Last July 18, 2022, Anna Rhymer was featured on The Sunday Night Show with Maureen McGrath together with Dr. Togas Tulandi and Bushra Mollick. The full episode entitled, Diet and Exercising, Fibroids & Why is sexual health education a taboo in many places?, discussed various topics from Monkeypox that then transitioned to the importance of diet and exercise for a sustainable and healthy lifestyle.
Joining Maureen at timestamp 12:26, Anna shares her perspective on longevity from her decades of experience in health and wellness as a nutritionist, fitness professional, and former gym owner. Anna pointed out how 80% of your results come from nutrition and you can't out exercise a poor diet. As such, a mindset component is essential in the process.
On a more scientific touch of the subject, Anna also shares the effects of exercise and how it releases endorphins, also known as the "happy hormones" in your body. People who regularly pair a healthy diet with exercise is less stressed and more stable in their physical, emotional, and mental health.
Speaking of diets, the radio show also tackled the importance of the supposed combo of diet and exercise and how one shouldn't think they can do whatever they want due to being "genetically blessed" as they could harm their body in medium or long term effect if they don't consume a balanced diet.
"My own father was a professional tennis player and he had a six pack. He was super fit, played tennis 4 hours a day, and (then suddenly) dropped dead on the tennis court of coronary artery disease. Nobody could figure it out because there were no indicators, yet, the guy ate ice cream every night and pounds of butter on his toast in the morning and we all knew his diet was kind of astounding but we didn't see the impact until later in time. It was actually having on his body", Anna recounts the case of her father as the article hits home and she is reminded of what she always shares with her clients.
She emphasized how the 80-20 rule doesn't apply anymore as certain mindsets of out-exercising the unhealthy food they ate isn't a healthy and sustainable lifestyle.
"You need to do both. You need to focus on exercise and nutrition maybe (at) 50-50, as opposed to the 80-20. The other thing is that exercise does make us hungry, then it's about choosing those correct food (after)", she added.
On clients that aims to lose weight and gain confidence in the way they look, Anna does not necessarily recommend them going to the gym for two hours a day as it is not sustainable in their busy lifestyle. Instead, she advices everyday movements like 20-minute brisk walks with your pets five times a week with little weight bearing activities such as three sets of five squats, lunges, or crunches to keep the core muscles and bones strong and intact.
Anna also advices women, especially, to be mindful of their need to do weight bearing activities for two main reasons: disabled osteoporosis and loss of muscle mass.
"Long ago, you know, we thought we had to drink milk in order to build calcium and bones but the more recent studies, should I say, have proven that we need to have weight bearing activity to maintain bone density or build bone density. So again, something as simple as integrating some lunges, some squats, maybe if you have some small weights as well while you're watching TV just to do, you know, some simple bicep or something that's going to challenge the bones," Anna recommends.
"The same thing with, you know, the loss of muscle mass. We all know that's a real thing. I think it's around 35 (that) we start to decrease muscle mass. So if we can do something that can counteract that... at the very least, having a little bit of cardiovascular and pulmonary function, you know, getting the lymphatic system moving by some walking and maybe just a little bit of weight bearing activity... we can function at a good health with a fantastic diet," she adds.
More of Anna and Maureen's in-depth discussion on health, exercise, health-risk diseases and proper nutrition can be heard here.
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