The Pressure to Optimize Everything (Especially Your Health)

How did taking care of ourselves become so complicated?

One minute we're talking about sleep. The next we're comparing magnesium supplements, cortisol levels, protein intake, fasting schedules, blood work, weighted vests, and whatever health trend showed up on Instagram this week.

Somewhere along the way, health became another thing many of us feel like we need to get right.

This week, I'm talking about sleep, stress, aging, grief, wellness trends, and the pressure to optimize everything, especially our health. Because I don't think most of us are actually chasing perfect routines. I think we're chasing energy, confidence, peace, and a life we're excited to wake up and live.

A conversation about feeling good, trusting yourself, and remembering to enjoy your life while you're busy trying to improve it.

Would love to hear from you! 

Transcript

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Yeah, I think we're just, I think we're just gonna do it. Okay. I just want to ask you guys a question this morning. You probably hear this question every morning, but how did you sleep last night? And if you're anything like me, you're thinking, well, that's a real loaded question here, Maggie. But seriously, did you sleep okay last night? Because I really think sleep or the lack of sleep is the number one topic right now. One, it's a love language. Like, how did you sleep last night? Did you sleep well? We ask our kids if they got enough sleep. It's a new mom or anytime mom topic. How's the baby sleeping? Are you getting enough rest? Are they napping? Did the kids wake up? Did you wake up? Did you take anything? Did you forget to take anything? Like you get it? Sleep matters. When you sleep well, life feels manageable. And when you don't, everything feels harder. And if you're anything like me, you will pump your body full of more caffeine, more things to keep going when you reach the second shift of the day. What if you have a flight in the morning? I bet you're not gonna sleep well because your brain's going to trick you into thinking your alarm's not gonna go off. A big meeting, you're gonna be nervous about it. A conversation that maybe didn't go well. It's gonna replay in your mind all night. Grief also loves the middle of the night hours. And I love when mine wakes me up and I'm replaying something from 2017. That's a real favorite for me. My brain for the love. Can we also talk about the fact that they call it beauty sleep for a reason? Because apparently, if you don't sleep well, you age faster, which is very annoying because now I'm not just tired, I'm tired and I'm now aging faster. Amazing. As if women need one more thing to worry about at 2 a.m. And meanwhile, if you sleep next to a man, they are over there sawing logs without a care in the world once their head hits the pillow. They don't have a magic nightly routine, their nervous system doesn't really need to be regulated, just snooze bill the second they hit the pillow. They wake up refreshed. Justin doesn't even drink coffee. I'll let you think about that one, which is hilarious. And his system works like clockwork. Every single boarding, honestly, if I wasn't so jealous, I would be more annoyed by it. And if your conference calls are anything like mine lately, you know it's what magnesium are you taking? Can you send me that? Do you take melatonin? What hormones are out of whack for you? Have you gotten your blood work done? Are you getting enough electrolytes? Protein intake, what helps you sleep and what helps you wake up after the thing that helps you sleep? I mean, the list goes on and on. And if I'm being honest, as much as I'm into it all and how can I feel my best? I kind of think sometimes I'm hyper-focusing on it all. Somewhere along the way this week, I'm like, when did health become a part-time job or thinking about all of it and how it goes? I think you guys prompted me to think about this. I asked you on Instagram what's one thing you've changed your mind about in the last year. And the answer of feeling guilty if I'm not constantly doing every little thing I see to be healthy. Well, a same, as well as everyone else who voted on that, 100% feel the same way. As we know, I'm not a doctor, zero percent. I'm not gonna tell you anything you should do. But as always, at navigating between the lines, I get to bring my own point of views and all of my friends' opinions to this conversation. So welcome, welcome back. I'm Maggie Powell, your host. Happy to be here another week, also week two that I am recording this via video. Very awkward. But I think I just want to say, we are not crazy. There comes a time and it's different for everyone, but I'm looking around like, why doesn't my body work properly anymore? And we, as women, put an entire investigative team working on the case. Am I in perimenopause? Is my cortisol through the roof? When's the last time you had your blood work done? Is it the moon cycle? There's gonna be a full moon on Saturday. Mercury is in retrograde. The fact that I had half of a margarita three days ago, nothing is off the table when you're trying to figure out everything that's going on. I actually met with a functional health doctor the other day and we were going through the questions. You know, how much do you sleep at night? How many drinks a week are you having? And I was like, okay, well, if I sleep really good, and if I drink black coffee in the morning, I eat super clean all day and I move my body, I feel really, really good. And then after I said that, even saying it out loud right now, I got a laugh. And I literally left that conversation. I was like, oh my gosh, Maggie, like, why am I overthinking everything here? I'm just trying to like live my life, feel my best. And it's definitely harder, but it's not that like, why am I just like overthinking everything? The bottom line is I don't know a single girl strip where someone isn't talking about their stomach. Like nobody's ever able to poop. Like I lived, sorry. Like I lived off the McDonald's two cheeseburger meal with a Coke and fries for a lot of years. Okay, so I'm not gonna go down the road on what we are putting in our bodies. And this also isn't the green juice community. Okay, so like don't worry. But I think back and my body worked during that time. It's like also in my 20s, so it was very different. Like I could go to the gym for two weeks in a row and feel really great going on spring break. It's hard for me to pinpoint. Like, obviously, after kids, your body changes. You always need to be adjusting your goals to fit where you are today. Like PRs, set a new PR every year, right? Like, I'd say, like, reset that button. And I think too, well, I know, after my mom died, I was in such shock and disbelief. I think my body was in fight or flight for two years. Like I really, really believe that. I raced in the canoe marathon and I didn't drink alcohol for seven weeks before that, and I did not lose one pound. Like, super cool. Not that's not that that's what I'm doing it for, but you're kind of like going, I'm working out as hard as I've ever worked out before. I've cut out all alcohol. I eat really well. Not not one pound. And the fight or flight with your body is wild. The high cortisol, if you're living in that state right now, we gotta, we gotta bring it down. I was taking trazodone to sleep at night. Becky Robinson talks about this at her, she like would be like a little trazie before bed. It's not a joke, but you guys, come on, we all, we all gotta do what we gotta do or when we gotta do it. But I think, was my body changing simultaneously at that time, like I was getting into my late 30s, or was my cortisol like constantly through the roof? And that was just normal for me at that time. It wasn't until the last couple years I've been on this healing journey, if that's what you want to call it, a never-ending one, but really being intentional about the steps that I take. The 72-hour fast was in there. If you are into this episode and missed the 72-hour fast episode, you gotta go back and listen to that one. For me, personally, fasting for a 24-hour period every couple weeks has been making me feel really good. I think just giving my digestive health a little bit of a break is really good for my body. I don't know if that'd be good for you. But, you know, through experimenting with it and then doing the research that I've done about it, that has been really, really good for me. But do you ever wonder if we are more informed of everything and that also makes us more confused? If you're on any social media, there's a new health trend you gotta do, you gotta try. And I have the shake plate. Okay, I love it. I was influenced and I would love to influence you too. I'm super on board with it. I've actually done a video on it. It for sure helps my lymphatic system, and that's what I love it for. Um, I do think a little bit of muscle recovery, you're just shaking all the time. You can get the same if you see those videos, and you gotta like swing your arms around and around or do jumping jacks or just a hundred jumps in the morning. I think all of it does the same. I know so many people with a weighted vest. And I love that for you guys. I really do. Although I gotta be honest, I did laugh at first when some people started, they were like, I'm getting a weighted vest, or this person's getting a weighted vest. And I'm like, but do you even walk now? I live with someone who bought a weighted vest. And I'm like, well, but but we're not even walking now, but let's do that. I'm gonna get in trouble. Okay, I'm gonna stop. We're researching the advanced version before we've tried the regular version. I feel like it's easier sometimes to commit to these big goals when in reality being consistent in the things we do actually makes the most difference. Like if you can commit to 10 minutes a day on whatever it is, or 50 push-ups or 20 push-ups, just do that for every single day. I think that's why they make like squat challenges or get buff, you know, whatever it is. I'm gonna level with you. Some days I am supplement city. How much protein did I eat? All the magnesium before bed, high intensity workout, blah, blah, blah. And other days, like most days, I joke, I'm out here raw dogging my life. Okay. I'm just like, what's the vibes today? And an extra coffee run for sure. An afternoon Celsius, sign me up. I actually stopped taking magnesium before bed very recently because it was making me go to the bathroom a lot. And I was like, this cannot be good, right? But it turns out I just needed a different type, like the one to sleep and help your body relax. Another annoying item, like you can't just walk into Walgreens and buy the regular magnesium. There's all types, and it's not that I'm against it. I just needed to switch my type up. I actually slept like a rock last night. If you take magnesium, though, here's your reminder to make sure you're taking the right one for you. If I've learned anything between being dialed in on some days and going with whatever way the day takes me on others, neither version is the answer. Think about all the stuff we pretend isn't a big deal or turn into a joke. Everyone's exhausted, everyone's overstimulated, the mental load is insane, waking up in the middle of the night, feeling like we're constantly behind. None of that is normal to feel like all the time. And we glaze over it in a quick conversation and usually say, when we get through X, Y, and Z, it will feel better. Newsflash, you guys, there's always gonna be an X, Y, and a Z. I think the bigger conversation here is I don't think we're chasing perfect health. I mean, I've seen the longevity documentaries and it's super interesting. I can't follow all of those protocols. I'm super into doing all those things, but like within reason, there's a balance in eating, moving our bodies, and also having the glass of wine and the cookie skillet with dinner. Like I'm just not gonna say no to those things. I think what we're chasing is just feeling good. We're chasing the good energy, the confidence, the peace. You know, in the last couple of years, just in talking with other women, some are like, I can't even have a glass of wine. I'll wake up with a headache the next day. And yeah, well, then I wouldn't want to have a glass of wine either. You have to know what works best for your body and adjust with that. And you just can't let anything else make you feel bad about it. I think that's the whole thing, the confidence and the peace inside yourself. I can remember being in Grandma Marge's kitchen as a kid and her talking about that last five pounds that she wanted to lose. I don't remember what Grandma Marge weighed. I mean, she was a tiny little thing, but I remember the parties, the shadow whiskey that she had every day, the bread she had with her butter, and how much she loved the outdoors. I'm telling you all of this because I think a lot of us believe a certain level of happiness is waiting on the other side of a better routine. Those last few pounds lost, whatever the internet is selling us this week. And I'm not discounting any of those things. You guys sleep really is like the number one. Take a nap if you need to in the middle of the day. When I worked at Enterprise Rent A Car, this is a little side story for you. I think we got an hour lunch break, which is kind of crazy. And I would nap in my car. I'm not exaggerating. Most days I would like lean back my seat, set a 25-minute timer, and take a cat nap because I had to. I'm just like a sleeper, I'm a napper, whatever you want to call it. I love sleep too. I just can also find a way to function without it when I need to to. But that's just me. You know, I know it doesn't work for everybody. What was I saying before I derailed? This always happens to me. Life is happening while we're trying to optimize it. Always. I've spent a lot of this year working on a lot of the stuff that you can't see, the inner work, really chasing that feeling of alignment and clarity. And the further I get into this year, even just like these few weeks of summer, I just want to feel the best that I can feel all around too. It doesn't feel fun to be in a swimsuit and feel bloaty or anything like that. One thing about me, I'm gonna blow. Okay, probably because I ate the hot dog or the cheeseburger or whatever. So you can be like, it's your diet. But if you know me personally, you have seen it and it's like insane. My body goes crazy. It'll just be like a crazy fluctuation in a short six period hour. That's maybe why I met with that functional health doctor. But between all the bloat pills and worrying about a gut reset, I'm kind of like, what's making you happy? Like, I want to go to dinner with friends, I want to eat what I want to eat, I want the dessert, I always want the nightcap, I want to order ice cream with my kids. And I for sure ate the samore that Chloe made for me last night was delicious. I've never regretted any of that because all of it comes with the best conversations and deep dives with your friends, maybe a conversation that you didn't expect that you're like, that was the best night ever. The laughs, the connection. I think if we go back to the original statement of I am done worrying about chasing all these health trends, we are all looking to build a life. We are excited to wake up and live. I think if I could go back and tell myself anything, when I was younger, I really thought there was an age where you finally arrived. Like one day I'd wake up and think, okay, I know exactly who I am. My people are good, the bills are paid. What exactly are we worried about again? And then you get here and you realize nobody's arrived. Nobody, like we're all figuring it out in real time. Some people just look calmer doing it. I stand behind having that overall mentality is always gonna make you feel good. If you can have a positive outlook every day, you're gonna feel better all the way around. Wake up and be grateful for the life that you have, for the things that surround you, for the people in your life. And if you're like, my circle's really getting smaller, good. That means you're finding clarity within yourself and you're just bringing in all the positivity. Waking up with a full heart and gratitude for the life around you every day is gonna take you, I'm just gonna take you very far. I don't know where, I don't know where we're going, but I just know that if you can change the weight in your mind first, everything else is gonna follow and you're gonna feel really good. Maybe you take the supplements, maybe you don't. Maybe you track every gram of protein. Maybe you have absolutely no idea how much protein is in anything. Or if you're like me, I'm kind of like, I just like, I don't even care. Okay. Maybe you're walking with a weighted best, maybe you're just proud you made it around the block. And honestly, good for both of you. Because somewhere along the way, I think a lot of us started looking around and trying to find the quote right way to be healthy, the right routine, the right workout, the right app, the right morning drink, the right supplement stack. Meanwhile, nobody is stopping to ask, how do I actually feel? Do I have energy today? Am I sleeping well? Am I enjoying my life? Am I showing up as the version of myself that I really like to be? Because maybe health isn't just about optimizing every corner of your life. Maybe it's also about living it. Maybe the healthiest thing that I've done lately isn't adding another supplement. Maybe it's realizing I don't need to treat myself like a project that's constantly under renovation. Sometimes I think we're really busy trying to improve ourselves that we forget to notice all the ways we're already doing okay. I'm a little bit of an oxymoron here because I'm pro the good supplements that you want to take and training and fitness goals and longevity in this life. I really am. I'm a hundred percent into that. I want to be here for a long time for my kids, my grandkids. I want to feel really good inside. I just also am so into we get one life. I think my mom dying at 59 and having no idea that that was gonna happen. It's like it's crazy. So I have that inside of me too. We don't know when our time is up here. So don't wait for tomorrow on your new plan or literally anything. The time is now, you guys have the wine. Don't have the wine, eat the cookie, go for the walk, skip the walk. I don't care. Order the dessert, call the friends, sit on the patio. Because the reality is if you're paying attention anywhere in the hell space, we all know what to do. It's really the simplest things and doing the small stuff on the daily basis. We're all just trying to feel good. And honestly, I think a lot of us are doing better than we give ourselves credit for. Thank you guys for this space, this community that we're creating on a weekly basis. I love having these conversations. I love thinking out loud. I love getting feedback from you, bringing it here. If you loved this episode, share it. And I will see you next week.