The Importance of Nutrition on Overall Health as We Age with Tina Stinson

Episode Summary:
Ever wondered how the food you eat and the lifestyle you lead impact your health, especially as you age? Join Aimee, a double-degreed nutritionist with 20 years of experience, as she dives deep into this topic on the Soul Aligned Self Care Podcast with host Tina Stinson. In this episode, Aimee shares her journey from vegetarianism to a more balanced diet, discusses the profound effects of nutrition on midlife health, and offers actionable tips for women navigating perimenopause and menopause. With a blend of personal anecdotes and professional insights, this conversation is packed with wisdom and practical advice for maintaining health and vitality through the years.

Notable Quotes/ Key Takeaways:

"You may have a genetic predisposition and most of us have a genetic predisposition for something, but it is our environment that triggers the genetic decline." - Aimee

"Frozen food often tastes sweeter because it's actually riper. It has more nutrients, more antioxidants, more phytochemicals in it. In many instances, frozen food is actually more nutrient-dense than fresh, depending on where you live and where you're purchasing your produce"​ - Aimee

"Always be thinking about your protein and your produce. If at the start of each meal you ask yourself, 'Where's the protein? Where's the produce?' and ensure they show up at each meal, it's single-handedly the most important thing we can do to age powerfully. We need protein for our musculature, which is our first line of defense against developing diabetes and osteoporosis"​ - Aimee

Resources:
Bowflex Adjustable Weights
Cronometer

Link to free guide:  "5 a Day in 15 Minutes or Less": https://vibrancenutrition.com/5aday/

Other links: IG - https://www.instagram.com/vibrancenutrition/

To be a part of the Insider community where Tina talks about Self-Care, Mindset, and sharing the best version of yourself with the world. Join The Soul Aligned Self Care Insider’s on Patreon, you can follow for free or get more support on the inside: https://www.patreon.com/Tinastinson

Blasphemous Nutrition on Substack

Work with Aimee

Photography by: Dai Ross Photography

Podcast Cover Art: Lilly Kate Creative

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Transcript

MacBook Air Microphone: 0:00

Hello, dear listener. I'm currently on vacation. So in this week's episode, we're going to turn the tables. And I'm sharing and discussion that I had with Tina Stinson of the soul aligned self care podcast. Tina is a fantastic coach who supports women to live an authentic life and stay mindful of their own needs while they navigate the obligations of their busy lives. In our conversation, we cover. Veganism and vegetarianism, how our genetics influence our future health navigating nutrition in midlife; especially women in peri-menopause, and I go deeper into my own personal journey with various dietary changes that I've made over the years. This was a great conversation with many pearls of wisdom and takeaways that I am sure you are going to enjoy. And if you do enjoy today's conversation, be sure to check out the soul aligned self care podcast with Tina Stinson for more actionable steps on making sure you take care of yourself. Onto the show..

1:05

Hey Rebels, welcome to Blasphemous Nutrition. Consider this podcast your pantry full of clarity, perspective, and the nuance needed to counter the superficial health advice so freely given on the internet. I'm Aimee, the unapologetically candid host of Blasphemous Nutrition and a double degreed nutritionist with 20 years experience. I'm here to share a more nuanced take. On living and eating well to sustain and recover your health. If you've found most health advice to be so generic as to be meaningless, We're so extreme that it's unrealistic, and you don't mind the occasional F bomb. You've come to the right place. From dissecting the latest nutrition trends to breaking down published research and sharing my own clinical experiences, I'm on a mission to foster clarity amidst all the confusion and empower you to have the health you need to live a life you love. Now let's get started. Have you ever wondered how much what we eat in the lifestyle we live affects our health? Well, today I have a special guest on the podcast. Her name is Aimee and she is a double degreed nutritionist with 20 years of experience. She spends time empowering thousands to have the health they need to live a life that they love. She is a master strategist, and she works very closely with her clients to find foods that work best for them and overcome the obstacles that hold them back. Her non judgmental approach helps others cultivate a healthier relationship with food and their bodies while they learn to nourish themselves from the inside out. I'm so excited to have Aimee on today. We, there's so many nuggets in this podcast. We talk about how much what we eat affects our health and the lifestyles that we live. We talk a little bit about nutrition, midlife, for all those midlife ladies out there like myself. We also go into a little bit talking about being vegan and being vegetarian. So there's so many different things about this podcast that I love. So let's get into it. You're listening to the Soul Align Self Care Podcast. I'm your host, Tina Stinson, and I had a stroke at the age of 39 from stress and burnout that shook my world. Now I'm laying it all out. The deep level self care practices and mindset shifts that I needed that kept me healthy, balanced, and thriving. Join me in this intimate space as we explore healing, resilience, and a soul's journey to alignment. This is where real conversations about deep level self care happen. Let's get into it. Hello, Aimee, welcome to the Soul Aligned Self Care Podcast. I'm so excited to have you here today. Thank you, Tina. I'm super happy to be here too. Tell me a little bit about yourself so that the listeners know, um, everything there is to know before we start chatting. I had the fortune of discovering nutrition when I was about 12 years old. I, uh, decided to become a vegetarian after reading a book called 101 ways to save the animals. And it was written by the founder of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals and you can imagine as a 12 year old being thrown into all of this knowledge about animal husbandry in, in, um, the agricultural industry and animal testing for cosmetics and the fur industry. And I was just. Aghast. I was completely mortified. And so I threw out all my leather, my fur, um, all my animal tested products. And then came to a point where I realized like, I couldn't be in integrity with these values if I continued to eat meat. And at that point it was about 13. And so I decided to go vegetarian. And this was in the, this was in the early nineties. So it was actually right at You know, kind of in the middle of a second wave of vegetarianism that had cropped up about 20 years after the vegetarian environmentalism movement of the sixties and seventies. So I did a lot of, um, reading about vegetarianism and the nutritional adequacy of a vegetarian diet, because I had some family members that were concerned. Rightfully so. Yeah. Um, my iron intake, my, you know, and protein deficiency, and my logic at the time was like, You know, being 12, it was like, well, the entire nation of India is vegetarian. It has to be okay. Yeah. And so I started with that premise and then went out to prove my point. Go ahead. That's going to say that's very interesting that such a young age, I feel like when you're exposed to, to the knowledge that you were exposed to at such a young age, it has just like this. Um, I think it has a bigger effect than when you're an adult. Yeah. I agree. I agree. Yeah, I think there's a that particular stage of development I think is so profound. In terms of, you know, you're really starting to, to begin to develop a sense of autonomy and a sense of right and wrong and justice. And then, yeah, being exposed to something like that and the environmental movement as well. You know, I became very, very, I was one of the annoying vegetarians. Oh, I used to call it, well, I, I'm comparing it to people who are vegan, but I used to call them angry vegans. I was vegan myself. For a while I'm vegetarian also, and I used to call them the angry vegans. I'm like, don't be so angry. You're scaring everybody. Just like, yeah, I did learn quickly that my anchor and rage was not an effective conversion factor. Scary. Yeah. It can be scary. So that was my foray into vegetation, into nutrition. Um, and, and really what it did is it opened up my eyes to how much, what we eat can impact our health. And that the heart disease that's very prevalent in my family didn't have to be, um, didn't have to get heart disease. They didn't have to get cancer. And at that point in time, diabetes was not the, the, um, like was not as prevalent as it is now. So it was more heart disease and cancer that were top of mind for me then. Yeah. Yeah. So let me stop you there because. I don't want to pass over that point. I feel like it's so important because a lot of people have some, they have it seared almost into their brain that it's their destiny. If they're both, their parents had diabetes, both their parents had cancer, heart disease, whatever, just name, name your disease. They feel like their chances of getting that are almost, it almost seems like they think it's almost like a hundred percent when it's such a small percentage. And I've seen different. People say different things, like it's 5%, it's 7%, it's 10%, but like hereditary, like it's, it's a small percentage that puts you into that category. You have so much control over it. So I just want to point that out. Absolutely. Yeah. You may have a genetic predisposition and most of us have a genetic predisposition for something, but it is our environment that triggers the genetic decline. You can have a predisposition to diabetes. You can have a prevalence of heart disease in your family. But if you live your life differently, if you eat differently, you manage stress differently. You, exercise, right? You can make significant strides in avoiding the same outcomes that your parents and grandparents did. Yeah, absolutely. And I think it's so important to know that. It is, it is. And I do feel like, I feel incredibly blessed to have Discovered that at such a young age. Um, and as I started studying nutrition, I just became more and more enamored with it and I've never, I've never climbed out. So I stayed. Yeah. Yeah. I stayed a vegetarian for 13 years. I'm no longer a vegetarian. Um, which is a whole other, a whole other conversation we may or may not get into. Yeah. And, um, I ended up by time I was about 15, I decided I wanted to become a nutritionist and help people prevent disease, help prevent the suffering that happens with chronic disease. So I, uh, obtained both a bachelor's degree in nutrition as well as a master's degree and also got, um, a minor in exercise science and physiology. So I'm a certified personal trainer as well as a licensed nutritionist. Very cool. Very cool. So I have to ask you about that because I think it's very important because another thing that happens inside of the vegan, sometimes vegetarian community is some kind of a judgment when somebody decides not to be vegetarian or vegan anymore. And there's usually some pretty damn good reasons because everybody's bodies differently. Everybody needs different things. So maybe you could share with us. Um, yeah, absolutely. So I, I ended up, I ended up starting an animal rights organization in junior high school and, uh, did some writing for national vegan magazines. I did, I made several attempts to go vegan over those 13 years and my body would always, after about three months, I would have such strong cravings for eggs and dairy. That I could never stay on it completely. So it always felt like a moral failing on my part, because, um, you know, my ideology was so strong, it was as powerful as a religion for me, a point in time and in adolescence where I would have. You know, I felt like to, to die myself would be a more aligned value than to resort to eating meat again. So it was definitely like I had family members after 13 years who couldn't grasp that I was eating meat again. Like it just, they couldn't, they couldn't understand how this could happen. But what ended up happening for me. Is I had, I'd gone to Bastyr University, which is a private naturopathic college in Washington state that has a vegetarian campus. And, uh, I in throughout the process of my nutrition education. I learned some things about like the importance of omega three fatty acids and that omega three fatty acids are much, much better absorbed in cold water, fish and animal foods than in our plant foods. The human body does not have, um, a strong ability to convert the plant omega three fats into DHA and EPA, which are those anti inflammatory compounds that really soothe inflammation in the body and health. Help us have that appropriate balance between an inflammatory response and an anti inflammatory response. And then I also learned about the importance of vitamin D. Um, and that vitamin D is extremely hard to get, uh, from foods and the foods that contain vitamin D, aside from mushrooms grown in sunlight, all animal foods. So I had grown up in Alaska where natural sources of vitamin D from sun were very infrequent, you know, quite rare. And throughout my adolescence, until I actually left the state for college, I had significant seasonal affective disorder. So when I got to college and I was learning about these things, I was like, wow, well, maybe trying to be vegan in Alaska and low fat vegan, because it was the nineties, perhaps, perhaps that's why I had such severe seasonal affective disorder. Yeah. And so I kind of, you know, took that information, tucked it in the back of my head, considered taking an omega 3 fatty acid supplement, but, you know, just kind of entertained the idea and didn't follow through with it. And then, um, about a year after I had finished my bachelor's degree, I was taking a health, uh, health coach certification program. And in one of the lectures, the, um, teacher was talking about oppression and how all of us In one way or another have been oppressed in our lives, and it doesn't always look the same and just kind of highlighting oppression and having a sensitive lens to be able to work with people with it. A history of oppression, um, and I, you know, didn't think anything of it. And then afterwards I went to a cooking class and this woman was talking about how she had been a macrobiotic vegan. And one day she was walking along Manhattan down the street and she, as she said, her body literally stopped her in front of a burger joint and she couldn't Move until you went in and got a burger and it like changed her life. So funny. Transformativist experience. Um, and something about those two lectures in the same day caused these synapses in my brain to connect. I realized that my adherence at that point, my adherence to a vegetarian diet was a form of oppression on my animal body. At that point in time, I had been having, um, meat had started smelling good again, which was very peculiar because it was repulsive to me for a long time. And then it started looking good, which really freaked me out. It actually looked good. And I didn't, you know, but I kept kind of pushing that away, pushing that away, pushing that away. But that day in that moment, I realized your body is telling you something and you're refusing to listen. And that's nothing. Would ever do if a client came to you with that same information. Yeah. So I went home and at the point, at this point in time, I sat on the board for earth, save, uh, the earth, save chapter of Seattle, which is a vegetarian advocacy and environmental group. And I went to whole foods. And I walked up to the deli counter and I asked for a sample of beef. And then I took that sample of beef and I walked away, found an aisle where nobody was standing because I couldn't be seen doing this. And I ate the beef and I was like, maybe it will taste like blood. It'll be horrific. And I won't, you know, we can stop here. And it didn't, it tasted good. And I was like, okay, well, all right, here we go. So I went back and I ordered a three ounce portion. To take home and I turned it into a taco and I was like, okay, I'm going to eat this beef and maybe I'll have horrific stomach cramps. I won't be able to digest it anymore. I can say, I tried, we can go back to doing, you know, doing things as status quo. And that was the thing I kept telling myself is like, you can always go back to being a vegetarian. You know how to do this, but you have to give your body an opportunity. Like we have to see if this is actually something that you need right now. Yeah. And I digested it well. And I was like, okay, let's continue to try this out. And what I discovered was that it, for me, it was beef first, uh, pork was repellent chicken tasted both pork and chicken tasted very dirty to me. I didn't like them and I didn't learn how to cook fish, even though I grew up in Alaska. So I, I kind of like left fish alone for a little bit. And in introducing meat, uh, beef specifically, I, I found I was able to focus for longer periods of time. I could, I just became very grounded and very focused and for years afterwards, before I did any kind of lecture, any kind of public speaking, anything where I was really putting myself out there, I would have a large audio Portion of beef to really center and ground myself so that I could like, you know, be on the street, not get lost and scattered. And, um, at that point in time, when I had reintroduced me, I was in my mid twenties. I was a, I was also running marathons and I had IBS. So I was not absorbing nutrients. And this is probably why my body was very much like, can we please have some meat now? Between the activity I was doing and the IBS, I'm, I I'm sure it was extremely nutrient depleted. So I responded really well to the protein. And then over time I was able to introduce other animal foods and learn how to cook fish. Um, but it was, It was not until about a year after I had introduced meat that I discovered I also had the reason I had IBS was because I had developed an intolerance to gluten, dairy, and soy. Yeah, which is hard when you're a vegetarian, vegan. Exactly. Exactly. And thank goodness I made that choice to reintroduce meat before I found that out. Because if I had had that strong adherence to the ideology, it would have been impossible. Um, incredibly devastating emotionally and don't know that I could have done it. And then had I done a gluten free, dairy free, soy free, low fat vegetarian diet as a man before. Yeah. That's like, that's like everything. Like, yeah, I have to, I have to share with you too. Um, so I was vegan for a number of years and I always craved eggs. Always. I never craved cheese. I never craved meat. Like you said, meat doesn't smell good to me. It still doesn't smell good to me, but eggs I craved. So I just started eating eggs. Um, I always ate honey, you know, I never really understood the whole honey thing, but, um, I think what's important here is that it's not, it doesn't have to be all or nothing, you know? And I think there's a huge part of when you become vegetarian or vegan, where the judgment of others. Yeah. The people in your communities, because those are tight communities, right? The judgment are others of others really stop you in your tracks. And I, and I always say, you know, what, what, what should I call myself? I don't even know what to call myself. Like, I don't eat a lot of dairy, but if someone makes a cake or offers me a cookie, I'm not going to be like, is there a dairy in there? I'm like, no, give me the cookie. Give me, um, so it's like, I say it's like I'm on the Tina diet because I eat whatever the heck I want. Like I'm going to eat whatever I want. I'm going to do what's best for my body. What makes me feel good. So I think tuning into your body and really paying attention to how you feel, what you crave. Um, and just because you crave sugar doesn't mean you need sugar. I just want to clarify that. Yeah. But I think, um, You know, I think it like just noticing that your brain fog went away. And then the IBS thing, uh, that was, that was, that's really important. And I myself is kind, I'm kind of going through something very similar because I'm having trouble with my histamine levels and just having like a lot of reactivity to a lot of things. And, uh, so like going on a low histamine diet, which, you know, could be, it's almost impossible. I feel like it's almost impossible. And all the things that I eat are like high histamine, like soy and avocados. And I'm like, forget this, like, forget this. And I'm like, there's nothing left. Beet legumes, certain legumes. It's like, what am I supposed to eat? You know, then I feel like all the stuff that I, that's left to eat isn't really a complete diet, you know? And so, uh, learning something like that about yourself. is can be devastating when you're thinking like, well, what, how am I going to balance this out? What am I going to do to fix this? And I'm still like in the middle of trying to figure that out. Um, I think one of the challenges in nutrition is that we still approach everything from a restrictive standpoint. We approach. We approach the restoration of health through restriction and I am no longer convinced that is the path. That's a good point. Yeah. I, I, you know, in working with people who do have gut issues, sometimes by time they get to me, they're like, well, I was low FODMAP, but then I developed oxalate issues or histamine issues. So now I'm on a low oxalate, low histamine, low FODMAP diet. And there's nothing I can eat. They could just eat meat and, and I'm boxed into a corner. Yeah. How do I get out? Right? Yeah. Yeah. And the more we restrict foods, the less nutrients we can offer our body and to heal. Mm-Hmm. And you get to a point where you don't have the fundamental nuts and bolts required to patch your system back together. Yeah. Yeah. Also when you're, when you're cutting out all these different foods and you're doing all these different things, really what you need to do you know, of what I decided was, I don't really need the low histamine diet. What I need to do is figure out why I'm so sensitive in the first place. And by cutting everything out, you're, you're actually losing all your guiding, the things that are going to guide you to figure out. Um, now if I was extremely reactive and it was life threatening, that would be a whole different story, but it's not, you know? So it's kind of like, all right, well, I need to figure out like, is it my gut? Is my gut imbalanced too? You know what I mean? So like you have to look at The, the, what's causing it in the first place, because, you know, finding a solution to control my histamines on a low histamine diet or, um, oxalates and like, so basically I'm not eating anything. I'm just eating meat. And then where am I getting, uh, well, that just doesn't sound like any fun whatsoever. Like I, I just love food and I eat very healthy. I eat very healthy. Um, so I eat a lot of vegetables, a lot of beans, I eat a lot of nuts, I eat, I do eat soy, like, so I'm just like, I'm just gonna eat, and I'm just gonna try to figure out, and it's such a slow process as you probably know, um, but I want to like move in to, I want to talk about a lot. women that are moving into like perimenopause and menopause, because when we go into the, these different age groups, uh, we don't absorb things as well. Right. Like as like proteins, like vitamin D, like we're not, we're not as efficient. And so things that might've been like low level problems turning to bigger problems and all of a sudden nothing's okay in our system. So maybe you could talk a little bit about that. Yeah. So as all humans age, our systems become less efficient. And so this will, you know, eventually happen with men as well, but for them, it doesn't generally become an issue until they're in their fifties or their sixties. And that's when they really struggle to keep their muscle mass and, and begin, begin a more rapid decline for women. When we enter perimenopause, that's when things start to change for us. Estrogen is very protective. And with the disruption of consistent, consistently cycling estrogen, as estrogen levels begin to drop our ability to hold onto our muscle mass begins to decline. And if we are not lifting heavy things, and I'm not talking about three pound pink dumbbells, I mean, a gallon of milk weighs more than that. You can do more. And in order to keep your muscle mass, you need to do more. We need to be lifting heavy things to stimulate our body, to tell our body, this muscle's important, keep it. Your body will prioritize that, which is getting used. And the other thing that happens is with that loss of estrogen is that we are not able to build muscle as effectively once we lose it, and so we need more protein at each meal in order to stimulate. What's called muscle protein synthesis or the building of protein the building of muscle mass and this is due This is believed to be due to an amino acid called leucine Leucine is an amino acid that basically acts as a messenger and it tells the body Muscle's important. Let's build muscle. Let's keep muscle. And if we don't receive sufficient leucine in a meal, the message isn't strong enough for the body to hear it. It's as though somebody's whispering at you from across a room. You're not going to get the message, right? You want to be shouting. Yeah. And in order to stimulate a significant enough leucine, uh, leucine dose to stimulate muscle growth, we need about 30 to 40 grams of protein at each meal. Wow. Yeah. It's, it's, it's, uh, quite a lot for many women, uh, particularly women who have been conditioned to eat like birds their entire life, more than double what they're currently taking in. Yeah, yeah, I, I think a good point to make to right now is, you know, what has protein in it because it is not just a meat and it's not just eggs and, you know, so maybe you could talk a little bit about how this. Does this protein and literally everything, um, but different types, different types, different types and different amounts. So for instance, some of the things that I'll see out there is like, well, broccoli is 45 percent protein and what that means. And, you know, don't, don't quote me on that. Cause I don't know if it's exactly 45 percent or it's about, you know, three grams of protein per serving. And. And I'm seeing this actually here in Europe as well, when they're advertising protein as a feature of a food, they're doing it by percent percent protein. But if something has a hundred calories and it's 20 percent protein, it sounds like it's got a lot of protein. Oh, it's 20 percent protein, but that's only 20 calories from protein, which is actually five grams. Thanks. Okay. Okay. And so if you need 30 at a meal, getting your protein from broccoli, even though it's 45 percent protein, not enough pounds, pounds of broccoli, and then, and then you will have some gut issues trying to digest all of that fiber, right? So what, when it comes to protein, particularly as we're aging, we want to look for, for the, the most protein with the, the fewest calories. Um, The highest concentration of protein, right? To get to those 30 grams. Yes. Animal proteins are the most robust sources of protein, the most concentrated, and they also contain all of the amino acids that we need in order to create muscle mass. However, um, aside from me, um, you know, dairy and eggs are also, are also high quality proteins. Tofu is probably the best soybeans are the best source of plant based protein in terms of concentration. So if you tolerate soy, tofu, tempeh, edamame, those are fantastic. Once you get into the other legumes, It, your appetite, having a hearty appetite becomes a bit more important because a cup of garbanzo beans or pinto beans has, you know, anywhere from 12 to 15 grams of protein per cup. So then we're looking at, you know, two, two and a half cups of beans. at a meal. And for some people, that's a real struggle. Yeah, that's a lot of beans. It's also a lot of fiber, you know, and so, um, I think there's a lot of power in combining a lot of these things. And I think it's important to remember that when you eat a meal, if you're eating, whether it's tofu and some veggies or, you know, Beans and veggies or meat and veggies that it's not just the meat that has the protein in it and there's other things and using if it's really important for you to like, get 30 or 40 grams at each meal, you could use something to measure it like a chronometer or something like that, which is I do recommend I recommend chronometer to all of my clients. And that's a really, you know, it's not something you need to do forever, but it can be very, very helpful for not only seeing where you are, how much protein you think you're getting versus how much you're actually getting. Then as you're logging, you can see. You can find those meals that hit all the buttons, right? And then you can save them as a meal, which I love. Yeah. So you've got this sort of preloaded meal that, you know, is going to get you there and really powerful tool for teaching people how to customize really how to customize their habitual meal plan. To what they need, whether we're looking at protein or whether we're looking at a micronutrient, like iron or magnesium or folate. It's really helpful for that. Um, and everything, everything counts. It's when you look at like, you know, adding the hummus with a broccoli and, You know, and maybe, maybe some additional beans or an egg or something on there and you're like, Oh, look, I'm, I'm so close. Like I'm, I'm there. Yeah. So, yeah, I love that tool and I'm currently using it right now to just detect test like my fiber intake and stuff like that. See how much fiber I'm getting because I know how important that is, especially. middle age when you're getting that, that, that middle, that belly fat. It's like, all right, like how much fiber? I usually do have a lot of fiber, but I'm just sometimes, like you said, you think you're doing something right. And, and you're like, Oh, I'm not really hitting it. I'm not really hitting my fiber intake. I'm not hitting my protein. I know for a fact right now, probably not hitting my protein. And so it's really good to like, Like you said, uh, learn where you're at and just look at it and be like, okay, like one of, one of the meals I eat a lot in the morning is oatmeal with like a lot of blueberries. Cause I love blueberries. Like that's a staple. Like if I don't have blueberries in the house, I have nothing to eat. You know, you know how you have those staples, like you're like, if I don't have this, then it's like, I'm starving and I have no food in the house and I need to go food shop. Blueberries is one of those and not necessarily oatmeal. It's not like my favorite for some reason oatmeal doesn't keep me full that long, but I put in there, you know, I put in like chia seeds and you know, hemp and, and uh, ground flax and, um, and some like almond milk usually, or something like that. And, and. Sometimes I do, um, honey in there, but I, you know, I did that this morning and I was like, Oh, this is actually pretty good. I was like for fiber, but not really for, uh, protein. I don't think it definitely wasn't, uh, 30 to 40 grams of protein, but there were, there are times when I put protein powder in there too. Which then it, then it would hit like, uh, but I ran out of protein powder. So, I mean, and that's actually, that's actually a perfect example of like, you can know you can, you know, even when you have those solutions figured out for yourself, we all have ebbs and flows where we deviate a little bit off track. The protein powder runs out and you don't get to the store for a couple of weeks. Right. And then boom, your protein levels take a hit. Yeah, it's crazy. And the eating pattern gets deviated. So having those, having those meals, like kind of, Tucked away either in chronometer or written in a meal plan or, or a booklet of like, these are my go to meals. Then it's really easy to get back, back to it. Even if you've had months away and you can't recall immediately what they were. Right. You've got that resource. Yeah. Yeah, I think that's awesome. Um, so, uh, another like final question that I want to ask you is a lot of my listeners are very close to my age, which is middle age. I'm 55. Um, I'm not in menopause yet. I'm in perimenopause. So my body doesn't want to let go of, you know, like holding on. I to be in perimenopause forever. But anyway, What are some tips with all of your experience and your knowledge? What are some really basic tips for, um, women in this stage of their life that would really keep them, um, in a good state of health, like as they move into menopause, I think the simplest and most effective thing is to always be thinking about your protein and your produce. Okay. If at the start of each meal, you're, you are looking or you sit down to a restaurant, you open up the menu, ask yourself, okay, where's the protein? Where's the produce? And oftentimes finding the produce is a little bit harder than finding the protein on a menu, but looking for those two things. And making sure that they show up at each meal is, I believe, single handedly the most important thing that we can do to age powerfully because we need that protein for our musculature and our musculature is like our first line of defense against developing diabetes because muscle is a very important enthusiastic consumer of glucose. And if you have, if you have muscle mass, you can metabolize glucose and protect yourself from developing type two diabetes. Muscle mass is also correlated with reduced risk of osteoporosis. Those who have the most muscle have the least osteoporosis as they age, both men and women. And so muscle is Extremely important. So lift the heavy things. Look for the protein. Let me ask you a question because I know people are going to be thinking this as you said, don't, it's not those little three pound weights, right? And so everybody's different. Everybody has different, uh, levels of strength, right? And so you can't, you can't tell someone lift this much. This is the right weight for you. So what is a good guideline for somebody when they're starting to lift weight? It's how much is enough that's really going to help you start building that muscle. What you want to do is you want to lift a weight that you physically can't lift. More than 10 or 12 times in a single come to like failure. You're feeling like you get to that 12th one and you're like, just can't get it all the way up. Correct. Yeah. The arms are shaking. You know, it's, it's not, you're able to lift, lift that arm all the way up. Yeah. And I, I do also strongly encourage women to either find like a boutique fitness studio if they're not comfortable in a gym or an at home personal trainer for a couple of sessions Okay. To help them be comfortable with weightlifting because came from an era where women lifting heavy things is just like, that's not, we didn't grow up with that now, you know, that has changed. Thankfully, you know, the girls now in their, in their twenties are looking to, um, I think what is the word for it? They say snatched. I believe. And they're all about getting strong, which I'm so glad that we have finally transitioned past that. You can't be too rich or too thin phase. Yeah, for sure. Um, so yeah, you want to lift something that, that you you're feeling definite fatigue. You don't have to be So sore. You can't move the next day. In fact, that's often counterproductive, but you want something where it is a struggle to lift it more than 10 to 12 times. Now the challenge is if you are doing this consistently, whatever that weight is that you start with, you will outgrow it, right? You'll be strong for that. In, you know, maybe four to six weeks, you'll be ready for something heavier. And one of the things that if you're, if you're lifting at home or you're working out at home, the adjustable weight sets, both popular one, I was just going to say that. That's what I have. My, my son actually gave it to me cause he moved and he didn't want to take it with him. I was like, sure. I'll take that off your hands. Thank you. Yeah. And it's really great because. You're probably not going to outgrow it. And I think another important point is that no matter, I, I really do believe that no matter what we do as a middle aged woman, you're not going to get bulky. You're just not because it's, it's, Sometimes I feel like it's like a losing struggle, you know, like I'm building and I'm losing, and at least I'm holding on to like, you know, the muscle I built and I think I shared with you that I did CrossFit throughout my 40s with my kids. And it was really like this family, Get together thing and we really, we really enjoyed it and the people that we went with, we became friends with. It was like this whole community and I'm so glad I did that because if I didn't do that, I don't think I would have been lifting weights. And so I can't remember what you called it, but like, I built up, I built up a lot of muscle, you know, and yes, you filled your bank account, as it were. Yeah. Yeah. Savings account for the future. So I'm glad I did that. And I just started lifting weights again. So yeah. So it's very, very important. So I think these are like, uh, thank you so much for all of. All of these tips. I think they're really, really important if possible. I would also like to kind of circle back around for and talk a little bit about the produce and the importance of the produce piece. Okay. Yeah, because it's easy to one. It's easy to miss the produce. And I think that's in part because we're not trained to look for it. So again, that second question is where is my produce and look for vegetables, ideally, and fruit and include those at every meal, right? Your blueberries for breakfast are fantastic. It's perfect. And you really want to aim for that five servings a day as, as a minimum. Some research suggests that we continue to experience benefits of produce consumption all the way up to 10 servings a day. So, We don't want to skimp on the produce and our diet should be mostly unprocessed, low starch plant foods, our produce, um, and then supplemented with starches for energy and protein for that muscle. So it, it's all the antioxidants that we need to keep ourselves healthy and to prevent aging and degeneration of the cell at the cellular level, all of those vitamins and minerals that we need as well to stay healthy. A lot of them are in those plant foods. So they're also excruciatingly important to get at each meal. And actually I would love to offer your listeners, um, because the, the produce piece is often very hard. To find and to get it is an unprocessed food and it spoils and it often requires some preparation. So I'd love to give all of the listeners, my, my guide for five servings a day and 15 minutes or less. Yes, that would be great. That would be wonderful. Yeah. So they can make it a little bit easier to increase their produce intake. Yeah. And I, something that I do and I want, I don't want people to overlook this, something I do to improve my chances of eating produce, um, especially if you're the type of person that always has like. That bag in the back of your fridge, that's just like green slime. And you're like, what, I don't know what that was. I meant well, when I bought that, but I never opened it. Um, don't be afraid to buy frozen because, uh, you know, like the blueberry things, like having the blueberries in the house all the time, if I bought fresh blueberries all the time, first of all. You know, I'd have to get a second job. Uh, and then, um, I, they would constantly go bad. I think I really do, even though I eat a lot of them, they're always, they're always, you know, going bad. So I buy frozen blue tart, I buy frozen organic blueberries. I always have them. And the same goes, especially in the winter when I don't, I have a vegetable garden, so I know not everybody has the space for that. I mean, you can grow vegetables on your. Patio and your deck. And, uh, I would encourage people to do that because it's so much fun and it's so easy and it's so much cheaper, but, um, you know, in the winter I'm buying frozen broccoli, frozen cauliflower, frozen edamame, I'm just buying, you know, and it's always there, you know, frozen, uh, Brussels sprouts, you know, like just grabbing, sometimes like I just grab one of those, that's like a snack for me. I like roast them and then I coat them in like a tahini dressing or something like that. Really good. Like lemon tahini. But, um, but yeah, don't be afraid to do that. Like make things easy for yourself. Yeah, there is nothing, there's no harm in frozen food. There are a couple of vitamins, um, most notably vitamin C, which denatures a bit when exposed, when frozen or exposed to heat. Most of our vegetables and fruits are picked and frozen on site. And so they have a chance to stay on the plant until they're perfectly ripe. And this is why frozen fruit often tastes sweeter is because it's actually riper. It has more nutrients. It has more antioxidants. It has more phytochemicals in it. And they, they pick it and then they freeze it immediately. So it doesn't go through the. Nutrient degradation that happens for something that's picked under ripe gassed trucked across the country, sitting in a grocery store for weeks. Yes. In many instances, frozen food is actually more nutrient dense than fresh, depending on where you live and where you're purchasing your produce. Yeah. Yeah, it's frozen is fantastic. Yeah, that's definitely saved me because, you know, sometimes I very have really good intentions, you know, like I'll buy a head of cabbage or a head of, you know, cauliflower and I'm like, Oh, I'll make that tomorrow night. Oh, I'll make that, you know, whatever, you know, and then it just sits there forever and then one day it's just like you open your fridge. She's like. What's that? Like, especially cabbage and, uh, uh, cauliflower. The crucifers get quite aromatic as they age. So awful. Anyway, how can people find you? Where do you hang out the most? And where, where could they connect with you? I am on Instagram, um, at vibrance. Nutrition. I am, uh, also on Facebook, uh, the, although not as often, and, um, my website is vibrance nutrition. com. I also have a podcast called blasphemous nutrition, and, uh, it is, I do use, I do share some naughty words on that podcast. However, the real reason it's blasphemous is because I, I live in this area of nuance. And nutrition is so polarized and so dogmatic, and I come from those roots, so I fully understand, but as I now reside in this place where it's neither this nor that, and it all depends. Everything I say will offend. Yeah. Inherently blasphemous. Yeah. I love that. That's a great name. All right. It was great having you on. Thank you for all of your time and all of your great tips. Um, I feel like we should do this again soon because we have, yeah, we have so much to talk about. So thank you so much. Thank you again for inviting me, Tina. I really appreciate it. Did you guys know that the Soul Align Self Care Podcast has a community? It's called the Soul Align Self Care Insiders and I would love you guys to join us over there. So the link will be in the show notes and I wanted to say we do so many cool self care practices over there. So if you really want to up level your self care, join us on the insiders. Okay, I'll see you there. Bye. If you have found some Nuggets of Wisdom, make sure to subscribe, rate, and share Blasphemous Nutrition with those you care about. As you navigate the labyrinth of health advice out there, remember, health is a journey, not a dietary dictatorship. Stay skeptical, stay daring, and challenge the norms that no longer serve you. If you've got burning questions or want to share your own flavor of rebellion, slide into my DMs. Your stories fuel me, and I love hearing them. Thanks again for tuning in to Blasphemous Nutrition. Until next time, this is Aimee signing off, reminding you that truth is nuanced, and any dish can be made better with a little bit of sass.