The Energy Blueprint How Sleep and Muscle Rebuild Your Body After 50

It doesn't matter how old you are, 45, 65, 75, everything what we are. Everything. And unfortunately, we are the worst critic of ourselves because nobody looks at us the way we do. So what happens to us? Why are we so bad to ourselves? It is the programming. We were born to fulfill the box, to become that person. You have to look good. You have to go to school, get married, have a career, and that's your journey. And then when you retire, when you are about to retire, that's when you slow down and you don't know what to do with yourself. And when you don't know what to do, you start picking on yourself. And unfortunately, that is most of us. So let's change that. Today's guest, Pam Sherman, is going to lead us to health and wellbeing through her special programming that she offers to her clients. She helps us to know how to cook for ourselves healthy, how much water we need to drink. Let's get into it. Pam, please help us to navigate the after the summer. You live in California, so summer is always summer for you, but we are in first week of September and we're feeling it. The sun is away. We're back to school, back to work. So we need help.

I am happy to be here and happy to share everything that I know, or some of what I know with you today in the next few minutes.

That's good. So how would we start? Knowing that we ate such a healthy meal every day, fruits, veggies, and greens that are supporting our vitality, what would you recommend to your clients? Where do you start to recharge the cells? Where do you start the vitality boost?

It starts with sleep. Everything starts with sleep. That's a foundation of our health. And at this stage in life, that can be very tricky depending Depending on what your hormones are doing or how your body temperature runs, if you run hot. So we, I think sleep has everything to do with how you feed yourself the next day. If you move your body the next day, your, how much caffeine you drink the next day. And every, everybody that I, you know, follow says, put your phone down a couple hours before bed. If you're a mom, you have a ritual, just like you had a ritual for your little kids. You have a wind-down time. You're not— being bombarded with blue light, and you go to bed almost the same time every day. And that's going to help you get regular sleep throughout the week. And you might stay up later on the weekends, but really sleep, it starts with sleep, and then it starts with movement and nutrition after that. Yes.

So tell us a little bit about the nutrition and how do you take us through that journey to health?

I like to say we should be eating the way our grandparents ate, which was only real food. They didn't have processed food. They didn't have fast food. They had no convenience foods. They ate meat, chicken, eggs, vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds. Unfortunately, in our society today, convenience food is easy and it's cheap, but it does no good for your body, no nutrition for your body. And in my experience, women We love carbs, but we never get enough protein or enough fiber. And the protein is going to help keep your muscles strong and the fiber is going to help keep you full. So those 2 things really are the foundation or should be the foundation of every meal that you eat.

So are you recommending any meal preps or how do you take care of your health?

I, for myself and my clients, I say boring Meals on repeat are great because you don't have to think about it. You could have the same breakfast every day. You could have the same lunch every day, and then dinners might be varied up. But for women getting, I tell my clients, 25 to 40 grams of protein every time you eat. Don't skip breakfast. Our brains and our bodies need fuel every day. Have a good breakfast, a good-sized lunch, and a good-sized dinner. That is going to go a long way. There's been so many fad diets, Yolanda. From the time I started to now that I just, I cringe every time a new one comes out because women are always looking for the quick fix and our health is never gonna be like Amazon. It is a long-term process. It's, there's never a lose 10 pounds in 2 days unless you get the flu. It really, it's a slow and steady process for everybody. And taking time to plan out your food really does make a difference in how you feel, how your exercise feels, how you sleep, your mood, pretty much everything.

It's unfortunate, but we have to prioritize ourselves. So preparation, meal preparation is part of it. And I know it takes time, but like anything else in life, we need to be consistent and prioritize ourselves, especially in that second stage of our life where we don't have to attend to small kids anymore. We don't have to produce. We don't have to prove ourselves at the job or somewhere else or to your spouse because we already have life settled. And now wherever you are on your journey, it's all about you. And then if you are happy, you can be good friend to your neighbors. You can be good to your family and to yourself. And you can be happy. If you are not, you're going to feel achy and stiff and maybe hormonal, and you're going to be unhappy. You're going to be cranky. And this is not a good place to be. So that's good. So the meal preps and of course consistency of it is going to be one of those things that are going to support our health. Sleep habits, that's non-negotiable because our body goes through a circadian rhythm. And during the night, we self-repair. We reduce the oxidative stress. We bring the new healthy cells to life and we get rid of the old cells. So unfortunately, if you don't sleep, sometimes they linger and that's when you get looking a little older than you really want to look. So that's what happens. So tell us about— The health path that you're taking yourself, maybe not so regimented, but how much water do you drink? How much water do you recommend people drink daily? And what is the substitute for water? Some people don't like water as much. So what could be a good substitute?

I'd say half your body weight in ounces is a place to start. If it's summer, you want more of that. If you have workouts where you get sweaty, you want more of that. You can always put lemon in your water, orange, lime, strawberries. I mean, any kind of fresh fruit. And then I do have a client that doesn't like water. And I just, I really just said, I don't care if you don't like it, you have to drink it. Our bodies are made up of 65% water. We are, every part of our body needs water. So I just said, suck it up, buttercup. Like, set your alarm, chug 4 times a day and get it in. It's not terrible. It's not like having something to eat that you don't like. I mean, it's just— You just have to do it. So I would say front-load your day because sleep is so important. I don't want anybody having a ton of water at the end of the day, because you're going to be up a lot using the bathroom. And there is such thing as too much water. And this is my super unscientific way of telling you and your audience, if your urine is clear, you have too much water in you. You want a light lemonade color for most of the day, not when you first get up out of bed, but by late morning, the rest of the day. Light lemonade is what you're shooting for. Some people just drink and drink and drink and drink and they overhydrate, but most people don't get enough. So I would say whatever you weigh, at least half your body weight in ounces is a very easy way to measure.

Yes. And for those who are not into exercising or they don't feel they're moving enough or sweating enough to drink so much water, you can just find fruits and veggies that are full of water, like watermelon, cantaloupe, or whatever you can find, even cucumbers, right? So just, just get this into your body. So there are ways of treating the frequent urination with nutrients, but that would be a department of your naturopath or someone in wellness. So we don't have to talk about this now, but You always have to know that water is essential to your health. So now let's go to the exercising part. How much exercising is too much? I guess I'm speaking to a wrong person because you are, that's your life. But if someone doesn't exercise a lot, what would you recommend to start with to break into the habit of being mobile?

I would say definitely walking, start walking every day and don't stop for the rest of your life. If it's bad weather, go to a mall and walk inside. If you can find a gym membership, you can walk on a treadmill, but walk. Our bodies are meant to move. And, you know, I had a whole different perspective, Yolanda, when I first started 29 years ago than I do now. I'm 59 now and my clients are around my age. And I say, what we do now has a direct impact on how we feel when we're 70, 80, 90. And the people that aren't exercising at all, their body's gonna feel stiff, achy. It might be hard for them to get up from a chair. And I, I don't wanna assume anything, but I would think most people wanna feel great and not struggle as they age. So I would highly recommend getting a personal trainer at least for 1 or 2 sessions and start strength training. You want to Put some load on your muscles because that's how your muscles grow. And I'm not talking about— nobody's getting big bulky muscles, but I'm just talking about being able to do things as you age, bring in your groceries. If you have grandkids, pick up your grandkids, not need assistance getting up from a chair. We're not talking about the vanity anymore. We're talking about longevity and feeling good as you age. It's such an important thing to think about. And I feel like people don't wanna think about getting older, but if we're lucky enough, we're gonna age. And how you feel and how your body is, is a direct reflection of what we do now and keep on doing it. So, I look at it as, I mean, really, really an important thing that you can start if you haven't. And it's not like you're going 7 days a week. You can start off 2 days a week. And then, once you do 2 days a week, add a 3rd day in. It is very small steps on this process. And then, once it's in your life, you are never gonna stop exercising for the rest of your life.

Absolutely. And that revolves around communities, being in groups. So Pam has online classes, the app. So you can do this with a group of people or go to the gym or find a Y where you can just join others who are doing the same thing. And maybe they don't want to do it, but When there is 3 of you, then you will take that extra step and make the effort to do it, to prove to each other that you can actually do that. It's possible. So yes, aging is unfortunately part of our life, but we don't have to look old. We don't have to feel old adults.

As powerfully as we can.

Yes. So the group or communities are very important. But notice that everybody is so fixated on the face, how the face looks like, not the body. But the truth is, the face is a reflection of what's happening in your body. If you are not working out, if you are not moving your body, not The blood is not circulating, you're not getting that nutrient-dense flush into your skin, and consequently, you will get wrinkles. But the good news is it's not permanent. Because as soon as you are becoming good to yourself, your skin is going to show you. You're going to be rewarded. So is your body. So is your energy. So that is very empowering and it's good to find people who you can align with or you can trust to guide you because it's important not to be pushed when you are not physical enough because then you're going to be turned off by it and you're not going to do it again. So yeah, what else would you add to that, Pam?

I would say everything is a reflection of how you eat, what you drink, how you move your body. It shows on the outside. Your hair, I mean, everything has to do with what you consume. It is a direct reflection of your outside, what you put on the inside.

Yes. And is there a strict rule of how you divide your portions, or is there anything? Because I know you are training women to, to do what, to lose weight or get healthier?

Lose weight, get healthier, be stronger in their bodies. They— I encourage them to eat more, get a food scale and eat more protein than they want to eat, because most women are not big protein eaters by nature, to get a good 4 to 6 ounces of protein every time they eat, as many vegetables as they want, lots of fruit, some healthy fats and some good carbs. So all real food all the time. I really encourage less alcohol. Alcohol is never going to serve us on our long-term health and wellness journey. And limited limited processed food because it's not really good nutrition for us and it never makes us feel good. I mean, we've all had crappy food and it makes us feel like crap. So nobody's ever eaten a healthy meal and gone, I feel terrible. It's always like, I feel great. I have good energy. I'm not too full. You just, you reflect what you eat. So that's really what I encourage.

Yes. And the joy of life really comes, boils down to how we feel. If you feel good, you will never be complainer, right?

Yes. Yes, exactly.

Yeah. So what else other than walking, um, you would recommend for someone who is not into exercising?

I would say get into exercising. If I could say one thing besides walking, lift some weights. Our muscle is Very sacred. Our muscle protects our bone, bones. And after the age of 40, we lose muscle every decade. So it's kind of like, I just had this conversation with a client and they're like, well, I don't really like to. And I said, well, how do you wanna feel in 10 years? Because if you don't start doing it now, you're gonna feel weak in 10 years. And it's like brushing your teeth. When you're a little kid, nobody wants to brush or floss, but we do it anyway. And then it's just part of who we are, what we do every day. And that's what I try to get my clients like, this is who you are now. It's not, should I go to the gym? It's, I'm gonna go to the gym Tuesday and Thursday. And then in a month, it's like, I'm gonna go Monday, Wednesday, Friday. It's just something you do to take— it's like your long-term insurance piggy bank. What you do now, you're putting little coins in it, so you're gonna feel better later on. So it doesn't matter if you like it or not. Find a friend, find a class, but lifting heavy things is gonna serve you more pretty much than anything else because that's gonna get you strong bones. And we all know that Falls after the age of 70, they can be fatal to people. They happen a lot. And you can prevent that by getting stronger now.

And fortunately, exercise also helps with mood. So when you don't feel so happy, just start walking and then start carrying some water bottles or something. Just add some weight to it as you're walking and you will see your mood will improve. And maybe the outlook on life will improve with it. So this is what we are heading for. We don't want to go down. We want to stay leveled and find something else to do in this part of the second part of our life. Something that would bring you joy, passion, hobbies. And this is why you need that energy.

So pellets. And I like Yeah, I like to tell people, think about, for your women listeners, think about, and men, what did you love to do as a little kid? We all ran around when we were little kids. Did you bike? Did you roller skate? Did you swim? I mean, go back to the activities that brought you joy and get back to doing those. Jump rope, whatever it is. You can sign up for something fun. There's, at my local gym, we have tons of fun classes for, there's a senior community right across the street. We have Zumba, we have belly dancing, we have country line dancing. Like, there's so many things you can— fun things you can do. Grab a friend and then just put a smile on your face and enjoy every minute of it.

Yeah. The fortunate thing is that we don't have to go to the regular gym. We can go to the Y or like you said, to, to the senior— is that what you said? Senior center?

Well, there, the— we have classes for seniors at my gym cuz there's a, a senior community a couple miles down the road.

Okay. Yes. So you can just go and be with people who you want to be with. So you don't have to feel like you're comparing or someone compares to you. So that's good. So yes, feeling good is very important and being good to yourself is what life is all about. Because without us, there is no one else. If you have family that you Love and you want to be with them for as long as you can, that is exactly what we need to do. We need to stay healthy.

Right.

That's good. So the aging part, unfortunately, we are being bombarded with messaging that after 50, everything goes downhill. And that is so not true. Yes, our body will take More effort to produce the muscles, to build the energy. But that means we just have to be more consistent and put more effort in it. Where we were younger, we didn't think about this. We went out and we walked a lot without thinking we are walking. We just did it. So as we age, this is required that we put more effort on it because 80% or even more of What we look like and what we feel like, it's in our control. The genetics part, it's very, very small. So we are not, we can't blame the heredity for how we age because it's very small portion of it. The rest of it is in our hands. But we're in the first part of our life, our body was giving us what we needed. And now the body is asking us to give it to the body itself. So it's an exchange, right?

Yeah, I couldn't agree more.

Yeah. So what else could you do, tell us about wellness or good vibes so we can just go and then just spend the rest of our life being happy?

Well, I want to impart to your listeners that it's easy to take our health for granted. It really is until you get sick or until you get injured. I had a traumatic experience 10 years ago where I was out for a run and I got hit by a car. I was 49 years old and I came away from that, and I've been a coach for 29 years. I've done more than Actually about half my life. And I came out of that accident. I didn't break any bones. I lost a bunch of teeth, but I didn't break any bones. And I thought, yes, I want women to feel comfortable with the number on the scale, but I don't want to help anybody be skinny. My strong muscles protected my bones when I needed it the most. So I want people not to take their health for granted and to be proactive now. It doesn't matter if you don't wanna lift weights. I need you to lift heavy things. That's gonna protect your bones later on. My daughter worked as a scribe at our local ER for 3 years, and she said every shift she worked, every shift without a doubt, there was more than one senior citizen that fell. Every single one. And that was a different generation. They didn't really know about exercise or working out, but we have better knowledge now. We know that when you lift weights, you strengthen your muscles and you strengthen your bones, which eat leads to better health later on. So I don't want anybody to think, oh, you know, I'll wait, I'll start in January, I'll start after the holidays. I want to impart to start now, and it's never too late. You are never too old. There was just a study that came out that people in their 90s started strength training and they built muscle. So it is never too late to think about your long-term health and wellness. And that accident totally, it was like my Oprah aha moment. It changed my life going, This is really important. It could have been a much different scenario had I not been in such good shape. So that's what I want to impart to your listeners.

Yes, you're right. It is never too late because as long as we are alive, our body, our mind supports us. Our natural cycles are always working. It's just they slow down. So In order for us to move this up to speed, we need to do something. We need to be a little bit more diligent about it. So yes, so agreed to that. Okay, so thank you for encouraging us to go outside and do some extra miles. And I wouldn't count those steps. Don't worry about counting the steps. Just do what you can. You can do, it has a cumulative effect. So you can do some in the morning, some in the afternoon, some at night. So yeah. So that will all add up.

Okay.

So Pam, if someone would want to work with you, find you and go and take those classes with you, how would we find you?

They can find me on Instagram @pam_sherman1. I'm on Instagram every day. They can message me there. I do have a YouTube channel. You can work out with me at home. I have 10-minute workouts, 20-minute workouts, a whole stretching playlist if you want to. I love, love, love teaching classes. It's one of my favorite things to do. So they can work out with me to see what I'm like. Happy to answer anybody's questions. And I truly believe slow and steady is the way to long-term results for your health. I am never about quick fixes or anything drastic because that just never works.

Perfect. So we are going to put a free gift that you have given to our audience. And can you tell us a little bit more about this?

It is a guide for women over 50, a kind of a reset where you can track your habits. I give you some healthy treat swaps because I find women have sugar cravings and there are lots of healthy ways to indulge your sweet tooth without it being over the top with sugar. Some things with beans, which sounds crazy, but it's really good. Some workout ideas. And it's for the person who's like, I don't know where to start. It's an easy 21-day start.

Beautiful. And that includes the cooking guide. Is that what you're saying?

I have a couple, couple recipes in there.

Okay, perfect.

Okay.

So no, thank you. We'll appreciate that. And we're going to put this in the show notes. So if you are listening to this, you please share this with whoever you know might need this. And of course, subscribe for more. Thank you, Pam. And I hope to see you soon.