Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Building (True) Wealth: Part 2 - Health
480 Plays11 days ago
Continuing in our exploration of the things in life that make us truly wealthy, we land here on a focus on our health. This past year, 2025, provided both of us with huge wakeup calls when it comes to the value of our health and it has motivated us to reflect on all the ways this new perspective is shaping our mindsets moving forward. Our conversation takes us through so many topics, from meal planning with high grocery costs to Theology of the Body, from the dignity of the person to online Zumba classes... and (what feels like) everything else in between! Our bodies are truly a gift to both be grateful for and to steward well!
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction & Theme: Real Wealth
00:00:00
Speaker
i still I still feel a bit icky doing it. Yeah. I guess time will tell. Time will. Hang on. ah but I guess time will just have to tell for this trend. um But yeah, I don't know. Hang on. I'm sorry. I'll just wrap it up. I'll just say. yeah I guess time will tell.
00:00:25
Speaker
i hope that works. I hope that fits. Yes. Yes.
Health as Wealth: Emerson's Influence
00:00:40
Speaker
Welcome back to the Modern Lady Podcast. You're listening to episode 158. Hi, I'm Michelle. And I'm Lindsay. And today we are continuing the discussion on what we think real wealth is.
00:00:53
Speaker
In an essay he wrote in 1860, American philosopher, poet, and essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson prolifically wrote that, quote, health is wealth.
00:01:04
Speaker
And since then, this idea that our health is both one of our greatest gifts and greatest investments has circulated society and has become a common sentiment in cultures throughout the world.
00:01:15
Speaker
And what about here and now? How do we see health and how does our perception of it as wealth impact not only how we approach it, but also how does it influence our families and communities?
00:01:27
Speaker
Let's take a closer look. But first, the best way that you can support The Modern Lady is by subscribing to our podcast on whatever app you use to listen to podcasts and by sharing us with your friends. We also appreciate it when our listeners take a few minutes and write a review of the podcast on whatever app you're using.
00:01:46
Speaker
We read each and every one and pick one to give a shout out to. to This week's shout out goes to F. Hellenek, who left us a review on Spotify and said, quote, the way I screamed when this episode popped up.
00:02:01
Speaker
I cannot tell you how happy I am that you are back. I thought the podcast was done forever. Joy unbounded. End quote. Well, thank you so much, F. Hellenik, for listening and for leaving us this comment. We were so excited to see that we even had comments on Spotify and yours really made our day as the first one that popped up with SCREENED, all in caps.
00:02:26
Speaker
We are just as excited as you are to be back and chatting with you all here on the show. And if you would like to leave us a comment or message us about today's episode, the best way to get in touch with us is on Instagram at The Modern Lady Podcast.
00:02:40
Speaker
But be sure to stay tuned to the end of the episode for other ways to connect because we would love to hear from you.
Etiquette & Dining: Food Photography
00:02:51
Speaker
But before we get into today's chat, Lindsay has our Modern Lady Tip of the Week. I'm a lucky gal. Another week, another nice meal out. After years of eating peanut butter toast on my couch, I do feel like we are in a season of life that involves going out for dinner again. And while I'm pretty comfortable dining out, one thing pops up every time that has even me second-guessing myself.
00:03:14
Speaker
And that is whether it is proper or not take a photo of my meal or cocktail in a higher-end restaurant. Now I know that the knee-jerk response might still be no, taking photos is tacky.
00:03:26
Speaker
But hold on a minute here. I know that even the most high-end restaurants I follow repost people's Instagram posts that feature their meals. It does seem that the restaurants themselves not only approve of photo taking, they really appreciate it.
00:03:40
Speaker
So what do the experts say? I turned first to Food & Wine, and there, Darren Cardoza relayed an experience he had witnessed of people filming their meals coming out and taking photos like it was, in his words, a Spielberg film called My Lunch at the Central Park Boathouse.
00:03:56
Speaker
What he described, the diners directing their server to place their food at certain angles and to lay it down slowly as they filmed, and how their food grew cold as they snapped pick after pick and then edited them on the spot is beyond tacky it is unsophisticated and gauche I started to read the opinions of several different chefs, and aside from one who said that he learned the term, the camera eats first, from an influencer, was clear that it annoyed him, as often the food is just sitting there and getting cold.
00:04:26
Speaker
The other chefs said that seeing people take photos of the food that they just created, they considered a very high compliment indeed. I did come across an article from 2010 in which my favorite food critic and historical role player in my beloved British shows, Giles Corrin, shared how much he despised people taking photos of their meals. But times have changed, and I've followed Giles for years on Instagram, and he sure does post photos of his meals now, and the meals his kids eat in restaurants. So I guess that while we all might still feel a bit awkward, this practice is not only mainstream now, it is truly something restaurants value from their guests. So here are a few quick takeaways. Be discreet, don't make a scene, and be quick. Avoid using flash and respect others' privacy. If you do end up in one of the few restaurants that don't seem photo-friendly, you can always ask, or if you're asked to stop, politely comply.
00:05:19
Speaker
Bon appetit. Mm-hmm. I was going to say, when you mentioned Giles Corrin, he seems like the kind who might find complaint with most things. Yes, he does. He has that kind of personality. But interesting turn of events. i was just going to say, when he also jumped on the bandwagon,
00:05:39
Speaker
But I know because even Instagram, that's one of the earliest things that people would post yeah on Instagram, right, is pictures of your food. Yeah. um It could. Yeah. Maybe this is just one of those things that becomes cultural vernacular and people study it. and it's like, where?
00:05:56
Speaker
Maybe this will be someone's tip of the week in a podcast in like 2080 or something. They're like, where did this tradition of taking a picture of your food before you eat come from? Yeah. Because it is the craziest thing. And even though I know it's okay, I do still feel kind of icky. I don't know about you. I still feel a bit weird, right, doing it. But i I really do understand that the restaurants want us those meals photographed and they want to be tagged in them. But yeah, I still i still feel a bit icky doing it.
00:06:24
Speaker
Yeah. I guess time will tell.
Charlotte's Health Journey
00:06:29
Speaker
These days, there is so much discourse and discussion on what it means to be healthy. The wellness industry was valued at $6.3 trillion dollars in 2023. And so to say that our good health takes up quite a lot of our individual and collective attention these days may be a bit of an understatement, to say the least.
00:06:50
Speaker
But we're wondering... What does it mean to truly be wealthy in health? And how do our own experiences with health impact our families and beyond?
00:07:00
Speaker
Right, Lindsay? Yes. And this year more than ever for both you and I, right, we we both ended up becoming caregivers due to medical situations that have happened in this past year. um And I know mine was a massive wake-up call, and I think yours was too. Mm-hmm.
00:07:17
Speaker
Yeah, 2025 just came out of nowhere. Yes. Right? And it was strange. Like, this was the year that we had decided to take a break from the podcast. Yeah. And we did not even realize what was kind of coming both of our ways. But it it did seem to be this um similar theme for both of us, which is kind of strange um in in the health realm of our families and in our personal lives. Yeah. And so I know you guys especially, I can talk about um what we experienced this year, but you guys um had quite the year with Charlotte, right?
00:07:56
Speaker
Yeah. So for our listeners who don't know, my daughter Charlotte is 18. She turns 19 next month. um And she basically came home from work um on a Friday in April. She'd had a mild cold, nothing serious.
Diagnosis: Acute Intermittent Porphyria
00:08:10
Speaker
Yeah. I worked until 10 p.m., crawled into bed, and I woke up in the morning to a text from her saying that she was in a lot of pain. And that immediately got like caught me off guard because Charlotte is never in pain. She won't even ask for a Tylenol for a headache. Like, never, ever in her 18 years.
00:08:25
Speaker
And so she's like, can you bring me some medicine? And um ah her whole life changed from that that moment on. So simply put, i spent 30 nights, 35 nights actually, sleeping in a chair um at the hospital beside her as she became seriously, seriously ill.
00:08:44
Speaker
Okay, so it's a very long story because this diagnosis unfolded from April until the end of June. um But just to sum it up, she had this pain and we kept going back to the hospital. And no matter what testing or imaging was done, no one could identify where she was in excruciating abdominal pain and was vomiting nonstop.
00:09:01
Speaker
And um every test was run. And they admitted her four times, like a total of 35 nights um between April and the end of June. And, yeah, it was just awful. She got sicker and sicker and sicker, and no one knew what was wrong with her. And a few of the times she was discharged where they were like, I think it's in her head, um yet had crazy liver enzymes and things showing up and some of that testing, but nothing was showing up on the imaging, nothing. CT scans, MRIs, x-rays, um nothing was showing up about what would be causing the root cause of this severe pain that was suffering. shutting down her body. Right.
00:09:41
Speaker
And so just, we'll jump forward to the diagnosis. We had, this was truly, we had, you guys were praying as our listeners, Michelle, you were praying daily for her and offering up masses. And we had people praying all around the world. And i am at first that really felt ah like we really felt lifted up by all that. But by that third month, I was like running on fumes and it was, it was really, really hard to keep watching your child suffer by that month.
00:10:07
Speaker
And um so finally, I realized the answer to everyone's prayers came in the form of a doctor named Dr. Wong. He was covering for another doctor at this hospital. He doesn't even work at this hospital. And he came in and he was looking at her paperwork and he's like, there is something seriously wrong with her and I am not going to stop fighting until we figure out what's wrong with her and I'm going to start testing for rare diseases.
00:10:29
Speaker
And the very first test he tested, the rare disease he tested for, um it it was a two-week-long test, and it did come back positive, um and it was corroborated later by her genetic testing that was done. And so Charlotte has a very rare disease called porphyria. Her type of porphyria is acute intermittent porphyria.
00:10:47
Speaker
And sure enough, all of those symptoms, that extreme abdominal pain, the vomiting. um So she lost 30 pounds off of her very already tiny frame in just six weeks. um She lost her ability to basically walk, ah to hold a drinking glass. All of her muscles were shutting down. Her throat muscles shut down where her voice completely changed. It went up an octave. Her ability to breathe was starting to get impacted. um she was And I'm not being dramatic when I say she was approaching death's door at that point. And so once the diagnosis came through, um we were able to start her on the only treatment that is available for this. It is a treatment that is almost never given in our province. No one knew how to do it.
00:11:29
Speaker
And ah that was a whole complicating factor because the liquid that is called hemen that is put into her veins looks like molasses and is the consistency of molasses. And it caused ah very large clots in both of her arms as she was going through the treatment, but it saved her.
00:11:45
Speaker
and And now we have an amazing specialist team in Toronto in the big city near us. And she's just had another attack last week, which is what delayed us putting out this episode, actually. And ah they were able to get, because now we don't have to go through all the testing, right? We know what it is. They direct
Hospital Experiences & Health Reflection
00:12:02
Speaker
admitted her. She didn't have to go through the ER. Her team all clicked into place. Both the teams at our local hospital in Toronto worked together together. They got that Heman into her. They put it into her a different way that caused no clotting. And my girl was back within 24 hours of being released. So yeah we, yeah, it's been a long journey. Um, it's not over. She will live with this forever. Um,
00:12:23
Speaker
But all of that to say, and this I just want to point out right now, like that the top part of this episode is going to be a little heavy because Michelle and I want to share what we went through over this last year to help us reach the conclusions we've come to at the end of this episode. But we kind of just share that this background first with you guys. And you guys have been along with us for all these years and all this journey. And I know so many of you follow us on social media and follow me and you knew about everything going on with Charlotte. And so I'm I just I feel like we do need to address this. And but how did this change my life? Right.
00:12:59
Speaker
And and it's it goes there's my daughter suffering and watching that. But watching someone who was 18 and so healthy, like previously a normal, healthy 18 year old. be brought to death's door so quickly.
00:13:12
Speaker
um And then to watch the months of recovery of learning how to walk again and shower again, and all of those things to try to walk up a stair, all of those things, it was just ah a huge wake up call. And so I again, I i spent those 35 nights in the hospital with her And that gave me a front row seat 24 hours a day to what life looks like when someone is seriously ill or injured and they need to stay in a hospital for a couple of days. And it was not only shocking and eye-opening, I found it deeply motivating because
00:13:47
Speaker
And that is where we're going to leave you, I promise. This episode will leave you feeling deeply motivated. but but That's the trajectory here. Okay, just stay with us for now. So I think one of the things I want to address first is one of the things that i and and i struggle with saying this because i think it sounds a bit harsh, but I found out that what I experienced was a very common experience.
00:14:11
Speaker
And it's just not talked openly about enough. um But it is the fact that there is little to no dignity when you are sick or hospitalized. And I want to be clear that this is not a reflection on nurses and health care staff.
00:14:24
Speaker
Quite the contrary. They are actual heroes that I witnessed being verbally harassed and critically, they were critically understaffed while performing their jobs with tenderness and care. And I never once in 35 days, 24 hours a day, heard a nurse who did not care and who was not gentle and tender with their patients. That was incredible.
00:14:49
Speaker
When I talk about the fact that there's little to no dignity, what I'm talking about is the loss of privacy. So my daughter was in a ward room with men, adult men, a loss of control and independence, poor communication.
00:15:03
Speaker
i also think I need to point out that health care is different all over the world, and it can be better or worse depending on your financial situation. Canada does have universal health care, so we did not have to like go through insurance or pay anything for the countless tests. I'm talking MRIs, ultrasound, CT scans, x-rays, a stomach scope, a colonoscopy, neurological assessments, heart tests, heart ultrasounds, on and on and on. that Charlotte had.
00:15:28
Speaker
But Jason had resigned from his policing job and we had a three-month wait without any benefits, um which meant that Charlotte was in ward rooms with three other people because we didn't have the coverage to upgrade her to a semi-private room. But what I saw with my own eyes here was was deeply upsetting. There was one elderly lady who was admitted due to a urinary tract infection.
00:15:49
Speaker
And I watched her mental health deteriorate over five days from being, when she went from being like a little confused, which is a normal, I've learned a normal symptom for elderly people with a UTI to exhibiting almost total dementia symptoms in just five days.
00:16:03
Speaker
And that was just one example. I could share so many more um ah that, of, the people that were around charlotte that were admitted with like one medical issue and then i saw that it became compounded into new issues the longer that they stayed and i kept saying it over and over again to jason that that person i'd point to the next person as we were talking with them like they're never going back to that life they lived before they never are in many ways it's over for them and i like was seeing that i'm not even being dramatic like i was hearing what the doctors were saying and i was going these people aren't going back home and it broke my heart
00:16:35
Speaker
And so I'll say this. And again, thank you for letting me get all this off my chest, Michelle and listeners. Oh, yeah. um As I paced the halls and ran up and down four flights of stairs multiple times a day because I tried to get my steps in um and I slept with my body half on that bed and half on a chair And as I had to maneuver my body constantly into these tiny spaces to like unplug her IV so I could move it and all these things to help her go to the bathroom.
00:17:02
Speaker
I compared my body. Okay. This is what's so important. I would be sitting there and I would, this body that I curse daily because I think I'm carrying too much weight. It's scarred. I'm wrinkly. um i don't look like I used to.
00:17:16
Speaker
i compared my body to those people in the beds around her. And I realized just how fortunate I am to be able to walk and bend and run up those stairs. And that this indignity and illness, that it can be a great equalizer, especially in a universal healthcare system, because it didn't matter how much those money those people had around Charlotte and all those beds and whatever room she was in, semi-private, ward.
00:17:39
Speaker
No one cared what kind of car those people drove or what their house looked like at home. No one knew what those things were. They left their fancy purses right at home. Their clothing was packed away. Everyone hobbled around in their hospital gowns. And I realized then that our health, that my health and my body is truly a gift and a treasure that was given to me to be taken care of and thankful for.
00:18:02
Speaker
And so i just realized then, and it moves me so much today, that all of these years I've spent complaining about my body and trying to mold it into what I think it should look like, it is performing so well and that I'm so thankful and that I just pray all of those people do get to go home and get better. But anytime you spend an extended period of time in a hospital, my goodness, you really have your eyes opened up too to the reality of health.
00:18:30
Speaker
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. That massive gift of per perspective. Yeah. Right? That you get. And that is such a heavy
Impact of Accidents: Phil's Story
00:18:39
Speaker
year. It's been such a heavy year for your family. Yeah. And there have been so many of these insights. It's a lot to process all at once.
00:18:48
Speaker
um And I kept thinking, too, and I'll talk a little bit about our year as well, but for me and what you're just saying about how like it made you realize that what a gift it all really is. um is the The Joni Mitchell song, like, is it Big Yellow Taxi? Yes. Or it's just like, you don't know what you've got till it's gone. was like, they paved paradise and put up a parking lot? Yeah.
00:19:15
Speaker
ah Well, that too. It does seem like around hospitals, there's a lot of parking lots. but True. But all that to say, like, i think when it comes to our health, that can be one of the things in our lives.
00:19:26
Speaker
Yes. That we don't realize what we have and until we either see it gone. Yes. Or we have it gone ourselves. And then it provides that, like, eye-opening moments for us to really reflect on. Yeah.
00:19:42
Speaker
So, um yeah, well, like you were alluding to earlier, we also had a year where health has been forefronts on our minds and in our lives. So earlier earlier this year, and I don't know if I ever really shared this publicly, it was kind of a blur, but um it was right at the beginning of the year in January. My husband, Phil, broke his kneecap.
00:20:04
Speaker
He was coaching our son's hockey team one morning. And it was just a fluke accident. He was skating backwards, stepped on ah a puck, a rogue puck that he didn't see coming. And when he came down onto the ice, all his weight went onto his knee, his right knee.
00:20:23
Speaker
um And it shattered the patella um into many pieces. Oh. And so, um you know, like what you were saying, Lindsay, how one night Charlotte came home and when she woke up the next day, life just changed completely. yeah it it did feel like that sudden kind of a change for us as well. Like I got up one morning And right after I woke up, I got a call from another dad on the hockey team that something happened to Phil and I needed to come right away.
00:20:53
Speaker
um and then from that point on for several months of the year, um day-to-day life changed a lot for all of us. um And he had to keep his leg.
00:21:08
Speaker
So he did have to go for surgery a week after he broke it. Once the swelling went down, the swelling was crazy. and so when we came back home, he had to keep his leg completely straight for nine weeks. Oh my goodness.
00:21:22
Speaker
Which was hard for him, for sure. And then because he couldn't drive, it was last winter. Remember how you were saying in the time episode with the blizzards? And how we've had the mildest winters ever. yes And then for whatever reason, last year we had a ton of snow and we don't have a snowblower or anything like that. so it was a lot of like... Yeah. Anyways, it was lot of the day to day upkeep of the family um was me. Which you don't realize. and You don't. You don't realize. Again, perspective. You're like, oh, my husband actually does so much. Oh, yes. So, so much. And how much we had just kind of fallen into ah divide and conquer relationship. Yeah. Approach. Right. yeah I was going to say, and and little things that you come up with that you don't realize too, right? Like how do you get into the shower? Yeah. If you can't bend your leg. Yeah. so and we have, um we had up until that point, the doors, the sliding doors on the shower. And my husband's tall, like Phil's tall. And so we're like, i don't know how you keep your legs straight and get into the shower.
00:22:33
Speaker
We like stood there for a long time, just kind of looking at the shower and I'm like, the doors have to come down. Yeah, it's such a, there's a lot going on. And so in the moment, you don't really stop to consider all these things, right? yeah And it's a little bit maybe afterwards or when you have time to sit that so many of these realizations come to you. yeah And you're like, oh my gosh, isn't that something? yeah So, yeah, speaking of all these things, and we're talking here about that gift of perspective. um For us, it came from the injury side of health, right? was Specifically with Phil's injury, that it really...
00:23:12
Speaker
Struck me at one point, the once he was start able to start the rehabilitation process a little bit, and it was going pretty quickly once he could start. yeah um And I know i talked to you about this a little bit at the time, but we were saying, like, I attributed a lot of that in a big way to the shape Phil was in before his injury. yeah um And in fact, the nurse, when he could finally go get the staples out after his leg, after the surgery, she was kind of laughing because the staples were coming out on their own.
00:23:42
Speaker
And she was like, that's actually how you kind of know you're healthy or like you have strong muscles or whatever that your body's like, okay, I'm good. and Yeah. His muscles are pushing them out. Yes. They start rejecting the staples themselves. Like, I'm going to take my own staples out. Yeah. um Yeah. But and then even before, like, he was a but able to really hobble around um on his one leg or with crutches, he was able to maneuver himself quite a lot because his upper body had a lot of strength. Yeah. So he has ah Phil has a really active job. He's always on his feet. We compete step counts. And it's ridiculous every time because I'll be like, wow, I have like 10,000 steps today. and he'll always be so gracious to me and say something like, oh, I think you might actually have beaten me today. and then he'll look at his watch and be like, oh, never mind. He has like 19,000 or something.
00:24:42
Speaker
But he does he does that. He likes to bike. He likes mountain biking. um The hockey that injured him. The hockey that injured him. That's right. A double-edged sword. Or skate blade. Or skate blade.
00:24:58
Speaker
And it was ah watching him and helping him throughout this whole thing for all those months made a really big impression on me about how, like what you were saying, a healthy body is such a gift. And we can forget that in the day-to-day tedium.
00:25:15
Speaker
um But how, you know, good maintenance of health, as far as we're able to, it really does make a big difference. Mm-hmm. And so I know we'll like get into ah the nitty gritty of everything we just said yeah um in a little bit. But I did think that it was probably a good point at at this point of the episode to just make that distinction because health is so broad a topic, right? um Before we really get into that. today's episode to just really distinguish some of the elements of health we're digging into. So like what you and I both experienced this year, and I know what so many of you listening maybe have experienced too, is the circumstance where health has been impacted in ways beyond our control. Yeah, right a surprise accident or a surprise thing that happened in the moment. Yeah, be totally yeah beyond our control. Yeah.
00:26:09
Speaker
And that's our reality, right? We just can't prepare sometimes for what life will bring. And it's in those moments that we truly need to do the best we can for ourselves. And we can only do the best that we can.
00:26:22
Speaker
um and this that's the human side that we rarely escape. And then there's the other side of health that may be considered, like you'd call it preventative or maintenance oriented or like the offense versus defense, maybe. Yes. right Going with a hockey. yeah We are Canadians. yeah That's right. That's right. um You know, maybe it's synonymous with the term wellness, like this whole idea of it. So when we speak about health, I find it so interesting to consider it in this, you know, build your wealth series capacity, because it is so often equal parts gift, as well as something that we can work on and invest in and try to steward wealth. So
00:27:07
Speaker
It's not necessarily something we always have control over, um maybe like some of those other measures or definitions of wealth that we might talk about. I'm glad you said that because I think that what we really won't felt called to talk about this. but trying to write notes for an episode like this, because it is so nuanced and there are so many directions that could go in, like you what you're saying. it it was a more complicated, although on the surface, it's one of our more simple topics, I guess. As soon as you actually get into the meat of it, we're like, okay, what are we saying? Like, you know, what is our focus here? Because we both have these huge wake-up calls and we want to share that. And we talk about how that's impacted you and I as the moms, right? As the caregivers and what we want to do for our own health. But you're right. There's like so many different
00:27:52
Speaker
but aspects to this. And so we um we just felt compelled to talk about it. And we have a um a pretty good outline of what we want to cover and the rest of it with leaving you guys feeling really pumped up and motivated, I promise. um But yeah, this is, I feel like it was it was one of our more complicated episodes to to write notes on.
00:28:12
Speaker
i know. I feel like, because we often say the Holy Spirit writes our episodes. Yes. He like teases us. Yes. He's like, just do this one. you You're so busy, guys. Just do this simple episode. And then bam and we're like, oh, my gosh, there's so much here. yeah He's like, it's simple. Health is wealth. OK. And we're like, yeah, that sounds great. Totally understand that until you you start writing the notes. Right. um Right. But no, I love the distinction you made there. And I think that now that we've come out of these two experiences that, again, we're beyond our control. um I think what we'll try to emphasize in the rest, yeah, are the little things that we can do that are within our control and the great impact that even those little things can have.
00:28:53
Speaker
So just to continue on being heavy um with this top part of this episode, we've decided we're going to open here with the role of the mother in in her family's health. And we want to open with this because it was the thing that, again, kept coming back to me as I was sitting in those hospital rooms. And I was listening like to the stories of 100 people over and over and over again. And i just thought, man, I can make decisions now Right. That will help prevent my later years, hopefully, from looking like that. Again, like we were saying, there's no guarantee things happen. But what could I do now? Right. And the science and the data proves, and this is what we're going to talk about, that our efforts make an impact not only on our own quality of life, but for generations to come. And so while this might seem heavy, um i also think it's incredibly exciting and motivational. So we're going to have a look here at the role of the mother.
00:29:48
Speaker
hmm. Yeah, as we were writing the notes and as you were just saying it, I'm like, no no pressure, us. It's just ah the health of your whole family. yeah And generations to come. And generations to come. Your great grandchildren. No pressure. I know. But no, I like what you're saying because I've also felt the flip side too or of it being really encouraging that like, because I think sometimes the health as a mother feels like something that needs to be the first thing to fall off your to do list. Yes. Right. out Or we might feel guilty taking the time to consider how we're doing and whether we feel good and whether we're feeling strong and healthy and what can we do to make sure we are ensuring that. And um hopefully taking a step back and looking at that big picture is less of a like, oh, I'm doing this just for me. And more of a like integrative look at health. Like we are part of our families and we're part of our communities. And as Christians, we believe in the body of Christ. Right. And when one part of the body does well, all of it does well. It benefits all. So, yes, let's let's look at this data with this frame of mind.
00:31:07
Speaker
And if we were the Modern Lad podcast, we would talk about fathers and their impact on health, but we're not. So we fully understand, we want to say here, that fathers obviously have a massive role to play in the health of their family. um So please keep that in mind. But today we are women and moms talking to moms.
00:31:25
Speaker
So one of the first things that I encountered when doing my research was an article in Psychology Today, and it discussed the link between what a woman eats in pregnancy and her child's brain development and overall mental health.
00:31:36
Speaker
And that one, I was like, great. um All I ate was like Burger King with my first baby. My 11-pound baby. Yeah.
00:31:47
Speaker
Um, the Lindsay that cooks from scratch on Instagram was not the Lindsay who was pregnant four times. I will tell you all that much. I got much better at that later. And so like reading a study like that, I'm like, okay, great. Well, I did not eat well in pregnancy. Um, ah so I feel terrible about myself, but it's fine. And, and Michelle, you did a little bit of a deeper dive into this as well, right? Like the mom's health, even before ah the children are, the children are born.
00:32:12
Speaker
Well, yeah, I came across this article. It was like a jam-packed article with all the health things um in regards to moms and their fitness. It's from a website called houseofsweat.ca. And was right there in the title I should have known. yeah ah But the article was called How Moms Fitness Affects Children and the Science Behind Raising Active Healthy Kids.
00:32:39
Speaker
And they quoted a ah study called the Southampton Women's Survey done at the University of Cambridge in around the late nineteen ninety s early two thousand s And what they found was like what you were saying um during pregnancy, even pre-pregnancy and then also to into the early years of a child's life.
Maternal Health & Child Development
00:32:59
Speaker
The health and diet of the mother does influence the health and diet of their kids, which I think anecdotal anecdotally you can we can all see.
00:33:09
Speaker
Yeah. But what the study did was it just it put the the proof in the pudding, putting in the proof. What's the saying? The proof in the pudding. The proof is now firmly in the pudding. say Guess what? That will be my tip of the week next week. You've just got me excited about looking into the history of that saying. Yeah. Okay, well, and now I just want puddings.
00:33:35
Speaker
Let's talk more about a mother's diet and health benefits to her kids. But yeah, so they just found that it was overwhelmingly correlative, that the health habits of a mother set up the children up for good health. And they could even predict then...
00:33:51
Speaker
based on the diet of the mother during those times, they could actually predict with considerable accuracy the trajectory of health for the children. wow And so, yeah, I found it so fascinating that even, ah you know, before we have kids, during that, even i found the time of early childhood they really emphasized too, because obviously your children are not in utero. Yeah. Anymore. But that also had such a big impact. um
00:34:22
Speaker
And we can, by making certain dietary and fitness choices, we can have a role to play in how our children's health develops over their childhood years.
00:34:34
Speaker
And I don't have a study in front of me, but you reminded me of when I was learning about what it was like to be a pregnant woman during World War two in Europe without food, right? Or any woman that's living today in a food-starved nation or, you know, with any kind of um poverty. And what it's like to be pregnant when you can't feed your belt like your baby. Well, that's in your body and how these babies were born so tiny and their lasting impact. And one of the famous people that like was like this and was so nutritionally starved, I think, in utero and birth was Audrey Hepburn, um the famous actress. And that's why she was so petite. Like, and she just could not put on weight for the rest of her life. Yeah.
00:35:11
Speaker
And this is, again, just something I learned about a long time ago. You guys would have to verify this. This isn't in my notes. But I remember being so struck by that. um When she was living in Belgium, when she was a baby and born. And so, yeah, we we do know that's an undeniable truth. And this is why mother's nutrition is so important. And um another and what you're talking about going into the early years when they're little, i came across a study from Cambridge University that found that only 53% of mothers of preschool age children engaged in 30 minutes of physical activity at least once a week. So only half, really. Wow.
00:35:45
Speaker
The guidelines suggest that the number should be 150 minutes. And it goes on to explain that young children are not, I found this so interesting, that young children are not naturally physically active.
00:35:56
Speaker
And I was like, have they seen toddlers? Yeah. Yeah. But it's different. I think they they like it's a little different than trying to climb on the back of your couch and jump off versus like, let's go outside and play, go for a long walk, like that kind of actual physical activity. They're not naturally inclined to do that. And that parents play a huge role in getting their children up and moving outside outside and exercising. And again, I hate going outside and I hated taking my children outside. So I'm saying this as a mom who really struggled with doing that when my kids were little.
00:36:31
Speaker
um Yeah, I hear you. i I have to be honest, when I was growing up, I wasn't a super outdoorsy person. Yeah. Like even into my teenage years, I i preferred to be inside.
00:36:42
Speaker
Yeah. Right. And so I kind of come at it from a half-half situation with my young kids because we were outside a lot. We did go on bike rides and hikes and everything like that. um that That was more like for them. Yeah.
00:36:57
Speaker
Mm hmm. I think this is good for us to do. Good job. Yes. We'll try. But it wasn't like all that to say it wasn't like an intrinsic like um yay thing for me either. So I wonder if there's a a correlation there between mothers and getting outside outdoorsy moms. We want to hear from you.
00:37:18
Speaker
Like, what does that feel like? But then again, i do follow on Instagram and I listen to her podcast, Ginny Urich, from 1,000 Hours Outside. And she has led quite a movement. It's become quite a movement of trying to encourage families to spend that kind of time outside. Yeah. Right? So 1,000 hours over the course of a year. Can you do it? What does that look like? and do you Have you done the math? What does that look like? um Actually, I don't have it right in front of me, but she has has done a look at that. And especially for different climates. So she has, I love these slides. This has stuck with me over the years too, about people who live in colder climates over the winter, what that looks like over the course of the year. so it
00:38:07
Speaker
it might not be like three hours every single day all throughout the year. it would be like maybe in the dead of winter, it's one hour outside. Right. um And then in July, you're spending maybe five hours outside with your kids. And then it's flipped for people who live in very hot climates in the heat of summer.
00:38:27
Speaker
um You're spending maybe an hour outside. And then when it's cooler in the cooler months, that's when you get your big lump sum days in. um And what I love about that is that it's created a ah community around it.
00:38:41
Speaker
Yeah. right People encourage each other. It's a beautiful thing. um We tried. i think I mentioned this. We were like, we've attempted, but um have not reached the full 1000 hours outside. But what it did was even the kids love to check off their little hour trackers. Oh, that's great. yeah Yes. So it really does create that reward system. And like what you were saying with the study, clearly this is something very needed.
00:39:09
Speaker
And so what a great time for this kind of challenge to be out there. I'm hugely motivated by a checkmark. too. Yes. Right? It's like that little checkmark. Yeah.
00:39:21
Speaker
and speaking of healthy living and being active and things like that from that same article um house of sweat there was a lot to digest from that one um they were also talking about this special protein that our body creates when we have good healthy habits called the brain-derived neurotropic factor.
00:39:44
Speaker
Yes, I know about this. Oh, okay, yes. Here on out, we'll call it BDNF. Yes, yep. Right, and I have never heard of this before, but apparently it helps us grow new brain cells and strengthen the connections in our brain. It protects our brain from aging and stress and disease. It improves our mood, and it's been associated with better emotional health. And our body makes more of it the more we live healthy lives. So like the exercising regularly, getting outside, eating healthy foods, getting enough sleep and things like that. So what the interesting part where it linked it to motherhood in this article was that ah a pregnant mother's BDNF levels were linked to the ah brain development of their baby in utero, right? Yeah. And a healthier emotional development later for the child, too. They had stronger learning and memory capabilities they were finding in this study. so
00:40:43
Speaker
um and And then, of course, if we are doing things even now, like um even after our babies are born and not getting that benefit, if we're going to be doing those things and we're building BDNF proteins in our own bodies,
00:40:59
Speaker
We're modeling that behavior for our own kids, which yeah helps them to create the protein in their own bodies too. yeah So, ah you know, the protein is called brain fertilizer. It's known. And it seems like the mom is really able, and the dad too, like we were saying, really able to take those steps to produce it for ourselves.
00:41:20
Speaker
And then the chance that everyone else in the household will follow suit is high. And it's just this beautiful chain reaction. It is such like a mixed bag of emotions hearing these these things, right? It is like, okay, this is really awesome. we have We actually have control over these things. And then I think about like my great grandmother, Vida. Vida Atkinson back on the farm being like, what is BDNF? Like, but I don't care. I wish Vida was just trying to survive. I know. She was just trying to survive. And it's like, it's true. And I'm like, okay, right, right. Okay, creating this protein, right. so And like modeling that. And I came across an article on ScienceDirect.com that does talk about, they did a study and the study went on to say, balancing their busy lives and dealing with everyday challenges were constant sources of anxiety to the mothers in this study, especially when considering nutritional practices and physical activities for their children.
00:42:14
Speaker
Mothers agreed that it was difficult to balance everything in order to do best for their families. This was a study by Moen in 1992. And it described these challenges as walking a tightrope to illustrate how mothers are managing their daily lives, attempting to manage their daily lives. And so, yeah, it's we're just like you guys, as we're saying these things, we're also hearing these things and going, right. But yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:42:40
Speaker
I know. Well, yeah, maybe part of it is that maybe we just continue with our lives and then consider all these things as like, oh, hey, and then now I'm also doing this. Yay.
00:42:55
Speaker
But i like not make it the goal in and of itself. Does that make sense? Like there's too many health goals that we could be going for. Maybe we just go for like the basics and eating well, move my body for a little bit today. And then at the end of the day, like be like, and you know what else I did today?
00:43:11
Speaker
i created BDNF. Like, I don't know how much, i don't know how to measure that, but apparently it's happening. Yay. I'm dying. Cause as you're saying this and you're making it, my next note in my, that looking right now says the truth is life expectancy is decreasing for the third year in a row.
00:43:30
Speaker
In this Canadian study done 2023, quote, this is the first time this has ever happened. Dr. Doug Manuel, senior scientist at the Ottawa Hospital Research institute Institute, he told Global News, we've hardly had any declines. We have had a recession, but never like this. Not three years in a row. It's a pretty big event. So it's like, we'll just take it like, no big deal. Then it's like life expectancy is declining for the first time ever. Well, I tried. Yeah.
00:43:59
Speaker
I'm. Well, that's all I got. This is literally right. the The type of conversation that moms have about this to be like, OK, so what's going on? What's the reality? What can I do? And this leads, I think, perfectly into like a conversation we can have about groceries or.
Cooking & Health: From Scratch
00:44:14
Speaker
OK, so.
00:44:15
Speaker
First of all, disclaimer, I say groceries, which then my husband laughs at because he says groceries. And I have put this on my Instagram with polls many a time. Groceries, groceries. I'll say both right now. You just hear what you need to hear because I'm going to say groceries. OK. for But this is another thing that is so, OK, we have the moms who are super stressed about not getting their kids outside enough for fresh air and exercise. i was one of those moms.
00:44:40
Speaker
And then we're like, and don't forget to cook from scratch right out on top of your full time job and and all these things. And by the way, groceries are more expensive than they've been. It seems like ever. um But we should talk about this as well. So the um the cost, I guess, the mental and physical and financial cost of groceries and eating healthy.
00:44:59
Speaker
and So when we were talking about what true wealth is, one of the things that I look at and is is like, i don't care what car you drive. i don't care what kind of house you have.
00:45:10
Speaker
I am more impressed, I guess, if we're just saying like what really wows me is when a mom does have these skills because she's learned somehow and the time and and the opportunities to try to make something from scratch. That really impresses me. And I'm like, wow. And it um it takes on average 30 minutes to two hours to make a meal from scratch.
00:45:31
Speaker
And cooking is a skill set that we are losing at an alarming speed. Most millennials say that cooking wasn't a big part of their lives growing up. It was not part of mine. And families were fed a lot of microwaved food and fast food and prepackaged snacks more than ever, right, in the nineteen eighty s and ninety s And then more than half of the Americans polled say that they cannot cook well, with one in five saying that they are beginner cooks and 53% of Canadian families get fast food once a week. um
00:46:02
Speaker
Finally, when it comes to Gen Z, this is where I'm most interested in is Gen Z. i'm like, what is the next generation doing? 80% so far have said that they cannot make a lasagna or roast a chicken. And the New York Post um takes it even further, stating that Gen Z has found that even cooking eggs is very stressful.
00:46:20
Speaker
So I look at those moms right on Instagram and YouTube and I'm like, wow, they are like doing this big batch cooking and the kids know how to cook. Your kids know how to cook, Michelle. Mine don't. And all this stuff. And I'm like, that is what really makes me step back and go, this is true wealth. This is the point of this this whole episode, right? Is I'm like, that is true wealth. That skill set, the time and the financial aspect of being able to buy good ingredients right now, that is really out of reach for a lot of people.
00:46:47
Speaker
Yeah, it's just it's just been crazy. And a lot of it, too, like I was looking a little bit into why exactly are the prices so high? a lot of it right now, too, especially with things like coffee and chocolate and its um climate affects the growing seasons. Right. So they've had brutal years on the last couple of years.
00:47:08
Speaker
Yeah, and it can seem like it's all of our favorite things. Yeah. Right? Like, yeah oh why the coffee? Why the chocolate? that um But... ah you know and like And we were talking about wartime yeah families, right? I've often wondered too, like they were all there were also other times, I guess, where groceries were really rationed and um things were very difficult to come by And so to be able to have those skills, like what you were saying, to be able to put together
00:47:41
Speaker
meals still um under a little bit of a limitation, ah you're right, is definitely a worthy skill to to work on and to develop. Yeah, it's like depression cooking, Great Depression cooking. And all the economists are saying we're heading into a massive recession. And so these are great skills. And and this is where I'll give a little plug, I guess, again, to Glenn and Friends Cooking, one of my favorite YouTube channels. He um right does recipes pre-1950s.
00:48:10
Speaker
Canadian recipes. A lot of them are wartime and he makes them and it's a really great inspiration. um It's a really fun channel to watch and you can see how they were cooking back then. And then I will say, I don't know when this episode is going to launch, but one year when I was homeschooling for Remembrance Day, we actually measured out the rations that an average Canadian was given or like, i guess ours went as bad as England. So let's say England.
00:48:33
Speaker
And I put it on the counter and all day the kids saw the amount of food that people had to live off of. And it was even just measuring it out as the mom. That was a huge wake up call as well. So you're right. There's a lot of creativity out there, but this is what true wealth is. It takes the time and the skill set.
00:48:50
Speaker
And the knowledge um to actually build, like create healthy and nutritious and delicious meals for your family during these tough times. And so when I see a family doing that well, I'm like, wow, you've got it. Like that really, really impresses me.
00:49:06
Speaker
um The average cost of groceries per month in Canada right now for a family of four is $1,403. And the average Canadian spends $148 per month on fast food.
00:49:16
Speaker
And this is shocking because the number grows by over double in America. In the United States, the average family spends $328 per month on fast food. And I get it because when we're talking about time as wealth, which we, which I forget if we actually said this in the actual episode, but it was in my notes is like when you go, okay, how can I save it bit a bit of time? Right. What are some things that I can delegate or give away? yeah One of the things is a meal plan, meal planning and meal prep. Like, so we get the, I guess like the contrast and dichotomy there of being like, okay, I have to save time. i want to be with my kids. We've got a lot going on. So we get that too.
00:49:51
Speaker
It's just, again, so much information take in. So it's like the true wealth of time is a bit contrasting with the true wealth of health right now. It's you got to pick your winner, I guess, sometimes. I know. i know. Well, and sometimes I do think too, like, and I've been feeling this in other aspects of life too. I've just been walking around thinking like, it's just too much. Yes, it's just everything is just too extra. Yeah, honestly, to myself, I'm like, why is everything just that little bit too much? yeah And sometimes when it comes to meal prep and cooking healthy foods, this is one area I think where what we see polished and glossy in magazines or on social media, um we can actually take a step back from that. i We do primarily cook from home.
00:50:41
Speaker
Yes. But when I tell you, like we cook, I'll say we cook from scratch. But my scratch is making a pot of rice. Yeah. and you know, frying up some ground beef.
00:50:52
Speaker
Yeah. Or like pan pan cooking some ground beef. Yeah. And having ah like some... frozen broccoli steamed yeah with maybe a little bit of a sauce like to bring the whole dish together whatever that's a common dinner for us right i love that guys do this delicious yeah because you can add this so this is where the skill what i'm trying to say is like if you're going to invest time for long lasting benefits and stuff like that. It doesn't necessarily have to be being able to cook like five-star Michelin.
00:51:27
Speaker
Yeah. Michelin level from scratch meals. It can also be something really pared down. Yeah. and um And maybe one or two staples you go back to to save on time. Like I want to believe that there's kind of a a way to rethink things but it is so easy i feel it too to be like but is it scratch if i'm not making pastry dough right i don't know yeah yeah i love that and you so yeah you guys have how many meals would you say roughly you have kind of that you just do on rotation i think it's really manageable what you do and i do not do what you do well so like please share please share what you guys do
00:52:09
Speaker
Um, there's, there's not a formal plan. Um, sometimes we just stumble across a meal that all of us, uh, are like, wow, we really like this. Keep this one. That's often what we'll say. We're like, we'll keep this one. Yes. And then it's like seasonal, right? So there will be like a phase where we seem to have a lot of a certain kind of a meal, um, because we all really like it.
00:52:34
Speaker
um And then we'll just rotate. It helps with groceries too, because if you're having something similar often, then you can kind of either buy in bulk or when it's on sale, you know, to grab a little bit of extra um to throw in the freezer and things like that. But growing up, so this is how our childhoods can influence us too. everything was on rice everything even like when i married phil he's like i've never put some of these things on rice before like but you have an ancestry right so i do yeah it makes sense but for me i'm like i've never not had chili on rice wow never not had beef stew over rice and yes we do still add potatoes into the beef stew. Double carb it up. And sometimes we have bread on the side. Like all these things I just thought was normal. But these are like classic ways of filling your family's bellies up.
00:53:27
Speaker
And like up with food that will keep you going. We don't have to be scared of carbs in these sense when you're cooking for your family in these times. Yeah. Right, right. And then, um like, and all of that is generally good food from scratch, right? Like, I just buy the raw meat and I buy the bag of rice and using, like I was saying, the spices or a sauce or something like that, you bring the whole meal together. But that is also cooking from scratch. Yeah. I would say, too.
00:53:58
Speaker
um Or it's at least at this phase in my life, maybe as close as I'll get i think cooking rain scratch. great. And that's how my parents cook. That's how I grew up. Right. And so my mom and dad both worked full time. and We were a family of five. My dad got home before my mom did every day. And he started work at like two in the morning. And so he was home for dinnertime, exhausted. And so my dad made all the suppers. I would say my dad did 95 percent of the cooking in my house. And it was that classic meat carb veggie. And it was canned peas combo, like ah a pork chop. And i don't know, like maybe a fried potato. He would dice potatoes and he would put a little mozzarella cheese on top. And, yeah, and it's like for some reason it's been ingrained in me and a lot of our generation, like it has to be better than that.
00:54:47
Speaker
It has to have, right? It has to have so many more things, like just has to look like what social media is telling you dinner has to look like. But that, those meals were done on a family with a budget that fed all five of us every night and we didn't always love it, but you ate that food. And i that's in my head as like what I should be doing. And I just need to tell myself that, like give myself permission that it's okay to just do that. because ah What I'm doing is is not even that good. Like what i' doing is my kids get pizza pockets and Jason and I will eat something else. And because I'm like, but it's so simple. It is so simple to bring it back to those basics.
00:55:22
Speaker
And the three things on the plate, the loaf of bread, like my mom always said, they always had a loaf of bread in the center of the table. And because food, like your plate, your portion was small. So you can eat rice and potatoes and then that stew because your portion was small. And then that loaf of bread was on the table to fill up the rest of your tummy.
00:55:39
Speaker
Yep. Yep. And it's great. and And you can like add elements of enjoyment. So, for example, we love Korean beef bowls. That's where I'm actually thinking right now. It's rice, my beef, my broccoli. And then to make it fancy, then we might also treat ourselves to the bag of avocados. They're also not the cheapest grocery ingredient. But a bag of avocados, when it's not the star of the meal, yeah um enhances the main meal.
00:56:10
Speaker
yeah And it's good for you. And it's healthy. So like there i think that's what we're saying. like To be wealthy in health in terms of our food... And our diet is to ah to be able to be creative with it and to understand food and to understand health um and the correlation between the two in order to make it a balanced thing for us to manage. That's that's pretty wealthy. yeah Yes. And not have not succumbing to every health fad, right? Like you're saying, just back to basics. Just, yeah, you don't have to try every new crazy thing out there. Just back to basics. Yeah.
00:56:47
Speaker
Okay, so let's say we've eaten our basic 1980s dinner and um we're like, okay, I want to go to the gym. um well Sure you do. A lot of people want to go to the gym, but 67% of gym memberships go unused with only 18% of people with memberships going to the gym consistently.
00:57:06
Speaker
Again, this takes time and money, right? And if you're not going, that money that's being spent there could be spent somewhere else. But here's the thing. You and I were talking about this a lot earlier. the the best exercises that you can do are often free, right? You can walk, you can run, you can use your body weight for strength training. And these things cost nothing but time and the wealth of time. um But the truth is, 93% of Americans are metabolically unhealthy. We just, this is the thing, this is what we're still trying to reconcile ourselves with. And we can tie that, of course, to levels of income for sure, and food deserts, and
00:57:43
Speaker
the big food pushing these like chemical laden hyper processed foods on down our throats. But we also have to be truthful with ourselves that we do have more control over these things than we think that we do. And so I just I want to leave it with this, that if you can teach yourself to cook, and if you can keep your body moving, you are part of the 7% of the worldwide population who is metabolically healthy. And to me, and to you, Michelle, this is the type of wealth worth fighting for.
00:58:13
Speaker
Mm-hmm. And it's so interesting, too, that unlike monetary wealth, this kind of health often is free. Yeah. Like, it's it's, yeah, and maybe it's the mindset yeah that we have of um how all these things, they're not the be-all and end-all in and of themselves. They're, like, contributing factors to a wealthy and healthy life. Yeah. right yeah and it's it's the mindset that is free and you can't
00:58:45
Speaker
bye that kind of mindset with money i'm just trying to throw out all the wealth ah yes connections here but yeah i know what you mean like to prioritize our health especially as mothers especially out in life gets busy i know i struggle with that too now But it's another one of those things, if we're going back to the BDNF protein. Let's finish with BDNF, yes. Let's just bring it around full circle. Producing that protein is free, yes right? Yes. And you're right. It's the consistency that ultimately is going to um matter in the end, I think. So when it comes to diet, like what you're saying, when it comes to exercise and being active, it's
00:59:26
Speaker
Um, we can go for the top tier health advice. Yeah. but Pushed by all the experts and stuff like that. And if you can do it and you want to do that, and that's what fuels you and lights a passion within you, i think that's great. Yeah. Um, but also too, if you're just keeping it at a level where you know, you can be consistent with it. Yeah. 80, 90% the time. um then that's going to pay off in dividends that you may not be able to see immediately, but throughout your life, yes.
01:00:00
Speaker
And if you are like me and you're listening to this going, no, I want to do better. I'm not at the consistent, it's not a passion for me. I'm not even at the consistent level of like doing my best. I want to do better. This has motivated me to want to do better, especially again with that wake up call I had. seeing everyone in the hospital.
01:00:16
Speaker
um i think that I can just start small. And um even again, talking about the wealth and the financial aspect of it, I know that there's a lot of wasted money. Like if it's really sitting down and looking at your budget, meal planning, which I still don't know how to do. um But I think that this has motivated me to like be like, I can slowly improve upon this changing one thing at a time. making small changes, and then building that consistency. So I feel definitely more motivated. This is kind of the wake-up call I needed um to just cook a little bit better for my family. I cook really well for Jason and I, but I've really, it's one of those, I'll just say right now, it's a battle with the kids that I just don't want to have. It's just, it's always been a hill I don't want to die on. I'd rather have like happy meal times. um But I really understand that true wealth in the sense is not, it's not serving them well to not,
01:01:06
Speaker
be a little bit stricter with this. And so, and my kids are older. And so I just want to be like, there is always time. It's all, there's always a chance to make things a little bit better. i can go back and think, oh, I should have done this when they were toddlers. And yeah, maybe I should have. um But I don't need to, you know, rest in that. I can just go, okay, I know more now. But truly that, like when you know better, you can do better. i didn't know as much then. And I do know one more now. So yeah, it's any of these efforts ah about being healthy that we'll talk about in this episode.
01:01:34
Speaker
Any step forward, and no matter how small it is, has a big impact. And so, yeah, even if you think your children are beyond changing up their eating habits like mine are, I'm still going to give it a go.
01:01:46
Speaker
hu And speaking ah about mindset, I think a big part of the puzzle that's missing in these like more cultural conversations about health is how we're supposed to even see our bodies change.
01:01:59
Speaker
Right. And yeah so like even relating to that as Catholics, we have beautiful teachings and a theology surrounding our physical selves that really help put a lot of these like wise and these goal setting mindsets and this, um,
01:02:15
Speaker
this desire to do better in terms of our health to help like frame it into a really great, proper perspective, right? Yeah, absolutely. We are going to now talk about the theology of the body. It's it's literally called that. And i want to open with a quote from that, um and then we'll explain what that is. But the quote is, "'The body, in fact, and only the body, is capable of making visible what is invisible, the spiritual and the divine.'" It has been created to transfer into the visible reality of the world, the mystery hidden from eternity in God, and thus to be a sign of it.
01:02:52
Speaker
And I wanted to open with this quote from St. Pope John Paul II, who we will affectionately—I think you'll agree with me, Michelle, I'll just call him JP two um as we're mentioning him so many times um from this point on—because it's not only a beautiful quote, but it's important as the thesis statement for JP II's Theology of the Body— When you and I were talking about this, Michelle, um we burst out laughing. We're like, okay, because we both realized, like, I think we really need to delve into theology of the body, which is something neither one of us have studied. And we're like, we'll just squeeze that in. We'll just fit that in somewhere. This entire, like, what did it take? I think it took him, like, three years of weekly Wednesday audiences. Yes. yeah That's what i have in my notes. yeah We'll read up on it. Absolutely. i guess our little shallow dive into Yeah, I was going to say this is a series of 129 lectures on human sexuality but presented to, like you said, his Wednesday audiences in St. Peter's Square from actually it was five years, 1979 1984. Wow. We were like, yeah, of course, we we can become experts on this and relay it to you guys. No problem. um In fact, what we did is we found a great article by someone who did a good summary some points. And so we want to really share the information that Shannon Whitmore, she wrote this beautiful article on the Ascension Press web website.
01:04:08
Speaker
And in it, she shares five ways that theology of the body helped change how she saw her own body. And we're going to link this article because it's a great article and she deserves all the credit. But we thought we're just going to talk about the points that she brought up because they're so good.
01:04:24
Speaker
Okay, so let's start. So number one, and again, this is from Shannon Whitmore. um So she said, your body was created good and beautiful.
Theology of the Body & Resurrection
01:04:32
Speaker
And she talks about how the God of creation created your body.
01:04:36
Speaker
We know that and scripture tells us that he knit us together, right? He knit you together in your mother's womb and that every hair on your head is numbered. He created the stars in the sky and the flowers on the ground.
01:04:48
Speaker
You and I were his creation. And she says, you are beautiful in the eyes of God. So that is number one. Mm-hmm. And ah when I read that, i was like, it sounds so simple. It sounds like something that we should automatically believe. Right. Right. But so often we do see our bodies, we can see our bodies as an enemy. Yeah.
01:05:14
Speaker
opposed to remembering like what you said go god saw that it was good when he created us and so It really fosters an attitude of appreciation when we think of ourselves and our bodies this way. And i think it has a ripple effect too for our families. When we first strive to see our bodies as good and beautiful and it deepens an intrinsic sense of self-worth and value and then um it's just modeled for everyone else and it just goes out from there.
01:05:47
Speaker
And you're right. It can be that one of the hardest things in the world to focus on. I struggle with that so much. But we would, let's talk about our own creation when we look at our children, right? As a mother, it's so easy for us to look down at a baby in our arms or even our teenagers and right and and be like, of course, of course, the God of all creation created you as well. You are...
01:06:05
Speaker
As beautiful as any of those things in his creation, but it is hard to see it in ourselves. But you're right. If we can work on that, that healthy type of self-love, you're right. It does have a ripple effect. um And it is a great thing to model for our children. Mm-hmm.
01:06:21
Speaker
So number two is sin has clouded the way you see your body. Now this means that we often listen to the lies of the devil more than we listen to the voice of God.
01:06:32
Speaker
We hear that our bodies are ugly and not deserving of respect from others. We hear that we should be ashamed of ourselves. God wants you to know that your body was created for good and that he created you for more than you could ever imagine. Mm-hmm.
01:06:48
Speaker
This one is good. It's not something i've really i really deeply consider on a regular basis. um like That sin can distort how we see ourselves. Absolutely. Just like it distorts how we see most of the rest of God's creation, right? Yeah.
01:07:05
Speaker
It's not always obviously outright bad, I think. Like, I rarely think of my body as evil, right? um And Satan doesn't all doesn't really work that way, right? It's more subtle, like way less obvious, starting with thoughts like, oh, I, you know...
01:07:22
Speaker
I wish I was taller or I wish things were this way with my body and I'm not seeing it, um how God wants me to see myself. So, you know, I think we've all had those and perhaps it's the beginnings of the effects of sin, distorting our perspective away from God's perspective, even so close to home as our own bodies. And, oh, I, and I also had this thought too, like maybe this is why, maybe you've had this experience too.
01:07:50
Speaker
Sometimes I feel so good even physically after confession. Oh, 100%. Right? 100%. You hear others describe, and I have felt too, like this lightness. Mm-hmm. Feeling like you're floating almost. You come out of the confessional. Maybe they should put a big mirror outside the confessional. We'll conduct a study. Let's make it more uncomfortable. I don't know.
01:08:16
Speaker
ah Would cameras be even more so? I don't know. yeah I hear what you' saying now. I get what you're getting at. Jason had that experience after his very first confession ever when he converted to Catholicism. He was walking out to our car and he honestly didn't know what was happening to him. And he felt a so light. He actually reached out to grab onto something because he thought he was going to lift up. He said it was the most mystical thing he's ever experienced. Yeah.
01:08:43
Speaker
Wow, that's incredible. So like it really does have a physical, a tangible effect. That's yeah really wild. Okay, so number three is you do not have a body.
01:08:56
Speaker
You are a body. This is one of the things I think really blew my mind when I started learning about theology of the body. um So your body is the visible reality of an invisible truth.
01:09:07
Speaker
Your interior life is is revealed through your external mannerisms and bodily choices. Your smile, your tears, your arms holding a baby, your lips kissing your husband. You are an embodied soul.
01:09:21
Speaker
Your body makes you you. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And as I was reading that, it reminded me of one of those heresies. So I had to Google it. And it's the Gnosticism yeah belief, right? So even in the history of the church, there were whole movements that would talk about how spiritually we need to transcend this material world. Right. Yes. Yes. Like trapped by it, including our bodies. And to read that the body is bad, right? Like the body is intrinsically bad. yes Yeah, like, and it's the thing that's holding us back from reaching that like secret knowledge. um
01:09:58
Speaker
Or, yeah, we're our true selves outside of our bodies. And so I love how JP2 flips this on its head and that he reminds us that our bodies aren't just tools for us to use. They're not just things we're supposed to endure until we get to our greater selves. You know, we just, we are our bodies. Right.
01:10:19
Speaker
Yeah. It's not yeah a flesh suit. To take this into horror movie. Yeah. To put a very visceral spin on it. Yeah. Did you see the funny meme that circulates around Halloween where it's like, I don't know who decided that skeletons are the scary thing. Yes. Yes. Is it like your muscles or central nervous system and your vascular structure? Yeah, or whatever. It's like way more terrifying to walk into a room. Absolutely terrible terrifying. And the, yeah, the two pictures beside each other. i would be scared too if my nervous system was coming towards me. but
01:10:55
Speaker
Okay, and number four, um your body is a gift to be respected and cherished. Shannon Whitmore wrote, Your life is a gift from God, and that includes your body.
01:11:07
Speaker
But like any gift, your body can either be accepted in gratitude or rejected. You can either cherish your body as the gift it is, or you can reject it as something unworthy of love And I think that when I read that quote from her i'm like, this is the whole point of this episode. This is it. and This is the clincher that our body is a gift from God. And so in our health and everything comes along with that, right? We can either accept it in gratitude.
01:11:32
Speaker
That's what we're talking about. Like taking care of this gift. Right. Or we can reject it. But it is a gift. Yeah. And I loved this one because it it just felt so gentle to me. Yeah. Right? Especially coming off of that visual of the nervous system and flesh suits. This one, I'm like, oh, sweet. Very sweet number four.
01:11:53
Speaker
but but Oh, my goodness. No. Yeah, absolutely. but Like even as mothers specifically, but everyone, right? Like how we nurture and cherish and love others in our care. yeah We're supposed to do that for us, too. We are in our care.
01:12:11
Speaker
We shouldn't just just respect them, but take care of them and giving it what it needs from exercise to good diet, like we were talking about earlier, rest and support, like all these things. We're human beings and our bodies are, like you were saying, the external extensions of who we are. And that gives us dignity, God-given dignity. And so just like we would do that for others, we also... are in need of that care and good stewardship
01:12:42
Speaker
Absolutely. And you know, that perfectly leads us into the last one here. So number five says your body is yours forever, right? This is this good stewardship, this like taking care of it. It is yours forever. and Shannon wrote, the separation of body and soul at death is only temporary.
01:12:58
Speaker
At the end of the world, you will get your body back, this body, the one that is yours right now. It will be glorified, and it will be untouched by sin, but it will still be yours.
01:13:10
Speaker
And then I wrote my notes, I'm crying now, because that did make me start crying as I was writing that out. I i knew that, right? Like, we none we know that, we're taught that theologically, but reading her words— it may Like, now I know this. And it is a gut punch. Like, that is a huge wake-up call, right, Michelle?
01:13:29
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. And we pray that in the Apostles' Creed, right? And yeah especially for us every Sunday at Mass, um every rosary we pray. Anytime we pray the Apostles' Creed, we say, like, I believe in the resurrection of the body. Yes. And it refers to that end-of-time moment when Christ comes back.
01:13:48
Speaker
ah Actually, and in in the Nicene, we look forward to it. like Yeah, that's right. We don't just believe it. Right. We're like, yes, we look forward to the resurrection of the dead. I'm like, can't wait. What's that going to look like, Lord? and good Oh, I know. I know. I'm not sure what that, like the end of time is going to look like. It makes me a bit nervous, but glorified bodies sounds amazing. It sure does. should Right. And just ourselves, but free from the stain of original sin and any of its effects. Like it's the best version of ourselves, but times infinity, literally. Right.
Children & Body Image
01:14:25
Speaker
And that's what you see in children and in toddlers. And they're running around and they've got their little pudgy tummies and their little um like rule sausage roll arms. And they are just so in their body. Right.
01:14:37
Speaker
They're so in their body, right? They're so present and they're just, their hair is welled. And it's just, I just love looking at that freedom that they have where you can really see that almost healed body and soul in the beauty of a toddler. Yeah.
01:14:53
Speaker
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. like Jesus even says, right? Like, yeah let the little children come to me, become like a child. Yes. Even in regards to how we see our bodies, um making that connection, the the children are, i love how you said that, they're in their bodies. Yes. And they're present in their bodies, and they love their bodies. Yeah. Right? And yeah and so I think this teaching, the whole theology of the body,
01:15:20
Speaker
It just puts that care for ourselves, stewardship of our bodies into that eternal big picture perspective, right? Like when we take care of our bodies, um we'll do it as best we can. But why? Like, is it to look good in an outfit? Is it for beauty? Is it for sport? Or
Stewardship of the Body
01:15:40
Speaker
is it for something far more profound, right? And is it because God first loved us, like all of us, and it gives us, like you were saying, that kind of a ah dignity that compels us to live up to that love and to live accordingly? Yeah.
01:15:58
Speaker
So as you're saying all these beautiful things, I'm starting to chuckle to myself because we're going to move into this last section where we're going to share ways that we've been taking care of ourselves. And I know what's coming and you know what's coming. And you're saying all these beautiful things about heaven and God. And I'm like, well, some of the ways that I've been taking care of my body are dot, dot, dot. So that's what we're about to share now. i love that. But you know what? I feel like it's perfect because this is what it means to be human. um and yeah right and like we are ah we i mean we have that saying right like god love god love us ah bless her heart bless our hearts because i think this like ah yeah ah you'll you guys will understand when we start yeah sharing what we're giving our suggestions but it's just so how we live like we have this um image of God kind of intellect and spirituality, but we live in the world. So here's how we are trying to put the poem poetry into action, we'll say. Yes. And i and we just want to say like these things that we're sharing, they are just little everyday things that we've tried to do, but that doesn't negate the deep work we've done at like healing masses or like um the work of Dr. Bob
Personal Care Practices
01:17:17
Speaker
Schutz or any of the work of like... um Sister, what's her name? Heidelbrun. Miriam? Yes. And like there's like all of these deeper things. Those are all important to you, but we're just coming at this last section with like, okay, we've been through all this heavy stuff. We've literally talked about my daughter's hospitalization and Phil's injury and then the theology of the body. And then we're like, okay.
01:17:36
Speaker
Okay, that's a lot. What can I do tonight? Like, I just need five minutes to do something um so that I can feel like my, like wealthy within my health. Like, what can I do? So that's where we're coming from with these little tips. They're little, they're little things we've been doing in our everyday lives. What a disclaimer. I'm so excited. Okay. What's your number one? Okay, well, this one's actually pretty good. um I have been going on lots of long walks.
01:18:07
Speaker
And, you know, still carry, talk about like carrying things within our bodies and guilt and stuff. I feel guilty that I'm not running like I used to or going for runs. But then I'm like, no, dude, you're like 45 now. Going for a nice long walk is totally fine. Now, here's my goal. And I share this a lot on Instagram. I try to get 10,000 steps in before 10 a.m., And so that means walk of about seven to seven and a half kilometers based on how much walking I already did, like prepping kids' lunches and getting out the door to begin with. But here's the key. I am the most unmotivated person you'll ever meet and the biggest procrastinator. And so I found that I need, talked before about like habit stacking or like trying to set things up for success. And so this is why I still walk my kids to school, despite the fact that they are pretty much like young adults, is that that forces me out my front door. And then I keep walking after I drop them off.
01:19:03
Speaker
And this really started this time last year. And um I pushed myself and this was after slipping on the ice and having that head injury. um I got the cleats for my shoes. And I was so proud of myself for putting those cleats on my boots, bundling up and walking every day over like really bad sidewalks and deep piles of snow and So anyways, it's um' I realized that getting out and walking and doing long walks outside, it does a few things for you. Not only are you getting your exercise, right, which is great. It fills me with a gratitude for my neighborhood.
01:19:35
Speaker
um I walk around and I'm like, good morning. Well, actually, you just go morning, right? And like you're greeting everyone. And I love seeing like people leaving their houses in the morning. Like I'll see like a dad with like his briefcase and his coffee, um, cut to go cup, like balancing a toddler on his hip, trying to get them in the car. And I saw like a woman coming to open up our little library. Like you actually see the neighborhood like coming to life. And that fills me with such joy. I don't know if you remember the Sesame Street song, um but these are the people in my neighborhood. yeah yeah I sing that in my head like I'm four.
01:20:06
Speaker
yeah you're Walking through waving at everyone. And I also have learned to get really dialed into, and I'm preaching to the choir here. You do all this stuff, but this is new for me. Okay, people, this is new for me. You really pay attention to the trees changing and what the sky looks like and like what different colors it can look like in different seasons. And um just how everything is subtly changing. You get really dialed into the world outside of you instead of everything inside of you all the time. You get out of your own head.
01:20:35
Speaker
And so um it's been great for all of these things, deep gratitude, moving my body and also growing in resilience, walking through rain, walking through that horrible winter and the like minus 30 with wind chill and blowing wind in my face, like pushing myself to do it feels fantastic. So I am a champion of long walks. And I if you can try to get 10K before 10 a.m., m it is a great little challenge.
01:21:01
Speaker
Mm-hmm. That is a great challenge because I'm barely clocking in at 10K at the end of the day. Oh, it's so hard with homeschooling. At 10
Consistency in Health Practices
01:21:09
Speaker
PM. It is. It's really used to sit a lot. Yeah. i remember you saying that like when we were flipped, right? Yeah. um and Because it was easier for me to get like easily cleared 5,000 steps for sure getting my kids to school. Yeah. um But yeah, there is a lot of sitting. But I i too am a huge fan of the long steps.
01:21:30
Speaker
rambling walks right and that's like a longevity health thing and i see um it's something that people can do like into their later years too and when we talk about health as wealth i i do link that like going being able to go for a long walks yeah with being wealthy in health like for the longevity of your life i love that so what is one thing you've been working on Hmm. So I feel like I'm in a strange season of life right now. I'll be ah completely honest where I'm just, ah I'm often overwhelmed with just life. yeah
01:22:12
Speaker
I'm not necessarily waking up every single day feeling like I'm killing it. you right but Yeah. mosts yeah um But that's okay, because perfection is not the goal. Consistency is right. And so um I'm in this place now with my health and fitness goals where it's just stemming from what do I feel like I will consistently want to do. yeah And not necessarily what do the experts say I should be doing or how can I level up?
01:22:43
Speaker
um I've been in those stages before and I'm sure I'll go in and out of them throughout my life. But today is not that day, my friends. So
Joyful Fitness: Zumba & Dance
01:22:52
Speaker
here's one thing I am being intentional about.
01:22:54
Speaker
What is fun? What is fun for me to do that will also better my health? Because if it's fun, I'm more likely to do it. So For example, I shared with you, Lindsay, that I've been trying the home Zumba dance videos. And if you don't know what Zumba is, this is straight from Google. Zumba is a high energy dance fitness program that combines Latin inspired music with easy to follow.
01:23:24
Speaker
debatable. That's debatable. dance routines yeah creating a fitness party atmosphere end quote and i was like fitness party yes that is what i need right now and like i was saying before to you i was um I think about group fitness classes at gyms. I love that. I love the group feeling to the point where even on my exercise videos, if I see more, if I can just see more than one instructor on the screen, yeah it actually motivates me so much. So I like those other people and working out in the background that the instructor is like playfully yelling at them. I like them. They're my friends. You're like, hey, friends. Yeah, we've been through something together. Yeah.
01:24:14
Speaker
This is a party. i know. I know. um So yeah, I can easily get caught up in what I should be doing, right? Like everyone right now, I feel like on Instagram, everyone's lifting heavy weights. Yep. I totally understand. i i see that that is probably one of the best things I could be doing right now, but I'm just not there. It's a bit of a stretch for me.
01:24:39
Speaker
Zumba, I can do. and We were joking um earlier, too, that at my hips, my Zumba and my hips, guys, they don't lie. They like the fitness party atmosphere. So that is my first thing that i recommend. You know, if a gym membership isn't really in the cards for you right now, like it isn't really for me at the moment. yeah
Exploring Fitness Videos
01:25:01
Speaker
then finding something you just think is fun and finding a way for you to maybe even do it at home is such a great way to boost your mood and to just ah give you that step forward to put your fitness on track.
01:25:15
Speaker
Oh my gosh, I love that. yeah And you and I were talking earlier about how I have zero coordination and I've been trying to do like, i feel like mean maybe we're just like looking back to the 90s for these old workouts, right? So I've been trying to do like the step, like a step class, yeah but on YouTube. And I borrowed my friend's step.
01:25:31
Speaker
I brought it for Charlotte's Rehab. And I'm like, well, I can do a step workout. And I realized soon as you have to cross a foot over and step down on the opposite side, I'm lost. I can't do it. But like, this is, I think, a great point because um any of the old fun videos, I'm talking sweating to the oldies. I'm talking Tybo. Richard Simmons. Richard Simmons. love They're all on YouTube. And you know what? I came across a little workout video, a little lifestyle healthy workout video by Angela Lansbury. Yes, I did. No. Yes, I did. And I forget what it was called. I sent it to Jason and I'm like, look who has a new workout plan. I love this. yeah love this for you. Yeah. Okay. And I just took a minute to look it up because I'm like, you guys are probably like, well, you have to tell us the name. and We're dying to know. So on YouTube, you can look up Angela lansburg angela Lansbury's Positive Moves.
01:26:24
Speaker
isn't that great it's like my mindset and body yeah it's what we're talking about positive move so is it like dance i i haven't actually watched it yet i'm like saving it as a treat but i believe like i saw a couple clips of it and she's like talking about her health and wellness journey i think by season three of murder she wrote she was feeling a little chubby and so she um decided to i think she ended up losing like 40 pounds and She said she really cracked a code that worked for her and felt that she needed to share it with her audience. So I'm like, yes. Yes, you did, Queen. I can't wait to watch this. Don't gatekeep, Angela. like Tell the rest of us.
01:27:02
Speaker
So this is the fun you're talking about, right? like We have access. We live in the greatest time of all. like We have access to all of these jazzercise, anything you could want from the history, like Jane Fonda's workouts. Cindy Crawford's workouts, Suzanne Somers workouts, like they're all there on YouTube. So like have fun with it. I love that you said that.
01:27:21
Speaker
Yeah. And then just one other point that I've noticed too, when I was doing Zumba and you're listing like all basically like my childhood yeah memories base and Kathy Smith. i can't forget to give a yeah little shout out to Kathy Smith there.
01:27:36
Speaker
Was that as I was starting to do Zumba, I was like kind of struck by the fact that I don't often move like this. No. I was so stiff and yeah awkward, right? like um And even though I've been pretty consistently active over the years, I realize it's been very like straight line movements, if that makes sense. Walking, biking, swimming, calisthenics even. And dancing feels like poetry in my body. Like feels... Yeah, it like moves differently. It's flowy. And it's been interesting to reconnect with that way that my body moves too. And so like fun and the flowing and the dancing and everything. I'm like, maybe that is what, maybe that's what Angela is going to tell us about her positive moves. Yeah.
01:28:26
Speaker
You just picture Phil coming home from work and you're like, hola, Philippe. Hey. And you've got some Spanish music on. You're dancing in the kitchen. He's like, yeah, I love that. Your hips don't lie. This is awesome. Yeah. I love it. i love it. I suck at dancing. I never dance in public ever, but I crank the tunes in my kitchen, dance parties, and you can watch your steps go up and your heart rate. Like, yes, having absolute fun. it's I love that mindset shift of instead of being like, I've got to work out because it's almost like a punishment, right? I ate X food. Now I've got to work out. No, no, no. I get to work out. I get to move my body like this. And that, again, taking it circling right back to the beginning and what I was watching in the hospital with people.
01:29:09
Speaker
And I'm like, and I'm running up and down those five flights of stairs at the hospital. And I'm like, they would give anything to be able to go up and down the stairs like I can right now. And so, yeah, just cycling back and circling back to that appreciation of our bodies and having it as a fun thing that I get to move my body like this, that I have the ability to move my body like this. um I
AI & Health Tracking
01:29:28
Speaker
love that.
01:29:28
Speaker
who Okay, so my next one is something that um I've struggled with for years. I have done lots of fasting. I still fast. I've done write hardcore keto I've done um a whole 30 different things. Right now, Jason and I are both trying um calorie counting, which I've also tried in the past, but don't.
01:29:47
Speaker
I, because my whole thing is, is that I want to be able to eat whatever I want to eat, as long as it can fit within my calories. I'm like, okay, science, hashtag science. If it is truly calories and calories out, let's try this. Now here's the, here's the twist.
01:30:02
Speaker
um We are using an app, both Jason and I, that it's like an AI app. Now before anybody yells at me, yes, I know that they're, they're flawed. What you do is you take like a photo of your meal and it will calculate the calories and serving size.
01:30:15
Speaker
Now, I have the extra time to verify those details. Like, I don't just trust the app. um it will And once it starts to learn what you're eating regularly, like it has ah a learning curve, right? It can track things a little bit better. But there's a bunch of new calorie tracking AI apps out there. And and what it is, is I find that it is a fun, back to fun, approach to just trying to track it. I have tried like notepads and pens put around throughout my kitchen. I have tried using... The notes part on my phone to track calories. This has been the most user-friendly way of doing it. And um and I don't find it stressful. And so, yeah, i again, as a caveat, I do double-check everything that I'm putting into there. But it is just the easiest way that we've done it so far. And it just is a reminder, again, about AI is here to stay. And you and I have talked a couple times on previous episodes about how we've been using it lately. And like, so I've also used ChatGBT to come up with way my weightlifting schedule and it did an amazing job. but You can just put what you have in your home, right? What type of weights or machines or equipment. And then it came up with a great circuit for me to do. It had, Jason's now done a full meal plan this week like with ChatGBT. So I guess overall what I'm saying is like, try the tools. Yeah.
01:31:28
Speaker
Try the free tools. They're available. And see if you can help even just anything that light that fire under you. um Obviously, what you're talking about with consistency is key. But sometimes we just need something that that to be excited about, to start anew, to feel like, hey I'm starting this again.
01:31:45
Speaker
And there is nothing wrong with starting again and again and again. My whole life, I'm going to be starting again. um But it's just like finding ah using the tools that are available for good. And then every time you learn about what you're consuming, whether it's calorie counting or reading nutritional labels or cooking from scratch, any of those things, you're building your knowledge of what you are putting into your body.
01:32:09
Speaker
So right, serving sizes, all those things. And that just becomes so important because you are learning so much about how much you can eat before you feel full, about how you respond to certain foods, all of these things. So I look at it all as like data and science and experimenting within myself. And I love it. And I find it exciting. So right now I'm calorie counting because while keto worked fabulous for me and I lost a ton of weight on it and looked great, I used to like be so upset about the idea of like eating half a banana um And that stressed me out so much. And I knew I couldn't go back to something that restrictive. So I feel like this is a way where I can still have the treat, have the ice cream cone with my family and just be really aware of what I'm putting into my body.
01:32:50
Speaker
And
Seeking Professional Health Help
01:32:51
Speaker
what I love about that, too, is that it's you're talking about using the tools, right, that are available to us. Yeah. I think when it comes to our health, one thing that can make it feel a little bit less like ah a wealth yeah is that it seems like just another thing that we need to check off. It's yet another responsibility that we have. And it it is right. We talked um about stewardship of our bodies and care for our bodies.
01:33:18
Speaker
But not so much like when we're calculating macros and, you know, trying to do all these things. It can, depending on what else is going on in our life, easily fall by the wayside if it it's too burdensome.
01:33:32
Speaker
Right. And so I love i love that, you know, just to give you an idea, it shows that you are it it helps you to even think about things. what is going on with your body Yeah. what you're feeding yourself how you're moving and everything like that and um it takes just a little bit of the task load yeah off of it which i think is a good use of tools and um i i love that ah and now what is something else that you're doing Yeah. So I love how both of us started our number ones with like things we're really excited about doing. yeah And then the number twos are like things that we're working on.
01:34:13
Speaker
Yes. My number two is something I'm working on too. And that's, it's, it's hard. I'm trying to make sure I get help when I need it.
01:34:24
Speaker
yeah And yeah that's really hard. It's hard to admit to myself when I need help and it's hard to ask for it. So I think in a lot of ways we can take on stewardship of our health um ourselves at home. And like we were saying, it can be fun and creative and we can do a lot to give ourselves that boost and that kind of healthy lifestyle. we're Over the last few years, I've had some, well i'll say like minor, minor health issues come up um that i put off dealing with for so long.
01:34:59
Speaker
And surprise, surprise, not only did they just not magically clear up on their own, They sometimes often kept getting worse. So I know you, and actually i think I mentioned when we were doing the podcast a couple years ago, I was trying to figure out my feet. Right. If you recall, few years ago. Yes, I think I recall. I know, you follow. You follow this very closely. Who are your feet, Michelle? Okay, that's the thing. For for a few years, i had chronic foot pain in both my feet. And i thought it was plantar fasciitis. Right, yes. I'm still not entirely sure if it ended up being that exactly because it wasn't right in my heels that was painful. But it was in general, my feet were just...
01:35:49
Speaker
chronically in pain for years and yeah my mom kept telling me go see the doctor go see a physiotherapist or a chiropractor or someone if there was only a professional who could help know i know hear you oh it's not that bad it's not that bad it's fine i can i'm managing right yeah um I finally made an appointment and to go see a physiotherapist and a chiropractor. he was He's a two-in-one. know. And less than a year later, the pain was gone in both my feet. Right? I also finally bought better shoes. Yes. And that helped too. But I couldn't believe i was like for at least two or three years, I've been living with this every single day. and in a few months, every single day.
01:36:36
Speaker
It was gone. that That's great. Not everything can be fixed like that. But I think for a lot of things, I put it off for too long. And so bringing it up to today, and I think it's important for me to touch on this too, because I want to be honest on here just in case it helps someone else. And that is that lately, over the last several months, I have felt very low in terms of energy, right? And a little bit of a lower mood overall.
01:37:05
Speaker
And um based on, you know, that example I shared earlier ah finally going to see someone, this time I wanted to get ahead of it before it got any worse. Or if there was something that could help me boost my mood or boost my energy, I wanted to know sooner than later this time.
01:37:24
Speaker
So I did make an appointment with my family doctor. She's fantastic. And she's known me for a long time. And I asked her to send me for blood tests and to work with me on my energy levels, because this is something that I've always had kind of lower energy, especially in the later afternoons and stuff. And I was like,
01:37:44
Speaker
you know what, maybe i bet you there's something there. I just have a feeling. i want to check it out instead of white knuckling it like I usually do. yeah And so even just reaching out sharing speaking it out loud and knowing there's a plan, there's someone on my team, right? And I'm not trying to just ignore something anymore.
01:38:04
Speaker
It took a huge weight off my shoulders. And so I wanted to say this too, because we're talking about health as wealth, right? And how this all ultimately does affect not just ourselves, but our families and our communities too.
01:38:19
Speaker
and And I just know that when I'm doing all I can, yeah and that includes asking for help when I need it now, yeah it puts me in a better frame of mind. And it does help me
Self-Care & Personal Grooming
01:38:30
Speaker
be um the best that I can be at the time to be able to serve and help others. So...
01:38:36
Speaker
Yeah, that's my number two thing is that taking care of ourselves is important. And sometimes we benefit from the help of our community and from professionals and to be um brave enough to just admit it sometimes if that's the next step that we might need to take.
01:38:53
Speaker
I love that. And I'm going to piggyback off that and talk about self-care and a self-care thing that I've been doing as well. But mine mine is super superficial. Okay. It's made a huge.
01:39:07
Speaker
but So just going from what you said, let's talk now about my new love of false eyelashes. my God. ah Okay, bear with me. So i have always, always loved makeup, right? I started wearing makeup in grade six. I can tell you every item of makeup I've ever bought. i've always had fashion magazines.
01:39:29
Speaker
When I was young and a teenager, I would spend, and this is terrible, but I would spend an hour and a half doing my makeup and my hair. And I used to pretend, I used to wish that I could like do it as a tutorial and tell people what I was doing. Little did I know that would become a thing. That day is coming. Yes. i used have so many girlfriends come over and hang out while I was getting ready. And I just thought, I'd love to share with the world what I'm doing. Not that I think I'm good at it. Just I loved this idea of like doing makeup on front of a screen. Anyways, so I love it And I always try, no matter if I'm doing nothing that day or going and doing errands, I always put on a little makeup. I don't spend an hour and a half anymore, but i always do my hair. And you and i at the very beginning of our podcast, um back in 2018, we did an episode on like good grooming. Like I try to take care of myself. um But I started to feel like,
01:40:19
Speaker
wo Lindsay, at the age you're at now, the little bit of makeup, like it's just things aren't things aren't looking the same. And then you go down the TikTok rabbit hole of Guadalajara facelifts. And I realized that unless I fly there, I get a deep plane facelift. I'm not going to look any younger. so I thought it's time to experiment follow me on this i'm self-care.
01:40:39
Speaker
So I'm like, it's... ah there's nothing stopping me from experimenting like with new things because I do find a lot of women my age kind of get stuck in our in a beauty rut right I still have the same long hair I've had since high school I'm still doing a lot of the things I've done since high school and it's like so no I'm like hey you can spend a little bit of money now buying a few new little things and trying new techniques and trying to do your eyeshadow a little different and so what I finally did because I've always wanted like lash inserts but I'm terrified of them like getting an eye infection or and trying to maintain them and stuff so i i thought i'm gonna order just false eyelashes now at the pharmacy they're like 30 for two for like one pair and then on amazon here i am scared i'm gonna an eye infection but i'm ordering like a pack of eight for seven dollars and 98 cents from amazon
01:41:29
Speaker
Whatever. it makes sense in my head. um So I started ordering and I first started with like where you can just buy the individual little clusters. do you know what mean? To just put like at the sides of your eyes. And I thought those would be easier because I've tried like the magnetic ones in the past or the self-adhesive ones and those never worked. These are the first time and trying them with like glue. And I kind of got the hang of that. And then I started buying like a full set and I would do them whenever Jason and I were going to do errands. And let me tell you, let me tell you.
01:41:59
Speaker
That Jason's reaction was i was not prepared for him to notice and to care so much. He's like, your eyes look amazing. And I'm somebody who does wear makeup and does my mascara and stuff. And so I started to realize, like, the batting of the eyelashes. Suddenly I was going out for dinner more. he was taking me out for cocktails. And I'm like, hey, there is power in these little cheap false eyelashes. Wow.
01:42:21
Speaker
What all that did for me was that simple little change was it reignited within me a spark of wanting to take care of myself and to put in a little bit more effort and to be creative and to try a few new things. And it doesn't mean I'm ever going to look like I'm in my 30s again, but I feel so much better about myself and I'm enjoying the process. I have a little bit of more time now than moms with little kids where I can sit in front of a mirror and kind of play around with these things. But it makes me feel so good. So I never understood the power of just adding false eyelashes into my routine, trying something new and putting in a little bit of extra effort. um I'm all about that kind of self-care now. And i honestly wish I would have done it sooner.
01:43:06
Speaker
Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Does that even all make sense, Michelle? Yeah, no, it totally makes sense because what we're doing is like we're making that connection right between our interior and exterior selves. It does something to us interiorly and.
01:43:21
Speaker
We have talked about that connection in other contexts. Yep. Right? um Even when we talked a lot um in our homemaking episodes, we talk about like wearing an apron.
01:43:32
Speaker
Yes. how that does something to our frame of mind that we have to work. Right? Yes. And so that makes total sense that, you know, it might be false eyelashes. ah It might be a swipe of lipstick.
01:43:44
Speaker
Yep. Yep. Well, yeah. And we talked about that too, think. Yes, we have. In World War II, right? And what the red lipstick was. symbolized and what that did. um It might be different for different people is what I'm saying, yeah but the effect and the intention behind it is the same, which is what is it signaling to us inside?
01:44:06
Speaker
And it it does make us feel good inside to take care of ourselves and our bodies. And
Valuing Health: True Wealth
01:44:12
Speaker
so that's not something to be ignored or negated. And the ripple effect of that, so like just from like even you get your workout in, right? You do your Zumba. I do my little workout. Then I get ready for the day. And yeah, I'm a much flirtier wife. I'm much more... hands-on with jay like it changed and then that has a ripple effect right he's like oh what's going on and it's like these subtle changes um impact our overall health the health of our marriage the health of everything like it's just there's these little things you're like okay what's a 20 minute zumba workout gonna do what are these false eyelashes gonna do um but yeah these things spark a chain reaction within ourselves that definitely has an impact on those around us mm-hmm mm-hmm
01:44:56
Speaker
Okay, Michelle, so what is your last tip that you want to share? Okay, so we're talking about feeling alive, right? That's what I'm hearing. Yes, yes. The false eyelashes, the Zumba, the like all the things were alive. And so my third thing is that I am trying to prioritize sleep and rest. Yes. I'm going back to bed. yeah You take off all the makeup. done your workout. You're like, forget it. and That was nice. Yeah. Yeah.
01:45:27
Speaker
ah ah Honestly, I have always loved sleep. Like I am a nap girl through and through. i love my naps. um But when it comes to at nighttime, those quiet, solitary hours after everyone else has gone to bed, the temptation to stay up is sometimes too much to resist. And I've been staying up too late lately, and I just feel it um the next day in a way that I hadn't felt when I was younger. yeah um And so that lack of sleep is getting harder to bounce back from.
01:46:02
Speaker
i realize now that in terms of my health and my overall healthy mindset and attitude, it's better if I'm resting. um And I've been playing around with a few different strategies to help me get more sleep, better sleep, right? and More quality sleep that I can share. The first is that we finally invested in blackout shades for bedroom, right? The kids have had blackout shades forever, but we haven't. And we sleep on the street side our house. So the streetlights have always bothered me. It's so bright. Yeah.
01:46:38
Speaker
And so since getting the blackout shades, it's been, oh my goodness, it's like chef's kiss. Darkness. Yes. And I do think it really has enhanced my quality of sleep. So that's something. Blackout curtains or blackout shades have really helped me fall into a deeper sleep.
01:46:56
Speaker
And then the second thing I do is I try to um prioritize the time I spend in bed going to sleep versus when I want to wake up. So, you know, if I want to be in bed, hopefully sleeping, say for seven or eight hours.
01:47:15
Speaker
Yeah. And at this stage of my life, I can play around with this kind of thing um because the kids are largely independent sleepers now. So I'll do some self-experimentation. And if I want to get up early to work out or to work on, say, the podcast in the morning, then I put it on myself that I need to work backwards and I need to honor that amount of time yeah that I want to rest. So if I don't get to bed early, i don't get to set my alarm for early either. And again, I'm in a homeschool season of life and stuff like that. There's a bit more flexibility.
01:47:50
Speaker
Does it always work? not No. Do I ever cheat the system and go to bed later and still wake up early? Yes. But has it helped?
01:48:01
Speaker
I think yes, overall, because it makes me really aware of just how much or how little rest I'm actually giving myself. And so on those days where I'm feeling like I'm really dragging, for example, it just gives me that little bit of like what you were saying, the data yeah that maybe I haven't rested well the past few days and nights. And so mentally, this isn't a huge problem I need to solve.
01:48:27
Speaker
Just I might need a nap or should try to go to bed earlier. you you just said something so brilliant, right? yet This isn't a yeah huge problem. Whatever is happening feels like a huge problem. But you're like, wait, I'm just tired. I'm just tired. I just need 30-minute nap. Yes.
01:48:40
Speaker
I think that what I'm taking away from all of this from the entire episode is that when you start paying attention to these things and you start prioritizing them as best you can and you make little changes...
01:48:51
Speaker
You get pretty immediate feedback right from your body. You know now when you're not rested. And we can run on fumes for as long as possible, and many of us do.
01:49:02
Speaker
And then I've seen what happens in the hospital when you can't run on fumes anymore and your body is done. and I just feel like what we're trying to do now is like really encourage within ourselves and you guys, our listeners, that these, whatever the steps are, what's going to happen is you're going to get that data for yourself. You are going to get that feedback. Then you can make a decision, but you can no longer lie to yourself that you don't feel better with more sleep or that going for that long walk doesn't end up feeling great or that watching what you're eating doesn't make you feel better. Or that spending 10 minutes and putting on a little makeup if you want to, right? If you're inclined to do that, doesn't make you feel better. We we we get those answers. And then you can go, okay, well, I can't lie to myself anymore. Like,
Theological Reflection: Loving One's Body
01:49:45
Speaker
I either have to continue those things, right? Or I guess bury my head back in the sand. Because health is wealth. And until it's until it's not, until it comes crashing down... And everyone is going to hit some kind of a moment, whether it's like Phil's injury or heaven forbid, a rare disease or something that happens like with Charlotte or a slip and fall in the ice or ah UTI, like I saw with the elderly woman in the hospital that literally resulted in like
01:50:12
Speaker
dementia over the five years that i was or five days sorry that I was there. like it's it was such a wake-up call. And so if we can all take away anything from this episode, it is that today, at this moment, right now, as you're listening, if you can do anything, if it's a walk with your husband tonight after you're done listening,
01:50:34
Speaker
Right. Or a nice bath and like taking care of yourself. These things, any of these things are a positive step forward and it is worth your time and your energy.
01:50:46
Speaker
to do these things now because this goes beyond money and your bank account. This is that true wealth that we're talking about that you sometimes don't realize how much you had until it's gone.
01:50:58
Speaker
And then I think we should just end on one more of the beautiful things that Shannon Whitmore wrote in her article for Ascension Press on the theology of the body. So she wrote it. And again, we're talking about your resurrected body.
01:51:10
Speaker
It will be the body that God gave you at the beginning of your life that he created as good and beautiful that he made just for you out of love. God loves your body. so
Literary Insights: Revisiting Dracula
01:51:22
Speaker
it's time that you really love it too.
01:51:36
Speaker
Okay, it's time for our What We're Loving This Week segment of the show. So, Lindsay, what have you been loving this week? Well, I'm laughing because, again, we wrote these notes a month ago.
01:51:47
Speaker
Yeah. I didn't realize how much time had passed until I looked at what I was loving, quote, this week, which was a back in mid-October type of thing. but And you have talked about this, but that's when I reread Dracula.
01:52:00
Speaker
and yeah Right. And it is definitely what I was loving then and I'm still loving now. so I first read it in university and i always knew I wanted to read it again later. And as soon as I started reading it was truly one of those books where it all came rushing back to me.
01:52:17
Speaker
um When I was in university, I had to write an essay on it where we had to talk about the new technology being used in that novel, that there was a lot deliberately that Bram Stoker put in with like, um,
01:52:28
Speaker
the phonograph and the telegraph and using photography and typewriters, um even writing in shorthand. And so all of that came flooding back to me. Like I was all of a sudden 18 again in university writing ah an essay on that. um But what right before I read it, my friend Brandy, and I'm just going to loosely quote her here. She said that she really loved the men in that book. And how like the she said, like something like, I just love the men in that book. And that really stood out to me reading it this time. This is why it's so important and why I encourage people who are like, well, I read that in high school. I read that university.
01:53:01
Speaker
Yeah, you didn't really like we read it really quickly in high school so we could write a paper on it. It is very different reading things when you are married, when you are a mother. If you've gone on a religious journey like I have, like it is rereading something at a different stage in your life is like reading it all over again for the first time. And so, yeah, what I focused on this time was like the virtue of those men, but also the feminist strength of Mina as a character. She is an outstanding heroine in the book as well. She is truly a woman ahead of her time. So for
Documentary Recommendations & Language Challenges
01:53:32
Speaker
anybody who doesn't know, right, it was written in 1897 published.
01:53:35
Speaker
and It is not the first vampire novel, um but it is the first one that really outlined the characteristics of Count Dracula. The ones, like most of the things that we still associate with him today. I did go, after I read it, I did actually read The Vampyr. That was written maybe 50 years before that one. And I've read Carmilla, which is even earlier than that. Like a very early vampire story. um But anyways, and I will add, because after I wrote my notes, we ended up re-watching the... um film version by Francis Ford Coppola from the early 90s, which I saw as a teenager. And yeah, whoa. um There was a lot in that movie I didn't remember.
01:54:13
Speaker
um ah So I'm not going to recommend it here because there's a lot that we would have to fast forward through, which sucks because the visuals are so great. And Gary Oldman is unbelievable as Count Dracula. But then Keanu Reeves.
01:54:30
Speaker
Sorry, Keanu. Oh, no. Sorry. Yeah. Even Winona. Sorry, Winona. Yeah. i That's all I'm going to say about the movie. But.
01:54:40
Speaker
All in all, I think I can say Dracula is my all-time favorite spooky novel. Okay. Well, that's so interesting because um i on your recommendation, read it too for the first time yes this fall and just finished it a couple weeks ago. And I loved it too. I loved, i didn't put it into those exact thoughts, but I do remember thinking like, oh, all the men in the book are so um heroic in terms of their willingness to sacrifice. Yes. Different aspects.
01:55:15
Speaker
of themselves or what they want or what you know what I mean for the greater good yeah um and yeah I was so pleased to read about all the cliche quote-unquote cliche vampire things I'm like it's all here yes yes um so yeah a really delightful if we can call Dracula a delightful read yeah And you know what? When watched the movie, when it came out, so was like 93, probably, I was like 13. I slept until like about four years ago with the covers covering my neck until I was like in my 40s, terrified Dracula biting my neck. And I just started to trust my exposed neck to the moonlit air and night until now reading it again. And I'm like, no, we'll just cover myself back again. Why'd you do that? know, right? Why'd you do that? So what have you been loving this week?
01:56:13
Speaker
Okay. So, well, this kind of goes back a little bit into the summer. Yes. Summer for me. um But i I honestly haven't um been able to get it out of my head. so this past summer, Phil and I watched a great docuseries on Netflix called Tour de France Unchained.
01:56:34
Speaker
It's another winner for my love of extreme sports documentary collection. yes it was excellent. um But I have sat on recommending it here on the podcast because there is some language concerns. And I'll talk about that more in in a minute. But...
01:56:50
Speaker
The show itself centers around the race, the Tour de France. There are three seasons on Netflix, each one focusing on a different year's tour. And I didn't realize how much I didn't know about the Tour de f France until we watched this show, and I found it so fascinating.
01:57:08
Speaker
So for one... i I didn't know that the tour takes place over 21 days. They race every single day yeah in a different location around like that part of Europe that's around France, Germany, the Alps, um those areas.
01:57:25
Speaker
up mountains down mountains through small towns across cobblestone streets farmland roads like the scenery itself in the show is spectacular yeah and then there's the sport itself and i learned so much there too like for example i think i mentioned to you before but i did not know that um cycling the tour de france is not an individual sport um And like you can't even register for the race unless you're part of a team.
01:57:55
Speaker
yeah So it is very much a team sport. Every member of the team has a role to play. And the general goal is to go for what they call the general classification, which I think after watching three seasons. Yeah. means you have the best overall time throughout the whole tour. So you don't necessarily win every stage, every day's race, but your overall time is the shortest. And so you as a team designate a leader to go for the GC and the other members of the team
01:58:28
Speaker
Support you as sprinters or as climbers or as the ones who ride ahead and pull the leader along behind um before the sprint they can go ahead and attack near the finish line. Wow. um And one of the commentators on the show was describing it as chess on wheels. And that's exactly what it is. So over the course of the series, you get to know particular teams and riders. And we got so invested in these people and in their stories.
01:59:00
Speaker
It was just a great show that really sucks you in and it keeps you rooting for these incredible athletes. And so about the language thing, going back to that for a second, it's the only thing that I would say is a downer in recommending this show.
01:59:16
Speaker
There is, as the seasons go on increasing usage of it really just the F word throughout the show. There's no blasphemy, yeah which I was, um because of their usage of the F word, I was surprised about. But, um you know, I... i thought about it and we decided to continue watching it for a couple of reasons one is like we have talked about before it's not a scripted show right and so a lot of the time they're speaking off the cuff and you know what they're biking up mountains and don't know it might slip out
01:59:56
Speaker
Yeah, like I do feel like if you're biking up the Alps for like the 13th day in a row, yeah you may have some choice words if something is going wrong. Yeah, yeah. It's forgivable. It's understandable. It's understandable. And so all that to say, I don't necessarily want to make excuses here. right And i I did wrestle with whether or not to continue watching or even recommending it here. But ultimately, because it was such an inspiring and interesting show otherwise,
02:00:25
Speaker
we did decide to continue it and really enjoyed it. And so, you know, as always, ah use your own judgment when it comes to things like this. But if you are interested in the Tour de France or cycling as a sport, or you just want an exciting show that kind of pulls you in and captures your imagination, then Tour de France Unchained may be up your alley.
02:00:51
Speaker
Okay, that's going to do it for us this week. If you want to get in touch and chat with us about our topic today, you can find us on our website, www.themodernlady1950.wordpress.com, or leave us a comment on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube at The Modern Lady Podcast.
02:01:09
Speaker
I'm Michelle Sachs, and you can find me on Instagram at mmsachs. And I'm Lindsay Murray, and you can find me on Instagram at lindsayhomemaker. Thank you so much for listening. Have a great week, and we will see next time.