Brian (0s):
Coming up on the Get Lean EAN podcast.
Molly (3s):
Well, things like exercise is what drives mitochondrial biogenesis and things like fasting. Occasionally ketosis can drive met. And so it's really about that turnover of our batteries, recharging them with the food that we eat, the air that we breathe that creates this, this little, like, we literally burn fuel to create energy. And that electrochemical gradient is what creates charge. And that at TP is the energy currency. So, you know, it's like money in the bank. So you want a bunch of a t p if you wanna be healthy. And how it's kind of similar to how, like if you feel like you have a break account that's empty and you get hit with a major expense, you're broke.
Molly (45s):
Right? Same thing will happen in the biology. If you have poor health and you don't have a lot of energy and you've got like dull skin and grace, you know, and no energy in the, when you wake up in the morning and then you get hit with a bad infection, you're gonna set yourself up for things like chronic fatigue.
Brian (1m 3s):
Hello and welcome to the Get Lean e Klean podcast. I'm Brian Grn and I'm here to give you actionable tips to get your body back to what it once was, five, 10, even 15 years ago. Each week I'll give you an in-depth interview with a health expert from around the world to cut through the fluff and get you long-term sustainable results. This week I interviewed Dr. Molly Malouf. Dr. Malouf is a best-selling author and provides health optimization and personalized medicine to high achieving entrepreneurs, investors, and technology execs in San Francisco and Silicone Valley. We discussed the four culprits that could reduce your energy along with her new book Spark Factor, the Secret to Supercharging Energy, becoming Resilient and feeling better than Ever.
Brian (1m 49s):
The importance of protein and resistance training, what drives your mitochondria, optimizing your stress levels and her one tip to get your body back to what it once was. Really enjoyed my interview with Dr. Molly Malouf. I know you will too. Thanks so much for listening and enjoy the show. All right. Welcome to the Get Lean e Klean podcast. And my guest today is Dr. Molly Malouf. Welcome to the show.
Molly (2m 13s):
Hey, thanks for having me.
Brian (2m 14s):
Thanks for coming on. And we were just talking off here. You went to, you got your MD at University of Illinois, is that correct? Yep,
Molly (2m 22s):
Yep. Totally.
Brian (2m 24s):
What, what made you choose there?
Molly (2m 28s):
I chose the University of Illinois because I felt like it was the cheapest undergrad you could choose that was highest quality. So I was like, good price, great quality, why not? Plus it was close to my parents. Okay. And you know, I love my family, so being close to them was something I, I valued. And then aside from that, it was really just a matter of me being interested in, you know, I don't know, I guess Illinois just offered a lot. I really saw it as like a really important institution because of what it can offer for students. I mean, you could really, it's one of those schools where it's not like they don't really handhold you through it.
Molly (3m 8s):
What they do is they, they really just like you. You show up to the University of Illinois and then you choose your own adventure and anything you want, you can probably get, but you need to be the kind of person that's gonna be able to like say, okay, this is what I want to get out of my education. And I was one of those people and I, I really feel like I was able to like genuinely get everything I wanted out of University of Illinois. I studied abroad twice. I had some wild adventures in Mexico and Spain. I designed my own major. I took jewelry classes, I took, you know, I wanted to learn how to speak and write better. So I took writing classes and I just, like, anything I wanted to learn, I could learn there.
Molly (3m 50s):
And I, I really felt like the Big 10 doesn't get as much attention as Ivy Leagues or even Stanford, but University of Illinois is a, is a phenomenal institution. And you know, mark Andreesen went there, I worked in the libraries there, worked in the history and philosophy library. I really felt like it just prepared me for life and it taught me how to learn. And that was really, that's the most important thing you can get outta college, is learning how to learn. But yeah, I have very fond memories from University of Illinois. It was a great school.
Brian (4m 21s):
Well, good to, good to know. I went to Indiana, so, but I,
Molly (4m 26s):
My sisters went there. Oh,
Brian (4m 27s):
There you
Molly (4m 27s):
Go. I think it's an equally good school.
Brian (4m 29s):
Yeah, it's great. It's great. I mean, all these schools are, it's all what, just what you make of it, I guess. Right, totally. And then you taught at Stanford, correct?
Molly (4m 38s):
I did actually for three years. From 2019 to 20 20 19, 20 21 maybe 2022. So I was like over, I was definitely, I I, it was a lot, a lot of time there. But it was great and definitely was not the college education that I got, students did not do nearly as much partying as I did when I was in undergrad. It was a lot more of a subdued campus and a lot more focused on academics. I'd say. Like Stanford would not be considered to like be a party school. University of Illinois has a lot of partying, but, but Stanford has exceptional, it's like going to, it's like going to like a country club to like go to school.
Molly (5m 21s):
It's like really, really finely manicured place. Yeah. I always felt a little bit like an outsider there, to be honest with you, cuz I was like, I did not get into Stanford and I am now a teacher here. What did you teach? And I actually looked at the numbers. There's not that many teachers at Stanford. There's only a few thousand people who teach. Hmm. And so I was kind of like, wow. Like it's arguably a little bit more competitive to become a professor there than actually attend there. And I was a lecturer, but they asked me to be a professor and I, and I didn't know, I didn't have the, I didn't have the time to offer the things that they needed for, for that role. But, you know, it was, it's cool.
Brian (5m 58s):
And then after that, you've written this book called The Spark Factor, right?
Molly (6m 1s):
Yeah, I wrote the book, the Spark Factor. It was actually during, when I was teaching, when I started writing it, it was largely the course that I taught at Stanford that inspired the book along with my medical practice and then the work that I've done with startups. So I've had a really phenomenal, fun, exciting career and it's been just a joy to like get to be a part of so many different movements and industries. And now as a published author got that thing behind my belt, which is cool. It's been really fun.
Brian (6m 29s):
I know we were saying you, you've been all over doing tons of interviews. What have, what have you learned from the process?
Molly (6m 36s):
You must enjoy the process. You must learn to enjoy the process. So you must cognitively re reframe any aspect of what you're doing that is not serving you in terms of maintaining positivity. And like, it can be really grueling to be on a book tour and to be traveling and to be, you know, showing up, glamming yourself up for TV appearances and having to wake up and look nice for Zoom. And there was a, there was a definitely a dip before the book launched where I was like, oh my God, I can't wait for this to be done. And then I was like, wait, what if you just changed your attitude and you enjoyed what you were doing? And just started really enjoying the whole process. And then that totally flipped something and I was like, wow, now I'm just having the best time.
Molly (7m 18s):
But like, you can't really, you can't really predict what's gonna happen in the world. And so I'm happy with how the book's performing and how the book's doing, but you gotta keep, you gotta keep like pushing forward and promoting it and talking about it and it's just, it was a le definitely a labor of love for sure that I did for the world. I wanted to help people as much as possible.
Brian (7m 40s):
Yeah. And I agree, I mean, enjoying the process is important because there's all this buildup to the book, right? And the book comes out and sometimes there could be sort of a letdown a you know, after the fact when you're done, maybe some relief, maybe explain to the listener or viewer like a little bit about the spark factor. And I know it's a lot about biohacking and with women and, and you know, reviving energy and vitality.
Molly (8m 4s):
Yeah. Well it's funny cuz I wrote the book on biohacking for women mostly because it was, because a lot of the books on biohacking have been written by men for men. But I arguably think that the majority of this book is still readable by men. And in fact, for at least heteronormative men who do date women, I think that it's important for men to read this so that they understand their partners and understand what's going on in their bodies throughout the month. Cuz they're, I feel like a different person depending on the week of the month and it's hormones. And so I've also had a lot of friends that are biohacking guys and they're like, well, the thing that works for me doesn't work for my girlfriend. And I'm like, Ooh, I wonder why. And so I started digging into all that years ago.
Molly (8m 44s):
Cause I was like noticing that in my practice, women who are trying to do exactly the same things as men, we're not getting the same outcomes. So women have to just be a little bit more careful with our bodies and with with our hormones because we have different biological imperatives, whether we like it or not. Like our biology is programmed for one thing, which is to survive and then connect and reproduce. And whether we have kids or not, it's not really the, like, it, it doesn't really matter because your biology wants you to have children. Like it's doing everything it can to help you survive and pass on your genes. And not everybody agrees with me on this, but this is to me like fundamental programming of life. And it's, it's like it's, you can see it in nature, you can see it in animal life, you can see it when you certainly start looking at nature straightforwardly without like our coddled western perspective, you realize that a lot of life is competition for resources and a lot of life is protecting your kin in order to protect your tribe in order to survive this crazy world we're living in.
Molly (9m 48s):
And it's only in the last three years, I think with the pandemic that people really started feeling like, oh, life isn't this safe as it as we thought it was growing up. You know, like I, I was in, grew up in Illinois, it was very safe at the time. It felt like a very safe place. But, but you know, women's bodies, when we get into a state of threat, it really can screw up our hormones and our thyroid and it can make it really hard for us to lose weight. And you know, specifically when women lose their estrogen, as they get older, they become less insulin sensitive and they start putting on weight more. And so it is just a challenge of being a female. We have so many different changes throughout our life. We have, you know, puberty, we have fertility years, we have pregnancies, we have, you know, we have like so many different things that we go through and that there's menopause and it's just like, there's a lot to biohack as a woman.
Molly (10m 40s):
So I wanted to like give at least a preview of what I do to help people. But there's so many more things that I do than I couldn't put in this book. I wanted this book to be mass market and available for like the average reader, but I could totally write another book that's like next level biohacks. But it's, it's like some of those things are, are more cutting edge and they're not as tested. So I wanted to stick with the tried and true stuff first and then focus on the things that are less, less tested later.
Brian (11m 7s):
What are some of the problems that you see that women get themselves into as they age? Whether it's done on purpose or not, you know, something like that I actually see sometimes is like calorie restriction not eating enough. What, what are the, what, you know, something like that. What are some of the issues that you see with women that happens as they age?
Molly (11m 29s):
Protein deficiency and lack of weightlifting is a huge one that if you were to realize what you could do with your body as you age, like I love this woman on Instagram train with Joan, she, her daughter's a bodybuilder and she decided to start weightlifting just to like get in better shape. I mean the transformation that she has gone through. And she's in her seventies now. She looks amazing. And I'm like, wow. Like women now have so much more knowledge than we've ever had, but yet so many women end up frail and sick and, and like totally unfortunately, you know, like at risk for falls and that can shorten your life dramatically.
Molly (12m 9s):
And it's shortened the life of my, of one of my grandmothers. And so I look at it as like, I don't wanna end up with the diseases of my grandparents. You don't wanna, I don't wanna, I don't want Alzheimer's. I don't want any of these negative, nasty conditions. I wanna live a long and healthy life. And, and so when I figured out was that if you wanna live long and well, then you really do need to mind your mitochondria. And your mitochondria are your energy producing or organelles and they also are your epigenetic regulators. So they're literally regulating your biology and what genes get expressed and when and why and when you see that as a core facet of our, of what, what health is made from health is really our capacity and our capacitance comes from our mitochondria.
Molly (12m 57s):
It's literally a physics equation. Your health is a physics equation and nobody sees it that way because people don't think about first principles. But when you start looking at biology from physics, you start looking at like your, your biology and you start seeing it through the lens of physics. You're like, well actually matter is, is is like, you know, there's particles and waves, but like matter is is not as important as energy at the end of the day. Like you gotta maintain the structure, but you can't do that without energy. You, you gotta like, you know, you gotta really see it that way. And if you see the body that way, it just changes your entire worldview. It changes your view of mental health, it changes your view of metabolic health, it changes your view of hormone health and they're all interconnected to our metabolism.
Brian (13m 45s):
Did you, I know you talk about a lot about energy production and mitochondrial respiration and things like that. Yeah. Did you study this for a while before like
Molly (13m 53s):
Oh yeah. For years. Okay. Yeah. I, I got some mentors that were mitochondrial experts and I was like, and then I just sat with papers on papers on papers. I was like, what are these things? How do they work? And then I was trying to like explain how they work to people in basic terms and it's really hard to take like, what is mitochondrial biogenesis? Well, it's when you make more mitochondria, what is mihay? It's when you throw out the batteries that don't carry a charge, what is, you know, like what, what are the things that drive those things? Well, things like exercise is what drives mitochondrial biogenesis and things like fasting. Occasionally ketosis can drive autophagy. And so it's really about that turnover of our batteries, recharging them with the food that we eat, the air that we breathe that creates this, this little, like, we literally burn fuel to create energy and that electrochemical gradient is what creates charge.
Molly (14m 48s):
And that a t p is the energy currency. So, so you know, it's like money in the bank. So you want a bunch of attp if you wanna be healthy. And he, it's kind of similar to how like if you feel like you have a bank account that's empty and you get hit with a major expense, you're broke. Right? Same thing will happen in the biology. If you have poor health and you don't have a lot of energy and you've got like dull skin and grace, you know, and no energy in the, when you wake up in the morning and then you get hit with a bad infection, you're gonna set yourself up for things like chronic fatigue, you know, and this is this, when I figured that this is what really got me into mitochondria was studying viruses. And I was like, well I was studying mitochondria, mitochondria before then, but then I was like, wait, we don't understand viruses.
Molly (15m 34s):
What if we, what if I just like stung into that for a while? And so I started digging into viruses and I was like, oh wow, we do not, we are not prepared for viral plagues. And then pandemic hit like eight months later and I was like,
Brian (15m 49s):
Hmm, there you go. You
Molly (15m 51s):
Know? So I'm one of those doctors that like, is like a, I'm not like, I think I'm an expert in health, I guess you'd say, but I'm definitely a broad generalist in many fields. And so when people talk to me they're like, wow, you know, so many things. And I'm like, I go really deep very often on many subjects and that's kind of why I'm not necessarily like a world class like, you know, nephrologist, but I, I know enough about enough fields in a deep way to be able to communicate like a, a, a version of health that I think is, is unique and special that everyone else is starting to catch onto.
Brian (16m 30s):
Now, what would you say are some of the big culprits when it comes to not having enough energy production? What, what, what, what things everyday things that get in people's ways that can hamper mitochondrial, you know, respiration.
Molly (16m 49s):
So there's this thing called mitochondrial allostatic load and it's the cumulative load of stress on the system before it breaks. And believe it or not, I think one of the biggest causes of mitochondrial aesthetic load is psychosocial stress. It's work stress, relationship stress and financial stress. And, and doctors will tell you, we'll stop stressing so much. Well guess what? Most doctors don't know how to in instruct people on how to do that. So I'm doing training through this company called hanu Health on how do you use heart rate variability as a biofeedback tool to develop better H R V. And I'm, I'm really, I mean like I, I've used blood sugar monitoring to optimize my blood sugar, but my next frontier is stress.
Molly (17m 32s):
I'm like, I really wanna optimize my stress levels as much as possible. And yeah, so basically that's something that I've been thinking a lot about, you know, is like, how do I, how do I teach people that, like how do we actually show people like, this is how much stress you're under and also like you can do better. And so I see it in my clients all the time and I work on their sleep and I work on their supplements, but, you know, there's like a, there's a lot going on with, with people.
Brian (18m 3s):
Did you study any of like Dr. Ray Pete's writings and his
Molly (18m 7s):
I have read some of his stuff Yeah.
Brian (18m 8s):
His work on. Okay. Because I, I've had Jay Feldon, it's more of like a bio bio energetic viewpoint and it, it's, it sounds a bit similar to what you're talking about here.
Molly (18m 20s):
Yeah, totally.
Brian (18m 23s):
So I noticed you talk about like different culprits that can reduce your energy capacity and I sort of wrote those, you, you talked about four of 'em, one of them inactivity, the other one overeating poor nutrition and too much stress and social disconnection. And then you mentioned that protein and weightlifting is a big issue with women. It's a big issue with men as well. Yeah. Do you find that, what other issues do you find that pop up with women? Would undereating be one of them?
Molly (18m 55s):
Oh yeah. So there's this thing called red s which I'm not sure a lot of people are aware of. But it's basically when women are under consuming calories for their fitness levels. And that can create a lot of problems, a lot, a lot of problems for people. And, and it basically, it causes pretty significant mitochondrial dysfunction and hormone dysfunction because you're basically stressing the body with what's it's called. It's called relative, relative energy deficiency for a reason, you know?
Brian (19m 23s):
Hmm. Red acid it's called.
Molly (19m 26s):
Yeah.
Brian (19m 28s):
Okay. And what type of tools can people use to help, you know, sort of if you wanna say biohack or health or, or you know, get their mitochondrial working more efficiently?
Molly (19m 42s):
Well, I think the big one as I mentioned is, you know, for, well you kinda have to think about like energy production from the very beginning of like when you first start eating food. So first and foremost you have to hear a digestion proper, properly functioning. Cuz if you're not digesting well then you're not absorbing and assimilating nutrients, right? And if you're not absorbing and assimilating nutrients properly, then you're not getting the fuel inside the cell, right? And then you have to look at insulin resistance. So it's not just your gut and the processing of the fuel, but it's also the quality of the fuel. So you gotta get your food quality properly, you know, dialed. And it's taken me a long, you know, a long time to realize that like it's really not that complicated.
Molly (20m 27s):
It's actually just eat whole foods. Like I don't care if you're vegan or keto, start with whole foods and just get off of package processed foods and pass foods and then you can start adjusting your macros based on your body's needs, based on your exercise. Making sure you get propensive protein is really fundamental. Something overlooked by a lot of doctors. Something that's totally controversial in a lot of the longevity spaces. But I'm, I'm more of a higher, I'm a higher protein believer, but I also believe in exercise. So I don't think you can properly, I don't think it's healthy to eat large ones of protein the less you're using it to rebuild muscle regularly. So I do fluctuate my protein levels based on my exercise activity levels.
Molly (21m 7s):
But generally speaking, protein is really one of the most cornerstone facets of your nutrition. And then you gotta make sure your fats are clean and healthy and you're not eating a lot of omega six refined vegetable oils. Like, I'm very, very particular about the oils that I consume. I use extra virgin olive oil, extra virgin, and I get like, I and I like source these directly from farms, by the way, extroverted avocado oil. And then this company I'm an advisor of called Zero Acre Farms. Mm. They make a ridiculously high quality.
Brian (21m 36s):
I just ordered some, I I I've had it before. Yeah,
Molly (21m 39s):
It's really tasty and it's the only vegetable oil that I'm gonna use now because it just doesn't make me feel sick. I actually feel genuinely unwell when I eat like fried foods and fast foods. I just, I just don't eat them anymore. So after you fix your fuel, you gotta make sure your carbs are properly assimilated and digested. So you gotta look at your, like, does your body do well with higher fat or lower carb or does your body do well with lower car or higher fat or does your body do well with balanced? So that's really a pretty simple way to describe macros for people. I go, I do a lot of carb cycling, which is based basically like using carbs in accordance to my exercise levels and eating generally low carb otherwise.
Molly (22m 19s):
And then micronutrients are really key. So even if you eat a healthy diet, even even if you have a good, even if you have like a good digestion, you still may be eating food that's nutrient deficient because of the way that soil's being depleted. So most people need to replace the top supplements, vitamin D, omega-3 S, you know, and then magnesium and you know, be complex. That's typically what everybody gets. And then I do hair, hair mineral testing, micronutrient testing to look at other deficiencies and imbalances. And then from there you can look at things like what does your environment look like? Right? Are you, are you breathing unclean air? Are you drinking unclean water?
Molly (22m 60s):
Are you covering your body with all sorts of chemicals? You know, like I had my body checked recently for phalates and other endocrine disruptors and I was high on pH lights. Great news, I gotta stop doing my nails. You know, like, shouldn't be like, nails are just not healthy. Like how did
Brian (23m 16s):
You get that? How, I'm sorry? How did you get that tested?
Molly (23m 18s):
Oh, there's a company called Clockwise and it's a new company. I love their, their brand, their great company and they do epigenetic testing for female fertility. And it was a bit of a wake up call for me cuz I was like, oh shit, I should not be getting my nails done. And last year was the first year I started doing my nails like professionally cuz I was doing a lot of appearances and I wanted them to look nice, but then I realized, what's the point of this? Like they're not, it's not healthy. Like I shouldn't be doing this. And then, so toxins are, are key. You gotta get rid rid of toxins. I, I love my natural action water purification system. It's phenomenal. It makes my water taste like magic. I swear to God it's like so good. I love air doctor products for air cleaning, making sure your home gets tested for mold.
Molly (23m 60s):
You gotta really avoid mold as much as you can. It's really, really common in, in, in vents and, and like crawl spaces. So I've had all my clients get checked for this. And then there's also, there's also like, I was gonna add, you know, there's obviously like the exercise and, and and flexibility and weightlifting, which pretty is pretty much is a given, but a lot of people don't do. So try to get your, your fitness in at least your non-exercise activity thermogenesis in and then, and
Brian (24m 33s):
Then you're good.
Molly (24m 34s):
Yeah, I mean, it's good to look at your hormones just to see like, yeah, are, like, last year my stress levels were affecting my sex hormones. Like my stress levels were too high last year. So I had, I had a course correct, so my cortisol went up, my estrogen went down. Periods were generally okay, but I, I just knew that that wasn't a healthy pathway to be living my life. So checking your hormones occasionally. Not a bad move to look at those. I mean this is pretty much functional medicine 1 0 1, you know, but you know, occasionally fasting, throwing up the mitochondria, they don't carry a charge. Or going into ketosis is really good for metabolic flexibility and metabolic flexibility is really important for making sure that your liver health is functioning properly and making sure you just drain the sink regularly of the glycogen stores that you have.
Molly (25m 20s):
So occasionally draining that sink is really, really great. You don't have to do it that often, but I'm, I'm due for a fast, I'll probably be doing one in like a month or so maybe when I'm done with the book tour and traveling. But
Brian (25m 33s):
Could you over, yeah, I mean, could you overdo stressors
Molly (25m 37s):
Last year?
Brian (25m 38s):
What's I said could you overdo stressors? You know, like fasting's a stressor. Yes,
Molly (25m 43s):
Yes, yes, yes. A big part of this book is like teaching people about mior stressors and mimesis is like mitochondrial stress that makes you stronger. It's different than mi mi mitochondrial allostatic load. Mitochondrial allostatic load is the cumulative amount of stress you have that fills up your stress cup before it overflows. So you can use MIT mimesis to fill up your stress cup, but if you have a bunch of psychosocial stress on top of that, then you're gonna overflow. Does that make sense? Right. So like I don't tell people, like I, I'll do a little bit of cold plunging when I'm under a lot of stress, but I'm not gonna do like five minutes of cold plunging. I'll do a little bit of, I mean, I love sauna and cold plunge. It's a great matter of way to stress her, you know, but,
Brian (26m 25s):
But you, but like, I'll, I'll just give you an example. Like last week I, I felt like I was just not right. I was under the weather a bit and I actually have a cold plunge,
Molly (26m 34s):
Don't forget EG oil.
Brian (26m 37s):
Eg
Molly (26m 37s):
Oil. This shit saved me from getting a cold
Brian (26m 39s):
Oregano oil. Okay.
Molly (26m 41s):
Yeah. It's amazing.
Brian (26m 44s):
But I was just saying, so last week, you know, I usually plunge, I don't plunge every day, but last week I just wasn't quite feeling right. So I just took a break from the plunging thinking to myself, you know, why do I wanna stack another stressor onto maybe my body's not all, all the way ready for it.
Molly (26m 57s):
Yeah, yeah,
Brian (26m 59s):
Yeah. So yeah,
Molly (27m 0s):
That's like, that's an important way to listen to your body. A lot of people don't do that and then they, they they're like, well coal plunge makes you stronger. And I'm like, I have seen people burn out because they did 20 minute coal plunges.
Brian (27m 11s):
Well yeah, I don't, I've been there for like two minutes.
Molly (27m 14s):
Yeah. Minutes is all you need.
Brian (27m 15s):
Yeah, I really, yeah, exactly. You don't need much more than that. What about sauna infrared? Do you ever do any of that?
Molly (27m 22s):
Oh yeah, I've got a sauna blanket. I have a sauna at my gym, infrared sauna at my gym. Oh nice. I'm sure thinking about going that, going tonight to that.
Brian (27m 31s):
Okay. I know you talk about like biohacks for women. One of the things I saw that you talk quite a bit about a psychedelics, maybe touch on those for a bit. Yeah, yeah. How can those play a role?
Molly (27m 46s):
Okay, so one of the things that people forget is that basically there's regular stress and then there's like traumatic stressors in the past that kind of leave emotional scars in the body. And those sometimes make you more dysfunctional because it can make you, he have this heightened amount of stress re reactivity. So in order to turn the knob down, what I believe psychedelics are doing is having, helping you reformat your hard drive. It's like, let's get rid of the malware, let's like move this into long-term memory. This is just a past experience. It doesn't need to be experienced as present and it's a, it's working on the subconscious level and so that's where you need to do the work to get rid of trauma.
Molly (28m 35s):
And not every psychedelic experience is gonna be a good experience if you're not prepared properly and you don't have the right setting, the right person to do it with. But if you do it really by the book and you're really careful, it can be transformative. So I'm definitely a big proponent of psychedelics, but I'm also want people to realize they need to be more care, they need to be really careful with these, these things, you
Brian (28m 56s):
Know? Right. Yeah. Cuz you keep, you do hear 'em coming up different psychedelic companies and things like that. I was just wanted to circle back to one of the things you mentioned about water. What, what type type of things can you do to sort of biohack your water to maybe help, you know, a t p pro production and you know, mitochondrial health,
Molly (29m 18s):
Biohacking water? Well yeah. Whether this is a, like whether this is like a, how do I describe it? Like whether, I mean I wanna believe this because it makes so much sense, but I, I sat like literally for two hours talking to this guy from natural action and it's, there's all this gobbly good out there on structured water, right? Right. But then there's this, what I think is a very, what makes a lot of sense is like the way that water flows in nature should be the way that you drink water, right? So it should flow in a natural pattern. We've created pipes and systems that have a lot of bunch of red angles and whether people believe this or not, there is like a physics des the, the way the guy that from natural action describes this is that there is a physical change to water structure depending on how it, what it flows through.
Molly (30m 11s):
And I could like literally like this guy for like hours has explained this to me. So I'm definitely not a world expert in this. Okay. But if you drink spring water or water that's from like the natural source, it tastes different than like a water bottle that's been sitting on a counter. And the theory is, is that water is more alive when it's been moved in, like the way it's supposed to move in nature, it's got more oxygenation, it's got more, it's got like a healthier structure to it. And so I believe that natural action, the product itself, what it does is it basically takes water from your pipes, but it runs it through these crystals that they acu they, they get these crystals from like somewhere near the North Pole.
Molly (30m 57s):
Like they're definitely like some sort of special rock that you need to, it's like a natural rock, but it's basically kinda like running the water through what it would, what, what would be like if it was running through a stream. And so it, it sort of returns it to its natural form and also has a pur there's a purifier attached to it. So I've had people come over to my house and be like, what is your, like what is, how is your water taste so good? And I'm like, I know it's crazy. It's this crazy, it's this natural action stuff and I'm, I'm totally sold on it. Cause I literally feel different when I drink this water regularly than when I'm drinking.
Brian (31m 33s):
So Do you, do you have one of these in your house?
Molly (31m 35s):
Yeah, it's, it's installed under my sink.
Brian (31m 37s):
Okay.
Molly (31m 38s):
Yeah.
Brian (31m 39s):
Interesting. Yeah, I was just looking 'em up. Okay. What about routines? Talk to me about, I'm, I'm a big routine guy. I, I like to talk to my guests about their morning routine or their evening routine. Sure. Cause I really think that sets the day and the night up. So talk to me, tell me a little bit about your routine or some of the things that you help your clients do.
Molly (32m 1s):
Well, it's funny because I started doing more of my, like I, I go, I kind of go in and out of like my regimens. But generally speaking I was going through some of my old notebooks and I was like, I'm gonna start doing this again. And so I found a notebook that still had my morning routine list. So you can't really see it cuz it's blurry. It is blurry, but god damn it, it's blurry. Hold on. Anyway, so anyway,
Brian (32m 26s):
So like, yeah, go
Molly (32m 27s):
Ahead. Now do I do everything on this routine every day? No, because some days I jump outta bed and I've got like emergencies to handle. But for the most part, what I like to do in the morning is wake up, meditate for 15 to 30 minutes, visualize how I want my day to go, do some loving kindness meditation. Like do some affirmations. I've got this amazing little thing here from this company called Intelligent Change and it's like, oh, I've heard of them. It's, it's a great company. I'm obsessed with this mindful, mindful affirmations cards. And so it's got this little woodblock and I pull like an affirmation card and I'm like, okay, cool.
Molly (33m 7s):
That's a good way to start my day. I'm getting healthier and more joyful every way. Every day. Yes. And actually I had a really joyful day today. And then if I have like an intense dream of some sort, I'll journal it. I'll definitely remember to write that down. Well sometimes I won't. Depends on the day.
Brian (33m 36s):
What Molly, sorry, you cut, you cut out for one second. You, so you meditate. What else? I'm
Molly (33m 40s):
Sorry. Yeah, so meditate, affirmations, journal something and then, you know, make my bed, get some sunlight if I can. Yeah. And then, you know, like typically I'll make something very light before I go work out. So I'll make coffee. I'm, I was going, I, I was off of coffee for three, three months while I was restoring my cortisol levels. But I went back on coffee, so I'm making, I, I wasn't, I was like, I don't know what it was, but I was craving bulletproof coffee lately. And I was like, I don't know why I'm craving this, but I'm drinking it and I'm, and it's like making me really happy every day. And then, so typically what I'll do is I'll check the Wall Street Journal and drink my coffee and eat, eat something small and then get dressed and go to the gym.
Molly (34m 31s):
I like, so usually I'll clean up the kitchen a little bit too and then walk to the gym, weight lift, walk back and then take a shower and start my day. You know. And like I was starting my day earlier last year, but I just decided that I'm gonna start my day later this year. Cause I want more relaxation and recovery. So I'm starting my day mostly around, depending on the day, like Friday it'll be seven, but most, most of the days I'm trying to start my day around 10 instead of nine. Cuz I just love having a nice long morning. And I like that space to like check my email and like just get, get, get organized before I have a bunch of calls.
Molly (35m 11s):
So I'll usually like check in with my email, my calendar and everything. And then I do, like, if I am weightlifting I'm gonna eat a little bit more protein. Either like a, a protein shake serving or not like a full shake, but like, just drink some protein just cuz you need to get like enough protein for that mitochondrial or for the mu muscle protein synthesis. And then I'll typically be on calls and podcasts for a few hours, eat some lunch, and then more calls and more podcasts. And, and then like last night was a really busy night because I had just tons of busy work to do. So I had dinner and then I went and I started doing a bunch of busy work till like 10:00 PM But normally I try to like wind down.
Molly (35m 60s):
I mean, I think I wa I started winding down around nine last night, so then I went to bed at 10. So my wind down routine was doing some reading and washing my face, brushing my teeth, scraping my tongue, flossing. And then, you know, when you wash your face you have to put your creams on or whatever. But yeah, like then before I go to sleep, I like to think through like what are things that I wanna, what do I wanna ma manifest in my life, you know? So I'm doing a lot of visualization and manifestation work right before bed and right before I wake up in the morning. So that's typically my day. I wanna do more stretching in general. So that's one of my goals is do more yin yoga, but Oh yeah, yeah.
Brian (36m 40s):
Yin yoga, that's the, that's the evening with like can lights and stuff, right?
Molly (36m 44s):
Yeah. It's just like really deep, deep stretches and stuff.
Brian (36m 50s):
Just one more point on, on your book, you talk about becoming resilient. Like what, what, what do you mean about becoming, becoming resilient? What, what's,
Molly (36m 59s):
Well the thing is, is that resilience has a bunch of different definitions, right? So there's resilience to trauma, there's like post-traumatic growth, there's resilience as a, as a character quality. So as like a personality trait, which is largely associated with grit and persistence. And then there's resilience to things that you're challenged by and bouncing back after you get hit with a major challenge. So I literally had to sit, I like, I have a whole lecture on resilience that like breaks it down from like definitions to politic literature. There's no real agreement on what resilience is, but generally speaking, people who persist and people who have grit are more likely to pou to bounce back because they're more likely to focus on the long-term vision of their lives.
Molly (37m 47s):
So you have to be, you have to have a mindset of resilience and that means that you have to realize like yes, you're gonna encounter challenges, but challenges can make you stronger or challenges can break you. And is, and, and the goal is to build as much health into your body so that you become resilient so that you don't get sick. So you do bounce back when you get hit with the big stressor.
Brian (38m 8s):
Yeah. Well, well, well said. And, and it's a question I always ask everyone on that comes on what, what tip or tips would you give someone that maybe, you know, they wanted to get their body back to what it once was like 10, 15 years ago? What one tip would you give that individual?
Molly (38m 26s):
Weightlifting? Weightlifting is everything. I mean, I just, I'm the guys at Mind Pump really taught me a lot years ago cuz I, I was like in decent shape but I wasn't in like, I wasn't in amazing shape. And now my body can go in and outta shape very quickly. I can go from very voluptuous to very lean like in a couple months. But consistently I find that when I'm weightlifting, I'm the strongest. And I also love a toga yoga, which is a form of weightlifting using your body weight and it's a type of yoga, but you have to, your muscles are the organ of longevity. And so I just feel like if everybody we're really strong, I mean women are always afraid of weightlifting cuz they're like, I don't wanna get bulky muscles, but like it, you have to do serious body building to get bull bulky muscles.
Molly (39m 13s):
Like I've never, I never got bulky when I was doing the most weightlifting last year. I just got lean and healthy, you know? Right. So yeah, I just think that like fitness is, is so key and it's the hardest thing to do, but you gotta, but if, here's the thing, when I got into shape, it was not like an overnight thing. It was like, I seriously had chronic fatigue 10 years ago after I left my residency and I had been hit with a major infection and it knocked me on my ass. And I was not really, I didn't have any energy to do anything, but I knew I wanted to keep my, commit my life to health. And so I, I slowly, slowly started implementing exercise. I started with Feld in Christ.
Molly (39m 53s):
It's the super easiest exercise you can ever do. Nobody fail felt in Christ. It's literally like laying on the ground and moving your legs very slowly. It's like, it's, it's not, it's not ex it's like, it's so easy that like, but what it did for me was it gave me something that I cou):ld feel like I could do. And then I started doing sauna instead of, instead of cardio because I didn't have the energy to do cardio. And then I started doing cuddle balls at home using apps on my phone. And then I started doing power blocks with Beachbody on demand. And then I joined a gym and like started dating this guy who taught me how to weightlift. And, and so I learned how to actually use pro proper form and weightlifting.
Molly (40m 35s):
And then I started doing more running and exploring the farmer's markets of San Francisco by running to them. And then I started doing yoga and then I was like, whoa, I'm in shape. You know? And it wasn't not an overnight thing. This is over many years. And then the pandemic hit and I fortunately had access to gyms the entire time, but I lost my yoga practice and it's really made a big difference in my flexibility. So I have to rebuild that yoga practice back in. So this is the week I'm, I'm starting, starting back on yoga, but it's one of those things where like you, if you don't use it, you lose it. So my flexibility needs a lot of work and I used to be really, really good at yoga, so I'm slowly adding that back in.
Molly (41m 18s):
But again, try to remember that fitness is not something that, like, you, you don't have to overnight start weightlifting. You can start with easy, easy, easy stuff and then accomplish that and then move on to the next thing. And so just start with whatever feels good. Don't start with, with whatever is intimidating. Start with the things that make you excited about exercise and like group sports are really fun. I wanna start doing volleyball, you know, like I love, I love like group, group activities, you know?
Brian (41m 47s):
Yeah. Doing something that you're looking forward to is always, you know, in group sports is one of those. Well, this was great, Molly. What, what's, what's the best place for people to find you?
Molly (41m 58s):
My website, dr molly.co. And my instagram@drmolly.co.
Brian (42m 3s):
Okay, excellent. And we'll put links in the show notes and also for your book Spark Factor, which came out end of January, right?
Molly (42m 11s):
Yeah.
Brian (42m 13s):
Awesome. Well thank you so much for coming on the podcast.
Molly (42m 16s):
Cool. Awesome. Thanks for having me.
Brian (42m 21s):
Thanks for listening to the Get Lean EAN podcast. I understand there are millions of other podcasts out there and you've chosen to listen to mine and I appreciate that. Check out the show notes@briangrin.com for everything that was mentioned in this episode. Feel free to subscribe to the podcast and share it with a friend or family member that's looking to get their body back to what it once was. Thanks again and have a great day.
