When your focus slips or your energy fades halfway through the day, it’s easy to blame your schedule. You’re busy, you have responsibilities, and you tell yourself you just need to get through the week.
But when that becomes your everyday experience, I want to understand what’s changed. Before you reach for another supplement or productivity tool, have you looked at your health?
That’s the question behind my conversation with Penny Zenker on the Time to Reset podcast. We discuss how health connects to daily performance and why changes in energy, concentration, and recovery deserve attention.
We explore hormones, blood sugar, sleep, inflammation, and gut health, including why an evaluation needs to look beyond the first explanation that comes to mind. Feeling foggy doesn’t tell us which system is responsible. It gives us a reason to investigate.
I also share how I came to this work. During my surgical career, I was so focused on caring for other people that I neglected myself. I was overweight, stressed, and not sleeping well. Recognizing that I needed help led me to study a broader approach to health and apply it to my own life.
A central point in our conversation is that improving performance starts with understanding what deserves attention. Sometimes the useful next step involves your sleep, nutrition, or recovery rather than adding another product.
If you’ve been putting your health behind everything else, this interview is an invitation to step back and reconsider that priority.
Watch the interview on YouTube or listen on Apple Podcasts.
Find the Parts of the Conversation That Matter to You
5:01 — Connecting health with daily performance: Why I consider hormones, inflammation, blood sugar, and gut health when discussing energy and focus.
6:05 — Where to start when health advice feels overwhelming: Penny asks for a first step, and we discuss the role of testing in an individualized evaluation.
7:12 — Sleep, stress, and blood sugar: The conversation explores how these factors can interact.
8:54 — Looking more closely at gut health: Penny asks about symptoms and testing, and I explain what I consider in a gut-health evaluation.
11:54 — Looking beyond the next supplement: Why the discussion returns to foundational health habits.
13:25 — My own health turning point: How neglecting my health during a busy surgical career changed the direction of my work.
Frequently Asked Questions
What should I discuss with a doctor about persistent fatigue and brain fog?
Describe what has changed, when it happens, and how it affects your work and daily life. Include your sleep patterns, medications, and supplements. Fatigue and brain fog do not identify a specific cause on their own. In this interview, I discuss why an individualized evaluation matters before deciding what to address.
Should I try supplements first to improve focus and productivity?
Start by clarifying the problem rather than choosing a product. In the interview, I explain why I look at foundational factors such as sleep, nutrition, stress, and relevant health findings before considering additional interventions. The appropriate next step depends on your circumstances.
