Forked

Episode #6 Crystal Champagne. Give yourself the grace to allow yourself to be a beginner.

Our thoughts can elevate us but they can also be very destructive. We need to learn self love so that we can be a better witness to our uniqueness. Once we learn to be more in harmony with how we see ourselves, we can silence the internal dialogue that perpetually echoes self doubt. As we embrace our imperfections and understand that we can never be perfect; we can begin to change and embark on a journey of fulfillment and growth. 

In this episode we’ll discuss: 

 

• How we self sabotage. Not just with health and fitness goals, but also in how we show up to the world. 
• We really can discover where the self sabotage comes from in our internal voice. 
• How procrastination is caused by the pressure we put on ourselves to have the perfect outcome. 
• The striving for perfection can have its root cause in the sense that we don’t feel like we’re enough. 
• Letting go of our internal judge and the fear of being judged by others. 
• Self love is the root of self acceptance and letting go of self shame. 
• Meditation and recognizing the monkey brain in our head. 
• How do we navigate Social media and stop comparing ourselves to others. 
• The importance of treating ourselves the way we treat the people we love. 
• We recognize low self esteem as a precursor to perfectionistic behaviour, and possibly leading to procrastination. 
• Give yourself the grace to allow yourself to be a beginner. 

You can connect with Crystal at: 

Her coaching site,

http://www.bodyconfidencemethod.com

Her gym, 

https://www.santekorwestisland.com

On Instagram,

https://instagram.com/crystal_champagne?igshid=5ikl4lsgx79o

Check out the incredible certification Crystal completed. https://www.crystalandrusmorissette.com/Home

 

 

 

 

Episode #5 with Rudy Leger. Personal fitness coach and vegan bodybuilder

Intro: Forked podcast welcomes Rudy Leger. Rudy is a personal trainer, athletic therapist, and vegan bodybuilder.

00:02:30 We acknowledge that the goal of this podcast is not in any way to propose that a vegan diet is for everyone. There are many ways to practice healthy eating but we simply want to talk about some key issues around a vegan diet. I briefly mention that I have more recently switched to a primarily vegetarian diet and I’ve found it to have significant health benefits. 

00:04:00 We discuss Rudys bodybuilding debut as a practitioner of the vegan diet. His observations were that he found there to be more variety in this approach as opposed to a standard bodybuilders diet. He placed 2nd in his category and qualified for Toronto nationals next year. 

00:07:00 We take a detour in the conversation to discuss the early passing of his mother. Sadly, two years ago, Rudy lost his mother to breast cancer. He found this period changed his outlook on human health. His mothers passing was instrumental in him taking his own health more seriously. Rudys father was not present in his family’s life and he had no brothers or sisters. When he lost his mother he found himself very much alone. This was a very dark period for him. At only 25 years old he was having to navigate his life with literally no family at all. 

00:11:33 Rudy talks about refocussing on helping others. Part of his turnaround was his realization that no matter what we go through, someone else has gone through it as well. 

00:17:30 We return to the discussion of nutrition. It really is a myth that being on a good nutrition plan is limiting. Once we commit to our health and start to eat more wholesome foods, we must inevitably cook more and explore new types of food. To rely on a standard American diet that is generally composed of animal proteins and processed food is in itself quite limiting. Rudy mentions that simply starting a diet plan that cuts out processed foods is already a great step in the right direction. 

00:23:30 Sustainability of a good dietary practice. Most healthy diets are very sustainable. Eating  a plant based diet is highly sustainable and ecologically friendly. 

https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/78/3/660S/4690010

00:25:00 We get into practical advice, such as: the right amount of protein in our diets, omega 3’s on a vegan diet, and do vegans get adequate vitamin B-12? 

When constructing a nutrition plan for someone we need to always consider the 2 main components which are the macro nutrients ( proteins, fats, and carbohydrates), and the micro nutrients ( vitamins, minerals, and water). 

I ask his opinion on how many times it is best to eat in a day? Eg. Eating 3 times per day, or multiple times per day? Rudys feelings are that focusing on quality of meals is more important than the quantity. The decision to eat fewer or more times in the day however, is more dependant on the individual and their particular needs and goals.

I talk about the importance of people investing a bit of their money into hiring a personal trainer who can help them to better understand their individual needs. This is money well spent and will affect, save people money in the long run. 

The question of how can a vegan get adequate omega 3 fatty acids in their diet. To keep it simple just think of omega 3’s as “healthy fats”. Best sources of omega 3’s in a vegan diet are Flax seeds, chia, hemp, walnuts, and most other nuts and seeds. 

As far as B-12 is concerned, this is simply resolved by consuming a B-12 supplement. 

Here is an absolutely excellent Peer Reviewed article that coincides with the question and Rudys response. It’s a bit technical and a deep dive but if you wish to scroll to the conclusion in the article, please do so. You will get the gist of the content. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK396513/

We discuss the consumption of soy protein. I myself, consume significant amounts of soy protein and joke with Rudy to go easy and not burst my bubble. It is very easy today to cherry pic the science on this macro nutrient. The division in opinions and studies should be clear evidence as to the fact that it is more a matter of opinion than it is of science. It is very safe to say that soy has neither curative properties nor harmful. It can simply be seen as a plant based alternative for protein. Very low in calories and carbohydrates, while very high in fibre. 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1480510/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3074428/

Final questions:

00:38:00 I ask Rudy where he sees himself in the future. What is his blissful state of being? He replies by saying that he prefers to take each day as it presents itself. Always trying to help people and enjoying the process as he goes. Dealing with the loss of his mother has taught him to try and live in the moment. 

Contact Rudy @ https://www.instagram.com/rude_boi_91/

Special shout out to  Prestige gym https://www.instagram.com/explore/locations/241789229/prestige-fitness/

 

 

 

Forked Fridays. Nacho Cheese and Slurpees

A recent article that I read, was titled; "Millennials are consuming ungodly amounts of nacho cheese and slurpees. 

This is mainly due to the fact that 11% of the grocery shopping of millennials is being done in convenience stores and gas stations. This will continue as a trend and we will begin to see these destinations start to cater more to the needs of this fast pace generation. In fact, many gas stations and convenience stores are beginning to carry fruit, and other more healthy choices. For now it will be hot dogs, nachos and cheese; but soon organic products will hit the shelves and help this awesome generation to have better choices. 

Anabel Carrasquel Episode #4 Dream big and the power of mindset in building a small business.

Intro: Forked podcast welcomes Anabel Carrasquel, owner and creator of the brand ChuchayBanana. 

00:01:00 Anabel is in fact my wife and my intention was to always have her as a first interview. Her determination to always work through major life obstacles makes her a perfect guest for Forked podcast. Holding a full time corporate job, going to the gym, and building her start up business has made sitting down with her quite a challenge. 

00:02:00 I’m anxious to share the valuable information for people who may be contemplating starting a small business, or are in the beginning of their journey as a business owner. I thought, who better than to sit down with than someone who is in the early start of seeing their efforts start to take flight? Chuchaybanana is definitely getting off the ground and this makes for very exciting times for an entrepreneur. 

00:03:00 We kick off by trying to make the case that we can have busy lives but still start a new business project. Anabel holds a management position in an insurance company that takes a great deal of her productive hours in a given day. 

Anabel shares how she discovered her initial interest in creating beautiful bracelets and her initial curiosity into starting her small business. 

00:05:30  We discuss the origins of the unique name; Chuchaybanana. It stems from an early nick name that was given to Anabel and her close friend. They liked to sew and create clothing together, and Anabel’s sister would jokingly call them Chuchaybanana, as a play on the brand name, Dolce & Gabbana. The name just stuck and she kept the name. 

00:06:30 Anabel tells us that she never really though of this as a real business. It started more as a curiosity do develop a new hobby. From the curiosity of the hobby, she began to do more research into creating high quality bracelets. What started as a seemingly simple process, she became more aware of the complexity. The beads, elastics, connectors, glue, and charms; all had unique properties that needed to be understood in order to create a high quality affordable finished product. 

00:07:30 The start of the actual process of selling her product started from people seeing her bracelets in the work place and among friends. Its origins really were from word of mouth and direct contact. The niche started to reveal itself as people were seeking more custom designs. 

00:09:00 From the fun and love of just creating bracelets that people adored, Anabel began to think of how she could share the happiness that her creations were bringing to her life. As a Venezuelan immigrant, she came up with the idea to share the joy with children back in her country. The first event was a fun day at the pool with lunch and ice cream. They were children who never have access to clubs with pools. The second event was to provide a fun day with soup and delicious sandwiches on the last day of school. The events became Anabel’s fuel to grow the business, so that she could continue to help the young underprivileged children.

00:12:00 we discuss the importance of putting your energy into your passion. Things that we love to do will help us to weather the storms and frustrations that can come with starting a business. When you are truly passionate about what you are doing, you will always find the time to do what is necessary. Working on your business after you work on your job. Many times we have to put other things that we may want to do aside so that we can work on our business.  The conversation moves toward the importance of small daily disciplines that are key in growing ourselves and mindset for business. 

00:19:00 Anabel gives some advice to people who may be thinking about staring a small business. First, we need to find something we really like. This can only be discovered by trying something new. You have to get out of habitual patters. Get out there and see if people like what you have, so much, that they are ready to pay for it. We always need to dream and see a better future for ourselves. Anabel, as a first generation immigrant, came to Canada, not speaking both English or French. She goes on to explain how it is very important for immigrants to integrate into the culture of the country they immigrate to, in order to open more potential for opportunity. 

00:22:30 Anabel talks about the importance of always being in expansion mode. Always be growing and do things that encourage personal development. Try to use time efficiently. She raises a very valid point that if our start up process is not yielding money, we absolutely must work in some sort of job to make the money to support us while we are trying to grow. We have to do some things that we may not want to do while we are working on our dreams. 

( Here is an excellent article from Forbes that covers much of what Anabel is sharing from her experience.)

https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikekappel/2017/07/12/10-tips-for-starting-a-small-business-that-you-havent-heard-a-thousand-times-already/#61571bbb6e19

00:25:30 By reinvesting small profits back into Chuchaybanana, Anabel has been able to have higher profitability to the point that she is now able to say she can take some of those profits as earnings. 

Anabel shares her personal development practices with us. She is focusing on studying “Think and grow rich”. She as well, follows the coaching of Bob Proctor. In the past 30 days she has been highly disciplined with the daily rituals encouraged from the methods of Bob Proctor and Napoleon Hill’s, Think and grow rich. She has always been fairly disciplined but has remarked that in order to get to the next level, she must build superior discipline for great daily practices.

00:29:00 We go more into depth of daily rituals of starting with the basics. Going to the gym, morning meditation, and focusing on mindset. We have to walk before we can run. The things we do when no one is watching are deeply important. 

Here is how to reach Anabel:

Facebook  https://www.facebook.com/chuchaybanana/?epa=SEARCH_BOX

Instagram  https://www.instagram.com/chuchaybanana/

Website https://www.chuchaybanana.com

 

 

Episode #3 With Luca Santalucia. A 20 year old bodybuilders mindset for greatness

Intro: Forked podcast welcomes Luca Santalucia. We discuss both of our excitement to finally sit together and do this podcast. 

 

00:01:15 We talk about Luca’s branded rubber bracelets inscribed; Win the day #teamsantalucia. His original idea was to create some branded hoodies and t-shirts. This all happened while he was in prep for his upcoming bodybuilding competition. With everything that was going on he felt he didn’t have the creative energy to get the clothing line done so he went for the bracelets. 

 

00:02:20 Luca talks about his vision board that he keeps in his room where he writes down his goals and ideas. When he started his prep for competition, his first thoughts he wrote on the board were, “win the day”. Prep is about 17 weeks and with such tough days ahead, he feels it is important to take it one day at a time. I acknowledge the importance of writing down our goals and we are more likely to reach them if they are written down.

 

00:03:45 Luca shares his fascination with people who are passionate about following their dreams. People who do things with great skill, capture his attention and he always asks himself what it is about these people who take their craft to the next level. 

 

00:06:45 He talks about the satisfaction of coming to competition day and feeling that he’s at his best. He finished first in the junior category. Second place in both classic physique and middle weight body building. 

 

00:08:30 We discuss Lucas days as a boy and how sports has always been a part of his life. He acknowledges his parents as being a big influence ,as they are very active in physical fitness. 

 

00:09:30 The surprise diagnosis of Lucas irregular heart condition. He was rushed to emergency with his resting heart rate at 260 beats per min. Remember that 60 beats per min is the average. He underwent surgery to correct the condition. Following a 6 hour surgery, he was informed that the surgery was a complete success. Within one week he was able to get back to the gym and train. Due to the renewed efficiency of his heart, he felt great new energy. 

 

00:16:00 Once more, we return to discuss the importance of writing down our goals, be around like minded people, and the role of Lucas parents in his life. 

 

00:16:45 Luca explains his belief that the prepping for a competition is a detox. The analogy is that, things that are not meant to be in your life will be removed during your prep for competition. One needs to take the goal so seriously, that things that only interfere in your life have no place, and will detract from your accomplishments. 

 

00:17:15 Luca explains precisely what a prep for competition entails. The meal prep, training, and the whole lead up to the show. 

 

00:18:00 We discuss what one needs to give up in their life in order to succeed. Lucas response is that you need to go into competition with a “what ever it takes” attitude. 

 

00:20:30 Body building is a 24/7 sport. 

 

00:22:15 How bodybuilding effects relationships. I ask Luca how he deals with public judgements of bodybuilders. The social repercussions of the strict lifestyle of a bodybuilder. 

 

00:25:30 If you show people that you’re serious about your goals, they will support you. If they see us as not taking our goals seriously, it’s hard for them to take our goals seriously as well. 

 

00:26:30 Luca drops the most amazing expression when describing doubters. He says “first they ask why, then they ask how”. 

 

00:28:00 we recount Lucas keys for success. 

1. Write down your goals and keep them visible. 
2. Surround yourself with like minded people.
3. Have a goal so clear that doubters can’t distract you from attaining them. 

 

00:28:45 Advice to people who are trying to get fit but find themselves around family and friends who may tempt them off of their path toward betterment. Luca says that we need to make the goal bigger than ourselves. 

 

00:32:00 How does Luca take on such major commitments and not give up? What are his habits? How does he control his mindset?

 

00:34:00 The importance of bringing our best self forward influences how people will support us in our goals. Luca talks about how he wasn’t always kind during his preparation for competition. He says that his sport is a selfish sport and he is learning from this.

 

00:36:30 Luca opens up about the diagnosis of his sisters incurable illness (spastic paraplegia: read more about the condition https://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/all-disorders/hereditary-spastic-paraplegia-information-page ) his grandmothers diagnosis with cancer, and additionally his own challenges with his competition. Guilt became a more pervasive mood because of his feelings of being selfish about chasing his dreams. He is proud that he still didn’t turn his back on his goals. 

 

00:39:30 Gratitude became a driving factor in his journey to competition. 

 

00:42:00 I ask Luca how he sees his future best life? What is his true bliss. He says he first needs to become his best self before he can give his best to anyone. If he can’t succeed, he can’t give back to the world in the way he hopes he can. 

 

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/lucasantalucia/

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/luca.santalucia.5

 

Shout out to Prestige Fitness

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/PrestigeFitnessOfficial/

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/explore/locations/241789229/prestige-fitness/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Episode# 2 with Michel Babin on starting a successful fitness business

Forked podcast introduces Michel Babin; personal trainer, strength conditioning coach, athletic therapist, osteopath and naturopath. He has been working in the health and fitness industry for 12 years. 

Worked in the maritimes and moved to Montreal 6 years ago, to start his fitness business. 

He shares his 3 keys to being a successful personal trainer. 

1. You need clients to like you and you need to be someone who people can connect with easily.     

2. you need to get results with your clients. It will entice others to want to work with you through referrals. 

3. The experience of your session must be fun and motivational. 

00:04:00 I ask Michel what his feelings are on working with clients who are not getting results; working with clients who don’t want to commit to the full process. Are we willing to let go of a client who isn’t getting results? Isn’t it more important to keep working with a client, as exercising still has major health benefits even if the results aren’t necessarily there? 

00:07:00 Michels response to this is that the client inevitably must take accountability for the results they have. The trainer however must probe into the underlying reasons this client may not be getting results. Are they not being truthful about nutrition habits?  or are they being inconsistent with exercise? 

Michel states clearly that if you are doing the right steps you will get results. 

00:08:00 We discuss Michels interesting looking green liquid he showed up to the recording with. It is his vegetable powder supplement that he consumes regularly. His belief is that we don’t get enough nutrients in our diet especially considering the depleted nutrient values of fruits and vegetables that have been sitting in warehouses and store shelves. 

00:08:45 I ask Michel the big question about letting go of a client due to lack of results. Is this really a good idea especially in the beginning of our career when client scarcity is a problem and we are having financial struggles? 

Michel has never let go of a client. He takes his accountability, in that he he digs deep to find out why they aren’t getting results. He expects clients to be honest and recognize their own behaviour. Also he cautions us with pushing too many changes on people at once. Start with one or two changes. Let some cheating occur and work step by step. 

00:10:30 With Michels extensive background, I’m curious if his multidisciplinary approach helps in weathering the storms of change that are inevitably a part of business. 

His response is that it has certainly helped him to be more flexible in his approach to building his client base. 

20:00 Building our fitness business can’t always be smooth. I ask Michel about the transitions that were difficult and what prompted change in the direction of his practice? After experiencing the restrictions of working in a large corporate gym, he knew that he wanted to move toward something that gave him more freedom. 

He was able to rise to the top of his personal training business in the maritimes after branching off on his own. 

21:30 Michel moved to Montreal to be with his girlfriend. This began his efforts to build his business in a new city.

22:30 we recognize the importance of our partners in supporting us in our efforts. We give a big shout out to his girlfriend Veronique Cassey who works in Radio oncology at the Montreal children’s hospital . 

26:00 We discuss the challenges of starting over again from scratch. How do we rebuild our network? 

28:30 the pain of not earning money at the startup phase of our business. Having faith in our process and having gratitude. 

34:00 when we find ourselves doing jobs that test our determination to follow our dream. We can’t always leave the job we would like to leave. We need to transition,  respecting that we have responsibilities. 

40:00 we discuss the importance of purpose on our journey. Purpose helps to dictate the direction when we come to forks in our path. 

To find what our purpose can be, we can look to our past and try to recall the things that we loved and could spend endless time doing. Sometimes the hardest moments we went through can reveal what our purpose may be. Learning from our pain. 

48:00 coming from a small town and adjusting to the less friendly side of a bigger city. 

49:00 final words of weathering change and bringing your most flexible attitude forward. 

Get in touch with Michel Babin on Facebook. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Episode#1 With Matt Socholotiuk MMA, Boxing, athletics, self reinvention, and never giving up.

Opening: Forked podcast welcomes Matt Socholotiuk. He is a truly inspiring man. He’s 30 years old from Brantford Ontario. He moved to Montreal Quebec in 2013 with the intention of starting his fighting career in mixed martial arts. He is presently a personal trainer and boxing coach. He intends to open his own gym in the near future.

00:02:00 I jump right into the question of how Matt is able to reinvent himself so quickly and over come major career obstacles. He’s a guy that just doesn’t stay down.
His response is that he feels that having people who support you is a critical element. We also need to be ready to adapt and be flexible to the challenges that we encounter. Allow yourself to evolve and be flexible.

00:03:00 Matt shares his pre Montreal journey with us. His first major life challenge began when he was playing football for the university of Waterloo when he was 21 years old. He was tested positive for steroids and human growth hormone. He was the first Canadian football player to be tested positive for human growth hormone. Following his suspension, was when he came to Montreal. He previously boxed and wrestled in the summer months so his departure from Waterloo was to try his hand at MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) in Montreal.

00:05:00 He shares the background story that led up to his decision to take steroids and growth hormone for enhanced performance.

00:10:00 Matt helps us to understand what motivates him to duplicate success in multiple areas of performance. After his suspension from football, he rose to a high level ranking in the arena of MMA (mixed martial arts).

00:11:00 we inevitably touch on the topic of his tattoos and he tells us what they mean to him. His tattoos are very reflective of his moods.

00:12:30 Crisis is not solved by just reading a quote. It can take us to dark places that can be very difficult to emerge from.

00:13:00 The crisis of lost identity when we depart from something that was very meaningful to us.
He is a firm believer that we have to live through the emotional upheaval and experience it. We should never suppress our emotions.

00:15:30 How does Matt stay away from negative thinking? Hard work and being busy is a major key to keeping his mind in a positive place.

00:20:00 we discuss how Matt’s outward image is not an obstacle to his networking. He is able to connect to people rapidly and get past their first visual impression.

00:22:00 how do we move beyond the story of our past and allow a new paradigm to emerge?

00:23:30 we discuss the interview he had when he was suspended from Waterloo. The interview was highly judgemental yet Matt composed himself and maintained composure despite his anger.

00:27:00 we discuss the importance of building a solid reputation. Rebuilding a damaged reputation can be a painful path. Matt discusses how it is critical to owing the mess ups we make and also have people around us who support us.

00:32:30 what ways can we develop ourselves outside of the trendy and more popular norms?

00:33:30 we talk about spirituality and if Matt practices a spiritual life.

00:36:00 final departing words. Matt’s future ambitions and what’s coming up in the next 5 years. He looks forward to opening his own boxing gym and training studio.

00:38:30 final advice to people who are feeling trapped and not knowing where to start.

You can connect with Matt on Instagram. @ boxing_trainer_mtl