For the Love of the Map

Episode 10: Emotional Healing in a Virtual Space

April 03, 2024 • For the Love of the Map • Episode 10

Share episode

We would love to hear from you! Send us a Text Message!

Have you ever transformed a dreaded task into an unexpected obsession? That's exactly what happened to us with exercise—thanks to the magic of virtual reality. This episode is a thrilling roller coaster through our fitness renaissance. Together, we peel back the layers on how immersive apps like Supernatural have become not just fitness tools but lifelines, offering coaching and heart-pounding beats that propel us to personal breakthroughs.

But it's not all sweat and high scores; we also get real about the emotional workout of life’s curveballs. Through laughter and earnest reflection, we unpack the power of self-care and its ripple effects on our well-being. 


Visit our website at:

https://fortheloveofthemap.buzzsprout.com


For the Love of the Map’s Facebook Community:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1153000382332695/



Marla:

Hello Julia, good morning.

Julia:

Marla.

Marla:

How's it going?

Julia:

Good.

Marla:

Awesome.

Julia:

You know what I want to talk about today. What do you want to talk about today, Marla?

Marla:

Our stories, our supernatural stories.

Julia:

Yeah, okay, I didn't know if you were going all the way back to our birth or what was happening.

Marla:

That's why I thought I would clarify because, man, I know we record long episodes but like our whole stories, wow, yeah, that would be a lot. That would be. Try this. We're similar in that. Yeah, but were you always on like a health and fitness journey before you started getting into supernatural? Were you on one, or did finding supernatural jumpstart a health and fitness journey for you?

Julia:

start a health and fitness journey for you. Definitely jump started, because when I was about eight or nine years ago, I wasn't healthy, I had let myself go. I'd had a special needs child he's still here, but you know I didn't want to use past tense for him, but anyway he, I have a special needs son and I had let myself go, go and I wasn't taking care of myself at all. So, um, once I realized that and I decided to make some changes, I learned how to eat better and lost weight, but I never had the whole, you know, physical activity aspect of it. I never found anything that I could really connect to that I would stick with. Bought a treadmill, threw my clothes on it. Bought everybody in 2020. Well, maybe not everybody, a lot of people in 2020,. When the big C came, bought a bike. You know like a.

Julia:

Peloton or something. I didn't want to pay for a peloton, so I found something similar but a little cheaper. I threw my clothes clothes on it. Marla, that was the most uncomfortable thing to sit on. I mean, if you've bought a bike seat before, no, no and it hurt my knees and it never was. It never was fun, right so it felt like a chore.

Julia:

It did. I tried a lot of things. I had Zumba DVDs. I had, um, all kinds of different DVDs of of different things that I tried and I never stuck with it. It was there was never anything fun. Uh, I've mentioned before I've never been to the gym. That's not anything that's on my radar, anything that I'm interested in doing. But then, yes, I found the headset, bought it for my kids it was just for them and I put it on just to check it out. Just standing in the home environment that the kids had sat on there, I looked around for like 10 minutes in awe. We had bought them something like the year before. It was like this little plastic thing that you put your phone in and it was supposed to be VR.

Julia:

Yes, same, and so I was expecting it to look like that you know, just kind of like rinky dink, I guess, and I stood there just like this is just putting it on. This is real, this is crazy. And it just disconnected me from reality and I just kind of messed around in it for a few days and I would take it from them when they weren't in it and they were like Mom, give us back our headset. And then I found different apps and I played on different things and games. And I think I played virtual reality, which is just like a little game.

Julia:

You go and solve clues, never even thinking about fitness, and I think I just did a search one day for fitness apps and I found several. There's a lot more now, but there were a few and I tried a few of them. And then Supernatural popped up and I was like, oh, this looks really cool, and I put it on and I did the tutorials. Leanne pops up. I've told the story that I didn't even think she was real. I thought she was like you know.

Marla:

AI or something an.

Julia:

AI or a CGI or a hologram. I didn't know what she was in my living room, did not think she was a real person, cause I't know about Supernatural at all, like I'd never heard of it before. Really, I hadn't heard of the Oculus. Is that what it was called? Then it's changed names, I don't know yeah.

Julia:

Whatever the thing is, it was we had a Quest 2. Quest A Quest 2. And I had never really even heard of that when we got it for the kids, so I put it on, saw her did the tutorials, did my very first workout and I was like this is the most fun thing I have ever done in my life. I couldn't believe it and it was exciting and it brought me joy and I was just standing in my living room doing it but thinking I don't care who sees me doing this, I don't care, you know, I just wanted to keep doing it. It was so much fun and I think that day, my first day, I did like five or six workouts. Wow, as you know, that was the worst thing that I could have done.

Marla:

I was so sore. Did you get in the next day or did you?

Julia:

take a break.

Marla:

Oh my goodness, I was obsessed with this.

Julia:

It was an immediate obsession, like in the best way possible. I know that word could mean negative things, but I got in there and was just like immediately I couldn't imagine my life without it. So it you know it wanted you. When you got in it, it was like I think you had to put in your credit card, and I don't remember how it worked it was, it was a trial. And so I got really mad and I was like this is a trial, for what a subscription based thing. I have to pay monthly because then all the apps in there were really cheap when we got the, the quest.

Julia:

At first, I mean, you wouldn't pay more than five to seven dollars for most of the apps. Some of them were more, um, but it was like some of the big, you know the bigger ones so I was like I don't want to pay for this.

Julia:

I was like, fine, I'll do the. I think then they did have like a 30 day trial. It's changed, Sometimes it's seven, sometimes it's 30, you can gift 30, but there weren't gifting of any trials then. And so I think I was on a 30 day trial and I'm like, well, I'll just try this out when I get close to the 30 days. If I'm not still doing it, I'll just I won't, I won't get the trial. And it was $20 in, like $19.99 a month. And I was like, day two, I'm, I'm buying this, I'm having it Like I think I even went ahead and maybe even skipped the trial, I don't remember, but I was like this is what I'm doing, I am keeping it.

Julia:

I'm not getting rid of it. I'm doing supernatural. And here I am, three plus years later, and I haven't stopped.

Julia:

I don't see myself stopping anytime soon. Like one of my biggest fears is if supernatural went away. Like that's a big fear for me, like if I didn't have that outlet. So yeah, that's kind of my story. I just found it on a whim and had like the most fun. And every time I get into Supernatural, even when I go in today after we get off of here, we have a really fun April Fool's workout I haven't seen today yet and I'm just so excited every time, even if it's an old workout that I've done before. There's just something about going in there and hitting those balloons and it stimulates some place in my brain. It's never a bad time. So right.

Julia:

So I would like what is your story? Is it similar to mine Is?

Marla:

it different.

Julia:

How did you get started?

Marla:

Similar in the sense that I had no desire to use the Quest 2. We bought it for our daughter for Christmas. She played on it. I didn't even get on it like for months. Oh wow, for months.

Julia:

You never even like put it on your head or anything.

Marla:

I mean once to do the roller coaster game the roller coaster, and I think my daughter was really big into vacation simulator at the time.

Marla:

Oh yeah, I played that too, and she would want to show me the little butterflies and the things she would collect, and so I would go in there, we would cast it to the tv. But she wanted me to go in and so I would. But that was that and, um, I had a doctor's appointment. It was in august and I had a doctor's appointment and the doctor was like marla, you, you know, something's got to give, something's got to change. You're not, you are not. Well, you will not make it another 10 years if you continue living the way that you are living today.

Marla:

Girl, she was like almost nine or she was. She had just turned nine, I think, at the time, and, um, the thought of only making it till like her 20th birthday scared the crap out of me. Like that was on a Friday. And then that Monday I took her to school and I dropped her off and I decided I'm going to do this program that I've seen some of my friends on the Internet doing, which was called 75 Hard, and I went for a walk after I dropped her off at school and then, in 75 Hard, you have to do two workouts, 45 minute workouts a day. One has to be outside. So I went for a walk and then the next one can be outside, it can be inside, but it has to be 45 minutes. And I was like, what am I going to do? And I remembered, oh well, this headset thing.

Marla:

I remember Beat Saver. My kid plays Beat Saver. That looked like a little bit of exercise. So I went in and played Beat Saver and then, when I got out of Beat Saber and add, I went to the apps to see what else was available. I didn't even type anything in, but because I had played Beat Saber, supernatural came up so I downloaded it and at the time you could have a 30 day trial.

Marla:

And I did the 30 day trial and my first workout was 45 minutes because that's all I could do. That's all I could do. I could barely make it the 45 minutes. It was a lot. Um, I did all the training stuff, uh, all the the intro things. I am someone who follows directions. I've got to follow the way it's intended to be. So I did that. And then I went right into my you know first few little workouts which resulted in 45 minutes, and I was ooh, I was winded, like seriously winded. And then I got up and did the same thing the next day and the next day and the next thing, and I did that for 75 days because I was doing 75 hard and I just continued.

Marla:

And three years later, here I am getting the headset basically daily for a minimum of 45 minutes when I get it. That is always my goal. It's the habit that I've created from the 75 hard program. But my first year within, when I started supernatural and I started doing 75 hard, I ended up doing the whole live hard program. It's this whole year long thing um within the 75 hard program that I ended up doing, which really changed my whole life. Yeah, Um.

Julia:

Yeah, I am currently 13 years and five months sober. It's a big deal. Thank you, that's a huge deal. It is huge, it is huge.

Marla:

Yeah. But I realized in my sobriety from drugs and alcohol I was using food in place of the drugs and alcohol and obviously that was not healthy, Not for me, not for anyone around me. And so 75 hard really helped me break the habit of using food as a crutch for my emotions the habit of using food as a crutch for my emotions and supernatural.

Marla:

I leaned a lot on supernatural, especially in the beginning when I would get a craving at six o'clock at night for chocolate or candy or something. I would get in the headset and do a quick hit and it would completely knock my urge out for that snack that I really didn't want to have but I really wanted to have you know it helped me, so you programmed yourself.

Marla:

I did with Supernatural, yeah, and so the combination of the two Supernatural and 75 Hard really changed the whole trajectory of my life and my habits and gave me a really healthy way and outlet to deal with the feelings and emotions that I once tried to regulate with drugs and alcohol, then tried to regulate with food, and now I regulate that with exercise, whether it's getting in the headset or going for a walk doing stretching. I have now taught myself, and my brain has now taken over, that when I'm overwhelmed, feeling that way, my coping mechanism is to exercise, and before Supernatural that had never existed in my life before.

Marla:

Right so to say Supernatural is very special to me is a little bit of an, I feel like almost an understatement. But also, you know that obsession that addictive personalities get, I feel like, by getting in the headset and exercising. At least that is the healthiest form of obsession for me, you know.

Marla:

I'm not hurting anybody by getting in the headset and sort of escaping my day-to-day problems and thoughts and feelings, so to say. Also it helps me work through them. You've got the coaches in one ear saying all these really great positive things, making you laugh. You're moving your body, you got music. You start either letting go or you have sort of like these epiphanies. I know this happens to you in the headset sometimes, but for me.

Marla:

It's like suddenly I have clarity on something that I have been struggling internally with and all of a sudden I'm like Whoa, oh my goodness, why didn't I see this before, understand it before? And then here I am, forgiving myself for things that I did 20 years ago, or understanding why I make a decision the way I do, and it's definitely a special place, and I know it's a special place for you. Yeah, especially with your family life and your special needs done, and taking care of yourself.

Julia:

It's a positive escape, it's a good escape. It's not choosing something bad when you need the escape, because it sounds like we both did that with food and not only is it an escape from your life, you go in there and you're just transported somewhere else. But we've talked about this before having different workouts that we use for different times of what we need. We have feel good workouts. We have some that are like I want to punch things, I need to go punch things we have, we can work out alone. We could be like, hey, I need a buddy today.

Julia:

You know we've got the outlet of our friends, you know people we've connected with the community of celebrating milestones with other people, having other people celebrate our milestones that we may not have otherwise celebrated, and we can get in and talk to other people and have that connection. And there's just so much there, so many things that you could use for healing, for connection, many things that you could use for healing, for connection. But even just going in alone, there is so much there where you could just go in by yourself and just tune everything out and have that I know it sounds crazy to say quieting your mind.

Marla:

That is exactly what happens.

Julia:

But it's what happens it is what happens I know there's the target, the noise of the targets that always has to be turned up for me.

Marla:

Same.

Julia:

And the loud music, you know, and the coaches talking, but there's something about that that is a calm, quiet, wonderful place to just go away to, and then the locations, and it's a full experience.

Marla:

It 100% is. And I think on especially hard days, pros only. That's why we go to pros only because we know when we can't quiet all that internal struggling in our brains we can go into a prose only and quiet it quickly.

Julia:

Oh yeah, you don't have to worry about thinking about anything else.

Marla:

And then you have all those endorphins going and you get out and you're like, wow, I'm in a much better place mentally to go on and live my life. Go, do the things I want to do. Um it, it. It truly is an escape, but also helps you face your own realities in the real world by going into the and using your full body. It's just a very, at the end of the day, a very peaceful experience, even though we get in there and go crazy and it's not peaceful in the moment, but at the end of the day, when you think back, it allows me to stay calm and focused and remember what I want to do every day, my, my goals for my own health, for my family, for life in general.

Marla:

um, without it, I, what would we do? I wouldn't go to the gym.

Julia:

I wouldn't go to the gym. No well, I can't. I mean, that's true with my.

Julia:

You know what I have going on here. I really can't just get in my car and leave my kid here and go to the gym. So I didn't really, I didn't really have that option. So I know there's been times where he's been in the hospital for extended stays and I'm like I need my headset and better not something exciting come out while I'm in here, headset and better, not something exciting come out while I'm in here. But that's happened before. That has happened. But the last time we went to the hospital I took my headset.

Julia:

Yes, you did, and it's kind of scary to get in to it when I'm in his room and anyone I don't. If you've been in the hospital before, you know people are coming in and out all the time and I'm like, if somebody comes in here and I'm like, well, if somebody comes in here who cares? I'm in here in this headset and they better not get in my way because they'll get hit by my arms. So, but it felt so good to get in there, escape, go into my happy place and then come out of it feeling refreshed. My mind was in a better place, and so if now, from now on, he does go in, I'm going to try. Sometimes I'm not able to pack it. I'm going to try to pack my headset because it was wonderful to have that outlet.

Marla:

Yeah, I agree and I know as your friend I have pushed you several times to bring your headset and I know you've had a little conflicting and I would probably have the same conflicting feelings. You're in the hospital with your son but there are people taking care of them and I know you are his main caregiver. It is important for you to take care of yourself.

Julia:

You can't take care of him?

Marla:

without taking care of you.

Julia:

That is very true.

Marla:

Even when he is in the hospital and you have so much there's so much downtime and so much you know, waiting for him to, to get better.

Julia:

Right.

Marla:

So use that time to help yourself be able to cope with being there.

Julia:

They have told me they'd give me a conference room. Well, you better take them up on that. Give me the conference room then. But I found a time where I knew there weren't people coming in and I told them. I told the nurses, I'm like, okay, I'm just going to give you a heads up, I'm going to have this thing on my face and I'm going to be swinging my arms, and I tried to make sure I moved everything, because it's terrifying If you aren't in your space at home, in your normal workout place. It is terrifying to work out somewhere else because you don't know, like I don't realize how much I lean and kick and move and sway or whatever, and my living room is pretty big.

Marla:

Right.

Julia:

But I've had to come in here into my bedroom, like where I'm now kind of right in front of me and I've like I'd hit my mattress and I thought I was dying because I didn't know what was attacking me. And mattress is off and I'm like whoa, I've worked out in my sunroom, which it's a pretty good size, but I've had like my arm brush up against one of my plants and I'm like intruder, intruder, what's? Happening or one of my kids purposefully come and like tap me on the shoulder.

Julia:

I'm like you, little punk Right, exactly no. So just to displace yourself is not ideal, but just to get into the headset when you wouldn't, you know, to take it, get in and get that mental release, I think is a really cool and important thing to do Sometimes just getting those workout clothes on, though it's so hard. Why is that so hard sometimes? Oh, no, I've worked out in my street clothes. I've worked out in pajamas. Sometimes I just don't care.

Marla:

I'm like.

Julia:

I've got to get in the headset and sometimes that is the block. It's like just changing, changing the clothes.

Marla:

It a hundred percent is For me. The block is I. I know I'm gonna get hot and sweaty and messy looking and I'm like, well, how am I gonna go on about my day looking hot, mess? And I've gotten to the point where I I don't care anymore. Yeah, same, I have to do what I have to do and it's non-negotiable for me to exercise it for my mental well-being, for my physical well-being, for the sake of everyone I interact with on a daily basis. They need me working out. So you know I can always wash up quickly. But the hair, you know I got hats for that.

Julia:

We just got the hats. They've been wonderful.

Marla:

You know, no makeup, that's's fine, I'm good with that, you know, I just have to accept it and hope that the world accepts me the way that I come to it as well. Otherwise, because that was a big roadblock for me because I was like, oh gosh, now I definitely have to take a shower, I had to put makeup back on, exactly. Gotta fix my hair, gotta do all these things, and once I let go of that, I don't make as many excuses to get into.

Julia:

I think now we're just ready all the time because we never know if we're gonna get out like I can get in in the morning for my normal morning time and then get out, and then in the afternoon somebody can be like you want to jump in? You you know and do this one. You never know what may come. So I'm like, I'm supernatural, I try to be supernatural, ready all the time.

Marla:

Same. Like I can't take a shower. What if somebody wants to get in this afternoon Exactly, especially during competition, if I've got to do something Exactly, you know, or even if I like, if I have a bad day, if I just get in and do a good quick hit or favorite shorter workout, it just improves my mood, or in the afternoon, when I get really tired.

Marla:

you know we love our afternoon lattes, but sometimes even an afternoon, even an afternoon latte doesn't help and I'm like if I just get in the headset and work out for a minute, I tend to have way more energy for the rest of the evening. So yeah, we are usually headset ready.

Julia:

See, and I didn't work out Saturday, we had a busy kind of fun-filled day. Well, fun-filled, I don't know. We were out pulling staples and taking up a fence because I'm having some trees cut down tomorrow. But you know, we had a lot of things going on Saturday and I probably could have gotten in Saturday evening, but I was like, well, and then yesterday was. Sunday and a lot of family things out to eat. I just didn't get in.

Julia:

So today I feel, I feel icky, I kind of feel like you know, going two days, going one day for like a rest day for me is normal, but going two days. But what will happen is when I get in today it's going to be.

Julia:

I don't know if this happens to you, it's all new, it's like everything is just sharper and cooler and neato. It's just really. And sometimes I think, a break from it if you are feeling not excited about Supernatural and you take like a three or four day break, I don't recommend it. But you know you get back in on that fifth day because I've had forced breaks, I don't know You've had forced breaks. And then when you get back in you're like Whoa, I don't know why it's like that.

Marla:

I mean after three years right, but it's just so exciting. Yeah, it's just, that's the way, everything looks brighter, it does. Everything sounds better, it's just I don't know it's, just, I just think it's that reconnection to what you missed and it's just a feel good.

Julia:

I don't know about you, but when, when people put on the headset and try it out and they aren't as excited about it or obsessed with it as I am, I'm like what's wrong with you? What is wrong with you? This is the most amazing thing ever and I try not to talk to people about it too much because I could totally word vomit all over somebody about. I mean, we have a podcast exactly this is our avenue for it now so.

Julia:

I guess we're not allowed to. But yeah, I could totally go crazy. Same about some supernatural, same on some people and they're just looking at me like okay, lady, you're weird.

Marla:

Well, it's funny because my partner he has no desire to supernatural like none whatsoever, but he will let. He knows all about it. He knows all about it because I talked to him and he will sit there and listen to me. He never shuts me down like, oh my gosh, marla, will you shut up now?

Marla:

about this what about your competition? What about your team? What about this? What about that? He's actually very um, supportive and listens, and so sometimes he'll just ask me oh, is today a pros only day, marla Cause, you're very excited and I'm like it's not. But this really cool high flow came out, you know, and he'll ask me questions about it, and so I'm lucky to have someone in my life that supports me in that way and never shuts me down which, let me just say, I have put up, and never shuts me down, which, let me just say, I have put up 20-something years of him talking about his video games and listen to him. I understand the games. I don't play them, but I understand how they work, I get it.

Marla:

So he better be supportive and listen to me, that's partnership though it is. Yeah, we're on about Supernatural. But I think he is very happy that we have this outlet and that I have made so many friends here in supernatural community because it it makes my life better, you know, to have this outlet to have people who understand the way I feel about supernatural, because they feel the same way. I definitely don't take that for granted at all.

Julia:

I mean 75 Hard, though when you said that, that's to go from where you were, straight into 75 Hard.

Marla:

How did you?

Julia:

find that program.

Marla:

Well, I'm sort of like one of those extreme people I'm either all in or not in at all and I get a little obsessive about things. And so when I'm all in, I am all in. And I had tried previously before I found 75 hard. I'll get to how I found it in a second. But before I got to actually did 75 hard, I had tried several times over the years to start getting healthier, to eat better in the sense of fuel my body and not overeat because I'm eating my feelings away or I'm bored or whatever but to be mindful and connected to my body and what my body needed. And I failed every time I gave up.

Marla:

I just went right back to my old ways and there were some friends on Instagram that had come across 75 Hard and were doing it and they were posting about it in their story and their experience, you know. And they would check off these tasks and they would post in their story oh, like day four, day five, day 10. And I'm like, what are they doing? And after I had seen two friends fail and start over, and if you forget one of the tasks that day, you have to start over at day one. Okay, so you have to do all these tasks and you have to do them every day before you go to sleep. So from the moment you wake up to the moment you go to sleep, that's when your day starts over, so it's not like it starts over automatically at midnight. If you're still awake at midnight and you need to finish, then finish.

Marla:

So, anyway, I watched some friends really persevere and show some grit. I was invested. I was invested in their story like invested in their success, invested in watching them grow and change their mentality and their mindset grow and change their mentality and their mindset and I thought I need something extreme. I wasn't. I'm going to just make one small change and keep it up. I'm just going to do this. I'm not that kind of person. I needed a complete revamp of my whole existence, in the way that I viewed food, the way that I viewed doing hard things, discipline, not giving up up until 75, art. I'd basically given up on anything when it came to my health and to myself, um, making myself a priority. So I did go from like nothing, nothing to all in, you know, drinking a gallon of water a day, two workouts a day, one outside. I walked, slash, ran, I got up to a little bit of running intervals, but I prefer walking Um better on the joints it's way better on the joints.

Marla:

And it became like a very mindful practice for me. It sucked, it sucked at first.

Julia:

I was going to say it wasn't your body. My feet always hurt, my knees always hurt, some type of shock, you know.

Marla:

It was in shock.

Julia:

Yes, and a lot of people think To go from that to that, yeah, Right.

Marla:

A lot of people think in 75 hard, like each workout has to be full on to fail, your kick your butt every time. And that's not true. You can have recovery workouts. You can. You know you can do yoga, you can do. It needs to be intentional. You're moving your body and so I made I made that a point to do so. Sometimes I would get into the. Every day I got into the headset and did 45 minutes regardless, and remember I was on loads four months so it wasn't like I could just go in and go a little bit lower of an intensity for an active rest day.

Julia:

no, that's very true, you didn't have.

Marla:

I didn't have another low. You knew that when you went in what you were getting into.

Julia:

It wasn't like. Well, I'm sore, so let me do a low minus.

Marla:

Were there even getting starteds in there there were a few getting starteds but I did the getting starteds right off the bat and I never went back to those. But I did stay on low for months. It was almost a good six months before I moved and I know we've talked about this before. But I went a medium quick hit and I remember the quick hit it was an absalicious is with Leanne and um, they had tall triangles and that's when I started. After I got used to this quick hit, I started doing my own version of knee strikes in this one quick hit.

Marla:

I have done this quick hit over 75 times, because it was my training. Quick hit it was what I did to move up to medium intensity, or when I had a super, crazy sweet craving that I needed to pass, make, make it go away, cause I did not want to give into it, cause I, I know me, I can't. I'm not one person who can have just a piece of chocolate, okay.

Julia:

I was going to say what's your craving food? Mine's chocolate.

Marla:

Mine's chocolate. I can't just have one. I don't, I can't, I can't, I can't. I'm, unfortunately, am still that way.

Julia:

Wow. So you have one little bite and you're gone.

Marla:

I'm gone, I'm done. Wow, I'm eating three or four candy bars, or a bag of fun-sized candy bars.

Julia:

And you sit there. I just had this mental image of you with packages. Dude Snickers are all around.

Marla:

Yes, it's Butterfingers and Snickers and Milky Way bars. Yes, Wow.

Marla:

So Super supernatural was your yes, my way of, and if I could just make it through the quick hit, the craving disappeared. For me it was gone, and if you've ever quit sugar or cut out anything from your diet, you know how hard it is. For the first two, three weeks it's very difficult, and so I went through a lot of emotions and I know a lot of people, you know, do what's best for you. A lot of people don't want to cut everything and that's fine. This is what was best for me, Right.

Julia:

You just knew that you had to do extreme or you weren't going to be successful. I was not, and everyone's different, so that's interesting.

Marla:

Yeah, Everyone is different and I wouldn't suggest look, I do suggest 75 Heart of Lots people. I think it's a great program. It is a hardcore program if you need to drastically change something in your life. Or you want to prove to yourself that you still have mental toughness and discipline, if you need a reminder, it is a fantastic program. I would recommend it to anyone. However, I don't believe it is for everyone.

Julia:

Yeah, no, probably not. I've heard that it takes 21 days to break a habit and it makes me wonder why 75 day hard?

Marla:

maybe it's because I don't believe yeah, I don't believe the 21 day.

Julia:

Um, it's not enough.

Marla:

It is not enough. It is definitely 21 days.

Julia:

21 days, you know that's been the thing. So I cut sugar out drastically when I lost my weight the eight, nine years years ago. I need to go nail that down. That's not easy to do. I mean drastically changed the way I was eating and a lot, of, a lot of that was food for me. But just to cut something out like that and just say you're not going to have it anymore, I mean it's all you think about until you.

Julia:

You can't have something that's all you're going to think about, so you have to rewire your brain.

Marla:

You know it's an addiction like anything else.

Julia:

Yeah.

Marla:

You have to rewire your brain and after you stop eating the sugar, you know everything is sweet After that. Everything is so sweet After that. I eat sugar now. Yeah, eat sugar now. I would like to get back to more discipline with my eating habits, for sure.

Julia:

What I've learned is if you aren't ready mentally to do something, it won't happen. Nobody can change that for you. Nobody can tell you. I can't say, marla, you're not going to have sugar anymore after today. It has to be. You have to, not you, but anyone who wants to make a?

Marla:

change.

Julia:

They have to just, and that's how it was for me. I mean, I'll tell my story. I got on the scale with a kitty cat because I needed to give the kitty cat some medicine. And I got on the scale with this cat and I'm like I hope this cat weighs like 50 or 60 pounds, because that's there's no way. I had no idea. I'd not been on the scale, I didn't know. So I step off the scale and I got on the scale because that's what you have to do and that was it for me. That's all it took. And I was like, okay, I had the books and I had. I did something called Trim Healthy Mama and I had. I had the books and I had, I did something called Trim Healthy Mama and I had, I had all the material, but I just never sat down and took the time to go through it and understand it and know what to do.

Julia:

And when I got off that scale I went and got my book. I started because that's all it took for me. So it just has to be that.

Marla:

It's a switch.

Julia:

Nobody ever had to tell me to do Supernatural for any 21 days. I was hooked on day one.

Marla:

Isn't that interesting. And see, I wonder. I often wonder if I would have found Supernatural without being invested in this 75 hard program, if I would have stayed with it. You know, but who knows? All I know is if I was sore, if I was tired mentally, physically, I still got in Supernatural. I still did what I had to do and it took me about two months and I could confidently say after that two months that it was a habit. After that was I'm gonna get in. I'm gonna get in. In fact, my first year of supernatural I did not miss a single day.

Marla:

I got in for 365 days I got a check mark, a star 365 days, and that was a big big deal for me personally, because it's the first time I had ever put my fitness and made it a priority in that way, exactly, and you know it's fun. It's funny to think about now because you and I, we consider Supernatural a workout app and we hear people call it a game and we want we want to get defensive. It's not a game. It's not a game y'all, it is a workout app. But now that we've been doing it for as long as we have, I see the gaming aspects of it.

Julia:

Yeah, yeah.

Marla:

It is fun and it is playful. It is and Supernatural can be whatever you want it to be. Supernatural can be whatever you want it to be. You can go in there and use your whole full body and get a killer workout. Add resistance bands, Get a strength training-ish workout. Go crazy. You could go in there and just sit and flick your wrists and it can be a game. Yep. It can be whatever you want it to be man, I love Supernatural.

Julia:

We can sit here again for days. So when you first started, were you able to move the way you move?

Marla:

now no ma'am, no ma'am, no ma'am. In fact I had never really done squats before I got in Supernatural, besides daily movement that you would normally do, and even at that I bent. I always had lower back pain because, I didn't squat. I just I bent and like when we would have to move furniture around the house. Chris would always be like okay, now lift from your legs, and I'm like what that's?

Julia:

what she didn't mean and I'm like what I'm just going to just do what I want to do.

Marla:

And I had years of chronic back pain lower back pain, like debilitating In the bed a couple weekends out of the year because I could not move. I could not do anything, I couldn't get on the floor with my kid and play. I weighed 120 pounds more than I currently weigh. It was a lot of stress on my body and so, no, when I first started, I did not move my feet. I tried to move around a little bit, you know, but I wasn't squatting, I wasn't lunging. It was about a month and a half in and I was practicing squats and lunges out of the headset because I want to make sure I had good form because my knees were hurting Um.

Marla:

I had never done any sort of training for my legs. It was so mad it was so mad man you got to imagine you know exactly, and I was I would not give up. I wanted to keep going. So I worked through that soreness, that pain. It wasn't a bad pain, it was just my body learning to do some dang work really you know.

Marla:

So it wasn't about until about two months in or so that I really felt good about doing squats and lunges and all of that kind of stuff and I definitely did not move around the way that I do now Definitely not.

Julia:

I don't either.

Marla:

Yeah, you have lots of video of you, probably not your initial plays obviously I have a few of them.

Julia:

They're painful to watch in different reasons but I did not move a lot and I was going all out because I thought that that's how you could have the highest power was to just hit them as hard as you could well see.

Marla:

I think a lot of people do that. They go all in thinking they have to hit so forcefully and that's how you get your power scores up and that's how you get a better workout. But it's really not. It's a full body workout and people think they're using their full body. But have you recorded yourself? Right, tell me you've recorded yourself and you've watched it and you see that you're using your legs and your torso to move your arms.

Julia:

I had to train myself for that.

Marla:

Yeah, definitely so did I, and I think the more you progress in your supernatural journey, you start to train different things. Oh yeah, you start to focus on different areas.

Julia:

It doesn't come from the beginning, I mean maybe it does for some people, but I don't think it does for a lot I don't either.

Julia:

um, I mean, and I really did have a picture in my mind what I look like, recorded myself, watched it for 10 seconds, deleted it I don't even have it, my first, very first recording because I'm like I don't look like that that's what I, or I do look like that that's what I look like and that that was not what I thought I looked like at all. Um, but over time I've I was like oh, I'm not getting in those lunges, I'm not getting in those squats. I wasn't even doing the squats, right, I was doing more bending forward.

Julia:

No wonder our legs are hurting and so. I think there was a whole training that I had to put myself through, but I kind of did super natural I don't want to say wrong but maybe not with the best form and the best full body in mind until I started recording myself. So I now just try to feel everything everywhere. And when I'm doing it I really try to focus on am I feeling it in my abs, my legs, my booty, my back, just everywhere? I try to use everything.

Julia:

And that's why I love when you have targets that are wide, that you can go and reach for. And just yeah, all the triangles. I didn't hate triangles, but I was frustrated with triangles and put myself through. I don't know I'll. I was frustrated with triangles and put myself through. I don't know, I'll have to explain triangle training one day.

Marla:

We can make a whole episode on that.

Julia:

Where do you get that? I know we and we should, we should, but I actually had to put myself through triangle training to know how to do the triangles, and I think that's a question that does come up a lot in the community, like all these triangles. What am I supposed to be doing here? But I totally. What I did is I mentally kind of took away the arm targets and chilled on those.

Julia:

I still hit them but it wasn't my main focus and I just turned my main focus to doing what the triangles told me to do. And as naturally as hitting these white and black targets were, the triangles were able to come as naturally to me so I didn't have to think about I was irritated because I was like, oh wait, I'm hitting the target, but this triangle is. Am I squatting? Am I supposed to lunge? I was so frustrated with them so I got to a point where they came just as naturally to my flow as any other target, as any other anything that I did in there. So that was one of the best things I think I did last year.

Marla:

You did spend a lot of time on triangle training?

Julia:

Yes, and I was like, what is all these triangles? And there are a lot of triangles and they do move you in all different kinds of ways, but now they're my favorite and I'm like give me all of them. You want them for points?

Marla:

Yes, triangles equal points.

Julia:

Yeah, but I want them so I can dance because the choreographers put them in there Well, I always hope that they do to get me to move more, because it's harder for me to move without that. Here is how I want you to move, so I enjoy when that is put in there for me and I don't have to try to make something up on my own.

Marla:

I do a lot of uh, making stuff up and following the triangles, or completely ignoring what they're telling me to do with the triangles, and I just do what I want. Do whatever you want?

Julia:

Yeah, and I have days I go in and I just fool around and do whatever.

Marla:

I want to, so it's fine, but I always the first play of a workout. I do it as it is intended for me to move, because I want to experience it, and sometimes, if it's a very complex workout, I do exactly what they're asking me to do. The second, third, fourth, fifth time, I do exactly what they're asking me to do the second, third, fourth, fifth time. It's not until I really nail that down that I'll add in my own thing.

Marla:

But, I'm also a workout repeater. If I find workouts that I really enjoy, I will repeat them often. And I know some people don't do that. They don't repeat workouts, they're not into it, they're one and done and I'm like oh, I've done that one.

Julia:

I will never do that. They, they don't repeat workouts.

Marla:

They're not into it, they're one and done and I'm like oh, I've done that one, I will never do that one again. Now let's go to another one.

Julia:

You know, let's find one I love. Yeah, If something gives me or you a good feeling yes it's being saved and you know it could go in our folder.

Marla:

We don't have those folders, man, I want folders, folders now yes, for sure so you mentioned when earlier, when you're talking about triangles and focusing on each muscle, making sure each muscle group is activated. I want to talk about a workout that came out last week. Yes, it was one of the workouts of the day. It was an abs-alicious workout. It was called Brawn Fire, which I think is hilarious.

Marla:

And let's just say that that is my cat Tater on the cover. He's like I'm ready to fight, let's go. That's totally Tater. But this was an abs-al workout. Yes, it was, and this was an absalicious workout and I want to. I did that this workout this morning. I'm late to the game, late to the party, but I went in there and I totally spaced on the fact that it was an abs-alicious workout. But I left that workout with a killer ab workout, like the targets were placed for ab activation, something.

Marla:

I know that we have complained about in the past on this podcast. If you tell us it's an abs-alicious, it better be an abs-alicious.

Julia:

This workout did it.

Marla:

And I'm ashamed to say that I was listening to doc. I heard him say to use my abs. I heard him, but it didn't register until the very last song. Yeah, this is an ab workout. No wonder why he keeps focusing on you're like dude, we got it we got it. I got it. I'm I'm using my abs, but the movements man, the targets, the way the triangles led you, it really, um, it really was an ab workout.

Marla:

Like the mapping was mapped Like. Whoever the person that mapped this one was like okay, let's see if I do this movement, is it getting my abs? Does it get my lower abs, lower abs, where's it they? They had that all figured out when they understood the assignment.

Julia:

Yes, yes, they sure did. I loved the double targets with the two portals, like with the tails and the first thing yes it was so good, the first song I I wanted to go back and I should go back and record the first song. It was my favorite. I just loved the way the choreography moved you through the whole thing.

Marla:

it causes us to stretch more and use more of our range of motion, and that's what you and I are after after three years of being in here and doing up and down targets in this. We want range of motion hits. We're like, get us moving.

Julia:

Now, I don't know.

Marla:

Right, exactly. And so when they have portals coming out of multi lanes, we're like yes, yes, yes, it gets our attention right away, because we don't see that every day, right.

Julia:

Unless we're replaying our old workouts that we love, or not Right, but in our we know we can go get that. Exactly, exactly. I really, really loved it.

Marla:

And I thought that the um, the setup was well thought out and the use of tails and you know, you guys hear me say set up and what I mean when I say set up is you hit one target and it naturally leads you to the next hit. You're not thinking about it, you're not having to. Yeah, you're not fumbling, you're not having to reposition your arm, you're not having to turn it, you don't't have to. It just naturally wants the lead. You're flowing. Yeah, it's a hang up for me.

Julia:

As soon as the setup is not there, I'm like grumble grumble will announce I will if the setup is not there it is my first, it's, uh, it's, if you're in a party with us. We don't like something. We will let you know. Yeah, we do, don't worry. Yes, we do, there's either noises, or we're just going to tell you.

Marla:

Exactly, yeah, usually they're a little bit of both.

Julia:

Grumble, grumble, grumble. Exactly.

Marla:

But the setup was great. I thought in this workout, the setup and the way the tails led you was just so I didn't have to think about it. Intuitive, exactly. I really enjoyed this workout. I bookmarked it, I saved it. I think it was my favorite workout that I did last week.

Julia:

I had more on my list that the day that I did this. I think I did it the day after it came out and I had some more workouts that I wanted to do, but I wanted to go and do this one again like straight back into it.

Marla:

Right.

Julia:

Some of it, for me too, is the music, the songs. They were so good. I just like that music for them.

Marla:

The last song was this the first time they have redone Spitfire for a medium, I am not 100% sure, but it was remapped from anything, it was brand new. Yeah, it was brand new, and I believe they all were.

Julia:

I think everything was redone. There was nothing that was a redo. I mean, we've had all these songs in other workouts, every single song. None of the songs are new, but all of this I'm pretty sure was remapped for Absalicious for this workout.

Marla:

It was a great workout it was so good. And it was not a boring. Get straight to work. You're working out on your abs workout.

Julia:

You know what I'm saying? Yeah, it was fun.

Marla:

It was fun. It was fun for sure I loved it. It was a really fun one.

Julia:

I loved it too. Definitely in the favorites, yay.

Marla:

Yay, we're on the same page.

Julia:

Yeah, it was a really good one, Probably, like you said, my favorite from the week. Also Workout weekly workout suggestion. They gave us suggestions last week.

Marla:

I've got something funny about that. You said I didn't do them. Yet there was only one workout in there that I haven't done prior, and I found this hilarious because I was like, oh, I wonder if I'll get any new workouts that I'm going to discover and love. I had notes on every single workout that was suggested to us last week. Interesting, yep.

Julia:

So do you have a favorite? Or it's not in front of you, so I'm putting you on the spot.

Marla:

You are putting me on the spot.

Julia:

I've done a lot of them too, so I knew I was very familiar with most of them were some of my favorites too, so great workouts that were suggested.

Marla:

The boxing, I believe Miranda. We call Miranda Mouse. I believe Miranda suggested it and in my mind I got it confused with an older high boxing that I used to do with Julie. That had game time. Yeah, in the club, in it 50 cents.

Julia:

Yeah, song on it.

Marla:

But she corrected me. So I went back through the library and looked at the boxing workout that Miranda had suggested and I had notes on it already, so I bumped it up in my library. I plan on doing it later today or tomorrow because it's a high boxing. And I do limit my high boxing because I have an injury in my neck, that high boxing sort of flares for me.

Marla:

So I do plan to do it because I remember loving that workout and knowing oh, yeah, yeah, and we'll pop it up on the screen so you guys can see it. But um. It was cool to flip it. Instead of suggest a workout, to ask for workouts it was, but this week's workout suggestion.

Julia:

Oh, this week's workout suggestion is the Drop Electro Latin. We talk about this workout a lot.

Marla:

We do.

Julia:

Oh, this is such a good one it is. It's a high-intensity flow 19 minutes from 10 for 21. 21. We're going way back, yeah, and this one is really good.

Marla:

It's got some old mapping 19 minutes from 10 for 21. 21. We're going way back, yeah, and this one is really good.

Julia:

It's got some old mapping, I mean when we've gone back and done it. We're kind of like, oh you know, but um, this one is good and the last song on this one, I it something about the song. It has a drop in it and it just oh yeah, you go nuts, you love it.

Marla:

I love the last song too. For me it's the first song. It's what sold me on this workout and what gave me. Fomo. It was before I was doing high intensity workouts and I saw Jessa post the first song. She posted side by side and I was like I need to get to this workout. What is this workout? And I looked and it a high. So I bookmarked it, knowing I could not do it then.

Marla:

I wasn't going to do it then, and it sat in my bookmarks for like almost two months and one day I just got brave enough and I said I don't care if I'm ready for high intensity or not. I'm going to do it because I want to do this song, and it did disappoint. I loved it and I've loved this workout ever, since. It is definitely one of the ones that it's fast you know what I'm saying?

Julia:

it is fast you go in.

Marla:

We love all of the music. Some of some of the mapping is a little old but we obviously forgive it because we love the workout so much.

Julia:

I wish they would come out with a whole electro Latin yes, cause, this is the drop, but I wish they would come out with an electro Latin, which is I guess this is kind of we have these same songs and like other fuego workouts, so maybe it is more like a thing now. Yeah, it is an overlap but this one just has always stuck out to us being a 2021. Yeah, um, so it'll be interesting, if they try it, what their thoughts are on it.

Marla:

Yeah, because it's a good workout, for sure, and don't forget, oh no, you go, you go, I'm sorry one of the funniest things.

Julia:

No, uh, antonio, the second song, yeah, she mentions coach doc and I always think that's funny because she's like get in here and do this the way Coach Doc would want you to represent.

Marla:

So anyway, Well, it's funny because you said second song and it technically is the second song, but it's really the first song, because the very first song is a warmup song.

Julia:

It is, so. That's why I was looking. I was like I thought, so that is probably why that's why I was looking. I was like I thought, so that is probably yes. Why?

Marla:

Because when if you hit skip warm up, you will skip the warm up song. It's only a minute. And if you're willing to do the whole warm up and do the warm up song because they used to do this back in the day, they've kind of stopped doing that, I think about a year ago. The last time I remember it was forget the madhouse. Forget the madhouse had a warm-up song it did which I bet everyone's like what? What are you talking about? Because you skip the warm-up.

Julia:

You don't know well, and there must be something that they were able to look and see. That maybe I don't know that people weren't doing them and skipping them, not sure sure you didn't get points for the warmup song you didn't. I mean, if they gave you an automatic, you know 10 points or something right. Maybe more need more than 10.

Marla:

I mean any of it. Whatever work you're doing, you should get points for it, that's true.

Julia:

They gave you points for it. I mean a whole minute of hitting targets. You should get your, get some points.

Marla:

That's what I'm saying, and if they had triangles in there then you know you'd get a lot more points.

Julia:

Exactly, and if it was a lower intensity for the intensity which I don't know if it was or not, I did a lot of them but I don't remember. If it kind of graduated you up into it would have been a great thing, but no point. So skip, yep, skip, sorry. Try the warm-up.

Marla:

Tell us if it's good I don't think I've ever done the warm-up song on here and in antonio was the first I was really confused yeah, antonio is the first after the warm-up song and the funny thing is is I can see the location in my head.

Julia:

Same, I can too Of every single actually of these songs.

Marla:

Yes, yeah, we've played this workout so many times. It really has stuck with us all. This time, in fact, we go in and it's been a while since I've played it. We should probably play it this week, since we're suggesting it to everyone.

Julia:

That is very true. We should play it too, and then, when we're done, we should check and see if we've rated it, that's very true, I don't know, I don't know old ones. Well, you used to be able to thumbs up them right, and so that was your rating, so some of them I just have. It just shows up that I liked it, and then I know that that was like the old rating and I did rate it on what? Their rating system was then um, but now you can go in and fully rate it.

Julia:

So every now and again I'll run into an old one where I'm like, oh need to rate it.

Marla:

Exactly. Don't forget to rate your workouts, even at 2021. Yes, especially your new workouts. Make sure you're rating it. Do the needful. Look to the left as soon as you've done your workout and you go to the card and it's telling you your score. Look to the left, give it the rating, do the thing. They will appreciate it and, in turn, we will all appreciate it, because then they're listening to our feedback.

Marla:

That's right, if you don't like something or you like something, tell them. That's the only way to make any get your voice heard, basically, and make any change you know, that's true.

Julia:

I mean, don't be like our friend Julie, who's known for the pig butt workout, who's probably done the pig butt workout a lot of times. I don't know her number, so I'm not going to say and then find out that she didn't even rate it. She didn't even rate it yeah. She fixed it.

Marla:

I think right, she did fix it. She's finding that she hasn't rated a lot of workouts that she should have once rated and now it sounds like she is getting in the habit of rating all of her workouts.

Julia:

And I love that. I love that. I love that she tells us, even though she knows we're going to get after her. Exactly, you didn't rate it yet.

Marla:

Right yeah, even though she knows we're going to get after her Exactly.

Julia:

You didn't rate it yet, right? Especially her favorites, exactly, exactly. Well, guys, we're so excited, or so glad, that you tuned in and listened to us today. We really appreciate you all and taking time out of your busy day. So thank you.

Marla:

Thank you, guys, and don't forget, the real joy and love of Supernatural is found in the journey. You go on, bye, bye.