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 Pastor to Personal Trainer: The Transformative Journey of Stephanie Lueras
Stephanie Lueras takes us on an inspiring journey from a traditional upbringing to becoming a powerhouse in the fitness and wellness industry. Discover how her personal battles with weight and a pivotal college moment shifted her career path from teaching to pastoral work, and eventually to fitness. Stephanie shares her insights on self-care, intuitive eating, and the transformative power of endurance sports, emphasizing how she helps clients, especially those with chronic illnesses and orthopedic issues, achieve holistic wellness.
Join me as I recount my own transformative journey from feeling miserable to embracing sustainable habits that led to significant weight loss and improved mental health. From the simple act of drinking more water to running a 5K, my story underscores the power of small, manageable changes and the importance of accountability. Together with Stephanie, we explore the science behind training and nutrition, revealing why understanding the 'why' fosters compliance and motivation in clients.
We also dive into the world of virtual fitness coaching and the nuances of orthopedic and adaptive fitness. Learn about the benefits and challenges of tracking tools and wearable tech, especially during the transition to virtual coaching amidst the pandemic. Stephanie and I highlight the importance of personalized care plans for managing chronic conditions like diabetes and the profound impact of sustainable habits. Finally, we end with a heartfelt exchange between fitness professionals, celebrating the unique contributions and mutual respect within the industry.
Contact Stephanie @ Heart and Sole Fitness & Wellness
Instagram: @heartandsolefitnessandwellness
Facebook: @heartandsolefit
X(Twitter): @HSFitnessLueras
YouTube: @heartandsolefit
Heart and Sole Fitness & Wellness
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Contact Brad @ Life Changing Challengers
Instagram: @bradaminus
Facebook: @bradaminus
X(Twitter): @bradaminus
YouTube: @lifechangingchallengers
LifeChangingChallengers.com
And welcome back to another episode of Life Changing Challengers. I am so honored and privileged to have Stephanie Lou Aris on our podcast. She is a personal trainer, nutrition specialist, author and, if I go into even more detail, she's an A-certified personal trainer orthopedic fitness specialist, fitness nutrition specialist, certified diabetes care, educational specialist. She is like alphabet soup. I don't think that LinkedIn or anything has enough space on the top of their titles to put every single thing that Stephanie has accomplished, done and been certified in. So, with that being said, stephanie, welcome to the podcast. How are you doing today? I am the podcast.
Stephanie Lueras:How are you doing today? I am excellent today. How are you doing?
Brad Minus:I am excellent, too, because I'm talking to you. So as I start the podcast for everyone, I ask the same question Stephanie, can you tell us a little bit about your childhood, the complement of your family?
Stephanie Lueras:where you grew up and what your environment was like. Well, I grew up in several different places. So when everyone's like, well, where are you from, I'm like, well, you can look at it this way, you can look at it that way. I was born in Pennsylvania, we lived in Tennessee for a while. Back to Pennsylvania, when I was a teenager, we moved to Arizona. But then, as an adult, I have lived all over the Southwest, in Canada or California, and so ultimately I'm a little bit from everywhere. But at the end of the day, I would say Arizona has been home. It's where I've spent most of my life at different periods, my life at different periods.
Stephanie Lueras:The early years are fairly uninteresting. It was the quote unquote typical 80s. You grow up, you go to school, you go off to college, and it was in college that things started to change quite a bit and I was brought up, before moving to Arizona, in an area of the country where women really didn't pursue a lot. They would be secretaries and teachers, and that's a horrible kind of stereotype for 2024. But that's what we grew up with, and moving to a completely different culture across the country, learning that there was something more, was a little overwhelming and ultimately, I went to college to be a teacher, but in that process I didn't want to teach. Being in the classroom with children was not something that I enjoyed. It wasn't exciting to me. Ultimately, I graduated college with whatever degree could get me to the diploma, and that is learning and pedagogy, which is a really long term for the science of learning. People with that degree typically go on to write textbooks, and that was not the route I took, because, through going to college, finding a job and finding my place in the world, I was doing social work for a church and got more involved with that church, went off to seminary. It's where I met my amazing husband and we became pastors and for almost 20 years we're pastors in different small communities in different small communities, and we came to a point in 2018, 2019, 2020, it was not going to be something that was going to pan out to retirement. We just we looked around at the climate of where we were and looked at each other and said can we do this for another 15 years until we retire? And not happily, not in alignment with our values. And so it was time to go, and that's when my business was born. But my business was born, not because, oh, we're leaving the ministry, I need to have a job. Why not be a personal trainer? It came about through my personal wellness journey.
Stephanie Lueras:I have been a person that has been overweight my entire life. You name the diet. I've been on it. I've gained and lost hundreds and hundreds of pounds through the years. I've gained and lost hundreds and hundreds of pounds through the years, but it wasn't until I quit dieting that I actually lost weight, that I understood what that self-care was to truly take care of yourself inside and out.
Stephanie Lueras:Once I quit, dieting, focused on those habits that served me well, things like drinking water, nourishing my body not at the fast food restaurant and starting to get into movement. That's when the weight dropped off. I've lost almost 250 pounds at this point, and it's where, in this process, I found the exercise that I loved, which is endurance sports. I'm the kid that fakes sick in gym class, so to tell someone that I started running in my mid 30s was a crazy thing, but that became from someone who could barely walk up and down the street because I was so large I was almost going to lose my mobility to running marathons, half marathons, triathlon and continuing down the course, and that's where I found my continued passion in serving people, in helping people.
Stephanie Lueras:Obviously I had done that as a pastor for many years in many capacities, but in working with quality people that understood me, understood my needs a triathlon coach, a sports dietitian that really centered around my understanding of intuitive eating and mindful eating and could relate with some of my history, that's where the magic happened and I wanted to understand, I wanted to learn more about what they were teaching me. That's where all the certifications came in. Initially was I want to understand what you're telling me about my body. And from there it was. I have these people watching me get well, change, not only physically, but it changed my emotional health. It changed my spiritual health. It truly changed who I was as a person and they're like I want that. Show me what you're doing. Well, okay, I've got a framework here. That's where my business came from. Business opened.
Stephanie Lueras:Six weeks later the world shuts down from COVID, so again it's adapting again and coming into. Where is it that I can serve people where they're at? And I've continued to really hold that experience, not only through the education, the certifications, but in the people I work with, really specializing in orthopedic fitness and chronic illness, because if you're in pain, you're not living your best life in on any front, and it's helping people to live how they want to live, right where they are today and moving forward to where, essentially wherever they want to be. And it's a journey a little bit longer for some than others, but I'm that Pollyanna thinker that it's not impossible. We just got to find the way to get there.
Brad Minus:Excellent, all right. So I love that. Except I am going to put you on the spot because I want to dig in a little bit deeper. So let's go back. We're going to step to the beginning, all right. So you said it wasn't all. Your childhood wasn't all that eventful. Obviously there was something wrong. So, mom and dad, what did they do?
Stephanie Lueras:My father was a steel executive. My mom was a stay-at-home mom until we were a little bit older and then had some different part-time jobs Didn't really work full-time until my brother and I were in college and then, when we moved to Arizona, my dad had retired from that career. He opened a business. Then came the Great Recession of what was it? 2008 or something like that, and so then for him he pivoted again everyone's favorite word and went into the nonprofit sector and did emergency management for a international nonprofit, and my mom not only worked for his business but then followed suit into the same organization and did some grant compliance and things like that. So that was my parents route in what they did, how they changed over time to continue supporting their family and what they wanted.
Brad Minus:Nice and your brother? Is that your only sibling?
Stephanie Lueras:No, I also have two older sisters.
Brad Minus:Okay, so you had mentioned that you were large, like most of your life, right Before you had gotten to this point. Did that trait run in the family?
Stephanie Lueras:Absolutely, and I think a lot of us that are in their 40s grew up around that diet culture that are maybe our moms, maybe both of our parents were enveloped in the Jane Fonda aerobics, slim, fast type view of dieting and we picked up on that that thin is healthy. Anything else is not and you need to be thin at all costs.
Brad Minus:Okay, so did your parents, did they ran this diet kind of yo-yo thing as well.
Stephanie Lueras:Absolutely.
Brad Minus:You said your mom was a stay-at-home mom, so I'm going to. Well, I'll just ask you did she cook?
Stephanie Lueras:In the loosest sense of the word, ed. We love our parents. I grew up learning how to cook pasta and casseroles and things that came out of a box. It wasn't until I got married, and I married a guy that went to culinary school oh well, there you go how to make things from scratch, and the breadth and width of fruits and vegetables and their versatility, and that they actually taste good when they don't come from a can things like that.
Brad Minus:See, that is, that's a huge point that during the research that I did on you, that I didn't get to see. I think this is like a very powerful statement that you could make about yourself. You've been, you're successful now in the fitness community, but the idea that you grew up like hundreds millions of other people and found this transition is huge. Right, I was there too. Right, my mom actually cooked. She cooked from scratch. I was, and I didn't like it. As a kid, give me McDonald's. And I was a happy camper until I learned the same thing, but I learned it through osmosis. Six, seven days a week I had good solid dinners, lunches, whatever, and once in a great while mom would say, hey, I don't feel like cooking, let's go to Mickey D's. Yay, but it was never a normal thing. It was never a normal thing. So that kind of bred into that where you're the other opposite, you're on the other side of it. It probably was, like you said, casseroles, pasta, high in carbohydrates, low in protein. I'm going to say the word hamburger helper.
Stephanie Lueras:Yeah, a lot of things like that.
Brad Minus:Okay, yeah, there you go.
Stephanie Lueras:It was hamburger helper from scratch. It didn't come from the box, but everything else came from the box. But even as a result of that I was a really picky eater until my 20s. If it wasn't white meat, chicken or ground beef I probably wasn't eating it.
Brad Minus:See, and that's a huge point because a lot of people have done that we call it the SAD, right? The Standard American Diet is getting stuff from the inside of the grocery store. The old adage which still holds today and and I still believe, is the outside of the, is the outside of the of the grocery store, right. I don't know where it is, where it was, where you are, but I usually, in every grocery store I've been to, one of the two sides has fruits and vegetables. You go into lean meats, dairy, and then you get into seafood and butcher and stuff on the outside. So if you stay on the outside of the grocery store, you end up with everything fresh. Then, as you start to get into the middle, everything is processed.
Brad Minus:So I still believe that and I still give a little bit of those tidbits. I mean there's a lot more to it, but on the whole, but I think it's very that's just somebody that's in this industry. That's a huge thing that you did what everybody else did, right, until you found real whole food. So okay, let's continue on here. So then, so that's how you grew up Brothers and sisters the same way, yes and no, there was a big age gap between my sisters and my brother and I, and so my brother and I were very similar.
Stephanie Lueras:My sisters were a picky eater until you were 20. It was now going away to college. Experiencing new things definitely made me open to trying a lot more. But even cooking at home it was still very limited. It wasn't until I met Mary, on my husband, in my late 20s that it was OK. Now here's a dramatic shift.
Brad Minus:Yeah, and just the fact that you met your husband in a seminary. I know it's probably something that happens. We're not talking about you going into seminary and taking a vow of chastity, but it's just. That's the picture that everybody's going to get, but I think it's fantastic. So, all right, so you get into seminary. So I'm assuming that this is where I mean. You said that you had decided that you didn't like to teach kids, but the seminary taught you to give back.
Stephanie Lueras:Right and for me, I have always worked better with adults, older adults, and so, even as a pastor, children's ministry was not my thing. I I could do it. I I knew the nuts and bolts would get through it, but my passion really was working with people my age and beyond, and it's where I could identify, it's where I could use myself, put myself in their position and really take a lesson to the next level, because if I couldn't conceptualize it and live it myself, I have a hard time with trying to teach it to other people. And even today, with kids and teenagers, I can't put myself in their shoes because it's not the way we grew up and it's a lot harder for me.
Brad Minus:I get it, but I do commend you on your self-actualization. A lot of people don't understand it. Right, you say listen, not that I don't like kids. I like kids. They're not for me to teach and instruct. I'm just not. I'm not built that way. I'm and I'm totally cool with that. I have no issues whatsoever. And that takes I think it takes a special kind of person. And then there is a special kind of person that is able to start, you know, talking to people about fat phobia and body positivity and stuff like that. And that's you. Where was the turning point where? Okay, so you're in the seminary and you're helping out here, and then you said that you made this shift. So what was? Can you give me circumstances that all of a sudden it was like, hey, you know what, I need to do something. I need to do something else. I need to start moving.
Stephanie Lueras:Well, and this wasn't in seminary, this was well into our career, and I just I call it my Holy Spirit moment because it was something that I really felt like I didn't have control over, in that I was sitting in my office and I'm just like I'm miserable. Yeah, everything looks great on the outside, I'm in charge, I'm the administrator, I'm doing all these things, wearing all these hats, doing this, that and the other thing in our community. But I was so unhappy, I was miserable with myself in that self-loathing, that I almost felt like a hypocrite because I tell people in that daily life, if you do ABC, life's going to be great, life's going to be easy, but I'm not applying these things, I'm not doing these things to grow myself spiritually, I'm not taking care of my mental health, I'm not doing what I'm telling everyone else to do. And that bothered me. But I knew from my crazy history with dieting, from dealing with eating disorders and eating disorder recovery, that it couldn't go the way it had always gone. To try to change it, this had to be different and I didn't know what different was. So I'm like, okay, we're going to figure it out, because I'm a figure outer and it wasn't going to be a program, it wasn't going to be a plan, it wasn't going to be something that was going to involve overhauling life again, in making myself and my husband miserable. Because, if miserable, because if someone's on a diet, their partner is miserable too, and I.
Stephanie Lueras:It was very foreign to me to say, okay, I'm going to change one thing, and that first one thing was drinking water. And because I looked around, I'm like all I'm drinking is coffee and Diet Coke all day. Because I looked around, I'm like all I'm drinking is coffee and Diet Coke all day. I would, maybe would have a glass of water in there, but I mean, my body is not even properly hydrated and it wasn't going to be well. Okay, I'm going to do these crazy water challenges and things we see on social media, because I knew that was going to be something that lasts for a day and I'd be done. So I started with this little eight ounce cup and a kitchen timer. Every time that timer would go off, I think I'd set it for 30 or 45 minutes and I would have to go to the water cooler and fill it up, and if it wasn't empty, well then I'm drinking eight ounces of water, but just getting in that habit of doing that day after day, cultivated that one small habit of drinking water, and then just that one thing that I'm like, all right, I'm doing this really well, what can I do now? And so, instead of going to the drive through twice a day because we were so busy, we were so tired, I'm going to cook at home. And it didn't matter what it was that I was going to cook, because at that point I was still learning and everything, but I was just going to cook at home. We weren't going to jack in the box anymore. And so then, just those two habits hydration, cooking at home.
Stephanie Lueras:I lost like the first 40 pounds without doing anything. And so then I'm like, all right, so something's working. Let's talk about movement. My arch nemesis and I knew it could not be getting the gym membership showing up for a week and never showing up again. And they're done. That bought the t shirt.
Stephanie Lueras:So I'm like, okay, what is the most basic thing I can do? Well, I can walk. And then I realized no, I really couldn't. I mean, the first walk I took was I went to the end of the street and back wearing flip flops, because putting on shoes would have been too much work and I thought I was going to die. And I'm like all right, well, I lived, so let's try it again, and try it again. And then, okay, walking to the end of the street got a little bit easier. Start to put on real shoes. Now that became around the block, around the neighborhood, further and further building up that stamina, starting to build some fitness.
Stephanie Lueras:And then I have again no idea where this came from, the idea that one day I wonder if I could run. And there was like a stop sign, I don't know like 40 yards down the street or something. It wasn't very far. I'm like, okay, I'm going to run to the stop sign. Again, it was this I am going to die, feeling because if you don't run and then I'd run, it hurts, yep.
Stephanie Lueras:But that was a shift in my mind and just willingly being willing to run was a new thing. And I'm like, all right, I'm gonna go figure out this fat girl running thing. And went home, looked up all the training plans of blah, blah, blah and then I'm like, okay, well, let's make a little challenge. I'm consistent with the water, I'm great at eating, I'm getting moving. What about 5K? And there was like a color run or something here in town and I'm like, all right, I'm going to work out to running, walking, crawling, whatever three miles. And then it was during that 5K that I'm like, well, if I can do this, I can do a half marathon.
Brad Minus:Didn't even decide to go to the 10K, she just went from half day to half.
Stephanie Lueras:That's it. There was that leap in there. But then in that training process for the half marathon, I mean I've done so much more since. I've done so much more since, but it was that half marathon that I learned the habits that served me. I learned the many things that didn't work and my need for accountability and for guidance.
Stephanie Lueras:And after that race was I'm like we're going to keep going with this. So let's get some help, because I've come to the point of my expertise in Google. And so that's when I got a coach and I went through several coaches to find the right fit, looking at a dietician, because was that fuel in my body properly for the distances I was doing? And wouldn't find myself sitting there on the sidewalk being like, well, I can't feeling my body properly for the distances I was doing, and wouldn't find myself sitting there on the sidewalk being like, well, I can't go any further. Well, yeah, because you're not feeding yourself anything. And so really, just I think more that inner change and being willing was far greater than any athletic accomplishment that I've had.
Brad Minus:Oh no, I've, I've heard this story so many times and it's those people, and like yourself, who tried everything. Nothing really worked all that well. And then, all of a sudden and that's my big thing too is I'm like no one thing, one one thing. And it becomes all of a sudden it becomes like a chain reaction Water turns to good eating, eating turns to movement, movement turns to running, running turns to a race, race turns to longer race, and it's this effect. And then you finding OK, now I you know, like you said, you ended your Google searching, you've done the YouTubing and all that and you've come to the end of your rope, to where you need more, more help. And of course, you're yes, you're talking my bread and butter here. You know what I mean. I'm an endurance coach. I am loving what I'm hearing because it's exactly what it was.
Brad Minus:When I talk to people about their diet and I'm the exact same thing and I look at the same thing, I said, okay, find one thing that you eat, that you mostly we're treaters of habit. We eat a lot the same things every week. Right, I'm like find the one thing that you can change. So they say well, I love mashed potatoes, fabulous One day a week that you usually eat mashed potatoes. Eat mashed cauliflower, Make it with water, and you can still have your butter right. Make it with water, do it with butter, mash it all up and it saves like 390 calories. You know what I mean. You like, oh.
Brad Minus:And then, of course, oh, I like stuff that's a little bit sweeter. I'll want, like, all right, butternut squash, cinnamon butter, matt, just like you cook mashed potatoes. It tastes delicious and it's got everything that you know. That's got. It's got a serving of vegetables in it, it's vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K and the whole thing. So I, yeah, you are like, yeah, you're preaching my, you're preaching my choir. Oh, coming from the woman who used to be a pastor. But anyway, all right. So you went ahead like this. So where did it come in that you started to educate yourself?
Stephanie Lueras:after I had lost I don't know probably 120, 120 pounds and was really deep in racing and I had done my first marathon, I was going for the second and and really trying to just figure out. I love doing doing this. This is great, but how can I continue doing this? That I'm not, that I can keep the enjoyment without rattling my body and it it was not only ensuring that I was training properly and nourishing my body properly, but I wanted to understand why those things worked. I love the question why, and so that's where I think it was my own curiosity.
Stephanie Lueras:And when I would ask my coach, when I would ask the dietitian, I'm like, well, why is that? Why is that? And they'd be like, oh, the Kre, would ask the dietitian. I'm like, well, why is that? Why is that? And they'd be like, oh, the Krebs cycle, or blah, blah, blah. And I'd be like, well, what is that? And it came to that point where there was the disconnect in the why. The why existed, but I didn't understand it. And so I needed to go do line homework and be educated and understand it, and so that I could fully grasp and envelop it. Because for me, when I really internalize something like that, it becomes almost second nature. It's the difference between knowing that hydration is important, but at a cellular level. This is why we stay hydrated.
Brad Minus:That's amazing. And then another deep simile between the two of us, something that's super similar. I am the same way, matter of fact, my clients. They have to tell me to shut up me, laura, I am the same way, matter of fact, my clients, they have to tell me to shut up. So I've got two sets of clients and then you probably feel the same way. You probably have it. I'm not going to assume it, but I'm going to let you know. You can let me know. I have a set of clients that's yo coach, give me what I got to do and I'll do it. That's it. I have the other set. That's okay. Why?
Brad Minus:But I tell everything the same way, because I'm thinking the same thing that you do right. Once you get it, once you understand why, now it's like, all right, one step in front of the other, all right. Well, why am I? Why is he giving me this long run? And I've got four intervals of tempo within the long run. Why vo2 max? Next time you make that long run, your z2 is going to be that your Z2 pace is going to be a little bit higher because you're doing these tempo intervals right and I go to them and I can do that at a cellular level and I can show them that and I can make it.
Brad Minus:But the people that sit there and they harness it. So when they go, I don't get those questions anymore and I get compliance. You might feel the same way when I put those four tempo ones, when I put those four tempo intervals in their long run, the people that ask me why never complain, the ones that don't know why, just tell me what to do. Well then, why didn't you do it? You told me this is what I wanted you to do. Why didn't you do it? Well, I wasn't really feeling it that day and blah, blah, blah. But so I get it. Do you find the same situation?
Stephanie Lueras:I do. And then I think there's also a third set of people in that you tell them what to do, they're happy to do it and they don't question it. They're just happy to not have to think about it. And really I find that in it's a certain population of people. It's people that are in the helping profession, that were something along those lines, where their brain power, their energy, their emotional power is tapped out so much that they thrive in being told what to do, doing it and not having to think twice about it.
Brad Minus:Excellent. Yeah, I love that. Yeah, I agree, I agree wholeheartedly. I do have a third set as well. I never thought about it that way. Yeah, because I've got people that know why and they're compliant, people that don't know why that are 80, 75 to 80 compliant. And then I have those that never question just tell me what to do, I'm going to do it, and the results will follow. Trust the process and they just do what they're going to do.
Brad Minus:I use a sas program called training peaks, and when they're compliantaks, and when they're compliant, it's green. When they're somewhat compliant or they're close, well, when they're less than 80% compliant, it goes yellow. And if they're not compliant at all, it goes red. And those people that you're talking about, they hate the red, hate it. They hate the red, they hate, hate the yellow. They want to see everything green. And what? And the funny thing about training peaks is that if they do better, it'll go yellow too, because they're outside of their range. Right, and those are the, but those people that are doing better, and blah, blah. That's when I go and make the fudging. So it goes green. Um, because I want them to feel because they did the workout, they did it to the best of their ability, just turned out to be better, so they deserve it. Yes, but the other ones? Now they can go yellow and red, but yeah, but anyway, I don't know if you ever use that, that software before.
Stephanie Lueras:I have, and there there was a period of time I was very much that person like pre and it. For me, it be it became that obsession.
Stephanie Lueras:I have that addictive personality yeah that you know hitting in on training peaks and strava, and is it looking the same on garmin? And yes, I still wear a garmin and some of the things are there, but I I've gotten rid of Strava. My train is on paper Because so much of that started to affect other things that I'm like yes, it's great I could go back to it at some point, but I need a break and I'm not sure how long that break is going to be, but it's been quite a while. In fact, I couldn't even tell you what my straw belonging is anymore.
Brad Minus:Yeah.
Stephanie Lueras:And I'm better for it, because, instead of pushing for the numbers and pushing for the green, which it absolutely has its merit, I'm much more focused on how is this making me feel? What difference is this making in the day-to-day, and is this making me stronger, faster? Whatever for the long haul or for this period?
Brad Minus:And that makes pure sense on a coaching perspective. As far as Training Peaks goes, there's tools in the background that. So I only give a week at a time. I literally give a week at a time and I'm checking. So if they go hard one day and their fatigue level like falls below the norms, I will immediately change the workout for the next day and call them, text them, do whatever, and say listen, I changed your workout, make sure you, make sure you change that, because you're falling and you're falling your fatigue levels, falling below your fitness level, and so I require that they wear either a whoop ring garment all the time, because I want to see sleep, I want to see all that stuff.
Brad Minus:But I get it. I get the fact that it could be very addicting, and it could. If you are, I feel my personal opinion if you don't know your ins and outs and you're not self-actualized like yourself, it could be a detriment. Because if you buy a generic plan or you buy a plan off of a coach and you're not actually getting coached, then yeah, you want to see those greens, no matter what, and it's just for you. Even if it's not going to Strava, you're going. No, I want to see the greens.
Brad Minus:What did I do wrong? Why didn't I get a green on this one? And you look at it and you're like, oh well, see, I missed this, I wasn't fast enough here. And then that's dangerous, because then you end up pushing yourself and you might push yourself over and above what you should be, what you should be doing, right.
Brad Minus:No, nothing on generic plans, okay, I personally am not crazy about them, but most of them have enough recovery built in that it should work for a majority of the people. It's the extra 10% that I am concerned about that will either go far and above what they will, and most of them seven of those 10% of those 10% 90% is going over and above trying to do better, which then is causing more harm to their body, a risk for injury and the whole bit. But anyway, that's me, not you, but this is all about you. But, of course, because we entwine so much, I'm going to start talking and I don't talk about myself, mostly in podcasting, so in this podcast, all right. So you start heart and soul, fitness and wellness. When did that happen?
Stephanie Lueras:That was early 2020. Oh, 2020.
Stephanie Lueras:Oh oh right, during the pandemic six weeks later, the world shut down oh geez yeah, that was a big exercise in in becoming very clear in in who I serve, what I do and how I do it. And again back to that accountability. This is why I have business coaches, because I can't figure this stuff out on my own. Somebody has got to be there alongside me Because in my mind, zoom was there for my clients who couldn't make it to the gym, that we could work virtually no problem. Zoom wasn't there so that I could have clients anywhere. That was beyond my conception at that point. So it was even redetermining my business model in being able to be 100% virtual, that you didn't have to be local and have the virtual option but you could be anywhere. And this is how we work out, this is how we do our coaching. This in how things panned out and it was very interesting to not only be a new business but then having to add in all the extra challenges of COVID.
Stephanie Lueras:When the mandates came out, the gyms closed. Well, technically, I'm not a gym. Do I still see people in person? And it was something where I went down to my insurance company and my lawyer and had to massage things out about who I am, what and where this fits in. I got in under a few gray areas in my state and I never have stopped seeing people in person. I mean, we had all the protocols and everything, but that was one of the gifts of being new in the process and being like, well, okay, there has to be an answer here somewhere. I just got to find it.
Brad Minus:I get it. I get it. I was lucky because everything that I do is outside. So if I wanted to see somebody, oh okay. So when we're on the bike, we got to make sure we're six feet apart Big deal. To see somebody, oh okay. So when we're on the bike, we got to make sure we're six feet apart big deal. But when we're running, we make sure we're six feet apart. Swim didn't matter. Uh, because that was so I got super lucky at that point. But that's fantastic. What well? We covered the fact that you know why you decided to do this right? Um, if you want to reiterate that, that'd be great. I know you'd be. The fact of helping people and what you went through, taking your experience.
Stephanie Lueras:Right, it was meeting a need. I mean throughout my tenure as a pastor, that in programs that I would develop, in the different things that we did with people, it was always this is the need, that we see how can we meet it. And when I was having people come to me saying you need to show me what you're doing, you need to show me what you're doing. Well, what I'm doing is great, but it's probably not going to work exactly the same for you. And so how can I help people? How can I get them to where they want to be? They see my results, but they don't necessarily see the process. So what is the result that somebody else wants and how do we back it up to where they are at today to get them there? And that's where, like you said, generic programs are a starting point. Some things work, some things don't just say this is the plan, because more often than not, anytime we take a plan, a structure and superimpose it on our life, there's pieces that are going to fall away. It doesn't fit our schedule, our values, our finances, our tastes and so many different things, and so just giving someone a plan and saying, okay, do this, didn't never have sat well with me, and so it's the reverse engineering of where someone wants to be, where they are today, what is standing in the way of them getting there? And that's where I go off into the weeds with people, because they don't always see the barriers that have stopped them from getting where they want to be, and it is sometimes figuring out the time piece. Or maybe they didn't realize that they quit every time because they got sick of cooking two meals, because they were cooking this very specialized thing for themselves, something completely different for their family, and didn't want to do that, but it was never something that they connected the dots to. And so what are the things that are stopping you from doing this? What can we do today that's different than yesterday and that's going to move you forward?
Stephanie Lueras:And I find a lot. That's where kind of the fun comes in. Fun is so not the right word, because when someone's in pain, it is not fun, but that's where the fun of working with people with chronic conditions and chronic illnesses come in is because every day is different. I might feel great today, I might feel like trash tomorrow. I might feel great today, I might feel like trash tomorrow, and but in that great variance? What is consistent in? What can change? What can you do? That's going to continue moving you forth. Yeah, it's a game.
Brad Minus:Well said, absolutely well said, and that's one of the big tenets of Life Changing Challengers is the fact that, hey, you know what? These stories of these people that have lost a lot of weight became more fit, turned that into a business. It's that one, those one little nuggets. And this nugget that you just gave is finding out what is keeping you from getting to where you want to be. That's a nugget of information, okay. Well, now then, how can I go about it? The the tenants that you talked about as far as take small steps, that's another nugget that people can take, use that and move forward, and I just I love that and the fact that you're.
Brad Minus:And one of my biggest takeaways here is the people with chronic conditions. Our days are different. One day does not equal another day. One day, if something's flaring up, the next day, they feel like a million dollars. So, and using the tools that you've got to help them, keep moving forward, your. So the business again is heart and soul, uh, fitness and wellness, and I want to ask you and I, if we talk about this in the pre-interview, if you can give a definition to your value statement here, which is a full service paramedicalical practice specializing in orthopedic fitness, non-diet nutrition counseling, diabetes management and autoimmune chronic condition management. So let's pull that apart. So talk about a full-service paramedical practice. Okay.
Stephanie Lueras:So that comes back to again. It's very different for everyone, but I can sit with somebody in a consultation and they just got diagnosed with diabetes and they've been given all this medication in what they heard, not what was said. They can never eat a carbohydrate again and they are so overwhelmed by Google and social media and everything they think they know about what diabetes is. And I mean, people typically are in tears at this point because they're like I don't want to live like this, I want to be healthy, I don't want to lose limbs and everything else. But what do I do? And so it's first of all taking a step back and take a deep breath. You're not going to die today. I can almost assuredly say that, but it's okay. What is the most urgent thing? Is it that your blood glucose is absolutely out of control, or you don't know how to take all this medication because you've never been on prescription medications before, or what is it that is the most urgent thing in this situation? Sometimes it is going as far as having the HIPAA releases and having a conversation with someone's physician, because I can take what their physician's saying and put it into everyday language, where it doesn't feel so scary, where it feels a little bit more manageable and, almost as a team, come up with a plan on what are the next steps. And it's not just diabetes, it's high blood pressure, high cholesterol, arthritis, fibromyalgia, ms, whatever it is. There's the same elements that go along with that, where we're taking the overwhelm out of everyday life and from isolating that medical piece so that you don't I, you don't become your diagnosis easy, for I'm doing XYZ because I have this or whatever. I do XYZ because I don't want to feel like crap every day because I want to live to 100. Well, if you want to live to 100, we probably need to look at what being 45 looks. Being 45 looks like because you can't do what you're doing today when you're 60, 70, 80 and beyond. But you can if we start looking at things today.
Stephanie Lueras:That orthopedic fitness piece comes in, because I typically don't work with people that have a baseline level of fitness or that they know what to do. So there's two prongs of it in building that fitness whether it's because they're sedentary, they've never exercised before, they don't really understand what it is to build a fitness regimen and to change themselves in that way. The other piece is adaptive fitness, and you may not be able to do certain things for a lot of reasons. It might be an actual physical barrier. It could be also in your size, your age, previous injury, pain, some of those other symptoms that come in. So it's starting with what can you do today and moving that forward. And, yeah, you can run a marathon if that's your ultimate goal. I have no expectation ever that anyone's going to do the things that I do, but what is it that's going to get you active that you're going to enjoy doing, and how do we get you there? Orthopedic fitness is really that bridge between people that might have been in formal physical therapy or have in the past and never made that jump from that very specific, very guided movement into independent exercise. It's that bridge of you are supervised, you are being guided, but we're opening up the possibilities to. These are the things you can do when someone's not here. This is how it fits into life and making it more accessible again from whatever barrier it is keeping you from moving.
Stephanie Lueras:Same thing with the food. We get many messages through our lives about food and diet and nutrition and good, bad, healthy, unhealthy, junk food, whatever. It'll make your brain explode if you actually sat there and tried to list out all of the messages and perceptions that you have about food. Most of the time, it's not necessarily what someone is consuming at that moment. That is the issue. It's their relationship with food, because food is more complex than the calories, the energy we take in to make the machine work. I mean food is love, celebration, stress management, coping. There is so much more that food does to us and for us that we have to unpack that a little bit and really understand what you eat, why you eat it and when you eat it. And it sounds simple to boil it down to those things, but when we look at those different pillars, okay, it's not meaning so much what you're eating, but when you're eating it. Well, like for me, I can't eat pasta for dinner because I'm going to wake up with a headache in the morning. I did the dark thing last night, but if I have it in the middle of the day, great. I got energy to get through the afternoon. I feel fine the next day, and so it's coming down not only to that emotional part of food but our body's physiological response to it.
Stephanie Lueras:Does someone actually know what their hunger cues are? What is the difference between satiation and fullness and really getting back to those innate abilities that we were bestowed with upon birth. And I always come back to the example every time of a toddler. A toddler comes to you crying that they're hungry. You give them a plate of food. Sometimes they're going to take three bites, go back to playing, and they're good. Other times they're going to eat that plate. They're going to ask for more food and then they're going to inhale it again, but then they're good. They know what they need, but then they're good. They know what they need. And it's reminding ourselves to get out of our head, get out of the messages and almost be the toddler, really understand what is it that our body's telling us and that ties right into the diabetes and the chronic condition. Management is taking what's on paper and breaking it down to the habits, the symptoms, whatever it might be, and making it work for you.
Stephanie Lueras:I became a CDC a diabetes. It used to be called a diabetes educator. It was a much shorter title, but I got that that clinical designation because of my own experience with my husband. My husband has been a diabetic for longer than I have known him, been a diabetic for longer than I have known him, we've walked the road of doctors and insurance and medications and devices and insulin and it's enough to make anybody's head explode. But we're two really stubborn people and so much sooner or resign themselves to living a certain way because that's just the way it is and it's not just that it's going to make that a little bit easier and not feel like a burden, to be freer, they get to do the things they want to do and have that peace and freedom that they didn't realize was there, because they didn't realize so much was on their back.
Brad Minus:That is absolutely amazing and that really encompasses your whole value statement here. Full service paramedical practice specializing in orthopedic fitness, non-diet nutrition counseling which I was very curious about that till you mentioned it and I'm like I am like mine was blown there Diabetes management, autoimmune chronic condition management, which you answered twice, which is fantastic. I love it. I think you've got a great niche business here that is going to fulfill a lot of people and help out a ton of people, and I'm so glad that you have there's somebody like you out there. We need you right. So I'm just going to put that to you right now and for those of you listening, we had a small discussion just prior to going live here, or I should say going to recording, where she talks about habit.
Brad Minus:I, if you're listening to the podcast or if you listen to my previous podcast or stories or whatever I do, I always talk about motivation and desire, and motivation comes and goes. Desire is always there. Stephanie is all about and you've heard her say the word over and over again in this podcast Habit, developing those Habits. When you get to her website, which I will link into the show notes, you'll see this quote in which I love it. First, forget inspiration. Habit is more dependable. Habit will sustain you whether you're inspired or not. Habit will help you finish and polish your stories. Inspiration won't. Habit is persistence in practice, and that's by Octavia Butler, and you have absolutely shown that's what you're about. So I don't know who Octavia Butler is, but you don't know either. But I think she'd be proud of you. Great quote, yeah, but I think she'd be proud of you. So, thank you, thank you so much. Besides your website, is there another place that people can get a hold of you if they have any questions?
Stephanie Lueras:Yeah, I am all over the social media networks. I am not very adept at most of them. Primarily, you're going to find me hanging out on Facebook or LinkedIn those are the two I can navigate.
Stephanie Lueras:I follow up most on, but I am out there on some iteration of Heart and Soul Fitness and Wellness on the different social media networks. I'm not on TikTok or Snapchat or anything like that those are beyond my capabilities. But most of all, website connects you right to my calendar to have a conversation and I am always open to having a conversation with anyone about what their needs are. And if I'm not your cup of tea and a lot of times I might not be I'm going to send you in the direction where you are going to find what you need. I never leave behind.
Brad Minus:Fantastic. I'm going to put all those links into the show notes and the social media that she's mostly on. Facebook and LinkedIn will be first. And I do have another question for you. Oh, I totally forgot about this. Okay, so and we? And if we need to cut this out, we can't. So in your, on your website, it says order my book and it's called Break Free to Health and Vitality, which I love, except the author's name is so there I I have.
Stephanie Lueras:You know, gary, yeah, I have two books I have break free to, health and vitality and the woman christian ceo. Both of those are compilation volumes, so I had in, though in both of those books there's a chapter that I've authored the name on.
Brad Minus:It is the compiler got it all right. Well, that's perfect, nothing wrong with that. But you write a chapter. The name on it is the compiler, stephanie. Thank you so much. This has been amazing and I am so happy again I'm gonna say it again I'm so happy to someone like you out there.
Brad Minus:I deal with people 40s and 50s that are getting started on their fitness journeys. Yes, I've had some people that are coming back from injury, but and I have dealt with my first client I dealt with somebody that had multiple sclerosis. But other than that, I don't. I don't attract those. That doesn't not my demographic and I don't. And all the coaches fit CPTs, the whole bit.
Brad Minus:I don't know anybody that does what you do. So I and I know hundreds of them. So I'm glad I know you now, now, and I'm glad you do what you do. Yeah, that's all I can tell you, as, in one fitness professional to another, I am proud of you. Okay, with that being said, thank you again so much. I'm so happy that you're here and, for the rest of you, thank you so much for listening, watching and, if you did like it, hit the like button or, if you're listening, go ahead and put a share with someone that you know that would love to hear something like this. And you know what, if you're so inclined, go ahead and write a little message to us on there. So anyway, for that being said, my name is Brad Minus, and for me and Stephanie Lueris, thank you very much and we'll see you in the next ones.
Stephanie Lueras:Thank you.
