World-Renowned Personal Trainer: How To Lose Fat, Build Muscle and Improve Your Mental Health | Senada Greca

Get my new book Make Money Easy here! Get ready for an incredibly raw and inspiring conversation with fitness phenomenon Seneda Greca. From immigrating to America as a teenager and battling eating disorders to becoming one of the most influential figures in women's strength training, Seneda opens up about her remarkable journey of transformation. As Kim Kardashian's personal trainer and the founder of the WeRise app, she's revolutionizing how women approach fitness by championing strength over aesthetics. Her powerful message about building muscle for longevity and mental health, rather than just appearance, is reshaping the conversation around women's fitness. This episode dives deep into personal growth, overcoming body image issues, and finding purpose through empowering others. Check out Senada's WeRise app and get 25% off! In this episode you will learn:Why building muscle mass is crucial for women's long-term health and longevity, especially after age 40How strength training can be a powerful tool for managing depression and anxiety naturallyThe importance of making the process your goal rather than focusing solely on aesthetic resultsWhy tracking weight daily can be detrimental to mental health and progressHow to shift from viewing food as the enemy to seeing it as fuel for strength and performanceFor more information go to https://www.lewishowes.com/1717For more Greatness text PODCAST to +1 (614) 350-3960More SOG episodes we think you’ll love:Gabrielle Lyon – greatness.lnk.to/1267SCDr. Mark Hyman – greatness.lnk.to/1695SCChris Bumstead – greatness.lnk.to/1602SC Get more from Lewis! Get my New York Times Bestselling book, Make Money Easy! Get The Greatness Mindset audiobook on SpotifyText Lewis AIYouTubeInstagramWebsiteTiktokFacebookX

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Lewis Howes?

  My friend, welcome back to another episode of the School of Greatness. I am excited. We have Senada Greca, who is Kim Kardashian's personal fitness and health trainer. And this is just not another episode about how to start off the new year with healthy habits. This is about how to really rewire your thinking around your body, your health, and your mental fitness altogether. You're about to listen to a very raw and inspiring conversation with Senada Greca. She immigrated to America as a teenager. She battled eating disorders to become one of the most influential figures in women's strength training. And she opens up about her remarkable journey of transformation.

• 0:43Lewis Howes?

  The struggles she faced as a teenager in her young twenties to where she is now with physical training, mental training, health and wellness. And as Kim Kardashian's personal trainer and the founder of the We Rise Up, she's revolutionizing how women approach fitness by championing strength over aesthetics. And this is a big challenge for a lot of men and women today. With social media and everyone filtering their photos and just posting six-pack abs or these perfect shapes of bodies, it's hard to not feel insecure. It's hard to not feel shameful about your own body when you see other people who just seem to have it all put together.

• 1:25Lewis Howes?

  And it feels like no matter how hard you try, you're never going to get the results you want in your physical aesthetics. I've been there. I've struggled with weight and my nutrition and health and wellness as a former professional athlete to then just consuming, you know, thousands and thousands of excess calories after retiring from playing sports and gaining a lot of weight to then trying to retrain, but still eating a ton of calories, to being addicted to sugar, to all these different things that I've struggled with. It's challenging. It's challenging for anyone of any type of background, especially if you're in social media at all and you see people posting stuff that just seems like,

• 2:09Lewis Howes?

  man, these people have either extreme genetics or they've just figured out the health and wellness hack and I haven't, right? It's just this kind of comparison, shaming thing that might happen over and over. And if that's resonating with you, if that speaks to you in any way, then please let me know over on Instagram or anywhere on social media. Let me know if that speaks to you because it's a challenge. I get it. And there almost needs to be a way where you rewire your identity. You shift your identity and it has taken me years to learn this process and it doesn't mean I'm perfect all the time, but it has taken me a long time to create a new identity with food, to create a new identity with training and to do it from a place where I'm not obsessive

• 2:53Lewis Howes?

  over needing to look a certain way, but I've set standards for myself and boundaries for myself to set myself up for success. And I think you've got to figure out whatever's best for you. In today's episode, her powerful message about building muscle for longevity and mental health rather than just appearance is reshaping the conversation around fitness, specifically for women in general, who've always thought about not weight training because it's going to make them look bulky. They don't want to have big arms or big shoulders or things like that. They don't want to look, you know, too masculine. And there are so many different experts we've had on, menopause experts as well, who are saying, I wish I would have done more strength training

• 3:34Lewis Howes?

  when I was younger. I wish I would have built muscle when I was younger because it, it helps more than just physical appearance. It helps longevity and mental health. And that's what I think we need to be focused on. How can we have the best mental and emotional health possible in 2025 and beyond? How can we weather any storm that comes our way? How can we weather relationship challenges, career challenges, you know, family issues? How can we weather political challenges? How can we emotionally and mentally prepare ourselves for any challenge that's to come?

• 4:09Lewis Howes?

  So that we feel more equipped to take on the challenges of life. That's what this is about. And in the process of doing that, of building muscle for longevity and mental health, you're going to look great naked. And that's fun, too. You're going to look great with your shirt off or naked in the mirror or with your partner. It's like, hey, you're going to feel more confident. You're going to feel more secure with yourself because you don't have shame around your body as well. And I want you to feel loved this year and beyond. I want you to feel like you fully accept yourself. I want you to feel like you, you deserve to receive all that you want to receive this year and beyond. And I truly believe that when you just set different standards for yourself,

• 4:50Lewis Howes?

  and again, not extreme yo-yo dieting or extreme kind of weird eating disorders, but just standards and boundaries around how you eat and how you move. You're going to feel more in control and responsible for your life. So this episode dives deep into personal growth, overcoming body issue, uh, challenges, and finding purpose through empowering others. If you're loving this and you're enjoying this episode, please share this with one or two friends. Just copy and paste the link over on Apple Podcasts or Spotify or wherever you're listening. Copy the link, text one or two friends and have them share with you their biggest takeaway as well.

• 5:31Lewis Howes?

  Leave me a review over on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and let me know your biggest takeaway from this episode. It would mean a lot to me. Click the follow button over there as well. And again, I'm so grateful for you for being a part of this community with the School of Greatness. And let's dive into this episode right now. Welcome back everyone to the School of Greatness. Very excited about our guest. We have the inspiring Sonic Racket in the house. So good to see you and congrats on everything.

• 5:56Speaker 01

  Thank you so much. It's a pleasure being here and for having me.

• 5:59Lewis Howes?

  I've seen you, I've seen you just kind of like take over the Instagram feed, you know, and the explore page for years of your content of just inspiring and empowering women to see what's possible for their health, their bodies, and their, their, really their strength and to show what is possible. You've been an inspiration for so many women around the world. You reach millions of women and lots of people on a daily basis. And um, but it wasn't always that way for you, it seems like. I've, you know, read some of your backstory. You, you deal with some, some challenges, some anxieties, some depressions, some body issue challenges as well. What would you say were the main challenges you faced either earlier in your life or your teen years?

• 6:44Lewis Howes?

  Before you got into a healthy body image and healthy lifestyle for yourself? What were the main challenges you faced?

• 6:52Speaker 01

  Yeah, of course, yeah. Well, so coming into the United States um as a teenager um presented a lot of issues with fitting in. And I think that was kind of the first, if you wanna say foreign to like the, the issues that started at that point is how does this foreigner um fit in and, and integrate? And look like, you know, the other, the other kids in the popular, so I think that's where.

• 7:26Lewis Howes?

  Did you speak English too or no?

• 7:27Speaker 01

  I, I was an English speaker at the time. I'd taken private courses back in Albania and, you know, in, in preparation of like either coming to the States or it's like the main uh foreign language at the time uh in Albania. So started on that path. And the opportunity presented itself for my family to come here by winning the lottery and the green cards. So we're like legal, basically um. It is instantly, pretty much, which was super fortunate to be able to come here at a time of unrest in Albania. Civil wars and um just a chaotic atmosphere. So it was great to escape that and be able to come legally into the United States.

• 8:11Speaker 01

  But that presented the issues of like now, okay, I'm a teenager in a new country with new challenges. And on top of that, I was the only English speaking person in my family to. So now I had to carry the load.

• 8:25Lewis Howes?

  Wow, you could translate everything.

• 8:27Speaker 01

  Yeah, I had to translate everything. I had to basically become a parent.

• 8:31Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, go get a grocery store and ask questions.

• 8:33Speaker 01

  Yeah, go to the doctor's office when my parents go to whatever office. Go fill out paperwork. To this day, I don't wanna fill out paperwork. I'm so traumatized by. By by that at an early age um and you know, but it had to it it had to be done. It fell on my shoulders and that I I believe coupled with again being a teenager in a new country, trying to fit in. So that's where depression, anxiety, and even an eating disorder came to the surface.

• 9:05Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 9:05Speaker 01

  Eating disorder, wanting to fit in, depression, anxiety, because there was so much uh of an overload of, you know, my day to day school things and then family um issues that I had to help with.

• 9:20Speaker 01

  And coupled, I found out later in life that I have a genetic predisposition to anxiety and depression.

• 9:26Lewis Howes?

  Interesting.

• 9:26Speaker 01

  So that was a a a more recent revelation, even though I've known because my my mom has dealt with it and hearing from her, my grandfather has dealt with it. So you kind of create that that link that it has existed. Um thus I'm experiencing it, but then to kind of know from genetic testing that wow, I am predisposed to all of these things. And now how do I work through them? Um yeah, so that was kind of the backstory, coming to the country and and kind of experiencing some of those issues that then led me to where I am today.

• 10:03Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 10:04Speaker 01

  The desire to combat those in a natural way and not saying that I did I did take antidepressants, like I was um on medication to help with that, but it never gave me the relief or the uh long term relief that that that I needed.

• 10:23Lewis Howes?

  You knew it wasn't the long term solution.

• 10:25Speaker 01

  It wasn't the long term solution. It was just a cover up of the symptoms, but how, you know, I always think of with anything, like if it gets taken off the market, if suddenly you don't have no access to pharmacies or how are you? innately going to deal with these issues. So I'm always for start with the things that you're able to do and achieve in a natural way by yourself. And if you need, I'm not against pharmaceuticals and obviously not against therapy, but can you start with the basics? Or can you utilize them in conjunction with each other? And then hopefully it'll carry you to a point where you're able to maybe back off

• 11:06Speaker 01

  from pharmaceuticals because there it is known that they have side effects. And what is the side effect of exercise and eating healthy? None, really. It's actually just benefits from it.

• 11:18Lewis Howes?

  Wow. So. How long, you know, since you moved to the country, um, you had this kind of emotional weight that you had to carry with the family, also fitting in at school. Where, what state were you living in? What city?

• 11:31Speaker 01

  New York, upstate New York.

• 11:33Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. So you're trying to fit into a school in New York, a new culture, um, different type of, I guess, girls and how they communicate versus what you're used to. In Albania, you're also getting into puberty. All these different things are happening all at the same time.

• 11:48Speaker 01

  Same time.

• 11:49Lewis Howes?

  When did you realize like you had signs of a eating disorder? And how long did it take until you were able to break that kind of that habit?

• 12:01Speaker 01

  It was, you know, when you have an eating disorder, you're blind to it. Right? It's more the people that are outside of you that that notice it. So it was teachers and parents that that started noticing it, that I was losing weight drastically. But when you have this body dysmorphia, you could be the thinnest that you've ever been, that you could possibly be that, you know, you're risking serious health problems. You don't see yourself as that.

• 12:27Lewis Howes?

  Really? When you look in the mirror.

• 12:29Speaker 01

  In the mirror, you see, you know, I'm fat, I'm big, I'm this, I'm that. You're just like. The most negative, you're breaking yourself down, you're just don't think that because you're you're you have such advanced body dysmorphia and looking at yourself from a different lens that you don't recognize that.

• 12:49Lewis Howes?

  What do you think is the main cause of body dysmorphia for most people? Is it an emotional trauma? Is it a hyper criticism they get from parents or peers? Is it a pressure from seeing marketing in society that like, oh, I'm not enough and so I need to become like that thing? What is the main cause?

• 13:07Speaker 01

  I think it's a combination of all of what you mentioned. It's hypercritical parents. I love you, mom, but she, if I didn't get like the highest grade in class, if I wasn't first in class, you know, if you're not first, you're last, kind of mentality, which comes with amazing side benefits when it comes to drive and achieving and overachieving in life, but it comes with a huge weight on your shoulders to be the best. And that is not always required to be successful, to be the best, to live the best. So I think it's a combination of all those things. I think there is the societal pressures that that weigh on on young people that are in their formative aid, in their formative formative years.

• 13:52Speaker 01

  And yeah, the comparison of of unrealistic beauty. And for me at the time was all of those factors as well as trying to figure out how to fit in in a new place, new country, new culture. You know, trying to control something that felt controllable in months uncontrollable, an uncontrollable situation.

• 14:16Lewis Howes?

  So is that is that a common theme that you've heard from other women that have had, you know, an eating disorder or body dysmorphia in the past that they felt out of control? And the way to feel a sense of control is with your body or with foods?

• 14:30Speaker 01

  It is one of the main things that leads to that is trying to control something that feels controllable in your life.

• 14:36Lewis Howes?

  Because you can't control anything around you, but you can control.

• 14:38Speaker 01

  Exactly, control, yeah.

• 14:39Lewis Howes?

  Interesting. So how long did it take until you started to, I guess, teachers were telling you or peers or friends or family? But when did you start to say, oh, yes, this is a problem I need to take care of?

• 14:52Speaker 01

  It it it took a couple of years. It took a couple of years and and therapists and um being prevented from being in sports because sports was something that I was really interested in. So I was stopped from be from participating.

• 15:06Lewis Howes?

  Really? Cause you got so skinny.

• 15:08Speaker 01

  Because I got so skinny and unhealthy that um that yeah, that was kind of one of the the beginning sort of wake up calls that, you know, I couldn't do one of the things that I absolutely loved. Um but but again, like that voice of like, you know, you're just, you don't look, the way that you're supposed to look like persisted for for a while, for a few years. And then um I was utilizing working out again while understanding the hey, you have to nourish yourself. So I started to increase the caloric intake, but still not to the degree that was needed. And then trying to uh outweigh that.

• 15:50Lewis Howes?

  With working out?

• 15:51Speaker 01

  Working out.

• 15:51Lewis Howes?

  Still so you're negating that. Really? So what was the caloric intake that you would take? If you could, you know, guess? At the times where you were at your lowest with body dysmorphia or or eating disorder?

• 16:05Speaker 01

  Anorexia.

• 16:06Lewis Howes?

  Anorexia.

• 16:07Speaker 01

  Anorexia.

• 16:07Lewis Howes?

  With anorexia, what was what did you think?

• 16:09Speaker 01

  It was very minimal and I don't want to because I don't want to influence anybody to even consider doing anything like that because it was very unhealthy, but uh it was it was very minimal.

• 16:19Lewis Howes?

  Like under a thousand calories a day or?

• 16:21Speaker 01

  Way less.

• 16:22Lewis Howes?

  Like a few hundred calories a day?

• 16:24Speaker 01

  A few hundred calories.

• 16:25Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 16:26Speaker 01

  Very unhealthy, very unhealthy.

• 16:28Lewis Howes?

  What it when someone a woman thinks I want to eat less because I want to lose weight today? Maybe they don't have body dys- uh dysmorphia or anorexia or eating disorder order. But they're just thinking, I want to lose weight and so I'm going to go into extreme calorie deficit. What is happening to a woman's body when they for long periods of time do a thousand calories or less or five hundred calories or less a day? I'm not talking about like

• 16:55Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 16:55Lewis Howes?

  twenty four hour fasting here and there, but just like. Long periods of time, what happens to a woman's body?

• 17:00Speaker 01

  Yeah, your body goes into a shutdown mode, basically. So your hormones start to go off their regular cycle. Your body, yeah, literally goes into shutdown mode because now it needs to protect what it has and not produce the unnecessary things that a normal functioning body would require. So you start, you know, losing your period. You start losing hair. So basically, it's just your body shedding all what it considers to be unnecessary functions. Yeah, even though they're super necessary, but like to the basic survival.

• 17:44Lewis Howes?

  Preserve energy.

• 17:45Speaker 01

  Preserve, to preserve like the basic, super basic needs of a human. It starts to shut down all of those, all of those other functions of the body. Yeah, I did, I did, I did, at that point, I did lose my, my, my period.

• 18:01Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 18:01Speaker 01

  And then I had to, yeah, work on, on gaining it back.

• 18:06Lewis Howes?

  How long did it take to kind of gain back your normal hormone function or?

• 18:10Speaker 01

  It wasn't that long. It was within like a year, if I remember correctly, it was a long time ago.

• 18:15Lewis Howes?

  Still, wow.

• 18:16Speaker 01

  But, but, yeah, no laughing matter because it is, it is an important part of, of being healthy, physically and mentally.

• 18:27Lewis Howes?

  Hundred percent. Where is the, where is the level of self-love? Like, how much self-love did you have during that season of life? And, and I don't want to speak for other women or other men who have maybe are going through anorexia, but where does that typically seem to be or where is that for you? Did you have a low self-esteem and low level of self-love? And then, how did you learn to believe in self, love self, to kind of course correct?

• 19:00Speaker 01

  Yeah, I mean, I think there is almost like no self-love. Because if you, if, if I were to have any self-love, I wouldn't do that to myself, right? Because now you're basing your self-love and self-esteem on an image that you can't even see clearly. So if you can't see yourself or who you are, and you're wanting to diminish that image, there, I, I would say that there was no, there was almost no self-love. Because you don't have a, a clear image of yourself. And you're focusing that love on an idealistic image that's outside of you.

• 19:40Lewis Howes?

  A perfect image that you can't attain.

• 19:41Speaker 01

  Outside of you, that you can't attain. You, and you could attain it, but in your eyes, you know, like you're saying, let's say you're, you've lost a certain amount of weight, but you're still not able to see that. You're still, that's why it's like that. You're never able to grasp for that image, because you're not able to see yourself realistically.

• 20:02Lewis Howes?

  So you had very little self-love at that season, right?

• 20:06Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 20:07Lewis Howes?

  When did you start to have a lot of self-love? And self-compassion, and see yourself differently, to treat yourself differently?

• 20:15Speaker 01

  I mean, I wasn't, I was doing all these things. I was trying to be the thinnest that I possibly could, and I still wasn't happy. So there was like a, you know, a miscommunication there between like, you're, you, you know, you're gonna be happy, you're gonna be satisfied when you're this weight. And that wasn't happening. And I was constantly depressed and not happy. So then, that came into question, like where, when, how are we gonna do this? Like, how are you gonna reach that level of happiness? Because obviously, this is not working. So then, I did, um, a turning point for me was when I saw a physician, a primary care physician, that she was running marathons. And she was running, and she was like, I think in her 50s, and running one,

• 20:59Speaker 01

  I don't wanna exaggerate and say every month, but it was at least every three months she was running a marathon.

• 21:03Lewis Howes?

  Consistently, yeah.

• 21:04Speaker 01

  Consistently, so.

• 21:06Speaker 01

  She she got me into running, into working out for the right reasons, for that mental aspect and and started to shift nurturing my body to fuel the runs and to fuel the working out. So that was like the first shift.

• 21:22Lewis Howes?

  You're like, what seventeen, eighteen, nineteen around this time?

• 21:23Speaker 01

  I was like early twenties, yeah, early twenties, yeah. During that whole period from like fifteen to to twenty, early twenties, it was a struggle of like a push and pull of wanting to look a certain way and dieting and overworking out and and just trying to like, you know, I went from, actually, I went from under eating anorexia to like binge eating. I never did fully go into like bulimia, but like I did struggle with those two extremes. Because it's, you know, you're you're you can only take so much when you're constricting, constricting, constriction, and then you're going to go the opposite way.

• 22:02Lewis Howes?

  You need to like, yeah.

• 22:03Speaker 01

  Yes, exactly.

• 22:04Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 22:05Speaker 01

  Um, it was that and it was actually a cousin to also saying that's not like you're not like really leaning into one of the joys of life, which is eating and experiencing, you know, the food that you're eating and your your constant thinking is around what I should be eating, should not be eating, so I don't gain weight versus sitting with what you're eating and and enjoyment of it.

• 22:30Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 22:31Speaker 01

  So that was kind of a little bit of a lightbulb moment, that eating doesn't have to be like such a chore, such a, you know, a weighing factor, but more of a joy of life and enjoyment. And I know nowadays that we've, there's so much information out there and so much stress around like eating, what to eat, when to not eat, fruit is suddenly uh controversial. I'm like, really? Um, so it just, you know, taking it back to the basics, you know, and going back to have food is actually a a a joy of life.

• 23:10Speaker 01

  Yes, it feeds our ability to function, but it's also, at least for me, um, joy, you know.

• 23:17Lewis Howes?

  That's beautiful. When did you start to feel like, oh, I've I've started to got these things under control? My perception of myself, my my weight, my food, my my working out, I'm not too extreme in one way. I have a good sense of self, self-image, and I feel like I'm in a consistent, healthy place. What years was that?

• 23:39Speaker 01

  I mean, in my early twenties, it was when I started to make that shift. I um, um, if I can remember the book that overcoming overeating, because that's what I was doing at that point, which is this one and the same, kind of, you're just not restricting. You know, you're or you are restricting because you are thinking this food is good, this is bad. And now you're maybe overeating the things that you think they're good. But nothing should be in excess, right? So that was kind of a turning point in my early twenties. I was I was realizing that I could eat, nourish my body, and then and and get the physical activity that I needed

• 24:20Speaker 01

  and be in a stable uh, physical weight and and function properly, right? And um, I think it was then

• 24:31Speaker 01

  later on in in my early thirties that I shifted from cardio and running and marathoning to more weightlifting.

• 24:40Lewis Howes?

  Interesting. So for almost a so for almost a decade, you were like cardio, running. Yeah. That's a lifestyle. What did your body, I mean, not that we should focus on body image, but what was your body, what did your body look like in your twenties then? When you were in cardio mode, running did long distances versus weight training, lifting mode?

• 25:00Speaker 01

  It shifted. That's interesting because I was doing cardio and and that during like my twenties and my weight would drastically shift. You know, so I would go into being super thin if I was running, if I was training for a marathon, then not a lot of muscle definition to then when I was not training as hard, kind of being a little bit rounder and softer. But then, when I started the strength train, I've never been so consistent in in how I looked and how I feel and how I feel looked, look.

• 25:34Lewis Howes?

  What is the

• 25:35Speaker 01

  It's been years of like actually being super consistent and and the physical aspect then.

• 25:40Lewis Howes?

  What is the difference that you feel emotionally? Spiritually, psychologically, between you know, almost a decade of cardio training mostly versus years of strength training.

• 25:53Speaker 01

  Yeah, there's a draining aspect with that much cardio. And while you can look a certain way, that maybe the society thinks that it's, you know, feminine, thin, and not a ton of muscle definition. But when I shifted into strength training, I leaned into my confidence and my self-esteem like skyrocketed.

• 26:17Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 26:18Speaker 01

  Because that's where you step into your power, into your true strength and occupy space and utilize what you're born with. You're born to have muscle definition. Otherwise, it wouldn't be, it wouldn't be there, the ability to do so. So when I fully leaned into that, it just completely shifted my self-confidence, the way I looked at myself.

• 26:46Speaker 01

  Bummed from, I'm not thin enough, you know, I don't look thin enough to like,

• 26:52Speaker 01

  I want to look as strong as I possibly can. I want to develop as much muscle as I possibly can. And then, you know, we can talk about that too, like and how that feeds into, to health and longevity.

• 27:04Lewis Howes?

  Sure. I mean, there's been a huge wave of research and science and people like Dr. Gabrielle Lyon and Dr. Mary Claire, who are talking about the importance of protein, specifically for women.

• 27:20Speaker 01

  Absolutely.

• 27:20Lewis Howes?

  Protein and muscle building.

• 27:23Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 27:23Lewis Howes?

  For health, for longevity, for also managing kind of the menopause phase of being a woman and just like being able to navigate that with more balance, I guess. And it seems like in the last year or two, that has been the primary focus of many. Female experts speaking to women like start building muscle.

• 27:47Speaker 01

  Absolutely.

• 27:48Lewis Howes?

  But I don't feel like I ever heard that before because a lot of women don't want to look bulky. They don't want like too strong or too muscular or less feminine. So how have you learned to navigate the psychology of you going from what society or what maybe you thought was a more feminine, skinnier look for a decade of cardio versus a more strong feminine look in these past years? How have you navigated that when maybe society says a lot of women say, well, I don't want to look bulky or strong.

• 28:20Speaker 01

  For sure. Yeah. I do get that comment a lot.

• 28:25Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 28:25Speaker 01

  Or I have, um, not a lot. I should not say that. I, every so often there will be a comment of like too masculine or, you know, things like that. And then, and it doesn't bother me honestly, because it's, that person's perspective of me and that's not my perspective that I have of myself.

• 28:42Lewis Howes?

  That's great.

• 28:44Speaker 01

  And how I made that shift was organically because I know what feeling that, that gave to me. Like I know how I feel when I lift, when I feel stronger versus when I try to diet myself to my skinniest version. I didn't love myself at that time. I did not feel strong. I felt weak. I felt frail. Versus now I feel strong. I feel confident. I feel, I almost say invisible. But there's points. Yeah. When, you know, it's like that when you, when you do lift and when you're pushing yourself that you do feel invisible.

• 29:23Lewis Howes?

  Feel unstoppable. Like I could take on anything.

• 29:25Speaker 01

  Exactly. Exactly.

• 29:27Lewis Howes?

  You didn't feel that all the time when you were in the cardio world?

• 29:30Speaker 01

  No, not really. I mean, you do get some endorphins from running. You do feel some of those good, good feeling. Endorphins on your run, the runner's highs, real. Not in the same fashion, I would say, not in the same fashion. It's not strength. Yeah.

• 29:46Lewis Howes?

  It's, it's endurance.

• 29:48Speaker 01

  Exactly.

• 29:49Lewis Howes?

  Right? You can run long distances and there is strength in endurance.

• 29:52Speaker 01

  Absolutely. Absolutely.

• 29:53Lewis Howes?

  There is confidence in that and overcoming hard things, but it's not as strong as muscle.

• 29:59Speaker 01

  And at the end of the day, yes, you can get those similar sentiments from a lot of modalities from.

• 30:07Speaker 01

  Cardio from running or from strength training or from Pilates or yoga, whatever you know that does it for you. But for me, I think of lon- longevity, it's come to that point where I'm like quality life, quality longevity, being able to live uh unassisted when you you're you're you're later years in in the seventies, eighties, nineties hopefully.

• 30:35Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 30:35Speaker 01

  And beyond.

• 30:36Lewis Howes?

  The commercial that I remember seeing a lot in the, I guess, nineties on TV was I've fallen and I can't get up.

• 30:45Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 30:46Lewis Howes?

  You see all these like old grandparents, grandma, grandma pa on TV who are like, I've fallen and I can't get up. Cause they literally fell over and they can't push themselves off the ground. They don't have the muscle strength to just stand up. And it's so funny. You don't think about it as a kid. You're like, oh yeah, I can get up. But when you're older, if you don't build muscle in your youth, it's gonna be so much harder to build it when you're older.

• 31:12Speaker 01

  Absolutely.

• 31:13Lewis Howes?

  Do you know this? Do you know any of the research out there about how much harder it is to build muscle after forty, fifty, sixty years old versus before?

• 31:22Speaker 01

  I think in it's different for men than women and in some situations to the higher end, it's almost what men are almost twice as as uh able as women to build muscle. So I think for women, it's even more important to try to build that muscle when you can. Um, I think it's so funny cause I wrote the

• 31:48Speaker 01

  I think in the um, I'm like, I'm not gonna remember all of it.

• 31:52Lewis Howes?

  What's you got? What's the stat? What's it say?

• 31:54Speaker 01

  For if you're going to like your forties, it's basically two uh point two, two point seven pounds of muscle per month and then double and then two point four to eight point four per year. So like on the high, on the low end is two pounds per year, eight pounds per year. If you're.

• 32:17Speaker 01

  Going after it, like true intense maximal strength training.

• 32:22Lewis Howes?

  You should try to be gaining two pounds of muscle per year.

• 32:25Speaker 01

  That's your ability.

• 32:26Lewis Howes?

  That's your ability.

• 32:27Speaker 01

  Your ability.

• 32:27Lewis Howes?

  Like if you went all in.

• 32:28Speaker 01

  If you run all in.

• 32:29Lewis Howes?

  You could only gain about two pounds a year.

• 32:31Speaker 01

  Yeah, in their forties.

• 32:33Lewis Howes?

  Wow, and how easy is it?

• 32:35Speaker 01

  And it drops, you know, in their fifth, in the fifties is like one point two to six pounds of muscle per year.

• 32:41Lewis Howes?

  That's if you're training like three to five days a week, hard, heavy, like.

• 32:44Speaker 01

  I mean, you know, genetically, sometimes some people can be a little bit more, but on average, that's, yeah.

• 32:51Lewis Howes?

  And how easy is it to lose muscle? Like if you get sick for a couple of weeks or don't train for a month, like how easy is it for a woman in their forties and fifties to lose muscle?

• 33:02Speaker 01

  It starts within like two weeks, you can, you start to lose muscle. Um, and you, you start losing muscle in your thirties, you start to lose muscle at about three to, some studies say five, some studies say eight on the higher end percent of muscle mass per decade. I think it started in your thirties, yeah.

• 33:23Lewis Howes?

  So you're fighting that natural, if you're sedentary for your life, you're just gonna lose muscle.

• 33:29Speaker 01

  You're gonna lose muscle. So that's why it's so important to start early on to build as much as you can. So then you can kind of offset the muscle that you will.

• 33:39Lewis Howes?

  Eventually lose, yeah. When you're eighty, seventy, it's gonna, you're gonna lose it.

• 33:42Speaker 01

  Exactly, yeah.

• 33:44Lewis Howes?

  Wow, that's interesting. Have you tracked how much muscle you've gained in the last ten years?

• 33:50Speaker 01

  I'm not huge on like numbers, on like, alright, let's draw, I don't wanna get in my own head. This is, there are some people that benefit from that, but there are some people like me who have suffered through some of these eating disorders that stay away from, I stay away from weighing myself. It doesn't have that effect on me anymore. Sometimes if I wanna hop on it just to be like, hey, I knew that was going on, cool. And it doesn't have that effect on me, but um yeah, I try to stay away as long as in my heart, I know that I'm doing everything that I can to strengthen, train as hard as I can to eat the right way, get in the right amount of protein, carbs and fats, etc.

• 34:32Speaker 01

  If I know that I'm doing that, I don't need any measurements to tell me how I'm doing.

• 34:38Lewis Howes?

  I guess it's interesting if we think about it like, I don't know, we didn't have scales back in the day, right? There was no scale a couple hundred years ago, I guess, to like weigh yourself. It wasn't a priority, but now everyone's got a scale and they check it every day, a lot of people. What is the, the, I guess, the negative for a woman who wants to weigh themselves and see a number every single day? What is the downside to weigh yourself for women versus the pro of having that number that they see every day?

• 35:12Speaker 01

  It's gonna dictate how you feel on that particular day. And do you really want your mood and your day to be dictated by a number on a scale? That's what I always say. Why do you want your day to be dictated by that? You know progress. Like, we lie to ourselves. We're good at lying to ourselves, but we know when we're progressing, when we're regressing, when we're stagnant, right? So I don't want my day to be dictated by a number. Now, granted, that there is, if you are able to remove that aspect and somehow not allow that number to dictate your day and simply utilize that as a way to, to track progress, but not every day, because you're not going, your

• 35:56Speaker 01

  body fluctuates within a day, from day to day, but if you're measuring yourself maybe in like, at the most like weekly increments.

• 36:05Lewis Howes?

  But even then, if you're like you, if your number, if the number doesn't hit your expectation, one week of hard work and you're like, I didn't see the results, you actually defeated and then start binge eating.

• 36:16Speaker 01

  Exactly.

• 36:17Lewis Howes?

  And feeling like, ah, what's the point of this?

• 36:19Speaker 01

  What's the point?

• 36:20Lewis Howes?

  I worked so hard.

• 36:21Speaker 01

  Because progress takes time.

• 36:23Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 36:23Speaker 01

  It takes a long time to put muscle on. Easier when you're a beginner, right? Because your body's gonna respond right away because it's something new. And then a little bit harder if you're more advanced, um, lifter or person that works out. But ta- progress takes time, whether it is gaining muscle or losing weight. And that's, that's the thing. I think that, that's why most people quit because they don't see uh, the progress in the short term. And it takes three to six months, months to see true results.

• 36:54Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 36:55Speaker 01

  And people mostly drop a new program within the first, like, eight weeks. I think there's like statistics, like, three, uh, fifty, sixty-five percent of people will quit in the first three to six months of starting like a workout program with a, and then if it's like New Year's, it's like eighty percent of the people will quit.

• 37:19Lewis Howes?

  I have this, it says a study showed that eighty-eight percent of people who set New Year's resol- resolutions fail. They fail within the first two weeks.

• 37:26Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm.

• 37:27Lewis Howes?

  I'm curious, what do you think is the biggest barrier to maintaining goals then? So that people don't fail so quickly when they start?

• 37:34Speaker 01

  I think the first thing, it is like those, uh, unrealistic expectations. Set realistic goals. For me, if you are just starting out, if, if this is something completely new, is, set that goal of just showing up. Show up every day. Keep, create that consistency. Consistency is the primary goal that maybe somebody should aim for in my, in my eyes. Aim for that consistency every day, day in and day out. To then bring you to, to, to carry you to that point where you have created a new, um, a new habit. And it takes time to create habit.

• 38:16Speaker 01

  I mean, there was a misconception of like, taking twenty-one days. Actually, it's much longer than that. I mean, twenty-one days is a good starting point because it's a little bit more than the two weeks.

• 38:26Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

• 38:28Speaker 01

  But, uh, if you're really wanting to solidify a, a habit, especially when it comes to working out, it's like a little bit over two months.

• 38:35Lewis Howes?

  Mm-hmm.

• 38:36Speaker 01

  Some people say sixty-six days, but.

• 38:38Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, I love what you're saying about this because if everyone could focus on making the goal of. Making the process the goal as opposed to the results, the goal, they will live a better life.

• 38:49Speaker 01

  Exactly. Process is the goal.

• 38:51Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 38:52Speaker 01

  Process is the goal.

• 38:53Lewis Howes?

  It's so hard though. I mean, I've been in that, I've probably been on a, I don't know, two year, almost two years ago. I, you know, COVID hit. I was training a lot before then, then COVID and breakup, emotional stress, kind of all that stuff. Like just life happened where I gained a lot of weight for myself, right? And I was like two fifty-five at my heaviest. But just didn't feel good, right? I'm six-four, so I'm a big guy. It doesn't like look like obese, but it just didn't feel good, right?

• 39:22Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 39:23Lewis Howes?

  And then two years ago, I really got consistent in the training. And I'm down at two twenty-five-ish. So I've dropped a lot of weight, but I'm still not where I want to be, but it's like, but I'm training so hard. And even me knowing as an athlete that it just takes time. But kind of like letting go of the expectation or the goal of like, this is where I want it to be. Yeah, I can still have that vision in my mind. But a lot of it is the, the acknowledgement of showing up and just say, did I do the right thing today?

• 39:54Speaker 01

  Exactly.

• 39:54Lewis Howes?

  Did I do the right things for my health, for my mind, for my future self today?

• 39:58Speaker 01

  Exactly.

• 39:59Lewis Howes?

  And the results will eventually come if I keep showing up for me.

• 40:04Speaker 01

  Absolutely.

• 40:05Lewis Howes?

  And, but it's, it's, it can take a while, you know, to get the results you want. And that, so I love what you're talking about. Make the process the goal, not the, the result.

• 40:17Speaker 01

  And, and are you comparing yourself to, to this image that you, you had or you were at some point, you know?

• 40:25Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, I was like twenty-two and I'm like an elite athlete. Yeah, yeah.

• 40:28Speaker 01

  Can you be the best version of yourself that you could possibly be now?

• 40:32Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 40:33Speaker 01

  It is hard. It is hard because we unfortunately have, have, my body has changed from a year ago, from two years ago. Absolutely. It, it, and it happens, but am I, in my power? Can I honestly say to myself that I'm doing everything that I can with regards to working out, strength training? With regards to nutrition, with regards to sleep, recovery? You know, all of the components that, that, yeah, will bring you to that optimal self at this point in time. So that's where I'm at.

• 41:07Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, you're focused on that.

• 41:08Speaker 01

  That's where I'm at, yeah.

• 41:10Lewis Howes?

  That's interesting. There seems to be like,

• 41:15Lewis Howes?

  I don't know if this is the right terminology, but there seems to be trends with

• 41:23Lewis Howes?

  women's body sizes and types and structures. Since I was like, you know, I grew up in the 80s and 90s. It was all about being super skinny. Then it was about, you know, curvy and voluptuous. Then it's like, seems like it's going back to skinny. Like, it seems like there's these trends in the culture. Why do you think that? First off, is that accurate? That there are trends for women in their way that their body is supposed to look? If so, why does that change for women over the years?

• 41:53Speaker 01

  There is definitely trending. There's been, like you said, you know, I agree with you that there's been, you know, the trend of being skinny and then curvaceous. And I don't know that it's necessarily being thin again. I hope not.

• 42:06Lewis Howes?

  It's being like fit and strong.

• 42:08Speaker 01

  I think there's a movement, there's a true movement with being.

• 42:15Lewis Howes?

  Being like, strong?

• 42:16Speaker 01

  Being strong. And I love and appreciate all the doctors that are coming forward and sharing their data on how strength and having as much muscle as possible is healthy for a woman, not just quality of life now, but in their later years. I think,

• 42:40Speaker 01

  yeah, I think a lot of these studies and these doctors that are coming forward with women-specific, because I think a lot of the studies have been done on men, but with women-specific studies that show that importance. So I'm hoping that that's the new trend.

• 42:56Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 42:56Speaker 01

  And that's here to stay.

• 42:58Lewis Howes?

  Well, it's interesting because, you know, as you mentioned, when you moved to America, and there was, you saw pressure from other teen girls in your school. You saw media, marketing, you know, whatever it might be, campaigns of like celebrities that you see look a certain way.

• 43:13Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 43:14Lewis Howes?

  But you're also a trainer for Kim Kardashian right now, and you have been for a while. And I'm assuming you're around a lot of top celebrities as well in that world.

• 43:25Lewis Howes?

  How do you navigate, knowing that you're working with a very influential woman? That women look up to, women wanna look like, women wanna emulate, maybe they feel comparison to, or a lack of comparison, that they can't live up to the way she might look, or something like that, or just other celebrities in general? How do you navigate, I guess, your work with someone like that? While also understanding that there's a 15-year-old out there, who was once like you, that maybe sees her and wants to be like her, and then, does that help her, inspire her to eat healthier and train, or is it like, let me go, you know, extreme food deprivation?

• 44:10Lewis Howes?

  Like, I don't know. How do you navigate just that in your mind?

• 44:14Speaker 01

  Honestly, that was one of the main reasons why I accepted to work with Kim, is because she does have this influence, and she decided that she wanted to step into her strength, and build muscle, and maintain that muscle, because also, she realized that muscle is important for her health and longevity, not just aesthetically speaking. And for me, that was an opportunity to help her, but also help other women that she is influencing. Obviously, her reach is way bigger than mine is, so that was one of my biggest driving factors for working with her and other celebrities that I have, is to send that message of strength to the women out there.

• 44:57Speaker 01

  That strength is beautiful, strength is health and quality longevity, so that's, to me, that was, yeah, I see that as a positive, having a positive effect on women.

• 45:11Lewis Howes?

  Because you see Kim leaning into strength training more?

• 45:15Speaker 01

  Absolutely.

• 45:16Lewis Howes?

  That's what you're working with her on?

• 45:17Speaker 01

  Absolutely. She loves it. I mean, that's not, and she-

• 45:20Lewis Howes?

  Did she always do that before?

• 45:21Speaker 01

  No, she didn't. It was more cardio, and Pilates, and things like that, which, again, everything has a place and a space and a time, but in my opinion, humble opinion, and I think research backs it up, strength training is queen.

• 45:39Lewis Howes?

  Right. What have you, if you're, I mean, we don't have to speak about her that much, but what have you noticed in, I guess, over a year of strength training with Kim Kardashian about-

• 45:52Lewis Howes?

  Maybe just confidence levels or things like that, has anything changed? Because she's been a pretty confident person already. She's got, you know, massive businesses. She's got a lot of success. Like, has she shared that, anything you're allowed to share? Or have you noticed something like that?

• 46:07Speaker 01

  Yeah, I mean, she, with all the confidence that she already has, she feels definitely more confident and she can't wait to train with me.

• 46:15Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 46:16Speaker 01

  I mean, yeah, it's amazing, you know, if she, for a chance, happens to not be training for a few days because of her very demanding schedule, you know. Um, she's like, I can't wait to train. So that's music, music to my ears to hear that somebody has, uh, has, has made that leap and is, has leaned into strength training. And I've seen her, and, and I, you know, to me, again, it's not as much about aesthetics, but about, you know, form, like, you know, walking around and doing things with great form.

• 46:50Lewis Howes?

  Injury prevention.

• 46:51Speaker 01

  Injury prevention and, and all of that. So it's beautiful.

• 46:55Lewis Howes?

  I mean, we're here in LA and it seems to be kind of like a hub of extremes here. And specifically with like weight loss drugs or these Ozempic type drugs and things like that.

• 47:08Lewis Howes?

  And it seems to be it's popular in LA. You know, I don't know, I don't know people who are on them or not on them. I don't like know these things. But I see extreme weight shifts in certain women after a few months. And I'm like, maybe that's drug free, maybe that's Ozempic. I have no idea. What is the, what's your thoughts on the pros and cons of something like an Ozempic or these weight loss drugs specifically for women?

• 47:37Speaker 01

  First starting point for me is always, have you tried? Doing it naturally, right? So are you able to? Because some people are just not able to get to that point, right? So for me is like start, starting with the attainable things that you can naturally, like nutrition and working out. And if that hasn't worked and you are, as a matter of fact, somebody that is a candidate for that drug, then um there's more and more research that shows that that can be helpful in a lot of aspects, not just losing weight, but health wise.

• 48:14Speaker 01

  Um, so as with any other therapies, pharmaceutical therapies, I'm not necessarily opposed to them, but there's a place and time for them. So for me is like, have you tried the foundation, which again, we know is eating right and working out, getting enough sleep? Exactly. Meditating for me, meditating is huge. Um, did I mention everything? Yeah, so like if, if you are, if you're focusing on, on having those, that foundation and you still are struggling, then maybe it's time to talk to, to a professional to see if that is um something that is, that would be of benefit.

• 48:56Speaker 01

  I know that again, there has been studies out there with uh drastic weight loss. I'm not on board with that. So if it's happening, even with Ozempic, if you're utilizing it and you're experiencing drastic weight loss, that is not healthy because you're losing not just fat, but you're losing lots of muscle in that process.

• 49:17Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 49:17Speaker 01

  But if it's done to, with kind of micro dosing, again, is what studies show is that you're able to maintain muscle mass while slowly losing weight.

• 49:29Lewis Howes?

  That's interesting, yeah. Is, I mean, yeah. It just seems like a lot of people just have lost weight really quickly. Is what it seems like again. I don't know who's using it or who's not using it. It's like, it's hard for me to tell. But it seems like that's what's been happening. And that scares me.

• 49:47Speaker 01

  It is super scary. That is scary, the drastic weight loss, no matter what ways it's done. If it's a drastic weight loss and if it's done because you're restricting your food intake and you're working out like crazy or whether you're doing something like GLP-1, like Ozempic, then that's not good.

• 50:06Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 50:07Speaker 01

  That is not good.

• 50:08Lewis Howes?

  This is an interesting question I have for you, Sana. I'm curious.

• 50:13Lewis Howes?

  When you know, when you know that also like women,

• 50:19Lewis Howes?

  I don't want to say all women, but there's a tendency that women may compare themselves to other women. And you have content out there that may seem unattainable for a lot of women, right? I don't know if that's what you're hearing or maybe someone said that. But I can only imagine some woman is scrolling who's not healthy or not fit or maybe like not confident themselves. And they see some of your videos and they're like, this woman is a superwoman. Like some women may be really inspired by that and say, awesome, that's an example that I can lean into and I can follow her programming and I can maybe one day be like that in my own way. Whereas other women might say,

• 51:00Lewis Howes?

  gosh David, she's like too good looking. She's too fit or she's too shredded. Like how she even, I could never do that. How do you navigate the uncertainty that women might have to feel like they'll never be as strong or fit or lean as you? Or be able to do the workouts the way you do them so effortlessly based on what it may look like for them? Versus, I'm here to empower and inspire women, not show them, show them that they're not enough.

• 51:32Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 51:33Lewis Howes?

  How do you navigate that personally?

• 51:35Speaker 01

  It's, to me, like that, my intention is to never have anybody compare me to them and, and have them feel bad about themselves, like that, that would absolutely, that is not my intention, like my goal and my desire is to empower women to, to step into their strength, to feel the strongest that they possibly can, to embrace their, their musculature, their strong bodies, to embrace that. So, for me, um, that's been my desire, to kind of embody this strong person with muscle, so that women feel empowered to, to, to aim to build muscle

• 52:18Speaker 01

  and to look in the best way, a version of themselves, not me. Obviously, I, um, I have a different genetic, genetic makeup, you know, than, than somebody else. Like, we were genetically and bio, but we're biodiverse, we're genetically diverse. So, um, it might, it might be unrealistic for some women to, to aim to look exactly like me, but nobody should want to aim to look exactly like somebody else. So, I always, and I say this, you know, in my posts, I aim to be the strongest version of yourself, the best version of yourself, and not utilize me as a, as a comparison, but rather as, hopefully, an inspiration

• 53:03Speaker 01

  of a woman that was struggling throughout her entire life and now has embraced her, her strength and, and my abilities. And it took years, you know, it took years, so, i- i- i- I, I didn't suddenly wake up, lifted a couple of weights and I'm here. I never, I didn't always have great form, you know, that's one of the things that people always praise, like, great form, how are you able to do that? I, I didn't wake up doing that, it was just years of practice, years of, of kind of perfecting my craft, uh, to be able to do that.

• 53:36Lewis Howes?

  With this much awareness and, and attention about who you are now, from the last, I guess, eight years, I think you've been on social media, that you said, like, and just the following and the views you get and the attention you get.

• 53:48Speaker 01

  Twenty nineteen, twenty nineteen, actually.

• 53:50Lewis Howes?

  Twenty nineteen, okay, so, six years ago. I mean, it's been, no one knew who you were. In the last six years, a lot of people know who you are. And you're working with one of the biggest celebrities in the world. What has that been like for you psychologically or emotionally to deal with? Now, everyone's critiquing you, whether it be positive or negative. And you're working with big celebrities. How has that been for you as a human?

• 54:17Speaker 01

  I think the biggest, the threshold that scared me the most was hitting 100,000 followers. It was like, whoa, there's 100,000 people that are looking at what I do. And then for some reason, it kind of normalized after that. It doesn't really...

• 54:33Lewis Howes?

  Every million, it's like, okay, it's another million. Yeah, yeah.

• 54:36Speaker 01

  No, now that I take it for granted, by any means, I'm so grateful for the platform, for my audience. I never take it for granted, but it doesn't have that, you know, fear correlated with it. You know, it's not, because I know what I'm doing, I know what I'm saying. I feel to a certain degree, so it doesn't... When I was just first starting out, obviously, you're still kind of building your confidence and navigating that. So, but to kind of go back to, I think, what you were asking, like, how has that affected me personally? In the beginning, you do deal with a lot of, this person said that. So now, you know, am I really that?

• 55:16Speaker 01

  Or, and then you just learned, at least I have learned to, to see that as not a reflection of who I am. I know who I am, I know the message that I'm trying to portray, and I know, you know, that I'm there for service. You know, that's what makes a purposeful life is being of service to others. And that's, I don't want to get emotional, but that's what fulfills me. It's like being of service and providing as much service as I can to as many people as I can, especially women. Because I'm a woman and was, you know, I'm in a household of women.

• 55:54Speaker 01

  I have the younger sisters, so that always has been, I keep kind of keeping in mind what my goal is and who I am. And not being affected by people that will, will try to speak negatively in the process.

• 56:09Lewis Howes?

  When did you start to think about your life of being in service to help others?

• 56:15Speaker 01

  When did I start to?

• 56:16Lewis Howes?

  Was that like something earlier in your life? Or was that in the last six years? Like, I want to start like really adding value and trying to serve people, whether it's five people or five million?

• 56:24Speaker 01

  I think that's always been. I think it came within the territory of experiencing depression. I think that's, you know, I think

• 56:35Speaker 01

  that sense of purpose is linked to depression somehow. So I was, I was struggling with that for a while, you know.

• 56:45Lewis Howes?

  How, how old were you or what?

• 56:47Speaker 01

  I mean, I went to, I went to business school. I went, I got a master's in business and, you know, I did this, all of this accomplishment. Graduated summa cum laude with the highest honors in three years. And then in one year for my business degree. So, you know, I, I was accumulating all of these accolades and, um, and it just wasn't adding up. Like, it wasn't feel, it wasn't fulfilling to me because it wasn't, you know, it didn't feel like it was coming from a sense of, like, of, of, of purpose or of service rather to the greater good. And, um,

• 57:24Speaker 01

  and now where I am at, knowing what strength training and nurturing myself in all aspects, um, nutrition, like we were talking, sleep, meditation and recovery, like knowing what that has done for me, for my mental health.

• 57:41Speaker 01

  That's been kind of my driving factor to, to bring that to, to the world and, and yeah.

• 57:46Lewis Howes?

  Wow. How, how long did you feel like you were experiencing depression for? Or your mental health was struggling?

• 57:52Speaker 01

  It started when I was in my teens. You know, like I said, with, uh, dealing with, with the eating disorders and then realizing that there was like a sense, there was depression that was going hand in hand with that and anxiety. And, um, you know, as I say, those monsters in the closet never go away. You just develop better tools to, to, to, to manage them, to manage them. So for me, working out is one of my main tools in my tool belt that, you know, I'm feeling a certain way. I know I'm going to go get a workout and it's going to, to shift my day.

• 58:30Lewis Howes?

  Everything.

• 58:30Speaker 01

  So there are those moments where I absolutely don't feel like working out, but I know what.

• 58:38Speaker 01

  I will achieve on the other side of that. So that's, I think, one of my main motivating factors, along with wanting to be independent in my later years, wanting to have a quality of life and longevity that I can rely on. I think the other one is, I don't, I don't wanna feel depressed. I don't wanna feel anxious. I don't wanna deal with those uh, things that I know I am predisposed uh, to deal with, so. You can override those. That's just like the hand that you're dealt.

• 59:08Lewis Howes?

  Sure.

• 59:08Speaker 01

  But it's like, what tools in your tool belt do you utilize to best deal?

• 59:15Lewis Howes?

  Absolutely. Wow. What do you feel like is your biggest insecurity or fear now?

• 59:26Speaker 01

  Um, I, I guess I'm always, I always think, am I giving my best self to my audience, to the people that I influence? That is always my, the thing that, if there is one thing that keeps me up at night, is, it's that. It's, am I providing the best value that I possibly can uh, out there to the world? So that, that's the one thing that I always strive to, to do better. That's why I launched the We Rise app. I re, so I had an app prior to that and I, I relaunched and rebranded last January, so we're coming up on a year and I'm always striving to make it better. Whether it's like with the latest research and

• 1:00:09Speaker 01

  and what will be, it'll, it'll be lights, light years ahead of what it is now because we're really aiming for it to be a, a female empowerment and development platform, not just a fitness app.

• 1:00:24Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 1:00:25Speaker 01

  And, and yeah, that's, that's what we strive every day to perfect.

• 1:00:29Lewis Howes?

  How do you, how do you navigate?

• 1:00:34Lewis Howes?

  Not falling back into an obsessive perfectionist, critical state versus progress, consistency, and a healthy balance. When you have that type of like older personality, it's like, how do you make sure you don't go into that in extremes with work, you know, body, you know, perfection in a different way?

• 1:00:55Speaker 01

  Yeah, you're just more conscious of that self-talk. You're just more conscious of those patterns. I think that's with everything. You just become conscious of the way that you talk to yourself, conscious of negative past patterns, and then you course correct. And it is, it is good enough. It is, it is good. Because as we were talking about earlier, you know, great and perfection can be the enemy of good.

• 1:01:20Lewis Howes?

  I know.

• 1:01:21Speaker 01

  So I'm always conscious of that, to not aim for perfection, but to aim for value and, and, and good. Yeah.

• 1:01:30Lewis Howes?

  Have you ever done like therapy also, emotional therapy, instead of, you know, workout therapy?

• 1:01:35Speaker 01

  I have. I have. I have.

• 1:01:38Lewis Howes?

  What's been the biggest takeaway from that for you, or biggest lessons?

• 1:01:44Speaker 01

  I'll be honest, therapy for me has been...

• 1:01:47Lewis Howes?

  Didn't it work for you?

• 1:01:50Speaker 01

  Not as much as working.

• 1:01:51Lewis Howes?

  Sure.

• 1:01:52Speaker 01

  But it works for a lot of people. It has, it has... It's been a long time, honestly, since I've been in therapy. And I definitely promoted, like, yes, do therapy. It's definitely great. Like I said, all of these are just tools that we accumulate and then we use, and whatever works best for you. For me, it's been more self-therapy.

• 1:02:14Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 1:02:15Speaker 01

  I read a lot of, I've read a ton of self-help books. I've read, you know, books that you'd read at a, in a collegiate level, you know? And that's how I self-educate, and that's how I self-help, and self-actualize and analyze.

• 1:02:34Speaker 01

  Maybe it's a good time to say I've also done plant medicine.

• 1:02:36Lewis Howes?

  Mm-hmm.

• 1:02:37Speaker 01

  And that has been huge help for me, and, and kind of being my own therapist. Because that's the best way that I can describe plant medicine, is being your own therapist, seeing yourself from the outside, and looking at your patterns, and looking at, at everything from a different perspective, kind of removed from that ego self.

• 1:03:01Lewis Howes?

  Do you have a relationship with God or a spiritual practice?

• 1:03:05Speaker 01

  I have a relationship with God, yeah. Yeah, I don't know that if it's in the context of the religion in a sense, or maybe it is inclusive of all of that. I just believe in the Creator, being the Creator for all of us. One loving Creator that is, that is good and wants what's best for us. And that is not judging, but that is loving, so.

• 1:03:45Lewis Howes?

  What do you think, what do you think God wants for you moving forward?

• 1:03:50Speaker 01

  To continue doing this work and to really actualize that I am of, of, of help and service to others. You know, because I do at times struggle with that. Like I was saying before, am I doing my best? Am I really being of service to, to humanity, to others? So I think really leaning into that, that yes, you know, if I actually help just one person, then that is a life fulfilled. If I've changed, course corrected, somebody's path even by a small percentage, then that is an accomplishment.

• 1:04:29Lewis Howes?

  That's beautiful. Where do you think you'd be? Do you think you'd be as happy and healthy if you didn't have a relationship with God or a spiritual practice?

• 1:04:40Speaker 01

  I think it's good to have somewhat of a relationship with whatever you believe, kind of that higher power to be. I think it's, it's something to lean on. I think it's something to lean on and for, you know, for people, it's different. For everybody is different what that could be or look like and what image you have in your mind. But whatever gives you that comfort, that you're here for a reason.

• 1:05:09Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. Did you have a spiritual relationship or when you were?

• 1:05:16Lewis Howes?

  In your teens and early twenties and struggling with, you know, the depression and things?

• 1:05:21Speaker 01

  Uh, I had, my grandma raised me to be religious and say prayers every night and um, and I think I lost that a little bit.

• 1:05:30Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 1:05:31Speaker 01

  And now I'm back at, you know, saying my prayers every night and um.

• 1:05:36Lewis Howes?

  You feel more peace now?

• 1:05:37Speaker 01

  Yeah, absolutely, yeah, yeah.

• 1:05:41Lewis Howes?

  That's beautiful, that's beautiful.

• 1:05:43Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:05:43Lewis Howes?

  Your parents still around?

• 1:05:45Speaker 01

  Yeah, they're, they're, my parents, I have um, my uh, two younger sisters, they're all in New York.

• 1:05:51Lewis Howes?

  They're all in New York, yeah, yeah.

• 1:05:53Speaker 01

  Yeah, they're still around.

• 1:05:54Lewis Howes?

  What's the biggest lesson both your mom and your dad taught you?

• 1:05:59Speaker 01

  My dad um, taught me to be strong and to, to persevere and to um,

• 1:06:08Speaker 01

  yeah, he no, never complained. He never complained. He went from being a doctor back in Albania to being a janitor when he came to the United States. Even though we're legally here and everything, but he, that's what he had to do. He, you know, English, but he knew to um, put his ego aside and just do what needed to be done to support uh, his family. And um, from my mom is to like that, that compassionate spirit and also uh, even though it, it led to some things that weren't so positive in my life, like that, that striving to be the best also led to where I am today, I believe, so. Yeah, I thank her for that.

• 1:06:53Lewis Howes?

  Wow, that's beautiful. What's the uh, the biggest lesson Kim's taught you?

• 1:06:59Speaker 01

  She's a hard worker sometimes. I thought I was a hard worker. So um, yeah, she inspires me in that way to, to, to, to be a hard worker. And beautifully balances that with having a, a family and having four children, so, and spending quality time with them, so having that balance, like that's, that's inspirational.

• 1:07:22Lewis Howes?

  That's cool, that's cool. Uh, you've got an app called the We Rise app. How, how many women are in this community right now in this, in this app?

• 1:07:30Speaker 01

  Oh my gosh, I mean, where is, I bring the help.

• 1:07:33Lewis Howes?

  Thousands.

• 1:07:34Speaker 01

  Thousands of women, yeah, thousands of women, tens of thousands of women are.

• 1:07:38Lewis Howes?

  All over the world.

• 1:07:39Speaker 01

  All over the world that are. Achieving their best, strongest selves and I'm so excited for it.

• 1:07:46Lewis Howes?

  What do they get in the app? What's their, yeah, what are these women working on?

• 1:07:53Speaker 01

  What they're working on?

• 1:07:54Lewis Howes?

  Within the app, yeah, what's in the app?

• 1:07:56Speaker 01

  So whatever experience level that you're in, so if you're beginner, intermediate, advanced, if you're working out from home or the gym, there is a program that is for them. And whether they want something to get started, like a 20-minute follow along, that I'm with them every step of the way and kind of guide them through. They got that on there. So I think for every kind of walk of life, there is something in the app. And there is a meal planning and recipes and macro tracking. Right now, we currently have an expert nutritionist and an expert habits. She actually is one of like the four PhDs in the world that, that works with habits

• 1:08:39Speaker 01

  to just help people establish good habits, get rid of habits that don't serve them anymore. And then on nutrition side, you know, speaking about like, what are macros?

• 1:08:48Lewis Howes?

  Sure.

• 1:08:49Speaker 01

  And then how do we ensure that we, you know, intake enough protein and all that? And that's just the beginning. We have huge plans.

• 1:08:57Lewis Howes?

  That's great. Where can they go to sign up for that?

• 1:09:01Speaker 01

  We arise dot X Y Z.

• 1:09:03Lewis Howes?

  Okay, awesome. I'm sure it's in your bio.

• 1:09:05Speaker 01

  It's on my bio. It's on my bio, yeah. I'm not wearing the clothing, but I also have clothing, line, calls and toe on.

• 1:09:13Lewis Howes?

  Okay.

• 1:09:14Speaker 01

  Making women slightly a little bit more motivated by wearing some cute workout clothes.

• 1:09:19Lewis Howes?

  There you go, yeah.

• 1:09:20Speaker 01

  To work out. Yeah.

• 1:09:23Lewis Howes?

  That's great. What can we do to be of best service to you moving forward? With this community or people watching or listening right now?

• 1:09:32Speaker 01

  Spread the word, spread the word of of strength, spread the word that aesthetics will come as long as you put in the work to aim for health and longevity.

• 1:09:48Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 1:09:48Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:09:49Lewis Howes?

  And what's the best place to find you on social media? What's your Instagram for people to follow?

• 1:09:53Speaker 01

  Senada Greca.

• 1:09:54Lewis Howes?

  Senada Greca.

• 1:09:57Speaker 01

  Yeah. See, you see how much I love self promoting? You know, in this whole conversation, this is probably like the the most kind of slightly uncomfortable I've felt. I don't like self promoting, but yeah. Without self promoting, I guess what is of service, then you don't get people to take advantage of that.

• 1:10:18Lewis Howes?

  That's true.

• 1:10:19Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 1:10:19Lewis Howes?

  That's true. Where do you think you'd be if you didn't start putting content online six years ago?

• 1:10:25Speaker 01

  If I didn't?

• 1:10:26Lewis Howes?

  If you did not?

• 1:10:29Speaker 01

  I

• 1:10:31Speaker 01

  I don't want to think of the biggest jobs that I've done because it was not, not, not, not fun. But I would, I would, I would do something and I would be in this space. I would be in this space somehow because I'm so passionate about it. So if I, if I didn't have a presence, such a large presence in social media, I would probably do it in a, in a small fashion, even if it was, you know, outside of the nine to five, which I was doing actually before my, my, I was teaching yoga classes and I was training.

• 1:11:05Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 1:11:05Speaker 01

  On the side while having my, my nine to five. And then, you know, I love that aspect so much, which is what led me to, to, to kind of start doing this and putting myself out there, putting my workouts out there. And one thing led to another and here we are today.

• 1:11:22Lewis Howes?

  So you were doing it on the side. You had a full time job?

• 1:11:25Speaker 01

  I had a full time job, but then I was teaching yoga classes and

• 1:11:29Lewis Howes?

  You weren't teaching strength training?

• 1:11:30Speaker 01

  And a little bit of strength training as well. Yeah. It has advanced from, from that point, the, the starting point to where it is now. But I was doing that on the side and obviously doing my workouts and then I decided. Let's just put it out there, like whatever I'm doing every day. And you could see probably the things I've shifted from earlier until now, but just put it out there every day.

• 1:11:55Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 1:11:55Speaker 01

  Get up in the morning, do my workout, film it as I'm doing a workout and to see where it leads.

• 1:12:03Lewis Howes?

  When did you, when did you start to notice that like, oh, this is starting to take off? Like the content I'm posting daily, like, oh, it's actually getting out there and it's resonating with women and?

• 1:12:13Speaker 01

  Yeah, I mean, pretty, pretty fast it started to happen. I mean, it didn't shift from like, I think I had like 2,000 followers in 2019 when I started, if I'm one or 2,000. When I first started and it started to happen gradually and then exponentially.

• 1:12:31Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 1:12:31Speaker 01

  After that, I think that first period of like getting to a few thousand was probably like the hardest because it's like working out, you know, it's consistency and you don't see a ton of results. But then you stay with it because you don't, you know, you, you, you just can't tell the future. You can't predict it from just that short period of time. So like with anything else, consistency, consistency, consistency, yeah.

• 1:12:57Lewis Howes?

  So now I've got a couple of final questions for you, but this is powerful. Thanks for sharing and being so open today. I appreciate it.

• 1:13:03Speaker 01

  Of course.

• 1:13:03Lewis Howes?

  Um, this is a question I ask everyone towards the end. It's called the three truths. So it's a hypothetical scenario and question. Imagine you get to live as long as you want to live and you get to accomplish every dream you have. But for whatever reason, you have to take all of your content with you when you die. So we don't have access to the videos you posted, this interview, it's all gone. Anything you create from this moment moving forward, it's gone. Your app is gone for whatever reason, hypothetical. But on the last day of your life, you get to leave behind three lessons to the world, and this is all we would have to remember your content by. Call it three truths. What would those be for you?

• 1:13:45Speaker 01

  I think the biggest thing for me is to do everything from a place of love. So whatever you're trying to achieve, achieve it and aim for it from a place of love.

• 1:13:58Speaker 01

  Aim to be the fullest version of yourself. And not that of somebody else, but the fullest version of yourself.

• 1:14:10Speaker 01

  And the third.

• 1:14:14Speaker 01

  Would be to treat everybody in

• 1:14:20Speaker 01

  a way that, I don't know if necessarily you want to be treated yourself, but in a way that I believe in a higher self, in the higher, the higher self would, would want you to treat, or God, if you will, will want you to treat the fellow man and woman

• 1:14:40Speaker 01

  with, with just compassion and love and understanding. Stepping aside from judgments and what you have been taught to, to perceive.

• 1:14:52Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, that's beautiful. Create from love, aim to be the fullest version of you, and treat others with your, kind of your highest self.

• 1:15:00Speaker 01

  Mm-hmm, and mind.

• 1:15:01Lewis Howes?

  That's great, that's beautiful. I want to acknowledge you, Sanaa, for your transformation and your ability to be consistent. And it sounds like it's very challenging, leaving one country, coming to this place, and just having to deal with all the pressures of society, of school, of parents, and you needing to be the parent as a teenager, that's a lot of weight emotionally and physically. So I want to acknowledge you for overcoming that challenge and overcoming the depression and the sadness and the anxiety and the stress that you faced, and for starting to tap into the healthiest version of you and being consistent with that version of you, letting go of your old comparison ways and stepping into, how can I just be my happiest, fullest self?

• 1:15:46Lewis Howes?

  So I acknowledge you for putting yourself out there also. You know, six years ago, deciding to say, hey, I'm gonna put my content out there and start to serve people the best way I can. And if it helps one person or millions of people, I'm just gonna do it consistently. So I acknowledge you for, for all of it. And I appreciate you for opening up so honestly during this conversation.

• 1:16:09Speaker 01

  Thank you so much, I appreciate you saying that.

• 1:16:11Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, of course.

• 1:16:12Speaker 01

  Appreciate you having me here today. It was a very enjoyable conversation, thank you.

• 1:16:17Lewis Howes?

  Beautiful, I want one final question, Sanaa. What's your definition of greatness?

• 1:16:23Speaker 01

  I think it's embodying again the true fullest version of yourself while being of service to others to the fullest capacity that you are able to.

• 1:16:36Lewis Howes?

  It's beautiful. Thank you so much for being here. I appreciate it.

• 1:16:38Speaker 01

  Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Thank you for having me.

• 1:16:41Lewis Howes?

  Of course. Thank you so much for listening to this episode. If you enjoyed this and if you found value, make sure to share this with one friend. Just copy and paste the link and text a friend where you feel would be truly inspired by this episode as well. And also make sure to click the follow button on Apple or Spotify, wherever you're listening to this episode, because we have a massive episode coming up next that I do not want you to miss. So make sure to follow this and be on the lookout for the next episode coming with some massive content and guests. Also, I have a brand new book called Make Money Easy. And if you're looking to create more financial freedom in your life, you want abundance in your life,

• 1:17:25Lewis Howes?

  and you want to stop making money hard in your life, but you want to make it easier, you want to make it flow, you want to feel abundant, then make sure to go to makemoneymeasbook.com right now and get yourself a copy. I really think this is going to help you transform your relationship with money this moment moving forward. We have some big guests and content coming up. Make sure you're following and stay tuned to the next episode on the School of Greatness. I hope you enjoyed today's episode and it inspired you on your journey towards greatness. Make sure to check out the show notes in the description for a full rundown of today's

• 1:18:07Lewis Howes?

  episode with all the important links. And if you want weekly exclusive bonus episodes with me personally, as well as ad-free listening, then make sure to subscribe to our Greatness Plus channel exclusively on Apple Podcasts. Share this with a friend on social media and leave us a review on Apple Podcasts as well. Let me know what you enjoyed about this episode in that review. I really love hearing feedback from you and it helps us figure. figure out how we can support and serve you moving forward. And I want to remind you, if no one has told you lately, that you are loved, you are worthy, and you matter. And now it's time to go out there and do something great.