Life On Purpose Over 40 Podcast
Step into the world of empowerment, elegance, health and unapologetic authenticity – Welcome to the Life on Purpose Over 40 podcast! I'm thrilled to connect with extraordinary women like you who are on a relentless journey to outshine their yesterday selves.Picture this: a podcast that's not just a listening experience, but a transformational journey. Here, we're diving headfirst into the realms of health, wellness, style, relationships, and career, guided by the wisdom of global trailblaze
Life On Purpose Over 40 Podcast
Revitalize Your Health Over 40: Embrace Strength and Wellness with Pam Sherman
Ready to transform your approach to health and fitness after 40? Discover the secrets to maintaining vitality and strength with our special guest, Pam Sherman, as she shares her inspiring personal journey. We tackle the unique challenges women face, like building upper body strength amidst hormonal changes during perimenopause, and reveal how even small, manageable exercises can significantly boost your well-being. Pam’s story is a testament to how embracing fitness at any stage can lead to self-appreciation and empowerment.
Strength training doesn't have to be daunting, and in this episode, we debunk the myths around "bulking up" and highlight the benefits of incorporating simple exercises into your daily routine. From kitchen counter pushups to using resistance bands, we offer practical advice to help you integrate effective workouts that suit busy schedules. We explore why maintaining muscle mass is crucial for metabolism and calorie burning, especially as we age, and why finding a gym buddy or a fitness class can be more motivating than working out alone.
Nutrition and self-care are just as vital on this journey. We share innovative ways to incorporate protein and fiber into meals, moving beyond carb-heavy diets, and the challenge of eating 30 different vegetables weekly for maximum health benefits. Our conversation shines a light on the importance of home-cooked meals over processed alternatives, with tips on simple family cooking that make health a priority without the pressures of gourmet perfection. This episode will equip you with the knowledge and motivation to prioritize your health, ensuring longevity and happiness for the years to come.
www.lifeonpurposeover40.com
They said sugar is the worst thing for your skin. They said even more than smoking. And I was like wow, wow, and really what you eat on the daily, Many, many people in our society. They eat because they're lonely, bored, sad, frustrated, depressed, you know all the things when that's going to lead to well, a lot of unhappiness in your body for the worst time. And the statistics are something like when people fall because they lose their balance 60% of them. I never woke up the day. What going? I feel great, not once.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think that also Our society has made it too easy.
Speaker 1:I'll be literally a 100 push-ups a day. Oh, I didn't even think of that. When you come in, keep your elbows close to your body and that gets more of the back part of your arm. And it's not just you, carolyn. Women are not born with upper body strength. We could crush people with our legs, but upper body strength we can pick up kids and groceries. But inherently we don't do a lot of pushing motion. As women, we do a lot. Welcome to the.
Speaker 2:Life on Purpose Over 40 podcast, where empowerment, elegance and health take center stage. I'll be your guide on this thrilling journey to outshine your past self. This is a podcast all about transformation. We're plunging headfirst into exactly what health, wellness, style, relationships and career look like as a woman over 40. You'll be hearing from all the most sought after global trailblazers and experts. This isn't just about learning. It's about embracing your inner fierce, fabulous self. Let's get started.
Speaker 2:Hi everyone, welcome back to the podcast. I'm very, very, very excited. Today I have the absolutely gorgeous Pam Sherman with me. So, pam, welcome. Thank you for being here. I'm so excited for today. Thank you so much. This is fantastic. So since I came across you, you have become my inspiration. I've been watching your Instagram and I look at you and I think, oh, my God, you have just got anyone listening or watching and if you haven't seen, you can't see a lot of your body right here. But if you haven't seen Pam's Instagram, you need to go and check her out, because you've just got like this body. That's just incredible. And you've got these arms to die for. So it's fantastic. You are my inspiration, so I'm glad you're here. Thank you so much.
Speaker 1:I did not know that.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much. I did not know that. Thank you, yeah, I think that I never had this thing about great arms. When I was younger, I was always a person that was like, oh, I don't like big muscles because it's too muscly. But now, since I've been like in my late 30s into my 40s, I'm like like, yeah, muscles on, like women look fantastic and you definitely, you talk the talk, like you definitely have the body for what you, what you promote, and I think that's something that you know. You see a lot of these people out there going, oh, go and get fit, but they're not fit themselves, so it's really aren hard.
Speaker 1:Yes, arms are something that women like. I remember a teacher in high school writing on the chalkboard and her arm was like so low and like I never want that.
Speaker 2:And you know what? I had my child I was 40 when I was pregnant with my daughter and, um, I had those arms that when I was in my twenties and, um, my thirties that I had those arms, arms that didn't matter how much weight I put on not that I ever put on much, but my arms never got big. So I always like, my friends were always like you're so skinny and I'm like I'm actually carrying a couple of kilos now, but my arms is where, like, I never showed it. But when I was pregnant and then I actually found that straight after I had my daughter, that I was actually going through perimenopause, like literally, yeah, yeah, it was like directly, like within six months I was going through perimenopause. And so now like, and now what I've learned is it's, you know, your hormones and like your muscles start getting weaker and my arms are like, oh my god, the thing about me that I love the most is like the worst thing now. So I I'm extra, extra like appreciative of great arms.
Speaker 1:Thank you. One thing I tell women all the time, which sounds so crazy, but every time you're in the kitchen you could do kitchen counter pushups. So say you did 10 every time you're in the kitchen. We're all in the kitchen 10 times a day, 15 times a day. That could be literally 100 pushups a day, and I think women are all or nothing, so like if they don't get an hour workout in, why bother? But guess what? A hundred pushups a day makes a difference.
Speaker 2:Wow, I didn't even think of that. And because I've got this thing, I'm really bad at pushups because I don't have that arm strength. I don't know why. I was a hairdresser and I still don't have it. I don't know why, but on the counter you just sort of have that less of a resistance, but you still get a lot out of it yes, and wide arms works your chest.
Speaker 1:more Arms close in works more your triceps. So when you come in, keep your elbows close to your body and that gets more of the back part of your arm. And it's not just you, carolyn. Women are not born with upper body strength. We could crush people with our legs, but upper body strength we can pick up kids and groceries. But inherently we don't do a lot of pushing motion. As women we do a lot of pulling and lifting up.
Speaker 1:So it's not just you, it's every woman. So yeah, the kitchen counter is accessible, everybody can do it. If that's too hard, you can do it against a wall. That's a great place to start, but literally put a sticky note wherever you go in the kitchen. Start, but literally put a sticky note wherever you go in the kitchen, like if you're waiting for your coffee or your almond milk, you know anything. Put like 15 pushups as a reminder and you can do that every time you're in and you're just building strength little by little.
Speaker 2:I love that. So I've been doing this podcast. I think I'm at episode around 20. And I have to say I love all my guests. But that is actually the best piece of advice I think I've ever had in my life from anyone ever, because it's so true like doing 10 or 15 of those and it's not like strenuous, because I think you know you hear this, do 20 jumping jacks while you're waiting and I'm like, oh, jumping jacks, I think pushups is not so strenuous.
Speaker 1:Well no, you could be in your jammies jumping jacks. You need a jog bra, you need shoes on. You're not going to get sweaty by doing 10 or 15. And as you keep doing them, it might get to 20 or 25. And it'd be nice to keep a little checkmark. Every day I'm like, oh, I got to 50 today or whatever. Oh, I got to 100 today. It's such a doable step for any woman, especially working at home, because you know you go water, coffee, tea make lunch.
Speaker 2:Oh, I love that. That is fantastic. Oh, I can't wait, because it's now winter, so the good thing is, by the time it gets to summer, I think I'm going to have incredible arms. So, thank you, so in arms in my arm.
Speaker 1:Yes, and go slowly, go slowly. When you go quickly, that uses more momentum, like 1-1000, 2-1000. You can put your favorite song on. Do it to the beat of the music, but, yes, slow and steady.
Speaker 2:There's actually another question that I can ask you then. So I'm going, I just started at the gym back at the gym recently and I've been using the leg press and the guys whenever there's like four of these machines next to each other, and every time I'm there I go really slowly with it and cause I've got bad knees anyway, and then everyone next to me is always like and I'm like am I doing it wrong? Should I be doing it faster?
Speaker 1:Or you're doing it right. They're probably have more weight on and they have to go fast to be able to do it. No offense to guys they like to hit a certain number. So they leg press 300 pounds but they really didn't, because they're not probably doing a full range of motion. They're going too fast. Anything you do fast, you're using more momentum than actual engaging your muscle.
Speaker 2:Okay. So for women, we're meant to be building our muscle up, because my understanding is, bigger muscles means that the muscle is burning the fat more. That's what's going on, of why we're actually putting on weight. It's not the fact that everyone says we just hold fat more, but generally it's actually that the muscle is not breaking down the fat.
Speaker 1:I'm sorry. What's your question? I was confused.
Speaker 2:So because, as women, we all say, oh, I got older and suddenly I'm just putting on more weight. But it's actually because our muscles are not, um, not big anymore and as they get smaller, they need to be bigger to help break down the fat. That's my understanding.
Speaker 1:I think as women get older, they get less active. If you look at your life now versus your life in your twenties, we were probably all walking a lot more, a lot busier, where it's easier to be sedentary as you get older and unless you dedicate time for your workouts and strength training, because we are all losing muscle after the age of 40. And muscle is our metabolic currency and it's what does drive calories during the day. So so many women think if I lift, I'm going to get huge, bulky muscles and that that literally will never happen to anybody.
Speaker 1:You burn more during the day, the more muscle you have. So it's a. It's one of the biggest myths that I can't take, because I think in fact, I get Arnold Schwarzenegger's newsletter every day.
Speaker 1:And he brought it up in one of his newsletters and he said it's actually. I laugh at that because it's taken me thousands upon thousands of thousands of hours to get to where I am. You know people, please pick up more than a five pound dumbbell. You can pick up a 20 pound dumbbell. Your muscles are not going to pop. It takes so much time in the gym and so much extra food to actually build. I've actually never seen a woman with big, bulky muscles. So and I've been doing this 27 years. So, please, ladies, please, strength train. You'll be able. Your body's going to be in a better shape physically, your shape is better and you burn more calories during the day. Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I had that exact same mentality until about a year or two ago that I was like I don't want to look like one of those bodybuilders. But yeah, now I I'm lifting way more kilos and I, you look beautiful. You're not a big body, beautiful, no, but I don't do enough yet. Like looking at your account, I definitely I don't do enough. I'm going like one to two times a week. I definitely need to go more, and I'm going to ask you in a minute about motivation as well. So I'm going to get there. Let's just go into that a little bit more. What's actually the best way to exercise for long-term health?
Speaker 1:Strength training is going to be the key to longevity because we lose muscle as we age. It is a it's a such a bad thing in our society. I you hear about older people falling. You might know a family member that's fallen. Our muscles protect our bones, so our muscles are vital for longevity. Again, it's not to be the big bulky bodybuilder None of us are going to get there. It's to protect our bones. So, yes, you burn more calories, but it's really the older I get. I'm 56.
Speaker 1:You know, when I was in my forties I would want to crush you in a workout, carolyn. I just want you to be so sore. I just want to get you. Now I'm like, can you please strength train Because I want you to be vital as you age. I want you in 40 years to be as vital as you are now to pick up your grandkids If you have grandkids to go to the beach, to take vacations, and the strength training is so huge, as is balance.
Speaker 1:Many people fall over because they can't balance and balance like strength. We lose that as we age. So it could be as easy as when you're in your kitchen doing your kitchen counter push-ups if you put one hand behind your back and one arm out front to touch a chair with one leg, so like a teeter-totter right. Practicing balance is going to be huge, because that is something we lose and so many people say to me oh my gosh, my balance is terrible. Do you work on it? No, it's not glamorous, it's not exciting, it doesn't burn calories, but it really does help for your longevity and flexibility. Again, stretching is not glamorous, but your body craves it could be yoga just regular stretching.
Speaker 2:It doesn't have to be an hour you know, a few minutes after a workout is really, really important. Yeah, Everything you say there is so true. So I started to. After I had my daughter, I tried to get back into working out a lot and I spent like four or five weeks really working out hard and then I was like I didn't do any stretching at all and suddenly I just couldn't move. So now I've got this rule that I have to like at least one day a week I'm just stretching, so yeah, and it's not that it has to be for a long time, and then I try to stretch like at least three times a week and it's for me. I don't like that slowness, so it's something that I've had to force on myself, because I know some people like that idea of yoga and to me I'm like too boring for me.
Speaker 1:Well, after your workouts, go to my YouTube channel, pam Sherman. I have a whole stretching playlist. I have short ones like two or three minutes, up to long ones, 10 to 12 minutes. A little stretch after every workout, especially because you just work so hard. So I always say stretching is like dessert for your muscles, and who doesn't like dessert? I mean, come on, and it feels so good when you're done.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and it does make a difference. It definitely does make a difference. And, um, balancing, because balancing is something that I have I've also realized. I remember I actually saw a woman at the gym, I remember before I was pregnant, and she was standing on one of those um round the BOSU, yeah, and she was so amazing on it, and I remember I was with my stepdaughter who she was about 16 at the time, and we were both standing there going this woman is incredible and she would have been around, I don't know, 60 years old. So we were both like this woman is incredible and I remember that day thinking that's and for what you're saying, like that is what will make a difference. And I always thought since then I have to make sure I balance at all like practice, my balance and some people say you know, stand on one foot while you're drying your hair.
Speaker 1:I personally have to do one thing at a time. Yeah, but if that works for you while you're brushing your teeth, if that works, great. But getting in once to twice a week of balanced work would be great. At the end of the workout, when you're tired, that's a great time to do it, because sometimes we're tired. So, yes, when you see older people that are just like crushing it in a different way, it's so inspiring.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I think that's the thing is that we, we sit there thinking oh, we'll do it later, we'll, we'll get onto that. Oh, balance, yeah, once I start noticing that I've lost my balance, then I'll start doing it, and that's probably the worst time to do it.
Speaker 1:Probably the worst time, and the statistics are something like when people fall because they lose their balance 60% of them end up dying within 60 years over the age of 75. That's crazy, and to all of us now it seems very like a very long way away. If we are lucky enough, we'll get there right. That's not that, I mean. I guess it depends how old you are listening to this, but it's really not that it's not that far away.
Speaker 2:No, and look, everyone listening is over 40. And I think we have to realize that. You know that first 40 years of our life we got to 40 and went hang on a second. That went pretty quickly. Get where to go, right, yeah, so the next 40 years is actually not that. You know, it's not that far away. And that's really what this podcast was about was to get people like you, for that exact reason of what can we do today that can make a difference. No-transcript. We talk about weight lifting, weight or weight strength training. What about doing things like, um, elastic bands, like is that? Does that come under strength training? So, using the I don't know what you call them the yeah, yeah, that works.
Speaker 1:I would say at least once a week would be great to actually lift weight to get stress on your body. Bands Bands are great. They're great for when you travel because they fold up in your suitcase really easily. But our bodies are meant to work hard and the pressure that weights put on your muscles, that's going to be what protects your bones. So it really is for at least once a week. Twice a week would be great.
Speaker 1:And if you absolutely hate it, then get a trainer, get your best friend go to the gym, do it with somebody that you like, so it'll be way more fun. But I cannot stress many women in my age group. I love Pilates. They just love Pilates because it's comfortable. You actually need to be uncomfortable to get your optimal health. To get your optimal health, yes, pilates is great. Yes, yoga is great, but you definitely need some time under tension with some you know heavy dumbbells or some you know safely, of course. And if you don't know how to do it, again a trainer, a gym, a best friend. Go to your local gym. I just had coffee with a girlfriend who said, yeah, she loves this gym. They do. She's called it CrossFit Light. So nothing crazy, nothing dangerous. But she you know her 6am girls are her friends. They go for coffee afterwards. Like there's so many different ways you can do it, it does not have to be a chore.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and what about doing it at home? What's the getting some weights?
Speaker 1:Most people are not motivated to work out at home. When I my one of my very first jobs was working at a health club as a salesperson and my trainer said 95% of people who buy workout equipment at home do not use it. Most treadmills end up as a clothes hanger. If you are motivated, yes, yes, make a home gym, do it. Have so much fun with it. If you know, at this age you should know yourself really well. If you know you're not going to do it at home, please find a good gym, please find a friend that will do it with you. Please find a class that you like to do. It really comes down to motivation and I have not met a lot of women in my life that like to work out enough that they make their home gym and they're like, yes, I love it, and if that's you, amazing, and if not, find that's that's going to give you a great workout.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so, um, then you're going to have all the women that say I don't have time to go to the gym, what's your?
Speaker 1:we all make time for things that we want to do. We all make time for things we want to do. Uh, if you cannot make it to a gym, I have a 10 minute playlist on my YouTube channel just for that reason, because I got so sick of women saying that 10 minutes is better than no minutes every day of the week. And I feel like I said this before. Women are all or nothing and in my career, when I first started teaching classes, every class was an hour. So I think many women in my age group 40 to 60, think I have to work out for an hour. But when you put 10 minutes in first thing in the morning, your whole day goes better and at the end of the day, body weight is better than zero exercise. So I think you create what you want to create.
Speaker 1:If you don't have time during the week because you commute and that's a real thing when women commute so you walk on your breaks. You do a couple body weight workout videos. On the weekends you actually go to a gym and make the harder workouts happen. But you know, are you on TikTok, are you? Which is so fun? Oh my gosh, the animal videos. I just can't stop with those Instagram, facebook, like we all spend time doing stuff like the fluffy stuff. When you want to create a change in your life, you will make it happen.
Speaker 2:Sorry, that's hardcore, but no, it is so true. Yeah, and I want to talk about food as well, but let's talk about mindset for a second, because this is actually a good time to talk about it, something that I wanted to bring up because for me personally, since I started going through perimenopause and I got really really ill for about three or four months where it was really bad and I got motivation as being not what it used to be for me so now it's like, yeah, I still go to the gym, I actually work out at home and I'm actually, yeah, a lot of people are like, how do you do that? But I don't mind it, I actually do, I like it, but the I've just had too much of this on and off that I've never had before. So, yeah, how do I get around that mindset of do it and do it consistently? Because I think that's my problem is, I'm not consistent enough anymore.
Speaker 1:You have to make your health a habit like brushing your teeth. None of us, when we were little kids, wanted to brush our teeth Floss. Who liked to floss when they were little? Nobody did. It has to be a part of your day most days of the week, because these old girls are going to take us to the end of our lives, and how you take care of yourself now your future self is on the sidelines going. Please work out, please eat better, please sleep more, please do some more walks. It matters right now what we're doing.
Speaker 1:So when people say I don't want to, I'm not motivated, you have to. It can be the bare minimum, it can be 10 minutes a day, but it has to be something. So it's going to be a habit, because you can't wait for motivation. Most people don't have a lot of motivation. It has to be. Today I'm going to and guess what? Our YouTube. Besides my channel, there's thousands of other people on there Like I'm going to do a 10 minute core workout. Amazing, that's better than nothing. So I would say, put it in your calendar or, the night before, decide what time of day you're going to do it. Put it in your calendar. You cannot break an appointment with yourself and make it happen.
Speaker 2:Okay, so you made me feel better because I actually I do do at least. Like I go for a walk every day or I go like I try to get like yesterday I didn't have time to go to the gym so I just did like a 10-minute quick workout. So I'm doing something every day and I'm trying to eat as healthy as possible. Like I have a few days where I'm like, oh, I probably shouldn't have eaten that, but generally I eat really healthy. But I think I want to take it to that next level.
Speaker 2:So I really need to take it to that level where, like when I look at you and I'm like, oh, my god, like your body is amazing and, like I said, I want the muscles in my arms, I want my body to look and you can see that you feel as good as you look, and I think that's the part that you know. I want to have that feeling that every day I wake up going, yeah, I actually feel as amazing as you vibrantly look all the time. So I think there's more to it for me than just that 10 minutes a day. I think I've got to take it to that next level. Well, and it's sleep.
Speaker 1:Sleep is my number one on my health list because we all know when we get a bad night's sleep, when you're a mom, when you're in perimenopause, sleep can come and go. I mean, you wake up with a hot flash and the next day you're not going to want to work out, you're not going to want to make a salad you want. You create your brain crave sugar when you're tired. So sleep definitely number one. Coffee definitely is a food group, but women need to drink more water, hydrated enough, and that shows in our skin too. I was listening to a podcast with two ladies who made a skincare company. They said sugar is the worst thing for your skin. They said even more than smoking. And I was like wow, wow, I've never forgotten that. And really, what you eat on the daily, many, many people in our society? They eat because they're lonely, bored, sad, frustrated, depressed, you know all the things when that's going to lead to, well, a lot of unhappiness in your body.
Speaker 1:Really you want to eat for health for the most part not including holidays and birthdays, you know but for the most part, eating for your health and for feeling great. That makes a huge difference. I've overe Not once.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think that also our society has made it too easy. So I think we as much as it's our own fault for doing it to ourselves, but seeing what we see around us like it's so much easier to pick up. And I was telling you before we got on this call that I've had so many stomach issues and I grew up in a Polish home where my mom cooked everything Like we grew up with really traditional food. So I grew up, you know, never having processed food and then having all my food allergies. I never ate processed food. So I'm just not a processed food person.
Speaker 2:And so for me, even like last week, I was with my daughter and I was like I just have to grab something quickly for dinner Cause we're really in a rush. So I grabbed like pre-made cooked sorry, raw pasta, but like the fresh pasta in the packet in the supermarket, and then I was like, oh, they're right next to it. They have all the pasta sauces. You know, you've got the different ones, and I was like I'm just going to grab one of those because I'm just not going to like. And I never grab them because I'm always like I'll just rather throw together my own mushrooms and put some cream on top of them and make my own sauce. That way, even if it's like a basic sauce, I'll just throw that together. I'll just buy that packet because it's just going to homemade food like, even if it's basic homemade food, like your salad's fantastic, like your basic and I love your.
Speaker 2:We'll talk about your recipes, but your recipes are all like very, very short recipes. You don't have this like let's stand in the kitchen for three hours to make something that like ends up being a piece of lettuce, because your recipes are super simple and once you get into that routine of eating fresh food that's like one ingredient, food that's not processed, then it's really hard to go back to store-bought stuff. And I think women need to and I hear so many women saying to me how do you do it? How do you cook?
Speaker 1:and it's like well, once you've tasted good food, it's really hard to eat that other stuff it really is, and your taste buds acclimate to the processed foods and the food companies are wanting you to have more, so they make it the perfect amount of fat, sugar and salt. So you're like, oh, but you can't just have one as a slogan for a reason. Yeah, then we can have just one chip. You want 50 chips? Well, maybe not 50, but you know I mean so, and it's not I. I don't.
Speaker 1:I'm not a expert cook by any means, but I do a lot of. You know, protein and veg. I don't do fancy. Last night I threw a tri-tip in the crock pot. I had to go teach a step class, made a big salad for my family and that, and roasted some potatoes Like that. That was it. It wasn't crazy hard. You can make it easy. I feel like, though, there's a lot of pressure as a woman to make the perfect meals, have the perfect outfit, look, you know, do everything perfect, and when you know what, that's a fallacy that you don't have to do that at all no, no.
Speaker 2:But looking after your body from the inside is actually way more important, and I'm like a really avid cook. So for me it's like I've got the steam oven, I've got the. You know I do this like I've got a sous vide machine. So I like sous vide all my meats and blah, blah, blah. But I also don't have time to do that all the time, especially since I've had my daughter. So now it's like, yeah, I just get a piece of salmon, throw it on a pan and you'll get some salad on the side of it and that's our dinner. And at the end of the day, like I go from these like amazing gourmet meals that take me four hours to cook, to throwing together something, because for me that is still better than buying something processed. So you know my stepkids my with my partner, his stepkids when I started cooking for them, they were horrified from the food I cooked and they used to just smell it and go I'm not eating that, and I'm like you have to at least try it. And then we got this, like little I've spoken about on the podcast that we ended up with a rule of um, they're allowed to have one food they hate, so they don't never have to eat. So if it's tomatoes or if it's whatever, and if I cook something, there was four of them, and if at least two of them didn't like it, I'll never cook it again. But they all had to at least try it. That was the rule.
Speaker 2:It ended up being the daughter that hated everything. From the beginning. She was the youngest. She never in seven years has come up with a actual food she won't eat. So we gave them like they can change it every six months.
Speaker 2:So then on the first day, one of them's like I don't like fish. The other one was like I don't like red peppers, bell peppers, and the don't like fish. The other one was like I don't like red peppers, bell peppers, and the boy didn't like. At the time he was feeling sick from eggs. But the girl, she never got around to anything. So every time we tried to, we would eat. She'd say I don't want to eat this because I don't like this food. I go it's not on your list. And she's like okay, then should eat it. And I'm like do you want to put it on your list today? She's like no, I'll still think about it. So she ended up now she eats everything and she loves all food and that was all just like my little thing. And they've gone from eating like a lot of processed food to now like being happy to try anything and eating everything. So yeah it's.
Speaker 1:If I could make those four children like different foods then I'm sure anyone can do it how lucky they are to have you, because a lot of people you know they do the chicken nuggets and I did when my kids were very little, when I didn't know any better. You know the easy like well, they'll only eat this. When I hear that, I'm like no, no, no, no, you have to make them try other things. Of course, my daughter's at that age.
Speaker 2:Now she's trying it. It's so hard, I won't eat that. I'm like, okay, then don't eat it. And she's like, oh good, okay, I'm just taking that off you or I'm not letting you watch tv. Oh okay, I'll eat it, you just have to force them, yeah, so you have good consequences. No tv yeah, I've seen I've had friends of mine that are like my child, only like I don't know, like whatever one food, and I'm like, oh, I don't think it works like that.
Speaker 2:Okay, um yeah, but let's not judge other people's parenting skills at the end of the day, I think getting your children to try different foods is really important. I think we as like adults as well, and you know, I think you and I are good at it. But I know a lot of friends of mine that are like, oh, it's just sometimes easier to get that packaged food and the rubbish that's in there. And with my stomach allergies, I read everything and it's horrifying what's in food.
Speaker 1:When my kids were little, I remember being at Target with them and my son picked up a box of cereal. He's like can we get this? And I said, if you can read me the ingredient list, yes, he only got like six words in and then he couldn't pronounce it. I said, well, if you can't pronounce it, we're not going to get it. And he was like, okay, that was it, that's really good.
Speaker 2:My daughter asked me the other day for food there's the cereal and I haven't looked at cereal for I don't know 20 years or something. I was like oh yeah, maybe. And I picked them all up and I was like huh, no, huh. And the ones that were like healthy, healthy, healthy, I was like huh, no. And the ones that were like healthy, healthy, healthy, I'm like, hang on, this has more sugar in it than the one that's not healthy. It's terrible.
Speaker 1:They lie too on the front of the boxes. They heart healthy. No, actually I'll stop. Yes, yes, when you read the label, it is astonishing what they have in there.
Speaker 2:And so you've got a recipe book. Let's talk about that for a second. I've done quite a few of your recipes and your sources because I've got this thing about. I grew up in a Polish house where, you know, we eat a lot of butter, we live for butter, we eat a lot of fatty things and so finding healthy alternatives. We were talking about your coleslaw salad because I grew up with, you know, coleslaw is like mayonnaise and sour cream, so you've got an amazing recipe for um coleslaw that's got almond milk in it and we were discussing that earlier. But I did a few other recipes your peanut sauce um recipe as well, to die for, because I um love peanut sauce and, yeah, sometimes it gets a little bit unhealthy. What else did I try? I've got a list somewhere of what.
Speaker 1:I add the pistachio sauce you tried that, that one yeah. I love that one so much.
Speaker 2:And I think, because it's got in there, coriander, is that what you call it in the US? Coriander, cilantro, cilantro. Some people don't like that, but can put something else in in its place, like basil woodwork dill. Yeah, exactly, yeah, um, yeah, so they're fantastic. Do you have a link to that or I just leave the link in the show notes? Is there a? Because it's a google sheet, I can um, I would say yeah put it in the show notes, please.
Speaker 2:I'm show notes and anyone listening or watching. You have to try these recipes and the thing that's the best about them is that they're all like pretty short, like some of the sauces were a little bit longer, but still like. They're worth it because you can make the sauce and then you can put it in the fridge. But they're like the recipes are super quick, they're just a bit flavorful, and I think that's the part that we get stuck on is oh, I don't want something boring and I don't want to just eat something that tastes like rabbit food, and especially with family, I think that that's one of the things people worry about is oh, my husband and my kids are never going to eat it, but I think your recipes are spot on.
Speaker 1:Well, thank you. I did borrow the pistachio recipe from our local newspaper and I in the beginning only used it on stir fries. I'm like, why don't I put this on my coleslaw or on a green salad? I mean, it's really good. It would be good on pasta, I mean it's fish tacos.
Speaker 2:I did the fish tacos because I'm obsessed with fish tacos. So amazing.
Speaker 1:Thank you for trying them.
Speaker 2:Yes, no, no, no, no. Thank you, cause it was definitely delicious. I want to ask you, um, also, I was talking to you about, oh, no, let's go, let's talk about food a little bit more. So, um, your recipes are there, but what else would you recommend? So we're talking about, you know, all the unhealthy stuff, but what should women do when it comes to eating well?
Speaker 1:Women need to eat more protein. We are carb lovers by nature. I mean, give us a good sourdough bread bowl and butter. But because we are losing muscle as we age, we need to eat more protein to fuel our muscles and that does not come naturally for women. So I would say every time you eat, you want to get at least 25 grams. And if you don't know, that's an American, I don't know what yeah, yeah, get a food scale and measure it out. So that's going to really eliminate having cereal for breakfast, having just a sandwich for lunch. You got to have probably four to six ounces of meat on your sandwich, not just pasta. You got to have the meatballs with your pasta. So it really makes women think like, oh, instead of a carb-based meal, it's going to be what's my protein and then what's going to be on the side, and more vegetables.
Speaker 1:We all need more fiber. We all need more fiber in our lives. It acts as little scrub brushes in your vessels. It keeps you full and I say I have a. I try to show pictures of my BAS big-ass salad every day because it's just we all need to eat more things grown from the ground and you feel full, you feel happy. You feel good afterwards With my yummy dressings oh my gosh, it makes it so easy.
Speaker 2:Yeah, definitely, and so you told me beforehand that you don't eat any. You don't have lactose, so no, you're no milk, or? But do you have meat? Do you eat meats?
Speaker 1:or yes, so yes yeah, it's just, I have low thyroid and I know with thyroid, you should stay away from gluten and dairy. I do love a little bit of half and half of my coffee, but besides that we have non-dairy cheese, we have goat cheese and sheep cheese and, yep, all sorts of meat. I don't like fish, which is embarrassing as a health professional, but I can't, I can't do it really Not even salmon, because some people like salmon no.
Speaker 1:Shrimp and lobster tail yes, but I've tried. I've tried for years because my kids and my husband love it and I'll take a bite and I'm like I can't. My whole life I can never like this. I knew in California.
Speaker 2:So if you don't like it in California, then yeah, because I'm sure that you have amazing fish over there.
Speaker 1:California, then yeah, because I'm sure that you have amazing fish over there and well, I know I've been to California so we've gone to Hawaii. We I mean we travel, we all you know and I was a picky as a kid but I have tried salmon probably 20 times and I just have the stink face every time I try it.
Speaker 2:So I got to give up on that no, but it's probably something like with people with cilantro that they actually have that taste, that it tastes disgusting to them, so it tastes like soap to them, which is so interesting Right. It's weird and I love it. Like I can put it on everything.
Speaker 1:So you want to put that in dill? I could put on everything. Oh my God, I get a big bunch every time I go to the store.
Speaker 2:Okay, so when we meet, I'm going to make you some Polish food, because Polish people like dill is like the number one thing, and my partner doesn't like dill.
Speaker 1:Yes, please.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it's quite hilarious. He's like are you putting dill on that? So I had to like calm down with the dill, because I'm like I could literally put dill on everything Me too. So there's a Vietnamese meal. This is actually great.
Speaker 2:Anyone listening if you like Vietnamese food I can't remember the name of it, but there's oh no, it's fish. Forget it, sorry. There's like this famous Vietnamese dish that I found when I was in Vietnam once and it's actually based on dill, but they put like a kilo of dill on top of it and there's white fish with it and it's like with a chili. But you don't think of Vietnamese food to have dill like it's not a. I've been like in Asian countries you don't think of dill. So it was like this really unusual combination in Vietnam.
Speaker 2:But, um, yeah, dill is one of my favorite things and herbs are dill's one of my favorite things and herbs are actually really good, so I don't know how much you um, look at vegetables. Um, there's a guy in the US that I was watching. I've followed him for a while. He's got an app called Zoe. I don't know if you've heard of that one. No, he's got this app and it's about taking. You're measuring your sugar levels, so they measure your sugar. And he's like on all these, like I've seen him on lots of different podcasts and he talks about all. Like you should eat 30 different vegetables a week, so there's this concept.
Speaker 2:Yeah, um, and you might actually know who he's some doctor, I can't remember his name. But what they say is that herbs come under that as well, and four herb servings comes up to one vegetable. So if you have four different herb servings, that's the equivalent of one vegetable. Because some people are saying to me how can you eat 30 different vegetables a week? But it's actually, you know, if you put some like pepper comes under it as well, so that's a quarter of a serving if you got like yeah, and they all come under it.
Speaker 2:So if you think of it like that, it's actually not that hard to eat a lot of different varieties yeah, it seems uh daunting, daunting to do that right or daunting to get that many in.
Speaker 1:But if you think if that makes people eat two more a week, that's great, or five more a week, that's great, and think let's get past the potatoes as a vegetable, let's get some color into your vegetables, that would be amazing.
Speaker 2:And that's even if you love potatoes which, being Polish, I love potatoes. Even if you love potatoes, just mixing up your different potatoes already adds. Like you've got a standard white potato, but you can have a red skin potato, you can have a purple skin and those alone like just mixing up your potatoes. And sweet potato white, sweet potato, purple sweet potato just mixing up the different potatoes alone has already changed that variety and that's something that I think of. Like you know, I love potatoes, so I'm I try not to eat too many, but I try to also mix up my potatoes as well. For that reason, amazing love it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I want to ask you a question. I've kept you for so long. I want to ask you a question that I ask all my guests, so I want to know what are three tips that you give everyone that's listening or watching about life? What do you recommend that they should do with themselves?
Speaker 1:I think they should give themselves more grace every single day. Many women over the years the first thing they say to me is I hate whatever body part or they you know, they diss themselves. Women need to love themselves every single day. They have to be thankful for their health and themselves, because these old girls have gone through a lot. They've birthed kids, they've lost people, right I mean. So showing yourself grace and love every day, I think, has to be high on everybody's list before you get out of bed and last thing at night. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you for everything that you have, and anytime a negative thought comes in, literally picture yourself kicking it out.
Speaker 1:Positivity only in your head is ginormous. Add more daily movement to your life. Our society now is it's so easy to sit and sit and sit. You can get everything by just using your phone. Go out for walks in nature.
Speaker 1:Breathing fresh air is so important for your mental health, where it seems like there's so many people struggling with mental health these days. Exercise is a great antidepressant and it doesn't have to be strenuous. Getting out for a walk a few times a day. Get a dog. If you don't have a dog, grab a friend, but making sure you move your body. Our bodies are meant to move, they are not meant to sit. And lastly, it seems so silly sleep more, please set. I've had to tell clients to set an alarm to go to bed because with netflix and hulu and amazon, I mean, there's so many great shows out there. But really sleep is the number one thing we can do for our health. The next day is determined by how you sleep and if you want to, you know track your sleep. There's a gazillion different track out there. Know what works for you and try to get that most nights of the week. It's not going to happen all the time, but it really does make such a big difference for your health.
Speaker 2:It's actually funny because five, 10 years ago, 10 years ago, no one was talking about sleep. No one was talking about needing sleep, and now it's like I think it's one of the most important things that people talk about and because it's actually, if anyone's listening and they don't, they still don't think it's that important. It actually renews your cells. So if you're sitting there as a woman going, oh, I've got extra wrinkles and why do I have all these extra wrinkles, just getting more sleep can help with that.
Speaker 1:So I think it used to be a badge of honor, like I only got four or five hours of sleep, like when you were younger. And as you get older, you're like no, no, no, you need to get more sleep. It's not a bad thing to get more sleep, it's a good thing. And if you are working from home at midday, you need a 15 minute nap. Oh my gosh, that'd be great. Take it means you're taking care of yourself.
Speaker 2:Actually it's funny. When I was pregnant, when I had my daughter, even then, so it's really I've only been hearing about sleep really really recently, because even then I was sort of like, oh, everyone tells me to sleep when she's sleeping, or like, just get some sleep. And even then, like three, three and a half years ago, I was feeling guilty, whereas now it's like when the other day I was like to my daughter I need to fall asleep she's three and a half I said I need to have a 10-minute sleep, and anyway, later on, like two days later, I was looking at my phone and I realized that she'd actually videotaped me. She worked out how to turn on my video camera and I was sleeping and she's like recording me going mommy, mommy, are you asleep?
Speaker 1:And I'm like completely out of it. So now I'm like, yeah, I get to sleep during the day if I need to.
Speaker 2:Smart, amazing, I mean to learn that at such I mean you're young, so at such a young age is great, and I have proof, because now my daughter's gonna be off. But yeah, so sleep, I I love that. Yeah, sleep is something that we all need more of. Pam, you have been fantastic and'm going to leave in the show notes your website. If anyone's listening and they haven't seen you, they have to go and check you out, and you've got lots of great videos on your Instagram. You have videos on your YouTube as well. I'm going to put some links as well, if you can send me through the exact links of what you spoke about different playlists for stretching and we'll put that in the show notes as well, so people can watch those videos, and your recipes are to die for, so everyone needs to try those as well. But, pam, you've been fantastic and I'd love to have you back again at some stage, because you're definitely someone who is walking the talk. So you know, it's great to see.
Speaker 1:It's been so much fun to talk to you today. Thank you so much.
Speaker 2:Thanks, pam, and thanks everyone for watching, until next week. Bye.