The Amy Porterfield Show

Episode: Why Your Health Is the Ceiling on Your Success
Date: January 29, 2026
Host: Amy Porterfield
Guest: Dr. Gabrielle Lyon

Episode Overview

In this episode, Amy Porterfield sits down with Dr. Gabrielle Lyon—a board-certified physician and best-selling author behind the Forever Strong Playbook—to talk candidly about the critical connection between health and entrepreneurial success. Together, they bust myths around self-care, stress, and discipline, while offering real, actionable advice on how fitness, nutrition, and emotional resilience directly impact your business outcomes.

Dr. Lyon outlines why your health is truly the ceiling on your success (“You cannot outpace your own biology. You cannot outgrind your physiology.” – [34:00]), shares practical frameworks for cultivating discipline, and gives insight into optimizing nutrition (especially protein!). The conversation is lively, honest, and actionable—for both those struggling with wellness and for high performers wanting to reach the next level.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Neutrality: The Entrepreneur’s Secret Weapon

• Neutrality as High Performance

  • Dr. Lyon explains that the most successful entrepreneurs share the trait of neutrality—responding to wins and setbacks with evenness, avoiding the rollercoaster of emotional extremes.
  • Quote: "As high as we allow ourselves to go, unchecked territory is as low as we will fall. The best entrepreneurs in the world, they learn over time—they are neutral. Disciplined, actually, creates a lot of freedom." – Dr. Lyon [01:25]
  • Amy admits she struggles with this, often riding emotional highs and lows after big launches.

• A Practical Mantra:

  • “It’s just a Tuesday.” Use it to anchor yourself during chaos or big successes. – Inspired by Dr. Lyon’s conversation with a friend [09:24]
  • Exercise: Practice neutrality in daily life by flipping a coin to choose whether you have your favorite treat (Starbucks, for example). With repetition, you train your response to friction.

2. Rethinking Stress: Friction & "Tend and Befriend"

• Don’t Just Eliminate Stress—Add Friction Intentionally

  • Dr. Lyon challenges the narrative that we should always reduce stress, arguing instead that we should practice interpreting and even seeking moderate, meaningful friction.
  • “If we interpret the stimulus as something less than desirable, then we're constantly running away from it. I believe that that is a wrong interpretation of stress.” – Dr. Lyon [17:01]

• Alternative Stress Responses:

  • Besides "fight or flight," humans can cultivate "tend and befriend" (seeking connection during stress) and the courage response (leaning into challenge).
  • “When you feel that stimulus of stress... There are two other ways of coping and two other stress responses... 'Tend and befriend.'” – Dr. Lyon [18:03]

• Practical Application:

  • Amy realizes she and her friends (Jasmine, Stacy) use community to keep themselves accountable, highlighting this "tend and befriend" in action. [55:15, 56:29]

3. Discipline as Self-Care (Not Hustle)

• Discipline is the New Self-Care
  • “Discipline, actually, creates a lot of freedom.” – Dr. Lyon [01:25]; “Self-care is not missing a training session, feeling like you 'deserve' the glass of wine. This is not self-care. This is not being discerning at the objective you are after, which takes practice.” – Dr. Lyon [23:54]
  • Discipline is about honoring the standards and commitments you've set—not outsourcing care to comfort or instant gratification.
  • “If you can’t, as an entrepreneur, keep the promises to yourself, you cannot keep them to the people in your work and your business.” – Dr. Lyon [26:15]
  • Amy shares the ripple effect of sticking to her four-day-a-week heavy lifting program: “I've been tired, I haven't wanted to do it, blah, blah, blah. But what it's done is I feel very confident in other areas of my life because I'm so proud of myself that if I could do that, I could do this.” [27:06]

4. The Power of Physical Mastery

• Your Body as a Tool for Mastery:
  • Mastery over one’s body (through disciplined movement) is foundational for mastering mindset and business.
  • “You used your physical body as a tool for mastery.” – Dr. Lyon to Amy [27:18]
  • Physical effort (even a cold plunge) acts as a reset, pulling you out of negative thought cycles.

5. Protein & Nutrition: The Foundation, Not the Afterthought

• Protein: The Underdog Turned Essential

  • Dr. Lyon helped change U.S. dietary guidelines to recommend a higher, optimal amount—not just minimum to avoid deficiency, but to promote strong, resilient health.
  • “If a woman is listening to this and she wants to age well... She must have protein. It is the most important essential nutrient. The most important essential macronutrient that we have, and we actually need more of it as we age.” – Dr. Lyon [33:10]

• Concrete Numbers/Advice:

  • “Don’t eat less than 100 grams of protein a day. And even more so you should really target the amount of protein to your target body weight.” – Dr. Lyon [38:20]
  • Quick protein sources: protein shakes, eggs, lean turkey, essential amino acids for those who aren’t hungry in the morning. [40:23–44:00]

• Nutrition & Business Performance Connection:

  • “If you want to be a good business owner and you want to be a great entrepreneur, you will never go higher than your health.” – Dr. Lyon [33:56]
  • Chasing energy, focus, and performance means you can’t outwork a poor foundation. [34:36]

• Practical Eating Tips:

  • Meal prep is non-negotiable for busy people. If you “don’t have time for wellness, you won’t have time for sickness.” – Dr. Lyon [47:55]
  • “We don’t overcomplicate it, and we don’t create decision fatigue” with food. [50:04]

6. Muscle & Cognition: Moving for a Sharper Brain

• Building Muscle = Building Brainpower
  • “Those that were regular exercisers maintained brain volume. When you contract skeletal muscle... It releases myokines. These cross the blood–brain barrier... They help with neurogenesis.” – Dr. Lyon [51:13]
  • “The faster you move is the faster you think. You can increase cognitive speed by training your body to move fast.” [51:42]

7. Identity, Standards, and Early Intervention

• Identity at Your Best:
  • Reflect on who you were when you were proud of your efforts—what habits, behaviors, actions were present? [52:17]
  • Don’t just set goals, set standards—“This is the mission. There is no other external narrative.” [30:29]
  • Intervene early by drawing on community. When you start to slip, alert your accountability partners. [55:15]
  • “One of the challenges with entrepreneurs is they don't recognize that there's a challenge until they're in the hole... But once you catch that early on, you can immediately implement change.” – Dr. Lyon [52:57]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Neutrality:

  • “You have to practice it, though... We don't practice it [neutrality] in the moment where big things are happening... We want to practice on the daily to become more neutral.” – Dr. Lyon [13:57]
  • “It’s just a Tuesday.” – Mantra for emotional steadiness. [09:24, 13:40]

• On Discipline:

  • “The real self care was always going back and honoring her standards and honoring the commitment and honoring her word to herself.” – Dr. Lyon [26:15]
  • “Discipline creates a lot of freedom.” – Dr. Lyon [1:25]

• On Protein:

  • “You cannot outpace your own biology. You cannot outgrind your physiology.” – Dr. Lyon [34:00]
  • “Don’t eat less than 100 grams of protein a day.” – Dr. Lyon [38:20]

• On Community Accountability:

  • “If you're not willing to keep your promise to yourself, if you make a promise to me or you make a promise to Jasmine or someone else, you'll be willing to keep that promise to that person.” – Dr. Lyon [55:15]

Timestamps for Important Segments

| Time | Topic | |--------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 01:25 | Dr. Lyon on neutrality and emotional steadiness | | 09:24 | “It’s just a Tuesday”—how top entrepreneurs handle stress | | 13:55 | Amy & Dr. Lyon on practicing neutrality daily | | 16:38 | Friction as a tool: Creating beneficial stressors in daily routines | | 18:03 | "Tend and befriend"—alternative stress response (especially for women) | | 23:54 | Discernment, discipline, and why self care is about honoring your commitments | | 26:25 | Amy on the ripple effect of discipline (and not missing a workout) | | 27:18 | Dr. Lyon: Using your body as a tool for mastery | | 33:10 | Why protein is a foundational nutrient for women entrepreneurs | | 34:36 | “You will never go higher than your health”—business & biology | | 38:20 | New protein guidelines: practical numbers | | 40:23 | Specific protein foods and strategies for busy women | | 47:55 | Non-negotiable: Meal prep and prioritizing wellness | | 51:13 | Building muscle improves brain function and speed | | 52:17 | Identity at your best: habits & behaviors to embrace | | 55:15 | Early intervention and accountability (community for consistency) | | 57:38 | The Forever Strong Playbook: Structure, focus, and promise of the new guide |

Additional Resources

• Dr. Gabrielle Lyon: drgabriellelyon.com/playbook (bonuses and six-week health challenge)
• Connect with Dr. G: Instagram (@drgabriellelyon) for food and fitness posts

Final Thoughts

Amy and Dr. Lyon’s conversation makes a powerful case: You cannot divorce business performance from physical and mental well-being. Practical, science-backed frameworks and the right community are the keys to sustaining both. If you find yourself stuck at a plateau in business—or simply exhausted by the grind—it might be time to raise the bar not with more hustle, but with better health and greater discipline.

Next Steps:

• Consider your current health routines: Where can you add “friction” or practice “neutrality”?
• Reflect on your standards vs. goals—are you honoring them, or outsourcing self-care to short-term comfort?
• Check out the Forever Strong Playbook for structured action plans, recipes, and mindset guides.