“Southwest Prevention Fest Announcement and Fitness Goals in Focus: A Special Episode with Abby Clapper on Party Talk”
Welcome back! You are listening to Party Talk, where we empower leaders in youth drug prevention. Today is a special day, and we’re kicking it off a little differently. Before I introduce our amazing guest, I have a special announcement.
Details about the Southwest Prevention Fest
We are hosting an event specifically for leaders in youth drug prevention, meaning students and advisors. Our event is Southwest Prevention Fest, taking place on December 2 in Glendale, Arizona. We have the venue locked down, the entire campus to ourselves, and it’s going to be a full day of leadership in prevention and mental health promotion. So bring your student leaders and get them hyped up about getting involved in mental health promotion and substance use prevention. It’s a full day from 9 am to our after-party ending at 8 pm. We’re going to build leadership skills, create community around healthy choices, and get everyone excited about the topic of prevention. They’ll meet students from around the state, maybe even around the country. I had 25 students signed up from Illinois, and they’re coming to Arizona. I don’t know if this is a mistake or not, but they’ve reserved tickets, and the word is out to Nevada now. So some of them might be coming. The event is capped at 240 signups, and we’ve already passed 100. The event is still two months away, so if you’re interested, go to vive18.com, v-i-v-e-one-eight.com, click on the conference tab, and check out that day. Reserve your tickets now; you don’t even have to pay for them right away. Just reserve how many spots you think you might need, and we’ll send you information on how to reserve and pay for them later. The most important part is that you get to experience this. We’ve received so much support from our community, a shout-out to MATFORCE, the whole coalition community, and Arizona organizations like Wild Coalition, Youth to Youth, Rise Up Glendale. All of you are pulling together to help make this an extraordinary day.
How do drugs and alcohol relate to your fitness goals?
Now, without any further ado, today’s episode is with Abby Clapper. I briefly met Abby when I was a student at UW Oshkosh, and she actually moved out to Tampa. We’re going to talk a little bit about that, a bit of old friends reconnecting, and a lot about how alcohol and drugs relate to your fitness goals. So if you work with students who care about their fitness, and also maybe you work with student athletes, you’re an athletic director, or you’re in the schools working with health class, a way to talk about drugs and alcohol is by aligning it with their goals. Everyone’s got a fitness goal, and the new year is coming around. So it’s not only a way to talk to your students and stress the importance of these decisions, but it may be helpful for some of us. I know I’ve got some fitness goals I want to hit, and we talk all about it with Abby Clapper from Endorphin Wellness. So please enjoy this episode of Party Talk. Abby, tell me what’s been happening to you. So after graduation, give me the timeline. What’s been going on?
Yeah. So right before I graduated, I moved down to Florida for an internship. I did an internship with a fitness center down here for USAA and then just decided to stay. So I came back for graduation, and I came right back. I had a job lined up, and I actually met my husband at UW Oshkosh as well. But he was in the kinesiology program like me, but he stayed. He was in the military, so he was like a year behind me. But I met him working at the YMCA in downtown Oshkosh. It was like one of my last days, and I was training him. And then we hit it off and kept in touch. And then he moved down to Florida once he graduated, so we’ve been married for three years as of June. And yeah, so we live in Florida, and graduation and so, yeah, it’s great. We love it here.
“Life Journeys, Entrepreneurial Triumphs, and Drug Prevention Initiatives”
Okay, so that’s cool. First of all, congrats. I mean, thank you, you’re married. That’s just a huge blessing. And to what I’m just political story that you got to meet each other and then go away. And then yeah, came to Florida. And sparks flew. Yeah, I love that. So when you went down there, were you still working for the YMCA? Are you finishing up school? And then did you go into kinesiology? And that field.
Yeah. Yep. So I’ve been doing exercise science since I left. So I did my internship with USAA and then stayed on with them in their fitness and health fitness center. So I stayed on with them for like, I think someone was on maternity leave. So I spent like three months, and then I got a job with a company health fitness, who I’ve just left after five years, but I was with them for a while. And I worked for a couple of different client accounts in the Tampa Bay area. So I’m just managing their fitness centers, teaching group exercise, doing personal training. So pretty much everything that I learned in college I got to use, which has been super fun. But, um, but yeah, now I’m on my own. And I’m so excited about it.
Well, shoot, I think I’ll catch you up on our journey. And then let’s chat about the body and the brain and all that good stuff. That sounds good. Great. Yeah, absolutely. So so I’ll follow the same model. So after college, we there when I started party point o, that
I was okay. Yeah. And I had been to a couple of those parties. Super fun.
Okay, cool. I was like, I think that you liked it. But I wasn’t sure. Yep, yeah. So that was a blast. From there. Students would ask me like, “Hey, how can we do this on my campus?” And so my brain started working like, “Okay, is there a way to help people have fun drug free and like make it your number one job.” Can you make a job doing something good in the world? If yes, I want to learn how to do it. And you know, I want I might add others I want to our campus is Shark Tank competition. And crazy story. And this is where I see like God’s hand on my path is I I failed math, my senior year. And I was so angry about it oh my god, right, like one class or one semester longer. I already had senior ids. I knew what I wanted to do because I started this business. And so like, I can get out here. And that semester, they launched the entrepreneur program at UW O, and because I had failed bad, and I was retaking it, I was still classified as a student, and I got to enter the competition. And I won $11,000
That’s amazing. Holy cow.
Right? I was like, okay, you know, one of those things when you’re upset and you can’t see the label when you’re inside the jar. Right? Yeah, okay, upset. But now that I’m outside of it, I’m like, hey, there was a plan here. Oh, my gosh. Oh, yeah. It was incredible. And I was new to business to everything. So you know, launch your business, making a ton of mistakes, but like still making an impact learning and growing. Long story short, met Emily, my wife now, Charlotte around the country for four months throwing parties. So we’re parties. And then moving to Phoenix, Arizona, wanting to live by an airport. We’re like we’re done living in a trailer. Let’s live in a house, go to the airport, fly, and then started my speaking platform, which is called vibe 18 with my buddy Tomas Barraza, and he was the first guy I met when I moved to Phoenix. So just another cool, yeah, divine appointment. And so we launched Vive 18, have been just impacting through this around the nation since then, since 2018, actually, is when we started it. And today, yeah, just traveling all over shows students how to have fun and feel good about using drugs and investing into organizations that work with youth so that they can better equip them on positive mental health strategies, drug prevention strategies, and to make it fun high energy so students actually want to listen. Yeah.
Because that’s it. But as far right.
“Navigating Health and Fitness Goals: A Candid Discussion on Alcohol, Recovery, and Well-being”
Yeah, exactly right. How do we make this interesting? Yeah, that’s good. So let’s, let’s open up with this, Abby, like, for you personally? Or workwise? How has the topic of drugs and alcohol ever, you know, hit you, with your work or with your personal life?
Yeah, I would say, for work, because most of what I do is helping people like it healthy, and my slogan is helping people live happier, healthier lives. And so when we do a whole vision of the person, right? So we look at everything from the people around them, their physical activity, you know, how they are emotionally, how they are with food, all those different things. So obviously, like alcohol is something that sometimes needs to be addressed with adults, the adults that I work with, and usually nine times out of 10, I’ll say, hey, is there anything that you think you need to change? And they’ll say, Yeah, I probably need to come back and like, drink less because they’re having, you know, maybe two drinks every night or, you know, on the weekends are drinking a lot. And so it’s something that they know is adding, like a lot of extra calories that they add affecting their, you know, well-being journey, and maybe why they’re not seeing their goals being reached. So it’s something that I have a lot of conversations with over the past seven years.
Yeah, no, that’s an important. It’s kind of like the Yeah, like the intake form. It’s, you didn’t even have to say anything; you’re here; you’re like, is there anything that you think you needed to change people self-identify of? This isn’t the healthiest for me; I do it more than I maybe should. And they’re doing that; how does it affect people’s like fitness or I guess from the Kinesiology world, in your body? Yeah, give it like anything that quick tips that maybe people wouldn’t even know on what your body when you when you consume it.
100%. So the first thing is, it adds a ton of extra calories; you know, if you’re not really paying attention, especially like the sugary drinks, and adding all the sugars, your body, you know, it was about 100 calories in every beer. So if you’re at a party, you’re drinking a lot of beer, you’re just adding 100 calories in carbs, which, you know, within everything in moderation. So, you know, obviously, carbs are an important part of the diet, but we can’t all work our candy from, you know, alcohol; it’s not going to work for anybody to be healthy or happy. So all of those calories really make a difference; that’s probably the main thing. And then the second thing that I think it really fast is recovery. So when you’re trying to be better your body, if you want to, you know, build muscle, put on muscle, eat a lot of recovery. So, for example, obviously, when you drink a lot, you don’t get the best night’s sleep. So when you get good sleep, that’s allowing your body to rest and recover and kind of rebuild your muscles. You know, also eating protein is a part of that, but getting good sleep is a huge part of that. And so that inhibits a lot of those. A lot of that recovery. So between that and between the extra calories, you know, those are probably the two main things that I talk to people about, kind of how that’s gonna affect their issues that they want to continue or they’re not quite ready to cut back yet.
Yeah Okay. And the people that are coming to you are usually looking to get in shape, right. Their goals are to do that. Yeah. Cool. So that’s, that’s good to know, just like, from the simplified version of, and I love that angle, like, we’re not going to paint alcohol is the worst thing ever. And you should never drink it. Whether you’re talking to youth or adults, because nobody likes being told what to do. Absolutely. The second part is that the decision has to align with their goals. So if you’re saying, “Hey, I’m your partner, we’re going to hit your fitness goals, your ideal weight, whatever it is, your body mass index, like whatever your metrics are, and then knowing that, okay, your relationship with alcohol can be an unhealthy pattern, or if you identify that we should cut back, it’s going to help your recovery time because you’re tearing those muscles, your body needs to recuperate and needs to hydrate, and you need that good night’s sleep.” So that’s number one thing and two, just thinking it from a diet perspective of these are calories from carbs. And like you mentioned in the sugary drinks. I have heard this and you can confirm or deny this, but with goals as far as like fitness in your body. People say it’s 90% diet.
Yeah, I heard. Like 80% diet, 20% gym. So close? Yeah.
“Exploring the Intersection of Fitness, Substance Use, and Well-being: Insights from Jake White and Abby Clapper on Party Talk”
Okay, can you like, can you elaborate on that? Like, it just sounds crazy to me? Like, of course, right? So there’s these little things, you are what you eat, and other things, but you know, think about like, “No, I can’t be scientific, it rhymes or people, like, yeah, what you put in your body is what you get out of it.” But is there any? Yeah, how does that work? Like? How could your diet be that much more influential than the activity that you output? Any? Any thoughts or insights on it?
Oh my gosh, yeah, so many thoughts, like right off the bat. And I guess the direction that I would go is like, you, your body has a resting metabolic rate. So we’re all burning calories, but kind of at a different rate, just sitting here doing absolutely nothing, right? So that can be anywhere from, you know, at the very least, like 900, 1,000, all the way up to like, you know, 2,500 for someone who’s like really actively working all the time. And so there’s a range, right? So it’s kind of like calories in, calories out. So if you are, if your body and you’re not exercising, you’re burning 1,400 calories a day, you’re getting 1,400 calories, and kind of like that event, right? So if we’re eating 2,500 calories, but you’re not exercising and your resting metabolic rate is that 1,400, over time, you’re gonna start to gain some weight because of the extra calories. Now, it’s also like a matter of quality over quantity. So like, you want to eat good Whole Foods, a lot of times whole foods can have less, they’re like less calorically dense because there’s not as much processed foods. So when we eat like Whole Foods, we can eat more of it, like vegetables, things like that, because there’s lots of volume with fewer calories. But if we’re eating a lot of processed foods, we’re doing, you know, 6, 7, 8, 100 calories per, you know, thing that we’re eating, and we’re doing that, you know, multiple times a day, for example, with processed foods, then it kind of adds up over time. So yeah, so the main thing is the nutrition and making sure that, you know, we’re kind of watching carbs, protein, and fat, that everything has a healthy balance. Which is like a whole other topic. But yeah, so it is what you’re doing in the kitchen. However, you still need the exercise and like activity portion to kind of balance the rest of it out.
Okay. That’s so interesting. So it’s math, you know, yeah.
Which I’m terrible at, but I can understand.
Right? After, yeah. I’m still hungry yet. But I have a calculator on my phone, so I can figure it out.
Exactly. We didn’t need all those.
Oh, man, right, I would have that set. But now I know I needed to fail. Yeah. That’s cool. I think something just for our listeners like, so we’re talking about building muscle, staying healthy, hitting your goals. And we didn’t talk about how, of course, like when you use a drug like alcohol, how the needs that are processed through your blood, your liver, does that work on that stuff and goes into your brain. All these things happen. As you can see, the more it’s going to shut down that frontal lobe, which is why your decisions aren’t always the best when you consume too much or something like that. I would love to hear if you have any thoughts or I don’t know, any education or experiences where you ran into vaping and your clients’ goals, because I’ll just share a quick story. Like we had an intern with us for Vive 18. She’s a college student in Arizona, and she was super passionate about our cause. She told me like, Jake, I ran track in high school, I was on a team. I started dating within a year. Like I couldn’t, I couldn’t catch my breath, like walking up the stairs. And I was still trying to run and do everything. I feel like I aged. I have friends who work in the Phoenix Children’s Hospital, who said I’m like we’re doing X-rays of lungs. And this student, this child should look like that healthiest long better, and they look like they’ve been smoking for 30 years. And so I’m wondering from a fitness standpoint, or from your standpoint, if you’re seeing anything around vaping, or THC or any of those other main popular drugs.
Yeah, so really the only thing that I see with just like a handful of my clients, they’re still because they’re they’re adults. They kind of miss, like the vaping aspect of it, but they’re still smoking cigarettes, which you know, is something that’s, you know, kind of surprising, especially because you see so many people like vaping and stuff, but it’s people who who are working out and still continue to smoke because it’s just not something that they’re ready to, to give up yet. And, and you know, from an outsider’s perspective from, you know, being their trainer like I can tell that it makes a difference it makes a difference in your breathing, being able to catch your breath, kind of being able to regulate. And, you know, it’s something that, you know, I talked to when people like I talked to people about it, but like, I don’t feel like I’m going to be the reason that they change that, right. So they’re working with me, they’re building other healthy habits, my only hope is that as they start to get healthier as they start to change some of those smaller habits, and they can then tackle kind of that bigger one of reducing something altogether.
Yeah. And it’s like, we have to start somewhere. Yeah, yeah. You can, this happens a lot within my field, like, the schools will, you know, hire me to come in and do a 45 to an hour assembly, thinking like, I’m gonna fix all their problems. Okay, Hold on, Yeah, this isn’t this, this math ain’t mathing. We can solve your problem in an hour. hour being incredible. It’s gonna take more work reinforcement. And this is where to start. You know, we start with a conversation, you’re starting with fitness goals. And if that person is at the point where they want to make a change, you’re a coach and resource they can use to support and when it comes to that kind of thing, like quitting substance use, obviously, you’re like, Okay, I can’t help you with that. But I might help you identify that as a need. Because you’re going after these goals. So that’s, that’s pretty cool. I love it. I’m wondering, because I’m sure people on this call, have got their own fitness goals. I think we all do. We tend to think more about it around January.
But yes, 100. Right.
“Empowering Wellness and Fitness Goals: A Conversation with Abby Clapper of Endorfin Wellness on Party Talk”
But now we’re what? Six? We’re nine months at ten. It’s October already. So it’s coming up? Hey, yeah. Good. So think about our goals. Yeah. What are something maybe that you could share just about hitting your goals that people can take away? Because this is a pretty professional podcast, but let’s be selfish. All right. I want to hit my fitness goals. How do we do that?
Yeah well, it’s actually so funny that you say that, like yours is so close. Because for the past like week, I’ve been stuck on the fact that like, yeah, it’s almost New Years, but we still have three full months. Like why should we wait, right? Like you don’t need a date. And we’re gonna start and actually I think that kind of the psychology around setting your, your your goals and kind of goal around like a date, the first of the year, you’re almost like, kind of like pre-destination like it’s not gonna work out because every year people make goals and then they don’t follow through, they have a hard time working through it, right? Because it’s kind of like a fad. Like, that’s the goal. And then everyone around me you know, is not reaching their goal. It’s just It’s just what happens. So honestly, not waiting for a day and just starting now is when you’re ready and just finding the resources now, like start before the holidays start so that you have practice when it’s hard to like you know, make better food choices to talk to the people around you about maybe what your goals are going to be for the next year, or even just starting to add in like some walks through the neighborhood or walking your dog or with your family. Finding something that you would enjoy is the most important thing. So some people are like Abby lower I hate the treadmill like what am I supposed to do? Okay, well have you tried swimming Have you tried or have you try there are so many different things that are even pieces of equipment that you can do that you might enjoy whether it’s finding like a dance class or finding you know, something that you really love to do that’s going to incorporate activity vaping that I recommend for everybody. So going back to like what people should do they want to get easy. Three days a week of like moderate activity for you know, from 30 minutes to an hour and it’s usually recommended. So walk whether you’re starting to lift some weights, just being out there being active, averaging, you know, 770 500 steps I think is the lowest amount that’s recommended. Just getting those steps it makes a huge difference and it just kind of kicks off your your healthy habits if that’s what you want to start with. Otherwise there are you know, also so many anybody has Pinterest, Pinterest, so many healthy recipes. If you know you want to start by changing your food, the thing is to pick like one thing and start with that and not try to change everything all at once. Because that can be really overwhelming. So pick pick the one thing that feels like you can do it, whether it’s you know, changing what you’re having just for breakfast. And just doing that for a few weeks, you know, we’ve heard like, it takes 21 days to build a habit. So if you can pick one easy day and crush that in 21 days, then you’re ready to pick up the next thing and you can kind of snowball those goals and move forward.
That’s cool. Have you have you read that book, atomic habits?
No, my husband had it. And it’s on my list.
I know I was, I was obsessed with it. I’ve listened to it twice on Audible, like first on my own. And then with Emily and I was like, we should just listen to this, it’s so good. Because a lot of stuff you’re talking about. I’m like, now able to relate it to like why works. So like you mentioned having a year long goal? Well, we’re, we’re gonna fail at something that we try, most likely. So if you wait an entire year to try it again, you’re going to forget what you learned, you’re gonna lose all of that. But if you have, let’s say, you know, a three week goal or something starting right now for the three months, then you can learn from all your mistakes, and you can try again more frequently. And you’re just going to improve that much faster, you’re going to reach your goals that much faster. And then you mentioned that a part of like that your brain. Well, he said, like, pick an easy or an exciting way to get started. Because your body is going to look for ways to not be uncomfortable. So you’re like I have to do but I hate it, you’re automatically going to be looking for an excuse to go. But my, the thing that I’m using now is I love playing basketball on Mondays. And so like without fail, I know that once a week, I’m gonna be getting a really good workout for a couple hours. And I look forward to it every time. So there’s not that resistance, I guess you could call it. And then your brain looks for ways to keep that open and keep doing it. And then one thing that I found this has been good for me and what? I don’t know if this isn’t in the book, but I’ve noticed you said put yourself around people or to notice like the people around you. Because I have friends that are good influences on me. I’m probably the worst when it comes to diet and stuff. So like they’re making me better. I’m like, Okay, I need to I need to like latch on to these people. Because as I start getting older, I’m like, this metabolism that I have right now is insane. It’s gonna run out at some point.
It’s gonna get flow. Yeah, for sure.
Exactly. I don’t know how many more years I have love. So what are months? So that’s Yeah, that’s so good. I love that advice. And then to close out, can you tell me about Endorfin Wellness, like you launched your own company to help people what is what is Endorfin Wellness?
Yeah so I started in May. And it is like that I love to help people live their happiest healthiest lives. So it is in person personal training. I also offer virtual personal training, and then a monthly membership where you get your, your workout sent to you. You get video calls with me you have accountability, right? If you want to reach your goal, you need an accountability, buddy. And that’s one of the biggest things that I’ve learned through all of it is people just need other people to support that. So I want to be that person. I want to come alongside them take my hand and crush their goals with them.
That’s awesome. Can people get in touch with you? They want to learn more about maybe even get some coaching.
Yeah, absolutely. I have Instagram and a Facebook page. So Instagram is at Endorfin Wellness and Endorfin Wellness is e-n-d-o-r-f-i-n wellness. Same thing with Facebook Endorfin Wellness.
Okay, nice. That was another reason why I liked it because of the Endorfin and then your Endorfin.
Yeah, we live by the water everything.
Yeah, that’s so cool. There you have it another episode of Party talk. I hope you have a great rest of your week. Keep doing the amazing work you’re doing. If there’s somebody wants me see to show, email me jake@vive18.com and if you have any questions about getting youth involved in drug prevention, you can go to Vive18.com as well. Keep up the good work. You are saving lives. You’re making a difference, go out this week and make an impact.
