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Magical Thinking: Nine Things I Stopped Skipping (Now That I'm an Old Girl)

  1. Magical Thinking: Nine Things I Stopped Skipping (Now That I'm an Old Girl) Gregory Anne Cox 25:49

No guest this week — just me, and a confession-style rundown of nine habits I let slide and am now recommitting to. I call the phenomenon behind it “magical thinking”: the quiet belief that staying generally healthy day-to-day means the little stuff doesn’t apply to you. Here’s what made the list, and what finally got me to stop skipping each one.

1. Resistance training — the wake-up call was a 25-lb bag of soil, not a scale number.

2. Balance — how to fold single-leg practice into things you already do daily, like brushing your teeth.

3. Flossing — the real link between gum Health and Heart Disease, and a simple habit-stacking fix.

4. Fiber — the 21-gram target for women over 50, why it’s harder to hit than it sounds, and what I actually eat instead of Metamucil.

5. Hydration — why sipping all day beats chugging, and the surprising kidney-heart connection.

6. The melatonin story — what a neurosurgeon told me about how melatonin really works, and why I ditched my nightly gummy.

7. Grip strength — the data linking it to Longevity, and the cheap tool I use to practice it.

8. The sitting-rising test — a real clinical test for functional fitness, and why I look like “a creature made of dough” attempting it.

9. Cardio and VO2 max — why this number matters more than most blood markers, and how I lost ground during a recovery period.

Got one of these you’re ready to add back in? Post it in the comments on the podcast page or email me at gregory@rebelliouswellnesslifestyle.

Me? I'm a chill late 60-something, (very late), women's health coach, podcaster, wife, step mother, Gigi to 2 grand baby boys, 3 cats, 2 goats, and many chickens. Former pro chef turned entrepreneur. My current ventures include BeMoreMarketable, copywriting for coaches and Rebellious Wellness Lifestyle, where I host a podcast of the same name and write on healthy aging topics that mainstream media skips. I untangle the confusion around health trends and bust the myths around aging so common today--like "this is what happens at your age." What age is that I want to know!
My side gig is gardener and flower arranger.