Lynne Bowman

Jingle 0:00

habits and health episode 42. Welcome to the habits and health podcast, where we believe creating healthy habits should be easy. Brought to you by an educator and coach for anyone who wants to create a healthier life. Here's your host,

Tony Winyard 0:18

Tony Winyard. Welcome to another edition of the podcast where we talk about habits and health. And my guest today is Lynne Bowman, who has been a featured speaker at women's expos throughout the US. And it's written a couple of books one in cooperation with a lady called Deidre Hall, which was getting close up. And she did a book on her own. Earlier this year called brownies for breakfast a cookbook for diabetics and people who love their Lin and you wouldn't believe it by looking over 75 and cheese in amazing health. And she's kind of reclaimed her health after some some issues that have happened throughout her life. And we talk about that in this episode, and how to stay healthy, how to if you do have diabetes, some of the things that you can do to stay healthy with diabetes. So that's coming up in this episode with lindbohm. And if you do know anyone who would get some value from this, maybe anyone you know who's got diabetes, please do share the episode with them. And hope you enjoy this week's show

habits and health. My guest today is Lynn Bowman. How are you Lynne?

Lynne Bowman 1:30

I am really happy to talk to you Tony. This is gonna be so much fun. I know.

Tony Winyard 1:36

I'm we're in the we're somewhere near South San Francisco today.

Lynne Bowman 1:40

That's right. Yep. And it's sunny and beautiful here. How about you?

Tony Winyard 1:46

Know, we don't talk about whether

Lynne Bowman 1:48

a woman from California right? Yeah. Okay.

Tony Winyard 1:53

Yeah. And we, because we spoke briefly before we started recording and you're, you're from Hollywood?

Lynne Bowman 1:58

Well, from in the sense that I was born there at Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital, and then grew up in the Pasadena area, which some people have heard of, too, for various reasons. But I left at about 1819 and have been pretty much gone ever since I visit. But I am no longer a los Angelino as they say,

Tony Winyard 2:23

and what drew you to where you are now?

Lynne Bowman 2:26

Oh, you know, I, I had a vision. How many times have we, I had this crazy vision that someday I would live someplace. And I would be able to say I love where I live. And people would know my name, I would go into the bank or a store. And they would say Highland and I had this little, you know, kind of fantasy about what my life would be like. And one day I drove with a friend into this little town that I had never been in, had never even knew what was on the map. And and when this is it, this is that place right here. And it was a matter of months before I you know my husband and I bought a place here. He also fell in love. It was just it was what he calls a pattern match. For both of us. We just went yeah, this is the place and it's extraordinarily beautiful. I hope you'll come and visit and see in that the redwoods are magical. Everyone now knows about redwood trees and what they are and, and I swear they do talk to you. They do send their messages. And they're magnificent. We're surrounded by trees that are about 100 110 15 years old. They were clear cut back then. This this wood was all cut not to make beautiful wood things out of but to burn the Portland cement factories to make cement. And every time I think about that, I'm just it's like, wait, you walked up to these trees and went, Okay, this is great fuel. That's what you thought. Because, I mean, they're just they're so beautiful, so mystical and, and glorious. And then we have the ocean for miles from us, which is also extraordinary in every way and growing up in LA the idea that I could go to an ocean and there will be no one else on the beach. No one except a seal. To me that's so magical. And that's where we live way out the country. And nature

Tony Winyard 4:41

is very important to you in your life, isn't it? Oh, absolutely.

Lynne Bowman 4:45

And you know, we're finding out you know, this, Tony that it's also a medical thing. We actually have a need to be in trees near trees in the ocean near the ocean. On the sand, our bodies and our minds are so chemically affected by what we look at and touch and smell. And when you live out here among the trees, you realise that they're their stuff drifting down, and they're odours coming out of them. And now, there are a couple of wonderful new books and documentaries out about the life of trees and the language of trees. And what goes on beneath the trees as the the fungi, fungi, fungi communicate with one another. It's it's extremely, I mean, have you been following this? And again, I'm because I live with them. And they're, they feel like my friends. And yes, I talked to them. To find out that the trees are probably talking back is pretty thrilling, you know, however, when I see the truck going by full of those beautiful trees that have been harvested here, I'm now one of those people that goes that was somebody whose mom tree was part of a family. And I'm laughing, but it's it's an interesting shift in our thinking, I think, really?

Tony Winyard 6:26

Um, what was it that I mean, I know that you've been on quite a journey. So what was it that led to your sort of changing direction, I suppose you say from from how you were a couple of decades ago,

Lynne Bowman 6:39

couple of decades, let's see, can do the math. It's been a long kind of continual story arc, Tony, because I've always been interested in health. And unlike you, I was very affected about losing my mother, I my mother died when I was 18. So I, I learned early in my life up close and personal, what happens to families and what happens to individuals, when chronic disease takes its toll. And in the United States, particularly, it's not only you're losing this person, and you've watched this person, be ill for a long time, and that's affected your life. But now the person is gone, and you are bankrupt financially as well in the United States, because these diseases cost us everything we have, financially and more. And something like 85% of the bankruptcies in the country are health driven, and it's largely chronic disease has a lot to do with that. So as I like you studied, read, wanted to learn everything I could learn and I found out how preventable chronic diseases and how curable in many cases, chronic diseases, but not particularly with medicine. So the more you delve into that, and and then a turning point came really is recently is about two and a half years ago, when I went to a convention a seminar given by the plan traditions, are you familiar with the patricians? No, it's a group of MDS, medical Doc's 1000 or more at this convention, there were 1000. So I'm sure there must be 1000s in the world, but kind of renegade Doc's who realised that they were going against the grain by realising that they could not cure with medicine, but they could cure with food and other natural things. So and some of them had become sort of name's Dean Ornish, kind of a big name. And he claimed a couple of decades ago to be reversing heart disease. A lot of people treated him like a quack. But he was a leader in this movement that now has grown and grown of these medical doctors who were trained in is it allopathic you call it the Western tradition of medicine, but got frustrated because they weren't healing? They weren't reversing disease, they weren't preventing disease, with the tools, the medical tools that they had, they wanted to do more. So I went to this convention a couple years ago now, and which was also kind of crazy. It's like, what made me do that? I'm not sure I just had to go. And for eight hours or more a day from eight in the morning until, you know I fell over at night. I watched PowerPoint presentation Which against pain if a PowerPoint.

But I sat and watched as these medical doctors from all over the world presented their data and more data and lots of data. And I realised that so much of what I had been learning for so long about diabetes, which is particularly my focus, because I am a diabetic type two diabetic, and I didn't want to die. I didn't want to become ill. So I've been working on that. So my idea at that convention changed about what the big deal was with preventing and reversing controlling diabetes, particularly type two diabetes, we'd always been told it was carbohydrates, and you had to control your carbohydrates and you shouldn't eat carbohydrates. And in a way, that's not untrue. That's still somewhat true. But Fact number one that I realised was it's not just a car, car is not car, it has a great deal to do with the quality of that carbohydrate. What is that food? What exactly are you putting in your mouth, besides the fact that it's a carbohydrate? So it's like saying, it used to be a calorie is a calorie No, it's not a calorie is not a calorie. Calories are way different, depending on what they're made of that so that was item number one that maybe it wasn't just no carbohydrate quality. And then item number two, the big shocker was all these Doc's presenting data about the big thing that was behind this epidemic of type two diabetes, the obvious thing, fast food, bad eating, but animal fat. The surgeons who spoke and showed their data talked about opening up 910 year old kids in surgeries of various kinds, and finding their veins full of plaque that comes from animal fat, you don't get plaque from vegetable fat. And then in language that I couldn't possibly duplicate here and repeat for you, they explained all the cellular causes that your your glucose, your blood glucose could not get through this fat barrier around your cells to energise your body if you're eating meat. And so I am mind blown, because until then, the conventional wisdom was if you're diabetic, type two diabetic, you ate meat, fish, protein, and you ate as little carbohydrate as you could. And you tried to keep your weight down. Well, not easy if you're eating meat, by the way. So I left that convention. My husband picked me up in the car, it was about an hour from the house in Oakland. And I said the thing that strikes terror in all men's hearts when their partners say guess what? And he said what? And I said I'm a vegan now. And he said, Oh, okay, I'm in which I'm happy to say we're still married. Love it. That's a big part of it. I'm in so we became vegan just feels like okay, let's do this. Let's try and experiment and and become vegan. And so for six months, I had just had my blood all tested as I do as I want to encourage everyone to do get tested early to see if you do have diabetes, don't wait until you're far along in the disease progression. So I just had my blood work done and so for six months, no meat, none no animal products, no dairy, particularly important, no dairy. And at six months, I went and saw my regular physician and guess what I numbers were down my haemoglobin a one C which is the most important test you take as a type two diabetic was down three points. And she said the doc said to me, that just doesn't happen at your age Lin. And I said guess what it just did.

So, this is partly to illustrate that physicians are struggling to With how to deal with this pandemic, of diabeetus, which, you know, it used to be that no one got type two diabetes until they were quite mature, they would say in your 40s or 50s, or later, and now kids are getting it. So not only do we need to get real about our own grown up selves, but let's not be feeding our children in such a way that we are making them sick when they are kids in a way that will stay with them for their whole lives.

Tony Winyard 15:40

So that so you made the change to become vegan, both of you that was what, two and a half years ago you said,

Lynne Bowman 15:47

Yes, but I will add, I'm no longer strictly vegan, we do some fish, we eat some salmon. We live in the ocean, we have fresh fish here, that's beautiful. And some shrimp. But and people who are strictly vegan are horrified by that, but I am I'm mostly vegan. And don't eat dairy. Just eat some fish with my veggies.

Tony Winyard 16:14

And from what you were saying before, I think there's a further distinction to be made because it's not simply vegan, it's more plant based food that that you follow rather than just simply vegan.

Lynne Bowman 16:26

Good point. I, I hate to think that people are calling themselves vegan thinking that is the ultimate wonderful healthy thing to be. And then they are stuffing their faces with sugar and flour and biscuits and cookies and cakes and pies. And things that you can you can have a very unhealthy life being a vegan. What makes you healthy is plant based whole food. Or typically they say whole food plant based. And that's where the magic is Whole Foods, not processed food. And and that's actually a big part of what's wrong with dairy is the way the dairy is processed. Before you ever see it. You know, we've been led to believe that milk and cheese are these fresh, wonderful, wholesome products. No, they're not. They are squeezed out a very miserable unhappy cows who are filled with crap they you know, they are they are fed bad stuff. They are kept in uncomfortable miserable places they have antibiotics given to them and then all that goes in your body when you eat the dairy. And people often say well, what's the one thing you know if you could just change one thing about people's diets? I think that might be it as knock off the dairy right now. Because even you are your paediatrician for your kids, though. They have to tell people frequently the reason your kids noses running all the time, is because they're eating dairy. And it this is this goes so against the grain of what, especially those of us my age, we were taught as children that milk was the healthiest possible thing. You know, it was just the best possible thing.

Tony Winyard 18:25

It's not a motif everywhere, wasn't it?

Lynne Bowman 18:27

Yeah. Oh yeah. Yes, billions and billions of dollars were spent promoting dairy. Lots of money made

Tony Winyard 18:36

how easy how easy was it to make the change to adopt the plant the whole food plant based style was it was it difficult or how did you find it?

Lynne Bowman 18:46

Thank you for a great question. Because I think people think it is difficult and you hear baby steps. I you know what? It's such a great adventure to discover all these foods that have been right in front of you all along. Gorgeous, colourful, beautiful texture. Wonderful stuff. And all you had to do was pick it up and eat it. But you've been so busy eating your Bangers and Mash or your hamburgers or your Reuben sandwiches or whatever you know we are fried chicken that you never paid any attention to these glorious fruits and vegetables that were and also free. They're right out I go out my back door and pick the most brilliant food you can eat. To guess we're just telling you know what it is like the best food if you're just going to pick one food. Can you guess?

Tony Winyard 19:48

Too many avocado

Lynne Bowman 19:52

are wonderful. Blackberries,

Tony Winyard 19:54

blackberries, okay.

Lynne Bowman 19:58

And I go right out in my bag. yard and they grow wild. And I have planted the ones without the thorns and so on. And I've tried to grow those, guess what, they're not as good, they don't taste as good as the wild ones that grow here. And they they're in such abundance that you get all chewed up and exhausted before. Before the berries give out, you know, it's it's a little bit of work to pick them. But they're afraid, you know, they're just right out there waiting for us. And we do grow some vegetables in a small plots and raise beds. And another another vegetable that I love to talk about because I have a recipe and in my book and, and it grows every year, it just comes up on its own, you don't do a dang thing to it. It just pops up in the spring. And it's brilliant and delicious. And you you can sweeten it a little bit. And it's I call it celery and drag. Do you know what I'm talking about? Celery and drag celery and drag? It's wonderful. Welcome back. Okay, all right. But you you your question is, is it hard to make the transition, it's changing habits, which is your bag, Tony, you know that that it's anything else that we do to improve our lives basically boils down to changing habits. So instead of waking up and eating a doughnut that you buy at the corner, and you're going to make your own donuts, and you're going to freeze them, and they're going to be a brilliant meal, but and delicious. So you can still eat donuts, but you have to make them you can't trust anyone else to make them good food, you can make them good food. So the hardest part about eating healthy, is that you can't do it, it's very difficult to do it. eating in restaurants. And eating off the shelf in a grocery store. Something has to be chopped in your kitchen, something has to be boiled up, you know or warmed, you have to cook a bit, you don't have to cook a lot. And it can be simple, doesn't doesn't have to be really time consuming. But you can't just grab the package off the shelf. And if you want to understand that you can't do that, here's a habit for you. One that I highly recommend, read the label. Never put anything in your face without reading the label. And you are going to be shocked when you read when you pick up a package of granola and it says healthy you know you're wholesome and so on you read and the first ingredient is sugar. And then the second ingredient is another form of sugar. And then the third ingredient is is some you know high fructose corn syrup or some other form of sugar. And I've actually tried this experiment myself going all down the cereal aisle in grocery store way down to the bottom one where you have to get on the floor of the grocery store and pull that Sacra lead it there was not one cereal that I could purchase that didn't have sugar on it.

Tony Winyard 23:27

I guess they one of the ploys by the manufacturers of these products is they rely on most people never look at the the labels and the food labels.

Lynne Bowman 23:38

They don't people don't know and Plus you've seen an ad on TV, whatever so you see that thing on the front and they've been very careful to tell you how healthy it is. And no it's not. But you know if people get its are convinced that it is so yeah. When do you

Tony Winyard 24:02

when was it that you can you remember when you started to look at the labels

Lynne Bowman 24:08

you know, I can't remember a specific time but I found out that I was I I had gestational diabetes with my first pregnancy so I was told them that I would likely develop Type Two Diabetes, you know as a thing, this is just going to happen. And but no one I couldn't get anyone to give me a test or give me any kind of definitive anything until I was in my 40s and I finally got someone to give me a haemoglobin a one C test and sure enough, I was over the line. I was in diabetic territory. So that's probably about the time that I started looking so carefully at the labels because I knew at least that sugar was off the table. Anything that That was a kind of sugar. No, except a Whole Foods sugar like a piece of fruit. That was okay. But anything that was a processed sugar I wanted to avoid. So yeah, I started reading labels really careful and was kind of amazed at what I saw in those labels is kind of scary. I have actually I do a couple pages in the book because I talk about reading labels and measuring things. And there are so many different ways to say sugar. And so what the manufacturers are able to do is instead of having to list sugar first, they start listing it fourth or fifth, but with all these different names. And so you so you go okay, no, it's not first, it's not second, it's nothing. We're good. No, you're not good. And, you know, and salt, of course, is at people often have said to me, Well, I'm on a limited salt diet, I can only have 2000 milligrammes a day and so I have to be really, so I can't put salt in it. The thing is, if you really are paying attention, you can sprinkle salt on the food that you make, and it makes it taste better, and that's okay, because you can sprinkle a heck of a lot of salts on things before you get to that 2000 milligrammes a day, but you can't eat anything off the shelf, almost anything that isn't going to put you over the limit, with one or two servings, because everything that is manufactured for us to eat is full of salt and sugar, because those things we're trained up to think are good. That's our palates are trained to think those things are just swell. And you probably know this, Tony, but a lot of people don't know that, that there is a whole field of food chemistry, training people to make foods craveable they're the crave ability, guys. And they are their whole take on life chemistry, is how to make those Pringles or those Doritos or whatever they are. So craveable, that you literally can't eat just one. It's not just a slogan, that's how they live and die. They don't want you to eat just one, they want you to eat the whole bag, and then eat another bag, and then buy another bag. That's what they're in business to do. And that is what's making people sick. Craig mobility.

Jingle 27:46

We hope you're enjoying this episode of the habits and health podcast where we believe creating healthy habits should be easy. If you are looking for deep support to create the health and life you want to invite you to consider one on one coaching sessions with Tony. coaching sessions give you personalised guidance to fit your unique goals and life situation. Only a limited number of spots are available. But you can easily get started by booking a free introductory call at Tony winyard.com. Now back to the show.

Tony Winyard 28:14

You mentioned just now about your your book, brownies for breakfast. What was it? What was the inspiration for that? Why did you write that? And how has it been received since it was published?

Lynne Bowman 28:26

Kind of a incident that made me forced me to do it was that my youngest daughter, who is a medical she's a nurse practitioner. And she called me one afternoon and said Ma, I checked a guy in today who's about your age. And he's a vet. And he was coming into the hospital to have his legs removed. And of course that's never a fun thing for me or for them. And but I sat with him and we talked and I told him that you were trying to get this book written about type two diabetes, and he said, Oh, and she said he got tears in his eyes. And he said, Please tell her for me to finish that book. I wish I had had that book. We need that book. So how could I not do it? I mean, it's a it's a disease that has severe consequences if you ignore it. And so many of us ignore it. Because there are no symptoms. You don't know that you're a diabetic until it's in a wait too late. The difference in my life was that I was told as a younger woman that I was likely to be and I was I was watching I was paying attention. Most type two diabetics are surprised when in some routine exam, they take the test and they're out of healthy limits. And often it's people in their 50s 60s 70s, who are finding out for the first time that they have type two diabetes, and it's been damaging their bodies for decades. So, and there are no symptoms until their severe symptoms.

Tony Winyard 30:17

So when did the book come out?

Lynne Bowman 30:19

It came out in June of 2020.

Tony Winyard 30:26

Is it aimed specifically

Lynne Bowman 30:28

2021? I'm getting these couple of years have been so weird, right? We've been locked up at home.

Tony Winyard 30:36

Oh, is it aimed specifically at people with type two? And is it aimed at a particular age group or just anyone with the condition? The full title

Lynne Bowman 30:45

of the book is brownies for breakfast, a cookbook for diabetics and the people who love them. Because in fact, you will benefit from this if you are type one, or if you have a family member who's diabetic, or if you just don't want to be a diabetic. It's kind of a sneaky way of encompassing everybody. I wanted diabetics to know it was for them, particularly for them. But it's it's a book I think anyone can benefit from who's trying to eat healthy, healthier

Tony Winyard 31:22

animals. That is pretty high figures of people with pre diabetes, isn't that?

Lynne Bowman 31:26

Yes. And the whole idea of pre diabetes is a little funky is if your numbers I think now they they want your blood glucose below 120 or 125. At one time, they were saying 140 or 145. But if you're up there in the 120 range, any higher than that it's not really pre diabetes, it's Hey, hey, hey, hey, you know, shape up? It's not pre anything. It's like you need to fix this now.

Tony Winyard 32:04

I miss this down a number of connections with diabetes and Alzheimer's as far as

Lynne Bowman 32:10

well, it's so interesting that, yes, they are finding out that this connection between gut and brain that they're talking about gut brain health. Yes, if if you've been eating this way, crappy food, your brain is suffering, just as the rest of your body is suffering. And another thing I talked about in the book, Tony, and you are familiar with this, very much so is that you can't talk about food and diet without talking about sleep, for one thing, movement exercise for another. But people don't understand that there's this tight circular relationship between sleep and food. If you are eating badly, you're going to sleep badly. And if you're sleeping badly, conversely, you're going to eat badly. Because this gut brain connection goes all haywire. So not only do I want to encourage you to eat a whole food, plant based diet, but I want to encourage you to change the habit. Here's your word of when you eat, because most of us eat too late in the day. And you're in this goes I the first conversation I had about this was with an Ayurvedic practitioner. And in the Ayurvedic tradition, they've known this for a long time, and it's very much a part of what they teach. But Western medicine has been a little bit behind. If you eat too late in the day, your body wants to be done digesting it wants to digest in the middle of the day. And it's all heated up cranked up when the sun is high, and that's when it wants to work. When the sun goes low, your body doesn't want to still be working on that digestive stuff. It wants to switch to a whole set of other things that it does, only in your sleep. And I always think of it as this little repair crew, you know, that comes out when the traffic stops. It's the repair crew that comes out and they work all night. And it's the repair crew that fix fixes your brain literally it cleanses your brain tissues, your cells. And in order to have that functioning well. You need to stop eating as early as you can in the afternoon. Three o'clock in the afternoon for maybe five but most of us don't even think about eating in the late after. You know we come home we've worked and we've just Going home, whatever. And so it's 789 o'clock at night, and many of us are still in front of the tube, eating a little more ice cream. Okay, I see you out there. I know you're doing this at 11 o'clock at night. And what you're doing is you're setting yourself up to have your gut all crazy the next day, and your repair crew hasn't been able to work, because it's going to be up all night dealing with the ice cream, and a super important thing to do for your health. And no, I you know, how do we define health? If you're struggling with weight loss, as so many of us are? Try this. Try it. Just try it. It's not, you know, most of us who struggle with with weight and weight loss, I've tried a million different things. Did you ever try not eating after three, four o'clock in the afternoon. And of course, now a lot of people are calling that intermittent fasting and doing shows. And being the intermittent fasting person? Well, it's just not eating for a while. That's all that is. And that the healthiest time to not eat, as far as my reading and research is concerned is in the late afternoon, evening. Don't eat late. It's important.

Tony Winyard 36:28

I think now for the majority of people in Western countries see America, England or Europe and UK, so on. We just been so conditioned all our lives to have a smaller meal at lunchtime, and our big main meal at dinner time. Which I mean, hear for most people in the UK is 678 o'clock, I presume it's similar in the States. And for many people, if you suggest anything different, it's just totally alien, it's just very hard to comprehend.

Lynne Bowman 37:00

deep seated habits, cultural habits. Absolutely right. And in this country, at least, people the stress is so amped up, people driving an hour in the morning, and then driving another hour at night, and people picking their kids up here and dropping them off there. So sitting down for a meal just kind of takes this backseat really and an eating has become driving through or eating in the car, or eating when you're finally home. And finally again, so I know you're exhausted, is now eight, nine o'clock at night, and you plunk down a chair somewhere. And because you no longer have the energy to really prepare a meal or put it on the table. So we've kind of lost that culture of the table, you know, in in the UK tea time, and for whatever it is, that became a meal in a lot of homes to which that's a fine time to have a small meal. It's just don't have that other one don't have those fish and chips at nine or eight after you've had your small meal at four or five in the afternoon. So yeah, it's culture and habit to a very great degree. And big argument about well, what's the most important meal of the day? And you know, what, what should you eat for breakfast? And the answer to all that is just don't eat crap. Okay? Eat whole foods plant based. And maybe the most important meal of the day is the one you don't eat. You know. And I don't like I don't keep a journal about what I eat. And I don't measure a lot of stuff. And in this book, brownies for breakfast, I don't encourage people to measure or keep track of stuff unless you have to unless you've got a potassium thing that you have to keep track of or sodium thing. Go ahead and keep track but I think food should be joyful, and delicious and wonderful and communal. I I want you to sit and eat with someone that you like, or love, maybe and not eat alone. You know your your digestion is better. The foods that you eat are better. If you're eating with other people, people are watching you. And you eat more slowly if you're talking and waving your hands as I do if if you are eating with other people. So if you've come home crazy and starving and you're plunked down in a chair at eight or nine o'clock in front of the TV alone now the kids are doing homework and you know, that's not a healthy way to eat. It's not

Tony Winyard 39:56

you're 75 years old. You don't look any anything like that, and it's not many people, not only the fact that you look a lot younger, but it's not many people start to write books at 75. I mean, as we were discussing before we started recording most people your age, are not It's not simply that they're, they're looking a lot older, but they're their body, their activity, their actions, their everything, everything about them is not, it's very different to the way you are, let's put it that way.

Lynne Bowman 40:32

Well, inside, I feel every one of my 75 years, some days, but I am absolutely convinced Tony that, that if, if you take pretty good care of yourself, I mean, things happen. You can't prevent all disease, you can't, you can't prevent accidents that are going to happen to you. But if but you can certainly keep your mobility and, and your engagement with life and so many things intact, by eating well, sleeping well. And moving your bonds. And, to me a big part of the advantage of the exercise that I do is that it's social. And this becomes an issue with a lot of people my age older, not not as old as I am. But you you need a gang, you need a some folks that you hang with. And in my case, it seems to be and of course, we've had COVID that we had to dealt deal with. But in my case, it seems to be the ladies that I work out with. And they range in age from late 30s 40s to 80s. And we have a wonderful instructor who's very conscious of the different ages and so on, but you have to keep moving, you have to keep moving, and movement, it takes all different forms. I highly recommend walking, walking, walking, any kind of walking that you do is great. Dancing. Hello, we should we should keep dancing, shouldn't we. And so thank you for your compliment about how I look. And I'm vain as hell. So you know, I put mascara on and I try and keep my hair in order and so on. But a lot of it is is tude attitude, never give up. Just to me, there's so much about my life that I love, I want to enjoy. I just had my second grandchild he's crying in the other room right now I don't know if you can hear him. But there's so much to live for. And I, I don't want to make my life difficult for other people in my family. I know what that feels like, I know what it's like in a family to have to take care of people. I've done a certain amount of it myself. And so if we can keep ourselves on our feet and smiling and having fun and doing things that benefits not only us, but it benefits everybody around us, which is huge.

Tony Winyard 43:40

Well, I think also one of the things I mean, you've touched upon, you've mentioned throughout the recording, I think one of the you're not trick is the wrong word. I can't think of the right word. But you're the way I think that you're able to maintain your your useful looks and controlling diabetes and so on, is because too many people I think focus on the one thing which they think is going to be the golden bullet. And that may be whether that be nutrition, or it might be sleep or it might be but it's too often one thing people focus on. And I think it's much better to focus on a few different things because they all they're all so interactive. It's the sleep, it's the nutrition, it's the movement, it's the mindset, and it's all all of them play such a vital role.

Lynne Bowman 44:27

They are all connected and connected much more tightly than I ever understood until I started this deep study of these things. I mean, they are technically connected, literally connected. So the sleep, the food, the movement, and the mindset and I I never understood Tony until fairly recently that when we talk about stress and mindset and So, that's chemical stuff happening in your body. So when you are having a bad day, when when you've got a thing happening in your mind, you are sending the cortisol or whatever it is that the chemicals into your gut and they are changing how your body's reacting to food. So you can't just fix a thing and expect all of it to work better. It all needs to be functioning as highly as you can make it function, which isn't as difficult as it sounds. It's just you know, and I, I love to keep referring to my status as a granny. Right grandmas know stuff. One of the things we know is that it's it's love, affection, community, friendships, and food and sleep and dancing as much as you can.

Tony Winyard 46:04

We mean, we truly are getting pressed for time and we we talked about we've touched upon your book a couple of times on the subject of books is there what book comes to mind that's really had a big impact on you.

Lynne Bowman 46:18

Oh, I you know, there are so many books. I come from a bookie family and and was reading all my life. And I remember one of the ones that very early in my life was huge, was one that people probably forgotten about decades ago, but it's called a married adventurer by OSA Johnson and it was in this beautiful designed cover that had zebra print all over the cover. So as a child, I just thought okay, now there's a book what a great book. But the the Johnsons were the first people to do nature documentary movies. And so they flew all over Africa, taking these incredible films of wild animals and as a child I was just completely captivated and then read the book and was completely captivated again. And it will probably seem very old fashioned if we read it now but that is the book I would have to say and it's still on my mantel in my living room it's still right there. Because adventure. Right? Who doesn't want adventure?

Tony Winyard 47:28

And would do you know would that still be available on say I'm sure

Lynne Bowman 47:32

it's called I'm married adventure by OSA Johnson it's a classic so you might have to buy it on Amazon and you know use terrible condition or something but and the Johnsons have become more and more appreciated for what pioneers they were doing this documentary work filming stuff such an interesting life and my husband is a pilot we have a little J three antique Piper Cub playing and I always feel like when I'm flying with him in the air as if the windows are open and it's made out of fabric that that I am also Johnson flying over Africa having an adventure.

Tony Winyard 48:16

Then if people want to find out more about you and your book and everything about your where the best places to look, social media website and so on.

Lynne Bowman 48:25

Okay, I'm all over social media. Lynn permettere Bowman is my facebook page P AR MIT er in the middle of Lin spelled with an E. Bowman pow ma N. I have a YouTube channel. Lynn Bowman, I have a website, which I'm, I promise you, I'll work on more, I'll put more stuff up. There's never enough time to do all this. But it gives you all the the kind of basic links to things. And that's just Lynn bowman.com. I hope you'll drop by and join my list. It's got Lynn's list, you can sign up and then I will be sending you not often. But periodically a great recipe that I've developed that is going to help you eat better and think better and sleep better. I love sharing recipes like that with people. And what am I forgetting? Tony? Instagram? Yeah, I'm there. Lynn Bowman. Lynn powermeter Bowman. And if you look, if you Google me, Lynn Bowman, I will probably pop up.

Tony Winyard 49:32

All these links. All these links will be in the show notes. I'll include them in the show notes. So before we finish them, there's a couple of things I want to ask you before we finish one is I believe you've got a habit that you would recommend for people to see us or to or to adopt in their lives. Maybe

Lynne Bowman 49:51

I do. It's it sounds impossible until you try and do it and you will love the effect of it. It's eating dark greens at least twice, maybe three times a day. Does that sound just impossible? It's totally possible. It's easy, it's delicious. You do it with smoothies, you do it with omelettes, you can do it all different ways and I'll tell you how in the book, but people are not eating dark greens enough. And they they have a huge effect on your digestion on your skin on your, your overall health. dark greens, chard, kale, spinach, arugula, my favourite, which in the UK is called Rocket lettuce, I think. Yes, so that's a habit, I highly recommend dark greens.

Tony Winyard 50:47

And lastly, what do you have a quotation that you particularly like? I do.

Lynne Bowman 50:55

This is Alice Roosevelt Longworth, she was the daughter of Teddy Roosevelt, president of this country at one time, and she was notoriously sort of a bad girl. And I've used this quote so many times, and it's, if you can't say anything nice about someone, please sit next to me. I love God.

Tony Winyard 51:21

Where did you first come across though?

Lynne Bowman 51:23

I don't even remember. It's so old. But I am a believer in the power of conversation and the power. You know, men have always be little as gossip what women say to one another. And to me, one of the most wonderful things about women, as opposed to love man, very one have a son all that. But we we women share information freely with each other. I mean, you might be in a dressing room in his store, and somewhere and you'll hear something, you'll go Wait, what did you just say? No kidding. I didn't know that. You make friends in all kinds of places. Just chatting with people and sharing information informally. So the idea of sitting next to me, has always appealed to me. I love it. If people sit next to me and talk to me and tell me things,

Tony Winyard 52:18

then it's been a real pleasure. Thank you for sharing your information and wish you great success for the book. And I thank you for your time.

Lynne Bowman 52:26

Thank you so much. I love what you're doing and I wish you great church, even greater success with it. Great to meet you. Thank you.

Jingle 52:39

Thanks for tuning in to the habits and health podcast where we believe creating healthy habits should be easy. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave us a review on your favourite podcast app. Sign up for email updates and learn about coaching and workshop opportunities at Tony when your.com See you next time on that habits and health podcast.

Transcribed by https://otter.ai