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What's up, ladies and gentlemen boys and girls around the world. I would like to welcome you back to the real talk with zubi podcast on today's episode. We have got on Cynthia Thurlow who was a nurse practitioner and nutrition expert and she is also a 2 X tedx speaker. So welcome to the show Cynthia. How you
I'm doing great. My kids just went back to school for the first time in two weeks. So I'm having a really good
morning. Awesome. And how is your 2020 kicking
off amazing? You know, there's all there's so many I think it's all about mindset. But I rolled into 2020 saying, you know, 2019 kicked my behind, you know backwards and forwards but yet 2020 is starting off on the right. Absolutely on the right foot.
Awesome. So I've done a really brief intro of some of your accolades right there.
But why don't you tell the audience a little bit more about who you
are? Yeah, so I worked as a western medicine trained nurse practitioner for 16 years in cardiology. And when I became a parent which is now a long time ago my youngest are actually now my oldest child developed life-threatening food allergies, and that really got me interested in kind of looking at how food influences our health, you know, most traditionally Western medicine train providers really don't think about the connections between food and our health and
So for me, it was really deep diving into you know, the processed food industry really looking at the way. Our foods are prepared how they come to our supermarkets or grocery stores. And so, you know that then led to being more interested in the impact of food on our health, then writing prescriptions. And so almost 5 years ago. I left clinical medicine to become an entrepreneur and I wasn't entirely sure at the beginning what that really would look like and so that is evolved into
You know being you know, seeing now is a health expert within kind of the nutrition realm and I still you know, I still have my hands and and Western medicine and obviously now I've got this functional training as well. But for me, it's really evolved into looking at health and wellness very differently than I did when I was in my training many years ago. And so there's still obviously a place for Western medicine. I'm not at all identifying that that's not the case, but I just think when we're looking at preventative.
prevention and we're looking at overall health and wellness the food that we have on our Fork is far more important and impactful than we have given it the credit for previously and so it evolved into that and then you know from there, you know becoming an entrepreneur which was obviously a departure that I didn't entirely expect kind of evolved into you know, I'm an introvert and I like to challenge myself and so, you know in 2018 I decided that the scariest thing I could think to do that was within a self kind of Rome was to do a TED Talk and
So I executed my first one in Toronto and December 2018. And then right around the same time. I got a second one and then in between those two events, I went on vacation with my husband and came back and was Gravely ill I almost died last February and I still decided to do that second Ted Talk and the beauty of all of that is from there. My life has gotten very very rich. I think when you get to a point where you know, your health is really on the line and you've
In it for granted. I think most people do until they get sick or until someone. They love gets very very sick. Even Healthcare Providers. We take a lot of that for granted. So what's evolved from that is just a deeper appreciation much more spiritual connection not only for myself but with you know the world and the impact that I want to make as I continue to be very very grateful that I'm still here walking the Earth and then, you know a really deep and profound connection. I have two boys and I have two dogs who are being quiet right now, which
For which I am very excuse me, very very grateful. Yeah, that's a space I exist and I like to talk about food. I like to talk about the impact of food on people's health and wellness and I love that, you know, a lot of my traditionally Western medicines and trained peers, you know, love to refer to me and II love I always say I'll be happy to bounce people back at the if they need a prescription. I'm happy to send them back to you. But I really want to just focus on the food and all starts with food.
Gotcha. So when you say Western medicine, do you just mean what most people would call?
Correct. Okay, so we'll get yeah, so we need to go to your doctor. You've got a cough, you know, they'd ascertain. What do you need you need an antibiotic. Do you need cough suppressants cough expectorant those kinds of things because what we traditionally think of
okay, so like non sort of Chinese medicine or correct? Ethic stuff got to think okay. I got you. And so tell us a little bit more about the story of what happened last year. I mean what what happened? You said that you you got very ill.
Will you almost died? I mean what specifically happened there?
Yeah, so, I we got back from my I accompanied my husband on a business trip got home and developed what I would like him to say, you know pain worse than labor. So a clearly knew something was very very wrong because I would never go to the emergency room unless I felt like I was dying and so I showed up and and initially because I didn't look all that bad. I don't think they took me very seriously, but when they got lab work back and then they ordered a stat Cat Scan they realized that my appendix.
Ruptured and so when that happens, you can create a constellation of complications and so at the time that evening, they actually couldn't take me to surgery I was too sick the entire length of my colon was inflamed and they said if we go in for surgery, they're going to take your entire colon, and I said no. No, I need that and so I was hospitalized and you know crossing our fingers. I got septic which means like I blood a blood infection on top of that. I got a small bowel obstruction, which means you know, it was like my the domino effect. My body was in sure.
During I wasn't consuming any foods. Yeah, I then developed abscesses in my abdomen which meant I had to have special drain. I mean I was in the hospital for two weeks and there was definitely a day when the surgeon who had known me for many years came in and Pierce. Here's a tip most surgeons have no interest in coming in to see their patients multiple times a day. If you see your surgeon multiple times a day as a patient, you're pretty sick. And so it was the third time she had been in to see me and she mentioned she said, I just don't know why you're not getting better. I'm genuinely concerned and
Is absolutely a moment that same day where I was very despondent and very depressed which is not my personality at all and understandably. No one wants to be in the hospital. So it's not surprising you would you would be get the situational depression and feel, you know, really kind of sad and bad for yourself and I felt a tremendous spiritual presence that was giving me the option of you know, you're either this could go one of two ways and what's your choice and very clearly, you know, my parent and I felt like my boys are way.
Too young to do not have a mom. And so it was a very conscious effort that if I was going to survive this hospitalization and survive being so sick and being so ill that I was going to make the most of everything I did and it was this also this awareness of I'm not fearing anything anymore. You know, I think all of us even confident strong self-assured individuals, like ourselves definitely have things that you may not, you know, gravitate towards you may fear he may not look forward to and you know from that.
Hospitalization and that recovery and going on to do that II talk I fear nothing and I tell people that all the time that I just really want to live my life fearlessly, whereas before I probably played it a little safe, you know, it's the typical, you know, I did everything my parents expected me to do and you know, the last few years have been very well, of course from what was expected doing something that's different. But now I truly want to live my life differently than I did before and to not be afraid to take chances and to not be afraid to
to do things that maybe wouldn't work for someone else but really, you know demonstrating for my children that your mindset is absolutely everything and that's what got me on that stage because I was still pretty sick when I did not talk. So
ya know that that's super powerful. I mean being aware of One's Own mortality, whatever causes that there's not really any bigger motivator than that. Yeah. It's something that like I tell people off and I mean it might sound a little
A little bit morbid but I'm one of those people who I got a lot of people I'm connected to a lot of people now. So a lot of people ask me like man, how do you stay so motivated? How do you keep going and whatever and part of it of course is the fact that I want to inspire and have a positive impact on other people but also sometimes I tell people like yo, like I know I'm gonna die. I got that might that might sound that might sound dark that might sound sad or whatever but it's like look, I don't know like I'm from a very big family.
And being from a very big family like both both immediate family and wider family. I mean, I've got 50 first cousins and wow dozens of aunts and uncles and everything like that and I'm on the younger end of the thing like in terms of my own generation anyway, and as a result of that it means in the past 15 years. I've seen a lot of death. Yeah, right as everyone as everyone gets older people get sick people get into their 80s and 90s and their hundred so it's
Like for the past decade I've seen a lot of people pass away. Right? I've seen my cousin's parents passing away of seen some many of my cousins pass away. Some of them younger than my age when they did, you know, I've had a cousin who had sickle cell anemia and stuff like that. So I've seen that and you know, just then a my own friends. I've seen people pass away and then people I don't even know but you hear stories you see things in the news you see all this and I'm just like man life is not you know, tomorrow is not it's not
This today, like hopefully we go on and live for a super-duper long time, but it's not guaranteed. And so a lot of what drives me in everything and even in the way I try to treat other people. It's just having that knowledge somewhere in my head that you know what like it's not guaranteed like stuff is not guaranteed. And yeah, I think it sounds it sounds morbid, but it's actually like a very positive way to view the world, right? Okay, and I
It makes you treat better people better to you value people more. If you love people you show them you love them. You tell them you love them because it's like I don't know, you know, there's going to be one day you say is going to be one day. It's going to be one time. Where the last time you see that person are you talking about person and you don't know like you just don't know. So yeah, like don't expect the worst, of course not but just be aware and be conscious of it and I think if you are then it leads to a much better mindset in
mentality. I agree. I mean life is all about not
Playing small, you know, I took my my then 11 year old with me to my second talk and he thought it was the coolest experience ever. He's kind of like a little old man and 11 year olds body. And I think that that stimulate him and that that are of interest in them are probably not what is of interest of the average 11 year old and the conversations that we had out of that were so powerful and I kept emphasizing how important it is to not
Not feel like you have limitations to you know, do what you think you can do and I said, you know, my body was not ready for me to do that talk about my brain was and that was so important and I said and I think it's even more important that that was part of my mental recovery was saying, okay. I'm still going to execute this talk even though I knew the curators thought I was bananas. They're very supportive, but they kept saying we don't want you to compromise your recovery as a no. My surgeon is allowed me to fly with a with a ruptured appendix. Do my talk. I'm
Um and then have my surgery and so, you know really telling my children, you know, if you set your mind to something you can absolutely do it and that's how powerful that is, but I agree with you and after many years of working in healthcare and seeing you know, thousands and thousands of patients, you know, the one thing that I heard consistently irrespective of age from people that were dying or were chronically terminally ill they would say I would have lived more I would have feared less. I would have done more and so, you know very much even though I was
For them, it didn't make as much of an impact until I got ill but those influences of our families. I'm from a large Italian family. Not nearly as many cousins, but they do make a profound impact on you as you see Generations, you know each and and some people, you know seem to embrace getting chronologically older with more Vigor than others, you know, some people live in a world of pessimism and so I always say to my boys, you know, I want to be an example of how to
to age in a way that you know, you continue to embrace life and have energy and have a great quality of life because that's really what it's all about. Yeah.
Absolutely. I think it look as long as you're as long as you're getting better in some way shape or form then I don't think people should really fear aging. I mean we live in a time where I mean, I do think realistically I think that's something that women seem to fear more than men do sort of on average and I understand that to some degree but I think as long as you're I think a lot of people fear
Because they are not really improving or they don't feel like they're improving right so they're kind of stuck in this one place. I mean you go to school. Maybe you go to university you get a job and then for some people it kind of it almost stops. They're right. They stopped reading books. They stop learning new things. They stopped traveling or meeting. You people right like some people I mean, they literally stopped meeting you people pretty much once they hit I don't know their early 20s, and then from then on it's just all the people they've known.
I mean, I guess I'm quite grateful in a way with what I do that by definition. I'm constantly literally every day. Just meeting people new people offline online traveling around and so with me like, I don't know every birthday or whatever like I don't I might be cool like when I'm 50 like how much am I going to know? Do you know what I like like I look I learned. Yeah, like I look back 10 years ago and I think of how much how much better of a man. I am now than I was 10 years ago.
And I'm like, wow, like imagine the next ten if I'm X10, right because I'm going to keep getting better. Like I'm going to keep I'm going to keep training. I'm going to keep my nutrition on point. I'm eventually gonna yeah be married and have a family and start that whole new process of now. I'm an uncle to nine children well, but that started 13 years ago because I'm also the youngest in my family. I'm the youngest youngest of five, so I'd never seen other people.
We'll really growing up until I became an uncle when I was 20. And then once I became an uncle and then became an uncle eight more times, it's like oh cool like of now. I'm now got like a new a new title and a new role and I'm now in that different position. So it's like in the future then I'll be of I'll be a father like right now. I'm sitting there taking notes, you know, I did. Yeah. Yeah. It's like so I'm excited about the future. I'm excited about getting older. It's not like maybe when I'm like,
70 and I'm like, okay my body is you know starting to yeah, it's a like significantly deteriorated or something. Then I'd be a bit more but even then I mean my dad is 73 and firstly he doesn't look it and no he doesn't certainly does not act it. My dad is having a great time. So well, I personally don't fear it too much, you know?
Yeah, it sounds like you've got a great family. That's kind of Role Model Behavior. And I think that's really key.
No, being a lifelong learner recognizing that you know, when you leave University are leave graduate school or leave a job. I mean we will be we should be learning our entire lives. I tell my boys died as much as they and their minds think I'm going to go to graduate school and then I don't have to ever be a student again. And I said you always be a student. I will always be a student. I'm always learning. I'm a gigantic, you know nerdy geeky person but people sometimes make this assumption. They just make assumptions about people based on the way. They look that. Oh, you can't possibly
Oh, yes. I can I showed you all the books I have on my floor that I'm in the midst of reading but I agree with you that you know that role modeling behavior is so critical. I mean, I'm my mom's family this very large Italian family, which is all about, you know, love and togetherness and family and my aunt's how they demonstrate that for the younger generation. There are 15 of us. Okay a little bit smaller than your cousin family. But you know for me huge huge emphasis on you know, that connectedness and you know me.
Being sure that you're staying in touch with one another and supporting one another and I think that's you know, something that in many ways is lacking in this kind of over harried society that we're all residing in where people are disconnected. You know, it's always something I'm tweeting about is how disconnected people are and how do we get more connected? And it's like you can select ronix and get some sunshine and seems kind of trite but it's so true. It's like a back-to-basics stop eating so much processed food. And yeah, you know do things that are better for your body and your mind, you know, we're all turning our brains.
Going to all turn to Swiss cheese because people are connected to their iPads and watching Netflix, you know on repeat 24/7 and this is not knocking that can send anything that might be fun. If you need to decompress, but the point being that shouldn't be like where we get our information. It was the predominant Source.
It's a strange oxymoron, isn't it that were simultaneously more connected than ever than ever but also more disconnected than ever. Yeah, right you can
Like loneliness seems to be at I don't know about an all-time high but a past few decades High yet. People are probably connected to an interacting with more other people then before but whether you're talking about friendships or romantic relationships, or you know, parent-child relationships all of that stuff, it's become I mean, there's so many factors involved there, but it's like some of those bonds have been weakened in some
Aces or broken in other cases despite the fact yeah, we have got all this amazing technology in the fact that we can do this podcast. We can communicate on Twitter and I can be in the UK. You can be in America and we're here talking real time. We can see each other. It's basically magic. So when it comes to, you know, the internet and social media in particular firstly it's interesting because I think whether or not people realize it I think we're sort of the past 13 years. We've basically been in one of
Of the biggest sort of human experiments that's never been done before and I don't think people really think about this like we don't really know what all the long-term effects of all of this stuff is and thus far that's far. It looks pretty negative. Yeah, at least for the average person. It looks pretty negative. If you sort of look at the statistics and then of course, you couple that with other things, of course, we can talk more about exercise and diet and nutrition and all that which again you have
More abundance than ever before if you live in the western world. I mean you go to the supermarket. Well, I was in the states last year and I was looking at just the amount of different types of milk. I was in the supermarket and I was like, this is insane. There. Are there like 40 kinds of milk. You know what I feel like this is this is ridiculous. How can there be this many options? Like they have milk from every fruits and nuts and vegetables. I didn't even know you could get milk from and then you had like your
0.5 percent 1 percent 1.5 percent two percent three hours just like good grief lacto free soy milk. So I cashew almond hazelnut. I was just like this is this is crazy. Yeah, but yeah given that it's just weird because you know began people are more sedentary than before people are making worse food choices than before. Yeah. It's a weird one. I do think in the modern Western World a lot of the problems that we have are now
Problems of abundance rather than problems of lack. There are there are problems of lack that still exist. Of course, you still got homelessness issues in cities, you still got certain places where you know, people are struggling to get enough, you know to afford certain foods and whatever but you know, and of course health care, but generally if you look at the most of the problems you look at what people are anxious about you look at what people are depressed about or facing other mental health issues with a lot of it sort of
Thames in abundance, it doesn't stem in lack. It's you know, even even people's relationships and stuff. Like I think a lot of that is just there's just too much out there like, you know people just kind of get lost in this Matrix of just I don't know this swiping and swiping and swiping and going on this and going on that and connecting to this and connecting to that but then it's harder for two people to just kind of sit there and look each other in the eye and have a conversation.
Should
it's where an authentic connection that you know, you kind of inferred earlier and and obviously let's be honest. I'm in my 40s. So I wasn't part of the Tinder experience. But you know, I do with Fascination / concern genuinely boat for both genders. I think it's this kind of instant gratification society that we're kind of creating where these get these dopamine hits. I'm sure it's no different than when you're you know going through Instagram or Twitter.
Facebook, you know, whatever social media platform you're on looking at Tinder and you just start to wonder are we are we actually rewiring our brains in such a way that we can enjoy Simple Pleasures anymore? Because we want that instant dopamine hit and we know dopamine is a neurotransmitter. We recognize the impact it has on our brain and it creates this kind of pleasure cycle. And so, you know, that's certainly one issue. We could we could absolutely be I could probably talk about them forever because I just find it fascinating but then you know on the other on the flip side, I
Most of my medical training in Baltimore and having been a Suburban girl my entire, you know existence living in Baltimore was without a doubt one of the most impactful experiences of my entire life. I lived there for seven years. I had never seen that degree of abject poverty that homelessness issue the addiction problems teen pregnancy. You name a issue at that time. It was the height of the HIV crisis back then people didn't
live what what year what sort of years with it was that
long?
The time ago so 1996-2003 which will give you an idea of our age differences. But the point being for me it was one of the best things that could have ever happened to me because I feel like it broke me of that kind of you know, and I'm not saying it's just Americans but a lot of Americans I hadn't traveled to them a lot abroad by that at that point in my life hadn't really seen how other people lived when it talked about something that like brings you to your knees because I would go to work or I would be in clinicals or I'd be in my training and our Medical.
Campus was in the inner city. It wasn't in the you know, the suburbs of Baltimore. They had what I would call a cop in a box and so on every street corner there was a cop with a gun and literally in a box and said they could monitor everything that was going on, but that was there because there was safety issues and so they would make recommendations for students most of which including myself were clueless and I of course, you know being rule-follower did everything they recommended and did fine but people would sometimes wander off campus and they would get into trouble but one of the things
That struck me was the first time I was in a patient's home and they had very little access to healthy foods and by this. I mean, you know that it was a they participated with a program called Wick and so they would take their with coupons and what they would find is what was what they could buy the most of for them for themselves and their family where these highly processed highly addictive foods and you start to kind of Wonder and put all these things together that you know, we create these programs to be helpful, but we are then creating.
Whole generation of people that are addicted to foods that are not benefiting them. I mean it's nutrition but it's like nutrition like substances. And so, you know, I 100% agree that you know in a society where there is an overabundance of stuff and food. There are so many people that are that really lack like the basic resources to be able to provide an environment. That would be setting them up for any degree of success. And that for me is was something that was profoundly life-altering. Hmm.
talk about time periods in our lives where you just have Snippets and I always say I had the had the greatest experience as being involved more and forever indebted to the patients and my fellow students and my professors but it also completely shifted my perspective, you know, having been that naive kind of suburban girl to then kind of evolved into a person who was highly philanthropic very interested in giving back recognizing that that's truly a path to happiness and wellness and you know giving back as something that I think a lot of
People maybe they don't grow up feeling that way but they evolved as a human being and recognize that you know, if you have abundance meaning, you know, if you can sponsor a family or that's what I did even though I was a poor student. I would sponsor a family every single, you know Christmas time and by jackets and I would say to myself. Can you imagine someone not being able to have enough money to buy their kid a winter coat? No one should go without a coat or hat those kinds of things. But yeah, I agree. There's definitely this abundance and then there's this lack and we need to be cognizant of it.
Yeah.
Definitely and and awesome. That's what you what you did there and what you say you do there. That's that's fantastic. I think more and more people need to you know, do that kind of thing. Look out for other people give back and you know, it's easy to think of how to think again with the way Society is right now, I think most people's minds are set on taking and receiving rather than on giving and and the funny thing. I mean, of course you're an entrepreneur so so
You'll understand this and the funny thing with entrepreneurship in the businesses, even from the perspective of making money or doing well for yourself. You do that by providing value to other people in various ways, whether that's through making a podcast people want to listen to or writing a book people wish to read giving a talk that people want to listen to teaching people something that helps them.
Helping them with their nutrition helping them with their Fitness helping them with their health. All of these are things that you know, people will pay money for things that provide them with value. So I you know, I won big shift I had a couple years ago was just that sort of realization. I guess it's something I understood implicitly, but even with my own music and stuff, like I did always want to make music that would inspire people and they could take something positive from but when I was younger, I mean I started rapping when I was 18 and when I first kind
I didn't do it. I was thinking like, you know, it was a more me Centric view. Mmm. It was like, okay I want to do this cuz I want to get this or I want that I want this. Whereas now I think from a perspective of okay. This is my skill set. These are my this is my expertise. These are the things I have to offer the world. Okay. What can I do to help people in this regard? I mean, that's why I wrote I wrote and released my fitness book strong advice last year. I did beginning of the year I had
No plans to write a book, but I was like, you know what? I'm a I'm an expert at this. Why don't I create something? Why don't I take all this knowledge. I've gained over the past 17 years and just put something out that will help people reach their goals. I've done it for myself. I used to be overweight and I've gone through this journey. So why don't I just do that and with everything I do now that's kind of where my head is at. I'm always kind of thinking hmmm. Okay. What what what else? Can I offer people? What else? Can I give people? How can I do this better? How can I do that better?
Lo and behold by shifting that mindset it turns out that even from a kind of business or a career standpoint things started going way better. The more people you can help then the more it also helps you that shouldn't necessarily be the core reason you do it but it's just a it's a total win-win and it seems a lot of people don't I mean you can tell that a lot of people don't really understand that because you have also got this mentality a lot of people have where they feel you know that Envy or jealousy.
They'll see someone who's like at the moment. Everyone's gunning for the billionaires right now, right? So it's like all these billionaires these billionaires and it's like you're like I tweeted about this the other day. It's like you're using your iPhone created by a billionaire on an operating system created by billionaire on a social media platform created by a billionaire to complain about billionaires whilst probably like sipping your drink that's made by Billy.
Boycott billionaires by offering something that Millions if not billions of people want and use so if you kind of reframe it that way rather than thinking that they just ran around robbing everybody which they didn't do then you'll think. Oh, actually I can take a lesson from that. And yeah, so let's talk a little bit more about about nutrition because I know that's that's
Certainly within I know that that's kind of your one of your main wheel house is right there. So what let him let me frame it this way. What is the one thing or you can give me more than one? What's the one thing about nutrition that most people get wrong or most people should know but don't know
hmm. I could go a couple different directions, but I think the thing that has become most apparent to me over.
Vert with last 20 years is that in our kind of westernized societies. We think of food is comfort and not as fuel and not distinction is so critical for so many reasons because when we think of food as fuel, I know it's not sexy, you know people, you know, it's Annie It's a means to an end. I have to sit down and have to eat a meal intermittent fast and I have two meals during my day, but it's a means to an end. It's something I do I sit down I enjoy my meal. I'm relaxed. I'm in a relaxed state. But what most people do is they have been conditioned?
To Crave Foods when they're not feeling great whether it's emotional or physical. And so this again gets into this highly addictive highly processed highly excited stocks and kind of foods and so it sets up, you know this unfortunate relationship with food where it's no it's no longer about fuel it's about comfort and that's a really important distinction that I think most people don't make or they will tell me while I'm carve addicted and that's just the way things are and I was like, that's a limiting belief and that's a whole other issue.
But I would say that's probably the first the biggest issue because if I can get someone to believe food is fuel they are going to they're going to consume different types of food and they're going to make better food choices. Where as a someone says, I had a really bad day at work and I downed a gallon of ice cream and ate a whole pizza and I'm like in then you're going to feel horrible afterwards not to mention you're putting carbohydrates and fats together is you know, like the perfect way. It's like the perfect storm to be like super super addictive and
Your brain doesn't give the proper cues that your body is full and therefore it just starts the cycle of I then want to have ten chocolate bars and I then want to have another gallon of ice cream. And so I think that's probably where I start with most people and it's really, you know, the other the other big issue is again because of this, you know, highly stimulated environment that we live and we don't really sit down for a meal is like when I travel to Europe and I think if Spain in particular people have these long-long meals and it's wonderful and people
Joy their food and they save her and we have gotten so far away from not only cooking your own meals, but savoring enjoying and just allowing ourselves to spend an hour eating a meal where as you know, most Americans they want to get in and they want to get out. I just snap my fingers, you know, they want to sit down at a restaurant. They want the waiter to come over immediately. They want to get their food in 10 minutes. They want to have their check-in and you know under an hour and so we just have a different relationship with food and one important distinction is you cannot be stressed and so
Just where most of us are eating right in our cars were yelling at her kids were on the go or having an argument with someone that we work with and we're eating food. And if you're stressed your body can't digest, you know, you have two major nervous systems parasympathetic and sympathetic and so you can't be in the rest and Repose side of your body if you're stressed and arguing and so I remind people that you really do need to sit down and not be distracted by technology and not be doing all the things I mentioned being in your car or you know, standing up and eating at work, which I
I was guilty of a few years ago out of necessity but the point being you can't properly digest your food and save all these people that are taking reflux medications and you know, they're bloated all the time and I'm like, well you ate a meal that should have been eaten over 20 minutes and five and you're eating a lot of crap. And so this is you know, just starts up this kind of very circuitous situation. So I would say those are a couple of like the main things that I see that are of huge concern and a lot of the work I do is just teaching like really basic stuff to people
On them when they start, you know looking at Food differently and they are satiated and there, you know taking more than five minutes to eat a meal. They suddenly start to feel a whole lot better. And then that it's like the domino effect. Then you can start doing a lot of fine tuning
and it's amazing how it's like magic to people isn't it? Oh, yes for for people who are you know in the fitness world or nutrition World in any way or who have you know, got a San Jose a decade plus experience in that regard.
There's so much stuff both when it comes to the gym and when it comes to nutrition that seemed so obvious right to us, right? So I get people, you know asking me advice on, you know, fat loss or building muscle or whatever and sometimes I'll tell them something and it's like it just blows their mind like and I'm like, okay because it's easy to forget. You know, I start I started going to the gym when I was like 15, you know, yeah, I started I used to play.
Rugby, well, so brutal sport guess so so I started training primarily to get bigger and stronger for rugby. And I used to just ice get all my info from the bodybuilding magazines and just go through and try to try to mimic the workouts and I used to eat way too much food just it in general right? I was on that. Oh, gosh, if I don't eat protein for two hours, I'm going to go catabolic and all their muscles are going to fall off. Like I weighed more when I was 15, then I weigh now.
Amazing.
That's that's how much I was eating. Yeah.
Yeah, and I mean it's amazing because there's a lot of Dogma that people don't want to let go of and that's a lot of the work that I do is sink to people it's okay if you don't eat breakfast, it's okay. If you're not eating every two hours and I don't intact once you'd eat every two hours the more you more frequently you eat the more insulin used to create and more insulin used to create the more likely you are to pack on weight. And so, you know trying to explain to people but yeah. Yeah, but you you have evolved much like
I have a ball like I said to someone the other day. I found my happy place like I do really well eating the way that I do and I know I recognize from out of there people that would seem weird but it works for me and I am happy and really that's what it comes down to is finding what works for you and your body and your lifestyle and doesn't seem to be too restrictive which you know, it's all relative. But I agree that you know, we all try to evolve and change and try to find the things that work best for our bodies and those that don't like I said people all the time. I'm like, I don't do
Only well doing a lot of carbs, but for other people they may do may have a higher carb tolerance, but that's okay. Right and you're 30. So you you have a you have more of a threshold where as women, unfortunately as we get older we have to be like more carbs focused meaning, you know, we just can't eat as much we want high quality but not like you're going to have a sweet potato, but you're not going to have a pound of french fries. So it's all about like really thinking through those decisions can make a big impact.
Yeah. I mean there was something you said there earlier which again is interesting it.
Comes around to the sort of wider modern society thing we were talking about before and this is the fact that people don't need to work anywhere near as much as people had to work in the past. Yeah. Yeah, it seems like every year people think they're getting busier and busier. Where do you think that stems from? Why is everybody in a rush? Why does everyone seem so busy when really we don't need to work as much as we did before and
Work is not even a strenuous
like it's probably two factors. I think there are people who are unhappy in their personal lives and they use work as an excuse. I do think when I reflect back to how my parents, you know, how I viewed them growing up. There were no cell phones. There were no laptops or the were there big clunky laptops people didn't have cellphones or if they did they were big clunky cell phones and you had to be very special to have a cell phone and so in
There wasn't this email pressure. So I think people feel a lot of pressure about being it's a unit that duality of being connected versus not being connected people feel obligated to check their phone check their email be hyper connected even when they're on vacation, whereas before people get on a plane. There was no internet. There was no cell phone. There was no social media. So people really could go off the grid and they could enjoy themselves. And so I think it's a two-fold issue obviously one of concern but there are also the third is there.
People who like to say, they're busy because it makes them feel important.
Yeah, that's very true. I die. I know if you this that's
another whole aspect but I think you know, maybe being busy or the concept of being busy was attractive at a different stage of my life. Whereas now I'm like no no, it's really more important for me to disconnect. Like I genuinely need to do more of that and less busyness like work will still be there. I mean, it was something a cardiologist. I worked with a female cardiologist who was in it.
Credible human being and she said the one thing I want you to understand there will always be more sick people that will never go away, but you have to leave and go home to your family. So it you know X time you get in your car you drive home and you disconnect and that is always really resonated with me. Now my family as an entrepreneur might tell me that I work a lot but I try to try to keep it, you know within time constraints same thing with social media. I mean, I think that's really critical. I'm not sure if you do that, although you seem to always be your very presence, which I think is a wonderful.
Of thing is that you're very connected but the point being that we have to set up, you know limited we have to like provide some boundaries for our own sanity
for show certainly certainly with social media in general. I need I've been through lots of waves on them. So I mean I've been on I was one of the first people on Facebook I've been on Facebook since 2004. Wow. Yeah, that's impressive. Yeah. Well, my my University was the first one in the UK that was opened up to so this really Facebook was public. Yeah, so I've been on Facebook for a long
Time before that I was at the same time. I was on Myspace. Hmm. I used to have a big Myspace face of a really big Myspace following actually and then Bebo and then I've been on YouTube since I've had an account since 2006 but I wasn't always uploading and that's all of them Twitter. I've been on since 2009 like I got people are like man, how are you so good at Twitter. I'm like dude, uh get on this thing right on this thing for so long that I have like psychologically connected to it. I don't know what
People react to and how to do things and yeah, it's been interesting sort of seeing that Evolution, but I do wonder I mean as someone who looks into the future a lot. I mean, I don't know if you ever do this, but when you sort of look into the future as especially as a parent, I guess someone who's got two sons, right Tucson's yeah two sons. I mean, what are you what are you optimistic about? And what are you worried about? I guess on all of these different levels.
From from Health both physical and mental to just I guess way it where the world is going. Yeah, we feel good about what you feel worried
about. Well, I've because I have Boys in some ways. I'm grateful because I do think it's harder for young women to see, you know, for example, like Instagram where everything is got 15 filters and they think someone really looks like that photo. I think that there it's a blessing and a curse, you know, I think it's a part of our culture. I think that
Unrealistic to believe that it won't be important to younger Generations. I think in some ways it's great that they have the ability to be so connected with one another in terms of they want to learn something or if they want to meet someone who lives in another country. They can do so much like we are, you know, we're connecting and that's a positive thing. The things that I get concerned about is when I see my oldest is 14 really nice group of friends, but when they come over and I go downstairs because I'm one of those moms that
just I will make sure I just show up and I'm pretty tiny so I can go down the stairs by it and I keep reminding my husband. I'm like this will this will be good for us for many years to come when they're downstairs and they're hanging out and I can go down there and it makes me sad when I see all of them all looking at their phones instead of talking to one another and sometimes their messaging one another in the same room. I'm like what the heck is that? And so I'm not Mom. It's like what are you guys doing? Like go back to watching that movie or whatever game you're just go do that and just stop being so
Connected so it so my concern is twofold. I think that you know, it has some wonderful attributes. I think that it'll be interesting to see how the technology piece of olives and shifts like I have a child who codes and so it'll be interesting to see how that evolves and just because he's started to talk to me a little bit about the technology and how he perceives that it could be more beneficial or helpful, but it's always goes back to you know, I worry more when they're dating like, you know, if this tender environment is still really
Tinder Bumble or whatever these
these things are called
clearly. I'm dating myself because I just know the basics but this kind of disposable Society or this disposable - or this that's a real person that you just swiped over or swipe. I don't even know the terminology. But there that's a real person that you have disregarded or a real person that you're connecting with and and I think that this transactional kind of mindset is something that's of great concern to me. So I think about it more from the the mom
You know thinking about the dating, you know, are you are you all going to actually sit in a room and have a conversation or a do you just not even you've lost the visual cues the social cues the things that I grew up with and even I'm sure you did as well that this generation is so disconnected from real communication that you know, how were they going to adapt and Thrive. So those that's kind of where I come from. I'm curious to think since especially because you've been in the social media realm for such a long period of Time have there been any major surprises for
Are you anything that's you know, either been positive or negative that you would unexpected?
Wow. That's a good question. I mean what's interesting is that I have seen how they have engineered and changed all of these after mentioned platforms over time to make the more addictive. So most people don't know this. I mean Facebook in 2004 was like let's use Facebook. It was a totally different Beast. There was no news feed. Yeah. You couldn't make status updates. All it really was was each
And had a profile so it was your profile photo you could upload photos you could comment on photos. There were no likes like things there were no metrics. So it wasn't like you could see how many like something has or whatever. There's no news feed. There's no status updates. So it wasn't and also it wasn't mobile. That's that's a big one, right? It wasn't mobile if you wanted to go on Facebook you had to go to a desktop or a laptop and use it there. You weren't walking around with it in your pocket all day getting notifications and whatever so,
It was cool. It was this fun thing that you could use to connect with people or if you were organizing a University party. I used to use it for my music right if I had a gig I can invite because you it did have the events so you can invite people to the gig and everything and then post up some photos. So that was that was cool. But over time it's like I've seen them in the last 15 years. Just keep tweaking it and Engineering it. So make it more and more addictive. So people spend more time on the platform introducing likes.
The newsfeed introducing status updates adding some features from things like YouTube and Snapchat and Twitter. And so I've seen that happen very similar has happened with YouTube Twitter is the one that's actually stayed the most similar. The biggest change was when they the biggest change was when they doubled the character limit. Okay, and I think that was a great change. Yeah, but besides that Twitter hasn't really changed so much like they have an engineered it as hard as the other is the
Like feature, I remember when they brought in the likes but apart from that it's kind of stayed the same so that that has been interesting for me to see that process and see how intentional it is. No, I say it because I think some people just think. Oh, it's just like that. It's always been like that and I'm like no like they've they've altered this over time based on all of the billions of users feedback there. They're constantly tweaking their algorithms. So you do stay really really
To this thing and they know what you like. So if I log into Instagram or my girlfriend logs into Instagram or you log into Instagram what you see is different. If you go on the Discover tab, it's different. It knows what you're interested in it knows what kind of stuff will so all of that's been really interesting for me and then I'm outside of the world of social media, but I guess somewhat connected and this reminds me of what you were just saying with that story with your sons and their friends is I mean when I was growing up a lot myself and
A lot of my friends we were addicted to video games sure, but one of the key differences that's happened with video games is the multiplayer mode. So when I used to play multiplayer games, we'd all be in the same room. So you're all there, you know, you're there with your free three friends and your Nintendo 64 and you're all you know, you've got a split screen and you're still socially interacting in the real world. Where as now when people play multiplayer games, they're sitting in a room like this with a headset on yeah.
And they're they're by themselves and they might be chatting with people online or whatever that technically playing with other people, but they can't see them. Yeah, there's not that social interaction. You're not eating popcorn together and like talking smack with each other when you you know, so that whole aspect of it has been largely removed lots of games now don't have any local multiplayer modes. So even within the world of video games, it's like even that his changed to become more antisocial
and the second
And again, like I don't think most people kind of are aware of that especially as but you know, realistically especially like older people because then they might not be playing the games themselves, right? But as someone who's kind of in his 33, so I've kind of really seen I've been right in the in the middle. Yeah that transition. Yeah. I mean, I'm very internet and Technology Savvy myself, but I do also remember the pre smartphone pre-social media.
Yeah, even pre-internet days like it kind of hit right at that at that time in terms of my age to me social media. Especially it's just like it's a tool. It's really a tool. It's I think most people use it to their detriment if I'm being totally honest, I think most people agree with yeah, I think for most people it's a net negative. I think if you harness it well and you use it. Well, then it's incredible right? You can do things on it like
Like even just through Twitter the past even just the past year the stuff I've done through that platform and the people I've met the opportunities I've had on every level and as well as translating them into the real world spin has been totally incredible. I could not have done that without Twitter. We wouldn't know who each other were without Twitter and all this. So depending on who you follow and what you choose to put out. And also what you choose to consume you can let it drive you totally crazy, right?
Right was interesting. We gonna post this morning about being triggered and I just I did a post talking about you were tweeting about the Golden Globes. And so I listened to Ricky Gervais stes opening which was fascinating on many levels and then someone tweeted about the food and it was all plant based and I have strong opinions about that stuff. And so I tweeted something and then like three people message me who were like hurts. They're like human beings are not meant to eat meat I was like, oh,
Boy in the morning for me to have this discussion and then they were concerned that some had hurt my feelings and I was like, I don't really get to understand. I've got a pretty thick skin. I worked in your medicine and Cardiology got yelled at regularly and I takes a lot to get me upset. Now that does not upset me, but the think that Peter people who get triggered by almost everything and I tell people if you were triggered by the people you are following you are following the wrong person, and I'm not talking about someone disagreeing.
An opinion on something which I think is completely fine. As long as people are respectful. But beyond that I'm like you're obviously following one people because I love Twitter. Is this probably my only social media platform. I'm enjoying these days because I genuinely enjoy what people are putting out and like you said, it's all about harnessing it for the good and not the evil and I have no comparison. ItÃs I'm mindset of abundance. I'm all about cheering for my friends, but I agree with you that it can be a profoundly powerful. Like I never thought I would write a book.
Last year and I did with someone that I met, you know through Twitter who you know, I always say is like the consummate Alpha dude on Twitter, which is great get to get refreshing opinions from him on anything. But yeah it you if you use it for good and not evil as I say, then it can be, you know can be really beneficial and enjoyable. But if you do the opposite and you can end up being you know depressed and stressed and yeah,
absolutely you really do have to be careful and and and both of those things.
Can happen in the course of the same day I've had days where it's like, I don't know. I'm having like a good Twitter day and then like I myself will I don't know I'll kind of go off course a little bit and then the whole thing just becomes a war zone for the next 48 hours or whatever like I do normally cause it myself. Yeah, I don't know it and it's also just an interesting from a psychological perspective. Yes, but I think the I think the most important thing with all of what we're saying here is
is
The I think as long as people are able to not lose the real-world abilities to socialize and to talk and to look people in the eye and to establish relationships, whether that's just friendships or whether that's a guy being able to walk up to a girl who's attracted to and talk to her or vice versa. Like that's the stuff that I'm not, you know, I have I have days where I look like, I'm just
Sitting there, you know swiping on my phone and doing whatever but as soon as someone talks to me in the real world. I'm not there on my phone. I never had I make a point of not swiping through my phone when I'm talking to people I will be looking at you in the eye and we'll be having a conversation and I'm forgetting about that other side of thing, but we're now at a stage where especially that younger generation. Some of them can't do that. Right? They've gotten so used to the phone or the internet being the primary primary mode of communication rather than secondary one.
And they haven't really developed those social skills and ability to talk to people and everything like that. I mean, I've noticed this as well with my music because I'm I used to go out on I used to go out and promote and sell my music in the street and then I eventually moved into shopping malls. So I've met hundreds of thousands of people just members of the public out and about promoting my music and there was a shift right? I first started doing that when my first album came out in 2006 and this of course was pre smartphone and mostly
Pre-social media and yeah, it was It was kind of easier to talk to people sure whereas in sort of 2017 and 2018 and whatever I'd be talking to people and like they're not even looking at me. Yeah, right. Yeah, they're talking to someone and they're they're in and they're distracted there any different world or or sometimes they are literally genuinely afraid to make eye contact especially the teenagers like you're talking to them and they're kind of like they're not looking at you. They're sort of like looking down to the side or whatever and it's just really socially awkward.
Yeah, and
that was a relatively new trend that I started sort of noticing and I was like hmm. This is a the stuff is affecting people's real world Behavior.
Yeah and think about the impact that has on, you know, when they get out of college if they go to college or when they get their first job. I mean the net impact when they're communicating with anyone can be greatly lessened. I know that you know a pure ask me, you know, do you check your phone when you're working during the day?
The day and I said, well, it's different. I'm no longer like in a hospital seeing patients, but I can imagine that for you know, some of the younger Generations that desire to be connected. They probably feel like some I'm sure there's some psychological withdrawal and you know feeling despondent and so these are real problems that we will struggle with or just even watching like I'm driving through my neighborhood. Lots of big, you know SUVs lots of kids and I see women that are adults grown adults my same age same peers and they're on there and there.
SUVs, you know. This is the United States big SUV and they're looking at their phone and I'm like what kind of example are you setting for your kid? That's a whole separate issue, but I'm like, it's great way to get yourself into a car accident but definitely challenging for
sure. Yeah, the law in the u.s. Tolerates that way more than they do in the UK. I noticed that in the UK, it's too yeah in the UK that's a you will get pulled over and
find a my kids laugh because they're like my mom will pull over in a parking lot to send a text.
I'm like, that's right panting voice to
tax.
My earbuds and I'm like no way am I texting while I'm driving? I'm like, there's just too many things that can go wrong.
Yeah. Yeah, and I have a family member who was killed by someone who was texting while driving. I'm so
sorry. So
check for me. It's like an extra like when I see people doing that I'm going to let you know it's like someone doing that was the reason why one of my cousin's is no longer here. So like don't you know, it's not a joke. It's like drunk driving and stuff.
Whatever it is. It's like it's always okay until something goes wrong, right, correct. Well on it, it's interesting
because my youngest got a cellphone for Christmas. He's 12. And so, you know, it's interesting. Now that everyone in our home has cell phones and and kind of navigating those things what I find interesting and tying it back to social media is what he's most embarrassed by is that some of his buddies follow me on Instagram. He went into my phone the other day and I said Mom I need to change your settings on Instagram now.
Like why he said because so-and-so and so-and-so and so-and-so can see your insta stories and it's so embarrassing because they follow you so they know what we ate for dinner and then you're like and I'm very respectful of my kids and I don't put them on social media unless they have their permission but all of a sudden it's like, oh my God my mother so embarrassing because she you know put would wait. Yeah, he changed all the settings. So his buddies can't see any of my insta story.
That's so funny. I've never even I've never even thought of that aspect of it. Yeah. Yeah, they
The factory
apparently Barren has a social media presence. It's like oh my God, you're so embarrassing. I'm like sorry. It's just the way it is.
That's so funny. So what have you got em, what have you got happening this year? You got any big plans or projects for 2020?
Yeah. I mean, I've couple things Primal man and I are going to get a print book out on Primal eating and possibly do some videos connected to that. So that's one. I'm a spokesperson for a company called New Age.
So I'm going to be doing some speaking events for them, which is really kind of incredibly cool again, one of those things that you know, how a talk can change so much for you. But yeah just got group programs. I'm kind of scaling back on my one-on-one work so that I can do more traveling but joined a big Mastermind at the end of last year and that was a good decision for me business-wise. So, you know all sorts of good things and you know, the potential for me writing my own book has come up and I'm still kind of tossing that around in my head. I haven't decided if it's the right time to do.
That mmm awesome and where can people find and follow you online.
Yeah. So www.cynthiagleich.llyndamoreboots.com. I'm on Twitter. I'm on Facebook. I'm on Instagram. I am on YouTube and and maybe you can give me some tips on how to grow that following because I have an interest a lot of time and effort in it yet, but that's changing the yeah. I'm kind of all over the place, but it's Cynthia Thurlow on all those platforms.
Awesome Cynthia's. Thank you so much for coming on the podcast. It's been great to speak.
With you my pleasure.
