Move Better, Think Clearer, Stay Independent: Simple Steps for Healthy Aging

Guest: Jodi Stokes, Owner of Jodi Stokes Fitness, LLC

In this episode of Reverse Mortgage and Beyond, host Cheryl Scheidell welcomes Jodi Stokes, owner of Jodi Stokes Fitness, LLC, who brings over 40 years of experience helping seniors and older adults improve strength, mobility, balance, and overall quality of life.

This episode is especially focused on senior health, independence, and aging well at home. As we age, maintaining strength, balance, and brain health becomes essential—not only for quality of life, but also for staying independent and safe in our own homes.

Jodi shares simple, practical strategies that seniors can begin using right away to feel stronger, move more confidently, and reduce the risk of falls.

🧠 In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

• Five simple things seniors can start doing right now for healthier aging
• How movement supports brain health, memory, and mental clarity
• Why balance training is critical for fall prevention in older adults
• Easy, safe exercises to improve strength, stability, and confidence
• How staying active helps seniors maintain independence and remain in their homes longer

At Reverse Mortgage and Beyond, we believe true retirement planning includes both financial security and physical well-being. For many seniors, the goal is not just to age—but to age well, safely, and independently.

Catch Cheryl every week on her radio show:
“Is A Reverse Mortgage Right for You?”
📻 Sundays at 3:30 PM on AM960.

Contact Cheryl Scheidell
If you’d like to explore your options or simply want education tailored to your situation, Cheryl is happy to help.
Reverse Mortgage Specialist | NMLS #886425
📞 480-817-4324
📧 cheryls@barrettfinancial.com
▶️ YouTube: @reversemortgageandbeyond
🌐 ReverseMortgageAndBeyond.com

👉 If you enjoyed this episode, please SUBSCRIBE, RATE, and REVIEW Reverse Mortgage & Beyond so more people can discover these meaningful conversations. Together, we’re helping seniors stay stronger, safer, and more independent—at every stage of aging.

Jodi Stokes – Jodi Stokes Fitness, LLC

📧 Jodi@jodistokes.com
📺 YouTube: Jodi Stokes Fitness LLC
📸 Instagram: Jodi Stokes Fitness LLC
👍 Facebook: Jodi Stokes Fitness LLC

 Cheryl Scheidell | NMLS #886425 | Barrett Financial Group, LLC. | NMLS #181106 | 2701 East Insight Way, Suite 150,
 Chandler, AZ 85286 | AZ 0904774 | NV 5091] OR | TX view complaint policy at barrettfinancial.com/texas-complaint.

Information discussed is for educational purposes only and is not intended as legal, tax, financial, or cybersecurity advice and does not constitute a loan offer or credit decision.. Reverse mortgage programs are subject to eligibility, underwriting, and approval. Loan programs, rates, and guidelines are subject to change. Always consult with qualified professionals regarding your specific situation.

 | Equal Housing Opportunity | Equal Housing Lender | This is not a commitment to lend. All loans are subject to
 credit approval. | nmlsconsumeraccess.org/EntityDetails.aspx/COMPANY/181106 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to Reverse Mortgage and Beyond, the podcast where we take you inside the world of reverse mortgages. I'm Cheryl Schidel, and I have been in the mortgage industry since 2002 and have specialized in reverse mortgages for the past 10 years. We'll cover topics like reverse mortgage basics, purchasing a home, and the myths about reverse. You'll also hear from some trusted referral partners. Let's get started. Welcome back to Reverse Mortgage and Beyond. I'm Cheryl Schidel with Barrett Financial Group, and we talk about reverse mortgages, reverse basics, the myths, how to purchase a home. But today I'm bringing in a special guest, Miss Jody Stokes from Jody Stokes Fitness. Thank you. And I um have known Jodi. We were thinking about it over 10 years. 10 years. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 0:48

Since I've been with Goddess Fit, yes. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 0:51

And so I brought her into the studio because we're going into the new year. We're in the new year. And we just want to talk about not only financial wellness, but health and wellness with Jodi. So, Jodi, why don't you give us your background? Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:05

Well, 40 years in the industry, 40, 40 beautiful years. Uh, I have a degree in exercise science. I have a certification in master health and wellness, women's health. Perfect. And I recently got a cer a certification in um cognitive behavioral therapy and productivity. And the reason I did that is because I can't work on the outside if I can't work on the inside. And so when I work on, you know, traumatic healing and healing through the soul and helps with the body, then we can move forward on that. And then most recent, I got best of Arizona Health and Wellness. You were there. Congratulations, yes. Thank you very much. So uh I'm I'm just blessed to be able to do what I do. And, you know, while you think it doesn't necessarily relate to reverse mortgages, I would love to talk about reverse aging. Perfect. Which could coincide with everything you were just talking about.

SPEAKER_01 1:56

Well, let's just start there. So let's talk about reversing aging.

SPEAKER_00 2:00

Well, the the um the guest that you had on prior had her own how, you know, definition for what she called aging, right? I call it active aging because we want to actively age with health and wellness in mind. And that's sometimes a problem because I don't think we look that far out into the future. We look that far out financially. We want to have, you know, we want to make sure that we have our homes and we have our places to settle as we age. We don't want our children to have to worry about us necessarily. That's a big deal.

SPEAKER_02 2:31

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_00 2:32

That's a big deal. And so my job, and I work with mostly active agers, I want to say that. Although some of these people can kick anyone's ass in pickleball. Excuse my language. I'm sorry. I love it. They can. And um, but through that, I've seen more injuries. How to maintain from pickleball, you're sorry. From pickleball. It's been, yes, but I do work with some clients that have Parkinson's. Okay. Some um I've had some with multiple sclerosis and I've had some with um Alzheimer's. Um, you know, not just my pickleball, my pickleball people.

SPEAKER_01 3:05

Are these early onset Alzheimer's? It is, it is.

SPEAKER_00 3:09

And we work on repetition with the exercise and you know, um, you know, lots of different kinds of methodologies with that too. It depends on the day.

SPEAKER_02 3:17

Okay. Okay. Right?

SPEAKER_00 3:18

Yes. Uh, and so uh, and then I've got actually very, very, very healthy, healthy adults. And I also work with a couple that are in their 20s. So I keep reminding them that you're gonna care about this when you get older. Yes. Because again, back to the beginning, we're not thinking of that far of an outcome. We'll make a five-year financial plan, but we're not making a five-year fitness plan.

SPEAKER_02 3:39

That's a good way to put it.

SPEAKER_00 3:40

It's a great way to put it. So what are your five-year fitness plans? And so with that, I think number one is to stay active. And in with your last guest, you were talking about retirement and some things, right? Yeah. Well, they've they've also also said that retirement is a a quick, quick way to die.

SPEAKER_01 4:01

Right. Because your mind isn't active, your body isn't active.

SPEAKER_00 4:06

Purpose.

SPEAKER_01 4:07

Yes. So, you know, get a hobby, get something, an activity, keep it in mind. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 4:12

Community, a hobby, um, just you know, tennis group, hiking group, stay the most important. So no my number one thing is to stay active. Stay active, um, whether you're taking care of your home and you're doing whatever your honeydews or you're doing the things around the home.

SPEAKER_01 4:28

Cleaning out that garage.

SPEAKER_00 4:29

Cleaning out yes, cleaning out the garage, staying so your kids don't have to do it later.

SPEAKER_01 4:33

Yes. See, right, exactly. We're being proactive. No, I like the term collector of things. Collector of things. I thought that was perfect. So much better than murder. Yes. Why do you still have this from when I was five? But you know what? I'm working on that too, because I have some things that my mom has handed down to me, and then I'm like, why do I still have this? Right. So I'm helping the next person out to get rid of those things. So help your kids, you know, purge and help your kids get rid of those things.

SPEAKER_00 5:04

Those, those, those things. You know, and you mentioned the garage and the the, you know, I don't know. I I've my my uh my ex-husband's grandmother used to mow her lawn at 90. Wow. Absolutely. And she had this, she had this yuck around a tree that she used to, you know, those are the purple trees that drop all the flowers, and she would go rake one and she would rake one, and then by that time the other tree would have all the flowers next to her. But she stayed very active. And those those activities, they're they're still helpful. I call them random acts of fitness, cleaning out your garage, having to reach to grab something off the shelf. Those are imperative things to be able to do as you get older, right? So you want to be able to get things down and pull things and right.

SPEAKER_01 5:45

But don't be getting on those ladders if you don't have to. Get on the ladder if you don't have to. Right. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 5:49

That's right. So staying active, however that however that may be. Uh, a couple of very important things in the fitness industry and the fitness world are we need to maintain our muscle and our bone health. So you can't just just walk and you can't just just play one sport. You have to do something that's crust trainable, if you will. So the most important thing that you can do for your muscle and your bone is to lift heavier weights.

SPEAKER_02 6:16

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 6:17

And to do bone, you know, weight-bearing work.

SPEAKER_02 6:20

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 6:21

So uh weight bearing. And for some people, that could be their own body weight. It could be their own body weight, functional training. We could call that too. A push-up is your own body weight.

SPEAKER_02 6:30

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 6:30

Uh, a squat, there are functional moves. One would be a squat would be important. Um basic things, getting up and down off the ground. Yes, it's so important. So Right. So there's um there have been clients that have pulled on a chair to get up, the chair has toppled over on them, a coffee table has toppled over on them. So we work a lot with how to be able to get up and down off the floor.

SPEAKER_02 6:55

Yes.

SPEAKER_00 6:56

Uh, it's important to lift a little bit heavier, but we've been stuck on this. I need to get to the gym to do this. You don't have to, you can do it in your home. But l increase your weight just enough so that the rep is a little bit harder.

SPEAKER_02 7:13

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 7:13

Right? And you only need six to eight reps. So that's a beautiful thing. You could get a workout done in ten minutes.

SPEAKER_01 7:18

Well, and I'm gonna stop you right there because I was talking to a past client of mine and she has some shoulder issues. But I don't know if she's really doing what she should be doing at all, meaning any kind of exercises. So I said to her, I said, Why don't you get a can out of the pantry and just sit at the table and raise your arm like this with the can in it to help strengthen that? Well, she should go to a doctor.

SPEAKER_00 7:42

Well, she has been, but I don't think she's I'm Because is it anterior, is it posterior, is it rotator, is it medial? So thank goodness I also work at Lifescape Premiere where we get, you know, because I would hate to exacerbate anything. Of course, yes. Right. So I I don't always encourage or diagnose, but we'll we'll work, we'll work around it because typically typically you can still work a bicep if you keep the arms medial, meaning don't externally rotate the shoulder if the shoulder bothers you. But you can still work the arms by your sides with a can, if you will, or a water bottle, you know, just in that action. So our biggest superpower as a human is being able to carry something.

SPEAKER_01 8:29

Right. Besides ourselves.

SPEAKER_00 8:31

Besides ourselves, right. But uh carry groceries. You want yeah. Well, and when you have the bag, you could be lifting the bag. You could be definitely lifting the bag.

SPEAKER_01 8:38

And here's the other thing, because I was with my mom and she was showing her neurologist the exercises that she was doing, but she was flying through them. And I'm like, mom, you need to go a little slower. So why is that important to do exercises?

SPEAKER_00 8:52

More slow, deliberate, you engage more muscle. Now I'm speaking as fast as your mom, probably. Yeah. So, so there's two, there's there's two contractions. Okay. There's a can concentric contraction, which is typically when you're coming into an up motion and you see the muscle contract. And there's an eccentric motion, and that's fighting gravity. So almost as we age, it's almost more important to focus on the eccentric motion. So if you're holding groceries, you would like to see how long you can hold them and fight the gravity pulling you down. And that's what makes you stronger. The concentric motion can actually make the muscle bigger, which is what we call hypertrophy.

SPEAKER_02 9:34

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 9:34

Okay. Which is interesting. So while we're at that subject, I want to bring up falls. Okay. Which you had just brought up with your last person about the rug and the tripping and the houses and being careful with certain pieces of things in the homes.

SPEAKER_02 9:48

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_00 9:48

So falls are the number one accidental death for act active agers. It's not the fall itself.

SPEAKER_01 9:56

Right.

SPEAKER_00 9:57

So we want to prevent falls because the recovery from the fall is what's the most detrimental.

SPEAKER_02 10:04

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 10:05

Because we have what's called sarcopenia, and that means that that reduced that's the muscle that starts to atrophy. So we had just mentioned mentioned hypertrophy. So atrophy is the antithesis of that. Okay. So we don't we want to keep the muscles strong to protect the bone. And if we fall and take time off, now we're losing the muscle which protects the bone. Right. That makes sense. It's a vicious cycle. And remember how you mentioned the other night that we're going to be able to do that. Yes, I wanted to bring that up. Okay. Bring that up.

SPEAKER_01 10:30

So I was just going to say it, but I didn't want to interrupt you. No, it's it had never occurred to me, but I heard that people think that they fall and they break their hip, let's say. But sometimes it's the hip that breaks and then they fall. And I never thought about it that way.

SPEAKER_00 10:45

Right.

SPEAKER_01 10:45

So so that ha speaks to bone density, getting maybe a scan done to see where you can.

SPEAKER_00 10:52

Dexas scan, get a Dexas scan done. I just did mine. I just did one recently and I found out that I had a little osteopenia, which I was shocked. Yeah. I'm shocked. Yeah. I lift heavy weights. There's a little bit of history. Um I'm um petite boned. So it doesn't surprise me, but um, which I wanted to get into a little bit later, I started doing a little bit of jump jumping, which we talked about the other day. That will help that. So there is a doctor that I love on YouTube. Her name is Dr. Stacy Sims, and she works a lot with paramenopause, postmenopause. So we know we lose our estrogen and we l we lose a little bit of there's two numbers you need to pay attention to. First, you lose five percent of your balance every decade after 40. Five to five to ten percent of your balance every decade after 40. You lose five percent of your muscle every decade after weight for it, 30. You lose more after menopause. So that's why people take estrogen, is why people do. So so the the problem is um you're not noticing it till all of a sudden you go in and you get a dexic scan and you're like, oh my gosh. So this doctor, Stacey Sims, has been working with these women and so I started thinking, well, how do you do this jump? So she does a jump with a very slight, slight, slight off the ground because we don't want to, you know, roll the ankles or do anything detrimental to your body. But you just jump and I start I did it for like good four minutes and I could really feel it. It was hard on me. Right. So I've gone back and done my DEXA scan, and I'm okay now. And I took, you know, some bone up or whatever I needed to take with it. But you the good thing is okay, you can increase your bone density. It doesn't have to stay that way. You can continually work on your muscle and uh, you know, the the hypertrophy of it. You can constantly work on your bone density.

SPEAKER_01 12:37

So there's so you can reverse it.

SPEAKER_00 12:39

You can reverse it. Reversing or aging, yes. Okay. Yes, absolutely. Good. Absolutely. So are there balance exercises that you can describe? There there are some balance exercises that I can describe. Um important one is called the flamingo pose, and I I can't I can't do it for the sake of um knocking over the microphone in this moment. So work with me here. If you were to stand at the counter in the kitchen, okay. So that you could put your, let's say you put your left hand on this, so you're envisioning this, you put your left hand on the counter and your left leg is close to the counter. Got it. Your left leg is your stability leg in this moment. You're gonna lift your right knee up, okay, like a flamingo. Right. Yeah. Then you're gonna take your left hand off the counter.

SPEAKER_02 13:23

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 13:24

You're gonna try to count for ten seconds. Okay. Okay. Before you have to put your hand back on. Right. Sometimes you count to three, sometimes you count to four. The thing is, you surprise yourself. You're like, oh my gosh, I did I thought I could stand for ten seconds. And flip yourself around, do the right leg, do the right hand, count to ten. And build up to ten. And build up to ten. So that's that's for balance. Um be careful if you're finding you're shuffling your feet. Yes. I encourage going to um, they now have I don't know why people shuffle their feet. Well, it's it's comfortability, it's uh posture. Postures, so while we're talking about balance exercises, um really posture, you know. We um, you know, I'm trying to work on my posture here today.

SPEAKER_01 14:10

Every day, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 14:11

Sit up straight, like your mama said. Um you know, I find that, you know, we started like this as humans, you know, and then we straightened up and now we're devolving as humans again because of our phones and our computers and our tests, so the techniques and and um there is a natural hump that starts to happen as you actively age. So you always want to be careful that I work with a lot of upper backs. So work on your balance, um, work on your posture. That's important. And the function moves, like being able to get up out of a chair, you know, sit down into the chair, try not to put your hands either on the arms of the chair or on your thighs.

SPEAKER_01 14:49

So try and stand up from the chair without holding on.

SPEAKER_00 14:53

Back into the chair and make sure it's there. It is exactly it is a squat. Okay. Another exercise that's important is if you were to get on, you know, take a knee.

SPEAKER_02 15:02

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 15:03

And um, we just talked about this, though. If you're gonna try to get up from the floor, make sure that the chair is stable or a coffee table is stable. That is the number one thing I would say from my older adults that it is very, very difficult to get up off the floor.

SPEAKER_01 15:18

It is. As a matter of fact, my mom fell when she was out visiting somebody and um she's like, nope, I'm gonna do this myself. And she was able to get up, and thank goodness she didn't break anything, and she just got some scrapes, but she didn't break anything.

SPEAKER_00 15:32

You know, I I heard you mention this with your other client too, that she didn't have her, or she, you know, my mom had one of those too. My mom doesn't have one of those.

SPEAKER_01 15:39

I know. But I always tell her to carry her phone with her.

SPEAKER_00 15:41

Well, here's the thing outside for all of your listeners, yes, put in Alexa in each one of the rooms in the house so that you can call Alexa to call your child or call the police or whoever, you know, whoever you need to do. So important.

SPEAKER_01 15:58

That's so important.

SPEAKER_00 15:59

That is huge.

SPEAKER_01 16:00

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 16:00

Um, that I think I think those are the basic exercises and stretch because your ligaments get real tight as you get older. Real tight is not a technical term, but we have to be careful because we have to stretch.

SPEAKER_01 16:14

And then and then stop doing stuff that's bad for you, right?

SPEAKER_00 16:18

Easy for us to say, right? Right. Well, it's it's funny because we were all we were all at dinner the other night, right? And I'm listening to uh, you know, I I shouldn't eat this or I shouldn't do that, and we do it anyway. Um but here's the thing 50% of um all of the death-related things in uh and not just this is worldwide, this isn't just the United States, is from inflammation.

SPEAKER_02 16:45

I believe it.

SPEAKER_00 16:46

Okay, we know that cognitive decline is on the rise, and it's not just happening with our older people. They're now now starting to find 40-year-olds with and it's you know, processed foods, all the chemicals. Sugar chemicals, you know, watch your alcohol, watch the sugars, the inflammation.

SPEAKER_01 17:05

I was at a place and I don't drink a lot of coffee. But when I do, I like to have heavy whipping cream in it. And they said, Oh, we just have these little packets of creamers. And I said, I don't want those chemicals. People don't realize that's not cream, that's just chemicals.

SPEAKER_00 17:19

They don't. And see, we didn't, I mean, I grew up when we drank water out of hose. Right. We played all day. We played all day. And, you know, I got mad at my mom once because she lived with us for 13 of our my 22-year marriage because my father had passed. So I know about taking care of mamas, right? Although she was very healthy. But she would buy Oreos and I would get so mad at her, and I'd be like, mom, these aren't the Oreos that we ate in yesteryear, you know. So make cookies, you're her grandma. Yes, yes. Make them with sugar, make them with butter. Yes, you're better off with that. And don't drink the diet stuff.

SPEAKER_01 17:50

Don't ever drink the diet stuff. Diet sodas or anything. I have a little quick story. So, chiropractor friend of mine, he had a client, temporary blindness. She was drinking a three-liter bottle of diet coke a day. Temporary blindness, a couple of weeks. He got her off the soda, it's that aspartame or whatever, and um started drinking more water. Yeah. It came back. Temporary blindness from diet. So stick with the real stuff.

SPEAKER_00 18:17

It doesn't all the real stuff. It's almost worse, honestly, because of the phosphorus and um the it actually takes away from the bone mineral density. Bone, just bone mineral, bone mineral in general. Just listen. That's what I'm gonna say. What do you want to wrap up with? What would you like to tell our listeners? Okay, you know, if it's if you know you shouldn't do it, don't. If you know you should do it, do. Right, right, right, right. That's the best advice that I could possibly give. And you know, uh, you know, aging, aging is em you want to age gracefully. You don't want to feel like you're aging. We know what we should do, and um, you know, walk, g drink water, um, eat vegetables, even more vegetables for your brain health. For your brain health, just you you actually people know what to do, and um, they wait for life change to change their life. And um, you just don't want to get to that point where you have to actually now be told by a doctor you should have done this earlier.

SPEAKER_01 19:18

Yes, please be proactive. That's what we're here today for, is to be proactive. Yes.

SPEAKER_00 19:23

Absolutely, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:23

So, how do people contact you if they want to hire you?

SPEAKER_00 19:27

Okay, Jody at jodystokes.com. Okay. That's my email. Um, and I am on YouTube, all um fit um Instagram, Facebook, all Jodie Stokes Fitness L L C.

SPEAKER_01 19:38

Okay. So that's the best way. And you know, I've done a lot of water aerobics with Jody. She's got a lot of great videos on there to do in your home. You're an author. What's the name of your book? Water Exercise by Jody. Water Exercise by Jody. You want to check that out on Amazon. And I'm telling you, those water exercises are really good for you because you can really feel it for sure. For sure. Okay, so thank you for coming in today. Thank you for having me, Cheryl. Yeah, absolutely. So um, this has been a great conversation, of course. And we're starting the year off right with getting new year, new you. But the other thing is make it last more than 21 days.

SPEAKER_00 20:16

Thank you. Not just January. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Make your uh, you know, make your goals measurable and accountable and stick to that. Make a commitment and do it for yourself. Yeah. And if you mess up one day, it's okay. Just start right then. It's okay. Yeah. It's okay. You you know what? Yeah, don't just oh, simple walk. 10 minutes, guys. Don't put too much energy and effort into it. And if you can't get outside, run for five seconds in your kitchen.

SPEAKER_01 20:42

And on YouTube, on Jody's YouTube, you how how long are you exercising? You've got 10 minutes?

SPEAKER_00 20:47

10 minutes, five minutes, three minutes. Just you could get, you're gonna have to scroll for a little while, but you know, you can look through them. Good, good, good, good.

SPEAKER_01 20:54

Awesome, awesome. So remember, living well is about taking care of yourself both financially and physically, like we've been talking about today. And for your mortgage needs, reverse mortgage needs, I've been doing reverse mortgages for 10 years. I've been in the mortgage industry since 2002. I'm licensed in all states through Barrett Financial except for New York. And so I can help your family members across the states. Uh, you can reach me at 480-817-4324 or on my website, Reverse Mortgage and Beyond. Thanks for joining us. We'll see you next time. Again, this is Cheryl Scheidel, NMLS number 886425 with Barrett Financial, an Equal Housing Lender. Please remember that loan programs, rates, and eligibility guidelines are subject to change and may vary based on individual circumstances. Nothing discussed in this episode constitutes a loan offer or credit decision. Any examples or scenarios shared are strictly for illustrative purposes. All loans are subject to credit approval and underwriting conditions.