today. Yesterday. {laughs}

Emily Schromm: Tall people have two main things, and it’s wall balls and rowing, and we have to take advantage.

Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah. My fiancé always jokes because somehow, he’s really tall, I think he’s maybe 6’1, and he always jokes because he’s like, somehow not great at rowing, and he’s like, that’s one of the two things I’m supposed to be good at. I need to figure out the rowing. {laughs} But he’s really good at wall balls.

Emily Schromm: {laughs} Yes, there you go.

Diane Sanfilippo: He actually pretty much is good at all of the skills now in Crossfit, within a year, and I’m like, you are so annoying.

Emily Schromm: {laughing}

Diane Sanfilippo: Everybody thinks you’re annoying. I’m just kidding, he’s awesome.

Emily Schromm: Try dating a regional, or a Crossfit games athlete. It’s so humbling every single day, because Michelle is so good at everything. Like, you know I’ll be like, Michelle watch this, and she’ll be like, oh yeah, 3 times. {laughs}

Diane Sanfilippo: She’s like, oh that’s cute honey. {laughs}

Emily Schromm: She always makes me feel good, but then she makes me feel bad just by working out.

Diane Sanfilippo: Aww.

Emily Schromm: So I’m working on it. {laughs}

Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah, I know. It’s cool though. What kind of amazing inspiration and motivation that must be, too.

Emily Schromm: Yes, it is, it’s very cool to watch.

Diane Sanfilippo: We have a brand new sponsor who I’m super excited about. Joining us this month is Tin Star Foods Ghee. As any of you who have been following me on social media know, I’m a huge fan of the product. I don’t generally talk a lot about products that I’m not a big fan of, so I wanted to invite Tin Star to come on and be a sponsor. I’m really excited to introduce those of you who haven’t heard of it yet to this ghee.

For those of you who aren’t sure what ghee is, it’s clarified butter, so if you’re sensitive to dairy proteins, it’s a really good option. For people who are highly, highly allergic, it maybe for you, it maybe not. I know that Tin Star Ghee is certified as casein free as well as lactose free, but there are some folks who will always be sensitive. So if you’re a little bit borderline and you feel like you can handle a tiny bit, which that’s where I am at, I would definitely recommend it. I definitely don’t do well with butter, and the Tin Star Ghee is fantastic for me. Ghee has been clarified, so the dairy proteins are gone, and I have no problems with it whatsoever. It tastes fantastic, and it’s a very healthy cooking fat. It’s my number one go-to choice for cooking.

So if you’re looking for an alternative to something like coconut oil or other animal fats that have different types of flavors, ghee is a fantastic choice. I just used it this morning to scramble my eggs, and it’s one that I highly recommend. The flavor and texture of Tin Star Foods ghee is fantastic. I absolutely love Hima, who is the owner of the company. She’s is just a really hard working gal getting her company off the ground, and I love supporting her. So I’m excited to have them join us as a sponsor, so welcome Tin Star Foods Ghee.

You can save 15% off any ghee in your order from http://www.primalfoodpantry.com/, that’s the website. So anything that you add to the cart that is a ghee product, she’ll get 15% off for you there. The code is BALANCEDBITES, so check them out. http://www.primalfoodpantry.com/

9. Never lifted weights; how to become a superhero? [34:43]

Diane Sanfilippo: So we’ve got one; “I’m 40 years old, I’ve never lifted weights in my life, and I’m desperately out of shape. Emily is so inspiring; how does a beginner start the path to being a superhero?” I love that.

Emily Schromm: Aww, I love that too. It really is never too late. I think if you do wait, you’re going to wish you had started, so it’s just better to start right now, start today, as soon as you listen to this podcast. You don’t have to be doing these things that you see on Instagram and social media, like I think people have this feeling that that’s what people do all the time, and it’s really not. These are the highlight reels of people’s life, so don’t get discouraged if you’re not doing what you see on your social media.

But do what you think is challenging for you, so if that means walking and finding a hill by your house, and you have time to do that, then do that. If that means maybe checking out a Zumba class, or maybe going to a body pump class, that’s a good way to start. But I am such a believer in Crossfit, that there’s so many beginner Crossfit programs that are so great for all levels, all ages. We had someone at Crossfit Park Hill just join, and I think he was 62. You know, there’s just no end to when you can start.

The level you’re at, I love my 21-day Superhero Challenge because I modify those workouts for dumbbells and any level, so someone that has knee problems or someone that just started, there’s going to be modifications to get you started. Just do it. If you want to do it, or you feel like I’m inspiring, then take my advice and just start today, and don’t keep thinking about wanting to do it. The sooner you do that, it’s so empowering when you just say I’m going to do something, and then you do it. That’s the hardest part, but it’s the best part of your journey, so go do it.

Diane Sanfilippo: I love that.

Emily Schromm: {laughs} It sucks to just tell yourself, I just have to do it. I have to do it. And then sometimes you get in your head, and you get all crazy, you know how we are.

Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah, or like you get a splinter, and you were all motivated to be back in the gym after a couple of weeks off, and you got this quarter inch long splinter that lodged in your heel, this just happened to me.

Emily Schromm: I heard that, I saw that post! Yeah.

Diane Sanfilippo: Oh, it was so insane. I was like, really? And then someone commented, do you think that might be a sign? I was like, I refuse to think it’s a sign! {laughs}

Emily Schromm: It’s not a sign! {laughs}

10. Tip for self motivation [37:56]

Diane Sanfilippo: I was like, it’s not a sign! I went to the gym anyway and was running. It actually felt better running, because I was more on the ball of my foot, than walking. Which is crazy. Anyway. On that question, I think this question, I actually have 3 categories of questions for you, I’m trying to rapid-fire the best that we can, because we have so many and I want to get through a lot of them. But these are, obviously, we’ve been doing fitness ones. We have nutrition questions, and then we have a bunch of life success, career, motivation questions. This one, I think she intended to be a fitness related question, so I’m going to ask it now. But I think it could be a little bit of life advice. “What is your one tip for self motivation.”

Emily Schromm: Oh man. You know, this is something I always learn. It’s a work in progress, but your motivation for me to keep myself motivated, it can’t come from, I want to look like this, or I want to be able to do that. Comparing, because that’s rooted in comparison to other people. So if you’re like, I want to look like her, or I want to do something she can do or he can do, that’s usually not going to last very long. So for me, it’s I know something that, what is my body capable of, or what is something that I really want to do for me, and me personally not because this person did it and that person did it. That’s what really drives me. I think for me, this sounds crazy, I’ve always, even at a young age, I’ve watched ninja warrior, American ninja warrior {laughs}. I used to watch it when it was…

Diane Sanfilippo: Oh, yeah. I used to watch American Gladiators back in the day, like late night.

Emily Schromm: Yeah! {laughs}

Diane Sanfilippo: I don’t know what I was doing, but I loved that show.

Emily Schromm: Yeah. And I think that that’s something I’ve always wanted to do it because I feel like I could totally do it, and so that’s something that I’m going to start doing for myself. I think that requires a lot of weird training, and so that’s something I’m incorporating in my daily routine. And then when I don’t want to go to the gym, literally all I have to think about is ninja warrior, just kind of all the episodes of people face planting into water, and these dramatic spills.

Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs}

Emily Schromm: I’m like, no that’s not going to be me! And that’s the motivating part for me. But it also can apply to Crossfit, it could apply to when I was training for regionals; any of that stuff. You just have to find something that you want, and you really, really want. Not something that you think you should want, or that somebody else has. It has to be something that is important to you, because it’s just a part of your life, or a part of your being. That changes the motivation drastically, because if it’s somebody else, it’s not going to withstand those days where you don’t want to get out of bed, and it’s not going to make it through those days where {laughs} you have a splinter in your heel.

Diane Sanfilippo: Ugh.

Emily Schromm: You know?

Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah.

Emily Schromm: There’s going to always be something that’s going to get in your way if it’s not really your goal. So find something that’s really, really important to you and you will always find a way.

Diane Sanfilippo: I love that.

Emily Schromm: That was so Jurassic Park, by the way. “You will find a way.” What is it, life will find a way?

Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah.

Emily Schromm: {laughs}

Diane Sanfilippo: I love that though. And I think too, the one thing I always tell people, is the small decisions matter. Because consistency is so important in any goal, in anything you’re trying to achieve. It’s just about being as consistent as possible. It’s a lesson I’m constantly going through. For the last month or 6 weeks now, since that splinter, literally I’ve had so much trouble getting back to the gym. But then I also have to balance with myself, am I being active, am I walking, am I doing all these things, am I feeling good and not beating myself up for it.

But then also just remembering that the big picture is about these little decisions we make all the time. For me, I think if someone is not sure that they’re feeling motivated, it’s like, well make one good decision, one that you feel really good about, whether it’s with your nutrition or your workout or whatever, and it kind of snowballs. You know?

Emily Schromm: Yeah.

Diane Sanfilippo: It’s so much easier to stay on track and stay motivated when you have that little sense of self pride for making a choice that you feel good about over and over again, you know what I mean?

Emily Schromm: For sure. It feels so good, and it’s that feeling of, I just said no to a cupcake!

Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs}

Emily Schromm: Like, who am I? Everyone gets so excited when it’s not like they’re being forced to say no to the cupcake, but they chose to for themselves, and I think that was the eye opening moment for me when I was first starting to get in shape and eat better, I worked at Starbucks when I first got healthy. And I love blueberry scones.

Diane Sanfilippo: I mean, who doesn’t, come on?

Emily Schromm: Oh my god!

Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs}

Emily Schromm: The day; you know there’s always leftovers, and I always would take them, and the day I was like, I’m going to give these to the liftee across the street, because I worked on the mountain. My friends were shocked, and my coworkers were like, what? And I’m like, I don’t need it. That moment was so vital to me to be like, you know, I could take it, but I’m not going to. That was my first superhero set, probably. {laughs}

11. How to balance in your everyday life [42:43]

Diane Sanfilippo: That’s awesome. This is just my own question for you, and then we’re going to talk about nutrition a little bit here. How do you usually balance being a real person, and having your moments of weakness, or wanting to not eat super clean all the time, or whatever it is. Where do you find the balance there for you that kind of keeps you in a healthy place overall, but makes you not feel like you're missing out. How does that work for you in your everyday life.

Emily Schromm: Yeah! I think for me, the biggest, the few… let me start over. So when I first turned paleo, and I took out all these grains, and I took out all these extra sugars that I had in my diet, even ones that I thought were healthy, the biggest thing I saw was my skin cleared up. I had always had really bad acne, and that was a big part of my Real World experience. I think seeing that was, everyone goes through those stages of puberty, but I was 20 and I still had it, so that was really hard for me to see. So when that cleared up, I was like, oh my gosh this is amazing! I finally have skin under there! You know.

The other thing my stomach stopped hurting. I always had these unexplained stomachaches that I just lived with. For me, I always have struggled with really, really low lows. I think we all deal with some sort of depression, but I couldn’t ever snap out of them. I would be go, go, go, go, go, and then totally hit these days of nothing. I had nothing in me. I was just depleted, and my energy was gone, and I just felt like I was in a dark hole all by myself.

So, for me with paleo, it’s not just this way of eating and this way of feeling healthy again. It’s like, if I don’t eat this way, I feel totally shitty, and my skin breaks out, and then I feel even more shitty, because my skin looks crappy, and I go through this huge guilt-shame cycle that I really hate being in. So even though I do splurge a little bit, sometimes I’ll have goat cheese. And for me, that’s still, once you don’t have cheese at all, I know some people, if they have cheese all the time, that sounds so silly, but for me, that’s a good way for me to get a little bit extra. And then I’ll drink chardonnay all the time if I feel like it. Right now I’m on total detox mode because I went to Patagonia, and ate a lot of things that I don’t usually eat, and then I got stuck in that guilt-shame.

Diane Sanfilippo: What kind of stuff makes you end up feeling physically not great.

Emily Schromm: Beer, as much as it tastes good, beer the next day I almost instantly feel… at first, I thought it was, it was that same feeling where you eat a cupcake and you just feel so bad about eating a cupcake. So for me, I first thought it was that. Like, I felt so bad about drinking a beer. But then I know for a fact that it really does chemically alter me. My mental state is foggy the next day, and I start thinking dark things. Not terrible, terrible things, but I don’t feel as motivated or happy as I usually am. So beer is a big one for me.

All dairy that’s not goat cheese. I really do break out almost instantaneously. It’s not just my face, it’s on my shoulders, and my back, and my chest. So those are things that happen pretty quickly. And then I think that gluten, there’s a bunch of, I know a lot of the people listening to this aren’t quite familiar with this podcast, so please get familiar with Diane’s podcast because they’re fantastic. But for me, I think all things grain, and not just gluten, they really just, one irritate my gut almost instantaneously, and a couple of days after I kind of feel a little wrecked. But I also know it affects my mental state and the way I feel throughout the day. I just don’t feel as energetic and happy. There’s just so much that happens.

Not all of us are as sensitive as I am, so it makes it a little harder to cut it out, but that’s why you just have to figure out what works for you. What makes your body happy, and what makes your body not so happy. If you keep doing the things that make your body not so happy, then it’s going to stay not so happy and other things are going to happen because of that.

Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs} Yeah, totally.

Emily Schromm: {laughs} So really listen, because it’s not just, oh I feel like crap. Something else is going to happen, in the intestines, in the digestive process. It’s not just, oh I don’t feel so great, I feel sluggish. There’s going to be more that happens in the long run to listen to that instant happiness feeling. Are you good today, do you feel foggy?

Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah.

Emily Schromm: Because that adds up very quickly.

Diane Sanfilippo: I think what you said too about; I feel like there’s two sides to it. There’s the mental and there’s the physical, or the emotional and the physical. I do think definitely, I see this more with women than with men in general, but when you say, how do you feel after you eat something; for women, it’s like, what do you mean how do I feel? How do I feel about myself and my choices, or how do I feel physically, you know?

Emily Schromm: Yes.

Diane Sanfilippo: I think that both are pretty equally important. I do think it’s important not to beat ourselves up for those choices, but I think the part that is important is to pay attention to how we feel, and pay attention to, do we physically not feel great, or are we mentally and emotionally beating ourselves up for that choice, and try and avoid that mental and emotional beat up, but also when it happens, catch yourself and just really tune into yourself.

If you know, anybody who is listening, if you recognize yourself falling into that habit where after you eat something you go into this shame cycle and you really don’t feel good or you're mad at yourself, and you feel physically ill before you make that decision the next time, it’s like, try and bring that to your own attention. Like, what happened last time I did this, you know?

Emily Schromm: Yeah.

Diane Sanfilippo: I think it’s really easy for us to remember the physical effects. I mean, I break out from dairy most of the time too, from nuts, from things like that. I know that’s going to happen .I don’t beat myself up for it, I don’t feel bad about it, because I just don’t, so I know, ok here’s what’s going to happen if I eat this.

But I think for a lot of people who haven’t found a balance yet for themselves, they’re not sure what’s going to happen. And I think it’s important to try it and see what happens so you can learn from it. Because if it sends you into a 2-7 day spiral of negative emotions and poor choices and all of that, then that person choosing to eat a cupcake is so much more meaningful in perhaps a negative way than someone else who might be able to eat the cupcake and move on.

Emily Schromm: Yeah.

Diane Sanfilippo: You know what I mean?

Emily Schromm: For sure.

Diane Sanfilippo: So it’s like, I do think if we can get to a place where if it doesn’t hurt our body physically and we want to partake in something, and it’s fun, and it feels fine, and it’s whatever, I do want people to be able to have that healthy balance where they don’t have to feel like everything is a restriction forever.

Emily Schromm: Yeah.

Diane Sanfilippo: It’s such a journey.

Emily Schromm: It is. {laughs}

Diane Sanfilippo: Depending on how long you’ve been doing this for, you’ll hear, if people go and listen to some of our earlier shows, we definitely had a, ‘do this strictly for a while’. We talked about that a lot more, because we were also a little bit newer to it, and we did find that when people would start, they wouldn’t really stay with it that strictly, so they wouldn’t see the benefits or they couldn’t feel the difference when they would eat something off plan. So I know that’s probably why your challenge, 21 days, obviously I have a 21-Day Sugar Detox too, because there’s so much that happens in that much time.

Emily Schromm: Yeah.

12. Why all grains are excluded in the superhero challenge [50:49]

Diane Sanfilippo: So this is another one of the questions that we have, it kind of runs right on what we’re talking about here. Not necessarily a cupcake, but the question is, “why do you refrain from all grains in your challenge. I thought brown rice and oatmeal were healthy choices?”

Emily Schromm: My first thing, before I get into science stuff with gluten and all the stuff that can be negative with grains, the simplest answer and this is something you’ll learn in day 1 video, day 3 video; a bunch of videos explain this more thoroughly, because I want to make sure you guys are educated on the whys, not just the hows.

The goal of the 21-day challenge, and for most likely Diane’s as well, is to learn how to not burn carbs for your fuel source, and to learn how to use fat as your fuel source. Oatmeal and rice, even though people say they’re healthy, and depending on who you are, they might be; they really are so heavy in carbs that you are going to be constantly needing carbs to keep that sugar burning feeling. I guess I’m should start from scratch.

You’re either a fat burner or a sugar burner. If you’ve listened to Diane’s talks, you might know more, but the goal of the 21-day challenge is to become a fat burner. And the way you do that is to drop your carbohydrates to a level that’s sustainable for you, but pretty substantially lower than most people have. If you’re having brown rice, or white rice, or if you’re having oatmeal, those tend to up your carbs enough to where you’re not going to be carb burner. That’s what I meant to say. Or that you’re not going to be fat burner.

The goal is, even though there’s some talks on, I think white rice is ok if you’re an athlete. I think oatmeal, if it’s coming from a great source can be fine in the long run, but for the 21-day challenge, I really want you to see what it’s like without those kind of things, and incorporate more natural sources of carbs, like potatoes, sweet potatoes, plantains, parsnips. What are your favorite carb sources, Diane?

Diane Sanfilippo: Those are kind of it. And I’m nodding along, because I think a lot of times, people get confused about what we might advise for long term sustained overall general health, and what we might recommend for 3 weeks of kind of shake things up, do something different.

Emily Schromm: Yes.

Diane Sanfilippo: That’s such a huge question that I get too, it’s like, well why can’t I have most fruit for 21 days, I thought fruit was healthy? I’m like, I’m not saying fruits not healthy, I’m saying if you’re having trouble with sugar cravings, eating tons of pineapple every day may not be helping right now, you know?

Emily Schromm: Yeah.

Diane Sanfilippo: So it doesn’t mean that I think those things are bad all the time, it’s just that for the purpose of the program, what you see really helping people who come into the program with certain goals. So, yeah I think that’s generally, I would generally say, white rice. My fiancé, for example, is a very tall, lean body type, and if we don’t get enough of that into his diet…

Emily Schromm: It’s not good. {laughs}

Diane Sanfilippo: It’s not, no, he’s definitely not as energized in the gym. He also was able to put on good muscle mass, lean muscle mass that way. I pack extra calories into his meals with some carbs, and then I pour tons of olive oil on it and all that kind of good stuff.

Emily Schromm: Yeah, for sure. I’m sure this is a question, but that’s the thing with macronutrients, it really is dependent on you and your goals. So although, I think for everybody the best way to get rid of some nagging health problems and the best way to have sustained energy is to keep your fat percentage at the highest of all 3 of the macros, the protein usually same, the carbs are always going to change for you, and what you do, and your activity level, and your past, and your issues, whether it’s blood sugar regulation, whatever it might be. I think you have to figure out what works for you.

The goal for the 21-day challenge is ultimately all of us are going to use fat as fuel, and then we build up our carbs depending on everything else. I do have some sort of template for beginner and people that have no idea where to start whether you’re a weight loss client or whether you're an athlete, those are always discussed in the videos. You just have to know there will not be an X, Y, Z perfect answer.

Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah.

Emily Schromm: You really are your best experiment, and you have to use yourself as a guinea pig to find out what makes you feel good, like you said, energized, is muscle happening, or is muscle not happening. What’s going on?

Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs}

Emily Schromm: Because that’s always a sign of, maybe we should adjust our macronutrients based on that.

13. Making sure to get enough carbs [55:55]

Diane Sanfilippo: So, here’s a perfect follow-up to that one question, “How do you make sure you do get enough carbs and sustain energy when you work out twice a day?” I think she’s saying she does a WOD and strength training at one point in the day, and maybe running? I think she’s training for a half marathon.

Emily Schromm: Ooh.

Diane Sanfilippo: So, what maybe are some practical; and I don’t know if you would say, if she’s not on the challenge. It didn’t say, if I’m on the challenge how do I do this.

Emily Schromm: Yes.

Diane Sanfilippo: Just kind of in general, what’s your take on that. If you were just working with an athlete who had that goal, how would you have her adjust her food and track that?

Emily Schromm: Yeah, it depends, if she’s doing a little bit more paleo already and it’s a little bit higher fat diet, the carbs for me for someone that I had it would be to time your carbohydrates correctly. First of all, if you’re working out that much, that’s a lot, so you need to get enough calories. If you’re not going to get enough calories, that’s going to long term not be good for your body or for your mental health. I think that it ties in, low calorie can just kind of drive you crazy mentally. So, you need to make sure you’re getting enough calories to keep this sustainable, if this is indeed your goal. And then making sure that you are timing your carbohydrates appropriately.

If you are eating a higher fat diet, but you’re about ready to go to the gym, maybe for pre-breakfast, if you know there’s a strength component, add a little sweet potato into your hash. So eggs, sweet potato, and a bunch of bell peppers would be really good. Post workout, if you have a second session coming up, then add a little bit more carbohydrate post workout. So for me, I would have the other half of that sweet potato, or even a fourth of a sweet potato with a protein shake right after I workout. I prefer sweet potatoes, but fruit could happen too if you wanted it.

After you run, make sure that you have a good enough dinner after, depending on timing of your workouts. That’s a lot of working out, so I think it’s just making sure that you’re getting enough calories, because I know with MK, when she was training sometimes two a day for Crossfit games last year, she never felt hungry, because she’s constantly working out to a real extreme level, so that’s why those protein shakes were so vital for her to kind of just get something into her body, because she wasn’t able to.

I created my own sweet potato powder, so I mix with my protein some raw sweet potato powder and honey sometimes works, it’s a really easy way to get calories and carbs if you know you’re going to have a second session. That’s kind of my take on two a days. I don’t think that you need to have carbs as your main source of energy, I still think paleo can work. I think you can be a fat burner even with working that hard, but you do need to up your carbs to at least, I would say, you can give me your opinion Diane, but 25% if not 30% if you’re doing that much strenuous exercise.

Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah, I would think so.

Emily Schromm: That’s a lot of working out.

Diane Sanfilippo: And I’m with you on the overall calorie intake, too. I do think, sometimes people are just not as good at counting and measuring every little thing, but just making sure that they’re eating enough in general, because under fueling just in total is kind of going to deflate and derail everything. A minor percentage difference in your macros one day to the next I don’t think is going to be a huge difference. If you’re trying to get enough carbs in, but you maybe didn’t get quite enough one day, I think just the overall making sure you're getting enough fuel.

Emily Schromm: Yeah.

Diane Sanfilippo: Because our bodies are also so amazing at different processes to regulate what we’re using for fuel at different times, and if you eat a ton of protein as an athlete, and you just didn’t happen to eat enough carbs, you’re body actually can make some carbohydrate substrate for energy from extra protein. There’s ways for our body to get what it needs. But if you’re under eating in general, I think that’s going to set you up for that deflated feeling and not enough energy.

Emily Schromm: Yeah. And I think when people see lack of progress with feeling toned and feeling like they’re actually seeing the muscle definition that they want, it’s not coming from a missed macro percentage or calculation, it’s really coming from, most likely, you are eating 1500 calories or 1600 calories a day, thinking that’s what you should be doing, but to build muscle and to really get that body to what you want it to feel, and that happy level that I feel, you really have to eat enough. And that’s so hard for women to do. 2000 calories is a great number.

Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs}

Emily Schromm: {laughs} And if you can learn how to hit it, you will never look back.

Diane Sanfilippo: I just love whenever anybody thinks it’s hard to eat enough, because I’m like, not that person.

Emily Schromm: Not at all. Oh my gosh, it’s so easy for me to eat enough {laughs}.

Diane Sanfilippo: I’m German and Italian, and my body is not slight. You know? {laughs} I’m petite, I’m only 5’4, but I’m curvy and I’ve got muscles, and it’s just very easy for me to build muscle because I eat a lot. {laughs} I’m like, I don’t understand this problem that you’re having. But I get what you’re saying too.

Emily Schromm: Yeah.

14. Dealing with haters [1:01:32]

Diane Sanfilippo: Ok, let’s see. We chatted for so long, and I have so many more questions that I want to throw at you. I have a couple of life career/motivation questions that we got from Instagram, and maybe Facebook and I think some were from yours, too, that I thought were awesome, and I just want to throw them at you.

Emily Schromm: Yeah.

Diane Sanfilippo: Dealing with haters. I’m going to put this out, because I know, you put out a lot of fitness type pictures out there, and I mean it’s awesome, I love it. Whatever everyone is inspired by, but that welcomes; you probably get way more haters than I do, because I’m like, I don’t get that many haters. The question is dealing with haters, they said, “I have a lot of people at work who think I’m crazy and are always questioning what I do or what I eat. It’s annoying, and I have a hard time finding a way to tell them off.”

Emily Schromm: Yeah.

Diane Sanfilippo: I would just say, also in general, what’s your take on how to deal with the haters.

Emily Schromm: Oh, man. I get quite a bit. I was so sensitive about 6 years ago. I’m still sensitive, but I did not realize what happened when you put your life on TV, and it was a really rough year for me, because I was like, why are these people so mean?! You know {laughs}. You just don’t understand. There’s a reason people love social media, is because they can be whoever they want, they can be very brave, and even though they might be very insecure themselves, they come off very confident in things like calling me; you know, there’s just a lot of things that people say.

There’s a lot of positivity, so it’s always worth it. If I feel like I’m sad about something someone says, I have to just instantly be like, who is this person and why am I letting them affect me? They’re just so far from being a real person. It’s just a word that they might have said. So I’m very human where, yes it affects me, and I instantly have to say to myself, it doesn’t matter what this person says. Am I happy, am I helping people, was this inspiring for somebody? And if the answer is yes, then it’s absolutely worth it, and I just block the person. That’s the first thing I do with social media, I just learn how to block people very quickly.

Diane Sanfilippo: {laughs}

Emily Schromm: Outside of that, for you if you’re adjusting your diet and people think you’re crazy because you’re going to die from heart disease with all this saturated fat and cholesterol. You don’t have to get into an argument with people. Give them sources that are reliable; it’s getting easier and easier these days with the news articles. It’s funny what people thing; the people that give me the hardest time, they actually want to see it on unreliable sources. If somebody doesn’t believe me, but then they see it on YahooNews.com, all of a sudden they believe me.

So, the good thing is it’s becoming a little more mainstream that cholesterol wasn’t the culprit for heart disease and that saturated fat isn’t as bad as people might say. I think finding sources that you know the person will appreciate, whether it’s a coworker or whether it’s a family member. Just kind of pushing them that way and sending them links in a very non aggressive way is always a great way to get them to open up their eyes and listen instead of just becoming a battle, like a butting…

Diane Sanfilippo: Oh, I’m losing you for a second there.

Emily Schromm: Oop! Are you there?

Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah, you cut out for a second.

Emily Schromm: Oh no. One day when they start seeing, because it’s going to become more popular, the way you are eating, is indeed the healthiest way, then they will come to you and they will say thank you. {laughs} Just keep sending them good scientific stuff when you get it, and know that it will happen with time. I think with most people, I see that there are a lot of shifts and diet changes more often than not.

Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah. You can keep a lot of bookmarks on articles and be ready to send them whenever the questions come up. And I think, too. If they are kind of putting you on the defensive about things, I think at some point you just have to {laughs} find the strength to kind of respond with a, ok, worry about what’s on your plate, I’ll worry about what’s on my plate, and we’ll just move on.

Emily Schromm: Yeah, exactly.

Diane Sanfilippo: I think at some point, it depends on who they are. If she’s trying to tell them off, that’s one thing, if she’s getting a lot of criticism. But typically recognizing that the criticism comes from somebody’s own, either fear, or misunderstanding, or insecurity about what they’re doing. Usually it has nothing to do with you.

I really would never question or attack someone who is eating a vegetarian diet. I would not approach them in that way, because it’s not my place and I don’t really care. They’re doing what they want to do, and they might see what I’m doing. But as somebody who is confidant with the way that I eat, and comfortable with it, I know that I wouldn’t approach someone and start talking to them about what they’re doing.

Emily Schromm: Yeah.

Diane Sanfilippo: I think when you recognize that there’s a certain mindset that somebody will have when they feel the need to do that, there’s something else going on with them, it’s really not usually about you or about what you’re eating. It’s always about them.

Emily Schromm: Yes, it is.

Diane Sanfilippo: So keep that in mind.

Emily Schromm: Yeah. Insecurities come off in very vicious ways, so just know that, I hate saying it, but being the bigger person just means knowing that you’re secure enough in yourself, and they don’t matter. {laughs}

Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah. And I do think it’s important, when you’re in that situation, not to be too big in your britches, you know, not to get to the point where you’re so self righteous that you’re like, I’m so right, this is the only way to eat and be healthy. Because I also think that’s really dangerous and dogmatic.

Emily Schromm: Yeah.

Diane Sanfilippo: If somebody is eating super strict paleo, and they’re like, if you eat any grains it’s not healthy. It’s like, you really need to check yourself.

Emily Schromm: {laughs} Yes.

Diane Sanfilippo: Because I think people get a little overzealous with any way of eating or thinking. I’ll pretty firmly stand in the real food camp for my life, I do think that’s the best way to eat, I don’t think that factory made junky fats and sugars and all that are really the best thing to eat. I’m pretty sure I’ll feel confident about that for forever. But you know, there was a time when we probably first learned about things and it was like, rice, no never rice! And I think it’s important to just keep that holistic, well rounded foundation.

Emily Schromm: Yeah.

Diane Sanfilippo: Probably part of your studies, too, for NTP. NTP is not teaching paleo, so recognizing that there are plenty of people who can be healthy in different ways.

Emily Schromm: Yes, for sure.

Diane Sanfilippo: And eating real food is always the thing that we should try and support other people in.

Emily Schromm: We’re all in the same boat. I think we get confused sometimes about that boat, we’re all heading towards the same ultimate goal.

Diane Sanfilippo: So there’s a question that I wanted to ask you, but I actually think what I’m going to do is put you on the spot to invite you to my Build a Badass Business one day. I have a whole other podcast where we can talk about career and motivation and stuff like that.

Emily Schromm: Oh, I would love that. Yeah!

Diane Sanfilippo: I think that would be really fun. I also think something is happening with your internet, but we’re up on over an hour, which I could probably talk to your for 3 hours, but I know you have to go too.

Emily Schromm: {laughs} I do, I do. I have to work.

Diane Sanfilippo: Ok, I’m just going to tease it out there for people, and then maybe I’ll hit you up to do this one soon. Maybe it will be one of my first; well, I’ve had one guest on so far, but maybe I’ll bring you on. But it was about career advice and making your dreams happen and building a brand and all that, and I think that would be a really fun thing for us to talk about on the Build a Badass Business podcast.

Emily Schromm: I would love that.

Diane Sanfilippo: That’s my invitation. Ok, cool, we’ll get that going. So awesome! This was a really fun show! It went so fast!

Emily Schromm: {laughs} It did, I can’t believe it. That’s crazy. It’s already time.

Diane Sanfilippo: I know. So, really quickly, you mentioned you have a 21-day Superhero Challenge, is that what it’s called?

Emily Schromm: Yeah, it starts May 4th, so we all start together and I send you a video a day, and you log points at the end of the day for how you did on multiple categories, which you can just check. Website is http://superherounleashed.com/. Lots of information on there.

Diane Sanfilippo: Oh, that’s awesome. So is your website superhero unleashed, or that’s just for the challenge and your website is your name?

Emily Schromm: No, http://superherounleashed.com/ is the full website.

Diane Sanfilippo: Ok, cool.

Emily Schromm: And you’ll get everything there from my blog to my barbell blueprint. All that stuff is on there.

Diane Sanfilippo: Ok cool.

Liz Wolfe: We’d like to thank Vital Choice for supporting our podcast today, and we encourage you to visit their online store at vitalchoice.com. You’ll find an amazing array of some of the world’s best seafood, including wild Alaskan salmon, halibut, tuna and cod, as well as sustainably harvested shellfish. These foods are not only delicious, but vital choices for your health. You’ll also find grass-fed organic Wagyu beef, live fermented foods to promote gut health, wild organic blueberries, and dark organic chocolates. Eat better, think better, and feel better with deeply nourishing foods from Vital Choice. They’re offering our listeners 15% off any order using code BALANCEDBITES. Remember that orders of $99 or more ship free.

15. Liz’s BMB tip of the week: probiotics for group B strep [1:11:05]

Liz Wolfe: Hey friends! Liz here with a Baby Making and Beyond tip of the week, of course, alongside my BMB partner Meg the midwife, Meg Reburn.

Meg Reburn: Hey.

Liz Wolfe: So last week we talked about a few top fertility foods. Today’s tip is about a few of the, this is a little bit in depth. This is more in depth than we’ve been going, but today’s tip is about a few of the probiotic strains that you can look for that appear to decrease the risk for testing positive for GBS, which is group B strep. And if you are a pregnant person, you have undoubtedly heard about group B strep.

Remember, we’re not doctors, nor are we giving medical advice or offering diagnosis or treatment. This is just information for you to take to your health care provider.

So, Meg. Meg the midwife.

Meg Reburn: Liz.

Liz Wolfe: You see and you deal with the group B strep situation frequently.

Meg Reburn: I do.

Liz Wolfe: I want to hear about the evidence that we have about the probiotic strains that might reduce the risk of testing positive.

Meg Reburn: Ok. I’m just going to back up a little bit and talk a little bit about what group B strep is.

Liz Wolfe: Ok.

Meg Reburn: Just the tip of the iceberg here. Group B strep is a bacteria that likes to live in our moist, dark places; and that’s where baby’s come from.

Liz Wolfe: {laughing}

Meg Reburn: So group B strep likes to live there, and if you took any population of women at any time, about 30% of women would have group B strep in their system. Group B strep has about a 6-8 week lifespan. So it comes and goes in populations of women at any point in time, and it likes to live in our bodies for 6 to 8 weeks at a time. It’s not an infection; you can’t catch it. You’re not dirty or gross if you have it. It’s not really a problem for us in our day to day life.

However, if a baby is born when you have it in your moist dark places, then that baby can get quite sick from it. So what we do generally in North America, they do different things in the UK, but in North America, we tend to swab women at around 36-37 weeks to see if group B strep is in those moist, dark places.

So what do you do to prevent testing positive? And I should just back up and say it’s a problem because if you do test positive for it, you’ll be offered IV antibiotics at the time of labor, and we try to do everything we can to avoid IV antibiotics at any point in our life. So to avoid the antibiotics, and to avoid the GBS, we know there are certain bacterial strains that are predominant in the women that don’t have GBS. And most of those strains are lactobacillus based.

Anecdotally, as a practitioner and speaking to other practitioners, and speaking to a lot of the probiotic companies that are spending a lot of money trying to do good research, lactobacillus bifidobacteria seemed to reduce the risk of swabbing positive for GBS. So if you’re a woman out there thinking, ok that’s great, but what do I do with that information? {laughs}

What you do is you go out and you look for a high potency probiotic that contains lactobacillus bifidobacteria, but primarily contains lactobacillus rhamnosus. I’m pretty sure that’s how you pronounce it. I don’t say it out loud more often, I more read it. That’s what I tell my clients, and they seem to all get the right stuff, so I must be doing something right. But that seems to be the one that targets the lower female genital tract.

A couple of companies that have these really good strains; Bioceuticals; I think you can only get those from naturopaths. Innate brand also has a really good formula. Here in Canada, I don’t know if you have it in the States, we have something called Women’s Flora, but basically if you look on the shelf of a natural food store or Whole Foods, in the fridge section, if you look for those women’s strains, they usually have nice pink bottles, but most of those will be predominant in that rhamnosus strain.

Liz Wolfe: Yes, and generally the ones for women are pink. {laughs} I’ve noticed that same thing.

Meg Reburn: They are. Just look for the pink box, and you’ll pretty much be good to go.

Liz Wolfe: We’ll have even more about all this in the program.

Meg Reburn: Sounds good. We’re working on it.

Liz Wolfe: So that’s it then for our tip of the week. Hop over to BabyMakingandBeyond.com to sign up for program alerts, and we’ll talk to you again next time.

Diane Sanfilippo: Alright, well that’s our show for this week. Thank you so much for spending time with me!

Emily Schromm: You’re so welcome.

Diane Sanfilippo: I’m super excited to meet you next week.

Emily Schromm: PaleoFx!

Diane Sanfilippo: PaleoFx!

Emily Schromm: It’s going to be awesome.

Diane Sanfilippo: Yeah. So that’s it everybody. Don’t forget, you can find Emily at http://superherounleashed.com/. You can find Liz at http://realfoodliz.com/, and find me, Diane, at http://dianesanfilippo.com. Don’t forget to join our email lists for free goodies and updates you won’t find anywhere else on our websites or on the podcast. And, while you’re on the internet, leave us an in iTunes review. We’ll see you next week.