Almost Forever

Strong is the Longevity Plan with Jennifer Cohen

• L-Nutra, Inc. • Season 1 • Episode 1

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0:00 | 1:06:04

Entrepreneur, TEDx speaker, and best-selling author Jen Cohen joins Almost Forever hosts Renee and Melanie for a no-BS conversation about why we overcomplicate health — and what actually moves the needle on longevity. Jen coined "Strong Is the New Skinny" back in 2014, years before the muscle-and-longevity wave hit mainstream wellness. In this episode she breaks down why exercise is "the gateway drug" for neuroplasticity and confidence, makes the case for all-day movement over one big gym session, and shares her perspective on GLP-1s and why we still don't know enough about their long-term effects. Plus: why loneliness may be the most underrated threat to your lifespan, and the simple non-negotiable that keeps Jen walking everywhere in car-obsessed L.A.

In our Mailbag: is intermittent fasting actually bad for women, how to get through Prolon's 5-day Fasting Mimicking Diet, and a no-equipment hotel room strength routine you can do anywhere.

Myth or Method: Fiber maxing — is loading up on fiber a real strategy or a recipe for disaster?

🕐 Chapters:

  • 0:00 Jen Cohen on why movement trumps everything
  • 0:36 Welcome to the very first episode of Almost Forever
  • 3:56 Myth or Method: Is fiber maxing legit?
  • 14:28 Meet Jen Cohen — entrepreneur, author, and Habits & Hustle host
  • 15:32 The longevity hill: stop majoring in the minors
  • 23:36 Exercise as the gateway drug — neuroplasticity and the ripple effect
  • 37:27 "Strong Is the New Skinny" — how she saw the muscle-longevity wave coming in 2014
  • 48:35 "When you die, you look like your decisions" — community, loneliness, and joy
  • 52:57 Mailbag: Is intermittent fasting bad for women?
  • 56:39 Mailbag: How to get through the 5-day Fasting Mimicking Diet
  • 1:00:58 Mailbag: Hotel room strength routine with no equipment

Guest Bio: Jen Cohen is an entrepreneur, TEDx speaker, best-selling author of Strong Is the New Skinny, Bigger, Better, Bolder, and No Gym Required, and host of the Habits & Hustle podcast. She sold a fitness app to Weight Watchers and has spent over 15 years in the health and wellness space helping people build sustainable habits through mindset shifts and practical frameworks.



Have a longevity question? DM us @prolon on Instagram and you might make it into our mailbag!

Learn more about Prolon's 5-Day Fasting Mimicking Diet and longevity lifestyle products  at prolonlife.com. 

Almost Forever is brought to you by Prolon, powered by L-Nutra, the longevity technology company. This podcast is for entertainment purposes only and is not intended as medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, or a substitute for professional healthcare services. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider before making changes to your diet, exercise, supplement, or health routine. Guest views are their own and may not reflect those of Prolon or its parent company L-Nutra. 


SPEAKER_05

So if you need to start somewhere, start with movement. And that's why when you first asked me the question of like, if I was going to be standing on a hill or a rooftop, what would I what would I say? I would say, red light's great, saunas are great, all the things are nice and pretty and good, and they will move the needle 0.01%. But if you're not doing this thing, this movement thing, this exercise thing, all that other stuff is completely like useless and and arbitrary.

SPEAKER_00

This is a very important episode. Yeah, the prop arguably the most important one.

SPEAKER_01

The first one.

SPEAKER_00

The very, very first episode.

SPEAKER_01

Um, how are you though? I I'm good. I you know, I would say I'm equally excited and nervous because, you know, this this has been something we've been working on for some time. And it's been it's been a brain and heart child of us both. Yeah.

SPEAKER_06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. I mean, it we've put some blood, sweat, and tears into this baby. So I hope I hope the rest of the world likes it as much as we do. I know.

SPEAKER_00

Well, if your hair looks like that every episode, I think everyone will.

SPEAKER_01

Oh my God.

SPEAKER_00

You had too kind. If you're if you're watching the video version, highly suggest.

unknown

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Come check us out on YouTube. See, we're already doing a great job. God bless. Here we go. Um, so we have a great episode coming up.

SPEAKER_01

We do. With one of our absolute favorites. And no, we don't have favorites, but you know, it is the first episode, so we had to bring out all the stops.

SPEAKER_00

I think, I think this so we we have our first episode with Jen Cohen, Jennifer Cohen, who's just a fabulous woman. I think that we like her so much though, because she's she's such a connector. I think that's the thing. She's she's she's real. Yeah. And she's been around for uh, I mean, she not to age you, Jen. You're very young, especially for her. Don't don't take that the wrong way. Um, no, but I she's so experienced and has so much, so much real life world experience, and she's such an incredible connector for for people. She she thinks, like, oh, that that person would be so great to meet this person. She's just in I've I yeah, I I really like, I appreciate minds like that.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, yeah. Her brain works in beautiful ways, and we really do get to kind of like unpack that with her in this episode. So, with that, we also are gonna be covering some things like GLP1s. Um, we're doing a myth or method on fiber maxing. Yes.

SPEAKER_00

So that's gonna be We do, we do myth or methods, you guys. We if you have questions for us, we we like to unpack specific questions about nutrition trends.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, nutrition or what's working, what's not working. Uh, where does the science? Because, you know, after over a decade of being registered dietitians, specifically working in the longevity space, we've gotten pretty good at being nerdy and unpacking the research and figuring out what's legit and what isn't. Right. What's gonna be a passing fad versus what's not. Yeah, exactly. So that's myth and method. And then we also do mailbag. You want to talk a little bit about that?

SPEAKER_00

We love a mailbag. Also, I love the name mailbag. That's from our producer, Emmanuel. Um, but yes, mailbag. We we get so many questions. Oh my gosh. I and I love I love answering weird questions, good questions, bad questions, weird any I love answering questions. Um, and we take them from you, from our audience audience. So if you are interested in getting your questions answered live on the show, you can actually submit them to as a DM to the Prolon Instagram account at Prolon, and we will add them, incorporate them into the show.

SPEAKER_01

We really like to and we're so lucky because our guests help answer the questions too. So we get three, sometimes four great minds coming at your questions. And we don't always agree either. So it it always adds a little bit of entertainment value to Renee and I think we're not gonna like our each other's answers.

SPEAKER_00

No. It's the that's the ever-evolving world of nutrition and and science and especially functional, functional um uh nutrition as well.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, for sure. Well, should we dig into today's myth or method?

SPEAKER_00

Let's dive in.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, this today is fiber maxing. Have you heard of it? Of course you have.

SPEAKER_00

Everyone's like as a gut health dietitian by by roots, yes, I have heard of fiber maxing. I want to ask you. I have lots to say about fiber maxing, but I want to start with you. Is it a method method to you? What what have you found?

SPEAKER_01

Okay, so I so what was funny is that when this topic came across our desk and our producer Anne was like, I think we should do fiber maxing, I was like, what is it? What? And of course, you know, I'm I'm cool and I know the Gen Z things, and I knew maxing was like like a thing. And so I could put the two the two things together. Okay, so we're gonna just optimize our our fiber. And I was like, okay, yeah, heck yeah, I'm here for this. We know that. Um so only about there's there is a 25 to 38 gram per day recommendation for fiber. Okay, that that might not mean necessarily something to most people, but what may mean something to people is that most people are only getting about 10 to 15 grams, which means that most Americans, like nine lower percent of Americans, are getting like 40 to 50 percent of their fiber needs. So the concept of fiber maxing of like getting as much possible fiber as you possibly can. I I I like where we're going with it, especially with the the conversations that have been happening around protein all of the time. And plenty of people are getting enough protein and we're like over-optimizing on that.

SPEAKER_00

More than enough of it, yeah, which we'll get into in later episodes.

SPEAKER_01

So so I I like that, but I do think that there is whenever I hear the word maxing, and I've seen some people out there talking about like 80, 100 gram levels of fiber, and that is just I mean, there is too much of a good thing. And so that's where like I think you as the gut health dietitian can start going into how uncomfortable that could be and potentially problematic. Or I don't know, do you are you here for these like really, really high numbers? My recommendation would be cap it, especially like the men generally can consume more fiber, men, women a little bit less, but like cap it closer to that 60 gram mark per day. Um, beyond that, I think it would be a lot of trips to the toilet.

SPEAKER_00

So that's a nuanced, it's nuanced to say that because I think, well, first of all, if you if if you are starting at 10 grams, if that's your average, if you aren't the typical American at having 10 to 15 grams and you suddenly go to 60 grams, you will be having diarrhoea, very bad stomach pains. It's not recommended to do that, especially overnight. Yeah, right. So you max time in the bathroom is really what it is. Yeah, fiber maxing, max time in the bathroom. That should be quoted. It is really important to go slowly. This is the same actually true for most nutritional things. If you're trying to increase water, fiber, protein, it shouldn't be a zero to a hundred overnight ever. Right. Regardless, your body needs time to adjust and to and to adapt to the new changes that you're that you're making. But in terms of fiber, I want to quickly go back. So it's I I teach nutrition physiology as well at University of California Irvine to nursing students, and I talk a lot about um the evolution of humans over the course of you know, millions of years. And our early human ancestors were plant-based eaters and were eating upwards of about 100 grams of fiber every day from lots of different plant-based sources. They were munching it on berries and foliage, and they were a nomadic species traveling with the seasons and eating a lot of greens and fiber. That's how we evolved, actually, to have a lot of fiber in our system, but uh from varying and varieties of plants. Since agriculture has become uh, you know, the way that we mass agriculture is a defining uh component to our current society and how we consume food, we are now eating not only just a few varieties of foods, corn, wheat, right? And also a lot less fiber in general, because we're not eating as many plants in general. So our bodies have uh taken a screeching halt and our and we're not necessarily used to eating all of the fiber that we we have been evolved to to consume. So, on the one hand, if you have trained your body over the course of time to have 100 grams of fiber, it shouldn't actually realistically be a problem. But that's not where most of us are, right? So so to answer your question about is it okay? I think it for certain people, for people who are very good plant-based eaters and have a lot of really wonderful varieties of food, I think that that it's actually quite it would be tough.

SPEAKER_01

I wouldn't say quite easy. Because like you'd want to eat fiber, you'd have to eat a lot. Yeah, you'd have to eat so much. I mean, so like legumes, right? You have a cup of legumes, you're still only probably getting like 10, 12 grams of fiber. Sure. And, you know, most people are having, you know, three meals a day, let's say, right? And so still realistically, like to hit a hundred grams in those three meals a day, you, you know, to and then still, you know, you still have to hit your protein recommendations and you still have to get all the other wonderful things in in your your protocol. So I I just I would want to make sure that we're not over-optimizing for one thing and then potentially losing out on another. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

So like you know, you do have to be very careful about the the types of foods you're choosing. So just to go back, because you hit on a very important point we did not talk about, fiber is the insoluble uh parts of plant-based sources of food. So it's it's found in the husks and the outer uh parts of almost like the what what's the word I'm going for? The actual fiber, fibrous parts of plant-based food. So if you're eating something like broccoli or zucchini or or sweet potatoes, you're getting that kind of husk fibrous part of those outer shells. Outer shells of the fruits and vegetables that actually then our body can't actually digest fiber. It's the purpose of fiber is to actually either build and bulk up our stool eventually with water to that. Think of chia seeds becoming gelatinous. That's a called a soluble form of fiber, or it's it helps to build up your fecal matter to help it push out of your system. Both are incredibly important. I don't usually differentiate between the two within my clients. If you're getting really specific, that's a whole different thing. Um, but it's really important for uh it it is the prebiotic, when we heard hear the term prebiotics, the prebiotic food that the good bacteria in your gut eat to stay alive. So if you are taking probiotics but not eating fiber, it's a whole different conversation. You're not gonna keep your garden alive, right? They need food and they eat fiber. Um, and the process of them eating fiber, by the way, creates these things called butyrate that then help to solidify our gut lining and make us really strong and apt to be able to convert nutrients into energy. It's it's fiber is so important.

SPEAKER_01

So let's just tell how much she likes fiber. I love it. I love it. Okay, okay. So yes, fiber is important. It's very important. We also just know from the research that it is beneficial for uh improving, yes, gut health, but also improving cardiovascular health and many other uh areas of long-term health and uh chronic disease reduction because it also slows down uh release of sugar in our system. So also helpful for reduction of type 2 diabetes and improvement in blood sugar management. So all of these things kind of layer on top of each other. So fiber is important. We definitely need more. We're not getting enough. So the long and short of this is is fiber maxing myth or method? I think we can both agree that it is method.

SPEAKER_00

It's about the same time, and I was very worried just to say myth. No, yes, of course, of course it's a method. The so here's the thing that I will keep in mind though, or that I want to tell you guys that's important is don't go from zero to a hundred overnight. You need to build into the amount of fiber that you're consuming. And this could take months, by the way. I would suggest increasing by one or two, maybe five grams tops a week for a while until and let your body adjust at that place for a few weeks before you start inching um further into it. And that's because if you flood your body full of this very fibrous food, it can cause diarrhea, but you're you're not going to actually be building the bacteria cultures that you want in your gut properly if you don't give them time to actually cultivate. So you want to get and make sure that you get your fiber from real foods and not a fiber.

SPEAKER_01

Can you say that louder for the people in the back?

SPEAKER_00

Can you say it louder for the people in the back?

SPEAKER_01

Get your fiber from real foods. What?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. What does that mean? So no fiber supplements, no fiber.

unknown

No.

SPEAKER_00

It there is scientific evidence. First of all, you know, there it doesn't mean that you should completely avoid foods that have added fiber. That's not what we're saying. But but by supplementing all the time, your body doesn't respond the same way to things like psyllium husk from powdered sources than it does from actual broccoli or actual. Right.

SPEAKER_01

And think of all the other things that you're missing out on by not getting it from foods that have all the other things nicely packaged in it. So I mean, we can spend days talking about this, I'm sure. But do you wanna do you wanna confirm whether you believe that?

SPEAKER_00

This is a hundred percent a method. This is a method that you should consider. You need to go slowly and optimize for your own body. And I do think that there is a way to get, I think, you know, I in my prime of of eating, I was getting at least 60. That was a that was like my base. So yeah, it it's possible. It's not necessarily a bad thing to hit the higher marks so long as you are doing it optimally and as slowly as possible, especially if you're not used to it.

SPEAKER_01

Cool. We did it. Oh my gosh. Never answering any more fiber questions for this girl.

SPEAKER_00

Sorry, I love it. I love it. And if you ever want to be passionate, if you ever want to talk about vowel movements, I'm your gal. Yeah. I'm your gallop. Welcome, everybody. We want to introduce Jennifer Cohen, who is on our Almost Forever podcast. Jennifer Cohen is, man, an entrepreneur in health and wellness. She is a best-selling author. She has her own podcast, Habits and Hustle. Um, she sold an app to Weight Watcher. She's been an entrepreneur and a thought leader in the health and wellness space for what, 15 plus years?

SPEAKER_05

I'm gonna age myself, Melanie, if you just say that. That sounds perfect. Yes.

SPEAKER_00

Yes, she is incredible. We're very, very happy to have you on. So welcome, Jen.

SPEAKER_01

Thank you so much, you guys. I love sitting here with you. Yeah, and on top of that, you're our friend. Yes. I was gonna say I think it's also a qualification that I would like to call out.

SPEAKER_05

I think it's your top qualification. Everything else is kind of secondary to me, right? I love that you guys are doing this. This is so great.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, and we there's nobody that we would rather have sitting across from us today than you. And I'm really excited for the audience to get a chance to really hear your no BS approach to health, wellness, entrepreneurship, all of the cool things that you're up to these days.

SPEAKER_05

Well, no BS is what they're gonna get.

SPEAKER_01

So here we go.

SPEAKER_05

Let's do it.

SPEAKER_01

Let's do this. It's ideal. That's ideal. Well, so we we like to start things off with a pretty standard question. And we say, What is the longevity hill you're going to die on? What does that mean? Essentially, like what is the one thing that you want everybody to know about health, wellness, longevity that you feel like people maybe not be hearing or listening to?

SPEAKER_05

I think that people focus too much on the minors and not on the majors. And the truth of the matter is, especially now, if I were to be standing on a hill and screaming from the or standing on the from the rooftop, I would say that let's not focus so much on the nitty-gritty details until we get the foundation. And to me, the foundation starts and ends with movement. I think exercise is the number one most primary thing you should be doing for your overall health and wellness. I think that movement, you momentum and movement are hand in hand. Like I think that you once you stop moving, then that's when everything becomes things kind of fall apart. And of course, I would say the the nice partner with that, of course, is what you eat. But honestly, I think like keeping yourself moving regularly, like for is the most important thing.

SPEAKER_01

And I mean, when I hear movement, I think like it's a pretty big umbrella term. Like do you have a minimum amount of movement that you would say qualifies? Like, does it have to be a certain intensity, or is it just like just be moving?

SPEAKER_05

That's a super that's a great question. And I'm gonna tell you that I believe that social media has done a big injustice a lot because they say, oh, if you just do 30 minutes a day of walking. Yes, 30 minutes a day of walking is definitely better than zero minutes or 20 minutes, but I'm a really big believer that you want to move, I think, as much as possible during the day, which means if you just move for like a chunk of time and then you're sedentary the rest of the time, you're kind of defeating the purpose. So to me, I think multiple times of getting up and moving, that that is walking, that is functional workouts, that is training. You don't have to do every mobility work, flexibility work. I'm not saying do all of it in one day. But I think that the mindset has to be like, no, you know what? 30 minutes a day of moving is actually not enough. Like, let's aim for like increments of maybe 15, 20 minutes or five minutes at a time, but many, like many times during that time, many times during that day. Yeah, you know, and that's not even for like changing your body composition. I think that there's like also this fallacy, like, oh, if you, you know, this do this like 12, it's like a 12 incline through at 30 minutes speed of three, 12 incline, that you're gonna like have this great fit physique. And that's also like a load of crap. I mean, yes, you're getting some like nice cardiovascular and some like nice strength training, but you're not gonna change your body composition and you're not gonna get probably the results that you think you're gonna get from doing that.

SPEAKER_01

Right. And is there, I mean, I've been hearing a lot about like Norwegian four by four. Like, is there that one magic bullet of what everybody should be doing? Or is it just like I think that they'll take out the trash.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, no, I think they're bait, they're fundamentals and foundational things that you should be doing, especially as you get older, right? Like middle age, you definitely need to do strength training. I think that's like a that's a non-negotiable, right? Like that to me, super important. Functional training, super important. I mean, but I also think being consistent over time, which means like it would be great if someone listening to this podcast doesn't just start strength training when they're like 45, right? Like you want to start people as young as possible. Like I have two kids who are 10 and 13, or now 11 and 13, sorry, Sydney. And uh I I like I'm I'm a big believer in like move like playing sports, keeping active, like getting into the habit as early as possible so it becomes part of your day-to-day life and your lifestyle.

SPEAKER_00

It's also easier to keep get muscle when you start earlier. I mean, I I give it a lot of people.

SPEAKER_05

Muscle memory, like muscle memory.

SPEAKER_00

I I swear that I but being an athlete as a kid, I it's so much easier for me to get back into that shape. Right. Having had that foundational piece already when I was, you know, 10.

SPEAKER_05

Also, I think then you know what you don't like. I think a lot of times people don't know what they don't know. So if you've never been active or fit, you don't know what you're missing. Right. But if you have that place where you could be like, oh yeah, I remember when I was really fit and felt good, or I was more agile, or had more mobility, or I was more athletic, and then you're not anymore. Like, I think that like you'll always like there, there's a better chance of you like wanting to get back to that or staying in that position, right? Right. But I really do believe like you start these habits as early as possible so you can maintain that over time as long as possible. Um, but like, and then what you were saying, I think you know, you have these Norwegian four by fours and this and this and that, and the berries boot camera. I think all of those things are great. Like what I will what I will say is I don't think Pilates is enough. I'll give you, I'll say that. But I think doing sorry to say, trained in in like the most hardcore Pilates. I think Pilates is great, don't get me wrong.

SPEAKER_00

But I don't think Legris is different. Legris is different than Pilates. Yes.

SPEAKER_05

But I did Legris when I was pregnant and like every day, but I still it doesn't, it doesn't take the place of weightlifting, strength training, weightlifting, and honestly, like good old-fashioned like cardio. Like I'm a big cardio person, more for my brain than I am for my body and my physical body composition. Because I think that to me is like the the puzzle piece that really helps with like your cognitive ability, your your memory, your focus, your productivity. And like you're actually just overall, like you get so much more done because like you feel much you you get, like this. I think the endorphins make you feel like the sense of accomplishment where you will then kind of keep on point for the rest of the day. Like you do cardio first in the morning. I think it's a really good thing to kind of keep Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

Well, it's also when you work cardio, you're working your heart. Your heart is what pumps blood, right? So when we have circulation more easily pumping throughout our body, including your brain, it helps to get. nutrients there better. It helps us to feel stronger and fitter and and you know more energized in general. So it's not just the endorphins because those are very real and like that. That does keep the motivation going, but it's also the working the muscle of your heart, which is really important.

SPEAKER_05

Absolutely. I think all of it, I think the mus I think the of course for your heart, but also I think, and also I should say, is there's something that happens I feel in like it in your brain when I think when you you when you actually get like a a pump on or whatever you want to call it where it does start to even change the neuroplasticity and how you your confidence level, your self-esteem level, the feeling of I can do hard things, I I that I actually did what I said I would like all those things I think are so so fundamental for your overall success in life, not just on your physical, but on all levels of life. Like it helps me like fitness for me helped me in my professional career. It helped me with you know going after things and you know kind of being a bulldog and feeling like I like feeling like I can take I failure's failures okay. And it kind of just kind of really did change the neuroplasticity I guess in my brain like to feel much more mentally strong and mentally capable if I than when I didn't exercise at all.

SPEAKER_01

For anybody listening that isn't as familiar with neuroplasticity, can you just like really lightly touch on it and and give us a little bit of an understanding of what that means and what that how that's connected to some of the work you're doing.

SPEAKER_05

The simplest way of saying is like changing how how your how your brain kind of fires. Yeah. Right? Like to me, I think I I I'm a big believer in of creating habits and rituals that can optimize you in your life in every way. So to me like exercise is the gateway drug for everything else. So once you start with that so much the the ripple effect of other things that kind of land in place because of the neuroplasticity that changes in your brain is undeniable and unbelievable. And you only you don't know what you don't know. So if you need to start somewhere start with movement. And that's why when you first asked me the question of like if I was going to be standing on a hill or a rooftop what would I what would I say? I would say red light's great saunas are great all the things are nice and pretty and good and they will move the needle 0.01% but if you're not doing this thing this movement thing this exercise thing all that other stuff is completely like useless and and arbitrary.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah and you know what it reminds me of and I'm sure he's not going to be thrilled that I called him out on this but the fact of of continuing movement and not just doing like one big workout and then sitting on your butt for the rest of the day. Who do you think I'm going to call out I'm trying to I'm trying to think I don't know your dad. Oh oh really why sweet Bob I'm sorry you don't have to talk about it.

SPEAKER_00

Well this is this is this is an important part because I think it is the neuroplasticity but you know we are here talking about longevity in every facet and a muscle is the known as a longevity organ, right? I mean the more of it you have as you age the not only the the easier it is to get up and stand up and move, but the better your actual skeletal structure, like your bones are in place because muscles hold it together, right? They they give you that strength to pick up your knee and move it forward. And man my my dad is a was a gym rat. He actually ran a a bunch of marathons when he was younger but he's one of those guys that will go into the gym for an hour and then sit and read news and sit in a chair for the rest of the of the day. Yeah. And a lot of people do that. Not just your dad Bob I would say a lot of people do that.

SPEAKER_01

And you feel good because like you still got in this hour work. You're doing a lot more than a lot of people it's better than zero.

SPEAKER_05

It's better than zero. No listen if you're doing an hour of movement a day and then sedentary that's better than 99% of the people totally but I I would also say to you and the research has proven this to be accurate that doing three 20 minute bouts is way more effective for you than doing one full 60 minutes at one time. And there's a lot of data to prove to show that because you want to be able to move like for to your point the circulation to move your body more multiple times a day to get your blood circulating and like I think over for and that's for overall longevity. If you look at the blue zones right the people who are living the longest all the centenarians what do you call it centenarians they are not just like moving once and then sitting the rest of the day they're they're their lifestyle is moving. And I have this one non-negotiable which is I do not get into a car unless it's two miles or over so if something is two miles or under I am walking my ass there no matter what I even in LA which is really saying something a non-walking city. Oh you're by the way it's the irony is is not lost on me that in LA which is supposed to be the healthiest city that should be the healthiest place with the weather and the food and the things that you you have available that nobody walks. And so I walk like literally everywhere and I don't like to to lunch meetings to wherever and I don't care if I come a little sweaty if I'm wearing my running shoes. I'd rather do that because of the the benefits that are like again the ripple effect I'm all about the ripple effect in life than than anything else. So to me I I don't care that's that is like a non-negotiable and for people to really kind of get to their goals they have to put and they have to place non-negotiables in their life for them to stick to so that they actually get from where they where they are to where they want to be.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah you know what this reminds me of a little bit is is your boldness and this is something that you're you're all about you had a really big TED talk six million views I think yeah on the first one yeah and where you really dig into to boldness and like really pushing and asking for for what you want. And I I mean of course I watched it I was inspired and I'm super curious to hear how you apply that same concept in longevity because that you you didn't like fully tie it to health wellness longevity.

SPEAKER_05

It wasn't it wasn't that was not thank you Renee that was very nice of you it wasn't supposed to be a longevity motivational talk. It was actually supposed to be a motivational talk on somebody who feels stuck or is letting their self-doubt stop them for going after what they want. And so I always live by this a couple I live by a bunch of mottos, but one of them is always to be chasing what you want and not taking what you get because most people most people don't make any attempts and they settle for good enough and they acquiesce to what's available to them. And so my whole platform or my message in life is you know you get what you you know you get what you ask for not what you deserve not what it's it's the squeaky wheel that gets the oil. I can give you more of these like you know analogies. Exactly but and I and I believe that it wholeheartedly to be true. And I just want people to live their life in every way not just their physicality life their in every way their mental emotional spiritual physical in you know to the fullest because we only are here one time. So create situations and habits and rituals that will get you there. That's that's basically my platform. And part of that is asking for what you want and not just like settling for what you get.

SPEAKER_01

And so how do you think like for people listening that are here to try and optimize their health and their longevity like what do you where do you think that people aren't asking for what they want in that respect?

SPEAKER_05

In everything honestly in every way possible in their relationships, in their jobs in their everything because people are people are not I don't think that I think we are so much more capable of what we believe we are. And a lot of times we are looking at the wrong people to show us what is available and what our options are because everybody works under a a landscape of what their experiences were right. So that's why choosing mentors is very very tricky as well right or you're or asking for advice from people who you know you you don't want their life or would never even potentially even go after what you want. And I think that we make a lot of our dis our choices in life or our decisions in life based on a person's opinion that you wouldn't ever, you know, that you that whose life you don't even want to live. Right. So I just think that we have to be super mindful and and discerning of where we get our advice and who we take advice from and use your intuition.

SPEAKER_01

Which is huge in the world of health wellness and longevity because there is so much information out there and we're hearing it.

SPEAKER_00

Part of why we wanted to start this podcast too is to give you a space to get the accurate pieces. But can I can I I you actually brought up a really important thing that like just I I'm a new mom myself and I I feel like when you were saying all of this I'm like so much of this starts with how we bring up our kids and what you what we believe what we tell them to believe what we how we cultivate a sense of self in our children. Do you have having being a thought leader and entrepreneur in the space do you have any tidbits for new moms on how you're instilling this in your kids?

SPEAKER_05

Well your kids will never listen to you no matter what. So that's full stop.

SPEAKER_01

I'm just gonna be honest with you is is coming out full stop right now.

SPEAKER_05

You know I could give you a million stories I disagree a side a little side story.

SPEAKER_00

They just pretend they're not listening.

SPEAKER_05

No they're watching you they're not listening. Kids learn way better by watching and seeing what you do versus what you're saying. So why not lead by example by being the role being a role model that you want like what you want your kids to see. You can talk all you want but they tune you out but they will watch you. So for me I I'm I'm I'm very cognizant like very cognizant of that because I talk and they're like they're not paying any attention but I I'm they're they're watching my actions so that means that's why I make sure I exercise every day. I eat very healthy in front of them. I'm not doing the you know or I'm polite to people I you know all the things that like which I sometimes don't want to be depending on the person but I want them to learn learn by what I what they see but not what I say. Yeah well yeah yeah they learn language comes later I think in life I feel like I think so but your question and so like that's part of it. Like if you want to teach your children you better better be wild be yeah be that person.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah but so much of so much of what you're talking about I think the blocks that people have are if if I mean we've talked about this ad nauseum but we could chase this all the way back to how we were brought up and what we were taught to expect or believe in ourselves or um you know what we're allowed to say what we're not allowed to say. I think this is especially true for women we're all you know there is a female wound with this especially I think that it's power extra powerful for women to to harness this too.

SPEAKER_05

Well I think women I think that women are like are predisposit like they're predisposed I I I would I would say depending on how you're brought up for sure but there is this like well you know you're a woman is successful if they marry a guy who is wealthy and can take care of you. And it's not about like the woman necessarily being the one who is the success and who can be a breadwinner and be a career person. It's about if they can be they should be a good mom, stay at home and marry a really rich guy. I mean that's basically who's successful. I think that the paradigm though it's funny because the paradigm is really is shifting and has shifted already but I think that when it that's a very archaic way of looking at things. And so I think a lot of times women make choices based around that paradigm not about a newer version of that paradigm or what they actually want for themselves. I think a lot of people have kids not because they want kids but because they feel that society tells them to have kids you know and so we are a lot of people are just kind of our zombies going through life based on what they are expected to do. Sure I think that happens a lot too but that's why you have again like you have to be super self-aware and like check in with yourself and be like what do I really want? What kind of life do I really want? And that's what goes back to the TED talk that from a long time ago is because it's about the fact that like what are you are you what do you are you just acquiescing to what's expected of you and what's good enough or are you actually going after and chasing that actual job you want. You know like a lot of times and even let's just take it to career place for a second we just we apply for the jobs that are available versus like seeking out the actual company that we want to work for that's very be very laser focused and then trying to find a way into that place. Right. Like that's just a small example. Another one in dating we end we we go out with the guy that asked us out not the guy that we necessarily wanted to go out with you know like who we actually like and that we actually find cute. We'll never ask them out. We'll just sit back and like whoever actually asks us out then we'll make it our decision based on those four or five people.

SPEAKER_02

Sure.

SPEAKER_05

So and I'm just like flipping the I'm just like flipping that whole idea on its head and being like no I want to go out the guy I want to go out with. I want the job I want to go have I'm not gonna just take the job because that's available. I'm not gonna just take that guy because he asked me out. I'm not just gonna do that because they no so I feel empowered by the disobedient woman I love it.

SPEAKER_00

We were just talking about that at lunch. Yeah I love it.

SPEAKER_05

It's okay I'm very disobedient and I'm fine with it. And everyone should be disobedient with my change happens. And that's how you get what you want. That's how you get what you want. And if people don't like it's too bad. And find another find someone else who does because there'll always be people who like you who who like what you do, what you stand for and there'll always be people who don't and I try to tell people all the time who cares about the people who don't like you and who cares about the people who are not your people. They're not your people. They're not your people and they don't care about you anyway. So focus on the ones who actually like you and care about you and want the best for you and like are applauding you. Yeah. That's my message.

SPEAKER_01

I I love your I love all of your messages by the way but this is why I want to like double down on this concept that actually let's let's go back a little bit more. You've written like four or five books now?

SPEAKER_05

Yes. My last book was a different type of book. Actually that's not true. Yeah I've written four or five books.

SPEAKER_01

There were go ahead I don't mean to interrupt you no all of it I needed to know because one of the books that jumped out to me and okay I'm gonna call myself out I didn't read it yet but I read the title and it was it was from 2014 and it's strong as the new skinny. And do you know why this jumped out to me? Because I was like holy shit this was in 2014. No I know you are so ahead of everybody else talking about oh finally we're like oh muscle's important and it's like 12 years later guys so you are you are like so ahead of the game you're looking at things thank you and you're calling them out early.

SPEAKER_05

So I want to know what are you seeing today that you need to be calling out well I what I do see which is interesting you brought I was I was going to bring that up the whole strong is a new skinny because when I wrote that book I was it was a movement because I really wanted women to focus on something that they could obtain which is the reason why I called it strong is the new skinny is because everybody can be strong or stronger. But not everybody can be a size zero and being skinny. So focus on a goal that is realistic and attainable versus something else that's very very very hard to maintain because I believe that everyone does have a baseline that is their set weight and you can modify it here and there. But it's very hard if you're someone who's like more of an athletic, you know, we call it mesomorph, right? To become an ectomorph, which is a very skinny person, like very like um like um thin thin, yeah but yeah uh no hips type of you're you're no you're an ectomorph like very like I wasn't gonna call it out but I was like I'm sitting next to and I'm more of a mesomorph or athletic but my point is you can only you can only manipulate you can only manipulate it so much until where it gets to be very difficult. Yeah. Now with all these GLP ones and all the things that are happening now I think that we're in big trouble if you want to know the truth.

SPEAKER_00

Yes it is and it's coming with a lot of um other like okay I'm I'm being the noob bringing you back to longevity but if you think about um as you get older, no, it's it this is helpful. When as you get older though, the it is beneficial to have a little bit more body fat on your on your skeletal structure.

SPEAKER_05

Let's just talk about the vanity point. Never mind the fact that when you have zero muscle on your body which is of course we said the longevity organ.

SPEAKER_00

We need it.

SPEAKER_05

Right? You are doing yourself an incredible disservice. Yeah you are going like if you fall you're gone you're gonna snap your hip or snap your dick or whatever and you're you're done.

SPEAKER_00

Or break two wrists. Well break two wrists exactly and the GLP ones too because they the mechanism of action the way that it works in the body is in part causing you to feel full for a long period of time without having a lot of food. So naturally you're not gonna get as much nutrients you're gonna have nutrient deficiencies. If we don't get those nutrients you're it does make your your the mineralization of our bones weaker right we we get we will have more falls we will have more accidents like that.

SPEAKER_05

So I also don't understand something I don't I don't I like I'm not a big like I'm not someone who believes that you should be on medication forever if you don't have to be you're in good company. And I think right I think that a lot of GLP1 I mean unless you have diabetes I know people say oh it's good for inflammation and it's good for cognitive there's cognitive benefits but do we know taking this medication if you're a regular sized human being without any real uh you're not a diabetic you don't really have any blood blood sugar issues like all of that what we said about loop it back. I'm gonna I'm gonna loop it right back because I think if you are somebody who has a really good sense of self and who is mentally strong and kind of like you know you kind of like know thyself and know you can you can kind of like smell bullshit a more a mile away and you won't you won't be so you you won't fall for every you know Tom Dick or Harry or Charlatan that's out there because you are solid in who you are what you what what you've kind of who you are like what you believe in what you know to be true your intuition it's when we are weak that we fall for all this nonsense like oh you know I don't really love the way I look I'm gonna listen to Joe Blow and I'm gonna do the these 97 peptides now and I'm gonna do this salmon facial because I'm gonna look like this person. Like by the way if you if you really think that the people that you're watching on social media look that way because they like are drinking a matcha and uh doing some hype of like you know some type of like salmon whatever facial you know like well I mean like I I I have a whole other thing to sell you. I can sell you know I have a bridge to sell you because a lot of these girls A they're young girls and they're doing a lot of other things and using a lot of filters and they're doing like don't believe everything you see and hear. Right. And so the the stronger your your constitution is within the the better you're gonna have a shot at not falling for everything out there.

SPEAKER_00

And I I will say that oh there is something to be if you are a weak person or if there's weak mental stamina you probably need a little bit more food. Food food is energy. If we're if we're weak in our bodies and we're weak in our our brain it goes it goes hand in hand. We're tired we want the quick fix like we want the quick thing to to get us there. So well sleep also is very important too yeah please for 12 12 plus hours for me now I no I swear you swear I wish I wish she's a new mom I dream of having like two consecutive days of 12 hours of sleep oh my 12 I haven't had 12 hours of sleep since I've been like 11.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah I celebrate eight I know I I can't even get eight yeah but that's like another thing that's like more hormonal I think too which is very very difficult. Yeah which again exercise can help a little bit actually we we do we did want to talk to you about that a little bit.

SPEAKER_00

I mean yeah you're you're where are you in the the female cycle right now? What what do you do you feel like your hormone can you talk to us a little bit about your hormone journey?

SPEAKER_05

Well right now I'm just like right now I'm kind of like I guess I'm in the perimetapausal space and I would tell you that my hormones are why I'm not it's it's a real thing. And so I'm not taking it I'm not honest Any hormones, I'm on anything, which I'm not, I'm by the way, I'm not anti-horm. I I think when you need something, you need something. However, be very careful. I'm very, I'm still very kind of trepidatious, even though, of course, the black box uh the all the labels are off. I'm still very trepidatious about taking something just for the sake of taking something until you actually need it as well. But I think that it's it's really, really difficult to kind of navigate. I'm just like in the pro beginning process of it, and it's hard because it's really screwing with my sleep. I'm not sleeping. And if you're not sleeping, like we just said, then so many other things are imbalanced. Like, number one, if you don't sleep enough, you eat more, right? Because all your inhibitions are gone. So that's the other thing. You can't exercise as well because you don't have the recovery and the rest time. Um, also your skin's not. I mean, there's all these reasons why like sleep is so important. It is a snowball effect for sure.

SPEAKER_01

But that's like why. So I hear you say, like, oh, I'm I'm not sleeping well, but I don't want to take these because I don't need them. And I'm like, well, no, no, no.

SPEAKER_05

Sleep, I don't know yet. Like, I'm trying you this is what I what I'll say to people because I have to be mindful of the fact that makes, you know, that what is real why I'm not taking anything yet is because I want to be, I want to make sure I get my lab work done properly and that I see exactly over time what is happening. Because you can take a test and your numbers can be off, or you can that's what happened to me. So, like a whole thing happened where one of my numbers was so crazy high, I'm like, that doesn't even make sense. I gotta like retest that. So I think knowing getting your lab work done from a reputable, like a reputable place and knowing exactly what your body really is deficient in is really important. And that goes with not just hormones, but that goes with like supplementation. And I've told you, I've told both of you probably off-camera before that I I I do find that what we're doing is we are oversupplementing ourselves and we're taking way too much of things that or not enough of certain things based on the wrong data. And you know, even vitamin D, which is seems like a harmless thing. Well, I became I I was tak I became like poisoned by vitamin D because I was taking the amount like I was deficient, so I started taking 5,000 ICUs. Yeah, macrodosis. Right. And taking it every day, every day, every day for all these years, thinking that's what I should be taking, because my lab work said that two years ago. You have to retest. And then I'm I'm I'm taking too much. It's super important. If you get anything out of this podcast, it's that make sure that you get your lab work done at least twice a year. Yeah. And supplement only on the deficiencies that you have. Because and don't just be taking stuff because, again, Joe Blow again is taking something online. Yeah. I think it's like we we should be getting majority of our of our nutrients from food. And the things that we can't get from food, then we can supplement on.

SPEAKER_01

Amen.

SPEAKER_00

I'm um I'm a uh university professor, uh, teach um first-year nursing students at University of California Irvine, and I I do nutrition physiology. And one of the things that I tell them over and over and over and over again, the only way to overdose is through supplementation. Like most everything we go through all of vitamins and minerals. The only way most of the time to overdose is through supplementation. You can't do it through food. It's it's nearly impossible to OD on beta-carotene, OD on vitamin D if you're eating a carrot and having, you know, eggs.

SPEAKER_01

I was very lucky to be on your podcast, Habits and Hustle. I liked you on my podcast. I like you on mine. I forgot. Um but truly, you have an incredible podcast. Thank you. It has what now, like three million plus downloads. It is huge.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, it's probably that we're at more than that a little bit. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. I'm probably underselling it. But you've talked to some of some really big names in health, wellness, longevity, athletes, actors, you name it. And so I'm curious, what have you learned from these people that you feel like, at least in the recent days, that you're like, whoa, that's awesome. I need to share this more broadly.

SPEAKER_05

I'm gonna tell you something that went my I had a podcast yesterday that my guest was incredible. It was the guy from uh he created the School of Hard Knocks. His name is James Dumelian, I think his last name is. Um I I just know him from the School of Hard Knocks and I call him James. And what I he said something on the podcast that I thought was really, really amazing and insightful that someone told him. And it said that when you're born, you look like your parents, but when you die, you look like your decisions. And I thought that was really, really smart and true. And on the same podcast, he said to me that we what was the thing he said? He said that we I can't remember the sentence right now. I can look on my phone and tell you. Do you want me to? Yeah, pull it up. Okay, because I thought it was insightful. Yeah, we got enough. And I was like, I have to keep this. Um, I hope I didn't.

SPEAKER_01

While we're thinking about that, okay, based off of what Jen just shared, you are you're gonna look like the decisions you made. Like what to me, I think Oh yes, I want to say one more.

SPEAKER_05

Okay. The other thing is that people are addicted to education, um, but allergic to execution.

SPEAKER_01

Oh I mean, that sounds like a 10% target to me.

SPEAKER_05

100%. That's why I liked it so much.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

So I just you asked me, that was something that just happened yesterday and it's in my head. And so I love things like that because it just reminds me of how important certain things are to kind of, you know, to kind of push and go and kind of push yourself and go for things in life.

SPEAKER_01

So I I love that line of you are going to look like the decisions you made when you die, right? What do you think are some of the decisions that you would like to make today to look like the way you want to look the day that you say goodbye?

SPEAKER_05

I think I it's all about choice and and and and making creating habits again that kind of put you in a place where you are proud of both physic, both not physically only, but mentally. I think making decisions to pick partners or pick a partner who is solid, who is kind, who surround yourself with people who are cheering you on. And because that's a big one. I think it for long if you really want to know the truth about longevity, since we are sitting here for a with a long for a with a longevity podcast. None of this also matters if you don't have a sense of community and people around you that you love and love you back. Because loneliness is actually the biggest epidemic that's killing us all the fastest, especially in a place where we are so we're so able to be in touch with people so quickly, and yet we are dying inside with lack of connection and community and like relationships. So to me, I want to be in a situation when I die that I made the right decisions to pick people around me that are the right people, that like have my back, that I care for, who care for me and want the best for me, and like I said, who cheer me on and who are my biggest fans. Everything else is secondary. Then I would say, you know, silly things that are obvious, like don't smoke, don't drink, don't all these other things, which by the way, are of course important, but again, I'm about not majoring in the minors, right? Like you gotta have the the other things are way more important, like like that.

SPEAKER_00

Prioritizing your joy.

SPEAKER_05

Prioritizing joy. You know, silly.

SPEAKER_00

We have a very fun uh we we open this up for questions to our audience members. We uh we collect the best ones that we want. So we have a couple mail-bag questions that are gonna come for any one of us. So let's we're gonna open it up. Should I take the first one? Great. Oh wow.

SPEAKER_01

Em, are we good to go?

SPEAKER_00

Yes, read, read the question.

SPEAKER_01

All right. Producer says, go, we go. All right. So first one is I keep seeing online that intermittent fasting is actually bad for women. Should I be fasting at all? Oh, that seems like a Melanie question or a me question.

SPEAKER_00

I mean, I think any of us can answer that. Um, so intermittent fasting. Intermittent fasting, let's just let's quickly define intermittent fasting is done anywhere between one day, 24 hours, to two days max. Anything over two days is no longer an intermittent fast. It's not a prolonged fast. Most people are doing intermittent fasting with the time-restricted eating pattern where you're eating for maybe 12 hours of the day, 10 hours of the day, eight hours of the day if you're going getting pretty strict. Um intermittent fasting has an inc incredible benefits for metabolic health, weight loss. It can be wonderful for improving insulin sensitivity. My biggest qualm, especially for women, and actually this is for everybody, but women especially, we should not be skipping breakfast, people. Like intermittent fasting does not mean skipping breakfast. It means having breakfast and finishing your meals earlier in the day. If you start delaying your first meal later and later in the day, which I think men have a little bit more wiggle room there. Women, women don't so much because we have this cortisol, cortisol spike in the morning that we have to bring back down. That's a stress on your body. Yeah. Yes. So if you are interested in intermittent fasting, yes, do that thing and make sure breakfast is when you start. If you and do you guys want to add to that?

SPEAKER_05

I'm so glad you said that. I said I'm so glad you said no, I am, because I will never skip breakfast. Don't. And I also think that intermittent fasting is now becoming like an old trend. Like more and more people I find are not even doing it anymore. I think it works way better with men, not so great with women, and the hormones again, getting back to the hormones. And like I the, you know, like this whole idea of like, oh, you know, breakfast isn't important. Yeah, it is. It's like jump starting your entire metabolism and like it sets you up for the rest of the day. So this whole idea of like skipping breakfast, I'll tell you what happens when I skip breakfast. I end up eating, I end up eating at least three times the amount of calories. Yeah. My lunch is like 10 times worse than it would have been.

SPEAKER_00

Angry. I'm I'm mad.

SPEAKER_05

Some people say they're not hungry, but then like maybe have like a little thing.

SPEAKER_00

But that's in my practice, when somebody tells me, oh, I just don't, I'm not hungry, that is a metabolic problem. If you are not waking up hungry, that is a metabolic sign your body is not in a line.

SPEAKER_01

How long have you been waking up not hungry? That's probably a trained behavior at that point. But I do want to add one quick note to that because you called out when you were describing intermittent fasting. You said it could be you're only eating for eight hours, nine, 10, 12, right? And especially for women, you can don't be afraid to consider a 12-hour eating window from, you know, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. an intermittent fast that could be really helpful and beneficial.

SPEAKER_00

That's what the long centenarians do. Centenarians, the people living in the longest places around the world, are doing 12-12 pattern. And that that's with the sun when we talk about circadian rhythm. You're eating when the sun's up and you stop when the sun's down. Your organs work in that same rhythmic pattern.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah. And most people are not eating within a 12-hour window. They're eating within like an 18-hour window. They do like only the hours that you are not sleeping are you not eating. Late night late night snacks. Trevor Burrus, Jr.: So I would just urge people to think maybe about a less severe form of intermittent fasting, especially women, to do more of that like 12 hours. Yeah, they don't have 12.

SPEAKER_05

I think that's much more that's much more doable.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Yeah. Definitely. Okay. Question number two. I'm interested in trying the fasting mimicking diet, otherwise known as the FMD. But honestly, five days sounds really hard. How do people get through it?

SPEAKER_05

Hard. It is, it is hard. But things everything worth having is hard. Thank you. Right?

SPEAKER_01

And is it okay? So I do have tips and tricks to make it less hard, actually.

SPEAKER_00

Well, but hold on. Can I please really quickly, the fasting mimicking diet is a five-day food protocol. You get food, y'all. You're not the the you are you are igniting the same cellular rejuvenation pathways, otherwise known as autophagy, that are found in the body, that help recycle old and dying cell parts, replace them with newer functioning, more efficient cell parts, but you do it while still consuming food. That's a huge benefit.

SPEAKER_05

Yeah, you're not starving because you actually also, it's also the the sensation. Like I think a lot of people are are getting, I I know for me, I like the idea of eating, right? Like I like the you know, the the chewing and the experience. And the oh exactly, the experience of eating. And I think that you're getting that with this, which is actually very different than any other thing, where you're just like you feel totally deprived because you're not even getting that ability to touch food, taste food, smell food. And there's teas. Those teas actually help, and those soups actually do help make it.

SPEAKER_01

Because hydration helps in a big way. Yeah. You know, a lot of it's funny because people who do water-only fasting, do you know what one of the major side effects is for a lot of people? It's dehydration. Isn't that crazy that a water-only fast would cause dehydration? You don't get it. And because you're not eating, you also forget to drink water. And so it's like a two-for-one whammy.

SPEAKER_05

That sounds like that sounds like the worst thing on the planet. I can't imagine doing that.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah. Yeah. So we don't, we don't have to anymore. I think there's in the FMD is so okay. How do people get through it? First of all, I think going since we have Jen here and she's all about doing hard things, trying things, you know, 10 times to get get what you go for what you want. I do think that if your question is how do people get through it, it means you haven't done it yet. So my first suggestion is to try it and also know that there sit with this dis sitting with discomfort is not you dying. You're not gonna die. You're like having things that's okay to be discomfort. Practice the art of sitting with a little bit of discomfort every now and again. It's a healthy thing to be able to That's a great point. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

That's a great point. Because not everything is gonna be cozy and comfy for most things are cozy and comfy. Right. It's a hundred percent true.

SPEAKER_00

So I don't know if that's yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01

I like Can I can I also add like a couple of tips and tricks? Because I think the for me, the biggest one is to do it with other people. Like when you're doing it alone, that's a good one. Obviously going to be harder. That's that's why like there's there's group fasting experiences where people come together and they're doing like, okay, let's all pick one day to start and do this.

SPEAKER_05

Also you cheer each other on and you help each other out when you when you're having a hard moment, a hard hard hour. I think those com those those group fasting or group anything, yeah, is so good for even accountability to keep you on track, keep keep you to actually to not quit. Yeah, that's another big one, right? Because it's really easy to be like, all right, I've done day two, I hate it, I'm not gonna do anymore.

SPEAKER_00

Right.

SPEAKER_05

But if you have somebody and or people to help you kind of cheer you on, it's much easier.

SPEAKER_00

Especially for your first time. Yeah. I would say like if you don't know how your body's gonna respond, but mo I would say, and tell me if you agree with this, but most people that have this like trepidation and you know, nervousness, almost inevitably I would say 90% of them say, oh my God, that was way easier than I thought it was.

SPEAKER_01

95. I think that's actually a a statistic that we can call out. It's a 95% of people complete their first fat.

SPEAKER_00

It's helpful to go in thinking it's gonna be super hard because then I'm like, wait, uh the first day they're actually a lot of food. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05

We do have food there, it makes it feel crazy. Yes. All the things awesome.

SPEAKER_01

So just do it, aka.

SPEAKER_05

Yes.

SPEAKER_01

Um skip to four. Okay. But I love this question. Okay, well, do do what you want.

SPEAKER_00

Or or Okay, fine.

SPEAKER_01

You you yield.

SPEAKER_00

Well, we did we did call it out. Um, okay, another question. I know I should be doing oh, this is a good one for you. Okay. Um I know I should be doing weight-bearing exercise, but I travel a lot for work. What does a realistic routine look like when all I've got is a hotel room? You follow Jen Cohen. She posts Marcus Hotel. Exactly.

SPEAKER_05

And also my first book ever was called No Gym Required, because it's anytime, anywhere, no excuses. That's for that's actually true. Uh, I think you get better workout sometimes. Your body is the best. Body weight exercises can be so much more difficult than you know, doing anything other than that. Push-ups, obviously, is my number one. Squats, I mean, push-up. Like you could do again, focusing on the basics. Boring basics actually get you to the finish line. Like, I don't understand why people always are looking for flashy things. You don't need a very fancy gym membership. You can get a really great workout in your hotel room. You can do tricep dips, you can do your squats, you can do your push-ups, you can do Bulgarian squat, you know, split squats off the coffee table. Like, I just follow me and I will give you a million different exercises.

SPEAKER_00

You could do some Superman on the floor. Yeah, Superman.

SPEAKER_01

Exactly. Is there anything to be said? I mean, she knows. She knows. Exactly. Is there anything to be said for like the variety that you would just automatically get by not going to the same place every single day, right? Like, so there's there's probably some variety aspect to that. Plus, maybe you end up outside, you get a little extra sunshine. Like, there's all these extras that you get when you aren't doing the same workout all of the time. Exactly.

SPEAKER_05

It's good for your body to have like just you can just train different ways. Um, but I will say, everything in life, even what what you eat, it's the boring basics that really get you to your goals. That's with food. Like, people are like, How about food? Like variety. I like to eat the same thing over and over again. I like to do the same exercises, just progressive overload, which means like make it harder every time, but do the same basic movements before you move on to something else. A lot of these other things, if you see, there's all these funny memes, like people like doing all sorts of wacky workouts and exercises. They're just silly wacky for variety, but they don't really actually, you know, they're not really doing much else except causing more variety and fun. But um, yeah, so I think like you don't need a gym. You can be very effective in your hotel room.

SPEAKER_01

As they say, the best workout is the one you actually do. Exactly, Renee. Whatever it is, just do it. Yep. Okay. Do we have time for one more question? We have to look at we know.

unknown

Thank Jen.

SPEAKER_01

We just don't want to let her go.

SPEAKER_05

Okay. I'm so sorry.

SPEAKER_00

It's come to an end. It has come to an end. We we thank you for being on with us. We're so grateful. We we love we love knowing you and following you and learning from you. So thank you. Thank you for being here. Come back again.

SPEAKER_05

Thank you for having me, you guys. This was so fun. I'm so happy for you guys doing this. This is I'm very proud of you guys. This is this is a beautiful podcast. You guys look so cute together doing it. We're a couple. Yeah, you guys did a nice one.

SPEAKER_01

You know, we're best friends from like OG. We went to call or college together, is that what we call it? USC. We got our master's together. We studied. We went to Italy together. We've been all over the world together.

SPEAKER_04

You guys are you joking? No. For real? We we And you work at this at at project. I directed.

SPEAKER_00

She dragged me over. Wow. Where were you working before? She dragged me. No, I I was, I had still my I was doing my private practice full-time. And I was I was ready, I was ready to and I we we are both big fans because professionally and personally of our founder, Dr. Baltolongo. Um he yeah, it was I think I was saying when when you were thinking of mentors, by the way.

SPEAKER_01

That's that's somebody you pick. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00

We've got the all-neutra bug. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05

That's really amaz guys. I'm not surprised. I like you both so much. And the fact that you guys are that's not a surprise to me. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01

Okay, I'm not sure. There we go. Okay, okay, but truly, Jen, like thank you so much. And and we do have to say to anybody who's out there listening, if you liked this, don't forget to like, subscribe, follow, share. Share, rate, do all of the things, please.

SPEAKER_00

And listen to it again and again.

SPEAKER_01

And share. And share with your friends. Thanks for listening to Almost Forever. If you love the show, hit subscribe on YouTube at Prolon FMD or wherever you're listening and share it with someone you love. New episodes every other Wednesday drop on YouTube or wherever you listen. This is not intended as medical advice, diagnosis, treatment, or a substitute for professional health care services. Please talk to a qualified healthcare professional before making changes to your diet, exercise, or supplement routine. Views expressed by our guests are their own.