Hello, health enthusiasts, and welcome to Rev Up Health, your go-to podcast for all things wellness. I'm Dr. Mark Hechler, and I'm Tandi Hechler. Together we're here to fuel your health journey with the best of functional medicine and holistic well-being. Each episode, we'll dive deep into topics that matter to your health, bringing you the latest insights, research, and inspiring stories. Whether you're on a quest for vibrant health or just looking for daily health tips, we've got you covered. So let's embark on this journey together and transform the way you live. So, Tandi, what's on our wellness radar for today?
Hello, hello, and welcome to the Rev Up Health Podcast. I'm Tandi, and I'm Dr. Mark, and today we are so excited to be coming to you from our new clinic — our tiny little clinic in the woods. We can't wait to start sharing it with people. We're going to have an open house on May 11th from 10 to 1, so keep that on your calendar. If you're in the Kansas City area, we'd love to see you and show off our new space.
Today we wanted to talk a little bit about something that's been coming up a lot. It's interesting — when we see folks, sometimes it feels like we can be a little overwhelming, because we've got so much to tell people and so many things they can do to improve their lifestyle and, in turn, improve their health. One of the things Dr. Mark says quite frequently is that he follows the 80/20 rule in his habits and lifestyle. We've done a little research, and we know there's more than one way to look at this, but we'll talk about what Dr. Mark means when he says he follows the 80/20.
What the 80/20 Rule Means for Your Diet
The 80/20 rule can be a multitude of things — at this point you can throw anything into the 80/20 rule and it'll literally apply. But my main thrust with my 80/20 rule is basically my diet. That means 80% of the time I'm going to try to eat as healthy and as clean as I can, and be very aware of the carb intake — how I'm eating and what I'm eating. Then 20% of the time I don't have to be so careful. That 20% might be cheat time, when I may have my latte, or have my desserts, or have chocolate — obviously things that may not be the best for us and our health, but that are good to taste and eat and drink. That even means a glass of wine — I'd throw that into the 20% time too, since you really shouldn't have alcohol that much. So I try to keep with the 80/20 rule, and if you can do that in general, you're going to help improve your overall health quality and give your body a chance to heal and repair, and improve your performance and quality of life.
Give Yourself Grace
I think this is so important. Like I said, it seems as though we're coming at people with all these opportunities to make improvements and change habits and lifestyle, so this really gives people that unwritten grace to know that you don't have to be perfect. That is so key. Anything you can do — any habits you can add in — will put you on a road of moving forward. But you do have to start, and kind of pick out those little things you're going to really work on.
Another thing that's come up lately that we kind of have a hard time with — because Dr. Mark also likes to say "this is a priority, and this is a priority, and this is a priority" — and I'm always saying, if everything is a priority, then nothing is a priority. You have to pick, right now, what are some things that you can do to be your priority. What are your thoughts on that?
I'd say it's all important, and it all should be a priority in life. So if you try to focus on that 80% of the time, then the 20% of the time it won't be the priority, so you don't have to worry about it. That falls into the 80/20 rule. You're looking at something where 80% of your consequences occur from 20% of your experiences. That's kind of broad, and you can take that however you want and run with it — but that 20% of the time you may be messing around doing the things you shouldn't be doing, and maybe that affects 80% of your health habits too. I don't know the answer to that exactly, and there are certainly studies out there that look into this stuff — probably a million people talk about it on social media too. But what it basically boils down to is just trying to do the best you can.
Do One Thing at a Time
Like Tandi said, just do one thing. Don't do everything — do one thing at a time. One little thing you can do now will help improve what your overall health is going to be like. It's the same thing with running a marathon: a little bit at a time, a mile at a time, will finally get me up to 26 miles. It's the little stuff that will create the big, moving experiences for your health later.
I think it's important to think about it as chipping away at those things. Some things may come really easy, and you get that habit instilled into your day-to-day pretty quickly. They say it takes about 21 days to really get a habit to where it's just part of your lifestyle. So even if you say, "This month I'm going to work on getting to bed earlier and improving my sleep hygiene," let that be your focus, let that be the priority. Then the following month you can pick something else, and as you go through, you're making these big changes.
But even as you're implementing things, do not expect yourself to be perfect, because we're all human, and none of us is ever going to meet that mark of perfection.
The 80/20 Rule and Exercise
Even with exercise, you can do a lot of different things to improve your health quality, but you don't have to do the most aggressive, physically demanding exercises all the time. Studies show that zone 2 exercise is something you should be doing 80% of the time, and the other 20% you can do the heavier, more strenuous exercises — or spend that other portion of the time doing nothing, just walking, enjoying nature, getting out and enjoying the fresh air and the flowers and the birds.
So 80% of the time, try to do something that's actually going to be beneficial, so you can really increase your VO2 max — which is basically your body's ability to transport blood to the cells. That's going to improve your overall endurance and health quality, with just simple zone 2 exercise, which is exercise where you can still hold a conversation. It may be different for everybody — maybe it's just walking that you need to do, maybe some people can go out biking, maybe some people can run. It's just something you can do 80% of the time.
Just while you were talking about zone 2 and the importance of doing that 80% of the time, it's important to note that for women, as we age, doing these big, extreme, heavy HIIT-type workouts doesn't work as well for our bodies anymore. That's another little tidbit of information — yes, that's a whole other podcast.
Don't Get Overwhelmed — Start Where You Are
Ultimately, we just wanted to get on and discuss the fact that when you start a lifestyle journey, a health journey, there are going to be a lot of things you can do and need to do to improve your overall health and make a big impact in how your body feels. We just want to make sure people don't get overwhelmed with all of these things. Remember, anything you can do will help move you forward.
No matter where you're at in your health journey, there are some folks who have just decided, "Okay, I'm doing nothing good for myself, I'm feeling awful, I'm feeling fatigued, I don't get good sleep, I don't have a good relationship with my family," or "I have no libido." There are all kinds of things. Whatever a person can start to do now, and whatever phase you're at in your health journey, will help you later. So pick small things — pick one or two things at a time. You don't need to do everything at once; you're going to have trouble with that, and it's going to set you up for failure, and then you'll get disappointed that you maybe haven't done what you need to do. So start small, pick little things, make it a habit. Start something you can do for a couple of weeks, and then if you can do it for a couple of months, it becomes a lifestyle change.
Atomic Habits and Habit Stacking
There's a great book by James Clear called Atomic Habits, and it's a great read to help you learn how to get new habits going in your life. There are lots of tips and tricks — we could probably do a whole podcast just on that book. One I've recently used is habit stacking. I love our mornings when we get to sit and have a cup of coffee together and relax before we get our day rolling, and I know I need to hydrate better, so I've habit-stacked where I have to drink a cup of hot water before I'll let myself have a cup of hot coffee. That's just an example of how you can take something small and integrate it into your day, and then all of a sudden you've got a new habit that's helping you move toward your goal.
I'm looking at Mark, and he's thinking this is pretty complete. So anyway, we just wanted to get on here and let people know that even though sometimes this can seem overwhelming, like it's an impossible journey, give yourself grace. Remember to take things slow, pick certain things, and develop a lifestyle — because this is about your health, not someone else's. You may think, "I'm going to do this for my spouse," or "I want to get healthier for them," but do this for yourself. If you can do things that help yourself, then you're going to be more productive, and you're going to be there for your family members to help them out too.
It's something as simple as your daily activities. If you can do anything to help improve your overall strength and quality of life, then you're going to be available for your own family to help, care for, and nurture them too. So start small, develop your lifestyle changes, and I think you're going to find that this journey of health improvement and healthcare is better than the disease care you'd otherwise have.
Finding Your Happiness and Carrying It Into Old Age
One other thing along those lines that I've been thinking about — I recently listened to a podcast by Mel Robbins where she talked about happiness, and how you can use a kind of portal, so to speak, of looking at a time in your life when you were happy, looking at where you are now, and finding the clues from where you were happy to bring into your current life. As we think about longevity and what we're trying to promote with Revelation Health and Wellbeing — creating a life that will carry you into old age — think about all the things you do right now that keep you happy, that you love to do, and how you're going to be able to continue doing those things later in life, so you can take those tools with you as you age.
That's another little piece that could help you prioritize: what is the thing that I want to be able to do later in life because it makes me so happy now? Although it comes easy to me now, it might not as I age, unless I work at it. So I think that's another good thing to look at as you're picking what you're going to work on first.
We thank you for listening here again on Rev Up Health, and we hope you've gotten some information and get excited and motivated so you can move forward, improve your quality of life, and help those around you. If you have any questions or comments, just reach out to us at revelationhealthandwellbeing.com, or we're on Instagram too. We want you to have a good life and a great day.
Thank you for tuning in to another episode of Rev Up Health. We hope you're leaving with some valuable insights to supercharge your health journey. Don't forget to follow or subscribe to Rev Up Health wherever you listen to your podcasts, and if you enjoyed today's episode, please leave us a rating and review. Have a topic you want us to explore? Reach out to us on our social media channels — we love hearing from our wellness community. Until next time, keep thriving, and remember: your journey to health is a journey to a better you. Stay well, and we'll connect with you again soon. This is Tandi, and this is Dr. Mark, signing off from Rev Up Health. Take care.
The information provided in this podcast is for educational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. The content is designed to support, not replace, the relationship that exists between a patient and their healthcare provider. Always consult with a qualified healthcare professional before making any changes to your healthcare regimen, including diet, exercise, or treatment plans. The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the hosts and guests and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Revelation Health and Wellbeing.