#WeGotGoals by aSweatLife aSweatLife

Just a quick content warning: on this episode and in this post, we’re going to be discussing eating disorders and diets. If that’s not a topic you’re ready to listen to, skip this one and come back. We get it.We're in our second week of our deep dive into diet culture on our podcast, #WeGotGoals. And this week, we're speaking to Judith Matz, LCSW, ACSW. In terms of our deep dive, think of this episode as an intro to what diet culture is and a 101 on how to get out of it.Judith Matz is a therapist and nationally recognized speaker on the topics of diet culture, binge eating, emotional eating, body image, and weight stigma. She has her own journey with dieting and she shares on the episode how she inevitably broke up with her scale and made a professional choice to dedicate her professional life to undoing what diets have done to human beings.Matz is the co-author of the books The Diet Survivor’s Handbook (https://www.amazon.com/Diet-Survivors-Handbook-Acceptance-Self-Care/dp/1402205449) and Beyond a Shadow of a Diet (https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Shadow-Diet-Comprehensive-Compulsive/dp/0415639743/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8). She also co-created two card decks that are meant to make an anti-diet and body positive lifestyle more accessible - The Making Peace with Food (https://judithmatz.com/books/the-making-peace-with-food-card-deck/) card deck and the Body Positivity (https://judithmatz.com/books/the-body-positivity-card-deck/) card deck. We looked to her for her expertise in diets and diet culture for us. Read that as, I asked the stupid questions so you don't have to.You’ll hear her define a diet as “Any time you make a change in how you eat for the purpose of weight loss.” I’ve been reading anti-diet books in public this month as I prepare for these interviews, and I’ve heard from a lot of people about their systems that aren’t diets - they're more like do’s and don’ts. According to Matz, your system is a diet if you're doing it to lose weight. And you’ll also hear her define diet culture, which might as well be, “well, it’s in the air you breathe,” but for the purpose of this conversation, it’s “a belief that thinness is a moral virtue and thinness is health. Therefore, it’s worth doing anything to achieve that status and when you get to that status, you’ll be happier and healthier.”So, as we dive deeper, I’m convinced that diet culture is basically the matrix - our minds are so occupied with the illusion in front of us that if we just lose weight, we’ll have the life of our dreams. We’re so occupied, in fact, that we’re willing to ignore the fact that you’ll hear from several experts this month on diets and diet culture. Diets simply do not work.As Matz puts it, there’s only a 3-5% chance that a diet will work - and there isn’t a single program or plan that has the research to support sustained weight loss over 2-5 years. Resources:* Judith Matz has a private practice in the Chicago area, which you can learn more about at www.judithmatz.com (http://www.judithmatz.com/) * Follow Matz on Instagram @judmatz (https://www.instagram.com/judmatz/)* Matz's book The Diet Survivor's handbook (https://judithmatz.com/books/diet-survivors-handbook/)is a good place to start if you're breaking out of diets - she reminds you that you haven't failed at diets - they've failed you.* Matz goes through her Making Peace with Food (https://judithmatz.com/books/the-making-peace-with-food-card-deck/) card deck in our conversation* You'll hear Matz mention the book

[Content warning: In this post and the podcast episode, we're going to discuss THC. If you're not yet 21 years old, your brain isn't fully developed - wait for that and then try THC responsibly if you feel like it. If you don't want to hear us talk about THC, just skip to the next episode.]When I was in high school, my entry point to cannabis - like anyone who graduated from high school in the early aughts - was strictly illicit. There was a guy named Sky who always had really strong weed - what one who may not know better would call "good." I was pretty straight laced in high school, but I would have done anything for him to notice me. So, one night I smoked his very strong weed and spiraled into a brain tornado of my parents being disappointed in me. I mean, we also finally made out that night, but you weigh the good against the bad, and I'd say this was still a net-negative.Until recreational cannabis was legalized in Illinois, that was my framework: THC turns your brain into your worst anxieties until it wears off. "No, thank you," I'd say.Enter our team's cannabis sherpa, Marie Goodman, who explained dosing, the entourage effect (when you consume THC and CBD at the same time), and also introduced us all to Cann (https://www.drinkcann.com/). Cann bills itself as a micro-dosed social tonic. These beverages have 2 mg of THC and 4 mg of CBD, which are infused in beverages with adult and fancy flavors like Lemon Lavender, Blood Orange Cardamom, and Grapefruit Rosemary.Jake Bullock, co-founder and CEO of Cann explained that the flavors are designed to be interesting, but they also lead with the familiar. You know what blood orange is, but you might not know what cardamom tastes like, which allows it to feel familiar, but also adventurous.And for reference, 2 mg of THC is like a 4 on a scale of 1-100 and sky's weed was a 99. Bullock says that this is for a very specific reason: so you can consume cannabis like you would alcohol. Have a drink or two for a restrained evening or a few more to level up your buzz.And Bullock's frame of reference for cannabis is a little different from mine, you'll hear him explain that in the episode. He grew up in Colorado, the first state to legalize recreational use, and that fact was in the back of his mind as he pursued his MBA at Stanford. He knew early on that he wanted to make cannabis more social and unlock the potential of infusing THC into beverages. And that's what he worked on while he was at school, the early prototype of Cann.His co-founder and friend from their days at Bain and Company, Luke Anderson tried the product early. Bullock recalls him saying, "Make this or I will." So his friend and an early believer became a co-founder.On the episode, you'll also hear Bullock talk about - in very loose terms - his excitement for on-premise consumption and the creation of "the bar of the future." Honestly, nothing gets me more excited than the idea of a bar where I can hear you talk and I don't have to scream, "WHAT?" constantly.And as Cann marches towards the future, they have some big-name believers. The Goop Queen herself Gwyneth Paltrow invested an undisclosed amount along with Rebel Wilson, Ruby Rose, Darren Criss and Baron Davis (https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cann-the-first-cannabis-infused-social-tonic-announces-investment-led-by-celebrity-power-players-including-gwyneth-paltrow-rebel-wilson-ruby-rose-darren-criss-baron-davis-and-more-301162829.html) when the group closed a funding round in late 2020.Resources:* Find Cann at your local dispensary (https://www.drinkcann.com/find-a-cann/)*

Have you ever had a conversation with your mother or your grandmother about her experiences with menopause? Chances are, if you're identify as a man or if you haven't neared menopause yet, the answer is "no." I had my first conversation with my mom ...

"If we have children, we risk pay cuts from our sponsors during pregnancy and afterward. It’s one example of a sports industry where the rules are still mostly made for and by men." - Allyson Felix.
 
In the 250 episodes of our podcast, #WeGotGoals, we've had some really interesting goal-getters on the airwaves. We interview wellness entrepreneurs, athletes, and authors who fit in aSweatLife's view of wellness. We're focused on the things that add to your life and happiness, by the way, not the things that make you fixate on becoming less.
And among those high achievers that we've interviewed, Allyson Felix was our 33rd episode. The episode aired in December of 2017, which she later revealed in a New York Times opinion piece was the beginning of an incredibly tumultuous time for her career.
Her contract with Nike was up and she was in the process of negotiating a new contract.
She'd also decided to have a family - a challenging decision for any human being, let alone a working mom, let alone working mom in one of the careers that wasn't offering any financial or legal protections for women - a professional, sponsored athlete. And so, while she was in the midst of contract negotiations, she was pregnant, which put her at a disadvantage. As she put it, "Despite all my victories, Nike wanted to pay me 70 percent less than before."
Felix believed that her desire to have a family shouldn't be the end of her career as a professional athlete, so the negotiations stalled when she asked for specific guarantees around that. In case you missed it, Felix signed with Athleta as the brand's first sponsored athlete in July of 2019 and the contract included "full protection during maternity." (https://www.si.com/olympics/2019/07/31/allyson-felix-athleta-sponsorship-nike-maternity-leave-policy)
All of that is background as we think about this time capsule of what Felix told us in this episode: she wanted to get to the Tokyo Olympics in 2020. We now know that the games would be held in 2021 because of a global pandemic.
So if we stop to think about everything she had to overcome to get to the games and achieve her goal, it's staggering. Being without a sponsor for a year and a half, racing while hiding a pregnancy, recovering from pregnancy and a traumatic birthing experience that led her to stand up for all Black moms, who are at a greater risk of death during childbirth (https://www.today.com/parents/allyson-felix-olympic-star-traumatic-birth-experience-t188436), and a global pandemic that pushed her age at the time of the Olympics from 34- to 35-years-old, which was a tie with the oldest female medalist in track, Evelyn Ashford (https://usopm.org/evelyn-ashford/).
 
 
So as you listen to the episode, keep all of that in mind. She's casually stating her goals, while wave after wave of "no you can't" and "it's impossible" are coming for her. She simply does not possess an ounce of quit.
Oh and by the way, at the time of this interview, she had 9 Olympic medals and she left Tokyo with enough medals to bring her Olympic total up to 15. That'll show 'em.
And as a footnote, since Felix and a multitude of other brave female athletes spoke out, brands have changed their policies for female athletes in droves and smaller brands are presenting new opportunities for these athletes (http://nytimes.com/2021/07/30/business/female-athletes-sponsorship-apparel.html). Nike is among them (https://www.si.com/olympics/2019/08/16/nike-contract-reduction-pregnancy-protection-athlete-maternity-leave).
So,

If you follow us on Instagram (you really should follow us on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/asweatlife/)), we've been sharing the stories of ambassadors from all over as they set and achieve their goals. And as we close the ambassador application today (at the time of publication), we wanted to celebrate some of the stories of our ambassadors. The program focuses on goals because we believe that seeing other humans say the things they want to achieve and celebrating each other along the way is incredibly powerful for your own belief that you can do big things. It also makes for a really incredible community that has your back.
Oh and by-the-by, you can apply until the end of the day today. You should definitely apply (https://asweatlife.com/2022-ambassadors/).
On this episode, you'll hear people who set and achieved goals to move, to launch creative projects, to build their families, and to change careers. And we love hearing how different each one of these goal-getters looked at her goals and how she went about achieving them.
You'll also hear how the pandemic changed career goals and sped up goals to move across the country.
Here's who we talked to:

* Kelly Matkovich (https://www.instagram.com/kellymatkovich/) shared what it's been like to be an ambassador who eventually joined our team full time and how the pandemic sped up her move to Colorado
* Hanna Cetkovic (https://www.instagram.com/hannamargarete/)shares how her goals have shifted after accomplishing things like advancing in her career, buying a home and getting her MBA to one focused on relationships and her fertility journey.
* Kensli Diggs (https://www.instagram.com/kenslidiggs/)notes how her career, life and family have all shifted and she's been able to focuse on creative projects like her #DiversityinWellness
* Follow Jax Turyna (https://www.instagram.com/jaxturyna/) on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/jaxturyna/) and watch as she launches her new career as a Holistic Health Coach


If you love this episode as much as we do, subscribe to the #WeGotGoals podcast wherever you like to listen to podcasts, including on Apple (https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/wegotgoals/id1210945574?mt=2) and Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/16z2ie90dGUbXE0oWKdp8k?si=_xRYS77rSsCGpxrLkDdziQ) (and leave us a rating while you’re at it, please).

Think back to the most stressful time in your life. What were your coping strategies? What good habits were the first to go as you struggled to stay afloat? Did your evening reading take a backseat to Below Deck reruns, or maybe you shut yourself off from your friends instead of seeking their support?
It all sounds familiar, right? (And maybe, just maybe, those examples are from my own personal life.) In times of stress, our reactions are probably to crawl inward, to take the easiest way out, and to avoid anything that feels like extra work. But what if that's the exact opposite of what we should be doing?
That's what Dr. Samantha Boardman and I talked about in today's podcast episode. In her new book, Everyday Vitality: How to Turn Stress Into Strength, Dr. Boardman shares science-backed strategies for building resilience and vitality—that sense of aliveness and energy that makes you feel like a human being. According to Dr. Boardman, that vitality comes from connection with others, engaging in challenging experiences, and finding a sense of purpose in something beyond yourself. With actionable advice rooted in positive psychology, this book is chock-full of ways to add a little energy to your life, especially in times of major stress.
All that is a very wordy way to say this: this book sums up the things we've been talking about at aSweatLife for a very, very long time (especially the chapters on human connection).
In this podcast episode, you'll hear Dr. Boardman talk about how getting fired by a patient changed her career trajectory, why looking at her phone less was a major past goal of hers, and her current process goal of doing 20 minutes of yoga, three times a week.
Resources:


* Buy Everyday Vitality on Amazon (https://amzn.to/3zgjBBw) or Bookshop.org (https://bookshop.org/a/20616/9780735222274)
* Find Dr. Boardman's website here (https://positiveprescription.com/)
* Follow Dr. Boardman on Instagram @positive_prescription (https://www.instagram.com/positive_prescription/) and on Twitter @sambmd (https://twitter.com/sambmd)
* The article mentioned from aSweatLife.com: Do Virtual Friendships Have As Much Value As IRL Friendships? (https://asweatlife.com/2021/07/virtual-friendships/)