Brownies That Heal? Yes, Really.

[00:00:02] Speaker A: Okay, how about me. [00:00:06] Speaker B: Thoughts on why that is? But I'm sure you hope question is, are you doing it massively or abundance? Like it's, it's. What's up, everybody? Welcome to another episode of Frank after 40. And today we have a exciting guest. I wouldn't say special. It's definitely special, but exciting guest. I am very excited to have this conversation because. And I'm going to let Lynn introduce herself here in a second, but I am excited to talk about food today. I'm excited to talk about food. I'm excited to talk about health and fitness, the relationship with us and our food and any insights you have for us because I'm sure there's going to be a lot of. But welcome, Lynn Bowman. [00:00:58] Speaker A: Thank you so much, Frank. And as you know already, I could talk about this all day and all night, and I blame it all on being a grandma, and I get to do that now, right? So. And my children have always accused me of, you know, having recipes in every sentence. No matter what we're talking about, I find a way to turn it into a recipe. So. So I'll try to hold myself back a little bit there. But yeah, food, it's a thing that we have not honored, I think in this culture in America particularly, and we're paying a price for it. I mean, I just saw some new statistics yesterday about how we are the richest, unhealthiest country. [00:01:46] Speaker B: Yep, that's true. [00:01:48] Speaker A: How can that even be? You know, it's. [00:01:51] Speaker B: Yeah, it's, it's sad. It really is what it is. It's sad. But I'm excited to hear your journey. You know, I, most of the people that are going to listen to this know that my sister had breast cancer about nine years ago, and that's what sent me on my. I've always, you know, was in shape in the gym and that kind of stuff, but sent me down the journey on food and some other things. And that's when I really went down a rabbit hole and started to realize what you're talking about now. But it's timely, I think. We'll talk about your book. We'll talk about what's going on, but I want everyone to get as much value from this as possible. But I just happened to be on a trip through Europe with my family, and we were up in, we were in Bavaria, Austria, Switzerland and Germany and that kind of stuff. And wow, what a difference with the food. I was really interested to see what the differences were and, you know, how they're eating there versus what we eat here and the water and, you know, we could go on and on. I won't want to get too off topic, but so much better there when it comes to, you know, drinking water out of the faucet versus here. Here, it's like you're rolling the dice, but there, you know, you're drinking basically straight off the Alps. So, anyway, I think it's a good conversation. I want to have that today. I would love to know, though, as we always do, we always start, like, early life. So I'm interested to know how you actually. Did you have anybody in your family that was a cook or anybody that focused on food or what do you see that's the biggest difference based on your experience? I know there was a certain point in time in your life probably that made you focus on the food, but talk to me about early life and, like, is there any correlation to what you ended up doing, you know, compared to where you started out? [00:03:43] Speaker A: Absolutely. And when I go back, it's always, okay, here's the story. It's not a particularly happy one, but my mother died when I was 18, and she had been unwell for a long time. And so my relationship with her was largely around her chronic disease, which in her case was kidney disease, which, by the way, it's changed. Medicine has changed. But most people who have kidney disease and are on dialysis now at $100,000 a year or $300,000 a year are there because they were untreated diabetics. So just dropping that one for you. [00:04:26] Speaker B: I didn't know that. That's interesting. [00:04:28] Speaker A: Yeah, it is interesting, and that's why I'm here yelling at everybody about this. [00:04:32] Speaker B: So before we leave that topic, I just want to ask real quick questions I don't want to forget. So if that's the case, are you aware of signs or symptoms that someone might be dealing with that might be going unchecked, and what could they do to help themselves if that's the case, or do you not know, like, natural stuff? [00:04:52] Speaker A: Here's the hard part. Diabetes doesn't necessarily show up in any symptoms, but if you are over 40, apropos to your subject matter, and especially if you are overweight, but not exclusively. I was not. When I was diagnosed, I was normal or what was considered normal weight. But everybody needs to go and get a hemoglobin A1C test as a part of their regular healthcare. And if your numbers are over the limit, then guess what? You need to change the way you're eating and the way you're moving. And I add to that the way you're sleeping. So. And we can hit each of those points. And you probably already know this, but let's keep talking about it because people aren't doing it. [00:05:46] Speaker B: No. [00:05:48] Speaker A: And it. Yeah, it's preventable. This is. [00:05:50] Speaker B: Well, it's never been easier. It's never been easier either. I tell people you have, like, I can name off the top of my head at least five, three companies that you can get online. Schedule a blood draw. They'll come to my office, pull the blood, and in two days it's online. And they're like, here's a full profile. Like, done. So. [00:06:10] Speaker A: Yeah. And I'm a member of Kaiser, which, you know, is only available in certain parts of the country. But I'll tell you, they are really good at community health care and they're not brilliant at everything, but they are definitely going in the right direction. And I hope one day before too long that we will all have national, statewide, whatever, countywide, community medicine, because it's mostly prevention. If you would just do what I tell you, then you're not going to wind up being operated on or on a machine or whatever. It's just. It's breathtaking how much disease in this country didn't need to happen. And it's. It's really simple. And I'm going to start right now, I'm going to say it, and I'm going to keep pitching it. And it's in the book. It's whole food, real food, mostly plants. That's it. How hard can that be? Well, everybody says no, it's too hard. It's too expensive. I can't do it. You cannot do it. Eating out of a bag in the back of a car. I'll guarantee you, no, you can't. Everybody needs to chop something to cook the big. [00:07:32] Speaker B: I think that's one of the biggest issues, is that I don't want to be disrespectful and just blanket everybody with laziness. That's a piece of it. There's no doubt people are lazier, but I. To cook their own food, I think. But I think there's also a piece of education and like, understanding that that's even happening. And then I think it's also the fact that people are working more. I think it's a little bit of everything. [00:07:59] Speaker A: It is. And it's a matter of what you value. And I want to invite everyone to think hard about what you really value. And everyone. And I always say, I had three kids, single mom, crazy you know, I had a homicidal ex chasing around the country. I mean, I've got stories, but I managed to put dinner on the table every night because guess why I valued it. I thought it was important. I was not going to die and leave my kids. That was, you know, going back to the story about my mom. What I learned from that was, I mean, my life, in a way, ended when she died. My house was gone, my dog was gone, my dad was gone, my siblings were gone. All of a sudden because the mom was gone, my whole life was gone. [00:08:56] Speaker B: You know, looking at your dad gone before that? [00:08:59] Speaker A: Well, he was still alive, but as many men, he was very quickly involved with another woman, remarried quickly, and was out of my life in a big way. [00:09:11] Speaker B: Okay. [00:09:12] Speaker A: So, you know, he was still around, but we didn't have a family life anymore and there was no family home anymore and so on. So my, that was what got me started big time. I'd always loved to eat, you know, and I had learned to cook in a, in a rudimentary kind of way because my mom was not well. So, you know, things needed to be done and I did them with her encouragement. And so as time went on and I was a single mom with all these kids and I mean, a pretty high pressure career from the get go, I learned that my social life and my health were all tied up in getting people around my table, my kitchen table, to eat my food. So the food had to be cheap, pretty darn good, and I had to be able to get it on the table in 15 minutes. So that's my superpower. And my kids now, it's, you know, so interesting. My, my kids are now in their late 40s. My son's going to be 50 pretty soon, a few weeks. Ah, how does that happen? [00:10:26] Speaker B: He's not too far from me. I'll be 49 this year, so he's right with me. [00:10:30] Speaker A: Okay. And they have all, in their different ways, said to me recently, fairly recently, hey, Ma, you know, we kind of got an MBA sitting at your kitchen table, because that was the conversation. I brought my clients home, my friends, we sat around the table with the kids and ate. My kids knew how to eat at a table, how to pass the salt, how to set a table, how to clean a table, and how to be a good guest at a table, how to be a good host at a table. That was our family culture. And I'm not talking, you know, about being wealthy or in any way. [00:11:09] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:11:09] Speaker A: You know, it's not that you don't. [00:11:11] Speaker B: Need Money to do these things. You just need to take the time. [00:11:14] Speaker A: You need to value it. And I also, I will admit to being sort of pathologically frugal, which you need to be if you're raising a bunch of kids, and for sure more now than you used to. So also, to me, it's not just the health of the food that's on your plate. It's the culture about what's on your plate and how you eat it and how you share it. How can we forget that? You know, food is love, food is hospitality, food is generosity. Food is so many other things. We're human, you know, we, we, we were intended as creatures to share food with people. And I don't believe that meant out of a paper bag in the back. [00:12:09] Speaker B: Of a. I just don't think, I just don't think anybody has. There's a lot of people I, I feel like that just never had that experience. They don't. Growing up in the type of family I had, which was an Italian family, it was like everything was around dinner and food and so. Right. So it's, that's my experience. Fast food was like a. Maybe once in a while. But some people, if they grew up on fast food, they don't know what my normal was, and I don't know what their normal was. So it's just like. And so my. What I wonder is, and I'm interested to get your take on this, what's the solution? I guess it's getting the word out on podcast stuff like this. But how? If someone doesn't randomly come across an experience, a loved one dying, a disease, blood work that they first have to know they even should get. And getting, you know, a bad result. How are they ever going to stumble across this? Right now, thank goodness you've got this movement where you've got Bobby Kennedy and he's in office and he's starting to really tackle and go up against a lot of different things that need change, which is great, but how many people would. Outreach, I don't know, because people really aren't paying attention, I feel like. And so thank goodness you're doing a cookbook and you're getting the word out. But. [00:13:28] Speaker A: And it's, it's one podcast at a time, you know, one conversation at a time. And I certainly. We were talking a little earlier about this. I've seen such a sea change since I started doing this. My book came out in 2021, and at that time, no one wanted to talk about sugar free. And I always got the Same. Look, it was like, no, thanks. How can you even. And particularly about things like alternative sweeteners, artificial sweeteners, and I don't want to leave this podcast without telling everybody what the real scoop is on artificial sweeteners. [00:14:10] Speaker B: I can't wait to talk about that. [00:14:12] Speaker A: Okay. And when you talk about Kennedy, you know, there are a lot of things he's saying that I agree with, and there's some other stuff that you just go, oh, whoa, wait a minute. You know, so we always have to look with a grain of salt, as it were, about health information coming from podcasts, coming from online. Some of it's good, some of it ain't so good. [00:14:38] Speaker B: I agree. I agree. Okay, let's. Let's have the conversation of sweeteners, because I think it's an interesting conversation. So I think when you say sweetener, I think the. The first problem is the word sweetener, because I think, you know, Splenda, right? That's what I think. But the good news is. And I. I'm. I. And I'll ask you, because I don't know, but I know just from trying to be healthy, you know, you got xylitol, erythritol, monk fruit, a bunch of them I'm not remembering. But there's all these different things, right? So sugar being, you know what it is, it's really hard to try and get two things, in my opinion, that I see nowadays. I focus on protein and low sugar. Those are the two really important things other than, like, crazy, crappy ingredients. So what do you recommend and your cookbook? Because I think this is important. I've always found that it's tough. Some things I'll get. And I'm like, wow, they nailed this. I got some granola in the mail recently, and I was like, this tastes great. I cannot taste the artificial sweetener. And then sometimes I get something, and I'm like, oh, my gosh, it's so bad. And I think it's trial and error. You find some stuff, and you're like, great. And then those are the things you keep getting. And then some. You're like, ugh. But how do you battle that? [00:15:58] Speaker A: I got a fix for that. [00:15:59] Speaker B: All right, let's hear it. [00:16:00] Speaker A: Yes. Read period. The period label, period. Don't buy anything in a bag or a box unless you read the label all the way down. Because for sure, let's first talk about what sugar is. I'm not talking about peaches and lemons and whole food that becomes sugar in your body or tastes sweet. Whole Food. No, that's not. We're talking about. When I say sugar, what I mean is a manufactured product, usually cane sugar, but not always, which is. Or it could be, you know, high fructose corn syrup, a manufactured sweetener that is in everything in a box or a bag that you buy. And I promise you, and many of you are going, yeah, I know. Yes. If you really are religious about reading those labels, you will find that there is some kind of sucralose or sucrose for sure. Yeah. So. And as a controlled, very healthy, crabby old diabetic, I will tell you that I've been doing this since I was in my 40s because I knew that was what was going to keep me alive. So I read every label and I researched and I studied and things have changed and there are new things happening now. And the big food was coming out all the time with fabulous new sweeteners. Well, no, they weren't. But now let's cut to the chase. There's two that I want you to enjoy fully because I want you to quit sugar. I don't want you to cut back. I want you to quit. And the reason for that is that sugar, all the ones we were talking about, the manufactured sugar, it is addictive. Lots of science out there. It's as addictive as heroin, literally. And my. So, yeah, so for you to really be healthy, you need to not eat it. And then I'll say, you know what? Every once. Once a month or once every two months, if you have two bites of somebody's special homemade thing, it's all right. But what's going to happen when you actually quit sugar is that in about three weeks, your saliva changes, your chemistry changes because you've been feeding this stuff in your body. And your body will adjust always to whatever you're eating. So in about three weeks, you will lose your taste for sugar. Sugar. And what happens is it just tastes too sweet to you and you don't crave it anymore. And so in order to get there and to stay there, I want to recommend two products which are whole foods. One. Yes, Monk Fruit. It's a very good sweetener. It's just. It's konjac fruit, which also is called monk fruit. And be sure that you read the label because it's very often cut with erythritol to make it cheaper. And that is not a sweetener that you want. It causes digestive problems. You know, many people don't like the flavor, so on. So Monk fruit conject fruit, number one. [00:19:35] Speaker B: But can I guess the second one? I'm going to be wrong, but I just think. I just. I'm excited to hear what you say. Is it. Is it dates? [00:19:44] Speaker A: No. [00:19:45] Speaker B: Okay. [00:19:46] Speaker A: Dates are good food. They're whole food. [00:19:49] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:19:50] Speaker A: They are very highly glycemic, which, if you're diabetic, you're looking out of. Okay. If I'm going to choose among the fruits, I want to choose one that maybe is not so high on the glycemic index. [00:20:02] Speaker B: Like berries. Like blueberries, raspberries, or. [00:20:05] Speaker A: No, no, those are good. [00:20:06] Speaker B: Oh, okay. [00:20:07] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:20:07] Speaker B: That's what I mean. Yeah, those are. Those are low glycemic. [00:20:10] Speaker A: Yes. [00:20:11] Speaker B: Yeah. Okay. [00:20:12] Speaker A: Okay. [00:20:13] Speaker B: Sorry I derailed you. What was the second one? I'm sorry. [00:20:16] Speaker A: You know, these are. These are really good conversations, Frank, because you are asking what everybody wants to know. Really? I think about this and I forget because I'm mean. [00:20:28] Speaker B: Well, you're the expert, and that's why this. Look it. There's a difference. I just want to tell everybody. There's a difference between someone like me who does it because I'm just passionate about it, and then someone who has to do it because their life depends on it. [00:20:41] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:20:41] Speaker B: And so. Yes. So I. Even though I put a lot of time into it just because I'm interested and it's a passion of mine that's different. Like you. It's a big deal. It's a bigger deal. So, anyway, I'm learning while we're talking, because this is important to me and I'm. I want to hear what you say. [00:20:58] Speaker A: Before I do my reveal. My big reveal. Also, don't you love this about Internet now? You know. Clickbait. Yeah, no, we're. We're all talking like Joe Rogan now. It's. I don't know what happened. Anyway, very important to note that I know I'm not alone with this. My youngest daughter just had her a recurrence of breast cancer. And this is something that many of us. I mean, the numbers are going up and we're all dealing with this. Finally, she came away from her appointments with her oncologist with a diet. And guess what the oncologists are telling us now. No sugar. [00:21:53] Speaker B: I can't. That's shocking that they gave her a diet. Thank goodness. That's a great sign that we're actually turning the ship around. [00:22:03] Speaker A: Yes. Yes. Finally, the medical establishment is acknowledging. Oh, crazy. That food matters. That what you put in your body has something to do with your health and longevity. [00:22:20] Speaker B: Wow. [00:22:21] Speaker A: We're there, so. And I don't want to make too much light of it because I want everyone to understand how serious it is that if you want to prevent kidney disease, prevent cancer to the extent that you can, which is extensive. I mean, you. You can. [00:22:39] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:22:39] Speaker A: Big one is no sugar. So then next, how do you get to no sugar one? I've already told you, you gotta quit. Quit, quit, quit. The way to quit is to start using allulose. Terrible name. A L, L U L O, S E. It is one ingredient. The only ingredient in it is allulose. It's squished out of, I think, corn husks or something. But it's a food product. [00:23:11] Speaker B: Okay. [00:23:11] Speaker A: No calories, doesn't upset your stomach, and it's a marvelous sweetener. And it. Oh, it also, for you, cooks. It caramelizes beautifully, which also tells you something that chemically, it's. It's food. [00:23:28] Speaker B: So. So does it. So that. Is this the number two. So you're saying monk fruit and allulose. Is that what you're saying? A sweetener? [00:23:35] Speaker A: Put allulose first. Because I find it easier to. To work with allulose than. Than with monk fruit. But they're both good. [00:23:42] Speaker B: Okay. And I have another question that maybe I'm not sure if you know this or not, or maybe it's just not a good question. This ties into something else besides sugar just for a second. So are you. Are you familiar or do you get into like, GMO and non GMO stuff or. No. [00:24:00] Speaker A: Of course. [00:24:01] Speaker B: Okay. [00:24:02] Speaker A: Of course. I'm. I'm a food. [00:24:04] Speaker B: Okay. I just want. I didn't know. So. So then my question is. So my brain goes. It comes from corn, and I'm not, you know, fine, but then you have the gmo. Is. Is it because the GMO genetically modified corn has stuff in it that you don't want. So does that transfer when you. When you extract the allulose or. No. I don't know if that's. That's a little bit advanced, but does it or do you know? [00:24:31] Speaker A: I don't. I. I can't give you a really, really educated answer on that. [00:24:34] Speaker B: Okay. I was just curious. [00:24:37] Speaker A: One of my next projects is to actually go to the allulose people and see how they do it. [00:24:43] Speaker B: Yes. [00:24:44] Speaker A: Know more than I know now. However, by reading the label and there. There's more than one company putting allulose out. I have never seen anything coming from those companies that bothered me. [00:24:58] Speaker B: Okay. [00:24:59] Speaker A: And I will also qualify myself. I live in an agricultural area. I live in what is kind of Maybe the epicenter, the west coast epicenter of regenerative agriculture. [00:25:14] Speaker B: Where are you at? [00:25:15] Speaker A: I'm in Pescadero, California. Okay, so I'm about. No, no, 12 miles over the hill from Stanford. But my neighbors are all cattle and sheep and goats and the people who work them. And I know their names, the people, goats and the chickens. I've held. We. We see ag very differently than a lot of people there. You will not see any factory farms around here. And I'm happy to say that a number of highly influential people who came out of the tech explosion have come into this kind of agriculture and are really working hard to help people understand what we need to do to have a healthier food supply. So, yes, it's a great question. And on our next interview when I'm back, I'll have a great answer for you because I will have done the research with the company. [00:26:23] Speaker B: Yeah, I love that. [00:26:26] Speaker A: But when it comes to right now, it may not be absolutely perfect, but it's a dang good way to quit sugar. Because. But here's the thing. You have to make food for yourself. There's no way around it, really. And my book, brownies for breakfast. The brownies, I'll tell you what's in them. Pumpkin, right out of the can, can of pumpkin, a jar of nut butter. And you can use cashew butter or almond butter. And you know that that's really good food. The pumpkin's great food. The nut butter is great food. And then allulose eggs or an egg substitute if you're vegan, some cinnamon baking soda. I forget what else. The sweetener. And then you mix it up in one bowl and you put it in a pan and you bake it. And I absolutely promise you. Write to me if you don't agree. I promise you, you've never had a better brownie. You know, they're fudgy and rich and yummy and they don't give you a tummy ache. And then here's the best part. You eat one or two of them and you go, okay, I'm good. Because it's food. It's real nourishing food. [00:27:51] Speaker B: I'm guessing there's cocoa powder in it. [00:27:54] Speaker A: Oh, yeah, yeah, that might have. [00:27:56] Speaker B: I figured. I'm just. I just making sure. Got it. Okay. [00:28:01] Speaker A: Plain cocoa with nothing else. Just. [00:28:03] Speaker B: What are. On that subject, I guess this would not qualify because it has sugar. I don't eat a lot of sweets, even though I have a sweet tooth. I'm. I love sweets, but I've cut way back. I have virtually no sugar. I still have sugar, but virtually. [00:28:19] Speaker A: Frank, I've got the book for you. You can eat donuts, pie, cakes, it's all in there. [00:28:23] Speaker B: I know. I can't wait to see it. Yeah, I'm going to. Everybody should get it. And I will get it because I'm all about that. Dark chocolate. [00:28:33] Speaker A: Yes. [00:28:33] Speaker B: It's like 70, 80% dark chocolate or. No, because it has sugar in it. I guess that doesn't qualify. Really. [00:28:40] Speaker A: It depends. You can buy dark chocolate with monk fruit sweetened or allulose sweetened. [00:28:45] Speaker B: Okay. [00:28:46] Speaker A: Just a little tiny bit. I'm a chocolate fiend. I love it. Good grief. [00:28:52] Speaker B: Okay. [00:28:53] Speaker A: Yeah, you just. What I'm asking everyone to do is just be careful. [00:28:57] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:28:58] Speaker A: Read the label. [00:29:00] Speaker B: That's. I think the biggest thing is reading the label. And then also what I have found. This worked for me. I don't know about. For you. Do you use. So they've got a lot of things out now. They've got the CGMs, which anybody can get and pump it into the back of your arm can continue as glucose monitors. What the CGM is. Or like my fitness pal, which is very basic, but it like, hey, I ate this for breakfast and I ate this for whatever. And so it tracks what you're doing. Now, sugar wise, we really shouldn't. We should have as little sugar as possible, like you said. But it's amazing how much people are getting. But tracking and measuring is my point. [00:29:33] Speaker A: Okay, well, and here's my confession. I don't track, I don't measure, I'm a sloppy cook and I don't journal. [00:29:44] Speaker B: And. [00:29:46] Speaker A: I don't have a cgm. Well, it works for you. [00:29:49] Speaker B: So that proves that it works. [00:29:52] Speaker A: Well, the idea is it's habits and frankly, anything that adds to what we need to do every day to the work in front of us, I'd say. [00:30:05] Speaker B: Why make it more complicated? Yeah, why? [00:30:08] Speaker A: Because it's really not that complicated. And if you look at what you're eating and it's real food, whole food, mostly plants, or if it's meat, you know where it came from and what it is, you're good. If you just do that, you will be eating an entire. [00:30:32] Speaker B: You don't have much to worry about. [00:30:34] Speaker A: No. And the side benefit is if you're overweight, guess what? It goes away. The weight literally drops off. And I don't. I'm not preaching dieting, I'm not preaching losing weight. You know, if you've got a weight problem or one that you perceive to be A weight problem, then you already know, and you've read all the stuff, and you know why you would want to fix it. You know that it's a problem for your feet. But guess what? Here's a way to fix it without dieting, without struggling. Just eat real food. [00:31:12] Speaker B: I think that it just takes a little bit of effort, you know, I. The best advice I heard a long time ago, I think it was Dr. Daniel Amen. I read one of his books, and I don't know if you know who he is, but he's the. He's a brain doctor. He's done, like, the most brain scans of anybody ever. Anyway, he talks about, like, cleaning your pantry out and putting only stuff that is good for your brain or your body, whatever, right? And so you don't. You don't have the option to do anything bad. And so that was a good piece of advice that I took a long time ago. But I don't think anyone understands. Like, you say, no sugar. Obviously, it's. It's life or death for you. I say no sugar because I just know the ramifications. But I think until you actually do it, even I was like, wow. The differences in my body, the differences, you know, I. I just think you got to go through it, you got to do it, and you got to put just a little bit of time into. Okay, is this a. Asking myself before I eat, did this come from the earth? You know, is this a whole food? Is it. You know, where did it come from? I think that's a big piece of it, because people are. But they're putting stuff in front of people at the grocery store. That comes from a farm, and it's a fish, and it's not wild caught or whatever, feeding them junk, polluting the earth. [00:32:27] Speaker A: So when you do this, when you feed yourself better, you're doing all these other good things. You're producing less trash, less crap. You're doing a good thing for the environment and your kids. I mean, hello, you're setting an example for them. You're feeling better, but your food actually will look better, it will taste better, it will keep just fine as long as you're sensible about it. But you won't be eating preservatives anymore. I mean, when you start thinking really about the difference and, you know, you'll see it in your skin. And a thing that we talked about before you hit the record button is that I recently had a violent gardening incident. It was me and this vine struggling for life. And the vine won, and I ended up on My butt in the gravel with a seriously broken femur up at my hip. And so ambulance and surgery and, you know, the whole thing with me thinking the whole time, well, I've done it now. You know, that's what they say when you're 80, and if you break a hip or a femur, you'll be in a wheelchair the rest of your life and rah, rah, rah. Well, not so, because as I told Frank, I'm happy and proud to say that the medicals who worked on me, the surgeon, the wonderful nurses and NPs, such a great staff, and I had really great help. They all said in one way or another, very directly, we don't see women your age who are in the condition that you are. We just don't. And we're so happy for you that you are going to have a complete recovery. You're going to be fine. Your bone is going to heal. And the surgeon said to me the day after the surgery, he called and said, you know, I got to tell you, you've been keeping me up last night, and I thought I should call and check in because I think I know what kind of person you are, and I think you're going to push this too hard. So I want you to know that you need to keep your weight off that leg until it's healed, which will be about six weeks, and then, you know, certain. So he went on to describe, and he said, you know, we all have soft bones. He said, I have soft bones. I'm a surgeon. I have soft bones. I know about soft bones. But if you have good muscle like you had, you can protect your soft bones. And which is not to say you shouldn't eat for bone health, because that is a thing and you can improve your bone health eating well. But what was news for me, I don't know why it just never registered, is if you have the muscle in your body to protect your bones, you'll do fine or do better, certainly, than you would otherwise. So that's fine. [00:35:35] Speaker B: That's interesting the way you say it. Well, first of all, I'll tell everybody what I told you, which was, you're one of the very few people that can sit. I mean, there's others, but one of the few that can sit here and say, on the other end of it, look at what I've done. And this is the benefit, you know, if you want to call it this, a benefit, the silver lining of. Of the situation. [00:35:54] Speaker A: It's a huge silver lining as far as. For sure. [00:35:57] Speaker B: I've Never looked at the muscle piece in the, in the way I've never looked at it. I mean, recently that's coming out about how important muscle is to longevity. So there's a lot of conversation about that with a lot of different doctors right now and people that are in the health space mostly from the fact that it consumes the glucose. So it's not just in your bloodstream and, you know, all this type of stuff. But this is another reason I, I never thought about. But it's just protecting your bones like you said. And so, you know, obviously making sure your bone health is good. And I, I did read something that like, high impact training is good for bone density, especially for women, because of, you know, that kind of thing, but having muscle. And that's why now we could go back to this maybe. I don't know if you do this in your book, you know, there's a difference when you talk about protein, plant based protein versus animal based protein. But protein, just getting protein, I think is a big part of it. And then, you know, you can get into the quality and that kind of stuff, but having protein to build the muscle. So I'm curious to know you, like, for anyone that's listening, that's like, hey, what did she do? Because they probably don't want to hear what I do. They want to hear what you do and what you did to work out, exercise, sleep, like, what did you focus on along with the diet? Being a diabetic and then maybe if you weren't a diabetic. [00:37:16] Speaker A: Well, I want to recommend this to everybody, especially you women who are often too busy with your house, your kids, your husband, your aunt, everything to really take the time to work out. And I was working out four days a week before my accident. I'll be back at it soon. I'm happy to say it, but my routine was four mornings a week. I did a solid hour of hard work with a trainer who was PT trained, so he wasn't going to injure me. A great guy. Thank you, Tiago. And it was fun. And the benefit was not only that, keep your weight down, you keep your muscles stronger. Women don't have upper body strength normally because they just haven't done those things, you know, to keep. So it's very important, I think, especially for women to do a workout that is a strength training, resistance training workout for your upper body as well as your whole body and mobility, all of it. But the big benefit was that I live in a little country village and there were women that I didn't know. Well, and now they're pals. We have this great little community of people who met at the gym and care for each other. And especially the older you get, and I mean, younger moms need this too. I mean, you know, the whole village concept, it's a real thing if you're trying to take care of families or whatever. So not only did I come out of it with stronger muscles and better survival and I've got some guns on me I can't show you because I have, but. But I came out of it with a stronger social network, you know, Huge. Huge. And so as I've been recovering from this garden incident, my friends have come over and sat with me and we've had some wonderful conversations, you know, and we don't often get the opportunity to just sit with our friends, one friend or two friends, and just talk. And it's so nourishing. And of course I offered food, but they, they brought food, Frank. I mean, you know, and how. It's as old as time. My friends showed up with food that they had lovingly made, knowing that I was not going to be in the kitchen doing it and not knowing how much my husband would be able to do. So it's been this kind of four week party of sorts with people arriving for good conversation with good food. It's. That's also, in my book, a silver lining. So find a way. If you don't have a little local gym, create one. Find somebody, hire somebody, Work with your friends to make it happen. I mean, I'm not a big believer in the sort of, you know, gym on Main street that's awful of men and women and sweaty people and everything. I kind of am more comfortable in something a little more local and friendly and. And I don't want to feel like I'm competing. I hear that from people that if you. [00:40:47] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. [00:40:48] Speaker A: If you go to some gyms, you feel like you're. You're just this spud, you know, because you can't do what those folks are doing. But find something that suits you, that's your style, that's healthy and safe, and do it and do it at least three times a week if you possibly can. And of course, walk. You've heard all this, you know this, everybody knows this. But that saved, I think, my life. [00:41:15] Speaker B: It's very interesting. And so exercise, clear. Obviously you've been doing that for a long time. Good for you. So that's huge. Anything you want to say about sleep? [00:41:29] Speaker A: Thank you for bringing that up. Absolutely. As a culture, we are so crazy stupid about sleep. And I blame the medical establishment. I mean, it used to be you've heard this, you know this probably already. But the secret is out that doctors, when they were being trained, when they were residents, when they were in med school, it was considered wimpy to sleep. It was a thing that you didn't do unless you were just weak. And apparently that traces back to. I think it was in Casey Neen's book. It traces back to one guy in the early movement around medical schools that preached this. And he just. He was very demeaning about anyone who had to stop and rest and sleep. And then he died. And then it turned out people found out that he was a cocaine addict. But we are still. We're still looking at sleep as being something that you only do if you just give up because you're just not long enough. So, you know, there. First of all, the important note. Here's the important note. You only heal from anything in deepest sleep, in REM sleep. So if you have anything, a zit, a scratch, anything that you're healing from, you must sleep in order to heal. Boy, when I understood that, I thought, wow, it's powerful. Yeah, it is powerful. [00:43:12] Speaker B: No, nobody. Very few people know that. [00:43:16] Speaker A: Yeah. So that's huge. And then personality wise, you will improve yourself dramatically if you get a good night's sleep. And everything about your body needs to rest. And also we could go into a thing about dreams, about getting information from sleep, but that's not the show today. That'll be another show. [00:43:41] Speaker B: Part two. [00:43:43] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah. But, yeah, and so to me, and I'm also a lark by nature. When it gets dark, I'm like, okay, you know, it's probably time to slow down. And I'm a big believer. I don't watch tv and I'm a big believer in being quiet. I think we have not enough quiet in our lives. And also this little incident with the vine has reacquainted me with what a joy it is sometimes just to be still. And I'm not talking. [00:44:21] Speaker B: That's a huge one. I think that's a big one. [00:44:24] Speaker A: Talking about a meditation practice or whatever, that's fine if you want to do that. But I mean, just being still and listening and looking. [00:44:35] Speaker B: I agree. One of my favorite times of the day is when I get, you know, I try to make it happen as much as possible, but just 10 minutes in the morning when no one's up and just. Just be. [00:44:47] Speaker A: And that's. That's the big secret too, about. And I, I have this conversation with a lot of the moms in their 40s who are just like, oh, you know, the kids and the job and everything is crazy. If you wake up at four or five and put in two hours, you've done a day's work. If it's quiet, your mind is clear, you've rested. And my little grim story about when my kids were tiny and I, you know, single mom and so on, I would put them and myself to bed at 8 and there was no negotiating. It's like, no, no, that's bedtime. Bye. Bye. You know, you can holler, you can do whatever you want. I'm sorry, bedtime. Which moms don't do that anymore, right? [00:45:30] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:45:31] Speaker A: But his feelings. What is he feeling about bedtime? I don't care. Go to bed. Eight o'. Clock. [00:45:36] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:45:36] Speaker A: And then I would sleep until two and I would get up and work until six or seven and then the kids and breakfast and then we would go and deliver. I was a copywriter at the time, so we'd go and I would deliver my work. But in that little period of time, I did a day's work because I could, because my brain and the rest of the day, it deteriorated from there. Right. As any parent knows. But it's magic. It's magic if you go to bed at a decent hour and get up early. [00:46:14] Speaker B: I agree. And I think too, listening to your body, I mean, look, it just. The bottom line is I'm extreme. I do a lot of stuff. I'm up early, I'm doing a lot of crazy workouts and stuff. But I need seven, eight hours. So I'm going to get it and that's just all there is to it. So I go to bed really early. But everybody just needs to listen to their body, I think. But most people need that around that amount of sleep. [00:46:36] Speaker A: I like nine. [00:46:38] Speaker B: Hey, good for you. That's not normal for me, but I've done it. But eight is about great. Seven to eight is. But eight, I could do nine probably. [00:46:49] Speaker A: It's good. But also nine is a real privilege. And that's. I also want people to understand, you know, for so long we've bought this story that getting older meant not doing and not doing without and being weaker. You know what? You're freer than you've ever been in your life. You're probably better off financially. Your relationships have probably settled into something that works for you. You're no longer all hormone crazed or in the case of women, you're not prey anymore. Well, you Know, we get so accustomed to it that you live your life around that. And people talk about older women being invisible. Well, what's wrong with that? You know, I love the whole invisible idea. Talk about a power. That's great. [00:47:46] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:47:47] Speaker A: And I love that I'm allowed to flirt with anybody. I mean, I get to flirt with babies, with golden retrievers, with somebody's bird, with their kids. You know, I can go through Trader Joe's and party. Right. Because I'm just this old lady. [00:48:07] Speaker B: That's great. [00:48:09] Speaker A: Well, it is great. And, and, you know, I, you do, I think, lose your taste for travel like a lot of us. You know, I, I did a lot of that and on my own, by myself, didn't think about it. One way, tickets to places and very little, and we didn't have phones, you know, you weren't going to call anybody and get bailed out. You just went, you know. Yeah, but at this stage of my life, it's hard to blast me out of here. I really, I'm loving being home and in my little community, but. Yeah, get old. It's swell. [00:48:49] Speaker B: Well, we're all, we're all on our way, I can tell you that much. [00:48:53] Speaker A: That's right. Well, within a month we are. Yeah. [00:48:56] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, yeah. What? Is there anything that we didn't mention today that we should. Before we wrap up, is there anything that people should know that we didn't talk about? I mean, obviously you want them to get your book, but is there anything that you. We didn't talk about that we should or we should tell them? [00:49:13] Speaker A: Oh, I'm sure I'll think of a thousand things after we're done. Because, like you, this conversation is a long one for me and one that I. It's my mission and I want people to understand that I don't make any money from this book. I mean, nothing wrong with making money, but believe me, it's an expensive proposition to put a book out. You know, it's available on Audible for those of you who listen in the car. It's a crazy idea to have an Audible cookbook, but people have told me they really enjoy because there are a lot of stories in it, only about half the book is recipes and the rest of it is what we've talked about today, the why and how to change the way you eat. I give a very careful list of here's what you need in your pantry, and here's what you get rid of in your pantry, and here's your do's and here's your don'ts. You know, I'll give you an example. One thing that very few of us do that is a great idea is leafy greens three times a day. So much of what I talk about is not what not to eat. You know, I talk about what to be sure and eat. And if you are eating all the stuff that you will benefit from eating, you don't have room for the crap. I mean, I want to fill your tummy up with great nourishing food, but you just might not have thought about it quite that way. So that example, leafy greens, three times. I tell you how to do it. I tell you how to do it with takeout. Here's the thing. Can I give a tip, a grandma tip? [00:50:51] Speaker B: Of course. [00:50:53] Speaker A: We do have a wonderful taqueria in my little town and fresh ingredients. Nice folks. It's, you know, all good. And so we will get a shrimp burrito, hold the rice, it's local shrimp, and bring it home and cut it in two or three pieces, put it on a bed that you can do in a hurry of finely chopped cabbage or arugula greens underneath. You put that third of a burrito on there and then you put a little extra salsa, a little extra cheese, or cheese like substance, if you prefer, and you nuke it. And now you've got three meals instead of one and it's an appropriate size and you've eaten your greens and you can text me and thank me for that. [00:51:46] Speaker B: That's a good tip. I drink a green drink a lot or another drink too in the morning. But that's a good way to do it too, because you never know. You want to get it from the real source. So I think that's always better. [00:52:00] Speaker A: Yeah, I'm, I'm not a huge fan. I don't do supplements and I don't do stuff in a jar that, you know. Yeah, getting protein is a thing. You do need to kind of work at it to get quality protein, especially if you're not eating meat. I do eat meat. I've been vegan. I for six months. I experimented. Strict vegan. My numbers were gorgeous. It's a fine way to go, but it's more trouble because you really have to work at getting your plant protein in in a yummy, consistent way. And you certainly can't do it eating out. Anybody that says that they're a healthy vegan who is eating croissants at Starbucks. No, that's not being a vegan. Also. Yeah, coffee, good coffee, black. [00:52:52] Speaker B: That's how I drink it. Black. [00:52:54] Speaker A: Nothing in it you just can't. So, you know, it's doing the tweaks and finding the little ways. But first, commitment. If you don't understand how important it is, if you don't commit to it for yourself and for the people you love, it's not going to happen. And if you don't do it, you can't really be healthy. [00:53:19] Speaker B: Love it. Love it. Lynn, thank you for sharing all of this with us. I appreciate it. I hope your leg heals up fast. It's crazy. I appreciate you still coming on and being a trooper. It's amazing. And you don't even look like it's bothering you, which is amazing. [00:53:38] Speaker A: Not. I mean, it is. When we get off the air, I will potty mouth my in the other room. I mean, it's just like. But yes, it's all good. I'm four weeks into it now and I only have another couple of weeks to go before I've been told I will be off, off my walker, which I love the way I've always been off my walker. [00:54:01] Speaker B: But yeah. Well, we want everyone to get the book brownies for breakfast. And we'll put, when I put this out, we'll put the, the link to the book and every, anything else in. [00:54:14] Speaker A: The, in the notes because I love hearing from people and I send out new tips, new recipes. [00:54:20] Speaker B: Love it. Okay, great. Great. Thank you. And everybody, thanks for tuning in. And we will catch everybody on the next episode. [00:54:29] Speaker A: Big fun. [00:54:29] Speaker B: Take care, everybody. Absolutely. Bye. Bye. [00:54:37] Speaker A: Sa.