The Three Best Ways to Preserve Muscle – with Marie Forleo

Dr. Mindy Pelz  

On this episode of The recenter podcast, I am bringing you something really unique. So this is actually an excerpt from a YouTube video that I did with my dear friend, Marie Forleo. Now, Marie, if you’re not familiar with her is a business genius. She is a mindset genius. And she has so much wisdom to offer people not only when it comes to improving their finances, which is kind of her her her path, but also in helping us think from an abundant perspective. And I brought her in to my kitchen, we are doing a cooking show now for our YouTube channel. And I brought her in to do a cooking show with me and I had her stay to talk about this topic you’re about to hear, which is three ways to preserve muscle mass. And what’s really cool in this is she is I probably would say was, and you’ll hear it in this in this episode, a professional dancer like she has this dance background, that she had to massively change her dance routines, her dance workouts as she went through the peri menopausal experience. And so I wanted her to be involved in this conversation, because so many of us are having to adapt our lifestyles to the changes in our hormones. And I wanted to hear from an ex athlete how she was going after muscle. So what you’re going to hear in this episode are three really important points that you need to look at. If you are trying to preserve your muscle as you go through the peri menopausal years or your in your post menopausal years. It is literally these three, like I’ve boiled it down to as simple of an approach as I possibly can. But within these three, there’s a lot of nuance. So you’re gonna hear Maria and I explain the principle, but then you’re also going to hear how we both apply the principle to our lifestyle. She’s 48. She’s Peri menopausal. I’m 54. I’m postmenopausal. So you’re getting the Peri and the post menopausal view in this preserving muscle mass episode. Again, that’s one that you might want to take notes. But those of you that are trying to build muscle through the aging process, I guarantee there is something for you to learn within the next 30 Some minutes because it was a really deep conversation. It was also very entertaining as you’re gonna learn Maria’s quite funny. And I hope it provides you the resources you need to stay healthy as you age. Enjoy. Welcome to the resetter podcast. This podcast is all about empowering you to believe in yourself. Again, if you have a passion for learning, if you’re looking to be in control of your health and take your power back, this is the podcast for you.

We’re going to talk about the three best ways to preserve muscle, and they help you or help me get this message across I am brought my friend Marie Forleo. And I’ve never done this before. By the way, this is kind of an intimate experience. I’ve never I’ve never brought another person into my solo episodes. So consider yourself, you know, crowned one of the chosen ones. So there’s a variety of reasons that I have Murray hair. Here’s what’s really cool about you and I don’t think people see this right off the bat. Is that beyond your beautiful face and your incredible business spray. You actually have this like legit athletic background. Yes. Which is why this video is a really good one to do. So talk a little bit first just about the background of you know, fitness superstar you are Oh my

Marie Forleo  

god. It started at a young age. So I remember first it was watching my mom, this is in the 80s and this is when we first started seeing like fitness on TV. Yeah, I was watching her lift, like just dumbbells and I was getting into it.

Dr. Mindy Pelz  

Did she have like warmers? Oh yeah. And the unit tart.

Marie Forleo  

Like some of these shows were amazing. People have the amazing spandex. I was like I love this. They’re working outside the sun. So I was like mimicking my mom cut to like age 15 or 16 This is off the Jersey Shore who becomes a member of Gold’s Gym. This one hair up to here like Oh, manicure. Oh, let y’all hear about like the fact that I do not look like a leather bag at this point is a frickin miracle because I spent so much time in tanning beds, or just oil Yeah, and pumping iron. Yeah. But anyway, I fell in love with weight training. And I cheered in high school and I put the entire cheer throwing through like a strength training just basically regimen because I want us to win competition like you got to get stronger. Yeah, so then caught you in my 20s I’ve never taken it down. Just last in my life, but I love to dance like the most dancing I’ve ever done was me walking across the linoleum floor, anybody to steal minhwa I can’t. But I wound up following a passion which was to dance professionally. And that a few years I became one of the world’s first Nike elite dance athletes. incredible opportunity. I’ve done a bunch of fitness videos. So you’ll see them in like old Walmart’s and targets like me like, like super cheesy, you don’t even Yeah, you’re on all these cars. And then some now in my 40s, which we’ll talk about, it was like, in my 30s, I spent a lot of time building the business and fell off the fitness wagon 100%. But, you know, I was pushing, pushing, pushing, pushing. And then in my 40s, I really felt terrible about not being as strong as I used to be, yes, I hated that feeling so much. So and I would say the past five or six years, it’s come back in a big way. So Maria

Dr. Mindy Pelz  

is 48. I’m 54. My background is I was a competitive tennis player. And so I was like lifting weights in my 20s and cross training for tennis. And so I was doing extreme work and you know, working out until my 40s. And then when I found fasting, I was like, Wait a second, like all of a sudden, I can keep my weight where I want it to be I can keep my happiness and my mental clarity where I want. And my bit my business was taken off in my 40s. And I didn’t have as much time so I put the weights down to do that. Do not do that. Don’t do that. And I just started running and yoga, and I just completely forgot about weight training. And now I’m picking the weights back up at 54. Well, yeah, and it’s, it’s brutal. It’s brutal. So I think we are good candidates for this video too. Because we’re living this um, you know, here aging women. Well, I’m an aging you forgot for ease aging.

Unknown Speaker  

Yes. You pop out

Dr. Mindy Pelz  

of the wall. Yeah, you know, but But you

Marie Forleo  

know, here’s what a thing I want us all to remember. You never get stronger if you only do easy thing. And I remember just getting back into the gym like you know, it’s not that a an exercise ever in my 30s. It just wasn’t as diligent. Yeah, I wasn’t it wasn’t lifting those heavy weights. And it wasn’t as candidate. Yes. Like you were talking about your 40s like, oh, I would do my yoga class. I did still dance, I would do some things. But I would definitely it would be a couple of weeks. Sometimes I was under deadline or whatever. It’s just like, you know, I’m fine. Because I wasn’t looking for weight management. But I was so stressed out.

Dr. Mindy Pelz  

That’s right. You got Yes, yeah. So okay. So what we want to do is I just want to give you a little perspective, that we’re living this information. And so I want to go through these three things because preserving muscle for me 54 has become like, like my target. Yeah. So are you finding the same thing I’m

Marie Forleo  

finding not only is preserving muscle, my target, but I find that it impacts every single one of my health and well being Yeah, I feel so much more confident. I feel so much stronger. And as we’ll talk about, it’s actually impacting my other workouts, which dance is still huge for me. So I’m finding myself performing better in my cardio, I’m finding myself in my yoga classes, it just being able to do things that I wasn’t able to do in my 20s or 30s. Now because I’m really focused on my training, right? Yeah. And it’s actually pretty

Dr. Mindy Pelz  

time efficient. Yes. So we’ll talk about that. So we’ve got three things for building and preserving muscle. So number one, we’ve got kind of already alluded to it. Number one is what Marie lifting

Marie Forleo  

heavy things we training, getting in that gym and throw around some heavy weights, like not the little three to five. Now, on that, I’m going to tell you, there has been some instances where I was advised like, Hey, don’t do it. Don’t lift heavy weights, because you’re gonna get bulky, right? So stick with a three to five and really like that makes everything so that

Dr. Mindy Pelz  

gets old, old news I had the same day. I always say that, like the biggest thing that I wanted is I wanted that. Did you remember the Hudson jeans with the cute little pockets on the bow? Yeah. And I had like a little muscle but in my 20s and 30s. And I always wanted those Hudson jeans, but the little pockets made my butt look even bigger. And so I was like, I didn’t want to get paid a lot of money by that, you know, they do. But it’s like in the you know, early 2000s. That wasn’t a thing. And so I really wanted like I didn’t want to build too much muscle because then I would be even further away from Hudson jeans. So I do think there’s something that’s really important about us reframing what muscle is. And I think you bring up a really good point, that when we’re looking at preserving muscle through aging, you’re also preserving your confidence. Yes, and you’re preserving your insulin sensitivity because the more muscle you have, the more insulin receptor sites you have. When you actually lift weights and you break down muscle you stimulate a metabolite that goes up and promotes BDNF in the brain, which is like fertilizer for the brain. So lifting weights is when the age is so much more than just about looking good. There’s so many pieces to it.

Marie Forleo  

Yeah. And I think that it’s really important. You don’t have to do this by yourself like so I’m in New York City. That’s where I live. And there’s a place that I go to. It’s called Lift tonic, and it’s like these really simple basic classes where we go down into a dungeon. There’s not it’s like barbells and dumbbells and like benches Yeah. And there’s great trainers that show you the precise for this is so important. Yeah, you’re in and out in 45 minutes. And it’s like different workouts and you’re literally getting stronger each and every time. And it’s what a satisfying thing. And anyone can do this. There’s so many videos, you could go to so many, you know, to so many. So okay, so like

Dr. Mindy Pelz  

reps just so we’re clear, because lifting heavy means different to everybody. Absolutely. So like I can tell you, I work out with a trainer just because I need that accountability. And so when I go to my trainer, when we lift heavy, literally the words I can’t come out of my mouth all the time. I’m like, I don’t want to do it. Okay, I can’t. But when she tells me we’re doing a heavy day, you’re gonna do less reps. And but heavier weights, my brain goes, Oh, that’s only like five reps. I can do anything. five reps. Yep. So when you lift heavy, what does that look like?

Marie Forleo  

Well, I think in that particular class, we gather up a lot of weight. So for example, let’s say that I’m doing like a goblet squat. It’ll be like, hey, Marie, you’re at the level right now. It should be at least 35 pounds or 40 pounds. And if you can drive over 50. Let’s do 50. Right. And I’m like, Okay, I love a challenge. I also love having a coach and I like being in a group fitness environment. And in terms of lifting heavy for anyone watching this right now. It’s like start small. Yeah, start light. And yeah, build up that confidence. But here’s the one thing that I’m so surprised by. I was afraid that because I took some time off, that it was going to take me so long to get strong again. Yeah, that has not been my experience. I feel like I’m gaining muscle and gaining strength faster than I ever thought possible. My ability to do push ups, everything. My balance has improved. It’s amazing. But you can start I mean, if it’s if it is those three to five pounds, start there. Yeah. Now you’re four get it right. And then let’s start building. Yeah.

Dr. Mindy Pelz  

And so then the other thing that I’ve found about weightlifting that might surprise people is that after 35 progesterone goes down. So like she just starts to go down, down down, which means that anxiety goes up. And what I’ve learned when I lift heavy weights is that those are the days I feel the most peaceful in my body. Yes.

Marie Forleo  

Is that how you feel? I feel like a duck and rocks. Yeah, walking out of that class. It’s just like, I’m full sweat. Yeah. pumped up. I feel amazing. Yeah, I feel like I’ve set myself up from a dietary perspective. Yeah, to crave foods that are actually good for me. I sleep better at night. Everything my mood. And I think this is really big. If anyone doesn’t like working out, it’s like, what’s your favorite music? Add your favorite music. Add it loud. Yeah, that’s what we do in our PSA.

Dr. Mindy Pelz  

We’re gonna get your favorite outfit. Oh, go get like swag. And like, you know, get

Marie Forleo  

some cool shoes. Yeah, you know, and they they feel it. But yeah, make it a whole thing. But music for me on a Biochemistry, biochemistry kind of level. It’s like, I’m like, let’s go, you know? No, it’s It’s awesome.

Dr. Mindy Pelz  

Okay, what do you work out to? What’s

Marie Forleo  

your music? It’s usually hip hop. Because I am a child. I grew up in the 80s in the 90s. That’s my favorite music and they happen to like it at that lift on a place like that, which is why you probably double whammy Yeah. Dancing between sets. And they never mind. Yeah, well, a lot of the instructors are also ex dancers. So

Dr. Mindy Pelz  

So and then if you’re if you’re hearing this and you’re like now like, I’m not lifting weights, or I’m we’re really out of shape. I actually learned a little trick from my friend, Dr. Sarah Godfried. i She and I went hiking a couple weekends ago, and I was in her house. And she had weights all over her house like yeah, they were like on her kitchen counter. They were like down by her fireplace, like literally multiple places. And I was like, Are you trying to remind yourself to lift weights? And she goes, Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m doing. So she kept them in places. So if she walked past the kitchen counter, she just picked it up. Yeah. And she just did a couple of reps.

Marie Forleo  

So we have that are housed here. Oh, we live in a pretty small New York City apartment. And we literally have dumbbells stationed around the house where there’s even kettlebells amazing. Yeah, there’ll be times and it’s like we just pick them up, walk around. And glucose got us what you’ve had, right? Yeah. So so that whole notion of even after a meal do 10 minutes of movement. Yeah. Sometimes for us if it’s raining out, or just like we just don’t want to go take a walk. We literally walk around our apartment and lift weights. Yeah.

Dr. Mindy Pelz  

So there you go. So if you want to stop the decline of muscle as you’re aging, it could be as extreme as like what we’re talking about in the gym. Or it can be as simple as just put weights around your house and pick them up every time you walk past them. Yeah. And

Marie Forleo  

you know, our friend, JJ virgin, she talks about it’s like aging powerfully. And I was wondering, I was like, as I’m getting older, I’m getting stronger. Yeah, you know, that is my message. It’s like the most powerful words in the universe are the words that we say to ourselves. And so for me, that’s my own message. I’m getting older, and I’m getting stronger and privet into myself with the debt like Oh, I’m on No, you know what I mean? My curls are getting I like, this is awesome.

Dr. Mindy Pelz  

Oh my god, I love that. You know, every end of every year, I set myself up for what is it that I want to create the next year? And I start the action at the end of the year because the worst time to do anything is at the beginning of the when everybody starts and then we all fail. So this year it was lift weights. Yeah. And so I started the last Last week of December with this trainer, and the first couple of weeks, my brain was like, I can’t, I can’t, I can’t. And I would leave the gym. And I’d be like the stinking thinking Monday, like, why are you? Why are you saying this? And one day, I’m real, I changed it to and looked at my trainer. And I was like, I love how much you believe in me. And I took I can’t and turn it into Thank you for believing in me. And it was like a way to be like, as I’m wanting or not viable. They’ve been myself right now. But I know I’m with this person right here right now that believes in me, and is guiding me through this exercise. So it also having an accountability buddy can be really important to transform me. So yeah. Okay, so that’s number one. Hopefully, we inspired you that. Number two, and this one I’m really curious about for you, I’ll tell you is eating protein. And, you know, there’s a lot of theories on protein right now. So there is 30 grams of protein with every meal opens up an amino acid receptor site in the muscle that stimulates a pathway called your mTOR pathway. And mTOR is how you grow muscle. So you have to hit 30 grams, like if you don’t hit 30 grands, you haven’t opened that pathway up. And then beyond that, we’re supposed to have one gram of protein for every pound of ideal body weight that we want to be. Okay. Just that alone is hard. It’s so hard. Can

Marie Forleo  

I tell you how many Google searches I’ve done? I mean, for ideas on how to hit that amount of protein in a way that works for the kinds of foods that I’m looking for also my appetite. So I’ve gone all around America around trying to figure that piece out, right? One of my latest things I’m doing, which I’m into and it feels good for me, is I actually add some paleo protein powder to my coffee. Okay,

Dr. Mindy Pelz  

so I’ve been doing the same thing. Oh, yeah. I’m like, collagen powder. Yes. So okay, so let’s unpack this from a fasting lifestyle. Because I’ve been like, well, what if I take I’ve been doing true Vani? Because I know Vani. Yes. And I was wondering, and I’m like, I know she made those ingredients pure. But has anybody done body hydrated, so I used to true Vani. And I put the collagen powder in my coffee, it has 14 grams of one scoop has 14 grams of protein. So I can do two skips my two cups of coffee. And with those skips, so I know what everybody’s gonna ask me, which is, does it pull you out of a fasted state. So I’ve checked it on my CGM. It doesn’t pull me out of ketosis. But with that much protein, you are purposely pulled out of autophagy. And there are two separate things you can fast for a toughie G, which cleans the cells out in that scenario, you want to bring protein down. But in the scenario we’re talking about what we’re doing is staying in that ketogenic state where we’re burning fat, but we’re also powering up muscle. It’s brilliant. I love it.

Marie Forleo  

So it’s been a game changer for me. Mostly, sometimes when I’m thinking about how to get all of that protein. And it’s difficult. Yeah, busy humans that we are, yeah, families and careers and businesses and all the things that we have to take care of in Iowa. Oh my god, I had to count all these and

Dr. Mindy Pelz  

now I gotta get a gram of protein.

Marie Forleo  

So it’s just a great, I think it’s a great option for some of us when we need it. And it’s just it’s, I

Dr. Mindy Pelz  

also found a tick tock video that has people putting eggs in their coffee. They call it carnivore coffee. Oh, really? So I tried that, but is a little bit much on my stomach. Yeah, yeah. So that was one. The other hack I’ll give you for coffee for protein is put amino acids in it. So because it is the amino acid specifically the amino acid Leucine is that it actually triggers this the sensor to open up and this pathway to start but for me, so you do both?

Marie Forleo  

Yes, yes. Okay, so the true Vani like, or a protein powder, and then the amino acid. That’s right. Okay,

Dr. Mindy Pelz  

so I do like true Vani. And then I do the Amino like body health amino acids, and I’ll put them in there in my coffee in the morning. I’m gonna upgrade my profits. Yeah, it’s you know, and then I’ll go got one more for you wearing it. Since we’re on the topic of coffee. Take some MCT oil, yes. And put it in there. And now we’ve got the good fat. You’ve got the aminos you’ve got the protein. You’re technically in a fasted state, you just aren’t stimulated toffee G but you’re ready for your workout.

Marie Forleo  

But do you have some other ideas for how to get to there to that? 30 Mark? Yeah,

Dr. Mindy Pelz  

so two other ideas I’ve done is for sure. Protein shakes. Yep. And like lots of protein powder. So that’s one my other favorite are beef sticks, cat. So paleo Valley beef sticks, I’ve got like packs on them everywhere. And so then I’ll just eat them all day long. So but from my understanding is it’s that first meal needs to have at least 30 grams of protein. And so after that, once you’ve stimulated the mTOR pathway, you can actually you know, you don’t need 30 grams at each meal, you just need to hit that total one gram per pound of body weight. Yeah, so and just see how you feel. I

Marie Forleo  

mean, I’ve been feeling so much better. Yeah, this coughing and adding the protein to it. And again, it shows in my performance of the gym, of course, we’re talking about sleep and all these other things, but getting that protein and it just it makes me feel grounded and solid and prepared for the day. So okay,

Dr. Mindy Pelz  

do you have any other hacks to protein because,

Marie Forleo  

honestly, sometimes it’s like going into the app and going into counting things like okay, how many eggs into I want some turkey and some chicken and you know, where else am I going to get those? Oh, we should

Dr. Mindy Pelz  

probably also talk about I don’t know if in your community I have a lot of plant based

Marie Forleo  

yo, yeah, absolutely. Let’s talk about that. Yeah, always a big question. And there’s times in my life, I like shifting my you know what’s going and trying to always eat as many plants as possible, but there’s times when my body craves me. That’s yeah, and I’m just gonna go for the grass fed, the organic, yeah, has to raise and there’s signs and I’m like, okay, flat time. So

Dr. Mindy Pelz  

let’s talk about so okay, if you do dairy, one of the best protein rich is cottage cheese. Oh, yeah.

Marie Forleo  

What do you think of Greek yogurt? Or Greek yogurt?

Dr. Mindy Pelz  

Yeah, those are both if you do dairy. So here’s the here’s the challenge with dairy. If it’s pasteurized, it’s dead sick. So you don’t have enzymes, you don’t have probiotics. And it’s so like, with my cream, I always try to get raw. But if it because otherwise, you’re missing out on that, but you’re still getting the protein. So like cottage cheese, you’re still getting the protein, Greek yogurt, you’re still getting the protein? What if you don’t do dairy? What if you don’t do dairy, then we got to look more at the legumes. So lentils are like the P our gas how our house. So I used to buy cooked lentils at the market. And I would just have it in my refrigerator, and I put it in salads all the time. Yeah, and I just sprinkle it in there. And that was really like just constantly getting that into my into my and it’s full of the that amino acid, leucine. So that those are kind of and then if you actually in the new book, I have a long list of some of the most protein rich vegetables for the plant based community. But I do think if your plant base, that is one of the challenges is you’ve got to work on getting this protein and so you may do like what we’re talking about where you put the collagen powder in your in your your coffee with you amino amino acids. And Ronnie is plant based. Yeah. So she actually has collagen that’s plant based. That’s awesome. I think it’s marine based. I think it’s from fish.

Marie Forleo  

She’s their products. Fantastic.

Dr. Mindy Pelz  

So, okay, so that’s protein. Anything else you want to say on protein? No, just proteins? Do you ever get? Do you ever feel like tired? Like you’re eating so much protein?

Marie Forleo  

I think when I’m trying to if I’m trying to do things perfectly, that’s when I get tired. Yeah, but whether it’s protein or my business, or you know, we’ve talked about this a little bit like someone was asking me actually like how data driven I am. And I’m like, I have to really watch it because the kind of person I am I can get obsessive the ordering this. So I am aiming always for progress, not perfection, yes. And paying attention to how this whole body feels. Yeah, oh, she’s performing how she’s sleeping. And so you know, if I don’t get to about eating perfect number every day, if I’m if I’m really close, it’s an identical star.

Dr. Mindy Pelz  

So I teach a concept. And it’s called the N of one. So when they look at a science study, the n equals how many people were in the study. And like if you can stay that’s like 3000 people. Wow, that was amazing. But what they have found, and it was actually a principle that they found in therapy, that if you involve the person, the patient in their own treatment plan, that they actually got better, quicker. And they hold at the end of one which is involving you in your own treatment plan. So what I just heard in that is like, here, you have this a high achieving woman that has done a tremendous amount in your life, and you want to kick butt in all areas of your life. But you’re also saying, I have to listen to myself. Yes, I gotta listen to my lifestyle, your being your own no one. That’s right. So that’s, I don’t want to miss that because I get a lot of questions of like, okay, well, exactly how many macros exactly this and what I’m giving you all are some some ideas. Now I want you to take those ideas and figure

Marie Forleo  

out what works best for you. Yeah, and I think and you’d probably admit this, it’s really important too, because sometimes the science keeps evolving. That’s right, keep evolving. So it’s like if we’re aiming in the right direction, and we’re doing our very best and we feel good. It’s like, yeah, comes up all the way around, right? Yeah, exactly.

Dr. Mindy Pelz  

Okay. How quickly after your workout duty?

Marie Forleo  

I usually need at least 45 minutes, if not an hour. Oh, just because it depends. Like sometimes if I come back from workout, it just I feel so full of energy. And I’m like, I need the shower. I need a second. Especially if I push hard. What should what is the science and you actually do? Well,

Dr. Mindy Pelz  

there’s emerging science that came out in like the last month that basically said like, within a half an hour after you work out you should you should have the this one is a little too much for me. You should have 100 grams of protein. Whoa, yeah,

Marie Forleo  

I don’t think I can do it.

Dr. Mindy Pelz  

I don’t think I can do it either. And, and the people that I’ve been watching that are talking about this are bodybuilders. I’m not I’m not trying to be a bodybuilder and neither. So but what I do think is fairly quickly, half an hour to an hour after you eat, I think or after you workout. You want to have something pretty fresh, okay? Because you’ve just broken down muscle. And so you have this unique moment where the muscles like a sponge, and it’s going to pull and all of the above that amino acid

Marie Forleo  

I’ll lounge a little bit less after masala. So shot let us know how we can shower quickly that’s

Dr. Mindy Pelz  

an or take the smoothie into the shower,

Marie Forleo  

that would actually be kind of far I’m not saying other ideas all of this There you go. Okay

Dr. Mindy Pelz  

number three the third thing on how we can preserve muscle is we can really take amazing care of our sex hormones, specifically testosterone. So I know you and I chatted back in like October Yeah, without your hormones. I haven’t done a Dutch test and you. So what did you What have you learned just as a 48 year old woman about your hormones, your profile and how they’ve shown me? Yeah,

Marie Forleo  

so I’m still in the midst of wanting to make sure that everything’s good. And the more research I’ve been doing on hormones, the more I’ve learned, it’s like, wow, this is a moving target. It’s sorry, guys, you got it. It’s one of those things where I actually found like reading all of this amazing books by amazing scientists gone like, wow, so we really didn’t have a really good test. And some people actually know prefer the Dutch didn’t like it at all. I know. Some people don’t. Absolutely. And some people are like, okay, the most accurate tend to be blood tests. And guess what, it’s constantly moving throughout the club. So we’re just going to have to approximate. So what I’ve been doing for myself is really at this moment, I’m like, okay, how am I feeling? How am I showing up? What time like because there was a couple of years ago, I was like, I knew something was wrong. I think as women we know this feeling. Something’s not okay. Yeah, something’s not right. Something’s different than it used to be. And when we checked levels of yours, I was like, yep, shuts off. Now, my most recent test is everything I like, you’re actually looking pretty good. Oh, so the field is everything feeling okay, as well? Yes, it is working. Okay. For me, personally, what I know is my kryptonite is stress. It shows Yes. And so over the past, I would say three to five years, I have been working so intently from a really loving place to strip away some of my own what I know to be dysfunctional thought patterns and behavior patterns, kind of self punishing patterns that I’ve just had since as long as I can remember. And I’ve realized how my hormones are impacted by that. Okay,

Dr. Mindy Pelz  

so I have a theory on that. Okay. I want to hear it. Yeah. So I think are think of your hormones as they adapt to every environment you put yourself in. So if you put yourself in a peaceful environment, your hormones are like, okay, okay, we can we can come out. Now, if you put yourself in a stressful environment that like we’re in a crisis, we’re not reproducing right now. There’s no need for these sex hormones that are right now, if we’re eating toxic food, same thing, we’re bringing up cortisol, and we’re making ourselves insulin resistant, and that environment starts to throw all our hormones off. Yes. So the stress, I strongly feel is the most important thing for balancing hormones. Because each environment you put yourself in, that’s massively stressful. Yes, the hormones are going to adapt. And if you stay in that environment for months and years, your hormones are going to tank Yeah. So I would say as a postmenopausal woman, I’m finally get into this place where I’m like, peace and rest and relaxation and regulating myself, is my hormonal plan. Yes.

Marie Forleo  

This is so huge. Again, I think especially for high achieving ambitious, creative women. It’s like me have been on overdrive for men. I’ll speak for myself. Yeah, literally for decades. Yeah. And for various reasons, feeling like, if I am not handling everything, it’s not gonna get handled. Yeah. If I’m not responsible for everything, it’s all going to fall apart. You know, and if I’m not getting everything, you know, it was beautiful. And so these past few years, for me have been so utterly enlightening. Just listening to my own inner environment. And being really, really aware of when I’m tiptoeing back to old patterns. Yes. And then stepping away. Yeah, like, put my hands up and gone. I know. Yeah, go in there anymore. Yeah, because it’s not worth it like nothing. There’s no amount of money. There’s no amount of accolades, there’s no amount of achievement that is worth my health and my peace of mind. Yeah. And I just have found that I’m actually way more creative. I feel so much better. ambulating my skin’s everything’s better when I’m not afraid and stressed out mania. So, yeah.

Dr. Mindy Pelz  

Oh, no, it’s so simple. But here’s what’s happens with stress and muscle. Because when you go after 40, all of a sudden, your sex hormones are start to go on this decline. And your ovaries are like, Hey, not a lot of Ames in the air, like we’re going to slow down production, but you still need some sex hormones. So we but we’re gonna go into retirement. So we’re gonna hand this job over to another Oregon, so you know who they handed over to? The adrenal gland. Oh, wonder and the adrenals are like over there. Like they’ve not been doing a lot for, like, gripping on and they’re like, what’s your white knuckling? Yeah. And they’re like activate estrogen progesterone and testosterone now, like, I can’t do that weren’t running. We’ve been running from a tiger for like three decades now. And now you want me to make sex work? bans. And so they pretty much say like, Fuck yo to the next one, you can go fuck yourself. They say the ovaries Go fuck yourself, you were trying to harm your own. And I’m gonna be over here managing stress. So the minute you let go of that stress and you tell the adrenals like, Hey, it’s okay, we’re not running from the tiger anymore. You can relax. I’m okay. They now are more willing to look at the adrenals and be like, hey, you’ve been working really hard. You deserve a rest. You didn’t go into retirement like you’re a diva. Like even pop it out this egg every month. Like I’ve just been over here trying to manage cortisol but you’re like, actually manifest this a few humans along the way. I might be willing to help you that. Amazing.

Marie Forleo  

I love this. I love this so much. Yeah, like my poor adrenals. Like, I

Dr. Mindy Pelz  

want to give them a hug. I know. Yeah. Right. Wouldn’t that be great? And we’d like it’s kind of hard to hug you. I feel like a little a little squeeze zone energetic. Little energetic hug. No, but this, I

Marie Forleo  

think the stress thing is so real. And we live in such an environment right now, from my point of view that is so at odds with how we’re meant to live, you know, between all of the interruptions and the pings and the dings and certifications and all of the incoming and our environments and the toxic that, you know, it’s just like fire. Yes. Like, it’s a lot. Yeah, it’s a lot. And so but for us to be empowered and to say, Oh, actually, no, I’m not going to live in that. You know, we’ve talked about this before on your show. My notion of time genius, where so many of us, we don’t even realize that we’re stuck in this world of times your OS. Yeah, I mean, that was a big one, and productivity and achieving and all that stuff. It’s like we have a choice. We do not have to live that way. That’s the point.

Dr. Mindy Pelz  

And I think I would say, like, I hear you say that, and like my mind knows that. That’s logical. But I think what a lot of people would say is, yeah, no, you got to show me like I like if I how do I live in a world where I’m not having to just keep performing and keep doing time over and being stuck to the clock and to

Marie Forleo  

the hatches? Yeah, no, I think first of all, I think it’s a process again, we’d had a conversation, we could have another conversation about that, too. It’s not it’s, it’s very much I think, like going to the gym, like you’re not gonna go and lift weights once and then have all of this incredible muscle. It’s gonna last last few to the rest of your life. Yeah, no, no, we go back to the gym. And we continue practicing and showing up to build. And I, from my experience in my own again, I know how to stress myself out so good. I’m such a professional at it. So I have a lot of experience here. It feels really like a practice, and a really fun one. Because life is so precious, and it is possible. It’s not always it’s not gonna happen perfectly every day, right? The photography will hit the fan, the dogs gonna throw up, technology’s gonna fit, you know, there’s a whole bunch of shit that’s gonna die X. Oh, my God. Those are guaranteed. Yeah, however, we have some control over our inner environment. Yeah. And I think that’s the place where we need to build that that muscle.

Dr. Mindy Pelz  

And what’s interesting about that is in the adrenals, working so hard, when they’re exhausted, they break muscle down so that they can get the nutrients they say they share the same nutrients. So literally like a video like this, you could be like, Okay, I need to strength train more, I need to eat more protein, and I need to balance my hormones. And now you’ve just added another to do list. And so I think we probably actually probably should have started with stress as being the biggest thing you need to manage. If you want to preserve muscle as you

Marie Forleo  

go as you start to age. Well, here’s the cool thing that I found, in my experience, I actually love where we started. Because when I lift weights, or to be perfectly honest, I do any fairly intense workout where I am strength training, and even if it’s in the form of yoga, or in the form of dance, like we’re still building muscles just in different way. I walk out feeling so much instantly, less stressed and with a deeper, broader perspective on what really matters go hand in hand. I really do. So I feel like those things are very complimentary. Yeah. And you feel like, oh, I don’t really have the time. It’s like, you don’t have to spend three hours in the fucking gym. Yeah, it’s like you do it for 30 minutes. Even if you’re just starting, you’re gonna feel like a rock star. And all of a sudden you’re like, Whoa, I see all these new possibilities. I got that.

Dr. Mindy Pelz  

I got that protein. Let me Yeah, I love that. Yeah. Okay, well, that segues really well. One of the things I love about Marie is that she’s just got this mindset that’s addictive. I hope you feel that and just kind of takes the complicated and you go wait, I hadn’t thought of it that way. So a couple of things that she’s got for you. For starters, you gotta go on to Amazon, check out her book. This isn’t the best title. Everything is figured out double told me that was like a download that came to you know, that I will talk about in another episode. Okay, actually from my mama. Oh, so again. Yeah, but she has a free giveaway. So if you could talk about that, which is you can have everything, anything, anything you can have anything you want, I think is what the name of the video courses. Yes. How to Get Anything. Anything you want. Yeah, it’s a little

Marie Forleo  

how to because I’m very pragmatic. Yeah, like pragmatic things. So it’s three steps. So if there’s been something you’re struggling with, it could be around your health. You might be around relationships, or your career or your business or finances or some direction that you want to go on this next chapter of your life. Go get this download. It’s at marieforleo.com It’s a freebie. If it’s like a coaching session, you can download it to your phone. I will walk you through the steps and I promise you like pinky swear, it will help you find so much clarity and confidence to take that next step and figuring out that thing in your heart that you’ve wanted to figure out for a long time. Yeah,

Dr. Mindy Pelz  

it’s so beautiful, because it’s all just all starts up here. And in here. Yeah. And in here. Yeah. And mining these two absolutelly. Yeah, perfect. So we’ll leave links for all of that. But thank you so much for being so the pocket by chair. Make sure you go follow her on YouTube. So if you want more of her, she’s over there. And she’s got podcast. She does solo up. And so I’ll make moment yes, appearance doubt you’re coming up. Yeah.

Marie Forleo  

I’m new to New York with doing all the claims.

Dr. Mindy Pelz  

Oh, I love it. I love it. So, you know, my biggest message to you. And I think Marie would say the same thing is just don’t give up on yourself. And when you start to age, there are parts of you that you don’t recognize. And I think this concept of keeping muscle is more than just looking good. It’s about keeping your confidence and keeping your clarity and keeping your health. It ties in to everything so please, whatever you do, don’t give up on yourself. Do awesome, awesome day. Thank you so much for joining me in today’s episode. I love bringing thoughtful discussions about all things health to you. If you enjoyed it, we’d love to know about it. So please leave us a review, share it with your friends and let me know what your biggest takeaway is.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai