From Chasing Youth to Choosing Longevity- A living story of becoming-
Imagine waking up on the morning of your thirty-sixth birthday to have your then-husband turn to you and say,
“You’re the oldest person that I’ve ever been with.”
Not happy birthday. Not you’re amazing. Not this is going to be a great day. Not even good morning.
Just that sentence.
He was already awake. Staring at me.
That was the beginning of the end of that — and the beginning of the rest of my life. It sounds trite when you write it down like that. Almost too neat. Like something a divorcee would say years later once the sharp edges have softened.
But this wasn’t just an exodus from a marriage. It was my exodus from an old life my introduction to my true self.
What followed — and what is still unfolding — has been an unraveling and a recreation of who I was and who I am becoming. And the unraveling started that day. I remember it vividly.
At the time, I was deeply entangled in an obsession with youth. With being perfect. With being the best, the prettiest, the fastest, the smartest — at least in everyone else’s eyes. Youth felt like currency. Aging felt like failure. Worth felt conditional.
Fast forward nearly a decade.
I’m now standing on the edge of forty-six. Ten years after that sentence quietly detonated my inner world. One year later, I was divorced. A single mom. Running a successful business. Watching my ex-husband marry someone literally half his age.
And there I was — still thirteen years younger than him — yet feeling as though youth had escaped me. Or worse, that it was slipping away minute by minute.
For a while, I chased the empty parts of youth. The freedom without grounding. The motion without meaning. I kept everything looking strong on the outside — because that’s what capable women do — while quietly burning through myself on the inside.
Somewhere along the way, the question shifted:
It stopped being How do I stay young?
And became How do I be vibrant and a better version of me — every single day?
That question is one to live by. When the science finally matched what my body knew- What I didn’t realize at the beginning of this journey is that my body was already asking for longevity long before my mind was ready to hear it.
Longevity, I’ve learned, isn’t about doing more. It’s about doing what actually works — consistently, gently, intelligently.
This is where the science matters to me. Because I don’t get convinced by trends or aesthetics. I get convinced by data. By research. By evidence that respects both the body and the brain.
Decades of research in lifestyle medicine and neuroscience show that consistent sleep, blood sugar stability, purposeful movement, hydration, nervous-system regulation, and dietary diversity directly improve mitochondrial function, reduce chronic inflammation, stabilize mood, and increase heart rate variability — all core predictors of longevity and cognitive resilience.
In other words: the quiet things count.
And that realization has shaped how I live now — not perfectly, but intentionally
How I live now (and why it works)
I move my body with purpose, not punishment. I move for my brain health, my sanity and to make my skin prettier Tues- for real) Because research shows that moderate, consistent movement improves metabolic health and brain function more sustainably than intensity alone. I run, walk, play, stretch, lift with joy.
I reshape goals instead of forcing them. Chronic pressure keeps the stress response activated; flexible goal-setting supports executive function and long-term follow-through.
I practice kindness toward myself — seriously. Not as a mantra, but as a discipline. Self-compassion has been shown to lower inflammatory markers and calm the nervous system. The person you talk to most is yourself. There’s enough noise and criticism in the world, so I’ve learned to be my own steady source of encouragement. Try it- it could change everything for you.
Recently I have become serious about bedtime. I really don't love to sleep because I feel I could be doing so many other things. But I have read the science and gotten on the dream wagon. Sleep is restorative, rejuvenating and necessary. Sleep is when the brain clears metabolic waste. It’s when memory consolidates. It’s when longevity is quietly built.
I am serious about hydration — and in this new year I am getting serious about reducing plastics. Even mild dehydration affects mood and cognition, and emerging research continues to link endocrine disruptors to metabolic and hormonal disruption to PFAS (or "forever chemicals") . Plastics are among these.
I monitor my energy, not just my output. Heart rate variability tells me how resilient my nervous system actually is. Glucose data tells me how my body is responding to stress, food, and sleep — not as judgment, but as information.
I eat plants with joy, and yes, I count them. Because plant diversity feeds the microbiome, and the microbiome influences immunity, mood, inflammation, and long-term health. And because joy matters too.
Underneath all of this is a truth I no longer negotiate with: My gut — literal and intuitive — only works when I rest (as hard as it is for my hyperactive neurodivergent self to do so).
I can show up in high energy. I can lead. I can create. But only when I’ve given myself time to recoup. That isn’t weakness. That’s wisdom backed by physiology.
Why this season always brings it all up.
The holidays have a way of surfacing everything we’ve been holding. Stress, memory, emotion — often without our permission. Sleep shifts. Blood sugar spikes. Routines disappear. And the nervous system feels it.
That’s why we’ve been talking openly about stress this season — on the podcast, in our work, and in our own lives. Because understanding what’s happening in the body removes shame and restores agency.
If this season feels tender for you, or heavy, or revealing — you’re not broken. You’re paying attention. Becoming — into 2026 and beyond
As I step toward 2026, I’m not trying to become someone new.
I’m becoming more in alignment. More purpose driven. More honest. More fearless and More Me.
I’m on the hunt for my very best life — not someday, but daily. Better every day. Fueling my body, my brain, my goals, and my purpose with intention instead of urgency.
This is the work of Alchemist Untamed. Turning lived experience into wisdom. Turning science into practice. Turning survival into vitality.
The rest of that story — the raw truth of how this all began — is coming soon. And if you’re in your own season of becoming, I hope you know this:
Longevity is a privilege. Health is a practice. And ease, when chosen with intention, is one of the most powerful tools we have.