December 28, 2023 • 28 mins
In this episode, host Terri Kellums discusses the importance of health and the top three health goals for 2024: mental, physical, and financial health. She shares her personal health challenges and highlights the need to focus on these areas. Terri explores statistics on financial health, life expectancy, and common health issues. She delves into weight loss and the various diets people follow. The conversation then shifts to exercise and the importance of building muscle mass. Terri shares her experience with intermittent fasting and emphasizes the need to measure progress beyond just the scale. She provides tips for improving health, including reducing stress, finding joy, and being kind. The episode concludes with a discussion of financial responsibility, giving back, and finding passion and purpose in life.
Takeaways
- The top three health goals for 2024 are mental health, physical health, and financial health.
- Weight loss is a popular topic, but focusing on overall health and strength is important rather than just being thin.
- Exercise, particularly building muscle mass, is crucial for longevity.
- Intermittent fasting can be effective for weight loss and overall health improvement.
- Reducing stress, finding joy, and being kind are essential for a healthy lifestyle.
- Financial responsibility and sustainability are important aspects of overall health.
- Giving back and finding passion and purpose contribute to a fulfilling and healthy life.
Chapters
00:00
Introduction and Personal Health Challenges
01:26
Financial Health
03:21
Life Expectancy and Health Statistics
03:51
Weight Loss and Diets
07:08
Exercise and Physical Health
08:59
Intermittent Fasting and Measuring Progress
09:27
Tips for Improving Health
14:39
Reducing Stress and Finding Joy
18:51
Financial Responsibility and Sustainability
20:15
Giving Back and Being Kind
23:02
Finding Passion and Purpose
25:24
Celebrating Small Steps and Changing Mindset
26:21
Conclusion
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
You're listening to the what Women Want Today
podcast.
If you love the idea of beingpart of a community of women who
are looking to thrive, not justsurvive, you're in the right
place.
Join hosts Terry Cullums andAmanda Keeper each week, as they
bring you topics and guests tohelp you improve your
relationships, your health andyour emotional and spiritual
(00:23):
well-being.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
And today we are on day four of the 12 Days of
Christmas series, and we'regoing to be talking about health
.
So, interestingly enough, thetop three things that people
will be setting goals around in2024 are mental health, physical
health and financial health,and I don't find that really
very surprising at all.
(00:57):
I know for myself personally.
2023 brought quite a few healthchallenges.
I was in a life-threateningmotorcycle accident, I got
diagnosed with arthritis in myknee, I had a thyroid nodule
that had to be biopsied, myhusband had a skin cancer scare
and, most recently, I had aprocedure done because they
(01:20):
suspected uterine cancer.
So when I say that I had tofocus a lot on my health this
year, I am not even exaggeratinga little bit, but I've always
been someone that's healthconscious.
I've always cared a lot aboutmy diet and I've been an
exerciser for years, so I'm notreally surprised, though, when I
(01:41):
started digging into this topictoday some of the things that
would drive people towardsfocusing on health.
Now I've got a couple ofstatistics here for you, so
let's talk about, let's seewhere do we start here.
Let's talk about financialhealth.
(02:02):
So when people are focusing onfinancial health, they're
focusing on increased savings,reducing debt and for some of
them, it'll be creating anotherincome stream.
I know I am working onsomething now that I'll be
talking to you about in the daysto come, so make sure you're
following on Instagram.
(02:23):
Make sure you're subscribed tothe YouTube channel.
There might be some changes onthe podcast as we gear more
towards YouTube.
So there's lots of people outthere that are looking to create
another stream of incomebecause we've seen some
instability in the job market.
And when we talk about physicaland mental health, it could be
(02:46):
improving the quality of yoursleep, being more mindful about
healthy eating, exercise,managing stress and prioritizing
self care.
So let's talk about financialfor a moment.
In the US, credit card debt isat an all time high, for America
is currently over $1 trillionof credit card debt, and the
(03:11):
average is out to be $5,733 percredit card holder.
This is an all time high inAmerica.
That leaves only 23% ofAmericans that can say they are
debt free.
Switching gears a little bit,let's talk about the life
expectancy in America.
We're currently at about 79.11years.
(03:31):
It's a little bit higher forwomen than men.
Heart disease remains theleading cause of death for both
men and women, and that is notjust in the US, that is
worldwide, and the US has thelowest life expectancy at birth
and the highest death rate foravoidable or treatable
(03:51):
conditions, and we also have thehighest suicide rate.
The amount of antidepressantsprescribed has increased 34.8%
in the last six years.
So it really is not a surprisethat health remains at the top
of our minds and we're thinkingabout like what habits do we
(04:13):
need to change for 2024 to getcloser to the life that we
really want, the health that wereally want?
I wanted to start out withweight loss.
Weight loss is such a big topic.
It's such a big money makingindustry in America and I
started thinking about, you know, like my mom when I was growing
up she was a very big yo-yodietter.
(04:36):
Like I watched her yo-yo dietpretty much my whole life and
the way that that affected mewas that I didn't really want to
diet.
I didn't really want to have tothink about deprivation or
everything I put in my mouth,and so I can't say I've been on
a lot of like quote-unquotediets.
(04:58):
As far as like some kind oforganized type diet that has an
actual name to it, I don'treally remember if I've been on,
I've had some very poor dietchoices.
I remember in my gosh early 20sMust have been very early maybe
even late teens my sister and Iwe just focused so much on well
(05:22):
, I won't say that we focused somuch on being thin, but I don't
think we focused enough onnutrition.
So we had some terrible healthhabits.
We would eat like toast forbreakfast, cereal for lunch,
soup for dinner, and maybe someof that was to do with the
amount of money we were makingat the time.
Maybe we were like poor collegestudents, but I have made some
(05:43):
really poor diet choices in mylife and fortunately, over the
years it's taken a much higherpriority and I've gotten better
at it.
But when I started thinkingabout all of the stuff I hear
and all the research I do andall the groups I belong to, I
started making a list of all thedifferent things that just
popped into my head.
(06:04):
So we've got paleo, which Ireally was gonna look up, and I
still don't know what paleo is.
We've got keto, which is moremeat and less carbs right, I'm
not really sure about the dairyparts.
I'm not really into this wholediet thing.
Whole 30, weight Watchers,carnivore, which is a newer one
to me I'm just now hearing aboutthat in the last few weeks.
(06:25):
Calorie restriction I thinkthat's probably one of the older
ones.
We've always been told caloriesin, calories out, and now
they're starting to kind ofchange the tune on that a little
bit.
Calorie is not a calorie.
It's not a calorie.
Calorie eating is not a calorie, burned and so forth.
Intuitive eating, which mightI'm laughing because at myself,
(06:48):
because I think, gosh, if I ateoff my intuition sometimes it
would not be pretty.
Intermittent fasting, waterfasts, omad, which is, I learned
, as one meal a day vegan,pescetarian, vegetarian eating
for your blood type.
Eat fat, don't eat fat.
(07:09):
Like there's those two campsEggs are good, eggs are bad,
oatmeal's good, oatmeal's bad.
In the carnivore, I believe,diet a lot of those folks really
think that vegetables are notgood for you, which I don't know
, sounds kind of crazy to me.
But and then, of course, we'vegot gluten free.
So, as we're trying to decidewhat our own health goals are
(07:32):
for 2024, and if that includes achange in diet, there's a lot
of conflicting and confusinginformation out there for us to
choose from and to try to wrapour brains around.
And then we're hearing all overthe place that we need to
increase our activity.
Like longevity for Americans atleast, and I'm sure it's
probably worldwide like ourlongevity is tied into our
(07:56):
muscle mass.
There's a lot of research thatgoes into saying your muscle
mass has a lot to do with yourlongevity.
So we hear that and then wethink about okay, well, what
should we do to exercise?
So runners there's the wholerunning group and they wanna
keep their body lean.
And then there's the bodybuilders.
And then there's HIIT, crossfit, yoga, pilates, strength and
(08:21):
resistance training, cardio.
And then there's the camp thatsays no cardio for midlife women
because it increases cortisoland it causes us to hold onto
our belly fat in midlife.
And then, you know, the 10,000steps a day I think has kinda
came along with the Fitbit crazeand the smartwatches.
But I'm not a health coach, youknow.
(08:42):
Today's episode is not abouttelling you what I think you
should do.
I can tell you that I've hadsome success since July doing
intermittent fasting.
It's, you know, with mysluggish thyroid.
It is the first thing thatactually moved the needle for me
.
When I say the needle, I meanlike I saw results in, and you
know it was funny.
For the longest time I was oneof those people that weighed
(09:09):
themselves and I would say thatthere were times when my mood
would be affected by whether ornot I saw the scale go up or go
down.
And throughout this wholeintermittent fasting that I've
been doing since July, I'verealized that we can't always
really measure ourselves by thescale, and especially if we're
doing strength training.
But we can, you know, say I'mgoing to, I want to reduce my
(09:33):
waist, and we can measure ourwaist.
And you know, I did see mywaist decrease by two inches
since I've been fasting.
So you know, if I were here totell you what to do, no, I
wouldn't.
I wouldn't tell you what to do,but I do have some things that
I think are very sound, solidadvice.
(09:55):
So I Would say move your bodydaily, make the most out of
every opportunity, from carryingin the groceries to vacuuming,
to taking the stairs at work,parking far away at the grocery
store.
I know like for me it's almostlike it's gotten to be, almost
like a little game.
It's like, you know, it used tobe.
If there was something heavy orsomething, I'd say all wait for
(10:15):
my husband to pick that up, movethat, whatever.
And when we were leavingPhoenix the other day, getting
ready to come back down here toSouthern Arizona to come home.
There was a pretty heavy giftthat we had gotten for his son
and it ended up being aduplicate gift, and so I offered
that we would just take it backand he could get something
(10:35):
different.
And I don't know how much itweighed, but it was heavy.
I'm gonna say like 40 or 50pounds.
I might be wrong, but it washeavy.
And I picked it up and I caughtmyself saying, oh, this is too
heavy, I'm gonna ask Brian tocome get this.
And then I was like no, I'm notgonna ask Brian to come get
this.
This is an opportunity to usethese muscles that I've been
(10:55):
working so hard at building andI haven't been able to work out
at the gym since we've, you know, been in Phoenix, and so I'm
gonna use this opportunity tolift something heavy, to
challenge myself, to push myselfa little bit.
So I'm just saying like,instead of, you know, being
sedentary or you know, lettingthe holidays be a good excuse
(11:16):
for Eating a little bitdifferently than we normally
would and not exercising, like,find other opportunities to move
.
That's all I'm saying.
All right, so Back to our list.
Build your muscles, as this isa key indicator of longevity, as
I already stated.
Hydrate and I purposely saidhydrate instead of increase the
(11:36):
amount of water you drink,because I have learned from my
intermittent fasting that watersometimes is not enough.
I have done a little bit ofresearch into Other things that
we can do to hydrate ourselvesbetter than drinking just plain
water, and we can talk aboutthat more in the Facebook group
if you're interested in that.
Don't smoke, don't over consumealcohol or sugar, and I am not.
(12:02):
I am preaching like to myselfbecause I Love a good glass of
wine and I have cut down.
I had a couple of differentpeople on the podcast this year
that recommended that you don'tyou know, drink seven days a
week.
That you know, you.
You, tanya Pennington Miller,was the one that said if you're
(12:23):
going to drink, you need todrink two days in a row and give
your liver a chance to rest,and I don't know if it was her
that told me this or if I justlearned this along the way
somewhere, but when we Consumealcohol, our liver stops
processing other things andfocuses entirely on metabolizing
the alcohol.
So if you're struggling to losesome inches around your waist
(12:44):
or if you're watching thatnumber on the scale, cutting
down your alcohol consumption.
I put sugar and alcohol in thesame list because Of, like I
said, I'm not going to stopdrinking a glass of wine.
I enjoy a glass of wine, I'mjust going to be smarter about
it.
And I'm going to say the samething for sugar, because I know
that sugar is a very powerfulPoll for a lot of people.
(13:05):
My husband is one of them.
He has a really hard timeresisting sugar and so you know,
if you're like my husband, Iwould say, hey, can you just cut
it down to a treat instead of adaily thing?
You know to have a Dessertevery night after you get done
eating dinner and you go popyourself on the couch oh,
(13:27):
talking about my husband again,but no, and this is what I said
to him recently.
I said you know, if you were toeat this treat that you think
you have to have every day, likeif you were to eat that at
lunch instead of dinner, atleast you would have some time
to work that off.
Get that spurn off that sugarat some point during your
workday.
You have no chance of workingthat off while you're sitting on
(13:49):
the couch watching TV andsubsequently falling asleep on
the couch.
Okay, so back to our list.
Reduce things in your diet andenvironment that lead to
inflammation in your body.
So sugar and alcohol dodefinitely Contribute to the,
the inflammation in your body.
For some people it's otherfoods, people that have food
(14:10):
intolerances.
I myself have Troubles withonion and certain kinds of
peppers mostly bell peppers, butother peppers too.
And then I put environment inthere, because I've really
started educating myself more on.
You know the things in ourenvironment that kind of mimic
estrogen and that kind of don'tserve us well.
(14:35):
You know all the fragrances andstuff and cleaning products and
candles and perfumes and ourcosmetics and the odorants, and
I'm just going to encourage youto do your own research on that.
I'm not here to preach toanybody about what they
shouldn't, shouldn't do.
I know I love smelling nice, soat the holidays I I'd squirt it
(14:55):
on some perfume and I haven'tworn perfume in quite a while,
and I do enjoy the essentialoils over the candles by far.
So those are just a couple ofthings.
And then find ways to reducestress.
So I mean, this is not newinformation, right, guys like
this.
We've been talking about this.
Stress is at the root of somany different diseases and Is
(15:20):
really at the core of a lot ofunhealthiness, whether it's the
brain or the body, or or both, acombination of both, like.
We really have to recognize theimpact that stress is having on
us and find ways to reduce that.
Whether that's Walking, beingin nature, meditating,
(15:41):
journaling Exercise is great forreducing stress.
Talking to someone, I'm sure.
I'm sure there's some in yourmind that you're thinking right
now that I have not even thoughtabout, so Head over to the
Facebook and tell us yourfavorite way to reduce stress.
I find laughing to be a greatway to reduce stress, and that
was the next one on my list islaugh.
(16:02):
Like we all need to have somejoy and some laughter.
Spend time with people who bringout the best in you, people who
encourage you or are excitedabout your growth, and spend
less time with people who aretoxic and bring you down and
Make you feel like you're notenough for them.
(16:23):
Read or listen to somethingthat helps you grow.
I think this is like just agiven, like everyone should be
doing this on a daily basis.
I think 15 minutes Minimum perday.
Find ways to express yourselfcreatively.
I'm a big believer in this one,so that could be photography,
(16:45):
gardening.
There's so many ways to expressyourself creatively, and what
feels like creative Creativenessto you might not look the same
for the next person.
So Don't look at somebody onFacebook that creates Brilliant
works of art out of trash andthink I need to do that.
(17:05):
That's not what I'm talkingabout.
I'm talking about Somethingthat you actually enjoy,
something that brings you a lotof Calm and relaxation.
Spend time outdoors that's oneof my favorites.
There's just something andthere's lots of research about
grounding.
If you've not looked into that,that's something that they're
showing.
It's really great for us to doit.
(17:27):
To be outside barefoot.
I love the idea I talked aboutwith recently, with the
circadian rhythm of beingoutdoors when the sun comes up,
watching the sunrise, and thenagain watching it set in the
evening.
Watch less TV.
I know that's not going to be apopular one for some of y'all
because you're going to be likewell, terry, you know I'm tired
(17:48):
at the end of the work day.
I just want to sit down, relaxand watch a TV show with my
hubby or whoever, and I'm nottalking to you if you're
spending an hour on the couch atthe end of a long day.
I'm not talking to you.
I'm talking to the person whoyou know.
You know who you are if you'rewatching way too much TV.
Spend less time on our phones.
(18:11):
Oh my gosh, I was barely on myphone over the Christmas holiday
and it felt so awesome I didn'teven care, I didn't miss it one
bit.
Be present and mindful.
And actually my stepson saidthis to my husband at one of our
little gatherings around theholiday.
You know he's like hey, justlike be present, because it was
(18:34):
like there was something goingon and the phone came out and
you start scrolling looking forone thing and next thing you
know you're 10 miles deep in andsomething that's not what's
going on right in front of you.
I always think, like why do webelieve that other people's
lives that we barely know onsocial media are more important
(18:59):
than creating a better life withthe people that are right in
front of us?
Be grateful.
We've already discussed this onequite at length, so I'm not
going to go into that one verymuch.
Don't spend more than you make.
I mean that one just isself-explanatory, right.
That causes a lot of stress.
Back to that credit card debtthat we were talking about
(19:21):
before.
I realize that for some it'seasier said than done, because
we are seeing crazy priceinflation at the grocery store
and in other places, like rentfor our younger folks.
It's sad, but that also meansthat we don't always need
(19:41):
everything brand new.
Don't throw away something thatsomeone else might need.
So this is a big one for me,because I hate the idea of
things going into the landfill.
So if you're in thatdecluttering that we talked
about yesterday and you havethis big pile of things that
(20:03):
aren't really serving youanymore, they're just taking up
space.
You don't use them, but theyhaven't outlived their
usefulness.
Go on Facebook Marketplace, putthem for free.
Go to your Goodwill.
Go to any thrift store thattakes donations.
Ask your family members andfriends do you need a bookcase
or whatever it is?
So don't throw away somethingthat someone else might need.
(20:26):
My next one is Find a Cause youCare About.
Now, since we have been downhere in Southern Arizona, my
husband has just really gothimself all in and involved with
an animal shelter here, and shedoesn't just do dogs, she's not
just like a dog rescue, she islike a full-on animal rescue.
So many people gave up likehorses and things during this
(20:53):
craziness that we've had overthe past few years and couldn't
afford the horses anymore andgave her all.
She has so many horses overthere and I guess it just costs
thousands of dollars every monthto feed these horses.
So my husband's always overthere.
We donate monthly to them.
If you're interested inlearning more about them, reach
out to me.
I'll let you know.
She really is.
(21:14):
She has a huge heart, hugeanimal lover and has all sorts
of animals over there.
I think it was last year aboutthis time she rescued like 86
dogs from a puppy mill.
I think it was 86 dogs that shetook in.
She's just yeah, she's veryselfless.
(21:34):
Be kind, and I'm probablygetting this from just scrolling
through Facebook and orInstagram or wherever you are
and just seeing people be somean to each other and I just
feel like it's so unnecessary.
I love to go out of my way toput a smile on someone's face.
(21:59):
It doesn't take that much Ifyou're at the grocery store.
I was going to get my card atthe grocery store today and
there was a person behind me andI just took the first card and
I gave it to them and then I gotmy own card.
There's just those little tinythings.
I think they have a rippleeffect and you being kind to
(22:19):
someone might inspire them to bekind to someone else.
I love the idea of being kindand then help someone might go
along with, find a cause.
But I'm just thinking of givingout of your strengths and
talents.
I don't know, do you belong tothe next door app in your
(22:41):
community, because it's big inour community.
There's a very engagedcommunity of people on there and
there's been a lot over theholidays.
There's been a lot of peoplelike hey, I don't like to ask
for help, but my kids aren'tgoing to have Christmas presents
or they're going to turn myelectricity off.
(23:03):
A girl that I went to highschool with.
I saw her do a big push onFacebook to help this family who
, the mom, had gone through somepretty major health concerns
and the outpouring of peoplebeing willing to step up and
give to a family in need.
It was just very inspiring.
(23:23):
Then I put the last on this.
I put love something I put inall caps like love something If
it's gardening, reading,painting, decorating, your pets,
your houseplants.
But I want you to really thinkabout what you love, what gets
you out of bed, what makes yousmile, what is it that you can't
(23:46):
wait to talk to somebody aboutor share something in your life
with other people?
What is that thing?
What is on it?
What is it that you can't waitto talk to somebody about?
Okay, if you have health onyour list for 2024, I want you
to get really granular on whatthat focus is going to be.
(24:07):
Don't just say exercise more,cut back on sweets or lose 10
pounds.
I will tell you when I wasyounger, I wanted to be thin,
didn't we all?
I think the majority of us wewanted to be thin.
That's the era we grew up in.
We want to be skinny, but now Ijust want to be strong.
(24:28):
I saw an elderly man at the gymtoday.
He had to be in his 90s.
I saw him on the bicycle for alittle bit one of the recumbent
bikes.
Then I saw him just walkingaround.
I did see him chatting with afew people, which I know is so
important.
To be social, to not sit athome all day when you're elderly
(24:51):
and get out there and talk tosomeone I feel like that is so
important.
I saw him doing that.
I said to myself that's goingto be me.
I am going to be one of theladies.
I remember years ago I belongedto a health club.
It was new in our community andit was really nice probably the
nicest health club type thingI'd ever been in.
(25:12):
They had the saunas and thesteam rooms and then the heated
pool and the not heated pool.
I remember the heated pool.
Now my enjoy is probably like35.
At the time I think I saw thelittle old ladies in the pool
doing that water yoga.
(25:33):
I'll admit I probably had thethought that, oh, that doesn't
do you any good.
I probably did think that.
I'm sure I did.
Now I think, well, good forthem If that's what gets them
moving.
Good for them.
I'm going to be the little ladyat the health club in the
swimming pool, moving my body,wanting to walk around and talk
(25:56):
to everybody.
If you see me, make sure youcome over and say hello.
I am not going to be stuck tomy chair and watching life pass
me by.
Health will probably alwaysremain very high at the top of
my list.
I wish you all the luck whenyou're thinking about your
health goals.
Just remember to celebrate thesmall steps on the way to the
(26:21):
end journey.
Most of all, remember that wedon't accomplish things with the
same mindset that we went intowith them.
You're going to have to changeyour mindset a little bit to get
to the end of the goal.
I love it when people say this,and I'll probably say this
again.
You'll probably hear me saythis again is goals are not just
about reaching the end, butthey're about the person you
(26:41):
have to become along the way toreach to the end and reach the
goal.
That's my spiel today abouthealth Day four, which is four
calling birds.
The four calling birds can beseen as messengers.
I will encourage you tocommunicate your goals and
intentions.
It's always more powerful whenwe share our aspirations with
(27:03):
others.
And until tomorrow, I wish yougood health.
Take care, amanda.
I don't know if this everhappens to you, but I sometimes
will learn something really coolon a podcast, on a YouTube
video, audio book, whatever.
I think I'm going to rememberit and then I forget.
(27:24):
Does that ever happen to you?
Speaker 3 (27:26):
Yeah, I call it brain after 40 all the time.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
That's what we'll officially call it, but we've
come up with something.
Do you want to introduce it?
Speaker 3 (27:35):
Sure, it's from an app called quick, jim quick, and
it's an acronym called fast.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
Yeah, and it stands for Facebook.
So we're inviting youofficially right now to come
over and join us on Facebook.
Get involved with the community, share your favorite episodes
with your friends on Facebook.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
Yeah, the A is go ahead and take an action, so you
can't remember anything if youdon't act.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
And S is for subscribe.
Make sure you're subscribed toour YouTube channel.
Speaker 3 (28:01):
And then T is teach.
Teach what you've learned tosomebody else.
Share the love.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
All right, we hope that works for you.
Thank you for joining us.
We'll see you next week.
Speaker 3 (28:10):
Bye, bye.
You're listening to the what Women Want Today
podcast.
If you love the idea of beingpart of a community of women who
are looking to thrive, not justsurvive, you're in the right
place.
Join hosts Terry Cullums andAmanda Keeper each week, as they
bring you topics and guests tohelp you improve your
relationships, your health andyour emotional and spiritual
(00:23):
well-being.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
And today we are on day four of the 12 Days of
Christmas series, and we'regoing to be talking about health
.
So, interestingly enough, thetop three things that people
will be setting goals around in2024 are mental health, physical
health and financial health,and I don't find that really
very surprising at all.
(00:57):
I know for myself personally.
2023 brought quite a few healthchallenges.
I was in a life-threateningmotorcycle accident, I got
diagnosed with arthritis in myknee, I had a thyroid nodule
that had to be biopsied, myhusband had a skin cancer scare
and, most recently, I had aprocedure done because they
(01:20):
suspected uterine cancer.
So when I say that I had tofocus a lot on my health this
year, I am not even exaggeratinga little bit, but I've always
been someone that's healthconscious.
I've always cared a lot aboutmy diet and I've been an
exerciser for years, so I'm notreally surprised, though, when I
(01:41):
started digging into this topictoday some of the things that
would drive people towardsfocusing on health.
Now I've got a couple ofstatistics here for you, so
let's talk about, let's seewhere do we start here.
Let's talk about financialhealth.
(02:02):
So when people are focusing onfinancial health, they're
focusing on increased savings,reducing debt and for some of
them, it'll be creating anotherincome stream.
I know I am working onsomething now that I'll be
talking to you about in the daysto come, so make sure you're
following on Instagram.
(02:23):
Make sure you're subscribed tothe YouTube channel.
There might be some changes onthe podcast as we gear more
towards YouTube.
So there's lots of people outthere that are looking to create
another stream of incomebecause we've seen some
instability in the job market.
And when we talk about physicaland mental health, it could be
(02:46):
improving the quality of yoursleep, being more mindful about
healthy eating, exercise,managing stress and prioritizing
self care.
So let's talk about financialfor a moment.
In the US, credit card debt isat an all time high, for America
is currently over $1 trillionof credit card debt, and the
(03:11):
average is out to be $5,733 percredit card holder.
This is an all time high inAmerica.
That leaves only 23% ofAmericans that can say they are
debt free.
Switching gears a little bit,let's talk about the life
expectancy in America.
We're currently at about 79.11years.
(03:31):
It's a little bit higher forwomen than men.
Heart disease remains theleading cause of death for both
men and women, and that is notjust in the US, that is
worldwide, and the US has thelowest life expectancy at birth
and the highest death rate foravoidable or treatable
(03:51):
conditions, and we also have thehighest suicide rate.
The amount of antidepressantsprescribed has increased 34.8%
in the last six years.
So it really is not a surprisethat health remains at the top
of our minds and we're thinkingabout like what habits do we
(04:13):
need to change for 2024 to getcloser to the life that we
really want, the health that wereally want?
I wanted to start out withweight loss.
Weight loss is such a big topic.
It's such a big money makingindustry in America and I
started thinking about, you know, like my mom when I was growing
up she was a very big yo-yodietter.
(04:36):
Like I watched her yo-yo dietpretty much my whole life and
the way that that affected mewas that I didn't really want to
diet.
I didn't really want to have tothink about deprivation or
everything I put in my mouth,and so I can't say I've been on
a lot of like quote-unquotediets.
(04:58):
As far as like some kind oforganized type diet that has an
actual name to it, I don'treally remember if I've been on,
I've had some very poor dietchoices.
I remember in my gosh early 20sMust have been very early maybe
even late teens my sister and Iwe just focused so much on well
(05:22):
, I won't say that we focused somuch on being thin, but I don't
think we focused enough onnutrition.
So we had some terrible healthhabits.
We would eat like toast forbreakfast, cereal for lunch,
soup for dinner, and maybe someof that was to do with the
amount of money we were makingat the time.
Maybe we were like poor collegestudents, but I have made some
(05:43):
really poor diet choices in mylife and fortunately, over the
years it's taken a much higherpriority and I've gotten better
at it.
But when I started thinkingabout all of the stuff I hear
and all the research I do andall the groups I belong to, I
started making a list of all thedifferent things that just
popped into my head.
(06:04):
So we've got paleo, which Ireally was gonna look up, and I
still don't know what paleo is.
We've got keto, which is moremeat and less carbs right, I'm
not really sure about the dairyparts.
I'm not really into this wholediet thing.
Whole 30, weight Watchers,carnivore, which is a newer one
to me I'm just now hearing aboutthat in the last few weeks.
(06:25):
Calorie restriction I thinkthat's probably one of the older
ones.
We've always been told caloriesin, calories out, and now
they're starting to kind ofchange the tune on that a little
bit.
Calorie is not a calorie.
It's not a calorie.
Calorie eating is not a calorie, burned and so forth.
Intuitive eating, which mightI'm laughing because at myself,
(06:48):
because I think, gosh, if I ateoff my intuition sometimes it
would not be pretty.
Intermittent fasting, waterfasts, omad, which is, I learned
, as one meal a day vegan,pescetarian, vegetarian eating
for your blood type.
Eat fat, don't eat fat.
(07:09):
Like there's those two campsEggs are good, eggs are bad,
oatmeal's good, oatmeal's bad.
In the carnivore, I believe,diet a lot of those folks really
think that vegetables are notgood for you, which I don't know
, sounds kind of crazy to me.
But and then, of course, we'vegot gluten free.
So, as we're trying to decidewhat our own health goals are
(07:32):
for 2024, and if that includes achange in diet, there's a lot
of conflicting and confusinginformation out there for us to
choose from and to try to wrapour brains around.
And then we're hearing all overthe place that we need to
increase our activity.
Like longevity for Americans atleast, and I'm sure it's
probably worldwide like ourlongevity is tied into our
(07:56):
muscle mass.
There's a lot of research thatgoes into saying your muscle
mass has a lot to do with yourlongevity.
So we hear that and then wethink about okay, well, what
should we do to exercise?
So runners there's the wholerunning group and they wanna
keep their body lean.
And then there's the bodybuilders.
And then there's HIIT, crossfit, yoga, pilates, strength and
(08:21):
resistance training, cardio.
And then there's the camp thatsays no cardio for midlife women
because it increases cortisoland it causes us to hold onto
our belly fat in midlife.
And then, you know, the 10,000steps a day I think has kinda
came along with the Fitbit crazeand the smartwatches.
But I'm not a health coach, youknow.
(08:42):
Today's episode is not abouttelling you what I think you
should do.
I can tell you that I've hadsome success since July doing
intermittent fasting.
It's, you know, with mysluggish thyroid.
It is the first thing thatactually moved the needle for me
.
When I say the needle, I meanlike I saw results in, and you
know it was funny.
For the longest time I was oneof those people that weighed
(09:09):
themselves and I would say thatthere were times when my mood
would be affected by whether ornot I saw the scale go up or go
down.
And throughout this wholeintermittent fasting that I've
been doing since July, I'verealized that we can't always
really measure ourselves by thescale, and especially if we're
doing strength training.
But we can, you know, say I'mgoing to, I want to reduce my
(09:33):
waist, and we can measure ourwaist.
And you know, I did see mywaist decrease by two inches
since I've been fasting.
So you know, if I were here totell you what to do, no, I
wouldn't.
I wouldn't tell you what to do,but I do have some things that
I think are very sound, solidadvice.
(09:55):
So I Would say move your bodydaily, make the most out of
every opportunity, from carryingin the groceries to vacuuming,
to taking the stairs at work,parking far away at the grocery
store.
I know like for me it's almostlike it's gotten to be, almost
like a little game.
It's like, you know, it used tobe.
If there was something heavy orsomething, I'd say all wait for
(10:15):
my husband to pick that up, movethat, whatever.
And when we were leavingPhoenix the other day, getting
ready to come back down here toSouthern Arizona to come home.
There was a pretty heavy giftthat we had gotten for his son
and it ended up being aduplicate gift, and so I offered
that we would just take it backand he could get something
(10:35):
different.
And I don't know how much itweighed, but it was heavy.
I'm gonna say like 40 or 50pounds.
I might be wrong, but it washeavy.
And I picked it up and I caughtmyself saying, oh, this is too
heavy, I'm gonna ask Brian tocome get this.
And then I was like no, I'm notgonna ask Brian to come get
this.
This is an opportunity to usethese muscles that I've been
(10:55):
working so hard at building andI haven't been able to work out
at the gym since we've, you know, been in Phoenix, and so I'm
gonna use this opportunity tolift something heavy, to
challenge myself, to push myselfa little bit.
So I'm just saying like,instead of, you know, being
sedentary or you know, lettingthe holidays be a good excuse
(11:16):
for Eating a little bitdifferently than we normally
would and not exercising, like,find other opportunities to move
.
That's all I'm saying.
All right, so Back to our list.
Build your muscles, as this isa key indicator of longevity, as
I already stated.
Hydrate and I purposely saidhydrate instead of increase the
(11:36):
amount of water you drink,because I have learned from my
intermittent fasting that watersometimes is not enough.
I have done a little bit ofresearch into Other things that
we can do to hydrate ourselvesbetter than drinking just plain
water, and we can talk aboutthat more in the Facebook group
if you're interested in that.
Don't smoke, don't over consumealcohol or sugar, and I am not.
(12:02):
I am preaching like to myselfbecause I Love a good glass of
wine and I have cut down.
I had a couple of differentpeople on the podcast this year
that recommended that you don'tyou know, drink seven days a
week.
That you know, you.
You, tanya Pennington Miller,was the one that said if you're
(12:23):
going to drink, you need todrink two days in a row and give
your liver a chance to rest,and I don't know if it was her
that told me this or if I justlearned this along the way
somewhere, but when we Consumealcohol, our liver stops
processing other things andfocuses entirely on metabolizing
the alcohol.
So if you're struggling to losesome inches around your waist
(12:44):
or if you're watching thatnumber on the scale, cutting
down your alcohol consumption.
I put sugar and alcohol in thesame list because Of, like I
said, I'm not going to stopdrinking a glass of wine.
I enjoy a glass of wine, I'mjust going to be smarter about
it.
And I'm going to say the samething for sugar, because I know
that sugar is a very powerfulPoll for a lot of people.
(13:05):
My husband is one of them.
He has a really hard timeresisting sugar and so you know,
if you're like my husband, Iwould say, hey, can you just cut
it down to a treat instead of adaily thing?
You know to have a Dessertevery night after you get done
eating dinner and you go popyourself on the couch oh,
(13:27):
talking about my husband again,but no, and this is what I said
to him recently.
I said you know, if you were toeat this treat that you think
you have to have every day, likeif you were to eat that at
lunch instead of dinner, atleast you would have some time
to work that off.
Get that spurn off that sugarat some point during your
workday.
You have no chance of workingthat off while you're sitting on
(13:49):
the couch watching TV andsubsequently falling asleep on
the couch.
Okay, so back to our list.
Reduce things in your diet andenvironment that lead to
inflammation in your body.
So sugar and alcohol dodefinitely Contribute to the,
the inflammation in your body.
For some people it's otherfoods, people that have food
(14:10):
intolerances.
I myself have Troubles withonion and certain kinds of
peppers mostly bell peppers, butother peppers too.
And then I put environment inthere, because I've really
started educating myself more on.
You know the things in ourenvironment that kind of mimic
estrogen and that kind of don'tserve us well.
(14:35):
You know all the fragrances andstuff and cleaning products and
candles and perfumes and ourcosmetics and the odorants, and
I'm just going to encourage youto do your own research on that.
I'm not here to preach toanybody about what they
shouldn't, shouldn't do.
I know I love smelling nice, soat the holidays I I'd squirt it
(14:55):
on some perfume and I haven'tworn perfume in quite a while,
and I do enjoy the essentialoils over the candles by far.
So those are just a couple ofthings.
And then find ways to reducestress.
So I mean, this is not newinformation, right, guys like
this.
We've been talking about this.
Stress is at the root of somany different diseases and Is
(15:20):
really at the core of a lot ofunhealthiness, whether it's the
brain or the body, or or both, acombination of both, like.
We really have to recognize theimpact that stress is having on
us and find ways to reduce that.
Whether that's Walking, beingin nature, meditating,
(15:41):
journaling Exercise is great forreducing stress.
Talking to someone, I'm sure.
I'm sure there's some in yourmind that you're thinking right
now that I have not even thoughtabout, so Head over to the
Facebook and tell us yourfavorite way to reduce stress.
I find laughing to be a greatway to reduce stress, and that
was the next one on my list islaugh.
(16:02):
Like we all need to have somejoy and some laughter.
Spend time with people who bringout the best in you, people who
encourage you or are excitedabout your growth, and spend
less time with people who aretoxic and bring you down and
Make you feel like you're notenough for them.
(16:23):
Read or listen to somethingthat helps you grow.
I think this is like just agiven, like everyone should be
doing this on a daily basis.
I think 15 minutes Minimum perday.
Find ways to express yourselfcreatively.
I'm a big believer in this one,so that could be photography,
(16:45):
gardening.
There's so many ways to expressyourself creatively, and what
feels like creative Creativenessto you might not look the same
for the next person.
So Don't look at somebody onFacebook that creates Brilliant
works of art out of trash andthink I need to do that.
(17:05):
That's not what I'm talkingabout.
I'm talking about Somethingthat you actually enjoy,
something that brings you a lotof Calm and relaxation.
Spend time outdoors that's oneof my favorites.
There's just something andthere's lots of research about
grounding.
If you've not looked into that,that's something that they're
showing.
It's really great for us to doit.
(17:27):
To be outside barefoot.
I love the idea I talked aboutwith recently, with the
circadian rhythm of beingoutdoors when the sun comes up,
watching the sunrise, and thenagain watching it set in the
evening.
Watch less TV.
I know that's not going to be apopular one for some of y'all
because you're going to be likewell, terry, you know I'm tired
(17:48):
at the end of the work day.
I just want to sit down, relaxand watch a TV show with my
hubby or whoever, and I'm nottalking to you if you're
spending an hour on the couch atthe end of a long day.
I'm not talking to you.
I'm talking to the person whoyou know.
You know who you are if you'rewatching way too much TV.
Spend less time on our phones.
(18:11):
Oh my gosh, I was barely on myphone over the Christmas holiday
and it felt so awesome I didn'teven care, I didn't miss it one
bit.
Be present and mindful.
And actually my stepson saidthis to my husband at one of our
little gatherings around theholiday.
You know he's like hey, justlike be present, because it was
(18:34):
like there was something goingon and the phone came out and
you start scrolling looking forone thing and next thing you
know you're 10 miles deep in andsomething that's not what's
going on right in front of you.
I always think, like why do webelieve that other people's
lives that we barely know onsocial media are more important
(18:59):
than creating a better life withthe people that are right in
front of us?
Be grateful.
We've already discussed this onequite at length, so I'm not
going to go into that one verymuch.
Don't spend more than you make.
I mean that one just isself-explanatory, right.
That causes a lot of stress.
Back to that credit card debtthat we were talking about
(19:21):
before.
I realize that for some it'seasier said than done, because
we are seeing crazy priceinflation at the grocery store
and in other places, like rentfor our younger folks.
It's sad, but that also meansthat we don't always need
(19:41):
everything brand new.
Don't throw away something thatsomeone else might need.
So this is a big one for me,because I hate the idea of
things going into the landfill.
So if you're in thatdecluttering that we talked
about yesterday and you havethis big pile of things that
(20:03):
aren't really serving youanymore, they're just taking up
space.
You don't use them, but theyhaven't outlived their
usefulness.
Go on Facebook Marketplace, putthem for free.
Go to your Goodwill.
Go to any thrift store thattakes donations.
Ask your family members andfriends do you need a bookcase
or whatever it is?
So don't throw away somethingthat someone else might need.
(20:26):
My next one is Find a Cause youCare About.
Now, since we have been downhere in Southern Arizona, my
husband has just really gothimself all in and involved with
an animal shelter here, and shedoesn't just do dogs, she's not
just like a dog rescue, she islike a full-on animal rescue.
So many people gave up likehorses and things during this
(20:53):
craziness that we've had overthe past few years and couldn't
afford the horses anymore andgave her all.
She has so many horses overthere and I guess it just costs
thousands of dollars every monthto feed these horses.
So my husband's always overthere.
We donate monthly to them.
If you're interested inlearning more about them, reach
out to me.
I'll let you know.
She really is.
(21:14):
She has a huge heart, hugeanimal lover and has all sorts
of animals over there.
I think it was last year aboutthis time she rescued like 86
dogs from a puppy mill.
I think it was 86 dogs that shetook in.
She's just yeah, she's veryselfless.
(21:34):
Be kind, and I'm probablygetting this from just scrolling
through Facebook and orInstagram or wherever you are
and just seeing people be somean to each other and I just
feel like it's so unnecessary.
I love to go out of my way toput a smile on someone's face.
(21:59):
It doesn't take that much Ifyou're at the grocery store.
I was going to get my card atthe grocery store today and
there was a person behind me andI just took the first card and
I gave it to them and then I gotmy own card.
There's just those little tinythings.
I think they have a rippleeffect and you being kind to
(22:19):
someone might inspire them to bekind to someone else.
I love the idea of being kindand then help someone might go
along with, find a cause.
But I'm just thinking of givingout of your strengths and
talents.
I don't know, do you belong tothe next door app in your
(22:41):
community, because it's big inour community.
There's a very engagedcommunity of people on there and
there's been a lot over theholidays.
There's been a lot of peoplelike hey, I don't like to ask
for help, but my kids aren'tgoing to have Christmas presents
or they're going to turn myelectricity off.
(23:03):
A girl that I went to highschool with.
I saw her do a big push onFacebook to help this family who
, the mom, had gone through somepretty major health concerns
and the outpouring of peoplebeing willing to step up and
give to a family in need.
It was just very inspiring.
(23:23):
Then I put the last on this.
I put love something I put inall caps like love something If
it's gardening, reading,painting, decorating, your pets,
your houseplants.
But I want you to really thinkabout what you love, what gets
you out of bed, what makes yousmile, what is it that you can't
(23:46):
wait to talk to somebody aboutor share something in your life
with other people?
What is that thing?
What is on it?
What is it that you can't waitto talk to somebody about?
Okay, if you have health onyour list for 2024, I want you
to get really granular on whatthat focus is going to be.
(24:07):
Don't just say exercise more,cut back on sweets or lose 10
pounds.
I will tell you when I wasyounger, I wanted to be thin,
didn't we all?
I think the majority of us wewanted to be thin.
That's the era we grew up in.
We want to be skinny, but now Ijust want to be strong.
(24:28):
I saw an elderly man at the gymtoday.
He had to be in his 90s.
I saw him on the bicycle for alittle bit one of the recumbent
bikes.
Then I saw him just walkingaround.
I did see him chatting with afew people, which I know is so
important.
To be social, to not sit athome all day when you're elderly
(24:51):
and get out there and talk tosomeone I feel like that is so
important.
I saw him doing that.
I said to myself that's goingto be me.
I am going to be one of theladies.
I remember years ago I belongedto a health club.
It was new in our community andit was really nice probably the
nicest health club type thingI'd ever been in.
(25:12):
They had the saunas and thesteam rooms and then the heated
pool and the not heated pool.
I remember the heated pool.
Now my enjoy is probably like35.
At the time I think I saw thelittle old ladies in the pool
doing that water yoga.
(25:33):
I'll admit I probably had thethought that, oh, that doesn't
do you any good.
I probably did think that.
I'm sure I did.
Now I think, well, good forthem If that's what gets them
moving.
Good for them.
I'm going to be the little ladyat the health club in the
swimming pool, moving my body,wanting to walk around and talk
(25:56):
to everybody.
If you see me, make sure youcome over and say hello.
I am not going to be stuck tomy chair and watching life pass
me by.
Health will probably alwaysremain very high at the top of
my list.
I wish you all the luck whenyou're thinking about your
health goals.
Just remember to celebrate thesmall steps on the way to the
(26:21):
end journey.
Most of all, remember that wedon't accomplish things with the
same mindset that we went intowith them.
You're going to have to changeyour mindset a little bit to get
to the end of the goal.
I love it when people say this,and I'll probably say this
again.
You'll probably hear me saythis again is goals are not just
about reaching the end, butthey're about the person you
(26:41):
have to become along the way toreach to the end and reach the
goal.
That's my spiel today abouthealth Day four, which is four
calling birds.
The four calling birds can beseen as messengers.
I will encourage you tocommunicate your goals and
intentions.
It's always more powerful whenwe share our aspirations with
(27:03):
others.
And until tomorrow, I wish yougood health.
Take care, amanda.
I don't know if this everhappens to you, but I sometimes
will learn something really coolon a podcast, on a YouTube
video, audio book, whatever.
I think I'm going to rememberit and then I forget.
(27:24):
Does that ever happen to you?
Speaker 3 (27:26):
Yeah, I call it brain after 40 all the time.
Speaker 2 (27:29):
That's what we'll officially call it, but we've
come up with something.
Do you want to introduce it?
Speaker 3 (27:35):
Sure, it's from an app called quick, jim quick, and
it's an acronym called fast.
Speaker 2 (27:41):
Yeah, and it stands for Facebook.
So we're inviting youofficially right now to come
over and join us on Facebook.
Get involved with the community, share your favorite episodes
with your friends on Facebook.
Speaker 3 (27:51):
Yeah, the A is go ahead and take an action, so you
can't remember anything if youdon't act.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
And S is for subscribe.
Make sure you're subscribed toour YouTube channel.
Speaker 3 (28:01):
And then T is teach.
Teach what you've learned tosomebody else.
Share the love.
Speaker 2 (28:06):
All right, we hope that works for you.
Thank you for joining us.
We'll see you next week.
Speaker 3 (28:10):
Bye, bye.
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