11. How to Stay Physically and Mentally Healthy While Stuck at Home During COVID-19 – with Courtney Sanford (podcast)

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Another deviation from the normal hemp and cannabis topics. I believe in taking care of our physical and mental health during this time of quarantine crisis. While we figure out the best strategies for our businesses and industry, it’s important for us to find strategies that keep us physically active and having a mindset that keeps us moving towards positivity and away from negativity.

My friend Courtney Sanford (Registered Nurse, CrossFit Coach, Precision Nutrition Sports Nutritionist) joins the Hemp Startup Journey podcast to discuss all things wellness while during COVID-19 quarantine. Courtney shares how to think about indulging (you don’t have to avoid it), simple food-plating strategies, how she’s choosing to physically move at home, what active athletes can do when they can’t access the gym, and lots more to help you stay active, healthy and sane.

About Courtney Sanford

There is so much information out right now about different fitness programs, diets, weight loss gimmicks, Instagram models flashing boobs and butts, so many 30 day cleanses/challenges – it’s honestly tough to look at. But, all of this noise doesn’t make cultivating the healthiest version of yourself any less important, it just makes it trickier to figure out what ‘health’ looks like for YOU. I see what happens when people choose to ignore creating healthy, sustainable habits every day in my job as a nurse, and it’s is depressing because, while not all disease is preventable, a good majority of it is. It comes down to the small daily decisions we make. My hope is to give individuals the wellness tools they need to become the most optimal version of themselves so that I can avoid seeing them as a patient in a hospital bed later on.

Connect with Courtney on Instagram at @courtney__sanford

Episode Transcript

Jason De Los Santos: [00:00:00] Hey guys. Jason here with spectrum labs. We’re doing another quarantine specific podcast. This one with my friend Courtney Sanford, and we talked about quite a few things. First of all, Courtney is a registered nurse. She’s a wellness coach. She’s a CrossFit level coach. also a precision nutrition coach.

So she’s got a lot of experience and a lot of knowledge about being mentally and physically well, which I think is a really important topic right now. So she talks about, things to eat, how to think about avoiding foods or maybe not, how to move while in the small confines of your home or apartment.

just a lot of different things about mindset, and just staying well while at home. So I hope that you listen and share this with anyone you think would benefit. So without further ado, here is Courtney Sanford. Courtney, thank you so much for joining me on the hemp startup journey today. We are not talking about hemp at all.

so, let’s see. Just a quick intro to folks who will be watching or listening. typically we talk about the business and the industry of hemp and cannabis. And, we’re right now, beginning of April, April, the second I think it is, I don’t even know what day it is anymore. Yeah. So somewhere around there.

and, it’s been hard for me personally to think about like the industry and the business of what we do. So I figured that, something for me personally to do is to take some sort of action. I think with this podcast specifically is just, give some folks that, that listen to us or watch us, some sort of actionable, advice or suggestions from experts.

And so with you specifically. You know, I’ve known you for a few years and, you really good about taking stock of overall health and wellness. And, so hopefully we can talk about some of those topics about, eating and maybe we can get into exercise a little bit and some mindset. And, so that just for context, so hopefully that’s where we can cover today.

Is that cool?

Courtney Sanford: [00:02:01] Awesome. Thanks for having me.

Jason De Los Santos: [00:02:04] Fantastic. So, just to give some context about who you are. So can you tell us, just a little bit about your background and then what you do now?

Courtney Sanford: [00:02:14] Yeah, sure. So, I guess I’ve been teaching some form of movement for the past eight years. I would say probably a little longer, if you count my.

minor league soccer coaching career. but you know, I started my movement journey with yoga. and the more that I taught yoga classes, the more I realized that all of those yogis needed strength training. So then I went and learned how to, coach strength training, strength and conditioning through CrossFit.

and then once I was exposed to that, I was like, wow, all these people need yoga and stretching. and then, you know, once I tried to blend all of that together, I also realized that nutrition was a missing link, for a lot of these, you know. these people. So I kind of tried to get a certification and everything just to complete the circle, on top of nursing.

So, yeah, I guess I’ve been doing movement for eight years total, most recently, strength and conditioning. a little bit of yoga here and there on the side. And then I’ve been doing nutrition coaching since last fall. I’ve been a nurse, a registered nurse for. 10 years now, 11 years now, which makes me feel super old.

But I do that part time in addition to the movement and the nutrition.

Jason De Los Santos: [00:03:30] Yeah. Yeah. I remember a few years ago when we met and, after CrossFit class, you would come in, you would do yoga, and everybody was just running and in pain doing your two minutes of yoga.

yeah. You also got into mobility. What was that, the leopards, is that what you used to do?

Courtney Sanford: [00:03:48] Yeah, so I used to do, like a 30 minute yoga for athletes, but it was more like mobility. It had, you know, some yoga kind of disguised in there a little bit under the term mobility. so it was a little less scary, but then we would do like trigger point release. Some banded distraction, more like long Colin’s connective tissue release, stuff like that.

Jason De Los Santos: [00:04:10] Yeah. So the point being that you understand the body, you understand movement. and then you mentioned you kind of glossed over it a little bit, but you’re, you’re a nurse. Like that’s, you know, you’re in the health space as well. And we, we might not get into too much of that today, but, I think you understand the, essentially the health and wellness side of, Humans.

Courtney Sanford: [00:04:29] Yeah. I mean, that’s essentially what drove me to teach movement in the beginning. I was probably three or four years and to my nursing career, and I realized there was just such a need for education in terms of prevention. you know. I saw patients for such a short snapshot of time where, you know, yeah, I can hand you a quick medication and you know, teach you how to inject the insulin, but I really need more quality hands on time with you to teach you how to put yourself in a situation where maybe, you know, we can reverse, you know, your need for, for insulin or make some diet and lifestyle modifications that can prevent you from coming and seeing me in the hospital in the future.

So that’s really what drove me to learn the movement piece.

Jason De Los Santos: [00:05:16] Yeah. and so for right now, I think you mentioned a little bit, but what, which services do you offer your wellness clients? Right now?

Courtney Sanford: [00:05:25] so right now, you know, aside from strength and conditioning, if people have specific performance goals, we do a little bit of programming in that realm.

but nutrition, is kind of the main thing that I’m offering on a one on one basis. I do have some, you know, mobility clients that have a lot of restriction and shortened range of motion that needs some special TLC. See, but I also do nutrition and that’s kind of my primary focus. you know, anything from the athlete that just needs like a onetime calibration to make sure that they’re hitting their, you know, specific nutrient goals to make sure their performance is optimized, to people who need a longer, kind of hands on approach to really walk them through, you know, the weight loss space or just optimizing how they feel.

Jason De Los Santos: [00:06:12] Yeah. And I think just recently under you, you’re always taking classes and learning, but just recently you got, a certification through precision nutrition, right?

Courtney Sanford: [00:06:19] I did. Yeah. So it’s to be a sport of a certified sports nutritionist is, I think what the proper term is called,

Jason De Los Santos: [00:06:28] which is a, a, the way I understand it.

Not the easiest of a certifications, but really a top notch company. I mean, like I’ve,

Courtney Sanford: [00:06:35] yeah, appreciative precision is awesome. Yeah. I really kind of. Took my time deciding which certification I wanted to get. There’s a lot of stuff out there. and you know, I think that each person that you approach about nutrition is going to need something a little bit different.

so precision just had a really well rounded approach. I appreciate the different options that they have for explaining, optimal health to people. and yeah, it wasn’t easy. I mean, it was, took me. Probably six or seven months, I think, to complete on top of everything else. Yeah. You know, but definitely well worth it.

I feel a lot more knowledgeable about it. Yeah. Completing the course. Yeah.

Jason De Los Santos: [00:07:16] Thanks. Cool. So then start getting into some of the topics for today. Again, so beginning of April, and so we’re all under this sort of uncertainty about what’s happening with a cupboard 19 and . many of us, or most of us are on their lockdown voluntarily, or maybe imposed by our local counties, and to start getting into a, let’s call it wellness at home.

what, as far as eating and exercising, why is it. Important for folks to continue or, or maybe even start some of these practices at home. Cause I think for you and I might be pretty, pretty basic. Like, I, you just continue to exercise or eat well no matter where you are. But, you know, I think we both have met a lot of folks who maybe they don’t understand some of the reasons why this might be even a better time, a more opportune time to start getting to some of these good healthy habits.

Courtney Sanford: [00:08:09] Sure. So, you know, now more than ever, health is a number one priority. I mean, this is really a mirror to show us how important and vital it is to have as much control over our health and wellbeing as we possibly can. I mean, really, it’s our number one defense. It’s all we have, you know? so it’s just invaluable to take the time.

To learn what, you know, the tools you need, I guess, to fill your toolbox in order to make this well-rounded, holistic individual that’s prepared for all this stuff. You know, right now with the coven, 19 pandemic, Everyone’s stress is through the roof. stress through the roof decreases your immunity.

So you know, the focus and the intention is to put as much, towards. You know, beefing up that immunity as you possibly can. So what better way to do that than with nutrition, with exercise, with meditation, with breathing, all these things, that you and I know, you know, the other people know our best line of defenses really.

Jason De Los Santos: [00:09:14] Yeah. so let’s say, let’s put out a couple of scenarios. He’s doing great. It’s like

Courtney Sanford: [00:09:21] she has a sock in the background. This is Eleanor. She’s our newest family member, and I used to watch her at all times, so she’s with me so that you wouldn’t hear her. Yap. In her grade.

Jason De Los Santos: [00:09:30] Yeah, no, she’s, she’s great. so with, it was put out a couple of scenarios.

So let’s say someone that, like some of our friends like there, they consider themselves themselves athletes. They work out in the gym with equipment and they’re physically healthy and let’s say their nutrition is doing well. I know I’ve talked a lot of friends who are missing or maybe getting kind of depressed about not being able to.

Do what we’re used to and being in the gym. What kinds of things are you talking to and telling those folks? Or are some of them might even be your clients? just to be able to keep going. What kind of advice or suggestions do you have.

Courtney Sanford: [00:10:05] Well, the first thing that comes to mind to me is now is the best time to work on your weaknesses.

you know, I think a lot of our friends, our population are used to being in the gym strength training. you know, the CrossFit athlete that’s doing high level barbell stuff or gymnastics stuff. or just people that are used to having a lot of equipment. Now is a great time to really focus on quality of movement, on body weight exercises, on fine tuning your mobility, and really putting an emphasis into your nutrition.

I mean, you know, say this lockdown or the shelter in place lasts for, you know, a total of two, maybe three months. I mean, in the grand scheme of your strength and conditioning, you know, Career, if you want to call it that, you’re not going to lose that much strength. And in fact, you can probably gain a lot of technique, and come back to the gem moving better if you take this time to really focus on your weaknesses and really improve all of your body weight mechanics.

I mean, there’s. And less amounts of body weight activity that you can do to, you know, preserve the stimulus of working out, still create muscle hypertrophy, still preserve, you know, endurance and cardiovascular health. I mean, there are endless options really.

Jason De Los Santos: [00:11:21] Yeah. I’ve been for the past few weeks. I don’t know if I told you or you’ve seen, but I’ve been focusing on some of the movies stuff, and like this morning I was working on my scalp.

Well, my scapula for like 15 minutes, which sounds like such a Dorothy talk about, but it’s, you know, trying to get me, you have a lot of equipment, but I mean, work on weaknesses. Why not? This is a good time.

Courtney Sanford: [00:11:43] Oh, we got paper plates out of the kitchen and we’re doing a . Mountain in climbers and like trying to practice sliding across the carpet floor, you know?

Jason De Los Santos: [00:11:53] and then, so what about, someone else on the other side of the spectrum in the sense that let’s say someone that maybe doesn’t have many healthy habits or, or physical habits, they don’t work out too much, or maybe not at all, as far as eating, they might not eat very well. I’ve certainly talked to some of those folks where they say like, Oh, well, what’s the point?

You know, like there, there’s this constant, The constantly getting further into this depression hole. What kinds of things are you talking to suggesting to folks like that?

Courtney Sanford: [00:12:19] Yeah, so you know, the whole concept of inertia is always what I use as an example. You know, an object at rest is going to stay at rest and an object in motion is going to stay in motion.

So. You know, making that decision in the beginning to start moving, it’s probably going to be the hardest one. But what better time than now when you literally have no excuse, you’re, you’re forced to stand side. Right. What better time to focus on laying a foundation for a better, healthier self? you know, just making the decision, choosing to stick with it, and then coming up with actionable goals.

So, you know, every single day for 30 minutes when my feet first had the floor, I’m gonna go for a Walker. I’m going to do some body weight squats, or I’m gonna focus on mobility and breathing. And then it’s done. The hard thing is out of the way. You have the rest of the day, you know, to move forward and do what you want with it.

but we, I mean. A great way to look at it right now is to treat it like your job. You know, if it’s something that means enough to you, you really want to implement this habit, you want to make it stick for the longterm. You know, making that decision, doing it every single day, treating it like a job and not giving yourself the option to not say no or to say no.

Because again, you know, this is a great example of that. We have to preserve our health. We have to invest in ourselves.

Jason De Los Santos: [00:13:42] Yeah, I remember, with PN I was a, I took a, the, the early meeting program a few years ago, I think it was the first habit that they talked about was the, a, the five minute action where they said, pick anything to get you started on this journey that takes five minutes or less.

Don’t worry if it, if it means, cutting up one Apple or, or you know, taking, do, doing one pushup, whatever it is, to do something to get you started on that path. Because more than likely, you probably wouldn’t stop it. Just that one. Let’s say if it’s a physical movement, you probably would not stop it.

Just one question. You would say like, Oh, Whoa, Marie down here. Might as well just keep going.

Courtney Sanford: [00:14:20] Exactly. Yeah. I already cut out this one thing, you know, let me be mindful about the rest of the things that I’m meeting for the day, or I already ate one serving of vegetables. You know, why not finish them off?

Why not? Absolutely.

Jason De Los Santos: [00:14:33] So then let’s see you with . If we can talk about physical exercise for a little bit. yesterday, I don’t know if you want to show this. We can cut this out. You and John were doing some out some movements, like it was like a roll, like you’re flowing in the wind and whatnot. so, you know, it’s probably you, you guys, experimenting, and doing stuff at home, but, with minimal space, what kinds of things.

Could people start playing around with or experiment or

Courtney Sanford: [00:15:02] moving. So, yeah, we literally have like a 1300 square foot house. I mean, it’s all one story. We have three dogs, we have a guest room and we have like no backyard cause you know, we live in Nashville. so I mean, I know this is so embarrassing, but I just got to show you like the guest mattress is like pushed up against the wall.

And this is just like, the way that we’re living right now is our new gym. And so for us, we are trying to keep it as playful as possible. I think we kind of fall into that category that you mentioned earlier is like we’re so used to waking up, going to the gym, having everything we need right at our fingertips, doing a very specific type of movement, and then coming home.

I mean, it’s very calculated so. like the rest of the world, you know, the depression sorts of creep in, you know, we’re isolated. We’re here. We can’t really go anywhere. That routine is taken away from us. So, we kind of anticipated that happening. we started to see it kind of creep in a little bit.

So we sat down and made a very intentional plan. for me, my, my thought was, you know, I’ve always wanted to be a more fluid mover, so I’m, you know, used to doing strength and conditioning. I’ve done endurance running forever. fluidity and like moving very seamlessly does not happen. Well for me, for John.

It happens effortlessly. Of course. he, he, he does jujitsu like three days a week, and he’s always trying to get me to roll around with him, you know, and teach me different chokes and holds and stuff like that. And I’m like, God, this is not for me. I went to one jujitsu class and I literally punched myself in the eye and the first, and I was like, okay, I can see.

I’m okay. I’m all right. so, so my goal was, okay, I’m going to become a more fluid mover. I want him to show me some roles. you know, I want to learn how to roll upside down on my neck and not feel like, you know, panicked or uncomfortable. just kind of leaning into what I typically shy away from has really helped me stay engaged.

And kind of, you know, fall in love with movement aside from like, Oh, I’m used to squatting with a barbell and now here I am in my spare bedroom doing air squats. You know, just picking a new type of movement and trying to, you know. Yeah, that’s good. Instead of as good at it as I can. Yeah.

Jason De Los Santos: [00:17:23] I wonder if, I wonder if you see this maybe differently, but they fall doing something like that and throwing yourself into a certain type of discomfort, when you’re used to a different type of.

Of movement or exercise, if that might make this, let, let’s call it isolation or, or, you know, quarantining or lockdown. If it might make that a little bit easier because you’re putting yourself in an uncomfortable situation, on your own, right? Like you were, you told like, Hey, you know, stay home and for good reason, but by putting yourself into an additional uncomfortable situation, that might make things a little bit better because at least you have some control and you’re doing what you’re, maybe what you’re missing.

Courtney Sanford: [00:18:03] Yeah. And then you just can take that, you know, outside of quarantine and let it bleed into the rest of your life. I mean, the whole game is getting comfortable with what you’re uncomfortable with. I mean, that’s life, you know, leaning into it instead of shying away from it. Absolutely.

Jason De Los Santos: [00:18:17] Oh, I just got an idea.

Here’s what I want to see. You guys do the lava climbing, I forgot what it’s called.

Courtney Sanford: [00:18:24] No, I have not.

Jason De Los Santos: [00:18:26] It’s a couple exercise and so one person, typically the taller one. We’ll stand with her arms out and it like a quarter squat. Yeah. And they can’t move at all.

Courtney Sanford: [00:18:39] Every single person goes around them. Yes.  myself in the eye.

John was out with a quarter squat trying to embrace me and I had to get around him. As many times. Can you see me still? Yeah. Okay. I had to get around him as many times as I possibly could without touching the floor, and I made it around his stomach and I was trying to like get onto his back and I grabbed his geek and I was like trying to turn and I slipped.

So I don’t know if there will be a resurgence of that exercise, maybe.

Jason De Los Santos: [00:19:19] What about the gear, right? I

Courtney Sanford: [00:19:20] mean, yeah.

Jason De Los Santos: [00:19:23] That’s okay. We will, we’ll do it tonight. That’ll be a, all right. Somebody will get hurt.

Courtney Sanford: [00:19:31] My next question.

Jason De Los Santos: [00:19:33] all right. Let’s talk about, nutrition eating. are there things that we should not be eating?

Let’s start there.

Courtney Sanford: [00:19:42] Okay. Oh, that’s a loaded question. I believe that there is no food that should be restricted. I prefer to speak about food in terms of nutrient rent, a nutrient rich food and less nutrient dense food. I mean, that’s ultimately what it is. And right now, honestly, we all know it. We’re chasing serotonin.

I mean, food provides serotonin, and we are in a time where we want to feel comforted. And for a lot of us, that means, you know, familiar foods that we like to eat. that being said, you know, I think that people should allow themselves to have. No reasonable portions of their comfort food, plugged into a well structured thought out day.

Jason De Los Santos: [00:20:27] What’s reasonable for you? Cause, that makes sense to me. But somebody will listen to this and be like, Oh honey, listen to Courtney gave you permission. It’s entire chocolate cake.

Courtney Sanford: [00:20:38] Yeah. Maybe. you find that balance. So, you know, I like to structure my food. Making sure that I’ve got a protein, you know, a vegetable, a serving and fat, you know, throughout the day.

Okay. That’s my big priority. Protein, fiber, vegetables. And then once I’ve had all that, if I choose to have a comfort food or a serving of comfort food, that for me would look like, you know, a handful of M&Ms after dinner after I have my chicken and my veggies. And you know. my healthy fats and stuff like that, or, you know, one or two cookies after dinner.

Or if I felt like, you know, skipping my, my chicken and veggies for lunch, maybe I just have a grilled cheese and that’s just what I have, you know? And then allowing myself to have that sort of, you know. Mental satisfaction and then moving on and getting right back to regular, regularly scheduled programming.

Jason De Los Santos: [00:21:35] Okay. So eating the foods that are, let’s say, good for you, and then afterwards having a small tree or a small kind of indulgence. Right. Without going overboard.

Courtney Sanford: [00:21:45] Right, exactly. Yep.

Jason De Los Santos: [00:21:48] And then let’s see, as far as you, you talked a little bit about, stress. I don’t know if you are seeing this with your clients and certainly have to see what a lot of friends and family myself, how do you recommend for your clients to manage their stress?

Right now.

Courtney Sanford: [00:22:04] you know, well, first of all, I mean, this is like a shameless plug, I guess, but, health space or, sorry, Headspace is free right now for all healthcare workers. So, and just in case people didn’t know that. Yeah. Headspace is a meditation app that you can use and it’s again, free for all healthcare workers.

And so I just went ahead and downloaded it and have been using it every single day, right when my feet hit the floor. if you don’t really feel like that, you know, there’s tons of different breathing exercises that you can look up on YouTube, you know, breathing for relaxation, breathing for stress reduction, there’s tons of great free content out there or any sort of free meditation, honestly, on YouTube will be a great way for, to start your day with stress.

Yeah. I also think being proactive throughout your day, especially if you’re, you know, one of these people who have just suddenly lost all the structure that you have in your day, you are without job. You know, you’re home with kids. I mean, your wife does an amazing job of this, you know, instead of sitting back and being reactionary and like, Oh my God, my, my structure that I’m used to having is gone.

You know? Again. Leaning into what’s uncomfortable and being proactive and creating your own structure, you know? So from eight to nine, I’m going to wake up, I’m going to take a walk, I’m going to come home, I’m going to meditate, then I’m going to breathe, and then I’m going to cook myself a nutritious breakfast, and then I’m going to read, you know, just something to keep the pace, something to keep you moving in a healthy, positive direction.

Because obviously, you know. This is going to pass, we’re going to come out stronger, you know? So just kinda priming yourself for that.

Jason De Los Santos: [00:23:41] Yeah. It’s tough to think about that while you’re in it, but it’ll pass. Right. And some of us will be okay, and unfortunately, some of us might. Lose a friend or a family member, you know, hopefully not.

But I said, that’s the reality of it. Oh, really? This point. but that, yeah, I believe in structure as best as you can. Like you mentioned Katie, my wife and I, she, she felt it for the first few days where we have a couple of girls and, they were just. Doing whatever, and I think we, we just did it, especially during the early days.

We didn’t know exactly what to do, so we’re just like, Oh, sure, whatever. We’ll do a little at the school and maybe some TV and whatnot. And then she just took it upon herself to set that structure. Yeah. It’s not, yeah. You know, she does give some leniency, but that’s helped everybody. Even the kids appreciate it because they understand what’s happening.

Okay. Nine, we did this, and 11 we do that and so on and so forth. No, I think you can increase some normalcy, which I think is what Wilbur, a lot of what we’re

Courtney Sanford: [00:24:37] missing. Yes, absolutely.

Jason De Los Santos: [00:24:40] Fortunately, I can come to the office for a little bit, and when I, when I’m out on the road, I only see a handful of cars.

That’s just so abnormal. This is so bizarre to start

Courtney Sanford: [00:24:49] with really crazy range, really, really crazy.

Jason De Los Santos: [00:24:52] but, but it’s, it’s what it is for right now. So, yeah. And then, let’s see. So you mentioned a Headspace. just to go back for a second for, exercising at home, have you seen any good websites or apps for, moving at

Courtney Sanford: [00:25:06] home?

Yeah, so, one of the gems that I coach for right now, they have given out virtual programs like virtual online workouts, for their members, which I’ve been doing a little bit of that, and that’s really helpful just to come up with some ideas. And, you know, aside from that, there’s a million different, like body weight wads and stuff like that that you can Google, and you can get free on the internet.

Jason De Los Santos: [00:25:29] if I, if I am not a math member, can I

Courtney Sanford: [00:25:33] okay. Purchase it? Well, you have to purchase them. Yeah.

Jason De Los Santos: [00:25:38] If somebody wants to do that,

Courtney Sanford: [00:25:40] if you just go to metabolic M a D a, B, O, L, I, C on Instagram, I believe the link is in their profile and they can look at that, and see kind of what the, what the deal is with those workouts.

Jason De Los Santos: [00:25:52] Okay.

Courtney Sanford: [00:25:53] Yeah. So that’s been really fun. They connected.

Jason De Los Santos: [00:25:56] And then, what about, for nutrition or eating, is your, first of all, is your profile public for Instagram?

Courtney Sanford: [00:26:01] Yeah.

Jason De Los Santos: [00:26:02] Okay. So what’s your, your handle in case somebody wants to follow up? Cause you always have a lot of really cool pictures of food.

You’ve put posted recipes. they all look delicious and they’re very healthy.

Courtney Sanford: [00:26:13] Yeah, it’s Courtney. And then two underscores. Sanford S. a. N. F. O. R. D. And that’s it. You can find me there. Direct message mean,

Jason De Los Santos: [00:26:24] yeah, right. You’ll find some good food. Exercise, shenanigans galore.

Courtney Sanford: [00:26:28] Yeah. Yeah. Us rolling around on the floor.

Yeah.

Let’s do it. Yeah. Everyone’s like, has their different interpretation, like is the goal to not use your hands? And I’m like, no. It’s kind of like a mixture of martial arts and yoga and you know. Over here. That’s really it.

Jason De Los Santos: [00:26:52] Yeah. Yeah. We need it. let’s see. And then, so I think we covered quite a bit, as far as just, you know, stress, some tips for eating well.

I think it was helpful to, can it be stigmatized? The whole thing about . eating treats or indulgences. I think a lot of folks, they have that kind of, I’m unsure about what to do. Like, should I cut out on my treats or should I have some? So I think that was helpful. What you, what you mentioned, exercise, is there anything else you think.

Or that you want to mention, for folks who are at home and they need some, maybe some guidance or some insights into how to  or move or maybe some, some

Courtney Sanford: [00:27:30] mindsets. Yeah, I mean, man, thanks for the open ended question cause I could literally just talk about that. You know, now is a really great time to take a look at what your nutrition habits are.

You know, I saw this meme the other day that was like, I don’t know who needs to hear this, but you just say it five minutes ago. and it made me laugh really hard cause I have a tendency to just, Oh, I’m bored. I’m going to go eat. I want to forward, you know, I just looked in their refrigerator five minutes ago, but I’m going to look again.

Maybe there’s something in the back I missed. so now’s a really great time to take a look, at . What your nutrition habits are. You know, what your relationship with food is. we all have, excuse me, areas for improvement. like right now, for instance, I am really trying hard to pay attention to my hunger cues.

I have been one of those that has counted macros for the past, like three years. so much so. To the point where I realized I was not paying attention to my hunger cues and I was just eating because I had to get 30 more grams of protein in for the day.

Jason De Los Santos: [00:28:34] Can you talk about that for a second? Cause I’m not familiar with that.

So what does that mean like that you should be, I think PN says eat when you’re hungry. Right? Can you talk about the importance

Courtney Sanford: [00:28:43] of that? Right. Yeah. So, you know, we all have a metabolism. I mean, it’s a part of our, you know, genetic makeup and, you know, if functioning appropriately, it’s telling us when we’re hungry and when it needs fuel.

so. You know? Okay. Paying attention to that is almost like an art. I think there is so much that happens in day to day life. We’ve been so distracted, with, you know, work, emails, workout schedule, all these different roles that we uphold that it’s very easy to. Kind of ignore those hunger cues and forget that they even exist and just to get into a schedule.

So really trying to focus on, okay, when I’m done with my meal, am I full? Am I still hungry? Am I just right? you know, what is my body telling me? Eating. Slowly, you know, making sure to fully to my food and then seeing how long it takes, you know, before I’m hungry again. waiting a little while before I choose to typically eat my next meal and see if I can actually, you know, feel hunger, which, you know what, What a privilege that is. You don’t say out loud like, I’m waiting to feel hungry. Like, gosh, that’s awful. But, you know, just paying attention to that because I like, truthfully, as awful as it is to say, you know, with counting macros for so long, I couldn’t even tell you when I, you know, felt hungry anymore.

I was just like, on a rhythm, you know, every three hours a meeting, a meeting, a meeting. So it’s been a fun challenge to kind of lean into.

Jason De Los Santos: [00:30:16] and then is what you said before about relationship with food. And I feel like that’s something we don’t talk about too much, that that’s such a, such an important thing to consider, in, in whether that’s, like in my family, when I was growing up, my mom would always say, finish your food.

And that’s become absolutely no response to that related to what you’re saying. Eat when you’re hungry. I would. Be eating, I, I would be full, but then I would see the food left on my plate and I would have that reaction to like, we’ll have to finish this. I can’t possibly leave it. You know, it’s not like I have a fridge where I have space and, you know, containers.

I couldn’t possibly wear it. so can you talk about that? The whole relationship thing,

Courtney Sanford: [00:30:54] that’s really important. Yeah, I mean, we all have a relationship with food. you know, whether or not we sit on the couch and don’t have, you know, a high activity level or whether we are working out two times a day and, you know, six days a week, we all have a relationship to food and it’s all been shaped from the way we were raised.

Our parents relationship with food. a lot of that requires some unlearning. You know? So for me, and for you, it sounds like you had to unlearn the whole mentality of like, eat every single thing that’s on your plate. for some people, the relationship work is in, you know, allowing yourself a little bit of grace if you maybe eat something that’s not as nutrient rich as, you know, chicken and vegetables.

letting it go and not shaming yourself. And then you know, my, I guess, definition of. A good, healthy relationship with food is, again, not saying any food that is good or bad or off limits or only acceptable, right? food is an experience. It’s meant to be social. It’s meant to be emotional. It’s meant to be cultural.

It’s meant to be purposeful, I. E. feeling yourself. you know, it’s meant to be healthful. Meaning, you know, we’re eating it to work on disease prevention. and so making sure that all of those lens of your relationship with food are in check. You know, am I eating socially on a regular basis? And my allowing myself to eat out with friends.

We were allowed to do that again, you know, once every few weeks responsibly. you know, am I doing this as a way to fight disease and nourish my body, and give it what it needs, you know? am I. Allowing myself to have sugar, you know, or have a food that maybe, was comforting to me as a child and then, you know, letting it go and moving on without the shame.

just making sure to check in with all of those pieces.

Jason De Los Santos: [00:32:55] Yeah. I think if anything, if folks can pay attention to that and just, like you’re saying, be mindful of what you’re doing, what you’re eating without judgment, which is really hard. Right? Yeah. Please just notice it like, you know what? What am I doing?

Why am I eating this? Or what am I eating? How much am I eating? And then just kind of decide if you want to do anything about it or, or maybe at least just realize that you’re doing that.

Courtney Sanford: [00:33:18] Right, right. Yeah. It’s all about balance, you know? I mean, if, if we look at food as a way, ultimately above all else to Nourish our bodies and to scape off disease, you know, the rest will fall into. If we’re doing that 85% of the time, you know, and making sure to preserve that other 15% to allow for the social experience. allow for the feel good. Endorphins allow for the cultural experience. you know, who wants to go travel to a place and not try local food?

I mean, come on. That’s part of the experience, you know? so just making sure all that in check is really, you know. I guess I would define as a healthy relationship.

Jason De Los Santos: [00:34:00] Yeah. Cool. Well said. So, all right. Just to start wrapping up, is there anything you want to leave people with? How’s the action or.

Courtney Sanford: [00:34:09] Anyone more, you know?

So I think it’s interesting, right? Like we’re all trying to avoid going to the grocery store right now. we’re all on lockdown at home, and we’re like, Oh my God, you know, we need beans and toilet paper. And, which I guess the two definitely, but you know, it’s like, I’m just amazed that some of the, you know, it’s like every grocery store I’ve gone to, all the canned stuff is on.

But so many of the other more nutrient dense foods are still available. So just some ideas for having to, you know, avoid going to the grocery store every few weeks. You know, you can get almost any veggie frozen if they’re not frozen veggies. You can get heads of broccoli, you can get Brussels sprouts, you can get green beans, all can be frozen and preserved for as, as possible.

I mean, you can go to the store and you can get your meats and your toe foods and freeze them in bulk and have them and de thaw them when you’re ready to use. you know, frozen fruit, fruit makes great smoothies. there are tons and tons of ways to still maintain eating healthy without having to go to the grocery store every four days.

so just some ideas with that. You know, cause I know the first first instinct is to go for the jerky and the peanut butter and the rice cakes and call it a day cause you’ve got all your main, your main food groups there. But, there are still a lot of really nutrient rich options that you can.

Lean into without having to go to the grocery store regularly. Well,

Jason De Los Santos: [00:35:39] now, like kidding, I used to live in Florida and we wouldn’t have these hurricane warnings all the time. And at the grocery stores, the first thing that that would go would be milk and bread. And I’m like, wait a minute. If you’re, because you’re, you’re

Afraid of being liked in your house and not being able to go to the store. That’s the first thing that’s going to go back.

Courtney Sanford: [00:36:00] I know. It’s so interesting. It’s so interesting. I’m like, Oh my God, I need my Sumo oranges and my Brussels sprouts doesn’t like a true Asheville, the whole foods every two days.

Jason De Los Santos: [00:36:14] Nice.

Okay, cool. So, thank you, Courtney. So if somebody wants to reach out to you, how should they do that?

Courtney Sanford: [00:36:21] Instagram is great. Just at Courtney underscore, underscore, Sanford, S. a. N. F. O. R. D. you can direct message me there. and we can start a conversation. Nutrition, fitness, mindfulness, whatever you want.

Jason De Los Santos: [00:36:34] Fantastic. Awesome. Courtney, thank you so much. I hope that folks get a lot out of this and I will hopefully see you soon,

Courtney Sanford: [00:36:43] hopefully sooner rather than later. Seriously.

Jason De Los Santos: [00:36:46] Awesome. Thank you so much.

Courtney Sanford: [00:36:48] Thanks for having me.

Jason De Los Santos: [00:36:50] Hey guys, and before you go, this is Jason from spectrum labs. Please be sure to visit us on the web as the spectrum labs.com for any show notes and links.

Discussed in the podcast. Also remember to click the subscribe button wherever you may be listening from, so you get notified when our next episode comes out and tune in next show and have a fantastic day.

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