Body Image Can Be Deceptive, Thin Doesn't Always Equate To Being Healthy With Sandy Rodriquez

In today's society, we equate thin with healthy and overweight with unhealthy. There is so much more to really knowing who is healthy, but social media and other advertisers continue to propagate this lie. We shouldn't allow other people to define our health and our happiness. Let your doctor determine your health and you your happiness.

About Sandy

Bilingual communications expert Sandy Rodriguez writes on topics ranging from finance to entertainment for different media outlets in both the U.S. and Mexico. She is the author of a book titled Choose to Prevail, which inspired an upcoming video interview series.

Sandy is a former editorial coordinator for Mexican newspaper Reforma, one of the most influential publications in Latin America, and has translated tens of books from English to Spanish for major publishing houses. These include medical, self-help, and business books, novels, and titles focused on spirituality or personal growth by popular authors such as Louise Hay, Nick Vujicic, and Neale Donald Walsch.

Multifaceted Sandy, who once took part in a prestigious fellowship program for international journalists at Seoul National University in South Korea, currently lives in Los Angeles, where she works as a certified court interpreter. She is a fitness enthusiast, burgeoning artist, and amateur winemaker.

Choose to Prevail Book (@choosetoprevail) • Instagram photos and videos

www.feedingfatty.com

Full Transcript Below

Body Image Can Be Deceptive, Thin Doesn't Always Equate To Being Healthy with Sandy Rodriquez

Sat, 6/26 11:21AM • 54:00

SUMMARY KEYWORDS

people, eat, feel, book, healthy, sandy, weight, shape, person, life, exercise, body, mentioning, day, thinking, age, overweight, gym, friends, point

SPEAKERS

Terry, Sandy, Roy Barker

Roy Barker 00:00

Hello, and welcome to another episode of Feeding Fatty. I'm your host, Roy.

Terry 00:03

I'm Terry.

Roy Barker 00:11

So we are a podcast that we are chronicling our journey through health. that encompasses a lot of things. It's our diet not being on a diet, but it's our diet of what we consume, as well as exercise mindset. Trying to center ourself and meditation, all of this combined really helps to make us a better us we think. And so we're working really hard to make some changes to try to get on a better plane. A lot of times we Chronicle you know what's going on in our life this week. And we also have professionals and guests that are experts in different areas that come on to try to help us with this and be a good reference and resource for you and today is no different. Terry, I'll let you introduce Sandy.

Terry 00:57

Sandy Rodriguez is a bilingual communications expert writing on topics ranging from finance to entertainment for different media outlets in both the US and Mexico. She is the author of a book titled choose to prevail, which inspired an upcoming videos interview series, which I just finished, by the way. And Sandy is a former editorial coordinator for the Mexican newspaper reforma, one of the most influential publications in Latin America and has translated 10s of books from English to Spanish for major publishing houses. multifaceted Sandy who wants to put in a prestigious fellowship program for international journalists, Sol Yun National University in South Korea currently lives in LA where she works as a certified court interpreter. She's a fitness enthusiast, burgeoning artists and amateur winemakers. Sandy, welcome to the show.

Sandy 01:55

Thank you so much for having me over tyrian. Enjoy, it's wonderful to be here with you as much like yourself, I'm very interested in staying healthy and making positive health changes in my life at

Roy Barker 02:07

all times. Yeah, and it's funny, because once we started down this road, I think, you know, at the beginning, we were focused on what we ate and exercise and but I think as we've gone through this journey, it's like, we've kind of shifted the mindset because you just really have to get your mind right, in order to make changes, sustainable changes, you know, we can change for a day or two or for a meal or two, but trying to make bigger, sustainable changes that will last the rest of your life. It's difficult, very difficult. And I'm not just going to tell you I've I've had to Terry has been reporting as she's reading your book, for the last couple days, she's like, Oh, my gosh, you should hear this easier what Sandy had to say in that book. So I haven't had a chance to look at it. But Terry said that it's awesome. So thank you for sharing that with us.

Sandy 02:59

Thank you so much for I am very happy that the charity has been liking the book. One of the things that I mentioned in the book, and I think might be interesting to your audience, is that we really cannot let our body image or our own body love be defined by other people. If anything, here's the thing, I've noticed that body shapes come into vogue, and they fall out of fashion much like clothing does. So know what your body type, what's your bone structure, what your overall complexion is, like, sooner or later, it will come into fashion. I for example, struggled a lot when I was a little girl and even a teenager because my body type was not popular at the time. I'm a person with a trim upper body, a small waist and curvy or lower body. And that was not popular at all. However, it's very funny to me that now that is the body type that a lot of people are striving for. So I guess it's just a matter of weeding it out. I think it's something that's that's actually pretty funny. I even read that Benjamin Franklin's body tight was popular during his lifespan. Who would have thought so it's really a matter of just waiting it out.

Terry 04:22

Right? Yeah. And I can totally relate because, you know, parish parish shape. I have always been pear shaped. Is that what you? Is that what you considered yourself as well? I think so. I believe so. Yes. Yeah. Yeah, I just, I mean, forever. And now holy cow and people are getting implants and you know all of that. I don't I don't understand.

Sandy 04:47

Let me tell you as an author, I know and an acquaintance of mine. She is a bodybuilder and over the last couple of years, she's made a small fortune by art. training people to specifically grow their glutes. Now, to me that's like, seriously, I mean, I spent all my childhood and my early teen years trying to do the exact opposite. I clearly remember reading in a women's magazine when I was, I don't know, maybe 12, that you should sit on a hardened wooden floor, you know, with your legs crossed and rock side to side for an hour or two a day while watching TV. And that should have flattened you're behind. And that was what people were striving for. Now. Crazy, right? So you never know what's going to be popular. And I was made to feel like I was fat back in the day because of having that body type. Looking back at pictures, and just remembering what I was eating, and my actual body weight. Of course, I was not fat, I was certainly not overweight, by any, you know, by any doctor's charge or anything of the sort. But my peers and even adults made me feel fat. Because of that I even remember a couple of incidents where my friends moms would actually, you know, give me a little talking to and say, No, no, no, you need to cut back on calories. Because when you grow up, you don't want to, to look fat in an attractive and that was quite damaging, personally, what kind of an adult approaches a young child to give their two cents about the child's appearance. And secondly, now looking back, I was never overweight, it was just a body type that people didn't, let's say, understand or appreciate back in the day.

Roy Barker 06:40

It's harder for women I know, you know, to ignore the great advice people give you but also to, you know, to be that body conscious. But you know, as long as you're healthy, you got good blood pressure, your sugars are good, you know, whatever the other markers that your physician says, you know, we should be okay with that. And, you know, we just, again, it's hard. It's hard for anybody, but you know, we just have to stay in our own lane, run our own race and say, Look, I am what I am. And what is it the old saying that the people, people that people that care don't mind, and people that mind, don't care, something like that. I don't remember how that goes. But basically, it's, you know, the people that are closest to us are going to understand, and they're not going to be rude. But the people that are rude, you know, we just have to nevermind them. And the other thing, it's kind of timely, that there was an old, it was a meme that was going around not long ago, of a pattern. And this was probably in the late 50s, early 60s. But the pattern for sewing was actually called chubby girl patterns. And you know, in this day and time, I just had to step back for a minute and say, Oh, my gosh, can you imagine that somebody was actually advertising their product as chubby girl products.

Sandy 08:01

Very funny. It's really interesting. Right now, body positivity, at least, let's say publicly, it's a it's a big deal. A lot of companies are choosing to feature, you know, models that are a little bit on the chubbier side. But here's the thing, I do feel that there's a bit of a downside to that, in that I feel that a lot of companies, it's almost like they're just paying lip service to what is trendy right now that which is a pipe positivity movement. But I do feel that it doesn't really serve people well to actually believe that the world will treat you exactly the same if you're, if you're clearly out of shape, because that's not the case. And it would be very disappointing to be tremendously out of shape and go out into the world and go to beaches and Golden's to social situations and go into dating, and go into job interviews and just assume that yes, the world is very positive now, and I will be getting these fabulous reactions. My weight is a non issue. That's not really the case. And I know that to be a fact, because I'm, well, I mean, it's not only something that I can see for myself, but I experienced it up to a certain degree. I've always been a person that has been very much weight conscious and finger conscious and I've even fallen into near anorexia at certain times in my life. But when I was pregnant, I decided to just set all of those concerns aside and just eat help healthfully. But to be honest, I went a little bit overboard. I didn't really eat healthfully, I went above and beyond. I mean, certainly I ate for two but not for two normal people, but for two people with a sweet tooth and with a penchant for grilled cheese sandwiches. So in reality I did put on a lot of weight. I would say that up My my little boy was born, I still had a lot left to ship. And I knew that it was going to be something temporary, because I'm a person that knows how to, you know, lose weight when it's needed. So I knew it was a temporary thing. But I would say that over the course of maybe a year, I was really very much overweight. And in fact, you can well pregnant, because I put on so much weight, I did not look like this beautiful, lovable, pregnant woman that everybody wants to hug and help out. In fact, I would say that I looked more like an overweight lady. And the reactions I got from people, let me tell you, they were not at all body positive at all. So it was a bit of a social experiment, and that I actually got to feel and experience what life might be like if that were your permanent situation. Let me tell you, there is no real body positivity going on, as far as I can tell. So I mean, it's all well and good that companies want to, you know, open their, their brands to to more consumers and maybe offer different sizes. But it's really, I think, a little bit of wishful thinking to actually believe that you can go into the world and experience life in exactly the same way and with exactly the same opportunities at any size. Yeah, that's what I feel.

Terry 11:24

Yeah. And I mean, it'd be great. It'd be a perfect world, if we could go and just be fake. People could see us from the inside out. That would just solve everything right there.

Roy Barker 11:39

Yeah. And I think the other part of that is that, I don't know why, but it's gotten worse over the last few years. But people feel the need to comment or to be mean,

Terry 11:49

they're trying to be helpful, but they're really not right.

Roy Barker 11:52

And some people are just not, I mean, just nasty anyway, but then, you know, we also I think we suffer from the silent prejudice, that even if somebody doesn't voice that, it's always, you know, it's in their head, or, you know, they think that they think, oh, that, you know, I don't want to hire that person, because they're overweight, or the body image, you know, whatever it may be, that's not what I want.

Terry 12:19

And the same route, you know, for the reverse, even for thin people, you know, you can't automatically assume that often, then and fit looking people are actually that they may, you know, just have a great metabolism, they may, you know, they've got their, oh, it's, it's somewhere in between there would be nice. Absolutely. In fact,

Sandy 12:40

I have something to mention about that, I get the feeling that health and appearance are really unrelated. There really is very little overlap, for example, as I was mentioning, at a certain point in time, and I do think that it was caused, mostly by comments on me being overweight, which I actually was not, when I was younger, I have fallen into very restrictive eating patterns, at certain points in my life, I would say near Emirates, I mean, it's not ever a tip, because I know what that is. And I would certainly not want to claim that I have been in a situation is dire as people that have undergone that. But I have been in situations where let's say over a period of a couple of years, I have had nothing but let's say let's say back in the early 90s, maybe only three slimfast shakes throughout the day. And that was the extent of my eating. So when I've done that, and when I've done that, I've coupled it with very, very extreme exercise routines. So that can be healthy. I mean, nobody would assume that that's healthy. But when I do that, I'm normally at my lowest weight. And normally when I'm at my lowest weight people come out of the woodwork, doctors, personal trainers, and everybody says, Oh, you look fantastic. You are the picture of health. Now I know I'm not the picture of how can I be the picture of though if I'm practically starving myself maybe even treating myself to what a diet coke now and then I mean, there's no way that that So, but I look quote unquote, very healthy. Now whenever I say okay, that's I mean enough with that let's let's try to actually get a little bit healthier. And I start you know, building in adding some more vegetables and fruits into the mix, which is normally something that many personal trainers suggest passing upon. Whenever I start adding, you know, more healthful foods, healthy proteins, healthy fats. Normally I'm kind of like at the weight that I am at now, which is a normal weight. However, when I'm at this weight, people normally say oh, you really let yourself go. So I mean, it's quite bizarre and people say oh, no, no, you need to take care of your health. I remember back when you look super healthy and I think Okay, that makes zero sense. So when I actually am healthy, people are saying that I look healthy. And then it's the other way around. That really makes no sense. And I think that's in line with what we see on social media and often in fitness magazines, all these Instagram influencers that are, you know, hashtag health and hashtag healthy life and hashtag in principle, and fitful and all of that, normally, what they're doing is they're only having diuretics for several days prior to their photo shoots. So obviously, their muscles look, very cut, they look very rich, they look fantastic, but there's just no way that they're healthy. And normally, they're posing with a smoothie, or they're posing with an apple. But those are not the things that they actually consume. Of course, that's not to say that that's the case with every single Instagram influencers, certainly, some people are naturally healthy, and they look healthy, or some people are naturally thin, or some people are naturally muscular. But that's not really the case. And I'm going to tell you something that you won't believe it'll blow your mind. Okay, you know how sometimes you see fitness magazines, and you see these people that you can tell that it's actually the same person, it's surely not very photoshopped, if at all. But you see how they go from, you know, flabby to Super fit. Okay, let me tell you, there's a technique that some companies used to get these impressive pictures, which is this, they go to a gym, and they find one of the fittest people, and they offer that person money to gain weight. So for right now, they keep up before picture, then they have that person gain weight, and then they snap a second picture, and then they just use them in the opposite way. So they use the one taken in the future as the before, and the one taken out as the after. So it's not really that somebody that was flabby got all ripped, somebody that got ripped, gained a little weight.

Terry 17:08

never would have thought of that mother

Sandy 17:11

raised me. Yeah, I know. It's very crafty, because we'll see, but pictures and they think, oh, it really is the same person, oh, this product must be like fantastic. And it's really not.

Roy Barker 17:22

So it's interesting. And we and then I think it's a good time to point out that, you know, when you go out into the world to hire trainers, die nutrition counselors need to make sure of their credentials, number one, but number two, if they tell you they've got a plan that they've helped 25 people with, you need to be thinking that, you know, everybody is not the same. And so really what you want is somebody to sit down with you and say, number one, what is your health you because you need to know, you know, the blood? The things I key on blood pressure, sugar, the glucose, you know, and I'm sure there's other things that a physician could point you into, but it's like, there are these markers in your life, what are those? And what do we need to do to make that healthier? Because you know, as you've said, you can, you can work on the body and you can make your body look one way, but that doesn't always translate into being healthy. And again, I think, you know, you pointed this out is that we tend to eat, equate those that Oh, that the thinner person, they must be healthy. And that is just certainly not the case. But just take care when we hire people to make sure that they have our best interest in mind, and that they take us as individuals to try to help us, number one, do what we want. But number two, look at our situation, where we are today for what it is.

Sandy 18:52

Definitely and also understand that a lot of claims made by personal trainers might not I mean, they do have an okay, here's the thing, exercise does not have necessarily a huge impact on body shape or type. It can certainly tone it can certainly tighten Titan, but it's not really linked to weight loss. That's like a separate thing. And many things that can be promised to you such as spot reducing, or dramatically changing your body type might not even be feasible for a number of reasons. For example, let's say that you have naturally very broad shoulders or very thick animals and those are your bugs. What can you do, there's nothing you can do, it's a bone, I mean, there's no reducing the size or the width or the length of a bone. So it's there are things that cannot really, really be changed. And that's okay. Exercise is still very important overall for a number of reasons health as you were mentioning, and even the social aspect I thought it was very interesting what you were mentioning toward the beginning of our conversation about mindset. And it's really very true. I have been working out for many years now. But I normally like to do that on my own, either at home or in a gym. But normally, on my own this to me exercise. Well, my favorite type of exercise is resistance, weight training. And I think that's very private, I think it's a very private thing. And it can also be a very intellectual exercise, in that you're trying to achieve a muscle mind connection in which you're focusing on what you're doing, you might even actually be taking notes as to this week, I was able to lift this amount. So it's something to me, that's a little bit personal. But in more recent years, especially after moving here to California, I did want to get involved in the more social aspects of working out. And for example, I saw that a lot of my friends were into running or jogging, or doing some kind of group fitness activity. And I wanted to join in what I felt like, how can I How can I do that? Well, I thought it was really, you know, it came down to mindset. I just signed up for different things I snapped started signing up for five keys for 10 case for stair climb challenge. And let me tell you, the reality is that I have never trained specifically for any of these events. But I just decided to talk to myself in a very positive way. Like, I'm sure I can do it. I've been working out even if it's not that specific type of exercise, but I've been working out for for many years, and I'm sure I'll do fine. And I actually did to find sometimes I think that we hesitate to join in fitness activities, because we think we won't be able to complete them or that they sound tremendously grueling. I mean, obviously, if you have any health concerns, you should check with a doctor. But if that's not really a concern, it's more a matter of, I really won't be able to do it, that's something you should just set aside. I do think that the way we speak to ourselves and to others has a lot of impact on our fitness and our health and even our weight. And I'm not even talking about this in a mystical way or in any kind of mystical shape or form. But for example, if I tell you, Roy and Terry, oh, you know, I'm a couch potato, I like hanging out at home snacking on potato chips. Whenever you go on a whitewater rafting trip, you won't invite me because you'll figure Oh, she won't enjoy it. Whenever you go on a hike or you go on a walk, you'll certainly not tell me to join it. If you come across information about a marathon or something, you won't send it over to me saying hey, you might want to join this because you wouldn't figure that I would be interested. However, even if I'm kind of lying at first, and I say, you know Roy, and Terry, I am so into fitness. I just love working out. I'm very outdoorsy. I just love that kind of thing. Whenever you come across information that you think I might like, you'll just send it over. And that will happen with my whole network of friends and acquaintances. And all of a sudden, just by virtue of saying, Oh, I'm very athletic. I just love this. I'm very interested in keeping in shape. I just love being healthy. I will be receiving information and invitations that will be actually helpful in leading me toward my goal.

Terry 23:42

Yeah, that's, I am one of those who I do not speak. I'm not very kind to myself. I mean, I just am not. And when I was reading about that in your book, that really, I went whitewater rafting about 1517 years ago. Never I'm not a fitness buff. I don't I think it's grew. You know, I just say that to myself. I think it's but I feel great. After I do it. It's just getting there. Yeah, that trip was awesome. I and I didn't get pitched out of the raft either. And that was my goal. But it was awesome. I never, I couldn't even imagine doing a 5k or a 10k. But after reading your book, I think I might be able to modify. Absolutely. In fact,

Sandy 24:33

you can walk it you can jog, if you can just complete it any way you like, and nobody's going to be upset about that. And it's very fun. You make friends. Super fun. Yeah,

Roy Barker 24:44

I think that's the important part is, you know, first off what you said is we need to give people the information and let them make the decision because, you know, basically if I say Oh, Sandy's a couch potato, she's over eating chips. She wouldn't want to go I'm making a decision for you. Instead of letting You make that decision. But then also the it's hard. But we have to get over that, that people that other people really even care what we're doing. I mean, I, when I think if you go, if you were able, if you just signed up for any kind of a run, that's a start, and I'm you know, I'm impressed number one. But if Who cares if you run halfway and walk halfway, you're still out there making progress. And you may not run the whole one the first time. But if you do 345, you may get where you run it all. And and then you know, we can talk about that too at the gym. People don't want to go to the gym, they don't want to go to group exercise, because they're overweight and all of this, but you know, what? People usually that are working out, they understand that maybe that's your starting point. And I think, I think they would be a lot kinder to you most of the time, you know, like the gym I go to, I'm overweight, but I never get looks or flak or anything, but I don't worry about it. I'm there for me, I try to stay in my lane and not worry. Well, number one, I guess I don't think anybody else even is going to give me the time of day. It's like they got their own stuff going on. So they're not worried about you know me. But anyway, just you just have to get out there. And another great example of that, I think, is yoga. And this is what I like about yoga is, well, the lady, I've got a DVD, she always says, Look, if you can't do this, here's a modification. And she always gives you something just to keep you moving.

Sandy 26:38

That's fantastic. And you're absolutely right, that most people are not paying that much attention to us. Absolutely. And certainly, I mean, there are Jensen, there are gyms, obviously you need to shop around and find one where you're where you're comfortable. And even. Here's the thing, a lot of people feel very self conscious while at the gym, because they feel like they look terrible. But that's partly because they are, you know, in very unflattering clothing. But I mean, these days, there are a lot of very flattering, very attractive workout clothes, in fact that leisure is big business, in the fashion industry. And I think if you feel that you look fine. I mean, regardless of body weight, body type, just knowing you look fine. Maybe in the case of women, maybe you can add a little mascara, little lip gloss, maybe a little self tan or something to make you feel more comfortable, as a guy, maybe a nice looking tailor t shirt, something that makes you feel more confident. That goes a long way. I think the reason we don't feel comfortable is because we feel we're not at our best. And that's always a little bit difficult.

Terry 27:45

I just want to cover I mean, you just want to cover it up. I I'm one of those who I used to wear big baggy shirts and sweats and you just cover everything up because I wasn't where I wanted to be. But I don't think I've ever been where I wanted to be. But you know, a few years ago, I shed some weight. And so I started wearing clothing that fit. You know, I forgot what that felt like, because I've just been trying to cover it up.

Sandy 28:11

Exactly. And wearing baggy clothes tends to be so counterproductive. Because it doesn't hide anything. It just makes you look all the more bulky. So it's really not a flattering look on on anyone really. But I do think that the fact that you decided to move away from that is an excellent sign. Because to me, it seems that it it just shows that you had a lot more confidence. And surely you discovered that that was far more flattering. Not only because it actually and objectively is more flattering, because it's just less, it adds less volume to your to your body. But also because it's a sign of feeling confident and a lot of the way people perceive you. And the way that you actually look on a physical level has to do with your confidence level. And if you were feeling more confident, it's very clear to me that you surely look far more attractive. on a physical level. It's

Terry 29:06

very interesting. Yeah, and I just got rid, I mean, I just stopped thinking about all the noise, the outside noise, you know, and not about my ego just it is what it is. And if you don't like it go, you know, here I am. Whatever you think is not my business who say that a lot?

Roy Barker 29:25

Well, it's a you know, it translates the mindset, and we talk about this in business, as well as our personal life is that a lot of times we tend to be so hard on ourselves that we need to give ourselves a break and say look, you know, basically like you said, it is what it is. I can't change this. In the next 10 minutes. Usually, it's going to take time, but if I take those baby steps, you know they all add up is kind of like walking during the day, you know, it'd be it's, sometimes I can't go out and do 5000 steps all at one time. But if I do, like this watch, it makes me do 250. It makes me do 250 every hour. So if I stick with that, at the end of the day, you know, before I go walk, and I'm starting out with 20 503,000 steps, so we have to be moving in that right direction. And there's never a better time to start than today.

Sandy 30:23

Absolutely, no, absolutely, that's the whole thing, once you get started, that's the way that's the way it goes. There's a saying in Spanish that my grandma used to say, which would loosely translate to, when it comes to eating or scratching a niche, the first thing to do is just start. And the same would apply to fitness, whenever you want to get fit, the first thing to do is just start and you'll find that, that you will keep on going in that direction. And I think that's also very important these days for men. Because I feel that in recent years, let's say standards of perfection holding forth have been a little bit more relaxed for women, at least to a certain point. And well, I mean, sometimes you see, magazine covers these days, when you have female celebrities or female models in there, let's say average person, wait, even Victoria's Secret has decided to do away with their Victoria's Secret angels campaign, there's no longer point to be any Victoria's Secret show, we've come to know it. However, when it comes to men, I think that Well, I mean, standards have been raised dramatically, I've seen that a lot of male actors these days, they are tremendously ripped, and they're expected to be either shirtless or full on naked in their movies. And it's just crazy. A lot of male actors have actually, you know, made a career out of that type of thing. And some have, let's say, maybe strengthened or, you know, like really solidified their career upon becoming very, very, very athletic looking. And even on a more, let's say, on a level that's outside of Bollywood, for example, a lot of male CEOs, instead of having their friends join them for drinks, they have their friends join them for rock climbing, or that kind of an activity. So I feel like it's, it's this very alpha male thing these days. And I think that's also something that, I mean, I'm glad that that standards are being a little bit more relaxed for females, but I'm a little concerned that guys might experience what women used to experience these days. And it's also important for teenage boys, you go on to teenage boys Instagrams these days, and it's a bunch of shirtless kids, you know, showing off their abs and their pecs and visma I think that's not super healthy. It can't be it's, it's something that really does a number on people's mindset when you cannot live up to that expectation.

Roy Barker 33:05

Yeah. Speaking of that, I'm not gonna mention his name. But there was a singer that's pretty popular now, that was doing an interview with one of the major networks, and it was a tape so they, you know, they had they showed the clip, and it went away. And so the, the interviewer just made the comment, like, I've known this guy for years and said, I haven't seen him with a shirt on in the last six years. So yeah, there's a lot to be said for, you know, I mean, it's just not me, even if I was at my, my optimal weight and body shape and all of that I probably wouldn't do an interview on a national network shirtless. So, you know, I always feel like that there's more to that most people show up no matter. You know, some of the bigger way calm action movie stars that are ripped and buffed, they usually show up with a shirt on. So there's a little bit to kind of what you're saying there. They you know, they've got this image and I feel like it's an extra draw.

Terry 34:05

Yeah, it's very strange that they it's totally turned the tide. Now they're all eye candy. You know, that's why.

Sandy 34:14

But there's another trend that I I can see that it could be, let's say unhealthy in a certain way. But I also kind of like it for another reason. This other trend that I'm mentioning is the fact that people okay, when I was a little girl, people that reached 30 were thought to be over the hill. Oh, they were middle aged. Oh, they were so old. In this day and age, you can be 6070, late 70s 80. And you're supposed and expected to look super hot, whether you're a man or a woman. Now, again, that's I kind of don't like it because it might be unrealistic for some, but I also kind of do like it because it's just, it's Just fantastic to not limit ourselves, I wouldn't want to say, well as the years Come, I'll have no choice but to just let myself go. And I'll just be this flabby old lady in a rocking chair. No, I don't think that that would be either necessary or expected or desired. And I see now that there are plenty of role models that show that you can look extraordinarily good. No matter what your age, like, for example, going to male option stars, you have like a Robert Downey Jr. Or even a Brad Pitt. They're in their late 60s now, or people like Jay low, mid 50s. I mean, they look great. And they will continue to look great. 10 years from now, 20 years from now. And that's something that again, yes, I mean, you cannot hold yourself up to Hollywood standards. But it's good that we do see role models, so that we don't automatically assume Okay, let's think of a seven year old, okay, I'm thinking of somebody in a rocking chair, you know, like all dried up or, you know, terrible. No, when you think somebody like 6065 70, now, it can be somebody very sexy, very physically appealing from a conventional point of view, it can be somebody very vibrant, somebody's very active. And, you know, that's something that I've liked about joining in races and these kinds of challenges, that you see people that are clearly, I don't know, not teenagers anymore, or definitely not in their 20s or 30s. And they look amazing, and more importantly, their athletic performance is excellent. So that's also very interesting to watch. Yeah,

Terry 36:40

I was gonna say Helen Mirren, we can't say talk about this without mentioning her because he, oh my gosh, her in the bikini of how many, like four years ago? Oh, how old she is. She's 70. Some, maybe early 70s. I don't even know. But she looks great. He says

Roy Barker 36:59

it's a it's a good observation. Because like you when I was growing up, and you know, if you think about the age, like 6065, people were, they were they were, they were inactive in the rocking chair, you know, sitting in front of the TV and not really taking part. I think that's a, I think that's been a good part of our evolution is that we don't, we don't put those age boundaries on us anymore. We're like, um, you know, I'm of this age, I can do whatever, I may not be as fast as the next guy. But who cares, I'm out there doing my thing. And then the more people we get to join in of those ages, then the better it is, it's like, then everybody feels welcoming to do it. And because it's, that's another part of this, that I don't think we talk about enough. But it's that, you know, decisions that we make, as a younger person, lead into how we age. And that's one thing that, you know, I've kind of had a wake up about lately, you know, I've passed, he just had a birthday, I had a birthday not too long ago, that was pretty tough. And so but you know, it makes you think about, okay, well, if I'm in poor shape, I got poor eating habits. I don't exercise enough. What's that going to lead to in 20 years from now. And you know, because we don't want to be a burden on our family on our kids. We all want to live a healthy, vibrant life, you know, right up until the end. So I think these are things that you've got to take into consideration. early in life, we all think that we're 30 and bulletproof. But unfortunately, if you're lucky enough to live long enough, those things will catch up with you.

Sandy 38:39

That's absolutely true. But something that should give people a little bit of, let's say, comfort, is that in many cases, you can actually be healthier, possibly fitter, and possibly even look better from a conventional standpoint, as you age rather than when you were younger. A lot of teenagers have terrible eating habits, a lot of very young people like to say they assume they're bulletproof. So they're just feeding themselves terrible things their skin might be suffering, the consequences. They might be. Well, there's another thing when you're very young, often your