Angela Paul on The Beauty of Aging

In this episode, Brittany, a Nurse Practitioner at Thrivelab, is joined by the inspiring author Angela Paul. Angela shares her journey, including the inspiration behind her book, "The Beauty of Aging," which seeks to redefine perceptions of aging, and her positive outlook on being in life’s final chapter.

The conversation delves into the importance of mindset, meditation, and embracing a holistic lifestyle to age gracefully. Angela discusses the societal pressures on women regarding aging and self-image, and shares insights on improving self-talk. The podcast explores the transformative effects of hormone balance, particularly during perimenopause and menopause, emphasizing Thrivelab's symptom assessment approach.

Listeners can connect with Angela on social media @angelapaul, look forward to her upcoming book "Ripe," and explore more of her insights on aging, nutrition, and holistic well-being. The engaging conversation will leave listeners inspired to embrace the beauty of aging and live life to the fullest.

Head to www.thrivelab.com or find us on Instagram @thrivelab_women to learn more about the benefits of BHRT and women's hormone health.

Transcript

Brittany (00:01):

Hello, good afternoon, everybody. It is Brittany, nurse practitioner at Thrive with the amazing Angela Paul. We are gonna dive into all the things today. So, so thankful that you are live with us. Please feel free to put any questions in the chat box. And for those who do not know me, I am a provider at Thrive, hormone specialist. We work with a lot of other providers on the platform throughout the United States, helping men and women be able to access support and make hormone accessible for everyone. We will dive into further things that we support when it comes to Thrive. But with that being said, Angela, welcome to our podcast. It is so exciting to have you. I know we talked earlier, that was a whole other podcast in itself and it was awesome. But so great to have you here live, especially with our patients. Please introduce yourself. Tell us about your book, your platform, all of that.

Angela Paul (01:08)

Okay, well, thank you for inviting me. It's a wonderful pleasure to be here and I love what all of you ladies are doing, what you're standing for. Need more of that, women supporting women. I am British born, lived in Los Angeles for about 43 years. And I've written three books, well, my third right now. And I'm 67 years old. And definitely thinking a lot about what it means to be a woman at this particular time of life, you know, I divide my life into three chapters, beginning, middle, I feel like I'm in the third, from 60 to 90, of course nobody knows if you're going to live till 90. But so it's like, at what point in this stage, how do I want to live my life? How do I want to define what that looks like?

And in the book, The Beauty of Aging, I wrote about 10 years ago. I really wanted it to be focused more on the internal aspect of aging, not just the outside because so many books that you can buy on diet, fashion and skincare and there is a little bit of it in there but really I wanted to focus more on the mind, spirit approach to healthy aging. And so I delve into a lot to do with silence, solitude and menopause and self-care and wellness and, you know, mortality and loss and all the things that we experienced throughout our journey but as we get older become even more so with ailing parents and children who have gone off to college. So that was what I really wanted to share in that book. And it was interesting because at some point somebody had mentioned the title, Beauty of Aging. And I just wanna address that when I told people that I was writing a book called The Beauty of Aging. A couple of people said there is no beauty in aging. It's horrible. It's, you know, and I said, well, you know, I know that that's what we're supposed to believe. And there are definitely hard parts of getting older. But I do believe there's a lot of beauty in aging. But it's a matter of how we approach it.

It's having the mindset and the lens to look at our aging process in a different way than what we're bombarded with by society. And, you know, so that was really part of what I was doing in that book. And now as I'm gearing up on my third book, which is tentatively titled, “Ripe”, it's really about coming into the fullness of our being in this last chapter of life. And how do we want to live that?

So, you know, again, a lot of people might say, well, talking about mortality is morbid, but to me it's not, because I think if you have an understanding that our time is finite, that life is very, very fleeting, then the way you live your life will be adjusted and you will live differently, because you will realize all of our days are numbered. We don't have an endless array of tomorrows, and you know, any day anything could happen. So that's- I feel in this book and especially at this part, this time in my life, I really want to get that message out there. Whether you're 17 or 70, you do not know how many days you have left. So live it mindfully, joyfully, gratefully, graciously. And that's really the main focus on that part.

To add to the intro, I've been married for 43 years, so I guess I've got a lot of experience as a wife as well. And yeah, so born and raised in England, lived in Japan for nine years, and now I've been living here for 43 years. And I'm doing a lot of stuff through Instagram. I just kind of took off, you know, got a lot of followers, and I just try to share things that I believe are inspirational or aspirational. Because it's a platform that we have to take responsibility for how we're going to use it and what message we're going to put out there.

Brittany (05:34)

You know, it's beautiful first off the name, Beauty of Aging, because I really think it resets your mind as to what it really is, which is great. But do you have that moment where you were like, I need to share this? Like what compelled you to share? Like, do you remember where you were when it was like, I'm gonna get this on paper and I'm gonna share this with the world. This needs to get out there. When was that?

Angela Paul (05:58)

I was at age 49. My mother was slowly dying to dementia and Parkinson's disease. And my husband's mother was also dying. So there was a lot of things going on during that time. And I was traveling back and forth to England, of course, worried about her, worried about my dad. He was taking care of her. It was such a pivotal moment. And I think especially for a woman, when you lose your mother. And my mother was dying from, like I said, from dementia, so it was very, very slow. But I remember feeling at that time such, all the feelings are so raw, the grief, the loss, all of that, but at the same time, I was feeling so profoundly awake and aware that this is a time when you really, really have to embrace how much longer you have. And so I was like.

Yes, yes, it's really time to start embracing aging, instead of fearing aging, because there was so many books on anti-aging and how to defy aging. And I think when you lose people who are really close to you, especially a mother, it shakes you to your core. And it was interesting because at that time I also cut my hair really short. It was almost like I was shedding. You know? Shedding, resetting. So I just really wanted to dive into the beauty of aging again, but not from this, the cultural perspective of how to look better. It was more about how to feel better, how to think better, how to nourish your spirit. Because to me, those are the foundations for aging well. So yeah, that was 48, 49. And I just felt like everything I wanted to put down, I just kept taking notes and I'm in that same stage again with this next book.

Brittany (07:56)

That is beautiful. I mean to be going through that with your mom, finding and facing just grief, right? I mean grief that really can't be reversed and wanting to turn it around and make it beautiful and then share it. Wow, that's absolutely amazing. And speaking of the book title, you know, the age gracefully, this phrase, you know, can seem overused sometimes. What does it mean to you? You've touched on it quite a bit already, but what does that exactly mean to you?

Angela Paul (08:32)

Okay, first I agree that the phrase has been used too much. So it's really lost what it means. And I was actually thinking about it this morning because I was thinking about this quote from the actress Bette Davis, who famously said, “Aging ain't for sissies”, which is funny, but it means, there's a lot of truth in that because there's a lot of hard stuff that happen when you get older. For me, aging gracefully, it means not hanging on to youth, not being so afraid or fretting that I'm getting older. That's gracefully. Because when you're holding on too tight and you're trying to reverse aging to the point when you're obsessed with how you look and you're not able to be relaxed with the natural aging process that everybody goes through, then that's the opposite of graceful. You're being like this tight, grasping, fearful. So for me, the graceful is just breathing with it, allowing it, just knowing that this is just one inevitable part of being a human, part of the journey. So in that sense, I feel there's a certain amount of gracefulness that comes from approaching aging from that perspective without fear, without obsessing. Obviously doing the things you can to look and feel that you can the best that you can, but with the understanding that we all live in these finite bodies, bringing it back to that focus again. And how do you wanna go through these chapters of your life, totally resistant, totally high fear-based? And it's interesting, because the women that I tend to admire are the ones who've softened with aging. That they're, you know, whatever they wanna do to make themselves look good, fine, but there's sort of like a joyfulness, there's an acceptance. They're the people you want to be around, not the ones who were 35 and saying that they feel old already, you know. I know 90-year-olds at my gym who are doing sun salutations and Zumba class. And then I know 40-year-olds are complaining. So really it's about mental attitude. And so I hope that answers it.

Brittany (10:39)

Oh, it absolutely does. And I find in a world, as you know, with social media and just everything at your fingertips, I mean, you can click a button on your phone, scroll and just find different ways of looking and thinking and dressing. What do you feel women are so obsessed with just like this reverse aging or have a fear of aging? What do you think that's stemming from?

Angela Paul (11:27)

Well, on a much, much deeper level, fear of aging, whether it's in a man or a woman, is actually just the fear of dying. It's the biggest fear. Why? Generally, the thing that people are most afraid of is death. So everything else is just a mask for that deeper fear. So the fear of aging is twofold. Why am I getting all this pressure from social media, from the world of celebridom, and how people totally change their appearance so you don't know what's real or not. And I think there's so much pressure on women to feel like they need to look always like they did in their thirties or forties, which is just, you know, that's that in and of itself is a lot of pressure. And you can't possibly be enjoying life if you're obsessed with how you look, you know, I'm not saying that you shouldn't take care of yourself. I do. I meditate every day. I work out, I dance, I still, you know, put highlights in my hair. I'm not one to do cosmetic surgery, that's not my style, but whatever works for you is fine. I just think if that's something that's causing you great fear, then you have to look at the underlying issues, which is generally fear of death. And that's why in the book that I'm writing, I really feel that has to be the foundation of everything. If you're living finite lives, then a lot of things that you will be worrying about, don't.. matter anymore. You know, you still want to look good and take care of yourself, but your not as driven to have this ideal, this fake ideal of what you think everybody looks like on social media. You become more clear about what you want on the inside. To bring you joy, to bring you peace, to align yourself with people who are loving and supportive and encouraging and are going to lift you up. Or are you going to stay in these old mindsets where you’re comparing yourself not only to others, which is a terrible path to go down. You know, there's that old famous saying, I can't remember who said it, but comparison is a killer of joy. And it is. And I think that way too many women spend so much time on social media, comparing themselves to all these unrealistic, you know, images. And, but when you have a sense that you are more than the body, that you're more than this experience is in this human, this human shell, I don't think you become as addicted to what that world tries to put on us.

Brittany (14:11)

Right. And you know, I love that you start your day with meditation. That is a whole rewire of the brain. It's something that I've actually been practicing more of this year. What it does to your mind, body, outcome, gratitude, right? All of that. Is there a way that women can improve their self-talk and feelings if there's anyone listening now that goes, this is great? Where do I start? I mean, how do I get this great attitude about what you're saying, Angela? What was the first thing they could start with and get going to get them in the right direction? What would you say?

Angela Paul (14:50)

Well, first of all, I would really think about the people that they're hanging out with. Do they have supportive people around them? Are you people that are encouraging you, helping you to see the best version of yourself, or are you surrounded by people who want to keep you small? So there's a lot of things that people can do for themselves. I think that it's really important to find women that, you know, lift each other up because we live in a world that's constantly trying to pull us down. For myself, meditating every day for the past 43 years has been the tools that allows me to remind my... Excuse me one second. This cat's trying to get out. I'm so sorry about that. The door was open, the cat was trying to get out. Ha ha.

Brittany (15:43)

No. This is really insightful. And so you mentioned meditation for the last several.

Angela Paul (15:52)

Yeah, since I was 25 years old. And you have to remember before that I was a model since I was 17. And so when you're a model that young, you're bombarded at an early age with all about your exterior, how you look, how you match up to the next model. And you go on and you go on jobs, you get rejected, you’re hot one day, you're not the next day, you know, so I mean, I was very successful from 15, 16, till I stopped. I was about 25, 26. But during that time, I witnessed older models, when I say older, 25 to 30, who were stressing out then. And this was before Botox and everything. And I saw them, they'd have tape all over their faces and everything. And I remember having a very distinct thought that just- I call it the wise woman voice. Even when you're younger, if you learn to get quiet enough, you can hear that voice. And for me, it was like saying, you have to develop a personality. You have to develop a sense of who you are apart from the way you look. Because if a woman's looks are viewed as a commodity, when those looks inevitably naturally fade, then she's gonna really have a hard time because her value placed on her not just from the outside, but on herself. When those looks fade and you're rejected and they're onto the next 19 year old, then it can be very, very intense. So at that point, around 25, 26, I was thinking to myself, it's so depressing to see these girls who are five years older than me worried about getting older.

So that kind of became the beginning when I start to explore Eastern philosophy or books that helped me to see my life journey bigger than just this outer shell. And that's how I started to get into meditation. And honestly, it's just a part of life now that I can't imagine getting through a day without it. And I try to meditate again in the evening before dinner for about half an hour.

But if I don't do my meditation in the morning, everything in the day just feels disjointed, you know? And some days I'll have longer, other days I have shorter, but it just is a foundation of everything. So to get back to the initial question, I think that a woman has to be able to do that deep inner work. And it takes time, and I certainly had friends who say, I want to be able to think like that, but they don't wanna take the time to do the work.

Which means you have to educate yourself. You have to learn how to train your mind so that you're not like an emotional yo-yo being thrown all over the place. Somebody likes you or doesn't like you. You have a greater anchor inside yourself that nobody can give you or take away because you've established that strength, that anchor within your own being. So that then I think is a foundation for kind self-talk. And I honestly am amazed to hear sometimes women talk to themselves with such cruelty, with so much self-flagellation and self-demeaning. And sometimes I'll say, "'Would you talk to your best friend like that?' And they say, "'Uh-uh.'" So I'm, why are you talking to yourself like that? Because you have to be your best friend, your most staunchest ally. Your best supporter. But that has to start by really going inwards. And so you have to take the time. You have to take the time to develop an inner life. So that would be any one is saying, well, I don't know how, anybody can learn to meditate. I mean, there's even books, Meditation for Dummies. So you can start. So if you say you don't have the time, I'd have to say that's the one thing everybody should make time for, because anything from that just flows, you know. It becomes a foundation for your own sense of who you are and a deeper trust in the moment of your life.

Brittany (20:29)

You know, that's interesting you mentioned the morning is when you start. There is a lot of information out there about starting a morning routine. And if you don't have a morning routine, the day owns you. You don't own it. And so, and, and in a day and age of- we wake up, what do we do? We grab our phone or we, it's instant chaos, instant chaos. Right. It just rolls and rolls. So. And then.

Angela Paul (20:44)

That's the one thing women should stop doing. You know, I turn my phone off at a certain time. I don't even like it in my bedroom when I go to sleep at night. Because I know for myself that if I'm overly attached to my phone on any given day, whether I'm doing some posting or I'm writing or whatever it is I'm doing, I can feel my nervous system is affected. And you know, so obviously I've been living in this body long enough that I know my signs.

And I find that if I look at social media after eight o'clock at night, it's harder to settle into sleep. So that's why it's really important for me, for any woman, not just to have a morning, you know, process, but also sleep hygiene process, which means putting your phone away at a given time, not watching anything violent or scary late at night, maybe having some calming music, reading something that's- some poetry or whatever it is for you that taking a bath with candles but you have to get off that treadmill that we're going on all day, you know. You have a morning practice and an evening practice and even before you go to bed just say a prayer of gratitude for the day that you've had. I always say thank you for the day that I've had and I know that I have one day less to live.

And it's not morbid. It's just, no, it's not a promise. We're not promised tomorrows. And so any woman can do that for herself. So, you know, I don't buy that I don't have any time. Make the time. 15, 20 minutes, start your day off differently. Also stop following all these celebrities. Ha ha. It's a no win situation. You know, it's like, look at your feed, look at who you're following, who makes you feel good? Who, when you've read whatever or looked, does it make you feel better about yourself or worse? If it makes you feel worse, then don't follow them. Follow people that are inspirational, aspirational, and you know, so women can do that for themselves.

Brittany (23:16)

You know, and speaking of what other things women can do, I really embraced just the platform Thrive has supported for women, men as well, but really with the emphasis that we place on is, holistic lifestyles, right? Thrive is a platform that wants to reach out to everyone, but also help them hormonally, but also with lifestyle, we have a life coach now, we have a nutritionist, we are broadening our scope of what we can help patients with. So the goal is never prescriptions or band-aids, it's we're going to dive in deep, we're going to get to the root, and we're going to address this issue. And so a lot of the things that you're mentioning, we are huge on because there's never just a prescription that’s just gonna cure everything. Because it isn’t, right?

Angela Paul (24:16)

Absolutely. It's a definitely, which is why again, with the book, The Beauty of Aging, I didn't want it to be just about outward stuff. It has to be, you know, I wrote something yesterday. There's that old adage that you are what you've- I can't remember exactly, you are something, to me you are what you think. So if you're constantly thinking negative thoughts about yourself or constantly comparing yourself to the celebrity of the moment, how can you feel good about yourself? But yes, it absolutely has to be completely 100% holistic approach from examining how you spend your time. How can you, you know, make your time more productive so that the things that you really want to do, you can do it. But you have to do the work. Again, a lot of people say I want that, but they don't want to do the work. And to me, it all has to work together. It's just like this flow. When one part's working, the others tend to flow together. That's not to say that life becomes, you know, hunky dory or everything and becomes light and breezy, because life is inherently hard as well as being also beautiful. But what I think it does is when you have that grounding in a spiritual sense, or a holistic sense, you are able to deal with hard things easier. It doesn't make them go away, but it helps you to understand that the hard things are also part and parcel of being human beings. We don’t respond necessarily as intensely as we would if we didn't have that grounding.

Brittany (25:58)

Absolutely. You know, and that gets me thinking too. If you feel comfortable discussing it, what were your own experiences with any hormone imbalances, if any? I mean, as women go through these phases of life, what's your take on that?

Angela Paul (26:14)

Well, first of all, I remember when I was a child, always hearing these hushed tones that, give mom some space because mom's going through the change. And it was like, you know, that mom was going through the change. What was like, this very ominous kind of a thing where what was the change and everybody didn't want to talk about it, but you let mom alone for whatever, you know. For me, I think that because I lived in Japan, for so many years, I'd already adopted a healthy Japanese style eating habits, which have shown, because Japanese women don't- have very few menopausal, perimenopausal symptoms, because they've lived on a diet of fish and soy and green tea, which have holistically been proven to help support women during times of menopause and perimenopause. So I'd been doing that from a young age. So the diet part was already there. Plus I was meditating, so I was very in touch with the changes I was going through. But what was happening for me was, again, that was the years 48, 49, when my mother was going through dementia and Parkinson's. And I found out that I had endometriosis, really bad. I didn't know it. So all of my 40s, I had maybe two and a half weeks of intense bleeding. And it was just awful. It was like maybe a week and a half of okay. So my periods were just really, really exhausting. And I was anemic and it was you know really bad. Fortunately, my gynecologist who's a woman, she said, well, let's just do, I'm gonna do an internal. And she found out how much endometriosis I had. So basically from that point onwards, I started to have this progesterone shot. Can't remember, Depo-Provera. And so it was like every three months you get this shot because the only way to treat endometriosis is either pregnancy or menopause.

So as you probably know, Depo-Provera essentially puts you into this fake menopause where it stops your periods. So I was like, oh, I am thrilled. I'm thrilled not to have a period. So honestly, I don't really think I had any kind of perimenopause symptoms at all. Maybe it was masked because I was on Depo-Provera. And maybe it was also masked because I was going through a lot of stress, traveling back and forth to England with a parent who was dying, so maybe there was some, you know, added anxiety and stress that was also related to menopause. But then after being on Depo-Provera about four years, I remember at 49 my gynecologist said, you know what, let's just take your blood test again. And she said, okay. No more Depo-Provera, you're in full-blown menopause. And I said, but I don't have any hot sweats or anything. And she said, well, you're in the lucky 3%. So honestly, I'm not really an expert on menopause because I just didn't really have a bad experience. And it was probably masked by the fact that I did have terrible endometriosis. And maybe my symptoms were masked because of that.

One thing I do really believe though, is that no matter what one's experience about it, instead of approaching it from a fear-based perspective, oh, my womanness is over, oh, I'm gonna be dried up like a dried prune, you know, my sexuality's over, think of it as, wow, now I'm coming into this, this elder, this wise woman stage where I even got greater freedom. I don't have to worry about periods. You can have a sex without getting pregnant. I mean, there are lots, lots of positives about embracing, perimenopause and menopause from the perspective of I'm coming into the fullness of my being. And, uh, I think that's a beautiful way to approach it as opposed to being, you know, fear-based and that I'm no longer a woman, I'm just an old crone, I'm all shriveled up. Again, it's what you think will become your reality.

Brittany (31:06)

Absolutely. And I've heard that what you think becomes your reality, and it's true, and it's very powerful, especially when it comes to women and their mindset. For those who are going through perimenopause and menopause, our goal with Thrive is to treat it bioidentically, naturally compounded, no synthetics, additives, to embrace and allow your body to go through that transition by giving those hormones back to you safely.

And what we find is those women that are having the night sweats and the hot flashes and the vaginal dryness, a lot of them shut down. Relationship affected, works affected, marriage partnerships on the fence. They don't even know. They're like, this is the last resort. What do I do? I'm so isolated and I can't stand myself. And so it is, so heartbreaking the stories I've heard after years, but it's beautiful to witness the transformation because then they feel better. But then they start to gain tools and insight of I want to go for that marathon again. I want to go on a date with my partner. And it's like breathing life, almost CPR into someone and they just transform. And it's absolutely beautiful. And are there any tips, you know, that you would, and you've mentioned so many beautiful advice and words and encouragement, but tips you would like to pass on to women struggling with the concept of age, struggling to find their purpose, just feeling lost. What tips would you share with them?

Angela Paul (32:44)

Well, how long do we have? Honestly, the one thing that always has been the factor for me is, what do I do? What can I do that makes me feel fully, radiantly alive? What is that one thing? And for me, it started with dance. I feel that dance made me feel just very youthful, sensual, ageless and I feel that if you're moving your body, whatever that thing works for you, for me is the sensuality of dance was definitely one of the big things that made me feel alive. And as far as purpose, that's just a very big word because the purpose for everybody is going to be different. But I think the purpose at that point in life is more about, again, looking at your relationship. Which relationships make you feel alive? Which relationships try and deaden the spark within you, that darken you, that you feel are heavy? Maybe you want to think about, do you want to keep that in your life? What small things can you do on a daily basis, whether it's starting the morning meditation practice, a practice of gratitude, journaling, all of those things make a difference. But, you know, asking yourself daily. What can I do in this 24 hours that's going to make me feel radiantly alive? Because that's behind everything. That's behind writing a book. That's behind, you know, going on an adventure. You know, for some women, it might be taking that solo road trip or a trip to the Mediterranean. So for some, it might be ending a relationship. For others, it might be starting one. It's all different, but I think it's really important to ask yourself those questions.

At all different chapters, but specifically at that time. What do I need in my life? Are the people in my life lifting me up? What changes can I take on a daily basis? And there are changes we can all make. So when somebody says, I don't know what to do, just start very, very small, write it down. Writing down things really, really does help to get clarity and come to people yourself who are helping women holistically through this whole transition, whether it's compound support, whether it's spiritual counseling, relationship counseling. I think we need to be a support for each other. And, but again, at the end of the day, we have to depend on ourselves to do the deep inner soul work that projects, processes us towards making those other choices.

Moving your body is essential. What you eat, what you put in your body, getting enough sleep, having healthy relationships, having enough solo time, being in nature, all of these things. Are you living for somebody else? Are you living your own dreams? I mean, I know too many women who have spent a lifetime just playing small to please other people and they get to a stage when they, they're full of resentments and they feel bitter. And then it's a wake-up call. And I know one person who's very dear to me right now who's going through her metamorphosis on this. And by her rocking the boat, she's sort of shifting, she's shaking up the whole family dynamics. But we’ve been told that women need to just be quiet and behave, but really. You know, like we were talking about aging gracefully, maybe sometimes it's aging disgracefully. Maybe it's like being a bit of a rebel, letting that wild side of you come out. If you've always done something according to what somebody else tells you, maybe you wanna try doing the opposite. You know, just those are things to think about. It's a big, enormous freedom. And I think that that's really, really important for us to realize that it's not about becoming a dried up prune, it's about becoming free.

Brittany (37:16)

Absolutely, and I think it's I relate in the sense of women kind of being in this box and what it looks like. And how we should behave and what's sad is on the other side of that then no one really knows you. They don't really know what you like and just like it's really just this character at the end of the day. And it's like who are you deep down right and some shaking the tree is needed.

Angela Paul (37:43)

Yeah, and especially for a woman where we are just socialized and genetically, always be thinking ahead. So I'm caretaking others. So that's what a lot of people, women get a sense of who they are by doing that. But they also start to develop a lot of resentment if they're not also carving out time for the things that do give them meaning, purpose, aliveness. So there's a stage in, and I think this is, at this particular stage, perimenopause and menopause, is the most beautiful opportunity, because you're not, from the women I know, and my own personal experience, I'm not controlled by what people think about me. I really don't care. I mean, if I believe that I'm living according my rules, my, you know, what makes me feel radiantly alive and I'm living a good life. I don't really need to worry about what someone's viewpoint of me is. Someone's gonna like you, they're not gonna like you. I might be somebody's cup of tea, I might be not. If you exhaust yourself, if you think you have to please everybody all the time, and I think as women get older, we start to shed that more. We're not as concerned about that.

We're more, you know, for me it's like, what do I need to do to live the rest of my life with as much joie de vivre, curiosity, awe, wonder? Because those things don't disappear. I think as you get older, you actually become more free to have joie de vivre and curiosity. Because it's when people stop being curious about life that they get old. You think about it too much. You get fixated on a calendar number or a number on a scale. You start to define yourself by that. So don't just forget about numbers. Just use that time to really focus on what do you want to feel alive and your whole perspective will change. So it's an amazing, beautiful opportunity to start this chapter with new freedom, new vigor, you know?

Brittany (40:12)

Sounds like dancing makes you come alive and feel your best and really release out any negative energy. What about nutrition? What tips do you have on like your nutrition and your intake daily?

Angela Paul (40:28)

Well, like I said, I was living in Japan. I mean, originally I was a meat and potatoes girl coming from Yorkshire, England. So when I got to Japan, it was a little hard to get into the sushi, raw fish thing. That was kind of hard. But after a few years of living there, I really embraced and found that I just love the cleanliness and lightness of the Japanese diet. And you know, I'm sure you've heard about the Blue Zones and how many centenarians there are. And Okinawa, Japan is famed for one of those because the way they eat, it's not just what they eat, it's how they eat. They have a saying that you eat till you're 80% full. Can you imagine Americans eating till they were 80% full? You know, so I mean, just little things like that. So it's also portion control. Eating, you know, not late at night. I've been a pescatorian, basically. I mean, I haven't eaten meat for 45 years, but I do eat fish and I do eat dairy because I found that without it, I didn't have the energy or I got too skinny and too drained. And I also happen to love sushi. But what works for me is I do intermittent fasting. So I try to eat my last meal no later than eight o'clock and then not eat again till noon the following day. So if I'm going to the gym before noon, I'll just have some kind of green drink that I'll have, but I won't eat any solid food till afterwards. Because studies have shown that when you give your digestion, a break, you know, especially with women who suffer a lot with IBS, you know, or bowel, that giving your digestion some time to just balance and heal is so important. So people do it for weight control. I don't do it for weight control. I do it because it honestly makes me feel less bloated not to eat late at night. That's not to say if I'm out at dinner and I'm having a little dessert, you know, but generally I try to stick to the 8-16, so eight hour window of eating so between noon and eight eat mostly what you want obviously within reason and then you have to give your body a specific time when it has no food that is digesting. And in between that I drink a lot of hot ginger and lemon. That's the first I have when I wake up. I have hot water with ginger and lemon and an ice cold shower for two minutes. I used to hate cold showers, but my husband got me into them. And now I'm like this crazy, you know, shower person. And then I'll have one coffee in the morning. And then pretty much I eat, like I said, between 12 and 8 p.m. And if I want a piece of chocolate, I eat a piece of chocolate. But I also, I know balance. I don't, you know, I don't stuff myself, which I'll tell you a little funny story. When I first came to Los Angeles, my husband picked me up at the airport and the first place he took me to eat was the Cheesecake Factory. And I was, I went first, this plate came and I said, well, this looks like enough for five or six people. And the waiters said, well, you can take it home in a doggy bag. And I'm like, I'd never heard of a doggy bag. I'd never seen portions that big because in Japan, everything is served so small, beautifully presented small portions. And all of a sudden here, everything was over the top in your face, giant portions, which is why in Japan you don't have any obesity. And here we have an epidemic of obesity for various reasons. And I know that women, when they get to this particular age, they start to gain weight in places, maybe because of perimenopause. I think that shifting to doing the intermittent fasting, what works for that particular person really does help. And so I really would say consider that and just eat more of the blue zone foods, Mediterranean style. And as far as alcohol, I don't drink a lot of alcohol, but if I do, I like a little vodka or tequila because it doesn't give you the same inflammation that red wine gives you. Red wine and champagne, I don't like champagne, it's too sweet and sugary and I never feel good with red wine the next morning because it makes you, it's a sugar component which I'm sure nutritionally you probably address that. So if I want a little cocktail I'd like a little vodka martini.

It's just very simple, straight, it's cleaner. I don't feel any hangover. I'm not talking about five, I'm talking about one. But you know what I mean. It just, your body accepts it more cleanly than wine and certainly champagne. So that's kind of what I do, you know. And I eat a lot of plant-based foods, tempeh, tofu, grilled fish. I make pastas but I try and make things with more of the tomato pesto base instead of like a lot of creamy heavy things you know. So that's a bit of what I do.

Brittany (46:28)

You know, you have so much insight when it comes to mind, body, spirit. I mean, I feel like I could honestly talk to you all day every single day. But for the convenience, because I am in Texas, and you're in Los Angeles, where can we find you on social media? I mean, where can our community buy your book? How can we dive into more Angela and be able to follow you on your platforms? Where do we go?

Angela Paul (46:58)

I'm quite active on Instagram. I have a lot of followers on Instagram, so you can follow me just at Angela Paul. And on Facebook, I'm also Angela Paul. On Facebook, I also have a coaching page called Woman to Woman Coaching with Angela Paul. So those are the main areas. I don't have a YouTube channel at this point. Something I'm thinking about this year is I proceed with my new book, Ripe.

One thing I am going to plan on doing, and I'll make an announcement on it, on my main page on Instagram, is I'm gonna create a women's only page where we can talk more deeply about things like menopause, about sexuality, about marriage, about all the things that I want to talk about more in depth, but when you have a lot of male followers, I, you know, as soon as you put the word sex,nall these creepy guys putting a you know when you're a public figure there's all those dynamics you have to work with. So I'm going to start a private page for women that I will share the link to on my page so if anybody wants to join me on that they can just send me a request because I'm going to make it private just for women. But my goal is to have my book birthed by the end of the year so I'll keep you posted on that.

But I tend to post snippets of my work on Instagram. And even the pictures I post, I try to keep them as authentically real for my age. I don't believe in using a filter and stuff like that. Of course I'll brighten a shot and whatever, but I know my angle because I'm a model. But honestly, I just think that when you overuse things and you end up not looking like yourself. You're not doing yourself a service. I'm always like when I meet people in real life, I don't want them to think that, oh, that's not you. You know, I'm surprised that when the people meet you in real life, I'm like, I'd rather like the opposite.

Brittany (49:04)

Right! Oh my gosh, this is awesome!

Angela Paul (49:18)

Quite a few brands that are women supported brands, whether it's healthy living, clean beauty, those are the things that I try to align myself with mostly and as much as possible from a holistic point of view. But I just think again, like I said at the beginning, that it's really important to just ask yourself every day. What can I do to feel more alive? Your version. Whatever it is, there's something for everybody, you know? And I would say to women that this is the best, best time of your life. Embrace it. Just be curious and allow yourself to dream bigger than you thought possible. And just, you know, trust your inner voice because you know you better than anybody else knows you.

And even if you get support at the end of the day, your inner voice is the one that you're going to listen to the most. So let that inner voice be filled with loving kindness, compassion, patience, mercy, forgiveness, all the things that we would give to others that we don't so readily give to ourselves. Let that be the voice you listen to on a daily basis.

Brittany (50:37)

Beautiful. Oh my goodness. I feel I'm gonna have to watch this myself and take notes and have a journal and write all the things with the book. This has been absolutely amazing Angela having you here with us. I look forward to Ripe coming out at the end of the year and then even discussing that with you. This has been such a pleasure and I'm so thankful to have you here and I look forward to speaking with you again soon.

Angela Paul (51:05)

Thank you, thank you all of you amazing ladies at Thrive. I appreciate you inviting me. Love and blessings to all of you. And I hope that 2024 is a wonderful year filled with all. Bye.

Brittany (51:19)

Bye.