Initially sequencing now coming to you live from Houston, Texas, home to the
world's largest medical center. Is everything looking really? This is your Health First,
the most beneficial health program on radio with doctor Joe Gillotti. During the
next hour, you'll learn about health, wellness and the prevention of disease.
Now here's your host, doctor Joe Gillotti. Well, I have just one
question for you all tonight isn't hot enough for you? Holy smokes here in
used I woke up this morning and it was almost ninety five and I don't
think it's cooled down much at the time of this broadcast tonight, which by
the way, is every Sunday at seven pm Central time, coast to coast
broadcasting from the great iHeartRadio station seven forty KTRH and around the world on the
iHeartRadio app, which is free. And so if you like this program and
Grandma in Billings, Montana would benefit from the program, let her know you're
gonna have to adjust for the time zone. But anyway, we're here every
Sunday between seven and eight pm. And as I like to say, my
single goal is to make you a better consumer of healthcare. Have you really
really understand how the body works, what makes it's sick, how do you
fix it, But most importantly, how do you prevent things from happening.
It's that preventive maintenance. But it all starts with knowledge. Let's face it,
you have to know how the human body works, and that's what we
talk about. Our website doctor Joe Glotti dot com Doctor Joe Glotti dot com,
you can sign or for our weekly newsletter which comes out every Saturday morning.
All of our social media is posted there and available YouTube. We have
a new YouTube video from a week or so ago that you can take a
look at, and it is all there. Sign or for our newsletter,
which is most important, and get a copy of my book Eating Yourself Sick
Now. On the program tonight, Kathy from chapter two is going to be
on the radio with me in a few minutes. Kathy Fenelon. She and
her husband and her four kids have been neighbors of hours for nearly thirty years,
and we are going to be talking about hiking now. I had been
on vacation last week. We went to a wedding. It was actually Kathy
and Chris's daughter's wedding in the Seattle area. And if you're familiar with geography.
A couple of great national parks, mount Rainier National Park and Olympic National
Park are in the area, and my wife and I and some other neighbors
part of our hiking and camping clan. We're all at the wedding. We
spent the week hiking in Olympic National Park. So I have said many many
times that hiking first and foremost is a great form of exercise. But like
anything you do from a physical stampede. You cannot jump in a pool and
think that you're going to swim a mile. You'll probably drown. You cannot
participate in an MS one fifty if you haven't been on a bicycle since you
had training wheels on it. And ditto for any other physical activity. All
right, you can't think that you're going to start dancing if you're out of
shape, or any other type of organized activity. But we have been doing
it a long time, and I have always looked at hiking in the great
outdoors as a great metaphor for life. There are hills to get over,
obstacles and clement weather, ruts in the road, twists and turns, cliffs,
and so that's one of the things. I've always looked at it from
a mental standpoint. But we had a great time out in Olympic. The
weather was good, not great. We had a lot of rain and precipitation
and overcast. But that is the Pacific Northwest, it is the Cascade Mountain
Range. You expect it. We didn't stop. We went out there.
We did our thing, rain or shine, whatever the situation. It was
us against nature. We had a wonderful time with our friends out there.
But I want to bring on Kathy because she is an avid hiker. She
has been hiking with her family and her four children for as long as I've
known them. And there are some great lessons to learn here on hiking.
And how do you get started that The one thing I do not want any
of you to feel is frightened away or scared or intimidated with hiking. Uh,
you start off small, start walking in neighborhood parks, area county parks,
state parks, and work your way up. Do not be full.
There are state parks even here in Texas that are as difficult and challenging as
national parks that I've been at. So don't look at oh, we're going
to a state park as some sort of a real, you know, sort
of a weenie move on your part, you can get some challenging outdoor experiences.
And let me say this, and hopefully we'll bring this up in the
conversation. There are lots of resources and most importantly, lots of people others
that will show you the ropes in how you start to get hiking. That
is that that should not be a challenge. All right, we're gonna take
a break. Kathy Fenelon is coming up in just a minute. We're going
to be talking about hiking. So everybody get in the mindset, think of
the Grand Canyon, put on your hiking boots. We'll be starting in a
minute. Stay tuned, don't forget doctor Joeglotti dot com. Be back in
the min out. I sure hope you are all listening to your health first,
and don't forget. If you are traveling or on the road, or
you have a relative anywhere in the United States, the free iHeartRadio app will
have you tune into the program. I think that's pretty pretty cool that we're
able to do that. And as I was saying, don't forget, doctor
Joeglotti dot com is our website, and as I was saying earlier in the
program, I just came back from a trip to the Pacific Northwest. We
went hiking at Olympic National Park. And if there's one topic I love to
talk about personally as well as sharing the experience, is hiking. And on
the line is a dear friend, a neighbor, and I would say regular
contributor to all that we do. Kathy Fenelon, Kathy, welcome to the
program. I think this is the first time you've been on the radio with
me. I believe you're correct. I'm happy to be here, Joe.
All right, So hiking. You know, the way I always talk about
it to friends and colleagues and certainly to my patients is that this is one
of many forms of exercise you just really can't get away from it. The
way I describe hiking is walking on an uneven surface, and that that really
is the most simple way to look at it. But I look at it
as a great activity for a couple or groups of people. It is a
form of exercise, and it's a way to really see the great outdoors and
the positive emotional things it does for your your human psyche. So you and
your family have been hikers pretty much as long as I've I've known you coming
on thirty years. So why why don't you give your no pun intended,
thirty thousand foot view of hiking in general to everybody tonight on the radio.
Okay, Well, I think of hiking not as exercise but as free exercise.
Right. You're getting the benefit of working your body while not even realizing
you're doing it, because you're enjoying yourself so much. Right. We almost
every one of our vacations is a hiking vacation, whether it be in a
national park, whether it is in a state park. Different. Everywhere we
go, we hike, and hiking can be you know, walking through the
London streets. Right. But I think what you're really referring to, Joe
is hiking on the trails, being nature. And to me, what you
mentioned before about the mind body connection is so true. There is nothing that
colmes your mind and therefore your body like being in nature. Right. And
you know, yeah, you know, so much is written about the stress.
We're over it now. I am sure that everybody listening tonight may themselves
say I am stressed out. I talk to my patients, they have a
family, they have a job, they're they're living okay, but they will
all sneak into the conversation. But I am stressed out. I would think
a non pharmacologic intervention is to get outdoors. What do you think of that?
Absolutely, I absolutely agree. I have to tell you many many years
ago, when I had four young children, I said to my ob Gyn
went for my check up, and I said, oh, I'm so stressed,
and he immediately wanted to prescribe medicine. Yes, what I wanted him
to say was you need to take time for yourself and go to the gym,
go to yoga, class walk, and that's how I solved the stress.
Of course, the stress when you're working and have children never goes away,
right, but it certainly helps you manage it to conduct yourself as you
should. Yeah, I'm doing it at the same time. Yeah, it's
an outlet. You have to have this outlet of energy and emotion, and
there's something incredibly calming when you're outside. You hear nature. And I would
almost say, Kathy, and I'd like to hear your thought on it.
A lot of people, they spent their entire life in a inner city environment.
They may have been born and bred in Houston or Dallas or New York
City, and they may look at you and say, oh, come on,
I'm not into that, you know, fu foo hiking getting out in
the woods. What what do you say to them? Well, anywhere you
are, you can find a hike, even in Houston. You know,
you'd just go online or you go to a place like RII or contact a
local hiking club. Yes there was one. There is a local Buy You
Outdoors I believe it's called a group that plans outdoor activities for everyone, all
ages. So wherever you are, you can find an outdoor activity. Yeah.
And it's it's almost as if once you get the taste of this of
the outdoors, and sometimes you might be hiking in a desert or more lat
terrain. Others it's more rugged rugged. That's my New York and me rugged
rugged. Come on, I'll get this straight. Keaddy a more rugged area
that is a little bit more challenging, or something in between that's coastal.
Each one of these is absolutely gorgeous. Yes, yeah, and it is
a wonderful way to discover our country. I had I actually had not been
to a national park until I was in my forties, right, unbelievably gorgeous,
beautiful, and they're just out there for the taking. It is true.
And you know, the funny thing is sometimes I'll tell people, oh,
we're going into a desert, and they will say, the desert,
there's no plants, it's dry, it's a dust bowl. But I but
I tell everybody, you find beauty. And I think also besides the the
the exercise part, which which will get into, it's just being able to
see beauty, natural beauty wherever you are. You may not love living in
desert, you may not pick up and move to Flagstaff or whatever, but
seeing it and appreciating it and learning about the local environment, the animals,
the plants, the weather, it's it's fascinating. Absolutely. It's funny that
you mentioned desert because the first time we went to a desert was out in
New Mexico. Yeah, and I thought the same thing. This is I
was used to trees and mountains. This is not pretty. And little by
little I started to realize this is gorgeous. And we went back many times,
not just the Santa Fe but to other deserts as well. Yeah.
So, yeah, you do you find the beauty when you really take the
time and look, and that's the key is taking the time, yes to
do so. Yeah. Now, of course, in the spirit that this
is a health and wellness program. We are not travel agents here. But
no, no, you're right. I mean, that's that's the beauty of
this. We could go anywhere with this, but getting down to the health
and wellness part of it. I break down the hiking part of this.
And for everybody listening, hiking may not be your thing, and that's totally
okay. You may like to cycle, you may like to bird watch,
you may like to uh do more of the water sports. That's okay,
But for now we're talking about hiking. I look at it, Kathy,
as three distinct phases. The young families or the young groups that have younger
children. Then you have the the sort of that middle ground where you have
your you've you've almost trained your children and other family members to sort of go
off on their own with their friends. And then lastly, where we're sort
of at you're in your fifties, sixties or seventies or even beyond, and
you're looking at hiking and walking outside as a form of exercise, or you
are training outside, you're doing weightlifting, you're doing walking, cycling in order
to prepare for that outdoor hiking activity and a sense of reward that you get
when you're able to accomplish a one, two, three, four five mile
hike on and uneven terrain. It takes a lot of integrity, strength of
your muscles, and balance to get through that. But what would you say
starting off hiking with children? Well, first of all, I did want
to say because I didn't start hiking. I didn't start probably to work my
thirties, and the lingo was always a little mysterious to me. Railhead,
hydration system, right, you know, navigation, there is nothing mysterious to
it. The trailhead is just the beginning of a trail, right, and
they're all marked on anywhere you go you find it. Hydration system is just
a water bottle, right, and healthy snacks. With that healthy snacks comment,
Kathy, we're gonna hold you for a second. We're gonna take a
break news, traffic and weather is coming up. We're gonna be talking more
about hiking, sort of getting into taking your kids on the trail. But
stay tuned. I'm doctor Joe Glotti. This is your health first. Don't
forget doctor Joe Glotti dot com. Stay tuned, we'll right back. Welcome
back, everybody, Doctor Joe Glotti your health First, every Sunday between seven
and eight pm, broadcasting coast to coast on the free iHeart Radio app,
as well as our home station seven forty ktr H here in the great hot,
hot city of Houston, Texas. Don't forget sign up for our newsletter.
All of our social media is available on doctor Joe Glati dot com.
And if you're just tuning in now, we've been talking about hiking. I
was out in the Pacific Northwest last week. And for those that know me,
you know that not only I show you a lot of pictures of where
I have hiked over the years, but share the experience and the stories.
And on the program to nice Kathy Fenelon and neighbor, a friend, a
fellow hiker, her family, and my family and many families in the neighborhood.
We have all been hiking for nearly thirty years. And the importance of
having your children get out there. And that's where we left off. Kathy,
right before the break, tell me your sense on hiking with children.
I think getting kids outside is one of the most valuable things you can do
for them right. And hiking can be a little tricky because if you think,
well, does a five year olds really want to walk five miles down
a trail and look at trees? Probably not. So you have to make
it really fun for them and realize that when you're dealing with children, the
goal is not to get to the end of the trail. The goal is
to want them to go on a hike again, get them back right,
and that you have to make it fun. You have to be flexible.
If you get to a a waterfall, say a quarter of a mile down
the trail, and they want to stop and play for half an hour under
the waterfall, well then let them do that because that would be their memory
of how wonderful this hike was. Right, So you know, you let
them set the pace. Maybe as they get a little bit older, let
them pick the trail, which is always exciting. Right, And before you
know it, he'll be well ahead of you on that trail and you'll say,
you know, please keep us within sight, yes a little while,
and right, yeah, and and and and I consider myself and my family
very fortunate that you and your family and so many other families that we were
friends with and still are friends with. We had this uh this you know
camping uh co op in a sense, and where we would all go out
together, and those are some of the greatest memories that I have and and
our children have together. So there again, it's it's it's the exercise.
It is the personal achievement that you could say you made it to the end,
but it's the bonding and the emotion that is so important for everybody at
every age. Absolutely, And you know you mentioned our camping group, which
has probably one of the best memories from our kids growing up together. And
it's okay to let kids rough it a little bit and maybe you know,
you forget the peanut butter. Well, there's going to be a friend who
has a little peanut butter. If you the peanut butter, you know someone
is going to fall and skin their knee, and that's okay. They just
they still all talk about it, just in wonderment. And I'm sure a
matter of fact, I know my oldest son and two of his three kids,
he's gone camping with two other families out in North Carolina. So it
does it's you're teaching them how to be outside with other people and just enjoy
themselves. Yeah, you know, it does take a little bit of effort,
as you recall, but it's well worth it. Yeah, well worth
it. I've I've always used the hiking outdoor experience as a as a metaphor
for if it is the trail you're on in life is bumpy, it has
curves, there are rocks in the middle that you have to get over,
there's inclement weather. You have to bond together, you have to work together
on a common goal, which is just to hike ten, fifteen, twenty
minutes down the trail or you know, several days on a trail. But
I jotted down while we were chatting here the benefits of hiking, and again
you could you could substitute cycling, swimming, kayaking, etc. But it
is you're off the grid, you learn about nature. It's challenging, self
reliance, togetherness, communication, bonding, community, you relax and the wonder
of nature. What would you add to that, you think, Oh,
well, I would add cooking around the campfire and enjoying meals together. You
know, that's one of your absolutely and you're with your family, but then
you're also with some of your dear friends sharing food, going you know,
taking flashlights at night and going a little bit down the trail and you know,
maybe we're all a little afraid, but but it's great, it's fun,
and you know, you're getting your children to understand that it's important to
be fit enough that they can make it down the trail, and that they
are confidous enough that they can, you know, with supervision of course,
get in the river and float down a bit and have another adult catch them
at the end. Because all those things they will be doing when you're not
there, and it's better to teach them those skills when they're young, and
teach them how to do all these things safely, right, And it's survival
skills. And again the you know, survive on the trails, survive at
work, survive in your family, whatever, whatever the world throws at you.
I would say you could trace it back to a lesson you learned camping
or hiking. That's probably true. I'm sure exceptions to that rule, but
I can't think of any now. But yes, because if you are in
a cooperative group doing something challenging and you are confident that you can do it,
that applies to everything right right now. Truly, a day in the
news does not go by regarding the health and wellness of baby boomers. And
so these are people that were born between nineteen forty five and nineteen sixty five,
and many of our listeners fit into the baby boomer category and the status
of their health. And as I always like to say and remind everybody,
you can't wake up one day with a serious medical problem and walk it back.
You're stuck with it. To a certain sense. Yes, you can
make modifications on how poorly you do or how well you do with a particular
medical complication that you develop. But right now, if you're forty five or
fifty five, you have to be planning. Can I do something when I'm
sixty five or seventy five? And I know that the neighbors that we still
hike with, and I'm happy to say that your daughter was married last week.
We all went out to Seattle to celebrate, and of course we looked
at it and said, hey, Seattle Olympic National Park, Mount Rainier,
it's a stone's throwaway. We're making a vacation out of this. So that
is our mindset. But you have to start thinking and again using the idea
are you eating well, are you getting enough sleep. Do you have that
integrity to hike down a trail with or without a little bit of an elevation
when you're seventy? And what do you need to do now? So tell
me how you and your husband Chris sort of look at you know, the
the the good health habits that you have now thinking about trips you take or
places you visit. Well, we are yeah, we are your We love
to feel good, right, I mean I say I want to feel one
percent every day, right, and what does it take to get me there?
And really what it takes is exercising every day right, eating right,
not smoking obviously, drinking moderately and it allows you to enjoy your life as
you get older. And I guess your question was planning for the future,
right, Well, we look at we're sixty five and sixty seven now and
our go to high length now is oh, between six and eight miles right
now. About three years ago it was really between eight and twelve miles,
right, you know, when we were looking at what to pick out,
and you know we finally said, just like kids, we want this to
be enjoyable for us, right, and if ten miles is too much and
we don't want to do it anymore. That's not a good thing. So
just adapt and say, okay, you know what, five miles is a
great hike. We're out there, we're seeing beauty. We are you know,
always a big part of our hike is a delicious lunch. We're enjoying
lunch together, sitting by you know, looking at a mountain or sitting by
a stream. Right, And we realize that as you get older you do
have to adapt a little bit, but it all plays into wanting to feel
good every single day when you wake up right now, you can't imagine not
yet, No, you're true. And as as as I learn from my
patients and I talk to you know, either on the radio or we're talk
in public or our newsletter, you know, when I talk to patients,
they tell me they don't feel good. And the norm at fifty years old
should not be to feel like you're ninety years old. And so we have
to get that out of people's minds that when you're fifty or sixty or seventy,
you create these limitations and it's like a self fulfilling prophecy. Yep,
I can't go upstairs. Instead of sort of the approach you take and I
try to take all the time. Is that? What do I need to
do? How do I need to eat? How do I need to rest?
How do I need to exercise to make make sure I can achieve?
And again in this particular discussion, it's hiking. But how could you,
you know, ride ten or fifteen miles on a trail on a bike or
canoe or do anything else? What's your what's your tape? There? Right?
Well? And when I said that we need to adapt as we get
older, I do mean that, But that doesn't mean that we can't do
everything. We can still do everything, we just have to figure out how
to do it. One example, I'll use my husband as a shuffle when
I noticed when he got out of bed he was kind of shuffling, and
I said, what what are you shuffling? And you know, Joe,
that I am a students of yoga. I love yoga, and I suggest
that he start yoga and he did and after you know, a couple of
months, no more shuffling. Yes, And I think that you owe it
to your spouse to call them on things like you are not that old and
we are going to keep on doing these things. So whatever it is you
need to do, whether it be you know, I don't know, go
to an exercise class or walk around the block fifteen times, whatever it is
you should do that, do it for me because I want to keep going
to Yeah. Well, I think the name of the game here is accountability,
and you have to create that sense of accountability with a spouse, your
children, your best friend to encourage you to keep exercising, regardless of the
age. Regardless of the age. All right, Kathy, We're gonna stick
on for one more segment. We're going to take another quick break and wind
up this whole discussion of hiking. Hope all of you are becoming motivated or
thinking. Hopefully we'll get to some ideas at the end on how to start
this journey of hiking. All right, Doctor Joe Glati dot com is our
website. Stay tuned, We just got a few more minutes. Stay with
us. Final segment in for this very hot Sunday evening in Texas of your
health. First, I'm doctor Joe Glotti. Don't forget visit us at doctor
Joe Glotti dot com and all the information things we talk about during the week
are all on the website. Our newsletter a copy of my book Eating Yourself
Sick is available. Send me a message. That's the easiest thing and the
easiest way to do it. So we have been with Kathy Fenelon, a
dear friend and neighbor and fellow hiker, talking about hiking and what we're doing
here tonight, as always, is experience sharing. That is what this program
is really all about, telling stories that resonate with all of you. You
know, I even I even tell patients now that you know the beauty of
hiking, walk in your neighborhood, that that people get. But then I
said, look, you want to add a little added challenge to make believe
You've got a couple of leaders of water. You've got some nuts, you've
got some fruit, You've got a turkey sandwich in the back of your bag.
Put get a little knapsack. Go to a local sporting good store.
Get a day pack that fits. Stuff it in newspapers, put rocks in
it, you know, go and buy a five pound plate or a ten
pound weight plate, and just walk around the neighborhood with that knapsack. Get
your legs a little stronger, get a good pair of sneakers or boots,
and do that In training, which is good for your bones, good for
your heart, good for your blood pressure. And then when you decide yes,
we're taking a trip to Pennsylvania and we're going to hike in the mountains
there. You got a little training under your belt, right right. And
I'll add to that something that I do. I'm not a big phone person,
but it's important to keep up with your friends and family around the country.
When I'm at walking in the neighborhood, I don't carry a backpack,
but I do carry a little pack with my phone in it, and I
catch up with everyone. And again, free exercise. I'm not sitting on
the couch talking to my brother, but I'm out there walking it. Before
you know it, I've covered three miles because he's quite a chatter. Now,
now even cooler if you were walking during this interview. How about that,
well I'm pacing. Yes, Well that's good. Now to wrap up
here, Kathy. For those listening tonight, they may seem a little overwhelmed
and they're trying and think, you know, I've never hiked, I've been
a city kid my whole life, or really not been to a national park.
What would you say the three or four steps would be to sort of
ease into this whole hiking mentality that we both so love. I think the
easiest way to do it, and this isn't available to everyone, but if
you have a friend who hikes, ask them to take you one time or
ask or at least ask them to describe it to you and what it is
that they actually do, right, because I know, I was kind of
intimidated again with the lingo and then once you realize it's not that hard to
get into it. You know, you can go to your local ARII or
academy and usually they have hiking experts there, So especially at ARII they,
especially if you don't go on a Saturday afternoon, they will spend as much
time as you want with them, educating you right as to where to go
and what you actually need. Go to a state park and go for the
day. You don't even have to camp, just go for the day and
walk on the trail. See how you feel. It's easy. It's it's
really so easy, and you know, make it easy for yourself. Enjoy
it. Don't push too much, but push enough. You know, maybe
there's a hill there that you can climb, and it's okay to stop halfway
up the hill. You don't have to get up the whole thing and one
try, and that's I think the best way to start. Yeah. Yeah,
And I think that one thing is like so many sports, indoor sports,
outdoor sports, people become fanatical about it. And so all you need
to do is find one person that you go up to them and say,
tell me a little bit about biking, cycling, swimming, hiking. You'll
have a friend forever. Correct, correct, because everyone loves to have a
friend with similar interests. Yes, there's nothing better, and you know,
we've gotten so lucky in that, nothing better than going on a hiking trip
with a group of friends. I mean it's just you know, and people
are different abilities and that's okay. It doesn't matter. No one's gonna rush.
You don't have to climb the whole mountain, right, it's you're out
there, you're enjoying yourself, getting some exercise and building those bonds. No,
I know. And as you mentioned, there's so many resources online.
ARII co Op. They are coast to coast. The Sierra Club is another
national organizations and they have day hikes where they will say a day hike for
beginners. All you need is a bottle of water and stick a few kind
bars in your pocket with a pair of sneakers, and you're you're good to
go. And then you could relate to them and say, look, in
a month, there's another slightly longer trip or a different kind of trip,
and you just start getting momentum there. And as you said, state parks
in every state of the nation, no matter where you live, all you
have to do is go on Google and say state parks near me, and
there'll be more information than you could imagine. So, Kathy, it has
been a pleasure of having you on the radio tonight. It's always great getting
with you and Chris and your family and our extended families and hiking. All
right, Kathy, keep hiking, stay healthy, and thanks very much for
coming on tonight. All right, Thanks joh Well, that's it for tonight.
Hopefully we inspired you some. Thanks again to Kathy Fenelon for coming on.
Stay well, everybody, think about hiking. If you have any questions
about hiking, send me a message. That's what we here for. Take
care, everybody, be blessed. You've been listening to your Health First with
doctor Joe Glanti. For more information on this program, or the content of
this program, Go to your health first dot com