Hello my friends,

If you were to look at my life right now, it wouldn't look like the Instagram feed of a Lifestyle Medicine expert.

It looks like broken sleep. It looks like figuring out how to be a mother to my newborn daughter without family nearby to help. It looks like diapers, feeding schedules, and a schedule that has been completely detonated by the beautiful chaos of a new baby.

And if I’m being honest? It looks nothing like the "Standard of Care."

We all know the guidelines. As a clinician, I can recite them in my sleep: Adults should aim for 150 minutes of moderate-intensity physical activity per week.

That’s 30 minutes a day, five days a week.

In my current season of life, finding a blocked-out, uninterrupted 30 minutes to go to the gym feels about as realistic as flying to Mars.

For years, I watched high-achieving professionals—maybe even you—crumble under the weight of this number. You see "150 minutes," look at your calendar, realize you only have 10 minutes between meetings, and think, "Well, if I can’t do the full workout, I might as well do nothing."

It’s the all-or-nothing trap. It’s the perfectionism that tells us if it doesn't happen in a gym, with sweat, for a specific duration, it doesn't count.

But today, I want to share one thing that saved my sanity (and my blood sugar) during this newborn phase.

It’s a concept that proves "something is better than nothing" isn't just a motivational poster slogan. It is a biological fact.

Let’s get nerdy for a second. I promise to keep this simple.

When you eat carbohydrates, your body breaks them down into glucose (sugar) which enters your bloodstream. Your body then needs to get that sugar out of your blood and into your cells to be used for energy.

Normally, this process relies on Insulin.

Think of your cells like a house. Glucose is a guest trying to get in. Insulin is the key that unlocks the front door to let the glucose in.

But for many of us—due to stress, genetics, poor sleep, or dietary habits—that front door lock gets jammed. We call this Insulin Resistance. The key doesn't work as well, the door stays shut, and the glucose stays stuck in the bloodstream (high blood sugar), causing damage over time.

But here is the magic that perfectionism hides from you: Your house has a Side Door.

And the Side Door doesn't need a key.

This mechanism is called contraction-mediated glucose uptake.

When you move your muscles—even just a little bit—the muscle contraction itself kicks the side door open. It grabs glucose directly from the bloodstream, completely bypassing the need for insulin.

Research shows that breaking up sitting time with just 3 to 5 minutes of movement every 30 minutes can lower blood sugar spikes by 30-40%.

Read that again.

You don't need a 60-minute HIIT class to activate this. You don't need to change into spandex. You just need to contract your muscles.

Your biology doesn't care if you are in a gym or in your kitchen.

It only cares that you moved.

So, how do we apply this science when life is overwhelming?

We stop trying to find "time to workout" and start finding "opportunities to move."

When I’m holding my daughter, trying to burp her after a feed, I’m not just standing there. I’m doing squats.

Is it a "perfect" squat form? Probably not.

Is it 150 minutes continuous? Definitely not.

Does it count? Absolutely.

But I didn't just start this as a new mom. I used to practice this in the clinic, too.

I would do calf raises (standing on tiptoes and lowering back down) while typing notes. I would stretch in my chair between patients. I would take the "long way" to the printer.

I’ll be honest with you: It feels weird at first.

I remember doing calf raises in the clinic and catching my coworkers staring at me. It feels awkward to be the person doing squats in the breakroom or pacing around while on a call. We have been socialized to sit still.

My coworkers questioned me at first. “Grazelle, why are you bobbing up and down?”

I explained the "Side Door" theory. I told them I was clearing glucose.

And you know what happened? After a few weeks, the staring stopped. Then, the questions changed. They started saying, "I wish I had your energy." Or, "Man, my back hurts from sitting, I should do what you do."

Eventually, they stopped thinking it was weird and started wishing they were consistent.

The lesson? Being consistent and "weird" is infinitely better for your health than being "normal" and sedentary.

If we treat health like an on/off switch, we fail. When life gets crazy—like having a baby, or a massive project launch, or a family crisis—we flip the switch to "OFF" because we can't sustain the "ON."

But health is a Dial.

The "Standard Recommendation" of 150 minutes/week? That’s the dial at 100%. That’s great when life is calm.

Right now, my life is not calm. If I tried to keep my dial at 100%, I would crash and burn. I would quit.

So, instead of turning the dial to 0%, I have turned it to 10%.

My "10%" is burping squats. It’s a 5-minute walk up and down the driveway. It’s taking the stairs.

Keeping the dial at 10% keeps the machinery from rusting. It keeps the habit alive. It keeps the identity of "I am a healthy person" intact, even when the behavior looks different.

Here is your "10% Menu" for this week: If you can’t get to the gym, pick one of these "Side Door" openers:

I want to leave you with a shift in perspective.

I used to think I had to be "honest with myself" about why I wasn't prioritizing exercise. That phrase usually came with a heavy dose of guilt and shame.

Now, I prefer to say: Be creative with your chaos.

I cannot tell you when to move. I don’t live your life. I don’t know your schedule, your commute, or your stressors.

But I do know that consistency beats intensity.

If you ignore the 150-minute recommendation but consistently hit these 5-minute "micro-movements" for the next 5 years, you will be miles ahead of the person who tries the "perfect" workout for two weeks, quits, restarts in January, and quits again.

You never fail, you just iterate.

So today, give yourself permission to lower the bar. Open the side door. Do the calf raises. Let it look messy. Let it look weird.

Your body will thank you for it.

Moving with you (literally, right now),

Grazelle 🌱

P.S. If you’re a new parent, or just in a season of life that feels like you’re drowning, hit reply and let me know: What is your "10%" right now? What is the one tiny thing you can do, even when you can't do it all? I’d love to hear it.

Whenever you’re ready, here are some other (free) resources you can check out: