Today on the podcast, I’m answering your questions that you left for me on instagram!! If I missed your question, feel free to leave it on paleomg.com and I’ll answer it there ASAP! And don’t forget to snag a pair of my newest PaleOMG leggings!

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Episode 72 Transcription!

This is Juli Bauer from PaleOMG and you are listening to PaleOMG Uncensored.

1. Listener Questions: Fitness [13:02]
2. Listener Questions: Food [34:43]
3. Listener Questions: Blog [48:30]
4. Listener Questions: Skincare [1:05:04]
5. Listener Questions: Miscellaneous [1:13:20]

Juli Bauer: Welcome to another episode of PaleOMG Uncensored. We are at episode 72. And I finally know for a fact, because I actually looked ahead of time. First time ever. Only took me 72 tries to know what episode we’re on.

Welcome back. I’m glad you’re here. At the moment, I’m in shorts. Wrapped in a towel on the couch. Because I just got a spray tan, and it’s very sticky. And this kind of spray tan is the one you keep on for a certain amount of time depending how tan you want to be. And I want to tan as f*ck. So I’m keeping it on for four solid hours. So I have to sit, wrapped in a towel, for four solid hours.

And I just met with this guy this morning about working on my body, kind of chiropractic stuff. And he was like; you can’t just sit on the couch all day every day. And that’s where I work on my computer, is on the couch. And I’m literally; literally we just had this talk this morning, and I’m on the couch with my shoulders hunched forward. I’ve got to get my sh*t together.

He’s like, “You’ve never gone and seen somebody in the 7-8 years you’ve been working out?” I’m like, not really. Not consistently. I got sh*t to f*cking do. I don’t have time to go sit in an office for an hour. And office-like space. Whatever. I’m going to take care of my body. I’ll be talking about that in the future.

But, until then, happy Valentine’s Day week. We’re at the end of Valentine’s Day week here. And I, while you’re listening to this, will be in Phoenix. My husband and I are going on a little weekend getaway. I’m working with the tourism board to promote Phoenix, and a really cool hotel that I’m staying at, and some different spa things, and things to do with your luva. So I’ll be going there soon. Which is really fun. It’s so nice to be able to get away with my boo.

And apologies if you hear Jackson in the background chewing his bone. As soon as I hit record, he decided he needed to make out with a bone. And he’s f*cking going ham right next to me. So apologies ahead of time.

Anyway. We did not do anything for Valentine’s Day. My husband was like; “Just to clarify, do we have plans on Valentine’s Day? Because I scheduled a haircut, but I can totally cancel.” {laughs} I’m like, no. Get your f*cking haircut. You need a haircut. So I’m very supportive of that. Trim up your beard while you’re at it. He did.

I’m just not a beard guy. Not a big beard guy. If you listen to Kaitlyn Bristow, I stole that from her. Not the beard part, but the guy part. I’m just not a big beard guy. I think they’re gross. You can have a little bit of fuzz. Not fuzz, because hopefully you’re older than 15 if I’m attracted to you. But you can have a little bit of some man scape type things going on. But then you get the full-on beard.

And I think I’ve talked about this on my podcast before. Because my husband did November, and then he was super into himself where he was like; “I’m going to grow this out.” And I think every guy goes through this. They just feel like such a man, that they can grow a beard. My husband can grow a great beard.

But here’s the thing. He has a little hint of red hair somewhere in there. His mom has reddish hair. Not like gingy, but like burgundy. And even my sister-in-law has some burgundy tones to her a little bit. And his hair is not burgundy in any capacity. But then when he grows his beard out, then we get this red tint. And not cool with it. Number one, not cool with that.

Also, would we have ginger babies? Is that weird that scares me?

So then, also he became more in love with his beard than he was with me. I would see him on the couch just playing with it. Just twisting it between his fingers. Almost twisting it like you twist your hair. And I was so incredibly grossed out. And I have very sensitive sense of smell. Very sensitive. I can smell when something is weird, something is off right away. And I could smell; I can smell your day in your beard. So unless you just got out of the shower, and you just scrubbed it down. Which you’re not doing because I just bought you shampoo since you probably never shampooed your hair for the past 6 years.

Oh my god. I’m talking so badly about my husband. He’s beautiful and wonderful. Anyway. I finally was like; I can’t do this. I love you, but I don’t want to touch you; make out with you. Nu-huh. This beard has got to go. And he finally trimmed it, and he keeps it trimmed. Thank god. Because I was not attracted to that.

Speaking of ginger, there was a; I forget where they were from. Watching the Olympics; obviously. Who is not right now? And there was this ice skating team. This duo. And the guy was a ginger; like pretty pale skin. And their costume was like bumblebee; black and yellow. Like; ok. No. Number one, you cannot wear that color. It is hideous on you. And number two; this is the Olympics and you’re wearing bumblebee costumes. What are you thinking? God. Such a judgy b*tch over here.

Anywho. This week has been lovely because on Valentine’s Day, even though we didn’t do anything, I made cookies and made myself sick eating the cookie dough. And I cut out a heart for him. And then my husband brought home a gluten free cupcake after his hair appointment. This means I’ve had two gluten free cupcakes in the past three weeks, I think. My husband is top notch. Top notch.

So anyway, who. I have a big announcement. Hopefully you saw it on my blog on Thursday. Meaning today, when I’m recording this podcast. Because I came out with new, brand new, spanking new, PaleOMG leggings. So, I talked about this before, and I came out with these leggings before. Sorry, words are hard.

I came out with my first pair of PaleOMG leggings. I teamed up with this company called Four Athletics. And they crowdfund their leggings. Or any of their activewear. So how that works is once they reach 100% crowdfunded, then they print the leggings. They print pretty much on demand, and the get rid of any waste. So say there are 1000 purchases. They’re printing 1000. Unlike most stores, who print maybe 10,000 and sell 6,000 and they have 4,000 go to waste.

That’s what Four Athletics made sure was possible that they cut out the middle man and they cut out all the excess waste. And they’re USA made. They’re just such a cool ass f*cking company. And these guys; these brothers who started it are badass. They’ve been so amazing to work with. And the first campaign, my first floral leggings that I came out with did so well. And it was their fastest funded campaign ever.

And then today, meaning Thursday when you’re listening to this, I cam out with 6 pairs of leggings. So we decided to do multiple pairs this time, so you could choose. Say maybe the first pair, floral, is not your thing. I’ve had many friends who told me that. Which is completely fair. This is totally different. This gives you; there are two leggings that are ombre print. So darker at the top, lighter at the bottom. One is a desert rose; so it’s kind of a burgundy to pink color. And then there’s a forest green, so a dark to lighter green. And then there are 3 mesh panel leggings. One is electric raspberry, one is cool gray, and the other is black.

And then one separate by itself, which was the first one I thought up when we were thinking of all six, and that is a geometric print leggings. So it’s just this really cool black and gray, multiple different color gray geometric print that I am obsessed with. It’s my favorite out of all six; I like the geo print the most.

So last I looked today at the leggings launched today. And they were almost; a couple of the leggings were almost 100% funded. Which is f*cking insane and amazing and so cool, because usually it takes longer. So if you want to get your hands on these leggings, you can go to www.PaleOMG.com. And I have all the details there. Or you can go to www.FourAthletics.com. They have all the details.

They have a great sizing guide. They updated their sizing guide after my first pair of leggings that went through. So they compare the leggings to other popular brands like Lululemon, Athleta, Aloe Yoga. And then they give you measurements as well to help you figure out your perfect size. Because I know everybody freaks out about that.

Hopefully you’ve been watching my Instagram stories. We had some issues with our first pair of leggings. The base color in my first pair of leggings was white. So it’s the sheerest color you can go with. So we had some issues with them being sheer. Some people didn’t have that issue, some people did. So this pair of leggings, I made sure none of the base colors were white. The base colors for any of the colored ones; for the ombre leggings and the geo print are a dark heather gray.

So when you’re leaning over, when you’re bending down, when you’re squatting, whatever you’re doing, nothing shows through. And I did an Instagram story showing you that. I did six ass shots of leaning over, squatting, dropping it like it’s slow. Dropping it to the floo. To prove that and show how we improve that.

They have been amazing. We also updated the fabric. We changed different fabrics for this next round. I love this fabric so much more than the first time around they hug your curves in all the right places. They’re high-waisted. I’m a high-waisted lover. The higher the better. If you want to go to my nipples, sure. Keep me f*cking locked in, boo. So I have all high-waisted, and they’re 7/8th length, as well. So they’re kind of at the ankle.

So yeah. They’re freaking awesome. I can’t wait for everybody to get them and finally get their hands on them. So if you want to find out more, go to www.FourAthletics.com or www.PaleOMG.com. I have a discount on my blog right now, as well as a giveaway that’s only going to last a little bit. So depending on when you listen to this podcast. It might have already passed. But you can find all the details there. And I can’t wait to hear which ones are your favorite! I’m so freaking excited.

And thank you, everyone, who supported the first campaign and made this a reality and gave me feedback. And I can’t wait for you to get these, because these are new and improved and even better. And just so exciting! And you have six to choose from. So say you don’t like one color; boom. You got five other leggings to choose from. It’s the best.

1. Listener Questions: Fitness [13:02]

Anyway. We need to get into some questions. Because I put out a listener questions Instagram post. And surprisingly, even though Instagram doesn’t let anybody see sh*t nowadays, there were still questions. So thank you for everyone who left a question. I appreciate it. For anybody who leaves comments on my Instagram, I appreciate that. Because people don’t get to see sh*t anymore!

Instagram is the new Facebook. So when is the next fun not limited social media going to come out? Who is going to be the new social media creator? We thought it was going to be Snapchat, but Snapchat kind of died off. We need something new. I need to shut my mouth before Facebook shuts down everything I do.

Ok. Back to the point. Instagram questions. Thank you guys for leaving questions. I divided these into sections like I always do. So the first section is fitness. Let’s get after these questions. There are so many good ones.

This is from Brooke. “Any tips on how to work toward a handstand pushup? I do modified ones on a box. But I feel like I’m not improving. Maybe I’m just being impatient.” So we have people do obviously on a box. We do pike pushups, as well, to improve that. I think working on your handstand is what’s really going to improve that. You can also do overhead presses, so dumbbell presses just to strengthen your shoulders, as well.

I’m not always the best for these questions, because I think I learned the wrong way. Because I was starting at a time that CrossFit was so new that people didn’t know how to even coach people and the were just owning a gym because they liked to workout. Which is still the case at many gyms now. But I learned doing a handstand pushup by doing kipping handstand pushups and getting stronger at kipping, and that improved my shoulder strength, and I was able to do a strict handstand pushup.

But that’s how I learned. Kipping handstand pushups and I’m really good at those, but I’m not great at strict handstand pushups. But I just also don’t care. So I don’t put much time in it. But I’ve always kind of worked down of putting a couple of ab mats underneath my head doing a handstand pushup to a couple of ab mats, then taking an ab mat out, going down a little bit farther. And seeing how far you can push it. And that gives you a garget every time to hit. That’s what’s been really helpful for me.

Emily. “I was hoping you could chat about women’s relationship in the gym setting. I know it’s easy for women to get jealous of others.” Jackson needs to go out. Now I’ve got to peel myself, literally, I’m sticking to everything. “I know it’s easy for women to get jealous of others, or quick to judge newcomers who are starting out. So what have your experiences been in gyms? Do you feel judged, welcome? How can we overcome these kinds of stigmas? Thanks.”

I think first and foremost, finding a gym that doesn’t create those feelings is really important. And that’s why I think I really blossomed in CrossFit. Because I never felt judged by anybody. I felt very welcomed. And if you don’t feel welcome, it’s not the gym for you.

At our gym, we just don’t have any sort of judgement. Because no matter if you’re a beginner and you are starting with a 15-pound bar, or you’re a person who is doing all workouts RX. Either way, you’re both scared shitless of that workout, and you both are going to have a terrible workout. Meaning really good workout, where you feel like sh*t afterwards, and you’re like; “Oh my god. I can’t believe I did that.” No matter where you’re at.

So, I don’t ever feel that anymore. And maybe it’s because I’ve been in gym settings for so long. But I’m in a gym setting where there’s no judgment. Everybody is friends. Everybody is friendly. I haven’t run into that issue.

And we definitely don’t judge newcomers. The people I judge in the gym are the people who will; it’s usually males. We’ll get a female or two once in a while, but it’s usually males who won’t listen to their coach and think they’re stronger than they are and thinking their form is better than it is. Those are the only people that I’m judging that are not listening. Because number one, you are paying to be coached at a gym. And number two, you look stupid because you won’t listen.

I think if you’re feeling judged, it could be your own insecurities. I’m not saying you personally, I’m saying people in general. I think it could be that person’s own insecurities. Because if I feel judged ever, it’s probably because I’m judging myself. And I’m so worried about what other people are thinking, when they’re just trying to get after their own workout. Or it could be just that gym is not a good fit. And get out of there.

I think we overcome those stigmas by just working on ourselves, personally. Because we say; “Hey. I don’t give a sh*t what anybody thinks, and I don’t worry about what anybody thinks.” Or, “Hey, this gym is not a good fit for me. And I’m going to move on. And that’s it.” So that’s kind of how I think about that.

Megs. “Do you drink coffee? If so, what are some good paleo options to put in it? And belly fat. What are some good ab exercises that you do? Any bell fat shrinking tips you have?”

OK. So I put personally heavy cream in my coffee. That’s not paleo. But I don’t have any issues with a tablespoon of heavy cream daily. You can do coconut milk. I know there’s almond milk. Those are kind of the best sources out there if you’re looking for like a creamy option. You can always make a butter coffee or a bulletproof coffee where you use coconut oil or butter and MCT oil to make it creamy. So there’s all kinds of different options out there.

And as for belly fat. If you’re looking to decrease belly fat, go to your diet. Don’t think that ab exercises are just going to cure that. Because you can have some rock-solid abs. And if you’re diet is not in check. Those rock-solid abs are not showing through. So I personally don’t do any ab-specific exercises. I’ve always been a person with a smaller waist. I have bigger hips and bigger legs. That’s where my weight goes to. Abs have never been that thing for me.

Oh my god, Jackson just farted. I wish that was on; that people could hear that. Finger’s crossed you can.

But I can always tell, even yesterday when I had cookies and a cupcake. I can tell the difference the next morning. I can see it very quickly. So just get your diet in check. Stop worrying so much about the ab exercises. And there are great ab exercises out there. I personally just like getting my ab workouts from Olympic lifting and from any of the movements I do. Everything is core specific, always. Whenever you’re lifting, you should be concentrating on your core first and foremost. So you’re pretty much doing an ab workout every single time you do a movement.

So I don’t do much. Sometimes toes to bar at my gym. But that’s about it.

Ok. Jen. “Any tips no how to focus on losing body fat? Instead of stressing about the scale, I’m working to focus on dropping my body fat percentage. It’s way too high, and I’m not an overweight person. Would you say to focus on diet or exercise?”

You’re not focusing on the scale, but your focusing on body fat percentage. And that feels; this is simply my opinion. It feels like you’re just taking one obsession to the other. You’re not worried about losing weight, but you’re worried about the body fat percentage. That’s a tough one. I have never tracked my body fat percentage. So I can’t say for sure.

If you’re looking to drop body fat in any way, exercise is always great. Lifting revs your metabolism. But if you’re eating clean, that’s what’s really going to reduce body fat, as well. So diet and exercise. But I would recommend not stressing so much about body fat percentage. Because not only is that going to send your stress levels higher, and increase your cortisol. Which will limit that body fat loss. So keep that in mind. I’m not going to say too many opinions. But that’s just my opinion on that.

Ok, Julie. “Love following your blog. I’m trying to get out of the mindset of comparing myself to all these fitness accounts I see on Instagram, and just focusing on making healthier choices in my life for my body. You’ve shared a lot about your body image journey, and it really resonates with me. So any advice for breaking comparison cycle. Especially with a growing fitness community on Instagram.”

That one is so hard for me, and I go through this all the time. And I’ll always have people, especially as I share more of my workouts. I’ll have people who are like, “Oh, you should follow her. You should follow her.” And I’ll look at their accounts, and I’m like, “I just can’t do that. Because I start playing the comparison game.

And that’s what I really like on Brett Contreras’ Instagram page. Because he has these beautiful females in there. And then he has dudes in there. And then he has the average person in there. And he has all walks of life on his Instagram page. He doesn’t just show these “perfect” fitness models on there. And I really appreciate that, and I can get behind that.

But there are just some people that make me feel insecure. And it has nothing to do with them, and their account, and what they’re putting into the world. It has to do with me. So I just unfollow those accounts. Or I don’t follow them in general.

There’s Alexia Clark, who is a huge name in the fitness community. And has taken the world by storm on Instagram. And she puts out amazing workouts. And one of my best friend’s does her workouts. And she’s like, “Oh, you need to try out her program. It’s awesome.” And I watch her videos, and I feel so insecure about myself. And that is all my own sh*t. It has nothing to do with her. So I can’t follow her.

And I have to really resist from clicking on her page. Because she pops up on my explore feed all the time. And I really have to resist clicking on hers. Because I just feel these insecurities that I don’t want to feel. I love her stuff. I love her workouts. I’ve heard they’re so challenging and amazing. So if you’re looking for a good workout program, I heard hers is so amazing. Alexia Clark.

But there are just people I can’t follow. And if I start looking at stuff, and I start getting down that rabbit hole of Instagram, I put my phone down. And I go move onto something else. Because the comparison game is real and it’s hard. And if you’re feeling insecure because of someone else, and you don’t know why, it’s something you need to work on yourself. Then just stop following them. Maybe you’ll be able to follow them in the future. But stop following them. Because you shouldn’t feel that way. Follow people that make you feel good, or that are good for that moment in time. And that’s kind of how I break that cycle and move on with my day.

Ms. Davis. “Can you speak about your husband exercise routine? You’ve mentioned in the past that he works a lot. I’m curious how he finds balance between work, spending time with you, and keeping up with exercise.”

So he works out by himself. And I have literally no clue what he does. I ask him sometimes. I’m like, what did you do today? And he’ll be like, “Oh, thrusters. Biceps curls. Sit ups.” And he just talks about some of the movements he did. If he did sprints or stuff like that. If he had a great workout. But we don’t talk a ton about our workouts. It will just be like, “Oh my god, the CrossFit workout was so hard today.”

He used to CrossFit and do CrossFit, but he has shoulder injuries from wakeboarding in the past. So he just doesn’t go anymore. So we just don’t have the same talks about workouts anymore like we used to. Because we’re both doing different things.

But he just makes it work. He works a sh*t ton. He was going to the gym before work for a while, but he quit that and he just goes at night. At the end of the day, he just makes it work. He gets in there. He doesn’t workout quite as much as me, most of the time because of his busy schedule. But at the end of the day he just makes it work.

Whenever he was like; “I had to work late, I don’t know if I’m going to go to the gym. I want to hang out with you.” I always tell him; no. Go to the gym. Get your workout in. Your health is number one, and important. We have many years together. Just because we’re not hanging out for an hour more tonight is not the end of the world. So I always tell him to put his exercise as priority, because we’ll have other times together. I think exercise should come first. And it should be first and foremost. Health is just important.

So that’s how we kind of balance it. You just make it work, and he does.

This is from Hannah. “Are you doing the CrossFit Open?” Yes. I’ve done the CrossFit Open for I don’t know how many f*cking years now. Too many. And I always talk sh*t about it because I hate it, because I don’t like doing workouts as prescribed. And we were actually talking about it at the gym today when I was in class. And I always sign up. I always talk sh*t about it but then I sign up at the end of the day.

Because the owner of our gym gets all excited about the open, and we do all our workouts on Friday nights and then drink afterwards. Everybody has drinks and just hangs out. So it’s super fun. So yes, I’ll be doing it. I signed up under a fake name once, but they figured it out and changed it back. Those motherf*ckers.

Jen. “What type or brand of underwear do you wear?” gotta love this question, huh? {laughs} I love Lululemon and Zella thongs. I do not understand how women workout in regular underwear. I always get that question, especially with leggings coming out. They’re like; “If you’re wearing regular underwear and leggings, does your underwear show through?” and I’m like; why would you wear regular underwear?

Believe me, I have this conversation with my friends all the time. There’s this one girl at the gym, and she’s like; “You wear thongs? Gross. No way. I have to feel like my ass.” And she wears boyshorts. She’s like. “I have to feel like my ass is covered.” I’m like, your ass is covered. By the f*cking leggings. She like, no. I just feel weird.

I’m like; but then you can see the line of your underwear. And I do not want to have a line of my underwear showing on my ass. No. No. So those were the underwear I wear. Sorry if I offended anybody who wears regular underwear. {laughs}

This is from Katie. “Curious if you’ve ever tried beet juice shots before workouts. It seems to be all the rage these days.” I have not seen that rage. I have not had any beet juice shots. I’ve had beet juice. I’ve had beet cocktails. But nothing before a workout. I don’t take anything before a workout. I never feel like I need anything. So no, I’ve not don’t the beet juice craze.

Bekah. “Since you’re focusing and doing more booty workouts, are you ever so sore you can’t sit down the next day? What have you done to decrease the ache? That’s always my most dreaded part of leg day.”

Not with these things I’ve been doing. I get that once in a while. I got that a lot back in my CrossFit competition days when I would have regionals come up. Or it’s like a pistol day. But I just don’t get that same terrible ache. I think just running, or rowing, or walking just can kind of help with that. And rolling out; getting some of the lactic acid out. But I haven’t dealt with that very much. Yesterday was that day, and my butt cheeks are just a little sore, but not painfully sore.

Dreaming in Neutrals. Dig the name. “What do you do to sustain some sort of injury from working out, if you ever have?” Oh, that’s funny since I just talked about that. “Like a strain or muscle pull or some sort. It can be depressing and feel like you’re going backwards. I echo the question about recovery, especially when you’re wicked sore.”

I don’t do sh*t. I literally don’t do sh*t. And that’s why I’m going to see a chiropractor to start taking better care of myself, post-care stuff. But I don’t really do anything. I try to stretch a little bit at the end once in a while. I do that more when I’m working out by myself versus CrossFit. But I really don’t do anything. And if I ever have an injury, I just lay off that completely until it heals. But I haven’t had any terrible injuries to speak of, knock on wood. So, yeah. I haven’t done anything. I’m sorry that I can’t give you a better answer.

Haven Amy. “How does one start training more serious for CrossFit? I know that is your past time of life. Did you get someone to program for you? How did you meet training partners? And maybe in retrospect, how would you do it differently if you were wanting to train competitively now?”

So I would first and foremost, if I was doing it all over again, I would find a gym that you love. And find a coach that you trust that can help you guide your way to that safely in the best way possible and can talk to you about your diet, and can talk to you about your workouts and what you’re going through.

I wish I would have had a coach while I was doing this. I just had the people I was working out with, and that’s what lead to so many different hormone issues and overtraining. So I would find a coach. Get a training schedule instead of just like whatever we were just f*cking doing that day. Have a schedule. Have rest days planned and make sure I was actually resting so my body could recover. And I would eat more. That’s all the things I would do.

But find a coach and find a good gym that is a trust worthy gym and a reputable gym that you know others that have trained at, as well. I think that’s a great starting point.

“I remember when you started Orange Theory, you noticed that your legs leaned out from running. Have you noticed a change in your legs since you stopped running with Orange Theory?”

No. I’ve seen a change in my legs. They’re get a bit more muscular, but not larger. They’re getting a little bit more shapely since I’ve cut out running and adding in my lifting schedule instead. And I think my legs started to lean out a little bit because of the change in activity. And then that kind of went away and I was getting a little bit overworked in Orange Theory and all the running.

So yeah. My legs and my butt have changed since I started doing a different schedule and doing the booty workouts and adding in more leg specific accessory work. So I haven’t seen them change in a negative way since I stopped running.

2. Listener Questions: Food [34:43]

Ok, let’s move onto food. This one, Elle Flax. “You may have answered this before, but do you count or monitor your macros? If so, what are some good tips to keep in mind? I’m struggling with finding balanced meal options while going overboard on carbs. I have a feeling you can’t be a foodie and count macros.”

I have never counted macros or monitored macros. I don’t know how to. I don’t know how all the counting works, so I can’t speak to that. I just do intuitive eating. And try not to overdo it when I’m eating out or having cocktails. I just try to never eat to the place that I’m overly full and uncomfortable. I always try to eat to the point that I’m satisfied. That’s how I monitor my meals in general.

Julia Gulia. {laughs} “You’ve mentioned a few times that your husband is on a special diet after testing for his food intolerances. I’m really interested in doing the testing too, but trying to see if it’s worth the investment or not. I’m exhausted of trying to determine the cause of stomach issues. Has he seen noticeable differences since cutting out his intolerances. What has the process been for him?”

So my husband was dealing with all sorts of gut issues and headaches, intestinal issues. So he went and did the Dunwoody test, which is a blood test. And it tests for all your intolerances. And everything came back; all of his intolerances that came back were the things that he was eating almost daily. Because we eat very similar things often. So pork, chicken, black pepper, all kinds of different things that we eat on a regular basis.

So we cut out all those things. He has them on occasion, when he’s traveling. Like he wasn’t doing any alcohol or sugar. He was very strict for 6-7 weeks. And then we’ve been trying to add in things and see how they pan out. But he has noticed, when he drinks or has excess sugar at this point he feels like total dog sh*t. But he’s also like, “Is this placebo effect? Because I know I’m not supposed to be having those things.”

But he does see a difference. When he eats really clean, he feels the best. He doesn’t have any headaches. His stomach is better. So it’s been hard. It’s many things he can’t have. He can’t have vinegar; so any sort of sauce is out. He can’t have eggs. He can’t have olives. It’s a huge list of different things.

So it’s been hard for him. But he’s really good at sticking to things, and wants to feel better. So I think it was worth it to him. But it’s just hard, because it’s a longer road. If you have leaky gut, it’s a long road sometimes to heal that. And that’s his issue, at the end of the day. So it’s hard, because you’re like, “Oh. I’ve gone a few months sticking this out. Why am I not better?”

A few months is not going to heal all the years of stress that you’ve put on your body through physical exercise. Through food. Through stress at work. It’s not going to heal in just a couple of months. And that’s important to remember. So I think it was worth it to him. But he still does feel a little frustrated for sure.

Jayla. “How did you learn the difference between being hungry and just being thirsty or bored?” For me, I know that I need three round meals a day. For sure. And then sometimes I’ll need a snack, sometimes I won’t. I think when you start drinking more water, you start to feel the difference of; ok what does hungry feel like? When my stomach is growling, when it feels a little bit empty. Versus; ok I’ve been drinking water, I just had a meal. And then I’m just bored at work; what do I want to do? I want endorphins. I want food.

So I think for me, drinking way more water is really helpful. And knowing that; “OK, I’ve had three full meals. I know my exercise output that day. So I need a little bit more food than that. So this is kind of a real hunger that I’m going through.” Versus, “Why am I going to the fridge when I just ate something?” And I’ve been going through that this past week. I’ve been kind of overeating for some reason. And I have to break that down. Ok, why am I doing this? Are you bored? Is something missing? And I kind of have to look at that.

But, at the end of the day, if I’m eating three round meals, I know I’ll need a little bit of snack here and there in between, but it’s not going to be a ton. And that’s kind of how I’ve been able to gauge. You’re able to feel hunger when you go long enough without food. You can feel it. You know what that feels like. If you don’t, go longer without food and wait until you feel that hunger cue. And that’s kind of how you’ll be able to feel that more. That’s what’s helped me in the past, at least.

Lizzy. “Curious how often and how much starchy carb do you tend to eat? I know everybody is different, but it helps to know a starting point. Do you include a starchy veggie in every meal? Once a day?”

I don’t really think that much about starchy carbohydrates. I just have them sometimes, and not other times. I try not to eat starchy carbohydrates at night with dinner. I don’t know a ton about it, but I’ve heard that it’s hard for your body to breakdown at night when you’re sleeping. So I just don’t do a ton of starchy carbohydrates, especially just feeling heavy when your stomach is more full going to bed.

And I do find kind of backing off that last question. I do find it harder to judge hunger cues when I’m eating starchier carbohydrates. Because I just overeat them. So when I’m eating vegetables and good quality sources of protein, I don’t run into that issue as much, because I’m just not feeling that overindulging feeling that you get with starchier carbohydrates.

But I usually have some sort of starchy carbohydrate at breakfast, and sometimes lunch if I’m feeling really kind of wasted from a workout. Sometimes dinner. But just kind of what I’m feeling that day.

C. Merida. “How did you become consistent with healthy eating? Do you worry about your portions?” I think I became consistent with healthy eating because I didn’t like feeling like sh*t every day. And when I wasn’t consistent, I felt like sh*t and I didn’t feel like my best version of myself. So that’s what helped me become consistent. I felt better about myself. I was more productive throughout the day. So it was just over time, it was worth putting in the extra effort to stay consistent. And I felt better.

It’s easy to be like; “Oh, let’s just go get food somewhere.” But you just don’t feel your best self. So then I would want to make more meals at home instead of just making a pizza at home; we have this great source of chicken and beef with Butcher Box. Why not cook a meal instead?

And I definitely don’t worry about my portions unless I’m at a restaurant that they’re serving; maybe you’re getting a five-course meal of heavy, decadent food. Then I’m trying not to overdo it with my portion size so I can still feel good afterwards. But I don’t really worry about my portions. I just get stuff on the plate. Lots of veggies. Some protein on the side, cooked in good fat. That’s about it.

Two more questions related to food. Jay Latin. “I’m impressed by your ability to have and maintain a lean physique. Do you actively or routinely tweak your eats every so often? If so, in what ways? Or you just eat intuitively? It is apparent you’re a habitually clean eater. Props.” Thank you! “I would love tips to help encourage my own fitness journey, as I wish to lose 5 to 10 pounds of fat.”

First of all, one of the main things when my body started changing was when I stopped worrying about 5 to 10 pounds of whatever. When I stopped worrying about that altogether was when my body was able to change the most, because I wasn’t putting it through stress. Kind of like I talked about earlier.

But I think I do tweak my diet in some ways, sometimes having a heavier carb day and I don’t even think about it like that. It’s like; oh, maybe that’s all we have left in the fridge is potatoes. Or, I had a really hard workout I need extra carbohydrates at this point.

So I think I do tweak it in that way. Or sometimes I’m eating a little bit more fat than I would the next day. Or sometimes I’m having more sugar than I normally would. So I “tweak” my diet, but I just don’t think about it like that. I think everybody tweaks their diet in most ways, unless they’re cooking all the same meals through the week. Meal prepping like a boss. But I think my diet changes daily. At the end of the day, I just try to eat clean of lots of veggies, proteins, and good fats. Try to balance that out by still having a life and a cocktail and a cupcake here and there too.

Lowtez. “I love that you post what you eat, but the portion sizes seem miniscule compared to what I eat. Do you struggle with hunger? If so, how do you keep that under control. Snacking seems to be my downfall.”

Ok, so I’ve done what I eat in a day posts for a long time now because people really seem to like them. And whenever I ask, people like seeing those posts. It’s always kind of one of those things that I don’t know if I should post it, because people start playing the comparison game. And I do it because so many people have wanted those posts.

And I get more people coming to my website when I post that sort of thing. So obviously the audience is interested in that. And I think it gives really great ideas for people who are like, “Oh, I never thought of that.” As like a super easy meal that I can make at home for dinner in a pinch. And it just gives people a different idea of what maybe breakfast looks like, if they’ve been a cereal eater for years, like I was before, and then they see my breakfast of a protein and a vegetable and then a plantain or starch on the side. They’re like; “Oh. That looks really good. Maybe I’ll try that.”

So I like giving people ideas. But I think the comparison game can happen a lot. And I think when you look at a plate on your phone, you visualize it a certain way. So you either visualize it very small, or you visualize it very large. It’s kind of hard to figure out what that portion size really looks like when you’re not in that moment with them.

And at the end of the day, my body is 100% different than your body. We have nothing in common. Our genetics are totally different. Our lifestyles are different. Our stressors are different. Our needs are different. Everything is different. So I like giving these meal ideas to help people plan out meals in general. And kind of give a glance of what my diet looks like for people who are interesting. But you should not be comparing whatsoever.

I don’t struggle with hunger, because I eat whenever I’m hungry. And I eat good sources of fat and protein. So that really pushes down those hunger needs later on. And I say that as; say you’re eating something like yogurt and granola with berries in the morning. Which I’m not a huge fan of. It’s just sugar, sugar, and more sugar. Then you’re going to probably be hungry two hours later. Versus say you had a breakfast of vegetables and a good source of proteins and healthy fats. You’re going to be satisfied for maybe three to four hours, compared to that two. So, I don’t know what I was really going for with that.

But, I just like showing people ideas. Remember, your needs are totally different than mine. And I don’t deal with hunger issues because I just eat when I’m hungry. And I eat good sources, instead of a ton of chips, or a ton of nuts are making me kind of spike and then crash later on. So I hope that helps.

3. Listener Questions: Blog [48:30]

Ok, we’ve got lots of blog related questions this time around. So here we go. Sunny, “What is the best advice for someone who is wanting to start a blog?” I would say, I talked about how I started my own blog. So you can listen to that on the podcast. But if you’re going to start a blog, be consistent. Post regularly. People are going to come back because they know you’re consistent and you’re going to have new content regularly.

If you’re a person who posts once a month, or even just once a week; people don’t. And that’s not true for everybody. But I think people like to see content on a regular basis. And just be true to yourself at the end of the day. There’s all kinds of different places. You can host your website. You can build it. And you can build SEO. All this stuff; all the logistics. But if you don’t have great content at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter how much you spent on a new website, and a host, and all that jazz. So just concentrate on your content and getting it out there consistently.

This next one. “How did you get into designing your leggings? I absolutely love them. Any other workout clothing designs in your future?” That’s the best!

So, I received a pair of leggings from my friends Joy and Claire and Girls Gone WOD podcast. They designed their first pair of leggings with Four Athletics, who sponsored their podcast for a long time. They wore their leggings all the time. So I was doing an Instagram story about that, like; oh my god! This is the coolest idea! I should do this. And they reached out to me about working together.

So then after they reach out; sorry. I’m not tired. I’m not bored. To whoever leaves those kinds of comments. So they reach out, and they put me in contact with their designer. I put together a Pinterest, like an inspiration board of fabrics I like, colors I like, leggings length, fabrics. And that sort of thing, and we start building off of that. And then we just go back and forth of designs and colors.

And then they print out the leggings, they send them to me. And then I say; like I got the mesh leggings back this first time around. And they were pulling a little bit weird at the thigh. So I asked them to improve that. Or say the color wasn’t quite right, and we change that. That’s how that goes. It’s amazing working with them. It’s so cool.

So I’m really hoping that this next campaign does well and I can continue this partnership with them in the future. And do other leggings out there. Because I know not everybody likes 7/8th length. Maybe somebody wants crop. So doing crop leggings, a different fabric. I think I want to do shorts. I don’t wear shorts myself, but I know a lot of people who wear shorts. So I would love to get some of those out there. Maybe do a sports bra in the future. I think that would be really fun. Kind of some matching designs, I always love that.

So yes! I hope there is future clothing designs. Hopefully if this campaign does well, there will be.

Josie. “What were you plans for your career before you decided to blog full time? If you ever decide to get out of blogging, what would you do? Do you have any other career dreams, maybe not related to health and fitness?”

Oh, girl. Everything is related to health and fitness in my life, so no. No dream outside of health and fitness. I went to school for health and exercise science. So that has always been a passion of mine. And I thought I was going to open up my own gym at one point. That was kind of what I was working towards. I was working at a ton of different CrossFit gyms, and I thought I would probably start my own gym at one point. So if I ever do get out of blogging, I think that’s the route I would go. Working with clients in really getting control of their bodies, and that’s what I would do.

“What program do you use to edit your photos?” I use Lightroom. Highly recommend. It’s the best. It’s so user friendly compared to; what’s that called. Why am I blanking what’s that called? Oh, Photoshop. Sorry. I think it’s way more user friendly than photoshop. I love it. It’s the best. I edit all my photos, food and outfit photos, on there.

Tammy’s Journey. “How do you stay so motivated? I work from home, and some days I could much easier put my feet up than keep working.” I don’t know what feet up means. Does that mean TV? Where are you from?

So I stay motivated by making a to-do list. I label my to-do list hour by hour. To make sure I stay on track with everything and I get everything done. If I have my to-do list, and it’s staring at me, I’m going to get it done because it annoys me and it pisses me off if it’s not done. So that’s how I stay motivated.

And I really love what I do. So there’s always something exciting. There’s always something to work on. There’s always something new to be done. And if I need a day off, then I need a day off. Then I have a lazy day. Especially after I shoot cooking videos. I just need a day to not do anything. Not post on social media. Take a break. And I’ll do that. But I just really like what I do. And to-do lists really do help.

Anna. “How do you deal with all the dishes you create from cooking? I love to cook, but can’t stand the dishes.” Anna, guess what? I do the dishes. That’s how I deal with it. I don’t like having a dirty kitchen. It annoys the sh*t out of me. So I’m trying to clean more as I go. As soon as I finish a dish, start cleaning up as it’s cooking or whatever. And then my husband will help with some of the dishes at dinner.

But at the end of the day, I made a mess and I have to clean it up. And that’s just part of my job. It sucks, but true.

“I recently started following your blog, and I love your recipes. I’m curious; what is it like being a fulltime blogger? Do you have someone follow you around every day with a camera? Does someone have to video your workouts? I follow several blogs, and I’ve wondered who takes the pictures, the location, etc.”

No. I am by myself all the f*cking time. And when I’m at the gym, I set my phone up on the floor or on a bench and just press record and hope it’s shooting in my direction. It usually isn’t. Not great with that. For outfit photos, I meet up with my sister-in-law, has been taking my photos recently. Or if I’m working with a photographer. I meet up, and we usually take five to six outfit photos in one day. So I bring all those outfits in my car, and we go location to location and take photos there.

I do all my own food photos. And if we’re on vacation, I just ask my husband to take photos. That’s kind of how I go about that. But no, nobody is following me around. Because I would make them do the f*cking dishes if they were.

But I guess to answer your question, what it’s like to be a fulltime blogger. You’re just working for yourself, so it’s just lots of emails. Lots of being on your computer. Lots of coming up with content. So yeah, everybody does it a little bit differently for sure. But that’s how I go about getting my photos done.

Becky. “How do you decide what to offer for free out of the goodness of your little heart, versus how and when do you raise money for what you do? Seems like I never have to pay for anything from you. Thanks! Is affiliate links your main source of income?”

I get paid off of advertising on my website. So if you come and there’s an ad there, it’s usually an ad based on something you’ve looked at. So maybe you’ve looked at a car lately. Maybe you’ve looked at Tesla, because it’s f*cking floating in space right now. Well then, you would maybe get a Tesla ad. So I get paid off of advertising on my website. And I also get paid off of affiliate links.

Maybe you purchase something on Amazon; I have an Amazon affiliate link that I would maybe get a kickback from that. Same thing with Butcher Box or other affiliates that I’ve worked with. And that’s kind of how I make money.

I started this blog as a free blog, and I’ve done that the entire time. And it’s so funny when I get someone complaining. They’re like, “All your blog is advertising.” I was like; literally, there are 800 free recipes on my website. That’s not advertising. And I’m giving you all this free content; why is not ok for me to promote something I’m already wearing. And if you purchase something of it, I get a kickback from that? I don’t know why people have some weird feelings about that.

But, I just get kickbacks from affiliate links so that’s really helpful. But I’ve done this blog for free for so long. And the advertising on my site is what really started me getting more financially stable and able to actually pay for groceries and not be below poverty line. So that’s kind of how I was able to do that.

I just like coming out with new content. So if that means I get a kickback; if it means I don’t get a kickback that’s fine. I just like having different content for people to come look at. Like I did a hair post the other day, and there are no affiliate links in there. I don’t think there is. Because hair products, you have to buy at a salon.

But I’m not not going to do a post because it doesn’t have affiliate links in there. Because I like sharing that content of what has worked for me, and what has really changed my hair. And I want people to know about that. So that’s kind of how I go about that. But it’s definitely nice to be able to work with affiliate links to be able to keep a site free and up and running and still do my job.

Sadstash. “You seem like one of the few influencers that’s doing it all by yourself. How do you keep up with everything that needs to get done for your blog? Sponsored posts, social. I know you hate people, but do you have plans to hire any?”

So I have, one of my girlfriends, she does my emails. She works with any of my blog emails or any emails that come in via Instagram. She works on those, because I just couldn’t keep up with it all. Any sponsored content, I work one on one with. But you just figure it out. You just always figure it out. I’m sure I could product more videos, like cooking videos, if I had somebody else’s help to do those close up videos; those Taste-Made type videos that everybody sees. And I could do a little bit more, but I like working by myself. And I’ve been screwed over by so many people in the past that I’m not interested in doing that at this point.

You just get it done. I have a to-do list. And I have the posts that are coming up, and the photos I need to get done. And I just make it work.

This is my friend; Bacon and Squats. “Where do you see PaleOMG being in 5 years? With Instagram starting to implement changes in what’s shown on timelines, and beginning to look more like Facebook, are you looking at other ways to market your brand and make sure you can keep the same revenues. I guess I don’t really know what percentage of what you make comes from your blog, book, Instagram, sponsored posts. But what happens if Instagram goes away, or moves to a model that punishes business, like Facebook does.”

Ugh. Don’t we just love Facebook and Instagram? The thing is, I’ve been going through these changes for years now. And it started when I had simply a paleo recipe blog, and I said, OK, I want to be able to stay with this blog and stay relevant. That means I need to expand into more things other than just paleo. Because what if paleo is completely forgotten about? And not liked anymore? I want to have something else to offer the world other than just that. And that’s why I got into fitness and fashion and beauty and whatever else I’m interested in at the moment.

At the end of the day, your platform, like your blog. Hopefully, unless all kinds of other things go up in the air. But your blog is your content. And that’s what I concentrate on. And that’s where I make most of my income, is from my blog itself. But you own your blog. And I was at a Like To Know It seminar thing, like the fashion stuff that I put up with that company. And women ask that all the time. “So what am I supposed to do if Instagram goes away? And that’s may main source of income.” And they always say, “Then you need to build your blog. Because social media comes and goes, and it could be gone in a day. It could be yesterday’s biggest thing, and now we’re onto some new different thing.

You just have to roll with the punches. And that’s what I’ve done. Facebook used to make me a good amount of money, and that was life changing to me. And then Facebook changed. And two people out of the 350,000 people who followed me on Facebook; two people get to see my post. And that’s how Facebook changed. So I moved onto Instagram, and now Instagram is changing.

But at the end of the day, my blog is where I have my content. My newsletter, those emails that I’ve captured organically over time. That’s how I’ve really built my blog, and continue to build it. So if those social media channels go away, they can always find me there. And hopefully I’ve been able to scoop a good amount of people through social media to pull back to my blog in some way through a recipe. Through an outfit. Through a beauty post. Through leggings. Whatever it is. And I’ve been able to capture those amazing people and keep them there for any future changes.

But it’s just like any business. You roll with the punches, and you change with the times. I was just getting a spray tan today and thinking about this great place that I go. I go to Glamour Bar in Denver to get my spray tans. And I really love Lindsey, the owner there. And she does the same thing. You’ll see the same thing with salons or any other business. Microblading is the thing. And eyelash extensions are the thing, instead of just hair and nails. So what does she do? She finds a person who does microblading and a person who does lash extension, and she changes part of her indoor space to get those people in there. And that’s been a huge part of her business at this point.

So you just change with the times. And you update as you need to, and love the challenge of it as well. I can’t say where; I always get that question. I can’t say where I see PaleOMG going in five years. Because I never saw PaleOMG happening 10 years ago. That was never what I saw happening. So I can’t believe this is my job. But I will constantly change with the times, and work my ass off to do whatever I need to do. I hope that answers your question. You little friend.

4. Listener Questions: Skincare [1:05:04]

We’re onto skincare now. We’re done with blog stuff. Onto skincare. Kate, “Love all your tips for preventing acne breakouts. Avoiding nuts, eggs, sugar. But what do you do when your skin breaks out to help it heal faster? What is your favorite concealer for inflamed skin these days?”

So I use Primally Pure fancy face serum. I put that on any zits that I have. It is amazing. Highly recommend that. Primally Pure. If you go onto my blog, under the beauty tab I have a post about charcoal deodorant that I’m obsessed with right now. And Fancy Face serum. I have a link there.

And concealer for inflamed skin; I use Jane Iredale. And I think that’s a great brand. They’re gluten free, they don’t have any sh*t in there. So I think that’s great for the skin. Jane Iredale.

Karen. “I can’t wait to see your revamp on home décor. I love your new leggings.” Oh my gosh. You’re just saying nice stuff. “Your skin looks amazing. How often do you get Profractional laser done, and is it pricy? Looking to brighten up my skin, as well.”

So, Profractional I’m planning to do every six months. My esthetician was like; we can always do a way lighter setting. So if you look up Chelsea Handler Profractional, she has two blood spots on her face. It’s very light Profractional, and I go the very intense. And she’s like, we can do lighter ones in between where you’re not out for f*cking days and you can’t leave. So I might do those. But those intense Profractionals, every six months. It continues to work for up to six months, and then you need another one.

I f*cking love them. Yes they are pricy. It depends if you get your whole face; it can be around $1000. If you go into your neck, it can be more than that. But it is really totally worth the money. I f*cking love them. I think it is the best thing I could have ever done for my skin and any acne scars I have. Since I don’t have great genetics, my wrinkles have already started to set in. And that has really turned back the clock. I f*cking love it. I can’t say enough about Profractional. I think it is absolutely amazing. But it is pricey, for sure. If you’re in Denver; I don’t know if you’re actually in Denver. But my esthetician gives discounts for PaleOMG listeners, because I’ve sent a lot of people her way. So if you are, let me know.

Yes. It’s worth every penny. Highly recommend. If you can save up, splurge for that on your skin. I would totally do it. But remember, everywhere is going to be different. Especially say you’re living in San Francisco; it’s going to be more. Say you’re living in Missouri, it’s probably going to be less. Everywhere is going to be, I don’t know why I said Missouri. {laughs}

Katie Mack. “Do you wear face makeup when you do Instagram stories on a normal day? Your skin just looks so good!”

Yes. I always wear makeup. That’s something that goes back for me being productive. I found that on the days where I just didn’t put any makeup on, stayed in my pajamas all day. Didn’t brush my teeth until 3 p.m. I just felt like a piece of sh*t. So I just feel better when I have just basic makeup on. I’ll put on my BB cream. I’ll put on some bronzer. I actually did an Instagram story about this. Hopefully you caught it. But put some bronzer on. Some highlighter. I fill in my brows if I need to. Because they just lighten up in color pretty quickly, because I’m blonde. And then I put on mascara. And that’s all I do.

This BB cream and this face primer have been amazing. I love wearing those. And it gets me excited to put makeup on, because my skin just looks so much better with it on. So yes, I am wearing makeup daily.

“Does your esthetician recommend and sell a certain brand of products that she keeps in her office? Or does she recommend a few different products that you go buy yourself outside of her office?”

No. She recommends the stuff she has in her office, and I love it. I use Vivant Skincare. And I’ve talked about this on my blog as well. I use Vivant Skincare, and then Beyond Complexion. And she has both in her office. Those two brands are amazing. I use them daily. And then another product I use that she did not recommend that I just came across myself is Tula. And I love Tula. I always recommend it. They have such great products, and they’ve made a huge difference in my skin, too.

She has Vivant and Beyond Complexion in her office. She uses it, and swears by it. And it f*cking changed my skin. Vivant skincare completely changed my skin. It’s amazing.

Frankie. “What adhesive do you use for your lashes?” I use duo. And you can get it at Target. You can get it at Sally. That’s where I usually get it. But Duo adhesive is what I use. And I use the dark color, because it blends in a little bit with your eyeliner.

Jam. “I always struggle with fake lashes? What glue?” Oh, sorry, I just totally answered that. “What glue do you use? Anything special? Any tips for someone who is fake lash challenged?”

OK. So I am, too. And I feel like you just get better at fake lashes by doing it all the time. But I still; I was like; “Oh, I put my lashes on perfect today.” And then 10 minutes later, one is falling off. I’m like; what the f*ck!? I don’t know how people get so good at it.

So I use Duo. And I personally like putting a little mirror down low, so I’m looking down. Because it makes it easier to get the lash on, than if you’re looking up or straight forward and your lashes are kind of in the way. So I look down. And I’ll put the middle of the lash, push it down. And then I’ll look up and I’ll use tweezers to put the size in by the far side of my eye, and then do the other side. So I work from the middle to the outside, to both outsides. Hopefully that makes sense. But tweezers go a long way. I think tweezers are so helpful.

Allison. “I didn’t remember you going into depth about your experience with Invisalign. How did the process go?”

I didn’t really talk about that for some reason. Invisalign was awesome. I was going to do a post about it, and I kept trying to get the doctor to send me before and after photos, and he just kept forgetting. So I was like; f*ck it. I don’t care that much. Who wants to show grody teeth on the internet? It’s just embarrassing.

I love Invisalign. I did it for six months. And it was great. I’m so happy with how my teeth look now. And they just straightened out some issues I had. I had braces when I was a kid. And then I lost my retainer. My bottom retainer broke off. So my teeth just moved, and they started to annoy me after time. And I knew they would just get worse, too, with time. So I did Invisalign for 6 months. Now I wear retainers every single night. I was so happy with the prices. Highly recommend it. It was amazing.

And if you’re looking to do Invisalign, get quotes from a couple of different doctors. Because people can quote you from $2000 to $10,000. It’s a huge range. So definitely go talk to someone. I don’t have dental insurance, because I haven’t had any dental issues, so I haven’t had to have that. I just go in for cleanings every six months. So I didn’t use dental insurance. I don’t know if dental insurance covers that. But definitely get different quotes, because people will go all over the place.

And my guy was like; well. Because I said somebody recommended him, and said what she paid. And he was like, “So what are you looking to pay?” Like he was ready to bargain. {laughs} So keep that in mind.

5. Listener Questions: Miscellaneous [1:13:20]

Ok. Last but not least, just kind of random stuff thrown in here. Seagle. Sleep. “I’m a very busy person, like you, and type A personality. And while I’m exhausted at the end of the night, I find it hard to shut off my brain. Do you have any habits or things that make sure to get a good night sleep in?”

So I make sure I have everything off my to-do list crossed off. And then my to-do list ready to go for the next day of time by time. That helps me be less stressed, less anxiety. I really like that. I try to turn; and I’m not good at this. But I try to turn my screen off. Get screens off completely. That’s going to help with your sleep pattern anyway.

Since I’m on my computer at all times, I use an app called Flux. I think it’s called Flux. F. Lux. And then it changes the temperature lighting of your computer. So it turns that blue-orange lighting, or whatever. So it’s less harsh on the eyes. So it’s easier to turn off. I do the same thing with my phone. Set the settings, so it changes to that stuff that’s better for your eyes at night.

And if you’re having a hard time sleeping, and those things aren’t helping, doing; what’s it called? Dammit, I’m totally forgetting now. I don’t do anything other than just trying to turn off screens. You can read before bed. But for me, if you’re a type A personality, and you can’t turn your brain off, I think writing those things down and having your to-do list ready to go for the next day. I think that’s super helpful.

Big Al. “Besides Bachelor, what are your favorite train wreck reality shows?”

Oh my god. I love me a good episode of Botched. I feel like I used to watch E! all the time, and I just haven’t in a long time. I feel like I keep going back to Netflix to watch Parks and Rec. Just some lighthearted stuff. But I would always watch Botched. Loved Total Divas; still do. But I just forget about these shows, and I haven’t watched them. My husband is 7 years older, and he’s like, “Let’s watch the news.” And I’m like, “Lets watch Total Divas!” I just haven’t watched those shows in a long time.

And if I’m home by myself, husband is out of town, I don’t feel like doing sh*t. I want to just make myself a gluten free pizza and sit on my ass, I love me a good Kardashians. A full day of Kardashians. Really commit. Find out what’s going on in their lives. F*cking love it. I don’t care. Judge me. I don’t care at all. They are the best to watch. That’s why they’re famous as f*ck.

Oh my god; how are so many of them pregnant? Aren’t they all pregnant at the moment or something? That’s not true at all. Man. Craziness. Kylee, she just had a baby. I didn’t even know she was only 20 years old. No judgement to people who had babies young, you go you. F*ck. I can’t imagine. If I had babies at 20 years old. Oh my god. Oh my god, I can’t imagine.

Ok. Connie. “I’m looking to maybe start my first nursing job in Colorado. What are your thoughts and opinions for someone moving to Colorado to live there?’

{laughs} That’s a funny question. I mean, obviously I love living in Colorado because I’ve lived here my whole life. So yeah. Everybody is moving here. It’s the hot place to be at the moment. And that’s for a reason; it’s an amazing place. So my thoughts are good. I love Colorado.

Spin Me and Eat Clean. Yeah. “Love your podcast.” I love you. “Just wondering why you eat only half a Larabar instead of a whole bar? I think in an episode you ate half a Larabar or something, but you were still hungry. Also, why did you start using Retin-A again? And do you use it every night? Sorry if these questions have already been answered.”

Ok. So a lot of times, I have half a Larabar before I work out just to settle my stomach. Because I don’t want a ton of food in there, and I know I’m going to eat a meal afterwards. Larabars have a good amount of sugar in them and I know I don’t need that much before I’m working out. I just want something to settle my stomach. Or say I’m having a snack. I don’t want to have the full Larabar because it has a good amount of sugar. Or it has a good amount of nuts in it. And nuts don’t do well for my stomach. So then I would have half a Larabar and something else. That’s kind of why I do that. And then have the other half another day. But yeah. That’s why I do that.

And then; why did you start using Retin-A again. I just started using Retin-A again. I was on Retin-A before, but then I just got lazy when my prescription ended about renewing my prescription. So Retin-A is amazing for the skin and skin turnover. So after I went to the dermatologist to renew my prescription for my acne medication, she was like, “Oh you need to get back on Retin-A.” Because I told her I wasn’t on it.

So I got back on it, and I use it every other night at this point. I’m still pretty dry from it, and my skin is pretty flaky. But it’s getting better. But it’s great for the skin, and I love anything great for the skin.

“I’ve been wanting to read up on different nutrition information facts. I want to learn more about gluten, organic veggies versus regular. What websites to you recommend to learn all about this?”

I think Mark’s Daily Apple is amazing. And Robb Wolf. I think those are two amazing websites to go through and really learn a ton of information. They have so much stuff there.

C Healthy. “How much do you typically spend/think is appropriate to spend on certain items of clothing? You have the cutest wardrobe. I seriously need a closet makeover, but I’m a major budget. So I’m not sure what investment pieces I should buy, and which items I should spend very little money on.”

That is up to you, girlfriend. That is totally up to you. Because say someone who; this person would invest in a really expensive blazer. I don’t want an expensive blazer. I don’t give a sh*t. I think there are a lot of great jeans out there at this point that are under $100 or are more affordable that fit really well. So I don’t feel like; before it was either super sh*tty jeans or you had $200-300 jeans. And I don’t think it’s like that anymore. I think you can find some really great quality for even under $90; $50-90 range nowadays.

There’s another question down here; I want to bring this out, too. Because this one is by Property of Splat. “I love clothing you post, but it’s too expensive for me. Do you have any wardrobe suggestions for someone on a tight budget? I mean tight.”

So this is a great answer for both of these questions. Go check out ThredUp. I’ve done a couple of posts about ThredUp before. I actually have a post coming up with ThredUp. www.ThredUp.com. It’s a second-hand store. Second-hand online store. And a lot of their clothing even still has tags on it. So it’s like brand new stuff.

I got a pair of J-brand jeans that were originally $200 and I think I got them for $29 or something like that. They have even better deals than that. I just found a dress that was originally $1000 and I got it fur under $200. So then you can really pick. Do you want to do more fancier stuff, but still on a tight budget and cut down? Or do you want something that someone got at Target and never wore, even marked down from the Target price of $20, now it’s down to $6? They have amazing stuff. I love them.

But I can’t say what’s going to be investment pieces in your wardrobe. You have to find out what’s important to you. For me, I will pay a good amount for an expensive jacket, because I live in Colorado and it gets really f*cking cold. And I know if I have better quality, I’ll be more comfortable. So, I will spend more money on a super nice jacket. But maybe you live in a warm place, and a jacket is not important to you.

So find out what items are important to you. And if you want to invest that money in it. but also look at ThredUp because maybe you won’t need to invest in that because it’s going to have the high quality clothes that maybe weren’t even worn for crazy marked down prices. Love that f*cking store so much. Oh my god. So excited for my post coming up. I found the cutest stuff.

OK. “How do you find time to juggle it all? Being a business owner myself, it’s hard to find time between the balance of eating healthy, relationships, my salon, family, travel, help a girl out.”

I think it’s just like anything. It’s like when you see a mom who is taking care of a million children and f*cking being a badass. That mom just does it. She just makes it work and figures it out. I do the same with me. But I definitely see sometimes that I need to be spending more time with my husband, and I’m on my computer.

So I rearrange my day of how I’m going to get stuff done. And some things might come in a little late. Maybe my post is going to be late coming live the next day on the blog. But I got to spend time with my husband, and that was important. So I think you have to outweigh things. Something has to give sometimes. But you just make it work, and you work your f*cking ass off. If you love what you’re doing, it’s worth it at the end of the day. And that’s how I feel about that.

Things have to give sometimes. And I try to relax when I go on those vacations, and turn off for a little bit.

Two more questions, and then we are done! How long as this been? Almost an hour and a half. Damn, son!

“My husband eats so much. Super active guy. And I struggle to make enough food to keep both of us satisfied during the week. How do you handle feeding healthy food to both of you? Have lots of leftovers? Does he cook?”

So, he cooks breakfast for himself. And he gets lunch out when he’s working. I don’t have to deal with breakfast or lunch. If we have leftovers, I’ll be like; oh, you can take that for lunch. Easy as that. But he has to figure out his own breakfast and lunch. And then I just do dinners.

I don’t have a hard time with that. My husband isn’t like a crazy big eater. I feel like sometimes I can even eat more than him. Sometimes, that’s not most of the time. So I just haven’t run into that issue. But I think if it’s stressing you out, telling him that. If you’re doing all the cooking. I’m just guessing. Because my husband doesn’t cook at all.

But if it was stressing me out, and he was eating more than I could really cook up, I would say, “Hey, can you make something extra just to have on the side. Just because I can’t make that much for dinner.” And just see how you can kind of juggle it together. Because at the end of the day, it’s 50/50 here. Even if someone does more work, if you were to ask them to do something, it should be just as even. Like, if I asked my husband to cook dinner one night, he would make it work and make it happen. Because I do it for him so much.

So yeah. I think asking him to do some of the cooking, and see what it kind of puts you through, and having some extra stuff around the house that he cooked up. That can help. I hope that helps. That is not a great answer, sorry.

Ok, last question. “What are your morning and evening routines?”

Well, every morning I wake up and I make coffee with collagen in it. And then I lie on the couch, like sit up with my back and my dog lies between my legs with my blanket. And then I finish my blog post for the day. I comment back on any comments. I update anything on social media. I make breakfast. And then every day is totally different, because I’m going to the gym, or making a new recipe, or working on photos. Whatever I’m doing.

And then nighttime, I always cook dinner. Finish up whatever I need to with the blog. And then, what else do I do? Clean up the house. And we always pretty much watch the news if Shameless isn’t on. I f*cking love Shameless. I want to watch that show all the time. I’m sad it’s not on right now. But yeah, we usually watch the news. And usually go to bed by 9 or 10. Pretty early to go to bedder. So there is that.

Thanks for writing in all of your questions. If I didn’t answer your question, feel free to come to www.PaleOMG.com because I will be happy to answer it there. I’m sorry if it got lost in all the jumble. But thank you guys so much for sending in your questions. You make these episodes so much more fun. And I love doing them. Obviously, you guys like them because you leave such great questions. So thank you guys so much. And yes! I’m going to shower so I can get ready to fly to Phoenix.

Don’t forget; PaleOMG leggings are live. Go to www.PaleOMG.com or www.FourAthletics.com. And let me know what your favorite ones are right now. I’m hearing from different people. There’s a giveaway on the blog right now, and there’s also a discount. So if you use the cod PaleOMG at checkout, you’ll get 10% off your order. So go use that. Thanks for letting me keep this blog free. You’re the best.

I will talk to you later. Don’t forget to rate, review, and subscribe. And keep being amazing. See you later.

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13 Comments

  1. Joanna says:

    Have you or do you use Retin A type face creams? My derm started me on Differin gel for my acne and my face it having a horrible time. It is red, scaly, shedding and super itchy! My zits are also more noticeable. I have been so embarrassed going to work the past few weeks. Ive left messages with my derm’s nurse but wanted to see what your experience was.

    1. juli says:

      yes, i’m on retin-a. i believe it’s .25%. i was on differin gel YEARS ago back in college and absolutely hated it. it made my sin so awful without getting rid of acne

      1. joanna schupp says:

        Thanks! I will ask my derm about Retin-A. I was wondering why my face was getting so much worse but based on Amazon reviews, it seems like a lot of people don’t tolerate Differin gel. I look like I have had a chemical peel for the past 4 weeks.

  2. Sammi says:

    I just listened and I loved your Olympic outfits coverage. If you aren’t following Leslie Jones from SNL on instagram, I highly recommend it. Her commentary on the figure skating outfits is hysterical and I think right up your alley!

    1. juli says:

      she’s THE BEST!!

  3. Alyssa Lyn says:

    Hey Juli! How did you find the courage to take the plunge and just join crossfit? Both financially and physically. I’m a student saving up for school, so explaining why i’m spending $160 a month to my parents seems like the scariest task EVER! I’ll have to cancel my current gym membership ($40 a month) to afford it, but i’m scared I’ll take the jump and regret spending the money every month…help! How did you first take the plunge?!

    1. juli says:

      i did my own crossfit style workouts for probably 6 months before i joined a cf gym. and that was when i was still in college and broke AF. but i still made paying for my membership work. i stopped going out to eat and stopped drinking so i had extra money to spare from that. and i also had a free gym membership at the time because i was working out at my school rec center. you can always stop your membership if you don’t feel comfortable with it or aren’t happy with it. i’m just a person who won’t spare when it comes to my own health. i pay a lot of money for good groceries, working out, and my skincare. but then i’ll skimp on other things. so it really just depends on your own goals and comfort level with that sort of expense.

  4. Meghan says:

    Hi juli! Huge fan of the blog and podcast, as well as your Instagram!! My question is about mental burn out. I’m currently training for an Iron Man (4/28 – ah!!) and experiencing some mental burn out from all the training. I know you aren’t an endurance/long distance athlete but i know you can experience this in any workout. What are some ways you can combat mental burn out especially when there’s a “competition” or “deadline” ahead and not much room to take a step back and take a long break from working out. Thank you!!

  5. Courtney says:

    Juli,

    I love your podcast so so much! I listen every Monday on the way to my office and I feel like it sets me up for a positive healthy attitude, I also end up cracking up.

    I’m a former news anchor and want to tell you I can definitely relate to the yawning. I used to do the 11pm newscast and talk yawn and turn it into a game. People who complain are fuckers and have no idea just how hard it is. Thanks for keeping it real!

    1. juli says:

      thank you so much for leaving a comment, courtney! and thank you for the kind words! and i’m glad at least one other person out there understands the yawning! i feel like i’m the only one out there!

  6. Megan says:

    Hi Juli,

    What are some good exercises to help someone be able to do chin ups independently?

    Thank you,
    Megan

    1. juli says:

      there’s all kinds of different exercises! bent over rows, lat pull down, ring rows and negatives!

    2. juli says:

      ring rows, dumbbell or barbell rows, feet elevated ring rows, jumping into a chin up then doing a negative. those will all help!