Episode #105: Create Your Shape at the Gym with Jenny the Nutritionist
Apr 09, 2024
Summary
In this episode of the Unstoppable Mom Brain Podcast, I have Jenny, the Nutritionist, for an insightful conversation on reaching fitness goals and creating the ideal body shape. I share some of my own journey of losing over 60 pounds without intense gym sessions and emphasize the importance of simplicity, joy, and strategic decisions in achieving weight loss goals. Jenny, an expert in nutrition for women who lift weights, shares her own journey and highlights the significance of science-based strategies in building muscle and decreasing body fat. Together, we explore the common roadblocks individuals face when striving for fitness goals and provide valuable insights into navigating strategies for sustainable results.
About Jenny the Nutritionist:
Jenny Blake, CEO of Jenny the Nutritionist, is a Licensed Nutritionist who helps professional ladies who lift weights change their body composition by being well-fed and properly fueled. As a lifelong athlete, a Nationally Qualified Bikini competitor, with a background in competitive Crossfit, and one who is always learning, she's mastered the strategies of nutrition to efficiently build muscle, decrease body fat, and gain optimal health. She's helped hundreds of ladies build their shape, become educated of the Nutrition Strategy, and create a Nutrition Routine to serve them long-term in her program, Create Your Shape.
Jenny’s Links:
If this podcast resonates with you, get my Free 5 Minutes Per Day Weight Loss Mini-Course over at: https://www.theunstoppablemombrain.com/email
What You’ll Learn from this Episode:
- The importance of simplicity, joy, and strategic decisions in achieving weight loss goals.
- Jenny’s journey of transforming her physique through science-based nutrition strategies.
- The common roadblocks individuals face when striving for fitness goals and how to overcome them.
- Understand the difference between working harder in current strategies versus tweaking strategies for better results.
- Understand the "why" behind fitness strategies for sustainable success.
Listen to the Full Episode:
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Priyanka Venugopal: Hey, this is Dr. Priyanka Venugopal. And you're listening to the Unstoppable Mom Brain Podcast creating your shape, looking like you hit the gym with Jenny, the nutritionist. I recently met up with my friend Jenny in California a few weeks ago, and we just got to talking around our perspectives around losing the weight you want to lose. And in Jenny's world, creating the shape that you want. So Jenny is a friend of mine. She's a coach and she works with ladies who lift and ladies who want to not just lift, but look like they life. I had the best conversation talking about our perspectives around the phases that women go through in their journey to really reach their dream ideal body weight and their body goals. And I wanted to bring her onto the podcast to share her perspective. A lot of what I talk about on the Unstoppable Mom Brain podcast is that it's possible for you to lose the weight you want to lose without hitting the gym. Simply by dialing your nutrition, getting science on your side, and getting consistent with your strategy while handling mistakes powerfully. Truly, that's been my experience in losing a little over 60 pounds, and it's what I want in the hands of more professional working moms, so you don't have to throw the kitchen sink at the wall to lose the weight you want. But at the same time, there comes a point where many of us feel that desire to hit the gym, to start strength training, to take our bodies to the next level. And that is where someone like Jenny is a brilliant resource to talk about the tweaks and changes that you might want to make. Once you start embarking on that journey. I hope you all enjoyed this episode as much as I did. If you want to reach your ideal weight and create lightness for your body, you need to have simplicity, joy, and strategic decisions infused into your life.
I'm a physician turned life and weight loss coach for ambitious working moms. I've lost over 60 pounds without counting points, calories, or crazy exercise plans. Most importantly, I feel calm and light on the scale and in my life. There's some delicious magic when you learn this way. Work and the skills I'm going to be teaching you ready? Let's get to it.
Welcome back to the podcast everyone. I am so excited to bring today's guest. This is Jenny, the Nutritionist. This is how I think of her. I was just telling her before we hit record, Jenny and then her last name, the nutritionist, because this is how I have known you now for quite a few years. I think we met back maybe in 2020 or 2021. And truly, I just love bringing science minded humans onto the podcast, especially as it comes to. Body fitness goals, help goals. And that's what we're talking about today. We're going to be talking about a slightly different angle around fitness and strength training and what you need to do to dial up your results. And I can't wait for Jenny to share her expertise. So Jenny share with us a little bit about you, introduce yourself, tell us what got you here. And then we're going to dive into that, into the episode.
Jenny Blake: Hello, everyone. Thank you for having me. I am Jenny or Jenny, the nutritionist, and I am a licensed nutritionist for ladies who lift weights and want to build muscle, decrease body fat, and really be capable and think of their vitality and their health, but also understand it from a science based aspect, understand it and create their routine. Being a, we'll put in quotes like fit chick, right? It's just who they are and how they operate. So that's who I work with and what I do. But I got to that point because throughout my whole life I was someone who was very active and I, I loved working out. But eventually I got to a point where I was like, wait a minute, why don't I look like I work out? And I was a little confused there, and so while I feel like my relationship with food felt like it was, it was decent, I was so frustrated because I was putting in so much time in the gym and then dabbling in all these different nutrition things where I could be all out, right, and be like, okay, I'm doing it all. But then it wouldn't be physically possible to do it all. And all the one off tips that I would hear and then I would not do it all. Right? And kind of go back and forth. But I was like, I know this is possible, but what am I missing? And so I, you know, searched the internet, just trying to figure it out. I'm like, I, I don't know. I want to understand this, right? And I know we kind of geek out on the science behind it, but that's where I was at where I was like, I don't, you know, someone can give me a plan and I can execute, but then what happens when I don't have that plan, right? Then, then what, and how does it all work? And I was so curious, but also frustrated. So I searched the internet, couldn't find a program that was going to teach it to me at a high level and kind of give me that science, that information. To take my physique to the next level. So I would have considered myself fairly, you know, healthy. I didn't need to lose additional weight, but I wanted to be fit. I wanted to like look the part and be able to hike, you know, an 11 mile hike. I wanted that next level. And so I couldn't find it. So I ended up signing up for a bikini competition, and although that is a whole different world, I learned that there is science in a strategy. Like, they are not just willy nilly eating healthy. There's an actual fine tuned strategy and science behind it. So I got in physically the best shape. of my life up until that point, but more importantly is what I learned that there's science. And then I took that and I applied it to what I call my everyday athlete life, where I'm working out, you know, four to five times per week, but I also have a career. I also am social. I like to go on dinner dates. I travel. And so really applied it to my life. In that, you know, space and then started, that's when I kind of went down the rabbit hole, right? I took it to the extreme where I'm like, I want to know everything. This is what I've been missing. And that's when I mentored under a nutritionist and got my license and, and continued down that path. But I knew there were millions of ladies who were just like me, who wanted to take their shape to the next level. They want to take their, their health, their strength to the next level. But. are confused on, what that looks like.
Priyanka Venugopal: So we actually met for anyone that's listening, me and Jenny actually just met up a few weeks ago in California. And again, we've talked before in the past over the years, but I feel like this was the first time that we actually sat down. We're sitting on the couch and we probably talked for, I don't know how long around the different phases that I think women go through in their journey with their body. I've always thought about weight loss as kind of broken up into two phases, the phase where you really change your relationship with food and your body, lose the weight you want. And then you embark on the strength training journey where you are like, okay, I have dialed my relationship with food. I feel so good about, you know, where I'm at, but now I want to take it to the next level. And what you're describing is a slightly different angle, which is you never really struggled being very overweight or overweight, maybe at all. And you came in as an active person wanting to look the part, like you're at the gym and you want to really look the part. So I'm curious when you, when you think about that piece where you're clocking the hours at the gym, but you're not seeing the results that you're expecting to see. What is in your experience been the biggest reason, the biggest roadblock that people are hitting where they're clocking the hours, but they're just not seeing the results.
Jenny Blake: Yeah, the biggest thing and I think the biggest thing that people are unaware of is there is a strategy to building muscle and decreasing body fat. And I think this is really the difference between when you first get healthy and you establish that relationship with yourself and within with food and you're eating healthy, right? Then the next step is not like vaguely eating healthier. Falling, we typically see it as like eat vegetables, you know, eat less and things like that, that no longer is going to take you to the next level. And so there is a specific strategy and it's more fine tuned strategy to take your shape to the next level.
Priyanka Venugopal: So when, like, let's say somebody is embarking on this, I can hear someone, let's say someone is, they've lost weight. A lot of the audience members, I think they're professional, busy working moms. But they also know they want more for their body. How do they navigate and in your experience, how do they navigate their time around their structure, their day? Cause when I think of strategy, I'm like, Ooh, that's going to take a lot of time. So what do you, think about that?
Jenny Blake: I love this. So when I got onto this. podcast. I love, I saw your logo and it's like, do, do less and lose more weight. Yeah. And I think it is the same thing. Do less, but with more intention. I, and first of all, I should have shared this at the beginning. All my ladies, I work with very type A professional Ladies, right? So it's not I think we have a very similar audience and where they're on their like mindset and career driven and family driven. And it's very much so you do not need to work harder and do more, you just need to work smarter. So it shouldn't take any more time, you're already working out, you're already consuming food, we just want to do it in a in a more optimal way. To create more fine tune results. So it shouldn't take any more time. If anything, I see ladies come into my program and I'm like, the two a days that you're doing don't need are unnecessary, right? We can do 45 minutes, an hour, four days a week. And that is going to be more optimal because you are, you're just kind of trying to do it all instead of trying to do it smarter.
Priyanka Venugopal: Yeah, actually this kind of speaks, so I, the, one of the biggest misconceptions I see with weight loss, which is why that's one of the phrases that I say, you can do less, take less time and actually lose more weight. And this is, people I think think of this as like, that's too good to be true. The reason that we might think it's too good to be true is because just because you don't have results yet on the scale or for your body doesn't mean you have to work harder to lose more weight. And this is, again, I think a really big high achiever tendency or perfectionist tendency that if I haven't already solved the problem, it must be hard. Or if I haven't already figured this out or lost the weight or gotten the shape that I want, then it must be hard because if it was easy, I would have done it already. And that is such a lie. We tell her it's, it's an unfortunate lie that I think our brain tells ourselves because we're trying to find something to blame when in fact, but if there's nothing to blame, you just don't. didn't know this. We never learned that. We never learned this in school. We didn't learn this. I did not learn about nutrition in medical school. I didn't learn about a lot of the science of fat loss in medical school. This was something I had to go after the fact and re educate myself on. So I'm curious what you think about that. If that's something you find with with the humans that you work with.
Jenny Blake: That is something that I preach of, you are, you're running so hard and not, not even physically running, but you are trying so hard to do all of these things so much time and then beating yourself up because you, you're not creating the results that you want, but we have never been taught nutrition. And actually on the way home from Malibu, where we were sitting on the couch, I was playing one of the games on the back of the screen on the, on the airplane. And it was a Japanese game and it didn't have any instructions. So I'm like, Oh, well, I'm just going to try to figure out this game. And I'm playing against the computer and the computer is just crushing me. And I'm like, Oh, but wait, I think I did something right here. And I would get a couple of steps ahead and then and then I would, you know, fail the game. And I'm like, Oh, wait, this is just like nutrition. I'm not given the rules to this game and we are never given the like rules or instructions for nutrition. So of course, and all of our ladies are very ambitious go getters and they're like, I'm going to figure this out. And so they keep trying and keep trying, but we've never been taught nutrition.
So yes, I feel like that's something that I know both you and I are trying to close the gap on that. And I think one of the ways to take your shape to the next level and realize that you can. Do less and get better results or work smarter instead of harder is through education and truly understanding how your body works and how nutrition works.
Priyanka Venugopal: And I think we should, we talked about this on your podcast, which I'll link in the show notes. We were talking on your podcast around knowing why you're doing what you're doing. And when you, and this is the education piece, when you understand why you're doing what you're doing, you'll also. Yeah. Get clarity. Oh, that's why the old way wasn't working. This makes so much sense when you feel you get that education around really the, not just the strategy, but the why behind the strategy. And so then I think also the, the other thing that we were talking about was that when you're in random scenarios or life circumstances change, when you understand the why behind the process, you can navigate it so much more powerfully. You can become flexible and figure it out and you're not stuck to a rigid plan.
Jenny Blake: Yes, exactly. Ladies being empowered, with nutrition is like my main mission because you may be able to follow a plan. It's like, great, but do you want to follow a plan for the rest of your life? Or do you want to just know it? And then if plans change, or let's say you don't want to eat what you had planned to eat, can you change on a, on a dime and feel confident and comfortable and know that you're satisfying your taste buds, but then also your health and physique goals too.
Priyanka Venugopal: Yeah. And the other thing you touched on, which I think is so important is we have this piecemeal approach women, especially again, the type a resourceful, confident, professional woman is very confident in so many areas as being the go getter as being the one that figures it out on her own. And we are given lots of pats on the back and lots of acknowledgement for that. And I think what happens when it comes to goals like this towards our body goals, whether it's weight loss or strength training, or creating a shape when we don't know, we try to piecemeal our way through. So you will find yourself like, a little bit of this, like, I think of it as like, scrolling, you're trying to scroll a little bit here, scroll a little bit there, you try to piecemeal together a process, and I'm curious what your experience has been with that, when you've, whether you've personally encountered that or whether you've seen clients try to do that.
Jenny Blake: Yeah, it's almost like, so I think of it as, And so as you go through your, your journey with your, you know, building your shape and everything that goes along with that, there's different levels. And so that means there's different things you would focus on at these different levels. And so what I see is people want the next level shape, but they're just doing everything in the previous level harder and better. And they're like, I just need to be more strict. I just need to do more of this where I'm like, well, actually don't you, you're now, you just need to do next level things to create the next level of shape. And like we talked about, it doesn't mean more. You're just fine tuning and focusing on something different.
Priyanka Venugopal: Oh, I never have thought about it like that. So what you're describing is rather than staying with your familiar strategy, which maybe worked to get you to this point, what you're talking about is that there being a whole other level. So it's not about working harder in your current strategy. It's about tweaking and changing your strategy.
Jenny Blake: Yes, 100%.
Priyanka Venugopal: Okay, so how does somebody start to even navigate the process to know whether they're at that point where they should be maybe working harder in their current strategy or maybe tweaking their current strategy versus, okay, this is now time for me to move on to the next step. How does someone even know?
Jenny Blake: Yeah, I would say, especially for my ladies and what I typically see is if you are feeling like, okay, I am doing X, I'm doing Y, I'm doing Z, but if you have that hint of like, oh, wait, wait, I just, I just need to do it all better. That typically isn't going to be true, right? So that's the first thing. And the second thing is if you feel like, wait a minute, my physique is not representing the work I'm putting in. That's another hint. And then another one is if you feel like you've maybe hit a plateau, like you've made progress and then you've hit a plateau, that's another one. And then I would say above all of that, you first want to make sure that I think this is a lot of the work that you do. And we talked about that it's not going back to Your relationship with your, your kind of foundations of your relationship with your, yourself in, in food and kind of that, the basics there, like, you feel like, no, no, no, like, I feel good there. Like, you know, I may have, you know, some bad days here or there, but I've overall feel good there and feel like this is just who I am. That's kind of all indicators that. Okay. Then. The next step, the next strategy. I would say the other thing too is that it kind of feels easy. That is another one where I feel like when I was talking to you on the couch, you kind of listed off some of the things you were doing, but it didn't seem like you're struggling at all that you were like, Oh, I, I want to work out now. It feels good to me. Right. Like things like that. I'm like, yeah. Like that is a sign too that you, you've kind of mastered that level and you're ready to go into that next level.
Priyanka Venugopal: I think this was, this was kind of the, that part where I feel like there's this, at least from my, in my personal journey. And again, we talked about this before, but everyone is on their own journey. It's not a one size fits all. We all have a unique journey. So we want to take this all with through the lens of your unique life. But I remember before my relationship with fitness, while I felt really good, this is before I got married like 15 years ago and I was super in shape hitting the gym. I felt good going to the gym, but I had this thought that I have to go to the gym. I had this thought, it felt like a little bit of, I need to throw the spaghetti and the kitchen sink at the wall to lose the weight I want for the wedding. So that was my relationship, not just with food, but even with the gym. So while I felt good, cause I was losing weight and that was great in the moment, it wasn't sustainable because of my relationship with my strategy, my relationship with my process. It did not feel like a lifestyle I could have maintained for a lifetime. Whereas this time around, after losing 60 pounds without the gym, and now I have felt this desire, probably for the last year, to get stronger and to hit the gym and to do the squats and to be able to do pushups and pull ups. I saw you on Instagram doing those pulls. I'm like, girl, I'm coming. I'm going to be doing pull ups one day soon. And I have felt this desire to just get stronger. Now, the way that I think about the way that I eat and even going to the gym, which I'm starting to do at like six in the morning before my kids wake up, I mean, who am I? This never happened before. The thought I have now is I want to, I get to, I cannot wait to. And that doesn't mean, you know, at 5:30 when the alarm goes off, I'm like, Oh, but it's not, I have to go to the gym. There's a desire there. And I feel the sustainability just because of that.
Jenny Blake: Yes, yes, exactly. When it feels enjoyable, right? When it feels like just who you are. And I feel like this could be a fine line. So don't use this against yourself if you're listening, but it's almost like part of your identity where you're like, yeah, I'm somebody who works out. I'm somebody who take care, who takes care of myself. And it's kind of like a non negotiable where it's an important part of your life because you see and feel the benefit and you enjoy it. So definitely. Yeah. When you get to that. that place where it just feels good.
Priyanka Venugopal: I kind of want to use that as an example. So, you know, before, like for any moms that are listening, before you became a mom, you, and I, I was not one of those people that felt like a mom their whole life. That was just not me. I was just me, me, myself, and I, and then one day I had a kid, right? So before you had a kid, you were not a mom. Your identity was not mom. It was a you, just you as a unique human. And then one day, all of a sudden you became a mom and your identity started to change. We in that relationship. I think this is one of those things where we can give ourselves permission to play with what our identity is now and what we want our identity to be so that there's capacity for growth and evolution and change. Whatever it was today or whatever it was yesterday does not have to be what it was yet. What it is tomorrow. Yesterday I used to be a Dorito eater like that. I used to be Cool Ranch Doritos. Craft cheddar cheese, glass of wine with the Netflix, whatever identity label that is. That's really how I saw myself. And it took work and some attention to decide I don't want that to be my identity anymore. I want this other identity and starting to try it on like, like a hat. Trying on different hats.
Jenny Blake: And now, like you just said, who am I? I'm waking up at 6am and I want to go to the gym.
Priyanka Venugopal: Yeah. I, I think that this is, you know, I think this is an underrated tool that we don't think about. How are we talking to ourselves about ourselves and how are we thinking about ourselves? I think you touched on this. I'd love to hear your thoughts. You think about this as the foundation of your program and you're the foundation of what you teach is how you treat yourself and how you talk to yourself in the journey. What has been your experience when that foundation Is not there and you know the work it takes to build a strong foundation. What's the impact of that?
Jenny Blake: Yeah, I think that is everything I had some someone who it was funny because she's going through My program and I mean, she's just absolutely crushing it and she is so strong I just assume she had been lifting her whole life just checking all the boxes and after four months She comes to me and she says, Jenny I just have to let you know. I feel like You The fit person. And this is something that I was never before. She's like, I just started working out, you know, a year ago. And I'm like, what? And she's like, I didn't know any of this. And I've just learned it all. And I just have never imagined that this is, this would be the person I would, I would be. So I think it's so important because I also see people like her who come in, but then that's all we're coaching on the, the entire time is kind of picking up that and identity and shifting that identity. So I'm thinking, what's the difference between her who we never coached on it. We've just coached on the tools and things she needed to, to take things to the next level versus the person whom we're just coaching on the mindset in the, in the identity and where they're not creating as much results because they're not getting to the tools because this isn't in their way. And I think the biggest thing is kind of how, how you see your, yourself and what you're capable of, and then just trying it on and giving yourself the space to try it on. I told you about this. I had a client who she does it. beers on the driveway, right? That was their thing. Every night they would go sit out and they'd get their, their chairs out. And it was like a neighborhood thing where they'd all sit at the end. She did it with her husband. So it was like a bonding thing, right? Where I was a part of her identity until losing the beers on the driveway was like, just not an option for her at, at first. But then once I like started, Coaching her and opening the portal, opening the door, she realized that, oh, it's not the actual beer. Me drinking the beer is not what's creating the bonding with my husband or my neighbors. Me drinking the beer is not the actual feeling that I'm chasing after. She was chasing after community Friendship, bonding, and then relaxing. So how can we still create all of those and hit your goals? And it doesn't mean you can't have beer for people who are listening, but when it's every night and a lot of beer, that will eventually get in the way. So we, we kind of peeled it back and let her see that like, Oh wait, I've actually, I can still create the same scenario. I don't have to give up, you know, my beers on the driveway. I'm just. swapping out that one, you know, liquid chemical for something else. And once she realized that that's how easy it could be, then she started looking at other areas of her life and going out to eat. She was like, Oh, wait, I could ask. For, for additional protein, or, oh, I could ask for them not to use oils, or I could ask for additional vegetables, right? It just opened up the door of what was possible where you don't have to, I think so many people think you have to live this super strict, restrictive life where people who are fit have just crazy willpower and they don't have any fun and they're like military sergeants where I'm like, no, no, no. I have plenty of fun. I do lots of things. I travel all over the world. Like, there are so many ways. This just goes back to, you just have to be, work smarter instead of harder.
Priyanka Venugopal: Yeah. And I think what you're saying is so true. There's certain coping mechanisms like food, alcohol, the scroll, to take a break from our very busy lives. And I think that when we don't have an alternative, Feels like we want to hold on to the food alcohol or the scroll like, like this, and I think that that is probably a big, a big fallacy of the diet culture, like diet culture has taught us, you have to eat less and move more, you have to give things up, right? We have created such a paradigm around what weight loss is or reaching your ideal shape is that people have associated deprivation restriction. with their ideal, like reaching their body goals. And what you and I think are on a mission to do is to challenge that and to disrupt that paradigm for women to know that it's possible to lose weight. It's possible to look like you hit the gym. It does require work. And I always want to share that. This is not here. I'm not here to put rainbows and daisies on every single thing we're saying. It's not too good to be true because you do have to do the work. And I think having a coach, tell me this is what your experience is. Having a coach will help you see your blind spots. You cannot see what you're not seeing, and especially when you're staying in your comfort zone, your familiar zone, and just like a lot of my, my audience is very familiar with just planning. They love to plan, they love to research because that's comfortable. Taking action on the plan is the uncomfortable part. So when you work with a coach, they will show you that. I'm curious what your thoughts are on that piece.
Jenny Blake: Yeah. What I have found is it's not as hard as you're making it be. Yeah. It's hard. It's not as hard as you're making it be. And going back to, yeah, we're never taught this. And trying to do it by yourself, right? You're not even knowing that there is a next level strategy, right, that you could be implementing and it would be so much easier. And then to your next point about having someone to see your blind spots, you're trying to work harder and harder at your current level, but really there's a whole other, there's strategy, right? That's going to take you to the next level. And it might even be easier. For example, the biggest thing I see with my ladies is they come to me and they've just thought restrict, restrict, restrict. Like that is the way to change my shape. At this, to take your shape to this next level, the first step I teach is to eat enough. And it just like blows my lady's mind. First of all, they're afraid. They're like, if I eat more, I'm going to gain, gain weight and put on body fat. They don't understand it and they would have never done it on their own. But this is 90%. Of the ladies I see who are working out and don't look like they work out or don't have that muscle definition, right? It's because they're not eating enough. And so this goes back to one, the science, there's science behind this. But then also too, there's different tools at different levels. When you learn and understand it, you're much more likely to be like, okay. I can implement this. No, I'm not going to decrease body fat, know the benefits of it and know that I am in a space where an expert is watching all of my key metrics is going to help me guide and guide me through this. And then of course, after people implement it, they're like, Oh my gosh, I'm never going back. I have way more energy. I feel better. I'm able to push harder in the gym and then they start feeling like they're progressing and they have a lecture extra power in the gym and they're like that feeling I love and then they start seeing the muscles actually being built because they actually have the the nutrients to be able to build building blocks.
Priyanka Venugopal: Absolutely. It's like, how do you qualify this? Because I think this is interesting. What would you qualify as someone as a lady who lifts? How would you define that? Because I mean, I have done many years of dabbling where you kind of do a little bit of here, a little bit of there. You do like 15 minutes of some squats and like a couple of pushups. Like what are you defining as a lady who lifts that this would work well for?
Jenny Blake: Yeah. If you're someone who is working out, I would say. Three days or more per week consistently, like that's just part of your routine. So that's the first thing. And then the second thing is if you have any weight in your hand throughout the week. So I've had some ladies who they're in their garage and they have like five or ten pound dumbbells. Technically, you are lifting weights, right? That's a weight. So there's a variety there, but I think this strategy all applies to them, whether you are have the five pounds or you have the, you know, the 30 pounds in your hand.
Priyanka Venugopal: Okay. So the, so the amount of weight that you're lifting is not the point. You're lifting weights, whether it's five or 30, you're, you were saying that if you're you hitting the gym, lifting weights three days a week or more, that's considered like someone that's in line with what you're describing. And how about the amount of time that they should be spending at the gym? Is it like a 15 minute workout is an hour long workout?
Jenny Blake: Yeah, I would say 30 minutes to an hour. Again, going back to like, Back in the day, right? I would be like, all right, I'm going to add another workout in and then get hit my arms at lunch. And if I can go back and just tell myself, we are wasting so much time, just do, just do 45 minutes or one hour, four times a week. That's what I do now, cause I feel like I, I know how to work smarter now instead of harder. Right.
Priyanka Venugopal: I think that that's so helpful because I know for me, I used to have this idea around what Quote unquote enough working out was like 30 minutes on the treadmill and then do like X number of squats and then X number and I had this idea in my mind around what qualifies me as someone that goes to the gym. And I think what you're talking about is actually the rules are really broad. It doesn't have to be so strict that you're hitting the gym every single day, seven days a week. It can be much less than that. But what you're doing during that time, and then of course the nutrition to amplify your results is what really matters.
Jenny Blake: There's a three step strategy that I'm that I'm talking about of the next level strategy. Step one, eating enough, which we talked about, and step two is aligning your training. So same thing. It's fine tuning your training. It doesn't mean you have to do a certain program or you've got to be in there a certain amount of times per day. What we talked about is plenty, but then it's going in and saying, okay, you're already in here for 45 minutes. Let's just tweak what you're doing to get more out of it, right? You're doing the 45 minute workout. But you're using the same exact weights every, every time for months. So you're missing that stimulus that, which would be the increase, increasing your weights to have that muscle grow. And she's like, Oh, yeah. So you could just do that, take the same amount of time, but you're just going to get way more out of that same 45 minutes.
Priyanka Venugopal: Okay. I have one more question. So how much time do you think someone should give? They're doing a strategy and they're like, I'm not seeing results. I used to do this. I would, okay. This is the real truth. I would go to the gym. I would do some bites. I would do some bicep curls and the next day I'm like, where are my biceps? I don't see any biceps. And I would feel so discouraged. I know this sounds silly as I describe it here, but that was really, I would feel like maybe not one day, but like two or three days later, I'm like, like, you know, where's, where are the biceps? And I would feel so discouraged that then I would be like, see, it's not working. So yeah, What's a reasonable amount of time? That's not what I just described where someone could look. Okay. I've been doing the things I'm doing the nutrition. I'm dialed with the training. I'm not seeing results. How much time is a reasonable amount of time?
Jenny Blake: Yeah. I love that you asked that because I feel like going back to the education, right? It's a, we're just expected to work hard and then, and then we don't know what's supposed to happen if you have the education of like, okay, no, I should see X amount of changes and X amount of time, then you're way more likely to stick with it and way more likely to execute because you can have something to measure against. So typically you can gain one, two, three, maybe a little bit more. Pounds of muscle per month. So that's just based on science and research. That's the range. If you are newer, you're in a better position because you can gain muscle a lot quicker if you're newer to lifting. And then especially if you're newer to lifting and then you add in the nutrition support, it just amplifies how much you can, you can get out of that workout. So a lot of people were like, okay, great. But what does that actually. look like, you know, what is one to five pounds of muscle actually look like. So I would say over two weeks is when you should see a shift in a change. But keep in mind, this is not going to be a transformation photo in two weeks. All the transformation photos that you see occur over months, if not years. And especially if you're used to, maybe you've lost 60 pounds, 40 pounds, right? If you think about it from an absolute standpoint, if you shift on the scale, you know, two or five pounds, well, if you think about it, two cents, two, same two to five pounds compared to, When you're 40 pounds down, right, that is going to be a lot more. It's going to be a way bigger percentage. So that's something to keep in mind too, and that now you're fine tuning your shape, but you have to zoom in and, but where are the lines in the shadows changing on my physique, right? Where, where is that when I like step. like walking to my closet or when I'm in the gym and I see a little bit more of a line in my leg, right? Those little things is what you have to pick up on. You have to train your mind to pick up on that because we naturally won't. So that's just a few things.
Priyanka Venugopal: So good. No, because like, I think what you're talking about, this is so important, actually, especially for a podcast like this, that we are really clear on what the metrics that we're measuring are. So if your goal is just to see the number on the scale come down, then And muscle weighs more than fat, you're going to be very frustrated with this approach, right? So we're talking about having a really clear beacon for what is your goal? Is it decreasing percent body fat? Is it fitting into a certain clothes, you know, maybe clothes from 10 years ago that you fit into when you were younger? Is it building muscle? Is it the definition of the lines you want to see in your body? And I think that that's so important because when we don't have that, I, this is a big mistake I see. I just want to get healthy. Quote unquote, get healthy. And we paint this broad brush across our fitness goals. And then we wonder why we're feeling so confused. It's because there's so many metrics to track. So I love that because then it kind of can, we can all plant the seed. I wonder which specific tool we want to use to guide us, to know what's working, what's not working, and then bring in strategy to make tweaks, which is, I think is powerful.
Jenny Blake: Yes. And one more thing on that, because I feel like it's so big. I find once you have the education and the science and you really understand it. It decreases the drama by at least 50%, because a lot of times there's drama around something that isn't even true, but it's just because people don't have, people don't know, we're never taught how to make sense of this, right? So somebody I had, you know, she, the scale went up. two pounds and she has so much, she's so upset about it. But then once we broke down like, oh no, actually you reported here and you're checking that you only got four hours of sleep. that night and you had to wake up a lot earlier to catch a flight. So of course the scale is going to be up if you get less sleep because of cortisol and at which time you weigh yourself makes a big change in your day to day and that probably you cannot gain body fat, two pounds of body fat overnight, especially when you didn't over consume. So just breaking it down and then she's like, Oh, okay. Yeah. Now I know if I wake up earlier, the scale is going to be up. Makes sense. Right. Just, it removes mind drama when you understand the science behind it.
Priyanka Venugopal: Which I love. And I feel like we can go on and on talking about all kinds of fun things because I think this is what, you know, you and I, you know, why we had such a great conversation in California and what we are really on a mission on is to bring a different lens to you hitting your personal body goals and taking into account your unique life and your unique story and what's important to you and then molding it into something that will create more of what you want, which I think is the whole point of us listening to this podcast episode. So Jenny, thank you so much for coming on here and sharing your wisdom. If you could impart to one. like tangible piece of advice that somebody listens to this podcast who is hitting the gym and they just want to take it to the next level. What's one specific thing that they could start doing today that might help them move the needle? And then of course share how everyone can get in touch with you.
Jenny Blake: Yeah. So you can tell me if you already do this and tell them this. And if you do, I have a new, a new one, but getting protein in at each meal. I think it's like the step one that you can do to help build muscle, have fuel for that workout. And it does help increase your intake, right? But it also helps partition out the types of food you have, right? You'll have, if you have more protein, you're going to have less cravings for maybe sweets and things like that too. So that would be my first, piece of advice.
Priyanka Venugopal: The other thing I have found when you prioritize protein is you feel satiated. You actually feel like your, your body feels so much better because you're giving a protein, which is like such a beautiful energy building block that you, your body feels better. So it's not just for the muscle building. It's actually because your body will feel better, which is a win win. Jenny share with us. How can we find you? How do we reach you? How can we learn everything about you?
Jenny Blake: Yeah, so you can follow me on Instagram at Jenny the Nutritionist. I also have a podcast called Create Your Shape with Jenny the Nutritionist. And then if you want to learn more about working with me and my program, you can go to jennythenutritionist.com/create-your-shape.
Priyanka Venugopal: I'm going to put all of it in the show notes as well. If anyone missed any of that, Jenny, this has been so good. I think this is again, a conversation that if, if this is important to you, if your body and your health and your fitness is something you want to prioritize this year, there is so many things on the internet and it's important to find, you know, constrain your resources you're not spending your time all over the internet, find one or two sources. I think Jenny is a great example of really someone that's done the work. You've already, someone has done the work for you to, to really help you curate a lot of how you're going to create your shape. So I love it, Jenny, that you're sharing all of this.
Thank you guys so much for listening in on today's podcast and we'll see you at next week. This was such a fun conversation. Me and Jenny could probably talk on this topic forever because we really do have different perspectives and lenses that we are bringing to women reaching their body goals. For me, my goal is that professional moms know they don't have to work out to lose the weight they want. And also when you do feel a desire, when you are hitting the gym with the regularity and strength training is a part of your goal, how you might want to make tweaks to your nutrition and have a strategy in place to amplify your results. I hope you all enjoyed today's podcast episode as much as me. And if you did, if you're loving these concepts, then I want to make sure that you grab my free five-day mini course. You can go get it at theunstoppablemombrain.com/email. I will meet you in your email inbox every single day over five days with a tiny but mighty concept to show you how you can lose weight with more ease, with less time, with less frustration, with simple science back strategies. So go grab that resource over at theunstoppablemombrain.com/email. Bye. Thanks for listening to the Unstoppable Mom Brain Podcast. It's been an honor spending this time with you and your brilliant brain. If you want more resources or information from the show, head on over to theunstoppablemombrain.com.
