I used AI for my fatloss plan
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[00:00:00] I asked AI to help me with a fat loss plan, and this episode is all about what happened.
Spoiler alert, it hasn't worked yet, but I've discovered some really surprising wins. Uh, some pros and cons, and I think that you're just gonna find this overall quite valuable and maybe a little entertaining. If you've ever tried a new approach and had it not like not work, then this is definitely the episode for you. Welcome to the Creative Life in Motion Podcast, and if you're new here. My name is Karen. If you're returning, welcome back on this podcast. We don't wait until we reach our goals to be happy.
We fall in love with who we are being and what we are discovering along the way. It's time that like we lift the hood on this AI stuff, right? Like it's. Everywhere. And the more [00:01:00] I talk about this to people, the more I'm finding out that a lot of people are using AI as their health coach, their business coach, their life coach.
And although I, you know, it's really cool because honestly, I think it's just like kind of having a conversation with yourself. There are definitely some dangers. Why would I even bother asking AI to help me seen as how I could probably build something if I used my brain? It's a little something called confusion. It's a little something called. I'm not sure what's going on with my body just during this beautiful phase that I am in at over 50, where my hormones are like a rollercoaster and I'm not broken.
I'm not complaining. I'm not having problems or issues. I'm not even struggling, but [00:02:00] my fat gain seems to be going in the wrong direction. Even though I'm active, something is just not jiving. So I could do the logical thing and go and talk to a professional, or I could just kind of talk to a computer that can pull in all of this.
Past history of professional, all these studies and, and just kind of give me an outlook of, of what a protocol would look like in my specific phase of life with my specific identity and my specific goals. Like my goals are not to be on the front of a magazine, but I also. Don't want to have all the fat that's on my body there.
I would like it to release. And so that's why I thought, well, maybe, maybe [00:03:00] perplexity knows something that I don't know. Okay. So, and that's kind of what got me there. And then I actually fell in love with the thought that I could. Basically get a meal plan and get recipes and, and get a calor thing and, and like just kind of falling and get a program and get everything fixed because I've been conditioned to feel as though if I am following the plan, it's going to work, even though that plan might not have been specific to me, um, or feel right to me.
If I'm not following the plan, I'm wasting my time. Okay. So enter into perplexity world asking, you know, AI giving it all my stats. And at the time when I started this, it was in, um, end of December. And I was feeling [00:04:00] quite festive. I mean festive because that I, you know, had eaten a little bit extra in the month of December like many of us do, feeling a little fluffy.
And I thought, you know, going back to my own conditioning ways, I'm thinking I just need more cardio. You know, I'm not able to walk as fast 'cause there's snow and I just, I just need more cardio. So, because I had spent so many years, um, again, being conditioned through being, um, a representative for body, formerly known as Beachbody, I had it stuck in my head that if I didn't follow a legit plan on the specific days of the week, that I was just wasting my time, that it just wasn't gonna work.
So I. Went back to that idea. I gave chat, GPT my top choices of what I wanted to do. I also was having difficulties like, you know, [00:05:00] I, I finally released myself from the company as they, um, stopped their coaching network. I mean, I wasn't actively coaching, but it was a whole, almost like a mental process of letting go because I had used the programs and then.
I actually was not having a great feeling every time I put a DVD in. It was kind of like, it's been spoiled. It's been tainted. And so my mindset wasn't right when I was putting in that specific DVD, and I'm like, I'm living in the past. And I know that might sound weird, but it was like kind of crushing my energy.
So I wanted to go way, way back to something that I still had on DVD. That wasn't in in the library. So I went way back to Les Mills combat. I asked AI about Les Mills combat. And, um, AI agreed with me that it's gonna give me the cardio that I need.
Like, it just did [00:06:00] nothing but agree with me. Like it just so biased. So I, I was talking about how I didn't wanna, I wanted to make sure to keep my nervous system happy because of my hormone fluctuation. And honestly, if you have. An aggravated nervous system. Ain't no fact gonna come off. I mean, that, I'm not even saying that in an uh, proper English.
Term. But honestly, if your body is stressed, even if it's physiological stress, if it's mental stress, if it's stress from not getting sleep, there is no way it's going to release fat unless your body feels safe. And I do know that for sure. So I'm trying to figure out like why, why my body is not feeling safe right now, you know?
And. Just doing that, just having that on your mind all the time can get obsessive when you feel like you're doing everything right. And I haven't weighed myself in a long time, so I can't even say that the [00:07:00] scale is going the wrong way. But I can, I can just tell, I can feel it. I can see it, um, I can feel it in clothes and yeah.
Perplexity, which I used chat GPT inside perplexity. So perplexity said, yeah, it's a great idea. So I'm into the program about 30 days in, and actually I feel myself gaining, so I'm questioning like what I'm eating. I start playing around with different eating windows and stuff.
And then, um, I had a, a back spasm, and the back spasm was so violent, which I've never had in my life before. My back spasm was so violent that, um, it popped like didn't pop one of my ribs, but it moved the joint. So like, I'm like, can't move. And I go to the [00:08:00] chiropractor. She fixes me. It's the first time in my entire life, 52 years, I'd never seen a chiropractor.
So that was scary. 'cause I was like, okay, like you're gonna, you're gonna find a lot wrong here. But you know, we got everything fixed up. So then at the same time I'm realizing, okay, maybe Les Mills combat is just not the right thing for me right now. Maybe I do need to, um, get a little bit more gentle. Before I dove back into my conversation with perplexity, I started to like just kind of sit with myself and think about, okay, when was the time in my life where I felt my fittest, my strongest, my healthiest, and hands down? It's when I was. Basically just doing PIO and I was teaching PIO and I was [00:09:00] doing pio.
And I was also like running, but not long, long distances. I was like running 10 Ks and half marathons, not into the full marathons yet. And it really felt like I was also in my thirties, you know? And I think, I think, I think it was in my late thirties, early forties. Actually, and, and everything was still good hormonally wise.
I feel like I kind of had little hints of perimenopause at that point, but nothing really, um, like my, my weight and my fitness and my energy was all intact. Uh, so I thought, okay, well, before I jump back into perplexity and create this new plan, I feel like. My intuition is saying to me to do, to go back to PIO and I used to teach it and I stopped doing it for my physical activity because my body adapted to it.
[00:10:00] It was no longer really getting any gains or benefits. Um, definitely not strength training, but you know, in the essence of lifting heavy. Honestly, when everyone's saying you gotta lift heavy, well, I think, you know, my body's kind of a little heavier than it used to be, and lifting your body weight can be heavy, especially.
You know, as we get older and the joints and the ligaments are not as supple as they used to be, they're kind of a little fray. And if you think of elastic band always getting like pulled and getting a little tense, like they need a little bit more love and a little bit more acceptance. So I'm like, okay.
Okay, so I, I drive in and I have this other just like really great conversation with perplexity and I also still had another program, um, in my [00:11:00] library that I had this digital purchase and I'm like, maybe I should do body lava again by body, which is very similar to pio, but not, it's almost like pio.
Insanity together. You know, like it's very, um, it's quite aggressive, but I'm like, I can handle it. I used to do this stuff in my sleep and I, and I like to have something that's gonna make my heart pump and that's gonna be challenging. So I decided, you know, with perplexity, we, we put together this structured plan it was a very well-rounded fitness program.
Perfect. It had all the elements of fitness needed, just using body weight instead of like dumbbells or, and way less cardio, more strength. So I felt good about that. I adjusted a little bit of my eating plan, um, to match because I wasn't obviously doing as much cardio and you know, [00:12:00] still only. Trying to put myself in about a 250 calorie deficit.
So I know it's a slow crawl. I don't care. It's just gotta be going in the right direction at this point. So I'm all excited. I always like cracking open a brand new plan. So exciting it like, I'm like a kid at Christmas. I love the beginning of plants. That's just who I am. So it, it was very, very exciting to me.
I also at the same time was asking, perplexity to, I wanted to start sprinting again. Like, not sprinting, sprinting, but just like having a couple of walks a week where I go without my dog and do like, start on the. 5K running app again, like coach to 5K. So basically a maximum of eight minutes in a 30 minute stretch of actual physical running.
And if you see [00:13:00] my running, it's like a fast walk jog. So it's not even like really fast like I used to be, but I just kind of wanted to build that muscle again. Not even like two weeks in. And my Achilles goes. And I'm starting to get this planter going on and I'm thinking, wow, like really? Could it be this bad?
So I'm like, okay, I'll just stick to walking. The last thing I want is an Achilles injury where I, it's going to take my mobility out for the whole summer. So I was like, okay, okay. Achilles, I hear you. I hear what you're saying. I'm gonna back off this like. Maybe this is a good time to say I I don't get injuries.
I think I had one, I had one injury when it was like the New York when I was training for the New York Marathon and it was really smoky, um, [00:14:00] that summer and I did a two hour run on an indoor treadmill and I blew out my hip flexor. That's the only injury that I've. I've ever had. Um, but it was, you know, I went to, um, physio and it was, it was good to go for the marathon.
But anyways, okay, back to where we are right now. I consult with my perplexity coach. They think it's a really great idea because usually they do, they just agree with you. You're so smart. They always say, which is always kind of a little bit of a hit of dopamine. Anyways, I'll get to that part in a bit. As I was doing the body lava and the PIO in the back of my head, it's like, man, this is really, really hard. Like I can't believe you used to talk and teach. And do these moves at the same time. And there's a couple of moves in there. [00:15:00] One's like the PIO flip, uh, one's called I, I don't know, body lava calls it something a little different, wild thing or something like that.
And then there's the kick through and a lot of, um, side planks and, and whatnot. And, um. I was get starting to get like a little bit of, uh, my shoulder. My right shoulder was just kind of talking to me a little bit and I thought, you know, it, it's fine. I used to teach this. It's just, you know, my muscles are getting used to it and I, I'm not even really sure how it happened.
I just remember waking up Sunday morning. Five days before my 52nd birthday, and I could not move my arm an inch a millimeter without excruciating pain. I had no idea what I did. [00:16:00] I woke up like that, and this for me was like the last straw. You know,
I quit. I quit everything. I went back to perplexity and I'm not a very good injured person. It turns out that it was, um, a rotator cuff strain. It took me a full week to get range of motion back to 50%, and then I've been, it's been three months now as the time that I'm filling it, filming it, and I am finally.
Sleeping without a pillow and able to do yoga with down dogs and raise my hands over my head, like I now have about 98% of mobility with no discomfort. I went back to perplexity and I could barely type in and I'm crying because by [00:17:00] this time I feel like. What is going on? My entire body is falling apart, and I decided that all I'm gonna do is walk.
I mean, it worked for me when I was in my twenties. All I did was walk. I walked everywhere. I walked in the morning and I, and it wasn't until like I be like walking became super duper easy, um, at all speeds that I started to add weight. And I just said to myself, you, you have to get healthy because you know at that time that I'm sitting there and I can't move my arm.
It's also in the back of my mind. I have one month to go before I'm in Italy and I wanna be able to walk and enjoy and carry my backpack and not have nagging injuries. So I decided at [00:18:00] that moment. That all I was gonna do was walk as my main form of exercise and wait, you would think that this is the happy ending, but I'm not.
I'm not done. I'm not done. I, I really should have taken you more on this process. I, um. I had to consult with more than just ai. Okay, so I decided to bring in my human design chart. Now, if you don't know what human design is, I'll give you a quick introduction to what it is. It's a holistic self-discovery system, and it blends elements from astrology, the Chinese.
I ch, I'm reading this right now, the Hindu Chakra System, Kabbalah and Quantum Physics, to create a unique blueprint of your personality, energy, and decision making style. It uses your birthdate and generates a chart called a body graph that visually [00:19:00] maps out your strengths, challenges, and how you best interact with the world.
Now it's essentially, it gives you like a practical roadmap for self-acceptance, personal growth, and um, it allows you to honor your individuality. So it might seem a little bit woo, okay, but this is where it really got interesting for me is that like, let me just tell you quick second, like. What human design is not, it's not a personality chart, like, it's not like a personality graph or test or anything like that.
It's, it's basically what I like to use it as is as kind of like probes me for self-awareness, helps me experiment. And honestly, the more I've been working with my chart, the more I see that it points me to the things that you know are there but you don't wanna look at. Um, [00:20:00] so I love self-awareness systems.
I mean, I wrote the book Be Weightless, like Your Body, love Yourself, all based on self-awareness systems and like, that's how I've always had success in my health and wellness. And I feel like I'm just at a point where it's a rollercoaster ride. Like I, I, I can't predict. What this next year or two, or three or four, it's gonna hold as I transition over to the other side of, you know, menopause.
And that's okay. Like I said, uh, earlier, like I don't feel broken. I don't feel like I'm struggling, but I do want to ensure that I'm not holding onto this fat and I'm breaking the patterns that are making it. Hold on. Because with all the activity and, and the fact that I eat well, you know, quite hopefully, most of the time I [00:21:00] don't feel like I feel like it should be releasing.
So what is going on, right? So anyways, I plug that in and it points to all the things that I had already validated a couple of months. Prior that I should be doing more pio and I, you know, I find out that I'm this projector type that doesn't have a lot of sustained energy. I find out that my, um, the way that I digest better is in a buzzing atmosphere.
So it's okay for me to. Eat and walk around. It's actually better from my digestive system. Um, you know, like just all these little intricate things. And that walking is actually the best thing, the best exercise for me. So now I feel like a little validated that I can let go of, of the fear of not doing it right, because I'm not lifting heavy [00:22:00] and I am, and, and if I'm saying I'm lifting heavy, it's my body because.
I find as though when I go looking for things, I see a lot of fitness influencers and leaders that do not look like me, and I feel like because I'm not following what they suggest, that's why I don't look like them. And when in fact. They're teaching what works for, like when you bring it out of the book, I did the book, I did the studying.
It's like a one size fits all, but it's not. It's not, and it never has been. So anyways, so that's where AI got very, very interesting is I'm able to now have conversations with it that bring in my human design chart. And, and, and I've also had lots of conversations with it. So I challenge it, I ask it, [00:23:00] is this a, which based on every, all the information that we've now talked about, because now this is, you know, a huge project and lots of information has come in and out.
Uh, you know, it's just getting to know me better and better. And is that like weird, you know, when you go into a doctor's office? And they grab your chart and they've looked at it for two seconds, and you know that you're discussing something on your chart, but they have no, I, you know, it's on your chart, but they have no idea about that, about you.
Well, I think that the benefits of AI is that it knows what's on it's, it knows what you've discussed. You don't have to continue to fill it in on that. But I, I don't think that it's the best. I don't know. I don't know. I think that maybe it's good, but I think that you should always add, ADD people, like, because it's going to continue to [00:24:00] give you bias.
So I'll get into the, like what the pros and cons are, what I've found in just a minute after I finish this long-ish story. So I get back from Italy and I'm feeling better than ever. Okay. But then. I decide, oh, again, having all this time on the plane to think about like what I'm gonna do with my fitness and health when I get back into my routine, walking has been great, but still in the back of my mind, my shoulder and everything feels good.
So I need a program again. So I go back into perplexity. And I'm like, help me make my program better. Like, like, let's, let's add a couple days of lifting, a couple days of PIO and, um, let's, let's make a, a new schedule. So we made the new schedule [00:25:00] and. When I got back from Italy, my HRV was way up. My body felt energetic, strong.
And then within about two weeks into this new program, everything was tanking and not feeling right, and I was gaining weight with no explanation unless it's like just delayed effect from gelato. But, you know, it just, again, it just didn't feel right. So. Here I am. I went back to perplexity. We created another program and I also, because this is where the human design comes in, I have a two four in my profile, meaning I do work nicely with people and I also have, my environment is, um, wide open valley, which means.
I love to be [00:26:00] in crowds, but I don't, I just love to watch people. But anyways, I'm honing into being more peopley because I find, as you know, I work from home and I just kind of get into my own, um, bubble. And my, interestingly enough, my profile is a two four, which suggests two is the hermit. Hilarious.
Right. And four is, um, your network, which, you know, I, I, I love people and people love me when I let them see me. It's crazy. I know. Okay. Alright now, so that's where I am now. So I started to go to, uh, deep restorative hot yoga once a week. And then the rest of my programs I decided to shed. Just let it all go.
No more body. I just, I just need [00:27:00] something fresh. And I created a program, um, that's based on yoga and it's, I'm doing it all through Peloton now. I know, but I had to like, I had to make a clean break from body for like my mindset because you know, if, if, if you're bringing in poor mindset. Or you're not letting go of what no longer serves.
It doesn't really do good for the mindset, which doesn't work for the workout. So.
I wanted to like really kind of nerd out and go deeper into like the connection between human design and health and wellness because I. Um, you know, I, of course the first thing I, I wanted to know is I, I wanted to know more. Like that's the part of the My Chart that I really wanted to dig into. So I started to like, uh, [00:28:00] design specific prompts to bring those specific things out.
And so the things that I, I, I wanted to know is like, um, you know, basically what's my best movement strategy, my atmosphere around it, my appetite type, um, you know, what's best for my digestion. Um, it because it does give you all of that information, and it doesn't mean like it's a steadfast rule, but it's an experimentation thing.
And honestly, the things that it's been pulling out of my chart, if I go back in retrospect, it's my behaviors and patterns that I was doing. At my healthiest and fittest self. However, I've had this conditioning for so long that being kind to myself, is not going to, um, create fat loss.
Isn't that crazy? [00:29:00] Uh, I've al I've, you know, and, and I tell others to do that, but as far as like taking that own advice for me, I've. I've had the conditioning that I feel as though I'm doing it wrong. If I'm not working hardcore. And there just comes a time, you know, where if if you're not doing recovery, you're not making gains.
And in a phase of life when we hit perimenopause and menopause, recovery is more important than the actual workout. And so if we're not doing that or we're ignoring that, or consistently taking everything the hard way, you'll end up like me where the fat is just sticking. And not that that's a horrible thing, not that I'm in the depths of despair.
But it, it really creates awareness for me [00:30:00] for like, um,
that I might not have all the answers. Uh, that what I did to get here is not what I'm going to do to get there. And if this isn't working anymore, then something's gotta change. Uh, which is why I brought in my human design chart. So I've been creating these specific prompts. And it's fun because I brought my husband's design in there and created him a whole plan.
And, um, I, I really wanna test this out with a, with a few people, uh, to see what comes up and what's experimented, because of course I'm gonna have confirmation bias, so. I, you know, I don't have that already for public to play with yet, but I think it's a good conversation to have because if you, if you're ever stuck with validating yourself or having belief in yourself, [00:31:00] um, you know, sometimes it's nice to have that third party.
Blueprint, if you will, to say, um, yeah, well your intuition is probably something worth experimenting with. So there's that. So bringing that into perplexity has really helped to streamline things a little bit more. And then also, of course, because we've been having the conversation for six months. So, yeah, so although nothing has happened yet, I'm feeling very optimistic about the future because I feel like I'm on this plan right now that works, and now I have to just stop overthinking because that's causing me to stress out, which is not allowing me to feel safe.
And so, I mean, I've said this before and it's been said to me before, is that like if you're trying to lose weight, you won't lose weight. [00:32:00] Like if you're trying to lose fat and you're trying so hard that that's all you think about, it's not going to release. You have to just be what you need to be, to have to live in a healthy body and an energetic body and everything else comes.
Right? Um, and, and if it doesn't, it might not happen and that's okay too because. All my blood work and everything is, is good. So let's get to the pros and cons of using AI for this. The pros of using AI for a fat loss plan. I think the pros are the fact that it's fun. Um, it's really, really nice to you. It gives you a biased opinion. It's always ready to cheer you on. Uh, it's little, um, toxic positivity, but it, if you do prompt it to challenge you. Or tell you the reasons [00:33:00] why you're not.
This is another thing I forgot to tell you about human design. I brought in my shadow chart, so all the things that like will knock me out so that my AI knows my trigger points and it's not as fun to have conversations with it because it challenges me on that because I've prompted it to say, you know, like.
What are the semi-truck that you see coming in the way that are gonna like, knock me outta the game that are a potential? And it's, it's kind of funny because you can like, oh, I see that. I see that. I see that. And, you know, woo, generic, placebo, whatever it is.
I say, if it's working, it's working. Another pro is that it's always there, it's always available. You can, you can tap into it anytime you need to adjust. I, I love that you can get specific [00:34:00] recipes, um, based on your macros like, and instructions on cooking fingertip. I love that. Um, and those, those are really all the pros.
The cons are, it's not a real person. Uh, and you know, it's, it's just giving you information that it's collected and so that makes it impossible for you to carve your own path because it's still, even though you're adding your human design, if you're doing that, even though you're adding your input and you're trying things and whatever, um, it's still based on all the information that's there.
So essentially you're, you're still doing someone else's. I think, right? Don't you think, I mean, that might be a conversation for another day is like, what is ai? It's the collective, right? I don't know. Um, another con is that, [00:35:00] um, it's not gonna do the work for you, and it will always tell you that it's okay that you didn't.
Uh, just get back up and do it tomorrow. And, you know, sometimes that's nice. Sometimes that's nice to hear, like if you legit need a day off, but other times, um, it's like, it's, it's another like, excuse pattern. Oh, well they're, they're patting me on the back anyways, so. Yeah, I don't know. I think it's a great conversation to have.
I know that there's some channels on YouTube that they talk about that they're using AI and having great success. And here's the thing I, I just want to say this before I close out today's show is, is that you know, when you're, when you're watching somebody else and they're having great success. With their plan.
There's so many different variables that go into that. [00:36:00] Um, and I was having a conversation with my chiropractor not too long ago and, uh, saying about how I don't understand why all this is happening to me. I wanna lose the fat so that I can lose the weight and, and have less stress on my joints and stuff because obviously my body is feeling this extra weight if everything is popping all over the place.
And, um, she's an athlete as well, and she said, you know, you're very active and you have been for a long, long time. And she said, so your body is used to it and it won't shed the weight because it knows what to do and knows how to hold onto it. So the longer you've been active, you can be fit and fat. Um.
And you can also be, you know, skinny fat as they would say, right? So, and you can be unfit and [00:37:00] lean, and you can be unfit and fat. A body is just a body, right? And don't beat yourself up if it's just wanting to hold onto a little bit more right now, because these are my words now. Evidently, it's keeping you safe and that's its job.
Is to keep you safe so that you can go out there and do these beautiful things that you need to do in the world. So that's another reason why I really highly promote walking. Honestly, it's the only thing that you can do. That pretty much ensures that you're getting, you know, you're, you're continuing with your bone density, you're continuing mobility, using your muscles.
Ultimately, you just gotta ask yourself, well, what for? And you know, personally, I, I add the yoga and the strength and the balance because I know those are gonna be really, really important as I age. Um, [00:38:00] they're important right now, honestly. And, uh, you know, when I have grandkids, I wanna be able to get up off the floor if I, you know.
Playing with them. So you gotta practice doing that. And, um, mobility matters. Uh, and it's also, um, lotion for, remember when I was talking about the, you know, the rubber bands and the ligaments getting really stretchy and, and keeps, keeps all that like, lubricated and, and working. I guess the last thing I would like to say is like when you're reading books and listening to influencers and they're telling you, you are wasting your time if you're not doing fill in the blank.
I spent enough time in retail sales to know that that's a sales tactic and what's out there is there's a lot of fear sales tactics out there of. [00:39:00] If you don't do it this way, you are doing it wrong. It's the same thing as if you don't buy today, the sale will be gone tomorrow. And what I'm saying is that you need to tune into you.
Um, don't worry that the sale will be gone tomorrow because that's living in a lack, lack mindset. Like it'll come around again because. That's what happens. So move your body, listen to your inti intuition and, uh, keep, keep having these conversations about, , if you enjoyed this podcast and you're listening on your earbuds, if you want to see it on.
YouTube, I upload it there and that's where we can have conversations. I'll make sure that the link is below in your podcast player where you can [00:40:00] go, come and see me on YouTube and you can join the conversation. In the comments. You can also see these podcasts and I'm, you know, talking to the camera, so it's like we're having a talk together.
You can put me in your earbuds when you go for a walk. Or you can actually listen to me in the background while you're cooking your dinner. Even on tv. I don't really like watching myself on tv, but I do sometimes. Anyways, that is all for now. Thank you for listening to this episode. I'd love to hear if it's stirred anything up in you.
I know it was a little bit longer than usual, but I feel like there's a lot to be said about this topic. Um. Of, you know, just being a mid-size woman, just wanting, um, health and, and not all the fluff or the necessity for, [00:41:00] um, just, it doesn't have to be hard. It doesn't have to be hard. Just be kinder to ourselves.
We've spent enough years being hard on ourselves. Alright, I'll see you again and we'll talk soon. Bye.
