Building Lasting Health Habits with Tess Cheng: A Guide for Busy Professionals
In today’s fast-paced world, health can often take a backseat to career demands. Tess Cheng, a health coach for busy professionals, understands these challenges firsthand. She brings a wealth of experience, not only in nutrition but in creating holistic wellness practices for those juggling demanding schedules. In this conversation, Tess shares insights into how we can build healthier lives one small step at a time.
A Personal Journey to Health and Wellness
Tess’s journey into health coaching began with her own health struggles. Growing up with a family history of diabetes, she prioritized regular checkups. When her doctor diagnosed her with hypoglycemia, Tess realized she needed to make lifestyle changes to avoid developing diabetes. This experience sparked her interest in nutrition and eventually led her to pursue a career in health coaching.
Switching from advertising sales to nutrition, Tess completed her master’s in nutrition at NYU. Over the years, she discovered that health goes beyond food and exercise. “Food is essential, but so are sleep, exercise, stress management, and social connections,” she says. These components all contribute to overall wellness.
Supporting Busy Professionals in Prioritizing Health
Many of Tess’s clients are senior executives and business owners who struggle to find time for their health. “They know they could do better with their habits but often feel overwhelmed by their schedules,” she explains. By working together, Tess helps them identify why they want to be healthy and what motivates them. This approach fosters clarity, allowing her clients to create achievable health goals.
For Tess, building healthier habits isn’t about enforcing strict rules but finding sustainable changes that fit into her clients’ lifestyles. She often works on small behavioral changes that add up over time.
Strategies for Healthier Living
Tess emphasizes making health a priority by setting aside time each day, even if it’s just for a short walk or a mindful break. “Self-care allows you to stay healthy and avoid burnout,” she advises. Scheduling regular breaks, staying hydrated, and managing stress are simple yet effective ways to boost energy and focus throughout the day.
Another helpful strategy Tess recommends is journaling. “Writing down what went well and what didn’t each day can give you insights into your habits,” she explains. Keeping a record not only helps with accountability but also allows her clients to celebrate small victories and build on them.
Rethinking Alcohol and Other Habits
For many professionals, social drinking can become a routine part of work life. Tess works with her clients to explore alternatives if they want to cut back on alcohol. She encourages them to start with small changes, like reducing the number of drinks or finding non-alcoholic alternatives, which can have a significant impact on sleep and overall well-being.
Her approach isn’t about total abstinence unless that’s the client’s goal. Instead, Tess focuses on manageable steps, making gradual adjustments that fit each individual’s lifestyle.
Nutrition as a Mindset, Not a Diet
While Tess is a trained nutritionist, she emphasizes a sustainable approach to healthy eating over rigid meal plans. “It’s not practical to follow a strict diet all the time,” she says. Instead, she teaches her clients how to make healthier choices regardless of the situation, whether they’re dining out, attending a social gathering, or traveling.
By focusing on quality ingredients and balanced meals, her clients gradually retrain their taste buds. One client, for instance, reduced her sugar intake and soon found she preferred less sweet foods. “It’s amazing how we can retrain our taste buds,” Tess shares.
The Importance of Tracking Wellness
Tess also uses wellness trackers with her clients, which provide insights into habits like sleep, energy levels, and diet. “Keeping track allows you to see patterns and make adjustments,” she says. By documenting how they feel at different times of the day, her clients can identify what’s working and where they might need support.
For sleep improvement, Tess suggests having an earlier dinner and avoiding large meals late at night. These adjustments not only enhance sleep quality but also set a healthy tone for the following day.
Cooking for Health and Happiness
Cooking can be a therapeutic, joyful experience, and Tess encourages her clients to prepare meals at home when possible. “When you cook, you have control over the ingredients,” she says. Home cooking also allows for creativity, experimentation, and the satisfaction of creating something nourishing for oneself or loved ones.
Tess suggests that making more food than needed can be a helpful way to have a healthy, ready-made meal on hand for the next day. She sees cooking as a blend of art and science—an opportunity to personalize and take ownership of one’s nutrition.
Final Thoughts: Building Health One Step at a Time
For Tess, the key to lasting health is gradual, manageable changes. Her parting advice to the audience is simple: “Health is the foundation of everything we do. Try one new thing at a time and see what works.” Small steps lead to sustainable habits, and focusing on prevention can make a world of difference.
With Tess’s insights, even the busiest professionals can find ways to prioritize health without feeling overwhelmed. By making incremental changes and building on positive habits, wellness becomes a natural part of life rather than a task to check off.
Tess Cheng - A Health Coach For Busy Professionals - she help busy professionals implement transformative and long-lasting lifestyle changes that make them look and feel their best.
https://tinyurl.com/GWTWellnessTracker
https://glowithtess.com/
This podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis:
Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrp
Transcript
WEBVTT
1
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: Hi and welcome to the You world order showcase. Podcast I'm your host, Jill Hart. And with us today is Tess Chang, Tess is a health coach for busy professionals. She helps busy professionals, implement transformative and long, lasting lifestyle changes that make them look and feel their best welcome to the show, Tess. It's really great to have you here.
2
::Tess Cheng: Wonderful to see you, Jill. Thank you for having me on your show.
3
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: So tell us how you got into this
4
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: profession. I guess.
5
::Tess Cheng: Yeah, well, I was actually back in England. And then I, because of family history of diabetes, I was always very stringent with my checkups, and then I found that I was getting really tired. So in my thirties I went to my doctor, and they found out that I had hypoglycemia.
6
::Tess Cheng: which meant that my blood sugar would go down really low, and especially about an hour or 2 after a meal, and then my doctor, knowing my family history of diabetes warned me that I would need to make some changes to my lifestyle, otherwise I might end up developing diabetes like some of my family members.
7
::Tess Cheng: I did. And then I started doing more research on nutrition, and how, you know, one could actually make a difference. And I really got into it. So I decided to switch career from advertising sales
8
::Tess Cheng: to nutrition. So that's when I moved to New York to go to Nyu to do my master's in nutrition.
9
::Tess Cheng: That was wonderful, you know, being able to support people on their health journeys. So I practiced for a very long time in La as a nutritionist, and then I moved to Miami. And then, when the pandemic happened, even when I was doing, you know the nutrition practice. All that time I felt that there was more to it, not just about food.
10
::Tess Cheng: And that's a holistic way to actually improve your health. So I went into, you know, I decided to go into some coaching, so I could coach people on all aspects of wellness. And it's been wonderful, you know, because it's not. Food is very important. But of course, so is sleep, and so is exercise, stress management. You know all these things work together.
11
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: Relationships with other people.
12
::Tess Cheng: Yeah, exactly the social connections that you have. Yeah, all of this, because that you know, because with that it will help you to manage your stress.
13
::Tess Cheng: Yeah.
14
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: Yeah. So you mostly work with busy professionals. What? What kind of people would would come to you.
15
::Tess Cheng: They? Well, basically, they are senior executives who are on the road a lot.
16
::Tess Cheng: you know they they are short of time they feel frustrated, you know. On one hand, they know that they can do better with their habits, but, on the other hand, they just don't find the time, or they they just too busy. They're overwhelmed, you know, with their schedules and a lot of them. Also business owners, you know, especially when you're starting a business. It's hard
17
::Tess Cheng: and then very often, you just forget about taking care of yourselves, because that's what we do. We want to take care of everything else.
18
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: yeah, that that's like, everybody.
19
::Tess Cheng: Mom.
20
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: Moms come to mind. You know, you
21
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: you start having kids and.
22
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: Do you?
23
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: Your own welfare? Just kind of goes out the window. But then
24
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: I can see busy professionals
25
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: knowing that they need to take care of themselves, but they're often like
26
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: they're busy. They have things they have to get done in order to keep moving up the ladder. And so you you're not really working with them in terms of like going to the gym and and eat XY, and Z. It's more like helping them develop habits.
27
::Tess Cheng: Yes, it's all about behaviors. Yes, what kind of strategies we can come up with. We can brainstorm and trying to get them to gain insight, you know, over why they want to get healthy. What does it really mean to them? Why do they think it's important
28
::Tess Cheng: when you start to, you know, asking yourself those questions sometimes, you know it's very often it's very helpful. You get more clarity, but also at the same time also try to work out what the roadblocks are. You know why, you know you. On one hand, you're motivated, but, on the other hand, it's difficult to implement
29
::Tess Cheng: those habits. Oh.
30
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: I would imagine things like even drinking alcohol, alcohol.
31
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: wreaks, havoc on your body, no matter what, and often busy professionals they either have to drink socially or feel that there's pressure to drink socially. Do you? Do you work with them in terms of you know, if they maybe want to quit that.
32
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: I you know you can do these other things instead. It is.
33
::Tess Cheng: No, no.
34
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: Honestly becoming more socially acceptable to not drink which I think is amazing.
35
::Tess Cheng: Yeah, because alcohol really is toxic, and it disrupts your sleep. So that doesn't help. And then you end up, you know, having a
36
::Tess Cheng: a bad night's sleep, and the following day, you know, just everything just adds up. Yes, I work with them, you know, to come with some strategies, you know, not necessarily just abstaining. I'm not saying, you know it's not so extreme that either or nothing, you know. Find out what works for you, and then take the, you know. Take little steps, you know. Don't overwhelm yourself with all this.
37
::Tess Cheng: 10 or 20 things you need to do at the same time.
38
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: No.
39
::Tess Cheng: Just take baby steps, and and there are always ways, you know you, instead of saying having
40
::Tess Cheng: maybe you know 4 drinks, you know every time you go out, maybe try and cut down to 2, you know, cut down to 3, and then eventually 2, or maybe just one, and maybe look for some alternative. These days I've heard of non-alcoholic wine. I haven't tried myself, but apparently some of them are fine.
41
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: Yeah, I've heard of non-alcoholic beer, but not really non-alcoholic wine.
42
::Tess Cheng: Yeah, that's new to me.
43
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: Decided that I didn't really like the taste.
44
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: I I couldn't drink beer anymore because it it was bugging my feet. I.
45
::Tess Cheng: Have.
46
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: Out and
47
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: and I knew it was specifically from beer. So you know, that was out the window. And then I decided, I really don't like how wine tastes.
48
::Tess Cheng: Hmm.
49
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: It's so. I embraced sobriety about a year and a half ago now, and.
50
::Tess Cheng: I'm good.
51
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: It just
52
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: it was. It was so easy for me, because.
53
::Tess Cheng: Yeah.
54
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: Just, I'd made a decision. And it's really helped my overall
55
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: feeling of well-being. Yeah, and my sleep especially.
56
::Tess Cheng: Oh, yeah.
57
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: Sleep so good these days.
58
::Tess Cheng: It definitely disrupts sleep. That's 1 thing one you know, one has to be mindful about it.
59
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: And again, it's not about, you know. Not
60
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: if you're a drinker, you're a bad person. It's about making decisions about what's working for you and what's not working for you. And you know, at different stages in your life different things do seem to be okay. Whereas when you get older it's like, well.
61
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: you know, it worked for me back when I was younger. But this is not.
62
::Tess Cheng: Yes.
63
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: Kind of goes across the board even with exercise.
64
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: Husband and I joke about waking up with, you know. We sprained our eyelid while we were sleeping suddenly. Things don't work the way they used to.
65
::Tess Cheng: Yeah, exactly. Find out what works for you. And yeah, and embrace the change.
66
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: So how? How do professionals struggle with prioritizing their health?
67
::Tess Cheng: Mainly time. Yes, we said earlier, because there's always so much to do, and there's always more to do, and they just feel that they're not enough hours, and, you know, to get, you know, to actually build those habits in, as I said, do something, maybe just even movement, you know which is important. So exercise. Try doing it 20 min at a time, you know. Try it first, st and then build it in, and you know, and and
68
::Tess Cheng: but but it's actually important to schedule it, you know, make it a priority, just like everything else. You know, self-care is important because it allows you to stay healthy, otherwise you can get burnt out, and you know, and it's important to have those breaks throughout the day. Give your brain a break.
69
::Tess Cheng: Get yourself off the screen, go and go for a walk. Stay hydrated, you know those little things, and you know I find that people. It's quite useful, perhaps even just to do a journal
70
::Tess Cheng: in the evening. This way, you know, you can write down what went well for you that day, and what didn't go well and write down your thoughts, your feelings, and once you have something in writing, it's easier, you know, to reflect on that.
71
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: And there's some magic that happens when you use a pen and a paper.
72
::Tess Cheng: Yeah, rather than.
73
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: Trying to do the electronic thing. I
74
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: I don't know. It just kind of sticks in your mind. Better.
75
::Tess Cheng: Yes, exactly, and I always encourage people to have that wind down hour before sleep.
76
::Tess Cheng: To improve the quality of sleep is to be away from blue light. So if you're writing it down on a piece of paper, you know a journal. Have a book, then, this way. You're not looking at a screen again.
77
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: Yeah,
78
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: And and when you're thinking about, you know what went well for you maybe think about what didn't go well, but we tend to like.
79
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: you want to build on the positives. Yeah, because you find more positives when you start doing that.
80
::Tess Cheng: Yes, exactly, yes, and and this way, even if something you you know.
81
::Tess Cheng: you wanted to incorporate into your daily routine. But it didn't. But the other things, you know. Then this way you can see more clearly that you have actually done better than you think you know than you thought.
82
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: Yeah. And when you're when you're starting to build on positive things happening in your life and positive changes like you may set the intention that you're gonna walk 20 min, 5 days a week, but you only manage to do it 4 days. Yeah, you need to celebrate that when you did it 4 days, and maybe you can look at ways that you can do it. 5 days next week.
83
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: But
84
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: Don't beat yourself up over the
85
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: the one day that you didn't, or it also helps you, I'm sure, to look at
86
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: when you're looking at what did go well or what didn't go? Well, what? Actually, I mean, we all think of things that we should do. And we're like, Okay, we're gonna do this. And and then it really isn't practical for us to do it. So we need other other ideas to approach it from a different way. So do you mainly work with people, one on one? Or do you have group coaching, going on.
87
::Tess Cheng: I mainly do one on one the group coaching thing can work quite well, too, especially if they're you know, some friends, and they want to support each other. On the same goal. And this way, you know, it's actually very helpful. But some people want, you know a lot of business owners. They're very busy, so they have less flexibilities with their time. So it's difficult to get them together as a group. And also, I suppose some people want more. Privacy.
88
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: Right, right, I said.
89
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: There's a lot of that. Do you? Do you work with companies at all?
90
::Tess Cheng: I do. I work with organizations, you know, and so I run workshops as well. And so, you know, I've a lot of companies nowadays understand that it's important to keep the employees healthy.
91
::Tess Cheng: Yeah. So they take less days off. You know, they have more energy. They're more focused. So it's, you know, it's important for them also to make sure that they engage in these healthy habits.
92
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: Do you help people with their food choices.
93
::Tess Cheng: I do. I don't say, you know, that's another thing about, you know, that's what I was doing as a nutritionist. A lot of people want meal plans. Exactly what they want to eat every day
94
::Tess Cheng: is
95
::Tess Cheng: it's useful if, say, you really want to lose the 10 pounds in a short period of time, you know, but
96
::Tess Cheng: ultimately it's not sustainable.
97
::Tess Cheng: you know. You're going to be out of. You know you're going to be outside. You're going to be at conference meetings with friends, social engagements, a wedding you know, traveling.
98
::Tess Cheng: So it's really the mindset. So wherever you have, you are, you have to have that mindset to make you know the healthy choices, to to make the right choices whatever is presented to you, even when it comes to reading a menu, you know, there's items that then it will become automatic, you know, once you you've got that going, and then you realize, oh, as soon as I need to focus on protein. For example, I need vegetables and
99
::Tess Cheng: with food. I think it's very. It's beautiful, because it's very easy. It's not like the other experts of wellness with food. I always say this. There's only so much you can eat each time.
100
::Tess Cheng: If you if you focus on the good things you're going to have less room for the bad things so gradually. That will work in your favor.
101
::Tess Cheng: because, you know, if you
102
::Tess Cheng: if you keep saying, Oh, if you keep looking at. Oh, I need to vegetables. I need the protein. By the time you know you, you have room for anything else.
103
::Tess Cheng: You're not going to have that much of it. You might not even have room for desserts.
104
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: Right, right, and it it. And again, it's a habit of making the choice that I'm going to.
105
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: I'm looking for protein. I'm not looking for that
106
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: candy that you got stuck in the back cabin.
107
::Tess Cheng: Yeah, exactly. Exactly.
108
::Tess Cheng: yeah. Desserts are great to have as a treat, you know, from time to time.
109
::Tess Cheng: perhaps it's best to have them when you're outside rather than have them sitting in the fridge.
110
::Tess Cheng: You know. So you to avoid temptation.
111
::Tess Cheng: You know, and food is, it needs to bring you joy. I understand. You know we we enjoy food. We want to get pleasure out of it.
112
::Tess Cheng: but it's also nourishment.
113
::Tess Cheng: You know. It's really good for your body. So it's something that gives you. You know.
114
::Tess Cheng: the nutrients that you need. So just bringing you joy is not enough
115
::Tess Cheng: ideally. You'll find something that will bring you joy, and that that is, you know, full of nutrients.
116
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: And again I think it. It works back into what you were talking about before developing habits, and it's not like, go clean out all your cabinets of everything that you
117
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: normally eat. It's just make the decision to do these these certain things.
118
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: and then
119
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: they just it expands. When you start making one decision to do something, and then the next decision becomes infinitely easier.
120
::Tess Cheng: Oh yes!
121
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: Because they build on each other.
122
::Tess Cheng: Exactly. Yeah, very much. So. A client of mine came to me because she had a family history of diabetes, and she had a sweet tooth. So she really wanted to work on cutting down on her sugar consumption, and after a few weeks of working together, she said, she went to her sister's birthday party, and her sister had baked this cake that she used to love.
123
::Tess Cheng: but she was complaining how sweet it was because her taste buds had changed, and her sister was saying, but this is the same recipe as you know that I've been using for many years. Because what's wrong with you? Why are you complaining that everything's sweet now? So it's amazing how we can retrain our taste. Buds.
124
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: It doesn't take long either. And you you find that if you're if you're making these changes, especially when it comes to sugar, sugar is an addictive substance, and the more you eat of it the more you find that you have to eat of it. But you
125
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: you can just make other choices, even if you just tell yourself it's for a little while.
126
::Tess Cheng: Hmm.
127
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: And then.
128
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: you know, not like I'm going to cut out all sugar out of my diet. I'm never going to eat sugar again. Those kinds of statements really work against us because our brains are like, what?
129
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: Oh, I want that. But if you just make
130
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: the statements to yourself like, oh, just for today, just today I won't do that.
131
::Tess Cheng: Yes.
132
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: And then today turns into tomorrow so that you got you got a streak you got 2 days going. I made it 2 days. I wonder if I can make it 3,
133
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: and that's an easy way to get habits to to stick.
134
::Tess Cheng: Yes, yes.
135
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: A little more.
136
::Tess Cheng: Yeah, and it's easier if it's not you know, just sitting around the corner calling you.
137
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: Yes.
138
::Tess Cheng: Some have, some.
139
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: Just a little nibble.
140
::Tess Cheng: It's more difficult to get in the car and drive to the grocery store.
141
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: Yes.
142
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: So you haven't actually got a a fitness tracker, is. It? Is a fitness tracker right.
143
::Tess Cheng: It's a wellness.
144
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: A wellness tracker. Okay.
145
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: you wanna talk about that a little bit, because I think that's really a handy tool for helping.
146
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: We'll figure out
147
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: where they are and what they're doing, because I think the 1st
148
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: thing that we need to do is look at where we are. You know what needs to change.
149
::Tess Cheng: Yeah, yeah. So it's a wellness tracker that gives you insights on your habits. So sleep, your energy, level your diet.
150
::Tess Cheng: and you can write, you know you can sign up and download it and print it out, and you can write. Make notes on it. You know, on each day how you're doing. Both Am. And pm, so you know, because we do different things in the morning, and then in the afternoon, you might feel you have more energy in the morning, but then in mid afternoon, your energy level goes down, but it also comes with some tips as to how you can
151
::Tess Cheng: improve on on those things. For example, sleep. I always suggest
152
::Tess Cheng: have your dinner early in the evening than later, you know this way. It will help you to sleep better, because usually, if you have a huge meal late at night.
153
::Tess Cheng: this can be very disruptive, and so you can write it down. You know how how well you slept the night before, or what time you went to bed. You know this way. It really gives you the insights about what you're doing rather than just thinking. Oh, I think I went to sleep at 10 last night, but I can't remember, and I thought I slept well, but then maybe I slept even better the night before.
154
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: Yeah, it. It's making notes while the while the events still fresh in your mind, instead of trying to remember for the whole week. Oh, maybe Monday I slept.
155
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: Okay. But
156
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: but then Tuesday and Wednesday happened. So I really don't remember Monday. All that. Well.
157
::Tess Cheng: Right, exactly, and that's why I asked some some of my clients if they want to. They can always send me pictures of their meals.
158
::Tess Cheng: you know, for critique, because when they tell me what they've had.
159
::Tess Cheng: it's not as
160
::Tess Cheng: it's not the same as a picture, you know, with a picture. I can see exactly what's on the plate.
161
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: Yeah. And you might make your enchiladas different than they do.
162
::Tess Cheng: Exactly. Yeah, that's right. Yeah. So you know, having that accountability really helps.
163
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: I'm sure it does, and people can download that
164
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: app. It's it is free, and you can do that at the link that I'll put in the show notes below. So how do people get in touch with you, Tess? If they want to work with you.
165
::Tess Cheng: Yeah, they can get in touch with me on my website glowwithtest.com, which is GLOW. ITHT. ess.com. Yeah, go on my website and take a look at the blog. I have some blog posts talking about, you know, different various topics, you know. You can check them out. Sign up, feel free to sign up to my monthly newsletters this way every month you will get some inspirations.
166
::Tess Cheng: and I'm also on social media. So you can find me on Linkedin, Instagram, Facebook, and the handle is the same for all of them glow with tests.
167
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: I love that. So you're you're mostly about
168
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: fitness rather than weight. Loss in that weight. Loss is a byproduct of being healthy.
169
::Tess Cheng: Yes, it's a byproduct of being healthy. When you engage in regular exercise you sleep well. You eat a well-balanced diet
170
::Tess Cheng: weight, you know. Weight. It's important. And you know, of course, you know. But most of what is what's happening inside your body. You know what what is happening. What's the process, because sometimes you might feel oh, I don't have any, you know. Weight to lose. I feel fine. Everything feels wonderful.
171
::Tess Cheng: but it's still happening inside, you know. So if you have sugar, it still has to be processed in there. When you have alcohol, it's the same thing. So think about what's really you know what it is really doing.
172
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: I I watched a video years ago that Dr. Robert Lustig
173
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: put out. I said.
174
::Tess Cheng: Hello!
175
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: Because had to do with sugar, and how sugar was processed in the body. It was fascinating.
176
::Tess Cheng: Yeah.
177
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: And it
178
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: the amount of work that your liver has.
179
::Tess Cheng: To do.
180
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: To process it, and when we talk about sugar we can talk about corn syrup as well.
181
::Tess Cheng: From there.
182
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: Which is even worse, and they put it in baby formula these days. I it's just like.
183
::Tess Cheng: One!
184
::Tess Cheng: Oh, my God!
185
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: I can't believe that it's that it's even legal to do that. That's why you have obese children
186
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: that are bottle fed.
187
::Tess Cheng: Yeah.
188
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: But
189
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: yeah. Corn syrup is just like feeding them alcohol, because your body reacts the same way, and when you start clogging your liver up.
190
::Tess Cheng: Hmm.
191
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: That early age. It's just like.
192
::Tess Cheng: And the liver has to do all that work is awful. And this one you know. That's why reading the food label is very important. Pay attention to it.
193
::Tess Cheng: Yeah, you know. Read everything. Look at the ingredients lists.
194
::Tess Cheng: You might be surprised at what you find sometimes, as you said. You know corn syrup in baby food is incredible. How would one thing, you know, guess that.
195
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: Yeah, and and corn syrup gets stuck in a lot of things that you wouldn't think it would be in, like, you know, spaghetti sauce.
196
::Tess Cheng: Yes. Yeah.
197
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: There are so many things that you actually can make use just using the basic ingredients.
198
::Tess Cheng: Yes.
199
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: It's not
200
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: cooking. Is not that hard? And we have the Internet and all these recipes at our fingertips.
201
::Tess Cheng: Oh, yes, yes, and if you cook yourself, then you have control about what ingredients go into your dish.
202
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: And there's something zen about cooking.
203
::Tess Cheng: It's therapeutic.
204
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: Yes.
205
::Tess Cheng: It's also like an experiment. It's fun, you know. It's like you're being in a laboratory.
206
::Tess Cheng: You can try it with it this time like this next time. Maybe you want it a little bit more spicy, maybe. Put some garlic in.
207
::Tess Cheng: It's fun, and it's your creation.
208
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: Yeah.
209
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: and to add love to it. And if you make, you know a little bit more than you've got
210
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: a ready-made meal
211
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: for the next day.
212
::Tess Cheng: Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And it doesn't have to take a long time. You know, some recipes are quick, healthy, delicious.
213
::Tess Cheng: Yeah, yeah.
214
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: 30 min is like.
215
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: Yeah.
216
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: I don't even have a microwave anymore. I I do everything from scratch. But.
217
::Tess Cheng: Yeah, that's good. That's the healthiest way from scratch.
218
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: The most.
219
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: I guess I've done it for so long that I'm really fast at it.
220
::Tess Cheng: Hmm.
221
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: And I know the recipes that I like. And when I watch my kids cook sometimes, it's like.
222
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: I don't realize how how much experience goes into making things faster.
223
::Tess Cheng: Oh, yeah, but they're having fun, you know. They're experimenting. They would, you know, it's it's that's the way you discover new things, you know. Yeah.
224
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: And what you like, and what you don't like, and.
225
::Tess Cheng: Exactly. Yeah, and what something might do to the taste of a dish, and what you know, if you have a little bit more, a little bit less.
226
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: Yeah, it's it's really fun to watch them.
227
::Tess Cheng: Hmm.
228
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: Cookies.
229
::Tess Cheng: Like you know all the other things you can do, even when it comes to exercise or you know what you can do to improve your sleep. Those little habits, what you do before your bedtime or during even during the day. You know whether you have caffeine later in the day or earlier. You know all those things.
230
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: Yeah, they really can. And finding other experimenting with other options out there, you know. Yeah, there's there's so many things that we can, ingest
231
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: that are actually food versus a lot of the stuff in the store that
232
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: they call food. But
233
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: but I'm not really sure it was meant to be ingested by human beings.
234
::Tess Cheng: Yeah, especially with the packaging they have sometimes can be so misleading.
235
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: Oh, yeah, even stuff that they say is healthy is.
236
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: yeah, not so much.
237
::Tess Cheng: Put the word organic on everything, because they think people think oh, immediately they associate the word organic with you know, with healthiness.
238
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: Or vegan, or vegetarian.
239
::Tess Cheng: Yeah, exactly. That's right.
240
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: Just go buy a vegetable and eat it.
241
::Tess Cheng: Yeah, that's it.
242
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: Be good. Yeah.
243
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: the raw, the better. Yeah.
244
::Tess Cheng: Exactly.
245
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: Maybe even still sort of alive when you're ingesting it.
246
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: Better for your body.
247
::Tess Cheng: And with different colors, more colors, better natural colors.
248
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: I love fall in my backyard we have this year was amazing. When it came to our fruit trees producing there's nothing like going and picking a
249
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: fresh piece of fruit off of a tree, where it's still warm and juicy, and a raspberry bush.
250
::Tess Cheng: Yeah.
251
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: They're really just stocks. But I I have a big one because I love raspberries. Me and my dog Charlie. We go out there and we eat raspberries.
252
::Tess Cheng: Funny. Yeah. Dogs like fruits, too. Not just us.
253
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: They do, he'll go and pick apples off the tree and eat them. He'll bring them in the house and eat them, just like, you know.
254
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: a person hilarious, and he has preferences. He's not really into peaches so much which is good for by me, because I love peaches, and I want them all for myself.
255
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: but pears and apples are.
256
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: and raspberries apparently, and rose hips he likes rose hips.
257
::Tess Cheng: Oh, yeah.
258
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: Walk by a tree that has rose hips, and he has to need a few.
259
::Tess Cheng: That's so. Cute.
260
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: It is really fun.
261
::Tess Cheng: Yeah.
262
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: This has been an amazing conversation, Tess. I really appreciate you coming on and sharing your tips with us, and about what you're doing.
263
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: What's the one thing you hope the audience takes away from our conversation.
264
::Tess Cheng: try one thing at a time. Health is the foundation of everything we do. It's worth spending time on it, and it's, you know it's important to incorporate some healthy habits. Try with one new thing at a time, and see what works and work on that. And, as it said, you know why wait for treatment when you can start with prevention. A lot of
265
::Tess Cheng: chronic diseases are preventable.
266
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: Yeah, they really are. And it's much cheaper to shop better than to pay a doctor to give you some chemical that's going to cause a different problem for you.
267
::Tess Cheng: Exactly, and with prevention, you know. Sometimes you can have fun with those habits, but with medical treatments they are no fun, and that's guaranteed. You know it's waste of time. You have to go to the doctor sitting there. It's just no fun at all, so, but at least you can. You might be able to have fun, you know, working out with your friends.
268
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: Yeah.
269
::Jill Hart-The Coach's Alchemist & Host of the You World Order Showcase Podcast: yeah, for sure. Thank you so much for joining me.
270
::Tess Cheng: Thank you. It's been a privilege.
