CMR
It’s Cafe Mocha with Loni Love, Yo-Yo, and Angelique on the line. He’s got something we need, a book about food. And how to develop your food and your menu and what you eat based on your age. Dr. Ian’s new book is called Eat Your Age, Feel Younger, Be Happier, Live Longer. He’s on the line. Happy New Year, Dr. Ian. I know we like way into the new year, but that’s okay.
It’s okay by me. And, you know, I agree with you 100%. I’m excited about the new year. I’m excited about Eat Your Age. Can I just tell you why I wrote this book to begin with? Okay. So many people would say to me, hey, Dr. Ian, I’m in my 40s or 50s plus, and I just can’t eat the way I was eating. I can’t move the way I was moving. What am I doing wrong? And what I realized is that most people don’t understand that for every decade that Starting in our 30s, our bodies change physically as we age. Our bodies also change physiologically. How we can process things change. And people are not making the proper adaptations as we age. And that’s the key, is that people have to realize you got to change what you’re eating. You got to change kind of how you’re moving. And so in Eat Your Age, I divided it up by every decade, starting in your 30s, going all the way to 60s plus. And I’m telling you, what are your top 10 power nutrients?
for your specific decade. What are the best and safest exercises? What medical screening tests do you need? What medical conditions should you be aware of? And then at the end of each decade, I give you a 30-day customized meal plan that will incorporate those power nutrients that are most relevant and helpful for your decade of life. I love that. How long did it take you to write this and research this? Because you’ve been doing this for a while. Yeah, you know, It’s the research part that takes the time, right? I’m a fast typist, so I can write really fast. But it’s actually researching and finding all the nutrients. Because in the book, I just don’t tell you your nutrients. I tell you what your nutrients actually do in your body. For example, in your 30s, you need a lot of calcium to start eating a lot of calcium. What does calcium do? So I explain to you. Calcium is good for your bones. It’s good for your teeth. I explain to you why. Then I show you what are the best sources of calcium, okay?
And then I give you a meal plan for your decade that will incorporate all those things, calcium and the other nutrients. So it takes a while to put all of it together. And by the way, this is the most comprehensive health book I’ve ever written because not only am I addressing what you need to eat, not only are you getting a meal plan, not only are you getting recipes, but then there are QR codes in the book that will show you all the exercises I’m talking about that are best for For your decade. And it’s me and my fitness partner. Demonstrating these exercises. So people can do it right at home. You know what Angelique. Get the one for the 80s. Okay girl. You know I ain’t that old. You mean 1980s. She meant 1980s. You know what I love about this ladies. I love that. You know. It’s such a question. Because I used to love eggs.
You know, he’s talking about calcium and now eggs make me want to regurgitate them. It’s like, what could I substitute to get that? So I think it’s a great, I can’t wait to read the book for my age. Well, here’s the thing too, by the way, for example, here’s one good example, red meat. As we get older, our body does not process red meat as well. Why? Because our gastrointestinal system starts to slow down as we age. That’s just natural, normal aging. And so one of my recommendations for people as they get older is to cut back on the red meat. There are other reasons by the way to do that, but let’s for the sake of this conversation, as you get older, your body doesn’t process it as well. So you should cut back on it. On the flip side, by the way, the reason why people in their sixties plus need to eat vitamin B12 and sufficient amounts is because as you get older, the body doesn’t absorb vitamin B12 as well as it should
So people are becoming vitamin B12 deficient, which is leading to all kinds of problems. So, you know, it really our ability to process and eat foods and how we react to really does change as we get older. Let me ask you, though, Dr. Ian, this sounds like a lot of information, but is it encyclopedia style where I could just open it up, go to. the 80s. Look at the stuff I’m supposed to be eating. Go to the recipe guide. Look in the 80s and see what I’m supposed to be eating. Yogurt. That’s all you’re going to get. You ain’t got no teeth. That’s all you’re going to get. That’s all you eat in your 80s, Angelique. You’re owning them 80s. No. One of the beauties of the book and what takes time for me is organization. I like to make information very accessible, very succinct,
and very organized. So if you’re in your 50s, all you have to do is read the section for the 50s. Now, if you’re curious, you can read 40s and 60s plus, but you don’t have to read everything else to get to what you need. And I was very intentional about that with this book because I know that there are people in their 30s, 40s, 70s, 80s, and 50s who want this, but I don’t want you reading, if you’re in your 50s, what you should have been eating in your 30s. Same thing with the exercise. I say to you, here’s the 60s. These are your exercises for your 60s. So, yes, I’m very clear and very organized, and I sequester out per decade, so you only have to read what’s relevant to your decade. I love it. It’s Cafe Mocha. On the line, Dr. Ian, his new book, Eat Your Age. Feel younger, be happier, live longer. And, you know, we all love a treat now and then, Dr. Ian. How do you balance eating for health with enjoying –
life’s little indulgences. Just the sweet ones. No one loves it more than me. Yes, we’ll get to that. But the sweet, listen, no one loves it more than I do. I love sweet potato pie. I bake a mean sweet potato pie. No offense to Patti LaBelle, my friend. But, you know, I can go to work on sweet potato pies. But here’s the thing, though. I’m not baking them every week. And when I do bake them, I’m not eating the whole pie. It’s all about moderation. My rule of thumb is this. If you eat, 70% of the time, reasonably healthy. 30% of the time, have fun. It’s okay. And so I eat dessert like everyone else. I like chocolate cake. I eat everything. And by the way, on my Instagram, my Instagram is @DoctorIanSmith. Spell the doctor out, I-A-N Smith. I post all the different things that I eat. And people say, you just ate a chocolate cake at the Bulls game? Yes, I did. But look how much I ate of the cake.
I only ate a third of it. That’s it. I’m good. So I think that people should not punish themselves by totally eliminating things that are fun and enjoyable. They just have to do it in moderation. What about alcohol? I mean, because that is just… Alcohol just swallows up calories. It makes your belly big. How do we manage that part if we like a little glass of wine or dark liquor from time to time or every day or twice a day? Well… I like what you said. You said key words, little time to time. Nothing wrong with that. But a new study just came out from the CDC saying that excessive consumption of alcohol has been linked to all types of cancers. Now, we already knew that it was linked to fatty liver and cirrhosis of the liver. We already knew that. But now we have new evidence that’s saying that there are certain amounts of consumption of
that can lead to cancer. So first of all, people need to understand that alcohol is not an innocent beverage. Okay, number one. But number two, you can still imbibe. No question about it. It’s the volume. It’s the frequency. And I think that’s what people struggle with. You know, are you okay with a glass of wine? Are you okay with a mixed drink or two mixed drinks? And can you stop? Or does it turn into three, four, or five? And this is where people have to have ownership of their own habits and know what they can do and what they cannot do. And I think that You know, if I had to get rid of two things right away that really can have major impact on your health and people tend to over consume, it’s obviously alcohol and sugary drinks. Wow. Dr. Ian, I want to ask you, you know, right now with all of the things that’s happening with these weight loss drugs, is it safe? I mean, is it really safe? We got to do a whole nother show about,
on these GLP-1 agonists, trust me. Let me give you my succinct take on these drugs. These drugs can be extremely effective for weight loss. Let’s be clear. They were not designed for weight loss. They were designed to control type 2 diabetes. These drugs are not magical. What these drugs basically do, without getting into the minutiae of the science, what these drugs do is they suppress your appetite, and they lead you to eat fewer calories. So if you were consuming, let’s say, 2,000 calories before you took these medications, you’re now going to consume, let’s say, 1,200 calories. So you now have an 800-calorie difference, okay? That is why people are losing weight so dramatically is because they’re eating fewer calories. And I’ve been saying online that these drugs are basically a low-calorie diet in disguise. I’ve been saying since I’ve been doing this, you guys have not been doing this for a long time, I’ve been saying, guys…
The equation is always stayed the same. Calories in must be less than calories you take out. If you follow that equation, you’re going to lose weight. Well, that’s what these drugs do. They reduce the left side of the equation. They reduce your calories in. And so people are losing weight. Now the part people don’t want to talk about are all the side effects. There is a long list of side effects, dizziness, headaches, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea just to name a few. And what I think is unfair to people is not only, even though they’re getting cheaper now, but not only can they be very expensive and difficult to access because of monetary reasons, but there are also these bad side effects and no one’s really talking about it. Instead, everyone’s focusing on the next celebrity that has lost three dress sizes, which is nice, but that comes at a cost. It’s Cafe Mocha on the line. Dr. Ian, you can actually,
Look at him on his Instagram. It’s a wonderful Instagram page. It’s at Dr. Spell out Dr. Ian Smith. His new book is called Eat Your Age, Feel Younger, Be Happier, Live Longer. Dr. Ian, you talk about smart goals in your book. How can we apply that concept to our fitness resolutions? And how can we stay on our fitness resolutions? For real. Yes. Well, here’s the thing. First of all, I don’t like New Year’s resolutions. I like all-year resolutions. And I think that when people mentally tie themselves to, it’s just a new year, I’m going to do it, then it fades, it burns out. When you say to yourself, I’m making an all-year commitment to make some change, that changes the landscape because of your perspective. That’s number one. Number two, people try to do too much too fast. They try to change too much. They want to stop smoking, reduce their drinking,
exercise more and eat less fried foods. It’s too much. You know, you have to work, right? You have to work on one thing at a time, two at the most. Give yourself a couple of weeks to get yourself in a routine. So instead of it being a temporary change, it now becomes part of your lifestyle. So when I counsel people, I say, list to me four or five things you’d like to change this year. Great. Be specific. You just can’t say, I want to eat better. You got to say, I want to eat, you know, three servings or less of meat per month. I’m at eight now. I want to get down to three. I only want to have two servings of fried food per week. You have to be specific in your goals because when you are specific, then you can keep track of whether or not you are progressing towards your goal and then if you actually hit the goal. So vague goals are no good. And so I say to people, one or two things at most at a time. Give yourself two weeks.
to make that change. And if the change has happened, keep going on that particular thing. And then when you have it, then you go to the next thing. And then lastly, you have to reward yourself, not reward yourself with unhealthy. But you got to celebrate. Here’s another thing. People don’t celebrate the small victories in life. I was just telling my kids this, you know, you guys, you know, you, it’s not always the big W the small W’s. add up to the big W’s. So if you lose a pound a week, that’s weight loss. Listen to this. If you don’t lose any weight in a week, zero, at least you didn’t gain weight. So I think that people have to have the mindset that they want to reward themselves and celebrate themselves. And that becomes kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy. Dr. Ian, does walking still help? Yes, but, but I’m so glad you mentioned that.
As you age, here’s the biggest mistake I think people are making from an exercise perspective. Walking is great. Cardio, basketball, exercise, good for the heart, good for your lungs. But not enough people are lifting weights, particularly women. You need muscles. Not muscles big, bulky muscles like weight lifting. I’m not saying that. But as we age, people think, oh, I’m just fine walking in the park or jogging. No. No. The reason why people are falling, the reason why their metabolism is slowing down, the reason why they’re having joint pain is because their muscles are too weak. And so if you can build your lean muscle mass and make it not, you don’t have to be strong, strong like an ox, but if you have some strength, then you will actually have better health parameters. And so my biggest takeaway for people as they get older is either lift weights, free weights, we call them, or resistance weights.
bands or machines. But don’t shy away from it twice a week for 20, 25 minutes. You should do some type of resistance training. It’s Cafe Mocha. We’re talking to Dr. Ian. His book is called Eat Your Age, Feel Younger, Be Happier, Live Longer. I just realized on my weight journey that I do not like cardio because it sweats my hair out and I leave with an afro. I love lifting weights. So I mean, do I have to do cardio? Can I just go in a gym? Well, here’s what’s interesting. Ready for this? Lifting weights is also cardio. Everyone thinks cardio is just riding a bike, but let me tell you something. If you lift weights properly, you get winded. You’re winded because there’s also some, there’s a cardiovascular component to lifting weights. But what I say to people is body weight exercises, old fashioned. Listen, I can give you a 15 minute workout that you can do in your living room.
That’s all the cardio you need for that day. Old fashioned things like jumping jacks, high knees, marching in place, all those things, which by the way, I do on my Instagram. You know, I give all these tips out, but I show you these are the exercises you can do at home with no equipment and get all the cardio you need. And you may not sweat your hair out. I mean, you know, I’m sensitive to that. I’m married to a sister, so I understand how that works. Trust me. I have a question. What do you say to the people who say, I want to drop the weight first? and then start building. I like that. I’m going to tell you why I like that. Because it’s very difficult to do both at the same time. It’s like threading the needle. Can some people do it? Yes, you can. It’s not easy. I believe if you are a person who’s just starting and you’re kind of new to this, that trying to get some weight off first, not all of it off, but trying to get some of it off first first,
Focusing on that. Still do some resistance training, but don’t go as heavy. Do light, you know, weight that you can do 10 to 15 repetitions of the weight. Do light burns. That helps. And then when you get, you know, let’s say 40% of the weight off, then you can say, okay, you know what? Now I’m going to work on not just still losing weight, but I’m going to build the muscle too. And I think that that kind of one-two combination is effective for most people. Some people can do both at the same time. God bless you. But I think for the beginner, I think the one-two strategy is more effective. Wow. Dr. Ian, as we close your book, Eat Your Age, Feel Younger, Be Happier, Live Longer is a great motivation for us all. Is there anything else that you would like to say to encourage our listeners? Yes. I would like to say that people have to look at aging as an opportunity, not as a loss.
Don’t resign yourself to you are now going to withdraw and disengage. Just the opposite. Learn a new language. Learn an instrument. Lift weights. Grow instead of shrinking. That’s the important part. And I have a Facebook group that people can join completely free. The name of the group is called Eat Your Age, which is the name of the book. And I have a weekly Zoom session where I answer questions. I bring on guests to help teach you how to lift weights, do all kinds of things, diabetes specialists. But the idea is you need a community. to support you because it’s not easy. And that’s what I try to provide. Well, we certainly thank God for you, Dr. Ian, and all the work that you’re doing to keep us healthy, especially Angelique, because at 80, she needs it. Maybe, maybe. Where’s my yogurt? Where’s my yogurt? Y’all, follow Dr. Ian at Dr. Ian Smith. That’s doctor spelled out.
Also pick up his book, Eat Your Age, Feel Younger, Be Happier, Live Longer. Thank you so much, Dr. Ian. Yes, thank you. I love you guys. I enjoyed myself. This was wonderful. Thank you. Thank you. Bye-bye. See you. Bye-bye.
