181. Finding Your Floor: How to Maintain Healthy Habits in a Busy Season

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I’ve told you a lot about how much the basics matter.

Like getting enough movement, prioritizing protein, and keeping on top of hydration and sleep. 

But I also know there are seasons where the basics do not feel basic at all. They feel like one more thing on an already impossible list.

So the question becomes: how do you keep taking care of yourself when your time, energy, and capacity are limited?

That is why I loved my conversation with Maggie, the creator behind @pump.med. As a medical student in a very demanding season, she has had to figure out how to protect her health without turning it into another full-time job.

In this post, I want to share some of the most practical takeaways from our conversation, especially around finding your “floor,” simplifying food, and making your habits work with your life, not against it.

First, Meet Maggie

Maggie grew up as a competitive athlete, played college soccer, and had always been active. Then she tore her ACL, went through a long recovery, started med school, and found herself having to completely reimagine what taking care of herself looked like.

What she figured out wasn't a perfect routine. It was a flexible, honest approach built around three pillars: physical health, simplified nutrition, and protecting your mental and social wellbeing. And it's something anyone in a demanding season can use.

Find Your Floor, Not Your Ceiling

One of the most refreshing things Maggie said was this:

When life gets hard, stop chasing your ceiling and start protecting your floor.

Your floor is the bare minimum that keeps you functional, healthy, and moving forward. It's not what you do when things are going well. It's what you commit to when they're not.

During Maggie’s most grueling hospital rotations, her floor was two lifting sessions a week and 8,000 to 10,000 steps a day. She tried that for two weeks, checked in honestly, and adjusted when it was not working.

That is the beauty of her approach: choose a baseline, test it for a couple of weeks, and let the results guide you. There’s no guilt or drama, just information.

The goal is not to do less forever. It is to do enough right now so you can keep going.

Simplify Food Until It Almost Feels Too Easy

When it comes to nutrition, Maggie's approach comes down to one word: simplification.

She focuses on creating a repeatable system that removes as many decisions as possible so that when you're tired, the healthy choice is still the easy one.

A few things that work for her:

• A simple breakfast formula — high protein Greek yogurt, a fat source like almond butter, and some fruit. Done.
• Prepping lunch on Sundays — lunch is where things fall apart if you're not prepared. Having it ready removes the temptation to grab something quick and regret it later. 
• Rotating the same staples — lean ground beef, rotisserie chicken, sweet potatoes, Greek salad. The same cart, week after week. Low cognitive load, high return.
• Using grocery delivery — she's unapologetic about using Instacart and reordering the same cart. Every decision you don't have to make is energy saved for something else.

The thing I loved most about her approach is that it doesn't require perfection. It just requires a system that works well enough, consistently enough.

Getting Started and Getting Back on Track

Two questions I hear all the time are: how do I start? And what do I do when I fall off?

Maggie's answer to both is to take the pressure off.

Getting started doesn't require a perfect plan. It just requires action, even if it’s imperfect action. Pick something small, try it, see what happens, and adjust. 

And when things go sideways? A few days off track isn't going to undo your progress. Maggie follows an 80/20 approach. 80% of the time she's eating in a way that supports her health, and 20% of the time she's living her life. The goal is to build a sustainable rhythm you can come back to without drama.

The trust that you'll return to your habits is something you build over time. And every time you do come back, that trust gets stronger.

Your Mental, Social, and Creative Wellbeing

Maggie made a point near the end of our conversation that really stayed with me. She talked about reaching a point where she was doing everything "right". She was training consistently, eating well, and still feeling depleted. She had poured everything into the routine… and left no room for anything that was just for her.  There was nothing that existed outside the grind.

Physical health and nutrition are two legs of a stool. The third is your mental, social, and creative wellbeing. And without it, the whole thing tips over.

That might look like writing, making content, knitting, running, or just spending an unscheduled hour doing something you enjoy. It doesn't have to be productive. It just has to be yours.

As Maggie put it, find something that lights you up outside of what you're doing and connects to your bigger why. That's what keeps you going when the hard seasons feel endless.

Healthy living in a busy season doesn't look like doing everything. It looks like doing enough - consistently, flexibly, and with a lot more self-compassion than most of us give ourselves.

To hear the full conversation with Maggie, including her favorite meals, her honest thoughts on med school and mental health, and the small habits that have carried her through. Listen to the full episode on The Obesity Guide now.

TRANSCRIPT:

Disclaimer: The transcript below is provided for your convenience and may contain typos, errors, or grammatical inconsistencies, as it has not been professionally edited or proofread. Please enjoy it as-is and read at your own discretion.

Please note: The content shared in this podcast and blog post is for informational and educational purposes only and is not intended as medical advice. Always consult your healthcare provider for personalized medical guidance.  

 I'm really excited today to have Maggie, the creator behind Pump Med, on the podcast. She's a current third, going into fourth-year medical student. And I came across your videos because I, I think it was one where you were talking about, some way to make healthy snacks, and you were talking about, about, getting the crunch in there. And it was- ... so practical, so easy, I started to follow you. And the way in which you spoke about getting fitness in, not leaving your nutrition to chance, you just had so many pearls. When I saw you, I thought, "Gosh, how many women out there are in really busy..." S- And I should say men, too. We do have men listeners as well. Yeah. Sure. I don't know why I'm leaving 'em out. Male med students exist, yeah. So I thought about, we are all so busy, and it's really hard to do practical good health it- when you have all that stuff going on. And I thought you are truly in one of the worst seasons that you're gonna go through. Just telling you, being a little bit in front of you. Yep. And so I thought it'd be really great to have you on, Maggie, can you start off with just telling us a little bit about yourself, just so we have a little bit of background on you? Yeah. Awesome. Well, first of all, thanks so much for having me on because I think one of the things, and we were just talking about this, a barrier to entry when it comes to content creation is thinking about, "Oh, well, will people care about what I have to say?" This is a really cool, full circle moment in a way of, people w- will always care about your unique experience because, no one else can do it like you can or talk about it like you can. Love it. But a little bit about me. So I'm initially from Buffalo, New York. I'm an upstate girl. Grew up super active playing sports. I was a college soccer player. And up until that point, I feel like when you're young, you have injuries, you brush 'em off. Your body rebounds pretty easily. Health was always in the background. I grew up eating pretty healthy and, taking care of my body. But during college, I tore my ACL- Yeah ... and that's a pretty serious injury, and can totally affect, all aspects of your life. I mean, your overall health, your mental health, your social health. Yeah. And that was really, the turning point for me. I got into strength and conditioning, lifting, really hardcore. That was also during COVID too. Wow. I had all the time in the world to just sink into recovery, and I gained such an appreciation for that process. Finished up college. I mean, college wasn't really that interesting. It was, like, a biology major right? But always kind of this idea of, okay, I think I'm gonna, go into the health professions I had two grandparents who were doctors, so I saw that from, a really young age, and I was like, "Okay, I think, sure, why not? Let's, let's give it a go." Not, maybe not the best reasoning, looking back. But, so then I f- I find myself, going to med school and, going on a journey through, through the process and ending up here, where now I was really burnt out in the beginning. I didn't know if this was for me, and finding my niche with content creation and educating others. And so that's where we're at today. What occurs to me when you're talking about this injury and what happened after, it makes me think of pr- post-traumatic growth, right? Where like, some event- Yeah ... happens, and it could have just, knocked you out. You could have become a couch potato after that. But you were like, "Okay, I'm gonna shift. I'm gonna do things differently." I don't like that you went through an injury, but you do probably understand what a lot of people are going through, 'cause that happens a lot in my world. People are doing amazing- Yeah ... and then something horrendous happens. And I'm like, "This is not the end of your journey. This is just, a little blip, we're gonna get through this." So it's good to hear how you got through that. If you were to think about, people that are really busy, right? They're really overwhelmed. What do you think you'd say would be, like, maybe top three health tips or... I don't care if it's mindset, practical. Maybe you have more than three. I really feel like when it comes down to it, there are three kind of pillars that I like to take care of when I'm in a super busy season of life. So one is, physical health, so finding what your floor is. And as someone whose ceiling was really high, right? As a college athlete and, someone who just, loves fitness and strength- Mm-hmm ... it can be hard during those busy seasons when you feel like, "Oh, like I, I know what my ceiling is, but I can only hit my floor right now." Yeah. So I'd say the first pillar is, figuring out what your floor is. Because when you're super busy, if you can just consistently hit that floor, you're gonna make it through that season in one piece. Mm-hmm. The second thing would be, you said that you had found a piece of content about nutrition- Yeah ... that I had posted, and I think when it comes to nutrition, so many things that I've seen in med school when it comes to other classmates having a hard time, maintaining their own health or just, other friends, busy professionals that I have, it's like meal prep, and, "Well, how do I know what to eat?" or, "How do I know what to get, with my grocery shopping?" I think my second pillar would be simplification when it comes to food. Yeah. Relying on, grocery delivery services if you can afford it, grocery pickup. I said on my Instagram, I'm like, "Abuse Instacart if you can," right? And meals that are very simple and easily repeatable. That is, my highest yield point with that pillar. My third pillar would be protecting your time and mental health outside of whatever you're doing, even if it's only an hour at the end of the day, even if it's one day a week. Often in healthcare you get one day, in a week. Yeah. You're six on. Yeah. You have one day off. Whatever that is, as much as you love the system, it's not gonna love you back sometimes. Making sure you really are taking the time to protect things outside of whatever you're doing. That's, my baseline. Yeah. These are phenomenal, and I'm like I wanna dig into each of them let's, let's do the, the first one, the physical activity. And I love how you talk about finding your floor. I say baseline- Yeah ... minimum, right? That's like the- Yeah ... the terminology if anyone that's listening. How do you find what that is? Like, how... Let me ask this. This is really what I mean. How do you find what's enough? Because I think people- Mm ... always feel like, you're talking about like you always think you should be doing more. Yes. How can you be okay with whatever it is you can realistically do? That is an excellent question, and that is still a question or a point that even I still struggle with knowing. Mm. When I'm pushing too far, when I'm not pushing enough. And I think what this really comes down to is learning your body over the course of time, mm-hmm. It's not gonna be, okay, I'm gonna, talk to a fitness coach, or I'm gonna go through a bunch of Instagram reels. I'm gonna ask ChatGPT and, it's gonna tell me, what my body needs, I think figuring out your floor, a lot of it comes from long-term experimentation and seeing what is sustainable over the course of time. Something I like to do is I'll run experiments for two weeks at a time. Yeah. And so to give you a concrete example. During one of the hardest rotations of medical school, which is notoriously, it's the surgery rotation. Yeah. You're there, 6:00 to 6:00, sometimes six days a week as a medical student. And during that season, my floor was a lot lower than my floor during preclinical or when I'm just book studying, right? Yeah. So every two weeks, I would be like, okay, if my bare minimum is two lifts a week and 8 to 10,000 steps a day, let's see how I feel. Let's see if that's sustainable. At the end of two weeks, that's not working. Okay, let's switch it up. I will say, too, I had worked with a coach for a really long time growing up. I also think learning from someone else who is more knowledgeable than me at the time helped me just grasp the foundation before I added my own twist onto things. I totally agree with you because you don't know what you don't know, it's almost like you get to jump the line as far as knowledge and... I think the getting a mentor, a, a coach, whatever it is, priceless. I like to use the term like non-committal experimentation, which is what you're talking about, right? Love that. So I love that, like two weeks, you see if it works. You see if it doesn't. You adjust it. Because to your point when you were on that rotation, you didn't know what your energy was gonna do, 'cause sometimes it keeps declining as time goes on when the- Yeah when the hours don't let up, right? Yes. And so you would adjust and flex with it. And then let's see, your number two with nutrition. Can you tell us about w- so what are some of these simplified meals or some of the- Yeah ... like maybe what are some staples that you keep bringing in the house? Yeah, so I get fixated on foods, and I'm sure a lot of my other, high protein, health conscious ladies out there, Or maybe that's just me, but, I get really fixated- I get fixated too. Yeah. I get... Like, when I find something that works, I'm like, "Let me go hard on that one in the paint." For me, breakfast has always looked like, I love Greek yogurt. I always have Greek yogurt in the house. High protein Greek yogurt. Oikos is a brand I really love. Yeah. The vanilla. I'm not sure if you can mention brands on here- Yeah. But yeah ... but shout out. Shout out Oikos. That paired with a fat source, so almond butter- Mm ... or a really good quality granola. Purely Elizabeth is another brand that I will al- grain-free Purely Elizabeth, I always have that. It's good with fiber. And then I alternate between, like berries or sometimes I'll do dates, but I, dates are high on the glycemic index, so sometimes I won't go... If I need the energy, some days. Yeah. So those are kinda like, I, I really try to keep it high protein, high fat, little bit of carb in the morning. If anyone's listening, that is so good for insulin resistance. Yeah. We're not wanting a bunch of carbs in the morning. That's the time we're most insulin resistant. I've also, I've heard... Like, shout out Dr. Stacy Sims, I believe that's her name. She talks a lot about how, like the difference between fasting in the morning for women and men, and how women's bodies actually do not respond as well to fasting. So I also try to eat protein before I have the caffeine. Mm. Mm-hmm. That's something I'll do in the morning. And then in terms of just, other general staples I have, I love, a lean ground beef. That's always a meat I'll have. Mm-hmm. A rotisserie chicken is such a hack, because you don't have to cook it. So I love a good, rotisserie chicken. Sweet potato, I consume those house down, boots, like no one else's business. And, some sort of veggies. Like, a salad with cucumbers, tomato. My diet is really not complicated. And as far as, dressings, lemons- avocado oil sprays. I didn't mention avocado, but that's another great fat source. Really basic ingredients and just doing that again and again. Yeah. Totally. So what... So through doing that, does it make it easier, your grocery list? 'Cause it's kinda like re-putting the same things in the cart, the cognitive load isn't as heavy when you're doing that? Exactly. And that's actually a point I had written down, before coming on today, was taking, lessening the cognitive load for yourself and, the amount of decisions you have to make. Literally when I go on Instacart during some of my busiest seasons, I have one day off a week, you're grinding during the week. There's, a feature where it's just add previous cart, checkout. Mm-hmm. So you don't really have to think about it. Like, all of those healthy choices are made right there for you, and I think those little moments are truly the difference-maker, when you're tired at the end of the day, are you going out for the fast food, or are you, just having that safeguard in place to set yourself up for the next week? Do you once a week cut the cucumbers? Like, do you do that, or how do you handle that aspect of things? Like the actual meal prep- Yeah ... aspect of it? Yeah. So when I was on my six on, one off grind- Yeah ... which I unfortunately will have to do again intern year, it was a Sunday meal prep, and it was every Sunday around 1 or 2:00 PM. Didn't matter what I was doing. Drop it, and prepping lunches, 'cause I think lunch is where it gets really hairy for people. Yeah. Breakfast is normally something that it's like you don't really have to think about it. It's just like slop in a bowl, but lunch is where the bad decisions are made because, you're in the hospital and, oh, if I don't have a lunch today, okay, I'm just gonna do, I was guilty of this, coffee and a bar, and then by the time I get home, I'm ravenous. I have no energy. It's not great. Lunch is something... Even if I couldn't prep dinner, dinner would be a bonus if I could prep it. I'd... I really aim to do, big Crockpot meals sometimes with, chicken. 'Cause you have that for the whole week. Mm. But lunch, every Sunday prepping lunch was such a game-changer because it, it was just like a safeguard against making bad decisions during the week. Did you already do that, in school before that, or was this a- No ... new thing in medical school? No. Okay. Because I had never had to work the hours before that year. Okay, this is so unscripted because I literally d- I, I didn't know all of you before you came on, and I- Yeah ... as I was thinking about this, thing- seasons change for people, yeah. And so I love how we're basically talking to you when you now have been a few years in this really high pressure cooker, increased- Yeah ... hours, all those kind of things, and your approach changed. And so I love hearing that, 'cause people, you can't do the same things necessarily. Right when a woman has a baby, that's a different season compared to some other time, we have to really, honor where we're at.- Yeah if you make a Crockpot thing, do you already, pre-portion the servings out or do you just take out what you want for the meal? So essentially I, the magic number for me with a meal is, minimum 30 grams of protein, and breakfast sometimes it'll be 20. It'll be a bit lower- Yeah ... if I'm, like, about to go work out. There's that rule, it's like the fist is the 30 grams. I like to portion. I'll do five chicken breasts, for the week, I don't have to think too much about it, right? Yeah. It's just, that's generally... And I'm not someone who tracks either because I think that inherently, increases the cognitive load that goes along with eating, and we wanna make it as easy as possible for people,. Totally. Yeah, I'll never forget, 'cause obviously I had a weight struggle my whole life. Yeah. And I remember in medical school I was like, "I gotta work on this." And I remember I was trying to do the calorie counting. Yeah. And it was so stressful because- Stressful ... I was like, "Well, what was in that? And what..." It was just every single thing had something that was a problem. What I know now, if I'd known that then, it would've been a whole different world, 'cause same thing where I'm, like, focused on the protein, the fiber, things like that. Just finding a system that works for you. I think that's probably also a reason why your content resonates, because you can tell it's not disordered. That's so real. Well, going back, to a point you just said, I think it's not about getting to a level where you feel like you have to track every little thing. It's about, having, a game plan that can evolve with you, and that is the approach I also take to strength training. And then also going back to the flexibility with different seasons of your life. So right now I'm not as busy, and I actually prefer to cook my food. That's an activity that brings me a lot of joy. So having that flexibility of okay, I'm not putting the pressure on myself to have to meal prep and know all my macros every single week, because I also think that takes the fun out of food. Yeah. And it should be a nourishing- hopefully fun, healthy, and can be creative experience. How did you learn recipes that tasted good? Was it at home or you saw it online, or, how'd you figure it out? I do get a lot of my inspo from reels. I'm a like I scroll through that. But I do try to keep it to minimal ingredients, a lot of what I make, it's not a recipe. It's just, ingredients. Yeah. You know, like well-seasoned ground beef, well, like, well-cooked sweet potato with some ghee and half an avocado, right? You could get more fancy with it., I'm also super fortunate. I came from a house where my, both my parents, really liked to cook. Yeah. And so, I just kind of, I kind of caught that bug from a young age. But in terms of learning recipes, I also think, we put pressure on ourself to make, like, all of these meals look as beautiful as what we see on Instagram, and it's like that's not the reality. Some days you're just gonna be eating a bowl that kind of looks like dog kibble. Oh. And so that's why I post it because I'm like, "People need to know that my- Yeah ... dinner is not aesthetic, but it gets the job done." I know. It's... Online it is so fake, and then people think they need to live up to that. I love how you said it looks like dog kibble. I know because I go... I'm like, "I use 93/7 ground beef," and people are like, "You know, you should just really go, 80/20 and live your life." And I'm like, "You know what? Maybe. Maybe p- post-residency." Yeah. You're like, "Right now it's working." Yeah. So if someone... Let's say there's someone where they're having a hard time getting going on star- let's say starting- Mm ... physical activity all, at all, or, meal planning. Do you have any, uh, tips or words of encouragement for them with that? Yeah. I think getting started is the hardest part. It's funny because it's not really the act of planning that I think where you see, it can certainly provide, motivation when you're learning and you're like, "Okay, I'm gonna buy this and go to the grocery store and, and plan this." But I think where the real motivation, and I wanna use like the word momentum, comes from- Yeah ... is by just experimenting doing it and seeing what works. Even if you get it wrong, the first month or so. Let's say, someone wants to, just start eating better or they just wanna lower their blood pressure a little bit, they wanna improve their lipid panel. And it can be overwhelming. If you don't know where to start. Mm-hmm. So one, I would say, try to learn. Try to learn from whoever your your healthcare provider is. I know there's a lot of, like, nutritional services now that are, like, being covered by insurance, so taking advantage of whatever benefits you can. And then I think just taking the pressure off yourself. It's okay to get some of those things wrong and experiment, because at the end of the day, your body is so unique. Mm-hmm. And you have to figure out what works. Getting started is the hardest part, so if you can do that, kudos to you. That is the- The re- the rest is easy. Not... Yeah. Yeah. The getting started I hear people struggle with, and then on the opposite side, I hear people where they'll say they have a streak, right? Like, "I've been doing amazing-" Yeah ... things. First of all, they're, like, definitely trying to be perfectionistic, but- Yeah ... what do you say to the person where they've kind of fallen off? And I hate that terminology, like falling off the wagon, but they a- they get this sense of this month really went to hell in a handbasket, I mean, I'm assuming it's the same, but what, what kind of tips do you have for them? This is a hot topic among the nutrition, personal training, Instagram space right now. Like people are doing, "Oh, I went on a 10,000 calorie binge," like, "Let's see what happens afterwards," you know? Ooh. But we're talking more about the people who, they can be consistent for maybe two, three weeks, and then okay, maybe they get their... They fall off. They feel like their progress is ruined, right? Yeah. Yeah. So the first thing I would say a couple days off-track isn't gonna ruin your progress, and actually, we need to intersperse days throughout the process where you still enjoy things that you love. Yeah. I really love kind of the 80/20 approach to eating so you don't feel like you're being so restrictive I feel like it shouldn't even feel like a plan. It should just feel like a way of living. That 80% of the time, breakfast, lunch, and dinner, making sure it's around the, the protein source, healthy fats, good quality carbs. And then, if you happen to go out Friday night, have ice cream, go out to dinner, enjoy your life, that's awesome. That's a part of the process too. And I'd almost say, the social benefits... People talk about, alcohol too, and, is it better to cut it out completely or do the social benefits outweigh, what it can do to your body? I would say for sure kind of taking that balanced approach to, 80% of the time you're on track, and then trusting yourself. The other 20%, okay, it's not gonna be- within my perfect little defined box, but I trust myself to fall back on that 80 when I'm done, at the end of the day. Uh-huh. Yeah. So I don't know if that made sense, but that's how I approach it. Totally. No, it's like the trust that... So like when people go on vacation, right? Again, they're- they're maybe doing different things. Yes, vacation is a great example. Like maybe not exercising as much, right? And I always say it's the reintegration that matters. I don't care, you were gone for four days, 10 days. Yeah. I really don't care. But when you get back, are you just getting back to what serves you? And that's the trust that you're not gonna continue to, not do things that support you, and I think it takes time to get there if in the past you were always derailed by those things, to get to a place where you're like, "Nope, I can enjoy myself and I get right back to things that serve me." I think it's a practice to get there. Yeah, and I'd argue too that over time, your actions, your behavioral actions, reinforce that trust in yourself. - Mm-hmm ... if you know that, okay, yeah, I'm gonna go enjoy my Friday night, I'm gonna go enjoy my three, four-day vacation, but I know that I am good with my routine when I get back and I trust my body and mind are gonna fall right back into that, I think that is really what healthy living looks like. Totally., Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Do you think there's anything that people misunderstand about health in a busy season? Ooh, misunderstand. I think it touches on what you were saying, that it can become so rigid and perfectionist, driven. I don't know if I can speak for other people, but maybe a common misunderstanding that I had was that I have to stay consistent, and that fluctuations are unacceptable, I love that you're talking about this, yeah. When it's like, dude, no, that is inevitably going to be a part of the process, so how can you adjust your eating, your training, your sleeping to anticipate those fluctuations? I know you probably have a lot of people in the medical profession that listen to this. Medical training schedules can be super unpredictable. Mm-hmm. And even if you're in a routine, good luck, your schedule throws you off one month to the next. Maybe not so much, having that rigidity with the approach, but understanding that you are adaptable and you can actually adj- pull different levers during different seasons to get the same outcome. Yes. Oh, that's beautiful. Talking about fluctuations from a weight standpoint, I saw a video the other day, it went super viral, The- the title was, like, talking about gaining weight as a health, as a fitness person. I think she does training with people or something like that. Yeah. And the beginning of the video was how everyone was saying, "Oh, honey, you're so brave for talking about this online." And she's like, "No, I'm human, and this is normal." Yeah. "And if you've lost 120 pounds, there's gonna be a little up and down." And so it was just so funny that everyone... I- I think they're, I think they're delusional, to be honest. Like, long-term, what's required, right? Yeah. 'Cause they think it's like, oh, it's gonna look the same and all of that, and it's like, that- that's not really true. So I like that you talk about different levers and maybe even getting the same result, but it's gonna look different, the input to get the same output. I think that's really a strong point. 100%. And, two, something that I'm still working through is knowing what levers to pull during different seasons. Do I need to really lock in on my sleep? Is that the issue here? Because if you're not sleeping well, that's really going to be... If you're trying to lose fat and- and gain muscle, that's gonna be hard, right? If you're stressed, you're not sleeping well. Is it the diet? Is it I'm just too busy and I'm not making the right choices? Or do I have time for the movement and maybe I've been too stressed out and putting that on the back burner? So it's also knowing which one of those levers needs to be pulled right now. So- Totally ... yeah. Totally. This is totally off-topic, but- Yeah ... uh, kind of f- like, lightning round. Okay, so we talked about your favorite breakfast. What is your favorite lunch right now? Is there a particular thing that you're on? Oh, I'm fixated to, tuna with sourdough right now. But I know sometimes, physicians get concerned about, the mercury levels with tuna, so so tuna, sourdough, and, I do, a side of a Greek salad, which is sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, feta, lemon, avocado oil. I also love to volume eat, because I can eat so much food. And so when you just fill your stomach, you're like, "Okay, I don't need, I don't need to eat anymore." First of all, that sounds so good, everything you said. I make this... a Greek salad's very similar to you. It's, like, tomato- Yeah. Do you have a fixation? Exactly. Yeah. But do you know what I got recently? And guys, I don't know the name. I'll put the link in the show notes if you look. But it's this little chopper thing. It's, the si- it's, like, the size of a cup, guys, okay? It's clear. You can see through. Is it- Yes. And then you, like, pull the cord. I'm like, "Why did I never get this before?" I put in there, half cucumbers, and they're just pulverized. Love. Love. It's the best. Wait, so only the real influencers have that tool. Oh. So you need to d- you need to really start pushing out some kitchen recipe content with that tool if you have it in your back pocket. Well, you know what's funny is there were these other... God, I don't know. What's a mandoline? The one where you go across the top- Yeah ... and it has the blade. Okay, first of all, almost killed myself with that, and it doesn't matter- ... if you have, like, a hand thing on. It's so hard to, like, the end of veggies. And so I realized this other one is so much easier. I hate things that are hard to wash or they can't go in the dishwasher. Do not- Yeah ... give me hard, food processor things to clean. So once I found this, I'm like, I do want the world to know about it. Actually, that reminds me. Another dinner fixation I have right now, it's with that tool. What do you call it? , The mandoline. Yeah. Yeah. And I make my own zucchini noodles. So you take a zucchini- Oh ... and that's your noodles. Saute it in a pan with some, marinara, ground beef. It's, high-volume, low-carb pasta. I... That, that's been another fixation. Oh, that is great. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. These are... You forget how many options there are, I'm hoping people listening, that they're getting some ideas here, "Oh, yeah, that used to be a thing, that we made zucchini noodles." Right. We're gonna get back to it. Yeah. Two, I'll say, like, a lot of my meals come from also the fact that I'm a student right now. So I have to think about, cost affordability. Yeah. Absolutely. And a lot of my meals happen on accident. I call them, happy, happy accidental combinations. And, and zucchini noodles, Whole Foods is charging me, $8. I'm like, "Dude, I could just make this at home." Totally. So yeah. Experiment- Yeah ... with what you got in the fridge. That's another, great piece of advice. Definitely. Is there a dessert that you like right now that's maybe more on the healthy side? Oh, I love... So I love dates. I have a problem with, dates. There are worse problems. So but something I am eating, there are two things I go back and forth with. The brand, I, I don't know if I'm, like, butchering their name if I'm saying this, but Hu Chocolate. Hu Chocolate. All, natural great ingredients. My favorite flavor, it's the dark chocolate hazelnut, dark chocolate cashew butter. Two little squares of that and you put it in a date. Ooh. It's just- Mm. It's so satisfying at the end of the day. And then, I've really been getting into drinking, the brand Paleo Valley makes a great chocolate or vanilla bone broth, and it- I've tried it. It's divine. It- Everybody listening, I tried... The retreat that I had in February, the doctors came. One of them brought it 'cause she's like- It's amazing ... she's airy- dairy-free, egg-free- Yes ... like, everything. It's literally, I think, a coconut base to it, but- Yep ... there's nothing that resembles a bone broth in it. Meaning- Nope ... that taste-wise it is so low-calorie, so good. Is it... How many grams of protein is it? I think it's, like, 80 calories and- It's, 80 cal- 80, 90 calories, about, 12 grams of protein. But I also know- Yeah ... the protein you're getting, like the amino acids you're getting from broth are... Those aren't necessarily going to, muscle mass, right? Mm-hmm. It's more it's for, like, it's great for your skin, right? Like the collagen. Yes. Right. It's not for the protein. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Totally. Okay. That's really cool that you said that one. I'm like, "Oh, I know this." Yes. Paleo Valley, I've been addicted to it. And, people are like, "Are you just saying that for social me-?" I'm like, "No. Guys, come look." Isn't this funny when people... People say this to me online sometimes too. I'm like, "I would not talk about something that I'm not a raving fan of." Right. It's that's forever what's online. I don't want my name behind that if I don't love it. Right. If I'm not using it every day, then I'm not gonna promote it to an audience, and I'm sure you feel the same way as well. Well, I think that's a good point that you make. I have an episode coming up here where I talk about kind of safety online. I spoke to- Mm-hmm ... an expert about looking, is it an AI channel, figuring it out, 'cause it's very confusing to be honest. And one of the things that I think when you're following a creator, you should see that same product keep showing up. Yes. Like, I... And it's not just it says ad at the bottom of what they're talking about, but is it naturally showing up in stories and their recipes? It should not be this weird thing where it's mentioned once and then never again. Like- Never again ... they're probably not actually using it. Yeah. If they are using it in their what I eat in a days for multiple months in a row, you better believe that's a good product- ... if it's someone that, cares about their health and fitness and you trust, so... I love that. Yeah. I'll be listening to that episode, so. Yeah. I feel like I've seen episodes online where people do their empties. You know how they do it, with beauty? But they also- Yeah ... I've seen that with food, and I'm like, "That's a really good idea." Yes. Like, emptying- Yeah ... a butter jar. Is there any, crunchy salty snack that you like? Crunchy salty snack. So apples and cottage cheese. Ooh. Great one. The purely Elizabeth granola, I really, I need to not snack on it as much as I do. But it is, it really just scratches an itch, in my brain. And then I would also say I really love roasted chickpeas. Yes and they're, they're salty. A- sprinkled on top of a salad. The other trick I have for someone who is maybe... somewhere where I struggle is, like, at the end of the day. I always want a snack. Yeah. When I'm studying at night or I, I'm just feeling a bit, mentally restless, I'm like, "Oh, I just wanna eat something right now." Dill pickles. Oh. I will go to the fridge and just chomp. It's, 'cause it's crunchy, it's salty. And I, this goes back, too, to a reel I had posted. This reel ended up blowing up talking about a hot girl snack, and it's literally just green beans, lemon, garlic salts. And someone in the comments said, "Ooh, you should put it in air fryer. It's even better." So it's like- I think I found you on this video. Yeah. It's like hot girl French fries. That snack has been carrying me throughout med school, you better believe. Those are some go-tos when I just, I'm feeling so ravenous. But I wanna make the good choice, so yeah. Totally. Oh, I love these so much. Okay, do you think there's anything that we haven't talked about here that's essential for 101, getting in movement, nutrition, mindset? Anything that we didn't talk about? Yeah, obviously people love to know about, okay, what, the very solid facts. What should I be eating? How much of it? Yeah. What are your tips and tricks for working out? Those two pillars can't stand without the third pillar of, mental, spiritual, social wellbeing. Yeah., And I think something that has been huge for me, I think people romanticize this grind, this medical school, becoming a doctor. Anything you're doing that's hard, right? It's there's this romanticizing of "Oh, yeah, this grind. You love it." And- Yeah ... no. There's some points when you just, you're like, "Oh, this is so hard," and I've been so locked into my fitness and so locked into my nutrition, and I had started to reach a point where I'm like, this doesn't feel fun anymore. Yeah., Where- Yeah ... where's the fun in all this? Because at the end of the day, a big question I've been asking myself is like, why am I here? Why am I doing this? Yeah. And so I think something that's so important for people who are just trying to better their health in general is- carving time out of their day schedule for unstructured activity to think, play, be creative, and build something that is their own. And I think social media has been such a saving grace, at least in my personal experience. Not, obviously not everyone has to do social media as their creative outlet. The concept. Yeah. But the concept, it could be, like, writing. It could be, I don't know, I have friends who, knit in medical school. I have friend- everyone in their 20s, the joke is either you're getting married or you're running a marathon, maybe you're, you wanna run a... I guess that kind of falls under fitness, but finding something that lights you up outside of what you're doing and connects to, your bigger why, your bigger purpose. I think that's what's gonna keep you going when this grind, when it becomes you're like, "Oh, did I make the right choice by being here?" So that is also something that I think is super important. I'm so glad you brought this up because at first when you were talking I was like, "Oh, that's the frolic time that I talk about," where it's like- I can do what I want. I can go where I want. But what you were talking about also bringing that meaning in. Basically everything not being your identity with work or sort of- Yeah ... I don't know. I like to think of myself as multi-passionate. Yes. And I think actually everyone is to some capacity, whether you know it or not. And if we don't build out those other things, we get really decimated. If we get fired from a job- Yeah ... and we think, "Oh my gosh, that identity is gone," it's like you were really never just the job, but that was the only thing you put your energy into, I really love what you brought up. One thing that I've just been fascinated, like the more I learn about hormones,- Yeah ... how big a role oxytocin plays in hunger regulation. And I always thought, "Oh, it's just, a hormone for bonding with mother and baby." No, there's actually a lot. If you're isolated or you're not connecting with people. Yeah. There's just so many things that go into wellness that it's really interesting when the check engine light goes on and we're thinking, "Why do I not feel so good?" It might not just be eat more protein. It might be literally go hang out with a friend that night, right? Go hang out with a friend. It's so different. Yeah. I find that so fascinating as well, and I just could not agree more. Everything that you just said because I feel like so often we want the quick fix, and I'm guilty of this too. At the end of a long day, I feel so depleted by my work that what do I do? I go for the dopamine scroll- Totally on the phone, And that's not really what your body needs. Your body needs that connection, that, less immediate gratification experience. And that also connects into, how we develop, unhealthy relationships with our food. Totally. So yeah. Totally. 100%. I mean, I remember in medical school this... God, I was so unhealthy. I just remember big- ... quantities of food because I was trying to have energy to study. Yeah. And so I just remember it was, like, just very unhealthy food. But also I would just, study for a period and then watch Netflix, and then study for a period- Yeah and watch Netflix. So it's like obviously that was horrendous, but I just... It didn't occur to me you will feel better if you do more walks or you do more things like that. I think it's like you sometimes you slump into this depression of sorts. I don't wanna say that in a clinical sense. Yeah. But just you're so down, you almost think to yourself, "Okay, what's the easiest aversion to get the neurochemicals in my brain up?" And sometimes you think it's on the couch eating candy watching Netflix, and it's like that will not feel good long-term. And I think it's hard to think about, how can I start to change things so that I can break this cycle when you're really busy. And that is something that h- I've really been alarmed to see in medical training because I'm surrounded by medical students, I'm surrounded by residents. And something... And I guess this goes back to part of the reason why I started the page, was because I couldn't believe that no one's teaching the people who are going to be running our healthcare systems how to be healthy themselves. It just so happened that I had a background in sports and fitness, and I find these things naturally interesting, so of course I wanna learn more. But a lot of people coming into medical school, they don't know what a good strength program looks like or, how much protein they should be getting in a day. So- And I think, too, the messaging at least... Again I'm a few years back here, but- ... the messaging was always you need to study hard, you need to get these grades. Yes. You need to push, push, push, push, push, do better on your rotations you have to do good on the shelf exam. Everyone who's listening- Yeah third and fourth year, you have exams at every single rotation to make sure you're keeping pace. It's not just big exams, anyway, the point is I don't know at any point that someone was like, "Do you first." Like, where does that thought- Or, or is anyone- ... come up? Is anyone like, "How are you doing?" That has been one of the biggest frustrations and at the same time drivers for the content Something I've personally been working on is unattaching the medical student- role from who I am, yeah. Because when you're in that realm all the time and you're measured based on scores and publications, it's so easy to get lost in the sauce and fall in, ugh, totally. And the worst thing you can do is take, a bunch of the h- the, the highest achieving students across the country and put them in the same place, right? Totally. Totally. The mental game of it is so huge. Yeah. Yeah. I remember before exams there would be some kids that I always said like, "Don't pollute the air." , "I will not stand by them because they have-" Oh ... like, negative energy, and I was like, "I have to walk away." Like, it was such a pressure cooker and, a weird zone. Yeah. We had, like, three, four-hour exams. And anyway, it's honestly wretched, but the bottom line is, yeah, I remember they put us A psychologist put us in a room one time. He's like, "50% of you guys are depressed." Yeah. And it was like, "Awesome. Thanks for telling us." Yeah. Or, they have, like... Oh, this almost sent me over the edge. There's, mandatory wellness modules instead of just letting us,, have- Yeah ... the hour off and go on the walk. Totally. And there's some- it, something about the medical education system needs to be revamped, and I don't know if, obviously, one person can do it, but I think it starts with physicians who are passionate about this stuff, students who are in it who are trying to make it better, residents who are in it who are trying to make it better. I don't know the answers, but i- it's definitely an area that I think we're still actively trying to, to figure out. I think nowadays, at least I'll just speak from women physician, me being one, I think that we are speaking more honestly to the next generation. Yes. And so I remember, like, when I was, still doing primary care in an academic institution, I had a third-year come in and shadow me, and I remember she just told me how horrible life was, okay? Just to put it simply. And I was like, "Yeah. This is exactly-" Yeah ... "what I went through. It's horrendous." Witnessed, validated it is true. Here's how it will change. Here's how it won't. Here's what you could do differently. She had a totally different outlook after that because- Yeah ... no one had just broken down the playbook, right? Yeah. And it was like I had the time to just sit there for an hour or two after a day and do it, but that doesn't really fit in most of the scenarios, if you're doing inpatient rounds, you're not- There's no time ... sitting there talking about this. That's not happening. Yeah. And that is, that, it also brings it back to why visibility on social media is important for- The physicians who have that mindset, the residents who have that mindset, the medical students who have that mindset because, there was a time where I felt that same way. Yeah. And it's only through talking to others who were unafraid to let me in. And there's a big component of, I think, what prevents people from sharing it is shame. Yes. Like shame that they feel that way. Yes. And so people who are unafraid to just talk about how much they went through and the reality of it. I think we have to do a better job of communicating to people who are about to embark on this process, what the reality is. Yeah. And that is literally the thesis of Pump Med. Totally. What we're talking about is essentially vulnerability, right? Yeah. Being willing to share this stuff. And I think sometimes people are not safe to share that around, yeah. 'Cause they might use it against you negatively. But I'll never forget when in school I had a, a, I had a friend and I was like, "Oh, isn't this so hard?" And she was always like, "Oh, no, I'm okay," da, da, da. And she kept failing step one, like the, the- Oh ... the exam between second and third year. Yeah. And I was thinking, "Wow,", "Could you never admit that it was hard, that you're struggling?" It's just like she just could not come to say that this is hard for me. It was just really interesting. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think it's a systemic thing for sure. And, I think it just speaks to the fact that if you're gonna do this, you have to ... There has to be a time where you have to be real with yourself. Yeah. And, , a moment I had recently was, not getting a score on something that I- Mm-hmm re- I really wanted to attain a- Yeah ... certain score. And just coming to terms with the fact that it's like, okay, am I still happy with myself even in the midst of this score? And answering that question like honestly, and being like, "You know, uh-huh, like the world's not gonna end." I think a lot of this comes down to obviously yeah, take care of your physical health, take care of your mental health, and all this stuff. But at the end of the day, what medical school has also really done for me is it's given me the opportunity to meet myself at a more- honest and authentic level- Yeah ... than I ever thought was possible beforehand. Yeah. And I'm sure that a lot of other people pr- have probably experienced that in, law or dentistry or whatever, but specifically in medical school, man. And you're getting critiqued all day long. Yeah, so. Med schools are probably... Everyone listening, life kind of humbles you. Yeah. As you go along. But I think, just thank you for coming on today, and us just having a real conversation about this because I'm hoping that people leave this episode with hearing, "Oh, I can do simple, easy things. I can just find what my floor is," just that it can be a lot more simple and basic, and you can build on it, and that maybe there are some nice snacks and things like that, too, right? Tell us how people can find you, 'cause I know that they'll wanna follow you to learn more. Yes. On Instagram you can find me @pump.med, and I also do TikTok, but my TikTok handle's a little different 'cause someone had taken pumpmed, apparently. So it's pump.med_. But Instagram is my main platform for now, so would love to have anyone who's listening who just wants realistic, applicable fitness, mental health, nutrition advice, to follow along. So thank you- Love it ... for having me on so much.