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Host: Welcome to the Lifelong Wellness podcast, where we talk to wellness professionals from from around the world to gain their insights into healthier living. I’m your host, Wes Malik. Today's guest is Julian Hayes. His initial journey began in the pursuit of being a doctor. However, after one year he left to pursue an even bigger dream. Now he helps busy and successful high performers optimize their health, energy, and personal performance with precision by leveraging genomics, technology, and systems-based thinking. Julian, welcome to the Lifelong Wellness podcast. How are you doing today?
Julian: I'm doing fantastic, Wes. It's a beautiful day here in Nashville, Tennessee. It's a little hot but, you know, it's better than just being drenched with rain, which I won't be surprised if that happens later because that’s how it happens in the southern US.
Host: Is this the season for a lot of rain, a lot of hurricanes, a lot of wind, you know, in Central, South, and East Coast of the US?
Julian: Yes. Yes, it is and so, you just never know what you're going to get. It's literally like a coin toss.
Host: Yes. Yes, I'm glad you're having very good weather. We, in Toronto, are facing thunderstorms. The weather is definitely very, very weird. We've had one of the weirdest summers on record. Not because of the pandemic, because the weather patterns are so odd these days.
Julian: Yes. That's about the only thing that you can't blame on the pandemic these days. (laughing)
Host: Alright, so tell us about how you got into helping other people with their health and their journey to living better. How did it all begin?
Julian: Yes. Well, it starts as a little kid so I’ll briefly explain young Julian. So, I come from a family where health is not the most top-of-mind thing, and I just remember one-day playing basketball and there's this older gentleman that was running with us. He was moving so well.
Host: Right.
Julian: And it’s the first time I'd seen this. I was like, “My goodness. Is this guy a superhero or a mutant? What is he?” And because up until that point I thought once you get around 30 years old, it's all downhill from there. There are more aches and pains in the knees and you get a little heavier and that’s just the way life is. But this guy really disrupted that paradigm and I asked him afterward, like what’s his secret and it was really quite basic. He said simply, “I watch the way I talk to myself, I watch what I eat, I exercise and I just try to treat people well”. And being a 16-year-old, I was like, “Okay. Cool,” And as I kept going along throughout the years, that little seed was planted and it started to grow more, and I started to really realize how much control we actually have over our health, over our life. And so this leads me on my journey. I transformed my health, I transformed my body, and I got to medical school because that's the path of health that I originally wanted to do. And so while I’m in New York… New York is a big change for me compared to Nashville, Tennessee, and I meet all these people who are just living their dream. They’re doing this and they have so much passion behind it. And I never really had that. School was pretty easy for me and it was my safe route. And I realized during that moment that I loved health, but I didn’t love the idea of being a doctor. And so I went back home that summer and I just had this epiphany. I'm not going back to school and I’m so excited. I can't wait to tell everyone the next day. I get up, I shouted to the world, I tell everyone. And I get zero people who are excited for me. They’re like, “Have you lost your mind?”
Host: You probably had a negative reaction to a complete and opposite reaction.
Julian: (laughing) Yes, they did. Yes, they did. But, you know, I knew that this is what I was meant to do. I love health. I love the advancements that are coming with health. And so I can always continue to study and read and not have to probably put a lot of money towards tuition. So over the years I've been pretty much living the dream every day. It's been tough, as most things in life are, of course, but I've gotten to truly just learn about health. I keep learning new things every day, finding mentors to learn from, and here I am today.
Host: Did your journey of knowledge continue after med school? Did you…?
Julian: Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. A big portion of what I do now is around the world of epigenetics. And the reason why that happened was that I noticed that in my family, both my father and my grandfather passed away in the last two years from heart attacks. And I went down my family tree more and I noticed that a lot of my family members ended up on dialysis and had a lot of blood sugar issues.
Host: I see.
Julian: But we never, maybe there's like one who had a lot of neurological cognitive issues. And I just don’t believe in coincidences. I believe it's like a breadcrumb that tells you what you perhaps have a higher probability to get and suffer from if you don't take care of your health. And that's true. It's likely I did meet up with a gentleman and a certification. I got to learn about epigenetics and genetics and that our DNA kind of does leaves us clues in our family and everything around that. So that's been a big revelation for me and then just throughout the years of learning, I'm learning to use technology more, just learning about different advancements and it's honestly like drinking out of a fire hose.
Host: Julian, does the health of our family members predict what our health will be like?
Julian: It doesn't but it does give a clue, in my opinion. So, and this is where we get into DNA epigenetic. So our DNA is never going to change. But then that's our hardware, but the epigenetic is our software. And another good way to think about this is to think about you have a piano.
Host: Right.
Julian: You have all the white keys on there. That can be our DNA. But we can change those keys. We can dirty it up, we could press the button. And that's essentially what epigenetics in our DNA is. So epi is above the gene. So, by the way we eat, by the way we sleep, by the way we think. When we make all of these little different lifestyle decisions on a day to day basis, essentially we can perform alchemy on a cellular level with this.
Host: Really?
Julian: Yes. So the thing with our families is, for example, I'll give an example with myself. So when I look into my genetics, into genetic testing, I had a higher propensity, the probability for insulin resistance. It doesn't mean I’m going to get it, it just means if I'm not making the right decisions to more empowering decisions on a day by day basis that's more likely what I'm going to skew toward first and foremost. So it's not our destiny. DNA is simply, in looking at our family, it gives us clues to our past and what could happen, but we still are in control of our destiny by what we do on our day by day basis.
Host: Tell me more about epigenetics.
Julian: Yes. Simply put, I think of it as performing alchemy. It's almost like magic, in my opinion. And the big thing with that is… So let's look at it as turning genes on and off, so we have a light bulb and you have a switch. And say, you can turn it on and off but the color's never going to change. So behavior such as exercising that’s going to positively benefit us and, I think it's around and don’t quote me on the number, maybe 6, 7000 positive genes or something. And so that's about 30% of our entire genome that is benefiting, just from exercising. And so that's powerful. The big thing there is that when you’re thinking about epigenetics, it's building a future and it's not just you that you’re building the future for, it’s up to the next two generations in some instances with the decisions that you make today.
Host: Really?
Julian: Yes. Funny, well I shouldn’t say funny… it’s not the right word… but the interesting thing that I learned was I think it was the Dutch famine, and you can see results and behaviors up to 2 to 3 generations after that famine from individuals. Some of them had a higher propensity for obesity, just from being deprived of the food.
Host: I see.
Julian: So, yes. Different genes turn on and off in there and so they’re expressed. And so this is another key point is that when you’re thinking about genes, I like to say there are bad genes and there are good genes because we had these genes a long time ago wherever our ancestors were. And we needed those specific genes to be on or turned off for us to survive. So I’m sharing the news now that we have heard that there is the obesity gene. And there’s a couple of genes that, you know, if you have those variants you might have a higher likelihood of obesity. But that's if you are not choosing those empowering behaviors on a daily basis.
Host: How can we, apart from exercise, affect those genes? And is that a permanent effect on the genes that we have on epigenetics when we change our lifestyle?
Julian: Yes. Now if you, I don’t remember off the top of my head the exact amount of exercising after six months, this may turn off. I wouldn’t think of it that way. I would think of it as just like build, like accumulating weight. If you become a couch potato for a few months, then obviously some of those genes are going to become dormant. I like to think if you don't use it, you lose it. That’s kind of how I think of it. But with that said, you don’t have to exercise every day for six months. I think the study off the top of my head that I'm thinking of, I think it was 3 to 4 days a week of moderate-intensity. I think that's what they were doing. But you asked for some other things. A big one is a sleep. We have art. We have clock genes and no need to get into all the technicalities of it it’s just basically part of governing your sleep. And so when we deprive ourselves of sleep, some of those beneficial genes are being turned off more and that's going to lead to a cascade effect
Host: Really?
Julian: Yes. So, that's one area – sleep. A big one is meditation, and once again all these numbers in these research studies that I’m thinking off the top of my head actually, let’s see. I’m trying to think of the study here. This one was good. I think it was like an 8-week study, and just 20 minutes a day of meditation could help regulate, I want to say a thousand to 2000 genes beneficially and downregulate some other ones that you don't want to be turned on. And to bring this in the picture is easier to visualize for listeners here. What this is doing is, an instance of meditation this is helping you to mitigate potential chronic inflammation. This is helping you boost your immune system and relaxing your mind of course, obviously, and probably being a little more pleasant to be around.
Host: Really? Okay. All these things can help you become basically a different person, I guess. It's very, very interesting. And I also wanted to talk to you about your work, and you work with a lot of people through your website, The Art of Fitness and Life, and you help people, you know, what you say becomes superhuman in life and business. How do you help your clients?
Julian: Yes. I love the word superhuman.
Host: It’s a good word.
Julian: (laughing) It's basically to become mentally, emotionally, and physically superior to the previous version of yourself, to truly unlock your limitless potential. And a lot of times when we think about a healthy approach that we have typically done with health is that we have given you, maybe say ‘follow this diet'.
Host: Yes.
Julian: This is the diet to follow. This is the diet that's in right now, this is the workout plan that’s in. And while it may be beneficial we are 99.9% the same that .1% that makes us uniquely us. That's huge. That is huge. And that's where I focus on to truly help you express your limitless self and to practice and practice, I'm very data-driven. So before you make any, let’s say follow this diet, maybe you want more carbs or fewer carbs or more saturated fat, more monounsaturated fat, all those little nitty-gritty details. Before you do that, let's take a look at what's underneath the hood. So let's look at your genetics. Let's see what that's telling us there. Let's see what's on your bloodwork is telling us. Let's also, more importantly, let’s hear your life story. Let’s hear your relationship with food, let’s hear also the relationship with food for those around you, and let's talk about your life. So let's take all that in. So we’re crafting up a story and then you’re making out their health and performance plan after this data that gives you the highest probability that this is uniquely tailored to them, truly.
Host: What are the tests that look at your genes? I know its blood tests but are they called, are there specific names for these tests? Do I have to go somewhere special to get them or just to a normal lab?
Julian: Yes. I use one just out of the lab that they have to go…I use one just out of the lab, but there are ones like 23andMe and, I forgot the other companies, but there are commercial ones that give you, they give you a fairly high-level overview.
Host: Right.
Julian: Maybe not as detailed, but it gives you a fairly high-level overview. So I think a lot of companies that are doing genetic testing now and then that can give you very basic information around your nutrition, around your exercising and those sort of lifestyle factors.
Host: And those tests – that's what you base your advice on, right?
Julian: It's one of the things. It’s honestly one of the things and one reason… The only downside with commercial testing, in my opinion, is that sometimes people may be more inclined to take it as absolute. And so what I mean by that is sometimes when I'm getting, when I get the report back to someone and I'm looking at their genes and it says, for example, that they don't really do well with lactose. But then as I’m talking to the person and I'm hearing their life story and they're talking about consuming lactose and they’re having no problems, well obviously I'm going to take their word over just what the probability of this genetic test is telling me because sometimes that genome might just be repressed or might just be turned off. So that's what I mean by that. It's one input to the system and so I really… And that's a big thing as well for people to start really viewing their human body as a system. And there are all these different inputs to it that can, that you can want to work in harmony and think of it, kind of like a symphony.
Host: You said that you’re very data-driven and you look at data before you work on the specific program with somebody. How do different data of like my body and somebody else's body change the plan for myself as opposed to somebody else?
Julian: Yes. Well, a cool thing sometimes for some people who are very high strung, people who are high strung like me.
Host: Okay.
Julian: I have to admit sometimes.
Host: Alright. (laughing)
Julian: With different wearables, these are different wearables that we have now. Wearables are things like an Apple Watch or a Garmin or a Fitbit or a Whoop or a Biostrap. Some of these devices can keep track of like your heart beats and over the course of the month, you have thousands of heartbeats throughout the day. And sometimes you can see these little spikes in the heartbeats and you can go back and you can look at it and say, “Why do I have these crazy heartbeats? Why is this all spike up in like 2 to 4 every Wednesday?”
Host: Right.
Julian: And then you can go back and look at maybe what task are you doing at 2 to 4 and maybe it’s something that you really don't like in your business. And then so that's one thing right there where we can see that something like your business is directly affecting your health and so that's why you look at as a system. Or another one is alcohol, that’s a big one. Because sometimes I used to be like this, “Alcohol doesn't affect me”, and the funny thing is, it does affect me. But I'm stubborn, a lot of people are stubborn so I get that. So great way now is when you have these wearables you can see that your heart rate, your HRV, and your heart rate are noticeably down the next morning for a lot of people compared to what it typically is with alcohol. So even, and you can also see that your sleep that sure you’re sleeping maybe 7 ½, 8 hours still that night from alcohol but maybe you're not getting as much deep sleep and REM sleep because alcohol usually breaks that pattern up. So you get more precision-based solutions when you have that data. And you’re getting also more awareness and insights.
Host: That is incredibly interesting. I never thought that having a wearable or like a smartwatch would help me decipher what's going on with my body. I thought it was just a gimmick. I thought it was just like a fad like a cool way to spend 500 bucks and show off a new watch to your friends.
Julian: Oh, yes. It's so much power in those wearables. And as with everything they're not 100% accurate.
Host: Right.
Julian: But the power of that is accountability and the awareness is what it wants to give you. Because a lot of times it is easy for some like to tell us, you should sleep more or you should stop doing this activity and that word “should” or anytime you're trying to tell someone what to do. Even though we’re adults, we’re still little kids inside and we don’t like to be told what to do.
Host: True. (laughing)
Julian: But when you have data there that is non-biased and doesn't have any feelings, you can't argue with that. So that’s one of the things I love about it, because I deal a lot with stubborn people rightfully so. It's what helps, makes them successful, too. So when you have this as you, it’s an ally pretty much that you can't argue with. So, yes it's amazing. And another good thing about these wearables, in general, is just finding some type of data to use in your life when it comes to your health is that it’s going to shift you from more of a reactive to a proactive mentality.
Host: Alright. So we talked about Fitbits, Garmin devices, Apple watch. There's a number of different kinds of brands that you can find on Amazon which will tell you how far you've walked, there’s a pedometer in there. Usually, I see, I'm not very knowledgeable, I don't own a wearable health device, but from what I know is it'll tell you your heart rate?
Julian: Yes. Some of them most of the basic, most of the basic ones will tell your heart rate. Some of the more advanced ones will maybe also have the HRV.
Host: What is HRV?
Julian: HRV is Heart Rate Variability. It's basically a recovery tool. It's letting you know kind of what your recovery is, your overall stress load.
Host: Okay.
Julian: Yes. So that's a pretty good one. Generally, the lower the better in your HRV. I like HRV, especially for if you're into athletics or if you're just a super high-stress individual, HRV is pretty good. But the thing with wearables is also, to mention to listeners is that I would start, I would get very clear on what you want to track in, kind of what your health goals are. Because it’s very easy to get overwhelmed or to spend money on like a $500, $700 device that you don't really use a lot of the tools for. So get really clear on what your goals and what you want to track.
Host: Right. Because you might be able to buy a $50 watch or a Fitbit which will achieve your goals. What other things do wearable health devices measure apart from heart rate, just the distance you walk, and HRV that you mentioned? Are there things like blood pressure?
Julian: Yes. I think some of them do have your blood pressure. I’m not sure how accurate it is. But we have your exercise activities so beyond steps kind of the activity that you're doing. Some of the wearables can keep track of that. And then I think of another good one is probably, and this kind of ties in with the HRV to a certain extent is that some of them, I think like a Garmin I’m thinking, it has a stress score for your daily stress throughout the day.
Host: Really?
Julian: Yes.
Host: That’s interesting. Okay.
Julian: And so exercise is a stressor as well, so that factors in as well and so you can kind of see. And then if you have a Whoop device right now, you can kind of see your, they call it strain, just the amount of stress and workload that your body is going through that day. And sometimes the devices will give you an estimate of how much you should sleep for that night so you can recover for the next day.
Host: Oh, very interesting.
Julian: Yes. And then some of the other ones, they’ll further break down sleep so it won’t just show you that you slept eight hours. It’ll maybe show you, you had this much REM sleep, this much deep sleep, this much light sleep and you have woken up, you woke up maybe six times and it’ll have your body temperature and your respiratory rate and so. It’s very easy.
Host: That is so incredible. That is incredible. (laughing) What device does all this?
Julian: You know, a Garmin that… I probably say is the top, top in that I would recommend, the top one if you just really want to invest in something is a Garmin. I think you're up to 6X the Phoenix, then after that I would go down into a Biostrap. Biostrap’s really good.
Host: Okay.
Julian: And I think a Whoop device. So those are probably my top three that I typically recommend. They’re not the only three, but those are just kind of my three.
Host: I have never heard of a Whoop device. Is that W-O-O-P?
Julian: Let me see, actually. Let me type that in.
Host: (laughing) I’ve never heard of this.
Julian: W-H-O-O-P.
Host: W-H-O-O-P. Like opening up a can of… Okay, there you go. There’s Whoop. (laughing)
Julian: Yes. So that one’s good.
Host: Okay.
Julian: The Biostrap is good and I like those because it has your HRV and then it also takes into account your sleep.
Host: Wonderful.
Julian: And so it does the full package. So, another popular one is the oura ring. It's a ring that's mainly just concerned with your sleep. But if you try to get the most bang for your buck I probably would still go for the Biostrap.
Host: Is this something that you wear on your finger? Like a ring for your finger?
Julian: Yes.
Host: Oh, that is great and it appears on your phone?
Julian: Yes. All these have their apps, all these have their apps and that's how the data will sync up.
Host: It’s very interesting that not only does it measure all these things. It gives you data and it gives you information on how well you sleep, too. That is very, very cool.
Julian: Yes. And so then I could be like Big Brother a little bit. (laughing) And then I can look at this, see how things are going and take that data, as well as talking with them, and then that's how we continually evolve and make recommendations and changes.
Host: Okay. Let’s talk about data. I was having a conversation with my dad and, you know, I try to jot down everything I do, everything I spend. You know, I’m organized that way. And my dad said, “Well, why are you so organized? Why are you writing down everything you do?” And I was like, “You know, I go back and I see and it gives me an insight into what I did last week or last month”. I'm talking financially, but I also track what I eat. For example, I'm not sure if our listeners or you have used this app, but there's an app and there's several I'm sure there are several generic apps like that. This one is called MyFitnessPal. And I log my how much water I drink. I log my breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks so it does a little calorie count for me. It tells me the breakdown of my food as in how many fats, how many carbs, how many sugars, did I go over, did I go under based on my weight, on my height, and what my goal may be at that time. It also incorporates the Nike training app that I use for workouts. And, you know, pops in, okay, you lost this 40 cal today from walking because you know it's tracking the phone and stuff. I know you leverage wearable health devices. Do you focus on apps as well with your clients or for yourself?
Julian: Yes, I have an app I use to track my food because I'm looking at it since you mentioned that just in case we talk about it. And so I use an app called coronal meter.
Host: Okay.
Julian: So, yes. I track my food. I don't really need to because I kind of know everything out but…
Host: Okay, that was my next question. That was my question. Is it a good thing to track what you're doing? Is it important?
Julian: So, yes. So there's two, so we hold two ideas in one hand. So at the beginning, if you're ever beginning your fitness journey or you’re really trying to go after a new goal with your fitness and your health, absolutely track for 2 to 3 weeks because you're going to be able to learn just how much food it takes to keep, you know, X amount of weight or, and all of those details.
Host: Okay.
Julian: After that, if you're, and you eat really the same stuff, then you kind of know what portions look like. You kind of know how much you should pour every morning in your smoothie and how much rice you should eat. You don’t have to track after that. Now I'll be honest, the reason why a track, I love control. Well, the feeling of control. And friends will always say, “Well Julian, you know you really don't control that much in life”, but I like the feeling of it. It puts me at ease to know everything. So that's why I mainly do it now.
Host: See? My dad doesn't get it. And that's what we’re talking about. He’s like, “Why you do this?” (laughing)
Julian: It’s fun.
Host: I think so.
Julian: It's like a game. So I can see right now I can see so far what I eat. I can see my carbs, I can see my fiber breakdown, I could see all my vitamins, my minerals, my protein. I think that's cool and it makes me feel good that, okay, you're doing these things and this and you see you’re hitting all the nutrients. And this gives me momentum to show and this is kind of rewiring my brain in the process to celebrate these kinds of positive behaviors. So in that regard. I love it. Now if you're more, sometimes people can get a little obsessed with it and… Because calories when they tell you that blueberries are 80 cal per cup…
Host: Okay.
Julian: …so exact. It's all a guess. It's close but it's only a guess.
Host: True.
Julian: This is not 100% accurate.
Host: True.
Julian: But, you know, it gives you an idea and that's the most important part. So when I tell people that maybe track ins and, I don’t know, eat 2300 cal a day and 150 g of protein. It doesn’t mean that you have to get those specific numbers or the day is a failure. It's getting close to it to get a general idea, give or take.
Host: Right.
Julian: Yes. Because depending, I don’t know where my broccoli came from or my blueberries came from.
Host: Right.
Julian: I don’t know how the soil is so I might not be getting all of the manganese or the vitamin C that it says I'm supposed to get on the average serving.
Host: Right. Now, speaking of technology. So wearable health devices, apps, they help you, they can help us as well. But of course, there's a certain amount of knowledge that you require to decipher that data, right? And that's where you come in and that's where your website comes in and that's how you help clients. You also share free practical tools with people on specifically how to have a biological age that is 10 to 15 years younger than your chronological age. I would love to do that, first of all. (laughing) So, how can I do that? Where are your free tools? What are they?
Julian: Yes. So, I have a friend and so there are different tests now and it's a blood test. I interviewed the guy. He’s Dr. Michael Lustgarten. And it's a tool, it’s a free website called aging.ai. And what you do there is you can input your blood markers when you go to the lab like just basic labs and you can input that.
Host: Nice. Okay.
Julian: And it correlates because they’ve done research on this. And it's correlating to like if you have whatever numbers on there, it’ll measure it against and it’ll show your chronological age to your biological age.
Host: Okay.
Julian: So that's one way to do it. And so that's a free tool and when you go get your lab test, you can just put those two together. There are more expensive options. There are actual epigenetic age tests where you can, I believe it's available to everyone, but don't quote me on that. I think it's available to everyone, but…And what you can do there is they’ll send you a kit and you’ll take a blood sample and you’ll send it back to the lab. And then in around 6 to 8 weeks, they’ll send you back. You'll get an email with your results and it’ll tell you how old you are, epigenetically or biologically I should say. And then you match that with however old you are, numerically. And, you know, that's one input to the system as well. Once again, my whole philosophy is, I don't take any one thing above all else. I like to look at everything, but depending on who you are, I think is a very good tool because of you can kind of see, “Is the way I'm living the decisions that I'm making on a day by day basis, is it working? Or maybe do I need to make some modifications and changes?” And so, I’m trying to think on top of my head, there is nine certain tests. I think it was for the free tool to take in your labs. I think it was albumin, creatinine, glucose, C-reactive protein, lymphocyte percentage, your mean corpuscular volume (MCV), red cell distribution width, and alkaline phosphatase and white blood cells. But I can send you the link also if you need to. But I think it is those nine that you want to make sure you get in your lab and then you can use the free tool I mentioned.
Host: aging.ai
Julian: Yes. aging.ai that's the free tool that you can use to check your biological age. I'm checking it right now to make sure it’s still up. Yes, it’s still up.
Host: Alright. So you help people build their bodies and minds like a successful Fortune 500 company. That's an interesting comparison. What's so great about Fortune 500 companies and how can a body and a mind be like one?
Julian: Yes. Well, I think… I was joking one day. I was trying to get through to someone and he said, “Think of yourself as a Fortune 500 company” and they’re really successful financially. And I think a lot of these Fortune 500 companies have a very long-term vision, which is the same principles that we need when it comes to our health. Because a lot of times we choose short-term pleasures and wins with our health over the long term. And a prime example of this is using things like fab diets or water fasts which have their place but long term, it probably places us even further from where we truly want to be with our health. So the first thing a business does, and this is kind of the 3-steps process. I think I wrote about it and talked about it, a 3-step process. So the first thing a business does is they’re going to scratch strategies based on their intended result. That sounds very self-explanatory and very basic and it's a no job. But how many times you hear someone say they want to lose weight. They want to lose 20 pounds, so they know how to shoot for the target but they don't really have any aim for how they're going to get to their target.
Host: Right.
Julian: So that's the thing with your… So if you want to lose 25,15 lbs., you have your target, but what are the vehicles that are going to get you there? In business we’ll say, “What are my marketing channels that are going to get us to this revenue goal, to this business goal?”
Host: Right. Right.
Julian: Yes. And so a few things, health-wise, of course, is committing to some type of consistent exercise regimen. Getting the proper amount of rest for a lot of people, especially during today's times, stress is a big thing. And so meditation, yoga, or some breathing method is going to help. And then lastly, we've got to think about nutrition. What's your nutrition plan going to be? A lot of times nutrition… Different types of diets, different types of ways of eating, they’re all going to lead us to the same destination. So really and truly it’s all about like, what's the most seamless thing that integrates with your specific life. And that’s what I would like to think about when it comes to nutrition.
Host: This is what you mean, this is what you just explain when you mean why it's important to operate with a systems approach instead of a reductionist binary approach, meaning just, you know, cutting out things from your life. You mean to say you have to focus on your health, your diet, even your sleep and that are a good point. We don't think about when it comes to our health, we don’t think about, “Hey, I need to get restful sleep in order to be healthy”.
Julian: Yes. Because to sleep, the thing about the sleep, the sleep controls some of our appetite hormones. Specifically, you have ghrelin and you have leptin.
Host: Okay.
Julian: Okay and when these things are out of whack, leptin is, think of satiety, and so that's going to get skewed and ghrelin is your appetite, to signal hunger, so you have one hormone that's going to signal up, going to spike more.
Host: Yes.
Julian: That's signaling that you need to eat more, and then another hormone is signaling that you can’t stay full.
Host: Right.
Julian: And so it's easy to overeat there and then we’re not even thinking about the effects sleep has on our executive functioning. A simple example that goes really good with those two hormones in appetite I talked about that gives more of a picture is that you have your amygdala and you have, think of your amygdala, which is just it's very emotional. And then we have a prefrontal cortex, which is logic and reasoning. And when we don’t get the necessary adequate amount of sleep and, they’ve done brain studies on this and they show the difference is that, you’re going to have heightened activity in your amygdala so you’re going to be more spontaneous, more irrational, quicker to make decisions. And then you’re going to have lower activity on your prefrontal cortex so you're not going to be making as much logical and sound decisions. And so not only from a professional standpoint are you being compromised, but also from a nutritional standpoint. You're probably going to be compromised because your thinking is just not there. You are emotionally, mentally compromised. So, yes. That's a prime example of when you think about systems. And so I guess going back to, what we’re talking about Fortune 500, after you craft your strategies that have based on your results, the company, they always love to keep their expenses in check.
Host: They do.
Julian: And they’re very precise when they spend. They spend only when they want to.
Host: Yes.
Julian: And so that's the way I think about our health. A lot of times when we get excited that today's the day that I will lose my 20 lbs. We get a very ultra-restrictive diet. We immediately cut all our calories out.
Host: Basically, yes. That's the modus operandi of everyone, like to stop eating! (laughing)
Julian: Yes. We stop eating. We stop eating. We cut our calories down.
Host: Yes.
Julian: Really low.
Host: Yes.
Julian: So you’re going to lose some weight, of course, because you’re shocking your body at the beginning.
Host: True.
Julian: But what happens on Day 35? If you used up all of your tools inside your toolbox, then what can you do when you eventually reach a plateau?
Host: Right.
Julian: Because it will happen.
Host: Right.
Julian: So you can’t cut calories any lower. And so that's why when you're thinking about your health and fitness you want to get the maximum results from the minimum, from the minimum amount of resources. So you can keep the margins much like a business does with their expenses and spending.
Host: Right.
Julian: And the last thing is to just to outsource your task to free up time and energy. And, you know, I think about entrepreneurs. I even think about family sometimes. They have their kids do some tasks within the household just to free up time for them to work on other things. And it's the same thing with your health. And if you find yourself that you're super busy, how can you outsource some of these behaviors and habits and routines with your health that cannot only help you conserve time and energy but can also help you toward your goal? And so a simple one now is mail delivery services, whether it's the ones that they ship you the ingredients and that you just cook it or if it's the ones where the foods already cooked for you. I think that's a great option. And not even to use it throughout the whole day so maybe it's, you're in control of your breakfast. Breakfast is easy for you. But maybe it’s lunch where it gets dicey. So maybe you order five meals each week so you can have your lunch taken care of and then you can take care of your dinner as well. So it's little things like that. Taking a look at your life, see where, you know, there's some disruption, some incongruities, and then working on that. And I think that's how you seamlessly get your health and your life working together. Because a lot of times it becomes for people, it becomes a battle between their fitness and life. And they start to have a disdain for their very own fitness routine.
Host: That's true. And you mentioned like, you know, completing a routine for 35 days, sometimes you give up after like 4 or 7 like, “Oh, this is not working and this is not going to happen”. But yes, excellent insight. Fantastic insights into technology and genetics and some wonderful tools that you’ve shared as well. If someone wants to reach out to you, where can they get in touch with you?
Julian: Yes. The Homebase is theartoffitnessandlife.com. And then I also have a podcast that's called Optimal Health For Busy Entrepreneurs.
Host: Brilliant. Brilliant. And that's available on your website, right?
Julian: Yes. It’s available on my website and in all major listening outlets as well.
Host: Julian, thank you so much for being in a Lifelong Wellness podcast today. I really appreciate it.
Julian: Thank you so much, Wes. It was awesome to talk with you.
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