Productive Living: Prioritizing Health and Fitness, with Jennifer Nagel – TPW335

Have you been thinking about starting a new fitness routine, or maybe just focusing more on your overall health? This week's episode, which is part of our Productive Living series, features my conversation with certified personal trainer and CEO of Figured Out Fitness, Jennifer Nagel. Join us as we talk about how a well-rounded fitness routine can contribute to our productivity and making a life that matters. Paying attention to our health and fitness can improve our productivity Jennifer Nagel is a certified personal trainer and CEO of Figured Out Fitness. She helps women over 30 who want simple nutrition and fitness solutions so they can be strong, feel energetic and live healthy lives. Her practical advice has been featured in MyFitnessPal, POPSUGAR Fitness, and Well + Good. And when she’s not coaching, you can find her watching sappy Netflix original movies, embarrassing her kids, and planning her next travel adventure with her hubby. Jennifer actually didn't start out in the health and fitness field. Although her college degree is in Food Sciences and she has always loved exercise and nutrition, her first career was working in higher education, strategy, and operations. Jennifer transitioned to her current career after a series of life changes beginning in her early 30s. While going through a divorce and navigating how to be a single mom, she also got a big promotion at work. Even though work promotions are a good thing, with all that Jennifer was going through in her personal life, this promotion and the extra responsibilities took their toll on her. She began feeling stressed out and anxious, and her health suffered as well. Burnout would be an understatement for what was happening to her physically, mentally, and emotionally and she had a bit of a breakdown. After a visit to the doctor, she was diagnosed with high blood pressure at just age 31. This was a shock for her, as she had previously been very healthy. At that point, she began to get back into fitness and nutrition, which eventually led to coaching and training others. Jennifer made the decision to leave her long-term career and instead start a business online, which wasn't common at that time. Eventually, Jennifer remarried. Her husband is also in the fitness industry, and together they lead a life very focused on their health and nutrition. Jennifer focuses on working with busy women all over the world. She really enjoys helping others who are going through similar circumstances and guiding them towards better health.  How regular exercise can improve our productivity When we talk about fitness, what does that really mean? Jennifer says it's more than just getting buff. It all boils down to whether or not our bodies can support us in doing the things that are important to our life. Jennifer often defines this in terms of energy, mobility, clarity, and focus. We all have different passions and things we enjoy doing, but all of those passions require a healthy body and a clear mind so we can focus and do the things that are important. When Jennifer once asked herself what was truly important to her, it was being a good mom and showing up at work. In order to do those things, she had to start taking care of her health. When it comes to how meaningful physical fitness is to our productivity, Jennifer divides this into two categories; physical productivity and mental productivity. These are the categories that have the biggest impact on our overall productivity.