Hello, my name is Pam Strand.

I'm your podcast host and
welcome to the Longevity Gym.

As you may know, this podcast
is devoted to learning to live

longer, stronger, and better.

Today, I want to talk about energy.

In fact, I wanted to ask you, do you
happen to know where my energy went?

If you're like me, that's a
question I seem to ask myself more

frequently now that I'm in my 60s.

I hear myself saying things like, ugh,
I don't have the energy that I used to.

Or, as I said in my question,
where did my energy go?

It feels like it got
up and went without me.

Quantitatively, I know that
I don't have the same energy

I used to have in my fifties.

My body is losing its efficiency in
producing energy as it gets older.

I understand that this
is a metabolic fact.

Metabolism does change
with the aging process.

All of the chemical and physical
systems and reactions that maintain

life in our body, which is the
definition of metabolism, change

and become less efficient with age.

It's in our 60s when these
changes really begin to take hold.

And while they were beginning
in our 40s and 50s, they become

more obvious when we hit our 60s.

Today's episode isn't really
about exploring the exact

metabolic changes that occur.

It's really about acknowledging that
they do occur, and then helping us

get strategic in addressing them.

I believe the key is to get curious
and not furious with these changes.

For the more furious we are, the
more likely we are to disconnect

with our bodies and miss or maybe
ignore the messages it's sending.

I admit, it's frustrating and at
times very discouraging to work With

what is changing in our bodies, but
being furious takes us out of problem

solving mode and puts us into victim
mode, bemoaning the aging process,

asking why is this happening to us?

Being furious can also put us into a
constant state of battle with aging,

being defiant about the process and
fighting to keep going at the same

pace and rate that we've always gone.

When we are a victim of or at battle
with aging and the inevitable changes, we

actually may end up making things worse.

Moving from being tired to being simply
exhausted, making our sleep worse,

experiencing annoying aches and pains,
not to mention injuries, having low

moods, chronic muscle tension, and
maybe worse, A feeling of absolute

defeat, and we end up dropping out.

Comparing our current energy
with the energy of our younger

years, even if that was just five
years ago, is a no win situation.

At least it is in my mind.

Comparisons in any form never
bring much joy, nor do they bring

reliable and sustainable solutions.

The alternative to being
furious is being curious.

Curiosity turns on our
problem solving abilities.

It stimulates our
intuition and imagination.

It creates the opportunity for something
new and different that gets better

results than what we're getting now.

It sounds pretty good, doesn't it?

Curiosity also opens our minds and helps
us see nuances we didn't see before or

we couldn't see when we're being furious.

It also turns off the catastrophic
thinking of, oh, my life is over,

and turns on our objective lens.

Hey, what's really going on here?

When we are curious, We are more apt
to start experimenting and exploring

how we might switch things up to get
better results and have more energy.

We might begin to ask ourselves what we
truly want at this point in our life,

and what our bodies and its systems need.

Or we may ask ourselves how we might
change in order to meet the needs of our

bodies and help them stay as efficient
as possible at creating the vital

energy we love to have in our lives.

Don't get me wrong.

This is not an instantaneous
flip of the switch.

It takes some guts to see
things differently and to open

yourself up to changes in your
mindset and in your lifestyle.

I do believe though, it
does come down to a choice.

Do we stick with what doesn't seem
to work, so we save face, with no

one else but ourselves, I might
suggest, or do we find new ways to

take care of our energy and our body?

Will our energy feel like
it was in our 40s and 50s?

Based on my experience, I would say no.

And also based upon what I know
about the body and our physiology.

But I think that's the
wrong question to be asking.

As I said earlier, comparison never
makes Much sense it doesn't create

solutions and it certainly doesn't help
boost our energy I believe the more

effective question to be asking ourselves
is how can I have the best energy?

Possible for the age I am today

movement, exercise, sleep, stress
management, nutrition, rest, recovery.

All of these things are important
at any age, but become more

important as your body gets older
and experiences metabolic changes.

Just because we're older and
our body is changing doesn't

mean our energy has to diminish.

But we have to let ourselves
not talk ourselves out of

taking care of our bodies.

There is less wiggle room as we get older.

And it's really up to us that if
there are obstacles keeping us from

changing up our lifestyle so we have
greater energy, we need to remove

them or find a way to fix them.

way to navigate around them.

And more isn't necessarily better.

Just like in Goldilocks and the Three
Bears, you need to find what fits best.

There are endless ways to restore,
replenish, and sustain your energy.

The key is to find what works for you.

And that really is where
the difficulty comes from.

We really want to know What do I do?

What exactly do I do?

Well, guess what?

You're going to have to experiment a
little bit and find what works for you.

Maybe you add strength training
or more movement to your life.

Or maybe you back off the intensity
and frequency of your exercise

and factor in more work on
flexibility, mobility, and balance.

Maybe it's time to take a little
break from exercise for a while

and take care of those annoying
and limiting aches and pains.

It could be time to re educate and re
commit yourself to healthy nutrition

and make some changes at meal time.

Maybe it's a shorter workday, letting
go of obligations and activities that

add little value to your life and really
are simply a drain on your energy.

Could be time to prioritize sleep
and remove any obstacles and to

help your body get better sleep.

Maybe you need more rest and
recovery during the week.

Maybe a vacation, getting
a change of scenery.

Making room to take care
of your mental well being.

Reconnecting with friends.

It all counts.

And it all can make a difference
in the amount of energy that we

experience in our 60s and beyond.

As I said, we need to experiment
and find what works for us.

Make a list.

I bet you already know the things
that are draining your energy.

And what might actually make a
difference to have more energy?

If not, seek out a coach or a fitness
expert or a wellness professional.

They can help you navigate these changes.

And then once you have your list, I
would really encourage you just to

pick one thing to work on at a time.

If we have a long list of what seems
like simple things we can do, trying to

do all of them or many of them at the
same time actually ends up creating a

very complex and unsustainable situation.

You are likely setting
yourself up for failure.

And I say this out of love and
also out of personal experience.

I stumble when I have a long list.

But when I push myself to pick
one thing, I'm also pushing myself

to make my priorities clearer.

And I end up more committed to
seeing that one thing through.

And guess what?

I'm usually more successful
than I thought I would be.

Because success leads to more success.

I find that when I work on one thing,
that sometimes just naturally sets

in motion other positive changes.

Some of those changes were on my
list, and others I never thought

of, and actually are probably more
impactful than what I thought of.

So pick one thing.

Then put your list away and concentrate
on that one thing for at least two weeks.

Make some notes along the way.

And once those two weeks are
up, that's when you evaluate.

You identify what worked, what
didn't, and what you learned.

If what you tried worked,
yay, keep doing it.

If it kind of worked, make
some adjustments and try again.

If it didn't work, well, you've now
got some valuable information to use

to make another selection of one thing.

Remember, keep your curious mind up
front and center because curiosity leads

to awareness and awareness leads to new
insights and new ideas and new solutions.

And oh yeah, be sure
to celebrate your wins.

I know it sounds maybe silly in our
60s that we should be giving ourselves

a pat on the back, but even if it's
a private fist pump and like, yeah,

I did it, or a smiley face on your
calendar or to do list, it really,

really does make a difference.

Our energy may be different, As we get
older, but it still can be brilliant

and it still can be vibrant and it
can still carry us well through life.

It takes finding ways to tune into
our bodies to see what they need to

acknowledge the metabolic changes we
are experiencing and then adapting our

lifestyle choices to support our bodies
and its systems in the best way we can.

I know you can do it.

I know I can do it.

So here's to making our energy shine.

Thanks for tuning in, and
I will see you next time.