Pam Peeke, MD: Hi, I am Dr. Pam Peak, and This is episode 547 of the Bold And the Brave, her podcast. Today I'm joined by. A repeat offender. Yes, she's been on the podcast a number of times and my go-to as a hybrid of both exercise physiology and nutrition, all in one gorgeous package.

And of course, we're talking about Dr. Felicia Stoller. she's a nationally recognized lifestyle medicine clinician, nutritionist, exercise physiologist. She's an author. A medical journalist And also a media personality, but most importantly, she's A B, FF. Okay, so Felicia, you're here. You're here. Oh my gosh. You know,

Felicia D. Stoler, DCN, MS: You my, my idol.

Pam Peeke, MD: each other long enough to have serious dirt on each other. And the thing that I've always loved about you is you have a PhD in exercise physiology. You're also a registered dietician, so I could literally dial up anything with you, right? So here we are at the beginning of yet another year.

You know where I'm going now, number one, If you want to do some kind of resolution as it were, or just hit reset, whatever, that's perfectly fine. I'm a firm believer that absolutely every day, every moment of your life is another opportunity to reset. So if it is in January 1st, it's gonna be something.

So I really want you to think about just, taking a moment. Reflect and see if you can maybe think about how you can improve your health and wellbeing, and most importantly, your longevity. So the longevity is the number. How many years you're going to be, alive, that's the lifespan And then the health span is the quality.

But you can't have either, if you're not physically active. Notice I didn't say the E word exercise, but if you're not physically active on a routine basis, and if you don't have. Better nutrition, more enhanced nutrition. So Felicia is an expert because she's also quite the chef. so, she knows how to manipulate food, make it work.

I don't care who you are. there's plenty of wiggle room for all kinds of ways of eating. But most importantly, if you look at both physical activity and eating, and if you're somebody out there who got lost. we're like off course, and you want to get back on. I'm a firm believer in little micro changes that can stick.

So I'm gonna now swing it your way, Felicia,

Felicia D. Stoler, DCN, MS: Well, thank you.

Pam Peeke, MD: think of someone who's feeling helpless, hopeless, and defeated. Like, uh, okay, go for it.

Felicia D. Stoler, DCN, MS: everything is a choice, right? Like when we wake up every day, we can choose to move. We can choose the food that we eat. I mean, we are all not like tied to a chair being force fed by somebody else. So everything is about a choice. I recognize that a lot of people don't think about.

Everything they do in the day the way you and I do. we think about it in such a meaningful way because we want to maintain and preserve our health as long as humanly possible, And we strive towards that because it does take work and it is about making active choices.

So I think the first thing to really think about is when we think about food, something I think about, and I know you do, but other people may not think about, is. when you're eating, are you eating just for pleasure or for flavor, or are you being thoughtful in your food choices?

Do you think about, am I eating protein right now? Am I eating And let's face it, carbohydrates have gotten a bad rap for a very long time, but hello. Where are all the micronutrients in the fruits, in the vegetables? We do need grains for fiber. it's not those foods by themselves that make them bad.

It's what else you mix with them or don't mix with them, And the quantity that people consume. And That is one thing I notice is that people just grab food and eat it without even thinking. What is this doing for my body? Is this what I need or am I just eating for pleasure?

I had heard the celebrity chef Carla Hall, speaking at the Academy of Nutrition Dietetics annual meeting, and she was great. She said something so powerful because a lot of us are, like you mentioned, that I like to cook. I get a lot of joy out of cooking. It's how I share love.

It's one of my creative outlets. I really do get a lot of pleasure out of trying new foods or experimenting, and I love sharing that with other people. But she said. because food has a lot of meaning when you talk to people about it. But then there's everyday eating And then there's special occasion eating, and let's face it, there's a holiday every month of the year.

So there's always some reason that we can make an excuse for a festival meal. And maybe we can't always pick and choose what's at that meal if we're at somebody's home, but we can choose what we want to eat. I really recommend people follow a mostly Mediterranean diet eating.

Predominantly plant-based foods with smaller amounts of animal sourced proteins, because as much as protein is important, especially with aging protein, energy malnutrition has not been a problem in the United States for a very long time. But what has been a problem is people not getting sufficient fiber, people not getting adequate servings of vegetables and fruits in their diet.

So. I think that That is unfortunately the casualty of looking at protein consumption, that we are often leaving out the other foods that are essential for our wellbeing in that mix. Consuming water, to me it's like water, water, water. we should be drinking more of it. The fact that people drink any kind of sodas beyond like a seltzer water or a coffee or a tea, and when I say coffee or tea, I don't mean laden with heavy creamers, lots of sweeteners.

I'm not a big fan of non-nutritive sweeteners, Really, just getting back to simplicity is incredibly important. There's a lot of noise around processed foods, and I get it, but it's a choice to eat processed foods or not eat processed foods. If you go through most of your day not eating processed foods, then the.

negative effects of them should not be affecting, like on an individual level, a person. You know, we look at it in terms of population health, but then on an individual health level, if you're not choosing, to eat highly processed foods, then you are reducing your risk of having any additional illnesses associated with that.

I know you and I both are big advocates for time restricted eating and. Fasting, and That is something that I have for many years because of you. I have inter, it's probably like almost eight years now that I've been doing that. And, it's been lovely to see how the science has emerged around that and making choices to move, being physically active.

I can't say enough about how important That is for our day-to-day wellbeing. People often think that. Exercise is just about weight or weight maintenance. It's about activities of daily living. I heard speaker at an integrated medicine conference say, the most important thing that you can do is maintain your activities of daily living and your strength.

Because then it, he said it's one thing if you ask your spouse to help you off the toilet, it's another, if you have to ask your children to help you get off the toilet, then they put you into the nursing home right away. So, you talked about lifespan And we talked about, how long we can continue to live, in a healthful manner and independently.

And so that takes practice, right? It's our muscles and our bodies. It's use it or lose it. So. Whatever we can do throughout the day. It does not have to be in a formal gym setting. There's a lot of physical activity that people can do at home or within the context of their day-to-day lives.

That is not a huge imposition. Most of my doctoral research was in work site wellness. So 50% of it was on queuing people to move and being more thoughtful about movement throughout the day. Did I hit it all? I mean, we didn't even get into like stress or, but everything is a choice.

Like you said, it doesn't have to be the first of the year. It doesn't have to be Monday. It could be the next minute, you know, it could be the next hour, it could be the next day. It doesn't even have to be something grandiose. It's just those micro decisions that we make can be very impactful.

Pam Peeke, MD: One of the things that I've discovered as I'm writing my next book is that there's a tremendous amount of wiggle room. I interviewed on the podcast, the, I mean the nutritional, legend, icon, Dr. Marian, Nestle, who's just come out with a new book called What to Eat Now, This is a follow-up of her original book, which was What To Eat, which came out a generation ago.

she's absolutely, she's very funny. She takes a very fun, laissez-faire way of looking at it, saying whatever works, so long as you're decreasing the amount of food that has clearly been shown, through studies, the super Ultraprocessed foods, to have, they obviously have an increased disease risk associated with their consumption.

But other than that, she's kind of like, you know. It's, what works for you. And there it is. And, she has her ice cream and she has whatever she's, working with, clearly. She's someone who knows food and, understands the value of, nutrition, for longevity, And for enhancement of health span.

But I'm just convinced that you find what's gonna work for you. And guess what? Okay. Guess what? It changes over time. When you're 20 years old, there are certain things you're doing right. I mean, I, when I think about what I did when I was 20, oh my God, I've got some cringe moments here.

what I ate, how I ate midnight, one in the morning, you know, whatever. that I wouldn't even in my wildest dreams think about doing today. So we're, if we're gonna live this long. For women, 88 years, is the lifespan number, that's just on average. that's something that's a population, average.

do we eat, how do we nourish ourselves throughout life? It's a dynamic. Process and you just constantly check in. So if you were to look, Felicia at some super basics that could guide people all throughout life, that are fairly straightforward, so that you're, checking that box no matter your age, what would they be?

Felicia D. Stoler, DCN, MS: The fruits And the vegetables are a big one. and I hate to say it, but it is, mean, I've been seeing patient's. I'm a dietician. My son's gonna be 25, so I've been a dietician for 25 years. And I just wanna clarify, This is a third career for me.

I mean, not that I had many for very long before that, but I made a conscious decision in my late twenties to go to grad school and change my life and do a few degrees and spent my whole. Decade of thirties in graduate school. but I do see over all the years and all the food journals I've looked at that, That is some, even when I go out to eat with other people, I'm that person that's always ordering extra vegetables.

I will, if I don't see, when I'm having shared meals with people, if I don't see. Enough appetizers on the appetizer menu that fit my fancy, I will often craft like, Hey, can I get some of those vegetable sides and can we get those? And I'm definitely a vegetable pusher.

I push that on people ad

Pam Peeke, MD: Okay, so you're a vegetable pusher and a fruit pusher.

Felicia D. Stoler, DCN, MS: And a fruit pusher. When I make a holiday, holidays are often based around, You some big protein being the main dish, but I'm that person that will often have 10 side dishes because I wanna make sure there's enough variety of vegetables. And sometimes their vegetables and fruits mixed together and sometimes their grains with vegetables and fruits.

But, I go to great lengths to make sure that when people are sharing a meal with me, that I'm trying to shove a little health down their throats, even though they may not realize it. But that's a perfect example. I make sure that That is what is available for people to consume.

Pam Peeke, MD: so one of the basics then. Is that throughout life, whatever, you're going to prioritize vegetables and fruit. What else will is another building block that you can use? Foundationally. This is gonna be a foundation so that you always come back to it, sure you've checked that box. What else?

Felicia D. Stoler, DCN, MS: I make sure I drink a lot of water, I know, That is problematic for a number of people. and That is very critical, especially if you're exercising and, you know, we sometimes mistake hunger. The cue for hunger when it's really the cue for hydration. there we don't have a great hydration cue, And so sometimes we perceive that we're hungry, and I know, like when my kids were little, and This is something I learned in grad school, you know, they would eat And then they would say, I'm still hungry.

And I would say, drink a glass of water, And then come back to me and tell me if you're still hungry, because it did, a, it might take a little while for their. Satiety Q to kick in, right? Because it takes a little while for our stomachs to send a message to our brain.

So I would even say chew slowly and try not to be in a hurry. And There are times in our lives when we sometimes are in a hurry, But when we can, can we sit with our food and chew it well? And really appreciate the flavor And the texture.

Pam Peeke, MD: so savoring, savoring your food, taking time, that remember that's that old Japanese, saying, what they usually do is they say, stop at 80%. In other words, I'm obviously butchering, Japanese here, but for all purposes in the interpretation, it stopped. Before the plate is empty And this way, And then you sort of check in with yourself, how's it going?

Or are you just vacuuming in food into your mouth without even realizing how much you're actually eating? Are you savoring? I watched one day in a, in an airplane. I looked across the aisle at some guy who really looked to be. Not in great shape. he didn't look fit.

He just looked like a guy who was kind of anxious and, probably not having the world's best day, whatever. So he got his meal, placed in front of him a. I counted how long it was before he had inhaled the whole thing. And this was a, front cabin meal.

So, It had a lot of stuff to it. And, I'm telling you right now, he broke my record. It was like a personal best of people I stare at, as their inhaling, it took him. It took him four minutes And that sucker was gone. It was like amazing, and I don't even know that he tasted anything.

I think it just sort of got shoveled in. It's just, it is. it's like, come on, people. You know? so there's that. So just slowing it down, drinking water. Oh my gosh. So I have tea and I have my little, water next to me in my container. every single day I make certain to start the day off with my coffee.

'cause coffee counts. that'll also hydrate you, believe it or not. And so that's good too. And just keep it going. so terribly important because your body needs it for its own metabolic and biochemistry processes. so that's important. And vegetables really important. What about protein?

Felicia D. Stoler, DCN, MS: proteins important. I try to get a little bit throughout the day. It's important that we try to consume it throughout the day. I find it interesting that people are not really aware of what a portion size is of protein. Like when I think about protein And the size of my hand, like This is about three ounces, maybe four

Pam Peeke, MD: That's right, right around the palm of

Felicia D. Stoler, DCN, MS: The palm of my hand, you know, if I were to like, and like a fist or like the size of my iPhone, it is not usually this flat, but, a lot of people take extra protein shakes, protein bars, protein bars, as far as I'm concerned, are like eating a candy bar, you know?

And you might as well eat a candy bar if you're going to mean, I do recommend. having whole foods, if you're going to have it, have whole Foods, it doesn't have to be an extra shake because what comes with the shakes often, they're filled with sweeteners that I don't think are really good for us.

unless you're really making it with like an unflavored protein powder, which most people do not do. And, so, I'm just always cautionary about taking something That is good, like protein, And then adding all this other stuff to make it palatable. if you're not putting, I mean, if you could put it all in a blender yourself and you're adding fruits and veggies in, that's great.

But some people just like the add water and shake version, and those aren't always the best. if you can get some that are, Plant-based. I mean, I, the thing is you need, what I have found over the years, because I'm a small person, I exercise a lot, but I'm still mindful.

I don't count my calories at all. But I am still on an intellectual level, aware of how much I eat in a day and I need to eat in a day. And I, have that down to a science. But the amount of animal source protein, which is why I'm not a vegan, the amount of animal source protein that I need to consume in a day is not necessarily a large quantity or large calories because it is a complete protein.

So I can have. a four ounce piece of salmon or chicken and or eggs. and whether it's beef or pork or lamb, I like all of that stuff. So I will have it, but I also will snack on nuts. Like I need something, I keep dry, roasted nuts in my house.

I don't have them salted because I keep track. I'm very sensitive with my blood pressure with sodium, so I'm. Very aware of that. I try to get it dry roasted, not oil roasted, because there's already oils and good fats in the nuts. I don't need to add any extra to that, And so I think Those are good ideas of ways to get extra protein in if you need it, instead of grabbing a bar.

Right. Or grabbing. some powder to make a shake. I'm not a big shake person, so I'm probably, I'm not that I'm a bad person to ask that too, but I recognize some people like them, but I just find that they all come with so much other garbage in them that,

Pam Peeke, MD: Well, unless you make it yourself And then you know exactly what goes into it one way or the other. Now when we come back, I'm gonna be asking Felicia to provide and share with us some very small changes, little small changes that we can make, both in nutrition and physical activity.

And that might get people who are off course back on course and hit reset, but small sticky meaning they're gonna be sticking to you and they'll be sustainable. So when we come back, we're gonna be talking about that. And

we're back. Alright, Felicia, let's get down to the practical granular level. Someone you know is eating currently about 70% of their dietary intake. Maybe 80% is ultraprocessed Foods is quick stuff, not a whole lot of cooking going on, and they're fairly sedentary. Okay. And they're stressed out. Okay. I'm giving you your classic American.

What small micro changes might someone make right now just to get started? 'cause you know, especially with women, women like to just sort of attack the whole damn thing at one time And then it all fails. 'cause no one in the right mind could possibly make that work. So how could you start chipping away at it?

Felicia D. Stoler, DCN, MS: Well, first I'd like to start with the physical activity. And physical activity can be something as small as taking five minutes out of. Every hour of your day and moving, right? Whether it's standing, like right now, I'm sitting while I'm talking to you, but it could be standing. In fact, I usually have my eye watch on and I'm amazed that I generally tend to stand 11 to 13 hours in a day.

So just the act of standing versus sitting is active versus passive. That is a small thing. If people live in an area where they have to spend a lot of time sitting with transporting to and from work, that can be a little bit of a challenge. But if you think about even if.

It's, and I said within every hour of the day, but let's just take a typical workday because This is what my doctoral research was in. I'm in an office. I'm there for eight hours a day. That's your typical 40 hour a week job, and could I every hour take a five minute walk, might get up, go for a walk, go up and down some stairs, then you would accumulate 40 minutes of physical activity in the day that you had not otherwise.

Right. That's a very easy thing to do. 40 minutes. Get up. Get up from your seat because you should get up from your seat. Can you do a walking, talking, meeting with somebody in your office? Right? Instead of just emailing an associate, can you perhaps get up and go walk over to their office and have a conversation with

Pam Peeke, MD: So many people are now working remotely.

Felicia D. Stoler, DCN, MS: Yes.

Pam Peeke, MD: that good, bad, or otherwise in terms of physical activity?

Felicia D. Stoler, DCN, MS: I think it's a good thing because I think that it allows you to do what I just said because if I am on a conference call and if I at least have a headset on, I can maybe walk around my, could be on a conference call and I can go for a walk, right?

As long as it's not too noisy. As long as I don't have to be tethered to my computer for something I can actually have. Walking, talking meetings. I think it also does allow you more of that flexibility where somebody isn't watching to see. How many times do you go to the bathroom?

what are you getting up to do? it also, I think the other great thing about being home is you can keep better for you snacks in your house And the likelihood of going to the vending machine is less because you're in your home or your apartment. And hopefully you can have better for you foods.

And This is an example where like, especially if you're working from home. you can food prep early in the week if you feel that you don't have time for it, or what I like to do is often make at dinner time, because I have a little bit more time after my workday, I might make something that I might make a larger portion of so I can eat that for lunch the next day or have that for dinner so I don't have to make one portion meals for myself.

I can make. Two or three portions. And in fact, sometimes what I like to do is freeze things And then take them out so I don't get, fatigued with eating the same thing a few meals in a row. But I do like to, don't wanna say like, repurpose upcycle my food and create something else with it.

So I think like for example, you could buy a rotisserie chicken, which is. Technically prepared, but it's usually prepared fresh in a grocery store and you can have, and a whole chicken for one person. I'm not eating a whole chicken that's like four meals for me in terms of the protein, but I can then get, a salad or make my own vegetable sides to go along with that.

And then I'm cooking some of it and some of it's prepared. I could take the chicken carcass or whatever is left over. I could make chicken soup out of it, throw a lot of vegetables in it, And then I have more meals out of that same food item.

Pam Peeke, MD: So, if you were to look at, what you're saying here is that There are all these little changes that you can make. you can make, very simple changes that are very doable. depending upon how you're working, if you're working, if it's remote, if it's at the office. And also just be prepared,

Felicia D. Stoler, DCN, MS: Yes. It's also more cost effective if you're cooking your own food and preparing your own food. You save a lot of money. Yes. Well, that's why I like to cook a lot because I can control the ingredients that are put into my food. When I go out to eat in a restaurant, there's a good likelihood that there's a lot more fat that I would normally use in my own food preparation process and a lot more sodium That is being used.

And Those are the two things that I should be, we all should be watching our consumption of. So you do have more control of what the ingredients are when you are preparing it yourself.

Pam Peeke, MD: The other thing I'm noticing with women, and women listen up. I am not here as a Debbie Downer. I am a wild and crazy woman, but I'm here to be the messenger of excellent science. Let's talk about alcohol.

Felicia D. Stoler, DCN, MS: I was just gonna say, I was hoping you were gonna go there because I was just thinking, oh my God, we have to talk about alcohol. Because even over the last 10 years, my recommendations about that. I'm glad the science has been really screaming about it, but, I have been saying to people for so long, especially after the age of 40, it's not metabolizing in a good way for us.

Pam Peeke, MD: Well, the other reason why it's, now new science has come out over the course of the last 12 months that has been published and listen up after the age of 40 especially. Right? And it only gets worse for each decade after that. there's a significant increase in the risk of dementia as well as cancer.

Both. And so, do you really need to have, I mean, look, having a celebratory, little glass of champagne at an anniversary dinner, I mean, You know, come on, bring it on, but. What I'm seeing is a lot more alcohol consumption on the part of women. there's a lot of it going on.

I think women are just not aware of what they're actually doing. Number one, sometimes they try to keep up with guys and guys themselves ought to know this about alcohol because this isn't just a woman's thing. It's a women and men. But, I'd back off, any regular consumption of alcohol, after the age of 40 and only more serious and significant.

as of the age of 50 plus, I never knew this because the science was not there. This is brand new stuff. So now I'm teaching everyone, if you go somewhere nice and whatever you say, yes, may I have a large bottle of Pellegrino sparkling water with a little twist of lime.

And then, there you have your little bottle. you can kind of in your mind psychologically. But I have a large bottle here. This is cool. And then you've got your, I mean, if you wanna have it poured into a little wine glass, with some, ice or whatever you want, you have a little something there.

I'm hearing from women, I'm drinking at least one to two glasses of wine. Every single night of the week. My question to you is, why? What are you doing? Are you anesthetizing yourself? Are you working through some loneliness, depression stuff? Are you stressed outta your brains and you think This is gonna help you?

I wear the aura ring, right? and I have nothing to do with the company, but I love the technology. So it's on my little finger. Here it is. My little finger and, I'm gonna tell you something. Y'all wanna know what alcohol does, go ahead and drink that before you go to bed at night And then look at your sleep readings from the aura.

Your REM sleep and your deep sleep are obliterated

Felicia D. Stoler, DCN, MS: It and your heart rate goes up too at night. And that's another thing that was for me when I started sleeping with my Apple Watch, I was mortified. I worked so hard. And I exercise so much to keep my heart rate low all day long, and even one alcoholic beverage in the

Pam Peeke, MD: Up it goes.

Felicia D. Stoler, DCN, MS: Yeah. And I'm like, wait. Wow. Like if

Pam Peeke, MD: You also get warmer. Your temperature goes up 'cause you're metabolizing and your heart rate goes up. And when it goes up, your heart rate varices variability goes down. And that's not good. That 'cause you want your heart to be very flexible and pliable and adaptable to stresses in life.

And so you want as high in HRV as possible, and you'll see that on all of these devices, not just the aura, but boy, that Hummer just goes completely implodes if you have alcohol.

Felicia D. Stoler, DCN, MS: And then it also impairs your sleep. And so women are complaining they don't get enough sleep at night. They're not feeling well rested. So that disrupts your circadian rhythm. It disrupts your sleep. the different processes, and modes of sleep that you're supposed, stages of sleep that you're supposed to go through.

So, it is just a whole, Bad thing for our bodies. And in fact, I did recently this summer sit down with my son 'cause I have two children that have had the either the benefit or the dismay of having a mother who does what I do for a living.

I've been hoping to instill all these behaviors and knowledge in them so that they have even better health outcomes than I will have because I got on this game in my twenties and they've had this throughout their entire life, even starting in utero. So. I did say to my 20 five-year old son, you know, I have to tell you, my 58-year-old self would be talking to my 20 something year old self.

And I would tell you that knowing what I know now, and again as you said, because the research has come out, I wouldn't be drinking as much alcohol anymore as you do. And I know he's, he has cut back a lot since I said that to him. And, he's sort of a few years out of college and there's.

A little bit of that tendency when, people get together. But he has cut back significantly, and I'm really proud of that. And I, think that that's important because it's not that the science changes, it evolves and as we learn more, right? Because you and I both hear that from people, like the science is flip-flopping and not that it flip flops, it just evolves.

Pam Peeke, MD: Yeah, it evolves over time and you have to stay with it, I'm a clinical investigator and, one-year if one thing is cool And the next God knows, but I like. To look at evidence-based science and I keep my mind open to the fact that we could be shocked by brand new data.

and that's why doing this podcast, and sharing a lot of This is so terribly important. So. The next thing is just, get up and walk, walk to me. WALK is the four letter word you want. That's a good one. And so walking is literally, lifesaving throughout life. and at some point in your life when you're much older, be happy.

You can still walk, and keep it rocking because. You should be grateful for the fact that you've got a fabulous body, right? That just, can get out there and give you joy in the movement of your body. So I have another small thing I'll add into the mix of this beautiful recipe of and strategy for success, Felicia, that you're creating here.

And That is get out into nature. I'm a nature aholic. I can't get enough of it. So thank God I have my German Shepherd. because, we're out there in the morning and even though one of my, cardiology colleagues years ago said, This is a guy in Boston who said, walk your dog.

Even if you don't have one. And so just get on out there, take yourself for a walk and just enjoy. I don't ever have Airbus in. I like just to, listen to Mother Nature and maybe meet up, with some neighbors. and, have a little moment to, talk, hang out, and just keep it, going.

And of course. The fact that I have my little, max, my dog with me just, gives me pure joy. But being in nature helps reregulate stress hormone so that it's not out of control, And. I've had more times than I can count in my life. When I went out into nature to work things out.

I have to think about things. every time I write a book and I'm doing that now, I can't tell you how many creative moments I have when I'm just looking at the beautiful flora and fauna, around me and just have an opportunity to just be,

Felicia D. Stoler, DCN, MS: Yeah. I love it. agree with you. I think the other thing I was going to add is not just to walk, to do it, but to be really purposeful And in, in looking around and seeing things that when you're in a car, you don't see, like, I love when I'm walking someplace and I see a beautiful flower.

And I'm curious, does it have an aroma? And I stick my nose up into it. And Those are the types of things that I like to do. I try to pay attention to smells too, because in certain times of the year, in certain parts of the country, whether it's the greenery or the flowers, they emit a different aroma.

So I enjoy that. Like I remember when I lived in New York and I used to run in Central Park. Obviously because of the plants in different areas, I almost, even if I wasn't looking, I could tell by the smell where I was, And so paying attention to that, being observant, Sometimes even in, different cities.

I walk around, I look, I like to look at architecture, I look to, I like to look for details, and Those are things that I think are enriching in the experience that make it where I am doing actually more than one thing at a time. Right. I'm actually physically walking, but I'm engaging my brain.

I'm registering, I'm looking, I'm analyzing, you know, I'm doing, I'm. really just trying to take in and process something that might be new that I had not seen before. And there's a lot of joy and beauty in beauty, right? It could be in the ocean just watching waves, right?

It can be looking down at the sand or the shells. every beach is different. Some are sandy, some are gritty, some have shells, some don't.

Pam Peeke, MD: Well, This is also an opportunity to increase, what I love to see as awe a WE, it's like something is. Awesome So, it, really conjures up awe in me. Like I had no idea the other day I saw the biggest woodpecker. I mean this sucker's like one of these 20 pounders and he was just banging away on some oak tree.

And then what he would do, hei it, would fly right up into the. Very, very tall pine trees And then bang away on that one And then get a little bored with that. Maybe had a or something. You know, it's like a little issue, with this woodpecker. But it was beautiful.

He was sailing between both trees, constantly banging away and doing his thing. I just absolutely. Loved it. I was in awe of this magnificent creature with the beautiful orange, red, neck and back. Oh, And the spots, the black spots they have. I stood there, I took pictures, needless to say, because I wanted to share this with my friends.

Felicia D. Stoler, DCN, MS: Yeah.

Pam Peeke, MD: I said, look what I just saw.

Felicia D. Stoler, DCN, MS: Yeah. we should also add in having meaningful relationships is very important.

Pam Peeke, MD: Well, no, connection is

Felicia D. Stoler, DCN, MS: out, having a good connections. Yes. Sometimes we have a lot of

Pam Peeke, MD: know,

Felicia D. Stoler, DCN, MS: relationships, but having healthy relationships are very valuable and there's been a lot of research around that too, with longevity.

Pam Peeke, MD: well, actually what the research shows is that having meaningful connections with whomever in your life, it is equal to, if not greater in importance than exercise and nutrition. I mean, what's the use of having some exercise in your life and some great nutrition and you're not connected to people?

What is the point? People do very, very poorly when that happens. They become lonely, they become, disconnected from reality. so in the new year. Right here's some little low hanging fruit in more ways than one. so one is connection And it's work. Do not under any circumstances, sing that great.

Relationships fall right in your lap. You gotta work it. You gotta be a piece of this. You have to be fearless. Go out there and if someone is not interested in being your friend, cool. Move on. And just make it work. But connection, even if you had one connection you created that now you've sustained for an entire year.

Rock on. That means everything 'cause it's priceless. Number two, if you get up and get more physical activity, I don't mean joining some fancy schmancy, just walk, prove. You can walk. Just prove it, and from there you'll start building. More because, you know, I always, rant and rave and get crazy about the fact that, lifting weights and doing, strength training is absolutely paramount to success in longevity.

But it all starts with. A walk. A walk, okay. So start with that. The next thing is, choose, look around, do something wild. And I'm piling onto what you said, Felicia. people don't pay attention to what they eat. So do you have, are you actually preparing things for yourself?

Go into your pantry. I know it may be a horror show, but just go into your pantry, go into your refrigerator, all the things that are half dead in there that we haven't cleaned out, have we? and just clean out the whole damn thing and say to yourself and.

No more ultraprocessed anything, and there's plenty of other things you can eat instead. Plenty of things you can eat that don't involve big boxes and big bags that you bought at a big box place.

Felicia D. Stoler, DCN, MS: of ingredients on a label too. I mean, that's really what it comes down to.

Pam Peeke, MD: I know if, reading the ingredients on the label looks like rocket fuel, just say no. That's ridiculous. Why are there 25 ingredients and half of this stuff? It looks like you need to have a PhD in biochemistry to understand, and you'd be horrified to understand it too. So keep it as simple as possible, which is why.

Being able to do just a little bit of cooking for yourself, that four letter word cook. if you could just do a teeny bit more of that, that would be fantastic. just experiment. try frozen vegetables. If you're like, I'm not in a preparing or whatever,

Felicia D. Stoler, DCN, MS: vegetables.

Pam Peeke, MD: frozen all the time. I've rediscovered lima beans.

Felicia D. Stoler, DCN, MS: I was gonna tell you, frozen onions are my favorite because I hate chopping onions because I cry all the time. That's like my little secret. I keep bags and bags of that in my freezer. But even that, like that, frozen vegetable medley, that's like green beans, carrots, and

Pam Peeke, MD: oh, there's a whole bunch. There's some, you put in stew and soups and there's, stir fry And that involves a lot of peppers and really cool stuff. You could just, And it's cheap.

Felicia D. Stoler, DCN, MS: Yes.

Pam Peeke, MD: really cheap.

Felicia D. Stoler, DCN, MS: It's so, it's so economical. You

Pam Peeke, MD: Oh yeah.

Felicia D. Stoler, DCN, MS: a pinch. You can defrost it, you can put it in a microwave, you can steam it on a stove

Pam Peeke, MD: Come on folks. It's frozen for God's sake. And the same thing goes with fruit. those wonderful, little tiny blueberries. The smaller the blueberry, the higher the level of antioxidant because it's highly concentrated. So I grab those bags of the small. Blueberries, they're frozen and I'll put 'em into a shake.

I'll, thaw some out and I'll put 'em into my yogurt. I'll put it into all kinds of cool stuff. cause I just love having them around. They're like my little pal. And I'll also do that with

Felicia D. Stoler, DCN, MS: Well, here's another little tip too. Like in the summertime when they're very inexpensive, I would buy them, rinse them, let them dry, And then freeze them. So I had my own, like when the prices come down, when they're, it's getting towards the end of the season, you could do that.

And then you have that for yourself in your home, and you know that maybe you bought that. But the other thing too is I love dried fruit. I do buy, especially with the berries and Cher. And, things like

Pam Peeke, MD: You just gotta be careful because it's, jam packed with, Natural sugar, but it's fairly concentrated. So if you're gonna have goji berries or something like that, just remember it is just, read the side label and know precisely what a serving size is, 'cause that stuff can get outta control in a heartbeat.

Right. And so, and also go seasonal if it's humanly possible, go seasonal. So what's really awesome in the spring And the fall And the summer, winter is a little funkadelic, depending upon where you live. if you're in a warmer climb, then you don't have to worry so much about that.

But in a cooler climb, a colder climb, you're gonna be doing a lot of cruising in the frozen food,

Felicia D. Stoler, DCN, MS: Well, apples are very, inex, are relatively inexpensive and those tend to All year-long. And so like That is something that's easy citrus also, in the winter time, like those little clementines, we tend to get those a lot too. And, Those are terrific way to get.

Pam Peeke, MD: they're, basically like a, total dessert thing. And, I'm a real fan of the 72% chocolate, and you could buy that damn near anywhere, but you want it to be 72% ish. because, that has the chocolate itself, if it works for you, has tons of flavonoids in it that are very healthy.

Um, And the same thing goes with, green teas. and all of that. So you add all of this into your, repertoire. I could talk to you forever. I just Absolutely, love to be able to, have a conversation, Eating and just being practical And also physical activity. And just please out there, the message is small micro changes and I like to call them low hanging fruit.

Just look at the easiest thing you can do, easiest thing you can do. So if it's five minutes here. Three minutes there, you think that doesn't count you're wrong. You know it all counts and you add it up like money in a piggy

Felicia D. Stoler, DCN, MS: We have

Pam Peeke, MD: that's the way it works.

Felicia D. Stoler, DCN, MS: five fingers right on each hand, right? So I'm gonna five minutes of physical activity and five servings of fruits and vegetables. like we put that together, right? And that's good

Pam Peeke, MD: And well, and if you don't reach that five of the fruits and vegetables, if you hit two or three, I'm gonna do the Happy dance because it's better than what you were doing before, where you weren't getting much of anything except. some stuff outta big boxes and big bags, which, you know, so run on over to Felicia's, website and it's Felicia, F-E-L-I-C-I, ATO ST.

OLE r.com, felicia stoller.com so you can learn some more because, one of the things that I love about having you here, Felicia, is that you're very practical and, your food is absolutely out of this world, and it's beautiful to see how much you love to do that. So once again.

Thank you so much for being on the Herb Podcast, sharing all of this Happy New Year to you. And of course, we're gonna be circling back to you countless times throughout the year, for more of your wonderful, wisdom. And the thing I love about you also, same as me, is we walk the talk.

We don't pontificate. We both get out there. We've got dirt under our nails from all of our physical activity, keeping it up, doing activities of daily living, trying to stay as vertical during the day as possible. Rock and roll with all of it. Thank you. Felicia.

Felicia D. Stoler, DCN, MS: My pleasure.

Pam Peeke, MD: And I wanna thank my sponsors, SORAY Vitamins, minerals and Herbs, rooted in nature And the new her life stages products, her life stages. They've got you all the way from menstruation through post menopause. So. Scope 'em all out at Soray, S-O-L-A-R-A y.com. And now take a moment to leave us a review because we love to hear from you.

And this the Her podcast has been a production of Podcast Health. Remember, your time in this world may be limited, but the things you can do at that time are not. So get on out there and seize the day. Please, everyone. Thanks for being here. I.