The Reboot Diaries
The Reboot Diaries is all about navigating life’s relaunches with honesty and humor. We share our own stories and lessons learned to remind you that you’re not alone, there’s nothing “wrong” with you, and that every transition can be reframed as part of the journey. Approachable, authentic, and a little funny, it’s support for anyone hitting reset.
The Reboot Diaries
Healthy-ish on a Budget
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What happens when taking care of your health becomes a financial calculation? This episode explores the trade-offs, stress, and creative workarounds that come with navigating life without employer-sponsored health insurance.
Hello everyone and welcome to this episode of the Reboot Diaries. I'm Jesse.
SPEAKER_02I'm Cynthia.
SPEAKER_00And we're talking uh today about something very relevant to both of us right now. Uh, you know, we've talked about losing company-sponsored healthcare, right? Uh, how much healthcare costs, healthcare is broken in America, you know, the fun things. Um, Cynthia, what are we talking about today?
SPEAKER_02We're talking about health, trying to fund our health, trying to manage our health, trying to make up for poor decisions we made that have impacted our health. Talking about health across the board.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, especially with, you know, and we came up with the topic thinking like when you don't have company-sponsored healthcare, but I a lot of companies just also don't have great health coverage. So I would say, like, when money comes into notable play when you're making these sorts of decisions.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_00How do how do you do it? How are you healthy on the on the on a cheap?
SPEAKER_02Healthy on the cheap. Oh my gosh. Well, okay, so I think that I do have one thing going for myself, and that is that I have been vegetarian for about 35 years. And I think that hopefully that will be helpful when it comes to um health in general. Nah. Uh, how's my health overall? Well, I had my annual checkup two weeks ago, and yeah, later on this afternoon I have a follow-up uh televisit uh to discuss the plan because my labs came back.
SPEAKER_00Did you see your labs before this visit?
SPEAKER_02Um, I saw, so I went to the visit, then yes, saw the results, and then now I've got to uh and like it's so bad, and when I say bad, I don't mean devastating, but it's so bad that I'm just like, okay, you know, we've got to I like I need an intervention, like a straight up yeah, this is me calling for an intervention because I have got to turn this ship around.
SPEAKER_00Yes. Um coincidentally, I also got my like annual physical blood work done very recently. And I think that they switched the blood samples because there's no way my numbers are that good. Oh, that's good. That's great. I'll take them. That's fantastic. Look, I'm very tired. Why am I tired? Because I've had a lot of doctor's appointments this week. So you're gonna have to bear with me. Because one of the things is if you put things off, once you do have insurance, you basically live at the doctor trying to catch up at everything. So my first piece of advice is to get your annual blood work because if things are starting to look because usually um your your like annual physical, your preventative things are usually covered. So if you have Medi-Cal, if you have anything or Medicare, wherever you live, um, whatever the version of Medi-Cal is.
SPEAKER_02I had a mammogram, did not pay a dime.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, so preventative, like, and a lot of people don't realize that. Like, it actually is not just that one annual appointment, too. It's things like cancer screening that can be covered. Um and I was shocked, I actually didn't have to pay anything for my blood work on my normal plans. So, as much as I look at all of my expenses, every now and then something is cheaper than I expect. Um, it's it's worth just like looking online and seeing your coverage and doing it.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, and I think it depends in terms of the blood work because I wanted to know my blood type. And my doctor was like, Yeah, that's probably gonna cost you extra some extra money. And I was and this was when I had company sponsored insurance. And so I was like, Well, how much extra? And you know, she went online and looked it up and she said probably about a hundred bucks. And then I asked her, Do you want to know your blood type? And she said yes. And I said, Well, I'll just go on and get it then. And I keep it in my phone. I'm apositive, just like I want my grades to be. I might be a positive too. Oh, wow, so we're a match.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, good to know. I was like, Yeah, I gotta double check that because I was thinking about that. Anyway, yes. I mean, but my my my point of getting the labs done is is also like if you know soon there's actually things you can do that don't require like expensive prescription medication and things like that. Like if you find out you're pre-diabetic, you can I reversed that. Um I didn't have to go on, yeah, and diabetes like live like is in my family and stuff. So that you know, that's that was one of the numbers where I was like, are you guys sure? I don't know. The the forces uh of the world are being very generous to me when it comes to the consequences of some of my choices and not as generous other places. So um, this is all true. I it's not expensive, it gives you some information to do some basic things. It just feels silly when you feel when you feel okay, which is why um I, you know, I always have to harp on my husband every couple of years to be like, hey, we're at that age. What's your cholesterol like? Because you don't eat great, just because you're thin doesn't mean you're healthy.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. Exactly, exactly. And that is one of the things that I try to let people know. Once you hit a certain age, 40, 45, 50, and uh and better, you've got to know because this is when you know stuff starts creeping up on you. Um, and I think that a lot of times preventative tests or I should say screenings sound very, very scary. Um, you talk about or you think about how uncomfortable a mammogram is. Well, you know, it's better to deal with that five to ten minutes of discomfort now than you know, find out later you have something that could be preventable. Um I think the biggest I shouldn't say misconception, but incomplete story about colonoscopy is that you just think about kind of like what it is, and it's just like, okay, I don't that just sounds so intrusive or invasive, this, that, the other.
SPEAKER_00You know, does it does it, Cynthia?
SPEAKER_02Okay, no, here's what they need to lead with. Screenings would go through the roof. They put you under for 20 minutes, and I don't know what the specific anesthesia is. I mean, and I tell everybody that was the best 20-minute nap of my adult life. Uh-huh. I did not want to come back from it. It was just beautiful, and I would straight up, like 100%, like I get a mammogram every year. If a colonoscopy was available every year, I would do it just for that 20 minutes of sleep. It's magical, it really is. And the marketing people need to lead with that because there's just so many, you know, uh fears around colonoscopies.
SPEAKER_00Well, the process is a lot less unpleasant, like the stuff you do beforehand is also a lot less unpleasant now. As someone who worked at a senior center, I am very aware of what the process was and has how it has changed and all that kind of stuff, because you got to drink the stuff beforehand and all that. So it is a lot. If you heard your you know, grandparents complain about it when you were a kid, it is not the same anymore. It is not nearly as bad.
SPEAKER_02It's not nearly as bad. I think you still, I'm pretty sure I still drink gross stuff, but I didn't drink a g but I didn't drink a gallon's worth of stuff. Exactly. I mean, and the doctor was very clear in terms of, you know, the and he didn't say it like this, but the gross stuff is going to be covered. But let me see if I can get you this other stuff that's a little bit more bearable. Um, now I would not recommend, you know, prepping for that if you are in a one-bathroom situation and it's somebody else around. Um, yeah, because when it hits, it hits.
SPEAKER_00There are consequences.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah, yeah. But aside from that, oh oh, bring your own snack. And the little brochure, they had a picture of somebody with some juice and a snack, and I was like, okay, I'm ready for my cheeses, but they didn't have it. They only had juice. So bring a snack afterwards. That was the only disappointing thing about it.
SPEAKER_00And results were good, and so it was worth doing.
SPEAKER_02It was, it was, it was worth doing, but to your point, a lot of the preventive stuff is um is covered. I think that kind of like the challenge is when stuff that's not preventative care is not covered. Like I have a little puffiness on my left ankle, um, and it's just not there on my right ankle. And I did not think anything of it until I was at my go to acupressure once a month. And there's a language barrier, so I really am not able to communicate what my challenges are or ask questions. But I will tell you that whoever it is that works on me always works more on parts of my body that are bothering me. Well, my ankle was not bothering me, but this was the first time that they really worked on the ankle, which you know was a message, was a sign to me. So I did bring it up to my doctor. I had to go to get an ultrasound just to make sure I didn't have a blood clot, which I was very grateful for. But, you know, no blood clot, grateful for $75 out of pocket. And so now I'm just like, you know, is this nothing or should I continue to pay $75 for tests to find out what it is?
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Time will tell. How do you make that decision? Decision starts hurting enough?
SPEAKER_02Well, I mean, here's the thing, you know, if I say something to my parents about it, which I already have, this isn't gonna, this is will never be over until we figure out what it is. And I mean, and this is also grounded kind of in past experience. You know, I had these symptoms before, and nobody, you know, thought that I had what I had in terms of this blood vessel wrapped up inside of my spinal. So it's a thing of where I do think that it is worth pursuing. Uh, however, you know, I'm not gonna pretend like cost isn't a barrier. I just got a letter last week from Med Star, and I haven't done anything with Med Star in a few years. And you know what I'm thinking, Jesse? I'm thinking, oh my gosh, they forgot to bill me for something. How much am I gonna owe? I was so stressed out. I'll open that envelope. I was like, oh my gosh, thank you. It's only a breach of data, and you know, my my personal information has been compromised. Oh, I was so grateful. Yeah, I get it. So, in terms of you, like you, I know have a lot of doctors, um, different types of medical appointments. Some of the stuff I've heard of, some of the stuff like with the magnets, I haven't really heard of. How do you decide to kind of go beyond what we know of or think of as kind of like quote-unquote traditional care to explore these other options given that you have very unique circumstances?
SPEAKER_00I mean, it depends how much it's bothering me, and it depends how it actually depends less on price and how and more on how confident I am that they can help. So, like my GP was like, oh, I can help you with that. And in my head, I'm like, I'm paying the extra $30 to go to the specialist. There's no there's no world I tell like I trust a GP, and it's not about them at all. It's more just like when every other GP I've had have referred me to a specialist.
SPEAKER_01Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_00My kind so for me, it's more about like what's the most comfortable option, because then I'll be more honest and I'll follow through with it.
SPEAKER_02Wait, what do you mean by the most comfortable option?
SPEAKER_00Well, like, so if if there's like an intrusive test, or I can go to acupuncture, I'm gonna go to acupuncture.
SPEAKER_02Some people would say acupuncture is intrusive.
SPEAKER_00You know, people Yeah, it is, but I've done it before, so I'm like very and I have one now up here and or down here, so I'm just kind of like, okay, like trust me, it could be a lot more intrusive. So it's just more like in who I'm comfortable with. So like I'm very I very much trust my so feelings towards how my elbow's been doing since I've been seeing her, but like my back is so much better with my current chiropractor that like I'm gonna go to her before I'm gonna go to my GP if my back acts up.
SPEAKER_02So but how did you decide in terms of chiropractor versus physical therapy versus acupressure?
SPEAKER_00So this is where having so much medical experience um comes in handy. I know very precisely what each do. And if something hurts, but it feels like a very like my carpal tunnel access. I do not need to pay money to go to a physical therapist, to go to a doctor to get the referral to the physical therapist, and then drive there and pay for parking and go and have them give me the top five carpal tunnel stretches that are on every website ever. Right? Like this is not a this is not a like, like there's some medical things if you research, you can be misled really easily. This isn't one of them. This is a common thing with a very consistent solution.
SPEAKER_02Right, right, right.
SPEAKER_00So that's where it's like, I'm not gonna go in. Whereas my arm's been bothering me a lot for the first time, my elbow. And so I was like, I don't know what this is. I do need to go, I go to physical therapy to have them tell me what to do because I don't have time to guess. You gotta tell me exactly what to do. And then I like got a different physical therapist and they started doing more like manual work, like massage stuff. And I was like, okay, well, now this is worth my $40 because I just got like a 10-minute massage on the one part of my body that really hurts instead of paying $200. Um, so the rest of me would feel better if I had done that, maybe not emotionally. So yeah, no, for me, I I mean the thing, the other reason I would say like try to be proactive on your blood work or going in to do the things is like sometimes you can't do it, and I totally get that.
SPEAKER_02But I had 11 doctors' appointments this week because I'm 11 that you are single-handedly keeping your early healthcare system afloat.
SPEAKER_00Yes, you're welcome to my hospital system. Um, and it's it's part of it is because I'm catching up on things that like I couldn't get speedy care for under my last plan, or I couldn't afford because the co-pays were different on my last plan. So um that's the thing where I'm just kind of like, it would have been nice if I could have addressed this sooner so that things could be a little bit more spread out. And some people are like, well, can you defer some things? I was like, absolutely, and I am. And I'm prioritizing the things that are covered under my current plan that aren't always covered. And so that's you know, like that's where money I think comes into it for me is more like, okay, well, this wasn't covered on my last plan, it's covered on this plan. Like, I'm gonna do that first.
SPEAKER_02Right, right.
SPEAKER_00Because who knows what my plan is in six months? So that's where the money comes into it. But I think like I also have a rip-off the band-aid person. So it's like I'd rather have 10 appointments in one week than have three appointments a week for eight months. So anyway, but yeah, but I mean, but to your point, like I also know my body enough that like when I was at like a I think it was a GP, not even an MP, and like it was just a general practitioner. And you know, they I needed a referral for my ophthalmologist because they're the only ones who can write a certain prescription. It's like I don't even need to go in, I just need them to write the referral, but you gotta jump through the hoops, and that means a higher copay, blah, blah, blah. Um so sh so it's funny because they were telling me, like, well, you have to go to the ophtometrist before you can go to the ophthalmologist. And I was like, no. Like, no. They're like, Well, that's what the you know, the insurance makes you do. And I was like, No, she they were just so thrown off. They were so thrown off. I was she's like, Well, I can try to just refer you straight to the ophthalmologist. And I was like, that would be amazing. Thank you so much.
SPEAKER_02And so did they cover it?
SPEAKER_00Yeah, they let they let me go straight to the ophthalmologist. And they were not making it up, they were not, because my friend who has the same insurance had to go to the optometrist before, like they they got, you know, for but I don't so I don't know if I got lucky, but the same person was like, Well, it is time for your mama grammar. And I was like, Oh, yeah, that's fine. And they were so relieved that they didn't have to fight me on that. I was like, that's fine, because I'd rather stage one is better than stage four. Of course I'm gonna go to that. Whereas I would know if I couldn't read things, and an ophthalmologist is not gonna miss something that an optometrist would catch.
SPEAKER_02Right, right, right. Right.
SPEAKER_00There was no there was no risk to my health and well-being to skip the optometrist in this case. Um, and the optometrist, sure enough, did all their fancy machines and these like image work came out, and it was fascinating and disgusting. Um, but I got what I needed, and they were like, Well, this actually isn't covered under this insurance. And I was like, Because it was under my last. So it is just kind of random what's covered, and it takes research and it's exhausting, and I hate it. But like I have a friend who needs to go. Um, a lot of people don't understand the law that I mean, it's been years now around mental health care and behavioral health. It has to be comparable co-pays and coverage now. Uh, so like 10 years ago, it was just like I have I would only get like three therapy appointments covered a year under my health. Like it was wild. That is no longer the case. The co-pays are actually what my GP co-pays are, not even a specialist. Like, like it's I promise it's more covered than you think it is. I promise it's more covered than you think it is. So um that's you know, I I just hear so many people assume it's not. And I was one of those people. My friend who's a psychologist, was like, no, remember blah, blah, blah. And I was like, oh yeah. Oh uh, I'm just so used to people not following the law. Um, so yeah, I mean, it's worth they they do simplify it a good amount. And if you get overwhelmed by the paperwork, you literally can just call. I've never had someone be a jerk to me to be like, I don't understand if this is covered. And then they look it up for you.
SPEAKER_02And then they look it up for you, yeah.
SPEAKER_00Just tell them exactly what you want to know.
SPEAKER_02Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Well, in terms of, you know, referrals and having to go here or there, I needed a referral for an MRI because we needed to see if you know anything has been going on back there where I had the AVM removed. However, the doctor told me in order to have for the insurance company to pay for the MRI, you've got to get an X-ray first. Yep. And it an X-ray is impossible for an X-ray to detect, you know, to provide the information that we needed. And I mean, I'm sure that I'm fine, but that's extra radiation that I didn't need, didn't have to have. But you know, the thing that really got me was I did not realize getting an X-ray or treatment or the X-ray at a hospital, inpatient hospital facility, or a hospital that provides inpatient care, it cost more money than an outpatient place. And so I had a higher out-of-pocket rate for a test that I literally did not need. I had to get it to satisfy the insurance company.
SPEAKER_00And for people getting overwhelmed hearing all this, maybe our actual advice is to find a friend like us. But a friend who's run through the ringer. A friend who knows, understands the hoops, understands the options, understands the like who's the department to call, because navigating it on your own, like we are thoroughly educated people who have had a lot of experience with healthcare. And sometimes I'm still just like, oh, I don't understand.
SPEAKER_02So yeah. And I will even say before I got the bill and I realized how much I had to pay, I tried scheduling the MRI at the same hospital. Well, their scheduling process involved me calling, leaving somebody the information that that you know that they needed, and then having them having someone else call me back. So it depended on me being available to take the person's call. And it was a thing of where we just went back and forth with the hospital, and I was like, I'm done. And I found this outpatient imaging place. They were able to get me in the next week, uh, just for a basic MRI. And and a couple of months later, the hospital called back, still trying to schedule. And I really tried to be as nice as possible because it wasn't this person's fault. But I was like, I need to give you some feedback. Yeah. Um, and I, you know, told her exactly what happened and how difficult it was. And, you know, she said she would take it or whatever. But it it doesn't, these systems are optimized for antiquated ways of doing things. And they're not optimized for how people, as I talk about in my book, not optimized for you know, people who are just regular people trying to make it through the day.
SPEAKER_00And so other than read your book, which people should do, Clear Clean Chronicles. Um, I mean, my advice literally is to just go find someone that can help you through it. Um, what is your advice?
SPEAKER_02Well, I mean, there are 100% there are patient advocacy organizations that can help if things get overwhelming. Uh, if you have a really complex case, even the health insurance company can assign you somebody to help with that. Yep. And then I would also, and this kind of goes back to costs, um, from what I understand, pretty much every hospital system has policies in place set up to support people who uh may not necessarily have a lot of money to deal with hospital bills. So there's this one organization called Dollar Four, and you can just go to their website, type in kind of like your state and you know, your family size and your income, and it will tell you know where you got the treatment, and it'll give you guidance in terms of the program that that hospital has and what might be possible for you to um have your fees reduced or eliminated.
SPEAKER_00Uh dollar FOR or the number four?
SPEAKER_02F-O-R F-O-R. And it the here's what's really interesting based on what I understand. I haven't, you know, used it myself, but from what I understand, you know, and and I heard a podcast, I think, with the founder talking about this. You know, these hospitals are required to make this information publicly known in terms of they have these programs, but that could mean um, you know, just including a line at the bottom of a website or just having a small sign, you know, in a hospital emergency room, you know, tucked away someplace. So I mean, there are options. It's just it's just a really hard system to navigate.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, don't feel bad about yourself if you're struggling to figure it out because it's it's actually intentionally built that way too.
SPEAKER_02It's well, I really think that that's an important point that you made. It's intentionally designed to stay like that. And you know, it could what I if you ever second guess yourself, well, maybe it's just me or I'm not getting it, or I'm on top of things. I know people in the healthcare profession who have a hard time navigating it. And these are people who work in the system every day.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_00So leaving uh, you know, temporarily parking the fun that is America's healthcare system, what are some affordable things? And like let's spare people hearing about like go for a walk every day. Uh, but what are some affordable things that you found or wish you had done now that you had your blood work done uh that were worth the like time or small like incremental cost?
SPEAKER_02I would say, first of all, and we talked about a little bit about this before, is understanding nutrition. So I'm kind of uh from the era of the food pyramid where and maybe I'm from the boxes. Well, didn't there used to be a box with four groups and then they changed it to a pyramid? But my point is that we've always been told, you know, eat grains, eat protein, eat dairy, eat this, that, the other. And I didn't realize until I got older, or appreciate until I got older, kind of like the science behind eating. Like it wasn't until I started meeting with a nutrition, a dietitian. Is it a nutritionist or a dietitian? I think uh dietitian. Bottom, they're they're slightly different, but they sound the same. But bottom line is it was covered under insurance. I did not know that, you know, just you gotta have protein with every meal, or at least at my age, you do, you gotta have protein at every meal. You know, I used to it used to be a thing of where I used to enjoy eating one huge meal in the middle of the day, and that's just not good. In my mind, I tricked myself into believing, and I know that this sounds ridiculous, but it's true. It's okay if I eat this big sweet before I go to bed or have a snack that could double for a light lunch before I go to bed. Um, and then you know, I got on the scale and I was, what in the world happened? And so now it's a thing of where I thought I was heavy before, but now I'm even heavier and I gotta, you know, try to reverse this. And you know, that impacts the way that I'm able to walk and move and you know, my energy and this, that, the other. But, you know, it's a thing of where I feel as though if I don't get this out of uh under control now, because it's getting out of control, if I don't get it under control now, I just feel as though it will introduce very serious health consequences, consequences in the future.
SPEAKER_00Zimpek, yes or no? How do you feel about it?
SPEAKER_02You know, I just that's not my jam only because I just don't like taking medicine in general. I have heard uh, you know, I know somebody who's a doctor, you know, a friend who's a doctor who took it, and she was like, oh, you should take some of this epic. Now, this she had not diagnosed me with anything. She, it was just based on visuals. Um, but um, you know, I I can't really say, I don't know. I can say that for me, I would rather try other options. What are your thoughts on it?
SPEAKER_00Well, I think like maybe the theme for this is the whole episode is actually about sustainability. Like, what is energy-wise sustainable? Like for me, going to a point 10 appointments a week would not be energy sustainable. What is financially sustainable, all this kind of stuff. And so I think the pro of going to a dietitian, if you get a good one, because I can tell you stories of not good ones, is um trying to figure out what's sustainable. And when people are taking things, whether you know, GOP1, is that what they are, or or otherwise, but you haven't figured out how to make something sustainable, like that's where it'll it might end up costing you both money-wise and physically, like a lot more in the long run. So like I know people who have taken GLMPs and uh really monitored their diet, really made sure they got their protein, really were looking at like the sustainable sustainable solution and um and we're in situations where like intervention was not as simple as eat more protein.
SPEAKER_02Right, right, right, right.
SPEAKER_00Because it does help with like inflammation and stuff like that too. Um so I know someone who has like really bad chronic inflammation and eats very well, and this changed their life to be able to get their inflammation under control. Right.
SPEAKER_02Right, right, right.
SPEAKER_00Um but then I know people who are not changing their diet at all, who like eating as little as possible and are throwing up all the time on it. So I can't really generalize. I just encourage people to think about what's actually sustainable. And what I told myself was like, I would be so mad at myself if I, you know, took something like that, also no, it's not cheap and 100%, um didn't think through how to sustain any benefits, and then my body just like swung all the way back and it like messed up, you know, like all those kinds of things. So I was like, I feel like if I were to get my eating very nutritious and all that kind of things, and I didn't, you know, my body didn't change in the ways that would benefit my physical pain, then it's like maybe there's a combo. But until I'm eating like I'm supposed to be eaten in the long run, like it just I need I just wanted to be like kind of responsible to my body about that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Anyway, those are my thoughts. But you know, eating healthy is actually financially a very different equation than it used to be, too. Um it is much cheaper to eat in an unhealthy way.
SPEAKER_02Uh but you know unless you live near an Aldi. I think the good Aldi subsidies because man.
SPEAKER_00You don't think even Aldi like processed food is cheaper than the Aldi not processed food?
SPEAKER_02Oh, I don't know. I just know that I can go to Aldi's and get lots of good fruits, vegetables, and my sourdough bread. I mean, like I get a thing of uh these little tiny avocados for under three dollars for a whole bag at Aldi. I mean, so I um I do think that it can be in some circumstances cheaper to eat, you know, junk food, but I think it just really depends on where you get your your produce. And I'll tell you know, I spent a lot of time in New York, and they've got vent like, and I don't know how they're able to afford to sell these fruits and vegetables so cheap. Like I just get my stuff on the street.
unknownYep.
SPEAKER_02I don't know what truck it fell off of. I just don't I don't ask questions, I just carry cash and keep it moving.
SPEAKER_00I mean, and and also like where you live affects how much it's gonna cost too. When I lived in Scotland, I bought bananas out of a white van across the street from the grocery store. There was like a dude with the greenhouse. Delicious strawberries. So, like where you but but they weren't cheap, but I was so desperate.
SPEAKER_01So desperate.
SPEAKER_00Um yeah, I I so I mean the one thing I will say is like I don't want people to think going to a dietitian or nutritionist is like the end all be all. I've had terrible ones. I've had ones who do not understand financial reality. I had such a positive experience earlier this week with one because they understood financial realities more than anyone else I'd talked to in my like entire adult life and was like, instead of being like, oh, you can get fresh vegetables, but she's like straight up like go to Costco, get the giant bag of frozen vegetables, you're good. That's gonna meet your needs. Yeah, that's fine. Like sometimes I have to eat a frozen lunch. Like, what are the main things I'm looking for? Because I usually just want to buy what's on sale, you know. Like so we talked through the like alternatives to that that are just as easy, right? So it's sometimes there's a learning curve. My my my least favorite experience I had with a nutritionist was uh a guy telling me, because I was like, Well, I'm always hungry, is like you're not hungry till it hurts. And I was like, that seems bad. That doesn't seem right at all.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah. I mean, yeah, if I'm hungry, if I'm hurting, I'm 100% gonna my brain is gonna say I need more than if I was just kind of sustaining.
SPEAKER_00You're not hungry until it hurts, and then you can eat. And I'm like, I don't know if that's the right relationship with food for me.
SPEAKER_02I will say that is a good example of a dietitian that you probably don't want, but uh, but I also say, you know, kind of getting back to what it is that people say every day or say in terms of oh, take a walk every day and this, that, the other. I I feel as though before I can kind of like shun that advice, I need to do it. Like, what would happen if for the next week I took a walk every day, if I got, you know, went to bed at 10 o'clock at night? Uh I'm pretty good with drinking water, but like what would happen if I did all the things that they say really is good for you? Um, and that's something that I really I think do need to try. And you know, I started recently, Jesse, I started doing push-ups and sit-ups, and I know that these aren't um, you know, gonna make a huge difference, but I just feel like I need it to get stronger. And I will tell you, I really and I've only been doing it for about a month, maybe a month. Yeah, about a month. I struggled just to do five sit-ups the first time and five push-ups. And I mean, like I struggled, but what I would do is I would just every time I did them every other day, and I just add one more to you know what I would do. And so now I'm up to I do about 50 total, 50 sit-ups every other day, and 20 push-ups every other day. And it just I can definitely see the growth in terms of where I was before in terms of struggling. So I say that just to say it may it may be discouraging to start off where things are hard and you know you're not able to accomplish what you want to, but you know, if you stick with it, it can get better.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I mean, it's really you can find a million excuses and a lot of them can be valid even and whatever. Um like right now I can't walk, so I should be doing my stretches more. But I'm so cognitively spent with all my appointments, you know, like appointments that it's like but even now I'm like, okay, just pick like the one stretch. What's the one stretch? Like, I can't I don't have more than that in me, type of thing.
SPEAKER_02Do you stretch by yourself or do you have someone stretch you out?
SPEAKER_00At home I stretch by myself. Why don't you have somebody stretch you out? Because I'm so tight, I don't need someone. You know what I mean? Like, so for example, like you see people who are like put their feet next to like feet, like palm of feet to palm of feet, and then they like hold each other's arms and like you know, back and forth or whatever. I don't need that. Like I'm not flexible enough for that. Like I can just stand up and let my back like fall down and let my head hang, and I'm like, oh yeah, there it is.
SPEAKER_02I and the reason that I ask is because I used to, and I had to pay for the whole thing out of pocket, but I used to go to somebody who stretched me out, and it just felt so great. I mean feels amazing. I gotta tell you, one time I had noravirus, and you know, she charges like I don't know the price of an appointment if you miss a fee. And so I told her, like within 24 hours or for whatever, I was like, I said, I feel great, but just to let you know, I just got over noravirus. So if you want me to come, I'm happy to come. Uh she said, yeah, don't come, no charge. Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_00No one wants it.
SPEAKER_02A disgusting bug.
SPEAKER_00So, you know, I mean, I don't want to go too far down the spiral of like, here's all the exercises you can do and stuff, but like I do think a lot of pricing has changed over the years and continues to fluctuate around like I I have one friend who's like, oh my gym membership is this much, and they were worried about finances. And like when I had, you know, one of the times where I didn't have any money, um I used soup cans. Used to do what? I used soup cans instead of weights. Oh those like those like chunk, giant, chunky soup cans, like those are you can you use those instead of like a one-pound weight if you're doing like low weight, high rep.
SPEAKER_02Like yeah. I've heard of people doing like quarts of juice or milk or whatever.
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah. I mean, God bless them because those are very heavy. And so that's where it's just kind of like you you can get creative, and it comes down to like a lot of the times we're just not motivated to, and that's fine. So, like, I don't know, this is probably a lot more like, are people gonna listen to this and go get out their milk and do some curls? Probably not. But if you could just like go for a walk, or if you can do the equivalent to you of what going for a walk is, which might be stretching, which might be yoga, like just something to like breathe a little bit and move your because I think motion in some form, whether yoga, whether strength, it doesn't matter, like is annoyingly important for well-being. Annoyingly important. I hate it so much. Stretches feel like peach, like physical therapy to me. Physical therapy is a very triggering concept. So it's like no one's gonna get that resistance more than me. But like I'm not stretching right now, and I'm really feeling it, and I'm like looking at my calendar, like, okay, when am I having enough off my plate that cognitively this becomes the priority?
SPEAKER_01Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_00Because I gotta be like gentle with myself too.
SPEAKER_02So yeah. I think I kind of wonder, and this kind of goes back to education and what we learned in school and even how we were raised. I mean, and I remember, you know, my mom would do whole wheat bread instead of you know white bread. I'm not sure that, you know, it's not like we had what is it, the Dave's the Dave's killer bread? Yeah, like we didn't have anything like that back then. So I'm not sure how much better the brown bread or the wheat bread was for it. Right. Um, but you know, my whole thing is, or my what I think about, and I understand maybe, and this is me with limited understanding of nutrition, I know gif and natural peanut butter isn't the same, but I can understand the gif or whatever, even though it has all the added sugar and you know, all that what I don't get is like how did sugary cereal become acceptable for breakfast?
SPEAKER_00Um, because when both parents started working and no one had time to make breakfast, you needed something easy and there was an opportunity, and the cereal people stepped in.
SPEAKER_02I mean, why not just put a box of saltines and a pound of sugar in front of your kid and be like bon appetite? Because it doesn't taste as well. Maybe and a flintstones vitamin.
SPEAKER_00It doesn't taste as good. I mean, the flintstone vitamins taste delicious for the same reason that the cereal tastes delicious. That's that's the thing. It's like we're all very short-sighted. I think people are generally very short-sighted. And you just need your kid to have something in them before you send them out the you know, out the door. And if that's what they're willing to eat without a fight, I can see myself like I can see myself willing it. I mean right now I wouldn't, like at this life phase, but like if I had had a kid when I was like 28, yeah, that would have been the thing of just like just eat it, let's go.
SPEAKER_02I would put I would put some saltine crackers in my kids' uh backpack if they weren't gonna eat a nutritious breakfast. And you know, with the thought that if they get hungry enough, they'll just eat that. Saltine crackers and an apple.
SPEAKER_00I mean, I would have toast every morning in high school. That was all I would eat. That's not nutritious. Toast butter.
SPEAKER_02I would have my favorite was toast with gif peanut butter, not skippy peanut butter. Gif. Preferably the extra crunchy.
SPEAKER_00People have very strong peanut butter preferences.
SPEAKER_02Well, I have a friend who uh has his family is was really well off, and his mom would make them eat natural peanut butter, and as a child, he thought that they could not afford like the gifts. It was the opposite, right, and would always like like going to his friend's house so he could have like the rich people peanut butter.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. When I was first trying to avoid palm oil, I was like, why is one less ingredient make this more expensive? Wild. Yeah, I mean, the reality is a lot of this does take a lot of thought work, so I would also say, like, pick your thing. Like, are you going to prioritize going into the doctor? Are you going to prioritize just like a couple food changes? The other reason I love this dietitian is she didn't focus at all on what not to do. She focused first on what to start doing. And that was amazing. So she wasn't like, because I told her I need to have like less dairy, but I haven't figured that out yet. I eat yogurt in the morning on days I don't have time to make breakfast. So like right now, it's more about how am I getting all my protein. So how are we adding protein to the yogurt at least while we figure out you know what makes more like what other options there are? Um and she's like, just add this to your yogurt. And I'm like, okay. It wasn't that expensive. I can add these seeds to my yogurt. Great. Instead of like, oh, make sure you're only getting nonfat, zero sugar, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. It was like, just add this to your yogurt.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. Yeah. I used to be all about the non-fat, not anymore.
SPEAKER_00No, I mean everyone's body's different too. So how bodies react to protein, like some people actually can't be like vegan because of the way their body like processes different proteins. My friend is um really sensitive to a lot of food groups and wanted to be vegetarian but couldn't because meats like certain meats are like the only way she can get protein. She can't do a lot of um legumes or anything like that. She can't do dairy. So, like also if you try a thing and it's like, oh, this didn't work for me, like it's it's fine. It's your body body, and it's fine. Um, I as like a third pillar would really like to talk about vitamins.
SPEAKER_02All right, what's your hot take?
SPEAKER_00I love them. I love them. I love them.
SPEAKER_02Why do you love them? Well, why do you love them?
SPEAKER_00I mean, again, it takes cognitive power to like research what is the vitamin that I need or like don't fall into the gimmicks. I do not like a gummy vitamin anymore. I'm like, why am yeah, I'm like, this is just like to your point, I was like, I could just like I could eat a Hershey Kiss and enjoy it more, like, or at least as much, even though the gummy vitamins taste delicious. So if that's the way you're gonna do it and you don't have any blood sugar or carb issues, like sure, do the gummy thing, but I'm not convinced they're as like bioavailable as other vitamins are. Um for me, it's what vitamins are you gonna pay money for, and then what vitamins are actually fine to just get the nature made on sale, but whatever for. I think that's really important too. So I have some vitamins I take that I'm probably gonna try going off because I'm not sure what a difference is they're currently making. And then I have others where I'm like, like vitamin D. Oh my god. The way I know if I have not been taking my vitamin D is real.
SPEAKER_02Tell me more. And I am asking because I have this appointment with my doctor in uh an hour and a half. I've got my vitamin D uh in my Amazon package that I need to open and at least take one before I get on the call with her so I can say I started taking my vitamin D. Uh, but tell me about uh vitamin deficiency D deficiency detector.
SPEAKER_00It I mean, people will be like, bone health. And that's where I'm like, well, we're short-sighted though. Like, you're not worried about bone health until you're in your 50s, probably. Um making sure you take the vitamin that has the right combination to be absorbed is extremely important. My doctor told me to, like, if there, like if there was one vitamin to really invest in high quality for it would be vitamin D, because it impacts so many different things and it can significantly impact mood.
SPEAKER_02Really?
SPEAKER_00And I'm I'm deficient, like for sure. And I just and I take a thousand like units a day, which is like the low end of like the typical dose is like a thousand to like 2500 or something, is according to some people, different opinions. Um, so it's like, all right, I take my thousand because it's very expensive, so I'm only taking a thousand, and um I still came back deficient, even having taken it.
SPEAKER_02And so have you taken the prescription?
SPEAKER_00No, no. I mean, that's like maybe we if my body gets if it becomes harder to absorb, then we start talking about those things. But um, but the dietitian was like, I don't know why doctors are so conservative with how much they recommend you should take 4,000 units. And I was like, okay. You know, there is vitamin D overdose, but she's like looking at your numbers, that is not gonna be a thing for you, and it's not gonna be a thing for most people at this number anyway. Like it's over the counter.
SPEAKER_02So you said you can tell when you don't. How can you tell? My mood. It changes my mood.
SPEAKER_00Sad. Oh. So if I go like two, three weeks without it, I can like feel a bit of a difference. I mean, vitamin B, there's different vitamin Bs, which always annoys me and confuses me. But like, yes, of course, that affects your energy, like the day that you take it. Um, yeah, but that ongoing vitamin D makes a big difference. And so now I um am moving up to a much higher dose. And then in six months, I'll take the blood work. Because if I even if I buy this expensive vitamin, it's a lot cheaper than like a second therapy appointment a week. Let's be honest.
SPEAKER_02Let's go with the vitamin D.
SPEAKER_00I'm big on the vitamin D. I think brand matter is an annoying amount, and some companies get tested by third-party people and some don't. And so I would just like be really mindful about that. Um, like, do I feel like my biotin has helped my fitting hair? Not to date. But I don't know how I would know that because I don't know what how much my hair would be fitting further if I wasn't taking. But like, I got cheap biotin because I'm just like my life, like my my this is just about my hair. My well, my overall well-being does not actually depend on it. Vitamin C when I was babysitting and I wanted to take vitamin C um in zinc during cold season. Nature made, that's fine. It's enough. They put so much in a pill, I'm sure some of it's absorbing. Like, yeah. So yeah, I mean, it is hard to decide, but man, that vitamin D, dude. My husband listened to like a podcast about how important it was. Like, it's really important. So I love my vitamin D. Um, I take a bunch of different things that like different practitioners have recommended. But like I said, like it's been a while. My body chemistry's changed a lot since I started some of them. So I'm gonna go after some of this other stuff's resolved, I'm gonna try to go off uh two of them just to see if it does make a difference. And if it does, then I'll feel good about spending the money. Um, but I do it is a money, it is money that is motivating me going off those vitamins. So I don't want to pretend it's not.
SPEAKER_02Money in terms of vitamins cost money. Okay, that's fair.
SPEAKER_00And I know this really high qual Nordic naturals is expensive and it's really good, and it's known for being really good. So that's the one vitamin, my omega-3 slash vitamin D. I will absolutely take that. And then my friend had another brand for vitamin D. So I'm taking a different version of vitamin D to diversify and increase my chances. All right. Strategic. Um, so yeah, that's another thing where it's like it's a pretty easy thing to do uh to have a pill with your lunch every day, if you eat lunch every day. When I did not eat lunch every day, it was a lot harder to remember to do, which is how I would go a couple of weeks. Cynthia, the best $18 plus tax I've spent in a long time was in a month-long pill organizer I just got last weekend. And I'm so uncomfortable with how excited it makes me. Because it has a removable little thing for each day. So each day I can just like put it in my purse and not worry about forgetting things.
SPEAKER_02Oh, so you just take the whole plastic thing off.
SPEAKER_00Yep, I just have my little itty bitty, it's not itty bitty, but pretty small. Like, here's your Monday dose. And I did because I knew my life to be more efficient. And I was like, I take too many vitamins to do this every week. It's gotten really annoying, and I lost one of my days in the week, so I'm using this stupid little baggie, and it's really annoying. So I used my 1899 plus tax, and I got this vitamin thing, and boy oh boy, it's a life changer, it's a game changer. I'm a week in and I'm like, where has this been all my life? It's amazing. I've got all of my vitamins, and I take like a midday prescription, I might start putting it in too. But I've got like all, I mean, it's just like and then I love it so much.
SPEAKER_02So good. Maybe we can bring them on as a sponsor.
SPEAKER_00I also get that Amazon affiliate link. I also spent like an hour plus researching which one that I wanted.
SPEAKER_02Hour plus. And so how did you come to the conclusion for the one that you got?
SPEAKER_00I wanted the smallest one that would still work with everything. And I didn't want, and I, you know what, I'm not gonna bore people with all the criteria, but basically I wanted like something flexible in terms of travel. I didn't have to take the whole month or nothing. It needed to go in my purse, and I wanted it as small as would fit in my purse. It needed to fit a certain number of vitamins. So I was literally like measuring things. Yes, this is so interesting that you're yawning. Uh I told you I need more sleep. I do too. I do too. Um fun fact, went to an appointment this morning that always has to start on time. And the person like didn't come get me from the waiting room, and I just knew that they had fallen asleep at their desk and sent the reception person in. Sure enough, they had fallen asleep. And let me tell you, I want that job. Anyway, we're all very tired. Life is life is life in pretty hard right now. So, yeah, even if you're like, look, I'm not going to the doctor, or you just do that physical, like just like the one vitamin, just take like that multivitamin, dude. If you're like, I'm not going to the doctor, take that multivitamin. It's it's fine. Like, and even if it's gummy, I guess. I just don't think those get absorbed.
SPEAKER_02Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. They don't like, uh so my thought is I should probably just take a little glass and put all my little vitamins in the class the night before. And then have them. Can does it matter if you have them with lunch or breakfast?
SPEAKER_00I mean, that's what my grandma did. You're welcome. She had a little shot glass. Um vitamins usually depends. I mean, it can depend, but usually you take them food. When you take them, everyone's on different kinds of prescription medications, so I don't want to say definitively when. I talk to my doctor about how to spread things out.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00I do. I have little reminders that go up on my phone.
SPEAKER_02So I wonder what how what that's going to add in terms of your life expectancy.
SPEAKER_00Well, I think vitamin D might also be like omega-3, but it must be vitamin D also can help lead to dementia prevention.
SPEAKER_02So can sleep.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. It's actually one of my motivators to try to get sleep with how much dementia runs on my both sides of my family. Like it's definitely um I mean, sleep's just important in all the ways, and it's so annoying because I want to do fun things. And I love sleep so so much. But when you don't sleep well, it's the most annoying thing.
SPEAKER_02See, I feel like I'm missing out. That's why I don't like to sleep. I like the feeling of sleep, but I don't like that fear of missing out.
SPEAKER_00I know we talked about this, and I totally get it. I totally get it. I also am like do that like self-sabotage, I can't remember what it's called, where you're like, if you're on someone else's schedule all day and then you have the night to yourself, it's like revenge on the rest of the day, or like some way you feel control is like staying up and watching the TV of your choosing. Because it's a lot harder to go to bed when I'm picking than when someone else is picking, even if I like what they pick. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. That's a psychology analysis for another day. But yeah, I mean, look, vitamins cost money. Not everyone can afford vitamins. Um I'm not gonna pretend they're they don't cost money, but odds are pretty high, even if all you can do is get the cheap nature-made kind, like it still might be worth getting that multivitamin. I believe, yeah. So I believe like, and then my chiropractor like doesn't believe in vitamins because so few of them are set up to actually be absorbed. In my stupid, I was so stupid. I there everyone's like, oh, you should take like magnesium, blah, blah, blah. And I was like, it can't help. My muscle cramps are too bad. Of course, it ended up helping. I'm so annoyed that I did not start magnesium like 10 years ago. Oh, it's so annoying and also like great. Whatever. If you get muscle cramps, take stupid magnesium.
SPEAKER_02I've taken magnesium before. I did not like the way it tasted. I think I had like the liquid dropper kind or something.
SPEAKER_00Oh, yeah, it tastes awful.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. I think I should just oh, but I was gonna say more bananas, but that's sugar.
SPEAKER_00Uh potassium. Yeah, but like no one's overweight because of bananas.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00Right? Like, no one's over the weight because of grapes. Like, if you're diabetic, like you can't eat certain fruits too, right? It's about blood sugar spiking. But like, if you're just worried about your weight, like that was like my favorite thing, someone said. They were like like they were in like Weight Watchers and they were counting points and stuff, and they like someone said in the class, like, no one's here because they ate too many apples. Like shit off of these apples. Yeah, exactly. So even with grapes, I'm like, I don't eat grapes every day of the year. I have grapes for about two weeks out of the year. It's fine. Yeah, whatever. So that that would be the one thing because like I don't like frozen fruit at all.
SPEAKER_02Really? See, I don't like fresh fruit.
SPEAKER_00I I like frozen mango and I like frozen grapes, and I like uh frozen banana dipped in chocolate.
SPEAKER_02Okay, I've heard that's good.
SPEAKER_00But like my like I know someone who like for their yogurt, like just like defrosts frozen fruit and puts in yogurt, and I thought was like the most disgusting thing I'd ever had.
SPEAKER_02Now that that does not sound appealing. I just like frozen fruit and smoothies. Oh well, that's a totally different thing.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_02But I don't like delicious fruit, but I don't like fresh fruit.
SPEAKER_00That's the weirdest thing in the world to me.
SPEAKER_02I don't. I don't. And it's not like I hate it, I just don't. I'd rather have vegetable than fruit. I mean, I'm happy for you.
SPEAKER_00I'm happy for you that you would rather have vegetables because I would sit and eat cherries every day the rest of my life.
SPEAKER_02Yeah. They're cute when you're like outside and at a picnic and stuff.
SPEAKER_00Yeah. Okay. They're the most delicious thing in the world.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I do like fruit if it's frozen or of course if it's you know baked in a pie.
SPEAKER_00I knew exactly what you were gonna say because I bet you cherries. It's surrounded with butter and sugar and gluten, but it is delicious.
SPEAKER_02Baked. Yeah. Nice, nice little crust.
SPEAKER_00All right.
SPEAKER_02Okay.
SPEAKER_00All right. Yeah, you're I'm just getting hungry, but I do have cherries in the fridge, luckily.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00All right. So when it comes to overall, what would like what what were the top three things that you would tell people who are listening? And like, I don't have money, I don't have good insurance, like what are what can I do to take care of myself?
SPEAKER_02Well, I think you made a really good point in terms of the preventative care. And at the end of the day, for any insurance that you have, they want to prevent you from getting sick. So you're probably going to be able to identify, you know, more perks that you you know maybe didn't know that you had, whether it be a dietitian or you're gonna have your annual wellness physical uh covered, or you know, the preventative uh items like mammograms and colonoscopies. Uh, but then there are other things like, you know, I because I was pre-diabetic, they sent me a scale. Um, so you know, your health insurance policy, oh, and some health insurance policies may cover acupuncture, at least part of acupuncture. So I would say, you know, really look at your um coverage. And I also think you gave really good advice in terms of if you're not sure your financial responsibility about something, just call the insurance company and they'll be able to take a look at your policy. But I would say that the biggest thing that I would say is that things, at least in my experience, when I kind of just brush things off or neglect health issues, it doesn't mean that they're not there making things worse. And that's kind of what I'm going through now in terms of really having to confront the past decisions that I've made, whether it be what I decided to eat when I decided to eat it, not you know, making the choice not to exercise. And that um, you know, it's kind of bitter, it's like a double-edged sword in terms of, you know, on one hand, it's just like, at least with me, I feel like, you know, a little bit of a failure because these are decisions. Um, I mentally blocked out what I'm doing. Uh, but on the other hand, it's a little empowering when you decide to kind of like take the reins and say, okay, I'm going to make decisions to do X, Y, Z to better my health. So those are my thoughts. What are your thoughts?
SPEAKER_00I would say don't try to do everything at once because no one does, and that's setting yourself up for failure. I would say maybe think about what's physically affecting you in your current situation the most. Like, is it the fact you're just sitting and applying for jobs all day? Is it the fact that your life is very, very stressful? And then financially invest in that biggest impact thing.
SPEAKER_01Mm-hmm.
SPEAKER_00And uh curveball out of nowhere, like maybe put fewer poisons in your body, like alcohol. Sorry. I love a margarita, but it like, and I binge on sugar, and like that's actually becoming that's like third in line priority-wise, is binging on my sugar stuff because it is completely screwing me up. Um but like also unrelated to the appointments I have right now because there's just some bigger fish to fry at the moment. Uh thanks to my blood work. But yeah, so it's like just what's the thing affecting you the most? Because and and uh I mean, I had a fourth one though, which is like just if the first thing doesn't have the impact that you think it will, like it's so hard to try again because it was so hard to try the first time, and that's really worth pep talking yourself through or finding someone who can encourage you to do it because like with like medications, it's a numbers game. And how demoralizing is that? Um, not every vitamin's gonna make like every everyone listening could try vitamin D, and not everyone's gonna have the same impact as like me and my one friend who find like thinks it's a game changer, right? Right, right, right. So, like you don't have to buy the 500-pill bottle, you can buy the 30-pill bottle and like test it out. Test it out, yeah. Yeah, so what's the thing actually impacting your life right now? Because we all think, oh, I should exercise, oh, I should eat healthy, oh, I shouldn't do this, oh, I should do that. And it's like the reality is like exercise is gonna disproportionately impact you and me compared to like my husband.
SPEAKER_02Right, right, right, right, right.
SPEAKER_00So it's like makes sense that we would talk about that and think about that. It's also gonna be one of the more emotionally draining and logistically complex for us. Whereas he can just walk the dog.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00So just yeah, just do what you can. It's we're all spending money on things to comfort ourselves even when we don't have it. So just get the bottle of vitamins. Even if they're flint stone, because those are delicious.
SPEAKER_02They're delicious, and you know, they have smiley faces, so they make you happy. Nom nom nom nom.
SPEAKER_00Thank you everyone for joining us. Uh, you know, the healthcare system is broken, vitamins are expensive, but do it anyway. And if you have any questions, comments, suggestions for topics are always um welcome. Uh, you can email us through my travel site, which is hello at meridian by jessie. It's jessy with an IE dot com. Thank you.