Don't Call Me Midlife

☀️ Summer Wellness Routines

• Alix Mackey & Nicole Stassinopoulos • Episode 44

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Can giving up your morning coffee change your life? Find out in this episode as we dive into summer wellness routines! From the surprising benefits of ditching coffee to exploring the ins and outs of an anti-inflammatory diet, we’re sharing how these changes can transform your well-being, and our top tips for staying healthy while traveling and making the most of your summer.

In this episode, we cover:
1. Our personal wellness routines for staying healthy during summer.
2. The anti-inflammatory diet (AIP) and its effects.
3. Strategies for maintaining health while traveling.


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Speaker 1:

Welcome to Don't Call Me Midlife. This summer we're shaking things up a bit with our special series called Survive or Thrive. We know moms are extra busy during the summer, so we're bringing you shorter, bite-sized episodes, focused on one hot topic at a time. Join us as we share tips, stories and laughs, helping you decide if you're just getting by or truly thriving this summer. Good morning, alex. How are you? I am good. I am psyched to talk to you. I feel like we haven't talked forever, I know.

Speaker 1:

Welcome back to the real world. Yes, back from Europe. A month was definitely a long time. I know we texted when we were there, but I have to say the time change talking to people, even my mother, was really, really hard, so I wasn't really able to do it. But getting back into reality, getting back into what's in your cup yes, in my cup, you know what I'm boring today. I have two cups. I have one of straight coffee and one of straight water with lemon tea. I am just going back to basics. I am keeping it simple straight water with element tea. I am just going back to basics. I am keeping it simple, back to basics.

Speaker 1:

In August, what are you doing? I'm pretty basic. I'm a basic bee myself, so I just have a cup of water because I'm finishing up my anti-inflammatory diet, I gave up coffee, which is just incredible, because I never thought I could do it and it was not easy. It took like a full week to get used to the fact and like the headaches and the grogginess. So, yeah, now I'm like I want it because my 30 days is almost up, but I'm like do I do that to myself? You don't want to like add it back. You mean I mean on occasion, yes, but like the daily, everyday morning. I don't want to like add it back. You mean I mean on occasion, yes, but like the daily, everyday morning. I don't know. I like waking up and not having the need to have coffee to get going. I hear you. I hear you for sure.

Speaker 1:

When I was in London, I was trying to do the routine of like you know, we've listened to a lot of those podcasts about morning routine where I would have water and then I would go for a walk and then I think it was Mel Robbins that said it and come back. It's like an hour and a half and then have coffee. Was that your routine? Yeah, yeah, that was my routine because, you know, I was with my two older teenagers that wanted to sleep till like 10 or 11. So I would get up early and take a walk. And I have to say, you know, seeing the sunlight and being able to walk and then having your coffee later, it did make a difference in my day. I didn't wake up craving it. But it does take a week. It took like a week for me to like get out of that habit for sure. Yeah, one it's a habit and two, it's an addiction. So maybe will.

Speaker 1:

But I'm wondering, like, what are you going to do in the winter, because Boston winters are brutal For walking? Yeah Well, you know, you and I are both doing this like step-bet challenge with our friend Stacy, and that's sort of what prompted me to walk. I have thought about that. I think in the winter, though, I may just hop on a treadmill because I really like starting my day and I've I've maintained that routine since I've come back to Boston. And now my body you know, when you start a habit, your body just like sort of craves walking and I just I, I love it.

Speaker 1:

And you and I were talking about one thing that could like help us do. That is you call a friend, right, and a lot of people like it. Oh, I want to just chill, but there are times when it is like you're doing a two for one, like walking and talking, and you're like, check, check, you know, I know, I know my sister-in-law, chris. I'm going to give her a little shout out. I know she calls me. I almost always know when she's walking her dog and I call her too when I'm walking my dog. It's a good way for me to like catch up with people, just be alone. Sometimes I like to listen to like an audio book, but mostly I call people yeah, yeah, no, I'm with you, I'm with you. I like that and encouraging.

Speaker 1:

Well, this has to do with our topic today. I'm loving these 10-minute little episodes, right, same. And so, ladies, we are going to talk about wellness. How are you maintaining your wellness? Are you thriving, are you surviving? Because I think Nicole and I both are having sort of different experiences this summer, I would say a little bit different, and so we want you to think about how are you thriving, surviving, or are you in the middle right with your wellness? So you embarked on this journey a couple of weeks ago, nicole. So I want to hear all about this, because I really haven't even talked to you about what you are doing. Yes, so I'm doing an anti-inflammatory protocol diet.

Speaker 1:

I was just talking about it on stories and Instagram and my friend Stacy was like oh, I've been thinking about it too, let's do it together. And this was like on a Thursday and we started on Monday. It was like boom, go, girls, go, go, girls go. That is Stacey. That is the wonder. I saw it on Instagram. I was like what are they doing? So it's called the AIP, right? Yes, yeah, for sure. Okay.

Speaker 1:

So basically, what it is is that you avoid all processed foods alcohol, additives, refined sugars, coffee, tea, oils, I guess, certain medications like NSAIDs. What are you eating then? Chicken and broccoli. Chicken and broccoli yum, wait, I'm not done, because you also have to give up grains, legumes, dairy eggs and nightshade vegetables, which are like potatoes, eggplant and tomatoes, okay. So it hasn't been like. It does sound like a lot at first.

Speaker 1:

I think the hardest thing for me, honestly, was giving up coffee and then, like nuts I love walnuts, almonds, cashews, and so finding replacements for those. I did tiger nuts, which I don't know if you've ever heard of it. But no, I saw that they're so delicious. We can talk about that later but you can make milk out of it and like, slice it, get it sliced so it's like granola, and then you know flour. You can make a nut butter and it's delicious, it's like naturally sweet. So my question is that seems like a lot to eliminate, right?

Speaker 1:

This isn't something that you're doing forever. This is just sort of to see what is it, to see what foods affect you as you add them back in. I've heard a lot of people say it's like the whole 30 diet. I decided to do this because I have a thyroid condition with Hashimoto's, and so food is a really big trigger for me. I have to tell you I feel amazing, like, yeah, no brain fog, I haven't had any joint pain, any muscle aches, and so I'm curious to see, as I add in, what will affect me. So, in addition to doing this, I'm also doing the walking challenge, which has been great to get me back into that routine. So I'm feeling great. Yeah, I am surviving. No, you're thriving. Oh, I'm sorry, maybe that's the lack of coffee there. I am thriving. No, I'm really interested. I think. I think we should do an episode after you are done with this Cause. I'm interested in this because I know a lot of the big inflammatory foods are dairy and gluten, right, but as you add some of those other things back, there are a lot of big, especially nightshades I've heard are pretty inflammatory. When I was having shoulder and joint pain they were saying to eliminate that. So I'm proud of you. Thank you, that's awesome.

Speaker 1:

The first week was hard but I went in prepared. I think being prepared is key, having a meal plan, like you say. The second week I floundered because I didn't plan as well and so I was like hungry a lot and like searching. But the third week I'm good, I'm going in strong. Have you broken at all? Like, have you cheated? Yeah, like the first week it's like mindless eating, so like because we get French fries and I'd like pop one in my mouth, like as I was through the drive, sort of like passing the bag. And then one day we went to the mall and we were sitting at a table and I was on a phone call and my kids were eating Dairy Queen blizzards and I just picked up a spoon and I think I took about five bites and I was like, oh my God, what am I doing? So? But other than that, no, because you're just mindful of it and you feel so good. But when I had the dairy I felt immediately bloated and then the next day I had a lot of inflammation. I even knew dairy was a trigger for me before. But Right, right, right, good for you. I am proud of you. I saw that and was like, wow, that's amazing for you guys. I love that. Yeah, how about you?

Speaker 1:

I was in London for three weeks, went over to Barcelona for a weekend and then was in Italy for a week. So I am not doing the AIP diet and I have to say, you know, I love to meal prep meal plan. I think we ate one meal at home. We did eat breakfast at home, so I did make the kids breakfast and we were on a little routine in the morning, which was really, really nice, but it's just too hard, you're there. But I did make better choices. I did drink a lot of cocktails, because they're amazing there, but a lot of Aperol, spritzes and stuff. But I didn't go overboard, I'd have to say. Compared to last summer when I was there, I made healthier choices to eat. I also made it a goal for myself because we were doing this walking challenge, to do walking.

Speaker 1:

I was getting back because of my shoulder. I haven't been able to work out in six months, so I got back to the online workouts, which felt really really good. So I think it evened out the eating and drinking, probably with a movement, but, yeah, it's definitely a transition. Coming back, I would say you know what? I'm not thriving or surviving. I would say I'm in the middle. I would say thriving because I really enjoyed my vacation and I wasn't too stressed about it. Good, and I'm not too stressed about the rest of the summer, but I feel good bringing back some of those habits, like I said.

Speaker 1:

So I think you know, I think summertime can be black and white. I know people that are like I just like go eat everything during the summer, or there are people that don't. I think it also depends on your schedule, right? I've been traveling a ton. We are going to Mexico as well, so my schedule is a little bit crazy. So I think finding those habits that are healthy I have been thriving in finding the habits that work for me while I'm traveling, that are really, really easy, like drinking water, lmnt and trying to get some movement every day, awesome, awesome. Well, I would say that you are thriving and that you enjoyed your summer, and I think it will be easier to bounce back into your regular routine because you kept your walking up, because I feel like exercise is the first to go. Exercise is good, so we will keep everybody.

Speaker 1:

We want to know what you guys are doing. Send us a DM and see what you are doing for the summer. Maybe you're trying something new, like Nicole, or you're just traveling a lot and just keeping some of those habits. So I love it. We should do a follow-up in the fall and see how we're doing then, cause it's going to be different. Every season is different, right? Yeah, let's see if we keep it up. Yeah, all right, we're both thriving. We want to hear how you guys are doing. Let us know. And that's a wrap for today's episode of Don't Call Me Midlife. We hope you had as much fun as we did. If you're just waiting in the carpool line, don't forget to follow the show, and if you're feeling extra spicy today, leave us a rating and review Before we part ways. Join our newsletter to stay in the loop with all things Midlife, magic, bonus content and more. Head on over to the show notes for how to sign up. We can't wait to keep the conversation going and