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Welcome to The Figuring It Out Podcast.
At 22, I took the plunge to go on the entrepreneurial journey and start a fitness business, 7 years later I’d been the nutritionist for 2 elite sports clubs and private coach to some of the worlds best sportsmen and women.
Now it’s my mission to show fitness coaches how you can put yourself in a league of their own, become the go to coach, and finally eliminate the self-doubt and imposter syndrome that's holding you back from building the business of your dreams.
This podcast will help you figure out how to thrive and conquer the fear that comes with the lonely entrepreneurial journey.
If fear is the only thing stopping us from achieving our dreams and we only fear what we don't understand, then the antidote to fear is knowledge.
Speaker 2:All we have to do is find out who
Speaker 1:has the knowledge that we need to conquer our fears and achieve our entrepreneurial dreams. My name is Callum Walker, and welcome to the podcast that will help you figure it out and conquer this lonely entrepreneurial journey.
Speaker 2:Hello, everyone, and welcome to the podcast. I mean this is pretty cool. This is pretty cool because once again we've got another change in location. I'm actually in okay I'm not calling it a studio yet, but it's the workings of a studio. What am I talking to you about today?
Speaker 2:Now if you've been following me for a while, if you've followed the podcast for a while, you flick back, I did a series of podcast episodes on the importance of sleep. Whether you're a coach, whether you're running a business, it's huge. And for me, it really, really is from a performance perspective, probably the most important thing that I really try to nail and I value amongst everything else. Even though I'm a nutritionist, would say I value sleep optimisation more than what you're putting in your mouth. Now don't get me wrong, the kind of foods that you're eating will naturally impact your sleep.
Speaker 2:But I would also say if you're in a sleep deprived state, it is much harder to eat well. It is much harder to perform well. Life is just harder when you haven't slept. If we look at it in terms of running our business, it's harder to think clearer, it's harder to make more informed and powerful decisions. Oh, there we are, hello.
Speaker 2:It's just harder to execute tasks when you're in a sleep deprived state. Yeah, what is the purpose of today? Well, today I'm actually reviewing a supplement, A supplement. For those of you listening, I'm currently holding up a bag of a supplement called Awesome Sleep. So it is done by Awesome Supplements, is owned and run by Ben Kumar.
Speaker 2:So yeah, so why am I talking to you about this? So I just want you to know, I'm not being paid for this. I haven't been asked to go into this much detail, but if you know me, it is very rare that I recommend a supplement. The majority of supplements that you can buy, you literally are pissing your money away. And I wouldn't say that that is the case with this.
Speaker 2:So what is it and why am I talking about it? Well before I kinda go into that fully, I'm gonna be honest, I get hounded by people on a regular basis and I used to especially when I was associated with the sports clubs that I was a nutritionist at to take this supplement, oh, this is the latest and greatest supplement, this is amazing, this does this, this, this. And I'm gonna be real like after quite a while of hearing people say, this is the best supplement, this will do this and making amazing claims, You kind of tune out to it. I'm quite fortunate that in terms of the master's degree that I did at university, I actually studied under a professor called Professor Craig Sale, a huge expert in the supplement space. So I did my master's degree looking into beta alanine supplementation, creatine supplementation.
Speaker 2:If you don't know Professor Craig Sale's work, he did a lot of the original research on beta alanine, on creatine supplementation. It's probably why I don't actually have much of a fear of public speaking, know, because I remember I had to deliver a one hour lecture to Professor Craig Sale all on creativity quoting his research. Now that was fucking scary, that was scary. So yeah, so in terms of supplementation, I've been quite fortunate to learn from one of the best in academia as to what to actually look for in a supplement. So yeah, so this is why I kind of want to talk about this supplement.
Speaker 2:I think when sleep, it comes you know, I'm 100% like all in. I try and do everything that I possibly can to optimise my night's sleep. Sometimes I'm successful, sometimes I fail. I think one thing that is really important when it comes to optimising your sleep, is a mistake that I have made and occasionally continue to make, is to kind of get a little bit too intense around your sleep routine. You know, I'm sure you might have kind of experienced this, almost like I've kind of stressed myself out before trying to make sure that I'm doing this, I'm not doing that, I'm doing this, this and this to get a good night's sleep.
Speaker 2:And off the back of all of that thinking and all of that planning, I've then ended up excessively activating myself and then struggling to get to sleep. So the opposite of what I've actually tried to have happen has happened. So yes, one little sleep tip, just chill out, just chill out, mentally chill out, take the intensity away from I need to sleep really well, I need to sleep and just allow yourself to get to sleep. But anyway, I think once you've got yourself into a good sleep routine, there are definitely things that you can do to elevate your sleep. And I would definitely say that that supplement has done that for me.
Speaker 2:I actually reached out to Ben to try this supplement. I remember me and Ben kind of met up with each other just over a year ago with Fernando's. I won't reveal his order. My order of course, as always half chicken, extra hot, macho macho peas and I had some nuts and olives. Excellent, beautiful.
Speaker 2:But yeah, we met up with Fernando's and just had a conversation around what he was doing, where he was going with things and all this sort stuff. He kind of mentioned that he's got a supplement company and that just kind of caught my interest. So I was kind of like following him for a while and I saw that he was talking a lot about this new supplement. So again, awesome sleep, talking a lot about it. And it kinda seems that like the majority of his content was really around this supplement.
Speaker 2:Now, I think the one thing that I've really kind of noticed from following Ben for a while is that like, yeah, it is no nonsense. There's no, although of course, obviously it's his company. I think what's really kind of like cool from what I noticed anyway, was that it seems that it really, really is heavily invested in the quality of product. And again, that caught my interest. So anyway, I will put my hands up and be completely real here.
Speaker 2:When I saw that he was pushing a sleep supplement, I was pretty sceptical like I was, maybe it's just the scientist in me. I kind of went into looking at this new supplement trying to see all of the reasons why I'm like, nah, not necessarily. And I think fundamentally that is what science is supposed to be. It's about proving yourself wrong and actually finding out what is wrong with this specific thing. What is wrong with this theory as opposed to I'm gonna do everything to justify why this theory is right.
Speaker 2:So anyway, went online, had a look at his product and it was really interesting. I must say it was really interesting because normally when you're looking at, so just come looking at the label here. When you're looking at like ingredients, like each so long, like the list of ingredients is so long and there's loads of things that you just like, why have you put that in there? I don't understand why have you put that in there? Why have put that in there?
Speaker 2:And most of the time the supplements that are in there, but just kind of like flavour of the month ones put in there because someone's seen them online and the influencer said, this is what I take. But what was interesting was I looked at first of all, the number of ingredients and bear in mind this is a powder. Yeah, the number of ingredients was really low. So what we do first of all, check out on the Awesome Sleep website, look at the number of ingredients. It's really kind of low.
Speaker 2:And that caught my attention, that was really interesting. But then secondly, I think that the real thing that caught my interest was I was looking at the actual supplement list and I was like, okay, okay, okay, that's cool. Yeah. And specifically the ones that caught my interest were magnesium, L tryptophan, Montmorency cherry powder and then also chamomile extract, but specifically the Montmorency cherry and magnesium. Now, why did I find that interesting?
Speaker 2:I've worked at highest level of elite sport, I've been nutritionist at two elite sports clubs, I've worked with Premier League footballers, international cricketers, professional golfers, people who are operating at a very high level. Whether it was CEOs, business owners, and a lot of the time, one of the main challenges is sleep. But also a lot of the time you're travelling around. So I know a lot of the time when I was working with cricketers, they would go and play in Australia, they would go play in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, or even the other side, they go to The Caribbean. And one of the main challenges is that you're switching to another time zone and off the back of that, that can really kind of screw up your circadian rhythm.
Speaker 2:So what most people do is that they look to supplement with melatonin and again, like if you're not aware of what melatonin is to keep it really simple, the body naturally produces melatonin in response to darkness, okay. So when it is dark, naturally the eyes, which are basically just like the brain on the outside of the skull, detects the darkness that sends a signal to the brain to say, hey, it's dark now, it's dark, it is nighttime. So the brain is now aware that it is nighttime. So when the brain is aware that it's nighttime, that then drives up the production of this thing called melatonin. Now melatonin is a hormone.
Speaker 2:It's also known as the vampire hormone. It's known as a hormone that effectively will help you get to sleep. Melatonin doesn't necessarily send you to sleep. It effectively almost kind of like acts as like a switch in the body to turn off all of the processes that are really kind of ramping you up and, making you feel more activated. So kind of see it as like melatonin.
Speaker 2:It's almost like that it doesn't send you to sleep, but it's like going into your bedroom, getting ready to go to bed and turning the lights off. So when you turn the lights off, you're not necessarily going to immediately go to sleep, but it's a lot easier to go to sleep when the lights are off than when the lights are blaring. So it's almost kind of see it as melatonin is very much kind of preparing the body to start getting to sleep, getting it into the state ready to get to sleep. Why cherry? Why Montmorency cherry powder?
Speaker 2:So a lot of people will use melatonin as a supplement to overcome jet lag, to reset the circadian rhythm and really use it as a sleep aid to yeah, really kind of look to improve the quality of their sleep. But the challenge that you find with melatonin is that supplements are very different to drugs. Whereas a drug is regulated, it is controlled and what is on the label has to be on the label. Whereas with a supplement that regulation isn't necessarily there and melatonin is one of the ones that is notorious for it. Either it has heavily inflated the amounts that it claims to be in there and there's been very minimal amounts of melatonin in the supplement or there are excessive quantities of melatonin in the supplement and that can then be dangerous as well.
Speaker 2:Why a cherry? Well, what's interesting is that there is a specific type of cherry called the Montmorency cherry that has a high and consistent melatonin content. There's been some really cool research around this specific cherry, the Montmorency cherry and specifically in the form of lacquer juice. So it's a cool study that found that in people with insomnia, really, really struggling to get to sleep, that when they consumed thirty mil roughly of Montmorency cherry juice prior to going to bed, they actually slept eighty four minutes longer. Like that's ridiculous, eighty four minutes longer, that is mad.
Speaker 2:So yeah, so when I saw that the Montmorency cherry was in that supplement, I found that really interesting. But then secondly, there was also magnesium in there. I've been taking magnesium for a while. Naturally, it can really kind of calm us down and act as a sleep aid. And then also with tryptophan, tryptophan's an amino acid that can get converted into serotonin.
Speaker 2:That serotonin can kind of calm us down, but then also that can increase overall production of melatonin. So when I saw those ingredients, I found that really interesting. That caught my interest and I was like, want to kind of give this a try because also I think the thing that I do find to be additionally good about this. Previously to get my serotonin, which can be done through tryptophan, my melatonin through Montmorency cherry and to get my magnesium, I would have to take magnesium pills, I would have to take Montmorris tea cherry juice, and I would have to consume a kiwi because kiwi has a high serotonin content. So you'd have to do all three things.
Speaker 2:So what's really kind of cool and useful in this perspective is that I can get it in all three of those things in one powder. So one from a financial perspective, I think this bag's like £45. My magnesium tablets alone are like £40. The cherry juice is like £30. And I mean, spending a lot on kiwis.
Speaker 2:If I'm having a kiwi every single night for a month, that's £30. So all in all, that's like 150 pounds a month roughly. Look, I tell people what to eat, can't count. That's like £150 worth of stuff all in one go. And then also there was the inclusion of ashwagandha that has potentially been shown to decrease over cortisol levels, kind of chill you out.
Speaker 2:And there's some cool funky research being done around that. I think one of the first things that I liked the idea of before trying it was that it's an all in one kind of thing. And I look at the overall dosages. I was like, yeah, but research backed, research based. So I really liked it.
Speaker 2:I really liked it from a theoretical point of view. But again, you've been following me for a while or if you're coached and trained by me, you know that before I ever go and recommend any form of information, always go and apply it to myself. So, so yeah, so I got a bag and I tried it out. So I got the hot chocolate flavour. What happened?
Speaker 2:First of all, the biggest challenge that I would face with sleep has never been getting to sleep. I've never had a problem getting to sleep, but one of the challenges and difficulties I've found has been staying asleep. I'd wake up in the middle of the night and again, if you've been running your business for a while, you'd know this. Your mind sometimes can just be so active. Problem for me would be it'd be like two, 03:00 in the morning, I'd wake up whether I was almost like anxious about something that was going to happen or whether the universe or whatever you call it has given me the latest greatest idea and it has to give it to at 03:00 in the morning and then I'm spilling over that idea for about two, three hours.
Speaker 2:That then sends me to like 6AM. I finally then get to sleep, I then wake up and I feel like I've been hit by a bus. So even though I've kind of like done all of the right things to get to sleep, managed to get to sleep past their sleep and then I'm knackered and then off the back of being knackered that then changes what I to do for the day and it decreases my overall performance. Emotionally, it's more of a challenging day. It's harder to train, it's harder to perform.
Speaker 2:All of these specific things become more difficult. So that was the thing that I noticed the most more than anything. I'd be lying if I told you it has 100 stopped me waking up, it hasn't. So I would say that it hasn't been as frequent, but I think secondly, the more important thing is if I do wake up, I manage to get back to sleep significantly faster. So that two, three hour period where I'm rolling around mulling things over that isn't quite there and that's very interesting and that is insanely useful because again, I found that I am waking up and I'm not feeling like I've been hit by a bus.
Speaker 2:I definitely feel more refreshed. I definitely feel more energised. And again, I've been wearing a whoop for quite some time and I was interested to see the whoop data. Now, I'm always kind of like, not necessarily sceptical but I don't go, okay, right, this is 100% accurate but there has been a significant shift in my overall recovery score. There's been a significant shift in my overall quality of deep sleep.
Speaker 2:So by quality of deep sleep, mean almost kinda like duration of deep sleep, duration of REM sleep as well. And again, like you can kind of see that since I've kind of been taking it that the bouts in which I would normally be awake have significantly decreased. So that has definitely had a big impact. So first of all, from like a personal feeling, I definitely feel more refreshed, more energised in the morning. If I do wake up, it's not as long, it's not as restless.
Speaker 2:I wake up then off the back of that feeling refreshed, more rejuvenated. It hasn't 100% stopped it completely, but I think that is more of like, you know, again on my part, just continuing almost like the journey from a mindfulness perspective, which, you know, which naturally will kind of aid that but there's definitely a significant impact on that. And then you kind of look at like the data, you then tie that in with the fact that my whoop scores in terms of recovery and heart rate variability have significantly improved. And again, is like in line with the time period when I first started taking it. And do you know the other thing?
Speaker 2:And this is gonna sound silly and this kind of like, it's not silly actually because remember what is the most powerful supplement? The most powerful supplement amongst all supplements that is reliable, more powerful than anything and more consistent is placebo. I'm not saying this is because of placebo effect, but what I like is that it's a hot chocolate. Okay, so this is gonna sound really silly, but there's just something nice about, you know I'm very low carb, okay, so I kind of can't have a normal hot chocolate to go to sleep. I can't have cocoa before going to sleep because of the caffeine.
Speaker 2:So there's something really nice about, so this is low carb, the very low sugar content. There's something really nice about me and my partner because we've both been taking it. But it's something nice about just sat there in pajamas, having a hot chocolate together and you're sipping on a hot chocolate just before you go to bed. Almost kind of like makes you send you back to when you were a child and it's almost like, so I remember my nanny granddad, they would always have a cup of cocoa before going to bed. And there's just something nice about the fact that it's hot.
Speaker 2:It's an excellent flavour as well. It really, really is an excellent flavour and there's just something really nice, something mellow and really, yeah, just kind of like makes you feel like I am winding down. We've just moved house, we've got our own little cottage now and it's really cozy, it's around Christmas right now. We've got the Christmas tree, you know, we're having a little chat and there's just something really nice about having a hot mug of hot chocolate that's low carb that isn't going to impact my sleep in a negative way but actually it's going to impact it in a positive way and I think that you can't underestimate that in itself. I would purchase that as a low carb hot chocolate on its own if that's anything regardless of the sleep stuff.
Speaker 2:So yeah, so one thing I would say though, so again, I'm not gonna be all 100% positive and this is the world's most amazing thing. It's an excellent supplement, I would definitely recommend it. And again, if you've been following me for a while, if you've worked with me for a while, I very rarely recommend supplements like I very, very rarely do at all. But this is something on my list that I would, I'm going to continue to use it, absolutely. Like I said, I'm not being paid to do this, but I like it.
Speaker 2:But one thing I would just say is I wouldn't say negative but maybe just something that I would maybe consider is, so yes, so on the packet it says have between one hundred and fifty and two hundred mil before going to bed. Just a bit too thick for me, that's a bit too thick. So yeah, I've increased the overall kind of water content of that from a palatability point of view and then what I have to do is put like a little bit of milk in there just to kinda add for the flavour. So in terms of like the consistency with that amount and I understand probably why it's like limited to one hundred and fifty to two hundred mil because you don't wanna take on too much fluid prior to going to bed. That can then cause us to kinda wake up throughout the night but the problem I do kinda find is just that it's a bit too thick in that sort of dosage.
Speaker 2:So really simple, can just increase the overall kind of water content, which I have done but it's probably just a little bit too much fluid that I would like to kind of take on at that time of night but that's just my personal preference. All in all, if I was to give it a score out of 10, and do know what, I'm not gonna give it a score out of 10 because that's that's something to do at school and I didn't like school. All in all, think that the way in which I can really kind of measure my thoughts on this product is I like it. I like it, it has helped me definitely. My partner has definitely noticed a change as well and yeah, I'd highly recommend it.
Speaker 2:And again, you know and buy highly recommend it. I would use it if I was still fully coaching from a nutritional point of view. I would definitely be recommending this to all of the coaches who are on my programme to recommend onto their clients. And I am someone who doesn't like to attach their name to something that is a low in quality. And for me, I happily, happily would recommend this.
Speaker 2:I would happily continue to share this with other individuals as well. Yeah, so first of all, Ben very much for allowing me to try it out. If you're listening to this, definitely give it a try. It's called Awesome Sleep. I'll put a link below.
Speaker 2:And all in all, that wraps up our first episode in the new studio. And I believe this is probably the longest episode that I have done, but that just shows you how cool it is being in the new studio. So my project really, really is to like to make this thing really look cool. So yeah, so we've got the camera, we've got some lighting, gonna improve the lighting even more and just make this awesome. There was no pun intended there because of it being awesome supplements.
Speaker 2:But yeah, really like it. Thank you very much Ben. Never forget if every single one of your clients get into one new client, you have doubled your business.