Why Midlife Could Be Your Most Powerful Chapter Yet | Mel Robbins

Most of us have been there. I know I have. You want to make a change, but somehow it keeps getting pushed to tomorrow. Why does getting started so often feel like the hardest part? Today, I’m joined by Mel Robbins, bestselling author of The Let Them Theory and host of The Mel Robbins Podcast. We talk about what helps us follow through, how our surroundings shape our habits, and how to support the people we love without trying to control their choices. Here’s what we get into: How to catch yourself before you talk yourself out of taking action Why healthy choices don’t have to depend on feeling motivated How to stop letting other people’s reactions and opinions consume your energy What you can try when someone you love resists your efforts to help Ways to build a clearer picture of what you want your life to look like as you get older I know firsthand how hard it can be to start again. During my recovery from back surgery, even the smallest movements took effort. Having something I wanted to get back to helped me keep going. Being able to play with my grandson gives me a reason to keep building strength today. Whatever your reason is, it deserves a place in the everyday decisions you make about your health. Thank you to everyone who voted for The Dr. Hyman Show in this year’s Signal Awards. We won four awards, including two Listener’s Choice honors made possible by your votes. Your support means a great deal to me, and I look forward to bringing you more conversations that help you better understand your health and put what you learn into practice. View Show Notes From This Episode Sign up for Dr. Hyman’s Brainshaping Academy to learn how to nourish the biological systems that support your mental, emotional, and cognitive health https://drhyman.com/products/brainshaping?utm_source=dr_hyman_show&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=may_27&utm_content=link Get Free Weekly Health Tips from Dr. Hymanhttps://drhyman.com/pages/picks?utm_campaign=shownotes&utm_medium=banner&utm_source=podcast Sign Up for Dr. Hyman’s Weekly Longevity Journalhttps://drhyman.com/pages/longevity?utm_campaign=shownotes&utm_medium=banner&utm_source=podcast Join the 10-Day Detox to Reset Your Healthhttps://drhyman.com/pages/10-day-detox Join the Hyman Hive for Expert Support and Real Resultshttps://drhyman.com/pages/hyman-hive This episode is brought to you by Rho, Pique, Timeline, Sunlighten, Cozy Earth, and Made In. Explore science-backed products at rhonutrition.com and use code HYMAN for 20% off the entire site. Elevate your daily wellness ritual at piquelife.com/hyman and enjoy 20% off plus free gifts. Support healthy aging and get up to 20% off when you subscribe on top of the new starting price of $79 at timeline.com/drhyman. Discover why so many people are using sunlighten.com. Just use code HYMAN to save up to $2,100 today and free shipping. Upgrade your sleep setup with cozyearth.com and enjoy 23% off with code HYMAN. Explore kitchen essentials at madeincookware.com and save 10% off your first order with code DRHYMAN10. 0:00 Ready Before You Feel It 3:05 Getting Better with Age 8:48 Intention over Motivation 18:38 Building Healthier Defaults 33:53 Outsmarting Resistance 45:18 Small Choices, Big Upward Spirals 52:57 The Let Them Theory 1:08:33 Influence without Control 1:13:35 What the Next Years Hold 1:19:20 A Better Life at Any Age 1:22:15 Pure Genius Protein and Closing 1:24:35 A Hundred Healthy Years

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  Because a lot of us are waiting around for motivation.

• 0:03Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Yeah.

• 0:03Speaker 00

  We're waiting to feel ready, but before the feeling, you have to have an intention about what you want. And you have to start acting as if you are going to cause that to happen. Sitting around waiting to feel ready to take control of your health, or to change your job or relationship, you're going to be sitting around waiting until you die. Because if you had felt like it, you would have done it by now.

• 0:28Dr. Mark Hyman?

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• 1:12Dr. Mark Hyman?

  If you're looking to put on another layer of protection this winter, start here. Go to rosenutrition.com and use the code HYMAN for 20% off sitewide. That's the code HYMAN, R H O nutrition.com. I've always believed that healthy skin starts from the inside out. And that's one of the reasons I really like working with Peak. They take a very thoughtful approach to the ingredients they put in their products. Their Radiant Skin Duo is really a simple way to support that from the inside. You get BT Fountain, which combines electrolytes with ceramides and hyaluronic acid to support hydration and your skin barrier, along with Sun God Smudge, which gives you antioxidants like ECGG plus natural L-theanine. I love that it's not another complicated lotion potion routine. It's just a couple of simple drinks you can build into your day.

• 1:55Dr. Mark Hyman?

  And as the weather gets colder and drier, hydration and supporting your skin from the inside becomes even more important. You can try the Radiant Skin Duo at peaklife.com/hyman and get 20% off for life. That's P I Q U E life.com/hyman. Before we jump into today's episode, I want to take a moment to share some really exciting news with you. The Dr. Hyman Show has just won four single awards. Our conversation with Doctors Ray Dorsey and Michael Okin about rethinking Parkinson's, well, that took home the gold for thought leadership. And our live conversation with Hallie Berry at Udemonia won silver for best live podcast recording. And what makes this especially meaningful is that both episodes also won listener's choice awards voted on by you, our audience.

• 2:39Dr. Mark Hyman?

  I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who listens, shares our episodes and supports the show. And of course, to our incredible guests and the team behind the scenes who make these conversations possible. Our mission is to empower you to take charge of your health. And I'm so grateful you're part of this community. If you haven't had a chance to listen to either of these award winning conversations, we'll include links to both episodes in the show notes below, so you can check them out. Now let's get into today's episode. So Mel, welcome back to the podcast. So good to have you here.

• 3:06Speaker 00

  It's so great to see you. And I have to say, you look very handsome on that set. And you have matched the set perfectly with a nice neutral brown sweater. You look very healthy, which is on brand for you.

• 3:19Dr. Mark Hyman?

  It is. And you know what? Well, that is exactly the topic I want to talk about, which is, how do we get better as we get older? And I've been getting lots of feedback that I look better than ever at almost 67, which is confusing to me because I'm on Medicare.

• 3:33Speaker 00

  What? You're 67?

• 3:35Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Like in a month. Yeah, I'll be 67. I'm a grandpa.

• 3:39Speaker 00

  What?

• 3:40Dr. Mark Hyman?

  It's crazy. I know. I know.

• 3:41Speaker 00

  Well, congratulations on being a new grandpa. But I just want to take a moment and say, you do look fantastic. I've known you for probably a decade. And you seem more vibrant and alive. And there is a lot of vitality and energy that is radiating from you.

• 4:01Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Thank you. I've been getting that feedback and I think it's true. And I think it's really about not giving up on life, like grabbing life by the horns at any age and going, it's not over. You know, I could be like retired. I have enough money. I don't need to work another day. But I'm excited about life. I'm excited about what I'm doing in the world. I'm excited about how I can contribute to, you know, as Common said, to know where I'm going to put my one grain of spiritual sand on the universal scales of humanity. Like that matters to me and it gets me about a bed every day. And it gets me in the gym in the morning. And it gets me, you know, taking my vitamins and doing my things. And it's not like a job for me. It's just, it's actually generative. And I was just thinking about, you know, both our careers, we were kind of late bloomers.

• 4:44Dr. Mark Hyman?

  You started the Mel Robbins Podcast at 54. I started mine at 59 or something. And, you know, we keep, we keep expanding. We keep growing. We keep learning. We keep discovering about ourselves and we keep moving forward in a way that actually allows us to be enlivened and also like us to contribute to the world in a way. And I think a lot of people think that when you get older, you sort of, the game's over. Like, okay, I'm on Medicare now. Okay. Well, I should be like doing shuffle boarding to Miami Beach, like my grandfather, but I'm not. And I, and I think, you know, you're not either. You're just getting going, it feels like to me.

• 5:19Speaker 00

  Well, I think it's extraordinary, just for the person who's listening or watching us right now, to really put into context that the majority of the people that know me only know me because of what I've done in the last three and a half years in my late 50s.

• 5:35Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Yeah.

• 5:36Speaker 00

  And that's a very important thing because you said that part of it is realizing that you don't need to give up on the game. And here's the thing, you get to set the rules about what game you want to play. And I'm going to take a guess, Mark, and say that if you're listening or watching this right now, if you're a fan of Dr. Hyman's, it's because you want a little of what he's got. You want to know the mix. No, I'm dead serious because the thing about podcasting that most people don't really think about is there's very few forms of media in today's world that you have to intentionally commit to. There is an intentional act by the person who is listening

• 6:20Speaker 00

  or who's watching, who's here with us right now, to press play on this instead of some other type of show that you might pass the time in the background or whatever. It's not really contributing to your life other than distracting you and making you laugh a little bit, which has value. But if you're choosing to listen to this or to watch this, it tells me something about you. It tells me that you want to feel better. You want to do better. You want to have the vibrancy and the energy that Dr. Hyman has. You are a person who is interested in learning. And so just that intention and spending your time trying to educate and empower yourself about small choices

• 7:03Speaker 00

  that you can make in order to extend not just the years of your life, but the quality and the vibrancy of the years that you are living those, you know, the rest of your life. That's why somebody's listening right now. And so I think it's really cool that as busy as you are and as, you know, you are pulled in so many directions that you are taking time to create a show that allows people to educate themselves and to feel inspired. And you're also setting an example, Dr. Hyman. So, you know, I think it's really great that, that we're going to talk about some little things you can do today that, you know, you may not look as good as Dr. Hyman,

• 7:44Speaker 00

  but you could always just put on a sparkly shirt like I'm wearing to exude energy.

• 7:52Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Oh my God. Yeah. I mean, right back at you, Mel. I think the same goes for you as well. And I think, you know, as I'm thinking about what you're saying, I think a lot of people, as they get older, they lose motivation. They lose purpose. They lose like sense of possibility in their life and what's ahead. And I'm curious about how, how do people reconnect to that? And you've done it. I've done it. I know how it's come about for me. But I'm very curious how you coach people around this. Cause you know, you went from being a lawyer, a public defender, to being a life coach, to being like a media personality on your own show, to end up doing your podcast. And so like you really, and now your incredibly bestselling book, Let Them, has really laid the groundwork for how people can think about having a life that's more generative and less caught up in drama and chaos

• 8:37Dr. Mark Hyman?

  and, you know, just misunderstanding of how the world works. So how do you coach people on, on the idea that, that it's not too late to have a happy life? You don't have to give up at any age.

• 8:48Speaker 00

  Well, first of all, just throw whatever number your age is out the window. It doesn't matter. It truly doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if you've never climbed a flight of stairs. It doesn't matter if you've been unemployed for a while, if you've let yourself go because you've been busy taking care of everybody else, if you're recovering from some kind of diagnosis. It truly doesn't matter because one of the extraordinary things, and you know this because you're a medical doctor, Dr. Hyman, but you know, after interviewing more than 400 world renowned scientific and medical experts on my show, one thing that I know to be true is that the human design, your body, your brain, your physiology

• 9:30Speaker 00

  has this incredible capacity to change and grow and get stronger and more vibrant for the rest of your life. If you are breathing, it is not too late. That even if you've never lifted a weight and you're 92 years old, if you start picking up the big tomato cans and you start doing some bicep curls, that little bit of tension on your muscles, your muscles will respond. You're designed that way. And so I think the very first thing that you need to ask yourself is what do you really want? Like, forget about the rearview mirror. Forget about the past. Starting today and moving forward, what do you want?

• 10:15Speaker 00

  And if you don't know the answer to that question, then I'm going to push you a little bit. Because if you can't answer it in the positive, you absolutely can answer it in the negative. If there are aspects of your health that you no longer want to live with, I'm tired of feeling fat. I'm tired of being out of shape. I'm tired of being winded when I climb up the stairs. I'm tired of beating myself up. Knowing what you don't want is a terrific place to start because then you can just flip it, as dumb as it sounds and says, well, if I don't want to constantly feel like I'm out of breath, then clearly what I want is for the rest of my life,

• 10:57Speaker 00

  I want to be the kind of person that puts my health first. Because here is a truth. If you don't have your health, you don't have your life. Your health is the defining factor, probably more than just about anything else. When it comes to your sense of satisfaction of your life, your ability to participate, how you feel about yourself. And so if I could urge you to do one thing as you're listening to this, it's to ask yourself, what do I really want? And how do, what kind of person do I want to be for the next decade of my life? I'd start with intention and your identity, not who you've been.

• 11:42Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Oh, I've always been kind of a lazy person that didn't do this, that, or the, oh, I could never get a handle. No, no, no. What is it that you want looking forward?

• 11:50Speaker 00

  And talk to me about the kind of person who does that. Because a lot of us are waiting around for motivation.

• 11:58Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Yeah.

• 11:59Speaker 00

  We're waiting to feel ready. But before the feeling, you have to have an intention about what you want. And you have to start acting as if you are going to cause that to happen. Sitting around waiting to feel ready to take control of your health, or to change your job or relationship, you're going to be sitting around waiting until you die. Because if you had felt like it, you would have done it by now.

• 12:26Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Yeah, that's so true, Mel. I think, you know, we, we gotta focus on what we want going forward. And, and I think, you know, to highlight what you said, it, it's never too late. I didn't start lifting weights till I was 59. When I was 50, I couldn't do 10 pushups. I couldn't do one pull up. And now I'm crushing it.

• 12:40Speaker 00

  Wait, can you say that louder for us? You couldn't do a push up at 50?

• 12:44Dr. Mark Hyman?

  I couldn't do, I, 10 pushups, it would crush me, and then I'd be sore for a week. And then I wouldn't do it anymore. And at 50, at 50, I couldn't do one pull up. And now I can do like 15 pull ups, probably 75 pushups. And, and I'm like, I'm getting older.

• 12:58Speaker 00

  75? Now you're just bragging. Here he goes. That's incre- but see, here, but here, I'm joking, but here's the thing. I can't do, I can't do 15 pull ups. And I can't do 75 pushups. But here's what I can do. I can do a dead hang for 30 seconds. I can do about 20 pushups, you know, elevated against a bench. But even hearing you say, you went from basically zero and being a twig that I could snap in half with my pinky finger, to a dude that could, yeah, yeah, dude that can do 75 pushups. That proves the point I'm making.

• 13:33Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Yeah.

• 13:34Speaker 00

  If you get clear about what you want, I want to be stronger in this decade. I want to have energy to dance at every wedding. I want to put my suitcase in the overhead by myself as I get older.

• 13:43Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Yeah.

• 13:44Speaker 00

  I want to be able to, you know, open jars and change light bulbs.

• 13:48Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Yeah, I want to be able to play with him.

• 13:49Speaker 00

  Yes.

• 13:50Dr. Mark Hyman?

  And not be like, sitting on the couch.

• 13:52Speaker 00

  And this is also really important. So we've already talked about, you gotta get clear about your intention. What do you want? You've got to start to think about, okay, the kind of person that has what I want, what kind of person is that? What do they do during the day? What are the, what are the habits that that person has? And then the third piece of this is, you start acting as if you're already that person, even though you don't feel like that person. And it's not going to feel easy. You should expect it to feel hard. This comes from Dr. K, uh, who's a Harvard trained psychiatrist who taught me more about motivation than just about anybody else. He basically says, when you think about motivation in the brain, we're basically all driving a car, stepping on the brake, wishing it would drive forward. And what we don't understand is that our

• 14:37Speaker 00

  brains are adaptable, they can change. But really, they like to do the thing that's easy. And it's never going to feel easy to do something you've never done before. And so it's very important to understand that when you go, okay, I actually would like to be able to do 10 pushups. Oh, I'd like to lose some weight. What is a person who's done that? How do they start acting? Dr. K's advice is to basically say, I know I don't want to do this. I'm doing it anyway.

• 15:04Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Yeah.

• 15:05Speaker 00

  Because I'm the kind of person who does this hard thing because I want to feel stronger in my life. And I know that this is the only way to get it. And marrying this sense of identity, not who you've been in the past, but who you're becoming, is a really big part of this. Because I think the other mistake that I've made in the past, Mark, is, you know, I hear somebody like you going, all right, I took my, my control of my health at 50, I started doing all this stuff. And then I'm like, oh, I should do that. Oh, I should do that. Oh, I should do that.

• 15:35Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Yeah.

• 15:35Speaker 00

  Well, if you don't have a deeply personal reason why you want to, you're not going to do it. Because you are basically tying the difficult thing you need to do, whether it's cutting out sugar. I mean, it could be a million things that, that you want to do to feel better in your life. You're basically tying it to a punishment, that there's something wrong with you. And I want you to change the source of motivation to something personal that's like, no, I have a vision for the kind of person I want to be. And I realize that's not going to fall out of the, the sky. And, you know, no unicorns flying into this room and stabbing me in the face with the horn on their face in order to hit me

• 16:19Speaker 00

  with the magic dust to make me do this. I realize that there's a deeply personal reason why I want to do it. I, I want to share with you some interesting research, you may know this, but for all the women who are listening or watching, or if you're watching and you've got women in your life that you love, share this with them. There was this fascinating study that they did around motivation and women exercising. And I don't remember who did it. I, we covered this on the podcast recently, but I found it to be so cool. That when, in this research study, a certain group of women were making the reason why they were exercising, personal time. Not because they needed to lose weight, not because,

• 17:00Speaker 00

  you know, they gotta get their hormones in check. But I exercise every day because it's the only time I get for me. It's my time. The dog doesn't need me, the kids don't need me, I don't have to be at work. This is the time I protect for me. It's not about losing weight, it's not about getting healthier. They were more motivated, more consistent, and actually started to feel like they were looking forward to it. And it makes sense because when the reason why you're doing something is tied to a deeply personal thing for you, now you're tapping into the internal intrinsic motivation for why this matters to do it. And that helps you on those days that you just don't want to.

• 17:45Dr. Mark Hyman?

  This summer, I enjoyed one of my favorite activities, biking through Europe. Staying active and being able to keep doing the things that I love as I get older matters a lot to me. And that's one reason I take Timeline's Mitopure every single day. I eat well, I exercise, I take recovery seriously. Those things are essential. But as we get older, healthy habits alone may not address everything happening inside ourselves. Which is why I pay close attention to mitochondrial health. Now mitochondria produce the energy our muscles need to work, but their function declines as we age. Here's what impresses me about Timeline. In clinical studies, Mitopure improved muscle strength by 12% without any change in exercise. That's significant. And Mitopure is the only clinically validated Urolithin A. It supports mitochondrial function as we get older. This isn't about trying

• 18:30Dr. Mark Hyman?

  to be 30 again. I want to stay strong enough to keep doing the things I love at 66, 76 and beyond. Mitopure is a supplement I trust to help me do that. Go to timeline.com/drhyman to save up to 20% off your first order of Mitopure when you subscribe and save. Now one of the things I've learned as a doctor is that the best health practices are usually the ones you actually stick with. And that's what I love about having a sauna at home. It's not just another wellness product that's designed for one person. It becomes part of your home, and the whole family can use it. I might use my Sunlight Empulse with recovery in mind, while someone else in my family might use it to relax, unwind, or simply create some quiet time at the end of the day. And having it right there removes a lot of friction. You don't have to drive somewhere, or make an appointment, you just

• 19:11Dr. Mark Hyman?

  walk in. And that's why I think a sauna is such a unique holiday gift. It's not something that gets forgotten after the holidays. It can become a wellness ritual for your family for years. Sunlight has options for different spaces and budgets too. So visit sunlighten.com and use the code HYMAN to save up to $2,100 plus get free shipping and other exclusive savings throughout the holiday season. Yeah, I mean, it's true, we have so much resistance to changing things, to do things that are good for us. It often, particularly around health. I mean, it's why America's, you know, 93% of us are metabolic and healthy, 75% overweight, chronic disease affects 6 out of 10 of us. I mean, it's, it's quite a tragic place for, I mean, $6 trillion we're spending on mostly preventable disease. And people walk around feeling like crap. I

• 19:55Dr. Mark Hyman?

  call it FLC syndrome, when you feel like crap. And there's a more serious version, which is FLS. And a lot of people have it. And yet, and yet the doorway to, to health is, is, is pretty straightforward. It's not complicated. And yet, there's such a resistance. But you, you also famously said that motivation is sort of, kind of a fallacy, or it's kind of garbage, and that there should be another approach.

• 20:16Speaker 00

  It's garbage.

• 20:17Dr. Mark Hyman?

  And I, and I kind of want you to expand on that. And I often think that, you know, it goes back to this, this idea that you have to act into the feeling, not feel into the acting. And a lot of people wait to have a feeling before they act, instead of moving toward a trajectory they want, even if they don't feel like it. And I, I've been there. I, I had a really life-changing experience, almost died a year and a half ago, had back surgery, lost 25 pounds, was in a wheelchair. I couldn't walk without, uh, you know, anybody holding me up or a walker. And I literally had to start from zero. And, and I did not feel like doing anything. I just felt like laying in bed, taking drugs, and watching TV. But every day I would go, okay.

• 20:56Speaker 00

  That sounds like my 20s.

• 20:59Dr. Mark Hyman?

  I mean, I don't mean illegal drugs. I mean, like the painkillers I was on. I just like numbing out because what state I was in was so bad. I my hemoglobin was seven. I lost half my blood volume. I was exhausted. I was depressed. My hormones were in the toilet. My testosterone was like a hundred, which was like a 90 year old guy. I was just, I was a mess. And I, and I literally had to get up, you know, with help and I would go to the gym. I'll get my physical therapist and work with me. I'll be laying on the floor and I put a little band around my knees and I would just open my knees a little bit and I could do a few, you know, knee spreads and, and that was it. And then I would do the next thing and the next thing. I just did every day and I didn't feel like it, but I, I, and I don't, I felt like that was my motivation. But I, I, I hear you saying that, you know, the way we think

• 21:43Dr. Mark Hyman?

  about motivation is wrong. So I want you to kind of help us understand what you mean by that.

• 21:47Speaker 00

  So you can waste decades of your life waiting to feel ready to do something. And let's just take an example we can all relate to. The alarm goes off first thing in the morning. And because you've gotten out of bed every morning of your life, it should technically be pretty easy when the alarm goes off, just to roll right out of bed. But have you ever noticed that there are just those mornings that the alarm goes off? And instead of just rolling out of bed, what do you do? You lay there and you think about how you feel about

• 22:24Speaker 00

  getting out of bed. And that's the trap. That when you stop and consider how you feel about doing something, it takes less than five seconds for you to talk yourself out of it. And this is the most normal human experience. It's this habit of hesitating in the smallest moments when you know what you should do, but instead of doing it, you stop and think, how do I feel about doing it? You know, you could be at work and you're in a meeting and

• 23:05Speaker 00

  you have something to say, but instead of saying it, you stop and think about whether or not you should say it. And then you talk yourself out of it. And so, you know, there are, there are big decisions in life, like getting married, signing contracts, things that have implications to them that you should stop and think about and you should consider the right decision. But 99% of the things that you've got to do day in and day out, particularly the things that impact your health, we tend to, in those moments, either do the easy thing, because that's what we feel like doing, or opt out of the hard thing because we don't feel ready to do it. And I believe that your whole life comes down to these five second windows.

• 23:49Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Yeah.

• 23:50Speaker 00

  These windows where you know what you should do. I should, I should really order the salad with the grilled chicken or the salmon because, you know, I listened to Dr. Hyman's podcast and it's, just listening is not making me healthy. I really got to apply some of this stuff. And so you're there and then you're like, ah, screw it. I'll have the beer and the burger and I'm gonna get the truffle fries, you know, add the extra cheese. And that was your feeling ordering it. Can you have that occasionally? Of course. But your life is the accumulation of the decisions that you make. And what's exciting about understanding this five second window is that if you know you're always going to

• 24:33Speaker 00

  kind of hesitate, that's just how we're designed. If you can move within five seconds and make the harder choice or make the healthier choice, those hard decisions and choices, going to the gym, getting out the door for the walk, putting down the brownie and, you know, picking up the zero calorie seltzer, cutting out the alcohol, all the little things that we know we need to do, but we never feel like doing it. Like I've often thought, you know, Mark, just imagine if you did all the things you don't feel like doing. You'd have everything you've ever wanted.

• 25:07Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Probably.

• 25:08Speaker 00

  It like, like for real. And I, I can only say this because I used to be 1,000% driven by my feelings. And then I was also pissed off and upset that I didn't have the results that I saw other people getting, whether it was getting out of debt, or it was being in better shape, or it was being a calmer, more peaceful, in control person. And the reason I didn't have the things that I wanted is because I was losing the battle every day, all day long with my feelings. I let my feelings dictate my choices rather than stopping and going, okay, what do I want? Let's get intentional about what you want. Answer the question. Because if you don't know what you want, you're always going

• 25:51Speaker 00

  to be lost. You cannot hit a target without creating one. And so when you answer the question, what do I actually want? And then you back up and you say, well, I know how I act, but how does a person who has those things act in their day to day life? And what are some different choices that I know I'm not going to feel like making?

• 26:10Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Hmm.

• 26:11Speaker 00

  That I could start making so I start acting like that person now. That's the formula. Like, that's it.

• 26:18Dr. Mark Hyman?

  And you talk about this five second rule. And so how does someone catch themselves in the moment instead of ordering the burger or the salmon, the broccoli? How do you practically do that?

• 26:28Speaker 00

  So I think it's, it's a great question. And this is why being intentional is really important. Because if you don't know what you want, you actually are on autopilot in those moments. And so really getting clear with yourself, if I think about the next 10 years of my life, what do I want my life to look and feel like? What are some things I want to experience? What kind of person do I want to be? What are some of the goals and the changes that I want to make that would make me healthier and happier? I mean, you know, because the fact is, you get one life. Why wouldn't you allow yourself to enjoy

• 27:06Speaker 00

  it? You get one shot at this. Why wouldn't you wake up and start to take it seriously? Especially if you're getting older like me and Dr. Hyman. I mean, time is like an ice cube on a kitchen counter. It's melting. One minute's there, the next minute, it's like a puddle on the counter. What the hell are you waiting for? And so I hope you wake up and get serious about the time that you have left because when you get clear about what you want, not only can your body change, not only can your health change, but the world has a funny way of rising up and supporting you in the changes you're intentional about. So this five second rule is very simple. I invented it to help me get out of bed. At

• 27:50Speaker 00

  a moment in my life where I was 41 and my husband and I were 800 grand in debt, leans on the house, I had lost my job, I had a million reasons to be mad at the world and upset with myself and my husband. And I became a person I didn't recognize. I, like you in the, in the post-surgery, only I did it to myself.

• 28:09Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Yeah.

• 28:10Speaker 00

  And I couldn't even blame doctors on it. Like I was the dummy that bankrupted myself. And so I was drinking myself into the ground. I didn't know what to do. And I realized that nobody else was going to come and fix my life. And if I wanted to keep this house that was about to be foreclosed on, if I wanted to keep my family together, if I wanted to become a different person, it was on me. And it started with getting out of bed, even though I didn't want to.

• 28:46Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Yeah.

• 28:46Speaker 00

  I wanted to lay in bed and fall back asleep and avoid what I needed to do. And so I, in that period, was inspired by watching a rocket ship launch across a TV screen. And it's a dumb idea, but this is what happened. I just started counting backwards first thing in the morning, five, four, three, two, one. And the moment I hit one, I had to move. That was the deal. And it works. And the reason why it works, I know this now, is because when you start counting backwards, five, four, three, two, one, the moment you start counting, you've actually already decided to do the hard thing. And the counting backwards

• 29:26Speaker 00

  is such an intentional action that it silences all of the noise and feelings and organizes your attention on the action you need to take. That's why it works.

• 29:39Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Yeah.

• 29:40Speaker 00

  And so that's what you can use. And there's one more thing I'll add to this because it just normalizes. This moment where your feelings take over. And I know that you're tired of talking yourself out of the things that you want in your life. I know you're tired of arguing against the changes you want to make. And you know, I'm going to point everybody to the most famous tagline in the world. It's Nike, just do it. And the reason why that tagline, just do it, is so powerful is because of one word. And it's not the word everybody thinks it is. See, imagine if the tagline had been, do it. Like that, that, that's like not inspiring. That's an order.

• 30:22Speaker 00

  The word that makes that tagline so universally powerful is just. See Nike knows every athlete stands on the sidelines and wants to get in the game. But what are they doing? They're questioning, they're doubting, they're hesitating, they're talking themselves out of it. Just do it. The just acknowledges how universal self doubt is. How often your emotions rise up to block you from the things that you're capable of. And the really sick joke on all of us is the fact that your feelings come first. And they're always going to be there, particularly when you're doing something new.

• 31:07Speaker 00

  And just do it. And five, four, three, two, one reminds you that it's your actions that change everything. It's your actions that push through the fear. It's your actions that move you through the self doubt. And it's the actions that start to not only build your confidence and a bit of momentum, but they prove to you that you're becoming somebody new.

• 31:34Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Yeah, I mean, it's, it's really important what you're saying because just to unpack a few things that you said. You, you said earlier that, you know, health is the foundation for building the rest of your life. Cause you feel like crap, it's going to be hard to do anything. So that's number one. And number two, you kind of hinted without saying it, that it's important to create a life vision or a design for your life so that you have somewhere you're headed towards rather than just another day. And that is what kind of will drive you forward, even when you don't quote, feel like it. And that'll help you to, you know, act on things, even if you don't actually feel like that. And that is so important about your health. And I think for so many of my patients, they've said to me, Dr. Hyman, I didn't know I was feeling so bad until I started feeling so good.

• 32:17Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Cause often people walk around normalizing feeling bad. And sometimes it's a disease, sometimes it's just feeling like crap or brain fog or tired or gut issues or whatever it is. And second, you know, the patients have said to me, they didn't realize how close they were to feeling better. Like most people are just a few days away from feeling better. You know, I created something called the 10 day detox where

• 32:35Speaker 00

  Oh my God, I love that.

• 32:37Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Yeah, it's amazing. And people just actually

• 32:39Speaker 00

  I love that.

• 32:39Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Transform their health. And I think people don't know how close they are to feeling better if they just make a few changes. And so I, I think your process of, of helping people understand, you know, what their intention is, where they're going, and then moving in that direction is so key. And the hardest part is really to get started on your health. And I think, you know, I think, you know, healthy behaviors are things that have to become habits. And it's not a one off. It's not, you know, it's not just doing one walk once a year. It's, it's the little daily compounding interest that really makes a difference of what you eat, of how much you exercise and how you exercise, of your sleep, how you navigate stress, your, your, how you navigate your thoughts, the whole let them, let me kind of theory that you have,

• 33:21Dr. Mark Hyman?

  which we'll get into is so important because that ends so much unnecessary mental suffering. And, and so those are really foundational things. So I guess I want to help, help us understand from your perspective, how people can start to really create these sustainable behavior changes? And how knowing information about their body, like through function health, for example, which you've, you've done your labs, your husband's done your labs, you've learned things about your body to help you stay motivated to do things. How, how do you start to build a life where you, where you actually continue to stay motivated to do these healthy behaviors?

• 33:53Speaker 00

  Okay, so big question. And here's the way that I think about it. First of all, I'm just going to come clean and tell everybody that I am a very negatively motivated person. Meaning I'm typically somebody, a lot of people are like this, that needs quite a bit of pain before I actually get the gumption to change something.

• 34:17Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Yeah, wait, wait a second. I have, I have a, I have a theory based on that, which is most people don't change

• 34:22Speaker 00

  Talk to me.

• 34:23Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Cause they have NEP syndrome. NEP syndrome is not enough pain. So I've used that.

• 34:29Speaker 00

  Yeah, not enough pain. It's true. You have to like, some of us, like, let's just be honest. Like sometimes you have to get to a point where you are so sick of your own BS. And you're so sick of yourself that you've had enough. And so I just want to, for those of you that are listening, that have been finding it very hard to find positive reasons to take better care of yourself. You can allow things to get worse before they get better. Or you can force yourself to start feeling better before they get worse.

• 35:11Speaker 00

  And what I will say is there has not been a day in my entire lifetime where I have wanted to or been motivated to exercise. Not a single day.

• 35:31Dr. Mark Hyman?

  So how do you do it then?

• 35:32Speaker 00

  I'll tell you how I do it because I, I want to just bust the world's worst myth that 21 days of repeating something makes it a habit. No, it does not. 21 days of repeating something is a streak. If it's a habit, it means there's something about it that you either now enjoy so that internal resistance is gone and you've repeated it so many times that you just kind of do it without even thinking about it. Or you've gotten smart like I have and you realize you gotta outsmart yourself. You gotta set traps for the old, unhealthy, unmotivated you.

• 36:14Speaker 00

  And so for me, I focus more on the environment and setting up my physical environment so that I don't have a choice. And let me, let me explain.

• 36:27Dr. Mark Hyman?

  It's like walking through the duty free shop at the airports. They make you, they make you go through it.

• 36:31Speaker 00

  Correct. Yes, of course. Because they want it, because what's in front of you is what you're going to grab for. And so like, this is kind of common sense. If you wake up in the morning and you're not motivated to exercise, here's a couple hacks that your friend Mel Robbins uses. Cause I wake up in the morning, I have a hard enough time getting out of bed and I invented the damn five, four, three, two, one. I still use it 16 years later because here's the important thing. There are things in your life that you need to do in order to have the life that you want, that you may never, ever feel like doing. I'll give you an example. I never feel like picking up the dog poop in our yard. But I would like to be able to run barefoot through the yard.

• 37:16Speaker 00

  I make myself do it. When I open up the dishwasher and it's clean and that puff of smoke comes out, right? You know what I want to do, Mark? Cause I'm a selfish jerk. I want to shove the door back in and run away and pretend I didn't see it. So my husband has to unload it. So there are things that I don't like doing that I make myself do, right? And the same is true for you as you're listening or watching. So you know how to do things you don't want to do. So for me, here's a couple hacks that I have. Because I five, four, three, two, one and get out of bed. And one of the other traps that I set for myself, Mark, is I put my phone across the room and my alarm is on it. So when the alarm goes off, I have a problem.

• 38:01Speaker 00

  I have to get out of bed to turn the alarm off. I have left myself no choice. Do you see how this works? Because I can't trust myself. When I walk into the closet, I've set up the environment so I have no choice. I've picked out the exercise clothes and laid them on the floor of the closet. Because now they're right there. I don't have to think. So I pull them on. I walk into the kitchen and out on the counter is my mason jar and my creatine and my protein shot. I don't have a choice. It's right there. What kind of a jerk am I to myself if I don't do it? And for exercise, I always pre pick what I'm going to do.

• 38:46Speaker 00

  Because what I have found about myself is that, is that if I go to a gym, either in my house or at a hotel, and I do not have a plan, I will walk in, do a loop and leave. I won't do anything. I'll get overwhelmed and that will become the excuse. If I am going to walk today, I know I'm walking today and I have an audio book I'm going to listen to. And so these are small ways, you see what I'm doing? Where I'm using the environment to make it easier to cue myself to make the healthier choice. If you want to eat healthier, as dumb as it sounds, make sure unhealthy stuff isn't in your house. Like I was just complaining to my husband last night, we don't have any cookies for this house. Like I, why have we stopped buying dessert?

• 39:30Speaker 00

  I get so mad at night. We don't have anything sweet.

• 39:33Dr. Mark Hyman?

  I go to like, look at the ice cream and there's no ice cream. It's very upsetting.

• 39:37Speaker 00

  There's no ice cream. And you know, you, you can do this within reason, but the reason why I'm being funny about this is because I think we have thought about, like, we have, we have demonized ourselves.

• 39:52Speaker 00

  For not having willpower or determination or motivation. And then we feel bad and we beat ourselves up and we feel even worse. And that makes it harder to stop because we now have all this evidence that every time we've tried, it hasn't worked. And so I just got sick of beating myself up. And I was like, if I am going to really make healthier choices, especially as my hormones are changing, then what could I actually do to make this easier and a little bit more fun? Because if it's fun and if it's easy, then you're likely to do it. Life is hard enough. And so I'd like to invite you, as you're listening, to think about whatever your health goal is, how could you make it easier?

• 40:36Speaker 00

  How could you make it visible? How could you make it more fun? How could you trap the old you? And how could you set up the environment, whether it's your bedroom or it's your kitchen or whatever it may be, so that you're set up for success? And I kid you not, picking the workout the night before or lining up what you're gonna do for the next seven days, it's a game changer because you don't have to think.

• 41:03Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Yeah, same thing with food, just like having a few meals that you make, that you have the ingredients in the house. It's not, it's nothing you have to think about. It's easy. The default choice is the healthy choice as opposed to having a kitchen full of snacks and ice cream and cookies.

• 41:15Speaker 00

  Let me ask you this, Dr. Hyman. Have you noticed that the more boring your meals are? It's the same things, same five things you're making. You know what works for you. I basically eat the same two breakfasts, seven days a week.

• 41:35Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Yeah, me too.

• 41:36Speaker 00

  And simplifying things so that you can make it easy and making it things that you like to eat, like that, it just, there's something about health and making it a little boring and routine that gives you better results.

• 41:53Dr. Mark Hyman?

  It's true. What you're saying is so important. You want to set up your environment to make the default choice, the healthy choice. And most people don't do that. They do the opposite. And, and, and, you know, so when you're, when you sort of have to get up out of bed to turn your alarm off for you, you have your workout all set or you have your clothes there, you have your shake and your protein shot there and your creatine, like you're gonna do it. And if you don't have it there, you're gonna, ah, screw it, I'm just gonna.

• 42:16Speaker 00

  Yes, I'll get it, I'll get it later.

• 42:18Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Yeah.

• 42:18Speaker 00

  And you mean to get it later, but then you forget and then you're running late and then this and then that. And so I just find having a little grace for yourself.

• 42:26Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Well, one of the things people don't realize is that, is that they're just a few days away from feeling better and they don't realize what they're walking around with. There's brain fog or joint pain or gut issues or, you know, just feeling like crap is something that they don't have to endure and live with, that these are signals from the body that they're not listening to. And I think what I want to encourage most people to do is start to listen to those signals and realize that they're clues. They're like your car making noises and you gotta take it to the mechanic. It's not normal for your car to make a bunch of noises and you gotta do something about it. And I think in the same way, and it's part of why I co-founded Function Health was to help people be empowered with their own health data to learn about what's going on. It's sort of look and actually find solvable problems. Like you mentioned, your husband, we were chatting earlier, you know, he found something

• 43:09Dr. Mark Hyman?

  on his results that he didn't know that is probably significantly affecting his health, his aging, his motivation, his cognitive function, his energy, his sexual function, all of this.

• 43:17Speaker 00

  Yeah, he's low testosterone.

• 43:18Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Yeah. And that's something that, you know, you wouldn't know unless you, oh, I'm just kind of not so motivated. I feel a little depressed. I like, I don't know, I'm not as sexually, you know, desirous as I was or whatever the thing is, you just normalize these things that are not normal. And I, I can tell you like, I like, I'm 60, almost 67, like I feel better than I've ever felt. And, you know, and maybe when I was 25, I felt, but I'm like at their medical school residency, working, it's like this is, it's incredible to see how the body can respond. And you mentioned whether you're 90 and start picking up tomato cans, the body wants to be healthy. It's, it's sort of, it's default desire. And, you know, your body having symptoms is your body's way of getting your attention and, and telling you that something's off that you have to address.

• 44:03Dr. Mark Hyman?

  And I think that's, that's important. And I think what you're talking about is some of the ways that people can start to, you know, begin to set up their environment, their life and their intention, what they want to be, how they want to feel, what they want to do, what they want to do with the rest of your life. It's really important. And I think a lot of people walk around losing that, that energy and motivation and vitality, but it's really available. And I, and I can, I know that as a doctor, I know that for myself. It's just, it's just so many people don't have that understanding and they think it's them, they blame themselves, they have deprecating self-talk and they're, or they compare themselves to others and they go, what they're doing, I don't know why I can't, why I'm overweight, why I'm tired, why I'm this, why I'm that. And I think, you know, you're, you're, you really help people engage with the, the part of themselves, that, that little part of themselves that actually wants to have a better life.

• 44:47Dr. Mark Hyman?

  That's kind of all, by some of your work, it's like you're, you're getting people excited because everybody wants to have a little better life, a little better health, a little better relationships, a little better, you know, career motivation to do what they want in the world. And that's really, you know, that's a real gift. And, and I think your, your work is so much about that. And I just really acknowledge that for you because it's, it's not easy, but you know, you're, you're kind of pointing the way for people and giving them that opportunity to rethink how they live the next part of their life and how they age and, and how they live like a longer, not just longer life, but a better life. Sleep isn't just downtime. It's an active biological process that helps you regulate your hormones, your blood sugar, your immune system, your brain function, and so much more.

• 45:30Dr. Mark Hyman?

  And that's why sleep is one of the foundational areas I focus on in functional medicine and one of the first things I want to understand when I'm working with a patient. And while there are a lot of factors that affect sleep, one simple place to start is your sleep environment. Is your bedroom comfortable? Is it a place where you can actually relax and wind down? That's one reason I've been using Cozy Earth Sheets. They're incredibly comfortable and they make my bedroom feel like a place I generally go for to ending the day in. So go to cozyearth.com and use the code HYMAN for up to 30% off home and sleepware. That's cozyearth.com and use the code HYMAN. And when they ask you where you heard about them, say Dr. Hyman sent you. Some of my favorite memories are made in the kitchen, especially around the holidays. There's something really special about cooking for people you love, gathering around the table and sharing a meal.

• 46:16Dr. Mark Hyman?

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• 46:59Speaker 00

  You know, I think it's easy in life to find yourself in sort of a downward spiral. And what I like that you keep saying, Dr. Hyman, is you're just a few days away from feeling better. And I can actually prove that statement to you. Because if you've ever been dragged on a walk after dinner, or if you've ever forced yourself out the door for a walk in the morning, or maybe you have a dog, so you didn't have a choice, you gotta go out for a walk because, you know, you don't want to, you don't, you don't care enough about yourself right now, but you do care about your dog. And so you get up, when you're done with a 10-minute walk, you actually do feel better.

• 47:40Speaker 00

  And that right there is evidence of a singular choice that had a material felt impact on your energy, on your thinking, on your mood. And if it's true about a 10-minute walk, I want you to really embrace what Dr. Hyman's saying and what I'm telling you, which is you can also create an upward spiral by the small choices that you make, the things that you remove from your life, whether that's people or certain foods or certain sort of substances, the things you add in, whether

• 48:21Speaker 00

  it's a little bit more time with friends, a little bit, you know, more physical movement. And if you're doing things and you're not seeing a result, I think that's when you kind of turn to the experts and you ask yourself, okay, what am I missing here? And, you know, I can share a story because I remember when I was starting to hit my late 40s and the, I've always been active, even though I don't feel motivated to do so. I, I think in my twenties and thirties, I was driven by wanting to be thin and by vanity. And it wasn't until my 40s that I started to really become more educated about just my mood and my physical health and wanting to live a long and healthy life.

• 49:06Speaker 00

  So my motivation started to change. But after years of running, hiking, Pilates, yoga, all of a sudden, like, I'm like, where is this flesh fanny pack coming from? Why is it that I haven't changed anything and I've got meat wings hanging down from my arms? What the hell is going on with my body? Yes, I'd get so mad because my husband and I would do these cleanses or we'd take on these physical challenges or whatever, and he would come out of them looking like a ripped Adonis with a six-pack and I'd be still standing there feeling like very puffy and fluffy. And it wasn't until I started to understand, wait a minute, there's something going on inside me.

• 49:51Speaker 00

  And that something is what happens to every woman, which is as my hormones have basically changed, I mean, you basically go through a hormonal castration when you go through menopause and perimenopause and you have no more estrogen left in a body that has been thriving on estrogen your entire life, of course, everything's gonna go into disarray. And it's, when you start to understand it's not you, there's something going on inside of you that is trying to tell you something.

• 50:31Speaker 00

  That's when, like, one of the reasons why it's so important to understand what's going on with your health, changes, or whatever may be going on internally, is because when you have the information, you can make smarter decisions. Like, I was not a weightlifter until I understood that it's critical for women in menopause to be lifting weights. It's critical for longevity. And it wasn't until I got onto HRT and I started prioritizing protein, because all the experts are just, you know, telling us, "You've gotta have more complete protein. You gotta have more complete protein." And I also stopped with the cardio and started really focusing on resistance training, that

• 51:14Speaker 00

  absolutely everything changed, because I knew what I was dealing with. And so, part of what's exciting about living in the world today is you do not have to suffer in isolation. You do not have to suffer without knowledge. There is so much information available to you in today's world, that if you do want to feel better, if you do want to be stronger, if you do want more energy, if you have symptoms that you don't like living with, I guarantee you with a little bit of research, you can absolutely figure out what the cause might be, and you can do something about it, and you deserve that.

• 51:57Dr. Mark Hyman?

  I agree. I mean, I think people need to understand that. I'm a doctor, and I have trained in medicine, and I treat patients. But at the end of the day, everybody's health is something they're accountable for, and they have to take charge of. They have to be the CEO of their own health, and they have to realize they have agency over their health, and don't have to rely on the healthcare system, because it's not a healthcare system, it's a disease care system. And it's fine if you have some serious thing, or an acute illness, or you need surgery, like I did, but for creating health, we don't know how to do that. Doctors don't take a course in medical school called Creating Health 101. We have no clue. If you go to your doctor, "I want to really improve and optimize my health," they'll go, "Okay, eat better, exercise more." Like, that's not really helpful advice. And so, that's really why things like Function Health are so powerful, because they empower people with their data, with understanding, with information.

• 52:39Dr. Mark Hyman?

  And it's really, the ear win is really exciting. I want to talk about a different part of health. We've talked about physical health, and what causes resistance to it, and how we motivate ourselves, how we construct our environments, and how actually we can change at any age, and we can get better. But there's another piece, which is our mental health. And a lot of suffering, let's call them mental symptoms, come from how we relate to our experience, how we relate to people, how we relate to other people, how we relate to ourselves. And you wrote a book called The Let Them Theory, which sold a stupid amount of number of books.

• 53:19Dr. Mark Hyman?

  It's incredible how, I'm like, in a million languages already, and it lays out like concepts that are somewhat familiar to me, related to Buddhism, and non-hatchaman, and Stoicism, and other areas, that these are universal concepts. But you've kind of refreshed it into the modern world, that gives people access to it. And this whole idea is that suffering comes from trying to change people, and they don't want to change, and we cause suffering. I had this experience with people in my family, like we all do, and I'm like, "Why don't you just do this?"

• 53:51Speaker 00

  Well, that's why we have families. You know that, Dr. Hyman? We have families, because they teach you how to love people you hate sometimes.

• 53:58Dr. Mark Hyman?

  There you go. I don't really hate my family, but I get it. And I think that, tell us how you kind of came up with this, why it's so important for people to reset their perceptions, and their experiences, and their beliefs around other people and themselves. And it's not just the "let them" theory, it's also the "let me" theory, which people often don't highlight in your work, but I think it's important we discuss that, because they're two sides of an important coin, and one without the other, it doesn't actually work. So, walk us through what it is, and why it's important, and how it can help us end our mental suffering. You know, what does Bob Marley say? "Only, what is it, none but ourselves can free our mind, end our mental slavery," something like that. It's like, that's what we need to do.

• 54:43Speaker 00

  So, the "let them" theory is a very, very simple way to have more control, power, and peace in your life. And you are correct, one of the most, you are correct when you say, "There's lots in this book that feels familiar. It feels like Buddhism, it feels like radical acceptance, it feels like Stoicism, it feels like the Serenity Prayer, it feels like things that I have heard at the kitchen table." And what I have done in creating the "Let Them" theory, is I have boiled Stoicism down to four words.

• 55:23Speaker 00

  And the first part of the theory teaches you how to stop trying to control things you cannot control. Because any psychologist and medical doctor will tell you that the fastest way to stress yourself out, and cause chronic inflammation, and probably IBS, and everything else, is to attempt to control things you will never be able to control. And so, here's how you use it, okay? You, in any moment, at any point in the day, when you feel yourself starting to get pissed

• 56:02Speaker 00

  off, frustrated, annoyed, upset, worried, bothered, anything, just say "let them." And "let them" is a boundary, "let them" is a cue, "let them" is you reminding yourself, "I can't control traffic." Let them. "I can't control whether or not Austin is doing construction on a Monday morning, these fricking idiots, why would they be doing construction?" Let them. Because if I can't control what's happening, why would I allow it to steal my energy, and my peace, and my attention right now? If somebody is being rude, let them.

• 56:45Speaker 00

  If somebody is talking behind your back, let them. If somebody misunderstands you, let them. Now, here's what's important. When you say "let them," particularly when somebody is disrespecting you, you're not allowing anyone to do anything. When you say "let them," you're forcing yourself to recognize that this idiot, and their, like, disrespect is not something I can control. The best thing I can do is to put up a boundary and remind myself, "I can't control this person that's yelling at me right now in a retail store, so I'm just gonna say 'let them,'" because I refuse to allow their negativity into my mind or body. Then you say the second part, "let me."

• 57:28Speaker 00

  "Let me remind myself in every moment that what is in my control is how I respond to this." This is Viktor Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning, central thesis of the book. "It's what you do in response to life that determines your experience of life." And there's a lot of things that are going on in the world that are unfair, there's a lot of people running around doing very disrespectful and awful things, and your job is not to control it, it's to recognize in day-to-day moments, what's in my control, and what is not in my control. And focus your energy on what's in your control, and what's in your control at all times is you.

• 58:11Speaker 00

  How you respond, what you say, what you do or don't do, and what you do in response to the feelings that rise up inside you. And what I love about it, and the reason why it has spread around the world, 11 million books sold in 19 months, 67 languages, it is the single most successful nonfiction book launch in history. You know, that doesn't happen because of a marketing campaign. That happens because people read it, and they can apply it in their lives, and then they recommend it. And what I love about this, and this is another big mistake that people make with it, is people love saying "let them," because it rhymes with "F them." And, you know, you're kind of like, "Let them, you know, let my sister not help with my

• 58:55Speaker 00

  mom, let my doctor not call me back, let my boss be a jerk." But what happens is, the more you say "let them, let them, let them," the more you're kind of left with yourself. And it's the second part where you say, "Well, let me. Let me remind myself that my, the kind of relationship that I want with my siblings depended on me, not them. And if I recognize that my boss keeps, like, not promoting me, it's not my boss's job to actually promote me, it's my job to recognize the situation I'm in, and leave it, because I have the power." You're not stuck in any conversation, you're not stuck in any job, you're not stuck in

• 59:39Speaker 00

  any relationship. But we spend so much energy, Mark, focused on everybody else.

• 59:46Speaker 00

  That we miss where the power is. The power is not in changing other people. The power is in changing yourself. Because when you change how you show up, you change how much time you pour into something. You change how much access people have to you. You change the compassion that you bring to situations. Your change changes everything. And what I love the most about this is that, you know, for me personally, I wrote the book with our oldest child, our daughter named Sawyer, who's 27 years old. And, you know, every one of us has a relationship in our life where you have somebody that you love and you just wish you could be closer.

• 1:00:27Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Yeah.

• 1:00:27Speaker 00

  And for whatever reason, you just...

• 1:00:30Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Miss each other.

• 1:00:30Speaker 00

  Yeah, to miss each other. And you frustrate each other and you can't underst- why can't it be easier? And we wrote this book together and we pissed each other off all the time because we were very, very different. And we would literally say, "Let her, let her, let her, let me." All day long as we're working together. And what happened was very interesting. When you say, "Let them," you're not only creating a boundary and reminding yourself, "I can't control this other person. I can't control their happiness. I can't control their mood. I can't control like what they're gonna say next. I just need to let them be who they are and be who they're not. Not control them, not change them. You're actually operating with acceptance.

• 1:01:15Speaker 00

  And you're stopping yourself from crossing a line and trying to change a person in your life. And the other person starts to feel it. You create this space where somebody can be as they are and they can be as they're not without you reacting and trying to change them. And what I noticed and what my daughter noticed is the more that we said, "Let her" and then "Let me take responsibility for just kind of how I'm gonna show up right now," the closer we became. We stopped judging each other. We stopped criticizing each other. We stopped trying to change each other. We stopped wishing each other were different. And we both learned how to see each other exactly as we are and as exactly as we aren't.

• 1:02:00Speaker 00

  Now, we still piss each other off, but there's this deep, deep sense of acceptance and connection versus what I think a lot of us are doing in relationships, or at least I'll speak for myself, is trying to change everybody to be the way I want them to be. Versus learning how to accept and love people as they are and just change the way I'm showing up so that it works better.

• 1:02:25Dr. Mark Hyman?

  You know, the "Let me" part is important because then let's decide what you're gonna do, what you're gonna allow, what you're gonna communicate, what you're gonna change, your boundaries. Like, you basically get to take care of yourself and not stop worrying about taking care of them, which never works.

• 1:02:41Speaker 00

  Yeah, well, and this is part of it. Is that, you know, if you're holding on to the handle of a locked door and you're like, "Why is this not opening?" And you're like, putting all this effort into like getting the door to open. You can't reach for the open door until you let go of the thing that's not working. And so, this is also important because the "Let them" part is when you cue yourself to stop doing what you always do. Stop trying to change them. Stop trying to force them to lose weight. Stop trying to make them take their medication. Stop trying to get them to the doctor. Yes, you're doing it because you love them. But when you push somebody, you're not motivating them. You're actually activating somebody's need to feel in control of themselves.

• 1:03:25Speaker 00

  This is why your spouse is resisting your pressure to lose weight, your pressure to go to the doctor, your pressure to take testosterone, in my case. Because I'm like, "Chris, you have low T. You better take some testosterone." That was the one most effective way in the world to make him not want to take it, is telling him to do it. Letting him have the dignity of his own experience. Letting him know that I was worried about him and I want him to feel better and that I was hoping that he would speak to some medical professionals about it gives him the space to be in control of changing on his timeline. And that's the most influential way

• 1:04:08Speaker 00

  to actually influence somebody else to change. It's to stop bitching about it, to stop pushing them to do things, to stop making the, you know, if you ate a little salad, you know, maybe if you parked the car a little further away at the grocery store and got your steps in. That's not support. That's actually criticism. And what you're doing is you're forcing the other person to wall themselves off from you and to avoid the changes they probably know they need to make because they don't want to hear those words. "See, I told you."

• 1:04:40Dr. Mark Hyman?

  And you get to decide what you want to be in relationship with them, how you want to be in relationship with them, whether you want to be in a relationship with them. Like, you get to choose for yourself. Because sometimes the relationships need to end or sometimes, you know, you need to just shift your expectations. And I'm so curious, though, like, as you've thought about this a lot. The question that comes up for me is, why are humans wired the other way? Like, it seems like it's not like a... It's not an unusual problem. Like, obviously 11 million people bought the book. That's historic. And so, you've hit on something.

• 1:05:11Speaker 00

  I have an answer for you.

• 1:05:12Dr. Mark Hyman?

  You do?

• 1:05:13Speaker 00

  I wondered about the same thing. Yeah, I write about this in the book. I wondered about the same thing. Why is it that we're all actually working in the exact opposite way of the fundamental laws of human relationships? And it comes down ironically because the "Let them" theory is really about control. What can you control and what can you not control? And it teaches you how to focus on what's in your control, which is where your power and your peace and your influence is. The reason why we get this wrong, and I got it wrong for the first 54 years of my life, is that every one of us has a fundamental survival instinct

• 1:05:58Speaker 00

  that is tied to being in control of everything. Because when you feel out of control, it immediately makes you feel like something's wrong. Whether the traffic is backing up. Now, you're gonna be late for your interview. That causes a flood of anxiety because you can't control the fact that there's something where you need to be, right? When your spouse is drinking too much, their behavior is making you feel out of control because their behavior makes you worry about them and their health and what's gonna happen

• 1:06:43Speaker 00

  and your future and what people may think. And so, the reason why we try to control everyone and everything around us is because in life, everything going on has some impact on you. And when somebody else's behavior, whether it's one of your kids who worries you because they're not doing well in school. So then what do you do? You step across the line. You try to push them to get grades. You take away their phone. You're now trying to control another person because their behavior worries you and it triggered this need for you to feel okay. The thing that I want everyone to understand, and this is the kind of big epiphany for me, is worrying about other people is a beautiful thing.

• 1:07:28Speaker 00

  Of course, you want people to be healthy. Of course, you want people to do well and to thrive. It's how you're going about influencing other people in doing it that's backfiring. Controlling other people just pushes them away from you.

• 1:07:43Dr. Mark Hyman?

  So how do you like then help them without helping them? How do you... It's a paradox.

• 1:07:49Speaker 00

  I turned to... There's 57 world-renowned scientists and researchers that are cited in this book and that I interviewed for this book and that have appeared on the podcast. And when it comes to how you influence people in a way that works with the neuroscience of human beings and it actually gives people the autonomy to believe that it's their idea, you win. Because while you can never change another person, because people only change when they're ready to change for themselves. They're not changing for you. People are only going to change when they're ready to do the very hard work that we've talked about to change for themselves.

• 1:08:33Speaker 00

  No amount of worrying, pushing, bribing, pressuring is gonna work. If anything, it backfires. So while you can't force someone else to change, I never said you couldn't influence change. And for that formula, we turn to Dr. Tali Sharot, who is a professor at King's College and also at MIT. She studies the science of influence. And basically, there's this model called ABC that I made up using her research to help you remember this. The first thing you're gonna do is you gotta do the A part. A is apologize. B is back off.

• 1:09:15Speaker 00

  And C is compliment any behavior you see that's moving in the right direction.

• 1:09:23Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Like positive reinforcement, yeah.

• 1:09:25Speaker 00

  Yeah, so the reason why you want to apologize is you have no idea how annoying you've been. You have no idea how rude your comments have been. You have no idea... Like particularly, let's say you've got somebody in your life who needs to lose weight. They know about GLP-1s. They're not an idiot. They know that sitting on the couch versus going for a walk is probably not the right thing. The only person that's harder on this person that you love about their weight than you is them. They beat themselves up all day long. And so, you want to start by apologizing, whether it's to your kid who you've been pressuring to study more. They know that they're not doing well in school. They know that playing video games versus studying is not like gonna help them get better grades. Do you want to know why they're playing video games?

• 1:10:09Speaker 00

  They're good at it. And when they sit down and stare at the books, they think they're bad at it. That's why they're avoiding it. And then you come up like, you know, a stormtrooper and yell at them. Do you think that's helping? No. So you apologize. "Hey, I just wanted to say I'm really sorry. I've been thinking a lot about the way I've been hounding you. And it can't feel good. And I'm really sorry about that. I care about you deeply and, you know, you have my word. I'm not gonna bring it up again. I'm here. I love you. If you ever need my support, you just let me know. But, you know, what do you... Like, I'm here to help, whatever you need. You can ask open-ended questions. How do you feel about this? You know, I haven't even asked you. I've been dragging you to the doc- I've never asked you. How are you feeling about your weight? Hmm?

• 1:10:53Speaker 00

  And it doesn't even matter what they say, Dr. Hyman, because what the research shows is simply asking an open-ended question stirs up the internal conflict they silently deal with all day long.

• 1:11:05Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Being curious.

• 1:11:06Speaker 00

  Yes, it's not even that they don't want it. It's that they've convinced themselves it's not possible. Then you back off, like literally, this is the let them part. You have to say, let them, let them, let them to stop you from saying anything. And while they're just living their life and you're not saying anything, you also want to just be doing whatever it is you think they should be doing. And don't ask them to participate, just model the change you want to see. And then the third thing is, is eventually, eventually you're going to see somebody get up and make a walk. And take a walk and instead of being like, see, oh, see how easy that was. No, just be like, oh, my God, you look so cute when your cheeks are red. I love you, honey.

• 1:11:53Speaker 00

  Positive reinforcement.

• 1:11:54Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Compliments.

• 1:11:55Speaker 00

  That's it. That's, that's, that's all you got. That's all you've got. When you give somebody the space to sit with themself,

• 1:12:04Speaker 00

  they're now having to deal with their internal resistance. When you're pressuring somebody to change, you're the resistance that they push against.

• 1:12:13Dr. Mark Hyman?

  So true. And so this is like important kind of combo package around your health and your mental health. Cause you know, if people don't, don't figure this out in life and they constantly are fighting reality, it's going to cause a lot of suffering, a lot of stress and a lot of mental anguish. And it, that also affects your health. So this is a kind of a, I'd say a combo package for living well, feeling good and actually having a fulfilled life. And it's, it's beautiful how you crystallize it all. And I, I so appreciate how you have taken, you know, the world's scientists, distill their work and kind of made something that's successful for people to kind of distill down into the nuggets that really are follow, are able to follow and are actionable. And you know, it's kind of like for your own life, and I'm curious about you, Mel,

• 1:12:58Dr. Mark Hyman?

  how you're thinking about the next part of your life. You know, you, you've kind of had this, this trajectory where, you know, you struggled, you're bankrupt, you're, you know, you're, you're kind of were drinking a lot, you were kind of a mess. And then you've kind of transformed out of that into this, into this life where you're having such a positive impact on people. And so, and you're, you've figured out your health journey, you've done function health, you've got other stuff. You've figured out how to balance your menopausal issues that, you know, often derail women. And, and I'm wondering how you imagine this next 20 years and living into your, you know, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, and, and how you, how you dream for yourself.

• 1:13:35Speaker 00

  First of all, I'll go back to the very first thing I said, which is you gotta ask yourself, what do you want? And when it comes to my health and the next 30, 40, 50 years, you know, I'm going to be 58 in a week.

• 1:13:46Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Just a baby.

• 1:13:48Speaker 00

  Just a baby. Um, I really want to live a long and vibrant life. I was just at my niece's wedding and I was watching my husband's mom, who's 89, boogying down on the dance floor with all of her grandkids. And I thought, that's going to be me at 89. And so I have a very clear vision of a very active lifestyle, a very strong lifestyle. And you know, it's no accident that my mother-in-law is like that because for the 30 plus years I've known her, she walks five miles a day and 20 years ago started adding in two days of resistance training. I mean, the woman has biceps at 89. So this stuff works.

• 1:14:32Speaker 00

  Like, that's the thing that a normal person like me doesn't want to, doesn't want to really grasp. You actually can feel better if you prioritize sleep. If you make time for friends. If you do some resistance training and move your body. If you recognize that there's no amount of exercise that can outdo a crappy diet, that you have to like, think about the fuel. And for me, that meant a ton more protein, which is why I got involved as a co-founder of Pure Genius Protein. And that's kind of it. Like, like it's, the, the stuff is simple. The pillars are very, very simple. And so for me, I am really focused on taking care of myself.

• 1:15:17Speaker 00

  And the source of motivation that's personal is I want not just a long life, I want a lot of life in those years. And that's on me. And I want to be strong and I want to be mobile. And that means what I'm doing now in my late 50s matters tremendously for how I want to feel in my 80s and 90s, if I'm lucky enough to live that long. Um, I think the other big thing about me that I don't think a lot of people, probably from the outside, understand is that, you know, when you have this kind of level of extraordinary success, I mean, third largest podcast in the world, this extraordinary success with the let them theory, you've got 40 million people that follow you online

• 1:15:58Speaker 00

  and your work truly is encouraging and empowering people to make changes that improve the quality of their lives. And I know this because I read the avalanche of inbound messages that come in from all over the world every single day. It's the thing that really motivates me. And it motivates me because when I was 41 and couldn't get out of bed, I thought I was the only loser that had screwed up her life. I thought there was no way that I could fix these problems. There's no way I could get out of debt. And there were no podcasts. You wouldn't be caught dead walking into a self-help aisle. Like, I couldn't afford a therapist, hell, I couldn't pay my mortgage. Like, and nobody went to a therapist 16 years ago.

• 1:16:42Speaker 00

  And so I suffered alone. And for me, knowing that in some small or large way, either the episodes we're putting out, or the books that I write, or the short form content we put on social media is truly spreading around the world like little drops of light. And it is awakening the light inside each and every one of us. This power that we have to flip a switch in our health, in our mindset, in our attitude, in our goals, to take control of what our life feels and looks like. That's what motivates me. And so people often ask me, okay, what are you going to do next?

• 1:17:27Speaker 00

  But I'm like, next? Are you kidding me? Like, what more do you need? Like, I don't want more. I want, I want time. Like, I would love to continue doing what I'm doing in service of people and of your ability to create a better life and to feel better. But what I would like to do is to have more time back, to spend it with my husband, to spend it with my kids, to be outside hiking, to enjoy all of this hard work. Because I think one of the things that's interesting about, about being older, and this goes to those of you that are saying it's too late. First of all, Dr. Hyman's on Medicaid.

• 1:18:06Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Medicare, Medicare.

• 1:18:07Speaker 00

  The co-founder of a basically a Medicare, whatever it is, Medicaid, Medicare, you're the doctor, I don't know. Whatever it is. And you know, he's like, literally the recent founder of a company that's now valued at a billion dollars. And I started the podcast at 54, wrote the book at 55, became the co-founder of this incredible Pure Genius Protein shot company at the age of 56. We, you, we will not hear it. And what happens when you attack life later in life is you're doing it with experience. And with the experience that you have right now, you don't forget what actually matters.

• 1:18:50Speaker 00

  And so for me, when I look ahead, there's nothing that I could do in the future, Dr. Hyman, that would change what I know is important in life. And what's important in life is your health. It's your family. It's your friends. And it's waking up every day and having somewhere to go, having something to do that you care about and having somebody that you can show a little love to. You have those three things, you are winning at this game of life.

• 1:19:20Dr. Mark Hyman?

  And it's true. I think, you know, you know, what you're saying is so important and we really have to kind of come back to the essentials. And it's in both of us, as I was reflecting, listening to what you're saying, both of us had pretty bad breakdowns in life. You had 41, you know, had incredible debt and everything was falling apart. And you were, you know, you're just kind of in a deep depressed hole. I was, you know, in my late 30s, I got chronic fatigue syndrome. And I had to discover a new way of healing and the work that I do around functional medicine. And, and, and coming out of that and figuring out a way out of that for both of us has, has compelled us to want to give back to the world and to bring the love that we gave to ourselves to everybody else.

• 1:20:03Dr. Mark Hyman?

  And to, you know, share with everybody else, uh, steps that they can take to actually feel better, live better, you know, and actually have a more meaningful complete life. And it's, it's, it's actually hard because a lot of people just don't think that it's possible. They don't think that getting out of the crappy situation they're in, whatever it is, is possible. But I think, you know, you and I are examples of people who've, who've been at the bottom and who've, who've come back. And, and it's, it's really, I think, hopefully inspiring for people to listen to this and to have this conversation and to sort of think about, okay, it doesn't matter what age I am. I could be 75, I could be 55. It's never too late. And it's, it's never too late to take control of your health. It's never too late to reset your relationships, to reset your mind

• 1:20:48Dr. Mark Hyman?

  and fix your, your, your, um, patterns of thinking that cause suffering for you and your beliefs that cause suffering. Your, your book really is about changing our beliefs about how relationships work, about how love works, about how supporting others works, about how taking care of yourself works. These are really important things we don't learn in school. We don't learn any of that stuff in school. And so I think we're, we're at this amazing moment where, you know, work that you're doing, some of the work that I'm doing is really helping people to become empowered with, with the information, the knowledge and the tools to actually live a better, longer life. And you know, you were saying you want to have more life in years. That's the tagline of function, which is live 100 healthy years. That's, that's our goal. And I, I've written a new book, it's coming out next spring called 100, How to Live 100 Healthy Years. And it's really about this exact thing. How, how do we do this?

• 1:21:33Dr. Mark Hyman?

  And it goes through everything from physical health to mental, emotional health, to, you know, dealing with our traumas, all this stuff is necessary, building community. And I was kind of reminded a little bit about the work I did for Rick Warren, where he, where he, we created something called the Daniel Plan in his church. It was a very unhealthy overweight church and it was based on five principles, which is faith. Essentially, what he's talking about is meaning and purpose that you're talking about. Uh, food, fitness.

• 1:22:01Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Focus, which is getting your mindset right and friends. It's really, it's really all the things we've been talking about. And that's what really creates a, a life that allows you to be empowered to do the things you want and to live the life you want.

• 1:22:14Speaker 00

  I agree.

• 1:22:15Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Yeah. So thanks, Mel, for being on the podcast. Everybody, you can find Mel's work everywhere. Her podcast is The Mel Robbins Show. She's got her social media, which is.

• 1:22:26Speaker 00

  Like literally, you just look for Mel Robbins. And if you're trying to get more protein, I want you to check out Pure Genius Protein. I have one every single morning, Dr. Hyman, and it has changed my life. I really struggled to get protein in because I listened to you doctors and it's really hard. It's hard with the number of calories. It's hard on the go. There's only so much chicken and eggs. When I found out eggs were only six grams of protein, I was mad at them for a year. Yeah, I like, I can't eat six eggs. And so given how much I struggled, I joined a company and became a founder and spent a year working with medical and scientific and nutritional experts to build the first of its kind, three ounce TSA approved,

• 1:23:11Speaker 00

  shelf-stable, 100 calories, 23 grams of complete protein.

• 1:23:15Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Yeah.

• 1:23:16Speaker 00

  It's incredible.

• 1:23:17Dr. Mark Hyman?

  I've had it. It's delicious and it's great and it's, it's truly.

• 1:23:20Speaker 00

  Well, thank you for saying that. It really is. And so I'm really proud of that because it's made it simple. And one of the things that you and I talked a lot about today is function health helps answer questions about what's going on inside. So you can make changes that improve your health. And for me as a normal person, if the changes are hard, I ain't doing it. And so the fact that it can be simple to either figure out what's going on through medical tests or simple, like I do, I drink a protein shot every morning instead of a smoothie. Boom, it's done. That's what helps you get these things done.

• 1:24:00Dr. Mark Hyman?

  It's true. It's, it's true. It's just, it's just allowing people to have the tools and access and things that are going to make their default choices, better choices. And I think, uh, hopefully this has inspired a lot of people. I'm sure this podcast is going to get out there. Thank you for everything you do, Mel. It's great to see you again. I love you and keep, keep it up.

• 1:24:18Speaker 00

  It's great to see you. I love you too.

• 1:24:20Dr. Mark Hyman?

  And I'll see you on the dance floor. When I'm a hundred and you're like, uh, you're like 50.

• 1:24:24Speaker 00

  At someone's wedding.

• 1:24:24Dr. Mark Hyman?

  Eighties, 90 or something.

• 1:24:28Speaker 00

  Yeah, I'm like 10 years behind you.

• 1:24:29Dr. Mark Hyman?

  So you'll be 90, I'll be 100, we'll be dancing. How about that? I'll meet you on the dance floor at 100.

• 1:24:34Speaker 00

  Sounds good.

• 1:24:35Dr. Mark Hyman?

  All right, Mel, thank you. Hey everybody, it's Dr. Mark here. I'm so excited to share that my new book is officially available for preorder today. After more than 30 years of practicing medicine and caring for tens of thousands of patients, I've written the book that brings everything together that I've learned about helping people get healthy and stay healthy as they age. It's called A Hundred, What to Do Today to Live 100 Healthy Years. It's a whole body guide to living 100 healthy years. It's grounded in a new understanding of how our bodies work. It's the new map of the body. And inside I walk you through the seven core systems that drive your health from your gut and hormones to how your cells make energy to help you understand the signals your body's been sending you all along. Now, a lot of what's in the book, I learned the hard way through my own body.

• 1:25:19Dr. Mark Hyman?

  When I got sick, the medicine that I trained in did not have any of the answers I needed. So I had to go look for them myself and that search became my life's work. This book brings together decades of my learning from my patients, from the scientific research and scouring that, from the things I got wrong and the things I had to rethink along the way. I don't want you to have to struggle the way I did to find those answers. So much of our health is shaped by what happens outside your doctor's office. And I want you to feel confident knowing how to care for yourself every day. I put so much of myself into this book and I'm really excited to finally share it with you. It's really my life's work. It's my capstone of my career. I put everything I know. It's finally available for order today, preorder, everywhere books are sold. Go get a copy, please support me and this is my life's work. So I think you're going to love it.

• 1:26:05Dr. Mark Hyman?

  If you love this podcast, please share it with someone else you think would also enjoy it. You can find me on all social media channels at Dr. Mark Hyman. Please reach out. I'd love to hear your comments and questions. Don't forget to rate, review and subscribe to the Dr. Hyman Show wherever you get your podcasts. And don't forget to check out my YouTube channel at Dr. Mark Hyman for video versions of this podcast and more. Thank you so much again for tuning in. We'll see you next time on the Dr. Hyman Show. This podcast is separate from my clinical practice at the Ultra Wellness Center, my work at Cleveland Clinic and Function Health, where I am Chief Medical Officer. This podcast represents my opinions and my guests' opinions. Neither myself nor the podcast endorses the views or statements of my guests. This podcast is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional care by a doctor or other qualified medical professional.

• 1:26:49Dr. Mark Hyman?

  This podcast is provided with the understanding that it does not constitute medical or other professional advice or services. If you're looking for help in your journey, please seek out a qualified medical practitioner. And if you're looking for a functional medicine practitioner, visit my clinic, the Ultra Wellness Center at ultrawellnesscenter.com and request to become a patient. It's important to have someone in your corner who is a trained, licensed healthcare practitioner and can help you make changes, especially when it comes to your health. This podcast is free as part of my mission to bring practical ways of improving health to the public. So I'd like to express gratitude to sponsors that made today's podcast possible. Thanks so much again for listening. When it comes to supplements, you only want the best for your body, the kind with the highest quality, cleanest and most potent ingredients you can get.

• 1:27:34Dr. Mark Hyman?

  That's exactly what you'll find at my supplement store where I've hand-selected each and every product to meet the most rigorous standards for safety, purity and effectiveness. These are the only supplements I recommend to my patients and they're also what I use myself. Whether you want to optimize longevity or reduce your disease risk, or you're looking to improve your sleep, blood sugar, metabolism, gut health, you name it. Drhyman.com has the world's best selection of top-quality, premium supplements, all backed by science and expertly vetted by me, Dr. Mark Hyman. So check out Drhyman.com because when it comes to your health, nothing less than the very best will do. That's Drhyman.com, D R H Y M A N dot com.