EP #93- Sticking To Your Nutrition Goals in the New Year with Ariana Korman, Chief Operating Officer of Juice Press, MS, RD, CDN

(gentle music) The main reason that something like a quote, diet or some sort of lifestyle change fails, most of the time is because it's putting way too much pressure on being perfect and completely cutting something out for the rest of your life. It is very, very, very difficult to do that and not just because it takes willpower, it's just not natural. Welcome back to another episode of Every Day in Dorfins, a mental health podcast that focuses on the importance in finding joy and happiness and daily living. I'm your host, Stella Stafanopoulos, and as we're already in the second week of 2023, I wanted to dedicate this week's episode to talking about how we can better stick to our New Year's resolutions, our goals, our intention for the New Year. And a lot of people tend to set goals related to nutrition, their dietary habits, what they're eating, and I figured who better to bring on to the podcast than Ariana Corman. Ariana Corman is the chief operating officer of Juice Press, which is a brand that I've loved for many years of my life and I have the opportunity to partner with them for a podcast event that I hosted last September with Allo Yoga. In this episode, Ariana and I talk about why it's so hard to stick to your food and nutrition goals in the New Year and how to generally develop a healthier relationship to food. We also talk about the relationship between the foods that we consume and are mood in our general well-being, the product development process at Juice Press, and their overall mission and ethos around healthy living and fueling your body up with healthy and nutritious foods. As a registered dietitian, Ariana shares the importance of gut health and how that really influences our brain health and our well-being, how to determine whether or not juiceing is healthy for you and how to approach juiceing in a healthy way, and lastly, what brings Ariana a bit of endorphins every day. I am so excited for you all to hear this episode. I hope that whoever is listening out there can find something that's relatable for them and something actionable that they can take away towards creating nutrition goals, sticking to them and continuing to foster a healthier relationship to what they consume. Before we get into it, I have a brief message from my sponsor, Inker. Hi, Ariana, thank you so much for coming on to Everyday Endorphins. Thank you so much for having me, Stella. I'm excited to be here. I feel like this is such a great time to record the interview and especially talking about your philosophy and nutrition and making healthy choices with respect to the food that we're eating, the food that we're consuming. It's such a hot topic and especially moving into the new year when oftentimes people are looking to make big changes to their diet and their consumption patterns. So I'm really thrilled to get to have you on the show. Before we dive into all of that, I want to start really at the inception of your career in nutritional sciences. So what inspired you to even start studying this field? Yeah, so I did my undergrad degree at Cornell University where I got my master's in nutritional sciences. I actually started school as a biology major as premed and within my first semester, I realized that that was not really for me. And I have always struggled with a lot of stomach distress and issues kind of my entire childhood. Even as a baby, I was really difficult. I couldn't breastfeed. I would essentially throw up any formula that was given to me. There was very little that I could tolerate and that kind of continued on through my childhood where I constantly had stomach aches. Constantly was not wanting to eat. I was very picky eater and have since learned and discovered in college, did I actually have some really significant intolerances to a pretty wide variety of foods. And I am actually a big believer that a lot of pickiness in children actually comes from food intolerances. And their body kind of knowing that something is not going to agree with them. So it's making them a little bit hesitant to try new foods. And when I was in my freshman year, I realized how important nutrition was to my lifestyle, because it was kind of my first time eating, not all my parents were giving me. I wasn't fully in control of what I was eating for really the first time in my life. And I realized how important it was to think about what I was putting into my body. And I kind of just fell in love with nutrition right there. Luckily, happened to be going to a college that has one of the best nutrition programs in the country. Most undergrad programs don't have a nutrition department. So that definitely was more locked. So I pretty quickly changed my major, continued through that program in Cornell, and then continued to become a registered dietician through NYU University, getting my master's at NYU as well in clinical nutrition. Do you think that studying nutritional sciences while as an undergrad at school at Cornell prompted you to want to make healthier food decisions while you were in school? Because it's a big transition going to college, first of all, but then secondly, you have like dining hall food, and everything is just so readily accessible, and it's easy to make, like not the healthiest choices. So do you think that your studies contributed to wanting to make healthier choices around what you are consuming? For sure, definitely. It's very interesting because it was sort of what came first to check in our the egg. Like it was kind of being in those dining halls and having for the first time in my life truly anything I could possibly want, especially at Cornell, which is a pretty big food and agriculture school, and they have their own dining department. They're one of the few colleges that don't kind of outsource to an airmark or someone like that. So the dining options that we had were really as far as I could see. So I think just to some extent, it was the influence into wanting to be a nutrition, but also absolutely influenced then what I was going out and selected for myself on a day-to-day basis, and I actually did end up while I was in my junior year, my senior year working for the dietician on Cornell's campus and working within that food service department, mostly focusing on recipe development and allergy, identification and labeling and kind of making it easy for some kids who come to college and have some really significant allergies and how to help them kind of navigate that food, especially in their freshman year when they're typically living on campus. And they don't have as many options and they don't really have the ability to customize the way you would if you were living in an apartment. - Yeah, and I think with specific food intolerances, like gluten, for example, like gluten, people who are gluten free or like a celiac, I think like five years ago, it was so hard to find many gluten free options, but now, I feel like anywhere you go, at least in New York, for example, you can find really anywhere, a gluten free option or alternative. So it's been really interesting to see how there's been like more accessibility to cater to people who have those intolerances. But I think like gluten free, for example, might be a tricky one because there are a lot of people who actually do have, and I don't know if you would call it an intolerance or an allergy or some sort of issue with eating gluten, but then other people have just like adopted more of like the gluten free diet for whatever reason, whatever reason it may work for them. But it's been great to see how like that's more accessible and even like other health trans, quote unquote, or like options are just becoming more available. And I feel like especially in a place like New York, it's just so easy to get those options. - Completely, it's honestly completely changed how people eat out. The United States is actually pretty far behind compared to Europe in terms of allergy, you know, identification in most restaurants in Europe have kind of keys on the menu that dictate and show what has gluten, what has dairy, what has soy, what has sesame, all those different things. And the United States is kind of just starting to catch on, and it's really great to see because it does make eating out really easy. And it also I think takes away some stigma. When I was first understanding my food intolerance is, I was early on in college, so this was about, I guess eight years ago, at this point, eight or nine years ago, and it was not nearly as common to have those types of things directly on the menus in terms of what it contained or what's having a gluten free menu or having a dairy free menu or something like that. So it was actually a little bit challenging for me to go out, especially in college when you're typically going out in really big groups of people. You're sitting at a table a lot of times, you're getting a lot of plates to share. And it was very difficult for me to be able to get something that I could eat without kind of causing a scene for lack of better words and kind of turn you into this big thing, whereas now I think it's actually taken away a lot of the stigma and made it really easy for people who do struggle with food intolerance as are allergies to kind of feel like they can still enjoy a normal, you know, you can go out for pasta, you can go out for pizza, if you can't eat gluten or dairy, it's very easy. Whereas before it used to be, you know, there was maybe one gluten free pasta place in the entire city that you lived at. Whereas now there are just so many options. - Yeah, and like it can feel like it's impacting your social life if you can't go out and be social with others and dying because of whatever intolerance you have. I've often heard from people who like maybe have a gluten intolerance or try to limit their dairy consumption, you know, for going out to eat, they like don't want to be the difficult one. And so now it's really great to see kind of like the narrative changing around that. Earlier you also mentioned kind of your struggles with certain food intolerances growing up, you know, and I think like your experience also a lot of people can relate to just how we've seen over the past few years, just the rise of like options for gluten free people or for people who are not choosing to have that much dairy, the list goes on. How have you seen your experiences or struggles with different food intolerances, impact your mental health. because I think there's such a connection there between obviously like the food that we put into our body and how we feel. - Yeah, and I think that it's kind of two-fold because to some extent, if your body doesn't feel good, it's very hard for your mind to feel good. So if you're eating things where you constantly either have a stomach ache or you're tired or you know, you're running to the bathroom or it's even making you not able to sleep very well, that has a really big toll on your mental health but also on the other hand, it can also be really draining to constantly thinking about what you have to eat or constantly be planning ahead or constantly be looking at labels and looking at menus and having that level of stress or in some cases, it can even develop into an unhealthy kind of obsession into what you're eating and that's really what we're seeing a lot now, which is kind of the new term, which I don't know if you've heard of called orthorexia, that's not technically yet a DSM term but it is in the process of being defined as such and it's essentially just the obsession with eating healthy to the point that it is unhealthy. So having kind of those similar symptoms that you might have in other types of eating disorders and disorder eating habits, which comes from overly preoccupied with what you're eating, overly preoccupied with ingredients, you know, you feel like you're a bad person if you deviate from one very specific rule being extraordinarily regimented and a lot of these things can actually come from having things like food intolerances or having things like food allergies because it actually causes you to be overly concerned about what you're eating. So they're very intertwined. - I'm so happy that you bring up that term because it's something that I've found to be really interesting. Like it's kind of like ironic in a way when you become overly obsessive with eating healthy, it's actually really unhealthy for you. Like any obsession is gonna be not great for you and also it's not realistic. Like there's just, it's not possible to lead a perfect life every single day to eat the right amount of vegetables and the right amount of fruits and like the most balanced diet. Like that's just not how life works. If that's like the standard that you're holding yourself to every single day and if you happen to deviate slightly from it and then you have this like guilt that just piles onto you, that's so unhealthy and it can put you in this like really bad cyclical thought pattern where if you're just constantly guilty yourself and you're gonna, it just eventually backfires. And so it's interesting that orthorexia is not actually in the DSM five yet. I would think that it is or maybe it's like trending towards that way because it's something I've definitely seen more just in like the literature and in other like health and wellness magazines and news outlets. So I think it's definitely getting a lot of attention now. And also you work at Juice Press which is a, like one of the pivotal companies when I think of like health and wellness and healthy eating and healthy living. How have you and your role at Juice Press tried to create like an environment or rather like help create more of like a brand image around the company that's promoting really like a balanced diet and balance living. - Yeah, one of the things that we really, really focus on especially in the past few years has been having options for everyone. If you've been following Juice Press for a long time, we definitely started a much more narrow. And more recently we have focused on having different things for different heads people. Our goal is to really have a diverse product line up that really caters to anyone and what they're looking for. And we also really love that we can offer customization. So we have options for you if you want, you know, a little bit less banana and you're smoothie whether that be because you're trying to have less sugar or because you're trying to have lower carbs not to say that carbs are bad. But there are some people who that's just what their goals are. And we can do that for you or we can add extra things like protein, we can add certain types of fats, MCT oil, different things like that. We can offer low sugar swaps like stevia for people who might have type one or type two diabetes and we trying to really eliminate the sugar in their diet. We have different types of options like within our food category as well that we did not use to have. So things like more traditional wraps, which are in fully gluten wraps, which used to really not be present anywhere, but some people really just that's what they want. And that's perfectly fine. And they should be able to access that. And we have, for example, a we call it a, chicken salad wrap, but it's obviously it's vegan chicken. But it tastes just like chicken salad and that's been doing really well for us. And we have different things like butter, squash, penne pasta, maybe with red lentil pasta. So it really tastes like this delicious, creamy, decadent dish, but it's vegan and it's gluten free and it's high protein because it's that red lentil penne and having more options and not just kind of focusing on that juice aspect or really being as narrow as we maybe once were. - Yeah, I love that. And when I think of juice press, like I still often just think about like a smoothie or juice, but it's so important to recognize that there's so many other types of products that juice press offers. And I think like food is such an integral part now of the brand, which has been so cool to see. And in your role, how do you apply your nutrition expertise into like the product development process, whether it be smoothies or juices or wraps or soups or salads? - Yeah, so I would say that a new idea can really come from one of two options. It could be either we're inspired by a certain flavor profile. So an example is our pumpkin spice protein, which we do seasonally from October through December and every single year, it's a massive, massive hit. And that was obviously inspired by pumpkin spice lattes and that was kind of the driving force of that product. And then we kind of work backwards to say, okay, what goals are we trying to hit? It's a high protein smoothie. It has certain macro nutrients that we think people are looking for. We also have the ability to do cauliflower instead of banana or change out coconut nectar for dates or different types of sweeteners. Or it could be driven by something more functional. So one example would be our beats by JP juice that was inspired by beats because we know that beats are something that people really look for, especially with athletics. People look for it for endurance. They really like that with workouts and then also some people just love beats. So that was kind of the driving force of that type of juice or something like our new game on drink which is kind of like a healthier gatorade. And that was inspired by the idea of trying to give someone electrolytes and refreshing beverage while they're working out or even just during the day. And then we kind of take it from there and then we go through different flavor profiles and other things that we're looking for. So it really could go from one end to the other. Another example is collagen, this is huge right now. And we are partnering with a company that actually has a plant-based collagen booster. So it's not technically collagen because collagen does need to come from an animal. But it is a booster which means that it is the amino acids which make up the protein that your body needs to use to build its own collagen. So essentially it's directly giving you those amino acids. So it's really easy for your body to produce extra collagen for use. So we're developing a smoothie right now to feature that collagen. And we're calling that a forever young smoothie. So it's gonna focus on skin health, hair health, bone health, joint health, all of those things. - I love that. Also like when you were just talking about the pumpkin spice one, I need to try that because I love pumpkin spice lattes and probably have had one too many this fall. Just 'cause they're so sugary but they're so delicious. I mean, I guess depending on where you get it. But I think that's a really interesting strategy where you're thinking about like the flavor profiles and then maybe how that specific product is relating to different aspects of health and wellness because health is so all encompassing and so is mental health and so highly related and tied to for example, our skincare and beauty. That's so intertwined with the health and wellness space. So if you can develop a really interesting product that is related to maybe the skincare space because the specific amino acid or protein or ingredient in the smoothie can help clear your skin up or promotes healthier skin. Like it's all super interconnected. And so I think maybe even adopting a mindset with consumption of healthy products, like thinking about how those foods impact like different areas of your health and wellness. I think is just a really interesting perspective to bring into like how you engage with the foods that you're consuming. - Yeah, and I think to some extent it's also about or my philosophy at least is about what are you adding? Not what can you remove to maybe improve your health or your overall well-being, but what can you add? And typically if there is something that maybe you would be a little bit healthier with reducing, if you add something, typically it will naturally reduce. So for example, one thing that I like to say is if you're eating a hamburger with french fries every single day for lunch, instead of saying, I think that if I reduce that a little bit I might have lower cholesterol or I might be able to improve my health a little bit. If you instead take the approach of if I decide to have a salad or a grilled chicken sandwich two of those days, it's going to naturally displace that burger. So kind of going from the mindset of adding in not from taking away. - And if you think about it as if you're taking away it's like you're restricting. So if you're thinking, oh, I can't have two hamburgers a week. Like I'm restricting that and then it's just gonna make you want it more. So I guess that psychologically it's more difficult when you adopt the mindset of like, I'm taking this away from me, but I really like that philosophy. Like what can I add in or what can I substitute? Something that I really try to focus on with my own philosophy is this like 80, 20 concept. So most of the time like try to keep a balanced diet, like try to, to the very best of your ability, like eat enough vegetables and be mindful about like the types of protein that you're including and but then that other 20% of the time, it can be more loose, it can be more relaxed. And so I think if you're able to kind of like incorporate more flexibility, it, it makes for more balanced and well-rounded diet. Is that something that you resonate with or is that something that you think about when you think about your own nutrition philosophy more broadly? Exactly. And that really gets right back to what we were talking about about not being, you know, obsessed with having to follow something extremely regimented all the time. It's also the main reason that something like a quote diet or some sort of lifestyle change fails most of the time is because it's putting way too much pressure on being perfect and completely cutting something out for the rest of your life. It is very, very, difficult to do that and not just because it takes willpower, it's just not natural. That's not how our bodies work and a lot of the time when people do try to kind of go cold turkey on something, it's something that really shouldn't be gone cold turkey on. So for example, saying, you know, I'm never going to eat pasta again. Well, why not? You know, like you can't eat pasta sometimes, there's nothing wrong with that and it kind of also demonizes this food and puts this moral level of values on a specific type of food, which is never a good idea. And when you put it on that food, you inherently put it on yourself. So the one time that you inevitably are going to eat whatever food you've deemed is not appropriate for you, you will feel intense skill, you will feel like you really did a horrible thing when in reality, you're just human and it really wasn't feasible to try and make that huge jump right away. And again, it's kind of that all foods fit mentality, everything in moderation and something that I once heard, I can't remember where I heard this, but the quote was everything in moderation, including moderation. And the point was that everyone indulges sometimes. It is not natural to not indulge. We are human, we use food not just as nutrition, but it's joy, it's bonding. It's a lot of our memories, if you think about growing up, or with your family, our around food holidays, our around food, different holidays that might be, you know, something like Thanksgiving or certain religious holidays are surrounding certain very specific types of food. And we use that to connect with people. And we use that for enjoyment. You know, if you eat a lot of food on Thanksgiving because Thanksgiving is your favorite holiday and because you love eating every single thing and trying every single thing on the table, that's great. And there's no reason that that should be a bad thing. And everyone really does that and really what the problem becomes when people do try to make really drastic lifestyle changes that that's the reason that it's not sustainable. And then it turns into this all-or-nothing thinking where they quote mess up one time and then they feel as if they fell off the wagon and it kind of turns into this spiral where they kind of throw their hands up in the air and say, okay, well, that's it for the rest of the day. And then the rest of the day turns into the rest of the week. And then all of a sudden it's really, really hard to get started again. And that's why you see kind of this really big influx, for example, in gym memberships on January 1st. And if you've ever been to a gym and you're there on January 1st and you kind of stay throughout the next few weeks and months, you see it's absolutely past January 1st, January 2nd. Over the next few weeks it starts to dwindle and typically by mid-February you're kind of back to where you were in November. And that's because people start entering with the mindset of, I'm going to go to the gym every single day. And then as soon as they miss a day for whatever reason because life just always gets in the way and it always will, it turns into, oh well, if I missed it this day then why am I going to go tomorrow? Why am I going to go this week? And then all of a sudden they're never going. But it's really all about just finding a lifestyle change that not only works for you, but is actually going to be sustainable. If it's not sustainable, it will not work. And that's why there is no diet that is one size fits all. And to some extent it's very problematic how social media has kind of taken over the food and diet world. To some extent it's great that there are a lot of registered dietitians putting out really great content. But there's also three times as many people who are not qualified to any extent putting out ludicrous content. And often that content is put out with a lot of flair. It's put out with a lot of promises. And typically it's people who have really high followings for whatever reason it might be, they're an influencer or whatever. And it's what I eat in a day. The what I eat in a day videos are very problematic. First of all, there is no reason to believe what that person needs in a day. They very well could be lying. And second of all, you don't know what they did that day. You don't know if they did obviously zero activity. You don't know if they ran a half marathon and that's why they're eating that much. You just don't know. And everyone's body is different. So putting out things like what I eat in a day or this is the five minute ab exercise to get a six pack or whatever it might be is really problematic because it kind of encourages this thought that someone else's results and journey will look exactly identical to yours. And that is just not the case. And it encourages this idea that you can achieve perfection and a really set journey. And it's not that's just not how progress works. That's not how developing anything works. Everything is kind of a roller coaster. There's going to be dips. There's going to be highs. You're going to, you know, maybe backtrack a little bit. Think about it. Kind of find a better way of doing things. And social media has really become problematic in this area. But, you know, I do think that when people do think about changes that they are looking to make, it's always the most important thing to remember is that the quote diet that works is the one that's sustainable. That's the only way you're going to get there because you could lose 20 pounds in two months. But the chances that you keep that 20 pounds off are very, very low because that's just, you know, too fast. You may have been doing things that are just not sustainable. And then typically when you do, if you do lose a lot of weight and then you gain it back, typically it's actually more than where you started. So then it kind of contributes to this really negative self-talk and feeling like you just, you know, can't do it and throwing your hands up in the air and saying it's not going to work. But it's really all about finding something that is balanced and something that's sustainable. I am nodding to like every single point that you brought up. And I'm so happy that you brought up this observation of how people on social media like are pretending to be experts when they're really not. I have a lot of thoughts about this. I actually talked a little bit about this concept with a former guest on the show, Julia Bainbridge. She is a food writer and editor and author. And she was sharing her perspective on how a lot of people on social media, TikTok, Instagram, whatever you name it are pretending to be experts in a certain area and kind of misleading people when they just don't have that credibility. And it's especially tricky with food because people are looking for like quick wins and quick fixes. Oh, if I just do this one thing, I'm going to lose 10 pounds. And that's just not how our bodies work. And it's not healthy. And to your point, even if you do lose a lot of weight in a short amount of time, the chances of you keeping it off are very slim because it's not done in a sustainable way. So what are some strategies or pieces of advice that you have for like sustainable behavior change and like making healthier choices? Let's say we can just start with like nutrition, for example. Yeah. So as I kind of said earlier, I always take the approach of what can you add in? So instead of starting by looking at your holistic diet or your holistic lifestyle and saying what needs to be removed in order for me to hit this goal, it should be what can I do in order to help me hit this goal? Should it be, you know, adding a certain food in? Should it be changing the timing of what when you're eating, should it be changing? You're eating habits in terms of what you're surrounded by. A lot of it could be, you know, you're eating while you're working. You're eating while you're watching TV. You're eating standing up when you're, you know, standing up on the refrigerator because you didn't really eat lunch and now you're snacking and you just kind of keep going. Really just looking at the holistic picture and then saying what can I add in or what can I tweak? So instead of saying, oh, I'm never going to eat in front of the TV, it should be why don't I plan to sit down with my family or my roommates every night for dinner or why don't I even call a friend and talk with to my friend on the phone while I'm eating dinner. And it can create this feeling of, you know, that you have the self-efficacy to actually make a change and again starting small and not feeling like you have to do it 100% of the time. It could be, I'm going to decide that I'm not going to eat in front of the TV on weekdays and then maybe on weekends you're a little bit more lenient because you feel like you really love, you know, having your dinner in front of the TV or having snacks in front of the TV and you want to let yourself do that and that's totally fine. But just kind of taking bite-sized pieces and then gradually you can grow. So saying, I'm going to, if you're someone who skips breakfast and you really feel like that's hindering you because maybe you are so, so hungry by the time it's lunchtime that you're eating a massive amount of food and you're not really making smart decisions that you think are going to keep you energized for the day. Maybe you're picking things that just feel satiating and then you're exhausted and then you feel like you can't work or be productive for the rest of the day and you want to say, okay, I feel like if I ate breakfast in the morning, I wouldn't be so hungry when I got to the middle of the day and I'll be able to make food choices that actually keep me energized and don't make me sleepy or whatever it might be. Instead of saying, I'm going to eat breakfast every single day moving on, you say, you know, I'm going to try on Mondays, I'm going to try and start my week by doing this one thing and not just kind of making that decision and just saying that's what I'm going to do but actually thinking of a plan, how are you going to do that? Are you You're gonna meal prep at the night before and make something like overnight oats, or you're gonna have something that's really easy for you to put together like yogurt with granola or berries. Like how are you actually going to hit that goal? Not just saying you're going to do it. For example, if you're saying, I'm gonna go to the gym before work, that's what I want my new habit to be. You instead of saying, one, I'm gonna go every day, say I'm gonna go three times a week and you pick your days, not just say three times a week. You say, okay, I'm gonna look at my schedule. I'm gonna say on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, those are the days that make the most sense based on my schedule. So those are the days I'm gonna do it. This is what time I'm gonna wake up. This is exactly what I'm going to do when I'm at the gym. This is even saying things like what I'm gonna wear or picking out your outfit the night before, taking your gym shoes, putting them by the door, doing things that just make it as easy as possible to actually follow through instead of just thinking about it. That's always every little step that feels like it might be unnecessary. Like, oh, do I really need to pack my gym bag that I before? It could help. You know, just try it. And for me, I work out personally before work and for me, what actually gets me to do it is because I set my alarm earlier so that I can do that. And I kind of feel like, well, I'm already awake. So it would be really silly for me to have not gotten a ton of sleep and then still not go to the gym. So kind of just doing little things that can encourage you. And even setting goals, like if I do it, for three weeks, I go to the gym three times a week. This is what I'm going to do for myself. I'm going to treat myself to getting my nails done or I'm going to treat myself to getting a blow out or whatever it might be. And also finding non-food rewards. That is extremely important because that only contributes to morality of food. When you say, you know, I'm going to eat really, really well. I'm going to eat, you know, whatever you decide you're trying to do or what your goals are for the week. And then you say, I'm going to reward myself with said food. That is implying that whatever your reward food is, is a bad food. And that only contributes to morality, which is never going to be a positive. So finding rewards for yourself or ways to treat yourself that are not food related. Whether it be, you know, I'm going to do this activity that's kind of expensive. And I've been putting off because I don't want to spend the money. But I'm going to treat myself and do that activity. Or I'm going to take this little trip. Or, you know, treat myself in some other way. That's really important. Yeah. I've heard so many great things that you just shared. But the two things I want to hone in on are really starting small and being specific. That is really the science behind behavior change. And there's a lot of science and studies out there that help to validate that strategy for building in like small habits and micro steps to accomplish like a larger and bigger goal. And to your earlier point around like noticing gym behavior patterns from January 1st through like mid to end January come early February, it's like significantly gone down. It's interesting because I really do think that if you're looking for like physical results or just like to feel healthier in your body, I think a majority of it comes from like what you're choosing to consume versus how many calories are burning, honestly, because you could be at the gym working out so intensely to the point of like exhaustion every single day or like six days a week and like still not see results if you're not putting really nutritious food into your body. And that can look different really for everyone what is quote unquote good for you. And we can talk a little bit more about that later. But it's just interesting to me because I think there's still this idea that like in order to have like the best body or to be the healthiest, I have to work out all the time. And it's funny because in periods of time in my life where I've actually done more like low impact exercise and I've given myself like the grace to not have to be at the gym every single day and like be on the treadmill for 30 minutes and then do a 30 minute wait thing. Like if I'm actually a bit less regimented but still finding ways to bring movement at least every day whatever that might look like. And I'm keeping a balanced diet at the same time. I've actually seen better results personally for me rather than you know trying to still just eat as healthy as I can but like work out a ton. Like that actually kind of sometimes has the reverse effect. And so it's just it's something interesting that I've experienced and that I've seen for myself. So I do think it goes back to this point around the importance of fueling your body with like really good nutritious food and also being kind to yourself about like your perspective of how often and like the types of workouts you're going to do on a regular basis. Exactly and everything adapts both your exercise habits and your food habits. So just you know you might go through three months where you really enjoy this one type of exercise and then you might be kind of over it or you're just it doesn't feel good on your body anymore for whatever reason and honoring your body is the most important thing that you can do both in food and in exercise because every time you try to fight what your body is telling you it's going to backfire in some way. If you wake up and you're really really really sore or exhausted or starting to feel sick and you told yourself you were going to go for some really long run that day. If you force yourself to do it you probably won't feel great after. But if you honor your body and either say, you know I'm just going to go for a walk or I'm going to go to a bar class that's low at impact and a little bit more relaxed or doing something like that or even just sleeping more. You will feel better. And it's really the same thing with food. If you you know make some decision that you're going to eat in some certain way or you're going to meal plan for the week which is great but having some sort of flexibility in there too to also eat what's enjoyable. And that's actually one thing that I didn't mention before is making food changes that you're actually going to enjoy. If you don't like broccoli, don't say you're going to eat broccoli every day for dinner. Like that's just never going to happen. So you have to find you know things that you're actually going to like if your goal is to put more vegetables into your diet then find vegetables that you really enjoy find ways to cook them that you enjoy and that's how you go about that. If you hate a certain type of food but you believe it's healthy for whatever reason or just because TikTok says so or just because Instagram says so if you don't like that food you're probably still not going to eat it. And if you force yourself to it's going to backfire. So finding things that you actually enjoy is going to be the way to get those sustainable results. - Yeah and that's so important too because if you have something that you're enjoying you're more likely to keep incorporating it into your diet like to keep adding it in. And to this point around like what's codon code healthy versus like what's not healthy? I just find it so ironic because like for example you might think that like broccoli or cauliflower is like a healthy vegetable. But something that I've learned recently because I've had friends that have experienced IBS and other like gastrointestinal issues need to follow this like diet called the FODMAP diet which maybe you can speak more to because I haven't done a ton of research into it but from what I've heard actually like I think cauliflower for example isn't the best because it encourages bloating this like uncomfortable bloating that some people experience. So what might work for my body might not necessarily work for someone else's body. Can you speak a little bit more to like this concept around when we label things as healthy versus unhealthy and more broadly speaking like your perspective on health and wellness trends? Yeah, so labeling things as healthy versus unhealthy really never works. I mean obviously there are some foods that we can all probably agree are less healthy. Like I don't think anyone's gonna you know sit on this podcast and say that bacon is amazing for you but overall what is considered quote healthy is going to be different for everyone. It kind of also goes back to how you're talking about gluten earlier on in our conversation is that there are some people who are gluten hurts their body and it just should not be what they're eating whereas there are other people who it's perfectly fine and there's no reason for them to go on a gluten-free diet or to pick gluten-free pasta or gluten-free bread but for some reason somehow along the way gluten has been named as this evil ingredient and all of a sudden everyone thinks that if something's gluten-free it's automatically healthy and vegan also has this effect where people kind of started to associate vegan with healthy and that's not the case. I mean McDonald's friend tries our vegan. Like there are a ton of foods that are orios are vegan. They're actually not made with any milk or butter or anything. There are a ton of foods that just because there are vegan doesn't mean they're healthy. So finding what works for your body and as you're mentioning like the FODMAP diet if you're someone who experiences a lot of GI distress and you're going to your nutritionist they very much might recommend a low FODMAP diet and essentially the way that that works is cutting out certain foods that are high in what's called FODMAPs and that's just an abbreviation for basically it's different types of carbohydrates and the length of the carbohydrate chain makes it really difficult for certain people's bodies to break it down. So what happens is that food ends up staying in your large intestine and it ferments with bi-bacteria and that's what causes gas and bloating because the bacteria emit gas when they're fermenting but not everyone needs to follow that. That's just certain people and the thing about a FODMAP diet is also that there are different categories and typically what a nutritionist would tell you to do is to cut everything out and then after two or three weeks you would add one category back in in a time and use that to identify which category is actually causing you distress because typically it's not all of them. Typically it's two to three. So even that type of diet it's not meant to be a forever diet and that's the other thing is that a lot of these, quote, diets actually aren't meant to be a diet for the rest of your life. It could just be. be a diet to diagnose your or to figure out what's going on. But it's not forever and kind of taking that approach and seeing what works for your body. Everyone's body is different. Everyone's body will digest things differently. And even going back to how we were talking about, you know, eating a certain number of calories or working out a certain amount, everyone's metabolism is different. So just you could eat the exact same thing as someone else and do the exact same amount of exercise and still have completely different results. Because everyone's body is different. The way you digest that food, how much of those calories are actually absorbed, people don't realize that it's not that every single calorie that you eat actually goes into your body. You have to actually break it down. You have to digest it. You have to absorb it. Everyone's body does that differently because it's all based on the different bacteria in your gut. And it's based on how you absorb those nutrients. So you really can't just, you know, make some broad claim that this is the one diet that works. Or these are the foods that you have to eat to be healthy. And that's another thing that I see all the time on social media, you know, like zero calorie foods or eat these 20, the top 20 foods that are the most healthy foods that you can possibly eat. And that's just not true. Every food has different vitamins and minerals and different things in it. And the worst thing you can do is limit yourself to always eating the same foods all the time. And it's really, really bad for you to do that. Even if you think it's a quote, healthy diet, because your gut, which has all, you know, this bacteria, I'm sure you probably had someone on this, this podcast talking about gut health at some point. And we all know gut health is a really hot topic. I did. That was a great episode. And also something that I learned in that interview is about like the, the gut brain connection and how a lot of the serotonin that we have in our body is actually produced in our gut. Clearly, if you're eating foods that are making you feel like lethargic and whatnot, like there's just such a intrinsic relationship between our happiness and our well-being and what we're consuming completely. And all of that bacteria thrives on variety. That is one of the most important things to have healthy gut bacteria is having a variety of different foods in your diet. So if you're eating the same thing every single day, you're actually not going to have great gut health. As you mentioned, that affects your mental health, that affects your sleep. Most of your immune system is actually in your gut. So having an unhealthy gut can cause you to have more sickness. It can cause different things like that. So you really want to kind of find as versatile as a diet as you can, but one that makes you feel good, makes you feel good physically, mentally, you know, helps you sleep, gives you energy, doing all the things. The food really is meant to fuel you. It's meant to give you the energy to do all the other amazing things in your life. It is not meant to hindering. I agree with all of those points. Kind of going off of what we've been talking about, these like health and wellness fads, or just trying to eliminate all the external noise that we see on social media around like, do this because this is good for you or this is bad for you. Talking more broadly about that, more specifically around juicing and juice cleanses. So I've kind of gone back and forth on my perspective with juice cleanses. I tried one unsuccessfully last summer, but I think I did it in like honestly like a very unsafe way and I didn't have enough knowledge around the science behind it and like what I should be ingesting to achieve whatever result I was looking for. And basically I like thought I was going to do this three day juice cleanse and I was drinking just like these huge mason jars of I don't even know what was in there. Like it was one thing was like almond milk and the other thing was like just celery. Like it just it was not substantial like in the slightest and I was so lightheaded and dizzy and like really irritable and I really could not last 24 hours like by the end of the day. And I hadn't even it was not the full 24 hours. I was like I need to eat something. So I was like forever turned off by the concept of juicing. But then that same summer I was talking to my parents and they did a like three day packaged. It was very like methodical. There were instructions like there was a lot of thought behind these products like packaged juice cleanse and they felt amazing after it. And so I was so curious to see like how we had such opposite experiences and obviously juice press. I know has juices and I'm sure like juice cleanse packages and products. So I'm curious to hear like your perspective on can juicing the beneficial for someone and how can you engage with a juice cleanse reducing process in like a healthy safe way. Yeah. So it absolutely can be beneficial. I think the key is to understand what the purpose is. A three day juice cleanse is not going to make you lose 20 pounds. And there are a lot of people who do you know approach it in that way. But that's of course not sustainable if you do lose weight, which you probably will over those few days. But it's mostly just because you don't have anything in your GI system because you have them in eating or you're just losing water when you're kind of not eating as much you'll start to lose sodium and water and different things out of your body. So it's mostly bloating that you're losing. But it can be beneficial if you're doing it in the right way and thinking about why you're doing it and what your goal is. And one of the things that juice press does offer is a really, really wide variety of different. We call them like cleanses and meal plans because we actually did about two years ago start to integrate soups into them and smoothies. And we actually found that our juice and soup plan is the top selling plan. People definitely find it more sustainable, but you still kind of have that feeling of a reset. You feel like you have some sort of plan. And I do think that a lot of people do approach it just as kind of a way to maybe kickstart some new habit that they want to form or kickstart some, you know, something, some new lifestyle approach, which is great. So if you want to go on a three day juice and soup plan, you feel like that's just going to be your reset and then you're going to be able to kind of transition into your day-to-day eating habits, really fresh and clean out of that. That's great. People are gravitating towards, you know, the soups and maybe like we have some plans that have some almonds in there, like a few kind of light touch food products because I do think that it is more sustainable. And that being said, there are definitely people who also, you know, do like a full kind of hardcore juice cleanse. And that's also fine. We have things for those who will. But again, it's about what you're doing while you're on that plan. I would never recommend someone to go on a, you know, low calorie, low sugar juice cleanse and then go to the gym and go on the treadmill. That would be very dangerous. So if you're really approaching that type of plan, then the goal is really to just rest. That is what you're doing for your body is to give it a rest. So you really should not be doing anything. You probably honestly shouldn't even really be like going to work or doing anything that really requires a lot of energy because you're just trying to rest. So again, like it's very much what your goal is and then finding an option that helps you meet those goals. So if your goal is to have more of a meal plan, that could be, you know, consider a cleanse, but it's actually has, you know, some food in it, has some soups in it, has some juice in it, might have a smoothie in it. And then you kind of use that plan to influence what your food choices are moving forward out of it. And the transition in is just as important as the transition out. If you go on a three or a five day cleanse and then you immediately go back to eating really heavy foods and really like high quantity, you're going to feel terrible. You're just causing this kind of wave in your body where it doesn't know what to expect. So the transitions are also really important. And it actually makes me think of like anyone who who's Jewish, this might resonate with them, but fasting on young Kippur, you always feel terrible after you break fast because you're so hungry. By the time you eat, that you eat so much and then you feel awful. And you just literally go to sleep for the rest of the day. And that's just like across the board and that's obviously different. That's a religious reason. But you know, it's kind of similar and I always think about that. If you're going on a Jewish cleanse, it's the same thing. If you kind of hit hard afterward, you're going to feel awful. And you kind of have to just approach it with that mindset of what your goal and how do you choose a plan that's going to help you reach that goal. That's a really good point. And none of that was really communicated to me when I was interested in trying it out and keep in mind I was doing it while I was doing my yoga teacher training last summer. So I was like active every day. And not only was I doing yoga for two hours in the morning, but then the entire rest of the day was coursework. So like my brain was working. I was exhausted. I couldn't focus. It was horrible. So I think if I were to try it again, I would do more research and I would do it with like a trusted package. Like maybe the the juice and smoothie soup plan, like that juice press offers because I feel like that has a bit more like substance that could sustain me and I would have like rest my body instead of exercise because that also contributes to the fatigue and the irritation. But I'm really happy that you shared that perspective because I think also tying back into the earlier part of our conversation, there's so many differing opinions that are just like spat out at you, especially on social media. And I think juice cleanses are like a really big part of the conversation too. Like my juice recipe or this is how I'm juicing. And again, it just drives home this point of that health nutrition wellness. It is not a one size fits all. And so I'm just so fortunate to have been able to chat with you this afternoon because I think that you shared so many valuable pieces of advice that my listeners can hold onto and hopefully feel empowered to incorporate these strategies into their day to day to feel 10% happier to lead a 10% healthier life and recognize that. these things kind of can fluctuate up and down and that's totally okay. Exactly, I'm so glad that that's really the main takeaway and really finding what's sustainable and what's going to make you feel good mentally, physically everything topped about them. And off of that, my final question to you is something that I ask every guest that comes onto the podcast. What is something that brings you a bit of endorphins every day? I would say my morning run. I've been running in the morning since I think I started my freshman year of college and it is definitely runners high, definitely resonates with me. I'm always a little bit sleepy and slow to start and usually after the first mile, I feel amazing. And if there's ever a day where I can't get it in, I'm definitely a little irritable just because I didn't feel like I got my morning endorphin rush. I love that. I mean, endorphins are the runners high. So that's probably one of the most direct ways to experience that euphoric feeling. Do you run also like in the colder months like when it's like 20 degrees outside? I do. I would say I'm my propensity to want to run in 10 degree weather has definitely decreased. Over the years when I was at school at Cornell is very cold. I had to just endure it. Otherwise, it would basically be like October to April without running outside. But I would say in the last few years, I have started to opt for indoors on the very cold days. But I also believe if you have the right gear, you can do it. I do like the feeling of the cold on my face. And there is some level of camaraderie within the running community. When you run past someone and it's 15 degrees out and you both wave at each other because you're like, "Yeah, this is really cold." But we both understand how it feels and you rolled out there for a reason. You wouldn't be doing that if you weren't chasing something and chasing something. Yeah. Also, I think in the winter, it's so hard to get outside because no one wants to be outside. So it's actually a good activity to get you outdoors, get in some sunlight, which is so important. One of my favorite podcasts, The Huberman Lab, Dr. Huberman talks about the importance of getting morning sunlight. And it's really hard to do that in the winter when you just never want to leave. So I think just getting yourself outside is so important. And I also personally prefer to run not in freezing temperatures, but colder, more brisk weather because when it's really hot and sunny and humid, it's just exhausting. I can't do it. But optimal temperature for me 40 degrees. I can do that. 30 to 40. And that's perfect. Aside from my own personal running preferences, great way to get in your endorphin high, love your answer, and just so happy we got to chat this afternoon. Where can my listeners follow along on your social media? And of course, there's a juice press really on like almost every other corner in New York City. So I'm not going to tell my listeners where to go find juice press because I'm sure they know where to go find juice press. But where can they find you? Yeah. You can follow me at REARI.com.com. That's my Instagram handle and that's the best place to find me. Thank you so much. It was such a pleasure having you on the podcast. Yeah, thank you. Thanks for listening to this episode of Everyday Endorphins. If you liked what you heard, make sure to like, rate, and review this podcast on whichever platform you prefer. You can also follow along the Everyday Endorphins Instagram account to stay up to date with episodes, future events, and all things related to mental health, well-being, and happiness. Don't forget to keep spreading endorphins and find things in life that bring you joy every day. Until next time.