HEALTHY MIND BY AVIK ™
Healthy Habits for Men Over 40: Transform Your Life”
Source:
https://www.podbean.com/eau/pb-rxh3b-1637e6b
Podcast Episode Summary
In this episode of “Healthy Mind, Healthier Life”, the host welcomes Brian, a certified wellness coach, podcast host, author, and human movement specialist with almost 20 years of experience in the health industry. Brian specializes in helping men over 40 develop sustainable health habits to regain their strength, fitness, and body confidence.
The conversation begins with Brian sharing his journey in the health and wellness field. He emphasizes the importance of a holistic view of health, considering all aspects of an individual’s lifestyle, including stress, activity, sleep, nutrition, and meal timings.
Brian discusses the unique health challenges that men over 40 face, such as muscle loss, decreased testosterone levels, increased body fat percentage, and reduced sleep quality. He recommends key habits such as strength training, daily walks, and maintaining a balanced diet to combat these issues.
Brian dispels common misconceptions about health and fitness for men over 40, such as the belief that they can’t get stronger or build muscle as they age. He also challenges the notion that restrictive diets are necessary for weight loss.
He shares success stories from his clients who have transformed their lives through his program. His approach involves weekly talks with his clients, during which they discuss their past habits and establish new ones. Brian emphasizes the importance of accountability in this process.
The episode concludes with Brian discussing the resources and support systems he offers to help men on their health journey. He underscores the importance of weekly discussions and the establishment of new, healthier habits.
[Music] hello and welcome to Healthy Mind healthy life with your host aik this podcast is all about exploring the latest research sharing personal stories and providing personal tips for improving our mental health and wellbeing each episodes will be joined by experts in the field of mental health as well as individuals who have experienced the transformative power of a healthy mind firsthand together we will dive into a range of topics from managing stress and anxiety to building resilience and cultivating happiness so join us on this journey to discover new ways to take care of our minds bodies and souls and let's work together to create a healthier happier world one episode at a time so let's get [Music] started hello and welcome to another episode of Healthy Mind healthy life I'm your host Ric and today we have a very special guest Brian Green so welcome to the show Brian thank you so much for having me on lovely lovely so Brian like uh uh before we start delving into this today's topic uh where we'll be talking about healthy habits for men over 40 I would love to mention this to all of our listeners that Brian is a certified wellness coach podcast host author and human movement specialist with almost 20 years of experience in the health industry so he specializes in helping men over 40 develop the sustainable health habits to regain their strength Fitness and body confidence so Brian's approach is very unique like he doesn't believe in diets counting calories or quick fixes so instead he focuses on a holistic view of Health considering all aspects of an U individual's lifestyle including stress activity sleep nutrition and the meal timings so with this extensive background and functional diagnostic nutrition Integrative Nutrition Precision Nutrition and the Primal Health brand is dedicated to finding what works best for each person to build a strong Foundation of sustainable habits so today we will be diving into the essential habits uh men over 40 can adopt to transform their lives so why to wait let's jump in let's welcome again to the show Brian yeah thanks for the introduction and U I'm glad to be on here excited lovely lovely so so Brian like to start with if you can uh share a bit about your journey and uh what motivated you to focus on helping men over 40 develop the healthy habits yeah so I've like you've mentioned I was I've been in health and wellness for about 20 years and uh gosh I started coaching individuals at a studio a small gym studio and you know was getting good results for individuals but realized that obviously lifting weights is one aspect but there's a lot more that goes to you know building a healthy life than just lifting weights it's one big aspect and I started delving into nutrition um and um you know Stress Management and Sleep Quality and and other things they all sort of are tied hand in hand and and so that sort of led me down the path of just getting more education around these topics and then realizing as I got older that it it was important to maybe help the 40 plus crowd because sometimes 40 plus men not not that they get neglected but a lot of times they don't necessarily reach out for help right away and uh so yeah I just started to work with you know middle-aged men and uh that's sort of just been my Niche so um yeah just trying to help them you know increase their quality of life and and um you know reach their goals okay okay I so um like what are some of the unique health challenges that men over 40 face uh compared to their younger uh counterparts but to say yeah yeah uh so I would say some of the biggest ones are you know as we age um if we're if we're inactive you know we have sarcopenia can come about so muscle loss uh along with uh we're seeing this just over across the board is testosterone has gone down well it automatic it naturally goes down as we get older um and it's just gone down at a at a greater Pace um over the last few decades so uh testosterone and then body fat percentage has gone up uh simply mainly for men around the waist the visceral fat around um you know their hips and their waist so those are some of the big ones and um you know I think Sleep Quality is also gone down in general just from what I've seen and I think a lot of this has to do with just being on screen all day um and not necessarily focusing on a healthy sleep routine so I mean there's a lot of different topics and areas that we can delve into but uh those are some of the biggest ones that I see oh that's that's that's really lovely and it's very true yeah so sustainable habits okay so uh I mean what are some of the key habits that uh you would recommend for men over 40 to maintain the strength and fitness yeah I I think first and foremost and I mentioned it already was uh do to have some type of strength training routine that's a weekly routine whether that's you know once a week or twice a week or even three times Uh something's better than nothing because you know loss of muscle mass and strength and function as we as we get older um is a real thing and you know also with bone density um so so so I think that this should be at probably one of the higher pillars of Health especially for men and women as we age uh because I think muscle mass de decreases approximately like 3 to 8% per decade after the age of 30 um and even a higher decline um after the age of 60 so you know having this involuntary loss of muscle mass um can cause an issue and and we know as we get older we want to have that quality of life where we're able to spend time with family and play with our kids and grandkids and if you're if you're if you're dealing with sarcopenia makes it that much more difficult so yeah that would be that would be my first habit next is gosh I mean focusing on you know getting outside um uh I know sometimes in the winter in Chicago where I'm at it's not always that easy but just getting outside going for daily walks um I just think that's like something that most people can do um and it's just a way to increase energy um you know sort of um balance our blood sugars and and just get us outside and seeing the sun um you know which is great just for mood and you know vitamin D levels and things like that so you know daily walks and resistance training I think are a good place to start true exactly yeah so uh also when we are talking about health so nutrition and the diet is also something so how do you approach this uh diet and nutrition without advocating for uh strict diets or calorie counting like this yeah so I mean I think that everyone sort of has their own views on this and and I what I've found in the health and wellness field is that restriction has become sort of the thing where like we have to actually like eliminate food groups or like restrict a macronutrient you're seeing this and you know I've tried a lot for myself from low carb to fasting and I think that like sometimes those can play a role but I think that focusing on I know it might sound um but like just a balanced diet that focuses on eliminating like processed foods and and and eating single ingredient foods and cooking for yourself I think those are the big pillars and the most important things other than just trying to eliminate certain food groups you know sometimes people are sensitive to certain food groups and they have to eliminate them but if you can try to just eat a balanced you know protein carbs and fats uh a mix of of all three and you know I think that uh that can just you know help with just maintaining like a longevity when it comes to to if you want to call it dieting but like I think that when you start eliminating a lot of things it sort of puts too much restriction and it might not be sustainable for the Long Haul so um I think most importantly is just eating foods that are in their natural state and um are low in you know um you know vegetable oils and things like that where they get processed in um I think that that right there can go a long way to improving Health understood yeah yeah so uh I mean what kind of or types of exercises do you recommend for uh maintaining the fitness and the strength as men ages yeah so you have to you know when it comes to Res resist training you know muscle building muscle strength I think there's a few things you want to take into consideration one is you need to make sure that you are doing some type of lifting um I think a lot of times with these gyms and these Studios there's you know they go people go on an elliptical for 45 minutes and they think that they're getting in shape but I think to be efficient you know you want to make sure that you lift heavier things um and I would say two to three sessions a week is probably I would say optimal okay and from there you know so that would be you know that would look like essentially you could do you know two to three sets of four to six exercises and you know that should be enough to suffice for uh sufficient gym you know gym time um and so you can do total body if you're just starting out and I think you know start with total body and then you can always do you know split it like my for example for myself I lift two days of upper body and then two days of lower body every week um so from there after that making sure obviously that we get our dietary protein because that's going to help stimulate that muscle growth um I think protein is one of those things that probably is underconsumed for a lot of people so um I think protein needs actually go up with activity level and age um so and then after that just getting enough rest and Recovery is important too uh especially as we get older we have to we have to make sure that we're getting sufficient sleep and recovery so we can come back and have our next workout to be that much more um beneficial exactly exactly so um I mean if you can also uh explain the importance of meal timings and how it impacts the health and the fitness yeah so I mean meal timing I think can play well how about this it can play a role I don't think it's it's like the top priority but like if you are if you've been eating a certain way and you're struggling I think that eating um I actually think eating earlier in the day has been shown to be of benefit I think when you start eating real late at night a lot of times we're not eating healthy things um and so I find that people who eat past you know seven even 8:00 a lot of times you're snacking on things that aren't serving you so I think if you can gear your meals actually earlier in the day um and to be done eating and giving yourself time to digest before you go to sleep first of all you're going to have better quality of sleep and more time to digest um and it's just going to it's going to create that snowball effect of of of of having quality sleep so I think that if when it comes to meal timing earlier in the day is probably better and then taper that off as you get into the evening so you can give yourself time to digest before you go to bed oh okay okay that that's that's very very true yeah so um if you could also share some of the success stories like from your clients who have transformed their lives through your program yeah so my program is I've typically work with an individual for six months and I mean really we hit on everything um anything from you know we start out with talking about like you know clarity as far as why they want to actually improve their health yeah and then we go into like what can they do as far as identifying like sort of those lwh hanging fruits that make the biggest impact in their health and then and then from there we know we focus on you know a proven like customized workout routine that fits into their lives and then we get into sleep stress and you know meal timing and things like that but you know as far as testimonials I you know I've I can tell you recently um working with an individual you know who was in his mid-40s and I think that what happened with this individuals he was focusing too much not too much on his work and not enough on his not enough on his health with which I think can happen with a lot of people they start putting their health on the back burner and um he realized that he had a history of you know diabetes in his in his in his family and and wanted to make sure that you know he was around for his kids so um you know just helped him get his habits back in order um and prioritize his health more than anything else because I always say if you don't have your health what do you have and um and so just got just got him into implementing these weekly habits and he's been doing great and you know he he he wasn't a type of individual who needed to necessarily lose a lot of weight but you know but you know I think a lot of people quate oh well if you don't you know if if you don't lose you know if you don't if you don't lose weight that's not necessarily um a good thing but I think more importantly is just implementing these habits and you know like just creating a healthy lifestyle and then the results will actually happen they might happen a little bit down the line um but you know if someone has put on um weight or developed bad habits over the last 30 40 years it's going to take some time um I think most importantly is just about establishing those new habits and then the results will actually come a little bit later Ander correct yeah so um what are some of the common misconceptions about health and fit for men over 4 that you would like to dispel um that's a good question I mean I think some of the the myth around um you know losing weight or around you know as we age like I think one of the things is as we get older some some individuals think that they actually can't get stronger right like or not necessarily they can't get stronger but like you can build muscle up until your 60s and 70s right like it's been shown and it can be done so I think that um that's probably one myth that's out there for some people they think oh well I haven't been lifting my whole life then you know what's the point of starting now but there's a you know obviously like we talked about earlier there's a huge reason to start and it's never too late so that that's a that's a big one um and I I think another um myth or like cons misconception out there is the fact that gosh probably that you need to strict is it to actually lose weight I think that you can there's ways to just sort of change the way you're eating um I'm not saying that calories isn't important but I think it's only one aspect of of of healthy eating and I think if we can get away from boxes and barcodes and and eating you know processed foods I think from from that alone can can all can help you sort of get get to where you want to go um I think that like we've we keep trying to restrict more calories restrict um restrict like certain macronutrients you know carbohydrates and you know I was one that was very fairly low carb for a long time and um realized that carbs can play a healthy role in your life and so I think that like all this restricting stuff has probably gotten a little bit out of hand for for a lot of people and and you can get results without restricting under certain yeah so okay uh I mean uh what are the resources or the support system like uh do you offer to help men on their heal Journey yeah well the biggest thing is when I work with someone it's it's it's focusing on daily excuse me not daily but weekly talks so we talk once a week yeah we talk once a week for an hour and we pretty much just go through everything they've been doing in the past and break that down um so and it and we just you know then it's just about establishing new habits and and holding that person accountable because I think most people have an idea of what they should do for the most part um but they they don't do it because they're not really held accountable um and so that's the biggest thing and then you know just then you know we do do measurements um some clients I do have them take uh what's called a dexa scan which is just a yeah just just a way to measure you know body fat percentage and lean mass and things like that and um and so that we we we know where we're starting from and then we sort of decide our goals based on that oh okay okay so um okay like what are your future goals for uh your coaching practice and the personal Health Mission what are the future goals of of my practice yeah yeah yeah I mean I think the biggest thing for me is I I I came out with a book uh a few months ago and yeah so it's called the stepladder system and I just took my six-month program and put it into that book so it all it's almost like a workbook so it allows people to actually maybe who you know don't want to or maybe they can't afford coaching they have a way to implement it into their lives and make it so they can build it sustainably for the long term so I think my goal is just to reach more people through that through that workbook and and um you know just help as many people as possible whether it's one-on-one coaching or with my step letter system book oh that that that's really really great yeah thank you for sharing so finally like uh what parting advice do you have for our listeners who are looking to transform their health and their lives I mean I would just tell someone that they should just build one habit at a time and not not not not try to get overwhelmed too much so if they if there's one area that they know need the most Improvement just focus on that area first before anything else CU a lot of times people try to do everything all at once and then nothing gets done so yeah I would just focus on that one area maybe maybe you that person is very sedentary so they should focus on just daily walks and and that make that be the focus for the next you know two to four months until it becomes a habit and then then they can move on to the next area and continually build from there understood understood thank you thank you so much uh Brian for sharing your insights it's really really great and um for the listeners I'd love to mention like I hope that all of you have found our conversation with Brian as inspiring and informative as we did so Brian's insights into developing healthy habits for men over 40 have given us valuable strategies to enhance our well-being and transform our lives so remember that it's never too late to to start making positive changes and small uh sustainable habits can definitely lead to a significant long-term benefits so if you have enjoyed this episode please subscribe leave us a review and share it with your friends family or others so uh thank you so much again for listening and until next time take care of your mind body and life live your healthiest life thank you much
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