September 16, 2025 • 45 mins
Dr. Dianah Lake shares her journey from personal crisis to fitness transformation, creating a holistic wellness program specifically designed for high-achieving women who prioritize everyone else's needs above their own. Her approach addresses not just physical fitness but mental health, hormonal balance, and the unique challenges women face during perimenopause and menopause.
0:00
Meet Dr. Dianah Lake
6:09
Finding Fitness Through Personal Crisis
13:41
Self-Agency and Commitment to Wellness
21:49
The Program: More Than Weight Loss
31:37
Inflammation, Menopause, and Nutrition
38:24
Building Community and Finding Resources
44:07
Final Thoughts and Upcoming Retreat
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:03):
Hey Ange, hey Liz, how are you Double thumbs up,
Double?
Oh my gosh With the thing.
What is going?
Speaker 2 (00:13):
You're five years old , she ready, she ready, you are
five years old.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Five years old I'm excited.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
This is a good day.
This is a good day.
You guys just wait to hear whatwe're going to bring you today.
Just wait, just wait.
It's going to be another doublethumbs up, I'm sorry.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Don't do that.
I cannot with you.
Welcome to another episode ofBlack Boomer Besties from
Brooklyn, and that's Leslie, mybest friend of almost 50 years
Good God, almost 50 years.
We are two free-thinking60-something-year-old Black
women and we have decided to bemore bold and joyful in our
(00:52):
lives as we live out the rest ofour lives.
We invite you to join us, andtoday we're going to be talking
about we have a series going oncalled Finding the Joy Through
the Fear Getting to joy.
You got to get to fearsometimes to get to joy, and so
today we're going to be talkingabout aspects of our health and
(01:14):
how some fears that we havearound aging and living a
sub-optimized life, how thatcould interfere with our joy,
and so we have brought a formerclassmate of Leslie to talk to
(01:34):
us about what she's doing tohelp women like us to move out
of the fear and into the joy.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
So I have to talk about this dynamic young lady
that you see right here.
All right, I'm going to readpart of her bio.
Oh, not me, that wasn't me.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Okay, okay, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, my bad, I'm
going to read part of her bio.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
But listen, but there's two bios really, because
there's the bio that I havepersonally with her and then
there's her official bio, soI'll read part of that official
bio, okay.
So, dr Diana T Lake MD she'salso known as Dr Di.
She's an emergency medicinephysician, a best-selling author
(02:19):
, a speaker, fitness and weightloss coach.
She's a menopause wellnessexpert, an autism parent
advocate and founder of Dr DyeFitness.
Using her clinical experienceas an emergency physician,
emergency medicine physician andher knowledge and expertise as
(02:39):
a fitness and weight loss coach,dr Dye promotes a holistic
approach to disease prevention,healthy living, fitness, weight
loss, menopause, wellness,longevity and overall wellness.
I'm checking every box.
Let me tell you.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Let me tell you Every box.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
She is sought after to speak on various health and
wellness topics for churches,conventions, conferences,
summits, podcasts, magazines andTV shows.
She is a leader and sound voicein the health and fitness space
.
Clients go from feeling drained, exhausted, overwhelmed and
(03:26):
overweight to fit fierce, fieryand fabulous.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Oh every box.
I want every box.
I want every box Now.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
I bring to you my dear friend of over 25 years.
We graduated from medicalschool together.
We sat up in the trenchesstudying all night together,
girl, and we're now foreverfriends.
And this is Dr Diana Lake, alsoknown as Dr Di Fitness.
(04:05):
And let me just say before shecomes on, I'm also a client.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Thank you, Jesus no.
Hey girl hey, welcome Welcome.
You are too much.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
You are too much.
I love it.
It's how we do.
Thank you for having me.
I'm so excited.
Oh my gosh, we've got so muchto cover.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
I know it's a short amount of time, but we'll get it
.
And people getting older, wereally fear not the age or the
chronological part of it, butrather the disability that often
comes with it, yeah, and it'snot even the death of it, it's
(05:01):
the between now and death.
What is life going to be like?
Because we're living longer,but it doesn't necessarily mean
that we're living healthier,more joyful lives, absolutely.
So our spans may be longer, butthere could be a longer span in
disability, and I got to tellyou what made me run and
(05:21):
independence.
What made me run to get you onthis podcast.
I listened to a master classyou conducted.
I've always known that you wereinto fitness and health and
weight loss, of course, but whenI listened to your master class
you really were speaking to mepersonally and that was when I
(05:50):
not only signed up, but I saidother people and our podcast
listeners need to know you andknow what you do, so you can
start anywhere you want.
You can start at how, how didyou get on this?
Who are you.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
That's what I'm.
How did you get?
Speaker 3 (06:01):
this because, first of all, she's a superwoman.
Did you hear her bio?
Speaker 1 (06:06):
I heard the bio, I would agree.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Well, you know the the idea of fear.
It's really something that'sworth talking about, because for
me it was going.
It was when I was going throughmy divorce.
So this was 2012.
Wow, that was my transitioninto fitness.
Was I was mourning my dad.
My dad had passed away fromcomplications of a kidney
transplant, from diabetes, youknow, dialysis when he got the
(06:36):
kidney.
The kidney lasted two monthsand so he passed away from
complications of that.
And basically I was in thismourning, right, I was mourning
my dad.
We had a young son who weweren't sure at the time that he
was autistic yet, but we'redoing all the testing.
And I found out on social mediathat my marriage was in trouble
(07:00):
.
Right, what, the what?
Yes, so my you know, my ex washaving an affair and the person
he was doing it with decided topost it on social media and tag
him.
Oh shit, yeah.
So my cousin says who is thiswoman on Instagram, you know?
(07:22):
And so that's where all of thiscame from.
For me was I could dig a hole,get in it and cover myself up.
I was embarrassed, right, thehumiliation, um being this,
quote unquote power couple, ivyleague, blah, blah, blah, blah.
You know all the things onpaper, but here I am miserable
(07:49):
and just thinking, okay, what doI do now?
I didn't sign up for this wherewe are right now and so,
basically, through theseparation we figure out, my
younger one has autism, you know, adhd, all this stuff, and I'm
still really mourning my dadbecause I'm like if he was here
(08:11):
I would have that.
You know, my mom was fantastictoo, but you know, I just had
this relationship with my dadthat him not being there through
all the stuff that was going on, was really challenging, and so
I saw myself just being in thispity party, right, and I think
I was like 37.
I'm 50 now.
(08:32):
I think I was 37 or 38.
And I'm like, who's going towant me?
Right?
That's the fear, right, who'sgoing to want someone divorced
with a special needs kid?
When you know what I mean, like, because you know our brain,
our brains will take us there.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
Right.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
Our brains will take us to that fear first, that damn
amygdala.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
We need that on a T-shirt.
That damn amygdala.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Because that's the part of our brain that wants to
yeah, it wants to keep us safe,right?
So it's constantly telling youdon't do that, don't do this.
You know, yes, and and we haveto be able to just tell it to
have a seat, because there aretimes that is telling us to just
be comfortable with things thatare not right for us.
(09:26):
Right, yes?
And so looking the fear in theface and saying this is not who
God put me on this planet to be.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
That thing right there.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Sitting on the floor in the bathroom crying Seriously
, I was like, look, we need toget this together.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
For me it was my closet, ange had a closet, and
we've all had those momentswhere this is our bottom line,
this is our this is rock bottomright now.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
This is rock bottom.
And how am I going to pull up?
Yes, how am I going to pull upout of this and move on.
And you know so.
When I moved here to MarylandI'm in Maryland we moved, you
know, from the New York area toMaryland and I joined this group
called Mocha Moms right, mochaMoms Incorporated, and I've been
(10:19):
in it for gosh, probably 16years at this point, and they
truly have been.
There's chapters in New York,um, and so one of my mocha mom
friends, you know, saw where Iwas in going through this
divorce, like, I mean, it wasjust draining every joy out of
me, ounce of joy, and she saidlet's go for a run.
(10:43):
And I looked at her like girl,I do not run, I do not run, I
ain't got time to run thatmorning yes, yeah, you know, and
for me fitness was not.
I mean, I had a gym membershiplike everybody else, but I
didn't go religiously, I didn't.
It was just one of those thingsthat you check the box.
(11:05):
That I know is healthy for meto do, so I have it, but I was
not really implementing, Iwasn't really following any kind
of plan.
So when she said let's go for arun, I said, girl, I do not run
but I walk.
And she said, look, we'll dolike a run, walk, run, walk, run
, walk, kind of you know inbetween.
Look, we'll do like a run, walk, run, walk, run, walk, kind of
you know in between.
And so we did two miles thatday.
(11:27):
This was June 2012.
I mean, I remember it sovividly, it was June 2012.
And when I came back to thehouse, I had this sense of
accomplishment, this sense ofjoy, this sense of for the
moment.
I know my life is upside downright now, but I will take this.
(11:48):
Wow, right, I will take thismoment and I want it again.
I was like I want it again.
Okay.
So, diana, stop right there fora second.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
Here.
You are, a mom of two, you're adoctor doctor, for goodness
sake, you, we but you gotthrough four grueling years of
medical school and you also gotthrough years of residency and
yet and still, theaccomplishment that you felt
(12:20):
after a two mile run was sosignificant that that changed
your life that's perspectiveright there, wow that's
perspective, absolutely,absolutely.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
And you know, for each person is going to be
something you guys hear me, wedo, sure, yeah, well, okay, and
for each, okay, it's got it.
Got it stuck for me for amoment.
But for each person in life, Ifeel like your turning point is
going to be different,absolutely Right.
It's going to be something thatjust hits a chord for you, that
(12:57):
makes you say that I don't wantthis, I want Right.
That's not serving me.
I can see the benefit in this,right here, right, and that
exhilaration, that man, thoseendorphins, they said, that run
us high.
Those endorphins kicked in.
It was like I had nothing elsegoing on in my life but that
(13:20):
moment and I was like, wow, itdidn't even seem like a lot to
do when we were doing it, butwhen I came back, I just felt so
good inside and then I did that.
That.
I created that Like.
You know what I mean.
It wasn't something outside ofme, it was something I could
rinse and repeat yeah, oh mygosh and I was like I can do
(13:41):
this.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
My God, I got to say something about because we say
this a lot here about findingyour community.
Whatever that is, find yourcommunity.
Whatever that is, find yourcommunity.
Because you mentioned MochaMoms.
That was your community, wherethere was someone who got you
what you needed in that moment,that you didn't even know, but
(14:03):
you had community.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
Yes, you were not by yourself.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Absolutely, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
You have to you have to Wow.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Okay, so you were like I want some more of this
and being seen and beingappreciated Right, being seen,
heard, appreciated and somebodysaying you know, let's get out
of this rut right now, let's godo something else, let's get out
of the house Right.
And it's funny because allthese years just had her my
(14:34):
friend, her name is melody, shejust had her her 57th birthday
and we went to a spa here acouple, like maybe two weeks ago
, you know, and I mentioned toher.
I was like do you remember thatrun we did?
She doesn't she?
Speaker 3 (14:51):
didn't even know, it was not her thing.
Critical because because thatone was for you, diana, that was
not for her.
Yes, something else was for hershe had no idea.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
She was a critical part in that turning point for
me to do all this stuff I'mdoing now because it all started
on that day and that was theday I committed to myself that I
get to take care of me.
I get to.
I get to take care of me.
Yes, because I've been puttingso much energy out taking care
(15:26):
of the patients.
You know, you know, being thewife, being the mother, being
the all the things right, youknow how we do.
And then our own wellbeing ison the back burner and at that
moment I was like it ends today.
Right, it ends.
Today.
We turn a new leaf and I get tocreate a way of being that
(15:50):
supports my own wellbeing Right,so that I can continue to do
the other things I'm doing.
Well.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
Right, and that's self-agency right there.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
Right there, yeah, so so what kept you?
Because we oftentimes get thatmoment, or we get that moment
sometimes, and then we allow allthose things that you mentioned
about life to rob it from us.
You know, oh yeah, even do itfor a week, but then it's like,
(16:22):
okay, do you know what I mean?
What kept you?
What kept you?
Speaker 2 (16:26):
from me it was.
It was a clear.
You know distinction from thewoman on the floor crying in the
bathroom.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
I wasn't going back there, right, I just was not,
yeah, right.
So it was whenever I got thatmoment where, you know, I felt
like I wanted to just be lazy,just be, have a lazy day, you
know, and just not, you know, dowhatever it was I knew I needed
to do.
(16:56):
I would think about OK, do Iwant to?
It's almost like you'resettling, yes, right.
A lot of times we settle andthat's what it will feel to me,
because I've had many timeswhere I've gotten there where I
want to just not do the work,not implement.
I've gotten there where I wantto just not do the work, not
(17:18):
implement.
Not, you know, put in theeffort and just, you know, slack
.
We all have that moment rightwhere we're like, look, we're
just going to give ourselves abreak, you know we're going to,
you know, take it easy.
But then when you say that andyou don't put any time frame
around it and you kind of justlet it just continue on and on,
before you know it's been twomonths, you haven't done any
exercise right, it's been sixmonths.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
Yeah, it's harder to um.
I mean, it's physics, right,it's harder to get going from a
stop than it is to keep rollingright and go faster.
It's much harder to go from astop to a start, wow.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
Yeah, so what I remember and so I kept thinking
that was I don't want to go backthere, so I created this thing
very early on was I cannot gomore than three days without a
workout.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
Ah, okay, right, Put that stop.
That was a commitment to myself.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
when I would see myself falling off track, one of
the thing was okay, I'm notgoing to go more than three days
without movement.
Right, movement truly ismedicine.
Right, and especially for womenover 40, women over 50, right
that strength training is goingto support our skeletal
(18:29):
structure, so we don't have thathunched over kyphosis look, you
know, you see the older ladieskind of hunched over like that
with the demineralization of thebones and all of that.
So strength training, pickingup some weight, it's really
important for women over 40,right to support your skeletal
structure, your posture, youryou know your bone density,
(18:50):
prevent osteoporosis.
These are all longevity goals.
It's not for today.
You're doing this for what yourbody's going to be doing from a
functional standpoint whenyou're 50, 60, you know those
years later on your future selfDoing the movement now.
Doing the strength training nowis actually for the long haul
right.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
It's for your future self, diana.
I have a question.
So what I remember is that youstarted posting your workouts so
I mean with like muscles andyour contests that you were
doing and competitions and allof this stuff but you were never
one that you were doing andcompetitions and all of this
(19:34):
stuff, but you were never onethat you were never overweight.
I never saw you as a person whowas out of shape, you know Yet,
and still you said that this iswhere you're going to put your
energy.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
This is how you're going to take care of yourself.
But weight and health and bonesand all of that, aren't they
different things?
Because I remember when I wasat Penn, there was this
upperclassman and she wassomeone who you know was always
(20:10):
slim right and a friend of mine,dave, always was always slim
Right and, um, a friend of mine,um, dave, he was a runner and
he wouldn't make fun of herbecause she was so unhealthy.
I mean, it was just, you know,because he, he was this runner
and you would look at her, youknow she's slim and so on, but
he knew like she couldn't chasehim down the street or she
(20:33):
couldn't.
You know what I mean, she, hewould mess with her all the time
.
And that kind of clicked in myhead, in my, and it comes back
right now just because you, youdon't, you're not carrying
weight, it doesn't mean thatyou're not, that you're healthy.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
Yeah, and we and those two things.
So add even to that issometimes you'll have people who
are a healthy BMI right, thebody mass index.
So for their height, the weightthey have is, you know,
adequate, However, theircholesterol, their glucose right
, their blood pressure theirstress management.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
Metabolically, they're a mess.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
Yeah.
So, all those things could beall over the place, but they may
have the right weight for theirheight.
So you can't always assume thatbecause someone fits for their
height, what the weight is thatfrom a metabolic standpoint?
Speaker 3 (21:26):
that they're actually well and that doesn't portend
good health for the future.
Absolutely, they portend goodhealth for the future.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
Absolutely, so you could have somebody that's even
20, 30 pounds overweight havebetter endurance, better
strength, right, and be able torun circles around that person
who, you know, may be a lighterweight for their height, but
they just, you know, they don'thave the physical fitness to go
(21:52):
with it.
Right?
I'm a huge proponent ofpersonal development, so I went
to an emotional intelligencetraining, right, and that's
where fitness coaching came infor me, because all of this just
lined up beautifully.
I had done the bodybuildingcompetition, right, I was doing
therapy.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
Not right.
Wait, wait, wait.
She's like I'm doingbodybuilding, right.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
It's like wait, like no, not right, like what do you
mean?
You don't get to just jump overthat?
What?
Speaker 3 (22:24):
You got to see some pictures.
It's like what?
Speaker 1 (22:29):
You know, with the poses Please yeah, I went down,
don't do this like.
Please yeah, I went down, don'tdo it like that.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
Yeah, I went down 30 pounds and lost all the baby
weight.
Abs came popping out like what.
That was funny.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
It was like abs where you been.
It's so funny because my absright now they're like you can't
hit me now.
Speaker 2 (22:55):
They're coming, they're coming, yeah, so that
was so transformative as well isgoing through the whole process
of doing a bodybuildingcompetition and learning about
my body, like learning whatworks for me when it comes to
learning what types of movementsto do right, because not
everyone needs to be a runnerRight, I ended up learning to do
(23:18):
to play tennis.
That was my form of cardio.
So, being open to various typesof movement, being open to
learning to swim Right, a lot ofus don't know how to swim and
it's a great cardio, especiallyfor women in, you know, forties,
fifties and beyond, because ithas no weight bearing Can we
(23:40):
hold on to the side.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
You said some of us don't know how to swim.
That was a conviction here.
Can we just hold on to the side?
Can we get?
Can?
Speaker 3 (23:49):
we get, but we can.
No, you can wear floaties, wehave floaties there you go adult
floaties.
Okay, that's right, they don'thave to be adult.
They don't have to be adult.
You'll wear the toddler oneswith um?
Speaker 1 (24:00):
no, no, they just have to be floaties with funfob
square pants on them.
Floaties that fit, floatiesthat fit, floaties that fit.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
That's it you don't have to categorize.
Swimming is a great cardio.
You could burn enough caloriesswimming like you were doing a
Tabata.
You know like Tabata, highintensity workout you don't know
what Tabata is.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
You're speaking like wah, wah, wah.
She's like a Tabata.
Is that a steak on Tabata?
Wait what?
Speaker 2 (24:38):
Tabata is a type of HIIT routine right, yeah.
Speaker 3 (24:42):
HIIT.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
It's a type of HIIT routine, but it's super, super
effective, high-intensitytraining.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
High-intensity interval training, right?
Is that HIIT?
Yes, high-intensity intervaltraining it's.
Is that it?
High intensity interval?
Speaker 2 (24:52):
training.
But what makes it Tabata iswhen you have a two to one ratio
, Unless when we talk.
The next time you and I talk,you're going to learn all about
Tabata.
Guess who's going to be doingit, you Lose my number.
Speaker 3 (25:11):
This lady is a mom of two.
This lady is a doctor of two.
This lady is a doctor.
I signed up with her programand you got to see the materials
and the way that she put herfitness and wellness program
together.
It is off the chain.
She has videos, there's a mealprep and meal programs.
(25:32):
Sundays are for meal prep.
You get yourself together.
She talks about macros andnutrient training, about how we
should be eating every day.
Listen, I'm in Now, now, now,but let's talk about the long
term.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
I'm also kind of full of it.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
Haven't started reading this stuff yet.
She even gives CME to medicalprofessionals or people who can
use the CME continuing medicaleducation.
The program is amazing andwe're obviously going to put
links and invite you to her nextmaster class and tell you how
to sign up and consultations andall of these things.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
What was most?
Speaker 3 (26:18):
interesting to me is that she really spoke about the
things about menopause and youknow we've done our menopause
series the impact of some ofthese fitness tips and different
mindsets, how it can help yourmenopause journey and make it
less unpleasant.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
Okay, that's awesome.
Okay, diana, the floor is yours.
You're going to tell us aboutyour program, and who are you
thinking about?
Speaker 2 (26:58):
Who's the woman that you have in mind when you think
about how you developed yourprogram?
I had a woman that's like me,right.
I had an African-American woman, a woman who's super smart, you
(27:20):
know, gifted in so many ways,serving so many people, doing
amazing things, but quietlysuffering, quietly, not well,
she's the strong one, right,she's the one everyone comes to
(27:40):
for support and she's giving,and you know, and doing, just
giving, giving, giving and doingall those things for everyone
else.
She has an amazing career, youknow, um, she's got team, she's
got the OR, she's got the ER,she's got boardroom.
She's got, you know, she's gotbusinesses.
You know she's got all thisstuff going on.
(28:02):
So, on paper she looks fantastic, right, but her wellness is in
turmoil.
It's the one space, it's theone area that she just can't get
it together.
You can't get her meals right,right?
She's dressing up the fat,right, we do that a lot, right,
(28:25):
we dress it up, um, say it likethat dressing up, the fat
dressing up, the fact why yougotta say that it is a fact that
we dress up the fact I have adwarf of Spanx black.
But this is the thing nohorizontal stripes.
(28:45):
Yeah, we feel that, look, youknow, it's not that bad, right,
we always kind of just minimizewhat this is.
But then I see us in the ER,right, because, remember, I'm an
ER doctor, so I see what welook like when we show up, right
(29:05):
, and when we show up.
So much of what we, as blackwomen, are showing up with are
things that are preventable.
Right, there are things thatare preventable, but we have not
made it a priority.
Let's just call it what it isright, we haven't made it a
priority.
Speaker 3 (29:25):
Because we're busy.
We're busy and helping otherpeople.
Speaker 2 (29:30):
Well, everyone else is busy, right, everyone else is
busy across all.
You know ethnicities, right,but we haven't been trained,
right, we haven't beenindoctrinated we have.
You know, fitness and wellnesshasn't been something that has
(29:51):
been indoctrinated in us.
To look up to doing that RightFor our counterparts, you know
that right for our counterparts,you know, uh, white women,
other women of other races,fitness is a big deal for them,
right, a lot of them make theeffort and when I first started
my program for the first fewyears, it was almost all white
(30:12):
women coming in and I was likewhat is going on?
Yeah, this was not.
Speaker 3 (30:19):
It's not a priority.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
I hope this.
This is not how I hoped itwould go, but those are the
people who came in and you knowthey understood that this was
important to them.
They came in.
They did amazing.
Um, I continue to not give up on, you know, targeting black
women because our statistics areterrible.
(30:42):
Right, four out of five blackwomen are either obese or
overweight.
That's 80 percent of us, right.
So, you know, some people maysay, oh, you know, we've got big
bone and this, that, and youknow, no, this is real data.
Four out of five of us areobese or overweight.
Right, a lot of us arepre-diabetic and don't even know
(31:05):
it because we're not going tothe doctor asking for our
hemoglobin a1c level, which weshould be asking for, right.
So anyone that comes in to workwith me, we're literally doing
preventative care, even thoughI'm not their physician.
But anyone that comes in, I'mgoing through a list of have you
had your magnesium check?
(31:25):
Have you had your thyroid check?
Have you had your iron check?
Because so many people arefatigued and they don't know why
they're fatigued.
It could be some sort ofdeficiency.
Speaker 1 (31:36):
Right, it could be a deficiency and that interferes
with their energy to work outRight, it could be a deficient,
and that interferes with theirenergy to work out.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
So it's a cycle, yeah .
So if you don't, if it'ssomething as simple as a
supplement you can take you knowB12, folate, magnesium, you
know iron, one of these thingsor is it menopause that's making
you so fatigued?
Because fatigue is a majorsymptom.
You know of menopause, right?
Major symptom.
(32:04):
You know of menopause, right?
So is it that that's making youfatigued, right?
Is it what you're eating?
You have a lot of sugar in yourdiet, right?
So then we start looking forcauses of why you feel the way
you feel.
You're not coming in to just doa meal plan and a workout plan.
You're coming in literally fora holistic transformation of
(32:24):
your overall wellbeing.
We're talking about your mentalhealth.
I have people who come in, Ihave guest speakers who come in
to talk about our mental health.
Even two of my current clientsare psychiatrists and both of
them are gonna be guest speakersin the program.
I have somebody come in to domeditation.
I have somebody come in to domeditation.
I have somebody come in to talkabout trauma.
Right, I had a traumapsychiatrist come in to talk
(32:47):
about how trauma affects yourability to see yourself as a
healthy person, as an athlete,right, yeah.
So, just when we walk aroundwith all of this stuff going on
inside of us and it hasn't beencalled out, you haven't named it
, you haven't addressed it.
You know what I mean, and soit's not just about weight loss.
(33:10):
So this is the perspective Itake on this.
It is a longevity game.
It is a longevity game.
It is thriving throughperimenopause, is thriving in
your nutrition, is understandingwhich foods you need, so you
don't even need medication.
Sometimes.
If you're starting your daywith a sugary drink, you're
(33:33):
starting your day basicallyshutting down your ability to
burn fat because your body's toobusy trying to get all the
sugar out of you, right, and outof the bloodstream, wow.
So, instead of starting withthat, if you start with green
tea, green tea is a natural fatburner, right?
Green tea is anti-inflammatory.
(33:53):
Menopause is a cesspool ofinflammation.
That's all it is, becauseeverything that was protecting
you in your 30s and 40s is gone.
All you're left with estrogenis a potent anti-inflammatory
chemical.
So, when estrogen is gone, yourjoints hurt, your back hurt,
(34:14):
right?
You've got vaginal dryness.
You've got, you know, hotflashes.
You've got all thisinflammation flared up in your
body and you wonder why you feellike crap, right?
So how do you reverse that?
By eating well.
But if I just told you go eatwell and I didn't give you the
(34:35):
backstory, it wouldn't makesense.
That's right, yes, when Iunderstand it.
Then if I'm not doing it and Iknow that it's good for me and I
know why it's good for me andI'm not doing it then I need to
call myself out.
There you go again, diana,self-sabotaging.
Why are you doing that?
What are you afraid of?
(34:56):
Yes, right, are you?
Are you in your mind stillthinking you cannot do this?
This is not going to work foryou, so you're finding ways to
prove yourself.
It's not going to work, soyou're self-sabotaging.
Speaker 3 (35:07):
Let's talk about it wow, this is all right, stop
right there real deal, holyfield tell our, tell our
audience how they can reach you.
All right, what's the best way?
Obviously, we're going to putall the links in the episode
(35:28):
notes so you all will be able toreach out to her and her
socials and all of that.
But you see why I brought thislady to you all.
You see why I brought this ladyto you all.
I'm telling you, I wasconvicted, and here I'm doing my
little workouts and this anddoing my best, but I understand
that I'm also self-sabotaging,yeah, and the mind-body
(35:51):
connection was what hit it forme and I said look, I can't go
down like that.
Speaker 1 (35:57):
I can't go down like that.
I'm definitely going to checkit out and it's like once you
know you can't unsee it yeah.
Right.
Speaker 2 (36:05):
Once you know, okay, I am the common denominator,
it's all my business.
Speaker 3 (36:11):
It's got to be me Right.
Speaker 1 (36:14):
Stop with the cutting , Stop with the come on now.
Speaker 2 (36:18):
It's the inner work.
This is an incredible body ofinner work.
Okay, and in all honesty.
Speaker 3 (36:26):
I love that about you because so much of fitness, a
lot of it is not the inner work.
When I signed up for trainingand joined the gym, the first
thing they said to me was howmuch weight do you want to lose?
And I said in all honesty, Isaid I don't.
(36:48):
I'm not here to lose weight,I'm here to get stronger.
Speaker 2 (36:52):
There it is.
Speaker 3 (36:53):
I'm here to get stronger and I know from being a
physician that when you getstronger and when you move your
body and exercise, the weightwill come off.
But I really want.
Speaker 2 (37:02):
I want to be strong and people are like what's going
on?
You know it doesn't even feellike I'm doing a lot, but you
are doing a mental work right.
You're taking ownership.
And that's what's different,different you're taking
ownership of your life now,right, and you're being
(37:22):
responsible in a way you haven'tbefore.
You're eating with purpose,you're.
You know, I went to a birthdayparty last weekend and did not
drink alcohol, girl, you knowwhat I mean.
Yeah, and and I would not havebeen able to do that some time
ago, because you have to get in.
That mindset, you know, of thisis where I am right.
(37:46):
This month, we're going alcoholfree, right, let's give our
liver a break, right?
But to answer your question,people can find me on Dr Di
Fitness, which is my Facebookpage.
It is the public Facebookfitness page.
That's where I post, you knowall the webinars and you know
masterclasses and events andthings that are coming up.
(38:08):
Dr Di Fitness, so it's D-R-D-I.
Then fitness On Facebook, onInstagram, is Dr Di Fit Life,
all right, d-r-d-i-f-i-t-l-i-f-e.
Yes, so those are the two.
Me, I have a LinkedIn.
I have a.
Linkedin as well.
Speaker 3 (38:26):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (38:33):
I have a free fitness accountability group for
professional women.
It's called Professional WomenGetting Fit.
It's a free group.
I do five day challenges inthere.
We did a back in May.
May I gave away a Peloton.
I don't know if you rememberLes.
Speaker 1 (38:43):
I gave away a Peloton bike.
Speaker 2 (38:45):
So we did a five day challenge and I gave away a
Peloton bike.
So that group is great becauseit's got a lot of content.
I've had that group for eightyears so it's a lot of training.
You know in there that you canlisten to and you know, just to
get you started, I have modulesin there to follow to get
(39:05):
started, but yeah.
Speaker 3 (39:08):
And for people.
She even offers CME orcontinuing medical education
credits for people who are ableto use that in their professions
.
Speaker 2 (39:17):
Yes, so we have 35 hours of continuing medical
education credits because theprogram really is for your
wellbeing, right?
We know that physician womenare a very high risk group for,
you know, mental health rightFor suicide.
We're 2.7 times more likelyphysician women 2.7 times more
(39:41):
likely to harm ourselves andkill ourselves than any other
professional female populationin the US.
Deal with long work hours andmedicine is structured in a way
that the longer you work and themore you grind yourself into
(40:05):
the ground.
They praise that right.
Taking time off is notsomething that is applauded,
right, and a lot of us we wedon't talk about it stress the
burnout and all the things we'regoing through.
Speaker 3 (40:18):
So who do you talk to .
Very often you know people seeyou as this able and capable
physician.
What you?
You know that suffering andsilence is is real.
Speaker 2 (40:30):
And that's what I said at the top of this this
talk was you look amazing onpaper but you're truly suffering
in a way that I mean you don'tfeel like you can go out and
talk to somebody about it.
Right, Because you're theperson everyone's coming to.
So to have this community thatI've created, where the women in
(40:51):
there you know, I've got aclient right now who's a VP for
a university in West VirginiaRight, We've got physicians in
there, We've got you know.
So these are really top levelwomen, right, and this is where
they come to talk about howthey're feeling, because they
know these other women get itRight, yeah.
Speaker 3 (41:13):
Right yeah.
Speaker 2 (41:15):
And then we can get on our one-on-one sessions, you
know, and really tweak theprogram to meet their specific
needs, whatever it is for them,whether it's energy strength you
know mobility, you know sleep,you know stress management.
I've had people leave thisprogram and get raises at work,
(41:36):
right.
I've had one client start awhole business, wow, from this
program.
So it's something that reallysupports your personal
development and giving you these35 hours.
Any kind of medicalprofessional can use this
physicians, nurses, dentists,right.
I don't know if veterinarians,but dentists, you know.
(42:01):
Psychologists, you know socialworkers.
So it has a pretty broadcoverage of who can use those
continuing credit and you canuse your FlexPending account.
Speaker 3 (42:14):
I was just going to mention that Wonderful.
This is a wellness program.
So you can use your HSA and FSAaccounts to cover the costs of
this program.
It's amazing If you have thosebenefits, beautiful, wow.
So I think we're at the end.
Any other last question orcomment Ange?
Speaker 1 (42:33):
No, it's, you know.
I'm just thinking about thefuture self because we've had a
conversation I think we have anepisode recorded about the
future you, and I think I askedthe question what is your future
you thanking you for, for whatyou're doing now, and so that's
(42:54):
where my head has been.
Like I'm planning to moveabroad.
It's okay.
What is?
What is that person umapplauding me for, for having,
um chosen the path that I didright now, and so, um, this is
yeah you may be, I may be comingup pp cluck cluck behind you,
(43:16):
les.
Speaker 2 (43:19):
I might be doing just that, I mean it's a beautiful
way to celebrate yourself Right,it's a beautiful way to
celebrate, and we do retreatstoo, so we have our retreat
coming up in January we're goingto Jamaica.
Speaker 3 (43:32):
Tell her again where we're going.
I told her Where's Jamaica.
Speaker 1 (43:38):
What part of Jamaica?
Speaker 2 (43:39):
Well, that's the next step, because we're trying to
lock down the hotel.
So we're looking at Negril orMontego Bay, negril is the one.
Speaker 1 (43:47):
Do Negril.
I can go visit my family.
No, negril, I'd vote Negril.
Speaker 2 (43:52):
It's like A you know, I've done Montego Bay before
myself.
So I'm actually leaning towardNegril because I've done my
Jigga Bay before myself.
So I'm actually leaning towardNegros because I've never done.
Speaker 1 (44:02):
Negros, negros is beautiful but yeah.
Speaker 2 (44:04):
so you know we get to celebrate ourselves at the
retreat and, you know, get tomeet each other in person and we
do fabulous.
You know, things at the retreat, Like the last one we did in
Turks and Caicos, we did theclear kayak photo shoot with the
drone on top.
I don't know if you guys seenthose and you're laying in the
(44:26):
kayak and you've got pedalsaround you.
Speaker 3 (44:30):
I gotta get bikini ready, ready no, you don't you.
Speaker 2 (44:35):
you get to show up how you show up it's a change,
it's a change.
Thank you so much, Diana.
Thanks so much for having me.
This is wonderful.
Speaker 3 (44:47):
Yeah, I had to bring her.
I had.
I told you, you did, you toldme you told me.
Speaker 1 (44:51):
You told me I believed you.
But it's good to experience it.
But you had to see for yourself.
Speaker 3 (44:56):
It's good to experience it.
Thank you so much for beingwith us.
Thank you, my dear Love youalways.
And this has been anotherepisode of Black Boomer Besties
from Brooklyn.
Hey Ange, hey Liz, how are you Double thumbs up,
Double?
Oh my gosh With the thing.
What is going?
Speaker 2 (00:13):
You're five years old , she ready, she ready, you are
five years old.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Five years old I'm excited.
Speaker 3 (00:20):
This is a good day.
This is a good day.
You guys just wait to hear whatwe're going to bring you today.
Just wait, just wait.
It's going to be another doublethumbs up, I'm sorry.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
Don't do that.
I cannot with you.
Welcome to another episode ofBlack Boomer Besties from
Brooklyn, and that's Leslie, mybest friend of almost 50 years
Good God, almost 50 years.
We are two free-thinking60-something-year-old Black
women and we have decided to bemore bold and joyful in our
(00:52):
lives as we live out the rest ofour lives.
We invite you to join us, andtoday we're going to be talking
about we have a series going oncalled Finding the Joy Through
the Fear Getting to joy.
You got to get to fearsometimes to get to joy, and so
today we're going to be talkingabout aspects of our health and
(01:14):
how some fears that we havearound aging and living a
sub-optimized life, how thatcould interfere with our joy,
and so we have brought a formerclassmate of Leslie to talk to
(01:34):
us about what she's doing tohelp women like us to move out
of the fear and into the joy.
Speaker 3 (01:40):
So I have to talk about this dynamic young lady
that you see right here.
All right, I'm going to readpart of her bio.
Oh, not me, that wasn't me.
Speaker 1 (01:50):
Okay, okay, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, my bad, I'm
going to read part of her bio.
Speaker 3 (01:55):
But listen, but there's two bios really, because
there's the bio that I havepersonally with her and then
there's her official bio, soI'll read part of that official
bio, okay.
So, dr Diana T Lake MD she'salso known as Dr Di.
She's an emergency medicinephysician, a best-selling author
(02:19):
, a speaker, fitness and weightloss coach.
She's a menopause wellnessexpert, an autism parent
advocate and founder of Dr DyeFitness.
Using her clinical experienceas an emergency physician,
emergency medicine physician andher knowledge and expertise as
(02:39):
a fitness and weight loss coach,dr Dye promotes a holistic
approach to disease prevention,healthy living, fitness, weight
loss, menopause, wellness,longevity and overall wellness.
I'm checking every box.
Let me tell you.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Let me tell you Every box.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
She is sought after to speak on various health and
wellness topics for churches,conventions, conferences,
summits, podcasts, magazines andTV shows.
She is a leader and sound voicein the health and fitness space
.
Clients go from feeling drained, exhausted, overwhelmed and
(03:26):
overweight to fit fierce, fieryand fabulous.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Oh every box.
I want every box.
I want every box Now.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
I bring to you my dear friend of over 25 years.
We graduated from medicalschool together.
We sat up in the trenchesstudying all night together,
girl, and we're now foreverfriends.
And this is Dr Diana Lake, alsoknown as Dr Di Fitness.
(04:05):
And let me just say before shecomes on, I'm also a client.
Speaker 1 (04:13):
Thank you, Jesus no.
Hey girl hey, welcome Welcome.
You are too much.
Speaker 2 (04:31):
You are too much.
I love it.
It's how we do.
Thank you for having me.
I'm so excited.
Oh my gosh, we've got so muchto cover.
Speaker 3 (04:39):
I know it's a short amount of time, but we'll get it
.
And people getting older, wereally fear not the age or the
chronological part of it, butrather the disability that often
comes with it, yeah, and it'snot even the death of it, it's
(05:01):
the between now and death.
What is life going to be like?
Because we're living longer,but it doesn't necessarily mean
that we're living healthier,more joyful lives, absolutely.
So our spans may be longer, butthere could be a longer span in
disability, and I got to tellyou what made me run and
(05:21):
independence.
What made me run to get you onthis podcast.
I listened to a master classyou conducted.
I've always known that you wereinto fitness and health and
weight loss, of course, but whenI listened to your master class
you really were speaking to mepersonally and that was when I
(05:50):
not only signed up, but I saidother people and our podcast
listeners need to know you andknow what you do, so you can
start anywhere you want.
You can start at how, how didyou get on this?
Who are you.
Speaker 1 (05:59):
That's what I'm.
How did you get?
Speaker 3 (06:01):
this because, first of all, she's a superwoman.
Did you hear her bio?
Speaker 1 (06:06):
I heard the bio, I would agree.
Speaker 2 (06:13):
Well, you know the the idea of fear.
It's really something that'sworth talking about, because for
me it was going.
It was when I was going throughmy divorce.
So this was 2012.
Wow, that was my transitioninto fitness.
Was I was mourning my dad.
My dad had passed away fromcomplications of a kidney
transplant, from diabetes, youknow, dialysis when he got the
(06:36):
kidney.
The kidney lasted two monthsand so he passed away from
complications of that.
And basically I was in thismourning, right, I was mourning
my dad.
We had a young son who weweren't sure at the time that he
was autistic yet, but we'redoing all the testing.
And I found out on social mediathat my marriage was in trouble
(07:00):
.
Right, what, the what?
Yes, so my you know, my ex washaving an affair and the person
he was doing it with decided topost it on social media and tag
him.
Oh shit, yeah.
So my cousin says who is thiswoman on Instagram, you know?
(07:22):
And so that's where all of thiscame from.
For me was I could dig a hole,get in it and cover myself up.
I was embarrassed, right, thehumiliation, um being this,
quote unquote power couple, ivyleague, blah, blah, blah, blah.
You know all the things onpaper, but here I am miserable
(07:49):
and just thinking, okay, what doI do now?
I didn't sign up for this wherewe are right now and so,
basically, through theseparation we figure out, my
younger one has autism, you know, adhd, all this stuff, and I'm
still really mourning my dadbecause I'm like if he was here
(08:11):
I would have that.
You know, my mom was fantastictoo, but you know, I just had
this relationship with my dadthat him not being there through
all the stuff that was going on, was really challenging, and so
I saw myself just being in thispity party, right, and I think
I was like 37.
I'm 50 now.
(08:32):
I think I was 37 or 38.
And I'm like, who's going towant me?
Right?
That's the fear, right, who'sgoing to want someone divorced
with a special needs kid?
When you know what I mean, like, because you know our brain,
our brains will take us there.
Speaker 1 (08:51):
Right.
Speaker 2 (08:52):
Our brains will take us to that fear first, that damn
amygdala.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
We need that on a T-shirt.
That damn amygdala.
Speaker 2 (09:04):
Because that's the part of our brain that wants to
yeah, it wants to keep us safe,right?
So it's constantly telling youdon't do that, don't do this.
You know, yes, and and we haveto be able to just tell it to
have a seat, because there aretimes that is telling us to just
be comfortable with things thatare not right for us.
(09:26):
Right, yes?
And so looking the fear in theface and saying this is not who
God put me on this planet to be.
Speaker 3 (09:35):
That thing right there.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Sitting on the floor in the bathroom crying Seriously
, I was like, look, we need toget this together.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
For me it was my closet, ange had a closet, and
we've all had those momentswhere this is our bottom line,
this is our this is rock bottomright now.
Speaker 2 (09:58):
This is rock bottom.
And how am I going to pull up?
Yes, how am I going to pull upout of this and move on.
And you know so.
When I moved here to MarylandI'm in Maryland we moved, you
know, from the New York area toMaryland and I joined this group
called Mocha Moms right, mochaMoms Incorporated, and I've been
(10:19):
in it for gosh, probably 16years at this point, and they
truly have been.
There's chapters in New York,um, and so one of my mocha mom
friends, you know, saw where Iwas in going through this
divorce, like, I mean, it wasjust draining every joy out of
me, ounce of joy, and she saidlet's go for a run.
(10:43):
And I looked at her like girl,I do not run, I do not run, I
ain't got time to run thatmorning yes, yeah, you know, and
for me fitness was not.
I mean, I had a gym membershiplike everybody else, but I
didn't go religiously, I didn't.
It was just one of those thingsthat you check the box.
(11:05):
That I know is healthy for meto do, so I have it, but I was
not really implementing, Iwasn't really following any kind
of plan.
So when she said let's go for arun, I said, girl, I do not run
but I walk.
And she said, look, we'll dolike a run, walk, run, walk, run
, walk, kind of you know inbetween.
Look, we'll do like a run, walk, run, walk, run, walk, kind of
you know in between.
And so we did two miles thatday.
(11:27):
This was June 2012.
I mean, I remember it sovividly, it was June 2012.
And when I came back to thehouse, I had this sense of
accomplishment, this sense ofjoy, this sense of for the
moment.
I know my life is upside downright now, but I will take this.
(11:48):
Wow, right, I will take thismoment and I want it again.
I was like I want it again.
Okay.
So, diana, stop right there fora second.
Speaker 3 (11:59):
Here.
You are, a mom of two, you're adoctor doctor, for goodness
sake, you, we but you gotthrough four grueling years of
medical school and you also gotthrough years of residency and
yet and still, theaccomplishment that you felt
(12:20):
after a two mile run was sosignificant that that changed
your life that's perspectiveright there, wow that's
perspective, absolutely,absolutely.
Speaker 2 (12:34):
And you know, for each person is going to be
something you guys hear me, wedo, sure, yeah, well, okay, and
for each, okay, it's got it.
Got it stuck for me for amoment.
But for each person in life, Ifeel like your turning point is
going to be different,absolutely Right.
It's going to be something thatjust hits a chord for you, that
(12:57):
makes you say that I don't wantthis, I want Right.
That's not serving me.
I can see the benefit in this,right here, right, and that
exhilaration, that man, thoseendorphins, they said, that run
us high.
Those endorphins kicked in.
It was like I had nothing elsegoing on in my life but that
(13:20):
moment and I was like, wow, itdidn't even seem like a lot to
do when we were doing it, butwhen I came back, I just felt so
good inside and then I did that.
That.
I created that Like.
You know what I mean.
It wasn't something outside ofme, it was something I could
rinse and repeat yeah, oh mygosh and I was like I can do
(13:41):
this.
Speaker 1 (13:42):
My God, I got to say something about because we say
this a lot here about findingyour community.
Whatever that is, find yourcommunity.
Whatever that is, find yourcommunity.
Because you mentioned MochaMoms.
That was your community, wherethere was someone who got you
what you needed in that moment,that you didn't even know, but
(14:03):
you had community.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
Yes, you were not by yourself.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
Absolutely, yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
You have to you have to Wow.
Speaker 2 (14:13):
Okay, so you were like I want some more of this
and being seen and beingappreciated Right, being seen,
heard, appreciated and somebodysaying you know, let's get out
of this rut right now, let's godo something else, let's get out
of the house Right.
And it's funny because allthese years just had her my
(14:34):
friend, her name is melody, shejust had her her 57th birthday
and we went to a spa here acouple, like maybe two weeks ago
, you know, and I mentioned toher.
I was like do you remember thatrun we did?
She doesn't she?
Speaker 3 (14:51):
didn't even know, it was not her thing.
Critical because because thatone was for you, diana, that was
not for her.
Yes, something else was for hershe had no idea.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
She was a critical part in that turning point for
me to do all this stuff I'mdoing now because it all started
on that day and that was theday I committed to myself that I
get to take care of me.
I get to.
I get to take care of me.
Yes, because I've been puttingso much energy out taking care
(15:26):
of the patients.
You know, you know, being thewife, being the mother, being
the all the things right, youknow how we do.
And then our own wellbeing ison the back burner and at that
moment I was like it ends today.
Right, it ends.
Today.
We turn a new leaf and I get tocreate a way of being that
(15:50):
supports my own wellbeing Right,so that I can continue to do
the other things I'm doing.
Well.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
Right, and that's self-agency right there.
Speaker 1 (16:01):
Right there, yeah, so so what kept you?
Because we oftentimes get thatmoment, or we get that moment
sometimes, and then we allow allthose things that you mentioned
about life to rob it from us.
You know, oh yeah, even do itfor a week, but then it's like,
(16:22):
okay, do you know what I mean?
What kept you?
What kept you?
Speaker 2 (16:26):
from me it was.
It was a clear.
You know distinction from thewoman on the floor crying in the
bathroom.
Speaker 1 (16:34):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (16:35):
I wasn't going back there, right, I just was not,
yeah, right.
So it was whenever I got thatmoment where, you know, I felt
like I wanted to just be lazy,just be, have a lazy day, you
know, and just not, you know, dowhatever it was I knew I needed
to do.
(16:56):
I would think about OK, do Iwant to?
It's almost like you'resettling, yes, right.
A lot of times we settle andthat's what it will feel to me,
because I've had many timeswhere I've gotten there where I
want to just not do the work,not implement.
I've gotten there where I wantto just not do the work, not
(17:18):
implement.
Not, you know, put in theeffort and just, you know, slack
.
We all have that moment rightwhere we're like, look, we're
just going to give ourselves abreak, you know we're going to,
you know, take it easy.
But then when you say that andyou don't put any time frame
around it and you kind of justlet it just continue on and on,
before you know it's been twomonths, you haven't done any
exercise right, it's been sixmonths.
Speaker 1 (17:38):
Yeah, it's harder to um.
I mean, it's physics, right,it's harder to get going from a
stop than it is to keep rollingright and go faster.
It's much harder to go from astop to a start, wow.
Speaker 2 (17:52):
Yeah, so what I remember and so I kept thinking
that was I don't want to go backthere, so I created this thing
very early on was I cannot gomore than three days without a
workout.
Speaker 1 (18:06):
Ah, okay, right, Put that stop.
That was a commitment to myself.
Speaker 2 (18:09):
when I would see myself falling off track, one of
the thing was okay, I'm notgoing to go more than three days
without movement.
Right, movement truly ismedicine.
Right, and especially for womenover 40, women over 50, right
that strength training is goingto support our skeletal
(18:29):
structure, so we don't have thathunched over kyphosis look, you
know, you see the older ladieskind of hunched over like that
with the demineralization of thebones and all of that.
So strength training, pickingup some weight, it's really
important for women over 40,right to support your skeletal
structure, your posture, youryou know your bone density,
(18:50):
prevent osteoporosis.
These are all longevity goals.
It's not for today.
You're doing this for what yourbody's going to be doing from a
functional standpoint whenyou're 50, 60, you know those
years later on your future selfDoing the movement now.
Doing the strength training nowis actually for the long haul
right.
Speaker 3 (19:13):
It's for your future self, diana.
I have a question.
So what I remember is that youstarted posting your workouts so
I mean with like muscles andyour contests that you were
doing and competitions and allof this stuff but you were never
one that you were doing andcompetitions and all of this
(19:34):
stuff, but you were never onethat you were never overweight.
I never saw you as a person whowas out of shape, you know Yet,
and still you said that this iswhere you're going to put your
energy.
Speaker 1 (19:49):
This is how you're going to take care of yourself.
But weight and health and bonesand all of that, aren't they
different things?
Because I remember when I wasat Penn, there was this
upperclassman and she wassomeone who you know was always
(20:10):
slim right and a friend of mine,dave, always was always slim
Right and, um, a friend of mine,um, dave, he was a runner and
he wouldn't make fun of herbecause she was so unhealthy.
I mean, it was just, you know,because he, he was this runner
and you would look at her, youknow she's slim and so on, but
he knew like she couldn't chasehim down the street or she
(20:33):
couldn't.
You know what I mean, she, hewould mess with her all the time
.
And that kind of clicked in myhead, in my, and it comes back
right now just because you, youdon't, you're not carrying
weight, it doesn't mean thatyou're not, that you're healthy.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (20:48):
Yeah, and we and those two things.
So add even to that issometimes you'll have people who
are a healthy BMI right, thebody mass index.
So for their height, the weightthey have is, you know,
adequate, However, theircholesterol, their glucose right
, their blood pressure theirstress management.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
Metabolically, they're a mess.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
Yeah.
So, all those things could beall over the place, but they may
have the right weight for theirheight.
So you can't always assume thatbecause someone fits for their
height, what the weight is thatfrom a metabolic standpoint?
Speaker 3 (21:26):
that they're actually well and that doesn't portend
good health for the future.
Absolutely, they portend goodhealth for the future.
Speaker 2 (21:31):
Absolutely, so you could have somebody that's even
20, 30 pounds overweight havebetter endurance, better
strength, right, and be able torun circles around that person
who, you know, may be a lighterweight for their height, but
they just, you know, they don'thave the physical fitness to go
(21:52):
with it.
Right?
I'm a huge proponent ofpersonal development, so I went
to an emotional intelligencetraining, right, and that's
where fitness coaching came infor me, because all of this just
lined up beautifully.
I had done the bodybuildingcompetition, right, I was doing
therapy.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
Not right.
Wait, wait, wait.
She's like I'm doingbodybuilding, right.
Speaker 1 (22:15):
It's like wait, like no, not right, like what do you
mean?
You don't get to just jump overthat?
What?
Speaker 3 (22:24):
You got to see some pictures.
It's like what?
Speaker 1 (22:29):
You know, with the poses Please yeah, I went down,
don't do this like.
Please yeah, I went down, don'tdo it like that.
Speaker 2 (22:34):
Yeah, I went down 30 pounds and lost all the baby
weight.
Abs came popping out like what.
That was funny.
Speaker 3 (22:44):
It was like abs where you been.
It's so funny because my absright now they're like you can't
hit me now.
Speaker 2 (22:55):
They're coming, they're coming, yeah, so that
was so transformative as well isgoing through the whole process
of doing a bodybuildingcompetition and learning about
my body, like learning whatworks for me when it comes to
learning what types of movementsto do right, because not
everyone needs to be a runnerRight, I ended up learning to do
(23:18):
to play tennis.
That was my form of cardio.
So, being open to various typesof movement, being open to
learning to swim Right, a lot ofus don't know how to swim and
it's a great cardio, especiallyfor women in, you know, forties,
fifties and beyond, because ithas no weight bearing Can we
(23:40):
hold on to the side.
Speaker 1 (23:43):
You said some of us don't know how to swim.
That was a conviction here.
Can we just hold on to the side?
Can we get?
Can?
Speaker 3 (23:49):
we get, but we can.
No, you can wear floaties, wehave floaties there you go adult
floaties.
Okay, that's right, they don'thave to be adult.
They don't have to be adult.
You'll wear the toddler oneswith um?
Speaker 1 (24:00):
no, no, they just have to be floaties with funfob
square pants on them.
Floaties that fit, floatiesthat fit, floaties that fit.
Speaker 2 (24:08):
That's it you don't have to categorize.
Swimming is a great cardio.
You could burn enough caloriesswimming like you were doing a
Tabata.
You know like Tabata, highintensity workout you don't know
what Tabata is.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
You're speaking like wah, wah, wah.
She's like a Tabata.
Is that a steak on Tabata?
Wait what?
Speaker 2 (24:38):
Tabata is a type of HIIT routine right, yeah.
Speaker 3 (24:42):
HIIT.
Speaker 2 (24:43):
It's a type of HIIT routine, but it's super, super
effective, high-intensitytraining.
Speaker 1 (24:47):
High-intensity interval training, right?
Is that HIIT?
Yes, high-intensity intervaltraining it's.
Is that it?
High intensity interval?
Speaker 2 (24:52):
training.
But what makes it Tabata iswhen you have a two to one ratio
, Unless when we talk.
The next time you and I talk,you're going to learn all about
Tabata.
Guess who's going to be doingit, you Lose my number.
Speaker 3 (25:11):
This lady is a mom of two.
This lady is a doctor of two.
This lady is a doctor.
I signed up with her programand you got to see the materials
and the way that she put herfitness and wellness program
together.
It is off the chain.
She has videos, there's a mealprep and meal programs.
(25:32):
Sundays are for meal prep.
You get yourself together.
She talks about macros andnutrient training, about how we
should be eating every day.
Listen, I'm in Now, now, now,but let's talk about the long
term.
Speaker 1 (25:51):
I'm also kind of full of it.
Speaker 3 (25:53):
Haven't started reading this stuff yet.
She even gives CME to medicalprofessionals or people who can
use the CME continuing medicaleducation.
The program is amazing andwe're obviously going to put
links and invite you to her nextmaster class and tell you how
to sign up and consultations andall of these things.
Speaker 1 (26:17):
What was most?
Speaker 3 (26:18):
interesting to me is that she really spoke about the
things about menopause and youknow we've done our menopause
series the impact of some ofthese fitness tips and different
mindsets, how it can help yourmenopause journey and make it
less unpleasant.
Speaker 1 (26:39):
Okay, that's awesome.
Okay, diana, the floor is yours.
You're going to tell us aboutyour program, and who are you
thinking about?
Speaker 2 (26:58):
Who's the woman that you have in mind when you think
about how you developed yourprogram?
I had a woman that's like me,right.
I had an African-American woman, a woman who's super smart, you
(27:20):
know, gifted in so many ways,serving so many people, doing
amazing things, but quietlysuffering, quietly, not well,
she's the strong one, right,she's the one everyone comes to
(27:40):
for support and she's giving,and you know, and doing, just
giving, giving, giving and doingall those things for everyone
else.
She has an amazing career, youknow, um, she's got team, she's
got the OR, she's got the ER,she's got boardroom.
She's got, you know, she's gotbusinesses.
You know she's got all thisstuff going on.
(28:02):
So, on paper she looks fantastic, right, but her wellness is in
turmoil.
It's the one space, it's theone area that she just can't get
it together.
You can't get her meals right,right?
She's dressing up the fat,right, we do that a lot, right,
(28:25):
we dress it up, um, say it likethat dressing up, the fat
dressing up, the fact why yougotta say that it is a fact that
we dress up the fact I have adwarf of Spanx black.
But this is the thing nohorizontal stripes.
(28:45):
Yeah, we feel that, look, youknow, it's not that bad, right,
we always kind of just minimizewhat this is.
But then I see us in the ER,right, because, remember, I'm an
ER doctor, so I see what welook like when we show up, right
(29:05):
, and when we show up.
So much of what we, as blackwomen, are showing up with are
things that are preventable.
Right, there are things thatare preventable, but we have not
made it a priority.
Let's just call it what it isright, we haven't made it a
priority.
Speaker 3 (29:25):
Because we're busy.
We're busy and helping otherpeople.
Speaker 2 (29:30):
Well, everyone else is busy, right, everyone else is
busy across all.
You know ethnicities, right,but we haven't been trained,
right, we haven't beenindoctrinated we have.
You know, fitness and wellnesshasn't been something that has
(29:51):
been indoctrinated in us.
To look up to doing that RightFor our counterparts, you know
that right for our counterparts,you know, uh, white women,
other women of other races,fitness is a big deal for them,
right, a lot of them make theeffort and when I first started
my program for the first fewyears, it was almost all white
(30:12):
women coming in and I was likewhat is going on?
Yeah, this was not.
Speaker 3 (30:19):
It's not a priority.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
I hope this.
This is not how I hoped itwould go, but those are the
people who came in and you knowthey understood that this was
important to them.
They came in.
They did amazing.
Um, I continue to not give up on, you know, targeting black
women because our statistics areterrible.
(30:42):
Right, four out of five blackwomen are either obese or
overweight.
That's 80 percent of us, right.
So, you know, some people maysay, oh, you know, we've got big
bone and this, that, and youknow, no, this is real data.
Four out of five of us areobese or overweight.
Right, a lot of us arepre-diabetic and don't even know
(31:05):
it because we're not going tothe doctor asking for our
hemoglobin a1c level, which weshould be asking for, right.
So anyone that comes in to workwith me, we're literally doing
preventative care, even thoughI'm not their physician.
But anyone that comes in, I'mgoing through a list of have you
had your magnesium check?
(31:25):
Have you had your thyroid check?
Have you had your iron check?
Because so many people arefatigued and they don't know why
they're fatigued.
It could be some sort ofdeficiency.
Speaker 1 (31:36):
Right, it could be a deficiency and that interferes
with their energy to work outRight, it could be a deficient,
and that interferes with theirenergy to work out.
Speaker 2 (31:41):
So it's a cycle, yeah .
So if you don't, if it'ssomething as simple as a
supplement you can take you knowB12, folate, magnesium, you
know iron, one of these thingsor is it menopause that's making
you so fatigued?
Because fatigue is a majorsymptom.
You know of menopause, right?
Major symptom.
(32:04):
You know of menopause, right?
So is it that that's making youfatigued, right?
Is it what you're eating?
You have a lot of sugar in yourdiet, right?
So then we start looking forcauses of why you feel the way
you feel.
You're not coming in to just doa meal plan and a workout plan.
You're coming in literally fora holistic transformation of
(32:24):
your overall wellbeing.
We're talking about your mentalhealth.
I have people who come in, Ihave guest speakers who come in
to talk about our mental health.
Even two of my current clientsare psychiatrists and both of
them are gonna be guest speakersin the program.
I have somebody come in to domeditation.
I have somebody come in to domeditation.
I have somebody come in to talkabout trauma.
Right, I had a traumapsychiatrist come in to talk
(32:47):
about how trauma affects yourability to see yourself as a
healthy person, as an athlete,right, yeah.
So, just when we walk aroundwith all of this stuff going on
inside of us and it hasn't beencalled out, you haven't named it
, you haven't addressed it.
You know what I mean, and soit's not just about weight loss.
(33:10):
So this is the perspective Itake on this.
It is a longevity game.
It is a longevity game.
It is thriving throughperimenopause, is thriving in
your nutrition, is understandingwhich foods you need, so you
don't even need medication.
Sometimes.
If you're starting your daywith a sugary drink, you're
(33:33):
starting your day basicallyshutting down your ability to
burn fat because your body's toobusy trying to get all the
sugar out of you, right, and outof the bloodstream, wow.
So, instead of starting withthat, if you start with green
tea, green tea is a natural fatburner, right?
Green tea is anti-inflammatory.
(33:53):
Menopause is a cesspool ofinflammation.
That's all it is, becauseeverything that was protecting
you in your 30s and 40s is gone.
All you're left with estrogenis a potent anti-inflammatory
chemical.
So, when estrogen is gone, yourjoints hurt, your back hurt,
(34:14):
right?
You've got vaginal dryness.
You've got, you know, hotflashes.
You've got all thisinflammation flared up in your
body and you wonder why you feellike crap, right?
So how do you reverse that?
By eating well.
But if I just told you go eatwell and I didn't give you the
(34:35):
backstory, it wouldn't makesense.
That's right, yes, when Iunderstand it.
Then if I'm not doing it and Iknow that it's good for me and I
know why it's good for me andI'm not doing it then I need to
call myself out.
There you go again, diana,self-sabotaging.
Why are you doing that?
What are you afraid of?
(34:56):
Yes, right, are you?
Are you in your mind stillthinking you cannot do this?
This is not going to work foryou, so you're finding ways to
prove yourself.
It's not going to work, soyou're self-sabotaging.
Speaker 3 (35:07):
Let's talk about it wow, this is all right, stop
right there real deal, holyfield tell our, tell our
audience how they can reach you.
All right, what's the best way?
Obviously, we're going to putall the links in the episode
(35:28):
notes so you all will be able toreach out to her and her
socials and all of that.
But you see why I brought thislady to you all.
You see why I brought this ladyto you all.
I'm telling you, I wasconvicted, and here I'm doing my
little workouts and this anddoing my best, but I understand
that I'm also self-sabotaging,yeah, and the mind-body
(35:51):
connection was what hit it forme and I said look, I can't go
down like that.
Speaker 1 (35:57):
I can't go down like that.
I'm definitely going to checkit out and it's like once you
know you can't unsee it yeah.
Right.
Speaker 2 (36:05):
Once you know, okay, I am the common denominator,
it's all my business.
Speaker 3 (36:11):
It's got to be me Right.
Speaker 1 (36:14):
Stop with the cutting , Stop with the come on now.
Speaker 2 (36:18):
It's the inner work.
This is an incredible body ofinner work.
Okay, and in all honesty.
Speaker 3 (36:26):
I love that about you because so much of fitness, a
lot of it is not the inner work.
When I signed up for trainingand joined the gym, the first
thing they said to me was howmuch weight do you want to lose?
And I said in all honesty, Isaid I don't.
(36:48):
I'm not here to lose weight,I'm here to get stronger.
Speaker 2 (36:52):
There it is.
Speaker 3 (36:53):
I'm here to get stronger and I know from being a
physician that when you getstronger and when you move your
body and exercise, the weightwill come off.
But I really want.
Speaker 2 (37:02):
I want to be strong and people are like what's going
on?
You know it doesn't even feellike I'm doing a lot, but you
are doing a mental work right.
You're taking ownership.
And that's what's different,different you're taking
ownership of your life now,right, and you're being
(37:22):
responsible in a way you haven'tbefore.
You're eating with purpose,you're.
You know, I went to a birthdayparty last weekend and did not
drink alcohol, girl, you knowwhat I mean.
Yeah, and and I would not havebeen able to do that some time
ago, because you have to get in.
That mindset, you know, of thisis where I am right.
(37:46):
This month, we're going alcoholfree, right, let's give our
liver a break, right?
But to answer your question,people can find me on Dr Di
Fitness, which is my Facebookpage.
It is the public Facebookfitness page.
That's where I post, you knowall the webinars and you know
masterclasses and events andthings that are coming up.
(38:08):
Dr Di Fitness, so it's D-R-D-I.
Then fitness On Facebook, onInstagram, is Dr Di Fit Life,
all right, d-r-d-i-f-i-t-l-i-f-e.
Yes, so those are the two.
Me, I have a LinkedIn.
I have a.
Linkedin as well.
Speaker 3 (38:26):
Okay.
Speaker 2 (38:33):
I have a free fitness accountability group for
professional women.
It's called Professional WomenGetting Fit.
It's a free group.
I do five day challenges inthere.
We did a back in May.
May I gave away a Peloton.
I don't know if you rememberLes.
Speaker 1 (38:43):
I gave away a Peloton bike.
Speaker 2 (38:45):
So we did a five day challenge and I gave away a
Peloton bike.
So that group is great becauseit's got a lot of content.
I've had that group for eightyears so it's a lot of training.
You know in there that you canlisten to and you know, just to
get you started, I have modulesin there to follow to get
(39:05):
started, but yeah.
Speaker 3 (39:08):
And for people.
She even offers CME orcontinuing medical education
credits for people who are ableto use that in their professions
.
Speaker 2 (39:17):
Yes, so we have 35 hours of continuing medical
education credits because theprogram really is for your
wellbeing, right?
We know that physician womenare a very high risk group for,
you know, mental health rightFor suicide.
We're 2.7 times more likelyphysician women 2.7 times more
(39:41):
likely to harm ourselves andkill ourselves than any other
professional female populationin the US.
Deal with long work hours andmedicine is structured in a way
that the longer you work and themore you grind yourself into
(40:05):
the ground.
They praise that right.
Taking time off is notsomething that is applauded,
right, and a lot of us we wedon't talk about it stress the
burnout and all the things we'regoing through.
Speaker 3 (40:18):
So who do you talk to .
Very often you know people seeyou as this able and capable
physician.
What you?
You know that suffering andsilence is is real.
Speaker 2 (40:30):
And that's what I said at the top of this this
talk was you look amazing onpaper but you're truly suffering
in a way that I mean you don'tfeel like you can go out and
talk to somebody about it.
Right, Because you're theperson everyone's coming to.
So to have this community thatI've created, where the women in
(40:51):
there you know, I've got aclient right now who's a VP for
a university in West VirginiaRight, We've got physicians in
there, We've got you know.
So these are really top levelwomen, right, and this is where
they come to talk about howthey're feeling, because they
know these other women get itRight, yeah.
Speaker 3 (41:13):
Right yeah.
Speaker 2 (41:15):
And then we can get on our one-on-one sessions, you
know, and really tweak theprogram to meet their specific
needs, whatever it is for them,whether it's energy strength you
know mobility, you know sleep,you know stress management.
I've had people leave thisprogram and get raises at work,
(41:36):
right.
I've had one client start awhole business, wow, from this
program.
So it's something that reallysupports your personal
development and giving you these35 hours.
Any kind of medicalprofessional can use this
physicians, nurses, dentists,right.
I don't know if veterinarians,but dentists, you know.
(42:01):
Psychologists, you know socialworkers.
So it has a pretty broadcoverage of who can use those
continuing credit and you canuse your FlexPending account.
Speaker 3 (42:14):
I was just going to mention that Wonderful.
This is a wellness program.
So you can use your HSA and FSAaccounts to cover the costs of
this program.
It's amazing If you have thosebenefits, beautiful, wow.
So I think we're at the end.
Any other last question orcomment Ange?
Speaker 1 (42:33):
No, it's, you know.
I'm just thinking about thefuture self because we've had a
conversation I think we have anepisode recorded about the
future you, and I think I askedthe question what is your future
you thanking you for, for whatyou're doing now, and so that's
(42:54):
where my head has been.
Like I'm planning to moveabroad.
It's okay.
What is?
What is that person umapplauding me for, for having,
um chosen the path that I didright now, and so, um, this is
yeah you may be, I may be comingup pp cluck cluck behind you,
(43:16):
les.
Speaker 2 (43:19):
I might be doing just that, I mean it's a beautiful
way to celebrate yourself Right,it's a beautiful way to
celebrate, and we do retreatstoo, so we have our retreat
coming up in January we're goingto Jamaica.
Speaker 3 (43:32):
Tell her again where we're going.
I told her Where's Jamaica.
Speaker 1 (43:38):
What part of Jamaica?
Speaker 2 (43:39):
Well, that's the next step, because we're trying to
lock down the hotel.
So we're looking at Negril orMontego Bay, negril is the one.
Speaker 1 (43:47):
Do Negril.
I can go visit my family.
No, negril, I'd vote Negril.
Speaker 2 (43:52):
It's like A you know, I've done Montego Bay before
myself.
So I'm actually leaning towardNegril because I've done my
Jigga Bay before myself.
So I'm actually leaning towardNegros because I've never done.
Speaker 1 (44:02):
Negros, negros is beautiful but yeah.
Speaker 2 (44:04):
so you know we get to celebrate ourselves at the
retreat and, you know, get tomeet each other in person and we
do fabulous.
You know, things at the retreat, Like the last one we did in
Turks and Caicos, we did theclear kayak photo shoot with the
drone on top.
I don't know if you guys seenthose and you're laying in the
(44:26):
kayak and you've got pedalsaround you.
Speaker 3 (44:30):
I gotta get bikini ready, ready no, you don't you.
Speaker 2 (44:35):
you get to show up how you show up it's a change,
it's a change.
Thank you so much, Diana.
Thanks so much for having me.
This is wonderful.
Speaker 3 (44:47):
Yeah, I had to bring her.
I had.
I told you, you did, you toldme you told me.
Speaker 1 (44:51):
You told me I believed you.
But it's good to experience it.
But you had to see for yourself.
Speaker 3 (44:56):
It's good to experience it.
Thank you so much for beingwith us.
Thank you, my dear Love youalways.
And this has been anotherepisode of Black Boomer Besties
from Brooklyn.
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