Episode 217: Listening to the Advice on This Podcast Alone Will Not Make You Age Well

In this episode, we discuss the pivotal idea that health advice alone doesn't make anyone healthier, inspired by Ron Kastner’s article, “Health Advice Alone Won’t Make Anyone Healthier,” . We dive into the importance of finding personal motivation—the 'why it matters to me' factor—to turn advice into action. Hear about the journey toward aging well, the challenges of health advice overload, and how simple, personalized choices can lead to meaningful change. Stack those small steps and remember: aging well is a highly individual journey.

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Transcript

0:05

Welcome to the Aging Well podcast. I'm Dr. Jeff Armstrong and I'm here with Corbin Brute. In this episode, we're going to dive into an important conversation inspired by an article recently shared by one of our previous guests, Ron Kastner. The article titled, Health Advice Alone Won't Make Anyone Healthier, really struck a chord with us because it touches on the idea that simply knowing what to do isn't enough. And in fact, it's the very reason why this podcast isn't just about throwing advice your way, but helping you to act on that advice and helping the viewer and listener navigate their path to aging well.

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 0:38

Longtime listeners may recall episode 127 when we interviewed Ron Kastner, author of A Life Yet to Live, Finding Health, Vitality, and Joy After 60. Ron also maintains a blog in recent posts health advice alone won't make anyone healthier He brings up such an important point. We live in a time when health information is everywhere Google YouTube social media this podcast you name it But our overall health is still declining. How does that even happen? Dr. Armstrong,

Jeff: 1:20

That's a great question. And I think Ron makes a compelling case that it doesn't matter how much good or bad advice is out there. it doesn't matter whether there's an aging well podcast or not. What really matters is whether that information resonates with people personally, it hits you in the gut and the heart, giving you a reason to act. It's the why it matters to me factor.

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 1:48

I love that phrase, why it matters to me. You know, it kind of reminds me of how we talked about Well Centered Fitness here on this podcast. it's not just about knowing what we should do, but figuring out what really motivates us and to do it. Whether it's staying healthy for our kids or our grandkids or just feeling better in our own skin. there's always something deeper that keeps driving us.

Jeff: 2:18

Right? And it's that personal connection that turns advice into action. Ron points out that. Even if all the health advice we had was scientifically proven to work, wouldn't change the state of public health because most of us just don't internalize it. we need to find our reason why. And there's that, when kind of when the magic happens, you stop Googling answers and start thinking about what better health really means to you.

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 2:51

It's about creating the emotional link, isn't it?

Jeff: 2:55

Yeah.

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 2:55

for some, it might be as simple as wanting to have more energy to play with their grandkids while for others, it could be avoiding a family history of chronic illness, whatever the reason it comes from within.

Jeff: 3:11

Ron talks about how you figure out your why, begin seeking health advice and experimenting to find out what works for you not just your neighbor, not the person on social media, but your own body, for your own lifestyle. And this is where aging well comes in. The journey toward aging well is really highly personal. It's a mix of choices, habits and lifestyle changes that fit each person's unique circumstances.

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 3:43

Yeah, and I would even go as far as saying that's why it isn't about following a set of universal rules. I mean, sure, there are guidelines, like the ones we all know. Exercise more, eat better, get enough sleep, don't smoke. but the real challenge is figuring out what works for you, and more importantly, why it matters to you. The why is what makes you get up at 5:00 AM for a walk or resist the extra cookie. Without a solid why the best advice in the world wouldn't stick.

Jeff: 4:18

Exactly. And it's why that we've seen transform lives. Ron makes an important point when he says that health isn't just about willpower. It's about awareness. You need to become aware of what's keeping you stuck, whether it's poor habits, negative thinking, even social pressures, and then starting to take those small steps to get unstuck.

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 4:44

Yeah, and it's important that those small steps, or as we like to call them, baby steps, we got to recognize that they're key. how often do people think that they have to overhaul their whole life to get it all together in order to be healthier? that's not true. The truth is, even minor changes can have a huge impact. Start by questioning your habits. Why do you eat junk food? When you're stressed, why do you avoid exercise? Once you start connecting those dots, the bigger picture starts to emerge.

Jeff: 5:17

Exactly. And this brings us back to the importance of introspection. Looking inward. Ron emphasizes that even though there's a lot of external advice out there, The most critical answers come from within, What's your reason for wanting to live a healthier, fuller life? For some, it's about longevity. For others, it's about having more energy, mobility, and simply feeling better about themselves.

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 5:45

That's right, Dr. Armstrong. And honestly, it could also be about nurturing yourself. Now, I really like how Ron mentioned that sometimes unhealthy habits are linked to how we feel about ourselves. When we don't feel good, we seek comfort. Comfort in the wrong places. I know that's the fact for me. Sometimes after a stressful day, I just crave a burger. not good.

Jeff: 6:09

Not

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 6:09

So whether it's food, inactivity, or just staying stuck in our own routines, we gotta focus on what's causing the unhealthy habits.

Jeff: 6:20

And that's a powerful insight. I think self care is about more than just hitting the gym or eating, right? It's about self respect, kindness to yourself, so what if you have that burger at night? Are you doing it every night? Then it's the issue. But if it's one night hey, I've not had a burger forever. What harm am I doing myself by going and having that one burger? The way we treat our bodies often really reflects how we feel about ourselves. You know, that person that is the burger every night because they just don't care. they look down at their Dunlap's disease and it doesn't matter that their belly Dunlap over their belt. they're miserable. They don't care about themselves. And what harm I do and just gain in a few more pounds because life sucks and it's not worth living. Right. how we. our bodies often reflects how we feel about ourselves. And when we shift that mindset, we start thinking about ourselves in a more positive manner. Everything starts to fall in place.

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 7:23

We've also talked about on this podcast about finding your why not.

Jeff: 7:28

that was my talk, and I think it was episode 136 when I talked to Sandy Griffin's 12 Week Transformation group last year. we often, know our why. it's very easy for people to know why they need to exercise, why they need to lose weight, why they need to eat a healthy diet. We hear it all the time.

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 7:47

Mm hmm.

Jeff: 7:48

in school, we see it in magazines, you tune into TV, you see it on Instagram, on YouTube. we look, we see the why we need to do these things, but we are limited by our why nots.

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 8:03

Yeah, it really seems like we're in a state of health information overload. No,

Jeff: 8:11

195. Uh, it was titled is wellness bad for aging? Well, and we talked about kind of health spear and wellness industry has really just exploded over recent years. And, you know, We start to compare how health information to be really hard to access. I mean, I tell my students now, it's like, when I was in college, if I wanted information, I had to go into the book stacks at the library and find things. I had to go through the little Dewey Decimal cards and find the number, go to that level in the library, pull off a book and start reading. They have so much information in their pockets with the smartphones, we can just Google so we don't even have to press any buttons We can just say hey Siri. Tell me about Such and such. it's there. And, you know, we have so much information, but we don't know how to deal with it. What do you think?

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 9:14

I think you're totally right. I mean, look at the health and fitness industry right now. if you go onto YouTube or you Google something, you have one expert that is super knowledgeable and this expert will tell you to do one thing and to stay away from this other thing. Then we have an actual other expert who has a doctorate in whatever the subject is that this person was just talking about. And this person says, no, that's wrong. Do this over here. And you decide, well, I want to do my own research and figure out the truth on this. you dive into it. And. You have a case study that says by doing this one thing, it's actually really negative and you can see through the clinical trial. But then on this study over here, same amount of subjects, say everything the same, but there's a positive outcome. It can be frustrating at times and you can do a system overload, but for me, I think you just have to figure out what works best for you because there's no master key to this, if that makes sense, What works for me is not going to work for you. just look at our height difference, I'm going to do squats differently than you are, just because of how your body is differently shaped than mine, but we're still going through the full range of motion and targeting those key muscles and we're still engaging the core and the, the overall goal is to get the best results Out of that squat as far as like health and nutrition You know what works for me doesn't necessarily work for you take the subject of magnesium. We just had an individual who we interviewed Him and he he was a subject matter expert on magnesium I love it. He gave us a couple magnesium things There's one in particular that you're supposed to take at night and a lot of the literature out there backs up that claim for a better night's sleep. But it was having the opposite effect on me. So what did I do? I just took the nighttime magnesium, moved it to the daytime and man, my energy levels are restored throughout the day. You have to tweak Things accordingly to your body. But if you're taking something that's healthy and you're having an allergic reaction to it, that's not good. there's no master key. There's no one size fits all. You have to find what key works for you in order to unlock your own success and open that door to that physical, mental, and emotional freedom that you deserve

Jeff: 12:01

Yeah, I think one of the most understated principles of adaptation, and you remember talking about those in Physiology of Exercise, is the principle of individuality. we tend to not that as much, and, we think that what works for one person has got to work for me, and if it doesn't work for me, there's something wrong with me. And it's like, no, it's just we all respond differently. We respond in different capacities to exercise and to diet and all those types of things. Some of us might like a particular diet, others might not. And when we are, trying to change lifestyle, we can't remove ourselves too far from our cultural backgrounds either. we talk about Mediterranean diet being one of the healthiest heart, heart health diets. Well, okay, I'm a Mexican American. I eat a lot of Mexican food. And how am I supposed to shift that to a Mediterranean diet? You're probably not because it's not in your culture, but how can you take the principles of a Mediterranean diet and apply it to your Mexican culture or Italian, well Italian would be Mediterranean. whatever particular ethnicity or cultural background we have or circumstances we have, how do we apply these principles that we're teaching on the Aging Well podcast or as you find them on the internet? How do you apply them to your circumstances to make them the most effective?

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 13:24

You know, we actually start talking about how aging well starts. Do you also think that in those younger ages, it's critical to start teaching children, healthy food is good? So instead of having a child be like, Ew, broccoli, ew, I don't like it. you kind of convince them, Oh, look at this broccoli. Oh, it's a little tiny tree. You're like a giant. And then they're like, Oh, that's awesome. I want to eat the tree. And whatever you got to do to convince them to love. Broccoli and like that's their favorite.

Jeff: 13:56

wait till you have kids and try that broccoli, look at the broccoli tree and the kid, just throws it at you.

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 14:03

well,

Jeff: 14:03

it

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 14:04

think

Jeff: 14:05

It really is. And you're right. I think we have to begin to instill these habits early on in life as opposed to, caving to cultural influences of raising kids. And then suddenly they get into college and, their exercise physiology professor has to teach them how to change their lifestyle in order to be healthy.

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 14:29

I remember hearing the term drink your milk because it'll make you big and strong and I don't know if kids drink milk anymore.

Jeff: 14:35

Well, it

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 14:35

don't know Hmm

Jeff: 14:43

You go into middle America, they're still drinking their milk. I mean, there's a lot of cultural influence we just had a discussion in class the other day somebody asked about, drinking milk and, whether it's good or bad. And I'm like, who am I to say, if it's not causing you problems, it's a good protein source. If you have no, you know, social issues with the fact that cows aren't made to drink. milk to human beings that they're made to give milk to their calves. know, a good protein source. it's healthy. if you want to drink almond milk I don't know why they call it almond milk cause it's not milk. You can't milk an almond, there are health benefits to both. It's like it's an individual choice and opportunities. What what is going to work best for you is not necessarily going to work well for others as long as it's not causing any harm to anybody or to yourself and it's having benefit. And that's the key. it's, I don't want to say that, do whatever, as long as it's not causing harm to somebody, because it could still be causing harm to you. so if it's causing harm to anybody, then it shouldn't be done. But if it's not causing harm and it's not unhealthy for you, but it works for you and it's beneficial for you, then it's probably beneficial overall. Just do it to a level that is going to, sustain good health. It really comes back to why it matters to me the decisions we make, need to be internalized for them to work. why does it matter to me whether I drink milk or almond milk eat fast food or organic food or, prepare my meals daily or whether I just kind of wing it every day. those are all things that we need to kind of make decisions for ourself. why, what makes wanting to be healthy? What, why are we here? Why are we wanting to age well? And why do we do this podcast?

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 16:54

right. Well, I mean, we did this podcast because we saw that there was an issue and we wanted to do our best to come up with a solution and just provide information and facts and, and have, you know, have our listeners hear it from the experts, and we try to bring as much science in. We also voice our own opinion, but I mean, they are our opinions, and we've come to those opinions based off of either life experiences or the literature that's out there, and I mean, I know that's one reason why we've done this podcast, and since we've done this podcast, I've Had to self reflect and Realize that I myself Recently have not been aging. Well, whether it's just life just kind of took a curveball for me and I focused too much on job opportunities that have been coming up and diving into that focusing on advancing a future financial situation for my Family I put health on the back burner. I've been having some negative results of that. one of my whys as we enter into this fourth season is, to get back on track. I want to get my energy level back up. I want to be able to stand on the message solidly. If we're going to tell people to age well, then age well. I can't just talk the talk. I gotta walk the walk as well. for the first time in my life, I'm suffering from Dunlap disease. Where my belly's starting to dunlap over my beltline. I've never been this overweight before. it's interesting. but, it's only temporary. I know what I need to do to get it done and it's gonna happen. I was thinking about possibly recording the weight loss journey and then posting it as a little subcategory in our podcast. But only if you stamp on it or maybe if our listeners want to say, Hey, yeah, I want to, I want to go on that journey. I want to be encouraged.

Jeff: 19:05

Well, you have your why, and

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 19:07

Right.

Jeff: 19:07

our listeners to do the same, and our viewers to do the same, is, you know, think about their why. also why not? why are you not aging well right now? And I don't know if anybody other than the viewers saw my little air quotes there, but you know, why are you not aging? Well, I mean, I asked myself the same question every day, you know, areas that I'm struggling in, why not?

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 19:32

Great question. why not?

Jeff: 19:34

answer

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 19:34

Oh, no, it's super simple I'm gonna answer it to inspire others to not use it as an excuse, my why not was I wasn't Prioritizing my time correctly to focus on health. I was Using my time to advance my career and getting after it that way my wife and I are very much actively involved in our community and focusing on community outreach but the excuse of I don't have time. No, I do have time I just haven't been prioritizing it well enough and I recognize that we just got to get back into the swing of things,

Jeff: 20:21

I don't know if I was using the phraseology when you had me as a professor, but. often refer to opportunity costs.

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 20:30

right?

Jeff: 20:30

we have that 24 hour day and everything we do is either working in the positive direction toward our goals or negative direction toward our goals. if we do one thing, it's going to take away time from something else. And so, when we're doing that community activity, that's taking away from exercise time. Now, should we Take that away. No, we should still be focused on the community. what else are we doing? That is wasted time. That could be exercise time. Or, what are we doing that's preventing us from eating a healthier diet? if I'm not taking time to properly grocery shop every week and plan my meals, I'm just winging it every day. That's my why not. we need to ask ourselves, what gets us out of bed in the morning? makes us feel our best? And what are we missing out on because of our poor healthy choices?

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 21:26

Yeah, we got to ask ourselves that So what pro tips do you think you can? throw to the listeners as far as Making that sacrifice of their time and squeezing in The proper healthy lifestyle choices that are needed in order to age well

Jeff: 21:45

Again, we talk about this a lot just, isolate one small change at a time and build off of those, just keep stacking changes in your life. what's the one thing that you can do today? Depending on when you're listening to this podcast, if you're listening late at night, you know, maybe it's okay. It's almost bedtime. I listen to this podcast because Dr. Armstrong's voice lulls me to sleep at night and I get a better night's sleep. Well, that's, that's listening to that podcast every night. It's going to help you sleep better. That's one positive step. So keep listening to that podcast. If you listen to it in the morning while you're driving, hopefully it doesn't put you to sleep, What am I going to do that is going to make my life healthier? What food choice can I change? What activity change can I make? Can I park, you know, as you're making that decision, driving in because I don't pay to park at Western Oregon's campus. I think it's ridiculous, first of all, how much they charge us park. And I drive by the empty parking lot because I'm too cheap to buy a space there. And I'll park on the street. It gives me that opportunity to walk a little bit further. I'll often bypass a closer space. to park a little bit further down, knowing that, if I park even just two parking spaces further down the street, that's given me 30 40 more steps that just doubled as I have to walk back to the car at the end of the day. increasing my level of activity. You know, I don't be not afraid to park all the way down at the corner I can end up walking close to a quarter of a mile into my office space, into the lab. And then that means I have to walk an extra quarter mile back. that choice to make that extra walk is giving me probably another hundred calories or more burned the course of the day. That's one choice. next choice could be, how do I schedule my exercise? one of the first choices we make every day is, am I going to get up or not? So if my alarm gets off at 4. 20 in the morning for me to get up and exercise, I have a choice. Do I hit the snooze button and sleep for 10 more minutes? Do I get up and go exercise? Or do I not exercise at all, hoping that I'll maybe be able to do it later in the afternoon? Those are all choices we have to make. We have to make those choices at that moment that are going to be The healthiest for us.

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 24:12

Yeah, that's good. speaking of healthy choices, we could also ask what keeps us from getting out of bed in the morning, and what keeps you feeling your best.

Jeff: 24:53

Yeah, and for me, uh, you know, thing it gets makes it harder to get out of bed sometimes is just soreness, fatigue. It's been a little bit more challenging since I've been monitoring sleep. And when I do wake up and it's non restorative, that's a little bit more of an excuse for me. That's kind of my why not that I struggle with. It's like, well, maybe I shouldn't exercise today because my body doesn't, know, it needs a little bit more recovery. Well, reality is probably a little more activity will help me sleep better the subsequent night. And. I'll probably do better throughout the day. journaling really helps both in the morning and in the evening and setting regular goals. And it might just be one goal a day that could help us clarify that why and to overcome the why not.

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 25:41

Do you think different life stages might bring a different why,

Jeff: 25:45

Oh, absolutely. I mean you have different whys and different why nots. Whether you're in your first age, second age, third age, and, fourth age, you're very different. Many people, once they get to that fourth age, where they're in that significant period of life where they're declining toward decrepitude, It is very hard to exercise, there's this notion that when we're in that state, we can't exercise because we're too unhealthy, too unfit, too old, overweight or whatever it might be. And so the different stages are going to have different whys and different why nots. when I'm in my. age. my why might have been more, you know, sports performance, you know, wanting to train, be in shape to do better and better in sports to maybe get a college scholarship, into college and you know, that early second age. You're looking at trying to attract, you know, future mate. maybe, you know, just trying to keep up with your kids, into retirement, you're trying to regain some of your earlier glory days, or, just trying to get back in shape that you have lost over the second age, we generally see a significant decline in Physical performance and health from 25 to 50 just because we're working so much, As we get into our 60s, we start having a different focus. We start looking at health issues wanting to be around for when our kids get married and have kids or Be around for grandkids and we start looking at that kind of future it, it definitely changes as we age.

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 27:27

So what you're saying is one side fit all doesn't work.

Jeff: 27:30

No, it doesn't work. one of our, affiliates is true diagnostic with epigenetics testing. we know from genetics and epigenetics that our life experiences, our lifestyles, our environments, they're all different, but they also impact and interact with our genetics in different ways. We're all going to respond differently to diets, exercise routines. we manage stress differently. We have different levels of stress. We're all so different in so many ways. that cookie cutter approach to aging well just isn't going to work.

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 28:04

What works for me isn't necessarily going to work for you and vice versa. you throw in height and weight, bone density, ethnic background, genetic makeup, blood types, A, B, O, A, A, B itself and then positive and negative. Like, there's so many different factors that coexist with one another. And so to say, one size fits all, you know, this is the standard approach. What works for this person is not always going to be the best results for this individual. This individual needs to tweak it and customize their routine or their lifestyle choices or their fitness goals to, to match whatever it is that they need to do to age. Well, I think that this also is a really good place to remind our viewers and listeners about failure.

Jeff: 29:02

I think we'd be amiss to have neglected to remind them that it's okay to experiment with health advice and fail. that process of aging well includes trial and error. that, aspect of knowing that we have individual differences means that we are going to fail if we try something. And so it's okay. you talked about squatting earlier. I think you've talked in the past about high squat versus low squat. To me, it's just one type of squat. I can't do, really one or the other. It's just there's a position where the barbell on my back fits the best. But what I've found is the most effective squat for me is the searcher squat, and I love doing that. I didn't discover it until I was Probably in my late fifties. Now I'm, you know, my early sixties and I'm searching up a storm. I love it. it's helping me and I'm, doing more. I tried it years ago and it didn't work for me at that point. Now it works for me. it's okay to have failures. I mean, failures are what help us to grow. I come from a wrestling background in wrestling. there isn't a winner and loser. There's only winners and learners.

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 30:14

Mm.

Jeff: 30:15

And, we had Jim Harshaw Jr. on, in season two, and his original podcast was Success Through Failure. I want to have Jim back on at some point because, he continues down that pathway where our failures are really a critical part of our growth. if we don't have failures, we're probably not growing. If you fall, on your face, at least you're moving forward. there's some truth to that. failures are not setbacks, they're learning opportunities.

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 30:43

Yep.

Jeff: 30:44

We're going to move toward growth.

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 30:46

You know,

Jeff: 30:46

if we learn from a failure, now we're getting closer to what's going to be successful.

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 30:52

I live by that mentality and I tell people this all the time, we don't make mistakes. We make learning opportunities because every failure, it's not a failure. It's a learning opportunity. It's prepping you to be better for next time. The what if I fail? What if I fail? Don't worry about feeling like go out there, give it your all. And if you're not successful right away, that doesn't mean you failed. You only fail when you completely give up or completely stop. if you make a mistake. It's a learning opportunity. How can you learn from this? How can you grow? How can you be better?

Jeff: 31:34

I think you only fail if you don't take the opportunity.

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 31:38

Exactly. Okay, so what about the individuals that are wanting to take the opportunity or they have taken the opportunity and they were moving along and everything was great and then they just kind of

Jeff: 31:53

this thing is asking me if I'm still around, but I can't manage the screen to do anything about it. Yes, I'm still around and we're going to leave the session in 30 seconds if I don't get this fixed. Yes, I'm still here. There we go. Alright. Go back. Alright.

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 32:12

So what about the people that didn't fail, right? They moved forward. They took the opportunity. They were learning. They were growing. They were capitalizing on those learning opportunities and everything was good. They were seeing success, success, success. And then all of a sudden they became stagnant they've tried one thing and they're still stagnant and they tried another thing and they're still stagnant. For lack of a better word, they're stuck. So what about the people who are feeling stuck in unhealthy patterns?

Jeff: 32:46

Get unstuck. this phenomenon of being stuck in unhealthy patterns, I think is a bit of a cop out you got to get unstuck. it kind of goes back to a lot of the things that we talked about when you took motivation and adherence with me. We go through the stages of change. pre contemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, and then maintenance. oftentimes, when we get stuck in an unhealthy pattern, if we know we're stuck, Then we know there's a need to change. once we know that we need to change, if you're saying I'm stuck, then you know, you need to change. So what do you need to change? What's not working for you presently, that's holding you there and get yourself unstuck, you know? So that's when we ask the why not, if we don't ask the why not, we're going to be stuck. when we ask why not, and manage that behavior, we're gonna get unstuck. Does that make sense?

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 33:53

I think what you're saying is losers make excuses and winners make it happen. that's my take home message.

Jeff: 34:01

Or I can quote, Spencer Lee, excuses are for wusses.

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 34:05

you can't put the blame on the situation and you can't put the blame on Everyone else around you, right? It's it's your life. You have the opportunity to take control. You have the opportunity To move forward There's no sense of getting upset about A situation or things that are beyond your control, but how you react to those situations how you take back your own life like that that is in control you can control Your reaction you can control what? foot moves forward, whether it's right or left, and you control which path you're going to choose. this isn't just for health and fitness. This is for any aspect of life. don't get stuck in these unhealthy habits. Don't make an excuse. Why is this not happening? if it's just one excuse after the other, great. You've recognized that there's a problem. How can you move forward from it?

Jeff: 35:09

Yeah, and I think personal responsibility has become a negative phrase in our society. You know, it's like, it's taboo to say, well, you got to take responsibility for your own actions take, responsibility for your own health. And it's not to belittle the person who is unhealthy or stuck in a bad situation. It's just simply, you know, you gotta take some responsibility, get the help you need, ask the questions you need of why you're stuck, and get unstuck.

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 35:40

Right.

Jeff: 35:42

You know, it's it's hard. I know it's hard, but it's again asking the questions. And I think one easy way that we can begin to take some actionable steps is to start journaling. if we write down in the morning, the first day of journaling might just be bitching and moaning about how miserable your life is, right? That's fine. You know, you're getting it out there. You're expressing, in a very personal way what you're finding to be. The weak parts in your life, where you're miserable and unhappy, you've identified those. Okay. Now what's keeping you there? What can I do today to just help me get a little unstuck? You know, just move one foot out of the mire, get out of the muck. can I do today to get me unstuck, to make myself a little bit happier, a little bit healthier? And just baby step your way out of that. somebody needs to write the book that, Dr. Leo Marvin wrote in what about Bob? You know, the book Baby Steps watching Bill Murray walk around his office, baby steps around the office, baby steps out the door, baby steps on the elevator. that's what we need to do. I mean, watch that movie if you are stuck and it'll get you unstuck.'cause it'll make you laugh a little bit, but you'll also see how, Murray's character just gets himself unstuck through baby steps

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 37:08

Yeah.

Jeff: 37:09

his life.

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 37:10

And to our listeners out there who are like, who do these guys know? They don't know me. They don't know my life and what I'm going through and you're right. We don't know you. we're not saying anything to degrade you or make you feel less than awesome. What we're trying to do is encourage you and say, hey, You have an opportunity. You can take back your life, but you have to want it. And if it's following in Bill Murray's footsteps of taking baby steps, then so be it. If it's, no, I'm going to make this one lifestyle change and I'm going to add a little bit more each and every day. Great! We encourage you to do that. I don't care what your problem is. I don't care what cards you were dealt.

Jeff: 37:59

We do care,

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 38:00

well, I,

Jeff: 38:02

I know the phrasing.

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 38:03

well, I just, I don't care what people cards were dealt. You know what? Life throws us in weird situations, but what I don't want to see is someone allow those situations to control them. it, Beats them down. I believe that each person out there Listening to this. I believe that you are awesome I believe that you are a fighter and it's inside of you I believe that you can Take back your life take on any situation and achieve any goal I'm hoping that these words are encouraging Get after it Live healthy. Age well. Woo! Let's do it.

Jeff: 38:47

So to sum up this conversation, listening to the advice on this podcast or any podcast won't automatically make you age

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 38:55

No.

Jeff: 38:56

but you must take the advice and personalize it. And you have to ask yourself it matters to you. your health is worth the effort and what steps you can take to make meaningful changes in your life.

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 39:12

And what did you always say when you were teaching class? Was it like, can't, can't got stuck in the mud?

Jeff: 39:19

Can't never done

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 39:20

That's right.

Jeff: 39:21

Mr. Schurter, one of my pastors in New York when I was living up there, he was an old Oklahoma farm boy, that's what his dad always said to him, can't never done nothing. My kids have challenged me on that from day one, they say, well, there's always something you can't do this. Well, wait a minute, you can, but it's not wise for you to do that, or I don't allow you to do that. Can't never stops you from doing anything. I mean, you can do whatever you choose to do. It might not be done today. It might not be done tomorrow. It might take years of effort to get there. But if you desire to do something well enough. It can be done. There's a way around it. where there's a will, there's a way

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 40:02

Yep.

Jeff: 40:03

you may not ever actually do it. I mean, to say can't never done it. Nothing doesn't mean that you will ever do it, but the possibility is there if you put the effort into it.

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 40:17

Right.

Jeff: 40:18

I was just talking recently with my wife about. Robert H. Schuller He built the Crystal Cathedral in Los Angeles way back in I think the late 60s, early 70s, or maybe it was into the 70s. he had the Hour of Power show on television for years. And, he had a thing, he's written countless books on the power of possibility. and or the power of possibility thinking. I always took to heart his message he said, if you want something break it down into smaller chunks that are accomplishable. If you need a million dollars to start a business, you can go out and you can find one person to donate a million dollars to you. That's a little less likely. I mean, I don't know anybody that's just going to write me a check for a million dollars. Maybe I can find two people to write me a check for 500, 000. than likely I could find somebody to write me, four people to write checks for 250, 000. Start breaking it down even further and further, eventually you get to where, can I find one million people to give me one dollar? a much more, goal. know, somewhere in between is going to be the solution to your issue. so break it down. What are the small things that we can do that are going to build up to the ultimate goal?

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 41:38

Right.

Jeff: 41:38

need to lose 50 pounds, I'm not going to lose that 50 pounds in a week. I can go have liposuction, but I need like tens of thousands of dollars for the surgery. and that's not the healthiest of choices.

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 41:50

Yeah.

Jeff: 41:51

So I need to start moving more, I have to start eating less. What can I eat less today? How can I move more today? And then just start building on that, those small baby steps, start adding up.

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 42:03

You can even do something as small as setting your own goals. Like, I'm not gonna eat after 7pm. what does that force you to do that forces you to eat throughout the day? Get all your acquired calories and nutritional meals in that day. And then once seven o'clock hits, Challenge accepted. I'm not gonna eat it. Am I feeling a little hungry? I sure am. I'm just gonna drink water instead That's awesome. Or hey, you know what? I want to get my heart health back up What can I do? Well, maybe you can walk around the block maybe there's a stop sign and the next day you walk past the stop sign to The street light the next day you walk past the street light to the corner of the next street the next day you go from The corner of the next street to the fire hydrant, just add that to it. You can do this. Anyone can do this. I believe. And yes, there are rare scenarios where there's probably someone listening and they're saying Corbin, I can't walk. I got a disability. Okay. You've recognized a why not. Awesome. Now, how can we focus this scenario to better suit you? How can we customize this? I challenge everyone to pick a goal, whether it's walking, whether it's not eating ice cream at nighttime, and whatever it is, just say, Hey, this is my challenge. This is what I did. This was the outcome. Let us know. I'm encouraged by this right now. I'm getting fired up. Whoa,

Jeff: 43:48

how many weeks do I give you to lose the weight you said you need to lose?

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 43:51

my goal is if I can lose two pounds a week, that's a good steady goal it'll be a few months to get down to where I need to

Jeff: 44:00

every episode we have you do the truffle shuffle until the weight's off.

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 44:06

I don't know, man. where are we?

Jeff: 44:08

And remember. Let me get my coffee first. Alright.

corbin-bruton_2_12-07-2024_090418: 44:18

But more importantly, I want people to remember that aging well is not a one size fits all journey. It's about discovering what works for you and building a life that's sustainable, enjoyable, and fulfilling. Take the advice. we've given you today, experiment with it, but most importantly, keep your why front and center. That's the key. Well, that wraps up today's episode. for tuning in and we hope this conversation helps you think differently about health advice and how to make it truly work for you. Keep listening to the Aging Well podcast, share with your friends. Most importantly, do what works for you. And as always, keep aging well.

Jeff: 45:10

Keep aging well.

45:11

Thank you for listening. I hope you benefited from today's podcast and until next time, keep aging well.