Brian (1s):
Hello and welcome to the Get Lean Eat Clean podcast. My name is Brian Gryn. I'm a certified health coach, trainer and author, and this podcast is for middle aged men and women looking to optimize their health and get their bodies back to what it once was 10 to 15 years ago. I will give you simple, actionable items to get long term sustainable results. Thanks for listening and enjoy the show. All, right Welcome to the Get Lean Eat Clean podcast. My name is Brian Gryn. I hope you had a great weekend. Happy Tuesday if you're listening to Tuesday and hopefully listen to my interview with ultra endurance athlete and coach Luke Tyburski.
Brian (45s):
We talked all about his bouts with depression, how he overcame it, and how to become a high achiever, both, you know, in sport and in at work. His incredible run that he did, 2000 kilometers from Morocco to Monaco, And, you know, anything from just getting started with running to becoming a high achiever. So really enjoyed my interview with Luke Tyburski, definitely checked that out. And if you are watching this on YouTube, cuz every one of my episodes is on YouTube, I am wearing my blue light blocking glasses. I know it looks really fancy and the lighting might not be that great. I'm working on, on fixing that.
Brian (1m 25s):
But either way, I'm filming this at night, so that is why it's a little bit darker than normal, but it's past eight o'clock, so I typically wear my glasses. So anyways, thanks so much for listening. We're gonna touch today on a topic that Luke and I talked about on the interview, and that was regarding mental health. I think this is something that is obviously equally as important as our physical health and something that, you know, maybe on this podcast and in general is not talked about enough. A lot of times it sort of takes a backseat to a lot of other things that go on, but it's about time we prioritize our mental health focus on building healthy habits that'll help us maintain our mental and emotional wellness.
Brian (2m 11s):
So I wanted to, you know, Luke touched on his, you know, I think it was seven, eight years of dealing with depression, you know, anxiety, insomnia, and really, you know, his only outlet was, you know, going for like long runs and eventually he talked with someone. You know, having someone to talk to, whether it's a family member or like a third party, I think is so important. We're gonna touch on that and I'm gonna just hit on some, maybe some other habits that, you know, we've touched on already. But it doesn't hurt to reinforce the fact that not only will this help you physically, but it'll also hopefully help you emotionally.
Brian (2m 51s):
And I think that's something that you wanna just, you know, keep an eye on, whether it's yourself or your kids or family members. And so some of these habits, maybe you're doing, maybe you're not, but it's time to start, you know, prioritizing these habits. Things like sleep, things like exercising, Regularly, you know, the thing about sleep is a lack of, it can sort of compound and create the stress, anxiety, depression. And essentially that's al almost like what happened with Luke was he was, you know, he, he suffered from insomnia almost like he, he mentioned at one point for the week he'd have like only eight to 10 hours that week of sleep.
Brian (3m 36s):
And so, you know, he was almost doing self-harm on himself and eventually got out of that. But having some type of sleep schedule, a routine that you do tonight that you, that you do every night that you can stick to. I always talk about trying to go to bed and waking up around the same time. If you could get seven to nine hours of sleep every night, I know for some people that's difficult to do, but, you know, it's, it's all about prioritizing it. And, you know, maybe one thing might you might wanna do is get some blue light blocking glasses. Start putting those on in the evening if you do have to look at screens, keeping your bedroom cool, A cool dark place really promotes healthy sleep habits.
Brian (4m 22s):
My wife and I keep it at probably 65, 66 degrees every night and we black it out so it is dark. It is a sleek ca sleep cave. So if you're falling asleep on the couch, probably not a good idea. Let's fall asleep in bed, maybe do some reading and something that sort of calms the mind. And that sort of leads into my next sort of topic, which is Mindfulness. you know, obviously we've talked about this before and it doesn't have to be a long sort of Mindfulness routine. It could be a 10 minute, you know, sort of meditation. There's so many different apps that you can use nowadays.
Brian (5m 3s):
Calm is one of 'em. I've used probably half a dozen of them I've tried, but meditation, breathing exercises, things like this that sort of calm your, your mind, reduce any negative thoughts and they definitely can improve your wellbeing. So doing that, exercising Regularly, which obviously we talk all about, exercise is a great way to improve mood, reduce stress, anxiety, you know, you release those endorphins, some people really get that from running. I'm not a big runner. I, I like to go to the gym and it doesn't have to be for a long time. It could be 30 minutes, sometimes an hour, but, you know, you could go for a walk, which is big.
Brian (5m 43s):
I typically walk two to three times a day with my dogs. I do love yoga. I haven't been doing as much lately, but at, at, you know, times I do it probably two times a week. You just have to prioritize this stuff. Again, yoga could be 20 minutes in your basement, 15 in your basement. I do think there's some value to going to classes. So if you could go to a class, that'd be great, especially just starting out. Also too, something that doesn't get touched on too much is the social connections that we can make just connecting with Others. And you know, what I notice is as we get older, we're sort of in our own little bubble and I think it's important to connect.
Brian (6m 24s):
Take time outta your busy schedule, make plans, have people come over. I definitely try, we try to host people at our, at our house as much as possible. Friends, loved ones, maybe colleagues of my wife's. And it could just be a simple, you know, hour get together, doesn't have to take all night. But, you know, connecting with others I think is so important. Something that I think we lost touch with a little bit with Covid obviously, but now it's, you know, an now we're all back to normal eating healthy obviously is a big one. you know, food is not only just about, you know, helping you maybe look a certain way maybe, but it can also help you reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Brian (7m 11s):
you know, focusing on nutrient dent foods that are, you know, high in, you know, vitamins and minerals, you know, can be essential for brain function and just limiting processed fried foods, And, you know, real sugary drinks. I think that's, you know, obviously gotta be a priority. And then lastly, and Luke touched about this in in our podcast, was the fact that he found an individual to talk to a third party. And I've used third parties in the past. At, at one point I was actually my dad and I would have, you know, 30 minute to hour just talks about, you know, life and what's going on. And I think that's important.
Brian (7m 52s):
It doesn't have to be with a loved one, but we probably did it for a good eight to 10 years of, you know, at least once a week or once every couple weeks getting together and talking. And actually something that I'd like to get back into it now that I'm more of an older adult, I'm in my forties now, but we did this probably from like 20 to 30 years of my life when I was 20 years old till about when I was 30 ish in that range, maybe even a little bit older. You build, build a deeper connection with yourself, but also with the individual. And if you'd rather talk to someone that's, you know, outside of your realm, I think that's great too because you can, you know, it's sort of like a blank slate and it's a great way to externalize our emotions, gain some valuable perspective on things, on any struggles that we're going through.
Brian (8m 40s):
So, you know, speaking with someone who's trained to handle mental health concerns, I think's important too, can give you valuable tours, tool, excuse me, valuable tools and so do these coping mechanisms that we might have never considered on our own. So this is, I think, a huge strategy that I've used that Luke talked about in our interview. So, you know, meaning maintaining a healthy lifestyle is obviously key to optimal mental health. These, these habits that I've mentioned, regular exercise, good nutrition, quality, sleep, Mindfulness, social connections, and talking with someone can really help maintain or improve your mental health and emotional wellbeing.
Brian (9m 24s):
And, you know, I always say don't wait, right? Don't keep putting it off. you know, take those next steps right away. There'll never be a perfect time to do some of this, some of these things. So why not do it tomorrow? And I think, you know, a lot of times we just sort of put things off when, you know, our mental health should be our first priority every day. And doing these habits can go a long way and make a big difference in the long run. So that's all I wanted touch on today. If you have any questions, feel free to email me, Brian Gryn I dot com. I'll leave a link in the show notes for my new book Stepladder System where we talk all about six, my six pillars of health and, and ways to strategize to become the best version of yourself.
Brian (10m 9s):
So I put a lot of effort into that book. I I definitely check it out. I think you really will enjoy it and I hope you have a great rest of the week. Happy Father's Day week also, it's my birthday tomorrow, so June 14th, so it's gonna be a great week and I will talk to you on Friday with another great interview. Thanks for listening to the GETLEAN EAN podcast. I understand there are millions of other Podcasts out there and you've chosen to listen to mine and I appreciate that. Check out the show notes at Brian Gryn dot com for everything that was mentioned in this episode. Feel free to subscribe to the podcast and share it with a friend or family member that's looking to get their body back to what it once was.
Brian (10m 54s):
Thanks again and have a great day.
