MYOR Wellness by Laura P

🎄 MYTH vs METHOD: Apparently, I’ve been training for Christmas.

MYTH: Strength training is mostly about losing weight or looking more toned.

METHOD: Train for the things you want to keep doing for yourself.

Including putting up a 9-foot Christmas tree. By yourself. 💪😂

This is the Home Decorators Grand Duchess pre-lit balsam fir. I don’t know what that final top section weighs, but I can tell you it is NOT light.

Lifting it, reaching up, and getting it into place takes strength. Moving into position takes mobility. Controlling that awkward piece takes stability.

And this is where all those workouts become something much more meaningful to me.

We hear plenty about why women need to strength train as we get older. But sometimes the reason that really connects isn’t a number, a measurement, or anything happening inside the gym.

It’s carrying your own groceries.
Lifting a suitcase.
Getting down on the floor with your grandchild and getting back up.
Moving something heavy because you want it over THERE.
Putting up your Christmas tree without waiting for someone else to do it.

At 58, I want to keep having those choices.

That’s why strength and mobility both have a place in my routine. I’m investing in the ability to participate fully in my own life, including the things that make me ridiculously happy. Like Christmas. 🎄

Independence doesn’t mean I never need help. It means keeping the ability to do what I can, and the judgment to know when help makes sense.

My Christmas tree is 9 feet tall. My reason for training goes a whole lot deeper.

What’s YOUR real-life reason to stay strong?

🌿 **MYTH vs. METHOD is BACK!

It's been a while since I've shared one of these! Life has been busy, and I've been spending more time putting my own wellness habits into practice than talking about them here.

But today seemed like the perfect opportunity to bring this series back.

❌ MYTH: If you're eating well, exercising and feeling good, you already know your wellness routine is working.

✅ METHOD: Pay attention to how you feel, but don't overlook what you can learn by measuring and understanding what's happening inside your body.

Today is the last day of my staycation, and I'm using a little of that time to invest in ME!

I've been working hard on my strength, nutrition, movement and recovery. Now I'm taking another step to better understand my body.

It's time to recheck my levels. I'm testing my vitamin D, omega fatty acid balance, ( omega 6:3 ratio), HbA1c (a measure of average blood sugar) and aspects of my gut health.

Why? Because I don't want to just assume everything I'm doing is giving me the results I want. I want to learn, look for patterns and make informed adjustments when they're needed.

And no, these tests won't tell me everything. They're pieces of a much bigger picture.

That's what MYOR Wellness is really about.

Not chasing the latest wellness trend. Not expecting one product or one routine to fix everything.

It's about educating ourselves, taking action and creating a lifestyle that supports the life we actually want to live.

Your wellness journey doesn't have to look like mine. That's the whole point of Make Your Own Rules! (MYOR - get it?) 🤩🤩🤩

💜 Healthy aging isn't about doing everything perfectly. It's about continuing to learn what works for YOU.

So here's my question for you: When was the last time you checked in with your health, beyond just how you look or what the scale says?

🎒 MYTH VS METHOD #37: Back-to-School Edition

MYTH:
If the package says high protein, natural, whole grain or made with real fruit, it must be healthy.

METHOD:
Turn it over and read the ingredients.

Back-to-school aisles are packed with foods designed to look healthy. And I get it, mornings are crazy and sometimes convenience wins.

But I have started experimenting with remaking the ultra-processed foods we used to buy so we can eliminate more of them from our home. Breakfast bars, hummus and other everyday foods can often be made with simpler ingredients than I realized.

Epicure meal solutions and seasonings help me do that without spending my entire life in the kitchen.

Zinzino’s BalanceTest takes it one step further. It shows my actual fatty-acid profile and omega-6:3 balance, something no food package can tell me.

Real food when possible. Smarter shortcuts when necessary. Testing instead of guessing.

The kids may be going back to school, but the adults could probably use a refresher course in food labels too.

What “healthy” packaged food should I investigate or try to remake next? Drop it below.

Want an easy Epicure food swap or information about testing your omega-6:3 balance? Comment SCHOOL.

Epicure: https://epicure.com/?ref=LAURAPRILL

Meal prep looks so pretty when it’s all lined up in containers.

What you don’t see? 😂
The planning. The chopping. The measuring. And the DISHES. So. Many. Dishes.

But this is what a couple hours in my kitchen created today:

🥣 Overnight oats with chia seeds
🥜 Homemade protein breakfast bars to replace Ethan’s Bobo’s
🥒 Pickled cucumbers + cherry tomatoes from a friend’s garden
🍗 4 meals measured and ready with boneless chicken thigh + breast
🥒 Roasted zucchini + peppers
🍍 Fresh pineapple cut and ready
🍚 Wild rice cooked for the week
🫘 Homemade hummus

And that hummus is actually a perfect example of WHY I keep learning.

I stood in the store reading hummus labels and kept finding oils I didn’t want. So… chickpeas, Zinzino extra virgin olive oil and Epicure seasonings at home. Done.

That’s the kind of stuff I want to talk about more here.

Not “everything at the grocery store is bad.”
Not fear.
Not perfection.

Just learning to turn the package around, understand what’s actually in our food, and decide what deserves a spot in our kitchen.

I use Zinzino’s extra virgin olive oil because quality and sourcing matter to me. I use Epicure spices because making real food taste GOOD is pretty important if you actually want to keep eating it. 😂

And sometimes the best “healthy eating hack” isn’t a hack at all.

It’s a kitchen full of dishes on Sunday so Tuesday-you has actual food ready to eat. 😉

More real food. More label reading. More “wait… WHY is that ingredient in there?” More sharing the products I actually use and why I chose them.

That’s where I’m taking this page.

So help me pick next week’s Myth vs. Method 👇

What food, ingredient, supplement, wellness trend or “healthy” product do you want me to dig into next?

💜 Myth vs. Method #36: AI and Your Health

MYTH: AI found the answer, so it must be right.

METHOD: Human in the loop. Always.

I use AI all the time. It helps me sort through information, understand medical wording, organize my thoughts and come up with better questions.

But I would never let it spit out an answer and trust that it is 100% correct.

For my Gen X friends, remember when we were first learning to use Google or Ask Jeeves?

We learned the hard way that finding something on the internet did not make it true. There was plenty of bad, wrong and even damaging information being shared then. There still is.

AI can give you a wrong answer in a very convincing way.

That is why my favorite phrase about AI is human in the loop.

Use AI to help you learn. Use it to organize your symptoms or prepare questions for an appointment. Let it point you toward research.

Then check it.

Check the source. Check the date. Check whether the research was actually done on humans. And before changing a medication, starting a supplement or deciding what a symptom means, involve a qualified human who knows your health history.

This applies to anything I share about Zinzino too. Ask me where the information came from. Ask what has actually been tested. Ask what the product can and cannot do.

If I cannot explain it clearly, don’t buy it from me.

Use the tool. Keep your brain turned on. Human in the loop. Always.

If you find a wellness claim that sounds convincing but you are not sure it is true, send it to me. We can check the source together.

Vacation time has a funny way of slowing you down enough to think.

It's only been a couple days away from work, but I realized I've been going through a reset.

If I'm being honest, this year has been hard. I've caught myself focusing more on the goals I haven't reached than the progress I've actually made. That's a tough place to live.

Maybe that's why we all need a reset every now and then.

Not to become someone new.

Not to throw away who we are.

But to reconnect with who we wanted to be in the first place.

Sometimes the healthiest thing we can do is pause, reflect, and reset.

For me, that meant coming back to MYOR Wellness and remembering why I started it back in 2016. To question the noise, keep learning, and help people make informed decisions about their health. That's exactly why I started my Myth vs. Method series.

As part of my own reset, I organized everything into one place and created a simple Healthy Aging Reset Checklist.

If you're looking for a place to start, maybe this is it.

🔗 https://linktr.ee/Zeberk

Here's to finishing this year with intention, not perfection. 💜

Essentials for my lifestyle Official: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook | Linktree Being good and doing good can be accidental, but to be GREAT is intentional.

🚫 MYTH #35: Aging is mostly genetics.

✅ METHOD: Aging is the result of thousands of small choices adding up over time.

I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately.
People love to blame genetics for everything. And sure, genetics matter. But if genetics were the whole story, I wouldn’t see people the same age living completely different lives.
Some people in their 70s are traveling, hiking, playing with grandkids, carrying groceries, and doing whatever they want.
Others are struggling just to get through a normal day.
What happened?
Usually not one big thing. A thousand little things.
The walks they took.�The strength they built.�The sleep they protected.�The stress they learned to let go of.�The friendships they kept.�The food they chose most of the time.
None of those decisions seemed important on a random Tuesday.
But they mattered.
For example, I’m pretty protective of my sleep. I usually shut my phone off about an hour before bed, I’m typically in bed between 9:30 and 10:00, and I enjoy getting up between 5:00 and 6:00 in the morning. Not because somebody told me I should, but because I know how much better I feel when I do.
And now we’re learning those same habits don’t just impact how we feel today. They may impact our brain health decades from now.
New research continues to show that movement, nutrition, social connection, quality sleep, and managing chronic health risks can help support cognitive function and may reduce dementia risk as we age.

That’s a pretty powerful reason to pay attention to the basics.

Those little choices don’t feel like much on any given day. But they add up.
I know for me, healthy aging isn’t about looking younger.
I honestly couldn’t care less about chasing 25 again.
What I care about is being 80 and still having choices.
Being able to get up off the floor.
Travel where I want.
Play with future great-grandkids.
Carry my own suitcase.
And keep my mind as strong as my body.

That’s why I focus so much on the basics now. Not because they’re exciting, but because they work.

Most of the things that help us feel better aren’t flashy.
They’re the boring little things we do consistently.
And those boring little things become our future.

💜 That’s why I’m such a believer in testing, not guessing. If I’m going to put effort into my health, I want to know where my baseline is and whether what I’m doing is actually making a difference.

Because hope is not a strategy, data is.
If you’re curious about your own baseline, send me a message.

MYTH VS METHOD #34

MYTH: "I just need a better supplement."

METHOD: Stop buying supplements before you know what your body actually needs.

This might be one of the most expensive wellness mistakes we make.

Most people have a cabinet full of bottles they bought because:

• Someone on TikTok recommended it
• A celebrity swears by it
• A podcast host promoted it
• The label sounded impressive

But here's the uncomfortable truth...

You can't supplement your way out of guessing.

For years I thought I was doing everything right. I ate clean. Worked out. Drank my water. Thought I was buying quality products based on the label.

Then I tested.

My Omega-6:3 ratio came back at 47:1.

Not a little off.

47:1. (Don't forget, omega balance should be 3:1)

That was my ah-ha moment that what I THOUGHT was happening inside my body and what was ACTUALLY happening were two very different things.

That's why I love the phrase:

TEST. DON'T GUESS.

Food should always be the foundation.

But let's be honest... even when we're trying our best, our food isn't what it was 50 years ago. Soil quality has changed. Stress is higher. Processed foods are everywhere. Most people are trying hard and still coming up short. And don't even get me started on the damage from diet culture to so many of us did to our internal systems.

That's what originally attracted me to Zinzino.

Not because it promised magic.

Because it measured.

Because it starts with data.

And if you've been thinking about testing and starting a protocol, June is honestly one of the strongest promotions I've seen.

The Health Protocol Premium subscription normally starts at $228, but this month includes additional products at no extra cost, making the value significantly higher than what you're paying.

Your ongoing subscription is approximately $164/month and includes:

✅ BalanceOil+ Premium
✅ ZinoBiotic+
✅ Viva+
✅ Xtend+

PLUS June bonuses:

🎁 FREE Viva+
🎁 FREE Xtend+
🎁 FREE Balance product

What I love most is that this isn't a basket full of random supplements.

It's a protocol.

Everything works together.

And Xtend+ is a perfect example.

It isn't just another multivitamin.

It was designed to work alongside the rest of the protocol, providing vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and phytonutrients that support healthy immune function, cellular protection, bone health, energy production, and overall wellness.

That's a very different approach than grabbing another bottle off a store shelf because someone on social media said it was "good for inflammation."

My challenge to you today:

Before you buy another supplement...

Ask yourself one question:

Do I know what my body needs... or am I just hoping?

That's the difference between the myth and the method.

And it's exactly why I test first.

My own results went from 47:1 to under 3:1 because I finally stopped guessing and started measuring.

If you'd like information on the June promotion, the tests, or which protocol may fit your goals, send me a message. I'll happily walk you through it.

And because I want to stand behind my comment that you need to not just listen to someone else and prove it to yourself. During the month of June, when you purchase any of the Health Protocol kits...and when your tests come back and if you are ALREADY in balance at 3:1 - I will reimburse you for your next month subscription. Yes. I am that confident.

Choose here:

https://www.zinzino.com/shop/2017860927/US/en-us/products/special-offers

Oh and think it's too expensive for you - how about a Zinzino4Free program that pays you back every month you have an active subscription! And even if you don't get ZinZino4FREE, you get Zinzinocash equal to your shipping costs every month to use on future products!!!!

https://www.zinzinoplay.com/en/video/1500

Customer Z4F - How does it work?

MYTH vs METHOD #34

MYTH:
“Everything has PFAS in it, so I need to throw everything away.”

METHOD:
Not all exposures are created equal.

This week I was cleaning out my closet and started wondering about some old workout clothes. They weren’t cotton. Cue the PFAS rabbit hole.

Here’s what I reminded myself:

The goal isn’t perfection.

The goal is reducing the biggest sources of exposure while keeping the habits that support health.

Before you panic over a pair of leggings, consider focusing on:

✅ Water filtration
✅ Non-stick cookware
✅ Food packaging and not microwaving in plastic bags or containers
✅ Stain-resistant furniture and carpets
✅ Personal care products used every day

Then ask:

“Does this item help me live a healthier life?”

If a pair of leggings helps you move, exercise, and stay active, that’s a benefit worth considering too.

Less fear. More priorities.

That’s usually where better wellness decisions live.

Have you ever gone down a wellness rabbit hole and later realized you were focusing on the wrong thing?

Test. Don’t guess. Prioritize. Don’t panic.

MYTH VS METHOD #33

MYTH:
More emails, more deals, more subscriptions, more notifications = getting more value.

METHOD:
Everything you bring into your life takes up space.

And whew… my inbox is proof of that. 🤣

Thousands of unread emails because I signed up for discounts, free shipping, coupons, early access… all the things.

But after a while it stops feeling helpful and starts feeling heavy.

Constant ads.
Constant noise.
Constant pulling at your attention.

I think wellness is bigger than food and workouts.

It’s also about what you allow to constantly consume your mind.

More isn’t always better.
Sometimes more is just more to manage.

This long weekend I’m realizing I want less clutter, less noise, less pressure… and more room to actually enjoy my life.

CTA:
Maybe this weekend isn’t about buying more stuff for summer.

Maybe it’s about unsubscribing from things that quietly drain you.

Also - yes, that is the number of emails in my inbox. 😬