SHOW NOTES

In this episode of Habits for Humans with Kim Flynn, we discuss how exercise is highly personal. You have permission to do it your way! Whether that means you are into cardio, strength, or yoga, follow yourself instead of what experts might tell you. What feels good to you? The key to starting any new habit is to find one small strategy that is 100% achievable, even on a bad day. Consistency trumps intensity every time.

Welcome to Habits for Humans, the show that explores how to program your brain to maximize your potential. The goal of this podcast is to teach you how to instill systems and habits to live a healthy, sustainable, deeply satisfying way of life.

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OUR HOST
Kim Flynn is a best-selling author, podcaster, and serial entrepreneur who has built multiple businesses to 7 and 8 figures. She is the CEO of Card Salad, a health and wellness company that provides organizational products to live a healthy, sustainable, deeply satisfying way of life. Kim is a frequent guest expert in systems and habits on podcasts, television and radio shows.

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TRANSCRIPT

[00:08:23] Kim Flynn: Yes, that’d be great. Yeah. That sounds great. Okay, let’s jump in then I’m recording. I’m transcribing and here we go. Hi, and welcome to habits for humans. The podcast that explores what makes people tick and how to program this brain of ours to do what we want it to do. So we’re going to explore how and why we sometimes, and in some areas of our life are so effective and so efficient. And in this flow zone,
And in other areas of our life, we are, uh, can’t get off the couch and are watching, you know, Three seasons of Schitt’s Creek over one weekend. So we’re gonna, we’re gonna, we’re gonna explore if you want to be healthy and happy. What’s the secret to programming our brain to maximize our potential. I’m your host, Kim Flynn. And today we’re going to talk to Millie hall.
Super excited about Millie hole. She is an expert in all things, fitness. And specifically, she’s going to talk to us about a one up strategy. I just love the name of that. A one up strategy that involves taking incremental steps each week toward a larger goal by just one, upping yourself in three basic categories. As soon as I read that from Millie, I’m like, Ooh, I can’t wait to get myself on a three step with, with steps every day.
Yes, please. That’s has my name all over it. I’m excited about that. So she has a gift for our listeners at the end of the call today, I have a gift. Also our sponsor card salad has a gift for you. So lots of free stuff. If you like free stuff, join us all the way to the end and you’ll get lots and lots of free stuff. So.
A word from our sponsor habits for humans is brought to you by card salad, a health and wellness company that teaches you how to program your brain using systems and habits. So, you know how everyone wants to eat healthy, but it takes so damn long to meal plan every week. Uh, so you end up eating freezer pizza and, uh, you know, ramen noodles and chicken nuggets for your family, which is so, so healthy. So what I did was create a product called eat well, it’s a done for you meal planning system, and actually I’m going to show it to you really quickly.
It is right here. So on my very fancy display, that includes a chair. So here’s your menu board. You hang it on. Your fridge has the days of the week. You get, uh, recipes in the mail. Your recipes get gradually healthier and healthier as you, as you build those habits. And then it has a done for you shopping list. Um, here’s your habit cards teaching you how to live a healthy, sustainable life. So, um, in that is card salad that you will program from card, sell it. And we’re going to do a giveaway at the end of today on that as well.
So I’m so excited to introduce a Millie to you. This is Millie hall. Uh, Millie has been in the fitness industry for 20 years and has a passion for healthy living. After experiencing the ups and downs of motherhood and struggling with her own body image issues, even going to extremes and Millie. I so appreciate your honesty and vulnerability and saying, yes, I have been to the extremes because if you’re a woman or a man in the U S today, you have also probably been to extremes.
So thank you for being honest with that, she has taken her passion to the next level. Uh, over the last few years, uh, as she and her sister started an online coaching business called moms need carbs. Once you love that name, which helps women change their mindset around food and fitness, creating a more balanced approach to wellness that does not involve extreme dieting and restriction.
That is what we teach here on habits for humans. So I’m so thrilled to have you on the program. Welcome Millie.
[00:11:44] Millie Hull: Thanks, Kevin.
I’m really excited to be here.
[00:11:46] Kim Flynn: Awesome. I was making Millie flex for us. Millie, will you just show us your guns really quickly?
There you go. I, but that’s my fantasy. I want arms like that. All right. So we always start with our number one habit to manage your own melt, mental wellness. So Millie what’s the practice you do to manage the stress of daily life.
[00:12:06] Millie Hull: Well, to be honest, I,
Um,
fitness is what really started me
down the path of taking care of self care.
Um,
because when I had my first SAIDI, we had just moved
and it was crazy. And so
I
started
attending the gym and I felt completely out of place there, but I did find a
spot at the back of a step class and I
started there.
and it
allowed me to put my baby in childcare for 60 minutes and just be there for myself and.
Well,
that was
hard and it was hard work. It actually.
Um, I started to really identify
those.
That
time is time for me. So for me personally, I’ve learned to not only use fitness as a way to have some time for myself, but mostly also too. It’s such
a great
stress reliever, anxiety, reducer, and all of those things. And I’m not talking about having to do intense workouts.
A
lot. Just even a little bit of extra activity every day. I really notice.
What
a difference that makes. And so that is a
huge
piece for me personally.
[00:13:09] Kim Flynn: I love it. What do you tell the women? Cause this, this was. So I love working out now and I am a gym girl. Finally, I’m 45 years old. I just discovered the gym like two years ago. Like it took me a long time to get there. What, and I always said, I hate exercise. Um, everyone else gets like, um, endorphins from it. I don’t, I just hate the whole thing. And then I took me honestly, Millie like six months of working out before I saw benefit.
Um, so what do you tell the mom or the woman or the man who is in that mindset of, yeah, it works for other people. They get these like exercise highs. I don’t. I just don’t like it. What do you tell them?
[00:13:46] Millie Hull: Well,
there’s,
there’s a
kind of a push pull there, literally where you are.
kind of
pushing yourself to go outside of your comfort zone and push yourself to do something that’s uncomfortable.
But if you can embrace the uncomfortable, then you find a place where you enjoy it. It never actually becomes comfortable.
There is never a time. I was just talking to my husband last night
about
trying to get
myself back into a habit of going early morning.
And there’s never a time at five 30 in the morning. I bounce out of bed.
Just,
you know, it’s hard. Every single time never stops being
hard.
But
I know the benefit that comes at the end. So you have to be
able to push yourself.
Past that point. But one of the things I always tell people to get to there is try different things,
because you
might be surprised that there’s something.
about
extra or certain types of activities that you enjoy, but you won’t know that if you don’t try you know, and one of the things that
Annie and I learned my sister and I, when we started doing this business together was.
That
I, would, you know,
she was feeling
stressed I
just
don’t get a cardio workout. Well, that’s how I,
you
know,
do it. And she’s like, that makes me more stressed out. So she would go do yoga.
And
that’s something that worked for her. And
so we kind of started realize that every woman is different. And if you’re willing to kind of trust in different things, you might actually find something.
That works better for you. That might not work as well for someone else. And that you might enjoy.
It’s one foot in the door,
right? So it
doesn’t have to be, like I said before. I think women a lot of times think about going to the gym and
fitness as
being this huge commitment.
That
requires
us to
be
super vulnerable, go in and get on the treadmill or whatever
else. And it
really doesn’t a can start so much
[00:15:21] Kim Flynn: much
[00:15:22] Millie Hull: than
that.
[00:15:22] Kim Flynn: So I love the message of starting small. I love that message. That’s how our brains are wired to, to start small and not, you know,
Uh, pretend like we’re gonna go to the gym every single day. I love that. You said it’s never comfortable. So here you are a fitness trainer of, I don’t know how many years you said 20 years fitness trainer for a very long time. And you say it’s still uncomfortable for me. Um, talk to us about, and you said you had to focus on the benefits then if it’s uncomfortable for you.
Um, and, and you have to push yourself. What are the benefits that we’re focusing on?
[00:15:55] Millie Hull: Um,
so now, you know, and you probably notice this
too, Kim.
That once you
recognize how the
serotonin starts to help
and you know that there’s going to be a payoff at the end, whether it just feels good that I got something done.
Or
whether incrementally, I start to actually see and feel the results in my body.
Uh,
once you’ve experienced that you can kind of anchor your thoughts to, okay. I know what this result is going to feel like. I know what it’s going to be
like later,
and that is kind of what can get you through, but sometimes it’s not enough.
Sometimes that feels really far away
from
where we are right now.
And so that’s where starting small becomes so important.
and we need to
be able to focus on what is closer to
us. Do You
know what I mean? Looking for.
the
smaller wins.
Uh, that
get us there. And so it doesn’t have to be. It just doesn’t have to be this really big.
Big
step it’s. Okay.
to be
uncomfortable, right. So you can
do it in
smaller pieces and embrace the discomfort.
If
you reach a point where you’re comfortable, whether it’s in fitness or anything else, we call that a plateau.
Right. I mean,
once you hit a point where you’re comfortable, there is maintenance, but.
You’re never going to stay at maintenance forever. There’s always a point where you want to be improving yourself or doing something a little bit better. And so.
Just
embrace the
uncomfortable, Right?
[00:17:15] Kim Flynn: I love it. Um, I was thinking about the rewards that I feel, and my dog is freaking out in the background right now. The doorbell just ring and George is going crazy. Um, but I’m thinking about the rewards for me. Um, in the beginning, I remember cause I go to a gym with a bunch of college students and I’m probably the only one over 40 there. And then I love freeways. Just like you were saying, you have to find the exercise. That’s good for you. I hate the treadmill.
And if I were to sign up for a, uh, an aerobics class, I’d be the one in the back, like not able to do the very simple spin, like that’s me. And it’s horrifying. And so I love free weights. Um, but in the beginning it is a little bit intimidating. You’re back there with all these, you know, 20 year old, super ripped buff guys. And then you’re like, oh, nerdy mom here, you know?
Lifting my five pound weights. And so the benefit for me. The benefit for me, Millie honestly, is. I love the moment of walking into the gym, putting in my headphones and listening to music. Like I love that initial moment of. I don’t know that that for me is more of a reward than the actual workout. Isn’t that crazy?
[00:18:26] Millie Hull: I know it’s actually not crazy because I think again, you’ve identified the part of it and I’ve heard people say that before, too, where they just love the part where they can kind of plug in
and
then they tune everybody out. And when you can do that,
You
know, then you’re not looking at what so-and-so is lifting next to you, or you know, that you’re really focused
on
your personal time. And that’s kind of what I was talking about when I, so for me, it was stepping into the back of this step class
and
eventually I stepped to the front of the step class.
And then eventually I started teaching that step class. Right. And so. Uh, but I was
super uncomfortable back there. It
was 40 pounds overweight and
it
was hard to be there, but I, I.
I’ve started to find what I really loved. And I think that if I hadn’t, I was on the treadmill when I saw those ladies through the window,
in their step class,
And that’s kind of what made me go.
That
does look more fun.
you know, for me personally, So
I love group fitness and that was for me, but I was willing to actually try it first. And so,
uh, there are
things I love about working out on the floor for the same reason. And so.
That’s
kind of why you need to be willing to just try some different things and find something it’s okay to not do it. Like
everybody tells you it should be done. I guess that’s what I’m trying to say. It’s okay
for
you to find something that makes you want to do it because just doing it is one step in the right direction.
And then once you’re there and you’re like,
Hey,
going to this
group, fitness
class feels good
or going and
lifting my five pound weights.
feels
good or
going and being
on the treadmill feels good. Then it’s like, okay, now I’m
comfortable on the treadmill.
What’s
next. I’m going to go start lifting weights or,
you
know, now I’m comfortable lifting weights. What’s next? Maybe I’m going to try a yoga class.
And
that’s what helps you.
Start
embracing lots of other aspects of it. Does that
[00:20:11] Kim Flynn: that make sense?
I love it. Yeah. I’m taking notes here. Um, interesting things. So I love that you said it’s okay to do something. Unlike other people. Um, uh, I’m a huge tick talk addict. Uh, me and Tik TOK. It’s like hours at night. It’s so bad. But one of the trends is functional fitness right now. I’m sure, you know, a lot of, a lot more about that than I do, but I watched them do these moves where they’re able to use their body.
Um, all throughout the, I don’t know how to even describe it, but it’s super cool. I’m not seeing anyone at my gym do that, but then I I’ve been doing. Uh, one of the, one of the like deep squats to the side or something, I’ve been trying that in front of the mirror at the gym every day, this week completely fell on my ass yesterday. And I was like, do you know what? We’re good. We’re good.
I can be the random 45 year old mom in a sea of 20 year old, hot, hard bodies falling over. I am allowed to do that. So I love the permission to do something. Unlike other people.
[00:21:08] Millie Hull: And.
That was something too, that came up as my sister and I, and the reason that we kind of started this was because we were constant. She was a nutritionist and I was the fitness person. And so we were constantly coaching each other
because I
struggled with my nutrition. I struggled with food and she struggled really with fitness.
And so.
you
know,
we, we,
would kind of push each other out of our comfort zones.
And
it’s where in that process that I realized, oh, you know,
I
know a lot about fitness and I know what I like to do,
but that
doesn’t necessarily mean that every single person is going to want to do it the way I do it. And so it was kind of great that she gave you a little
[00:21:44] Kim Flynn: little pushback.
[00:21:45] Millie Hull: When I
would say, Hey, go do this. And she’d be like, you know, I don’t feel like that really works for me. And so we’ve, uh, tried different things. And now, you know, the first time I told her to go do. Well, what’s called a body pump class, which is like a weight endurance training type of class.
She absolutely hated it.
You
know, and now it’s one of her favorites, but.
we
worked up to that through doing different things. And now she’s, you know, so it’s that same kind of thing. Like trying
different things.
things that,
and I love what you just said about just pulling on your ass and then.
Getting back up and saying, I
tried it. I just did something that was hard.
And
that in itself can be
something to celebrate and feel really good about.
[00:22:22] Kim Flynn: Awesome. I’m hearing from you. Just the message of permission to do it your way permission to do it your way. I love that. All right, Millie. So I’m excited to get into the actual topic here. I feel like I could talk to you all day here, but what is, when you talk to us about this, um, this, what is the.
The one-upping the one-upping yourself. Talk to me about this.
[00:22:45] Millie Hull: Um, so
the one
up strategy
really came from a place of the all or nothing attitude. Uh, Because again, this comes from a personal place of,
and in every aspect of my life, I have a tendency to be like, if I can’t do it all right now, if I can’t get results really fast, it’s not worth it. And so that would push.
Me and my sister, we were doing these things sometimes supporting each other.
Uh,
through some crazy low
carb keto type of
stuff, because we felt like we really wanted to get fast results.
Um,
and
it’s in the end, we would burn out.
We would
gain the weight right back. I mean, we all know this because probably 90% of the people who’ve wanted to try to lose weight
and tried it
at some point. Right.
And
it
can be very frustrating process. And so
the whole idea behind the one-up strategy.
Is
just that we’re willing to take those incremental
steps that build toward longterm progress.
And in this process, we read the book atomic habits by James clear. I don’t know if you’ve read that book.
but it I’ve
read it three times
because to
really get it. There’s so many golden nuggets in there.
but
what I really loved about it was,
uh, this
idea that by doing small, tiny things, you completely
change your
[00:24:01] Kim Flynn: your destination
[00:24:02] Millie Hull: and he
uses the.
Um, an analogy of an airplane starting in Los Angeles and it headed toward.
what is it? New York. And if it changes its nose by three and a half degrees.
it’ll end up in Washington DC. And so the tiniest most unnoticeable thing.
[00:24:18] Kim Flynn: thing.
[00:24:19] Millie Hull: they do in the
beginning. nobody would even know, but you end up in a completely different place, hundreds of miles from where you intended to be.
And
so
I love that concept because
it,
it really can, you really can make such a difference by putting small things into place that are consistent. So the biggest thing
about this is consistency
over
intensity,
always consistency over intensity
because.
Uh, if it’s a small thing, but you’re doing it every day that wins a hundred times over hitting.
90
minutes, you know, three times a week or twice a week. And, and then feeling like you’re going to die the next day. You know, I have a lot of women that like to do it that way,
and then they spend a lot of time in recovery.
Because they
pushed them too hard. Those. No sales too hard, too
fast,
or they, they, you know, if you’ve ever done one of these crazy fad diets, you’re not a very nice person to be around because it changes your moods
drastically
really fast, too.
And so the one-up is
basically.
What it
sounds like, and we’ve broken it down
into three
categories. So at the beginning of every week, you do what we call a reflect and review
on
Sundays is usually the best because it’s the beginning of a week.
And you look
at the
week before.
and you
look at the week ahead, so reflect and review and you
look
at the things you’ve done, right? Always first tell your skin yourself, props for something good.
And then you look at what can be improved.
And then
we
like to break
it down into three CA we call the three F
[00:25:45] Kim Flynn: F words.
[00:25:46] Millie Hull: Um,
[00:25:47] Kim Flynn: I like it already.
[00:25:48] Millie Hull: food
focus. I say food
fitness and focus.
So
something that you can do and it can be very small. It should be very small
to improve food.
to improve your, improve your fitness and improve focus. So it can be a small in food. It can be a smallest, I’m an increase my hydration this week, but be
specific, right? I’m gonna
increase my hydration by one cup.
Or
I’m going to hit this many ounces a day or whatever. And then with fitness, I’m an increase my steps by this much. So.
It
needs
to be 100% achievable. So make sure that your one up, isn’t something that’s too far out there that you’re going to have to keep
repeating this one up week after week after week, because you’re not actually doing it, then that doesn’t count as a one-up. You
need to make that an even tighter micro goal.
Um, Until it
is 100% achievable
and
then focus is the mentality stuff. So do something every day consistently that
improves
your, your, um,
Your
mindset.
So it can be doing an affirmation in front of the mirror every day.
Or, I
mean,
again, because it can be so
incredibly, super.
simple that We’re talking about taking seconds out of the day to actually do them.
But over time they improve. And once that becomes a habit, then you want to.
up it. Right? So you
increase your hydration and the next week.
You
increase your hydration more maybe. And then the next week, your,
your
decreasing, the amount of soda you’re drinking, or you’re decreasing the amount of sugar you’re eating or you’re watching your portion sizes. So these one-ups just build upon each other to where it’s part of your lifestyle. It becomes just who you
are.
[00:27:25] Kim Flynn: are. So many good things in this I have to, I’d like to, he notes like mad. If you can see this. I’m like, I’m like ready to turn the next page, such good stuff in here. Or here’s some of the things I want to recap that you said, you said you used to focus on fast results. And this was the phrase that I.
That really stuck out to me. You said, um, if I couldn’t do it aggressively or perfectly, it was not worth it to me back in the day. I want you to talk more about that in just a second, because that’s really juicy for me. And then I love the phrase. Absolutely love the phrase, consistency over intensity consistency, over intensity. That is remarkable.
And then I also like how you said, um, make sure your, um, the things that you’re working on are 100% achievable. So normally we don’t focus on, uh, 100%, but if you make your goal small enough, if you make your habit small enough, it is 100%. So it shouldn’t be 100%. If everything goes right in your day.
It should be such a low habit that it’s 100%, no matter what, if you’re having a terrible day.
If, you know, if all hell breaks loose, you can still get it done. That’s your 100%. So I love that. And then I wanted to ask you also, what are yours this week? What is your food fitness and focus for this week?
Okay.
[00:28:41] Millie Hull: So we’ll start with.
Excuse me.
We’ll start with the first question, which is,
uh, doing it
all or nothing at all.
Um, And for
me personally, and I know a lot of women have this type of personality, not everyone does.
Uh,
but I’ve, but I’ve
[00:28:57] Kim Flynn: I’ve
[00:28:57] Millie Hull: it with, with clients too. Right. So I see them and I’m like, oh,
that’s how I used to be. And that’s how you know, so I
identify really strongly.
And,
um, but really it’s just the idea that.
I,
I want to see quick results and I want things to happen really fast. And when they don’t, I don’t want to do, I don’t do anything at all.
I could
do
it
in the way I clean a room. You know, it’s like if it gets to a certain point, like, well, I need an entire day to do this. And if I don’t have an entire day to do
this,
And then what happens? The room just keeps getting stacked higher and higher and higher and
[00:29:31] Kim Flynn: higher now. It’s my laundry. My laundry system is I go in and I fold three things and only three things. And once you get sucked into the three things, that’s my a hundred percent standard is three things. Once I get sucked into it, I start folding more or I say, absolutely, I’m totally fine to fold three things. And sometimes it’s a towel and two pair of panties that I throw in a thing and say, I’m done.
And it took me. 18 seconds, you know, so I love this. Keep going.
[00:29:58] Millie Hull: Yeah.
So
I mean that, and that’s exactly the concept.
I
think that when we can kind of recognize that it’s not just about our health and fitness, it really is
kind of how we.
Attack other
things in our life. And I think that’s why I really liked atomic habits because it taught me that.
I
do this in so many other areas of my life.
And
I, if I want to prioritize my fitness, so what doing my fitness and health.
So what
doing these things in small steps. So when I recognized. in
any area of my life,
When
I start
taking these small steps, what
it is
doing is telling myself that it’s important, it’s prioritizing it. And, and it doesn’t feel that
way. Right? It
doesn’t feel that way if I’m not prioritizing the entire day or I’m
[00:30:39] Kim Flynn: I’m
not.
[00:30:40] Millie Hull: I’m not going in a hundred miles an hour. If I’m not completely buying a whole new set of grocery lists.
In order to start this new diet, then I am not committed to what I
want. And that’s where we are.
We’re kind of in the wrong
narrative over
this. And we need to flip that mindset and start thinking that.
Our
commitment to start small
is
better than nothing.
Actually,
and.
And I used
to hate that phrase because better than nothing was basically may as well do nothing.
[00:31:08] Kim Flynn: Right.
[00:31:08] Millie Hull: But that’s
not true.
There’s so much better.
It’s so much better than
[00:31:12] Kim Flynn: than
nothing. And.
[00:31:13] Millie Hull: In
this, in our culture right now, in this day and age, I mean, we, as women are, we’re trying to
have
a career and a job and take care of the kids and family at home. And we just have so much on our plate.
We
have a thousand excuses every single day.
Not to
have to do this stuff, not to take care of ourselves.
There’s
so many reasons that we shouldn’t and don’t come first in our own lives.
That.
By making these small
commitments
every single day, little by little we’re telling ourselves that we are a priority.
And
because it’s so much harder to give, give ourselves that priority.
In
big steps.
because it’s coming at us all the time. you know what I mean?
And so
if we’re willing to say.
I’m willing
to do this for myself. Every I’m willing to take a
15 to
20 minute walk all by myself.
Everybody else
clear your schedule. Cause this is for me, you know what I mean?
It there’s so much
more in that message than just actually.
The
physical activity that you’re getting, it also improves your health. And so,
um, you know,
that.
I
identifying when you do the all or nothing, and then being willing to change that.
Um, and change your mindset around it is incredibly important and it.
[00:32:26] Kim Flynn: it.
[00:32:26] Millie Hull: It’s a constant effort. You know, I still, I still fight with it
[00:32:30] Kim Flynn: with it sometimes. I love the principle of the extreme, right? For those type a personalities. Um, we like to do these big, huge extremes, right? So if we’re not gonna clean out a closet, we’re going to clean out the whole thing and empty out all the shelves and deep cleaning and everything else. And it’s a little bit of a high, it’s almost like an addiction to like, I’m going to overhaul this area of my life, you know?
Um, so I love that you talk against, uh, that, that mentality of, unless it’s extreme, it’s not real. Um, so I really appreciate that. Um, Let’s let’s do some fun questions here. You ready for this?
Sure.
Um, what’s something that you have accepted. About yourself in this process and this journey of going from where you were to where you are now, what have you accepted about yourself?
[00:33:18] Millie Hull: Um, I’ve accepted the shape of my body.
Uh, in a
way that I never did
before. And this is, this is another kind of personal story that my
sister and I
helped each other come to, um,
probably about two years into starting this journey.
We
realized that we had both been jealous of each other for a long time. Yeah. And
so we kind of leave and kind of took it back and figured out the day in time where,
uh,
there was, we were, I was teaching one of my strength training classes and she came and did about half of it and then left.
Um, she hated it. This is when she decided she really hated body
[00:33:54] Kim Flynn: body pump.
[00:33:55] Millie Hull: And,
um, and I remember thinking in that
class,
gosh, she’s just, she’s so lucky she doesn’t even have to do this. She
[00:34:02] Kim Flynn: She has.
[00:34:02] Millie Hull: because she has this hourglass figure.
She
has a narrow waist.
You know, She and I are built completely differently. She has more narrow shoulders and.
Um, she’s just,
that’s
how she’s built. And I am very square bodied. I have a short waist and, you know, so.
I was
jealous
of her and always just felt like she’ll,
I’m
just not built. Like her. That’s not fair.
And
she.
She
was always jealous of how strong I was. She was like, I’ll never be strong. Like my sister, she’s got this stature she’s, you know, and so.
We
had both, we both were looking over the other side of the fence thinking it looked so much greener and it was really powerful. Not only for us to realize that we felt that way about each other.
But
to be able to
[00:34:45] Kim Flynn: able to say.
[00:34:45] Millie Hull: I am
strong.
I actually am strong. One of my strengths. I am heavier person, but I can put on muscle. Right.
And that’s
something I’m really grateful for. And.
She,
she recognized too
[00:34:57] Kim Flynn: too that like,
[00:34:58] Millie Hull: I have a
little bit more of delicateness to my body, but I also just like, she’s amazing at yoga and it’s not my strength. Flexibility is something that I still work on.
Um, and
so I,
[00:35:10] Kim Flynn: I, that,
[00:35:10] Millie Hull: that’s just
one of the things that I’ve come to accept and really appreciate about myself.
that I didn’t use to like use to actually put myself down about quite a bit.
[00:35:18] Kim Flynn: bit. Oh my goodness. That’s so powerful. You actually made me tear up when you were talking about that. If you could tell all of a sudden your host is crying over here. Um, there’s something so magical in your message. Of giving yourself permission to be yourself, right. Uh, what did you say earlier? You said permission to do it my way.
And then with your body permission to have your own strengths, I’m a strong girl. I am a flexible girl. You know, that kind of thing. Uh, I love that. I was thinking about my sisters. I also love your story because of how obviously close you are with your sister. There’s something really special about sisters. Um, so I have a sister, I’ve got several sisters, but I’ve got one sister.
Um, who years ago told me, oh, I, I really, I would love to be in more in business. Like you are. Uh, and, and she didn’t say the word jealous, but you know, a little bit of like, oh, I w I would want some of that in my life. And then I look at her and she is the most caring, delicious, just. So loving person.
And, um, I’m a lot of things, but usually the top thing that people say about me is not the word kind.
Like sure. I’m nice enough, but I’m not like this, like, oh, how can I serve my friends? You know? And so I’ve always been jealous of her for being this, just this person that you just want to melt around and just say like, oh, I want, you know, so jealous of each other a little bit, instead of stepping into a space, just like you and your sister did have.
I’m a strong girl and being good with that. Not pining away for something that you aren’t. I
[00:36:49] Millie Hull: Yeah.
And I think, um, and the, the important part of that message for us has become.
That
comparison is paralyzing.
Um, because so jealous, probably wasn’t even the right word because
you know, my sister and I have such a great relationship. And so it was more of an admiration.
But we used
it instead of
admiring each other and really celebrating each other’s strengths and our own. We used it as a reason to just feel bad about ourselves instead.
And
it, it takes something away from that relationship. And it does, it can eventually become jealousy.
But how
often do we choose not to one up ourselves? And so, like I said, we’ve used this as part of our message because,
um, because
sometimes we don’t do the one-offs or we don’t take small steps because.
Our neighbor down the street. You know, if I, up my steps by a thousand.
you know, a thousand steps a day, that’s great for me, but maybe my neighbor is training for a marathon and I see her running miles and miles every day.
And that feels so far away from where I am right now.
What does that do to me?
And my 1000 steps or.
ten one hundred steps or whatever it
[00:37:56] Kim Flynn: it is.
It
[00:37:58] Millie Hull: makes me feel inadequate and.
That takes away from my own personal progress.
And so part of the whole point of the one-ups is there is no competition here, but you, you are. You know, because when you use the term one up I’m one-upping someone or when someone’s one-upping you or whatever,
this is just about you. One up in you.
And
your micro goals are based on your progress and part of the reflect and review.
Is
also to help you look back at last week and maybe last month and last year, to be able to say.
You
know, I
can’t see from week to week, how far I’ve come, but if I look
back far enough,
this has
taken me from New York to Washington, DC. You know, I making progress.
Um, and it’s
really cool. It’s really cool to see that happen.
[00:38:44] Kim Flynn: I love that. So as I’m sitting here watching you, I’m noticing all the pictures, other topic here, changing direction. I’m noticing all the pictures behind you. Will you just tell me what those pictures are?
[00:38:54] Millie Hull: It’s my family.
Um, Yeah. so I, um, my
husband Don.
We
actually just moved recently. So bless his heart. When in the middle of a big renovation project, he’s very handy.
And then
I have, I have three teenagers. Um, my young or my oldest is 20.
Uh,
she’s serving a mission for our church right now, service mission. And then I have a 17 year old son
who
is funny. He’s actually wrestling now. And all of a sudden, he’s kinda more
interested in listening to mom’s
advice.
[00:39:24] Kim Flynn: Um,
[00:39:25] Millie Hull: on
nutrition because he’s trying to keep weight and stuff like that. But so it’s been kind of an interest. That’s been kind of an interesting journey for me. And then I have a
14, almost
15 year old daughter has a freshmen.
So.
And then I
have a little brother
who’s
a
part
of the family because he’s lived with us for several years.
he’s, he’s only two years older than my oldest daughter. So.
he’s not at the pictures,
but
he’s part of the family.
[00:39:50] Kim Flynn: I love that. I love that. Thanks for sharing. I’m like, who are those people? We’ve.
Those
[00:39:54] Millie Hull: Yeah.
[00:39:54] Kim Flynn: If they’re hanging
[00:39:55] Millie Hull: And they are.
[00:39:57] Kim Flynn: All right. So, um, will you talk to us about, I know you have a giveaway to give us, uh, to give all the listeners and viewers. So, um, and this will be in the show notes, whether you’re watching on YouTube or on habits for humans or on any of our podcasts stations, um, you can go into the show notes and you can get links for all of these, but when you talk about your seven day course, Millie that you’re going to be giving away.
[00:40:18] Millie Hull: Yeah,
so we have a seven day course. Um, and it’s again,
it’s okay if it takes you longer, but seven days is what gets you through it and there’s,
It’s based on the one-up strategy. So there’s three lessons that you do each
day.
Food focused fitness.
And,
uh, we just basically break down and simplify. So what we
have, what’s
called the fat
burn five
And we
teach you how to, um,
Kind of remove the emotions from food.
And look at it objectively. So looking at food and categorizing it according to these categories. So for example, a, we have a fast carbs, low carb, protein, condiment, and fat. Those are the five categories. is just a really quick
overview.
but
it’s a way of looking at a banana and a donut.
They’re both fast
carbs.
And so when you can take the labels off of certain foods, it allows you to look at it objectively and just say, how do I fit this
into.
Uh, you know,
the,
the, these categories and it’s basically based on building a plate. So it’s a really great and simplified, simplified way to start any kind of health journey. If you’re trying to lose weight,
or if you’re
wanting to get healthier.
You
know, it.
Um, it’s. it’s.
It’s a
great way to get started. So this seven day program just takes you through that, but we also work through.
Again,
one-upping yourself and fitness, just giving you the very basics of fitness.
Um, and
then it gives you the very
basics
of some of the mindset stuff that we talked about today, and then a little bit more,
it
goes over some of the, we talk about Tomic habits and things like that. So it’s really great and it breaks it down and just to
seven days.
So then after seven
days, you
should be able to take what you’ve learned and just start implementing it into your life. And the one-up strategy is included in that.
And we’re getting.
[00:41:58] Kim Flynn: Awesome. Thank you so much. That sounds great. I actually love that. One of your, um, categories for food is condiments. I just imagined like a plate. Like ketchup, mustard and honey. And you’re like, that’s what I’m choosing to eat today. Anyway.
[00:42:14] Millie Hull: Well, the idea is that you get, you choose one of them, right?
[00:42:16] Kim Flynn: right? one of each
[00:42:18] Millie Hull: So you’re like, I’m going to have the banana or the doughnut and I’m
going to have catch up. Or so
your. So the
idea is that you don’t need all of one
[00:42:24] Kim Flynn: of one category.
So encourage you to download that. That’s a really nice gift. Thank you for that. Um, that sounds nice and juicy. So as we wrap things up, a reminder that the goal of this podcast is to program your brain, to start instilling systems and habits into your daily life. It’s not about what you do, what you know, it’s about what you do every single day, one small step at a time.
So our giveaway from our sponsor card salad cartel, it also has a free seven day eat real foods challenge. I encourage you to try both of them, both Millie’s and Salads. Um, nothing in fitness is competitive against each other. Anything that can help you is wonderful. So, um, try them all, see what works for you as, as Millie would say, hold on one second.
As Millie would say, you have permission to do it your way. So, um, but, but give me more cards, uh, from our sponsor card salad, go to habitsforhumans.com. If you’re not there already and sign up for your free seven day eat real foods challenge. It’s seven days of recipes, a done for you shopping list and your meal planning is done for you for next week or even this week.
So next episode on habits for humans, we’re going to continue to explore a actually really cool topic. It’s Benjamin Brown, and he’s going to talk about that. Can you lose weight while drinking alcohol? What alcohols will stop you from losing weight? If you are going to drink. Uh, which direction to go in a to point towards better health. Thank you for joining us. Thank you, Millie for joining us and thanks to our listeners. This is habits for humans, the podcast that teaches you how to program your brain to maximize your potential.
A reminder that you can get a free week of meal planning from card salad. Got to habits for humans.com and start your seven day eat real food challenge. And check the show notes to get your free seven day course from Millie as well. Thank you also for giving us a positive review. Thanks everyone.