#19 - Denise Martino

Denise Martino shares an inspiring story of a once, professional chiropractor and how she changed her life after a divorce and a search for a way to provide for her son and for a happy life. She shares her experiences with finding gratitude, fitness, nutrition and how she answered the all-important question of "who am I" after her divorce and change of profession. She is passionate about healthy living and having a positive mindset, and speaks to people on how to achieve that based on her own life experiences and what has worked for her. 

Denise runs an online activewear boutique, Zyia Active. Zyia’s four pillars are Light, Activity, Community, and Uplift, and Denise embodies that every single day in her interactions with customers and clients. The brand promotes body positivity – their mission is to uplift and inspire by making activity a fun and essential part of life. Not only does Denise wear and share this brand with her fan base, but she also mentors women who want to start a Zyia business of their own. 

Denise is currently in the process of crafting a mindset coaching program and hopes to one day help divorced moms reclaim their lives. She wants them to know that being alone is NOT synonymous with being lonely, they can become conscious creators to live their best lives, and move on from their past! 

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Transcript

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This is Angela Grayson from the Loving Life Fitness Podcast. To help others in their fitness journey. It's All Possible! It’s time to wake up. Here we go. Hello, everyone. This is Angela Grayson from the Loving Life Fitness Podcast, where I interview professionals and everyday people just like you so that maybe we can help you to live a better life. And today I have with me Denise Martino. Hi, Denise. Hi Angela. Thank you for having me today. You're welcome. We're going to talk about Denise's story and we're going to start with her journey way back when, when she became a chiropractor. Go ahead, Denise. Go ahead and talk a little bit about yourself. Well, thank you very much, Angela. Leading up to the point where I decided to become a chiropractor, I was very active as a young person. I loved playing sports. Once I stopped playing competitive sports, I was very into fitness and working out around the age of 16. I was at the dinner table with my parents. My sister was away at college and the conversation, the conversation happened. What do you want to do with your life? And at 16, I had no idea. So my parents named a bunch of professions. None of them interested me. And then they said chiropractic. And at the time I was 16, and all I knew was that I could eventually be my own boss and make some decent money. And I was like, Sign me up. But I did have some knowledge of it because we went to a chiropractor, a family chiropractor since I was little. So I was aware of what chiropractic was to a degree. So after that, my mom took me to our family chiropractor and I had a conversation with him. And once I learned that this was a holistic form of treatment where you can help people naturally, I said, That really is for me because I never like going to the doctor's office and getting shots or medication, anything like that. Even as a young person, that was not my bag. So I go to chiropractic school, I went to college and streamlined my education so that I actually finished at the young age of 24 years old and I became a chiropractor. I was in New York City and I practiced for 20 years from 91 to 2011, and then after 2011 I had to leave my office and I worked for another chiropractor for about a year and that didn't work out. And I just kind of started to look for other things. Okay. That's really interesting that your parents had such an impact on your future when you were 16 years old. I mean, most kids at 16, they're still in high school, right. And whatever their parents recommend to them, they're like, huh, I don't want to do that. You know, You don't even know what you want to do. Just like you said, I don't know what I want to do right now. But you listen to you listen to your parents and you pursued that career that says a lot about you and your relationship with your parents. That's wonderful. One thing that I should probably share with you is I wound up marrying somebody from my class. We were both chiropractors and we had a practice together. So it was a multi disciplinary facility and I was the chiropractor in the office and everything was great and I loved chiropractic, but a few things. As you know, once my son was born, you know, this was a the hours were very long. There was a lot of paperwork just to get a little bit of money from the insurance company. So that was a little frustrating. And then towards the end, the office became a very toxic environment for me because my husband at the time, my ex-husband now and I started to go through a divorce. So that became a very lonely place for me. And it was hard to walk into that office every day and eventually I did have to leave. So my journey began at that point and I didn't have, you know, this divorce was really it was very difficult. I don't wish divorce on anyone, if any of you had been through it out there. Please understand. I know. And if you're going through it now, I understand. And I wish you peace and strength. And if ever you want to talk about it, I am working on programs to support women like you and men. But I do mostly cater to women. But I would be happy to help because it's not easy on anybody. So I start going through this divorce. I have this this young boy who's two year old boy, my son, who's now 17, a senior in high school, and I don't have the time or the money or the energy to start a new practice from scratch. So I went on this journey to try and figure out how to support myself and my son. And I was at a lot of different jobs and somebody approached me with a direct sales network marketing company. I have to tell you, I am a big fan of the network marketing business model. When you have a solid product and it's very transparent how you make money and everything that goes on with that, it really is a wonderful way to share something that you love and actually get paid for it. And I like to call it entrepreneurship with a safety net. But that's a whole other story. If you want to get into that later, be sure to write it down and ask me. But the reason I'm telling you about it now is because the network marketing business model really was very attractive to me that I could work from home and be there with my son who was growing up, and I only had him half of every week because of the co-parenting schedule that got developed. So that was very difficult to get used to. So I was in a very dark place and network marketing gave me an opportunity to do that from home. And then another thing that it gave me, which really helped me get to where I am today, for anybody who is in network marketing, they know this. And for those who are not, we go heavy on personal development. So I started reading books on personal development and it ranged from law of attraction to mindset. And I'm looking to the right of me and my bookshelf is just filled with books and I've gotten so many pearls of wisdom out of that. And there's different authors who I loved more than the others. Now, I will tell you, because of my trauma brain from the situation with the divorce and what I had gone through, it wasn't easy for me to finish books. I don't know if any of you out there have ever been there, but it's it's hard to focus when you've been through a lot. And that was a big struggle for me. So again, if you're going through something like that, I understand. I hear you. I see you. But it really did get me to a place of getting stronger. There's a couple of things that I say to myself that which does not kill you makes you stronger every day, in every way. I am getting stronger and stronger. It just you really come alive again when you start to realize that life is worth living. And if you live it intentionally and know how to harness the power of what you can do with your intentions, that your thoughts and to put your thoughts in the right frame of mind and then take action on them. What you can do with your life is nothing short of a miracle. And of course, you know, always getting a little help from your higher power, whoever that might be, to you. You mentioned something about a divorce program. After being through all that you've been through and now you're wanting to reach out to others to help them with their mental state or their situation. Can you talk about that a little bit more with the program that you've come up with or you're working on it? Yeah, absolutely. So it is a work in progress. It is in development. I am working on becoming a mindset coach and a big part of my audience. You know, I'm working on who I want to help and I really do want to help divorced moms, people who have been through this. I want to help abused moms, whether it's emotional or physical, battered, narcissistic abuse. I think that there's a lot of women out there who feel very hopeless after having been through things like this. And it doesn't need to be that way. Simple mindset shifts, Simple, small, daily action steps and gratitude practices is one of the things I'm big on. Just there's so many things you can do that in time. Things start to go your way because you're changing your vibrational level, your leveling up. I want to help people level up and the world needs that too, right? So and it always starts with that. So yeah, it is a program that is in development. I'm pulling from a training that I did with one of my favorite authors, Mike Dooley. It's called Infinite Possibilities, The Art of Living Your Dreams. I was certified in that and so I just have to kind of get the finishing touches and then start marketing that I'd like to do coaching, have a presentation in, and who knows, maybe a book one day. That's awesome. So maybe in the future we could record a show talking about that new part of your life when you're ready. I would really love that. That would be awesome. I'd love to come back. There is a little bio that you sent to me said there that you take care of yourself proactively with good habits, highlighting optimal nutrition, regular exercise, good sleep habits. So can we talk about first optimal nutrition? I struggled with how I was presenting myself to my audience for a long time since I no longer are practicing as a chiropractor. As a matter of fact, if you recall, Angela, when you came up and asked me if I wanted to do a podcast, it'll be I'm a chiropractor because I was kind of trying to figure out, who am I? I'm a chiropractor, but I no longer practice. I haven't practiced chiropractic and I never really finished that story. I wound up leaving the profession because of the fact that I didn't have the time, the energy. I couldn't work under somebody else after having my own practice. And then I had a car accident in 2014 that I needed shoulder surgery. And so adjusting people became less of a a draw for me with this. So I struggled from 2014 through, I would say just recently, really just right before I met you, who am I speaking to? And and from what point w you like? Who am I? I don't want to put myself out there as a chiropractor because I'm not a actively practicing chiropractor. I'm not dispensing any kind of professional health care advice. But then what started to happen as I'm living my life on a daily basis, with all the knowledge I've gathered over the years, I'm just living a balanced lifestyle and I've started to want to tell people how to do that. So nutrition, you know, everybody over thinks it in my opinion. And I've been there, I've done it all. I did keto, I did protein powder, I did Weight Watchers, I did all these programs and these books. And you're just trying to figure out how to eat, right? And if you just approach it from a very simple common sense place, know that there are three types of fuel. You get calories from fat, calories from protein and calories from carbohydrates. And contrary to what all these different programs are trying to say in, you know, a little bit of all of it. So I think the best advice I ever got from all these different places is to divide your plate and make sure that you have a fat, a protein and a carb at almost every meal. Now, for me, carbohydrate is not cookies, it's not bread. If it's pasta, it's a once in a while. And for me it's gluten free. It can be rice, but my carbohydrates come from fruit and vegetables. I try to eat as much fruit and veggies as I can in the day in the course of a day, you know, within comfort my protein sources. I love eggs. I will have eggs for breakfast. I have I had a can of tuna for lunch yesterday with some greens. And at dinner I will make a healthy protein either fish, chicken or meat. I will make one of those and then I will make either a side salad or side vegetable. Healthy fats will come from the olive oil on the dressing. I do not use pre-made dressings. I it's always olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Happens to be my favorite. But you can do any vinegar and a little salt and pepper. And I'm always going for organic passed you raised free ranging wild caught. These are the nuances that I think people need to know more about when you're making wise food choices. Gosh, I could just keep going on and on about the simplicity of eating. Well, listen to your body. What are you craving? You know, sometimes we eat because not because we're hungry, but there's an emotion attached to it. I often recommend having a food diary, you know, for that for a week or two, write down every single thing you put in your mouth and also write down what you were feeling at that time. Also, people don't realize that a lot of times their hunger is actually thirst. Many of us are extremely dehydrated in our our thirst centers are all off and it gets confused for hunger. And it's you just drink more water. You will bring down the amount of calories that you eat, eliminate unnecessary things like juices and sodas. The only thing I drink is water, coffee, clean seltzer once in a while. I'm not a big seltzer person. And then, yes, I'll have a glass of wine or a drink sometimes. But nobody is 100% perfect. And that's another thing that's very important that I'm talking about. Like when people ask me what I do and how I do it, I also tell them to shoot for 100% of the time eating healthy. It's life. Enjoy yourself. Allow yourself a treat. If you go out to eat, you want to get dessert, get dessert. If you want to have the bread on the table, have the bread on the table, give yourself grace, enjoy yourself. Your next good meal is the next. When you eat, you go right back to it. And if you shoot for 100% of the time and you hit 80% of the time, eating really balanced and well, you're doing better than most of the population. So those are my really basic nutritional pearls of wisdom. That's how I live my life. I like that. Very good. Okay. Regular exercise. What's your day of exercise look like on a regular basis, though? It changes over the years. Right now I am a member of Planet Fitness and I think my favorite has always been resistance. Training is my favorite in the span of time when I had gone, you know, when I had my son and then went through the divorce, I didn't really have the time or the means to be an admin, so I did a lot of home routine. So you doesn't have to be in a gym. You can get resistance bands, you can get a few sets of dumbbells I used to have in my house. I moved recently so I wasn't able to take a lot of it, but I had a dumbbells from £5 and some £3 ankle weights all the way up to I think 20 or £25. And that was for the guys in the house. I usually got to like ten, 12, I think the highest I ever got was £15 dumbbells. But resistance bands, dumbbells, a stability ball, you know, the the big ball, there's so much you can do with the stability ball and there's books out there. You can get videos. I used to do the back in the day DVDs and there's online fitness programs that you can do in your house. So I've done anything from resistance training to high intensity interval training. I've gotten into yoga and I workout. I shoot for three times a week. Sometimes it's whole body and other times it's breaking up body parts. Sometimes it's like, okay, I did resistance training. I want to I feel like doing yoga. I feel like doing something more gentle and slow. And again, I listen to my body. Do I feel like going hard today? Do I feel like going a little easier to do? I feel like taking a rest today? Don't overthink exercise. I would say start small with one of those things that I said. If you understand the muscle that you're working on, what it's meant to do, you'll feel what it's doing and you'll hone in on on the result that you're going to get with it. But resistance training is important, especially for women men, too, as we age. Because as we get older, we start to lose muscle mass and muscle is one of the most, if not the most metabolically active tissue in the body. So you want to have muscle on your body as you age because it's going to keep you healthy in so many different ways. And this is where like I stop, I stopped short and I'm not going to get into technical things because as I said, I'm I'm not a practicing chiropractor anymore, but I do have that basic knowledge that I can share with you and say, just know that muscles important and go ahead and do some light resistance training and try and build some up for yourself. And then rest is equally as important as the exercise itself. You need to give your body time to recover and rebuild. I think when people start, they go at it too hard and they get sore and then sometimes if they're going every single day, they can potentially they set themselves up for injury, especially if they're new to exercise and then they get discouraged and they stop. I would rather see somebody start doing a monday to Wednesday, Friday, 20 minute high intensity interval training at their own pace, then to go to the gym seven days in a row because they want to lose£30 yesterday. You have to set realistic goals and expectations and then you have to work within the place where you are and just grow from there. So I've been in and out of different levels of fitness and physique over the years. I put weight on during chiropractic school. I took it off after I came out. There was a period of time that I was in the food industry and eating all the wrong foods, not doing what I told you before and I had put some weight on and I was a little inflamed and I would say in the last year. And then I got to this, you know, I had my injuries. I have a knee injury from a dog that ran into my my knee in the dog park and, you know, all these different things that prevented me from being at my optimal place of health. I would say about a year ago, I was able to really, really set my eating and my fitness routines. When the lockdowns happened in 2020, that was a reset for me. I was able to kind of take a breath. And the family that I currently, you know, my son and everybody, we went into a mode of eating for help. And at the end of the day, when you eat, yes, it's associated with closure and social gatherings. But at the end of the day, food actually can be medicine if you eat right and eating right keeps you out of the doctor's. So with everything that was going on, we got so tight on nutrition and supplementation and exercise. And that began my journey to where I am today. Now, I had different times of where there would be pain flare ups and I could work out. And then there was this stubborn, couldn't slim down. I just wanted to tone up and slim down. And I started to think, Wow, maybe this things really do change after 50 because, you know, I'm 56 now and I'm like, Oh, I didn't think that was going to happen to me, but I was like, All right, maybe it does. And I was getting into that mindset that everything's changing. And so we moved to Florida last year and I started getting into this consistent routine, like I said, Planet Fitness and Eating for health. And another thing like mindset is I said, You know what, I'm 56. I'm pretty happy with myself for 56. I'm just going to do all the things that I need to do to be healthy. And I kind of I set my intention and then I let it go. Like, one of the things I like to say is marry the process, divorce the results. So I set my intention. I married the process of eating well and exercising consistently. And then all of a sudden I was hitting goals that I didn't realize until it was happening. I was just happy with the journey of getting there. But all of a sudden I noticed I was getting stronger. I was able to lift more weight than I was ever able to do before. I have more energy, I have less pain. I just everything was just kind of gelling for me. And I really love how I feel. And now it's just like my that's my thing. That's my routine. That was that was great. I see that you have great fitness drive now. Do you normally work out with somebody or do you work out on your own? Do you ever take any class sources? The reason why I ask this is because most people do not have that drive for fitness, and that's one of their blocks. They'll get started doing something, going to a gym or starting a program, but because there's nobody in it with them, it's so easy to not show up, to not continue and just fall off the wagon. Have you ever had a buddy, a partner, or do you just go for it on your own? I mostly go for it on my own, but there is so much value in accountability. Having an accountability partner. I do have accountability partners in other areas of my life. In my business, which we'll get into in a little bit, but I do mostly go at it alone. How I would motivate myself is if I was doing a program that wasn't jazzing me anymore, I would find something new, Mix it up now. I have taken classes. I have a friend, Carla Adams, who does beach yoga that I got to her class a couple of times and but it's not something I do regularly. But you have to figure out what works for you and you have to find that motivation and the motivation can come from within, or it can come from a book that you read, or it can come from a class that you take or an accountability partner. And if there is somebody who you can go on that journey with, I do recommend it because you push each other and it's amazing what you can do when somebody's pushing you. So go ahead and find that person from a very young age. This was a passion for me, fitness and health and physique. So it's easy for me to to get that. And I realize that that's not everybody. So go ahead and find that person that can hold you accountable and make sure that you did the thing. Yeah. And it's sometimes it's hard to get your friends to sign up and go with you. Not everybody's in the same mindset that you're in when you're in it. Just going to the gym and finding a friend there. For instance, I had somebody walk up to me today. She was admiring the workout that I was doing and she said, I would love to work out with you. Are you really pushing it? You know, it's exciting. It's fun to watch you working out. And I'm like, You can join me any time, you know? So it's definitely another way of trying to find a new friend. They're at the gym, they're doing the same thing you're doing maybe in a different way, which is really good because it's always good to do different things to shake it up a little and to work the muscles in a different way. So that's another way of finding a buddy, just being there and getting involved with the people that are there. Striking up conversation You had mentioned briefly about losing muscle mass as we get older, and I just wanted to say the research that says that after the age of 30 is when we could definitely be losing muscle mass. It's not necessarily when you're 50, 67 years old after the age of 30. If you're not doing anything to maintain or increase muscle mass, you'll start losing it. That's just something that I wanted to enforce that you had mentioned briefly, and I love that phrase marry the process, divorce the results, because the journey, the process of going through what you're going through and tweaking it and changing it and just keep on moving forward every day, working on different body parts, you can basically work out every day on different body parts. The arms are sore, work on the legs, the legs are sore, work on the core course or work on the back. Maybe do a little more cardio today instead workout with bands instead of weight. There's so much you can do. And if I say if you do a little bit every day, even take a yoga class or spend the day stretching, do a little something every day so that you get into the habit, the habit of setting time aside as long as your life allows for it. You know, of course, we're all at a different place as far as that goes, too. I would like to expand on that, and I agree with that. And you said something very important a little bit is better than nothing at all. So even if you only had 10 minutes, do something more. Movement is life. Take that 10 minutes and do push ups, crunches, running in place, jumping jacks, plank just something that moves your body As you do that consistently, you will start to find more time to dedicate to it because you're going to love how you feel. Moving the body is important and so is challenging, challenging the body that we got to keep the fire going. Absolutely. Good sleep habits. I was having a tough time with that for a bit. There was some anxiety that would keep me up and there was, you know, the the the night sweats started becoming perimenopausal. So a few tips definitely reduce your blue light at night if you have to be on your screen, get the glasses that you can reduce your blue light. Try to shut everything off. 30 minutes to an hour before bed, read, meditate, whatever it is that brings you down. I like to take. Magnesium is a very important mineral for many different functions in the body, and it is also the mineral that gets depleted the easiest. We need several different forms of it. There's actually a product on the market called calm that a lot of people are familiar with. For magnesium to take before bed. I don't prefer to take that one because it affects the bowel movements a little too much that the magnesium citrate, but it is an option. But another good one that calms down the system is the magnesium glycine. Eight So that I take magnesium before bed and then you know, a lot of people have a TV in their bedroom. No, I do not do that and just go right to sleep. Lights out. You know some people I do I do not do this. But some people tape your mouth for make sure that their nose breathing, that's a whole topic for another day and then make sure the room is cool. Night sweats aside, if we should be sleeping in a cooler environment rather than a hot environment. So that is something as well. And as far as hours go, everybody's different. Everybody. It would be nice to get 8 hours of sleep. I truly wish I could. Usually I get six and I function well on six even when I try to sleep longer. Your body just kind of gets used to that. But sometimes I'll I'll steal a quick nap in the middle of the day since I mostly work from home, I can get a quick power nap like a 15 to 20 minute nap, which I actually did about an hour before I met. Yeah. You full of energy? Yes. That's why I just keep talking. So. Yeah. So sweep is important because that's when our body repairs and regenerates itself and you have the oldest cells are working to do that overnight. The disks in the spine or rehydrating where we're horizontal. Oh sleep positions of course you want to be on your side and support your knee parallel support between your knees if you can, or on your back. You really don't want to be sleeping on your stomach. I know a lot of people love that, but your head is turned and everything's falling forward and not a good position. So positions are important. Your pillow alignment should be in such a way that your neck is new. Truly shouldn't be all the way up or all the way back. So cervical clothes are great for that. These are things that I used to talk to my patients about that really help with minimizing discomfort and promoting a continuous sleep with not a lot of wake time. Okay, excellent positive mindset though. This is one of my passions. As I said before, I start my day with the gratitude practice, I have a gratitude journal that I take out every day and I write three things that I'm grateful for and that is the start of a beautiful day. Instead of starting with worry, you look around and you just realize how amazing your life is in this moment right here and right now. Is there anything wrong? Now it's the present. It's a gift. When people worry about all the what ifs that may never even come to pass. It's wasted energy when people worry about everything that happened in the past, it's over. It's done. Your past does not define you. If anything, hopefully you learn from the experiences that you've had. So mindset is so important in being happy, productive, peaceful, and that is everything to me, especially with some of the things that I've been through. And these are some of the things that I'm going to be incorporating into my coaching program. Another thing about mindset is to become keenly aware of your thoughts going through your brain. I don't know about you, but the chatter does not stop. But we all have that. Okay, so I wanted to make sure that if somebody thinks that they're unique, everybody's got it. This constant chatter. And when you you know, this is a little bit of a neck our toll thing when you realize it's happening. I developed a word when it was really going off the rails. I would just say stop. And I still do it sometimes. And I take a breath and I think of something that I'm grateful for and I smile and I go on with my day. If I have a negative thought and I catch it, I turn it around and turn it into a positive thought. It's little simple steps, action steps like that. Being aware of your thoughts and making sure that you're choosing the good ones because eventually your thoughts turn into your beliefs which are going to guide your actions and you want to be taking actions toward your goal, not away from them. So this is all the things that I'm going to be developing and talking about with people. But positive mindset is so, so important. And one of my big passions and thank you for really getting into the details of that. A lot of people say they have positive ways to get through their day, but you just explained a few in detail and if people try those things, they might make a difference in their day. Yeah, just getting their mind in a good place when those thoughts start coming in and turning it all around. So glad I can help. Yeah. Okay. Minimized pains and sickness. These are like the spokes of a wheel and help. And these are things I used to talk to my patients about. So that's where self-care and self-love come in, be it a chiropractor, an acupuncturist finish jitsu. I have a friend that Landrum, who is a gentian jitsu practitioner, so I had a couple of treatments with her absolutely amazing massage facial work. There are so many different things that you can do to minimize pain and enhance bodily function that don't come in a jar. It's that simple. I'm a big advocate of doing these things to give your body an edge with all the other things that we're talking about. Get a little help from some specialists who are well versed in holistic therapies. I always say go holistic first and then if there's something that's, you know, not working right, then you go ahead and you go that traditional route. But people need to become more proactive, give in their health care. They should not wait for a symptom to get so bad that they have to go and get a prescription for it. There's a place for that, but that should not be the first place to go. That's that spoke of the health wheel. And I just had something pop into my head that I we talked about a while ago. But I want to say it what this it really, really narrows down how simple nutrition can be if you keep it, you know, catch it or grow it. You can eat it if it comes in a box jar or can minimize those product processed foods and read your labels. People food is changing very, very significantly lately. Read your labels, make sure these are natural and not, you know, other stuff. There's a lot of additives being added in. So just really wanted to put that out there because that's a very simple way of looking at your nutrition. Yeah, it is simple way of thinking about things to help clear things up, increase energy and vitality. I like that there are so many areas that that we could go into here, you know, supplementation, juicing. Now there's I.V. nutrition hormone replacement therapy. What's your what's your take on all of these? And what do you do to increase energy and vitality? Mostly for me, it's supplementation. I've been on a supplement for my entire life. My father was taking vitamins before it was in, if you will. I remember when I was little, I had my daily paddles or Flintstone Chewable back in the seventies. Right. And then when I was able to swallow the vitamins, my father would give me a multi and a C and an E. I think those were the ones that he would get. And he put them at the dinner table next to my glass of whatever I was drinking, and he'd say, Take your vitamins and I'd be eating. And if I didn't take them right away, he'd tap really hard on you, but you wouldn't say anything. You would just pat like, I know Dad. So that became this funny routine. But the vitamin supplementation never stopped. And then once I went to chiropractic school and then beyond chiropractic school and got heavily into nutrition and understand the different supplements and what's needed, I just I had the supplementation regimen that I do that I'm happy with. But there are definitely also I started to dabble in essential oils a little bit. Somebody recommended one to me. I don't even remember what it's called, but it's really a value from the Tara. And then I just got the matching one from a different company. But it, you know, essential oils are another way for doing that and I'm not an expert in that. That's a very interesting field to me. But the things that you can do with essential oils just from aromatherapy to using a carrier oil and but yeah, there's that's basically it for me. You probably have more information to share with the audience than I do on that. But like you said, all of those things are there's just so many options for increasing energy and vitality out there, and there are people who are experts at their craft. Yep. And this is all about you today. So that's why we want to hear about what you do. Yeah. Yeah Okay. And living a healthy and productive life, which you take all of this that we've just talked about, right. And that equals a healthy and productive life. I wanted to talk a little bit about mental health and the psychology of fitness, how you can feel empowered and optimistic while losing weight, which can benefit the mood. Okay, So we all know that when we get involved in an exercise program, start eating better and the weight starts coming off how good it makes us feel about ourselves in so many different ways. It not only improves your physical health and you may have more energy and you feel stronger, but also boost your self-esteem, right? Yeah, Increase your motivation and gets you going in the right direction. Now, a lot of times when people start losing weight, they hit a plateau and it's hard to move on after that because nothing is happening. So you start losing interest you. Has that ever happened to you? Oh, sure. Yeah. That's really the perfect place where marry the process to divorce. The results comes in. And I know that's not easy when you know you're hit in that place, but Just enjoy the journey. Just know that what you're doing is for your overall health and wellness. Focus on the big picture won't get caught up in the little things. You know, when you start to just kind of focus on the bigger picture and just give yourself grace, that's another huge saying. Give yourself grace, look where you were, where you are now, where you've gotten to. If your goal seems far away. It's not. It's it's you're constantly moving towards it. Every day. So I think that's how you can deal with that is really the mindset. It always comes down to mindset really, which is why I want to be a mindset coach because everything stems from our thoughts. So if you think you're stuck, guess what? You're right. If you think this is just a moment in time and progress will happen again, guess what? You're right, because you're will follow your thoughts and belief. And it's almost too simple. I think people want complexity. Sometimes I feel like people really need to take a look at what they're doing and just reassess your situation. Be proactive. Yeah, we want to continue the journey in a positive way, but reassess what's going on? Look at your food and your records. You talked about having a record of what you eat. Take a look at that record, See if you can tweak it at all, see how many calories you're consuming. Can you cut back somewhere without cutting back too far to where you have feelings of fatigue and irritability? You don't want that to happen. You want to lose weight in a healthy, sustainable way. Diets and calorie restriction can sometimes be tough as long as you're getting enough calories for your body, depending on if you're a man or woman. What you need to keep an eye on that. And the activity record, too. That's another thing that should be written down. You might think that you're getting enough activity, but maybe you're at a point where you've gotten stronger and you can do more. So why not do more or shake it up a little bit and do something different? Your body needs that push in that kind of way and it might be more fun changing things up. Meet a new friend doing something different and just maybe pat more activity into your day. Yeah, I agree 100% with those points. Those are such valid. I actually was going to say to you beyond the mindset, maybe start up that food diary again and maybe you're bored at the gym, shake it up, do something different. And another thing that we didn't touch upon that I think is really important. How many hours a day are you sitting? Have you heard the term sitting of the new smoking? So if you're sitting in front of your desk for a very long time, you really should start setting up a timer for like every 20 minutes to stand up, raise your hands over your head to some sideburns. Just get some movement because there are some very not so great things that go on on the body. If we sit for too long and that can actually contribute to your inability to lose weight because of what goes on in the body when you sit for too long. So I have little things around my desk that when I'm working, I'll stand up, I'll do something like I have different simple fitness things that for like a minute I'll do something or I'll get on the floor and do a plank or something just to just to shake it up and move. Or I'll just go into the kitchen and get a glass of water or, you know, something just get up and move every 20 minutes or so. And I'm not saying take big long ten, 15 minute breaks because that's counterproductive. And if you're in an office, your boss is not going to like that. But, you know, to continue working from a standing because if you're on a long phone call, get, you know, stand up in the middle of it, this make sure that you break up your sitting. And one other thing that we haven't talked about that's very important besides your exercise is your other days where maybe your rest days you still want to have those non exercise activities like taking a walk or you're lucky enough to have a pool like take a swim or just just move. I always say movement is life. If you don't move it, you're going to lose it. So those are things that can also contribute to, you know, getting past the plateau is taking a look at those things. Yes, I like that On the off days. Nothing wrong with taking a walk after dinner, taking your dog for a walk. Get out there. It's good for them to take a bike ride. Doesn't have to be a crazy bike ride. Just moving. Movement of the body feels wonderful, Keeps everything lubricate it and going in the right direction. So let's talk a little bit about your business, Zaya Z. Why I say that is correct. Zaya, Yeah. So before I was talking about finding network marketing, direct sale, and I had been in and out of different businesses over the years since that time, and some of them didn't work out so much. And I thought, All right, I love this business model, but I just don't have what it takes. So, you know, I'm hanging up my network marketing code war, what I thought was life. Well, fast forward to 2020 and I had just taken that infinite possibilities training the trainer certification. And I'm like, I am open to all possibilities because, you know, my job in the food industry had come down. So I am open to all possibilities for income and abundance. And the next day I was invited into an online party, were active where my cousin's daughter was having an activewear party that was being hosted by some person that I didn't know at the time yet. And I'm online and I'm looking at the clothes and I want to support her and I'm looking to buy stuff. But then all of a sudden I'm looking at I'm realizing what it is and I was one of those people in the party that actually reached out to the rep and wanted more information about the business aspect of it. So instead of having a party, I actually started my active business and it just crazy way it already aligned with who I am. It's fitness, it's it's movement, it's life, it's body positivity, it's body confidence. Like you put these clothes on and you feel amazing and it motivates you to want to do more. And I have to tell you before Zaya, I was not one of those people that worked out in Activewear. I didn't get the whole craze. I was like, You're going to sweat. Anyway, I was in baggy sweats and old t shirts, and I pulled on my first pair of light and tights, which are premier performance leggings. And all of a sudden I got it just like, wow. So this company I have been with them for three and a half years now. I basically I run an online activewear boutique. I help women feel confident and comfortable in their clothes every single. And I also mentor women to run their own business if they so desire. There's different levels that you can do this business that it's a lot of fun. Our four pillars are community activity, uplift and light, and the company embodies that every single day. Our mission is to uplift and inspire by making movement a fun and essential part of life. The business is really aligned with everything. It was just kind of an extension of who I am, and it just made so much sense. And I'm with all these different women of different ages. We do it together, like stay at home moms, do it divorced moms and teachers and nurse practitioners. Like sometimes they it's like their side thing. It's just it brings them joy. It brings a little extra money into the house or it brings a lot depending on where you take it. But it's just a wonderful community of men and women, and we have something for everybody sizes zero through 20 and we're adding more sizes soon. Men, women, children, accessories. It's just a fabulous, fabulous company. I'm very proud to represent the brand. Okay. Yeah. You'll have to get me the information on that so that we can put it in the show notes for your online store. That would be wonderful. And let me just tell you, one of the advantages of shopping with me versus going into an athletic wear shop and just pulling things off the rack is I work with you. I do have a private VIP group on Facebook that when you come into the group, there's a few questions that you need to answer first. So I can figure out what it is you're interested in. Then I send you a style quiz. Style quiz will help me understand your sizing. You're like high compression light compression, colors, patterns. And then from there, you know, it's very hard to just walking around the store is great. You can do that. But when you go to an online boutique for the first time, it's overwhelming. There's so many categories and how do I even navigate this? So I am your personal shopper. I do it with you. And once I received this answers from the Style quiz, I can then just send you a couple of pieces that I think based on your likes. It might be a great introduction desire for you. So I really enjoy what I do, I love helping people shop and find something they absolutely love. And I'm telling you, once you try this brand, it's like, Wow, look at this clothes been all my life. And they're also very functional. It's not just gym where I wear this stuff to the gym. I wear them to go out in. I can wear them for professional reasons. It's I wear it every single day. I have never had a personal shopper, you to know. Yeah. Shopping is not fun for me. If I need something, I go get it or I order it online. I have to agree with you. I was that person too. But now I just. I know fashion in a different way. Having done this for the amount of time that I've done. So it's fun. Just one of the things I do also help people get clothing rewards. I have loyalty rewards programs and parties, and so there's lots of things I can offer to parties. All right. Yeah. So, Denise, I would like for you to give our audience a goal to living their best life. A goal to living their best life. I would say I want everybody to go out, go to a store and buy a notebook or a journal that's really pretty that you're going to love to look at every single day when you wake up in the morning. I have several, and I really would like for this audience to start your gratitude practice. I would love for you to write down when you wake up three things every single warning that you're grateful for and just very quickly, I'm going to tell you it's going to start out very general. You're going to say, Oh, I'm so thankful for the food on my table. I'm so thankful for the roof over my head. I'm so thankful for my family. I'm so thankful my dog. And then after a while, you're going to start to get really, really like, I wish I could give you an example, but I had been doing it so long that I was grateful for Chinese things. It became more I'm so grateful I woke up today. I'm so grateful for my help. I'm so grateful I have a gym membership. I'm so grateful I was, you know, just an event that happened a certain way that maybe you think it shouldn't have gone way, but it was good. It went that way. Like it just it becomes really fun to realize how much goodness there is around you. And instead of letting the weight of the world weigh you down, whether it's coming from external places or from within your own heart, you start to turn that around and you'll see you will see if you do this, you're going to raise up your vibration level and things are going to start being put in your path that's going to help you go to that place that you want to be and you're going to start to enjoy that journey. So that's my challenge. That's my dear, that's my wish for you, is to start your gratitude practice a.S.A.P. Very good. Well, you heard it. Everybody go out there and get that gratitude journal so you could start your journey in a positive way and hopefully get to where you want to be, because we have to enjoy the journey every single day. That's really bad. That's it, right? We've just absolutely that over and over again. Yeah. Well, Denise, thank you so much for being on this show. You're so awesome. This was great. I loved having this conversation with you. I did, too. Angela, thank you so much for having me. I actually have chills right now. Oh, a lot of fun. Thank you so much for having me, for asking me to be on your show. It's an amazing show and I'm honored to be a part of it. You're welcome. You're welcome. This is Angela Grayson from The Loving Life Fitness Podcast. To help others in their fitness journey. It’s All Possible! It's time to wake up. Here we go.