Restless to Renewed
Restless to Renewed is a podcast about women redefining midlife and beyond. We discuss topics of interest to women who are on a quest for a happier, more fulfilled life.
Restless to Renewed
Embracing Wellness in Midlife and Beyond: A Journey with Annie Gaudreault
Unlock the secrets to wellness in midlife and beyond with our special guest, Annie Gaudreault. In this episode, you'll learn how Annie transitioned from a brand consultant and marathon coach to a dedicated wellness advocate. Annie shares her insights on the unique health challenges faced by women in midlife, such as menopause, sleep issues, and weight gain, and how to overcome psychological barriers rooted in childhood experiences. Hear practical advice on safeguarding your sleep, managing hormonal changes, and maintaining emotional well-being. These lifestyle adjustments not only enhance health but also promote a positive mindset about aging.
Thank you for listening.
Be sure to visit the Restless to Renewed website for pictures and more information about episode guests at www.RestlesstoRenewed.com.
Welcome to Restless, to Renewed Women, Redefining Midlife and Beyond. I'm your host, Janice Neely, and today we have a special guest joining us from Toronto, Canada. Annie Gaudreault is not just a nutritionist and a health coach, but also a passionate speaker dedicated to empowering women in their journey towards wellness. Join us as Annie shares her insights, experiences and wisdom on navigating midlife with vitality and purpose. Welcome, Annie.
Annie:Thank you so much for having me.
Janice:We're happy to have you here today and I think everyone listening will enjoy. The topic and it's something that's always on our mind is health and nutrition, although I have to say I'm not the person that people would probably want to follow. But I will tell everyone that you're going to want to hear what Annie has decided. So if you're interested in improving your health, so let's just get started. And what inspired you to become a nutritionist and a wellness coach?
Annie:Yeah, that's actually an interesting story because my first career was not at all in the health wellness world. I was a brand consultant and I was what they call on the side people who are weekend warriors, you know. You do all these different types of challenges and I became quite an avid runner and it led me to coaching, marathoning and specifically women, and that's when I discovered that I just loved that world. But it took me a number of years to figure out what am I going to do with this, right Like? I'm not a professional, I'm not an Olympian, I don't have that big level of notoriety. So I decided to go back to school and a really good fit was to become a nutritionist so that I could marry that with my background as an endurance athlete.
Janice:So what is your coaching philosophy and approach to nutrition and health?
Annie:I think that one of the things that I like to say is that there is no one size fits all. Each woman, each of us are different, so we cannot just have one little cookie cutter plan for everybody. Oh, everybody should be this, or everybody should be a vegetarian. You know, there is no such thing. So I think that it's really about embracing our differences and then listening to what is going on with us, so that we can provide you with something that is custom and makes sense for you.
Janice:I like that because I think that a lot of us will see things on TV and they make these blanket statements about this is the cure or this is the be all, end all, and everybody's makeup is different, as you just said, and I like the idea of someone who works with you personally and figures it out alongside you instead of just telling you here do it this way and move on. The program here is for women midlife and beyond, and I know you work with women in midlife. I'm sure some of what you will say today will also be appropriate for women who are beyond midlife and maybe in their 70s, 80s, whatever. So what are some of the common health challenges you see in older women?
Annie:Well, I think that one of the things that we see is that our bodies are changing from menopause and suddenly we're like what is going on and what is happening to my body? What I used to do no longer works, or I'm having sleep issues and now my nutrition is a little bit off and I'm gaining weight. These are very common things that we see for women at midlife common things that we see for women at midlife.
Janice:You know, one of the things that I think I find with myself is I will talk myself out of being healthy. Now, that may sound ridiculous to some people, but as I get older, I keep thinking oh why, why try? So that's where I think the tailored work that you do with each person would be helpful. Absolutely Right.
Annie:Think about it, our backgrounds, what's going on in our lives. You know, I'll tell you a story. This is really fascinating.
Annie:So often women will say I just don't like exercising. Right, and this is a very common thing. I don't want to get all sweaty and I hate the whole feeling of it, and so on. But often what's happening is when we start to peel the layers of what's underneath. That is, that a lot of us were shamed in school because we couldn't do these exercises that everybody else seemed to be able to be good at. We're asked to do pull-ups and all kinds of things and a lot of us did not fit the mold.
Annie:Like I know, I was a terribly uncoordinated kid. I was never picked for any sports whatsoever and it made me think that I was not good at sports and that's a shame because you know it can stay with us our entire lives. So this is just to say often what happens is that once we start peeling the layers of what's at the root cause of us feeling this way, we can actually kind of see hey, you know what? That doesn't apply anymore. And that may have been true when I was eight years old, but I'm now 58. And you know I actually like walking, I like hiking, maybe I like tennis, it doesn't matter. So we start to look at what is behind all of this and it really helps women see that this is no longer something that they have to worry about well, I wouldn't say that, and with me I'm asking for an impromptu therapy session.
Janice:sounds like let's do it. I think I'm just lazy. I get so engrossed in all my other work and I think I'll do that later. It never becomes a priority.
Annie:And you know that's the truth, Like when we say I don't have time, I don't have the energy. Often, basically, what we say is this is not a priority for me. So I try to work with women so that they see that this is your capital to work with and you cannot buy health in a pill. It can buy relief in a pill, but you don't buy overall health.
Janice:I love that I'm going to have to remember that you can buy relief but not health. That is perfect, and and I you know, I watch all these programs at night and they're talking about this medication and that medication, and I think the side effects are much more worse often than the actual problem that you have, and so alternative methods, instead of just going to the doctor, seem appropriate or are appropriate. I think we just kind of talked about the specific needs of women who are perimenopausal, menopausal and postmenopausal. Are there differences in how you work with these women in these different stages?
Annie:Yeah, because the needs of the body are very different when you are at perimenopause so just preparing to enter menopause and there's a lot of fluctuations to, of course, being postmenopausal, where now estrogen levels have dropped and we know what we're dealing with. You know the exercise differently. You may want to also really support the woman differently in terms of diet, whether it's perimenopause through postmenopause. Now there are some broad strokes that are common making sure that we eat enough protein, we need enough fiber, that we're really focusing on some healthy fats, especially as we think about cognitive health. It's a big focus of older women. You know dementia, alzheimer's, very scary diseases and it affects women three times more than men. So we do need to focus on it. So we really tailor the nutrition and the movement to be different, especially for older women.
Annie:But it's a great time to start. If you are listening to this and you are 45, most likely in perimenopause, this is the time to make some strong roots so that you get through menopause as smoothly as possible and everyone's journey will be different, but also it will set you up for success. You know, janice, this is an interesting statistic. Actually, the average woman has 33 years to live after natural menopause. Like 33 years. That's some awesome time for us to live our lives.
Janice:That just came to my mind actually when we were talking, because I was thinking about one of the first programs we do when Robin and I were doing it was how much time we have to do different things with our lives. But if you don't feel good, you know what good is having that time. One of the ladies that was on the program has a place for people to bring their family members in for dementia respite and it's just a short program during the day 10 to 2. But I went down and visited and I was expecting very, very elderly people. There were some, but there were women younger than me and I was shocked. And so I'm not saying we can cure dementia or anything with proper nutrition, but what does it hurt to try?
Annie:Absolutely, and science is very clear. There's a really famous medical journal called the Lancet, and the Lancet published an article that said that a third of all dementia cases are preventable. A third, you're kidding Right. Preventable, so preventable. A third, you're kidding Right. Preventable, so preventable means lifestyle strategies. What does lifestyle strategy mean?
Janice:Nutrition, environment, sleep, movement all of those things Interesting, because I thought it was almost something that you inherited, which I'm sure there are components to that, but the l Lancet is extremely well-recognized journal.
Annie:Yeah, this is not social media. Whomever wants to say whatever they want to say. This is really solid information, and in that article they were saying a third is what we believe is preventable today, but we know that over time it's going to be larger than a third. That is preventable. So to me that's really exciting for women because it means it gives us our power back. We can actually have agency over the outcome of our lives over the outcome of our lives.
Janice:I really like your enthusiasm about it because the positivity is so helpful to someone like me who thinks it's inevitable. So again, why worry about it? Just live my life. But maybe it isn't inevitable that these changes happen or escalated. Let's put it that way. Yeah, do you have any dietary recommendations for women once they've reached midlife? Is there anything special?
Annie:Yes, actually, this is really important now to pay attention to increasing our protein, to increasing our vegetables and our fruit, because we want more fiber. So we want to make sure that we're doing that. And then we want to pay attention to our fats, and you know, a lot of us grew up with the low fat diets, which really messed up everyone's diet ultimately, and we were told to have margarine and lay off the butter and a lot of misguided information. So now what we want to make sure is that we go back to these very healthy fats, the ones that we know are proven to protect the brain, to also protect our heart. Right, they're what we call anti-inflammatory fats. So olive oil, avocado, the fats that are in nuts, for example. Those are the three broad strokes the protein, more fiber with the vegetables, the fruit, and healthy fats.
Janice:I know my mom is 85 and I've spoken about her before on the show but she walks three miles every morning. She's saying she might cut it down to two, but a couple of years ago she decided she was going to lose weight and she lost about 40 pounds. Wow, and the way she did that was a combination of walking, but she increased her fat intake and some of the things she did. I was thinking that's counterintuitive, like you said, to everything that she was eating butter like crazy. But her cholesterol has gone down and her blood pressure. Now, part of that's the weight loss. But I think there are people that have high blood pressure, that are thin.
Annie:Yes, the size of a person is not the full story of representation of health. It's like looking at a book and going, oh, you know, I'm going to judge this book by its cover. Looking at a book and going, oh, you know, I'm going to judge this book by its cover. There's a lot of unhealthy lean people and there's a lot of healthy people who, on the outside, seem like they're carrying extra weight. So we have to be very careful. We cannot judge somebody's health like that. Okay, how do?
Janice:you address mental health and emotional well-being in your coaching? How do you address mental health and emotional well-being in your coaching?
Annie:You know, this is such an important thing, janice. It's underlooked because this becomes very topical as we get to midlife, because estrogen actually protects the brain and also protected our mental health. So a lot of women start to suffer from anxiety and depression, even massive mood swings like irritability and anger, and a lot of women are like oh my God, I'm losing my mind, what is happening to me? I hate everything, I hate my life, and we think there's something wrong with us and there's nothing wrong with us. So that's the first thing.
Annie:What we need to realize is the brain is now missing some of its estrogen and is having to re-stabilize, and it takes time for this to happen. So we need to address it by doing a number of things. We need to protect our sleep, we need to protect our time to recharge our batteries. I used to be one of those people who were like I'll do that when I'm like 90. I don't have time for this. I got to be producing. In North America, we are all about hard work, workaholic, we promote that, and so a lot of women are very much at risk for their mental health to really take a big, big hit. So we deal with it by making sure that we've got our priorities straight. Self-care is not like going to the spa you can go to the spa, that's nice, but we're talking about so much more fundamental work every day and every week to make sure that we're taking care of ourselves.
Janice:Yeah, I like that interpretation of self-care. I think a lot of people that I've known feel like we've got to go ahead and do all the other things and I'll get to me when I can. Yeah, and then you break down.
Annie:Yes, and this is why we see the prescription of sleeping pills is double digits on the rise. This is also why we see double digits on the rise of depression and anxiety medications, and I'm not saying that those meds are not helpful for some people at times, but what I'm saying is the pill doesn't replace having good mental, emotional and physical hygiene.
Janice:Can you share some success stories from your clients One, two or however many you'd like to tell us about?
Annie:Yeah, you know, there's one client and she came to me a successful leadership coach and mom of four, you know, really busy. Only one at the time had left the nest. The others were still high school and middle school and she had gained a lot of weight and had a bit of a back injury that had also prevented her from doing some movement for quite a long time, and all the hormonal stuff that we hear about. And when we finished our journey together and we were speaking, what was incredible is she said to me, you know, Annie, when we got introduced I had almost given up on myself. It really gets to me profoundly because she obviously gave a lot to her family and obviously gave a lot to her clients, but her cup was empty and she thought there's no option for me, there's no future here, and it was so profound to hear her say that.
Annie:So we got her back on track with priority around the movement, which helped her mental health, and that also made her start to make better choices with her nutrition. So it's a domino effect when we start, and what's really beautiful about that is that when women make these changes, janice, it's like the pebble that falls into the water. It ripples through the family, so the family's healthier. We become great examples. We need to lead by example, so that's probably one of my favorite stories to share.
Janice:Well, that's a nice story, and I identify with so much of what you're saying. I'm sure a lot of listeners will identify with this, because we see roadblocks in front of us and they may or may not be real, but in our minds they're real, and so to have someone walk you through it, and that's what.
Annie:Because it is hard, it is not easy, right, we need to be supported so that we are successful in making these changes.
Janice:And so many people, including myself at times, try to go things alone and think I can do this. I don't need any help. It's just my own weakness. If I just pull my bootstraps up, I'll be better, yep, and there's no accountability. So it always happens next week, but it doesn't happen. It's going to happen next week, but it doesn't happen.
Annie:Exactly, exactly. And then we look at our phone and we go oh, I just saw something on Instagram, I'm going to try it Right. Oh, and Susie, over here, she said that you know that eating three bowls of kale every day really helped her. It's not founded in any science and it's not founded in anything that is customized for you, so you're bound to fail.
Janice:Yeah, I remember seeing these different charts of if you're built like an apple or if you're built like a pear, this is how you should eat, and all that. I don't know if any of that's worthy of reading about, but you know, there's so many people out there telling you this is the answer. And again, it's not tailored, it's just their generalizations.
Annie:Yeah, exactly, and sometimes there's a bit of a kernel at the bottom. It's a bit like a pyramid. The foundation sometimes can be true, but then we need to refine and make this more specific for you, so got to be very careful about like this is the answer for everyone. This is what I do day in, day out, and I know that it is not possible to be successful that way.
Janice:Okay, I would agree, as I've had so many missteps. I have a lady that was on the program. She does yoga and her name's Leslie. Leslie says Janice, I'm sending you my video for my yoga class and I see you're not doing it and I go, I will, I will, and I'm so embarrassed, I'm embarrassed, oh my. What are some misconceptions about aging and health that you often encounter?
Annie:There are so many. I'm so glad you're asking that question because it is such an issue. We live in North America in an ageist world, so we have in the back of our brain beliefs around aging that absolutely have nothing to do with reality. But we were told since we were young oh, be careful, it's an old lady, be careful, that person is frail. Assuming that because you're old, you're frail. We have this idea that getting older is bad, because look at all the anti-aging business out there. It makes me crazy. I normally curse when I talk about this I'm going to keep this clean but it makes me really angry, thank you. It makes me so angry because we are hurting women and we're hurting men by thinking that there's some shame about aging. So our mindset about aging is so powerful, janice, that there is a PhD in the US.
Annie:She did a big study and she launched her book during the pandemic. Her name is Becca Levy. She's a sociologist and she studied older people and what she was able to substantiate is that your mindset about aging so whether you think aging is a positive thing and aging is a time of opportunity, et cetera, et cetera, whether you were thinking positive or negative, will add to your life. 7.5 years, wow, it's almost a decade we're talking about here, and that's an average. So there's some people who are really higher up.
Annie:So a lot of what I encounter is women saying well, you know, I have a high blood pressure, isn't that just because I'm getting old and I'm like? No, it is a result of you being inactive. Let's look at your diet. It's perhaps a result of some of your habits. So not everything is about the result of aging, but this is what we say in order to go oh well, you know, it's not my fault, I'm just getting old. Are some things that are natural process of aging? We're going to get wrinkles, they don't. Some of the skin texture changes. However, our ability to remain strong, healthy is in our power.
Janice:I like what you said about the mindset, because I thought about this image one time and it was asking people how do you see your life? And one would be an image of peaking at 40 and then going downhill. One would be going downhill the whole time and then one would be I'm always reaching for something else, and so you're always going up. And if I could get that in my head I'm always moving up, I'm not going downhill, I love it, it's just I'm always moving up, I'm not going downhill, I love it. It's just change, but not necessarily down Change means exciting opportunities and discovery.
Annie:And, janice, you're actually living what they preach in terms of keep on doing new things right Explore, of keep on doing new things right Explore. We have a lot of knowledge around what it takes to age in a very strong way and people just are not aware because we are too busy telling people that's just a normal thing because you're getting old, oh, we're just going to give you a blood pressure pill, we're just going to give you a cholesterol pill, and sometimes, of course, these things are important. But you know, when we think about the real epidemic that we have in the world, it's diabetes by far. It damages so much and I know that we have some products that are helping and I'm talking about diabetes type two here, just to be clear, not diabetes type one, which is an autoimmune disease. Type 2, which is a lifestyle disease, and there's so much that we can do to help people. So when I hear, well, it's just normal because I'm getting older, I say no, that's a lie, that's actually a lie.
Janice:Those are misconceptions. Those are some. So if you were to flip the script and give some recommendations to help somebody stay motivated and not buy into that, oh, you're just getting old mentality. What would you say to them?
Annie:One thing that is really exciting is science is on your side, so we know that we can age with so much vitality. The other thing that I like to remind people we were just talking about that whole 33 years Women live up to, on average, 84 years, men 81. I remind people, think about all the things that you want to do that are on that so-called bucket list. Here you are doing podcasting. It could be I'm going to launch something else. People want to travel. They want to see their grandkids grow and enjoy that.
Annie:There's many, many things in our lives. Every single thing that you want to do requires you to have great health. You want to travel. You want to roll around in the grass with grandkids. It takes a lot of energy. That energy is the essence of life. So I always say keep in mind these beautiful goals that you have of living your life and making these next decades the most amazing ones, and that will help you stay on track with. I'm going to go for that walk and I'm going to do that yoga class that my friend sent me right, because I want to be able to have a body that bends and moves nicely. It's not to win contests and to go to the Olympics, it's just for us to have the quality of life that we want.
Janice:All Right, it all makes so much sense. What role does social support and community play in health and wellness of women?
Annie:I think this is where women excel over men. We know from studies that being well supported by a community of like-minded women will keep us on track. The women that will also tell us when we are doing a little bit of nonsense, they'll call us out on that nonsense and they'll be be like hey, annie, you said a year ago you wanted to do this, and suddenly you're saying what's happening here? These communities are gold for our health, right, they fill our cup, they fill our soul, they keep us honest, they keep us on track. So I always say a coach is really important, but make sure that you're surrounded by people who also share your values.
Janice:And we're trying to achieve some of that with Restless, to Renewed and helping women feel like they have a support system and sometimes a touchstone, just someplace to go and just gas up again.
Annie:Yes, yeah, and you know, I think it's really great that you talk about that and what you have created because loneliness is real in our society, about that and what you have created because loneliness is real in our society. We don't talk about it because we're a bit ashamed to admit. I always say, if you own your own businesses, oh my God, talk about feeling lonely. It's tough, it's really tough. It can feel very lonely at times. So I think that what you're doing is definitely a touchstone and, for some people, a very, very important place for them to be seen and to be heard. So for everyone listening to this podcast, I say please join and surround yourself with many wonderful women who will definitely help you feel better and stronger, right, we?
Janice:teach each other that we count and that we're here for a reason and we're not just a placeholder in life now.
Annie:Yeah, you're talking about deep human values.
Janice:Exactly. There's plenty of other podcasts about other things, but right here I want it to be a learning experience and something where people can come and feel comforted and some joy and happiness Love it. How do you stay updated on the latest research and trends in health and wellness for women?
Annie:This is almost a full-time job, janice, but what helps is that I am a total nerd, so I'm always reading a book, I'm always listening to a podcast and, honestly, if you're going to be serious about being in the health and wellness world, you must commit yourself to ongoing learning. So I build it in my day-to-day life, just like movement. I have to do it every day, a lot more for mental health reasons for me than physical reasons, but I read or I'll listen to a workshop that other professionals are giving, because it is such a big world of health and wellness and I need to do that to serve my clients at the best of my abilities.
Janice:So it sounds like you use technology to learn, do you use it in your practice also?
Annie:Yes, actually, the way that I set up the business was 100% virtual, and why I did that was that right now you see me and the background is nature and all that. That's not my regular home. I'm up north right now, a couple of hours north of Toronto beautiful lake area, and I wanted to be able to have the flexibility. So thank goodness for all that amazing technology. It allows me to be tracking my clients and making sure the accountability is there, and I use many of those tools to stay current.
Janice:You have a company and it's Vive, and it's spelled for listeners. It's V, as in Victor, e-e, v as in Victor, vive. What is Vive?
Annie:Well, you know, my background is French, canadian, and there's a French expression that says joie de vivre, the joy of living. So vive was a bit of a play on word with that, because this company, which is essentially a health coaching practice either private coaching or group programs is all about giving women that joy of living in their bodies, in a way that they're happy and that they have freedom and that they feel empowered.
Janice:How long have you been in business? Has it been several years?
Annie:Yeah, it's been almost seven years now and I never thought I would be here today. It's been an amazing journey.
Janice:Your clients find you through different, I'm sure, marketing efforts, but I noticed too that you have something coming up. Yes, it's called the Menopause Empowerment Summit Boy. That sounds counter menopause empowerment.
Annie:I know right, I want to make sure that women get some good stuff there. I know right, I want to make sure that women got some good stuff there. Well, you know, people find me usually through either word of mouth or they've heard me on a podcast, they've heard me speak somewhere. So I do a lot of speaking virtual and in person, and that's when they go. You know, I need what you have to deliver here and this is why I created this summit, because I see that so many women find this midlife time to be doom and gloom and I want to show them that it doesn't have to be that way and I want to give them the tools, because everyone's going to be different, not one size fits all Again, that theme. So this is a two-day, july 23rd and July 24th online, so anybody can join from anywhere, and it's 6 to 9 pm and it's free, or there's also a VIP option, but you can join us for free and you get gifts.
Annie:It's not just me, it's also guest experts because, as we said, health and wellness is so big. We're going to be tackling the big stuff the hormones, the supplements, what diet if you want to lose weight, if you have cholesterol, if you're dealing with this like the big common things that we see at menopause, and then we're going to be talking about the mental aspect of this transition, because menopause is this big opportunity for transition into the next stage, and we're even going to have a stylist who is going to give us tips to dress so that we feel comfortable even though our body shape might be changing. So it's going to be the whole gamut over those two days.
Janice:It's so funny because when we talk about menopause it's always been so negative. The language, even the word, to me, just sounds icky sometimes because of the way women talked about it. Well, and yeah, women didn't talk about it, they were committing a crime, you know. But years ago I worked in an office and there were several of us that were older than the rest of the women, yep, and we were talking. One day we got those yellow strips that you bring out at a crime scene, wrapped it around our area and said enter at your own risk, you're crossing the menopausal line. We got by with it.
Annie:I love it. I love it and, to be fair, this is why we're doing the summit also because there are some moments that are challenging. So we want to show women that they don't have to be in this little boat alone in the middle of the ocean, that there's support for them.
Janice:Right, I think you offer supplements too. Did I see that on your website, or is that some other company?
Annie:Yeah, so I recommend supplements for women at midlife, but I do not necessarily represent a brand. But I will recommend some professional brands that I trust, but I don't have any profit in doing so.
Janice:Well, that makes people feel better. I think it's not a sales pitch for that. So I think that I would be really comfortable in listening to what you say about a product.
Annie:Yeah, that's one of the reasons why I don't affiliate myself. There are some products that I use and when people say, oh Annie, what do you use for this? And I'll say, well, this is what I use, and if you want some, I can order some for you. But I'm not trying to build a multi-level marketing business from this, right?
Janice:Yeah, a few minutes ago you mentioned that you have a plan each day or you have certain things that you do. Do you exercise every day? Do you do it three days a week? Are you flexible with that, or do you really try to stay on a plan? It sounds like you're a planning person.
Annie:Yes, yes, yes, absolutely. Well, you know I was mentioning how I exercise, mostly for mental health reasons. There was a lot of mental illnesses in my family growing up and I think that exercise has always been one of my tools to clear my mind and stay focused. So movement is every day. So movement is every day. Now, yesterday here it was raining, cats and dogs and I just did some little light movement, some little yoga things, actually to stretch my legs in the house. I did not feel that it was enough. Normally. I really need to get out and do movement every day and a lot of that health journey is a habit. Just like we eat breakfast, lunch and dinner and we don't overthink it. Same thing for me now. I'll be like, no, it's time for my run or it's time for my workout and I'm just going to make it happen.
Janice:Okay, and I would encourage listeners to look into different facilities if they want to exercise in a community versus being by themselves, because sometimes you're inspired by other people. There are so many opportunities. One of the senior citizen centers up the road from me. They offer everything and people attend everything from dance to Tai Chi to yoga to just general exercise movement. And if you are a person who's on Medicare right now, many of the Advantage programs will pay for a gym membership. Fantastic, yeah, that's here in the US. So if you want to take part in group activity, there's a lot out there for you to look into and to take part in. I'm in a very small town, but there's a lot going on.
Annie:Yeah, you know, I think that what's beautiful is that it doesn't matter the size of the community that you live in. There are always some things that are organized, that if you like to hike, if you like to walk, if you want to join a dance program, something that will fit your liking, and all I say is, whatever you like to do, go and do that, and being in community of people will keep you motivated. There's some days you're going to be like oh, I don't really feel like driving to the community center, but you know my friends are waiting for me and I know they'll give me heck if I don't really feel like driving to the community center. But you know my friends are waiting for me and I know they'll give me heck if I don't show up. So it's another beautiful way to stay accountable, right.
Janice:So I would say, look into that if you feel alone, because one of the things we mentioned in the last podcast was loneliness is becoming the new smoking epidemic.
Annie:Yeah, very, very dangerous, and we talked about it just a tiny bit earlier as well. So the more you can have these groups, these little mini communities, they will really help you. You can have many of these little communities as well to just help you be grounded and supported.
Janice:One more thing I want to bring up. Do you have any thoughts on using different types of movement? You know you might be a runner, but what about yoga alongside that, or different things? What's the benefits or does it matter?
Annie:It's a great question. Officially, there's four different types of movement and we want to include them all. There's cardio, which we're all familiar with, which is running and I was like a one trick monkey for years right, that's all I did and eventually catches up to you. So cardiovascular activity. So the heart beats a lot harder. That's the primary benefit. The second one is strength training, and then we think dumbbells and pushing and lifting and all that.
Annie:One of women's best friends is strength training, Really good for our bones which are at risk. Very good for maintaining muscle mass, because muscle mass diminishes with each decade. So strength training is super important. The third one which gets forgotten is flexibility. Enter yoga. So good, so good. Stretching is so important, especially as we want to have the movement reach with the years and it will keep us from having injuries. So it's great to prevent injuries. So that was the third one flexibility. And the fourth one is balance, and this is really important because we often hear of people having injuries, especially in the winter, in parts of the world where there's ice. Balance is one of those things that we take for granted until it's gone.
Janice:So really important for us, as we age, to be looking at all of these four dimensions cardio strength, flexibility and balance thinking about, like you said, being a one trick pony oh, I'll work on this or I'll work on that, but not incorporate them together and think of ways that I could make sure I'm touching each of those areas in my life.
Annie:Yes, exactly Right, and yoga is good for both that flexibility and balance as well. If we feel that we are challenged, that means that we need it. So that's good information to have.
Janice:Okay, is there anything you'd like to say that we haven't covered today, or any words of encouragement you'd like to offer?
Annie:to the listeners. You know, health is not just one thing. Everything is connected your mental health, your emotional health, your physical health. So when you make a step in a right direction in terms of a healthy habit, you're actually contributing to you as a total person your health in your head and your heart and your whole body. So start small and you will be amazed by how much progress you can make with just even some small little changes.
Janice:I'm sold. Yes, for those of you who can't see Annie, she's clapping right now.
Annie:I'm excited Yay.
Janice:Okay, unfortunately, we've run out of time and we got to close, but I want to thank you all for tuning in to today's episode and remember, if you want to delve deeper into Annie's insights or her upcoming events and nutrition tips, visit her website at veveca.
Janice:And that's V as in Victor, e-e, v as in Victor, dot C-A, and you're going to find a treasure trove of resources there to help you stay informed and inspired with regard to your health.
Janice:And I would also say you can come to our website, and Annie will have a page there and that will give you information on how to contact her if you're interested in working with Annie and I'm very interested, so I hope all of you will be too and I'm very interested, so I hope all of you will be too and I want to thank you for listening to today's podcast. Stay connected with us on Facebook and Instagram for more updates, and don't forget to explore our website, restless2renewcom, where you can discover stories of other women on a journey to connect, find fulfillment and happiness, and we look forward to continuing this journey with you. And I'm going to close with this quote a woman's health is her capital, and that was written by Harriet Beecher Stowe. So, annie, thank you again. Thank you, Janice, you're very welcome and everyone, take care and don't forget to join us again next time.
.png)