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The Habit Healers

The Habit Healers

Written by: Laurie Marbas MD MBA
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Welcome to The Habit Healers Podcast—where transformation starts with a single habit. Hosted by Dr. Laurie Marbas, this podcast is for anyone ready to break free from chronic health struggles, rewire their habits, and create lasting healing. Through powerful stories, science-backed strategies, and real-world tools, we dive deep into the micro shifts that lead to massive health transformations. You’ll learn how to heal beyond prescriptions—how to nourish your body, reprogram your mind, and build the habits that make vibrant health effortless. Whether you’re looking to reverse disease, boost energy, or finally make health a way of life, this podcast will show you how. Because true healing isn’t about willpower—it’s about design. And you’re always just one healing habit away.

drlauriemarbas.substack.comLaurie Marbas, MD, MBA Alternative & Complementary Medicine Hygiene & Healthy Living
Episodes
  • Get Stronger in About an Hour a Week With Six Lifts Without Complicated Routines

    Get Stronger in About an Hour a Week With Six Lifts Without Complicated Routines
    Oct 16 2026

    Strength training for beginners doesn’t have to mean rows of machines and hours at the gym. In this episode of The Habit Healers Podcast, I walk you through a simple full-body workout you do twice a week: six lifts that work every major muscle group in about an hour a week.

    If you’ve put off lifting weights because it seemed like more time than you have, this one is for you. We talk about why a single compound exercise like the squat can train several muscles at once, what a “hard set” really is, and why light weights can build muscle too when you take each set close to your last good rep. I also share what the research shows about strength training after 50, including women past menopause with thin bones whose spines got denser on just two 30-minute sessions a week, and frail adults around 90 whose thigh strength nearly tripled. And I cover how to lift safely if you have osteoporosis, a past spine fracture, or heart disease, so you can start with confidence.

    What you’ll learn:

    * The six lifts, and the six directions of movement that cover every major muscle group

    * How to recognize a hard set, and why you don’t need to train to failure to build muscle

    * Why two short full-body workouts a week are enough for muscle and strength

    * What the research says about strength training, longevity, and lower death rates

    * How to adjust for osteoporosis, bone density concerns, and knee or shoulder pain

    * A simple wall drill you can do tonight to learn the hip hinge

    Dr. Marbas Substack Article: https://drlauriemarbas.substack.com/p/get-stronger-in-about-an-hour-a-week

    Check out the Habit Healers Community: https://www.skool.com/habithealers/about



    Get full access to The Habit Healers at drlauriemarbas.substack.com/subscribe
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    26 mins
  • Does Your Social Life Accidentally Increase Your Risks of Catching a Cold?

    Does Your Social Life Accidentally Increase Your Risks of Catching a Cold?
    Oct 15 2026

    Why do some people catch every cold that goes around while others never seem to get sick? On this episode of The Habit Healers Podcast, I’m sharing research that changed how I think about your immune system and the common cold, and it has nothing to do with vitamin C.

    When healthy volunteers were given a cold virus on purpose, the people with more kinds of relationships got sick far less often. Not more friends, more kinds of connection: family, neighbors, coworkers, a club, a faith community. The virus still got in. Their bodies just handled it better. I’ll walk you through how this study worked, why the total number of people in your life didn’t seem to matter, and what a banana crop wiped out by a soil fungus has to do with your social health.

    We’ll also talk about what hugs did and didn’t do for cold protection, why life changes like retirement or an empty nest can quietly shrink your social circle, and the simplest way to start rebuilding it before cold and flu season hits.

    What you’ll learn:

    * Why social connection may matter as much as sleep for avoiding the common cold

    * The difference between having many people and many kinds of relationships

    * How hugs and feeling supported related to infection when stress was high

    * Why loneliness and social isolation can creep in even when your calendar is full

    * A two-minute self-check to score your own social diversity

    * One phone call you can make tonight to support your immune system naturally

    Dr. Marbas Substack Article: https://drlauriemarbas.substack.com/p/does-your-social-life-accidentally

    Check out the Habit Healers Community: https://www.skool.com/habithealers/about



    Get full access to The Habit Healers at drlauriemarbas.substack.com/subscribe
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    14 mins
  • Batch Cooking Without Three Days of the Same Meal

    Batch Cooking Without Three Days of the Same Meal
    Oct 14 2026
    At one point, I asked Chef Martin Oswald whether restaurant kitchens had robots doing all the prep. Not yet, he told me. A little later, as tray after tray of cooked vegetables appeared on his counter, I decided he must at least own a magic oven.If batch cooking has ever sounded like three days of the same finished meal, this session asked a better question. Could the repetitive work happen once without deciding every dinner in advance?The speed did not come from cooking three finished dinners at once. It came from doing one kind of work once, then letting the ingredients take different directions later.Martin had spent about 50 minutes preparing food for three people for the next three days. He did not line up 40 identical containers. He roasted vegetables in groups, cooked red rice, made a vegetable stock, and kept beans, tofu, hummus, and sauces ready to change the character of each meal.That is batch cooking I can imagine using.Cook by behaviorMartin began with the vegetables that take the longest. Carrots, potatoes, parsnips, and celeriac went together because they were firm and would roast at a similar pace. He cut them to roughly the same thickness, which helped them finish together.Broccoli, Napa cabbage, zucchini, and tender squash needed a different plan. Some cook quickly because they are softer or contain more water. Martin showed how the cut can move an ingredient from one tray to another. A thick piece of squash could roast beside the roots. A thin slice could finish with the broccoli.For this demonstration, he used a 400°F oven. The firmer tray went in first, and he prepared the quicker-cooking tray while it roasted. He estimated roughly 12 to 20 minutes for the batches, depending on the vegetables, their thickness, and the oven. The clock was a guide. The vegetables still had to be checked.Even the scraps had somewhere to go. Mushroom stems and carrot peelings joined onion, garlic, bay leaf, and tomato in a vegetable stock. The work that usually feels like cleanup became the beginning of another meal.Keep the meal unfinishedThe familiar problem with meal prep is not only the chopping. It is opening the refrigerator on day three and seeing the same dinner staring back at you.Martin avoids that by storing useful parts instead of deciding every meal in advance. He groups cooked ingredients by seasoning, then chooses what a meal will become when it is time to eat.The first plate used hummus as a base for a mix of roasted broccoli, squash, onion, tofu, carrot, eggplant, potato, and cauliflower. The next moved in a Mediterranean direction with kidney beans, fennel, eggplant, tofu, tahini, and ajvar, the smoky pepper and eggplant sauce Martin mentioned during the live.The same preparation became a bean stew when he warmed kidney beans, squash, roasted onion, garlic, and vegetable stock with a different spice blend. Then red rice, broccoli, Napa cabbage, tofu, apple, lime, soy sauce, and sriracha became a stir-fry.The vegetables had not changed. The supporting ingredients and flavor direction had.That is why sauce matters so much in this method. Martin made a quick tahini sauce with garlic, lemon, cumin, and sriracha. He also used ajvar and a few other strong flavor builders. A spoonful of sauce was not an afterthought. It was the turn that sent the same tray toward a different dinner.Try the restaurant sequenceYou do not need Martin’s magic oven or a restaurant-sized refrigerator. Start with this smaller version.* Choose two vegetable groups. Put firm roots in one and quicker-cooking vegetables in the other. Cut the pieces within each group to a similar thickness.* Start the firm vegetables first. Prepare the quicker group while the first tray roasts.* Add one flexible base such as beans, tofu, hummus, or a cooked grain, plus one sauce you already enjoy.* Keep the components separate enough to change direction. Build a bowl today, a quick stew tomorrow, and a stir-fry the next day.* Cool the cooked food in shallow containers and refrigerate it within two hours. The USDA advises using most cooked leftovers within three to four days and reheating them to 165°F.The practical choice is surprisingly small. Do not ask yourself to predict every meal for the week. Ask which prep job you would be relieved not to repeat tomorrow.Martin’s answer was the chopping and roasting. Once that work was finished, dinner stopped being a project and became a choice among ingredients that were already waiting.References:* Chef Martin Oswald’s Rustic, Smoky Ajvar* Chef Martin’s Cook Smarter, Not Harder, the companion article he mentioned during the session, and Chef Martin’s Healing Kitchen for his recipe collectionIf you want help turning practical ideas like this into habits you can keep, join Chef Martin and me in The Habit Healers community on Skool. Get full access to The Habit Healers at drlauriemarbas.substack.com/subscribe
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    52 mins
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