Midlife Revolution Unleashed

The Age Slower Blueprint

• Stacy M. Lewis & Wayne Dawson • Season 1 • Episode 23

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Did you know that how you live and care for your body directly impacts how you age?

In this episode, Coaches Stacy and Wayne share transformative strategies to slow the aging process and maintain vitality, focusing on both mental and physical well-being.

Coach Wayne highlights that living a solitary lifestyle accelerates aging, while engaging in new activities keeps the mind sharp and resilient. Developing habits that stimulate the brain isn’t just beneficial for mental growth—it also positively affects physical health, as Coach Stacy points out (13:50).

Diet plays a vital role in staying youthful. Wayne stresses the importance of incorporating the right minerals into your meals and consulting a specialist for personalized dietary advice. Stacy adds that being mindful of what you consume and staying hydrated is essential—water is the simplest yet most effective way to support your body (20:30).

Rest and exercise not only help manage stress but also support cellular renewal, as explained by Stacy and Wayne. Without proper sleep, your body produces hormones that interfere with healing and renewal (22:33).

Finally, the co-hosts encourage making thoughtful adjustments to your lifestyle to ensure alignment between your current state and where you want to be. Small, intentional changes can have a profound impact on your overall health and well-being (29:54).

Key Takeaway:
Slowing the aging process involves nurturing your mind and body. Stay socially active, eat well, stay hydrated, exercise, and prioritize rest to remain vibrant at any age.

You are the revolution!

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🎩Wayne Dawson
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Coach Wayne:

You have just stepped into the midlife revolution, your space to ignite possibility, redefine purpose, and embrace the power that comes with age. Co-hosted by yours truly, Coach Wayne.

Coach Stacy:

And I'm Coach Stacy M. Lewis, and we're two-season coaches focused on the midlife community of color. This isn't just a podcast, it's a movement. In a world that sometimes forgets the power and the wisdom that comes with age, we're here to ignite a revolution and rewrite the narrative of this incredible journey.

Coach Wayne:

So, whether you're navigating career shifts, rediscovering passions, or challenging the status quo, this is your space. So buckle up, let's dive into the midlife revolution. Hey, hey, good morning, good morning. It is beautiful, and we are by the time you're seeing this, it's the 30th of the month of July.

Coach Stacy:

Unbelievable.

Coach Wayne:

You can't believe it, right?

Coach Stacy:

I know, unbelievable. Welcome everyone to this week's episode of the Midlife Revolution. I'm Stacy M. Lewis. It is our pleasure to have you here. I'm a nonprofit professional, I'm a health educator, and I'm a midlife women's coach. And I am always so excited for the Midlife Revolution. And I'm even more excited to be here with my partner in empowerment, uh, Sir Wayne.

Coach Wayne:

Wayne Coach for a moment there, I thought you were gonna let the cat out of the bag and say partner in crime and let people know what I've been up to.

Coach Stacy:

No, see, because then I would be incriminating myself at the same time. So I was very careful with my choice of words.

Coach Wayne:

Yes, I am Coach Wayne, the VIP coach, and I work with men of color as they navigate the myriad of challenges that happens in midlife. And my goal is to make sure that your second half, brothers, is your best half. And so I'm so delighted, Stacy. We are recording this because you are once again on the road. And I don't know how you stay up with that, Stacy. Um, it can wear you down, but thank God you figured out how to make it work. And today we are talking about the wisdom of aging slower and more slowly, so that we can have a more vital lifestyle in our midlife and beyond.

Coach Stacy:

Yeah, I I think you you talk about my travel and not sure how I do it. And some of the the strategies and tips that we'll talk about today are very helpful because you know, travel can be exhausting. And uh, yes, so I'm on another plane uh this weekend for work, which I'm excited about. Uh travel, you know, travel is great, uh, but being in the air and all of that is exhausting. And I'm still trying to look young, I'm still trying to stay young-ish, you know, young, yeah, young, yeah, young-ish. And um definitely in paying attention to the things I'm doing for my mind and my body as I age. So this is a really great uh topic we're talking about today. And I'm excited to dive into the conversation.

Coach Wayne:

Yeah, and I've been doing quite a bit of traveling myself. Uh, rest and relaxation is the idea behind vacation. But I come back and need a vacation from the vacation. You know, we just hit Panama and uh two weeks before that, uh, the Bahamas, and um, tomorrow, tonight, actually, I'm on another flight again, but this time staying within the USA, headed to Virginia. And uh, I gotta tell you, prior to these trips, Stacy, you know, I kind of beef up with my vitamins and things that naturally helps to build the immunity up. And I'm still suffering a little bit from a hoarseness, and I think it may have been something that occurred on the flight, you know, in that tight area, people sneezing and coughing. So be careful as you get out there and travel. Stacey, mask.

Coach Stacy:

Uh, you know, I I know that some folks are still debating, and and many, many people are over the whole mask scenario, but yes, uh, there is a currently new-ish uh COVID variant happening. And at the same time, you know, it it's a plane, it's a small container, and I've decided I'll probably be masking on planes for the rest of my life. So that's what I've embraced. Um, it works for me. Don't judge me, and I won't judge you.

Coach Wayne:

I hear you, you know, Stacy. One of my neighbors has a car and it's parked in the garage. It's a beautiful car, older vehicle, uh, chromed and you know, have those bumpers that is made from good old metal, not the plastic we see today. And he only drives it every now and again in the summer on a weekend. But uh, he hasn't been well in the last year, and so it hasn't been driven a lot. And we took a look at a car, and you could see a few rust spots, and the tires are soft because a car is meant to move and to drive, and it reminds me of us. We live a very sedentary lifestyle, but it ages us faster, kind of if you don't use it, you lose it. And so today we want to talk about how you can be more uh vigorous, have more energy, and show up like you're ready to take on the day, and not have the younger generation bump you to the side saying that you're not ready. We know what's happening right now in terms of the presidential race, we see it, so it's a real deal in terms of how we appear, and we can start off, Stacy, with the mindset about aging.

Coach Stacy:

Yeah, I think it's such an important discussion, you know, not that we want to stay forever young, but that in this season, the midlife season, if you're a self-identified midlifer, you know, we really want to be able to thrive, to take on new things, new challenges, and to be in that mindset. And we need the mindset to match our physical ability. So I I love the way we've uh kind of outlined this conversation to talk about the mindset, the importance of the mindset in um our ability to be intentional about our health, our ability to be consistent about our health and the strategies that you and I are going to be sharing today, um, for our audience to really engage in opportunities to just feel good, to be able to mentally and physically move forward from an empowered place. And and so going.

Coach Wayne:

Yeah, when we talk about mindset, we're talking about a growth mindset versus a fixed mindset, a strength mindset. We're talking about a mindset, therefore, of positive possibilities. Yeah, not to resign with the idea that we're 40 or above and start saying, Well, you know, I've I should have done that in my last life.

Coach Stacy:

You're still alive. It is not, it's not too late. I so many, you know, you and I are of a certain age, and so many uh of the folks I run into in different settings um have that feeling, that feeling like, oh, it's too late. You know, I did, I didn't do that then, or I didn't take care of myself then. And so um now it's too late. It is never too late. Like you said, you're still alive. It is time to really think about your mindset. Where is it as it relates to your health, the opportunities to grow and do new things? And let's start to talk about that, that that growth mindset and your as it relates to your health and how we can make some some shifts to move forward.

Coach Wayne:

So important, Stacey. This is not a time to start quitting on yourself, and to it's an opportunity, for example, to start a new entrepreneurial project, if it's something that you've always desired, you know, uh, don't wind up shooting on yourself, right? Get it done. Uh, we know there's such a thing known as brain pruning, where the neural pathways, right, which trigger activities, you if you don't use them, you are losing them literally. They prune, so they disappear. So if you take up a new event or sport or activity, let's say you started learning to swim, or you decided to study a foreign language, you're creating neural pathways which is exciting the brain, allowing it to literally grow and stay fresh.

Coach Stacy:

Yeah, I think it's such a great example uh that take taking up a new um activity. I don't know about you, Wayne, but where I am, you know, pickleball is definitely on the ground swell. And the reason that I want to learn how to play pickleball is not just because, not because it's popular at all, but because it feels like less ground coverage than tennis, which I used to play, but I haven't played in a long time. And it's an opportunity to get my mind and my body to work together differently. So this taking on something new, I think, is an exciting challenge that some people can receive it as a challenge, uh, or join me in the challenge. And uh let us know how it's going because I really think it's a game changer.

Coach Wayne:

One of my nephews is telling me that he started doing something that he read, and that's he's using his left hand to do a lot of the chores in the morning. So he brushes his teeth with his left hand and shaves. Uh, I don't want to cut my throat, but I imagine I imagine that you are, I guess, entraining your brain to function differently, and that's just a cool way to grow and challenge yourself and stay fresh and young.

Coach Stacy:

Love it. Yeah, no, but that that that I um I was a little taken aback, but I was like, oh, trying to do more things with my left hand, that is um an excellent idea, right? Because it is something that is easy to do, uh, just really, you know, it doesn't require any additional equipment. It's the other hand, you already have it. So, and yes, you can start learning how to play chess with it.

Coach Wayne:

Absolutely. And we know we talk about losing your memory, and I'm not saying that you don't have really organic issues where sometimes folks physically have lost some of the elements of the brain that triggers memory loss. But a lot of times it is a skill set as well, practicing to us using association, mnemonics, so that you don't have to always not know where your keys are if you create the habit of putting it in the same place every time you come in the house. Hang it on the wall, put it in a certain container, and that way just make that a discipline so people don't watch you for 15 minutes trying to figure out where your key is when it's in your pocket. You know what I mean?

Coach Stacy:

Although we know we we all have our moments, right?

Coach Wayne:

Yes, yes, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. My mother used to have her glasses. Oh, they're right here. Yeah, my mother used to have a glass on her head, walking all over the place, searching around like a crazy lady. I'm like, Mom, what are you looking for? You see my glasses, you see my glasses.

Coach Stacy:

Yes, I have seen your glasses actually.

Coach Wayne:

The glasses looking at you. So it's so important, folk, that we be intentional about this stuff that we create for ourselves uh strategies where we entrain ourselves and develop habits to grow the mind by just not retiring and resigning with oh well, too late, can't do, I don't know, forget it. Right?

Coach Stacy:

I think that it's so uh there's such a connection. I mean, we've all heard the the mind-body connection or the mind-body-soul connection. Um, but it real that mind-body connection really is how we were designed. And so as we take on those new activities, it's not just helping our mind, it is helping our body, and vice versa. As we take on pickleball, um, you know, it's not just helping our body, it is helping our mind. And so for us to move forward, just really making a commitment to ourselves to try that one new thing or to um take on a new exercise regimen, uh, to eat differently, whatever we decide, um, that that is for us. This this aging process is one that needs intention. It needs attention and intention. I like us to really do so in a way where we feel like we still have agency. And that's that's what Wayne and I want for you to feel like you have agency.

Coach Wayne:

I love it. Not too late. Intention, agency, attention. Thank you, Stacy. That's powerful. Diet. Now, growing up, I would always go to the doctor, and they're like, You're eating your veggies, you're going outside, you're playing outside, um, you go to sleep well, you know. These are the things, the basic elements for aging well, right? And let's look at diet. And we have a little thing we wanted to show you, and we can go through it today. But diet is about having the right sort of vitamins, minerals, uh, and and micro and macro, uh, you know, in terms of your health. And what we're showing right now are supplements, some of which you probably are familiar with, like omega-3 fatty acid. Um it helps with developing cell membranes for permeability so that you can have just and manages inflammation, the right sort of uh exchange of nutrients in the cells. Um, you can see some of the stuff here, and hopefully, you'll get a chance when you do the replay to take notes on this. Um, we'll hit not all, but some of the ones that are familiar. Vitamin D. Almost everybody I know of our color has been told by their doctor recently, oh, you are vitamin D deficient.

Coach Stacy:

Yeah, yeah. We were just talking about this um in uh one of my communities, the impeccable impact community, and um it that is the reality that many of us of huge skin um are very, very low in vitamin D. And it is truly an important vitamin for our daily health and for our longevity. So I think this is also an opportunity for us to remind our followership that it is important to know your numbers, uh, right, to know, to have your vitamin D level checked, and to really pay attention to those that really have easy opportunity, right? Taking some natural vitamin D, right, uh, is an easy opportunity to improve your health, to improve your day-to-day um activity. So that vitamin D is is truly important.

Coach Wayne:

Yeah. Turmeric, uh, not only is turmeric good in terms of uh managing the blood's constituency, it has the effect of thinning your blood uh to help to prevent clots, but it's also helping in the brain plasticity. So the aging brain really is plastic as well as the brand new brain, though we tend to give up on it. Yeah, right, right.

Coach Stacy:

It is, and again, you know, we uh, you know, I'm sure, Wayne, I don't know about your your people, your culture, but mine has certainly been using turmeric for a very long time as just part of the cultural seasoning, um, and to know that many of these things in the natural, uh, in nature, are there for us to really take advantage of and improve our health.

Coach Wayne:

Yeah. Turmeric. That's that spice that y'all put in your curry, y'all. And of course, you know, we know as well of things like um the importance of berries, blueberries in particular. And blueberries are pretty good. And and most of these also, we look at things that uh prevents oxidation and helps to stave off uh early aging of the cells, right? Oxidation, just like the car that sits in the garage, if if the metal oxidizes, then it rusts and wears away. And to some extent, you don't want the rusting of your cells by oxidation, right? And so you want to fight that as much as possible.

Coach Stacy:

And rusting us now.

Coach Wayne:

Yeah, free radicals are hanging around all day long, and that's the cause of a lot of dis-ease, disease, free radicals. And you want to combat that by making sure that you're following a prescribed, and again, you don't want to do this on your own. You want to talk to somebody who's qualified and certified as a nutritionist or a doctor who's trained in this area, but that can guide you and help you with making sure that you're getting the stuff, macro and micronutrients, in the appropriate levels that your aging body now requires.

Coach Stacy:

Pay attention to what is going in. And as we talk about water, very important. Wayne and I were talking about this idea of ionized water, and I believe that we came to the conclusion that whether you do ionized, high alkaline, distilled spring, your body needs water, and it is so important for us to uh drink enough water every day uh to really maintain our health. It helps to maintain our skin, yeah. Uh, you know, all of the organs of our body, and so it is critical to include water. If you don't like water, figure, figure it out, you know, figure it out. Whatever little flavoring, low sugar, no sugar, something, get that water in. It's critical to your health.

Coach Wayne:

Yeah, yeah, there's another page, and of course, you know, Stacy, you know, and I know that sometimes the water content is not entirely just in the bottle of water, but through your fruits and vegetables. Yeah. So again, you want to go as fresh as possible because what you don't want to wind up with is a chemically laced fruit to make things worse for you. We talk about those free radicals, uh, clean your fruits, uh, simple trick as soaking it in baking soda and vinegar, white vinegar. Or you can buy at some of the health food stores or your favorite um produce stores, the fruit cleaners that you gently scrub before you use it. Um, if it's organic and you know where it's coming from, like at a farmer's market, sometimes you can wash it and eat the fruits. Sometimes you might need to peel away the skin, depending on where it's coming from. But again, stay fresh as much as you can.

Coach Stacy:

I love that. Stay stay fresh. You know, one little tip I will remind uh this is really the health educator and me, is that we tend not to cut fruits or we tend not to clean fruits that we cut into. Uh, how often do you wash your watermelon before you cut it, your avocado before you cut it? The reality is that there are sometimes, you know, toxins, pesticides, etc., yes, on the surface. And as you cut into it, you are bringing whatever's on the surface into the flesh, to the meat, to the fruit. Um, so just a little tip wash your fruit, even if you're gonna cut it, wash your vegetables, even if it has that skin that you're not gonna eat. Wash it, then peel, or then cut into it.

Coach Wayne:

Good point. I'm gonna laugh about this one vitamin E for the skin, protecting the skin to keep it, right? You can take it, but also add it right externally. And I'm laughing because Oja and I went for a run the other day, and this Florida heat must have been like 90 something, but when we got to the car, it said that it felt like 100 and odd, right? And she had heat exhaustion that day. But when I called my assistant in Canada, who is off our hue, she says to us, Do you don't wear a hat? You don't put on uh uh SV uh protection and that sunscreen, we don't, and most most most folks of color, a lot of folks I know, they they don't bother with that. They're like, I'm black, I don't need no sunscreen. But the reality is your skin eventually pays for that if it's exposed to that sort of uh uh weather on a regular basis, especially, starts getting that that leathery look, and the wrinkles will show it's gotta be supple.

Coach Stacy:

The the the leathery look, yeah. We don't want the leathery look, thus, the hyaluronic acid mentioned above the vitamin E. Yes, right? The whole point is that we need to take care of our skin, and you know that that acid is truly. I I'd use some every day, I'm just saying. Um, and that vitamin E uh coupled with that, you know, it all works together. All of these vitamins, all of these tips, they work together. And yes, my beautiful people, you need to wear some sunscreen. It is really, really important to do so.

Coach Wayne:

Yeah, and we have about four minutes or five minutes. And and Stacey, I wanted to not have us leave out, we can put them together, uh, rest and exercise.

Coach Stacy:

Yeah, I don't I don't know which is I think we can put them together and we can incorporate how both the rest and the exercise help to reduce stress because stress in this in this season, stress, you know, in the game of of work, of life, it can really impact our health mentally and physically. So, would you like to take on sleep first?

Coach Wayne:

Yeah, sleep is important, and coming from a guy who struggles with that, which is not a proud thing. We talk about work-life balance, we talk about work life integration. I gotta really do a much better job because when I don't sleep, I can feel my skin feeling prickly, and I'm the guy who won't remember that my glasses are on top of my head the next morning. So, in a sense, it's a waste of time to stay up till three, four working on a project, only to find that when I get up next morning at seven, I can't function. So I might as well get the sleep. And by the way, the time of day that you sleep, apparently, some of the research says is important because you're creating serotonin and melatonin, which are uh are important for rejuvenating uh the cells and the body at night or whenever you're resting, and it comes during a certain time frame of your sleep. But if you're awake, your body is creating hormones, adrenaline and cortisol, which is you're awake doing stuff, and that really interferes with the renewal of cells and and all the things that the body needs for rest.

Coach Stacy:

Yes, yes, it's functioning like you're awake, right, right, and and you need to work, right? We all need to be part of the process, we need to to to work with the process, right? God has designed the process that there's time to be awake and there's a time to sleep. And that sleep time is so important, and we touched on it when we talked about hormones. Um, but the the sleep is so important, and I find, you know, that at this age, sleep can sometimes be elusive and can only encourage our listening audience to pay attention to that. You know, what is it that's causing the sleep to be a little more elusive? You know, are you having wine too close to bedtime? Are you, you know, amping up your brain with social media um too close to bedtime? What's what's impacting your sleep? Pay attention uh to make those small modifications that are really important to your health.

Coach Wayne:

Yeah, and another show or so, we might talk about what blue light does to us versus you know the darkness in your room. And also remember a power nap. I just saw an article yesterday about taking a power nap that they have done some tests to see that it actually reduces the incidence of heart attack in men and women just by having a power nap several times a day, or I mean several times throughout the week. Right. Um meditation. If you can't get full sleep, slow down, do some meditation, and the home stress Stacey is exercise, and we can't get into it fully, but stay moving, the body's made to move as we get older. Mobility exercise, correct?

Coach Stacy:

Right, right. It all culminates into um thinking about how you want to age, the heart's desires, the dreams, the visions you have for these next 10, 20, 30 years of your life, and how your current lifestyle lines up with that? And are the things that you are currently doing, the drinking the water, the exercising, uh, you know, the resting, are they in alignment with what you want your future to look like? And so what adjustments can you make to ensure that there's alignment uh between where you want to go and where you are? Yep.

Coach Wayne:

So, Stace, you know, let's let the people know the Folks know that it's so important to integrate all this stuff and create a habit, a lifestyle of health and wellness, and you can age, as they say, gracefully, remembering that midlife is not a punishment, it's an opportunity to launch yourself forward so you can enjoy your second half and make it your best half.

Coach Stacy:

This is the gift every day. This is the gift. So let's live it to the fullest.

Coach Wayne:

We'll do it again next week, and we'll be live right here on Midlife Revolution. Thank you all.

Coach Stacy:

Thanks for joining.

Coach Wayne:

And there you have it, folks. This week's episode of the Midlife Revolution. Hey, we truly appreciate you spending this time in this space with us. Join us next week at the same time as we dive into relevant topics and present solutions to spark new thinking and empower your midlife journey.

Coach Stacy:

Don't forget, if today's episode resonated with you, share your thoughts and suggest topics in the comments. And of course, remember to subscribe, share, like, and hit that notification bell. You are the midlife revolution. I'm Coach Stacy, and I'm cheering you on.

Coach Wayne:

And I'm Coach Wayne, and I'll see you at the top.

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