Ep.201 Midlife Health Without the Noise: Hormones, GLP-1s, and Why You Don't Feel Better

If midlife wellness feels overwhelming, you’re not imagining it.

Everyone has an opinion. Every scroll brings a new protocol. Eat this. Don’t eat that. Lift heavier. Do less. Fix your hormones. Try this supplement.

And most women? They’re trying to do all of it—and still not feeling better.

In this episode of Asking for a Friend, Michele sits down with Raquel Cartagena and Kristin Brucker, hosts of the Functional Moms Podcast, to cut through the noise and have an honest conversation about what it really takes to feel good in midlife.

This is not a surface-level conversation. It’s real, nuanced, and at times uncomfortable—because the truth is, there is no one-size-fits-all solution.

We cover:

•  Why midlife health feels so confusing and overwhelming 
•  The biggest missing piece for women over 40 (and it’s not another diet) 
•  Functional medicine vs. traditional health approaches 
•  The reality behind GLP-1s—benefits, concerns, and real-world experiences 
•  Blood sugar, CGMs, and why “healthy foods” don’t always work for your body 
•  Fiber, protein, and the habits that actually move the needle 
•  Alcohol in midlife—and the trade-offs most women ignore 
•  Hormone replacement therapy (HRT): what to consider and why it’s not one-size-fits-all 
•  Supplements: what actually matters vs. what’s just noise 
•  Longevity strategies to stay strong, capable, and independent 

This episode is about taking your power back—learning to filter the noise, understand your body, and build a lifestyle that actually works for you.

Functional Moms - https://functionalmoms.com/

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Michelle Doel and Alicia Harding

Metabolism Mastery Class with CGM

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_________________________________________
If you’re doing “all the right things” and still feel stuck, adding a layer of support may be an option. I’ve partnered with a trusted telehealth platform offering modern solutions for women in midlife—including micro-dosed GLP-1 and other peptide therapies.

https://elliemd.com/michelefolan - Create a free account to view all products.

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Transcripts are created with AI and may not be perfectly accurate.

Disclaimer: This podcast is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing, or other professional healthcare services. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your qualified healthcare provider with any questions regarding a medical condition.

Transcript

Peptides And Midlife Basics

Michele Folan 0:00

The information shared on this podcast is for educational purposes only and should not be considered medical advice. Please consult a qualified healthcare professional regarding your individual health needs. Let's talk about peptides, because they're not just GLP ones. Your body actually makes peptides naturally. They're messengers that help regulate things like fat metabolism, muscle growth, skin health, recovery, and energy. But here's the truth: just like hormones, collagen, and muscle, peptide production declines as we age, especially postmenopause. So if you're feeling stuck, belly fat that won't budge, slower recovery, low energy, or skin that just isn't bouncing back like it used to, this might be a missing piece. And no, this isn't about shortcuts. Lifestyle still comes first. Strength training, protein, sleep, stress management, always. But peptides can be a smart layer on top of that foundation. Not interested in a GLP1? Totally fine. There are other options that support fat metabolism, recovery, cognitive function, and healthy aging. The key is quality and working with a trusted medical provider. That's why I've partnered with LEMD to bring you clinically guided, personalized peptide options that actually make sense for midlife women. And if you're curious, check the link in the show notes and learn what might be right for you. Health,

Welcome And Why This Matters

Michele Folan 1:32

wellness, fitness, and everything in between. We're removing the taboo from what really matters in midlife. I'm your host, Michele Folan, and this is Asking for a Friend. Let's just say it. Everyone has an opinion, everyone has a protocol, everyone is telling you what you should be doing. Eat this, don't eat that, lift heavy, don't overtrain, take these supplements, fix your hormones, and most women are out there trying to do it all and still wondering why they don't feel better. Because it's not just confusing, it's exhausting. And at some point you start to question, is it me or is this just not working? So today we're cutting through all that. I'm joined by Raquel Cartagena and Kristin Brucker, hosts of the Functional Moms Podcast, and they've built a following by keeping it real about what it actually takes to age well. They're in it, they're living it, they're working with women every day who are trying to figure this out in real life, not in some perfect Instagram version. Raquel and Kristen, welcome to Asking for a Friend. Thank you, Michele. We're excited to be here.

Raquel Cartagena 2:48

Yes, no more.

Kristin’s Path Into Functional Coaching

Michele Folan 2:50

So I was excited about having you ladies on because you're in this space. So you're you're podcasters, first of all. And you all have a background in functional health. So I think that's a great place to start. Could you tell us a little bit more about you, your education, and even where you live? Because I always think that's interesting.

Kristin Brucker 3:12

Sure. I'll go first. I'm uh I'm Kristen. I live in New Jersey, and I actually met uh Raquel through Functional Medicine Coaching Academy. There were people all over the world in the course, and we both happened to be from New Jersey, which was kind of exciting. And I joined Functional Medicine Coaching Academy because I had an interest in functional medicine and it really had changed my life as a patient. So I wanted to be able to help other people and spread the good news. I really didn't understand what health coaching was when I enjoyed rolled in the program. Once I got in there, I realized that it was a lot different than I thought. I thought I was really gonna be learning about educational pieces to educate people. And yes, there's some of that, but the majority of the coaching was letting people explore areas that they want to explore and work on what they want to focus on. It wasn't like if you're a nutritionist, you give everybody a nutrition plan and you're gonna say, hey, follow this. It was more like, okay, what do you want to work with? It was what do you want to start with? And in functional medicine health coaching, it's all the core lifestyle pieces, is really the crux of functional medicine because functional medicine is root-cause medicine. Um, so the core things are sleep, nutrition, your fitness, your stress, and your relationships. And there's a lot to work with there for everybody. And it's the areas that your doctor's not gonna necessarily work with you on. They're not gonna talk to you necessarily about all those things when you go in for your annual physical. They more look at your blood work and things like that. So it was very exciting. But when we graduated, people were like, What's functional medicine and what's health coaching? Raquel and I both were sort of like, okay, so what do we do now? And thus the podcast ended up being born from that. And we together went on a mission to really help women. And then at that time, uh the perimenopause conversation started to explode. This was about how many years ago, Raquel? Like three and a half years ago, I guess we started all this. Yes. And so we ended up just really tapping into that. We knew we wanted to help people 40 plus, women 40 plus specifically, because that was our age group too. And that's that's how we got started.

Raquel’s Fitness Story And The Shift

Michele Folan 5:28

Very interesting. Raquel, you have a little different background, right?

Raquel Cartagena 5:32

Yes. So my background first, hi, I'm Raquel. And uh my background is I uh first of all, my first thing is I'm a mom. I'm a mom of four. And uh I got into fitness. I became a single mom and I had to figure out, you know, how was I gonna take care of my family? And uh there was a local gym that had childcare. And I thought, well, if I work here, I'd still be able to be with my kids. And, you know, that's originally how the journey started. I got into fitness. And also I thought, you know, it was a very hard time in my life. It wasn't what I wanted, right? To, you know, my marriage to end and all that. But I I knew it was gonna be hard, obviously. But I thought if I will, if I got into fitness, I would be forced to, first of all, nobody's gonna hire an out-of-shape trainer. So it would force me to always prioritize my myself in my health, which my kids would need me to do so that I can be a great mom. And also, you know, I would have to have a smile on my face. And I just thought all these things are gonna help me create the life, the next chapter, and you know, so that I I had a foundation to work with. So that was the beginning. I got into fitness. That was in 2007. I became a certified trainer, and that started. I worked at a gym, like a box gym, and for like two years, and uh, and then I started my own practice. And I also went back to become an older adult and senior fitness specialist because my goal was to make sure my kids get on the bus. I wanted to get them on the bus and I wanted to be there when they got home and get them off the bus. And so I thought, and I started looking at the clients. Most of my clients at the gym were women that were 40 and over. And I thought, well, that's interesting. And I liked working with that population. At the time, I was 41. Okay. And this was all going down. And so I went back and I got certified as an older adult and senior fitness specialist. And I really loved that. And so that population, like, they don't want to work out super early and they don't want to work out super late. It was right in the smack of the place where I needed them to be. And so hence I did that for many years. And I started a fit mom camp uh when my kids got a little older, and that was a great success. Started this fit mom camp and it was 30-minute increments, and it was amazing like how many women came out to be in the fit mom camp. And it was an eye-opener for me because it was, I got to meet all these women and I would say to them, like, why are you here? Why, why, you know, well, I want to lose weight. Yeah, but why do you want to lose weight? Like, you know, what is the, you know, and it always came down to I want to be strong, I want to be healthy, I I need to block out time for myself. And the 30 minutes was great because it was like you were in and out. Yeah. Uh, and that was really great, but it also made me aware of how women were running in and out. They gave themselves that 30 minutes. And that's it was like in and out, and but they were like running that hamster wheel. And I was like, wow, because they would, I've had so many women that, you know, shredded a bunch of weight, then they would disappear, then they would come back back to where they were. And it was like this vicious cycle, and they were just so frustrated, and I was frustrated along with them. And I just felt like, you know, fitness is an important piece, but it wasn't everything. And then COVID hit and I had to shut down the gym, like everything shut down, right? So I had to shut down the gym. And I thought to myself, during COVID, I thought to myself, if there is something, what if I, you know, when this is obviously this is going to end at some point. And on the other side of this, if this is what I wanted to do and I just wanted to do fitness, great, then go at it, right? Stick with it. But if there's something else, what would it be? And I just felt that there was something missing. And I I didn't know what it was, so I just started looking and I started looking into like lifestyle coaching and just all these other things. And there was like nutrition, and I'm like, yeah, but it wasn't that. And then I was talking to a dear friend of mine, actually, she was a guest, um, Erin Falco, and uh she opened my eyes to the functional medicine, and I looked into functional medicine and I was like blown away because of the piece of the psychological piece. Yeah, you know, the piece that you have the answers within yourself. You know, that's why, as health coaches, functional medicine health coaches, we're not gonna coach you and tell you what to do. No, we're there to listen to where you're at and then help you put the pieces together by just listening and asking the questions that will help lead you to what is best for you because you actually do have the answers, but we don't really take the time to listen to ourselves because we're so busy, you know, running from one errand to the next errand. And so that's where I met Kristen and uh we were getting ready to graduate, and I thought to myself, it was a year on a year, it was a full year program, and it was amazing.

Kristin Brucker 11:10

Like it changed our lives. Like we always say it was the best thing we never knew we needed.

Raquel Cartagena 11:14

Yeah, 100%.

Kristin Brucker 11:16

And I I didn't highlight a big piece of it is also positive psychology, incorporating that into while you're trying to make the behavior change. So it it really changes a mindset.

Raquel Cartagena 11:25

Yeah, yeah. That that was the piece that I really felt was like my aha moment because I felt that a lot of the work that I did with those women in the fit mom camp, I felt like we were out on the gym, but I felt that the the biggest meat of it was I would meet with every woman in my office. If they came to the camp, they had to sit down, they had to block out time to meet with me. I wanted to know what you were, who you were, and what your story was. And it helped a lot, but there was things, there were things that I didn't know. And at the time, I if I had known, I would have, you know, but I had to go through that to understand what I didn't know was that instead of me telling them what to do in my office, it would have been like, what do you want? What do you know, and what do you think is the next step for that? Yeah. Ask the right questions instead of saying, Well, if that's what you want, then this is what you have to do.

Michele Folan 12:17

Yeah. Instead of being prescriptive, you are helping them have buy-in into the process. And I I I want to mention this too. And this is this was a key takeaway when I was, you know, heavy into coaching. I still am, I still have my 34 or so clients that I'm still working with, but I'm not taking new clients right now. But the one thing that I will say is you gotta get to know what's really holding people back. And, you know, we've gotta dig into, you know, is there a history of disordered eating? Is there, you know, was there abuse somewhere somewhere along the line? Um, what have you tried? You know, all those things and and piecing together a story so that you can move forward and and help them have buy into that. So yeah, I think that's that's really great. So, all

Why Women Feel So Overwhelmed

Michele Folan 13:12

right, women feel like they are doing all the things. So they come to see you or they're listening to your podcast. And I know you talk to a lot of women. What are you seeing in terms of what is the biggest piece that's missing? Why are women feeling so overwhelmed right now?

Speaker 13:31

For me, the first thing that comes to mind when you said that was what why do women feel so overwhelmed? I think because there's so much information coming at us from all different directions, right? Especially obviously more now than ever with you know social media and such. And you there's so many different opinions and all different types of people telling you all different types of things. That's one piece. Then you have if you know, if you're a mom, you have your family that you're caring for. And then if you have parents, then you have your parents, and then you have your home that you have to say, you know, there's so many things coming at us. So it's not, you know, don't feel weird if you're feeling overwhelmed. If you weren't feeling overwhelmed, you'd be weird, right? So that's the first thing. So, but I think that it's again, I I I I think it all goes back to taking the time to just uh shut everything down and listen to yourself. That is, isn't that like that's the core of functional medicine health coaching is stopping the noise and listening to yourself and then asking what's what's right for me, right? Because this might be right for that person, that might be right for that person. And then we think, like, oh, that's what I should be doing. Well, I should be doing that, I should be doing that, I should be doing that. Like, right, stop.

Kristin Brucker 14:55

Yeah, and it's true. Like, we really have learned just from interviewing so many guests that everyone is so bioindividual that you could reverse your diabetes on a vegan diet, or you could reverse it on a keto diet, or you could, you know, there's like so many different options, and that's what's really frustrating for people because so I think taking time to tap into yourself, giving connect with your body sometimes. We're so disconnected. I mean, we're running from this thing to that thing, that you know, and we're you're never like giving yourself some space and some time to just connect with yourself. And so I think that's a missing piece that a lot of people don't have.

Michele Folan 15:31

And I think we've also it's kind of that suck it up, you know. Yes, this is this is what you signed up for, get over it kind of mentality. And and I really think we kind of need to take our power back um at some point because otherwise we we we lose ourselves and we don't want that to happen.

Speaker 15:51

Yeah, I think you're right. I think I think I think that, you know, they we've been put Kristen and I were actually just talking about this before. We've been put in a position where women get to do it all.

Michele Folan 16:03

Yeah. Yep, absolutely.

The Hard Truth About “Doing Everything”

Michele Folan 16:06

So what's the one thing women don't want to hear, but they need to?

Kristin Brucker 16:12

I think they they don't want to hear that there's not a simple answer. Yeah. And unfortunately, the answer is it's not simple. There's a lot of factors, and you really have to work on yourself and give yourself the time and space. And it doesn't mean that you need to spend hours on some morning wellness routine that you saw on Instagram. Like that's definitely not what we're saying. But you definitely have to be able to carve out little pockets of time, get yourself on the calendar to really assess where you're at and then where you want to go. And I think that that's something that that's overlooked sometimes.

Speaker 16:48

Yeah. Yeah. Raquel? I agree with everything that Kristen just said. So ditto that. And um I think another thing that women don't want to hear, which includes myself, is am I really doing, you know, depending on what your goal is, like let's just, you know, say, like, oh my gosh, you know, I can't get rid of this mellow belly. Right. Right. So am I really doing all the things because if there was like a little camera following me around, you know, I see myself sneaking this little thing in there, this little thing, and those things accumulate. So I mean, you know, in this situation, you can't have your cake and eat it too, because the the truth of the matter is that you're 59, you're not, you know, 29. And that, you know, those little things that I'm doing are, you know, having a cumulative effect.

Kristin Brucker 17:46

So there's a lot less room for error, I think. Yeah, it'd be a battle.

Michele Folan 17:51

Yeah, there's a lot less room for error, and and I call it the little bit of this and a little bit of that. Yes. It's it all that adds up throughout the day. You know, you grab a handful of walnuts as you're passing through the kitchen, and then an hour later you're going back through and you're grabbing another handful of walnuts. Well, you know, nutritionally dense, but also loaded with calories. So it's like you gotta you gotta make sure you're tracking some of that stuff.

Kristin Brucker 18:19

Yeah. Michelle, you had a great post about peanut butter one time, how you've been like over overscooping or whatever. Like, and that's so true. I mean, that's been my weakness. Nuts and nut butters. Wow.

Speaker 18:30

Oh, yeah. Right. And and you, and the thing is is that we trick ourselves, right? And this is like this is the hard truth that we don't want to hear. We trick ourselves with like, well, this is healthy, it's good for you. So I can do it, right? It's I'm not, I'm not getting, you know, I'm not having scoopfuls of, you know, Hagen Doss. I'm having nuts.

GLP-1s Benefits Risks And Tradeoffs

Michele Folan 18:49

I think this is a good segue into the GLP one conversation because the feeling out there is that people want the quick fix. And and it may be in in a lot of cases, GLP ones are being overused. You've addressed this topic on your podcast, I know. Uh thoughts. Love to hear what your feelings are about the GLP ones.

Kristin Brucker 19:14

So we've had a couple different experts talk about GLP ones, and specifically, not even for people that have a significant amount of weight to lose, even people that want to lose 10 to 20 pounds, somewhere in that range. And at the end of the day, like personally, we have not used them, the GLP ones, but do we think it's an effective tool? Yes. Would we consider it? I would, Raquel. What do you think?

Speaker 19:37

So I have considered it many times. Okay. I have clients that are on GLP ones, you know, and and I've I see with my own eyes, like, wow. But then I also know like it could have some digestive issues. I see some of the uh pitfalls of it as well. And, you know, for me, it's like I'm just not willing to. I for me, it's a little bit of, I don't know if it's Russian roulette. I, you know, I just I'm just not there. I've thought about it, um, you know, because you know, I I I struggle like every other woman. And I'm a trainer. I'm not supposed to be struggling with this stuff. Um yeah, you are but um, but I do, and and and so I've thought I've thought about, I was like, wow, well, that's interesting. Like that this could help me like get rid of the, you know, the these 10 pounds that I'm always struggling with or whatever. But then I go back to the root cause. Like, yeah, but why am I struggling with this time? Why am I struggling with this? And every time we have a guest on our show, and you probably feel this way too, Michelle, like I learned something new. And I'm like, well, hmm, I remember, you know, that like we just learned like that belly fat could be actually helping protecting your organs because it's holding your your fat cells are are holding toxins that are protecting your organs. So wow, all this this fat might actually be been here for a purpose. Then we found out like, and the way that you would that's why sometimes it's stubborn fat, belly fat, may is actually maybe actually there for a reason. And I was like, wow, that was like blew my mind when I learned that. And then we learned uh that through exercise, through sweating, pooping, urination, exhaling, like deep breathing, exhaling with uh, you know, you can get rid of toxins out of your body. So the goal would so that I'm like, well, you know what? Instead of taking doing this, you know, thing, maybe I could just I can go into the sauna, I can work with my lymphatic drainage, I can get rid of some of the toxins, be more focused on getting rid of toxins so that. That maybe then that will help my stubborn belly fat because maybe my belly fat's there for an actual reason.

Michele Folan 22:06

Yeah. Yeah. I, you know, it where I struggle though is that we know that's metabolically active fat, right? That's the bad fat. That's the fat we don't want because that is what triggers a lot of issues uh when it comes to our cardiovascular health, insulin resistance and you know, and and and I posted this this week. So yeah, I I got a uh calcium cardiac score last week. A woman close to me died at the age of 63 of a heart attack, um, had no real prior symptoms or anything. And so, and also someone in my family also had a heart attack. So I was like, ah, you know what? I'm I'm gonna go out and and get this done. Uh, Marianne Jacobson, who has been on my podcast, she's a uh nutritionist, but she also really digs into data. She's like, you know, you might want to rethink that calcium score because men tend to have large vessel disease. Whereas women, we tend to suffer from more microvascular disease. And so that goes back to this whole idea of our metabolic health. Yeah, waist circumference, right? That's the biggie, you know. If you're carrying it around your middle, that's your your higher risk, higher risk. Sure, we got to look at our lipids, our cholesterol, um, blood pressure, you know, all those things make a difference. See reactive protein, stress levels, oxidative stress. You know, those are things that you all talk about, I know, a lot. And so I did, and I've not told anybody this, I did try GLP1, but I did half of the microdose. So very, very tiny dose. What I wanted to do, because I have clients on it, I wanted to see what my how my body would respond. And I didn't get a huge suppression of appetite with that small of a dose. I mean, I was still craving my evening yogurt bar and that kind of thing. But what I did notice was less inflammation.

Kristin Brucker 24:17

And that's big. And we've heard that too from a lot of our guests. They said massive lower inflammation. And we even had a cancer survivor that said it lowered her numbers, like her cancer numbers. So that is huge.

Michele Folan 24:29

Yeah. So you know, the arthritis that I have in my hands, so much better. That puffiness, swelling, that just overall, I don't know, blah, that I get. That seemed to be much better. In terms of weight loss, I mean maybe a couple pounds, but some of that could have been inflammation and fluid. I don't know. I like some of the long-term data with these drugs in terms of the microvascular health for women. Maybe too early to tell, but there are some studies out there that are looking rather robust. So I guess jury's out.

Kristin Brucker 25:07

I think the jury's totally out on this one. I will say I struggle with gut health, and that is one of my hesitations because I already am a person that's prone to constipation. I don't need to be backing up anything more or slowing down my digestive system. And that's how you detox too, you know, through poop. So it's it's important.

Speaker 25:25

Yeah, that's that's my hesitation as well, is just messing with my microbiome. Like I just, I just, you know, I I've been learning different things, and I'm like, let me just try, you know. But I do see a lot of success out there with some of my clients, and those clients are training because they're with me. So, you know, I I think when you see some of these other people that, you know, like let's just say like famous people that you see on in the media, and it's kind of scary. It's like I feel like they're like walking zombies all around, and it's like it's you know, that, you know, I think it's could be a good thing for people that are doing it and and really paying at, you know, may like Kristen always talks about that, you got to be careful about the nutrition, the nutrition aspect, because now you don't really maybe it suppresses your appetite. And when you do eat, if you're not eating nutritionally dense food, you know, you got to really balance and and pay attention. Yeah.

Michele Folan 26:23

And I and I do tell my clients, I'm like, look, if you're gonna do this, you got to prioritize protein every single meal, particularly in the morning, uh, because that's when we have that broader window for us to really utilize protein. But yeah, it if it sometimes you gotta eat it even if you're not really hungry. And that's really hard for people because it's seems counterintuitive to eat when you're trying to lose weight, but it's you we gotta we gotta feed feed ourselves. So so are you still are you still doing that? No, no, no. So why did you stop? Why did I stop? I always more of an experiment more than anything. Um now back to the the gut issues. So I tend to have just the opposite issue where I tend to be um my it seems like my bowels are on the gas a lot. Like they they're I I I'm very regular. And it did it did make things a little more regular, um slightly, but didn't it didn't I wasn't taking a large enough dose to really slow things down. So yeah, so I I know gastroparesis is is a side effect that that can be awful. Um, so that is that's definitely something to be aware of with this class of drugs. So but I'm glad we talked about this because I think there's there's some some validity to everything that's out there and it's really a personal choice for people that wanna to do it.

Speaker 27:58

Yeah, absolutely. I think it's a personal choice, yeah.

Michele Folan 28:02

Yeah. And you know, let's let's talk about nutrition while we're you know talking about GLP ones.

Metabolic Health And CGM Wake-Up Calls

Michele Folan 28:10

How have your own eating habits evolved now that you've been doing what you're doing?

Speaker 28:16

Well, for me, my eating habits have evolved since I've learned more about tracking, specifically with uh the continuous glucose monitor, which uh Kristen has been more schooled about it. I never really did it, and I just um we just joined a group and learned so much about my blood sugar and having this monitor uh really opened my eyes. And this is all because of what you just spoke about, Michelle, which is like the whole metabolic health, because my metabolic health, my mom is like that, and I know that you know, genetics load the gun, but you know, uh lifestyle pulls the trigger. Yeah, I love that analogy. So understanding about the whole glucose and insulin and learning that whole piece has been such a game changer, and food that I thought, well, this isn't that bad, was like spiking my blood sugar like out of my radar. And I was like, wow, I had no idea. So tracking that has been such an eye-opener, and when you put the monitor on, it's you keep it on for two weeks. So you just eat regular, right? Because you want to see like how you eat normally, like what was actually this is what's been happening in my life. It's like giant, not little small, uh, what do you call them, uh, Kristen? Rolling hills.

Kristin Brucker 29:51

We want we are rolling hills, not sharp, steep cliffs.

Speaker 29:55

Yeah, and so I was having some of the sharp, steep cliffs.

Kristin Brucker 29:59

Yeah, and it and you don't know. I mean, I think this could be a huge missing piece for a lot of women that are battling either weight issues, metabolic issues. It's you don't know until you put that thing on, and then you realize and healthy foods, like for example, sweet potato will spike me really high. And that's a health food, right? It has fiber, it's a you know, it's a good food. Right. But um, you know, and and there are tricks. Uh, of course, walking after meals is huge. Yeah. And I've been trying to incorporate that more and more because you'll see it on the CGM. You'll see literally how it just brings your sugar right down, and it's amazing.

Speaker 30:35

Yeah. And so, and so the first two weeks you just eat regularly and you can see, like, then the cool thing is is that you can with with with the one that we used, which was uh, which was the one that we use, Kristen Stello.

Kristin Brucker 30:47

It's over the counter too.

Speaker 30:48

You can just get it. You're able, you can take a picture of each meal and it documents it, and then you can see from when you ate that meal how your blood sugar spiked. And so I we did that, I did that for two weeks, and then the following two weeks, now I start making the adjustments and try to eat more of the foods that didn't that had me on a nice rolling hill and kept my blood sugar. And so that was such a huge eye-opener. It doesn't mean that you know, I never ate the food again that spiked me, but just you know, I would eat less of it just I didn't want to eat, I didn't want to eat because I now knew what it was doing.

Kristin Brucker 31:27

And the other thing is that lowers your inflammation a lot. Like if you really start to work on that, you're gonna notice that some of that body pain and those things that just come on, and we think, oh, we're just getting old. Well, it's inflammation.

Michele Folan 31:40

Yeah. So there's also something else, too. That blood sugar spike that you get comes with a crash. And you don't feel well, like you lose energy. That's where that two in the afternoon slump comes in. And when you start eating foods, particularly if you're getting in more protein at lunch so that you don't get that slump in the afternoon, your energy goes through the roof. I mean, it it really is amazing. I had um Dr. Paul Kalazic, and he uses a CGM to help people in their weight loss efforts. And so if you're if you're not going to do a GLP1 or something like that, but just learning more about how your body behaves with certain foods can mentally put you in a better place to make better decisions. And uh it's fascinating. Yeah, I did I did um uh a monitor for a good month and it was it was really interesting. I'm glad I did that though, because it it really gave me a frame of reference around, you know, what I was eating.

Speaker 32:45

And yeah, it's it's it's definitely a powerful tool to have in your toolbox, that is for sure. So that was that was uh one place where I made a lot of nutritional choices because of that feedback.

Protein Versus Fiber And Gut Reality

Michele Folan 32:59

How about fiber? You all talk about fiber. What's your what are your thoughts on fiber? How do you how are you getting more in your diet? Because I know 25 to 35 grams is really hard for a lot of women. Most women get between 12 and 14 grams a day.

Kristin Brucker 33:13

I think it's really hard. And uh we were so focused on protein that we were not really paying attention to fiber. And I'm gonna put myself out there again. My my gut issues, not good for me. Like the high protein, no, that was not working. Yeah. So I had to really be more conscious of my fiber. And it, I think when you actually look at how much fiber is in things, you'll be shocked how low it can be. You know, a plate of greens is not gonna really get you much fiber. So if you're having a salad, you think you're good, but not at all. Um, and Raquel, you had a good hack by using ChatGPT. Yeah. Yeah.

Speaker 33:50

I just I told ChatGPT I really need to up my fiber intake. And I just asked for a dairy theory, uh, a dietary plan with, you know, that would incorporate what, you know, certain amount of protein, certain amount of fiber. And it gave me a good meal plan for the day.

Michele Folan 34:09

Yeah, that's great. I I love, I love chat. I gave my clients a a chat response where they would go in and answer all these questions to help them. Like, let's let's really hone in on your macros. Let's see if we can get these even more tight. And uh, so I chat can, it's such a great resource for this kind of stuff. It's like, I don't want it to put us all out of business, but it it really can um help people.

Kristin Brucker 34:36

My husband just went for his annual physical and the doc and he needs to lose about 10 pounds or so. And the doctor said, use chat. That's what he suggested.

Michele Folan 34:44

Yeah, there you go. There you go. One thing, and I of course getting fiber from real food is always the goal, but there is a fiber supplement that I like really well. It's Garden of Life, and it's their raw, organic fiber. And I add that to smoothies. I guess you could put it in oatmeal or other things like that.

Kristin Brucker 35:07

But okay, I use basil seeds. I'll throw that out there, that they are very high in fiber. I think about 15 grams uh for two tablespoons, and that and that'll get you, you know, like halfway there just in your smoothie if you can't. But I would go slow. You don't with always with fiber, you slowly increase because it can definitely throw off your gut. You could end up horribly bloated and constipated or having diarrhea. So you gotta be careful with that. But and the other thing, our a lot of our guests have highlighted that fiber is so important for your hormone regulation and for helping with your estrogen metabolism and all of that. It's very important. So it's true when the conversation about protein started to really spike, we needed to add that fiber piece that's very

Alcohol Sleep And Wearable Data

Kristin Brucker 35:52

important.

Michele Folan 35:52

Yeah. All right, I'm gonna talk about alcohol because this is the one thing that I think it holds back so many women. I hate to say it, that they feel like they've earned that glass of wine or that cocktail at night after a hard day. And I I know they they probably have earned that. But what are your thoughts about it comes with the cost? Yeah, it comes with the cost. So I was gonna, yeah, like is there a level that's fine, or should women be rethinking it all together? What are your thoughts?

Kristin Brucker 36:28

I think like anything, it's so individual, but I'll just put myself like I so I was that person. I would come home, or I I was a stay-at-home mom. So I would be like waiting until like six o'clock, and I'd be like, okay, I'm gonna have a glass of wine now while I make dinner or something. I've I've been in that situation before. I used to think wine was like super healthy. And I was, you know, I was like into functional medicine, like a lot. So I changed my diet and all that stuff, but the alcohol was still there, like because I thought, oh, it's healthy, like I'll have a glass of wine with my meal or whatever. Um, I guess I would say COVID was like the peak for me of drinking, and I think it was for a lot of people. And yeah, and then so, so from then that point on, I started at some point to rethink it. I had the gut issues. I knew I shouldn't be drinking. Like I was like, I really shouldn't be doing this. So I started to experiment where I would just do the dry January or I would do dry January, February. My social group where I live, alcohol is a very big part of it. Like people drink around here a lot where I live. It's you know, it's part of every social occasion. But recently I've noticed a lot of people cutting back, a lot of people quitting altogether. So I think it's good. I think it's a good awareness and conversation. I do still drink, but I drink way less than I used to, I would say. Yeah.

Speaker 37:49

Yeah. Uh so I was never really much of a drinker to begin with. I did other things. That's where I was. Told you this is going to be honest. But you know, the thing is, is like, uh, I don't know, at a certain point, like if I had uh I would get sick the next day out of nowhere. This started happening to me. So that was one thing. The other thing was that um I was, you know, I would go, I still go out. People don't realize that I'm not drinking because I'll order, I'll go to the bar and I'll ask for a nice glass. I want seltzer with a splash of cranberry with lemon and lime, and it looks like a drink. And I have a great time. No one, you know, has any clue that I am, you know, not drink drinking, except for like my really close friends. They know I don't really drink. So, you know, that's my my take on it. But we've had so many guests on our podcast that talked about alcohol and like even for me, like so, for example, New Year's Eve. Even when I was younger, it just never made any sense that you would drink so much that you would be so hungover on the first day of the new year. Right. So I just like that never made sense to me. So I was never really a part of that thing. You know, I I I used to smoke weed. That was my thing. Only because I would take a drag and I would hold my breath, exhale, and I was good. So to me, it was like I didn't, it was like minimal damage if I wanted to feel like a little like whatever. Uh, so you know, that's basically my personal experience.

Kristin Brucker 39:34

You know, one thing more and more people are saying that with these trackers for, you know, I wear the aura ring, um, Raquel has the Garmin Watch, yes, your metrics go down terribly. I mean, even after a glass, maybe, depending. So and I can see it. I mean, I'm 49, I can see it. Like as I enter my 50, just the older you get, the the harder it is on your body. And it's just your body struggling to process it. So for sure, the trackers I think help people cut back. And I've talked to a lot of people that have said that, that they noticed how bad their HRV would be or something after drinking, and that it encouraged them to cut back. Yeah.

Michele Folan 40:08

Yeah. And it it if you track your sleep, it's like kind of like tracking your blood sugar. If you track your sleep and you keep tabs on what you had to drink the night before and the destruction of your REM and your deep sleep, it will really make you rethink this. Now, a friend of mine is a sleep coach and she she said she still has an occasional drink, but she'll have to have it by six o'clock. Otherwise, it affects her sleep, even just one drink. My husband and I went out last night celebrating the 200th episode of the podcast, and I did have a cocktail last night, which is not usual during the week. And but I had it by six o'clock, and so my sleep was fine last night. But you're you're rolling the dice because sleep is paramount. It is probably the most important thing for us as women to minimize our stress levels, to repair, regulate our blood sugar, everything, everything. You know, you sleep poorly, you make poor bad food choices the next day. I mean, it's just it's just snowball. So um, yeah, I just think the rethinking of alcohol and what role it really plays in your life and finding good alternatives. You know, Raquel, you do the, and that's I love that. That's that's my go-to. Soda water with a little cranberry juice and some lemon or lime. And yeah, it's that's very refreshing. I do that here at home.

Speaker 41:45

And you know what's interesting? Like, if you go out to like if you're at a restaurant or to at a bar or whatever, and you order this drink with I I have to tell them I want it in a nice glass because they'll give you like everybody else gets a uh, you know, a cocktail, a really nice cocktail glass. And then if you order a soda, you like you stick out like a sore thumb. They give you like this, this like different the plastic exactly, right? It says Pepsi on the side, and I'll say, like, I want this drink and I want it in a nice, like, cocktail glass. Yeah. Because, you know, and so you can enjoy your and and listen, I'm not saying I I just like you, like I can if I feel like I'm like, oh, I feel like having a little something, I'll have a cocktail. But just because I know that the next day it really does affect me for whatever reason, I become very sensitive.

Kristin Brucker 42:34

Yeah, like I know I'm gonna pay. I mean, sometimes is it worth it to me? Maybe, yeah. I'll be totally honest. Like if I'm going out with my friends and like we want to have, you know, some wine or whatever, I'm like, fine, I'm gonna do it. But but it's not something I'm gonna do every day. It's not gonna be a part of like my you know daily routine, which at times in my life it has been. So yeah.

Michele Folan 42:53

Yeah. Well, and then this is this is the other thing, is the fact that and I my my audience has heard me say this a million times, so they're gonna be like, okay, Michelle, be quiet. Your body sees it as a toxin. So if you're having food, it's your body is gonna metabolize that alcohol first, and that food is gonna sit and wait and wait and likely get stored as fat. So from a from a vanity perspective, I always try to use that as leverage.

Kristin Brucker 43:26

Yeah, totally true.

Michele Folan 43:28

Yeah. All right.

HRT Nuance And Self Advocacy

Michele Folan 43:30

HRT. Um, either of you on any hormone replacement therapy at this point?

Kristin Brucker 43:35

I I take compounded progesterone and I have for a while.

Speaker 43:39

I have not taken anything. I started learning about this like three years ago, Kristen. Was that when we had like the uh who uh they're not together anymore, but no, wisen well uh Maria and Kristen. Yeah, however, you know, and um deep like I'm so um the With perimenopause. I I'm in menopause. I've been in menopause for over 10 years now. So up, you know, I'm not sure that that boat has sailed for me because there's different viewpoints on that. If a woman, you know, at this point would, you know, should be taking HRT. And uh, but right now, um, I am not taking H. I think about it sometimes. I'm like, I wonder how that would, you know, be helpful. And uh I'm a little bit like, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Michele Folan 44:33

Yeah. Well, I think sometimes too, it's what you don't see. And it's the the cardiovascular risks of not being on estrogen, bone, you know, those yeah, yeah. I had hysterectomy in 2021. So I'm on estrogen, progesterone, and also testosterone. So I do a topical testosterone, rub that into my thighs. I've I've told the story before my levels got a little too high. And so you know where I was like, man, I like I had a sex drive. Like, you I mean, I was like, I was like, I was 20 again. This is awesome. Um, my husband loved it, but I knew something wasn't right. So I went to the doctor. I was like, you better check my testosterone. I think it's high. It was, it was a little high. Um, so I just backed the dose down. It wasn't really a big deal, but but yeah, I am on estrogen and I have I have osteoporosis, and then I just for continual heart health. And I, you know, the more I read and and and Raquel, I think, you know, there's the jury is out on, you know, what what is the what what's too old, right? After 60, after 10 years, you know. But I think that door keeps opening wider and wider and wider for people to, you know, get get started on it.

Kristin Brucker 46:00

Yeah, we've had a few experts, especially longevity doctors are interested really in optimizing hormones for people. And so we had a one guest, uh, I think her name is Dr. Anjou Matur. She um was based in LA and she said that she had someone like in her 80s on it. So it's not like it's completely, it's just so nuanced, just like everything. It's very, very nuanced.

Michele Folan 46:21

Yeah, yeah. And I again, it's knowing the whole patient, you know, what are their struggles? You know, what's family history, you know, all of that stuff. It all plays a role. So um, yeah. I uh I tell I tell my clients that if you're not getting the answers you want, you need to go find another doctor. I had a client recently say, Well, my doctor won't run that test because he says he doesn't know what to do with with the data.

Speaker 46:49

Wow.

Michele Folan 46:52

And when are you going to another doctor?

Kristin Brucker 46:54

Right. I know. It's true. I mean, even for me, for my um compound of progesterone, I take that as through my functional medicine doctor. My traditional OBGYN, they were very unhelpful when I told them like my, you know, just things that were going on. They were just like, well, you know, sorry, like nothing we can do. You're just getting that age.

Michele Folan 47:15

Yeah. Well, I had someone say to me, um, well, you don't have a uterus, you don't need progesterone. I'm like, I still get hot flashes, I still have all the other stuff.

Kristin Brucker 47:26

Yeah.

Michele Folan 47:26

So it's it's it's really again, it's the message, and I know this is your message. You have to advocate for yourself. A hundred percent. It's like you can't expect.

Speaker 47:37

Yeah. You have to be curious about your own health and then um, you know, pull the trigger and take action.

Vaccines Trust And Asking Better Questions

Michele Folan 47:44

What are your thoughts? And we I have never broached this subject. Well, maybe kind of a little bit high level with some functional docs that I had on the podcast uh a few weeks ago. Vaccines. Where do you guys sit on vaccines?

Kristin Brucker 47:58

I think for me, I I always followed the the protocols. Like I, you know, with my kids, I always just was like, okay, pediatrician, you know best. Let me get my the vaccines for my kids. I will add that COVID made me rethink things. And I it it just seemed like, you know, that was being pushed so hard and then it wasn't working. And I did hesitate with my kids on that. Like I did not get them, those vaccines. I got pushed back from my pediatrician pretty hard. And then I, so that, you know, that was like really I always was like maybe a little bit curious about is it really impacting health? Like maybe it is. I don't, we don't really know. So I looked at my son's, he was almost 18. He had had 39 vaccine doses at 18 years old. I was like, that's a lot. Like, I, you know, and I'm looking at that and I'm like, that's a significant amount of doses. He didn't even get all of them. Like, he didn't have a flu every single year. He didn't have the COVID shots. So if he had, it would be even higher than that. And so it just really made me pause and rethink it. You know, I'm I'm definitely pro-vaccine. If there's a stance, I don't, you know, but I think that again, it it it should be looked at maybe in conjunction. Are we just adding and adding and adding without really looking? How does it all fit together? That's my concern.

Speaker 49:18

Okay, Raquel. Uh, my whole stance about vaccines is that I feel like this is a lot of this is just, you know, I I didn't do any intense research on this or anything like that. I'm just saying gut feeling as a mother and just as a human woman in this world. I think that there is a space for vaccines. And I think, you know, years yonder, yonder, yonder, yonder, yonder, you know, I think that they helped and they there was a purpose, a real, genuine purpose, maybe. As of recent, I just don't really trust vaccines anymore. You know, you have CVS texting you, telling you to get your vaccine. You have infomercials telling you to tell your doctor to give you this and I'm just like, what is the agenda here? I just feel like it's become like a the vaccines are like a little money-pumping machine of some sort. So I'm not really trusting like the recent push on vaccines. I do not get the flu vaccine, it never made sense to me at all. I you don't know what flu is coming. I I it it it just made no sense. It made no sense to me whatsoever. I never had my kids take the flu vaccine. My kids, uh, you know, they did get the vaccines at the time, you know, growing my youngest child is 21. So, you know, they got the vaccines that the doctor told me to do. I had no idea. But now with my grandkids, thank God my daughter is totally on it, and she is more mindful about what, you know, my grandkids are getting.

Kristin Brucker 51:02

And uh and it's it can be hard to even find a pediatrician that's on board. A lot of them won't take you if you don't follow their exact protocol.

Speaker 51:10

That was her problem. That that's exactly what she ran into.

Kristin Brucker 51:13

Yeah.

Michele Folan 51:13

Yeah. I think it's really it's it's it's um teaching our kids to ask the questions that we're learning to ask. Um, you know, the the the doctors that I had on my podcast a few weeks ago, they're like, why are they why are they vaccinating children in the hospital when they're born?

Kristin Brucker 51:32

The hep B. That's the hep B. All my kids have that. And I, you know, at the time, I didn't even think about it. I I was just following what they said. But now, yeah.

Michele Folan 51:40

Well, of course. Of course. I mean, my my kids are, you know, almost 29 and almost 31.

Speaker 51:46

I mean, I but but they probably had fear of vaccines, and kids are getting more than the vaccines that they had back then aren't as many as they're trying to get.

Kristin Brucker 51:56

I will say my oldest child and my youngest are six years apart, and there were more for like my youngest versus my in just six years, there were additional ones added.

Michele Folan 52:05

Yeah. You know, and here's the other thing they tell you to introduce foods one at a time for babies, but then they're giving them a jab that's got three different vaccines in it. Uh, where is the rationale there? So I I have a hard time with that. So I think our grandchildren are gonna have a different experience only because we're asking the questions now. And then back to the thing about the flu vaccine, and I'm not telling anybody not to get a flu vaccine, but this year's flu vaccine was actually you were 27% more likely to get the flu with this year's flu vaccine. It was that off the mark in terms of the strain. Wow, and so that was interesting. Um COVID, I got the JJ vaccine. I refused to get the mRNA. And for my second vaccine, I had to call around town because so few people had it, but I did was able to secure the second one. Um, the the JJ, because I had to be able to work because the company I was working for at the time, our customers were Pfizer and Moderna. And so we had to be vaccinated to go on site by those companies.

Speaker 53:24

I I did not get the COVID vaccine, and I gotta say, that was the hardest decision. I didn't know what was right, what was wrong. We saw these people in the hospital, we were in our homes, and everybody's like, you see these long lines of people going to get vaccinated. And you know, I just called some people that were in my circle at the time and and still are, the smartest people I knew. And what are your thoughts on this vaccine thing? Are you going to get the vaccine? Are you getting the vaccine? And and you know, I I read a book by Napoleon Hill, and he talked about reaching out to all the smartest people that you know, and then take counsel with yourself, and then have like a meditation, a time, and then to me it's God, and then make your decision, let everything settle, and then make the decision from within. And that's what I did, and the thing that I came out with, and believe it or not, most people that I knew at the time were getting the vaccine, the vaccination. But after I understood the reasons why they were doing it and you know, so forth, and I counseled with myself, I just felt inside my gut that it was just not, it didn't make sense for me to do that or any of my kids. We were perfectly healthy and we weren't going anywhere. So what was you know, and I'm like, we're just gonna sit home and sit tight. I just I didn't know what that stuff was. I just, yeah, so I didn't do it. Yeah.

Michele Folan 55:02

So here here was my rub with the whole thing was I was watching people around me all getting vaccinated with mRNA and then boosted, boosted, boosted, and they were all getting COVID. Yeah, right. Yeah, yeah. I was not getting COVID, yeah. And I was out, I was working, I was going to the stores, doing all the things, traveling. You know, when I think I actually got COVID was uh coming back from Europe last summer. And my husband and I just felt kind of crappy when we got home and he lost his sense of taste. And I was like, oh, maybe we have COVID, but we didn't test because it's basically a cold at that point. But I was talking to a friend of mine a couple weeks ago, and she said she's still getting boosts.

Kristin Brucker 55:50

Wow. Yeah.

Michele Folan 55:52

Well, my doctor's offering them, and so I'm still I'm still getting vaccinated. I didn't even know it was still a thing.

Speaker 55:58

Me neither.

Kristin Brucker 56:00

But I will say that time of my life was the most stressful with having kids in school because my son was punished basically for not being vaccinated. Like he he would the COVID would outbreak, and just like you're saying, all the people with the vaccinated kids were getting it. Like he would be on a sports team, they would all get it. He wouldn't get it, but he would have to be quarantined longer than them because they were vaccinated. Like the nonsensical, like, I mean, that's where my mind really was just going crazy.

Michele Folan 56:29

Yeah,

Supplements Vitamin D Minerals And Quality

Michele Folan 56:30

nuts. The whole thing was nuts. You know, I do want to talk about supplements because you all talk about full script, which is a service that you all get behind. And and I and I love that. Let's narrow it down a little bit because supplements can get really confusing and because there's so much out there. Where where do you fall with that? Like, what are the true non-negotiables for women over 40 in terms of supplements?

Kristin Brucker 56:57

So, as functional medicine health coaches, we don't prescribe supplements, but yes, we have a full script store where people can access professional grade supplements and we also can provide education. And I will say that from our guests, like definitely vitamin D is kind of a non-negotiable. And that's something that's overlooked. A lot of times you go to your doctor, they're not gonna test what your level is, and we do recommend testing to see where you are before you start supplementing. Yeah. Yeah, Raquel just found out she was low. And and anyone that lives in the northern hemisphere really is gonna be low. Like we don't, we just aren't outside that much and we don't get enough sun, and we don't have enough. And vitamin Z is really crucial. I mean, even if one of our guests recently, it's a hormone. It was shared recently that you even have higher risk of type 2 diabetes, like if you are low in vitamin D, which we learned on our podcast recently. And um, that I was like, wow, it's just so and and for some reason in the conventional medicine, they don't really look at that. It's not necessarily going to be on the radar. It's becoming more, maybe, but it it hasn't been. So that one we would say definitely.

Speaker 58:04

The other thing I would say is uh another thing that we've really learned, and even like with uh moms across America, is that the way that our food is produced in this day and age has lost a lot of its nutrient value. It's not as robust as it once was, let's say, back in Little House in the Perry Days, right?

Michele Folan 58:28

So you're aging yourself.

Speaker 58:33

So um, you know, and and Kristen would always, you know, uh Kristen would have and I would have this conversation and we would talk about like just having a good multi vitamin, you know, to to cover some ground. And and then we learned the importance of minerals. We just had a guest on our, we haven't published that one yet, right? She she just came on, but that's a very that's gonna be I it was really interesting.

Kristin Brucker 58:56

Like we were and you can test, I guess, with your hair, you could do a test. Which was what your status is. We're going to do it.

Michele Folan 59:03

Yeah. Oh, that'll be that'll be really good.

Speaker 59:06

Yeah. Yeah.

Michele Folan 59:07

Yeah. So like magnesium and things like that.

Speaker 59:10

Yeah, copper. Yeah. And she, you know, from my understanding, and I I we just did this, and we just had her on the podcast, and I haven't um listened to the playback, but from what I recall, you know, it's like the mineral, the minerals are so important because they help navigate vitamins to to function better or to their true functionality that they're the doesn't get lost, like the calcium, right? Kristen, she was talking about how calcium you can get, it can get stuck in different places. Uh, but the mineral will help the calcium get to where it actually needs to be to be at its full functionality.

Michele Folan 59:50

K2. K2 and MK4.

Speaker 59:53

Yeah.

Kristin Brucker 59:54

So she shared, yeah, a lot of just how her own story actually, where she was she was taking HRT and it wasn't working that great. And then once she had her mineral status, and minerals, this is the thing, the stress depletes it. Okay, we're all stressed out. Like Raquel said, our food is really weak, it's just not the same as it was years ago. So we're more and more likely to be mineral deficient nowadays. So we were really intrigued by that whole thing. That was really helpful.

Speaker 1:00:20

Yeah, yeah. And then the other thing I want to say is a such a great point that uh Kristen has always made when we decided to go, you know, to uh partner with uh Full Script is that and I I'm guilty of this too. Getting our our our you know, our vitamins from like Amazon or you know, you don't know the source, you don't know how they're storing these things, you know. So having a good place where you're getting your vitamins from is so important so that you're not just getting junk, right?

Michele Folan 1:00:53

Yeah, and because they they they mix those inventories, you don't know. Um, so I will put your if you guys give me the link um to your full script oh perfect um store. Yeah. Oh, that's wonderful. Yeah, you got 25% off.

Kristin Brucker 1:01:09

25% off. So you're actually gonna save money. It's gonna be cheaper than Amazon, ironically, and comes from a safe source, so it's great.

Michele Folan 1:01:16

Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I've I've told people I was like, yeah, you may not want to get your supplements from Amazon. It's like, oh, you know, I know it's convenient and it gets here the next day, but yeah. You know, it one of the one of the things that I really talk a lot about is kind of my stay out of the nursing home strategy.

Longevity Strategy Strength Mobility And Joy

Michele Folan 1:01:38

And where I I know we wanna we wanna look good now, you know, we want our skin to look great, we want to fit in our favorite jeans, look decent in the bathing suit, um, on the beach for vacation. But really the ultimate goal is to stay out of the nursing home, be able to get up off the floor, if should we fall, be able to play with grandkids.

Speaker 1:02:04

Yeah, it's longevity meeting a health span.

Michele Folan 1:02:07

Yeah. So if if you could encapsulate each of you, what is that strategy for you? What is your longevity strategy?

Kristin Brucker 1:02:16

You want me to go first?

unknown 1:02:18

Like silent.

Michele Folan 1:02:19

Either one of you.

Kristin Brucker 1:02:21

I mean, so this one is so important to me because I feel like I I'm just I'm in that age, I'm 49. I so many people I know, their parents are aging, and it's just not pretty. Like the the loss of mobility, the depressingness of, you know, maybe having to be in a nursing home, the, you know, not being the dementia is skyrocketing. So many of my friends, I have, you know, parents. So all of that matters a lot to me. And I I want to, you know, what is living, right? Doing the things that you want to do when you want to do them and and enjoying life. And that's not enjoying life if you have no mobility. So for me, my like you're asking what my non-negotiables would be. Like, definitely the strength training. I've actually always been a strength trainer, I but I have tweaked it. I've I am lifting heavier, carefully, strategically. I do work with a trainer too, which I think is important. I think it helps me for consistency. It also pushes me a little harder than maybe I would if I was just always doing it on my own, but I work out on my own as well. So that's a really important piece. This one is probably surprising, maybe to some people, but like I try to cook at home mostly. I don't eat out a ton. I don't get a lot of takeout because I know that when I cook at home, I know what's in the food. And I know if I go to a restaurant, it's probably not organic. It's probably using, you know, unideal oils and things like that. So that's an important one for me. I think as, and especially I think as I become an empty nester, I think that'll be harder to just cook for maybe just myself or just me and my husband. Like that that's harder. So I think that that's something important to me. Um, the blood sugar piece has turned into an important thing. We are learning more and more. We did an episode um with Shanna Hussen. She's a registered dietitian that talks all about insulin resistance. And I know for sure, just from me wearing my CGM and I'm in that perimenopause where my hormones are all over the board. And so um, I think that regulating my blood sugar is super important and keeping an eye on those numbers, like you want to know your A1C. So I think keeping track of my blood work is a part of it. Like I have to know. I can't just rely on the doctor in this case. I have to know. Um, and then also getting outside, because that's another thing that I have not always been good with. Like I just, as my kids got older, spend a lot of time in the car, driving people around, working on the podcasts, at my desk, coaching people, things like that. So it's just important to me. And I'm trying to do better with that. And I try to kill with two birds with one stone with the blood sugar, like after eating a meal, go outside for a short walk or go look at sunset, things like that. That in the past I never would have even thought about doing. So all those things. And then connection is the final piece that is so important. Always focusing on friends and family and trying to stay connected, even when sometimes you don't want to do anything. Like people ask me to do something, you know, and I'm like, I have to, oh, I have to get dressed to go out and do, you know, but yes, I do.

Speaker 1:05:18

Like I have to put on unin so uh for me it's definitely weight training. So I've always weight trained. Uh you know, interestingly enough, I one of the things is I would weight train, but I would be like balls to the wall. Like I would just try to push as heavy as weight as I could and and all these things. So I've actually been more mindful about lifting heavy, but also enjoying the training, not just trying to kill myself or trying to. I don't know, whatever it is. It just, it was more like a pressure. Like, I gotta do this. I gotta, you know. So more of enjoying the weight training, feeling my body, feel like I'm feeling strong. Um, not a place where I'm constantly straining myself, um, where like the next day, you know, because that is wear and tear. So it's like being you finding that that sweet spot. That has been a thing because uh in the past I would work out so hard, I mean, really hard, and I would try to do super hard, crazy workouts, you know, and maybe it was an ego thing. I don't know, because I could do it, and everybody would be like, oh, look at Raquel, she's so strong. And I'm like, yes. Right.

Michele Folan 1:06:44

So I I do. I'm only laughing because uh this has been a recent epiphany for me.

Speaker 1:06:53

Yes, this is you jumping on the jump rope on the treadmill. I know, I was showing right. So you I I yes, we're on the same page, right? That's me. I used to go jogging, jumping rope. I would go jogging, jumping rope, and it is a killer. It is a killer doing that, let me tell you. And then I would do it backwards, jumping rope backwards. Okay, that's a that's got broken hip written all over it. Yeah, so I would do all these, you know, off the cuff things. But so I've been learning to weight train, but being more mindful and being present and just enjoying it, not to, you know, try to whatever. So that's that intentional movement. So what I mean by that is, and this was something that I've just been doing in the recent years, I'm 59 now, right? So it's interesting. The other day, I was look, I just was walking by and I just, I don't know, this man caught my eye. Uh, he was walking his dog down the street, and it just it was so quick. I'm talking about a millimeter of a second that the thought through my mind said, he's an elderly man because I could tell by the way he's walking. I could barely see him, but I could see his gait movement, and I knew that he was elderly just by the way he was walking. And uh so if I'm gonna do a workout, I'm going to really open up my chest. If I'm gonna do chest press, for example, I'm gonna do things where I'm opening up my chest. I'm really being using my full range of motion. If something hurts, I'm gonna do everything in slow motion first so that I can feel where is the restriction? Do I feel a restriction? Is everything, you know, and I would go from there to there. And then with each repetition, your range of motion increases as your body opens. Because the thing is, is that we start shriveling up as we are getting right, the the process of aging, and you could start going back into that fetal position. So I'm saying this is what happens. Like you have to be intentional with opening up your body and saying, like, this is how you know, just I move my arms in every direction.

Kristin Brucker 1:09:01

Make me want to do it right now.

Speaker 1:09:03

Exactly. Just open, I open up in every direction my legs. I lift up my legs forward, I lift them up laterally, backwards. Um, I just do a different type of trunk rotations, and it's part of like my warm-up. And it's it's a great warm-up to do because you whether you're gonna work out or even just to as a mobility warm-up, just to start your day. So I think intentional movement is important, quality time. I took an inventory of when I feel my fullest, filled with joy. When when do I feel feel filled with joy? Because there was a uh a little pocket, uh uh, I don't know, I think it was like toward the ending of last year, which wasn't too long ago, where I was like, I felt like um I was becoming too much of a like a workaholic, maybe, you know. I have the podcast, I have my my training, you know, I have, you know, my kid, just all these things, things that I had to do. But where was my joy? Right. Um, so I started just doing an inventory, uh, not intention, just uh noticing how am I feeling right now is do I feel like, ugh, do I feel joyful? So, and I started noticing when I'm around my grandkids, I felt pure joy when I was around my kids. And then even just even the pain in the ass, can I curse? Even the pain in the ass of, you know, my son would call me, mom, mom, you got to pick me up. And I would have to go drive all the way to Rutgers, which is like, you know, 45 minutes, and it would just completely because it's like a two-hour block now. I have to go pick him up, drive back. But I realized that I actually love that because I get to spend that time with him in the car and I don't see him that much. And that was something that actually, even though it was like initially, I'm like, oh, but then I'm like, oh no, but I'm gonna be filled with joy. You know, I'm going to be filled with joy. So uh uh blood sugar tracking. That's uh something that has also been a big longevity thing because I'm able to make wiser choices ever since I started learning about it. Uh and I just want to give kudos. I'm gonna ask Kristen's help right now to the two women that started a group. Um, they do like this group thing. It's a three-week, was it three weeks, three week sessions, right?

Kristin Brucker 1:11:19

Yes, yeah. It's a metabolism mastery. It's all based on the CGM, and it'll share with you how insulin is aging you and making you in flames and making and it's like the missing piece. So yeah, that's Michelle Dole and Alicia Harding.

Speaker 1:11:35

Yeah, and I just want to say because they're they invited us as the functional moms to attend their group to like uh and give them feedback. But I tell you, that was a game changer. And also just being in that group setting, we would meet uh twice a week, right? Was it twice a week? Yeah, twice a week. And it was they start from the very beginning, what it is, how you know, and just educate you on it. I learned so many things that I didn't know, and it just empowered me to make better longevity health span choices for myself. And so that was a big game changer. Uh, same like with Kristen, the outdoor time, being intentional with getting outside and letting that sun shine on my face, whether it's hot, cold, whatever. Getting the sunshine on my face, even if it means stepping outside and just figuring out where the sun is and just standing there. So that's you know, going for walks, just spending time in nature. And I think I mentioned this before. I oh no, maybe I had this conversation with Kristen, I'm not sure. But sometimes I would go with my grandson, we would go for a nature walk. I'm talking about it, could be in the middle of the street. We don't live in the woods, but maybe we'll go hiking in the woods. But if it's just going outside, Emmett, let's go for a walk. And I just want you to listen to what do you hear? What do you hear? Oh, I I hear the birds chirping, I hear the wind blowing in the leaves, I hear a car down the road, I hear, you know, I hear the footsteps, like just listening, connecting. Whew, that is like it's it's amazing. And and then also, if if possible, I think, you know, sleep hygiene is such a huge thing. And I I feel that when I and I'm not perfect with this, uh, so you know, but I'm trying to walk my talk, and that is taking walks at night, just the same way I let that sunshine shine on my face, I try to find the moon. And I try to find the moon and I try to walk to where toward the moon, like where it's at. And I try to find, you know, it's so hard to find darkness. And like if you live in a in a street where all their homes have lights on, but I try to find the darkest area that I can walk in and just be with the night. And uh, yeah, so those are my my longevity things that I try to be mindful of imperfectly.

Michele Folan 1:14:02

Yeah, I I love all of those, and I'm like, yeah, these are great. I love them. Yeah, these they're they're terrific, and uh yeah, it so also I'll put in the show notes the the CGM folks. Oh, that's so great. Yeah, they're doing that are are doing that work, so I'll put that in the show notes as well if people are interested in that. I think the big takeaway with this one is don't eat carbs by themselves.

Raquel Cartagena 1:14:28

Oh my gosh, yeah.

Michele Folan 1:14:29

Always pair your carbohydrate with some fat or preferably some protein. I mean, that's that's like rule of thumb, I think.

Speaker 1:14:37

That is the rule of thumb, because let me tell you, if I had I literally when I was on the CGM, I had I think it was like three crackers. Crazy. Three crackers. I went all the way to like 160 in my wow it skyrocketed. I was like, oh my lord.

Michele Folan 1:14:54

Yeah, here I'm thinking even a bowl of fruit. And we think a bowl of fruit's healthy, but bowl of fruit will do that.

Kristin Brucker 1:15:00

Yeah, and our biggest takeaway too has been just you know, don't try not to eat between meals because every time you do that, you're spiking that insulin, and it's just better to just have your meals and then give your put insulin to bed, they say. And at night too, the night eating is the other kicker.

Michele Folan 1:15:16

Yeah, and if and if anyone listening has not had a fasting insulin blood test done, that is your first thing that it rears its ugly head. So get that done.

Key Takeaways And Where To Find Them

Michele Folan 1:15:29

All right, Kristen and Raquel, tell us where the listeners can find you and your podcast, Functional Moms.

Kristin Brucker 1:15:38

Absolutely. So you can find Functional Moms Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and our YouTube page. And we also are on Instagram, and our handle is at functional moms podcast, and that's the same handle for YouTube and for Instagram. We're also on TikTok, yeah, and LinkedIn. You can find us on there too.

Speaker 1:15:58

Anything else, Raquel? Uh no, not that I can think of. Yeah.

Kristin Brucker 1:16:02

Facebook too. We do have it. We don't have a huge community on there, but we do have people. We we post to Facebook. Yeah.

Michele Folan 1:16:07

Yeah. Okay. Perfect. All right, Kristen Brucker and Raquel Cartagena, and I learned how to say your name correctly. Thank you for being here today. This was so much fun. Thank you for having us. Thank you. Before you go, thank you for being here. If you want to go a little deeper, make sure you check out the show notes for this episode. That's where I link anything we mentioned, resources, partners, or tools I actually use and trust. And if you're not already on the Asking for a Friend community newsletter, that's where I share practical midlife tips, favorite finds, recipes, and the things that don't always make it onto the podcast or Instagram. You'll find the link to join in the show notes. Take care, and I'll see you next week.