FXBG Neighbors Podcast
Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast
FXBG Neighbors Podcast
EP #144 The Anti-Aging Habits That Actually Work At Any Age
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You can feel “fine” for years while your body quietly heads toward burnout, brain fog, and insulin resistance. That’s why we brought on Donna Hetrick from Lifestyle Fitness and Nutrition, a clinical nutritionist, blood chemistry analyst, and personal trainer who has spent decades helping people change the trajectory of their health with real data and realistic habits.
We talk about why aging is not passive, and how the biggest myths about getting older keep us stuck in victim mode. Donna breaks down the most common drivers of accelerated aging she sees in her practice, starting with sleep quality and why disrupted sleep hits so many women during menopause. From there we get into metabolic health markers you should actually know, including fasting glucose and A1C, plus the one test she says is overlooked far too often: fasting insulin, an early signal that can point toward insulin resistance long before diabetes shows up.
We also dig into strength training and sarcopenia, why losing lean muscle changes everything about energy, stability, and metabolism, and how building muscle supports longevity at any age. Donna shares how she creates personalized plans using deep intake forms, lab work, and even 23andMe data, then explains her upcoming course, Redesign How You Age, designed to teach these foundations step by step.
If you want a simple place to start, Donna gives one of our favorite practical tips: a 15-minute walk after meals to support blood sugar control without extreme workouts. Subscribe for more local expert conversations, share this episode with a friend who wants to age with confidence, and leave us a review with the habit you’re committing to next.
Donna Hetrick
Lifestyle Fitness and Nutrition
lifestylefitnessnutrition.com
Welcome To FXBG Neighbors
SpeakerThis is the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Dori Stewart.
What Lifestyle Fitness And Nutrition Does
Speaker 1Welcome back to another episode of the FXBG Neighbors Podcast, where we share the stories of our favorite local brands. I have a special guest joining me today. We've got Donna Hetrick, and she is with Lifestyle Fitness and Nutrition. Donna, welcome to the podcast. Hi, thank you for having me. I'm excited for this. I'm excited to learn more about you and all that you do in your business. So let's start there. Share with us what is Lifestyle Fitness and Nutrition.
Speaker 2Sure. I am a clinical nutritionist, a blood chemistry analyst, and a personal trainer. I actually started Lifestyle Fitness Nutrition about 36 years ago, I know to the T because my second child was born, and I have an undergrad degree in communications. And I decided that I was doing my last annual report and I was gonna uh do a deep dive into the health and um fitness arena, which I'd always done. I've always taught aerobics, personal trained, all that while I was doing my other job. But biggest focus at the beginning was on fitness because that's what I was doing at the time. I was a big runner and training. As I have aged, however, I have put a lot more time and energy into the nutrition end of things. And my um practice focuses on helping people be the best they can be at whatever age they are. I try to meet them where they are at and just, you know, help them change the trajectory of their health. So I work with people with diabetes and elevated cardiovascular markers and uh women who have had breast cancer or other forms of cancer and are trying to get their immune systems boosted back up. Pretty much everything that deals with the body and health. I am qualified to help guide them to uh reach a higher and optimal level of health.
Speaker 1Amazing. What important work you are literally improving lives. I imagine you just fly out of bed in the morning excited to start your day.
Speaker 2I do love it. And people, you know, I'm 66, so it's a lot of my friends are retiring. People ask me all the time, when have you pulled back? Are you stopping working? And I'm like, no, I'm I'm still full steam ahead. Uh, I think I'll know when when I want to be done. But for right now, yes, I am I do wake up every day excited to get out there and do what I do.
Why Longevity Became Personal
Speaker 1I imagine. Well, let's dive a little bit deeper into this. So, what would you say led you to focus on anti-aging and longevity in your fitness work?
Speaker 2Yeah, that a lot of different layers there for me on a really personal level. I lost my dad at age 34 when I was pregnant with my youngest daughter, Jerry. And I lost my mom eight years later when I was 42 years old. So I was a very young woman without both my parents and without grandparents in my kids' lives on my side of the family. Being in nutrition, um, I recognized after the fact that both of them died from malignancies that are largely impacted by lifestyle and behavior factors. And I come from that gene pool. Uh, and I knew that I didn't want to go down the road that either of my parents had gone down. So I made a personal goal of my own to just always be doing the best thing I could do for my body at the time. Um, and then from a uh uh practitioner perspective, I have people come to me all the time that are struggling with uh unable or unability to lose weight. They have a are having a tough time keeping their glucose levels where they need to be. Um they think they're doing the right things, but it's not working. There's a lot of frustration involved. And I uh really enjoy jumping in with them. I tell them I'm gonna velcro you to my hip for the next couple of months. Um, because I think what happens is in our conventional medical system, they're great for diagnosing. They're great. I mean, if I'm in a car accident, take me to the emergency room. But for day-to-day lifestyle and longevity uh behavior and pillars, we really need to do better in terms of education. And instead of just telling people go eat a healthy diet and exercise, what does that even mean? Um, and so people need more instruction. They need uh someone to tell them what is a priority. Um, you know, you can be doing A, B, and C, but if you're not sleeping well, you're not gonna get the results from A, B, and C that you think that you should. So I think that's really what has, you know, my personal history with losing my parents really early in age, um, along with the fact that I have five amazing grandchildren that I want to be so present in their lives and just I want to be around. I want to see them graduate from high school and get married. And in order to do that and to feel well and and um be vite, you know, have a vitality and all of that, I've I've got to take care of myself. So I um am able to uh take all that inner passion, I guess, that I have for myself and also share it with others. Um, that's always been part of the the gig for me is when I learn something, I want to share it with the rest of the world. Um, everybody jump on my bandwagon. So everybody to be um confident about aging and not being afraid and feeling like everything is going wrong or going sideways and not knowing what to do about it. Um type A personality if you can't tell. And I like to be in charge of my wagon.
The Biggest Myth About Aging
Speaker 1So I think so many people can relate to that. Would you say, well, what would you say are the biggest myths that people believe about aging that are actually holding them back?
Speaker 2I think the biggest thing is that they don't understand their ability to interact. They think it is happening to them. And so sometimes we go into the victim mode when in actuality, 90% of everything that happens to us is coming from the way that we're living our lives, what we are doing or we're not doing in the way of lifestyle and health. It really impacts a lot. I think that the biggest thing is not understanding that aging is not passive, it is something that we can interact with, and there are many ways that we can positively change that trajectory and make um things better, change things, and it's never, never too late.
Speaker 1I love it, I love it. You are speaking all of the things that um I am interested in hearing right now as someone who has recently entered my 50s, so uh you're the perfect age.
Speaker 2You're the perfect everything you do now impacts so greatly when you turn 60 and 70. So be on point and be intentional because it makes a difference.
Sleep Blood Sugar And Muscle Loss
Speaker 1Yeah. From your perspective, what are the biggest contributors to accelerated aging today?
Speaker 2Um, there are a number of them. Um, one of the most underrated, underestimated um accelerators of aging is lack of sleep and lack of quality of sleep. And this is a really big deal, particularly for women. As we go through menopause and our hormonal changes really change the architecture of our sleep. And many people who don't want to go on medications for very good reasons, um, kind of stumble through, try to make the best of getting five, six poor quality hours of sleep a night, lots of interruptions, not being able to fall asleep. I think the statistic is between 50 and 70 million people in the United States have disordered sleeping. So it's a big deal. Um, when we sleep, it is not a passive time. A lot of stuff gets done. Uh, a lot of trash gets taken out. When you sleep eight hours, you get a brain dump of metabolic waste. So one of the biggest complaints I hear people that come to me, particularly after menopause or even men in their 60s, is brain fog. So just imagine if every day, every night when you're sleeping, you got to release some of that stuff. Um, and so sleep is a big deal. And that's where where we start. You know, when someone comes to see me for nutritional counseling, I start with that because that's at the top uh of the heap. Um, second, I would say is metabolic markers, your blood sugar regulation. What is your fasting glucose? What is your HA1C? That's something we use to measure how much many fluctuations you have throughout the day. And one marker that is not looked at at all in conventional medicine, but should be, uh, and I am just beating my drum and blasting my horn about it, and that is fasting insulin. Because fasting insulin is the metabolic marker that moves first. You can go to the doctor and you can know that something's off. You're gaining a lot of tummy fat, you don't have good energy, you have fatigue in the afternoon, and they're saying to you, Oh, your labs look great, your blood sugar is good, your HA1C is good, but they didn't test your insulin, and maybe it's twice what it should be. So that means that you are moving toward insulin resistance, which contributes to all the symptoms that you're experiencing. Another one is uh loss of lean muscle mass. You know, I grew up as an athlete. I remember being in eighth grade in high school, fighting for time to get in the boys' locker room for the weights because they didn't have weights for girls. Um, so I've been lifting weights since I was, what, 15 years old? Um, but there are a lot of people on this planet that are not familiar with strength training, resistance training. And starting between the age of 30 and 40, we have something called sarcopenia happening where you're actually losing 1% of lean muscle mass every year if you don't do any strength training. And when you hit 60, it is exponential. You can actually use lose up to 8% in that decade. And that's really scary because that's when people fall, they break a hip, and we know what the statistics are when that happens. So keeping your lean muscle mass up is a it's a metabolic marker. That muscle tissue is hungry, active tissue. And by virtue of the fact that I strength train, as I'm sitting here right now, I am burning more calories than someone else who is seated and at rest and is not. So it's a really uh super ager uh recommendation for all of us. So I say those top three uh are really probably the most critical.
Three Habits That Change Everything
Speaker 1Interesting. Thank you for that. Yeah. So what are a few foundational habits that make the biggest difference in how someone ages?
Speaker 2I'm gonna go right back to what we just talked about. Get eight hours of sleep. You know, there are wearables out there, like the aura ring. I know there are other types of wearables that you can track your sleep. If you have no idea what the quality of your sleep is, there are those things that you can track. Um, but you, if you are not getting good sleep, you need to get on um get on AI, get online, get with a physician, get with a practitioner like myself. Figure it out because it is really at the top of everything. And you are not going to get the rewards of anything else you do regarding lifestyle behavior if you're not getting good sleep. Um, the second would be uh strength training, you know, and whether it's Pilates or some type of weights or bands, going to a gym and using equipment. Um, it's really important, particularly for us women, because we have the whole issue of osteoporosis. After menopause, we start losing bone density, and we need not only the cardio where you're impacting your skeletal system, but we need the muscle building as well. And I think thirdly, um would be uh managing your glucose, knowing what it is. I mean, I everybody on this planet, I should say to them, what's your fasting glucose? And it should come right up. What's your H A1C? It should come right up. What's your fasting insulin? Boom, boom, boom. We should all know these numbers. And um, it's not something that's focused on. We tend to uh our conventional medical system tends to wait until it's broken and then uses medication, you know, for like diabetes. Uh, and there are so many things that can happen in the meantime. I mean, honestly, it takes most people 12 to 15 years to become a diabetic. Wow, that's a long time, and that's a long period of time for modifiable behavior and to interact and to change things. So I think that's where I would focus.
Personalized Plans Using Labs And Genetics
Speaker 1Wow. Do you have a framework or a system that you use to help clients improve how they age?
Speaker 2I do, I do. It's very individualized and personalized. So when someone comes to me for a comprehensive nutrition consultation, I require a ton of paperwork, which boy, I get lots of complaints about it. But in order for me to help you, I need the most information I possibly can have about you, your health history, your genetics, your family heritage. Um, it's really important. So the more information I have, the more helpful I can be. Um, and then I also require the labs because that's a real-time look at what's happening in your body. Uh, and we take all that information and we craft a uh a program for you that uh helps you get to where you want to go. It gives you, it's like a roadmap. Uh, people come in, I ask them what their top three goals are, and sometimes those goals change a little bit when they talk to me and they find out the um significance of other markers that I see in their labs. But basically, I work with all of the information they provide and the labs. Uh, and I work with 23andMe data too, which is super fascinating. Um, I have an app that I can put their um main data into, and I get this 50-page report. So, and it's like this is your body in gene form. It's it's pretty cool. Um, so yeah, work with all that information and personalize and individualize um a plan to get somebody where where they need to go. And I do work really closely with new clients. Um, and I offer like a pop-in fee for something that pops up uh in between our regular times that we meet. Most people meet with me initially and then like every six months, every time they get new labs, but sometimes things pop up uh in between. So I try to make myself available um to help them stay on track.
Speaker 1Amazing, amazing. I just love the work you're doing. I love it.
Speaker 2Thank you.
Speaker 1Well, and I understand you have a course, it's called Redesign How You Age. So what inspired you to create this? Tell us all about it.
Speaker 2Yeah, that is really I'm super excited about this. Um honestly, what happened is I started teaching this in real life, like in front of people with an audience, like not over Zoom. And very, very quickly realized that it was super overambitious in terms of the amount of material. And also, I've had my own little uh science experiment for the past 36 years. I am so proud to say that I have clients that have been working for me that long, lurk with me for that long. And I have their labs for the past 35 years. Um, and they have um achieved a level of health that is above normal because we've worked so closely together. And when I went out into the general public, it was stunning the difference in what they knew and what level they were at, and what people that I'd not worked with. And it's it's all about information, it's all about education. It's nothing that anyone else can't achieve, but you have you can't fire those people, you know, and so basically what has been happening is my 90-minute sessions have gone for two and a half hours, you know, because I've tried to meet the needs of the people in the group and it's been fine. Everybody's been agreeable to it. But what it taught me was that this needs to be in trinkling, dripping down modules that people get every two weeks. And then maybe on the week off, we have a Zoom get together for 30 minutes that everybody can pop in, ask any questions, you know, get an at a girl, an attaboy, whatever they need. Um, but it is something that needs to be done in a uh slower way, a more absorptionable way. That's not even a word, but um, otherwise, it it's really a lot to take in and it it can be really overwhelming, very threatening, very frustrating. Um, so that's why I decided to develop this in a course. I'm working on it, it's not out yet, but I'm putting it together and I am just so excited about it because I really want to just reach out to the masses and just help people achieve a higher level of optimal health. Um, let them know they can do that, first of all, that it's in their hands and they're capable of it. And and a lot of it's free. It doesn't cost anything to do many of these different lifestyle and behavior factors. So um it's it's a super exciting adventure, and it's totally born out of just getting out there and realizing, oh boy, I I really need to put this in a different platform, uh, one that's gonna be uh more uh just work better better for the masses.
Simple Daily Moves That Add Up
Speaker 1So yeah, that makes a lot of sense. People can consume it uh in their at their own pace instead of exactly. Yeah. I love that. Yeah. So what would you say the course does to help people that they might not be able to do on their own?
How To Connect And Nominate Businesses
Speaker 2Um, I think that, you know, teamwork is dream work, uh, working with each other. I think being in a group, um like having those Zoom calls in between where they're kind of maybe uh feeling like they're part of something larger than themselves. Um, and then also just the guidance, the framework that gives them the information that we got to work on your sleep first. And we're not gonna move on until we get that taken care of. And then we're gonna talk about regulating your blood sugars. And then after that, we'll talk about your strength training program and what cardio might be the best way for you to get rid of your fatty liver. Um, so it's going to be very hands-on, uh, very specific types of movement, ways of eating. I mean, one of the most amazing things is if you walk for 15 minutes after each meal, that stabilization of your blood sugars and what that does for your insulin is unbelievable. And yet we feel like we have to go run a marathon. Oh, I can't exercise anymore. I can't do that anymore. And certainly there are people that are not ambulatory that couldn't go out for a 15-minute walk, but most of us can. And we don't understand how impactful something as short of a time period with, and I'm not talking about carrying hand weights, wrapping weights around your legs, don't put on a heavy vest. I'm talking about walking outside of your door and walking to the end of the driveway and back, do that for 15 minutes. Um, so it'll be things like that that people can incorporate in their day-to-day that are not overwhelming, that are doable, and they're impactful. So impactful. Yeah.
Speaker 1Amazing. So if the listeners want to connect with you, if they want to learn more from you, how can they connect?
Speaker 2Um, the best thing to do would be go to my website. Uh, it's www.lifestylefitness.com. And uh all the information uh about the um when I when I start promoting the series or the um anti-aging um uh course, it will be on the website. Um, I do have a Facebook page as well, Lifestyle Fitness Nutrition. You can be um become A friend of mine there. I'll be really honest. I have not been really great about my social media uh in the past five years since I became a grandma. I had to cut something back, but I am um going to becoming more active on there. Uh, and information about the course will be on it. But if you want more information about lifestyle fitness and nutrition, the website is the best place to go. It's a really beautifully built website with all the information.
Speaker 1Amazing. Donna, thank you so much for joining me on the podcast today and sharing Lifestyle Fitness and Nutrition with us.
Speaker 2You are so welcome. Thank you for having me.
SpeakerThank you for listening to the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to FXBG NeighborsPodcast.com.