The Liz Moody Podcast - 39 Health & Happiness Hacks I’ve Learned in 39 Years

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hello, friends, and welcome back to the Liz Moody podcast. Today is my birthday episode, as you can tell if you're watching the video, because I have this very sparkly, very disco-bally, very fabulous crown on. And as a birthday gift from me to you, I'm going to be sharing 39 of the absolute best health and happiness hacks that I have learned in the past 39 years. These are going to cover a really wide range of topics from relationships to habit formation, to gut health, to energy, just like the podcast. We kind of talk about it all. It is to be the best of the best, these little tiny tweaks that have made a big difference in my own life. And you're also going to get a peek inside of my daily, weekly, and monthly routines.

Starting point is 00:00:40 So let's just jump right into it. Number 39, brush your teeth before eating or drinking anything in the morning. Overnight, bacteria multiply in our mouth, which is why most of us, myself very much included, wake up with very gross breath in the morning. And if you eat or drink before brushing, you're going to swallow a lot of those bacteria, which can disrupt your gut, microactylum. And it's also worse for your enamel, especially if you have anything acidic for breakfast. So I wake up and literally the very first thing that I do is I brush my teeth and I scrape my tongue to break up those bacteria colonies. Well, actually, the first thing that I do, the very first thing that I do is I pee.

Starting point is 00:01:17 And then that is the second thing that I do. And then the third thing that I do every single morning brings us to number 38, which is I drink a big glass of water right after my pee and I brush my teeth. I do that every single morning, ideally with some electrolyte. or a pinch of mineral salt or sea salt in it. I had a neuroscientist on the podcast, and she described our brains as like a sponge. And overnight, the sponge dries out,

Starting point is 00:01:39 and we need to rehydrate that sponge for it to work optimally in the morning. And I was like, yep, that's enough motivation for me. So I drink basically two mason jars, like the normal, not the huge one, just the normal mason jar size. I drink those filled with water, and then I sprinkle in some electrolytes first thing every morning. I use the element or the Icumix ones.

Starting point is 00:01:59 And I never use a whole packet. I just like sprinkle a little bit in. And it has made the absolute biggest difference in my energy. The difference is palpable. Number 37, while we are on morning routines, as I try to wait at least 60 to 90 minutes to have my caffeine in the morning, which for me is matcha. I'm going to be honest, it's not that hard for me to do this because I'm very new to even drinking caffeine at all. I only added match in like a year ago because that is the only type of caffeine that doesn't give me anxiety. But waiting 60 to 90 minutes to consume your caffeine lets you take advantage of your naturally high cortisol in the morning, which we actually want. We want lower cortisol later in the day. And caffeine can mess with that. It also can block your adenosine

Starting point is 00:02:44 receptors, which is one of the ways that it makes you alert. But your adenosine is actually really low in the morning so you don't need the caffeine. So your caffeine will actually be more effective a bit later on when your adenosine is higher. I have one matcha day. It's usually around 11 a.m. when it does not interfere with my morning neurochemistry, but it also doesn't interfere with my sleep later on. While we are on caffeine, number 36, I do not feel at all guilty for my caffeine consumption. I used to think that coffee and tea had positive benefits, but the caffeine itself wasn't as good for our health, that we basically just wanted to have it so we could have energy, but overall it was robbing from our system somehow. And then I had Dr. Eric Topal on the podcast. He is one of the

Starting point is 00:03:28 world's top longevity doctors. And he was like, actually, caffeine increases our lifespan, even isolated from coffee and tea. And people cannot figure out a mechanism of action why. And it drives them nuts, but it's very clearly shown in the data. And coffee and tea have a ton of research on how incredibly good they are for you. They have chlorogenic acid. They have all of these other incredible polyphenols and things that are just really, really good for our bodies. So for me, this was like, okay great, enjoy your coffee, enjoy your tea, completely guilt-free, feeling like you're doing something super awesome for your body. 35. Schedule time to do nothing. I call this think time, and this is something that I've noticed a lot of really successful people do. They'll have think days or think half days or just like

Starting point is 00:04:14 think hours on their calendar. The idea is to have nothing on your calendar during this time so you can zoom out and just think about your business or your life instead of getting caught in the minutiae of the day-to-day. You know how you have great ideas all the time in the shower? It's because it's one of the very few times in our lives that we're not bombarding our brain with other information. So it's like, ah, and it starts to process and sort things into categories and make all of these different connections. I try to do a think chunk of time, like a good few hours, at least every two weeks. And I try to walk while I do, which I find makes it work even better. And I'll usually have my phone with me, but I will have it on airplane mode so I'm not distracted. And then I'll just keep

Starting point is 00:04:57 notes on my note app on my phone if something comes to mind because I don't want to be stressed out during my think time about losing a great idea or not being able to hold on to it. Number 34, these are in a really random order, which I like. I like a little bit of this, a little bit of that. But apologies if that's weird for you. If somebody that you love is experiencing grief, send them a text. We had a death in our family recently and the amount of people who were like, I wanted to text you, but I was worried about bugging you, was absolutely wild to me. Grief is such a lonely experience, which is crazy because it's also the most universal experience in all of our lives. But during that time, knowing that you have this really robust,

Starting point is 00:05:38 loving community surrounding you means the absolute world. I will say, do not make demands in the text, like don't ask a ton of questions or anything that feels mentally draining, but just a simple like, hey, I love you. I'm thinking of you. I'm so sorry that you're going through this. No need to respond is so hugely helpful. For 33, let's do another grief one because this was a really big grief year for me. When my cat, Bella died, I read all of these grief books and I talked to all of these grief experts because this is how I process things. It felt really weird to read other books because I was so devastated. And I also couldn't sit with my own thought. So I basically became a student of grief. And when I asked the grief experts what they thought we were missing

Starting point is 00:06:30 when processing grief, the absolute top answer that I got was movement. We need to move grief through our body. Like it is physically processed in addition to being emotionally processed. So I took extra pains during that time to get my heart rate up every single day. Like I would be crying, full on bawling on the Stairmaster watching an Anderson Cooper interview on grief. It really, really helped though. And now it's something that I share with anybody else in my life who is going through grief. Number 32, take five seconds before eating to ask yourself why you are eating and eat accordingly. This is one of the absolute biggest takeaways from my weight loss journey this year. I used to try to get every single thing out of every single meal.

Starting point is 00:07:15 Like I wanted it to taste like a five-star dinner and to fuel me perfectly. And the result of that was that I was spending way too much time thinking about food. Now I'm like, am I eating for pleasure? Okay, great. I will really focus on the food. I will savor it. I will enjoy the shit out of it. If I'm eating for fuel, though, it is fine if the food is just good enough.

Starting point is 00:07:39 I have literally four meals that I rotate through. I have my meat bowl, which is just like a sweet potato, ground beef bowl. I have my egg roll in a bowl. I have way more veggies cowboy caviar. I have roasted chicken with whatever veggies that I get at the farmer's market. I have all of these recipes on my substack at lizmoody. At www.substack.com. And I eat these for breakfast, for lunch, and for dinner.

Starting point is 00:08:02 And I prep them ahead of time so I can just defrost them and I am good to go. But I've just way, way lowered the bar on what that type of food needs to be. And I have cleared up so much mental space in my brain as a result. Number 31, track your progress. This was a really big unlock for me this year for my sister, who's a psychologist. And she said that a huge thing that therapists do is they point out when clients have made progress in something. Because noting those wins is a really huge part of feeling motivated enough to keep going. And so many of us skip that step because we're like, on to the next thing, onto the next thing,

Starting point is 00:08:42 because our brains are wired that way, which is why therapists will literally stop and remind us to notice our progress. So now I do these goal check-in. So if I have a goal, I'll put a reminder in my phone in six to eight weeks to check in on my progress. And in the calendar reminder, I will put a little note about where I am now. So I can be reminded of that later and I can see how far I've come because our brain. is so quick to dismiss that and we need to congratulate ourselves. We need to stop and say, oh my gosh, look at everything that I've done so that we can keep going forward. Number 30, if you see something, say something. I learned this rule from the New York City subway system and they were definitely

Starting point is 00:09:22 talking about preventing scary things from happening, but it is one of my life mottos for compliments. If I see something that I love about a person, I always say it and I try to be specific. I am always sending little text. I'm sending little emails, little voice notes. Like, I love the way that you showed up for our friend when she was struggling last week. Or you're absolutely crushing it at work. I love the way you approach your job. It gives me such expander energy. That's one that I actually told my friend two days ago. But if you see something, say it. We all love to hear it. Number 29, I save my favorite podcast and TV shows for when I am doing things that I hate. This is called temptation bundling and it has changed my life. So right now, I'm only watching the Buccaneers when I fold laundry, which is my

Starting point is 00:10:10 nemesis activity. And I'm only listening to my favorite podcast when I do my workouts. And also, I'm trying really, really, really hard to only scroll on TikTok when I'm on the treadmill. So I am walking if I am social meeting. That one, I'm like, we're working on that one. The key is that you cannot do those activities at any other time. So you really force you force yourself to do the thing that you dislike, the thing that you do not want to do. Number 28 is to do 30-minute work periods when I need to be productive on something. I try to do a few of these every single day. It is based on the 23-minute rule, which is that whenever we get distracted, it takes us 23

Starting point is 00:10:50 minutes to fully bring our attention back to whatever we were working on until 23 minutes have passed a teeny bit of our attention, something called attention residue, is still stuck on the thing that distracted us so we are not fully focused on whatever we are trying to work on. So whenever I'm trying to really focus, I turn all of my notifications off. I put my phone out of sight, which I will get into more in a second. And I really just minimize anything that can distract me for 30 minutes. So my attention has that time to fully focus. So related to that, number 27, when I want to focus my attention, my phone goes out of sight and it has completely changed my relationships for the better. This is the face-down phone theory. Research shows that when our

Starting point is 00:11:33 phone is in our sight line, even if it is face down, it is pulling some of our attention. So we are not giving our full attention to our relationships, whether that is the relationship that you have with your friends or your kids or your work or your hobbies. Having your phone is killing these moments. It also takes willpower to not pick up our phones when they are in our sight line because they are so addictive that they're like, hey, over here, pick me up. And then it saps our energy. It drains our energy to ignore that urge that we have. So put your phone fully out of sight, like in the bag, out of the room, different room. It makes such a huge difference. Number 26, you are not bad at friendships. You just need to see people more. This is based on research called the mere exposure

Starting point is 00:12:22 effect, which basically says that the more we are exposed to people, even without interacting with them, the more that we like them. And I got to experience this myself this year. I started a book club. And at the beginning, I was like, why does this feel so much more awkward than my old book club that I had when I was in New York? Do I need to force us to bond somehow? At one point, I was like suggesting PowerPoint presentations to catch each other up on our history. But months went by and we kept having that exposure to each other and without putting in any additional effort, the vibes just clicked into place. And now we are this great little group. We put way too much credence into the vibes with friendship when we really, really need to just clock more hours together. This brings me to

Starting point is 00:13:09 number 25, which is my all-time favorite friendship tip. Friendships need an about. Research shows that It takes 50 hours to move from acquaintance to casual friend, 90 hours to go from casual friend to deeper friend, and 200 hours to become best friends with a person. And it is hard to clock that many hours, which is why when I had friendship expert Anna Goldfarb on the podcast, she was like, you need to have an about so that you can easily get those hours in. The about can be real housewives. It can be running or hiking or a book club, which is what I love, love, love to do. It is why it is easier to make work friends or school friends. Those are both great, great abouts. But again, the real takeaway here is to focus less on the vibes. We love the

Starting point is 00:13:57 vibes so much. But focus more on are thereabouts here? Can I clock that time? It'll get you far better results. Number 24. Strength training is the best mood booster that I have ever found. And I've spent probably 34 of my 39 years struggling with mental health issues. Strength training and getting 10,000 steps in every single day, which I just use as a proxy for moving as much as possible throughout the day before people are like, there's no science behind 10,000 steps. I know. It just helps me move more, but those two things together have made a bigger impact on my mood on my mental health than anything else that I've done. And related to that, number 23, let your actions dictate your mood and not the other way around. I used to wait until I felt happy to do the things that made me happy.

Starting point is 00:14:50 Moods do not come from nowhere. If you feel shitty, take the actions that you would normally take when you feel good and then let the mood follow. Number 22, you know I have to give a shout out to never be the one to say no to yourself. This is the motto that has changed my life the most. I have a whole podcast about it that I can link in the show notes, but it has gotten me a husband because I saw him across the bar and I didn't say no to myself. and I went and hit on him.

Starting point is 00:15:15 It got me a book deal that I could have absolutely told myself that I did not deserve. That was my first book deal. It kicked off my entire publishing career. It's gotten me tons of podcast interviews. The rule here is other people can and still definitely will say no to you. But you can be your own biggest cheerleader. Do not be the one standing in the way of your own dreams. Number 21, make the habits that you want to have as easy as possible.

Starting point is 00:15:43 and the habits that you want to avoid as hard as possible. Even a little bit of friction makes a huge, huge difference for stopping bad habits. Don't keep food that you don't want to eat in your house. Keep your phone out of your bedroom if you don't want to scroll in bed. Join a gym that's close by or do a home workout if working out is one of the habits that you want to stick to. Have a go-to meditation downloaded on an app so you don't run into decision fatigue when you're deciding what to do if meditation is a habit that you want to stick to.

Starting point is 00:16:13 For any habit you're trying to add in, ask yourself, how can I lower the friction around this? And for any habit that you don't want to have, ask yourself, how can I add just a little bit of friction here? Number 20, a clean space makes a huge difference. Research actually shows that women tend to experience higher cortisol levels in response to cluttered environments than men. It's interesting because I am definitely a messy person, as I'm sure you guys all know by now, but I feel so much better and I get so much better work done if I am in a clean environment. So as a very messy person, I've had to figure out what works for me to take my natural tendencies, which is to be a slab and turn that into an environment that's conducive to feeling

Starting point is 00:16:59 the way that I want to feel. And the two things that have helped me the most with this are, one, I have a cleaning person. This is my absolute favorite use of money. I love her so, so much. Two, I try to follow the one minute rule, which is that if something takes one minute to do, I do it. I don't put it off for later. So if a dish takes a minute to put in the dishwasher, I won't leave that dish in the sink. If I get home and it takes me one minute to put my stuff away, I just put it away. I won't like leave it in the hallway. I'm trying not to create two steps when there could be one step. And I'm trying to make future me's life easier. If you have headaches, allergies, brain fog, skin irritation, or you've been dealing with hormone

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Starting point is 00:19:36 That is branch basics.com and use code Liz Moody. When it comes to wellness, you're going to get the best results by focusing on the big needle movers. A lot of us spend a lot of time trying to optimize that last. 1%, which creates a ton of stress and it actually doesn't help our help that much. At the top of the needle mover list, sleep. And one of the best ways to optimize your sleep is to optimize your mattress, which is why I love avocado green mattress so much. First of all, this mattress is so comfortable. I have the one with the pillow top, which is medium firm,

Starting point is 00:20:10 and it's just a dream. I miss it when I travel. It's better than even the fanciest hotel beds. Having a mattress that supports your joints and your body and feels good is going to help you get more sleep and better quality sleep. But then, on top of that, avocado mattresses are made with certified organic cotton, wool, and latex, and they are made safe and green guard gold certified. They're also Okotech certified, which is the gold standard. I look for it in any mattresses, sheets, or towels that I buy, which means the materials have been rigorously tested for harmful substances. You can actually look for the Okotech standard 100 label right on the product, and I love this part. It includes a traceable certificate number and the name of the testing lab, so you know exactly.

Starting point is 00:20:50 exactly what you're getting. There are no toxic chemicals. There's no harmful off gassing. It does not smell like it's going to kill you when you unbox it. This is what I mean. I'm not going to swap out all of my clothing, which is that top 1% of optimization. But by making sure that my mattress and my bedding are as good for me as possible, I literally reduce my exposure during a third of my life, which is a huge needle mover for a one-time swap. I will also know, and this is a me thing, but I sleep super hot and avocado's materials are really breathable, and it makes me sweat the least of any mattress that I have slept on. And avocado is a certified B-Corp and a 1% for the planet member

Starting point is 00:21:30 because caring for yourself and caring for the planet do not have to be separate things. You can get up to 20% off organic mattresses and more by shopping Avocados Presidents Day Sale right now at avocadogreenmatress.com. That is avocadogreenmatress.com, no code needed. The number one rule of habits is to make the things that you want easier and the things that you don't want harder. Yet so many of us want to eat healthier, but so few of us actually take the steps to make eating healthier easier. That's where Marley Spoon comes in. What I love about this company and what's different than all of the other companies out there that are doing like stuff in the same arena

Starting point is 00:22:09 is that you can customize your choices based on the effort that you want to put in. So if you want them to send you ingredients so you can make your own 20-minute meal and like get into your chef energy, they'll send it to you to all be in perfect portions so you'll eliminate waste. Great, that's sorted. But they also have meals that you can just heat up. They have ready-made breakfast, which is always such a tough time of day to get a healthy meal in. They have grab and go snacks.

Starting point is 00:22:35 Everything is made from farm fresh produce with high-quality proteins and you can select by dietary preferences, including Mediterranean diet, which is the top diet that doctors on this podcast recommend. Also things like gluten-free, dairy-free, low-sodium, anything that you need. The food is so good and it's so gourmet feeling like you feel like you're at a nice restaurant. We're talking like chicken milanese with a crunchy cucumber arugula salad or everything bagel salmon with truffle chive potatoes. My favorite recent meal was the creamy lemon chicken tray bake. I had one of those moments where I looked at my plate and I was like, wait, I made this. And so quickly, like so easily. It's just so little effort for so much reward. Marley Spoon

Starting point is 00:23:14 just makes eating well feel easy instead of stressful. And honestly, that is everything. This new year, fast track your way to eating well with Marley Spoon. Head to Marley Spoon.com slash offer slash Liz Moody for up to 25 free meals. That is right, up to 25 free meals with Marley Spoon.com slash offer slash Liz Moody. So remember to get the offer in there. Marley Spoon.com slash offer slash Liz Moody for up to 25 free meals. Number 19, I get exposed to a lot of really fancy wellness stuff because I do this job. And you guys are always asking me, what's worth it, what's worth it? And I think there are two things that come out on the top of the list for me.

Starting point is 00:23:59 The first is saunning. The research around saunas is wild. Studies have shown that using a sauna for four times a week for 20 minutes can decrease all-cause mortality. So basically dying for any reason by 20 to 40%. that is crazy. We are not exactly sure why yet, but researchers think it's because it lowers inflammation, it increases cardiovascular health, both of which are great things on their own. Like they're great for so many different outcomes that we want in our bodies, in addition to decreasing our all-cause mortality, which is just amazing. I've also not found any research that shows that more is particularly better.

Starting point is 00:24:37 So I aim for 20 minutes on the dot because by that point, I am usually dying. And I really try to do four times a week. So I found a gym with a sauna. That's the one that I use. But my dream life is to get to have my own sauna. I also love this one because saunay and feels so good in the moment. You're not like suffering through it. For me, it's so relaxing. I'll go read a book. I'll meditate. And it's just so nice to have a wellness habit that pays off later, but also feel so, so good in the moment. Number 18. The other kind of fancy thing that I've found makes a real difference is red light therapy. I talked about this in my interview with Dr. Vivian Chen. We dive into the science behind a lot of hot button wellness topics like EMFs and microwaves and red light therapy. You guys love that

Starting point is 00:25:22 episode. I can link it in the show note. And she explained that the reason that red light therapy basically feels like panacea, like it works for so many things. It feels too good to be true is because it acts on our mitochondria, which are the powerhouses of our cells. So it's basically helping our body heal at a cellular level wherever you are directing the red light. And then it also has whole body effects no matter where you're actually putting the red light. Zach uses it on his thyroid and he's seen real results there like he literally holds it over his neck. And then I do it for my chronic hip pain that I've had for years. And it's really, really like noticeably helped this. This is something I've struggled with for a really long time. And the red light has helped me really see a difference. And I also think

Starting point is 00:26:07 that it helps with both my sleep and my energy, depending on what time of day I do it. It's also really good for your skin health. It's good for hair growth. We talk about all the specific ways to do it and like the different types of red light that you want to look into in that episode, which again, I will link in the show notes. Number 17, more is not always better. More is often, in fact, worse. I see so many people trying to do saunas for like an hour and they're putting this incredible stress on their body for no reason. The research maxes out at 20 minutes. So I do 20 minutes. I also know people will like brag about doing 12, 15 minute cold plunge sessions. I'm like, that's not good for your body. You are stressing your body out by trying to do more.

Starting point is 00:26:52 There's actually research around sticking two habits that shows that we want to stop just before we hit our max. So we clock it is something that we want a little bit more of, that we crave more of. Trying to do more of something can put more stress on your body. It can make your results worse and it can deter you from sticking to a habit. So do a little bit less. Your body will thank you. Number 16, better inputs lead to better outputs. The most creative people that I know are constantly exposing themselves to new creative inputs

Starting point is 00:27:24 and not just in the genre that they work in. So they're going to museums, they're reading books, they're watching documentaries. If I'm feeling uninspired in my work or just my life in general, I turn up the quality and the quantity of my creative inputs and it always makes a huge difference. Number 15, I've got to shout out my beloved cirque walks. This is just getting outside for 10 to 15 minutes for a quick walk first thing in the morning. So after I brush my teeth and scrape my tongue and after I pee and after I down my water, I get outside rain or shine.

Starting point is 00:27:59 Getting that sunlight in your eyes sets your circadian rhythm, which impacts 99% of the cells in your body. So yes, it's about sleep. It's about energy. But it's also about your gut working optimally and your hormones working optimally and being able to digest and get the nutrients out of the food that you eat throughout the day. So many of you now Cirque Walk 2, and I've gotten to hear how much of a difference that it makes for you in your lives, which makes me so, so happy. I personally try to do this before I look at my phone in the morning. And honestly, on days that I do, my entire day feels lighter. It feels happier. It feels more spacious. So it's also like a good thing that you can like, okay, as soon as I do my surfwalk, that's when I can turn on my phone.

Starting point is 00:28:45 It's a nice thing to tie it to, I have found. Speaking of phones, one of the biggest changes that I've made with my social media use is to just push it to later in the day. It messes with our dopamine levels, which makes us crave this. quick candy-like dopamine, which makes it harder to pay attention all day long and makes us reach for our phone more. So the later in my day that I can push my social media scroll back, the less I crave those quick dopamine hits and the more productive my day is. So that is number 14. Number 13, walk for 10 to 15 minutes after a meal and I particularly try to do this one after dinner. It is one of the single best things that you can do for your metabolic health, for your

Starting point is 00:29:25 digestion, and also it just feels very cool and European. Number 12, I eat some type of fermented food every single day. I've been doing this since I interviewed Dr. Tim Specter, who is one of the most cited scientists in the world, and he said that when he works with cancer patients, he has them way up their fermented food intake because of the effects of fermented foods on our immune system. And since cancer rates are just skyrocketing in young people, I was like, okay, cool, this is my sign to get very serious about having some type of ferment, which for me is just usually

Starting point is 00:29:59 like a few spoonfuls of fermented veggies like carrots or sauerkraut that I eat out of a jar every single day. As a bonus, I do think that it's helped my gut health and my skin health a lot too, which makes sense given all of the research around fermented foods. Number 11, I've been doing 30 plants per week since I found out about the American Gut Project study that showed that 30 was basically the magic number for optimizing our gut health. I created the recipes for those four meals that I shared earlier in the episodes. So they have the bulk of my 30 plants. And then I'll also do things like make a basil seed electrolyte fresca, which is just basil seeds or chia seeds and electrolyte water. And it's amazing for adding in fiber. It's so good if you are constipated. Like take it traveling.

Starting point is 00:30:44 It'll change your life. And it also adds in another plant. And then I'll do like carrots and hummus as a snack for even more plants. I also love, love, love to snack on berries. And then in the summer, I'll make these little fruit salads with stone fruit and fresh basil. And it is just so, so delightful. But I really, really intentionally go for that 30 plant a week goal. And I do think that one of the best ways of doing that is having a few go-to recipes and snacks that you know will get you to that goal. Number 10. This is one of my all-time favorite relationship hacks. It's from the Gottmans who are basically the leading couples therapy researchers, and it's to look out for bids in a relationship. This is when your partner shows you a meme, or they talk about their work project, or they're like,

Starting point is 00:31:30 hey, look at this. That's a bid, and turning towards bids is one of the biggest predictors of long-term relationship success. So I really try to notice when Zach is bidding, and honestly, I'll call out to Zach, like I'll directly say, hey, I'm bidding over here, and we really try not to ignore each other's bids. And it does make us feel a lot more connected. Number nine, just six minutes of reading decreases stress by 68%. That is so much gain in so little time and I feel it too.

Starting point is 00:32:06 On days that I wake up and I'm in a good mood and I do not know why, often I'll realize, like, oh, I'm in the middle of a good book. Like I have a good book going right now. I have a recent episode about the tiny wellness habits that I've noticed that the world's healthiest people do, where I talk about how to make reading easier and how to read more. And I will link that in the show notes because I think it is well worth doing. Number eight, make a joy list. I do this every season.

Starting point is 00:32:34 So I have a summer joy list, a fall joy list, et cetera. And then this is the secret. I put on things that I actively want to do, like go stargazing to watch the Perseid's meteor shower, which is actually what we're doing this weekend. And I will put in things that I just want to notice. like the feeling of sun on my skin or the smell of fresh jasmine or the smell of sunscreen in the summer. So I'm not only prioritizing doing the things that will bring me joy. I am priming my brain to notice the joy that already exists all around me.

Starting point is 00:33:08 It is a game changer. This is related to number seven, which is probably my most viral social content that I've ever made, the novelty rule. This is based on research from Dr. David Eagleman at Stanford, and it shows that when we experience novelty, it slows down our brain's perception of time. It makes our lives feel longer and more satisfying. I have a whole episode about novelty real ideas and how to use this in your life that I can link in the show notes. But I try to do one novel thing a week that's smaller, like going to work at a different cafe. And then I do one larger novelty activity a month, like yesterday I played hooky with some of my friends to go up to a new pool at the Russian River.

Starting point is 00:33:52 These novel moments stand out in our brain. They stand out in our memories and they make our lives feel so much more satisfying. Number six is prioritizing my relationships more. The study that comes up the most on this podcast is the Harvard study of adult development, which found that the single biggest predictor of long-term human health and happiness is the quality of our relationships. I try to really action this research in my life by giving my relationships true priority in the way that I would getting a workout in or eating well.

Starting point is 00:34:26 So if a day has gone by and I haven't had a social interaction, I will call a friend. I plan dates with Zach and I plan dates with my friends. I try to have deep and vulnerable and real conversations to strengthen those bonds. I view working on my relationships, my relationship habit as more important than the other health habits that I do. And I really act accordingly. Number five is another one of my favorite relationship theories. I spent so many years trying to be who I thought people wanted me to be, mainly because I thought that that's how you made friends. That's how you made people like you.

Starting point is 00:35:05 But then I realized we are all looking for our matches in life, whether it's at work or in our relationship. and the best way to find those matches is to be your authentic self, which is how match theory was born. And yes, that person might scare some people away. But that's going to make room for the other people that it's going to bring closer. And those are the people that we are really trying to fill our lives with. So be weird. Wear what you want to wear.

Starting point is 00:35:35 Talk about your true fears and your true desires. That is all going to help you create your ideas. community. I have a whole episode about this, including other ways to practically apply it. Like, go on vacation. If you're dating somebody, go on vacation super-doper early with them, because that's going to let their real selves out and let your real self out. And then you can see if you're a match. But I have a whole episode on this that I can link in the show notes for you. Number four is to drink more tea. I drink loose leaf tea specifically to avoid micropastics. But there is literally a tea for everything, for digestive health, for energy, for healthy hair.

Starting point is 00:36:11 and skin for allergies. Teas have been used medicinally for thousands of years, and more importantly, they taste really good. My very favorite use of tea is when it is late at night and I'm wanting to mindlessly snack. Like, I'm not hungry, but I'm just bored. I will sip on some tea and it really hits the spot. And I feel like I'm doing this little bonus thing for my health because all of the herbs and all of the things that we're steeping in our tea have all of these additional benefits. Number three, speaking of microplastics, is I never, ever, ever heat or freeze food in plastic. Everyone is always asking me about all these microplastic swaps, like, do I need to be wearing different clothes? Do I need to be wearing different underwear?

Starting point is 00:36:53 What about my shower curtain? And I'm always like, until you are never storing your food in plastic, you do not need to stress out about all of these little like nitpicky things. For most of us, heating or cooling our food in plastic. is our single biggest microplastic exposure. So swap your Tupperware for glass containers. Use mason jars. It is the biggest single difference that you can make for microplastic exposure. And it is so much easier, so much better than stressing over every single little thing.

Starting point is 00:37:25 Number two, when I did a podcast on why so many young people are getting cancer and what we can do about it, the doctor that I interviewed shared a statistic that blew my mind. and I was absolutely sure that I would fact check it and the research would not pan out. But it did. Working out for just 4.5 minutes a day reduced cancer risk by a little over 30%. Four point five minutes a day. That is absolutely bananas. I use this as a reason to motivate myself to do even the teeniest, tiniest, tiniest amount of movement

Starting point is 00:37:57 because even the littlest bit truly counts. And finally, number one. one of the single best ways to change your life is to surround yourself with the people who have the life and the habits that you want. We take on the moods, the behaviors, and the beliefs of the people that we surround ourselves with. The people in your life can either make it way easier to move your body to eat healthy foods or they can make it way harder. They can make you believe that your dreams are possible or they can make you feel silly for trying. That's why this podcast was originally called Healthier Together. I wanted us to be that community for each other.

Starting point is 00:38:39 And to this day, even though I changed the name, I still think and I hope so, so fervently, that that is true. I hope this podcast helps inspire you about what's possible and makes you feel like you're in a community of millions of other people aspiring to live their best lives who know that they deserve to make the most of our one go-around on this planet. So this was my birthday present for you. I hope you feel inspired to try a few things. And remember, the goal is not to do everything, but to create a toolbox so that you have what you need when you need it and trust yourself, trust yourself to know when you need to take these

Starting point is 00:39:19 different tools out of the toolbox. If you want to give me the best, best, best birthday present in the world, here's what it is. It would be to share any episode of the podcast with one person that you think would love it. Or more people, more than one person, if you want extra credit. And then if you want really, really, really extra credit, you could leave one podcast review on Apple Podcasts. You can share this episode. The podcast review can just be like, great pod, two thumbs up. It can be super, super, super short. It makes a huge difference. The bigger the podcast gets, the more resources we have to make amazing episodes for you. And I have big, big dreams for the podcast this year.

Starting point is 00:40:01 We just hit number one out of all health podcasts in the world on Spotify, literally today on the day that I'm recording this. And I actually do not think that a female hosted podcast has ever been in that spot. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I have never seen a female hosted podcast in that spot, which is insane. And the rest of the slots are still filled by men. And as we talked about on the Maha and Tradwife episode, we desperately need more female voices out there in the world.

Starting point is 00:40:32 Podcasts is still to this day largely a male-dominated space. And I am so, so, so grateful to every single one of you who helped make this happen, who sent episodes on their work slacks and their group texts. And I'm just going to be really honest about this. I want to regularly be the number one health podcast in the world. I want every single time you open one of these apps for it to be the Liz Moody podcast at the top of that chart. And I am saying this because I want to encourage you guys to not feel bad about or limit your dreams to not feel like there's something wrong with speaking your dreams into existence.

Starting point is 00:41:11 There's nothing wrong with putting your dreams out into the world. You can be proud of your dreams. So that's my dream. I'm putting it out there. I'm not ashamed of it. And I would so, so appreciate your help going after it. As always, you can find all of our discount codes at Liz Moody dot com slash codes. So you can save money on skin care. You can save money on workout routines. You can save money on delicious, healthy food brands, supplements. So much good stuff there. So definitely go to Liz Moody.com slash codes. Okay, I am off to continue to celebrate my birthday month because, yes, I'm a Leo. So we do celebrate for all of August. That's the rules. I don't make them. I just follow them. I love you. I'm so, so grateful that this is my job, that we get to learn and grow together.

Starting point is 00:41:55 and I'll see you on the next episode of the Liz Moody podcast. Oh, just one more thing. It's the legal language. This podcast is presented solely for educational and entertainment purposes. It is not intended as a substitute for the advice of a physician, a psychotherapist, or any other qualified professional. When you think about strength and resilience, like your ability to feel energized, to recover well, to stay strong as you get older, what do you think that actually comes from?

Starting point is 00:42:25 Most people say working out or good nutrition, and yes, of course that matters. But there is a biological foundation underneath all of that that most people are completely overlooking. I have been diving deep into this lately with the team at timeline and what I've learned has genuinely shifted how I think about my own health. Every single movement that your body makes, every step, every workout, every muscle contraction depends on energy produced at the cellular level. And at the center of that is your mitochondria. Here is the thing that nobody tells you, certainly nobody told me, starting around age 30,

Starting point is 00:42:59 our mitochondria naturally become less efficient. More get damaged, more become sluggish, and over time that impacts your energy, your strength, your recovery, and your resilience. Most of us respond by pushing more. We're like noticing these things and we're adding in more protein. We're trying to fix it with more supplements. We're trying to do harder workouts. And those things do help.

Starting point is 00:43:21 But timelines research suggests that we also need to be supporting these. cellular machinery underneath. And that is exactly what their supplement, Mitopure does. It contains Erolithin A, which helps your body clear out, damage mitochondria, and support healthier ones so that your cells can produce energy more efficiently. Because this is happening to your cells, it's going to impact your entire body, your immune system, your muscles. One study found that taking mitopure increased muscle strength by 12% in four months with no change in exercise routine, it's going to impact your energy, your sleep, your skin, your cell health impacts all of this, and urolithin A keeps your cells healthy.

Starting point is 00:44:01 Timeline has done over 15 years of research and testing on this one product, urolithin A, which, by the way, most of us lack the gut bacteria to synthesize naturally. That's why many of us need to supplement it to get the benefits. This has become a staple supplement for me. It is my top way to support how I want to look and feel as I age. Support your cells and how you age with mitopure gummies from Timeline. Visit timeline.com slash Liz and save up to 39% on your mitochondere gummies. That is timeline.com slash Liz. I very rarely get genuinely excited about skincare, but this is one of the most innovative products

Starting point is 00:44:39 that I have come across in years and I am so obsessed with it. I've been telling all of my friends to get it, so now I need to tell you guys. Here's some science first. Your skin isn't just getting older. It's being actively broken down by something called senescent cells. These are cells that have stopped functioning but refused to do. die. They sit there releasing inflammatory signals, breaking down your collagen, degrading your skin barrier, and accelerating every visible sign of aging. Scientists call them zombie cells, and as they

Starting point is 00:45:07 accumulate, they are one of the primary drivers of how old your skin looks and feels. The team at one skin, a group of female longevity researchers and PhDs, spent five years testing over 900 peptides to figure out how to help reduce the accumulation of senescent cells. And they finally landed on it. OSO-1, the first peptide scientifically studied to reduce skin's biological age at the molecular level. OSO-1 goes in and it clears out the senescent cells so it helps skin function like healthier, younger-looking skin. It is not masking the signs of aging. It's not targeting one thing. It is actually rolling the clock back at a cellular level. I've been using the face moisturizer for almost six months now and I love it so much. It feels amazing. It goes on really

Starting point is 00:45:55 smoothly. It's not tacky at all. And I actually see a difference, which I just feel like is never the case with skincare. You want to always like see a real difference. And you're kind of like, do, do I? Do I? And this I genuinely do. Because it's clearing the senescent cells, it doesn't just target one thing. So my skin looks firmer. It looks glowier. The texture feels dramatically smoother. And I feel like you can see that too. I also love the body moisturizer. It dries down really quickly, which is always a pet peeve of mine with moisturizers. I hate that, like, sticky feeling when you go to put your clothes on. This does not do that. But it does moisturize really, really well. And then again, I'm reducing my skin's biological age. I am not making it just look younger.

Starting point is 00:46:36 I am making it actually younger. One Skin has four peer-reviewed clinical studies and over 10,000 five-star reviews. The data backs everything up. For a limited time, get 15% off with code Liz at one skin.co slash Liz. Again, that's 15% off at oneskin.c.o with code Liz.

The Liz Moody Podcast - 39 Health & Happiness Hacks I’ve Learned in 39 Years

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