Mike and Suzie Marchhausen - Achieving the Mindset For Optimal Health
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Our guests today are Mike and Suzie Marchhausen, the husband-and-wife team behind MikeandSuzie.com and “The Mike and Suzie Show.” This incredibly fit and healthy couple work together to help their clients achieve optimal health and fitness through mindful nutrition, strength training, and an empowered relationship with food and with the body.
Mike and Suzie connected when they were still both in college and working to overcome the effects of unhealthy collegiate habits like eating poorly and drinking too much. They started working out together, cooking together and reading more about health. They both became more aware of what they were putting in their bodies and were able to achieve a major breakthrough in how they looked and felt through changing their eating and exercise habits.
Suzie explains that she hates to see her friends struggle with the negative relationship with food that she used to have, which is why she and Mike built a business to help others achieve the same breakthroughs without all the self experimentation that they had to put themselves through.
Start by building awareness
Mike and Suzie start by having their clients do food observations. But rather than just asking them to keep a food journal, they ask them to keep track of what they ate, when they ate it, what they felt like before and after, and why they ate it.
This helps them to figure out the “why” of unhealthy habits. Mike stresses the importance of addressing issues one at a time, and then adding additional healthy habits in gradually, as opposed to doing a complete overhaul right away.
Achieving the Right Mindset For Performance and Productivity
Suzie stresses that, for women especially, it’s important to have a sense of purpose beyond doing things for other people. Remember that you’re not just working out to look good, but rather develop a sense of value within yourself based on your desire to make a difference in the world. Feeling like you’re a part of something important can be the greatest motivator.
As for Mike, he strives to constantly feed his mind with books and podcasts and by spending time with people who motivate him to be his best. Like Suzie, he is constantly working reach his full potential.
Mike believes that healthy people are happy people, and more happy people will contribute to a better world. In order to help other people achieve their optimal health, he needs to function at his own top capacity.
Mike and Suzie’s Top Strategies For Maintaining a High Level of Success
Mike and Suzie have been doing a great deal of world travel, even as they’re building their business, which can present challenges, especially when it comes to maintaining healthy habits.
They share the following strategies for staying on track:
- Get into the proper mindset first — you have to want it. Keep in mind that health is the greatest asset that you will ever have – it gives you more time, energy and money.
- Have a solid foundation, but be flexible. Look at all of your options, and make mindful and carefully chosen trade-offs when you need to. You can immerse yourself in a new culture and still eat mindfully by considering which foods will bring you the most enjoyment, and then having a positive experience with that choice.
- Be creative about working out. Mike and Suzie are partial to strength training, for example, so they use each other for resistance or assistance when they can’t get to the gym. You can use your own body weight if you’re traveling alone.
