How to Get a Visible Six-Pack: Science-Backed Fat Loss, Hormones, Sleep & Stress Management 🏋🏽‍♂️🔥

If you’ve ever wondered what it really takes to get a visible six-pack, this episode of the Fitness Wisdom Podcast goes beyond the surface. Visible Abs aren’t just about crunches and calorie counting — they’re a reflection of your overall health, from hormones and sleep to gut health and stress management.

In Episode 57, we break down the science behind fat loss and sustainable physique goals, giving you practical tools to finally understand how your body works and what it actually needs.

What We Covered in This Episode 📌

• The truth about six-packs: Why it’s both simple and complex to achieve them. 💪

• Foundational health first: Why your external appearance is a direct reflection of your internal health. 🌱

• Circadian rhythms: How your relationship with the sun ☀️ and daily rhythms impact fat loss, hormones, and metabolism.

• Hormones & fat loss: How testosterone, cortisol, and insulin sensitivity influence whether you burn or store body fat. ⚖️

• Gut health: The surprising role of your microbiome 🦠 in metabolism and decision-making.

• Nutrition strategies: From calorie deficits 🍎 to meal timing ⏰, and how to know if you should be dieting (or not).

• Resistance training: Why building muscle 🏋️‍♀️ is key for metabolism, mitochondrial health, and body composition.

• Sleep & stress management: How poor sleep 😴 raises stress hormones 😰, sabotages fat loss, and affects your mindset.

• Sustainability matters: Why long-term success is built on balanced habits, not quick fixes. 🔑

Why This Episode Matters ❤️

Chasing abs isn’t just about looking good in the mirror 🪞 — it’s about building a sustainable foundation of health. When your hormones are balanced ⚖️, your gut is healthy 🌿, your sleep is restorative 😌, and your stress is managed 🧘, fat loss becomes easier (and maintainable).

A six-pack is ultimately a by-product of health — not the other way around. ✅

➡️ Watch & Listen to the Full Podcast 🎙️ Episode on YouTube & Spotify to get the science-backed strategies for achieving your six-pack goals while building lasting health! Make sure to Subscribe on YouTube and Follow on Spotify to not miss any future episodes. If you enjoy the episode, I would really appreciate if you shared it with a friend ✅

and gave our show a 5 star ⭐ rating on Spotify.

⬇️ Full Podcast Transcript 🗣️

0:03

This is the Fitness Wisdom Podcast. Hello and welcome back to another exciting episode of the Fitness Wisdom Podcast.Today we're going to be talking about a topic that a lot of people have questions about, and through this podcast episode, we're aiming to demystify the process and clarify it for you.

0:20

So we're going to be talking about what does it actually take in order to achieve a visible 6 pack, and the seven most important steps that you need to take in order to achieve that.So let's begin with #1.And you explain to us why health is at the Foundation achieving a visible 6 pack.So the state of our external appearance is a reflection of our internal health, right.

0:39

So if we don't take care of our internal health, it's obviously going to reflect on the outside.We can witness that when it comes to even just skin health, right?So you can imagine that if you are trying to transform your body, you have to actually change the internal state and what actually governs the internal state of the body?

0:57

That is what we're going to be getting into today.All of the different factors which influence the internal state of our body and therefore achieving the body that we desire as a byproduct of that.Because we shouldn't be aiming to just chase an external appearance without trying to address the foundation and actually the root cause of why people are not having a visible 6 pack in the first place.

1:20

In order for us to gain the physique that we actually are looking for, we need to transform our internal health.So let's start with some very important factors which are actually influencing our internal state.Yeah.So like you elaborated there, for us to achieve a sustainable visible 6 pack, we need to be healthy on the inside.

1:38

And mitochondria is at the foundation of our metabolic health.So the better our mitochondria functions, the better we are able to generate energy for our system because our mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell like we all know.So that is where it starts from.

1:55

So how would we actually improve our mitochondrial health I.Think it would be really important to actually talk about what happens when we have mitochondrial dysfunction, right?So before we actually get into how to improve the mitochondrial function, because when we actually have mitochondrial dysfunction, basically our cells are not able to have the energy that they actually require, right.

2:14

And so when we have this lack of energy in the system, it puts our body in the state of fight and flight in survival because it's constantly searching for energy.And even though we are ingesting the food, so we are getting all the energy from the calories that we need, our body is still not getting the energy on a cellular level.

2:32

So we are constantly getting this signal to continuously keep on eating because the brain is in an energy deficit and the brain in it is a very energy demanding organ just as many other organs in the body as well.So in order for that to carry out it's essential biological process, it needs to have the energy that it needs.

2:49

So it's constantly signaling us to keep on getting the food because our our cells are not giving that feedback loop to the brain that they are getting the energy that they actually need to carry out their fundamental biological process.And This is why it's so important to address mitochondrial health and to make sure that we don't have mitochondrial dysfunction when we are trying to actually lose body fat.

3:09

So you could say or assume that when someone is overweight, it's way more than just eating too much food, but it's on the foundational level.We are at a cellular energy lack.So when we are in an energy deficit on a cellular level, basically our cells are screaming for more energy even though they cannot process that energy.

3:31

And so then this is actually leading to us overeating.And then of course, therefore we are gaining a lot of fat because we're eating way more calories than our bodies requiring and it's not able to use those calories for the cellular energy.So the body is simply storing it as body fat.

3:47

So of course that's going to take us further and further away from our fat loss goals, which inevitably we actually need to lose a significant amount of body fat in order to see our see a visible 6 pack in the 1st place.Because remember that a visible 6 pack is a byproduct of having low body fat and also having sufficient amount of muscle mass on your frame in order to actually see that.

4:10

So now that we address the importance of mitochondrial health, now we're going to move on to the other factors which are influencing our internal health.So what would be the second most important factor?Circadian rhythms in our relationship to the sun because our body has evolved within the light and dark cycles and that really is what covers all our physiological processes, starting from the hormones, the mitochondria and everything beyond.

4:35

So.So I find that surrogate and rhythms are the most important thing when it comes to actually maintaining our health, internal health and really thriving.And as I see the health and the thriving state in the foundation of successful fat loss and sustainable fat loss, this is something that it's really hard to go around.

4:57

So we can do everything in the world with the nutrition and the exercise and all that, but we can still be struggling if we don't get these principles right.So how would you actually, how would you go about in building the circadian rhythms and or relationship to the sun or what does it actually mean?

5:17

Do you want to elaborate on that?I think it would be really important to talk about what things to circadian rhythms actually influence.You already mentioned a couple of things there, like which is like our energy levels, our mitochondrial function, but we also have very, very important is our metabolism, our metabolic rate and our sleep quality, our, our sex hormones and our sex drive, our mindset, like there's so many, our performance, our recovery, It literally influences every single system and every single cell of the body.

5:46

So if the circadian mechanism is thrown off, then we can't expect that we can have successful fat loss.And then therefore that is going to hinder our ability to reach our visible 6 pack goals.Because remember that the visible 6 pack, as we mentioned at the beginning, is a byproduct of your internal state of your internal health.

6:05

So if your internal health is not good, it's very very hard in to achieve the body of your dreams on the outside.Of course you can get quite a long way with doing exercise and nutrition, but eventually you will hit a wall, you will hit a plateau.And in order for for it to be sustainable long term and for you to actually be healthy on the inside, because anybody can look good on the outside and you can achieve it in a very short period of time.

6:30

You can take shortcuts to get there.But does that mean that you're actually healthy?And does that mean that you can do it for a long period of time?That's probably not.And that used to be me as well, like a perfect example.In the past when I started exercising, I remember that my only concern and goal was to actually look good.

6:47

And I just did everything possible in terms of training and nutrition in order to get there.But I felt like crap on the inside, right?And so now I have built a way of life, a way of living, which actually allows me to sustain the body that I want without me even trying.

7:03

And this is the message and the information that we are trying to bring to you guys to actually understand that we need to 1st build a Health Foundation before we actually even see any meaningful changes and long lasting changes.So it's it's cool to get to, you know, to see your visible 6 pack and everything.

7:21

But then of course, no one asked the question, how do we do this long term?How can I actually sustain this?Is this sustainable?Is this even healthy to, you know, stay in this state long term?Do you have anything to add to this before I move into going about and fixing the circadian rhythms?

7:37

Actually, like one thing comes to my mind and this could be really an important thing to know this so because when it comes to losing fat, it does come down to caloric deficit and a lot of people try to go around that, but it is at the foundation as we understand it.So basically we could try potentially go against our circadian rhythms and we could try and stay on a caloric deficit and do our exercise and all that.

8:01

But here is the thing that is hard to maintain because our mindset will eventually really put the brakes on because it's really hard to maintain a caloric deficit when we lack the cellular energy.And we are really struggling on a daily basis with that.

8:17

And as the circadian rhythms are at the foundation of our metabolism and our cellular energy, we can talk a little bit how different light frequencies influence our insulin sensitivity and, and how that is going to impact our fuel utilization.

8:34

So it is just so important and I see this time after time when we are actually incapable of getting to the root of our light environment.So our circadian rhythms, it is really hard to sustain a diet.

8:51

It is there will be relapses.Relapses way more often than compared to somebody who is actually able to fix their circadian rhythms first or at the same time as they are fixing their diet.Light influences every single system of your body from mood, skin health, cognition, energy levels, gut health, sexual function, training, performance, recovery, wound healing, body composition, and so much more.

9:15

This is why I make sure to block the harmful artificial blue light and expose myself to the beneficial wavelength of light.Optimized my biology?Upgrade your biology today by upgrading your light environment.Head over to emrtech.com/mobility Fitness and use the promo code Mobility FITNESS for a massive 20% discounted checkout for the best red light therapy panels on the market and the best blue light blocking glasses.

9:38

So basically what you're saying there is that it's governing some force within the body.And I assume that it's probably the hormonal force and of course the energy balance as well within the system.And because we know that the hormones, the way that they are in balance or if we have a healthy or unhealthy state is going to influence our mindset and therefore our decision making.

9:59

And of course, that is a huge part of the process when it comes to losing body fat, right?You need to be in control of your nutrition.You need to make sure that you are exercising enough, doing enough resistance training, getting enough movement throughout the day.And in order to have not necessarily the discipline, you don't need discipline.

10:17

You just need the right hormones in place or the right balance of hormones to be able to have the correct mindset.Because we tend to think that mindset is built from within our mind, but we tend to forget that actually so much of our Physiology governs our mindset, right?

10:33

So what we actually think is not at our will, let's say, it is more so influenced so much by our physiological state and our hormonal state, right.So if we talk about now a little bit how different life frequencies are influencing, for example, our metabolism or our circadian rhythms, we know the artificial blue light, especially after sunset going to disrupt our melatonin production and therefore is going to increase our cortisol and what's going to make us have not so optimal sleep and in some cases terrible sleep.

11:03

So we'll wake up the next day with a lack of energy, a lack of drive, and of course, a lot of things that are supposed to be happening in the night time didn't occur because in the presence of melatonin.Melatonin is not just a sleeping hormone, it's a super antioxidant.It does so many other physiological processes.

11:20

It's absolutely an incredible molecule.So I highly recommend that you research more into the importance of melatonin on the entire system.And that also ties into our relationship with the sun as well.Did you want to say something?I just wanted to mention quickly that endogenous melatonin right This is totally different than than supplementing melatonin.

11:41

Yes, absolutely natural, natural melatonin production that comes from your pineal gland and also cellular melatonin which comes from your mitochondria during the daytime from infrared and red light there red light wavelengths exposure.So when you're actually outside in the sun and you are exposed to those red and infrared wavelengths, your mitochondria are actually producing cellular melatonin and that is actually assisting, you know repair and regeneration of the mitochondria, right.

12:07

So the the sun has almost like an inbuilt inbuilt repair mechanism.So when we are exposed, you know, to any kind of artificial blue light at night is super damage to our sleep and also our melatonin production and release.But think about what it's actually going to do to your mindset and how that's going to influence your fat gain or fat loss, right?

12:29

So if your goal is to lose body fat, it's going to make it super hard for you in order to be in the right mindset, but it's also going to change your physiological state from the inside as well hormonally.So your body is going to be working against you, even though let's say you have a good structure with your nutrition and your training, instead of now assisting your body and going and making it super easy for yourself to lose that body fat and now you're working against yourself.

12:54

So This is why it's so important for us to have a healthy relationship with the sun, a healthy relationship with the the absence of light at night and to have good sleep, because this is aiding our regeneration and our recovery, but it's also enhancing our hormones and making us more healthy overall, right?

13:14

And well, there is a lot of rapid toes we could go down to, but I think you laid a really nice foundation and I think that paints a good picture about this Sergey Dian rhythms.So or do you want to?Do you want to go into more detail?No, I think that we addressed it quite well.Of course I could go into, of course, I could go into all of the ways that you can optimize your circadian rhythms, right?

13:34

But that's like a whole podcast within itself.And This is why we have built the Circadian Reset Protocol that is a step by step guide to helping you reset your circadian mechanism, which is therefore influencing every single system and cell of your body from hormones, sex drive, energy levels, like mental clarity, performance, every single aspect of your body is influenced by your circadian rhythms.

13:56

And This is why we created the Circadian Reset Protocol.So definitely make sure to check that in the description below.So now let's move on to the third most important factor, which is influencing our internal health.Before we move on, I think you mentioned that we are going to touch upon different light frequencies and how they influence our metabolism and hormones.

14:14

We didn't get into the other frequencies like the UVA and UVB and all that, but we did make a nice article about this topic so we can link it on the description so people can actually read that through if they are interested to dive into the more detail, right?

14:30

Absolutely, yeah.We definitely write awesome blog posts on different topics like this circadian and quantum biology and nutrition and exercise mobility.So if you're interested in all of that, definitely sign up to our newsletter because then you will automatically get a notification every time we make a blog post and then that you will be the first one to know.

14:48

And the blog post is absolutely free.So it's awesome knowledge and wisdom that you can actually educate yourself and share like with people that you love.So other things that circadian rhythms actually influence is like our, our hormones right in our hormone balance and our hormones are super important when it comes to fat loss.

15:05

So if we don't optimize our hormones, those can work against us.And as I mentioned previously, right when you're working against yourself, you're going to make your fat loss journey so much harder.So we always want to make our our fat loss journey as easy as possible because obviously it's already hard as it is.

15:21

You have to be in a caloric deficit that is undeniable.If your goal is to lose body fat, you will need to restrict the amount of food that you're taking in or you will need to expend more energy than you are taking in.But I would rather, you know, tell someone like my clients or myself to actually restrict the food intake that I'm putting in rather than to try and expend more energy and burn my body out because it's also very hard to know whether you're actually burning more energy.

15:49

You know, it can be also a little bit of an illusion when we're wearing these smartwatches or whatever and it says that we went go for a one hour run and we have burned 600 calories.So therefore, we think that we can, you know, eat 600 calories more or be in a 600 calorie deficit.All of these things are awesome and great, but I don't believe these are very accurate because it's so bio individual.

16:09

And it all comes down to literally what we mentioned at the beginning about the foundation, whether our mitochondria are actually processing the energy that we're putting in or is actually not, and whether the system is getting enough energy to be able to carry out its biological processes.So it goes so much deeper than just the color is in versus color is out.

16:26

But that of course is 1 foundational principle which influences our fat loss goals and that we actually need to adhere to.We cannot just throw it out.And of course, like healthy hormones are at the foundation of all this because we do want to ensure that our metabolism is functioning attitude, our fat metabolism is functioning attitude.

16:45

So we should aim for optimizing our hormones.Meanwhile, we are restricting our calories to the extent that we need to in pursuit to achieve our fat loss goal.So I will be talking about thyroid hormones, our leptin levels, all that so and testosterone.

17:04

So I do think that those need to be optimal.So that or that's what you were getting at as well, that so that we can actually keep our metabolism and our fat loss functioning as as good as we can.Oh yeah, absolutely.And then now moving on to different wavelengths of light, which are actually like influencing our gut health because we actually know from the research that UVA light, UVB light, red and infrared light can actually influence our microbiome in a very positive way.

17:34

And it's actually insane that you can influence your gut microbiome and diversity just from the type of light that you're exposed to independent from the food that you eat.So that actually shows you how important it is to be exposed to full spectrum sunlight, which contains all of those wavelengths which I just mentioned.

17:51

And it's also known as well that our artificial blue light disrupts the gut and our gut health.So it can have detrimental effects on our gut.So even more important to block artificial blue light after sunset, because we know that actually our gut health is not only important for our immune system and our digestion process and extracting nutrients from food, but it's actually a massive player when it comes to our metabolism.

18:17

And it produces many metabolic substrates which communicate with the mitochondria and with the cells, which actually enhance our metabolic rate.And so if our gut health is off or a microbiome is, you know, if we're having gut dyspiosis, for example, that can massively hinder our fat loss progress, even if we are in a calorie deficit.

18:37

So this is some things to keep in mind.If we are stuck or plateaued in a certain situation, we're doing everything possible.Sometimes we need to go even deeper and address some deeper root issues that might be occurring to our internal health.And This is why we said our external appearance is a reflection of our internal health, right?

18:57

So is there anything else that you want to add to the gut health topic?Yeah, maybe I just want to touch upon this a little bit.You know, everybody knows it that if the gut is not doing great, this doesn't even require diving into science too much.But I actually have not worked with one client in the past who had a visible 6 pack and super flat belly with gut disturbances.

19:19

So every time it seems that they got the disturbances, it comes with floating and holding onto water on top of the belly and all that, even if it's not just fat mask or related to fat loss.So it's just, yeah, the God doesn't need to be in good health for us to have a nice and nice and flat.

19:39

Oh yeah, and one very other important factor about God's health is that it actually influences our brain health too, right?So we have it's a bi directional communication system.So many people call it the second brain and some people even call it the first brain actually because the our actual brain up here is actually just a feedback mechanism loop processing system.

20:02

So it's actually processing the inputs that it's receiving from the different organs, the sensory organs and the organs of the actual body.So it's not actually doing anything, but the actual show is actually occurring downstairs where the microbes are, and that is informing.The brain of what, what the rest of the body should be doing really and how it should be operating.

20:21

So it actually shows you how important our gut brain axis actually is.And we all we know that we have this bi directional relationship through the vagus nerve as well.And a ton of our neurotransmitters are actually produced in the gut as well.So serotonin, which is our feel good happy hormone and our serotonin production in the gut actually super important for our melatonin production in the evening time, our pineal melatonin production because the serotonin in the gut actually travels via the vagus nerve all the way up to the pineal gland and then is converted to melatonin in the evening.

20:56

So we only actually produce enough serotonin in the gut when we are exposed to sunlight.And so again, it comes back to the foundational principles, right?You need to build that foundation, that healthy relationship with nature, your circadian rhythms.And we are still on the circadian rhythm topic, how that is actually influencing our gut and therefore influencing our brain and therefore influencing our sleep and every other system of the body.

21:18

Do you have any last words to talk on this topic?No, I actually love it how you laid this foundation about the gut health and how it's not only about our digestion and it just relates to everything so much because if our gut is off, our brain is not functioning at its best and at its sharpest.

21:34

And everyone knows that if the cut is off, the mood is off as well.So it's very, very hard to stay focused on anything that we want to achieve because we actually just want to feel good at that point.So, so yeah, this is just so important.And it's, it's not only the food that influences the cut, but it is so much to do with the light environment like you mentioned and the microbiome environment.

21:57

And it's just so I don't even know if we can fully comprehend how vast it is actually.But yeah, I think that's about it.And we could move on to diet part.Or let me, let me, let me just start there real quick that you've probably heard before that a lot of people say that your parasites and your bacteria are actually controlling your, your behaviors and your actions and your thoughts.

22:18

So I believe that to be very true, to be honest, because if you have a gut dyspiosis, good luck trying to feel good because all to feel happy, to be joyous.Because every time when I have gut issues, I'm just like super miserable.Like I don't feel like, you know, I don't feel excited about life.

22:34

I don't have drive, I don't have motivation.It just shows you.And just a while back actually, I had a bit of a belly bug or that's what they call it anyway, or maybe like some gut dyspiosis or something.And I went through a period where I was like really struggling.

22:49

I couldn't basically eat anything for a couple of days and literally my whole being suffered because of that.I, I couldn't literally do anything just because my gut wasn't functioning.So it actually shows you that the gut health is super important because without that we, we literally take you for granted.

23:08

We just throw things in our mouth and we treat our body like a dustbin, right?But we we need to actually realize that there are real life consequences when we do that to our microbiome.And I actually want to say like I didn't elaborate on this with you before, but I actually think that you were getting some form of glyphosate poisoning because we just went to this local fruit market where we normally get our fruits and sometimes they're organic, sometimes they're not.

23:31

But we've been trusting the their resources recently.But but here they spray some specific fruits very much like crepes, for example.And we're starting to get towards the crepe season and we bought crepes and when we brought them home, that's literally when it started.

23:48

And those were filled with pesticides.We could not eat them.And I was trying to soak them.I thought, OK, if they get a little bit better, but no chance we were going to eat them.But just by being exposed to those, I think that's literally when it started for you.So I just encourage people to be careful with that stuff.

24:05

So careful and organic only when possible.And I always, always wash things with baking soda.I've read that that can remove like something like 90% of the pesticides but not always.So I would just opt for the organic and wash them when possible.Yeah, it's very hard because you know, when you want to eat things that have that don't have a peel, Unfortunately, a lot of those pesticides also leach into the actual fruit as well.

24:28

This is why strawberries are one of those things or berries in general, one of the hardest fruits to actually eat if they are not organic and probably like wild in the forest or somewhere, because most of the times they are sprayed right and then the pesticide actually goes in the actual fruit.So even if you like soak them in baking soda or vinegar or whatever, they're trying to remove the pesticides, it's still inside the fruit, unfortunately.

24:50

So it's very important to be like cautious and aware of this.And we know that if the pesticides are killing the bugs on the field, it's 1000% killing the bugs in the gut or gut microbiome is extremely sensitive actually.And it's not that many things are supposed to be getting down there.

25:08

Our body has like, you know, inbuilt mechanisms in order to protect that.But there are some substances, unfortunately, like these environmental toxins, which actually eventually get in there and then they cause havoc and they kill a lot of the what we call good bacteria, but they imbalance our terrain, our internal terrain, and then causes gut dyspiosis.

25:28

Are we ready to move on to the next section?Let's move on.To the diet section, OK, so obviously everybody knows that diet is super important, right?Because as we said that diet is like influencing your microbiome.So your microbiome is essential for your fat loss progress, right?So bring it tying it all back to your fat loss and your 6 pack goals because remember that to enabled in order to actually see a visible 6 pack, you have to have low enough body fat.

25:52

And so maybe let's talk a little bit about this.How much body fat do people need to actually have in order to see a visible 6 pack?Let's talk for women first.Well, that would be really hard to answer exactly because this is something that I think that it evolves over time.

26:07

So it always seems that as a person gets more down the road of years of their training and they become more experienced with their body, their musculature changes and their as their body composition changes, they become more metabolically efficient and all that.

26:24

So over the years it just seems that the body appears more lean even with higher body fat percentage.I think you could agree to this.And also because there are genetic differences.So some people and even some ladies with even higher body fat, they can have a nice invisible 6 pack, but some ladies collect more on the midsection.

26:45

So it really depends I would say.But obviously we would need to be closer to the lower ranges of healthy body fat.So it's so hard to say any specific numbers because everybody is so different.And then everybody will think like, OK, well I'm 20% body fat and I don't see my 6 pack.

27:02

But but a lot of times an athletic woman with 20% body fat can see a phenomenal 6 pack even higher. 2530.It really depends.So it really depends where the body stores the fat.If there was 1 substance that could increase your energy levels, optimize mitochondrial function, boost ATP production, help to optimize your hormones, re mineralize the body with ionic minerals, boost cognitive function, assist detoxification and support your gut health via the microbiome.

27:29

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27:47

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28:04

Com Use the promo code Mobility FITNESS at checkout for a nice discount as well.Yeah, that's a, that's a really good point.There is very bio individual for sure and there are genetic differences as you mentioned there and and it's very true that some people can have a way higher body fat percentage and still have a visible 6 pack.

28:21

It just depends where their body fat is really distributed as well and whether they have a significant amount of muscle mass under that body fat as well.Because the higher the your muscle mass or your lean muscle mass, the more easier it is to have, you know, visible muscle definition.

28:37

So if you're you have a huge muscles of your 6 pack, let's say of course, like in a combination in combination with the rest of your body, that means that you have a higher metabolic rate.It means that you are more efficient at burning body fat.But also because of the fact that you have more muscle, it's easier for that to pop out.

28:54

But I think that we can easily use like a lot of these fitness competitors as a reference.So for example, a lot of women fitness competitors even at 18 to 20% body fat or even, you know, 16% body fat on the low side, they have phenomenal like physics, you know, they're absolutely like shredded.

29:12

So women don't need to go as low as men.Like from my personal experience working with clients and also for myself, once you start approaching 12% body fat for men, you already start to begin to see even at 15% body fat, you can begin to see like quite a good six pack.

29:29

It's not going to be as what we call shredded, right?You start to see some general lines there.But if you want to get to like a really, you know, next level state, you obviously need to drop below 10% body fat, which is around 8%.And of course going lower than that you are getting to competition state status, right.

29:50

So it's not necessary to go that low, especially if you are thinking about health and longevity.But if your goal is in general to have like a six pack in general and to sustain it long term, I believe like hovering somewhere around 12 to 15% for the for the long term for men is actually also known to be extremely healthy for the hormones as well.

30:11

And for testosterone, because we know that higher body fat percentages, especially beyond 20% body fat is actually counterproductive for testosterone.And the same thing goes for dropping below 10% body fat.We also start to have some issues there with our hormone levels.And the same thing for women too.

30:27

When women start to drop below 20% body fat and they keep it there too long, then that's when we have low leptin and other kind of, you know, imbalances with the hormones as well.And maybe we lose the cycle as well.So in order to regain all of this balance back, we need to maintain a healthy body fat where we are comfortable within our body and we are able to we are satisfied and we're able to maintain this for the long term.

30:54

Because a lot of times we see on magazines and TV and YouTube videos unrealistic physiques and we don't actually realize that that is just a snapshot in time.And most of these fitness competitors or anybody who is super lean and extreme looking in terms of their leanness, a lot of people get deceived that, you know, they think that they are like that all year round.

31:18

And in reality, that is just a little snapshot in time.And what a lot of these people do, and we can tell you from our experience as well, they take a lot of content when they are super lean.So they have content all year round to post, but that doesn't mean that they are like that all year round, right.

31:33

So they a lot of times what we see on social media and the magazines and online is not actually the reality and it is actually healthy to maintain a not so low body fat, but neither high body fat.We have to find somewhere in the middle.

31:50

Absolutely.And it's actually really helpful that you into all that nuance there because I was trying to make you these reference points for the Poly fat percentages and I was coming up to the 30%.OK, here is the thing.Not very, very many people at 30% are going to see their six pack, but it depends.

32:07

Now we need to have this make this cut point.So OK, are we looking for that shredded 6 pack look or are we looking for something a little bit that way?So for example, we can see some lines especially on the OfferUp and you know, even if the higher body fat percentages, especially if the person is carrying it more on the waist and on the books and all that, then it can easily be shown on the upper UPS.

32:34

But we are not going to see the lower UPS if we are of the higher body fat percentages.And this is so individual, of course, but for a lot of people, that's already the goal that they want to reach.And that would be healthy state to hover above, hover around, but nothing much more than that, to be honest.

32:54

Like, yeah, But anyway, it's always individual.But yeah, so my point here is that at 20 to 25% of Spotify for women, they can often see really nice apps, especially if they are experienced.

33:09

So if there are a lot of years of training behind, but then also now we will get into this more.But if the person is just starting to train and just squeezing their body fat percentage low, it's not even that they will see nice ABS because they just didn't have the musculature to begin with.

33:28

So yeah, it's a matter of the experience.It's a matter of the body fat percentage.And to be quite honest, I am more of a fan of, I struggle a little bit of like drawing these lines to the body fat percentage and all that.Because what matters more is to me personally and is how we appear in the mirror and how we appear on the health scale.

33:52

So how are we feeling?How are our labs and all that?So at that always tells us the true story.So before thinking like OK, my body fat percentage is here, so my left it should be here and my hormone should be here.But before.Or or my 6 pack should be visible.

34:08

Yeah, yeah, exactly.My 6 pack should be visible.Before we draw those lines, we need to look into the and we need to think how are we feeling?Maybe do some or do some labs.We before guessing, do labs and say see where we are actually at and then make honest changes from there.

34:29

So this is so important because I just see that people are like comparing online resources and themselves and they are thinking, OK, I'm not there or I'm feeling like this and that, but that's just guesswork.And and therefore it's just taking those steps that we can to actually know where we personally are AT.

34:48

And then we know what do we need to do in terms to make that goal achievable where we are going at.And to also admit that that can be a long term thing.So it's not necessary that it's going to happen after three months of dieting.So it could be like a years of cycle of gaining mass and losing fat and and these sorts of things.

35:10

Yeah, I think it's very important that you actually touched on the process of, you know, losing body fat and gaining muscle because a lot of people don't realize that it's just as simple as, oh, I'm just going to go on a diet and I'm going to start like some kind of training program, hardcore training program, and I'm going to see my 6 pack.

35:28

In some cases, that might actually work for some genetically gifted individuals.If you've never been training before.And all of a sudden and also your starting point, how much body fat percentage or body fat do you actually need to lose?Or are you already quite lean and does it just take only a couple of AB exercises and already you have like an incredible 6 pack.

35:47

Again, like the starting point is super important.And This is why we can't give you like concrete like recommendations or advice on this.But there, these are things that we are sharing are some general rules that apply to pretty much everyone.And so This is why we are sharing this information with you.

36:03

Otherwise we wouldn't be telling you something that only applies to a small population, right?Because of course we need to think about that, OK, there are some all, there are some foundational principles that always apply to everyone and that it always comes back to building that foundational health.

36:19

So going back to where we started this discussion about the diet, it's so important to have a diet which is well structured and is designed specifically for you and your body.Because if you are just doing something that you see online, for example, and you are just following it for a short period of time, you can't expect to see meaningful changes.

36:41

Just as Tina said, you need to be consistent and you might even need to do a longer dieting period in order to achieve the body of your goals right or to reach your the state that you're actually looking for.And so This is why it's so important to have a well structured plan that is allowing you to stay consistent and adherent so you can stay consistent to it on every single day because every single day matters.

37:05

And it's the same with everything.With any goal that you have, there is always little tiny action steps that you can take every single day, which is taking you closer towards that goal.And if you cannot adhere to those little tiny action steps, then think about what's going to happen over a week period and over a month period and over a three month block period.

37:25

Therefore you can imagine like, OK, you then that eliminates the wondering why did I actually not achieve my goals?Because if you're not able to take little tiny action steps every single day and take off of your checklist.I managed to complete the exact amount of food that I was supposed to eat today.

37:44

I didn't overdo it.I didn't underdo it.I stayed consistent and I didn't change it based on how I felt emotionally.I stuck to the plan because I know that I have a specific goal that I'm aiming for and we are trying to override that by sticking to the plan.

38:00

And so This is why it's so important to actually have a plan that we have faith in and that we actually trust.A lot of people, they start a plan, they don't see the results within one or two weeks, and then they give up.But you need to understand that fat loss and changing your body composition in general takes time.

38:16

So in order to see any meaningful changes, you need to give your body at least one month period time.Take starting pictures at the beginning and take pictures maybe every week in the same position at the same time.You know, ideally in the morning before you have eaten any foods and you can do this so that you can actually see if you're making meaningful progress.

38:36

And the mirror doesn't lie.If you're actually seeing meaningful changes in the mirror, that means that you are on the right track.And if you stay consistent, you will be able to continue to see changes.Now, if you hit a plateau, that's a complete another story.Then maybe you need to reevaluate why did you hit a plateau?

38:52

Like what's going on?Do you need to decrease the amount that you are eating even more or do you need to reevaluate your whole strategy?Is it like healthy to keep on dieting at this rate?So This is why we actually build our fat loss diet protocol which is a very flexible diet which applies to both men and women and it even has an inbuilt exit strategy for you.

39:13

So once you actually achieve the body fat percentage that you want, you actually have an exit strategy to know how to increase your food intake gradually to prevent like excess fat gain so you can maintain the body of your dreams long term.And of course, we also offer personalized nutrition for if you want it even more personalized.

39:34

You know, if you are aiming to work, you know, to reach your goals for over a one year period, 2 year period.Because sometimes working in these small blocks is, yes, it's very useful, like a three month or six month period.But in order to fully transform your body, you do need to give your body time.

39:50

Do you have something to add to this?I love it.I love everything that you're saying.It sounds so reasonable.And one thing that came to my mind about the planning, what what you say said there, a lot of times I see that people fail because they have unrealistic expectations.So like you said, people jump on a diet and after a week they didn't, they didn't reach the goal that they were looking for and now they think the plan doesn't work.

40:12

But it really happens that way.So actually we need to pitch a.So realistic and understand that OK, I might have generated a difference within one month.Now I take the smaller blocks 1st to see actually if anything is happening, whether it's I'm following a scale in the beginning, no matter where we are at, we will see a drop on the scale you most often and and then that can diminish a little bit.

40:37

And then we have the body image, you know, on the mirror and all that.But let's see on a weekly basis are we making progress?If we are not making progress on the weekly basis, well then obviously we are not going to make progress on the longer scale either.So being realistic with both what can we expect in terms of the time and also both what's happening on a daily basis on and on a weekly basis.

41:00

So I absolutely loved everything that you said and made a lot of sense.And then I did want to touch upon a couple of fundamental things.What does it actually require from the diet for us to experience that 6 packs that we are looking for?So caloric deficit is obviously at the at the foundation because we do need to shed that extra fat from or it's not necessarily extra fat.

41:24

I don't want to vilify fat always.Obviously we need some but but we do want to get down on that fat percentage enough to be able to reveal those six pack muscles.And so caloric deficit would be 1.

41:40

And one important factor now is meal timing.Why meal timing is so important is because that allows us to adhere to the caloric deficit because here you can see how we are going to be working in alignment with our hormones, not against our hormones.

41:57

So in the daytime, in the morning tower, our body is more sensitive to fuel, especially carbs coming into the system.So it will be clever to time those core appropriately to actually support our energy and support our adherence to the diet without because we don't want to feel extreme hunger during the day.

42:19

Hunger will be part of that, but we don't want to feel like we are out of control when it comes to eating.So those would be some fundamental things.And there was one thing I wanted to touch upon which you talked about, but perhaps it's going to come later in my mind.

42:35

Yeah.So meal timing and also OK, one thing which I wanted to mention there because you said that, OK, when we, if we want to make changes to the diet, we need to think about those changes in advance.So we never want to do impulsive changes when we are on a diet.

42:50

So let's say, OK, there is a day when we didn't sleep well, we didn't here to our breakfast time or whatever.Now the lunch time comes and I am absolutely starving.I cannot think straight.I want to eat everything in front of me.So then you go to the store and you buy some candies or whatever.

43:07

Anyway, this is not how we want to operate.So always when it feels like, OK, when that impulsive action is trying to tell you what to do or that impulsive behavior, we need to try and step back a little and breathe for 10 seconds and really just calm down our nervous system before making those actions.

43:25

And this is just something that we learn over time.But it's so important to acknowledge that never eat is so that the cheat day or cheat meal for the period is decided on the moment.Absolutely, it shouldn't be.So it should always be like, OK, now I've been dieting so long that I'm feeling a little bit like lack of energy.

43:44

I can't really push at the gym, like being honest with this as well because there are other factors that play a role.But then we can decide that, OK, maybe this week it's going to be time, repeat a little.And so, yeah, these are always planned action steps which are actually help helping us getting closer to our goals.

44:04

But usually those imposive decisions are never going to take us closer.It's just something that then we feel bad about and then we feel like it's not worth it and all that.But it's always worth it just to go back on the plan, of course.And so, yeah, those are some things that.Would you have anything else in mind about the meal timing and caloric deficit for my my goal too?

44:25

Yeah.So those are really, really great tips and we actually share all of that information in our fat loss diet protocol.We help you every step of the way.So basically we have written this protocol in order to make it as easy as possible for you and to eliminate the guesswork for you to make it easy.

44:42

Because if you have an easy to follow structure with which types of foods to eat, which is the ideal fat loss foods.We specifically chose those foods for you because they are the most satiating foods, the foods that will give you energy, the foods that will give you the nutrients that you actually need and to allow you to be able to perform in the gym as well.

45:03

And so you can basically mix and match the meals.You know, we have given you different choices in order to be able to build your plate and all of the portion sizes and everything.So we have eliminated all of the guesswork for you in the follow style protocol, which you can also find in the description below.

45:20

You definitely need to check it out, especially if you're interested in getting a diet which is actually going to allow you to reach your goal.Especially if you have a goal to to lose body fat and to see a visible 6 pack.For sure you have something to add there.Before we move on, it's very important to touch on this nuanced approach as well.

45:37

Like are there any times when you actually wouldn't suggest that caloric deficit is the way to reach that goal that we are after?Because I could think of a couple of situations where it could be a little bit different.So if there is a person who has been chronically dieting and is already very lean and so and but cannot see their six pack, caloric deficit is not the way to go at that point.

46:02

Why would you think that is?Well, already if they've been going for a really long period of time, their metabolic rate is naturally lower.That's just the physiological process.It's not like necessarily a problem.Everything that occurs in the body is never against us, but it's actually the body is just doing what it's designed to do.

46:19

So obviously when you're putting in less fuel, your body is like, hey, like it's I'm having less fuel coming in and therefore I do not need to have my metabolic rate so high because if I have my metabolic rate so high, I will be burning so much energy that I won't have enough energy to carry out my cellular processes.

46:36

So if you would be in dieting for dieting for an extremely long period of time and a person is already lean as well, but they don't see the visible 6 pack, that means they need to address now the root cause of why do they not see their six pack in the 1st place?Do they not have a good training plan?

46:51

Do they not have adequate muscle mass?Is there something wrong with their hormones?And of course, most likely if someone has been, you know, pretty lean for a long period of time, they will have, you know, pretty low hormone levels in, in everything.You know, testosterone, leptin, everything will be like pretty low.

47:07

So it will be even harder to actually, you know, reach any meaningful goal in terms of even performance or even even cognitive function really, because actually our body requires some modified in order to function correctly even in the mind.And so did you want to add something there?

47:23

I wanted to add in a little bit like you mentioned, that it is a normal phenomenon by the nature that our metabolic function slows down if we are not ingesting enough calories over a certain period of time.But by design, let's be, let's think about this.

47:39

When this would happen in nature would be let's say over winter or something like this when things are slowed down anyway.So in therefore we don't even expend or try to expend so much energy all the time.So I think this could turn into an issue in a chronic in a more modern state right now because we are still expecting the same amount of workload from our body all the time.

48:05

And we are trying to push on that high gear all the time.And if our metabolic rate is low, well, how are we going to end up pushing?We are, we are going to be pushing on those cortisol and adrenal hormones.It's just not going to end up very, very nicely if this is a chronic state.

48:23

So therefore, yeah, those adjustments are by nature, but at the same time we need to acknowledge that it won't be necessarily a healthy situation in a in a modern day set up.So therefore like like you mentioned that a caloric deficit is not the answer really in that kind of situation.

48:43

If somebody is already low leptin, low low fat or chronic Dieter, then the six pack apps won't show up, at least in a sustainable way.Yeah, yeah.And even in an individual who actually has a lot of body fat to lose and they've been dieting for a long period of time, they've been doing all kinds of diets.

49:03

They're they've been rotating them.They've all the time just been restricting eating less than 1000 calories or whatever, or some, you know, some kind of extreme diet so that they find online.The issue why a lot of people don't reach their goals is because number one, you know, they can't adhere to the diet because it's too extreme.

49:20

And yeah, it's just the adherence issue and the consistency.All right?So if you're not able to stick to something long term and long enough in order to get the results as quickly as possible, therefore that demotivates you.And then you fall off track and then you jump back on track and you keep on yo-yo dieting back and forth.

49:36

So you have these massive binging States and then you go through these periods of time where you try new diets all the time thinking that it was the previous diet, it wasn't working.But what actually most diets are built upon is a calorie deficit.So if the calorie deficit is too extreme for you and your goals and, and your physical activity, then it's not going to be sustainable for you.

49:58

So again, going back to that sustainability and that consistency, super important.And in that case, if someone has a lot of body fat to lose and they've been dieting chronically, they will naturally have a low metabolic rate, even if they have quite a lot of mass on their body.But because they have fat mass, that doesn't necessarily equate to a higher metabolic rate because we know the increased muscle mass is what equates to a higher metabolic rate.

50:23

Because we burn more energy when we exercise, we burn more energy when we rest.We burn more energy in general when we do everything when we have more muscle mass.And that is what actually leads us into the next section of why it's so important to have a good resistance training program in order to achieve a visible 6 pack.

50:41

Absolutely.This is very, very important to talk about the resistance training and muscle mass.Before I dive into that, I want to mentioned that it is actually the energy availability in the system that largely influences our metabolism and our hormones.

50:56

So what I mean by that, like you mentioned that somebody can be overweight carrying a lot of Fatimas and somebody can be super lean, but they just post both are in a very compromised metabolic state because actually for some reason the body cannot track that there is energy in the system or it's not available to the system.

51:18

So yeah, yeah, to the cells.So let's move into the resistance training.Why it is so important?Because it is so important to build muscle mass.Muscle mass is our is a very metabolically demanding organ, so it really needs it sucks up that clue goes it sucks sucks up the fuel that we put in the system.

51:38

So we can actually get away with a lot when we carry more muscle mass and not necessarily at rest, but when we are okay.Of course there is minor differences, but when we are actually exerting, so when we, let's say when we go to the gym, we are now able to burn way more calories when we are lifting weights than if we had lower amount of muscle mass.

52:01

So I think this could be one reason or it is one reason I believe and why our physique just keeps improving as the years go on because we keep building that muscle and we keep doing that those hard things and now our body is more efficient with the fuel.

52:17

So that would be one reason.Oh, yeah, 100%.I mean, you touched on many factors there.The fact that actually the muscle can act like a sponge and a storage for glucose is absolutely huge because this means that we have lower circulating blood glucose, you know, which is actually helping our insulin.

52:34

And we know that if insulin is chronically high, that prevents us from burning actual body fat.So we want to be keeping our insulin levels lower on the lower side, right?And it's easier for the body to have lower insulin levels when you have something that some organ in your body which is going to suck up all of that glucose.

52:51

If we have a high carbohydrate diet, for example, and even sunlight as well, sunlight is able to transport glucose into the cells independent from insulin.So another reason why we should be in connection with nature.Again, going back to the foundation.So building muscle, sleep, a good diet and also, you know, like the sun is like super, super important.

53:12

But yeah, like as you said, that if they actually build muscle, right, because a lot of people go to the gym year after year, especially when I look around in gyms, like I see people looking the same.They haven't changed over time.And so why is that, that That's because people are not adhering to progressive overload.

53:29

So in order to have to actually build muscle, you need to give your body a reason to build muscle at the beginning.If you haven't been exercising before, in general, you're going to build muscle without even trying, just by simply touching a dumbbell.You're going to build muscle.It's going to be super easy for you.Even with like, you know, I've seen it before, even with people in the gym doing terrible techniques, they can still build muscle, which is absolutely incredible.

53:51

This is what we call the new begins.But at the beginning, the first six to first year period of anybody starting training is the most important period of your entire resistance training career.If you can take advantage of that and have a good resistance training program that is designed for your body and your goals, you can go so, so far.

54:13

And you know, because afterwards it's so much harder actually to build muscle.The process is very fast at the beginning, accelerates very quickly.Because remember the training, it's actually a stress response on the body and the body actually doesn't like resistance training.When you actually do resistance training, your body doesn't like it and therefore makes you stronger.

54:30

So it doesn't need to struggle, so it doesn't need to suffer the body, right, That controlled stressor in a controlled environment, almost like a laboratory, like a lab rat.And then we keep on getting stronger from that process, right?Eventually, even when we get to a very high level, we will even plateau on the amount of weights that we can move.

54:48

But our goal is always to keep on lifting more weight overtime or doing more reps or more sets or more of something anyway, In general, that is what we call progressive overload.But if we're not all the time doing a little bit more than the last time, even if it's just 1K more, one Rep more, a few seconds more, then you can't expect the body to keep on progressing.

55:08

And so we are going to just keep on spinning our wheels thinking in our head that oh, I'm going to the gym, I'm building muscle.Yes, we are going to be burning energy that we have stored in our muscles, but we're not going to be making any meaningful changes to our actual physique.And This is why, like through our personalized coaching and also through our Primal Core program, which is a program specifically designed for building a strong, functional and aesthetic core.

55:31

And these are exercises that we have implemented ourselves and with our client over the years that we feel are some of the most effective exercises that you can do with your body weight.So definitely check out the Primal Core program in the description below or on our website at mobilityfitness.com if you want an exercise program which is targeting specifically the core muscles, the deep core muscles.

55:54

So the core is considered everything, right, which is your lower back, your transverse abdominis, everything that you see on the outside.And your 6 pack muscles are more of the visible ones that you see on the actual surface because a lot of people think when they say core, it automatically means 6 pack or when you say 6 pack, it automatically means core.

56:12

So which I just wanted to clarify that for you.In addition to that, you should definitely be doing some resistance training program as well for the rest of the body because the higher your metabolic rate from attaining more muscle mass, which comes from resistance training, the easier time you will have in losing body fat and therefore revealing your 6 pack.

56:32

So you want to have big muscular legs, you want to have a big and muscular back, you want to have a big and muscular chest and arms.I when I say big, it doesn't mean that you need to be huge.And also for women, I don't want you to get discouraged that you need to be huge in order to see your 6 pack.

56:48

In fact, women can get very much get away with building massive legs, which everybody wants, right?They all want a nice bomb and and nice like looking upper back or whatever.So you can easily get away with building those areas of the body and increasing your metabolic massively because those areas of the body are huge areas in terms of muscle mass.

57:08

Do you have something to add to this topic?I love everything that you say and it actually makes me laugh.A little because when you say that how the newbie games are like so important and then I actually in the beginning of my training career, I missed on those 100%.I started training, but I at the same time started running.

57:24

So I was basically all the time running on an empty tank and I was basically on a coloric deficit.I was making like doing hindrance running, so long distance running.And then I was going to the gym and I probably didn't make gains at all.I probably all the time to Sprint off my muscles actually.

57:41

So it's just so important that we know what we are doing and we have a good plan from the get go and we understand what does it actually mean to make changes and when is it appropriate to appear on a caloric deficit and when is it necessary to be on a maintenance or surplus so we can make some change, you know, mosquito as well.

58:02

So it's just so important to understand what we are doing really.If we have serious goals, of course it's different to do training just for health benefits just to move our body.That's totally cool as well.But now we're talking about serious body transformation or making change in our body parts that we have always been a little bit shy about or wanted to just improve ourselves on those areas.

58:24

So yeah, I think it's just so important to understand those aspects.So thank you for no worries and actually something very.Important to mention is that that the building phase is actually the the phases where people are not dieting and they are exercising hard and progressively training and doing progressive overload are some of the most important periods in order to transform your body.

58:48

Now a lot of people may come to us and they their goal is to lose body fat and we totally get that and we appreciate and respect people's goals and we help them towards that.But in some cases, what we actually do with clients, we recommend them to not start, yeah, like a fat reducing phase due to the fact that their metabolic rate is already low based on what they are telling us how much they are eating and based on how how their body looks and how much they weigh as well.

59:14

So what we recommend in those individuals is that you actually go for a period of time of building muscle, a substantial amount of muscle, which will meaningfully increase your resting metabolic rate in general because that is the foundation of your, you know, the total amount of calories that you burn throughout the day.

59:31

So your resting metabolic rate, if it's higher, it means that your total energies of the day that your total calories of the day that you burn is going to be way higher as well, which means that you can actually ingest more food while losing body fat.And who doesn't want to ingest more food, right?

59:46

I have gone through these cycles myself personally over the years where I have done these purposeful eating as much food as possible and training as hard as possible to build as much muscle mass as I could.And then done short dieting phases to reveal my muscle mass and repeated this process years and after years.

1:00:04

And now I'm at a point where I can diet at 2000 calories, which is.OK, it's low, but it's actually not that low compared to what I needed to eat in the past in order to lose a meaningful amount of body fat.And the more experience you become, meaning you build muscle over the years and you're in the training and you can perform more, the more energy you can eat and not gain body fat.

1:00:27

And that is one of the coolest things because that means now you can get to enjoy life more.You don't feel like you're restricting at all.And this is going to make it super sustainable for you to maintain the physique that you actually for the long term.So one of the biggest things, actually one of the biggest foundations for all of this is having enough muscle mass and lean body mass really, because this is actually what increases our resting metabolic rate.

1:00:53

And we know that all of these other things that we mentioned, like our nutrition is playing into this, our circadian rhythms are playing into this, our gut health.So all of these things that we just mentioned are influencing our total metabolic rate of the day and actually how much food we can actually ingest.

1:01:10

Do we move on to the next section now?I love everything you say.Just a brief recap.Why we resist the strain or why we want to build muscle?Appearance, hormones, mitochondrial function, metabolism, I think metabolic rate.I think that's pretty.It is solid.

1:01:26

So yeah, let's move on to the next one.Next one we have marked down is sleep.Sleep is very important.It will tie into the first section where we were talking about the surrogate and rhythms.Our sleep will influence it massively.Our metabolism, you know, our insulin sensitivity, how we feel on the next day, what's our focus state, focus state and of course our stress hormones.

1:01:51

We all know that if we don't sleep well, we are more likely to run on that cortisol and we are we are going to be needing more caffeine and all that.So so that's another really good roller coaster when we actually want to lose fat and we want to adhere to our diet.

1:02:08

So sleeping will really, really make it harder for us to actually wake up in the day and have a fresh mindset that, OK, today I'm going to eat my, you know, healthy breakfast.I'm going to, you know, support my, my goals in this way.I'm going to head over to the gym after work day.No, you are actually just wanting to survive through the day and make bad decisions with food and all that.

1:02:29

So of course we can do sleepless nights.I'm not going to say that that's not possible.But over a long period of time, it's very, very hard.I have worked with many, especially in the past with many fresh moms and they all struggle, you know, doing the right.

1:02:47

What do you mean fresh fresh moms?So who have newborn?Babies and because they haven't been sleeping so well so they always struggle to make the right decisions with food for themselves, even if it's not a fat loss diet.But that all just being said, it's just that the chronic sleep deprivation will get to us.

1:03:08

So.So yeah, I think do you want to cover anything else on the sleep section?Go ahead.Yeah, I just thought of tying in like how does?Actually our light environment and what actually influences our sleep.But I already touched the point at the beginning that, you know, the the presence of artificial blue light after sunset is going to disrupt our melatonin and therefore, you know, disrupt our sleep as well.

1:03:29

But also getting enough light during the day signals to your body that it's daytime.So actually getting up with the sunrise and being outside during the day as much as possible, you don't need to actually be in the sun.But I mean, you need to be at least, you know, be exposed to the ambient light in the environment, even just with the eyes, because that's going to signal the body that, hey, just just this brightness, this massive brightness that I'm receiving from my environment is telling my body that it's daytime.

1:03:59

And so when it comes to the evening time, when we should be having more dim lighting inside our house, specifically devoid of blue light.And so basically it should be either red or amber or incandescent like a lot of people like to use.But we personally use red light bulbs.

1:04:15

We like that more and they need to be low down in position in the house and and they also be need to be pretty dim because the light intensity is informing your body and your brain what time of day it is.It's not only the color of the lights or the type of lights, whether it's blue or or red, but it's also the intensity.

1:04:33

And that is a massive factor because a lot of people are spending the majority of their time indoors, which is a very dim environment, especially if you have the windows closed, that is going to make your body feel like it's night time.And then when the night time comes, they put their artificial blue lights on, which are super bright and then their body's totally confused.

1:04:53

So now the body is thinking that it's the reverse.It thinks that it's night time during the day and it's daytime during the night.And good luck trying to fall asleep.Or I have, I know a lot of people say that, oh, I can fall asleep just fine staring at my phone in bed and, you know, watching TV, but you actually fell asleep because your body got absolutely trashed, not because you had meaningful melatonin production.

1:05:16

And so this is something very, very important to understand that high quality sleep over falling asleep because you're feeling trashed.I love this because it's actually a really.Hard conversations sometimes to have because we assume that healthy circadian rhythms just mean sleep or being able to sleep 8 hours.

1:05:35

But actually what is the what is the quality of our sleep matters so much.And I know a lot of these people actually who fall asleep with their phone and I do.I think it's detrimental understanding everything about circadian rhythms and the Physiology behind.

1:05:52

So it just seems Ms. of course, but it just seems that some of us are less sensitive to that sleep disturbance when it comes to those lights.I think it is something to do with this sort of like a shutdown state for our body when we are just bombarding it so much.

1:06:12

It's kind of like when we go through so much stress, the body just wants to collapse at some point.But yeah, but it does seem that a lot of people get away with things seemingly.But of course we know that for our Physiology is just not a healthy, healthy thing to do.

1:06:27

So, yeah, having bed ball lamps or bedtime lamps, how would you call those red lamps is quite essential because even if you have to go to the toilet in the night or something like that, not putting on the overhead blue light is so important.It's it's also important because that's really instantly disturbs our our surgeon and rhythms.

1:06:48

So, yeah.So those would be I think you covered everything.Yeah.And and basically like we're.Tying it back to the fat loss and the six pack goals, the sleep is super important because of the decision making, what it does to our our actual mindset as as you mentioned that it massively influences our hormones and our hormonal balance and our cortisol production and all of this.

1:07:08

So of course, if we are going to be dysregulated in our hormones, that's going to influence our mindset, as we mentioned at the beginning of the podcast.So again, so important to understand our relationship with nature, sunlight, darkness at night, so respecting nature really of where we actually came from as human beings.

1:07:25

Many times we try to overcomplicate things when it comes to reaching our goals, right?Especially when it comes to body goals like body composition goals.If we think about the past, our ancestors were automatically in great shape without even trying because they just lived with the laws of nature.

1:07:42

They fasted not because they wanted to fast, but because they didn't have any food.And so therefore they lost body fat automatically, right?And then they went into autophagy.That was great for detoxification and all other kinds of beneficial things that you get from that.And then also they lived, you know, in alignment with the light and dark cycles.

1:07:59

So they were only, you know, awake when it was light and they went to sleep when it was dark, you know, and the only light they were exposed that night was moonlight and fire light, which is just the fire light is obviously red and infrared.And you know, it's just only the frequencies of light, which is not going to disrupt sleep and melatonin.

1:08:16

And then they're also barefoot grounded.Another very important topic to talk about, which is or regulates our nervous system state and brings us back to a good electrical balance because our body is bioelectric, it's running on these bioelectric signals.And our modern environment unfortunately is super stressing our system out through the artificial blue lights, through the non-native electromagnetic fields, through The Dirty electricity, all the electronic devices.

1:08:41

And so it's so important to discharge a lot of that dirty electricity that we accumulate in our body and that dysregulation that occurs, that incoherence that occurs on a cellular level, bringing our body back to coherence by grounding, by being in the sunlight, by being in the elements of nature, which helps to restore coherence and cellular communication back in the body, making everything run more efficiently, including, you know, our ability to lose body fat.

1:09:08

Did we cover everything or is there something more that we needed to address?A couple of places where I want to go from this.Topic what you just covered, so we covered the cut health.I think it's good to just mention a preview about our microbiome in general, how important it is, especially because you mentioned about the crowning.

1:09:26

So our microbiome in general is influenced from our environment, not only of the food that we eat, but you know, how do we where do how, what do we interact with?Yes, really.So obviously modern housing inside indoors is just not built for those natural microbes that we would have in our environment in the nature setting, because there we just have this beautiful biodiversity in the microbiome as well or used to have, but hopefully still some left.

1:09:57

So, so yeah, immersing into the nature, taking care of our gut health will take care of our microbiome.So the reason why we wanted to touch upon the microbiome is because.Because merging evidence is suggesting other than microbes play a big role in metabolism and fat loss.

1:10:12

Yeah, that's really, really huge because when you actually.Realize that just by simply altering your microbiome, you can also influence your metabolic rate and your your processes.Your general processing in the body is absolutely mind blowing.So that is also another thing that doesn't, you know, connect.

1:10:29

You know, the color is in versus color is out.Why is someone able, you know, with the same amount of body mass, the same age, the same gender, they do the exact same amount of exercise.Why are they able to eat more food than another person next to them, which is that has the exact same data as them, you know, health status or whatever.

1:10:47

And so that just shows you that, yeah, that the bio individuality lies within the microbiome, within the mitochondrial health.So there are underlying foundational principles which need to change in order for us to actually become healthy from the inside, bringing it full circle that we actually need to influence our internal health in order to see meaningful change on the outside of our body.

1:11:11

I love it.To the final point.Stress management, I'll have to go here now after your crowning topic as well, because you mentioned about how we it's important to bring our body into harmony by being in contact with the earth and all that.But stress management is more important for the fatalist than you could eat any matching.

1:11:29

So why this would be because sometimes you see a lean individual who is just like extremely stressed all the time, but they just they can eat whatever they want and they don't gain weight.Well, that doesn't necessarily mean think that that state is something that we want to achieve because that would reflect some form of metabolic dysfunction.

1:11:49

Because stress as it is, it is a survival state, especially now we are now we're talking about chronic stress.So stress in short bowels is desirable, but stress when it becomes chronic is not so.So in a survival state, unfortunately our body is just focusing on surviving like it says in the name and it is not focusing on its metabolic functions, certain things which it's not focusing on things that are not necessary for the survival at that point, which would be hormones and healing repair got health.

1:12:27

So everything that can wait at that point, that will wait.So therefore chronic stress states would really hamper our fat loss if our goal is to have a nice physique and nice and lean, lean busy because that could also potentially lead to muscle wage based and and all that.

1:12:48

So is there something you want to talk about?Yeah.Oh yeah, I would love.It I love everything that you said there and yeah, it's so true that you know, think about it that does your body actually care about losing body fat when you're running away from a tiger?Absolutely not.

1:13:04

You know the most important thing that your body cares about is like surviving and getting away from the threat.But in this modern world, it's an imaginary threat.It's it's a threat that doesn't actually exist, but our body perceives it as a threat, right.Like for example, let's take a non-native electromagnetic fields as an example of this.

1:13:24

Of course, they are invisible to the naked eye, which makes it even more deleterious.Like the fact that, you know, we cannot see it, but it's all the time influencing our cellular health, our mental health, it's influencing so many areas of our body and it's stressing out our nervous system.

1:13:40

So our body thinks that there is a stressor or a threat in the environment constantly putting us in this fight and flight state.And so when our body is in this fight and flight state, well, obviously what hormones are associated with fight and flight, you know adrenaline, neuroadrenaline, high cortisol.

1:13:56

So and also in new system function is suppressed, you have vaso constriction in certain areas of your body.So lack of blood flow, lack of oxygenation to areas of your brain which is for critical thinking.So actually we are stuck in this very much of a tunnel vision, which is actually very, very dangerous, especially if we are trying to lose body fat because that makes us make irrational decisions and very compulsive decisions as well.

1:14:22

So in some cases, you know, as Tina mentioned, some individuals can get away with the stress state.They actually burn too much energy.So they're actually dropping body fat at a significant rate, which is actually super like unhealthy.And then there are other individuals who are just super plateaued and they're actually even gaining weight, even though they are trying, even though they're in a calorie deficit and they're actually trying to lose body fat.

1:14:47

So yeah, that's what I wanted to add there.Do you want to say something else?Yeah.And more than the person, at some point more.Than they are dropping body fat, they are actually because in a stress state we are primarily functioning on glucose.So, so if that glucose is not coming in in an abundant form, especially for that stressful situation, if the person is needing more energy, then they are obviously needing to resort to gluconeo genesis.

1:15:13

And so the next place to make those that glucose from would be amino acids.And if those are not in abundance in the environment, well then we will need to break down some of our own tissues.And that's what I was reflecting to when I was mentioning that some people experience like muscle wasting if it's like chronic, chronic stress state, especially if that glucose is just not coming in in abundance enough for that person.

1:15:40

Yeah.Thank you for bringing that back up because that was something that I.Wanted to talk about as well is the fact that imagine actually now like we we talked about through this entire podcast why it's so important to increase our metabolic rate for fat loss and there and build muscle in order to help assist increase our metabolic rate in general.

1:15:58

So imagine now if you're constantly in a stress state and you're eating away at your valuable precious muscle, you need to see muscle as an investment.You are losing your investment that you have put your time and ever in or even if you haven't had put any investment in, you don't have much muscle in the 1st place and you waste even more muscle.

1:16:16

That is really not a great state to be in because we actually want the body to be burning through the fuel that we are actually eating, not burning our muscle away, which is absolutely precious and essential, especially if we want to improve our metabolic health and we want to lose body fat.

1:16:32

I think that we covered a lot of great topics today and a lot of great areas.We covered all the foundational principles that are actually matters when it comes to losing Bodify in general, but specifically when it comes to revealing your 6 pack.We try to bring you the nuance, situations and circumstances in when you should and you shouldn't do certain things.

1:16:53

And also definitely make sure to check out the programs and the protocols that we mentioned in this podcast episode.There will be LinkedIn the description below, and so if you actually enjoyed this episode, we would really appreciate it if you left us a five star review on Spotify.You liked and commented on the video on YouTube.

1:17:09

You subscribe on there as well.And if there's any topics that you wish to see or any guests that you wish to see on the show, definitely drop a comment below and we'll we'll try to get them on the show for you.I would really love to finish on a note to just.Say, because we've been going through all these situations where it's not so optimal to be, but I just want everybody to know that it's never too late to make a change.

1:17:31

I have witnessed that in myself.I've witnessed that in so many clients that I've worked with.No matter where we are at, we can always make change.The change just has to start from within.So we need to decide that, OK, I can and I will.And we need to be able to visualize that version of ourselves where we are going.

1:17:49

That's where it starts from.But even I don't, I haven't seen a situation where it wasn't possible.So yeah, wanted to just finish on that one.So reach out to us if you have anything that you are working with when it comes to your physique and we will be happy to help and we hope it wasn't too much doom and gloom for you.

1:18:08

You know, bringing about a lot of the negative consequences of doing certain things or, you know, of modern living.But again, we at the same time we try to bring you, you know, actionable solutions as well.So hopefully you found it like super helpful and we look forward to seeing you on the next one.

1:18:24

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