Prioritizing Your Health During Difficult Seasons

Hi, friends, and Happy New Year (even though January is basically over at this point)! It feels crazy to think that it is almost February already.  The start of my year looked way different than I had planned due to some really difficult things going on with my family (I’ll share more in a bit) and because of that, I’ve had a really hard time carrying on with the content that I had originally planned to put out for you guys in January. I will hopefully circle back around and share that a little bit later but with everything going on in my personal life, and where my mental headspace is, I knew that I wanted to share a different message with you today. Maybe you have had a rough start to the new year or maybe you aren’t feeling as motivated with the “new year, new goals, new focus” narrative right now. I am a girl who loves January 1 historically. I love setting goals, and I love thinking about the future and planning and strategizing, so this time of year is usually one of my favorites, but this year, I’ve had a really hard time, even thinking about a month from now, much less the entire year ahead of us. So to that end, I thought today I would share with you a few things that have been helping me to ground myself and to make sure that I’m still giving some priority to my health, even when I’m not necessarily in a good headspace or super focused on it. I hope you walk away from today’s episode with a few ideas to keep supporting your body’s ability to function well, and supporting your health, physically mentally emotionally, and spiritually.

So I want to give a little backstory of what has been going on in my life since Christmas and into the new year so far. We spent most of Christmas Day with my side of the family and had a really good day together. We went home around 7:30 pm and got the kids to bed and just had a normal night. Around 1 a.m., I got a call from a police officer friend of ours telling me that there had been a medical emergency at my parent’s house and that my Dad had had some kind of cardiac event and had to be resuscitated. He said that it looked really bad and then I needed to meet my mom at the hospital. So as you can imagine, I was in shock. I felt like I was frozen or trying to walk through mud or something. Thankfully my husband was able to help me, so I was able to get out the door pretty quickly with what I needed at the moment. When I met my mom and my sister at the hospital, they told me a little more details about what happened and how they found my dad unresponsive after he had gone to bed. He started making some really weird noises and seemed like he was having a seizure but they were not able to get him to wake up, so they did CPR on him until the paramedics got there. He was still unresponsive and being given oxygen as they left for the hospital. After waiting for what felt like an eternity, the emergency department doctors came in and explained how serious all of this was and that they weren’t sure that he was going to pull through. In addition to the heart attack, and subsequent cardiac arrest, he had also aspirated into his lungs and because of that had gone a long time without perfusing oxygen well. They again told us that he may not make it and if he did, due to the lack of oxygen for so long, he would probably never come out of a coma. So they were not hopeful at all. He spent the first two weeks of January in the ICU, and to the surprise of all the medical staff that saw him, was making small amounts of progress every day. While he was still in a coma, he was able to be weaned off of the ventilator and was able to breathe on his own. He was able to have moments of seeming like he could hear us and respond even though it was inconsistent. His levels all stabilized pretty quickly, and he was able to be taken off a lot of the medication that they had him on. So, in a lot of ways he improved, but he was still not awake. Finally, after 16 days, he did open his eyes and respond when asked a question and that was a huge deal and the best day ever. He has been able to move to a specialty hospital that helps with rehabilitation for medically complex patients or people with brain injury, and honestly, he is still making really good progress, especially compared to what all of his doctors expected. 

We are now 30 days out from when all of this first happened and my family’s world was turned upside down. So while we are hopeful that he is going to make a full recovery, and are in awe of the miraculous healing that has already taken place in him, to say it’s been a rough start to 2024 is putting it extremely mildly. These have been some of the hardest weeks of my entire life. 

I tell you all of this for a couple of reasons - First, I want you to know that miracles still happen, even when every single doctor you talk to has a grim prognosis, they don’t have the final say. So if you have been or ever are faced with a situation like this, regardless of the outcome, I want you to know that God is sovereign and He is the one in control. He has power far beyond what any of us do - including the most talented, gifted, and educated of us. Secondly, I’m telling you this so that you understand where I’m coming from when I tell you that while I love talking about health, and think it is so important to prioritize your health and take care of your body (especially now), I have truly understood, in a new way, what grief and emotional overwhelm does for your ability to care about things that you otherwise care about. This isn’t the first difficult thing that I’ve been through in my life. If you’ve listened to the podcast, or you know me in real life, you know that I’ve had battles with infertility and that I’ve faced very discouraging health conditions in my own life, but even through all of that, I feel like I was better able to be motivated to care about my health then than I have been through all of this.  Perhaps it was because improving my health was part of the solution to the goal that I was working toward during all of that, but this has felt very different. Even doing the simple things that I teach all of the time has been very difficult for me to actually do. So I just want you to know that I get it. I may not have truly been able to understand that before, but I understand it now.  

This is not going to be the most organized episode I’ve ever put out, but I do want to share a little bit of the encouragement with you that has been shared with me, spoken over me, and prayed over me the past few weeks as well as a few practical tips that have helped me to stay grounded, and not completely abandon taking care of myself. 

I  think this is important to share this because no matter what you’re going through, you want to be able to come out on the other side of it as best as you can. Especially when something happens to a loved one, it can be tempting to throw all of yourself into helping them and supporting them. While that is noble, you have to remember that if you aren’t taking care of yourself, you will not be able to care for them well. It may feel selfish at the moment when you need to pull back a bit or when you need to take some time to recharge or refuel yourself, but it will be worth it for both you and the person that you are taking care of. So whether that’s with your kids or in a tragic situation like this, it’s a good reminder that we always need to have some priority on taking care of our bodies and taking care of our mental and emotional health so that we can continue to show up and love our people well.

I also want to encourage you (and remind myself) that this is just a season. What is happening now is not what will be happening six months from now or a year from now. While the circumstances that you’re in may not change, you will change. You will have a different mindset or a different perspective than you have now. And you’ll have information that you don’t have now. If nothing else, you’ll have grace for the next season that you don’t have now because you’re not there yet. While it can be helpful to give yourself a future thing to think about and let yourself imagine when whatever you may be going through is over, it’s also really helpful to keep in mind that what you’re going through right now is just a season and all seasons come to an end. The thing that does not come to an end, praise the Lord, is His grace and mercy for whatever is happening now and what will come. Also, I want to remind you (and myself) that, even when it looks like the Lord is not paying attention or He’s not acting or He doesn’t care, He’s working. It might look different than what you want. It might not be in the timing that are asking for, but He never stops working for the good of those who love Him and follow Him. That can be a really hard reminder when things feel anything but good and things feel truly impossible. Those first couple of days, watching my Dad - a very strong, very independent, and stubborn man - be fully intubated and completely unconscious, it looked impossible. There were moments when my faith was small, but there was just something in me that wouldn’t let go of the hope that he would wake up. I would keep reminding myself of other “impossible” situations that I had been through in the past or seemingly impossible situations that had happened in friends’ lives when God had made a way. So, I want to encourage you to keep reminding yourself of God’s faithfulness and bring all your feelings -  the doubt,  the worry, the fear, maybe the sadness and anger -  whatever you’re feeling to Him because He’s the only one that can do anything about it and He already knows how you feel anyway. Give yourself a lot of grace to feel your feelings, but make sure that you direct them toward the One who always cares and can do something about it. 

Choose Three Things

I also want to share a few practical things that have been helping me to feel grounded and have moments of feeling normal, even when everything feels upside down. One of my best friends encouraged me early on to choose three things that would help me feel like myself. Even that felt like a lot in the beginning, and I wasn’t perfect at doing it every day, but I noticed a huge difference when I did. So for me, I chose three things that took pretty minimal effort and were things that I could feel good about checking off the list, knowing that they were helping me and supporting my body.  One thing that I committed to was my morning matcha latte. I needed something to break up the night and the morning and keeping that part of my normal morning routine was perfect for what I needed. Especially for those first 3 to 4 days, I didn’t eat very much. I didn’t have an appetite and my adrenaline was running so high that I couldn’t digest hardly anything even when I could eat, so my matcha latte was a great staple for me because I knew that it was full of antioxidants that would help my body deal with the stress that it was under, while also giving me a little bit of stable energy without messing with my hormones and my already stressed out adrenals.  If you’ve watched my reel on Instagram about how I make my matcha latte, then you know that I also put vanilla bone broth protein powder and collagen protein in it, as well as some healthy fats to make it more blood sugar friendly. So it was great for me to use as an anchor in my days. 

The other drink that I love that is even easier to incorporate into my day is the Magic Mind Productivity drink that I told you about in the last episode. I love these because they are a shot size - like 2 to 3 ounces - and they are full of awesome nutrients, including matcha green tea (so all of the antioxidants and sustainable energy) as well as other brain-nourishing ingredients, like Lion’s Mane mushrooms, Cordiceps and Bacopa. They also have adaptogens in them, like Ashwagandha and Rhodiola, which help your body deal with stress (those are things that I have seriously needed in the past few weeks). I also love that they contain echinacea and turmeric for immune health and inflammation support, especially right now as I spend many, many days walking in and out of the hospital. I love having easy options that I can keep with me that help support my health.  As I said they are super small, so they’re very convenient to keep in your bag for on-the-go, or to drink real quickly before you leave the house in the mornings. They are a great option and have been super helpful to me. So just as a side note, if you haven’t checked those out yet, I highly suggest that you do that. They are running a great deal for January where if you sign up for a 3-month subscription you get the first month for free, plus you’ll save 20% with my code (alainaD20). If that sounds like something that could help you as well, go check out that deal before the month here. 

In addition to my drink staples, a couple of the other things that I tried to do daily were to take my vitamins at some point during the day because, as I said, I didn’t have a good appetite and what I could eat wasn’t the most nutrient-dense option.  I was eating a lot of food from the cafeteria at the hospital or a ton of takeout.  I think I went about eight straight days without cooking anything - which might be a record for me. So I felt so much better knowing that I was at least getting a good quality source of nutrients into my body even though I wasn’t eating well (you can find my favorite multivitamin here using code HEALTHFORWARD for 20% off or see a list of my favorite general supplements here with a free account). 

The other thing that I tried to do was take a detox bath at night before I would go to bed. I didn’t do it every night because I was too tired and would just fall into bed some nights, but this would give my brain a chance to decompress before I would go to sleep, and help my body to relax before going to sleep.  Also, because I was taking a detox bath with epsom salts and bentonite clay, I was supporting my body’s detox pathways as well. That gave me a little more peace of mind, knowing that I was doing something to support my body.

Things that you choose to do may look different than what I chose and what was helpful for me, but the point here is that you think of two or three things that you can do that will help you feel like yourself. Also, I would encourage you to choose things that are so simple that they can almost be automated or take very little brain power. It sounds so simple but they give back to you a small bit of normalcy and give you a little peace of mind knowing that even though this is a crazy season for you, you are still going to come out on the other side of this season better off than you would if you had not done anything to support your health at all.

I would also encourage you to be sure that you are not only doing something to care for your health physically but also to care for your health emotionally and spiritually. Especially during a really challenging time, this can be an easy one to throw out the window and not make time for. I know people handle things differently but for me when my mind is overwhelmed, lacking motivation, and feeling tired, I have a really hard time sitting down and reading Scripture. So for me, it was really helpful to either listen to the Bible through audio or to turn on worship music. I created a playlist of songs that were encouraging for me, and that helped me to keep my mind centered on what I knew to be true about God’s faithfulness and his power and goodness. I would listen to that on the way to the hospital and on the way home from the hospital or if I was having a particularly rough day, I would just keep it on all day. I played it in the hospital room for my dad to hear while he was in a coma and I would notice how the feeling in the room would just completely change. I also found it helpful to just have little phrases that I could pray when I didn’t feel like I could pray a lot or was just so tired that I couldn’t organize my thoughts well. I encourage you to think about how you can nurture your spiritual health during a hard season. Make yourself a playlist or turn on the Bible app audio (extra points if you choose a voice that makes you smile or giggle a little bit while it’s reading to you) and maybe think of a few prayer phrases that you can say in the moment when you need to talk to the Lord but you don’t feel like you have the mental and emotional capacity for it. 

Another thing I would encourage you to do is to let people help you. This is one of the hardest things for me. My husband tells me that I go straight into crisis management mode when something difficult is going on, and I can detach myself from my emotions. This can be helpful sometimes but also in the long run is not helpful for my mental health or any aspect of my health, so I made sure that I kept my appointment with my counselor even when I didn’t feel that I had the time for it. I would highly encourage you to have a counselor that you can talk to in normal life and especially during challenging times. Having someone who has no connections to anything in your life whom you can verbally process things with is so helpful. Also, let the people in your life help you. We had so many people send us money for food and gas,  and people praying for us and sharing that their friends and their churches were praying for us.  People offered to watch my kids when I needed to be at the hospital.  There were just so many people that instantly were there for us and wanted to help. My natural inclination is to turn everyone away and handle everything on my own because I don’t like to feel like a bother or that I’m putting someone out, but my closest friends just kept encouraging me to let my guard down and let people help me. It truly did make a difference. It may seem like it’s not a big deal but when you’re in a hard season, being able to have any stressful things, like money or childcare, taken off of your plate is a huge relief. So let me encourage you, even if it is difficult for you - accept help and let your guard down because it’s good for you,  it’s good for those wanting to help you, and it will be good for your relationship long-term.

So those are just a couple of the things that have been helpful for me to feel a little more grounded and that I know are moving my health forward. I think all of us go through hard seasons, and it might look different for everyone. It might not be as traumatic and tragic as what my family has been going through (I hope that it’s not), but you will go through a season that is difficult for you to focus on your health or to set health goals. I hope that you can use a few of these practical tips and encouragement that I shared here in the episode to keep you anchored and centered during that time. It’s okay if not every January is a time to take charge and move forward with new goals. We do the best we can with what we have, and the circumstances that we are given, and we remind ourselves that all seasons are temporary. 

Rowan's Birth Story

Hi friends! It’s been a long time! Since we last talked, we welcomed our sweet baby boy - Rowan - in May. I took the entire summer off and slowly started back to working with clients in September. Figuring out how to work with two kids, one being a baby, is very different different that with just one, but I’ve learned to be as flexible as possible and very much lower my expectations for myself. I love helping people overcome their health obstacles and I still very much feel called to that, but also recognize that this isn't the season for that to me my main priority, which is hard. I want to be able to do all the things but am also very much aware of my capacity right now. Hence, eight months of radio silence over here on the pod 😜

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I’m excited to share Rowan’s birth story with you! Let’s jump in!

I should have written this right after I had him because many of the details are foggy now at 6 months postpartum, but I will do my best to remember all the details. 

I had a planned c-section with Ro. My delivery with Remi was very long and very hard on my body. After delivering her, I was told by multiple providers, including my OB and my pelvic floor PT, that they would strongly recommend that I have a C-section should I have more children in the future. I had to do months of therapy after her delivery and knew I didn’t want to repeat all of that, so when I got pregnant with Ro, I decided early on that was likely going to be the best for me. When they gave me an estimate of his weight and size at my 36-week appointment, it confirmed my decision. Y’all, I don’t know why but I have really big babies, which is hilarious because I’m not tall at all - it doesn’t exactly add up. He was also transverse most of my 3rd trimester- likely because he was out of space - and although he was occasionally head down, he wouldn’t stay that way for more than a few hours. Every time I would start to doubt if I was making the right choice, something would confirm that this was going to be the best option for us. 

So the morning of my due date, I was supposed to go into the hospital at 5:30 a.m. and was scheduled to be in the OR at 7:30 a.m. I had a hard time sleeping the night before with all of the feelings - nervousness about the surgery, excitement for meeting this new sweet baby I had been growing for 40 weeks, and a little sadness and uncertainty knowing that our life and little family were about to change forever. 

My alarm went off not too long after I had finally fallen asleep and it was time to get up and go. My in-laws were coming to stay with our daughter while we were in the hospital, so I think they arrived around 4:30 that morning. The plan was to quietly slip out of the house without waking my daughter since we had to go in so early, but when I called to check in to the hospital, they asked me to move back my arrival time by about an hour. Since we had a little time to spare, we decided to wake Remi and spend a few minutes snuggling with her before we left. She was excited about meeting her baby brother and also a little teary that I wasn’t going to be home for a few nights. I remember that being a really sweet moment with her before we left. 

We arrived at the hospital a little before 6:30 a.m. and got checked in. I used to work in the hospital where I was delivering and would often have to go in at that same time for an early morning meeting, so walking in felt strangely familiar. Once we got up to the L&D floor and into a room, it was right at shift change time for the nurses, so Scott and I just kind of sat there in our room for what seemed like 20 minutes (I’m sure it was more like 5) but I remember looking at the clock and thinking “there is no way they are going to get me into the OR by 7:30”. Little did I realize how very true that was. 🙂

My BFF, Chrissy, used to be an L&D nurse there and is still pretty good friends with a lot of the nurses, so I was super blessed that she had already found out who was working that shift and who my nurse would be. She came in and we chatted for a few minutes and then started getting everything rolling. One thing about me is that I have HORRIBLE veins. Even getting a normal blood draw with me is usually an ordeal, so I was really dreading the IV. I always have to give a spiel about how I’m a hard stick and oftentimes they think I’m just being dramatic until they try to stick me. With my daughter, it took five tries to get my IV and it was pretty miserable (I had 12 sticks one time with a previous surgery and ended up with an IV port in my neck, so I’m a bit traumatized by IVs at this point). I didn’t want to repeat any of that experience, so I was praying it would be a quick success this time. Of course, when you are having any type of surgery, you can’t have anything to eat or drink 12 hours before, which is not helpful for tiny, stubborn veins. Thankfully, after one failed attempt, my nurse decided to ask for someone else to come in and try. (I always appreciate it when a nurse puts her ego aside and just gets someone else). Around that time one of the anesthesiology students had come in to go over what I could expect to happen in surgery and noticed that I didn’t have my IV yet. Since he wasn’t overly busy at the time, he offered to start the IV using an ultrasound machine that would show him the best vein to use. He got it on the first try and I was so thankful for him. He also joked around the whole time and told me about his kids. He really helped to calm me down. I jokingly say he was my good luck charm through the whole day because he was so great in the OR as well. 

After getting my IV in, we just had to wait for the OR to be ready. Little did I know though that there were a couple of other deliveries on the floor that had either been going a long time or there were complications with them, so since my section was planned and not emergent, I kept getting bumped back by those deliveries. I was a little frustrated by that at first because I was already starving and feeling antsy that things weren’t staying on schedule, but I kept trying to keep myself calm and remember that I was just thankful that I could be bumped because both I and my baby were good and stable. 

Around noon we were told that they were ready for us and things started moving fast. We did a few last-minute prep things, my nurse got my fluids started in my IV and off we went

So as I’m thinking back through all of these details and that postpartum/newborn haze, I want to take a quick little detour and share with you about this new productivity hack I was introduced to recently. It’s a little drink called Magic Mind and I mean little literally - as in only 2 oz but it is packed full of nutritious, brain power-boosting ingredients. It’s made with a blend of matcha green tea - think sustained energy without the jitters, nootropics like lion’s mane and cordyceps mushrooms that support mental clarity and bust brain fog, and adaptogens like ashwagandha and rhodiola for natural stress support. It also only has 3g of naturally occurring sugar, so it doesn’t spike your blood sugar either, which makes it super easy to incorporate into any part of your day. I’ve taken it first thing in the morning before heading out to school drop off and I’ve also really loved drinking it in the afternoon when I’m feeling a little draggy. I love that it doesn’t spike cortisol, so it provides sustainable energy without any of the negative health effects on your adrenals or hormones. I even gave it to my husband one afternoon when he came in from his office complaining about how tired he was - I honestly wanted to see how he would respond to it without knowing anything about it. When I asked him about how he felt later that evening, he was like “Oh yeah - I forgot I was even tired, so I guess it works! “ That pretty much sums up how I feel when I take it as well. 

If you have any issues with productivity, brain fog, lack of focus, or a drop in your mental energy in the afternoons, I recommend trying out a 30-day supply of Magic Mind. If you hate it or it doesn’t work for you (which I doubt) they offer a full money-back guarantee! You can order Magic Mind for yourself by going to www.magicmind.com/alainad and using the code ALAINAD20 for over 50% off your first subscription or 20% off your one-time purchase. I think you’re going to love it!

So where was I with the story - oh yes - finally heading back to the OR.

I remember feeling nervous as they wheeled me back. They gave Scott instructions to get all geared up while they got me settled in the OR, so he left me at the door. I thought it was so odd to be wheeled all the way to the OR door in the bed and then they had me get up and walk into the actual OR. I’ve had a few surgeries before and it was such a different experience being highly medicated before ever getting in there and this time being fully aware of everything that was happening. 

Once I was situated on the operating table they started my spinal block. I was super nervous and I think all of the emotions of the day finally caught up with me because I remember shaking a lot - before they ever got the spinal block in. All of the nurses and anesthesiologists were great and kept trying to ask me questions and distract me. There were so many people in that small room and everyone seemed to be focused on what they were doing. Once the spinal was in, they laid me back and started prepping me for the procedure. I got super numb fast and before I knew it, they were ready to start. The anesthesiologist was by my head the whole time checking in on how I was feeling and helping me to get as comfortable as I could be on an OR table. Scott came in just a couple of minutes later and my OB announced she was ready to start. Within 2-3 minutes I heard her say “Oh, lots of hair!” and she dropped the little window covering down in the drape. She held up the sweetest, chunkiest baby boy so Scott and I could get a good look at him. It’s so crazy how I fell in love with him immediately. He looked so much like Remi did when she was born, it blew our minds. I felt like I had given birth to the same baby twice! 😝 My OB held him there for at least a full minute for us to just soak him in while they cut the umbilical cord. 

They took him over to do a quick assessment of him while the team put me back together. I remember starting to feel a little light-headed at one point and mentioned it to my anesthesiologist, but he had already noticed my BP dropping and pushed a med to help. He was amazing! After a couple of minutes, they bundled Rowan up and brought him over for Scott to hold while they sewed me back up. I think this part may have lasted about 20 minutes or so but it was all a really quick blur. We just stared at him taking in all of his squishy newborn goodness and I was so relieved he was out. I remember commenting on how I could already breathe so much better! He weighed 9lb, 2 oz, and was 21.5 inches long. Such a big, chunky baby boy with a head full of dark brown hair. 

Within a few more minutes my OB said she was finished and everything went beautifully with zero complications! Thank the Lord! I was super relieved that I didn’t get nauseated or feel awful. I actually felt really good for just having major surgery! 

Scott handed Ro to me and they wheeled us back to our room for recovery. I immediately got to do skin-to-skin with Rowan and let him start nursing.  We had that lovely golden hour of soaking him in and just getting to be the three of us. 

Once I could feel my legs again and everything looked good, they moved us over to the postpartum floor. 

My parents had been waiting in the waiting room all morning, so they wheeled me right past them on the way. They visited with us for a while and then Scott’s family came and brought Remi up to our room. Watching her meet her baby brother for the first time was such a sweet moment. I’ll never forget her jumping up and down and dancing around with pure joy and excitement. It was a moment I had prayed for many times and it was just perfect. 

We were in the hospital for two days before they discharged us and both of us did really well with recovery. I had great nurses who stayed on top of my pain meds, so I never really had bad pain during the whole stay. Getting up the first time was a challenge but once I was up and could change clothes and pull myself together a bit, I felt so much better. It’s very hard to sleep in the hospital (unless you’re my husband 😝) so I was super tired, but Rowan was a dream. He nursed and slept like an angel baby. 

My only regret from our hospital stay was not asking for more help from lactation. They came in multiple times and offered assistance but because I had breastfed Remi and Rowan had latched quickly, I thought I was good to go. It wasn’t until I was already home that I realized that he had latching issues (a lip tie) and we were going to need some help. So let that be a word of warning, always take the help. Don’t assume you have got it down, even if you’ve done it before. 

All in all, I really couldn’t have asked for a better c-section experience. It obviously isn’t my preference for giving birth, but I feel confident that it was the best choice for what my body needed and I’m thankful for the team that I had during the delivery. I think the doctors and nurses can really make it break the experience in this type of situation and mine were truly all wonderful. 

I will be doing another episode all about recovering from a c-section, so I’m not going to get into that part today. If you have any questions about c-section recovery, or postpartum recovery in general, or something that you want to be sure that I cover in that episode, send me a DM on Instagram and let me know!

Answering Your Pregnancy Questions + HF Update

Hi friends! This episode is a little different in that I’m answering some of your questions and in that, this will be my last episode for a while! As of when this podcast is airing, I’m just a few days out from my due date with our second child and getting everything ready to meet him next week! I’ll give a little more info on what you can expect from the podcast over the summer as we transition into being a family of four. We’re excited for this new chapter for our family and while you won’t be hearing much from me over the next couple of months, I do have tons of resources and previous episodes (95 to be exact) for you to go back and listen to over the summer. I also have a new resource to share with you that I’ve been working on for a while and was finally able to finish. If you’re on my email list, you already got access to it in your inbox yesterday, but I wanted to share it here too. My new guide is called Little by Little: A Beginner’s Guide to Reducing Toxins. It’s a free download that walks you through the process of transitioning into a less-toxic lifestyle in a way that doesn’t stress you out. It starts with what I feel are the most important or highest priority products and things to transition and then moves through a list, helping you with the transition over time, rather than feeling like you have to do everything at once. I know when I first started learning about toxins and environmental exposures I felt super overwhelmed and discouraged because I just didn’t have the capacity or the budget to throw away everything and start over with less-toxic options. So I created this guide with that feeling in mind and I hope that it will take away that stress/overwhelmed element for you. It even includes an actual checklist for you that you can print out and stick on your fridge so that as you work through one area, you can see what’s next and hopefully will make the whole process feel more achievable. I’m excited to get to share that with you before I take a little time away. 

Okay, so let’s get into answering your questions about this pregnancy and what you can expect from me in the next few months! 

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I asked a while back what pregnancy-related questions you guys had and I’ve just compiled a list of some of the more common questions I’ve received over the past few months and want to talk through those now. Every pregnancy experience is different, even in the same woman, so I’m sure some of what I share you will relate with and probably some that you won’t and that’s fine too. I wanted to take just a few minutes to answer some of these questions before my mind gets super hazy with even less sleep and postpartum hormones. 🙂

How am I feeling? How has this pregnancy been in comparison to the last? 

This is probably the most common question and I so appreciate that people care to ask, but it’s always funny to answer because it changes from day to day. As of now, I’m feeling pretty uncomfortable and very ready for this little guy to be out, as I’d say most women feel at 39 weeks along. 

This pregnancy has been pretty different than my first pregnancy with our daughter. Of course, that was 6 years ago, so I don’t fully remember every detail about how I felt with her but there are some definite differences. I’ve had a whole lot more heartburn with this one than with her - especially during the first trimester and then of course, here at the end again. I honestly don’t remember having heartburn one time with my first but I’ve for sure made up for it this time. I also had some nausea in the first trimester, but not a lot. More just the heartburn. It was pretty smooth sailing during the second trimester until about 20 weeks and I started to experience severe hip pain, especially at night when trying to sleep. If you haven’t heard Remi’s birth story, I had a rough delivery with her and she was way bigger of a baby than any of us imagined. I had to do months of PT after her delivery and had been pretty good as if I had restored my core for the most part before getting pregnant this time, but as soon as my belly started growing and stretching things out, I started having a lot of pain in my back and pelvis. So, it’s been a much more challenging pregnancy physically than my first. All I can say is that I’m super thankful for my chiropractor. If you guys have listened to the last episode, you got to hear from her and all the benefits of receiving chiro care during pregnancy, but I can honestly say that I’m not sure how I would have made it through these last few months without treatment. I’m super thankful for that and outside of just typical discomforts and aches/pressure at this point, I’m feeling good. Just ready. :)

Did I experience infertility again this time? How long did it take? 

I’ve shared a lot about our infertility journey before our first pregnancy and having endometriosis/multiple surgeries, etc. but I guess I haven’t shared a whole lot about how things were this time around. Secondary infertility is less talked about and I think sometimes harder to define/diagnose because there are so many factors at play. So to answer the question, I would say yes - we did experience secondary infertility but it was quite different than the first time around. I did have to have another excision surgery for endometriosis, but it had been about 6 years since my last one and thankfully there were minimal lesions found and not near the amount of adhesions or scar tissue that was found before. We didn’t do any conventional fertility treatments this time around - just tried on our own. Right before I got pregnant, I was going to go in to have my tubes flushed, as this was one of the things that my fertility doc suggested since he said it wasn’t fully opened after surgery, but I got a positive test before doing that. From what I can tell, it seems like maybe because of that tube situation, I was likely having a successful release of an egg during ovulation every other month, so that likely contributed to the time it took us to conceive this time around. All in all, it was probably two-ish years of trying. As I said, it was very different this time around because we had a toddler, at the time who took a long time to sleep through the night and wean. Plus I had surgery in the middle of all of that, so I didn’t keep track of the time quite as rigidly as I did the first time around. Also, from an emotional perspective, I just knew what I was willing to put myself through, and not this time around. As I said, we didn’t do any treatments (outside of surgery and acupuncture) and I didn’t obsessively track things like I did the first time. I would do ovulation tests for a few months and be really on top of things and then when I felt myself burning out, we’d take some time off from being as intentional about it. So because of that, it’s hard to define “how long it took” but it did take some time and there were really hard moments along the way. Especially when Remi would ask for a sibling or why she didn’t have one. But as we’ve learned time and time again, the Lord was faithful during all of it and brought peace to just rest in Him when we needed it and strength to try again when we needed it. I heard someone say one time that God gives you the strength and grace that you need for today - not for tomorrow, or next week, or next year - but for today, so don’t waste your time worrying about something that may happen down the road that you haven’t been given grace for yet. It’s sufficient for today - so rest in that and know that whatever comes in the future, His grace will be sufficient for that day too. I can say that I didn’t perfectly model that this time around but many days were easier because I’ve learned that God will give me what I need and that I can trust Him with our family.  

What prenatal vitamins am I taking? 

This entire pregnancy and even for probably about a year before I got pregnant, I’ve been taking Needed’s prenatal vitamins. First, I was taking their multi-capsules, which is their full-strength supplement, and then during the first and second trimesters, I just took their essentials, which is a paired-down option that is only a couple of capsules because that’s about all I could handle. Then once I finished those, I’ve gone back to their full-strength version for the third tri and added in their probiotic, as well. I’ve also tried to take an omega-3 supplement throughout my pregnancy, but haven’t been super consistent with that. If you’re looking for a prenatal supplement - I highly recommend Needed. I interviewed one of their founders earlier in the year. You can go back and learn more about why their products are different than the industry standard but I’ve really appreciated working with them and just truly believe that they have one of the best options available for perinatal health - preconception - postpartum. You can save 20% off any order with them by using the code HEALTHFORWARD.

What are some of my favorite pregnancy support products, supplements, etc?

I just put together a guide sharing some of my favorite products and things that I’ve used during this pregnancy and what I feel has helped me feel as good as I could. I’ll share that below, but I’ll mention just a few things here as well:

• Genexa Antacids - I told yall about the heartburn. These things have saved me on multiple occasions, especially during the middle of the night. I love that they have the same active ingredient as TUMS but without all of the other flavoring, colorings, and other junk that you get with that. 

• Electrolytes are another big one that I feel has made a big difference. I especially noticed the difference early on when I was dealing with some nausea and just sheer exhaustion, I would feel so much better when I would incorporate minerals and electrolytes. I started using the Pickleball brand several months ago because they are one of the brands highest in potassium, and I feel like it makes a huge difference. I will also sometimes use coconut water or aloe leaf in my drinks as well, but I love the pickleball packets, it has a lot of minerals that I need already put together and I don’t have to measure, etc. I also plan to keep incorporating this throughout postpartum and breastfeeding to keep myself hydrated. 

• I’ve already talked about how much I’ve relied on chiropractic treatment - so that’s been a big one but also taking magnesium soaks/baths. You guys listen, I don’t know how any woman makes it through pregnancy without a bathtub. I know some of you aren’t bath people, but I just cannot understand. That is the only place where I feel comfortable these days and truly cannot imagine life without it 😀The magnesium also helps with relaxing my muscles as I’ve dealt with some Restless Leg Syndrome this last trimester and helping me get better sleep. Not to mention, it’s just good support for my body and especially for my liver as everything is working extra hard these days. 

How long am I taking off? What will work look like when I’m back? 

Well, the short answer is - at least the summer. This will be the last podcast episode and I won’t be producing any regular content or working with clients at all this summer. I’m sure I’ll be on social here and there and sharing some things there, especially after the haze of the first few weeks wears off, but I won’t be “working” per se. I’m not exactly sure when the podcast will be back when regular content will start to flow again or exactly what it will look like. As of now, I’m thinking likely in the beginning of September but I’m not holding myself to that. I’ve never had two kids before and honestly just don't know what life will look like being home with them and trying to run a business. So, we’ll just see. 

The good news is that all of my previous episodes will stay right here and you have 95 episodes worth of my voice to go back and listen to if you start missing me ;) 

My Foundations of Health course - Move Forward, Feel Better will also still be available, so if you’re looking for some health coaching between now and when I’m back, that is a great resource for you that you can access at any time.

Well, that answers all the questions that I have and pretty much wraps things up for today. Everything is linked in today’s show notes and always over in my Instagram bio as well. I’ll miss sharing with you guys this summer but I’m sure you’ll be hearing from me again soon! As always keep moving forward, go love your people well, and I’ll talk to you next time! 

Pregnancy Faves

Amazon Black Romper // Genexa Antacids // LTGL Magnesium Soak (HF10 to save 10%) // Primally Pure Baby Balm (yourhealthforward10 to save 10%) // Needed Prenatal Vitamins (healthforward to save 20%) // Reduce Insulated Tumber // Pickleball Electrolyte Powder // Amazon Maternity Leggings // Amazon Pregnancy Pillow

The Benefits of Nervous System-Based Chiropractic Care with Dr. Rebecca Young, DC

In today's episode, Dr. Rebecca Young, DC of Freedom Chiropractic is sharing the benefits of nervous system-based chiropractic care. She also shares how regular chiropractic care can have numerous health benefits for both prenatal and postnatal women as well as for children of all ages.

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QUESTIONS ANSWERED IN THIS EPISODE…

What is chiropractic care? Specifically, what is nervous system-focused chiropractic care and how may it differ from other chiropractic care that people may be more familiar with?

Who needs chiropractic care? Is it only for those with injury and back pain or are there other reasons to seek treatment?

What are some of the benefits of chiro treatment for women - specifically for hormone health, fertility, and pregnancy? 

What are some of the benefits of treatment for children? 

What could someone new to chiropractic care expect on their first visit? Can you describe what an adjustment feels like?

Where can people learn more about chiropractic in general and for those who are local, Freedom Chiro? 

Resources mentioned in this episode: To learn more about nervous system-based chiropractic care - pxdocs.com; to learn more about prenatal and pediatric chiropractic care - icpa4kids.com

To find out more about Freedom Chiropractic and Dr. Becca - Freedom Knox website; Freedom Chiro Instagram

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Healthy Eating Buzzwords and What You Actually Need to Know

There are so many buzzwords when it comes to healthy eating - clean, organic, non-GMO, etc.- but how do you know what these terms actually mean and if it’s something you should even pay attention to? Today we’re going to dive into what you need to know to make an informed decision for your family. 

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Have you ever found yourself wandering around the grocery store, trying to make healthy choices for your family, only to be confused by all of the labels placed all over the boxes or hanging over the aisle? Well, you aren’t alone. Food makers have started adding tons of different labels to their products - some of them are important and some are just marketing to fit into the latest health trend. So, how do you know which is which? Unfortunately, it’s not as straightforward as any of us wish that it was, but I’m hoping that what I share here with you today will help clear it up a bit. 

3 of the most confusing food labels:   

GMO - it means that this crop has been genetically altered to make it more resistant to environmental factors or pests. Concerns about GMOs are that they can add to overall body toxicity, allergies and sensitivities, and could possibly contribute to cancer risk.                                                                                                                                                   

A lot of packaged foods and ingredients are common GMO crops such as sugar, corn, soybean, canola, and cottonseed oils as well as ingredients commonly used in animal feed (so what your meat is eating). 

Organic - this term has a lot more complexities in what it can mean. There are many different artificial ingredients used in food production that come with concern especially for things like allergies and sensitivities, contributing to cancer risks and DNA damage, as well as an overall negative effect on gut health and detox pathways.

When referring to produce it means that only allowed synthetic chemicals or preservatives have been used (about 25 different ones allowed vs 900 allowed in conventional produce) and that any chemical used went through testing that proved that it wasn’t harmful to human health or the health of the environment, as well as that the farming practices used passed the organic standards set by the USDA. 

When referring to packaged foods it means that the products contain none of the following: artificial dyes, artificial sweeteners, artificial flavors, artificial preservatives, high fructose corn syrup, partially or hydrogenated oils, BHT/BHA (hormone), GMOs (specifically important with corn, sugar, soy, canola, and cotton), glyphosate sprayed crops, added hormones, antibiotics, glyphosate by-products or GMOs used for animal feed. It also means that if any herbicide/pesticide was used they followed organic standards and rules. 

Natural Flavors - this one is super confusing and seems to be in everything. It could consist of approximately 2500 different ingredients. The FDA has some standards that say it must be derived from an animal or plant, however, that’s a very broad category. It also means that GMOs or chemically treated ingredients can be included as “natural”. 

Other common labels to watch out for: 

Natural - this term is completely unregulated and therefore could mean anything or nothing. 

Zero / Low calorie or Zero / Low sugar - look at that label. In order to make something zero-calorie, it has most likely been stripped of any actual food or nutrients and is full of artificial ingredients instead. This also applies to low / no sugar labels. If they aren’t using sugar, what are they using to sweeten it? Most likely something artificial. 

High in protein - this is a completely subjective term so it could mean anything. It likely refers to a ratio of carbs to protein and means that it’s not super high in carbs compared to protein. A lot of people have different protein intake goals based on health goals, but generally for adults, specifically for women, I recommend shooting for 20-30g of protein per meal - so think about all of the components of that meal and what the total protein would be. That should get you in a generally good place for your overall daily protein intake.

Here are a few of my top tips for navigating these confusing terms:

1. Pay attention to the ingredient list, not just the nutrition facts. A lot of times we think we are making healthy decisions if the item has good protein or low sugar, but that isn’t always true. Do you recognize most of the ingredients as real food? Are there 30 ingredients? Are the first few ingredients one of those common GMO crops? If so, look for a better alternative. 

2. Stick to buying organic produce for the dirty dozen and don’t worry about the other produce items. This frees up money in your grocery budget for buying the organic versions of other foods like meat/dairy as well as those packaged foods that contain the commonly modified crops that we talked about earlier - sugar, corn, soy, canola, and cottonseed oils, as well as any product containing wheat as it is not a GMO crop but it is one of the crops most commonly sprayed with glyphosate. 

3. If you’re buying a product that includes “natural flavors” which most do, make sure it also has an organic label so that you can at least know that a lot of the artificial things that we want to avoid like GMOs, dyes, preservatives, etc. can’t be it. 

There are so many more things that I could share about food labeling with you but I wanted to really focus on the most common ones today. If you’re wanting to hear more about healthy eating and how to make healthy - yet realistic - food choices, check out Episode 70 to learn how I do meal planning or Episode 90 for tips on making healthy eating choices at parties and in social settings. 

I hope that this has helped make food labels a little less confusing and you walk away from this episode feeling more educated and empowered to make food choices for your family. 

If you’re looking for more ideas for healthy meals, I have a few resources that I think you will love. You can download my Healing Foods Guide as well as my recipe ebook “Easy, Healthy Eats” by clicking here.

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

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

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

Stabilize your blood sugar

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

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

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

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

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

Improve your Gut Health 

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

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

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

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

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

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

Move your body

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

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

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

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

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

Easy Health Tips for a Busy Season

Hi friends! We are right in the middle of one of the busiest seasons of the year with Christmas just a couple of weeks away at this point, and I think it’s safe to say that for most of us, making healthy choices and prioritizing our health goes on the back-burner during this time. It usually becomes something that we just push off until January, right? Then we’ll really “get back on track”! Well, what if I told you that there are ways that you can continue to make decisions that support your health even in the hustle and bustle and it doesn’t require you to miss out on any of the fun? Today I’m sharing a few ideas with you to help you do just that, so let’s get into it! 

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I don’t know about you guys but I am running at full capacity most of the time during this season, so the thought of adding something else is not appealing to me - and I would imagine it probably isn’t to you either. The ideas that I have to share with you today, I’ve adapted from the 1-minute wellness mentality. It started with a book that I read years ago that helped change my perspective on what a healthy lifestyle looks like. It was built on the premise that instead of continually striving for perfection in our health or bodies, we just try to get 1% better every day. By choosing to take just one simple action we can make a positive impact on our health that really adds up over time. While these ideas may not only take “one minute” they are easy to incorporate into a busy day and take minimal effort.  

So here we go. Remember, we’re not trying to do all these things simultaneously. We’re choosing one or two to add to our daily routine. As it becomes a normal part of your life, you can add something else. Little by little adds up to a lot. 

Drink 6-8 oz of warm lemon water as soon as you wake up

Not only does this help rehydrate your body after waking up, it also helps your liver flush out toxins and gives your metabolism a boost!

Eat a balanced meal (carb + protein + fat) before or at least, alongside, your morning coffee

Coffee, while delicious and having some health benefits, raises your blood sugar, so without balancing it out with protein and fat, you’re more likely to experience cortisol/stress hormone issues and a major crash. Over time, this can also contribute to chronic blood sugar dysregulation. 

Switch out your coffee for green tea. 

Green tea has a ton of health benefits! While it still contains caffeine, it’s a bit less than coffee and it also contains many antioxidants and catechins that have been studied to contribute to many positive health outcomes like improved metabolism, increased brain function, decreased risk for heart disease and diabetes, and reduced inflammation. 

Get outside in the morning w/o sunglasses 

Morning light has the highest amounts of red light which help with circadian rhythm and adrenal health; in warmer months or climates, morning and midday sunlight can help with vitamin D absorption too. 

Add a handful of green veggies to every meal (raw or cooked) 

Especially in this season where there are parties every other day and delicious desserts everywhere, it’s easy to go days without eating any vegetables at all. Veggies contain many vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants that our bodies need as well as fiber that feed our good gut bugs and keep our digestive systems happy. So whatever you’re eating, add some veggies! Add a couple of your favorite options to your next grocery trip and then take 5 min to prep them when you get home so they are ready to go. 

Add protein to every meal or snack 

Most of us struggle to get enough protein throughout the day. This can be even harder during the holidays. Grab some easy protein options - think hard-boiled eggs, beef/turkey sticks, a bone broth protein powder, rotisserie chicken, etc to keep on hand. Then make sure to add one to every meal and snack. 

Give your body a break between meals.

This one can make a huge difference in your gut health and in helping to regulate blood sugar.   Aim for 3-4 hours in between without continually grazing through the day.

Drink a cup of bone broth daily 

Bone broth is full of amino acids that help support digestion and the integrity of our gut lining. This is a big deal and is a major first step in dealing with any gut health issues. This is a great thing to add to your daily routine during the holiday season when most things that we do/eat can be difficult for our guts. 

Take a probiotic daily 

Another great way to support overall gut health and therefore, overall health. This is a big deal for immune system support as well. 

Take a good quality, whole-food multivitamin 

Especially when we’re struggling to get quality nutrients into our diets, but really all of the time, we can benefit from a good quality multivitamin. Our food supply just isn’t what it used to be, unfortunately, and many of us are operating on less than optimal levels of a lot of vitamins and minerals that our bodies need. You can find some of my favorite brands on the favorites page of my Fullscript Dispensary. You can also always find that link in my Instagram bio. 

Take magnesium baths 

Our bodies are constantly exposed to toxins through food, environmental factors, stress, etc., and our livers/kidneys have a BIG job to do in order to filter and flush those toxins out. Magnesium baths are a great way to support your body, especially when you’re more stressed and have more sugar than usual (hello, holiday season). Adding Epsom salts also provides an extra level of liver support and up the relaxation factor. 

Magnesium is also huge immune system support - honestly, just an overall health supporter and most of us are deficient. Transdermal magnesium is a faster and easier way to increase those magnesium levels, so even more of a reason to add this into your routine. Not a bath person? You can also do a foot soak and get the same benefit. 

My favorite transdermal magnesium is from Living the Good Life Naturally. You can order some for yourself by clicking here or at the link in my Instagram bio. Save 10% on your order with the code HF10. 

Set some screen time boundaries

This time of year is overstimulating in and of itself. Even more so when we add in tons of screen time while traveling, waiting in lines, etc. Set a time in your day to unplug and be screen-free. This is especially after sundown to help with getting good sleep, so maybe make this part of your evening routine or start a “no screens at dinner” rule to bring a little more connection and peace to your family time. 

Practice meditating or a breathing exercise

Holidays are stressful sometimes - there’s no way around it. Help your body handle stress by incorporating a calming practice like meditation or square breathing. This is a great one to add in before bedtime or before a meal as stress can interfere with sleep and digestion. 

Gratitude journal in the mornings

We just celebrated Thanksgiving but that doesn’t mean that we stop being grateful, right? Practicing gratitude can help keep us feeling grounded and with a healthy perspective when the to-do list feels really long. 

Stretch for 5 minutes before bed

This can help promote more restful sleep, helps break the scrolling to fall asleep habit, and can help with tight and sore muscles in the mornings. It’s also so easy to do and just a great way to end your day. 

Okay, so those covered a lot of areas  - nutrition, gut health, stress management, and movement. Which one or two of those will you try to incorporate into your daily routine this season? I’m definitely keeping up with my magnesium baths most nights before bed and working on making sure I’m adding in those veggies with each meal. Whichever one you choose, I know that you’ll be glad that you did. 

I can’t believe we’re here at the end of 2022 already! I have one more episode coming out at the end of December to help us get ready for the new year and I’ve also been working on a new resource for you guys that will launch in January, so make sure that you’re subscribed to the podcast and follow me on Instagram, so you don’t miss anything! 

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday with your families! Keep moving forward, go love your people well, and I’ll talk to you next time!

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My Experience with the DUTCH Test by Precision Analytical

Hi friends! Several months ago - back in the spring - I told you guys that I was taking the DUTCH Complete test and then life got crazy and I never really mentioned it again, so in today’s episode, I’m going to give you an update on my experience with the DUTCH test, what I’ve learned from it, and how it’s benefited my health.  

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The DUTCH test is a functional hormone test made by a company called Precision Analytical, a CLIA-certified laboratory. DUTCH stands for Dried Urine Test for Comprehensive Hormones and as the name indicates, their tests evaluate various hormone levels. Some of their tests evaluate sex hormones like estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone (as well as their metabolites - more on this later), and some look at adrenal hormones like cortisol and DHEA-S, and some tests look at all of it. Their tests also evaluate oxidative stress markers as well as certain vitamin and organic acid markers. 

My Experience

I chose to go with the DUTCH complete test as it was the most comprehensive test at the time. I wanted an overall look at my sex hormones as well as my adrenal hormones. Some of you may remember that I posted a few stories on Instagram right before I sent my test back in where I showed you what all was included in the test, what it looks like, etc. (those are still in my Endo highlight if you’d like to go back and see those). As I mentioned, this is a dried urine test, so the kit includes cards for you to collect several urine samples over a 24-hour period. It also includes a health history form for all of your medical history as well as places for you to indicate any symptoms you’re experiencing or concerns that you have. Once you’ve completed all of your samples, you seal everything up and mail it back to Precision Analytical in a prepaid package envelope. It’s honestly very easy to do and the instructions are very detailed and clear. 

My full report with my results was emailed to me within two weeks of when I mailed in the test.

Who is the DUTCH test for?

In my opinion, this test can be beneficial for anyone, because I always think that more information about your body and how it’s functioning is helpful. Mainly, I think that the DUTCH test can be very helpful for anyone experiencing hormonal imbalance symptoms or a hormone-driven condition like PCOS, Endometriosis, Uterine Fibroids, infertility, etc. Also, this test can be helpful for anyone with a history of estrogen-driven cancer in their families such as breast or prostate cancer, or anyone who is concerned about their risk.

DUTCH Results Report

I’m going to walk you through some of my results so you can better understand what this test looks like and how you can use the results to support your health. I will say that this is a very in-depth report, so unless you are trained in hormone health and detox pathways, you will need the help of a physician trained in these areas - likely a functional medicine doctor. The report does provide a summary at the end of each section of the results, but for an in-depth understanding and how to address/treat any issues that are found, you will need the support of someone trained in this. I do have a few functional med Drs that I can refer you to, if you’d like to send me an email or DM, I can help you with that. 

• The first page starts with a summary of the main 3 sex hormones - Estradiol (E2), progesterone, and testosterone - and adrenal hormones - total DHEA and free Cortisol. (So for me, it showed that my overall estrogen was on the high end of normal, my progesterone was on the low end of normal, and my testosterone was right in the middle of the normal range. My cortisol pattern looked good, although the free cortisol was a little more on the low end. My total DHEA also looked good. No real surprises here for me - it’s pretty much what I expected)

• Page 2 of the report lists the hormone metabolites (the liver breaks down active hormones into water-soluble metabolites in order to be excreted from the body). There are different metabolites for each hormone and measuring these helps you to know how your body is clearing excess hormones. If your body isn’t doing this well, it can increase your risk for hormone-driven disease and cancer. For example, the hormone estrogen actually has 3 primary forms - Estrone (E1), Estradiol (E2), and Estriol (E3) and each can be broken down and pass through a few different metabolite pathways to be eventually excreted from the body. The ideal pathway is called the 2-OH pathway and it is considered the safest or most protective, meaning it’s the least likely to bind to something it shouldn’t or cause any damage to your DNA on its way out. On the other hand, there is the 4-OH pathway that is the least desired pathway because when not properly detoxified these metabolites are more likely to cause damage. When your body seems to prefer this pathway and doesn’t do a good job of detoxification, this can increase your risk of estrogen-driven cancer, specifically breast cancer. This is a big deal and something that is important to know. There are ways that you can support your body’s detoxification pathways but you need to know as soon as possible, rather than waiting until it’s becoming a problem to address it.

• Page 3 is a visual representation of each hormone and its metabolites and their pathways. It also allows you to see how your body prefers to metabolize hormones. 

• Pages 4 and 5 give you a similar structure as 3-4 but with adrenal hormones as well as a helpful diagram that shows the process of how our stress hormones are triggered and the pathways that they follow throughout the body. 

• Page 6 lists the organic acids that are tested which include markers for vitamins B12 and B6, and glutathione (a major antioxidant that is very important for detoxification) as well as metabolites for dopamine, norepinephrine/epinephrine, melatonin, and a marker for oxidative stress/DNA damage. 

• The remaining pages provide a summary of a few clinical notes that would be made on any out-of-range results that you have, as well as explanations for each marker and how to read the report. 

As you can see, this is a very in-depth report that goes into way more detail than a normal hormone panel that your PCP or GYN would order. I also love the fact that since this test is measured with urine, it can look at how your body is detoxing the hormones. This is something that a serum or blood test can’t evaluate in the same way. 

Again, I highly recommend this test for anyone who feels that there is something off with their hormones as well as anyone who knows that they have estrogen dominance issues or who may have elevated risk factors for hormone-driven disease or cancer/has a family history of breast or prostate cancers. 

You can order the test through a DUTCH-affiliated provider by searching their website or you can order the test online for yourself and have it sent to your home. DUTCH gave me a coupon code to share with you if you want to order it for yourself - use the code adhc100 for $100 off the cost of the test. 

If you have any questions about the test or need help getting in touch with a physician that could help interpret your results, feel free to send an email to info@yourhealthforward.com or send me a DM on Instagram. 

Plan Your Plate! Healthy Eating Tips for Your Next Get-Together.

Hi friends! Fall is here and it brings so many things that I love, including lots of get-togethers for football parties, holiday parties - and for us our anniversary and our daughter’s birthday. It’s basically one big party all season, which is both wonderfully fun and totally exhausting lol. 

Fall also brings with it so many cozy flavors and a lot of concentration on delicious foods. This combo of tons of social events and get-togethers plus tons of pumpkin-spice-laden treats can leave us feeling a little stressed about making healthy eating choices. 

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Fall!! It truly is my favorite season.  As an enneagram 9, it’s hard for me to choose a favorite in anything, but I love fall so much that it’s the obvious choice. 

I know so many other people who love all things fall too, but I also know that fall can bring with it some stress or maybe even worry about making healthy eating choices. Fall leads right into the holidays and for anyone who is trying to make health-conscious decisions or may be worried about their weight, there seems to be a little nagging voice in our heads that’s a little stressed out about all of the food. 

So today, I want to give you a few practical tips to quiet those nagging thoughts and help give you confidence in making healthy choices while still completely enjoying the season. 

Adjust your expectations 

We have to live in reality, friends. How often do we go to a party or some kind of holiday get-together thinking we just won’t eat anything or we’ll just pass on the dessert? First of all, that sounds miserable, doesn’t it? Secondly, it’s hardly realistic for most of us! The reality is that dessert, snacks, and whatever else that you are thinking of avoiding will be there, and you’re going to want to eat it, and that’s okay. So let’s just adjust our expectations, that avoidance isn’t really realistic in most cases and it’s probably not the best idea anyway. 

Decide what a “healthy choice” means for you. 

This doesn’t always look the same for everyone and it doesn’t look the same in every season. Spend a little time thinking about what foods work best for your body, what makes you feel bad, and what foods you love and can’t wait to enjoy. For some people, this may look like not eating certain foods, and for some this may mean eating healthy portions of everything! Don’t follow the crowd on this. Be intentional (but remember those realistic expectations). 

Quit with the guilt. 

 We need to be conscious of unhealthy patterns when it comes to eating - and I’m not at all talking about food. I’m talking about unhealthy patterns when it comes to our mindset. One of the most common ones is feeling guilty when we eat something that feels indulgent or something that may not be the most nutritious. I can’t tell you how many clients I’ve worked with who find themselves caught up in this pattern of eating something that they’ve deemed “bad” and then spend the night or next day feeling guilty about it and sometimes even punishing themselves or trying to “make up for it” with extra long workouts or by barely eating anything the next day. There are not any bad foods. Food is amoral. It is both physically and mentally unhealthy for us to assign morality to certain foods and immorality to others and it has led to some really deep rooted issues with food in our society. So when you catch yourself feeling guilty or saying something like “I’m going to have walk off this dinner” or “run an extra mile tomorrow because of this dessert” try to change that narrative to something like “I’m thankful that I get to enjoy this meal”. Also, one more thing on this - remember that while food is fuel for our bodies, there is also an emotional component to food that is connected with the pleasure centers in our brain - and that’s a gift. God didn’t have to give us taste buds or allow us to enjoy our food, but He did, so let’s not rob ourselves of that. 

Always Balance It Out (carb + protein + fat)  

Remember that one of the major factors supporting your health is blood sugar balance, so make that a priority over counting calories or another arbitrary focus. Some examples of how this may look at a party: choose hummus and guac with chips; add some chicken or a few meatballs to your plate along with all of those starchy carbs; when it’s time for dessert, add some high-quality half-and-half or higher protein nut milk to your coffee, or add a handful of nuts to your plate along with the brownies. This starts with making sure that you are familiar with some good protein and healthy fat options that you enjoy. Download my Foods that Heal List for some ideas - also a new resource for this coming soon!) 

Support Your Digestion

This is important all of the time, but especially so when we’re eating different foods or foods that are very rich and can cause some digestive upset. Try to eat your meals when you’re seated, calm, and can really enjoy your food. When we’re hyped up or upset, we often have a lot of adrenaline and stress hormones pumping through our bodies which makes digestion and nutrient absorption, so when possible eat at a more calm time in the get-together. Also, avoid grazing throughout the entire event. Our bodies digest best when we have at least 90 minutes in-between eating, so enjoy your meal and then give your gut a break. This will help to avoid or reduce unwanted symptoms like bloating. 

Bring an Alternative 

Bring something that you know you enjoy and will make you feel good. Ideally, something with protein or nutritious ingredients. One way to be sure there are foods there that you feel good about eating is to bring them yourself. This is especially important for those with food allergies or sensitivities. 

I hope these tips help you enjoy this season to the fullest while still making decisions that prioritize your health!

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The Importance of Optimal Perinatal Nutrition with Julie Sawaya, Co-Founder of Needed

In today's episode, Julie Sawaya, co-founder of perinatal nutrition company - Needed, is sharing the importance of optimal nutritional support for all stages of a woman’s life, but especially before, during, and after pregnancy.

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Questions answered in this episode…

Tell us about how you got into the vitamin and supplementation field and why you helped start Needed.

One of my favorite things about Needed is that so much research and input from clinicians went into formulating all of the products. Why is this so important? 

What subset of the population can really benefit from taking prenatal vitamins and supportive supplements? Is it only for those who are currently pregnant?

How can supplementing with optimal nutrients help support fertility and those trying to conceive or maybe struggling with conception?

Needed recently launched a men’s line of products. Tell us a little more about why that is important and so unique. 

Other than the research aspect, what are some things that set Needed apart from over-the-counter prenatal or prescription prenatal?

Where can people learn more about Needed? 

Needed is a nutrition company that I personally use and trust, as well as recommend to a lot of my clients. If you would like to try Needed for yourself, you can use code HEALTHFORWARD to save 20% on a one-time purchase or HEALTHFORWARD100 to save $100 on the first three months of the Complete Plan Bundle

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Listener Question Mini-Series: Hormone Cycles

Hi friends! We have one last episode left of our summer - listener question series where I have been answering questions that you sent in for me to discuss here on the podcast. I’ve really enjoyed this series and hearing the questions that you guys have and the topics that you want to talk about. Today’s question is about hormones, which oddly enough is a topic that I really enjoy talking about! So let’s dive in!

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This listener asked a very intriguing question. She said she had seen a post talking about men’s hormones being compared to the sun’s cycle and women’s hormones being compared to the moon’s and was wondering if there was any truth to that. 

So here’s the deal. Women’s hormones and our hormone cycle are discussed a lot, but many people don’t realize that men also have a hormone cycle. They also don’t realize that men have the same main sex hormones as women - estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone - in very different amounts. 

So let’s talk about the male hormone cycle for a minute. Unlike women, men’s hormones operate on a 24-hour cycle and their primary sex hormone is testosterone. Generally speaking, a man’s testosterone levels peak in the morning, shortly after waking, and then gradually decline throughout the day, with their lowest levels occurring in the evening. Then their cycle starts all over the next day. However, in men, testosterone levels can be affected by their environment and emotions as well, so there can be fluctuations in levels during the day due to external circumstances. 

Women’s hormone cycles are quite a bit more complex. Generally speaking, women’s hormones operate on a 28-day cycle (although we know that number can fluctuate quite a bit) and estrogen and progesterone are the star players. Our cycles are broken down into 3 main phases: 

• The follicular phase begins on cycle day 1, or the first day of our period. During this phase, estrogen levels are rising and typically peak around cycle days 10-17. Testosterone levels also typically rise within this time leading up to ovulation. 

• Ovulation is the second phase of our cycle and only lasts for 1 day or a 24-hour period.

• After ovulation comes to the third phase which is called the luteal phase. During this phase, progesterone starts to peak and there is another rise in estrogen. If fertilization doesn’t occur, then all hormone levels decrease to their lowest points which triggers menstruation, and the cycle starts all over again. 

So in this way, the analogy used in this question is decently accurate. Men’s hormone cycles are often compared to the sun’s 24-hour cycle and a women’s is often compared to the 28-day cycle of moon phases. 

If you are interested in learning more about hormone health and specific hormonal conditions, check out these past episodes on PCOS, Endometriosis, and Infertility.

Listener Question Mini-Series: What Are Your Recommendations for Exercise?

Hi friends! Today is the second episode of our summer mini-series where I’m answering your questions and talking about topics that you want to discuss. A few weeks ago I reached out on Instagram and asked what questions you had for me. Y’all had quite a few questions about exercise, so today I’m going to answer those! Let’s get into it! 

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Exercise is something that we all have heard is good for us and know that we would be better off doing, but it’s also something that I often get questions about - specifically how much and what kind of exercise is best.

That’s exactly what a few of you asked and then also a bit more of a specific question - “Are cyclical exercises good for women?”

So let’s talk about basic recommendations first. 

General Exercise Recommendations:

The ACSM, WHO, and AHA- basically all the overseeing medical organizations - recommend at least 150 minutes of structured exercise per week. This definition of exercise is an increase in energy expenditure and elevated heart rate for a sustained amount of time. This can be broken up however best fits your life and schedule. For example - you could choose to do 30 minutes a day, 5 days per week, 20 minutes per day, 7 days per week, or even 1 hour per day, 3 days per week. You can really choose any combination that works for you as long as you are hitting at least 150 minutes per week and up to 300 minutes per week.

It’s also recommended that included in that time, there be at least 2 days of weight-bearing exercise or strength training. This can be done with just body weight or with added weight (i.e. dumbbells, bars, machines, etc.) 

As far as the method of exercise is concerned, that really is up to you and based on what your goals and exercise preferences are. Cyclical exercise can refer to two different things and I’m not sure which one this question is referring to, so I’ll just speak to both. 

Cyclical exercise is a type of interval training where you have a short period of very vigorous and intense exercise, then a rest period where you allow your heart rate to slow back to a resting rate. It’s very similar to HIIT-style workouts, with the difference being a longer recovery period in between exercises. This style of exercise is great for some people and can be very effective for building endurance and increasing heart rate variability, which most health professionals believe leads to better overall health. It isn’t for everyone though and can be too intense for those just starting out or those with certain medical conditions. 

Then there’s also the type of cyclical exercise which is a method where a woman chooses the type or style of exercise that you do based on what phase of the menstrual cycle she is in. Women’s bodies operate on a 28(ish) day cycle where multiple hormone levels fluctuate throughout the cycle. Many believe that women may be more inclined to enjoy certain types of exercise during certain phases of their cycle. For example, engaging in more intense or challenging type workouts during the latter part of the follicular phase, prior to ovulation, then choosing less intense, more restorative type exercises during the luteal phase of the cycle. 

This is a really interesting theory and actually extends far beyond just exercise recommendations. There are theories for syncing your cycle with types of food, productivity at work, creativity, and more. I could probably do an entire episode on that actually, so if that’s something you would like to know more about, let me know. 

As with anything health-related, there are tons of opinions and theories on exercise, but let’s just review the bottom line of what really matters when it comes to exercise. 

Does exercise really matter?

The one thing that everyone agrees on is that exercise improves all areas of our health. Strength training builds bone and muscle mass, which becomes more and more important as we age.  Building muscle burns more calories, which helps with weight loss. Exercise helps move the lymph in our bodies which increases efficiency of our detox pathways (this helps our livers, hormones, cognitive health, and so much more). Exercise improves cardiovascular health and mental health, as well as supports overall mood and decreases feelings of stress. Exercises also decreases chronic inflammation which helps everything in the body function better. I really could go on and on, but the point is that it matters and it’s worth the time and effort. 

How can we make exercise work for us?

So, how do we make it work for us? This is where things typically break down and we struggle to exercise consistently, despite what we know to be true. Here are a few tips that I think are helpful for making exercise work for us.

• Schedule it and put solid yellow lines around it (just like when driving, solid yellow lines means do not pass). 

• Add a friend. You’re much more likely to follow through if your friend is there waiting for you. 

• Choose an exercise that you enjoy! If you hate it, you won’t do it! 

• Don’t start with too much, too fast. If you injure yourself or even just end up super sore for a week, you’re less likely to go back and do it again. Start slow - just get moving! 

• Don’t underestimate the power of a walk! I guarantee you that if you go walk for just 10 minutes you will feel better than you did before. 

Some of my favorite at-home workout resources are Lindsey Bomgren’s online workout program at Nourish, Move, Love, and Robin Long’s online fitness community at Lindeywell. Another great option, especially if you’re struggling with body image or just need some extra encouragement in the area of exercise and health is Jess Connolly’s Good Body Gals online community workouts.

Also, if you have a gym membership, look for group classes (body pump, barre, group yoga, etc.) at your gym! Participating in a class increases the likelihood that you will be consistent by checking off a lot of the tips that I mentioned before. Joining my local body pump class has done wonders in helping me to be more consistent in exercising!

It’s always good to be reminded about the importance of exercise and I hope you’ll implement a few of the tips that I shared here today. If you want more information about exercise I have a few other full-length episodes dedicated to different aspects of exercise - The Benefits of Strength Training for Women with Cassidy Tipton, CPT and well as Exercise as Medicine with Amy Shafer, CPT

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Listener Question Mini-Series:

Hi friends!  Today’s episode kicks off a mini-series of shorter podcast episodes where I’m answering your questions and talking about topics that you suggested. Today’s question is a great one and provides me with an opportunity to talk about what I do as an Integrative Women’s Health Coach and some of the biggest blessings of my job. 

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A couple of weeks ago I asked you guys if there were topics you wanted me to talk about or questions that you’d like me to answer on the podcast, and I received great responses from you guys, so for the next few episodes, I’ll be covering those topics. 

The first question I had was what would I consider the biggest blessing about my job to be. I love this question because it’s totally outside the box of what I was expecting you guys to ask about and it provides me with an opportunity to talk about aspects of my job that I don’t talk about a lot on the podcast. 

So in case you aren’t aware, in addition to hosting this podcast, I am also an Integrative Women’s Health Coach. I work with women - usually in a one to one setting - to come alongside them and help support them with their health. This can look really general, with someone needing mainly support in strategizing or learning how to overcome obstacles that they’re facing with living a healthy lifestyle, or it can be more complex with someone dealing with chronic symptoms or a specific health issue - typically hormone or inflammation related. 

I truly love what I do and I had no idea what this would look like when I started my business but I’ve had the opportunity to serve some wonderful clients. 

I think the biggest blessing of my job is when I’m working with a client who experiences that “light bulb” moment when she’s able to connect the dots of something she’s been struggling with for a long time. Maybe it’s understanding that a lot of her symptoms are related and that there are things she can do to support healing in her body. Maybe it’s helping a client break free from some really toxic thoughts and beliefs she’s had about her body or her health. Maybe it’s empowering a mom in knowing how she can still take care of her own health and take care of her kids too. It can look very different depending on the client and what her personal obstacles are, but I just love that moment when she reaches a new level of understanding and confidence in how she cares for her health. 

As a health coach, “success” with a client doesn’t always look like a certain amount of weight lost or a particular fitness goal reached, but rather in seeing a woman take ownership over her health and truly see her health and body as gifts to steward and be thankful for, rather than a negative thing that she has to endure in this life. 

I’m so thankful for the opportunity that I have to pursue this dream that I had and what I feel God has called me to in this season. God has provided for me in so many ways to be able to do this work and to be in control of my time, especially when my daughter is young and at home with me. I’m just really thankful for all of it. 

---

Thanks for this question. It was an excellent reminder of how much I love my job and am thankful for it. If you are interested in knowing more about becoming a client, you can find more information and schedule a free consult call with me here.

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Why Optimal Magnesium Levels Matter with Kristen Bowen

In today's episode, Kristen Bowen, from Living the Good Life Naturally, is sharing the importance of optimal magnesium levels and how it affects the body. She also explains how we can know if we are deficient and how to get back to optimal levels to support our health.

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Questions answered in this episode…

How did you start helping people with their health and specifically focusing on magnesium?

Why do you think it’s so important for overall health to really own your own health journey? 

Let’s talk about magnesium for a bit: Why is magnesium so important and what does it do in the body?

Is magnesium deficiency common among women? How can someone know if they are deficient?

Can magnesium deficiency contribute to hormonal imbalances or reproductive challenges? 

What is transdermal magnesium and why is it better than an oral magnesium supplement?

Can Epsom salts help in a similar way to transdermal magnesium?

What protocol do you typically recommend for transdermal magnesium supplementation?

Where can people learn more about ordering magnesium? 

Resources mentioned in this episode: Magnesium soak, magnesium muscle cream, magnesium lotion - USE CODE HF10 for 10% off your order.
Living the Good Life Naturally youtube education videos; follow Kristen on Instagram

Find more from Kristen here.

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Health Tips for Traveling

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

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

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

Set yourself up for an easier trip by packing well

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

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

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

Allow yourself to enjoy the trip

• Think about vacation meals ahead of time:

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

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

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

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

Plan for re-entry into reality

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

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

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Prioritizing Your Health as a Mom

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

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

• Time 

• Hectic schedules

• Exhaustion 

• Lack of motivation 

• Body image struggles 

• Guilt when taking time for yourself

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Making Family Meals Less Stressful with Ashley Smith, MPH, RD, LD

In today's episode, Ashley Smith, RD from Veggies and Virtue, is sharing practical and encouraging tips to help take the stress out of family meals. She offers resources and strategies to empower both kids and parents to overcome the challenges of picky eating and mealtime drama.

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Questions answered in this episode…

How did you decide to specialize in pediatric nutrition?

What are some of the most common challenges you see in working with families? 

What is the division of responsibility and how does that apply to feeding our kids?

It seems so common for meal times to be chaotic and a source of stress with young children, especially when they are of age to express their opinions. One of my absolute favorite things that I’ve learned from you over the past couple of years is your Love It, Like It, Learn It method for preparing a child’s plate. Can you share what that is and how it helps to alleviate a lot of this mealtime stress?

Another tip that I learned from you is how you set up your snack drawer/snack availability for your kids. Can you share more about that?

What are a few other helpful tips that you use to make mealtimes less stressful, especially with kids who really like to eat the same things all the time or maybe are hesitant to try new foods?

What advice would you give to the mom listening who is really concerned about their kid’s nutrient intake or how they are/aren’t eating?

You have a ton of resources on your website - both free downloads and a store - and you just recently just started a podcast as well. Tell us a little bit about that as well as what people can find on your site. 

Resources mentioned in this episode: Veggie and Virtue Combination Cards; The Veggies and Virtue Podcast

Find more from Ashley here.

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"My Endo Story": Rachel Daugherty and Cassie Lawson

March is Endometriosis Awareness Month and in this episode, I'm sharing the stories of two more of my friends who also have Endometriosis. As they share their symptoms, experiences with various forms of treatment, and how their lives have been affected, you will hear many complexities of this common condition. Please help us in continuing to spread awareness by sharing this episode with your friends and family members who may also be affected by Endometriosis.

LISTEN HERE: APPLE PODCASTS | SPOTIFY | GOOGLE

Resources mentioned in this episode: Endometriosis episodes on the Health Forward Podcast; Nancy's Nook Education Facebook Page

Topics in this episode:

When did you first start experiencing symptoms and what were they?

In what way did these symptoms affect your life?

How did you realize it was endo?

What course of treatment did you decide to do?

Where are you on the journey now? 

What do you wish more people knew about endo?

"My Endo Story": Kellie Shortridge and Kayla Collins

March is Endometriosis Awareness Month and in this episode, I'm sharing the stories of two of my friends who also have Endometriosis. As they share their symptoms, experiences with various forms of treatment, and how their lives have been affected, you will hear many complexities of this common condition. Please help us in continuing to spread awareness by sharing this episode with your friends and family members who may also be affected by Endometriosis.

LISTEN HERE: APPLE PODCASTS | SPOTIFY | GOOGLE

Resources mentioned in this episode: Endometriosis episodes on the Health Forward Podcast; Nancy's Nook Education Facebook Page

Topics in this episode:

When did you first start experiencing symptoms and what were they?

In what way did these symptoms affect your life?

How did you realize it was endo?

What course of treatment did you decide to do?

Where are you on the journey now? 

What do you wish more people knew about endo?

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What Weight Loss Is Really About with Camille Martin, RD

Hi friends! I’m excited to share today’s episode with you as I think it’s a topic that many of us can relate to - weight loss. Camille Martin of Love to Lose is our guest on today’s show. She is a registered dietitian and public health writer who has dedicated her career to helping women get off of the dieting merry-go-round and actually set helpful goals for their health. You guys know that I talk about goals and mindset often and it’s something that I think is so important in anyone’s health journey, so I think Camille’s perspective on how those things affect weight loss is going to be helpful for you!

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Topics in this episode…

Weight loss is a common goal for most women, whether it's just a few lbs or a major weight loss goal. You say that in reality, it’s not about the actual weight, right? Can you explain what you mean by that and what you believe it is about instead?

How do mindset and the kind of goals we set affect whether or not we experience progress in our health journey? 

How does this affect women who are dealing with specific health issues? How can they focus on improving their symptoms without becoming obsessed with their health?

What is one practical action step that women can take today that will actually help move them forward with their health goals?

Learn more about Camille Martin of Love to Lose.