Ep 60: What We Learned After a Year of Talking About Health

In this episode, Dr. Kitty Dotson and Dr. Sarah Schuetz pause to reflect on the past year of The Starting Gate—and the clear themes that came up again and again, no matter the guest or topic.

From nutrition to mental health, menopause to dementia prevention, one message stood out: sustainable health is built through small, realistic habit changes—not massive life overhauls. Our guests consistently emphasized working changes into your existing routine to support long-term success.

We talk about what we learned about sleep (and why fearing a bad night may do more harm than good), the profound impact of exercise on brain health and quality of life, and the value of simple, whole-food nutrition—where B+ meals and a little prep go a long way.

We also reflect on stress, mood, and inflammation, the role of social connection, and how lifestyle medicine supported Sarah through a major life stressor this year. We discuss menopause, hormones, supplements, and why critical thinking matters more than chasing the latest trend on social media.

This episode is a reminder to stop collecting information—and start making small changes today.

thestartinggatepodcast.com

Email us with questions and topics you want us to cover at
contact@thestartinggatepodcast.com

Follow us on social media @thestartinggatepodcast




The content in this podcast is for general reference and educational purposes only. It is not meant to be complete or exhaustive, or to be applicable to any
specific individual’s medical condition. No information provided in this podcast constitutes medical advice and is not an attempt to practice medicine or to provide specific medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. This podcast does not create a physician- patient relationship and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please do not rely on this podcast for emergency medical treatment. Remember that everyone is different so make sure you consult your own healthcare professional before seeking any new treatment and before you alter, suspend, or initiate a new change in your routine.

Transcript

Ep 60: What We Learned After a Year of Talking About Health

[00:00:00] Before we start today's episode, I would like to quickly read you our podcast disclaimer. The content in this podcast is for general reference and educational purposes only. It is not meant to be complete or exhaustive or to be applicable to any specific individual's medical condition. No information provided in this podcast constitutes medical advice and is not an attempt to practice medicine or to provide specific medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.

This podcast does not create a physician patient relationship, and it's not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Please do not rely on this podcast for emergency medical treatment. Remember that everyone is different, so make sure you consult your own healthcare professional before seeking any new treatment, and before you alter, suspend, or initiate a new change in your routine.

Welcome to the starting day. We're your host, Dr. Kitty Dotson and Dr. Sarah Schuetz. Two internal medicine doctors who spent years practicing traditional primary care. Over time, we realized something was missing from modern healthcare, a [00:01:00] real understanding of how everyday lifestyle choices impact overall health.

We'll help you cut through the noise of the countless health influencers and their conflicting opinions because no matter who you follow, the basics of lifestyle medicine are at the heart of it all.

 Welcome back to the starting gate. We're your host, Dr. Kitty Dotson and Dr. 

Sarah Schuetz. 

So today we thought we would take a little time to reflect. We have been doing this podcast for over a year now, and Doing a podcast is not something either of us ever thought would be something we were doing on a regular basis, but it has been so much fun and really I have learned so much by. Thinking about and preparing for these episodes and talking to our wonderful guests. And so we thought we would take a little time today to just stop and reflect on what we've learned over the last year.

And this will be a great episode. If you are someone that hasn't listened to many of our episodes, we will talk about [00:02:00] our guests and what we've learned from them and you can think about which ones you wanna go back and listen to. If you are someone that has been listening regularly with us over the last year, first of all, thank you so much for doing that.

We appreciate it. And this will just be a good reminder for you. Okay. 

So from here we're going to go over some very broad topics that we feel will help anyone if they are goal setting right now for 2026, because there's just so much information . That we put out in 2025, we wanted to be able to summarize it all in one spot and give you time to reflect on how you wanna set up your goals for 2026 and how to focus on it and have success.

Yeah. And so you may wanna think about which ones do you want to go back and listen to? Because once you've tried some things to, and then you go back and listen to an episode again, you really will get something different out of it.

one of the things that stuck out to me when I just stopped to think [00:03:00] about. What we've learned is actually how much of what we've heard from different experts from different fields has been similar. And one thing in particular is all of them have said small habits beat these big overhauls that you try to do in your life every time.

And I know. That was one of our very first shows where we talked about the power of small habit change. And sometimes you start to question yourself, is it just me that thinks that this is important or is making a difference? And then we had guests, after guests continue to emphasize how important that is for staying consistent and helping build healthy habits.

Just to name some of those, if this is something that you're wanting to work on, is thinking about going back to one of our. Shows in January of last year with Beth Kronenberg. She really helped us set up for success for 2025, and talked about building [00:04:00] those habits slowly and not doing these big overhauls, and I just felt like that was such a great episode talking about building healthy habits.

Yeah, and we did one recently with Jessica Jackson who talked about having a base camp for yourself and having just that set of small habits that you make sure you get done every day and then going on from there and building from there. I thought that was a really good way to think about it also, 

and many times we talk about nutrition on this show and we had two dieticians, Lauren Marshall and Amanda Nighbert, who.

Talked about their philosophies in helping their patients with all different sorts of issues, whether it's weight loss or even weight gain building muscle mass, And neither of them talked about complete overhauls. They really talked about having this foundation and working on the habit chains and just learning to be consistent [00:05:00] in doing that and really leaving perfection at the door.

Mm-hmm. Because we're always continuing to strive for that. And then we have that all or nothing mindset and really set ourself up for failure because, hey, it's real life obstacles occur and we're not gonna be able to be perfect. And so really hearing both of their takes on nutrition and how they coach people.

Was just great because I know that both Kitty and I see that with our own patients of how important this philosophy can be in hitting your goals. 

Yeah. And really building on momentum there because you need to see yourself succeed and get that confidence in yourself. And it's really hard to do that when you're striving for something huge or something really different from your ordinary routine.

So if you can set small goals and see yourself actually hit them, you're gonna be much more likely to keep working, keep having self-improvement, and really [00:06:00] get the bigger goals in the long run. 

So if you're currently thinking about, oh, what am I gonna do as my New Year's resolution, I would encourage you to actually think about what you wanted by the end.

Of 2026 and then work backwards and really start very small in January and do not participate in a complete overhaul. And that way if you can just again, get some wins, you're gonna be able to continue building on it. You help reach that goal by the end of the year. And doing it that way instead of trying to do a four week overhaul or six week, and then by the time you're done with it, you wanna quit.

And then that goal at the end of the year is nowhere in sight. 

Yeah. And I would just take that a step further and say whatever you think you want your goal to be starting in January, make it smaller and then make it smaller again, at least two times smaller. Yes. So that you can see yourself hitting it, and then you're actually still making [00:07:00] progress in February and March instead of quitting and forgetting that you'd set that goal in the first place.

Make things small, it really does make a difference over time and it's that small habit and being consistent that we heard from every single person on this show that was giving advice. 

And if this interests you, just take a moment to read Atomic Habits and it will again reinforce many of these different behaviors.

It's a great book. It's a great read this time of year, just to remind you of the power of small change over time. 

I think the next one that I really gained the most from was our series on sleep. 

I would agree. And I think this is some kitty and I tend to like the shows that we feel like we have the least knowledge on.

And that is something that we feel like is lacking in some of our education through medical school was really taking a deep dive into sleep medicine and that series we. We did that. I know we did one on a [00:08:00] show of our own where we really learned about the connection of poor sleep in chronic conditions, as well as the huge impact sleep can have on our emotional wellbeing as well as our hormonal health.

It is just incredibly important, but something that society does not value, it was a great reminder of this pillar of health and how much we need to spend to make sure we're optimizing it. 

Yeah, , I think we've both talked about how previously we have sacrificed sleep in our life to just get things done and learning about.

This has only reinforced to me how important it is to make time for sleep. And it's okay if the house is not picked up and the laundry is not folded, if that is something that is cutting into your time of sleep. , The big one for me that was really helpful was talking to Ryan Wetzler [00:09:00] and he just gave me a different way of looking at a bad night's sleep because once I did realize how important sleep was, I've become really upset if I don't get sleep and I'm worried about it and I'm like, oh gosh.

And he really was able to take that away from me and has given me reassurance. One, he said if your mind keeps thinking about something, just get up and do it. It doesn't matter if it's 1:30 in the morning. If your mind is obsessing about something and you're not getting sleep because of it, just get up and do it.

And that is something I would not have done before, but I have now several times gotten up in the middle of the night and just taken care of something that I was thinking about and I was able to go back to sleep. But also then the next day I was able to not dwell on the fact that I didn't get enough sleep and use that as an excuse to make poor eating choices or not exercise and things.

So that was really [00:10:00] helpful for me. Yeah. 

And his whole concept of thinking about insomnia as a phobia. Yes. That was just so enlightening to me because it's so true. I've dealt with insomnia on and off throughout my lifetime and. That's really what would happen. I, you get in bed and I'm fearful, I'm just gonna have another bad night's sleep, and I am anxious that I'm just not sleeping and it just perpetuates the cycle.

So really having another take on how to think about sleep was so helpful as well as reiterating the power of cognitive behavioral therapy when you struggle with sleep. And that's what he does specifically in his practice. So if sleep is something that you are struggling with or just needing more tips and tricks on how to improve that, the series that we did on sleep is so full of knowledge.

definitely take a listen to that. 

another topic. I know in li in lifestyle medicine, we talk about the [00:11:00] importance of movement all the time. It's a pillar of health. Physical activity is so important. Reflecting on all of our shows was just so fascinating because we talked about movement and its impact on every single organ system in our body this year.

Yeah. And how it helps it, it is really something that I feel like in traditional medicine, I only thought about exercise when it came to cardiovascular health and it making my heart strong, But we just took such a deep dive in how it is impacting everything in our bodies that you can no longer look at exercise the same.

It is not, It something that we only do to lose weight. It is not something that we only do specifically for our heart, but it is literally critical for our overall health and longevity in order to live a happy, healthy life. 

 I loved how Dustin Jones talked about how important exercise is as we age, and he talked about it so [00:12:00] practically, and I've actually been experiencing this lately.

As far as how much exercise helps you just get through your life more easily. And so if you are someone that wants to stay independent and be able to still do things that you enjoy as you get older, exercise is essential. Weightlifting is essential, and I can see that recently, even for myself, I've gotten a lot stronger over the last year and a half, and I have done a few things lately that I thought, oh, wow.

I would not have been able to do that by myself. I would've needed someone to come help me lift that, or I just wouldn't have been able to get all these things done. A day by myself and it feels so good and it makes me think I never want to lose that. 

Yeah, no, I completely agree. And I think that's something when we did our show with Meredith Sweeney and we talked about longevity and longevity medicine and [00:13:00] how critical exercise is in helping people have that high quality life that they want to live we know it can help you live longer, but I would say the more important thing is it helps you live better.

Yeah. 

And. When we were researching our dementia episode, I think that one, 

those stats related to the importance of exercise and what it can do for dementia prevention, it will make you wanna go for a walk. 

It really will. It really will. So if you haven't listened to that one and that's something on your mind, or you think it might be on a family member's mind that's a great motivator for people to, if they need a little extra nudge to get moving, .

The effects on prevention and stroke and cardiovascular outcomes is also incredible. If you need more things to convince you that exercise is important. Those are some great places to start, but I think the other one that [00:14:00] keeps getting brought up too is how much it affects your stress level and your mood.

It really is one of the best stress management tools out there, and many people don't think of it that way because when we're busy and we're stressed, the last thing you wanna do is add something else to your cup. So you're like, oh, exercise has to go. But I really push it back on that and want you to think that should be the first thing that you're adding in order to manage all that stress.

It may not be an hour long workout because your cup is so full, but. Squeezing in exercise in smaller amounts and getting it done that way is something that may be exactly what you need in those stressful times of life. And I know we talked about that a lot with Lisa King when we were talking about some exercise snacks.

She broke down some of her philosophies and helping women during menopause and related to exercise and yoga and just getting over the fact that it has to look what we [00:15:00] typically think exercise looks like. It can literally be I am doing squats as I put my dishes away, or I'm standing on one leg as I brush my teeth.

Really just trying to sneak it in throughout your day to make sure you're getting in some movement. 

 we've brought this up multiple times over the last year as well. Just having that little bit of movement frequently throughout the day is gonna make a huge impact on your blood sugar and insulin regulation.

And so if you're wanting to improve your insulin sensitivity and try to reduce risk of diabetes, then moving throughout the day is key. So remember, we see a better effect on that if you are moving every 45 minutes to an hour, even if it's just a few minutes, than if you moved for 30 minutes in the morning and then sat still for eight hours in your chair at work.

So figure out ways that you can move your body, even if it's in the chair at work and keep moving throughout the day. 

And then I think two episodes that [00:16:00] really. Can help you change your mindset about exercise as you age. Are one with Nick Truby about exercises important in osteoporosis and then Kevin Dennehy and his, and exercise and osteoarthritis.

Because I think as many people age, they stop moving as much because they're like, oh, I'm starting to have pain. I shouldn't do any more movement, or I'm getting older. If I do exercise, I have a chance of hurting myself or breaking something and not really realizing that entire mindset is actually going to cause the problems that they're worried about.

Exactly. 

And actually Sarah Martin, yes, talked a lot about that too, in ways to try to help yourself safely move, especially if you're having pain or how to get back into movement safely without causing injury. So that's a good one to, 

and even listen to too, more recent one with Andrea Moore, as we talked about chronic pain and how just our fear of movement.

[00:17:00] Sometimes it's making the pain worse and we're really having just to learn how to adjust what we do in order to stay moving. , If you listen to our entire year of podcasts, you know how important movement is 'cause you've heard all these messages. But if again, is you're new to our show, we really encourage you to go back and listen to some of these because it is great motivation to keep consistent with exercise.

Yeah. 

I think another one that we got a lot of consistent messaging about was nutrition. And it's interesting to think about that because I feel like if you're looking on social media, if you're looking to lose weight or you're looking to make your gut microbiome healthier, or you're looking to, be boosting muscle mass.

There's so much about nutrition and exactly what you should be eating on social media. So there's so many claims about protein and supplements you should be taking and how much of this or that you should have. And it really is so [00:18:00] overwhelming. But when we listened to multiple guests, we had multiple dieticians, gastroenterologists, we had oncologists talking about nutrition, and everybody gave a very similar stance, which is eat whole food.

It's that simple. The more whole foods you can eat, the better off you're gonna be. So just starting there is a great place to get started. And again, you don't have to Hit it outta the park every single day. It's looking at how you're currently eating and thinking about where are spots. I can start taking away some of those ultra processed foods and moving Whole Foods in there and building on that because we have just shown over and over again.

It doesn't matter who people are. It's hard to argue that whole foods aren't needed today in an American's diet. And that, I think that's why we consistently got that from everyone, because nobody can [00:19:00] argue that they're bad for you. Yeah. With, without not 

having legitimate claims. Yeah. And so if you need a reminder about what Whole Foods are and how to read a food label, we did two shows on that early on.

Because really we just. Want people to be knowledgeable about what they're putting into your body. And so if you have not been doing anything, at least start looking at food labels and just noticing what is in the food that you're eating on a regular basis. 

And we had a three part series that was so great on for GI Health where we talked about the gut microbiome.

And it's important in not only our actual gastrointestinal system and the healthiness of our gut, but how much it connects with the rest of our body. And so really thinking about the importance of the food we put into our body [00:20:00] and its impact on every single system. Just like I mentioned before, exercise impacts every system in our body.

So does the food that we eat. 

And really just stopping to think about how you feel. When you're eating what you're eating, you know, I noticed something the other day. We went to the mall and I think I've said that twice recently because we went to the 

mall. You're a frequent mall walker at this point, kitty.

I told Bill while we were there, I was like, I hope you're enjoying this. 'cause when we get older I am gonna make you mall walk with you. But anyways, we went to the food court and I thought, okay, I'm gonna try to make the best decision that I can here. Yeah. And I got something that really had things I would make at home, but when I ate it, I felt terrible.

And I think that just goes to show that you can try to make good choices when you're out and you do the [00:21:00] best that you can, but also understand that when you're getting food from somewhere else, it is different. Than food that, that you make at home. Yeah, 

and I know that's, we talked about it a lot with multiple dieticians that we had on here as well as Collins Youngblood from Lean Feasts one habit to really work on.

'cause if you can master it, it helps all the other parts of nutrition to become easier is taking time to figure out meal prepping and planning. Because in today's busy world, it's really hard to make in the moment quick decisions that are going to help us eat more whole foods, just because whole foods are not what are quick and convenient most of the time.

So learning how to build that habit is going to set you up for success. So I even tell people if you just learn how to do it and not focus on all like that, each meal is perfect, but just the fact that you got it planned and [00:22:00] you were able to cook at home, that is a such a great place to start.

Yeah. And it doesn't have to be anything extravagant. You do not need a million recipes if you can, get some protein in the crockpot. And when I make protein too, I tend to make enough for multiple meals because then that's gonna save me time down the road. So we talked about that on several episodes.

Yeah. I know Amanda Nighbert mentioned several things as well recently in her episode talking about that. But if you can just meal prep, a few things. You don't have to be spending hours in the kitchen. Every day. But it really, if you can try a few things, you'll see it's easier than you think. And what's amazing is just how much better you feel.

When I ate chicken, rice, and vegetables from home, I felt totally different than when I had chicken, rice and vegetables from the food court. And

I, that reminded me of our episode with Lauren Marshall is we need to just [00:23:00] get over creating a plus meals. Yes. Instead being okay with those B meals in order to not eat F meals.

Yeah. If you put it all on a scale, because that's typically what we'll do. It's oh, I cannot make this Pinterest worthy healthy meal at home, so I'm gonna go get some Chick-fil-A instead. Whereas I could piece together some frozen vegetables and like a quick side and a protein that I prepped ahead of time.

And it may not look perfect or had the perfect macros per se, but it was such a better option than fast food. So great. That is a huge win. Yeah. 

So keep, keep your expectations low, but also just remember you do need to do some meal prep and cooking in order to reach the health goals that, that you wanna reach.

And another thing on nutrition, because I feel like I get asked this a lot, is [00:24:00] social media has put such emphasis specifically on protein only. And I think that we learn from our whole gut health series as well as we talk about it in general in lifestyle medicine, the importance of fiber as well.

And so in eating a diversity within your plants to have your healthiest gut sometimes we. Overcomplicate information on social media. So I just wanted to put that out there, is just trying to simplify it and thinking about, oh, I just need to eat some more fruits and vegetables and not get overly concerned with specific ones being criminals.

Yes. In the story, because, I just encourage you to unfollow accounts that are telling you to stop eating carrots because they are not providing any sort of true information at this point. Yes. 

Yeah. And then before we move on from nutrition, I can't leave this without saying, don't forget to try some seeds.

If [00:25:00] you haven't 

done that, if you're Yeah, if you listen to us a lot, you know how much kitty loves seeds, I have to say I did try her basil seeds and I did like them, so good work on convincing me that those are also a great option to my chia seeds and my yogurt for breakfast as well. But yes, I think we, we've talked about that a whole lot this year, and hopefully have given you tips and tricks on how to add more fiber to your diet.

I know Emily McGlone gave a lot of tips as well in her episode and again, just using some of that information to help you build these small habits within your daily life so you can slowly change how you eat instead of trying to do a quick fix. Yeah. 

And don't forget, canned. Legumes. You've got chickpeas, beans, lentils that are easy to add to meals, to boost, fiber and are cheap 

And protein two for one.

Yes. 

That's why I love them. Yes. Fiber 

and protein and then [00:26:00] frozen vegetables. So things don't have to be hard, they don't have to be expensive, but you can add a handful of peas or a handful of kale or spinach to almost any meal you make to increase how you're getting vegetables.

And then another topic that goes along with nutrition that we did touch a lot with different guests is talking about managing your blood sugar.

That is something that can have a big impact not only in weight management and diabetes or diabetes risk, but also in just how you feel. That is something that I've learned a whole lot and explored a lot in 2025, is making that connection of. If I am eating in a way to balance my blood sugar, I feel my best.

Yeah, 

I think that's true. We talked about that a lot with Meredith Sweeney and also with Dr. Eric Smith. Yes. That came up a lot too, but just remembering to get those nutrients in, if you're getting protein and fiber in before you. [00:27:00] Get in those simple carbohydrates, you're gonna feel better. You're gonna have less of a spike and less of a drop in your blood sugar afterwards.

You're gonna be more stable and you're gonna feel better. 

And trying to limit snacking, especially snacking on those simple carbs. Really making sure the more you actually sit down and eat and have a meal and stop the constant grazing all day, you're gonna help with blood sugar management as well and feel better in general.

And then the one that just, I knew it and I've counseled patients on it, but when I saw it on myself, it really impacted me was late nights snacking. Oh yeah. It's terrible. It's terrible for your blood sugar. It's it doesn't even have to be anything that's that substantial, but just doing, eating late and then going to bed it caused havoc in my blood sugar.

So anyways, that's something I always have to think about. I'm making a very conscious effort to have high blood sugar all night when I eat right before bed. 

Yeah. And you're gonna have poor sleep. So just another reason to not do that. [00:28:00] another theme that I think we heard from a lot of different guests also is how important managing your stresses.

It's really not an option. It is physiologically affecting so many systems in our body if we are letting our stress get out of control. I think if you did not listen to either of our episodes with Dr. Jennifer Degler, please go back and listen to those because. She just gives so much great advice on how to reflect, how to make space in your life to even address your stress.

And it's worth listening to those probably multiple times. 

And another one, because it is the middle of winter at this point, is our show that we did with Dr. Leslie Aslam about the Winter Blues and Seasonal Affective disorder because that is something that many people start experiencing this time of year, [00:29:00] and it is important to be proactive against it so you can feel your best and not have this extra heavy weight on your shoulders for multiple months every year.

Yeah. 

I actually feel like this December has been more. Gray than usual for us so far. Yes. I 

feel like I've been in January, I know instead of December, and it's been tough and I've had to take a lot of my own advice, which is hard sometimes in order to make it through. And the other thing we had mentioned, talking about how much stress impacts our bodies and the episode that we did with Dr.

Olga Pinkston, as well as Andrea Moore is how much stress can impact how we manage pain in our life. And really, if we are dealing with any sort of chronic pain whether it's from a rheumatological condition, a musculoskeletal condition, you name it.

If that is not where you're spending a chunk of time as [00:30:00] well, it's going to be hard to get it under control.. 

Dr. Pinkston really explained the physiology of how stress actually causes inflammation in our body and how it can affect autoimmune processes and things like fibromyalgia and how you really can't get better from those things until you address that. And she really explained it so well things 

that I previously in my, earlier career would've called fufu Medicine, I now believe, is so critical for healing and managing many chronic conditions because they're helping you manage stress. And that is things of being mindful, breathing exercises participating in things like meditation or yoga, taking time to make sure you have good social connection time, being outside in nature.

All of these [00:31:00] things are helping us manage our stress and are critical to feel our best. 

Yeah, and if you're someone that has some health goals and you have not been able to reach them despite trying take a second to reflect and make sure stress isn't what is keeping you from reaching that goal because.

It is really hard to reach your goals if you're ignoring this part of your life, 

because many times that is the most common obstacle for people is, Hey, I was on track and then this extreme stressor happened and then I just quit having any sort of focus on my own health objectives 'cause I didn't know how to manage that stress otherwise.

And then we start leaning into some of those unhealthy habits. So the more you're able to build healthy coping mechanisms for stress, when big stressors come your way, you're equipped to handle them so much better. [00:32:00] 

Yeah. And it, for you, it might not be a big stressor, but it might be a recurrent little stressor and you may not even realize that.

You're feeling so stressed from it. It might be an interaction that you have at work over and over, or a stress from something going on at home or just having too much on your plate in general. But that is keeping you from making the nutrition choices you need to. It's what's driving you to snack. It's what's driving you to have that glass of wine every day.

It's what's driving you to not exercise or to keep yourself from being social. So just pay attention. It may not be obvious to you that you're feeling a huge stressor. It might be something smaller, but it's happening on a regular basis and getting you off track. But speaking of big stressors, I can't leave talking about this year without talking about.

You, Sarah, and how much you taught me about handling a big stressor. [00:33:00] And for those of you who have not listened throughout the year with us, Sarah lost her home in a fire this year and was kind enough to share with us about that. 

 Yeah, I would have to say that I got to be my own patient this year what do I mean by that? Really having a stressor that was very unexpected and completely changed my life in minutes. I had to work really hard in doing the things that I preach.

And what was that? Losing my house in a fire while I was sleeping, really played havoc on my sleep up front. And I knew in that moment, that first week when I was not sleeping at all without thinking of fire. Every time I closed my eyes that I had to take the time to get that figured out.

There was no way that I was gonna just push through and think that I would just get my [00:34:00] sleep back. Without active effort. And so again, I knew that how critical that pillar was and I had to seek help and work with actually Dr. Degler, who's my psychologist, and work through that to be able to reclaim that part.

And that's where I started. That was number one, is okay, this is going to be a challenge and in order to cope with the stress, I've gotta sleep. So that was number one. And then I just slowly worked through many of the different pillars that we talk about every day. my routines were completely off.

I immediately started thinking about, Hey, I don't have time for exercise. I just wanna eat things that , bring me comfort instead of maybe are nourishing to me. I don't wanna be around people 'cause I don't wanna talk about it. It has been really easy for this to have gone poorly quickly.

But instead, I made myself do all the things I didn't want to do. And I continued to exercise, [00:35:00] continued to be connected, and I will say the social connection from all of my family and friends and loved ones was really something that helped us through all of it. And it really just showed the value of having that in place and letting people help you in times of need, because that's also something that I've struggled with and I had to let it go and just accept the help that I needed because of that situation.

But the thing is working through each of those pillars helped me regain my ability to. Live my normal life. So I say all this, it's not to pat myself on the back. That is not it at all. It is more just a reminder that when hard things happen is the best way to recover from them, is doing many of the things we talk about on this show, and it's gonna be those healthier habits [00:36:00] that make you get through it well versus the unhealthy habits that maybe society would tell you to do instead.

 it was interesting to watch you just address all of those pillars of lifestyle medicine 

as you went through those. I was like, I hate myself right now. I was like, I can hear myself. I was like, that's not what you would tell your patient. What are you doing? It's oh, okay. I, and 

you emerged.

Healthy and strong and the stress is not over. Yes. Yet. Because you still have a ways to go she's been able to at least share with me the stresses of insurance Yes. And all the things that happen after a fire 

That is talk about knowledge. If you just wanna learn something that you probably don't know enough about is listen to our insurance show.

Yes. Because we have learned so much about how it actually works. It's something that we all pay for and then you feel like you get nothing out of it. And then we've had to actually live through it and learn how to [00:37:00] use it and actually get what we were supposed to be back. But it is something that most of us don't know enough about.

Yeah. 

if you have not listened to that episode, give it a listen. And also, we learned a lot about health insurance with our 

Yes, we did speak. Yeah. The the other aspect on insurance, because I'll say with some of the big changes that occurred, we had no idea how important The information Whitney Klein provided when we talked about different types of insurance, talking about health shares, talking about direct primary care practice. And I felt that show has been so resourceful or as people have had to pivot and navigate with the increasing cost of insurance that occurred, this open enrollment.

So that, that was also an unexpected one. 

Yeah. I had no idea what a health share was until we did that. Yes, Yes. Episode. So I think the landscape of our [00:38:00] medical system and insurance is going to continue to change. Quickly over the next few years. , I know none of us really wanna take time to learn about that or think about that, we 

just, they were like, any type of insurance, I don't wanna learn about it. It just frustrates me. But it is important because it does it, it does impact us as well. And I had mentioned direct Primary care and I know we did a show with Dr. Selena Rains, who has a direct primary care practice here in Lexington.

And I have sent so many people her way that have dropped their insurance because they can't afford it, and then they feel like they can't get any care. But that is a model that is going to be able to help so many people that. Insurance is no 

longer affordable. Yeah. So if you feel like maybe the insurance that you've had in the past is not gonna be something you can sustain, check out that episode and learn a little bit more, but keep learning because that is gonna be changing quickly again.

We'll probably have to do an update on that.

[00:39:00] and then our most listened to episode of our podcast by, by a long shot. By a long shot, yes. I think reflects what's happening nationwide. And that is. Our menopause episode. Hormones and menopause are having their moment right now, and I have learned so much this year in just learning about menopause and perimenopause and everyone is learning about that.

If you're someone that takes in health podcasts regularly, you've probably listened to a million podcasts and have, your social media is probably flooded with posts about hormones and menopause and all of these things. And so it can be a little bit overwhelming, but it's great that we're finally addressing it.

We're reassessing the data that we've had. We're really prioritizing women's health and making an effort now as a medical field to assess how hormones can do things like reduce cardiovascular [00:40:00] risk and dementia risk and support mental health and metabolic health and a lot of other things, not just thinking about things like hot flashes.

But the other thing that I have learned, and it's been great for me to learn, is also how much of an impact things like lifestyle can have. So recognizing both that hormones have a lot of power, but they also have a lot of limitation and really learning how much of a role lifestyle plays in the outcomes that you're looking for.

And I think we talked about, not just even with menopause, we talked about with PCOS, with Dr. Elizabeth Elkinson, we talked about thyroid disease with Dr. Kyle Rosenstein. Some conditions that many times we think about, Hey, if we just fix the hormones, everything will be great. And really the answer is it's you have to manage the hormones plus lifestyle Yes.

To truly feel your best. And it is something that gets a lot of attention on social media [00:41:00] of wanting to balance your hormones and check your hormones. And we talk a lot about hormones, but the conversation also has to have lifestyle in there for you to truly feel your best. 

Yeah. And this is another one.

We, we mentioned this in an episode, I think our perimenopause episode with Elizabeth Elkinson, but, just also be mindful of what you are seeing on social media. Understand that data can be manipulated or stated in ways to make you think that it's more impactful than it is. So make sure when you see a big claim somewhere, understand what it's saying.

Is it talking about relative risk? Is it talking about absolute risk? And then how does that actually apply to you? And don't just make an assumption that whatever it's saying is saying that's bad or that's good. Really try to take time to understand how to apply that to yourself before you really make a conclusion about that.

And I think that goes too for, [00:42:00] aside from just hearing about hormones and tests and that kind of things, supplements are in that bucket as well. I think we've learned a lot about vitamins and supplements this year and there are a lot of them that can have some positive benefits. But we've also learned that you cannot out supplement a bad lifestyle.

That is very true. There is not a pill that you can just take instead of it when you're talking about supplements. They are supplementing your lifestyle. So don't spend your money on all the supplements, spend money on getting the foundation correct, because that is gonna be way more powerful. So spend time there and energy there first.

And then another thing that needs some energy that I think everybody got worse at after COVID is social connection. And it is such a powerful. Pillar of lifestyle medicine and it came up a lot of times this year. 

It really did. We talked a lot about it in our dementia episode and that importance [00:43:00] as well as talking about it being one of the critical things for longevity.

Yeah. And we just don't give it any, I don't know, it doesn't get all that social media attention. It's not sexy or fun to talk about, but it's really important for our overall health, mental and physical health is getting good social connections. And sometimes it's something that we just avoid because maybe our.

Profession puts us in so many different interactions that we're tired, but it doesn't mean that necessarily. Those are the kind of social connections that fill our cup. So we have to make space and time for those that make us feel better. 

and if you are someone that's experiencing loneliness we talked about this in our episode with Leslie Aslam really takes some time to figure out where you can find those connections, whether that's volunteer work or joining a group. There's all sorts of avenues [00:44:00] now to try to connect and make it happen, but it does take effort and that first step can be really hard.

So again, if you're making goals for next year, this might be one that you need to make a goal about. And if you do, make a small again, 'cause you don't wanna give yourself. Such a big goal that you're not gonna stick to it. Another 

one of that we talked about, Matt Vigel talked about how social connection and linking it to your movement or your physical activity can be a very powerful combination.

So if you are trying to figure out like motivation or ways to get more movement in your life, is trying to find that good support group to do it with because that is great when you have people to cheer you on that accountability, doing hard things together. It's great medicine. It is.

And so accountability I think is another thing that has come up a lot. But really before you start [00:45:00] looking into how you're going to hold yourself accountable. I think the biggest thing is you really have to take time to just stop and reflect. And I know we've said this a lot over the last year, but it's easy to be busy this day and age.

It really is. It is easy to be busy and we can use that as an excuse, I know that I did for a long time, as well as an excuse to not stop and think about what we're doing. Are the habits that we're doing actually supportive of us or are we just using, being busy as a way to avoid doing some things that we know we need to change 

reflecting on our habits can look very differently or even using reflection as a tool in medicine can look very different.

And I think we had some guests that really taught us that. We talked about monitoring our menstrual cycles with Alexis McNally and. And how that can be so insightful to our overall health that I thought that was a very fascinating [00:46:00] show. And 'cause I really, as a physician had really thought about cycle tracking mostly just from a fertility standpoint.

Yeah. I too, not necessarily about an indicator or what she called a vital sign of health. So that was a great learning experience as well as when we talked with Dr. Shauna Ritter and the importance, and I know I use these a lot in my practice, is food diaries and helping figure out food intolerances and how that part of the history is probably more important than any test she can order when trying to figure out allergies versus intolerance and really understand what is going on with your body personally is a critical part of our health.

I think that many times when we're looking for answers of how we feel, we can be one of our best tools in figuring it out. 

Yeah, I couldn't agree. Agree with you more, Sarah and that comes up for even our things that we're talking about with perimenopause and menopause lately, [00:47:00] it's so easy to just wanna a test.

We wanna test for everything because we want just a clear answer, but often we don't have a clear answer. Whether that's something going on with a food intolerance, with our hormones, with some pain that we have. Often we don't have a clear test. Or even if we have a test, it's really not giving us the answer that we need.

And so taking time to just reflect on what are you doing? Track it. Notice just taking a second to notice how you feel when you do X, Y, or Z. And then changing it and noticing again, that can make. A bigger impact than anything. 

Yeah I just noticed it so much and I, it's been a powerful tool with patients of just trying to figure out symptoms that just are odd and maybe don't necessarily, they've had workups in their negative and it, how much is simple food diary can be so helpful 'cause they suddenly realize, oh my gosh, this just always happens when I don't eat enough [00:48:00] at lunch.

Or if I decide to have a sugary Starbucks and not have anything else with it, then I'm always exhausted. Those connections are s just super powerful and can help you feel better and it just was using reflection in order to get that answer. 

Yeah. You may not realize how much caffeine you're taking in a day or there's a lot of things that you may not realize you're doing in unless you track.

And then a lot of things that if you take the time to self-reflect, will help reinforce good habits because sometimes we need that. I know lately, I don't know if it's the weather. I love to exercise. It's the weather outside. I'm gonna blame the weather. It's the weather, kitty weather. 

I've been having this discussion and it's the weather.

I have not been like super excited to exercise, which normally I am excited to do that, but I know because I have reflected on it, I know that I will feel so much better if I do it, that has been enough. [00:49:00] To keep me going and doing it. And it's just so true. And every time I don't wanna do it and then I do it and I'm like, oh my gosh, how does it work so well?

It's just amazing. I feel so much better, but that just having reflection and noticing that I do feel better when I do it has been enough to keep me going and doing it. 

And I know one of our most popular shows was also our roadblocks and setbacks. Episode that we did that was one of, I think episode four.

Is that correct? I think that many times we get very angry when something doesn't go the way we want it to. Whether it's like personally we have the setback or something happens in our life and puts an obstacle up. And working on your mindset of that, this is a teaching experience instead of a failure.

Can really help you so much in continuing to advance your goals. And that moment of self-reflection is critical. So [00:50:00] again, as you're thinking about 2026, if in the month of January you had that roadblock or you're like, why am I sabotaging, or, having this moments don't give up. Instead stop and think why and what can I do different and appreciate that was a learning experience.

The more you're able to do that, the more you can keep trucking along. 

Yeah, I think Jessica Jackson, I think she said don't think of it as a win-lose situation, but a win learn situation. I think that's a great way to think about it, because that way you're never losing. You're either you've done it or you didn't do it, but you learned how to not do it and how to make a change from there.

Basically we're telling you to just stop for a second in your day. It doesn't have to be an exorbitant amount of time, but just stop and think about what you're doing and how do you feel. 

 And then going to our next one is, [00:51:00] I think very important and was consistent with a lot of our guests talking about motivation and wait so many times we're waiting to be motivated or waiting for motivation to carry us through.

And that. Is never going to be a successful plan. And so thinking about what systems can I have in place to keep me consistent instead of always leaning in on motivation, I will say it is great to have a good internal intrinsic motivation to do whatever you're doing. Whether that is a goal of, staying capable of playing with your grandkids as you age, or a specific illness you're trying to avoid because it runs in your family. All those are great to have and keep at the front of your mind of your why. Why am I doing this? That is important. But to follow that you then need systems in place to [00:52:00] keep you consistent. So on those days, that intrinsic motivation or that why factor may not be as prevalent in your mind because of whatever life stressors are occurring.

You have this backup plan to keep 

you going. Yeah. And one thing that I really wanna encourage you is to try not to make your weight, your goal for healthy habits. Because, and I was happy Dr. Kotter mentioned this in his cardiovascular episode, but when our goal is weight. It takes a long time to change the scale and there are so many factors that can make that fluctuate, that could make you feel like you're getting off track.

But really when we're talking about making new habits for your health, it is affecting everything. So don't think about how you eat and how you move as just [00:53:00] affecting your weight. How you eat and how you move are impacting whether or not you get memory loss. And at what age you do, they're impacting whether or not you have a stroke.

They're impacting your mood. They are impacting your risk of heart attack. They are impacting your. Arthritis in your pain and pretty much everything in your life. And so if you can think about having healthy habits as a way to just make you feel good and have the life that you wanna have, you're going to be more successful at keeping up with them than when you're just thinking about it with something like, weight.

as I had mentioned before, , it's the idea of creating time and space for systems over results to begin with. Yeah. And as I had said, like an example of this is working on meal planning and prepping first, and getting that system really ingrained before trying [00:54:00] to perfect your overall nutrition in general, because that system in place will help you eat.

More nutrient-dense food and make good decisions and deal with obstacles that come up because you've learned to plan ahead. Same thing with exercise. Learning how to get a system in place to do it no matter how much time it is and not giving up when you don't have that hour that you like to have to do your favorite exercise class, but you have a routine of exercising regardless, and you'll do something for 10 or 15 minutes in the morning.

It is much easier to keep consistent when you have that system in place. Sleep, same thing, making sure that you are having consistent bedtimes and wake times no matter what's going on in your life, that system will bring you better results in general. Use our idea of reflection and think about are there [00:55:00] systems that I need to be working on in 2026 to help me hit my health goals instead of just thinking about the health goal itself?

Yeah, 

I think that's a great way to think about it. And one final thought I would give you on this too is I think it's easy if you do care about your health and you are someone that listens to podcasts like this, and you have social media that is feeding you lots of things about what you need to do for your health is easy to just get in the learning mode and just want to continue to learn and not actually put anything into action.

And so what I would encourage you to do is just stop today. I promise you, you have enough recipes, you've learned enough about habits. Just stop and think about something that you can put into action today. You don't need to go learn anything else. There is something that you probably need to be doing right now and you can go ahead and start with a new habit today and then whatever it is that you think it [00:56:00] is, make it small, make it smaller, and go ahead and try to commit to something new today.

So if you, after listening to this show, if you are thinking, Hey, I need to really focus on my sleep, or I need, really need to focus on maybe some nutrition and get some systems in place, or you are concerned about a specific condition we have a show on, just take a moment, go back, look through the episodes, and give yourself some positive motivation and knowledge to help achieve these goals.

And then make a plan. Don't just continue gathering more information as Kitty just mentioned, but make a plan for 2026 because we want to see you have success, and that is the whole purpose of us doing this show. 

thank you for everyone that's listened to this show for the last year and we hope that you're getting as [00:57:00] much out of it as we are.

We have lots of ideas of things to come over the next year, and so if you have any ideas that you would love for us to address, then please reach out to us on social media or you can email us at contact at the starting gate podcast.com. Also, if you have a minute, please leave us a review or follow us.

That really helps us a lot and, 

We look forward to talking to you in 2026. Happy New Year. Happy New Year.