Ep. 26: The Evolution of Beauty Standards

The Fed+Fit Podcast | Nurturing a Healthy Mindset for a Healthy Lifestyle

We’re back with our 26th episode of the Fed+Fit Podcast! Remember to check back every Monday for a new episode and be sure to subscribe on iTunes!

Find us HERE on iTunes and be sure to “subscribe.”

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Episode 26 Topics:

• Enrollment to the Fed+Fit Project is now open for the July group. Register HERE.
• The power of make-up
• Beauty defined
• The history of beauty
• What true beauty means today
• Post workout meal ideas
• No weight body movement workout ideas

We would LOVE some feedback, so feel free to leave a review in iTunes, comment below, or even give us a shout on social media!

Ep. 26: The Evolution of Beauty Standards

This is the Fed and Fit podcast starting your week off with motivational thoughts on real food and fun fitness activities with Cassy Joy Garcia and co-host, Charissa Talbot. Remember our disclaimer; the information and opinions shared in this podcast are solely those of any given individual, and not a substitute for medical advice. Here are the ladies.

Today we’re going to talk about the evolution of beauty standards, what true beauty really means today, some post workout meal ideas, and another no equipment body weight exercise that you can do anywhere.

1. Cassy’s News Real [1:50]
2. Charissa’s News Real [3:43]
3. Today’s topic: Beauty [10:25]
4. The history of beauty [13:56]
5. Common thread/takeaway [28:54]
6. Fed and Fit: what’s in-season and group classes [32:30]
7. Fit: Bodyweight exercise [35:49]

Cassy Joy: Good morning everybody! Cassy and Charissa back with another episode of the Fed and Fit podcast. Good morning Charissa!

Charissa Talbot: Good morning Cassy.

Cassy Joy: So, today we have decided we’re switching a couple of things up. Instead of Girl Chat, we’re going to call it the News Real. How do you feel about that?

Charissa Talbot: I love it. It’s our newsreel.

Cassy Joy: It is.

Charissa Talbot: Stuff we want to talk about. And I feel like it opens us up to a few things I want to talk about today, too, so I think it’s kind of cool. I like the News Real. We’ll try it out. Let us know if you guys like it.

Cassy Joy: Yeah. Let us know if you like it. We’ve been reading your reviews in iTunes, really appreciate them all. We’ve been lucky so far, you guys have given us all 5 stars; we’re so flattered! That’s so nice.

Charissa Talbot: Amazing! So nice, thank you guys.

1. Cassy’s News Real [1:50]

Cassy Joy: So nice. But we’re taking your feedback and we’re going to keep incorporating that. So keep those reviews coming. So today on my newsreel, I’ve got my top 3. Number one, the podcasts are now transcribed, you guys! So if you are driving or listening while you wash the dishes, and you hear something that you like or you want to go back and reread, you don’t have to listen to the whole episode all over again. You can just pull up the show notes and scroll to the bottom for the complete transcription. I hope you really enjoy that. I think the lady who is doing out transcriptions is really talented, so I think you’ll enjoy that.

Number 2; I’m going to start posting more recipes on social media, so watch out for those. And feel free to share them if you like. When I first started out as a blogger, we only posted recipes on our blogs. There was not an Instagram, and Facebook was very different than it is now, and I’ve just realized that I can reach more of you guys with these health recipes by posting them on social media. And at the end of the day, I just want to help as many people as possible eat better. If they happen to eventually land on my website and subscribe to my newsletter; which, FYI is what us bloggers really want, is for you to sign up for our newsletters! Then that’s great. But at the end of the day, all I want for you guys is to really feel empowered in your food and fitness and lifestyle choices. So be on the lookout for more of those.

My third update is that enrollment in the July Project, Fed and Fit Project, is now open! It kicks off on Monday, July 6th for all interested parties. It keeps getting better and better. And remember that when you are a member, you will get updates to all future stuff, so it’s essentially a lifetime membership. We’ll provide a link to that enrollment page in the show notes. And that’s it for me! That’ was pretty quick!

2. Charissa’s News Real [3:43]

Charissa Talbot: Very quick. Very exciting. So, my newsreel is I am doing something I should have done probably 2.5 years ago. I really don’t know why it took me so long to do it. Even though I never has seen it as anything that’s blocked me, I really think it has. Sometimes we stand in our own way, and we don’t even realize it. Sometimes we just don’t pay attention to all the signals in the universe or, I don’t know. Sometimes there are things that you don’t think about that could be blocking you. So if you’re having a hard time moving into a different phase in your life, or getting past something, or working your way through something, physical objects around you can make a big impact, even though we’re like, well that really doesn’t matter.

I’ll explain what I’m talking about. Some of you may know, I used to be married. I got divorced, and we had our rings tattooed on our fingers. And I went yesterday and had my first session of laser tattoo removal.

Cassy Joy: Oh my gosh, how cool!

Charissa Talbot: Which, I will tell you, it’s very strange for me because when I left there, I just had this, I don’t know. It was like this weird feeling of, I’m so glad I’m doing this. I felt empowered. I don’t know, it’s just weird. It was nothing that ever bothered me, because once it’s lost its significance it was just this thing on my finger. I don’t know; it made me realize, maybe it’s just been a long time coming. So I’m really happy. Let me tell you, it’s painful. Tattoo removal is not fun. But totally worth it when it’s something like that. So, it just made me think about, maybe you have some objects in your home are still connected to things that just weren’t healthy, or maybe things that were toxic for you; there’s no reason to keep those.

Cassy Joy: Like a pair of, I’ll bring it back around, maybe a pair of blue jeans that you wore in high school.

Charissa Talbot: Right!

Cassy Joy: Throw them out. Get rid of those things.

Charissa Talbot: Like if you still have skinny jeans that you know; no, get rid of them. Why are you still keeping them. Do you know what I’m saying? We’re women now. Our bodies are different. Our hips are filled out. Yeah, exactly. I think there are things that we hold onto, I don’t know why. I just think it could be a block, even if we don’t think so. I’m really excited, although my finger was in a bit of pain yesterday. {laughs} I’ll live.

Ok, second update is my No-Cook Paleo Instagram I’m going to be diligent with this, every Friday I’m going to be doing a follow Friday where I highlight one of my favorite Instagram accounts, so I’m really excited about that. So you can check that out. Go back on my feed and check that out if you want.

My third bit of news is, I don’t know if any of you saw this, but there was a YouTube video floating around called the Power of Makeup. It really sparked something interesting, because a lot of times when women wear a lot of makeup; and this is what the lady talked about in this video, which I thought was so on point. It’s seen as, oh we’re insecure, or we’re not confident in the way we look, or it kind of has a negative, oh you shouldn’t wear too much makeup. Where her whole point, which I totally agree in this, is putting on makeup is fun! It’s something fun you can do. It does make you feel better; and what’s wrong with that? That’s like saying, well if you dress nice you must have insecurities about your body. It is like, makeup has now this negative connotation in some circles. It’s like, if you don’t wear makeup, that’s fine. But if you want to, it doesn’t mean that there’s anything negative going on. When I go out and get dressed up, I like to put on makeup. It’s fun. I like doing my makeup!

Cassy Joy: I totally get that. I think, and this is in the same vein, I know that’s why you put it in your new real.

Charissa Talbot: Right.

Cassy Joy: But this is in the same vein of today’s topic.

Charissa Talbot: Correct.

Cassy Joy: I look in the mirror, and this is going to come across one of two ways. When you guys hear this, you’re going to think one of two things about me, and I think it says, I hate to be this harsh, but I think it says more about you and how you view yourself than how you really view me, or what it says about me. But when I look in the mirror without makeup on I think that I’m beautiful. I do. And that’s not something that I always thought. It’s something that I arrived at later in life when I really got to the bottom of, I separated myself from what we see in society, but I was like, gosh. I was made to look this way and it’s beautiful! I’m so grateful.

Charissa Talbot: Yeah.

Cassy Joy: And I love makeup. This sister loves mascara. Mascara makes me happy. I love big beautiful red lipstick. I will wear false eyelashes when most people would think that’s just silly.

Charissa Talbot: Right.

Cassy Joy: I think I’m beautiful without makeup on, and I also really love my mascara, you know. So I totally see where you’re coming from. Makeup can be fun. I think false eyelashes are beautiful too.

Charissa Talbot: It’s like an accessory.

Cassy Joy: It’s like an accessory.

Charissa Talbot: it’s like putting on a nice, when you wear a nice piece of jewelry or cool shoes, I don’t know. I just, I don’t like that there’s this negative thing out there. Anyway, checkout the YouTube video of this girl. What is happening, because of this video, which I think is really cool, is all these girls on Instagram now are doing half faces, so they’re showing their face with makeup and without, and making the statement that both of these are me, both of these are beautiful, this is both a part of who I am, I love makeup. This is the power of makeup. So I think it’s a really cool little woman’s movement that’s going on right now, which is awesome. I love that stuff.

3. Today’s topic: Beauty [10:25]

Cassy Joy: That’s really fun. I think we are in a really cool era. And this is kind of, now we’re going to bleed into today’s topic.

Charissa Talbot: Yeah! Let’s get into it!

Cassy Joy: So today we’re going to talk about beauty. We are going to define it, we’re going to look up how beauty has evolved across time in different cultures, and we’re going to see if we can uncover the common thread, and really pick apart and tease out what is the timeless quality of beauty. And before we get into the definition, the history, and then our common thread, I just want to say, I think it’s an age-old glass is half full or half empty kind of perspective. You can look at the world and how we define beauty, and you can either see it in complete disrepair, like oh my gosh, there are so many beauty standards now, how is anyone ever going to live up! I feel so defeated! You can either look at it as, you’re already defeated, or you can look at it as a really cool opportunity. Like the makeup thing you were talking about.

Charissa Talbot: Yeah.

Cassy Joy: That’s a really cool opportunity. I think we are at an age where the current beauty, and we’ll talk about in the history of beauty, but the current beauty era that we’re in right now started in the year 2000. So that’s 15 years, that’s a long time. We can almost close the book on the 2000 era, and redefine. I think we’re at the brink, or the tipping point, at a new era of beauty, and I think that it’s going to be predicated on women really loving the individual. I think we’re getting ready to trash templates, and people are starting to realize that what you are is beautiful.

Charissa Talbot: Right.

Cassy Joy: Anyways, I just wanted to say that’s kind of the perspective we’re coming at today. This is not a hater type of episode, if you hadn’t gathered.

Charissa Talbot: No!

Cassy Joy: That’s not exactly our habit anyway.

Charissa Talbot: It’s not our MO, yeah.

Cassy Joy: It’s really not. But I think it’s a good way to set the groundwork. But yeah, let’s get into it!

12.34

Charissa Talbot: For sure. Ok, what is the definition of beauty? What is that? What is the actual definition if you went to Webster’s. What is that definition?

Cassy Joy: I will tell you, because I looked it up. And I didn’t just Google it, you guys. I dusted off my old Webster’s New World dictionary from my bookshelf that my grandfather gave me when I went to college.

Charissa Talbot: Of course you did.

Cassy Joy: {laughs} And he wrote me a nice little note in there. Ok, Webster’s dictionary says that beauty, and there are a few definitions, but this is the first one, beauty is the quality attributed to whatever pleases or satisfies the sense or mind, as by line, color, form, texture, proportion, rhythmic motion, tone, etc. or by behavior, attitude, etc. And the last definition of it is that beauty is defined by any attractive feature.

Charissa Talbot: And beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Cassy Joy: That’s exactly what it says. Whatever pleases.

Charissa Talbot: Right.

Cassy Joy: Beauty is the quality attributed to whatever pleases. So whatever pleases you or someone else is their beauty, just like Charissa just said; it is in the eye of the beholder. I think that’s exactly what Webster’s New World Dictionary just told us.

4. The history of beauty [13:56]

Charissa Talbot: {laughs} So here’s the thing though. That’s all well and good that we say that, but I think throughout time society has “dictated” what the standard of beauty is for that time period. So do we want to kind of run through the history of beauty for the listeners?

Cassy Joy: I do.

Charissa Talbot: I think this would be cool.

Cassy Joy: I do, and I think it’s going to be a common thread that we’re going to be weaving through all of this, though. Just like you said, in the eye of the beholder. I think what we’re going to realize through all of this; I’m kind of giving you guys a flash forward. Is that the right literary term? Flash forward? {laughs}

Charissa Talbot: Yes.

Cassy Joy: My English teachers, I swear they read my stuff or they listen to the way I talk and they either are proud of me or they are cringing. {laughing}

Charissa Talbot: {laughs} All of mine cringe, so it’s ok.

Cassy Joy: I think what we’re going to realize is that beauty is not so much a physical manifestation of what actually makes a person pretty, or attractive, so much as it is a reflection on what is going on in society at the time.

Charissa Talbot: Yeah.

Cassy Joy: We’re going to pull up some things that are going on in society at the time on some of this walk through history. And I want to say that, to be honest you guys, when I started researching history of beauty for this episode, I came across this amazing video that BuzzFeed did, and you might have already seen it. We’re going to link to it in the show notes so you can’t miss it, and it’s going to recap exactly what I’m talking about today. But when I was researching it, I was like gosh darn it, BuzzFeed already did it! So I am essentially going to tell you guys what BuzzFeed put together.

Charissa Talbot: What’s in the video.

Cassy Joy: Yeah, what’s in the video. But it’s great stuff. Let’s get started.

Charissa Talbot: Ok. Let’s start with ancient Egypt.

Cassy Joy: Ok, ancient Egypt. To put this at a point in time for you guys, that’s essentially 1292 to 1069 BC, before Christ. Ok, so what it was like for women in ancient Egypt? It was a very sex-positive culture. And what we mean by that is that there was not a lot of sex shaming, premarital sex was accepted, women could own property independent of their husbands, they could inherit titles. And what was considered beautiful was long, braided hair, a very symmetrical face, when you think of the pharaohs their faces were very symmetrical. Thick black makeup around eyes, and the desired body type was slender with a very high waist and narrow shoulders.

So I think it’s interesting; ancient Egypt, starting about 1200 BC is the oldest culture we’re going to talk about today, and it was probably one of the ones that was the most pro-woman’s rights.

Charissa Talbot: Yeah.

Cassy Joy: I think that’s fascinating. Next up on our list is Ancient Greece.

Charissa Talbot: Ancient Greece.

Cassy Joy: One of my favorite era’s to study. I was a Latin geek in high school. I even went to the national Latin competition, junior classical league nationals, thank you very much, in high school.

Charissa Talbot: Nice.

Cassy Joy: This was 500 to 300 BC. So slightly different tone than we heard about in ancient Egypt, but women were referred to then as a deformed male, and that was a quote by Aristotle. So a lot of their art at the time was really derived and inspired by the male form. So there was more pressure actually on men of ancient Greece and Rome to have body perfection than women. Women were looked down upon.

Charissa Talbot: That’s where the Greek gods came from.

Cassy Joy: Exactly, the Greek gods, you can think about all of the Greek and Roman sculptures of the time, these chiseled male forms. That’s really where that was coming from. And women almost were like, well you’re not beautiful because you’re not a chiseled man. But what they did consider attractive at the time were women that were plump and full figured. It was really a sign of fertility and wealth. Things like that.

Charissa Talbot: Yes.

Cassy Joy: Ok, next up, another part of the world. The Han Dynasty.

Charissa Talbot: The Han Dynasty. Oh, Han. My bad.

Cassy Joy: That’s ok, either one works. Han Dynasty, 206 BC to 220 AD, so right at the turn. So what that was like for women, their roles and rights in society were really minimized. Feminine beauty was meant to be delicate; slim bodies with an inner glow. You can kind of think of the geisha time period. Women were expected to have really pale skin, you know, that white, white powder, long black hair, bright red lips, white teeth, and really small feet. I’m sure you’ve seen some of those eye popping documentaries where they would actually break their feet to make them smaller.

Charissa Talbot: Ugh! Crazy.

Cassy Joy: Super crazy.

Charissa Talbot: No more crazy than today’s plastic surgery, for sure. Next up, the Italian Renaissance.

Cassy Joy: Italian Renaissance, 1400 to 1700 AD. This time frame was very Catholic, we’re thinking geographically Italian Renaissance, very Catholic society, and women were meant at that time to embody virtue. So, the wife’s behavior and looks were really a reflection of her husband’s status. You’ll start to see as we get closer and closer to today’s time frame some threads that are kind of showing up in today’s society. So, there is still a huge trend in today’s society that a woman’s behavior is a reflection of her husband. In some very traditional households, that’s very true. So beauty in renaissance Italy meant a rounded body. These were the most voluptuous women. A rounded body, full hips, very large breasts. The height of beauty was strawberry blond hair and really high forehead for whatever reason. But those were considered to be the utmost beautiful.

You know, you think about, especially if you watch this BuzzFeed video, a woman who would have been the supermodel of the Italian Renaissance I guarantee probably doesn’t feel, by today’s standards, people would not necessarily consider her a supermodel, or at least by the supermodel era, which we’ll talk about in a second, the 1990s especially to the 2000s.

Charissa Talbot: Right.

Cassy Joy: Pretty interesting. Next is Victorian England, and this is 1837 to 1901. Queen Victoria, this is her time frame. Her reign and motherhood was really highly valued, and that started to become more fashionable. This is really when women started to cinch their waists as tightly as possible. They would wear the bone corsets, and as a result, because they couldn’t really get around and move very well because of the cinched waist, they were really separated from any sort of labor. They weren’t able to do a whole lot, so they became really pale, and soft because they were inside all the time, and that was considered to be, really beautiful. I think of the show, if you guys have ever seen it, the show Reign? I think it’s on Netflix or HBO, I can’t remember now.

Charissa Talbot: I think it’s on Netflix.

Cassy Joy: Is it Netflix? Ok.

Charissa Talbot: I think so, yeah.

Cassy Joy: I watched it, I enjoyed it, I think that time period was really fascinating. That’s interesting, I think of that fashion. The Roaring Twenties; now getting to some timeframes where our grandparents, your grandparents were probably.

Charissa Talbot: My favorite.

Cassy Joy: Lived pieces of this.

Charissa Talbot: If I could go back into time, I would want to go back into the twenties.

Cassy Joy: Really? I’ve said that a lot, too. I think it sounds like a really fun era. The twenties were such a mark in women’s fashion. Again, the fashion and what was considered beautiful was a reflection on what was going on in society at the time. So what went on in society at the time in the twenties? Women were given the right to vote. There was this huge ringing the freedom bell, we were so excited! So all of a sudden, the fashion took a turn towards an androgynous spin. That was really hot. Women were downplaying their waists, and wearing very boxy clothing. Shift dresses, that don’t really show off the waist. We were flat chested, boyish figures were hot. So women would actually wear bras that flattened their chests, which I thought was really interesting. But that was really beautiful. And then the short bob haircuts. I think that’s interesting.

Not too long after that was the Golden Age of Hollywood, which was in the 1930s to the 1950s. So that’s just 10 years for the Roaring Twenties fashion. And then all of a sudden, the Golden Age of Hollywood. Here brings to mind ladies like Marilyn Monroe.

Charissa Talbot: yeah.

Cassy Joy: Really curvy bodies, nice hips with a nice waist, that hourglass figure. That was considered really beautiful. Voluptuous, again, was coming back. Swinging 60s. I’m just kind of firing through this because it’s getting shorter and shorter, because you guys know these eras better. But the swinging 60s. Think about Twiggy. That was just that 60s, 1960 to 1969, and the trend and what was considered beautiful was tall and thin. And her name, Twiggy, that became kind of an adjective that people would apply to other women. A-line dresses were really popular, and miniskirts.

And in the Supermodel Era, which was the.

Charissa Talbot: Oh, the , I had those miniskirts when those first came. I remember my grandma was telling me about that. She was like those mini; I mean, she just did not like those at all {laughs}. It’s funny.

Cassy Joy: She didn’t like the miniskirts?

Charissa Talbot: No, no.

Cassy Joy: That is funny. They’re still around today, those are good. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I really like miniskirts.

Charissa Talbot: That’s right! {laughs}

Cassy Joy: Yeah, the Supermodel era is the 1980s. So here’s where we think of Jane Fonda and Cindy Crawford. And this is really when the getting fit started to come up, and getting active, and staying in shape. You know, Jane Fonda’s workout stuff. Tall, slim, athletic, those were all really considered to be beautiful. However, at the same time, they wanted you to have plump breasts.

Charissa Talbot: Yeah.

Cassy Joy: So that was the supermodel era. Heroin Chic, so to speak, was 1990s. And that was really fashionable and considered really beautiful. This is where would come to mind beautiful women like Kate Moss. She was the trend, and what was considered beautiful then, thin, withdrawn, pale, almost translucent skin. What probably today we would consider to not look healthy was considered to be really beautiful in the 90s, really attractive.

Charissa Talbot: Yeah.

Cassy Joy: Postmodern beauty, which is today’s era so to speak. And this is the one I’m thinking we’re getting ready to close the book on. I think we’re ready for the next, but Postmodern beauty, 2000s to today. Beautiful is considered to be skinny but healthy, large breasts, a large butt, flat stomach. With all of that, because it’s hard to achieve all of that, plastic surgery is at an all time high, and considered a social norm.

Charissa Talbot: Yeah.

Cassy Joy: So I think that’s interesting. I think that Tina Fey’s; I’ve used here on the podcast before at the very beginning, but one of her quotes from Bossypants, which I think is really great, I’m going to read it to you guys real quick, kind of really describes postmodern beauty to a T. She says; “Now every girl is expected to have Caucasian blue eyes, full Spanish lips, a classic button nose, hairless Asian skin with a California tan, a Jamaican dance hall ass, long Swedish legs, small Japanese feet, the abs of a lesbian gym owner, the hips of a nine-year-old boy, the arms of Michelle Obama, and doll tits. The person closest to actually achieving this look is Kim Kardashian, who, as we know, was made by Russian scientists to sabotage our athletes.”

Charissa Talbot: Mm-hmm.

Cassy Joy: I just think that’s so funny.

Charissa Talbot: It is. It’s true!

Cassy Joy: It is. What Tina has done is essentially she’s looked through, and what we have done in society, because we have access to history, which is great, we can learn a lot from our past. What we’ve done is we have looked back through our eras and we have cherry picked the qualities that we think are most beautiful over time. Kind of from the societies that we think were really neat and really beautiful, and we’ve put all those into this melting pot of what we think is the perfect ideal human now, and that’s postmodern beauty in my opinion.

Charissa Talbot: And like you said.

Cassy Joy: It’s an unachievable look.

Charissa Talbot: Right. Well, and like you said, beauty, it reflects our culture, and right now we’re in this age of technology where we can create anything. So it would make sense that we would “create” the most perfect, what. Like you said, cherry picking those pieces and putting them together.

Cassy Joy: Totally. I think that postmodern beauty, to sum it up, is essentially the era of perfectionism. Right? It’s whatever we can obsess over the most, to make the absolute best, perfect. We want to be the fittest, we want to be the healthiest, we want to be the slimmest, we want to have the biggest boobs, we want to have the nicest butt. We want to have the longest, luxurious hair and a great tan, but no wrinkles. We’re looking to optimize, and I think the turn, the next chapter in beauty era is going to be individualism.

5. Common thread/takeaway [28:54]

Cassy Joy: So, the common thread and the takeaway for all of this, and I want to post this question first. Can you imagine if we spent as much time spreading joy and love and positivity as we do obsessing over our bodies? That is, I think that’s really it in a nutshell. Outer beauty is a reflection of inner beauty, which you and I have talked about on this show before.

Charissa Talbot: Mm-hmm.

Cassy Joy: How to boost your inner beauty. But when you are able to really outwardly show love and positivity, it shines from within. So once you stop obsessing about whether or not you’ve got a thigh gap, or you’ve got abs, or you feel confident wearing that backless dress, or whatever it is. As soon as you stop worrying about those things and you just start caring about the world around you and know that you are beautiful no matter what it is you actually look like, you will shine beauty. At the end of the day, it’s all about your attitude and how you carry yourself.

Charissa Talbot: And we can help each other out a lot as women, I think, by really checking ourselves when we start to judge another woman by her physical appearance.

Cassy Joy: Yeah. I want to be judged by my actions.

Charissa Talbot: That is not an easy habit to break. Right.

Cassy Joy: Exactly.

Charissa Talbot: And it’s not an easy habit to break. It’s something that we do, and it’s good to always check yourself. I wouldn’t want to be judged for that, so let me not judge other women. Because even if it’s your silent voice in your head, that can still be toxic either way.

Cassy Joy: Totally.

Charissa Talbot: It’s really good to just, yeah, support each other.

Cassy Joy: You can stop yourself in the tracks. I’m glad you brought that up. Let’s say you find yourself at a wedding. And this has happened because I’ve sat next to people who whisper this in my ear, and low and behold, I’ve had the thoughts myself, and they’re definitely not my proudest moments. But let’s say you’re sitting at a wedding; it’s been a long time since I’ve had these thoughts because I’ve really worked to overcome them. I had my own body image issues when I was in college, and I went through a really dark period. And when you are feeling bad about yourself, it probably turns into a really vicious outlook on other people. You become much more judgmental.

But let’s say you’re sitting at this wedding, the bride walks down, and you’re like, wow. She looks really great. She must have really went on a diet before the wedding. You know? No, that doesn’t help anybody.

Charissa Talbot: No.

Cassy Joy: Instead, if you find yourself thinking that, because you may not say it out loud. It may never reach her ears. If it did it would probably hurt her feelings if anybody ever thought that she needed to lose, you know.

Charissa Talbot: Right.

Cassy Joy: Even if it isn’t something that you audibly say, stop it, tell yourself No. I am not going to let my brain run away with such toxic thoughts. And you stop yourself; don’t be upset that your mind went there, but just kind of like redirecting a child or a puppy, like, no that’s not ok. Instead, oh my goodness, look how happy she is. That is so beautiful, she’s radiant.

Charissa Talbot: Right. Yeah.

Cassy Joy: That is beauty. Start to look at a person’s actions and how they show up, not necessarily how they physically are.

Charissa Talbot: Right.

Cassy Joy: So you be you, you love you, and remember that at the end of the day, that’s true beauty.

Charissa Talbot: Yeah. For sure.

Cassy Joy: Ok.

6. Fed: Post workout meals [32:30]

Charissa Talbot: Alright, we’ve done really good on the time on this podcast.

Cassy Joy: We’re working at it, we’re doing our best.

Charissa Talbot: We’re working at it. Let’s get into the Fed portion.

Cassy Joy: Let’s jump into it real quick. So for today’s fed portion, I’m going to keep it short. I’m just going to talk briefly about post workout meals. I get this question a lot; what do you eat after a workout? When do you eat it? How much should I eat? Ok, so I’m going to try to summarize it as much as possible. I think it’s most important that post workout, you guys need to get number one some vegetable based carbohydrates in your system. I’m talking within 30 minutes to an hour. And the reason being is because when you’re working out, you’re using that energy stores in your muscles, and the window is kind of open, the door is open and you’ve got to replenish that energy, those glycogen levels. You’ve got to get those back up. So that’s your window to do it.

Veggie based carbs are the best. Fruit is ok, but the fructose, the kind of carbohydrates we’re getting from fruit, it’s not going to be as much of a direct punch as it would if you got a sweet potato or a regular potato or, oh goodness, rice if you’re bored and you can tolerate some grains, some white rice. So what do I eat? There’s a snack option and a full meal option. The snack option, post workout, and if you guys have followed me for a while you probably know that I am an advocate for 3 meals a day, no snacks. I don’t snack. We can talk about that a whole nother episode why. But the snack option for post workout, the reason why that is ok in my book is because I do want you to replace those glycogen levels and a little protein is also good at that point in time to help rebuild. So if I workout midmorning, at 10 a.m. I’ve already had my breakfast, I’m planning on having my lunch around noon or 1 o’clock, and 10 a.m. I workout, I come home, I’m going to go ahead and have half of a small sweet potato and one or two hard-boiled eggs. That simple. Really straight forward.

The full meal option for post workout. This is like, let’s say you workout fasting really early, you workout at 5 o’clock in the morning, you’re one of those people. That’s great. And then you come home and you’re ready for breakfast. You’re like, I need a meal!

Charissa Talbot: You’re like, I’m starving!

Cassy Joy: Yeah. Your post workout meal, and you probably will fine once you really start to become more fat adapted, meaning you can work out fasting early morning without feeling like you don’t have energy. Again, we can talk about that in another show, too, but you come home, you’re probably hungry but you’re not ready to kill somebody because you need to eat when you’re body is readjusted to this type of metabolic state.

Charissa Talbot: Right.

Cassy Joy: The full meal option is, again, a healthy serving of that veggie based carbs. Get that on your plate, some good protein, some leafy greens. Get a lot of leafy greens on there. Throw in some fruit, just to be balanced. I like berries best and then some healthy fats, like avocado, some ghee that maybe you cooked your eggs in. Goodness, nuts and seeds if you tolerate nuts and seeds, those are all great options. There you go, rapid fire. That was my Fed segment. {laughs}

7. Fit: Bodyweight exercise [35:49]

Charissa Talbot: Love it. Love it. So for today’s Fit segment, I have an exercise that will kick your butt, but you can do it anywhere with very little space. You know I like these, bodyweight exercises. I call them pushup squats. What you’re going to do is get in your standard pushup position. So you know you want your feet turned out a little bit, you want your knees tracking over your feet, so you want your knees pushing out. So what you’re going to do is you’re going to do a low squat, so way below parallel. So you’re going to actually squat all the way down low. Of course, if you are not used to doing these lower type of squats, you don’t have to go that low. If you need to modify it, you can modify it. I’ll give you a modification for this in a second.

So you’re going to squat all the way down to the floor, so it’s almost like you get into the position like you’re out camping in the woods, if that makes sense to everyone. And then what you’re going to do is put your hands out in front of you, you’re going to step your feet back, and you’re going to do a full pushup. Then you’re going to come all the way back up, you’re going to bring your feet up to your hands, and you’re going to stand up. So it’s similar to a burpee, except it’s very slow and controlled, and you’re really getting a wide range of motion and trust me, these will kick your butt.

Now, if you are just starting to work out or maybe just doing bodyweight exercises are new for you or you have limited mobility, an easy thing you can do is place a lower type chair behind you, and then face a wall, and what you’re going to do is squat so your butt just hits the edge of the chair, and then what you’re going to do is lean up against the wall and you can do a full wall pushup. This is a really easy modification for someone who doesn’t have a lot of mobility. But you can still get a lot of that good range of motion going on. So there’s my Fit segment for the day. Pushup squats.

Cassy Joy: Cool.

Charissa Talbot: I love them.

Cassy Joy: Those are great tips, Charissa. Thank you!

Charissa Talbot: {laughs} You’re welcome.

Cassy Joy: Well I hope you guys got a lot of value out of today’s episode. As always, we are thirsty, hungry for your feedback, so give it to us.

Charissa Talbot: {laughs} Yes.

Cassy Joy: In the show notes, on social media, leave us a review in iTunes; we read them all, and I take them to heart. Please know that.

Charissa Talbot: Mm-hmm. Yes.

Cassy Joy: Thank you so much for listening. So, so grateful for every single one of you listeners. It really means the world that you take the time out of your day to hear just the things that we have to say. Please keep us posted on what else we can do for you, and we will be back again next week.