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Heavy Metal Toxicity Healing with Julie Gibson Clark - E47
44 Plays2 months ago
Could your unexplained chronic fatigue, brain fog, or unwavering pain be traced back to an invisible threat lurking in your surroundings? What if the mysterious symptoms that doctors are struggling to diagnose stem from toxic heavy metals silently attacking your body? And what impact do these symptoms have on your wellbeing, and ultimately, your healthspan.
In today's episode, we hear all about one woman's journey through healing from the often overlooked issue of heavy metal toxicity. Join us as we explore the common sources of exposure, how to recognize the warning signs and learn all about detoxification and its impact on your healthspan.
Julie Gibson Clark is a biohacker and health and wellness advocate, driven by a passion for understanding the impact of nutrition and lifestyle on mental health. Her own journey, littered with several health challenges, including heavy metal toxicity, has led her to become interested in optimizing her healthspan. Her aim now is to slow down the aging process and improve her overall health. Julie embraces a holistic approach to health that integrates fitness, nutrition, and social connection.
“It felt like there was a fog that was around my head that just went away and my peripheral vision opened up.” - Julie Gibson Clark
In this episode you will learn:
- Julie's journey from experiencing health challenges in her 30s to discovering the power of diet and natural remedies.
- How she managed to transition from antidepressants to utilizing nutraceuticals and natural healing protocols.
- The dietary changes and practices Julie embraced, including a focus on vegetable-heavy, omnivorous eating.
- The role of fitness in Julie's life, including her routines with heavy weightlifting and cardio activities.
- The importance of intentional social connections and relationships as a pivotal aspect of Julie's healthspan.
- Julie's insights on starting a health journey with small, sustainable steps and the significance of understanding one's "why" and resources.
Resources
- Connect with Julie on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juliegibsonclark
- Subscribe to Julie’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@juliegibsonclark
- Learn all about how Julie biohacks her way through life: https://www.juliegibsonclark.com/
- Shop all the products Julie mentions in this episode: https://alively.com/products/julie-gibson-clark
This podcast was produced by the team at Zapods Podcast Agency:
https://www.zapods.com
Find the products, practices, and routines discussed on the Alively website:
https://alively.com/
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Transcript
Supplements vs Medication
00:00:00
Speaker
I was just shocked that supplements could be as effective as a ah medication. You know, and that was the first time that I was like, wait, like these things could really work. You know, again, I want to preface like, you know, hey, people need to be on antidepressants. Sometimes we all need them every so often in life. Life can throw some curveballs at you. And if you need it by all means. But I just knew I didn't want to be on it the rest of my life.
Health Role Models
00:00:26
Speaker
This is the Home of Health Spam podcast, where we profile health and wellness role models, sharing their stories and the tools, practices, and routines they use to live a lively life.
00:00:40
Speaker
Julie, good morning, and thank you for joining us today. how are you? I'm good. Thank you so much for having me. I'm super excited to speak with you and your entire audience, and just I'm very excited to be here today. Thank you for having me.
00:00:54
Speaker
This is a conversation i've really been looking forward to, and I think our audience is going to enjoy a lot. um But before we jump into all the reasons why and and what's so exciting about it, how would you describe
Meet Julie: Health Advocate
00:01:06
Speaker
yourself?
00:01:06
Speaker
So I am a lively mom. lively, just human on this planet, doing the best I can every day with what I've got. I'm a lively, I'm a daughter, I'm a sister, I'm a friend, and that's me in a nutshell. um And just
00:01:31
Speaker
Lively, I'm probably passionate about health and well-being and how it impacts our mental health and how that mental health kind of having a positive mental health ripples out into the world. and I just really want to be the person.
00:01:47
Speaker
one of the voices in that space of like, let's, let's motivate people so that we can create a, a happier healthier slash happier world. Yeah. That's, that's beautiful. I mean, it's, it just finished a book, the field talking about the the energy that we put out and can kind of feed off of each other.
Positivity and Hope
00:02:05
Speaker
And people are going to be hearing voices are going to be bits of information going out there. And so being sure that yours as a voice of positivity, as hope and potential is one of those being heard. That makes a lot of sense. That's wonderful.
00:02:21
Speaker
I think we all have like our, our role to play. Um, you know, like everybody has their talents and this is just something that, you know, like I feel like I've been doing since I was, I don't know, five, six years old for as long as I can remember, you know, like just interested in food and how to feed myself. What's the healthiest thing, you know, and that that's love. And then, you know, taking care of myself, you know, we can, we'll get into my story, but that that's, it's just, I feel like it's,
00:02:51
Speaker
that's who I am. You know, I was born to be this. As we get into your story and in you're talking about it started so early five or six, what does living your best life for your entire life mean to you or or look like to you?
00:03:05
Speaker
you know, ah again, I'm a lively mom, you know, and I have all this like mom energy and now my son is 18 and doesn't want my mom energy. And I feel like I have this, like just this strong desire to help people to grow and to to, educate them, but to grow into, to better than they were yesterday.
00:03:26
Speaker
You know, it's like, what can we do? What small things can we do today? And build on those, you know, small little habits, you know, walking a foot a day will get you, you know, 365 feet versus like ah my mistakes in the past are trying to implement this whole plan where it's going to take you from zero to 365 in a month. It's like, that always seems to backfire.
00:03:46
Speaker
So anyway, I just, I want to be that person that, Or I think I am. I'm like always that person and in my friend group. It's like, oh, wait, what are you doing? Wait, how are you doing this? You know, it's like I just I get so excited about all the different things I learn. I can't wait to share it with everybody. And that really is the purpose of the show. And and really what we're doing is highlighting role models like you, the people who others are coming to for advice, saying, hey, it's not just that you're another talking head. It's that I'm seeing the life that you're living.
00:04:19
Speaker
And it's inspirational. And I want to learn from it and how you approach it. And so what got you into this in the first place? You said kind of starting at five or
Julie's Life Challenges
00:04:29
Speaker
six. I mean, well, that's what I kind of learned my desire to like cook, you know, like that started with like mud pies and duck eggs and grass and my best friend, Millie Anderson, but that's, you know, way back.
00:04:40
Speaker
um So I kind of fell into this accidentally in my 30s, I had a really rough, rough 30s. I was married, divorced. I had, gosh, I was told I had two lumps in my left breast. I was, I moved probably four or five times in like, you know, this is all in 36 months too. Let me just preface that. So like within 36 months, a marriage, you know, so like a big wedding, a marriage, divorce, and which was just so you know um And then left to my left breast, I'm moving. And I quit my job that I had gone to college for as an engineer with no idea what I was going to do next. I mean, I was literally like, I don't know. I guess I'm going waitress. I can't do this.
00:05:19
Speaker
And then a man tried to kidnap me
Alternative Treatments
00:05:21
Speaker
at knife point. So like 36 months, I was just like the most stressed out human being. i was certainly like... I'm probably 40, 50 pounds heavier. i don't even know how much heavier I was. I know I was like, I'm a size four. Now I was wearing like an 18, I think, you know, I have just, I have no idea. Like I was so stressed out and I had, I went to my doctor because she had already put me on an antidepressant because, know, was like going through divorce. It's like, yeah, okay.
00:05:48
Speaker
Um, and then, when I went back saying, Hey, I have acid reflux. She's like, Hey, let's put you on this acid. And it was just kind of like, yeah, you know, like you're just going to take these the rest of your life.
00:05:59
Speaker
And I was like, was so glad I listened to my intuition. Cause it just said, don't know, you know, like if you're having a tummy problem, Shouldn't it be something I'm eating? like Maybe I'm allergic to something. we check that?
00:06:11
Speaker
I mean, mind you, like looking back, I'm like, i was drinking a bottle of wine a night, sometimes finishing with whiskey. like you know It's like nobody asked me. i mean, now like even now, like if I drink red wine, it makes me depressed, not to mention all the hot flashes. But like it just...
00:06:26
Speaker
you know It's like, oh my God, I was like on a depressant every night. you know i mean, it was just in the name of, oh, this is good for you. So um it's just it's interesting looking back, you know the questions that weren't asked. but So I had friends that were going to naturopaths because there was a college of naturopathic medicine. So mind you, this is like late And so this happened from 1997 2000. So I thought, know, got nothing less...
00:06:51
Speaker
so i thought you know i got nothing less like nothing to lose by going to somebody who's going to tell me like, eat this, don't eat that. You know, like how can that hurt before I put myself on yet another medication?
00:07:03
Speaker
And she said, yeah, sure. You know, we can help you. um The first thing she said is get off all wheat and dairy. And I was like, wait, what? Like I'm drinking, you know, mocha and ah ah a mocha every morning and ah like a scone from Starbucks. I mean, I can't even like, I look back, it's like, well, no wonder I was so overweight. Like that's a lot of calories, you know, plus the wine at night. i mean, that's a lot. Yeah.
00:07:23
Speaker
So I got off the wheat and dairy. She also put me on some like, you know, tummy healing teas, nothing to, you know, cause I was like, i don't really want to take pills, you know? And within two weeks, like the acid reflux was gone.
00:07:35
Speaker
And I was just like, I felt really good. You know, I just like, wow, like, this is crazy. How does this work? You know, and of course I followed up with her and she said, well, you know, if you want to try getting off the antidepressant and like now at 36 months or I've got, you know, therapists in place, I've got a whole team actually at the point in that point of like coaches and therapists and really helping me kind of put
Antidepressants Journey
00:07:56
Speaker
my life together. So I, the, the need for that was kind of gone.
00:08:00
Speaker
So I thought, yeah, let's, let's give it a go. And sure enough, like she put me on this nutraceutical protocol was kind of the first time I heard that term. And i was just shocked that supplements could be as effective as a ah medication. You know, and that was the first time that I was like, wait, like these things could really work, you know.
00:08:19
Speaker
And so not to say that, again, I want to preface like, okay, people need to be on antidepressants. Sometimes we all, you know, we all need them every so often in life. Life can throw some curve balls at you. And if you need it, by all means, but I just knew I didn't want to be on it the rest of my life. And so that was just very, very helpful to see another way forward. And I really, i was shocked at just how simple and easy because I was getting off of the vaccine, which is apparently a pretty hard one to get off of. Now, mind you, I'd only been on it maybe like 12 to 18 months. So it wasn't like years, but, um, you know, some people, mean, that's still, it's not like it was week or two.
00:09:00
Speaker
Yeah. And so I, I just was like, I don't know if it was just, you know, I was up like my diet was like getting better. i started exercising plus she's got me on this nutraceutical protocol and it was just like, wow, like I felt amazing. Like I hadn't felt that good in a very long time. So I just became aware of the fact that like there are natural remedies out there that are as effective as, um,
00:09:23
Speaker
you know, medications. So I started, you know, like, again, I started just being mindful of what I was eating, um working out and the, like, you know, eventually a kind of returned to having some dairy, some and like I still, you know, i eat wheat and dairy now. I just don't, it's just not a main staple of my diet. You know, it's like a cheese every so often. And, you know,
00:09:45
Speaker
bread every so often. I will never give up bread like ever. But anyway, so I just want to say that. So that was like 30. In terms of not giving it up, I mean, have you come back on it or is it? Oh yeah, way back. Like, it's just like it. It's like, it's like saying you don't eat mustard. That's way I look at it. It's like nobody, I mean, I don't know if maybe people don't eat mustard, but like, you know, it's like a condiment in my life. It's like,
00:10:05
Speaker
I just have it every so often, especially when I'm traveling or like, it's just been the holidays, like on over the holidays, like two weeks, like the last two weeks of the year, are kind of like, you know, like I kind of do what I want so that, you know, by the first I'm in so much, like, I don't feel so good. So I can't wait to return to my, you know, it's like, Oh, this is why I eat the way do.
00:10:25
Speaker
We can get into that. But Anyway, so that was 30. So I started like, you know, working out doing what I thought was healthy, had my son. And then when he he was like three years old, it was like i was just about 40. I think i was from just early forty s I started like losing my hair. i started like um i was really like I was so tired. I can't even like explain how tired I was. It was just like like just this like a walking shell of myself. And ah mind you, like again, it was following a stressful period. My brother was killed very tragically.
00:11:02
Speaker
and My son was three.
Heavy Metal Detoxification
00:11:04
Speaker
I'm raising him on my own. It was ah um another challenging time. But I just thought like, hey, I'm like this healthy person. Like, how is this? Why is my hair falling out? Why do I feel this way?
00:11:15
Speaker
And thank God I had a friend who just said, you know, should just go get checked for heavy metals. And I was like, what do you mean? Like, and I had just had this, like my um dental amalgams replaced. And I think I had swallowed some.
00:11:27
Speaker
So one little chunk of it. So, but that was just the tip of the iceberg because when I did go in and get checked for heavy metals, it turned out like I just had so many, I mean, everything from tungsten to, think there was like, there's another A in there. There's aluminum antimony, but there's another arsenic.
00:11:45
Speaker
There was like all the typical like lead, mercury, you know, those were all off the charts. Yeah. So I lived all over the world. I've lived in the Middle East. I'm a very, um, adventurous eater. I love fish. You know, you think it's good for you, you know? So I was eating fish all over the world and, you know,
00:12:03
Speaker
I mean, God bless the Middle East. I'm sure they're getting better about this, but I'm sure a lot of the fish that I was eating there, or even in Europe, I mean, people are only becoming more aware of like how much, you know, kind of the fat in those fish absorbs. So, you know, now obviously I eat fish, but I'm just careful about sourcing it. But um so I do think it's that, but coupled with the fact that I have that MTHFR gene, I just was not detoxifying properly. I mean, I wasn't like...
00:12:31
Speaker
you know, taking methylated, that was the first term time I heard about methylation, methylation status, you know, this doctor really helped educate me and understand how my body works and what I need moving forward. So moving forward, it was like, hey, you're going always need to support your body and detoxification.
00:12:50
Speaker
And, um you know, here's how to do it, you know, you know, take these methylated B vitamins, you know, up your like for me i'm just chronically deficient in magnesium so i need to take a lot of that um and then just look you know it was like hey let me just look at like ways to naturally detoxify my body because at that time we had done like ah several rounds of chelation therapy and what was most noticeable to me was like somewhere around halfway in like six so you go and you get a chelator one day which is don't do this at home folks even though
00:13:22
Speaker
you know, like they sell it over the internet. Don't do it because it, it binds to all the minerals in your body. So you, you know, you're sucking out both all the metals, but you know, essential minerals that you need as well. So then you go in the next day and they remineralize you with, you know, whatever it is you need.
00:13:37
Speaker
So that sixth time I'm, I'm driving home and I i literally like, i so I can still remember exactly how this felt. It was like, it felt like, like there was a fog that was like around my head that just went away and my peripheral vision opened up.
00:13:54
Speaker
And it was just the weirdest thing to me. Like, I was like, what is going on? Like, this is amazing. And then, and I was just kind of like, you know, sat with this and I'm like, is this how the rest of the world feels? Like, I didn't know what
Health Baselines and Improvements
00:14:06
Speaker
I didn't know. Like, I didn't know that i felt so.
00:14:09
Speaker
And what was really striking to me over the coming months was this Low grade depression that I'd always been living with, you know, like I didn't have any trauma in my life. I mean, we moved a lot when I was young, but there was nothing. And it was like when I would sit in therapy with traditional therapists, we were always kind of looking for maybe there's this trauma, and you know, something we can kind of go back to.
00:14:29
Speaker
there was just nothing. There was nothing. And so when that lifted this, like low gate depression was just gone. And it was like, was so happy to like be alive and, you know, like, wow, I've had a good life. And, you know, it just, it was, it was such a game changer.
00:14:45
Speaker
And so i I was like, I want to always feel like that. But I also became obsessed with like, what don't I know that I don't know, you know, like, you know, like, Yeah, that's the big thing that people say, oh, I'm fine, I'm fine, right? I eat dairy, I'm fine, or I eat gluten, I'm fine, or whatever it is, right? That I'm totally fine. And if every day you're waking up at 40%, you think that's 100% because that's that's the top that you're used to. You don't know the difference. And so I've had friends that found out they they didn't have celiac, but they had a gluten intolerance.
00:15:17
Speaker
And they're like, oh my god, for the past decade, i basically woke up feeling hungover and didn't realize it because it was just every day because I was eating so much gluten. And it's the same kind of thing, I guess, with with the heavy metals. that we don't, you only know your own subjective experience.
00:15:32
Speaker
Yes. And unless you have that variability, you don't know what's possible. And that's the exciting thing about the interest in this space now is people unlocking those next tiers of, hey, let's not just try to get through the day. Let's see if we can make it absolutely amazing.
00:15:47
Speaker
Yeah, exactly. And I think what we have to look at, so like, you know, at that point in time, I was like, well, I'm just going to go on to try it. Like, you know, like I would learn about, you know, being a vegan. I'm like, well, I'm going to go on to try it. Like, see, you do I feel better? You know? And of course, like initially I felt better and then I felt worse, but um you know, like you have to kind of look at, I mean,
00:16:06
Speaker
let's how to say this, like I always like examine certain, you know, programs, protocols, like any of those kinds of things from that way forward was like, well, what's like, how unhealthy could it ultimately be? You know? So like one of the things I was um really into um Dr. Klinger. He talks about using like cilantro to um detoxify the metals in your brain. Well, it's like using a cilantro extract every, you know, for a few weeks and then not use, I'm like, how can't imagine that that could be too harmful, you know, versus like using an actual key later like that, that is very harmful, but it's, you know, it's like, so I just became, was always looking for ways to kind of go on these triads, you know, to see would it make me feel better or
00:16:48
Speaker
you know, for the long haul, was it something I just needed right then? But, you know, um so I would encourage people out there if, you know, somebody is saying, hey, yeah you know, like, get off of wheat and dairy and hey, try it for two weeks, three weeks. And then if you don't feel any different, then you don't feel any different. But, you know, I i think most people know within a week, they feel really good.
00:17:09
Speaker
Yeah, and if if we can just kind of take a ah step back on this journey. So as I understand it, you had this really, really rough 36 months. You have not just low-grade depression at that point, but you're mentally not in the best space. You're physically not in best space. You're having acid reflux.
Journey to Longevity
00:17:25
Speaker
And rather than all these pills and medications for life, you say, hey, there may be another way. And at that point, it was very much around diet and exercise seemed like the big thing.
00:17:36
Speaker
And then you go and you have the heavy metals issue. And so you start addressing that and then ongoing. And so has this been... it started around 97 to 2000, so you said. So it's almost a quarter century in on what you're doing now. And so for people who may not be as aware, if you didn't look at the notes before, like you ended up getting to a place where you were second on the the longevity leaderboard, right? Like you have people like Brian Johnson spending $2 million dollars a year on health and and you ended up ahead spending something like $150 a month. so yeah It depends on what you include in that. Yeah, did so yeah we can get into that, but and yeah. And so this is a...
00:18:14
Speaker
But it wasn't like an overnight thing. I guess what what you're describing is over that 25 years, it's a lot of tests and trial. And maybe maybe stuff that worked at one point doesn't work at another point or yeah what works for other people like vegan.
00:18:27
Speaker
Hey, I felt great at first, but then not so good because maybe I had some other deficiencies that weren't getting picked up. And so it's this constant course correction. And I would love to understand kind of where you are now. Like if we start with nutrition, so you said, Hey, I tried veganism.
00:18:42
Speaker
That did not work for me. That did not make me feel good. And the fish, Hey, I need to be careful of that because I have any metals. What does nutrition look like and and mean for you at this stage? So I'm a total omnivore. I eat everything and anything. I'm a cook and a foodie. So I like, I love trying new things. I mean, like but I draw the line with bugs. Like I'm not eating tarantulas and I'm not going to go for the cricket. Like, it just makes me sick thinking about it. Okay. um So I draw the line with that, but I will try pretty much anything and everything as long as I know that it's from a clean source, you know? so but it's a pretty omnivorous, but vegetable heavy diet, because if there's anything like, so from that, you know, detox forward, I just kind of started researching, you know, what's the best diets? How do you keep your body, you know, deep in a detox state? What's good for methylation?
00:19:30
Speaker
You know, so it turns out like all these vegetables, you know, it's like, I mean, anybody realizes this, like you hear about like, oh, broccoli has, you know, vitamin C or has like, oh, has sulfuraphane. And that's like super good for detoxification.
00:19:44
Speaker
And then, oh, it has this. And it's like, so why not, instead of like taking sulfuraphane, like why not just like eat the broccoli? Like why not just eat the carrot that's got all the different things? Because I I know we haven't figured it out, but I am sure there's a way that these things work synergistically together.
00:20:03
Speaker
I just, I can't imagine like us as humans, we evolve. Like I kind of think like, okay, if everything kind of went like I was all of a sudden we're living in tribes again, what would I be doing living in Phoenix, Arizona? You know, we will be like, like I actually have had a backpacking survival training trip. And it was like, the first thing you do is you start picking up plants and like, Oh yeah, I can eat this. I can eat this, you know? And you're just like noshing on plants all day. And then I'd imagine, you know, you've got the occasional kill. So like, and I love meat. So mean I just don't eat it like every day, you know, it's, it's like, uh, I'd say two or three days a week. It's a, maybe a meatless day or whatever, but,
00:20:39
Speaker
Yeah, so it's just it's just like a vegetable-heavy diet. So i'm you know i I just hit a metric. I just thought, that's a good metric. Sarah Gottry was talking about a pound of vegetables a day. And so I thought, yeah, that's a great metric.
Vegetable-Heavy Diet Benefits
00:20:50
Speaker
It just makes it easy to kind of reach for.
00:20:52
Speaker
There's another doctor, Dr. Anna Kabeca, who talks about... menopause. And she had a, one of these diets that I went on, like a try it, you know, it's, ah she calls it breeze your way through menopause is one of her programs. And she kept speaking about eating your greens and how important it is in menopause. And sure enough, was like, I cannot believe this worked.
00:21:12
Speaker
But within like, I don't know, 10 days that was on the diet, i lost like the seven pounds, obviously not all fat, but like, I just was like, oh my God, that menopause weight was gone. And I really attribute it, you know she just kept going on and on about the greens. And I was like, yeah, it's so I make sure half of that is green. So eight ounces of greens and eight ounces of other vegetables almost every day. I mean, again, we're we're just getting off the holidays. I don't, I kind of, I get less rigid around the holidays and kind of do my thing, but I find that I crave them.
00:21:40
Speaker
Sorry, on the greens, like eight ounces of greens to get 250 grams basically of greens because they're very light. Like at what the volume to be able to get.
00:21:52
Speaker
Well, so the here's the thing. I cook them. You got to cook them. So there's I feel like you have to. I don't know. um i mean, I eat, you know, i'll eat a few lettuces raw. But like when we're talking about kale and collards and all that one, they just taste better.
00:22:06
Speaker
but they have they're high both in oxalates and goitrogens. So when you cook them, that kind of reduces those things. I mean, if you're going to eat something every day, I think you got to be careful about, you just you just need to look at the anti-nutrients. I think, you know, like um Dr. Gundry's talked about lectins and those kinds of things. And so I just think like, yeah, there are things in these plants that may not be good for us. So if you're Again, if you're eating that every single day, i just think we need to be mindful. Like, is there something in there that might not be so great for me? So, um so I just, you know, was having some, what I thought were thyroid issues and it's like, Oh, goitrogens. Yeah. Maybe I shouldn't be eating these raw every day. Let me cook them. And so when you cook those greens down, we were talking like half a cup of greens is eight ounces. green I mean, it is like nothing. It is nothing. So you add, you I put half of that in the smoothie and the other half, like with my dinner at night and done and dusted.
00:23:00
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. Yeah. that it was It was a volume thing. i was just thinking because I i do a lot of raw greens and they just you take up so much space. So if you're cooking them down, that makes a lot of sense. Okay. Yeah. its Fantastic.
00:23:12
Speaker
Yeah. So it's, it's, it sounds very similar to the Michael Pollan eat food, not too much. Yeah. yeahs Oh, a hundred percent. Yeah. Like think of that all the time, like all the time. So yeah, it's just, um, i I don't know, like, like I try to eat what I crave within reason. I mean, if I'm craving candy, obviously like that's a no go, but But if I'm like, like this time of year when I'm kind of transitioning back to like doing my thing, like there's gonna be a few nights where I'm like, I'm sure would love a cookie right now. You know, it's like, well, those days are over. So I just like, that's a no go.
00:23:44
Speaker
So anything that involves like sugar, um you know, flour, those kinds of things, even like if I don't really, I'm not a huge dairy lover. So if I crave cheese, I have it or, you know, like yogurt, I'll have it. But I, cause I don't really, was nothing I ever really liked. Yeah. So yeah.
00:24:00
Speaker
Yeah, that's my diet um focus. Oh, and 100 grams of protein. So but that's another metric I try to hit almost every day. um Sundays, again, I take a a break from all of my metrics, but I think that's important as we age that we, you know, build muscle and continue to maintain that muscle.
Supplement Routine
00:24:19
Speaker
So that's usually a combination of like vegan protein powders and um some meats or beans or some other vegan sources at night. Yeah.
00:24:28
Speaker
Now, besides the the protein powder, are there other supplements? I think you mentioned methylated b vitamins. Are there other supplements you you add on top of the whole foods? Yeah. So I always take a D3, K2 combination. I think that's pretty clear. And I i frequently, so, you know,
00:24:45
Speaker
I guess in the tradition of biohacking, I'm all about like, Hey, let's ah test my blood, you know, make sure like I i do more so than even what I check in on these things kind of more often than maybe my doctor would like my doctor will do this stuff once a year, but I kind of do things every six months, some things three months.
00:25:02
Speaker
So, um, but my, my D is actually pretty optimized, but I take, I still take that every day, ah B vitamin, a B complex every day. I do take fish oil because again, I don't really eat ah as much fish anymore. Yeah. So I take nicotinamide riboside and and I'm on hormone replacement therapy too. that's not technically a supplement, but you know, um, there's like a combination of supplements I take. So DHEA, um, and these are all like, again, folks go to your doctor and don't start taking it. You can get pregnenolone and DHEA over the counter, but just, you know, warning, like I was taking pregnenolone with the help of my doctor. And, um, I think it's what I developed a fibroid and I was like, ah,
00:25:40
Speaker
you know, pretty sure it was the extra pregnant alone on top of the estrogen I was having. So we're still working it out. But um so do these, you know, anything that's hormone related, you always want to work with your doctor because you could, you know, I mean, like, we're looking at cancer if you don't do this, right. So don't start, you know, there's a lot of people talking, Oh, just take it. Everyone's deficient. It's like, like magnesium is one thing, you know, you'll pee it out, but um other things.
00:26:05
Speaker
be careful. So there's that. um And then I take nicotinamide riboside. When I was part of the study where, you know, that put me on the rejuvenation Olympics board, I was taking Novos NMN.
00:26:18
Speaker
um So when we get into the Novos core, so that's the other, like the longevity supplement that I take is Novos core. And that has a whole host of supplements in it, which is why I love it. Cause it's just like stupid. I don't, I don't work for these guys. So just, you know, preface that it has like well alpha and i'll calcium alpha ketoglutarate. It has glycine. It has vitamin C. It's got some more magnesium malate in there.
00:26:44
Speaker
um It's got ah quite a few things. Fisatin, which is a ah great synolytic, so a you know zombie cell detoxifier. um So I take that every day.
00:26:55
Speaker
And then when I was part of the study, I was taking their NMN, but I was already taking and NR before I was familiar with Novus. And I felt like, I think no NR works better for me.
00:27:05
Speaker
So once the study was over, I've gone back to NR and I do, I just feel like it just gives me that extra energy. I don't know. Like NMN just didn't ever feel like it worked for me. And I don't know if it's just, maybe I don't convert it properly.
00:27:18
Speaker
I have no idea. I don't know what's going on, but so yeah, I take that and trying to think. And sometimes at night, like lately I've been taking, um, apigenin and experimenting with that just for better sleep because I am, we've had to reduce my estrogen. So I'm kind of going through this mini menopause and it's just,
00:27:37
Speaker
messing with my sleep a lot. I've been testing out a few things, but nothing's, nothing's set in stone right now. And on the sleep, is it ah trouble falling asleep, trouble waking up too early?
00:27:51
Speaker
Is it? So what happens when you, when your estrogen lowers is like, instead of getting like hot flashes during the day, i just have this like one hot flash all night and it messes with your heart rate variability and your autonomic nervous system so that like I just lay there and I'm hot all night so it's hard to and my heart rate you know my goes up to try to cool me off so my heart rate is like high all night long and it doesn't I mean even my room is like 62 degrees and I'm sleeping with almost no covers and like i mean it's just it's
00:28:23
Speaker
awful ah So, where you know, I'm
Managing Sleep Issues
00:28:27
Speaker
working with my doctor. we're We're figuring some things out. And it might just have to be like this right now because to shrink the fibroid, you you just lower your estrogen because it's ah yeah it's a sign of estrogen dominance. So we're working through it. you use any mattress covers to to try to cool the bed? Yeah, that's a little...
00:28:46
Speaker
um like above my budget right now but yeah i mean that would be the goal is to have like an eight sleep you know and just to like something that would cool me down all night long would be brilliant and well the chili pad you can do for half the bed so you know i can be half the price for little less to get good to know um yeah i have i have one of each depending where i am so interesting big fan yeah Okay. And they both, you like both of them, huh?
00:29:10
Speaker
I do. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I do. I like both. Okay. Then experimenting some with sleep supplements, what else kind of in your night routine? Sounds like low sheets, very cold room.
00:29:22
Speaker
Very cold room. I mask tape. Yeah. I'm asking tape for sure. Like, and even, you know, i pretty much black my room out, but I still like, I just, I cannot stand ah any, any tiny bits of light. And that's been going on forever. Like even when I, in one of the things I should have known, like with heavy metals, they were causing a lot of insomnia, you know, and, um, that, that was going on for years before I did my chelation therapy. And that was one of the first things I noticed afterwards, like how great I slept, you know?
00:29:49
Speaker
I slept great for years until it was like July, last July when we had to like cut the estrogen. And so it's been ever since then, it's like, oh my God, this is horrible. I hate this. I remember this.
00:30:00
Speaker
Yeah. Do you use sleep tracker so you can kind of get data on quality? I just, I bought like, this was my Christmas present. I bought an ultra human and I'm testing a product. It's really cool. A little, it's really neat. It's like a wrist red light from this company called luminous labs out of Austria. It's really cool but you just um wear it on your wrist or you can put on your head or your belly it's really cool thing so i'm testing that for them and um i've only been using it like not even a month so it hasn't made any major difference that i can um i can see but um i'm still experimenting with like the best time of day to use it and all of that so um
00:30:41
Speaker
But yeah, we're going do, or we did at like a pace of aging test. We've done a few tests and we're going look at, you know after using it for six months and then another, you know, it's like a full year. so we'll see what it does. i'm I'm hopeful that it'll help, um help the symptoms.
00:30:56
Speaker
And that it's supposed to help with sleep is what it's yeah it's just supposed to help like with all kinds of mitochondrial issues. And so that hopefully will help. So yeah, so I could use the sleep tracker, which is like almost worse because it's like telling me every day, like, you know, how bad I slept? if like, Oh, this is maybe worse. I don't know.
00:31:14
Speaker
So you talked about fitness and has that changed with time? Like what yeah you do? Okay. Yeah.
Fitness Evolution
00:31:24
Speaker
Yeah. So, I mean, like so many people up until, I don't know, recently I was kind of like cardio focused, you know, it's like, that's what you do. mean, I always lifted weights. I knew the benefits of that.
00:31:34
Speaker
i I started in college lifting weights. I took like a weightlifting class. i actually started when I was in swimming and, um, but I didn't ever do it enough to notice. But when I took this weightlifting class in college in my twenties, it was like, Whoa, like this really like, you know, it like sculpts your body, like you could really see it. And i was like, wow, like this is the secret sauce.
00:31:54
Speaker
So I was always lifting, but I was kind of following this like high rep, low weight thing. And so I was doing that up until, I mean, gosh, recently, like when I heard, I heard Stacey Sims on Hoover men's lab, you know, and talking about lifting heavy. And I was like,
00:32:11
Speaker
oh, okay, like, let me try that. So that's what I've been experimenting with now is like, kind of going down to five reps, but doing eight sets of five reps at a, you know, very heavy, heavy, I'm trying to do right now i'm doing these ladders. So you, you know, start at like maybe three or four reps for your first set, but it's like a really heavy weight, then you lower the weight and increase your wet reps until you get to that third, then you kind of go back down. So and I just remember doing that in weightlifting class, and it really like builds muscle fast. So So I'm experimenting with that right now. And any, is it squats, deadlifts? Like what, what exercises?
00:32:46
Speaker
Yeah. So, um, let's say, well, yesterday, what did I do? I mixed it all up and, um, I do need to kind of tighten that program up, you know, kind of like look at it over the course of a year. But right now I just kind of go in and I'm like, Oh, adult playground. Let's see what do I want to do today. You know, it's like, I try to try to like get three to five, usually I hit five different exercises. Like, so on lower body day, I'm just going to do like yesterday. I did what left.
00:33:09
Speaker
uh, deadlifts, squats, um, split squats or so one of those. Yeah. Split squats. Um, and then I did, um some walking lunges and ah did these cable like kickbacks. And then I do this like Roman chair thing.
00:33:27
Speaker
I don't know what it's i don't know what the name, I don't even know what the names of all these things are. I just kind of go in there and like, it's an adult playground. It's super fun. you're doing Eight of five reps heavy on each of those. I know. Right. That's what somebody else was here and they're like, Oh my God. Well, trust me. It's really like, like, Oh, what did I do? But it feels so good. Like, I don't know. It feels really good.
00:33:49
Speaker
And so like then, um you know, I might not do as heavy a weight as like the next workout in the week. So I'll do those twice week. So I do lower body twice a week. I do upper body twice a week.
00:34:00
Speaker
And I try to do core stuff every day, but um doesn't really happen. So it doesn't always happen every day. but It amazes me how many different things can work.
00:34:12
Speaker
And then it's it's mostly switching up, right? Like I've had maybe four or five programs that I've done for a year more or more over the past 10 to 15 years. Like some will last longer than others. And there's not dramatic differences. there's There's quite a big difference in what the program is each one, but the results for me aren't that dramatically different. It's basically, I'm just kind of doing something until I get pretty bored of it. like, Hey, it's time for a switch.
00:34:36
Speaker
And I try something else. I'm like, Oh, this is great. Yeah. Yeah. That's how I feel. I just like, I want it to be fun. You know, I want it to be like, Ooh, I'm in my little playground. I get to like do this. And I don't know. I just, I try to make the gym like a really, um enjoyable experience. Um, you know, so it it started like after college, I joined a gym and they had like a sauna and a steam room. And was like,
00:34:57
Speaker
you know what I'm like, I was kind of, you know, as we all are after college is quite poor, you know, like just trying to build my, so I, got these like really expensive, like smelly soaps that I would only use, like when I went to the gym and that was like a game changer made, like going to the gym, like this playground slash spa that I, you know, I would go to and like just finished with, and I would only use those. And so anytime I smell these things, it just makes me like,
00:35:24
Speaker
feeling of like being a site like right now I'm obsessed with Aveda's um she I'm pure so like that's what I'm kind of using and at that time it was like the body shop different stuff but yeah it was just it's it's a really nice like little hack um aromatherapy hack for people that you know that They notice that.
00:35:43
Speaker
Well, it such a powerful, I know from memory, it's really powerful that I think in college they were saying, you know, slicing oranges or something while you're studying and then you can kind of remember some things better.
00:35:53
Speaker
But that positive association, I mean, funnily, this past weekend, it's something I've been really trying to work with my daughter. I have a daughter who's about to turn nine. And she, I think initially it was fun. she would come to the gym and they had a rope she could climb up and she had a friend there and we'd work on pull-ups and do different things. But I think she kind of got tired of it, got too samey.
00:36:12
Speaker
um But now she's trying to get into more high jumping and long jumping. And so we spent a good chunk yesterday youtubing what are the best exercises in the gym to to build strength for that and build that skill.
00:36:24
Speaker
And so now she's getting excited to do it again, but it's, it's really finding what makes it a playground. Exactly. It's like, it really has to be like a playground yeah to attract it. And I'd imagine they have to switch it up a little more often too. Like they get, you know, it's like they're not into routine like we are, you know? Right.
00:36:41
Speaker
Yeah. I'm just heads down going. Yeah. So that'll, yeah that'll keep me young. Keep me playing. Yeah. Yeah. So, and so then additional, so those, that's like four days of my week is weightlifting. And on top of some of those days I'm doing, you know, some like zone two cardio. I walk, I walk every night as well, but, um, or at least I try to walk every day. Like now that i have this tracker, it's kind of nice. Like, okay, can I get in, you know, 15,000 steps a day?
00:37:06
Speaker
And then, um, I'm doing a ah v o two max. So, um, usually my Monday is like, ah I go in and I do my VO two max and a little bit of, um, core workout.
00:37:17
Speaker
And, um, and that's just a Norwegian fourbyf four by four. I'm doing the three minutes, you know, slow four minutes as hard as I can for those four minutes and then three minutes slow. And, you know, you do that four times. And the hot tip on that is to go get the funnest music that you can find that just makes you, you know, like that's the way to go. Like whatever music that really gets you going, like that's what you want to do it on.
00:37:41
Speaker
Is it a treadmill? Is it a bike? What do you i do? I do it on a step milk. I just find it easy um easier. Like I have the high hopes of, you know, one of these days trying a bike, but I just feel like haven't cycled for so long. And I don't really like, i don't like being on a stationary bike. It's just so like, I can, I can handle a treadmill, but I can't handle a stationary bike.
00:38:02
Speaker
And I love, love, love running, but my knees don't. So they have decided not to cooperate right now. So until I can do like stem cell therapy or something, I'm not running. So I just, so what's a step mill?
00:38:16
Speaker
It's like a stair stopper? Yeah, the stairs that roll forward. It's a little different than an elliptical trainer. It's not an elliptical trainer. I know what you're talking about. It actually rotates the stairs instead of pumping the stairs. Yeah, so it's really nice.
00:38:33
Speaker
The speed basically. Yeah. Yeah. It has changed the speed. And, um, my mom graciously gave me this polar, which I haven't tried yet. So I can't wait to get into the gym and try it. Cause this, I find the trackers don't work so well for like the VOT max when your heart rate's going up like really fast, they they take a little while to catch up.
00:38:50
Speaker
So I do the polar heart rate monitor and really kind of get into that. And I'm hoping I can get outside and do some too, but we'll, yeah we'll see again. It's just more a matter of like, um, my knees cooperating if I'm running, but just,
00:39:04
Speaker
I'd rather be outside you know getting somewhere as opposed to stationary. It's not that fun. I've not done it on the stairs. I've done or or really i do either cycle or assault bike where you have the arms and the legs. yeah Or rower. I've done it on an erg.
00:39:22
Speaker
My favorite in the Hertzamos is swimming. Doing... Oh, you've done a VO2 max as a swimmer. Yeah. Cause I'm a swimmer. I grew up swimming. so Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. so I do it's short course. met So if it's long course meters, you know, my, I'm trying to dial in as close to four minutes as possible. So it's a long course. I'll do a 300. So it's five by three hundreds with one, eight minutes. by the like that. Short course. is It's a 350 meters.
00:39:47
Speaker
Okay. It's just trying to get what is the rough distance that hits me ah right around that four minute mark. Yeah. Oh, that's great. Now I just need to get like headphones I can wear in the water. Cause I kind of gave up swimming. Cause it's like, I go back to it. I'm like, Oh my God, so bored. Like, i no wonder I was good at math. Cause I'd be like, Oh my God, 40 laps. I've done three, you know, that's like three to 40 is what, know, just sit there and do math. Now.
00:40:12
Speaker
So I have as friends, we get together and do it And so then we're really pushing each other on those. Like it's, it's racing. So it's, you can't, you can't go soft. It's hard. Yeah. So I don't do any mobility work. Let me just back up. So I would like to add that I'm a pretty flexible person already. So I felt like, let me just work on building my muscles because I can like more easily bend. So I'm thinking of adding another like a day of yoga, maybe on the weekends. I love hot yoga. Like I did that for years. I absolutely love it.
00:40:41
Speaker
So I thought, yeah, maybe I'd start doing that on a Saturday just to kind of end the week. But we'll see. So we're looking at four days of heavy weights.
Relaxation and Food Prep
00:40:50
Speaker
uh, one day of VO two max plus a high intensity another day.
00:40:55
Speaker
ah um basically Different than the VO two max. Yeah. I just do like a, um, an eight by eight. So you do 30 minutes super high. Cause it's, it's pretty interesting on those days. Cause I'm a 30 minutes, 30 seconds, excuse me, 30 seconds, super high good button style.
00:41:08
Speaker
Yeah. And then I do another minute and half, so like not slow, but you know, it's just cool because you can kind of go a little higher than you would in that yeah for four minutes. So, um, I just like to do that as well to just kind of see how far, you know, what's the highest number I can get on the step mill just for fun. Yeah.
00:41:26
Speaker
So you push it, you do something every day. yeah, yeah, yeah. yeah Yeah. I'm doing something every day for sure. For sure. Have you experimented with rest days at all? Sunday is a rest day and Sunday is not only a rest day. Like i don't do anything. I mean, sometimes like if a friend, like I was out walking the other day, you know, like if a friend asked me to go for a hike and I want to go, it's just, it's my day of like zero commitments.
00:41:49
Speaker
Like, um, it's my rest day. Now I do, I'm typically in the kitchen that day, kind of prepping my food for the week. But that is to me, like, again, it's just, It's such an enjoyable de-stress, meditative time for me. It's very, very, you don't ever have to push me in the kitchen. It's like the place I go when I'm stressed is the place I go when I'm happy. It's just, it's my happy zone.
00:42:11
Speaker
Speaking of the happy zone and kind of the meditative nature of it, you you talked about having been on antidepressants in the past and and not now. What is your kind of stress management practice at this stage?
00:42:25
Speaker
Do you have a day-to-day or week-to-week I am a meditator. I do transcendental meditation and I learned that what in 2019. So I started it was pretty good about, they want you to do it like twice a day, but it's just, it's really hard to stop twice a day for 20 minutes. So I only do it one, one time a day. And I usually do it somewhere around mid afternoon, like at one o'clock ideally is kind of my like, okay, I'm going to sit down. And, and it really, it's so interesting. Like I would say, I don't know,
00:42:55
Speaker
Most days, certainly over 50%, it's like I'm sitting there, you know, and I get a few rounds in tune, it's like, you know, you just realize like, oh my God, like if I didn't meditate, I wouldn't have stopped this, yeah you know, brought the shoulders down. It's like, wow, like how much stress we carry through our lives, even on happy days, you know, like it's just, um it's just all of a sudden you're up like this and okay, I'm going to calm down, you know?
Meditation and Stress Management
00:43:21
Speaker
So I just, that's kind of like a reset.
00:43:22
Speaker
Yeah. It's a different level, but the way you just described it sounds so similar to that cloud lifting when you were talking about driving. You just get to this point where... your body releases, your mind releases, it you kind of had it tensed and then it just releases down. releases Yeah. So it's like a daily practice.
00:43:41
Speaker
Again, Sundays are like, maybe I will, maybe I won't. I just, I need one day for my brain to just kind of i'm I'm more of a right brain person. And it was never very, but even though like people, if you look on my website, you'll see things are very scheduled.
00:43:54
Speaker
I didn't live my life like that before, you know, it was always just very, Right brain kind of be bopped around and did what I needed to do, but I never had everything scheduled. And then you have a child and you're like, well, if I want to get anything done, you better have like, I mean, now I'm like a general. Everything is very, very ordered.
00:44:12
Speaker
I mean, both being somewhere, I'm just very similar in that back to most of my life is so scheduled. Like, here are the things, here's what I do. Yeah. But what feels the most holiday is that kind of Sunday where you can just say, there's nothing, right? And I feel comfortable completely releasing here because I know I've taken care of all these other pieces.
00:44:32
Speaker
Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. And I know that the next day I'm going to get right back into it. And same thing like when on the holidays, you know, taking this two weeks. And it's funny. It used to always be the last two weeks when I found this year, didn't really want to like eat junk and all those things. But that's like my time of year to just kind of like, I'm just going to let go and let my brain sort of relax. And I still went out and exercised. I still like ate healthy, but it just wasn't as regimented.
00:44:59
Speaker
was just kind of like, let me just do what I want to do and And I don't know. I just, I need that. I need that right brain. It's almost like, like I read a lot of like health books, but then every so often it's like, or I'm listening to all these podcasts and then all a sudden my body just from my brain will just like, okay, stop. We need a fiction. Like I need something more creative in my life.
00:45:16
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, admittedly, until kind of this past two weeks, at the end of the year, I hadn't taken ah day off in nine years since my my daughter was born. Other than i got attacked by pit bull one day on my way to the pool. And so I ended up in the hospital that day, but I was back the next day. I just didn't get there that one day.
00:45:32
Speaker
And so this this has been a learning for me, too, because I think I personally had this fear of, well, if I miss out one day, like, will I come back? Yeah. Well, if you're kind of person keep going for 90, you're probably, you're going to be okay. You're probably fine. You're going to be fine. Cause you're not going to like, it's good to like almost put like for me again, like again, I didn't go crazy, but like even we have like had like, we had pizza, you know, like from like a gross place, you know? And it's like, I wake up the next morning feeling so gross. Like, you know, my eyes are like watering.
00:46:01
Speaker
My stomach hurts. I feel like I'm hung over and it's like, Oh, that's why i don't eat this. And I oh, okay. Or I only have too much sugar and I would have extra hot flashes all night. Like, you know, I never drink alcohol anymore because it's literally like I cannot handle it at all. It's like, I just, it makes me like just the menopause symptoms go turbocharged, you know? So I just don't, I don't drink it at all, but sugar was always something. And now that's kind of becoming something i just can't do it all either, but it's good to kind of see and I guess I trust myself that I have all these systems in place that I've been doing for 25 years. It's like, I trust myself to put it all back in place. I don't, nothing's ever going to just goda go to, go to H-E double hopsey hockey sticks in a handbasket.
00:46:48
Speaker
and So we started this kind of talking about your your best life, for your entire life and being a mother and having that desire to give back. And it's living for something more than yourself and kind of outside yourself and serving yeah and understanding.
00:47:06
Speaker
that that is one of the key five pillars, social connection, right? We know socially isolated older adults have a 50% higher chance of developing early onset dementia, as well as all of the physical, ah just mental risks.
00:47:19
Speaker
And so knowing how important that is to you, how how are you going about making sure that that is a consistent part of your day to day and and life?
Social Connections
00:47:28
Speaker
It's interesting because, um you know, this is something when you,
00:47:33
Speaker
like I started learning about longevity specifically and this came up and I was like, Whoa, okay. Cause I've moved around a lot. You know, i've had international moves. I've moved. i mean, it's like, we need like PowerPoint presentation and infographics to talk about where I've lived, you know?
00:47:48
Speaker
So I've had a lot of friends. i'm really good at like making friends, but. developing those relationships. I've never really learned how to do that. And now like I've been living in Arizona this time consecutively since 2017, it's the longest place I've lived in my entire life, like ever.
00:48:04
Speaker
And, um, I've been learning about this. I'm getting very intentional about, you know, like who are my friends, like connecting with those people and learning more about them and, you know, supporting them and, um, really,
00:48:18
Speaker
And, you know, the times that I need to be a little bit more like learning to be a little bit more, you say, vulnerable, you know, with them. i mean, we've gone through some stuff, but it's just, it's really something I'm way more intentional about that in the past I wouldn't have been.
00:48:34
Speaker
I've, you know, got two absolutely dear friends and I, for people out there that may be in a more lonely space, me just help. like one I met on Bumble BFF cause they have like a BFF thing that you can meet. And I did have, I went out on several like, you know, quote unquote friend dates, you know, but ended up meeting like my best friend. It turns out we, I grew up in LA and we grew up like seven miles from each other. Our dads work together. We never knew each other. It's hilarious.
00:48:59
Speaker
Um, and, but we met here in our fifties for she was 40. I was 50. And then, my other friend heard me on a podcast and reached out to me on Instagram and was like, Hey, I'm, also in this space and I live in Phoenix and we just became great friends. You know, it's like, it's, I think, I guess what I'm trying to say is like for people out there that may feel like, oh gosh, I don't, cause I felt like this a long time. I didn't have like a really close friend. i just, i like I said, I moved a lot.
00:49:25
Speaker
I lots of friends all over the world, but um it takes some intention. It takes, it takes a little bit of intention on your part to, like make it happen. And then I also focus on, i don't want to belittle, like even first of all, the the smaller connections I have with my friends all over, those still matter to me. But also like, I think we have a connection like to our food. We've got a connection to the earth. We've got a connection to like our work, even the work that you may or may not like, like it's still like, those are human beings. And so you connect with them on some level, whatever that is.
00:49:58
Speaker
Like I've just really tried to see connection period as important, not necessarily these like, I mean, my deep relationships are, are deepening and I'm really grateful for those, but I think that just connection period can happen all over the place, like all over the place.
00:50:15
Speaker
And of course, connection with my son and my family. And that goes without saying, that's a really good point. I mean, it people talk about being lonely and crowded spaces,
00:50:26
Speaker
But that that is, I guess, as much internal as external, right? if you see If you go get your coffee, you can have a connection with that person. like you can it It doesn't have to be transactional.
00:50:39
Speaker
You can really engage. Yeah, you can just see their humanity. You just try to observe humans. It doesn't even mean you have to say hi or you know, like verbally connect with them, but just acknowledging that, like, that's another human. I mean, here, the great place to do it in traffic, you're sitting in traffic, you know, like that's another human that's having a really, like, maybe they're having a really bad day. Maybe they're whatever, but just to try to see them as a human in their point in time, like they have their timeline, their life. And for whatever reason you're inner so intersecting right now, you know, and they're,
00:51:11
Speaker
It's just really helped me not take anything personally. People are doing what they're doing. We all have our bad days. Yeah, good days, too. I mean, I go back to you were talking about sometimes with all the podcasts and the books and the help. Oh, yeah. And sometimes seeing the creative outlet, and just as you described that in Traffic, there was a movie, Wonder Boys, that...
00:51:31
Speaker
They were like creative writers. One was a professor and would go out and at a restaurant, they would just come up with whole stories watching the people and, oh, he's he's about to go on his first date and they bet here. and but And you can kind of create that whole narrative that makes them real people because you're developing. But it's also it's prep exercising that creative muscle for yourself, I would think. Yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly. i mean, you don't have to be right, but just to acknowledge that they're human and they're doing their human things just like you, you know, and I just think that's a way to like kind of connect with the world and it maybe opens the space for deeper connections. i I don't know, but it just, it was an important exercise that I started doing.
00:52:09
Speaker
Oddly enough, I actually used to work in a restaurant and used to do that exact thing. I like, oh, would not so much make it up as much as like you could see people are on their first date. you it didn't start that it's just only something maybe in the, you know, probably since I started meditating. I don't know. I just, ah you know, you go through enough stuff in life.
00:52:27
Speaker
And like, I remember when my brother, he was tragically hit by a car and I had to like rush down to the hospital. you know, I didn't know if he would still be alive when I got there. And I was driving very fast and and like a a total a-hole, you know, like down the freeway. And I'm sure people just thought, I mean, I'm i'm sure somebody was honking at me, but you know, so like when somebody's that, that was like, for me became a time when I was like, Oh, okay.
00:52:51
Speaker
You know what? They're just having their day, you know, they're having their day. And you just, kind you again, you start like, we're just all humans here. I'll do in the best we can. and And I know that there are, you know, evil people out there.
00:53:04
Speaker
i mean, sorry to say, you know, but there are people that are not so great, um but they didn't start out that way. Yeah. There's nuances. Recognize that shared humanity is is really a wonderful place to maybe wrap this. But before we do, is there anything you want to share that that we didn't cover?
Starting Small in Health Changes
00:53:23
Speaker
Yeah, I think, um, let's, let's talk about how to start. I want to make sure people, cause you know, you open that space of longevity and you start listening to podcasts and it's awesome before you know it, you're, you know, don't know, $500 in debt. Cause you bought all this tech and you bought all this, bought all the supplements and you know, like where, like where, where does a person start? And, and just, we got to remember Dr. Darshan Shaw talks about this, you know, like the Pareto principle that like 20% of your actions are gonna get you 80% of the way. And I, and then the low hanging fruit, that 20% in our world is, um, you know, exercise and diet. Like those, those two things are gonna get you so, so far.
00:53:59
Speaker
And, um, so really we gotta like come up with a structure and the way I like to people is to kind of sit back before you even start exercising, like what's your why? Like, why would you do this?
00:54:10
Speaker
but Why would you even make any changes to what you're doing? And like, you know, for me, it's my son. I really want to, you know, when he was younger, i really, when my brother died, I thought, God, i do not want to be not there for him. Like what, you know, cause it could just end.
00:54:24
Speaker
So I really wanted to make sure that I was as healthy as possible to raise him for as long as possible. So that, that was kind of my why now it's just changing to like, I hope I'm there for him as he ages and gets into the world and possibly grandchildren. But, um, and then that you've got to look at, um, what's your intention when it comes to longevity, there's many different intentions. There could be, i just want to live you know forever. i want to live 500 years. I want to live 100 years. I just want to like have a healthy healthy health span.
00:54:54
Speaker
So everybody's a little bit different, but determining that and then looking at your resources. So having those three will help you filter the information because one, your intention might change, your resources change. And so as those change, what you take what you take in Because you might be listening to a podcast. Let's say you're listening to a podcast on, I don't know, exosomes. And then you realize, like, I don't have either the time or the income for that.
00:55:19
Speaker
Well, then maybe, you know what? Like, let's not listen to that right now. Like, focus more on, like, taking your energy and putting it on the things that you can focus on. So... You know, encourage people to just start somewhere with diet and exercise. Even if it's a 10 minute walk, maybe it's adding a vegetable and to build really, really small steps. You know, one one step a day is better than trying to do all 365 once and failing and then beating yourself up and just small, small steps. And those are the ones that have always been the most effective is when I just take a tiny tiny step forward.
00:55:51
Speaker
And consistently continue to do it. I mean, it's the the effectiveness comes from the consistency. And it doesn't matter what research says of, hey, these people locked in this box for this period of time that were forced to do this. These were the results.
00:56:05
Speaker
If nobody's able to do that, it doesn't really matter. what are you going to actually do and stick with? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, like if it's going to the gym, it's just go to the gym and like bring your smelly soaps and like, don't even work out. Like just go to the gym and like take the shower there, you know, maybe do a sauna.
00:56:19
Speaker
Like that's your practice for a month, you know, like, or whatever, like whatever it is, wherever you are, ah you have to intuitively, you will know, like, you know what your next thing is. You know, if you're sitting on the couch, then you know, you need to get up, you know, those kinds of things. Like, I think we should really have to tune into our, our own intuition.
00:56:38
Speaker
It's a language we knew when we were very young that I think we we kind of crowd out with a bunch of noise, a bunch of layers. Like your daughter. She knows. She's like, i don't want to do this anymore. I want to do this. Yeah. And it's we can learn so much from from watching them getting back to where we used to be.
00:56:55
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Well, Julie, this has been absolutely wonderful. You are definitionally a role model when it comes to health span. And I can't thank you enough for the time today.
00:57:07
Speaker
Just before we close, are there any since we're doing this kind of as we enter a new year, are there any goals for 2025 that you have? for the year when it comes to. Yeah. Yeah. So, um, by the end of the year, I want to be able to do five pull-ups because even despite being a swimmer, I can't, for whatever reason, I've never been able to do a pull-up. I was a gymnast. I could do kind of other things, but a pull-up now. So that's my, you know, my December goals. I've got a workout plan, you know, around that. So that's, um, the physical fitness goal. And then I've just started YouTube channel, which is hilarious. It's like, it's so fun. It's so fun. I haven't posted anything yet. I'm just recording a few things and I'll start posting and it's just at Julie Gibson Clark. So it'll be, you know, my longevity kitchen, helping people cook and structure their week. And it's kind of let them in to see what I've been doing and help them. Yeah. I love that. I mean, one kind of personal and then one in the give back, which really aligns with your, your whole outlook. So yeah, that's wonderful. Thank you so much, Julie.
00:58:06
Speaker
Thank you. Thank you for joining us on today's episode of the Home of Healthspan podcast. And remember, you can always find the products, practices, and routines mentioned by today's guests, as well as many other Healthspan role models on Alively.com.
00:58:21
Speaker
Enjoy a lively day.