At 44, Ariana Hakman is rekindling her passion for sprinting while exploring new horizons in Master’s Track and Field, symbolizing her belief in the power of continual goal-setting and embracing new challenges.
In this episode of The MOVEMENT Movement, Steven Sashen speaks with Ariana Hakman, Founder and COO of LunaFit. In this episode, Ariana champions a holistic approach to fitness that evolves with age and personal growth. With a competitive track and field background, she uniquely understands the necessity of setting adaptive fitness goals, especially for those transitioning from high-intensity sports.
Key Takeaways:
→ Why it’s crucial to find physical activities you enjoy for your overall well-being.
→ How simple habit changes and staying active leads to lasting improvement in health and fitness.
→ Why you should evolve your fitness goals to keep yourself motivated and fulfilled
→ How prioritizing sleep helps with weight loss and overall wellness.
→ Why consistency, discipline, and focusing on protein intake will help you reach your fitness goals.
Ariana Hakman is the founder and COO of LunaFit, a health and fitness brand revolutionizing wellness through technology, nutrition, fitness, and community. With her husband, Rich, and a dedicated team, she has built multiple businesses, including a gym, a meal prep company, a supplement company, and an innovative app launching in January. Ariana aims to empower busy individuals to achieve their health goals through simplified solutions and meaningful connections. A dynamic entrepreneur and speaker, she shares her journey of resilience and purpose-driven growth while championing her team’s collective vision.
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Episode Transcript
Steven Sashen:
Living in and around Boulder, Colorado, there are a lot of super fit people. I see them out on the trails. I see them out on tracks. I see them climbing mountains, and by and large, they rarely look like they’re having a good time. Is that what it takes to be fit? We’re going to find out more about that on today’s episode of the Movement Movement, the podcast for people who want to know the truth about what it takes to have a happy, healthy, strong body starting feet first, usually because those things at the end of your legs are in fact your foundation.
We also break down the propaganda, the mythology, sometimes the outright lies you’ve been told about what it takes to run, walk, hike, do yoga, CrossFit, whatever you like to do, and to do it enjoyably and efficiently and effectively. And did I say enjoyably? Of course I did. It’s a trick question. I always say that. Because if you’re not having fun, you’re not going to keep it up anyway. So we’re going to talk about that more on today’s podcast.
I am Steven Sashen, co-founder and chief barefoot officer here at Xero Shoes. And we call it the Movement Movement because we, and that includes you; more about that in a second; are creating a movement about natural movement. Having your body do what it’s made to do instead of getting in the way with things that are sold as benefits but aren’t necessarily that.
So the way you help the movement is really simple. Just spread the word. So go over to www.jointhemovementmovement.com. You’ll find all the places you can enjoy this podcast if you’re not liking the one where you already found it. You’ll find all the previous episodes of which there are a lot, and you can enjoy those. You’ll find all the places you can find us in social media. And just give us a thumbs up, give us a five-star rating. Look, you know the drill. If you want to be part of the tribe, just subscribe.
So here we go. Ariana, do me a favor. Tell people who you are and what you are doing here and then let’s have some fun. Except for the fact that you’re frozen, which is not very much fun. Now you’re not frozen. Right before you froze, that was brilliant, I said tell people who you’re and what you’re doing here so we can then have some fun. And then you were totally frozen, which is a very entertaining way of getting the ball rolling. So here we go.
Ariana Hackman:
Great introduction. Yeah. My name is Ariana Hackman. I’m the owner of the LunaFit Universe. It encompasses many things: a fitness center in central Florida, a meal prep company, a small health and fitness supplement company, and a fantastic mobile app that we are launching.
Steven Sashen:
So we’re having some glitchy audio video things so let’s deal with that because it hasn’t been too bad. Just cut out for a second or two. But if it gets bad, bad, we might have to restart things. But let’s keep going if we can.
Ariana Hackman:
Okay.
Steven Sashen:
So first things first, for those people who are watching, you have the most colorful background and most interesting background of anyone that I’ve ever talked to. So you got to just tell me what the hell is going on there. And if anyone is not watching, go check out the video because maybe the glitch is because you’re clearly talking to us from outer space.
Ariana Hackman:
Yes, I am all about outer space. Know LunaFit is about the moon, and our whole app is actually space themed. So we do the space thing at Lunafit. So when I asked for a podcast room that really would just be functional, this is what my marketing and creative team came up with, and it’s really super simple, super cheap. It’s just a bunch of smoke and mirrors. It’s literally some foam, black panels on the back wall, two lights that we got off of Amazon, and then a moon lamp. But it looks amazing, and I love sitting in here.
Steven Sashen:
Yeah. You really could have sold the story and told people that you’re on the space station or something else so I’m going to pretend that that’s what you said, and we’ll just edit that.
Ariana Hackman:
I know.
Steven Sashen:
Because that’s way more fun than spending a couple bucks on Amazon. But I love it. I just have a few grand worth of shoes behind me, but-
Ariana Hackman:
Yes, I like the shoes. They’re very attractive.
Steven Sashen:
Thank you very much. So the topic du jour, like I brought up, it really does blow my mind. There’s a comic, he used to do a joke that I love. He said, “I love driving my car behind runners at the speed I think they should be running, because they never look happy so why don’t we give them some incentive?” And this is the thing that I see off and off. The whole ethos of no pain, no gain, and that if you’re going to get fit, it has to be difficult. This is what many people believe. And now granted, I will confess the workouts that I do are exceptionally hard. They’re freakishly difficult, but that makes me unbelievably happy because I’m an idiot. But-
Ariana Hackman:
I will put myself in the same boat. I lift heavy things and I love it.
Steven Sashen:
Well, I’m 63, so I’m lifting lighter things more and I’m lifting them until I can’t lift them over and over and over and there’s nothing more embarrassing than grabbing a five pound weight on the third set of something and going, “Yeah, I can’t move that thing.” But it’s just been incredibly, incredibly satisfying. In fact, the guy that I work with says, “All the people that work with me are a little nuts because the workouts are really hard. And I just want you to know that in the category of people who are willing to push as hard as humanly possible, you are at the top of that list.” And so I feel pretty proud about that.
Ariana Hackman:
For sure.
Steven Sashen:
But again, the point is, while during the thing, it’s unbearably difficult, I love everything else about it, and we can get into that. That is the topic du jour and up to you.
Ariana Hackman:
Yeah, so no pain, no gain. I will say that I am a little bit of a meathead when it comes to stuff like that. I do believe that workouts tend to be a little bit painful, but I very much like that you always put the enjoyable spin on it because I don’t feel like people have to work out like that to be as healthy or as fit as they want to. Health and fitness shouldn’t be hard. It should be fun. You can make some very simple habit changes that will literally revolutionize your health and fitness and life. I’m always very big on, yeah, your workouts might be a little painful and you would have to chase me with a car to get me to run, but it shouldn’t be hard and you should be able to enjoy aspects of it.
Steven Sashen:
Oh, you made me think of something and then I lost the thought entirely. No pain, no gain, making it hard. Oh, one of the things people ask me all the time, they go, “How do you get motivated to …” Fill in the blank. And my response is always, if you have to do something to then get motivated to do some other thing, something is wrong. What’s your take on the whole idea of motivation when it comes to fitness and exercise?
Ariana Hackman:
Yeah, I don’t think that people are honestly very good at being motivated or keeping motivation. I think that motivation is something that’s like a flash in the pan. So one day you’re motivated, but the next day you probably won’t be. So I always like to move to the word discipline and then I think discipline is based on goals. So if you have a goal for yourself and you create a plan to get there, you really just have to be disciplined to carry it out.
I definitely do things in my fitness life that I enjoy. I do enjoy working out, but I also do other things like swimming and walking and things that are probably more enjoyable for me. But I have the discipline to go to the gym because I have a goal for myself that I have muscles so that I can eat more honestly. More muscles, more calories you get to eat.
And in my life right now, there’s an expectation that I lean a little bit more towards the fitness model looking side with the app coming out, and there’s an avatar of me in it, and I’m very fit, so I have to fit the bill. But that’s not most people’s goal so if they can find the discipline just to move every day, get some steps in, do a movement and exercise that they truly enjoy, that’s enough. Your body will respond really well to that.
Steven Sashen:
I’m going to have you come back to the tips for getting started and doing it in a way that’s enjoyable, but I want to riff on what you said. So when I started this workout plan that I’ve been doing now for about a year … And I’ve been an athlete since I was seven with a couple of breaks where I got massively depressed because I couldn’t find the thing to do. But I’ve been incredibly consistent. And in part it’s because I’m accountable to someone and frankly, someone who I’m paying a good amount of money for. And it’s also someone I adore. If I didn’t like this guy, I wouldn’t be able to put up with it at all.
But my sister asked me. She says, “Why are you doing this?” And I said, Well, A, I want to see if I can put on more muscle before I know I can’t, because at a certain point it just goes down. B, I want to like what I see when I look in the mirror more often, and I do look in the mirror-
Ariana Hackman:
Absolutely.
Steven Sashen:
… more often and it’s getting pretty fun. And then C, I like it when my wife goes, ‘Oh my,’ either with what she sees or what she feels.” I also will admit that I get kick out of when random people, when I say I’m 63 they’re like, “Sorry, what?” I don’t want to tell you what percentage out of a 100 each one of those is although I think the one I get the most enjoyment out of is one I’m getting dressed in the morning. I go, “Check that shit out. I didn’t have that a little while ago.”
Ariana Hackman:
Yeah, right. Progress.
Steven Sashen:
So yeah, the progress thing, that’s another thing. Even with discipline. Actually, there’s one other part that I’m curious what your thoughts are. As a track athlete, especially an old track athlete, there’s no reason for doing this. It’s really hard. There’s no bonus points, there’s no prize money, there’s no sponsorship deals. And also, those of us who do this, we’re stupidly competitive and happily old enough to know that it’s stupid to be this competitive, but also old enough to know that that’s just the way it is.
But what I found is over my years competing, the only way for me to have that kind of discipline, and it comes back to the accountability, I think, is to have a partner. And so what’s your take on working out alone versus working out in any other circumstance so that the discipline is not just … Look, I’m not a disciplined guy. If you look around my office, look around any place where there’s a horizontal surface, you will find more crap than there should be because discipline and organization is not my thing. So talk to me about that if you could.
Ariana Hackman:
Yeah, I think the thing that’s great about what you said is that you know yourself and so you know that to create that discipline to do the things you want to do, you need an accountability partner. And it’s funny. Our original fitness center slogan was Fitness Nutrition Accountability, because most people aren’t going to do health and fitness on their own. It’s not something that, unfortunately anymore, comes naturally.
And so we have to create those accountability partners. Right now, my accountability for myself is that I have expectations because of the business I’m in. Now, if I didn’t work in this business, I think I would have to. Before I was a personal trainer, I used to have a personal trainer. So I think it really is important to find a trainer or just someone in your life who has the same goals as you, where you can be accountable to each other. Because if I ever get out of this industry, I will have to have that again because I’m not sure anyone is naturally disciplined all the time to do those things unless they have a reason or a goal.
Steven Sashen:
Yeah, no, things come up in life and discipline comes and goes. And to be clear, one of the things … I think it’s a little more than just having a partner, at least in my experience, because if it’s not someone that I really love and want to hang out with, then it just becomes another form of beating yourself over the whatever with a whatever.
Ariana Hackman:
Yes.
Steven Sashen:
And like I said at the beginning, it’s like if you’re not having fun, do something different until you are. And the fun part might not be the workout, it might be hanging out afterwards. Do you know, I just remembered-
Ariana Hackman:
Yeah.
Steven Sashen:
And you’re not a runner, so you probably don’t know this. And I’m not a distance runner, so I only know it vicariously. Do you know about the Hash House Harriers?
Ariana Hackman:
No, but I actually want to say we actually have in common, I used to be a track and field sprinter.
Steven Sashen:
Oh, sweet. What was your event?
Ariana Hackman:
Yeah, 50. The shorter the better. I actually heard your podcast and that you got back into it at 45, I think you said.
Steven Sashen:
YA.
Ariana Hackman:
And I’m 44, and I was like, “Man, maybe I want to start doing that again. I used to love it.”
Steven Sashen:
Do it. Well, and I love that you said the 50s is your event. I’m a 50, 60 meter indoor depending on the track, a 100 meter outdoor. But I’m a much better 50, 60 runner than a 100 meter runner. There’s a handful of us. There’s a guy that I raced against in nationals who, world champion in the 50 or the 60 again, depending on the track, does really well in the a 100, but has a shit 200. Same as me. I’m just wired for that seven and a half to eight and a half seconds.
Ariana Hackman:
Yes.
Steven Sashen:
Master Track and Field is a blast because again, we’re all a bunch of crazy people. And so I’ve literally not met anyone on the track who I don’t adore because it’s just loop as all crap.
Ariana Hackman:
I really do think I’m going to look into it. It just sounds fun and I am idiot competitive.
Steven Sashen:
Well, yeah, and your neighborhood, there’s a lot going on. So look at Master Track or I can’t remember … Just go to usatf.org and you’ll find links to the Master stuff. And all I can tell you, what I will warn you in advance, is that your brain will think you’re younger than you are.
Ariana Hackman:
Yeah, I think I experience that every day already.
Steven Sashen:
Yeah, there is that. It took me literally two years to realize that when my brain says, “Hey, let’s just do one more,” that’s the time to go home.
Ariana Hackman:
Yes. Okay. I will definitely take that tip and remember it.
Steven Sashen:
It’s a good one. Oh, so the Hash Hash Harriers, I’m trying to remember what their motto is. It’s something like drinkers with a running problem. And so what they do, they do this crazy cross country race. It’s like a nutty cross country race that ends up at some place where they all have a beer. And so it’s just a bunch of goofy people making running even goofier and then all hanging out and having beer.
Ariana Hackman:
Love that.
Steven Sashen:
Yes, if I liked doing anything other than short straight line and under 10 seconds I’d be all over it.
Ariana Hackman:
Yeah. But no, I really do think that’s what it’s all about. I think you do have to put an aspect of fun into it. And a lot of people who come into our fitness center are looking for meals or whatever because they do have some sort of a goal that is fun for them. A vacation, a wedding. There’s a big event. And we’re always talking to them about, “That’s great. We will get you to where you want to be for that event. But then after that event, what’s your plan? Because this needs to be a lifestyle change. You don’t want to do this and then lose all the progress you made and go back to where you were before. So how do we get you from, ‘I’m getting ready for this event’ to ‘This is my new life and this is what I’m going to do, and my life is an event and where I want to be healthy and fit and the best version of myself.'”
And that doesn’t mean a certain weight, and it doesn’t mean you have to be a fitness model. It’s just being healthy internally and externally.
Steven Sashen:
Well, you maybe just think of something that I never really fully took in until this moment. I think we undervalue the value of vanity. In other words, one of the reasons that I do this, whether it’s just me looking in the mirror at myself or wanting other people to look at it and go, “Ooh and ah,” there’s nothing wrong with that. I’m literally saying that out loud for the first time. I used to joke about it. I used to say … Went from a sprinting training. I do nothing but things for the posterior chain: glutes and hamstrings and calves. That’s all I really care about. But then I do some curls and some bench pressing for vanity. But I always pooh-poohed that, like that was a bad thing, that I’m admitting something a little … I don’t know what the word is. But you know what? I’m currently going I think vanity is a good goal.
Oh, mine freeze … Oh, now you’re back.
Ariana Hackman:
Yeah, that’s actually … I’ve never …
Steven Sashen:
You’re back.
Ariana Hackman:
I’ve never really thought about it, but I agree. And I actually also joke about being vain because that is one of the reasons that I do some of what I do. I am a little bit vain. I do want to look a certain way. I have certain expectations for myself. So that’s really interesting you said that. And I agree. I don’t think it should be necessarily a bad thing. I think wanting to look your best is equal to wanting to feel your best. And I think that’s different for everybody. And that’s the beautiful thing about different levels of health and fitness and working to the level of fit that you want to be. I eat in a way that not everybody has to eat because no one has to maintain a body fat percent that I’m maintaining. There’s a whole range of healthy body fats and healthy looks, and you just have to find where the level of effort matches up with the level of healthy that you’re comfortable with. That’s what I always tell people.
Steven Sashen:
I like that. And I’m going to lean into this vanity thing a little bit more because what occurs to me is the balancing act with admitting that some of why you might be doing something is in some part, small or large, about vanity. You have to come to grips with the other side of that, which is you can’t look at a picture of someone else and go, “I want to look like that” because you are going to look like how you do it. And you’re typically looking at genetic freaks if you’re looking at pictures of people that are in magazines or whatever else.
But there’s certain things that were going to be that you’re going to always have a body part that is your and one that you hate no matter what. It ain’t going to change. That’s the way it is. And in a way, that’s part of the thing that I’m also enjoying. Like, oh, okay, here’s what I know I can do, here’s what I know … I’m never going to get to look like a certain thing, but I’m going to look like, let’s just say, the better or best version of me that I can do at this time.
And I don’t know why this is. Really, for whatever reason, I’ve never gone down this road, but that’s been really valuable for me in the last year in particular is here’s what I can do, here’s what I can’t do. Here’s what might change, here’s what probably won’t change. I’ll give this one to people just so they know. I don’t care how much you’ve been lifting over how much period of time. Once you’re at a certain age … And you can even see this in professional bodybuilders. Look and see what stays and look and see what goes. And I’ll give you the hint. The legs go. That’s just the way it is unless you are juicing like crazy. And even then, I’ve seen some pro bodybuilders who are my age and older still taking a shit ton of steroids and the legs go and so deal with it.
Ariana Hackman:
Yeah, right? I mean-
Steven Sashen:
They can look okay, but they’re not going to look like the way they did when you were riding your bike 20 miles a day when you’re in your 20s.
Ariana Hackman:
No, absolutely not. Yeah, recovery is so different too. So no, I like that. I think that it is great to want to look like the best version of yourself. I think that’s a great goal for everybody. And also that it will look different as you get older.
Steven Sashen:
I just had a flashback. Many people don’t know that One of the things that Jack LaLanne was famous for … Many people don’t remember Jack LaLanne massive fitness guru in the ’60s. Well, probably from the ’50s, on. And when he was in his ’90s, one of the things he did, he co-invented, I think, the Universal gym. One of the first all-in-one workout pieces of equipment. You could find it at every high school in the world it seemed in the ’70s and ’80s.
And when he was 92, they had a video of him on the Universal bench pressing, and he’s like … but getting in the reps. And if you look carefully, he was lifting 20 pounds. But that’s what he could do at 92 and I’m cool with that. I was at the World Masters Track and Field Championships in Finland 16 years ago, and there was a guy there who’s a 101.
Ariana Hackman:
Wow.
Steven Sashen:
And he came out to do the field events. On his walker, came out, put the walker down, they hand him the shot. He does the shot, put the thing. And by that age, I think it weighs two pounds. And it goes like 10 feet and the crowd goes insane because everyone’s thinking, “I want to be that guy.”
Ariana Hackman:
Yeah.
Steven Sashen:
I don’t care if it was two pounds. I want to be that guy.
Ariana Hackman:
Yeah, absolutely. I think that’s definitely a goal for me. I think as I transitioned over the past about 10 years, health and fitness has looked different for me. My goals are a little bit different and aging well and keeping my mobility and being able to do things that others can’t as we age is something that’s become really top of mind for me. And it’s something that I talk to more and more people about of why they want to be healthy and fit, because I almost think that it’s one of the best reasons. If you can look into your future, you don’t want to be the person in the wheelchair. You don’t want to be the person that’s hunched over. You want to be able to still play with your grandkids, be healthy and fit, be mobile. I just think it’s something that’s so important to really think about. How you want to age.
Steven Sashen:
Well, I’m curious why you think people give up on that idea. And this is then going to lead into your tips for how to get the ball rolling, because it does seem to me that there are certain people … I even see this with former high level athletes who now can do nothing. And I’m just perplexed by that. I can understand if you had a long competitive career and everything you were doing was about competing and you can’t compete any longer, you don’t want to compete any longer, that could have a psychological impact. But even then, what’s your take on why people tend to give up on that idea or however you want to frame it? And then let’s talk about the ways that you’ve experienced and worked with people to get them going again.
Ariana Hackman:
Yeah, I think it’s a couple of things. It brings me to thinking about businesses and why businesses close and businesses most of the time close because they don’t evolve. They don’t move their goals, they don’t keep up with their customers, they don’t do the things to keep them going through the years. And I almost think it’s the same thing, especially with competitive athletes. I think that they aren’t able to see a different goal besides winning. And so their whole life, some of those people since they can remember, has been about competing and winning. I think it’s really hard when they lose that ability for them to evolve and transition to the next goal and to see into the future.
I think all of us have a little bit of a problem sometimes looking into our future and imagining what that’s going to look like or having that as a goal because it’s not tangible. People love tangible things. They can touch, things they can feel, close goals. But sometimes you really have to look to the next. What’s next? What’s my next goal? What’s my next evolution? Okay, I can’t compete now to win, but do I want to be able to do something else?
Or even master stuff. So just changing your expectations of what you’re winning. So you might not be a pro anymore, but for a football player, go out and play flag football. I love football. Any of football I can play I think is a good time. So you really just have to evolve. I think we have to evolve as we get older and have different expectations of ourselves.
And the shot put of that guy that was 101 is a perfect example of that he’s evolved. He’s changed his expectations, he’s changed his goals. He still has a great time. He’s still out to do things that he loves. And I think that that’s where the beauty of it comes in, is being able to do that. But it’s hard. I think that’s hard. I think that’s a hard thing to do.
Steven Sashen:
Well, the good thing with Masters Athletics is the goals do change for you. So to become an All-American, in any of the track events, you have to hit a certain time. And as you get older, the time gets longer.
Ariana Hackman:
Thank goodness.
Steven Sashen:
Yes. But it’s like, oh, on the one hand, it’s like I’m not running that fast. On the other hand, at least I’m hitting an All-American time. And that literally is my goal is just to keep hitting All-American times. If I can do that, then I’m thrilled, even if I’m getting progressively slower. So that’s the way it is.
Okay, so let’s go back to you for the win on your tips for people getting that ball rolling. I don’t know why I’m using that metaphor over and over and over, but there it is.
Ariana Hackman:
It’s okay. Yeah. So over the years we’ve worked with tons of clients on health and fitness and nutrition, and a lot of what we hear and the feedback we get of why people don’t do it on their own or they start and stop or they try so many things is because it feels hard to them.
One of the things that I’ve found really important is, okay, it doesn’t have to be this hard. Let’s make it simple for you. Let’s make it so that it’s something that you can move into slowly. So we usually focus on five simple habit changes. Now, simple doesn’t mean easy. You do have to change. You do have to be willing to commit to doing certain things, but they are simple.
One of them is just being active and moving. We usually do that by steps, especially for people that sit all day. So get your steps in. Seven to 10,000 a day. You’re active or you found a fun way to work out. So you play tennis or you do something like that, or you swim. That’s being active. But really making sure that activity spreads across the week and it’s not just two days a week as well. Because if I’m trying to lose body fat, honestly, I do go into the gym and I out, but the amount of calories I burn in a lifting workout is not enough to really get me to where I want to be. So I have to not sit all day. I have to get up and I have to move, and I have to be committed to that six or seven days a week. And so that’s always the first one is just moving, being active, committing to park further from the grocery store, take the stairs. Just those little choices that you can make differently in your day that will help you to be more active and move.
Steven Sashen:
That park further away thing is something I think about all the time but the efficiency geek in me just circles that fucking lot until I find a spot that’s two spots away.
Ariana Hackman:
Oh my goodness. I feel like you and I have a lot of very strange similarities, like no joke, because I preach that to people. I will say it to anyone who’s looking to be more active, but I will not park far away. I park as close as I can get, and I have usually one aisle at the stores that I like to park in.
Steven Sashen:
Yeah, no, I’m the exact same way. I’ve thought about the only way that I think I can convince myself to park farther away is if I buy a car that’s expensive enough that I don’t want it to get dinged up. And I’ll park it really far away because no one else will be around, then I’ll do it. But otherwise, if I have a car that it’s not a big deal to get a ding taken out, I’m going to circle the Costco a lot for an hour if I have to.
Ariana Hackman:
Yep, I am right there with you. But that is not what I’m telling others to do because they need to get their steps in and I’m really trying to help them and I find ways to be active that they’re different than that. And I do take the stairs.
Steven Sashen:
Well, we got–.
Ariana Hackman:
The second one is drinking water.
Steven Sashen:
Oh.
Ariana Hackman:
Oh. see, that’s great.
Steven Sashen:
Yes. Look, just to do that tangent, one of the reasons we did get a dog is that, A, we have great office dogs. And then my wife started working from home more and she said, “I got to get up and I miss the office dogs.” So we ended up happily getting a delightful dog. And so that’s a good hour and a half worth of walking for me every day, which is great. But anyway, that was a bit of a tangent that we got to do because you glitched for a second, but now you’re onto water, which I’m holding in my hand and will drink as soon as you start talking.
Ariana Hackman:
I always have water with me but it’s really a very underrated tool for feeling better, looking better, losing weight. Being dehydrated can cause a lot of issues that people don’t even realize are happening. So we tell everybody to aim for half of their body weight in ounces at the minimum. But drinking water is really hard for some people so making sure that they just always have water with them in whatever foreign they like to drink it in. I love straw cups. I don’t know why, but I do. I drink more. I just do better. So I usually will focus on that if I have the ability to. That’s tip number two. And that one I think is pretty easy. I will say when I started drinking water; I’m going to give away all my secrets for some reason; I used to hate water. I was like, “I’m going to teach myself to drink water.” So I started with half juice and half water, and then over time I took the amount of juice down and now I love water. It’s the main thing. Water and wine. I say I’m like people in Jesus’s days.
Steven Sashen:
Someone gave me a tip.
Ariana Hackman:
— drink.
Steven Sashen:
His wife was in the hospital, I think doing something crazy, like having a baby. And so he got one of the cups that they have that was like 64 ounces and it’s graduated, has a straw. And so when you actually can see that, that’s very different than trying to have X number of glasses, which is a whole different thing. It’s like when it’s right in front … And maybe this is me. If it’s not right in front of me, it doesn’t exist. So if I have a big thing that’s something that I am paying attention to and I’ll deal with it. If it’s not there, then I don’t know what the universe looks like.
Ariana Hackman:
Yeah, no, absolutely. I totally agree. The third one is sleep. It’s another one that people really struggle with, but it makes such a huge difference, especially for women I’ll say on the weight loss side. If you’re getting less than six hours of sleep, your hormones are affecting the amount of weight that you can lose, and it will hurt you in what you’re trying to do for your goals. So we always say six to eight hours. I know it’s hard, but you can develop better sleep habits and it will change everything. It’ll change the way you feel. It’ll change your performance at work and at play. So we really tell people please try and get some sleep.
The fourth one is working out.
Steven Sashen:
Sorry, wait, I’m going to stick on sleep for a second.
Ariana Hackman:
No, yeah, go.
Steven Sashen:
Just personally. That one’s a tricky one for me. I’m getting enough hours per se, if you want to think of it that way. But it’s not really good quality sleep. I am wrestling with that one, just as an FYI. I have mild sleep apnea, so I’ve been trying a couple of different things to deal with that, to see if that makes a difference to my sleep. Hasn’t really so far. I’m tossing that one out there. Not that we’re going to solve this problem for everybody right now, but A, if you have any thoughts about it, that’s great. Not that I’m trying to go for a free session, but I think I’m not the only one, especially as one gets older, it can get a little trickier. This is, I think, a tough one for people. And I don’t think that there’s good … The typical sleep hygiene advice: turn off your screens before you go to bed, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I think we’ve all done that and gone, “Yeah, that didn’t really do it.”
Ariana Hackman:
Yeah, no, I agree. I go to sleep with the TV on, on a sleep timer. But I sleep great. I have very good quality sleep. The first thing I always tell people is to make sure they’re drinking enough water. I’m not saying that that’s anyone’s particular problem, but a lot of times dehydration actually can cause poor sleep quality.
One of the main minerals that people can be low on is magnesium, and that affects sleep quite a bit. So I’ll always recommend magnesium. And then we actually have a product on our supplement line. It’s a fat burner sleep enhancer. I’ve never taken it because I don’t need it, but I’ve had multiple people that have used it that say that it’s very, very effective and has helped them change their sleep and even better on their watches that they track.
But I think with sleep, there’s just so many things that could be the issue. I think you just have to try one thing at a time. I always go for natural things first. So improving your sleep hygiene to see if it does make a difference. Caffeine intake. I personally won’t drink any caffeine after 2:00. And typically, the only caffeine that I drink is first thing in the morning when I get up and I won’t drink anymore in the day unless I’m really craving coffee. But if it’s after 2:00 I literally won’t do it because I know that it affects my sleep.
Steven Sashen:
Yeah, I think you’re right.
Ariana Hackman:
So caffeine intake is a huge one, but I always tell people to look at …
Steven Sashen:
Yeah, we’ve got a glitchy thing. The caffeine thing. Sadly, I think where we’re leaning on that is that you’re going to have to experiment. And humans don’t like experimenting. We like paint by numbers.
Ariana Hackman:
I know. But if I were to say first three things, I would say caffeine intake, try the sleep hygiene things, and water intake. That’s what I always start with, with people. And then this one’s a little bit more mindfulness, but a lot of people just have trouble relaxing or letting go of the things in their head. I’ll always tell them to actually journal before they go to bed. Write down every single thing that’s spinning through your head, put it on paper and then set it aside. And that’s actually made a big difference, especially for some of my female clients who tend to get stuck in their head, can’t go to sleep. It wakes them up in the night. But sleep is a tough one. It really is. Our bodies are always working in one way or another, whether we want them to or not.
Steven Sashen:
That is a fact. Okay. Do we have a number five?
Ariana Hackman:
Four. Wait, we have four first. So four is-
Steven Sashen:
I thought four was in the mindfulness.
Ariana Hackman:
Wait. What have I covered?
Steven Sashen:
Yeah. Four-
Ariana Hackman:
Oh no, that was just a bonus.
Steven Sashen:
Oh, okay. Great.
Ariana Hackman:
That was a bonus. Four is working out. I do think it is important to lift weights two to three times a week. I think that for multiple reasons, including having muscle is what boosts metabolism and metabolism is important to body function. I also think it’s very important for bone density. You need something that has some weight or some impact to it to prevent bone loss as you’re aging. And it really does help with fat burning and weight loss when you’re lifting weight. It’s almost more important than cardio. I don’t do a ton of cardio. Active, yes. Forced cardio, not really. I do think it’s important for people to lift weights, and it doesn’t have to be hour and a half long workouts lifting as heavy as you can, but just getting some sort of weight, whether it’s a kettlebell or even a band or whatever it is. Just having some resistance training a couple times a week I think is really important.
Steven Sashen:
And that’s another one, sadly, where you’re going to have to experiment to find what works for you and it will change over time. And again, I’m lifting lighter weights more until I can’t lift light weights rather than doing heavy squats, heavy dead lifting, which I used to do and I used to love doing because I’m 5’5″, 145. I used to love going into a gym where there’s all these big muscly dudes who are dead lifting 400 and they’d finish and start to unrack the weights. Well, “No, no, you can leave those.” And then I’d bring a couple more plates and they’re like, “What the hell?” I miss those days, but oh, well.
Ariana Hackman:
Yeah, no, I can’t do that anymore either. Although I will say that my upper body strength is kind of freakish. Definitely genetic, I’m sure. And just years and years of lifting. I’m usually lifting more than the guys next to me in the gym when I’m doing arms and stuff. I almost try and turn away though. I feel bad. I’m like, “I’m going to go over here. I want you to keep working out. I want you to feel good about yourself.”
Steven Sashen:
Yeah. I don’t know if you are a single person or a not single person, but I’m sure you know, if you are a single person, the worst thing you could do to get picked up in a gym is out lift the guys who might want to pick you up.
Ariana Hackman:
Luckily, I’m married so I don’t have to care. My husband and I actually run these businesses together. But at the same time, I don’t want people to quit because of me. Like, “Oh my gosh, this girl is lifting more than me. I can’t do this anymore.” I just envision them feeling bad about themselves. And I’m like, “Don’t. You’re doing amazing. Just keep going.”
Steven Sashen:
That’s a riot. Okay. Are we on number five?
Ariana Hackman:
Number five. So number five is all about nutrition. It’s actually, I would argue, my favorite topic in health and fitness. Something that I could go on and on and all those things that I can’t stand. There’s a reason that diet has the word die in it. Really, my simple tip for nutrition is to focus on protein. I think protein is very, very important for all of the things we’ve talked about. It’s what keeps you full so you don’t have to eat all day or overeat. It’s a founding building block in muscle, and it really does help a lot of your bodily, even digestive function. So we always tell people to aim for about one gram of protein per desired weight pounds. So if you’re looking to lose 50 pounds, whatever your desired weight is, you want to aim for about a gram of protein per desired body weight as a good goal.
And that is high protein. And some people choose not to eat like that, and I can fully support that as well, and you can work with it. But if you ask me what the ideal nutrition plan is for someone who’s trying to maintain muscle or lose body fat or change their body composition, it’s going to be high protein, moderate carb, and probably lower fats. Again, it doesn’t work for everybody. There are plenty of vegans and other people out there who’ve done miraculous things with their muscles and physical activity and all of that, but my opinion is high protein, and I do think it’s one that is easier to do than some of the others so it does keep it simple.
Steven Sashen:
And that’s one of those things where, while drinking your protein is not necessarily ideal, it’s something you can do. And I will confess, I bought something a couple of weeks ago just to be able to get more protein in. In a semi-supplemental form. I bought a Ninja Creamy, the ice cream.
Ariana Hackman:
Yes.
Steven Sashen:
And I will also confess, I haven’t made any high protein ice creams yet because I discovered raspberry sorbet, which holy crap, that’s amazing. And then I tested a couple of chocolate ice cream recipes and found one that is … Luckily I’m not a binge-y kind of guy, but it’s the best ice cream I’ve ever had. So this weekend, it’s my mission to do couple protein experiments.
Ariana Hackman:
Yeah, stuff like that, it makes it more fun. There’s so many things out there now too on Instagram and other places, Pinterest. Whatever craving you have, you can find a high protein recipe for it.
Steven Sashen:
I’m going to promote something that I promoted before, and if you don’t know about it, you’re going to like to know about it. I’m going to hold it up and show you, and then you tell me if you know about it, and then I’ll describe what I’m holding up.
Ariana Hackman:
I don’t, but I’m excited. I love new products.
Steven Sashen:
Okay. So what I hold up, it’s a protein bar called David. And I’m going to hold it up so you can see again. So 28 grams of protein in only 150 calories and zero grams of sugar. I like to say they’re kind of the second best tasting bars that I’ve had because one that I used to get that the macros weren’t nearly as good and it tasted more candy bar-like, but they have a couple flavors. They have a fudge brownie flavor and a peanut butter chocolate chip flavor that I could just eat all day every day. And if you go to davidprotein.com/zero, X-E-R=O, by the way, you get some special thing if you do that. But-
Ariana Hackman:
I’m in.
Steven Sashen:
Yeah, these things, the macros are just insane. And everyone who I’ve turned these onto, all of my fitness friends are like, “Oh my god, this is all we eat now.” So yeah, you’re right. There are all these incredible things that are available to make that easier for you. And that’s one. I definitely have one of those every day.
Ariana Hackman:
Yeah, I’m definitely going to check it out. I’m always looking for … I don’t eat a lot of protein bars because most of them are-
Steven Sashen:
Horrible.
Ariana Hackman:
… not great.
Steven Sashen:
Yeah. Horrible.
Ariana Hackman:
Really bad actually. When we tell people, when they come in, they’ll be like, “Oh, I have a protein bar.” I’m like, “You probably don’t. You probably have a carb bar.” Bless your heart. So let’s not eat those and let’s find other ways to get our protein in, because I can’t trust any of them. I’m like, “If you’re really serious about it, bring me the box. I’ll look at it. But if you can’t read most of the ingredients and the macros aren’t there, that it’s probably not the best thing for you to put in your body.”
Steven Sashen:
And for people who are hip to Peter Attia, Peter is the science advisor for this company. So that’s a big part of it. Check them out. You’ll see. If you reach out to them, they might be nice and just send you something. So yes, the protein thing is very interesting, and it’s definitely one that you’ve got to again, experiment with to find what works for you depending on what you eat. I have a genetic thing where meat tastes like metal to me. It just tastes kind of metallic, like the iron from hemoglobin. And so I don’t eat meat, so I have to find other ways of doing that that are palatable. And it’s a thing.
Ariana Hackman:
Yeah, absolutely. And it’s possible for people to get protein in from lots of different sources. It’s just focused eating basically.
Steven Sashen:
Yeah.
Ariana Hackman:
Now, again, it depends on your goal. So when I’m trying to lose body fat, like I’m on a cut right now, I have to eat so specifically that I’m going to track everything. I track my protein, my carbs, my fats. Then I’ll get to a place where I’m tracking my sodium, and it’s a different level. But most people don’t need to do that. And I think when they see people doing that and they use that, it’s really hard. It’s really hard to track everything you eat and to hit multiple different goals. And so I think really just keeping it simple. If you’re eating enough protein and filling it in with other healthy fruits and vegetables and some simple carbs, you’re going to be fine. You’re going to be making progress just at that point. So I think it just makes it a lot simpler than some of the stuff that is out there. And it’s not a diet, it’s how you should eat.
Steven Sashen:
Yeah. It’s something that every now and then I’ll see some article that’s about the best way you should eat. And I read it and I go, “That’s so close to what I’m already doing.” I thought it was going to be something special but it’s really a lot of fruit, a good amount of veggies.
Ariana Hackman:
Eventually it just comes naturally. Again, all of this stuff should be lifestyle stuff. The goal should be lifestyle change. And even if you only do one habit at a time, one change at a time, you’re still making progress and that’s what it’s about.
Steven Sashen:
Well, and again, for me, out of sight, out of mind. So I always have a bunch of fruit around both in the fridge and out of the fridge. So I’ve got my favorite apples. I have one right here. This is actually my second favorite. This is a cosmic crisp apple, not honey crisp.
Ariana Hackman:
Oh yeah, we have those here.
Steven Sashen:
Cosmic crisps are good. And then sugar bees is a new variety that I love. So I’ve always got those. I’ve always got some pineapple cut up in the fridge, some grapes in the fridge, a bunch of Kiwis on the counter. So it makes it easier when I know I need a something, that’s what I’m reaching for. And it’s not just, well, because I like them, but if they aren’t there, then I’ll do something else.
Ariana Hackman:
Yeah, exactly.
Steven Sashen:
And I explicitly never bring potato chips into the house because they won’t last for very long.
Ariana Hackman:
Yeah. Again, I think just like movement, I think eating can be enjoyable, and you don’t have to eliminate food groups and do all those things out there to be successful and have the body composition that you want. You do have to not eat fast food every day and put some healthy things in your body, but it doesn’t have to be as hard as it sometimes is explained.
Steven Sashen:
No. One of our secrets, and it was an inadvertent secret, is my wife and I have become complete chocolate snobs. So we don’t have a bar of chocolate in our house that costs less than $10, and we have enough chocolate to survive the apocalypse. But they all last forever because we’ll have one square, it’s like less than 10 grams, and that’s all you want. It’s just too rich for anything else. That’s one of my favorites.
Here. I’ll do a shoutout for a company called Bar & Coco. Barcocoa.com. Used to be in Denver. All mail order, all like single beam, single origin. Unbelievably good stuff. We had been chocolate snobs before we discovered them, but when we discovered them, it brought our snobbery to a level that is just-
Ariana Hackman:
Really elevated you.
Steven Sashen:
It is obnoxious to a point of we can’t go to dinner parties. It’s really bad.
Ariana Hackman:
I love it.
Steven Sashen:
Yeah, it’s a good one. All right, anything else that we can think of on our theme of making fitness not something that looks like you’re not having fun?
Ariana Hackman:
I think your message of it being enjoyable. I think that people try to box themselves in. Be out of the box, find movement you enjoy, find foods you enjoy. And I think the other thing that people get stuck on that I talk about all the time is this isn’t about perfection. This is about consistency. So being consistent over time is so much more important than being really good for a week or a month. If you mess up, don’t say, “Oh, now I have to start over and I’m going to wait a week.” I’ve accused myself of that. I’ll miss a Monday workout and I’ll be like, “Oh, this week is shot. I’ll just wait until next Monday,” which that is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard. I said it to someone else. I’m like, “If you forgot to brush your teeth in the morning, you wouldn’t wait a week to brush them. You would brush them that night.”
Steven Sashen:
Yeah, I forgot to brush my teeth so I may as well-
Ariana Hackman:
You remember. So–
Steven Sashen:
I may as well pull them all out.
Ariana Hackman:
Yeah, I’m done. I’m done. I screwed up so I’m out of the game now. No, just get back on the horse. Be consistent. If you have a cheat day or a cheat meal or a cheat week, it’s okay. Life is long, life is short, but life is long. And getting back to the things you need to do and just consistency over time is really what matters.
Steven Sashen:
Yeah, that is the number one thing. And again, speaking from just recent personal experience, now that I’ve been doing this lifting that I’ve been doing three times a week, every week for the last year, I’ve seen more changes in my body … In fact, I said to the trainer that I’m working with. I said, “I don’t have a frame of reference for what’s changing. The way we’re doing lifting, I don’t see that I’m just lifting more weight every time, because that’s not the kind of workout that it is. But I just have no sense of it. Here’s some of the changes that I’ve had in my measurements.” And he said, “Dude, if you were 25, that would be impressive.” And I’m not patting myself on the back. It’s just the consistency has had more impact on me than everything else I’ve ever done.
Ariana Hackman:
Yes, that’s where the results are. The results are in consistency. And I think that crosses over way beyond health and fitness. I think that goes into relationships and business and really any goal you have consistently is where results come from. So absolutely.
Steven Sashen:
Yes. I like how we’re going to end on consistency while we’ve had inconsistent internet connection the entire time we’ve had this conversation. So I hope that people have been able to tolerate the two-second glitches that we had every five minutes. Well, Ariana, this has been a total dream and treat. If people want to get in touch with you and find out more about what you’re doing and how you can be helpful for them wherever they are, how would they do that?
Ariana Hackman:
If they’re interested in reading a little bit more, getting more information on the five simple tips, they can go to lunafitjourney.com. So L-U-N-A-F-I-T-J-O-U-R-N-E-Y.com. If they just want to see what we do, learn more about us, or if they want to be right now a beta tester for our app, which that would be a dream for me, the more the better. We’re looking for tons of feedback in the next few months. They can go to lunafitapp.com to find how they can download our app. And then everything we do is at lunafit.com. So a few ways that they can get in touch with us and we do a little bit of everything so we would love to hear from people.
Steven Sashen:
Thank you. Well, I would love that people do take advantage of that, and I’d love to hear what they experience when they do connect with you and do let me know, because that will happen. Again, thank you, thank you, thank you. And for everybody else, thank you as well. Quick reminder, go to www.jointhemovementmovement.com to find out all the previous episodes, find out where you can find us on social media and other places to get the podcast if you want to get it somewhere other than where you already did.
And also, if you have any requests, any suggestions, anybody you think I should talk to on the show, including anyone who you think might think that I have a case of cranial rectal reorientation syndrome, I’m happy to have those conversations. Hasn’t happened yet. I’m really dying to have someone who wants to chat with me who thinks I’m completely full of it. That would be very entertaining.
And what else, what else, what else? Again, spread the word. Give us a thumbs up, give us a like on Facebook, give us a hit the bell icon and subscribe on YouTube. Again, like I said, if you want to be part of the tribe, just subscribe. And if I didn’t say it, yeah, send all those requests to move at jointhemovementmovement.com. That’s how I will hear them. But most importantly, no matter what you’re doing, go out, have fun and live life feet first.