Are you tired of hitting roadblocks in your fitness journey? Do you wonder if some of your fitness and nutrition beliefs might be holding you back?

In this milestone 200th episode of Wits & Weights, host Philip (@witsandweights) pulls back the curtain on the biggest surprises that can transform your approach to health and fitness. Get ready to challenge what you think you know and discover powerful insights that can elevate your results!

Throughout the episode, Philip shares insights from the Wits & Weights community, showing how these myth-busting lessons have led to real-world transformations. By the end of this episode, you'll have a fresh perspective on fitness and nutrition, armed with evidence-based strategies to achieve your best physique and live your healthiest life.

📱Book a FREE 15-minute Rapid Nutrition Assessment, designed to fine-tune your strategy, identify your #1 roadblock, and give you a personalized 3-step action plan in a fast-paced 15 minutes. 

Today, you’ll learn all about:

3:22 Myth #1: You need to eat less to lose weight
7:17 Myth #2: You need to avoid certain foods
9:49 Myth #3: You need to obsess over numbers
15:00 Myth #4: Fitness and nutrition are complicated
18:52 Myth #5: Your current workout routine is optimal
23:30 Myth #6: Failures are setbacks
26:07 Myth #7: Fitness is solely focused on physical health
29:05 Changes based on the community's feedback
35:15 Outro

Episode resources:

• Reach out to Philip on IG @witsandweights

• Bonus: Share a screenshot of this episode on your story and tag Philip so he can re-share it!

Episode summary:

Ever wondered if eating more could actually help you lose weight? In the 200th episode of the Wits and Weights podcast, we tackle some of the most surprising myths and misconceptions in fitness and nutrition. This episode features inspiring stories from listeners who have transformed their perspectives and achieved real results through consistency and simplicity.

The episode kicks off with a deep dive into seven surprising myths that have been busted over the years. One of the most intriguing is the idea that eating more can aid in fat loss. Alan, a dedicated listener, shares how he shifted from viewing food as something to restrict to seeing it as essential fuel for progress. This mindset shift, from restriction to additive nutrition, aligns with scientifically-backed strategies for optimizing performance and recovery. Flexible dieting and non-linear approaches are highlighted as effective methods for achieving long-term transformation.

Consistency and simplicity emerge as key themes throughout the episode. Wyatt, another community member, shares his journey of moving away from meticulous tracking of numbers and focusing on the bigger picture of consistent habits. His story debunks the myth that perfection is necessary for success. Instead, small, sustainable changes can lead to significant, long-term results. Isis also contributes by demonstrating how straightforward and logical approaches to fitness can be both effective and easy to maintain.

Listener feedback has played a crucial role in shaping the podcast’s direction. This episode highlights how the content has evolved to better serve the audience, introducing new formats and focusing on specific demographics and issues. Rita’s story underscores the importance of aligning workout routines with personal goals, such as incorporating resistance training for muscle building. Her experience highlights the need to adapt and find routines that align with individual goals, emphasizing that effective strategies don’t have to be complicated or restrictive.

Breaking down fitness and nutrition myths, the podcast celebrates its milestone by reflecting on the biggest surprises and lessons learned. Alan’s experience with additive nutrition and flexible dieting illustrates how eating more can actually be a secret weapon for fat loss. By viewing food as fuel for progress, rather than something to restrict, Alan has optimized his approach to nutrition in a way that aligns with evidence-based strategies. This approach emphasizes the importance of fueling the body for performance, recovery, and long-term transformation.

The episode also delves into the importance of consistency and simplicity. Wyatt’s insights reveal the pitfalls of obsessing over precise numbers in fitness and nutrition tracking. By focusing on consistent habits rather than perfection, Wyatt has achieved significant long-term results. Isis further illustrates how uncomplicated, logical approaches to fitness can be both effective and sustainable. Her story emphasizes that efficient strategies do not have to be complicated or restrictive, and the most sustainable approaches are often the least like traditional dieting.

Mindful practices in fitness are another key topic discussed. The episode challenges misconceptions around achieving desired physiques, emphasizing that it doesn’t require constant hunger or deprivation. Understanding energy balance and proper nutrition allows for more flexibility in diet plans, making them simpler and more sustainable. Rita’s experience highlights the importance of adapting workout routines to align with personal goals. By incorporating resistance training and building confidence in the gym, Rita has achieved better results, demonstrating that effective strategies can be simple and empowering.

Listener feedback has been instrumental in the podcast’s evolution. A recent listener survey revealed the real-world impact of the show, with many listeners reporting significant influences on their approach to fitness, nutrition, and health. Based on this feedback, several changes have been made to the show’s format, including reducing episode frequency to avoid overwhelming subscribers, introducing more varied formats, and focusing on specific demographics and issues. These enhancements aim to provide more relevant, practical, and engaging content for the community.

Engaging directly with the audience is a recurring theme in the episode. Listeners are invited to share their biggest takeaways or surprises from the show and to send questions or express frustrations encountered online or from other podcasts. This feedback loop is crucial for creating better content and helping other listeners learn from the show. Emphasizing the importance of gradual progress in fitness journeys, the podcast encourages continuous improvement, mirroring its own journey to reach 200 episodes through consistent, incremental progress.

In summary, the 200th episode of Wits and Weights is a celebration of busting fitness and nutrition myths, highlighting the importance of consistency, simplicity, and mindful practices. Real stories from listeners like Alan, Wyatt, and Rita provide practical insights and inspiration for anyone on a fitness journey. By evolving based on listener feedback, the podcast continues to offer valuable, evidence-based content that empowers listeners to achieve their fitness goals.

This episode serves as a blueprint for changing the game in fitness and nutrition. It encourages listeners to rethink their strategies, embrace flexibility, and focus on consistent, sustainable habits. With a commitment to evidence-based approaches and continuous improvement, Wits and Weights is dedicated to helping listeners build their best physique and live their healthiest lives. As the podcast moves forward into the next 200 episodes and beyond, it remains a valuable resource for anyone seeking practical, impactful information.

📲 Send me a text message!

🎓 Join Wits & Weights Physique University

👩‍💻 Book a FREE 15-Minute Rapid Nutrition Assessment

👥 Join our Facebook community for live Q&As & support

✉️ Join the FREE email list with insider strategies and bonus content!

📱 Try MacroFactor for free with code WITSANDWEIGHTS. The only food logging app that adjusts to your metabolism!

🩷 Enjoyed this episode? Share it on social and follow/tag @witsandweights

🤩 Love the podcast? Leave a 5-star review

📞 Send a Q&A voicemail

Have you followed the podcast?

Get notified of new episodes. Use your favorite podcast platform or one of the buttons below. Then hit “Subscribe” or “Follow” and you’re good to go!

Transcript

Philip Pape  00:01

Everything we think we know about fitness and nutrition might be wrong. At least that's the impression I have after 200 episodes of diving deep into the evidence and having meaningful conversations with listeners who follow the show. To mark our 200 bowl episode, today, we're doing something special. I reach out to some of our most loyal listeners, the ones who've been with us since the early days, and ask them about the biggest surprises they've learned from the show. That shattered a long health fitness or nutrition myth, the conventional wisdom that everyone takes for granted and are pushed hard by the fitness industry, even though they're probably not true. From eating more to working out less to discovering your biggest obstacles, not what you thought. I'm pulling back the curtain on the seven biggest surprises from the first 200 episodes of The Whitson weights podcast. Whether you're a longtime listener, or this is your first time tuning in. I think this episode serves as a blueprint for changing the game and being doing and becoming a better human being, not just for your physical and mental health, but for living a long and fulfilling life. Welcome to rich and weights, a podcast that blends evidence and engineering to help you build smart, efficient systems to achieve your dream physique.

Philip Pape  01:21

I'm your host, Philip pape, and today we are celebrating a major milestone, our 200th episode. Whoo. All right, can you believe it? Since launching in November 2021, we've actually published over 300 Total episodes, with 200 of those being full numbered episodes like this one, we've hit over 275,000 Total downloads 25,000 downloads per month, and are now listened to an over 140 countries and almost 7000 cities. It is extremely humbling to see how far we've come and how many lives we've touched. But this show isn't about just numbers, it really is about you, our listeners, without which it wouldn't exist. It's about what you've learned how you've taken action, and the progress you've made to transform your life for the better. So today, we are turning the spotlight on you and sharing some of the biggest surprises and lessons our longtime listeners have learned over 200 episodes. Now these are real world examples of how evidence based approaches can change lives by simply offering a fresh, grounded perspective on how things actually work based on science and based on your body and your mind, because it is very personalized, so that you can take full control and get the health and physique you want. Now, if any of these stand out for you, after you listen to this episode, or if anything changes your perspective, either as a longtime listener, or just from the episode itself. I would love it if you shared a screenshot of this episode to your Instagram or Facebook story and tag me just to celebrate the 200 just to let people know, hey, I listened to the show. They just had their 200th episode, check it out, I will reshare it to my audience. And that way I know a few of you out there were inspired by the episode or as by listening to the show. Again, just take a screenshot in your podcast app, share it online and tag me at Whitsun Wix. All right, let's dive into the seven biggest surprises or Myths Busted after 200 episodes of the wits and weights podcast. The first surprise is how eating more could be your secret weapon for fat loss. And this one is from Alan, one of our longtime listeners. And he said quote, the biggest lesson is that I view food as fuel for progress. Whether I'm holding on to muscle for a cut phase, or adding muscle in a bulking phase, I typically looked at food in regards to how much to restrict. Now I look at food as what foods can I add to align with what I need for my physical goals. And that word add is important because we talk about additive nutrition as an adding some protein to your plate. Right? As opposed to taking things away. And this shift from restriction and deprivation to let's fuel ourselves, right, let's support ourselves let's serve ourselves is really a huge shift that people make during this process. And it aligns with what we talked about with adequate nutrition for muscle building and fat loss. Nutrition is always on this show in the context of what we are trying to do with our body and improve it. Not in the context of I'm trying to lose weight. Or I feel like I have to cut something out. Because your body does need fuel. It needs fuel to perform, to recover and ultimately to transform over time because it's adding new tissue. It's releasing some fat along the way. And that requires energy and energy out and thinking that way right chronic under eating, which many of you know who you are. Right when you about the state of low energy, like you're never quite there where you need to be in the gym. And that hinders your progress, it leads to things like muscle loss, right when you're on a weight loss drug and you lose weight too fast, for example, or when you don't have enough carbs, and now you don't have the performance to hit it in the gym. It can slow down your metabolism, you know, not permanently, we can't break our metabolisms, but we can definitely cause them to slow down and to adapt in the short term with our lifestyle choices. So by viewing food as fuel for progress, instead of something to be feared or restricted, or to punish ourselves with, we are looking at it as fuel to add to our plate to support our nutrition and our training. This is just one of many examples you're going to hear today of working smarter and more efficiently, right? Looking at these things as tools for progress, rather than something that emotionally or morally restricts us, right and Alan with his comment, he's optimized his approach to nutrition in a way that perfectly aligns with the evidence as well. He also mentioned something else that caught my attention, he said, quote, in addition to the additive nutrition comment, my biggest surprise and helpful strategy is flexible, slash non linear dieting, especially the stairstep fat loss approach. This release changed my mental approach to the physical and detailed aspects of my nutrition and quote. And so if you've been a regular listener, or even just listen to some recent episodes, go back into the catalogue and look at recent ones about my three new dieting methods, or the one that I did called My stairstep fat loss process. We've talked about nonlinear dieting, quite a bit nonlinear meaning you don't necessarily have to lose weight at the exact same rate. And you don't have to eat the same amount of calories every day, there's creative ways to work with our bodies and work with our lives. And our schedules, instead of assuming has to be one way, right, one size fits all. And then that allows for periods of more aggressive fat loss, interspersed with maintenance phases. And these can be easier to sustain both physically and mentally, and both short term and long term. And that's a great example of how we can make these strategies effective, but long lasting, okay. That's the first surprise. The second surprise is how embracing all foods leads to less stress, more freedom, and more long term success. And this actually comes from Carol, her comment brief but powerful, she said, quote, a mindset shift from restriction to food freedom. And this ties in beautifully with what Alan was talking about, doesn't it about additive nutrition, and fueling your body and not worrying about cutting things out. It's not about saying no to foods, but instead, saying that anything can go as long as it serves me right now, not eating whatever you want, whenever you want. Not that YOLO diet, the dream balk, right? Or not assuming that you're going to be able to cut aggressively eating all pizza and doughnuts. It's about understanding that all foods can fit into a healthy dietary pattern, when consumed in the right amounts in the right macro balance with the right amount of micronutrients for you. And that allows you to make informed choices in they're informed by what you want, right in terms of your goals, your preferences, the food preferences, but they're also informed by what you need. Rather than following a rigid diet, a diet plan demonizing certain foods, cutting foods out great. And when you do that, when you're like, Oh, I could actually eat anything. As long as I stick to some calorie macros and any other you know, goals I've set for myself, like my meal timing or whatnot, reduces stress around eating, it makes social situations like going out to restaurants, going to vacations, going to that party and having the cake right, even Yes, drinking some alcohol easier to navigate. And then that is what leads to healthier relationship with food because you're not saying can't have that kind of have that can't have that and then you binge right, the Restrict binge cycle goes away. And this is backed by science we've seen for years studies comparing flexible dieting, with rigid dieting rigid meaning I have a meal plan, or I have to eat these foods and I can't eat these foods. Those have consistently been shown to be unsuccessful for not only losing weight often but maintaining it. Whereas flexible dieting allows you to get to your goal, whether that's losing fat, gaining muscle, maintaining your weight, whatever, and then stay there stay wherever you want to be for a while. And that leads to long term health and success. Right and so that is where Carol has definitely set herself up by thinking that way based on this podcast, which is awesome. Okay. The third surprise is why obsessing over numbers, despite the importance of tracking and measuring could be sabotaging your progress. Whew, now you're thinking, Wait a minute, Philip, you talk about data all the time data and driven, tailored, engineered, right. But let's dive into this what I'm talking about Wyatt, Wyatt, longtime listener and Facebook community member. He said, quote, it doesn't need to be so precise and exact. It means even more coming from the science and engineering nerds, which I'm gladly and openly part of the science and engineering nerds. So what is he talking about? All right, as an engineer myself, and every week we put on an episode that ties engineering to fitness, I can certainly relate 100,000% to the desire for precision. But why it is also correct because when it comes to nutrition and fitness, if you overthink or over obsess over exact numbers, especially at the exclusion of other things, right, or without seeing the big picture, it can definitely cause more harm, more neuroticism, and obsession, then, you know, productive progress. I'm going to add some context here. But he went on to say, quote, Greg knuckles topic on TDE calculations. Alright, that's your metabolism was super eye opening, especially knowing that they can be super inaccurate in either direction. So he's talking about the calculators online. When you go to an online calculator to figure out how many calories you burn every day, they can be very inaccurate, either direction, continuing his quote, If I go out to eat, I don't have to be so precise with every single ingredient and calorie. That plate of pasta is about 1000 calories. Okay, sounds close enough and quote. So he's making an important distinction that while tracking itself, is extremely useful, and I encourage it, I encourage tracking so many things that help you see the big picture, it's important to remember that the level of tracking precision has a point of diminishing returns where you could be spending too much time overthinking it, too much perfectionist tendencies too much neuroticism. A good example would be when you go to a restaurant, you probably shouldn't be taking a food scale with you just estimate, right? When you're at home, even though you're weighing your food, if you've got 10 ingredients, maybe you only need to log two or three of the ingredients that have the most energy, right, it's a matter of degrees. Even with scale weight, right, we weigh ourselves daily, but we don't obsess over it, we actually want to look at the trend over time. When you go to the gym, you're tracking your PRs, you're tracking your lifts, sometimes you're not gonna have a good day and it's fine, you might miss a rep, you get back to it, you use that information, but you don't overthink it. Because your body is not a perfectly calibrated machine. It's actually this very gooey, organic, complex biological system that varies day to day. And so when we can take it as a system, where we can take it as a whole, we can actually be a lot more flexible. And I'll say graceful with ourselves and how we use this data. So he actually continued with what he wrote to me, quote, with that comes the realization that one day of eating doesn't make or break me. And there's no need to beat myself up over an individual choice in a day, I'm more conscious of the way foods make me feel like Ooh, that was a lot of oil, rather than how they fit into my perfect macronutrient. Target. And so there's this concepts of, you know, consistency over perfection, knowing that one choice you make during one day doesn't change your trajectory for the rest of your life. Right. It's like, just take it as it comes, track the data. But don't overdo it. Focus on the big picture, and keep moving, keep making progress, keep iterating and adjusting and experimenting, but not getting hung up. Right. And his realization about this precision versus consistency is a very key principle to efficient progress, including time efficiency, because you're not getting bogged down in daily minutiae that then takes all this extra time. Right. And oftentimes I hear people, clients and community members say, like, well, it just takes too much time to do this thing. And I'm like, Well, let's think of a different, more efficient way to get you that result. That might be 7080 90%, rather than 100%. And that's more than good enough. It's way better than zero. And then finally, Wyatt summed it up beautifully here, quote, it's the consistent habits over time that really make the difference. I have confidence that I am consistently eating protein, hitting my calorie goals, training hard, and doing what it takes overall, just takes time and consistency. Hell yeah, man. Like that. Is it right there. Thank you for summarizing the whole premise of this show. And echoing what we've said over and over, that it's not about being perfect every day. It's been good enough most of the time, and you're gonna get there very efficiently that way. All right. Number four. The fourth surprise is how simplicity usually beats out complexity. And you can see a common theme between all of this stuff like Simplicity vs. Complexity is somewhat related to what we just talked about, from why and of not overthinking, right. Moving on to ISIS, who shared this perspective, ISIS was on the show before and she's a longtime listener, she said, quote, how uncomplicated, and logical it was to get the body I always dreamed of, and how much I get to eat in the process. Alright, and quote. So this touches on two key points that we've also come back to time and again, first, effective fitness and nutrition doesn't need to be complicated. In fact, one of the simplest approaches are often I should say the simplest approaches are the most effective, because they are the easiest to stick to consistently, even if they require effort. You know what to do? You get it done, you get the feedback. If you're not getting it done, you'll know and then you get it done right. Second, is that achieving the physique that you want, does not mean constant hunger, and deprivation. Now, I'm kind of mixing two different things here, I understand. But when you understand the principles of energy balance and proper nutrition, you could usually eat more than you think, while still making progress toward your goals. And that ties back to what Alan and Carol said about moving away from a restrictive mindset and also ties into what ISIS is saying about simplicity, right. Because the diet plans the meal plans, they actually make it too complicated. Flexibility means every day can be a little bit different. You can roll the punches, you can take life as it comes. And that is being human. Right, focus on fueling your body, making the nutritious choices to fuel you. And now it actually becomes a lot simpler to get through your day, to plan out your week to plan out your meals. And then you probably eat a surprising amount of food while still losing fat or building muscle as you go through that process.

Philip Pape  17:08

Hey, this is Philip and I hope you're enjoying this episode of Whitson weights. I started with some weights to help ambitious individuals in their 30s 40s and beyond, who want to build muscle lose fat and finally look like they lift. I've noticed that when people transform their physique, they not only look and feel better, but they also experienced incredible changes in their health, confidence and overall quality of life. If you're listening to this podcast, I assume you want the same thing to build your ultimate physique and unlock your full potential. Whether you're just starting out or looking to take your progress to the next level. That's why I created wits and weights physique University, a semi private group coaching experience designed to help you achieve your best physique ever, with a personalized done for you nutrition plan, custom designed courses, new workout programs each month, live coaching calls and a supportive community, you'll have access to everything you need to succeed. If you're ready to shatter your plateaus and transform your body and life, head over to Whitson weights.com/physique or click the link in the show notes to enroll today. Again, that's Whitson weights.com/physique. I can't wait to welcome you to the community and help you become the strongest cleanest and healthiest version of yourself. Now back to the show.

Philip Pape  18:29

So irises, no surprise here at how simple it is, and how abundant it is. highlights the core principle that efficient strategies do not have to be complicated. They don't have to be restrictive. The most sustainable approaches are usually the ones that actually feel the least like dieting. That is the key here. And so therefore it's simple. It's liberating. It's empowering. Okay, so you hear some very overlapping themes here. The fifth surprise is how your favorite workouts might have passed their expiration date and no longer serve you. All right. What do I mean by this? Let's look at Rita's comment. So Rita touched on something that many of you struggle with, and that is you have a workout routine that you like. And now a fitness guru or fitness influencer or podcast host like myself comes along and says, maybe you want to reconsider that that might not be serving you. And she says quote, speaking of mindset, I found it interesting and a hard transition to the adjustment for moving away from my bootcamp classes that were not giving me the results I want. However, now that I'm building confidence in the gym, new routines and flexible nutrition, I'm in a better place and quote, and I'm glad Rita brought this up because many people they get stuck in workout routines that are not serving them. Well. It's usually out of out of habit, or fear of change, or maybe they actually enjoy it, but it's not giving them the result. Right and she mentioned boot camp Ansan I've heard this a lot with my clients, especially female clients who do the various group classes, they love the camaraderie, they love the community, I have the same experience with CrossFit very often. But it wasn't give me the results, right. And sometimes you have to make a change, even if it's challenging at first, even if it is beyond your comfort zone or expanding your comfort zone. And when you make that change, you're going to be a beginner again. And that can be very frustrating, right, and now you have to learn again, and you have to grow again. And that's the point at which habits hit roadblocks and bumps along the way before they start to stick. But if there's a few principles that tie into what Rita said, the first one is the importance of identifying training that aligns with your goals, right. If you are trying to build strength and physique, you're trying to improve your body composition, you're going to have to use resistance training, and you're going to have to progress over time progressive overload. A lot of bootcamp classes are cardio focused, they're high reps, there are a lot of movements perfectly fine for exercise, but not necessarily for training to build muscle. So you've got to pick the thing that works for you. And it doesn't mean you have to totally give up that other thing, you could definitely incorporate a mix of modalities. The second principle here is is building confidence in the gym, learning to navigate the gym like a commercial gym and perform exercises correctly have the right form and technique that can be extremely empowering, and then open up a world of more options. And for example, and I'm gonna plug our weights and weights physique University, we drop new programs every month, right? If you're in there, you get brand new programs every month, there's novice intermediate, physique, strength, female. And we do form checks. And the reason we do form checks is because there are a lot of people that join are not necessarily beginners, but they're switching to this different way of working out. And they're not super confident in, for example, how to do a squat or how to do a deadlift. And as soon as they post a video, and I take a look, usually there's some fundamental, major, you know, correction that needs to be made. But because they've shared that and been been vulnerable, in asking for feedback, they get the feedback, all of a sudden, they can fix it. Literally the next day, they fixed that. And they are they've gone from 20% skill to like 70% skill in one session, just from an online forum check and having a supportive community with some accountability. So building that gym confidence, men and women, right for men, it's probably like, learning how to do the movements I want to do for women, it's that but also getting over the gym intimidation, and like navigating and the etiquette of the gym, equipment, all that fun stuff affects men and women, of course, it's very important to, to kind of empower you to do that. I think Rita, I remember her going through that process. And then of course, you combine that with your nutrition, because if you're now training hard, you're building muscle. And now you combine that with this flexible nutrition approach. That's when the magic really happens because they support each other. And both start to accelerate toward, really, ultimately what you want. And read his journey is an example of how making these changes, even if they're initially uncomfortable, are the things that lead to the better results and overall satisfaction with your fitness journey. So question how you're working out today. And reach out to me on Instagram at weights and weights? If you have any questions about your training, because I could definitely point you to a previous episode or just straight up answer your question and whatever it is. Alright, the sixth surprise is how the more you fail, the more data you have and can transform even faster. So here I want to dive into a quote from Sean. And she said quote, for me, it's positive reframing. Let me repeat that, for me. It's positive reframing. It's easy to be negative if I don't reach a specific goal in a day, whether it's step count grams of protein. But it's one day out of many Philips constant reminder that it's still data that you're tracking, it's still momentum moving you forward. A positive mindset can make tomorrow's progress easier and better. And quote, This is so powerful. It's so powerful. I'm glad Shawn brought it up, because it ties in with what we've discussed already about consistency over perfection. But to get more specific, there's a few things that come up for me here. The first is how valuable tracking data is, but not obsessing over as we talked about with Wyatt. But just having data and measuring the things that you care about that represent the outcome you're trying to achieve. Even when you don't hit your target on a given day. Every day provides you that information about your habits and progress. And so to me, there's no such thing as a failure, right? Anytime you miss a target, that's just a data point says you've missed it and then you see what happens when you miss it. The other principle is again, looking at the big picture, right one day doesn't mean Take a break you It's the trend. So that's where seeing data day to day gives you peace of mind, when you see how it accumulates, like scale weight, right scale, a can go up two pounds, and it could go down two pounds, you know, you had extra carbs at dinner, you have some inflammation from your workout, whatever. And it's just waterway fluctuations. But when you have it day after day after day, and you see the trend over time, now you understand why it's important to collect that data. And then mindset is huge here, right? Because Shawn mentioned positive reframing. That's what we're doing here. We're saying, no, these aren't failures, these are data points like that, right, there is just a simple positive reframe. And when you can apply that to anything that hits your head is negative, any negative emotion that comes up, if you can reframe it, you're able to bounce back, able to be resilient. And that's what leads to consistency. Right? Don't beat yourself up over not hitting a daily goal, look at it as useful data, and a chance to learn and adjust. That leads to better adherence that leads to less stress. And that leads to better and faster results. Okay, the seventh and final surprise, is really my own surprise, but it is from all of you. And I'll explain in a second, how this show is changing lives well beyond the physical. Okay, our listeners, you have helped me evolve this show to what it is today. And we conducted a listener survey a few months back. And what struck me most about that was the real world impact of the show. Now I get messages from you guys all the time, not as many as I would like, I would love to have like dozens of messages a day from people saying how much the show affected them in some small way. And I know there's more of you out there than who actually reach out just based on how probabilities work in that sense. But I would just love to hear from you. But I have heard about you during the survey. And many of you reported that this show it's a way to significantly influence your approach to fitness to nutrition to health. Some of you mentioned, sharing advice from the show with your friends or family, or using the content on the show as a reference point for what you do every day with your decisions. And with your plans with your nutrition with your training. And this level of real world application. And implementation is something I never anticipated when I started the show in late 2021. Because at the time, I didn't even know if I could do a podcast, I didn't know if anybody would be listening or care. I didn't know if what I had to say was like unique enough. But seeing those results and hearing people even very recently, give me similar feedback that, hey, I love the fact that the weights and the weights come together that you talk about both training and nutrition and how they work together, not just one of those, and how you talk about being smart and efficient. So we can save time, and we're all busy and like it's flexible. Those are so powerful of reminding me that I have a responsibility. Now, as a content creator. This is not just for me. And that causes me to work harder to provide you with accurate, practical, impactful, but even like entertaining, interesting and unique information as well. Right? Because I don't want to just be like every other podcasts out there. Because then Why listen. So your feedback has helped improve the show. But it's also reinforced my belief in the importance of what we're doing of evidence based. And by evidence. I mean, yes, the science, but also our personal experience, experience through coaching. And you as an individual, your own personal N equals one experience, and also making it accessible because the podcast is free. So it's tons of free information with lots of how to do this, why this is like this. Here's what I believe about this. Here's my philosophy on this. And, you know, you take it and leave it you compare it to other things you listened to. But it's not just sharing information. Right? It's giving you something a nugget that empowers you to make meaningful change in your life. That is what I'm going for. Now, in that survey, just to close the circle, so to speak, you did provide me some suggestions of how I could serve you better. And so since that time, I've made a few changes. And I'm just going to cover a few of them here that directly addressed the biggest themes from the feedback. So the first one was, a lot of you thought there were too many episodes, and you wanted a little bit more variety in formats. I was doing five episodes a week. And I think for some of you that was overwhelming. It was clogging up your feed, you couldn't keep up. That is the last thing I want. I don't want you to think Oh, I gotta catch up with this huge library of information. So I reduced it from five to three. Each week, Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Monday, is a deep dive solo episode into a topic. And by the way, future Monday episodes in the near term are going to be based on a response to a post and An email I sent out to my community recently saying, hey, what's the biggest frustration you have? And I got a ton of responses, every single one of those is going to be its own topic on a Monday, well, maybe on a Wednesday to the Wednesday episodes are applying engineering principles from my 20 years plus as an engineer, to fitness, an angle that very few people are talking about if anyone out there, and I think it helps given you a different perspective. So that's Wednesday. And then Friday episodes are interviews, interviews with amazing guests who get better and better all the time. Most of those guests are people I want on the show who I reach out to because I follow them, and I respect them. And I think you will learn and and like them as well. So that's the first. The second one is you said you wanted more content that was specifically focused to a demographic or specific problems or situations because sometimes I can get a little bit broad, a little bit long winded. Today's episode may be a little longer, in fact, but, you know, I've recently pivoted from these long how to episodes, which will always be in the back catalogue, right? Like how to lose fat, how to build muscle, like I have these big long episodes. But I've started to niche it down, I guess niche it or narrow it down into specific topics, Peri and post menopause, fat loss, hard gaining over 50 training, cutting for the first time, being time efficient, et cetera, et cetera, right, very specific, so that you can really dive in on the things that interests you the most, and learn about that topic. And then the third bit of feedback I acted on is bringing on more targeted guests, not just any old fitness Pro. So lately, I've been bringing guests that have a specific area of expertise, gut health, anatomy, physique, competition, concurrent training, right, the list goes on. I've got a lot more amazing guests coming this year. And then also, you wanted to see some more case studies and real stories with clients, community members. And so I've done some of those as well. So I'm super excited about these changes, we've even got some new music, the episodes are generally a bit shorter, more around like 20 or 30 minutes, except for the interviews, which tend to be a little longer. And I'm going to continue evolving the show to better meet your needs. So episode 200 is just the beginning. Your engagement, you're listening, you're following your feedback you're sharing is helping shape the future of the show. And I'm so grateful for all of your input, and all of your support. Alright, now, last thing, this might surprise you, right? Because although the things I talked about today might seem obvious, or simple or intuitive, in hindsight, especially if you've heard them before, if you go back and you listen to any one of these, you realize that there's actually a profound shift in thinking that I wish more people had on this planet, like the vast majority of people that really don't quite have a clue about how to navigate nutrition or training, even if they kind of think they do because we take for granted conventional wisdom as well. You know, I've heard people say, well, everybody knows you need to do this. Well, now I don't even think that's true. I think there's misinformation, there's disinformation. And there's ignorance of information. Even once that addressed, you then have to implement the information. So it's really a whole spectrum. And everybody's at a different spot where their gap is. But what I talked about today, the surprises, the myths that I busted are really about how you think about this from mental perspective, right? Moving from restriction to fueling, embracing food freedom and not food rules, right? Being consistent. Don't worry about, you know, hitting your numbers all the time and being perfect about it. Realizing this can be simple, realizing you can have abundance, right, you can change your routine, and you can work out less and actually have more results. And these are not just minor tweaks, even though they could be simple. They are fundamental paradigm shifts, they are paradigm shifts that will change your life, they will change your life.

Philip Pape  33:54

And at the end of the day, all of this comes down to principles, applying principles, you know, that work in ways that work for you, experimenting rapidly and aggressively, to find out what stays in what stays out collecting the data tracking and measuring and continually learning and adjusting based on your results. So that you get the result you want as fast as possible. All right, as we move forward into the next 200 episodes and beyond. We are going to continue focusing on bringing you practical strategies that you can use to build your best physique, and live your best life. I want to thank each and every one of you has been on this journey with us whether you've been here since episode one, or this is your first time tuning in. You are indeed part of a thriving living, real community, real humans who I love to talk to. And we're all committed to smart evidence based approaches, efficient approaches to fitness and nutrition so that we can all get jacked now so that we can all feel great look great, and live our healthiest lives. I encourage you to reflect on these reflect on the surprise He says today, go back and review them. Go to the timestamp that resonates with you the most. And think about how it changed your approach moving forward, or reset your approach so that you can make progress. All right, if you found value in today's episode or in any of our first 200 episodes, I'd love to hear from you. Send me a direct message on Instagram at once and weights. And let me know your biggest takeaway or surprise from the show, the podcast so far, the whole show or just this episode, whatever you want, or you can send me a question or something that you're frustrated or confused about that you heard online or on another podcast. Again, I'm going to use that information and create better content for you and then help other listeners discover and learn from the show. Until next time, keep using your wits, lifting those weights and remember, just like we are 200 episodes in and continuing to improve. Your fitness journey is measured by gradual progress over time. It's not sexy, but it works. I'll talk to you next time here on the whips and weights podcast.