Elizabeth Stein 0:00
Hi everyone. I'm Elizabeth Stein, founder, and CEO of Purely Elizabeth and this is life purely with Elizabeth, featuring candid conversations about how to thrive on your wellness journey.

This week's guest is Hannah Corbin one of the OG peloton instructors who is passionate about guiding others fitness journeys and watching them evolve. A kick your butt drill sergeant, area New York dancer and a West Coast flower child all at once, Hannah is dedicating to teaching style that empowers people to appreciate how strong they are, and how to protect that strength with stretching when they hop off the bike and head out into the world. In this episode, we talked about Hannah’s journey to peloton and embracing opportunities by saying yes. Hannah shares her personal journey of dealing with autoimmune disease and the significant role of mindset and managing health challenges. She also discusses her weekly fitness routine, her holistic approach to health nutrition, or pre fast rituals, her favorite playlists, tips for making fitness a habit, celebrating small achievements and so much more. Keep listening to learn all about Hannah.

Hannah, welcome to the podcast. It is such an honor to have you on and I'm so excited to hear your story today.

Hannah Corbin 1:30
Thanks so much for having me.

Elizabeth Stein 1:31
So let's start with your background story, a little bit with your journey of getting into the fitness world. Where did that begin?

Hannah Corbin 1:42
I have been a lifelong dancer. And my love of that whirlwind of sweat and just clearing my mind through movement has really been there since I was really young and having peloton come into my life so early over 10 years ago now was everything I could have imagined and then some. My fitness goal used to be back in the day to have my own fitness DVD. I didn't even know what was out there because it wasn't invented yet. But it's been a very nice shift from the original DVD plan.

Elizabeth Stein 2:24
Oh my God, that's hilarious. So as you said you've been doing peloton for 10 years, so you've really been one of the first instructors I remember when I lived in New York and it was back in the day 10 years ago and it was on 23rd Street and it was just this little tiny thing that was quite different than it is today. So how did you first hear about peloton and what was that original audition like?

Hannah Corbin 2:55
Wow, I was the funny thing I always think back on it fondly. Peloton was my 21st 1099 of the year I was in a yes space. I was saying yes to everything that came my way. And then as a freelancer and as a performer, you kind of have to do that on some level. I was really leaning into it. And a producer on a show I was working on was like, hey my friend is in this company that just started they're looking for personalities that can you can see on camera, because that's an art in itself. And obviously people who like to work out and live healthy lifestyles, and I was like, well, this all sounds right up my alley. Why not? Or Yes. And I went in, auditioned in a tiny room with a blackout curtain and one camera and did my best and immediately started training with the few people that were a part of the company back then. Just came in,*4:02 I trained at the same time, which was just so fun and fabulous. We've worked together a lot in the dance world. So it was fun that we shifted into a nice boutique fitness together. We both taught at many different places, but nothing similar to this. I mean, I don't know if anyone's taught in a place similar to this before now.

Elizabeth Stein 4:20
So it was the audition, wasn't even on the bike. You were just auditioning your personality more.

Hannah Corbin 4:30
So yes, I was on the bike. And I created a playlist and a short class plan and did my darndest, but I think there's a difference between old school fitness where you kind of mumble into a microphone and you stare at the ground and being able to actually relate your personality to people who aren't in the room. Because it's one thing when you can walk up nudge them on the shoulder. There's all those things that we take for granted and some of those personal real relationships. But one thing that I think everyone has truly benefited from is using their own shower. It's such a joy. If you have a peloton at home, you don't have to worry about schlepping all your stuff.

Elizabeth Stein 5:12
Absolutely. So, before we get more into the peloton, I just want to go back to your comment about saying yes. And I think that that's such an important aspect of leaning into sort of that discomfort, stepping out of your comfort zone a lot of the times and just being open to possibilities. Is there anything around that for you was that challenging, or sort of any tips that you have for people to lean into that aspect in their lives more?

Hannah Corbin 5:44
I've seen a lot of people friends as well who say no, because the opportunity that is presented to them isn't big enough, or isn't the perfect thing they've been dreaming up. And the interesting thing with this opportunity, and a lot of other things that have happened in my life is there was no perfect formula of A plus B gets you to C. It was these things seemingly unrelated. That all of a sudden, when that opportunity presented itself, I was like, Oh, wait, yeah, I did Z over here, M over here, B, I did a little bit of E. And somehow that all morphed into the perfect combination for this. But none of those individual things were perfect. They just led me to the thing that you know what changed my life. And I think remembering that it doesn't need to fill every box initially, because it might lead you to the one that you're looking for.

Elizabeth Stein 6:43
I love that. So how quickly for you did that experience on 23rd Street did you start to realize like, wait a minute, this is going to be something here?

Hannah Corbin 6:54
It's a combo of things, I feel exactly the same. Except for people think I'm cooler now before they meet me. I think the intention behind just building the brand, from the very beginning was exactly what it is. Now it was a community full of people who want to be the best version of themselves. And it's a staying as far away from just transformations and you can't sit with us. And it really being an open environment where we can all just enjoy ourselves from any background, any body. And it's been pretty magical. I mean, I do remember the days where no one had any idea what I was talking about. My wonderful father in Oregon, we started on the east coast with the company so we then expand to the West Coast very early on and he would wear the shirts proudly and he was like my daughter works here and everyone's like, okay, hello, been great. It's been cool to watch it shifts specifically I enjoy how proud my parents are. It's very cute.

Elizabeth Stein 8:12
Yeah, that's amazing. I've had a peloton maybe for five or six years and went to my first class this past January when I came back to New York and I just couldn't believe like I knew that it would be cool to be there live but I really could not believe what an amazing experience it was to be there live and just the energy and the production it was for anybody traveling to New York, you must go. It really was an incredible experience.

Hannah Corbin 8:47
Yeah, the in-studio audience experience is really kind of magical. I love putting faces to leaderboard names as well. I can remember the bikes that that particular leaderboard names that they were sitting on, even months after. But even though you don't really understand how special the peloton community is, until you do, right we all talk about it being so wonderful. And I think sometimes if you're not in it, you're like, okay, how wonderful can it be? All right, they're all lying to themselves and then you brace yourself in it you're like oh, it's everything they said and more.

Elizabeth Stein 9:30
100% And I think the people who I've came back to me like no, you have to go to live you know who've been peloton riders for years. Definitely all felt the same thing there. Thank God you told me to go it was really special and magical. So how do you think about preparing for your classes is that what does that pre class routine look like for you?

Hannah Corbin 9:51
Sometimes it's complete chaos. And other times it's cool, calm, collected, wonderful. There's so much that goes into just producing one, we have five minute classes, 10 minute classes 20,30, 45, 60. I don't teach the 75s, but now Wilbers*10:11 does so bless his heart. We start meeting about these classes months and months before. So when we're setting these schedules and making sure that we're giving a varied opportunity within our own personalities, because all of the instructors teach very different styles, we offer some of the same thing, some not. And it's that age old thing if you want to give everyone what they want, and something that they don't know they want yet. So it's that fine line, even in a playlist to make sure that I'm you there's some recognizable things. And then also, let me let you in on this new artists that I have been vibing on and I love in these situations. One thing I think, I surprisingly, was not ready for early on was how many different eye makeup just dripped on your face. So that has been a very, very big learning curve. And typically pre class it's I'm doing my hair, I'm doing my makeup, making sure I'm looking presentable, making sure my ponytail will stay in place for the majority of the class, and then just doing some warm ups to get the kinks out so that I'm not the one grunting on camera if I can just get some of that mobilization, some of that activation so that my body stays healthy, and I'm able to continue to motivate. That's the cherry on top.

Elizabeth Stein 11:39
What was the best makeup to wear for spreading and working out.

Hannah Corbin 11:43
I found we all were completely different makeup, which was really interesting. For some reason, the way my eyes are built, I can wear regular mascara on top, but I can't wear anything down below. Even if it's waterproof, it comes off.

Elizabeth Stein 12:00
That's impressive. You can wear it on top regular.

Hannah Corbin 12:03
I guess my eyelids don't sweat. I don't know, that's the one thing that I've learned is that upper mascara. I thrive.

Elizabeth Stein 12:06
All right. So you think about putting together passes. And that's so interesting that it's months in advance, I never would have thought about that. But do you have any sort of like rituals that you do, or any habits to get into the right mindset.

Hannah Corbin 12:24
It is always interesting. Like anything, if you wake up on the wrong side of the bed, or family or friends or just yourself or stressing you out. And realizing that there's people counting on you has been very helpful. For a quick out of the situation I just was referring to of maybe I would have grabbed that layer of bla a little bit longer if I didn't have people relying on me and counting on me to show up for them. So it's been really nice, even through my own. for a long time, my mom was sick, she's healthy now. But it was years and years and years of exhausting. It's exhausting. It's deep level of sadness and grief, even when people are alive and going through it. And I remember just being so grateful for the platform, because I was able to think of more than myself, my sadness, even through my autoimmune diagnosis. I remember post-diagnosis someone goes, one of the doctors probably the endocrinologist said, I can't most people who feel this way, they don't go to work. I didn't know that was an option but it's funny how it actually never crossed my mind. Because work is so joyous, that it's something I look forward to even on the bad days.

Elizabeth Stein 13:49
Love that. So let's get into a little bit on your Hashimotos diagnosis. And I think that there's probably a lot of people listening who can relate or have some sort of autoimmune. Unfortunately it affects so many people. And so let's share a little bit about your journey. And I guess, starting with your journey to diagnosis and really, what were some of those initial symptoms that really led you to seek help in the first place?

Hannah Corbin 14:19
The first symptom that comes to mind is complete and utter exhaustion, but it was a slow build. And it's one of those things that it's hard to quantify with others. If I'm talking to a coworker who just worked out 10 times in two days or I'm talking to a friend with three kids who's a different level of exhausted or just a New Yorker, create calm and chaos, it can be very exhausting on certain days in in any city, any state, but the build became something that I couldn't ignore. Also, my hair was different my skin was different just not as full and what I know it to be now that I'll say on the flip side obviously I still have an autoimmune disease but now that I'm feeling like myself again and my body felt I didn't have a word for it then it felt bloated wasn't the word but swollen and thick and it was odd just everything fell off and I didn't feel like myself and I think the worst part of it all was I felt like I was barely sharing my personality through the exhaustion all of my concentration was on staying awake and getting through the little part of the day that I could that I felt like I was a shell of myself because I you know had just reached that level of tired that is really hard to dig out of. I was also my weight was fluctuating which is never a fun time but you know happens to the best of us and I was like maybe I'm not working out enough. Silly but knowing from a physical science background, you do have to keep surprising your body you can't just do the same workouts all the time and then expect the results to keep coming. You have to mix it up create different things so I was like well let me let me hire a trainer I need someone to get me in line because this my weight fluctuation was vast and was just funny I didn't have enough energy to get through the day as is but I was like yeah, let me work out. Even that trainer thought I was hiding some sort of candy habit. I was like I'm like this doesn't make sense. Yeah, I'm drinking the water. I'm eating the burger or eating the food. I'm eating like a bird. I'm having the supplements. I'm not secretly eating 12 bags of cookies at midnight, you know? And so I was like, okay, maybe I'm not eating in the right order. They say that effects. I'm not getting the right protein to fat ratio, or the timing’s odd, maybe something's contradicting itself. So I saw a dietician, naturopath. And she was the one who did the bloodwork I gave my full description. She did just the works. And it was through that bloodwork, where she tested for everything under the sun, that she was like, good news is you're not imagining any of these symptoms. Slightly bad news, I've never seen bloodwork like yours in history of my practice. See a specialist tomorrow, not next month, not a couple months from now. But tomorrow. And of course, with any reaction like that, or with any news like that, the reaction is always a little bit dramatic internally, being told that my body was attacking itself was pretty difficult for anyone that especially because I had a very specific definition of healthy in my mind. And body attacking itself was not on that definition. My definition of healthy really evolved. I think it was without illness. And that kind of rocked me and shook me to my core, where I was like, how do I redefine this for myself and I first had to mourn the story that I had written about myself, because I was just so attached to what it was supposed to be, what it was supposed to look like, my expectations, were just getting in the way of my new reality. And so I took a little time to just be sad about it to just ball on the floor and wish that things were different. And then like I say, in class you're allowed to cry, you're allowed to have those low moments, but what we're not allowed to do is unpack and live there. So then it was the journey of okay, how do I reframe this and I remember my now husband, we were just dating at the time, and he turned to me and he was like, look, if you can do all of this feeling like that. Imagine what you're gonna do when you feel even 10% better and through the bawling ugly cry. And that's when my phrase auto amazing came into play where I was like, okay, I have to shift this somehow. And it came from instead of just thinking oh, autoimmune, autoimmune, which is what it is, I shifted it to Oh, auto amazing. It's no longer me fixating and focusing on what my body can't do. Because that will just… there's no sanity in that. So it was reframing the conversation with myself in my own body of okay, let me start to focus on all the things that it can do. Similar to anytime you're trying to shift, a diet or a way of eating. If you only fixate on what you “can't eat”, or you don't want to eat, right, that's all you can think about. But when you start thinking about all the opportunities in front of you, then you're like, oh, without this, not so bad. I have blank, blank, blank, blank, blank. So it was a big reframing. For me, it certainly wasn't overnight. But it was just a complete reality shift. And it's been fun to learn how many other auto immune humans, auto immune warriors are out there, or you have passion motors, like me, whether you have graves, whether it lupus, it's been an unexpected surprise to be able to motivate this group of humans to there's something I found climbs a lot where, like maybe you were just given this mountain to climb simply to show others that it can be climbed. Like this mountain to move so that you can show others can be. And I think that has been the surprise for me where I'm like, oh, I didn't realize that I was going to open up this mental opportunity for people going through the same thing.

Elizabeth Stein 21:25
It's really incredible. And it's all about that shift in mindset makes such a huge difference in your life, whether it's something with autoimmune or anything else that you're going through, but it's really knowing that we're capable, we're not stuck in whatever it is that we have. But we're always able to reframe it and think about it in a different way, and really rewire our brains to be able to think differently.

Hannah Corbin 21:55
Yeah, and through that has actually been my gluten-free journey. I say, I'm as low gluten as I can get, because it's just still slipping in there in certain ways. But I've been dairy free for a long time and trying to cut out the inflammation in my body has been also another journey. So it's gluten and dairy in the US, now doesn't necessarily work with everyone's bodies. And so it's also been me trying to make sure that I'm fueling in a way that's going to support everything else that's happening in this lovely body of mine. Y

Elizabeth Stein 21:34
eah, that was gonna be my next question of what are the main things that you changed in order to really heal and feel your best? And how long ago did you say that the diagnosis was?

Hannah Corbin 22:45
About five years now?.And it took a couple years in there of finding the right level of medicine. So it was like we get on the medicine. Wait a while hope for the best. Get the bloodwork? Oh, that's not right. Okay, pivot. So it a couple more years of getting it right. And now I finally feel like I'm myself again, which is just such a relief. But I had to really put my mantra, which is something I repeat daily and happened before my diagnosis was treat your body like it belongs to someone you love. And I always meant it wholeheartedly. But I had never really been tested in that phrase, at least not in recent years. And so when all this is happening to honestly ask myself, well, do I still love my body? Do I love it when it feels like utter chaos internally, when my weight is fluctuating when my hair is thin when I am a shell of my former self? And the answer was yes. And it was how do I lean in and stay connected to that. Not all of the doubt, not all of the scary things that are happening with it, but that deep self love that I have spent a lifetime building? How do I hold on to even that sliver that is still here and allow it to continue to bloom, which again, takes time, but I'm glad that I held on to it.

Elizabeth Stein 24:21
Absolutely. So is there anything else that you have added or eliminated from a diet perspective other than dairy and gluten?

Hannah Corbin 24:29
Yes. I've always been a vegetable lover wishes great. I grew up in Oregon, I grew up eating green beans and tomatoes from my mom's garden. And I think reprioritizing my water intake because it might be my history and dance were in intense ballet, which is what I did for a long time. You go hours without drinking water.

Elizabeth Stein 25:00
Just like you're dancing and you don't have time to get water,

Hannah Corbin 25:08
You're just not given breaks. And so I don't know if that shut off in my brain but I, I refer to myself as a camel a lot like I just don't realize that I'm thirsty until I need to stock up for winter. So reminding myself to hydrate on an epic level has been a challenge. I joke with people on the platform where I'm like it's gonna start off as you just have to pee all the time. It's gonna be uncomfortable, you're gonna want to stop because you're gonna be so sick of going to the bathroom all the time. But then your body adapts like anything and it gets used to being hydrated and how to regulate it. But that has been a great change for me just for digestion, for skin for mental clarity for all the things that water good for also your kidneys.

Elizabeth Stein 26:00
And you are working out a lot during the day. So you definitely need that. So let's go through your fitness routine. You definitely are, I don't want to say unique, but not all the instructors at peloton are teaching all different classes and that is a thing that you get to do which I love. And I think for you that must be.

Hannah Corbin 26:28
So much fun to not just be teaching on the bike all day every day multiple times a day is so fun. Yeah, I teach bike is where I started and cycling has special place in my heart and I will never stop teaching cycling at peloton. But I also teach bar which is a new order out of all of them. But I love how much other people love it. I love teaching it. It's been so fun to build that platform with Ally Love or build that area on the platform. Also dance, cardio, stretching, which is just my favorite thing on the planet. foam rolling mobility. I have some Pilates on the platform as well, but I don't teach it regularly. And I have some strength resistance bands classes that are sprinkled throughout. So it certainly keeps it interesting. There's never a dull moment. It doesn't get stale, which is great.

Elizabeth Stein 27:14
And so what is it normal? What's your workout routine? Do you do things in addition to this? How do we think about right? That you normally do in a typical week?

Hannah Corbin 27:22
Yeah, I strength train. It depends on week, typically two to four times a week, where I'll do like upper body lower body, upper body lower body on a week where I can't fit in for, two. I do an upper body and lower body on a week where I'm exhausted. Maybe I'd do like a full body day of strength. I also still dance which is great. It's wonderful to move my body in a different direction than what I'm normally doing with cycling and the tread which is to my left your right is my peloton tread plus which walking briskly uphill is one of my favorite hobbies. I never thought I would be so obsessed with the heights on the platform and the walk runs but I thrive on this bad boy.
Elizabeth Stein 28:10
Yeah, those have been my go to for sure. So for someone who's maybe earlier in their stage in their fitness journey, and they're hearing like working out four days a week strength training, doing dancing and cycling, that might sound a lot to them. You obviously love it. I feel the same way with fitness. It's just something I love. It's not anything I have to think or force myself to do. But for so many people, that's not the case. So what advice do you have for someone really starting their journey? And how to get into that habit of working out?

Hannah Corbin 28:45
Yeah, I think the most important thing to know from that schedule that I just rattled off is that I don't go ham in the majority of these workouts. I choose to celebrate myself and sweat. And sometimes that is doing some bodyweight squats. And sometimes it's crushing it with a heavy-weight. But I think there's the old school notion that you have to feel completely destroyed for a workout to have mattered, when in fact, it could just be like a very simple sweat session that clears your mind. That allows you a little moment of clarity, a little glisten on your collarbone and those little moments add up to a lot. So I think when we take that into account, it's a totally different experience where you're not peloton, we're not a temporary anything. It's not about one ride. It's not about just one year in your life. It's about shifting into this lifestyle of movement where we find our power we find that we take that layer so I think starting small and staying with it for a little while. Maybe it's one to two days a week where you just commit to it for the next three months, and then see how you feel, the way I see it not work out for people is they're like, I'm gonna do this, I'm gonna go six days a week and never gonna take any breaks. And that never ends in two to three weeks, because it's just unreasonable to go from zero to 100.

Elizabeth Stein 30:22
Do you ever have days that you are like, God, I just don't feel like working out or I don't feel like teaching a class, not feeling motivated in that way.

Hannah Corbin 30:40
Yeah, I think, for me, it's all about mixing it up, which is so nice that the peloton platform allows us to do that just within one subscription, right? Like, if you're sick of doing the same hike, because that's all you're doing. maybe it's you just like, take a 10 minute dance cardio and laugh at the coordination that's not coming together and you just enjoy yourself in a different way. Or maybe it's okay, I'm just gonna do a little bar peach emoji fire emoji with yours truly followed by a stretch. Again just keeping it simple, keeping it light. Instead of thinking that we need to, I call it the vomit comment, right? Like the college workout, track and field of like, you gotta go so hard, that you thrown up, like, we should rein it in so far before that. So that it's beautiful.

Elizabeth Stein 31:40
What's your go to like, pump up music, that if you need to get motivated before class that you listened to?

Hannah Corbin 31:50
I have such an eclectic taste in music. But oftentimes, I'm listening to the playlist that I'm about to play, because I like to get in that mood, because I've made playlists before way early on. And then I get to the class and I'm like, I don't know, like depends on the day when you're looking forward to something. So I like to, like, refresh my brain start jamming into what we're all about to jam to. And then when I get in there, I'm like, okay, I know what this feels like in my body. I'm ready. So I've kind of taken that one step to prepare myself. So how, how far in advance? Do you put together those playlists? I never use the same playlist twice, I have used the same songs. And typically, I'll switch out of the class title that it's in, I'm very aware of when I have latched on to a song at home, we've all seen the Spotify wrap ups record this song 84 times is you're certainly different to do it in a room by yourself or force that song on other people. So I try and write it in when I'm like, oh, I think I've played those like 10 times in the last two weeks. And to answer the original question, sometimes I do the playlists really far in advance. And then sometimes there are especially if certain classes take up all of my mental clarity, I sometimes can't do the next playlist until I've gotten through that because it's just taking so much content concentration and so much prep. So some of them are the day before, but I try not to give myself that level of stress if I can avoid it.

Elizabeth Stein 33:31
Do people ever comment? Like, I don't like this song, play more of this song, and try to dig help dictate your songs?

Hannah Corbin 33:41
I rarely hear the I don't like that song. But I think once you get to know the instructors, you kind of have a feel for what they liked. So I'm never gonna throw in well never say never. But I most likely will never throw in a heavy metal track shirt in the middle of a pop ride, right? And it's just not really my style. Yeah, I get great joy when people are like, wow, I'd never heard of this artist and I'm gonna go see them in concert. I knew you'd like them right like this. Artists that you didn't know the name of and I played a song shared my enjoy with you. Now you have joy and it's, it's thrilling for me. I mean, I love giving genuine recommendations in general. So when people actually enjoy those recommendations, I get a different sort of high.

Elizabeth Stein 34:46
otally. So what are some of those like hearing that feedback from your community? What are some of those great stories or feedbacks that you get about anyone in your class that's been really memorable over the years.

Hannah Corbin 34:55
Some of my favorite stories or very simple ones were, Are through a little bit of sweat, and a little bit of the good kind of repetition, that people come to me. And they're like, it's not about the losing weight element, but sometimes some does come off. But more importantly, are like, You know what, I don't have to take my cholesterol medicine or my, because everything is working the way it was, I don't really like supposed to but like the way it was intended. Or I just got to a protest and everything. My doctor says that everything's going in the right direction, just like being free of some of those things, that we're verging on something that's going to change your life. But when people are just so simply able to be like, I'm healthier now. I feel better. I period. unhealthier is very, very cool. I feel very honored that people think I'm… not that I'm responsible. But then I'm a part of that journey, even in a small part.

Elizabeth Stein 36:12
Yeah, you're a huge piece of that journey. And that's the amazing thing about peloton. And as I think what makes it so special.

Hannah Corbin 36:20
Yeah, it's also very cool to see what this next generation is to see how they're going to feel about fitness in general. Because prior to having these gorgeous devices in our homes, you can see Mom and Dad, if they went to the gym, it was more like dreading this, I'm gonna go do this thing, they leave, they'd come back, they'd be like, and now these kids is next generation and are seeing their parents just like get it to celebrate themselves and sweat to they come with these motivational phrases, they're jammed into these playlists. I think it's going to be very cool to see that how that just like affects everyone.

Elizabeth Stein 36:56
Yeah, I just I had never thought about that. But that's really interesting. And like we talked about so many of the negatives of technology, really, obviously social media, but I do see that in a strange way, peloton, it's somewhat social media II and its own world. And so thinking about this new technology as really such a great thing for health when I feel like right now what we're talking about is like all the negative things around health. So I love that I can't wait to see what happens. For example, my sister has a bike and my nephew, who is 13 rides it like how many kids are taking on the bike or the treadmill and starting to use it today. Do you guys have data on that?

Hannah Corbin 37:47
Well, we typically veer toward the adults sure the platform, just we want to make sure everyone is safe. But I love when in barre classes or stretching and foam rolling seeing these little kiddos like get on the ground and start doing dead bugs which is the core move or like start doing a straight leg turned out kick in bar and seeing them just really enjoy even dance cardio when they're just hopping around with their parents in the room to have it be a whole family experience is very cool to see. I love the tags. And of course I love the pelo pup tags as well when they help with stretching.

Elizabeth Stein 38:28
My dogs just sit there like just waiting for me to get off that bike or the treadmill.

Hannah Corbin 38:39
Yeah, the other cool thing that's come out of all of this is I think with social media and fitness, it's a fine line between just doing it for your own ego and then seeing how you can do more for others on social media in general. So prior to my diagnosis and prior to this fitness journey, I was doing a lot of work promoting kidney disease and kidney disease awareness when my mom was waiting for a kidney transplant so it's very near and dear to my heart. Now she's thankfully had that transplant she's thankfully on the other side of that and through this auto amazing transformation this last year I've been really proud that I'm the spokes were spokes person for thyroid eye disease, health and awareness. It's been really special for me to combine what I don't want to say tragedy but for lack of a better word like to have this thing that I was not excited about. Turn into something that I can help others with kind of circling back to that but with autoimmune diseases, the rudest thing about them is that once you have one autoimmune disease, you're at risk for others. So just making sure that everyone's their own best advocate, whether it's for thyroid eye disease and getting your eyes checked and just making sure you're healthy or just, you know if you're still trying to figure out what's wrong getting the right care team around you. It's been very cool to be able to talk to others about that.

Elizabeth Stein 40:15
Yeah, that's incredible. So what advice do you have for someone like, maybe just at the beginning of any of those journeys and kind of starting to figure out? I don't feel so great. And like, what does that first step even look like?

Hannah Corbin 40:20
Yeah, like anything, it's continuing to put one foot in front of the other. Because I think when we start to internally panic, it's easy to just freeze, because you're too nervous to hear bad news. But you also, it would be so simple just to make sure that it's good news already. But finding the right care team is difficult, because some people it's like any other relationship, sometimes they're not meant to be in your future, they're just showing you that you need to choose another door. And that can be obviously a little exhausting medical field in general is it's difficult to just schedule a last minute appointment with anyone. But in that continuing to be your own best advocate, maybe it's not the first doctor that you meet with, which is so frustrating, I know. But finding someone that you have that rapport with that is taking you seriously when you say you don't feel good, even though it's only a gut feeling, right? There's not going to be proof necessarily at first, it's up to the right care team to help you find that, although frustrating, it is very worth it. Just shopping around isn't the right phrase. But you don't have to go with the first person you talk with.

Elizabeth Stein 41:42
Yeah, I think that for so many people knowing that, like it does take time, and that you have to be your best advocate. But I think of all the stories that I hear, it's certainly no one goes to the doctor day one. And it's all done and fixed. And they're the right person and the diagnosis is correct. Like it takes a lot of time, it takes a lot of being that advocate and knowing that if you don't feel good, like there's a reason even if someone tells you, your bloodwork came back fine, some doctors look at bloodwork in a different way than say a more functional doctor who's looking at it with a different degree of what are those best ranges versus the ranges for average Americans, which are very different.

Hannah Corbin 42:34
Completely or they're just not testing for the right things you have to put in the order for bloodwork and you have to be specific about it. And for me going to a dietitian, who's also a naturopath, and she has all the certifications under the sun, very wise woman. And it was very important for me to go to someone who… surgeons like to do surgery, people with a prescription pad love to write a prescription. And I was very adamant about not being on medicine that I didn't need. And I think it's terrifying to just go on medicine for the rest of your life and set it and forget it. And having that conversation with someone who has a bit of a more holistic approach was very important for me, because she was like, look, I know how you feel about unnecessary medicine that because I'm like what can I fix through the food that I'm eating through the fitness choices that I'm making through the hydration that I'm trying to do? What chemicals can I take out of my laundry detergent of my those things of like, where's the metal?

Elizabeth Stein 43:40
Getting to the root of the problem. The cause.

Hannah Corbin 43:44
Yeah, and she was like, I know how you feel about this. This is something you cannot fix with diet exercise alone. This is something that you have to take medicine for. And I was like, okay like, it's great. I needed to hear that from someone that I trusted. You had my best interest at heart.

Elizabeth Stein 44:12
Yeah. But then at the same time, there's certainly all these things that you can do to feel better by being on an anti inflammatory lifestyle.

Hannah Corbin 44:19
Yeah, it's not just eating nightshades for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Like there's I don't have a ton of sugar in my diet, at least processed sugars. I do. I am a fruit fiend. But I think just being really honest about what we're eating, which is sometimes a hard conversation normal is so different from household to household. So we don't even really realize some of the things that maybe we consider. Maybe not healthy, but we don't consider it unhealthy until we are really open and honest about it with others.

Elizabeth Stein 44:51
What's a typical day in your eating look like?

Hannah Corbin 44:57
I've been really into my breakfasts lately. I am a savory breakfast person in general. But I roast Japanese sweet potato for, for the better part of the week just cubed. Because they don't always have all the time in the morning. I think like a lot of other people. Plus I'm not a morning person funnily enough, even though you see me teaching sometimes, I always joke that I'll be a morning person if you pay me to be one. But I'm a zombie in the morning. And so I try and meal prep my mornings as much as possible so that I'm actually getting nutrients to when I start my day. So again, Japanese sweet potato, I'll do spinach. If I have time. I'll heat it up and let it shrink down to nothing, which is so sad. But other times they'll just be let it like this finish on the plate. Sweet potato. I do some medium fried, medium eggs or whatever it happens to be if I'm meal prepping. Sometimes I'll just hard boil a bunch because that's better than you know me eating air and avocado. And that's been my go to. Obviously I'm sprinkling a little hot sauce little sometimes a little dash seasoning typically.

Elizabeth Stein 46:23
Yeah, sounds delicious. How about snacks lunch, dinner? What do you do?

Hannah Corbin 46:25
I'm a big fan of dairy free protein yogurt. I go through quite a few of those.

Elizabeth Stein 46:32
Your own combo of dairy for your granddaddy and protein powder. Or what do you do?

Hannah Corbin 46:35
No, I typically get a CDs or kind of the main ones that are high protein, low and junk in them that I've found. I'm always looking for others. I do sometimes supplement if I have really heavy workout days with a vegan protein that ideally is not full of a bunch of fillers and garbage. Which it's hard to find. There's so many proteins and supplements and things out there and it gets very confusing, as you know more than most. But I'll supplement with that to make sure that I'm able to get the recovery I need on the heavier workout days. And then sometimes there's a gluten free bread moment in there. Of course, there's little Purely Elizabeth granola in there.

Elizabeth Stein 47:23
Have you had need love bakery in New York? Gluten free bread? She's at the farmers market and Union Square and maybe some other ones. I don't know where else she is, but it is the best gluten free vegan sourdough bread. I order it online. You definitely need to go and try it if you haven't yet.

Hannah Corbin 47:54
Oh, amazing. Yes, my husband typically is the dinner chef, if we happen to have an evening off together before 9pm. It's great. So he's normally doing something off of maybe like New York Times cooking. Actually, I have some really like simple, great recipes that we've been enjoying. Of course, we for a long time, we're completely vegan. We have incorporated things back into our diet. I'll do like seafood and veggies a lot.

Elizabeth Stein 48:19
If you feel better, bring some animal protein into your diet seafood into your diet?

Hannah Corbin 48:30
So when we were fully vegan, for many, many, many years, actually felt great, but we weren't going out of our way to meal prep. And we were adamant about the nutrients that we're getting throughout the day. And on our vegan diet. We're getting over 100 grams of protein a day. So we were really crushing it, which is not easy to do. And I like real foods. So I don't just want to have a bunch of powdery shakes, right? They're supplementary for me, but they're really not the main deal. It was mainly COVID that changed our cooking. And we were kind of turning into junk food vegans, where we weren't making the time, we were having frozen, processed vegan things. And we kind of took a step back one day and we were like, what are we doing with these weird process tofu nuggets? So like, all the time, like, we were just like, this was not the point of us being vegan in the first place of just like having French fries and red wine. Like, awesome. Yeah, like it's great. But then we were like Lee What are like, when we go out? And we like couldn't find anything on a menu again. It was like, Okay, well have the French fries and the fried thing over there. And we hit a moment where we're like, this was not the intention. We're far from the original course. And that's when we started adding a few things back in. And then we found a really happy balance where I think we, we still feel the same love for a veggie lifestyle. But it's been a lot more realistic for where we are to incorporate animal proteins.

Elizabeth Stein 50:24
Which I think is a great approach to not have to be one or the other. But there's a way that you can find that balance of what works for you.

Hannah Corbin 50:30
Yeah, definitely. And I think sometimes, I've gone through many iterations of my food journey, and I think it was great to remind myself that maybe the reason that I started something is no longer the reason anymore, or being really honest with myself of like, okay, well, this is what it meant to me, then now, does it? And if the answer is yes, great. If the answer is no, there's no guilt there. It's just time to pivot. it's hit us with a plot twist. I love a good one.

Elizabeth Stein 51:05
Definitely. All right, well, we're gonna twist and go to some rapid fire q&a. Three things that you're currently loving, could be product, a podcast, anything.

Hannah Corbin 51:18
I have a great beach read. I'm blanking on the author. But the title is Cackle. And it's wonderful. It's kind of witchy hilarious, easy read, and I just enjoyed it from start to finish. It's been very nice to just be excited about getting back to a book again. Yeah, but very simple. I've been really enjoying this origins. It's an orange sunscreen. I don't like a lot of scented things. But it has like a hint of orange scent to it. That just makes my brain happy. And I've been enjoying that. And oh my goodness, there's this… I never say the brand, Kerastne*52:32, there is a hair oil that has changed my life. It’s damage hair oil, they have this whole line. But this particular oil is in like a little yellow bottle silver top. I don't know that I've been this obsessed with their product in a very long time.

Elizabeth Stein 52:36
All right, I definitely need to try that for sure. Best fitness advice. If you could boil it down to…

Hannah Corbin 52:50
my mantra of just treat your body like it belongs to someone you love. You don't need to treat it like it felt six years ago. You don't need to treat it like you want it to feel six months from now. But if you can be just honest with yourself, gentle and patient it that's the best way to approach it.

Elizabeth Stein 53:09
If you could only do one workout for the rest of your life, would it be?

Hannah Corbin 53:16
I think it would be a new hybrid of cycling bar and stretching somehow, all three simultaneously. And we're going to call it magic.

Elizabeth Stein 53:36
Alright, there you have it. And if you could only have one song to play in that class, what would it be?

Hannah Corbin 53:40
Oh, that is a wonderful question. I'm gonna go with an album. But I'll give you the song on this album. But the Marcus King band Carolina Confessions would be the repeat album forever. And the song would be Goodbye Carolina. It's great on vinyl as well.

Elizabeth Stein 54:20
Amazing. And lastly, what is your number one non negotiable to thrive on your wellness journey?

Hannah Corbin 54:24
I need one day a week where I do not have to set an alarm where I can listen to my body and allow it to have as much sleep as I need to feel recovered. And I found over the years that that is a complete non negotiable. Now sometimes it doesn't always work out but I really try and prioritize it. But my body, on some of those days will just be like, no, I'm up. I'm good. I feel rested and other days it will cocoon me and sleep and it will keep putting me back to sleep Intel things have recovered on a level that it is seemingly satisfied with. But listening to my body with how much sleep I need is fantastic, especially now that I'm not in an exhaustion phase. Sleep for joy phase is quite wonderful.

Elizabeth Stein 55:21
I think I needed to do that in my life.

Hannah Corbin 55:25
Yeah, it's nice to just truly listen to your body in the morning where sometimes my body's like, no, go back.

Elizabeth Stein 55:35
Hannah, thank you so much for being here. In closing and where can everybody find you and anything else that you haven't shared?

Hannah Corbin 55:44
Yes, of course you can find me on the peloton platform. We are always ready for new wonderful community members. But also my social is @hannahcorbinnyc or hannah-corbin.com.

Elizabeth Stein 55:54
Amazing. Thank you so much, Hannah.

Hannah Corbin 56:02
Thank you. This has been such a treat.

Elizabeth Stein 56:05
Thanks so much for joining me on Live Purely with Elizabeth. I hope you feel inspired to thrive on your wellness journey. If you enjoyed today's episode, don't forget to rate, subscribe, and review. You can follow us on Instagram @purely_elizabeth to catch up on all the latest. See you next Wednesday on the podcast.