Get the replay! [12 Healthy Hormone Hacks]
Have you been missing out on my simple tips to keep your hormones balanced during the holidays?
I’ve been giving away all kinds of knowledge goodies over the past 9 days in regards to practical things you can do to keep hormones (such as cortisol, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, thyroid, melatonin, insulin and leptin) balanced during the holiday season.
The holidays can wreak havoc on our hormones as we tend to focus SO much on giving to others this time of year and not so much to ourselves, running around from holiday parties, last minute gift shopping and visiting family or friends.
By the end of it all, we usually feel wiped out, wondering why we feel so fat, tired and sick all the time. It’s because your hormones took a hit!
To help you keep your hormones intact this holiday season, I kicked off a Facebook and Instagram live series last week called “12 Days of Healthy Hormone Hacks for the Holidays.”
Over the course of 12 days around 2-3pm PT/5-6pm ET on Facebook and Instagram Live, I have been delivering simple tips for practical things you can do to keep your hormones balanced while you enjoy the holiday season!
Here’s a sneak peak of what you might have missed…
Day 6: Bank Some Sleep
Sleep is the first thing to go out the window during the holiday season. We stay up late doing a variety of things this time of year…
Burning the midnight oil to meet last minute work deadlines
Wrapping presents when our kids or loved ones are asleep
Dancing or socializing the night away at holiday parties
Waiting for Santa or loved ones to arrive
Or by taking red eye flights to save a few bucks
But you might have noticed that even when you get 8 hours of sleep or allow yourself to sleep in after a late night, you just don’t seem to wake up feeling as rested as you could if you had gone to bed at a more reasonable time.
That’s because every 1 hour of sleep before midnight is worth 2 hours of rest!
Our body is on an internal time clock according to the sun and moon cycles, and based on this internal timer, our body has specific times of day when it does some really critical functions to help keep our hormones in balance.
For example, in the window of 10pm-2am the body releases human growth hormone which helps to repair damaged tissues or cells, and create new cells. During this time is also when cortisol levels are supposed to be at their lowest and melatonin hormone is at its peak to support restful sleep. And during the window of 2am-4am is when the liver and gallbladder get to work cleansing and detoxifying to release toxins which promotes hormone balance.
If we miss these windows of sleep, our body does not shift its internal clock on our behalf, we simply miss out on these important functions being performed as they should be, and our hormones take a hit as a result. Constantly staying up late can completely flip your cortisol rhythm, mess with melatonin production and disrupt the rest of your hormones as a result.
Obviously there are some very fun-filled and valid reasons to maybe miss some shut eye this time of year, but you can make up for lost time by banking your sleep on the days that you are able to get to bed at a more reasonable hour.
Remember that every 1 hour of sleep before midnight is worth 2 hours of rest!
So on the nights when you don’t have holiday obligations or commitments, aim to be in bed by 10pm or earlier to bank some sleep for late nights you might have ahead or to make up for ones you already had.
Getting in good quality sleep at the optimal times as much as you can will help to keep your cortisol and melatonin in sync, and allow human growth hormone to get to work on your behalf so you can wake up feeling rested and make it through the holidays without your hormones getting completely out of whack.
***
Day 5: Crush Some Cruciferous Veggies
It’s the last full weekend before Christmas and all through the town, christmas cocktails are flowing… meaning estrogen levels are on the rise.
One alcoholic beverage can increase estrogen levels in the body for up to 24 hours, but this time of year there’s bound to be more than one drink had and with back-to-back holiday festivities our bodies may not get a full 24 hour break for estrogen levels to fall back to normal.
Aside from alcohol, there is a whole category of toxins called xenoestrogens, such as certain plastics, that we are likely to come in contact with more frequently this time of year.
Alcohol and plastic can increase estrogen
Constantly elevated estrogen levels from alcohol consumption or toxin exposures, can lead to estrogen dominance which can in turn trigger thyroid imbalances, sleep issues and mood swings.
But don’t worry, you can still indulge this holiday season and not worry about every plastic you touch if you focus on crushing some cruciferous veggies when you sit down to eat.
Cruciferous vegetables are a staple in an anti-estrogenic type of diet or lifestyle. They contain a compound called DIM (3’3 diindonylmethane) which helps your body to remove estrogen through the liver.
DIM isn’t only reason why cruciferous veggies are anti-estrogenic. Most of them also contain chlorophyll (found in the green leaves) which is also aids in reducing estrogen through improved liver health.
Next time you go out to eat or cook at home, see where you can incorporate some of these cruciferous veggies…
- Arugula
- Bok Choy
- Broccoli
- Brussel Sprouts
- Cabbage
- Cauliflower
- Collard Greens
- Kale
- Mustard greens
- Radish
- Turnip
- Watercress
Some of my favorite holiday side dishes include different styles of roasted brussel sprouts and kale salads. Brussel sprouts in general are a big trend these days for appetizers so look to add them to your meal when eating out. Or double the benefits with some saurkraut to get in your cabbage to lower estrogen AND promote better gut health.
Keep that estrogen in check by crushing some cruciferous veggies as we wind down the year!
***
Day 4: Wake Up with Warm Water
Baby it’s cold outside ❄️ so why wouldn’t you want to start your day off with some warm lemon-salted water while you wait to brew your usual cup of joe or tea?
Beyond just warming you up, your hormones can hugely benefit by starting your day off with warm water enhanced with a slice of lemon and pinch of Himalayan or sea salt.
Lemons have been shown to help detoxify the liver, and the liver is where we either convert hormones (such as thyroid T4 to T3) or excrete excess hormones (such as estrogen) which can lead to weight gain, sleep and and mood issues if it builds up.
A pinch of Himalayan or sea salt promotes better hydration and electrolyte balance which is important for hormone and bodily functions. Plus, the magnesium, sodium and potassium in the salt nourishes the adrenal glands which largely produce cortisol and DHEA hormone but also contribute to the production of adrenaline, estrogen and other hormones as well.
Warm or room temperature water aids in the absorption of the lemon and salt nutrients into the body in addition to promoting digestive function and bowel movements (which is how we excrete toxins that can impact hormone balance or excess hormones themselves). Essentially, warm water gives the insides of your body a gentle nudge to get going instead of a cold electric shock to get out of bed – warm water sound much more pleasing, right?
During the craziness of the holidays, we are more likely to forget to drink water throughout the day and then we indulge in other activities such as drinking alcohol, extra coffee and traveling, which dehydrate and rob of us nutrients even more.
I always aim to drink at least 20-32 ounces of warm lemon-salted water before 10am. This wasn’t easy at first because I was so attached to my morning coffee, but little by little I made the switch and now I wake up craving my warm water and have no need for coffee anymore.
This holiday season, see if you can add in a cup of warm lemon-salted water to your morning to give your hormones a healthy boost to start your day!
***
Head on over to my (W)holistic Health Boss Facebook Page to catch replays on the tips I’ve shared so far!
For the next few days, make sure to tune in with me on Facebook and Instagram between 2-3pm PT/ 5-6pm ET to catch the rest of my live series, “12 Days of Healthy Hormone Hacks for the Holidays”
P.S. Turn on your notifications so you don’t miss a single practical tip to keep your hormones intact this holiday season and to share the knowledge with others.
12 Healthy Hormone Hacks for the Holidays!
We are in the thick of the holiday season!
The holidays can wreak havoc on our hormones as we tend to focus SO much on giving to others this time of year and not so much to ourselves, running around from holiday parties, last minute gift shopping and visiting family or friends.
By the end of it all, we usually feel wiped out, wondering why we feel so fat, tired and sick all the time – it’s because your hormones took a hit!
To help you keep your hormones in tact this holiday season, I kicked off a Facebook and Instagram live series called “12 Days of Healthy Hormone Hacks for the Holidays”
Over the course of 12 days around 2-3pm PT/5-6pm ET on Facebook and Instagram Live, I will be delivering simple tips for practical things you can do to keep your hormones balanced while you enjoy the holiday season!
Here is what I’ve posted so far…
Day 1 – Fill Up With Fat
This likely sounds counterintuitive, but trust me it’s not when it comes to your hormones, energy levels and kicking cravings!
In order for the body to make hormones, it needs you to eat healthy dietary fats that are broken down into LDL and cholesterols to make hormones along with other nutrients such as B vitamins. Yep, you heard me right. LDL and cholesterol are actually necessary to make hormones. They get a bad rap, but they are not bad for you if sourced in a healthy way.
Filling up with healthy fats can also help to balance your blood sugar for longer lasting energy, to reduce inflammation and to kick cravings.
So what kinds of healthy fats should you indulge in during the holidays?
- Avocado on its own, as guacamole or as an oil
- Full fat coconut milk in your coffee, tea and/or smoothies
- Organic, nitrate and gluten free bacon
- Cold Pressed and organic olive or coconut oil in cooked or baked goods
- Grass fed ghee instead of butter (less inflammatory)
- Fatty cuts of organic and pasture raised meats and eggs
One of my favorite fat bomb beverages is a matcha green tea latte with full fat coconut milk and 2 teaspoons of vanilla bean ghee. This keeps me feeling full and energized for at least 4 hours.
I always fill up on fat before I hit a holiday party. or aim to eat the fattiest snacks while I’m there, to keep my hormones happy and my hunger under control.
Focus on filling up with healthy fats at least once a day and notice the way it makes you feel more full, more energized and craving free.
***
Day 2 – Breathe Deeply
This time of year we are in constant movement – decorating, planning, working, shopping, traveling, cooking, cleaning and socializing. While all of that is necessary and some of it is fun, it does take a toll on our hormonal health.
Constant movement triggers our sympathetic nervous system and elicits a stress response in the body, aka the fight or flight response. In a stressed state, our body uses a lot of valuable hormonal resources. Cortisol is one of the primary hormones at play but not the only one impacted in a negative way.
In fight or flight mode, our body directs all of its valuable resources outward for quick thinking and quick moving, leaving little resources left for the rest of the critical functions in our body to take place to keep our health in line.
BUT there is something you can do that takes 2 minutes or less to snap yourself out of this reactive place and quickly into more of a rest and relaxation mode so your hormones can come back into balance and your body can heal from all the work it has been doing…
Deep Breathing.
It’s as simple as that. When we adopt the deep, rhythmic breathing patterns of a relaxed person, we can automatically and instantly flip the switch from being in fight or flight mode into a more relaxed state.
Try this ten times…
- Inhale for a count of 5
- Hold the breath for a count of 5
- Exhale for a count of 7
You can use this simple breathing technique anytime you notice yourself moving too fast or when you’ve gone a long time without taking a break, to instantly bring cortisol and other hormones back into balance.
I often do this once in the morning, afternoon and before bed. Set an alarm on your phone to remind you to stop at least once a day this holiday season to breathe deeply and promote hormone balance.
***
Day 3 – Go Green (going live on this today)
During the holidays, inflammation is on the rise as we indulge in different foods or beverages that might have a more inflammatory effect on the body, from toxins we encounter while traveling and as a result of any mental or emotional stress we might experience this time of year.
Inflammation is at the root of all hormone dysfunction or any chronic disease. It drives cortisol out of rhythm, creating a negative domino effect on other hormones such as estrogen, progesterone, testosterone and thyroid. And over time, chronic inflammation, even at low grade levels, can overwhelm the immune system, kicking it into overdrive and eventually leading to autoimmunity or other chronic conditions.
Sure you’re going to indulge, it being the holidays, and you can’t always control your exposure to toxins or the need to travel, but there are things you can do on a daily basis to calm down the inflammatory fire.
To help you reduce inflammation on a daily basis – GO GREEN!
One cup of green tea has an abundance of anti-inflammatory effects that can positively impact your hormones and even your gut health. EGCG is the active ingredient in green tea which modulates genes to produce an anti-inflammatory effect.
To keep that inflammation fire contained, aim to incorporate a cup of green tea daily during the holidays.
This is such an easy task! You can grab a cup of green tea almost anywhere while on the road or in an airport, or pack your favorite green tea brand to always have with you. It’s the perfect drink to start your day or keep you warm when it’s cold outside.
As I mentioned on Day 1 when talking about filling up with fats to keep your hormones healthy, one of my favorite fat bomb beverages is a matcha green tea latte with full fat coconut milk and 2 teaspoons of vanilla bean ghee. This keeps me feeling full and energized for at least 4 hours, plus has all the added anti-inflammatory benefits.
Go with green tea this holiday season to keep that inflammation under control for healthy hormones.
***
Head on over to my (W)holistic Health Boss Facebook Page to catch replays on the first few days of tips.
For the next 8 days, make sure to tune in with me on Facebook and Instagram between 2-3pm PT/ 5-6pm ET to catch the rest of my live series, “12 Days of Healthy Hormone Hacks for the Holidays”
P.S. Turn on your notifications so you don’t miss a single practical tip to keep your hormones intact this holiday season and to share the knowledge with others.
Take empowered action now!
Are you tired of feeling stuck, frustrated and like you don’t have any options when it comes to your healthcare?
Do you feel as though you are handcuffed by your health insurance, you worry about health expenses but want access to alternative and holistic health practices?
Do you know something just isn’t right with your body, and you need help investigating and interpreting what it needs and what to do?
Are you feeling a lack of confidence or disempowered when it comes to asking your doctors to run the test that you want, for alternative treatments and for the support you need?
It’s insurance open enrollment season, the time of year to take empowered action when it comes to your health!
I have been through the health insurance ringer myself and I know how frustrating the “system” can be, how it can leave you feeling like you’re out of options and out of luck.
I’ve grown to know the insurance system over the years more intimately than I had ever intentionally planned from dealing with various health conditions such as skin cancer, ear infections, allergies, hormone imbalances, Hashimoto’s and mold illness.
I was fortunate enough to gain a deeper understanding of insurance plans when I worked as the VP of Strategic Wellness Planning back in my corporate wellness days.
After sitting through long hours of repetitive open enrollment presentations for the corporate wellness company accounts that I oversaw back then, I finally had a better grasp of how to become more empowered in my health insurance options and therefore in my health.
Before I dive into how you can take empowered action with your health insurance and become more empowered in your health, let’s get a few things straight…
#1 Trust your body – nobody knows it like you do. Nobody!
Your body wants to be in balance. It wants to work for you, not against you. Symptoms are the last signs to show up in a disease or dysfunctional state and can be FAR REMOVED from the cause or contributing factors.
If something “doesn’t feel right”, or you “just don’t feel like yourself”, don’t let anyone tell you you’re fine. For the longest time I was the picture of perfect health according to my typical primary care conventional doctor even though I didn’t feel like myself, and come to find out there was an unhealthy storm brewing in my body leading to skin cancer, Hashimoto’s and hormone imbalances. Once I started trusting in my body and not taking no for an answer, I finally gained the courage to seek the therapies I needed to get well again.
#2 Stand up to the system – start viewing doctors just as any other service provider
Sure doctors have gone to school to specialize in medicine but that doesn’t mean they know everything or that they specialize in what you need them to specialize in. On average it takes 18 years for new research to hit mainstream medicine, and even more time for physicians to put that new information in play.
You have a right to choose a doctor that serves your greater good, to fire them if they aren’t doing a good job and to find one who meets your needs better.
You also have a right to be educated, to share your knowledge with your doctor and for them to respect it.
If you got a bad massage or haircut, chances are you wouldn’t go back to that service provider. We should start holding the same standards for our health care providers. Don’t settle for anything less than what you deserve when it comes to your health and wellbeing.
Once you get a handle on these two very important aspect of health empowerment, you’ll be ready to take on the system and take more empowered action when it comes to your healthcare.
In this week’s video I give you more tips to navigate the health insurance system and resources to find the right health practitioner to meet your needs.
Having the right type of health insurance to back you up is a big piece of the empowerment puzzle when it comes to your healthcare. I find that most people have no idea what kind of insurance they have, let alone what benefits they have with it.
In the U.S. there are two basic types of insurance plans and one can come with a huge optional bonus benefit…
HMO (Health Maintenance Organization)
- Biggest Advantage- premiums are generally lower, there is a low or no deductible
- Biggest DISadvantage – less flexibility with coverage, no coverage outside the HMO network and need a referral from PCP (primary care physician) for any speciality
PPO (Preferred Provider Organization)
- Biggest Advantage- more flexibility and coverage outside of the immediate network
- Biggest DISadvantage – premiums tend to be higher and it’s common for there to be a deductible
HSA High Deductible PPO
- BONUS Benefit – a tax-advantage medical savings account called a health savings account (HSA)
- Biggest Advantage- set aside pre-tax dollars for health costs that you keep forever (not a use it or lose it account like a FSA), some employers will match funds, funds can be used for diagnostic tests, prescriptions and most alternative therapies such as acupuncture, supplements and more
- Biggest DISadvantage- high deductible PPO, however you use your HSA funds to cover this
When shopping for or changing your insurance, you’ll want to consider:
- What is most important to you – having flexibility to see the doctors you want when you want (PPO) or saving money monthly (HMO)?
- Do you want coverage for alternative treatments (PPO) or not (most HMO)?
- Would setting aside money (HSA) help when things “pop up” or give you worry-free spending money to do what you want?
- Reviewing the full plan of explanation of benefits and exclusions to make sure it meets your needs
Knowledge is power, and with technology these days we have a wealth of knowledge at our fingertips to help empower us about our health. Get to know your benefit options and choose one that gives you what you need.
For example, by doing a simple google search for “what thyroid markers indicate Hashimoto’s”, there are a plethora of links and resources indicating that TSH and T4 aren’t the best indicators, yet most conventional doctors are still using those tests and missing the mark for Hashimoto’s.
The final piece to being truly empowered is making sure you have a health practitioner partner who has you in mind. I always say that finding the right one is like dating. You have to date a few to see if they are the right fit for you and if they meet all of your needs. This is true for any doctor, chiropractor, acupuncturist, personal trainer, massage therapist, health coach or other health practitioner you might be looking for.
The most important things I want my personal health practitioners to value are:
- Collaboration – we need to work together on my health
- Teamwork – they have to be willing to work with other specialists for my benefit
- Respect – they must respect my choices, even if they don’t agree with them
- Willingness – to try new methods as research evolves
- Attentive – attention to detail! I want to feel as if they know me and they care
Now you know a little bit more to help you take back control of your health, to take empowered action and to be your own health boss!
Take advantage of this open enrollment season to either change your insurance benefits to actually benefit you, or to educate yourself more about the ones you have and how you can get the most of them, and to make sure you have the right health practitioner by your side.
Know there are hundreds, if not thousands, of the health practitioners like myself who are cheering you on and want you to feel empowered in your choices 🙂
If you’re looking for a health practitioner who has your best interest in mind, then let’s chat to see how I can help! Schedule a complimentary Ideal Health & Weight Discovery Consultation here.
As a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner, I help health-minded people get access to the right lab testing so they can find the missing pieces to their health puzzle, create a personalized health rebuilding lifestyle and get back to feeling like themselves again.
P.S. For more resources to find functional and holistic-minded health practitioners ,check out the Paleo Physicians Network or the Institute for Functional Medicine’s Network
I never talk about this [Alcoholism and Autoimmunity]
Today marks the 1 year anniversary of losing my mom to alcoholism.
I never talk about this, but enough time and healing has happened for me to be ready to share this part of my story with you. My growing gratitude for this experience with my mom has shed so much light on opportunities for me to not only create greater health and happiness for myself, but to also inspire others to do the same.
So here goes…
I’m not quite sure where my genetic predisposition to autoimmunity came from. I suspect that both of my grandmothers had some kind of thyroid dysfunction, but they lived in an era when nobody was looking for or talking about autoimmunity.
In order to have an active autoimmune condition, three things must be in place:
- You have the gene for it – a genetic risk factor or pre-disposition
- You have a leaky gut – impaired digestion and immune system function
- You’ve come in contact with a trigger – various triggers include things such as gluten, environmental toxins, certain parasites, bacteria or yeast overgrowth in the gut, viruses such as mono/Epstein Barr or different Herpes strains and more
My mom didn’t have an autoimmune condition, at least not that I know of, but the effects of her alcoholism certainly played a role in why I do.
Autoimmunity can be detected 10 years before a clinical diagnosis is ever given.
Antibodies are the markers for autoimmune activity in the body, and there are blood tests to detect antibody activity in the early stages. Yet, doctor’s don’t preventatively look for autoimmunity. They only test for it once someone is visibly suffering from what looks to be an autoimmune condition, which usually means the person is at the point of a clinical diagnosis.
However, when autoimmunity is caught early on, reversing it is much easier.
I can look back now and practically pinpoint the time when my autoimmune process likely started occurring more than 20 years ago.
I was the girl who had it all together – straight A’s all throughout grade school, I hung out with the cool kids, went off to college, I excelled in every job I had, and quickly climbed the career ladder into high level management positions.
All the while, I was sacrificing my health for acceptance and success.
The effects of addiction on friends and family members is not something most people openly talk about. Those who have been affected carry a lot of shame and guilt with them or a fear of being abandoned if people really knew their family situation.
I carried the burden of these feelings for a long time, and as a result I didn’t always make the right choices to support my health.
As I know now, and as the research of epigenetics shows us, our lifestyle choices directly alter the cells in our body to either create illness or to support health.
In the past, the ways in which I chose to cope with my mom’s drinking habits and the feelings related to it were very unhealthy:
- I started drinking in high school to be “cool” and accepted by others
- I found myself in a string of codependent and unhealthy relationships
- I was a control freak about everything (this is a signature trait of a child raised by an alcoholic)
- I engaged in full on screaming matches with my mom over her drinking that left me completely emotionally drained
- I used work as a distraction and a means to validate my worth – my career success covered up my family dysfunction
- I hustled all week working 12 hour days or 50 plus hours a week, and socially binged on the weekends, never leaving time for me
Over the years, my body was giving me clear signs on just how much my mom’s addiction and my reactions to it were impacting my health:
- I had painful and irregular periods right from the start, and birth control was the bandaid I was given – a red flag for estrogen and progesterone imbalances
- Waves of fatigue followed in high school and became more constant in college and thereafter – adrenal dysfunction was setting in and maybe a case of undiagnosed mono
- I developed allergies out of nowhere and sensitivities to fragrances or chemicals in my early twenties – a huge clue for leaky gut!
- I was diagnosed with skin cancer at the early age of 25 – a sign my cells were sick
However, according to my conventional doctor, on paper I was the picture of perfect health. Once I became a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner, about 15 years into my mom’s alcoholism, I was able to get my hands on the right lab tests which showed just how dysfunctional my health had become due to the choices I had been making.
My test results showed:
- Severe adrenal dysfunction
- Poor liver and detoxification function
- High levels of oxidative stress and DNA damage
- A gut full of bacteria, parasites and yeast overgrowth and a weakened immune system
These were all early signs of an autoimmune process being in place. Had I run a test to look at autoimmunity specifically at the time I’m almost certain I would have had elevated antibody markers too.
In this week’s video I share more about the link between alcoholism and autoimmunity and what I’ve done to overcome it.
“When we focus on others, our lives become unmanageable” – a teaching from the Twelve Steps of Adult Children workbook
In response to my mom’s addiction, I had become so focused on managing her and her condition that my own personal life was unmanageable in a sense.
Almost everything I did centered around a reaction or direct action related to her condition in order to keep the peace, assimilate a sense of control in otherwise chaotic circumstances or to cover up what I didn’t want people to know.
The desire to be the opposite of an alcoholic was my priority, not my health.
It wasn’t until my mom had a near death experience 6 years before she actually passed away that I decided my health needed to be my priority. I realized I had sacrificed myself enough and life was certainly too short to keep going down that road.
Shortly after that realization is when I started to immerse myself in more functional and holistic health practices. I reversed my adrenal dysfunction, started healing my gut, and supporting my detoxification system better.
I was doing all of the “right” things from a scientific perspective – eating a Paleo style diet, exercising, taking supplements and getting satisfying sleep. But some of my old behavior patterns around control, how I dealt with emotional situations and lack of self worth persisted.
Having your best health and feeling like yourself requires work in all areas of life.
By the time I started to work on my physical health by changing my diet, getting more rest, taking the right supplements and reducing stress, the autoimmune process was already in place and through the physiology of epigenetics my mindset kept feeding it. You have to get your mind right to get your body right.
Part of untangling the autoimmune web for me has been addressing the effects that my mother’s addiction has had on how I handle life. I have learned to:
- Make choices from a conscious place to maintain my health as a priority
- Own my story without guilt or shame, but rather with compassion and gratitude
- To let go more and care less about the little things so I can focus on myself
- Forgive my imperfections and use them as tools to walk away from what is not me and find what is me
These are just a few of the changes I’ve made in my life to create greater health and reverse my autoimmune condition over the years.
Molly Hamill and I did a great webinar earlier this year talking more in-depth about how to activate and upgrade your healing process from the physiological and energetic aspects. You can check out the replay of the webinar here.
All of us have grown up in unique situations or experienced some kind of crisis in our lives. Alcohol addiction is only one example of this, but how we choose to deal with those situations can be the differentiating factor between having perfect or poor health.
In my 1:1 client coaching programs, I work with people to identify the physiological aspects contributing to poor health by running lab tests to look for underlying imbalances in the body, and by addressing old behavior patterns or beliefs that keep them from taking care of themselves like they want to be.
By doing this work on myself, I now have a better relationship with my mom and her situation than I ever did when she was alive. I am extremely grateful for what I have been exposed to, what I have learned and how I can share my experience to help others.
If you want to finally get to the bottom of what is keeping you from feeling like your best self and having your best health, then let’s see how I can help. Schedule a complimentary Ideal Health & Weight Discovery Session here.
[Quick Video] Why I’m grateful for you…
I wanted to pop by your inbox really quick today to share two messages of gratitude with you in celebration of the Thanksgiving holiday here in the U.S.
My two messages for you are…
- Why I’m grateful for you specifically
- How you can find gratitude in your health and life experiences to create better health, more wealth and happiness
Watch this quick video to hear my messages to you today
Wishing you a wonderful Thanksgiving or average Thursday, wherever you are in the world!
My Favorite Fixer Upper
For the past 5 months I’ve been living in a real life episode of Fixer Upper as we’ve been remodeling our home. As seen on TV, we’ve had our fair share of ups and downs, unexpected costs and great opportunities to make our home beautiful.
This remodel has given me the chance to create my dream home. And I have been particularly excited to also create a cleaner, more environmentally safe and health supporting household.
During the demo phase, my mind and body were put at ease when no additional water damage or mold were found, and knowing the majority of the materials (wood flooring, carpet, paint etc.) in our home which had been exposed to toxic mold were being replaced.
I have absolutely fallen in love with every decor detail from the paint colors, glass tiled fireplace and waterfall backsplash and our huge pocket sliding door to give our home an indoor/outdoor living space.
But…
My favorite remodel upgrade is my new whole house water filtration system!
I can now drink water safely from any faucet in my home, and shower without worrying about toxins disrupting my hormone balance.
Water is the most essential element for our survival. On average 60% of the body is made of water. We drink water, cook with water and bath with water. Water is vital in every aspect of our life.
Yet water is the number one place where harmful toxins are lurking.
We have been told our tap water is safe, but what does safe really mean? As we’ve seen with the Flint, Michigan water crisis tap water isn’t always as safe or clean as we would like to think.
The general rule of thumb for health is to drink at least 8 glasses of water per day, or half of your body weight in ounces. If you’re abiding by those rules, or aiming to, and drinking tap or bottled water you could actually be causing your body more harm than good.
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) recently did a study and compiled a tap water database using 28 million water records collected from 50,000 water utility companies that serve all 50 states in the U.S. and this is what they found:
- 40,000 or 81% of water systems had contaminants linked to cancer
- 250 million or 77% of water sources contained hexavalent chromium (the “Erin Brockovich” chemical)
- 7 million contained nitrate, a fertilizer
- 19,000 contained lead levels harmful for children
- A total of 250 chemicals overall (and counting) were identified
- 160 contaminants that the Federal Government has yet to set limits on
These statistics are staggering and down right scary. And those Brita Filters you have don’t even begin to put a dent in filtering out these types of chemicals.
Drinking or cooking with toxic water isn’t your only concern either.
We tend to overlook the health concerns associated with bathing in contaminated water. You also absorb toxins through your skin. Plus if you’re like me and love a hot shower, all of those toxins become airborne in the steam and you run the risk of inhaling them.
Cleaning up my water sources is one of the ways I started to restore balance to my hormones, reverse hypothyroidism and Hashimoto’s.
In this week’s video and blog I dive into more detail about what’s lurking in your water that’s harmful to your health and how you can protect yourself.
The majority of the toxins lurking in your water can be classified into 3 different health harming categories:
- Obesogens – these toxins turns cells meant to be other tissue such as bone into fat cells
- Endocrine Disruptors – these toxins disrupt estrogen, progesterone, testosterone, thyroid and all of the other hormones and gland parts of the endocrine system
- Xenoestrogens – these toxins mimic estrogen in the body, raising estrogen levels or overloading the estrogen pathways
For anyone who is struggling with weight loss or weight gain, and having hormonal issues, the toxins in your water could be a huge piece to your healing puzzle. And for those who aren’t currently struggle with these health issues, that doesn’t mean you’re in the clear. These toxins could be contributing to health issues you’ll be faced with down the road.
The 3 most toxic chemicals when it comes to thyroid health, for example, are found in our water sources:
- Chlorine
- Bromine
- Fluoride
These 3 little chemicals are known as endocrine disruptors and they can wreak a lot of havoc, particularly on your thyroid function. These toxins can bind to thyroid hormone making it inactive or block the receptor sites used to receive thyroid hormone so it can’t be put it to use for vital functions in the body.
If your thyroid becomes sluggish, it starts a chain reaction taking down your other hormones.
Your thyroid plays a huge role keeping your weight balanced, regulating body temperature, energy, mood and keeping your other hormones in check too.
When I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s, a thyroid autoimmune disorder, I was regularly showering in chlorine contaminated water and I wasn’t very diligent about always cooking with or drinking filtered water. This wasn’t the cause of my thyroid condition, but it certainly was a contributing factor keeping me from having good thyroid health.
Chlorine, fluoride and bromine were originally introduced as a way to kill bacteria and improve dental health, but as new research emerges we are now beginning to understand their negative impact on our bodies.
As I mentioned earlier, simply buying a drinking water filter just isn’t enough. Most of the popular water filter brands don’t even begin to scrape the surface when it comes to filtering out all the toxins in our water.
Buying bottled water doesn’t really do the trick either. Bottled water has its own risk of toxins such as BPA plastic, the number one xenoestrogen toxin out in the market place.
And if you’re showing in water laden with toxic chemicals, it can have just as much of a negative impact. In fact, the most common way these endocrine disrupting chemicals get into our body is in the shower. We inhale them from the steam and they go straight into our bloodstream.
Aside from these toxins turning your hormonal balance upside down, they also greatly burden the liver. The liver is responsible for eliminating all toxins that we consume, absorb through our skin or inhale. The liver also plays a part in keeping our hormones in balance and supporting weight maintenance; it helps to convert thyroid hormone, regulates insulin and blood sugar levels, and filters out excess estrogen.
I get it though, it’s impossible to control your water sources all of the time. I love to travel and I certainly have less control over water when I’m on the road.
However, by controlling your water sources at home you can create a cleaner, safer and more health supporting environment for yourself and your family. And there are even ways to have more control when you’re on the road.
Aquasana is one of my favorite safe water supporting companies. They have many wonderful water filtration options, are very knowledgeable about water filter needs based on where you live and have great customer service in my experience.
Here’s how you can take back control of your health by implementing some safe water sources:
- Get a water bottle with a filter that you can take with you everywhere
- Upgrade your home with a whole house water filtration system
- At a minimum install a shower filter and get a good quality countertop or kitchen sink filter
- If bottled water is the option, opt for brands that come in glass bottles such as Pellegrino or Perrier and BPA free plastic such as Fiji
To check the specific toxic element details about your local water check out the EWG’s Water Database.
And if you’re interested in doing your own home water test check out microtraceminerals.com
Cleaning up your water may seem like a small drop in the bucket in relation to your overall health BUT small shifts can result in large changes. We tend to think we have to be exposed to large amounts of chemicals for them to be dangerous and that just isn’t the case.
As Chris Kresser pointed out during his toxins presentation at Paleo F(x) this past Spring, even the smallest amounts of toxins (1 teaspoon in comparison to an olympic swimming pool) have the same negative impact on our health as large amounts do.
Do your body favor, and drink or use water safely.
If you want to uncover more hidden health stressors that are negatively impacting your body like toxic water and figure out the missing pieces to your health story, then schedule a complimentary Ideal Health & Weight Discovery Session with me here.
10 lbs Lighter – 1 Year Later
I thought this day would never come. I finally lost the 10 pounds I have been working towards over the past year.
For most of my adult life I hovered somewhere between 133-137 pounds. In my twenties I once dwindled down to 126 lbs for a fitness show, a number I had always dreamed of, but it’s not where I felt or looked my best.
I had come to accept my body as it was – 135 lbs was my sweet spot.
But I haven’t seen the number 135 in almost 2 years at this point. Slowly over time the pounds started to pack on…
At first I didn’t notice it at all. I crept up to 137 but brushed it off – I thought I just had eaten too many carbs or didn’t exercise enough that week. Then next thing I knew I was on the scale and it read 142!
I thought the batteries in the scale must have been dying, or it needed to be re-calibrated. After all I wasn’t one to watch the scale, my body always stayed in that same range of 133-137.
Yet my weight continued to climb. And the strangest part was that all my clothes still fit the same. I told myself that as long as my clothes still fit there was nothing to worry about. This was just a part of getting older, more curvy and “filling out” in my thirties.
I was shocked when the scale read 150 and then 152 lbs.
WTF!?
I was doing everything right…
I was eating a mostly gluten, dairy, sugar and soy free diet
I had cut back on my weekend alcohol intake
I was in bed early almost every night of the week
I lifted weights 3-4 times a week and ran 3-4 times a week
I did yoga on a weekly basis
I was even meditating once or twice a day at this point
I left my stressful corporate job and didn’t commute to work anymore
I was consciously swapping out toxic products in my home
I was stumped about what was happening with my body. Maybe I was just destined to be this way. After all most of the women in my family were heavy set, so genetics must be at play.
As the weight slowly climbed, I started to beat myself up about it more and more. I felt disgusted when I looked in the mirror. My once trim and toned physique was now fluffy and soft. I didn’t want to wear fitted clothing and I just didn’t feel comfortable in anything.
I pushed myself to work out harder. I found the biggest hill by my house and did rounds of sprints up it once a week. I lifted heavier weights and ran longer distances. Even though I felt tired in the morning or achy, I forced myself to work through it.
Aside from the weight, other things started to change too. I developed acne out of the blue, started having irregular periods and breast tenderness, was moody and felt like a foreigner in my own body.
I searched and researched, and finally figured out I was estrogen dominant.
I went to various doctors and health practitioners but no one could figure out what was wrong with me. I even had one doctor (mind you a “women’s specialist” in one of the most pristine hospital organizations here in San Diego) tell me that I likely just put on 10 pounds of muscle.
She obviously has little concept about the female body because it’s challenging enough for a bodybuilder type to put on 10 lbs. and I certainly wasn’t training to that caliber, nor did I look like it.
I stumbled upon the answer on my own. I ran my own tests, the same ones I use on my clients, to investigate the root cause or contributing factors to this unusual weight gain. It turned out I was estrogen dominant and I also had a combination of parasites, bacteria and yeast in my gut (which had previously been completely clean!).
I was so pleased to finally have an answer! I had faith the weight would come off now. I thought if I did all the right things to restore balance to my body I would be back feeling like myself again in a matter of weeks!
I never would have anticipated that it would take a whole year to lose ten pounds, but like I always say…
You have to get healthy to lose weight, not lose weight to get healthy.
In this week’s video and blog I share more about why it took me so long to finally shed 10 pounds and what I’ve learned along the way.
The Estrogen Dominance was a sign of something else – toxic mold and Hashimoto’s.
Apart from the toxic mold needing to go, I knew I couldn’t keep living the same way I was living while expecting different results from my body. I had to create space for my body to heal.
The toxic mold had created a very stressful burden on my body, toyed with my hormones and negatively impacted my immune system. But I also had to take responsibility for how I had added fuel to the fire; by forcing and pushing my body to work harder, not being as compliant as I could be with eating foods that were best for me and beating myself up mentally all the time – all of which just add more stress!
Sure you can force and push for results, but it doesn’t really work that way. And when you do force or push, you have to consider what you are doing to your body along the way that will impact your health moving forward.
Your body can only heal in a relaxed state.
I had to honestly address the ways in which I had been treating my body and make some significant changes to allow for more relaxation and healing to happen…
I drastically cut back on my exercise intensity and engaged in more restorative movement
I committed to cutting out all foods 100% that were fueling the inflammation fire
I worked on forgiving myself and creating more positive conversation in my head
I made more room for down time and was more mindful about getting good sleep
Most importantly I stopped forcing the results to come.
I dropped a few pounds at first, but hit a plateau for a long period of time. Even though the weight was taking its sweet time to come off, all along the way my body showed me other ways it was healing. I went back to being acne and anxiety free, having perfectly timed menstrual cycles without PMS, had more mental clarity and I was able to handle stress without shedding tears or losing my sh*t.
I even went into remission with my Hashimoto’s after 6 short months of taking medication and changing my lifestyle to reverse the condition. I thought surely the weight would fall off then, but it didn’t.
I kept my faith that the weight loss would come when my body was ready.
Over the summer my hormones started to fully return to back to balance. My estrogen went back down to normal, my testosterone went back up to normal, cortisol was stable and my inflammatory markers for mold illness finally dropped.
On November 30th, it will be the 1-year anniversary of the toxic mold being removed from my home, and a little over a year from learning about my Hashimoto’s.
Since late September I have been steadily losing weight, finally, and lost a total of 10 lbs. at this point.
This experience has brought me a lot of perspective about the body and how important creating space to heal is. It has also really driven home my motto about having to get healthy in order to lose weight, and not losing weight to get healthy.
Here are some other major things I’ve learned along the way…
- Thyroid function can be reduced by as much as 30% when caloric deficits are too high over the course of just a few days
- Women’s hormones are ultra sensitive to food deprivation and toxins
- Toxins have a much bigger impact on our health that we can even begin to imagine and they are very silent disruptors
- The conversation I have with my body on a daily basis is more empowering than any compliment I’ll ever receive
- To be a better listener for what my body needs and what it’s trying to tell me
- I don’t have to be tough all the time and “push through it.” It’s ok to take a day, or even multiple days at a time off to heal
Most importantly, this experience has shown me that our body truly does have all of the answers. When we give it the right food, rest, exercise, reduce stress, support it with the proper supplements and space when needed, the body knows how to return back to balance.
I’m in the business of empowering the whole body naturally.
I share this milestone in my own health journey not to boast about the weight that I have lost but to shed some light on similar frustrations you might have and on how the body really works.
If you’ve been feeling stuck or frustrated in your health or body in some way and can’t seem to find the missing pieces, then let me help you! I’ve been in your shoes, and trust me there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Schedule a complimentary Ideal Health & Weight Discovery Session here to investigate what’s going on in your health and how you can take back control.
Eating Healthy In Asia (and around the world!)
This week’s blog is being brought to you by a special request from one of my Instagram followers – she posted a very good question in response to my pictures and recent blog post about my trip to Thailand (catch that blog here), and this is what she asked…
“Please tell us how you managed the food topic in Asia, you know gluten, dairy, soy, etc. Also what do you take to support the Adrenals during trips?” XOXO”
I absolutely love this question because it’s about real life applications for healthy living while living life to the fullest!
If you’ve been following me at all on Facebook, Instagram or my blogs, you know I LOVE to travel. But feeling at home in my body while doing it is also very important to me.
To me, there is no point in traveling if you don’t have the health to fully enjoy it.
My health is what supports my passion for traveling. If I’m going to invest money and time to get somewhere, you bet I’m going to make the most of every minute and seek out every cool adventure to take part in.
I can’t say I’ve been in perfect health for every trip I’ve ever taken. I wish I could, but life just isn’t perfect that way. When I’ve traveled with a lower quality of health, the feelings of fatigue, cloudy thinking or uncomfortableness in my own skin definitely limited the activities I participated in, my ability to be present and my overall enjoyment of the trip.
I don’t regret those trips or those moments. In fact, those moments have served as great motivating factors to keep working on my health when I wanted to give up, and as friendly reminders about why it is important for me to maintain the health that I have. They put things into perspective for me.
However, my favorite trips and places that I’ve traveled to certainly correlate directly with how well I was feeling at the time. When I feel at home in my body, have an abundance of energy and don’t feel anxious or overwhelmed I am much more spontaneous, adventurous, curious and present to the place I am visiting.
Eating right for my body has played a MAJOR role in helping me get back to the healthy place I am in today and amplified my travel experiences. Over the past year I went on a strict AIP diet for 4-6 months to reverse my Hashimoto’s and heal from a toxic mold exposure. Now I still avoid gluten as much as possible and I limit my intake of grains, dairy, sugar, soy, alcohol and a few other things that don’t agree with me.
Food is not what makes the experience. I am.
Sure, food adds to any travel experience (and I am definitely a huge foodie too), but food does not make the experience. I do. With all that I have dealt with in my health, and the various dietary changes I have had to make to support it and get back to feeling like me again, I have learned to not allow food to dictate the experience I am having.
If I choose so, I am able to enjoy any city around the world or simply sit amongst friends and still have an awesome time without partaking in foods or drinks that aren’t in alignment with what my body needs from me.
Eating in Asia or around the world for your dietary needs boils down to mindset.
Say what?!
I’m sure that sounds like an over-simplification. Once you get down to the nitty gritty of why you might indulge in foods that hinder your health instead of supporting it, it really all boils down to mindset.
Sometimes we forget that we always have a choice in any situation. We may not be able to choose what food is in front of us or what will be served at a social gathering, but we can choose how we decide to deal with it, how we perceive the situation and what we make it mean about us.
In this week’s video and blog I share my best mindset practices and food friendly tools that help me eat healthy with enjoyment while traveling the world.
I am not saying that I never eat a food that isn’t right for my body, because I have and sometimes I still do. On the rare occasion when I do eat something that maybe I shouldn’t, I make sure it’s a conscious choice and I know how to support my body after.
For example, during the first 24 hours or so of my trip to Thailand I openly ate some of the local foods and consciously chose to ignore the list of ingredients or to ask too many questions about them because I wanted to just embrace it all. I even knowingly ate a local cuisine with some gluten and my body let me know.
I listened, evaluated the value of the food in comparison to how I was feeling (bloated, upset stomach like, foggy, tired) and decided for the rest of the trip, it wasn’t worth it. I wanted to feel my best and to make the most out of my trip, so I was back on my A-game making sure my food choices were right for me.
My traveling partners on the other hand kept eating what I wouldn’t eat but not once did I feel left out or sorry for myself. I felt quite the opposite – confident, energetic, proud, satisfied and joyful about my food choices because my body was feeling great!
Why do we use food to fit in?
This is a really great question to ask ourselves when challenged to make a choice between eating right for yourself or eating what everyone else is eating. The reality is, our friends, family and co-workers won’t disown us if we don’t eat what they eat.
What comes up when you think about this question?…
I don’t want to make a scene
I don’t want to be “that” person who asks for gluten free etc.
I’ll feel guilty or disrespectful if I don’t eat what is provided
Everyone else is eating it, so why can’t I
In my own personal experience and in working with clients, I find that these responses tend to come from a place of lack – meaning there is some other void you’re feeling in your life that wants to be filled.
When we tap into our well of fullness and satisfaction, that is all we need.
When we fill ourselves up with goodness, the desire to eat foods that aren’t right for us slowly starts to diminish and can almost disappear completely. This goodness can come in the form of eating foods that actually do make you feel good, meditating to build up positive energy or even in simple acts of taking time for yourself daily, all of which lead to feeling more satisfied in your life and less searching for satisfaction in food (mindset!).
Easier said than done, right?
So let me give you some practical tips for how you can start making the shift, and my best practices for eating healthfully in Asia or anywhere around the world…
Find Me Gluten Free App
This handy little tool has helped me find yummy places to eat in some of even the most remote of places. Although it didn’t list a lot for Thailand, I was surprised to see how gluten free friendly Hong Kong was! This app gives me options so that I can guarantee at least 1 or 2 meals of my day will be guaranteed gluten free without having to ask too many questions. It takes some of the guesswork out of it.
Balancing Back at Home
Because I love to travel so much and let loose a little bit when I do, so I make sure to create as much balance for my body when I am at home. I abide by my dietary needs 100% when I’m home. If I have an upcoming trip, I load up on sleep, hydrate a ton and reduce or avoid alcohol altogether (knowing I’ll get less satisfying sleep while away, flying dehydrates me and I’ll probably want a few cocktails on vacay). By creating balance and consistency at home with my health, my less than perfect habits while I’m away won’t have as much as an effect on me.
Voice My Needs
I am confident I can find something to eat on practically any menu and this is the same confidence I aim to teach my clients. Modifications might be in order, but who cares? Being “that” person who asks for gluten free doesn’t bother me (anymore) because feeling good in my own skin is much more valuable than the short-lived embarrassment by asking a bunch of gluten or dairy free questions. The more you voice your needs, the stronger your voice will grow. Every time I voiced my food needs to my family, friends or the server, my voice grew stronger, and I was greatly rewarded by my body feeling good after eating every single time.
Choosing Consciously (without guilt!)
As I mentioned before, sometimes I knowingly eat something I probably shouldn’t (like the dish with gluten in Thailand). But before diving in, I check in with myself, take a gauge on how I’m feeling in that moment and if the food I’m about to eat is worth the price I might pay. If I’m already feeling a little fatigued or exhausted from travel, I’m less likely to add insult to injury by eating something inflammatory, but if I’m feeling in tip top shape I just might give it a taste. Most importantly, whatever I decide I don’t beat myself up about it. That negative mindset just adds to sickness in the body and if I’m going to eat it, I’m going to enjoy every bite and savor every flavor.
Fill Yourself Up First
I always make sure I’m coming from a place of abundance now instead of lack. When we feel lack, it’s easy to see food as a way to fill the void, even if it’s not really what we are lacking in. When I’m home or traveling I always engage in activities early in the day that fill up my cup of joy and carry me through the day. I typically start my day off with a meditation and getting outside or doing some exercise. This makes me feel purposeful and full, so when I sit down to eat I’m not searching for something on a menu to give my day purpose.
Aside from these best practices, and to answer my Instagram follower’s question more directly, through my travels and by trial-and-error I have learned what things have gluten, dairy or other inflammatory ingredients in them, and I figure this out primarily by voicing my needs. This time around in Thailand, I figured out that oyster sauce also has wheat in it and is used in a LOT of Thai dishes, so I learned to ask for dishes without it.
I’ve also come to know that wheat products in Europe don’t really bother me because the breads and pastas are ground properly or fermented the old fashioned way to break down the gluten, unlike here in the United States.
Understanding what works for my body, constantly checking in about what is creating stress on my body (such as food, lack of sleep, work, toxins, etc.) and working to alleviate or balance that stress is how I support my adrenals, thyroid, gut and overall health while I’m in flight or at home.
Just like traveling, life and health is a journey. Once you get to one destination you’ll likely want to go to the next. So I just continue traveling, tuning into my body and making adjustments as needed 🙂
Fight Cold and Flu Season Naturally
Fall is officially here, meaning cold and flu season is swinging into full force, and seasonal allergies are reaching their peak for some people.
How do I know this? Well there are some obvious signs such as the leaves changing colors and falling from the trees, or the Halloween decorations that are painting every house and storefront these days. And for anyone who still watches regular cable TV, commercials promoting flu shots, cold medicines and allergy relief are being broadcasted more frequently.
Years ago, I suffered from seasonal allergies and the occasional nasty sinus cold. I would load up on symptom relievers, such as DayQuil, NyQuil, throat lozenges, Mucinex, and Tylenol or Advil for my painful ear aches.
Now I take nothing.
No, really. I no longer have to take any over the counter symptom relievers because I don’t suffer from seasonal allergies anymore, and I haven’t had a cold or the flu in so long that I can’t even remember the last time I did (keep reading and I’ll tell you why).
I’m not superhuman or anything. I still occasionally feel the shift of the seasons in my body – my energy is lower some days, I get a slight runny nose or tickle in my throat when Spring or Fall bring about new allergens in the air, and I even feel the onset of what might be a cold from time to time.
BUT my symptoms are tolerable and I can stop them naturally.
When we take over-the-counter (OTC’s) medications we have a false sense of healing our body in some way, but what we’re really doing is just masking the symptoms until our body is able to make a slow and full recovery. This is why over the years allergies, colds and flus become more intense, frequent, and longer in duration.
When we mask symptoms with OTC’s we’re ignoring our body’s call for help.
As annoying as a runny nose or postnasal drip can be, it’s your body’s way of saying, “Hey, something is really stressing me out right now or I’m under attack. I’m trying my best to fight it off, but I could really use your support and help.”
We’ve been taught to “push through it” when we get sick or feel under the weather. We use OTC’s to numb the pain so we can still go to work and take care of all our responsibilities, except for ourself. But what is the price we pay in the long run for continually taking this action?
Nobody ever reads the warnings or the side effects list on an OTC medication. I mean, they’re over the counter so they must be safe, right?
Wrong.
OTC’s come with a laundry list of negative side effects that can occur acutely or chronically over time. Here are just a few OTC’s side effects highlights that we commonly overlook …
- Acetaminophen (aka Tylenol) – liver damage
- Ibuprofen (aka Advil or Motrin) – peptic ulcers and kidney damage
- Decongestants – high blood pressure or blood pressure spikes
- Antihistamines – damage to heart muscle and the central nervous system
Large or small, long or short, any usage of OTC’s impacts the body’s ability to function normally and disrupts its homeostasis (balance). They do not boost our immunity, they block it.
OTC’s also are one of the number one contributors to leaky gut (aka intestinal permeability or dysbiosis), and guess what happens when you have a leaky gut?
A leaky gut increases your risk for allergies, colds and flus.
The gut is where 80% of your immune system lives, so if it’s dysfunctional guess what else is going to be dysfunctional? Your immune system, and your ability to fight off allergies, colds or the flu.
When the intestinal lining is compromised you’ve lost your first line of defense internally. Foreign invaders such as allergens, bacteria and viruses are able cross the gut barrier and get directly into the bloodstream.
In this week’s video and blog I talk more about boosting your immune system by using natural remedies for allergies, colds and the flu to keep your gut and health intact.
One of the first health improvements my clients usually notice very quickly in our work together is that they don’t get sick anymore, or when a cold starts to come about it doesn’t fully develop and they make a very quick recovery from it.
It’s not magic, it’s just allowing the immune system to do its job.
The very first thing I focus on with ALL of my clients is digestive support and repair for 3 very important reasons:
- To boost the immune system, which lives in the digestive tract
- To increase nutrient availability for the body
- To reduce inflammation and stress on the body
Healing your gut is the key to sustainable health success, but healing the gut is a process which requires consistency. It can take months or even years to fully recovery in some cases.
In order to heal the gut you have to consistently:
- Avoid inflammatory and toxic foods such as gluten, dairy, sugar, soy and alcohol
- Get rid of gut bugs such as parasites, bacteria and yeast (candida)
- Add in foods and supplements to help repair the integrity of the gut, such as digestive enzymes, fish oils, L-glutamine, probiotics, collagen peptides, bone broth and fermented foods
Healing my gut is what has made my seasonal allergies virtually non-existent and given me the superhuman powers to fight of a cold or the flu before it even really gets started.
However, my immune system obviously wasn’t always able to do this. I suffered for years before I started to take action on healing my gut, and when I did the results weren’t immediate. It took time. In the in-between time of healing I still had to find ways to lessen the pain and suffering without using OTC’s that would just set me back gut health-wise.
I began to slowly transition away from gut damaging OTC’s and introduced more natural therapies to boost my immune system and my body’s own defense system.
Some of my favorite natural remedies for allergies, colds and the flu include:
- Taking a supplement with quercetin and/or nettles leaf for allergies – this is something I do automatically when the seasons change to boost immunity
- Combo of peppermint essential oil (diffused or topically) and arnica (ingested or topically) for tension headaches, migraines or aches/pains
- Vitamin C, D and Zinc to fight off viruses and the flu – taken preventatively or acutely
- Oil of oregano and/or garlic as a supplement for anti-microbial properties to kill off bacteria and prevent colds or sinus infections
- Ginger or peppermint tea and bone broth for upset stomachs
For even more ideas on natural remedies to relieve your symptoms and support your immune system in defending you naturally check out these other resources:
- Wellness Mama’s Natural Remedies for Illness – she even makes her own cough syrup
- Chris Kresser’s How To Prevent Colds & Flus Naturally OR The Truth About The Flu Shot & What To Do Instead – how to prevent and treat colds or the flu naturally
- Dr. Mercola’s Flu Attack! How A Virus Invades Your Body – how the flu happens and how to avoid it
We forget that OTC’s haven’t always been around yet our ancestors found natural ways to ease pain, suffering and symptoms. Natural remedies are still relevant and still work in our modern day world. We just have to seek them out.
Aside from using natural remedies and healing your gut, there are a few other really important things when it comes to having the strength and stamina to fight allergies, colds and the flu naturally – making sure to eat nutrient dense foods, getting good quality sleep, exercising, drinking plenty of water and taking time to de-stress on a daily basis through meditation or some other type of modality.
Bottom line is, you don’t have to suffer or mask your symptoms with superficial remedies. You can become your own health boss and thrive in this world any season of the year!
P.S. If you want to heal your gut and avoid allergies, colds and the flu all-together, then let’s chat! Schedule a complimentary Ideal Health & Weight Discovery Session here.
My Healthiest Trip Yet!
I just spent the last two weeks touring Thailand and Hong Kong, and I feel healthier than I have in years! I don’t say that because I took a well-deserved vacation from work and the stress of life, but because I noticed a significant improvement in my health compared to past trips.
This time last year I spent 3 weeks traveling all over Europe. I went to Croatia, Italy, Switzerland and the Netherlands. While I certainly enjoyed all of the beautiful sites and cities I explored, there was a nagging sense of fatigue, bloating, brain fog and weight gain running the in background.
I did my best to make the most of my Europe trip but honestly I was exhausted most of the time. My face felt puffy every morning, my clothes fit a little too tight and the second I sat down on a train, plane or in a car I was dozing off to sleep.
Most would chalk up these feelings to being jet lagged, and a part of me wanted to also, but I knew this tired, swollen and less than excited version of me wasn’t the real me.
At the time, I didn’t know that what I was feeling was all a part of my soon to be diagnosed Hashimoto’s and mold illness. About a week after my return from Europe, I received my diagnosis and just a few weeks later, a test revealed toxic mold in my home.
I spent the better part of 2-3 years leading up to those two moments of revelation feeling as if I was trying to dig myself out of some poor-health-hole I wasn’t really sure how I had landed in. All I wanted was to feel like my best self again. The same fit and energetic version of me from 2013 when I felt at the peak of optimal health.
Looking back, I can now see exactly what led to my demise over time…
- Working a stressful job for a struggling start up company as the VP of Strategic Wellness Planning
- Adding extra work hours on the side as a personal trainer to start my business
- Mysterious mold in my house that I had no idea about
- Eating “healthy” but not consciously and not always right for my body
- Not making time for myself, then binging on self-care in short spurts
- Searching for purpose in social scenes and having one too many drinks
- Running long distances after late nights and hitting the weights way too hard at the gym
Mind you, a lot of these actions held true for me most of my life. For a long time my body was able to adapt and recover, but at some point it reached its threshold and couldn’t handle it anymore .
Adaptation, or lack thereof, is tricky to explain to clients. They want to know “but why was I able to eat this or do that my whole life and all of a sudden now it’s a problem?”
The truth is, it’s always been a problem.
Your body is amazing at adapting to its situation. It’s always looking for the most efficient way to accomplish a task whether it’s something that you consciously embark on, such as hitting baseball, or some physiological function running in the background.
However, there’s one flaw – you only have so much vital reserve to run on before your body starts to break down.
Each of us has a different threshold for our vital reserve (aka our ability to adapt and how much stress our body can handle) based on our genetics and where our weak links are placed. Think of the old theory or saying, “survival of the fittest,” it points out what we know evolutionarily – the strongest survive and the weakest don’t.
But in these modern times we’re able to bypass the typical evolutionary process. We can outsmart disease with what we know about the body. We can easily identify what’s contributing to disease and take action to reduce it, enhance our vital reserve and improve our chances for survival.
This is exactly what I started doing even more intensely a year ago to achieve the way I feel today.
The accumulation of stress on my body intensified when I started working from home full time in a toxic mold-infested place. My body’s vital reserve and ability to adapt to the stress of my lifestyle and environment drastically decreased, I hit my threshold and as a result an autoimmune process flourished.
In this week’s video and blog I share with you what I’ve done to enhance my vital reserve, to reverse the autoimmune process, to feel the healthiest I’ve been in years and how you can too!
Now my energy surprises me. At the end of the day, I’m astonished at how much I have accomplished and how much energy I still have left. Sometimes I underestimate my energy availability as if I have PTSD from being so fatigued before.
This recent trip to Thailand really brought to light how much healthier I am!
I had zero jet lag even after only sleeping for 4 hours during a 30+ hour travel day
I felt at home in my body, slim and trim the whole time!
I could have a cocktail without it kicking my ass the next day or destroying my sleep
I woke up feeling rested every single morning with the sunrise
I was able to think clearly, stay focused and maintain a joyful mood
I didn’t need (or even want) a nap after long days of hiking, snorkeling, walking or sightseeing
I am so grateful for the way I feel in my body today, and it makes every ounce of effort I have put into healing myself this past year more than worth it.
When I received my Hashimoto’s diagnosis and found the toxic mold in my home last fall, I made a promise to myself to not let these situations get the better of me. I hunkered down, got to business taking even better care of myself to coach up my body’s vital reserve and started the slow road to a full recovery.
What I did was actually really simple. I didn’t take any magic pills, try any elaborate or expensive therapies and I didn’t rely on prescription medications to mask my symptoms.
I simply focused on the general principles of health and creating consistency with them.
As a Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioner, focusing on the general principles of health is the backbone to the training I have received and the work that I do.
The general principles of health have worked for thousands of years and have proven to outperform specific treatments for disease. They are simple yet impactful. Before we had modern medicine all we had were the general principles of health; eat healthy, sleep, move our body, de-stress at the end of the each day, and the use of herbs or vitamins to support bodily functions.
The body wants to be in balance, it doesn’t want to be out of balance. And given the right resources the body is able to build up its vital reserve and it will always return to its preferred state of balance.
The body thrives on consistency.
Just think, the more consistently you do something, the better you become at it. This holds true in anything we do in life, such as riding a bike, hitting a baseball, our job, being a parent, cooking, etc. Practice makes perfect.
Consistency paves the way for our body to adapt, to become more efficient. If we are consistently immersed in activities that don’t support our health, our body will adapt, utilize its resources until there are no more and eventually give way to sickness. Or if we are consistently engaged in activities that support our health, our bodies will adapt, become even more efficient, use fewer resources and promote greater health.
And if we are consistently somewhere in between, bouncing back and forth creating a roller coaster of highs and lows, then our bodies will struggle to adapt, drain its resources in doing so, and eventually reach its threshold. You can think of this similarly to the wear and tear on your car; driving in the city with the constant stop and go produces more wear and tear on your car versus just hopping on the freeway and driving at one speed for a period of time without stopping. Most modern cars even kick into a “fuel efficient” state when you drive at a constant speed for a period of time.
Consistency has carried me back to a place of feeling like myself.
In order to restore my vital reserve and return my body to balance, I focused on creating consistency this past year.
I more consistently…
- Went to bed within a few hours after sunset 6 nights a week
- Made self care part of my daily routine instead of binging on the weekends or once a month
- Created and engaged in a meditation practice promoting positive thoughts and healing
- Set healthy boundaries around work and anything else that drained my energy
- Ate 100% grain, dairy, sugar, soy and alcohol free for 3+ months and still do 90% of the time
- Worked on being present and making empowered choices with me in mind
- Took my supplements religiously to nourish and heal my body
- Tested, and tested again to monitor my progress and make adjustments to my healing plan when needed
All of my efforts have paid off in order to feel as healthy and more like myself on this trip than I have in a long time.
By all means, I haven’t been perfect in my commitment to restore balance to my body and create consistency. I have stared temptation in the face, had lengthy conversations in my head about giving in and giving up, and at times have felt very alone on this journey and in some of the choices I’ve had to make for me.
Each time I felt challenged on my journey I reconnected with what really matters – my health and feeling like myself again, and it always helped me get back to creating consistency for my body to thrive on.
If you feel stuck when it comes to your health or struggle with getting back to feeling like yourself, consider how consistent or not you have been…
Do you find yourself doing healthy things all week and binging on the weekends in unhealthy activities? Are you super healthy at home but let loose too much when you travel for work or pleasure? Or maybe you run a tight and healthy ship for extended periods of time, end up feeling deprived and then throw in the towel to fill the void?
Healthy is a way of being not of doing.
You can do all the healthy things in the world, but if you don’t embrace it as a lifestyle and create consistency you’ll constantly be swimming upstream. And when you do embrace it as a lifestyle, it will significantly get easier. You’ll find yourself riding with the current and the wind in your sails.
P.S. If you’re ready to break the roller coaster ride cycle and create consistency to promote your health, then let’s chat! Schedule a complimentary Ideal Health & Weight Discovery Session here.
