Life-Changing Challengers
Dive into the heart of transformation with "Life-Changing Challengers," a podcast that inspires listeners to turn their challenges into opportunities for growth. Hosted by Brad Minus, a seasoned endurance coach with over 13 years of experience, this show brings you compelling stories of resilience, ambition, and personal triumph.
Brad and his guests share their journeys of overcoming obstacles through endurance sports, personal development, and pursuing passions. From completing Ironman triathlons to conquering personal and professional hurdles, "Life-Changing Challengers" is your guide to breaking barriers and achieving your dreams.
Whether you're looking to incinerate your limits, find inspiration to chase your big passion or enjoy motivational stories of people who've transformed their lives, this podcast is for you. Join us to explore how embracing challenges can lead to a happier, more fulfilled life.
Subscribe, review, and share to be part of a community dedicated to making every challenge a stepping stone to success. Follow "Life-Changing Challengers" to ignite your desire, push your boundaries, and embark on your journey to the extraordinary.
Life-Changing Challengers
From Childhood Challenges to Triathlon Triumphs with Gabby Villa
Have you ever wondered how a family competition could spark a lifelong passion for triathlons? Join us as we sit down with Gaby Villa, a dedicated dietitian, sports nutritionist, and triathlete, who shares her incredible journey from her childhood in Saltillo, Mexico, to becoming a prominent figure in the sports nutrition world. Gaby opens up about her early life, playing in her mother's photography studio, dealing with the complexities of a blended family, and the emotional challenges of moving to Australia for her master's degree. Her candid discussion about teenage body image issues offers a sincere look into the personal struggles that shaped her path to professional growth.
Discover the fascinating diversity within the triathlon community as Gaby and I discuss how self-awareness in training can shift our perspectives on body image. We reminisce about a memorable issue of Triathlete Magazine, which showcased elite athletes in artistic nude poses, challenging traditional fitness ideals. Gaby’s love for triathlons, rooted in a family relay event, underscores the sport's inclusive and varied nature. Our conversation touches on university triathlon clubs, the challenges of marathon running, and the influence of a university triathlon club at Tecnológico de Monterrey.
Get inspired by Gaby's career transition into sports nutrition, motivated by a challenging experience with a swimming coach during her teenage years. She shares the rigorous academic and hands-on journey that led to her specialization in sports nutrition, including working with state teams in kayaking, rowing, and sailing. Gabby founded IntensEatFit to provide expert nutritional guidance to ultra-endurance athletes, and she offers valuable insights into performance nutrition, client tracking, and the mental and physical aspects of Ironman training. Tune in for an episode filled with knowledge and inspiration from Gaby's remarkable journey!
Contact Gaby @ IntensEatFit
Instagram: @intenseatfit
Facebook: @intenseatfit
X(Twitter): @intenseatfit
LinkedIn: @Gabriela Villa Carillo
IntensEatFit.com
Have an idea or feedback? Click here to share.
Contact Brad @ Life Changing Challengers
Instagram: @bradaminus
Facebook: @bradaminus
X(Twitter): @bradaminus
YouTube: @lifechangingchallengers
LifeChangingChallengers.com
And we're back with another episode of Life Changing Challengers. As always, I'm your host, brad Minus, and I am super excited to be talking to the future. Gaby Villa is in Australia right now, so it's actually one day later in the morning, so we're talking to the future, all right. So Gaby is a dietician, a sports nutritionalist let's just say that she's an expert, and most of her expertise is in food and fuel. So, Gaby, how you doing?
Gaby Villa:Hey, Brad. Yeah, I'm doing great. Thank you so much for the invite.
Brad Minus:Oh no, I'm super honored to have you here. The thing that I didn't mention, that I was going to mention was so Gaby is an avid triathlete and trail runner, of which, you know, yours truly is, you know, an avid triathlete and runner, so we have a lot in common and I'm super excited about it. So let's dig in. So, Gaby, can you tell us a little bit about your childhood? What was the compliment to your family, where did you grow up and what the environment was like?
Gaby Villa:Yeah, of course. So I grew up in a city called Saltillo in Mexico, so that is north of Mexico, probably like driving like three hours to get to the border, and we're exactly south of Texas essentially. And I am the oldest of well, it's a complicated arrangement of family, but I'm the oldest of six siblings in total, but back then when I was a kid, we were three in total. So I would say, yeah, like my childhood, I remember it as a happy one. My brother and I are one and a half years apart, so we spent a lot of time together. Both my parents are entrepreneurs or they had their own business, so that had a butcher and mom had a photography studio. So we would spend most of the time with mom because the way the business worked was very flexible and it allowed us to spend most of our days pretty much just playing around the studio. She had a very large room where we would just like I remember playing teacher and things like that with my brothers. We would always like be having fun games and things like that with my brothers. We will always like be having fun games and things like that. Then my sister came when I was six years old and that was me asking for her because I really wanted a little sister, and yeah, so essentially it was three of us I, in terms of how the the family was composed, that was pretty much us.
Gaby Villa:Still, I think I turned 13 and that's where my parents decided to split. So now I'm going into all their tears, because I know you ask about the childhood, but just to explain how I ended up with so many siblings Essentially, dad got married again a few years later and his wife has a kid. He is 20-ish, so he's my stepbrother now and they got two kids together. So I have a half sister who is six, and a half brother who is 15. I absolutely adore them. They are beautiful kids. Of course, now I don't see them very often because I'm living very far away, but that is a family arrangement. Now I'm happy to bring it back to my child.
Brad Minus:Well, no, I just I think it's fantastic that you obviously still have a good relationship with your dad and your mom, you know. So that's fantastic. That doesn't happen a lot, right, when people split and of course they change in geography. It doesn't happen. So it's fantastic that you the idea that you said that you adore them, meaning that you still have a good relationship.
Gaby Villa:So that's fantastic, oh, absolutely. I think moving to Australia probably my. When I moved to Australia my little sister was not around yet, but my little brother was. He was six years old then and, yeah, six or seven, he was seven. Anyway, to me that was one of the hardest things. Leaving him it was really, really hard, and I was coming just to do a master's degree. It was not necessarily thinking that I was going to stay here for such a long time. So, yeah, it was probably one of the hardest things, because I know I've always had a good relationship with them.
Brad Minus:That's great. So you're 13,. You split up. Did you end up living with your mom?
Gaby Villa:No, we ended up living with dad Mom's still around.
Gaby Villa:We still, like always, have a really good relationship with mom.
Gaby Villa:It was just, I guess, the situation it meant that mom felt it was better for us to stay with that.
Gaby Villa:It was like it's really complicated. It's about like, essentially, the house and like that, being like financially involved and things like that, to stay there, stay with the house and like, essentially, it's like you know, I'm here, I love you and that's how it ended up being you and that's how it ended up being, which, of course, I know, and the more time passes, the more I understand how difficult that was for mom and how it was such a yeah, a really difficult thing to do, especially when I think of now. I mean, I'm married now and I was having a chat with my husband recently because we were watching a show and they are splitting up and the ladies are staying at the house and my husband is like, of course she's going to stay down. I was like, hang on, like let me understand what you think, because of course, we are not planning on split up or anything like that, but like it's interesting to think, like what are the yeah, the assumptions, I guess.
Brad Minus:So anyway, it was definitely difficult um, so in the research that I did with you, you had mentioned that in your teenage years you had some body image issues. You want to go into a little bit about that so we can kind of now we can start digging into the real meat of it.
Gaby Villa:Yeah, definitely so I think actually it did start from childhood, let's say so. Both mom and dad had issues with their weight when they were younger. So, with all their as I'm sure that it was with well intent, good intentions they, especially with my brother and myself, they were very strict about food, let's say and I remember, with a strict enough I want to say in a good way so like, oh, you't eat, but it was very conscious about what we were eating and because for themselves it continued to be an issue, they continued to try diet after diet and, of course, as the new diet comes in now, the kids are also doing the same thing. So we will have these diets. Thankfully, I think most of the diets were, let's say, balanced, even though it still was a restriction, and now I understand how harmful that was, even though they did have the intention of this being good for us.
Gaby Villa:I remember going to school with a tin of tuna and some crackers, and that was my lunch, when most people would have a sandwich or something a little bit more conventional. That was when I was probably in primary school. Then, of course, the more time passes and in my teenage years I'm starting to become even more self-aware and my body's changing again and all these things. That's when things started to get a little bit more complicated, let's say in terms of now I'm a little bit more independent, I can take decisions. I think, and now that I reflect on it, I think that food wasn't necessarily the problem.
Gaby Villa:I'm thinking it was more exercise that I was becoming more and more obsessed with. I remember we went to because we used to swim. We were part of the state Well, actually the local team, the swimming team and then we would go also to the gym. And I remember one day mom took us to the gym and we were meeting this new coach, or this new personal trainer, essentially, and he gave us a really light load. It was very easy training session. I came back home crying and crying and crying because it was not hard enough, like, oh, we barely didn't do anything and it was not hard that I barely sweat. I was like, now that I think of it, I was like, oh my God, like I can't believe. I was so annoyed because I didn't.
Gaby Villa:Essentially, I think to me was like I didn't exercise enough. Of course, now, as I will, I didn't burn enough calories, or it was like wasted time or whatever. So it's obviously a very troubled relationship with physical activity. To me, physical activity was a means to, yes, making my body look different, and of course it meant that this also the way I was eating was also very controlled and I was very careful about things. But then of course, the bee inges will come and whenever I will find it was usually cashews or nuts in the pantry that will be my thing, because the house is all healthy. So there's actually no cookies, there is no chocolate, there's nothing you can eat like that, so it will be cereal or peanuts or things like that that are like the health stuff there. That, of course, is compared to all the other things. Those are things that were higher in energy. So, yeah, that was pretty much how I was approaching my, I guess, idea of looking after myself.
Brad Minus:Okay. So let me ask you a question, because this is what we, you know. Obviously, this is what's going on in America right now, both with kids and with adults. When you look back at that moment and you looked at yourself in the mirror whether it was you passed by a mirror when you're going to swim, or you were getting dressed in the morning or whatever what did you see? Was there something that you saw that? Maybe your parents said that no, that's not right, that's not what we see, or maybe your brother said that's not what I see. Did you see something else? Did you feel like you were bigger, smaller, not big enough, not small enough? How did that work?
Gaby Villa:I do know that among the kids at school, I was among the bigger ones, definitely. Now I see photos of myself, I was like, oh my God, what? Like I look like a normal kid, actually, compared to all the other kids. Yes, I was definitely bigger, but not significantly. I remember there was a classmate of myself. That will always be the ones who will be.
Gaby Villa:I really hope people are no longer doing this, but they will always pick the tubby kids as the goalkeepers whenever we will play soccer, and I was always the goalkeeper, and her as well. So, yeah, anyway, of course, there were definitely those insecurities because, yes, like my body and the thing is that that's something that I'm able to recognize. Now I am aware that my body has is this it's definitely never going to be size X or like whatever, and that is okay. Now, it's understanding that there's a wide range of body types. There's nothing wrong with it. It's more about like, okay in this body that I'm in, how am I going to look after my body and make sure that I'm as healthy and as happy as possible?
Brad Minus:and no, and I get it and, and as triathletes, it's like the aesthetics. Obviously we still all have the ability that we look at it. We're like I like a little bit more to be as more aesthetic, but as triathletes it's kind of like okay, what do I put in my body that's going to fuel my next workout, it's going to fuel my next race, it's going to get me to that next PV. That becomes the priority versus aesthetics. You know what I mean. Like I know I fueled my workout. Hey, is my, is my abdomen a little more distended? That I would like you know. Is it? Do I have a little bit going over my speedo? I don't wear speedos, by the way, just so you know. I wear jammers. Is it sticking out a little bit more? Well, why is it sticking out a little more? Well, because you had a few more carbs last night. Carbs tend to hold on to water a little bit more. Therefore, it might look a little more distended at that point in time. Right?
Gaby Villa:And the thing is that triathlon makes you very self-aware, especially with the tri suits, and I always say like, seriously, after seeing the pros in a tri suit, I'd be like they don't look great either.
Gaby Villa:It's like okay, now I'm happy no one looks okay in a tri suit anyway, because, yeah, it was very feeling, because of course it's a skin, so essentially like all of you is, it's exposed pretty much and it it makes it quite challenging. And I still see and I have a lot of, I guess, compassion for people who feel that way, because I'm part of, like, different triathlon forums and I hear people commenting is like, oh my God, this is awful. I feel so like trapped in this thing and I'm looking at the photo and I can see that actually I don't see anything wrong with it After being in so many triathlons. There is such a wide spectrum of body types and people that I think is important to essentially open your perspective instead of just looking at the select few that finish and look at all the other rates. That you realize is like, hang on, there's actually so much diversity here as well no it, and we're going to talk about that here in a minute.
Brad Minus:I remember there was an issue of triathlete magazine and it had all my favorite pros in it and it posed naked but strategically, and it was very artsy, like, oh, and australia, you know, mirinda carfrae, right, mirinda carfrae is like for in her time.
Brad Minus:I mean, you're talking about three-time iron man, kona world champion. You know she's married to tim o'donnell, right, but I remember that that up that issue and mirinda was in it, craig was in it, craig, one of my favorites of the time and I I'm just losing it right now, but like all, lionel Sanders, I think, was in it at the time. And you know, oh, keneal Seve, sebastian Keneal was in it and I mean, just like all these, like my favorites at the time. And, yeah, you're right, none of them look, you know, know, like you wouldn't see them in a men's health fitness, in a men's health magazine, because we tend to we either get on the skinny side as triathlons, triathletes, or we have like skinny they look, we look kind of like skinny fat if you want to put and that's just a normal thing with us and it's very hard for a triathlete to lose weight if they want to maintain their training.
Gaby Villa:Yeah, definitely.
Brad Minus:So, speaking of triathlon, where did that start for you? Because I know that you were a swimmer.
Gaby Villa:Yes, so I was a swimmer and I think I was like 15 years old when my cousin saw that there was a local triathlon.
Gaby Villa:So, essentially because I was a swimmer, I had cousins, including. So, essentially because I was a swimmer, I had cousins, including that cousin, she was a swimmer and then we had an uncle and some cousins who were runners. And then, for example, dad was always on not necessarily cycling what he used to do a lot of a spin bike and things like that. She thought it would be a great idea to have some 5e new relays. So we organized several ones and it was quite exciting. Actually, I remember feeling very excited to be part of the competition between the family in terms of which team was going to win, because we had a cousin that was a really good cyclist for us, because he was always cycling. So let's see how this goes.
Gaby Villa:Anyways, we went to the triathlon. It was an enticed distance triathlon. I think it was like 300 meters, it was 15K bike and like a 3, 4k run, something like that. It was not necessarily so. Anyway, we went to the triathlon and the whole experience to me was fascinating, so fascinating. So I decided that I wanted to do it again. I was like I want to do one of these on my own and I had to wait a whole year for the next triathlon in the city. So essentially when the triathlon came, my preparation for it I was still swimming. I seriously couldn't run much as in like my fitness for running was not necessarily there.
Gaby Villa:I remember, because of part of the swim team they would take us to do, maybe once a week, some running sets or something like that, and two weeks before the triathlon that take me to a space where I could go on the bike and all the objective was to make sure I wouldn't fall, so whenever I needed to dismount I wouldn't fall off the bike. That was essentially the preparation for it. Sure, I wouldn't fall, so whenever I needed to dismount I wouldn't fall off the bike. That was essentially the preparation for it. But of course I crossed the finish line of that triathlon and it felt like I finished a night on man. It was just an experience that it felt so satisfying and like.
Gaby Villa:I mean I'm sure you have experienced that as well, but to me was like this is amazing and even though I was swimming and I was part of competitions, I have never. You have experienced that as well, but to me it was like this is amazing and even though I was swimming and I was part of competitions, I have never experienced something like that before, so I just fell in love with it. I just decided that I wanted to keep doing that. Of course, because it was still in my city and very local, there were not many options in terms of training and races, options in terms of training and races so I essentially was pretty much a triathlete, even though I was continuing the similar training structure that I just described and waiting a whole year to do the next one Nice.
Gaby Villa:Yeah, so once I moved to do my dietetics degree, I moved to a city called Monterrey and that's bigger. There was a cycling team and the university, so I joined that and that's when things became a little bit more serious. I went to a triathlon in that city and it turned out that a few of us participating with part of the same university, so we actually decided to start the triathlon club, so I'm one of the founders of the university triathlon club there and yeah, so essentially everything else. Of course I mean I can continue because this is now 20 years of history, but yeah, essentially every single event just became more and more exciting and of course, the longer, the more time it passed, the preparation was getting a little bit more elaborate, for sure.
Brad Minus:Right, so you said Monterey California or Monterey Mexico.
Gaby Villa:Monterrey Mexico.
Brad Minus:Okay, what was?
Gaby Villa:the name of the university Tecnológico de Monterrey, monterrey's Institute of Technology and Higher Education. Yeah.
Brad Minus:Well, that is so cool that you started your own triathlon club at the university level. That's fantastic. I ran the Marine Corps Marathon in 1999. I was in the military, I had just finished my master's degree and there was the Marine Corps Marathon. Because I was living in DC, I was stationed at the Pentagon. So it's like, right there, the Marine Corps marathon. Because I was living in DC, I was stationed at the Pentagon. So it's like, right there, one of my buddies said, hey, do you want to run this? And I'm like, let's do it, let's train for it.
Brad Minus:Now, back in 1999, if you were in the running community but we weren't, we were in the military community knew nothing about gels, knew nothing about hydration. Basically, we did 18 and 19 milers with a 20 ounce bottle of water. That was it water and yeah. So when I got done with that marathon, I completely drained my glycogen stores, like completely. And if you've ever done that, you realize that you feel like you've got the flu, like nothing is going to, and it takes 48 hours for you to fill your glycogen stores again. It was the most awful thing ever. So I said at that point I was like one and done 10 years to almost the day I had started, I had gone through the military, I separated after the FOIF Operation, iraqi Freedom, the global war on terrorism, basically, and then I started working and I started becoming a workaholic. So I started this bootcamp class to get me back in shape. And a friend of mine in the bootcamp class saying, hey, we're listening, we're doing the Chicago Marathon, which is actually where I'm from. I'm actually from Chicago, I wasn't born there but I was raised there. And he says we're doing the Chicago Marathon for this charity because my wife has it's a polycystic kidney disease and we're going to do that Now.
Brad Minus:I'd sworn off marathons, I'd said forget it. But anyway, lo and behold, I ended up doing it. I gotten hurt. But in the midst of training for it, the same buddy goes to me hey, I'm doing this sprint triathlon. It's. I think it's a great way for you to cross train. Why don't you try it with me? And I'm like, yeah, sure, I'm down, bought a bike and started training and I did it. It was a sprint, it was a USAT, it was a USAT sanctioned event. And I did it. And I just, like you, came across the line and was like, wow, look what I just did you know? So yeah, that's what. That was my introduction to it.
Brad Minus:A year later I'd gotten injured badly, which is then a year later and then I. So I'd done several triathlons in that midst and then I started coaching. So someone said you're doing really, really well, yeah, and I started coaching and I've never been like you. It's about the PB, it's not about the metal, it's not about getting on the podium. I've been on the podium, but very rarely. I'm an average age grouper, top third, top 50%, depending on who's there. It's all about finishing it and my methodology is I want you to finish with a smile. That's how I want you to experience it. So you started this triathlon club. You started getting into more races. Were you competing as a triathlon club with other university clubs?
Gaby Villa:yes, so we have the in in mexico and, I'm assuming, everywhere. For example, here in Australia they're called uni games. So over in Mexico it was Universidad, and essentially every year it will happen, but it will be for different sports and because now we had a triathlon club, we were able to participate as well, to participate as well, so it would be pretty much a national thing. That's when you are faced with reality, because, for example, in my case, back then I was not winning, but I was pretty much every race I would go to I would be in the podium and then we go to the national competition and it was like I think I finished like second last or something like that.
Gaby Villa:It was just crazy. But of course it was a really good experience, a reality check in terms of like hang on, like maybe you're not as good as you think you are, but yeah, it was always lots of fun because the best part, especially being at that age, was that we will go on the trip and we will meet people from other places and you stay in this hotel and everybody else is like having excursions and things like that. So it was a good experience for sure. So I went to that twice I think.
Brad Minus:That sounds amazing. So NCAA triathlon is like just barely right now. It's in its infancy. There are a lot of universities that do have triathlon teams, but the actual competition is not as well at least that I've seen. It's not as prevalent as it sounds like you were, at least what the environment that you were in. So, but I'm really, really hoping that it takes shape here in the States. So you were at the University of Monterey, the Technology University of Monterey, and you were studying what was that what you were studying?
Gaby Villa:That was my dietetics degree.
Brad Minus:The dietetics degree and what led you to that? My dietetics degree, the dietetics degree and what led you to that? I mean, I know that we talked about the image thing in the whole bit, but what led you into going into to be a dietitian?
Gaby Villa:yeah, it's actually an interesting story because I always I mean I'm assuming, because I always talking about my body image and issues with food that someone looking from the outside would think that that's why she become a dietitian, because Because often if you are obsessed with food, you end up there. But in my case it had absolutely nothing to do. Like to me was extremely different to my experience. So what happened is that when I was in the swimming team and this was me, 13 years old the coach wasn't what I would think of an ideal coach. I was very frustrated to see that. First, my results as a swimmer were never good, but I could see the talent in some of other swimmers there and it felt like such wasted talent because the coaches wouldn't care Like I knew they were really, really good and the coach would be like oh yeah, whatever. For example, we will have like the 5 am swim set and he will be laying down. We will have like the 5 am swim set and he will be laying down. He will just like write the set and then just lay down to have a nap. I was like, what are you doing? And then, of course, when the competition will be, he'll be all mad because people didn't get results.
Gaby Villa:At that age I could tell that something needed to be different. So let's say that, even though it was a not necessarily positive experience to me, it was a positive in a way that it inspired me to not be like that. Essentially it's like OK, I want to be in a sport. I can see how I would love to be part of that environment and support people, especially those who have the passion and the talent to excel to get a really good result. So back then I was like, ok, I want to be a coach to get a really good result. So back then I was like okay, I want to be a coach.
Gaby Villa:So when the time came, which was five years later, to decide what to study, the pathway to become a coach was pretty much becoming a phys ed teacher and I was like I don't know if I like that. I feel like it doesn't feel exciting to me. And then I don't know how I ended up seeing this dietetics degree and especially at the university where I did it, it was essentially a bachelor in nutrition and wellness and the wellness component had a whole section in sports, nutrition, physical activity, exercise and health. I was like, oh, so you're telling me that I can do this and actually still be involved in the sport through nutrition. So I just love that idea. This sounds amazing. I definitely would love to do that. So pretty much from day one I was aware that I was going to become a sports nutritionist. That the whole time had been my goal. Maybe go to clinical, or I want to see what's around, but in my case, the whole time I was convinced that that was exactly where I was going to end up.
Brad Minus:So what did you do when you graduated?
Gaby Villa:So because you finish with the dietetics degree but not necessarily the specialization and of course at least in my case you never feel like you are ready and of course at least in my case you never feel like you are ready. So, essentially, I enlisted into a graduate diploma with the International Olympic Committee, so it was two years in sports nutrition. It's online. It was quite intense two years of understanding sports nutrition specifically and around the same time, I started to work in the State Institute of Sport in Monterrey.
Gaby Villa:It was amazing because I was, of course, getting my sports nutrition degree and I was, at the same time, having a group of athletes I could work with in terms of fueling, ride and everything. So it was definitely a great experience. Back then, I was responsible for the nutrition of the kayaking, rowing and sailing state teams and, yeah, that was incredible, definitely a totally different atmosphere because it's very competitive. They have a lot of them, they live in the specific accommodation for them and they have all their meals for them and, yeah, it was really cool to be part of that as well.
Brad Minus:Wow, that's got to be an amazing opportunity. When you're talking about the kayaking and sailing, it reminds me of a documentary I think it was Netflix and it followed one of the Tour de France teams and it was all at the POV, the point of view of the nutritionist who also was the chef.
Gaby Villa:Yes, I think it's her name.
Brad Minus:Exactly, yes, yes, yeah, I thought it was amazing that she would go out and find a farmer's market and find, like a place for her to get meat. That was, that was, you know, gmo free and it was free range and the whole bit. But the amount of calories that these guys put out, which they had to, and I understand, but it was like following them through each phase and the difference of the meals and everything else and these guys just praised her just like my god, you know. But the idea that it was all of it was super fresh. He wasn't feeding them anything from a box or from a bag or nothing. I mean, it literally was everything was completely fresh. So when you were working with the kayakers and the sailors, I imagine you had some of the same experience. Maybe you weren't cooking it, but you were somehow. How did that work? What exactly were you doing for them?
Gaby Villa:yes, so when he was essentially not outside of the competition, it was pretty much making sure that they were feeling right, that they were essentially especially those who were having issues with managing their performance, let's's say so. It was like, okay, let's see if nutrition can do something about it. In the case, for example, of sailing and rowing, to a certain degree there was a weight management component as well, because for some of them they actually have to make weight. So that, of course, was there and it was, yeah, like pretty much in general making sure that they were healthy, that they were eating, doing regular and I hope they are no longer doing routine skin folds, but that was part of the job as well. Uh, yes, unfortunately, it was still very, especially then very prevalent in terms of the nutrition intervention also having a component of changing body composition. And then, whenever it was a competition, it was traveling with them.
Gaby Villa:Yes, I was not in charge of cooking and I'm sure they're grateful for that because I'm a terrible cook but I was definitely in charge of making sure that whatever they were provided was adequate for them. So if they needed, for example, if it was a dining area, that was probably easier to control, because usually the race organizer would make sure that this is adequate for people who are going to be competing, but sometimes it needed to be more per chase, so I will be in charge of making sure that the selection was adequate while keeping it fun. It was pretty much only teenagers, so it was making sure that it was something that it was interesting for them to consume, giving them the energy without risking any problems as well, and also, on the competition day, being there for those who had different races on the same day, so making sure they were recovering adequately and those things as well.
Brad Minus:Nice. I wish I had somebody like that when I was training all the time. So how long did you do that for?
Gaby Villa:So I was there for two years and a half and essentially I stopped training all the time. So how long did you do that for? So I was there for two years and a half and essentially I stopped because I moved here.
Brad Minus:So that's when you took the plunge and decided to move to Australia.
Gaby Villa:Yes, because when I finished my dietetics degree, I remember feeling a lot of anxiety because I was like, okay, I need to do something else. And I knew I wanted to do a master's degree. And when looking at the options, nothing in Mexico looked suitable for what I wanted to achieve, let's say so the option was going overseas. I was very anxious. I didn't feel ready for it. The whole process in applying and everything felt so overwhelming. Finding the diploma from the IOC was amazing because it's like, oh perfect, this is giving me everything I need and I don't have to move yet. But the itch to go somewhere and study was still there. So a few years later, I have a cousin who had a scholarship to go study in Spain and he was the one who said like you should try this, it's amazing, and like I can help you with the process, it's not that hard. So essentially, I ended up applying for the scholarship and got it. So that's how I ended up moving to Australia to complete the master's degree.
Brad Minus:Oh my God, that had to be a complete culture shock for you.
Gaby Villa:Absolutely, I think, one of the most, because everybody asks well, not everybody, but when someone asked me, like what was the biggest cultural shock for you, I would say two what? And they actually happened on the same day. So the first one I remember I landed on a Saturday night or something like that. So I went to the supermarket to get some grocery shopping the next day and the first shock was that everything looked so different. Now I look at the supermarket and when I go and visit my family I was like it wasn't that different.
Gaby Villa:But because I was in that mindset of being so obsessed with food and things like that, I went into the supermarket and I couldn't find the things that I like. I couldn't see anything that would like work the same way I like it. So remember, I came back home, but to where I was staying and just crying because but I feel like it was just a shock of reality. It's like, hang on, now you are so so far away from home and that's when it hit me actually. And the second shock is that a lot of people love going around barefoot. So at the supermarket I saw several people without shoes and just walking around and to to me that was just like what is going on here, Like why are people not wearing shoes? Life?
Brad Minus:You know, there used to be actually little signs in the windows. It'd be like no shirt, no shoes, no service. And the minute if you walked in there without a shirt or shoes, they would like nope, nope, turn around. Here, we're not serving you. And here they're just walking around just barefoot.
Gaby Villa:Yes, I mean not everybody, or I would say probably 5% of the people I've seen are going around barefoot, but it feels like a lot of people anyway. Only happens at shopping malls, supermarkets, sometimes in the street. I haven't actually paid attention. If there's a restaurant there barefoot, I'm assuming. Maybe. I'm not sure, I haven't checked, but yes, that was what.
Brad Minus:Don't walk around looking at people's feet. I don't understand that. No, I'm kidding, um, and actually you know what the funny thing is is that's like a new trend. Now they call it grounding of course right now.
Brad Minus:It's a new trend. Now they're telling you get outside, take off your shoes and socks, ground yourself to the earth, extract your energy from the earth, and you can't do that with shoes. So, yeah, that's like the new thing. Now it's the new, like you know. Woo, woo, right, it's the new meditation, it's the new yoga, it's the new pilates. Go outside and walk around barefoot. Yeah, it's amazing. I love it. So how long did it take you to get your master's?
Gaby Villa:barefoot. Yeah, it's amazing. I love it. So how long did it take you to get your master's?
Brad Minus:Two years. I finished it at the end of 2017.
Gaby Villa:Nice. And then what did you do when you got done with your master's? So, in the process, I got here in February 2016. And in August 2016, I met who is now my husband. So, even though my plan was to do with the master's degree, have my international experience and then go back to Mexico, of course plans change when I finish my master's. We both were aware that we wanted to be together for longer, but it still was like, okay, I'm going to stay here a little bit longer to see where this goes. And now the two years have turned into eight. It's obviously going very well, but of course, it changed my plans drastically.
Brad Minus:That's fantastic. So I got to ask where did you have your wedding?
Gaby Villa:In Mexico, of course, because there's no weddings like the Mexican wedding.
Brad Minus:That's what I was going to say. Did you pull your family to Australia or did you go home and take your fiance with you? I figured you probably would have taken just to gone back to Mexico, because I imagine your parents wanted to see this man. At least, that's the stereotypical Mexican family that we hear and read about. Okay, so I'm just going on stereotypes.
Gaby Villa:No, that's okay. Of course, they met him way earlier, so I think it was 2017 that he came with me to Mexico and we spent Christmas over there, and even his parents came as well.
Brad Minus:Really, yes, oh, that's fantastic. Oh man, that sounds like a great story. Yeah, wow, okay, now that I'm getting to know you a little bit, I'm like the friend that's hopping up. I want to see pictures. So maybe offline, somewhere down the line, you and I can share some pictures of our family.
Brad Minus:Cause I'm like, I'm so frigging, I'm like totally interested and intrigued about what that wedding looked like. So I just it's just interesting to me. I really love connections with people and people's stories and stuff like that. So that's kind of a little thing on the back burner, but anyway, all right. So during this time that you were in during the master's, were you continuing to race?
Gaby Villa:Yeah, so pretty much before registering into the university, I was registered in the triathlon club. So yeah, no, I definitely continued to race and I think that's one of the things that I love the most about being here, because that's what makes it very difficult. If we move to Mexico, then I think about how wonderful it is to have a nice lifestyle, and that includes I can seriously cycle for hours without having to cross a single street because there's a designated bike lane on the freeway and then you can easily just do your whole training session without any issues and lots of safety. So that's amazing. And then we uh, where I live, there is a massive river and of course, there's the ocean. So you can do we call it river loop and you get to see the ocean and get to see the river. So it's beautiful to cycle and just have such amazing um views while you're doing that. Also running. I can literally just step out the door and start running without feeling concerned, knowing that I'm going to hit the path very quickly anyway. So it makes it really really easy, and of course, it would have been silly not to do it while being here and of course that was a very good experience. I must.
Gaby Villa:Actually, even though by the time I moved here I had been doing triathlon for quite some time, I was very intimidated by the longer distance. So to me my longest triathlon was I think it was either Alcatraz or another one in Mexico that it was like similar distance, that is, a little bit longer than a standard triathlon, and that was already like a big challenge. And when I moved here, most of the triathlon club people were training for a half Ironman. So I didn't do it straight away, but being involved in that environment where that was the norm, it's like, okay, I'm going to give this thing a go. And of course, as like it happened, all the distances I've done I again fell in love. I love the distance, it feels amazing, it's a really good challenge. So from there I decided well, I started to do half Ironmans a little bit more regularly.
Brad Minus:That's my favorite distance. The half Ironman is my favorite distance. The full I'm going to do my sixth one in September and I'm done. I've got friends that do one every year. I've got friends that do one every year. I got friends that do two every year and I'm like not for me now.
Brad Minus:I love the 70.3. That's like matter of fact. I tell people I'm like. You tell me I'm gonna go do a sprint. I would rather do a half than a sprint any day of the week and twice on Sundays, because those sprints, when you're doing them the right way, the way you're supposed to do them, they're hard.
Gaby Villa:Yeah you know they 100% are it's red line.
Brad Minus:From the minute your toe touches the freaking water to the time you cross the finish line. You are red lined out and I'm like you know what? No, no, give me aerobic the whole time, keep me aerobic. I feel great. I'll do a, you know, at the transitions and at the finish line. Other than that, I'm good to go.
Gaby Villa:Yeah, definitely.
Brad Minus:But I don't mind an Olympic or what they call international distance, which is what? Half mile, half mile swim, half mile swim, 25 mile bike and a 10k, those aren't bad yeah, no, they're really good.
Gaby Villa:I like them. Yeah, definitely. It's just that I mean, for example, I've never done an ironman, and the reason, the main reason for that is that I big time work with ironman athletes. It's just crazy to see how much training is required and I don't think right now I have the space and the availability to commit to that. And I'm someone who is if I'm going to do it, I need to do it right. And I even see it disrespectful if I just like, oh, I'm just going to wing it and, of course, first I'm going to be miserable if I do that. And the other one is like knowing how hard my clients train and how much they are dedicating to this, coming and being like, oh, I still can do it, even though I'm training half of it. It's just to me it feels very disrespectful to them.
Brad Minus:Oh right. So basically, what you're saying is that you want to maintain the service level to your clients and you feel like if you're training for Ironman yourself, maybe you're not going to give that service level.
Gaby Villa:No, I mean that if I see how hard they work, if I were to do it without committing properly, it feels like I'm not being respectful to what they are doing, like, oh, look at me doing half of that and I still can do it. That's what it feels like. If I'm going to do it, I want to do it right and that's why maybe one day I'd love to have so much that, I don't know, it may not happen, who knows?
Brad Minus:I get it, I get it. And the funny thing is is that it really is. The difference between half and a full is the gap in fitness is 10%, maybe 15%. The rest of it it's all up here. It really is, and it's an amazing.
Brad Minus:I've had more than one person tell me that, like the training, the difference in training between the 70.3 and the Ironman is obviously you're going to do more biking, you'll do a little bit more running. The swimming will take care of itself as long as you are doing as long as you're hitting those distances. But the swimming will take care of itself as long as you are doing as long as you're hitting those distances. But the swimming will take care of itself. But it's the more, more time in the saddle and more time and more time getting your mileage up, but the so, the long.
Brad Minus:What we call long slow distance, right LSD is you've got those, so those go a little bit longer. But your tempo you're in, your speed workouts and your recovery workouts, all those are the same. So that's basically that's. That's basically what it is. But when you're at 80 miles on the bike and your rear end is telling you that you just want everything possible to get off this bike, but yet you've got 32 miles left. You're like, what the heck Cause it? Basically, that's what what everybody tells, that's what everybody tells me, and I believe it is iron. Man actually doesn't start till mile 80 on the bike because that's when usually the wheels start to like fall up and you're like, yeah, I want.
Brad Minus:All I want to do is get off this bike. And then you get off the bike and 13 miles in. All you want to do is finish the run and you know that you still got two hours left, or you got an hour and a half left or whatever. You could do your half and he's like it's torture at that point. So, yeah, chris mccormick, an australian triathlete you know he's always like embrace the suck, so you finish up the your master's, and the master's was in, was actually in. It wasn't in dietitian, it was something specific.
Gaby Villa:Yes, yeah, it's a master's in health science, specializing in exercise and health, and because to me that was the part that I needed more. So I already had the sports nutrition part, but I wanted more about the health science, and I love that this one was health and exercise, because at the end, that was pretty much my area of expertise is more about that supportive component, which is that nutrition and health and everything else, not about prescribing, training or anything like that. That was a master's and something that was really good about it that I was not expecting, even though the curriculum was. It has a really heavy component on public health as well, on public health as well.
Gaby Villa:So, yeah, and that was very good at helping you understand, especially from a nutrition perspective, that sometimes you come to someone and say, oh, you should be eating this way or you should be eating healthier, and you forget to understand that that person is part of a family, that is part of an environment, that is part of a community that is, and often that decision of like this is what you should be doing is not as easy to just go and implement it, because there are so many factors that can influence that, starting from can they afford it or do they have access to it?
Gaby Villa:Like what if they have to travel super far to get to whatever you're suggesting? Or especially, for example, in nutrition, and there's a running joke about how every dietitian will tell you to eat seven and once and all these things. That is like, hang on, you are prescribing these things that are actually quite expensive. Not everybody can just change their diet and start eating like that. So it was really helpful in in making it click and seeing how we can easily well, I say we like or sometimes we can easily say or assume things about someone just by the way they are doing things, when in reality there's a whole spectrum of conditions that are influencing that behavior that we just don't see or understand.
Brad Minus:Yeah, no, no, no, I get it. And especially since now it's so much more expensive to eat healthy, why? And it's going to mean it's like it's so much more expensive to eat healthy why? And it's going to mean it's like it's so cheap for people to manufacture in boxes and bags and the whole bit. It's so much cheaper.
Brad Minus:But our joke here was when you go shopping at the grocery store, you just stay on the outside at the grocery store. You just stay on the outside. You never go on to the inside of the inner points of the grocery store, because obviously for us it's always the same thing. As you go to the right that's usually, I'm just saying usually the right or to the far left is fruit, right, and then the bakery where they're baking bread not bread that's manufactured or put into you know what I mean and then it's the fish case, and then the meat case and then the dairy case, right, and that's where.
Brad Minus:And then you get to fresh juices and stuff on the on the outside. That's usually what it is. So all the whole foods are on the outside of the grocery stores here in America and then all the all the processed stuff is so that that was a running joke. For you, you say it's always eat salmon and almonds. For us it's always if you're gonna shop, shop on the outside of the grocery store and that's just not and you like again, it's also the most expensive part yeah, and the one that is going to go off quicker as well.
Gaby Villa:Like, for example, you are telling someone that they need to eat the fresh vegetables, when actually teen vegetables are there's nothing wrong with them. Or even frozen vegetables there's nothing wrong with them. And now they're like, on top of being more expensive, it's a waste, because if you don't get to finish them in three days, they're off. So there are so many, I guess, foods that have some stigma around them when in reality, there's nothing wrong with them.
Brad Minus:So let's just bounce ahead, because obviously you've gotten to the point where you've gotten this expertise in health science and in exercise science and public health and in nutrition. How did you come up with the Intense Eat Fit Intense Eat Fit Right. Intense Eat Fit. Intense Eat Fit Right. Intense Eat Fit Ladies and gentlemen.
Gaby Villa:Yes, I always joke about how, first I love the business brand, I love the name, but whenever I'm on the phone with someone and they're like, so what's your email address? I was like, oh, I always feel like, I feel like I wish I could say at gmailcom, because it's way easier to say at intensive, yeah, then you have to spell it Anyway. So how that happened Actually? Well, like, essentially, I finished my degree, my master's, and I applied to a graduate program in the Department of Health. So absolutely nothing to do with nutrition or sports nutrition, but it was a really good opportunity. Hundreds of people apply and they only choose nine, and I ended up being selected for it, so ended up working at the department of health for, I think, two and a half years as well.
Gaby Villa:And, of course, as it happened for many people, the next thing in terms of like the covid-19 hit, and for many of us it was a sort of a wake-up call, I guess, or something that makes things shake. So in my situation, it was my physio who was, because I continued to do triathlon and my physio was specialized in triathlons and endurance and she suggested why don't you try doing sports nutrition consults for my clients. I think I see a need of this. Why don't you try it? There was absolutely nothing wrong with my clients. I think I see a need of this. Why don't you try it? There was absolutely nothing wrong with my job. I love it. It was so chill, well-paid, everything was great. I didn't have that urge to leave it, except for my heart that was still in sports nutrition. I love what I do. I love working with people, I love being so close to the actual let's say. And every single day you're sitting behind a computer and so far away from the ultimate outcome, because by the time you develop a policy that actually gets approved, that actually gets implemented, it's.
Gaby Villa:I was at a presentation and I remember they were so happy with this policy that was implemented. It took 10 years from let's do this to actually here it is. So I was like, oh, my God, I don't know if I can wait this long for this. So, anyway, from there, it's okay, let's try this. And I have a client, I have a friend who does marketing and I mentioned it to her that I was going to start doing my nutrition thing. It's like, oh, I can help with that because I'm actually starting to work on branding and things like that.
Gaby Villa:So we ended up back then the name of it was intensity sports at intensity advanced sports nutrition. So, essentially, intensity and sports nutrition, rebranded to intensive fit, with the concept of marrying everything. That is, in an essence, what I do, which is that, yes, intense component, but the food component, but also the health component. So that's how we came up with this branding. So, essentially, in 2020, that's when all this started and by 2021, that's when I officially resigned from my job at the Department of Health and decided to go fully into this.
Brad Minus:That's awesome. What would you say? That you're the demographics of your average client.
Gaby Villa:Sorry, what would you say?
Brad Minus:The demographics. Sorry, what?
Gaby Villa:would you?
Brad Minus:say the demographic, so gender, age, activity level, and basically that's what I'm looking for.
Gaby Villa:What is your average demographic? Yes, so mostly males. Now, this is not because I don't work with female athletes, but it sort of has been like that. Of course I love working with female athletes, by the way, of course I love working with female athletes, by the way, but at this stage probably, I have 70% male clients and 30% female clients. They are, regardless of their gender, very intense into their physical activity and their training.
Gaby Villa:All of them are endurance athletes, especially leaning towards the ultra endurance. So triathletes, normally Ironman and beyond, so also Ultraman, for example, and in terms of runners, is actually pretty much 95% of them ultra runners, with a small component of marathon runners. So that is the main in terms of age, between 30 to 60, usually. So, anyway, anyone listening is doesn't mean that I don't work with you if you're outside any of these things, but that's usually how naturally things have shifted.
Gaby Villa:And, yeah, essentially, when I started here in australia in 2020 because I'm a triathlete and because my physio works with endurance athletes, I was already in that endurance space, but it has continued to evolve to the point that it's like every time, every year, I seem to get people who are crazier and crazier, let's say, doing longer and longer things. So, yeah, I love it Definitely, especially nutritionally. It's a quite really big challenge in terms of how we are doing these things, so it's really good. There are so many elements to it. That makes it quite exciting to work for whatever new crazy adventure that I decide to do.
Brad Minus:Oh man, that's fantastic. In the show notes you're going to get her website. It's IntensFitcom. I'll put that in the show notes. The site is beautiful and has a world of information, so you need to jump on that and take a look at Gaby's website at intenseeatfitcom. Those links will be in the show notes. Are you active on any of the socials?
Gaby Villa:Yes, definitely so. Instagram is where I'm the most active. Let's say, I try to post consistently there every week, so that one is also my business name, which is at Intense Eat Fit, and Facebook also posting regularly there, so it's Intense Eat Fit by Gaby Villa as well.
Brad Minus:Excellent. So, and again, that will be in. Those will be in the show notes too. So if you want to get ahold of her, you can go to the website or drop into her DMs and hopefully and you're pretty open to that, to grabbing people and answering questions and stuff, right, Gaby?
Gaby Villa:Oh, definitely, I love it. So I think, at the end, it's everything about also being able to help people in terms of offering a different perspective into nutrition, especially when, in my journey, the message was pushing me towards a direction that was not helpful. So if I can steer at least one person in a different, more enjoyable perspective, my day is done for sure.
Brad Minus:Excellent. Yes, and that's what we say about this website, about this podcast podcast is that if you take away one, one little nugget, we just get one little nugget of information that will help steer you to your next big step. We call it just the next step in your journey. Whatever that might be, we've done our job. With that being said, I got a couple questions for you. One would be what do you find is the most prevalent issue, um, with the fueling for triathletes that are just kind of maybe because you don't work with a lot of beginners, right, you work with people that have kind of been in the sport for a while. What do you find is the most prevalent issue with fueling?
Gaby Villa:I think there's still a very strong mindset in terms of the fuel sort of not being required or being a problem. If you are using it too much, let's say so. For example, I see this a lot of not cyclists in general, but usually, for example, for bike rides. It's always like a joke if you show up to the bike ride and you have energy gels and a bar or something extra. It's like oh, we're only cycling four hours. It's like we're cycling four hours. It's like what are you talking about? It's like so I feel like there is a lot of fear to fuel because there is this idea that by doing so you are almost going to ruin the quality of your training, when in reality is totally the opposite you need that fuel for that training to be of really good quality.
Gaby Villa:I think part of that has been because I see things changing.
Gaby Villa:I definitely see how there's a better and like now, there's a clearer perspective into understanding that food is fuel and that you need it.
Gaby Villa:But there's still that idea, especially with the racing weight concept, that you need to be at certain weight for race day and that's how you prepare to be at your optimal and that's how nutrition is meant to be used to get to that race weight.
Gaby Villa:So it is helping people understand that actually now that's obsolete, because there is nothing showing that you dropping weight in order to get to a race is actually going to translate into improved performance. What very likely will translate to, as part of like trying to lose the weight, is under fueling, risking injury and pretty much sabotaging your whole preparation. So by fueling adequately, the whole experience is drastically changed. So I see how that perspective is starting to change and that's great. But I feel like there's still a lot of work that we need to do in allowing people to have the confidence to eat, because there's still like that idea that it's like, oh, there's, it's too much sugar and the carbohydrates like actually, well, that's what your body's using, especially if you want to push at higher intensity and you want to to sustain that energy for as long as possible.
Brad Minus:I 100% agree. I've been doing some experimentation. I'd have tailwinds that you know 120 calories or so in my bottle, and then you know, with like 20, maybe 25 grams of carbohydrates, and then I'd have a 20 gram gel, right, and I do one of those an hour. As I've stepped up my training and I'm on the bike about 10 hours a week, I've gone to the point now where I have 80 grams of carbohydrates, almost 90 grams of carbohydrates, in my bottle, and I still have another gel just in case.
Brad Minus:But I've got 90, I got 90, 90 grams and I and I'm telling you it changed, it made, it changed everything when I doubled my carbohydrates. It changed absolutely everything. And then people were, people were and I was. You know, I was always big on it. I was like let's, you know, let's fuel more, fuel more. But I was, I was doing okay at 40, like 44 grams per hour, but it wasn't. It was never the greatest and I'll end, towards the ending hours I would feel like it would get tired and more and more tired on the run.
Brad Minus:I use a precision 90 and it's literally it's a one gel and the drill's got 90 grams of carbohydrates and I take that sucker every hour Like I know exactly what mile it's going to be and I'm like I take it right before I need it. You know, I'm still still coming off on the other one and I take the other one, so by the time I digest it's already gotten through. And let me tell you some. My last one I was able to keep a steady pace the whole time. I was actually able to negative split the last three miles and it was all because I kept these 90 gram fricking gels. Plus I still had Gatorade and you know and a couple of small cups of Coke on the course. But it was a game changer. Game changer to double my carbohydrates.
Gaby Villa:But it was a game changer. Game changer to double my carbohydrates? Oh, definitely. And something I want to point out there is that you also use it for training, which makes a big difference. For a lot of people. They see that like, essentially, they say, yes, I need the carbohydrate for race day, but if during training they go with the 40 grams per hour or sometimes even nothing, and they are all puzzle on race, it's like, oh, I just don't understand why I had all these issues and I couldn't stomach the energy gels. Well, even because and the thing is that and I did try them and the try them is, let's say, that 90 gram gel they use it for a two hour thing and then they want to use it for a single and of course, they are going to stomach it in two hours because that's great.
Brad Minus:But I always had a differential with my clients is there's a difference between fuel and nutrition. Fuel does for your workout, it's for pre, during, post. Nutrition is your everyday meals, not that it doesn't play a part, but nutrition for me is like you want to be as clean, you want to be whole foods, the whole bit. And the reason why I made those distinctions was so that, hey, if you're doing like we said, right, you're doing whole foods around the, around the grocery store, the whole bit. You do that while you are, while you are doing breakfast, lunch, dinner, your normal daily eating, to keep yourself just healthy.
Brad Minus:The fuel when I said fuel, that gave them permission to use the gels and stuff which are manufactured, so it gave them the permission to, or gave themselves the permission to, okay, I can take something out of a bottle, I can take something out of out of a packet. You know what I mean and whether, whether what's in the packet might actually be whole food, but it just. You know what I mean Because we've been teaching about this. Hey, if you're going to get rice, you make sure that it's good rice, you make sure that it's quality rice. You're going to go get fruit, it's quality fruit. Even if you're getting frozen vegetables, you're getting the right frozen vegetables. You're not getting the ones that are loaded with friggin' extra salt and sauce and the whole bit right.
Gaby Villa:Ah, definitely.
Brad Minus:Right, so that's why I was able to like nutrition and fuel Fuel post. So you tell me if you agree with that statement, or maybe you don't agree with that statement.
Gaby Villa:I think it's a good approach in terms of helping people see how it is important to see other training differently, because I think and that's the other trend I'm noticing a lot recently is that there is this concern that because these products are ultra processed and they are just sugar, they are going to be a problem. And the thing is that there are situations that let's assume that this is someone who is going to go on a bike ride with a friend and they're going to be chatting the whole time and they are stopping and taking photos. I will never advise 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour for someone doing that type of intensity, because it's very low intensity. Your body won't need that amount of carbohydrate. It still will need nutrition and food. Because if you are going to go still for four hours, I will say can you please at least take a sandwich or a bar or something? You are even going to get hungry at some stage If you are moving at that high intensity. That's what your body needs and at the end, if you decide to eat the whole food and you are eating a banana or a potato or something like that, what your body is going to do is it's going to break it down, it's going to make it sugar and then you're going to use it. So why not make the task a little bit easier by actually giving the sugar for that Now, exactly? And now, if you let's say, oh, but for example, I'm going to be working on my computer, I will never tell someone to please make sure they have their bottle of tailwind with X amount of carbs to just be like making sure that they stay productive.
Gaby Villa:So of course, there are contexts, and that's why I don't make the distinction as like oh, what you eat outside of training is a nutrition as in doesn't have to be processed or whatever it's, because it does influence a lot how your body recovers, how your body responds to that training. So allowing people to be more flexible is also helpful because it depends at least that's what I see for example, depending on how intense or how long that training session was. Even if they feel adequately during it, it's likely that how they eat during the rest of the day will impact how their body responds. So let's say they do it, they fuel with the 90 grams per hour and then they get home and they decide to only have because they ate all this sugar during the training. Oh, actually I'm just going to have lean chicken and salad and not eat anything else. Or actually now I'm'm just at my fasting window because I'm not allowed to eat because now I had all the calories during the background, things like that.
Gaby Villa:So like I've seen some crazy things that people do in order to like still sit within their macros and calories. But of course, when you were exercising for so long, everything goes out the window in terms of trying to fit in that way. But I love that approach. I love that like at least helping people see how the what you're doing during training is under very different circumstances as how you are doing it outside of of training. So that way people see that the things need to be simpler.
Gaby Villa:Things need to be easy to carry as well. Even from a practical perspective, even if you want to fuel on real food, 90 grams of carbohydrate per hour means three bananas an hour. You just told me that on the run you can easily just have all your 90 grams in one hand. Imagine running with six bananas for your two-hour run. That is impossible. And then, if you try and you manage to carry them, it's likely that your gut will suffer because it's not as easy to process. Even though they are, bananas are something that is simpler, it still requires breaking them down way more than a simpler syrup, let's say, like the energy gel, exactly, exactly and and even for me it's I even temper it.
Brad Minus:So if, if my training session is an hour, it's 30, I make sure that if I'm, if it's intense, it's 30 to 40 grams of carbohydrates. I'm only working out for an hour and that also depends on you know how how intense. If it's super intense, I'll take that 30 grams. If it's an easy hour, I might do it fasting. If it's hour or less To two hours, I go to 60 grams, 60 to 70 grams depending on the intensity of the two hours. Three hours and over, it's 90 grams per hour, no matter what Duration matters. Right, you could be in zone two, zone three, between zone two and zone three, and I'm going to use those 90 grams. I don't need to be in zone four to use those 90 grams every hour, exactly Because duration you know it's more of a yeah it's very hard to sustain it for that long anyway, right?
Gaby Villa:So yeah, no, definitely, and I think that's why I think it's important for people to be aware that the whole purpose and structure of the training will influence the nutrition, because it is easy to listen to us and like and I'm glad you made that distinction hang on, if we're going for one hour, I'm not going to be eating 90 and I definitely wouldn't advise it, because one hour at high intensity yes, as you said, like 30 grams maybe, especially if you are actually well fueled, because your body will have that glycogen. So it does depend intensity, the duration. For example, if it's oh, it's only one hour, but in the morning you did a two hour bike ride, how you feel for that hour is going to be different, because now you actually did use energy earlier. So there are a lot of things to think of before just going down a path of like I'm just going to do this one.
Brad Minus:That's absolutely and, as I was mentioning to you, nutrition and fuel, and as far as my clients go, it's not that the nutrition part isn't playing a training effect, right. So you're coming off of like, okay. For instance, I burned like I think it was 2350 calories no, I'm sorry, it was 4008 calories for my race and I only put back I don't know, I don't know, I don't know, I don't know. 90 is three, 20 times three is 90 is 90. I only put back like 2000 of it, you know, during the race, cause you're never going to put it all back, right?
Brad Minus:But when I then, when you go out and you then eat, you know I don't need to have an eight ounce steak. I can have a 12 ounce steak with that, that amount of protein. You know I can have that big giant potato versus a smaller one and I can have a salad and a vegetable because I've got all those extra calories that I can put in. You know, if you're going to take out 4,000 calories, you might as well have dessert. So you know there's a good time for everything out there. What is your favorite type of client that comes to you directly? You know what I mean. If you were to get that perfect client that walks up to you and says Gaby, I need your help.
Gaby Villa:What's your favorite to work with? My favorite type of client will be the one who's open to try something different, the one who is willing to surround themselves with a and he comes again to how capable and available and like financially situation as well but that are willing to listen from different experts. So I, my favorite type of client, would be the one who sees and works with me as their nutrition advisor and it's willing to work in that dynamic. For most of my clients is really important that we do have that two-way communication, because it's not just me like, oh, you're doing this, like here you go and just giving them whatever I believe is right, because at the end they are the ones who need to go and implement it and come back to me saying how it went. So someone first off was willing to give that feedback because of course it will guide the whole intervention and at the same time, see that as like okay.
Gaby Villa:So I have the dietician who is in in the nutrition, I am working with the coach who is on the training, I'm working with, uh, my psych or mindset coach or anything that we're in that part. So, seeing those stink lanes, let's say, and willing to listen and to incorporate things and, of course, still bounce ideas if they are, because, at the end, what I mentioned to everybody is, yes, I am a nutrition expert, but not the expert in your body. So it doesn't matter what I say, it's going to be the best advice. If, for you it doesn't work, we need to change it, because, of course, if it doesn't work because that is not your preference of products, that doesn't sit well with you, or you are actually having a different running strategy as well, we need to incorporate the nutrition, considering all these elements. So I find those are the type of clients I work with the best. I think all of my clients are like that at the moment. I love that because I don't think I have any difficult client.
Brad Minus:I love that because I don't think I have any difficult. Well, or maybe I tried it and the last time it worked and this time it didn't, and I need to find out why that's going on, what's going on, and then you can start calling out data points.
Brad Minus:I am the exact same way. I mean, the more you can tell me about your training, the better. I use a SAS program and I'm like you gotta put notes in there and tell me exactly how you're feeling. What was going on? Did you have stomach issues? Did you feel something in your legs? Did you feel something? I need to know this, but sometimes you're right, it's like pulling teeth.
Gaby Villa:Yeah, I feel like it's that willingness to do it Because, for example, even though, let's say, I say, okay, it will be helpful if you try this, because I can see how there's this gap in your feeling and if we incorporate this it will make a difference, and then going and doing it and then coming back is like no, it did work, but I feel like I didn't enjoy that type of food. Can I have something different? It's very different to me. Oh, no, I don't think it will work. No, I don't think. I don't think I have time for that.
Brad Minus:I was like, oh listen, you got to go into into my fitness pal and you got to log your food. It only takes this for dinner. I had this while I was fueling and I always so I, when I have it separate, I have it done for them. I always have breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and workout, and workout is what they put, um, what they fueled with basically pre, post and pre, during and post workout, and I'm like so they just list it. But after a couple of weeks we fuel with the same stuff because we know it works.
Brad Minus:And most of the time our breakfasts are one of three things, most of the time our lunches are one of three or four things and our dinners are one of five things. So within two weeks, all of a sudden it's just like click, click, click, click, click and you're done in 30 seconds. You know you can be done maximum two minutes, but you get them those first two weeks sometimes and I'm just like come on, do this, cause we're going to be able to have that data point. When you sit there and you tell me hey, I did the same exact workout and for some reason I bombed it this time, where last time I did really really well.
Brad Minus:Or did I train? Did their training? Does their training stress go up? Does our load go up? You know whatever? Did their training stress go up? Does their load go up? You know whatever? And if everything seems to stay the same and all the indicators state that there's no reason why they should have bombed that workout, then I go back and look at their nutrition and TrainingPeaks works with my fitness pal where it doesn't give me what they ate, but it gives me their macros, and I can go.
Brad Minus:Oh well, the last time you did this, you were at a 50-30-20, and now you're at a 30-20-50. I mean, you're low on carbs. That's why it bombed, and most of the time that's what happens. But yeah, that's one of my pain points. Do you use something like that for tracking nutrition?
Gaby Villa:Not necessarily so well, because the way I work with my clients it's also I have a really good understanding of what they are eating anyway. And because there's a concern of like, if they start tracking, they start becoming obsessed with their food, which is something I don't necessarily would like them to. I try and actually discourage it. Sometimes if they come say like, oh, look, here's all my loads and all the things I've been eating, and it's like hang on, because, as you said, like, for example, if there's this pattern where very likely they will continue to eat in that similar way, well, let's look at how you're eating, see where the gaps are, see how we need to improve and let's go ahead and do that. And having that understanding of, okay, so I need to recover this way, I need to make sure that I'm eating my breakfast with this arrangement Makes it really easy even for them to identify. Whenever something like that happens, it's like oh, now I know why my training was this.
Gaby Villa:Because I didn't have the right breakfast or actually my dinner the night before was. I remember one client who essentially was saying like oh my God, my training session was awful. I felt super bad. I was like what do you have for dinner. Oh, I didn't have time and I made a smoothie. So essentially they just kind of like essentially it was protein powder, milk and something like like a fruit and that was a whole dinner. And they couldn't understand why in the morning they were feeling so flat and they didn't have the energy, even though they did eat their toast in the morning or whatever. Well, obviously their reserve, the tank, was pretty much empty, or there was not enough there anyway.
Brad Minus:So 150 calories ain't going to do it, which is usually what a smoothie is.
Gaby Villa:Yeah, exactly so when I work with them, it's often helping people see that for themselves as well. So, for example, one of the things that we do as part of one of the programs I have I call it it's a personal nutrition audit. So it's pretty much like tracking, but they are not tracking macros or anything like that, they are just listing down their food. They are listing that like breakfast, breakfast, lunch, dinner and everything, and they also list their hunger levels before and after, and, of course, they list the physical activity that they did. And then I ask them okay, look at it and I want you to see, based on the things that we have discussed about how carbohydrates are important and protein is this way, when you look at it, what do you see? It's like oh, I can see that. First, I'm actually every single day eating the same thing, so I need more variety. I can see that my lunch is pretty much protein and vegetables, so I need more of my carbohydrates. I can see that before training, I'm not eating anything, so they even can see that. And then, of course, we are working together, nourishing and still is, and allowing you to have that balance throughout the day.
Gaby Villa:I remember, for example, a client who did that, and it was very interesting that during the afternoon, hunger levels were like beyond hangry, like she was literally starving, and one of the things that we noticed was that the whole morning she was avoiding carbohydrates. She was very strict about what she was eating and then, of course, in the evening, even though she was starving and she would have a massive dinner because she was so hungry, she would finish that and then still feel like having more. So once we talk about it and look at it, she is like, oh OK, I can see where the problem was Changed, how she was distributing her intake, and now everything changed, because now their balance was there, was not feeling that craving, she was no longer going for the cookie jar at work or anything like that, because her body was no longer asking for this rapid energy, because everything was already balanced and aligned in a way that would work for her that is super interesting.
Brad Minus:So where my fitness pal asked you how much of that did you have? You're more about. Okay, what is it? What are you having? It's not about the amount, it's just about. All right, well, what are you eating? And then, how do you feel about that? That is super interesting.
Gaby Villa:You just taught me something, Gaby no-transcript and mostly because my services are so specific that sometimes that overkill for someone who comes with that, let's say, weight loss or wellness in mind. But of course, like I still would say like get in touch anyway and we can talk about it and see what the need is. Especially if you are someone who's very active, there is a heavy component in terms of how you are dealing with your nutrition and that physical activity. That is very likely guiding how you're experiencing how your body is responding to all these influences.
Brad Minus:Yeah, and I think most of our demographic here are people that are active, and I think most of our demographic here are people that are active. They might I think a lot of them probably might have take a lot of value in chatting with you or at least looking at some of your resources, and I think that's more of the demographic here I don't usually have on that side, as far as people that just like, oh, I just need to get started. You know what I mean, which there are plenty of references out there. I help with people just getting started to get moving and I help with people just getting started to get moving, and usually they start moving and then they end up an endurance athlete anyway. It just happens to be that path Again, intenseeatfitcom and on Instagram and Facebook.
Brad Minus:And I am so excited that I've met you, Gaby, because I'm super excited Obviously a fellow triathlete, that's part of it but just your wealth of knowledge and the amount of work that you did to get where you are is so inspiring. So thank you, I mean thank you so much, and I think this is going to help out a lot of people.
Gaby Villa:Oh, thank you so much for the invite, brad. It was such a joy having a chat with you. It was a very different conversation to what I normally have, which was very refreshing and welcoming.
Brad Minus:to talk about things in a different way, Well, thank you, I appreciate that and, with that being said, hey, listen, if you found this episode, if you have found some value in it, go ahead and review the episode and share it with somebody that you might find might take some value out of this. And now, with that being said, we will see you in the next episode.
