What to Focus on to Improve Your Health in the New Year

Hi, friends, and Happy New Year! I hope you had a wonderful holiday season and made some great memories. We had a sweet Christmas this year and really soaked up our last Christmas together as a family of three. We have a lot of new and exciting things coming up this new year, so I loved a little quiet downtime before all of that. Now, we’re switching gears and getting into that time of year when people are a little more focused on their health and often setting some new goals for themselves, so today, I want to share what I believe to be a few of the most effective ways to really improve your health in the new year. 

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Have you already set your goals for 2023? Most of the time when people, especially women, set goals for themselves, they include some kind of health-related goal. Often it can be related to weight or something about their bodies that they’re wanting to change. I love goal setting and think that when done in a healthy way, it can be really helpful and effective, but one thing that I’ve noticed working with women on their health, is that they often don’t really know what to focus on or they find themselves focusing on something that’s kind of arbitrary and often just leaves them frustrated and burnt out after a few weeks. If you’ve been around here for any length of time, you know that I don’t love focusing on weight as a goal because weight is affected by so many things and a healthy weight doesn’t follow a perfect, easy formula, which leaves most women feeling frustrated. It’s also possible to lose a lot of weight and still be really unhealthy - not to mention how it can negatively affect body image and mental/emotional health. So, if focusing on weight isn’t a good idea, what should you focus on if you are really wanting to see improvements in your health? Well, I’m glad you asked because I have a few thoughts to share with you on that. :) 

Stabilize your blood sugar

The first area I believe should be prioritized is stabilizing your blood sugar. I talk about blood sugar a lot on this podcast and when working with my clients because it affects so many things in the body. Every cell in your body is dependent on glucose for energy and it fuels many functions of the body, but when it becomes dysregulated it can increase your risks for heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, immune system dysfunction, hormonal imbalance, nerve damage, metabolism issues, decreased brain health, and so much more. It’s not something to ignore and can lead to serious health issues, yet many, many people walk around with very unstable blood sugar levels and don’t think much about it. You may not even know that you have dysregulated blood sugar but you may be more familiar with some of the common symptoms such as mid-day energy crashes, headaches, irritability, weight gain or difficulty losing weight, slow wound healing, skin issues, fatigue, dizziness, irregular menstrual cycles, fertility challenges, and more. 

Untreated blood sugar dysregulation can contribute to insulin resistance - a condition where the cells of the body become desensitized to insulin, leading the pancreas to produce more and more insulin in order for the cells to respond and be able to take in the needed glucose. This leads to high levels of both insulin and glucose in the body, which also leads to increased fat storage, blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, and triglyceride levels. These dysfunctions within the body lead to an increased risk for heart disease, cancer, Alzheimer's, and just overall increased damage to the body. 

So you can see how this one area of your health that may seem like not a big deal can actually affect your health in really negative ways or when managed well can create a solid foundation for better overall health. 

I have a few other episodes about ways to improve blood sugar regulation, so I’m not going to go deep into that in this episode - go listen to episode 17 or check out my online course if you are looking for more info on how to do this. I also have a brand new resource that is a great tool for anyone, but especially anyone working on blood sugar regulation. You can download my new Healthy Eating Food Formula Guide for free on my website or in my Instagram bio. It gives you the exact formula to follow to create any meal or snack that will support blood sugar balance while also leaving you feeling full without energy crashes or cravings. My favorite thing about this new guide is that it gives you the tools to create healthy meals on your own, with the foods that you enjoy rather than giving you a strict regimen of foods to eat that leave you feeling dissatisfied and bored. Download the Healthy Eating Food Formula Guide here.

I could talk about blood sugar all day, but let’s move on! 

Improve your Gut Health 

The next area that I believe should be prioritized and will have one of the largest impacts on your overall health is prioritizing gut health. Is anyone surprised by this? Probably not! :)

You have heard me say this many times but you cannot have poor gut health and optimal overall health. It’s just not possible! The gut affects everything in the body - some areas are obvious like digestion and metabolism but a lot of areas that you may not think of, like mental health - depression, anxiety, mood imbalances; skin health - allergies, sensitivities, acne, eczema; immune health and autoimmunity; hormone health - hormonal conditions and imbalances, reproductive health and fertility; weight management and ability to regulate weight; even genetic patterns that can affect your kids and their kids. It’s unlikely to think of an area of health or function of the body that isn’t either directly or indirectly affected by gut health. 

So how do you know if your gut health needs attention or to be improved? Well if you’re breathing and haven’t already taken time to focus on improving your gut health, then this is most likely something that you can benefit from. Our “guts' ' run from our nose/mouth all the way through our digestive tract to the other end of us. It houses the majority of our microbiome - an ecosystem made up of trillions of microbes, including different viruses, bacteria, fungi, and other organisms. Studies have proven that there are more of these microbes in our bodies than human DNA cells - isn’t that insane? Just like in any other ecosystem, there needs to be a balance of the types of microbes within our microbiome. Some are more beneficial and some are more opportunistic and can lead to dysfunction within the system when there is an imbalance (also called Dysbiosis). Our current lifestyles of processed foods, excessive sugar, chronic stress, lack of sleep, lack of nutrients - especially B vitamins and vitamin D, and increased usage of meds like antibiotics, oral contraceptives, and antacid/PPI meds all have detrimental effects on that balance and often wipe out the good or beneficial microbes, allowing the pathogenic or opportunistic ones to thrive. Even some things completely out of our control like how we were birthed and fed as babies can trigger an imbalance in our microbiome. 

When this imbalance occurs, it can lead to all kinds of uncomfortable symptoms that you may be familiar with: gas, bloating, constipation/diarrhea, abdominal pain, unexplained weight gain/loss, mood imbalances, brain fog, skin issues like acne or eczema, chronic yeast infections, hormonal imbalances, infertility. When left untreated dysbiosis can eventually contribute to more serious conditions that I mentioned above. 

The concept of improving your gut health may feel overwhelming or daunting but it really isn’t. Following the functional medicine protocol allows you to calm and heal any inflammation of the gut while also supporting the rebalancing of the microbiome. Working with a professional trained in gut health who can lead you through the process will make it even more simple. 

The last area of health that I want to talk about today may feel like a super simple one but it’s one that makes such a huge difference and that is…

Move your body

Moving your body. I know - exercise is something that every health professional talks about and tons of fitness programs are built on, and yet it’s something that a lot of us just overlook. Even knowing all of the benefits of moving my body, it’s always been a struggle for me to be consistent in exercising, but it’s also been one of the biggest “needle movers” for me. Not just in a weight goal or something like that, but regularly moving your body is one of the most effective ways to improve both your blood sugar balance and your gut health! It’s part of the “S” triad (Sweat -or moving your body, sleep, and stress management) that is included in my course - Move Forward, Feel Better (more on that later). I chose to focus on the “Sweat” portion of that triad here because exercise is one of the ways to improve sleep and help the body deal with stress. 

Exercise has just so many benefits. As I already mentioned it helps improve gut health and support healthy blood sugar - which if you remember affects most systems and functions of the body - but let’s just highlight a few benefits like increased energy, increased happiness, improved mood, improved detoxification, improved digestion, and gut motility, increased cardiovascular endurance and overall strength which leads to fewer injuries, improved immune response, improved mental clarity and an overall better outlook on life. 

We all need to be prioritizing moving our bodies each day for at least 10-15 minutes and building up to a longer amount of time. The beautiful thing about exercise is that it can look so many different ways. You can totally customize it to your preferences and schedule. Just make sure to prioritize it and have some accountability for it. You can find a lot more ideas and information on exercise in episodes 15, 46, 53, and 87. I’ll link to those in the show notes. 

So there you have it - three areas that I believe have the biggest impact on your overall health. If you’re looking to actually improve your health in 2023 and take action that has positive effects on your health and makes a lasting difference, I encourage you to focus on these three areas. Most likely whatever area of your health that you are wanting to improve or change will be positively affected and improved.

As a resource to help you know how to focus on these areas that I’ve talked about today, I’m offering 30% off of my Move Forward, Feel Better Course that walks you step-by-step through the process of how to stabilize blood sugar, improve gut health, prioritize those lifestyle factors that I mentioned like sleep, stress, and movement, as well as module all about having a healthy mindset and setting optimal health goals for yourself that will actually lead you to success. It’s a 4-module course that you can do at your own pace that fits your schedule and includes downloadable worksheets to help you apply what you learn to your life and health. For the next two weeks only, you can purchase the course for 30% off making it only $55! That’s the price of one nice meal out or a new sweater at your favorite boutique. Take advantage of this opportunity to learn the tools you need to improve your health! 

Health Tips for Traveling

Hi friends! It is officially summer vacation season - the kids are on summer break and most of you probably have a trip of some kind coming up. My family just got back from a wonderful week at the beach and we’re looking forward to another trip coming up in about a little later in the summer, so traveling is on our minds around here. Whether you’re traveling for a full week or just a long weekend, I’m going to give you some tips to keep your health a priority without letting it become the main focus of your vacation!

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Summer is finally just around the corner and for many of us, that means it’s time to do some traveling and take a break from our usual routines. Traveling to a new place is one of my favorite things to do but it can also provide some challenges that seem a bit overwhelming, especially if you are working on some health goals or have made some progress in your health journey and are worried that a week of “vacation food” may set you back or somehow lead you “off track”. 

So today I wanted to share a few tips for ways that you can continue to prioritize your health while on vacation, but in a way that doesn't become the main focus of your trip or keeps you from fully enjoying yourself in any way! One of the best things you can do for your health is to give yourself time to rest and just enjoy your life, outside of the stress of your day-to-day, so let’s talk about a few ways you can prepare ahead of time to set yourself up for a vacation that’s good for your whole self - body, mind, and soul. 

Set yourself up for an easier trip by packing well

• Pack balanced snacks for the time in the car. Fun snacks like chips, crackers, etc. that have good ingredients paired with easy protein and fat options like beef jerky sticks or hummus cups. Prep-ahead snacks like energy balls or hard-boiled eggs are great to keep in a cooler and add to more carb-heavy snacks and treats as well. This will keep everyone feeling full and less hangry, which is essential for a long road trip with kids. There is nothing worse than an exhausted, screen-crazed kid in a sugar crash during the last hour of the car ride.

• Prep and take all vitamins, supplements, protein powders, etc. to keep up your regiment while you’re gone. Take digestive enzymes to help your body digest and absorb the foods you don’t normally eat or that may be a little harder on your digestion.

• Take things from home that help you get movement in during a normal week. Include things like a yoga mat or tennis shoes and workout clothes will make it more likely that you catch a beach-yoga class or go for a morning walk. Also, be sure to pack your electrolyte powder and water bottles to make sure that everyone stays hydrated.

Allow yourself to enjoy the trip

• Think about vacation meals ahead of time:

  • If the place that you’re staying allows for it, plan to have some of your meals there. Don’t make it hard on yourself, but rather choose easy and nutritious, whole-food ingredients that you can have stocked in your rental for quick breakfasts, lunch, or snacks. (Money/time hack: get staple stuff before you leave and take it with you as groceries in tourist destinations seem to be more expensive.)

  • Place a grocery order for pick up on your way to your Airbnb or rental (or have it delivered when you get there). It feels so good to have a kitchen full of food without having to spend time actually going into the store when you would rather be having fun with your family. 

• Rest! Make your best effort to leave work at home. Turn off notifications on your phone, set your out-of-office email, and take “fun” reads instead of self-help or educational books. Ensure that you will be able to sleep well by taking sleep support items (sound machines, oils, bath stuff, melatonin if you struggle to sleep away from home). 

• Enjoy yourself and don’t stress! The best thing you can do for your health is to give yourself a break. Don’t worry about whether you're gaining weight or losing progress. Just let yourself enjoy the food, enjoy the slower pace, and be present with your family. The stress that comes with those kinds of thoughts and worries is far more harmful to your body than any meal or dessert that you’re going to have. Your body needs to know that it’s safe in order to thrive and relaxing, enjoying yourself, savoring your food, and having fun with your people are great ways to do that!

Plan for re-entry into reality

• Plan re-entry much like you planned your trip. Clean your house before you leave so that you come home to a nice, peaceful environment. If you have access to a washer/dryer, do your laundry before you come home. Place a pick-up grocery order on your way home to pick up when you get home or the next morning so that you can ease your way back into reality. 

I hope these tips help you to keep your health a priority as you travel this summer and also enjoy every minute of it!

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Prioritizing Your Health as a Mom

Hi friends! This past Sunday was Mother’s Day so in honor of that, this week’s #hfpodcast episode is focused on prioritizing your health as a mom. This can be such a struggle and takes intentional planning and effort that if we’re being honest, oftentimes we don’t feel that we have the energy for. Today I want to encourage and hopefully inspire you to think through some ways that you can support your health and care for your body so that you can continue to love and serve your family well for years to come!

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I reached out to my followers on Instagram and asked them what some of their obstacles were to prioritizing their health as a mom and here are the most common responses that I got:

• Time 

• Hectic schedules

• Exhaustion 

• Lack of motivation 

• Body image struggles 

• Guilt when taking time for yourself

I think all of us moms can relate to pretty much all of that!

The thing we need to remember is that we are all in this together. Most of us who are caretakers in any capacity, moms or not, but especially when you have tiny humans that you are responsible for 24/7 can relate to the struggle of knowing that it’s best for us to take care of ourselves and do things that support our health and figuring out how to actually do it. 

It’s also helpful to remember that this is just a season - not forever. We’re just not going to get to it all every day no matter how organized and planned we are and that’s okay. That doesn’t mean that we don’t try to do things that we know will help us, but we’re going to agree here together to stop beating ourselves up about it when it’s not all done, okay? Deal! 

Here are a few tips and ideas that I hope will encourage and inspire you to take the time and be intentional about caring for your body and supporting your health:

• Spend time with Jesus every day in any way that you can. This will look different in every season, maybe even from day today. The truth is that we just simply cannot care for other people well and pour out of a cup that’s empty. Mothering well requires amounts of patience, wisdom, and care that I just simply do not have without the help of the Holy Spirit. I literally need help with it and I can tangibly feel a difference in my parenting on the days that I don’t prioritize this. 

• Take a little time for yourself. This can be so incredibly difficult to do, but I truly believe that it makes a difference in our mental and emotional health. This may mean asking for help or trying to get up a little earlier before the kids do, or maybe choosing 10 minutes of time to decompress instead of doing the dishes {again}. Get creative - it’s worth it.

• Eat actual meals that are for you (protein+carb+fat, every 3-4 hours, including snacks). The key here is to have a plan but know that it doesn’t have to be elaborate. Stick to the basics and make it work for your season. For ideas or help with this, grab my Foods that Heal Guide and my Easy, Healthy Eats Recipe eBook.

• Try to have food before coffee - I know. 🙈 Here’s the deal - coffee (while amazing) spikes one of our stress hormones- Cortisol - and can make your blood sugar unstable as well as put stress on your adrenals and hormones. Essentially, it can make you have less energy and more irritable. Bad combo for a mom (well, anyone - but you get what I’m saying). So simply adding a small balanced meal or snack before your morning cup of coffee can help to stabilize your blood sugar and support your energy levels and mood.

• Prioritize your sleep. I’m well aware that our kids do not care about our sleep at all. However, a long-term lack of sleep can take such a toll on our health (if you want to hear my personal experience with this, make sure you listen to the whole episode). There is some lack of sleep that comes with parenthood, especially in the newborn days, but I want to encourage you that it’s worth the money, effort, time, whatever you need to do to help your kids to sleep well and independently so that you can too! Also, choose sleep over an extra hour of work or even scrolling. I know that it feels like you’ve earned some numb-out time (and you have) but if it’s a choice between staying up really late to “escape” or get more sleep, the sleep will serve you better every single time. 

• Have a plan for moving your body. This is one of those areas that really has to adapt after having kids but it’s still totally doable. We just need a plan and realistic expectations! Find ways to make it work for your schedule and season of life. You can include the kids by letting them join you in your workout if they’re old enough or let them have a little screen time will you fit in a workout at home. Go for a walk and take them in the stroller or let them ride their bikes or scooter along side you. If your budget allows, joing a gym that provides childcare - this will give you a little alone time and you can fit in a workout - win win! Just be realistic with your expecations of what it will look like. It won’t happen everyday, but if you make it part of your daily plan and shoot for it, you will at least hit it some days. 

• Give yourself some grace. Choose the priorities from this list and don’t try to do everything! Remember, living a healthy lifestyle is really about balance, it’s more like juggling. So choose a couple things that you can focus on and feel good about. Also, learn to let go of some things. Maybe the house isn’t perfectly clean all the time, maybe you have to ask for help, maybe you can’t go to every event you’re invited to. Spend some time thinking through what is most important and what you actually feel called to, and be okay saying no to other things. 

• Don’t give up when you have an off day (or week, even month). It’s not starting over, it’s not getting back on the wagon,  it’s just living your life and tomorrow is a brand new day!

Mama- friends, it’s okay to take care of you too. You will love and serve better if you aren’t trying to pour out without ever taking the time to refill. Think through what you know will help you the most a prioritize a few of these things we’ve talked about today.

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Not Seeing Results with Your Health Goals? This Could Be Why!

Hi friends! It’s the end of February and a lot of us are feeling 1 of 2 ways with our new year’s health goals - either confident and excited to keep going or frustrated and ready to call it quits. In this episode, I’m sharing some of the most common reasons that we tend to hit a wall this time of year and stop seeing the results that we think we should be seeing in our health - whether that’s weight loss or another health factor we are wanting to improve. I think this is going to be super practical and helpful for you, so let’s get into it! 

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While there are a lot of factors that can go into why we may feel that way, I have found that when people are feeling stuck or frustrated with a lack of results, there are usually some common culprits. So before you call it quits, evaluate how you’re doing in these 5 areas. 

Not enough quality sleep

Most of us don’t get enough sleep. We prioritize productivity over rest and we’re damaging our health. The recommendation is 7-9 hours of sleep and 2 hours of deep sleep (most of this happens before midnight). So really get intentional about your sleep - track it (Apple watch / Oura ring, Garmin smartwatch), set some hard boundaries, etc. (more ideas for optimizing sleep in episodes 29 and 69). 

Inadequate calorie/protein intake

Often when we think about weight loss or health goals, we think about eating less (which occasionally may be warranted) but I’ve found the opposite to be true more often than not. So many times when someone is experiencing difficulty losing weight or regulating blood sugar, healing their hormones, etc. - it’s because they aren’t eating enough. Not enough calories, or not often enough throughout the day, or even both! It’s also very common for women to not eat enough protein. 

I’m not a proponent of counting calories because I think we set ourselves up for an unhealthy obsession with our bodies and an unhealthy relationship with food by doing that; however, having said that sometimes it can be helpful to track for a couple of days (ONLY) just to gauge how much food we’re getting. Somewhere along the way, we’ve adopted this mindset that we should only be eating 1200 calories a day or something ridiculous, and for 99% of us, that is way under what our bodies need to actually function. Now, this is different for everyone, and I don’t want you to mishear what I’m saying and think that I’m saying that weight loss is the most important goal or that it’s as simple as kcals in/out because if you know me or have been around here for a while, you know that I don’t teach that at all. BUT I do believe that understanding the science behind how our bodies use food as energy is helpful. Your body needs a certain amount of calories to just basically function - you can find out this amount by using a BMR calculator. It will show you the number of kcals you need to just sit still and breathe. s the algorithm explains, this energy will be used only to maintain vital organs, which include the heart, lungs, kidneys, nervous system, intestines, liver, lungs, sex organs, muscles, and skin. For most people, upwards of 70% of the total energy burned each day is used for upkeep.

If you want energy to move or do anything at all you will need more and the calculator will base that on how active you are, if you’re pregnant, nursing, etc. Again, this isn’t as simple as this math equation, but it does provide a basic frame of understanding and supports the idea that major calorie restriction is not a good idea.

It’s also super common to not have enough intake of protein and have too high of an intake of either simple carbs or fats. A really simple rule of thumb here is to make sure that you’re not having any meal or snack that is just a carb (or just a protein, for that matter). The inclusion of all three macronutrients is important for stable blood sugar and metabolism. Somewhere around 25-30g protein per meal is a good goal and using the palm of your hand as a guide is a super easy, sustainable way to track this.

Too much or too little exercise

Another common issue I see often when someone isn’t seeing the progress that they want is an imbalance in their physical activity - either too much/too intense exercise or too little exercise. 

Regularly moving our bodies for somewhere between 15-45 minutes daily supports the function of our bodies in so many ways! It helps our bodies manage stress levels, helps promote deep sleep, aids in digestion and good gut motility, reduces chronic inflammation levels, increases oxygen, and therefore healing, to the body, helps with cognitive ability, supports stable hormones, and so much more. It’s a vital component of a healthy lifestyle! 

On the flip side, overtraining or doing too intense of a workout, or even too long of an intense workout can have some of the opposite effects leaving us feeling more exhausted and depleted; it can also raise inflammation levels, have a draining effect on our adrenal health and therefore hormone health, lead to digestive issues including bloating and constipation, add to insomnia, and when paired with a too restrictive way of eating, leave our bodies starving for energy. 

As with most things, there is a sweet spot for exercise, especially for women. 

Misaligned Mindset and Goals

I’ve talked about this a lot because this is one of the most common issues that I see and one that most of us simply overlook. I actually have a guest interview episode all about this that comes out in a couple of weeks, so I’m not going to go super deep into this, but I do want to give you a couple of things to think about. 

When we are setting goals from a place of negative feelings or feelings of shame about our bodies, we are likely keeping ourselves stuck right where we are. Those feelings may motivate you for a day or two, but most of the time they are going to lead you to feel like giving up or crashing on the couch instead of taking proactive steps to improve your health. 

However, if we can switch our mindset to setting goals tied to something we love or a dream we have for the future, we are much more likely to feel motivated to take those action steps. 

Behavior is driven by our mindset, not the other way around. 

There’s so much more to be said on this topic and as I said, I actually have an entire guest interview about this coming up in the next episode, so make sure you are subscribed and keep a lookout for that. 

I also have a youtube video dedicated to a healthy mindset and goal setting that you can watch. I’ll link that in the show notes so that you can get to it easily. It’s actually a clip from my Move Forward, Feel Better course and dives much more in-depth into how we can align our mindsets with the truth of who God made us to be. I truly believe that this is the missing piece for so many women who find themselves stuck in a cycle of dieting and frustration with their bodies. 

Have any of these common issues resonated with you? If so, I hope that you have found this episode helpful and it has given you some ideas to think through. The good news is that in each of these examples, we can easily make changes to address what’s going on. I encourage you to spend some time evaluating these areas of your lifestyle and brainstorming 2-3 very achievable steps that you can take to move forward. You’re doing a great job, friend! Just by taking the time to listen to this episode and give intentional thought to your health, you are moving forward, even if it doesn’t feel like it! 

"Balancing" A Healthy Lifestyle

Hi friends! Today we are jumping into the topic of “balancing” a healthy lifestyle and how I believe this idea of “balance” is leading a lot of us to burn out and or leaving us feeling stuck. Let’s get into it! 

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I think we’ve gotten too attached to the idea of balance, especially when it comes to living a healthy lifestyle or maintaining healthy habits. So often when I ask people what they’re most frustrated with or what they’re struggling with in regards to their health, I get a lot of responses about frustration with inconsistency with working out or how they’re eating as well as a lot of frustration with not being able to balance it all. The question - “how do I do all of this” comes up a lot. Sometimes a “healthy lifestyle” can feel like a whole lot of boxes to check, which really feels like a whole lot of work! Right? 

I mean, that’s why so many of the fad diets become so popular, even though they often aren’t actually good for your health long-term, but they promise a result without all the work. 

I think we have made the ideal “healthy lifestyle” into something that is actually not realistically attainable. In reality, who can get 8 hours of sleep (2 of those being deep sleep, at the optimal time of night) every night, wake before the sun, drink 32 oz of perfectly filtered, lemon water, eat a nutritious large breakfast with the optimal amounts of carbohydrates, protein, and fat within an hour of waking + 15 different vitamins/supplements; practice complete mindfulness while getting completely ready for the day; spend time outside; space perfectly portioned and balanced meals out all throughout the day the day; stand for 10 minutes every hour; get 10k+ steps; get an hour workout in; be totally present and accessible for your family; feed your kids a beautiful, nutritious dinner; avoid too much caffeine or screen time; keep your home completely clean and laundry caught up; get everyone to bed at the ideal time of evening…. And then turn around and do it all the next day! Oh and did you notice I didn’t even mention anything about actually working a job or having any obligations or responsibilities… 

You hear me say all of this and think it sounds ridiculous - and it does! But how often do we subconsciously hold ourselves to this kind of standard and then feel like we just can’t “balance” it all when we don’t measure up. I have 100% felt this way and tried so hard attain this kind of “balance”. 

So what do we do? If we aren’t looking for balance, what are we looking for? 

I think that living a healthy lifestyle, and maintaining healthy behaviors/habits, looks a lot like a balanced scale and a lot more like juggling. 

Do we want to build a solid foundation for our health? Yes. Do we need to focus on all the different areas of a healthy lifestyle - sleep, stress, exercise, nourishment, relationships… yes - but not all at the same time. And I think that shift in mindset is what makes the difference between someone who is able to settle into participating in healthy behaviors, steadily making progress in their health, and someone who sets a goal, is all “into it” for about two weeks or a month, and then burns out. 

Think of someone who is juggling 5 bowling pins -  is he aware that all 5 are there? Yes. Is he focusing on all 5 of them at the same time? No! Just the ones in his hand at that moment and then his focus shifts as it needs to in order to keep all of the pins in the air. 

It’s just not possible for us to focus on all aspects of our health at the same time. I kind of wish that it were! My personality’s bend toward perfectionism wishes that I could master all of these areas of health and check off every box, but the thing is that I’ve tried it and it just doesn’t work! 

When we allow ourselves to focus on 1-2 areas of our health or 1-2 healthy habits at a time, it prevents us from becoming overwhelmed and burnt out so quickly. Then when we feel confident in one area, we can move onto another. This allows us to actually feel successful and to make real forward progress - it may be slower than we want to go, but it greatly increases the odds of us actually achieving our goals.  

So think about the most pressing or needed change that you need to make for your health. Is it sleep? Is it hydration? Is it eating more plants and veggies? Maybe it’s cutting out processed, chemical-full foods? 

I asked you guys on Instagram earlier in the week to give me an example of just one thing you feel like you need to focus on for your health and I would walk through what this practically looks like in the episode. Several of you said exercising consistently or being more active - something like that.

That’s a great one and super common. So let’s talk through some ideas of what that may look like practically:

• Make an appropriate goal - to move your body 5 days a week (not to work out every single day and lose 10 lbs.). The goal is simply to move your body. 

• Make it work for you:

  • Figure out what activity/exercise you actually enjoy

  • Decide if you do better alone or do you need someone to keep you accountable? Would you enjoy a group activity more than a solo workout? 

  • Brainstorm your usual excuses - time, energy, soreness? What has prevented you from being consistent in the past?

  • Schedule it ,but be flexible. Your week won’t go exactly as planned, so you need to be able to not be completely thrown off. (This may look like planning to walk M,W,F and do Barre or Pilates on T/R but it is 12 degrees outside or it’s raining all week, so you do a quick youtube workout or stick to pilates/barre every day instead.) You have to be able to pivot or you’ll never stick with it.

  • Track your activity with an app or watch to give yourself a little extra accountability. 

Do you see how changing your focus from 5 goals or areas of focus to just this 1 could lead to more successful progress? It’s like a snowball effect. A little change and progress leads to another change, which leads to another, and another. Before you know it, you look back and things look completely different. 

Here’s the thing - consistency and success in one behavior or habit usually crosses over into another. For example, when you’re feeling good about how you’re moving your body, you will likely naturally be more intentional about what you are eating and if you’re hydrated. Or maybe you’ll notice that your sleep starts to naturally improve and you start to pay more attention to the quality of your sleep overall. Success usually breeds success leaving you feeling more confident in how you’re caring for your health. Which is really the goal at the end of the day anyway. 

So I hope that you will try adjusting how you approach living a healthy lifestyle and choose to focus on 1-2 things at a time. I believe it will be a game-changer for you. 

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How to Choose A Probiotic

Hi friends! Today’s episode is in response to a very common question that I’m asked, which is “which probiotic should I take? Which do you recommend?” I’ve talked about probiotics in several different episodes but I wanted to consolidate my thoughts into one episode for you.

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My guess is that you probably know that probiotics are beneficial to our gut health and you may even be taking one, but I often get questions about which kind of probiotic I recommend or think is best. 

Before I answer that question, I want to back up just a little bit and make sure we cover the why behind taking probiotics. I always want you to be educated on what you are putting into your body and why/if you even need it - so let’s start there.

Our gut microbiome is an ecosystem within our bodies that is made up of trillions of microbes - some that are beneficial to our health, and some that aren’t so much. Just as with any other kind of ecosystem, balance is key in order for it to thrive. The same is true for our microbiome. 

Many factors of our normal day-to-day lives work against this balance. For example, a few of the most common issues are:

• Standard American Diet (It’s referred to as SAD for a reason)

• Poor sleep quality

• Chronic stress 

• Overuse of medications like antibiotics, PPIs, and antidepressants (while these are necessary at times they are major contributors to an imbalanced microbiome)

There are many other factors that can contribute to imbalance in our guts, including genetics, that we can discuss in another episode. I just wanted to reiterate the point that most of us need to have probiotics in our daily regimen (whether from food sources or through a supplement).  

A few important things to look for in a probiotic supplement:

• Multi-strain blend that includes both lactobacillus and bifidobacterium strains

• CFU count above 5-billion (with a few exceptions) 

• Third-party tested for quality of ingredients and end result 

A couple of pro-tips taking a probiotic:

• Start with a small dose and build your way up to the recommended dosage of the package

• Rotate the blend that you are taking every few months to ensure you are including a wide variety of strains

A couple of my favorite brands for probiotics are Mary Ruth Organics and Klaire Labs. 

Mary Ruth Organics has both a general probiotic that every member of the family can take. It’s a raw probiotic, so you will notice that the CFU count is lower and that is okay in this case. It is also a tasteless liquid and shelf-stable so it’s super easy to take and very budget-friendly. 

They also have a few targeted probiotic blends that are pretty new but I haven’t personally tried those yet. 

Klaire Labs is my other go-to, especially for more targeted probiotic blends. Their Therbiotic-Complete formula is one of my absolute favorites and the one that I typically recommend for most of my clients while we are working together as it has a wide spectrum of strains and a high CFU count. They also have an antibiotic support blend that I love for anyone on or coming off of antibiotics, as well as a blend called Target gbX that is specifically designed with strains that support the gut-brain connection, which is great for just about everyone but especially for those who may be dealing with mood disorders or anxiety/depression. 

Both of these brands are third-party tested and you can find their products through their own websites and even have Amazon stores that include most of their products. 

Before I wrap up for today, I do want to mention one caveat when it comes to taking probiotics. If you have serious gut health issues like SIBO or Leaky Gut, it isn’t a good idea to just start taking a high dose of probiotics and assume that it will fix it. If you aren’t also doing some work to heal your intestinal lining, you may actually experience worsening of your symptoms, so please make sure you are working with a professional who is trained in gut health - someone like myself or maybe a functional medicine nutritionist or physician who can guide you through the process of healing your gut. 

Why Liver Health Matters

Hi friends! In today’s episode, we are talking about our livers and why it’s so important that we take good care of them! The health of our livers is probably not something that often crosses our minds, but it is one of the most important organs in our bodies both for everyday function and long-term health. So let’s get into talking about the liver…

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The liver is the unsung hero of our bodies. It performs over 500 essential functions and unless something is going wrong, it rarely ever gets noticed. Most people I know don’t go around thinking about their livers throughout the day, yet it’s functions are vital to all other body systems’ ability to function. 

For example, here are a few of the essential functions the liver is responsible for:

Digestion and absorption

Our livers help turn our food into energy. It stores and distributes both fat and glucose, as well as metabolizes both cholesterol and protein.  It produces bile which is vital for digestion and absorption of key vitamins and nutrients and then distributes those nutrients out to the body. It also produces key enzymes that are needed for other chemical reactions all over the body. In addition to distribution, it also stores vitamins and minerals that will be needed in the future. So just by listing these few things, this shows that our livers help regulate our blood sugar, cholesterol, and hormone levels. 

Immune Function

Our livers produce of certain proteins and components of the immune system such as cytokines as well as various other immune cells. Our livers maintain a certain amount of controlled inflammation which assists the body in detoxification, but when this becomes uncontrolled or dysregulated, it can lead to systemic inflammation which damages the immune system and can even lead to auto-immunity or cancer. 

Hormone Function

The liver is hugely important for hormone health. Our livers create proteins and cholesterol that carry hormones all over the body. In addition, it also helps deactivate hormones and assist with ridding our bodies of excess hormones, or ones that we no longer need. This process is vitally important. For example, with the hormone estrogen, our livers actually regulate which kind of estrogens our bodies produce, as well as help with the processes that remove excess estrogen from the body. Without this essential function, an excess of estrogens can build in the body leading to estrogen-dominant diseases and cancer.  

Detox 

The function that our livers are best know for is detoxification. The liver is responsible for the movement of the blood in our bodies. As a matter of fact, almost 1½ liters of blood pass through our liver every single minute in order to be filtered. Through this process it extracts toxins and stores nutrients for later use (which we discussed when talking about digestion and absorption). The liver detoxifies in three phases that must stay in sync with each other. 

Phase One is bioidentification. This is when your body sends out enzymes that put a red flag on all toxins. Phase two is conjugation. This is when the body attaches molecules to those flagged toxins to make them either water soluble or fat soluble. Phase three is elimination. This is when the body actually flushes the toxins from our bodies when we use the bathroom (and sometimes through sweat). If one of these phases isn’t working correctly, it can damage our body’s cells and allow the toxins to continue to circulate in our bodies, further taxing our livers and creating a loop of inflammation. Every single substance we breathe, ingest, or absorb through our skin will pass through our liver, which creates a huge workload for it every single day. 

The point here is that every other system in the body is dependent on the function of the liver and when our livers are healthy, and functioning well, this works great! However, the truth is that the majority of Americans are walking around with less-than-healthy livers. 

What happens when our livers aren’t healthy

It’s estimated that up to 90 million Americans (that’s almost ⅓ of the American population) has Fatty Liver Disease, which is basically inflammation of the liver that occurs when apprx. 5% of cells in the liver are replaced with fat cells. This causes the liver to be unable to keep up with it’s 500+ essential functions and add to systemic inflammation in the rest of the body, which can lead to other chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, even Alzheimers and Dementia. 

If Fatty Liver Disease is left untreated, it can progress into Fibrosis, and even Cirrhosis of the liver, which leads to liver failure (fatal). Liver Disease doesn’t just occur because of alcohol or drug use or Hepatitis. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is the most common form of liver disease and is caused by a combination of lifestyle and genetics - most commonly high-starch/high-sugar diets, insufficient protein intake, intake of trans fats and artificial chemicals, unresolved emotions and trauma, lack of movement in the lymphatic system, and overexposure to environmental toxins. It’s not usually only too much fat, as the name would suggest.

Symptoms of an unhealthy liver or fatty liver disease

There aren’t always immediate symptoms, which can make it tricky. When symptoms do occur, some common ones are:

• Abdominal pain, fullness in the upper right side

• Nausea, loss of appetite (especially in the AM)

• Swelling in legs/abdomen

• Fatigue

• Brain Fog/confusion

• Waking up at night in the 2-3 am range regularly

You can ask your provider to run labs to check enzyme levels most commonly found in the liver ALT and AST. If either level is over 30, especially ALT, this can be indicative of a damaged liver. It’s important to note that by the time these levels are above normal, damage to the liver is already happening. So we don’t want to wait until then to care for and support the health of our liver. 

The good news is that livers regenerate and that our body has an amazing ability to heal. It will need some support from us, but an unhealthy liver, even most diseased livers, with the exception of cirrhosis, can be become healthy and well-functioning again. 

In the next episode, I am going to share ways that you can support your liver health to prevent an unhealthy, sluggish, or diseased liver, as well as ways that you can help your liver to heal if you are already experiencing liver dysfunction or disease. Make sure you stay tuned for that episode! 

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How to Protect Your Immune Health

Hi friends! Immune health and sickness have been on our minds a lot over the last two years and while the information I’m sharing today isn’t new, I wanted to give it a refresh because, let’s just be honest, there’s some misinformation, as well as just weird info out there right now on this topic. I understand that it’s easy to get caught up in fear and have so much advice thrown at you that you don’t really know who to trust sometimes. So today's episode is a few simple reminders of ways to support and protect your immune system’s ability to do its job.

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So right from the start, I want to say that what I’m talking about today isn’t a treatment protocol in any way. This is education about the immune system and how you can best support it and protects it so that it can do the job it was designed to do. Our bodies were created so intricately and intelligently, and our immune systems know what to do - just like our hearts know how to pump blood through our bodies and our stomachs know how to digest food, however that doesn’t mean we can and treat our bodies any ole way and expect them to function well, right?.  Just as with our cardiovascular health or our digestive health, the way we live our lives - what we eat and drink, how we sleep, how we manage stress, etc. all affect our immune health as well. 

So that brings us to what we can do to support our immune systems and help them function well. 

As with just about everything else, we have to start with the gut. Over 70% of the immune system is housed in the gut. Studies have shown that the immune system is actually influenced and taught by the gut microbiome. The microbiome helps determine the vitality of the immune system and its response to infection. We can easily conclude that poor gut health equals poor immune system function. So that is where I think we start. 

Support good gut health 

Two main aspects that I focus on when working on gut health are protecting the gut lining and supporting a healthy microbiome - both are crucial for good gut function and overall health. 

One of the main ways to protect the gut lining is to repair any current damage. Increased intestinal permeability (aka Leaky Gut) is more common than you may think and doesn’t always look like digestive symptoms, although it certainly can. When the gut lining is healthy, it creates a tight barrier all along our digestive tract, but when it is damaged large holes or openings can happen along the tract that allows food particles, toxins, bacteria, etc. to escape into the bloodstream. This causes chronic inflammation in the body which can make you more susceptible to illness and impair your immune response. 

One of the simplest ways to help repair the gut lining is by incorporating bone broth into your daily dietary intake either through drinking it or using a bone broth powder.

When it comes to the microbiome, the goal is to have a healthy balance of microbes. We are made up of trillions of tiny microbes, some good guys, and some not so much. When the bad guys (or pathogenic/opportunistic) outweigh the good guys, that’s called Dysbiosis. Research has linked dysbiosis to many common diseases as well as an altered, impaired immune response. 

A few ways to support a healthy microbiome are: repairing your gut lining, taking a quality, multi-strain probiotic; reducing food-related toxins like herbicides and pesticides, antibiotics in meat, etc.; promote healthy digestion and nutrient absorption by chewing thoroughly and not rushing through meals or eating when overly stressed. 

It’s also a good idea to eat a wide variety of high-fiber fruits and vegetables. One great way to expand your variety is by eating seasonally and trying 1 new fruit or veggie each time you buy groceries. 

Lastly in regard to gut health and food, remember to be mindful of your sugar intake, especially this time of year. I absolutely all the fall/holiday desserts and treats that come along with the holiday season, but the intake of sugar can quickly add up and start to cause inflammation in the body. Enjoy the season to the fullest while also being intentional. 

Mind your S’s

In addition to caring for your gut, a few other lifestyle factors have a huge impact on our immune health. I like to call them the 3 Ss - sweat, stress, and sleep. 

Sweat

We all know that we need to exercise regularly to keep our bodies functioning well, but I’m not sure that we often think of it in relation to our immune systems. When we exercise - move for an extended period of time and get our heart rates elevated a bit, it also helps to create movement in our lymphatic system - which helps our bodies get rid of toxins, it increases oxygen to all areas of our bodies - which increases healing, and helps to reduce stress and chronic inflammation. 

In addition to exercise, I also love the use of a combo of dry brushing and either regular detox baths or a sauna to induce sweating and release toxins from the body. This can be especially helpful when you start to feel sick and may not have the energy for exercise. 

Stress

Stress activates our fight or flight response, which when experienced in short-term situations, can actually activate the immune system to fight off an infection or “intruder” more quickly. Chronic stress experienced in a long-term situation, however, can have detrimental effects on the immune system by triggering chronic inflammation and altering the production of cytokines and T-cells which work to protect our bodies. 

So a couple of quick reminders on ways to reduce the effects of chronic stress on the body: 

Exercise, as we just talked about, can induce the good effects of short-term stress and activating the immune system, while also allowing cortisol (stress hormone) levels to regulate, which can help with inflammation. Practicing mindfulness and meditation, including deep breathing exercises can also help to regulate cortisol levels and allow the body to enter into the rest and digest state. Another great way to help your body deal with stress, and therefore support your immune system, is to get outside every day. In addition to the vitamin D, the fresh air often helps to reset mood and can also help with circadian rhythms, which can help with the last S that I want to mention today, sleep (Ideally, you can combine these three things together).

Sleep

Sleep is really one of the most important components of supporting good health in general, and especially of supporting and protecting the immune system. Getting enough good-quality sleep enables a well-balanced immune defense. Research has shown that during certain phases of sleep that immune function actually increases, which allows the body to more efficiently overcome illness and injury, as well as increase immune memory which allows the body to be better prepared to fend off future illness. 

The opposite is also true, lack of good-quality sleep can interfere with the healthy functioning of the immune system. Sleep deprivation has been linked to short-term illnesses such as viral infections, as well as long-term health conditions like diabetes, heart disease, and neurodegenerative diseases as well as depression and even cancer. It is believed that this is connected to increased chronic inflammation levels in the body brought about by the lack of sleep. 

I have an entire episode on sleep that’s full of tips (episode 29) but I wanted to share a few quick ways to help prioritize good-quality sleep. 

Both exercise and managing stress which we just discussed go a long way in promoting good sleep at night. All three of these - sleep, stress, and exercise - work cyclically together, each one helping in the other areas. 

Also, having a good bedtime routine that you do consistently each night can help trigger the brain that it’s time for sleep. Avoiding blue light after dark and any kind of emotional stressor, as best as you can control it. Research shows that your body gets the most restorative sleep, in which the immune system can actually strengthen and renew itself, in the window of time about 3-4 hours after the sun goes down. This would mean that it’s important to be getting into bed well before this time so that you are sure to be asleep as this window of extra-restorative sleep begins.

These are truly the foundation of a healthy immune system - good gut health and solid lifestyle behaviors that support your body’s ability to function properly. 

Extra support 

In addition to that foundation, you may need some extra support, which in my opinion is where vitamins, minerals, and other supplements are helpful. 

I have another episode that dives more into each of these areas, so I’m not going to get very into it today, but I often get questions about what is helpful, so I want to briefly mention it. 

• Whole-food multivitamins to fill in nutritional gaps 

• Whole-food multimineral can also be helpful, especially with sleep (magnesium)

• Probiotics (multi-strain)

• Vitamin C (liposomal in time of stress or sickness) and vitamin D (especially in the winter months)

It’s true that the more intentional you are for caring for and supporting your body, the better it will function. That’s not to say you will never get sick, you will - and that’s okay. Your body is intelligent enough to know what to do. We just need to be sure that we are supporting it well and not living our lives in such a way that it hinders its ability to function well. 

I hope that this episode has been helpful to you and gave you some good reminders of how to support and protect your immune system, especially as we continue to manage life during a pandemic, and especially as we get into the fall and winter months. 

If you have any questions, email info@yourhealthforward.com.

I also have opened my schedule back up for a few new clients for the fall, and I would love to help you. Schedule a free health coaching discovery call here.

Reference: https://www.ifm.org/news-insights/gut-health-immune-response/; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3256323/;

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/24798553/; https://www.sleepfoundation.org/physical-health/how-sleep-affects-immunity

*Disclaimer: Product links listed in this episode are affiliate links that provide a small commission to me with no additional cost to you. Thank you for your support!

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PCOS 101

September is PCOS awareness month and so for today’s episode, I wanted to do a quick deep dive into some basics about PCOS. It is actually the number one hormonal imbalance condition among reproductive-aged women and sadly, the leading cause of female infertility. So, this condition affects a lot of women and like many other hormonal issues, it can take a long time to get a proper diagnosis. So I want you to be informed about what PCOS is, what some of the common symptoms are, and if you or someone you love has PCOS, what we can do to help with it!

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PCOS is a common hormone and metabolic condition that affects up to 15% of reproductive-age women. It is associated with a higher risk for long-term health issues such as heart disease, diabetes, hypertension, sleep apnea, and infertility. Higher instances of insulin resistance, IBS, and depression/anxiety are also reported with PCOS. 

Symptoms often associated with this disorder are absent or infrequent menstrual cycles, excess weight gain or inability to lose weight, excess facial or body hair, head hair thinning or loss, severe acne, and often (but not always) insulin resistance and polycystic ovaries. 

PCOS is the most common form of hormonal imbalance and while experts know that it is rooted in inflammation and insulin dysregulation, what actually triggers PCOS is not understood. There seems to be a genetic factor, as women with moms or sisters diagnosed with PCOS are likely to have it as well. Also, as with any hormonal condition, gut health plays a major role. Some believe that it can possibly be linked with a combination of imbalanced gut flora and increased intestinal permeability, which leads to increased inflammation in the body. This can cause cells to become rigid and unable to receive the signal from insulin to let glucose into the cell (which leads to your pancreas continuing to pump out more insulin, and left untreated eventually becomes insulin resistance). Although ovaries do not become insulin resistant, when bombarded with insulin, the ovaries can respond by secreting testosterone. An excess of insulin can also inhibit the secretion of sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) which is the protein that binds excess sex hormones like testosterone and estrogen. This creates a perfect storm for these common PCOS symptoms.

PCOS is a clinical diagnosis, which means that it’s based on having a grouping of some PCOS symptoms and ruling out other diagnoses. Often a physician may want to perform an ultrasound to check the ovaries for cysts, but it is important to note not every woman with PCOS will have polycystic ovaries (despite the name). Most women with PCOS do have insulin resistance, but again - not all. It’s important that you work with your physician and be informed on the recommended lab tests that can be helpful for making a diagnosis. Functional medicine practitioners recommend a full thyroid panel, a full hormone panel including estrogen, testosterone, DHEA, SHBG, progesterone, prolactin, LH, FSH, and AMH, as well as a lipid panel and fasting blood glucose and insulin, and A1C. There may also be other tests as well as research about PCOS continues to be published. 

Once someone receives a PCOS diagnosis there really aren’t a lot of great conventional treatment options. The most common option is to take hormonal birth control and while that can help with symptoms, unfortunately, it doesn’t do anything to actually heal the cause of the symptoms. Not only that, but some believe that it may actually worsen the condition over time. Metformin is also a common medication given to women with PCOS. Just be sure to research and speak with your doctor about the common negative side effects that can be associated with it. 

While there is no cure for PCOS, there are things that a woman diagnosed with PCOS can do to help with symptoms as well as target the underlying known contributors to PCOS - blood sugar dysregulation, poor gut health, and inflammation. 

When I work with clients who have PCOS the first two things that we work on are supporting balanced blood sugar and healing their gut. So let’s talk about some foods, supplements, and lifestyle modifications that can help with those things.

When it comes to food, the first thing to remember is that your body needs to feel safe and know that it can count on adequate fuel throughout the day. The best way to do this is to eat a balanced meal (meaning fiber, protein, and fat) about every 3-4 hours. So that typically looks like breakfast, lunch, dinner, and at least 1 snack, maybe 2. You don’t want to eat continually or fall into grazing throughout the day, but also don’t skip meals or go long periods of time without eating. 

Some specific foods that can help:  

• clean sources of protein: wild-caught, omega-3 rich fish such as salmon, cod, trout or sardines; bone broth, grass-fed beef

• High fiber carbs:  cruciferous veggies, pumpkin, beans, rice, berries, goji, cherries, onion, parsley, garlic, freshly ground flax seeds 

• Healthy fats: walnuts, coconut, olives, 

• Herbs, spices, teas: cinnamon, turmeric, ginger, decaf green tea, Holy Basil tea, liver support teas - like milk thistle or dandelion 

There are some supplements that may also be helpful. I do just want to remind you that everyone’s body is different and may respond differently to herbs/supplements. It’s really best to work with a practitioner who is knowledgeable about these supplements and your particular healthy history. With that said, Vitamin D and methylated B-complex can be helpful because a lot of women (in general), especially with PCOS, are deficient in these. Herbs like Vitex, Dong Quai, saw palmetto, nettle root, and licorice can help with some of the common PCOS symptoms. Inositol is another common supplement given to help with insulin sensitivity and other common issues with PCOS.

There are also some lifestyle recommendations and alternative therapies that can be helpful as well. We all know that regular exercise is good for us, but especially for women with PCOS daily movement is vital for reducing inflammation, balancing blood sugar, and supporting gut and liver health. It’s also important to participate in weight training at least 2x per week (either bodyweight or added weights) which has been proven to help increase insulin sensitivity, allowing it to be more useful in the body. It’s also recommended that women with PCOS prioritize getting 8-9 hours of sleep each night and commit to stress-reducing routines like daily walks and downtime from social media and other emotional stressors. Acupuncture can also be helpful. Many women have also found seed cycling to be helpful - and that probably needs its own episode but essentially is eating certain types of seeds in the follicular phase of your cycle and then switching to other seeds in the second type of your cycle. This can help the body get rid of excess hormones more efficiently and may support more balanced hormone levels. It also provides a great source of fiber which is helpful for gut and liver health  

Ultimately, if you or someone you love has PCOS it’s important to know that even though there isn’t a cure, symptoms can be managed and your body can be supported in such a way that the condition doesn’t have to take over your life. Make sure to get a good team of healthcare professionals on your side that can help you with all aspects of your health and really take the time to learn about PCOS and about how your own body responds - what works for you and what doesn’t. 

Friends, I hope that this episode has been helpful for you. If you’re struggling with PCOS know that you aren’t in this alone and that there is help available for you. Start with some of these things that I’ve mentioned today and build a team of people around you that can support you in this journey. As always if you have any questions, you can send an email to info@yourhealthforward.com. 

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What You Should Know About Essential Oils

Hi friends! In this episode, I’m talking about a topic that I really enjoy - Essential Oils! They have been all the rage for quite a while now, but today I really wanted to get into the basics of what they are, how they actually work, what safety considerations we need to follow, as well as what some of my favorite oils are and how I use them. 

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What are Essential Oils?

Essential Oils are concentrated aromatic liquids that are derived from various parts of plants. They are the true essence of the plant and have many useful properties for the plant, like attracting pollinators, repelling pests, etc. but they also have useful properties for humans. Pure essential oils are harvested at their peak, properly distilled, and completely unaltered or added to in any way. 

It’s important to note that essential oils can not cure anything. They are meant to be used to ease common symptoms and support the body’s natural healing abilities. They are considered a form of alternative medicine but should not be used to replace prescription medications or other therapies prescribed by your physician. 

What should you look for in an essential oil?

The two things that matter most when considering essential oils are quality and purity. You’ll often hear about different grades of essential oils - therapeutic and food grade. What’s important to know here is that there is no official grading system for essential oils in the US (it’s often just a marketing tactic); however, there are a few markers of both quality and purity to look for. An essential oil should be clearly labeled with its full botanical name and not contain any additional ingredients, fillers, or something else that ers, or additives. The essential oil company should be completely transparent about their quality standards and the ingredients/processes that they use by providing a GC/MS report or an equivalent (this states exactly what is in the bottle of oil). It’s also important that the essential oil be stored in a glass bottle that protects the oil from light, such as an amber glass bottle. 

How do essential oils work? 

Essential oils can have many beneficial effects, which we’ll get into in a minute, but first I want to explain how they interact with the body. Inhaling essential oils interacts with the olfactory system in the body, which stimulates the limbic system, and then the hypothalamus in the brain. This, in turn, affects the cells in our body. For example, many essential oils help with emotional health by promoting relaxation, energy, focus, or reducing worry or nervous energy. This happens through this process of stimulating the limbic system, impacting the hypothalamus, and then triggering cell memory - especially when the scent is associated with feelings of calm or comfort. 

How do you use essential oils safely?

There are two main ways to use essential oils - inhalation and topical application. There are a few different ways to inhale essential oils but by far the easiest is by using a diffuser. This disperses the oil into the air which allows you to both enjoy the aroma of the oil but also experience the therapeutic effects through the process I just explained. Most aromatherapists suggest diffusing for about 30-minutes at a time. 

You can also benefit from essential oils by applying them topically. Many essential oils are very beneficial for skin health, muscle pain, and some even believe they can help with inflammation. When using an essential oil topically, it’s extremely important to dilute the oil properly with a carrier oil/lotion. Most oils should have a dilution guide right on their label or at the very least on the company’s website. There are a lot choices to use for a carrier oil. My personal favorite is fractionated coconut oil, but jojoba oil, argan oil are all great choices.  You can also buy pre-diluted oils and lotions - just be careful to check the label for additives or unnecessary ingredients. 

It’s also important that if you are using oils around pets or children that you check to make sure that they are safe for that. Also, if you are pregnant or nursing, there are certain oils that aren’t safe during that time, so make sure you are doing your research. 

What are some of my favorite oils? 

I’m by no means an expert on essential oils, but I have been using them for several years and have found them to be so helpful! I don’t really get into the whole which brand is the best discussion because I feel like so much of it is marketing but obviously, as I shared before quality matters, so do research on the brand that you use and don’t just grab something from the shelf at the grocery store without reading about it first. Personally, I mostly use Plant Therapy oils. I really appreciate their transparency, their customer service, and educational resources, and I really love their prices. Again, that’s not to throw any shade at the other brands, that’s just what has worked the best for me and my family. 

Before I wrap up today, I want to share with you a few oils that I always try to keep on hand and why I love them so much. 

Lemon 

It’s such a bright and cheery scent. It can help with improving both your mood and ability to focus. It’s also great to use around the house for cleaning. I add it to my all-purpose cleaner, use it to scrub my sink, remove stickers and labels from bottles, and so much more. 

Lavender

It’s probably the most common essential oil and has endless benefits. It helps to promote relaxation and sleep. It can be used topically to soothe burns or other skin irritations and it has antimicrobial properties. 

Peppermint

Another really popular oil that is helpful for so much. It helps soothe skin by providing a cooling effect that is also really helpful for muscle pain. It is great for helping calm digestive discomfort and reducing nausea, as well as helping with tension headaches. It also is great for diffusing and promotes energy and mental clarity. 

Frankincense

This is a great oil for skin health. It can help with aging and improving skin elasticity. It has been shown to help support lung health and clear breathing. It can help ease aching joints and calm inflammation. It also has emotional health benefits by promoting a sense of calm. 

Clary Sage

This oil is one of my favorites and most used. It can promote a feeling of calm and reduce feelings of anxiety. It can also help with PMS symptoms by providing relief for cramps as well as helping to stabilize your mood. I consider this one a must-have. 

Germ Fighter

This is an essential oil blend from Plant Therapy (it is comparable to Thieves oil) and contains Lemon, Clove Bud, Eucalyptus Globulus, Cinnamon Cassia, and Rosemary oils. It’s great for supporting the immune system. I use this in our hand sanitizer, as well as apply topically when I feel like one of us is fighting something off. I also diffuse this regularly in our home, especially right now. I also just love the scent! It smells like Christmas to me!

I hope this has been helpful for you! Whether you are on the fence about essential oils and wondering what all the fuss is about or whether you’ve been using them for a while but didn’t really know all the details behind how they work, I hope you now feel more educated and empowered to use essential oils for yourself and your family. 

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CBD: What You Need to Know

Hi friends! In today’s episode, we are talking about CBD. CBD can be a controversial topic (what isn’t these days?🙃 ). Some people have found it to be extremely helpful and rave about it, others are skeptical or downright condemning of it. I’m not here to be a CBD pusher, but I do want you to be educated as to what it is, how it works in the body, and how it may be beneficial for your health so that you can make an informed decision. 

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It’s common to think that CBD is a recent trend in the health/wellness world, but actually, various forms of the cannabis plant have been used for thousands and thousands of years. Chinese medicine textbooks, dating back to 2900 BC (like early Bible, pre-Abraham times) note its use for its healing properties, including pain relief, sleep aid, and anxiety reduction. Its use is also noted in medical texts from India and Greece dating back thousands of years ago. As a matter of fact, the cannabis plant was a commonly used medicine in the US in the 1800s (apparently they even prescribed it to help with baby’s teething pain) until fears about it began to circulate in the 1940s, and then it was actually banned in the US in 1970. CBD has now been made legal again at the federal level across the US and the FDA even approved its first CBD-derived medication in 2018. So even though it may feel new and trendy - it most certainly is not. 

What is CBD?

CBD (cannabidiol) is a cannabinoid, which means it’s a therapeutic substance derived from part of the cannabis plant. There are actually lots of different kinds of cannabinoids, and CBD along with many others primarily comes from the leaves and flowers of the Hemp plant (which is a type of cannabis plant). Hemp is also used to make clothing, paper, etc. 

Although CBD is the one we hear the most about, the hemp plant contains many different types of cannabinoids including CBG, CBN, and THC (which is likely what you know as the intoxicating component of hemp).

So, I think it's important to realize that these terms mean different things. CBD and hemp are not synonymous. CBD is one component of the hemp plant. CBD is not marijuana, although both can be derived from different parts of the hemp plant. 

Each component has a different way that it affects systems in the body. 

How does it work?

Our bodies actually house a system made up of neurotransmitters and receptors called the endocannabinoid system. These receptors are found all over the body (brain, skin, muscles, GI tract, immune cells, heart, and blood vessels - just to name a few) and respond to chemicals released by the endocannabinoid system naturally to help keep our bodies healthy. This system plays a part in regulating many different functions in the body, including mood, memory, gut health, hormone balance, pain, inflammation, immunity, and appetite. Its overall purpose is to keep our bodies in homeostasis- or a steady state of function. 

The different types of cannabinoids from the hemp plant, actually connect to our internal endocannabinoid receptors and cause them to release healing effects on the body. 

What are the health benefits of CBD?

When talking about CBD specifically, it connects to TR PV1 receptors in the body and can help in reducing anxiety, nausea, pain, and inflammation, it has also been reported to help with seizure disorders, improve sleep, aid digestion, and help with hormone balance. 

It helps our bodies move out of the “fight or flight” (sympathetic) state and into a more relaxed, “rest and digest” (parasympathetic) state so it’s great for dealing with stress. 

CBD is also an antioxidant that is believed to be more potent than even vitamin C and is protective of the brain as well.  

So as you can see, there are a lot of possible health benefits from taking CBD. So maybe you’re wondering if it would be good for you. There aren’t any known serious adverse effects of taking a pure CBD oil, although some have experienced GI upset, some drowsiness, and fatigue - although in a lot of those instances, it’s possible that the dosages were too high. 

Recommendations

It is recommended to take a full-spectrum CBD oil, that will include other types of cannabinoids (CBG, CBN) and terpenes, which all work together and each has receptors in the endocannabinoid system. This does mean that it will include THC, but only at or below the federally legal level of .3% - which means it will not cause any intoxication. 

There are also brands that are completely THC-free, just be aware that you may not get quite as many benefits from it as you would a full-spectrum option, but it would still be beneficial. 

For general wellness purposes, a daily dose of 10-50 mg is recommended. For dealing with chronic pain or inflammation, a daily dose of 10-100 mg is recommended. As with most herbal supplements, it’s best to start with a small dose and then work your way up until you feel it’s at a good level.

Personally, I’m a big fan of the Ancient Nutrition brand of CBD products. They have oil, capsules, and a powder option that is mixed with collagen peptides. All of their CBD products are organic and third-party tested, so you can trust that they are pure and completely safe to take. They are also full-spectrum CBD products that also include other inflammation-fighting ingredients like turmeric, black pepper, and MCT oil, so you get the maximum health benefits.

Q&A

On social media this week, I asked what questions you guys had about CBD, so I’m going to answer a few of those very quickly: 

Will CBD show up on a drug test? 

In order to be legal in this country, a CBD product must contain less than .3% THC, which means it should not show up on a drug test. However, I would think about a few things if this is something that concerns you or if you need to consider it for your job, etc.: A full-spectrum CBD product will contain THC, so there is always a small chance that it could show. If you are worried about that, I would just opt for the THC-free options, also known as a CBD isolate, which means that the whole hemp plant wasn’t used, only the Cannabidiol. Also, just be mindful of where you purchase CBD. Personally, I wouldn’t buy it from just any pop-up shop or tent on the side of the road :). I would only purchase for a source that I know does extensive third-party testing and guarantees a pure product. 

Is it really beneficial to consume CBD orally? 

I guess most of this episode has already answered this question but I also wanted to point out that there are also some brands that offer CBD-infused creams and lotions for topical pain relief. These can also be helpful, but you won’t get the systemic benefits that I mentioned before in just a topical product. Also, I would recommend opting for an organic option even in a topical option, because hemp plants can often be sprayed heavily with toxic chemicals, which then will be sitting on your skin.  

Is CBD good for a sleep aid? 

A great question! Overall, CBD is going to help your body be in a more relaxed state, which should naturally lend itself to better sleep. There is also specific research, a study done in 2020 by Digestive Disease and Sciences, that looked at people with a painful disease that caused insomnia who used CBD for relief and 87% of those participants said it improved their sleep.  So I think the chances of it helping are pretty high.

So ultimately, you have to decide if you feel that CBD is right for you and would be helpful for you, but now I hope you can confidently say that you understand what it is and how it works. I personally do take it and have felt that it’s been beneficial for me with dealing with anxiety, as well as dealing with inflammation and pain.

Giveaway

This is the 60th episode of the #HFpodcast, which I think deserves a little celebration, so I am going to be giving away a bottle of the Ancient Nutrition brand CBD oil, along with a couple other of my favorite stress-relieving favs to one of you!

In order to be entered into the drawing, make sure you are following me on Instagram, like the post talking about this episode, and tag a friend in the comments who may need to learn more about CBD. For a bonus entry, leave a rating and review of the podcast and share it on social media. All the details of the giveaway will be in the Instagram post, as well and the giveaway will run through next Wednesday,  6/9/20.

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Why We Struggle with Consistency

How often have you heard “consistency is key”? It’s everywhere, right? In a lot of instances, I think this is absolutely true, but I want us to go a little deeper today because consistency is often a pain point for people when it comes to their health. Often when I ask my friends or even my Instagram followers what they are struggling with the most or where they feel like they need the most support, every single time the overwhelming popular response is “consistency”. Consistency in exercising, getting good sleep, eating nutritious food, not eating junk food every night, and on and on it goes. I would venture to guess, you’ve probably had a few of those thoughts yourself and I would say “me too”. I have found myself feeling the same frustration - “ugh! Why can’t I stay consistent in this?!”

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Recently I’ve been doing some work that’s prompted me to dig deeper into the idea of body image and diet culture - and why we so often feel like we are failing in this area of consistency. One thing that has come up for me and that I think may be one of the biggest contributors to this common struggle is a misalignment between our mindset and our goal. 

I know that sounds a little philosophical, but hear me out on this. 

When the goal (our desired result) is to lose weight, get our bodies “summer-ready”, change sizes or “tone up” a certain area, or even to feel “good” or get back to feeling energetic like we did 5 or 10 years ago, etc. - we will get overwhelmed. First of all, those things are not always in our control. We can do all the “right things” - follow all the principles of living a healthy lifestyle and sometimes still not lose a pound, or still not get pregnant, or still have a disorder or disease. So that’s going to feel really frustrating and we’re probably going to give up. We will also often give up because of the massiveness of the goal. It doesn’t seem attainable - it feels so far out of reach, so we often won’t see the value in sticking to whatever plan we had made for ourselves. 

However, when the goal is something attainable, something we can control, something that is directly and immediately affected by our choices, it makes following the plan easier, therefore allowing us to be “consistent” in our behavior. 

Let me put this in a practical context and use this for an example: 

Scenario - It’s 9:45 pm and you can’t stop thinking about the ice cream in the freezer. 
Goal: Be able to fit back into the jeans you wore two summers ago (the pre-covid ones :P)

Your thinking will most likely go something like this: “ugh - this sucks! I bet ____ doesn’t have to worry about not eating ice cream.”, or “meh! Who cares? I’ll never get back in those jeans anyway”, or “I’ve already fallen off the wagon the past few days, what’s one more treat? I’ll do better tomorrow”... and then you either deprive yourself and don’t eat it while inducing shame and judgment on yourself and others; or you do eat the ice cream and immediately feel regret or apathy about the goal you set for yourself. This leads you to the question, “Why can’t I be consistent in what I’m eating?!” Does that sound familiar?

Now contrast that with the same scenario but a different goal:

Scenario - It’s 9:45 pm and you can’t stop thinking about the ice cream in the freezer. 
Goal: To feel good about how you are caring for your body 

Can you already feel the difference? In this scenario, your thinking may go something like this: “hmmm… well, every time I eat that ice cream, my stomach gets so bloated and I feel miserable for hours. I don’t think it’s worth that. What else do we have instead?” , or “I love that ice cream - that sounds so good, but it is going to probably spike my blood sugar pretty high. What can I eat with it to help stabilize my blood sugar?”, or maybe even “Ah yes! I’ve been waiting for the perfect time to try that ice cream and I know it’s made with good ingredients. Let’s go for it!”. So either you choose to eat the ice cream or you don’t, but you make a conscious decision that won’t be followed by guilt or regret. 

The difference is that with the second goal, you are making a decision from a place of loving and caring for your body right now, just as it is, rather than making a decision from a place of shame or apathy while putting a ridiculous amount of pressure and expectation on yourself. 

One of the biggest enemies of consistency is unrealistic expectations. 

There is definitely something to be said about being intentional and scheduling things into your day or week like prioritizing sleep and exercise. There is a practical, logical piece of actually planning things into your calendar or schedule because if you don’t, it probably won’t happen. But again, we are much more likely to make choices that support our wellbeing when we are operating from a goal of caring for our bodies and stewarding them well. 

So I want to challenge you to take a look at your goal or your lack of goal. If you are feeling discontent or wanting to change something about your health, what is your goal? Is it to take good care of your body, to love it well, and to support it in functioning well? If not, consider making it your goal. It will change how you make decisions. It will change how you feel the decisions you make. It will change how you feel about yourself. 

If this idea rubs you the wrong way or you find yourself rolling your eyes a little bit while listening to this, ask yourself why. Dig in a little bit. Does the idea of loving your body, caring for your body, or stewarding your body well seem weird or even wrong to you? Do you feel like your body is subpar or broken or maybe shouldn’t even be considered at all? If so, why? Where did that idea come from? 

If you find yourself feeling this way - let me ask you a few questions that I hope will change your perspective. Do you believe that your body was created by God? The same God that created the sky and the ocean, and the sun and the moon. Do you remember that after He created man and woman - their bodies - He said that it was good? Do you actually think that He could make something that is bad or subpar? If you find yourself thinking that about your body that way or talking about your body that way, isn’t that insulting your Creator? 

Please know that I don’t ask you these questions to put shame on you, if anything I want to help pull shame off of you. Friends, we think that our biggest problem or struggle or obstacle is not being consistent, but in reality, our biggest obstacle is that we have a misalignment between our mindset and our goal. 

When we view our bodies as something to be fixed, or a project that always needs to be improved, or even as just a tool, or really anything other than a good creation of the Father in which we get to experience this life and experience Him, we will not be motivated to be consistent in caring for our bodies. It will feel useless, pointless, we might even find ourselves believing that it’s vain. 

I’m not saying any of this as someone who has conquered this or figured it all out but as someone who is right there with you. I’ve been working through some of these thoughts and feelings myself over the past few weeks. I’ve had to dig deep and ask myself these same questions about what I believe about my body and the One who made it. I can honestly say that realigning my mindset with what God says and focusing on the goal of caring for my body out of a place of love, gratitude, and stewardship, has made a huge difference for me and I believe it will make a difference for you too. 

It’s easy to get caught up in what culture says about health or about what we should look like, eat like, workout like but as believers, as women who follow Jesus, that is not where we find truth and direction for our lives. 

If you feel frustrated with yourself because you don’t feel that you can “stay consistent” or because you lack motivation, ask yourself these questions. Check your mindset and focus on the goal of caring for your body, being kind to and grateful for your body instead of trying to make it into something or make it look a certain way. 

If you feel like you need to do some work around the issue of body image or body shame, or if you would just like to know more about a kingdom mindset about health and body image, I encourage you to check out Jess Connolly’s Good Body Gals community. I have found it incredibly helpful for my own soul as well as helping me think about how I teach and coach other women. You can find all the information about it in her Instagram bio or by searching for the tag #goodbodygals. 

If you feel like you need one-on-one support in this area or in knowing what steps to take, what being kind to your body looks like, what a healthy lifestyle looks like for you, I’d love to help you with that. I offer a free initial consultation where I learn about your specific needs, goals, and current obstacles and together we can come up with a plan to help. You can learn more about that by going to yourhealthforward.com. 

That does it for me today, friends. Thanks for spending some of your day here with me. Keep moving forward, go love your people well and I’ll talk with you next time!

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Alternative Treatment Options for Chronic Pain

Hey friends! Today’s episode is all about alternative treatment options for chronic pain management. As I mentioned in the last episode, March is Endometriosis Awareness Month and if you know anything about the disease, then you know that the most commonly associated symptom of Endo is chronic pain, often debilitating pain. So that’s what inspired the thought behind today’s episode, but these treatment options apply to all different types of chronic pain. It’s been estimated that chronic pain affects around 50 million Americans - 20 million of whom have such debilitating pain that it has altered their everyday lives. It has been linked to an increased risk of major mental health conditions including depression, anxiety, and PTSD. This is a topic that affects a lot of people and I think it’s important to talk about.

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What is pain? It’s your body communicating to you - trying to tell you that something isn’t right. Listen and treat the cause, don’t just silence the symptom. Often when the pain is chronic, the cause is inflammation of some sort. Other times it’s something like dehydration and occasionally something more serious. Whatever the cause, we want to actually address the root of the issue and not just slap a bandaid on it - especially when some of our most commonly used “bandaids” can end up causing more problems in the long term. 

Some of our “go-to” pain relievers can have negative effects on the body, especially when used long-term. Tylenol or acetaminophen can be very hard on the liver because it reduces levels of glutathione in the body, which is the body’s master antioxidant and is very important for neutralizing harmful free radicals, which when left unchecked can cause inflammation and disease. In high doses or chronic use, it can also lead to increased intestinal permeability - which as we know leads to all kinds of other negative health issues, including increased inflammation (which usually equals more pain).

Other common pain relievers such as NSAIDs like ibuprofen, naproxen, and aspirin do actually help to reduce inflammation, but when used often can cause damage to the gut, including negatively affecting the microbiome and creating an imbalance of the good gut bugs vs the opportunistic ones, increasing intestinal permeability, and possibly leading to ulcers, GERD, and sometimes even IBD or colitis. 

Opioids are also often prescribed for chronic pain, which in addition to all the same side effects just mentioned can lead to addiction (leading cause of death in people under 50 years old in the US) and major changes in brain chemistry and function. We are in a horrible opioid epidemic in this country and it’s absolutely ruining people’s lives and families. Things have got to change when it comes to first-line of defense when dealing with chronic pain! 

So what are some alternative pain management techniques? Here are a few ideas that can not only help manage symptoms but often can help heal the root of the issue altogether. And even better, each of these options works with your body, helping it to function better as opposed to working against it and possibly creating unwanted side effects and new problems to address. 

Hands-On Therapies 

Acupuncture is great for treating chronic pain (especially Endometriosis - more on that here) by increasing circulation (faster healing) but also thought to stimulate nerves, muscles, and tissue which can help the body release its own pain-relieving hormones and neurotransmitters. It’s been proven effective for pain and general wellness for thousands of years. 

Physical Therapy and Chiropractic Care can both help to correct structural issues and treat the root cause of chronic musculoskeletal pain. These modalities work great in conjunction with each other.

Essential Oils

Oils like peppermint, frankincense, lavender, and evening primrose oils all help to reduce inflammation and pain. Using these oils topically (with the proper dilution) can be greatly beneficial for healing and relief as well as diffusing, which can have similar effects, plus help with mental clarity and mood. 

CBD 

Cannabidiol is one type of cannabinoid from the cannabis (hemp) plant.  It is non-psychoactive (it won’t get you high) but has been used (for thousands of years) to help a wide range of health issues, including chronic pain. It helps to reduce inflammation and put your body in a more relaxed state (rest and digest mode) so that it can heal more easily. CBD has also been shown to be a neuroprotective antioxidant - which means it helps to safeguard the health of your brain. It can help reduce anxiety, promote sleep, and even be beneficial for gut health. Do make sure that you get CBD oil from a trusted, verified source that isn’t loaded with additives and extras like sugar, dyes, etc. 

Lifestyle changes

Ensuring that we are properly hydrated (water + optimal electrolytes), moving our bodies regularly (increases blood flow and healing), eating anti-inflammatory foods (some faves: leafy greens, cruciferous veggies, pumpkin, berries, bone broth, wild-caught fish, grass-fed beef, avocados, olive oil, coconut oil/milk, walnuts, chia seeds, flaxseeds, green tea, turmeric, ginger, garlic), and prioritizing good sleep (allows for repair and renewal of the body) will all reduce chronic inflammation and promote healing.

Supplements 

One of my favorite supplements for pain and inflammation is PRANA by Leefy Organics. It’s a potent combination of turmeric, ginger, and black pepper formulated in a way that allows for max absorption into the bloodstream, making for quick-relief and benefit. It helps lower inflammation, reduces pain, helps with digestive health and brain function. 

Another important supplement (food, really) when thinking about inflammation is Bone Broth and Collagen powder. Our health starts in the gut - we can’t ignore it! Bone broth helps to rebuild the gut lining which helps to lower inflammation but also to increase the body’s ability to absorb nutrients and antioxidants, which help your body to be able to optimally create and use pain-relieving neurotransmitters. Both bone broth and collagen can also help with joint health, which can be a common source of chronic pain. 

Omega-3 Fatty Acids have also been shown to reduce inflammation, provide proper lubrication for joints, and increases blood flow allowing for faster healing. 

Magnesium is an essential mineral that plays a lot of really important roles in the body including helping with circulation and blood pressure, immune system function, nerve and muscle function, and many more. A lot of people are deficient in magnesium, so taking a supplemental form of magnesium (specifically magnesium glycinate) can be really helpful for dealing with muscle soreness and cramps, menstrual cycle pain, headaches and migraines, and even neuropathy. 

---

So as you can see there are a lot of alternatives when it comes to dealing with pain. Am I saying that we should never take an over-the-counter pain reliever ever again- especially for something acute? No! That’s just not realistic. However, what I am saying is that there are many safe and just-as-effective options that we can use as a first-line defense that will actually work with our bodies and help our bodies function optimally without causing negative side effects.

One thing that I try to help my clients think about is that everything we do in relation to our health - everything we eat, everything we take - has an effect on the body both short-term and long-term. Sometimes it’s just easier to look at the short-term because we are so wired for instant gratification, but we can’t forget that these things also affect our bodies long-term. So let’s educate ourselves and consider how something will affect us in 6 months, 1 year, or even 5 years, down the road. I think that principle especially applies when we are deciding how to deal with chronic pain. 

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What to Know About Women and Heart Disease

Did you know that heart disease is the number one cause of death for women in the United States? Surveys show that over half of us are unaware that heart disease is such a risk. We tend to think of things like cancer being more of a risk, and while we definitely need to be thinking about that, research shows that for most American women heart disease is the number one cause of death. 

In addition to the risk of Heart Disease being somewhat unknown, it’s also not well known that the signs and symptoms of a heart attack or another cardiac-related event can be very different for women than they are for men. 

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There are many factors that increase your risk for heart disease:

• High blood pressure 

• High triglycerides and low HDL

• Diabetes 

• Metabolic syndrome (Combination of high triglycerides/ low HDL, high blood pressure, high blood sugar, and excess fat tissue around the waist. Harvard med says this is the biggest risk factor)

• Dysbiosis / poor gut health (Research shows that the gut microbiome influences many health parameters, including cardiometabolic health. One study provides evidence that certain families of gastrointestinal bacteria can either positively or negatively affect cardiovascular health. The microbiome is also known to affect metabolism and may contribute to insulin resistance and metabolic syndrome. Other studies found a negative correlation between certain gut bacteria and arterial stiffness.)

• Smoking / Oral Birth control meds

• Chronic high inflammation levels or inflammatory disorders

• Sleep Apnea / poor quality sleep (Poor sleep quality was related to lower HDL-c and higher triglyceride levels in girls, suggesting the clinical importance of improving sleep hygiene to reduce metabolic risk factors in children and adolescents.)

• Family history 

Not only are the risks different for heart disease but the symptoms of a cardiac event, specifically a heart attack, are different for women, as well. While it is still common to have chest pain or pressure, some women never experience that. Other common symptoms include:

• Pain in jaw, neck, back, or upper arm

• Nausea or stomach pain 

• Dizziness or light-headed 

• Sweating

• Shortness of breath 

How can we minimize our risk or work to reverse some of the health issues we may already have?  

The good news is that a lot of the chronic health conditions that I listed above can be significantly improved or even reversed with lifestyle changes. We can do things to...

• Regulate blood sugar levels

• Lower triglycerides levels

• Increase HDL

• Improve microbiome

• Decrease inflammation

This leads you to ask me how - how can we practically do those things?

• Eat regular balanced meals throughout the day. No skipping meals / no stand-alone carbs or proteins (keep blood sugar levels stable)

• Eat lots of plants + omega -3 fats (decrease inflammation, feed good gut bugs, increase HDL, lower LDL) 

• Reduce artificial foods, trans fats, and refined sugars (decrease inflammation, lower triglycerides) 

• Exercise 30 min day (2 days strength at least - decrease inflammation, helps with sleep, improves gut health, decreases stress, helps with insulin sensitivity, increase HDL) 

• Deal with stress (breathing + exercise, talk it out, adaptogens - lowers inflammation, improves sleep, improves gut health, helps with adrenal function and hormone balance) 

• Prioritize sleep (deal with underlying issues, good sleep habits - inflammation, healing and restoration, cell turnover, mental health, stress) 

• Add quality supplements to fill in gaps (whole food multi, omega 3, probiotic + collagen/bone broth) 

So it’s easy to see how what we might consider just basic healthy lifestyle behaviors can really affect our long-term health over time. We tend to want to do the more extreme things, the more trendy things or to just take a supplement or whatever new product is on the market, but really when it comes to the optimal functioning of our bodies and our long-term health, the simple, basic steps really do make a difference. These are mostly the same behaviors and lifestyle changes that I talk about often - when talking about hormone health or gut health - just about any health issue, really. These are the fundamentals, the foundation, for good health, both now and when we are in our 80s. They matter and they make a difference. 

Gratitude Matters

Research has shown that gratitude has a positive effect on many different aspects of our health.  In today's episode, I'm sharing a few ways that gratitude can change our health for the better as well as simple tips for incorporating a gratitude practice into our daily lives. 

The Harvard Medical School defines gratitude as “a thankful appreciation for what an individual receives, whether tangible or intangible. With gratitude, people acknowledge the goodness in their lives. As a result, gratitude also helps people connect to something larger than themselves as individuals–whether to other people, nature, or a higher power”. When we think of gratitude, we typically think of saying “thank you”, which is obviously important, but gratitude is more than just an action or a trite thing we say. It is an emotion that actually creates a biological response in our bodies. 

Gratitude affects our health in so many positive ways. 

• Eases depression and anxiety (study) (enhances dopamine and serotonin) 

• Improves sleep

• Reduces burn out and stress 

• Helps regulate blood pressure 

• Helps strengthen the immune system 

• Lessens physical aches and pains 

• Helps to break the pattern of toxic thoughts 

• Helps you to be more empathetic 

• Can positively affect relationships

• Helps you to be more likable 

• Builds personal resilience (#2020, right?!)

Regularly expressing gratitude can make you more sensitive and aware of the experience of gratitude in the future. Isn’t it amazing that we have the ability to actually change our brains?! (You can find more about this in episode 47!)

Simple ways to practice gratitude:

• Start a gratitude journal

• Add gratitude to your quiet time routine 

• Write letters of gratitude to friends and family, pastors, teachers, medical staff, etc. 

• Make a gratitude jar or tree

• Pray a Prayer of Gratitude before bed

• Practice saying thank you 

• Be present and aware (put down your phone)

• Create a gratitude ritual with your kids at dinner or before bed

I hope that this has resonated with you and maybe has sparked some ideas for ways that you can practice gratitude in your life. I want to put this to practice now and say that I’m so grateful for you! I so appreciate that you guys listen in, that you support the podcast and share it with your friends, and ultimately that you have allowed me to speak into your lives and support you in your health journey! I truly love what I do and it’s an honor to get to do it!

I want to leave you with this encouragement from God’s word as you go into Thanksgiving and the rest of 2020, whatever it may hold. It’s from 1 Thessalonians 5:18 - “give thanks in everything; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Prioritizing Your Health as a Nurse with Chrissy Williams

Hey friends! In this week’s episode, I get to interview one of my very best friends, Chrissy Williams. She shares her perspective of learning to prioritize her health while working as a Labor and Delivery nurse for the past nine years! Listen to the full episode below!

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A few of the questions from this episode:

When we think of healthcare, we often just assume that our providers don’t struggle with the same health struggles that we do, but in reality, our doctors and nurses face a lot of the same obstacles we do, and due to their schedules, maybe even more with burn out, etc. Can you share a little about the common obstacles you and your coworkers have experienced? 

What are some of the ways you have been able to work around or overcome these obstacles? 

What advice would you give to a nurse that may be listening? Especially a brand new nurse just getting started in their career and wants to make sure they keep their health a priority? 

Prioritizing Your Health as a Young Professional

Hi friends! In today’s episode, my friend Kellie Shortridge shares how she prioritizes her health as a young healthcare professional. She shares practical, helpful tips that we can apply to our own health journeys. Listen to the full episode below.

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Some questions from this episode:

As your friend, I know that you’ve been in the process of prioritizing your health over the last few years. What do you feel are some of the more beneficial changes you’ve made and what differences have you seen in your overall wellness? 

Being a young working professional in a health care setting what are some of the obstacles to living a healthy lifestyle that you’ve encountered? 

I think a lot of people that live by themselves often feel overwhelmed by the idea of meal planning and prep - especially when most recipes seem to be geared toward multiple servings. How have you navigated that for yourself? 

What advice do you have for others who may have similar situations as yourself and are wanting to improve their health, but really not sure where to start? 

Prioritizing Your Health as a Teacher with Savannah Pratt

Welcome, friends! In today’s episode, I’m interviewing my good friend Savannah Pratt. Savannah is sharing with us how she has learned to prioritize her health while navigating the challenges that come from her rewarding, yet very demanding and stressful job as an Elementary School Special Education Teacher. She shares tips for how to start making your health a priority as well as encouragement for others with similar demanding work schedules. Listen to the full episode below!

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As a teacher, who is also trying to improve your health, what are some obstacles you often encounter?

Do your coworkers seem to share in those same obstacles? 

What are a few things you have done to overcome or work around these challenges?

Do you feel that prioritizing your health has allowed you to be more focused or more productive in your work? 

What would be your encouragement to anyone listening who is either a teacher or in another stressful, demanding role and wanting to improve their health?

5 Simple Tips for Happy & Healthy Hormones

We all know that hormones can affect how we feel, for better or worse (most of us have experienced the negative side of this from time to time, right?). So, it’s no surprise that our hormones also affect the function of our bodies. In today’s episode, I’m sharing a few of the simplest and most effective ways we can support our endocrine system and get back to having happy, healthy hormones! 

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I think when most of us hear that word we automatically think of the negative side effects that we may have experienced from out of control hormones or hormonal imbalance like hot flashes and rollercoaster emotions, but really our hormones are responsible for so many functions in our bodies, and when well-balanced can help us feel energized, happy, and motivated as well as relaxed and calm.  

Hormones work as chemical messengers released from different organs and glands in our bodies. These hormonal messages are received by hormone receptors throughout the body that then signals a specific response. The entire endocrine system works together to control the level of hormones that circulate through our bodies and when just one of these hormones is even slightly imbalanced, it can easily cause other imbalances and trigger widespread health problems.

So what are some of the most effective things we can do to naturally support healthy hormone function? 

1. Get good quality sleep

Sleep is essential to our bodies’ ability to recover and regenerate. For example, Cortisol, one of our major stress hormones, is regulated in our bodies when we are sleeping (around midnight). So if we are staying up super late or really restless throughout the night, it can be difficult for our bodies to get out of the “fight or flight” response that cortisol creates. Sleep deprivation can also contribute to blood sugar dysregulation, which can lead to hormonal imbalance (which often only adds to sleep problems). Find tips for optimizing and protecting your sleep in Episode 29. 

2. Balance your blood sugar 

Blood sugar balance is so important for optimal hormone function. Unchecked blood sugar dysregulation often leads to insulin resistance, which often leads to hormone imbalances and sadly, often disease. One of the best ways to help regulate your blood sugar levels is to eat your meals at regular intervals (breakfast, lunch, dinner - no skipping) and be sure to include healthy carbohydrates, protein, and fat in every single meal and snack. This keeps the blood sugar (and insulin) from spiking and then crashing - which only creates a state of chaos in the body. Hormones do not like chaos! 

3. Eat a nutrient-rich diet 

Vitamins B6, B12, E, and D, as well as Folate, Iron, Zinc, and Magnesium, are just a few examples of essential nutrients that are necessary for proper hormone function and fertility. Unfortunately, a lot of women are often deficient in these nutrients. In addition, hormonal birth control and other common medications can deplete essential nutrients stores in the body. This is one of the many reasons why it’s important for us to make sure our meals are full of nutrient-rich foods like leafy greens and cruciferous vegetables; high-fiber fruits like berries; clean protein sources like fatty fish, grass-fed beef, and pastured eggs; healthy fats from nuts and seeds, avocados, as well as anti-inflammatory oils like coconut and olive. In addition, taking a high-quality probiotic will help improve the ability of your gut to absorb all of these nutrients. 

4. Manage physical and mental stress regularly

Stress is one of the most common factors of hormonal imbalance and can have detrimental consequences when left unmanaged. As I’ve already mentioned, the body releases cortisol and adrenaline in response to both physical and emotional stressors, which puts our nervous system in the “fight or flight” (sympathetic) state. While this is helpful for dealing with danger or an acute crisis, other crucial functions of our bodies like growth and reproductive hormone production, digestion, and tissue repair are all put on hold until we return to a calm “rest and digest” (parasympathetic) state.  Due to the nature of our lives, it can be easy for us to stay in this chronically stressed mode, especially if we aren’t actively managing the stress. 

In addition to getting quality sleep each night, a few other ways to help manage stress and return your body to a more relaxed state are things like engaging in gentle movement such as yoga or walking, being in nature, practicing deep breathing (boxed breathing is my favorite method - 4-second inhale / 4-second hold / 4-second exhale), enjoying prayer and peaceful music, or participating in a hobby that you enjoy. The key is to be aware of your body and actively work to return to a relaxed state.  

5. Reduce exposure to environmental toxins 

Environmental toxins like parabens, chemicals in plastics, and artificial fragrances (to just name a few). often create chemical responses in the body that can quickly lead the body into estrogen dominance and chronic inflammation. (I’ve devoted an entire podcast episode to this topic if you want to know more about common environmental toxins and how they affect our health). 

Using an app like Think Dirty or EWG to scan products, especially the ones you put on your body and clean your home with, will help make sure you aren’t exposing yourself to harmful chemicals that can disrupt your hormones. 

Here are a few easy switches that will help reduce your exposure: switch from plastic to glass or stainless steel for water bottles and food storage containers; use essential oils instead of artificial fragrances for personal care and cleaning products; ditch the fabric softener and use white vinegar in the rinse cycle instead (ditch those dryer sheets too!). 

An added bonus of all of these lifestyle changes is that they will also help to improve your gut health which is absolutely foundational for optimal hormone function. A lot of hormones are produced and transmitted in the gut, making it basically impossible to have poor gut health and healthy hormones. 

In addition to these tips, I also highly suggest working with a functional medicine practitioner, especially if you know you have a hormonal imbalance or inflammatory disease. This can often look like a team of professionals to help you get to the root of the dysfunction in your body as well as give you guidance for supplements and vitamins specific to your body’s needs. 

I love supporting clients as they learn to pinpoint and heal the root cause of their hormonal imbalance. They often notice such an improvement in their symptoms simply by adjusting their lifestyle and making changes specific to their body’s needs.

Learn how you too can improve your health and get back to having happy, healthy hormones! Click here to schedule a free 30-minute consultation call with me where we will work together to identify your specific health goals to help you move forward in your health journey.

How Adrenal Health Can Affect Your Whole Body with Reed Davis, FDN

Hi friends! In this week’s episode,  I had the opportunity to interview Certified Nutritional Therapist (CNT) and founder of Functional Diagnostic Nutrition® (FDN), Reed Davis. As a Holistic Health Practitioner (HHP), Reed is an expert in functional lab testing and holistic lifestyle medicine. 

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In this episode, he teaches us about adrenal health and how the function of our adrenal glands affects the rest of our overall health. He also shares common lifestyle factors that may negatively affect adrenal health as well as the entire endocrine system. In addition, Reed shares how making changes to those exact same lifestyle factors can help reverse symptoms like chronic fatigue, low energy, brain fog, excess weight gain, and hormonal imbalance (sound familiar?).

You can find more information about Reed and the Functional Diagnostic Nutrition training program that he designed for health coaches by visiting functionaldiagnosticnutrition.com.