Totally Booked with Zibby

Guest: Dr. Vonda Wright
Episode: UNBREAKABLE: A Woman's Guide to Aging with Power
Host: Zibby Owens
Date: August 27, 2025

Episode Overview

In this energizing episode, Zibby Owens chats with Dr. Vonda Wright, double board-certified orthopedic surgeon and author of Unbreakable: A Woman’s Guide to Aging with Power. The episode explores how women can challenge outdated assumptions about aging, take control of their health, and build resilience—biologically, mentally, and emotionally. Dr. Wright demystifies critical health metrics and discusses practical, realistic steps that empower women to age vibrantly instead of declining into frailty.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

Dr. Wright’s Journey to Advocacy

• Background:
  • Dr. Wright began as an orthopedic sports doctor and shifted focus to musculoskeletal aging, questioning the ingrained “myth that aging has to be this inevitable decline from vitality to frailty.”
  • In 2012, research revealed that women make 80% of the health decisions for those around them ([05:21]), catalyzing her mission to educate and empower women’s health choices.
  • Dr. Wright observed the lack of tailored resources for women, especially as most longevity research targeted men up until the 1990s.

“I refuse to believe the societal myth that aging has to be this inevitable decline from vitality to frailty.”
— Dr. Vonda Wright [05:22]

Rethinking Musculoskeletal Aging

• Powerful Imagery:
  • Zibby references a striking comparison from the book: a thigh cross-section contrasting sedentary and active older women ([08:18]).
• A Better Path:
  • Dr. Wright insists, “We don't have to sacrifice the integrity of the muscle and the bone...if you don’t want” ([08:49]).
  • She challenges the assumption that aging must equate to weakness.

The Unbreakable Assessment

• Objective Longevity Measures:
  • The book introduces eight objective health measures—like resting heart rate—for tracking one’s longevity profile ([09:29]).
  • Emphasizes that numbers inform, not judge; assessments should inspire, not shame.

“Numbers are objective. They're not judgment...What it does is what it did for you: it gives us hope that we know how to get back to ourselves.”
— Dr. Vonda Wright [10:09]

• Practical Takeaways:
  • Even if you don’t “pass” all the tests, it’s a gateway, not a gatekeeper, for improvement.

Inspiring Action Over Theory

• The Motivation Challenge:
  • Dr. Wright reflects on decades attempting to motivate patients, realizing lasting change comes only once a person decides they’re worth the investment.
  • Her strategy: Start simple. For true beginners, she prescribes just a short walk after dinner—not a radical overhaul ([11:55]).
  • Seven-day streaks build manageable habits and a mindset shift.

“Until a person decides that they are worth the daily investment, then no amount of me shaking my crooked finger...will ever work.”
— Dr. Vonda Wright [11:55]

• Walking as a Foundational Practice:

  • Ideal: work up to a 45-minute daily walk (~2 miles, about 3mph).
  • Even 10 or 20 minutes is beneficial—just start moving ([14:34]).

• It’s All Movement:

  • Walk outside, on a treadmill, or simply up and down the stairs. The key is muscle contraction, not location ([15:15]).

Beyond Walking: The Role of Intensity and Strength

• Strength Training:
  • Recommends heavy lifting (“squats, deadlifts, bench press, and some kind of pull…based on powerlifting”) two to four times per week ([21:11]).
• Sprinting/Interval Work:
  • Twice a week, includes short, high-intensity bursts of cardio—30 seconds at over 80% max heart rate, followed by full recovery ([18:40]).
  • These intense efforts rejuvenate metabolism, stem cell health, and mitochondria in a way basic walking does not.

“Sprinting and the lifting...recomposed my body and made me even recognize myself again.”
— Dr. Vonda Wright [21:11]

Addressing Population-Level Challenges

• Realities of Sedentarism:
  • 70% of Americans don’t invest in regular exercise; 96 million have prediabetes ([20:23]).
  • Social media might give a false impression that “everyone's exercising”—but the data says otherwise.

Sustaining the Movement

• Building a Community:

  • Dr. Wright aims to ignite a movement—“so that we begin to be a group of women that talk about being unbreakable, about aging with power, not with frailty” ([23:39]).
  • She leverages her platforms—podcasting, speaking, Instagram—and direct DMs to spread the message.

• Vulnerability Resonates:

  • Her real Instagram growth began when she validated women’s experiences with menopause and musculoskeletal symptoms—the things most doctors dismissed ([24:51]).

“The day that I said, you are not falling apart and you are not going crazy...Instantaneously, people started listening.”
— Dr. Vonda Wright [24:51]

Debunking the Myth: “It’s Too Late”

• It’s Never Too Late:
  • Dr. Wright offers stories: a woman who became a bodybuilder in her sixties, and research proving people in their nineties could rebuild muscle ([26:51]).
  • The limit isn’t age, but self-belief and consistency.

“Our bodies will respond. There's never an age or skill level [where it’s too late]...if they believe they're worth it and we do it consistently.”
— Dr. Vonda Wright [27:12]

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Can you work on a treadmill?”
  “No. Yeah, I could maybe read, but I couldn’t...do an interview. You know, most people can’t do their jobs on a treadmill.”
  — Zibby & Dr. Vonda, with humor and relatability ([22:54])

• “Thank you for being an advocate for the rest of us to literally stay in one piece...these are the things—take the emotion out of it, like, here are the facts. Start with that. It is incredibly powerful.”
  — Zibby Owens ([28:51])

Timestamps for Key Segments

• Dr. Wright’s story & the start of her advocacy (05:21–08:18)
• Visuals of muscle loss & the “frailty myth” (08:18–09:29)
• Longevity assessments & how to interpret the results (09:29–11:32)
• Habit-building and the mindset shift required (11:32–14:25)
• How much should you walk? — Target: 45 minutes (14:25–15:11)
• Does it matter how or where you move? (15:11–15:52)
• Difference between walking and high-intensity efforts (18:24–20:20)
• Realistic routines & population-wide exercise gaps (20:20–22:52)
• Spreading the movement—social, speaking, and personal stories (23:20–24:51)
• Is it ever ‘too late’ to begin? (26:43–28:27)

Final Thoughts & Tone

Dr. Vonda Wright’s expertise mixes authority, compassion, and hope, offering listeners a roadmap to resilience instead of resignation. The conversation is personal, science-backed, and motivational—grounded by memorable analogies and success stories. Zibby's open vulnerability as a reader and interviewer adds sincere relatability, making “Unbreakable” feel genuinely accessible.

For More:

• Find Dr. Wright on Instagram and at her website.
• Her practice accepts new patients (information on her website).
• The book Unbreakable: A Woman’s Guide to Aging with Power offers practical tools and mindset shifts for women at any stage of life.

End of Summary
(Advertisements, intros, outros, and sponsor segments omitted per instructions.)