Manders Mindset
Hosted by Amanda Russo, The Breathing Goddess, who is a Breathwork Detox Facilitator, Transformative Mindset Coach, and Divorce Paralegal.
Amanda's journey into mindset and empowerment began by working with children in group homes and daycares. She later transitioned to family law, helping people navigate the challenging emotions of divorce. During this time, Amanda also overcame her own weight and health challenges through strength training, meditation, yoga, reiki, and plant medicine.
Amanda also shares her personal journey, detailing how she transformed obstacles into opportunities by adopting a healthier, holistic lifestyle.
Discover practical strategies and inspiring stories that will empower you to break free from limitations and cultivate a mindset geared towards growth and positivity.
Tune in for a fun, friendly, and empowering experience that will help you become the best version of yourself.
Manders Mindset
79: Unlocking Sustainable Wellness Through Mindful Living with Ellen Weiss
Unlock the secrets to a healthier and happier life with Ellen Weiss, a health and wellness expert who's transformed countless lives with her innovative approach. You’ll hear Ellen's captivating journey from her roots in Chicago and Buffalo to her pivotal work creating employee wellness programs. Learn how Ellen's experiences in the insurance world and United Way fueled her passion for health, leading her to balance family and career seamlessly while becoming a certified health coach. Her story offers an inspiring look at achieving sustainable wellness through small, consistent lifestyle changes.
Imagine integrating mindfulness into every aspect of your life—Ellen makes it possible. This episode uncovers the philosophy of mindful eating and living, and how job satisfaction ties into overall well-being. Ellen shares actionable advice on incorporating enjoyable movement into your daily routine, emphasizing heart rate-based exercise for maximum impact.
Discover the powerful role technology plays in modern wellness programs through Ellen’s partnership with NuVita, which has revolutionized workplace wellness solutions. We explore the significant effects of work-related stress and how Ellen’s transition from health coaching to corporate wellness has driven positive change in employee productivity and happiness.
Finally, we delve into the broader impact of holistic wellness, extending benefits beyond the workplace to families. Ellen's personal success stories underscore the importance of positive reinforcement and accountability.Tune in and be inspired by Ellen’s wisdom on making small, impactful changes and building a supportive community for a healthier, more fulfilling life.
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Welcome to the Manders Mindset Podcast. Here you'll find both monologue and interviews of entrepreneurs, coaches, healers and a variety of other people where your host, amanda Russo, will discuss her own mindset and perspective and her guest's mindset and perspective on the world around us. Manders and her guests will help explain to you how shifting your mindset will shift your life. Hey guys, welcome to Manders Mindset. I'm your host.
Speaker 3:Amanda Russo and I am here today with Ellen Weiss, and she has been involved with health and wellness for many years and she's taken many certification courses, and she's also created multifaceted programs concentrating on helping employees become a better them, and I am so excited to talk with her today.
Speaker 3:She has a passion to help organizations, empower their employees and their families to become happier, healthier and more productive at work and at home, by educating them on making simple, small lifestyle habit changes for long-term sustainable results, and I love that. I love that she works with the big organizations. Especially as someone who's been a paralegal for a long time, I understand the work stress, so I love that she does that and I am here with Ellen today. Thank you so much for being here.
Speaker 4:You're very welcome. Thank you for having me, of course.
Speaker 3:So I'd love if we could backtrack and if you could tell us a little bit about your upbringing, childhood, make out of your family whereabouts you grew up. However deep you want to go, Sure, all right.
Speaker 4:Well, we'll go back to the very beginning. I was born in Chicago, illinois. I have one sister, my parents are still happily married and when I was nine years old, my father got a promotion and we moved to Buffalo, new York. So it was a little bit of an adjustment. Buffalo is a smaller city compared to Chicago, but what's great about that is that your friends really become your family and it was a very tight unit of neighbors and family friends that, in a way, really helped raise me. You know, friends were all of a sudden called aunt and uncle and my closest friends today are some of the friends that I knew while I was growing up. So that really was a great foundation for just the way that I look at life today and just really being proud of where I'm from and, you know, really trying to make the world a better place and any kind of opportunities I can to give back. I always love doing that. That's awesome.
Speaker 4:So I went to college at University of Michigan Go blue for any University of Michigan alum out there which was a great experience to go to a big school with an amazing football team, basketball team, lots of school spirit, which was something that it's like a once in a lifetime opportunity. I always say you never get anything like the four years at a university setting, so that was great. And then I met my husband when I was 20 or 21. So when it was time to decide what to do after college, he was in Buffalo going to law school. So I moved back home to Buffalo.
Speaker 4:I got my MBA in healthcare administration and marketing, mba in healthcare administration and marketing. So that's really where a lot of my interest in healthcare really started, way back when. So I finished my master's degree and I started working for an insurance company, which was a good experience, but it was a lot of sort of grinding on the phone and sales calls. And then, interestingly, I met a woman who was a fellow alum from University at Buffalo MBA program and she worked for United Way and the idea of working for a nonprofit and helping to raise money for the community it was like a dream job. I was like you can get paid for doing this and it was an amazing experience. I worked with all the movers and shakers in the Buffalo community and, yeah, it was great to be part of that team.
Speaker 3:The Buffalo community and yeah, it was great to be part of that team. Now you mentioned you got your MBA in healthcare. Were you into health growing up?
Speaker 4:I would say I was always into taking care of myself and I always sort of had an interest in exercise and movement and eating right. But I even feel like that 20, 30 years ago I feel like we didn't really know as much as we know now and we really weren't paying attention to sort of how important those small changes can be. I exercised for fun, but it wasn't. Changes can be. I exercised for fun, but it wasn't.
Speaker 3:I didn't really understand connecting the dots at that stage and now post-working for the insurance company. Yes.
Speaker 4:And then I worked for United Way and I did that for several years. And then I worked for a community center doing various sort of part-time jobs, and by this point I had both my children. So all of a sudden I was trying to balance being a wife, being a mother, working part-time and that's definitely a balancing act that I think a lot of people have to monitor and go through. And then at one point I decided to step back and just be a full-time mom, but I did continue my volunteer work. I have always had a passion for giving back, trying to make the world a better place, doing my part. So instead of being paid to do that, I just did it as a volunteer, which again is an amazing experience.
Speaker 4:And then, when my younger daughter was a junior in high school, all of a sudden I was like, okay, I felt like I was going to be losing my job as a full-time mom and I was like what's next? What can I do with my world, with my life, how can I combine all my interests? And I did a little internal audit and that's when I went back to the idea of health and wellness and taking care of myself and taking care of others and I think at that point I was feeling a little sluggish myself. I was over 40, getting that slump and not feeling the best that I could, and I was like I need to learn more, how can I take better care of myself? And that's when I started my health coaching certification. I really wanted to educate myself. And then, once I learned how easy it is and sort of some of these tricks of the trade, I wanted to share that with other people and that's when I really jumped into health coaching.
Speaker 3:Wow, that's awesome. Now I'm curious you say you did an internal audit. What did that internal audit look like?
Speaker 4:I mean I think it was just a lot of internal questioning and researching and trying to think of what I enjoy doing and how I could transfer that to some type of a career. I really believe that we should be doing things that we enjoy doing. Many of us are working it's not just nine to five anymore, it could be 6 am till 10 o'clock at night and we really need to enjoy what we're doing because it takes up a lot of our time, especially with technology, lot of our time, especially with technology. Technology is an amazing thing, but we are tied to our phones and many times tied to work seven days a week. If you're going to give something that much time and energy, you better enjoy doing what you're doing.
Speaker 3:I really like everything you said there. No, I think that's great. It's so important to become aware of, like what did you enjoy doing? It's such a basic question, but just getting curious to figure out what you actually want to spend your time doing. And I love how you mentioned most of us spend more time at work than we do anywhere else. And it's like a lot of people look at me in terms of my job situation and it's been rocky, I'm 27, but it's like I'm not going to stay at a job. I don't like. I've got my bachelor's degree, I've got experience, I've got some longer experiences, but if the job sucked, I'm not staying there. Yeah, like I had one job, my first paycheck was late, I'm done. You've got issues, I'm out. You know. It's just we've got. We only have so much time here, you know.
Speaker 3:And it's like life isn't the longest thing we do, but it's also so short, right, right.
Speaker 4:And I think it is so short, Right, Right, and I think it is. It's easy to pivot. It is a risk and you know sometimes you got to make that leap, but there are so many ways for self-improvement, for personal development, for professional development. There's so many amazing opportunities out there. You know it's like take that leap, why not?
Speaker 3:No, that's so true. So then you said you got into your health coaching certification and it taught you a lot of tricks.
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I mean basically my whole philosophy, and this continues with me today when I'm really concentrating on workplace wellness. But is this idea of mindful eating, mindful living? I don't believe in counting calories, points, carbs, I don't believe in depriving yourself of anything, because I think if you do that, if you fall down that rabbit hole, you're just going to like start backtracking. And that's when you're going to, you know, open up your pantry and start going for those Oreo cookies because they look so good. And I think the same can be said about movement and working out. You need to do what you like to do and just kind of incorporate that into your daily life and make healthy eating, healthy living, healthy moving part of your everyday schedule and part of your routine. And I think if you live that way, you'll feel better, you'll have more energy, you'll look better and that's how you'll be healthier and happier. That's my whole outlook, is that I try to help people become healthier, happier, more productive at work and at home.
Speaker 3:Okay, I like what you said there too, about doing what you like for movement. You know, I think that's something so simple that's often overlooked. Whether it's with food, whether it's with movement, if you don't enjoy something, I don't care. If everybody in the world says it's the best thing to eat to do for movement, maybe it's not for you. Like you know, there could be a food that everybody says is great. Maybe everybody thinks broccoli is great and it just doesn't sit well with your stomach. You know, yeah, yeah, what do you like?
Speaker 4:I like how you mentioned that and this program that I'm working on right now. It's for exercise. It is a heart rate based exercise program, so we use either a heart rate monitor or, if you have an Apple Watch or a Garmin. The whole premise is that if you can get your heart rate up, you don't need to be on a treadmill for two hours. You can do something for 30 minutes and just get your heart rate up. It's more productive than that two hours on a treadmill. It creates something called afterburn, which basically means that you could be burning calories all day long. So, again, figure out what you like to do and then find a way to get your heart rate up.
Speaker 4:Do you like dancing? Great, dance, get your heart rate up. Do you like jumping on a trampoline? Great, get your heart rate up. You know, maybe on a trampoline Great, get your heart rate up. You know, maybe it is walking, maybe it's hiking, maybe it's swimming, and also mix it up a little bit. Don't do the same thing every day. See what you like to do and mix it up.
Speaker 3:Okay, that's so cool. Get the heart rate up. When I first got into the fitness realm, I started doing these group bone classes and they were designed for that. They were these HIIT workouts. You'd burn a lot of calories and you're burning calories all throughout the day and that was honestly what really helped me lose a lot of my weight at the beginning. Get it like getting that whole weight up because it's burning more like as it goes, right, you know, yeah, yeah, wow, that's cool. What made you decide to create that type of program?
Speaker 4:Well, I partnered with a national company called NuVita. So when I wanted to pivot into workplace wellness, I knew that I needed a really professional platform. So that's when I found NuVita as a national company. They're my technology partner, so everything is run through an app, which is great. We like to say that I'm like your coach in your pocket, because we all carry our phones with us either in our pocket or our purse, carry our phones with us either in our pocket or our purse. So it's really kind of their program. But my philosophy is aligned with it 100%. So they kind of created it. They provide the heart rate monitor or, like I said, people can use an Apple watch or a Garmin. So part of the training was through NuVita and that's kind of what they believe in. They've done the research, they've got the science to prove it and I'm just on the ride with them promoting it.
Speaker 3:So I'd love to get into how you switched into workplace wellness. Okay, I'm health coaching.
Speaker 4:Okay, I collaborated with a local gym for about five years and I was working one-on-one or in groups and as I was kind of digging a little deeper into my client's personal stories because I always like to get to know my clients and again that really helps to connect the dots I was really learning about their stress levels and where their stress was coming from, which most of the time was from work, and then how that stress was bubbling over into their personal lives and how it was affecting their food choices, their energy levels. They didn't have, they were exhausted, they were burned out, they didn't have time to meal prep, to exercise, they weren't sleeping right. So I was like this is really interesting and I already started my journey. I was already taking my certifications in workplace wellness and executive wellness. So I've kind of just felt like, you know, maybe this area is more of my interest level, maybe this is where I should be concentrating my time and my energy.
Speaker 4:So I still do collaborate with the local gym because that's sort of my home base. But that's when I kind of looked in with to who I could partner with out there and I found NuVita and right now this is where I'm kind of concentrating. A lot of my time is researching companies and seeing what the best fit is. You know I've got a great program, so I'm hoping to find the right organizations that are looking to that really want to take seriously improving their employees' lives, because when their employees are healthier, it affects the company's bottom line. Their employees are more productive, they're more present in their job, they're eating better, they have less sick days and there's less turnover. So this is not just an issue that affects employees, it affects the business also.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no, definitely. I think that's so great. You know, there are so many health coaches nowadays and, as I am someone who's worked a lot of stressful jobs in my life, I had one job where we had a massage therapist come in one day. It was like this big special thing this law office did and there no wellness. So I think it is so needed. You know and it's not just me, like I have other funds who work in corporate jobs and this is not stuff that's happening like any type of wellness in the corporate world enough, but I think it's so crucial that you mentioned too. It's going to help the employee and it's going to help the company as a whole. It's going to help everybody, like it's going to help the employee and it's going to help the company as a whole. It's going to help everybody. It's going to help the employee at home. It'll also likely help the boss at home. It'll likely be less of a joke to his family. It's going to help everybody.
Speaker 4:And it helps their families also, because a lot of times with these employee benefits, lot of times with these employee benefits, the entire family can take advantage of this. So when I have clients, it's not just an employee, it can be an employee's spouse, significant other. They also have access to some of these benefits.
Speaker 3:Okay, so now, what are some of the benefits?
Speaker 4:We concentrate on mindful eating, making good decisions about what foods we're eating, movement. We also concentrate on stress reduction. We have a whole mindfulness program with meditation right in the app and sleep. So I really concentrate on how people can get a better night's sleep. I like to say that sleep is like your superpower, because when you get a good night's sleep, you'll have more energy to eat better, move better and handle stress better.
Speaker 3:That's true. That is so cool, though Meditations and sleep all right in the app. I love that, and what type of organizations have you partnered with?
Speaker 4:I like to work with local companies. I like to support again the local community but my program is virtual so I really can work with a company located any place. I always say I can work with anybody from anywhere because it is all virtual. So if I have an opportunity to work with a client anywhere from California to New England I can do that.
Speaker 3:What would you say is your favorite part about this app and all these features?
Speaker 4:I think my favorite part is really seeing people see the results. I just had a client that I worked with, for she started out just in my typical six-week program. She signed up for a second program, so I worked with her for a total of 12 weeks and she lost about 20 pounds. More important than that, she felt better about herself. Her self-esteem was higher, she had more energy, she was a better mom, she was a better wife, she was a better employee. So hearing her stories was the greatest part Seeing her happier and seeing the results that it worked.
Speaker 4:She was my perfect student. All she had to do was post pictures of her food. Like I said, we don't count calories, carbs or points. All they have to do is take a picture and then I can see what they're eating. I can give them feedback. They're accountable to themselves and I can also be their accountability coach. And then same thing with working out. All they have to do is wear the heart rate monitor or sync their Apple Watch. I get to see how they're working out and on a daily basis I'm giving them motivation, I'm giving them positive feedback and if I feel that maybe they're slacking a little bit, I really give them encouragement. It's all positive reinforcement. I just keep them going back on track and she was my ideal student. It was great work with her.
Speaker 3:Okay, and now? So they post pictures of the food. And when you say you give them feedback, what kind of feedback?
Speaker 4:So let's say I can tell they're eating a salad for lunch with lots of healthy vegetables, lots of colors. I would just give them like a thumbs up, like great job. That looks like an amazing salad. Love all the colors, that's what we need, a rainbow of colors. Those are all antioxidants.
Speaker 4:Or if maybe they posted a picture that they had some pizza and chicken wings for lunch, I'd be like, okay, you know, this must have been a special treat. You deserve it. You deserve to kind of give yourself a little treat today. But what's for dinner? What are you going to have for dinner tonight? I want to make sure that you've got lean protein, healthy carbs, some vegetables. I can't wait to see what your dinner plate looks like. So hopefully that little reminder brings them back on track and then they'll jump right back on the program.
Speaker 4:So the whole program is sort of like that 80-20 philosophy where if they make healthy decisions 80% of the time, they can treat themselves 20% of the time and they can still be successful with this program. So yes, you can have some pizza and some chicken wings, you can have a glass of wine, you can have a slice of chocolate cake, and put that picture up. I'm not going to make anybody feel guilty. I don't believe in that. I don't believe in the word cheat, I believe in the word treat. So, yes, it's a treat, but let's get back on the schedule. Let's get back on it tomorrow. Show me what's for breakfast tomorrow. If you had a chocolate cake when you went out for dinner last night, I hope it was a great celebration. So let's get back on it tomorrow.
Speaker 3:Okay, I really like your approach there. It's not like negative, but it is also that little. Here's a little reminder, by the way are we having protein for dinner? But in a nice way, you know, but also giving them the accountability as well, not just letting them oh, you deserve the treat, you know? Still giving that accountability. Yeah no, you said you don't believe in the word cheat, but you believe in the word treat. What would you say is the difference?
Speaker 4:Well, I mean, I think the word cheat is a negative word. I mean, if you think of all the things that could be cheating, it's a negative. I don't want anyone living with any kind of negativity in their life. But you know what? We all deserve a treat. We all deserve a little square of chocolate or a glass of wine, or agarita or some chips, whatever. So treat yourself, because I don't believe in any kind of deprivation and there's lots of diets out there that do that and people they're on that bandwagon, which is fine For some people.
Speaker 4:They can live with those restrictions. There are some people out there that need those really strict boundaries. But I think there's a lot of people that when you create a lot of restrictions, one day they're going to wake up and they're just going to rebel. That's when they're going to be like forget this. They're going to turn off the app, they're not going to post their pictures anymore, and then I can't help them, I can't keep them accountable unless we are in good communication. So yeah, I mean we all deserve a treat, why not? Life is too busy, Life is too complex. We need to treat ourselves once in a while.
Speaker 3:I really liked your explanation of that Because you know cheat does sound like a negative word because, honestly, even outside of food, when I heard you say it I thought of either protein or on a test and either which way, it's not a good thing. I agree that we do all deserve the treat. You know life's short. We're not getting the days back right now. Do you do the 80 20 approach for yourself?
Speaker 4:oh, I definitely do. I participate in this program right along with my clients. They get to see how I'm doing and I share how I'm doing and I share my pictures. There are times where they can see, we can see each other. It's called a leaderboard so you can choose to see how everyone else is doing. But that's not mandatory really does create team building and we all encourage each other. We're all there to support each other.
Speaker 4:I like that 80-20 philosophy where I try to eat a really simple, healthy breakfast. I usually have a salad for lunch with some kind of lean protein. If I'm gonna go out for dinner, I'm gonna treat myself. That's where maybe I'm gonna have a salad for lunch with some kind of lean protein. If I'm going to go out for dinner, I'm going to treat myself. That's where maybe I'm going to have a glass of wine, a steak, maybe dessert, and then the next morning I'll get back up and that's when I have my protein shake for breakfast, because that I know exactly what I'm eating. So, yeah, that's. I try to live it and work it just like everybody else.
Speaker 3:Okay, awesome. Now you mentioned morning and I love to transition and touch a little bit upon your mornings. Do you have a morning routine, morning ritual that you follow?
Speaker 4:I do. I actually follow a program where I wake up in the morning and it is I start my day by doing just a short meditation. It's something I have on my phone, it's two or three minutes. I do journaling, I try to do some kind of movement in the morning. I also try to read a little bit of either personal or professional development and again, this whole process takes me anywhere from 15 to 20 minutes and it just kind of sets my day off. It really helps me start with a positive mindset. It clears my mind.
Speaker 4:I kind of feel like the worst thing we can do is wake up in the morning and get right on that computer because it's so overwhelming. So I try to start my day slowly with 15, 20 minutes of deep breathing and sometimes my meditation is just that. It could just be listening to a song and doing some deep breathing, clearing my mind. I do try to journal, write some thoughts, and this is just free writing. It could be what are my goals for the day, what do I want to accomplish? And then you know I'm kind of ready to start.
Speaker 3:Okay, Now have you always had a morning routine like this?
Speaker 4:No, it's something that I really started a few years ago. Someone suggested this specific way of how to start your morning with the idea of some type of meditation, which they call silence. Doing some type of movement, writing, reading, just following certain steps, is just a nice way to start the day with a positive outlook and kind of feel better about yourself and feel better about the world around you.
Speaker 3:That's great, and now I like how you mentioned it's only about 15 minutes, because it's something you can do quickly. Okay, now do you follow an order for?
Speaker 4:these I usually start with kind of the meditation. It just kind of automatically relaxes me. There's a certain song that I like to listen to. I just love the words and it kind of empowers me. It's called we Rise and I just love listening to it and I just close my eyes and I listen to the words and I do some deep breathing and that's my meditation. And again, you know, there's people, some people can meditate for an hour, can sit in total silence for an hour, and I mean that's amazing. I just personally can't do that. So I feel like if I do like a little something, I'm still doing it. I'm still getting that benefit of sort of clearing my mind, doing some positive visualization. Doing some positive visualization I believe a lot in positive affirmations and just repeating some of those mantras, it starts my day off the right way.
Speaker 3:I gotcha, and I really like how you've mentioned basically like finding what works for you. The hour long meditation is too much for you but you can do a two, three-minute one and it still sets you up for a more clear day. You know, finding what works for you, even with movement, with food, like what works for you, and even just testing that Now I also. I like how you gave so many different examples of movement. I have a mini trampoline in my living room. So like whatever works for you, like there's ways to do it. You don't have to go to the gym and lift weights. I do go to strength training, but I say that to people all the time Moving your body will change your mind mentally, even outside of the physical benefits. It will also change you internally and I witnessed this firsthand when I first ever got involved in fitness before I lost any weight. I was in a pretty toxic living situation with my boyfriend at the time and my mental headspace got simply better just from moving, like moving my body before.
Speaker 4:I lost any weight when we become physically stronger. I mean, lifting weights is amazing and again, you can lift, you know, two pound weights, five pound weights, whatever it is. But if you become physically stronger, I think you're also emotionally stronger, mentally stronger. I think it's all connected. I mean, personally, I love working out outside. I mean personally, I love working out outside. You know, I'm lucky enough to be in Arizona in the wintertime, so my weather is really nice and I try to get outside as much as I can.
Speaker 4:I think being out in nature is also like just so good for you, breathing that fresh air and looking at the surroundings. So that's another thing that I encourage. Like you know, if you usually go to the gym, if that's sort of your routine, great. I mean, there's lots of amazing things you can do in a gym lift weights, you know, get on a bike, whatever the gym has to offer. But again, mix it up a little bit. Go for a walk outside at sunrise or at sunset and just take a look at nature and the miracles that are surrounding us and see how you feel afterwards that's so true.
Speaker 3:I love that, yeah, no, I think that's so true. Even getting outside and getting the sunlight, you know so many. We're surrounded by so many screens these days, whether it's the phones, computers, like they're everywhere. So, like that, natural sunlight is key and I really like how you mentioned switching it up, you know, even even just to see how it changes your internal state, even if it doesn't change physically. You know, know, like seeing what it does for you.
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3:Now you mentioned how you're very into mindful eating and you're not into tracking the calories or the carbs. Have you always been into?
Speaker 4:mindful eating? I think so. I mean, I always kind of researched calories and trying to see, okay, what's the average number of calories that I should be having a day. But for me even that was too complex, I didn't really understand it and it just was too complicated and it wasn't something that I could stick with on a daily basis. So again, I just kind of started to learn, okay, what's healthy, what should we be eating? And you know what? It's really simple. We should be eating fresh fruits and vegetables, lean protein, healthy carbs.
Speaker 4:You know, try not to eat anything that comes from a box. You know they say like you know, when you go to the grocery store, try to stay within the perimeter of the grocery store. So, if you can visualize your grocery store, start with the produce, go get some dairy or non dairy products, but try to stay away from those aisles in the middle of the grocery store where you're going to find your chips and your cookies and your ice cream. You can still treat yourself. I'm going to repeat that. You can still do it, but just don't have your entire grocery cart with those type of ingredients. And you know what? It's been proven that if you take some of that sugary products out of your diet. All of a sudden, the strawberries taste sweeter. All of a sudden, when you have like a sweet craving, you're going to be just as happy having a strawberry or a banana or an apple, the candy bar or whatever else.
Speaker 3:I really like how you mentioned it was just too hard for you to stick with, you know, and it's just realistic because it is for some people like it's complex carbs, fats, protein, like there's a lot, and then the micronutrients, you know, I I think it's crucial, like just finding what works for you. There's a way to mindfully eat, to eat healthy, to have a healthy body, physically, mentally, emotionally and you don't have to overwhelm yourself by crazily tracking whether it's calories, whether it's weighing food, whatever that may be. You know, finding the way that works for you.
Speaker 4:And I think we can all be successful if we stay accountable. I always say go get an accountability buddy and that could be a friend. Enter this journey with someone else. If you feel like you need a coach there are plenty of health coaches out there. I think that's also something really helpful. Sometimes you need someone that's unbiased, that isn't part of your own personal world, but having that accountability can be really helpful for someone.
Speaker 3:I completely agree, because you've got like almost that extra set of eyes looking at your life from a different lens you know, whereas they might see things that you're not, or even the people close to you are not you know, so I think that's crucial. Now I am curious. A lot of my guests throughout their lives have had what I call an aha moment. Would you have had any big aha moments in your life, what I call an aha moment Would you have?
Speaker 4:had any big aha moments in your life? I would say the biggest aha moment was when my daughter was going to college and I had to make that first pivot. I was out of the workforce for many years. The world has changed but I did. It changed but I did it. I made that leap. My first certification program. It was a self-paced program. I did it at my own pace but I did it and I accomplished it and I got that certification and I felt great about myself and then I really had the self-confidence to put myself out there and to see what I could do next. So I think we all need to pivot once in a while and go for it. Why not take a risk? Ask for support. I always say that also to do things alone, friend. Any kind of helper that's out there. If you're struggling, if you're not sure what your next step in life should be, ask someone for help. We shouldn't be afraid or embarrassed to ask for help.
Speaker 3:I love everything you just said there. I love how you mentioned about the baby steps too, because we've got to start somewhere and know and I emphasize that a lot with exercising and nutrition. I used to be pretty overweight. At my heaviest I was 185 pounds and I'm only five feet, so I'm little. Now.
Speaker 3:When I first started my fitness journey, I didn't change my food right away and I had a trainer say to me you can't do that. I'm like listen, I've never worked out before. You think I'm just going to change this whole identity, change my food, eat better, go to the. It's not going to stick. It's not going to stick. I said, listen, I'm going to work out, I'm going to build this regimen and then I'm going to change my food. I lost 30 pounds in three months without changing any food. All I added was more water. You got to stout somewhere, stouting small. It also gives you that mindset of you're not setting yourself up for failure or disappointment. Could I have maybe done it all? Maybe I could have, but in my head I didn't think I could.
Speaker 3:Right.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and we need those small wins to carry us through to the next step. We want to feel successful, that we're making progress and that's defined differently for different people but with baby steps, one step in the right direction, one foot in front of the other, one small change, you know. Let's get those wins, let's accomplish our goals and let's take those goals and make them reachable into smaller steps.
Speaker 3:Yes, I love that and I really like how you mentioned too about pivoting. You know, I think my generation is very flexible with the pivoting my mom's generation and the older generation not as much so, because some of my family thinks interestingly of me with my job situation. But I think it's so important to pivot, like our interests, change what we want, change we experience different things, so it's like we're changing as people. So why shouldn't we pivot our lives, you know?
Speaker 4:Yeah, and I think with technology it is easier to pivot these days compared to 20, 30, 40, 50 years ago If you want to make some type of a professional change. I mean, there's so many like online courses, things that you can kind of do on the side to help you make that next step, to make you more prepared for what else is out there.
Speaker 3:That's really true. I also really like how you mentioned about asking for support, because I think a lot of people, a lot of people don't. I know I am one that I just go about my day, go through my thing and it's just. But we often need people to be there for us, even in the small things. You know, it's like it doesn't make you any weaker by asking for support or asking people for help.
Speaker 4:No, and again, those small challenges that we all have. You can handle those small things, but if you start to pile up all those small stressors, whatever they are, day after day, I mean, that's when you may have a real big challenge. So I think it's better to recognize and to deal with our smaller issues when we can, instead of waiting for them to become too overwhelming.
Speaker 3:That is a really good point Dealing with it before it becomes something bigger to deal with down the line. I agree, you know, I think it's really important even just being more aware of that, more mindful all around of what's going through your head, your thoughts, expressing them, even, like you mentioned journaling, maybe that's expressing them with journaling or expressing them to people. People like getting it.
Speaker 4:Definitely Part of journaling is what they call like a brain dump, like get all those thoughts out of your head, write them down and they can be negative thoughts or they can be positive thoughts, you know, and when you see them on paper they become more real and you can kind of learn and figure out how to deal with it. So yeah, get those thoughts out of your head, figure out how you can deal with it and, if it's too overwhelming, find someone to help you.
Speaker 3:I agree. Well, that's beautiful. Thank you so much. You're welcome. Have you heard of a man named Jay Shetty? I mean, it sounds very familiar. He's an author. He's got a podcast, his podcast on POPUS. He ends with two segments and I stole them from him and I incorporated them to mine, but I give him credit by mentioning him. Good, the first segment is called the Many Sides to Us. There's five questions and they need to be answered in one word each Okay. Number one what is one word someone who was meeting you for the first time would use to describe you Friendly? Number two what is one word that someone who knows you extremely well would use to describe you? Caring? Number three what is one word you'd use to describe yourself? A tough one you'd use to describe yourself.
Speaker 4:It's a tough one.
Speaker 3:Compassionate. Okay, For what it's worth. Everyone has a tough time with describing themselves Everybody. Number four what is one word that if someone who didn't like you or agree with your mindset would use to describe you? Open Number five what is one word you're embodying right now?
Speaker 4:I'm just going to say love.
Speaker 3:Okay, now the second segment is the final five, and there's five questions and they can be answered in up to a sentence. What is the best advice you've heard or received?
Speaker 4:Go for it, take a chance.
Speaker 3:Okay.
Speaker 4:Why is that the best? Because, like, why not? You know there are challenges out there, try it, don't be afraid of obstacles in the way, and I just kind of feel like a lot of that is my philosophy Take it one step at a time, but go for it. Why not?
Speaker 3:That's true. What is the worst advice you've heard or received?
Speaker 4:Like don't do it, you can't do it, anything kind of negative.
Speaker 3:Put up those roadblocks okay, what is something that you used to value that you no longer value?
Speaker 4:that's a really tough one. I mean, I think I don't value like material items as much as I used to. You know I'm not into name brands or spending a lot of money on myself. I think I would rather share that with other people than spend it on myself.
Speaker 3:If you could describe what you would want your legacy to be what would you want it to say?
Speaker 4:She did her best to make the world a better place for everybody.
Speaker 3:Okay, If you could create one law in the world that everyone had to follow what would it be?
Speaker 4:And I want to know why. Oh, this is another tough one. Oh, I mean, I wish there was just like a law about kindness, just being kind to our neighbors, our friends, strangers, you know, just like that do unto others like you would want them to do to you. It's sort of like that golden rule that I feel we are really not practicing as much as we used to. So I think that kindness can really solve a lot of problems.
Speaker 3:I agree, I agree. Now I have one more question for you. This is for me, not Jay Shetty, but if you happen to have the attention of the whole world for five minutes, what would you say? So?
Speaker 4:what I would say is take care of yourself, Just like when you're on an airplane and you need to put the oxygen mask on yourself before you put it on your loved ones. I think we need to take care of ourselves, our body, our mind, our soul. And I think when we take better care of ourselves, we are more equipped to take care of those around us, to take care of our family, our friends, our community, the greater world. But it does start with ourselves. I think we need to take a really hard look at ourself and how we are living our life, what kind of an example we are for those around us, for our children, for our grandchildren, for every generation. And I think if we can improve our own life in some way, it's easier to help those around us some way it's easier to help those around us.
Speaker 3:I like how you mentioned the oxygen mask on the airplane. I've actually heard that from a few guests and prior to starting a podcast, I've never heard people compare like you got to put yourself first. It's like on the airplane, but it makes a lot of sense. Yeah, it makes a lot of sense, because if you can't breathe, you can't help anybody else either. That's right. Well, thank you so much for speaking with me. I really appreciate it.
Speaker 4:You're welcome. This was great, what a great opportunity to spend an hour with you. So thank you.
Speaker 3:And now, where can the listeners connect with you?
Speaker 4:So you can find me on Facebook, at Ellen Romer Weiss, also on LinkedIn. Those are the two social networks that I'm most active on. Feel free to look me up, send me a message, say hello, and if I can help you in any way, I would love to support anyone out there trying to live their best life, to become a better you, their best life to become a better you, to move better, to eat better, to feel better, handle stress better. And if you can become a better you, I think the whole world can become better.
Speaker 3:I love that. Thank you so much, and I will link Ellen's contact info in the show notes so you guys can connect with her directly. And is there any final words you want to leave the listeners with?
Speaker 4:I guess my only words out there are first of all, thank you. Thank you for spending an hour with me and with Amanda. I know that our lives are so busy, but what's great about podcasts is that you can be listening to this as you're walking or hiking or doing whatever you're doing, and you know, let's all work together to make the world a better place. Let's? There's so much that we can do. There's so much that we can accomplish.
Speaker 3:So let's do it, and let's do it together. Well, thank you guys for tuning in to another episode of Mando's Mindset.
Speaker 2:In case no one told you today, I'm proud of you, I'm booting for you and you got this, as always. If you enjoyed the show, I would really appreciate it if you would leave me a five star rating, leave a review and share it with anyone you think would benefit from this. And don't forget you are only one mindset. Shift away from shifting your life. Thanks, guys, Until next time.
