2 - The 3 Pillars Of A Health-Inspired Life

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Episode 02 - 1,000 Waking Minutes: The 3 Pillars of a Health-Inspired Life

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with Dr. Wendy Bazilian |

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“Health is dynamic, it's not static. So you seek health and you might find health and you may feel healthy, but it's always a moving target.”

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We experience 1,000 waking minutes on average every day. How are you spending yours? I'm Dr. Wendy Bazilian, and you're listening to 1,000 Waking Minutes.

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I can't wait to connect with you here with practical ways to eat well, move daily, and be healthy to optimize every waking minute you live for a happier, healthier life. Thank you for sharing some of your waking minutes with me today.

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Let's get started.

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♪ I'm saying yes to better days, yes ♪

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♪ I'm on my way, yes ♪

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♪ It's gonna be okay, yeah ♪

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Hi everyone! Good day to you! That's a greeting and a hopeful intention that you're having, you're creating, or you will have, moments of goodness in your day-to-day. Good day to you! I'm Wendy Bazilian, host of 1,000 Waking Minutes, the podcast where we explore the choices we make with our waking minutes every day and how they can lead to a well-lived life.

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Today, we're diving into a theme that's been a guiding mantra for me for over 20 years: Eat Well, Move Daily, Be Healthy®. This episode is special to me, as it's also the title of an upcoming book, which I'm thrilled to share a bit about with you today.

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While, I am definitely new to this space as a podcasting host, I've been working professionally for several decades. I've also been researching, teaching, presenting, coaching, and writing about health as a Doctor of Public Health, Registered Dietitian, and Exercise Physiologist, and also as a human being for more than 20 years. So thank you for inviting me into your day and into your ear.

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Today’s episode is going to be about the pillars of my professional and personal practice in health and the anchoring tenets behind the episodes that will come ahead in 1,000 Waking Minutes. Today, we're going to talk about the three legs on the stool of a health-inspired individual and health-inspired life. You'll find over the episodes that we share together, that words really matter to me.

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(2:38) The mantra to remind you to always nurture and improve your health

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No matter where you think you are along the continuum of health, you can be successful and improve starting today if you remember and take steps toward these six words, and I'm going to be saying them a lot today: Eat Well, Move Daily, Be Healthy.

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For the past two plus decades, my professional goal in my career has been dedicated to helping people do just that. Eat Well, Move Daily, Be Healthy.

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We share this in our practice and in our life—our being my husband and business partner, Jason—who you'll meet and get to know in future episodes—whether it's in my office over phone calls, personal visits and grocery store visits, classrooms, big stages, and through writing and media like TV, radio, and now this, my podcast.

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I am genuinely passionate and deeply committed to helping individuals lead healthier lives and also advocate for healthier communities for us all. I want to share some concepts that are important to me and start to define them broadly so that you understand where I'm coming from when we talk about some of these topics in the weeks…months to come.

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Health. Health is something that people seek, that they're inspired by, but it is dynamic and not static. I want us to remember that, and it's important to know that health is dynamic, it's not static. So you seek health and you might find health and you may feel healthy, but it's always a moving target… Different life stages and more.

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The World Health Organization defines health as “a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, not just the absence of disease.” This was 75-plus years ago that they defined it this way. Unfortunately, our country's approach has been largely reactive, where we sort of seek health when we're ill or get treatment after the damage is done.

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Prevention is certainly a better approach. We're seeing that more and more. And many experts, of course, including myself, are now devoted to that pursuit, and the research is showing up—and even the economics of it as well.

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And wouldn't optimal health in its entirety be the best approach?

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The idea that balance has movement is next. So health is dynamic. Balance has movement.

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So you don't just achieve balance in my book. It's something that's in motion and does require some attention. We'll talk a lot about balance, and I may even use balance in a variety of ways, but when I talk about the overarching concept, think about a childhood seesaw that levels in the middle occasionally.

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You know that harmony when you balance? I don't know if, as a kid, I remember getting on the seesaw with a friend and we would try to scooch forward, scooch back, get to the middle. We'd be wobbling really fast, and then we'd have that magical moment: We'd try to lift our feet up and just balance.

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But a breath, a sneeze, the wind can take you off balance again, and then you're teeter-tottering back to balance. Balance has movement.

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The next word is moderation, and I think moderation is relative. You hear that – probably your eyes are glazing over even as I say it. We say it so often. It is relative. Strictness in the idea of moderation isn't really moderation, is it?

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So, getting to know more about this—some will say moderation in all things, even moderation—and I think that about spells it out. Wouldn't you agree? So, living moderately can have extremes and indulgences. They may have days that are still and days that are highly active. They may be days that you're in ill health. We've all been sick,… And other days that are in great health. Moderation can happen in varying degrees, and it's relative.

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And then we come to the three phrases of today. The three pillars in six words: Eat Well, Move Daily, Be Healthy.

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So, keeping in mind how we're going to optimize our 1,000 waking minutes, and also the minutes that are impacted when we're sleeping, which are approximately 440 minutes, if you do the math on a day—1,440 minutes in a 24-hour period toward a well-lived life—requires us to keep certain tenets or a certain mantra—a certain mindset—front and center. So, today during the episode, I'm going to talk about the origin of our Eat Well, Move Daily, Be Healthy® philosophy. Some of the topics, I'll preview just a few of them so that you'll have a preview of episodes to come, and please write in if there are ones that are hot and pressing that you'd like to know sooner. And maybe I can get to them sooner as we forecast our episodes to come.

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And I'll give you some initial ideas and practical tips. We always want to talk about a few practical tips. This episode is more about grounding us in the basis of the philosophy, but I will give you a few practical tips to get started today.

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(8:15) Quick background on the three pillars

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So think about the three pillars or three legs on a stool. THREE: The number three also rules geometry.

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Think about the triangle. It's formed by three sides. It's said to be the strongest and most durable form in existence. When you put pressure on the edge of a triangle, the force is absorbed by all three edges, thus distributing the impact of that triangle that can withstand the hit. Think of the pyramids in Egypt. In music, think of three instruments perhaps, like the drums, the bass, and the guitar that provide the foundation of a band.

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Here in a powerful trio of verbs: eat, move, be. We have three actions needed to create the foundation for change. Let them sink into your mind and we're going to breathe on it, breathe them in, and exhale them out.

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(9:14)  A Mindful Minute reciting your new mantra

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So let's have a mindful minute together. I know this mantra at the beginning can feel like a mouthful, but you'll get it over time. What I'd like you to do—and I'm going to time the minute—is just listen, breathe, and repeat quietly or aloud—depending on where you are and your ability—the mantra with me.

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Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. Let's begin.

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Eat Well, Move Daily, Be Healthy. Eat well, move daily, be healthy.

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What? Eat well.

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What else? Move daily.

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And finally, be healthy.

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Let's just meditate on that on your own.

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I'm going to give you 30 seconds of silence. When do you get that on a podcast?

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[ACOUSTIC GUITAR MUSIC]

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Okay, one minute. You just had 30 seconds of just breathing and hopefully making concrete: Eat Well, Move Daily, Be Healthy.

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[ACOUSTIC GUITAR MUSIC]

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Repeat these often and the phrase will start to take on a deeper meaning as we progress through the steps in our episodes. As we talk about different topics, and the science behind them, why they're important, and most importantly, how to do them in your life. But let's talk first about the origins of the concept and what's special about this approach to me.

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This concept, this collective trio, originated a little more than 20 years ago when I had been working a few years in private practice already. I was starting to offer weekend and week-long retreats and programs with my husband, Jason. And early on, we were offering classes and experiences locally.

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And then we went to the Chautauqua Institution in New York, and we went to Rancho La Puerta and taught. And of course, the many years—over a decade—that we were consulting at Golden Door, a premier luxury fitness resort in Southern California here, if you haven't heard of it. We even had the opportunity of going to an outstanding property at Blackberry Farm in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and teaching some of this.

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As we were presenting, it came to me that people were looking for something that they could gravitate toward, something that they could hook into. And I often felt that people were making it a little more complicated than it really had to be. And then something clicked.

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We called our talks Eat Well, Move Daily, Be Healthy®. The series of these talks became an immediate hit. Guests who came were drawn to the simplicity of the pillars, that the practices were doable, that they were already doing some of them.

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People would say, "Wow, I can do this." Or "It's so easy….It's like check, check, check,” on their checklist of the day.

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One woman felt freed by the plan. And she said, "You know, if I can fix one thing, then I can fix everything!" But expanding this topic, I just want to talk through why these words.

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I think that words matter very much. And I want to talk through the why.

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(13:20) What it actually means to “eat well”

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Eat well.

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Eat. It's one of the most basic needs. It is critical, and we need it to survive.

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The word eat is active. When you eat, you actually do something. You're preparing or bringing food to your mouth. You're chewing, you're swallowing, and then your body's digesting.

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But eat well. Now that sounds like a pleasure!

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There are some rules and guidelines for eating, for energy we know that are based on science. For eating for your body size and your activity levels, your health goals, but also enjoyment. Eating well is about nourishment. And I will say the word nourishment probably a thousand times in a thousand episodes at least.

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But nourishment is really about nutrition for the body to thrive, but also nourishing the mind to satisfaction while delivering all the elements of dining, when you're on your own or in the company of others. So, eat how? Well. That's the answer to that question.

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Eat how? Well. And what I love about this word is, think about the word well. Well connotes goodness. It certainly is about wellness and health. Well suggests abundanza or in abundance. Well means the right amount. Well could be celebration. And well, like a well at a home or out on the land, could signify depth.

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So, eat well. It's concrete, yet it's flexible too. And we can each strive to eat well. And you can achieve it every single day.

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Some days you may have more eat well moments… And it's individual, right? So it's not prescriptive at the moment, except eat well. I didn't tell you, "You have to eat this food or avoid that food." It's not dietary-specific. It's not even timing-specific. It's simply a tangible message that you can keep in your mind to practice one of the most basic needs, but also hopefully one of the most pleasurable ones as well.

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So, of course, I spend a lot of time on the strategies here, and there are a lot of them. And this is a lot about healthy nutrition. I've been known to say—and I'll say it right now: The single best investment you can make to your health on a daily basis, three times a day or more, is to eat well.

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We think of food as a means to our health, but also part of our personal identity. So, in your personal value system, eating well—I hope that that resonates with you. And I hope I've said it enough that you remember it too.

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(16:15) Move daily - what it means and a few strategies to meet your movement goals

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Next, move daily.

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Move. To survive and participate in life at all. Our bodies have to move.

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And move how? Daily.

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Isn't that a relief? If you've moved at all, you can say” yes” to this. Now, of course, to optimize health or perform in the Olympics, or to do exercise that goes beyond simply walking from one room to another or getting up out of bed, there are ideas and strategies and instructions that we can follow. But it's an active practice, and it's another basic need.

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That's why it's the second of the three pillars: move daily. The amount of movement may be negotiable as far as what your needs are, what your goals are, where you're at in your life, and what you're able to do.

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But to survive and participate in life, we need to move.

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So how much? Daily. I already said that, but it's plain and simple. Do you move daily? Yes, sure you do. Do you move enough? Well, that depends. Depends on your health, your overall goals, and whatnot.

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But if you look at daily as the goal, and then we build out what that will look like in your 1,000 waking minutes, you certainly can strive to meet your move daily goals. And in fact, days off of an exercise routine are as important as days on. So, move daily doesn't necessarily have to mean working up to seven days of active 30 minutes in the gym or walking with a friend.

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Your days off can also end up being a move daily success because you do move every single day.

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One of the best ways to do it—and I'm jumping ahead here for a second on a practice—is to wake and walk. If you get up in the morning and you can walk a little further, not maybe just to your bathroom, but maybe put your first stop of the day a little bit further, wake and walk is a good way to wake up the mind and get moving and even say the mantra: Eat Well, Move Daily, Be Healthy, and you're on your way.

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The idea is that any movement can be considered physical activity. And there's so many ways to slice and dice this, and we're going to do lots of that.

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(18:41) Understanding all of the simple ways you can “be healthy”

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And finally, be healthy.

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Be healthy is an active pursuit toward a goal—a state of being healthy. And as I mentioned before, it's dynamic, right? It's not static. So it's not that we just get to some state of perfect health, but it describes the behaviors, the ways, the choices, and the attitudes that are in motion and being practiced.

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And be healthy is about engaging in healthy practices that support and foster overall health.

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So be—that's you—it's active, it's a command. Some people will come to me occasionally, and they're like, "Just tell me what to eat!” or “Tell me what I did wrong."

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And I say, "You know, if you're coming here for tough love, you've come to the wrong place. You'll get just love here.” But I will give a few commands, and be healthy is one of them. The eat well—those are commands. The move daily—but I always give flexibility to get in there. But it is a command. We own this word be, and there are lots of ways to be healthy. Eating and moving play a big role in this, but this captures a lot of others.

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Healthy is a state of being—be healthy. Healthy is a state of being, and it's a description. So, in thinking of health as being, again, dynamic and multifaceted, we think of things like the self-care that we can do.

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It's like social engagement. It's our spirituality or religion. It can be generosity and giving gratitude. It can be our sleep and rest. It can be play and recreation.

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The practices that we take to be healthy are just as important as the other two legs on the stool, the other two sides on the triangle.

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So, they are our personal self-care. Massage can fall in there. There's therapeutic benefit, and we'll talk about the evidence there for massage. Connecting with others and being social in our community can be healthy. Engaging in art and culture and things that are fun and enjoying the arts and creativity is part of our be healthy pursuit.

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So, remember and think about some of these as we move through the episodes to come. We'll dive into simple ones like flossing your teeth, for example. Flossing and the real evidence that it can help cardiovascular health, and then how to make sure it happens. Now, that may seem quirky, but you'll see over time how these simple practices can really play a role in your overall health picture and optimizing your health and feeling successful, most importantly, so that you feel vital and thrive.

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And of course, there are harder ones. Some of the ways that we change our eating behaviors or get movement and exercise into our lives, they can be more difficult, but I'll break it down and hopefully give you some steps and strategies to help you find the ones that you enjoy or that fit in your 1,000 waking minutes.

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I will always share the benefits. I will share the science, and I'll share both the physical, the spiritual, and any other benefit I can—immediate and long-term—to the habits and the practices that we'll engage in. And I'll dive into the research, but not too much, unless you wish to, and the how-to, which is so important—the how-to, the practical tips, so that we can celebrate the successes that we have when we come together and share our time.

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Eat well. It might be something as easy as making sure you have a soup or salad every day, or that you have a fruit and/or vegetable on every plate, or that you start practicing different ways to engage in the portions, the timing, or the style of eating that you have.

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Move daily. We'll talk about everything from adult recess to balance and to coordination to Tai Chi and some of the creative opportunities that we have to move—through everything from walking to strength training and more.

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And then be healthy. We'll really dive into a lot of these other practices.

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A little bit of east meets west too, because some of you know that my husband works in the field of traditional Chinese medicine, and we'll dive into some of those practices as well that can help complement our health.

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So, my tip for you right now—if you're driving, don't do it right now—but when you get situated, is to write these words on a piece of paper, a post-it note, somewhere that you can actually physically post it: Eat Well, Move Daily, Be Healthy.

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I think post-it notes are a great thing, at least the concept, if not the actual environmental impact, of course, but there's ways that we can do that on our computer, and we'll talk about different reminders for health habits ahead, but nothing beats actually seeing something right in front of you, hearing it, and repeating it, and building it into your life.

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(24:12) If you could relive a single moment of your day today, what would it be? Why? And what pillar(s) does that moment fit into?

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So, the question today—each episode, I'm going to be posing a similar question. And as we get near the end of this episode of 1,000 Waking Minutes, we've been talking, of course, about Eat Well, Move Daily, Be Healthy and where that came from, and what we'll be diving into each week together.

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So, I'm going to ask a version of that question that I will continue to ask on a regular basis. The question is:

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If you could relive a single moment of your day today, what would it be? And why?

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And I'll add to that today: And what pillar or pillars does that moment fit on?

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Eat well? Is it a move daily moment? A be healthy practice?

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So again, the question is, If you could relive a single moment of your day today, which would it be? And why?

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And where does it fit on our triangle? Eat well, move daily, be healthy. And then pat yourself on the back. Give yourself credit for a minute well-lived and go string some more of those together.

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(25:19) A poem and guiding thought from Cornelius Celsus, a Roman medical encyclopedist

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And finally, I would like to share a favorite piece of poetry to bring this all together. Something that I would share on our week-long and multi-day programs at the destination spas that I mentioned, at educational centers.

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And remember before when I mentioned the World Health Organization definition of health? It dates back to 1948. Well, even before the World Health Organization, I'm going to leave you with a thought from Cornelius Celsus, a Roman medical encyclopedist, 30 AD.

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Think about how far back that goes. He was an encyclopedist, some say possibly a physician, maybe not.

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And here's what he wrote:

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Live in rooms full of light. Avoid heavy food. Be moderate in the drinking of wine. Take massage, baths, exercise, and gymnastics. Fight insomnia with gentle rocking or the sound of running water. Change surroundings and take long journeys.

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Strictly avoid frightening ideas. Indulge in cheerful conversation and amusements. Listen to music.

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I just think this captures it all so nicely.

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And in other words, our three pillars: Eat Well, Move Daily, Be Healthy.

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I'm Wendy Bazilian, your host of 1,000 Waking Minutes, and I look forward to connecting with you next time on another episode. Be well.

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(27.15) Gratitude to my team and you!

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Thank you for tuning in to 1,000 Waking Minutes. A huge thank you to our amazing collaborators, to our producer Nikki Butler Media, to KCM Connect PR and Marketing, the ultra-talented Beza for my theme music, my lifelong friend and artist Pearl Preis Photography and Design, to Danielle Ballantyne, Jen Nguyen, Joanna Powell, and of course, my family and everyone working tirelessly behind the scenes.

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And to you, our valued listeners, I so appreciate your support. If you enjoyed today's episode, please consider leaving a comment, writing a review, and giving 1,000 Waking Minutes—that's us—a five-star rating. And please hit subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you enjoy your podcasts.

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Please follow and stay connected at wendybazilian.com. And don't forget to share with your friends. Your support helps us grow and bring you more great content. Until next time, stay inspired and find simple opportunities to optimize those 1,000 waking minutes each day.