July 18, 2025 • 34 mins
Healthy eating doesn’t have to mean giving up everything you love or memorizing complicated food rules. In this fun and relaxed episode, we’re busting some of the biggest nutrition myths out there (yes, even the one about carbs being the enemy) and sharing the simple swaps that helped us go from pre-diabetic to feeling our best—without giving up real food or taking medication.
Think of this as a casual kitchen-table chat where we spill the (unsweetened) tea on late-night snacking, smart shopping strategies (hint: stay around the edges of the store), and why adding veggies doesn’t have to be a chore. From our own experience—and a few good laughs—we’ve found that small, realistic changes add up fast.
You’ll get practical tips you can try today, whether you’re figuring out what to eat for breakfast or wondering how to help your grandkids develop better habits (spoiler: they’re watching everything you do).
It’s real talk, real food, and real results—served up with a side of encouragement and maybe a chuckle or two. Tune in and let us know which tips you’re trying this week. We’d love to hear from you!
Thank you for spending time with us today! We hope you enjoyed our conversation, related to something we said, and learned something new along the way.
Please give us a like and subscribe to our podcast, so you don't miss ANYTHING!
Follow us @AgileAlways and be sure to check out our website, www.agilealways.com!
A special thanks goes to @yancylott for producing, editing, and creating the music for our podcasts!
xo,
Robin & Rudy
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Rudy Fenner (00:00):
Officially Fenner, with your hosts Robin and Rudy,
a podcast about family, where welive, love and laugh along the
way.
Hey everybody, welcome back tothe Officially Fenner Agile
Always podcast, and this isgoing to be an interesting
episode.
I am again, as always, andwonderfully joined by my darling
(00:23):
, fantastic wife, Robin Fenner.
Robin Fenner (00:25):
Well, thank you, darling, and I'm obviously
joined by you, Rudolph Fenner.
Rudy Fenner (00:30):
So yeah, what do we got here, what do we got?
Robin Fenner (00:35):
Well, today we're going to do a fun little back
and forth about healthy eatinghacks, myths and tips.
Healthy eating hacks, myths andtips.
You know, because the food isso important, what you put in
your body is so cool.
And there's so much crazy talk.
I know, I know.
Rudy Fenner (00:50):
Oh my gosh.
Robin Fenner (00:51):
This is the funny stuff that we all do, okay.
So it's just kind of givingpeople some ideas about what are
good snacks, what aren't, justkind of debunking some things
people might think about certaintypes of food and saying, okay,
not this, but that.
So it's uh gonna be easy backand forth, and instead of having
guests and all that kind ofstuff, we're we're just going to
kind of go back and forth tosome things that we we found out
(01:12):
recently.
So, uh, let's see, um, let'ssee where can we start.
Let's, I will grab a snack andhope it's a healthy one and
let's jump in, okay, so here wego with a little game of fact or
fiction.
I'm going to throw out a commonfood myth and you tell me if
it's fact or fiction.
How about that?
(01:32):
All right, okay, here we go.
Carbs make you fat.
Rudy Fenner (01:43):
Okay, carbs aren't the enemy.
The problem is highly processedcarbs, white bread, sugary
snacks, but whole grains, fruitsand vegetables.
Your body actually needs thosefor energy.
Robin Fenner (01:57):
Ding, ding, ding.
Okay, you got that one right,okay.
Next question you have to eatorganic to be healthy.
Rudy Fenner (02:06):
Fiction, and I say that because there's many
grocers.
Next question you have to eatorganic to be healthy.
Fiction, and I say that becausethere's many grocers who are
going to be angry because I saidthat it's fiction.
Organic is great, but it's notnecessary for a healthy diet.
Wash your produce well.
Focus more on eating whole,real foods.
Don't worry so much about theorganic label.
Robin Fenner (02:25):
Okay, ding, ding, ding, you got that one right too
.
I'm good, I'm good, I know whatI'm doing here.
Love your confidence there,Okay here we go Eating late at
night makes you gain weight, andjust keep in mind that that
cabinet we have upstairs hasyour snacks in it.
Rudy Fenner (02:41):
Oh wait, the cabinet on top of the
refrigerator with the chocolatecookies that don't have sugar,
by the way.
Robin Fenner (02:48):
You don't like them, but they're great cookies.
They're brownies.
You might as well not eat them,anyway, okay.
Rudy Fenner (02:50):
So that's fiction.
It's not when you eat, it'swhat you eat.
Late night, snacking on chipsand cookies.
What Late night snacking onchips and cookies?
My cookies are not thosecookies.
My cookies are sugar-freecookies.
I mean it's a problem.
But if you're hungry at 9 pmand you have some Greek yogurt
(03:13):
or nuts, you're fine.
I mean it's okay.
Robin Fenner (03:16):
Okay, we'll let that go.
That's good.
No, having the Greek yogurt ornuts works, and that's a healthy
thing you can have late atnight.
Rudy Fenner (03:23):
Okay, I'm just saying listen, if you have any
issue with your glucose, yourA1C, and you're trying to
reprogram your taste buds, whenyou're in the cookie aisle at
your grocery store, find thesugar-free cookies.
It will be a mild, slightpalate adjustment, but there are
things there that can help yoursweet tooth and I don't think
you're going to chew them and assoon as you chew them you get
(03:45):
cancer.
Robin Fenner (03:45):
So before anybody says that, stop the only thing
about sugar free.
You have to read the label tosee what they're substituting
for sugar, because sometimesit's better to have a sugar than
to have the sugar substitute.
So what might be a good idea isto find a good cookie recipe
that you know what's in it.
That you know what's in it.
How about that?
That's the best.
Rudy Fenner (04:04):
That's the best, yeah, but I think we just
created a new episode that issugar or sugar substitutes, and
looking at the real sciencebehind it and get real
information, because there aresome things that we think about
that that might even fall intothe myth category.
Robin Fenner (04:20):
Well, we'll find out later how about that.
Okay, all right.
So the next section is quickhealthy eating fixes.
I can't talk today for somereason.
I'm not sure it's okay Anyway,but yes, quick healthy eating
fixes.
So do you want to do this one?
Rudy Fenner (04:36):
Or ask and I'll answer All right.
So now I'm going to takecontrol here.
Hand me the control board andthe microphone, like all men.
We Hand me the control boardand the microphone, like all men
.
We're going to and we'llcontinue.
We're going to come up withfive quick ways to improve your
eating habits, starting today.
Robin Fenner (04:54):
Okay, Okay, all right, okay, so I thought you
were going to ask me, but I'llask you.
Okay, drink more water.
So many of us mistakedehydration for hunger.
So before you grab a snack,drink a glass of water first and
see if you're just thirsty.
Rudy Fenner (05:13):
So you know what?
I was amazed to find that onmany occasions I would drink
water and dramatically reducethe volume of whatever it was I
was about to eat or consume.
See, so I've actually stumbled.
I've kind of stumbled into that.
All right, let me do number two.
Tip number two swap sugarydrinks for healthier options.
(05:35):
Try flavored sparkling water,herbal tea or just adding lemon
to your water instead of soda orjuice.
Can I add something to that?
Sure, to your water instead ofsoda or juice.
Robin Fenner (05:43):
Can I add something to that?
Rudy Fenner (05:49):
Sure, most of my life I lived in a pre-diabetic
state.
Now, like some I don't know ifit's just male behavior, Rudolph
behavior, I don't know what toattribute it to but I think I
kind of made that into like ajoke, right, and it was a
running joke.
It was a running funny thing.
But pre-diabetes is not funnyand it's not a joking situation
(06:15):
and it leads to a number of andcontributes to a number of
health issues, from diabetes tothere's so much science now that
believes that these high sugarlevels lead you to cancerous
roads and all sorts of things.
Almost all of my excessivesugar, I believe, was through
drinks.
(06:36):
Yeah, I was not a candy eater, Iwas not a high sugar guy.
That doesn't float my boat,that's not my thing.
A high sugar guy that doesn'tfloat my boat, that's not my
thing.
But I did a lot of not just, Iwouldn't say energy drinks, but
hydration drinks, from Gatoradeto Powerade to different.
(06:58):
Most of those in their truestform has considerable sugar
levels.
If you work out and sweat asmuch as I do, you can end up
consuming a lot of those.
Right, and I say that becausemy, my glucose was normally
about 115 120.
That's where it stayed andthat's like pre-diabetes,
pre-diabetic, and now I'veeliminated those almost
(07:20):
completely and I'm like 80 to 83.
Robin Fenner (07:23):
Yeah, yeah, you've done a lot better the last
couple of years.
Rudy Fenner (07:26):
And that's a dramatic drop.
And my diet fruits andvegetables is more what I eat,
but I never ate cakes andcookies, so I know with absolute
certainty that the drinks didit.
Robin Fenner (07:38):
Right, Right, Exactly so.
Um, that's, that's good.
Yeah, so, and I remember alemon, adding lemon to water it
used.
Women used to do that a whileago too.
And I remember adding lemon towater.
Women used to do that a whileago.
They thought it was going tohelp them lose weight.
I'm not sure if that's true ornot, but that was a thing you
know.
Rudy Fenner (07:51):
At least it gave it a little bit of flavor, but we
know it definitely adds taste.
Yeah, it gives it a littleflavor.
Robin Fenner (07:54):
So, yeah, yeah, it's good.
Okay, here's the next one Addan extra veggies to every meal,
so, for example, you can addspinach into your scrambled eggs
, or you can toss greens in yoursmoothie, or sneak zucchini
into pasta sauce.
Now I have a really greatrecipe and I'm going to probably
post this and show everybodyhow to do it too.
It's uh.
(08:15):
I have a couple of recipesactually from vitamix, because
it's a vitamix machine and, um,I shared a fruit recipe, I think
, a while ago, kind of a summarything.
But there are other ones thatthey have too, with greens and
other things, and they're goodand everybody likes them.
So it's like you know they havefruit along with it, but you
know it's spinach and grapes andsome banana and whatever.
Rudy Fenner (08:36):
So the fruits smoothie was one of the greatest
things on earth.
Robin Fenner (08:38):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it was great.
Rudy Fenner (08:40):
It's absolutely amazing, and this one is good
too.
Yeah, this one is good too, soI'm going to post it.
I haven't Rudy 2.0, I may havetried it once, but I need to go
back and revisit that.
Robin Fenner (08:49):
Yeah, yeah, because the kids love it.
So it's a way to get yourveggies and your kids and
everything too, for veggies andfruits and everybody in the
family.
Rudy Fenner (08:55):
Okay, let me take tip four Go ahead.
Make your protein.
Oh Breakfast, best friend.
What we're suggesting here isskip the cereal, eat eggs, Greek
yogurt, protein smoothies.
It keeps you full and cuts thecravings.
Any luck with that.
You ever tried that?
Robin Fenner (09:13):
Yeah, I mean the cereal.
I think we served the kids whenthey were younger and kids like
to eat cereal and they kind ofdo that.
But you know, if you can getout of that and as they grow up
and as adults we can kind ofmake maybe some better choices.
Kids are picky, so you want tofeed them what they're going to
eat.
Rudy Fenner (09:28):
Yeah, as we know better.
So this is really key.
I think, as a parent, what Iwould be guilty of sometimes is
deciding that I had a nutritionslash nutrition religious
conviction and tried to conveythat to my children, and I would
end up affecting their habits,their thoughts and opinions
(09:53):
about food and other things,when I just needed to perhaps
spoon feed them a little fat, alittle slower, and what I was
trying to get them to.
I have a.
I remember just yelling eat.
And this is wow, whoa, whoa,Light bulb just came on.
This is interesting.
I would always try to get mychildren to eat fruits and
vegetables, while not eatingfruits and vegetables.
(10:17):
Yeah, because Now mygrandchildren eat apples because
guess who eats apples?
You eat apples and they eatapples because guess who eats
apples?
You eat apples and they eatapples.
Yeah, and so I, when I justsaid that, I realized I was
talking to talk, but I wasn'tdoing the walk, and the kids are
like dude, isn't that what youeat?
Robin Fenner (10:36):
I'm not gonna know , okay, but you also had tv
commercials advertising allthose wonderful you know cereals
breakfast.
You'll taste it good andthey're easy to think.
She poured out the.
You put the milk on, they sitdown to eat and whatever.
Very easy Eating.
Well, often takes a lot, takesmore thought and planning.
Rudy Fenner (10:52):
Oh my gosh.
Robin Fenner (10:53):
So yeah, you can eat an apple just as easily,
okay, but you need more thanthat, perhaps than you need
before you get out to school.
Rudy Fenner (10:59):
Sometimes I come home in the evenings and I'll
just cut up an apple, put it ina container, sit it on the table
.
Robin Fenner (11:03):
Yeah, that's a late night snack, right Before
the night's gone they're almostalways gone.
Rudy Fenner (11:08):
Yeah yeah, the apples are great, but
availability if I don't cut them, if we don't do things to make
them available?
Robin Fenner (11:16):
it doesn't happen, you're going to grab chips.
Rudy Fenner (11:19):
You're going to grab whatever's in the pantry
which has got to be processedbecause it's in the pantry.
So, you just took yourself downthe wrong road.
Robin Fenner (11:24):
Yeah, so, and it really doesn't take that much
longer to cut up an apple.
I mean just you know just beintentional about it, but the
apples cut them up.
There you go.
How about that?
All right, all right.
So the next tip I have is toavoid ultra processed foods, and
if they come in a bag and have35 ingredients, it's probably
not your best option.
So we've heard about processedfoods.
(11:45):
Some things have to beprocessed to some degree so you
can eat them, but what a goodguideline has been that I've
heard of, and I tend to findthat out.
If it's around the perimeter ofthe store, the outer perimeter
of the store, it's going to beyour fresh fruits, it's going to
be your meat, your refrigerateditems, those kinds of things
(12:06):
that are not as processed.
If it's in the middle of theshelf, it's been.
You know, they have a sell bydate or use by date.
Six months later, you betterread the label really carefully,
and if it has things in thereingredients that you cannot
easily pronounce those are notthe things you want, okay, and
so why?
Rudy Fenner (12:24):
You always come back to.
When we first did one of ourearlier podcasts, we talked
about the why, and let me justtell you about the why.
So a few things came to mind.
First, one of the greatestcommercials I've ever seen is
running now on television.
It's a dog food commercial andthe narrator says no human thing
(12:45):
should have a life only filledwith processed food.
Oh, that was so deep when Ithought about that.
Robin Fenner (12:54):
What did I say?
Human, I'm sorry, no livingthing.
Yeah, my bad, my bad gosh, I'mglad you're here.
Rudy Fenner (12:59):
Sorry, I was listening to you, so no living
thing no living thing, but thatreally that's a crazy statement
when you think about it.
Robin Fenner (13:08):
That you're not going to give it to your pets,
and that means you don't need toeat it either.
Rudy Fenner (13:11):
Here's what blew me away.
I have a colleague that I workwith that I mildly that's the
way I would describe it.
I'm not sure if that was hisinterpretation.
I'm not sure if that was hisinterpretation.
I'm mildly confronted because Isaid to him in the year or so
we've been working together, Ihave never, ever and this is the
(13:34):
honest to goodness truth, andI'm around him at least eight
hours a day I have never seenhim eat anything that did not
come out of a package and that'sthe thing too, because when
people go to work and you thinkabout packing a lunch, and maybe
you have access to arefrigerator or maybe you don't,
and you got to think about sowhat are you going to?
Robin Fenner (13:53):
take this not as processed?
Rudy Fenner (13:55):
I'm just telling you when I think about that,
yeah, so for at least eighthours a day, your entire day is
is out of a package, right, andI said in one of our earlier
podcasts I've talked about this,I gotta write this book, " The
Cost of Convenience.
Mm-hmm yep, and the "why in allof this?
(14:17):
What I'm bringing this allaround to is most of these foods
not most a lot of these foodsare harder, slower to digest
foods.
When a food is hard or slowerto digest, it is in your body
(14:37):
longer If it's in your body,longer your body has a greater
chance to absorb what's in thatproduct Right, greater chance to
absorb what's in that productRight.
So the things that were used tocreate the processing, to
complete the processing, Ishould say, that allows it to
(14:59):
stay on a shelf for months,months, is being absorbed by
your body.
Absorbed by your body.
I'm going to suggest that isnot a prescription for be all
you can be and living yourliving.
Your everybody's talking aboutliving your best life and
putting sugar in the gas tank.
(15:20):
That doesn't, that's notworking.
It's a good slogan, but you'renot living into that, so that
there's a.
That's the why.
Let me ask you a question intothat, so that there's a.
Robin Fenner (15:28):
That's the why.
Let me ask you a question, yes,and that is um, when you make
your lunch and you go to work,uh, give everybody an idea what
you take, because now you'vegotten away from a lot of that,
oh my, and that way, and how youpackage it, and you know.
Rudy Fenner (15:42):
So it's been some phases and, and I was just gonna
to tell you, food prep, mealprep, is work.
This is not easy but it isabsolutely worth it.
Because, again, I am a66-year-old male and I run at
least one 5K a week.
I run a couple of miles a day.
My weight, my glucose, my bloodpressure.
(16:03):
I'm on no medications.
I am a two-time cancer survivor.
I have no prescriptions.
I'm not no medications.
I am a two time cancer survivor.
I have no prescriptions, I'mnot on anything and I attribute
that all to diet.
It's all nutrition.
But back to your question.
Every night I used to makesalads at the beginning of the
week, but I got uppity and Ididn't like my lettuce wet.
(16:26):
I like my lettuce a littlefresher.
So I don't do this stuff untilthe night before now, but every
night I pack a two-cup containerof salad.
If I don't have salad, I willgo to one of my favorite stores,
trader Joe's, and buy one oftheir pre-prepared salads that
(16:46):
only have like a three or five,three or so day window.
Robin Fenner (16:51):
It's all fresh ingredients.
Rudy Fenner (16:52):
So that's fresh.
I have a salad.
I cut up one apple, put that ina 1.3 cup container.
I have another 1.3 cupcontainer of blueberries and
grapes.
I have a one I think it's atwo-third cup container of trail
grapes.
I have a one, I think it's atwo-third cup container, of
trail mix.
Robin Fenner (17:12):
I have.
And the trail mix is what?
Nuts and Almonds cashews?
Rudy Fenner (17:18):
cranberries, pineapple.
Robin Fenner (17:20):
If it's fruit, it's fruit, not the trail mix
with the M&Ms, right?
No, no, no, no candy, no candy,no candy.
I don't like that, yeah yeah,go ahead.
Rudy Fenner (17:27):
Then I have three boiled eggs, a stick, one stick
cheese and one of the baby, thelittle red cheese.
What is that?
Robin Fenner (17:40):
Oh, the little, is it Baby Bell, Baby Bell.
Yeah, Little Baby Bell yeah.
Rudy Fenner (17:44):
And that's what I pack that almost every day.
Robin Fenner (17:46):
So you got calcium protein, veggies, fruits and
all the things that go alongwith that.
Okay, yeah and you feel full.
Rudy Fenner (17:54):
Not only do I feel full, but the biggest thing you
know in your car.
If you ever want to keep upwith your car, what you care
about is the gas that you put inand the exhaust that comes out.
If anything disrupts thosesystems, the car won't work.
If you cover your tailpipe,close it up, your car cuts off.
The same thing with our bodies.
You should have regular bowelmovements.
(18:15):
You should urinate regularly.
Those things have to do withyour hydration, the color,
what's coming out, and you'remonitoring all of that Once you
start to eat like that.
Once you start to eat like that,all of those habits become like
clockwork Everything works andit's on the money and it's
rhythmical and it works.
And you find that you're justamazing.
(18:37):
Your days, your energy, all ofyour life, everything, a lot of
the medicines that you seelooking at commercials on
television, some of it it may be.
It may be you may be somethingthat you're genetically
predisposed to or something thatis a more a disease-oriented.
So much of that stuff isnutrition.
Robin Fenner (18:57):
Yeah, so much of it, yeah, if nutrition gets
better, it magically goes away.
Exactly, yeah, okay.
Rudy Fenner (19:05):
Boom, wait a minute .
I saw that.
What is that?
Yeah, okay, boom, wait a minute.
Oh, I'm sorry, what else was no?
No, no, I was done on thesegment three.
Robin Fenner (19:11):
I'm sorry, my bad.
Segment three okay, um, okay,that was a quick healthy eating
fixes.
Now we're at food fails andfunny stories, okay, so, um,
we're talking about, uh,funniest food fail or whatever,
whatever one comes to mind, Iguess.
Actually I don't know if I hada funny food fail, but I will
tell you this because we havechanged how we eat.
(19:33):
Sometimes I'll go back becauseI have a whole stack of recipes,
you know, things we've had foryears or whatever.
I will go back and makesomething like I had a recipe I
tried the other day and I hadn'tmade in a while, I'd probably
say a couple of years.
Rudy Fenner (19:53):
And you know what?
They don't taste the sameanymore and it's not the recipe.
Robin Fenner (19:55):
It's just that we've gotten used to eating
differently, so so yeah, and Idon't like that I don't like
that stuff.
Rudy Fenner (19:57):
It's like ew and in one of our earlier podcasts we
talked about um, taste budsdying and replenishing and re
and they almost are beingreprogrammed.
And when you try to go backit's like, oh, that's not what I
remember and it can beoverwhelming, especially if it's
(20:18):
similar for me yeah, oh, it'sjust overwhelming yeah, so I
think I've gotten um used toeating differently.
Robin Fenner (20:24):
There are certain things that I don't care so much
for and I'm not saying thatthese are all bad things for
anyone to ever eat but like, forexample, like steak.
I mean, I can make a good steakonce upon a time, but I don't
like steak anymore.
I just don't like my steakanymore.
Same recipe, same thing I ateand I just don't.
I just haven't had in a while.
(20:45):
I didn't say I'm never gonnahave the steak, but I just kind
of got away from it.
Rudy Fenner (20:49):
Yeah, I'm not from Robin's Camp, so if I eat red
meat honestly with so much foodI become so uppity.
I am so food arrogant.
Robin Fenner (21:02):
When do you eat red meat like steak?
Rudy Fenner (21:05):
So every now and then we'll be at a restaurant
and I'll order steak, or if Ihave a burger, there's some
burger outlets that their beefis better beef and I can tell
you it's better beef becausewhen I eat it it's just like I
ate lettuce.
My body's fine, there's noreaction.
As the quality of the beefplummets, so does my day.
Robin Fenner (21:27):
Yeah.
Rudy Fenner (21:28):
And it will end up.
And it's funny because there'ssome places that I didn't know
the quality of the beef, butwhen I go back and revisit, so
yeah, I will maybe once a weekor once every 10 days treat
myself to a burger or something,and that's not consistent, but
the frequency would be noshorter than that.
(21:48):
But I still do enjoy it andit's okay.
But I don't like heavy.
I like thinner flat steaks.
I think little stuff like that.
If I have a Chinese food dishthat has beef in it, a steak in
it that I like.
Robin Fenner (22:01):
Yeah, yeah, having a little bit's.
Okay, I mean I'll have thatburger too.
Rudy Fenner (22:06):
I'll tell you I like a Shake Shack burger.
Robin Fenner (22:08):
I'm just telling you, but we don't have them that
often.
We may have them four times ayear maybe, or something,
because we're just not out inShake Shack.
But yeah, so I don't mindhaving some beef, but the steak
that's.
I guess it's the density of it,maybe or something like that.
Rudy Fenner (22:22):
Yeah, it's just, my system is just overwhelmed.
Yeah, yeah, it just really is.
It's just overwhelmed.
If I ate it, I wouldn't enjoyit.
It would just be toouncomfortable.
Robin Fenner (22:30):
Yeah, yeah.
So to me it's even like the wayI make it.
It's like I made it the sameway.
It doesn't taste, I don't know.
Anyway, okay, so I just kind ofleave that alone.
Yeah.
Rudy Fenner (22:54):
All right.
So we kind of got here funnystories.
Let me just tell you, the funnystory is me walking through the
kitchen looking at the stove.
That's a funny story because Ican't cook.
You don't want to know thedetails, just understand that
what I have become.
You have a sous chef, I am thecleaner, I can go in your
kitchen and I will make yourkitchen look restaurant ready.
Robin Fenner (23:12):
It will glisten!
Rudy Fenner (23:15):
It will shine, there will not be a spot.
The dog walks into the kitchenand says this is some crap.
Robin Fenner (23:22):
Nothing there to eat.
Where's the food at?
No crumbs on the floor.
Cause there's no crumbs on thefloor, I got a vacuum cleaner
out.
Rudy Fenner (23:28):
The tables are I use.
I'm telling y'all I live with athree-year-old and a dog.
They have taught me I need toclean, I have to use Fantastic
on my man's seat.
I need it crystal clear.
I need to kill all germs,because the kids come in every
day.
They've been to school, we needto be gone.
(23:49):
The ants walk in and they'rewalking around with protest
signs.
What are you doing?
That is true.
Robin Fenner (23:55):
We've been coming here for years and you're
messing it all up.
So yeah, that's my job.
You are the best kitchencleaner upper.
Every day we come down.
Y'all got to understand this isnot occasionally.
Rudy Fenner (24:06):
This is every single night when they come down
.
I really don't like to have alot of stuff in the drain.
I like for it to look good.
I like for it to be ready to goto work the next day, just like
your favorite restaurant.
That's how
Robin Fenner (24:21):
You do a great job with that and I do appreciate
it, Thank you so much, and so doI, and so does my boy.
Rudy Fenner (24:28):
Everybody likes us, but the dog and the ants yeah,
they don't like it all right, solet's talk about, uh, food and
emotion a little bit.
Robin Fenner (24:34):
Okay.
Is there any food that affectsyour emotion, that you think of,
that you feel affects youremotion?
Rudy Fenner (24:41):
You know what about that?
So that, so there are somethings.
This is interesting.
I mean I I have things listedhere Salmon, walnuts for brain
health, dark chocolates,serotonin, leafy greens, brain
fog I don't.
I have those listed, I haven'tpaid attention.
But I got to be honest with youon this.
(25:02):
Um and again, I will openlyconfess I'm 66.
I have a job.
I do work.
That's kind of intense stuff.
I have a lot of brainy stuffwhen sometimes I look back and
realize on a day, what I keep upwith every day, it's young
(25:24):
people stuff.
It's not.
It wasn't designed for peopleour age.
So I have tapped into things.
I did not intentionally eatthese things with that in mind,
but I do eat those things andit's funny that I'm yielding,
I'm seeing the results of itwithout strategically going
(25:47):
after it.
But I don't have I have.
Now, okay, I'm gonna just telly'all something.
I have been walking places andlike well, damn, where was I
going right?
And I'll just get, I'll get sodistracted with a thought until
I'll be walking up and down astep and just like, oh wait, was
that going, where was that?
And I'll have to take a moment.
But I think that's a.
(26:07):
That's a time when I'm justoverwhelmed and thought not fog
right now.
Keep in mind this is a big deala two-time cancer survivor.
Brain fog is real chemo and allthat stuff yeah right that
that's a, that's a listed sideeffect, right, exactly.
I have never had any of thatand I am convinced beyond a
shadow of a doubt that it'snutrition.
(26:30):
So, yeah, I haven't eaten forit, but I've been a benefactor
of that.
Robin Fenner (26:34):
Yeah, yeah, and honestly, there are things like
omega-3s, like in salmon andwalnuts, that help with brain
health and we have.
I'm not a big walnut fan, butsalmon we have.
That, we have more fishregularly and all that, so
that's helpful.
And one of my favorite thingsto talk about is dark chocolate,
because it has serotonin and Idon't have dark chocolate every
(26:56):
day, but if I'm going to have it, it's going to be in my
favorite.
Graeter's chocolate chip icecream, because Graeter's
chocolate chip ice cream I'mjust going to put up this is not
paid, but let me just say thisIf you like chocolate chip ice
cream, you get Graeter's.
They (used to) have it atWegmans in our area, but you can
also order it from Graeter'sonline.
I did that.
(27:17):
I happened to do that whenCincinnati was playing a
football playing a Super Bowl.
Rudy Fenner (27:21):
right, that's right .
Robin Fenner (27:21):
The Bengals played a Super Bowl, yeah and we got
food from the cities that werein the Super Bowl.
That's right, and we said well,what's?
Rudy Fenner (27:27):
there.
That's how this all started andthat's I said okay, great,
there's ice cream.
Robin Fenner (27:30):
Okay, so I called and they sent some ice cream out
and it was if you they're,they're big chocolate pieces.
Rudy Fenner (27:37):
So yeah, I'll tell you something they are not
(27:58):
stingy with there is.
It's not like every other brandof ice cream out there, because
their ice cream is harder, soit feels like it's not as
processed as other.
I am not a big ice creamaficionado.
I definitely am not a big fanof chocolate chip ice cream,
which works out for her becauseI mean, she knows I'm not gonna
get any of her ice cream.
Robin Fenner (28:06):
It'll stay until she eats it I, I just buy it by
the time she eats it.
Rudy Fenner (28:09):
I am frequently the ice cream go-getter at night
and when I go down to get thatice cream I have seen the
largest chocolate chunks in thatice cream.
Sometimes I feel like there's awhole Hershey bar and a half a
cup of ice cream.
I'm like my gosh.
Robin Fenner (28:29):
I'm not trying to say anything bad about Hershey,
but it's not Hershey, it's thebiggest chunk of chocolate I
have ever seen in ice cream, soI can attest to that and I've
tasted it.
Rudy Fenner (28:37):
You know, I'll finish everything and as I'm
cleaning up I'll be putting aspoon in a dish that I get ready
to put in a dish and I'll say,oh, whoa, whoa, there's it, a
little cup of this, like oh,that is pretty good but I say
that about the ice cream becauseI've never tasted ice cream and
chocolate in it like theirs.
Robin Fenner (28:52):
I mean, I'm just being real about that.
And then you have like all thegood serotonin if I have it at
night, then that means you havea good night too and of course
you'd see it that way yeah, allright.
Okay, and also leafy greens.
So we go back to our salads andeverything.
All your leafy greens.
I don't know if you can gowrong with leafy greens.
(29:13):
So it helps to fight brain fogand there's so many other
healthful benefits from them.
So just make sure you'regetting leafy greens.
You can even put them in asmoothie.
So if you don't want to eatthem per se, in a salad or
something, I think the biggestthing that I've seen from that.
Rudy Fenner (29:28):
So remember, and most of y'all know the story
Rudy 1.0, no fruits andvegetables, almost never any
leafy green stuff, I mean,unless it was processed to the
edges of the earth and back in acan.
Rudy 2.0, I go to leafyvegetables, leafy stuff to eat
all the time.
And just my world of fooddigestion, honestly, I have not
(29:54):
taken thought about orconsidered any digestive
alka-seltzer.
Um, what are some of the otherthings you times or something
like that.
Robin Fenner (30:06):
I guess people, people have taken.
Rudy Fenner (30:08):
I mean no gas, no digestive, no indigestion, no
heartburn, because the fruitsand the vegetables are just so
naturally processed and smoothin terms of high processes in
your body.
I think that's the biggestthing I mean.
Like everybody else, from gasto burping, your stomach's
(30:30):
growling, you've got all ofthese things going on.
It's just digestion.
And when we went, when I wentto I won't say we, because you
were always there when I went tovegetables, fruits, salads and
that kind of stuff is mymainstay the world of digestion
just changed so dramaticallyyeah my gosh, I think the most,
(30:53):
the most I'll do if I have.
I've had times when I have amedical procedure, something and
you might have to do somethingthat cleanses out your system.
I might do a papaya enzyme,chew papaya enzyme to help
regulate, because that's theenzyme that helps, helps gut
health.
That's kind of as extreme as itgets and again when you get in
(31:14):
your 60s and that's all you'retalking about, god has really
been good to you.
That's really a blessed way toroll.
So yeah, I've lived it yeah,yeah.
Robin Fenner (31:23):
And speaking of gut health, we're going to talk
more about, more in depth aboutgut health a little bit later,
not not in this podcast, but inanother episode.
But um, the, the gut is really.
We're learning more about it,we're hearing more about it as
being so central to our body'shealth, digestion, less
inflammation, better mood.
So, uh, probiotics, uh, yogurt,kefir or fermented foods like
(31:47):
sauerkraut are all good for guthealth.
I'm sure there are more.
I want to learn more about it,and when I learn more, we'll
share it with you guys as well,but that's really important.
So the bottom line here is eatwell and you'll feel better
inside and out.
Rudy Fenner (32:04):
Inside and out, and also even at our age, as you
get older.
I'm talking about for me and Iknow everybody doesn't feel like
this I'm looking forperformance.
I am really looking for bettertimes in my 5K.
Yeah, I'm not just doing itjust to say I did it.
(32:24):
I want my next time to bebetter than my last time.
Exactly this food is drivingthat, so that's critical.
Yeah, yeah, so we're drivingthat, so that's that's, that's
critical.
Robin Fenner (32:31):
Yeah, yeah.
So we're still getting better,even as we're getting older.
So it's not just you knowthat's the point.
Being where we were and beingsatisfied with that.
Exactly, you can continue.
It's continuous improvement,yeah.
Rudy Fenner (32:42):
Yeah.
Robin Fenner (32:43):
Yeah, okay, so anything else for today's
episode?
Rudy Fenner (32:47):
If not, we're going to wrap this up and we want to
hear from you which tips are yougoing to try this week?
Hey, you know, I mean really.
So every time we do thesepodcasts between guests that we
have and people that we talk to.
After we are learning so much,I am hoping that when I die at
(33:09):
like 120, I learn something thenight before.
That's the goal, and I realizethe more conversation I'm in,
the more we engage, the smarterI get, and the reason I get
smarter is because I'm talking.
So y'all keep talking back tous.
Tell us everything.
Tell us what tips you have,especially in food prep.
If you have some secrets tothat that you can help us share,
(33:30):
we want to hear about that.
We want to hear about foodfailures.
Social media is the way to hitus up.
There's plenty of informationin and around the podcast.
Robin Fenner (33:38):
We just look forward to hearing anything that
you have that can all help usto do better and be better that
would be super awesome, becausewhat we talk about a lot of
times is our experiences and wetry to share them with you
because we've learned as we goalong.
Yes, a lot of times is ourexperiences and we try to share
them with you because we'velearned, learned as we go along.
Yes, but it's not that we areprofessionals who know
everything, but so you know, ifwe all can share as a community,
that really is the best, that'sthe point so we look forward to
(34:00):
hearing from you.
Thank you so much for being withus today.
Thank you.
All right, we'll see you nexttime on the Officially Fenner
Agile Always podcast.
Rudy Fenner (34:10):
Be blessed, eat well.
Officially, Fenner, thanks youfor joining us.
Please subscribe and hit thatlike button.
Officially Fenner, with your hosts Robin and Rudy,
a podcast about family, where welive, love and laugh along the
way.
Hey everybody, welcome back tothe Officially Fenner Agile
Always podcast, and this isgoing to be an interesting
episode.
I am again, as always, andwonderfully joined by my darling
(00:23):
, fantastic wife, Robin Fenner.
Robin Fenner (00:25):
Well, thank you, darling, and I'm obviously
joined by you, Rudolph Fenner.
Rudy Fenner (00:30):
So yeah, what do we got here, what do we got?
Robin Fenner (00:35):
Well, today we're going to do a fun little back
and forth about healthy eatinghacks, myths and tips.
Healthy eating hacks, myths andtips.
You know, because the food isso important, what you put in
your body is so cool.
And there's so much crazy talk.
I know, I know.
Rudy Fenner (00:50):
Oh my gosh.
Robin Fenner (00:51):
This is the funny stuff that we all do, okay.
So it's just kind of givingpeople some ideas about what are
good snacks, what aren't, justkind of debunking some things
people might think about certaintypes of food and saying, okay,
not this, but that.
So it's uh gonna be easy backand forth, and instead of having
guests and all that kind ofstuff, we're we're just going to
kind of go back and forth tosome things that we we found out
(01:12):
recently.
So, uh, let's see, um, let'ssee where can we start.
Let's, I will grab a snack andhope it's a healthy one and
let's jump in, okay, so here wego with a little game of fact or
fiction.
I'm going to throw out a commonfood myth and you tell me if
it's fact or fiction.
How about that?
(01:32):
All right, okay, here we go.
Carbs make you fat.
Rudy Fenner (01:43):
Okay, carbs aren't the enemy.
The problem is highly processedcarbs, white bread, sugary
snacks, but whole grains, fruitsand vegetables.
Your body actually needs thosefor energy.
Robin Fenner (01:57):
Ding, ding, ding.
Okay, you got that one right,okay.
Next question you have to eatorganic to be healthy.
Rudy Fenner (02:06):
Fiction, and I say that because there's many
grocers.
Next question you have to eatorganic to be healthy.
Fiction, and I say that becausethere's many grocers who are
going to be angry because I saidthat it's fiction.
Organic is great, but it's notnecessary for a healthy diet.
Wash your produce well.
Focus more on eating whole,real foods.
Don't worry so much about theorganic label.
Robin Fenner (02:25):
Okay, ding, ding, ding, you got that one right too
.
I'm good, I'm good, I know whatI'm doing here.
Love your confidence there,Okay here we go Eating late at
night makes you gain weight, andjust keep in mind that that
cabinet we have upstairs hasyour snacks in it.
Rudy Fenner (02:41):
Oh wait, the cabinet on top of the
refrigerator with the chocolatecookies that don't have sugar,
by the way.
Robin Fenner (02:48):
You don't like them, but they're great cookies.
They're brownies.
You might as well not eat them,anyway, okay.
Rudy Fenner (02:50):
So that's fiction.
It's not when you eat, it'swhat you eat.
Late night, snacking on chipsand cookies.
What Late night snacking onchips and cookies?
My cookies are not thosecookies.
My cookies are sugar-freecookies.
I mean it's a problem.
But if you're hungry at 9 pmand you have some Greek yogurt
(03:13):
or nuts, you're fine.
I mean it's okay.
Robin Fenner (03:16):
Okay, we'll let that go.
That's good.
No, having the Greek yogurt ornuts works, and that's a healthy
thing you can have late atnight.
Rudy Fenner (03:23):
Okay, I'm just saying listen, if you have any
issue with your glucose, yourA1C, and you're trying to
reprogram your taste buds, whenyou're in the cookie aisle at
your grocery store, find thesugar-free cookies.
It will be a mild, slightpalate adjustment, but there are
things there that can help yoursweet tooth and I don't think
you're going to chew them and assoon as you chew them you get
(03:45):
cancer.
Robin Fenner (03:45):
So before anybody says that, stop the only thing
about sugar free.
You have to read the label tosee what they're substituting
for sugar, because sometimesit's better to have a sugar than
to have the sugar substitute.
So what might be a good idea isto find a good cookie recipe
that you know what's in it.
That you know what's in it.
How about that?
That's the best.
Rudy Fenner (04:04):
That's the best, yeah, but I think we just
created a new episode that issugar or sugar substitutes, and
looking at the real sciencebehind it and get real
information, because there aresome things that we think about
that that might even fall intothe myth category.
Robin Fenner (04:20):
Well, we'll find out later how about that.
Okay, all right.
So the next section is quickhealthy eating fixes.
I can't talk today for somereason.
I'm not sure it's okay Anyway,but yes, quick healthy eating
fixes.
So do you want to do this one?
Rudy Fenner (04:36):
Or ask and I'll answer All right.
So now I'm going to takecontrol here.
Hand me the control board andthe microphone, like all men.
We Hand me the control boardand the microphone, like all men
.
We're going to and we'llcontinue.
We're going to come up withfive quick ways to improve your
eating habits, starting today.
Robin Fenner (04:54):
Okay, Okay, all right, okay, so I thought you
were going to ask me, but I'llask you.
Okay, drink more water.
So many of us mistakedehydration for hunger.
So before you grab a snack,drink a glass of water first and
see if you're just thirsty.
Rudy Fenner (05:13):
So you know what?
I was amazed to find that onmany occasions I would drink
water and dramatically reducethe volume of whatever it was I
was about to eat or consume.
See, so I've actually stumbled.
I've kind of stumbled into that.
All right, let me do number two.
Tip number two swap sugarydrinks for healthier options.
(05:35):
Try flavored sparkling water,herbal tea or just adding lemon
to your water instead of soda orjuice.
Can I add something to that?
Sure, to your water instead ofsoda or juice.
Robin Fenner (05:43):
Can I add something to that?
Rudy Fenner (05:49):
Sure, most of my life I lived in a pre-diabetic
state.
Now, like some I don't know ifit's just male behavior, Rudolph
behavior, I don't know what toattribute it to but I think I
kind of made that into like ajoke, right, and it was a
running joke.
It was a running funny thing.
But pre-diabetes is not funnyand it's not a joking situation
(06:15):
and it leads to a number of andcontributes to a number of
health issues, from diabetes tothere's so much science now that
believes that these high sugarlevels lead you to cancerous
roads and all sorts of things.
Almost all of my excessivesugar, I believe, was through
drinks.
(06:36):
Yeah, I was not a candy eater, Iwas not a high sugar guy.
That doesn't float my boat,that's not my thing.
A high sugar guy that doesn'tfloat my boat, that's not my
thing.
But I did a lot of not just, Iwouldn't say energy drinks, but
hydration drinks, from Gatoradeto Powerade to different.
(06:58):
Most of those in their truestform has considerable sugar
levels.
If you work out and sweat asmuch as I do, you can end up
consuming a lot of those.
Right, and I say that becausemy, my glucose was normally
about 115 120.
That's where it stayed andthat's like pre-diabetes,
pre-diabetic, and now I'veeliminated those almost
(07:20):
completely and I'm like 80 to 83.
Robin Fenner (07:23):
Yeah, yeah, you've done a lot better the last
couple of years.
Rudy Fenner (07:26):
And that's a dramatic drop.
And my diet fruits andvegetables is more what I eat,
but I never ate cakes andcookies, so I know with absolute
certainty that the drinks didit.
Robin Fenner (07:38):
Right, Right, Exactly so.
Um, that's, that's good.
Yeah, so, and I remember alemon, adding lemon to water it
used.
Women used to do that a whileago too.
And I remember adding lemon towater.
Women used to do that a whileago.
They thought it was going tohelp them lose weight.
I'm not sure if that's true ornot, but that was a thing you
know.
Rudy Fenner (07:51):
At least it gave it a little bit of flavor, but we
know it definitely adds taste.
Yeah, it gives it a littleflavor.
Robin Fenner (07:54):
So, yeah, yeah, it's good.
Okay, here's the next one Addan extra veggies to every meal,
so, for example, you can addspinach into your scrambled eggs
, or you can toss greens in yoursmoothie, or sneak zucchini
into pasta sauce.
Now I have a really greatrecipe and I'm going to probably
post this and show everybodyhow to do it too.
It's uh.
(08:15):
I have a couple of recipesactually from vitamix, because
it's a vitamix machine and, um,I shared a fruit recipe, I think
, a while ago, kind of a summarything.
But there are other ones thatthey have too, with greens and
other things, and they're goodand everybody likes them.
So it's like you know they havefruit along with it, but you
know it's spinach and grapes andsome banana and whatever.
Rudy Fenner (08:36):
So the fruits smoothie was one of the greatest
things on earth.
Robin Fenner (08:38):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, it was great.
Rudy Fenner (08:40):
It's absolutely amazing, and this one is good
too.
Yeah, this one is good too, soI'm going to post it.
I haven't Rudy 2.0, I may havetried it once, but I need to go
back and revisit that.
Robin Fenner (08:49):
Yeah, yeah, because the kids love it.
So it's a way to get yourveggies and your kids and
everything too, for veggies andfruits and everybody in the
family.
Rudy Fenner (08:55):
Okay, let me take tip four Go ahead.
Make your protein.
Oh Breakfast, best friend.
What we're suggesting here isskip the cereal, eat eggs, Greek
yogurt, protein smoothies.
It keeps you full and cuts thecravings.
Any luck with that.
You ever tried that?
Robin Fenner (09:13):
Yeah, I mean the cereal.
I think we served the kids whenthey were younger and kids like
to eat cereal and they kind ofdo that.
But you know, if you can getout of that and as they grow up
and as adults we can kind ofmake maybe some better choices.
Kids are picky, so you want tofeed them what they're going to
eat.
Rudy Fenner (09:28):
Yeah, as we know better.
So this is really key.
I think, as a parent, what Iwould be guilty of sometimes is
deciding that I had a nutritionslash nutrition religious
conviction and tried to conveythat to my children, and I would
end up affecting their habits,their thoughts and opinions
(09:53):
about food and other things,when I just needed to perhaps
spoon feed them a little fat, alittle slower, and what I was
trying to get them to.
I have a.
I remember just yelling eat.
And this is wow, whoa, whoa,Light bulb just came on.
This is interesting.
I would always try to get mychildren to eat fruits and
vegetables, while not eatingfruits and vegetables.
(10:17):
Yeah, because Now mygrandchildren eat apples because
guess who eats apples?
You eat apples and they eatapples because guess who eats
apples?
You eat apples and they eatapples.
Yeah, and so I, when I justsaid that, I realized I was
talking to talk, but I wasn'tdoing the walk, and the kids are
like dude, isn't that what youeat?
Robin Fenner (10:36):
I'm not gonna know , okay, but you also had tv
commercials advertising allthose wonderful you know cereals
breakfast.
You'll taste it good andthey're easy to think.
She poured out the.
You put the milk on, they sitdown to eat and whatever.
Very easy Eating.
Well, often takes a lot, takesmore thought and planning.
Rudy Fenner (10:52):
Oh my gosh.
Robin Fenner (10:53):
So yeah, you can eat an apple just as easily,
okay, but you need more thanthat, perhaps than you need
before you get out to school.
Rudy Fenner (10:59):
Sometimes I come home in the evenings and I'll
just cut up an apple, put it ina container, sit it on the table
.
Robin Fenner (11:03):
Yeah, that's a late night snack, right Before
the night's gone they're almostalways gone.
Rudy Fenner (11:08):
Yeah yeah, the apples are great, but
availability if I don't cut them, if we don't do things to make
them available?
Robin Fenner (11:16):
it doesn't happen, you're going to grab chips.
Rudy Fenner (11:19):
You're going to grab whatever's in the pantry
which has got to be processedbecause it's in the pantry.
So, you just took yourself downthe wrong road.
Robin Fenner (11:24):
Yeah, so, and it really doesn't take that much
longer to cut up an apple.
I mean just you know just beintentional about it, but the
apples cut them up.
There you go.
How about that?
All right, all right.
So the next tip I have is toavoid ultra processed foods, and
if they come in a bag and have35 ingredients, it's probably
not your best option.
So we've heard about processedfoods.
(11:45):
Some things have to beprocessed to some degree so you
can eat them, but what a goodguideline has been that I've
heard of, and I tend to findthat out.
If it's around the perimeter ofthe store, the outer perimeter
of the store, it's going to beyour fresh fruits, it's going to
be your meat, your refrigerateditems, those kinds of things
(12:06):
that are not as processed.
If it's in the middle of theshelf, it's been.
You know, they have a sell bydate or use by date.
Six months later, you betterread the label really carefully,
and if it has things in thereingredients that you cannot
easily pronounce those are notthe things you want, okay, and
so why?
Rudy Fenner (12:24):
You always come back to.
When we first did one of ourearlier podcasts, we talked
about the why, and let me justtell you about the why.
So a few things came to mind.
First, one of the greatestcommercials I've ever seen is
running now on television.
It's a dog food commercial andthe narrator says no human thing
(12:45):
should have a life only filledwith processed food.
Oh, that was so deep when Ithought about that.
Robin Fenner (12:54):
What did I say?
Human, I'm sorry, no livingthing.
Yeah, my bad, my bad gosh, I'mglad you're here.
Rudy Fenner (12:59):
Sorry, I was listening to you, so no living
thing no living thing, but thatreally that's a crazy statement
when you think about it.
Robin Fenner (13:08):
That you're not going to give it to your pets,
and that means you don't need toeat it either.
Rudy Fenner (13:11):
Here's what blew me away.
I have a colleague that I workwith that I mildly that's the
way I would describe it.
I'm not sure if that was hisinterpretation.
I'm not sure if that was hisinterpretation.
I'm mildly confronted because Isaid to him in the year or so
we've been working together, Ihave never, ever and this is the
(13:34):
honest to goodness truth, andI'm around him at least eight
hours a day I have never seenhim eat anything that did not
come out of a package and that'sthe thing too, because when
people go to work and you thinkabout packing a lunch, and maybe
you have access to arefrigerator or maybe you don't,
and you got to think about sowhat are you going to?
Robin Fenner (13:53):
take this not as processed?
Rudy Fenner (13:55):
I'm just telling you when I think about that,
yeah, so for at least eighthours a day, your entire day is
is out of a package, right, andI said in one of our earlier
podcasts I've talked about this,I gotta write this book, " The
Cost of Convenience.
Mm-hmm yep, and the "why in allof this?
(14:17):
What I'm bringing this allaround to is most of these foods
not most a lot of these foodsare harder, slower to digest
foods.
When a food is hard or slowerto digest, it is in your body
(14:37):
longer If it's in your body,longer your body has a greater
chance to absorb what's in thatproduct Right, greater chance to
absorb what's in that productRight.
So the things that were used tocreate the processing, to
complete the processing, Ishould say, that allows it to
(14:59):
stay on a shelf for months,months, is being absorbed by
your body.
Absorbed by your body.
I'm going to suggest that isnot a prescription for be all
you can be and living yourliving.
Your everybody's talking aboutliving your best life and
putting sugar in the gas tank.
(15:20):
That doesn't, that's notworking.
It's a good slogan, but you'renot living into that, so that
there's a.
That's the why.
Let me ask you a question intothat, so that there's a.
Robin Fenner (15:28):
That's the why.
Let me ask you a question, yes,and that is um, when you make
your lunch and you go to work,uh, give everybody an idea what
you take, because now you'vegotten away from a lot of that,
oh my, and that way, and how youpackage it, and you know.
Rudy Fenner (15:42):
So it's been some phases and, and I was just gonna
to tell you, food prep, mealprep, is work.
This is not easy but it isabsolutely worth it.
Because, again, I am a66-year-old male and I run at
least one 5K a week.
I run a couple of miles a day.
My weight, my glucose, my bloodpressure.
(16:03):
I'm on no medications.
I am a two-time cancer survivor.
I have no prescriptions.
I'm not no medications.
I am a two time cancer survivor.
I have no prescriptions, I'mnot on anything and I attribute
that all to diet.
It's all nutrition.
But back to your question.
Every night I used to makesalads at the beginning of the
week, but I got uppity and Ididn't like my lettuce wet.
(16:26):
I like my lettuce a littlefresher.
So I don't do this stuff untilthe night before now, but every
night I pack a two-cup containerof salad.
If I don't have salad, I willgo to one of my favorite stores,
trader Joe's, and buy one oftheir pre-prepared salads that
(16:46):
only have like a three or five,three or so day window.
Robin Fenner (16:51):
It's all fresh ingredients.
Rudy Fenner (16:52):
So that's fresh.
I have a salad.
I cut up one apple, put that ina 1.3 cup container.
I have another 1.3 cupcontainer of blueberries and
grapes.
I have a one I think it's atwo-third cup container of trail
grapes.
I have a one, I think it's atwo-third cup container, of
trail mix.
Robin Fenner (17:12):
I have.
And the trail mix is what?
Nuts and Almonds cashews?
Rudy Fenner (17:18):
cranberries, pineapple.
Robin Fenner (17:20):
If it's fruit, it's fruit, not the trail mix
with the M&Ms, right?
No, no, no, no candy, no candy,no candy.
I don't like that, yeah yeah,go ahead.
Rudy Fenner (17:27):
Then I have three boiled eggs, a stick, one stick
cheese and one of the baby, thelittle red cheese.
What is that?
Robin Fenner (17:40):
Oh, the little, is it Baby Bell, Baby Bell.
Yeah, Little Baby Bell yeah.
Rudy Fenner (17:44):
And that's what I pack that almost every day.
Robin Fenner (17:46):
So you got calcium protein, veggies, fruits and
all the things that go alongwith that.
Okay, yeah and you feel full.
Rudy Fenner (17:54):
Not only do I feel full, but the biggest thing you
know in your car.
If you ever want to keep upwith your car, what you care
about is the gas that you put inand the exhaust that comes out.
If anything disrupts thosesystems, the car won't work.
If you cover your tailpipe,close it up, your car cuts off.
The same thing with our bodies.
You should have regular bowelmovements.
(18:15):
You should urinate regularly.
Those things have to do withyour hydration, the color,
what's coming out, and you'remonitoring all of that Once you
start to eat like that.
Once you start to eat like that,all of those habits become like
clockwork Everything works andit's on the money and it's
rhythmical and it works.
And you find that you're justamazing.
(18:37):
Your days, your energy, all ofyour life, everything, a lot of
the medicines that you seelooking at commercials on
television, some of it it may be.
It may be you may be somethingthat you're genetically
predisposed to or something thatis a more a disease-oriented.
So much of that stuff isnutrition.
Robin Fenner (18:57):
Yeah, so much of it, yeah, if nutrition gets
better, it magically goes away.
Exactly, yeah, okay.
Rudy Fenner (19:05):
Boom, wait a minute .
I saw that.
What is that?
Yeah, okay, boom, wait a minute.
Oh, I'm sorry, what else was no?
No, no, I was done on thesegment three.
Robin Fenner (19:11):
I'm sorry, my bad.
Segment three okay, um, okay,that was a quick healthy eating
fixes.
Now we're at food fails andfunny stories, okay, so, um,
we're talking about, uh,funniest food fail or whatever,
whatever one comes to mind, Iguess.
Actually I don't know if I hada funny food fail, but I will
tell you this because we havechanged how we eat.
(19:33):
Sometimes I'll go back becauseI have a whole stack of recipes,
you know, things we've had foryears or whatever.
I will go back and makesomething like I had a recipe I
tried the other day and I hadn'tmade in a while, I'd probably
say a couple of years.
Rudy Fenner (19:53):
And you know what?
They don't taste the sameanymore and it's not the recipe.
Robin Fenner (19:55):
It's just that we've gotten used to eating
differently, so so yeah, and Idon't like that I don't like
that stuff.
Rudy Fenner (19:57):
It's like ew and in one of our earlier podcasts we
talked about um, taste budsdying and replenishing and re
and they almost are beingreprogrammed.
And when you try to go backit's like, oh, that's not what I
remember and it can beoverwhelming, especially if it's
(20:18):
similar for me yeah, oh, it'sjust overwhelming yeah, so I
think I've gotten um used toeating differently.
Robin Fenner (20:24):
There are certain things that I don't care so much
for and I'm not saying thatthese are all bad things for
anyone to ever eat but like, forexample, like steak.
I mean, I can make a good steakonce upon a time, but I don't
like steak anymore.
I just don't like my steakanymore.
Same recipe, same thing I ateand I just don't.
I just haven't had in a while.
(20:45):
I didn't say I'm never gonnahave the steak, but I just kind
of got away from it.
Rudy Fenner (20:49):
Yeah, I'm not from Robin's Camp, so if I eat red
meat honestly with so much foodI become so uppity.
I am so food arrogant.
Robin Fenner (21:02):
When do you eat red meat like steak?
Rudy Fenner (21:05):
So every now and then we'll be at a restaurant
and I'll order steak, or if Ihave a burger, there's some
burger outlets that their beefis better beef and I can tell
you it's better beef becausewhen I eat it it's just like I
ate lettuce.
My body's fine, there's noreaction.
As the quality of the beefplummets, so does my day.
Robin Fenner (21:27):
Yeah.
Rudy Fenner (21:28):
And it will end up.
And it's funny because there'ssome places that I didn't know
the quality of the beef, butwhen I go back and revisit, so
yeah, I will maybe once a weekor once every 10 days treat
myself to a burger or something,and that's not consistent, but
the frequency would be noshorter than that.
(21:48):
But I still do enjoy it andit's okay.
But I don't like heavy.
I like thinner flat steaks.
I think little stuff like that.
If I have a Chinese food dishthat has beef in it, a steak in
it that I like.
Robin Fenner (22:01):
Yeah, yeah, having a little bit's.
Okay, I mean I'll have thatburger too.
Rudy Fenner (22:06):
I'll tell you I like a Shake Shack burger.
Robin Fenner (22:08):
I'm just telling you, but we don't have them that
often.
We may have them four times ayear maybe, or something,
because we're just not out inShake Shack.
But yeah, so I don't mindhaving some beef, but the steak
that's.
I guess it's the density of it,maybe or something like that.
Rudy Fenner (22:22):
Yeah, it's just, my system is just overwhelmed.
Yeah, yeah, it just really is.
It's just overwhelmed.
If I ate it, I wouldn't enjoyit.
It would just be toouncomfortable.
Robin Fenner (22:30):
Yeah, yeah.
So to me it's even like the wayI make it.
It's like I made it the sameway.
It doesn't taste, I don't know.
Anyway, okay, so I just kind ofleave that alone.
Yeah.
Rudy Fenner (22:54):
All right.
So we kind of got here funnystories.
Let me just tell you, the funnystory is me walking through the
kitchen looking at the stove.
That's a funny story because Ican't cook.
You don't want to know thedetails, just understand that
what I have become.
You have a sous chef, I am thecleaner, I can go in your
kitchen and I will make yourkitchen look restaurant ready.
Robin Fenner (23:12):
It will glisten!
Rudy Fenner (23:15):
It will shine, there will not be a spot.
The dog walks into the kitchenand says this is some crap.
Robin Fenner (23:22):
Nothing there to eat.
Where's the food at?
No crumbs on the floor.
Cause there's no crumbs on thefloor, I got a vacuum cleaner
out.
Rudy Fenner (23:28):
The tables are I use.
I'm telling y'all I live with athree-year-old and a dog.
They have taught me I need toclean, I have to use Fantastic
on my man's seat.
I need it crystal clear.
I need to kill all germs,because the kids come in every
day.
They've been to school, we needto be gone.
(23:49):
The ants walk in and they'rewalking around with protest
signs.
What are you doing?
That is true.
Robin Fenner (23:55):
We've been coming here for years and you're
messing it all up.
So yeah, that's my job.
You are the best kitchencleaner upper.
Every day we come down.
Y'all got to understand this isnot occasionally.
Rudy Fenner (24:06):
This is every single night when they come down
.
I really don't like to have alot of stuff in the drain.
I like for it to look good.
I like for it to be ready to goto work the next day, just like
your favorite restaurant.
That's how
Robin Fenner (24:21):
You do a great job with that and I do appreciate
it, Thank you so much, and so doI, and so does my boy.
Rudy Fenner (24:28):
Everybody likes us, but the dog and the ants yeah,
they don't like it all right, solet's talk about, uh, food and
emotion a little bit.
Robin Fenner (24:34):
Okay.
Is there any food that affectsyour emotion, that you think of,
that you feel affects youremotion?
Rudy Fenner (24:41):
You know what about that?
So that, so there are somethings.
This is interesting.
I mean I I have things listedhere Salmon, walnuts for brain
health, dark chocolates,serotonin, leafy greens, brain
fog I don't.
I have those listed, I haven'tpaid attention.
But I got to be honest with youon this.
(25:02):
Um and again, I will openlyconfess I'm 66.
I have a job.
I do work.
That's kind of intense stuff.
I have a lot of brainy stuffwhen sometimes I look back and
realize on a day, what I keep upwith every day, it's young
(25:24):
people stuff.
It's not.
It wasn't designed for peopleour age.
So I have tapped into things.
I did not intentionally eatthese things with that in mind,
but I do eat those things andit's funny that I'm yielding,
I'm seeing the results of itwithout strategically going
(25:47):
after it.
But I don't have I have.
Now, okay, I'm gonna just telly'all something.
I have been walking places andlike well, damn, where was I
going right?
And I'll just get, I'll get sodistracted with a thought until
I'll be walking up and down astep and just like, oh wait, was
that going, where was that?
And I'll have to take a moment.
But I think that's a.
(26:07):
That's a time when I'm justoverwhelmed and thought not fog
right now.
Keep in mind this is a big deala two-time cancer survivor.
Brain fog is real chemo and allthat stuff yeah right that
that's a, that's a listed sideeffect, right, exactly.
I have never had any of thatand I am convinced beyond a
shadow of a doubt that it'snutrition.
(26:30):
So, yeah, I haven't eaten forit, but I've been a benefactor
of that.
Robin Fenner (26:34):
Yeah, yeah, and honestly, there are things like
omega-3s, like in salmon andwalnuts, that help with brain
health and we have.
I'm not a big walnut fan, butsalmon we have.
That, we have more fishregularly and all that, so
that's helpful.
And one of my favorite thingsto talk about is dark chocolate,
because it has serotonin and Idon't have dark chocolate every
(26:56):
day, but if I'm going to have it, it's going to be in my
favorite.
Graeter's chocolate chip icecream, because Graeter's
chocolate chip ice cream I'mjust going to put up this is not
paid, but let me just say thisIf you like chocolate chip ice
cream, you get Graeter's.
They (used to) have it atWegmans in our area, but you can
also order it from Graeter'sonline.
I did that.
(27:17):
I happened to do that whenCincinnati was playing a
football playing a Super Bowl.
Rudy Fenner (27:21):
right, that's right .
Robin Fenner (27:21):
The Bengals played a Super Bowl, yeah and we got
food from the cities that werein the Super Bowl.
That's right, and we said well,what's?
Rudy Fenner (27:27):
there.
That's how this all started andthat's I said okay, great,
there's ice cream.
Robin Fenner (27:30):
Okay, so I called and they sent some ice cream out
and it was if you they're,they're big chocolate pieces.
Rudy Fenner (27:37):
So yeah, I'll tell you something they are not
(27:58):
stingy with there is.
It's not like every other brandof ice cream out there, because
their ice cream is harder, soit feels like it's not as
processed as other.
I am not a big ice creamaficionado.
I definitely am not a big fanof chocolate chip ice cream,
which works out for her becauseI mean, she knows I'm not gonna
get any of her ice cream.
Robin Fenner (28:06):
It'll stay until she eats it I, I just buy it by
the time she eats it.
Rudy Fenner (28:09):
I am frequently the ice cream go-getter at night
and when I go down to get thatice cream I have seen the
largest chocolate chunks in thatice cream.
Sometimes I feel like there's awhole Hershey bar and a half a
cup of ice cream.
I'm like my gosh.
Robin Fenner (28:29):
I'm not trying to say anything bad about Hershey,
but it's not Hershey, it's thebiggest chunk of chocolate I
have ever seen in ice cream, soI can attest to that and I've
tasted it.
Rudy Fenner (28:37):
You know, I'll finish everything and as I'm
cleaning up I'll be putting aspoon in a dish that I get ready
to put in a dish and I'll say,oh, whoa, whoa, there's it, a
little cup of this, like oh,that is pretty good but I say
that about the ice cream becauseI've never tasted ice cream and
chocolate in it like theirs.
Robin Fenner (28:52):
I mean, I'm just being real about that.
And then you have like all thegood serotonin if I have it at
night, then that means you havea good night too and of course
you'd see it that way yeah, allright.
Okay, and also leafy greens.
So we go back to our salads andeverything.
All your leafy greens.
I don't know if you can gowrong with leafy greens.
(29:13):
So it helps to fight brain fogand there's so many other
healthful benefits from them.
So just make sure you'regetting leafy greens.
You can even put them in asmoothie.
So if you don't want to eatthem per se, in a salad or
something, I think the biggestthing that I've seen from that.
Rudy Fenner (29:28):
So remember, and most of y'all know the story
Rudy 1.0, no fruits andvegetables, almost never any
leafy green stuff, I mean,unless it was processed to the
edges of the earth and back in acan.
Rudy 2.0, I go to leafyvegetables, leafy stuff to eat
all the time.
And just my world of fooddigestion, honestly, I have not
(29:54):
taken thought about orconsidered any digestive
alka-seltzer.
Um, what are some of the otherthings you times or something
like that.
Robin Fenner (30:06):
I guess people, people have taken.
Rudy Fenner (30:08):
I mean no gas, no digestive, no indigestion, no
heartburn, because the fruitsand the vegetables are just so
naturally processed and smoothin terms of high processes in
your body.
I think that's the biggestthing I mean.
Like everybody else, from gasto burping, your stomach's
(30:30):
growling, you've got all ofthese things going on.
It's just digestion.
And when we went, when I wentto I won't say we, because you
were always there when I went tovegetables, fruits, salads and
that kind of stuff is mymainstay the world of digestion
just changed so dramaticallyyeah my gosh, I think the most,
(30:53):
the most I'll do if I have.
I've had times when I have amedical procedure, something and
you might have to do somethingthat cleanses out your system.
I might do a papaya enzyme,chew papaya enzyme to help
regulate, because that's theenzyme that helps, helps gut
health.
That's kind of as extreme as itgets and again when you get in
(31:14):
your 60s and that's all you'retalking about, god has really
been good to you.
That's really a blessed way toroll.
So yeah, I've lived it yeah,yeah.
Robin Fenner (31:23):
And speaking of gut health, we're going to talk
more about, more in depth aboutgut health a little bit later,
not not in this podcast, but inanother episode.
But um, the, the gut is really.
We're learning more about it,we're hearing more about it as
being so central to our body'shealth, digestion, less
inflammation, better mood.
So, uh, probiotics, uh, yogurt,kefir or fermented foods like
(31:47):
sauerkraut are all good for guthealth.
I'm sure there are more.
I want to learn more about it,and when I learn more, we'll
share it with you guys as well,but that's really important.
So the bottom line here is eatwell and you'll feel better
inside and out.
Rudy Fenner (32:04):
Inside and out, and also even at our age, as you
get older.
I'm talking about for me and Iknow everybody doesn't feel like
this I'm looking forperformance.
I am really looking for bettertimes in my 5K.
Yeah, I'm not just doing itjust to say I did it.
(32:24):
I want my next time to bebetter than my last time.
Exactly this food is drivingthat, so that's critical.
Yeah, yeah, so we're drivingthat, so that's that's, that's
critical.
Robin Fenner (32:31):
Yeah, yeah.
So we're still getting better,even as we're getting older.
So it's not just you knowthat's the point.
Being where we were and beingsatisfied with that.
Exactly, you can continue.
It's continuous improvement,yeah.
Rudy Fenner (32:42):
Yeah.
Robin Fenner (32:43):
Yeah, okay, so anything else for today's
episode?
Rudy Fenner (32:47):
If not, we're going to wrap this up and we want to
hear from you which tips are yougoing to try this week?
Hey, you know, I mean really.
So every time we do thesepodcasts between guests that we
have and people that we talk to.
After we are learning so much,I am hoping that when I die at
(33:09):
like 120, I learn something thenight before.
That's the goal, and I realizethe more conversation I'm in,
the more we engage, the smarterI get, and the reason I get
smarter is because I'm talking.
So y'all keep talking back tous.
Tell us everything.
Tell us what tips you have,especially in food prep.
If you have some secrets tothat that you can help us share,
(33:30):
we want to hear about that.
We want to hear about foodfailures.
Social media is the way to hitus up.
There's plenty of informationin and around the podcast.
Robin Fenner (33:38):
We just look forward to hearing anything that
you have that can all help usto do better and be better that
would be super awesome, becausewhat we talk about a lot of
times is our experiences and wetry to share them with you
because we've learned as we goalong.
Yes, a lot of times is ourexperiences and we try to share
them with you because we'velearned, learned as we go along.
Yes, but it's not that we areprofessionals who know
everything, but so you know, ifwe all can share as a community,
that really is the best, that'sthe point so we look forward to
(34:00):
hearing from you.
Thank you so much for being withus today.
Thank you.
All right, we'll see you nexttime on the Officially Fenner
Agile Always podcast.
Rudy Fenner (34:10):
Be blessed, eat well.
Officially, Fenner, thanks youfor joining us.
Please subscribe and hit thatlike button.
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