Wellness Wednesday Activation Podcast

Metabolic Health: Back to Basics — The Foundations Your Body Is Actually Asking For

• The Fab Collab • Season 1 • Episode 33

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Most people assume that struggling with energy, weight, hormones, or inflammation means something is seriously wrong. But according to functional medicine practitioner CeCe, it often comes back to one thing — metabolic health. And the good news is that metabolic health responds incredibly well to the right daily inputs.

In this Wellness Wednesday conversation, Marilee sits down with CeCe, a functional medicine practitioner specializing in nutritional education, for a candid and practical conversation about what your body is actually asking for. CeCe brings her own personal health journey to the table, having navigated GI issues, adrenal dysfunction, and immune challenges before discovering root cause wellness and eventually activation through LifeVantage. She now works daily with midlife men and women in a health and wellness clinic, helping them move the needle with the basics.

The conversation covers why only 6 to 7% of Americans are truly metabolically healthy, what is driving the rest of us toward metabolic dysfunction, and exactly what to do about it starting tomorrow morning.

In This Episode We Discuss:

  • What metabolic health actually is and why energy crashes, stubborn weight, hormonal imbalance and inflammation are often the same root problem
  • The five morning habits that set the stage for your blood sugar, cortisol, nervous system and metabolism for the entire day
  • Why eating before your coffee matters more than most people realize, especially for midlife women
  • The protein and fiber gap most Americans are living with and exactly how much you actually need each day
  • How muscle mass directly impacts your resting metabolic rate and why protecting it matters more after 40
  • What your evening routine has to do with tomorrow's metabolism, hormones and sleep quality
  • How Protandim NRF2, NRF1 and NAD work together to amplify everything the basics are already building at the cellular level

Key Takeaways

  • Only 6 to 7% of Americans are metabolically healthy, and most people do not know they are in the other 93%
  • Your morning routine is the single most powerful lever for your energy, blood sugar, cortisol and mood for the entire day
  • Most midlife adults are significantly under-consuming both protein and fiber, which directly contributes to muscle loss, slow metabolism and hormone imbalance
  • Your evening routine is where tomorrow's health is decided — sleep is not optional, it is foundational
  • Activation through LifeVantage products is not supplementation — it is turning on the body's own systems to produce what it was designed to produce
  • You do not need to overhaul everything at once — pick one habit, do it for two weeks, and watch what shifts

Whether you are navigating midlife changes, struggling with energy and weight, or simply wanting to understand what your body is asking for, this episode offers real, practical and science-backed guidance you can start using today.

Thank you for joining us for another Wellness Wednesday discussion.

You can listen to all recordings via audio by visiting this link:

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We release new episodes every week so there is always fresh content to guide you on your wellness journey. Tune in, get inspired, and start supporting your body and mind from the inside out.

You can listen to all recordings via audio by visiting this link:

You can also find us on Apple Podcasts here:

And on Spotify here:

We release new episodes every week, so there is always fresh content to guide you on your wellness journey. Tune in, get inspired, and start supporting your body and mind from the inside out. 

SPEAKER_01

Well, welcome everyone to another episode of Wellness Wednesday. It's always an honor to be with you as your host. And my name's Marilyn Merisic. I have been a wellness advocate, wellness warrior, and loving this conversation of just getting to root cause. I've been doing this now for about 20 years, and I love the more that we dig in, the more that I learn. But on Wellness Wednesday, you'll know that we talk about in order to get well, fix the cell. In order to be well, fix the cell. In order to stay well, fix the cell. And so we're going to talk about root cause stuff today. And I love the topic and my special guest today. Actually, today we're going to be talking about metabolic health, back to basics, the foundation your body is actually asking for. And it's always an honor. We have a repeat guest because one, she's just a really dear friend of mine, but two, she's a wealth of knowledge. And I just really appreciate her always sharing her wisdom. So my good friend, Cece McClintick, who is a functional medicine practitioner who specializes in nutritional education. And Cece, I know you can fill us in a little bit more about your background, but it's always great to hear from you and just your expertise. And I know that as a practitioner, you're helping so many women, especially, that are dealing with menopause, but also metabolic health, so many different things. So I think you're the perfect one to have in this conversation. But before we dive into this topic, Cece, I know you're really passionate about this conversation and just getting to root cause. But I'd love it if you could share with our audience today a little bit about your background and what actually brought you to this place.

SPEAKER_00

Over to you. Yeah, thank you so much. I'm so excited to join you today. You know, I am one of those people that has a very long kind of health history myself and had a lot of GI issues growing up. And that just kind of spiraled into so many other health issues. The older I got, it was like I felt like more was coming on, whether it was adrenal issues, a terrible immune system, I've had some crazy diagnoses. And finally I was like, enough is enough. And I had to kind of do like this self-reflection and take a look at my lifestyle and what I was putting in my body, what I was doing in my body, how I was treating my body. And it was like a no-brainer that I wasn't making the best choices. And so it really drove like this passion to learn more about how the body worked, what the body needs, nutrition, lifestyle. And so I ended up going back to school kind of in this beginning of my midlife transition and really fell in love with just getting to the root cause and nutrition and lifestyle habits and really just helping people to move the needle with their health because I was able to do that myself. And so I just wanted to help others. Obviously, joined LifeVantage, which I'm so thankful and grateful for because I feel like I personally, with my own health, kind of like hit this wall. Like I made such amazing progress, but I still kind of was hitting a wall. And once I learned about activation and started to activate my own body, I was able to like break through and just continue down the path of optimal health and wellness. So I just love sharing with others and work in a health and wellness clinic and now get to do this every day.

SPEAKER_01

I I love that. And honestly, it brings more passion to the story. You have your own journey. So it's very heartfelt. And I love that. And I love seeing you help so many people. I think it's that's just gotta be so rewarding and getting your health back. So congratulations to that. But I know, you know, metabolic health is just one of those key conversations that so many people are, it's just kind of the buzz. I think anytime I jump on any story of any kind or podcast, metabolic health is what people are talking about. So I love that we're kind of talking about back to basics because there's so many trends and so many things that are out there. So I've got a few questions I'm gonna walk through as maybe you can just unpackage this a little bit for us today. So before we dive in, can you help us, Cece, understand what metabolic health actually is and why so many people struggle with energy, weight, inflammation, and hormone balance?

SPEAKER_00

Yes, this is one of my favorite topics. Just like you said, I and I primarily deal with midlife women right now. And almost every single person I meet with, whenever you ask, like, what is their biggest health goal, they're like, I just feel like my metabolism is broken. And I'm like, okay, well, let's kind of unpack that. Like, what does that even mean? So, really, believe it or not, metabolic health is just basically how your body is able to produce and use utilize energy efficiently at the cellular level. So it's blood sugar regulation, insulin sensitivity, inflammation, mitochondrial function, and hormones, hormonal signaling. And it just kind of all like weaves into what we call metabolic health. So when it's working, you feel super energized. Your weight is stable, your hormones are balanced, but then like when it breaks down, like none of those things are working as well. And the crazy part is that those energy crashes, the stubborn weight, the hormonal chaos, it's not like separate problems, which I feel like is really easy for most people is they they take what's going on and they kind of put it into different buckets. But all of those things, all of those symptoms, they all come back to the same root dysfunction, which is your metabolic health. About six to seven percent of Americans are actually metabolically healthy. Wow. That's it. Only six to seven. So that means like crazy, 94% of us are walking around with metabolic dysfunction. And most people don't even know it because, and this is what I see all the time with my own clients is they come to me and they're like, hey, I'm super frustrated. I went and had all this blood work done. My my labs all look normal, right? But normal is not optimal. And so there is this gap between what's normal and what is optimal. And so most people don't realize that they're actually living with poor metabolic health. The drivers of all of that is pretty straightforward. If you really just kind of peel back the layers to your lifestyle, like it's it's our modern diet, right? It's keeping our blood sugar spiking and crashing all day long. It's chronic stress, which is keeping our cortisol elevated. I see this all the time with so many of my clients. And it's a lot of people that have just like lost the foundations of health. It's the poor sleep, they're not getting enough protein, they're not moving their body, there isn't really like consistency with just the basics. And for some reason, we feel like the basics are so boring, but they're like the most important thing to do. And your body keeps score of what you're you're doing, right? And so it's just really about getting back to the basics. I find also too for a lot of my women in midlife, like this this conversation matters even more because you go into the stage where your estrogen is declining and you're, you know, like your metabolic margin for error just kind of shrinks. And so the habits and the things that we did in like our 30s, they're not working anymore. They don't work the same in our 40s and our 50s and our 60s. And so the good news is though, is that metabolic health responds so well to just the right inputs. And so that's really what I work on with my clients is those those daily inputs that we're giving the body so that we can be as healthy as possible, really at any age, not not even just in midlife. So I think I'm really excited to talk about this today.

SPEAKER_01

Yeah, I think that's so key though. And I know you specialize with women too, but I'm sitting here as you're describing this, thinking about how many men and women, I'm I'm an I'm a midlifer, but how how many men and women as life goes on, they hit my age, which I'm in my mid-up upper 50s now, but the belly starts to get a little rounder and you know, just energy starts to go, all of those things. And it seems like the trend is like, I really want a quick fix. I really want to just, you know, take one thing that's gonna just be that magic fix, although lifestyle hasn't changed. So I this is all about back to basics. So let's talk about this. So, you know, let's start at the beginning actually with healthy habits. You started to mention some of that, but why is the morning so much more important than people realize? I know we've talked about that, we've heard that so much, but what is it about the morning that's so special?

SPEAKER_00

Yes, the the morning is everything. It's literally setting the stage for your entire day. And I know for a really long time I was like thinking more about my mornings of like, okay, I have to like get up and get the kids going and get to work and do all these things, and how can I just cram more into my morning? But really, like the the thing that's so important for your morning is more of just those inputs that we're giving for our body and the order in which you do things in the morning, that really works with like your physiology. And so I these are the things what I want to share with you today are things that I really work on with my clients all the time because they're just that important. And so the very first one, which I think we are all guilty of this, and I have totally been guilty of this as well, is that when you wake up, you do not want to grab your phone. That first 10 to 15 minutes, when you wake up, you do not want to go into like a reactive state because when you wake up, your body naturally has a surge of cortisol within the first like 30 to 45 minutes. And it's what we call the cortisol awakening response. And you can actually test your cortisol awakening response, but it's one of the most important biological events for your entire day because your car, it's it's actually anti-inflammatory. So cortisol is anti-inflammatory, so it's like your immune system's first line of defense every single morning. So when you grab your phone and you immediately start scrolling and you're looking at your notifications, or you're checking your email, or you're just like looking at your text messages, whatever, most often you're gonna introduce stress at the exact same moment that that cortisol awakening response or that anti-inflammatory burst is happening and you kind of just destroy it. You totally blunt it, right? And so that is like one of the fastest ways to tank your immune function and your mood before you've even like gotten out of bed. So wait if you can wait like 10 to 15 minutes, let your body wake up, do what it's supposed to do, and then you can go look at your phone. And I'm constantly reminding myself of this every single morning before I get out of bed. I'm like, do not look at your phone, CeCe. That can wait for later. My second recommendation is that you always want to eat something before you have any caffeine. So most people drink coffee in the morning. So this is like this is one of the hardest things to change. It's kind of one of the non-negotiables I have with my clients. It's super important and it's definitely the one that gets the most pushback. But especially even for like midlife ladies, so caffeine will caffeine is like cortisol stimulant, right? So when you drink coffee on an empty stomach, you're just spiking your cortisol with nothing else to buffer it. So if there's no food, there's no blood sugar incher, there's like nothing. So, especially in midlife, eating after caffeine can help like drive blood sugar dysregulation and amplify anxiety, which a lot of people with hormone imbalances start to have like a lot of anxiety. And so, just another reason why eating before you have caffeine is so important. So, what the food does is it buffers that cortisol spike, it will protect your gut lining, it's gonna help stabilize your blood sugar before you then add a stimulant into the mix. So it doesn't need to be a full meal. You don't have to be like, I have to eat breakfast before I have coffee. You just it can be something small, just a little bit of protein to come first before you have your coffee can go a very, very long way. And then the next thing is, you know, coffee is not necessarily the enemy at all. Like there are really good health benefits for coffee, but timing is important. So after you have a little bit of something to eat, your energy is smoother, that crash is going to be smaller, your gut's gonna be healthy, and so you can get all the good benefits of caffeine without like that spike, right? But the thing is that you want to stop your coffee by like noon at the latest, because your your caffeine has a half-life of like five to six hours. So if you are hitting the drive-thru at Starbucks at like two o'clock in the afternoon, just think about what's happening in the evening, right? So that caffeine's still in your system, maybe at like eight o'clock when your body really wants to be making melatonin and start getting you into a sleep cycle. And so the timing of your caffeine can have a huge impact on what's going to happen later in the evening and into the nighttime. And then the last thing that I think is so, so, so important is getting outdoors and getting light in your face, in your eyes within like the first 30 minutes of waking up. So this is like one of the most underrated habits, but your body has a 24-hour like internal clock, which we call our circadian rhythm, and it's calibrated every single day by the light hitting receptors in your eyes. So when you get outdoor light within the first 30 minutes of waking, you're telling your brain exactly like what time it is. And this is gonna set the stage for your energy curve for your whole day. It's gonna help improve focus, it's gonna help stabilize your mood, it's gonna help even with your blood sugar. And the part that most people miss is it's starting the countdown for melatonin production at night. So what you're doing in the morning and getting that light is gonna impact your ability to sleep and heal and repair in the evening because your brain's not gonna release melatonin at bedtime unless it has received that morning light signal. So this is kind of another non-negotiable, even if you can get out for like two to five minutes at minimum. Like you don't have to be like, oh, I have to get up at sunrise and go hike or go for a long walk or do anything crazy. Just step outside. So, like for me, my routine is I start every morning, like right when I wake up, before I can do anything else, I take my coffee cup and I fill it up with warm water, I squeezed half a lemon in there and I go sit outside. Even like today, it was not very nice out, but I still went out there and got that morning light on my face and in my my eyes. So it's it can be that, that simple. And then one more thing that I will add to is just movement within the first hour. It doesn't have to be any crazy sort of exercise. If you want to exercise, great, but even just like stretching, walking, moving around your house, walking up and down your stairs, like morning movement is gonna help drop cortisol to a healthy baseline after that natural cortisol awakening response has peaked. So it's gonna improve your insulin sensitivity for the rest of the day. So your body's gonna be able to handle the meals you're eating better from that movement and moving around. It's gonna signal to your nervous system that your body is safe. And this is what I find for so many women, especially in midlife, is we have like stressed our bodies out so much it doesn't feel safe anymore. And no wonder our metabolism is stalling, our adrenals are tanked, we're having hormonal imbalances. So this is helping your body to kind of create that safety. So again, it doesn't have to be anything crazy or hard workout, but if within that 30 to 60 minutes after waking up, you can get some movement in, it's going to really help just with your biology and overall health. So think about like these five things. Try to do them in order if you can. It's gonna go a long way again for your blood blood sugar, your metabolism, setting the stage for your nervous system. Otherwise, you're just gonna be chasing your energy and everything for the rest of the day.

SPEAKER_01

This is so true. And I want to tell you, I learned so much from you. So I know we've talked about metabolic health before on Wellness Wednesday with you. And I have implemented, I want you to know, be proud of me, on some of these things. So I think it's really key. I love what you said about even the cell phones. I mean, I used I used to grab my phone first thing, and it was just like so stress, and my brain was just going like crazy. And then I would get so caught up in that I wouldn't exercise, I wouldn't do all those things. And I might even skip going outside to take our dog for a walk in the morning just because now I'm in this scroll hole of panic and all the things. And boy, just simple little things can make such an adjustment. So now what I do is I I like a like 20 ounces of water with some Celtic salt. That's the first thing that I'll grab for in the morning. And then we I would just tell people, tell your audience like, get a dog. Your dog will make you get outside and go for a little walk. Doesn't have to be huge, but that is a daily must. It has to happen. So that's been really good to just keep us very disciplined in that. But it really makes a huge difference. And I used to be the person I need I was already kind of tired when I woke up, so I'd grab the caffeine. And then I'm just in this chasing spikes, highs and low all day long. And I don't know if our audience can relate to that, but I bet you they can. And so implementing so many of the things that you've suggested, and I know you'll we'll talk about some more here, has really made a difference where I feel like my blood sugar is more balanced. I don't have those spikes and you know, highs and lows and crashes during the day. I definitely feel more stabilized, brain fog, you know, just kind of there's a lot of adjustments. We're gonna talk about like a few more key things. So let me ask you about this, because I know we've talked about this even before we we started to record this call. But I I want to just say, so you were very specific about protein and fiber with your clients. I know we've talked about that in the past, but why these two? Why is that so important? And why do you think most people are still missing the mark?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, we live in, and this is part of the whole conversation of why we, you know, only six to seven percent of Americans are metabolically healthy, is that we live in we live in a world where simultaneously we are overfed, but we're undernourished, and we have more food available than at any other point in human history. And if you were on social media at all over the last couple of weeks and you see all the people coming in from other countries for the soccer tournament, and they are just like, oh my gosh, there are so many choices in America. I love this. Like, look at the grocery store. Like, yeah, hello, that's that's part of our problem. Like, we still have a majority of people that are like chronically under consuming two of the most important nutrients that the body needs, which is protein and fiber. So I'll I'll break it down. So protein, first and foremost, and this is definitely one of the most underconsumed macronutrients for midlife men and women. And protein, again, is like a non-negotiable, but protein is the only macronutrient that your body can't store. So, unlike fats and carbs, there's like no protein reserve. So, what happens is that your body pulls from your muscle tissue when intake isn't sufficient. And this matters a lot, like after the age of 40, because we start losing muscle mass of a rate of like three to even up to like eight percent for every decade after 30 through a process called sarcopenia. And that rate accelerates even more so after menopause. So, muscle isn't just about how you look, it's like your primary metabolic tissue. It is so important. So, one thing that I always preach to my clients is the more muscle you have means the higher your resting metabolic rate. And I try to work really hard to help my clients increase their resting metabolic rate because that means that you're burning more calories at rest. So you don't even have to work harder, you're just burning more calories naturally. But it's also muscle is gonna help with better blood sugar regulation, better hormone metabolism, and it's way easier for fat loss. So you have to feed that muscle, right? So protein outside of muscle does so many other things. It helps regulate our hunger hormones, specifically like ghrelin. It's really important for GLP1. GLP1 is like a hot topic everywhere, right? So for making your GLP1 hormone, you need ample amounts of protein. It helps stabilize our blood sugar, it helps us with liver detoxification, it helps again build and preserve our muscle. And so what I find is that most people are completely under-eating their protein. So the recommended daily allowance is 0.8 grams per kilogram of body weight, which is literally just the minimum to like prevent deficiencies. Maybe so you wouldn't get like rickets or something, right? But it's not optimal for your health or your body composition. So research is supporting more of like 1.6 to 2.2 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. So what I like to say, an easy way just to think about it, is whatever your ideal body weight is, that's how many grams of protein you should eat every day. So I aim for like 135 to 140 grams of protein daily. So the next thing you have to do is just think about in practical terms like what does that mean? So essentially you want to aim for like 30 to 40 grams of protein per meal. So that's every meal, not just your dinner, because that's where most people get their protein in. Right. One at breakfast, you want at lunch, you want at dinner, and a snack. Most likely you're gonna have to have a snack. And I find that when I do initial intakes with a lot of my clients, they're consuming maybe like 50 to 70 grams total when I'm looking at like food journals. So that's a huge gap. 50 grams versus 140 grams is a huge gap. And so that's directly contributing to muscle loss, slow metabolism, blood sugar issues, and hormone imbalances. So protein, when I think of like the best sources, I always go to animal protein first. So, you know, like eggs, chicken, turkey, wild caught, grass-fed beef, some Greek yogurt. You can do some cottage cheese. Um, there are plant proteins that are good too. Sometimes, you know, people are vegetarian or vegan, so there's also plant plant sources as well. And then you can do a pro a good protein powder. It's kind of like a bridge that will help kind of get you closer to your goal. I essentially have a protein, a scoop of protein powder every single day just to help me put me over and make sure I'm 100% getting in my protein. So those are those are the like the biggest things you want to do when it comes to protein. So, so so important. And then fiber, oh my gosh, this one, this is like one of the most overlooked, best things you can do for your health and your metabolism. And there is a huge fiber gap for people too. Only about 5% of Americans hit their daily fiber requirements. So most people are consuming maybe 10 to 15 grams every day. The recommended minimum is like 25 grams to 35, 38, 40 grams a day. So that's again another huge gap. And there's some big, you know, like downstream consequences to that as well. And so fiber is so important. It's so important to feed your gut microbiome. I think most people know that, right? You've got 38 trillion bacteria in your gut that's regulating your immune system and immune function, your mood, even things like your estrogen clearance. So your gut microbiome is so, so important. So fiber feeds your gut. It will slow glucose absorption. So it's so good for helping with that post-meal glucose spike and insulin spike. It helps again to support estrogen metabolism. So clearing out excess estrogen, but even excess cholesterol, excess like toxins, helps us to make short chain fatty acids. So specifically butyrate, which is really important for that GLP1 pathway. So helping you make your GLP1 hormone. So you want to try to get an assortment of like soluble fiber, insoluble fiber, and even prebiotic fibers. So again, you're gonna have to look at overall for your day and kind of take the goal and break it up into each meal. So if you can aim for five to 10 grams of fiber per meal, you're gonna be in a really good place. So think about like half your plate being vegetables, or if you can think of like two handfuls of veggies. Now, veggies aren't the only source of fiber, but if you can at least start there, you're gonna be in a good place. So protein and fiber are like non-essentials. Those are the two types of foods that I have my clients focus on first and foremost.

SPEAKER_01

This is so key. And honestly, I keep thinking about these are basic things that we can do every single day. Our body is so brilliant, it knows what to do, but given the right things, the right habits, and that's just something I know you preach all the time. And I and I love that you are here to remind us of some of these basic things. But I'm I guarantee some of our listeners are having some huge aha moments saying, oh my goodness, I had no idea I needed to eat that much protein or that fiber play to keep part of it. But also that muscle, I that was that's always an aha to me. It's a how much muscle we lose, and that movement through the day is so key. It also helps with lymphatic system. There's just so much that I think we we we now tend to have a more sedentary lifestyle, just lifestyle, even for younger kids. It's not like everybody's out, you know, just moving like they need to, but it's just so key. And I know you you you preach that all the time. So we talked about kind of the mornings and now through the day, like some of those key things, but let's talk about the evening. So what about the evening? So our nighttime habits are also important for metabolic health. Let's talk about that. I know you've got some tips there too.

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, so obviously, well, sleep is huge. So, what I always like to say is that your evening routine is where tomorrow's health is decided. So, like what you guys are doing tonight is helping you decide your health for tomorrow, right? And poor sleep is the fastest way to derail your metabolism, screw up your hormones, create inflammation in the body, even dysregulate your blood sugar. So your evening routine is foundational, it's not optional, it is foundational. So there's a couple key pillars, and you guys all know this. There's nothing that I'm gonna tell you that you're like, oh yeah, I've never heard that before. It's just we need the reminder and we just actually have to do it. So again, just remember what I said about caffeine. So you want to cut off your caffeine by like 12 o'clock, 2 p.m. at the latest, so that you're not screwing up your production of melatonin, right? The other thing is dim the lights, reduce the screens. Blue light suppresses melatonin production, and your body needs darkness as a signal to begin that whole window process. We are getting into summer now, so it is light out longer. So draw the shades, turn the lights off, even though the sun is still out outside, keep that that, you know, that dim light to help your body recognize like, hey, it's time to allow melatonin to kick in, and it's time for me to wind down and go to sleep. This one is huge. Eat your last meal two to three hours before bed. Multiple reasons. So this is gonna give your body time to shift from your like the busyness of digesting your food to go into that healing and repairing state. And you have gravity like working on your side before you go to sleep. So when you eat food, if you're sitting up, standing up, doing whatever, you know, you have gratitude gravity helping you with digestion. But as soon as you lay flat, your digestion is not going to work as well, right? So that's one thing. But again, your body does not want to be digesting your food when it should be doing other processes while you're sleeping. And so this is also really important for your metabolism. You don't want to give your body a bunch of nourishment and energy right before you go to sleep because you still have to burn through whatever energy you take in at the end of the day, or you're gonna store that energy. So your last meal should be two to three hours before bedtime. I personally have like a 7 p.m. cutoff. Like it doesn't matter what it is after 7, I'm not eating it. Another trick is like if you're really struggling, go brush your teeth. Nobody wants to go eat after they brush their teeth. So that's a little hack to help you stop eating um later at night. And then just make your wind-down ritual just like a non-negotiable. So you like do some stretching, some reading, a warm shower, whatever it takes to like signal to your nervous system that it's time to like downshift. I love to lay on the ground and throw my legs up on the wall. Um, I'll even like put my legs on the vibration platform that I have. I love to take a hot shower, just make the house cooler and darker and more quiet. Even a little bit of light in your bedroom can disrupt your cortisol melatonin cycle. So just remember like during sleep, your body is producing your growth hormone. It's repairing tissues, it's regulating your appetite and your hormones and consolidating your memory and running its like whole cellular cleanup process. So all of that requires good sleep. So what you're doing in the evening is so, so, so important.

SPEAKER_01

I think these tips are so key. This is just foundational. And you know, I think CeCe, aside from just metabolic health, I think brain health. Brain health is just so key when you're talking about the sleep and just metabolic health in general. So I keep thinking about like that gut-brain connection as we're having this conversation. It all ties together, doesn't it? It just does. So we've laid the foundation of the basics, but let's talk about where activation and the life vantage products come in. What makes them so different from other supplements? And I'd love to hear some of your favorites as you talk about this.

SPEAKER_00

Yes. Okay. So Life Vantage products are really designed to amplify what you're already building. So if you start to practice the habits that I just shared, the products with Life Vantage are just going to take your health to the next level. And the keyword that we always throw around because it's so important is activation. This is not supplementation. We're not just adding nutrients to your body. This is the the difference between supplementation, is where, like with supplementation, you're giving a specific nutrient and a specific amount. Like take for magnesium, for example, you're like putting 300 milligrams of magnesium in, depending on again, what the dosage is on your magnesium. But that might not be what your body needs. Like it might not need that amount. But with activation, you're turning on your body's own defense and energy systems. You're allowing your body to create the nutrients that it was designed to produce, and your body knows how to regulate them. So hopefully that that makes sense, the difference between activation and supplementation. So I'm always gonna choose activation first and foremost because my body knows what to do with that. So my favorite core three products, there's actually the tri synergizer, and I have it with you. This is what I take. It's so easy. I just I love that I can just like whip out my little packet and I can like take it. But this is ProTanum Nerf 2, Nerf 1, and NAD. And so these are so amazing for your metabolic health and really your overall health. Proteanum Nerf 2, like it starts with yellow, like everything, people, your body, your health, it starts with yellow. So that product activates the nerf two pathway, which is your body's master antioxidant switch. So your body produces its own antioxidant enzymes, such as like glutathione. But as we age, that production declines. And so Protanum Nerf 2 is signaling to your body to ramp that system back up. And LifeInage has a peer-reviewed research. We know from research that it reduces oxidative stress by up to 40% in 30 days. 40% in just 30 days is amazing to me. And in the clinic, we're testing antioxidant levels and oxidative stress for people all the time, just to see what their cells need for specific nutrients and antioxidants, right? So oxidative stress is literally like when your cells are starting to rust. And it's really hard for nutrients to get into your cells and for toxins to get out of your cells. So I kind of like to think of it like if you're dealing with oxidative stress, it's like your cells are wrapped in saran wrap and nothing can get in or out, right? So think of like if your cell couldn't get the thyroid hormone into it because it's rusty, like that's what oxidative stress is doing to your cells. So I love protonum nerf two because it's turning down the volume on that cellular inflammation and that oxidative stress. And it just pairs perfectly with all of these lifestyle habits that are helping with reducing inflammation in the body, you know, that we've already been talking about. Protonum nerf one, this is where the mitochondria come into play. So the nerf one is activating your mitochondrial biogenesis, which is the creation of new mitochondria. So, again, this is like another area of health that I we test for in the clinic because your mitochondria are your cellular power plants. They're tied directly to your metabolism, and then they make the energy inside your cells. And so more mitochondria means more energy production at a cellular level. So think of like having all of these little energizer like bunnies inside your cells. And this is why people feel such a difference in their energy and in their endurance, like everything, because their mitochondria are healthy. So it just totally again complements all of those basic habits and your metabolism directly. And then if you can layer in the NAD, NAD is like the cellular fuel for your mitochondria to run on, and that also declines significantly significantly as you're aging. So obviously, unfortunately, as we get older, everything just starts to decline, right? But NAD is gonna support DNA repair, energy metabolism, our cognitive function, and it works synergistically with that Nerf one to really just supercharge your mitochondria. And so together they're creating like the cellular energy that's gonna support everything: your muscles, your workouts, your focus, your recovery, your metabolism, your hormone signaling. So all of these three together are just so foundational to your health. And I really think about if you're doing the foundations, the morning routine, getting your protein, getting your fiber, daily movement, getting quality sleep, these products are gonna help your cells perform at just an even higher level with that foundation. So it's activation, it's not replacement, it's the habits that are like powering our biology, but it's the products that are gonna help amplify it. And that ultimately is just gonna lead to like optimal health and wellness.

SPEAKER_01

Oh, I love this. So, so key, so important. And I agree with you that that tri-synergizer is an absolute daily mess for us. We never miss it. Since it's entered my world, it's literally changed my health and so many others. It's been great to see and experience firsthand. So I cannot recommend it enough. I'm right there with you. So as we wrap this up, people might be saying, wow, you know, feeling like wow, that's a lot of habits to try to implement and really work in. But what's the one thing that you tell everyone, everyone just to do first as we kind of wrap this up and then tie into that some final thoughts?

SPEAKER_00

Yeah, so just pick one, just one thing and just do it. Do it for two weeks, see how it goes before you add anything else. And I feel like most people fail not because they don't know enough, like right, like we all know. It's just that a lot of times people try to change everything all at once. I've been there, you get super inspired. My clients, the same thing. They get super inspired, they overhaul everything on Monday, and then by Thursday, they're like, oh, this is too hard. This is uns, you know, not stainable. Like, so start with your morning, protect that cortisol awakening response, eat before your coffee, step outside, move your body, like just take one of those, or maybe you've already been doing some of them, and just like continue to add and just focus there for like two weeks and watch what shifts over those two weeks. Because you know, the basics, they are they are boring, but they aren't boring. They're just like kind of underestimated. And and I I really feel like the men and women who get the most dramatic results in my practice and working with me are almost like they're doing the most basic, uncomplicated things. They're just doing it consistently. So they're they've mastered the fundamentals and they're doing it consistently. And so that's that's that's really it. Just get started, pick your one habit. And I just I know and I'm super excited for you because I know that it's gonna make a difference.

SPEAKER_01

This has been such a great conversation. I cannot even tell you. You have changed my world, I have to tell you, my friend, because I have listened to your tips and advice over these many wellness wednesdays we've done together, and it really does make a difference. And I love your challenge to our listeners. Take two weeks and do something because I did that, and literally, it's like, wow, changing that morning routine. I started to feel a significant difference. And I'm like, what else can I do? Because now I'm I feel like I've got the secret key to unlock this. And and my goodness, activation literally changing, changing the game. So, CeCe, I can't thank you enough for being here today. This has been such a great conversation, as always. You always bring so much knowledge to the table, and you're a walking testimony of really the power to this. So, thank you on behalf of everyone listening, and and thank you to our listeners. I so appreciate you being here. And please join us back again next week. We always have a wellness professional to talk about some of these great health hacks. And I'm so glad that you could join us. So, with that, thank you for being here. Thank you, Cece, again. What a great conversation.

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Becki Taylor

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Dr. Brett Brimhall

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