An interview with Dr. Bharat Sangani
Combine your foods well — When you gut is inflamed and irritated, it’s like having a sprained ankle; you can walk — you just Can’t Run on it. So, follow a diet that combines your food to help minimize potential inflammation in your gut. Think of Food like people… some people just don’t mix well with others.
When it comes to health and wellness, small, consistent changes often have the most profound impact. Daily habits, whether in nutrition, exercise, mindfulness, or sleep, can accumulate to create lasting transformations. In this series, we aim to explore the power of small, intentional actions and how they can lead to big health results over time. As a part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Dr. Len Lopez.
Nutrition and Fitness expert Dr. Len Lopez has been preaching for over 25 years how to Eat Right and Train Smart and has expanded that concept to also include Thinking Better. He understands You Are What You Eat And What You Think… and teaches You are the Chef responsible for Feeding Your Body, Mind, and Spirit.
Thank you so much for your time! I know that you are a very busy person. Our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started?
I started out in college along the medical route when I first entered college. In that first year I quickly realized I wasn’t ready to memorize all the biology and chemistry as an 18 year old kids living on my own for the first time. So I exited out of that and into business after my first year. But ten years later, as I grew up and injured myself a number of different times, I came back to the healing arts after sampling many of the alternative healing arts which got me to where I am today.
None of us can achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person that you are grateful for, who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story?
Years ago, when I was a struggling actor in LA. I met Dr. Monte Greenawalt at a hotel I was working at. He was attending a national chiropractic conference, and I had no idea who he was, but he was listening to me discuss an invention I had for shin splints. Long story short, a couple of months later, I’m visiting him at his home in Las Vegas. He loved it but the big part of this story is he is one of those 5 people you meet in your life that impacts your life. He was an inspiration for me and my life. He thought I had so much to offer, and if I ever get out of the acting business, he thought I would be a good doctor. So, thank you Dr. Greenawalt.
You are a successful leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
Well, I’m not the administrative type, I’m more of the big picture guy. Also, I think I’m pretty good at explaining or painting good work pictures of complicated human biochemistry and physiology, in such a way that it is easier to understand
I remember in the beginning of my professional career; I was speaking at a local event and afterwards these two women came up to me after my talk. The younger one said, “We really enjoyed your talk. My mother made me come with her because she didn’t want to come alone. Then she said, “I’m a producer, would you like to share some of your thoughts in front of a camera? How could I resist? One opportunity led to others.
Ok, fantastic. Let’s now turn to the crux of our interview. Can you share a small health habit you adopted that had an unexpectedly large impact on your physical or mental well-being? What inspired you to make that change?
I’ll share three quick tips that help my body, mind, and spirit. The first is for my body and at the end of the day before I go to bed, I’ll lay on the floor in front of the TV and do a light stretch. The goal is to unwind my body from the classic seated, fetal position so many of us find ourselves in throughout the day. I’m specifically trying to stretch the muscles that have been in that contracted position in my back, hamstrings, hip flexors, upper back, shoulders and neck, which get all out of balance from too much sitting. I can’t tell you how much better I sleep when I do this before bedtime. Unfortunately, I sometimes get too relaxed and end up asleep on the floor till about 3 am.
For my mind, it’s positive self-talk. It’s easy to forget, but positive self-talk goes back to biblical times, when we first heard a man is as a man thinketh. This is important because researchers say we process about 50,000 thoughts a day, and more than 80% of those thoughts are negative. So, it takes some effort to keep from having a negative outlook or perspective on life.
And for my spirit, I used to always rationalize why I didn’t have enough time to get into His Word daily, but I do have enough time to go exercise. Then one day it hit me like a ton of bricks!
If I only exercised my body once a week or once a month or less — what kind of physical shape would I be in? That got me thinking and I finally realized, I don’t have to read every day if I don’t have time, but I do have the world at my fingertips and can easily feed my spirit by clicking on a podcast, program or listen to some music to strengthen my spiritual muscles.
What advice would you give to someone who struggles with consistency? How can they build daily habits without becoming overwhelmed?
Not everyone gets motivated by reading or listening to another self-help program. Some of us are more Visual and Kinesthetic when it comes to learning, which is what 5 STEPS a Day is all about.
The word STEPS is an acronym for Sleep, Think, Eat, Physical, and Spirit. All you are doing is tracking how well you are feeding your body, mind, and spirit. The 5 basic questions pertain to how you feed your body, mind, and spirit.
It’s somewhat like 10,000 steps tracks which tracks whether or not you moved your physical body. 5 STEPS a Day helps you track how you feed your body, mind, and spirit. You’re the CHEF — you’re the adult and you get to decide how good or bad you want to feed your body, mind, and spirit!
We’re simply tapping into your visual and kinesthetic learning centers to anchor those better habits and attitudes.
It’s Not Rocket Science — It’s Accountability and Feedback. It’s like Seinfeld’s calendar, but you get more of that feel good bio-chemical endorphin hit when you see all the steps you shaded in.
How do you identify which habits are worth focusing on, and which might not provide meaningful results? Do you use any specific frameworks or tracking methods?
I believe we are all Body, Mind, and Spirit…and to Neglect one area is like skipping a meal, it leaves you empty, less fulfilled. So, I think it is important to focus on all three areas. I also believe we don’t need to get too bogged down in the minutia of… was it a full workout? Did I read 10 pages? Did I use the wrong sweetener? Did I tell myself I’m awesome 24 times?
It’s about actively doing something positive or good for yourself. Maybe you only had time for a short workout? And only had time to listen to a 5-minute podcast, and only told yourself you were awesome 5 times. You did something positive, shade-in the STEPS, pat yourself on the back, see your progress…and get that little bio-chemical feel good, endorphin hit for your accomplishment. Tomorrow is another day.
Can you explain how compounding benefits work when it comes to daily health habits? Have you experienced any surprising long-term transformations from seemingly small changes?
In my opinion, the reason why you always hear how people start walking, exercising, or dieting or smiling or saying hello first or whatever. They also receive some kind of compounding or additional benefit.
I believe you have to take into consideration the person who starts exercising, is probably going to start trying to eat better in order to help his fitness results. And the person who starts dieting to lose weight or health concerns will probably also look at being more physically active.
And I’m sure the person who openly shares smiles and says good morning to people outside their normal circle… may open up additional opportunities by smiling more or initiating kindness. Another words, almost every activity you do may have some type of compounding effect to help expand or increase that person’s overall benefit outside of the obvious intent.
What are “5 Health Habits That Lead to Great Results ”?
Let me start with every habit you want to improve on, needs accountability and feedback. If you want to start exercising or learning how to play the piano, dance, golf, whatever… it takes a decision on your part to get started. Since we are talking about health, here are my thoughts.
- Sit, Eat, and Relax — One of the primary causes of so many digestive problems come from eating in a hurry, on the go, in the car. This doesn’t allow your digestive system to turn on and do its job which is to break down your food. When you don’t give your tummy a chance to do its job it leads to bloating, gas, indigestion, heartburn, diarrhea, and the list goes on.
Unfortunately, your doctor can’t give you a prescription to Sit, Eat, and Relax. You don’t have to be a scientist to know eating on the run is bad. Look at a couple of movies. You don’t see Braveheart or Gladiator racing on his horse with his sword in one hand and a turkey leg in the other!
2. Do No Harm to Your Tummy — Just because you ate it — doesn’t mean your body absorbed it. This is a continuation of #1, because the ONLY thing you should feel after eating is Less Hungry. If not, your problem is probably rooted in Your Dietary Choices (the foods you eat) and/or your Dietary Habits (eating on the go, in the car)
3. Learn How to Splurge and have a Cheat Meal — I have a sweet tooth; I like chocolate ice cream… and I do my fair share of cheat meals. But when I splurge, I make sure I take digestive enzymes and fiber so I don’t feel so rotten later.
After I eat something tasty and sweet, I don’t want to feel all bloated so the enzymes help my body do a better job of breaking down digesting whatever decadent thing I ate. The fiber helps make sure it doesn’t sit around longer than it should be inside my intestines, putrefying and rotting. All that junky food can create a back-up that will only get worse, if you don’t add the fiber to keep the plumbing moving.
4. Combine your foods well — When you gut is inflamed and irritated, it’s like having a sprained ankle; you can walk — you just Can’t Run on it. So, follow a diet that combines your food to help minimize potential inflammation in your gut. Think of Food like people… some people just don’t mix well with others.
Look at Proteins and Starchy Carbohydrates. They don’t mix well, especially the classics such as; Steak and potato; Chicken and rice (pasta); Fajita with beans and rice. Proteins digest better when you combine them with fibrous carbohydrates. And NO fruits (sugars) with protein, that’s another bad combination!
Those are a couple of the major points, there are several other key points you should follow, and maybe we do a follow-up on that another time.
5. Lastly, Don’t dilute your tummy with too much liquid or cold liquid — When you drink more than a few (6–10) ounces of liquid with your meal, you’re diluting the concentration of your Digestive Juices, the acids and enzymes that are needed to breakdown your food, so don’t consume too many ounces of whatever fluid, as it will simply dilute the concentration of your digestive juices.
Think of your digestive juices, like laundry detergent. I squirt (ounce) will clean a medium size load of clothes, but if you dilute that load of dirty clothes with more water, the detergent (digestive juices) wont’ do as good of a job… and won’t digest your food very well!
What role does mindset play in forming new habits? How do you maintain motivation when the results aren’t immediately visible?
I’ve always heard that your habits and attitudes are two of the biggest predictors of success and happiness. There is a classic poem that essentially say, ‘be firm with me (habits) and I will put the world at your feet, be easy with me and I will destroy you.’
As far as what will it take to inspire and motivate someone? Not everyone gets inspired by reading or listening to another self-help guru. This is a reason why 5 STEPS a Day is so helpful, it’s tapping into all those visual and kinesthetic learners to help anchor those better habits and attitudes.
Every day you can visually see your progress… and seeing all the steps which shows forward motion is gratifying. It’s something tangible! Best of all, when you see your progress, you get this little bio-chemical, feel good, endorphin hit for your efforts. It’s one of those Pavlov’s dog things that puts a smile on your face for your accomplishments.
How can our readers further follow your work?
You can always find me at www.DrLenOnline.com and please check out the 5 STEPS app. We also have a TEEN version coming out as well, because so many people are telling me I need to get my kids to read this. The TEEN version follows the same STEPS, the only difference is that each step is written more for their concerns and needs of a teenager, because they aren’t counting calories or fats. For teens, it’s all about taste, but in their second decade they are starting to hear from their ‘inner’ voice and overcoming their Giants. I hope you can check it out
Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!
About The Interviewer: Dr. Bharat Sangani is a cardiologist and entrepreneur with over 35 years of experience, practicing in Gulfport, Mississippi, and Dallas, Texas. Board-certified in Internal Medicine and Cardiology, he specializes in diagnosing, treating, and preventing cardiovascular diseases, including heart disease and hypertension. In 1999, Dr. Sangani founded Encore Enterprises, a national real estate investment firm. Under his leadership, the company has executed transactions exceeding $2 billion, with a portfolio spanning residential, retail, hotel, and office developments. Known for his emphasis on integrity and fairness, Dr. Sangani has built Encore into a major player in the commercial real estate sector. Blending his medical and business expertise, Dr. Sangani created the Life is a Business mentorship program. The initiative offers guidance on achieving balance in health, wealth, and relationships, helping participants align personal and professional goals. Now based in Dallas, Texas, Dr. Sangani continues to practice cardiology while leading Encore Enterprises and mentoring others. His career reflects a unique blend of medical expertise, entrepreneurial spirit, and dedication to helping others thrive.
The Power of Daily Habits: Dr Len Lopez On How Small Health Changes Can Lead to Big Results was originally published in Authority Magazine on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.