How To Shortcut Your Approach To High Energy In Midlife And Beyond

Natalie Jill

Well, hi.

Laura Frontiero, FNP-BC

I’m so excited. This is going to be a different talk than most of the talks we’ve had on this summit so far. So you are a mid-life expert. I love this. You help women redefine healthy aging. You actually have two bestselling fat loss nutrition books. One of them is called Aging and Reverse. That’s what we all want. You’ve been on numerous TV appearances on shows like The Doctors. You’re also, you know, a licensed master, sports nutritionists. And you’ve been the on the cover of multiple magazines, including Women’s World Muscle and Fitness, her strong magazine. I can remember over the years being at the grocery store and seen you on the cover of a magazine at the checkout counter. 

That’s my friend Natalie. It’s so amazing. Well, our audience might know you because you built a fat loss business that transformed over 250,000 women’s bodies in health. And you have over 3 million followers. I mean, you have made a huge impact in the world, and I’m really excited to bring you here. We’re going to change things up today and we’re really going to talk about the power of decision and vision and how to stay on track with your healing journey. Because our audience right now, they’re listening to all the biggest foods and scientists in the cellular health and mitochondria and energy space. But none of it makes a difference in your life. And hear me when I say this, everyone. None of the information you’re hearing in this summit makes a difference if you can’t execute it, right? Absolutely.

Natalie Jill

Yeah. You know, so it’s interesting the way that things come to fruition. Change in your life, changing your body, changing your health. And everyone’s on here. They want to change their energy. They want to they want to get healthy. They want to do these things. Actions and information are important. Yes. But the foundation that has to be laid first that so many people miss and this is so critical because people get into the research and the studies and the things they have to do. But if you don’t build the solid foundation on these two things, nothing else will work. And those two things are, number one, making a firm decision, deciding that you are ready to take something on and you’re ready to make a change. And it’s that decision is not I’m going to try I’m going to think about I’m going to learn about. I’m going to try on I’m going to consider. It’s not I don’t have the time. That’s not a decision. A decision as this is the time. This is the year. This is the day that I take my health back. This is the time. This is the week that my energy is going to change. This is a decision, is a firm decision. And this is in any field in any decision, you have to decide first. And it’s missing. It’s missing from so many people. That’s number one.

Laura Frontiero, FNP-BC

They make wishy washy, willy nilly statements.

Natalie Jill

No. Yeah, exactly. Like anything I’m going to think about something is not a decision saying I’ve done it before. It’s not a decision. I’m going to I’m going to a decision is because when you make a decision, everything happens. A decision is I’m releasing the weight, I’m getting my energy back, I’m fixing my gut health. I’m getting that starting that business. Those are decisions. Decisions are what change things.

Laura Frontiero, FNP-BC

Yeah. So it’s one thing to have a decision in our mind, right? So I know people watching right now are like, well, I’m here, I’m watching this interview, I’m watching this summit. I’m learning so clearly I’ve decided to prioritize my health. Yeah, but share with us how a firm, stronger decision could be made here. How a.

Natalie Jill

Decision is. I’m taking the information I’m learning right now and I’m applying it because I’m going to get my energy back as a decision or I’m taking the information I’m learning. And this is the year this is the time right now that I’m going to get healthy. It’s a decision. It’s a declaration that goes with it. If you can’t make a declaration with it, it’s actually not a decision.

Laura Frontiero, FNP-BC

And so this does this have to do with vision? Does it?

Natalie Jill

So that was a step. One is decision. Vision is step two. A vision is what is it going to feel like? What’s it going to be like when I get there? And I’m telling you, most people skip both these steps. They do. They jump right into the research, they jump right into the actions, and then they wonder why they felt like that. Why did I fail? What went wrong? Well, there’s a lot of things missing, mostly these two. So deciding is what you’re going to do. Vision is getting in the thought process of what it feels like, what it’s going to be. So for instance, Laura, as you were creating the summit before you created it, you decided you’re going to create a summit. You decided then your vision was, what is the vision? What do I want people to walk away with? What do I want them to learn what I want to feel? Who are the kind of speakers I’m going to have? How what’s my experience going to be interviewing them? When am I going to be interviewing them? That was your vision. That was your vision. If you would just started recording interviews, it wouldn’t have come together. 

So a vision is knowing what it’s going to feel like, what it’s going to be like when you arrive there. So you’re listening right now. You’re watching this and maybe you are super lacking energy and you’re on here to learn How do I get my energy back? Your vision needs to be what’s it going to feel like when I actually have my energy back? What’s it going to be like? What will my life be like? What hours will I be sleeping? What will I be doing with my life? How am I relationships with work with my family, change that is your vision. And when you get super clear on that, the motivation comes easy. The motivation comes so easy because you are on fire, you’re ready to do things.

Laura Frontiero, FNP-BC

Absolutely. And this, I find, is often missing when I talk to people. You know, we offer a consultation call where we’ll talk to people and find out, you know, what their goals are for their health if we can help them. And a single critical question that we ask is, what is your life going to be like when this is solved? And if they can not think or come up with a vision of what their life is going to be like once they solve the health issue, we know we can’t help them.

Natalie Jill

That’s right. That’s right. And I can count on this with that with all time. I say, what do you want? What do you want for yourself? Why want to be skinny? What does that mean? Well, maybe I don’t want to be fat. Okay? That’s not a vision. Now, what does that mean for you? And then they would wonder why they were, you know, having cravings. They say I was wrong with me. I have no willpower. I’m not motivated. No, you never got clear on your vision. So decision and vision is like the foundation of a house. If you were to build a house on sand, the house could be amazing. But it’s going to collapse as soon as the weather changes or as soon as the water tide comes up. Right. But if you build on a solid foundation, that house can last for hundreds of years. So this is the same thing, decision and vision. And then we get into action and some critical components there.

Laura Frontiero, FNP-BC

Okay. So now most of the people watching here are, you know, they’re working towards I need to eat better. I need to get my nutrition dialed in. I’m going to work out. And many people get started on that and they’ve got really great goals. Maybe they’ve made a decision, maybe they have a vision of their, you know, on weekends are not going to be for recovery anymore. I’m going to be spending joyful time with family. I’m going to get a promotion at work. I’m going to. So they’ve got their vision, right?

Natalie Jill

Yep.

Laura Frontiero, FNP-BC

And then they get started and then it’s hard.

Natalie Jill

Yeah. Because they’re not. Yes, they get a couple things are coming up. Number one, you have to come from your vision, not to it. So you don’t want to approach your actions as I’m working towards becoming this, that doesn’t work because then you’re like, well, that’s not what I look like right now. When I get fit, I’ll start going to the gym more. When I’m healthy, I’ll start eating my healthy breakfast like you start thinking that way, right? But if you act from your vision, you start thinking, if I was the person that I want to become, if I was them now, what actions would I take right now? Who would I be right now? Today, that’s how you become that. 

So for example, if you are super energetic and you are healthy and everything’s working in order and your life is just coming together because of that, what actions are you taking? Well, number one, you probably have a coach. You probably hired the best of the best for coach and accountability. That’s number one. Number two, you probably have very rigorous schedule with your food and your workouts and your supplements and all the things. Right. Number three, you probably aren’t hanging around people that are negative. You probably have us are a crowded community and source of people that are that are there. Number four, you’re probably learning cutting edge stuff and you’re continuing to. You’re acting as if you’re coming from that vision and that’s how you become that person.

Laura Frontiero, FNP-BC

Okay. So now you have a bit of a personal story here, and I and I, I like your permission to share it. Can we talk a little bit about what you’ve been going through? Because people might say, well, this is super easy for Natalie Joel. She’s a fitness expert. This is what she does in her life. But let’s talk about what’s happened with you and your health, because you’ve had a lot of setbacks, you’ve had multiple injuries, multiple surgeries, multiple things go on that could have completely taken you out of the game. But you took those you took those experiences and you allowed them to make you stronger. Can you talk about that? Because what people don’t know is how fast.

Natalie Jill

Well, if you’re looking at anyone going, well, if I was them, well, first of all, you can be anything. You just want to set the tone here. By changing your thoughts, actions and habits, you can become an entirely different version of yourself. So all that standing between who you are now and who you want to be or who you’re admiring is your thoughts, actions and habits. That’s it. Thoughts, actions, habits, period that changes everything. So, yes, first of all, let me just like set the tone. I’m 59, so no, I’m not 30 talking about this. I’m 51. Yes, I’m a mom. So I have given birth. I’ve had a baby. So I’ve been through that three. I have an autoimmune. So already right there. Those three things I hope that normalizes me some. Okay, do I have the genetics for this? No. My whole family type two diabetes, cancer, overweight, all the things. Okay, so no, that’s not genetics there. Then you add another layer. Okay, well, but you worked out that was your career. All the things. Great. Fine. Take that. I hear it. I also eat unprocessed, natural foods. I still got injured. I tore my bicep off the bone a couple of years ago. 

I ruptured a disc out of my lower back. The biggest rupture my my doctor, my surgeon had ever seen. I had my right leg stopped working from it. Literally, I had foot drop. You can Google it. My right leg stopped working after all that. I then broke my foot and then my toe. I had multiple injuries, multiple surgeries that kept setting me back. And I believe that things happen to us for a reason. So I think this was a test I’ve told people for years and years and years, excuses are solutions. You decide this was my opportunity to really walk through things. And did I have those moments of like, Oh, maybe I’m wrong, maybe this is true, maybe you just age and your life just goes, you know, crap, it falls apart. Maybe that’s all true. And if I had accepted that story as my decision, that would have been my reality. 

But my decision was, no, I’m going to be a different example of this. My surgeon, after my back surgery said, you know what, pull ups are probably out of your equation. While they weren’t, I did them. Then when I tore my bicep, I was definitely told pull ups are out of the equation. You know what chin ups are? I lost my supine Asian. I can’t turn my hand, but I can do a pull up. I figured it out. So it depends how bad you want something. What’s your actual decision? And are you willing to operate as that future version of yourself? You know, Roger Bannister, we all know this story. You know, it was told that you couldn’t run a mile. I think it was like the four minute mile or whatever it was. Everyone is told it’s not possible. No human can do it. Then he did it and a bunch of people right after him did it because someone set the tone. So it all comes down to your decision, your vision, and then are you acting as if you are that type of person you want to become?

Laura Frontiero, FNP-BC

Does is this so empowering? So this is just to be clear, everyone, this is an empowerment talk. Today, we are empowering you to take action on all.

Natalie Jill

The things you’re learning. Don’t ask me science questions. I just. I’ll stay here and.

Laura Frontiero, FNP-BC

Give yourself the give yourself credit. You’ve written two bestselling books on nutrition. You know a lot about science. You may not be talking to us about the ins and outs of ATP, energy production, the Krebs Cycle. We got some PhDs doing that. There’s only so many different ways we can talk about that. So this is really important. We have to be able to execute what we’re learning. And this is what I would say is one of the most critical talks on this summit, because if you don’t execute everything that you’ve learned, what was the point?

Natalie Jill

That’s right. That’s right. You can be a study worm and just learn it all. And but if you don’t apply it, nothing’s going to change.

Laura Frontiero, FNP-BC

No. And I feel like there’s nobody better to talk about this. So you mentioned you have an autoimmune, so let’s unpack that. You’ve celiac disease. I mean, this is a big deal. This is something that stays with you. It does not go away.

Natalie Jill

When you have one autoimmune autoimmune, you’re likely to get others. If you don’t take care of them and don’t treat them. So celiac might sound minor to people like, okay, just eliminate eliminate gluten. However, if you don’t take care of yourself as a celiac, you’re more likely to get rheumatoid arthritis or type one diabetes. There’s a whole chain of events. Autoimmune diseases are always connected. And as I’ve learned recently, too, is it’s super connected to what goes on in your gut health. So once you have one autoimmune, you’re setting yourself up for other things. So I look at autoimmune honestly as a blessing. I was diagnosed 20 years ago and it’s forced me to eat an unprocessed natural food diet, which has prevented getting a lot of other issues with me. So that’s another mindset thing right there. Lori I get messages every week through my website.

Laura Frontiero, FNP-BC

Oh my gosh. I was just.

Natalie Jill

Diagnosed with celiac. My life is over, like that kind of thing. And I kind of roll my eyes at it because like, that just shows me the difference between how do we view things? Like, I look at it as a blessing, like, great, I get to eat unprocessed food. I’m not even tempted anymore by bread or cake. Like, I get to do this and I’m healthy. But how are we looking at things? What filter are you looking? Are you looking at it as woe is me, this sucks, my life is over because if you stay there great, your life will be over. Or are you looking at it this way? Recent example recently that Lauren’s all too familiar with with me is I had a blood sugar thing going on. A blood sugar thing. My doctor said, You need metformin. You’re at your prediabetic. I could have accepted that. Oh, I’m pre-diabetic. I’m going to get dementia now. All these things, I’m going to take metformin. Or I could have said, Nope, that’s not my reality, that’s not my decision. I’m going to figure this out. I’m going to get to the root, root, root, root, root of that. And I’m happy to say my blood sugar is completely normal now. And I did find the root of things. So how hungry are you to actually dig and apply? What is your actual decision? What is your vision around this and what actions are you really willing to take you?

Laura Frontiero, FNP-BC

Let’s unpack this so thank you for being open to share your blood sugar journey. So I am a part of your blood sugar journey. We are working on correcting this for you. And the root root of this has come down to a parasite. So for all of you, Natalie has an amazing podcast, midlife Conversations. We did a podcast on parasites. It’s hilarious. It’s like, stand up, I should go listen to it because, you know, we did that before the filming of this interview. But we so what we did was we put you on a really special protocol to start balancing your gut so that your blood sugar would come in to normal. Now, I’m not saying that every single person will have the same outcome because there’s different reasons for elevated blood sugar. In your case, this was what was underneath it. Yes. So we were just talking before we started this interview today that the protocol that I have you on is a big deal. It’s yeah, it’s taking you through a lot of steps. And you came to you had a realization about it. So talk about that realization. Yeah.

Natalie Jill

Number one, the reason people think some protocols don’t work is because they’re not actually doing the protocol. I’m going to say that I think people take shortcuts all the time. People get lazy and why do they get lazy and take shortcuts? Because they haven’t decided and they haven’t created their vision. Their if you are the type of person who is thriving and you are that end result that you want, you are a rigorous, regimented, accountable person. There’s no negotiating on that. You are I mean, I can say that 100 times 100 different ways. There’s no negotiating. You will not see me at a restaurant drinking wine and eating gluten. I’m just not going to do it. Why? Because I’m the type of person who my gut health as a whole is important to me and I. Celiac health is important to me. 

So I’m not going to fall off the wagon and go, okay, I’m just going to have a lot of wine and some cake and pizza tonight. I’m not going to do that because I know what that’s going to create in my life. Am I trying to act better than others? Absolutely not. Am I trying to thrive in my life? Yes. So this is a rigorous decision. And this comes down to your decision and vision and being committed to it. I’m not going to lie, Laura gave me a lot of broken supplements. There was there’s a lot of stuff I got to take and I kind of panicked, like there’s a lot of stuff. But this is why I personally decided to coach higher level with Laura because I wanted accountability. 

I think that’s a critical importance. You want to always have somebody that you’re coaching with that’s taking you through and helping you keep stay accountable, because I do think it’s a lot of pressure yourself just to go, I’m just going to do this all by myself. So there’s that. And then just really remembering always your decision and your vision. When my husband brings home pizza and or whatever, it’s not I don’t go this, Oh, I’m just going to do this or what’s wrong with me that I can’t. I go, No, what was my decision and what’s my vision?

Laura Frontiero, FNP-BC

And I know this too. And I, you know, I’ve spent a lot of time with you privately, and I know you are the real deal. You do what you say and you say what you mean, and you are 100% committed to your health. And I know Brooke’s your husband right now is on this whole baking, homemade sour dough kick, and you’re giving it away to our friends and you’re smelling it, and you’re looking at them and you’re not eating it.

Natalie Jill

Yeah, but it has nothing to do with me just having discipline or willpower. That’s not what it is. It’s my commitment to what I want for my life. That’s what it is. And do I ever I mean, Laura, see me eat chocolate plenty of times. Do I ever have things? Absolutely. But my priority, my main, my majority is eating a specific way and really being regimented.

Laura Frontiero, FNP-BC

I’ve even seen you eat a gummy worm.

Natalie Jill

Yes, I am. I mean, I’ve eaten everything. I mean, other than gluten, I would not eat gluten because that would and I will not drink wine at this point because I’m not going to knowing my gut situation that’s out of my life.

Laura Frontiero, FNP-BC

No. I mean, in the history of knowing you, I think I’ve shared one glass of wine with you and it was dry.

Natalie Jill

And I just don’t have an interest in anything more. It doesn’t do anything for me.

Laura Frontiero, FNP-BC

Yeah, we had a client once, you know, we did a class together recently, and somebody in the chat said, Can I drink wine on this protocol? And my ah, can I drink alcohol in this protocol? And my answer to that is how quickly do you want to get better? And that’s almost like a self-sabotage kind of thing.

Natalie Jill

Let me, let me just share this about and then I’ll shut up about alcohol because people don’t tend to like me on this topic. But when you drink alcohol because of it’s a to relax or to feel better or to be social, there’s a deeper issue than that. Like if you need alcohol for that, there’s a whole nother thing. And when you correct your energy and your health and all the things that problem goes away, I don’t need that. And I don’t need alcohol to relax. And I probably at one point would have thought I did. So my so like gossip brings you back to the root, root, root, root. To me, doing that is just a numbing out, temporary thing. So just look at what does that doing for your life? What is that? I can’t judge. Maybe for you. You think it’s totally healthy and it’s part of that. And that’s amazing for you. For me, I think it’s a very low vibration thing that’s not helping our health.

Laura Frontiero, FNP-BC

Okay. So before we go on to the next topic, thank you for unpacking that. And I’m okay with not being popular about this topic because it is really important if you’re going to heal yourself, you want to not do sabotage type things. Yeah. Now, clearly, I think what we’ve just unpacked here is every coach needs a coach. So and I always say every doctor needs a doctor. Every. Yes. Your needs. Absolutely. I mean, you’re you’re you’re a master sports nutritionist. You’ve got you know.

Natalie Jill

You still get help. Yeah.

Laura Frontiero, FNP-BC

You lead millions of people through healthy lifestyle changes and you still need help behind the scenes. So everybody, like, don’t be so full of yourself that you think you can do this on your own. I get that all the time. I talk to a lot of health coaches and practitioners who say, Well, I’ve got this because I have this educational background.

Natalie Jill

That’s ego.

Laura Frontiero, FNP-BC

It is ego. I hire I literally just hired a personal trainer. I know exactly how to work out. I know exactly what to do. But I need accountability because I’m a workaholic and I will just keep working through the day and not make time. So I need him checking in with me saying, Did you do it? So it’s really important that we get this complete.

Natalie Jill

I mean, I can’t ever not have a coach. I have a coach with anything. Anytime you want to be on your A-game on something, you got to go hire the best in the best of the best of that. Because if you don’t, you’re not. It’s that’s a shortcut to me. That’s the shortcut when I built transparency and Laura knows this, when I was unpacking my gut problem, I met with two different doctors and chose to work with Laura. Why? Because she the best of the best of the best. And she’s the one that geeked out on the studies over for several decades. So to me. So you go to me, it’s a shortcut that you go to the best of the best.

Laura Frontiero, FNP-BC

Thank you. Yeah. And I have. I’m surrounded by coaches as well in my business, in my personal life. It’s how people like you and me create. What we create is that we have people supporting us as we go. We’re not nobody ever built this alone. That’s really important. You cannot do your health on your own. Okay. So I want to shift gears because you have also have this you know, you have. Yes, you are really amazing at helping people with decision and vision and motivation and accountability. But you also know the important nutrition hacks and workout hacks that people must take. So I want to tap into your brain for that. Okay. Absolutely. Yeah. So let’s talk about that because give people some really good use.

Natalie Jill

Okay. So I’m going to start really basic and some of you are going to roll your eyes, but I’m going to challenge you because you probably aren’t doing this. Okay. The number one thing that we need to be doing is eating unprocessed natural foods. Number one, the majority of your foods need to not be in a package. This means real foods that once grew period. Like there’s no like an apple. That’s real celery. That’s real chicken. That’s real fish. That’s real. Not butter real. So real natural, unprocessed foods. That’s number one. Are we fueling ourselves with that? And that does not mean the packaged help thing that you got from the health store with 100 ingredients on it, that’s not unprocessed.

Laura Frontiero, FNP-BC

I want to talk about this because this is really important. People are looking for shortcuts and quick fixes and you’ll walk into Whole Foods Trader Joe Root, whatever it is. And there’s something there that’s advertised. This is natural and organic, but if you read the ingredients, there’s preservatives, there’s colors, they’re cereals, there’s words you can’t.

Natalie Jill

Exactly.

Laura Frontiero, FNP-BC

So talk about that because.

Natalie Jill

Yeah. So first of all, when it says natural and our natural flavors, what is that? What does that even mean? That’s like a pass to like have all kinds of things in that in small level. So we don’t have to label them. So no, when you’re trying to get healthy, clean it up like eat real foods. Like I look at what’s in my fridge later. It’s always cut out vegetables and fruits and avocados and proteins like fuel yourself with natural unprocessed food. First too, I’m a huge fan of phytonutrients, you know, I don’t care about the carnivore diet and people talking about that. I will never be enrolled in that. We need phytonutrients to fight aging too. And we’re all going to age like let’s face it. But I mean to fight aging badly. So let me I’ll fight aging badly. You cannot heal yourself and prevent dangerous, angry aging without eating lots of antioxidants and phytonutrients. So loading up on vegetables and low glycemic fruits are really, really important. And I make it a game with myself. Like, how much vegetables can I get in on a day? Like, that’s that’s my thing. I have countless research in Aging in reverse, by the way, that will counter all the carnivore stuff if you if you have a question about that so number. So that is important to eating very low glycemic. This is really critical. Most disease stems from sugar. If you look at the research on dementia and Alzheimer’s, type two diabetes, cancers, all of it thrives from sugar. Sugar doesn’t help anybody. So you want to think low glycemic. So like table sugar is just out of the question. Like that’s like don’t even like high fructose corn sirup tables are like, why are we even bothering with that? And then being really aware that even though honey and stuff like that could have some nutrition, you got to be really small with that because that’s still sugar and even fruits. Like I’m a huge fan of fruit. I used to actually mock people that would say no fruit, but going through my blood sugar journey, we got to be very mindful of that, like having a bite of something is very different than having a whole bowl of it. So like, do you look at like pineapple, like that’s super high glycemic. Like, how much are we having? I’m not saying never have it. There’s some great nutrients in that. But focus on the low glycemic like the berries. Berries are amazing. I know tangerines can be low glycemic. So just playing with that, I highly suggest checking blood sugar and knowing what you’re eating and how it’s affecting, you know, a big one.

Laura Frontiero, FNP-BC

That strong real quick, a big one that people can absentmindedly eat is grapes, right?

Natalie Jill

Oh, yeah. Grapes are super spiky.

Laura Frontiero, FNP-BC

You can take a bunch of grapes. You could absentmindedly eat two cups of it.

Natalie Jill

Yes. And before you send me a hate message about that, go test your blood sugar when you eat them and then talk to me. Because I used to be that same person. I’d be like, What are these people talking about? Until I started testing my blood sugar. When you see your blood sugar spike over 200 from grapes, you’ll understand you’re healthy. Blood, sugar needs to be at a certain level, and it should be not spiking that high. We get damage every time our blood sugar was over 130. Every time it goes over 130, you’re damaging your cells. It’s dangerous. So that’s a big thing. The next one is looking at your oil. 

So everyone’s genetic makeup is going to be a little bit different. So some people thrive on certain oils and others don’t like. A lot of people talk about MCT oil and coconut oil. I personally have the genetic makeup where I have a body where I it does not work in my body. I cannot tolerate saturated fat. For me, that doesn’t mean for you that’s the case. But really understanding like how do you react to certain fats? Probably I prioritize healthy things like avocado fat and then also olive oil is a great one. Also for me, flaxseed is the one oil that does well in my body. But the reason there’s such a thing about seed oils, it’s not that traces of a sesame seed oil is going to hurt you or anything like that. It’s that a lot of these overly processed foods they’re using really GMO code, lots of pesticides, all the stuff in like cottonseed oil and safflower oil. Those are creating a lot of free radical damage in our body. So we want to stay away from those for sure. But, you know, like my husband asked me, he’s like, hey, my favorite natural dressing has a little bit of, you know, sunflower seed oil is like, no, I’m not worried about that.

Laura Frontiero, FNP-BC

Right. And it’s the chemical washing of the seed oils to make them palatable as well. So, yes, they’re using, you know, non-organic crops. And even if it does say it’s organic canola.

Natalie Jill

Or.

Laura Frontiero, FNP-BC

Whatever, it’s the chemical washing of it and the high process, you know, that that creates the free radical damage. And depending on your genetics, you may not you may not tolerate it well. So thank you.

Natalie Jill

And that’s why that’s different than seeds, by the way, because sometimes when you say seed oil, but like, oh, can I not have sesame seeds or can I know that seeds are a whole different category and we’re not? That’s not that’s a whole different topic there.

Laura Frontiero, FNP-BC

Yeah, totally. Okay. So what about anything else you wanna say about nutrition hacks? You wanna talk.

Natalie Jill

About those are I know those are really some basic things, but I want people to pay attention to them. And then because because we say that that’s basically, well, our eyes. But are we actually really doing it? Are we actually really doing that? Are you really eating our processed foods? Are you really looking at your labels? Are you really watching your sugar and stuff? So that’s number one because that’s first and foremost, you know, when you just jump to the extreme like, I’m going to go Carnivore, I’m going to go Quito, and you put it in these categories that might not be necessary. Just look at this first and then balance out and then you come up with what works for you based on those things.

Laura Frontiero, FNP-BC

Okay, now, workout hacks, because I know this is a big one for people. People can dial in their nutrition, but then they hate to work out.

Natalie Jill

Yeah, well, you say they, Eleanor, I dial in their attention, but that’s why I wanted to talk about that first because that’s not true. Like people say, I eat healthy, but they’re not actually doing those things. So that’s number one. And I want to add to that water, by the way, having the right kind of water on top of that and making sure you’re not just drinking glorified tap water, which is what I call purified water, is just glorified tap water, really.

Laura Frontiero, FNP-BC

So just the refrigerator, filtered water or.

Natalie Jill

Yes, yeah. So you want to have like spring water and then you could that’s a whole nother topic. You can go a whole nother layer on that when it comes to working out. So things change as we age for sure. My, it’s not about the time you’re putting into your workout. So I want to first and foremost, it’s not about when people say how many hours you workout or how much. It has nothing to do with that, and it has nothing to do actually with what I’m doing. Exercise wise, what it has to do with are these two words progression and intensity. Progression and intensity, right those down if you have to, you want to, number one, make sure you’re progressing. That means if you’ve been doing the same three sets of 12 with your £10 weights for 20 years, and you’re wondering why your body’s not changing, that is why you have to progress. 

You cannot. Your body will adapt. You cannot do the same thing and think it’s going to change. You have to progress. And number two, you have to be intense for you. Now, when people hear intense, they think about Olympic athlete. That’s not what I’m referring to. I mean, intense for you if me and my husband and then you watching were to all go get on a pull up bar right now, my husband could probably knock out 15 of them easily. I could probably do three. And though little challenging, I still do a lot more. But not right now because of my injuries before. I’m working on more, I can do three. You watching? Maybe you can’t do any yet. Maybe you can. Maybe you can’t pretend like you can’t for a minute. We all go on the pull up bar and I tell Brooks, you usually can do 15. I want you to do 15 a lot faster or I want you to do 17 today and you tell me, okay, you’ve got three, you’re working on five and you’re not stopping. And then I tell you, that’s not can’t do any. Okay, I want you working on one. All of us are being intense for us. So are you being intense and progressing your workouts? That is the key to changing your body with exercise.

Laura Frontiero, FNP-BC

Absolutely. So this is an individualized thing. We’re not comparing to anybody else. It’s it’s individualized for you.

Natalie Jill

Absolutely. And then that can be in 5 minutes. It can be in 10 minutes. Again in 20 minutes.

Laura Frontiero, FNP-BC

And you talk about time, because I talk to people, I don’t have time to go work out for an hour. So, first of.

Natalie Jill

All, you all have 5 minutes, right? Let’s all just do do you have four? If you don’t have 5 minutes, you shouldn’t even be on the summit. Like this is like you have a whole another problem if you don’t have 5 minutes. But so assuming we all have 5 minutes right now. All right. We all in 5 minutes. Yes. Okay. Go hold a plank for 5 minutes and tell me how you feel.

Laura Frontiero, FNP-BC

If I’m on time where a plank.

Natalie Jill

You can’t do it. Most of you can’t do it. Okay. No doubt. Do you think your body would change if you worked on a plank for 5 minutes every day? Yeah, exactly. That’s my point.

Laura Frontiero, FNP-BC

Hold a plank. After a minute, I’m like, Oh, okay.

Natalie Jill

So if all you did and this is someone’s going to take this and like, I’m not suggesting this, but if all you did was go hold a plank for 5 minutes everyday, do you think you could change your body? Yes, you can. So 5 minutes is a great start.

Laura Frontiero, FNP-BC

That’s right. And now there’s all this, you know, movement towards doing 10 to 20 minute intensive workouts. Now, the funny thing is, I know you and you’ve been teaching this for over a decade. Yeah. You literally have been teaching this for over a decade and now it’s really popular. Yeah.

Natalie Jill

You’re going to get a lot more out of. And so it’s what you’re doing with those 5 minutes is what you’re doing with those 10 minutes or what you’re doing with those 20 minutes. Now, if you’re going into the gym and you’re stretching for five and you’re talking and you’re taking a selfie and you’re doing your like, Yeah, you’re right, the 20 minutes is doing nothing. But you get in there and you’re all business for 20 minutes, you’re going to change your body.

Laura Frontiero, FNP-BC

Okay. All right. These are really important tips and tricks. And I know that our audience is super appreciative of just hearing this, that it doesn’t have to be hard if I’m guessing this is going to be one of the favorite discussions on this subject, because you’re so real. So let’s wrap it up here and let’s talk about one more concept of getting and staying on purpose. So this is also one of your things. So let’s bring it back to this mindset piece.

Natalie Jill

Yeah. So getting this thing on purpose. So this comes back to your vision and your decision.

Laura Frontiero, FNP-BC

And if you.

Natalie Jill

Are not feeling on purpose, you’re feeling off. You’ve got to go back to decision. Envision like what is going on there because you everyone should be, especially in midlife and that’s my specialty. We should be waking up feeling on purpose. If we are not, decide right now that you’re going to change that. That’s number one. Like make it, just make a decision. Remember, you could be a whole different person by changing your thoughts, actions and habits and pick those wisely.

Laura Frontiero, FNP-BC

So just.

Natalie Jill

Decide, okay, I came on, I came on to this morning summit going, Oh my gosh, I don’t want to do anything. I’m overwhelmed, decide to change it, like interrupted right now. Like, no, I’m becoming the type of person who and then fill in that blank and make that decision and be on purpose with it. And if you don’t trust yourself, then hire a coach, hire somebody to keep you accountable because that’s their job that. And then you’re you have skin in the game you’re paying to help them keep you accountable. So you’re not going to fail.

Laura Frontiero, FNP-BC

Absolutely. Okay. So one of the things I appreciate about you the most is that, you know, I’ve watched your track. I’ve watched your ascension to midlife conversations forever because I’ve known you for a long, long time. And so what I appreciate about you is that you have reinvented yourself as your audience has matured, you have matured with them. So in your thirties and forties, you had a younger audience that was more about fitness and nutrition and getting abs. Yeah. And a big abs. So you, I mean, I’ve seen your six pack. 

You’ve been on the cover of magazines with six packs of abs, but now in your fifties you have transitioned to how do I help my same audience? I really have the highest quality of life possible. And this is really where you’re going with your work now. Yes. And so can you talk about how our audience can really I mean, your midlife conversations is brilliant. You’re bringing on all kinds of experts to help people live a better quality of life. You know, myself included, I’m one of your midlife experts. So tell us about this and how our audience can get more from you and learn.

Natalie Jill

Yeah, well, so yeah, there’s all different layers to thriving in midlife. But I think the big thing I’m going to say is, yes, we have to get our you know, I used to just focus on hormones and say, okay, hormones are critical. Now I understand so much more about gut in my mitochondria and I think that’s actually the layer first. Like I think that if you don’t have your gut and your mitochondria and your energy down like you’re not, you can’t. Does it matter to balance your hormones? I’ll tell you as somebody that’s on bioidentical hormones and it was showing as super estrogen dominance, which wasn’t making sense based on what I was doing. 

And then I realized it’s a gut issue. It’s a staph infection in my gut, like all of that, it was was creating that estrogen dominance. So, number one, don’t even bother doing your hormone stuff until you fix your gotten your energy and your mitochondria like you have to fix that first, then it’s hormones and all that. Yes, you want to dial it in, but then if you’re not doing the basics like the eating, the healthy drinking, the right water’s moving your body, like, what do you even doing? Like like those are just the basic basics. Like, do those first. Then the big layer is going to be all mindset. That is that you’ve got to make a decision and if you’re thinking, okay, I’m hearing you, Natalie, but I don’t have time. 

Okay, well, how do we have to change? Because I guarantee your scroll on social media are you’re doing something that’s taking up your time. Okay, now what you’re saying I don’t have the funds. I can’t afford a high level coach. If only I could afford. Okay, well, what if you were that type of person? Who where would your money be going? Where? Like to me, where is a better place to invest then in that like you’re investing in yourself by doing that. So let’s reprioritize where you think you’re spending your money and where you should be spending your money. Because if you’re not investing in yourself and that like, what are we even doing selves? I don’t know if I am.

Laura Frontiero, FNP-BC

You can’t be, yeah. You can’t be present for your family and for your kids and for your spouses. And if you’re not investing in yourself first.

Natalie Jill

That’s, that’s, that has to be that. So you had to change the tune on that, on that type of conversation. And then as far as your question of where you can find me, there’s lots of places you can find me, but I’m going to say, well, first of all, social media is Natalie Joss at my website. Natalie I have two of them. NatalieJill.com. If you’re more interested in the health and fitness stuff, if you’re more interested in the midlife top stop and conversations dot com.

Laura Frontiero, FNP-BC

Yup and whatever you know at the time of filming this interview, this is, you know, there’s going to be things coming out that you’re going to be offering to support people in coaching and mindset. And if you think you want to work with Natalie, just stay tuned on her social media and her website because you’ll find how to get programs from Natalie. I’m so excited for what I know because I know you. I know you’re creating some pretty cool stuff and I’m really excited for our audience to be able to get that from you.

Natalie Jill

I’m excited for all of you watching this. But just remember, act as if and decision and vision first.

Laura Frontiero, FNP-BC

Thank you so much. And how to leave are dropping bombs of wisdom and thank you for you know again I just want to acknowledge you for your contribution to the health space. And I also want to acknowledge you for being a constant for shifting and meeting your audience where they’re at and for reinventing yourself over and over and over again, and also for being so transparent on your own journey. You know, you don’t show perfection, right? You’re like, this is my internal mess. This is what’s happening. And it’s so refreshing. So thank you for that. Take good care of everyone I know.