Start Here: Your Women’s Health Checklist for 2026
January 13, 2025 | Episode 54
Producer’s Note: The following is an AI-generated transcript of The Wellness Conversation, an OhioHealth Podcast
SPEAKERS: Marcus Thorpe, Lindsey Gordon, Dr. Aine Clements, Emma Shaw, Priya Patel
Lindsey Gordon 0:11
And I'm Lindsey Gordon. Marcus, can you believe brand new year? Here we are.
Marcus Thorpe 0:15
It is the same thing every year where you think to yourself, Where did 2025 go? Here we are. Now. I got to start thinking about, am I going to make any changes in my life? What do I need to do? And I think there's some things that we as a podcast have been thinking about too, that we wanted to make really simple for people, three basic things you can put in your life right now to make sure you have the best 2026 ever.
Lindsey Gordon 0:34
I don't know about you too, but I love a to do list. I need a checklist. I need to see it written down. And so we hope that this will help you. And we're talking about things that you might not even be thinking about, in terms of taking charge of your health this year. And so first up, we're going to dive into all things cancer screenings that you should have on your radar.
Marcus Thorpe 0:51
And then later in the episode, we're talking about really important things when it comes to strength training, which is critically important to what we're doing, especially the women out there. As you know, you've been paying attention to a lot of the different things on Tiktok and social media. It is everywhere. So what can the women do to make sure that strength training is part of your life? And then last we're talking about nutrition, something I am not very good at, but you're going to talk to an expert who really knows her stuff.
Lindsay Gordon 1:13
Absolutely. I'll ask a lot of self serving questions, because I have kids who are very picky eaters right now, and I'm in charge of nutrition, not just for myself, but for the whole family. So let's get started. All right. First step, we're diving into the space of cancer and being an advocate for yourself, because getting cancer screenings is one way to really take charge. And we're joined by Dr Aine Clements, who is a gynecological oncologist here at OhioHealth bank, Cancer Center. Thank you so much for doing this podcast with us. We really appreciate it.
Dr. Aine Clements 1:44
Thank you for having me. Very important topic. Happy to talk about screening for cancer, absolutely.
Lindsey Gordon 1:50
So it's the time of year. It's January, if you can believe it, everyone's thinking about their health and wellness goals for the year ahead. And I think a lot of times we think about the fitness, the nutrition, but so often we forget those preventative measures like cancer screenings. What are the different types of cancer screenings for women?
Dr. Aine Clements 2:09
Well, there's many preventative cancer screenings focusing on the things that we think of for women, of course, like breast cancer screening as well as cervical cancer screening, but also other cancer screenings, like colon cancer screening, like colonoscopies or cologuard. I think it's really important to remember that screening is something that you do when you're feeling well, so you're not having symptoms or any problems when you're undergoing screenings. So this is really something that is self care. It's not something that you're not you know, you're feeling sick and you're you're going to the doctor because you're feeling sick, it's when you're feeling well. You're doing prevention, you're doing self care. So you want to go and do your screenings when you're feeling well. So great to think about in the New Year, when you're you're focusing on health and wellness.
Lindsey Gordon 3:05
That's great advice about self care. So often we think about that as you know, maybe taking a nap or going for a run or getting a pedicure or something like that. But really taking charge of your health and scheduling these screenings and knowing when to schedule them is key. I think there's a lot of confusion out there, of like, when do I need a breast cancer screening, a mammogram? What would you say to that?
Dr. Aine Clements 3:26
Yeah. I mean, I think it is very confusing, and I wouldn't expect a patient to remember that. And I think it it well, to be honest, it is confusing because it changes all the time, because evidence changes, and we make recommendations based on the changing evidence all the time. So I would never expect a patient to remember that, and that's why it's really important that you have a regular doctor that you see on a regular basis. I think it's great if you have an annual checkup with your primary care doctor, they're the ones that you can rely on to keep updated with those screening guidelines. They can look it up and keep updated with those guidelines and then make the recommendations. So you don't have to keep track of all those ever changing guidelines for yourself, and you can rely on them to keep track of those.
Lindsey Gordon 4:21
You're so right. It really, it comes down to that conversation you have. I was wondering, Am I close to getting my mammogram? I wasn't sure. And we just recently had that conversation, and I was so happy to know that, okay, don't need it just yet. But there are, you know, there's criteria that could indicate maybe I need it a little bit sooner. What are you seeing in terms of trends like, are you seeing younger and younger people getting diagnosed with cancer?
Dr. Aine Clements 4:47
Yes, I would say that for me personally. I mean, I take care of patients that have gynecologic cancers, so cancers of the ovary or uterine cancer or cervical cancer vulvar. Vaginal cancer. So I see younger and younger patients with particularly endometrial cancers. The rates of endometrial cancers are going up. So yes, we see a lot more patients that are younger and younger with that disease. You know, the good news is that we do have preventative strategies for some of our cancers as well, namely, of course, the HPV or human papilloma vaccine. So I really encourage my patients as well as their family members, to get vaccinated against that cancer, against cervical cancer.
Lindsey Gordon 5:36
Very good information. One of the things we've learned from doing this podcast and focusing on women's health, we've really built a female audience, and you have the opportunity right now to kind of share what you the message you would want them to know if they're listening. So what would you share with them, for those who are listening in or watching or setting goals for 2026 as it relates to cancer prevention?
Dr. Aine Clements 5:59
Yes, I think two main things. One, I know it's really hard when you're feeling well, you're busy, you have a lot on your plate to set up a primary care physician, but I really do think it's worthwhile having that connection, that person that you can go to, that you see once a year, who knows you, who can make sure that you're getting the screenings that you you need. Second of all, I would say, if you notice that something is off, don't be afraid to reach out to your primary care physician to let them know that that you're noticing something is changing. I can't tell you the number of times I see patients in my office who, you know they they noticed a change. Maybe they they waited a bit before they mentioned it to someone. So you know any bleeding or abnormal discharge or something that's just not right in their bodies worth mentioning to your doctor, especially great if you have that primary care physician who knows you well and who you feel comfortable talking to about a problem that you might be facing.
Lindsey Gordon 7:16
Yeah, it's never, it's never going to hurt to just reach out and at least ask you. Never know, don't depend on as we've learned, Dr. Google.
Dr. Aine Clements 7:24
Right, right. I mean, I think Google has a lot of good information, but there's so much information out there, it can be really hard to know what information can I trust and which one can't I trust? So great if you have a good relationship with your doctor.
Lindsey Gordon 7:37
Aine Clements, Dr. Aine Clements, thank you so much for being with us for this part of the podcast, we so appreciate it really, really important advice there, as you're setting goals for 2026 I'm going to send it over to Marcus Thorpe now, who has more on how to set weight lifting or strength training goals for 2026.
Marcus Thorpe 7:54
All right, thanks. Lindsay. I know people who have listened to our podcast for long enough probably think to themselves, well, if they're talking about strength training, Marcus could probably just do this all by himself. All by himself and doesn't need any help, but I did bring on an expert. Emma Shaw is an exercise physiologist at OhioHealth McConnell Heart Health Center. It's good to see you. Thank you so much for joining us.
Emma Shaw 8:12
Thanks for having me.
Marcus Thorpe 8:13
It's gonna be, it's gonna be a great chat. Let's talk a little bit. First about Look, people come to the gym, it can be intimidating, right? There's a lot to kind of take in and and people that are really lifted hard, and maybe you're just not sure how you want to do it. How do you kind of overcome that intimidation factor?
Emma Shaw 8:29
That's a great question, because, as you can see around us right now, there's a lot of different equipment, fancy equipment. You might look at it and say, I don't even know how the heck to use this, how it should be set up, et cetera. So I feel like the biggest thing in overcoming the intimidation factor is just finding an environment and atmosphere that's going to be good for you and conducive for you to keep coming into that place. So whether it's somewhere like McConnell, where everyone's super helpful, and they just kind of mind their own business. That's a great environment. Or if it's like, your cool at home, garage gym. So I just feel like creating an environment and looking for, you know, different gyms. It's like an investment, in my opinion, because you're investing in yourself in the gym. So hop around to a few different gyms, go on tours first, and then figure out from there which ones you like best.
Marcus Thorpe 9:26
A lot of places will give you some time to kind of test drive it. You don't have to make a decision right away, which I think is good look. We're all getting older. It's just a sad fact of life. But at the same time, it doesn't have to mean that we have to go crazy. It's just important for the rest of your life to do a little bit of strength training. Can you talk about that? And I know we're seeing a lot of the things on Tiktok and Instagram targeting women, so let's talk specifically about women and why strength training is critically important.
Emma Shaw 9:56
Yes, so I feel like recently strength training and women. And girls has been kind of on the rise, which is really refreshing to see. Because as women age, you know changes in our hormones happen. You know you start to lose muscle mass, bone density, things like that, start to suffer. So if you start to load the spine with weight, doing exercises with good form that can help tremendously in increasing your lean muscle mass, increasing your bone density. There's actually a study called the lift more study. It's by Belinda Beck and she took about 100 post menopausal women through eight months of heavy resistance training, doing like squats, dead lifts, rows, farmers, carry things like that, and they saw improvements in their muscle mass and bone density. So it's pretty inspiring. And it's so important for women to lift.
Marcus Thorpe 10:55
I think people think about, Okay, I'm going to go to the gym, and if I lift, I'm going to get big and bulky. We know that doesn't have to be the case. And working out goes well beyond just your strength and what's going on. It can really do a lot for your entire body. Talk about that a little bit.
Emma Shaw 11:10
Yeah. So aside from, you know looking good, feeling better about you know yourself in the mirror, things like that, building muscle is great for your metabolism too. So the more muscle mass you have, it makes your body more energy expensive, so that essentially means that you're burning more calories just existing and resting, which can also help you become fitter over time. It's almost like a hack, if you will, and then it's also just great for that mental health and confidence boost, not only in yourself, but interactions with other people and being able to inspire others.
Marcus Thorpe 11:46
I love that. So Emma Shaw is going to break down a couple things for us here. You probably fall into a couple of different categories. The first category would be somebody who is starting right off the bat, right? It's the new year. I want to do something different. I want to do something that I can stick with over time. Let's talk about that group first. If you're one of those people who is just starting your program, maybe you've never done anything in the first place, or you've taken a couple of years off, and now you're kind of jump starting that again. How do we set ourselves up for success for 2026 in that group.
Emma Shaw 12:16
Always just keep it simple. That's like the easiest thing to say, but it's easier said than done. So I just recommend starting out maybe two days a week of lifting. That's really all you need. I feel like people tend to look at it as some scary thing, which, yes, it is in the beginning, of course, but as you get used to all these fancy tools in the gym, like a barbell, or, you know, any sort of machine, it becomes second nature. I mean, practice makes perfect. It's like with learning any new skill, it takes time and consistency. So yeah, if you're someone who has started a new job recently or a new hobby, it's just like that. It's just like that.
Marcus Thorpe 12:55
And then there's those folks who have been working out for a while. It's part of their regiment. They do it all the time, but they want to take it to the next level. Maybe they stall out every now and again, and they need to push past that breaking point to maybe make some gains. What's the message to some of those folks, as we kind of get things going in 2026.
Emma Shaw 13:14
That's when we get into the topic of progressive overload, which is adding more stress to your muscles and your body over time in a regulated manner, so as not to injure yourself, so that can look like adding weight, adding more sets, higher repetitions, or even decreasing your rest time. Those are all ways to make your exercises more intense and then make sure your body is still in that state of adaptation constantly. There's actually a really cool story. It's called Milo of Croton. It's about this Greek athlete who he's given a baby bull, and he carries it on his back. And over time, as the bowl gets bigger, Milo also gets bigger because his muscles are adapting to that increased load of the bull growing. So that's just a good visual for progressive overload.
Marcus Thorpe 14:07
I love that idea. Okay, so rest and recovery so critically important when it comes to starting and continuing a workout state, what do we do? How do we let our bodies kind of recover so that we're grinding and ready to go the next time and not going I'm still so sore. I'm still so tired, I don't want to do this anymore.
Emma Shaw 14:24
Yes, absolutely. So ensuring that your muscles get 24 to 48 hours in between each workout is going to be vital. And just ensuring that you're not burning yourself out, burning your body out, because you have to give those micro tears in your muscles some time to heal and repair the muscle itself so it can get bigger, because when you lift, you actually create micro tears in the muscle, and that is what helps it to get bigger, but that is also what creates that soreness. So listen to your body take at least 24 hours in between exercising a muscle group and just Yeah, always listen your body.
Marcus Thorpe 15:01
I think, as we're kind of closing here, don't get discouraged. It is one of those things where it's easy early on in a journey, you can go I'm not seeing the gains. I'm not seeing the changes. How do we use the mental part of ourselves to not get discouraged and not give up in those kind of things?
Emma Shaw 15:18
That's a great question. Number one, I would say, consult your support system. That's big, and they're just going to give you a lot of encouragement and confidence in what you're doing. I actually did that this morning. I talked to one of my friends. Was like, I'm so nervous to be on this podcast. And she was like, just be you. You're gonna be fine. So always consult that support system first and then second, I would say, Do not be too hard on yourself. Go by how you feel in your body and your brain. I try not to go by numbers too much. Like, oh no. Like, how much weight Am I lifting? It's not enough. Or, how much do I weigh this morning? I don't even own a scale. That's just me personally, if you start to get too hung up on numbers and things, it will just discourage you even more. So support system and how are you feeling inside?
Marcus Thorpe 16:11
Well, whoever you talk to, you got great advice, because you did a great job on this podcast. Thank you so much, Emma and I know that our listeners and viewers are going to get a lot out of what you said. So thank you so much for that. And we're going to have you on again, because you bring a lot. I know there's a lot more we can cover as well. So that's the body part of what we're doing with this podcast is we break it into three things for 2026 and the last thing, as you know, also very important, is how we do our nutrition. What are we putting in our bodies to make sure we have the fuel to do what em was talking about, Lindsey's gonna jump into that category right now.
Lindsey Gordon 16:44
Thanks, Marcus. Okay, I think this is one that we all need, and I feel like I really need this help with nutrition, because I'm making all the food decisions for my family, for my kids and my husband, and I'm like, Are they getting enough of this? Are they getting enough of that? And the truth is, I really don't know. It's kind of like a guessing game, and there's so much information on social media now. So here to sort it all out for us and help us set good nutritional goals for the year ahead, is registered dietitian Priya Patel, thanks for being with us Priya.
Priya Patel 17:13
Of course, thank you for having me. Nutrition is very overwhelming, so I'm here to answer all questions that you may have.
Lindsey Gordon 17:18
It is so appreciated. Okay, so let's start with you have a great rule of thumb, and it's something that kind of requires a mind shift, a mindset shift, right?
Priya Patel 17:29
Yeah, so my rule is addition and not subtraction. One of the main things that I like to focus on is especially when you're talking about meal composition, your plates. What does your plate look like lunchtime dinner time? Make sure half of your plate is non starchy vegetables. So it could be something like just steamed broccoli that you may have. It could be some beans. It could be a side salad. But you want to make sure half of your plate has some sort of non starchy vegetables. The other component is getting some sort of lean protein. So salmon, cod, it could be chicken, shrimp, something that's lean that has a bunch of protein in it. Lastly, you want to get carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are not the enemy. I know I feel like they are. Everyone is just bashing carbs, but the key is you want to choose healthy carbohydrates. Maybe choose a slice of whole grain bread instead of cake, right? Beans, lentils, also a very great source of carbohydrate, but anything whole grain quinoa is also great as well.
Lindsey Gordon 18:25
I love that thinking about adding, not subtracting, because sometimes I feel like when I try to cut certain things out of my diet, I feel like I then later maybe over indulge. Is that true that that happens?
Priya Patel 18:37
That is very true. You never want to deprive yourself of something certain. So like, if you are craving that piece of cake that I mentioned, have a couple bites of it, but eat it intentionally. Right? Don't eat it to the point where, like, you're on your phone scrolling, then you're not fully engaged in that experience. And of course, you're going to grab another bite. Yeah? So never deprive yourself. But it's important to look at what you're adding to your plate as well.
Lindsey Gordon 19:00
Absolutely, okay. So, can you just give me, like, a quick example of like I'm making dinner tonight for my kids. What would that like? Perfect plate look like that's like, balanced?
Priya Patel 19:11
Okay, so how about we do something? Maybe Mexican, right? Okay, do whole grain tortillas. Okay, some beans, lean ground beef or lean ground turkey with it, and then some fajita veggies. So it could be like peppers, onions, and then maybe you could do lettuce and tomato with it, and that would be perfect. You're hitting all three of those components.
Lindsey Gordon 19:31
That is so easy.
Priya Patel 19:33
It's so easy we just overthink it, and we get so overwhelmed when we're scrolling through Tiktok, when we're scrolling through Instagram, our mind has so many of these ideas, but when it comes to us going into the kitchen, it's hard to kind of translate, yeah, so just keep it simple.
Lindsey Gordon 19:48
That is so helpful. Okay, so you kind of touched on this next part, but we're going to talk about now, like key nutrients, like the ones that we want to check. So where do we start with that?
Priya Patel 19:58
Well, so one thing that I really want everyone to kind of focus on is fiber. We naturally lack fiber. Ideally, most women need about 25 grams of fiber per day. So a great way to get that fiber is through nuts, chia seeds, beans and lentils. As I mentioned, whole grains is also great. There's fruits and veggies like broccoli that have fiber too. But with fiber, you also want to focus on increasing your water intake, right? So water is key as well, and most women, actually, most individuals in the United States lack that water because we're sipping on tea throughout the day, energy drinks, coffee, protein shakes, but not water itself. Women need, on average, about 90 ounces of water per day. I know 90 ounces may be a little overwhelming, but I like this rule that I have. It's called 30 30 30. Okay, so the rule with that is, you want to drink 30 ounces between breakfast and lunch, 30 ounces between lunch and dinner, and then another 30 ounces after dinner, because you don't want to get to end of dinner. And then you have 60 ounces to drink. Then you're going to be up all night peeing, right? That's not ideal, right?
Lindsey Gordon 21:04
That is so doable. 30 30 30. And I love the call out for women and nutritional goals, because there's different phases in our lives, too, where it's so critical. I mean, I think about the time after I had my two kids, and if There were days where I just wasn't actually eating, probably eating enough because I was just so tired and sleep deprived, and not to mention breastfeeding, and the days that I actually had a good meal, I was I felt better, right? Is that true?
Priya Patel 21:32
It's very true. And as women, there are these three nutrients that we lack, calcium, vitamin D and iron. So with calcium, you need about 1000 milligrams prior to menopause, but then after menopause, you want to up it to 1200 milligrams. But with calcium, you want to increase your vitamin D, because vitamin D enhances calcium absorption for our bone growth. You also lack iron because we have men or we have menstrual cycles that we go through pregnancy, breastfeeding, childbirth, you know, we're losing a lot of that hemoglobin, that iron, and so supplementing with, like, a complete multivitamin that has around 18 milligrams of iron is ideal.
Lindsey Gordon 22:11
Vitamin D seems to be like the superpower supplement, because I've heard like from my primary care. We talk about all the benefits of it. I do have a deficiency, so I have to take one of those, like over the counter supplements all the time, and it seems like a superpower supplement. Is it possible to overdo the supplements? If you're doing that, you know, in addition to what you're eating?
Priya Patel 22:31
Yeah, you definitely can overdo certain vitamins and minerals. That's why it's very important to go to your annual PCP visits and get your lab work done, because they do check vitamin D just to see where you're at, and doses that they recommend could range from 1000 international units to 50,000 international units per week. So definitely get your lab work completed.
Lindsey Gordon 22:52
Got it. Okay, So we're going to sort of start to wrap up here with one final portion of this interview. And we are talking about how to make this sustainable, how to make this legit, right? I mean, it's, it's so hard when you think about, okay, I got to do all this and change my diet and but let's just start with small steps and start today. So what are your What are your what's your message for how to do this in a way that's realistic?
Priya Patel 23:17
Well, definitely focus on one goal at a time. We go into the new year having a list of I got to do this, I got to do that, I got to do that. But when you're focusing on all of that all at once, it becomes daunting, it becomes overwhelming. And then there's comes a day where you don't hit two of your goals and you just feel absolutely defeated. So focus on one goal at a time. The next thing that I would recommend is set realistic goals. So I mentioned drink 90 ounces of water. Well, for someone that's only drinking one bottle of water, and going from 16 ounces to 90 ounces, that's a lot, that's overwhelming. So I think a good stepping goal for that individual would be going from one bottle to two bottles and working your way up. And then lastly, have an intention behind these goals. Don't just do it because your friend group is doing it. Don't just do it because you saw it on Tiktok. Are you doing it for health reasons? Is it because you want to live a long healthy life? Is it because you want to promote digestive health? And those are all valid reasons, but remind yourself of those reasons throughout the months moving forward.
Lindsey Gordon 24:14
That is great advice. Priya, thank you so much for taking the time to do this podcast with us. We've had you on before, so actually, she mentioned Tiktok. If you want to go back, we have an episode from I think it was 2024 you spoke about the myths that are on social media as it pertains to nutrition. So check that out. She if you loved what you heard today, go back and listen, because it's amazing. Thank you so much.
Priya Patel 24:38
Of course, thank you for having me.
Marcus Thorpe 24:40
All right, some awesome information. We did this podcast a little bit different. We've been in the studio forever. We said, why don't we take it on the road a little bit go to where these people actually do their work each and every day with OhioHealth. I think it was a great episode.
Lindsey Gordon 24:51
Yeah, I certainly learned a lot. It's actually refreshing when you hear the cancer experts say, Yeah, knowing when and how to get those cancer screenings can. Be confusing, but they're here to help. And it was a great conversation.
Marcus Thorpe 25:03
Strength training is so important. I sit there and think to myself how intimidating it can be whenever you start to get in your process and you haven't done it a while. So Emma was really great with trying to get my mindset in the right spot. So hopefully 2026, will be a good year for me at the gym.
Lindsey Gordon 25:17
Absolutely and nutrition, oh my goodness. Way to break it down and make it easy, stuff that I can start tonight with dinner, and hopefully the kids will eat it.
Marcus Thorpe 25:25
All right now we're going to transition for our next episode. Something that you can look forward to is kind of the Mental Health checklist of 2026 it can be a completely different animal for all of us. How do I make sure that my mindset is right, that my work life balance is fitting what I need to do to be my best, not only at work, but also for my family.
Lindsey Gordon 25:44
Absolutely. So tune in later this month for that episode. Find it wherever you get your podcasts. If you want to find more information on this episode, you can find it at ohiohealth.com/the wellness conversation.
Marcus Thorpe 25:55
Thanks for joining us.