Episode 32: A Fresh Start to Health: Five Simple Additions to Invigorate Your 2024
Jan 03, 2024
Kathy Mead Fronheiser
Welcome to a new beginning! As the clock strikes midnight and we step into 2024, I'm here with five recommendations to enhance your wellness journey. Quench your thirst for knowledge as I reveal how upping your water game can be a game-changer for your health. Say goodbye to sugar-loaded drinks without feeling deprived and hello to restful nights that leave you refreshed and ready to conquer the day. This isn't about a fleeting resolution; it's about ADDING small, sustainable habits that pave the way for a vibrant year ahead.
Forget the notion that fitness is a chore; I'll show you how a simple stroll around the block can be the first step to a fitter you. And for those hungry for more, I delve into the transformative power of strength training and heart-pumping workouts. But it's not all about the burn; let's talk about nourishing your body with the protein it craves, especially as we age. Tune in as I guide you through the free five-day protein challenge and share my passion for real food over quick fixes. Together, let's raise a glass (of water) to a healthier, happier you!
Welcome to a new beginning! As the clock strikes midnight and we step into 2024, I'm here with five recommendations to enhance your wellness journey. Quench your thirst for knowledge as I reveal how upping your water game can be a game-changer for your health. Say goodbye to sugar-loaded drinks without feeling deprived and hello to restful nights that leave you refreshed and ready to conquer the day. This isn't about a fleeting resolution; it's about ADDING small, sustainable habits that pave the way for a vibrant year ahead.
Forget the notion that fitness is a chore; I'll show you how a simple stroll around the block can be the first step to a fitter you. And for those hungry for more, I delve into the transformative power of strength training and heart-pumping workouts. But it's not all about the burn; let's talk about nourishing your body with the protein it craves, especially as we age. Tune in as I guide you through the free five-day protein challenge and share my passion for real food over quick fixes. Together, let's raise a glass (of water) to a healthier, happier you!
Follow me on IG: @kathy_mead_fronheiser
Check out my website: www.kathymeadfronheiser.com
Speaker 1:
Hey guys, welcome to the Fun Over 40 podcast. I am recording this on January 1st 2024. So happy new year. Honestly, I've kind of waited this long to record this podcast because I didn't really know what I wanted to talk about.
Speaker 1:
I feel like there's so many things to discuss in the new year. You know we, if you're talking about like the health and wellness space, of course there's so much out there about you know, new year, new you and losing weight and all the things for the new year. And you know everyone's trying to sell you some sort of product or program or service that's going to get you there. And this is not to say that some of those products and services and group coaching programs aren't great and won't help you find success. But I also want to challenge you to start from a place of being okay where you're at and also from a place of thinking about what can I add to make me a healthier person. And another challenge is to consider what I call or what not. I don't just call them. The whole health and wellness community calls in SVs non scale victories. So let's focus on those two things. So the first thing that I mentioned is considering adding things into your life to help you get healthier, versus removing things. So in what I mean by that is, instead of thinking about, okay, let me cut calories, let me stop eating certain things, let me stop drinking certain things, consider, you know so that's more like a negative way to look at things Consider, what can you add into your life to make you healthier, less stressed, feeling better, improving your health.
Speaker 1:
Okay, so what are those things? Well, one of them is water. Let's start with that one. That's kind of a simple one. So if you want to add more water to your life, drink more water or any really beverage. It can have a little flavor, you know. If you like carbonated water, that's a great option. If you like straight up plain water, like me, that's an option. You could do unsweet tea, now, that is going to have caffeine, but there's no sugar in it, so that's good.
Speaker 1:
And also think about baby steps, right, like, if you drink I'm making this up five sodas a day, whether they're diet or regular, and you have a goal of drinking more water, do that gradually. Don't just go cold turkey. Believe me, you will regret it and resent that and it probably won't last. So if you normally drink five sodas a day, try four, and then a glass of water or a bottle of water and then try that for a week, two weeks, even a whole month, and then cut back to three and just gradually like that if you drink a lot of sweet tea I'm a Southern girl, so a lot of my life, a lot of folks, drink sweet tea. So cutting back, so getting it half sweet, half unsweet, and then eventually mostly unsweet with a little bit of sweet and then eventually maybe all the way unsweet. So those are just ways that you can increase the amount of water in your life.
Speaker 1:
The goal with water is half your body weight. That's kind of the standard goal. So if you weigh 150 pounds, then the goal is 75 ounces of water per day. Now if you sweat a lot, exercise a lot, if it's summer, if you're outside, you're going to need more water than that. But that's a great place to start. So just figuring out where you're at right now and adding from there. So that's one of the things that you can add. Maybe you set a timer every hour you drink a glass of water, something like that. You know you can have it stack with drinking water where you already have a certain habit of, let's say, brushing your teeth, eating your lunch, maybe having an afternoon snack, going for a walk. You could add water on to each of those habits that you already have. So that's all. Habit stacking is it's using a habit that's already existing and adding the new habit that you're trying to create.
Speaker 1:
Okay, so we want to add on in 2024 to improve our health and we're going to add water, woohoo, okay, great. So what else are we going to add? Let's add some sleep. I think that's a good one. I do not have trouble here. I also do not have children, so that might be the reason I don't have trouble here. But I'm just like Olympic level sleeper. But I can tell the days that I don't get the sleep that I need how awful I feel, and I just really feel for people that struggle to get sleep for whatever reason.
Speaker 1:
So consider adding more minutes, slash hours of sleep. Some of it is totally. We have our own selves to blame and just be honest with yourself. I mean, I'm not going to reach through and I don't know who is staying up late. You know scrolling TikTok or whatever, but if that is you, or if you are staying up late and you could have gone to bed. If you're falling asleep on the couch, just get up and go to bed already. Just get up and go to bed. You will feel like a different human if you can get that recommended seven to nine hours of sleep each night.
Speaker 1:
Now, if you are used to going to bed at, let's say, I don't know, making this up 11 o'clock at night and you have a goal of getting to bed by 10 every night, Don't just jump from 11 pm bedtime to 10 pm bedtime or 9 pm bedtime or whatever. You'll just lay there most likely. I mean, maybe you won't, maybe you'll fall right asleep and if so, wonderful. But a lot of times most people will just lay there with their eyes wide open. So just be gradual about it. Start by just cutting not cutting back, but going to bed like 15 minutes early. Try that for a week and then try 30 minutes and then try an hour.
Speaker 1:
So just cut yourself back sooner, going to bed sooner, little by little, and also practice good bedtime hygiene. What does that mean? That means don't stare at a screen all the way up until the time that you want to go to bed and expect your body to just shut down right then. So if you like to watch TV at night, fine, but let's say you want to be asleep by 10, then stop watching TV at around 9 and then have some kind of bedtime routine that really sort of gets you decompressed and in that space for bed like headspace. So maybe you take a shower, maybe you take a warm bath, maybe you read a book, maybe you sip on some hot tea it's decaf, you know. You brush your teeth, wash your face. There's a lot of apps like calm and headspace and insight timer that you can listen to free, like sleep meditations, or maybe you just listen to some nice instrumental music or you like. If you're like me, you just lay on the bed and snuggle with your kitty cats. Did I say, read a book already? That's probably my other favorite thing to do as well. So just figure out a way. Oh, one other idea, because I've had several folks that I have coached that really liked this idea, because it also combines.
Speaker 1:
Another goal typically for a lot of people is to improve flexibility and stretch. So a lot of folks find it helpful to maybe do like a 10 minute. It can be yoga, it can just be stretching, deep breathing, some kind of bedtime routine. It's not invigorating you, it's relaxing you. So that might be something else good to add to your pre bedtime routine. That has really a double whammy. You know, we get improved flexibility, mobility. We also get ready for bed and sleepy time. So those are all some options. So we're gonna add water, we're gonna add sleep. I mean really just those two. Your life would probably be changed.
Speaker 1:
But also, let's try to add some fiber, mmm fiber to our diets. So where do we find fiber? We find fiber mostly well, actually exclusively, now that I think about it in plant-based products. So we're talking fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, whole grains, beans. Add beans to your life. I'm telling you that's another great thing to do, excuse me. So add fiber.
Speaker 1:
The goal for women is 25 grams of fiber per day. The goal for men oh gosh, now I have to think about it I think it's 30, 30 or 35. But most people are not meeting their fiber goal for the day. And so if you want to just like how I mentioned before, you can track how much water you drinking a day. Track how much water. I'm sorry, a fiber. I already said water. Track how much fiber you eat in a day. You can use just a food tracking app for this. My Fitness Pal is free. You can try that out.
Speaker 1:
Log your food and don't look at anything except fiber. I mean you can look at other stuff if you want to, but our goal here is to increase fiber, to get to at least 25 grams of fiber per day. You may be surprised that you're already there. That would be awesome. Most of the time, people aren't, so if you are curious how to increase fiber I mean obviously you could do a quick Google search Foods with fiber question mark. But fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, seeds, beans If you increase those in your diet, you will increase your fiber and you will easily meet your fiber goal.
Speaker 1:
I love oatmeal. I have it for breakfast many mornings of the week. It definitely helps me meet my fiber goal. Chia seeds are huge fiber, like powerhouse. I also have hemp seeds. I have sunflower seeds. There's other things that you can add Fruits, vegetables, like I said. So one thing to note, though, is that if you are, if you do log your food intake for a couple of days and see where you're at with your fiber, and if you are pretty low number one, it's okay. Like we have to have awareness first. Okay. So awareness number one.
Speaker 1:
Now that we have awareness, we want to increase our fiber. Well, we don't want to do that. You don't want to go from eating like eight grams of fiber a day to 25 overnight. You will have severe intestinal distress. So be gradual. The same way that we were going to be gradual at decreasing our bedtime, we want to be gradual at increasing our fiber intake. So just maybe start adding a vegetable to lunch every day, or a vegetable to lunch and dinner, and then the next week maybe you add an apple to your afternoon snack or some raspberries. Those are high in fiber too. Those are some of my favorites. So just be gradual about it. Don't feel like you have to fix it overnight, because your body will not appreciate that. Also, going back to our the first goal of increasing water intake, if you're increasing fiber, you absolutely have got to increase your water intake as well. So if you want to start with increasing your water intake, have that as a goal and then work on increasing your fiber. That would be great.
Speaker 1:
Also, don't go for fiber supplements like powders and that kind of thing. Just eat food. Just eat real food, because you're going to get vitamins, minerals, nutrients along with those foods. There are no bad foods that are high in fiber, okay. So any food high in fiber is fair game, so go for it.
Speaker 1:
Last thing Okay. So we've got water, we've got sleep. We're going to add water. We're going to add sleep. We're going to add fiber. We're going to add movement. Okay, this is going to be my last one Add movement. Here's the thing.
Speaker 1:
You know, I talk a lot about strength training and the importance of strength or weight or resistance training as we age, which is very true. I'm not saying that. That is not true. And then, a couple of weeks ago, I also talked about HIIT training and how important that is. That is also true. So what I'm about to say does not negate any of that previous information.
Speaker 1:
But what I will say is this if you are not doing any movement right now and by movement I mean structured exercise, movement for the sake of exercising and improving your health, I don't care what you do, just do something. Figure out something that you enjoy, or at least don't hate that you can do on a regular basis. Maybe it's walking. Let's just say it's walking, because for a lot of people that's easy to do or simple. I should say, maybe it's not easy, but it's simple, like you put on your shoes and you walk out the door. The end. I know it's winter, bundle up, you're going to be okay, I promise, and once you get going you will obviously warm up, anyway. So let's say it's steps. Let's say you would like to increase your steps, whether that's number of steps or you just you know minutes, whatever it doesn't matter. Start with 10 minutes a day. That's all the end. Just start with 10 minutes a day.
Speaker 1:
Put a calendar in your kitchen, have your goals I'm kind of going off on a tangent here for just a moment but put a calendar, just one of those basic calendars, in your kitchen that has the little squares for each day of the month. Give yourself a check for every goal that you meet each day. So maybe we're starting with a water goal, maybe that's a blue check, because water is blue. It's not really, but you know, like in cartoons it is. You know, maybe sleep is orange and fiber is green and walking is purple, whatever. But give yourself a check for every time you meet your goal and you know what. It is absolutely fine if it's not every day.
Speaker 1:
None of us are perfect and I think perfection gets in the way of us making progress, a lot of times because it's like oh well, missed my water goal today, guess I'm no good at that and just stop. No, it just you didn't hit it today, move on. Tomorrow's a new day. Like, you got this. That's what. If you're a mom, that's what you would tell your kids, right? So just keep moving forward. It's okay. None of us are perfect.
Speaker 1:
Anyway, some movement, pick something that you enjoy and do it every day. If you want to talk specifics about exercise or movement, you can always send me a DM on Instagram. I'm happy to do that. Or, you know, if you get my emails, you can always reply back to the email with questions. Just move. So if you are already doing some kind of structured program and you're not doing strength training, I would say add that in, because most of us are pretty comfortable with cardiovascular exercise like walking, biking, dancing, swimming, that sort of thing, and so if you're already doing that, then add in strength training. If you are not doing that, if you're doing strength training and some steady state cardio like walking, add in one hit workout per week, okay. So if you're not doing anything, I don't care what you start with, just figure out something and it can be different every day. Maybe one day it's walking and one day it's yoga, and one day it's dancing and one day it's strength training. Whatever I don't care. It's just working on that habit of movement, and definitely, especially in the beginning. Any movement is better than no movement, right, like any minutes is better than zero minutes. So just move, okay.
Speaker 1:
So we've got water we're going to add. We've got sleep we're going to add. We've got fiber we're going to add. We've got movement or exercise that we're going to add. The last one did I say I think I said exercise was the last one. I just thought of another one that I need. This will be five. That's kind of a nice round.
Speaker 1:
You know the five things to add to your life to improve your health in 2024, versus the five things to remove from your life. Okay, so we're looking, putting a positive spin on this people. Okay. Number five you knew it was coming it's protein. Okay.
Speaker 1:
If you are a woman or a man over 40 and you are not eating enough protein, you are not helping yourself in any way. Okay, because as we age, we're losing muscle and it just happens. You didn't do anything wrong, you're just aging. It's a luxury to age right, but if we're doing strength training and we're not eating enough protein, then we're not going to build muscle. Think of your protein as your building blocks for muscle. Okay, you have to have the building blocks in order to build the structure. If the building blocks aren't there, you can't build the structure of muscle. So increasing your protein intake, whether you are strength training or not, is very important as we age to help muscle decline, to help prevent muscle decline.
Speaker 1:
So ideally, you'd be getting close to your body weight in grams of protein each day, but I know that's a lot. Now, caveat is, if you need to lose 30 pounds or more, then you go with that lower number. But I would say, just like you might start logging your food to look at your fiber intake, you can also log your food and look at your protein intake. If you are below 100 grams, start with that as your goal 100 grams of protein. If you aren't, if you are above 100 grams, great. Then shoot for between 0.8 and 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight. So in real life that is. So. I weigh 150 pounds, so I think that puts me somewhere between 130 and 150 grams of protein per day. If that sounds ludicrous to you, start with the goal of 100 grams.
Speaker 1:
If you have not taken my free five day protein challenge or you haven't taken it in a while, then I'll put the link in my show notes. You can also link to it through my website. It's also in my Instagram bio. Okay, so take the free five day protein challenge. I give you super simple, tangible, doable tips or steps to increase your daily protein.
Speaker 1:
Okay, so as we age, we actually need to eat more protein, not less. So when your parents, like mine, are saying, oh, I don't need to eat as much food because I'm not doing as much, well, yeah, I don't want you to overeat, but I also want you to eat real food and real meals and not graze or eat cereal for dinner. That's fine every now and then, but we gotta eat real food, people. We've got to. Even if you're an empty nester you don't have kids to feed anymore. If you are single, it doesn't matter. You have got to figure out a way to eat real food. If you're not gonna cook for yourself, get a meal delivery service or something like that. Okay, because you've got to eat real food, because that's what's gonna fuel you and keep you healthy as we age.
Speaker 1:
Okay, so the five things we're gonna add to our lives in 2024. Do you like my Cliff Notes version at the end of everyone? Okay, we've got water. It's really challenging me. This is challenging my cognitive abilities to remember the five things. We've got water, we've got fiber, we've got exercise or movement, we've got protein and sleep. I set them out of order, but it doesn't matter. Those are the five, okay, so I totally just winged this today.
Speaker 1:
Didn't have any notes coming into this, but I just had this epiphany today as I was out for a walk at the first of the year. We're always like you know, stop whatever, stop drinking, stop eating meat, stop whatever, stop eating processed foods, and I mean I kind of you know a lot of those for good reason, right. But I think, mentally, thinking of things to add into our lives, a is a more positive way to look at it and B is just a different feeling, and it will actually. What will happen is, as you add these things to your life, it will crowd out the activities or the foods or the drinks or the whatever things that you're doing that maybe aren't serving you, because now you're starting to fill your life with more positive, healthy foods, movement, sleep, that sort of thing, so it kind of crowds out the stuff that's not serving you. Anyway, if you've got questions, as always, shoot me a DM on Instagram. I hope you guys have a great new year and we will be talking soon, see ya.