Scales Of Success Podcast

#50 - The Path to True Health Freedom with Dr. Maureen Gibbons

• Marcus Arredondo

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Turning food, strength, and time into freedom. In today's episode, host Marcus Arredondo sits down with Dr. Moe to uncover fresh perspectives on healthspan, nutrition, and the hidden forces that shape energy, mindset, and longevity. From food noise to fitness, Dr. Moe reveals why the path to freedom begins with the choices we make every day. Press play and see how health can transform into real freedom.

Dr. Maureen “Dr. Moe” Gibbons is a board-certified physician, Ironman athlete, and founder of AMS Lifestyle Medicine. After decades of personal health battles and a high-pressure medical career, she discovered the key wasn’t working harder, it was shifting smarter. Today, she helps high achievers create health freedom through practical, sustainable strategies that last. She’s also the author of the upcoming book Freedom to Shift, a roadmap to health, time, and energy freedom.

Learn more about Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons:
Website: amslifestylemedicine.com
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/doctormoe
Podcast: drmoepodcast.com
YouTube: watchdoctormoe.com

Episode highlights:
(2:13) Deciding to take on Ironman
(7:25) Medicine, parenting, and shifting priorities
(11:32) Food as comfort and challenge
(15:04) How GLP-1 medications work
(24:26) Monthly at-home lab testing
(34:07) Building sustainable eating habits
(40:09) Finding joy in everyday life
(51:18) Fitness priorities at 25, 50, and 80
(56:48) Facing menopause with strength and clarity
(59:22) Writing Freedom to Shift
(1:02:31) Outro

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Note: The transcript was generated by AI and may contain errors.

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(0:00) I don't want to live a life run by food. (0:02) I did that for the first half. (0:05) I'm tired of it.(0:06) It was so much of an emotional struggle, and that's what when I tell my patients or the public, my followers, nobody finds me by accident. (0:14) I get it. (0:16) I have people come to me that say, well, I only need to lose 20 pounds.(0:20) I'm like, nah, you didn't. (0:22) You heard something that I said. (0:23) It's not the 20 pounds, not about the weight.(0:26) What's it about? (0:27) Let's talk.

Marcus Arredondo

(0:28) Today's guest is Dr. Maureen Moe Gibbons, a physician who knows what overload feels like. (0:33) For years, she worked full-time nights in the ER, raised a family, and even trained for Ironman's, only to realize that endurance alone wasn't health. (0:40) I was struck by how candidly she shared her own cycles of burnout and the turning point that pushed her to create her own personalized healthcare and wellness company, AMS Lifestyle Medicine.(0:49) In our conversation, Dr. Moe explains why the real problem is in effort but overload, why she doesn't believe in cheat days, and how tools like habit stacking, nutrition, and even peptides fit into a bigger picture of freedom. (1:00) Let's start the show. (1:02) Hi, Dr. Moe. (1:02) Welcome.

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(1:03) Thanks for having me. (1:04) I'm excited.

Marcus Arredondo

(1:05) I'm excited, too. (1:07) You have a lot of interesting aspects to your background that I want to dive into, but I want to start out with Ironman's, which I mean, I struggle even. (1:19) I've done a sprint triathlon.(1:21) We did even a mini sprint one recently, which is nothing compared to what you're doing. (1:27) I've known a few Ironmen, Ironwomen who've participated, but one of the main observations I always had was that that is not a wants and done. (1:38) That's not a I'm going to tackle it and put a notch in the belt.(1:41) That's a lifestyle. (1:43) That's a commitment of it becomes part of your DNA, it seems like. (1:48) For the benefit of the audience, I think everybody knows that it's three different activities, but I think it's important to note that it is a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike ride, and a full marathon of 26.2 miles, right?

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(2:05) Yes. (2:06) Thank the queen for that.

Marcus Arredondo

(2:10) I'm just wondering, let's start there. (2:12) How'd you get into this? (2:12) Do you agree with me that it's a lifestyle thing?

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(2:16) I think whether you want it to be a lifestyle or not, it does seep its way into your DNA. (2:22) It really does. (2:24) I got into it, I was swimmer by trade.(2:27) I swam from a young age, not as young as around here, living in the woodlands, not quite that young, but I was a competitive swimmer for a while, swam division one for part of my college career. (2:39) I could do that part, but I didn't bike and I wasn't a good runner. (2:44) I certainly was not a good runner innately.(2:47) A couple days before we got married, I remember saying, I remember exactly where I was sitting. (2:51) I told my husband and my mom that I wanted to do an Ironman. (2:58) They looked at me a little crazy.(3:00) This was in 1999. (3:02) I did not do my first Ironman for 10 years after that, but that bounced around in my head for a long time.

Marcus Arredondo

(3:09) Tell me why.

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(3:11) It's long. (3:12) It's scary. (3:15) We got married and decided to go to medical school.(3:20) Doesn't everybody do that on their honeymoon?

Marcus Arredondo

(3:21) Right.

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(3:23) We made that decision and that took us down a road that took a lot of time and effort. (3:32) My husband and I together started doing longer races. (3:36) We started running during medical school to maintain that sort of lifestyle, to make sure that we kept in that.(3:45) I'm not a natural athlete. (3:47) I'm not. (3:48) I have to work for everything I get.(3:51) That's where we are.

Marcus Arredondo

(3:52) What did you find most? (3:54) You obviously had the endurance and the swimming, but I'm curious, what was your progression in the training? (3:59) You can lace up the shoes, but to get up to 26.2 miles is not easy by itself, but to compound it between the swim and the bike, that is such a long bike ride. (4:11) 112 miles is incredible. (4:13) I've been on 30, 40 mile bike rides, 100 plus miles is insane. (4:18) You're doing this for how many hours straight?

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(4:21) If you're me, my first Ironman, I was the last official finisher. (4:25) It was 17 hours straight. (4:27) I had 17 seconds.

Marcus Arredondo

(4:28) You're moving for 17 hours. (4:29) That's incredible. (4:30) Who cares about the time?

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(4:31) Well, it's funny you say that because before you're in that position to be the last official finisher, I always said in races, oh, please don't let me be last. (4:40) That matters. (4:41) Who cares?(4:42) Now I'm at the point where after that, I was like, nope, I just want the medal. (4:48) If I'm the last person, don't care.

Marcus Arredondo

(4:52) Are you training year-round more or less?

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(4:55) I don't do fulls right now. (4:58) My last full attempt was actually right before I started my medical practice. (5:04) I was a DNF.(5:05) I did not finish. (5:07) I wasn't strong enough on the bike.

Marcus Arredondo

(5:09) Well, we all got to start somewhere and it's got to be something that we're working on. (5:14) I wanted to just start there because I feel like it sheds a little bit of the background in terms of why I wanted to have you on, what I find most appealing, not only because you're a mom, but a doctor and also going through that. (5:27) Then having started your own individual private practice, consulting practice, which I think affords you an opportunity to do things differently than our naturally screwed up medical system that we have now.(5:42) I'm fortunate that I really haven't had to encounter it, but the times that I have and it's increasing now that I have a son and my wife giving birth. (5:52) Also, look, I'm 44 now. (5:54) I think I took a lot of my own.(5:56) I was an athlete. (5:58) I mean, I arguably may still be one.

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(6:02) You are one.

Marcus Arredondo

(6:03) There are elements of my own health that have changed and it's caused me to identify priorities in terms of, used to be fast enough or to be strong enough, but right now everything is so really geared toward lifespan and healthspan for me. (6:25) It sort of became something different. (6:27) That's not just unique to me.(6:29) I think it's related to even my own parents and my son's grandparents on both sides. (6:35) I'm an older dad to begin with. (6:37) I just went to a 60th birthday party where his father was there and he was 82.(6:42) It was just awesome to see and it made me realize for me to be at my son's 60th birthday, I'm going to be 101. (6:49) That is a goal. (6:50) I actually think that the technology and what we know now, I don't think that that's incredibly far off, but I'm sort of dabbling, putting a bunch of tapas out there for you to nibble on.(7:04) I'm curious which way you're going to go, but I'm wondering if you might just start with your own experience between, because I know that you had started using, and it wasn't Somalgitude, it was- Turzepatite. (7:18) I want to throw that in there to get your input on it. (7:22) I'll stop talking, but- Keep going.(7:24) There you go. (7:25) What's most interesting to you out of all that?

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(7:27) I can identify. (7:29) I just can identify. (7:31) I think a lot of us can.(7:32) I mean, I'm not doing full Ironmans. (7:35) I'll give you a segue there, but even doing halves, we don't call them halves anymore. (7:39) They're 70.3s. They are races in and of themselves. (7:42) They're half Ironmans.

Marcus Arredondo

(7:43) I think it's a half. (7:43) No question.

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(7:46) But it's still, for me, I'm still looking at my seven, eight hours. (7:51) It's seven, eight hours of constant movement. (7:54) At 51, so I hear you, and our son is 12.(7:59) So it's funny that you say that about the grandparents. (8:01) That's what strikes me the most out of what you said, because that's what gets me, is when my grandmother passed away, I think four years ago now, yep, four years, I looked at my life and I said, is this what I'm doing for the next 20 years of my productive life? (8:20) And I mean productive like your work life.(8:22) And then I started looking at retirement. (8:24) I'm like, I want something where I don't retire. (8:27) I don't want to retire.(8:28) What does that mean? (8:29) And I started reading books on retirement, and these all sound awful, because I don't want to fall off a cliff, because we know what happens in retirement. (8:40) And it's just not me.(8:42) It's just not me. (8:43) And it's nothing against anyone else. (8:46) This is not about anybody else.(8:47) It never should be. (8:48) Your health journey, your life journey is yours. (8:53) And so I actually, my company happened by accident completely, because I started questioning.(9:01) I've always questioned. (9:03) Looking back, this, I should have seen this coming a mile away. (9:06) I just didn't have the, I just didn't have the foresight that, you know, I just, I felt like I kept trying to make changes in the hospital that I loved.(9:16) I was there for 13 years, and I mean, I loved it. (9:19) I kept, you know, trying to, hey, what about this? (9:21) What about this?(9:22) Trying to implement this. (9:23) And it just, that doesn't fit. (9:25) It doesn't fit inside the system.(9:28) And I knew that if I could have more bandwidth, I could be a better doctor. (9:32) I just knew it. (9:34) And what that means is not working.(9:35) I love nights, but it means not working full-time nights. (9:38) And that doesn't mean working full-time days either. (9:40) That's not, it's not a viable alternative.(9:43) It's not working full-time in somebody else's system and getting something either on the side. (9:49) That was my goal, on the side to kind of feed my soul so I could pour into my patients. (9:55) So that's sort of how it happened.

Marcus Arredondo

(9:58) So I'm going to go through some very specific questions because I want to get your input on everything from, you know, how we should be approaching nutrition, specifically supplements, what roles they sort of have, cardiovascular training versus strength training, bring into account sort of age differentials there as well. (10:19) But I'm wondering if you can just start where you were, because I know that you had sort of an affinity for food, which isn't all that dissimilar to I'd say most people. (10:28) Right.(10:29) And I think, you know, what I think was the phrase, it's like, abs aren't built in the gym. (10:35) They're built in the kitchen. (10:38) And that's something, you know, as you're, as you start to age, I think there's a misnomer, you know, that people say that I'm getting older and my metabolism is failing.(10:45) I think it's marginal that our metabolism gets worse. (10:49) I don't think it's as significant. (10:51) I offer that to you to negate, but from what I've been able to deduce, that is like an easy thing for people to blame.(10:58) When in reality, we just, we stopped moving nearly as much as we used to. (11:03) And let's just start with food. (11:06) And I know that's a bigger topic, but how has your relationship to food changed and how do you advise your own clients, patients to evaluate it?(11:16) Because at its core, there's sort of a, there's a natural need for sustenance and desire and the taste, but there's also sort of like an emotional component that is underneath it as well. (11:29) So what feedback do you have? (11:32) How do you advise your own patients?

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(11:35) So the funny part is I could, I'm also a certified sports nutritionist. (11:39) So I had clients, I was a triathlon coach for 10 years. (11:42) So I've had, I was an athletic trainer for 26 years.(11:46) I can coach the hell out of somebody else, but I could not do it. (11:51) I could not. (11:52) I mean, I know what I'm supposed to do.(11:54) I know exactly what I'm supposed to do. (11:55) I know what my macros are supposed to be. (11:56) But like you said, there is an emotional attachment and food was everything for me.(12:03) Food was my problem and my solution. (12:06) I'll sum it up and say that. (12:08) And what I did not know though, until I took terzapatide is I never had an off switch.(12:14) And I say never, and you're like, oh, you can't say never. (12:16) Well, I was put on my first diet at age one because I was gaining weight too fast. (12:22) So I'm going to go with, it might not be learned.(12:26) And, but this has been tough for me because I spent 45 years fighting my own brain and my biology. (12:32) And I thought everybody felt the same way. (12:35) So, and I'm sure there's varying degrees, right?(12:38) This is not a, you're either this way or that way. (12:41) And I, you know, by fostering those neural pathways and feeding the so to speak, I just cemented those. (12:48) I mean, my brain knows exactly how to be happy.(12:51) It usually involves cookie dough. (12:53) So, you know, and this is, but that's a really easy way for me to calm the anxiety, be happy, celebrate all of it, right? (13:01) Like I'm not saying my life produced this penchant for food, right?(13:06) I'm a high achiever by nature. (13:08) One of the doctors I talked to calls it the physician personality. (13:10) It's a high achiever personality.(13:12) That's why my book coming out is not geared just toward physicians. (13:14) It's toward high achievers. (13:16) I mean, this is, this is how we think we don't do these things to impress other people.(13:21) We do them because we want to do them. (13:24) And when you live a life like that, it's easy to want to check out because your brain is always working really hard. (13:31) And I taught my brain at a very young age that a really cool way to check out really easy is food.(13:39) So that relationship, I fought, I fought really hard for a long time, unsuccessfully. (13:48) And I was very grateful that I did do enough activity over the years and would try to diet enough. (13:57) I mean, I spent a long time in diets many, many years.(14:00) I mean, who, who didn't, right? (14:01) I mean, this is, it's real life because we don't want the excess fat. (14:06) We want to feel better.(14:08) But until I actually took terzepatide and it was that day that wasn't because of the weight loss. (14:14) Here's the kicker that people don't understand that day. (14:18) I'm an early responder within eight hours.(14:21) My brain was quiet.

Marcus Arredondo

(14:22) Wow.

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(14:23) And I was like, in every respect, not just with respect to food because I have a hypercritical nature as well. (14:30) I have, Oh, I'm not doing enough. (14:32) I'm not, you know, whatever, whatever.(14:34) It's just, it's a running ticker tape. (14:36) I mean, it's like watching sports center and on the bottom, you got the score all the time and it went away. (14:44) Oh, it was amazing.(14:46) It was amazing. (14:47) Not everyone gets it. (14:48) Not everyone's an early responder, but I had the gift of being an early responder.

Marcus Arredondo

(14:52) So help, help me to just understand what's the difference between what you're taking and like a GLP one, some altitude.

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(15:00) Yeah.

Marcus Arredondo

(15:01) So it's inflating though. (15:02) So please understand that I'm speaking from a layman's perspective.

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(15:06) You know, there, so there, there's a, this class of medications to give you a little background has been around for 20 years. (15:12) Then that receptor has been researched for 50. (15:15) I know this because 51, technically it was the year I was born.(15:18) That's the only reason I remember. (15:19) And so, but these drugs have been used in diabetes for many years now, Lira glutide, which was a daily injection. (15:28) They found help the diabetic patients lose weight.(15:31) So that was the first one that was succenda that came out. (15:33) That was the brand name. (15:34) Those first weight management brand.(15:36) And I call it weight management because it's not about the loss guys. (15:40) This is about building a life, building a different life, building a different metabolic life. (15:44) Like you said about aging.(15:45) And I don't like to use aging as an excuse. (15:48) I call it cumulative abuse, right? (15:50) And we keep stacking those things.(15:52) Where does it go? (15:54) So we can, we can reverse that. (15:55) Well, it wasn't super successful.(15:57) Then semi-glutide came out or semi-glutide, depending on which camp you're in. (16:02) And they saw, Holy crap. (16:05) There's a lot of weight loss with these, with this medication.(16:07) Let's brand that one. (16:09) And that got branded as Wegovy for weight loss. (16:12) And it is branded for weight loss.(16:15) Zep Bound is also branded for weight management. (16:18) Now, just because the FDA says something is used for this, that's called on like on label. (16:26) It's many drugs are used off label.(16:28) Okay.

Marcus Arredondo

(16:29) Yep.

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(16:29) Lots of people should take Viagra. (16:31) Don't have pulmonary hypertension.

Marcus Arredondo

(16:33) Right.

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(16:34) So, but the one I'm on does with my patients, we've treated over 5,000 patients, well over 5,000 patients now have come through my practice. (16:43) And most of them, if they do leave, it's because of cost. (16:48) That's an unfortunate reality.(16:51) But as I showed myself last night, you just got to trade a couple of target meanders and you can pay for it.

Marcus Arredondo

(16:56) Right. (16:57) Well, like anything in life, it's, it's, you know, I think people say like, what do you want most? (17:02) What do you desire most?(17:04) That's what you should pursue. (17:05) But I think the better sort of viewpoint is to identify what you're willing to give up. (17:10) A thousand percent to get what you need.(17:13) And that to me is about making, I don't even want to say sacrifices because it's just about removing some part of yourself that may not necessarily need to be there.

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(17:23) Absolutely. (17:24) We have a lot of time available and I say time because time is the only thing we can't make more of right. (17:29) Time and health.

Marcus Arredondo

(17:31) And I would argue energy is on that list too.

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(17:33) Yes. (17:33) Yes. (17:34) There's a lot in my new book that's coming out in November about energy because it's not about time management.(17:40) It's about bandwidth and energy management. (17:43) Absolutely. (17:44) It's, it's, what can you give?(17:45) I mean, you know, with a child it's, it's, it's, you can spend time with your child and be distracted because you're not there. (17:53) Your energy is not there. (17:55) It's where are you putting your energy?(17:56) Where are you putting your focus? (17:58) And you know, when you said, I might still be an athlete. (18:00) No, you are.(18:01) It's, it's sorry. (18:02) You're stuck with it. (18:03) And because once you have that, it's that it's that high achiever mentality.(18:08) And I don't compete against anyone else. (18:10) I compete against the finish line and that medal. (18:13) That's what I want.(18:13) Thank you.

Marcus Arredondo

(18:14) Yeah, I get it. (18:16) Well, and I think in all of these achiever situations, you were in a lot of ways, I think I've started to look at it as a practice. (18:24) I've tried to look at everything as a practice, both from the lens of practicing so that I can get better.(18:31) But I'm also referring to it as a practice, as a daily discipline, as something that I'm not, I do seek outcomes, but the outcomes are a result of the practice. (18:44) And so to the extent that I can focus on the practice, which is bringing me to sort of the nutrition category that I want to explore with you. (18:53) But before we move on, is there something that, um, and I apologize for some reason, it cannot stick in my head, but what you were taking was again, uh, brand name is that bound?

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(19:05) It's terzepatide.

Marcus Arredondo

(19:06) Terzepatide. (19:07) Does that target something? (19:09) Cause one will target glucose consumption more than the other, or am I mistaken in that?(19:16) Do they target different things is the, is really the question I'm asking.

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(19:19) So, yes, the, so a semaglutide has a GLP-1 receptor agonist. (19:24) So it hits this receptor where normally you're the, the GLP-1 that your body produces lasts a minute, minute and a half at most.

Marcus Arredondo

(19:31) Yeah.

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(19:32) These are, these medications, we call it the GLP-1 class because we'd keep adding these receptors on and keep adding, man, keep going because this, this drug class is going to be revolutionary for longevity, lifespan, and health span. (19:44) They already are. (19:46) And so what that GI, it has a GIP receptor analog.(19:51) So it hits a second one and, but there are GLP-1 receptors throughout your whole body. (19:57) It hits your pancreas. (19:58) It hits your brain.(19:59) It hits your intestines. (20:00) It just there's there. (20:02) If you actually do an internet search for GLP-1 receptors and where they are, there's cute little diagrams that come up that will show you all the different places.(20:10) I mean, even Stanford now is using AI. (20:13) They're developing a medication that will just target the brain parts, not the gut parts. (20:20) So now for me personally, and a lot of my patients, people are afraid of the gut side effects, but the gut effects are actually helpful in a lot of patients with like autoimmune colitis, nonspecific IBS.(20:32) It helps them. (20:33) I have clients who are very active who can go on a long run without taking toilet paper. (20:39) This is a big deal for them.(20:42) I mean, it sounds silly, but this is life changing. (20:45) Not about the weight loss. (20:46) It's almost not about the weight loss now.(20:49) And the people that keep arguing that I'm like, keep reading, keep reading. (20:53) Cause it's about more than that. (20:55) It's about life gain.(20:56) It's not about the weight you lose.

Marcus Arredondo

(20:58) I'm glad that you bring that up because I do think to a certain degree, I mean, look, I think it boils down to we are a sugar consuming culture and sugar ends up getting morphed into fat and visceral fat and subcutaneous fat added up has compounding negative benefits, negative consequences that make matters worse. (21:25) And so to the extent that you can curb at its source, that specific consumption, my thought process would be, you can start to gain compounding benefits as it relates to exercise. (21:40) Let's say you start to reduce your overall weight.(21:44) You can work out more effectively. (21:46) You start to see more results. (21:48) You start to have more energy.(21:49) You start to become more active. (21:51) As a result, you start to become more interested potentially. (21:55) And I'm, this is a theory of mine, but interested in what you consume, how it affects your body, just measuring this stuff.(22:02) Right. (22:02) I mean, I, I know others, but myself, like I never really worried about stepping on a scale wrongfully. (22:09) So, but once I started stepping on a scale and particularly like the, the more state of the art ones, which aren't terribly expensive, but you can get that sort of give you a lot of feedback about your bone density.(22:22) BMI to me is sorts of such a useless, it's not accurate and it can be misleading, but irrespective of that, your subcutaneous fat, your visceral fat, understanding that, and then starting to couple actual measuring what I was eating. (22:38) Now, I'm not suggesting, I never wanted to have a lifestyle where I was constantly measuring everything, but just the simple acts of understanding that for example, and I want your input on this, but you know, from a lot of the thought leaders within the nutrition and health span, Peter Atiyah's, Andrew Huberman's, those types of people that I tend to actually support. (23:02) I find a lot of value with them.(23:04) Their logic seems sound. (23:06) They do share a lot of their own resources so that you can actually site check it. (23:11) I'm not saying I'm doing all of that, but my, a lot of the trust from those people has come and I, I'm assuming I should be having about a gram of protein per pound of body weight that I want to be at least, if not the one that I'm at now.(23:26) And so to think of that as a 215 pound male. (23:32) That takes work. (23:33) I would have to have seven breasts of chicken, you know, and, and to sort of look at what that means, you start to see the world a lot differently.(23:43) And I'm asking this because I've had multiple conversations with family members and friends who are having their own journeys. (23:50) And I'm by no means an expert or I'm still very much experimenting. (23:54) But over the last couple of years, I started to get my blood tests every quarter, but very specific blood tests, not just sort of generalized panels.(24:03) And so I've been able to actually witness the changes of all of these. (24:09) It's a little bit like whack-a-mole. (24:10) So you might solve one category, but another category is still sort of acting up and maybe you solve that, but maybe something else rears up.(24:17) And it's, it's sort of this constant motion. (24:19) But my point in all of this is that I've become a lot more engaged in understanding all of these input outputs.

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(24:29) And that's the word, that's the word that I was going to use, because when you say practice, that's the inputs, right? (24:34) That's what you can do. (24:35) And it's not just nutritional food in your mouth, right?(24:37) It's thoughts that you think, it's activities that you do. (24:40) It's the things that make up your days. (24:43) And then the output is the lab results, the weight.(24:47) I actually measure my labs once a month. (24:49) We do them through my company at home because who's going to the lab once a month? (24:53) I mean, who's got time for that?(24:54) So we actually developed in our company, we work with a company that they send out a home lab kit. (24:59) You put it on your arm, poke it, send it.

Marcus Arredondo

(25:02) That's incredible. (25:03) So I just want you to pause on that, explain that a little bit more, because when I saw that, that's mind blowing. (25:09) I've had the luxury of having a phlebotomist come to the house, but the idea that you can do it entirely by yourself is such a game changer to me.

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(25:17) Yeah. (25:17) You wake up in the morning, you get a little hydration in, even though it's really the night before that you need to hydrate. (25:23) I'll be honest that we, the instructions say hydrate that day.(25:26) I'm like, hydrate the night before. (25:28) Anyhow.

Marcus Arredondo

(25:29) Yeah.

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(25:30) Otherwise you're gonna be waiting a long time, but it's a little, it's a little Tasso unit and it comes in, you poke it on your arm. (25:35) It has a little micro tube of blood. (25:37) That's why for our comprehensive panels, you gotta do it twice.(25:39) You gotta, you gotta do two tubes. (25:41) We just need more. (25:42) It just is what it is.(25:42) Right. (25:43) And there are some things we cannot change and you send it off, send it by FedEx. (25:48) It's a little micro tube.(25:50) We tell you which days to send it so it doesn't sit on the FedEx truck. (25:52) I'm in the South, so you know, you know what's going to happen over the summer and you send it within five business days, depending on how busy the lab is. (26:03) Sometimes it takes a couple extra days, but you have your results and we send you your results.(26:08) Even if you're not a patient, here's the cool part of what we did. (26:10) You don't have to be a patient to order labs from us. (26:13) You can order them and just take them to your doctor.(26:15) Now we'll still pop in and say, dude, this is really abnormal. (26:18) You got to get the help, right? (26:19) Like we're conscientious, but we wanted to be available for everyone because it's, it's hard.(26:26) And if your insurance doesn't cover, this is cheaper, which is crazy. (26:30) Like again, like you said about the healthcare system, I'm like, we can do this cheap because we don't market up a whole heck of a lot, just enough to cover our basics, you know? (26:39) And I thought we can do this and you don't have to sit in the lab core waiting room.

Marcus Arredondo

(26:45) So. (26:45) Well, don't let me derail you. (26:46) I appreciate you sharing that.(26:48) So you were saying that you're, you're, you're, you're taking your own lab tests once a month.

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(26:52) Yes. (26:52) And like, so our, like our metabolic panel, it's called lifestyle monthly. (26:57) That is, that measures what is most affected by nutrition and stress and sleep.

Marcus Arredondo

(27:03) So what are those markers that you're taking?

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(27:05) So now these are basics, right? (27:09) We're not, we can't dive into like the APOB. (27:11) We can't dive into those.(27:13) Those are like a once a year, you got to get those done. (27:16) But these are really marking like vitamin D because again, that's, it affects everything from your sex hormones to everything. (27:26) Just it's vitamin D.(27:27) It's your cholesterol. (27:28) Mostly we do CRP. (27:30) We can't do a high sensitivity CRP because of blood volume, but it still correlates.(27:35) There's new research coming out that at least correlates, like you're not going to do your cardiac disease based on a CRP. (27:40) But what you were saying about sugar is it is incredibly inflammatory in high doses. (27:46) The dose is the poison, right?(27:49) So when we overeat sugar and our brains want salt, sugar, and fat together, that is the trifecta of the Holy grail. (27:58) That's what your brain is fighting for. (28:00) I mean, think about it.(28:00) Nobody's really grabbing the sugar out of the bag. (28:04) We're grabbing the peanut butter pretzels with salt on the outside. (28:09) I mean, you know, nobody's binging a stick of butter, I hope.(28:15) I mean, we're going to combine it with flour and sugar and make some cookie dough. (28:18) That's a different story. (28:20) Right.(28:21) So, but when, I mean, I, from my own story, I had a month, a few months ago where I kind of went off the rails. (28:30) It, I don't know. (28:31) It just, I don't, whatever.(28:32) You can overeat terzapatide. (28:35) Just, I mean, my patients show me, I show me. (28:37) If you have a high sugar diet, it will actually negate the mental effects of the drug.(28:42) Your food noise gets loud. (28:43) Next thing you know, you're back in that spiral, the other spiral, the one we don't want as much. (28:49) And I watched my CRP, my inflammatory markers almost double in one month.(28:55) My LDL went up by 50 points in one month. (28:59) I was like, crap. (29:02) So, and I have a history of cardiovascular disease.(29:05) So that matters.

Marcus Arredondo

(29:06) You can't manage what you can't, what you don't measure.

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(29:08) So, yes, yes. (29:10) My, my husband has a saying that, that which can be measured can be changed.

Marcus Arredondo

(29:13) Yeah. (29:14) Yeah. (29:15) So something that you're bringing up that I, that I was having a discussion with a family member recently about was, and I have a, maybe a mental block or a resistance to the idea of a diet.(29:27) Yeah. (29:28) I'd rather just incorporate it as a, as a lifestyle component, as a, as a way to be like, I'd rather not say, I'd rather not have cookies at all. (29:40) Don't get them from the grocery store.(29:42) Then say, I'm only going to have one or two on this particular day.

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(29:47) I will go on a soapbox and a rant.

Marcus Arredondo

(29:51) You do do cheat days.

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(29:52) No, I don't.

Marcus Arredondo

(29:54) Okay. (29:54) Interesting.

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(29:55) No, because, so if you're calling it a cheat day, first of all, I'm like, you opened up the can, let's go. (30:05) So, so because that's the thing, you're not cheating on anything. (30:09) This isn't a moral argument.(30:11) It's food intake. (30:13) Like, yeah. (30:14) Now, if you're allergic to strawberries, don't eat them.(30:18) It will kill you. (30:19) Okay. (30:20) If you have an addiction problem and you cannot drink alcohol, it's an allergy.(30:26) It's an allergy, the mind and body don't do it.

Marcus Arredondo

(30:29) Yep.

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(30:29) If you have to cut out all sugar to maintain what you need, whatever that is emotionally, that to me, that's addiction. (30:36) That's an allergy. (30:37) That's people will argue the food addiction point left, but I've listened.(30:41) I've lived it and I'm there by the way, I don't cut out sugar, but having an identity where we don't keep sweets in the house because it just doesn't serve us. (30:52) Doesn't that feel better? (30:54) Like, you're not going to go out and say, I'm going to go out on a bender this weekend because it's the weekend.(31:01) No, you live a lifestyle of, I want to be at my kid's birthday. (31:05) It's a different lifestyle.

Marcus Arredondo

(31:07) Well, feeling better is an interesting idea. (31:09) I mean, I've sort of referenced this on the podcast before, but I think the best things in life actually are not, they don't have these resounding effects where you're miraculously in this better mood, things are greater, but you are substantially worse off when you re-engage with it. (31:25) So something like, you know, eating healthy for a week, I'm not sure I necessarily wake up from, if I started eating healthy on a Monday, I don't think I'm waking up Tuesday feeling terrific.(31:37) But if I've eaten healthy for eight days in a row, that ninth day that I eat like crap, I'm going to feel like shit the next morning. (31:45) Totally. (31:45) So it's sort of like your, I guess your baseline starts to feel at a different level.(31:51) And this is sort of where I'm going with it, which is, you know, I was explaining to this family member who's older and was battling his own cholesterol. (32:04) And some of that might be genetic. (32:05) I'd like for you to weigh in on that, but that's sort of a separate subject.(32:09) But there were components to, you know, for example, I was suggesting, you know, focusing more on a high protein diet, having some fats, but a lot of greens and a lot of vegetables, really low sugar, really low sort of white bread, carbohydrate type of consumption. (32:31) And I think you'll see, because when you eat that much protein, you actually, it does, there's satiety that ends up happening. (32:38) It's hard to eat that amount.(32:39) And if you're just shoving protein down your body, you're not really aggregating additional, you know, carbohydrate that turns into fat. (32:48) All this to say there was a little bit of a response of, you know, that's, that's not sustainable. (32:53) I can do it for six weeks.(32:55) I can do it for four weeks or whatever, but at some point it's just, it's just too hard to do. (33:00) And I realized that to me is the rub for a lot of people. (33:03) How do they, how do you advise from, you know, from your position, your own clientele to incorporate something that still provides joy, that still provides maybe some of that release that you can still indulge in something that is not quite the same.(33:22) And I'll just give one final example, which I started to experiment a little bit with, but, which is like using some form of yogurt and some cocoa powder and some peanut butter powder to create like a modified ice cream, which is by no means ice cream. (33:36) But if you start to eat some of that over and over at the same time, you might otherwise eat ice cream. (33:42) Your brain starts to condition itself and you're consuming like a different type of protein.(33:47) That's maybe not quite as indulgent. (33:49) That gives you a little bit of that scratching of the itch, so to speak. (33:52) So I'll stop talking, but I'm just curious, how would you address integrating something into your lifestyle without it being so daunting, without it being fleeting, just having it sustainable and meaningfully contribute to how you're appreciating your own consumption?

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(34:10) So it's kind of twofold because the way I used to say it in the ER, when I was on the ground, in-person care, I had very little time to counsel these people on nutrition, right? (34:21) And so I would tell people I'd eat closer to the sun. (34:24) The last time your food saw the sun, the better, like the shorter time period, right?(34:30) That potato chip hasn't seen the sun for years. (34:32) So just start there. (34:36) And that's super big rocks.(34:37) We talk about the big rocks in my practice. (34:39) When you're putting something in a jar, you got to put the big things in first, the important things in first, and then you fit the sand and the pebbles and the water and all the things. (34:48) But in this case, I think it's really important.(34:51) So that person would be like, well, I can't hold that up forever. (34:53) First of all, people expect perfection and we do it. (34:57) We do it in business.(34:58) We do it in life. (35:00) We do it in everything. (35:02) It's like I ate a salad and I didn't wake up skinny.(35:04) I'm kind of pissed. (35:05) And my brain does that. (35:08) It absolutely does that.(35:09) I think we do. (35:11) But like you said, it's an investment. (35:15) You don't grow your retirement fund.(35:17) I still don't know what to call it because I'm not going to retire, but you don't grow your savings. (35:23) It's not overnight. (35:24) You put a little in and I think of it like when I had to have a crap workout, for example, which is kind of a lot, to be honest, it's still an investment.(35:33) It's still a couple miles in the bank. (35:36) It's still a couple yards in the bank. (35:38) Today, I swam a whole 500 yards.(35:40) It doesn't matter. (35:41) It's still 500 yards in the bank. (35:43) Oh, I didn't swim the 1800 that was on my workout.(35:47) I'm not there yet. (35:48) I'm just not there yet. (35:49) I'm coming back to the pool after a long time.(35:53) And so with food, we tell people, get in 50 grams before noon. (35:59) The bare minimum anyone hearing this podcast should be taking in is 100 grams a day.

Marcus Arredondo

(36:05) Protein.

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(36:06) That is daunting of protein. (36:09) That is daunting as hell for a lot of people. (36:12) The standard American diet, I call it the great American diet because it cracks me up when I say it.(36:18) It is about 30 or 40 grams. (36:20) Oh, but the RDA says, yes, the recommended daily allowance, for example, for vitamin C is so you don't get scurvy. (36:29) We're talking pirate diseases, people.(36:31) You want to be healthy. (36:32) You don't want to die at 35.

Marcus Arredondo

(36:36) Yeah.

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(36:36) So I mean, from there, I say get it in. (36:40) So I gave an instruction without an instruction. (36:43) So get in 50 grams by noon.(36:45) How do you do that? (36:47) Well, I put 20 grams in my first cup of coffee. (36:49) As my dad says, you're ruining your first cup of coffee.(36:52) He's like, he has to put it in his third because he's not willing to ruin the first. (36:55) Don't care how. (36:56) Just get it in.(36:57) My second thing, which I've started to incorporate earlier because I was waiting too long to eat is I have a protein shake with espresso in it. (37:06) So I have a latte at nine o'clock. (37:09) So by then, and then I have a second protein heavy meal.(37:13) By noon, I've gotten in usually 50 to 60 grams of protein.

Marcus Arredondo

(37:17) Yeah, I have found it's very challenging to get the protein I need without some supplemental protein element, like specific whey protein.

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(37:30) And people will fight you on that. (37:31) People will tell you it's not healthy. (37:33) Get it from real food.(37:35) Well, how about I get it at all? (37:37) And then we'll work on quality later.

Marcus Arredondo

(37:39) And that's sort of where I'm going with it. (37:42) I mean, that's what I was a little bit alluding to by some of these peptides that are allowing us to lose weight. (37:48) It's a little bit about generating momentum, trying to, I mean, I've started to look at between the supplements I'm taking, I've started to take psyllium husk as well, which has had some pretty strong benefits to me.(37:59) Even the role that meditation has had in at least my awareness as I'm consuming, reducing alcohol intake, just at the very least being aware of it. (38:11) I went an entire year where I was writing down every single thing that I did drink so I could actually look at it and sort of witness it. (38:19) But all that to say, if someone were to look at all the things that I'm doing, which can seem overwhelming, that didn't happen overnight.(38:27) It was little by little. (38:29) I started these things in and to that same note, I could barely get to 90 grams of protein when I was really trying to focus on it. (38:39) And to the idea of having twice that was unfathomable to me.(38:42) And it was starting to figure out like, okay, can I just get to the 120? (38:47) How do I get to the 120? (38:48) And then sort of getting that 120 in, I mean, honestly, Greek yogurt has become sort of a mainstay for me just because it's got such a high protein quotient, low caloric intake quotient.(39:01) I mean, it's a battle between calorie consumption and protein consumption.

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(39:06) Oh yeah, you want a better bang for your buck. (39:08) And then somebody's going to tell you that dairy is inflammatory. (39:11) And you're like, having 50 extra pounds on my body was really fricking inflammatory.(39:16) So let's do first things first, okay?

Marcus Arredondo

(39:18) Right. (39:19) I hear you. (39:20) And that's sort of the advice that I've taken to heart.(39:26) And the first thing that I would say to anybody sort of looking to improve their own is just sort of try and create a pathway toward momentum. (39:34) And to sort of like stay focused on what is going to be enjoyable in that process. (39:38) Because as I've seen my biomarkers change, and even weight change, and my fat content change, it's not going like this.(39:46) It's a little bit of a downward wave, and you got to ride that. (39:52) Because like you said, there are days... (39:53) I was sick last week, and it's amazing how much it derails my workout routine.(39:59) And then getting back into the workout routine, and all these things make it more challenging. (40:04) So anyway, that was super helpful.

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(40:08) Something you said about joy, because we've had patients actually quit these medications because they said, I don't enjoy my food, and I miss enjoying food. (40:20) Here, I still enjoy the heck out of food. (40:23) I enjoy less of it, which is a bonus.(40:25) And I can actually stop. (40:27) I have an off switch, which is a beautiful thing. (40:30) But for these people, I think that's a really good...(40:35) Well, it's a very visible red flag. (40:37) Because if you say, I'm not enjoying my life because I can't enjoy food, that should be a really big red flag. (40:46) It's almost like, oh, I have to drink to have fun.(40:49) Oh, that's one of the largest red flags. (40:53) Because if you don't have enough things in your life... (40:56) I read a book many, many years ago by Josie Spinardi.(41:00) And I've read so many diet books. (41:02) Like you said, I've been in this world for a long time. (41:05) Because I was always trying to solve my own issues.(41:07) But she had talked about making sure you have things in your life that are joyful. (41:12) Now, food is going to be one of them. (41:15) And like you said, you're going to have Greek yogurt, and you're going to combine it with some protein powder and some cocoa powder.(41:19) And you're going to make some fun stuff. (41:21) And come to find out, if you make it a game even, of, hmm, how can I get an extra 10 grams of protein in here? (41:28) Because it adds up.(41:29) Like you said, you're looking to get 200. (41:31) You're going to have to play a game. (41:33) Why not make it fun?

Marcus Arredondo

(41:35) Yeah, absolutely. (41:37) What do you see as among... (41:39) I mean, I keep going back to like, a Greek sort of Mediterranean diet, being probably the most sustainable.(41:47) Have you found any others? (41:49) I mean, again, I hate using the word diet, but...

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(41:51) No, I know. (41:51) But so diet is really what you put in your piehole, right? (41:54) Your diet is your food intake.(41:56) I know it has crap connotations, and we have diet culture and blah, blah, blah. (42:00) But your diet, when you look from a medical standpoint, is the food that you eat. (42:03) So I have to use the word, because there's really nothing else to use.(42:06) Same reason I use retirement, because I don't know what else to say.

Marcus Arredondo

(42:08) Right. (42:08) Sure.

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(42:09) So, but yeah, the Mediterranean diet really is, and I know it's polarizing. (42:15) This is like politics or religion. (42:16) Someone's going to hear this and be like, well, that's it.(42:19) She doesn't know what she's talking about. (42:21) But a balance, it really is balance. (42:24) It's less refined food.(42:27) I mean, it's kind of a no-brainer, right? (42:29) You want to put more natural stuff in. (42:31) I get it.(42:32) Protein shakes are not natural, and we weren't getting those on the plane. (42:36) And at AIN, not A-N-E. (42:39) We weren't getting them on the plane either.(42:40) They're too much volume. (42:43) But when you look at getting the macronutrients in, because again, when we look at, say, paleo, for example, I don't want their lifespan. (42:52) I don't want their health span.(42:54) They didn't live very long. (42:56) So it's a balance between, which is where I think the Mediterranean diet does come in, right? (43:01) Lots of fruits and vegetables.(43:04) It's more natural food, less manufactured, brain-tripping foods.

Marcus Arredondo

(43:12) Right.

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(43:12) And I say less, not none, because I don't go for none.

Marcus Arredondo

(43:15) Talk to me about autophagy.

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(43:18) I used to be really into it. (43:20) I did. (43:21) And this is where I'm going.(43:23) This is the next phase, because I really do think that... (43:28) So I'll say it in the way of intermittent fasting, for example.

Marcus Arredondo

(43:32) Well, define it for the audience first.

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(43:34) So autophagy is... (43:36) I have a shirt that actually says autophagy sells itself. (43:41) It says C-E-L-L-S.(43:42) I know. (43:43) This is me as a big nerd. (43:45) And it is your cells' autophagy eating themselves.(43:50) It's the crap cells dying off. (43:52) Ideally, the crap cells, right? (43:53) Let's hope.(43:54) So the way that I run my days as a practicality is I work to fast. (44:02) I do not like the word try. (44:03) If I use it, call me out, please.(44:05) Trying is asking for credit for failure. (44:07) Find a different word. (44:09) So I work to...(44:11) Most days, I fast at least 12 hours. (44:14) Why? (44:14) People say, oh, it's because you want autophagy.(44:17) You want your telomeres, which is the little ends of your DNA. (44:19) You want them to be long. (44:20) And I've abused the crap out of my telomeres.(44:22) Let's just call it what it is. (44:24) So now I'm trying to let my body rest, right? (44:28) You've got...(44:29) I want to live more than half of my life not thinking about food. (44:33) It's an emotional attachment to my intermittent fasting. (44:36) Yes, it does increase your autophagy.(44:37) It allows your body to get rid of the cells that are not serving it by resting and digesting and incorporating the things as they should. (44:46) And now on tracepatide, my body works way better. (44:49) It works.(44:51) You'll know once your fat mass reaches a critical state, right? (44:55) And it's a tipping point. (44:57) Once it reaches that, it's driving the bus.(45:00) If my frontal lobe is driving the bus, I could have solved this problem with eat less and move more 35 years ago. (45:05) But my frontal lobe isn't driving the bus. (45:07) My brainstem and my hormones are driving the bus, and they will always win.(45:10) My biology will always win over willpower. (45:13) So when you have an amount of fat mass that's stored, and it's just stored. (45:18) Listen, this isn't a moral argument.(45:19) This is fat mass that is stored. (45:21) You ate too much. (45:22) You put gas in the tank.(45:23) The human body has an unlimited capacity to store it. (45:26) So when you have that excess fat mass, it starts driving that bus. (45:30) So it wants more, and it wants a lot more.(45:34) So it's going to change your hunger drives. (45:36) It's going to change your expenditure. (45:38) Well, now that I've lost and I've gotten myself into a healthy body fat range, my body works better, which is pretty cool.(45:45) So I'm hoping that we have more autophagy, have better telomeres, keeping that telomere length a little bit. (45:54) And by the intermittent fasting, though, for me, which does increase your autophagy, it allows me to not spend my days immersed in food. (46:03) I don't want to live a life run by food.(46:05) I did that for the first half. (46:08) I'm tired of it. (46:09) It was so much of an emotional struggle.(46:12) And that's what when I tell my patients or the public, my followers, nobody finds me by accident. (46:17) I get it. (46:18) I have people come to me that say, well, I only need to lose 20 pounds.(46:23) I'm like, nah, you didn't. (46:24) You heard something that I said. (46:26) It's not the 20 pounds, not about the weight.(46:29) What's it about? (46:30) Let's talk.

Marcus Arredondo

(46:31) How do you advise? (46:32) How would you advise your kids, for example, if they had a challenging relationship to food?

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(46:39) It's funny you mentioned that. (46:40) I've actually worked very hard in my own son to not cultivate what I battled. (46:50) But if that relationship is already there, I think the first thing like one thing we've always talked about is that you don't earn your food in this house.(47:01) You don't have to work out to eat extra. (47:03) If you want to eat extra, you eat extra. (47:06) But you need to understand if you eat more than your body needs, it's going to be stored.(47:11) And depending on what your goals are right now, my we have a son who is into fitness and he wants to get stronger and leaner. (47:20) But he's 12. (47:21) He can't diet.(47:22) He can't reduce his calories. (47:23) Caloric intake. (47:24) Right.(47:25) So what do we do? (47:26) We focus on, all right, what can like same with the protein? (47:29) What can we sub out?(47:30) We were actually going in the car today and he's like, I haven't really had very much protein today.

Marcus Arredondo

(47:35) He's 12. (47:36) I just think that's so great to think that, you know, somebody at that age is considering this because it didn't really dawn on me until I was way into my adulthood.

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(47:44) Oh, yeah. (47:44) We didn't know. (47:46) It wasn't focused on.(47:48) And you'll still have people that say protein is going to hurt your kidneys. (47:51) Please go do the research. (47:52) We're not going to talk about it here.(47:54) So just know this. (47:57) We're not going to talk about it here. (47:58) That's another.(47:59) That's another. (48:01) It's kind of like taking creatine. (48:03) People will say, oh, OK, so creatine is one of the most underutilized, most studied beneficial supplements out there for brain health.(48:13) The doses for brain health are high. (48:15) My husband's also a physician. (48:16) He got totally freaked out when I told him how much creatine I take in a day.(48:20) And he's like, you do what? (48:23) And I literally had here are the studies.

Marcus Arredondo

(48:26) Yeah, actually, I think Gabby Lyons was talking about how the amount should be at least 12 grams.

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(48:32) Yeah, I take 15 to 20 a day.

Marcus Arredondo

(48:34) Yeah. (48:35) Yeah.

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(48:37) Dementia scares me.

Marcus Arredondo

(48:39) It does scare you.

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(48:40) Dementia scares me a lot.

Marcus Arredondo

(48:42) Oh, sure.

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(48:43) Dementia scares me more than and my kidney function, because it'll falsely it'll at times falsely elevate your kidney testing.

Marcus Arredondo

(48:51) Yeah.

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(48:51) Even on that, my kidney function is completely normal.

Marcus Arredondo

(48:54) Right. (48:55) So I'm going to go with what about microbiome? (48:59) Oh, what should we be aware of there?(49:01) And how do we incorporate?

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(49:04) I have this if you're if you're watching this on video, I have this pained look on my face because I have abused the ever living hell out of my microbiome. (49:14) I grew up in the 80s, guys, like TV dinners. (49:18) Do we even have a microbiome?(49:19) Do I just have food that just goes right through and none of it actually works for me?

Marcus Arredondo

(49:23) Well, you can replace your microbiome.

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(49:25) Thank goodness. (49:26) And I'm not doing it the transplant way, just so everyone knows that that grosses me out. (49:30) Sorry.(49:32) But yes, it is. (49:33) It's prebiotic foods. (49:34) I drink a kombucha every day, for example, prebiotics, probiotics.(49:39) It is like the Greek yogurt. (49:41) I don't take a probiotic supplement. (49:43) I used to, but I was found that so many of them don't do anything.(49:47) Again, it's working on food quality. (49:50) It's working on food. (49:51) And I get it.(49:52) The food that we grow doesn't have the same nutrient profile it did 100 years ago. (49:59) So that's why I do take a green supplement every day. (50:02) Helps my guts.(50:04) That's been probably the biggest game changer for my guts. (50:07) I have a very slow transit time, not to get too graphic with everybody. (50:11) So when I went on a GLP-1, it stopped.(50:15) It was like, oh, this is a problem. (50:18) And so I used medical intervention. (50:21) I was on Miralax for a long time.(50:23) This is a key thing because I've actually had patients that were in the hospital for prolonged constipation. (50:29) You need to pay attention to this. (50:32) And this isn't just for GLP-1s.(50:33) You clean up your diet. (50:35) It's going to change the way your guts work. (50:38) So you've got to manage.(50:39) You just got to take your health first. (50:41) Big rocks.

Marcus Arredondo

(50:43) What advice would you give toward people at three different ages in terms of physical fitness? (50:55) What should they be focusing on between, let's say, a 25-year-old. (51:01) In fact, I don't even know if that's even worth investing in much, but go ahead.

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(51:04) Why? (51:05) Because they won't do it?

Marcus Arredondo

(51:05) A 50-year-old and an 80-year-old. (51:08) How would you advise those three different categories to prioritize what they're doing?

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(51:14) I'm going to go the 80-year-old.

Marcus Arredondo

(51:15) If it's different at all.

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(51:16) Well, the funny thing is it's not different. (51:19) But I think the mindset around it is different because one of the things that when I watched my grandmother spend the last decade of her life declining in a chair, it was so painful for me. (51:33) And if I can help one person not do that, it is worth it.(51:38) Especially, I mean, it's in her name because I watched her decline enough to the point where she couldn't stand. (51:45) She couldn't get out of the chair without falling. (51:47) She'd end up going from her assisted living to the hospital because she fell down and ripped open her knee.(51:51) I mean, she sent me a picture once and she said, honey, I think the wound care doctor came. (51:56) I think this is healing. (51:58) I didn't know what body part it was because it looked like hamburger.(52:02) I was like, and she was not diabetic. (52:04) This was purely what we call sarcopenic obesity. (52:08) Her muscle could not support her weight any longer.(52:11) And again, once you tip the scales, you need intervention. (52:15) Something has to happen. (52:17) You're not going to wish yourself back into having more muscle and less fat mass.(52:21) So it is activity and you've got to pay attention. (52:24) It is nutrition as well, right? (52:26) You've got to pay attention to what goes in.(52:28) You're not going to build a house with rotted wood, right? (52:30) I mean, you will, but it's going to fall down. (52:32) But I don't think it matters with your age.(52:38) The difference would be the level that you're starting, I think, right? (52:40) Because if you're a super unfit 25-year-old or really frail 85-year-old, you're going to start at similar spots. (52:47) You're going to start from a lower point than someone who I feel like I might have had a bit of self-deprecation that I don't do full Ironman anymore, but I just signed up for a half Ironman, right?(53:03) So this is a different spot. (53:04) I'm going to expect more out of myself, but I'm still going to allow grace, right? (53:10) Strength training, if you have time for nothing else, which is bullshit, that's in my book too.(53:16) It's not time management. (53:18) Again, it's energy management, but you have time. (53:21) You have screwed up priorities.(53:25) So strength training is of the utmost importance. (53:30) Now, your cardiovascular capability, it's not to lose weight. (53:34) Do not try, guys.(53:35) Most Ironman athletes that I coach that are female, I don't coach much anymore. (53:41) I do here and there. (53:44) But they will gain weight during Ironman training.(53:47) You're like, how is it possible that they can gain weight working out 20 hours a week, 15 hours a week? (53:53) I mean, it's possible. (53:55) It's actually often.(53:58) So when you're looking, but you need both. (54:02) I mean, I hate to say it, you need both. (54:04) You need strength training and you need cardio.

Marcus Arredondo

(54:07) There's nobody starting out. (54:08) What would you tell them? (54:10) Are you saying two hours a week total spread between, give us some parameters for, let's use the 80 year old as an example.

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(54:23) So the 80 year old as an example.

Marcus Arredondo

(54:25) Who's still, let's assume that they're not starting from zero, right? (54:28) They're not completely unhealthy. (54:31) They're normal, but are interested in maintaining a healthier health span, a longer health span.

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(54:39) So say for example, that they walk 20 minutes a day already. (54:42) And they're like, you know, they take a walk around the block. (54:45) They get the mail, they walk their dog.(54:46) They're still, they're probably living what they would consider an active lifestyle walking 20 minutes a day. (54:53) Now it's commendable. (54:55) Absolutely.(54:56) But you're going to need strength training two or three times a week. (55:00) And I tell people start at 10 minutes. (55:02) And now this is, again, this is not medical advice.(55:04) I always tell people I'm Dr. Mo, I'm a doctor. (55:07) I'm not your doctor. (55:07) And if I am your doctor, I'm not your doctor on social media.(55:10) So if you want medical care, come find me. (55:14) But I love the disclaimers. (55:16) My lawyer's like, you got to say these things.(55:18) And I'm like, well, I'm going to say it in my words, not yours. (55:21) So, but I would tell them it's 10 minutes a week. (55:25) So if you're 80 years old and you're like, here's what I get.(55:29) And I got this from my dad, even when he was 70, when I was at, we were talking about starting on a GLP-1. (55:36) And he's like, should I really bother? (55:37) I'm 70.(55:38) I'm like, no, yes, you should bother. (55:40) Like this is about lifespan and health span. (55:43) This isn't about necessarily years.(55:44) This is about adding life to those years. (55:47) And he's like, he's down like 85 pounds, by the way. (55:50) And it looks incredible, feels incredible, just traipses with my sister all over France, you know, when he goes to visit, no problem.(55:58) You know, it's just, it's just incredible. (56:00) Anyhow. (56:01) So it's again, it's adding in Oh, so 10 minutes, doesn't have to be 10 minutes at a time.(56:07) How about when you go to the bathroom, you hang on to the hang on to the counter and you do 30 squats, bodyweight squats, especially if you're overweight, use it. (56:14) I wish I would have done that. (56:16) That's what I wish I would have done when I was losing the 50 pounds.

Marcus Arredondo

(56:19) Yeah, I would be remiss if I didn't start at least address what seems to be a little bit more popular or available of a topic now than before. (56:29) But from a female doctor, how about menopause? (56:32) How are you advising your own clients who are approaching that time period are facing it themselves?(56:41) What's your advice in preceding that to you and those who know it's coming but have not had it come yet?

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(56:50) So it's funny you mentioned that because when you talked about age creep, I thought this is all about menopause. (56:59) Because that's it. (57:01) And because we recognize it because there were never a lot of studies on women.(57:06) That again, that's a different topic. (57:09) But some of the things we experience are not necessarily related to menopause. (57:17) We store excess fat.(57:19) We do less activity. (57:20) For a lot of us when we get here, people aren't running around after their kids. (57:26) So we're more sedentary.(57:29) And by the way, running around after your kids is not an organized exercise plan unless you make it one. (57:35) So I've had a lot of people say, well, I run around after my kids. (57:38) I'm active.(57:38) I'm like, okay, I get that that it's steps, but you're still eating their leftover chicken nuggets. (57:42) Okay. (57:44) So it's a double-edged sword.(57:47) But so once we hit menopause, again, we hit that age range where we have enough money to rest and have enough seniority or time or we can see the light at the end of the tunnel where we think we'll be able to retire, for example. (58:02) But that's going to cause a slide. (58:04) If you're not building, you're dying.(58:06) It just depends on when you want to start. (58:09) Now, hormone replacement therapy, it does come with risks and benefits just like any other medication. (58:18) I don't want to sensationalize it like anything else.(58:20) I actually have done some research. (58:22) I do basic HRT. (58:23) I do have a functional medicine nurse practitioner who does very extensive HRT for men and women in my practice.(58:32) I do the very basics because it's not my area of interest. (58:38) And she's 10 times better than me. (58:40) So why would I learn it?(58:42) But again, I think a lot of the things that we attribute, like the sleep disturbances, the anxiety, I'm not saying you don't have hormonal imbalances, but those hormones are fat stored. (58:53) So if you're carrying an excess 30, 40 pounds of fat, guess what? (58:58) They're going to store those hormones and they're going to make it worse.

Marcus Arredondo

(59:01) Yeah. (59:01) I know we're coming up on time. (59:03) I do want to talk about, because you were mentioning prioritization, making time, freedom to shift.(59:10) So I want to give you a little bit of time to talk about, first, I'm very interested in what the writing process was like, but I also want to hear more about the content itself, when it's coming out and what you think people should be taking from it.

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(59:25) So it'll come out. (59:26) It's called freedom to shift. (59:27) It is a proven path to stop trading time, start creating freedom and shape what's next.(59:34) Sounds like a midlife crisis. (59:35) Now that I say it out loud, I'm like, yep, because it is. (59:39) My dad says it's not a midlife crisis.(59:41) It's a call to action. (59:44) And that's really what this is because I wrote, I initially wrote it for doctors because I wanted to give back to my profession and help them understand that they don't have to be stuck in that box around their diploma. (59:59) They have skills, they have a voice, they can create new things in their lives.(1:00:05) They can live their life differently to create the freedom that we thought we would have with a high paycheck, frankly. (1:00:11) And then I had other people saying, well, I'm not a doctor. (1:00:14) Can you coach me?(1:00:16) And I thought, oh, crap, I can't keep this for just doctors. (1:00:19) That's super freaking selfish. (1:00:21) So I broadened it, enjoyably so.(1:00:26) That's the writing process part. (1:00:28) That was the last part. (1:00:29) That's what's coming out in November, not October, because I had just had too many people say, I want what's in it, but I'm not a doctor.(1:00:36) I said, ah, shit. (1:00:38) All right. (1:00:39) So, but what I want people to take from it, honestly, is the courage to start.(1:00:46) The courage to look beyond. (1:00:48) The courage to not say, I only have 10 more years and then I can retire and not waste that precious time. (1:00:56) What are you going to do with your one precious day?(1:00:58) This is your permission slip to shift, to make a different choice. (1:01:05) It's very health-based. (1:01:08) So I help high achievers create health, time and income freedom.(1:01:13) Health is the basis for it all, because again, if you have your health, you have 99 problems. (1:01:17) If you don't have your health, you have one. (1:01:20) So you can't achieve extraordinary business success without a health baseline.(1:01:28) Now, does it need to be perfect? (1:01:29) It's number one, it's never going to be perfect. (1:01:31) I do address that in the book.(1:01:32) Number two, it's like you said, it's starting to measure. (1:01:37) It's starting to realize, oh, I'm going to need to take my health seriously. (1:01:42) Once you get on that road, now you're ready.(1:01:45) That's what I want. (1:01:46) I want people to get on that road and say, I don't have to feel like garbage. (1:01:49) Success doesn't have to feel like shit.(1:01:52) It shouldn't. (1:01:54) Real success doesn't.

Marcus Arredondo

(1:01:55) Yeah. (1:01:56) I hope not.

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(1:01:57) Right. (1:01:58) I mean, it does for a lot of us though.

Marcus Arredondo

(1:02:00) Well, I think success isn't all roses and rainbows. (1:02:05) True.

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(1:02:06) It's hard.

Marcus Arredondo

(1:02:07) There's a process there, but yeah, if it's not something that's enjoyable, what's the point in doing it? (1:02:14) I mean, there was a phrase that I once heard was like, if it's not making you happy or it's not making you money, you shouldn't be doing it.

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(1:02:19) I love it.

Marcus Arredondo

(1:02:20) I think is sort of resonated with me. (1:02:24) Well, I really appreciate you coming on. (1:02:26) This has been really informative.(1:02:28) Do you have any closing thoughts or things you think we might've missed?

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(1:02:32) No, I loved it. (1:02:32) It was great. (1:02:33) Fantastic talk.

Marcus Arredondo

(1:02:34) Thank you, Dr. Mo. (1:02:35) Hope to have you again sometime soon.

Dr. Maureen "Dr. Moe" Gibbons

(1:02:37) I would love to. (1:02:38) Thank you.

Marcus Arredondo

(1:02:42) Thanks for listening. (1:02:43) For a detailed list of episodes and show notes, visit scalesofsuccesspodcast.com. (1:02:48) If you found this conversation engaging, consider signing up for our newsletter, where we go even deeper on a weekly basis, sharing exclusive insights and actionable strategies that can help you in your own journey.(1:02:57) We'd also appreciate if you subscribed, rated, or shared today's episode. (1:03:01) It helps us to attract more illuminating guests, adding to the list of enlightening conversations we've had with New York Times bestsellers, producers, founders, CEOs, congressmen, and other independent thinkers who are challenging the status quo. (1:03:13) You can also follow us for updates, extra content, and more insights from our guests.(1:03:18) We hope to have you back again next week for another episode of Scales of Success. (1:03:22) Scales of Success is an Edgewest Capital Production.