Fit Over 50 Life

In this episode of Fit Over 50 Life, Mark Patrick and Kelli Calabrese sit down with Dr. Bill Schindler, archaeologist, chef, educator, and author of Eat Like a Human, for one of our most unique conversations about food, health, and human history. Dr. Bill has spent his career studying how our ancestors hunted, gathered, fermented, cooked, and transformed food—and why those ancient techniques may still have something important to teach us today. His argument challenges a common assumption: Processed food and ultra-processed food are not necessarily the same thing. Humans have been processing food for millions of years. Grinding, fermenting, soaking, cooking, and other traditional methods helped make certain foods safer, more digestible, and more useful to the human body. The problem, according to Dr. Bill, isn't simply that we process food. It's how we process it. In this conversation, we explore: Why Dr. Bill believes traditional food processing is essential to the human diet The difference between processed and ultra-processed foods Why real sourdough is very different from conventional packaged bread What ancient cultures understood about preparing grains, corn, seeds, and other foods How fermentation can change the way our bodies interact with food Why understanding how your food is made may be more useful than memorizing another diet What our senses can teach us about hunger, nourishment, and food Why food is about more than calories, protein, and carbohydrates The importance of culture, family, tradition, and connection around the table Why eating seasonally may deserve another look Dr. Bill's perspective on oxalates and why he changed his own diet Why foods considered "superfoods" may not be ideal for everyone in unlimited amounts How making one of your favorite foods from scratch can completely change the way you shop Why getting older doesn't mean accepting declining health as inevitable Dr. Bill also shares his own remarkable story—from growing up overweight and struggling with food, to wrestling at the Division I level, to eventually realizing that even looking like an athlete didn't necessarily mean he was healthy. Today, he says he feels healthier in his 50s than he did as a college athlete. And perhaps the most practical takeaway from this entire conversation is this: Before chasing the next diet trend, learn how your food is actually made. Make something from scratch. Understand the ingredients. Learn the process. Because the more you understand your food, the harder it becomes for marketing, packaging, and nutritional trends to make those decisions for you. Sometimes moving forward with our health means going back and rediscovering what humans understood long before modern nutrition existed. Connect with Dr. Bill Schindler Website: https://modernstoneage.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drbillschindler/ Book: Eat Like a Human: Nourishing Foods and Ancient Ways of Cooking to Revolutionize Your Health Modern Stone Age Kitchen: https://modernstoneage.com/ Tighten this for podcast platformsMake the opening more curiosity-driven

What if your struggle with food isn't a lack of willpower but the result of a system designed to make you buy and eat more? In this episode of Fit Over 50 Life, Mark Patrick and Kelli Calabrese sit down with Johannes Cullberg, former grocery-industry insider, entrepreneur, nutrition and health coach, and author of Unprocess Your Diet in 30 Days. Johannes spent years inside the global food industry and helped launch Lidl markets in Scandinavia. That experience gave him a behind-the-scenes look at how supermarkets and food companies influence what we buy. And according to Johannes, very little is left to chance. Product placement. Pricing. Packaging. Promotions. "Healthy" labels. Protein claims. Even where certain foods are positioned in the store. It's all designed to influence your decisions. In this conversation, we explore: How supermarkets influence what ends up in your cart Why certain foods are intentionally positioned and priced to drive sales How "healthy," "high protein," and similar claims can create a health halo Why granola, protein bars, and other health foods may not be as healthy as they appear How ultra-processed foods can affect hunger, cravings, and how much we eat Why real food can make healthy eating much simpler How to shop healthier without memorizing dozens of ingredients and additives Why protein and fiber become especially important as we age Simple strategies for eating healthier without spending a fortune How meal prep can make better choices easier What adults over 50 should understand about GLP-1 medications and sustainable weight loss Why shame and lack of willpower may not be the real problem Johannes' message is refreshingly simple: Stop trying to outsmart the food industry one label at a time. Start building more of your diet around foods that are actually food. Because once you understand how the system is influencing you, you can start taking control of your choices again. Connect with Johannes Cullberg Website: https://johannescullberg.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/johannescullberg/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@johannes.cullberg Book: Unprocess Your Diet in 30 Days

What if the stress you're trying to escape has become so familiar that your nervous system now thinks it's normal? In this episode of Fit Over 50 Life, Mark Patrick and Kelli Calabrese sit down with Dr. Doni Wilson, naturopathic doctor, clinical nutritionist, professional midwife, bestselling author of Master Your Stress, Reset Your Health, and creator of the Stress Recovery Protocol. Dr. Doni shares her own journey from chronic migraines, exhaustion, and years of stress to finally understanding the deeper patterns that were affecting her health. And the conversation goes somewhere we haven't explored much before: Narcissistic abuse, people-pleasing, trauma responses, and what happens when your nervous system becomes accustomed to living in a constant state of stress. Dr. Doni explains how patterns learned early in life can make unhealthy relationships, perfectionism, people-pleasing, and chronic stress feel strangely familiar—even when they're hurting us. We also get into: Why stress can become part of your identity The connection between people-pleasing and the nervous system Fight, flight, freeze, and fawn responses Why narcissistic relationships can leave you constantly walking on eggshells How chronic stress may show up emotionally and physically Why eliminating all stress isn't the goal The importance of recovery while you're still living through stressful circumstances Cortisol, adrenaline, sleep, nutrition, movement, and recovery Why small changes may be more sustainable than trying to overhaul your entire life Dr. Doni's personal journey out of a long-term unhealthy relationship How she eventually found peace, freedom, and a life she actually enjoys living One of the biggest messages from this conversation is simple: You don't have to wait until every stressful situation disappears before you start healing. You can begin changing the way you respond, care for yourself, and relate to your own body right now. And for anyone over 50 who has spent years taking care of everyone else, this episode may be an important reminder: Taking care of yourself isn't selfish. The people you love don't need what's left of you. They need the best of you. Connect with Dr. Doni Wilson Website: https://doctordoni.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drdoniwilson/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drdoniwilson/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@DoniWilsonND

You feel good. You exercise. You eat pretty well. You're active. Nothing hurts. And you haven't been sick in years. So you assume you're healthy. David Potenza made that exact assumption and it nearly cost him. In this episode of the Fit Over 50 Life Podcast, Mark Patrick and Kelli Calabrese sit down with healthcare executive, longevity advocate, health coach, and cancer survivor David Potenza for an important conversation about the difference between feeling healthy and actually knowing what may be happening inside your body. David spent nearly 30 years working in healthcare. He understood the statistics. He knew the importance of early detection. Cancer even ran in his family. But in his early 50s, he was fit, active, eating well, skiing, golfing, and feeling great. So when a friend repeatedly encouraged him to get screened, David kept putting it off. He was busy. He felt fine. He assumed he was healthy. Then a routine trip to the dentist changed everything. An X-ray revealed something that didn't look right. David finally scheduled the screening he had been avoiding—and doctors discovered cancer in a lymph node. Within days, his life went from planning a golf trip to undergoing surgery and preparing for radiation. David has now been cancer-free for more than a decade, but the experience completely changed how he thinks about health, prevention, and the assumptions many of us make as we get older. In this episode, Mark, Kelli, and David discuss: Why feeling healthy doesn't necessarily tell you what's happening beneath the surface The procrastination and denial that can keep people from preventive care Why men in particular may wear avoiding the doctor as a badge of honor How David's cancer diagnosis changed his priorities around work, family, and health Why basic annual blood work may only tell part of the story The growing interest in comprehensive blood testing and personalized health data David's perspective on genetic testing and understanding individual risk What consumers should know before spending money on full-body scans The differences David considers when evaluating CT and MRI screening options Why more testing isn't automatically better—and why understanding what the results actually mean matters How family history, lifestyle, environmental exposures, and other factors can contribute to your overall health picture Why the explosion of longevity technology can be both exciting and confusing How to become a more informed participant in your own healthcare One of David's biggest messages is simple: Don't convince yourself you're healthy just because you feel healthy. His story isn't about living in fear or searching for something wrong with you. It's about paying attention, asking better questions, discussing appropriate screening with qualified healthcare professionals, and not assuming that the absence of symptoms automatically means there's nothing worth checking. David got another chance. And today, he uses his experience to encourage others not to wait for a frightening diagnosis before becoming more proactive about their health. If you've been putting off a physical, blood work, recommended screening, or a conversation with your doctor because "I feel fine," this episode may make you rethink that assumption. Because after 50, taking care of your health isn't only about what you do at the gym or what you eat. Sometimes it's about finding out what you don't yet know. Connect with David Potenza LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidpotenza/ Strategyn Management Group: https://thesmginc.com/

What if everything you're doing to control your anxiety is actually keeping you stuck in it? When anxiety shows up, the natural response is to make it stop. We avoid the situation. Check our symptoms. Search for reassurance. Distract ourselves. Try to calm down. And if we're good at solving problems, we may work even harder to figure out exactly why we feel this way. But therapist and anxiety specialist Drew Linslata says anxiety can be strangely backwards. Sometimes the harder you fight it, the more important and dangerous you teach your brain that feeling is. In this episode of the Fit Over 50 Life Podcast, Mark Patrick and Kelli Calabrese sit down with Drew, creator of The Anxious Truth and co-host of the Disordered podcast, for a very different conversation about anxiety, panic, fear, and what recovery can actually look like. Drew understands this from both sides. At 19, he experienced his first panic attack and thought he was dying. What followed were years of panic disorder, agoraphobia, OCD symptoms, depression, avoidance, and repeatedly trying to control what was happening inside his own body and mind. Eventually, he realized something that changed the direction of his life: If you want to become less afraid of anxiety, you may first have to become better at experiencing it without immediately trying to make it disappear. That doesn't mean liking anxiety or wanting it. It means learning that an uncomfortable thought, sensation, or feeling doesn't automatically have to become an emergency. Mark, Kelli, and Drew explore: Why constantly trying to control anxiety can sometimes reinforce the fear of it The difference between normal stress and an anxiety disorder Why panic can feel dangerous even when there's no immediate external threat How avoidance can slowly make your life smaller Why successful, driven, high-achieving people can still struggle with anxiety Why trying to think or reason your way out of panic often doesn't work How excitement and anxiety can produce surprisingly similar physical sensations Why repeatedly asking "Why am I anxious?" can sometimes keep the loop going What Drew means by developing psychological flexibility Why recovery may involve learning to tolerate uncomfortable feelings instead of constantly trying to eliminate them How to support someone with anxiety without always trying to fix or reassure them Why anxiety can affect sleep, relationships, identity, hobbies, work, and everyday life Drew also shares a perspective that may be especially important for anyone who has spent years believing they should simply be able to "get over it." You may not have a weakness problem. You may have a strategy mismatch problem. The strategies that work well in other areas of your life pushing harder, controlling the situation, solving the problem, avoiding risk may not always work when the thing you're trying to control is your own internal experience. And that means a different strategy can be learned. If anxiety, panic, overthinking, or fear has been making your world smaller, this episode offers a completely different way to look at what may be happening. Because the goal isn't necessarily to build a life where you never experience anxiety again. It's to build a life where anxiety no longer gets to make all the decisions. Connect with Drew Linsalata The Anxious Truth: https://theanxioustruth.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.anxious.truth/ Disordered Podcast: https://www.disordered.fm/