Health News with Steven and Mady - Glucose and The Thrive Formula Way

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Feeling wrung out by that 3 p.m. crash? We dig into a clear, practical way to steady your energy without banning your favorite foods. Shannon Hagel’s Thrive Formula centers on three moves—nourish, move, and measure—and we pair it with the Stello continuous glucose monitor to turn guesswork into clarity. Instead of rigid rules, you get small, repeatable actions: build balanced plates, take a 10-minute walk after meals, and use real-time data to see what your body loves and what sends it spinning.

We start with Glucose 101—how fuel enters cells, why spikes and crashes happen, and how processed carbs, skipped meals, stress, and poor sleep nudge your numbers around. From there, we map the Thrive Trio into daily life: protein-first eating, savory breakfasts for steadier mornings, and smart food pairing that lets pasta stay on the menu when you add chicken and olive oil. A CGM makes it personal. You might discover granola spikes you more than cake, or that coffee lands better after breakfast. Two people can eat the same meal and see opposite curves, which is exactly why personal data beats one-size-fits-all plans.

You’ll hear wins that translate to the real world. Linda found calm energy in three weeks. Mark, a 52-year-old truck driver, lowered his A1C from 6.3 to 5.5 in two months by fine-tuning sauces and sides. We also share simple, science-backed tactics: a short post-meal walk, the vinegar trick before carb-heavy meals, and sleep and stress habits that smooth your fasting glucose. Rather than chasing fast weight loss, we focus on root causes across gut, endocrine, and circulation so you build a metabolism that can handle more variety over time.

Ready to trade crashes for consistency? Follow the Thrive Formula, try a CGM to learn your unique fingerprint, and start with one easy win today. If this conversation helped, follow the show, share it with a friend who battles the afternoon slump, and leave a quick review so more people can find it.

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Order your copy today of "Achieve Optimal Brain Health with Nutrition," by Stefan McDermott.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DYWMB929

www.stefanmcdermott.com

Would you like Santa Claus and Mrs. Claus to come to your home or office? Contact The Santa Steven at [e-mail] or book a party on https://www.gigsalad.com/the_santa_steven_aubrey or call 469-230-5956 for more information.

Episode Transcript

Steven (00:27):
Good morning, Cross Roads.
Welcome back to Health Newswith Steven and Mady, where we
break down the science ofstaying healthy into something
you can actually use, liketoday.

Mady (00:41):
That's right.
Because if you've ever had that3 p.m.
crash where you tray your carfor a donut, today's episode is
for you.

Steven (00:51):
Yeah.
Or you've ever felt like yourenergy runs out faster than your
phone battery, we've got a fixfor that.
Before we get started, a littledisclaimer.
Maddie and I are not doctors ornurses.
We do not diagnose or treatpatients.
Anything we share on thispodcast is for educational

(01:11):
purposes only and does notsubstitute for professional
medical advice.
We advise listeners to consulta medical professional or health
care provider if they seekmedical advice, diagnosis, or
treatment.

Mady (01:27):
Okay.
Today we are diving into theThrive Formula by Shannon Hagel,
a powerful practical programthat helps people balance their
body and reclaim their energywithout giving up all the foods
they love.

Steven (01:42):
And we'll talk about one of our favorite tools, the
Stello Continuous GlucoseMonitor, or CGM, a small device
that shows exactly how your bodyreacts to food in real time.
It's like having a traffic copinside your bloodstream saying,
Whoa, too much sugar comingthrough.

Mady (02:04):
Okay, Steven, let's start simple.
What's actually happening whenyour glucose levels go up and
down?

Steven (02:12):
Good question.
Think of glucose as fuel.
Every cell in your body runs onit.
You eat food, carbs especially,and your body turns that into
glucose.
The hormone, insulin, then actslike a key to let the glucose
into your cells.

Mady (02:30):
So far, so good.
Until the system gets messy.

Steven (02:35):
Exactly.
Too much sugar, processedfoods, skipping meals, all that
causes spikes and crashes.
Your body can't keep up.
And you end up tired, cranky,and craving more sugar and just
plain hangry.

Mady (02:52):
Yeah.
And that's where the ThriveFormula steps in.
Shannon Hagel builds thisprogram around stabilizing those
ups and downs, not with strictdiets, but by teaching your body
to thrive through smarterchoices and steady energy.

Steven (03:10):
So Mady, when you first heard about Shannon Hagel's
program, what stood out to you?

Mady (03:16):
Honestly, the simplicity.
She breaks it down into threemain steps.
What she calls the Thrive Trio.
Number one, nourish.
Choose balanced meals thatcombine protein, healthy fats,
and slow carbs.
Number two, move.

(03:36):
Gentle daily movement to helpyour muscles use glucose more
efficiently.
And number three, use toolslike the Stello CGM to
understand your body's uniqueresponses.

Steven (03:51):
And it's not one of those never eat bread again kind
of programs.
It's about pairing foodssmartly.
Like if you love pasta, addsome chicken and olive oil.
That slows the glucose spike.

Mady (04:06):
Exactly.
And it's flexible.
You can follow it even if youare a busy parent working long
hours or you know, podcastingabout health instead of leaving
it.

Steven (04:19):
Guilty.
But real talk.
Uh Shannon says the goal isn'tperfection, it's awareness.

Mady (04:26):
Yeah, that's true.
And let's talk results.
Shannon shared stories from herclients.
One woman, Linda, said she wentfrom constant fatigue and sugar
cravings to steady energy allday within three weeks.

Steven (04:42):
Yeah, and Mark, a 52-year-old truck driver, saw
his A1C drop from 6.3 to 5.5 intwo months just by following the
Thrive formula and using hisStello CGM to fine-tune his
meals.

Mady (05:00):
That's huge.
And he didn't have to give uphis morning coffee or his
favorite barbecue, just swappedin better sights and learned
which sauces sent his glucosesky high.

Steven (05:13):
Shannon also tracks what she calls energy consistency.
People report better sleep,fewer afternoon crashes, and
improved focus.

Mady (05:26):
I love that she celebrates progress and not punishment.
One client said this programmade me friends with my body
again.

Steven (05:36):
Now that's something worth thriving for.
That's exactly right.
Well, before we jump to ournext segment, a quick word from
today's episode partners, theSanta Stephen and Stefan
McDermott Publishing.
And now for a commercialannouncement from our man from

(05:58):
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He's coming soon.

Commercial (06:13):
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(06:35):
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(07:21):
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(08:29):
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(09:12):
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(09:33):
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Mady (09:39):
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Steven (09:53):
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For Stefan McDermott's amazingbook, go to Amazon.com and

(10:14):
search for Achieve Optimal BrainHealth with Nutrition by Stefan
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Mady (10:44):
All right, let's talk tech.
The stellar continuous glucosemonitor.
This little device is amazing.

Steven (10:53):
It's about the size of a coin.
It sticks to the back of yourarm and tracks your glucose
24-7.
Instead of finger pricking fivetimes a day, you can just
glance at your phone and seewhat's happening inside your
body.
I used to get tickled at thatcommercial that they did for the
finger prickers by B.B.

(11:13):
King.
He he always was complainingabout how that interfered with
his playtime with Lucille.

Mady (11:20):
And actually, just before we started a podcast, you change
my uh Stello uh CGM.
It's it's amazing.
Like, oh, that muffin made myglucose uh go up 40 points.
Bang, instant feedback.

Steven (11:40):
Exactly.
That's what makes Shannon'sprogram so effective.
When you see your glucoseresponse, you start making
smarter choices.
And not because someone toldyou to, but because your own
data proves it.

Mady (11:56):
It's kind of addictive in a good way.
You start thinking like ascientist.
What happens if I eat breakfastfirst, then coffee?

Steven (12:07):
Or do I really spike from that granola bar?
Spoiler alert.
Sometimes granola bar is worsethan cake.

Mady (12:16):
Yeah, true.
This is why, you know, thispast weekend we just made our
own granola.
And it's so tasty.

Steven (12:25):
Boy, is that a fact.
Man, it smelled so good.
Oh, yeah.
Cooking.
Oh man, I wanted a bite rightthen and there, but I gotta wait
till tomorrow morning'sbreakfast.
Yes.
But I'm looking forward to it.
Absolutely.
And Stello Zap is easy, itgives you graphs and helps you
learn your unique glucosefingerprint.

Mady (12:48):
Yes, that's the magic world.
Unique.
Because two people, like thetwo of us, can eat the same
meal.
One will spike me while theother one stays stable.

Steven (13:01):
Yes, and we both experienced that side by side
when we were both wearing astello at the same time.
Yes.
Yours would go through theroof, and mine would just stay
stable.
And we ate the exact samething.
So it it really is unique toyou.

Mady (13:17):
Because it was my unique response of my body to what I
ate.

Steven (13:23):
Absolutely.
All right, Mady.
Let's give the listeners a feweasy wins.
Okay.

Mady (13:30):
Tip one eat protein first.
Start your meal with chicken,eggs, beans, salmon.
Have a savory breakfast, not asweet one.
That slows how fast glucoseenters your bloodstream.

Steven (13:48):
Tip two.
After each meal, move.
A 10-minute walk after dinnerhelps your muscles use up that
glucose before it starts turningit into storage.

Mady (14:01):
And tip three, sleep and stress matter.
Lack of sleep or high stressraises glucose even without
food.

Steven (14:13):
One of my favorites, the vinegar trick.
A tablespoon of apple cidervinegar diluted in a glass of
water before a carb-heavy mealcan flatten your glucose curve.
But please don't take itstraight from the bottle.

Mady (14:31):
Yes, we want thriving listeners, not coughing ones.
Steven, I want to tell thelisteners that I am trying the
Thrive formula myself, as youwell know.

Steven (14:43):
Yes, and I am following it right along with you.

Mady (14:48):
Yes, and I found out what foods and food combinations were
sending my glucose up to themoon.

Steven (14:57):
And this is great.
And now you are following ameal plan.

Mady (15:01):
Yes, the program is giving you several meal plan options,
very well balanced and tasty, asyou noticed yourself.

Steven (15:11):
Yeah, I gotta admit, these meal plans are awesome.
I yeah, we we have tried somany different diets.
We try, if you remember in thelast health segment where we
were talking about weight, uh,we tried the Ppaleo, we tried
the Keto, we tried theHiltonhead.
I mean, we've tried justliterally about every diet

(15:32):
that's out there, and we've gotthe books to prove it.
And you know, you you got tokeep plugging away, you got to
keep trying.
Don't ever get discouraged andgive up.
You can't do that.
You must move forward.
Right now, this Thrive program,I'm telling you, it is working

(15:53):
amazing.
And it works at a good, evenpace.
It's not rushed.
Because the one thing that wefound out is every time we got
on a diet that caused us to losea great amount of weight in a
short amount of period of time,we always wound up getting it
right back on and then some.
So this one's actually workingslowly, which is good.

(16:15):
You shouldn't drop weight tooquickly, that's not healthy.
So I think that's veryimportant.
I wanted to point that out.

Mady (16:23):
But something else that I want to add is the fact that
those are diets.
This is a program that'saddressing the root cause, which
is very important becauseyou're getting on a diet and you
know what you're doing, you'rejust patching the issue, the
problem.
But if you don't find a rootcause why your body is reacting

(16:47):
like that, then you will neverever be healthy and back to
normal again.
This program is uh um helpingmy body address some uh uh
systems, the gut system,circulatory, endocrine, and it's
so very important.
After a while, your body willbe balanced back to normal, and

(17:12):
this is when you can reintroducethe foods that you had to stay
off for a while while you arehealing.

Steven (17:22):
Absolutely.
Well, are you happy that youdiscovered the Thrive Formula
program?

Mady (17:28):
Oh, yes, very.
I got on this the program thispast Monday, and I've already
seen big changes.
Not only that I lost 1.4 poundsin five days, but my festing
glucose on the third day of theprogram was 111, lower than

(17:50):
ever.
My glucose graph looks smootherthan a jazz playlist.
Yay! Yes.
All right, friends, today welearned that keeping your
glucose steady isn't about beingperfect, it's about paying
attention.

Steven (18:08):
The Thrive formula by Shannon Hagel gives you the
tools, and the Stello G C GMgives you the insight to finally
understand exactly what yourbody needs.

Mady (18:22):
If you'd like to learn more about Shannon's program,
visit Thriveformula.com on findher on social media.

Steven (18:32):
And remember, energy, focus, better mood, and fewer
sugar crashes are possible whenyou thrive instead of just
survive.

Mady (18:43):
That's a wrap for today's health news with Stephen and
Maddie.

Steven (18:48):
Stay curious, stay healthy, and stay thriving.
For more questions or answers,or how to reach anybody on the
program, or if you want to be aguest, contact us at Crossroads
Podcast2023@ gmail.com and we'llget those questions answered or

(19:12):
get you on the air.
So until next week with moreamazing guests, I'll see you at
the top.
Bye bye.
Bye bye.