Live better and longer with the fitness show hosted by fitness expert author and tv personality Fitz Kohler she'll tell you why diets are dumb supplements are snake oil and the truth about how you can earn a lean hard pain-free and athletic body now for our favorite bossy blonde Fitz Kohler. Well, hi team. I'm Fitz Kohler, your incredibly delighted fitness expert and race announcer from Fitzness.com and welcome to the Fitzness show.
I got a big, big show for you today. That's right. I'm going to answer your questions, which I love doing. As you know, every Monday I've been posting on Instagram, a ask me questions story, and y'all have been answering. And it's so interesting how you respond to me in similar ways each week. And it's just fascinating. Last week, I had a whole bunch of questions about heart rate and training zones, which were very complimentary.
And this week, I've got the same. So I'm going to answer your questions. Before I do, I want to ask you, Instead of asking you to rate the show this week, I'm going to ask you to share it if you like it. If you like this podcast, share it on your Facebook page or your Instagram page or LinkedIn or whatever. That's my request. Sometimes I ask for things, and that's what I'm asking from you. And guess what? On Monday, I think it's the 16th. I'm not sure. Yes.
September 16th. I am headed to the Georgia Aquarium to go swim with the big freaking whale sharks. That's right. These monstrous sharks. So big. They call them whales. They go between, I think, 50 and 60 feet each. I may be wrong on that, but I think that's the size. There's two of them in this monstrous tank. And I'm going to go swim. This will be one of my rounds that compensate for my crappy rounds of chemo. So I think this will be round number five, which I'm pretty stoked about.
The only thing I'm nervous about, I'm not really nervous. I'm not nervous about anything. I am unexcited about the water temperature. That's right. I hear it's 76 degrees. And for many of you, that might sound real freaking delightful and good for you. However, I'm not a polar bear. I am a reptile. Native born to the sunshine state. And I need things hot and sticky at all times. And I am quite confident nothing in that aquarium will be hot or sticky. So wow.
But that's okay. It'll be worth it. I'm really pumped and I can't wait to experience it and then come back and tell you all about it. And that will be right after the Detroit Women's Half Marathon 10K, 5K. And I'm so excited to see my Michigan friends and some Ohio friends that squeeze into that equation. And even a Canadian friend, I've got a lot of love coming in this weekend. So stand by. That's right. Stay tuned for next week and I will get there.
Okay. We are going to get right into your questions. And again, it's just so crazy how people can't see your responses to me, right? When you reply to my story on Instagram, people can't see each other's questions. The only way you can see each other's questions is when I reply to yours and I publish it. Fascinating to me. And we will be right back. Are you looking for the perfect gift for a loved one battling cancer?
The Cancer Comeback Series by Fitz Kohler offers hope, inspiration, and practical guidance. With Your Healthy Cancer Comeback, My Noisy Cancer Comeback, and The Healthy Cancer Comeback Journal. These books are a lifeline for all patients and survivors. Right now, you can order autographed copies at a special discount. Show your support and help a loved one go from sick to strong. Visit FITZNESS.com today. That's F-I-T-Z-N-E-S-S dot com. FITZNESS.com.
We're back. Kim Marie on Instagram, Auntie Kim, she asked for help with anxiety as winter approaches. And she also plugged in that she will be moving to Florida. in 2026. And she is not going to have a hard time with winter anymore once she gets here. But until then, she needs help preparing for the winter. David Gare also, immediately after her, asked how to wind down in preparation for winter, which, how did that happen?
How did that happen? Out of all the questions he could have asked, they both, within 20 minutes of each other, ask this question and maybe they know each other. Maybe they're in cahoots, perhaps. And then on the complete opposite spectrum, Mark Castle from Tampa, Tampa, Florida. Maybe he's in Orlando. He might be in Orlando. Anyways, Central Florida. Mark says, How to deal with the heat? How should we be dealing with this oppressive heat?
So I've got two ends of the spectrum. And I thought, well, yes, I have to talk about that. So we're going to do it. So I know that people up north with all the snow and the blizzards and the brutal temperatures below freezing and worse deal with cabin fever, deal with claustrophobia. You know, it's like the shining up there, all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. I get it. There's a lot of people in Florida experiencing the same darn thing because it's so freaking hot. And I say Florida.
I'm sure those in Palm Springs, California and parts of Texas are having real issues with heat as well. But yeah, people in the hot states, they hide out too. They want to go outside. My mom actually says, I'm not going to go out today. It's too hot. I'll fall down. Sweet, sweet, right? I think, oh, bless her heart. It's too hot for her to go to the grocery store. And that's a reality for some of these steamy, steamy states.
So yeah, are there strategic ways to get around the frigid cold or the brutal temperatures, brutal heat? Yeah, I think there is. And if you're smart and if you game plan, much like anything else, you can work with it. You can make your life better. You can do the things you want to do without paying any sort of nasty price or just suffering. Right? So I want to start by saying whatever weather conditions you're dealing with, you should be outside at some point, right?
Being outdoors is proven to affect your mental health in a positive way. Fresh air can only do you good. So we should be outside. outside, we just may have to be really, really smart about when we're outside. So for starters, if you're in a super hot place and the middle of the day, the heat index is up at 105 and 110, okay, don't go out at 2 p.m. Maybe you wake up early and you go out for a walk or for roller skating or skateboarding or tennis or pickleball at 6 a.m., right?
Maybe you just get out and get active before the heat starts to set in, or you wait until the sun sets to do the same. And so if you're in a super hot place, the early mornings, the later evenings, when it's close to dark. A smart time to get out and do your thing. Even if you're not exercising, let's say you just want to sit out on your back porch. Okay, fine. It's outside. Outside is beneficial no matter what, unless it's Chernobyl.
Unless there's some sort of scary stuff in the air, being outside is a good thing. When you're in a terrifyingly cold place, which almost anything north of South Carolina seems to me to be in the winter, terrifyingly cold, is obviously go out at the warmest part of the day, right? If it's 6 a.m. and there's a blizzard and then there's no relief from the cold because the sun hasn't come up, just wait, right?
Do all your indoor stuff in the morning, get in your car, drive to work, get in your office. But the second the temperatures rise even a little bit, you should be getting out. And then of course, you got to dress appropriately, right? So I'm not telling you things you don't know, but little reminders, your wardrobe goes a long way. It's wise to invest in a fantastic wardrobe. It's funny.
I really, I mean, I just don't like the cold, but I had a real problem with it and a real fear of the cold when I was younger because whenever I went somewhere cold, I wasn't dressed appropriately. I just, I had no idea there were actual products that would take away the pain involved in being in a cold place. And Oakley, you know, Oakley, the sunglass manufacturer, they also make clothes and bags and other things. They had brought me in as one of their ambassadors slash spokespersons.
And with that, the very first thing we did is we went on a skiing and snowboarding trip to Salt Lake City, Utah. We were in Snowbird. That's right. Snowbird, Utah. And I thought, oh, I don't know how this is going to go. I'm not sure I'll survive this trip. But when I got there, they gave me ski pants and a ski jacket and an amazing fuzzy hat and these. Perfect gloves and they gave me base layers. I had no idea what a base layer was. I had never worn or heard of a base layer.
And then I spent the next couple of days splashing around in the snow, snowboarding, and it was great fun. And not only was I not cold as I actually got a little hot, I got a little sweaty out there. So I just didn't know that that type of apparel existed. And you can call me stupid, or you can just call me a native Floridian who hadn't had much exposure to real cold and snow up until that point. But yeah, your wardrobe makes a big difference.
So hopefully if you are in a super cold place, you are investing in base layers and quality gloves. I remember going to Target and they had pairs of gloves for a dollar each and I'd buy 10 pairs, but the gloves were terrible. There was this little cotton blend and they never kept my fingers warm. In fact, my fingertips would turn blue wearing these gloves and all the difference in the world.
If you spend the extra $13 or $30, whatever it is, and you can get some real deal winter gloves, they can make you feel good outside. And I tell you, I will do anything to be outside. And I hope you are of the same mindset because the outside is the right place for you. And being outside, taking a deep breath of fresh air is so valuable, so valuable to your your health and your brain, stress levels, all of it. It's just so important. But if you have the right gear, you can go do that.
And then of course, if you're in a hot place, less is more. And duh, right? But I tell you, so many of you scare the bejesus out of me, especially on race day. I will stand at a start and a finish line in our Southern states, Florida, Georgia, Texas, California, really, really hot days in May or June and June. At least 50% of the women who came to race are wearing black leggings. Are you freaking kidding me? Long black leggings when it's 80 degrees at the start line.
What are they thinking? Well, I know what they're thinking because they tell me what they're thinking. They're telling me, I hate my knees. I'm embarrassed about my knees. I don't like my legs. Well, you know what, dum-dums? Your legs are freaking awesome. Your legs are the things that take you from that start line to the finish line.
If you think maybe your legs are too big or too small or too wiggly or you've got freckles, I don't know what's wrong with your legs, but nothing is wrong with your legs. Nothing enough to make you wear long black pants on a hot day while trying to exercise. Clothing, especially athletic clothing, athletic apparel should be functional.
That's its number one purpose is to help you perform. And if you're wearing long black pants or, I don't know, let's say a hoodie out in 80 degrees, you're certainly not going to perform as well as you should. And you're likely to suffer the really negative effects of the heat, including exhaustion and stroke, which sucks. So when the heat comes, when spring and summer set in, I implement the tank top and shorts mandate.
That's right. You are obligated to be kind to your body and be generous with your wonderful, beautiful, athletic, mobile body and give it the freedom it needs. Give it the material it needs. Moisture wicking, yeah, that's a really good idea. Don't burden it down with extra material, with dark colors, with tight spandex. Are you kidding me? Again, I know people have hangups about what their body does or doesn't look like.
I can't help you with that other than to give you the advice on how to make changes, but you're not going to get any fitter by... Without restraining yourself and putting yourself in harm's way by wearing too much on a super hot day. Ding, ding, ding. I'm actually taking my fist right now in a knocking on the door position, and now I'm knocking it on your head.
If you are one of those long pants wearing persons, traditionally women, out in the heat while exercising, I'm knocking on your head to try and get through to you. Wake up. You deserve better. Your legs deserve better. Your body deserves to feel cool or have its best opportunity to be cool despite the hot temperatures, right? So don't overdress when you're in the heat, especially when you're exercising.
Less is more. Now, the caveat, if you want to wear something very flimsy and lightweight and light color just to protect your skin from the sun, that I'll permit. That's right, because I am making rules here. If you don't do what I say to do, there will be consequences. That's right. Not only because you will feel miserable if you're wearing those stupid tight black leggings, hip to toe on a hot day, but I will come and maybe I'll pinch you. Maybe I'll poke you.
Maybe I'll just give you the eyebrow. That's right. I will shake my fitsy finger at you and I'll say, what the freak are you thinking? And so yes, less is more. Also in either temperature, you should be wearing the right footwear, right? So boots, waterproof, weatherproof boots in the cold, that goes so far to make your life better because cold, wet toes, no thank you.
The same thing for Florida. You don't want to wear boots in the summer here in Florida unless they're Western boots because those are sexy year round. Just know that cowboy boots are freaking hot no matter who you are, no matter where you are, no matter what type of year we're in, cowboy boots Boots are sexy. Thank you. Okay. So that was an intermission. Right there. We got off topic to talk about sexy footwear because I really dig boots. Bye.
Here in the South, perhaps you want to get some athletic sandals, something that grips to your feet, has an athletic sole, and allows your tootsies to fly free. Everyone can see your beautiful toes. Even if you don't have the pedicure, who cares? It just feels better. I tell you, when I go, I start almost all of my mornings when I'm home, either at the dog park or going on a large trail. It's a mile and a half trail with my dogs. And I always wear Crocs. That's right. They're ugly as sin.
And I'm embarrassed to say, you might not want to take any of my advice from here on out now that I've told you I wear Crocs, but they're rubber. And as I'm walking on the damp grass, it just doesn't destroy my footwear. But yeah, Crocs or sandals, perhaps Tevas. There's a lot of really cool brands. I don't care what brand you get, but yeah, you should lighten up unless you're running.
Then of course you've got to wear running shoes. But even in that circumstance, if you're running in the rain or you're doing a mud run, there are some running shoes that are designed to drain quickly so the moisture doesn't stay in your foot. So footwear, definitely a big deal. Also hats, sun hat, baseball hat, trucker hat. Again, I think truckers are really sexy. I know that's not the topic of this show. I just feel like I have to interject
the things that I think are sexy. And so cowboy boots and trucker hats. Am I a redneck? Partial. Partial, I'm about 47% redneck. I've been living in Alachua County for a very long time. Anywho, trucker hats. Of course, cowboy hats. Sexy. But then beanies. What do they call them up north? They call them the shoot. No, the fuzzy hat the Canadians call them. Come on. I love that some of you are listening to this and you're shouting into your iPhone or your cell phone, wherever you're listening.
What do they call it? Okay, I'm going to forget that. But you know what I'm saying. Fuzzy hat. Fuzzy hat goes a long way. I actually heat up with a hat. And my whole body, I can be shaking like a leaf. If you put a hat on my head, I heat up. My whole body responds to it. So anyways, hats, a really good idea. And perhaps if it's really hot, you want to get a visor. So the trucker hat, anything with a lid is keeping the heat in.
So a visor is also a really nice idea for exercising or just being active or just sitting by the pool, right? The visor keeps the sun out of your eyes, protects your skin, and then allows the heat to escape from the top of your head. Do you need sunglasses? Absolutely. Unless it's a dark, rainy day, you need to protect your eyes from those UV rays. Whether you're on the slopes or you're surfing.
You should be wearing sunglasses. And of course, croquis that hold your sunglasses on. And then sunscreen. Yes, as long as the sun is out, you should be wearing sunscreen, even if it's really cold. It's incredible to me how many people come off the slopes after a busy day skiing or snowboarding and they are fried to a crisp because they did not wear sunscreen. So do it. Always wear sunscreen. In fact, make it a habit as you wake up in the morning and you wash your face.
I know you're doing that right, folks. You are washing your faces. Yeah. I feel like probably a good chunk of my male listeners are not washing their faces because I don't know your guys, maybe you just wash it when you're in the shower. And am I, am I targeting a gender? You betcha. I sure am. I'm just, these, these are the things I have learned from boys. I don't wash my face. So you should be washing your face and then you shouldn't moisturize your face. That's right, boys, you have skin too.
And your skin, if you would like it to look beautiful or handsome when you're in your 60s, 70s, 80s, moisturizer will go a very long way. And then, of course, once you're done washing and moisturizing your face, then you put on your sunscreen. And then you can reapply throughout the day. Ladies, after you put on your sunscreen, then your makeup goes on. But yeah, those are things that you could wear to make the weather, the seasons, not so difficult.
If you're always wearing the right thing, that will help. If you have a teenager and your teenager is wearing hoodies and sweatsuits and, I don't know, long pants in the summer, I can't help you there because one of my teenagers did that. Or the complete inappropriate attire during the hottest months of the year. And I had no response to that. Same child also wore shorts to school when it was 22 degrees out.
And I don't have a solution for that either. So if we're talking about teenagers, all bets are off. However, wardrobe. Wardrobe will make either season, either extreme temperature, much more comfortable. And I think there's probably something fun to be said if you pack away your winter clothes at the end of winter. There's got got to be a fun ritual to bringing those things out at the end of the fall when the temperatures drop and the snow arrives.
Oh my gosh, I can't even imagine if snow just arrived every year. But yeah, and I can't also imagine having a whole bunch of winter clothes and then letting them sit in my closet all year because winter clothes tend to be pretty big, right? So maybe there's some fun unboxing experience where every October you get to dig through your items and get excited I'm excited about your base layers and the gloves and the hats. I feel like the hats are, they're like Tullamooks or something. Jesus. Okay.
I know you're... What if I call those things? I could Google it, but I don't want to. I really want to hang in there and see if I can remember. It's not turbans. That's a different type of hat. Anyhow. All right. So we're going to wear those things and we're going to make a big celebration. Oh, my gosh. The coolest thing you can do when the spring hits is if you celebrate Easter, even if you don't celebrate Easter, you can get a basket and put a swimsuit in it.
That's what I've always done for my children is on Easter, get them new swimsuits. It's not that they're older, I can't do that, but as they were kids, swimsuits and pool stuff and beach items on Easter, because that makes you very excited for the hot weather ahead. I imagine that would be the same thing as unboxing your cold weather gear. Know this, that you should be outside, whether you're doing exercise or relaxing, even if it's just for a short amount.
So of course I've seen some, nightmare video footage of a blizzard. Okay. So maybe in a blizzard, you spend 48 hours indoors, but in anything short of that, perhaps you just step outside for a few minutes. If you have a dog, what you're going to do? Please don't tell me you're letting your dog go in the house. Cause that's probably not sanitary or healthy for anybody, right? My, one of my really good friends, my late great race director, Mark Knudsen, was from Fargo.
And he would always send me messages describing what was going on in Fargo, because obviously I have no exposure to that type of cold temperatures and weather experience. But he would tell me that he would take his dog into parking garages for walks. So he would just find a place with a bunch of space and parking garages were apparently where he could walk his dog and his dog could get some exercise And they could play ball and his dog could go potty and stuff like that.
I'm sure he cleaned up after his dog. But I thought that was a really clever alternative that was also kind of outside. Now, rain, I haven't discussed rain too much, but, you know, having some quality rain gear. Fantastic decision. One of the things that I did not do last year, so in the Donna National Marathon to Finish Breast Cancer in February in Jacksonville, Florida, this year, 24, we had nonstop rain. It rained buckets for about four hours.
And as you can imagine, race announcer doesn't have any place to hide. So I stood out there in the soggy rain and I did have tights and it was cold too. I had tights and then some pants over them and a base layer and a a hoodie. And I think I had a jacket. It just, none of it was appropriate. And so I ended up drenched, absolutely drenched and freezing. And I was outdoors for a very long time. And, you know, it's one of those things where people say, you're going to get
sick. And I was like, no, it's fine. I'm having fun with my runners. And for the most part, I don't feel much if I'm working. If I have a runner with me, I am not aware of all of my issues, whether I'm sick or I'm cold or I'm hot. I don't feel anything other than excitement about being with you. But the second the athletes leave, then my body starts shutting down. So people were saying, no, get an umbrella. You're going to be sick. And I thought, no, I don't need an umbrella.
Umbrella's really inconvenient for the work that I do. And then what happened? I came home to Florida or I came home to Gainesville and I was actually very, very sick. I was so sick. I had I had to go to the urgent care and get the IV fluids and all the things. They thought I had pneumonia. That's right. I did not have pneumonia, but doctor thought it was. So it would have been beneficial for me if I had gone to a place to get water-resistant gear.
And I just was in Walgreens in Colorado a few weeks ago, and I stumbled across it. I thought, oh, this is what people are talking about. out. They have pants and jackets that are actually waterproof and you won't get soaked. So if you want to be outside playing in the rain, whether you're playing pickleball or just going for a walk, fine. So be it. Have some waterproof gear and you can. Now, if it's super hot out or super cold out or super rainy out and you just
want to be outside your house, I totally get it. Go to the mall. I can tell you, I don't enjoy the mall anymore. I used to enjoy it when I was a teenager, not so much. You really have to, it has to be important to get me to go to the mall. It's a wonderful place to get some exercise. It's literally a series of massive hallways for you to do loops around. The hallways are long and they're wide and you can do as many loops as you want.
It's much like walking through the airport when I'm stuck on a long delay, which quite often I am. Sometimes, actually, the last time I was in the airport, I did over three miles. Yay me. That was in Colorado. I did over three miles on a delay, but you can do the same thing in the mall. In fact, I used to many, many years ago when I used to do personal training, I had a client that was just had a hard time dealing with the heat during the summer months. And we would meet at the mall.
I would train her at the mall. We would do three to five miles per day. And it was great. It was great. And we waved to the people walking by and they didn't know we were there just for exercise. They thought we were shopping, but we weren't. That's right. We weren't. The other thing that's kind of nice is I take my dogs to Home Depot. If it's raining, if it's yucky, if I just need to get them out of the house, Home Depot welcomes dogs.
I'm sure Lowe's does too. And many of their associates have cookies. That's right. Cookies in their pocket for your dog. So think about that. It's nice to also have another alternative. For me, there's a college near my house. And most of the college, the pathways are outdoors, but they are covered paths. So I can take my dogs even during a crazy storm out and we can remain mostly dry as we walk the paths undercover at this college. We're not indoors.
We're still outside, but there's plenty of space for us to walk down the center of the path and stay dry. So, you know, scout out your areas. Where can you go in a rain in a storm? Where can you go in? In a snowstorm. That might be the parking garage. And I'm sure Mark was in a safe place where the people weren't driving in and out of a busy parking garage. I'm certainly not suggesting that.
But maybe there are stores that you can bring the pets to, or maybe stores where you can just go roam around.
Shoot, you would be fine just to roam around Walmart or roam around the grocery store if you need some outside, the home time, where you're not going to pay the price of whatever weather situation is going on, all I'm going to recommend is that you leave your cash and you leave your credit card at home because you don't want to show up and then spend 43 or $300 every time you go out just to get some fresh air, just to get some exercise, or just to get amongst other human beings.
So be wise about that. Next up, hydrate in all climates. Rain, snow, sleet, summer in Florida. I don't care. You must stay hydrated. Sometimes people take that for granted. They go, it's raining. I don't need to drink. That's ridiculous. Of course you need to drink. You need to stay hydrated so all of your organs function appropriately. So water, water, water, of course, low calorie beverages that aren't water are fine and hydrating as well.
Highly caffeinated beverages can become a problem, but water is the gold standard. So I'm going to stick with water, water, water, water, and all sorts of climates. Even if you're snow skiing, even if you don't feel hot, you don't feel like you're sweating. Yeah, you probably are. So drink, drink, drink, please. And thank you. Do not let the weather in your neck of the woods be a deterrent or an excuse for you to miss exercise.
So sometimes folks will say, I can't exercise. It's raining. That's absurd. You can stand in the middle of your living room or your kitchen or your bedroom or your foyer or in your closet and do squats or lunges or pushups or whatever. So you can exercise in your own darn house. So if you're thinking that you're getting out of jail free because it's raining outside, side. Sorry, Charlie. If you live inside a dwelling that's covered,
you can exercise. If you live in a tent, you can exercise in your tent. So please just don't go. Just don't. However, if you are going to exercise outside, we discussed it. On the hot days, you exercise in the early morning or the late evening. On the super cold days, exercise when the sun comes out. And then be a gym guy. Even if if you're not a gym guy, even if you don't want a gym membership, you're opposed to a gym membership, okay, fine, whatever.
Maybe just buy the gym membership for three months to get you through the crazy heat or the crazy cold. Perhaps you could sacrifice and be a person who pays a little bit to use wonderful fitness equipment in a place designed specifically for exercise, probably air-conditioned to the hilt for a few months. I think it's a good investment. If you're ever someone who goes out to eat dinner, you can't tell me gyms are too expensive because you're paying top dollar right now for a restaurant.
So maybe you pay the same amount or even twice that amount for a whole month at a gym, but you should get it. Or you can get a membership or a class pass to a fitness studio, something for yoga or Zumba or Pilates or bootcamp or CrossFit or. Orange Theory. That's what I was looking. Or you could do ballroom dancing like I do. Or you could just go out to a bar, a lounge, a dance party and go dance. That's exercise too.
And that also falls into the realm of, I know people are getting claustrophobic and they're getting cabin fever because they're not outside enough, but they're also not surrounded by other people. So you got to make plans to be around other people. Humans are social creatures. We are designed to be together. Of course, it's wonderful to have alone time and some people need more or less of it than others. But yeah, I think what starts setting in as people sitting at home,
it's snowing outside, so they don't want to go out. They don't want to drive in the snow. So they just sit there, sit, sit, sit. Or like my mother who says some simply it's too cold. I'm sorry. It's too hot to go to the post office. Then she's alone all day, right? There's, there's something rewarding about interacting with other humans, whether you're at the gas station and you're saying hello or complaining about the price of gas with someone next to you, right?
Anyone at the gas station hates the price of gas. So if you want to interact with people, go there and just say, bah, humbug, this gas is expensive. Somebody will come on over and chit chat with you and you can vent to each other about the price of gas, but whatever, go to the grocery store. You could could go bowling. You could go to an arcade. You could go to your neighborhood pool if it's super hot outside, right? Maybe you go to a city pool.
You go there or you go to a spring or a lake or the beach. You just go get outside and be around other people. I think that's necessary. And if you are blizzarded in, that's right. I don't know the proper terminology, but I'm just saying you're You're blizzarded in and you cannot go. It's not safe. You can't drive. All the city officials are saying, stay indoors. Okay, well then that's when you get on FaceTime and you call someone. You call your friend. You call your fellow fitness buff.
You call your family. You call a stranger. I don't know. You just call someone and interact and don't just hear their voice. Look at their face. I think technology is so harmful to us in so many ways because we kill hours on it, right? We could sit on the couch and watch TV all day and not even realize all the time has gone by, or we could sit on our phone for hours and have no idea so much time has passed. But those things also give us the opportunity to connect with others on a real level.
And you may have been victimized by me. If I'm trying to call people, I always do FaceTime first. And then I'm highly annoyed when somebody doesn't have an iPhone. That's right. I can tell if you don't have an iPhone because I click FaceTime and it'll say, Susie Q cannot be reached. And I think, oh, Susie Q, get with the times. Get yourself an iPhone. phone. But if that fails, I will use Facebook or Instagram Messenger to video chat you there. So sorry, not sorry.
I'm a people person. I need your faces. I need those connections. Even if you look gross because you just woke up and you haven't even brushed your teeth or done your hair. I don't care. Makes me happy. Trust me, it will make you happy too, to look someone fabulous or even someone not so fabulous in the face. These are things you can do to prevent cabin fever, to prevent that claustrophobia, to increase your chances of having some feel-good endorphins.
And, you know, it just works, right? It works for your body, it works for your mind. When the weather is extreme, make the best of it. So if summer's coming up and around here, boy, do people complain. It's funny, don't live in Florida if you hate the heat. Dodo, don't live in Florida if you hate the heat. If you hate humidity, you also should not be in Florida. I assume if you're someone who loathes snow, you don't want to live in Minnesota, right? That would just be silly.
If you don't like mountains, don't move to Colorado. But anyhow, so we're here in Florida and people start complaining, it's going to get hot. Yeah, it is hot. So what can we do with this heat? I mean, let's just be creative here in a hot place. Could we enjoy the heat by going swimming? Swimming? Could we be at a pool or a lake or a river or a stream or the beach? Yeah, we could. That would be nice. Could we turn the sprinklers on? Could we wash our car?
And in between washing our car, splash ourselves with a hose a little bit? Yeah, we could do that. We certainly could. If it's icy cold outside, could we make the best of the winter months by going cross-country skiing skiing or snowshoeing or bobsledding or sledding or snowboarding. I know so few things that people do in the snow, but I'm sure there's a whole longer list of things that you might like to do because it's snowing outside.
It's something that you can't do in June that you can't do in July. You can only do it in January or February. And so, yeah, plan to make the, Make the best. Take the opportunity to do those things while they're there. And that's when they become precious. Things that are at your beck and call all year round maybe aren't so exciting. But in the winter months, I think snow sports are really, really exciting stuff. And you know what's really exciting in the summer?
Whitewater rafting. That's right. That's one of those things I just adore doing. And I've got to do quite a few times this summer already. ready, but I won't be whitewater rafting in January. I promise you that I will not. So it's seasonal and it's special and beyond athletic things. Can you have a fire pit when it gets really cold outside? You can. Can you snuggle up next to a fire pit?
For sure. Especially if you have a nice person to snuggle up with, but maybe it's just a pet or you snuggle up by yourself with a blankie and a hot tea, that would be pretty damn cozy. I also enjoy a quality fire pit in the summer months. So if it gets too hot, if we're in the nineties, then maybe a fire pit's not such a great idea, but I don't know. In the eighties, yeah, we're going to do a fire pit and maybe we'll sleep outside, right?
Maybe we will bring the tent out. Winter's just coming and you're going to bring your inflatable mattress out in your tent, in your backyard or out in the the woods somewhere and you're going to bring your down comforter and your cozy gear, that's something fun to do. It's something leisurely. It doesn't require you to be athletic. It's just being outside and making the best of it.
We do a lot of grill outs in all seasons. And, you know, if you're watching football, bring your TV, bring your TV outside and enjoy the football game in the backyard. That could be pretty cool. Wherever you go outside, I think in the really cold months and in the really hot months and all the months in between, bug sprays, a super good idea. And if you walked out of my house, we have this rack that holds our keys with little hooks on it.
And on the rack right now sit about seven cans of bug spray. That's right. Some are just for mosquitoes and some are for ticks. And then there's the sunscreen. So you got to be prepared whenever you go outside. But, you know, winter, summer, those are awesome months. Spring, fall, all awesome months. I've got no beef with any of these months. And of course, it's to excess, right?
If you are snowed in for months at a time, or it's just too bloody hot and you don't want to go outside, fine, but you probably can go outside. It's just about figuring out how to make that happen. The other thing I think you should be doing is making sure you're inside your home, the place you can and likely will at some point be stuck because the weather is extreme. Make that place as wonderful as possible. Clean it up. That's right. If you're living in a pigsty, clean it up.
If it's untidy, clean it up. If you got too much stuff, declutter. Those things will help you feel better about being home. If you make your home cozy, fun, happy, stress-free place for you, perhaps instead of feeling cabin fever or claustrophobic, you'll feel relief. You'll feel relaxed. You'll feel like you're getting some bonus time. That's right. Being stuck at home. Remember, we were all stuck at home during COVID and we did some clever things to make our houses better.
The overground pool, the above ground pool market was exploding. Everybody had an above ground pool that made our house better. You know, people were buying fire pits, people were buying bikes, people were buying board games. So make sure you have things in your home that make you feel good, make you feel safe, make you feel relaxed. and then things that you think are fun, things that make you happy. I think that that is absolutely necessary. So. Yeah, be positive, be pragmatic.
If you're at the end of your wits and it's halfway through the winter and you're up north, know that you have been through cold winters before. You have endured this temperature, this season, and you have come out of it, right? You have opened your door on that first day of spring and everything was melting and you started to feel better. So you will get through it. I know some people have really difficult mental struggles in the winter and probably here in the summer too.
You got to work through it. You got to be pragmatic. You got to make sure that voice in your head talks you up instead of puts you down. That voice in your head says, hey, winter can be great. Let's make the best of it. Winter is pretty short, believe it or not. We've gotten through it before. We will get through it again. I am going to be my own best advocate. I'm going to keep my friends near. I'm going to make my fun, my home fun and safe and relaxing.
And I'm going to take every opportunity I can to get outside and yeah, take control of the things I can. So that's my long winded diatribe of dealing with seasonal issues. But I think there's a lot you can do to prepare and you should, you should do those things. Okay. So I've got a couple of other questions that were sent to me on the same Instagram story week. So, Jenny, this was really cute. Gidget girl. She says, why is helping people so important to you?
Because I'm obsessed with you. And I love, not only do I love fitness, I think that's apparent, but I'm convinced. I've read the research. I've witnessed success stories. And I know how impactful the four pillars and the exact formula and fresh air and quality sleep and removing the cranky people. I know how impactful these things can be on a person's life. And so I want you all to adopt those tenets of fitness and take them into action.
And then I just want you to be happy and I want you to live long and living long. It's not so fun unless you're living well. So I'm excited about you investing in yourself today and doing things right now that will pay off in 10 years and 20 years and 30 years and so on. So yeah, I'm just obsessed. I'm a big believer in exercise, nutrition, sleep, and so on. and I can't help myself. She also asked what my favorite way of training was. I would say without a doubt,
it's strength training. I truly believe strength training is the fountain of youth. It's the thing that makes our body most powerful, most resilient, less likely to suffer from pain. So strength, I enjoy the process of strength training too. I think it's fun. And I don't know, of course I love running and I love obstacle course races and I love ballroom dancing and a whole bunch of other things. But yeah, strength is number one for me.
Okey dokey. Val wants to know, as a vegetarian, how do I eat enough calories each day? It's a good question. It's funny. I don't think the way I eat is complicated, right? It's just natural to me, but I definitely eat plenty of nuts, which are super healthy. I eat a variety of nuts, so they'll benefit me in a variety of ways.
Absolutely concerned about brain health, So I eat walnuts and then of course I have almonds and cashews and peanuts and pumpkin seeds and all, all, all sorts of those things. So nuts account for a good chunk of my calories. I do soy products. I like the veggie chicken burgers. They're not really chicken. They just taste like chicken. But anyways, I do soy products and then fruits and vegetables, potatoes. That's right. I get a lot of calories from potatoes and I feel great about it.
Potatoes are really nutritious. It makes me sad when people avoid potatoes and they go, it's carbs. You got to avoid potatoes. That's baloney. Potatoes are awesome. Potatoes, all kinds of potatoes are packed with nutrients. It's just about managing how much you have. And then also having the good kind of potatoes, not the potatoes that have been fried in oil or covered with butter. That's really where potatoes go wrong, but potatoes themselves are pretty fantastic.
And that's it. That is my Q&A for today. Now we got two more topics to go over. Number one is the, my grammar, my grammar soapbox. We've called it the like, you know, segments and trying to help people update our speaking skills. And we started off with asking you not to use the word like all the time, unless you were expressing affection for something. So this is my podcast. Like, it's cool. Like, you should listen.
Like, you know, like I answer questions like that you ask, like that's annoying. Stop doing that. Right. But we've gone beyond like, you know, and my grammar suggestion for today is to include some sparkle words into your vocabulary. So I talked about cowboy boots and trucker hats being very sexy today. Didn't I? I sure did. The other thing I find super hot, are you ready for it? Big words. I love, I love people who use creative vocabulary words.
When I hear a doozer come out of someone's mouth, instant respect. I go, boom, that person is is better than I thought they were. My son, holy mackerel, this kid, I certainly didn't teach him all of these words, but he comes out with doozers, doozers on a regular basis. And I look at this kid and I think, oh my gosh, I made him. That's an awesome vocabulary word. So. Vocabulary words can make you sound intelligent. They can gain you some more respect.
Some weirdos like me might think you're a little sexier when you use a big word. However, vocabulary words can also be fun. And so what I'm asking you to do is break out from the norm. That's right. Break free from using the word awesome for everything or amazing for everything and add a little variety, a little spice. So my first word that I want you to add into several of your conversations this week, My first word is brouhaha. I think brouhaha is way underused. That's right. It's 2024, folks.
Get with it. Brouhaha is a big deal. And brouhaha means uproar or hubbub. Hubbub's also another great word. But if you're talking about the political debate, for example, we could say, oh, there was a brouhaha on the stage between Trump and Harris, right? That's a brouhaha. If people were, I don't know, arguing at the gas station. These prices of gas are great. These prices of gas are terrible. There's a brouhaha, right? So any sort of cluster, any sort of uproar, brouhaha.
And if you don't see or take part in an actual brouhaha, make up a fake story so you can tell someone about it so you can use the word. Build the word brouhaha into this week. If you can do it multiple times, better. Here's another word. I love, I love this word. Cockamamie. That's right. Cockamamie. Why aren't we using that word on the regular? Why is that a word that is so rarely utilized? I think it's balderdash. That's right.
I think it's bunk. I think it's balderdash that we're not using cockamamie anymore. And what does cockamamie mean? It means it's ridiculous. So if you see someone wearing something strange, you can say, that's a cockamamie outfit, right? Or if someone's saying something ridiculous, you can say, That's cockamamie, whatever, cockamamie. So where you got brouhaha and cockamamie. And the last one, the last one will make you definitely sound snobbish and highly educated and influential. It's jejun.
That's right. Jejun, don't be jejun. Jejun is predictable. And what I'm warning you that if you use the word amazing for everything you like, you are becoming tragically jejun. And no one will think you're sexy. The word amazing, not sexy anymore. So brouhaha, cockamamie, jejun. And you're going to get all the points. That's right. If you use all three of those words in conversation this week, I'm sending you points.
I'm not even going to put them in the mail. I'm just going to teleport them straight to you. So use them in conversation and then report back to me. You can say, hey, Fitz, I was talking to my dad the other day and he told me how to fix my car. And I told him that was cockamamie, whatever it is. I just need to know that you are using these words and you're getting better because that's it. It's not just about exercise anymore, folks. We're talking about our speech patterns.
How did that happen? And then last but not least, our song of the week comes from me. And I'm going to recommend this one for anything you do leisurely. If you are stretching, if you are walking and you want to walk at a pace where you bounce your head from side to side, Sabrina Carpenter's song Nespresso. So it's on the top of all the charts. All the kids are loving it. My son is loving it specifically, but she just won some sort of award at the MTV Awards the other day.
And I'm not sure why I know that, but I do. And she looks quite beautiful as she won an award. But Nespresso, do not use this song if you're lifting weights. It's pretty low. Yeah, it's not, it's not, what's the word? Intense enough, right? It's not intense enough for strength training or kickboxing, but if you are walking or stretching or doing a Pilates workout, you can definitely listen to Nespresso by Sabrina Carpenter.
Okay, folks. Well, that is that. Thank you for listening to me and winter's coming. It's coming. I hope that helped. I love you so much. Keep an eye out on Monday for my Ask Me Questions Instagram story. And then ask me a question. Have a great day. I love you. Get to work. Hi, this is Rudy Novotny, the voice of America's marathons. We all love how much running has benefited every aspect of our lives, so much so that most of us only wish we'd started sooner.
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