Transcript
What should you drop, what should you keep, and
what should you add? Let's talk about it. What's
up you guys? Famous Asha Garrett here. Welcome
to More Movement Please, the podcast where I
hope to inspire you to move your body more. Today
I'm excited to share another awesome voice note
with you, and this one comes to us from Virginia
Kinkle. Here's what she had to say. Hey Ashley,
it's Virginia Kinkle. I'm a personal trainer,
lifelong bodybuilder, I'm also a business owner,
mom, and the creator of the Drop Keep Add approach
to nutrition. As the founder of a gym and co
-founder of Body Mass Composition Testing, over
the years I've worked with so many women over
the age of 40 who really want to improve their
body composition of building muscle, decreasing
fat, making sure they're maintaining their bone
density. But most importantly, figuring out how
to move more, how to eat better, and how to make
this sustainable so that they're not burning
out in the process of trying to do it all. So
for women over 40, really my number one fitness
tip is to make sure you're prioritizing true
strength training. So I'm not talking about using
the two pound dumbbells as you're doing a cycling
class, but really compound lifting that's utilizing
multiple muscle groups, working close to failure
and obviously a safe way for about six to eight
reps. And that's the true strength training that
women need. to not just maintain muscle, but
hopefully build it during the phase where sarcopenia,
that onset loss of muscle, really occurs. So
how do we prioritize in women in this age group
that true strength training? In terms of nutrition,
it's really about this big picture balance. So
if we're moving more, which obviously I'm a huge
fan of, really the next question is, what should
I be eating and how do I stay consistent with
this? So that's where the drop, keep, add approach
comes in. It's simple. It covers all of the bases
on the what and the how, but it also respects
women on their life instead of punishing them
for it or creating feelings of guilt. So this
drop, keep, add approach has three parts to it.
The first is drop. And this is really important.
It's dropping the shame around imperfection.
I think it's a time of life where we try so hard
to hone in and be perfect on everything that
we're doing that if we're not, we instantly feel
like we've failed. So how do we drop that shame
around snacks and imperfection? I've really found
that the 80 -20 approach to nutrition is huge.
So 80 % of the time you're eating. quality foods
that are helping you towards your goals of building
muscle, losing fat, feeling better overall. So
your vegetables, your lean proteins, your complex
carbs, your fruit. But the 20%, that's where
life comes in. Maybe you're on the road and you
don't have food prepared with you and you have
to hit a drive -thru. That's okay. Maybe you're
taking a couple bites off of your kid's plate.
That's okay. It is not going to be detrimental.
It doesn't mean that we have to have these feelings
of guilt surrounding it. It's just understanding
that those cases are the exception. They're in
the 20%. Primarily, we're focusing on the 80
% of quality nutrition that'll help us reach
our goals. So that's the drop component. Second
is the keep. So keeping the habits that already
help support us with our goals. Maybe that's
sitting down and eating meals with your family.
That's enjoying your favorite cultural foods.
It's going out with friends or your significant
other to be able to go to a restaurant and enjoy
a meal. How do we work that in so that we can
kind of keep the framework of that 80 -20? 80
% of what we're doing is helping us towards our
goals and creating that quality food, working
towards our goals. But the 20 % are the habits
that maybe are a little more flexible on the
food, the going out to eat or enjoying food on
holidays. So it's not getting rid of that, but
keeping those habits in that 80 -20 proportion.
And finally, the third component of this is adding.
So how do we add nutrients around what it is
we're eating to help us achieve results? So often,
nutrition and diets are viewed as a sense of
deprivation, of things that we can't have, that
we're not allowed to do, that we need to cut
out. Rather than dropping that, cutting it out,
how do we keep what we're doing and add more
vegetables? add more lean protein, add more water
throughout the day. So by default, you're starting
to make progress and you're not living in the
sense of failure or deprivation. So those are
the components of the drop, keep, add. It's really
about creating something, an approach that's
sustainable over time, that reduces these feelings
of guilt and really work. with life during this
phase. It provides grace, it provides understanding,
but it also provides reality. So on a more personal
note, I really connected with your story about
the more movement, please. I think the 100 days
of movement, it's ambitious. It requires you
to think about it. It requires work. But the
way you approached it really is human and about
building these small, sustainable actions continually
day in and day out. So very similar to the Drop
Keep ad is how do we make these small, sustainable
changes that can yield long -term results when
compounded over time? So it's really about dropping
the pressure of perfection, maintaining humor
and honesty just like you do, but having a little
bit of structure and accountability in what it
is that we're doing. And your approach is so,
so realistic because it's not about like, look
at me, I'm perfect. But it's really about having
others meet you on the journey along the way
and really trying to figure out the process with
you. So I really appreciate that human approach
to what it is that you're doing. So anyways,
I just wanted to share how Drop, Keep, Add can
kind of weave in with your foundation and what
you're doing. And I look forward to talking with
you soon. Thanks so much. Bye -bye. First of
all, I just want to say thank you, Virginia,
for your message about the 100 Days of Movement.
And I'm still going strong. Today just so happens
to be day 277 of how long I've been at this,
like being serious about it. And I have said
in the past that this wasn't just a challenge
I was doing. It was something that I knew that
needed to be a lifestyle change. And so that's
why I'm so excited about what you shared. And
so I'm excited to share it with all of you movers
and shakers that are listening to this podcast.
I really think it's important to take a healthy
approach to how you are going about your weight
loss journey. That's why I do actually really
like Virginia's ideas of the Drop Keep ad and,
you know, looking at things as an 80 -20 because,
yeah, we're not all going to be perfect. We're
just not. I mean, I just went to Bucky's and
got an oatmeal raisin cookie, for crying out
loud. And I've eaten my way more sweets this
week than I normally would and just hormonal
fluctuations and all the things. And that's,
well, hell, that's why I work out as many hours
a week as I do is because I love food. And so
I think it's really important that we... not
shame ourselves for the things that make us human,
the things that make us who we are. And it's
interesting timing of me hearing this voice note
and reacting to it because I've actually had
it in my queue for a little while. And I just,
you know, life started lifing and I just haven't
had a chance to get to all of the voice notes
that have been in my queue. And so if you have
sent me a voice note and I have not yet played
it on this podcast, please know that I do still
have it and do still intend to listen to it and
react to it. I just have been life has been life
and y 'all and things have been busy. But I do
appreciate every single person who has sent me
a voice note. But anyway, the timing of this
one of hearing this one, it was interesting because
I've been feeling hella guilty this week about
how. How much I've been consuming in terms of
like sweets and like I've tried to be much better
about not just grabbing sweets because they're
available. And what's funny is normally. Like
on any normal given week, I don't really have
as much of a sweet tooth as I used to, especially
since, you know, I've started going to the gym
more. I'm reaching for water more and I find
myself craving more like healthy, nutritious,
nutrient dense foods. And so I've never been
into dieting per se, but I naturally just started
adapting my eating habits to be healthier. And
it wasn't even intentional. It's just kind of
happening. But this week, I've been real bad,
y 'all, about lots and lots of sweets. I mean,
I have eaten, your girl's eating a lot of sweets.
And so it did make me feel better to hear this
one this time because I've actually had some
people recently in my life tell me like, you
know, don't you need to be more careful about
what you're eating? Won't your trainer get mad
at you? Won't your instructor get mad at you?
Don't you need to, you know, watch what you're
eating because you're going to gain all that
weight back? And the shame that has been around.
It's like, you know, you still got to eat. You
don't just go hungry. I mean, come on. That's
not a sustainable way to live your life. And
I did the whole diets and pills and patches thing.
I did the whole let's be in a calorie deficit
where I'm only eating 500 calories a day. And
yeah, I lost a lot of weight. But you know what,
y 'all? I gained it right back as soon as I stopped.
And what's interesting about the way that I'm
doing things now. is it feels like I can actually
sustain this. It feels like I can actually stick
to it and continue to drop the weight and drop
the inches and build the muscle and all the things.
And so if you're listening to this and you are
just now getting started on your weight loss
journey, I really hope that you will start looking
at things from a more, I guess, holistic view.
Don't look at it as all or nothing. Don't look
at things as you have to drop everything fun
in your life. I mean, You shouldn't, nothing
should be off the table in terms of what you
consume. If you are the type of person who's
like me, who enjoys sweets occasionally, don't
beat yourself up for it. Because what happens
when we start beating ourselves up for it is
that's when we start binging even more. That's
when we start beating ourselves up to the point
that we are like, well, I'm just a lost cause.
I'm just not going to go to the gym anymore.
What's the point? Instead, give yourself some
grace. And don't feel so damn guilty. Like part
of this is a message to myself, honestly, is
don't feel so damn guilty, girl, for the fact
that you had cravings for sweets. This week is
an exception. It doesn't mean I've failed. It
doesn't mean I'm a lost cause. It doesn't mean
that I can't have a better dietary week next
week. But then again. I might crave sweets next
week too. And that's okay as long as I don't
go overboard. That's okay as long as I don't
completely give up on the movement and the trying
to reach for healthier foods throughout the rest
of the day. And, you know, not guzzling sodas
and instead reaching for water. So... I really
hope that this message resonated with you. I
know this episode was just a little bit longer
and I hope that's okay with y 'all. I really
appreciate y 'all listening. If you want to share
a voice note with me, I would love to hear from
you. Go to famousashleygrant .com backslash fitness
and I will be sharing more voice notes with you
in the coming days. Thank you so much to everyone
who sent me one so far. I love hearing from y
'all so much. Onwards and upwards, my friends.
Have you worked out today?