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Summary
On episode 107 of 40+ Fitness, Coach Allan sits down with Dr. Cris Beer, who holds qualifications in medicine, biomedical science, integrative and nutritional medicine, and health coaching, and works as a health consultant for the Biggest Loser Retreat on the Gold Coast.
Dr. Cris’s book, Healthy Habits: 52 Ways to Better Health, breaks good health down into repeatable habits rather than willpower. She explains how habits form through repetition and association, and how swapping a bad habit’s trigger for a good one, like trading an after-work glass of wine for a walk with the dog, makes change stick.
The conversation moves through her core habits: moderating alcohol and caffeine, prioritizing sleep, managing toxic stress, balancing blood sugar, and learning to breathe properly.
Links
- https://drcris.com.au
Key Takeaways
- Habits form through repetition, not willpower. The brain builds automated pathways through repeated practice, similar to learning to drive. Dr. Cris notes that healthy people aren’t psychologically different from anyone else, they’ve simply built better routines over time.
- Break bad habits by changing the association and access. Swapping the after-work glass of wine for a walk with the dog works because it replaces the trigger with a new routine, while keeping running shoes by the door and the dog waiting removes the friction that would let you talk yourself out of it.
- Accountability locks a new habit in. A walking partner, spouse, or even a dog that expects the routine makes it far harder to skip than relying on willpower alone.
- Keep alcohol to true moderation. Dr. Cris cites the guideline of one standard drink a night for women and two for men, five nights a week, with two consecutive alcohol-free nights to rest the liver. Alcohol metabolizes like sugar and gets stored around the midsection, driving insulin resistance.
- Cap caffeine near 200 milligrams a day. That’s roughly two to three cups of coffee. Excess caffeine can cause headaches, disrupted sleep, and nighttime urination, and genetics mean some people clear it from their system far more slowly than others.
- Treat sleep like gold. Aim for seven to nine hours a night. Consistent bed and wake times, natural daylight exposure during the day, and cutting screens before bed all protect melatonin production and long-term health.
- Recognize the three stages of toxic stress. First, afternoon fatigue followed by a “second wind” late at night; second, fatigue from mid-morning on, propped up by caffeine and sugar; third, constant fatigue regardless of how much sleep you get, which is burnout. Learning to say no is central to stopping the progression.
- Stabilize blood sugar with protein-forward, slow-burn meals. Eating something with protein every two to four hours, starting the day with eggs or oats instead of cereal or a bagel, prevents the energy crashes, mood swings, and 3 a.m. wake-ups that come from blood sugar dropping too far.
- Correct shallow chest breathing. Deep belly breathing that expands the abdomen, not the shoulders, triggers the vagus nerve and the parasympathetic “rest and digest” response, easing anxiety, muscle tension, and digestive symptoms tied to eating on the run.
“The thing you practice most is the thing that will become a habit.”
Dr. Cris Beer