Empower Her Health Coaching

Happy Memorial Day weekend, friends! It’s been awhile since we’ve chatted, and I’m so excited to be writing to you again to share some of the knowledge and perspective I’ve been gleaning lately! 

Summer can be very different for each of us. For some, we’re packing up the kids for vacations, going to summer camps, VBS, and have very little sense of routine. For my teachers out there, there’s the joy of sleeping in a bit, relaxing, and getting a bit of a hold on our health routine before popping back into school mode this fall. For others yet, we’re summering away from family and have a few slower months ahead of us. But, no matter where you are on the spectrum, I’d like to share the journey I’ve been on with you as well as some extremely practical and applicable takeaways I’ve had as a result of it.

So, last August, I started to experience a sore throat. No real energy change, my whole family got sick and I didn’t… I didn’t think much of it. But, when it had gone on awhile, I finally went in. I had different labs taken and it was discovered that I had a condition called SIBO (small intestine bacterial overgrowth) as well as a chronic reactivation of Epstein Barr aka “mono that wouldn’t go away”. Now up to 95% of us have the Epstein Barr virus and it reactivates in many of us often, but usually our bodies are strong enough to fight it off. In my case, my body just didn’t have enough to sufficiently do the job. The bacteria in my small intestines (which could’ve been caused by something as simple as the stomach flu) was basically starving my body of nutrients and making it impossible to fight off my mono’s reactivation. 

Now, 9 months later, after a few food elimination rounds and antimicrobials to get rid of the SIBO, finally feeling the effects of mono and napping for hours a day and still sleeping 8-9 hours a night, and currently going through my second round of high dose vitamin C IVs recommended by my naturopath… my numbers are looking much better! We’re still hoping I knock the mono back to a completely latent mode so I can get my energy and life back on track. The recommendation was no intense exercise, social outings, and basically treating life as if I was sick… and 3 months of that has definitely taken a bit of a toll on my mental health as well, but, it’s also given me a fresh perspective on health and our quality of life, which is where this health mail issue comes in.

I know you don’t read this to hear the updates of my life and health, but to have some tangible takeaways you can apply to your own life… so we’re getting to the good stuff- I promise! The bottom line of my health journey and what I kept coming back to time and time again was this: “I just wish I had enough energy to live my normal life.” 

Energy and the ability to move and live life independently and to live life to its fullest potential. That’s the dream, right?! Arguably much more the dream than fitting in a certain pants size or swimsuit or hitting a goal weight, as many dream about as “swimsuit season” rolls around.

I think, deep down, the ultimate goal of our lives? Is to have the capacity to enjoy them, right?! Maybe it’s the musings of someone who lost that energy, and maybe you need to be in “sick” and “lacking” position to truly feel this feeling, but, trust me, once the capacity to live life is diminished suddenly, it becomes quite apparent that it is the holy grail of health.

Now I know I had a different health mail segment about aging well in terms of muscle health and the ability to age with independence, but I want to dig a little more into the “how” of that- specifically how each of us can match our own lifestyle to our own future goals.

I recently read the book “Outlive” by Peter Attia, and it more concretely placed this idea in my head: health isn’t just the absence of illness, it’s our ability to live the life we want to lead throughout our lifespan. Attia outlines his perspective of our current mainstream medical system as “Medicine 2.0”. Essentially this medicine is great in emergency situations and for acute illness and/or injury and situations where we are ALREADY sick, however it does nothing in terms of prevention or in terms of quality of life. “Here’s this pill for this problem.” “Here’s surgery for that problem.” “Your numbers are in the average range, so even if you don’t feel good, you don’t officially have a problem I can do anything about.” The voice of mainstream doctors that had maybe one class on nutrition and exercise throughout their decade of education… The voice that might keep us alive longer, but at what cost to its quality?

Attia then introduces his idea of “Medicine 3.0” the idea of “healthspan”. Not only will we stay alive longer, but our QUALITY of life will stay high for longer into the future as well. The graph in his book doesn’t make any bold claims about staying alive for decades longer, but it does show us that we have the ability to stay independent, do the activities we enjoy, and live a robust life throughout the 80-90 years we’re here for. And that alone takes a lot of the fear surrounding aging away. Independence? Actually being able to enjoy retirement? Keeping up with my grandkids? Dish, Jess, how do we get it? What comes next!?

Well, in true, boring, health coach style, what I’m about to outline isn’t going to come through a simple pill or a simple surgery or a one time diet, but, you guessed it, it’s going to come through designing a lifestyle that sets you up to be able to accomplish what you’d like to accomplish well into your later years.

Love hiking? Picking up the grandkids? Biking, golfing, jogging, gardening, shopping, cooking, being able to put groceries away yourself, or traveling and being able to put your suitcase in the overhead bin unaided? Well, let’s think about what we’re going to have to be able to do in daily life so we’re able to do this in our later years…

Let’s say, I haven’t lifted anything over my head (weights, children, or anything more than a can going into the pantry) in years… What makes us think we’ll all of the sudden be able to lift a suitcase into the overhead compartment of an airplane? Haven’t twisted our body side to side in a golf swing simulation for years, but then head to the course and expect to hit par without pain the whole round? Haven’t jogged the 8+ years since we’ve had kids and expect to hit the pavement and get our 9 min mile time back? Maybe we even have stayed active for years by jogging, but then expect that to translate to being able to hike, pick up kids, or move furniture, and our high opinion of our health comes crashing down when we tweak our back or ankle doing something that once felt so effortless.

I know, I’m only going on 36 this fall, so you may feel I don’t know even the half of it, and you’re right, I don’t… yet. And I don’t want to! But, even in my few months off from lifting, I’ve gotten tweaks and aches that I haven’t experienced before simply because I’m not setting my body up for success… I’m not moving it on a daily basis in a way that will support the lifestyle I want to lead.

So, as Peter Attia chats about in “Outlive”, I want you to imagine (even write down if you can) goals for the lifestyle you imagine for yourself both short and long term. He compares our lives to those of decathletes, those athletes who are the best at 10 various track and field events and are considered the best athletes in the world. Not because they’re the best at any one event, but because they have the capacity and versatility to perform so well in so many different events. This is what we want for our lives too. The richness, vibrancy, and capacity to move and accomplish several different tasks for as long as we live. The top 10 of the initial list he created for 100-year-olds, that he dubbed the “Centenarian Decathlon” is as follows:

1. Hike 1.5 miles on a hilly trail
2. Get up off the floor under your own power, using a maximum of one arm for support
3. Pick up a young child from the floor
4. Carry two five-pound bags of groceries for five blocks
5. Lift a twenty-pound suitcase into the overhead compartment of a plane
6. Balance on one leg for thirty seconds, eyes open (Bonus points: eyes closed, fifteen seconds)
7. Have sex
8. Climb four flights of stairs in three minutes
9. Open a jar
10. Do thirty consecutive jump-rope skips

He later outlines some of his own goals:

11. Swim a half a mile in twenty minutes
12. Walk with a thirty pound dumbbell in each hand for one minute
13. Draw back and fire a fifty-pound compound bow
14. Do five pull-ups
15. Climb 90 steps in two minutes
16. Dead-hang for one minute
17. Drive a race car within 5-8% of the pace I can do so today
18. Hike with a twenty pound backpack for an hour
19. Carry my own luggage
20. Walk up a steep hill

My own might include:

1. Hike 5 miles at a 2.5-3.0mph pace (similar to the stair goals above)
2. Pick up my kids and grandkids into their school years (40-50 pound deadlifts)
3. Jog 3 miles
4. Carry 20ish pound grocery bags into my house
5. Travel independently (luggage, airports, etc)
6. Play recreational sports (pickleball, tennis, golf, etc) in whatever retirement community I land in several times a week
7. Bend, lift, kneel, stand to be able to tend to gardens

And most of our own goals will look similar to this. We have an idea of what we want to be able to achieve. However, we don’t often think about how our current activity is supporting those goals, and we forget that, as we age, if we aren’t using certain modalities, our ability to use them will diminish. (Ever heard of “use it or lose it”?)

When we’re younger, it’s fun to have specific goals of training for races, focusing on our careers, raising our children, getting a body we’re proud of, maintaining our current weight/pants size, being weekend warriors, or jumping in for a bike/round of golf/volleyball game/pickup basketball game a couple of times a year. However, our ability to do that only lasts so long… How depressing. But, I have good news to offer. Even if you’re unable to complete some of the goals you have on your list and are getting on in age, your body is pretty spectacular and your abilities reversible!

In fact, our bodies are able to improve their cardiorespiratory fitness, muscle strength, flexibility, mobility, and functionality throughout our lives, regardless of age. People in their 90s can put on muscle. People in their 70s can improve their VO2 Max (heart/lung function) by 17 points within a year. And, Attia has a quote that literally has come out of my mouth before reading it in his book that I want to share: “You can make every decade better than the last!”

How?!?! We make it a regular practice to DO the things we want to be able to DO! And we also make sure our sleep quality/amount and our nutritional protein and variety of whole, fresh foods supports our health as well. But, exercise? That’s the golden ticket to continue being able to DO.

First up, STRENGTH:

Want to be able to pick up kids, lift that suitcase up high, or carry your own groceries? Then, start doing it with weights (even body weight can suffice as you begin). Running and walking ain’t gonna help you carry your luggage on your own or help your kids or grandkids move into an apartment. The recommendation is working each muscle group 2x/week. My recommendation is to begin with function and balance as a base and work up from there.

Start here. If you have the ability to go to the gym, starting with machines can also be helpful because of the stability they provide that helps you avoid injury (making sure you aren’t neglecting some of these basic/foundational balance aspects of exercise).

You can also opt for at home dumbbell training, and you can even use my free workout. However you want to do it, this is where your source of strength is going to derive from as you age (much more than genetics or luck of the draw as many of us assume aging boils down to). We do lose muscle mass, strength, and functionality if we aren’t using it on a regular basis.

Next up, CARDIO:

Taxing our hearts and our lungs is an entirely different game, and while lifting alone is helpful, both together will produce the best results!

Low Intensity: The first type of cardio you want to perform quite often (think upwards of 150min/ week as an end goal, starting with even 2x/week for 15 min sessions is beneficial!). This cardio is lower intensity and you can measure it by paying attention to your breathing. When you get to a point where you don’t feel like you can comfortably speak full sentences anymore, this is the sweet spot. It’s an easier way to measure than trying to give you an equation for your heart rate, and it’s something you can easily check throughout the workout to keep yourself at a good pace.

This lower intensity should be at a pace that you feel you could maintain for hours, yet taxes you to the point where speaking just starts to become uncomfortable (definitely not at the gasping for air point).

This will look vastly different from one person to the next. If you aren’t very active, this could look like a brisk walk. If you run marathons, you might need a jog to get there. That’s why I love the simple test of talking… it makes the intensity unique to your personal needs. Choose your modality and mix it up often as well: biking, hiking, swimming, elliptical, recumbent bike, incline treadmill, weighted vest walking, rowing, stair master- the more variety, the more it will translate into a wider ability in daily function/tasks.

High Intensity: The other kind of cardio you want to include is higher intensity (& for those of you w/ heart conditions, metabolic conditions, diabetes, high blood pressure, are older, etc- please get clearance from your doctor before trying out this or any other exercise). This is something you can also measure with breath. You want to get to a point where speaking even 1-2 words seems tough or the fastest pace you feel you can continue to do for 4 minutes. Then rest for 4 minutes, at a pace that is comfortable and breathing is easy and repeat about 4x. Work up to this (starting maybe in 1-2 minute segments for a few rounds once a week and gradually adding on no more than 10%/week).

Again, you can choose your modality with running, biking, boxing, cycling, dancing, swimming, etc and use the breath test to make sure your heart rate is as high as is needed.

Why is the higher intensity so important? Well, this is what is going to help IMPROVE our cardio/lung capacity. Maybe you’re 50 and can hike a trail but are already struggling to do it now… This type of exercise is what’s going to help you not only complete it into your 80s, but feel good doing it too. The lower intensity will definitely help maintain your cardio/lung capacity and it will improve it moderately as well, but this higher intensity is what will take it to the next level.

SUMMER OF LIFE

So, the bad, depressing news on aging once again isn’t that bad when we look at it through the lens of “my body can improve at any age” & “If I move my body regularly, I’ll be able to continue doing the things I love and lead a higher quality of life for longer than I dreamed”. 

But, friend, don’t allow this news to let you get comfortable either. Yes, we can always improve our abilities, but those abilities will decline less in the first place if we start moving NOW. The recommendations I outlined don’t even need to be the minimum. Exercise in any amount will always improve our health as a whole, even if you’re at the point of simply walking the dog around the block as your starting place. But, don’t let up there!

Our society has made it easy to sit for hours, have a frozen or take out dinner at our fingertips, and lead a pretty great life until one day we realize we can’t do what we used to be able to… 

So, I invite you to go against the grain, seek out movement, cook your meals, move throughout your day, get out and exercise in the cold and heat (or find ways to even when temps prevent it), and actively FIGHT for your future… Because unfortunately, our society doesn’t set us up to age well. But, we have a choice to live a little differently (and a lot better quality) than the average person…. So let’s embrace it together, shall we?!

Here’s to staying in the summer of our lives for as long as possible with a strong mindset, an active, able body, a sound mind, and one kick ass quality of life!

Happy summer, happy longevity, happy vibrant future. Go out there and take control of it. It may not all be in your power, but a lot more of it is than you think. You got this!

Coaching Update

Another revelation I had when walking into multiple appointments at several different establishments throughout my healing process this past year is that I was rather appalled at the fact that the price tag is so high on natural health care because insurance doesn’t cover it. I pondered it a bit and found myself almost sick over the fact that natural, simple lifestyle change advice (along with some solid medical advice, I admit) was priced to serve no one but the wealthy.

In lieu of this overwhelming feeling of wanting health to be accessible to everyone regardless of their income, I decided to drastically reduce the pricing on my own health coaching practice, with an apology to those of you who had previously considered working with me but couldn’t quite cut it financially… I’m sorry I blindly followed pricing advice vs actually thinking about what was sustainable for the average person, especially considering I want you to have the ability to work with other medical professionals (including those in the natural line) to heal and get your health where it needs to be for you to live an optimal life. For instance, a teacher shouldn’t have to choose between health and groceries/rent/back-to-school supplies for their own kiddos.

My hope is that I’m able to aide a greater variety of clients, facilitate more healing, and lead more people to their ultimate goals. I’m not in the business of padding my bank account; I’m in the business of helping people get well!

Pricing now is starting at $50/month. I’ll be re-opening my doors this August (pending my health outcome, which I’m very optimistic about), and will be taking 2 clients/month. You can sign up by filling out this form, and I’ll get back to you soon with a health questionnaire that will help me to get to know your specific case, history, goals, and needs, and we’ll get our first meeting on the books after that!

God bless you and your summer, whatever it may look like… may it last as long as possible!

-Jess

“Watch your thoughts, they become your words; watch your words, they become your actions; watch your actions, they become your habits; watch your habits, they become your character; watch your character, it becomes your destiny.” – Lao Tzu

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