Staying on Track with Your Fitness Goals While Traveling

Hey Nomads, welcome to Digital Nomad Stories, the podcast. My name is Anne Claessen and, together with my co-host, Kendra Hasse, we interview digital nomads. Why? Because we want to share stories of how they did it. We talk about remote work, online business, location and dependency, freelancing, travel and, of course, the digital nomad lifestyle. Do you want to know more about us and access all previous episodes? Visit digitalnomadstories. co. Alright, let's go into today's episode. Hey, hey, nomads, welcome to a new episode of Digital Nomad Stories. I'm here today with my own health and fitness coach, Marlon Schadeck. He comes on the podcast today to share a little bit about his digital nomad journey and, of course, also about his work as a health and fitness coach, because I learned a lot from working with him and I can definitely say that his approach works, so, of course, i want to share it with you too, so that you can also be a happy, healthy nomad. So, Marlon, welcome to the show.

I thank you very much for inviting me. I'm honored to be here. I'd like to say hi to everyone. I'd like to say hi to Anne and, yeah, let's go.

Yeah, welcome, welcome. We were just chatting before. It's so funny. We've been on so many calls already, but Marlon was always the one asking me the questions, and now I can ask all the questions, so that's pretty fun.

Exactly.

So, Marlon, to start, can you tell me a little bit about where you are and what you do exactly?

So I'm right now in my second home in Mexico, in Guadalajara, and I am actually from Germany, so I've been traveling a lot for a long time and now I settled here in Mexico where I have my friends, and it's like my second home actually, and I'm a personal trainer. Forget to tell you about that. I mean, you know, anne, i'm a personal trainer. I specialize on remote workers and digital environments especially, and here I actually met also Anne, and this is how we got to. Actually, this is, i think, our 12th or 13th call together.

We go way back by now.

Exactly, exactly. And yeah, here we go. I'm happy to be here and to share a little bit about my story and a little bit about my experience with myself, with my clients.

Yeah, Yeah, so tell me about your clients. What does work look like for you? So you work remotely with clients, right?

Exactly So. I'm a personal online fitness coach. I used to, back in the day, strain people just in normal PT sessions, all right, one-on-one. Now I switched and my concept is more like I meet my clients via Zoom, i'm in contact with my clients via WhatsApp, i'm in contact with my clients via the app that I use and here we actually implement little habits from week to week. All right, to make training and nutrition as enjoyable and as effective as possible so that my clients can reach long-term results.

Yeah, sounds great, awesome, and your program is about 10 weeks, right? Or do you also have different programs?

It's usually 10 weeks. It's usually 10 weeks than if a client wants to actually extend the cooperation. Cool, we do that. But my promise is that after that 10 weeks we have that individual concept, the individual habits for that specific client ready so that client can actually offer a sustainable fitness and health even without my help.

Yeah. So of course we want all the tips, but before we go into that, what does your day-to-day look like? Like? do you work kind of like nine to five hours? Do you work every day? Do you have weekends off or do you work weekends? I mean, i already know the answers to some of these questions, but tell me more. What does life look like?

I mean that's the cool thing about it. So I can kind of structure it myself together with my clients. We are always pretty flexible. So I mean the good thing about remote work you can do it from everywhere, so you don't actually I don't know have to be there. If you actually organize it properly, you can be in other places. If you have Wi-Fi, then it's all good, all right. So this is kind of what is, i think, the best thing about it, just for me myself, but also for my clients, is that we can actually travel, we can actually live our lives and just schedule the training and our calls around that right. So I myself I like a lot being a nature training outside. I focus a lot on outdoor trainings And I do the training and the exercise and nutrition habits that I actually enjoy, and that is a lot also going for hikes, for trips in the nature in Mexico super, super beautiful places, i mean whoever has been here before definitely knows that And there's so much things you can do, there's so much physical activity and opportunity that you can actually take advantage of, like, i think, in all the everywhere, in all the places of the world. So I think we should rather go out to sports outside And that's what I do a lot, obviously, also like meeting friends, going for road trips and all that, and all that is possible in the situation that I am right now, and also that should be possible for everybody who tries to be fit and healthy. So this is kind of the way, the way we want to find together for each person individually.

Right. So you don't sit at a desk for eight hours between nine and five, but you just work around your travels and like where it fits.

Exactly. I mean, some days it's long working days, all right, but I try to make it enjoyable Go to a nice cafe or in the West Cache, somewhere on the beach with Wi-Fi, and sometimes at home, obviously, like right now I'm at home, but I try to make it exciting, right, and that's just the same thing, yeah.

Okay, so, speaking of which, how can we be healthy, happy nomads? Tell me more. Like you already mentioned that, your approach has a lot to do with building habits, can you share more about what kind of habits? why are habits important?

Yes, yes. So actually I think, or my concept, looks like that. So we always try to implement the most enjoyable and most effective habit for that specific client, all right, and that specific moment, wherever he is and whatever is his goal, all right. So we always try to see, okay, what is a habit that the client enjoys, all right, but that is also very helpful so that he reaches his goal. And we start super easy. So it's always I always say, hey, start easy, make it simple, all right, make it simple, make it enjoyable. So start with a super easy habit. I mean we, anna, we started with a super basic, super simple habit to just include at least two or in your case I think, even three workouts per week. All right, we didn't even define which workouts that has that have to be a right. So it's just three workouts per week, whatever. That is All right. And then in a second week we can actually implement another little habit, all right. So this might be like that before was a nutrition habit, this might be a training habit. Sorry, this might be a nutrition habit, the next one, all right. So we could think, okay, how could we actually adjust the nutrition a little bit so it's a little bit more healthy, but still doable, all right. So here we could implement little fasting phases. In your case, anna, it was actually implementing a protein shake per day. All right, first of all, one protein shake after every workout. We saw how that goes for one week. It went well. So we could actually adapt the habit a little bit and say one protein shake every day, all right. So your case was to actually enhance your fitness. All right. So that was the most easy and most effective tool to just enhance a little bit or increase a little bit your protein intake. All right, so we went for that one. We saw it went well. So we could actually lock it in All right, and go for the next habit. So, little by little, this is how you actually build your individual training and nutrition concept that guarantees life or fitness.

Yeah, exactly So. It's really about taking baby steps. It's not like from zero to 100, from doing absolutely nothing to going to the gym five times And I don't know like being out of very strict diet. No, it's just baby steps, like small habits that have a big result.

Exactly Because that other, that whole thing that we were just talking about. Many people try that. They say I have, like they have, for whatever reason. They have a motivation boost, all right. And they say, like I'm going to go to the gym from today, every day, and I'm only going to eat healthy and all that. I'm going to go for a low cop diet, whatever. That might work for one or two weeks, all right. But as soon as motivation goes down a little bit, or residence changes or whatever situation in life comes up, all right, you won't actually stick to it, right, and you will fall back to your old habits. Okay, and that is actually the approach that I think doesn't make a lot of sense. But a lot of people still try, and this is why it's always this trial and error thing. People say, hey, i was fit for a while and I lost these 10 kilos, but now I'm 15 kilos heavier than before, even Right. So that is why it's very important to make take it easy and to go, as you say, like baby steps, all right, and see what works for you individually and then move on to the next thing. As soon as you master one habit completely, you can think about the next habit. If you're still struggling with one of the habits, then something isn't right, And then you still have to revise a little bit and find a better one.

Yeah, yeah, so you really have your eye on the long term result. It's not about doing the best that you can within one week, but it's just how to keep going, and I think that's also what I really like about your approach and why I decided to work with you is because it's not about you know, doing everything perfect and being on a super rigorous training schedule and diet and things like that, but it's just like okay, what fits in your life and how can you make this fun and enjoyable? And, yeah, i think that just works. Apparently, you know, i'm not even sure It works.

You can tell me, you can tell us.

Yeah, and, but it also makes sense. I think it just also makes it easier to keep going if it's not your entire life that you have to change. So, yeah, that makes a lot of sense. So you mentioned there's training habits, there's nutrition habits, like what are the types of habits? or like what kind of habits can we think of?

So actually there's three pillars. All right, this side over your long term success regarding training, regarding fitness, sorry. So that is training, that is nutrition and that is very important. Also mindset All right. So if these three pillars actually stand stable and stand properly, all right, then you can actually think of lifelong fitness, all right. So now the goal with these three is to actually implement just the most basic and most effective and most enjoyable habits for each of these three pillars. All right. So now, in your case, we have like three training habits, we have another two to three nutrition habits and we have a few mindset habits. All right, and these mindset habits, like we all, we had the golden server and cross rule, but actually to make this more easy, all right. So it's actually rules to stay that help you with continuity, to stay continuous even in the time or on the phases where life gets difficult. You have these little rules that will actually help you to stay continuous, and these are very important. Like some people forget about the mindset aspect and these continuity rules, all right, and just think about training and nutrition and say, like I go to the gym every day and I eat only rice and broccoli, right. So here it is very important to also have the foundation, the basis, to actually do that long term. And here mindset is a very important thing.

Yeah, exactly If you would have to give our listeners today one habit to include that you think that in general, makes the biggest impact. like is there an actionable step that we can take?

Mm-hmm. Yes, actually, there is one super basic, super simple habit. But if you do it, on a weekly basis, just 10 to 15 minutes per week. You are way more likely to stay continuous with your training, but also with your nutrition, if you like. So I call that sick the Sunday habit. I mean you know yourself.

I know all about it.

now You know all about it. We've been talking quite a lot about it. So the idea is to sit down on a Sunday, just take 10 to 15 minutes every Sunday to plan just the upcoming week, training-wise and, if you like, also nutrition-wise. To keep it simple, for now let's talk about training-wise, all right. So you sit down, you take the time for yourself with yourself, make a plan for the upcoming week. When do you want to train, which exercise or which activities do you enjoy and which activities are doable in whatever place you are? So imagine now for digital nomads they are in different places from time to time, from week to week. I know that myself. So it's quite hard to stick to a routine that actually just goes. Says go to the gym three times a week, right, because there might not be a gym or whatever. But if you sit down every Sunday, then you can plan. Okay, on Monday I want to go for a run, all right, so you put that in your calendar. Then on Wednesday, i want to go for a super simple, full-body, functional workout, all right, you search on YouTube or wherever for that workout. You schedule it for Wednesday. On Friday, i want to go for a hike, all right, just an example. So you have these three things scheduled, all right, you have a theory. You actually took some time to think about it and to plan it and then already it's way more likely you're gonna do it. So now on the next Sunday, you can revise how did it go? Did that go well, and am I in the same place? Do I have the same environment? Cool, i can just stick to it and go for that the next week. All right, if you will whatever have any had any problems with I don't know the hike or the other workout, you can still make little adjustments and plan the upcoming week differently, all right. But the main idea is that you're flexible, all right. Especially then if you move to another place, you won't have a problem because usually you always know more or less where you want to be just in the next week. So you can schedule your trainings for that next week. Same. Also, as I said before, you could also include nutrition. All right, you could see, okay, what are options that I have here? all right, so in different countries, obviously in different places, there's different nutrition options. So you could actually then plan, okay, like I could actually go to the supermarket and get this or that or on whatever day I could. I don't know where you are, maybe in Asia, so you could plan like some super healthy and nice rice or healthy vegetable meals, all right. So here you could actually, you can actually be pretty flexible, all right, but still you have a kind of routine and you have kind of a schedule just for the upcoming week.

Yeah, so not saying every Wednesday I go to the gym because there might not be a gym every Wednesday, and then you have a travel day on Wednesday and then you're like, oh, fuck it, you know, then the whole schedule goes out the window and then, yeah, yeah. So I really like that approach to just look one week ahead, not a consistent, you know, every Wednesday thing. So, yeah, that sounds really good and super actionable. So when you're listening now and you're like, okay, this is something you can do if you want to focus, on your fitness.

Exactly, that is a super easy and basic thing. All right, And what I recommend is to actually for anybody who think, okay, this could be something for me, to actually set a reminder every Sunday, just saying, Sunday, take 10 to 15 minutes, all right, So you won't forget about it. All right, I think it's super easy. If you like the idea, then just set the timer right now and set the reminder right now, sorry, and actually make this a habit and let technology actually remind you. All right.

Yeah, exactly. Also another tip to make things easy. I think So. Malon. You work with clients all over the world. Now you live in Mexico. I also want to know, like, how did you get here from growing up in Germany and now working with digital nomads and remote workers all over the world? Like what happened in between? How did you end up in Mexico?

Long story. long story, But let me explain.

Tell me a long story, Okay worry.

So actually I like traveling. I always love traveling, all right, i always love seeing different places. I went to a lot of different places in the world and I was still studying in Germany four years ago when I did my internship in a German school abroad. So actually I tried Columbia, i tried Peru and all that, but they didn't accept me. So in Guadalajara they actually accepted me, all right. So I think it was like, yeah, more or less half a year of internship time here And I met friends. I met actually my second family more or less here. So that's what brought me to always get back here. So I was still studying in Germany, but as soon as I could, when at my semester break, i always went to Mexico. Was it not people to work a little bit more on our projects that we have here and to just continue training my clients from wherever? So that was actually super easy. The only problem was still I always had to get back to finish my studies. I finished my studies last year, so now I'm here, now I can officially say I settled, but until then it was always a lot of moving here and there. It was always like half a year in Germany and half a year here, more or less. This is how I got here, and actually I haven't even seen whole Mexico yet, so there's so many. It's a big country with a lot of beautiful places that can recommend to everybody out there, and it is definitely I would definitely say it was the right thing to move here. And here I am right now, continuing with my two or three projects that I have. One of that is my main business training people Like you online and some other things. Let's see. Let's see what's going on.

Do you want to share more about the other things that you do? Yeah, yeah, why not?

So, actually, i am here together with a few friends. We have a brand which is called Prana, which is also about health and just a little bit living more or being a little bit more conscious about your fitness and your own body. So this includes training, this includes nutrition. So we have a nutrition brand. Or Prana also sells nutrition like organic coffee, organic like all kinds of products, all right. So here we try to actually provide healthy nutrition, healthy products, which we also deliver to restaurants and all that And besides that, actually I myself, as a personal trainer and as specialized on training and on activity, trained clients, all right. So we do, for example, events like between 10 to 30 people. We do little hikes. We invite a friend who was yoga teacher, so we make a super nice day. We invite some of our cooks from the Cossina Prana the restaurant, and then we also have, or that my friend actually officially has, and here we get together. All right, we make a nice team, we're like five people or something, and then we invite everyone. As I said, like 20, 30 people were interested in just having spending a nice day being active, right? So we hike the mountain, we do a little yoga session, we do a little training with the people. We have some food together from the cuisine apparel, from the cooks that we actually invite. And we just spend a good day together. Some of the people then might be interested to also train more with me, right? Some just come for the next event Here. We see how that develops. The long term, we want to offer retreats in the Moskota in Guadalajara The place is called closer here to Guadalajara, and they are the ideas to actually do like one week retreats or something. So people come there to actually spend a week off and actually do something good for their minds, for their bodies, for themselves, have a great experience, spend a good time together, connect to other people, like-minded people, and that is the long. That is the big project, right? But right now we have these little like one to two day events that we do and we have the products that we sell, the trainings that we do So that is the second thing, and the third thing is a little bit different.

What's the third thing? Do you want to share or no?

The third thing is a long term project. We haven't started yet, but actually I want to actually, with another friend, make a little or start a little business. So actually it's about the German street food, all right, but because I like I love K-Bops, this is the only thing I'm really missing here. We actually want to. we like the idea came up to actually start selling K-Bops and some German street food here somewhere on the street with a little, just a little restaurant. So this is just just a little. That would just be a little experiment. All right, it doesn't have to do so much with sports and all that, but I just love K-Bops and we missing K-Bops over the years.

I see the Mexicans like the German street food.

Exactly exactly, and I think it would be so bad. I mean, the K-Bop is actually more or less like more or less like the taco, right? So you just add some different bread and you just add some some different salad and all that, but the concept is more or less the same. So let's see if that works.

I'm excited for it.

We haven't really started yet Still an idea, still a dream.

Lots of entrepreneurial projects going on, And I mean almost everything is a lot about fitness. So I'm wondering did you always have this passion for fitness, or how did you develop that interest and that passion?

How did they develop that interest? I mean, for me it started super early, actually, the very first time that, actually all the thing that hooked me, i was together with a boyfriend of my sister on holiday and he was doing pull-ups And I could just do like three, four, five pull-ups or something And I wanted to be able to do one more after the vacation. So I trained a lot with him and it actually worked and I saw the progress after these two weeks or something. So that's when I was hooked And that's when I started actually working out, and that was with like 12 years or something. And then I started trying a lot of different things, like different diets and like low carb, keto diet and all that stuff, and I forced myself to just get fit as soon as possible. And I mean, some of these approaches actually worked. So some of these things were actually like quite like you saw programs right, but that was the thing that I was talking about before Like I tried these things but I fell back after a while because nobody's going to do keto diet forever. So that was then when I kind of experimented with a lot of different training plans, a lot of different diets and all that, and I loved it and I actually liked always loved sports, right. So I did all kinds of sports or a lot of sports like in my lifetime now, but fitness was a thing that I always did like pretty passionately, and this is why I tried out a lot of different things, and this is why I actually found out then what is a way that actually works for me long term, and that is the way that I explained before. Right, working with habits, little habits, all right. So so here I try to make this easy, make this enjoyable and not be too strict to myself, not to my clients.

Yeah, it's pretty, pretty funny to hear that even 12 year old Malon already was interested in fitness. Did you already want to become a personal trainer then, too, that you thought, oh, it would be cool to train other people?

I don't think so. That actually happened then, when friends came over and asked me for advice And all just like, just like in a whatever situation, we trained a little bit together. So then I saw I could actually teach them some stuff. And then I saw, okay, this is actually what I teach them actually makes them reach whatever goal, all right. So then I actually developed this idea of, okay, i could do this on a professional basis and just not help my friends, but help clients wherever in the world. And that's how I got to it. It's not like I did my first pull up and I was like, hey, i want to teach that to people. That's how I got there, actually.

Cool, awesome. How was the transition going from? because you did mention that before you were just an in-person personal trainer, right? So you were just standing next to people saying, okay, well, keep going, And now you do this remotely. Was there a big transition or was that super easy?

It is a different approach, definitely. So I mean, for me it was not difficult, because actually what I'm doing now is the thing that I actually did with myself, let's say, or the things that also recommended to my friends all right these super basic habits, and what I did before was sometimes actually a little bit more felt, a little bit more weird, let's say, to actually see people, just I don't know, once a week or something, and then after a while, if you don't see them anymore, then they just fall back to their old habits and you're like, hey, what did we do all that for? actually, why did? all that money that they spend on a personal trainer, all these efforts, all right. So that's then when I actually started to implement a little bit more the habit thing all right. So this approach of including little habits, step by step, and that is actually when I saw okay, now people actually, even when I don't see them for weeks or months, they still fit all right because they have the right foundation. So this is actually why now, where that transition wasn't difficult, this is why the transition was actually more easy than just training people in person. I mean, it's a different thing. Training people in person is also cool because you can motivate people and you can actually be there and push them to the last set and all that all right, and it's cool for both, like for the trainer and for the client. So also, this is a this is definitely approach I don't like, i don't say it's a bad approach, right, but for me I think now the idea that my clients actually have a concept that works longer for myself is more real For myself, is more rewarding and is more enjoyable and I hope for them to. So that is why that why that switch wasn't too hard.

It was actually more like a real. It makes sense, though, because you also mentioned that. I mean, these mindset habits are the most impactful, probably because that makes it possible to keep going, and that's also what I see for myself. And yeah, i mean, you couldn't teach that anywhere right. You can teach that all over the world. You don't have to stand next to someone when you teach that, so that definitely makes sense. Yeah, and I also just want to share a little bit like about my own experience working with Malon, because it was a great experience. I'm really happy that I did it. When I started working with Malon, i was not fit And that is an understatement, and I used to be super fit. I got very, very sick and I lost my like everything. I had fitness level zero below zero And for the past three years I'm not joking, three years I've been trying to get back to it And I just every time started and stopped, and started and stopped and started, and then something minor would happen in life, you know, and then stopped. So I was like, okay, this is it, i'm done. I need to make this an ongoing thing And for the past I think 12 weeks now I have consistently been doing work out. It's not all of them, i will be honest, like I skipped a few, but I always got back to it And I'm just, you know, so freaking pumped about that simple thing that I was able to get back to it. And even when I traveled like a rock star, like how you said it, malon. I had some fast travels for the past, while I traveled for six months, so then part of that was also fast traveling a little bit here and there, and it was not easy to keep going and do the actual thing. But so then I also, i skipped a little bit here and there, but always got back to it.

So yeah, Well, you did pretty well. I can definitely confirm that. Oh, thanks.

Well, you have to tell me that, because of my podcast, we are the podcast now, later we do, later we tell. Yeah, yeah, Actually it's pretty well.

Like, as I said, you were traveling like crazy and still you actually managed to do most of your workouts right, and it's not about doing all the workouts. So that's also what I tell people and also what we talked about before Don't blame yourself for skipping a workout. Just make sure, if you skip one workout, that you actually attend the second one.

All right, Yeah, and then there's no problem.

All right. If you just attend the second one then and do it properly, cool, you're back in, you're still having the momentum, all right. So that is what you did. You got back to it, all right. So there was a week where you were more or less the workouts. Also then you skip Right, but then, like in the second call that we had on the top and the call afterwards that we had, you were like. Hey, but this week I'm going to go for it. And you actually did so, all right, and you actually improved a lot in that time. Actually improved a lot. You remember when we did the power workout, the little short workout level one at the beginning, and you were like super sore. Imagine you would do the same thing now, with the same, with the same rest and exercise times, all right, As back then you will just be bored.

So yeah, that would be nothing.

You got quite far, and that is, and that is, what you can be definitely proud of. You actually tend to like nine of 10 workouts.

Yes, thank you. Yes, i did And I am pretty, pretty proud. Yeah, so I can definitely. I'm the living proof Malone's approach works. So, yeah, i think, if you're listening now, like, do yourself a favor and include that Sunday habit to start with, see how it goes for you. And then, malon, if people want to reach out to you and they have questions, or maybe they want to work with you, where can they find you?

So they can. Actually, most of what I do, I do it via LinkedIn. Alright, So they can find me via LinkedIn. My name is Malon M-A-R-L-O-N. Last name is Shadek S-C-H-A-D-E-C-K. Not too common for a German, actually, But Malon Shadek, like that you can find me Is your last name Dutch, because it looks Dutch. I don't know actually. You tell me.

Yeah, it looks like it.

I could totally see that as a.

Dutch name.

I never saw it, but at least you're the only Marlon Schadeck then? Exactly, exactly, exactly. So that's why you could actually find me easily via LinkedIn or via my website, which is like my name, marlon-schadeck. com. Alright, so super easy, marlon-schadeck. com. Or, as I said before, via LinkedIn. I also work with Instagram, but most of what I do with my clients and all that we do via LinkedIn.

Okay, so we'll also make sure to have all the links in the show notes. So if you didn't catch that or you still don't know how to spell Malon's last name, then you can just go to the show notes and click the links there. That's easiest.

That is a very good idea actually, especially here in Mexico, they are super confused with my name usually.

How do Mexicans call you?

Different things. They call me Chavez, like C-H-A-E-S, like Malon.

Chavez.

They just make me Mexican.

Oh well, that works.

I'm not afraid that they won't find me on LinkedIn like that.

Yeah, yeah.

So it's better if you go to the show notes.

Yeah, yeah, that's easiest, all right. Well, malon, thank you so much for coming on the show today and sharing your wisdom and your story with us. It was really great having you here And, yeah, thank you so much. Thank you also for listening. See you in the next episode.

Thank you, it was an honor to be here.

And that's it for today. Thank you so much for listening. I appreciate it very, very much. I would appreciate it even more if you could leave a review on Apple Podcasts for me. That way, more people can find this podcast, more people can hear the inspiring stories that we're sharing, and the more people we can impact for the better. So, thank you so much if you are going to leave a review. I really appreciate you And I will see you in the next episode.