Rodsquad Women's Fitness Rod and Kate Cortizo

True or false? Muscle forms the foundation of your metabolism and acts as your body's protective shield. FALSE! It’s not the foundation, it’s everything. (So this one is actually true). 

You have to gain muscle to reverse muscle loss. 
Rod explained, "Where does fat actually go when we lose weight?"
Why is muscle critical for fat loss? 

Muscle is the physical location of fat burning. The more muscle you have, the more fat you can burn! 
Do I need to cut out red meat to help with fitness and fat loss? No! 
It's important to note - Just because you look healthy, doesn’t mean you are. 
As Rod always says, some of the most overweight people are simply malnourished. They're overconsuming calories because they're hungry for nutrition, and the most popular foods in the American diet lack nutrition.
Should you eat Kellogg’s for dinner? Food companies hire dietitians and doctors to say it’s healthy. It is absolutely not! 
Should you take an ice bath after working out to improve recovery? NO. Rod explained why inflammation is not always a bad thing! Inflammation is actually healthy as you recover from workouts and grow healthy strong muscles. 
Processed foods are the enemy.

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Happy New Year! This episode is all about your success mindset as it relates to all areas of your life including fitness, career, relationships, finances and more. 

Quotes discussed: 

"The successful warrior is the average man with laser-like focus." - Bruce Lee 
As Rod says, pick your battles and focus on the low hanging fruits that will be realistic for you to implement. In business, it's wise to focus on what you really enjoy and you're good at, and delegate the rest. As we always hear, "jack of all trades, master of none." If you try to do too much, you won't do anything at an exceptional level. And EXCEPTIONAL is what we're striving for! We talked about how we're living in the most distracted culture in history. Focus is often the one thing that separates some of the most successful people in the world from the rest of the population. "You just can't beat the person who never gives up." - Babe Ruth
Unfortunately we're in a culture of quitting, but if you never give up, you'll eventually accomplish your goal. Beware that your brain is trying to keep you safe in your familiar comfort zone. No matter how badly you might think you want to accomplish something, if it's not aligned with your identity, you might sabotage your own progress along the way. Make sure by the end of this year that you've accomplished your biggest goals instead of having to put them on the list again. Be careful with your identity. If you've been overweight since childhood, being overweight is your identity. Stepping outside of that identity will be very challenging and you'll be susceptible to self sabotage. "We have way more opportunities than we need or deserve." -Rod 
"Obsessed is what lazy people call focused people." 

"Nobody who ever gave his best regretted it." - George Halas
"The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be." - Ralph Waldo Emerson
"Your body can stand almost anything. It's your mind that you have to convince."

In this new podcast episode titled "What To Look For In A New Fitness Program in 2024," Rod and Kate give out some major pointers to help you in your quest for better health and fitness in the new year! 

Momentum is so powerful! If you've already been working out, don't stop. Try not to take breaks, if at all possible.

Look for a program that is female specific, so you don’t have to worry about getting bulky.
It's ideal to choose a program with a one on one level of service, or a very small group environment, to reduce your chance of injury.
Beware of red flags! You don’t want to lose weight quickly because that means you’re losing muscle and water (not just fat), and damaging your metabolism. This is a warning sign that you’ll gain all the weight back and more. 

When choosing any diet or fitness program, you want to be sure that it won't require you to do anything unrealistic or unsustainable in the long term. If it does, your results will not last when you go back to your normal life.
It's a big red flag if a program requires you to cut out any food groups (i.e. stop eating meat, carbs, fats, etc)
Choose a trainer that’s already where you want to be, or an expert at working with the type of woman you are or want to be. 
Choose a program that encompasses the full picture - nutrition and exercise. 
But at the same time, something is better than nothing. Don’t let perfection be the enemy of progress. 
Be honest with yourself about your starting point. The ideal exercise program at 50 years of age is very different from what you could tolerate at 25. 
"Weight lifting is a relationship that you’re building with your muscles! It's a communication. Don't yell at them, because they’ll hurt back." -Rod
If you’re not planning to become a body builder or physique competitor, that’s not who you want to take advice from. 
Select a fitness program that is focused on muscle development, since more muscle equates to a significantly lower risk of disease and death.
The very best fitness programs come with nutrition included, and some form of accountability. 

In this episode, Rod and Kate Cortizo talk about the lies we tell ourselves in the form of excuses as to why we can't accomplish whatever we want in life.
In this episode we covered some of the most common excuses we hear, why they are not correct and how to overcome them. 
“I don’t eat enough.” “I don’t have enough time.” “My metabolism is damaged or slow.”“I have bad genetics.” “My hormones are too messed up/ crazy.” Rod detailed a few easy changes you could make to lose weight without noticing in the next year.
As a reminder, you have choices. Contrary to what you might tell yourself or what society may lead you to believe (the victim mentality is all too prevalent), YOU are in control of the results you get, regardless of the challenges that truly arise. 


Rod used the example of eating 2 apples vs 1 tablespoon of oil. Regardless of the type of oil, they’re all the same in calories. Which one will make you more full and therefore end up consuming less calories?

The higher the volume the fewer the calories vs the higher the calories the lower volume.. Rod explained this concept which is the premise behind his nutrition methodology.

Don't cheat on yourself! We explained why cheat days don’t work.

And finally, a brief reminder about the importance of advocating for your own health. Never leave it up to your doctor or any "professional" to figure out.

Click here to ask a question on Instagram: @rodsquad_boca

How to reset if you've fallen off the wagon this summer... It's easy to get off track when the kids are out of school, there's lots of travel, etc.

What is Rod's #1 nutrition tip? Eat more lean protein, fruits and vegetables.
This one tip - increasing your protein intake - can be the catalyst to help you lose countless pounds, improve appetite control and increase lean muscle tone.

Don't try to cut things out of your diet! Instead, ADD more nutrition. Eat more natural foods - lean protein, fruits and vegetables. You will easily become more full, satisfied and in control.

Just because you're thin, doesn't mean you're healthy. Lack of muscle is the biggest indicator of aging. Muscle is also the biggest indicator of longevity (or lack thereof). Muscle loss is one of the biggest indicators of all cause mortality. Muscle loss also leads to sarcopenia, osteopenia and osteoporosis.

Building muscle is the best way to defy gravity! The answer to everything health related is muscle. Muscle is the organ of youth. By the age of 80, you will have lost 50% of your muscle mass to aging.

Consistency trumps intensity. Look for gradual results and enjoy the process.

If you think about it, the same things that will give you ideal body composition are the same things that will give you better health.

Eat more fruits and vegetables and lean protein so you can eat less of the garbage. Lifting is good for your bones, hormones, blood sugar, brain, confidence.

"Beware of the woman who keeps making progress on the back squat. She's gonna take over the world." -Rod Cortizo, owner/ founder of Rodsquad Women's Fitness

Everything you do to improve your body composition will also improve your health.

Sleep is important because when you workout, you create the healthy damage to the muscle cells but when you're sleeping, that's when the cells rebuild and the muscle actually grows.

Lifting weight is the key to bone mass.

The media and social media attempts to confuse us because then we're easy prey.

You have to be your own doctor/ your own health advocate. We all have to be very proactive about your own health! You cannot blindly trust your healthcare providers. The doctors are so focused on treating symptoms, not causes. You need to adapt a healthy lifestyle as preventative medicine.

To summarize, here's the formula to get healthy and fit this fall:
1. Eat more lean protein, fruits and vegetables.
2. Build muscle.
3. Be your own health advocate.
4. Adopt a long term mindset.

You cannot lose more than 1% of your body fat per week. You can lose a lot more weight, but then you're losing water and muscle.

Muscle is the organ of youth!

Please send us a message on Instagram with any questions: @rodsquad_boca

And please share this episode with a friend! 

As a follow up to episode 60, where we discussed the truth about erythritol, which is contrary to popular media headlines, we wanted to explain exactly how misinformation spreads like wildfire across the internet.

Kate gives a brief overview on how search engines like google work, where social influencers get their information and who is really writing the articles you're consuming and accepting as fact.

Remember, YOU are responsible for your own health. YOU have to be your own advocate.

Click here to check us out in Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/rodsquad_boca/

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