Prime Time Health: Healing Yourself
I recently recorded a podcast episode discussing one of my favorite offerings: Prime Time Health (© Dr. Sears Wellness Institute).
I wanted to give you an idea of what goes into this transformative training and why I love providing it. It's one of the rare things that helps you get healthy without a magic fix — your body really can take good care of itself if you let it.
Showing people how to work with our bodies rather than against them is important to me.
Plus, you'll get a feel for who I am and how I work with clients in a personalized way ;)
I'd love to hear what you think!
Transcript
Interviewer
I'm here with Meredith Keith-Chirch. You just described yourself as a health educator to me, is that right?
Meredith
Yeah. Right.
Interviewer
And we’re here to talk about your Dr. Sears health education curriculum, is that right also? Yeah, this sounds like a deposition.
Meredith
That is correct.
Interviewer
Why don't we just go with that? Please state your name.
Meredith
My name is Meredith Keith-Chirch. And I am a health educator, among other things.
Interviewer
Okay. Among other things. Yeah. Lots of other things, right. Yeah. So I guess, tell me a little bit about what is a health educator do or what is a health educator?
Meredith
Okay. So, to me, a health educator essentially provides information to people that they probably haven’t had before. So maybe new information or information they’ve considered but in a different way, presented to them. So that they can make more educated decisions about their body, their lifestyle, really anything that has to do with staying in good health.
And we can do that a variety of ways. I personally like to teach group classes as my method. Because I think that in addition to presenting the information to a group of people, it can also be helpful to learn in community with other individuals that want to be learning that so that after the class is over, and people feel like they have new information, they also potentially have a support community, other people who might help them with their goals or some of the lifestyle changes that they want to make, because they were all they're hearing the same information at the same time.
Interviewer
So you just said you like to teach groups of people, maybe back up a little bit. And can we talk about who some of these groups would be? Are they segmented any certain way? Or is it just anybody that's interested in health? How does that work?
Meredith
Sure. So, I mean, I can definitely work with all kinds of people and everyone technically.
There are several different groups that I have become certified to teach through an institute that was started by Dr. William Sears, who is an MD, and has been a pediatrician for over 40 years now. So I was certified specifically for some courses through his Institute, because I really appreciate his approach. I had read several of his books. And it just made sense to me. It’s science-based. So it’s not so much based on what the latest fads are. You know, different lifestyle changes come and go and become popular and then lose popularity. But all of his coursework was designed to be really focused in on the body and what we’ve learned in science about how the body works best. So I went through his training program and focused on three different courses that have a certain population.
So the first one that I did was called LEAN Start, and LEAN stands for Lifestyle, Exercise, Attitude and Nutrition. And this particular course is designed for families or caregivers who work with kids that are ages 10 and under primarily. So it’s just a focus on how families with kids in that unique lifestyle that they might be living can support their health.
And then I next was certified for a class called Prime Time Health. And so that classes for adults, and “prime time” is defined in the sense as being approximately ages 40 and up. So, you know, roughly speaking in the second half of one’s life, and it’s designed to focus on individuals who either want to get an early start on a healthy second half of life. So maybe adults in that lower age range, you know, even 30s to 40s, who feel healthy and maybe just want to learn about what’s going to happen as their body ages, and what sorts of things they can be focusing on to stay healthy.
It’s also appropriate for folks in maybe the upper end of that age range, and/or people who have been struggling with some issues, and they are in repair mode. They’re trying to improve some of their lifestyle pieces.
And then the third and final area that I received training on specifically was a class called LEAN Expectations. So the LEAN again, it's still being that acronym for the Lifestyle, Exercise, Attitude and Nutrition. But the expectations are being geared specifically to expecting moms. So that could be first time moms or moms for whom pregnancy has happened before.
Essentially, it’s just really focusing on that prenatal care, and mom’s health, baby’s health, as well as how to prepare for your lifestyle and how it will change after Baby comes along and how to focus on yourself. Because a lot of times obviously, the focus is on the child. That class really focuses on the different aspects of being an expectant mom.
Interviewer
So but healthy mom, healthy baby kind of goes to follow. Yeah, that makes sense. How do people engage with you? You said you like to do, you know, group classes? How could somebody find out more about one of those?
Meredith
Well, I have a website and they can visit that website. It’s mforhealth.com. And right now I have just a few descriptions of these classes. And then folks can reach me through the contact form there. They can also email me at m@mforhealth.com. That's kind of confusing, but again, the email is m@mforhealth.com so they can just reach out to me individually.
To find out when the classes are sometimes I will post on my website, if I have a plant class in an area and we can get something get folks registered that way. If I have a group of people who are interested, and I don’t have a class schedule, I could certainly work with the group to create a class as well, that’s convenient for them based on their schedule. So I’m happy to work with groups to create something if something doesn’t already exist, that's convenient.
Oh, and then the other thing I wanted to mention is that for LEAN Start, the family class, and for Prime Time, healthy adult class, I actually have the ability to do an online version. So I can work with people anywhere in the world. If they have access to a computer, you know, some sort of technology, a tablet, that they can go through some modules, and then I can connect with them over the phone or over Skype to review the information. It’s a little bit of a different format than the in-person class. But the content is essentially the same content. And, you know, I can actually give a little bit more personalized information over the course of that time as well since I can use email and phone to connect with people through that class.
Interviewer
I wanted to talk a little bit about Prime Time Health today. Would you like to go into that with me a little and see just just what somebody could expect if they were to do that class?
Meredith
Sure. Yeah. So to start out with, the in-person version of the class is broken out into four different segments. And generally speaking, depending on people’s schedules, they're welcome to take the segments individually, if they aren’t able to commit to the full four weeks, they can take one or more or they can take the whole series. And we break it up this way. So that it’s just, I guess, a more bite sized approach because there is a lot of information in the curriculum.
So four separate sections, and usually each class would take about 90 minutes and includes some presentation that I give some information to folks and then also some interaction Active activities as well as individual activities. And they also get a workbook to take home so they can take notes. And then they don’t have to remember everything. From that point forward, they can utilize the notes in the workbook to help them with some of their goals as well as have some recipes.
Interviewer
So I’m actually looking at these workbooks here, I think, and the first one says, open your internal pharmacy.
Maybe just talk a little bit about what, what in the world is an internal pharmacy, and how do I get one?
Meredith
Sure. So that’s one of the skills that we teach. We typically will teach one or two skills, each class that people can walk away with feeling like okay, I know what I learned. So keeping the internal pharmacy open is that one of the first skills that we teach, and the good news is, you don't have to find it anywhere, go out and get it, because the reason it’s called the internal pharmacy is because we all already have it.
This goes into the concept of how our bodies are extremely smart and amazing, and can essentially make all the medicine that we need, if we take care of them, and we talk about how we take care of them and the science behind all of that. What does that mean? How does it make medicine? You know, how did we find out about how it worked? And then now that we know how the body makes the medicine, how do we make sure we're keeping our body in the condition that it can actually make the right amount of medicine that we need at the right time?
And that's what's kind of amazing about it because unlike, you know, medication from the pharmacy, where we have to rely on someone else to give us a prescription, figure out what the right prescription is, and then we rely on the pharmacist to fill the prescription and all those sorts of things. When we work with our body’s own internal pharmacy, the body knows what we need already.
Interviewer
Can you give me an example and you say, an internal pharmacy and the body can make what it needs? You know, maybe what’s an idea or you know, one example of something that our bodies sort of do naturally that this might focus on.
Meredith
Sure. So, specifically, when we talk about our body making its own medicine, we talk about the endothelium, which is the, the part of our body that is involved with this. So it’s the largest endocrine system in our body, and it's the lining of our blood vessels. So we talk a lot more about the science parts of it in class, but that’s basically where that's coming from.
So we have to make sure that our blood vessels are healthy. And there are a variety of ways we can do that. And when that happens, essentially, the endothelium has these little, for lack of a better term, medicine bottles, so they're just microscopic little things that will release the body that release the medicine into the body that we need. So obviously that could be, that’s going to be something different depending on what our body needs. So it’s, you know, that’s a simplified way of explaining it. And obviously, it can get a lot more complicated,
Interviewer
These structures that are inside the blood vessels, is there a way that we can take care of them or you know, something that happens where they kind of get shut down, then? It sounds like, it sounds like I have some ability to influence how they work or if they work?
Meredith
So when we look at how to best take care of them, the thing that works the most is keeping active. So moving around, and watching what we eat, which a lot of people think about but they don't realize, you know, what, what does that actually mean? So when we're super sedentary and We eat things that our body doesn't process, well, then the blood cells can actually get stuck together and form clots. So then our medicine bottles can’t really release what we need if gunk sort of accumulates on top of them.
So when that happens, things aren’t opening appropriately. Also, our arteries actually can get narrower if a bunch of stuff is accumulating. So that’s when we start to see our body not being able to release what we need when we need it. And so it all really goes back to folks who even as we age, stay active. And that doesn’t necessarily mean you know, you have to go to the gym and have a prescribed routine either. It just means making sure we’re not sedentary all the time. So just keeping moving.
Then we talk more about different types of foods. A lot of people think it’s just I just need to eat vegetables. It’s not just vegetables. There are certain kinds of foods beyond vegetables and different categories, as well as certain types of vegetables and other foods within those other categories. So it’s not so simple, you know, well, I just need to eat broccoli. It’s a lot more varied than that in terms of what our options are and different foods function as antioxidants, so they can really help more than other types of foods.
Interviewer
So that’s really, I guess, powerful is the word that comes to mind. Internal pharmacy sounds to me like I have the the ability to heal myself, my body can actually repair damage even if it’s year of accumulated damage, then, is that right? Yes.
Meredith
Yep, that’s absolutely right. So it is very powerful.
Interviewer
And we should probably say that you're not a medical doctor, but this this entire curriculum or program was designed by by an MD?
Meredith
Right. So that's a really important distinction and I’m glad you mentioned it, I do mention that with folks that I work with individually is that I’m not a doctor, I’m not here to give medical advice or to tell people what to do. And one of the reasons that I feel that the program that I went through is so strong is because it was created by Dr. Sears who, yes, is an MD.
And he actually wrote a book called Prime Time Health first and then developed this curriculum around that so that it was a way for people to learn in an interactive format, if they didn’t just want to read the book, or if they wanted to read the book, and then you know, have someone to ask questions, or again, to get that community of like minded folks.
So people are welcome to go out and get that book, Prime Time health and learn more information. And he talks about the science behind all that, that he’s, you know, gone through here in the class. And the other interesting thing is that he created Prime Time Health. Even though he has, he’s focused on kids and families as a pediatrician, because he was actually diagnosed with stage four colon cancer, so it really sort of brought to light all of the things that he felt like he could focus on for his healing.
So then when he discovered the things that worked for him, he wanted to look into that on a broader level and just bring that information to other people to possibly help them so he has, you have some personal experience as well as all of his years of experience as an MD.
Interviewer
So let’s take a look then I guess I’m looking at the second section says, make healthy your hobby. Any thoughts or any other things that you wanted to say about them the initial section, or shall we shall we move into what’s next?
Meredith
Yeah, we can definitely move into the next section on to Class Two. And yes, the making healthy your hobby is one of the tools that we teach in that class. Excuse me. And basically, that’s getting more into now that we know the science behind, you know, some of what the body does and how we stay healthy or regain our health, through different lifestyle changes, then we’re talking about making it a part of our lives. So that make healthy your hobby concept is really just meaning that instead of thinking, “Oh, we have to do these things, and they’re sort of chores.” It's more of, “What sorts of things do we enjoy doing anyway, that we could fold into our lives and just have them be a part of it instead of having to think about it all the time?”
Interviewer
I’m thinking about New Year’s resolutions and how the gym is packed from you know, January 2 through what, say the beginning of April and then it starts sort of starts to fade away. So kind of what you’re saying or what I’m hearing is to get away from that kind of, I don’t know, instant gratification or go fix it mindset and shift to something that’s more about, I don’t know, a sustainable pattern or rhythm. Is that right?
Meredith
Right. That’s exactly right. I like the example of the the health clubs, the gyms, that kind of thing that definitely happens, you know, people decide to take on something new, and they may take on a lot all at once, and it doesn’t really feel like something sustainable, that could just be a part of their lives.
And so, with this class, we really talk about why it’s important, why it really helps us over time, especially as our bodies age, because pretty much regardless of who you are, it’s just a part of life, that our bodies are going to function differently. No matter what kind of shape we're in, so that happens to everyone. So we do talk some more about some science in the class about things like inflammation, and how is it that some people do get a lot of health issues, and others don’t, you know, there is science behind how our bodies are working as they age.
And then once we have learned a little bit more about that, that’s where we talk about, you know, making those, those adult years of our lives pleasant and positive and not full of things that, you know, we might not want to have to deal with. And so we talk about movement and food a little bit more in depth, and how we can just build things into lifestyle that don’t even seem like oh, I've made this resolution or I've made this huge change. We can just kind of slide it into our lives seamlessly.
Interviewer
It seems like the first section, it seems like was more about what’s possible, or what our body is capable of. But what I’m hearing now is really about how to do something with that or how to sort of tap into that potential. Am I on the right track with that?
Meredith
Yeah, definitely. I feel like there are some specific ideas that we talked about with lifestyle here in the second class. And we talked about, you know, grazing is another tool that we teach people, sort of how the digestive system best works. And then focusing more as well as, as well as how many times a day you eat and how much you eat, and that kind of thing. Again, how that kind of goes hand in hand with what you get used to in life.
And then we just talked about different ways of eating, some label reading and how to shop, different places that you shop as well as if you’re used to the same foods, how to sort of break out from that. And so we really focus on how to fold all those different ways of eating into your life to make make that healthier hobby.
Interviewer
And are you talking about taking all the fun out of my days, out of my existence? And like, just depriving me I mean, that’s, that's something that I think has, I don’t know, broken me out of other diets or, you know, intense exercise patterns I've been on in the past. And I’ve been, you know, I’ve weighed a lot more than I do now. And I’ve lost lots of weight, and I’ve yo-yoed back and forth at times, and I think what always does it for me is that at some point, I just get too miserable and I’m not able to just take it anymore, or you know, and I and I give in. And then once I sort of fall off that wagon, I feel like well shoot, I’m just gonna eat whatever I want. Now, and pretty soon, six months later or a year later, I’m right back where I started. How is this different?
Meredith
So I feel like this particular program isn't some crazy idea. The way a lot of the, I've noticed the fad eating plans are like the latest, you know, idea that someone had had to sort of move nutrients around and what’s most important and what’s not, this isn't like that at all.
So it’s much more about where you are now, wherever that is, and learning to work within that framework to just, you know, make a few adjustments. So it’s not asking folks to overhaul their entire lifestyle. For example, when we talk about the grazing it’s really just about how often we eat and how much we eat. So you know that that doesn't actually involve the different types of food. We’re just talking about how best to get your digestive system going so that it, it feels good and you know, you’re healthy, and you’re not putting a lot of undue stress on it. So when we talk about even the smart shopping trips, which is another service I actually offer to clients that I’ve worked with in classes, it’s, it can just be as easy as I’m not even sure where to get that item. And I would, you know, really broaden my horizons in terms of what I eat. If I just knew how to find different things. So, you know, the curriculum that we work with has recipes for all kinds of foods. It’s not a, you cannot have this ever, or, you know, you can only have so much of this. It's really just, you're looking at your preferences, looking at what makes sense. If you want to continue to live a healthy lifestyle or even change, and you haven’t been, but it’s not asking people to give things up or, you know, square things off, because, really, you know, there are a lot of things that people can continue to have in their lives and maybe just adjust how much they have, or how often you have it.
Interviewer
So I could still have, I don’t know, pizza or pasta or …
Meredith
Yes. You could still have pizza or pasta. You know, we talk about some different ways to make those are different kinds of things. Once you figure out what works for you in terms of the flow of your day, for instance, some people have a hard time with breakfast, and that can set them up for kind of a day of misery in terms of food. So we talk about breakfast and what kinds of benefits it can have. And, you know, sometimes people say, Well, I can’t find anything I like, I don’t like eggs, I don’t like cereal, you know, some of the, quote, standard or conventional breakfast foods.
So maybe it would work out for some people to have pizza for breakfast, which people think is crazy, but it’s actually more important for people to actually eat something that feels good to them in the morning. Now, maybe you’re not calling Domino’s in the morning, but there are other ways to have pizza. There are, you know, ways to make your own, you can make your own mini pizzas. And if you have, let’s say dietary restrictions or things that you are opting out of, because you want to so if you have a vegan lifestyle, for instance, there are some options where you're not using dairy. Or if you’re avoiding meat, or if you’re avoiding wheat, all kinds of things like that, that people do already do in their regular lifestyles, and we can talk about ways to make choices that still feel good, but that you’re still having the foods that you like.
Interviewer
So I guess I'm hearing you say this isn't necessarily like a get out of jail free card, or maybe that's a bad phrase, but it's not something from nothing, right? If I want to make a change, well, first of all, if I really want to change, I'm probably not going to be listening to this podcast, or I'm probably not going to be even interested. So I guess assuming the person listening to this does want to make a change. mean, it's, I guess fair to say that, you know, if you want to change something you have to change your behaviors or your habits. So yeah, it's I hear you talking if this feels a little bit like a give and take, but that it's not radical and that I just have to, like swear off. You know, anything that gives me joy I can ever eat again. So I can eat things, but there are also behavior changes.
Meredith
Yeah, that's right. And I think it's just people have to decide what's the most important thing to them? And, yeah, what sorts of things are they willing to adjust? Certainly people don't invest the time and the effort to educate themselves or work with me at all, if there isn't something that they want to be different. So, yeah, it's just coming to that place where you're open to hearing the information. That's why, you know, I really like the education piece, because people can choose to do what they want to do with that information. No one's going to make them do anything with it. And they can't make changes if they don't have the information to be able to even make them in the first place. So I definitely don't see my job as coming in and trying to make people do things. And that's why I really focus on the health educating. I know that some people, you know, use the term health coaching or teaching and that kind of thing. But I honestly just believe that I provide education, I provide information, and what people do with that is really up to them. And I'm happy to further support people beyond classes with different things like I mentioned, the smart shopping trips, and I do pantry makeovers where I can help people, you know, really decide what they want to actually have around to eat. You know, as well as I can do one on one, coaching. And I I just really like starting out with the health education because I feel like that's where everything stems from people can decide how they want to change their lives if they want to change their lives. If they had the information to start with.
Interviewer
Well, I love the section or the name of this section of this class. It's, you know, make health your hobby. And you know, maybe there's a fine line between a hobby and an obsession. And we all know those people, or I certainly do, who are just obsessed, right? It just takes over your life. And it's like, you're on Instagram, you know, you're constantly weighing yourself or whatever. And that's great if that's the cost of being healthy. For the average person, or maybe I should just speak for myself. I can only do that for so long. And so I like the idea of making health a hobby, where it's just sort of what I do. Maybe just like a lens that I use to look at everything in my life, including pizza, I might, I might actually order Domino's single morning if I were going to do pizza, I may just go ahead and go there. But I really like that notion make healthier hobby.
Meredith
Yeah, yeah, I think that it makes sense for people to look at things from a lifestyle perspective, rather than a one time project because your life and your health, it's a part of who you are as long as you have your body. So it's definitely a, you know, something that is going to stick with you and it's going to be more than just a one time project.
Interviewer
I love that. I mean, on one hand, what, what more worthy project than my health. And project implies it's got a, you know, a beginning, a middle and an end. And then once I get it done, if I do it right, then I, what, I'm gonna be perfect for the rest of my life. I guess not.
Meredith
Things change, right? Our lifestyles change, our interests change. And, you know, definitely we may need to look at what worked for us at one time, not working anymore. So it's good to keep an open mind about that. And to definitely, I think just have it be a lifetime goal to just keep looking at it.
Interviewer
Alright, so what's next then, in this primetime health kind of arc? What do I learn about next, we learned about our internal pharmacy a little bit. And then we heard about sort of, I think of it as a system then to tap into that pharmacy and really delve more deeply into what makes it all tick. So what's next?
Meredith
So in the third class, we talk about movement. And we focus on that because we focused a lot on what we were eating in the second class. This is an important part, though, that a lot of times again, we talk about people thinking it has to look like a certain thing like oh, well, I have to get this much movement or I have to move in certain ways. And that's really not the case at all. What we've found is that folks who are the healthiest as they age are people who again, just sort of full movement into their regular day. So we talk a little bit about our waste and that area and what sorts of implications that can have on our health, especially if we end up with a lot of excess weight. And our midsections. So, we talked about just the incidences of illnesses, things like diabetes, heart issues, Alzheimers, things like that. So we talk about how to measure our waist and how to look at that those ratios are body types because everyone has a different body type. So it's not just about we all have to be one size, or we all have to look a certain way.
Interviewer
That's an important point I wanted to just ask right up front about kind of, I don't know body shaming or on the other, the opposite of that to me, would be Maybe idol worship, right, the infomercials that are so yucky that I see sometimes that are, you know, maybe Guinea fit models running on the beach somewhere. And I don't know if that's what it means to be healthy, then I feel like I'm locked out of that. Is that where this is going?
Meredith
So that's a great point that you bring up because I think that we look at advertising and what we're trying to be sold all the time. And that often has something to do with how we feel about ourselves and how we look. This is really more about how we feel physically, not just how we feel when we look in the mirror. Now, some people I realized that's their, sort of their focus and maybe how they can come to a healthy lifestyle. And so you know, there's nothing putting that down here. It's just that when we are really thinking about our bodies, we're really trying to focus on how we feel and not just how we Look. So if we're honest with ourselves, and we realize that we have some back pain, or we have regular headaches, or we have some skin issues, and there are things that are just not comfortable for us, and we feel like there's something going on. You know, that's where we look at body type and waist measurements and that sort of thing, really just to gauge what's going on inside, not so much to worry about what's going on outside. And of course, people are going to look at their outsides. And that's, that's natural, and it's fine. It's just that when we focus on how we look, sometimes we lose sight of how important it is that we feel good. So we're not all going to look the same. We're not all going to weigh the same. We all have genetics at play there. And we talk a lot in primetime health about, again, changes as our body ages and metabolism plays a big part in that. So we're not going to look the same that we looked when we were 20 it's just not going to happen. And that's normal and it's okay. It would be really weird if we did look the same. We wouldn't be aging in in a, in a neuro, you know, a typical way. So. So yeah, it's really about how we feel. And we can still look at body types and waist measurements to directly take a look at our health. It's not just from an aesthetic perspective.
Interviewer
What else can you tell me about the the movement piece? Like where does that fit in the overall curriculum? Why is it important? You know, is it different than the first two sections? We talked about opening your internal pharmacy and making, making health my hobby.
Can you talk a little bit about kind of how this fits into the overall approach?
Meredith
Sure. It's a little bit more in depth than we went into in the first session. It's definitely related to the internal pharmacy, as we talked about initially, both what we eat and how much we move. We'll have an impact on our endothelium and how those blood vessels are going to work with our internal pharmacy. So we talk a little bit more about how that helps us with with our own our body's own medicines, the sedentary versus the active lifestyle. And then we talked a little bit about nitric oxide, which is, you know, a piece of the science that we talked about with regulating blood flow and how that affects our health.
And really, this is it kind of goes hand in hand with what we talked about with making health our hobby. In the second session, we talked in focus mostly on what we were eating and drinking, but in this session, we're talking about movement, different types of movement, all the different benefits, and that there are really all kinds of ways to be active, and we want to be respectful of our aging bodies because again, We talked about just a few minutes ago, we might find that one thing worked for us in our 20s. And another thing worked in our 30s. And as we age, things are gonna change, our interests change, for sure, maybe we're tired of doing one sort of activity or sport that we had done all of our lives. Maybe we're not, maybe we continue to do that. But we really do need to sort of update our moving plan.
So we talk about all the different options that we have for working that into our lives so that it doesn't feel like a chore. It feels like a hobby again, or something that we want to do, an interest.
Interviewer
So I don't have to go carve out or go find another hour, two hours a day out of my schedule and then go pay all the money to join the gym if I don't want to then?
Meredith
Definitely not. We talk about things that you can do anywhere at any time. So you know, not needing a bunch of equipment, not eating a membership to a gym, you know, especially taking advantage of being outdoors because that's a whole other area that we could delve into in terms of how that benefits our health. But we talk about all the different types of movement, because they're not all the same, and they don't utilize all our body parts in the same way. So we talked about strength training and endurance training and flexibility. Because really there there isn't one area that's more important than than another, our body needs all of these different supports, in terms of keeping it healthy.
And then we do as I mentioned, at the beginning, when we started talking, we do lots of exercises in terms of like actual in class activities. But in this particular class, we will go through some physical exercises. So I set up stations and we have examples of some things so people can try some different things out maybe that they hadn't tried. See how they feel. And just try to figure out what they feel like they could incorporate into their lives.
Interviewer
I'm scared. I imagine you're gonna have like this whistle and the clipboard and you're yelling at me and all of that.
Meredith
No, that's not my style, so no need to be afraid. It's really pretty laid back and nobody has to try anything they're not comfortable doing. So we just have, you know, have some different stations and, and it's open for people to go around and try different things at their comfort level.
Interviewer
And if somebody wanted to do this, sort of on their own, if you're not in a group class, I suppose they could, you know, set these things up on their own and kind of go around and do the same thing, whether it's just them or them and a partner or whatnot.
Meredith
Yeah, I definitely can go through all the different options with them. There may be, you know, different equipment that they have or don't have. And again, there's so many variations on these ideas that people can use things they have lying around their house or out at a park. So yeah, I can definitely work with people individually, if they're not doing the in person class to talk about what they have access to, and different variations on the things that we would do in the class.
Interviewer
So, I once recently saw a person on social media that said, “I just turned 30. And, you know, to all you folks, like all you people, thinking that it's going to be some great thing or some terrible thing. You know, it's really not much different than when I was 20. It's just that I can't turn my head to the left, everything else is kind of pretty much the same.”
So, you know, if people pick up aches and pains and little, you know, little things that our bodies don't do anymore, or maybe they start to do things that they didn't used to, you know, as we age, and you've already said that this program is designed to kind of help with that or I don't know, maybe soften the blow, maybe therapy is more in order for some of the some of the complaints. From a physical perspective, I'm looking at the workbook that says, you know, live without pain and inflammation.
And I don't know who wouldn't be interested in that. But what in the world does that have to do with, I don't know, nutrition or that seems like a little bit of pie in the sky, sort of a goal. Like, who's gonna live without pain and inflammation? And why is that even a part of this course?
Meredith
Yeah, so that's a great question. And this class is actually, this particular session is one that a lot of folks who come to me are interested in right away. Just because of that, right. A lot of people have had experience with pain, that experience of inflammation even at a young age because certainly these things can happen to us early depending on if we have an injury for athletic, you know, pain and inflammation can happen to anyone.
Essentially, we talk about what inflammation actually is in this particular class. So again, the science part, what are the causes, what's happening to our body? And it means that our body's immune system is basically on fire, hence the flame, inflammation. So we talk about how, what that causes, and why is it on fire? What's it a response to?
And what are things that again, we do have some control over versus, you know, things that we don't so yes, our body is going to become less efficient as we age, it's going to slow down, our metabolisms gonna slow, etc. And there are still things that we do, we either put in our bodies or on our bodies, or expose our bodies to that can that can speed the process or can get us to inflammation a lot faster than we need to be.
Interviewer
So before you go into Further I hear about inflammation. It seems like a lot these days and, you know, some of it is in the same sentence as I hear. I don't know, I think I'm gonna think of these as jargon type words, but like toxins and all of that, and honestly, I don't know, you know, how medically or science based that is?
Inflammation, I feel like it's kind of a buzzword for I don't know what but, I mean, can you talk about what it is? How it affects us or why it's important? You know, what it's doing to us? In this, you know, I assume we're going to talk about how to get rid of it right or how to to maybe lessen its effect.
But why is it even a problem? I when I think of inflammation, I think of “oh, I twisted my ankle, I was playing basketball or something. I didn't stretch and you know, I hurt myself. And it's swollen.”
Right? And so I think of that as a passing condition, right, something that just happens to me and then the swelling goes away, and we're done. I get the feeling that this is something different than that. Or maybe it includes that. But there are other ways that inflammation shows up. Can you just touch on that?
Meredith
Yeah, sure. So this is actually something that we talked about in the second section for folks who take off for. So when we talking when we're talking about health, making health, our hobby, we actually go through a few different pieces of aging, including oxidation and glycation as well as inflammation. So that's a lot of “ations.”
But when we focus on inflammation, this is when we're talking about how our bodies, we have garbage, as we call it, using an analogy, and the garbage truck. So you know what in our bodies can sort of get rid of the garbage because we are going to have things come in that our bodies don't like and as we age, it becomes harder to get rid of that.
So we talk about those different “ations” in that context. So, inflammation is basically as I mentioned, it means the body's on fire. And it's the process that results from chemical messengers that are repairing the wear and tear that's happening that we can't avoid, because that's just part of living. And when the body is healthy, the repair system that we have is able to handle that. It can sort of bounce right back, do the helping that it needs and keep moving. So you know, the body stays healthier longer if it's able to, our body is able to repair things on a regular basis.
The issue comes when our body is, is having all this wear and tear and it overcomes our body's ability to repair the damage. So that's when the excess inflammation occurs. Basically, our body just can't, can't quite keep up with all the repairs that need to happen. So the excess inflammation is a primary cause of then what we would consider unhealthy aging or when we, you know when things start coming up.
So that's kind of like how it works. And you know, our immune system, which is the sort of the maintenance piece, can get out of balance. So then our tissues are more prone to wear and tear, which then creates more inflammation. So that leads to all kinds of things with different types of illnesses. I mentioned arthritis, but other sorts of “itis” illnesses such as gastritis, carditis, and all kinds of things throughout the body: diabetes and GERD, sore muscles, different pain in different parts of the body, weakening of our bones, cardiovascular issues. So you know, the list kind of goes on and on. But these are all the things that inflammation can end up leading to.
Interviewer
Okay, thank you for that and I think I understand a little bit more so it's not just like an injury that's a passing thing or I guess it is an injury but not in the way I'm thinking, not like a you know a bruised elbow or whatnot that swollen. Maybe it's all my muscles are swollen or a little bit inflamed throughout my whole body then?
Meredith
Right, we're looking at it from the perspective of a bigger issue than just one area.
Interviewer
So then I guess how do I live without pain and inflammation? Is there something I can do? Is this, you mentioned the body kind of getting overwhelmed by stress or by you know, long term factors. But you know, it sounds like we're headed to the to a place where you're going to tell me that I have a say over this or that I have some control, some agency here.
Meredith
Right. So with the other things along with the other things that we've talked about in terms of lifestyle, lifestyle changes, there are ways to reduce inflammation, fight inflammation, and then avoid a lot of these issues. And some of them we had started to talk about with the diet and different things that you can do with the types of fats that you that you ingest, when we talk about different oils, things like that, that have been, you know, that have shown people have shown some some change in the issues with inflammation after switching those. And then there are a lot of anti inflammatory foods specifically, in the book, Primetime health, there's a list and we go over them in class as well. And they come from different categories. Again, it's not just people think, Oh, well, it has to be vegetables. We talked about different types of seafood. We talked about salads and smoothies and ways to get plant foods, spices as well as something that people don't think about because it doesn't necessarily fall into a solid food category. But there are there's a list of these foods that we go through and how to incorporate them and they can be anti inflammatory. So that's one of the main things that we talk about when we're dealing with inflammation.
Interviewer
So when I hear inflammation, I'm also thinking about a medicine bottle, right? Or some ibuprofen or acetaminophen or aspirin or whatnot. People spend lots of money thousands of dollars on you know, medication for for inflammation, and for some of these different carditis and GERD, you know, acid reflux and all of those conditions. You're talking about food, you're not talking about pills. So help me understand. Where's that connection? Are you saying I can use food instead of medication or supplement that or how does it work?
Meredith
Well, so actually one of the other tools that we didn't go over when we talked about the first section, but that I'll mention now is the pills and skills model. So when we talk about different people's health issues, we definitely want to teach folks how to use that internal pharmacy and use their skills, it doesn't mean that they should decide to throw out other medications because they're going to change their life. Really any lifestyle changes that you know, where someone's working with having taken medications before they definitely want to work with their doctor, their medical practitioners to talk about how to, you know, work with those medications, if they want to ease off of them, that kind of thing. So, you know, we do want to be careful about saying that people can do everything on their own right away because it takes some time. You know, all lifestyle changes might take some time. So might while that might be a goal for folks, they definitely want to work with medical practitioners if they already have been taking medication. So and everyone's different, of course, the goal really though, is to just make sure people feel confident working with their medical providers about skills. So if they are having pain, if they are having inflammation, you know, these types of itis issues, they can talk with our medical providers about what they can do, rather than just automatically asking what they can take.
Interviewer
So if I've changed my lifestyle, then the doctor I'm working with might well be able to adjust my dosage or you know, change some of the medications I'm taking because I'm now healthier and living less kind of injurious lifestyle. Is that the case?
Meredith
That's definitely what some people have experienced. They've been able to you know, do anything from greatly reduced to eliminate the medications that they had been taking before. Because if their body is able to do some of those functions that the medications are doing, then they don't, that's kind of redundant. They don't need both things. So it really just comes down to, you know, working with their medical practitioners to sort of, you know, run tests or check on things, after they've made some lifestyle changes in conjunction with their practitioner. Yeah, it really just, it comes down to the changes that they make and how their body reacts to those. And it's definitely, again, so important that they can get those that internal pharmacy working because that's really what makes the difference. And through these different, you know, things that we've talked about what they're the things that they're eating, as well as the movement, then that's what will open that internal pharmacy and make sure that things don't accumulate with the blood vessels. And then improve their organs and all of the their immune system and everything, it's it all works together. So it's really, it's kind of a simple concept, although there's so much that goes into, you know, understanding and explaining how it all works. So it's just because it's a straight forward, I guess idea doesn't mean that it's easy to understand. And it also requires a lot of moving parts in terms of deciding what movement feels good, how to plan for your meals, and, you know, not feel overwhelmed, like you mentioned, feel like you're changing all kinds of things at once, learning about the superfoods, and we talked about that in the final section along with antioxidant foods as well. And trying new things because if people learn all this information, they may end up you know, trying some really new things, whether it's with eating or with stress management, all that kind of stuff. They can you know, it's new So it does require some change and, but when it all, you know, all gets to a point where they feel like okay, this is a manageable This is a manual, manageable lifestyle that I can lead, then yeah, a lot of times people have been really surprised at how their health has has changed for the better.
Interviewer
Nice. So I guess this isn't a magic cure all then I'm not going to be able to never see a doctor again or, you know, all my problems are are going to be solved magically by this program. I hear you saying that kind of works, you know, sort of simpatico with with other things that people are doing then it sort of fits into your lifestyle instead of adding another layer to my already busy life.
Meredith
Right. It's I do think that it can actually make people's lives easier once they figure out how to work things in that That just makes sense for them. meal planning is a big one that we talked about in that last session. Where as before, maybe people thought they were doing what was convenient. And then they find, not only is that not convenient, because it might be making them sick or it's causing issues. They might uncover ways to do things that are easier for them. And it's, as you said, definitely not a magic fix, you know, there will have to be some, you know, some effort put into figuring out what works. Once that's figured out, though, you know, sometimes people have a hard time remembering what it was like before they made those changes. So, so yeah, nothing, I guess in life is necessarily instantaneous, or, you know, extremely easy, especially when it comes to lifestyle changes. And at the same time, over time, it actually can make life easier, so.
Interviewer
Nice. So I guess any last thoughts about any of this or things that we haven't covered? I'm also thinking about hardest and easiest, you know, what's the hardest part of this? Maybe what's an easy thing that people thought was going to be hard and turns out to be not a big deal? Any takeaways like that?
Meredith
I would say as far as things that we didn't cover. Just a note that in the class, we do talk about the attitude piece of the lean acronym that I mentioned. So in terms of stress reduction, and lifestyle choices, that's another important piece. So it's not all what we eat, or how we move is also really our outlook and how we live our lives in ways that aren't related to how we move. So that's something that people can get more information about if they do take the class.
As far as easy and hard, you know, that really varies depending on the person. You know, there are some things that people hear about and think, “Oh, I could never do that.” You know, I hear that a lot. And they give it a try. And it turns out to not be difficult at all.
A lot of times I think we build up challenges in our mind, much more than they ever actually end up being when we put them into practice or when we try them. So a lot of it is psychological, I think in terms of what's easy and hard. Just based on our experience with things and what stories we've already told ourselves about the kinds of people we are. We either say something, this is going to be really simple, and it's really not. Or, like I said, the opposite happens where we build something up to be a huge challenge and thinking that we could never change our life in a certain way. And then when we actually try to do it, it's so much simpler than we thought.
So I guess I, I'm reluctant to sort of name one thing or another because it's so varied depending on the person. It's really just a matter of working for through what's possible, and what somebody really wants to do, and then giving it a try and see. So this is some work to do. It's not free.
Interviewer
And it's attainable, though. I mean, nothing I've heard you say, sounds to me like, this is going to turn my life upside down. Is that fair?
Meredith
Yeah, absolutely. And even if someone, you know, try something with these classes, and it doesn't work, there are all kinds of other options. So you know, the door isn't closed, if something seems like maybe they're not going to be able to work that in or maybe, you know, they're at a certain physical ability level, and maybe they want to do something and they think well, but I have this shoulder injury or, you know, I have asthma that I'm working through and all these things again, can be connected.
So let's say they, they feel that they have a list of physical things they would like to do and that they might not be able to do it based on their current ability. Well, if they're working on some of the stressors that they have in their lives and you know, we can talk about those specifically. And then they also are adjusting even their eating schedule in terms of moving from the gorging to grazing, which we talked about, they might find that some of the limitations they had physically shift and change just by making some of these other changes.
So, you know, they may start out thinking, well, I couldn't do this because I have this particular limitation, and then they make some other changes. And then they find themselves able to do it a few weeks in versus you know, not having been able to do it when they started. So that's also possible.
Interviewer
Great. Any other things that we haven't covered that we really should or, you know, maybe questions that you sometimes get or any any last thoughts?
Meredith
Um, the only other thing I would say is that I also work where in the communities where I've been to get To know, other practitioners that are related to health. So to the extent that I'm able, and happy to refer folks to specialists in different areas, if they have determined that they want to pursue something, whether it be something physical, like massage therapy, or acupuncture, or maybe they would want to work with a personal trainer to address some physical challenges they have or, you know, strength training, that kind of thing. So, I do, you know, try to make it a point to educate myself about other folks doing different types of work that maybe isn't exactly what I'm doing. But definitely uncomplimentary natural paths, things of that nature. So I'm also happy when I work with people to make, you know, suggestions or at least give them names and information of other sources for for resources that can support them on their health journey.
Interviewer
Yeah, that's a that's a good point about working with the resources that are available. And you know, I was giving gyms a hard time earlier. But I think for some people, the sense of community that is available at a local gym is a real help. And so I don't want to just, you know, dismiss that off or right out of hand. I also need to mention that we are not in any way sponsored by or associated with Domino's Pizza, which we also were talking about earlier, but it's all about balance. It sounds like and if you want to make a change, then you need to invest something and it doesn't have to be the some huge investment that breaks the bank in terms of dollars and cents or in terms of time or just overall disruption. I've heard you say I think that someone could do as much or as little as they want it or be as aggressive or, or sort of easy, does it as feels right. Is that accurate?
Meredith
Yes, absolutely. And everyone's health is personal obviously to them. And so this is not unlike any personal choice, they can decide how to go to go about it and at what pace feels right to them if they do want to make changes.
Interviewer
Thank you so much. And again, how could somebody take the next step or somebody that is interested in learning more about this or possibly taking one of these classes? Or has a question, how can they get ahold of you? Or what can they do next?
Meredith
Yeah, and they can just contact me, they can email me at m@mforhealth.com, or visit my website, which is just mforhealth.com.
They can contact me through either one of those ways to find out what classes I'm teaching or if they want to start an online class, which we can pretty much started anytime as long as we have a few people enrolled. We can get that going for them.
Interviewer
Well, thanks so much, and good luck. Thank you. All right.