What Is the Deal with Gluten?

Welcome back, friends! Today I want to spend a few minutes talking about gluten and why everyone seems to be hating on it. For the past several years this topic has become more and more popular and just about every health and fitness guru out there has contributed their two-cents to the conversation. While there are no shortages of opinions on the matter, what I do seem to not find nearly as often is simple information that explains what gluten is, why it’s been labeled as “bad”, and how you can determine if you should cut out gluten or not. So that’s exactly what I want to provide for you in this episode. You know me - I like simple, clear info so let me just jump right in! 

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What is gluten? 

Gluten is the main storage protein found in wheat grains. It’s most often found in products containing wheat, barley, and rye, as well as occasionally in oat products. Think of it as the component to most bread, pasta, and baked goods that give a stretchy, soft texture. Gluten can also be added to several different foods like soups or sauces to increase the thickness or volume, processed foods to make them more filling, and even seemingly random things like soy sauce.  

Why has gluten been labeled as “bad”?

There are a few different factors that have caused some in the health and wellness field to have a concern regarding the regular consumption of gluten-containing foods. Gluten intolerances can vary from mild to severe. 

Those with Celiac Disease have an allergic, inflammatory response to gluten in which their bodies attack their intestines and create an autoimmune response. However, in the past several years, it’s become more well-known that those with Celiac Disease are not the only ones who can have negative reactions or side effects from consuming gluten. 

Gluten has been found to be highly inflammatory for a lot of people. Those with non-celiac gluten sensitivities or intolerances experience symptoms like bloating and digestive discomfort, brain fog, headaches, joint pain, anxiety and/or depression, and often eczema or other skin issues after consuming gluten, but these symptoms typically go away when gluten-containing foods are removed from their diet. 

It’s not exactly known yet why gluten can be so inflammatory. Research has shown that when gluten is consumed (by anyone) it causes a temporary increase in the production of Zonulin - a protein that regulates intestinal permeability. So it can be assumed that high consumption of gluten would lead to chronically increased intestinal permeability (sometimes known as leaky gut). This allows gluten, plus other organisms, to be released into the bloodstream, which triggers inflammation in the body.

One of the most common questions I have heard in regards to eating gluten is “if people have been eating gluten for centuries, why is it just now become an issue? Isn’t it just a trend?”. 

This is just my opinion, but in a lot of cases I feel like gluten - or really most food sensitivities - may just be the straw that breaks the camel’s back. As I’ve talked about before, our bodies were made to handle small amounts of inflammation - we have pathways designed into the functionality of our bodies for that kind of thing. However, due to the lifestyle of the majority of us, we have a much higher level of exposure to inflammation-inducing foods and experiences than ever before. Never has there been so many processed foods available and consumed on a regular basis. Never has there been this constant exposure to stressors both physical - like environmental toxins and emotional - like 60-hour workweeks, social media, and 24/7 news. 

I don’t think that gluten, by itself, is the issue. I think it’s that we have all these other issues going on, and in our Standard American Diet, we consume a lot of it. 

How can I determine if I should go gluten-free?

There are lab tests that can be done to look for certain antibodies but personally, I think that an elimination diet is often the easiest way to determine if you have a sensitivity. An elimination diet is just like how it sounds: you eliminate all gluten-containing foods from your diet for at least 30 days (60 is ideal). During this time you note your symptoms and how you feel. Then after the elimination time is up, you add gluten back into your diet and note how you feel. If your symptoms return or you feel worse, then you know that you have a sensitivity. 

If I cut out gluten, what can I eat?

Lots of things! There is a learning curve to going gluten-free, however, there are a lot of great alternatives out there. Our meals should be a combination of high-fiber carbohydrates, mainly vegetables, and healthy protein and fat. 

There are a lot of gluten-free alternatives available now like GF noodles, flours, crackers, bread, baking mixes, etc. You do need to make sure you are looking at the ingredients as sometimes those items can be full of unhealthy ingredients. Just because it’s gluten-free does not mean it’s healthy.

I’ve created a free guide with some of my fav gluten-free alternatives  - download it here. 

If I go gluten-free, does that mean I can never eat it again?

It depends. If you have celiac disease, then you really shouldn’t be consuming gluten at all, ever. However, sometimes those with just a mild sensitivity can occasionally eat gluten after they have allowed their gut to heal and worked to decrease inflammation in their bodies. In my experience, after following an elimination diet, those with gluten sensitivity prefer to avoid gluten long-term because they feel so much better. 

The Bottom Line

Gluten is not “bad”. Foods are amoral - they cannot be good or bad. We really need to change our way of thinking around this. Gluten is a hot topic because it is known to be inflammatory for the majority of people - likely due to other lifestyle factors in combination with the overconsumption of gluten. So, it’s not the enemy, but it can contribute to inflammation in the body and poor gut health, and in my opinion, that makes the idea of eliminating it something worth considering.

How Our Emotions Affect Our Physical Well-Being

In today’s episode, I want to talk to you for a few minutes about emotions and how they affect our bodies. I think we all recognize that our emotional health and our physical health are connected and one influences the other in theory; however, I’ve noticed that a lot of us fail to make the connection that choosing to ignore our emotions, or numb them instead of working through them can have a negative effect on our health. Let’s talk about it! 

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So we’ve all experienced some kind of physiological response to an emotion - butterflies in our stomach when we’re nervous, a flushed, hot face and a racing heart when we’re angry, fatigue and lack of motivation when we’re sad or grieving. It’s common sense that our emotions evoke a physical response in our bodies. So why is it that we’ve tricked ourselves into thinking that we can avoid dealing with deep emotions and stressors by distracting ourselves or numbing out, and it’s not going to negatively affect our health? Let me just be completely transparent and say that I’m just as guilty of doing this as anyone else. Even studying this and knowing what I know, it still seems daunting and sometimes scary to work through my own feelings and emotions at times. 

In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), it’s taught that different emotions are specifically connected to different organ systems in the body. For example, the liver is associated with anger and unforgiveness; the spleen/stomach is associated with overthinking and nervousness; the heart with agitation and over-excitement; the lungs are associated with grief and sadness; and the kidneys with fear. It’s important to note that emotions are not bad - they are good, they are natural and healthy. It’s when they become extreme or uncontrollable that they can indicate an underlying issue. Also, in TCM it’s believed that the connection of emotional health and physical health isn’t linear - it’s cyclical. This basically means that chronically unresolved, ignored, and stuffed-down emotions can cause dysfunction in our bodies and visa versa, unresolved dysfunction in our bodies can cause extreme, out of control emotions. 

I’m certainly not an expert on TCM and understand that some people can find it a little strange, but I do think there is a lot of insight that we can glean from it. As a Holistic Health Practitioner (and furthermore as a Christian), I absolutely believe that our bodies were created body, mind, and soul and that all of these areas of our lives have an effect on our level of health. As I’ve said many times before, when we consider “being healthy” we can’t just think about what we eat or if we exercise. It’s so much more! It’s every part of our lives - our relationships with other people and with God, our level of fulfillment and sense of purpose, different stressors from jobs or finances, our sleep patterns, etc. It’s looking at the whole person and their whole life. 

It reminds me of what we know to be true about the physical effects of chronic stress in the body. The overproduction of cortisol can lead to dysregulation of the HPA axis (adrenal system) and lead to chronic inflammation in the body. It makes a lot of sense to me that unresolved emotions, especially those caused by traumatic experiences, can have just as impactful of an effect on the body. 

I’ve actually observed this first-hand in some of the clients I’ve worked with. When they have had traumatic experiences in the past or even just deeply hurtful things happen to them and they think that they’ve moved on or just are afraid to go back and work through those emotions, it really slows down their progress and sometimes even blocks any progress they would have otherwise made. 

So here’s the bottom line of what I want you to take from this episode: Even if you’re “doing all the right things” - eating healthy foods, moving your body, getting good sleep, taking supplements, your drinking water, you’ve switched over to clean beauty products… all.the.things. but you haven’t dealt with the emotional stuff going on inside your head and heart, there’s a good chance you aren’t going to see the improvement you are hoping for. This is true for all of us - whether its anger or unforgiveness at a situation or person, maybe grief and sadness, or some kind of trauma we’ve experienced - we can’t just sweep it under the rug, shove it down, or numb it with food or other substances and then expect that our bodies won’t react. We have to deal with our emotions and feelings. We have to work through past hurts and especially traumas. We have to let go of things and not stuff them down or brush them off like they don’t matter. 

So how can we make sure we’re working through our emotions? 

I think self-reflection through journaling can be really helpful. Learning to sit still and spend some time being quiet, without noise in the background, can often lead to emotions and thoughts that need our attention coming to the surface. Journaling and praying through those things, releasing them to God, and then choosing to move forward can sometimes be enough to release those pent up emotions. 

In addition,  we also often need to also reach out for help - especially when the hurt is deep or traumatic. I am a huge proponent of counseling and think that everyone can benefit from it. There is just something about an outside perspective and unbiased listener that can be so helpful. Licensed counselors are trained to know exactly how to lead us through the process of dealing with our emotions and experiences. 

I’ve also read that acupuncture can be helpful for releasing pent-up emotions and improving organ-system function. Deep breathing, prayer, and meditation are all helpful practices as well. 

I think one of the most important, first steps for us is to just allow ourselves to feel and be aware of the emotions we’re experiencing. Don’t be afraid to feel or try to distract yourself from feeling. Deal with what’s going on, give yourself time and space to reflect on why you feel the way you do and then go from there. There isn’t an exact formula for this - it’s different for everyone and every situation. The important thing is is that you don’t ignore it. That you recognize that your emotions are a gift and they communicate something to your body. God created you as a whole person and we can’t separate our bodies from our minds and emotions.

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.

Creating a Healthy Foundation for our Kids

Hi friends! Today I want to talk to you about something that is on my mind a lot as a parent, and that is creating a foundation of health for our kids. Children learn from what they see us do and the culture of our homes, so I wanted to share with you some ways that we can help set them up for good health as well as a good relationship with food and their bodies in the future. 

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As I’ve already alluded to, this really starts with us! Kids really do default to doing what they see their parents or those in their homes do - so we first need to evaluate what we are modeling for them.

A few ideas:

• Let them see you make healthy choices. 

• Let them hear and see you taking care of your body 

• Let them hear you being appreciative of your body rather than critical

If you are feeling super uncomfortable right now because you know you haven’t been doing those things - that’s okay! It’s never too late to start making these changes and let your kids be a part of that. If they are old enough to understand, you can even give them a head’s up that you are going to be doing some things differently because you want to take good care of your body and be thankful for all that it does for you. Then let them watch you as you then follow through on what you’ve told them. It will teach them so much just by getting to see you start to make changes. *Just a reminder though - this needs to be through a very positive lens and from a place of appreciation for your body and not punishment of yourself. Nothing about how we engage in “healthy” habits or the language that we use should convey that our kids aren’t healthy or “good” if they don’t eat veggies, exercise, etc.  

In addition to setting an example and encouraging a healthy mindset, there are some healthy habits that you can start reinforcing in your kids very early on from infant/toddler age, again by modeling yourself and then encouraging in them as well. 

Some ideas:

• Drinking water throughout the day

  Try giving their milk, etc. with meals and then water in-between meal times. the more you offer them water, the more normal it will become. Consistency is key!

• Division of responsibility at family meals

  This theory for feeding states that it’s the parent’s responsibility to provide food and decide what food is served and it the child’s responsibility to decide how much of that food she will eat. For more about this theory, as well as one of my favorite methods for helping kids with healthy eating habits, check out Ashley’s “Love It, Like It, Learn It” method on her website veggiesandvirtues.com as well as on her Instagram account.

• Include your kids in your workouts and/or have active family time

  Whether it’s a family walk or dance party after dinner, letting your kids tag along for your jog, or a family workout in the living room, kids love to be active.

• Help them learn to deal with stress and anxiety

  We know how difficult this can be even as adults, so it’s important to give our children tools to help manage their anxiety and worries from a young age. One of my favorite resources for this is Sissy Goff, a child, and adolescent counselor. She offers tons of great tips and resources on her Instagram account as well as her website raisingboysandgirls.com

• Set healthy sleep practices

  Set them up for good sleep by doing simple things like ending screen time at least an hour before bed; avoiding any scary books or shows right before bed; getting them to bed on time; ensuring that their room is cool and dark and optimized for sleeping. It can also be helpful to have a conversation with them about why sleeping is so important to our health and makes a big impact on how we feel the next day.

• Don’t be overly restrictive with food

  Research shows that being overly restrictive on how much or what kinds of foods children can eat can often lead to an unhealthy relationship with food in adulthood - at times in the form of food addictions and eating disorders. One way to avoid having to restrict or say “no” all day is to only have foods in your home that you are okay with them eating regularly.

• Help your kids have a healthy mindset about food

  Help your kids understand how food fuels our bodies, how to listen to their bodies (hungry vs full, happy tummies vs sad tummies, etc.) Take them with you to the Farmer’s Market or try growing your own veggies in the backyard to help them understand where food comes from. Just let them in on the process!

• Get your kiddos involved with meal times

  Let them help you chop veggies or stir ingredients together. Commission them to set the table or fill the drinking glasses with water. It’s amazing how much more open kids are to new foods when they’ve been involved in preparing them.

Reminder: It is incredibly damaging to children if they are shamed for eating too much or too little of something or if their weight or bodies are scrutinized or criticized. Do NOT do that! They shouldn’t be the least bit concerned with what they weigh, size of their clothes, or the way their body moves or performs. If you are seeing that in them, please intervene and that may start by evaluating how you approach your own body. If you feel that your child needs some help from a professional counselor or therapist, please provide that for them while they are still young.

Remember they are listening to you and watching everything you do - so please be intentional with this. Be gracious with yourself and with them - it goes a long way.

I hope this episode has been helpful for you and given you a few ideas of ways to create healthy foundations for your kiddos and maybe even yourself! If you have any specific questions, leave them in the comments on this post or you can send me a DM on Instagram.

What It's Like to Experience Infertility

Welcome back, friends! This week is National Infertility Awareness Week and in this week’s episode, I had the opportunity to interview three of my sweet friends who graciously agreed to share their infertility journeys with you. We talk about what it’s like to experience infertility as well as things that have helped us along our journeys and things that have made it more difficult. 

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I know that I can speak for all of us and say that we hope that this episode will help you understand a little more about what experiencing infertility is like and if you are currently walking this very difficult road, we pray that you know that you are not alone. If you know someone who is struggling with infertility, please reach out to them today. Send them a text or drop off some coffee or flowers on their porch - just do something to let them know that you see them, you love them and are there to support them however they need you to. Share this podcast with them as well! 

Click the link below to listen to the full episode!

Staying Sane and Finding Joy During Quarantine

Hi friends! I hope you are doing well wherever you are. We are still in the middle of the COVID_19 crisis and in week 4 of staying at home. I both can’t believe it’s already been four weeks and also feel like it’s been four months since life felt normal. I know for many of us the novelty and newness of this new way of life has worn off and we might be feeling like we’re going to go crazy if things don’t change soon, so on that note, I wanted to talk to you today about ways that we can stay sane and choose joy during this time. 

Here are a few of the things that I’ve been trying to incorporate into my new normal almost every day:

• Getting outdoors 

• Listening to uplifting music (some of my current favorites: Renew Your Mind, Remind Your Soul playlist, Spring Favs playlist, Ellie Holcomb’s Sing Albums - Creation Songs and Remembering Songs for kiddos)

• Doing a lot of laughing listening to funny podcasts and Insta-stories (current favs - That Sounds Fun podcast by Annie Downs and The Made Up Morning Show on Jess Connolly’s Instagram account) 

• Making sure I’m getting enough exercise and sleep 

• Making myself drink more water (not coffee all day) 

• Doing a few things to make the weekend feel different 

I reached out to my followers on Instagram and asked what has been helping them. Here are a few other ideas that they had: 

• Daily walks 

• Listening to uplifting or encouraging podcasts

• Getting dressed every day

• Being intentional with their time/making to-do lists 

• Limiting tv and screen time

• Only checking in on the news 1-2 times per day

• Following a loose schedule for the day 

This season is going to look different for all of us. For some of us, we have tons of time on our hands right now and this could be a perfect opportunity to start something new or take on a project you’ve been putting off. For others of us, life has become extremely full and hectic juggling working from home, caring for kids, cooking multiple meals a day - and it’s probably not the time to start something new. No matter the exact details of our situation, the truth is that all of us will benefit from intentional adding activities or rhythms into our day-to-day that will keep us centered on the right things, help us stay sane, and help us feel the joy that can be found, even in this hard season. 

I hope that this episode has encouraged you to choose some of these ideas to implement into your own life. Hang in there, friends - we will get through this! 

For more healthy living encouragement, mixed with some very real-life moments, follow me on Instagram.

Have a great rest of your day friends! Talk soon!

What Covid_19 Has Taught Me about a Healthy Lifestyle

Hi friends! I’m going to be super transparent with you today. I don’t really want to record this episode. I’m weary, I’ve been fighting anxiety more than I want to admit and honestly, I’ve struggled with if I even need to continue putting out content right now because just about everything feels trivial in comparison to this virus and the effect it’s having on people’s lives. 

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As I’m typing this my husband, who is supposed to be working from home, is out on an on-site trying to help another company be able to work remotely, so they can stay afloat. Businesses are closing, everyone has to stay away from each other, people are getting sick and losing their jobs and some even their lives. It almost seems silly to come on here and talk to you about a healthy lifestyle - about what you eat or if you’re exercising or how you’re coping with the stress, but as these thoughts have been turning over inside my head, I keep coming back to this idea: During this pandemic, what has been made very clear to me is that the things I did and cared about from a vanity standpoint didn’t matter to me much at all anymore, but the rhythms and habits that I have put into place that make a difference in my mental and emotional health have never been more important. 

Even the really good things that I still believe are good and are beneficial to your health in the long run - like buying organic and trying to reduce toxin exposure, for example, just took a back seat, because, for the first time in my whole life, I entertained the thought that there might not be enough (and just let me add how much of an eye-opener this has been for me around the idea of privilege and how some people deal with these fears and realities every day - pandemic or not). However, the things that stood out to me, that have become necessary in order to keep some kind of control over my thoughts and emotions became front and center of my idea of a healthy lifestyle. Things like: 

• Having a daily quiet time and drawing near to God. Letting Him speak to my heart and mind the truth of His word has kept my mind centered where it needs to be. It’s allowed me to filter all my feelings through a lens of truth knowing that God is still good and nothing about Him has changed. 

• Moving my body and getting my heart rate up every day. There is a noticeable shift in my mental state when I do this. Not that it’s all better and fixed but I am able to think more logically about things and not just emotionally. Exercise has many benefits to our health but I’m more convinced now than ever that it’s greatest benefit is to our mental health.

• Getting enough sleep. This one has probably been the most impactful because it’s the one I’ve struggled with the most. Anxious thoughts flood my mind at night and make me really not want to go to sleep some nights and I can tell such a difference the next day based on how much I slept - not just mentally but physically too! 

Obviously, I still believe that eating nutritious food is important and protecting your gut health and the immune system is crazy important, especially now, and both of those things also have an impact on your mental health as well. 

I think this has just been a really good reminder for me that so much of our daily struggles can start in our minds and during a time like this when there is so much uncertainty, anxiety, and stress if we don’t make protecting our mindsets a priority, we’re likely going to stop caring about a lot of other things that help keep us healthy. 

(**Disclaimer - I’m not really talking about mental illness or chemical imbalances here. While some of these things may be helpful if you or someone you know is struggling with those issues, these things in no way replace a need for medicines or therapy.) 

So if you’re really struggling with your mindset and you don’t feel like you’re in a good mental/emotional state, take the steps - do the things - that can help with that first. Move your body, connect with God, laugh, sleep, connect with other humans (in a safe way). I think sometimes we have to choose to do the thing, and then the feeling and motivation will come later.  

I hope this has helped encourage you and I hope that you and your families are doing well. We will get through this crazy time and my hope and prayer is that we all choose to come out of it a little better than we were before. 

Hang in there, friends! Talk soon!

How Acupuncture Can Help with Endometriosis

Hey friends! In this week’s episode, I am interviewing my personal acupuncturist, Sarah Prater. She is a Reproductive Acupuncturist and has been specializing in infertility since 2012 and started the TN Center for Reproductive Acupuncture in 2016. 

Acupuncture was a huge part of my journey with endometriosis and infertility, so I asked Sarah to share with you how acupuncture can benefit our overall health and specifically help with these hormonal conditions. 

Find out more about the TN Center for Reproductive Acupuncture by following them on Instagram and Facebook. Click here to schedule an appointment with Sarah! 

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What is acupuncture and how does acupuncture help to improve overall health? (05:00)

How can acupuncture be beneficial specifically for someone with Endometriosis? (07:00)

What does a typical treatment protocol for someone with Endometriosis look like? (10:00)

Is an acupuncture treatment plan something that you recommend in conjunction with other types of treatment or lifestyle changes? (15:20)

Are there any tips or resources that you suggest women with Endometriosis follow at home? (24:10)

Where can people find out more about you or schedule an appointment with you? (24:30)

Endometriosis Awareness: Part Two - My #Endo Story

Welcome back, friends! Today is part two of the Endometriosis Awareness series and in this episode, I’m sharing my story with Endometriosis. 

I want to mention in the beginning of this episode that this is my story and how Endometriosis has affected my life and the things that have been helpful for me, so while some of these things may also be true for you, and may even be helpful for you, make sure you are working with a physician and other health professionals that can help you implement any changes you want to make or treatment methods you’d like to try. 

So here is my story: 

I was diagnosed with Endometriosis in 2014 after an exploratory laparoscopy - I had just turned 26. Although I had been having symptoms of hormonal imbalance and even a PCOS diagnosis a few years before, I hadn’t even really known anything about Endometriosis. I didn’t have chronic pain and at that time I would say I really had no symptoms at all (once I learned more about it I realized that I had been having symptoms just not the bad cramping or heavy periods that were so often thought to accompany Endo). 

The summer before my first surgery I experienced my first severe pain episode. I don’t remember a lot about it but I do remember yelling for my husband from the bathroom because I had never felt pain that intensely before and I had no idea what was happening. After an hour or so it finally eased off and I went right back to my normal life without missing a beat. 

The next time it happened was probably several months later but that time, the pain was unbearable. It came on suddenly again and I can distinctly remember rolling around my bed in pain. Again, I had no idea what was happening but thankfully I had a good friend who was a nurse and suggested that maybe it was a cyst rupturing and I needed to see my Dr. That time the intense pain lasted for an hour or two, but I couldn’t stand up straight afterward without having sharp pains in my lower abdomen. I went in for an ultrasound the next day and I remember being scared out of my mind! Was it a tumor? Ectopic pregnancy? Was it going to happen again? 

I remember crying during the ultrasound and the tech trying to calm me down but seeming very concerned herself. The ultrasound didn’t reveal much other than that there was a large cyst on my ovary and that I likely needed surgery to see what was going on. 

So as I already mentioned, I had that surgery a few weeks later which revealed that I had Stage 4 -Endometriosis, with lots of adhesions and several of my reproductive organs stuck together. My doctor told my parents that it was so severe that there was basically zero chance of conceiving if I hadn’t had the surgery. I actually remember being relieved in my very foggy post-op state that it was Endometriosis because I was terrified that it was a tumor. And while I’m so thankful it wasn’t cancer, I had no idea the weight of a Endometriosis diagnosis. 

I recovered pretty quickly from that surgery and the next several months following that are really fuzzy to me. I don’t think my surgeon / OB really explained much to me other than if we wanted to get pregnant, we needed to start trying as soon as I was healed from surgery. 

I ended up changing physicians during that time because of a friend’s recommendation that this doctor was experienced with Endometriosis management. At my first visit with her, she ran a few lab tests, including the antibody marker CA-125 which can sometimes show endometriosis in the body. I was so surprised when she called me a week later to say that my levels were already high again and that she was going to refer me to a Reproductive Endocrinologist. I was so frustrated because it hadn’t even been a year since my surgery and it was already back. 

One of the blessings of my Endo story is that I didn’t have the chronic pain that I know so many women experience, but in this case, it was also a curse because I had very little ability to monitor what was going on inside my body. 

After seeing my new RE, I had my second surgery in July 2015. This one was way harder for me. I was under anesthesia a lot longer (which is a whole other story in itself) and even though it hadn’t even been a year, I already had a lot of adhesions and endometrial tissue growing again, and my organs were getting stuck to each other again. Recovery was more difficult physically, because of the invasiveness of the procedure in order to get it all, as well as some allergic reactions and other complications I developed. In addition to that, this surgery was harder on me mentally as well. 

I distinctly remember the feeling that my body was betraying me - that it was doing all these things and I had absolutely zero control over it. I didn’t know why it was happening or what was causing it and I felt like there was nothing I could do to fix it. As a type A, fix-it, kind of girl this was very, very hard for me. I felt like I was doing all the things - I was trying to eat healthily, I was getting chiropractic adjustments, I was exercising, I was following my doctor’s recommendations - and yet this disease was still growing in my body. If it were not for my faith, my relationship with Jesus and the comfort and peace he allowed me to have, and the encouragement and support of my husband, my friends, and family - I don’t know how I would have gotten through that time.  Just as a side note, that is my number one piece of advice for someone with Endometriosis (or any chronic illness, really) don’t try to do this alone. It’s so much harder that way. That is one of the number one tools of satan - the enemy of our souls - to make us feel isolated, especially as women. To make us doubt God’s goodness, to make us think that no one could possibly understand or that no one really cares - and none of those things are true! So I just want to encourage you, fight back against that. Don’t isolate - find someone to talk to. Let people in, tell your friends, talk to your family about it, see a counselor. Endometriosis is a physical condition but just like so many other things in this life, it also wreaks havoc on your mind and your emotions. 

Following that surgery, we immediately started trying to conceive and I was regularly seeing my Reproductive Endocrinologist for that. We tried IUI and a few other of the conventional medicine options but unfortunately, were still not able to conceive. 

It was really at this time that my desire to really dive into more of an integrative/alternative medicine approach increased and I started researching as much as I could. I changed my diet, read books and articles constantly, took all kinds of different supplements, but I was just kind of lost in it all. I really needed someone to guide me and help me figure out what my body really needed. 

I had a friend of a friend that had a very similar story to mine and she had gone to see an herbalist in North Carolina and had drastic improvements and was even able to get pregnant and it just kept popping into my head that maybe this was something to try. To be honest, I had a lot of reservations about it. I definitely had zero understanding of what an herbalist did or how they were trained and I was extremely skeptical, but at this point, I figured it couldn’t hurt anything. So in the fall of 2016, I made an appointment and drove the two hours to see her. Honestly, the whole experience was so crazy and I will maybe have to do an entire episode about that experience because it’s way too much info for this episode, but to sum it up I’ll just say that I was totally caught off guard. This sweet lady starting explaining things to me about how the body worked that I had never heard before - and they made sense. Before even reading my medical history she was telling me that I had stagnation in my reproductive organs and all kinds of digestive issues that were driving a lot of my hormonal imbalances and inflammation - just by looking at my eyes and doing some muscle testing. She told me that I had an overgrowth of Candida in my gut and I needed to make changes to my diet and prescribed several different herbs and vitamins that I needed to take for the next 3-6 months. I’ve never experienced anything like it but I took her word for it and followed her recommendations. 

During this time I had also heard a lot of good things about acupuncture and how it could be beneficial for Endometriosis as well as aid in fertility. So around December of that year, I also started seeing a reproductive acupuncturist (spoiler: more on that soon!). 

I noticed a lot of my GI symptoms started to improve and I felt less stressed about everything. I realize now that it was a combination of the supplements, acupuncture, and really being able to release the control and fear over to God. And in February 2017, 4 months after seeing the herbalist and following her protocol and after two cycles of acupuncture, I found out I was pregnant (on valentine’s day)! Shocked is a major understatement for sure! I was able to have a healthy pregnancy with zero complications and delivered a very healthy baby girl. 

I can’t tell you what exactly it was that made the difference for me - was it the herbs? The acupuncture? Divine healing?  I honestly don’t think it was any one thing. I think that it all worked together! I think the surgery removed the adhesions and put things back in their proper place, the combination of the herbs and the diet helped to heal my gut and some inflammation, I think acupuncture helped my body relax and also helped with the hormone imbalance and inflammation. I know that God was in control of the whole thing - from start to finish. He has blessed us with science and medicine, and holistic healing modalities like acupuncture and plants/herbs and I think the whole time he was working on my heart to learn to trust Him. 

As far as where I am today with my Endometriosis story - the honest answer is that I don’t fully know. I had labs done again about a year ago and my hormone levels were good and my CA-125 levels were still low, which I’m so happy about but that isn’t 100% reliable. I still follow an anti-inflammatory diet and try to really preserve my gut health which I am sure is helping, but being someone that doesn’t have extreme symptoms from Endo, I can’t gage 100%. I plan to continue with this lifestyle and monitor my labs and go from there! We do hope to have more children, so I’m sure that will reveal more about how things are functioning for me. 

I hope that my story has just given you a little insight into the life of someone with endometriosis - and really, I’m one of the luckier ones. I’ve for sure had my fair share of difficulties with it, but not to the degree that a lot of women suffer. So many women live in chronic daily pain and have unbearable pain and horrible symptoms and debilitating anxiety every month. Many women have to miss work and school regularly because of their symptoms. It is a major financial burden and takes a huge emotional toll. If they are also trying to conceive, even more so. If you are someone with endometriosis, I hope my story has just given you a little hope to know that you aren’t alone, you aren’t crazy for feeling the way that you do, and that there are options out there to try that may help you. No one’s story is exactly the same but there is something for us to learn from each of our stories and I appreciate you taking the time to listen to mine. 

If you’d like to do your own research and maybe try some of these things I’ve mentioned for yourself, here are a few helpful links and resources: 

Integrative Women's Health Institute: https://integrativewomenshealthinstitute.com/?s=Endometriosis+

Dr. Jolene Brighten: https://drbrighten.com/causes-endometriosis-5-natural-treatment-strategies/

Natural Fertility Info: https://natural-fertility-info.com/?s=Endometriosis+

Acupuncture for Endometriosis Relief: https://www.healthcmi.com/Acupuncture-Continuing-Education-News/1770-acupuncture-beats-drug-for-endometriosis-relief

Tennessee Center for Reproductive Acupuncture: https://www.tennesseereproductiveacupuncture.com/phone/index.html

Sunshine Herbs and Vitamins Clinic in Asheville, NC: http://sunshineherbsandvitamins.com/practice.html

If you know someone who has endometriosis, share this episode with them! It was always helpful for me to read other people’s stories so I know it will be helpful for them too! 

Endometriosis Awareness: Part One - Endo 101

Hi friends! Today I’m going to be talking about a topic that is really significant to me and something that I’ve spent a lot of time over the past 5-6 years learning about - Endometriosis. March is National Endometriosis Awareness Month and as someone who has been diagnosed with Endo, I want to really take some time to provide some education and awareness around the topic. Unfortunately, there seem to be a lot more questions about endometriosis than there are answers, currently, but the more we can educate women about what we do know about it, the more people can hopefully find some relief and improvement in the symptoms of this condition. 

1 in 10 women are estimated to have been diagnosed with Endometriosis in the US, and really it’s expected that the number is actually much higher than that due to the fact that a lot of women go years with symptoms of endometriosis without having an actual diagnosis. 

So what is Endometriosis? 

An inflammatory hormonal condition that causes tissue similar to the tissue that lines the uterus (endometrium) to grow in other places of the body where it is not supposed to be. This tissue then bleeds on a monthly cycle just like the tissue inside the uterus but the blood has no exit from the body. This is severely irritating to the nerves, especially the abdomen and leads to severe pain and increased inflammation in the body. Over time, this irritation and inflammation lead to scar tissue that can cause the pelvic and abdominal organs to develop adhesions—meaning the organs can all stick together. This can cause bladder and bowel pain, constipation, pain with ovulation, severe menstrual cramping and pain, infertility, chronic pelvic pain, and pain with sex.

What causes Endometriosis? 

Unfortunately, there is not an agreed-upon root cause yet - there are a few different theories that are being studied. However, what we do know is that once developed, it is an inflammatory condition with an abnormal immune response.  Find more information about possible causes of endo here

What are the most common symptoms and how can it be diagnosed? 

Endometriosis is complicated for a lot of reasons but the variability in symptoms and difficulties in diagnosing are some of the most frustrating ones. Symptoms can vary so much from woman to woman. Some women can have extremely painful, heavy periods with a lot of cramping, sometimes even being debilitating to the point that they have to stay home from work or school. Some women have G.I. symptoms specifically around the time of their period - IBS symptoms or constipation, or pain with bowel movements. For some women, they have no pain at all, or at least very little pain. Infertility is also a very common symptom of endometriosis, and sometimes is the first indication that there is some kind of dysfunction in the reproductive system. A few other symptoms are upper leg pain, joint pain, extreme bloating in the lower abdomen (known as Endo-belly) and ovarian cysts known as Endometriomas.

As far as diagnosing Endometriosis, there isn’t an easy answer here either. The only way to be absolutely sure that a woman has Endometriosis is through an exploratory laparoscopy (a surgical procedure where they make a tiny incision and use a scope to explore the abdomen for endometrial tissue). Obviously, this is a pretty invasive diagnostic measure and definitely comes with the risk of anesthesia, plus risk of creating even more scar tissue from the incision. 

Doctors can sometimes make an educated guess based on symptoms and there are a few studies that show that the use of certain lab markers may indicate endometriosis in the body, but that isn’t a widely accepted method for diagnosis. 

The other major issue with diagnosing Endometriosis is how often it’s missed. Because the most common symptom is painful periods, often the patient is just dismissed as having a low pain threshold or being overly dramatic about what they consider “normal PMS symptoms”. Also, it has become an easy-fix to just prescribe pain meds or an oral contraceptive to help with the pain rather than actually exploring the cause or assuming that it may be abnormal. Unfortunately, neither of these options actually fix the problem or provide long-term solutions to the pain. 

What are the treatment or management options? 

Again, there isn’t a super simple answer for this either. There hasn’t been one single treatment that has been found to be effective for everyone. 

One common treatment option is surgical excision, as I mentioned before. Once the operation is done to look for Endometriosis, if found, they go ahead and remove any endometrial tissue they find, as well as adhesions. Even though this option often does provide temporary relief from the symptoms, the endometrial tissue often regrows and the surgery has to be repeated. 

Some women who are not trying to become pregnant may choose a hormonal therapy option, such as oral contraceptives or other medications that suppress ovulation completely, but often still find that they deal with recurring symptoms. Some may even choose a hysterectomy, often out of desperation to find some relief.

It honestly can be such a debilitating and horribly frustrating condition because for many women it just comes back over and over, despite using one of these treatment options. 

The good news, however, is that there are some alternative treatments that have shown to be very helpful in the management of symptoms as well as in reducing the overall inflammation in the body, which helps to address the root cause. 

Based on what has been learned about how the role of a healthy microbiome, or good gut health, plays in hormonal balance and inflammation in the body, we know that taking steps to improve gut health is a great place to start. 

Living an anti-inflammatory lifestyle has also been shown to have positive effects on symptoms and addressing the root inflammation. Eating an anti-inflammatory diet filled with a lot of vegetables (8 cups a day of leafy greens and other fiber-rich veggies), healthy fats like avocado and nuts, and clean protein from fish and plant-sources like legumes is very effective. Also avoiding known inflammatory foods like dairy, gluten, corn, beef, and sometimes even caffeine can help calm inflammation and allow the gut to heal more quickly. Taking a quality, whole-food multivitamin and omega-3 supplement also help to reduce inflammation. 

Also, working to reduce and manage stress levels, getting at least 8 hours of quality sleep each night, and moving the body for 20-30 minutes a day have also been shown to reduce inflammation and improve symptoms. 

In addition, there are other alternative methods like using herbal supplementation and acupuncture that are hugely beneficial to supporting the body’s ability to heal and dealing with painful symptoms. 

The other factor that has shown to be very important in dealing with Endometriosis is reducing exposure to environmental toxins. Whether from non-organic foods - especially meat, plastics, toxic beauty or personal care items, household cleaners, etc. - all of these toxic exposure increase inflammation in the body, are known endocrine disruptors, and greatly increase the toxic load on our liver and other detox pathways in the body. These exposures can lead to increased levels of estrogen in the body which can further create hormonal imbalance and again lead to more inflammation.

There is no question about it - however, you choose to treat Endometriosis, it will take work. It’s estimated that someone with endometriosis will end up spending the same amount in healthcare expenses as someone with diabetes. It is a very real, very difficult condition and for those who are dealing with it on a daily basis, it can become all-consuming. 

There is hope though! There is a lot of research being done and a lot of the alternative treatments that I mentioned are helping so many women regain control of their health and providing relief for them! If you know someone who has Endo, reach out to them this week and let them know you care for them and that you love them. I guarantee you they can use your encouragement! 

In the next episode, released later this week, I’m going to be sharing my story with Endo and the things that have helped me.

Here are a few of my favorite resources for learning about Endometriosis and how some of these alternative therapies may help you:

Integrative Women's Health Institute: https://integrativewomenshealthinstitute.com/?s=Endometriosis+

Nancy’s Nook Education Page: https://www.facebook.com/groups/NancysNookEndoEd/

Dr. Jolene Brighten: https://drbrighten.com/causes-endometriosis-5-natural-treatment-strategies/

Natural Fertility Info: https://natural-fertility-info.com/?s=Endometriosis+

Acupuncture for Endometriosis Relief: https://www.healthcmi.com/Acupuncture-Continuing-Education-News/1770-acupuncture-beats-drug-for-endometriosis-relief

Tennessee Center for Reproductive Acupuncture: https://www.tennesseereproductiveacupuncture.com/phone/index.html

Prioritizing and Protecting Your Sleep

Welcome back, friends! I’m excited about today’s episode because we are diving into one of the pillars of good health - sleep! Sleep often gets overlooked because a lot of us think “well yeah, I sleep” but we haven’t really paid much attention to the quality of the sleep we are getting and often don’t prioritize getting enough sleep. 

In an article by Dr. Chris Kesser, it stated that “more than 1/3 of Americans have trouble sleeping every night, and 51% of adults say they have problems sleeping at least a few nights each week. 43% of respondents report that daytime sleepiness interferes with their normal daytime activities.” Can you relate to that? I know I can. There are many days that I feel like there isn’t enough coffee in the world to get me through! 

Why is sleep so important to our health?

Sleep is absolutely essential for the basic function and repair of our bodies! Our neurological, endocrine, immune, musculoskeletal and digestive systems all depend on us getting enough sleep for them to properly function. In its natural design, the hormone melatonin naturally increases after sundown and during the night, which actually increases our immune function and helps protect us against infection (this is why you’re so likely to get sick after not sleeping well for a few nights). Sleep has been shown to be so important to our overall health that total sleep deprivation has been proven to be fatal! (The article stated that lab rats who were denied the ability to sleep died within a couple of weeks.)

Among many others, here are a few of the health benefits of a full night’s sleep (7-9 hours is the National Sleep Foundation’s recommendation):

• regulates blood sugar and metabolic function

• decreases the risk of heart disease and diabetes as well as autoimmune diseases

• enhances memory and mental clarity

• improves athletic performance

• boosts mood and overall energy

• improves immune function

• increases stress tolerance

What happens when we don’t get enough sleep?

In the same article that I mentioned before, it stated that most adults admit only get an average of 6 hours of sleep in a 24 hr period (again, the recommendation is 7-9 hrs). This can greatly increase your risk for an impaired immune system, obesity, blood sugar imbalance and insulin resistance, diabetes, hypertension, mood disorders, impaired cognitive abilities, and systemic inflammation (which as we know leads to all kinds of other problems). Lack of proper sleep has also been shown to make you hungrier and lead to more severe cravings.  Honestly, there is no health condition or symptom that lack of sleep doesn’t make worse. We talk a lot about the importance of a nutritious diet but if you eat all the healthy foods and ignore dealing with your stress or prioritizing sleep, you will still be unhealthy. 

How can we make sleep a priority and protect it? 

Set good boundaries and protect your sleep environment:

• Reduce your exposure to artificial light at least 2 hours before bed (turn down the lights in your house, wear blue-light blocking glasses, turn screens off at least 1 hour before bed-time, use a salt lamp in your bedroom instead of artificial light)

• Find a ritual to clear your mind and de-stress before bed. Maybe a bath, maybe stretching or praying, reading a book - something that will help your body calm down and clear the thoughts and stress from the day in your mind. Remember when we’re stressed = cortisol and adrenaline and those two things are enemies of sleep! 

• Go to bed at a decent time (deepest sleep in the first half of the night (less REM) this is where most of the body’s restoration and regeneration happens) 

• Try to go to bed and wake at the same times each day (within a short window)

• Make your room a preferred environment for sleeping - cool and dark with no artificial light at all (blackout curtains, alarm lights off or covered, or use a sleep mask), use a sound machine if needed, keep phones and electronics out of your room. 

• Diffuse essential oils while you sleep (lavender, roman chamomile, and ylang-ylang are great ones)

Set yourself up for success during the day:

• Get outside during the day (the natural sunlight during the day helps the brain with regulating rhythms and will give you a good dose of vitamin D which can help with melatonin production)

• Move your body during the day (walking outside in the evening around sunset would be a double win! Movement plus red-light to trigger melatonin)

• Decrease caffeine consumption, especially at night (try switching to a caffeine-free herbal tea like chamomile)

• Stop eating at least 1-2 hours before bed (2-3 is really preferred unless you are hypoglycemic)

• Add extra magnesium into your day if you feel that you need extra support (Epsom salt soaks in the bath or take a multi-mineral like this one from Mary Ruth Organics). Most health professionals prefer magnesium over melatonin being that most people are deficient in magnesium anyway. Also, melatonin is a hormone, which means you should use EXTRA caution and if you take it, only do so short-term and under supervision from a health care professional.

I know that we do not live in a perfect world and something there are things that interfere with both the quality and quantity of our sleep (hello, parenthood), but there are still things we can do help prioritize and protect our sleep because it does matter and if we don’t do it, it will catch up to us! 

If one of these tips stood out to you, let me know in the comments or if you’re listening on apple podcasts, leave me a review (hopefully with 5 stars :)) and let me know which tip you plan to try! 

I hope you guys have a good week full of good sleep!

028 - Should You Be Counting Calories?

Hey friends! In today’s episode, we’re talking about calorie counting. I feel like calorie counting used to be the gold standard of nutrition when it came to weight loss. Even when I first started getting into the nutrition world, which has only been about ten years ago, that was still one of the main methods taught. There was just such an emphasis put on quantity - like it was a simple math problem: “You want to lose weight? Simple! Eat fewer calories than you burn!” Thankfully, since that time, so much research has been done and so many people have spoken up about the fact that there has to be more to it, or otherwise it would work for everyone every time. 

Now, I’m not going to go so far as to say you should never track a calorie or have any idea how many calories you burn on a regular day, but I don’t believe that counting or tracking calories needs to be your primary focus and I want to share why I believe that.

The main reason… it’s distracting!

Most of us have some level of dysfunction in our bodies due to our lifestyles and common exposure to toxins and focusing on calorie counting alone can distract us from noticing what is really going on in our bodies. 

Focusing on calorie counting alone can also distract us from focusing on the quality of the food we are eating and cause us to only focus on the quantity. 

The calorie counting method can also be harmful to those who have a history of eating disorders and food addiction. Even for those of us who haven’t shared in those struggles, it is easy to become obsessive and overly rigid about what foods you eat - even to the point where you can’t enjoy food any longer (this is a symptom of Orthorexia which is an unhealthy obsession with eating healthy).

One of my biggest concerns with the calorie counting method is that it distracts you from learning how to listen to your body. It is so easy to become solely focused on this number of calories we are “allowed” a day and logging every single thing that we do in order to stay in the good graces of this “health math equation”. Unfortunately, what often happens is that we lose out on noticing how eating a certain food makes us feel - how it affects our energy levels, our mood, our digestive system. We see that it meets our calorie count standard and deem it “healthy” or good for us with very little thought of how it actually affected us.

I want you to know that there are healthier ways to lose weight and there are tons of methods out there! Just make sure the one you are choosing actually TEACHES you how to care for your body, listen to your body, fuel your body well, and why it matters. 

Just a side note: I am not naive to the fact that sometimes choosing these methods is slower and more work - they can be - but here’s what I’ve found to be true: when someone is unhappy with their bodies or how their bodies are functioning and all they focus on is weight and numbers and physical appearance results - they often miss all there is to learn and heal along the journey. A lot of times they end up right back where they started, or maybe even less happy with themselves because they didn’t really fix the root issues - the physical ones or the emotional ones. Weight gain or difficulty losing weight is so often a symptom, not the root cause. So find out why things aren’t functioning well or why you are unhappy with your health and then work on that. Don’t miss what’s really going on looking for a quick fix or by trying to ignore the root issues. It will be work but the work is worth it! 

As always, if you have questions or are ready to take the next step in getting personalized support and guidance to move your health forward, feel free to send me an email or schedule a free 30-min consultation call. I’d love to help you! 

Talk to ya next week!

027 - The Secret to Healthy Skin Starts from Within

Welcome back, friends!  Today we are talking about healthy skin! We all deal with skin issues from time to time but for some of us it’s a major source of frustration that can really mess with our confidence and self-esteem. Especially when we can’t seem to get to the bottom of it no matter what we do! 

Well, today’s post won’t answer all your skin health-related questions, but hopefully, it will give you some helpful knowledge about what your skin may be trying to tell you and how you can help keep it looking and feeling healthy! Let’s get into it! 

It probably won’t come as a surprise to you that healthy skin starts from within our bodies. We tend to want to focus on products and things we can put on our skin from the outside - and we will get into that a little later - but really, we need to start by focusing on what we put into our bodies and what is going on with the function of the inside of our bodies first. That’s where the big difference is made. 

So often when we experience one of these skin issues, or maybe even cyclical hormonal breakouts, we tend to jump to what we can take or apply that might fix the problem. We think of it as only going skin-deep, so to speak. But really it’s likely giving you a clue of some other dysfunction or imbalance in the body. 

Our skin is our largest organ, one of our strongest defenses, and it’s also one of our few detox pathways - so it has a lot of functions that affect our whole bodies and visa versa.

There seem to be three main dysfunctions in the body that tend to show up in the skin. 

An overloaded, congested liver - which can often result in acne; poor gut health, either an imbalance in the microbiome or leaky gut syndrome - which can also result in both acne and eczema, as well as cause plenty of other health issues. And the other is blood sugar dysregulation or chronically high insulin levels - which leads to high levels of inflammation in the body and can show up as skin issues like cyclical breakouts, acne, etc. This will often be associated with other hormonal imbalance symptoms as well, maybe even PCOS. 

There can definitely be other causes as well but those are the three that are most common. So if you are dealing with any those issues, it’s worth it to take a look at your liver health,  as well as your gut health and make sure your glucose and insulin levels are where they should be as well. 

So now that we’ve talked about some common causes let’s talk about what you can do to help with these issues! 

Focus on what you are eating 

The first thing is to focus on what you are eating. The common thread in a lot of these skin issues is inflammation, so choosing to remove inflammatory foods (processed foods, sugar, refined grains, oftentimes dairy) will help and then also following an anti-inflammatory diet. This is going to look like a lot of plants - veggies and fruits high in antioxidants and fiber (think leafy greens, broccoli, cauliflower, blueberries, acerola cherries, strawberries), healthy fats (like avocados, coconut products, nuts like almonds and cashews, olive oil) and then clean, organic proteins (like wild-caught fish, grass-fed beef, lentils, and beans, etc). 

Make sure you are well hydrated

Also drinking a LOT of water. Like a lot. Your gut and liver depend on you doing this in order to function well. This is key in helping to flush toxins from your body, as well as adding the hydration needed for the skin. Remember, your goal is half your body weight in ounces every day (weight in lbs.  / 2 = # of ounces you need to drink daily)

Take skin-loving supplements to boost your nutrient levels

Adding in key supplements like collagen (either in bone broth which is healing for your whole body or through a protein powder, like collagen peptides). Collagen is one of the main proteins in our bodies - it helps make up our skin, hair, nails, joints, gut lining, etc. so it’s important that we have enough! Also anti-inflammatory supplements like fish oil / omega-3 and curcumin (found in turmeric) can help lower overall inflammation in the body. Also, adrenal healing herbs like ashwagandha and ginseng can also help to help regulate cortisol in the body, which will help with the inflammation as well. And then, of course, you know that I’m all about getting good probiotics in - whether through fermented foods like sauerkraut and kefir or through a supplement, like a soil-based probiotics, or one of my current favs MaryRuth Organics Raw Liquid probiotics. 

Live an Anti-Inflammatory Lifestyle

In addition to eating an anti-inflammatory diet, the other thing that will help is also living an anti-inflammatory lifestyle. This means getting good, restorative sleep (7-9 hours every night - this is when your body rebuilds and repairs) and also lowering your emotional stress (this has a huge effect on your gut health and adrenal health), so try to find ways to actively pursue peace in your life.

The other side to having healthy skin is obviously going to be what you put on it and what you expose it to.

Use clean skincare products 

Did you know that your skin has a microbiome, or ecosystem of bacteria, just like your gut? We need to be careful that what we are applying to our skin, to clean or moisturize isn’t something that will strip the skin or kill the food bacteria. Also, make sure that it isn’t full of parabens, sulfates, and artificial fragrances that contain who knows what kind of chemicals. Not only are those things damaging to our skin but they also absorb into our bloodstreams and only create more problems for our livers and gut, creating more inflammation. 

Look for products that are made of ingredients that you recognize, that are naturally sourced, and if you want fragrance, use natural sources for that too, like essential oils. 

You can use the Think Dirty or EWG apps to search for products that are safe for your whole body. I know that Beautycounter and Primally Pure are both really safe, clean options. I’ve also heard some great things about Honest Beauty brand, and Acure, although I haven’t used those myself. Even my girl, MaryRuth has a few facial masks and other skincare products you can check out. 

The good news is that most common skin-issues can be resolved! You may need to do a little digging into what is actually causing it and what may not be functioning well in your body - but that will only help to make you healthier overall, not just help your skin! It’s a much better option than just trying to treat symptoms and cover things up! 

If you have any questions about today’s episode or feel like you need some specific, personalized help - please reach out. I’d love to help you! 

026 - Ask Alaina: Q+A

Hey friends! Today we are doing something fun and a little different - we are doing a Q+A episode! A while back I asked you guys if you had any questions or needed help with anything in particular and I’ve compiled all those questions + a few others that I’ve been asked a lot and thought it would be fun to answer them all in one episode. If you guys like this format and it’s helpful for you, we may make this a regular thing!

So let’s jump right into the questions!

“How can I be motivated to cook healthy at home when I’m not a good cook?”

I think cooking can be intimidating. Whether you grew up in a family where your parent was a really good cook, so you just feel like you can never live up to that measure or maybe you were never really taught how to cook, so you feel like you have no idea where to begin. The good news is that cooking is a skill - it’s not really a natural-born talent. So if you are labeling yourself as “just not a good cook”... add a “yet” to the end of that sentence. It takes practice to feel comfortable in the kitchen. 

As far as how to feel motivated? I think it’s mostly a mindset of acknowledging that cooking your meals at home truly is the healthiest, most cost-effective, and loving way to eat. In cooking for yourself and your family, you are providing care and love. There is just something really rewarding about that. 

My suggestion would be to not bite off more than you can chew as you start out. Begin with 2-3 really simple, healthy meal ideas and get familiar with making those recipes until you feel more comfortable. Then you can slowly add new things in. Something like the sausage + sautéed veggies recipe in my Easy Healthy Eats recipe guide is a perfect example of this. It calls for very few ingredients and can all be made in one skillet. Win-win!

“What are some tips for handling social eating when it’s mostly junk-type foods and sugar?”

This can be so challenging! I think that it helps to find a balance in these situations. Unless you are following a short-term elimination diet, then I would recommend choosing which of the less-than-nutritious options look the best to you - which of those may be worth any negative side-effects you may experience and then making a conscious choice to enjoy them. 

Often when we find ourselves struggling or dealing with regret later, it’s because we just flippantly or impulsively ate rather than thinking about it and then making an intentional choice. Denying yourself and putting extreme limits on what you eat is rarely beneficial, but throwing all cares to the wind or thinking that if you have one bite, you might as well have 20 bites is also not a good thing. Just look for some balance and opt-out of the extremes. 

“How can I find time to eat a healthy lunch in the middle of a busy workday?”

This is going to look different for you depending on your job and workday structure, but first, let me just remind you that what and how we eat is a form of self-care. So, working through lunch or always defaulting to the drive-thru will not only have a negative effect on your body’s ability to function, but it will also have a negative effect on your mental health. 

As far as planning for a healthy lunch, I think that meal prep is key if your situation allows for it. Whether it’s left-overs from dinner the night before or a protein-packed salad or bowl - taking a few minutes the night before or at the beginning of the to prepare will go a long way in helping you feel like you have healthy options. You want to be sure that whatever you are choosing to eat consists of carbohydrates - high in fiber, clean protein, and healthy fat in order to keep your blood sugar balanced and help prevent the mid-afternoon crash. It’s a great idea to keep some nuts (my favorite is salted cashews) in your car or at your desk, just in case your lunch choice doesn’t contain enough protein or fat. Eating a couple of handfuls of cashews can give you that extra boost to keep everything stabilized. Just make sure that isn’t all you are eating. 

“What is the deal with Intermittent Fasting? Healthy or no?”

So, Intermittent Fasting is something that people have been doing for a long time to give their digestive system a break and to promote healing in the body. It has recently become more trendy again, but the idea isn’t new. I mean, if you think about it, we are already designed to do this to some degree throughout the night when we are sleeping. Some of the issues that we have run into in the standard American diet are that we stay up way too late and eat way too late. Ideally, we would all have around a 10-12 hour fast between our last meal of the day and breakfast the next morning. Our digestive systems really need that break, in order to work well.   Also eating too late can really interrupt our sleep patterns.  

The current trend of IF is more like 12-16 hours with most of those being overnight (there are some other methods that I’ve seen but I’m really not comfortable with any of those - particularly skipping entire meals or days of eating unless for a very specific purpose and very short term).  I personally feel that IF can be helpful when done correctly, however, I don’t believe it is the best idea for everyone. People with blood sugar issues, for example, can benefit from a smaller fasting window overnight, but I am personally not comfortable with skipping meals - and the same for those with hormonal imbalance. I think that it’s smart to talk to your doctor before trying IF and if you have a specific health issue, also talking with your specialist to hear their concerns. 

Ultimately, we want our bodies to be in a calm, relaxed state the majority of the time - not wondering when we will eat again. When our meals become very inconsistent, it can push our bodies into more stress - a fight or flight response - and that can cause a lot of dysfunction in the body, especially the metabolic system. 

“If you could change one thing about people’s understanding of their health, what would it be?” 

This is such a good question and honestly, it was hard for me to choose just one thing. But I think that I would want them to know that they can actually make a difference in their health. They can change. Things can improve. 

I think it’s so easy to get into a mindset, especially after we’ve received any kind of medical diagnosis, that this just is what it is, that there are no alternatives, and that they are powerless to affect the situation. And unfortunately, that kind of mindset often cements our reality. We don’t really try to change or improve because we honestly believe that we can’t - but that just simply is not true. 

Our bodies were created to heal, to function, to parts to even regenerate. Our decisions - what we put in our bodies, how we care for them - it makes a difference for the better or for the worse. I just want people to feel hope and not feel stuck. If you want to improve your health, you can. 

Well, this has been so fun! If you have any questions you would like for me to answer, leave them in the comments here or send me a DM on Instagram. I hope you guys have a wonderful rest of your week and I’ll see you next time!

025 - How to Live a Healthy Lifestyle on a Budget

Hi friends! Today we are talking about how to live a healthy lifestyle on a budget. 

One of the most common arguments for not eating healthy foods or living a healthier lifestyle is that it is too expensive. While it is true that some healthier food options cleaner household products can be more expensive, there are ways to mitigate that expense and stay within what your budget will allow. 

Today I want to share a few tips that have helped my family as we’ve been on a journey toward a healthy lifestyle. 

Choose your priority 

It’s helpful to go into the idea of a healthy lifestyle knowing whether you prioritize expense or convenience more. There’s not a wrong answer here but just know that it’s rare to find a healthy, inexpensive AND convenient option. It’s best to just know ahead of time which of these is a priority for you and then adjust your budget or time accordingly. 

Eat most of your meals at home

I think most of us know that cooking our own food and eating in the comfort of our homes with the people we love is a healthier option, but it is also usually the less expensive option. It does take some planning and effort though. Here are a few ideas to make it a bit easier:

• Always have a meal plan and make a shopping list 

I do way better when I have made a plan, otherwise, I am likely to get distracted by a “deal” or new product and overspend. If you find yourself in the same boat, download my free meal planning guide and meal plan + grocery list template to help keep yourself on track! 

• Shop at multiple grocery stores

While definitely not a convenient option, I have found that I save a good amount of money on groceries each month by shopping at two different stores - for me, it’s Trader Joe’s for most of my produce, meat, and pantry staples and then Kroger pick-up for most of my household items plus a few items that Trader Joe’s doesn’t carry.  

• Stick to buying whole foods

A good way to remember what “whole foods” means is to think of foods that come from the ground or have a mother. These are mostly found in the perimeter of the grocery store and don’t come with an ingredients label - think kale or ground beef. By choosing mostly whole foods, you will be skipping a lot of the pre-packaged and more processed foods which will not only be helpful for your health but also your budget.

• Prep your meals ahead of time

Whether it’s all your meals for the week, just a few dinners for busier weeknights, or prepping some staple breakfast items, taking this time to prepare ahead of time will save you both time and money - and likely keep you from going through the drive-thru after a long day! Find my episode all about Meal Prepping here for some tips to get you started. 

• Use simple ingredients and make things from scratch

Okay - this one may not be as popular BUT hear me out! :) One way that we have been able to save money is by buying individual ingredients for things that I will use multiple times. For example, I buy individual seasonings rather than a packet of seasoning mix for things like taco seasoning, chili powder, ranch, etc. A lot of these packets use similar spices, so I can buy them once and then use them multiple times. They usually last a while and this gives me more control over exactly what I’m using to season our food.

Choose household and personal care products that have multiple uses 

This is similar to the point above, but specifically for household products, something like white vinegar can be used for a clean, safe fabric softener, multi-purpose cleaning spray, produce soak, an ingredient in recipes, etc. Another example is jojoba oil. It can be used as an oil cleanser and makeup remover, moisturizer for your face and body, carrier oil for essential oil rollers, a deep conditioner and probably more. We don’t necessarily need a separate cleaner or product for every room in the house or every part of our bodies.

Share meals and drink water when dining out

This is a very basic idea but also a great way to lower expenses. Eating at healthier restaurants or choosing healthier options can add up quickly, so choosing to share a meal can not only help reduce the cost but may also help with healthier portions. 

Skip the trends and stick to the basics

It’s easy to get swept up in the latest health trend or diet program, but when you are trying to live a healthy lifestyle within a limited budget, this probably isn’t the best idea. For example, things like diet programs that require you to buy a lot of products or have indefinite monthly fees can take a chunk out of your budget. Also, if your funds designated to health and wellness are tight, gym memberships may not be the best use of your money. You can get a great, effective workout for very little cost or maybe even free at home! Obviously, this isn’t the best choice for everyone, so consider your personal situation, but it’s something to think about!

Check with your insurance provider for free resources or discounts 

A lot of health insurance companies are offering free health coaching consultations or discounts on fitness classes and products. If this isn’t an option for you, check with your community center or local churches to see if they have free or low-cost classes available. There are also tons of free resources like this podcast, many other health-related podcasts, and social media accounts that can help you get started in the right direction. 

Friends, living costs money. The choice is do you want to prioritize your health and spend the money now, while enjoying a better quality of life, or do you want to wait to focus on your health when you don’t have as much choice and possibly a less optimal quality of life?

I hope that this episode has given you a few ideas of ways that you can continue living a healthy lifestyle without busting the budget. If you still feel paralyzed or just aren’t sure where to start, send me an email or DM - I’d love to chat with you. I offer a free 30-min consultation or discovery call where we can get to know each other and determine what your next steps should be. Sometimes one of the most cost-effective things you can do is hire a professional that will take a lot of the guess-work out of improving your health and can guide and support you along the way.

024 - How to Reduce Toxin Exposure in Your Everyday Life

Hello friends!! Happy 2020! I’m so happy to be back with you after taking a few weeks off for the holidays. Stepping away and letting my brain rest for a while was so helpful! If you are feeling burnt out, I highly suggest you try taking some time off or downtime in whatever capacity you can - I think it will really help! 

So for today’s episode, I want to talk to you about toxins we are exposed to in regular everyday life, what effect that the repeated exposure is having on our health, and simple ways to help reduce some of that. 

The reality is that there are toxins all around us, all the time, and it is easy to quickly become overwhelmed and frustrated as you start to learn about this topic. I first started learning about environmental toxins and their effect on our bodies during our fertility journey and oh, man - I remember feeling like I just needed to throw away everything in our house and live in a bubble! But something that I want you to remember as we start to get into this a little deeper is that the goal here is not perfection. None of us will ever be able to achieve a perfectly toxin-free existence, and our bodies don’t really need us to. They are designed to be able to handle some exposure - that’s why our bodies have detoxification pathways - we just need to keep them from becoming overloaded and performing at their best. And remember… stressing about your exposure to toxins is just as toxic for your body as the actual toxins themselves - so let’s not do that! Don’t go to either extreme of obsession and worrying about every little thing or feeling like you need to throw out every product in your home but also don’t just bury your head in the sand and ignore it because it feels too big. 

The best way to start the process of reducing your toxin exposure is to become informed.  

Let’s start with how environmental toxins affect our bodies. When we are exposed to something that is toxic to us - could be chemicals found in plastic or aluminum or synthetic fragrances in cleaning products or personal care products, they increase the toxic load on our bodies. 

Our bodies are designed to filter out toxins through our liver, gut, lungs, lymph system and skin.

Our gut, the first line of defense, filters out harmful substances with the use of our microbes and sends them to the liver to be further detoxed out. It’s easy to get into a bad cycle when it comes to toxins and our gut health. We need good gut health and a strong microbiome to help filter out and eliminate toxins we are exposed to, but the chronic exposure to toxins actually has a negative effect on our guts. Keeping our guts happy and healthy is something that takes ongoing attention. You can’t just take one round of probiotics and call it good. 

The liver, our main filtration system, has two detoxification phases, and each is very important. The Phase 1 pathway produces enzymes that change harmful substances and make them more water-soluble and/or oxidizes them. Although necessary, this oxidation process creates harmful free radicals associated with aging, cell damage and some cancers. These free radicals then must be rapidly acted upon by the Phase 2 pathway (conjugation) which uses antioxidants, such as glutathione, to cause them to be harmless. So we really need our livers to be functioning optimally to handle normal day-to-day exposures. If Phase 1 is overactive and Phase 2 is sluggish for any reason, we run a risk of a build-up of the toxic free radicals, which if left unchecked will adversely alter our DNA and can trigger a number of diseases. 

So, if our bodies are designed to “handle” the toxins, what’s the big deal with these environmental toxin exposures? Unfortunately, the number of environmental toxins that we are exposed to just by being alive has increased exponentially in the last several decades. As wonderful as industrial and technological advancements can be, they also have negative side effects. Our bodies, especially our livers, simply can’t keep up with the amount of exposure we are experiencing. There are so many people dealing with chronic health conditions or nagging symptoms that they can’t seem to resolve and a lot of times this is because their livers are overloaded and sluggish due to the number of toxins they are being exposed to on a regular basis. 

The most common toxins that affect us daily (at least that we have any control over) are: 

• Pesticides and herbicides 

These are chemicals most often used on crops (food sources, cotton, etc.) to kill insects or microbes that can cause damage to the plant. The issue with this is that those chemicals alter the quality of the plant which we then consume - and if they are designed to kill microbes, guess what they likely do in the body as well? The chemicals used in these products have been linked to cancer, hormone imbalance, and endocrine system disruption.

• BPAs 

Most of us are familiar with BPA. This is mostly found in plastics (like water bottles, plastic food storage containers, etc.). A lot of products claim to now be BPA free, however, that isn’t regulated, and unfortunately, BPA isn’t the only toxic chemical found in plastic products. These are known to be xenoestrogens (basically their chemical structures allow our bodies to perceive them as estrogens) and can lead to estrogen dominance and hormonal imbalance).

• Phthalates and Parabens

We hear quite a bit about these as well - usually in reference to shampoos, conditioners, hair spray, etc. These are known carcinogens and hormone disruptors, linked to breast cancer and banned in Europe - but unfortunately, not in the US. 

• Synthetic fragrances 

Ugh - this one is especially frustrating to me! If you look at the labels of just about anything, you will see the word “fragrance” or “parfume” - even a lot of “natural” products. The issue here is that there is absolutely no regulation on what those words mean in this context. The word “fragrance” can be used to describe over 4000 different ingredients and several of those have been found to negatively affect the central nervous system. 

• Triclosan

This is a synthetic antibacterial agent the Environmental Protection Agency registers as a pesticide. Triclosan disrupts hormones, can affect sexual function and fertility and may lead to birth defects. Triclosan has been linked to paralysis, suppression of the immune system, brain hemorrhages, and heart problems. It's widely used in antibacterial cleansers, toothpaste, and household products. 

Unfortunately, this list only covers the ones we are likely to encounter in our everyday lives. If you want more in-depth information, I encourage you to do some research on EWG’s website.

So we’ve now talked about how toxins affect the body and which chemicals we are exposed to the most and their specific effects on our health. Now let’s get into what we can actually do about it. 

As I mentioned before, it’s easy to get overwhelmed here so I want to just really focus on ways to get started. If you are like me, this will be a journey. Make one change and then when you are ready, move onto the next thing. A healthy lifestyle is built over time - not overnight. 

Get informed - do some research. 

The EWG is a great resource. There are also a few Instagram accounts that I love to follow for easy-to-understand info like Shawna @alittlelesstoxic, Karalynn @just.ingredients, and the girls over @branchbasics. These are great places to start and most have info saved to their highlights so that you can take in a little at a time, as you are ready.

Support your body’s natural detoxification pathways 

Things like eating clean, whole foods (organic when possible - especially for animal products and the dirty dozen), including plenty of cruciferous veggies(things like broccoli and cauliflower, brussel sprouts, kale for example) which increase your body’s detox pathways, taking detox baths, moving your body for 20-30 minutes every day, sweating regularly, and drinking plenty of water (half your body weight in oz). 

Focus on what you put IN and ON your body the most

IN Your Body

• Water (drink from stainless steel or glass. Best to use a water filtration system of some sort). 

• Organic for dirty dozen produce items

• Clean protein sources (organic and grass-fed best options / lean conventional meats if organic isn’t available to you.)

• Reduce or eliminate foods with artificial, chemical-laden ingredients as well as foods treated with pesticides and herbicides, antibiotics, hormones, or GMOs 

ON your body (Think Dirty or EWG apps make this so much easier!)

• Evaluate your home and personal care products that you apply directly to your skin looking out for the ingredients mentioned above. 

  • Laundry detergent, fabric softeners

  • Shampoos, dry shampoos, root lifters, etc.

  • Body Wash and lotions

  • Skincare products

  • Deodorant and perfumes/body sprays

Don’t stress about throwing everything out at once and buying all new stuff. Focus on becoming more informed and then as you run out of something, replace it with a cleaner, better option.

Ultimately, do what you can do - and what you WANT to do. It is not possible to shield ourselves from every single toxin - there are just too many; however, we can choose to focus on the things we have the most exposure to and are the easiest for us to control - our homes, our skin, our food. 

I hope that today’s episode has helped clarify why this is an important issue as well as helped you to feel empowered that you can have some control here! As always if you have questions feel free to reach out - leave me a comment or send me a DM on Instagram. 

023 - 2020 Is Coming! How to Set Smart, Healthy, and Meaningful Goals for the New Year!

Hi friends! Can you believe this year is almost over?! It’s winding down so quickly and I just wanted to take a minute and thank each one of you who have joined me here, and listened and subscribed! Starting this podcast was definitely one of the bigger and scarier (haha) things I did this last year, and the past few months of sharing with you each week have been so fun. I’m excited to share more with you next year! 

Speaking of next year, we’ve been focusing on goal planning and getting our mindsets in a healthy place for 2020, and we are continuing with that theme for today’s episode by talking about how to set smart and healthy goals for next year. 

When we think about setting goals for a new year or making New Year's resolutions, we often think big picture, end result goals — and I absolutely think we should start there! 

Focus on the Big Picture 

Lara Casey is the founder and CEO of Cultivate, a company best known for its PowerSheets and goal setting and planning resources. She is brilliant at all things future planning/goal setting and she says that you should start the goal-setting process by thinking about what you want your life to be like when you are 80 years old. What do you want to be doing? What will your priorities be? 

Do you see yourself pouring your time and money into your kids, grandkids, or maybe great-grandkids? Do you want to be able to get outside and play with them, teach them things, and pass down family legacies? Do you want to be well-traveled with tons of stories pictures share with your friends? Do you want to give your time and money to ministry after you retire or start a non-profit? 

Give yourself some space to really think about this and then make sure any goals you are setting will move you closer to this end goal. This becomes your why and will help keep you motivated when you feel like forgetting about the goals you have set. 

Set SMART Goals

The next step in setting goals is to make sure that they are actually achievable - and someone out there, who is way smarter than me, made up an acronym for the word “SMART” to use as a tool for realistic goal setting. 

Specific - Measurable - Achievable - Relevant - Time-Bound 

So let me give you an example of how to use this framework: let’s say your overall, big-picture goal for next year is to feel well enough to be active with your family. Putting that into the SMART goals framework may look like this...

Specific - Your family is running a 5k in the spring and you want to join them. 

Measurable - You will move your body by walking/jogging for 30 minutes 4 x per week. You will stretch for 10 minutes every night before bed and increase your water intake every day to help prevent injuries.

Achievable - You know that you only have 2 hrs a week to devote to exercise, so you’ve chosen to make exercise fit into that amount of time (30 minutes, 4x per week). 

Relevant - Moving your body regularly, along with the increased hydration, will improve your overall health and help you feel better, which is relevant to your overall goal.  

Time-bound - You will need to be able to walk/jog 3.2 miles by April. As you progress and build more endurance, you will work to increase your mileage with each walk/jog while staying in your time allowance. 

So from this example, instead of walking away with the goal of “I’m going to be active” or “I’m going to do a 5k”, you walk away with action steps that will specifically help you to do that and allow you to feel the “win” along the way. You also start out with a goal that will keep you committed as you envision participating in the 5k with your family! 

From this framework, you can use your calendar to actually schedule your daily and weekly intentions and action steps. When you put something into your calendar or on your schedule, it really increases the likelihood that you will stick to it and follow through. 

Own Your Goals - Be Accountable to Someone

My last tip on this subject is to share your goals and weekly action steps with someone who will hold you accountable. Someone who you know will check-in and ask if you have followed through and not just easily let you off the hook. Even better is to ask them to join you if that is something that would be good for both of you! This exponentially increases your chances of success! 

I hope that these tips will help you to set SMART and healthy goals for the new year!

For more support and resources, find Lara Casey’s Goal Setting blog series here.

022 - Why Losing Weight Should NOT Be Your Goal for the New Year

Hey friends! As I mentioned in the last episode, we are going to be spending the remaining episodes of 2019 talking about setting ourselves up for success with smart and healthy goals for next year! 

What Your Goal Should Not Be

We all know someone, or maybe we are that someone, who comes to the end of the year and says “my New Years’ resolution is to lose weight”. As a matter of fact, according to statistica.com, 45% of Americans made “losing weight” their goal for 2018. Today, I am going to share with you why that actually isn’t a good goal, why your weight isn’t how you should measure your level of health, and what you should be focusing on instead. 

Why Weight Isn’t A Reliable Indicator of Good Health 

My story is a perfect example of this. I recently shared my experience with Insulin Resistance and PCOS and how my physician and I were both surprised at the results of my blood work because I wasn’t considered overweight. I had a normal BMI and while I had gained a little weight, I was still within the normal range. As it turns out, I had inflammation and the beginning stages of disease taking a toll on my body, but I thought I was healthy because I wasn’t overweight. 

Our weight just isn’t a reliable indicator of the state of our health, for many reasons. One being that it isn’t a static number - our can weight fluctuates 3-5 lbs on a regular basis. This can be based on so many things including hormones, especially for women (weight will fluctuate at different stages of your cycle). This is why we do NOT need to be weighing every day! If you are getting on the scale every morning and beating yourself up because you seem to be battling the same 3-4 lbs over and over - STOP. You are creating undue stress on yourself by obsessing about your weight and being disappointed in your body or thinking that the work you are putting in isn’t worth it. This isn’t good for your physical or mental health, and actually, studies have shown that obsession with weight or dieting can actually lead to more weight gain. 

Also, standards such as BMI are skewed as well. They only take into account a ratio of height and weight and make absolutely zero adjustments for body composition and muscle mass. So people who are actually in great health and have a good amount of muscle mass will usually fall into the overweight or even obese categories.

Also, it’s important to note that in a lot of chronic diseases, studies are showing that weight gain or inability to lose weight is more a side effect of an underlying disease or dysfunction in the body, rather than the root cause. So when all we are doing is focusing on the weight, we could be missing what is actually going on in the body.

So if we shouldn’t be focusing solely on the scale or BMI, how should we measure our level of health?

Better Indicators of Good Health

Waist circumference

One better option for monitoring your health is by measuring your waist circumference. Studies have shown that having a waist circumference greater than 35 for women and 40 for men is indicative of higher amounts of visceral fat (a type of fat that lies deep within the abdominal cavity and pads the spaces between vital abdominal organs) and is associated with an increased risk for type 2 diabetes, unhealthy cholesterol, hypertension, hormone imbalance, and Cardiovascular Disease. 

All you need to monitor your waist circumference is a tape measure. Simply wrap it around the middle of your waist, right above the top of your hip bones, Make sure the tape measurer stays flat against your skin and level all the way around. This isn’t something that should be done daily or even weekly. Every 2-3 months is a good increment of time, especially if this is something you are trying to work on. 

Health markers related to metabolic disease 

Another better option to monitor your health and risk for disease is by regularly monitoring health markers associated with Metabolic Disease (BP, Fasting Insulin and A1c, and Cholesterol)  specifically HDL/ Total Cholesterol ratio and Tri / HDL ratio)

As a reminder, you need to work with your physician to have these markers evaluated:

• Blood Pressure Levels 

• Blood Sugar Levels - Fasting Insulin and Fasting Blood Glucose 

• Cholesterol Levels - specifically HDL and Triglycerides

A Harvard-lead study reported that high triglycerides alone increased the risk of heart attack by 3 times and people with the highest ratio of triglycerides to HDL -- the "good" cholesterol -- had 16 times the risk of heart attack as those with the lowest ratio of triglycerides to HDL. The ratio of triglycerides to HDL was the strongest predictor of a heart attack, even more accurate than the LDL/HDL ratio

Optimal Triglycerides / HDL ratio is under 2 (the lower the better)

Body function 

Just taking a moment to evaluate how your body is moving and functioning can be helpful in measuring your level of health. 

How are you sleeping? Do you wake up refreshed or groggy and exhausted? 

Do you find your energy crashing throughout the day - especially the afternoon?

For the ladies, are your cycles regular? 

Is your skin clear?

Do you have repeated sickness or seem to catch everything that goes around?

Do you have chronic pain or stiffness? 

How is your digestive health?

These are all questions you can ask yourself to possibly pinpoint any areas that you need to focus on or work with a professional to address. 

Better goals 

We will get more into the specifics of how to set smart and health goals in the next couple of episodes, but for now, as you are starting to think about health goals for next year - I want you to focus more on establishing healthy habits and rhythms. You are much more likely to see progress in your health with those anyway.

If you feel like you could use some extra support as you set health goals for next year or work to meet your goals from this year, schedule a free 30 min consultation call with me! I’d love to help point you in the right direction and see if there are ways that I can help!

021 - The Power of the Pause

Hi friends! I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!

It’s December now, which means two things for most people 1.) They are in the thick of Christmas preparations and 2.) They are starting to reflect on this past year and think about the new year! I know I’ve found my thoughts wandering to planning for next year and goals I may want to set or things I may want to accomplish. I love goal planning and new beginnings - I just love all the potential that lies ahead! 

I’m going to spend the next couple weeks talking about goal setting and ways that we can set ourselves up for a healthy and successful 2020, and I want to start today by giving you a tool that can help you now, during the holiday season, as well as with your health-related goals in the new year. 

When I am starting a new coaching relationship with a client we will discuss their health goals and what they feel are the obstacles standing in their way and so often they say something like “I just can’t stop eating _______” or “I have such intense cravings for ______ and I can’t resist.” I think we can all relate to feeling this way and have experienced that at some point. 

So, let’s pretend that you and I are sitting across from each other, I would ask you if you are feeling this way now? Maybe you’re thinking about the goals you want to set for next year and know that you’d like to change something about your health - maybe lose weight, maybe regulate your blood pressure, blood sugar, or hormones - and as soon as that goal enters your mind, the next thought you have is “...but I can’t give up ____, so never mind.” Or maybe its “...but I’ve tried before and I make a little progress, but then I just go right back - it’s not worth it.” I want to challenge you to change the way you are thinking right now! You absolutely can overcome whatever food cravings, food addiction, or unhealthy habits you are struggling with and I’m going to give you a tip that has helped me so much! 

I like to call it the “Power of the Pause” but really it’s just the simple act of pausing and thinking before making a decision or continuing in an action. It sounds so simple, right? It is simple. But it’s not easy - at least not at first. 

Behavior change is part of any kind of personal growth - whether food-related or not - but especially when it comes to changing your eating habits and overcoming food cravings. You can’t change the behavior without first becoming aware of it, and in addition, I believe that in order to really change it, you also need to understand the root of where it’s coming from and be able to consider the effect it will have. 

Trace it back to the root

When it comes to emotional eating, addiction to foods or other substances, or even intense repetitive cravings there is usually something deeper going. When you do the work to identify where the desire is coming from, you can better understand what you are actually needing. Sometimes it’s physical - like maybe a type of nutrient or more sleep, and sometimes it’s emotional - like maybe you’re actually lonely, sad, or frustrated and need to talk to a friend or go for a walk. 

Consider the consequences

There is always cause and effect, right? Every decision we make has a consequence - whether good or bad. Taking a moment to pause gives us the opportunity to consider how an action or behavior will affect our health - physically and mentally. Eating that brownie at 10 pm or skipping your workout may make you feel good at the moment, but what about later? Are you going to be wired and unable to sleep well because your blood sugar was spiked right before bed? Are you going to be overwhelmed and anxious later because you didn’t move your body and get those endorphins flowing? This isn’t about punishment or guilting yourself into something, but rather in being intentional with your decisions and learning to listen to what your body needs. 

It’s worth noting that this is work. Good things always take work!  It’s much easier to just follow your impulses and cravings and enjoy the temporary high, but you and I both know that it won’t last. You will always need more and more, right? Also, using sugar or whatever the food or behavior is for you will only cover up what your body is trying to tell you that it actually needs - and you still won’t be fulfilled! It’s not worth it - the easy road rarely is! 

So practically, how do you do this? 

The next time that you have a craving for something that you know isn’t nourishing for your body - pause and think about why you are craving it - see if you can trace it back to the root. Are you trying to comfort yourself in some way - maybe after a bad day? Is there something that would actually nourish your soul rather than provide a temporary fix? Is your energy crashing and you feel like you need a pick-me-up? Should you maybe eat something with fat and protein, rather than sugar, a simple carb, or more caffeine, to stabilize your blood sugar so you can have more energy and be mentally alert? 

This can be applied to so many other areas of life as well, not just food. Whatever behavior or habit that comes to your mind that you’d like to change, take a minute to pause and think about what is at its root and what do you actually need instead? 

Whatever your goal may be for the new year, or even for tomorrow or next week, using this method of pausing can really help you learn to listen to your body and be intentional with your decisions. It can also help to open your eyes to other things that may be going on - be it a nutrient deficiency or buried feelings you need to deal with. This will also move you forward on your journey to better health! 

Remember, being healthy isn’t just about how you look or what you eat or how much you exercise. It’s your whole life and how it affects your overall health as a whole. So, friends, I encourage you to do the hard work - the heart work - it’s worth it!

Thank you for joining me today! If you put this tip into practice and give it a try, come back here and leave a review or leave me a comment on Instagram and let me know how it worked for you! I’d love to know!