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I was spinning by myself in a spinning room which locked the door locked from the outside

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and you needed a key to get it so I was inside this locked spinning room and I had this massive

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head pain.

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It was a massive head pain and it wasn't a headache and I remember that this is such

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a distinction for me.

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It wasn't a headache, it was a head pain.

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It felt like somebody was stabbing something into the left side of my head and it went

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away very quickly.

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And I kept slowly slowed down a little bit and then every time my heart rate would go

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up this head pain would come back and it wasn't a headache again.

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It was this head pain, like a sharp shooting head pain.

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So I went into the, I was able to go into the doctor.

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I went into my doctor and my doctor was available and I went in right away because of the symptoms

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that I had but it was just my doctor's office and my doctor said well let's just be safe.

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I wanted you to go on and get a CAT scan right now so I drove to get a CAT scan and

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then I went home and the doctor's office called me right away and said you have to

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come back right now, you've had a stroke.

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The words you just heard were of someone I have known since high school.

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She was 27 at the time that she had a stroke and that was just the beginning of terrifying

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health instances for her.

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I'm so happy you're here today to hear her stories and if her words don't remind you

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how the universe all has a plan for us, I don't know what will.

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Today's guest is going to use her lessons to share how we can make sure that our remaining

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years are healthful and that we are having the best quality of life.

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Thank you for joining me for another episode of Life Snacks Lesson Plan.

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I'm Rachel and I started this podcast during my 29th and last year as a high school teacher.

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Goal of my work with Life Snacks Lesson Plan as well as my Live and Learn Patreon is to

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create a connection where we are all teachers.

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We all have lessons and stories to share that can help others.

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I'm so fortunate to be able to extend the four walls of my previous classroom to an

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unlimited audience where we can all learn from each other and my guests are some of

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the most inspirational people with the best stories and lessons I know, which is why I

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want to share them with you.

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Their words are something everyone should hear.

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It is my hope that you are able to take away something from each episode to apply to your

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own life, whether that be a career search, path to a more fulfilling life, or new ideas

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on current topics.

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I'm so excited to throw it way back today to my high school days with my guest, Tracy

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Danielson Mitchell.

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We definitely met in high school and had some fun in our early days of college.

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So it's really a treat after all these years that our paths have continued to cross and

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that I can have her expertise on the show.

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So I won't say too much more because Tracy's stories will fill you in, definitely, but I'm

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going to let her just give a little bit of a snapshot of her background.

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Great.

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So, well, thank you so much for having me, Rachel.

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And yes, we do have a very colorful history in the years that I've gone by.

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My name is Tracy Danielson Mitchell.

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I am a board-certified Mayo Clinic Health and Wellness coach and I work with women all

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over the world helping them be healthy.

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That's what I always say is my job really is to help people live their healthiest lives,

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especially women, especially at midlife.

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And I am the author of a book called The Bellyburn Plan and that book largely focuses on areas

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that I also focus on which is finding ways to use healthy living to balance our hormones

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and help us live healthier lives.

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My book deals largely with food and what we should be eating, what we should be avoiding,

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things like that, why our hormones do the things that they do.

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And so all of that is essentially my wheelhouse.

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I live in Chicago and I've been married for almost 20 years.

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My husband's Justin and I've got three kids here in Chicago, one's in college already.

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One's 16 and one's 10 years old so I'm all over the map.

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Yeah, that's oh my gosh to hear that we're both having kids in college thinking about

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some of the stories we're going to share today.

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That just cracks me up.

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Yeah, yeah, it's not that fast.

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Yeah, it does.

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It does.

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So, because I always start the podcast by going back to our school days, I asked Tracy

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to think back to a funny or memorable moment from high school or college and I was telling

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her before we started taping she has a really good memory because I did not remember some

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of the things that she's going to share today.

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So I'll let her kind of share her funniest or most memorable school stories.

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Do you want it all?

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No, no please.

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We had some good times.

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No, I mean, well, we went to Hartford together and you know, I did not go to the same grade

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school.

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So our high school was a feeder high school, right?

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And took all sorts of grade schools from around the area and brought them in.

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And so I went to a really small grade school with, I think we had 17 kids.

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I graduated from Freeslake school and I met you Rachel, my freshman year.

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I think maybe over summer school even if we were in the same health class or typing class,

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we took typing then.

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And hey, how bad.

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And we, yeah, we became friends and then after high school, we went to the same college.

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We went on to Whitewater together and had a lot of mutual acquaintances.

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We were two of a group of us.

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There were quite a few of us that went to Hartford that went to Whitewater as well.

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But of the people in our orbit, we were two of the few that actually stuck it out the

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whole time without transferring to another school.

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And we lived in Wells.

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The biggest dorm on Whitewater's campus, the two towers, and I lived in West, you lived

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in East.

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Those were good times, Rachel.

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I know.

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Yeah.

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Well, and again, probably smart that we don't share any more details about that.

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Pre the days of social media, thank goodness.

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Don't get in trouble.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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Okay.

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So walk us through then kind of your path in college or kind of post maybe undergrad

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and then how you got into the current line of work that you're doing now.

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Yeah.

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So, you know, when I started in, when I started my freshman year, I really didn't, I wasn't

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positive what it is that I wanted to go into.

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And I was a theater kid and I was a more of, I did forensics.

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I lettered in forensics in high school, right?

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I mean, who letters in forensics.

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And for those of you who don't know what forensics is because not everybody does, it's essentially

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I mean, it's not just drama or humor.

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It's a way of like, it's, I would say it's like acting.

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It's an acting sort of a format.

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It's kind of like competitive public speaking, I would say.

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Yeah, it is.

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That's a great way to describe it.

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And then there are different categories within that would be humorous.

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It would be contemporaneous.

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It would be dramatic.

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It would be group, like an ensemble thing.

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And anyway, there are a lot of different categories.

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I was good at that.

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And I thought, well, you know, I'm going to go into theater when I go into college, but

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I also really liked the idea of going into something that was post professional.

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So I wanted to go into medicine as well as crazy as the sounds.

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This tells you kind of the person I was my freshman year.

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So I double majored in theater and biology.

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And then I quickly realized that I didn't want to have a degree in theater when my professor

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told me, and I remember this my freshman year and he said, well, the average person with

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a theater degree earns, I forgot exactly how much it was, but it was something like $15,000

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a year, something like that.

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And I just realized then I wasn't hungry enough where there are a lot of very talented actors

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who go on to do amazing things with those degrees.

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I didn't have the appetite for it and I would have been gobbled alive.

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And so I dropped out and I went to broadcast journalism.

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And that's where I landed.

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And that biology major, I realized too that I wasn't as good of a student as I needed

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to be to fulfill what I wanted to do in biology and I wasn't then.

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So I changed that to psychology, which was less of a technical degree for me to get in

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terms of technical, like all the science classes and things like that.

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That would have been too hard for me then.

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So I changed it to broadcast journalism and psychology and that's what I graduated with.

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When I graduated from Whitewater, where I worked in the, I worked for the radio station

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at Whitewater.

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I worked for WSUW and I was a DJ and I was the music director.

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And it was the greatest job I had in college because imagine, you know, getting interviews

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with some of the coolest musicians and groups and then getting all of the CDs that you wanted.

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It was like a candy store for people who love music.

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And it was wonderful.

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And so when I graduated, I went for my master's degree in communication at Marquette University.

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And so I continued on there.

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And that's when the wheels really started turning for me in terms of what it was that was becoming

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interesting to me.

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I wanted to look more at media and how media was affecting people, specifically women.

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And so my master's thesis was in, and I forgot the exact very long window title, but it was

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media and the, how did I put it?

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It was media and the perception of the female body as it related to eating disorders, specifically

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bulimia.

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Because everybody was looking at eating disorders and the wave model thing that was happening

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then, right?

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We had all of the wave models that were everywhere.

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And for people who aren't familiar with what a wave model was back in the 90s, late 90s,

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it would be, you know, like all the models that were walking the runway that were, I

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mean, six feet tall and 90 pounds.

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It's a bit of an exaggeration, but it wasn't so far off the mark.

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And it was greatly influential on those of us who are in our teens and in our early 20s

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at the time.

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And a lot of people were looking at anorexia because of these wave models.

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But I wanted to look at specifically another way that people could be affected, women especially,

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in looking at different eating disorders, specifically bulimia.

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So I looked at that through the communication lens.

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And then I graduated from Marquette University.

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I assumed I would be walking into this great career.

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And I did walk into a really great career that afforded me the ability to travel all

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over the place.

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I worked in the automotive industry where I was able to become very fluent in how fan

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clutches and roller bushings were designed and things like that.

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So nothing at all in line with what I had just studied for the last how many years,

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right?

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I mean, eight years of my life, seven years of my life.

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But I was still able to understand business and get my arms around business better.

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And I traveled all over the country.

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I was able to work with some really cool people.

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I learned a lot from them.

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I learned a lot about business acumen.

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Again, I was able to do some forecasting for the industry.

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I was able to do a lot of marketing analysis.

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I worked largely in marketing.

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And I was really getting into it.

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And then I am traveling all over the place and then I was promoted to another job and

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then I was recruited away to another job.

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So this was all happening very quickly.

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All the while, I started really getting more into this mode of, okay, if I could only,

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my life would be perfect if I could only lose five more pounds.

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So I really started putting a lot of value on how much it was that I weighed.

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And now this is, you know, I'm a mid-20-something year old woman at this point.

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And I'm living in Minneapolis, Minnesota with my roommate, Jen.

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And I'm really going all over the place.

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Like I'm working out a lot now.

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I am single and I care a lot about how I look.

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Vanity was like a big thing for me then.

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And I care a lot about how I looked.

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And I really wanted to just like, okay, if I could only lose five more pounds, if I could

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only lose five more pounds, all the while being aware of this master's thesis that I

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had written.

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And you know, I did all the things that I think a lot of us might have done then.

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I drink all the diet sodas.

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I eat all the diet foods, all the snack wells, all the potato chips with Olien.

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I mean, the Stofors Lean cuisines were in my freezer.

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I don't remember a lot of fresh fruits or vegetables I ate back then that were available

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in my refrigerator that would have lasted or gone rotten if I wasn't eating them.

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And I was over exercising then too because I wanted to lose these damn five pounds.

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And I think what was happening in the process of doing this, now I didn't go out, I was

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in a partier, never used a drug.

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I didn't have that smoke.

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I didn't really drink a lot.

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You know, I didn't have a lot of vices that I thought I had, but I was abusing my body

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by the foods that I was eating and by the way I was exercising.

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So I was on this extreme diet route and I was still maintaining this awful weight, this

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god-awful weight that I thought I was, which I wasn't.

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And then one day I was exercising.

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I was in a spinning class.

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I taught spinning classes to you by the way.

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I was spinning by myself in a spinning room which locked, the door locked from the outside

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and you needed a key to get in.

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So I was inside this locked spinning room and I had this massive head pain.

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It was a massive head pain and it wasn't a headache.

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And I remember that this is such a distinction for me.

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It wasn't a headache, it was a head pain.

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I felt like somebody was stabbing something into the left side of my head and it went

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00:14:16,660 --> 00:14:19,060
away very quickly.

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And it scared the bejesus out of me and I kept slowly slowed down a little bit and then

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00:14:24,580 --> 00:14:28,340
every time my heart rate would go up, this head pain would come back and it wasn't a

235
00:14:28,340 --> 00:14:29,340
headache again.

236
00:14:29,340 --> 00:14:31,940
It was this head pain, like a sharp shooting head pain.

237
00:14:31,940 --> 00:14:34,900
So I went into the, I was able to go into the doctor.

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00:14:34,900 --> 00:14:39,540
I went into my doctor and my doctor was available and I went in right away because of the symptoms

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00:14:39,540 --> 00:14:40,540
that I had.

240
00:14:40,540 --> 00:14:41,540
But it was just my doctor's office.

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00:14:41,540 --> 00:14:43,140
And my doctor said, well, let's just be safe.

242
00:14:43,140 --> 00:14:44,980
I wanted you to go on and get a CAT scan right now.

243
00:14:44,980 --> 00:14:51,140
So I drove to get a CAT scan and then I went home.

244
00:14:51,140 --> 00:14:54,180
And the doctor's office called me right away and said, you have to come back right now.

245
00:14:54,180 --> 00:14:56,140
You've had a stroke.

246
00:14:56,140 --> 00:15:05,020
And so I had a stroke on the left side of my brain, my posterior prefrontal cortex.

247
00:15:05,020 --> 00:15:09,180
And that was, yeah, I mean, it was a very scary time.

248
00:15:09,180 --> 00:15:13,300
So I had this stroke, it's 27 years old now, 27 years old.

249
00:15:13,300 --> 00:15:20,700
And I had this stroke and I was given all sorts of the typical post stroke protocol,

250
00:15:20,700 --> 00:15:26,300
which was avoid caffeine and don't exercise more than 45 minutes, three times a week.

251
00:15:26,300 --> 00:15:29,740
They knew that I was a young wanting to be fit person.

252
00:15:29,740 --> 00:15:32,260
I'm like, I teach spinning classes.

253
00:15:32,260 --> 00:15:34,340
What am I supposed to do?

254
00:15:34,340 --> 00:15:40,340
And that was really all they told me to do because the damage had been done physically,

255
00:15:40,340 --> 00:15:41,340
outwardly.

256
00:15:41,340 --> 00:15:49,100
It wasn't severe enough of a stroke, thank God that I needed any sort of rehabilitation.

257
00:15:49,100 --> 00:15:50,540
I was in for tests all the time.

258
00:15:50,540 --> 00:15:52,380
I was constantly in for scans.

259
00:15:52,380 --> 00:15:55,620
There was the mystery wasn't solved at that point.

260
00:15:55,620 --> 00:15:59,780
And so I was following this protocol and I was in with my doctors pretty consistently

261
00:15:59,780 --> 00:16:01,900
over the course of about three months.

262
00:16:01,900 --> 00:16:05,580
Then I got a paper cut on my left finger.

263
00:16:05,580 --> 00:16:09,660
And the paper cut came from, I was wrapping something up to put in my refrigerator.

264
00:16:09,660 --> 00:16:14,540
I was cutting a piece of saran wrap off, you know, like the jagged edge of saran wrap.

265
00:16:14,540 --> 00:16:19,540
And I got a cut on my finger and my knuckle from that.

266
00:16:19,540 --> 00:16:22,780
And it didn't heal right away.

267
00:16:22,780 --> 00:16:26,380
And I thought, well, I'm just going to let this go.

268
00:16:26,380 --> 00:16:30,140
Who goes in to go on antibiotics for a paper cut?

269
00:16:30,140 --> 00:16:31,780
And I let it go and I let it go.

270
00:16:31,780 --> 00:16:34,860
And then after a week or after two weeks or so, I noticed that it was getting kind of

271
00:16:34,860 --> 00:16:38,820
swollen and then two weeks later I went home for Thanksgiving to my parents' place outside

272
00:16:38,820 --> 00:16:40,420
of Milwaukee.

273
00:16:40,420 --> 00:16:43,500
And it was swollen and it was kind of oozing.

274
00:16:43,500 --> 00:16:46,260
It sounds so gross to say, but it was oozing a little bit of pus.

275
00:16:46,260 --> 00:16:50,460
And so I just ignored it.

276
00:16:50,460 --> 00:16:53,780
I mean, I hate to say that I ignored it, but I ignored it.

277
00:16:53,780 --> 00:16:56,860
And a month goes by and it's still there.

278
00:16:56,860 --> 00:16:57,860
I still have a paper cut.

279
00:16:57,860 --> 00:16:59,580
I'm putting bandages on my finger.

280
00:16:59,580 --> 00:17:04,300
This is the same paper cut that I had now at this point from two months earlier.

281
00:17:04,300 --> 00:17:10,420
And I woke up one morning and it was Thanksgiving and then Christmas rolls around.

282
00:17:10,420 --> 00:17:16,420
I was about to go home, drive home back again to outside Milwaukee, Hartford area.

283
00:17:16,420 --> 00:17:21,940
And I felt something underneath my left arm and I felt like a lump that was underneath

284
00:17:21,940 --> 00:17:23,660
my left arm.

285
00:17:23,660 --> 00:17:27,700
And I couldn't stretch my left arm all the way above my head without feeling a little

286
00:17:27,700 --> 00:17:28,700
bit of pain.

287
00:17:28,700 --> 00:17:29,700
It was just bad.

288
00:17:29,700 --> 00:17:30,700
It was just a little bit of pain.

289
00:17:30,700 --> 00:17:31,700
It was discomfort.

290
00:17:31,700 --> 00:17:33,660
And that's all I really felt.

291
00:17:33,660 --> 00:17:35,820
And so my roommate and I, you know, we got our bags together.

292
00:17:35,820 --> 00:17:37,500
We both lived around the Milwaukee area.

293
00:17:37,500 --> 00:17:43,660
We were driving back home together and we were driving from Minneapolis to outside the

294
00:17:43,660 --> 00:17:49,300
Milwaukee area, which is about five and a half hours, five, five and a half hours.

295
00:17:49,300 --> 00:17:55,140
So by the time we stopped for breakfast, I remember laughing, getting in the car with

296
00:17:55,140 --> 00:18:00,220
her about a joke that we told and I was laughing and this was a memory of mine.

297
00:18:00,220 --> 00:18:02,620
I laughed and I had fun.

298
00:18:02,620 --> 00:18:07,500
And then by the time we stopped for breakfast an hour and a half later, I had a fever and

299
00:18:07,500 --> 00:18:11,780
I couldn't really, couldn't really move that left arm anymore.

300
00:18:11,780 --> 00:18:14,700
I was wearing a red long sleeve T-shirt.

301
00:18:14,700 --> 00:18:17,060
So I told her, I'm like, you know, and I'm not feeling good.

302
00:18:17,060 --> 00:18:18,060
And I lost my appetite.

303
00:18:18,060 --> 00:18:19,540
I couldn't eat breakfast.

304
00:18:19,540 --> 00:18:20,700
So I just let it sit there.

305
00:18:20,700 --> 00:18:23,300
Whatever I ordered, I remember just letting it sit there and she's like, what's wrong

306
00:18:23,300 --> 00:18:24,300
with you?

307
00:18:24,300 --> 00:18:25,300
I don't know.

308
00:18:25,300 --> 00:18:26,300
I just don't feel right.

309
00:18:26,300 --> 00:18:27,300
And that's what I kept saying.

310
00:18:27,300 --> 00:18:28,300
I don't feel right.

311
00:18:28,300 --> 00:18:34,780
And then by the time we got home to my place where I was dropped off, my mom, who had worked

312
00:18:34,780 --> 00:18:41,060
in surgery for the better part of 30 years at that point, I showed her under my arm and

313
00:18:41,060 --> 00:18:45,940
she's like, oh, it looks like you have a swollen lymph node or possibly an ingrown hair that

314
00:18:45,940 --> 00:18:47,580
got infected.

315
00:18:47,580 --> 00:18:52,860
Just put something on, like put a warm compress on it and you'll probably feel better.

316
00:18:52,860 --> 00:18:54,020
That did not work.

317
00:18:54,020 --> 00:19:01,980
So within six hours, I think I had fevers that were spiking over 104, started throwing

318
00:19:01,980 --> 00:19:03,060
up.

319
00:19:03,060 --> 00:19:07,020
I started getting really badly, badly, badly sick.

320
00:19:07,020 --> 00:19:10,540
And this one, now remember, we're coming up on a Christmas.

321
00:19:10,540 --> 00:19:12,620
Coming up on a Christmas.

322
00:19:12,620 --> 00:19:14,140
Coming up on a Christmas.

323
00:19:14,140 --> 00:19:20,100
And so, you know, healthcare around the holidays in Hartford, Wisconsin was hard to come by.

324
00:19:20,100 --> 00:19:24,140
But one night I was laying in bed and I'm telling you I was going in and out of bouts

325
00:19:24,140 --> 00:19:26,740
of throwing up to fevers.

326
00:19:26,740 --> 00:19:28,100
And it was fever or throwing up.

327
00:19:28,100 --> 00:19:30,180
I was doing one or the other constantly.

328
00:19:30,180 --> 00:19:33,740
And so I went downstairs in my parents' room in the middle of the night and I said, I need

329
00:19:33,740 --> 00:19:35,620
to go to the hospital and I need to go now.

330
00:19:35,620 --> 00:19:38,620
Because I knew that I wasn't getting any better.

331
00:19:38,620 --> 00:19:44,420
And so my dad took me to Hartford Memorial Hospital where we were met by a physician

332
00:19:44,420 --> 00:19:53,940
who worked there, who I had never met before, who gave me a bag of Vicodin, told me to come

333
00:19:53,940 --> 00:20:00,780
back to the clinic to have my armpit lanced to let whatever was going on inside of my

334
00:20:00,780 --> 00:20:02,780
arm out.

335
00:20:02,780 --> 00:20:07,420
And it was probably just some ingrown hair, kind of something like that.

336
00:20:07,420 --> 00:20:12,020
And I remember the nurse taking the doctor aside and saying, are you sure you want to

337
00:20:12,020 --> 00:20:13,980
discharge her?

338
00:20:13,980 --> 00:20:16,340
And she said, yeah, she's fine.

339
00:20:16,340 --> 00:20:17,820
It was four o'clock in the morning.

340
00:20:17,820 --> 00:20:18,820
Remember this so well.

341
00:20:18,820 --> 00:20:19,820
She said, yeah, she's fine.

342
00:20:19,820 --> 00:20:22,820
And I remember then I was like, I'm going home to die.

343
00:20:22,820 --> 00:20:24,700
And I was throwing up in a bedpan in front of her.

344
00:20:24,700 --> 00:20:26,220
I mean, I don't know what else she wanted.

345
00:20:26,220 --> 00:20:31,620
So I went home and then within a day my mom brought me into her hospital in Milwaukee at

346
00:20:31,620 --> 00:20:32,620
St. Joseph's Hospital.

347
00:20:32,620 --> 00:20:39,660
I was quickly admitted where they discovered very quickly my mom requested a vascular surgeon

348
00:20:39,660 --> 00:20:42,020
that she worked with because she knew something was up.

349
00:20:42,020 --> 00:20:46,940
The doctor evaluated me and he said, I think she has necrotizing fasciitis.

350
00:20:46,940 --> 00:20:50,580
Necrotizing fasciitis is what the media calls a flashing bacteria.

351
00:20:50,580 --> 00:20:54,180
And so I was admitted into surgery right away.

352
00:20:54,180 --> 00:21:01,500
I had the lymph nodes of my left axilla, the underarm removed, as well as tissue from my

353
00:21:01,500 --> 00:21:07,660
bicep and then subsequently other surgeries that needed to be done to remove tissue from

354
00:21:07,660 --> 00:21:08,660
my back.

355
00:21:08,660 --> 00:21:13,220
And I had to travel this paper cut that I wasn't paying attention to.

356
00:21:13,220 --> 00:21:18,420
Some bacteria entered there mutated to what they called like the, it was a strep A bacteria

357
00:21:18,420 --> 00:21:22,300
mutated to the strep A bacteria landed in my lymph nodes, infected my body.

358
00:21:22,300 --> 00:21:24,220
Thankfully, it only stayed on my left side.

359
00:21:24,220 --> 00:21:28,380
I was scheduled for an amputation of my left arm.

360
00:21:28,380 --> 00:21:32,620
And I mean, thank God my white blood cell accounts came down enough to show that the

361
00:21:32,620 --> 00:21:38,540
infection was under control because the only cure for necrotizing fasciitis is surgery.

362
00:21:38,540 --> 00:21:39,820
There's no other cure.

363
00:21:39,820 --> 00:21:45,580
And so I was able to recover from that after, oh God, I don't know how many months it was.

364
00:21:45,580 --> 00:21:48,740
It took probably six months for me to really recover because there's no stitches they're

365
00:21:48,740 --> 00:21:50,220
going to put in your armpit, right?

366
00:21:50,220 --> 00:21:53,980
I mean, from the inside out, it sounds so gory to say this.

367
00:21:53,980 --> 00:21:56,020
But it was a real wake up call for me then.

368
00:21:56,020 --> 00:21:57,460
So that was a real turning point for me.

369
00:21:57,460 --> 00:22:01,580
And I thank God that I had that experience because had I not had that experience, I don't

370
00:22:01,580 --> 00:22:02,620
know where it would be.

371
00:22:02,620 --> 00:22:05,140
I don't know what the course of my life would have been like.

372
00:22:05,140 --> 00:22:09,180
I don't know, but I'd still be putting fan clutches together and talking about roller

373
00:22:09,180 --> 00:22:10,180
bushings.

374
00:22:10,180 --> 00:22:15,460
But I felt like I was shallow as a puddle back then compared to what I really need to

375
00:22:15,460 --> 00:22:17,500
learn about myself now.

376
00:22:17,500 --> 00:22:19,820
So fast forward.

377
00:22:19,820 --> 00:22:26,620
And this was the ultimate, like, OK Tracey, this is a sign from God.

378
00:22:26,620 --> 00:22:31,460
I moved from Minneapolis to Chicago about eight months later.

379
00:22:31,460 --> 00:22:37,500
And I moved here, I at the time was dating somebody else and I moved here because it

380
00:22:37,500 --> 00:22:40,740
made more sense for me to move here than he there.

381
00:22:40,740 --> 00:22:43,900
And I was starting to run again.

382
00:22:43,900 --> 00:22:46,260
And so I started running a little bit.

383
00:22:46,260 --> 00:22:50,260
And I went to a race out in Aurora, Illinois.

384
00:22:50,260 --> 00:22:51,820
It was a 10K in Aurora, Illinois.

385
00:22:51,820 --> 00:22:53,820
It was a Walter Payton 10K.

386
00:22:53,820 --> 00:22:56,780
And so I go out there for this race.

387
00:22:56,780 --> 00:23:02,780
And now, mind you, I'm starting to be much more aware of what I'm eating and eating

388
00:23:02,780 --> 00:23:05,780
more healthy, but I'm still having this little pity party for myself.

389
00:23:05,780 --> 00:23:10,900
Like, gosh, you know, like I feel so woe is me, you know, my life was saved.

390
00:23:10,900 --> 00:23:13,780
And but I had to go through all this trauma, which was very traumatic.

391
00:23:13,780 --> 00:23:16,180
You know, I had a stroke and it's not fair.

392
00:23:16,180 --> 00:23:17,500
And then I had the next choice in fashion.

393
00:23:17,500 --> 00:23:18,500
I just, it's not fair.

394
00:23:18,500 --> 00:23:22,580
So I go out to this event and I line up.

395
00:23:22,580 --> 00:23:29,100
And as I'm lined up, a man to my left stands next to me and a woman to my right stands

396
00:23:29,100 --> 00:23:30,100
next to me.

397
00:23:30,100 --> 00:23:33,300
Neither of them have a left arm.

398
00:23:33,300 --> 00:23:34,740
Neither of them have a left arm.

399
00:23:34,740 --> 00:23:35,740
Whoa.

400
00:23:35,740 --> 00:23:41,500
And so I thought, like, I thought they came to the event together.

401
00:23:41,500 --> 00:23:43,300
I'm like, well, they must know each other.

402
00:23:43,300 --> 00:23:44,300
None of them have left.

403
00:23:44,300 --> 00:23:46,180
And so I thought I stood in between them.

404
00:23:46,180 --> 00:23:50,900
So I took a step back, like a couple of steps back and I just, I observed them and like,

405
00:23:50,900 --> 00:23:51,900
they don't know each other.

406
00:23:51,900 --> 00:23:54,580
Like, they're not buddies just because they don't have a left arm.

407
00:23:54,580 --> 00:23:59,380
So I stepped up again and I was like, okay, well, wow.

408
00:23:59,380 --> 00:24:03,060
And they proceeded to run circles around me.

409
00:24:03,060 --> 00:24:04,740
They proceeded to run circles around me.

410
00:24:04,740 --> 00:24:07,780
I think she, he smoked it.

411
00:24:07,780 --> 00:24:12,420
And then I remember hearing a couple of men talk about the woman that didn't have an arm

412
00:24:12,420 --> 00:24:17,060
and they're like, she ran something around six minute miles for the 10 K.

413
00:24:17,060 --> 00:24:18,540
So you know, it was a real sight.

414
00:24:18,540 --> 00:24:22,260
I mean, I have zero to be feeling bad about.

415
00:24:22,260 --> 00:24:25,260
I have only things to feel grateful about.

416
00:24:25,260 --> 00:24:27,060
Stop this pity party right now.

417
00:24:27,060 --> 00:24:28,060
This is embarrassing.

418
00:24:28,060 --> 00:24:32,900
It was a real slap in the face for me, but in the best way possible.

419
00:24:32,900 --> 00:24:39,780
So I decided to throw away my career in marketing and I'm like, I'm going to really focus on

420
00:24:39,780 --> 00:24:42,580
health, wellness, and that is, that is it.

421
00:24:42,580 --> 00:24:44,580
So I was, you know, coming up on 30 now.

422
00:24:44,580 --> 00:24:47,260
So I'm giving you the fast forward version of all of those six.

423
00:24:47,260 --> 00:24:51,700
So finally, like finally when I get to about 30, I decide, no, it's 29.

424
00:24:51,700 --> 00:24:53,940
I was 29 now at this point.

425
00:24:53,940 --> 00:24:56,180
I became a personal trainer.

426
00:24:56,180 --> 00:25:00,980
And so I, which does not require a college degree, but I got my certification in personal

427
00:25:00,980 --> 00:25:05,060
training, but it afforded me the ability to go back to school for a second master's degree

428
00:25:05,060 --> 00:25:08,540
in health and nutrition education shortly after that.

429
00:25:08,540 --> 00:25:12,500
So I went back to school in health and nutrition education and when I landed in nutrition,

430
00:25:12,500 --> 00:25:16,140
I knew I found my calling, what it is that I am supposed to be doing.

431
00:25:16,140 --> 00:25:22,060
And nutrition was it's like encyclopedic for me and I have, I'm able to understand and

432
00:25:22,060 --> 00:25:26,700
translate this information very easily into real life situations for my clients that I

433
00:25:26,700 --> 00:25:27,700
now work with.

434
00:25:27,700 --> 00:25:32,820
But we have to, I got my master's degree in health and nutrition education.

435
00:25:32,820 --> 00:25:37,900
Now the fast forward of this is a wonderful man whose name is Justin had a couple of children

436
00:25:37,900 --> 00:25:40,700
have this master's degree in health and nutrition education.

437
00:25:40,700 --> 00:25:44,820
So I decided after a few years of, you know, working with clients that I want to write

438
00:25:44,820 --> 00:25:47,500
a book because I have a lot to talk about.

439
00:25:47,500 --> 00:25:54,100
And so I started, I wrote a book called the belly burn plan and it's all about how we

440
00:25:54,100 --> 00:25:59,780
can eat our best while maintaining a healthy body, you know, you know, talking about foods

441
00:25:59,780 --> 00:26:02,980
eating right for your body type really without worrying about dieting.

442
00:26:02,980 --> 00:26:04,180
There's no counting calories.

443
00:26:04,180 --> 00:26:05,460
There's no counting macros.

444
00:26:05,460 --> 00:26:06,460
There's no diets.

445
00:26:06,460 --> 00:26:08,900
It's just eating real food and it's a lifestyle.

446
00:26:08,900 --> 00:26:12,780
And so that's the kind of the path that I took to writing the book.

447
00:26:12,780 --> 00:26:18,060
Now, you know, I went back again, you know, I'm big proponent of continuing education.

448
00:26:18,060 --> 00:26:20,420
I don't think that we should ever stop learning.

449
00:26:20,420 --> 00:26:22,940
I think it's really important to continue learning.

450
00:26:22,940 --> 00:26:26,780
I think it's important to keep growing in that capacity too.

451
00:26:26,780 --> 00:26:32,140
And so I went on and I got my additional credentialing through the Mayo Clinic as a Mayo Clinic Health

452
00:26:32,140 --> 00:26:37,460
and Wellness Coach and I hold my certifications through the National Board of Medical Educators.

453
00:26:37,460 --> 00:26:41,620
And so what I do today, thankfully, I work with women all over the world.

454
00:26:41,620 --> 00:26:43,620
As I said earlier, helping them stay healthy.

455
00:26:43,620 --> 00:26:47,180
And a lot of women who are our age now, Rachel, are running into this little thing called

456
00:26:47,180 --> 00:26:48,180
menopause.

457
00:26:48,180 --> 00:26:49,180
I don't know if you know what that is.

458
00:26:49,180 --> 00:26:50,820
But a lot of us are perimenopause.

459
00:26:50,820 --> 00:26:52,180
I am perimenopause.

460
00:26:52,180 --> 00:26:56,420
And then there are a lot of women who might go into menopause as early as, gosh, you know,

461
00:26:56,420 --> 00:26:57,420
their early 40s.

462
00:26:57,420 --> 00:27:02,940
And dealing with all of these hormonal consequences of what our bodies naturally go through, this

463
00:27:02,940 --> 00:27:03,940
is not a punishment.

464
00:27:03,940 --> 00:27:05,940
This is a way that we can learn to live with.

465
00:27:05,940 --> 00:27:08,420
And there are a lot of ways to live through this healthily.

466
00:27:08,420 --> 00:27:11,860
And so that's what I do now in a nutshell.

467
00:27:11,860 --> 00:27:13,540
It's not a straight line.

468
00:27:13,540 --> 00:27:15,780
I didn't become an accountant and now I own a firm.

469
00:27:15,780 --> 00:27:18,620
You know, it was very zigzaggy, but well worth it.

470
00:27:18,620 --> 00:27:21,140
Yeah, the universe definitely spoke to you.

471
00:27:21,140 --> 00:27:23,740
That story at the start line, holy cow.

472
00:27:23,740 --> 00:27:24,740
Yeah.

473
00:27:24,740 --> 00:27:27,140
That talk about perspective check, right?

474
00:27:27,140 --> 00:27:28,620
It really was.

475
00:27:28,620 --> 00:27:29,620
Oh my goodness.

476
00:27:29,620 --> 00:27:30,620
Yeah.

477
00:27:30,620 --> 00:27:31,620
Okay.

478
00:27:31,620 --> 00:27:35,740
Well, we're going to take a little break and then when we come back, we'll continue

479
00:27:35,740 --> 00:27:42,420
with Tracy's stories and a little bit more in depth about her career and her lesson for

480
00:27:42,420 --> 00:27:43,460
us.

481
00:27:43,460 --> 00:27:50,940
To those of you who have followed me for a while, you know that I value mental and physical

482
00:27:50,940 --> 00:27:51,940
wellness.

483
00:27:51,940 --> 00:27:56,540
Personally, I've worked with a few different coaches over the years and even been one myself.

484
00:27:56,540 --> 00:28:01,620
If you are looking for education and support in your own wellness journey, I would love

485
00:28:01,620 --> 00:28:06,140
to invite you to the wellness community I am currently in that keeps me accountable daily

486
00:28:06,140 --> 00:28:08,100
with my nutrition and movement.

487
00:28:08,100 --> 00:28:14,780
If you are a Facebook user, you can search for our free group called team MG.

488
00:28:14,780 --> 00:28:20,700
This group is led by my coach, Megan Grimord, who is a certified trainer and nutrition coach.

489
00:28:20,700 --> 00:28:24,980
She offers lots of education and support for your wellness journey.

490
00:28:24,980 --> 00:28:29,500
If you want to get to know coach Megan more, you can follow her on Instagram at all lower

491
00:28:29,500 --> 00:28:39,500
case Megan M E G A N underscore Grimord G R I M O R D or even listen to her on episode

492
00:28:39,500 --> 00:28:41,940
10 of the podcast.

493
00:28:41,940 --> 00:28:45,020
She has also created a discount code for my listeners.

494
00:28:45,020 --> 00:28:55,300
Just go to her website www.team-mg.com and enter called lesson plan 10 to get $10 off

495
00:28:55,300 --> 00:28:59,460
any of her premium coaching packages for the first month.

496
00:28:59,460 --> 00:29:02,900
Coach Megan is a busy mom like me who works full time.

497
00:29:02,900 --> 00:29:07,980
So I appreciate her practicality mixed with some tough love to keep me going.

498
00:29:07,980 --> 00:29:14,460
All right, we are back from our break and I'm just going to have Tracy talk a little

499
00:29:14,460 --> 00:29:21,700
bit about her career in coaching, kind of what she does on a daily basis with her clients

500
00:29:21,700 --> 00:29:27,300
and then some of the highlights as you can probably imagine from hearing her story today

501
00:29:27,300 --> 00:29:32,340
of how the universe definitely called her into this line of work.

502
00:29:32,340 --> 00:29:35,140
It has to be really rewarding and fulfilling.

503
00:29:35,140 --> 00:29:39,660
So Tracy, would you say you meet with clients kind of every day?

504
00:29:39,660 --> 00:29:41,700
I know you obviously wrote the book.

505
00:29:41,700 --> 00:29:46,900
You've been on the news, you blog, you've started a podcast.

506
00:29:46,900 --> 00:29:52,340
Do you tell us just kind of the scope of your job, I guess is what I'm trying to ask.

507
00:29:52,340 --> 00:29:53,340
Yeah.

508
00:29:53,340 --> 00:29:59,020
So what I do because my, so as a Mayo Clinic health and wellness coach, my specialty is

509
00:29:59,020 --> 00:30:00,820
in behavior change.

510
00:30:00,820 --> 00:30:06,140
And so oftentimes what I find with women who really women of any age book, the older we

511
00:30:06,140 --> 00:30:08,780
get the more set in our ways we become, right?

512
00:30:08,780 --> 00:30:09,900
There's no mystery there.

513
00:30:09,900 --> 00:30:13,060
We kind of want to keep doing the same things that we've been doing and we get very comfortable

514
00:30:13,060 --> 00:30:14,780
with certain habits.

515
00:30:14,780 --> 00:30:18,660
Sometimes those habits can be created negative feedback loop, right?

516
00:30:18,660 --> 00:30:22,380
So and it has an impact on our overall health.

517
00:30:22,380 --> 00:30:26,300
So when I start working, what I do on a day-to-day basis is exactly what you just said.

518
00:30:26,300 --> 00:30:30,300
I talk with women, usually via Zoom, sometimes over phone.

519
00:30:30,300 --> 00:30:35,580
And they are usually coming to me with some sort of an idea of what they want to see a

520
00:30:35,580 --> 00:30:36,820
change with.

521
00:30:36,820 --> 00:30:39,500
More often than not, it's weight, right?

522
00:30:39,500 --> 00:30:43,540
So more often than not, they say, I went into my doctor.

523
00:30:43,540 --> 00:30:48,540
A lot of my clients come to me from physician referral and others find me through my website

524
00:30:48,540 --> 00:30:50,700
or through other ways.

525
00:30:50,700 --> 00:30:56,620
And more often than not, they will say, I just went into my doctor and I have high A1

526
00:30:56,620 --> 00:31:00,340
Cs, which are a marker in your blood that will indicate that you have high, you know,

527
00:31:00,340 --> 00:31:04,660
your very close pre-diabetic or pre-diabetic.

528
00:31:04,660 --> 00:31:09,780
Or I have high triglycerides or I have high cholesterol or my doctor said that I've had

529
00:31:09,780 --> 00:31:12,020
clients with congestive heart failure.

530
00:31:12,020 --> 00:31:16,180
Very serious complications of their health that could be made better simply by cleaning

531
00:31:16,180 --> 00:31:17,540
up their lifestyle.

532
00:31:17,540 --> 00:31:22,660
How do you clean up a lifestyle after you're 30, 40, 50, 60, 70 years old?

533
00:31:22,660 --> 00:31:24,460
Well, you have to change things.

534
00:31:24,460 --> 00:31:27,700
And so that's what I really work with my clients on international.

535
00:31:27,700 --> 00:31:30,220
I think of it like this, a box, right?

536
00:31:30,220 --> 00:31:34,380
One corner of the box is the one that's most tangible for them to be able to anchor onto.

537
00:31:34,380 --> 00:31:36,260
And I provide them with meal plans.

538
00:31:36,260 --> 00:31:37,740
The meal plans are not diets.

539
00:31:37,740 --> 00:31:39,380
I do not give them calories account.

540
00:31:39,380 --> 00:31:41,540
I do not encourage them to count macros.

541
00:31:41,540 --> 00:31:45,260
I do not lean one way toward a macronutrient than another.

542
00:31:45,260 --> 00:31:49,740
You know, I want them to eat real food that is nutrient dense and learn how to eat the

543
00:31:49,740 --> 00:31:50,900
right way.

544
00:31:50,900 --> 00:31:56,260
I could speak ad nauseam for how our generation has been affected by processed foods, specifically

545
00:31:56,260 --> 00:31:57,260
our generation.

546
00:31:57,260 --> 00:32:00,780
But, you know, we have that's one corner of it, then the other corner of it is looking

547
00:32:00,780 --> 00:32:02,260
at how are they moving?

548
00:32:02,260 --> 00:32:03,540
What sort of activity are they doing?

549
00:32:03,540 --> 00:32:06,340
They don't have to run marathons, but are they making the most of their body in terms

550
00:32:06,340 --> 00:32:07,340
of physical activity?

551
00:32:07,340 --> 00:32:12,420
It's a really important element of it for multiple reasons, many, many, many reasons.

552
00:32:12,420 --> 00:32:15,580
And then we look at other things like lifestyle, stress management.

553
00:32:15,580 --> 00:32:18,980
How are those things really impacting you as a client, right?

554
00:32:18,980 --> 00:32:20,260
How is stress impacting you?

555
00:32:20,260 --> 00:32:21,580
How has it impacted you?

556
00:32:21,580 --> 00:32:25,980
A lot of my clients are very surprised to hear that stress can impact your blood sugar

557
00:32:25,980 --> 00:32:27,580
levels and trigger belly fat.

558
00:32:27,580 --> 00:32:30,660
You know, these are things that we work through and give them perspective in terms of, okay,

559
00:32:30,660 --> 00:32:37,020
what can I do to take ownership of my own actions that could affect my lifestyle?

560
00:32:37,020 --> 00:32:39,820
And then the last corner of this box would be the coaching.

561
00:32:39,820 --> 00:32:41,820
And we meet regularly for coaching calls.

562
00:32:41,820 --> 00:32:45,420
So they're about 30 minutes long, but that's what I do all day long.

563
00:32:45,420 --> 00:32:49,580
And I'm just so happy at how effective it is, right?

564
00:32:49,580 --> 00:32:53,060
Because really sometimes people just need a flashlight put on the problem and then they

565
00:32:53,060 --> 00:32:56,900
can see it and they can make sense of it and do something about it.

566
00:32:56,900 --> 00:32:57,900
Absolutely.

567
00:32:57,900 --> 00:33:05,540
So meeting with people every day and kind of working them through their specific problems,

568
00:33:05,540 --> 00:33:06,700
what are some highlights?

569
00:33:06,700 --> 00:33:09,180
Obviously, this is a passion of yours.

570
00:33:09,180 --> 00:33:11,780
And so helping people do this, I'm sure, is a reward.

571
00:33:11,780 --> 00:33:17,140
But is there a certain highlight or two that stand out to you in this career?

572
00:33:17,140 --> 00:33:20,700
Certainly objectively, you know, like the things that I can point to would be when my

573
00:33:20,700 --> 00:33:25,900
clients come back from their doctors after working together for six months or in some

574
00:33:25,900 --> 00:33:27,140
cases longer.

575
00:33:27,140 --> 00:33:31,700
But usually three to six months is a good threshold to see a good report card, so to

576
00:33:31,700 --> 00:33:33,020
speak, from their doctor.

577
00:33:33,020 --> 00:33:34,900
Tried glycerides have dropped.

578
00:33:34,900 --> 00:33:39,460
Bad cholesterol, your LDL cholesterol comes back in line with HDL cholesterol, your good

579
00:33:39,460 --> 00:33:42,380
cholesterol, so there's a better ratio there.

580
00:33:42,380 --> 00:33:45,420
Visceral fat, visceral fat is the type of fat that you have around your belly area has

581
00:33:45,420 --> 00:33:48,140
diminished, which typically does not want to stay on our body.

582
00:33:48,140 --> 00:33:49,660
It comes off rather easily.

583
00:33:49,660 --> 00:33:52,260
It's just a matter of making things happen to see that.

584
00:33:52,260 --> 00:33:57,500
And then seeing that they've just improved their overall intake of nutrient-dense foods

585
00:33:57,500 --> 00:34:02,060
that a lot of clients have RA, rheumatoid arthritis, autoimmune disorders.

586
00:34:02,060 --> 00:34:08,460
How are your, what are your markers looking like for inflammation in your body?

587
00:34:08,460 --> 00:34:12,900
So that's a way that I can go, okay, this is absolutely working for you.

588
00:34:12,900 --> 00:34:16,220
Keep doing this long after we finish working together.

589
00:34:16,220 --> 00:34:21,180
In other ways, I have clients who never thought that they would run or never thought that

590
00:34:21,180 --> 00:34:22,180
they could run.

591
00:34:22,180 --> 00:34:27,140
I have a client that I started working with a year ago who wanted to lose X amount of

592
00:34:27,140 --> 00:34:28,140
weight.

593
00:34:28,140 --> 00:34:30,500
She wanted to lose a certain amount of weight.

594
00:34:30,500 --> 00:34:33,500
And so she committed to eating healthier.

595
00:34:33,500 --> 00:34:38,420
She was one of these clients that was on a lot of GLP1 agonists like issemic glutides,

596
00:34:38,420 --> 00:34:42,740
or more commonly known as like an ozembic or oligovia or something like that.

597
00:34:42,740 --> 00:34:47,420
And then if that's an issue, she's on also a fentramine and another different pharmaceutical.

598
00:34:47,420 --> 00:34:50,420
It wasn't really helping her get her to where she wanted to be.

599
00:34:50,420 --> 00:34:54,380
And so she went off of it and it created a slower pathway for her, but that's lower

600
00:34:54,380 --> 00:34:56,140
pathway allowed her to eat better.

601
00:34:56,140 --> 00:35:00,660
And so fast forward all of these months to a year later, she ran her first half marathon

602
00:35:00,660 --> 00:35:03,300
and she beat her time by four seconds.

603
00:35:03,300 --> 00:35:05,500
She beat her goal time by four seconds.

604
00:35:05,500 --> 00:35:06,500
Wonderful.

605
00:35:06,500 --> 00:35:10,820
And so watching my clients achieve this, like kind of like what we all want to achieve,

606
00:35:10,820 --> 00:35:14,700
that thing that we think we can't do and watch them do that, it's pretty cool.

607
00:35:14,700 --> 00:35:17,300
And did I see that you ran with her?

608
00:35:17,300 --> 00:35:22,100
I ran, I did that run together, but I ran, I was registered for it and I talked her into

609
00:35:22,100 --> 00:35:23,100
it and she did it.

610
00:35:23,100 --> 00:35:28,220
And so yes, I was there at the finish line with her along with her husband and we cheered

611
00:35:28,220 --> 00:35:30,220
her on and yeah, she was fabulous.

612
00:35:30,220 --> 00:35:32,220
Oh, that's so amazing.

613
00:35:32,220 --> 00:35:35,300
So she, oh, that was awesome.

614
00:35:35,300 --> 00:35:41,460
So you said that the majority of your clients will come to you for most likely weight loss

615
00:35:41,460 --> 00:35:43,580
and do they get blood work done?

616
00:35:43,580 --> 00:35:46,140
You review their blood work for them.

617
00:35:46,140 --> 00:35:47,140
Correct.

618
00:35:47,140 --> 00:35:51,620
So then you'll see other markers that are obviously contributing potentially besides

619
00:35:51,620 --> 00:35:54,020
lifestyle and nutrition to.

620
00:35:54,020 --> 00:35:55,020
Yeah.

621
00:35:55,020 --> 00:35:56,020
Yeah.

622
00:35:56,020 --> 00:35:58,500
You know, usually they'll come with a good sense of what's wrong already because they'll

623
00:35:58,500 --> 00:36:02,300
have visited their doctor and their doctor will say, okay, this is high.

624
00:36:02,300 --> 00:36:04,220
You need to work on this.

625
00:36:04,220 --> 00:36:05,780
And that's what they'll come to me with.

626
00:36:05,780 --> 00:36:08,500
So it's not me doing the interpretation of the blood work.

627
00:36:08,500 --> 00:36:12,500
I mean, it is important to see like where liver enzymes are for example.

628
00:36:12,500 --> 00:36:15,660
And liver cell and that's pretty telling in terms of what I suspect might be going on

629
00:36:15,660 --> 00:36:16,660
in their lifestyle.

630
00:36:16,660 --> 00:36:22,140
But you know, it's, yeah, so it's there, the physicians are the practitioner, the medical

631
00:36:22,140 --> 00:36:26,420
practitioner will almost always do the interpretation and then I'll get the data and be able to make

632
00:36:26,420 --> 00:36:31,100
use of it and be able to, you know, affect some changes that will benefit them and usually

633
00:36:31,100 --> 00:36:32,100
do.

634
00:36:32,100 --> 00:36:33,100
Okay.

635
00:36:33,100 --> 00:36:34,100
Interesting.

636
00:36:34,100 --> 00:36:37,980
So I know you've had clients who come to you first with just this weight loss goal.

637
00:36:37,980 --> 00:36:41,100
What are some other things that you're working on them with?

638
00:36:41,100 --> 00:36:46,100
Do you work on heart health markers, hormone balancing markers?

639
00:36:46,100 --> 00:36:49,100
I know that's what I've been working on for the last year.

640
00:36:49,100 --> 00:36:50,100
Yeah.

641
00:36:50,100 --> 00:36:51,700
Hormones is a really big thing.

642
00:36:51,700 --> 00:36:56,860
And it's one of those things that we all have hormones, men, women, children.

643
00:36:56,860 --> 00:36:59,220
Women tend to be subjected to more nuts.

644
00:36:59,220 --> 00:37:00,860
I don't want to use the word subjected.

645
00:37:00,860 --> 00:37:02,860
It's just who we are.

646
00:37:02,860 --> 00:37:05,820
We have more variation in many of our hormones more often than not.

647
00:37:05,820 --> 00:37:08,580
Whether we're going through puberty, boys do too.

648
00:37:08,580 --> 00:37:11,020
Boys go through a real loop when they go through puberty.

649
00:37:11,020 --> 00:37:14,380
You know, women at a very young age, we deal with things like menstruation, which is not

650
00:37:14,380 --> 00:37:15,380
always easy.

651
00:37:15,380 --> 00:37:19,300
And it's a difficult thing for a lot of young women to cope with because it's a challenge.

652
00:37:19,300 --> 00:37:23,740
When it comes to lifestyle and sports and things like that, but you fast forward through

653
00:37:23,740 --> 00:37:27,460
our, you know, we give birth to children.

654
00:37:27,460 --> 00:37:32,700
We, you know, we go through perimenopause and menopause, giving language to what women

655
00:37:32,700 --> 00:37:36,020
are going through when it comes to that specific time in our life.

656
00:37:36,020 --> 00:37:37,020
When to start?

657
00:37:37,020 --> 00:37:38,020
Perimenopause starts.

658
00:37:38,020 --> 00:37:42,660
Perimenopause can start as early as our late 30s and it can drag through.

659
00:37:42,660 --> 00:37:46,900
Usually perimenopause won't last much more than a few years, but it can, like it can

660
00:37:46,900 --> 00:37:48,860
seem to drag on forever.

661
00:37:48,860 --> 00:37:52,940
And then the average woman actually hits menopause by around 52.

662
00:37:52,940 --> 00:37:54,260
And then there's the postmenopause here.

663
00:37:54,260 --> 00:37:58,380
So it's not, but we're done, you know, we just kind of wipe everything away and we move

664
00:37:58,380 --> 00:38:00,940
on to postmenopause line is everything's wonderful.

665
00:38:00,940 --> 00:38:02,220
That's not what happens.

666
00:38:02,220 --> 00:38:09,140
So when our hormones are affected, and this is almost usually women are not like, this

667
00:38:09,140 --> 00:38:11,380
hormone is often my body.

668
00:38:11,380 --> 00:38:13,420
It's not never as specific as that.

669
00:38:13,420 --> 00:38:16,500
They think that their hormones are off.

670
00:38:16,500 --> 00:38:18,740
They think that their hormones are off because of XYZ.

671
00:38:18,740 --> 00:38:20,180
Maybe it's hot flashes.

672
00:38:20,180 --> 00:38:22,580
Maybe it's belly fat.

673
00:38:22,580 --> 00:38:24,140
Maybe it's a lack of energy.

674
00:38:24,140 --> 00:38:27,100
And the answer is yes, yes, and yes, it could very well be hormones.

675
00:38:27,100 --> 00:38:31,500
Let's look at what we can do through lifestyle to improve the balance of your hormones because

676
00:38:31,500 --> 00:38:32,820
you're always going to have them.

677
00:38:32,820 --> 00:38:36,340
But it's like, how do you make the most use out of what you're doing currently in your

678
00:38:36,340 --> 00:38:41,140
lifestyle so that way you can bring some, some homeostasis because our hormones only

679
00:38:41,140 --> 00:38:42,140
want homeostasis.

680
00:38:42,140 --> 00:38:43,940
They want that balance.

681
00:38:43,940 --> 00:38:48,260
When we go through menopause or perimenopause, perimenopause specifically, there could be

682
00:38:48,260 --> 00:38:50,580
wild variations from woman to woman.

683
00:38:50,580 --> 00:38:53,220
Some women have steep drops in estrogen to progesterone.

684
00:38:53,220 --> 00:38:55,620
It could be the other way for some women.

685
00:38:55,620 --> 00:39:01,260
And so helping them understand what's going on with their body, more importantly, okay,

686
00:39:01,260 --> 00:39:05,260
what's going on with the foods you're eating, with your stress levels, what's going on with

687
00:39:05,260 --> 00:39:08,020
all of these other things that could be contributing to hormonal imbalance.

688
00:39:08,020 --> 00:39:10,940
A lot of people think it's just food.

689
00:39:10,940 --> 00:39:15,660
They don't really attribute or exercise possibly, but they don't think stress affects things.

690
00:39:15,660 --> 00:39:17,700
They don't think sleep affects too much.

691
00:39:17,700 --> 00:39:19,540
And that's a real eye opener for a lot of women.

692
00:39:19,540 --> 00:39:21,060
And a game changer too.

693
00:39:21,060 --> 00:39:25,860
And I know when I was going through the change of switching off birth control to see where

694
00:39:25,860 --> 00:39:35,180
my hormones were eventually as they balanced out, I was on an anti-inflammatory diet,

695
00:39:35,180 --> 00:39:40,660
only doing really slow yoga, walking gently.

696
00:39:40,660 --> 00:39:48,260
I didn't realize how much exercise was taxing my body and how that affected my hormones

697
00:39:48,260 --> 00:39:52,380
until I went through it and the difference in how I felt.

698
00:39:52,380 --> 00:39:55,700
I heard this statistic too.

699
00:39:55,700 --> 00:40:01,580
Tell me if, and then maybe you might get it wrong, but when women enter menopause, which

700
00:40:01,580 --> 00:40:03,140
is really just a day, right?

701
00:40:03,140 --> 00:40:07,340
It's the day that you like switch over, you no longer have, you haven't had a period for

702
00:40:07,340 --> 00:40:08,820
a year, right?

703
00:40:08,820 --> 00:40:13,820
But you're, I don't know if it's your estrogen levels, but I had heard that women kind of

704
00:40:13,820 --> 00:40:20,180
premenopause have maybe now in today's day and age with our current lifestyles a 30%

705
00:40:20,180 --> 00:40:25,820
chance of heart situation, heart disease, heart attack.

706
00:40:25,820 --> 00:40:32,580
And that after menopause, because of how the hormones shift, it can go up to 50%.

707
00:40:32,580 --> 00:40:36,540
Is that, did I mishear that or is there some truth to that?

708
00:40:36,540 --> 00:40:41,220
So before menopause, a premenopause, they're not hairy menopause, premenopause.

709
00:40:41,220 --> 00:40:45,740
Let's say a woman who's 30 who has normal hormonal regulation, 4% risk factor.

710
00:40:45,740 --> 00:40:46,740
Okay.

711
00:40:46,740 --> 00:40:48,580
Like women are generally at a 4% risk factor.

712
00:40:48,580 --> 00:40:49,580
Okay.

713
00:40:49,580 --> 00:40:55,060
And this is, you know, you were casting a really wide general, but yeah, you know, it's roughly

714
00:40:55,060 --> 00:40:56,060
4%.

715
00:40:56,060 --> 00:41:02,100
44% of women, 44% of women will live with heart disease.

716
00:41:02,100 --> 00:41:04,020
So it's not a heart attack.

717
00:41:04,020 --> 00:41:08,540
So when we say heart disease, right, there's coronary artery disease, which is obviously

718
00:41:08,540 --> 00:41:09,940
very serious, right?

719
00:41:09,940 --> 00:41:15,140
But then there's also things that affect our vessels, our nerves, that affect our arteries,

720
00:41:15,140 --> 00:41:18,020
they're independent of the heart attack, right?

721
00:41:18,020 --> 00:41:21,780
And so you could still have heart failure, you could still have a heart disease and all

722
00:41:21,780 --> 00:41:22,780
of these things count.

723
00:41:22,780 --> 00:41:26,740
And so when we look at things like how much sugar are you getting in your added sugar

724
00:41:26,740 --> 00:41:27,740
in your diet?

725
00:41:27,740 --> 00:41:30,300
Diet, when you do that, you affect your blood pressure.

726
00:41:30,300 --> 00:41:31,980
A lot of people think it's just salt.

727
00:41:31,980 --> 00:41:32,980
Salt's no good for us.

728
00:41:32,980 --> 00:41:35,140
Like excess salt's not healthy either.

729
00:41:35,140 --> 00:41:39,660
But we really need to look at all these little variables and how all of this can affect us.

730
00:41:39,660 --> 00:41:43,860
But yes, you're absolutely right, that because estrogen drops and estrogen is a wonderful

731
00:41:43,860 --> 00:41:48,100
blood sugar buffer, helps to really keep blood sugar where it needs to be.

732
00:41:48,100 --> 00:41:53,380
In the absence of estrogen, blood sugars rise, which taxes insulin.

733
00:41:53,380 --> 00:41:58,020
So insulin is a hormone that's released from our pancreas because estrogen doesn't do its

734
00:41:58,020 --> 00:42:01,460
job as effective, what's not as present as much.

735
00:42:01,460 --> 00:42:03,860
So we have blood sugars that are on the rise.

736
00:42:03,860 --> 00:42:06,860
So insulin has to step in.

737
00:42:06,860 --> 00:42:11,380
The problem is that insulin isn't as effective anymore.

738
00:42:11,380 --> 00:42:13,180
It's not as efficient in doing its job.

739
00:42:13,180 --> 00:42:16,260
And this can result in insulin resistance.

740
00:42:16,260 --> 00:42:18,820
And this is a precursor for pre-diabetes.

741
00:42:18,820 --> 00:42:24,660
Diabetes, this sets the stage for heart disease and other metabolic disorders.

742
00:42:24,660 --> 00:42:30,180
And I don't think people realize that those numbers, those A1C, those triglycerides are

743
00:42:30,180 --> 00:42:33,260
linked to your hormones changing as well.

744
00:42:33,260 --> 00:42:36,860
Like there's a lot of factors, of course, but I never knew that.

745
00:42:36,860 --> 00:42:42,780
I don't think a lot of people know that when your estrogen dips and it continues to go

746
00:42:42,780 --> 00:42:49,580
down as you age, that causes health issues that aren't just, oh, I'm gaining weight because

747
00:42:49,580 --> 00:42:50,580
I'm in menopause.

748
00:42:50,580 --> 00:42:51,580
Right?

749
00:42:51,580 --> 00:42:54,820
Like there are actual longevity factors attached to that.

750
00:42:54,820 --> 00:42:55,820
Yeah.

751
00:42:55,820 --> 00:43:00,580
I think a lot of women, this is what I really want to work against this mindset is a lot

752
00:43:00,580 --> 00:43:02,660
of women are like, well, I'm through menopause.

753
00:43:02,660 --> 00:43:04,020
This is just what happens to my body.

754
00:43:04,020 --> 00:43:05,860
No, it doesn't have to happen that way.

755
00:43:05,860 --> 00:43:07,020
It doesn't have to happen that way.

756
00:43:07,020 --> 00:43:10,220
You can actually do a lot to support your body.

757
00:43:10,220 --> 00:43:13,100
And you're not going to be 18 years old.

758
00:43:13,100 --> 00:43:16,940
You're not going to walk around with the resiliency of an 18-year-old.

759
00:43:16,940 --> 00:43:21,100
But you can be a pretty hot 55-year-old, 60-year-old, 65-year-old.

760
00:43:21,100 --> 00:43:22,300
You can still look amazing.

761
00:43:22,300 --> 00:43:23,300
70, 75.

762
00:43:23,300 --> 00:43:25,180
I mean, I've clients through their 80s.

763
00:43:25,180 --> 00:43:27,420
You really thrive through those years.

764
00:43:27,420 --> 00:43:29,660
You have, I'm sure a lot of us have heard of this.

765
00:43:29,660 --> 00:43:30,660
We have our lifespan.

766
00:43:30,660 --> 00:43:32,180
We have our health span.

767
00:43:32,180 --> 00:43:36,260
The health span is that gap in between where our life ends and where our health ends.

768
00:43:36,260 --> 00:43:38,500
We want to close that gap as much as possible.

769
00:43:38,500 --> 00:43:43,420
We do not want to take this attitude that, well, for women, I'm speaking specifically

770
00:43:43,420 --> 00:43:45,780
for women, well, I'm through, this is menopause.

771
00:43:45,780 --> 00:43:47,620
I'm not going to be able to do XYZ anymore.

772
00:43:47,620 --> 00:43:48,620
My shit sailed.

773
00:43:48,620 --> 00:43:51,500
That is just not the way we need to be thinking.

774
00:43:51,500 --> 00:43:53,780
We need to be thinking in different ways from that.

775
00:43:53,780 --> 00:44:01,940
But yes, so, yes, hormones affect a lot within our body and they coexist with our lifestyle.

776
00:44:01,940 --> 00:44:05,260
So we affect our hormones by lifestyle.

777
00:44:05,260 --> 00:44:07,260
Lifestyle affects our hormones too.

778
00:44:07,260 --> 00:44:08,980
So everything kind of works together.

779
00:44:08,980 --> 00:44:11,420
It's like this animal that just kind of moves in the same direction.

780
00:44:11,420 --> 00:44:13,860
We just need to start moving with it rather than resisting that.

781
00:44:13,860 --> 00:44:14,860
Yeah.

782
00:44:14,860 --> 00:44:18,340
That's really, again, because you don't think of something until it happens to you very

783
00:44:18,340 --> 00:44:19,340
often, right?

784
00:44:19,340 --> 00:44:24,900
And so because of this age, I've been learning more about how this works and how to do exactly

785
00:44:24,900 --> 00:44:30,440
what you're saying is I don't want to spend the last 20 years of my life with no quality

786
00:44:30,440 --> 00:44:32,780
of life if I can do anything about it.

787
00:44:32,780 --> 00:44:35,780
And so taking that into my own hands, right?

788
00:44:35,780 --> 00:44:37,580
So you get into your own hands.

789
00:44:37,580 --> 00:44:38,580
Yeah, exactly.

790
00:44:38,580 --> 00:44:39,580
You can own this stuff.

791
00:44:39,580 --> 00:44:40,580
You can take accountability for it.

792
00:44:40,580 --> 00:44:42,460
It's very liberating to do that.

793
00:44:42,460 --> 00:44:43,460
Right.

794
00:44:43,460 --> 00:44:48,220
So we might have already covered your lesson a little bit just because I jumped ahead with

795
00:44:48,220 --> 00:44:50,140
my questions.

796
00:44:50,140 --> 00:44:55,980
But I think you had a couple of specifics that you were going to talk about today with

797
00:44:55,980 --> 00:45:02,260
that idea in mind of just how can you increase that lifespan so that there's more quality

798
00:45:02,260 --> 00:45:05,260
in the years that you're living, right?

799
00:45:05,260 --> 00:45:06,260
Up until the end.

800
00:45:06,260 --> 00:45:11,180
So if you want to talk a little bit about more specifically your lesson today and then

801
00:45:11,180 --> 00:45:15,420
we will reflect and give them some action steps today.

802
00:45:15,420 --> 00:45:16,420
Okay.

803
00:45:16,420 --> 00:45:21,780
Well, I think one of the most important things is just that, right?

804
00:45:21,780 --> 00:45:25,020
We oftentimes feel like we're too old.

805
00:45:25,020 --> 00:45:32,300
And this is probably one part of human nature, one part cultural conditioning where it's

806
00:45:32,300 --> 00:45:34,300
normal to reflect on our life.

807
00:45:34,300 --> 00:45:37,540
Oh, when I was 14 years old, I could do all of this.

808
00:45:37,540 --> 00:45:41,300
And this is independent of the responsibilities that we now have as adults.

809
00:45:41,300 --> 00:45:45,460
Then we add on these layers of responsibilities and life circumstances, challenges with our

810
00:45:45,460 --> 00:45:49,460
families, challenges with health, challenges with careers.

811
00:45:49,460 --> 00:45:50,460
You name it, right?

812
00:45:50,460 --> 00:45:52,820
You could throw the kitchen sink at this.

813
00:45:52,820 --> 00:45:57,900
But it doesn't mean that you're excluded from doing other great things for yourself.

814
00:45:57,900 --> 00:45:59,940
Don't be afraid to try new things.

815
00:45:59,940 --> 00:46:01,260
Never be afraid to try new things.

816
00:46:01,260 --> 00:46:06,100
There's been a lot of really wonderful research around doing novel things and how that lights

817
00:46:06,100 --> 00:46:07,460
up the brain.

818
00:46:07,460 --> 00:46:10,660
And just by taking steps to do things that are novel and doesn't mean that you have to

819
00:46:10,660 --> 00:46:12,500
go climb Mount Everest, right?

820
00:46:12,500 --> 00:46:16,380
You don't have to necessarily travel to see the Seven Wonders of the World.

821
00:46:16,380 --> 00:46:20,860
It means, well, you know, maybe I'm going to go to the farmer's market that I've never

822
00:46:20,860 --> 00:46:25,540
gone to before because, you know, I didn't really think that I would find anything that

823
00:46:25,540 --> 00:46:26,540
I like there.

824
00:46:26,540 --> 00:46:27,540
Do it.

825
00:46:27,540 --> 00:46:28,540
See what happens.

826
00:46:28,540 --> 00:46:29,540
Maybe you'll find something that you like.

827
00:46:29,540 --> 00:46:34,220
Well, I didn't really want to go and join this walking group because I'm shy and I don't

828
00:46:34,220 --> 00:46:35,220
really want to.

829
00:46:35,220 --> 00:46:36,260
I don't know anybody.

830
00:46:36,260 --> 00:46:37,660
My friends aren't in the group.

831
00:46:37,660 --> 00:46:38,740
Well, go do it.

832
00:46:38,740 --> 00:46:43,140
You might find some really cool people who are like-minded, who think like you, who want

833
00:46:43,140 --> 00:46:44,940
to achieve these great things for themselves.

834
00:46:44,940 --> 00:46:45,940
You just do it.

835
00:46:45,940 --> 00:46:51,020
It's really important to have this ability to just step outside of your comfort zone a

836
00:46:51,020 --> 00:46:52,020
little bit.

837
00:46:52,020 --> 00:46:55,060
You don't have to- you know, it's stepping outside your comfort zone doesn't mean that

838
00:46:55,060 --> 00:46:57,300
you have to take on your world's greatest challenges.

839
00:46:57,300 --> 00:47:03,060
Just means putting one foot in front of the other and making a little step like that often.

840
00:47:03,060 --> 00:47:05,580
And it really lights up your brain and it can change your lifestyle.

841
00:47:05,580 --> 00:47:06,580
Yeah.

842
00:47:06,580 --> 00:47:15,380
This reminds me of another way our paths crossed in our lives is when I was turning 40.

843
00:47:15,380 --> 00:47:23,740
I did my first triathlon for my 40th birthday and somehow I bought your triathlon bike from

844
00:47:23,740 --> 00:47:24,740
you.

845
00:47:24,740 --> 00:47:25,900
I still have her.

846
00:47:25,900 --> 00:47:26,900
Her name is Black Beauty.

847
00:47:26,900 --> 00:47:27,900
Hi, Black Beauty.

848
00:47:27,900 --> 00:47:33,980
Yeah, that idea and again, you know, now I'm 51 and still, you know, still challenging

849
00:47:33,980 --> 00:47:36,060
myself to do things.

850
00:47:36,060 --> 00:47:38,420
But that idea of like, why not?

851
00:47:38,420 --> 00:47:40,980
You know, I was biking and I was running.

852
00:47:40,980 --> 00:47:47,340
The swim scared me to death, but I did it and I'm considering doing a relay triathlon

853
00:47:47,340 --> 00:47:50,060
this summer because I missed it.

854
00:47:50,060 --> 00:47:54,260
I went and watched last year and I was like, ah, there's just nothing matches that feeling.

855
00:47:54,260 --> 00:47:59,020
I don't know if I want to do that to my body to do the whole thing again, but I could definitely

856
00:47:59,020 --> 00:48:03,900
do the swim leg again because nobody wants to do the swim leg.

857
00:48:03,900 --> 00:48:09,300
But you know, doing those things keeps you energized, I think, and it's all healthy.

858
00:48:09,300 --> 00:48:13,020
I love, I love, love, love that message.

859
00:48:13,020 --> 00:48:19,220
So you have kind of some homework or a few three, I think, action steps for us of things

860
00:48:19,220 --> 00:48:27,020
we could start to do today, tomorrow, to expand our longevity and our healthy years.

861
00:48:27,020 --> 00:48:28,020
Yeah.

862
00:48:28,020 --> 00:48:30,820
And of course, I'm going to go back to my wheelhouse if that's okay.

863
00:48:30,820 --> 00:48:31,820
Yeah, of course.

864
00:48:31,820 --> 00:48:35,660
You know, when it comes to nutrition and life and give some context to it.

865
00:48:35,660 --> 00:48:37,300
So it's three very easy things.

866
00:48:37,300 --> 00:48:41,060
And I think if, you know, just making small steps to doing these things, you will see

867
00:48:41,060 --> 00:48:42,460
a significant difference.

868
00:48:42,460 --> 00:48:46,660
So pay attention as you do them because none of this happens overnight.

869
00:48:46,660 --> 00:48:47,660
This is not a prescription.

870
00:48:47,660 --> 00:48:49,540
You're not taking pills.

871
00:48:49,540 --> 00:48:52,460
You're not, you know, you're not giving yourself an injection or anything like that.

872
00:48:52,460 --> 00:48:55,780
These things take time, but you will notice a difference right away.

873
00:48:55,780 --> 00:48:57,660
So do you want to eat better?

874
00:48:57,660 --> 00:48:59,580
Do you want to work on your diet?

875
00:48:59,580 --> 00:49:04,380
It's not so much about thinking about what you need to cut out.

876
00:49:04,380 --> 00:49:06,340
Look at what you can add in.

877
00:49:06,340 --> 00:49:08,500
Try not to add in the added sugars, of course.

878
00:49:08,500 --> 00:49:10,140
Like really read your labels.

879
00:49:10,140 --> 00:49:14,260
Look at the side of what it is that you're eating, of a package of food that you're eating.

880
00:49:14,260 --> 00:49:17,740
And if what it is that you're eating has more than 12 grams of sugar in it, which oftentimes

881
00:49:17,740 --> 00:49:19,580
they do, maybe just put that back.

882
00:49:19,580 --> 00:49:21,500
And you're talking about heart health, Rachel.

883
00:49:21,500 --> 00:49:25,740
The American Heart Association recommends that women get no more than 24 grams of added

884
00:49:25,740 --> 00:49:27,900
sugar a day in their diet.

885
00:49:27,900 --> 00:49:29,380
Added sugar is the stress.

886
00:49:29,380 --> 00:49:31,180
Not fresh fruits, not vegetables.

887
00:49:31,180 --> 00:49:35,420
Men, by the way, if there are men listening, 36 grams is the threshold the American Heart

888
00:49:35,420 --> 00:49:38,260
Association recommends.

889
00:49:38,260 --> 00:49:42,900
Add in as many fruits and vegetables as you want, but try to curb the added sugar.

890
00:49:42,900 --> 00:49:47,900
And don't make a banana synonymous with a bag of jelly beans.

891
00:49:47,900 --> 00:49:49,820
That's not going to work for you.

892
00:49:49,820 --> 00:49:54,580
So eat the banana, avoid the jelly beans.

893
00:49:54,580 --> 00:49:57,660
Oftentimes we don't associate sleep with hormones.

894
00:49:57,660 --> 00:49:59,900
And this is tip number two.

895
00:49:59,900 --> 00:50:02,820
So if you want to sleep better, and let me tell you sleep is the hot button for a lot

896
00:50:02,820 --> 00:50:07,860
of us women who are in our 40s, 50s, and beyond 60s, 70s, if you want to sleep better, turn

897
00:50:07,860 --> 00:50:10,740
your screens off at least 30 minutes before you go to bed.

898
00:50:10,740 --> 00:50:12,100
This is a very spoofable thing.

899
00:50:12,100 --> 00:50:16,220
I've seen memes about this, like people trying to pry their phones out of their hands before

900
00:50:16,220 --> 00:50:17,220
they go to sleep.

901
00:50:17,220 --> 00:50:21,500
And this is something I work on greatly with my clients, too, struggle with this.

902
00:50:21,500 --> 00:50:23,140
Turn your screens off.

903
00:50:23,140 --> 00:50:26,620
Your pineal gland in your brain releases moa tonin.

904
00:50:26,620 --> 00:50:32,620
The blue light from your devices, from your screens, emits blue light from these screens.

905
00:50:32,620 --> 00:50:34,700
Blue light blocks moa tonin from getting released.

906
00:50:34,700 --> 00:50:38,500
So your brain and your body are not necessarily getting that signal that it's sleepy time.

907
00:50:38,500 --> 00:50:39,500
And you really want that.

908
00:50:39,500 --> 00:50:42,100
That's what helps you feel drowsy, helps you get to sleep.

909
00:50:42,100 --> 00:50:44,660
When you go to sleep, you want that deep sleep.

910
00:50:44,660 --> 00:50:47,580
Deep sleep can happen when you're feeling really well rested.

911
00:50:47,580 --> 00:50:49,140
And that's what helps scrub your brain.

912
00:50:49,140 --> 00:50:52,860
It helps kind of get rid of all the gunk that's in your brain and your body and helps you

913
00:50:52,860 --> 00:50:55,820
rest and digest, helps your muscles regenerate.

914
00:50:55,820 --> 00:50:57,380
It helps your skin look good.

915
00:50:57,380 --> 00:51:00,180
It helps fat metabolism, insulin regulation.

916
00:51:00,180 --> 00:51:01,860
So sleep does all of that.

917
00:51:01,860 --> 00:51:08,140
So turn off the devices and read a book or drink a cup of tea and just sit quietly, but

918
00:51:08,140 --> 00:51:09,700
turn off the devices.

919
00:51:09,700 --> 00:51:13,180
And then if you want to exercise more, and this is tip number three, if you want to exercise

920
00:51:13,180 --> 00:51:14,580
more, don't look at it.

921
00:51:14,580 --> 00:51:17,180
You have to go do 45 minutes, five days a week.

922
00:51:17,180 --> 00:51:20,660
How about you just get up and do 10 minutes if you're not doing anything right now?

923
00:51:20,660 --> 00:51:26,780
Starting small is probably the best and most effective way to maintain exercise.

924
00:51:26,780 --> 00:51:27,780
Then you can grow from it.

925
00:51:27,780 --> 00:51:31,340
Because once you start getting conditioned, once you literally condition your body, you

926
00:51:31,340 --> 00:51:33,620
can start building on that brick by brick.

927
00:51:33,620 --> 00:51:35,020
So that's the recap again.

928
00:51:35,020 --> 00:51:36,180
So read your labels.

929
00:51:36,180 --> 00:51:39,940
Try not to add in more than 12 grams of added sugar per pack, like anything that you're

930
00:51:39,940 --> 00:51:41,700
eating or 24 grams a day.

931
00:51:41,700 --> 00:51:44,380
Eat as much of the fruits and vegetables as you want.

932
00:51:44,380 --> 00:51:47,900
And don't worry about sugar when it comes to those types of foods, but wash the added

933
00:51:47,900 --> 00:51:48,900
sugar.

934
00:51:48,900 --> 00:51:52,660
So when you want to sleep better, turn off your devices at least 30 minutes before you

935
00:51:52,660 --> 00:51:53,980
go to bed.

936
00:51:53,980 --> 00:51:58,300
And then if you want to pick up the exercise, don't look at it as running a marathon.

937
00:51:58,300 --> 00:52:01,740
Rachel and I will be welcoming you for our next triathlon.

938
00:52:01,740 --> 00:52:03,860
Please just start small.

939
00:52:03,860 --> 00:52:08,380
10 minutes a day is all you really need to do to give your heart a good shot.

940
00:52:08,380 --> 00:52:09,380
That's awesome.

941
00:52:09,380 --> 00:52:14,220
And yeah, I'm just trying in these cold, gray winter months.

942
00:52:14,220 --> 00:52:18,980
It's painful to get outside and get that pressure and get the walk.

943
00:52:18,980 --> 00:52:25,020
But before we recorded this today, I was like, you must go with the dog for 10 minutes.

944
00:52:25,020 --> 00:52:26,020
Just do it.

945
00:52:26,020 --> 00:52:29,180
Always do something else later, but just start.

946
00:52:29,180 --> 00:52:30,180
Just do it.

947
00:52:30,180 --> 00:52:33,180
And you always feel better after just 10 minutes.

948
00:52:33,180 --> 00:52:35,180
Well, I think it's gonna feel worse.

949
00:52:35,180 --> 00:52:37,180
Yeah, no, you never regret it.

950
00:52:37,180 --> 00:52:38,180
Never.

951
00:52:38,180 --> 00:52:44,940
So, wow, there's so much packed into this episode that I am going to have Tracy back

952
00:52:44,940 --> 00:52:46,420
in March.

953
00:52:46,420 --> 00:52:51,660
Actually, we're going to do on my live and learn Patreon, we're going to do a hormone

954
00:52:51,660 --> 00:53:00,260
and heart health month and Tracy will be back with us at the end of the month to do a Q&A.

955
00:53:00,260 --> 00:53:03,700
So definitely I will talk a little bit more about that.

956
00:53:03,700 --> 00:53:10,220
You can find out by signing up for our email list at life'snextlessonplan.com or watching

957
00:53:10,220 --> 00:53:11,700
our social media.

958
00:53:11,700 --> 00:53:14,700
I thank you so much for your time today, Tracy.

959
00:53:14,700 --> 00:53:18,940
And obviously your work is so, so, so important.

960
00:53:18,940 --> 00:53:21,940
More especially women our age.

961
00:53:21,940 --> 00:53:26,420
I mean, again, you don't worry about it until you get there sometimes, but we are there

962
00:53:26,420 --> 00:53:29,540
and I really appreciate the work that you do.

963
00:53:29,540 --> 00:53:30,780
Thanks for having me.

964
00:53:30,780 --> 00:53:33,900
I'm happy to be here.

965
00:53:33,900 --> 00:53:39,380
I'm so glad you could be here to listen to Tracy's stories and how they led her to her

966
00:53:39,380 --> 00:53:41,100
calling in life.

967
00:53:41,100 --> 00:53:43,100
We could have talked all day.

968
00:53:43,100 --> 00:53:47,740
And because she has so much important knowledge to share, as I said, I will be having her

969
00:53:47,740 --> 00:53:51,780
back in March to talk all things heart and hormone health.

970
00:53:51,780 --> 00:53:59,140
100% of us have hormones, men and women, and 100% of women will experience the changes

971
00:53:59,140 --> 00:54:01,460
that come in midlife.

972
00:54:01,460 --> 00:54:07,780
I have learned a lot and I'm still on my learning journey to optimizing the life in my years

973
00:54:07,780 --> 00:54:09,540
as I age.

974
00:54:09,540 --> 00:54:16,780
You can check out Tracy's work in the show notes and stay tuned on our website at life'snextlessonplan.com

975
00:54:16,780 --> 00:54:23,700
as well as Life's Next Lesson Plan, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube, and Apple Podcasts and

976
00:54:23,700 --> 00:54:24,700
Spotify.

977
00:54:24,700 --> 00:54:29,940
I can't wait for us to live and learn more about these important years of our lives together

978
00:54:29,940 --> 00:54:47,700
on Patreon.