Nikki Cheak (00:01.036)
Look.
Look, I don't ever want you to look at me and think she's got it all figured out because the truth is I have messed up plenty of times, like so many times. And I'm going to walk you through five mistakes I've made in my own wellness journey, how I learned from them and what I would do differently now. And my hope is that this really just feels like sitting down with a friend who's telling me the truth, because if you've ever whispered to yourself, I should really know what I'm doing by now.
then you're definitely in the right place. So let's go ahead and start with the mistake that cost me the most money.
Nikki Cheak (01:02.702)
I don't even wanna think about how much money I have spent on supplements over the years. I mean, yikes. But greens powders that didn't even have greens, pills for sleep, powders for energy, protein bars that were basically candy bars dressed in gym clothes. And I kept telling myself that maybe this will be the one. Maybe this is finally gonna fix me. And if you're nodding it along and you're thinking, yeah, maybe I just need this one thing. If I buy that, I'll finally feel better.
then I see you because I was exactly where you are.
Nikki Cheak (01:51.192)
I'll never forget one greens powder in particular. It was so disgusting. I could barely choke it down. And then I actually read the label a little bit more closely and I realized there were not even real greens in it. Like, what was I even doing? And this was the moment I thought, this is so absolutely insane because I had a truth to face. Supplements aren't the engine, they're the seatbelt. They keep you safer once the car's already running, but they don't make the car go.
And buying supplements without data is like pouring premium gas into a car with a broken engine. It looks like you're investing in progress, but you're still not going anywhere. And what I really needed wasn't another tub of powder. It was data. And so I finally ran some labs and got clarity on what my body really needed and
That's why I love Function Health. It's one test that shows you everything. It's your hormones, your thyroid, inflammation, nutrient deficiencies. It's got over 100 biomarkers. And once I finally saw what was really going on in my body, then I could start filling the gaps, right? And I wasn't guessing anymore. So if you wanna learn more about Function Health, I'll include that link for you to take a look because it really did change the way I felt about so many things. And it was so beneficial for me to test and not guess.
Plus I've been doing it for a couple of years now so I can see where the things are really improving and what I still need to work on. Because at the end of the day, guessing is so expensive and really exhausting. So if you've got a pantry full of hasp-use tubs or a cabinet of vitamins, here's my challenge to you. I want you to pick one or two things that you know are actually going to help you and then get your labs done. Because you wanna let data drive your decision.
Relief really doesn't come in a bottle. It comes from when you stop guessing. So supplements weren't my only mistake. And when I wasn't trying to buy my way out, I was trying to change everything all at once.
Nikki Cheak (04:02.99)
So every January, every spring break, every back to school season, I tell myself the same thing. That's it. I'm changing. This is what we're going to do now, right? I'd start a brand new workout plan, over all my diet, get the supplements, Set an alarm 5 a.m. alarm and promise myself I drink a gallon of water and try and meditate every day. You can probably guess how that went. It worked for a few days. I could keep it going.
But pretty soon I was exhausted. I was frustrated and I was right back where I started staring at the same habits I score. was done with. And if you've ever thought that you're going to start out strong and you seem to fizzle out and maybe you've also thought I'm just not disciplined enough and everybody else around me can figure it out. But why can't I, you're really truly not alone. And that was the soundtrack in my head too, because the problem is that you're
trying to change everything all at once. And so when you're doing that, it's like dumping every load of laundry on the floor and expecting it to just be clean because you're staring at it. It just doesn't work. And so what I finally learned is that these big overhauls don't respect the reality of my crazy life with three boys. They don't leave space for my kids sports or my work deadlines or the fact that sometimes I'm just tired. And so the fix really isn't doing more. It's doing less on purpose. Small
little changes that are gonna build on each other one lever at a time. So if you're feeling stuck in that all or nothing loop, here's my challenge to you. I want you to pick one lever this week. Maybe it's hitting 30 grams of protein at breakfast. Maybe it's just a 10 minute walk after dinner, or maybe you're drinking water before you have coffee. Just one thing, that's all I'm asking. I want you to nail it and then stack the next one later. Because the real secret isn't doing it all, but it's building momentum on the things that you really know you need to do.
And while I was busy trying to overhaul my life, I didn't even realize how little I actually understood about the food I was eating.
Nikki Cheak (06:13.996)
I used to tell myself I was eating pretty healthy. I mean, we cooked meals at home. I grabbed some protein bars for convenience and I'd splurge on those powders or shakes that looked clean or I'd go grab a smoothie somewhere. But the thing was I didn't know what was in the stuff I was eating, right? One time I picked up a protein bar and I thought it was like a great snack. I loved it for me and for my kids. And when I flipped it over and I saw the ingredients, I didn't even know what was in it. First of all,
But then I saw that it had 18 grams of added sugar, not natural sugar, but added sugar. That's more than half of your daily limit in a single bar. And I thought to myself, okay, this has got to end. If I don't start paying attention to what's in my food, I'm just fooling myself. And maybe you've had that moment too, and you're just standing here and you're like, is this actually good for me? Or why does this feel so confusing? Or why does eating have to feel so much harder than it should be?
And the truth is that knowing what's in your food isn't about obsessing or being perfect. It's about understanding and being aware. Because if you don't understand the ingredients or the portions, it's like trying to a book in a language you don't speak. You can see all the words, but you don't know what the story means. And once I really started learning what was in my food, the ingredients, added sugars, actual portion sizes, which is huge by the way, everything shifted for me.
I stopped guessing and I stopped relying what was on the front of the package, you know, the marketing stuff. And I started flipping it over and reading the back. And this is why I created one of the things that I've created, which is called the protein reset. It gives you the first simple step to start fueling your body with the right things. And that means no more standing in the pantry wondering, you know, what am I eating? It's just some clear choices that are going to help you move forward. So I want you to start by flipping over one label this week.
Look for the added sugar. Notice the portion sizes. Don't judge it. I just want you to understand, like, do you really know what the portion size of protein and peanut butter is? Right? Do you know that peanut butter is only one or two tablespoons depending on which one you're using? A lot of people have more than that. Right? So you want to make sure that you're really truly understanding those portion sizes because once you have that awareness alone, that can really start to change everything for you.
Nikki Cheak (08:37.24)
But at the end of the day, food labels weren't the only thing I was ignoring. I also wasn't taking into account the mental load of my life and how much of that was really keeping me stuck.
Nikki Cheak (08:54.434)
I used to think that the only thing keeping me from progress was food or workouts. And if I could just do better, I would finally get it together. And what I wasn't really factoring in was my mental load, the nonstop invisible way of being the one who keeps it all running. And so for me, that looked like driving back and forth to high school sports camps all summer, or, you know, packing lunches, getting kids up at or answering emails, trying to squeeze in a workout of my own.
And by the time I thought, you know, I even thought that like, okay, I'm done.
Nikki Cheak (09:32.782)
We're gonna redo, redo, redo, redo.
Nikki Cheak (09:45.452)
Look, at the end of the day, I used to think that the only thing that was keeping me from my progress was like food or workouts. Like if I really could just figure all of that out and I would finally get it together. But I didn't factor in the mental load, right? That like nonstop invisible weight of being the only one who keeps it all running. I recently saw a meme on Instagram and it looked, it was actually Mario Lopez sleeping and
It was, the meme was, you know, what it looks like when your husband's asleep and knowing that your wife can take care of all the things, right? And that's what it feels like most nights for me. I was the summer driving back and forth to tons of sports camps and you know, now I'm packing lunches and getting kids out the door and trying to make sure I'm answering my emails, getting back to my clients. And by the time I even thought about myself, I was spent. Right. And maybe you've had that moment too.
You're standing in the kitchen by yourself thinking, I cannot even do one more thing. I have been holding everybody else's pieces together all day and I have nothing left for myself. If you don't factor in the mental load, you're always going to feel like you're failing because the end of the day, you're building something that wasn't for you and you can do all of the things. But if you're not doing the things that are meant for you, then it's going to feel
Like you're carrying a backpack that's already stepped to the brim with everybody else's things and wondering why you can't fit in your own. Of course that's going to feel heavy and it's also going to feel impossible. And that was a huge shift for me realizing that my health didn't need to be something separate from my family or my schedule or all of the chaos that I was living in. It was things that I could fit into it. And so it started involving my kids, teaching them about ingredients, going to the store with them.
and definitely having me prep. There are weekends where we spend an hour and we will cut up all the veggies for the week, right? That involves them. gets them, we get to have a great conversation and they also get to learn like, what does it look like to eat healthy? What does it look like to nourish our body with good food? And suddenly it just didn't feel like one more thing on my list. It felt like we were doing it together.
Nikki Cheak (12:08.16)
So if you're listening and you're drowning under that invisible to-do list that will never get done, here's what I do want you to do, okay? I don't want you to add more to your plate. I want you look and say, what's already there and ask, where can I fold myself in? So maybe you'd go for a walk, you in, take the dogs and the kids. Or maybe when you're making chicken, you double it so that you have lunch for tomorrow.
Or maybe it's, you know, spending time with your kids and teaching them how to read ingredients on the back of labels. And if you don't know what that looks like, I've got something really great coming out in the middle of October. That's going to be just what you need. But I want you to remember that health doesn't happen in a vacuum. Okay. It's got to help happen in the middle of your messy, loud, exhausting life, because we are moms in our midlife, just trying to make it through.
And it can actually make the rest of it feel lighter when you stop trying to feel like you're fitting it in and you stop trying to do it alone. And while the mental load was still continuing to drain me, I also was caught in another trap and I'm sure that you've been there too. And it was, I was spending too much time consuming information and not nearly enough time actually taking action. So I used to think if I
could just learn more. listened to one more podcast, read one more book, followed one more influencer. Then I would finally have all of the missing pieces. And maybe you've been there too. You're scrolling late at night. You're saving recipes. You're downloading meal plans. You're listening to my podcast and then you're doing nothing. Right? That was me for years. Okay. Consuming, consuming, consuming, and wondering why nothing was changing. And if your inner voice has ever said, I should know what to do by now.
Why do I keep learning, but I'm not following through? Listen, the thing is you're just stuck in learning mode and learning mode feels productive until it doesn't. And so what I realized is I was consuming without action. And so that's kind of like if you're by a treadmill and you never actually take it out of the box. Okay. You feel good because you own the treadmill, but it's not changing your body. And so when I finally broke the cycle,
Nikki Cheak (14:31.496)
I had to hire my own coach because even coaches need coaches. And she reminded me that I don't need more information. I actually need to do the things. And so that's when I started taking little steps, tracking my macros. I was making more protein. I was walking more consistently and I wasn't waiting for this like feel ready phase. I was just acting and then the doing was building my belief. So if you're stuck in that cycle of over consuming,
Here's my challenge. Stop downloading new things. know that's counterintuitive considering I said, I have something for you, right? But I want you to pick something that you already know. Okay. And then I want you to put it into action because you don't need to become the woman that you want to be by learning more. Okay. Let me say that again. You don't become the woman that you want to be by learning more. You have to become her by acting like her now and
that's what's really at the heart of why I wanted to share these mistakes with you because they're not just my mistakes. They're the same traps that so many women in midlife are stuck in right now. And that's why I created that protein reset, right? So I told you not to download anything, but if you do need a place to start and you're ready to start taking that first action step, this will help you get to that 90 grams of protein over two weeks. So it's not feeling like you're overhauling everything all at once.
and can grab it through the link in the show notes. It's free, it's doable, and it's going to give you the momentum right away. And if you ever need any other tips, tricks, motivation, will keep, you will get these on my email list. If you jump on my email list and I will drop that link too. Until next time, have a really great week and just remember you were doing enough.
