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Welcome to Strength Renewed, the podcast that celebrates new beginnings for women 40 and beyond. This is your go-to space for empowering conversations about building resilience, strength, and confidence—inside and out.
Discover how to fuel your body with good nutrition, train smart, and cultivate a strong mindset to thrive in midlife and beyond. Whether you're navigating hormonal changes, starting (or restarting) your fitness journey, or simply striving to feel your best, Strength Renewed offers expert advice, real-life stories, and actionable strategies to help you live a vibrant, powerful life.
It's never too late to redefine your strength.
00:17
that come just like, enthusiast.
00:22
That's what makes us a good team. Exactly. Hey Jess, how are you? We're on a tight timeline now, because I told Barry that I'd be ready in 20 minutes, and we've just been 10 of them. Well, being that I am one of your, to have me as one of your best friends was to know that I'm Jewish. And we've run a little bit on something called the Jew time. I love it. Do you know what? That's so funny you say that, because I knew when I said, oh, it's 4.30, all right? I knew that I would get a text from you about half an hour before going.
00:51
445 it's 445 or 745 your time which was which I had almost even planned for that. So no problem at all I mean, it's okay. Yeah. Well that really good. We we yeah well, you know, we just but I think like when we're the I see you in my evening time so like it's a little it there's that little bit of a buffer because you're finishing up your workday But then you got your kids and you're trying to maneuver them around and so you know, I probably probably if we did this at like
01:21
930 at night. I'd be like, good, okay, it's all covered. I'm good. There's no, it's just that little bit of rolling out the day mixed in with being Jewish, mixed in with having a kid that doesn't like to go to bed. Then this is where we get. But I'm always happy that, plus the reality is that once we're on with you, I don't want to get off with you. So I know Barry, everybody wants you. Barry wants you. Well, just two people actually, you and Barry, which is fine.
01:48
I'm just totally fine buying for my attention, but I love you both. So I'm super stoked for that to be the case. So Jess, it's Thanksgiving Day for you tomorrow. And obviously this podcast will come out, a little bit later than Thanksgiving Day, but I think anytime in the holiday time is really good to talk about some of the things and the issues that come up for people around this time. And I love it. And I think that it's important. And I imagine that we'll probably do
02:18
a two minute live right after this to remind people when they're eating at their Thanksgiving meal, here's what might come up for them, here's what they can think about doing. Look, when I think about a meal with a lot of food and a lot of people at that meal, I think that brings up a lot of things for a lot of people. I think that they sometimes go into an overdrive mode slightly. And I think that I always like to...
02:47
fine anchors when I'm going to these types of things, knowing that maybe I grab a sparkling water in order to eat or something to start and I add a little extra lemon and lime and kind of, I don't know, doctor a non-alcoholic beverage up first, right? And then maybe I head outside. It's almost like I like to have a little bit of a game plan. If I start there and then maybe the meal starts with a big ass salad on my plate.
03:16
run the salad and then I kind of load up from there rather than, you know, starting with like the heavy starchy food that may make me a little bit sleepy. Maybe I just get a big hit of greens and sit next to, I don't know, you know, it's kind of, there's a field like a lot of things I like to think about and kind of anchor myself when I go on to a thing. Well, I love the way that you actually frame that. So you've got some, you've got some strategies already in place that make you feel
03:45
comfortable in the situation you're in, but also you're not setting yourself up for just an over-eating experience necessarily, or you're doing some things so you're like, right, I'm hydrating myself so I'm not immediately going to the alcohol, because as soon as you go to the alcohol, if you're not hydrated, you're going to drink far quicker, and it's going to be disinhibiting for the food that you choose as well.
04:08
So as soon as you have the champagne, then suddenly it's, oh, I wasn't gonna have those potato chips, but what's one or 10, you know? Here are the nuts, whatever. Jess, what time is Thanksgiving dinner? Another thing that's kind of funny is that ours is going to be a little bit earlier on the earlier side, so like a 3 p.m., which I think is slightly not uncommon for people. I think these bigger type events, they start them a little bit earlier. So I think it's a good opportunity to maybe like
04:38
I don't know, from a nutrition standpoint, do you think, and I still get tons of questions about electrolytes, right, I know this is funny, but when should we drink them? Should we have them just when we're working out? Should we have them knowing that we're heading into maybe a little extra food this day? What do you recommend on a day like this? First of all, remind me when you think drinking electrolytes is important, and on a day like Thanksgiving, where you know you're gonna maybe.
05:06
have a little bit of the kitchen sink, when would you recommend having a little bit of electrolytes? Honestly, just have them as per usual. And I like electrolytes during exercise. I like them after exercise. And many of the people I talk to have a diet that doesn't have a lot of processed food. And we get most of our sodium, which is the main electrolyte, which I feel people need for the fatigue and for the energy, et cetera. We get most of our sodium through processed food. So if you're not having a lot of it,
05:36
and you're running a lower carb diet, which a lot of people are, you lose your ability to store your electrolytes because you don't have those carbohydrates that are stored as easily because you're not eating them. And then you aren't eating the main source of sodium in the diet. So the electrolytes and things like Himalayan salt, a highly mineraled salt, these are, I think, important.
06:05
supplemental things for your diet, but you don't necessarily have to do anything special on a day like Thanksgiving other than just make sure you're hydrated. That's not where you don't want to... It can be more challenging actually because you are running around trying to get everything organized, trying to organize a family to get out the door and go to the house to do all the things. Just trying to be... Hopefully you've got a good routine up and then around that stuff.
06:34
Basically, people don't need to have extra electrolytes on Thanksgiving day unless they're playing on doing a long run in the morning or an extra workout or something like that. The turkey trot, I hope everyone's doing a turkey trot. This is right, the turkey trot. Also a big part of Thanksgiving. What an interesting tradition it is. I think recommending not necessarily so much electrolytes but just kind of starting off the meal, well, in a good head space first, maybe kind of.
07:03
know if your family can be triggering for you. Yeah. Maybe to write them down. I always think getting things out on paper has always kind of helped me lower my cortisol levels. I think I've become a huge fan. I call it a spa water. So I just stuff cucumbers and lemons and things of that nature in, like I said, I call them spa water spritzers, whatever.
07:30
immediately upon injury, put it in a fancy glass, walk around and talk to people or not. And so you've kind of already set yourself up nicely there. But there are, you know, that's like, I would say that's step one, step two, you're going to say something. Yeah, for sure. And I mean, and maybe and even other things can occur before you go. Like, so if you know that you're going to feel a little bit apprehensive on edge or anxious, then I think it makes more, it makes it important that if you've got a meal at three o'clock that
07:59
I would try to eat a bit lighter during the day. The reality is you'll be eating more in that meal anyway, but I wouldn't go in starving, I wouldn't not eat, but I would make sure that you do all of those good dietary things of getting your protein in, your lean protein, your protein shake, maybe an omelet, something light. I do think it's a good idea to save some calories for the...
08:26
you know, the big turkey and the big, you know, all of that sort of eating that occurs. But if you were having a meal or you're beginning the celebration at around three o'clock, then you've probably got an opportunity to have at least, you know, a decent sized brunch or, you know, an earlier smoothie and then maybe a chicken and salad or vegetables. And, you know, just keep it really light because what you're also doing is you're balancing your blood sugar because a lot of anxiety can come when your blood sugars are all over the show.
08:54
So we wanna make sure that you're balancing that out really nicely. Can high spikes in cortisol, like I call it emotional cortisol, right? Not from, but just things that stress you out. So that can obviously cause a spike in blood sugar. Yeah, because evolutionary speaking, that was what we needed to survive. So we were either fighting for our life or running for our life. And so we needed the stress hormones to tell our brain.
09:23
and tell our liver to dump glucose into the bloodstream. So, even in the absence of food, we can get elevated blood sugar. Yeah, I mean, I think that makes so in a way. So the best way to keep your cortisol levels lower is to contrary to people believe is not to immediately go straight to the bar, but like have hydrate.
09:50
write some things down that you want to feel, literally. I know it sounds crazy, but looking at it on paper helps me professionally, but it also helps me personally just kind of focus on what I want to focus on emotionally when I go into a room that may be.
10:07
you know, uncomfortable. Yeah, for sure. Absolutely. And so then in a quest to continue to feel kind of more satiated, emotionally satiated from a food standpoint too, and dinner starts, I've always been of the school to kind of eat the things I want to eat, but load up on some turkey or prime rib or chicken or whatever is the main course protein-wise, and then, you know.
10:36
than to grab the roasted vegetables and salads and things like that. And then almost like a third trip around would be the potatoes and macaroni salad and whatever. It's a great strategy. And then also try not to eat standing up. So the snacks and stuff tend to be sort of that people graze on before dinner. You can end up unwittingly.
11:05
overeating even before you reach the table. Sometimes. Do you eat more when you stand up because you literally don't, you just don't, what is that? Why do we eat more when we're standing? I think just a little less mindful. Like you don't actually see what you're eating as well. If you're just grabbing something and eating it, you're not putting it on a plate and moving off. Oh, I love that. You can end up with like three or four plates, but you wouldn't have realized because you're not putting it on your plate. So grab some food, but then maybe...
11:34
take it with you and of course you can eat standing up and eat off a plate. So it's... I love that this is like writing the things down that trigger you on paper or in a journal and so you can see it, but the same rules apply to eating snacks. Like put the darn thing on a plate. Yeah. I love that. Cause then you'll be able to see a little bit better what you're putting into your mouth. Yeah, exactly. How good is that? Exactly. We're geniuses here. And then also when it comes to the dinner, like eat whatever you like and try not to get over full.
12:03
Try to think about how you want to feel. Because how you want to feel is that you've enjoyed the food, you feel grateful and thankful for the food and the people around you, but you don't feel so stuffed that you feel sick because sometimes we eat our feelings. And so if you haven't done a bit of the emotional work before you get in the room, you might find that you don't want to talk to Auntie Sue.
12:29
Instead you can just stuff your mouth full of sweet potato and marshmallow or whatever that thing is that you guys eat. I do love that thing. I know it's the craziest, most disgusting thing on the... I know. Yeah. But you love it. So hey, it's fine. Just don't stuff yourself with it. Yeah. Maybe go talk to somebody else if the answer is triggering. Exactly. Isn't it fascinating though? I always think it's so interesting that we calm our stress levels.
12:54
by eating when really that does kind of be adverse in the body, right? It spikes the things inside, right? It depends. It depends because actually, like if you're... It depends on what you eat, I think, like in a complex meal over time. Fair. Fair. I mean, I'm going to say that most people don't calm themselves by eating extra roasted squash and Brussels sprouts. I'm going to guess they go for more of the marshmallow sweet potato, but that was an assumption.
13:23
Yeah, yeah, no, I appreciate that. There will be people who will absolutely overstuff themselves on vegetables because of that emotion, because actually, and I think that's why I really encourage, regardless of what it is, that you just try to avoid doing that because it's a sign that you there's, you know, it's a difficult thing for you to stop and that's the behavior that you want to work on, not just holidays, just an everyday life, you know, trying not to overstuff and feel really full in any meal.
13:53
but certainly, holiday meal. And then go for a walk after that meal. I was just gonna suggest this because I am still enamored at the concept of just a 10 minute walk, what that does to your blood sugar. It just drops it straight down. Yeah, it's amazing to me. Yeah, yeah, I know, it's amazing. And it also, it will help with digestion as well. And then being out in nature is also very good for your...
14:22
for your sense of calm and connection with the world. Literally, blue space and green space is just really calming and really helps with your overall nervous system response. So, perfect. We'll keep everything a little bit more calm. I would love for people to walk into these settings feeling a little bit more empowered.
14:51
And maybe just maybe try on a new way of thinking it, create a new habit around a Thanksgiving meal. I mean, these are old embedded traditions, but if they're not serving you, maybe try something a little different. That's nice, Deis, and what a good thing to chat about, because I think there's a lot of that emotional energy it's not really talked about, because we should all just be thankful. Not us, we don't even have Thanksgiving. I know, I know. But you know, we should all just be thankful. Whereas...
15:18
actually acknowledging that not everyone is in that emotional position is, I think, you're right. It empowers them to actually feel what they want to feel, what they are feeling and then actually deal with it rather than just suppressing it. That's right. I am here for the, for all of the open feelings and discussion. That's how we stay well. We stay healthy this way. Yeah, I love it.
15:44
Awesome Jess. Look at this week, we stayed in time zone. Barry will still love me. Amazing. I know. That's important. Lovely Jess. We'll talk soon. Okay. Take care. See you. Bye.