Episode 172 - Sisterly Catch Up: Sharing Our Sleep Struggles, Binge-Worthy Shows, Fave Workouts, And More (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 172.

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here.

SPEAKER_00:

Welcome to Nirvana Sisters podcast, where we take the intimidation out of well-being and beauty to help you achieve your highest state, your nirvana. We are sisters-in-law and your hosts.

SPEAKER_01:

I'm Amy Sherman. And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation. I'm so tired.

SPEAKER_00:

You want to kick it off? Oh, I'm. Yeah. Do you notice? I just I don't know if you have this with Adam, but I do this to all the time. Like if he says I'm tired, I'm like, oh, my God, I'm so tired. It's like a competition. Yes. So when you just said I'm so tired, I'm like, yeah, me too. I got like no sleep last night. So let's start off with that. So Nirvana Sisters family, Kate and I decided we just needed to catch up. And speaking of sleep, my sleep has been horrible, which is so unusual for me. First of all, I have a cold, so that's probably why. But I think I have a cold because I've been sleeping like not great the last few weeks, probably from stress. But I don't know if it's time of year. I don't know what it is. Have you been feeling that way?

SPEAKER_01:

I have been sleeping fine, but I'm having a really hard time falling asleep. Mm hmm. I'm waking up so tired. I don't. So my like one of my superpowers is I either a wake up before the alarm or B, I wake up with the alarm and I shut it off and I get right up and start my day with no problem. I had that hasn't been me though for a while and it's driving me crazy because like the first half of my day I'm in a sleepy fog like I am right now. Story of my life, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

At night I'm like wired. This is me. This is what's been happening to me lately. It's driving me crazy. And then you get in this pattern of like being a night owl. So last night, for example, this is terrible. I was up late. I was like tired, but then I got wired. So I ended up watching the season finale of Tell Me Lies at like, I don't know, one in the morning. Probably didn't fall asleep till two. I just couldn't fall asleep. And then I was watching that show, of course. And, you know, it was amazing. If anyone's not watching Tell Me Lies, it's such a good like, you know, binger of a show. But anyway, same thing.

SPEAKER_01:

It's driving me insane. I don't I. First of all, if I stayed up that late, I wouldn't be here right now, so I don't even know how you're doing it.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I know. I'm like running on empty right now.

SPEAKER_01:

Late for me is like 11, but you know, I always go to bed early.

SPEAKER_00:

So, I don't know. What's a good time of sleep for you to go to bed? Is it like 9 or 10?

SPEAKER_01:

My most ideal time to fall asleep is between 10 and 10.30, if I wake up earlier, great. But you know, I'm usually up at like 5. So yeah, if I was two and got up at five, I'd be dead meat.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, so my ideal time to fall asleep is between 10.30 and 11, and then get up around seven, which is usually my routine. But I'm finding I'm having a hard time to stick to that routine right now, because I think what's happening, I was explaining this to Stu too, and I don't know if you feel this way, I'm sure you do. I feel like I'm so busy during the day, and then by the time you finish dinner and do the things you have to do, it's like then you have no downtime to yourself, and I feel like my only downtime is nine or 10 o'clock at night. 100%. And then it's like I don't have a wind down routine and it's like you really need to start the wind down routine at like eight o'clock, but we're still doing stuff at eight o'clock at night. So I got to like redo our whole schedule.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, that's 100% without a doubt part of our problem. And I kind of think a little bit has to do with back to school and like getting the girls back into the back to school routine. Yeah. Madeline also is now getting to the age where she wants to stay up later. So not getting into I used to put the girls to bed and be in bed, like turning my TV on ready to have my me time by like 805. Yeah, forget it. It's not happening till like 9 or 9.30.

SPEAKER_00:

Right. I mean, I don't even really. I mean, Jules is in ninth grade, Jackson's in 12, so it's not like I put them to bed anymore. But like I also was traveling to L.A. last weekend and it was a great trip, but it was like Friday to Sunday, which was totally fine in the moment. But then I think it's taken me like a week to catch up just from like traveling and like a long flight and the jet lag and whatever. hence why I have a cold and yada yada but yeah I think it's a hectic time of year and I'm glad I'm talking to you and you feel the same way because we all just need to take a step back and breathe because I just feel like I'm it's also I'm stressed because it's Jackson's senior year and there's like all this college stuff and like there's a thousand things going on so I'm just having a hard time balancing it so I'm trying to go back to all the things that we talked about like I'm trying to do my breathing I'm trying to like really hone in on it, but I think the sleep, if I can, to your point, get it organized where I can wind down earlier and get in bed by 10.30 or so, then at least I feel like if I get my sleep schedule back, then everything else will fall into place. I also have eight sleep, which I don't know if we've talked about before. Did we talk about eight sleep?

SPEAKER_01:

I don't know if we've covered it yet.

SPEAKER_00:

Do you know what it is?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, you've told me about it.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Just for our audience, if you don't know what eight sleep is, it's changed the game. Well, obviously, the last two weeks, I haven't been sleeping well. So taking that aside before that changed the game on sleeping.

SPEAKER_01:

You get into eight sleep. Yeah. I can't help but think like, as the season's changing part of it, and just like, Oh, and everything can't be alone, right?

SPEAKER_00:

Now, I'm sure our listeners and other people are feeling the same way because I feel like all my friends feel the same way right now, too. It's just like that time of year where it's very hectic. And I always feel like that, too, when the seasons change. It's like, I don't know, your body just feels different sometimes.

SPEAKER_01:

those things off. Okay, so Eight Sleep, yeah, you told me so many.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, yeah, Eight Sleep is amazing. I won't go super in depth, I'll talk about it on a Product Junkies episode, but it's basically this mattress cover that you can put on top of your mattress and it heats and cools and you can program it. And not only does it do that, it captures all your biometrics. So I can see last night, where's my phone? I can see, well, I don't even wanna tell you my sleep scores, they're probably horrible. but you can get your sleep scores. Actually, my sleep score wasn't terrible. For some reason, it says my sleep quality was 90%. which isn't bad, because I thought I didn't sleep so good. But anyway, it gives you your sleep fitness score, tells you the quality of your sleep, it tells you how much REM sleep versus deep sleep. So it gives you all of the data, and it also auto-optimizes the temperature based on how you're sleeping. It also captures your snoring, it captures how long it took you to fall asleep, it captures your heart rate variability, all that kind of stuff. So it's really cool for data nerds, which I know you are, but the best thing about it is just You know, you can get in if you like a warm bed at night or a cold bed, you can schedule the temperature and it just turns on and you get into bed and it's like nice and warm or nice and cold. And then it also, you can change it throughout the night. So if you want it to be cool all night, you can make it cool all night. And then in the morning, you can set it so it gets warmer because you naturally will wake up with like a warmer temperature. You can naturally wake up with a warmer temperature. So like it helps you to wake up. And then my favorite part is the thermal alarm. The bed wakes you up with like a gentle vibration, like a tap. It's almost like someone's tapping you to wake up. Game changer. So you don't wake up with like an alarm sound. I mean, it takes the sunrise alarm clock to the next level because it's not even it's just like a light little tap. But anyway, that's been like my favorite sleep hack or sleep tool. Just not lately. So I got to get my routine back in check.

SPEAKER_01:

Does it have two zones for the temperature? Yes. Your partner wants a different temperature.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. So Stu always sleeps hot. And now he's literally not hot when he sleeps anymore. He puts the cold down and it goes down to like minus 10 or plus 10. And I think he only puts it on like minus two and it's cold enough, which is crazy. It's very it's an it's an incredible. Product anyway. OK, so sleep, we're not doing good, but we need to do better, so.

SPEAKER_01:

I feel like my diet has been pretty on point. I've been focusing a lot on whole foods lately. In the summertime, I think my diet flies off a little bit because there's just so much celebratory Like it's just so it's like a time where you're on vacation. Yeah. We're entertaining a lot. So I've been trying to hone that in and get more into just like really, really focusing on on eating whole foods, which I think is always such an easy hack to get your diet tuned in. You know, it's like I'm not calorie counting. I'm not. Yeah. Not like restricting anything except for really like processed crap. Right. And focusing on whole foods like 80, 20, 90, 10, maybe. Yeah. So I'm like, if I can get my sleep dialed in, then I think I'll be feeling really, really good. What about you? Have you tried anything new lately? Any new good? I'm trying to think if I've had any good... What's one of the best snacks that are like healthy snacks?

SPEAKER_00:

I know. I'm like crazy with snacks. I feel like I always have good snacks. I do have like some good, I mean... Like I like my chickpea snacks. I got these really good. I don't well, they're gluten-free and These somewhat healthy a little like snacks from a Costco these like organic little yogurt covered fruit things which are good. I Feel like we have good snacks. I feel like my my eating has been healthy ish, but like not full meals, which is always my problem. It's like I'll graze all day on healthy things, but like I'll have carrots and hummus and then I'll have like, I don't know, one of my protein bagels and then I'll have this. Like I'm not lately. I'm not sitting down to eat like to your point, a full meal with like whole foods where there's, you know, a carb, a protein and a vegetable. Like, do you know what I mean? Like, I'm not.

SPEAKER_01:

It's because you haven't been as hungry. You're just like too busy.

SPEAKER_00:

I think it's both and like lazy. I just want like things made. Like my go-to is always like hard boiled eggs or tuna or like, it's just like one thing. It's not like a full meal. So do you know what I mean? Like, or even if I make dinner at night, I'm always like, okay, I'll make chicken. And then I'm like, wait, I need something else with it, like rounding it out. So I always need like inspo. But like, I look at some of the people that we follow, like Katkin Cook, and I get ideas, but it's like, I, I'm not organized enough to get stuff in advance. So like, sometimes I'll do that, but I've just been inconsistent.

SPEAKER_01:

You know what I feel like is the best hack for that is, is adding sweet potatoes. It's because sweet, they're so good for you and they are filled with fiber and they are just really, they're like, I love sweet potatoes and you can literally, I mean, it's not the best thing, but if you're in a time crunch, pop it in the microwave and it's done in like minutes.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I also have the sweet potatoes that just reminds me in the freezer, like those ones that are like already cuts. You can put them in like in the toaster. I forgot about those. My kids don't eat sweet potatoes, though. Stu and I do. Do your kids eat sweet potatoes?

SPEAKER_01:

Maddie does. Reese, I mean, I don't even know how Reese exists.

SPEAKER_00:

Is she still just eating pasta or what is she eating?

SPEAKER_01:

No, she eats at least at like the best I can get in her is like nuts and seeds, seaweed, sugar snap peas, cucumbers. But then asides from that, all she wants is like pasta, rice, or processed crap.

SPEAKER_00:

That's it. Yeah, it's just in that phase.

SPEAKER_01:

I can't get her to eat protein. Don't get me wrong, she'll eat some McDonald's chicken nuggets if I give them to her. Right. I mean, it's like, it's brutal. And the thing that's scary is it's not totally a phase. It's been this way since she started.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. It's hard. So what do you do? Just keep trying? I just keep trying. Exactly. But at least she's getting in some of those healthy snacks.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, she does. And she'll, you know, she'll eat like good granola and she'll eat a protein bar, which isn't the best, but that's like, that's practically the only way I can get protein in her, a smoothie.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Smoothie is good. I have to get back on my smoothie game. I feel like I go through phases with smoothies. Like I do love smoothies, but then, and I get in a phase of making them all the time and then I got out of it. So that's always like a good go-to. I feel like I have to remember that.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, sometimes if I'm really tired when I get home from work, I'll just make a smoothie with like some good protein powder in it.

SPEAKER_00:

I know. I feel like that too. Lately for dinner, I don't, I'm not craving a big dinner, but obviously living in a house of boys, like they want like a big dinner. And I'm always like, I could have a smoothie or I could have cereal. Like I just don't crave a big dinner, but they're all like ravenous. So I have to figure out like what to make or what to get them. And we've also been like getting a lot of like takeout, not bad takeout, like kava and things like that. But you know, it's just,

SPEAKER_01:

Did I say on Stories recently, you shared something like when my 15-year-old's $3 hamburger gets delivered and it's a fail? Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, yeah. It's like they're out of control with the DoorDash. It's crazy. Okay, switching topics because we didn't talk about this and I think you watched Nobody Wants This, right, on Netflix? So good. So amazing. Well, first of all, it was so cute because of the podcast Sister. So I was like, yeah. And you know, it's based on Erin and Sarah Foster from World's First podcast.

SPEAKER_01:

I didn't actually know that. Yeah. And so somebody told me that after I watched it.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, it's it's based on a true story. It's exaggerated. I heard her talking about it. Like, Erin Foster, who's the creator of the show, married a Jewish guy and converted, not a rabbi, but it's like loosely based on that. And that's where the idea came from. And they have their podcast and whatever. So I loved it. It was so good. We watched it in like a day.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I watched it like the last two weeks. And it's really, I mean, Kristen Bell is so cute. So cute. Adam Brody, adorable. Adam Brody. Yeah, he's so cute. That's a great show. I totally recommend it. Remember The O.C. ? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Was he? Was it the OC or? He was on one of those shows.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Yeah, no, you're right.

SPEAKER_00:

You're right. Yeah. Like back in the day.

SPEAKER_01:

What is Tell Me Lies? Because Adam came into the room last night. He was driving home from the airport and he's like, I talked to my mom and dad for an hour and they told me about this show that I should watch, but I definitely shouldn't watch with them.

SPEAKER_00:

Wait, who told him to watch this? Your parents. Oh, I know. This is the most great show. Watch the show. Oh, you can't watch it with the kids. It's so yeah. So first of all, that is hilarious because my parents I forgot my parents told me they were watching that. Like I watched Tell Me Lies season one. um whenever it came out right and like never even talked to my parents about it because i would never think that they would watch that and then the other day they're like oh yeah we're what we're catching up on tell me lies i'm like are you joking like i cannot believe they like it because it's about like college kids and it's so there's so much sex and craziness but like hilarious i thought it was about like affairs it's not about it no well it's basically about a toxic relationship between these two main characters and but it's based like in 90s college. It's so good. I'm so jealous you haven't watched it because you can watch all of season one and now binge all of season two. It's so good. But it's like one of those where it's like, it's bad but good. You know what I mean? But it really depicts sort of this toxic relationship.

SPEAKER_01:

Like it's like a guilty pleasure kind of watching.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, exactly. But it does cover like topics and different things for sure. But yeah, just watch it.

SPEAKER_01:

And then Adam would get into it because he, you know, he never watches anything with me.

SPEAKER_00:

I don't know. He doesn't really watch TV, does he?

SPEAKER_01:

Except the news. All we ever watch together is Curb Your Enthusiasm. And then we watch Schitt's Creek for a while. That's like, yeah, I mean,

SPEAKER_00:

I don't know what kind of shows he likes. I mean, Stu, I feel like watched it maybe with me in the beginning, but then was sort of like whatever. But I love all those shows with like school, college, high school, like any of that stuff. And apparently my parents do too. So I feel like he might have watched it, but then like wasn't as into it as I. Adam might like it. I mean, everyone's like good looking and it's like college and it's like fun and it's like sex and it's crazy. You know, it's it's so good. So, yeah, season two came out. I watched all that. Watched the last episode last night. It was the I guess I'm pretty sure it was the season finale for season two. So put that on your list because like if you have anywhere to go, just like download a bunch of shows and watch it. You'll love it. But you yeah, you cannot watch it around the girls. It is like It's too graphic. It's too graphic. Not every scene, but there's definitely like, you can't, no way.

SPEAKER_01:

I just got into, so I don't know why, when, or where it happened, but I have turned into the biggest history geek. I have just all of a sudden become obsessed with history and with war. History and what? History and war. Oh, okay. Yeah. It's so, so random. So I'm reading one book about the fall of the Ottoman Empire. So random. This other show, this show that I just started watching two days ago, it's insanely good. It's called 1883. It's on Amazon Prime. Have you heard of it?

SPEAKER_00:

No, but Stu probably has because he loves all that stuff.

SPEAKER_01:

It's so good. First of all, the main characters are Tim McGraw and Faith Hill. So they're married in real life and they're married in the show. Oh, okay. And then Sam Elliott, which you would know who he is as soon as you see him. Oh yeah, I know who he is. He's great. Amazing. And then there's these crazy cameos, like Tom Hanks makes a cameo, Billy Bob Thornton.

SPEAKER_00:

Is it new? What's it called? 1883?

SPEAKER_01:

I don't know when it came out, but it's about early settlers in the West, and it really depicts what the Wild West was like. Oh, that's cool. In that era. But it's just really well done with the characters and the acting and the actors and everything. Every episode there's another cameo of some insane actor. So it's really good. I'm only on episode four. That's interesting. Did you watch Game of Thrones? I did. I never finished it, though.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh, OK. Because there's another show, which I think is in the second season. I forget what it's called. The House of Dragons. Yeah, it's the prequel. We've been catching up on that. But it's funny because we loved Game of Thrones and we liked this show when it first came out. And now we're on season, I guess it's season two. But it's never like our first choice because it's like you have to be like ready to watch it. Like I'm finding that I just like these tell me lies and like nobody wants it's just like these easy So you're not like thinking too much. You're just like zoning out.

SPEAKER_01:

That's a little bit, I feel like 1883 is kind of an in-between of that. So I was into these really, really heavy shows. And I'm trying to think of what I just finished that was so good, but it was heavy. It was called The Lioness, and it was about the Middle East. Before that, I watched We Were the Lucky Ones, which, have you seen that? I've never heard of that. It's a true story. I could cry thinking about it. It follows a family that survived the Holocaust. And I didn't know that it was Come like a completely true story until the very end. Oh my god So you pictures of the family and of the people and they tell you where they're gonna have chills? Yes, I was I'm not kidding. I was sobbing I was sobbing crying when they when I realized that it was a true story. Oh my god I mean, it's I it's a definite recommend, but it's heavy obviously.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, you got to be prepared. What channels that is that prime also?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah was I think hulu

SPEAKER_00:

OK, I just wrote it down. I want to watch that. So you have to be prepared. Yeah. I watched this other speaking of true stories and again, speaking of my parents, because they're the one who told me about this show called Under the Bridge. Oh yeah, I've heard of it. Yeah, that's on, I want to say Hulu as well. And that's a true story, not as heavy as like, well, it's heavy because it's about, it's about someone who dies and I didn't.

SPEAKER_01:

Is that the great actress from Handmaid's Tale? The same woman?

SPEAKER_00:

No, it's, I'm trying to think who's in it that you would know. You know the main, this is so random, the main star in it is the woman from, did you watch Daisy and the Six? Yes. The main character? She's totally different in this show, but she's one of the main characters in this.

SPEAKER_01:

By the way, that's Elvis Presley's granddaughter. It is? Yeah. That's Lisa Marie Presley's daughter.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh my God. I had no idea.

SPEAKER_01:

Daisy and the Six?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Yeah. It's her name.

SPEAKER_01:

I don't even know her name, but I just read that recently. It's Elvis Presley's granddaughter. Isn't that cool?

SPEAKER_00:

Wow. That's really cool. I did not know that. So she's one of the main characters in this Tommy in this under the bridge show. And it's sad. It's about this like group of girls in high school. One of the girls dies. And it's a true story. But that was also good, but like heavy, dark, but but good. And my parents randomly told me about that one, too.

SPEAKER_01:

Let's talk a little bit about exercise because you've got a tonal.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, so I know I haven't talked about this. I mean, you know it, but I haven't really mentioned it. So I got a tonal, was it back in the spring? I want to say maybe April-ish and I've been using it ever since and like you've talked about it obviously on the show and it's great and I love it and it's definitely like Between that and Melissa Health, I found my groove, although the last few weeks since I've been stressed and busy and feeling under the weather, I haven't been working out as much, so I need to get back to it. I mean, I've done a workout or two a week, but nothing. hardcore, but the tonal is amazing. I think it's such incredible technology because what I find is like when I use the weights there, like if you were just to use free weights, you would just use the same weights all the time. You would never change them up or maybe you would, but there's no like formula. And I just like that you don't have to think about it. You can press the button and it automatically just like optimizes it and like you can beat your personal records and like it just does it. So there's no thought. You just do the class. But It's funny, now it's like, I feel like, and I don't know if you got to this phase with tonal, because I've been doing it a lot. First of all, I feel much better, I feel stronger, I'm starting to see more definition, which I love, but I'm getting to a point now where it's getting hard, it's getting heavier, and it's like I worked out last week and the weight was heavy, so I was really sore the next day for a few days. Is that what happens?

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, I mean, that's what happens because it's during progressive overload, which to your point is exactly what's so amazing about it. But that's the only way that you gain strength. Yeah, I get it. Because then it makes the workouts like a little less exciting a little harder. Yeah. like grit to get up and go and do it. I totally get what you're saying. But you can also, if it's too much, you can also manually change it.

SPEAKER_00:

Right, scale it back just depending on how you're feeling. One of the things I was going to ask you, I think I mentioned this before, I'm also finding, this is so weird, but like with the tonal, since, you know, it's like the handles, I find that like when it's heavy, it's not that I can't do it, but sometimes my hands and my wrists are like weak. Like they're not strong enough to almost pull up the weight, but like my, body is strong enough. Does that make sense? It's like heavy in my hands and then it like hurts my wrists.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, but that's also just literally... It's your grip strength.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. I need to work on that. I used to have like a grip like little thingy at my desk and I lost it. I want to get another one of those because I'm realizing I'm like, I feel like my grip strength is really weak.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. I mean, just working out on the tunnel will improve your grip strength.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I would do that for sure. Yeah. So I've just really been doing tonal, Melissa Wood Health and walks. That's pretty much it. What about you?

SPEAKER_01:

Tonal, I do the weightlifting, of course. And then I also will do the occasional yoga program on there if I don't just want to do my own flow. I actually got with the bird of paradise the other day, which was kind of crazy. You start with your body and a lunge and you bind your arm under your thigh and around your back and then from being down you then stand up and you've got like your leg is like wrapped in your arm and you're bound up.

SPEAKER_00:

Oh my god, I don't know how you did that.

SPEAKER_01:

I did it. It was very cool. And then I got the Nice Day Stair Stepper that was all over TikTok. Oh, right. We bought that, too, because you had it. Yeah, I love it. I'm obsessed with it. It's such a good cardio workout for me. And it is lifting my glutes, which I need. I love it.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, we have to post this. How much was it? $40? $50? I think $60. Oh, $60? Yeah. It's literally like a tiny little stair stepper. And Katie brought it over the summer when we were together to the beach. Well, actually, I tried it at your house and then you brought it to the beach. And it's like, it's so good. I forget about that because you know what? We bought it and then Stu put it in his office because he uses it all the time. Good. He uses it more than I do. And then I like forgot about it because it's I don't see it when I go downstairs. But it's great. I know I need to use that more. I find myself like wanting to do like tonal workouts more than that because it's like cardio. And I'm like, I don't feel like doing cardio. But to your point, like if you literally just go on that and watch Tell Me Lies, you're like, that's exactly what I do.

SPEAKER_01:

I'll get on there and I'll put on something like Usually if I'm working out, it's it's during the day, so I won't get into anything heavy. I'll put on something stupid like something sunset and I'll just like pump away for 30 minutes. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

I need to, that's a good one. We'll, we'll, we'll put that up on our feed because that's like an easy thing that you could just like travel with or just put in your office, whatever. And the other thing I wanted to share with you, which I didn't share with you is shout out to my friend Victoria. She gave me, or she told me about this product. It's the TheraBody Face Smart Goggles. Have you seen these? They're these goggles you put on, you know, Therabody, like they have all these face products now, like different things. It's literally these goggles you put on and you charge them and you press a button and they're like, they like massage your temples and your face. So you told me about it. Oh, did I? It's amazing for headaches. It's amazing for like if you've been looking at the computer screen all day. So back to the sleep deal, I've been trying to just use that at night as a way to like It's like a really good way to wind down. So my friend Victoria told me about it and I bought it and it's really, it's great.

SPEAKER_01:

Really helps with headaches. Another great way to wind down. I think I'm going to do it tonight. Take an Epsom salt bath before you go. It definitely helps get you into sleeping mode faster.

SPEAKER_00:

I need to just do that. Also, we have the sauna and that helps too. I think the outcome is we need to start our wind down routine earlier.

SPEAKER_01:

and just get back into the groove. I have to go because I'm going to go get IV therapy. I'm hoping it's going to perk me up. Good.

SPEAKER_00:

All right. Well, I hope you all have enjoyed this episode of our chit-chatting and catching up, and we'll see you next week. Thanks for listening to Nirvana Sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes, please subscribe and leave us a review. Also find us on Instagram at Nirvana Sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would, please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana Sisters. We'll continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.

Episode 169 - From Kitchen to Consciousness: The Power of Food and Energy with Chef Whitney Aronoff (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 169.

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here or view our podcast episode guide.

SPEAKER_02:

Welcome to Nirvana Sisters podcast, where we take the intimidation out of well-being and beauty to help you achieve your highest state, your nirvana. We are sisters-in-law and your hosts.

SPEAKER_01:

I'm Amy Sherman. And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation. Welcome back to the show, Nirvana Sisters family. It is Amy and Katie, and today we are sitting down with Chef Whitney Aronoff. She's the host of High Vibration Living Podcast and founder of Starseed Kitchen Organic Spices. Chef Whitney works as a holistic chef in Laguna Beach, California. She shares her healthy recipes and wellness insights on her website, starseedkitchen.com. Passionate about empowering people to cook healthy, supportive, nourishing meals. Because the healthiest meal you can eat is the one you can make at home. Chef Whitney shares insights on all the ways to nourish your physical, emotional, spiritual, and mental bodies. Star Seed Kitchen Organic Spice Wins combines Chef Whitney's culinary and spiritual knowledge. These products bring more flavor, color, and nourishment into your daily cooking routine. Each jar is charged with Kundalini mantras and quartz Giza crystals to raise the vibration of every meal, which sounds so intriguing and we are really excited to have you here. So thank you, Whitney, for sitting down with us today. Welcome. Thank you. Absolutely. So we like to always kick off with a little nirvana of the week, something that just brought you some joy. I know, we haven't done this in a while. I know, that's been a while. And we're never together, so it's great. So Amy, you want to kick off so we can get the flow started? Yes. What was your nirvana this week?

SPEAKER_02:

I would say this vacation. So we're on vacation together, our whole families. So Katie's my sister-in-law, so it's my brother, sister-in-law, her family, my family, my parents and our cousins just got here. So just a nice big family week off of work, just kind of disconnecting. So it's been really, really great.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, mine is obviously definitely the same to narrow the scope a little bit. I would say these mornings where we've been getting up, if you don't get up at 7 a.m. and put your chairs out, you don't get front row seat on the beach because it's crazy here, people. It's so crowded. So those quiet mornings that we've had, we've been going down really early with our coffee. No one's on the beach yet. Those have been some serious nirvanas. This morning, we did it together.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, very nice. What about you, Whitney?

SPEAKER_00:

Um, I would, I'd have to say was going down to the beach after work one time this week. So just going down at four o'clock and it's just so nice after a long day to just do a quick beach walk, to get grounded and dive into the water. And it just fully resets you. And, you know, you feel like you're doing something a little naughty by going to the beach at the end of the day. Um, but it just, it feels so good and it really uplifts your spirit.

SPEAKER_02:

And you're lucky. Where are you in California? You're in Laguna Beach, you said? Yeah. Yeah. Oh, so beautiful. Amazing.

SPEAKER_01:

Jealous. I think it's one of the most beautiful places in our country by far. Oh, thank you. Yeah, it's gorgeous. All right. Well, let's get started. So this is all very intriguing. I'm curious about the kundalini mantras and the crystals and everything that you put into your spices. But there's a deeper backstory. You tell us a little bit. How did you get into this? It was in efforts to heal an autoimmune condition. Is that is that right?

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, but I also just think, you know, we all have those things that we're immediately drawn to when we're kids. And, you know, so A lot of people, they ask that type of question, like, when did you get into this? Like, I don't know. I was born this way. Like, I was always the only kid that was into crystals. I'm telling you, nobody was interested. I was just always into, like, I remember as a seven-year-old kid being into that one friend's mom who did tarot cards. Like, I've just always been into the spiritual side of life. And it just naturally came about more and more as I personally struggled with gut issues and health issues growing up. I was always really healthy. I thought I ate healthy, always exercised, was always on sports teams. But then, you know, just as I got older and I would hold in my emotions because I wanted to act appropriate or show up the way that I thought I was supposed to show up, you know, I started to have gut issues that were probably emotional based. And I started to have gut issues, which were probably based on the food I was eating, because a lot of the food that we thought was healthy in the 90s It's heavily processed food. It's, you know, sugar-free frozen yogurt and margarine. It was just massive amounts of fake food that we thought was health food. So for me, it was probably a combination of the food and emotions that I was just holding everything in. And so I started to have, you know, gut issues and chronic fatigue and all different things that would come up. And I'd go to different doctors. No one could tell me. you know, how to make this go away. And I just started to realize after spending thousands of dollars going to doctors in LA, in New York, you know, going through phases where I wouldn't have my period and, you know, no doctors would help me. They would just want to write me prescriptions for, you know, Estrogen when I was like 23 years old, just like things that were going to throw off my body even more. Um, it was just like constant cascade of like bad advice from doctors and then it making my body worse that I just hit a tipping point that I just thought like, I'm in this body. I know what I'm feeling. I know what I'm experiencing. I know what it feels like to look great and feel great. And I know. when I'm the opposite and I have to trust my gut and I have to figure out how to heal myself because nobody out there is going to be able to do it for me. And so I just tried to figure out how can I teach myself and ultimately I decided what I felt for me was I needed to start with food. I needed to go to a health supportive culinary school where I could have just as many classes with health supportive chefs, like learning to make food from scratch, but the traditional way, you know, like, do I really need to soak my rice? What really needs to be washed? What really needs to be sprouted? Like just real traditional. slow cooking, as well as classes with registered dietitians that knew what the government was telling us is healthy versus what traditional wisdom tells us is healthy, right? Because not every registered dietitian is telling us the right information that's really going to heal us. It's a part of a controlled curriculum. So I just wanted to get the whole picture so I could figure out what was right for me. And then apply it. And what I what I found was when I upgraded my food, when I upgraded my diet, yes, I felt amazing and looked amazing. But all that did was lay the foundation for me to then be able to address all the emotional stuff that I had been holding in all these years. And when the food was right, then all the other stuff could just kind of fall off. It was so much easier to use a variety of practices that exist out there whether you want to go to talk therapy or you want to do hands-on healing or you want to go to you know someone that's going to help you learn tapping or just pull the emotions out of your body like there's there's thousands of modalities that exist in this world that are beautiful that are helpful that were But I really think you have to get the food and your diet and lifestyle right so the stuff can start to fall off more easily. It shouldn't be hard for you to let go of the stuff that you've buried to keep you safe. Like, there comes a point where you gotta let it go so you can live and be healthy.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, it's interesting. It sounds like you're a combination of self-awareness, self-advocating, and then really eager to know, to want to get back to feeling great. Because I think to your point, a lot of people, they don't always feel great and know how to get back to that. They start feeling lousy and they forget. And you remembered and it's you made it your life's mission to not only get back to that, but to help others get to it as well. Yeah. I'm also really interested just as a sidebar, how much of like a polar difference is there between that traditional wisdom, how food should be prepared, what we should be eating, versus all of this like government-recommended things. I think that's really interesting.

SPEAKER_00:

Huge. It was really sad. I have to be honest. When I was in culinary school, you know, we'd sit in the classroom with the registered dietitian, and she would tell us, this is what I'm told to tell you. This is the truth. This is what I'm told to tell you. I suggest you consider this. Wow. That's crazy. So a lot of, yeah, there were quite a few kids in my culinary kids. There were quite a few people in my culinary school program who had either already gone through some sort of nutrition training or after we were done with school, we're going to go back to school and become a traditional registered dietitian through university. And I was thinking about doing that when I was in school, but those classes made me realize I can't, I can't do it. Like everything inside me, um, I had just reached a point where I couldn't spend time and money sitting in a classroom being lied to and knowing it's lies and having to take those exams and choosing answers that I know are fake and false and are actually hurting people. So I decided, you know, I'm, you know, I'm gonna have to be an outlier. And ultimately, the truth will catch up. And all this this false narrative will fall away as it already is. Right. So like when I was in culinary school 10 years ago, all the studies were coming out proving that eggs don't cause high cholesterol because they don't. Right. You know, eating fat, eating like real healthy fat, avocados, ghee, butter, lard. they don't cause high cholesterol. It's actually brain food. So the Weston A. Price Foundation is something that my culinary school really focused on teaching us. And they have done studies after study after study that show that when kids eat healthy fats, it's so nourishing for their brain and that their attention spans in the classroom um increase and their test scores increase and they're just happier kids when they have a little bit more fat in their diet for their brains. So it's we we have so much to unlearn and so much to learn but I really try to approach it just from a positive aspect that we we're just getting to experience kind of this this this game change, and we're leading up to, you know, a tipping point. Ultimately, everyone's health is going to improve. We're just hopefully getting to a point where people are fed up with not feeling well, but they start to not just be more open minded, but take action like everyone has to take their own personal action. We all have those family members or friends that sit there and complain all the time about how they feel or how they look. or how their life isn't, you know, showing up the way that they want it to, but we can't make the changes for them. They have to take the steps. And I think we're getting to a point where, you know, everyone's reaching their little tipping point.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. So I have a question. So if someone's listening and they're like, I buy into this, I don't know where to start. Like, how do I start? I don't know if it's like testing foods or making foods that are better for me. Like, what did they do other than, you know, buy organic, you know, all of that. But like, what kinds of things would be good for them to start with, I guess, or test or make?

SPEAKER_00:

So a lot of different directions there. First, just start eating real food. And if you don't know what that is, just eat fresh, seasonal, local food. Start with a plate with a protein, a vegetable, and a healthy starch. Start reading the labels of everything you purchase, even salt, even butter. Everything you purchase, you have to look at the ingredients list. We're just in that weird time right now. I like to look at things as good, better, best. Because as a personal chef, that's where my clients are, right? Not all my clients want kale and quinoa, and that's fine. Not all my clients want real bone broth in the freezer section. They're fine with the boxed version. So it's a good, better, best. I know for my body and how sensitive I am, I have to use real bone broth that I make, or it's only bone broth from the freezer section. I can't use anything that's boxed. and has been pasteurized. That's not going to work for me, but that's where some people are. So it's a good, better, best with everything that you're approaching, like milk, right? So most people are going to just go buy organic milk. The next level up would be to buy A2 organic milk. So A2 means that that's from a farm where they genetically tested all of the cows to make sure that they carry the A2 protein, which means They were like the original milk cows that haven't been modified. So they still have the protein in the milk that allows your body to digest it and break it down. So you're not going to have the side effects that some people have from drinking milk, which is like phlegm in their throat or inflammation. And then the next level is that is buying the A2 milk that's labeled 100% grass fed, grass finished cows. And then the next level after that would be raw milk. And then the next level after that is not even the raw milk from the grocery store, because that is still slightly pasteurized, but going directly to a dairy or a local farm stand and getting your raw milk from them. So there are so many levels, right? Just like, you figure out where you are, what you have access to, what works with your budget, and you start there. And you'll find your body just starts kind of craving it. a next level up or you mentally start craving a next level up. It's like a vibration that you're kind of craving. You just want to move up. So you just kind of start with good, better, best. And I find when you change your food, Everything changes. So I find your intuition opens up, like you naturally can sense things and feel things. And you're just knowing and trusting yourself evolves. And with that, you'll know the next move to make. I think it's really important, though, that when people start to change their diet, that they don't get angry. They don't get angry as they learned about our food system and they watch documentaries. You got to take the anger out of it. And you can't allow yourself to fall for all the information out there. So if you're watching a bunch of documentaries, you have to understand who paid for that documentary and what the angle is behind telling that story. So because I've dealt with a lot of personal clients as a personal chef, where when I show up at their house, there's just so much anger and so much still control over the food. And that's not going to get you to a better, healthier place either.

SPEAKER_01:

I like the good, better, best in respect to the way that you just laid it out, but also for someone that is on a completely new journey, I feel like it makes it very accessible because they can also apply it to everything that they're doing. And that like today I'm going to eat kale and that's good. And then I'm going to also add in quinoa and that's better, but I still kind of want like those potato chips that I'm not ready to let go of, you know? So I feel like you can apply it to different areas of your life until you eventually work around to the whole picture being the best or what have you. It just feels like an easy approach for someone to not be overwhelmed by saying, all of a sudden, I'm going to be the cleanest eater in the world. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

It's also hard to find. I mean, I've heard of raw milk, But I actually hadn't heard of the A. Yeah, the A2 milk. Yeah. So that's interesting. I also think it's, to your point, a little bit hard to find the information of like what it is and where you get it and where, you know, the right places that you can trust. And then in terms of the ingredients, I think we always talk about that, like just basically the less ingredients, the better. That's what I try to tell my kids. Like the ingredient list is this long, like don't eat that. But if it just has a couple of things that you can identify, probably that. I mean, I was, you know, that's kind of like what I think about, but really interesting. And then like in terms of cooking, you know, farm to table, because I know that's your style, right? How do we, how would someone, again, that's like maybe just a decent cook, like they want to eat clean, but maybe they're doing the wrong things or whatever. How would someone approach that?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, I like starting simple for people that are overwhelmed by it. So that's when you want to just go with the protein. And that's why I'm into spices is because I think spice blends are a great way to add flavor without adding a bunch of other ingredients. So, you know, if you go to the aisle and you're looking for marinades because you want to marinate your chicken, that's when you're going to get a lot of junk. That's when you're going to get a lot of sugar, canola oil, and MSG, and a bunch of those ingredients you can't pronounce. But if you go and buy an organic spice blend, you can turn it over. Make sure you're not buying one with sugar or citric acid or anti-caking agents or MSG. That's still in there. But you can find clean spice rubs. I mean, that's what I do for, you know, that's what I do. That's what I'm passionate about. And you can season your chicken breast really well with that so you have flavor. You know, you can take your potatoes and you can chop it up and toss it with a little olive oil and the spice blend, and now you have flavor when you roast it. You can do that with carrots, with parsnips, with fennel, with onion, with Brussels sprouts, with whatever veggies you want. can still add flavor without the sugar and the canola oil and the junk. So you can start simply, but it's really easy with just salt and pepper and just buy really good quality, real sea salt. Play with pepper, so fine pepper, horse pepper, you'll start to notice like the different texture of pepper will give you different flavors. I'm in a different experience when you eat it. And then when you get really comfortable doing, you know, your chicken breasts or your chicken thighs and your steamed veggies or your roasted veggies and your sweet potato, you can start to play more.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay. And your, your, um, spices are star seed kitchen. That's the brand, right? It's sold. I know you said it's sold in Arowana's. It's sold in other stores in whole foods as well.

SPEAKER_00:

No, it's at Arowana. It's in, um, a butcher store called the butchery in, um, Southern California. So they have locations in San Diego and. throughout Orange County, and then I sell it on my website on StarSeaKitchen.com. And they're really the spice blends that my family and I have been making since I was in high school. So it's what I've been cooking with my whole life. And then when I became a personal chef and, you know, I'd want to go and do the Southwest blend for my clients or like to do tacos. or my chicken thighs, or some adobo chicken thighs, or a whole roast chicken, and I was needing spices for all these different dishes, and everything at the store at the time had sugar in it, and none of my clients wanted sugar in their spices. So I started having to make big batches of my spice blends for my clients' homes for when I was there cooking. And then they were just like, well, can you just make the extra so we can give some to our friends when they're in town? And I was like, well, Maybe I should just make a lot more. That's really how I got into sharing it with others. And what keeps me going is like, I'm going to eat these spice blends on my potatoes and carrots and chicken and in my meatballs my whole life. So I might as well share it with other people and just constantly make a big batch.

SPEAKER_02:

I think that's great too because I love a blend because I'm always, Katie's really good with spices, but I'm not because I'm always like, how much of this and how much of this, but this is like already done for you so you could just throw it on there instead of just like trying to figure out all the proportions. So I love that.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. Yeah. One of my favorite things to make for myself and for my clients are paleo meatballs. And this is really great for anyone that wants to eat healthy. They're really tired of basic pieces of meat. So you can buy any meat you want, ground turkey, ground bison, ground venison, ground beef, ground pork, whatever you're into. And you can just start with the pound, a pound will usually make four or five really small meatballs, but I just add a tablespoon of my 11 magic herbs and spices and then whatever junk you have in the fridge. So a little onion, a little cilantro, parsley, a little bell pepper, a little celery, whatever scraps you have that I just chop up really well and add it in. So it just makes it like a little bit bigger. Um, and then you just bake them at 400 degrees for anywhere from 15 to 20 minutes. and you have easy protein bites. Or you can put it on a plate. So I find that if you can just get, I always suggest to people three recipes. Just master three recipes, three recipes that you love. Now you have that recipe that you can share with your partner or your boyfriend or your husband or your girlfriend or whatever that you're proud of. And then now you also have a dish that you could take to a potluck. And now you can feed yourself no matter what. Um, so I always suggest to people just like master three dishes. It could be three breakfast items, three lunch items. It could be a breakfast, lunch, and dinner item, or it could be desserts, like whatever lights you up and makes you happy. But like find three recipes that you really love and get really good at it. I always say it takes about three times of doing a recipe to get it right for you.

SPEAKER_02:

Still working on that. I'm not a good cook, so like I don't have any recipes that I'm good at except for like tacos, but I'm definitely using the wrong spices. So I need to get yours. My tacos are probably healthier.

SPEAKER_01:

That's great advice, though, because I was going to ask you after you have been cooking for others all day long, what do you want to come home and make? I mean, what you know, someone that's exhausted from work all day and then come You know, it's like you don't always want to cook a meal after you've been out working all day. But what do you do?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, so I meal prep for myself as well. So on Sundays, when I come home, I try to make a lot of extra food. And then on Wednesdays, I usually make a lot of extra food. Recently, like I've been really into I've been, there's a potato salad recipe that I've been making that I really love. And I add, I go heavy on herbs. So it has tons of dill and it has tons of celery. Like it's a potato salad, but it's really like a celery dill salad with like. With potatoes. With potato. Yeah. Yeah. It sounds good. So I love it because I can add it on top of any sort of mixed greens. I can add more hard-boiled egg. I can add chicken. I can add steamed green beans. I can take it in different directions. So I often make bases that can then evolve into different types of meals throughout the week. Um, I love, like we talked about, like paleo meatballs. So I've been doing some tzatziki recently. So I'm getting some really good A2, a hundred percent grass finished yogurt from Alexander Farms. You can get it at Whole Foods and I grate in the cucumber. So it's really cucumber with a little bit of yogurt. And then I add in fresh mint or dill, and then that works as a really nice sauce on like whatever type of turkey meatballs I made for the week. Um, and I can, yeah, I can super easily pull that out of the fridge and, you know, put that with some easy steam zucchini or spinach or whatever, super fast veggies. I'm really into steaming and blanching veggies because it's fast and it's great in the summer. And then I always have a healthy starch in the fridge already done. So short grain brown rice, roasted sweet potatoes. I love, I do root vegetable mashes. Those recipes are on my website, meaning it'll be parsnip, a parsnip mashed potato instead of a regular mashed potato. So it's parsnip, a little ghee, garlic, white pepper, and then you use the water that the parsnips were cooked in. Instead of adding milk, it's just water. It, they make amazing mashed potatoes. So I use parsnips, white sweet potatoes, purple sweet potatoes, do it with cauliflower. I do it with celery root. You can do it with anything. And I have the recipes all on my website, but I make that a lot and it's in the fridge for a few days. And that's like so great to just do some steamed broccoli and then you just dip it into like a healthy mash and then whatever protein you want. Um, so that's what I've been having in. That's what's stocked up in kind of my fridge right now.

SPEAKER_02:

It sounds so good. Yeah. Yeah. Like I. I think meal prepping is the key to all that stuff, right? Because then you just have it at hand and you don't have to just start scrounging, because I even find I'll try to buy. Three done stuff at like Whole Foods even, and it's just it's never it's never good. It's like, you know, salmon or chicken and you try to like have that. So but it's just like doesn't never taste fresh. Yeah. Like I feel like if you just make it yourself, it's better.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. There was a time where Whole Foods made all the stuff, all the food, all the prepared food on site at each location. When Amazon purchased it, they moved to cafeteria style. So it's all made in one location. It's shipped to them in bags, and they just pour it out from the plastic bags into the salad bins. You know, I'm at Whole Foods five days a week. So I know everybody at the Laguna Niguel Whole Foods and multiple other Whole Foods here in Orange County. And as soon as that changed in the prepared food section, the employees told me not to eat the food. The employees told me not to eat the food. So because I'm a chef and I'm really fascinated about food prep, I think that was also a big part of me going to culinary schools. I just wanted to be a better orderer when I went out to restaurants. And like, I just wanted to figure out how can I order healthy when I go out to eat, whether I'm just going out to brunch with friends or I'm on vacation, like what am I really getting? And that's when I learned how a lot of the eggs that we get at restaurants aren't eggs. It's a prepackaged egg mixture with a ton of additives. And the only way to get real eggs when you eat out at a restaurant is to order them poached or sunny side up. Otherwise, if you are ordering an omelet or scrambled eggs, you are not getting eggs. You are getting eggs that were cracked weeks ago, mixed with citric acid and a bunch of other chemicals, and they just pour it out of a bag and then ladle it into the nonstick, cheap nonstick pan that they're cooking your food in. And so it's the same thing when you go to Whole Foods. When you look at those scrambled eggs and you can see the weird consistency of them, it's because it's not real eggs.

SPEAKER_01:

Wow. I can very distinctly remember a time where I enjoyed Whole Foods Prepared Foods and then- Yeah, now that you're saying it makes sense. And then stopped. I know. It is like factory sprouts.

SPEAKER_02:

I mean, it's- Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, me too. I spent a lot of money there eating, like getting breakfast and lunch and dinner. Um, it was great. Like I could tell you which whole foods across the country had really good prepared food because every location was totally different. We need to go.

SPEAKER_02:

Wouldn't that be amazing to do a shopping trip with you at Whole Foods and find what are all the good things and what are the things to avoid? Because, yeah, I mean, most people, if they want to eat healthy and organic, just default to Whole Foods or like there's a place by Me Moms, which is also organic market, which is pretty good. But, you know, unless you're going to a farmer's market or like a few other specialty stores, it's obviously like I every time I go to like a chain grocery store, which I don't a lot, my kids will just pick up whatever junk they like. Unfortunately, I'll go in with them and I'm. Horrified, like I can't even everything in the aisles looks so gross to me, there's one section of organic and I noticed some of the brands and I get those, but other than that, It's disgusting. It's so gross. And unfortunately, like most of America is eating that way. So it's just obviously a bigger issue, but it's good to get inspiration from you and kind of get refreshed as we're, it's a summer now, we're going into the fall and we're thinking about back to school and like starting to cook again and getting into that. So it's like, yeah, it's good inspiration to think about some of these things and get those three recipes going. You probably have three.

SPEAKER_01:

I definitely have a few in my back pocket that I, that I defer to a lot, but I need to dive into your recipes. You should have a cookbook. I mean, is there a cookbook coming our way?

SPEAKER_00:

That is the goal. I mean, that is my dream for 2024 and 2025, just because I really want to teach people how to do for themselves what I do and what I've done for the past 10 years for clients. Um, cause everyone should be able to like really make food that is so delicious to them, like you should want to eat at home. So with my family, you know, I'm not married. I don't have kids, but I have parents that love to cook. I have a brother that loves to cook. And so when we all get together, we all, we, we cook at home and we eat at home because our food is so good. We save eating out when we travel together, because we just found that when we were doing family dinners out, we were always so disappointed. I know. And so we could see, we know how to do it better. And so that's where I want a lot of people to get, like, wouldn't it be neat if we got back to a place where people really loved eating their family meals at home and, you know, eating out was a treat. Eating out, we go for the ambiance, we go for the experience, we go for connecting with friends, we go for a lot of different reasons, but it shouldn't be how we nourish ourselves on a day-to-day basis. So that's, that's what I would love to see for, for more people. And you know, the great thing is fall is the best time of year for food. And I think for families, because you can make food that you make it once. you can make double the amount and it gets better when the days pass. You know, chilies, soups, stews, anything that you cook in your slow cooker or in your Dutch oven, you know, lamb shanks, short ribs, all the type of braised meats, which are so good for you when you slow cook them, because now you're getting like more collagen and more nutrients coming off the bone and the bone marrow, and you're getting bone broth and you're getting root vegetables. Like there's so many benefits to that slow cooking after we're just coming off the light cooking of summer. This is, it's a good time to year to to find three new recipes and practice.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. Do you have slow cooker recipes on your website?

SPEAKER_00:

I am not a slow cooker fan. I prefer the Dutch oven. So I did a side by side comparison. And I borrowed someone's instapot. And I use the tradition, traditional, you know, Dutch oven, which Le Creuset, Staub, like choose whatever brand.

SPEAKER_02:

I don't have one, but I've been thinking about buying one.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Once you buy one and done, like you buy one and you have it for your entire life. And it'll go to a family member when you die. Like that's the great thing. It's like worth every penny. Um, so I cooked the same dish in both containers and the flavor was so much better cooked in the dutch oven and You know, that's when we're talking about energy, right? So i'm cooking in the enamel pot in the oven at a slow heat It's gas that's around it. It's a different energy than the food that's being cooked in the stainless steel container using an electrical outlet. And, you know, the food just wasn't the same. Like the, the deep, the deepness, the depth, um, it tasted more sterile.

SPEAKER_02:

in the stainless steel. The actual oven, not on the stove. Yeah. Oh, I was thinking when you were saying slow cooking, it's like literally on the stovetop all day, still cooking. You're putting it in the oven.

SPEAKER_01:

And the other great thing about the Dutch oven is you can like sear on the stovetop and then transfer it to the oven.

SPEAKER_00:

And that's exactly, that's exactly it. And then you just put it in the oven at a low temperature and you know, you can walk out of the kitchen. You can walk out of the house if you want to for three or four hours, as long as you come home. And And then you come home and you pull it out of the oven, you leave it on top of the stove. And when you're ready, it's still hot and dinner's there. And it usually makes enough food for a following day or two days from now. And it's really grounding food. It really pulls you back into your body. It really makes you feel hugged. And there's definitely a flavor and an energetic difference to food that's cooked in the Dutch oven versus the stainless steel electrical outlet. When we talk about energy transfer, the highest transfer of energy comes from when we cook over fire, which not all of us can do these days because, I mean, who even has a yard where they can just light a fire? Most people don't. So that's why it's really so much fun in the summer to be able to be in parks and to be at the beach and to cook over fire. You know, there is a health benefit to that. And then after that, it's gas. Gas has the next highest energy frequency to fire because it most resembles fire. And then after that is electrical. Electrical is kind of the lowest. And if you talk to anybody who's forced to have an electric oven and an electric stovetop, the food never tastes that good. People hate cooking on it. So there's something there. Even if people can't understand and grasp or believe in frequency and that frequency matters and there's an energy transfer, but I can tell you, you can survey everyone who's forced to cook on an electric oven, an electric stove top, and they hate it. And the people that help us love it and would never switch to electric.

SPEAKER_02:

What's so funny, I never thought about that, like the slow cooker. I mean, I go through phases where I use and I don't use them. I never thought about the fact that you're plugging into the wall. You're getting like fake energy versus like a fire or whatever. And I do notice that every time I do cook in there, it's never good. It's like not flavorful. It's just kind of black.

SPEAKER_00:

Feels like mush. Yeah, there's a depthness that's not there. Yeah, there's another thing I always try to recommend to people, like as we move into this fall season, but they're still fresh tomatoes, is try to avoid buying canned tomatoes for your chilies or canned tomatoes for your stoops and stews. While the fresh ones are still available, just dice up the fresh ones and put them in your soups and stews. Like anytime you can lean to fresh, do that over anything canned, even if your recipe calls for it. Because remember, canned food doesn't have life force energy. It is sterilized food that's meant for emergency situation. It was created so we could feed troops in the middle of nowhere in Europe during World War I and World War II. It's not meant to provide a large energy transfer to you. And you're eating for food and energy. So Like if you are trying to get healthier, if you're trying to lose weight, then you want to find food that's going to give you the biggest bang for your buck, meaning you're going to eat the least amount of food, but get the most energy transfer. You want fresh food, not canned food.

SPEAKER_02:

Absolutely. I would think fresh food that's non-organic is probably better than canned.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, I completely agree. What you were saying earlier about the fire, every summer I always crave the ability to cook over fire and wood chips and it just like such a natural way of creating food. And I don't have that set up like I don't have the right grill for it or something, but it is a completely different meal than what you just put on a propane grill or what you make on the stove top with like a really. And I see all of these. I've seen these shows with these really famous chefs that travel the world and they're in Spain and they're cooking over these giant fire. It's like the most amazing meal of their life. And I never thought about it. It's like an energy transfer. It's the raw, natural, most human way of creating food and nourishing your body. It's how it was done for, you know, thousands and thousands of years before we had ovens, before we had stoves. So it's very interesting.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. I mean, it tastes so good and it feels so good. yeah and you ultimately like what what what calls you in is man it tastes so good but then you never forget the feeling right you never forget the feeling after the meal and you never forget the feeling you had the next day when you woke up and you're like That was such a nice night. I feel so good this morning. And yeah, I hope we can find more ways. I hope that's a trend that we see is just more accessibility to creating a fire using wood in our backyards or in our neighborhood. And I think we'll see more tools coming out like that.

SPEAKER_01:

I hope so. So before we get into our wrap session, just tell us a little bit about the Kundalini mantras that you put into your spaces and the crystals and everything, because I find that very cool. Tell us about that.

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, well, I love using frequency to charge food. And my thought is, you know, I can't be in everyone's kitchen, like using my energy to charge up their food or charge up their kitchen space. So how can I help most people possible through food? And so that's by using a frequency to charge up. the spice blends. So playing Kundalini Mantras 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I go with a few different types of music, whether it's Kundalini Mantras from White Sun or music from Debra Halperin. But when the music's playing 24-7, it charges it up. And then on top of that, I was gifted something called a Quartz Giza Crystal. So it's a type of crystal that never stops growing. It has a center point and they're long sticks and they were found at the bottom of a lake in Arkansas. It's pure quartz, and they were then flown to the Giza Pyramid in Egypt in the early 80s for a special ceremony under a galactic lineup called Pleiadian lineup. There were quite a few famous people that were there for that ceremony, so the crystals got charged in that way. And the person that ran that ceremony gave them to me, and It is believed that the crystals have a frequency that can charge an area as large as like Orange County. And so she's giving them to different people to use in different ways throughout the world. So I use them to charge up the food as well. So using the music with the frequency of the crystal just to add a larger charge of light. So it's just like a little added boost to whoever eats the spice. My goal is to reach people through food. And if that can raise their consciousness, improve their health, just bring more love and joy into their body, into the life, I will have done my job.

SPEAKER_01:

Amazing. Well, I love that you're an Erewhon, and congratulations on that. That's huge. Thank you. Sadly, we don't have any Erewhons near us. But when you visit, when you visit.

SPEAKER_02:

Yes, yes. And we can buy it on your website.

SPEAKER_01:

So that's yes. And your website. Tell us one more time. It's at Starseedkitchen.com.

SPEAKER_00:

Great. Great. Perfect.

SPEAKER_01:

All right, well, let's get into our wrap session.

SPEAKER_02:

You want to kick it off? I can. So we know you're an amazing chef and have all these incredible ingredients. And so I'm assuming you're probably just as intentional with your beauty and wellness routine. So what is your favorite wellness and beauty hack?

SPEAKER_00:

So I'm super into the life, um, life wave patches. Do you guys, are you familiar with them? So every night I wear the X 39 and the all of the patches and I have been wearing them for about definitely over a year now. So the X 39, um, increases the stem cells in my body and the Alavita is for. just like my skin and not needing Botox and just clearing fine lines and wrinkles and improving hair growth. And then I used to do Aeon as well, which helps remove inflammation from the body. But they're just these little patches that you put on different meridian or acupuncture points on your body. And I wear them when I sleep and they do the work when I sleep. And I'm in like Life changing. Um, I know.

SPEAKER_01:

What is the, what, where do we find them? What's the brand? I mean, we'll link it.

SPEAKER_00:

L I F E W A V E life wave life wave patches. It's a company based out of San Diego. They were created for, um, For Navy SEALs because their shifts are over 30 hours long. And so they were starting to like a lot of Navy SEALs were starting to have really bad drug problems because they were trying to stay awake for their full shift and then the crash afterwards. So these patches were created just to improve their health in a variety of ways. Um, and then they've been released to the public and they do wonders. Um, you, you can take before and after photos of yourself and you know, see a physical change. Wow. how you look in the best way, more youthful, younger, softer, and physically you feel a lot better. They help you heal from injuries faster. Huge fan. Yeah. Sell them online lifeway.com, but you have to use them consistently. So like it takes like a solid three months, but that's like one of my favorite hacks. That's very cool.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. That's a great one. I love when we learn something like that.

SPEAKER_00:

That's why we're in this game. Yeah. Yeah. I love this too. Like I want to hear what you're really into right now. All right.

SPEAKER_01:

And the next one we call it our five minute flow. You just got out of the shower and Uber's pinged you. What are you doing to get yourself together and quickly get into that Uber? Like what are your go-tos, your holy grails to get out there?

SPEAKER_00:

I would put on a serum. So right now I'm using one of Tata Harper's serums. So I would just get out of the shower, put on a serum. If I wanted to look, I'm like a very all natural girl. But if I wanted to do something a little bit more, I love the glow sunscreen that has a little bit of a tint. a glow brand sunscreen, there's a tinted one. I'll throw that on. I always, I love mascara. So I'll do mascara, that, a little blush. I have 50 million lip glosses because I'm obsessed. And like, that's all I would do. And then I would put on earrings and a necklace. I always wear the same ones, just like super simple studs. And then I, yeah, And then figure out like what makes me comfortable and walk out the door. Yeah. Nice. Love it. Yeah. I'd probably put my hair up in a bun or a pony.

SPEAKER_02:

Any favorite lip gloss brands while we have you at Lipstick?

SPEAKER_00:

No, nothing right now. Yeah. Nothing right now. I'm ready for an overhaul. Yeah. There's nothing I'm really super loving. Like when it comes to the skincare game, to the makeup game, I want a whole new experience. So That's kind of just moving through the summer just to get to fall so I can just throw everything out and start new.

SPEAKER_02:

Okay, and then how do you maintain your daily nirvana?

SPEAKER_00:

Being outside. I have to find a way to walk. Like for me, I'm a big walker. I'll go tonight after dinner. I think I'm going to do like a sunset hike. That'll be bliss today. But I, I mean, I, I prefer walking first thing in the morning when it's quiet out, you know, I love it when it's quiet. It's cool. Anywhere you go outside first thing in the morning is it's kind of bliss nirvana to me.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah, totally. Amazing. Where can we find you? So we know we have your website now. I know you have a podcast. Can you tell our listeners your podcast, your Instagram, all the things?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah. So my podcast is the High Vibration Living Podcast because I'm like you guys. I just love talking about this stuff and love learning about the other tools that I can put in my tool belt that I can lean on when I need to be uplifted or I need to make edits. You can find me on Instagram at Whitney Aronoff and my brand, Starseed Kitchen, and then my website, starseedkitchen.com. And then I also have a YouTube channel with tons of videos there, cooking videos and videos from the podcast. Again, just Whitney Aronoff. Those are the best places to find me.

SPEAKER_02:

Amazing. Well, this has been so enlightening. I feel like, yeah, I'm so excited to research and you've inspired me to like get back into, you know, the cooking cooking game. So I'm ready.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. I'm going to be doing your quite a few of your recipes. I can tell. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Well, message me any time. And the next time you guys are out here, we'll go to Erewhon for lunch.

SPEAKER_02:

Thanks for listening to Nirvana Sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes, please subscribe and leave us a review. Also, find us on Instagram at Nirvana Sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would, please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana Sisters. We'll continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.

Episode 142 - Taking Big Bites with Kat Ashmore (@katcancook) - Easy Week Night Recipes, Her Full Skincare Routine, Life, And All The Things (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 142, Taking Big Bites with Kat Ashmore (@katcancook) - Easy Week Night Recipes, Her Full Skincare Routine, Life, And All The Things Write Out The Title.

Amy Sherman 0:06

Welcome to Nirvana sisters podcast where we take the intimidation out of well being and beauty to help you achieve your highest state your nirvana. We are sisters in law and your hosts. I'm Amy Sherman.

Katie Chandler 0:18

And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation

Amy Sherman 0:27

Welcome back to the show Nirvana sisters family. It's Amy and Katie and we're so excited to have Kat Ashmore back with us. Yay. It's been years. So just for the history. So cat came on our show a couple of years ago, I looked back it was episode 38. Now we're like on 150 or something which is crazy. You were not just starting but like somewhat new to the space now you've obviously evolved and we're so excited to catch up with you and hear more but let me give our listeners because we have so many more listeners. Now. The scoop on cat Ashmore aka cat can cook so, cat Ashmore is the chef recipe developer and digital creator behind cat Ken cook graduated from the award winning Institute of Culinary Education in New York and went on to work for Martha Stewart developing retail recipes and producing cooking segment segments. On the eight time Emmy award winning the Martha Stewart show Kat lives in Fairfield County, Connecticut with her husband Michael and their family. Welcome back to the show. We are so excited to have you here. We've been following you are so proud of everything you've done. We can't wait to hear everything. So welcome. Welcome. Oh,

Kat Ashmore 1:30

so so great to be here. I can't believe it was it was what, two years ago?

Amy Sherman 1:35

Yeah, it was like 2022 I looked back. I can't remember what month but yeah, I was looking back and I'm like God, Episode 38. That's crazy.

Kat Ashmore 1:42

So Oh, wow. So long ago. I know. Time is such a funny thing. I don't even know half the time like what was last month what was five years ago. It's I know it all together. Now. It's so it's so great to be back here with you. Yeah, thanks. So good to be here.

Katie Chandler 2:01

We start with our nirvana. Before we get into it. We're so excited

Amy Sherman 2:04

to catch up. And let's let's start off with we haven't done this in a while. Katie,

Katie Chandler 2:08

I know what was your Nirvana this week, baby? Did you?

Amy Sherman 2:12

I did. So Katie knows I love I get crazy sometimes with organizing. And so I went to the container service like my favorite place. And I got these like new closet organizers for all my sweaters. Because all my sweaters and how like they pile up. And I've been trying to figure out for years, like, how do I do my sweaters needs they don't fall over. So anyway, I got these like, closet organizers for my sweater. And now they're all like neat and organized. So when I walk in, I feel so good. So I did that organizing. And then I also did organizing, like all my makeup and skincare. So I move stuff that stuff out of my bathroom and put it like I have like a little vanity, which I never used. And I'm like actually using it and I organized it and everything's like has a home. And it just feels clean and organized and lovely. And I just love that feeling. And I don't do it enough. But sometimes I get crazy and I start organizing and then I don't do it for like months, but it just feels good to have that organization. Does my Nirvana this week. What about you, Katie? I

Katie Chandler 3:10

would say mine was I found my favorite game that I used to play. It sounds so nerdy, but I use my friends and I used to play this game until like, midnight all the time on like Friday nights. Instead of going to the club. We would play rummy cube. And I first got it all these years. I forgot about that game. Yeah. Oh, fun. My My kids are old enough to play now. So I found the game. And we've been playing it after some weekends. So we did it a couple times this weekend was it's fun. I love it. I'm obsessed. That's so fun. That was mind blowing. What about your cat?

Kat Ashmore 3:43

My Nirvana was probably. So we recently moved into a new home and we have a hot tub. And we've been going in the hot tub, like every couple of nights, I would say. And we had a big snow here in Connecticut. We're not big. But it was our first one of the seasons, which is always really pretty, right? Because it's not gray. And yeah, it's all just really white and beautiful. And there was one night where it was snowing and we were out in the hot tub and I was with the kids who are five and seven now. So even my seven year old and I wasn't expecting this but he's he doesn't want to be with me as much. You know, he's got like, the video games and these things that I'm not really a part of. So when we have an opportunity to just all get on the same level and just enjoy something together and there's no distractions and we're like catching snowflakes on our tongue. And it was one of those moments, you know, where you kind of like hover above your life and you're like, This is joy. Like these are the good old days, like snapshot. Yeah, it was very powerful, you know? And then I was like, Yeah, Looking at them, like 30 minutes. Right? It was pure bliss. And I just think it's so important to recognize those moments of like, this is happiness. This is happiness. tuck it away somewhere, you know, tuck it away and take this

Katie Chandler 5:17

opportunity. And I feel like as they get older, a gray.

Amy Sherman 5:22

Yeah, that's so good. And it's crazy, because last time you were here, your kids were like really? Little, little little. Yeah,

Kat Ashmore 5:27

yeah. While Okay,

Katie Chandler 5:29

that's when you had just gotten back to work. So that's yes. Certainly back to your work you when we talk to you, you just kind of been in was it maybe a few months that you had done the transition into Captain Cook and really diving into to your tick tock following and everything. And now here we are huge fans, tell

Amy Sherman 5:47

us tell us all things tell us.

Kat Ashmore 5:51

I mean, everything's, everything's great. It's like, everything's good. Everything is really great. Yeah, it'll be four years this summer, since I started creating on, cat can cook. But really, you know, I would say 2021 is, I mean, that's the first year that I was able to monetize it all. It was the first year you know, I switched my website over from Squarespace to WordPress, like I could started to, like, actually make it a real business. Yeah. And so it hasn't been a long time. But so much has happened. And I feel like when you put when you place yourself in the right position, sometimes the universe just kind of like, does works really quickly. And it's like, okay, she's, she's here. She's ready. Like, yeah, let's go. Yeah, it's

Amy Sherman 6:45

amazing. And it's so fun to just have watched you grow over these last few years. And like, tada, hello, cookbook. I mean, amazing. Congratulations. You I remember, because it was so impactful. I remember when you filmed yourself, getting the call about doing the book, or like the deal had closed, or whatever it was that it was like so much. No, I remember that. And now it's like, it's here. And you have this beautiful, incredible book. As I just said, like just going through the last few days, I'm obsessed. Thank

Kat Ashmore 7:25

you. It, it feels to me like the book I would want to have. Yeah, the book that, you know, I waited a while to do a cookbook, having been in the industry, having gone to culinary school and working for Martha and I have had a couple of opportunities to do cookbooks in the past. But it didn't feel like I needed to do a cookbook until until now. All right, until it felt right, because it's out of immense respect, and appreciation for the cookbook industry, that I just didn't want to do a book unless it was going to be something really different. And it was really adding to the conversation, changing the conversation. And it feels like this book is that it

Amy Sherman 8:13

really is I mean, I am not a good cook by any stretch Katie's much better than me. And I'm always looking for like really simple, easy. And I was going through this and I have like a few cookbooks that I sometimes like out but like, this is just so user friendly. When I was I was saying to Katie, what I really enjoyed is that in the beginning of the book, you have the pantry staples, which I think it's so helpful. So for our listeners, there's like little section on salt and pepper and oils and what kind of milk and gluten free and just all these staples so that way when you go to the recipes, it's all like you have all the answers you need. And then when I was looking at these recipes, I was like, Oh, this recipe is three steps. This just these four steps. Perfect. So that's that's like amazing for someone like me who really doesn't cook a lot but like I just told my son, my younger one who's now in eighth grade, but he's like in the phase where he is eating non stop. I can't keep up with him. And I wish I'm always like I wish he was like a good cook so I could just make all this stuff so he would just have stuff so I told him I was like go through the book I just got this weekend, pick out recipes that you want me to make for you and I'll have these ready to go but like I don't know exactly what you like your your tastes are changing all the time. So like pick some recipes, so he's been

Kat Ashmore 9:27

phenomenal. If he likes if he likes meatballs, the chimichurri meatballs are a great one because you can you can form them and freeze them or you can just make like a double or triple batch and then freeze them and they're just ready to go. You put them on green bowls, you tuck them into Pietas you you know just eat with your fingers, which is usually what I do. Yeah, so that kind of thing. But these recipes are really it's what I make at home. Yeah, like I don't make multiple meals for dinner idea. I know people are like, how do you do that? It doesn't mean that my kids eat every single thing on the plate, I make sure that there's a safe food on the plate that I know they're going to eat, or to usually that I know that they're going to eat. Sometimes they'll take a little bite and be like, No, but like the turkey feta burgers that I just made them a few days ago, and my kids ate them two nights in a row. And it's like, they have kale in them. I mean, they wouldn't eat kale on its own, but they will eat them. Now, they wouldn't eat them last year, but things change. Those kinds of recipes, I think are just so helpful. And it's really familiar concepts, right? It's just taken in a modern kind of unique direction, like the meatloaf, for instance. You know, like, everybody knows Mila, but like, this is just the amazing meatloaf with caramelized onions and horseradish, and it just like keeps up the flavor. And it's familiar, but it's different at the same time. It's not intimidating at all. Which is why I like it. I find most cookbooks just like out of my reach. Like they're just too complicated or just feels too like, yeah,

Amy Sherman 11:11

it's very approachable. Very, like I said before, like very user friendly, not intimidating. Like it's, it's fabulous. So what is your I mean, there's like, how many recipes in here over 100? I think, like whichever one? Well, I have like two questions on this. Like, what's your favorite one? And then like, give our listeners three. easy and quick weekdays like weekday meals, you can make them every week?

Kat Ashmore 11:31

Week? Yeah. Yep. And so look, so the first recipe that always comes to mind when people ask about this is the most complicated recipe in the book. Now, when I say that, it's not complicated. It was very complicated for me to develop it because it took me three years, but it's the three year gluten free bread. And it literally took me three years to perfect this recipe, okay, 1000s of hours of iterations. By the end, I was like asking my husband like, what do you think about the crust on this? And he was just like, I don't know, like, always the same thing, you know? So my new but I'm obsessive. And this is a bread that it's gluten free. So yes, you buy some of the ingredients that maybe you don't have on hand, but like you buy them, you have them. You can mix the dough, you can bake it, and you can eat it in the same day. There's no overnight rest. So if you wake up on a Sunday, I make it every single Sunday, wake up on a Sunday morning, you're like I want fresh bread for dinner. You can have that. So that is a recipe that I'm really, really proud of. And people have been chomping at the bit to get this recipe and it was the one recipe I knew I had to save. Yes. Yeah. Well, I was like, this has to be in the cookbook. The beaks good. All of the baked good recipes are fantastic. It's like my husband is often like, I don't know why people are so crazy about your salads, like it's your baked goods. They're like crazy good and a lot of them are gluten and dairy free or just have less sugar. I'm always looking at how to make how to keep the integrity of a recipe. So that it tastes like you know it is a brownie it is a piece of cake it is those things. It's just like how much can I cut back on the sugar without it affecting the integrity of the recipe and how can I be importing flavor another way? What is the role that this ingredient so I a lot of things go into account. But the New York style Crumb Cake is fantastic. And it basically mimics those, like big squares of crumb cake that every New York corner store sells in cellophane that like vanilla cake with like the bolder size crumb topping. Yeah. Yeah. looks phenomenal.

Katie Chandler 14:02

That's for sure. Yeah.

Kat Ashmore 14:04

I mean, it's just phenomenal. But I really think as you said that dinner is really the Achilles heel for a lot of people. A lot of kills me, right? It's just like, and it's often not very fun to make dinner with your family. I mean, even for me, and I love to cook but usually it's just like I have to cook something because I'm their parent, and that's part of the deal and like, supposed to feed them. I wish they would intermittent fast, but I haven't been successful with that yet. So when it comes to dinner recipes, so I've got two different chapters. There's the Sunday suppers, and then there's the weeknights, chapter. And one of the most popular recipes with my kids aside from the chimichurri meatballs, that kill and betta turkey burgers, like they love the miso teriyaki pork tenderloin, Wine. And it's a really quick thing to make because pork tenderloin, it's, you know, it's lean, it's not expensive, it is quick to make. And you just have this beautiful miso teriyaki glaze that is literally I mean how many ingredients the I think it's five ingredients, and it's fantastic. So stuff like that, where you're able to all enjoy the same protein, maybe your kids won't eat the vegetable or you know, something like that. But at least you're not making completely separate meals all the time. Yeah,

Katie Chandler 15:35

that's what I feel like I'm doing with my youngest and she's my oldest has come around and she'll eat just about anything. I've been in front of her. But your tip, you told us this when you're on the first time of having a safe food that they you know, without a doubt, they're both going to eat. I've been using that ever since and it really does work. But you know, then I end up cooking like an extra protein just to get that in her as well. But I feel like the weeknight thing. It's the time crunch, right? That's why ball so it's not super fun to cook when your bedtime routine is in half an hour. They have to get up early. So blah, blah, blah. You know, it's a totally different story when it's on the weekend. Coming

Amy Sherman 16:13

up with what you're gonna make it That's the worst part. Like every night, like, what are we going to eat? I mean, yesterday. Yeah, when I think about it, like yesterday, I marinated chicken and I did like slip over all day, just throw it in there. And I like forgot I did it. And then at five o'clock, I was like, Ah,

Kat Ashmore 16:27

I forgot I already put that in. So like that was like I don't think about it every day. But like the thinking about it is the worst part, right? You're like, oh, like, plastic problem, right? And everyone says the same thing about it. It's nice to think about it in the morning. Yes. When you're sharper. Ideally, plan out your meals on a Sunday, that's when I like to do it. I do my grocery shop on the weekend. And then I plan out my meals on a Sunday where I'm rested, because nobody's going to be innovative or creative or, you know, even that mindful when they're in a rush, right? Make it enjoyable. But even in the morning, okay, even in the morning, get up out your protein, take a quick look at it, it'll take you five minutes, just like wrap your head around. This is what's happening, even if you do nothing with it, right? It's, it's the mental shift of like, Oh, now I have to think about this. Yeah, in the morning, when you've got the most motivation, the most energy. So

Katie Chandler 17:30

true. Well, and that's what I love about in your book that you hear at Staples, because if everyone has these in their pantry at all times, and you know when they're running low, that's an easy thing to add to the grocery list. And then you pick out a couple of things to add to the grocery list the proteins, vegetables in your set. I mean, sometimes the meal planning through the week, what I need to make those meals happen is overwhelming. So to be able to have something to have your book where it's it's people don't use cookbooks as much as I feel like they used to. And it's all like Google and searching online and Pinterest. It's there's something so refreshing about having a book in my hand, I can open it up and I can say oh, I need 12345 ingredients. And I've got my pantry staples. It's it just simplifies the whole thing. I really thought What is one of your favorite meals to cook when you have like all the time, and you're on it?

Kat Ashmore 18:21

Yeah, when I have all the time. I mean, that's more project cooking. So I love to do things that are just like slow cooked that can kind of like bubble away. I love soups and stews because there's so many different directions you can take them in. They're all about building flavor, which is something I'm really big on. Like the whole soups and stews chapter is. I mean, I hope it's obvious that they're like knock out of the park. Good. But one of the things that my kids actually love are these slow cooked indoor ribs because and they could not when I tell you they are the one of the easiest recipes in the entire book really they cook they literally cook themselves. Okay, so you are doing a combination. I've got spices here I add a little bit of dark brown sugar, you've got paprika, oregano, garlic, onion, coriander, but you can use whatever spice blend you want to. You don't need you I'm not dogmatic about what spices you use. And then the key is just cooking them low and slow. We're talking like 250 degrees for like three and a half to four hours and just forget about them. You take off the tinfoil you Yeah, yeah. Okay. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, just so simple. So on a Sunday and the nice thing about that is that when you've got something that you can just forget about, you've got mental energy and physical energy and time to maybe be a little bit more creative and make your own salad dressing. You know, pair it with something else. instead of like, I just have to like steam up some broccoli because I'm supposed to have a vegetable, right?

Amy Sherman 20:06

recipe actually, like doesn't look intimidating at all like this looks like oh, wait, I could make this. Maybe I'll make

Kat Ashmore 20:12

your hiring imitating Yeah, it's not intimidating at all. I

Katie Chandler 20:17

feel I feel like all of your recipes are really approachable. I mean, as I'm flipping through, they're like, five steps, six steps, right, again, five steps.

Amy Sherman 20:27

I mean, it's really figuring out how long

Katie Chandler 20:29

you could do it.

Kat Ashmore 20:30

I think kids. Yeah, that is, that is a huge, a huge part of the recipe development process for me is that much like Coco Chanel says, like, a woman should accessorize and then take one thing off before leaving the house. I am. A lot of my editing is removing things, removing ingredients, removing steps, like how much does this really needs to be done in two bowls? Can it be done in one bowl? Like, maybe I'll add the baking soda at this stage instead. So it activates more. So a lot goes into a recipe being simple, and spirit

Amy Sherman 21:05

thoughtful, almost like harder to make it simple. I would think hard enough to iterate constantly to get it.

Kat Ashmore 21:11

They're harder. I wanted the recipes to almost all be on one page. I I'm always eliminating steps like how much does this really need to chill on the refrigerator? Like, can I get away with it? Maybe I need to replace it with a different ingredient. So I'm always looking at how can I make this? easier, less time consuming? And really just take up less mental energy, you know, and love? Yeah, one

Katie Chandler 21:37

of many reasons why you have three plus million followers on? Is that right? 3 million plus?

Kat Ashmore 21:46

It's not quite it's, I mean, between Instagram and Tiktok on like just under 3 million. Yeah, yeah.

Amy Sherman 21:56

And speaking of the 3,000,001 of the big things that made you go viral was your hungry lady salads, which I know we talked about last time, which we're still obsessed with. And for our listeners, there's a huge section in the cookbook with all the hungry lady salad recipes, which is incredible. Because to have all that in one place. They're so good. If they

Kat Ashmore 22:16

are just chapter, it's the largest chapter in the book. And it's not actually all of the hungry lady salads. Oh, it's just like, your favorite. I mean, I have like 46

Amy Sherman 22:28

Oh my god seven.

Kat Ashmore 22:30

Second book, like just salad. I mean, there are gonna need to be factored in I did actually just redid just signed to do book to Oh, my

Amy Sherman 22:39

God, hey.

Kat Ashmore 22:41

Yeah, that's actually just fine to do both two and three of my

Amy Sherman 22:46

gosh.

Kat Ashmore 22:49

Oh, it's good. I mean, yes, the orders have been so strong. And the enthusiasm has been so strong that it's the way that the community has shown up. It's really our book. And I always say that, like, I am the voice. But you all are the microphone, I don't exist with that. I mean, you get the message out, you get excited about it. Or else I would just be like sitting in my kitchen, like dancing to my food without anybody there. So like that's not quite as effective. But yes, so the hungry lady salad section. So the entire book is about 90% new new recipes. And then 10% fan favorite recipes. Great hungry lady salad section is 18 recipes. So 14 of them are brand new, and four of them are fan favorite. Amazing.

Amy Sherman 23:37

Great. Yeah. Those salads, like I know, we talked about this last time, like you can make them and just have them for like how like a couple of days for the mom with your

Kat Ashmore 23:46

daughter and have them for a long time, even up to a week. I mean, it's yeah, that's I mean, that's what I'm always I'm always wanting to give back that gift of time. You know, one of the things we just never have enough of so taking advantage of when you have some time, make this salad have it in the fridge so that like you have something to look forward to for lunch every day. You know, it doesn't just get the job done. It's like and then you have more mental energy to think about dinner like it's all this all plays into each other. Like I don't want you waking up being like, what am I going to have for breakfast? What am I going to have for lunch? What am I going to have for dinner? You're not going to you're not going to do your best work that way.

Amy Sherman 24:28

It's, it's all laid out. Okay, so this book is truly gorgeous and stunning, like just the photos and the layout and all that stuff. What was your favorite part of like putting this together? I imagine it's such a creative and fun process and I'm sure very, very grueling as well but like what was your favorite part of the whole experience?

Kat Ashmore 24:48

I think my favorite part of the experience was crafting the story around the book. I'm very much a storyteller at heart that is at like the core of All of the content I do, and it has been the most common thread through my whole career, whether it was you know, telling stories on television with Martha or then on corporate side, or as a gourmet foods buyer telling the story on a retail level, and I love to write. So really creating the recipes. I mean, if I had my way I would be in my kitchen, listening to music, just creating recipes, writing recipes, editing recipes, from morning to night, that yeah, like it, there's nothing I love more. And I look at every recipe, like a story, like there are different characters that you need that round out the story. And they bring out certain things in each other. And it creates this like holistic, rich story. So creating the recipes. And then also just like writing the head notes about each recipe because it my communication style is very personal. I want people to feel like they are at home with me cooking with me. And I always love to read that in a cookbook. I want that. That personal element, you know, because it's in there are my favorite stories to read even even now. Yeah,

Amy Sherman 26:15

it's so true.

Katie Chandler 26:16

You do an excellent job with that. Feeling like someone is in in the kitchen cooking with you and

Amy Sherman 26:22

like a friend. Yeah,

Katie Chandler 26:23

it's definitely a piece of huge factor of your fan following and everything you just make. It's like you talk you're talking to your girlfriends or your friends about how to make something or, and that reminds me, we were speaking about it earlier, before we got on that you are fans that your followers are constantly asking you other questions about your life, not just about the food, because they feel like they know you so well. Right? I mean, you guys are very connected. So we were just talking about absolutely stunning your skin is so what skin is scanning all the things that are that's, you know, other things going on in your life like that gorgeous, glowing skin. How are you getting at? What are you doing?

Kat Ashmore 27:03

Thank you. You know, it's still so I'm so grateful and humbled by it. And I really receive all the compliments that I get around my skin now, because I wasn't historically someone that was complimented on their skin like not that it was like horrific at certain points. It just like wasn't that, you know, it wasn't notable. And so it's really amazing. I do work at it. I mean, there's a lot that I do, right? So some people are kind of like, Oh, that's too much. And it might be I mean, for me, I really

Amy Sherman 27:40

we need to hear the whole breakdown because we love this. We need to

Kat Ashmore 27:44

be entire everybody listening? Yes, I mean, take notes. So there's the topical stuff that I use the products and then there's the stuff that I use that I use and just lifestyle choices that help right like, I don't drink alcohol anymore. That helps. Yeah, that absolutely helps. Okay, so I'm just more hydrated on a regular basis, I eat a lot of whole foods that helps I drink a lot of water, that helps I do a cold blast at the end of my shower for 60 seconds. So like as cold as I can stand it. That helps, right? Like I do Transcendental Meditation every day. That helps, right like stress is all of it is reflected in your skin and in the way that you look and the way that you feel is also reflected right. So all of those lifestyle things matter. And then as far as like my skin routine, on a daily basis, how much like into the weeds Do you want me to go we want the weeds like the weeds. Amazing. Okay, so yeah, because it's like a non negotiable for me to do these things. So in the morning, I do my first skincare related thing I do is I do guasha every morning with a base oil. I am very like regimented with my mornings I wake up very early, usually around 434 45 I do like my workout in the mornings. I first thing I have is three two ounces of warm water with lemon and salt. Like those types of things. I do my guasha that's the first skincare related thing. And then I go upstairs before I get in the shower. And literally thinking of everything I did this morning. Before I get in the shower. I love it. I use an oil based cleanser. So I've been using is it better skin for better skin. I think that that's the name of it. Just some kind of an oil based cleanser. Yep. So I will just put that on. I hop in the shower, rinse it off. Like especially in the winter time I'm doing a lot of stuff that is hydrating even when it's cleansing. Yeah. So I will use that. I get out the net First thing I do is I put my toner on, I just like tap it all over my face my Declan Tay, my neck, my hands and then I will put on my red light therapy mask. Which do you guys use a red light therapy mask? Yeah,

Katie Chandler 30:14

fun. Yeah, I don't use it religiously. But I have one anytime you

Amy Sherman 30:17

have the Dr. Dennis gross one er, which one do you have?

Kat Ashmore 30:20

No, I have the current body one. Okay. And I have used it every day for four months. And it's made a really big difference in the, like, tone of my skin. I see brown spots have faded. That's like the biggest difference that I wow. That's how long do you wear it for? 10 minutes. Okay, so what I always do is I put on my robe, I put on the neck one and the face one. And then I do stuff like I pack the kids lunches. I'm never just like sitting hanging out, right? Like I'm always doing multiple things at once. So then I do that. I take that off. And then I use a serum I usually use so my friend Jenna launched a company called bios. And so I don't know if you see it and B Y O F stands for free. You have to look it up. It's like a pink. It's like a pink container. And it's basically like vitamin C and bakuchiol Is it bakuchiol gradient tavas li butchering it, but it's fantastic. It's, it's kind of touted as like a retinol alternative. I still use tret every few days at night, but it's just you know, I use some kind of serum. So I do my serum. And then after that I will do my moisturizer. So I've been loving the Dermalogica moisturizer lately. Fantastic. And then I spray the like a tanning spray. You know Santro PE spray. Oh yeah. So that gives you a really nice glow. And that's my morning is that like a crazy lot and then I take liquid collagen like when I go downstairs which is like completely changed my skin. But that has mostly just changed the skin from like, it's almost like a balloon was blown up in my skin. Yeah, when you plump? Very much so. Okay, it's time at

Amy Sherman 32:27

the gym because I want to shoot. Okay, so what's the nighttime routine?

Kat Ashmore 32:30

nighttime routine is I will do so I take off my makeup with either LMS or again, like an oil base. And I've been using the Dermalogica precleanse lately that I love. I love Dermalogica products, they sent me a bunch of stuff to try. And so I've been using the pre cleanse and I absolutely love it. It's really light. So I take that off. And then I do a second cleanse with just like a set of fill or something like gentle but like a proper cleanse, right? A double cleanse. Yep, yep, yep. And then every I switch it up a little bit where every few days I will use the P 50. By biology reshare shorts is like, great. It's strong. Yeah, I do that. Why is that? Yeah, every few nights, I would say I don't use that if I'm using Tretton Now when that night. I do try it like every third night as well. But one of the things that I swear by is it's called aisle lucette. And it's a French name.

Katie Chandler 33:30

I just ordered it. What is that? I

Kat Ashmore 33:34

use it every single night. It's unbelievable. Do you know how to use it? No.

Katie Chandler 33:37

I was gonna do my research before I came. I ordered it like yesterday.

Kat Ashmore 33:42

Yeah, it is very potent ironic acid cream. Okay, the treatment so it, it won't like burn your skin or anything. I mean, it's like a very nourishing treatment. But you basically put it on damp skin. So I will do that. Like right after I have the toner, I'll just put a little bit of water on my skin. Take like a good sized amount. It's not expensive, which is part of why I like it, because sometimes they'd be like, if something's too expensive. I don't want to use a lot of it. So it's like you can use a good amount. And I just put it all over my face to the point where it looks pretty white still. And then I will just take a little bit of a thick moisturizer like Egyptian magic or something like that. And then I just like Pat, I kind of slug it in in that sense. And you wake up with the most moisturized glowy Oh, yeah. So now I have like French pharmacy

Amy Sherman 34:44

same caterers just talking about that. Yeah, I need to order that. It sounds amazing. So do you do that when you put retinol on because I use Trent known as well. Like is it that you do that on top of the Trent Nolan?

Kat Ashmore 34:54

I do. Okay, some people say not to me You know, you hear different things, whatever. I think you have to be your own physician to play with your cover. What? Yes, exactly. I, I do I find it very, very nourishing. And I'll do a face mask like, maybe once a week. Yeah. Nothing crazy. But that. Yeah, that's one of my favorite products. And that's

Katie Chandler 35:22

what I read about that product is that it pulls moisture into your skin from wherever you're adding the moisture. So like you said, Your face has to be damp before and then you're putting on like a heavy slugging cream afterwards. It's really helping that moisture seep into your skin. So if you read if you use it while your face is dry, and then you don't follow up with a moisturizer, it will actually dehydrate your skin because it'll pull the moisture out.

Kat Ashmore 35:48

And that makes sense. Yeah, so a lot of sense. I like to know the why behind things. So I Yeah, hearing that, because I wasn't aware of that. I just knew you needed to use it on damp skin. Yeah, it's really, it's really fantastic. And then I use that canopy humidifier. Yeah, yeah. So I use that every night. And so I love that you just gave us the whole like, nitty gritty detail because we Yeah, I love that I am like the opposite of a gatekeeper like I want, I will share everything I know it

Amy Sherman 36:24

or not. So I ordered the college and because I had seen you talk about it so many times. And I was like, I need to order this and obviously your skin looks amazing. So I just started at like, I haven't been super disciplined. But lately I have been but I got it maybe like a month ago, so I don't Okay. You know, I know you said it has to you have to do for like a few months for you to like start here for a month. Yeah, we'd

Kat Ashmore 36:43

say yeah, I mean, it worked for me quickly. It was like within the first five weeks, I would say Okay, everybody started commenting on it to me. Wow. My followers like I wasn't planning on even sharing it for three months. Yeah, people are like, what are you you know, asking all these questions and now

Amy Sherman 37:03

you do like the two teaspoons in the morning or two tables table. Every morning.

Kat Ashmore 37:07

My husband takes it now my mom takes a deep dive on me. It's been this it's Modere Okay, and if you see like my the before and afters my college and highlight it's like comical.

Amy Sherman 37:22

No, I watch I was like, before I bought it, I watched it. I'm like, this is incredible. I mean, it's what year the plane was like, I got the one that you recommended, like the plane one it kind of tastes like here. It's like a Yeah, like part. Oh, yes. It's not bad. But there's also flavored ones. Do they kind of work the same? Yes.

Kat Ashmore 37:41

So they're all the same amount of collagen? Yeah. But like it also has hyaluronic acid in it too. Right? So it's like you see a lot of these same ingredients. It's just like I mean, the college is expensive but you can you get what you pay for like I use less Botox now. And I don't use any like eyelash serum anymore.

Amy Sherman 38:03

Oh, really? So it's affecting like your hair grow?

Kat Ashmore 38:06

Yes.

Amy Sherman 38:07

Wow.

Katie Chandler 38:08

What a good for nails also right like the

Kat Ashmore 38:10

the strain our joints? If you I mean, I have been takes it because of his joints. Like he has no shoulder pain for the first time in like 15 years. Wow. It's great. Yeah, it's really good. I mean, I know I get offers. I get like brand deal offers from different supplement companies and stuff like that constantly. You know, I'm going to be very selective with who I work with. Because I don't want to be doing a million different things. Like I want to be doing stuff that works.

Amy Sherman 38:40

And we trust you. I also bought the walking desk, like not the walking desk, the treadmill from you. And it's so funny, because you just I had been researching for a while and then I like forgot about it. And then I saw yours. I'm like, I'm just getting on and she recommends because I know it's good. And that's been so nice. Just not be sitting all day and just like walking during the day. So that's great, because I've noticed, like, obviously, you have so much content around cooking, but now you have a lot of like great lifestyle content. Like I'm wondering, I'm like staring at your sweater slash sweatshirt. I'm like, is that an Amazon or is it here? You

Kat Ashmore 39:13

get it? Like I love it isn't deadly, Steven? Okay. Yeah, it's, you know, it's the kind of thing where I think very much like Martha in a way, like she started out in catering. You know, she became a firebrand. And I just, I've always operated in the sense where I am going to listen to what people want from me. And I'm not going to I'm not going to sit here and think I know what people should want to see from me. I'm going to talk about I mean, like, I am a like, I'm very passionate about the things that I believe in and like creating a life that I'm excited to wake up to every morning. So I talk about it all. I love it and

Katie Chandler 39:56

it's working for you obviously.

Kat Ashmore 39:58

There are so Many food creators and there's so many websites Food Network New York Times cookie, if you just want recipes, go there like, yeah, the only thing that's really different about what I do is that I'm doing it. So I my content is very personality forward like, people better than me, people are taking better photos than me people are putting together better outfits than me. But like, I'm the only unique thing about my brand.

Amy Sherman 40:28

That's right. That's right. And you know what, I always like to follow people like you that have a specialty, right? But then you start seeing their lifestyle, and you get to know them more personally, because that's when you like, can really connect and start trusting and like it just it makes just for better overall content and like, whatever. So we love it all. And you are going on a book tour. I'm read so let's hear about that. Like where where's it starting? Because I was just saying to Katie, I think you're like your first stop is near her. I was like, Katie, you gotta go. Yes.

Kat Ashmore 41:02

So the first event is going to be the 23rd in Madison at RJ Giulia And then third, okay. And then it rolls out where I'm going to be in Danbury of Barnes and Noble there, I'm going to be at the Del Mar in Greenwich for a really fun event. And the kitchen Atlas scowl is going to be making a few of my recipes for the appetizers from the book. So it's really fun. And then I'll be traveling a bit where I'll be in, you know, I'll be in Rhode Island at the William Sonoma in New York at Columbus Circle Boston, Dallas, Texas, I'm going to be hosting an event with my friend Alex from the Define dish. And we're going to be hosting an event together and then Houston and more stops may be added. But I have the full list on both my website and my Instagram. Okay, yeah, you need to come. I know, I'm actually surprised that we haven't prioritized DC yet. I mean, a lot of it is just based on analytics. Right. And we're on the ground. shoveler Yeah, most people are, but I know that I've got we've got a lot of people in DC for sure. Because if you can let me know, as well. Yeah, no, definitely.

Amy Sherman 42:21

I can interview live, we could do an ironic live q&a from the audience. You see what I'm saying? I got it. I got. Um, one other thing I wanted to mention, I know we talked about it last time, and you mentioned it reasonably somewhere. But and I again, always think of you about this, like, what can I add to my plate like that philosophy? So like, if I'm making a salad or I'm making like yogurt in the morning, I think to myself, like, what can I add? That's like healthy that's gonna see shaped me. Like, can I add that? Can I add whatever and like, that has stuck with me. I think it's such a good tip. Yeah, I'm

Kat Ashmore 42:51

so glad it's been huge. For me. It's really been huge for me, because I don't snack that often. Now, and I don't even realize that I don't really snack until people are like, knows that. Like, it's crazy to some people, but my meals are really satiating. So I just, I don't snack that much. And

Amy Sherman 43:12

I need to make I saw in the cookbook, and then I noticed it on your feed when I looked because I totally missed this one over the holidays. Like I love peppermint cookies or anything like peppermint around the holidays. And I saw those peppermint cookies. I was like, You know what I really need to make that they look

Kat Ashmore 43:26

No, they're so good. Yeah, my seven year old said that those are the best cookies he's had in his life so far. Like, well, I mean, that is the ultimate review. Yeah, absolutely. Like, you'll note that there's granulated sugar, and there's butter. Yeah, there. Yeah, I am not afraid of classic baking ingredients and not afraid of any ingredients. I want. A cookie tastes like a really good cookie. So

Amy Sherman 43:57

if you're gonna have it, you might as well. Yeah, we're just

Kat Ashmore 44:00

like, how much do we actually need? And by cutting back on this, what changes do I need to make so that we still get the texture we want? We still get the Browning we want. You know all of that. That's just that's my way. But

Katie Chandler 44:14

we're still letting a cookie be a cookie. Yeah,

Kat Ashmore 44:16

very much. And again, that way you aren't feeling like, Oh, I'm going to this place. Do I need to make like, healthy cookies that I'm going to want to eat? Or do I need to make like totally indulgent cookies that I can't eat but other people will enjoy? It's like, No, you can you can do both.

Amy Sherman 44:33

You can do both. Okay, like we could literally talk to you all day. We love you. We love like so fun. I just like and we need to meet in person. So Katie, and I need your book tours like this is

Kat Ashmore 44:45

great. We have to make that happen. Email me and we'll we'll chat about

Amy Sherman 44:49

that. Well, we'll figure out something. So let's get into our little rap session. I know we did this last time but I'm sure well, we basically like the first question what's your favorite wellness or beauty hack? I feel like we went through your whole routine. So we Love it. But just give us one thing like your favorite hack.

Kat Ashmore 45:02

Yeah, I'm okay. My favorite wellness hack, I will say because this is a mental wellness and we haven't talked about it but yeah complimenting a stranger a day. I do it every day. Oh, I love

Katie Chandler 45:13

that. I think I saw that on your content at some point. Did you talk about it at some point?

Kat Ashmore 45:17

Yeah, I have I've talked about until that's why I compliment one stranger a day. And I will also like, anytime I go to the grocery store, I get an extra bouquet of flowers, and then I will give it to someone in the parking lot. Sometimes they have to, like be a little bit creepy and like, follow people to their car. Because there aren't a lot of people here today. But I do it for myself. I love that when I'm having a bad day. It's this storyline of like, I'm not any good. I'm not enough. That's usually what is at the heart of it. So like, the best way for me to get back in touch with my goodness is by doing a good deed. And so instantly, I feel like I'm a good person. So it's not completely all altruistic. And

Amy Sherman 46:05

yeah, it makes you feel good. And it makes make someone's day.

Kat Ashmore 46:09

That's completely. Yeah, I swear by.

Katie Chandler 46:14

It shuts down those automatic negative thoughts that we all have. Right. It's like,

Kat Ashmore 46:19

quiet outside yourself. Yeah. That's great.

Katie Chandler 46:24

All right. So you gave us the play by play of the routine. What's the five minute flow? How you get out the door quickly? Uber's right around the corner.

Kat Ashmore 46:34

That was this morning for me literally before I had to jump on to something. So the one so I have I've been under painting, which I swear by doing, you know, the contour or bronzer and the blush, whatever underneath, whatever kind of foundation you're wearing. Or tinted sunscreen, but I have been using this slip tent by

Amy Sherman 46:59

Oh, I use that. So good. I'm obsessed with

Kat Ashmore 47:03

that. So I'm obsessed with it. I love the Ilia Skin Tint too, but like this is my newest obsession. And this concealer by Natasha de Nonna. Oh, I've heard of Yeah, I've heard of Taylor I've ever used really filler of every list. Yes. Yes. You can like bring it down. If you're not wearing anything else. You can bring it down a bit and just spot treat and treat that as like you're on vacation. Yeah, so that is like, huge. And then I will be like very much like a multiuse person where if I'm putting a little bit on my lip, I'll just like that, you know, dab it on making you and then Thrive mascara is my jam. I use that with a CoverGirl primer. Perfect. I don't know. Yeah. Just quick out the door. Yeah, but you know what it is? Don't Don't you feel like it's the high maintenance to be low maintenance thing, because I do so much with my skincare. I don't 100% do that much.

Amy Sherman 48:04

I don't need to do that. Yeah, I also find and Katie, and I've talked about this before, like the older you get, the less makeup, you need to if you're taking care of your skin like yeah, makeup doesn't look as good as like because your texture is different. So like, the less you can wear the better. But to your point, you got to do a lot of stuff to make it where your skin looks dead. So you don't really have to wear much, but just like a little thing here or there.

Katie Chandler 48:25

That's right. Yeah. Yeah, too much makeup. The older you get. I feel like is ages,

Amy Sherman 48:30

people who didn't do it totally does it totally. The

Katie Chandler 48:33

base has to be in shape. The skins got to be Yeah, on point. All right. So I know what your how you maintain your daily nirvana. Remember what you said last time? I'm curious what it is this time if it's same or not? How do you maintain that?

Kat Ashmore 48:48

Meditation is huge for me. That's like, oh, that's one of the big I mean, it's a non negotiable, it has totally changed my life where I'm just so much less reactive to external circumstances. It grounds me in something really solid. So that's huge. And also daily movement exercises. Like some kind of daily movement, whether it's, you know, walking, doing an incline walk in the morning, going to a, you know, a bar class, just like working my body out.

Amy Sherman 49:20

It just like something. You got it. Yeah.

Katie Chandler 49:23

You've been practicing Transcendental Meditation for years, right?

Kat Ashmore 49:26

I have. Yeah.

Amy Sherman 49:27

Anyway, you're doing that at some point. You inspired

Katie Chandler 49:30

me to find the Westport or the, you know, the Fairfield County representative here and I started working with her. Like a year ago, I hung up with her for a while I've fallen off I need to go to one of them. You know, like, refresher.

Kat Ashmore 49:45

Yeah. Just to get you back then. Yeah, yeah, of course. And, you know, meditation is one of those things where people always feel like I'm not good at it. And it's just like, nobody's good at it. Right? Right. was against everything in us as a human to like, it's hard, or water.

Amy Sherman 50:05

I appreciate it when I do it. I really don't do it a lot. But when I do it, I appreciate it so much. And I have to I feel like at least for me, because I'm not I don't do TM or anything like that I'll just do like a, Melissa would help like just someone guiding me and that helps. But I really need to force myself to do it more because you're right, like every time I do it, I feel so much more grounded. I just like don't worry, you know, put it in your calendar. If you do that's the way that I implement a new habit is I put it Yeah, calendar I put it in my phone. Repeat every day. Well, I have my I put this on our Instagram, but I have my like, my yearly mood board on my screensaver as my phone and it literally the best tip like we're kidding are building your year to doing this. It takes two seconds you like do it on your Well, this one, I think I made this one make a mood board. You basically you could do it a super easy way. Or you could make it more complicated. But the super easy way to do it is you take nine photos from your phone like you could just find inspo anywhere like, quote on Instagram, it's something from patients wherever you just take those last nine photos in your phone, you screenshot it and you put it as a screensaver. It's like the easiest thing. This I think I made in like Canva, which took me two seconds. But I just took a bunch of things. I literally downloaded it and now it's on my screen. And so it's like my reminders of are my things that I want to do that. I'm ready to go fast. Because I've been every year I always have these things. And it's like I write it down. And then I never look at it. And this was like, I started doing the nine photos. But then I was like We don't want to add more things. So then I of course like wanted to make a fun collage. But the easiest way is just like take a screenshot of this last name photos, or 12 manifest

Kat Ashmore 51:51

whatever it is. I just wrote it down. Yeah.

Amy Sherman 51:53

I love that. Yeah, we want to hear. So it's been it's fabulous. Yeah, I I love it. And I actually there's this quote on here that I had last year and I carried it over to the shirt. And my husband was like, will you sent me that quote, which was so cute. And the quote is, and it's by this person, Judy Haller, who's actually just like, she's like a keynote speaker. I've just been following her for years. And the quote is, assume the best will happen. Which I love. Because how many times are we always like, oh, like you always think negative. You're like, Oh, what if this happens? What if my husband's like, very skeptical about everything? So like, he saw that quote, and he was like, Oh, can I have that? And I was like, Yeah, I mean,

Kat Ashmore 52:34

that too.

Amy Sherman 52:36

I mean, yeah, that's so it's like, such a good thing to think about, because there's so many times right, where you're like, thinking through something, and then sometimes I'll just change my mindset will be like, but what if this happens instead? You know, even even with my kids like, a basketball game, well, what if I do that or whatever? But what if you don't? What if this happens, right? Like, right, he might spend

Kat Ashmore 52:58

time projecting the future you might as well do it positively.

Katie Chandler 53:01

Or just for what you want. Yeah, I

Kat Ashmore 53:05

love that. Yeah.

Amy Sherman 53:06

Anyway, well, like I said, we could talk all day, but this is nice. Thank you for your time was so good. Everybody, check out cash, Moore's book, big bites, and of course, she's on Instagram and Tiktok and all the things. We love it. We love you. Thank you so much for coming back. Congratulations on everything and we will chat soon. Can't wait. Thank

Kat Ashmore 53:27

you so much for having me.

Amy Sherman 53:30

Thanks for listening to Nirvana sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes. Please subscribe and leave us a review. also find us on Instagram at Nirvana sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana sisters will continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to buy

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here or view our podcast episode guide.

Episode 133 - Just In Time For The Holiday Party Season: Zero Hangovers With ZBiotics CEO & Co-Founder, Dr. Zack Abbott (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 133 .

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here.

Speaker A: Welcome to Nirvana Sisters podcast, where we take the intimidation out of well being and beauty to help you achieve your highest state, your nirvana. We are Sisters in law and your hosts. I'm Amy Sherman.

Speaker B: And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation. Welcome to the show nirvana Sisters family. Today we are sitting down with Dr. Zach Abbott. Zach is the CEO and co founder of ZBiotics. Zach has a PhD in Microbiology and Immunology from the University of Michigan and holds a bachelor's degree from UC Berkeley, where he double majored in Immunology and Classical art and Archaeology. During his PhD, the focus of Zach's thesis was on bacterial gene regulation. That sounds super interesting. And he became an expert at understanding how bacteria turn on and off different functions in response to their environment. After his PhD, zach then had the idea to apply his expertise to the world of safe edible probiotic bacteria. He wanted to engineer these probiotic bacteria, which to date had only been leveraged for the generalized and inconsistent benefits to do a very specific and usual function directly inside the human body. Combining the tools of genetic engineering with the safe microbes already around us, his goal was to create something new, a microbe trained to do something that provided a unique, specific, intangible benefit for people. Zach dove into the research project that would eventually become ZBiotics. He holed up his lab in Berkeley, California, often sleeping next to his lab bench. I'm sure there were some long nights and after twelve months emerged with the prototype of the world's first genetically engineered probiotic. So that's all super interesting and really exciting and I can't wait to tell our listeners about it because I am a very big fan of ZBiotics and have been using it for quite some time. So welcome to the show.

Speaker C: Yeah, well, thanks so much for having me. I feel like maybe I could have done a better job writing that bio, but glad I'm excited to get into it with you.

Speaker B: No, the bio is great. I mean, we need to know the nitty gritty for sure, especially with something that is as interesting as this. So for the listener, ZBiotics is a pre alcohol probiotic. And the best way that I can describe it is you take it essentially with your first alcoholic beverage and it cures you of your hangover. You wake up the next day feeling, I think, pretty great. I've always felt really good on it and I think I've used it, I want to say like four or five times over the last couple of years. When did the product start? When did you first launch?

Speaker C: Yeah, we launched it in August of 2019, so it's been around for about a little over four years.

Speaker B: Very cool. All right, so break it down for us. Tell our listeners, what is Zbiotic's? Pre alcohol probiotic.

Speaker C: Totally. Yeah. So first and foremost, I'll say that you mentioned the word hangover. And I think that that term we found is a very loaded term for people and they associate it with a lot of things that maybe we don't really mean or that we're going to get into. And so, really talk about kind of the idea that this product, the purpose of the product is to kind of be like another tool in your toolbox, along with other responsible drinking habits to help you kind of land on your feet and get more done the next day. Maintain those healthy habits and routines. And so some people associate a hangover with kind of like binge drinking and kind of like misery or throwing up on the toilet, things like that that are not really I think that's above and beyond for some people. And so this product is more around kind of definitely making you feel better the day after drinking and some people kind of refer to that as a hangover but not everybody kind of thinks the same way. So anyway, happy to describe. Yeah, so exactly as you said the product, it's a pre alcohol probiotic. So you take that product before you drink and then when you drink alcohol is sort of broken down into this toxic byproduct called acid aldehyde in your body. And so this acid aldehyde is kind of responsible for some of the things that you might feel the next day. Some of the important things that kind of interrupt how much you're likely to get on kind of with your day. And so our product is a bacteria probiotic bacteria that can basically break down that acid aldehyde as it forms while you're drinking so that you can feel better the next day. And so that's the general idea.

Speaker B: Yeah, I think it's fair to say the way that maybe I first positioned it, it might sound like one is using this for a really big night. And sure, of course, but it's also kind of like the wellness person's way of processing this essentially toxic thing that we're putting into our bodies and helping us break it down better so that we feel much better the next day, whether it's a couple of drinks or a big night out. I mean, I definitely used it for a big night out. It was a friend's birthday party this past summer and it saved me. But on the flip side, I was just in the Dominican Republic with some best friends this past weekend and she had Z biotics with just a couple. It's a girl's weekend, we're not getting into anything crazy and we use the ZBiotics and it was great. So I would say then my next question, people, I think mostly assume that we feel bad the next day from drinking alcohol because of dehydration. What do you have to say to that?

Speaker C: Yeah. So first, I'll say that to your first point, it's exactly right that the drinking events that happen, whether they're big or small, are, like, for a lot of people, it's an important part of your socializing kind of, like, different experience you have with traveling or going out with your friends or a party or whatever it might be. But the value we see for our customers is really in kind of like being able to maintain the healthy habits and routines the next day. And so when these drinking events occur, you can have ZBiotics as a way to ensure that the next day, the second day of your trip, just as good as the first, right? Or that you make your morning workout or that morning hike, you meet with your friends, whatever that might be. So that is really kind of like the focus. It is definitely around wellness and kind of like living a full life. To your question around dehydration, it's a good one. I think that there's this sort of like pervasive myth around alcohol and dehydration and this belief that alcohol causes dehydration, even though we know in the scientific literature that alcohol doesn't really cause significant dehydration. And I think that this myth is sort of based on the idea that we observe that we tend to pee a lot when we drink alcohol. And it's known that alcohol inhibits a hormone called the antideuretic hormone, which regulates how much you pee. So this belief, though, that that must be the root cause of why you feel bad, but we actually know that's not true. And we have known that for a long time scientifically. I think everybody probably also knows this. If you do the thought experiment, right, other things that cause dehydration don't feel anything, like true, like the way you feel the day after drinking, right? If you exercise or you eat salty foods or you're out in the sun, you do not feel like you feel after you've been drinking, right? Those are very different feelings. They're very different things. And also the cure for dehydration is to drink water. And we all know that when we've had a rough morning after drinking, that having a couple of glasses of water really does nothing to kind of help you feel better. Right? It just takes time. And so these are very different processes, we know that, I think, intuitively, but we'd like to have something and so we sort of are like oh, and so these brands are selling us on electrolytes and rehydration AIDS as a way to kind of leverage this sort of belief that dehydration must be a problem. But we know that's actually not true. And so the question really becomes like, well, what is true? And I think what I think has really been interesting to me as a scientist in digging into this question of what's happening when you drink, is that as with anything, it's actually really complicated. There's a whole bunch of stuff happening, sort of like a symphony of stuff. But if I were to sort of simplify it down, it's kind of a story of two molecules. So you have alcohol itself, so the ethanol, and then you have this metabolic byproduct of alcohol called acid aldehyde. And those two things are both toxic molecules that aren't great for you, and they cause disturbances in your body in various ways. And so the alcohol, basically, it affects the quality of your sleep, it irritates your gut. It sort of has this effect on many different hormones in your body and the way you regulate kind of hunger and satiation. So those midnight cravings after drinking are really due to the alcohol. And then simultaneously, it sort of affects the way your blood sugar and insulin balance are affected the next day as well. And so all those things have sort of some of the negative consequences you might experience. But then I'd say probably even more important in terms of the way you feel the next day is acid aldehydes, this very toxic molecule. It sort of wreaks havoc throughout the body. It's able to kind of cause cell death, which causes systemic inflammation. It's able to bind to receptors in your brain and create sort of like those feelings of nausea and sort of like that toxic death feeling you might get or that malaise that kind of prevents you from your day. And acid aldehyde is an important part of why you feel that way. And so those are like the two main things you're dealing with. There's a few other really interesting things that are happening as well. I'm oversimplifying, but generally speaking, those are the big buckets. And so the idea behind Zibiotics is that we could help with the acid aldehyde at least, right? Like the alcohol is why people are drinking in the first place. And so whatever that might be that you're experiencing from that. So we thought that at least we could get some of these really nasty, kind of some of that misery that you're dealing with the next day if we tackle the acid problem. So that's what we set up.

Speaker B: So ZBiotics essentially breaks down the I'm going to say it wrong, you know what I'm saying? Acidillahaldehyde.

Speaker C: Yeah, acid aldehyde.

Speaker B: Say it again.

Speaker C: Yeah, acid.

Speaker B: Acid aldehyde. Okay. That's not as challenging as I thought.

Speaker C: It was going to be.

Speaker B: Acid aldehyde.

Speaker C: Yeah, it looks more it really does.

Speaker B: So that is what the Z biotics does, and it is essentially a probiotic. Does this work in your gut then?

Speaker C: Yes, exactly. So we started with a live probiotic bacteria. So, like, this bacteria is a safe, edible bacteria that you can eat, and you do already eat this bacteria every day of your life. The species Bacillus subtleus is what's called B subtilis. It's a common bacteria used in the fermentation of food like NATO or Kombucha or chocolate. B subtleus is often kind of involved in that fermentation process. And it's also just kind of like all over your kitchen counter. It's kind of everywhere and you eat it all the time. And so then we took that bacteria and then we engineered it to kind of perform one extra function in addition to all the other things that it's already doing. And so this extra function was the ability to break down acid aldehyde. And so your liver is very good at breaking down acid aldehyde, but unfortunately, by the time it makes its way to the liver, it's already kind of wreak havoc throughout your body, because that acid aldehyde is actually being formed in large part in the gut. And so basically, to kind of step back a little bit, when you drink, most of the alcohol you drink is absorbed into the bloodstream. The alcohol circulates out the body. It has the effects that it has, and then it makes its way to the liver, and it's broken down in two stages. So the alcohol is converted into acid aldehyde, and then the acid aldehyde is converted into acetate. And acetate is essentially vinegar. It's innocuous at this point, the molecule has been detoxified. And so those two steps happen with two different enzymes, and the liver is very good at both steps. So basically, once the alcohol makes its way to the liver, it's almost all being converted entirely to acetate. A small amount of alcohol is actually being broken down directly in the gut before it gets absorbed into the bloodstream. And so it's like, not really a relevant amount in terms of intoxication or the effects of alcohol itself, but even though it's a small amount, this alcohol is almost all being converted to acid aldehyde, that first step of the reaction, but not the second step. So the microbes in your gut are basically breaking down a little bit of alcohol into acid aldehyde, but not subsequently to acetate. And so what happens is that even though it's a small amount of alcohol, basically it's producing acid aldehyde, and that osalide starts to build up in the gut. The gut ends up being the major source of acid aldehyde in the body, even though it's a minor source of alcohol breakdown. And so we know that the scientific literature is very clear that colonic levels of acid aldehydes we look in the gut, and the levels of acid in the gut, they're five to ten times higher than they are in the bloodstream, even though, like I say, this is a very minor source of alcohol metabolism. And so this is actually the major source of acid aldehyde. And then, of course, that acid is highly soluble. It diffuses out of the gut into the bloodstream, circulates throughout the body, kind of wreaks havoc, and then it makes its way to the liver and it's broken down really efficiently. But at that point, it's kind of too late. So we thought, let's move that function of the liver, that one single enzyme that converts acidol die into acetate, and let's just put it in the gut. And so we basically engineered this safe, edible probiotic bacteria to express this very safe common enzyme in the location where it matters right, for the way you feel the next day. And so it's really just kind of like transferring that tray of the liver into the gut, break down that side in the gut before kind of gets absorbed in the bloodstream.

Speaker B: It's so interesting. And then does it essentially, basically just compound the more drinking that you do, the more glasses of, let's say, wine that you have just naturally, the more acid aldehyde that is in your system. And so that's the obvious reason why for most, if you have one or two drinks versus four or five, it can make a difference in how you feel the next day. And I'm also curious, a lot of people, our livers, they go under a lot of stress, right? I mean, especially if you take a lot of supplements, if you have to take prescription medication, if someone's liver is less healthy than someone else's, is that also another factor of how they're breaking it all down?

Speaker C: Absolutely. It's a good point that drinking itself is like putting stress on your liver, like all that alcohol that it has to break down. And I love that you said like supplements. There's a lot of things that we take that really have to be processed by our liver and our kidneys. And the more we kind of put wear on those tires, the more they wear down. And so that's a really great point. And as we get older, I think we all notice that we start to get impact, like less drinks impact us more. And that's in part because the function of our organs, like our liver and kidneys are not as spry as they used to be in our twenty s. And so that's absolutely, that's absolutely true. And the worse kind of your liver, the less effective your liver is, the slower you'll be able to break this stuff down and the longer you're exposed to it, which means the more damage and then that you feel the next day.

Speaker B: Yeah. There's a reason why when you're like 24 you can party all night and when you're 44 can't.

Speaker C: Exactly. Right. Two or three drinks feels like a dumb track hitting you, whereas when you were 20 you wouldn't even notice.

Speaker B: All right, well, let's talk a little bit about then how one would use ZBiotics and how they're going to feel on it and does it affect their level of intoxication? Maybe we can start there. If you have it with your first drink, is it going to have any effect on your evening in that regard?

Speaker C: It shouldn't. Right? Because the whole point is that your body is still in charge of breaking down the alcohol the same way it always did. And then Zebotus really steps in on that second step after the alcohol has been converted into acid aldehyde. And so the acid aldehyde doesn't have any effect on the intoxication itself. And so all the same rules, with or without Zebotics still apply for responsible drinking. Making sure that you know your limits, you pace yourself, you drink in moderation, you make sure you're drinking plenty of water, not drinking on empty stomach. All those things are still really important. And then the idea is that if you do all those things, you're still going to be exposed to some amount of acid aldehyde. And so Zebiotics is there to kind of help with that piece of the puzzle. So we've kind of like invented something to deal with, something with a part of the problem that currently nothing existed to kind of deal with, even though you had these other kind of best practices. So yeah, you should feel the same in terms of the impact of the alcohol. But then of course, the next day you'll ideally feel better.

Speaker B: But now, should one expect us to be like a superhuman feeling better? Like the next day, am I going to wake up and want to go run a marathon or am I just going to not feel like I'm dying?

Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, to some extent, I hate to give sort of a science answer here, but it depends on the person and their biology as to how you feel the next day. What we can definitely say is that you will feel better. And for some people, indeed, we literally have testimonials where people go. I've had people send me screenshots of the Strava where they've run like 7 miles the next morning after going out in Nashville with their friends or whatever. And so it kind of depends on who you are and how alcohol affects you because it's going to be kind of different for everybody. That being said, you'll definitely feel better. The whole point of the product is to essentially reduce the friction on you getting on with the important, natural, healthy parts of your day, like exercising or meeting up with friends or whatever it might be. That is the benefit of the product. And you should feel that way. That being said, are you going to wake up and definitively feel nothing? Probably unrealistic. As I say, the next day effects of drinking are very complicated. There's a lot of facets going around that your body's dealing with our product helps you with a really important part of that. And so the other things that you're dealing with related to alcohol itself, like for instance, I think one of the important ones is poor sleep. So you may wake up the next day and feel groggy even if you don't kind of feel all the rest of that misery, which could impact kind of like how motivated you are to get things done. And so good news is, like a good breakfast, some coffee can really address some of that. But I also myself personally when I'm drinking, in addition to taking z biotics. As I say, I try and maintain all the other healthy habits I have, and one of the most important ones is making sure I get plenty of sleep and trying to go to bed sober. So stopping drinking earlier in the night so that my body has time to process that alcohol so that when I go to bed, there isn't alcohol in my brain affecting because the alcohol binding receptors in the brain are just kind of part of what affects the quality of your sleep. So trying to mitigate that symptom using other kind of behaviors and practices is really yeah.

Speaker B: As somebody that has used the product multiple times, it is interesting. I have had different experiences the next day. The underlying current is that I always feel certainly better than I would have had I not taken it. And there's been a couple of times where I remember like one or two days I was groggy. But you're right, I didn't sleep very well. And I can go to bed with having nothing to drink, having had the best wellness day exercised and still have a bad night's sleep. It is interesting how it is unique to someone's biology and it can affect one different ways. I mean, a friend, we have a mutual friend, and he is like the Bionic Man and he takes very good care of himself and he uses Ebiotics, and I think he probably is one of those guys that's getting up and running a marathon the next day.

Speaker C: Yeah, totally.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker C: Yeah. There's no doubt about it that alcohol definitely affects the quality of your sleep. It's definitely not going to help. And so I think an important part is just being aware of all the things that are kind of like, happening. And I think that taking steps to mitigate each of those together in a holistic sense. And to your point, everybody's biology is different. And our goal here is to work with your biology and that includes kind of your own decision making as opposed to sort of like kind of giving you gal gel free card that mitigates everything because that's just not right.

Speaker B: Of course. Okay, well, I want our guests to know where they can find Zibiotics. But before you say that, I just want you to know you guys are everywhere because last night, one of Amy's friends unfortunately, Amy's not here with us today. She couldn't be with us today, but just randomly texted her a photo of her holding her Zbiotic saying, have you heard of this? Literally. Yeah. I could show it to you. I'll show you the photo and the timestamp of the date. It's wild. So you are everywhere. So tell us, where can our listeners find you?

Speaker C: That is so cool. I'm glad to hear that. Best place to find us is just on our website, zbiotics.com. And yeah, we have a lot of information there about the product, but also a lot of things we're talking about here, like best practices around drinking without the product and how alcohol affects your body, and a lot of stuff about the microbiome. We don't have time to get into it now, but my PhD in microbiology, I'm really passionate about disseminating information about just kind of understanding your gut environment and the microbes that live there. And I think there's a lot of really cool, kind of honest things that we can talk about in that space as well. So we try and address some of that.

Speaker B: Yeah, your website is genius. It has a lot of great information and for those that like to dig into the science of it all. And you know what? We should have you back to talk about the microbiome because it is fascinating. So I know that you would love to have a conversation with you as well. All right, so before I let you go, let's get into our wrap session because I'm super curious what your answers are going to be to this. So what is your favorite wellness or beauty hack?

Speaker C: Okay, so my favorite wellness hack is as you can tell, I don't probably have a ton of beauty hacks, but my favorite wellness hack is frozen cauliflower in my smoothie. So there was this really cool, basically, study that came out in 2021. It was this huge metaanalysis of 2 million people over the course of 30 years, and they followed their health and their diet and all these things. They analyzed basically, in this case, specifically, what's the optimal amount of fruit and veg that you should be eating every day. And it was that at least two servings of fruit and three servings of vegetables a day was like the optimal amount. Anything above that didn't hurt, but it sort of didn't provide an increased benefit. And so, okay, that feels like doable generally, right? Especially two fruit. I think I can do that. But three veg really takes a concerted effort, right. That means you're having a serving of vegetables with every meal and kind of hard to work vegetable into an easy I'm eating a bowl of cereal a lot of times. So what I do now is basically, if I add, like, three quarters of a cup of frozen cauliflower to my smoothie in the morning, you blend it up, and basically, it's a very neutral flavor, and it adds, like, a nice texture. Gives, like, a sort of a creamy, smoothie texture to it, but you don't really taste it. And so it's sort of like this free veg that you get right off the bat out of the gate for the day. I've already gotten one serving of vegetables.

Speaker B: That's a good one. It's hidden in there. That would also be a really good way to get vegetables into my children, I feel like.

Speaker C: Yes, kids also don't detect.

Speaker B: Nice. That's a great one. Okay, so this next one is like, maybe a little bit more for the ladies that we have interviewing on the show, but I'm still curious. It's your five minute flow. You just got in the shower and you're drying off and uber's pinged you. They're five minutes away. What are you doing to get out the door on time? I have a feeling this is probably like, for most men, always the same, but what do you got?

Speaker C: Yeah, five minutes is ample. Basically, speed stick deodorant. That's my scent. And then a little bit of the matte hair cream to kind of keep the hair out of my face, and I'm pretty much good to go.

Speaker B: I tell you what I know.

Speaker C: It's not fair. It's not fair. I agree.

Speaker B: All right. And the last one is, how do you maintain your daily nirvana?

Speaker C: I think the most important thing that I do every day for myself is I always make sure to end my day getting to read a book or listen to a book, one of the two. And even if it's like, I'm really tired, it's only, like, a few pages, I find that that's a really important way for me to kind of unwind, be quiet and kind of, like, allow my imagination to go a little bit. I spend a lot of time talking to people in a lot of meetings and things like that. And to be clear, these are books are fun books, not like self improvement or anything like that. These are like fantasy or comedy or mystery. Like things that just allow me to kind of decompress a little bit. So I think it's an important part.

Speaker B: All right, well, Zach, thanks so much for being here. I really appreciate it's. Great to connect. We've been trying to connect for a long time, and we are, like, avid fans of ZBiotics, and I know a lot of people are, so I'm sure our listeners are going to be super psyched to learn about it today. So thank you.

Speaker C: Well, thank you for having me. This is super fun.

Speaker A: Thanks for listening to Nirvana Sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes. Please subscribe and leave us a review. Also, find us on Instagram at Nirvana Sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would, please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana Sisters. We'll continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to.

Speaker B: Bye.

Episode 129 - Aging Gracefully, Anti-Beauty Beauty, and The “Influencer” Paradox - A Candid Conversation With Beauty & Wellness Writer, Christine Morrison (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 129.

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here.

Speaker A: Welcome to Nirvana Sisters podcast where we take the intimidation out of well being and beauty to help you achieve your highest state, your nirvana. We are sisters in law and your hosts. I'm Amy Sherman.

Speaker B: And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation.

Speaker A: Welcome to Nirvana, sisters. Nirvana Sisters family. Hope everyone is doing well. We have a special guest today. We are talking to Christine Morrison. And let me tell you a little bit about Christine and I'll also tell you how we met. But Christine is a seasoned freelance writer whose work centers around her achievements and passions often is seen through the lens of aging, the business of fashion, beauty and a devotion to wellness and fitness. Her writing has appeared in print and online vehicles including the Boston Globe, the Washington Post and The Quality Edit, as well as advertising campaigns for fashion and beauty brands. She was recently featured in an anthology and is currently writing a fashion essay collection, reflecting on the meaning behinds and the humor in what she wore while forming her identity, navigating her way to true love and discovering her authentic self. That sounds so fun. I can't wait to hear about that. So welcome to the show, Christine. So, funny story. We had posted something about a new trend called bedrotting. And I wrote on the Instagram post, I feel seen because it's like literally what I do every weekend and I always felt guilty about it. And then it was named and I was like, this is amazing. I feel seen like bedrotting. It's like a thing now. And then Christine and I started talking about all things beauty and really anti beauty beauty. So welcome to the show, Christine. We're so excited to have you and just have like a deeper conversation about beauty and what it means today.

Speaker C: Thank you so much for having me. And yes, bedrotting. That was so funny. I had never heard the word before but I was so excited that that.

Speaker A: Was becoming A-I-I Katie and I talk all the time and to go, I'm going to be in my bed all morning bed rotting, so I'll talk to you later today.

Speaker C: I think my husband and little boys would be like, what's that? They would be freaked out by that word. But I feel like there is a time and a place for this. At this point, I looked it up because I wanted to know what the actual definition was because I'm not a TikTok person. But it said basically this is a new form of self care and it's spending all day or all weekend in bed and it said like doom scrolling. Now I can go without the doom scrolling but just the laying in bed, binging the show or reading a book. My whole thing would be reading a book. But after all the eras of the girl boss and the hustle culture and leaning in, I feel like aren't we kind of do a little bit of relaxation. I would say yes for sure right now.

Speaker B: I hate to break it to both of you, but I've been bedrotting for years. Me too.

Speaker A: Now it actually has a name.

Speaker C: But it is I had twins and I haven't been bedrotting candidly.

Speaker B: So yeah, for me bedrotting is a way of preventing my autoimmune from flaring up. So it's like prescription bedrotting which is.

Speaker C: I love that it's almost like gave you and then sad that you needed the word, but it gives you permission to take care of yourself and you don't need permission. I'm giving you permission today. I know exactly what you mean. We all live in we need it. Yeah. And that's why we've gotten too caught up in it. And I'm so glad more and more that whether you have to have a name for it or not, that wellness and taking care of yourself is not just a beauty ritual but a lifestyle and something you have to do for your well being.

Speaker A: Yeah, I totally agree. And I also think that the idea around bedrouting which we need to change the routing. I don't want to make it feel like we got to think of another one. Maybe it's rooting, I don't know. But I do feel, and I've always done this too and again, it's funny to have a term around it, but just like having that time to yourself, whether it's like an hour or two in bed. To your point. Binging shows doom scrolling or laying with your animals like I do and my pets and whatever. Just that time to yourself and having that regroup whenever you can have it is so crucial because then you just feel revitalized afterwards. You feel rested, you feel good.

Speaker C: 100%.

Speaker A: But I realized we forgot to do our weekly nirvana and we should take a step back and do that quickly because it's been a week. We're recording the week of all of the mideast crisis that's happening and we're not going to go deep into been I was thinking about this this morning been a really hard week for all of us and it's kind of hard to think about what a weekly nirvana could be or would be in this kind of dark time right now. But I can start. I actually had two this morning which I thought were really a nice end to my week. So someone in my other job texted me this morning and just said, hey, thinking of you, just wanted to share my support and love and it was like someone I didn't really know, someone that I work with but don't work with closely or know. And I just thought it was really sweet just that she reached out and said something was really touching because not that many people do that. So I thought that was really nice. And then the other nice thing that happened this morning was my older son is having a friend sleepover all weekend because his parents are away for the weekend and it's Homecoming weekend here, and it's all this stuff. And anyway, his friend's sleeping over, but the mom sent our family, like, this really beautiful bouquet of flowers and it was, like, such a good week to get it. First of all, it was so nice to do that and so unnecessary but it was just so sweet and nice. It was just nice to get some beautiful flowers into my home just because it's been such a kind of obviously depressing week. But what about you Katie?

Speaker B: Yeah, it has been an incredibly difficult week. I think last night on the train when I was coming back from the city where I think my headspace for where it's been this week, I found myself instead of just ripping by the train stations and not paying attention to my surroundings, I was watching people and their humanity and just seeing a father pick up a son and seeing a woman that looked like she had had a long day and heading home for the day and just kind of paying attention and thinking about we are all human. The world is going to be. I think I think that was mine. Instead of just like the usual just seeing people and not thinking anything.

Speaker A: When you see these rushing through.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker B: What about you Christine?

Speaker C: Well, it's funny that you say that about people, the humanity of people just showing up and stepping up in ways that you can't believe. I don't know these two women but I saw that they were having this beauty sale in New York City and I'm obviously not there anymore but they're having it on Saturday to support the Israeli Red Cross and Israel Aid. And I reached out and I said do you need more products? Because I don't know what they need or whatever. And she's like sure. And I was like, I don't know what you need. And she said oh sure, anything. And I reached out to a handful of brands and a lot of these brands are startups so they have very little still and they are still fighting for funding and everything. 99% of them were like, oh I'll ship whatever you need. And they shipped product and donations. And it was like people just are showing up for one another. And that does give you faith in people and humanity that while our country is not experiencing what they are just to witness people that don't know each other, that are getting obviously nothing out of it, that have very little, but know that they have so much in comparison to what is happening across the world. I just thought that was an incredible yeah.

Speaker A: Yeah. That's really nice. Puts things into perspective. Let's talk about anti beauty, beauty and what that means and kind of get your thoughts about that. Christine.

Speaker C: So one of the things when we were talking about it over Instagram. I was trying to find a way to sort of define it. Like, how does someone define it? Okay, so anti beauty beauty the way that people define it. And so funny to me is when people go online and write about brands that don't work. And it's really led by what's her name? The housewife. Oh, my goodness.

Speaker B: Bethany.

Speaker A: Oh, Bethany.

Speaker C: Bethany Frankel. Right. She and then she's got all these other people on TikTok and people are up in arms. And so that's what they say as, like, that's anti beauty beauty. And I'm constantly like, no, I think of it as beauty that doesn't require so much money or so many steps and more about how it's impacted by our health and our wellness and how that affects our aesthetic. And that's how I think about it because there's so much that you can do that's not like a moisturizer whatever. And that does impact what you look like, how you feel about what you look like. And that's especially as you age because there's only so many things that you want to do or should be doing because it's pushing water uphill at some point because gravity is setting in. I'm sorry.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker C: But that's how I think of it. I don't think of it as negating what products define themselves as or anything like that. I just think it's like stepping away from the need to have an incessant 17 step program or constantly be getting and no judgment. I'm all about taking care of your skin and injectables are fine or whatever you want to do. But when it kind of takes over your world or is something that is like it's almost like what's your intention when you're doing it? Is it to fight gravity or fight what you look like rather than be like a contentment or feeling good in your skin? Things like that? I think it just depends on how you're approaching it, in my opinion.

Speaker B: I agree with that. Are we doing it so that we feel confident and happy in our skin and we can know ourselves or are we doing it because we've had something to prove or we're fighting? Yeah. And there's a lot of truth to what we put in our bodies. Can really do volumes to external and a lot of people don't, I think. I really do believe that a lot of people don't know that.

Speaker C: Yes. And I don't understand why there's been so much and I don't know. Is it because they haven't seen the proof or something or they're not willing to try it? I don't know.

Speaker B: Right. Yeah.

Speaker A: And just going back to Bethany quickly when she first came out in the game doing all of that stuff and a lot of people will call it like de influencing or whatever, but I actually appreciate it and still do appreciate her candor. And I think people trust her because she could buy anything she wants in the world, but she's practical. And so she's like, here are the expensive things that if you want to treat yourself great, here are the things that are crappy and here are the things in the drugstore that you can have and have a two step skincare routine and you're good to go. And I think people just really trust her because she is practical and she's trust. What's the word I'm looking for?

Speaker C: Well, she's really honest.

Speaker B: Yeah, she's giving it to you.

Speaker A: She's honest. She's relatable in the sense she's going to the TJ. Maxx and whatever and finding stuff, and she's doing the high end and she's doing the low end, and she mixes high and low, and she's just relatable in that way and very honest. And I think she's always been that way, which is why people trust her.

Speaker B: It kind of goes back to having nothing to prove. And I'm sure that there's a million people that would say, oh, Bethany Frankel always acts like she has something to prove because she speaks up on literally everything.

Speaker C: But I think that's a great point.

Speaker B: Yeah, but this specific piece, I think she doesn't have anything to prove in her beauty regimen. Like, she doesn't care about a 16 step process and if that makes her cool, et cetera. Right.

Speaker A: And it's funny because which we do at the end of every show is like our five minute flow, which is exactly that. It's like strip away everything. What are those core things that make you feel good? And we were talking about that before, around the intention behind it. And I think we always talk on the show about you're doing these things because they make you feel better, because they make you more confident. Yes, there are systemic reasons, but it's really like at the end of the day, so you feel good, whatever that.

Speaker C: May be, whatever it is.

Speaker A: You get a blowout, you get whatever. You have your bed rotting in the morning, and then you feel good the rest of the day and you feel confident, like you've had that time to yourself. So it's to your point, I totally agree. The intention behind it versus the opposite, where you see people and if you do want to do a 20 step skin care routine, great. But then you see the people doing that just to do it.

Speaker C: Because it's like up with people. Right.

Speaker A: Up with and that's what we don't love.

Speaker C: Exactly. I hate that. Exactly.

Speaker B: And also, it's not totally necessary. Let's call it what it is and.

Speaker C: In fact, achieve results. It's almost like setting you backward. I just did this incredible article on a brand that has proven this woman that's a former beauty writer and editor, her sister is the director of oh, gosh, I'm going to scare this up. It's like she's the director of the Human Microbiome Institute at Cedars Sinai, and together she was able to come up with a brand called Editrix, and I wrote this piece for the quality edit on it. And at the end of the day, all the things that we are doing is obviously damaging the microbiome. So their whole point is let your skin act the way it needs to act. And if you stop damaging it so much, it will actually repair itself. It will do things itself, it will act the way it's naturally supposed to act. The reason why you're having so much eczema sensitive skin issues along the way, aging so much faster, is because of all the retinols and everything that we're doing anyway, right. Less is always more.

Speaker B: And the inside out piece, what you're putting on is affecting you internally, which is then coming out externally, and it's kind of like this vicious cycle, right? So I'm going to put this topical on it, but it can ultimately, they're saying, hurt you internally, microbiome effects and everything. I would love to read that piece.

Speaker C: And I'll send it to you because you're right, because the microbiome is your skin health and there's a language between your gut health and your skin health, and it's through the microbiome language or something. Read the article. It was like taking science class. I met with her for hours and hours and hours.

Speaker A: Wow.

Speaker C: And I am not well versed in it at this very moment. It took a lot of me to do that because I really wanted to understand it. And I think, to your point, I don't think that people want to go that deep to find out when they find there's a quick fix if you use these five products, right?

Speaker A: Yeah, totally.

Speaker B: That's true.

Speaker A: Let's move to another topic, which is really around wellness and aging and normalizing it. And I think just the media and people on social media and podcasts are getting better at this. But I just can't stand when I listen to podcasts of people in our age bracket and they're like, oh, I can't talk about menopause, or oh, no, that's never going to happen to us. And I'm like, I find that so irritating and so unrelatable. I'm like, this is happening. Talk about it, right? Oprah did a really good job recently, or I think it was in the last year, she did some whole conference around menopause, and she got all these celebrities involved, and it brought a lot of awareness to it. But that drives me nuts when people just can't age gracefully and embrace their age versus trying to find that fountain of youth or, like, go backwards, seem.

Speaker B: Like they're shaming menopause, we can't talk, right? This is happening. It's inevitable without shame.

Speaker C: And the beauty is, you're right. So many people still think it's a little taboo. But thank God for Naomi Watts'company. The stripes. And sadly, another company just went, and my doctor's name is Dr. Taz. She just wrote a book and she did A-Q-A with Gwyneth Paltrow, who is obviously big about talking about taboo topics and getting the noise at a level where people are like, oh, wait, we should have pay attention to this. But you're absolutely right. We need to realize that it's going to happen. There's physical, mental, emotional, all of this health. We have to listen to what's happening because I'm 54 and I'm just at the tail end of menopause. And if I had had that Susan Dominus New York Times article that has, I swear, been spread to everybody I've ever met eight years ago, I think the headline was women have been Misled about Menopause. It's in the New York Times. If you haven't read it, please go and read it. It breaks down all of the things, all of the myths and misconceptions that have been going on all this time because of that one NIH study. All that women's health initiative. Yeah, exactly. And why women were scared to take hormones. And it's so wonderful and about what's now happening in the world of menopause and all the brands and all the people that are trying to get out there and try to talk about it. But we are just this is the tip of the iceberg, right?

Speaker B: For sure, we're scratching the surface.

Speaker C: Exactly.

Speaker A: Yeah. But it's good that it's starting the conversation. And I also find, too, women around our age just offline when you're talking to other moms or whomever, once you start talking about hormones and all these things, everyone bonds around it because everyone's going through the same thing. So now you're having deeper conversations about health and well being and how to take care of yourself and everyone's sharing things. And that's half the reason we have the show, right? To share and to talk about our experiences. And I just find it so nice when I meet people and we can just connect on something that we can all relate to and share those tips and tricks and learn from one another.

Speaker B: Interesting, this Women's Healthy Initiative affected generations of women that were not allowed to be given hormones and just went through the most brutal menopausal transition. I talked to my mom about it. Like, my mom is now, she's 70, and she's going to go talk to her doctor about starting hormones. There's nothing wrong with that. And so it is getting the conversation started, making it like saying menopause in a public restaurant out loud without being worrying that the table next to you is going to look at you like you're old crazy. And you're right. These celebrities have definitely helped bring up the noise level, which is fantastic. I mean, we've got to get all the stigma out.

Speaker C: All of it's got to unfortunately, one of the stigmas I just started to read about is in the workplace because there's a bit of an ageism issue. Anyway, you feel like you have to keep it hush hush, because then they're like, oh, she's so old, because it's still equated with being an old lady and hot flashes and all the things are like, oh, is she old and crazy? And in menopause it's like, oh my gosh, it's funny.

Speaker A: I just read something, it was like a little I think it was on I don't know if it was on LinkedIn or Instagram, but do you know Shelley Zallas?

Speaker C: No.

Speaker A: She's like she's the founder of something called let's see if I have this right, the Female Quotient. And it's all about yeah, yeah, I've met her before. She's incredible. And it's all about women's leadership and power in the workplace and speaking up and all of those things. And she had an antidote, I think it was, again on LinkedIn or something. And she was talking about how she was in a meeting years ago, like a big executive meeting and it was like her and actually a bunch of women around the table and in the middle of the meeting or whatever it was, she was going through a half less. So she fanned herself and then the other one were like, oh, thank God. And they all started fanning themselves. And it was such a moment of bonding, of like, oh my God, we don't have to be so corporate and buttoned up. We can all fan ourselves because we're going through the same thing. And she's like, it was such a funny experience just to be in sort of an uptight boardroom situation. But then all the women as soon as she did that were like, oh, that's really funny. So I just thought that was really funny.

Speaker C: The only other thing that does come out of both that article and everything that's been talked about is the medical community just doesn't have enough education in it. Like doctors, I guess it's something like something like 2 hours or something. In medical school you get trained on menopause versus fertility is obviously it's shocking, right?

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: The OBGYNs, like the traditional, they don't talk about it. They're like, oh yeah, your menopause take this, there's no that's it. Unless you go to someone who knows what they're doing and is really versed or is more the and we might.

Speaker B: Have talked about this before, but it's good for our listeners to know. If you go to the North American National Menopause Society, there is a list of obgens in your area that are certified in menopausal training. And they will give you hormones and they will treat you like this is all normal, which it is.

Speaker C: That is a fantastic resource. I'm so glad you mentioned it. And if I can mention, she just published her book. The book that she talked about with Gwyneth is Dr. Taz Bhatia wrote a book called The Hormonal Shift. And you can be in pre perimenopause, but it will start to give you the education of how do I know that I'm even starting this right? It'll step you step by step because there's so many. If you don't have women around you and you don't have a doctor that listens, it's hard to know what to even ask the doctor without what you don't know. Right.

Speaker B: And it's hard to know what's happening to you when it slowly starts.

Speaker C: When perimenopause symptoms scary.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker A: So I was just thinking just a funny story or not story, but just thought when we were talking before about wellness and aging and aging gracefully. I don't know if anybody's watching the Golden Bachelor. I've only seen one episode. It's really good. I have to catch up. Okay, but point being, all these women are like in their late 60s, early 70s.

Speaker C: Fantastic.

Speaker A: They all look amazing. And you can tell they've aged gracefully. Right? I mean, of course there's some women that are a little overboard with the face, but most of them are like just natural beauties. They're all like gorgeous women but they've taken care of themselves so well. You can tell some of them are in their 70s. I'm like I mean they look incredible.

Speaker C: Awesome.

Speaker A: But they have wrinkles and they have this and they have that, but they just look incredible. So like the days of people being in their seventy s and looking like the golden girl, old and gray, that's just not the world we live. Not it anymore. People are like it's kind of like in the Barbie movie when she looks over I posted this the other day. That's why in the top of my head where she looks over at the old woman in the bus stop and she's like, you're so beautiful.

Speaker C: It's so true. And I love it when it's just.

Speaker A: Nice to see that. Yeah, I know. It's great. Anyway, I just thought of that because it's just that the world now is very different when it comes to aging. But yes, the conversations need to keep happening and the embracing of it and stop trying to beat the clock. Just embrace it. Age gracefully and enhance what you have to make you feel better and be.

Speaker B: Proud and be proud of the age experience and the stripes that we wear from all of our life experience. Absolutely. Say your age with shout it.

Speaker C: Absolutely.

Speaker A: Let's talk about I know we want to kind of talk about the pitfalls of beauty currently and sort of this disingenuous information that's out there and spreading false info which is everywhere. It's really scary and it's very hard to know who to trust. Love to get your thoughts on that.

Speaker C: Well, that's really funny. So that's another reason I had contacted you is so I have a substac and the most recent one that I wrote was called Coming Clean about the beauty industry. And it was saying, I'm putting a stake in the ground. I'm not writing any more beauty editorial because while I do a lot of research and interview founders and do as much as I can to get truth out there, the pitches and the desperation of both some brands and just the noise of TikTok and everything. And influencers. To me, I'm probably going to get canned for this. But influencers are like a four letter word in my opinion. Because especially when it comes to skincare, there's so many myths and so much misinformation that are leading women down the wrong road. And Sunscreen is just one good example of that. They don't know what they're saying and they're telling them brands to use. And then I have this one derm that I used for an article and she's like, do you know? And I'm like, I know I didn't write it. I don't know. It's really hard to know because there's more influencers than ever. They make like 4 billion or more in sales. Right. There's celeb brands and they use white label products a lot of times. So they just put their labels on it and then they look amazing. And then people want to look like that. I feel like it goes back to doing wellness and health types of things and then knowing who to trust. Trust people who have been schooled in these things. Trust your dermatologist, trust your surgeon that gives you the injections that might say, you know what? You should use this brand and only use these products. Don't fall into the trap of all the links and the sales and trying something new every month and all of the time that there's something that's a trend is not good for you or your skin.

Speaker B: Right, yeah. It doesn't even give you time to make traction. If you're doing you're constantly changing it.

Speaker C: Yeah, exactly. And then you might think it doesn't work because then you have had a reaction to it. Well, that could have been two times ago product, right?

Speaker A: Could be from something. Exactly.

Speaker C: So I always say stay away from influencers and TikTok trends and all of with. And if you are going to read stories, make sure these people are talking to legitimate sources. Sometimes even great like L or whoever, they might just be saying, here are brands that we like. But make sure that they've talked, not just editors, but make sure those editors have talked to people and all of that. It's always about someone that's been schooled in this and has done their homework. That's all.

Speaker A: Yeah, I agree. And I think it's really difficult. I can imagine for the younger generation and sussing out what's real and what's not. Katie has two daughters. As they get older, you can just get sucked in without knowing. I think when you're older you sort of can look around and try to figure out if it's legitimate and make your own choices. But all these kids with the filters and the this, it's really, really scary. So that's why I appreciate people like Bethany, actually. People like Alex Earl.

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker A: She has bad skin and she shows it all the time and she talks about all. Her issues with her skin or this or that. And I think, yeah, look for those.

Speaker C: Exactly. There are people out there, they're few and far between, but those are the people to see what their journey is. Absolutely.

Speaker A: And I think that's why she's become so popular, because of that honesty. I also would say, when you were talking about the legitimate sources, I listen to the podcast a lot, breaking Beauty, you know that podcast? And they're two former beauty editors, so I trust everything that they say. Like, if I really want to learn about products, I'll listen to them because I know that they've interviewed the people. They're very reputable versus, like, somebody else is just recommending. I mean, Katie and I recommend products all the time, but it's just stuff we personally like. We're not saying that's very different. We're just saying this is fun. Check it out.

Speaker C: Because you used it and that's different. And you know what's fun about that is like, I've used it. You're not saying, here's a link. You have to try this to have a good life.

Speaker B: Right?

Speaker C: That's what some of these influence are like. I feel that they're like, you know what? Look at me. Look at my great life. I wear this. How you achieve this is how you achieve it. Exactly. It goes back to intention. To what is their intention? Their intentions to make money. Right. Their intentions not to help you. They're not friends with you.

Speaker A: It's so true. It's so true. That all being said, I mean, we go talk about this for still have fun. How do we still have fun with Beauty? Because we all love it.

Speaker C: I love that question. I love it. Yeah, we still want to have fun. Okay, well, there's so many fun things. So the first thing is, everybody knows and loves Jenna Lyons because she's on Real Housewives. But before she was on Real Housewives, and she was an icon, saya icon because of J. Crew. And she started love scene eyelashes. Have you guys tried these?

Speaker A: I have not.

Speaker C: Okay. Fake eyelashes are so fun, and Love Scene is super easy to put on. And if you just want to like it's kind of like the bedriding idea. If you want, on a random Wednesday to go have lunch with a friend and you put on these love seeing eyelashes. Now they have some that know real severe, and then they have some. And I did that like Kim Kardashian.

Speaker A: I know exactly what you're saying.

Speaker C: Or some that just look like you had on a good, healthy coat of mascara. But it's so fun that's something you can play with doesn't harm anybody. You might love it. It's just playful fun. It's just like, I love it and I do it.

Speaker A: I am so glad you said that. I need to try it. So we did a whole episode. We did an episode, what was it? A couple of months ago called? The eye edition because I used to have extensions for a while, and then I started trying all the ones that you could do yourself. And I've become a master at all these different ones and how to use them and whatever. Are those just for the day, or do they last?

Speaker C: I think you need to take them off. I've worn them overnight, but you need to take them off. But you can reuse them. Okay, great.

Speaker A: I need to try those. And that's one of those things that kind of tying back to what we were talking about earlier, because I was wearing them for a while. When I put those on, I feel like a million dollars. I don't have to wear makeup. It brightens your face. You feel like it's the best.

Speaker C: Right? You can go to carpool, and you win. Carpool. I don't know. There's, like, about the way you I totally agree. Also, I'm all about a good lip oil because my hair is too short now to fall into my face. So the really fun thing that I got recently was St. Jane is a good skincare brand. It's very florally, so I don't wear a lot of it on my face necessarily, but I do like the brand. But they did a partnership with Favorite Daughter, and I think those girls are hilarious. And they did a lip oil one's called Calm, one's called Chaos. I don't know which sister is Calm and which is Chaos because they're both kind of both, and there are two different colors, and it's just a fun I don't know. I just thought it was fun. That's awesome.

Speaker A: Oh, I love that. Play with to try that.

Speaker C: And also, I'm a big fan of I don't need pink or blue hair or anything like that, but I cut my hair all the time, and I play around with, like, going a little darker, going a little lighter with biolu. I don't know. Just playing around with hair, because hair.

Speaker B: Grows, hair grows, color changes. I have true clients. Recently, she has, like, grayish blonde hair, but then she changes her roots to a fun, funky, great different color every few like, every other month.

Speaker A: Who does this?

Speaker B: One of my clients. She's great.

Speaker A: Oh, my God.

Speaker B: He has one. Having fun with beauty.

Speaker C: And for women that want to go gray, go for it.

Speaker B: Go for it.

Speaker C: The grow out is hard. I know. But you know what? Do it. I had to break up with my colorist about seven years ago. I was super blonde, and he's like, what are you doing? And I go, I need to stop pretending I'm 40. And that's fine if you want to be super blunt. He's like, but you with high gray. I'm like, I don't have any gray. I want to be a brunette, like, the way God intended me to be. And it's been fun. And then I cut all my Sarah Jessica Parker curls up I have the shortest bob in the world, right? Like, you can play. And again, it's all for me. It has nothing to do with anybody.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: So stuff like that. Right?

Speaker A: That's so true. I actually just cut my hair shorter recently. Never. My hair was always long forever. And then over the last few years, I've grown it, cut it short, grown it, cut it short and played around with it. But I was just saying to Katie, when I got my hair highlighted a couple of weeks ago, I changed it to be more textured because I found that it was too blonde. And I was like I said to my colorist, who I love, I was like, I had, like, a whole briefing with her for a half an hour. I'm like, let me show you pictures. This is what I mean. I just don't want my highlights to make my hair all look blonde. I want, like, texture. I want it to be, like, dark in places. And she's like, yeah, same thing. But I hide your gray. I'm like, I don't have that much gray. And I don't care. I just don't want it to feel like not I don't know.

Speaker C: I just wanted to goes back to intent. I didn't want to act like I was trying to look younger. And I was like I just also.

Speaker A: Felt like it was like washing me.

Speaker C: Out because my skin and my eyebrows and everything. And I did MICROBLADE my eyebrows so that they would be nice old and thick because they were getting a little sparse. And I'm like, that is part of my face, and it's important. And then the last thing was glasses. I obviously have to wear readers now, and so you can play around with this is like a Tom Ford.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: Those are so cool.

Speaker C: Reader. And these are lookup. Oh, I have.

Speaker B: Lookup.

Speaker A: Tea.

Speaker C: I love them. They're really light. I can wear them all day, and I don't feel like I have, like, an indentation on my face. But just being able to play around because it's inevitable people are going to get readers and just being able to play with glasses and stuff. I don't know.

Speaker B: Super fun tips of things that we can do that I believe are helping age gracefully and keeping it fun and light and yeah, I love it.

Speaker C: Totally.

Speaker B: All right, we need to dive.

Speaker A: We only have a few minutes.

Speaker B: Let's dive into our wrap session stat, because I'm really excited to hear Christine's answers to these questions. So, Christine, what is your favorite wellness or beauty hack?

Speaker C: Okay, this is going to be very hard to narrow this down. I will be honest. I have a lot. But one of my all time favorites is have you ever used the higher dose sauna blanket?

Speaker B: No.

Speaker C: Okay. I did write a piece about this, and so I'm going to send you links to some of these articles.

Speaker A: But please yeah, we'll post because I'm.

Speaker C: A big fan of listening to I mean, you have to have like, a notebook in 2 hours and a pen. Maybe you bedrot during it. I don't know. Huberman's lab podcast.

Speaker A: Oh, I love it.

Speaker C: Oh, my God. It's a college education, but he did some things. We have a sauna in our house, but because of menopause, I cannot sit in that thing. So I found the higher dose sauna blanket. And you get inside and you don't get all of the same benefits as you would sitting in a sauna because you don't get the same temperature. But hey, the menopause thing, I couldn't sit in a temperature like that. But in this sauna blanket, my head is out. You don't go as high in the temps, but you detoxify the body. You burn about 400 calories, which is like a light job. And it is the most relaxing thing. At the end of the day, you sleep like a baby. But I CrossFit, and so I ache a lot often, so I get out of it. I feel like my muscles are soothed. It is a great way to end my day. I only get to do it a couple of times a week.

Speaker A: How long do you do it for?

Speaker C: Well, it'll click off and I'm trying to find out. I don't know. I stay in it like 2030 minutes sometimes. It is just sounds so good in the winter, too, when you're like, cold.

Speaker B: Sounds really nice.

Speaker C: And I put it up to eight, which is like the highest as it goes. But that's one of my favorite favorite things. But I have to tell you one other the other one, I hate every single green juice. I have a low tolerance for ****, like, even quality good I cannot taste. But the sakara, I think it's called greens and protein and greens superpower.

Speaker A: I haven't tried that one.

Speaker C: It has a hint of vanilla that I swear takes away the disgusting flavor.

Speaker B: Yeah, it's good.

Speaker C: It's so good because now I'm able to use I just put it with malk, which is almonds and water and after CrossFit. And I'm like, oh, good. I want to get those nutrients, but I could never get them in it's. My two favorite things.

Speaker A: I love those. Those are great recommendations. I've seen the higher dose online, but I just have never tried it. And it looks like such a good detox. You must feel, like, so refreshed afterwards.

Speaker C: Yeah, you have to wear clothes inside because socks, pants. But I'm getting ready to buy the insert so that you can be, as my kids say, nay nay. Okay. Go inside without anything on, which is how you really want a sauna. Okay.

Speaker A: Five minute flow. You just got out of the shower. Dried off. Uber just alerted you. They're five minutes away. What's your quick beauty routine? What do you put on? What are your Holy Grails to get out the door and get in that car on time.

Speaker C: Okay. I've washed my face in the shower. Ideally, I did. About how to cleanse your face. Don't put your face right up in the shower because you've broken capillaries if you have that, like, pounding water on your face. I learned that Kylie Kavako rec from Knockout Beauty, but I put on usually like Vitner's daughter and a good lulu, which is lula, which is a moisturizer I love. Or the editrix. I'm trying that still. And then an SPF. And then I am very minimal. I love the merit makeup stuff. I mean, I don't know if you guys use the minimalist. Yeah. Love flush bomb. Love. Or this one, the Jones Road in the Miracle in this color.

Speaker A: Oh, I'm dying to try this.

Speaker C: I got it in the Jones road.

Speaker A: Send us some, please.

Speaker C: This is in the pink. This is sort of a pinkish color, but in the summer, I was using more of the bronzy, but I use on the cheeks.

Speaker A: Just like, rub it all over on.

Speaker C: The cheeks and on my lips. And then I'm doing my one last article for beauty I'm doing is for Vegan for Vegan Day. But I found this, and I keep this in my car, so if it's Uber, I wouldn't. But this is on the way to carpool. It's called axiology. It's a teeny little crayon. And I keep it in my pocket sometimes if I go to an event or whatever, and it's the same idea.

Speaker B: Oh, nice. Yeah.

Speaker C: Cheeks. And you could probably put it on.

Speaker B: Your eyelids eyelash, but yeah, I was.

Speaker C: Thinking that, and that is it.

Speaker A: I never heard of that brand.

Speaker C: And then there's a teen skincare brand called Ryle R-I-L-E that I did. I love these teen skincare brands that just came out because I have these boys that are 14. They needed their own skin products. They have a lip balm that they don't like because it's too spicy. I love it. It's a spice chai.

Speaker B: Oh, yum.

Speaker C: Put that on my lips because I don't wear a lot of lipstick, except for I've used that lip oil recently.

Speaker B: Nice. Asking me for skincare products. Madeline, my ten year old, she's all in.

Speaker C: Send you that article. There are several. And you know what they're doing? These brands are doing such a good job of trying to say it's simple so you'll do it. It's not filled with all the harsh chemicals, like clean and clear that we grew up with, and so it's not getting their skin already on that kick of over producing oil and everything. It's great.

Speaker B: That's great. All right, last one before we head out. How do you maintain your daily nirvana?

Speaker C: Oh, gosh, well, I get so much quality sleep. Number one thing. Yeah, I learned the hard way, I have to have good sleep. And I think the higher dose bag in a combination with some calm magnesium before I go to bed really makes for a good sleep. And then I CrossFit several days a week, and that really helps.

Speaker A: Amazing sleep.

Speaker C: And then just make me feel good. And then my family.

Speaker A: Yeah. Thank you so much for coming on the show.

Speaker C: Thank you so much to have you back.

Speaker A: I feel like there's so many more conversations we can have about this, but it's so nice to meet you. I'm so glad we got to connect. We'll continue to talk. We'll be DMing and talking on Instagram.

Speaker B: We'll be in touch.

Speaker A: Yeah. Thanks for listening to Nirvana Sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes. Please subscribe and leave us a review. Also, find us on Instagram at Nirvana Sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would, please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana Sisters. We'll continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.

Episode 128 - Product Junkies: October - Snack Edition (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 128 .

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here.

Speaker A: Welcome to Nirvana Sisters podcast, where we take the intimidation out of well being and beauty to help you achieve your highest state, your nirvana. We are sisters in law and your hosts. I'm Amy Sherman.

Speaker B: And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation.

Speaker C: Hello, Nirvana Sisters family. We are recording today, but Katie and I are definitely in a Daoic mood. With everything going on in Israel, we're just sending our prayers to the families there. What is happening is truly gruesome and it's really even hard to talk about without breaking up. So we just wanted to acknowledge that we see you, we stand with you, we pray with you, and we just hope something is resolved.

Speaker B: We hope it ends soon.

Speaker C: Yeah. That being said, Katie and I did have plans to record this week, and we are going to record a product junkies episode. It does feel silly to talk about sort of these light topics, but it is a good distraction for us because we had mentioned on our Instagram, but it's just been mentally challenging to do anything all week. So it's actually quite a good distraction to see Katie and just to talk about something that is not what else is happening, because I think we've all been consumed with the news and social media. So, with that being said, we are going to get into our October product junkies episode, and this time it is our Snack edition because we heard from some of you. You wanted to hear about, like, nutrition, snacks, food, things like that. So Katie and I have a little bit of a roundup of some things we've been loving lately. I will let Katie all right, well.

Speaker B: I am going to kick off our Snack edition with the number one thing that is almost always in my handbag when I am going to work. When I leave for the city, there's two things, and this is the first. And I'm obsessed. It's Trader Joe's. Just a handful of olives, pitted, salted manzanilla olive packs. Have you seen these?

Speaker C: Yum. No.

Speaker B: They're these little green packs that you can just peel off the top. And inside are all of these super salty yummy olives. And it's so good because it's very healthy fat. It's satiating. It can very much like if I'm in between appointments and I'm hungry, it can just tie me over and they're mean I'm obsessed. I buy loads of them when I go to Trader Joe's. And since I was traveling this past weekend, I don't have any at home right now, so I need to make a stop. But that is like my new fave. I love olives.

Speaker C: Oh, I love that. I love that.

Speaker B: It's like me too.

Speaker C: And I love that it's in travel packs because I've had some of those packs before, but they're like, bigger, so that's nice that they have travel packs.

Speaker B: It's literally, like, maybe three inches by two and a half inches. The pack. It's very small. You can toss it in your bag.

Speaker C: That's perfect. So you just throw it in. You just definitely want to have a.

Speaker B: Napkin with you when you're eating them. That's the only thing. A little salty, and I guess it's brine or like a little bit of oil on them or something, but it's a good one. What about you?

Speaker C: Okay, so I have a random I guess it's kind of a condiment. And Katie knows I'm obsessed with this because she had it recently at my house, but I literally can't stop eating it. I have severe issues. It's called chili crunch. And the brand I have I forget what the brand name is, but it's at Whole Foods. There's, like, a few at Whole Foods. And the one I have, I'll put it in our show notes, and I'll link to it whatever the brand is. But it's so, like, I literally put it on everything. It's almost like a chili oil with, like, red I don't know, some kind of peppers that make it yummy and spicy, but not too spicy. And so I put it on everything now, like, I've mixed it with eggs. I've mixed it with pasta sauce. I put it on everything. But I was saying to my husband the other day, I was like, I have to stop using it all the time because then I'm going to get sick of it, but I can't stop putting it on everything. Oh, you know what I did yesterday? I mixed it in. I had, like, a tuna like, tuna fish, and I just mixed it in the tuna fish. I sometimes have, like, salmon and mix it in. It goes with everything. It goes with sweet. It goes with everything. Anyway. Big fan of the chili crunch. I got mine at Whole Foods. Again, I'll post the brand, but I heard there is one at Trader Joe's that is also very good, but it's such a good way to top off a bland.

Speaker B: I've had the Trader Joe's one, and I've had the one at your house. And as the Gen Z would say, yours is elite. Whatever that brand is, is elite. So we need to add the brand to the show notes for it's really, really good. I mean, the Trader Joe's one, I'll.

Speaker C: Look it up as you tell me.

Speaker B: Yours is, like, next level. I'm obsessed with it too.

Speaker C: Okay. So I actually have it in my notes here. It says it's just called chili crunch. All natural, crunchy condiment. The brand is Chilicrunch.com, I guess because it says you can go to go for recipes, go to Chilicrunch.com. But I think the brand is just chili crunch. I don't know, but I'll link it. It's red and yellow, and it's yummy. It's also gluten free.

Speaker B: I mean, if the brand if all they do is make Chili Crunch, then it's got to be good.

Speaker C: Exactly. Here's what it says on the label just to give a little bit of description. Crunchy, smoky, and infused with just the right amount of heat, chili Crunch is made in small batches from a savory blend of toasted chilies, garlic, onion, and spices. The perfect partner for steak, chicken, fish, eggs, and roasted veggies. Also great on everything from pizza and pasta to burgers and tacos. Facts, facts.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: Okay.

Speaker B: All right. My next one is the other thing you're always going to find in my handbag, and this is lately, like my favorite brand. It is the new primal turkey jerky. I pretty much always have some kind of turkey jerky. Trader Joe's sells chomps. So does Whole Foods. There's that Vermont brand that I see at your house a lot, but the new Primal, it's lightly peppered turkey stick, zero sugar, 45 calories, 7 grams of protein, raised without added hormones and antibiotics, et cetera. But yeah, it's just a good one. Where did you I get these at Whole Foods. You can get them on Amazon.

Speaker C: And are the sticks like no, they're.

Speaker B: The bigger ones, which is good because I feel like the mini size is never enough. I like that you can see me walking down the city streets eating jerky like a random person at any given time of day.

Speaker A: Jerky and olives.

Speaker B: It's good stuff, though. What's your next one?

Speaker C: My next one, which you can also find in my bag, are and you saw them at my house, bienna chickpea snacks. I had recently been speaking with a nutritionist just to help me with eating and stomach issues and whatever, and she was like, a really good snack is just to have chickpeas at hand all the time because they have fiber, they have protein, and they're filling. So anyway, I found this brand, Vienna, or I knew the brand from other things that they make, but they sell them at Whole Foods and probably other, you know, just crunchy roasted chickpea snacks. And they have 6 grams protein, 6 grams fiber, and they have tons of different flavors, so I like all of them. But Rock and Ranch is my favorite. They also have barbecue. They have everything. They have habanero. I've tried them all. They're all good. The other little hack is they have honey roasted, and the honey roasted ones are sweet. So when I'm craving something sweet, it kind of does the trick because it has, like, sugar on the outside, so they're yummy. So anyway, big fan of the snacks. They are also grain free, vegan, gluten free.

Speaker B: You know who loves another pea snacks is Reese Chandler, my youngest daughter. She is obsessed. She either does the honey roasted, the sea salt, or the everything. She loves them all. Yeah.

Speaker C: So good.

Speaker B: And so good.

Speaker C: So another one good.

Speaker B: Really good bag. Okay, this is one of my latest obsessions, and I think it's become one of your latest obsessions as well. And it's an old fave, but a twist on an old fave. The gimme roasted seaweed snacks, which I know you love them, right? The sea salt, the regular ones are bomb, but the newest one that I'm obsessed with is I don't know how new it is, but it's new for me. The white cheddar flavor, and it's non dairy white cheddar, and it tastes so much like cheddar. It's insane. It's so good.

Speaker C: Yes. You got me into them.

Speaker B: I felt in the I'm obsessed with them. And you know what? They're not going to fill you up. They're not like a go to if you're really hungry. But if you want, like, a salty snacky bite, and especially if you want a salty snacky bite that's, like, almost practically feels, like calorie free, they're just really light. Like, one whole package is 30 calories, 2 grams of fat, two carbs, 1 gram of fiber, 1 gram of protein. So they're just a super light, good for a craving kind of snack. If you don't want to eat something that is calorie dense but you need a good salty bite, they're a go to.

Speaker C: Yeah, agreed. Love it. Okay, so my next one is a really good one too, and I've been having this every morning for breakfast is the Siggy's plant based coconut I always wanted to find because I'm supposed to not be eating dairy. So I've always been trying to find a really good non dairy yogurt, which I've had a really hard time finding. I feel like there's a brand that we've tried in the past. I can't remember the name of it that it's like okay, it's like an almond milk one, but it doesn't taste that good. But this one that I was recommended, sorry. Another thing about the non dairy yogurts is they don't really have a lot of protein, so they're, like, made from coconut milk, but they have, like, 1 gram of protein. I'm like, why am I eating this? It just feels like nothing. So anyway, the Siggy's one that I've been doing recently is called the one that I like, but there's a few different flavors. Is just the sweet and plain and sorry, sweet dogs are going crazy.

Speaker B: Cayet is father of the bride.

Speaker C: No? I don't know. Cayet is, like, isn't that quiet in Spanish? I always say to them, okay, so Siggy's plant based coconut I can't talk. What's wrong with me? Okay, Siggy's plant based coconut blend. I get the sweet and plain. Like I said, I get the big I don't know how many ounces it is. 24 ounce. One, because I use it every morning, and I take, like, a scoop, and it has 11 grams of protein and 4 grams of sugar. So really low in sugar, high in protein for a plant based yogurt. And I just do, like, a scoop, and I mix it with, like, berries and seeds, and it's, like, so filling. It's so yummy. It has, like, a really good texture. It's nice and smooth and thick. Which is another thing I find with some of the non dairy yogurts that are not thick. So I've been really enjoying that. And what I also do with it is when I make a smoothie in the afternoon, I'll throw like a scoop or two in to thicken it up. So anyway, huge fan of the cigarette.

Speaker B: You know what is in that? Because I saw it at the market. It has pea protein, which is what gives it the high protein content, at least the one I saw. Yeah.

Speaker C: Oh, is that what it is? Let me see what it says. It says cultured coconut milk.

Speaker B: Yes.

Speaker C: Pea protein, coconut oil, macadamia nut, butter, cane sugar, tapioca flour, fruit, pectin, and natural flavor. Yeah. All right.

Speaker B: Well, speaking of being, like, off dairy, you know me, I'm always down to find a great dairy replacement, and I have always pre my dairy issues. I loved creamy salad dressings, like Ranch and Caesar and everything, and I've never, ever found a good non dairy replica until now. So the brand Gotham Greens, I don't know if you've seen they're at Whole Foods, and they have the first yeah, the first I saw of it was they sell greens like, they sell lettuces and things like that.

Speaker C: Yeah, that's right.

Speaker B: Exactly. So now they're doing salad dressings, and their vegan Caesar and vegan Ranch is so spot on. It's insane. It's so good, especially the Caesar. I have probably been eating grilled chicken Caesar salads, like three or four days a week for the last two months. Because I'm obsessed with this.

Speaker C: I have to try what are the ingredients?

Speaker B: Like, what's in it? Well, yeah.

Speaker C: Or is it high in fat? Or I always like to look even on the non dairy, does it have protein? Is it high in fat, high in sugar stuff?

Speaker B: I'll Google that really quickly, but I can tell you what's in it. What's in it is sunflower oil, filtered water, white vinegar, natural flavor, sea salt, seasonings, like garlic powder, chickpea protein, and then a lot of other things are seasonings. So usually these dairy free replacements, a lot of times are tofu or like soy. And that was a great thing about this, is that it doesn't have anything like that. Let me see if I can find the nutrition content really quickly. So it's definitely fat based, which doesn't surprise me because it's very creamy and rich. So it's 16 grams of fat for a serving, but that's not abnormal for a salad dressing, for a Caesar salad dressing, do you know what I mean?

Speaker C: Right.

Speaker B: I wouldn't call them like a diet food or anything like that, but for somebody that can't have dairy, I'm obsessed.

Speaker C: I have to try it. It sounds so good because it is hard to find a good dressing.

Speaker B: I mean, it has good it's one carb. It doesn't have any protein, but that's to be expected as well. But I feel like it's healthy fats.

Speaker C: Yeah, no, that's what I was going to say. It's totally different. Okay, so my last recommendation is a great this is exciting, a fiber powder, but I actually, over the years, have tried many different pills. Fiber, I can never find anything that I stick to or that works for me. And this one brand, again, that this nutritionist that I've been speaking to recommended is called Sun Fiber. I know the brand bite on Amazon. You know it? It's by a company called Tomorrow's Nutrition. And it's so good because there's no grit. There's no it's, like, just dissolves. And I literally just put in my coffee every morning, so I don't even think about it, which is great because I don't never like the ones where you have to do it in water. I'm taking so many supplements now, I'm like, I can't add another supplement. And this has been really great and helpful, and it has 6 grams of fiber in every scoop. It's really stomach friendly. So it was recommended because I'll read what it says on the bottle, like, sensitive, stomach friendly, comfortable, digestion without gas, bloating, and discomfort. And it's low FODMAP certified and 100% gluten free. So I've been trying to kind of help my gut over the last couple of months, and this is one of the things amongst a few other things that have been helping me. So if anybody is in the market for a good fiber, I'm really a.

Speaker B: Fan of no, I can attest to that one. I've had me with my gut issues as well in the past, and I did Sunfiber for a little while. And Sun Fiber is the actual type of fiber. And then the brand that you said, is that the one that your nutritionist suggested? Is it a particularly good brand?

Speaker C: I think the brand is called Tomorrow's Nutrition, and the actual product is Sun Fiber. Sun Fiber. It says invisible fiber visible benefits. That's what it says on it. But we'll link good, but it's a good one. It's like $25 for 7.5oz. It's not bad. And it's been working for me. It's just, like, really dissolved. Like, you don't even taste it. So unflavored, all that. So highly recommend.

Speaker B: All right, well, I love it. Well, that was your October product junkies, folks, with your snacks. Healthy, yummy, delicious snacks. And I feel like we kind of gave a good variety there. We ran the gamut a little bit, so hope you enjoy.

Speaker C: Yeah. So let us know what you thought of this episode. A little bit different for us. I know we're usually doing beauty and skin, and snacks are something that I feel like or snacks and different food items are something that I think we can all relate to and are always finding new things. So we'll continue to do this if you guys don't like it. And I do feel better having a little bit of a distraction to my day. So hope you all are doing well. And thank you for listening to Nirvana Sisters. Talk to you next time. Bye bye.

Speaker A: Thanks for listening to Nirvana Sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes. Please subscribe and leave us a review. Also, find us on Instagram at Nirvana Sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would it, please share it and tag us.

Speaker C: Tune in next week for a fresh.

Speaker A: New episode of Nirvana Sisters. We'll continue to watch out for all things wellness, so you don't have to. Bye.

Episode 118 - How To Balance Your Hormones? Find Out From Holistic Hormone Expert Marisa Faye - Part 2 (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 118.

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here.

Amy 0:06

Welcome to Nirvana sisters podcast, where we take the intimidation out of well being and beauty to help you achieve your highest state your nirvana. We are sisters in law and your hosts. I'm Amy Sherman.

Speaker 2 0:18

And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation

Speaker 2 0:27

you had mentioned earlier? Well, I guess I had mentioned earlier my cholesterol and but you had mentioned that cholesterol and hormones are related. And I would love to talk about that a little bit.

Speaker 3 0:37

Yeah, so a lot of times, your body will, first of all cholesterol, the vast majority of it your body makes, it's another one of those things very critical. You need it for healthy cell walls, you would die without it. So cholesterol is so important, your body makes most of it very little of it, you actually get from food. So the whole idea of donate eggs, because of the cholesterol police, anybody who says that to ask them where they learned that and if they've studied 1000s of hours of nutrition, because they probably haven't. So this is really important to know, what you're eating impacts your cholesterol if what you're eating is very inflammatory, right. So if you're eating a lot of those highly palatable foods, a lot of super processed foods right, then that's important. If you're exposed to a lot of toxic chemicals, you know, a lot of my clients who, for example, work in like a hair salon. That's a lot of chemical exposure they have right, so that could cause dysfunction there. But in general, if you have a relatively healthy diet, and frankly, even if you're just a woman who is aging, because this can be part of the process, it's very likely cholesterol is going to go up. And in fact, it's protective to do so in women especially. But the threshold for high cholesterol and functional medicine is much much higher than I think it is in western medicine and Western medicine, you can go back and look that guideline has changed over time based on them wanting to prescribe not based on any new data, not based on any high quality studies, nothing like that it's completely because of a desire to want to sell a medication. And not only that, but cholesterol is absolutely critical as we age and protective as we age because it is at the top of the steroid hormone pathway. So what I mean by that is you have to have enough cholesterol in order to make a whole bunch of other hormones. So any hormone you think of as like a female hormone, you need it for that any hormone you think of as a stress hormone, you need it for that. And there are plenty of other hormones too, that really need that presence and thrive from that. So if you don't make enough cholesterol, all these other things downstream are going to be lower potentially, or the body's going to do funky things like it's going to shovel it down one pathway but not the other. So it's going to make potentially more testosterone and not enough cortisol right or something like that. It's going to start to do wonky things. So when a woman has higher cholesterol, we have to first look downstream and see, well, what's going on with all these other hormones, is there potentially an issue there and perhaps a feedback loop where the body is saying, we're not making enough thyroid, like Knock Knock, knock, we need more. So let's make more cholesterol, right. So that can often be something I see actually, in women as they age, where thyroid is looking like it's being a little bit suppressed. I see cholesterol sometimes goes up. And that's I think part of what's happening. But cholesterol really gets demonized and villainized. And, in particular, when we look at women, the vast majority of women, based on the studies we've seen and what we know statins do, do not benefit from taking statins, the vast majority. And that is not medical advice, you have to make anybody listening, you have to make the choice that is right for your body. But I would just really encourage you to truly go on PubMed, look at the literature or talk to somebody like me who's looked at that literature have the conversations. So you can make a more informed choice to know if you're somebody who truly can benefit. Or if you're somebody who has a downstream hormone issue or a liver issue, because that's a big part of it because of where cholesterol is made and how it's used. And those are the things that need to be addressed. Yeah.

Unknown Speaker 4:05

Do you have somebody because I have a lot.

Amy 4:08

Yeah, you go, and then I have something I want to circle back on from earlier. Okay, go ahead.

Speaker 2 4:12

So what you're saying is that if you do have like a hormonal imbalance that could affect your cholesterol and cause it to go higher than it needs to be. And so instead of a doctor checking your hormones, they just hand you a statin, it's not necessarily going to fix the problem. Yes.

Speaker 3 4:28

Correct. Okay. And not only is it not going to fix the problem, there are a lot of potentially negative side effects if you stay on it long.

Speaker 2 4:34

Yes, that sounds like me, like everything I've just realized. So isn't that funny? And I just was reading about a study and this is just for the listener regarding statins. It was a study that showed like they're very effective for people that are already deep into heart disease like versus preventative. The preventative this study showed that if you took a statin preventatively it added four days to your life for days. That's it like, it's insane. Like, what's, what's the point? So anyway, I digress. I just wanted to get that out there. Amy, what were you? Okay?

Speaker 3 5:09

There's cool studies too, that actually look at women and show it actually takes time off your life potential. So, and this is the whole thing where women and I mean, female, right? female sex physiology, very different than male, when it comes to this.

Amy 5:25

Interesting. Okay, so we could go on and like, we'll probably need you back for part two, because we have so many other things. But can we just talk to our listeners and give them some simple tips for hormonal balance that they can do right away? Like, obviously, there's the button all the other stuff we talked about, but like, what some simple things? Yes.

Speaker 3 5:42

Okay. So first and foremost, protein, protein, and more protein. So protein is your friend and kind of how I've touched on a few times in small ways, but muscle right, muscle is the most beneficial thing for you to nourish, and try to grow within your body. So high quality protein, and at least having three really high quality meals every day with at least 30 grams of animal based protein. And yes, I am that specific that it's animal based. Part of that is because

Amy 6:14

so not a shake with protein, we mean, yes, meat chicken, yes,

Speaker 3 6:18

this, you know, you could do a shape that has a protein that's like I use like a grass fed beef isolate. But something that is a complete protein. By the way, collagen is not a complete protein, so it doesn't count towards that goal. But you could get a really high quality, truly animal derived protein powder, and that could be okay for somebody. But it may not be as satisfying and satiating, but at least 30 grams of an animal based protein breakfast, lunch and dinner. Okay, really important, it's going to help with insulin regulation that's going to help with hormone production is going to help with your appetite it's going to help with so so many things, sleep potentially, like just so many things. So really important that you're getting enough protein in throughout the day. So that's key, first and foremost. Second of all, you need to be eating within an hour of waking up. This whole idea of depriving yourself of food, and it's good. If you wake up and you're not hungry is a lie. A healthy body wakes up and is hungry within about an hour of waking that is a healthy metabolic response. And anytime we're talking about metabolic response, we're talking about healthy hormones. So that's really key. We want to be eating that first high protein meal within an hour of waking up, which means coffee, caffeine, even your matcha happens after breakfast not before

Speaker 2 7:36

is I've been hearing that more often. And that's because of like cortisol spikes and things like that. Is that part of that as well?

Speaker 3 7:42

It can it can be but it's also because it can dis regulate blood sugar. And it also can be used as a tool for appetite suppressant, right? So a lot of women will use it so that they don't have to eat. And when you don't feel your body when it really needs it after it's done a lot of hard work restoring overnight, right? When you deny it, that it's not a good thing.

Amy 8:05

Yeah, I also heard that just drinking and I'm so guilty of it. But drinking coffee on an empty stomach just isn't good for your gut, right acids and things like that

Speaker 3 8:15

very acidic, right? And a lot of women as they age start to do more and more with reflux. And most instances of reflux are actually low stomach acid, not high stomach acid. And so putting coffee into an environment like that is rough. That is rough. Yeah.

Amy 8:32

Yeah, I'm very guilty of this. I'm very guilty of not eating breakfast, because I am truly not hungry in the morning because I'm not a morning person. But I have to really force myself, which was actually it's funny when I was talking about my vacation on vacation. I had breakfast every morning. I mean, I don't know if I felt any different. But I was eating like a proper breakfast every morning, which is probably better. But I just Yeah, I got to work on that. Yeah, well, better

Speaker 3 8:57

body to to do that. So if you're somebody who's coming from like, where you are, Amy, you know, you don't have to jump right to that 30 grams of protein for breakfast, you could do something smaller, right. So a lot of clients. And I also teach this to the women in my course, like you could do a small protein rich snack. So you could do, you know, three quarters of a cup of Greek yogurt with some berries within an hour of waking, right. And the ultimate goal is that over time through doing that you start teaching your body because our body is really smart and it wants to be on that rhythm. It actually wants to be on a rhythm with the sun if we're getting very technical. So when you are waking up, you're exposing yourself to sunlight, your body is going to start to know Oh, okay, I'm going to be hungry here soon and I'm gonna get fuel soon. I'm gonna get nutrients soon. And I like that. And so you're gonna start to actually prime that appetite and make that a part of your regular life.

Amy 9:48

Yeah, I think for me, too. I get lazy and I don't want to make anything so like what's your point? Like? I have hard boiled eggs all the time. So like I could just eat that. I was just trying to find things that I can grab because I don't necessarily feel like spending the time to make anything. But um, yeah, that's a very good thing to remember. And I'm actually not I'm thinking about it. I was eating like, a nice proper breakfast lunch dinner. And I didn't find myself like hungry or craving any like snacks in between, because I was probably very satiated. So it's almost like I gotta force myself to eat even though I don't feel hungry.

Speaker 3 10:22

Yeah, definitely two more tips that are really good. One is yes, close your vegetables, cook them, stop it. Like, we're not robbing it like. So one of the most amazing things you can do is start to look at food and think about like, is this nourishing for my body. And when you think of the word nourishing, I want you to think of warming since warming my body, because as we age, and this is borrowed from Chinese medicine, but as we age our body cools off. But we also see that actually, when we monitor our body temperature, we can sometimes see that happen over time. But if you're having slower digestion, right, if you're having hormone dysfunction, and you're a woman, you're likely having things slow down, right, not get faster. So when we have things slowing down, we want to keep it warm. We want to keep it supple, we want to keep it moving, right? You're not going to do that by throwing cold things in your body all day long. So really, truly, first of all, ditch the freakin fiber powders like that is not most people's problem for the record. And a cup to two cups of cooked vegetables, lunch and dinner. could change your world.

Speaker 2 11:32

Interesting. I love cooked vegetables. But yeah, it's but you have to like, you got to do it. You got to take the time to cook them and do it

Amy 11:39

right. Or you could do like a like a chicken broth. What's it called? Like a chicken broth? Because that has protein right. And it's warming bone broth.

Unknown Speaker 11:48

You couldn't you know, I mean bone broth. Sorry.

Speaker 3 11:51

To have frozen vegetables, like no shame in my game. Get the frozen vegetables like those are pre cooked. Throw me to pan they'll heat up in two minutes. You're done. Yeah,

Amy 11:59

totally. Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Okay, what's the next one's a really good reminder. Okay,

Speaker 3 12:04

the next one is you've got to get serious about your toxin exposure. And so many of us are trying to be really mindful of, for example, drinking enough water. And we're not paying enough attention to what's in our water, right. Or we're really mindful about getting into skincare and keeping our skin really nourished. But we're not paying attention to what's in our skincare. So it's time to really prioritize the things that I like to say the things our bodies is going to absorb the most stuff that are either going into your body or staying on your body for a long time, are really the things you want to prioritize first replacing if it feels daunting to do this. And I really, really recommend, first of all, bread is not enough your fridge filters, not enough. It's not enough, a whole house filter in many cases is not enough, you need a much higher quality, quality water, really important. And you also need better skincare products, friends. And there are easy ways to do that. So ew G the Environmental Working Group, they have a fantastic app or website called skin deep. There's also an app called Think dirty. And there are a number of other apps. So you can play with the ones and find the ones you like. And you can go through everything you have and use when it comes to personal care and see where it rates and try to find upgrades. And then when it comes to water filters, there are a couple that I really liked. But it depends a little bit on your water quality. So check your water quality. So Ew, g.org/tap water, you can check and see what is in your water personally. And then you can choose a filter that's going to work the best for you. For example, there's fluoride in my water. So I want to filter that out because fluoride is a neurotoxin, and damaging to our thyroid and I have history of a thyroid issue. So I filter out fluoride and that was really important for me. But I have clients who live places where they don't add fluoride to the water so they wouldn't need something that had that extra capability.

Amy 13:55

A quick mention I wanted to say two things. We did an episode a couple months ago with a company called Million marker that does all of this measurement arounds endocrine disruptors in the house, so it's a really interesting episode to get tips around how to do this in simple ways around your house, what you're putting on etc. And I also use an app called yaka y UK, which is similar to think dirty, which is also really eye opening. And that's made me make better choices too. So good thing to like, go back to that episode and listen, and yeah, it's really important. Those three tips are really helpful,

Speaker 3 14:30

too, by the way that this going through your toxin exposure is important is because of Xeno estrogens. So these are synthetic hormone like substances that are in all of these different kinds of toxins that are in all these kinds of products and in our environment. And literally in your body. Your body will try to plug it into the same place that it's going to plug estrogen in so then you have a toxic substance being plugged in there. And that is why they're so problematic. And this is also very critical to anybody dealing with any kind of hormone issue and it's why it's it's a whole module in my DIY course because it's so darn important like you really, you can't avoid it.

Speaker 2 15:06

Speaking of your DIY course, I want our listeners to know exactly how they can find you. So, we found you on Instagram. What's your Instagram handle? Reminds me again. Yes. So

Speaker 3 15:17

I'm at Marissa Fay wellness. So one s Mar Isa, and then fe, fe y e wellness, and I'm on Tiktok and instagram with that username

Speaker 2 15:26

and your you teach a course or you have a course available and you also work, one to one with clients as well, correct?

Speaker 3 15:34

I do yeah, I do both. So if you want to check out the course, you can go to balanced hormone blueprint.com. And if you want to learn a little bit more about me and potentially working one on one with me, you can go to Marissa feiyr.com. And also just something special for anybody listening, I have a free training, it is over an hour long. So this is like jam packed. And you can get lots of info and tips from here. But I have a free training all about three secrets to balanced hormones. And you can pick that up at bit.ly/hormone training. And because people have trouble with this, I'm just going to spell out the bit.ly. It's B I T period, l y slash and then hormone training.

Amy 16:14

That's great. Is that all of your website as well?

Speaker 3 16:16

It's actually I'm web redesigning my website, which has been a month long. Yeah, so it's it will be there. It is not okay.

Amy 16:25

But good to have the direct link. Yeah.

Speaker 2 16:28

Yeah, we know how we know all about building out that website takes time. So

Amy 16:33

super quickly before before you leave us let's do a quick wrap session because I'm sure our listeners are dying to know, what is your favorite wellness or beauty hack.

Speaker 3 16:42

I mean, my favorite hack is literally what you do on the inside takes care of the outside. So it really is hydration with good water and minerals. You got to add nutrients there and these balanced meals that are really the cornerstone of what I do throughout the day. And then on top of that, really I'm a huge fan of natural kind of medicinal skincare. So I lately have been using bee products on my face. And I'm obsessed with it. I feel like it's moisturizing and glowy and just so good.

Speaker 2 17:15

What is this B product is that the brand? The brand is the product? No,

Speaker 3 17:18

it's not actually what I'm using right now is a jar I got in Greece, but I do use oh my god, what is the brand beekeepers natural so I do use a number of their products but I really like to use like royal jelly. Things that have like BEE POLLEN groundup and in them as long as you don't have an allergy to bees or pollen. Even a little bit of me so a little bit of honey with some good olive oil. That's great facemask like, yes, yes.

Speaker 2 17:48

Okay. All right, this next one we call it our five minute flow you just got out of the shower and dried off an Uber has pinged you they're five minutes away. What are you going to do to like quickly get it together, get you know, your look on and get out the door and in that Uber on time?

Speaker 3 18:03

I mean, moisturize always right, it was one of those things I just mentioned for sure. And then I love a I love a beauty knockoff hack. Like I love a good product that's less expensive and not more toxic. And so I love like tart has a lot of products I love even elf has a number of lower toxin products. So I'm gonna like put some foundation on, put some mascara on, put some lip gloss on and a little bronzer and get out the door. So that's kind of my, my thing that I focus on.

Amy 18:37

And how do you maintain your daily nirvana?

Unknown Speaker 18:39

Oh, I try. I don't know if I do it.

Amy 18:44

Well, maybe your water drinking. I mean,

Speaker 3 18:47

no, honestly, I feel like my morning sets me up for my day. So I really am a fan of wake up and get outside. You don't have to walk by the way. Literally, I sit outside. And oftentimes I'll listen to meditation or calm music, although sometimes I don't sometimes I'm on my phone, right, which nobody's admitting, but it's true. So I get though, almost as soon as I wake up, I do a meditation in the morning and I do walk in the morning and I think that is really big to set me up for a day where like, I'm ready and focused and I can be at peace.

Speaker 2 19:22

Yeah, that sounds lovely. Alright, well, Marissa, thank you so much for being with us today. This was like a very eye opening episode. Yes, I know. I love it. This might end up being a two parter. Thanks for being with us. We really appreciate it. Well,

Unknown Speaker 19:35

thanks for having me.

Amy 19:38

Thanks for listening to Nirvana sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes please subscribe and leave us a review. also find us on Instagram at Nirvana sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana sisters will continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.

Episode 111 - Gut Healing for Beginners with Gut Journalist, Sarah K Hoffman, aka A Gutsy Girl (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 111 - Gut Healing for Beginners with Gut Journalist, Sarah K Hoffman, aka A Gutsy Girl

[00:07] Amy Sherman: Welcome to Nirvana Sisters podcast where we take the intimidation out of well being and beauty to help you achieve your highest state, your Nirvana. We are sisters in law and your hosts. I'm Amy Sherman.

[00:18] Katie Chandler: And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation.

[00:24] Amy Sherman: You.

[00:29] Katie Chandler: Welcome back to the show. Today we are sitting down with Sarah K hoffman. She is the founder of a gutsy girl. The Gutsygirl.com. It's an online community geared towards women who are looking for reasonable approaches for healing. IBS IBD, SIBO and all things gut focused. What began for Sarah as an online journal documenting the day to day with one health issue after the next would shortly become less story focused and more research and journalistic based, which I very much understand that Sarah. Today, Sarah seeks out highly detailed information and then condenses it in digestible ways for women worldwide. After years of struggling with her own health issues and considering there must be more to healing than the answer she was given, she went on to study at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, adding a certified health coach to her education. And she continued to devote every spare second to studying, researching, practicing all things gut health and gut healing and has built this amazing community. A gutsy girl. And we are just super excited that you're here. We can't wait to talk to you. We have so many questions for you. So thanks for being here.

[01:36] Sarah Kay Hoffman: Thanks for having me. I'm super excited. I love being able to sit down and talk on the other end of the seat with podcasters and just kind of to be in the hot seat.

[01:47] Amy Sherman: Yeah, that's right, you have your own podcast so we will all have to check that out as well. And yes, thank you for being on. I know Katie is the one who introduced your page to me and she's been following you for a very long time and is a super fan of all your knowledge. So thank you so much for being here.

[02:03] Katie Chandler: Before we get started, we like to do a little Nirvana of the Week. Sarah, it's just something that just brought you a moment of joy. Amy and I will go first so you can get the feeling of it. But Amy, why don't you tell us what was your nirvana this week?

[02:16] Amy Sherman: So I was thinking about this this morning and I had a really cute moment yesterday. I was driving and you know, we're always like rushing and driving, whatever and I was just kind of like rushing through my neighborhood not paying attention. And I was driving on my neighborhood street and I saw this massive deer go across the street like really slowly. So of course I stopped and the person across from me stopped and it was like this massive mama deer walking across the street really slowly. And then like 2 seconds later there was this little baby deer. It was the cutest thing. It was so small. I don't think I've ever seen a deer that small. This little baby deer just like walking across this street, kind of like not even so. Just kind of like bouncing around and like a little toddler or something walking across the street. And the mom was just like, waiting on the other side and then she got to the other side and the mom looked at her like we would do with our kids, just like making sure she was okay and then off they went. But it was just so sweet when you see nature like that. And it's like we all stopped all the cars. Like my car, the car crossed from me. We all just watched them and took that moment. It was just a nice little smile on my face. So I really appreciated seeing that. It was very sweet to see other moms doing their thing. That was mine. What about you, Katie?

[03:26] Katie Chandler: Here in our backyard all the time, which has actually brought me not a ton of nirvana because my dog had a tick yesterday from it. But that's okay.

[03:34] Amy Sherman: Yeah, not in the backyard, but out in nature.

[03:37] Katie Chandler: I think mine was yesterday with Reese. I have two girls, Sarah. I have an almost ten year old and a five year old. And we just had some good snuggles last night. We both had really busy days and I took her to the dentist and I was running all day, she was running all day. And we just got in bed and watched the other half of Et. We watched this weekend and we watched it together. I haven't watched it since I was a kid, so it was kind of fun to watch with her, but it was just some good snuggles. What about you, Sarah?

[04:07] Sarah Kay Hoffman: I love those. Those are so awesome. And I love this question, too. It's such a peaceful and calm question. I have two girls too, about similar in age. We have a seven, eight and nine year old. So I have two girls and a boy. It's busy. I don't have too many nirvana moments with them, but I would say so. I was listening to yours and I'm just taking myself to a really peaceful moment. And it was this morning, actually. So a few years ago, about the time when my dad passed away, I started really getting into succulents and caring for them and keeping them alive because they're always on the list of the easiest plants to take care of, but they're not, especially when you live in Minnesota, because this is not the desert, obviously. I have been spending the last few years really taking care of them and so I have now brought them into my house in the winter and I put them under lights and then in the spring and summer I bring them outside. Well, my collection has just really blossomed. I have so many pots of succulents out on our deck and it was just the most beautiful morning overlooking the lake in Minnesota today. So I went outside and I just sat there and stared at my succulents and watched the water, just like the sun glisten off of the water over my succulents. It was so peaceful that sat there for lovely ten minutes enjoying the fruits of my labor with my succulents and love succulents.

[05:39] Amy Sherman: You'll have to send us a picture. I need to see what they look like so I can get some inspiration. I used to have some, and now they're no longer in as good health as yours, clearly. But that sounds beautiful.

[05:51] Katie Chandler: Very peaceful. Sounds like a great way to start the day. All right, well, let's kick this off because we have a lot of questions for you. I think first, if you could just give our community a little bit of an insight into the gutsy girl community, that would be great.

[06:06] Sarah Kay Hoffman: Yeah. So I actually started the gutsy girl community way back when in I think it was 2012, when I bought a gutsygirl.com. And at the time and there's a reason I'm saying this first, but at the time, I created the brand and the community because I wanted to connect with women who were not only dealing with IBS and or IBD. As I was in 2008, was diagnosed with colitis, and then 2014 was diagnosed with SIBO, and I've been diagnosed with all the things. But also during that time around 2012, I was dealing with another super gutsy issue that many women, also, who have IBS and or IBD deal with, which is infertility. And so it was just this time of my in my life when I thought, you know, I'm going to just be really bold and brave and talk about this and form a community, because I didn't really have one like my offline. There wasn't really one. So I wanted one, and I wanted a space to be able to share and to talk about both the physical and the emotional challenges that I was dealing with. And so I created this community. And over time, it really has shifted and changed, I think partly because that's just the way that websites go typically, but also because I became less focused on the infertility part of it. I would do still talk about it sometimes, just not as often. And I got really hyper focused on IBS and IBD because I do a lot of plays on words. But I noticed that there were these stinky topics that people in general did not want to talk about, but especially women. And so I thought, these are my people, and these are the people that I want to talk to and hang out with online. And then ultimately yeah, I love that.

[08:01] Katie Chandler: It's so true that it's not like it's taboo. It's just like I feel like people are embarrassed to discuss these things, and meanwhile, it's super natural in common, and all of us have it. I've always been the first one to be like, oh, go to the bathroom in four days. I know people that are like, they don't want to talk anything about it, and I understand, but to be able to open up the dialogue and everything is great, and it's incredibly helpful, and obviously, you have a massive following that, and you've helped a lot of people. So that's why you have created it and why your community of people, they're coming to you because you find that they are dealing with similar experiences, having a challenging time, getting a diagnosis, and sorting out how to heal their symptoms. Those are the things that you help them with.

[08:52] Sarah Kay Hoffman: Yes. So I feel like most women come into the community who have gone to Dr. Google and who are asking, why does my stomach hurt? It is the foundational feeling and question that many women have because it's very confusing. And I think the reason is because there are so many factors. And so on any given day, our stomach can feel off for one reason or another, and at some point, people just think, what's causing this? Why does my stomach hurt? Yesterday I was fine. Today I'm not. Last week is miserable. What's triggering it? And then they go down the rabbit hole, and there's all these questions. And so I think that's really the basis of the community and the foundational place that people start.

[09:48] Katie Chandler: Yeah, it makes a lot of sense, because I should be in your community because I experience similar things. My stomach will be great, and then it won't be. And then I try to figure out why, and it's impossible, and then you figure out why, and then it's something else. It's just constantly changing. So let's dive into a little bit more about what your expertise has taught you with all of this. Why is IBS IBD SIBO so prominent with women especially?

[10:21] Sarah Kay Hoffman: Well, I think there's a lot of reasons for this, and to be very clear, okay, so IBS is irritable bowel syndrome. It's a whole bunch of symptoms and things that then fall under this classification of IBS. It's pretty much when you go to your doctor and they're like, well, we're not really sure. So it's IBS. And to me and in my experiences and in different doctors that I've worked with and talked to and research and all the things, it's really just kind of a BS diagnosis. But unfortunately, so many women, that's kind of the place where they start and they stay for a really long time. Then there's IBD, which, of course, is inflammatory bowel disease, which is very severe. It's diagnostic. It's all the things. And I would say I tend to focus a little bit less there because it is so severe. And a lot of women not a lot women who have IBS can also have IBD, but they haven't gotten to that place yet. Right. So it's almost like a futuristic thing that I'm trying to help women get to faster, if that's really what the problem is. And then SIBO just falls underneath the IBS category. So SIBO stands for small Intestinal bacterial overgrowth. And it's a huge I'm sure you guys have seen it online, but it's a huge explosion of conversation because more and more women are being diagnosed with it. It's the diagnosis that you have been to your doctor, your gastroenterologist, whatever, over and over and over, and they said, it's just IBS, and turns out it's really SIBO. There's so many different terms, right? There's so many different things that people fall under. But that's where it's also very confusing, because when we come into any one of these, there are multiple symptoms, and you can have these symptoms on any given day, but that doesn't mean that you have colitis or Crohn's or celiac. Doesn't necessarily mean that, but it can. And so I think that these are the things that I work with every single day. And women are coming into this community because they feel these symptoms, and they know that they are not normal, but they have just learned to live with them, and now they're seeking greater answers. I will say that in my research as well, we talk about women come in into the community, and they're either more on the constipation I can't go to the bathroom spectrum or their diarrhea. And it is about 70% of women fall more on the constipation can't go than on the other end. That would be yes, and that's very common. And there's so many reasons for this. Of course, there can be underlying things. It could be a hormonal thing. It can be an actual medical condition. You could have parasites. You could have scar adhesions that have there's so many actual medical things that they could be. But honestly, what I find more often than not is it's a lifestyle component. So it's the stress. It's the lack of exercise or too much exercise. It is the diet. There are so many factors that play into it. And see right here, I've just described how many different things and this is why it's so confusing, because you're like, oh, my gosh, I don't even know where to start. Okay, now I'm done.

[14:13] Amy Sherman: Yeah. And I would think it's hard too, because it's very different, right, for every single person. Also, I would imagine the regular sort of traditional gastroenterologist type doctor would probably just put you on some sort of medicine and call it a day, which we talk about a lot on the show, of going further and figuring out what else you can do before going on some crazy medicine or doing so. It's also like, who do you even the fact that your community exists is amazing. And then it's like there's got to be other ways to treat other than just, like, taking some hardcore medicine by more integrative type wellness care, I would imagine.

[15:00] Sarah Kay Hoffman: Yeah. And I think that's one reason why I'm able to connect with the community so well is because that was my exact story when I was first diagnosed in 2008. It was through traditional Western medicine and a gastroenterologist, which on the one hand, you're so grateful because they are able to do some of those more invasive procedures and testing and insurance can help get you to those answers. But unfortunately, not once was I ever mentioned anything about the way I was living and the factors in my life. And instead they gave me canasa, which is a suppository, and it made me worse. And it was at that point that I was like, okay, this isn't adding up because I got worse. And I remember a specific day, it will never leave my mind. I was so distended and so bloated. I could not breathe. I was absolutely miserable. And I called my gastroenterologist and he said, okay, yes, come in. I'm going to check you out. Whatever. So he looked at me and he said, oh, wow, you are so distended. The answer is you're going to go down to the Walgreens and you are going to get a bottle of magnesium citrate. It was red, by the way, that big, red, thick, gooey liquid bottle, and you're going to drink the whole bottle.

[16:22] Amy Sherman: Oh, my God.

[16:23] Sarah Kay Hoffman: And it's going to take care of the problem. And lo and behold, I went I did exactly what he said. At this time in my life, I didn't care. I didn't know any and it worked. And everything went through me. And I was like, but I was miserable. I mean, I was miserable. I was sick. Like, you hear about all the jokes about the laxatives? Yeah, that was me. That was me on that day. But I was like, there just has to be more. And I refuse to live the rest of my life like this.

[16:50] Katie Chandler: It's amazing how it can be something so complex and then also but something so simple, like taking magnesium citrate can help you in that moment. But the thing is that these are not long term fixes. So what is it that you did to adjust and to get to where you are now? Because from what I see on your site and what I've heard on your podcast, is that you feel great. You're really healthy, you've gotten your gut under control, and you're helping others do it. For our listeners that are struggling with this, maybe we can just throw out some high level tips that could help them get on their way.

[17:33] Sarah Kay Hoffman: So the way that I break it down is I have after I went through my whole thing, I ultimately got my SIBO diagnosis in 2014, and I healed for good in 2018. And then I'm just laying out the rest of my story before I give you these. So it makes sense.

[17:53] Amy Sherman: Yeah.

[17:54] Sarah Kay Hoffman: So I healed for good in 2018. Between 2014 and 2018, I relapsed from SIBO four times. I have taken all the antibiotics, all the supplements. I've done every last protocol that you can think of from a dietary and medical standpoint. And what ended up happening in 2018 was that I finally figured out how important that stuff was. Important, but the lifestyle component was. And so after I healed, what happened was in 2019, then I just got this let me back up too. My dad was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2017. So the irony though, was not lost on me because I have an entirely renewed energy and passion for people and digestive issues and disease and cancer. And so I got really hyper focused on what actually helped me heal, what was it and what did that mean? And out of that derived my three pillars for ultimate gut healing. And the first two are definitely in order. And the third one is you kind of have to start working on it right away, but it's diagnosis, diet, and lifestyle. So without the appropriate diagnosis, which for me was the SIBO, I went years and years and years of being told it's just IBS and then colitis, and then this, this, yes, those were contributing factors, but what was my bottleneck making me the most miserable was the SIBO. So I had to get to that diagnosis. You have got to have an appropriate diagnosis because if you don't, it's like you're constantly playing the guessing game. You're constantly just going to be analyzing symptoms and trying to figure out which symptoms fall in line with what gut health problem. Right? So diagnosis. The second one is diet. My biggest mistake that I made from a diet standpoint was that I believed that there was a diet, a templated diet out there that was going to heal me. And I believed that if I could so for instance, I would start with the Paleo diet. And if the Paleo diet was working but it wasn't fully working, then I thought I had to paleo harder. And so then I went to the AIP diet, which is the autoimmune protocol, which is just a more stringent version of that. Okay, so then I'm actually eating less and then, well, that's working, but there's still not. So then you just go down this.

[20:43] Katie Chandler: Awful, awful now let's try baby denim diet. And then let's do yes. It just keeps going on and on, right?

[20:51] Sarah Kay Hoffman: And so I had to learn the very hard way that there was no such thing as the perfect diet for me. And the only diet that would work for me, it was the one that I would create based on my diagnosis and what my body was telling me. And I did this through Meticulous Food journaling and listening to my body. We know, you know, inside, we know we don't need anybody to tell us that you can or can't have the white rice. Okay? You know, your body knows. So diet was a second very important thing. And then the last one, the last pillar is lifestyle. And it's so funny because in the beginning of my journey, I rolled my eyes big time at this one. I was like, yeah, right, what's my lifestyle going to do? How am I going to reduce my stress or who cares what supplement? Whatever it was with Lifestyle, I did not believe in it until I started practicing it. And miraculously or not, my life completely changed. It completely changed. I think the first time I ever realized it was so when I was on my healing journey and really stressed and really bloated, for a lot of women, the first thing they think is exercise more. If I go run, it's going to reduce my stress, maybe I'll lose a couple of pounds and we get women especially, really get into this mindset when you're bloated and miserable and maybe hanging on to any extra water weight or whatever. That was really working against me. Every time I would start training again for something new because I thought it was going to help me, I got worse. So the final time that I healed, I said, okay, I'm done, I'm done. I would just walk. I would do different stretches and yoga. I learned how to do all the digestive stretches and I healed. And I'm not saying that's what it is for everyone. What I'm saying is the lifestyle piece is so critical. I also started verbal therapy. I got massages, I did all the things that I always thought were so woo woo and wouldn't work. And I do them to this day. And I think the lifestyle pillar is the hardest one because it's something that you do forever. You don't just get to at some point, we hope we can, wean off of high doses of medicine. Or like in the case of SIBO, I did intense 28 days of refaxmin and Neomycin. Well, ultimately you do stop that, right? But you never get to stop the lifestyle piece. So that happened. I created those. And then I am just so passionate today about continuing to teach and preach my three pillars because in 2019, then my dad passed away from colon cancer. I ever hear that it's just been.

[23:40] Katie Chandler: This roller coaster of and then an awful tragedy like that happens and I mean, I can imagine that it's very hard to maintain the lifestyle that you're supposed to be maintaining. So it's probably a little bit of an up and down. But the fact that you're healed is amazing. And I can only imagine how helpful this is for people. And the lifestyle piece for you, what you needed was to be easier on yourself, it sounded like to be more gentle with your body instead of killing yourself in the gym, going on these walks and everything. We've talked a lot about that on here and how much it can really help on so many things, so many levels with inflammation and just achieving results on multiple layers. I want to circle back a little bit to the SIBO, because I've definitely had an experience with SIBO, and I think for some people that are listening, if that's an unfamiliar term, it's good to just understand that we have all of this bacteria in our gut and it works for us. And then if it gets out of balance, it can work against us. And that's essentially what it is, right? Like I've had candida of the gut overgrowth and that is like it's torture trying to get these things out. But the reason why I bring it up is because I just want to know what helped you get that diagnosis or what type of doctor helped you get to that point. So that our listener, if they're experiencing similar things, knows who to go to.

[25:04] Sarah Kay Hoffman: Yeah, I definitely went the functional route for that. So because I was so miserable and kind of at my wits end, I'm like, I will try anything. At the time we were living in California and a friend of mine said there's this fantastic functional doctor, but it's going to be like an hour and a half away and he specializes in all these things. I was like, it's going to be super expensive. But again, I was desperate and so that's what I did. That's the route that I went as I went more functional. However, I will say that because it's become such a more known issue in the gut space, a lot of traditional doctors are testing for it now. Yes, I think that back then if you went to a western trained doctor, they're definitely going to roll their eyes. And I still believe that there are I know because people tell me a lot of eye rolls still. We're not going to test you for that, especially with people like what happened with me, I gained weight, whereas they're trained that usually you lose a lot of weight and so they might dismiss it, but if you truly think that you have it, do not let them. It's a very simple breath test. I'm not saying it's easy to do, but it is a very simple breath test. However, if you want to know that it's definitely going to be on the table for discussion, immediately, going the alternative.

[26:39] Katie Chandler: Route is probably it's interesting.

[26:41] Amy Sherman: I have a question about SIBO. Is that something you get that can be healed and you don't get it? Again? Because I know colitis is more of like an inflammation that you always have it that can flare up and flare down, but it's like a disease that you have versus is SIBO a disease or is it more just like something that you come down with that you can be healed from?

[27:05] Sarah Kay Hoffman: Yeah, you can be healed from it. It's an overgrowth of bacteria. Okay, so like celiac or colitis those are autoimmune diseases that can be triggered. They can go into remission. But when I hear people say they're cured of it, I'm like, that's not the correct term because you don't get cured from it. There's no cure anyways. You can go into remission. But like with SIBO, so it's an overgrowth and it's not just SIBO is SIBO is SIBO, meaning there's a reason why the SIBO occurred to begin with.

[27:40] Amy Sherman: Right.

[27:41] Sarah Kay Hoffman: And usually you have to understand that to know if it's going to come back or not. For me it was chronic dieting for years and years and years, which led to super low stomach acid, like not even hypochlohydria. I had achlohydria, I had no stomach acid. And so until I figured that out, it did keep relapsing because interesting, also stress reduces stomach acid. So I had all the things anyways. So in that case, if you don't know you have low stomach acid, yes, it's going to come back. You can treat it with your refaxamin, your neomyosin, whatever you want, but it's going to come back. There's other things though, like so I had Doctor Neurology, she's a SIBO expert in Australia, she came on my show and we talked about all of the underlying causes and one of them is like scars or adhesions, like if you have surgery and in that case they heal over time. Yes, but I think it seems like it could reoccur easier because you're never really going to get rid of them. Right. And then sometimes people travel and they pick up a bug and that is actually what refaxamin was originally prescribed for, was travelers diarrhea. And so with a case like that, I feel like that is a little bit easier to overcome because that was like a one time thing. So it really depends on why it occurred to begin with.

[29:13] Amy Sherman: And you found out why it occurred through working with that integrated doctor integrative doctor. Exactly, yeah, because that's, I think such a key piece. I think we all struggle with whether you have stomach issues or migraines like me, et cetera, of like what is the root cause, not like how can I feel better? And yes, I want to feel better, but why am I getting it in the first place? And I think that is like the hardest thing to figure out. And I'm sure to your point, once you did, then you at least could try to figure out then how to resolve it.

[29:41] Sarah Kay Hoffman: Right. So for me it was understanding to the nth degree all about stomach acid and how I was going to increase it. And even to this day I have very adequate, obviously, stomach acid and I'm not relapsing anymore, but I still do things every single day to make sure that I'm always on the up.

[30:02] Katie Chandler: I want to ask a bit about that because I was listening to your most recent episode, which is exactly about the low stomach acid.

[30:08] Sarah Kay Hoffman: Piece.

[30:08] Katie Chandler: And I think that's my problem too. I'm pretty sure that mine stems from having Hypothyroidism and autoimmune stuff, and that's the low stomach acid piece for me. But just curious what you do. Do you do like the betane HCL or digestive enzymes and things like that to help you keep your stomach acid elevated?

[30:29] Sarah Kay Hoffman: Yeah, I do both of those, which are also both in my supplement line because I'm so particular and adamant about them when I was first healing. Yeah, the next episode of the podcast is going to be my eleven natural ways that I increase it because I'm so passionate about it. But like okay, so you can do things that will increase it via supplement. There are also natural ways, like apple cider vinegar, you can do lemon, you can do breathing exercises. There's a lot of natural ways to increase it. My favorite one, honestly though, is just straight any type of added HCL, butane HCL with Pepsin and the enzymes. Because the thing about stomach acid is that we need it to break our food down. So that means we just need help, period, in breaking food down, which is one of the biggest challenges across the board for people. I think there's so many different factors and reasons for that. But the first place that we start breaking our food down is we put food in our mouth and there's all these natural there should be natural digestive enzymes, right? But even there, the digestive process gets off for people. And so having a really high quality digestive enzyme and or mine has the HCL a little bit added right to it. So it's kind of like an all in one will really help the food break down. So that it's easier from a stomach acid standpoint, it's easier for everything to just digest. And for us, ultimately, the goal is to absorb the nutrients, right? 90% of nutrients are absorbed in the small intestine, which is why when you have SIBO, it's a small intestinal issue. You have so many problems with digestion and then also weight, because either you're not absorbing them, you're not doing it right, whatever. There's so many different scenarios. I guess there's a lot of natural ways that you can increase your stomach acid. Something that's really interesting about stomach acid too, is how we've been told forever that we all have too much stomach acid. So we have to be so careful because we have acid reflux, because we have too much stomach acid. And now, of course, research is coming out and people are really being shown, and it's being proven that in fact, a lot of these symptoms are coming because we don't have enough. And then, unfortunately, doctors are putting people with, quote unquote, too much stomach acid on all of these PPIs, these acid reducers, which then is reducing their stomach acid even more, creating even more problems. I'm not saying that everyone is there.

[33:22] Amy Sherman: A test to know you have low stomach acid.

[33:25] Sarah Kay Hoffman: Yeah. So I just talked about that too. So there is a medical one, but it's pretty invasive, so a lot of doctors won't start there. They'll do more of an at home test. The one that I did was with straight HCL and betane HCL and it's a pretty easy process. It's just getting the I think Thorne has a great one on integrative therapeutics. They both have just a great HCL with Pepsin. So the way it goes is you have to be eating protein. That's part of the test. So you eat at least like a whole serving of protein. You take one of the HCL pills, listen to your body, and if there's no burning or anything, then you know that you might not have enough stomach acid. So then the next meal you'd take two with high protein and see what happens. Now when I did this test, I was up to like twelve pills and nothing was happening. And my doctor is like, whoa, whoa, whoa, now we're having too much water with our meals, which also inhibits appropriate digestion. So I was on a protocol for a long, long time where I was doing eight HCL pills until I got it up. So now I'm way down. But that's one of the at home tests. And then you'll see a lot of people talk about like, baking soda challenge and stuff like that. I don't know, I never did that, but I know a lot of functional nutritionists will do that with their clients as well. Interesting, the only test that I know for stomach acid is that one, but it's invasive and it's costly.

[35:03] Katie Chandler: Yeah, you're jogging my memory. I was just going to say when I had SIBO, like peak COVID, I did some of those tests. I did the baking soda one, I don't remember exactly, but I just remember doing these like, at home experiments. It's funny. And also just really quickly, Amy, sorry, I think it was on your social page that I saw a very simple tip for digesting your food, which is chew your food a lot, right? Chew way more than you think you should, and don't drink any water because when you're drinking the water with those meals, you're flushing out those digestive enzymes instead of helping them do their job. So that one's always stuck with me. But anyway Amy, sorry, go ahead.

[35:46] Amy Sherman: Yeah, I know, that's interesting because I feel like I'm always drinking water with my meals, so good note. I wanted to go back to the food journaling because I think that that's interesting. I've never done it and I've always wanted to because it seems overwhelming. But like you were saying, you had a really in depth food Journal. Was there a certain template you followed or how did you track it? Can you just tell us a little bit about that? Because I think for people that are having stomach issues, it might be something worth experimenting with.

[36:12] Sarah Kay Hoffman: Yes. So I have my own journal, actually, because it was one of my top tools, and I perfected the process over a decade. But I remember in the beginning, I have a post on my website, too, that shows kind of what my journals look like in the beginning, because in the beginning, they were really focused on calories, and I stood everything all wrong and then till today. So food journaling, if you do it correctly, can be life changing. And the reason why I love mine so much is because it's broken down into 90 days. And the thing is, a lot of people that use my journal, why they like it so much is because it's almost like this compilation of all the things that they're doing, the symptoms they're seeing in a very structured way that they can then also give to their doctor so that by the time they get to their doctor, their doctor is not like, okay, well, I think it's just IBS. They're like, well, no, because XYZ, I've been tracking So on my journal, you track your bowel movements. And I have the whole Bristol Stool chart in there so that if our bowel movements are off on just a random day randomly, we don't really think much about it. But like, for instance, if you are having diarrhea for seven days in a row and then there's blood in some of it, that's very telling. Your doctor needs to know that, and there's a way that you can track that and to be able to see it over time. But in addition to things like that, I also have women track their cycle days because that's very helpful information for the doctor. I have, obviously, water intake, which is pretty standard and basic, but I also have an entire key. So the way that I created my journal is bullet journal meets regular Food and Lifestyle journaling. So I provide a key and I teach you how to use it from the standpoint of okay, so S equals supplement. And so when I write S, I can write digestive enzymes, and then you write the time, and then there's different symptoms that you can write down, and it's all right there in a really detailed and focused and simplified way for you and for your doctor. Because I can't tell you how many times I would feel okay for a couple of months, and then I'd start feeling miserable again. And I'm like, what did I do these past couple of months? How have I been living? And there's just no way to remember all that stuff. And so this was kind of my answer to that.

[38:52] Katie Chandler: Very smart.

[38:53] Amy Sherman: Yeah, I'm going to check that out.

[38:54] Sarah Kay Hoffman: That's really helpful.

[38:55] Amy Sherman: Yeah, because to your point, it's like the food, but then it's like, what else is happening? And yeah, you're not going to remember how you're feeling on the daily, and.

[39:03] Katie Chandler: That'S a great tool.

[39:04] Amy Sherman: That's amazing that you have that.

[39:05] Katie Chandler: That's a good resource. I feel like we could probably ask you 1 million questions about this and just keep going on and on and on.

[39:12] Sarah Kay Hoffman: I feel like we're like, just I.

[39:13] Amy Sherman: Know we have to go back because I'm like, wait, I have so many.

[39:16] Katie Chandler: More questions, so let's just quickly touch again on your line of supplements. So you have the journal that you just mentioned. You have the digestive enzymes, the betane HCL.

[39:27] Sarah Kay Hoffman: What else do you offer? Yeah, the supplement line is only about a year old now, but the reason I did is because I was spending so much on everyone else's supplements, and I'm like, okay, well, I know exactly what I need and what the community needs, so I'm just going to do it. They're not on a gutsyroll.com. They're on gut healingsupplements.com. And I have a digestive enzyme which is called breakdown. I have herbal bitters because I truly believe in them for naturally increasing stomach acid and helping our bodies to just be able to do it on its own over time. And that's called digest. Plus, I have tummy soothe, which is my immune. It's my IgG immune. I'm obsessed with it. It's actually a powder, so you can add it to anything. It was unflavored. And then we have a brand new we just released last week is Collagen, which is one of my favorite things for all things, but not just gut health, but wellness in general. And then a magnesium, of course, it's called Move now and then just like two more that are they're just kind of like complementary to certain people or lifestyles or routines. One is moromega. It's really the inflammation reducer. It's a one to one ratio of DHA and EPA. So a lot of women love that one too. I don't miss a day with that one because inflammation and then the other one would just be my multivitamin.

[41:00] Katie Chandler: Congratulations. That's amazing to have that line and offer all of it. What is your favorite type of magnesium? What is your magnesium? Is it glycinate citrate? What do you use?

[41:11] Sarah Kay Hoffman: Yes, it's glycinate. I think people are always surprised that I didn't use citrate. But honestly, that's really for emergency uses. It's explosive, and I don't want that. I have magnesium in the glycinet form, and you take it at night because the idea is that it promotes better sleep, which is foundational for my lifestyle pillar, but also more gentle as far as then your ball movements the next day. And I absolutely love that. Our whole family.

[41:44] Katie Chandler: I love magnesium glycinate, by the way.

[41:47] Sarah Kay Hoffman: I will say because this is one of my top questions people ask me all the time, why don't you have a probiotic? And I will tell you why. The reason I don't have a probiotic is because I have always used the just thrive one, and I saw no reason to create one. The reason is because I still believe at the end of the day that probiotics are very subjective and I really educate people on strains and species and understanding what can work for you. For me, to create a probiotic was like I felt like it was doing a disservice to people because I never want people to feel worse. And sometimes I swear by the just thrive one, but it's not for everyone. And I don't believe that there is one probiotic that's just like, for everyone can backfire.

[42:37] Katie Chandler: So you take yours every day, but.

[42:41] Sarah Kay Hoffman: That'S what works for you.

[42:43] Katie Chandler: It doesn't work for everybody.

[42:45] Sarah Kay Hoffman: It's not that a probiotic doesn't work for everybody. It's which one and which strains and species you're using might not. And also, if you have SIBO, when I was in the thick of SIBO and I was in massive flare mode, I didn't take a probiotic either.

[43:00] Katie Chandler: That's a dolphic.

[43:02] Amy Sherman: If you're constipated, should you be taking a probiotic? Does that help with that or does it not? Or is it not related?

[43:08] Sarah Kay Hoffman: Yeah. So again, that's going to go back to the strains in the species and what you choose and also just how it's working with your body. And so, again, it's like working with.

[43:22] Amy Sherman: A doctor, nutritionist, integrative doctor to figure out what's right for you, essentially.

[43:28] Sarah Kay Hoffman: Yeah.

[43:28] Amy Sherman: Which is why that food journal I.

[43:30] Katie Chandler: Think would be so great.

[43:31] Sarah Kay Hoffman: It's called healing blooms within. It's very intentional, too.

[43:35] Amy Sherman: Yeah, I would imagine. You just have to be consistent with it and then you can find out a lot of information. Okay, well, this has been amazing. I feel like we have so many more questions and we'll have to have you back, but thank you so much for joining us and just giving us kind of the one on one on Gut Health, and I'm glad it's become such a big topic. I feel like Gut Health, so many people we've had on the show have talked about, even if they're not experts in gut health, how important gut health is. And I think it's a little bit of such a vague term that sometimes it's hard to know what that means, what you do about it. If you somewhat feel okay, like, what should I be doing? So it's just really great that you're out there educating everybody. And just for our community, make sure you're following at a gutsy girl on Instagram because she has so many good pieces of information on there.

[44:24] Sarah Kay Hoffman: Thank you so much for having me. I will come back on the show.

[44:27] Katie Chandler: Thank you.

[44:28] Amy Sherman: Awesome. Thank you so much. Thanks for listening to Nirvana Sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes. Please subscribe and leave us a review. Also, find us on Instagram at Nirvana Sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would, please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana Sisters. We'll continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here or view our podcast episode guide.

Episode 103 - Product Junkies - Getting Ready For Spring - What We Are Loving Right Now (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 103, Episode 103 - Product Junkies - Getting Ready For Spring - What We Are Loving Right Now

[00:07] Amy Sherman: Welcome to Nirvana Sisters podcast, where we take the intimidation out of well being and beauty to help you achieve your highest state, your nirvana. We are Sisters in law and your hosts. I'm Amy Sherman.

[00:18] Katie Chandler: And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation.

[00:24] Amy Sherman: You.

[00:28] : Welcome back to the show. Nirvana Sisters family. It's Amy and Katie, and we're live in the studio together, and we are excited to do a spring product junkie. So we're going to do a quick episode on some new things that we're loving for spring. And let's get started. I'm handing it to you, Katie.

[00:46] Katie Chandler: All right, this is going to kind of be a bit of a speed round. So spring, summer. You're for sure going to need this. And I just recently discovered it, and I'm obsessed. This is for your wellness. It is the body armor super drink. It's a superior hydration drink. I am always partial to the element electrolytes LMNT, because they're so clean, they have nothing in them except for the electrolytes, the sodium, the potassium, the magnesium. This. We are in DC visiting, obviously. I'm here in Maryland with Amy. We were walking around with our kids all day the other day touring DC. And it was maybe 80 degrees, and I was for sure losing my electrolytes and getting dehydrated. And I grabbed one of these without even looking at it. It was just all I could get my hands on in the moment. And after I bought it, I checked it out. It's really clean. It's made from coconut water. It has pure cane sugar, which I think is actually better than, like, erythritol and things like that because it's natural and it's not like I'm drinking it all the time.

[01:49] : Exactly.

[01:50] Katie Chandler: But the great thing about it is that not only does it have electrolytes, but it also has minerals and B vitamins and zinc and all of these other great things. The point is, when I drank it, within, I don't know, 20 minutes, I had better absolute, like, energy burst. And I have one now because I'm drinking one. Yeah.

[02:16] : And that's blue raspberry flavor just to come in other flavors, probably, right?

[02:19] Katie Chandler: Yeah, it does come in a lot of flavors. It's really good, but it definitely cooks me up. I love that.

[02:24] : Yeah, we had them in our house. Jackson had bought them, and I hadn't even tried it yet, so I'm going to try that.

[02:29] Katie Chandler: It's good.

[02:29] : Okay. Speaking of dehydrated, I'm going to talk about my dehydrated under eyes, which have been very dehydrated because that skin is so thin lately. So I bought this quora organics. I can't even read it. What does that say? Katie's? My interpreter.

[02:43] Katie Chandler: Cora Organics. Smallest bottle ever.

[02:49] : Nori nori eye oil.

[02:51] Katie Chandler: Is that what it is?

[02:52] : Noni radiant eye.

[02:53] Katie Chandler: Noni okay.

[02:55] : Cora Noni Radiant Eye oil. And I love it. It's in this small bottle, but it actually lasts a really long time because you barely need any but you just kind of it's a roller ball. Yeah, it's a roller ball. And you put on your eyes. It feels so good. And I don't know, you know how, like, sometimes your eyes just the undereye gets dried out in the middle of the day, and then you want to go out to dinner, but you don't want to redo your eyes. You just kind of throw that on and maybe put some concealer on top of it.

[03:18] Katie Chandler: Yeah, that's so good. Does feel very good. I know exactly what you're talking about. You wear your makeup all day and then it gets a little dry and cracking. The only way to revive it is to start fresh. Yeah. This is a little sex.

[03:30] : It's nice, right? Hydrating. So it's a rollerball, and you could just do this, but it doesn't, like, come out.

[03:36] Katie Chandler: That great.

[03:37] : So I just kind of put on my finger.

[03:39] Katie Chandler: I love this.

[03:39] : It's a good little pick me up. Okay, what do you got?

[03:42] Katie Chandler: Nice.

[03:42] : What's next?

[03:43] Katie Chandler: All right, so my next one speaking of eyes, do you remember you were telling me all about how much you hate eye makeup removers because they're usually oily and it gets in your eyes and it drives you crazy?

[03:52] : Yeah. And it never comes off.

[03:53] Katie Chandler: So I found it's not necessarily made for that, but it is a makeup remover. It's not eyes in particular. It's the bioderma CBM h 20 mistler. Water micellar water. However you say it, it's great at getting rid of your makeup on your face and everything, but it's really nice at taking your eye makeup off. And it's not oily. Anytime I use it, I don't feel like I have oil left in my eyelashes or doesn't take off in the scar.

[04:22] : Good, because I have a Micular water that I use, and it's pretty good for eye makeup. But still, I feel like there's a.

[04:27] Katie Chandler: Little bit left over this one. It works. I mean, you have to do a couple of times it's not just going to work with one wipe, but I'm obsessed with it. So this is now I'm doing the whole double cleanse thing where I use the Mysore water, and then I wash my face. And when I want to take off my eye makeup, which I don't do it every night, but I should, I use that. And it's really good.

[04:46] : And you just put on a cotton pad.

[04:47] Katie Chandler: I just put on a cotton pad. It's great. It's like, not even $20, and it's a big bottle. The Bioderma brand is really nice.

[04:54] : Yeah, that's a nice brand.

[04:55] Katie Chandler: Yeah. Okay, what's next? I want to know what that is.

[04:58] : Okay, so this is the Kosis Glow IV vitamin infuser skin enhancer. And the color that I got is sheer medium tan. So I think I talked about the drunk elephant bronzy drops, like, a long time ago, before it trended on TikTok PS, but I think it was in one of our original product junkies, and I still have that bottle, but it's running low, so I got this, and it's a nice alternative for that. This one's a little bit more maybe a little bit more glowy. It's really nice, and it's a good alternative for the bronze drops, or you might even like it better. It's a little softer. It's a little glowier. You could use it all over your face without anything. You could mix it with moisturizer. You could use it as a highlighter. It has a lot of uses. It's really pretty.

[05:42] Katie Chandler: You know what I like about it? It also reminds me of what's? The CVS, the drugstore dupe of the junk elephant. Is it the L'Oreal glow glocion that we like? Lumi glocion. Yeah, that can be a little oily. And this isn't at all. This gets into the skin really nicely, and it dries, and then it gives you a really great shimmer, and you might not be able to see it on the camera. Yeah, but that's beautiful.

[06:08] : Yeah, it's really, like, almost like a skin sort of like a skin tint. It says on here, Glow all over or whatever. You feel it alone. Mix or layer with foundation, and it's infused with glutathione, vitamin D, and vitamin K. Nice.

[06:24] Katie Chandler: Yeah, this is nice. I'm getting this. Love it.

[06:27] : Yeah, so it's a really good one.

[06:28] Katie Chandler: I'm kind of obsessed with kosis.

[06:30] : I know. They have such good products.

[06:32] Katie Chandler: Love.

[06:33] : Okay, what do you have?

[06:34] Katie Chandler: All right, so this is my last one, elf Acne Fighting Putty Primer. It's a makeup primer, but it helps with your acne, which is fantastic, and it gives a really nice matte finish. And it has salicylic acid in it.

[06:49] : So if you smell starting your day.

[06:51] Katie Chandler: And maybe you've got a little bit of a breakout, you can put it on under your makeup, and it helps keep your makeup in place while also treating your acne.

[07:00] : That's great.

[07:00] Katie Chandler: And I did notice it kind of helped clear up any pimples that I had a little bit faster than maybe if I have makeup on my face.

[07:10] : All day, of course, affecting it.

[07:12] Katie Chandler: Right. And then the other thing that I like about it is, like, last night when we were all having dinner, I didn't have any makeup on, but I don't want to be shiny either, so I just kind of, like, put some around, and it dulled my face. But it was also, like a treatment because of the salicylic acid.

[07:24] : Yeah, it's so nice. I have the putty primer. The elf putty primer.

[07:28] Katie Chandler: Yeah.

[07:29] : It has a similar feel for that, and I love the way that that feels. But this is better because it has whatever it has to fight acne. So that's nice.

[07:36] Katie Chandler: Yeah, it's a salicylic acid, so yeah, it's great. Elf. Elf is always elf for the win. Right. They're kind of crushing it lately.

[07:42] : Yeah.

[07:43] Katie Chandler: What do you have next?

[07:45] : So next I have I love Westminutellier, so I got another stick. And so this one's called Baby Cheeks Blush Stick. And the color is pop it I have two other blushes from this brand, which I love, but they're not as poppy. Like, they're just kind of like a nice muted, like a rosy pinky blow, which are pretty. This is like a really pretty pop.

[08:11] Katie Chandler: Oh, that's fun.

[08:12] : Isn't that fun?

[08:13] Katie Chandler: Yeah.

[08:13] : So I thought this would be good for spring little color, nighttime. So when I put it on, it's really like a new color. I mean, it's natural, but it's just got a little bit more bang. So I love it.

[08:25] Katie Chandler: And it's a stick, which is great. Can I feel it? Yeah, I just want to feel and.

[08:30] : You could either put it directly on your face I see people put it directly on their face, or I see people using a brush. Get it on the brush and then put it on your face.

[08:38] Katie Chandler: Yeah. It's very pigmented, and it melts nicely into the skin.

[08:41] : Yeah, that's pretty. It's really pretty. So it gives a little bit more color than the other sticks that I have. And I also have I think I reviewed it before. Chuchette, I think is one of the colors I have. And then I also have it in the bronzer, like the contour stick, which I love.

[08:59] Katie Chandler: It also looks like it's so pigmented that if you just use a touch, you could do more of a natural vibe. And then if you want that poppy more fun, you just put on a little heavier. Yeah, it's pretty. Exactly.

[09:09] : And it's got the magnetized, which I always love. That's great.

[09:13] Katie Chandler: My next one is not so much a current, it's a review update. I want to loop you guys in on a product that I reviewed maybe two months ago. Scoro lash lash Lengthening Serum.

[09:27] : Yeah.

[09:28] Katie Chandler: My lashes have grown so much, it's ridiculous. They're not thicker.

[09:34] : They're longer.

[09:35] Katie Chandler: They're longer. I don't think I did it before and after last time because honestly, I felt like I knew they were working, but it might be hard to see to someone that doesn't know how short my lashes are. So it wasn't dramatic enough yet. So I'm going to post a before and after now because I've been on it for two or three months. Okay. And I for sure notice the difference. Without a doubt. I need a lot less mascara to get some length, and they're not falling out, too. My lashes used to just fall out and they're keeping them healthy. Interesting. Yeah.

[10:06] : And where'd you get it? Amazon.

[10:08] Katie Chandler: Amazon.

[10:08] : Okay. Scoro Lash. So good to know. I also coming up, have an eye episode. An eyelash episode that I want to do solely on eyelash and eyebrow products. And I have one that I'm going to review in that. So I'm going to save my eyelash review for that episode. But it's a different brand. I want to talk about that one as well.

[10:29] Katie Chandler: And I would like to review you did an eyebrow product that I think you've already reviewed. It the too faced, the one that Browler lifted.

[10:40] : Yeah.

[10:41] Katie Chandler: When I saw you at the end of your work day on Wednesday, it was like eight or 09:00 at night. They were perfectly in place. I'm buying that tomorrow. It's legit.

[10:51] : It's so good.

[10:52] Katie Chandler: Yeah.

[10:53] : I think it's the two faced either the two faced we'll put it in the show notes. It's either the too faced brow wax or brow lift or something like that.

[11:02] Katie Chandler: They had the laminated, like, did they notice up look?

[11:06] : Oh, my God.

[11:06] Katie Chandler: Yeah. And that was what time did you put your makeup on?

[11:09] : In the morning.

[11:10] Katie Chandler: That morning?

[11:10] : Yes. No, that really good. Okay, well, lastly, speaking of eyes, this is the last fun spring update. So I got this really pretty tart eyeshadow palette. It's called Toasted tartlet toasted. Amazonian Clay Palette. And these colors are gorgeous. Look at this. That's so pretty. Yeah, I'm going to show it on screen.

[11:33] Katie Chandler: Beautiful.

[11:34] : Aren't those nice? Really pretty. For spring, let me say they're pretty neutral, but they're like neutrally rose goldie browns. I mean, I think they're flattering on every type of eye color, I feel like, because these colors are just really and I have been testing a lot of eyeshadows because I find that many of them, at least for me, do not stay on, or they're not pigmented enough. And so these are pigmented and really nice. And I also have been using I don't have the brand with me. I'll talk about it next time. An eyeshadow primer. And the eyeshadow primer has actually helped to keep my eyeshadow on and to sort of neutralize that redness so the pigment stays better. But anyway, these are really nice.

[12:15] Katie Chandler: These are beautiful.

[12:16] : And for some reason smell it. It smells really good.

[12:18] Katie Chandler: It does smell good.

[12:19] : It smells like marshmallow or something. And then I was like, oh, it's called Toasted. Maybe it's supposed to, I have no idea. But it smells really good.

[12:27] Katie Chandler: You know what kind of the palette is like that really natural, smoky look? You can achieve that. You see it on, like, Chem K, a lot like it's like the natural browns and neutral browns. It's really beautiful.

[12:41] : That's my new favorite palette I've been using.

[12:43] Katie Chandler: Gorgeous.

[12:43] : Okay, so I think that is it for our quick round of April spring product junkies. We'll be back next month with more products that we're loving. It is.

[12:53] Katie Chandler: But before we go, I just want to really quickly talk about our guest, Erica Tempo, that we had last week. I saw her today. I got a lymphatic drainage massage from her. And how was it? It was phenomenal. She is so incredibly talented. I could feel her literally, like, squeezing the fluid, the inflammation, everything out of me. She took before and afters, which I don't really know if I want to post those on social. They're a little personal, but you can see I stood up and I felt like I was £5 thinner. I mean, you could see she creates definition. She literally creates the definition.

[13:28] : And I felt it before and afters, and you could see, like, you couldn't see your ribs, and then afterwards, you could see your ribs. Like, all that fluid just went away.

[13:35] Katie Chandler: It just went away. My waist got narrower and everything. So she's incredibly talented. If you're in the Bethesda area, you should definitely go see her. Or the Maryland area in general. I mean, she goes to New York for clients.

[13:46] : Yeah, New York clients come here to see her too.

[13:48] Katie Chandler: She goes to New York City Fashion Week to prepare the models for runway shows and everything. So she's incredible. We love her. We love Derek attempt. So, yeah, that was my update. We have somebody that wants to say hi.

[13:59] : Oh, yeah. Really quick special guest.

[14:01] Katie Chandler: She's a special guest. Madeline Chandler. My nine year old is in the house. Just give a quick hello, say hi.

[14:08] : What's your nirvana of the week?

[14:13] Katie Chandler: Probably just, like, getting here and being in DC. And also going to also going to my cousin's house and just, like, raining with my family. Yes, we love being together. Okay.

[14:30] Amy Sherman: All right, see you next time.

[14:32] : Bye.

[14:34] Amy Sherman: Thanks for listening to Nirvana Sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes. Please subscribe and leave us a review. Also, find us on Instagram at Nirvana Sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would, please share it and tag us.

[14:49] : Tune in next week for a fresh.

[14:50] Amy Sherman: New episode of Nirvana Sisters. We'll continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here or view our podcast episode guide.

Episode 100 - 100 Episodes! What We Have Learned + Exciting Announcements! (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 100.

[00:07] Amy: Welcome to Nirvana Sisters podcast, where we take the intimidation out of well being and beauty to help you achieve your highest state, your nirvana. We are Sisters in law and your hosts. I'm Amy Sherman.

[00:18] Katie: And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation.

[00:24] Amy: You um, hello and welcome back to the show Nirvana Sisters Family. This is a very, very special episode. We are celebrating 100 episodes today. I cannot believe it, Katie. I'm literally in disbelief. I know, but we're here.

[00:43] Katie: Congrats. Woohoo.

[00:46] Amy: Congrats to you too. I just cannot believe how far we've come. This was a nugget of an idea, what, two years ago? Two ish two and a half years ago, and we've done 100 episodes. So first and foremost, I just want to thank you for being my partner in crime, my sister in law, one of my best friends. I just think so much has changed over the last couple of years for us, and I think we've gotten so much closer because of this podcast, because we're connecting on things more often. We're talking all the time. We're business partners. We've become closer friends. It's just like the whole thing has been so amazing. It's just like thinking about it. We're always so rushed. We were just talking before we started this recording. We're so rushed, we don't really get a chance to reflect. So my first thank you is to you.

[01:36] Katie: That's really sweet. Yeah, I feel the same way. I'm in shock and disbelief that we're at 100 episodes, but at the same time, we've done everything souped to nuts for this thing. So it's also like kind of when you think about the weight of all the work that we've done, you can feel that as well. And it feels like a huge accomplishment. And I want to thank you too. I love you so much. And this was your idea. This is like your little you called me one day. I remember when you said this to me. I was sitting on the corner of my bathtub in my old house, looking out the window, thinking, she's insane. How are we going to do a podcast? Look, here we are. And it has it's been great. Here we are.

[02:16] Amy: Yeah, I know. It's just crazy how if you put your mind to something, you can have a nugget of an idea and you put your mind to something and do it and keep doing it and keep doing it over and over again, and it grows and more people know about it. And all of our listeners have been so incredible. So thank you to everyone listening. Thank you for all your support, all your comments, all your feedback. It's just been so encouraging to hear from you and to hear about what you want to hear about when you like something, when you don't like something. And so, yeah, we're just going to spend the next few minutes just kind of talking through the last 100 episodes and some of the highlights. And we also have some exciting announcements we're going to talk about at the end. So, yeah, just thank you to everyone who has supported and listened to us over the last few years. We're just so excited we've reached this really huge milestone and can't wait for more. So, Katie, what's your takeaway from these last 100 episodes, if you have one?

[03:11] Katie: Oh, my gosh. I mean, it's hard to just have one other than I've learned so much. And a massive thank you to all of our unbelievably talented and intelligent and powerful guests that we've had. We've spoken to some of the most amazing entrepreneurs, some of the most amazing doctors. I've learned so much. I think I could touch on a few of probably the most powerful ones that have resonated with me the most. The most recent one would be Dr. Angela Holiday Bell on sleep hygiene. She just like, tapping into she really helped me kind of understand what I need to be doing to kind of reel my sleep in. And that literally has kind of changed my life. The thing as simple as wearing blue lights when you watch TV before you go to bed helped me fall asleep faster and helping me understand why I need more time to wind down because I have a harder time producing melatonin, like does all of that. And then Jessica McGuire. Remember Jessica McGuire from the Vagus Nerve talking about the nervous system? The Vagus Nerve, I think that was the single most powerful episode out of all of our 100 episodes for me personally, the window of tolerance, understanding what it means to have a dysregulated nervous system, recognizing someone's dysregulated nervous system, and then learning how to co regulate. It's helped me. It's helped my husband, it's helped my kids. That episode was really profound for me. And, I mean, I could say that about so many of them. Natasha Brinkman. It's like a master class on skincare, right?

[04:58] Amy: Oh my God, that was amazing.

[05:00] Katie: Obsessed. What about you? What are some of yours?

[05:05] Amy: Honestly, I'm like sitting here scrolling through all of these 100 episodes, and I think for me, there were pieces of information that I've gotten from every single episode that I've applied to my life. I mean, to your point. Like The Vagus Nerve episode and breathing from Erica Brunozer and talking about parenting tips and how to talk to your kids, that one was really helpful for me. Also, shout out to Zoe Feldman. I was just looking. She was our first official guest on Nirvana Sisters in episode six. So we love Zoe, and so many of our kind of like, people that we knew, friends of friends of Friends kind of started out with us in the beginning and then we sort of grew from there. And I think I've just taken bits and pieces, like whether it be from Cat Can Cook and The Hungry Lady salad to, like you said, skincare with Natasha or hormone stuff with Michelle Aspinwall. Also, of course, one of my favorites was talking to Ellie Webb, which was definitely a dream come true for me, and talking to Brittany Driscoll and talking to some of these business leaders, just getting advice on entrepreneurial stuff and how to balance motherhood and working and all of these things. So I don't know, it's so hard to pick a favorite. I think for me, it's just taking bits and pieces of all of these things and using the ones that work for me. And I think from a listener standpoint, too, it seems like people listen to the episodes that they're interested in and then they take pieces from that. And it's like everyone that we have on is an expert in something, but it doesn't mean that what they're saying works for everyone. And so I think that using some of these bits and pieces across all the episodes helps you in whatever way you want. I also thought I'm just kind of scrolling through and looking like episode 50, the psychedelic therapy with Julia Mirror was just so fascinating. Like, it's so out of our ether and something we don't really talk about and think about, but just learning about that. And I also find now that I'm talking to people or a subject comes up and it's related to any one of our episodes, whether it was chiropractics or psychedelics or vagus nerve or chromal wellness, even, I find that I have this information somehow stuck in the back of my head and I just regurgitate it, not even realizing that I knew it. Yeah, because we're just picking up pieces of information as we go. It's just kind of like sinking in and then you do something differently and you're like, oh, yeah, I learned that in this Chroma episode. Or I learned this from Janelle Kim when we talked to her about traditional Chinese medicine. And I think we've made so many great connections with other women, which I really like, too. When we think about someone like Rachel Johnson, who we did the episode on, it was episode 63 when we talked about Green's Water Move Repeat and her whole company, AMI Health. It's just been great to meet these other women who were doing similar things to us, and we're all sort of this family and everyone supports each other, which I think is so nice about the podcasting world. There's so many podcasts, but in a good way, right? Like, everyone encourages each other and everybody wants to help, and it's just like one big podcast family, I feel like. And when we meet all these women that are in wellness or View Your Skincare, everyone's excited for everyone and everyone celebrates one another. And I really like that about this space.

[08:27] Katie: Yeah, it's incredibly supportive. I think you're exactly right. We've had a few amazing male guests also, that we've learned a lot from I think it's funny, when we first started, we didn't know if we were going to necessarily lean more female centric and it's just kind of been a natural gravitation. But it's all part of that support system and I'm really proud of it, actually. I think it's great. And it's also when you were talking about things that you learned and I was also just thinking about a way that this has kind of shaped me as a person. Doing this with you for the last two years is it's just made me more confident. When I meet new people, I almost find them. Like, I'm like and I'm not interviewing them, but I just have such an easier time meeting new people now because it's what we do. We talk to new people and we interview them pretty much weekly. And then a lot of these people are stuck in my head. They live rent free in my head with some of their amazing quotes like Andrea Marcellus, I just hear her say, like, your afternoon snack should be protein and a healthy fat. And then I hear Dr. Janelle Kim saying things like, stop being drunk on your own thoughts. Or Rachel, you just said Rachel and me greens, water, move, repeat. I can't tell you how many times these things just pop in my head. I'm like, oh yeah, that'll help my day get better. Just follow that. Follow that. So it's amazing. We're really fortunate and grateful to have come across the people that we have and had them on the show.

[09:56] Amy: Yeah, and I also it's funny because I feel like we've done episodes that we aired a long time ago and some of those topics are coming up now, like Fascia or Guaca and all of these things we sort of talked about a couple of years ago that are now coming into the world. And it's just I love learning about things that we see are sort of bubbling up and trending and then all of a sudden you hear them all the time as people's regular vernacular. So I think that's interesting. We also can't forget about our product junkie episodes because I think those have grown and we've gotten a lot of really positive feedback about those. And those are definitely one of my favorites because they're just us talking and chitchatting about what products we like, which we do all the time anyway, which was part of the reason we started this podcast. Like, let's just record our phone conversations and talk about, oh, I tried this, I tried this. So just like, doing all that has been super fun and tapped into the passion that we both had for products and just trying new things and talking about those new things. But I agree with you. When I meet with people, too, I definitely feel more confident and have kind of like, more ways to communicate because I don't think sometimes I'm the best communicator and I think this podcast has helped me to slow down, try and work on not saying as much. I also think it's helped with my public speaking. So from my corporate job, just being confident to go up in front of a room of people and talk, it's like one of those things that everyone's always nervous about no matter how many times you've done it. It's like a scary thing. But I think being able to talk every week on the mic and have it being recorded kind of gives you a lot of practice. So it helps just in general with communication and active listening.

[11:38] Katie: Yeah. Also I've had some just like fun favorite moments. Like nothing is funnier to me than when we're doing product junkies and I hold up a product and you're like, yes, I have that one too. I was going to review it this week. Or how fun is I know, we're like same brain. Exactly. And then seeing our guests in the wild. How wild was that, that you ran into Brittany Driscoll in La a little while ago and then seeing Meredith Quill running into her? Well, we didn't run into her, but going to her event in Westport and those little connections are really special. So yeah, it's all just been a lot of fun.

[12:18] Amy: Yeah, I love it. And it's actually really funny too, because then you start seeing people that we've interviewed connect. Who was it? I think Brittany Driscoll and Katie Whelan, who we just had on recently, talked about all the peptide stuff. They both live in Nashville and I saw that they were on some panel together.

[12:34] Katie: Oh, nice.

[12:34] Amy: And I was just like, oh my God, that's so weird that they happen to be on the same panel. We've had them both on the show, like they're in the same space, so it's just like all these crazy worlds colliding. But I think it's just this was definitely born out of a passion project. It still is. And I wanted to also talk a little bit about the blood, sweat and tears that this has been for us because again, we're busy and running and everyone says to me, and I'm sure they say to you too, like, how are you doing at all? And the answer is, I have no idea. But I think when you have a passion and you enjoy something, it doesn't matter and you just kind of figure out a way to do it. Nothing is perfect. Of course. It's like we always say, we could be doing more, we could be doing this, we could be doing that. But at the end of the day, we make **** happen. And I think it's really hard to do being like having another full time job, being a mom, doing this. We do this on the nights, we do this on the weekends, we do it when we can squeeze it in, but it's ours and we can kind of figure it out as we go. And I think for you, Katie, a lot has evolved in your world, too, from where you were to where you are now. So I kind of want to get your thoughts on how you're balancing it and how you're feeling because I think we don't spend enough time reflecting on that part.

[13:38] Katie: Yeah, no, I think that's really true. It's funny, I have been thinking recently about how happy I am with the balance in my life right now, because when we first started, I was a stay at home mom and I was wanting something more, so we did this. But then there was moments where it was so overwhelming because I hadn't worked in a decade. And then I have just gone back to my other job recently. And while there's a lot going on, I just feel like every box is being ticked right now. Like, I have my family time, I have my passion project, my passion job, which is this that's like, fun and so exciting. I have my work, which is also great, and I'm making my own money. So while the balance of it can be a struggle at times, it's very fulfilling and well rounded. And I've had moments where I thought, how are we going to keep doing this? But I think that happens when there's unnecessary pressure applied. And I think we've both been really smart about making sure we're just continuously enjoying it and not putting so much pressure on ourselves. And as long as we keep doing that, then we just keep plugging away and trucking away. And now we're doing everything that we do. It's like we could do it in our sleep.

[15:04] Amy: Exactly. I mean, looking back when we first started editing a podcast, we were like, wait, how do you do this? And how do you do this? And now we literally do everything, soup to nuts. And it's time consuming, but we know how to do it and we've become experts in it, which is so cool. I just love learning and to be able to learn a new craft and to be able to produce a podcast. And for people who don't do it, it's really hard to envision what goes into it. But there's probably like, I don't know, 250 steps from like A to Z right, to get it launched on a weekly basis. And it's a lot. And I think just being able to learn another skill set as you're moving along your life is so important. We're learning every week. Every time we talk to someone, we're learning new information. I think we're both learners and we love to learn, especially when it comes to something that we're personally passionate about. But just learning a new skill is so rewarding. I mean, just like, this is so technical and so different than what I do in my marketing role of big ideas and all this strategy work. And this is so technical editing and producing, but I really love it, like, getting into the nitty gritty. It's actually like I love producing the episodes and launching sometimes more than other things. I don't know why. And I know for you, Katie, you didn't know much about social media before, and you've learned how to use that tool really well. And I just think it's so cool.

[16:29] Katie: Yeah, I think so, too. I'm incredibly proud of us, and also we keep each other accountable and we keep each other in the game. And if there's a time where you're feeling stressed and crazy and you're not in it, then I try to reel you back in and vice versa. And there's also times where we're perfectly guilty of like, oh, I didn't get that done this week. But it's like we don't beat each other up either. It's like we get the critical stuff done and we keep moving forward. And as we've always said, progress over perfection. And I think that has gotten us very far.

[17:06] Amy: Yeah. And I think especially in the beginning, I think the first probably, I don't know, 2030 episodes were the most challenging because I think you and I struggled a lot and had open communication. Remember, we had some not blowouts, but we definitely had some tough conversations of like, well, who's doing this? And are we doing this every week? And DA DA DA. And, like, until we got our flow, it was like a little, like, tense, right? Like, there were definitely some tense times, looking back, but now I just feel like we're in the flow. And I think, too, I was going to go back to what I was saying about you going back to work. I've actually seen a huge difference because for you, I feel like you're more in a flow than you were before because I feel like it's because you're more structured, right. And, you know, you have to be certain places at certain times. Not that you didn't before, but it's just different. So you almost are more organized and more in the flow. Yeah, I see that. I don't know if you feel that.

[18:03] Katie: But I've definitely noticed that there has been a shift, for sure. And I think also just like, having something else, having my other job, it's released some of the pressure of this and allowed me to enjoy this for what it's always been. It's been our passion and it's fun, and we love doing it together. So I think that has a lot.

[18:27] Amy: To do with it. Yeah, I think you're right. You're totally right. I also think it's given us both more perspective. Like, now that you're back at work, you have a perspective of like, oh, now you sort of know. I know what you go through and you know what I go through when we have other responsibilities that are not just family. Right. And it's like, oh, my God, I have this deadline, or I'm working all day. I'm out and I'm like, okay, I'll do this or you'll do that. I think we bounce off each other really well. So anyway, I'm just trying to think about more fun stories. I think there's like so many random things that have happened throughout the last few years. I mean, I think, again, our guests have been amazing. I think people have been so generous with their time. People have given us so much time and so much of their expertise, and it's just been really gratifying. And again, just want to shout out to all the guests that have been on our show and even some guests more than once.

[19:22] Katie: Yeah, just how generous they have been with sharing their time with not their time, but sharing our podcast with their people and kind of just giving us more exposure and being excited about being on the podcast with us too. I mean, we've had some guests that have a million followers, we've had guests that have 500,000 followers and everything below and in between and above. So we've just been very fortunate. So thank you to all of our amazing guests. And we have amazing guests lined up and more to come, so it's all super exciting.

[20:00] Amy: Yeah, lots more to come. So with that being said, a couple really exciting announcements that Katie and I wanted to share with our amazing listeners. And thank you to our listeners for loving this as much as we do. We love doing it and we do it for you. We do it for us because we love it, but we do it for you more, so because we know you love it too. And you love to get in all the minutiae of the details of health, wellness, beauty like we do. So thank you again.

[20:28] Katie: Yeah, that's exactly what I was just thinking. We have always done this to share with you all because we want you to learn and have access and to have the ability to achieve anything and everything you want for your health and wellness journey. Whether that is just making sure you get in eight cups of water a day or the fact that you do Reiki healing and you work with crystals and you go and do face yoga. Whatever your journey may be, we are just really grateful that we can be a part of it and that we can help you along with it. So thank you.

[21:06] Amy: Yes, good point. And one last thank you before we get to our exciting announcements. Wanted to thank my husband Stu, who really is sort of been my partner in crime behind the scenes in this. He was the one who really gave me the motivation to do this because he knew that I'm an entrepreneur and at heart he knew I love all this stuff. And he's like, you got to do something with it because, yes, you have your other job, but you need to put all this effort into something else. Too, for you. And he kind of gave me a lot of motivation to really even start the idea. And he also came up with the word Nirvana because Katie and I had a list of 50 different titles, which are hilarious, which we should post about one day, but he actually came up with the word Nirvana and he really captured what we were trying to get at, like, what is your Nirvana? What's going to make you feel joyful? So shout out to Stew.

[22:04] Katie: Yeah, thank you still. And thank you to my husband, too. He's been incredibly supportive. Shout out to Adam.

[22:09] Amy: Yes, they've both been super supportive. Okay, a couple big updates.

[22:15] Katie: Big announcements.

[22:16] Amy: Big, I know. So, a few announcements as we close out this episode. So, I don't know if you all know, but we have a website, Nirvanasisters.com, which we've launched kind of in a soft way a couple of months ago. Don't know if any of you have seen it yet, but we've been linking out all of our show notes there and we wanted to just call it out because it's really exciting. We've been working on it behind the scenes for a long time and we're continuing to add to it. And so if you go onto the website now, you'll see every single podcast episode that we've had out, you'll see all the show notes, you'll see all the BIOS, you'll see all the product links. It's all there in the blog. And so we wanted to have a place where you all could go and reference just more content around all of our episodes. So that's really exciting. So we wanted to make sure you checked out Nirvanasisters.com when you get a chance. And Katie. What's next? What else do we have to announce?

[23:02] Katie: Also equally as exciting, the other thing you're going to find on our website is we now have Nirvana Sisters Merch yay. We have great swags, I mean, great sweatshirts and t shirts and tumblers and a hat that I'm obsessed with. Amy has a hat on.

[23:20] Amy: I'm showing everyone the hat. Kind of 1 second. I'm going to do this.

[23:25] Katie: Yeah, the hat's. Super cute.

[23:27] Amy: Everyone check out the hat.

[23:29] Katie: Love the hat. And then check out the sweatshirt and our new logo. My tea. Keep glowing. Nirvana Sisters. Tea. So there's a lot in there and we would love you to just go on there and get whatever you want. You can order it straight from the website. It's so fun. Come straight to your house. Yeah.

[23:47] Amy: That is going to be launching the day that this launches. So our shop will be launching Thursday, April 6, in conjunction with this episode. And like Katie said, there's sweatshirts, hats. We've got a coffee tumbler or coffee mug that says Daily Nirvana. We have a water bottle that says Nirvana in a bottle.

[24:07] Katie: We have a hoodie, a few great hoodies.

[24:11] Amy: Yeah, we've got a really awesome hoodie. We've got shirts that say a few different quotes like keep glowing and hustle and doses and different quotes from a lot of our episodes. And we're going to be continuing to add new products over the next few months. So tell us what you like and we'll keep working on it. We also have our new logo. We're really excited to share with you all, so please check out our website, check out our new store with all of our new merch support us. We are so excited. We've been working in the background on the design of all of our merch. It's really elevated and we're so excited for you all to check it out and let us know what you think. And we'll post some of these products on social throughout the week so you can get a little sneak peek of the shop.

[24:51] Katie: Yeah, exciting. All right. And then here's the last news, and it's very exciting. Amy, do you want to share?

[24:59] Amy: Sure. So we are now joined with Podcast Nation, which is a podcast network, and we are so excited to announce this news. So we're really excited to join the team at Podcast Nation. We started chatting with them a few months ago and they're an incredible group of women. There's about, I think, like 20 or 30 podcasts that are part of this network. And what that means for you is the show is growing, so we'll be connected to more people, more amazing podcasters, we'll have more access to guests. We'll probably be on some more podcasts, and we'll be on the Podcast Nation channel, on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, et cetera. And that's going to be happening over the next couple of weeks. But as of today, we've joined their network and we are super excited to be joining the Podcast Nation family. So thank you to that team for welcoming us with open arms as we start this journey with them. So more to come there, but wanted to make sure we shared all of our exciting updates. And again, thank you all for the last 100 episodes. Looking forward to hundreds more with my partner in crime, Katie. Anything else, Katie, before we close out?

[26:10] Katie: No, other than thank you. Thank you, thank you. We are so grateful. We are filled with gratitude for our listeners and our supporters and our guests. And this 100th episode is my Nirvana of the Week, I think of the year. So I don't know about you.

[26:27] Amy: Yeah, agreed, agreed. Huge milestone, Nirvana of the Day in the week, along with our other launches. It's all good stuff and more to come. So. Thank you. Nirvana Sisters family.

[26:37] Katie: Bye.

[26:38] Amy: Have a good week. Thanks for listening to Nirvana Sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes. Please subscribe and leave us a review. Also, find us on Instagram at Nirvana Sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would, please share it and tag us, tune in next. Week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana Sisters. We'll continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to bye.

[27:04] Katie: You know.

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here or view our podcast episode guide.

Episode 99 - Wait!? Bread, Butter & Wine With Dinner? Portion Control, Exercise Tips, and Why Heavy Weights with Andrea Marcellus, PART 2 (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 99

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here.

[00:07] Amy Sherman: Welcome to Nirvana Sisters podcast, where we take the intimidation out of well being and beauty to help you achieve your highest state, your nirvana. We are Sisters in law and your hosts. I'm Amy Sherman.

[00:18] Katie Chandler: And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation.

[00:24] Andrea Marcellus: You. Um.

[00:27] Amy Sherman: Welcome back to the show. Nirvana Sisters Family. We are back with Andrea Marcellus for part two. If you didn't listen to last week's episode, make sure you listen to part one. It was really helpful. This week. We go through many different things, but one of the things we talk about are tips and strategies for eating, especially eating out, eating during the holidays. Andrea has some great techniques that she shared with us. We also talk about why accountability is key and a lot of exercising is a mental game. We talk about different tips for exercising for your age group, and we also get into what heavy weight means. I know for me, I hear lifting with heavy weights all the time, but I don't necessarily know what that means. So she gets into that as well, as well as a few other quick weight routines. Enjoy the episode and thanks for listening.

[01:18] Katie Chandler: I love that.

[01:19] Amy Sherman: Yeah, that's very freeing.

[01:20] Katie Chandler: Yeah, absolutely. So I want to know some quick and easy you've mentioned strategy. Strategy, strategy. And I know you have so many great little tips and strategies and things to use when you're dining out, and maybe just hit us with a couple of your favorites that tend to be really helpful for people.

[01:44] Andrea Marcellus: Well, I can give you dining out. Strategy and holiday strategy are sort of the same thing. I measure food in hand portions because we're getting away from calorie counting or anything like that, and we figure out what's an energy appropriate portion of food for you. So when you approach holidays or you approach, just say, eating out, just try to think in terms of the total portion. How many hands are you going to try to eat at this meal? Like, probably two, three hands. Something in there, right? So I think of it that way. So I definitely sit down, I order a glass of wine. I get bread and butter because I love bread and butter. Oh, my God, wine and bread. I know. I'm everybody's best people. Like, my clients would be like, the first time I would go out to eat with a client for it and everybody's trying to eat right in front of me. I'm like, oh, my God, I'm ordering the pizza.

[02:44] Amy Sherman: Oh, my God, I love it.

[02:46] Andrea Marcellus: I know, but I didn't. I came from the other place. But anyway, so then you start to think about especially if you've been horse and controlling for a while, your stomach's smaller, so you have to think about it. So if, like, appetizers come out, I go, okay, I'm going to have three bites because there's other things I want. If a salad comes, I'm going to eat half the salad because I'm saving room for dinner and dessert. Dinners that come at a restaurant are always at least two food, maybe three. And you can go, okay, and this is my lunch for tomorrow. Like, I'm having this and then you know, I'm going to have this awesome, delicious lunch. That's amazing. And then you have some bites of dessert. But by thinking of it beforehand in terms of, okay, how many hands of food am I going to eat rather than like, trying to I didn't mention at all what I was eating except for bread and butter. Right. It doesn't matter what you eat. If you're portion controlling your social meals, it truly doesn't matter. And if you're optimizing the meals you don't share to be highly nutritious, boy, are you living a good life and you're setting yourself up for great health. Yeah. You're not skip the broccoli and eat all the things you can't get except for that holiday. Just portion control.

[04:04] Amy Sherman: It so about portion control and about the hand idea, I love that I guess it's dependent on the person, but generally speaking, right. How many hands should you have? Because I think we've completely like as a society have no idea because the portions in America are so big that we're all overeating because it's just there, right? Yeah. So what's a good maybe thing to think about?

[04:30] Andrea Marcellus: So in my app I have a chart that's a starter chart. And please keep in mind I literally made this up from a vision. This is literally just a guidepost. I've been doing this particular thing with people for over 15 years and it's literally just a guide to help you figure out what's best for you. And the goal is to be satisfied and have energy to take you just from meal to meal. Nobody here is a farmer. Basically, like, we don't have to eat a big breakfast so that we can get on with the day. And I already established that eating to maintain a workout lifestyle is only going to work if you are a professional athlete or if you are somebody with a very specific physical goal. You're training for an event or you're a bodybuilder. So if you're any of those people, don't listen to me right now. For the rest of us who are just busy working people and want to be able to go out and drink wine and eat bread, start with a breakfast within an hour of waking up or trying to eat one hand of food, or maybe two if you're one of those people. And then that's when the clock starts the day and you eat every two to 4 hours and you're trying to eat for snacks or small meals, you're eating one hand. For lunch or dinner, you're eating two hands. And see how that does for you. And notice I'm not telling you what a hand means. You figure it out for yourself. And I mean, I help people through this, obviously, this is what I do, but that's a guideline I could give you to kind of try to start yourself. The key is with all of these things is accountability. So we all have best intentions. And this is why I'm very happy to offer out my habits or my strategies, because I've been doing this a really long time. The missing piece of all this is when people are making a shift in life and they realize they need to make a change. Accountability helps so much. And there was one study I read where accountability increases your chance of success by 85%.

[06:45] Amy Sherman: Wow.

[06:46] Andrea Marcellus: 85%. And so it's really important to either have the help of a coach or to do things with someone else or in a group or whatever. I can't encourage that enough. And this is coming from someone who never asks for help. I just don't I'm just learning to do that. I think last year, so maybe at 49, I'm getting better. I'm 50 now. I've been doing it for about a year and a half. No, but asking for help changes your life and two, doing things in groups. I've been this lone wolf my whole life in so many ways, and only in the last little bit do I have some groups of like I have a CEO group, I have mentors, I have my bestie girlfriends that I've had forever. But sometimes I'll just get bogged down at work and not rely on that so much. Or I don't want to waste the time telling them stuff that's wrong. Well, I've learned that, wow, groups help, and I can't encourage that enough. So if you decide, look, I'm ready to make a change in my life and I want it to be a real one and a lasting one, you got to go slow and steady. You have to respect yourself and really define who you are before you even start. And then you get help. You get people to keep you accountable, you get people to keep you positive, and you make sure you tell those people your purpose. Motivation comes from purpose. And when you say your purpose out loud to people, it ends up being like in stone. And you can change your purpose, but it really, really helps. It's like dropping a flag, implanting a flag of, this is who I am and this is where I'm headed, and everybody just watch me and please cheer me on.

[08:37] Katie Chandler: I love that. That's great. That is so true. Especially the accountability piece. I mean, I think Amy and I can speak for that just because we've doing this. We have been each other's accountability partner, and I think we're like, approaching 100 episodes, so it says a lot about having somebody to cheer you on and to help you out.

[08:59] Amy Sherman: Yeah, it's so true because there's so many times and also just like, just what you were talking about for exercise groups. Like, I have friends in the neighborhood, and we'll make a plan to do a walk on the weekend. And sometimes you're like, I don't feel like going. But then you're accountable. You're like, you know what? I'm not going to bail on this person. And then you go and you feel so much better. But if you had not made that plan, you would never do it yourself because it's just too hard to motivate yourself sometimes 100%.

[09:23] Andrea Marcellus: It's a mental game. Again, a mental game. I put a feature in my app, literally, just because of this. I made up this thing where so these custom workouts, you can dial up like, you know, I have regular classes, but it's another feature, like, and you can dial up like, there's, I don't know, 30 options in there. You can even say, like, I don't want to mess up my hair. I'm at my desk. I don't want to mess up my hair. I got to zoom. I have ten minutes. Let's do something. But what's cool is you can invite other people to do the workout, live with you on your phone. It's a silent feature. So this was like I was thinking about, why do people come to me? It's to have someone to talk to or to have an appointment time. We're going to do this so you could make up a workout and then text it to your friend and be like, hey, let's meet and do this. And it's really cool, and it's a way of creating that accountability around workouts so that you actually show up for them, because you are more likely to show up for yourself when it involves someone else. Just look at your to do list today. When you look at what actually got to done, it's the things that involved somebody else, and the stuff that was just for you is like, kicked down the list, and maybe you'll get a couple of those things done, but everything for somebody else got done first.

[10:40] Amy Sherman: So true.

[10:41] Katie Chandler: Well, speaking of exercise, a couple of tips to get some exercise in. And also I saw on your TikTok page recently you were suggesting low intensity steady state for a certain age group and high intensity interval training for a different age group. Walk us through that because I'm just so curious as to why.

[11:04] Andrea Marcellus: Okay, that's a great question. All right, so both of them will burn fat and burn calories. People want to say that high intensity intervals burn way more fat or calories. Like, well, no. A recent study showed for all things kept equal, this one group lost three and a half pounds, where the other group lost two and a half pounds. Doing steady state, like, it's not a massive amount, so everybody take a breath. But here's the difference. Steady state, the low intensity steady state workouts, they are gentler, they're easier. People get into them. You kind of zone out for some people that's easier to stay consistent with. They train your stamina and especially if you're younger exercise. What we want to be training in life is stamina at that point, right? And they increase Vo two max. The volume of oxygen your lungs can push out to your heart with every single breath. The amount of oxygen your heart can push out with every single beat to get your muscles going. So that's important. The thing is that they have to be longer workouts and you risk overuse injuries. So that is something people that hang out on the treadmill all day, it's like imagine it's repetitive motion activities or runners, things like that. So just a couple of considerations there high intensity interval are really important, particularly for perimenopausal or menopausal women, for two reasons. Because they increase insulin sensitivity, your body's ability to respond well to smaller and smaller amounts of insulin. So as opposed to insulin resistance, which packs pounds on your body, okay? And we already have more Cortisol floating around your body at that time. We already have a hormonal disadvantage going on. So we definitely want to improve our insulin sensitivity. And the other thing about it is that you get this thing called epoch. It's post exercise oxygen consumption. So what happens during hip workouts are two things. One, you have stored glycogen in your muscle, that's your muscle sugar. And hip workouts are so demanding that they use up those glycogen stores very quickly. You feel that you can't go very long. They also deplete the oxygen you have available. So your body is rushing to kind of restore those glycogen stores. And in that process it requires insulin. So your body gets very responsive to insulin again, it improves that if it was not happening for you. And at that stage of life, we get a little insulin resistant. Also, when your body is restoring the oxygen levels to where they need to be, that takes hours. And so that's where after hit workouts, you get this increased metabolism, this increased fat burn for hours. And in perimenopausal and menopausal, women, there is a tendency to put on belly fat and for the body to be depositing fat. So anything that keeps us in a state where our metabolism is lifted a bit for a while is going to be helpful. So that's what that's about. They're good for everybody all the time. But a particular recommendation for, say, my age group and I talk about this all the time. I love hanging out on my Stairclimber and I do travel reservations and my text and I answer people, all the people that message me on TikTok, I'm probably on an elliptical machine or something messaging you back. But actually it works against me at this point and can increase stress. So I actually have to dial it down myself right now.

[14:56] Katie Chandler: So there is a really important piece, though, that you mentioned on the piece of content that I saw about doing hit and how some people are doing it wrong because they're not actually bringing the heart rate all the way back down. And so when you don't bring it all the way back down, I imagine that's when it starts to raise cortisol levels and become a little bit more problematic. So is that the key? You get the heart rate up and.

[15:20] Andrea Marcellus: Then yeah, it's huge. I'm so glad you brought this up because, boy, if I want to give anybody a tip, it's like, gosh, this is taught improperly everywhere, all the time. More is not more. So when you're in the Spinning class, you're doing your Peloton, you're doing your Orange Theory, you're doing whatever, like the entire concept of Orange Theory where it's like this leaderboard and it's about calorie burn. It's like, oh, my goodness gracious, those people on that board have nothing to do with you. And by the way, if you're tired, your heart's going to be faster. If you're dehydrated again, remember, I said whole humanity. These things are so arbitrary and artificial. So what they do is they're pushing people to push themselves, but not with a purpose, not with a goal. The goal isn't who can burn the most calories. The goal isn't how high can you keep your heart rate up for so long? The benefit to your body comes in the zero to 60, right? It's in the acceleration. Stay in there for a second and bring it back down. Those are the intervals. That's where it happens. So if you don't bring it all the way back down to what I call a four out of ten, then you are not getting the full benefit of that, and you are just burning out muscle sugar. And then what happens there is you feel funky afterwards. And then what do you do? You start going to eat things or drink things to try to feel normal again. And guess what? You ingested more calories than you even burned during that workout. And I know this personally. This is what happened to me over exercising as an instructor and for myself, and I'm a Spinning instructor as well. I'm telling you, when I started to really understand the science of what was going on and I changed, and it's to being gentler, where you come all the way down, then you go back up again. For us, it feels like you're slacking. It feels like and it's like, no, that's the way to do it. It's so funny. Less is a great reminder.

[17:34] Amy Sherman: That is a good reminder because I haven't done a hit workout in a while. I've been doing more low impacts, but I don't even know in my hip workouts, if I get to a point where I'm a four out of ten, I feel like they're exhausting. It's probably why I haven't done them in a while. I'm going to remember that super demotivating.

[17:50] Andrea Marcellus: But here's the thing I like to say like you're asking me for tips. I'm big on desk workouts. I don't think anybody has more. I do plain clothes desk workouts all the time. And what's awesome is you can do a hit workout between a zoom. You can sit there and it can be 90 seconds of squats, anything. And boy, not only are you going to give yourself a little metabolism boost and you're going to reframe your brain, you're oxygenating your entire body. Most importantly, you're oxygenating your brain. You're going to be able to focus on whatever's coming next in your day. And the best part, just do that for 90 seconds and tell me that you want, like, chocolate or potato chips. You don't. All you want is water. So if you're having these snack cravings in the afternoon, just doing any 60 to 90 seconds of any exercise, you know, that gets your heart rate up, boom. You're not going to want anything. It's going to get you through that moment.

[18:45] Amy Sherman: That's so great. I wanted to ask you two things. Firstly, if hit, let's say, is recommended for someone who's Perry, right? Mid 40s, mid 50s, right. Does that mean you should only do that or does that mean you should do it a certain amount a week? Or can you combine it with lower? Like, what do you recommend there?

[19:06] Andrea Marcellus: Fantastic question. No, we definitely don't want to do hits two days in a row. You have to give your body rest. And again, we are always trying not to have stress and we certainly don't want to increase stress on the body. So you want to keep these sessions shorter? I don't do it ever for more than 20 minutes or so. It's always part of something. And the workout bar in general keeps shorter and just activate your life. More of a standing and walking. You'll be doing much better, but definitely skipping a day, so maybe three days a week or something like that. And yeah, the same with your heavy weight workouts. You want to be very careful about that. Like, you have to have rest. That is one of the biggest mistakes people make. They're pushing, they want results fast. And it's hard to believe that just strategized and gentle is going to get you there.

[20:01] Amy Sherman: Let me ask you, you just said about the heavyweight workouts, and that's what I really wanted to hone in on because I don't really know what that means. What is a heavy weight? Is it £10, is it £20? And how much of that you should be doing? I used to have a trainer years ago and I did a lot of weights and it was good, but it was a little too intense. And now I'm like, I really need to get back into this strength training. Katie has been really into it lately, but it just feels like I don't know where to start. I don't know how long, et cetera, et cetera. If you could give our audience some little tips and strategies there. We'd love it.

[20:37] Andrea Marcellus: Sure. It doesn't have to be super long. It has to exhaust you and just muscle, exhaustion of the muscle you're trying to work. So that amount of time is going to be different for every person. So what you need to do is make sure that you're lifting heavy enough so that your form starts to suffer at the 9th or 10th repetition. That's kind of what the definition of a heavy weight. So whatever the exercise is, that's where you want to be. I tend to, on heavy weight days, go with a we're doing them, what, three days a week, something like that, because you're leaving a day in between. And then I might do lighter weights on other days and all sorts of things and body weight workouts. But what you really kind of want to stick to a more traditional weight training protocol for the best results with your heavy weights because also your joints are going to be aligned properly so that you avoid injury. So that's not a great place for choreography. As much as I love it, you want to kind of just really watch your form and three sets of ten. It's a good way to go. And the best thing is that it's a no brainer. Put the weights at your desk, do your three sets of ten.

[21:59] Amy Sherman: Sorry to be like so specific, but is it just three sets of ten of something or is it like several exercises? Three sets of.

[22:09] Andrea Marcellus: But I can't make you a workout here on a podcast.

[22:13] Amy Sherman: Why not?

[22:16] Andrea Marcellus: But I mean, if we wanted to break it down to the least, like your body has to work in opposites. If you're doing a bicep curl, you must do a tricep. If you're doing your shoulders I would say for the people listening here, if we wanted to really no brainer this, you're going to do a bicep curl, you're going to go a tricep kickback, you're going to do some kind of overhead press and you can call it a day. If you're really a good super achiever, you're going to do some desk push ups or some regular push ups. I'm a fan of regular push ups and getting yourself to be able to do those. And I have a great video on how to work yourself up to plank push ups, which you change as a person mentally once you can start doing those. And then you would do some bent over rows and then you would go chest back, bicep, tricep, deltoid, bam, back on my I love it.

[23:11] Amy Sherman: What's funny, you have a piece of content that I haven't bookmarked and I use it all the time. It was like for busy people, it was like the arm one where you're like, do you have this lab or whatever? I've literally done that video so many times. And it's great because you said earlier where you stand on 1ft and you do the breathing. But in this one, it was standing on 1ft and putting the foot behind and doing I think it was like bicep curls or something like that. And I love that video for our listeners on her TikTok. She's got all these fun. It's your point of like, you have five minutes in between a call. Just go on a TikTok, watch one of your videos, do one of those things, and there you go. There's like one set down for the day. I have a feeling it's really great.

[23:51] Katie Chandler: All of this is on your app probably, as well. You probably have so many resources on your app as well.

[23:57] Amy Sherman: Yeah.

[24:00] Andrea Marcellus: Like this, too. I mean, yeah, there's regular workouts, but there are workouts where I literally wore plain clothes to shoot them. I wore what I wear to work so that it's clear you are not required to change your clothes to think about fitness. And I think that's my big thing. I'm trying to change the way America thinks about fitness and fitting it into your life. Not that it's like this separate piece you have to make time for nobody. We can't do that, but we absolutely can show up for ourselves in small bites. And the fact is, the results are better. And there was just a study, again, about this that just came I love it when there's a study that comes out that kind of validates the way I've been doing things with people that I just find actually works for them, for their lifestyle. But a study just came out this week that the benefits for your heart of working out between eleven and five are higher than if you work out in the morning or the evening. So these little bits I'm telling people to do during the day. I guess your heart likes it.

[25:12] Katie Chandler: Great. It's very interesting.

[25:14] Amy Sherman: Before we get into our wrap session, where can everybody find you? Because I know everyone's going to be clamoring for all these. Your content and your app and your website. Give us all the deets to do.

[25:25] Andrea Marcellus: Is go to andlife.com and like, Andrea lifelikeyourlifeandlife.com. And you can see my one on one program. You can see group programs if you want me to come to your company. And then you can also see my app, my book. There's so many tools to help people. I really have tried to make it so that it is not about cost, that it doesn't matter what your budget is, it doesn't matter what's going on in your life, that I have some way to help you show up for yourself and feel better now. And that's really what it is.

[26:05] Katie Chandler: That's fantastic.

[26:06] Andrea Marcellus: And then, of course, I'm on Instagram at Andrew Marcellus. I'm on TikTok. I think it's Andrew Marcellus. Official. I'm on YouTube. I'm like, I have stuff everywhere.

[26:15] Amy Sherman: And you do virtual coaching. If anyone's interested in doing one on one, that's what I do.

[26:20] Andrea Marcellus: My programs are all and we have really clever ways that I fit into your busy life. And it's pretty cool. The results are insane when you sign up for a call with me because I have to do a call with people and really understand where you're coming from, make sure it's a fit because nobody fails. And I go all in on people. Nobody fails. It's pretty cool. And you get sent a thing with just videos of real people going, oh, my goodness, it's so easy. It's so much easier than what people thought. So I'm just so proud and happy of what we've been able to accomplish and just watching people level up when they've just been struggling with this for so long. And making this a non conversation so that our lives can be about more important, more exciting, more fun things and helping people bring joy and a great relationship with food, which connects us to each other. It's so gratifying. Really cool.

[27:17] Katie Chandler: Yeah, it's really wonderful. We absolutely love what you're doing. All right, so let's get into our.

[27:22] Andrea Marcellus: I'm So Glad wrap session.

[27:24] Katie Chandler: Our first question is for you, Andrea. What is your favorite wellness or beauty hack?

[27:29] Andrea Marcellus: Oh, my gosh. Well, my favorite wellness hack in general is my brain reframe I do when I'm making my courage coffee. I talk to people about strategizing, like making rituals in your day. And it's one place where I just practice focus, and I know it takes about 90 seconds for my courage to make it. So I don't allow myself to do anything but focus on the sounds of that and that's activating brain centers that would shut off the amygdala. That's my stress reframe in the day. So that's one of my favorite wellness hacks. Like that you find a little thing you already do. I also plant whatever it is, but you just give yourself something and it becomes your ritual. And then as soon as you go to do that thing every day and if you just focus on it, your brain starts to know that's a safe harbor for you and immediately goes into that state of relaxation. It's pretty rad. And then my beauty hack is anastasia has this thing called Italian Summer, and it's a palette, a contouring palette and a blush, whatever. This is all I use because you can use it for your eyes or your face. I have no time. I am all about what is the easiest one product I can use, and I have to say I'm a huge fan.

[28:47] Amy Sherman: Oh, I haven't heard of that. I got to check that out. Very cool.

[28:51] Andrea Marcellus: Yeah. A contour, a blush, a highlighter. Perfect my eyes.

[28:56] Amy Sherman: And how do you maintain your daily nirvana?

[29:01] Andrea Marcellus: Oh, my gosh. This is such a good question. How do I maintain? I live according to a code, and I have built just a little life of little habits that are easy to maintain and where. I end up showing up for myself in small ways throughout the day, every day. And so it doesn't matter what comes flying at me in a day. I always have something that I'm doing that lifts me up, and literally, it shoots out dopamine. And I know that, but that's what I try to help people do, is create for themselves. I call it a self care scaffolding, but that's how I maintain my nirvana. I love what I do. It doesn't mean it's all always going right, but boy, do I love what I do. And I have ways that I lift myself all day long. I love it. I know.

[29:57] Katie Chandler: It is inspiring. It's very inspiring. All right, well, Andrea, thank you so much for being with us today. We were so excited to talk to you. And like we said earlier, we both feel like we know you because we watch everything you do on TikTok, but.

[30:12] Andrea Marcellus: You I love it. That's so amazing.

[30:15] Katie Chandler: For sure. I want to thank you all over.

[30:19] Andrea Marcellus: Your work is helping people. This is a wonderful, wonderful space you've created. And the conversations you're having are important and vital and really meaningful. And so I'm honored to be here and I appreciate it so much. I'm so glad.

[30:32] Katie Chandler: Thank you.

[30:33] Amy Sherman: Thanks for listening to Nirvana Sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes. Please subscribe and leave us a review. Also, find us on Instagram at Nirvana Sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would, please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana Sisters. We'll continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.

Episode 98 - What To Do When Your Busy Life Is Sabotaging Your Wellness Success With Fitness Expert Andrea Marcellus - Part 1 (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 98

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here.

Unknown: 0:06

Welcome to Nirvana sisters podcast where we take the intimidation out of well being and beauty to help you achieve your highest state your nirvana. We are sisters in law and your hosts. I'm Amy Sherman. And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation Welcome back to the show Nirvana sisters family. We are sitting down today with Andrea Marcellus, a Los Angeles based fitness expert and life strategist for over 30 years Andrea is the founder and CEO of and life it's a life maximization brand with a mission to help busy people prioritize their physical and mental well being with minimal effort and sacrifice. We all need that offering unique. So she offers uniquely engaging solutions to both individual consumers and large scale organizations. And life is scaling Andrea's personalized, proven wellness methods via its proven shape up body and mind program. Live and online events. The enlive total fitness lifestyle up and connect workday, wellbeing video library. Andrea is also the author of the top rated book the way in five winning strategies to lose weight, get strong and lift your life. So we have so many questions for Andrea she Aye. Aye. Well, both of us came across Andrea on Tik Tok. And she has the most amazing content and gives such great tips and strategies and those little brief tick tock snippets. So we're so excited to have you here. Welcome to the show, Andrea. Thank you. It's an absolute pleasure to be here. Before we get started. Let's go ahead and kick it with a nirvana of the week. Amy, do you want to do you want to start? Yes. So So I guess there's been a few Nirvana's this week, but I'll say one, okay, so my Nirvana this week was an exciting one. And it's actually something Katie and I can't really talk about yet, but it's coming soon. We just signed a contract on something really exciting that we will unveil soon, but that was definitely one of my Nirvana's this week. So super excited to share all with our Nevada sisters family soon. Yeah, agreed. What about one of my Nirvana's as well, it can't wait till we can spread that news. It's very exciting. The secret secret secret nirvana? Yeah, so that was a highlight. But I had another Nirvana this this morning. We're having a some friends over for dinner tomorrow. And for the first time in I don't know how many years. I cooked for hours without a child at my feet without my husband saying I need this without having to like multitask or be somewhere I made. The time. I think that was the key why it was so enjoyable and relaxing. Because I said, I'm all I'm doing on Friday morning is cooking might be Forgan Yan for Saturday night. That's what I did. It was very relaxing. And I enjoyed it. That's amazing. So that was mine. What about you, Andrea? Oh, nice. I love that. I have a couple one, my son got 100 on this math test that he had taken twice and yay. Even though we do it, and it's like, you know, when you're a parent, and you're trying to help your kid, you know, achieve something that's hard for them. It's it was pretty cool. So that was one. And the other is I and we are having friends over tonight to play dominoes. I love playing games. I love fun. And I can't I can't tell you when the last time we've had friends, like without realizing it. It's just been a very busy time. And then, you know, sometimes you just don't make plans. So we made some plans and I've been excited about it all week. Yeah, that's so fun games like game night. That's great. I haven't done that in years. And it really is a such a great time. So yeah, that's, that's exciting. It'd be a fun Friday night. It sure will. Alright, well, let's kick it off. It's funny that you say that just really quickly because I have been hearing about this lately. But my son, I have two boys, Andrea 13 and 16. And my 13 year old is going to a party tonight. And it's like a murder mystery whodunit party, and they all get dressed up and like it's this little thing and a friend of mine at Worlds same thing. She did something like that a few weeks ago, and I was like, I love these fun interactive parties. Yeah. That's very Yeah, it's a great thing. Well, you know, it gets you out of your head. That's the whole thing like these and we'll talk a lot about stress relief today. But like that's, that's part of it. Like just even knowing oh my gosh, all I need to focus on right now is Mexican train. That's amazing. You know if you can fully focus, the good. That's really fun if you're like alright, well let's get into it because we have a lot to ask you. And first thing that that we are trying Amiens You're trying to understand. So you're a fitness expert. But it's not just fitness as an exercise and working out and going to the gym, you encompass the whole thing, the the mind, the body, the nutrition, the health, all of that, how did that start? And just tell us a little bit about about that. Yeah, because fitness is actually more about your mind than your body. That is what I've come to understand. That's the, you know, the spoiler alert moment of this whole thing I started in exercise. And you know, that's, I would say, that's truly my gift. People love working out with me. And that's what people would come for. Because I don't know, if you came and worked out with me today, I would come up with stuff I have never done before watching you move, and we would just make up things, and I'd see what your body is good at. And I'd also see where there are areas of challenge, I can just see it and I can make things up really fast. And on the fly. And that's like my gift. So that's what I love. But what I came to understand, starting out just as a trainer, essentially in a class instructor was wow, this is only a very small part of the equation. And really, it's our relationship with food. And, you know, I really the interesting thing is I spent the first 16 years of it's going to be 31 year career in in July 1 16 years doing everything you and everybody else thinks they need to do to you know, be fit. And I was an actress, I wasn't even supposed to be doing this. I went to NYU for acting, I was supposed to be a star. So this was just an artist. Thanks so much. It was just so different than what I thought. But it's awesome. You know, and it's, it's interesting. I, I was trying so hard to be super fit and back. Now this is 30 years ago. So that was like the Kate Moss era, you weren't even allowed to be like a normal human. And the harder and harder. I tried to be lean, the more weight I gained. And part of it was stress. And part of it was a really bad training strategy, which was overtraining and workout lifestyle, I call it and not really developing a really good relationship with food. I mean, it was terrible. And at a certain point, I didn't even gain 25 pounds. It was like muscle, I didn't need a layer of flab that would never go trying to maintain that workout lifestyle. A lot of people get into this rut and it was somewhere in my early 30s It was about 33 I had a celebrity client coming in. And I remember staring at the wall and going you know, I was putting together the calories in calories out equation thinking what we're going to do with this guy and I remember going this doesn't work. Like honest to goodness, this doesn't work. It's it. I mean, I'm to where I'm at, which is not even to my personal goal white knuckling it. All my clients are white knuckling it, like and it's it's just there's got to be a better way. And so what I did was start guinea pigging myself with a kinder gentler approach to the entire thing and developing a really great friendship with food. Through that very much a less is more process. And then I started introducing it to my clients who would be game for going a different route. I mean, nobody was talking about this short workouts, workouts interspersed between the day and eating all the foods, not eliminating anything unless you have a medical reason, and really working on bringing joy into your life. And the people that would do that they shrunk pretty quickly too. And before I knew it, I was starting to write a book and I was starting to codify it into a methodology and then that's become what what I do now, that's really amazing because I can see how it's all stress related. Like you were saying you're overtraining and huge stress on the body. You're overly focused on calories, that's a stress on you mentally and emotionally. You're you know, you're like people starve themselves. You're thinking about food and you have that mental stress. Right? So I get why I use the you know, it's stress, it's directly related to stress. What would you say because I've seen some of your your tips and and also some of the some of the like the little things that you talk about like food soothing and things like that. Let's talk let's talk about that. Food soothing. Yeah. So I mean and this is the really interesting thing and why I talked about my program is called the shape of body and mind program and it really I would almost call it mind and body because it comes it starts with your brain. So when we think about food, soothing, and I you know, and I just want to say right from the get go. The only reason I know anything about all of this is because I personally We know it, I've done everything. I mean, I done all this like and I, How did I manage to get myself to stop? It wasn't from some, you know, diet plan or meal plan or willpower certainly wasn't. It was behavioral changes. And you have to understand like, Well, where are those behaviors coming from? So in terms of food soothing, you have your vagus nerve, and it you know, runs from your brain, it connects. Basically, think of it this way, in layman's terms, there's your jaw, your lungs, your gut, so you have a gut feeling about something that's for real. When your body you're like, out of nowhere, you are kind of stressed out and you just go, you take a big deep breath. That's your vagus nerve, like showing up for you trying to get you to drop a notch trying to help your central nervous system, you know, take you down a notch because you're you're too keyed up and your jaw. Think about this when we were babies, you know, what did we have we had a pacifier there, that nerve in your jaw, it will help to soothe you. So now as adults, what do we do? We sit in front of Netflix, and we chew and chew and chew. So it's like, well, if these are our soothing mechanisms, like well, how can we use them to our advantage? Or how can we, you know, stay away from this mechanism of using our jaw to chew and use something else, because we're not going to stop the stressors from coming into our life, we have to get better at how we respond to them. So what I do is, I help people develop one in the moment stress management strategies where we take anxious energy, worried energy triggered energy, anger, and we shift that it's just energy energy is energy, right? So you can take that energy. And if you have some tools and some practice, you can quickly shift it into positive energy and energy that goes towards a positive purpose in your life, it's pretty cool. So you can always think of something that's triggering you is actually an opportunity to go get something done. And then we work on teaching your brain not to over respond to stress so much in the first place. And then that keeps you at a hormonal advantage. So not only is it easier to lose weight, if you need to do that, but then to maintain it very, very important. So it's, this is where calories in calories out fails, that that whole or macro count take or that whole approach, they fail because they don't take into account your humanity. The fact is, everything is running from your brain, and your brain is operating off of feelings. And you know, feelings aren't a math equation, you're not a math equation. And you know, those approaches do not take into account, you know, even more basic things like hydration, sleep, if you're in laws or in town, if your dog if you just want a prize, you know, like if you're at your wedding, and even if celebrations you see what I mean. So you've got to take your whole humanity into account and how that's impacting on your brain. And then how the brain is responding hormonally to that. I love that whole philosophy. Can you give us an example of like you were saying, if you're stressed strategies to you know, turn that around, like, give us examples of what that looks like, Oh, I'd love to, here's one of my best that I give people quickly all the time that anybody could do. So your brain, your attention and your brain, you it operates like a flashlight, right? So you have different brain centers, and you can only have certain things on or else the flashlight goes in the other direction. So think of it that way. When you're triggered, you have this amygdala in your brain, it is only triggered by one of two things threat or scarcity. So in our modern times fear city is I'm not going to have enough time energy or funds. And threat is I'm going to look stupid, or I'm unlovable it every you know, I'm going to I'm whittling this down to just I'm gonna look bad, right you get it's an ego thing. So when something like that happens, that amygdala starts pumping out adrenaline and cortisol, the cortisol, we all know that's going to create a problem with insulin that we all that's been talked about a lot everybody listening to this gets the concept of why that's not awesome. But the adrenaline becomes the issue the adrenaline, when you don't have a lion to run from our burning building, you know, and you have all this adrenaline and makes you snappy, it makes you moody and makes you make quick decisions that will soothe you in the short term immediately, but they often go against your long term goals. So the key is to short circuit, this amygdala, that when when you're triggered, and it's starting to send out what are designed to be protective hormones. This is designed to protect you to help you survive, you know, but you can teach your brain I got it, I got it. One of the simplest ways is to combine a balanced move with breath in some sort of coordination. So I literally just have people stand on one foot and just lift your heel towards your tush and then put it back down and And then just lifted up and put it back down and your hands are in front of your desk, your abdominals are deep, your shoulder blades are sliding down your back, you have the best posture, you can and you're just lifting your leg up and down, lift the heel up and down. And then we add the breath into it, and you'll take it, two counts up, and four counts down, two counts up, four counts down. That's all we're doing. So what's happening here, we're activating the hippocampus, the cerebellum and the prefrontal cortex. When those things are active, and the flashlight is in that direction, guess what has no light on it whatsoever, the amygdala, the brain cannot multitask. So in that little moment, what it takes your brain to accomplish, just lifting your heel towards your tush and putting it back on the floor with a coordinated breath means you can't be worrying, the body cannot be shooting out adrenaline and cortisol, it's busy doing something else. And in those short moments, we give ourselves enough that we can actually break away from that feeling. Now we're down a notch, you can restart your day, you know, from a different place. And over time, and with practice, we train our brain not to overstate but rover respond to stress so much in the first place. So that is one of the simplest ways that's fascinating. Yeah, I'm gonna be trying that later. For sure. Yeah, and then you said something before, which caught my attention, which was, because we're all guilty of this, but I definitely am of like, this food soothing, and like, you know, watching a show, or even like, you know, just that the habit of you know, when we used to which no one goes to movies anymore, but go to the movies and get popcorn, you know, it's just like that habit? What is a good strategy to get your mind off of like, those cravings? Are those like, oh, I need to have something sweeter? Oh, I need it. Or I need to eat while I'm watching TV. And you're not even hungry. But it just makes you feel better for some reason. Like, do you have any good tips there? Sure do. That's the whole method I teach. Because you can't, you can't, you can't get your mind not to do something. Things don't exist in the negative they only exist in the positive. So what do you do? What you do is you teach yourself and this is what I do with people individually, it's very individual. But what is the schedule of eating that is best for your body in the energy appropriate portions, these portions of the key? Figuring out what kind of amount of beneficial fats and proteins you need throughout the day and where I'm headed with this. And especially because it's usually night food, soothing, you know, we all everything like air quotes, good during the day, and then I lose it. Or on the weekends, what you have to do is make it so it is not a matter of willpower, that literally your stomach is full, that literally you can't eat another bite. And it's hard to trust because what people do is they go, Well, I'm going to eat a lot tonight. So I don't eat all day. Well, this is actually the opposite strategy of what you need to be doing. We need to be eating regularly throughout the day. High quality foods you need to give yourself social foods at night is what I call them, they might be less beneficial, but they feed our soul. And the afternoon snack is the absolute key if your afternoon snack includes a protein and or a beneficial fat. And it's just it can be very small, but it's something in that afternoon, so you do not go into dinner hungry, then the dinner won't open the floodgates for you and you will have been satisfied all day. And if you do this day after day, it only takes about three days or so you will find that at night when you sit in front of TV or something. You're actually like, wow, I'm good. Like you can have a little something, you have to be a little bit mindful for half a second. But what what actually happens is, is if you do this, you know day after day, and then a week or two goes by it actually becomes physically uncomfortable to just graze grazing is the enemy. And but you can't just go I'm not going to graze that's white knuckling it again, we have to practices in place where that is not your preference anymore. And the best way I know is making it so that the way you live is that if my stomach is too full, if I graze I become overfall it is actually physically uncomfortable. And I stop you you were in my head this past week with your afternoon snack being a protein and a good fat and I've been doing it all week and I did I do notice a difference. And the other thing also at what was I didn't see that one. Oh the on tick tock. Yeah, what was the protein that I was going to ask? Like, what are good, like, examples of what are your favorites? Yes, yeah. What are the good fats that you're gonna have with some protein? Oh my gosh, there's so many right. But here's here's a easy way to do it. I think what did you have for dinner last night? Generally people have like some I don't know there's soy protein and some vegetables. Just eat a little of that. If you don't have it if it's too hard to put something together but like, you know, a quarter of an avocado was something avocado is one of the best foods in the whole world. I have a recipe on my and Life app called chia seed pudding. This is a life changer for most people. Like, I can't wait to go to Starbucks and tell them you need to sell this. Yeah, sorry, I literally just came up with this one day, like, you know, and like, it's the one everybody loves, because you can make so many variations of it. But you're getting your omega three fatty acids. And you're, you know, it's just absolutely delicious, just a few bites of that. But truly, it could be anything, often, I will just throw an egg in a pan with some olive oil and some spinach and the eggs on one side, that spinach on the other side, it takes what 94 seconds to make that. And that's my afternoon snack, you got to think real food. And if it's coming in a package walk away, there is something fresh in your refrigerator that is going to take you less like no time. And again, you know, if real food is the key, real food is the path, not only to, you know, if you have to lose weight, you know, and to be well and to, you know, to feel lean and strong. But it's the path to longevity, we're getting nutrition, we're relying on these bars, or a protein powder or something. And I mean, I'm 50. So you know, collagen powder might, you know, into your life at a certain point when your protein meats go higher. But this is not what we want to rely on. You want to like every opportunity you can to get something from nature in your body that's going to nutritionally level you up, that's what you want to do. Yeah, that's a really good reminder. Because I definitely fall in the camp sometimes, like get in the phase of like, I need protein, I'll have a bar that has 20 grams of protein, or I'll make a shake with protein powder just because I feel like I need protein. But it's yes, it's much better to eat real food. It's just I think, like us, you know, and I love your content too, because it's for busy. Women like all of us and like just having these small ideas of what you could make like the egg and spinach or avocado and something else just to have those like ideas in your head almost makes like, it's just like the thinking about what you're going to eat is worse than the actually like doing it. It's just sometimes you're like, wait, what should I have for my snack 100%. So that's like, literally in my program, what I no brainer for people is okay, let's come up with a go to foods list for you of things. And you know, and then like on munchie days, one of the best things to do is like if you like coconut, get the unsweetened coconut flakes, and put them in a small ramekin in the front. And I put some blueberries there and I put some of that and now I'm not a grazer, I'm not a fan of grazing. But sometimes you open the fridge and some you grab something and we don't want to be doing this. But if you those things take long that takes a long time to chew, you put them together. Wow, we just got like a ton of antioxidants, anti inflammatories, beneficial fats, and we're actually satisfied for a while walk away. You know, like, that's, it's just trying to strategize. So that's what you have to do for yourself. Like that's one that works for me. But the important thing is not what Andrew Marcellus eats, the important thing is for you to figure out, what do I like. And then you'll stick with it. This is a really interesting thing. If I can just make one big long run on sentence paragraph. There's a great study in my book The Way in about, about how your brain has to like your food. Another reason diets do not work. There's this great study called the milkshake study. And this woman at I think it was Johns Hopkins, she tested these folks they came in and basically they tested the ghrelin in their stomach. Ghrelin is the hormone in your stomach that tells you I'm hungry, go find food. And when you start to eat, then leptin comes out in your brain. And leptin is the hormone your portion controlling hormone. That's the one that's like, hey, yeah, that's enough. Okay, walk away. So we want a really good relationship between these two hormones. We want a very, very loud conversation happening where they can hear each other really well. And this is one of the reasons not for grazing because that messes all that up. But in this study was incredible. She brought people in, she tested the grill and level she gave them a shake, one chocolate shake, that was about 600 calories, it said on the label and it was called decadence or something and she tested the ghrelin level in their stomach. And then they she tested it again after they after they had some and then two weeks later, they came back. And she did the same thing, trust the grill in their stomach, gave them a shake. And this one was called like since ABA or something like that. I'm saying it wrong, but it was like a diet meal replacement chocolate shake, you know, and it was like, I don't know 150 200 calories. So they think they're, they're having a diet shake and teach test the grill and level in their stomach. I'm gonna get this number a little bit wrong, but the point where we made it was either the Gremlin dropped either three times more or six times more with That decadent chocolate shake, then the shake, that was the diet shake, right? And when ghrelin drops, that means leptin shooting out telling you to stop eating. It's really important. So now here's the thing. They were the same exact shake. So what wow, people thought of the show, oh, that's a tournament when they were satisfied. And this is why I insist people like their food. And if you're dieting, it's not going to work. If you're doing what you should be doing, instead of what's bringing you joy, then it's just not going to work. And that's why it's crucial that everything like people ask me, Do you have a meal plan? No, I have to meet you. Or, you know, my app tries to help you figure it out for yourself. But you know, it's like, No, we got to find out what works for you. It's so true. So I saw this on your content as well, earlier in the week. And you're in my head. This was, I want to say Tuesday night, we had a snow day. So our kids were at home. And just it was a long day, we ordered pizza, never ordered pizza, but we ordered pizza. Kids love it. I am lactose intolerant, so I don't really eat it. And if I do eat it, I enjoy it. And I do it maybe like once a year. And you were in my head. And I thought, You know what, just have a slice of pizza with your salad, your salad with the grilled chicken. That's what I would normally eat. And I had a slice of pizza. And I was so satisfied. And I was so happy. And I was cool. Like that was that that was all I needed afterwards, I was good. Normally, if I had, you know, just a grilled chicken salad, I might want to go an hour later. And like I'm digging in the cabinets for something to satisfy that itch. I guess that's exactly what happens. And see, and we all experienced that you're talking about something we've all experienced. And so, you know, when I was coming up with this methodology, I was like, I'm just gonna give it what would happen. If I just had what I know it sounds so like, I mean, that's the holy grail to be able to do that. And I think I mean, I definitely have problems with grazing, I'm more of a grazer than like a meat eater. So like, I've been trying not to do that. But it's really difficult. Like, yeah, and that's the thing, not that I'm against therapy or people thinking about their stuff. But I find practices, best practices that walk us into better behaviors, and that just solve the problem, or kind of better way to go than wasting too much time delving into your why? How about, fix it, you know, and I think a lot of us get bogged down in the intellectual trying to understand ourselves. And I know personally, for me, just diving into solutions. And actually, you know, when you talk about stress management, you talk about chronic stress, and you talk about things like that. And I mean, I've tried all sorts of solutions in my life, but I find things that combine breath and movement, and this is actually studied to be far more effective than say, Talk therapy. at helping you overcome these moments, and I'm interested in people, you know, I'm interested in less cortisol, I'm interested in hormonal balance for what people come to me for, but you can kind of apply this to anything where, you know, you're having, you know, I, in my program, I even go into dispute resolution with your partner, your roommates, like things like that, you know, like you have to strategize this stuff. And it's like, well, how do you get to the solution faster? How do we get to faster solutions, and just being solution oriented in general, and mostly, you know, all of this is about embracing who we are rather than, like always keeping this carrot stick out there and who we want to be like, how does your life actually operate? Let's like, let's, you know, talk about food and exercise in terms of how your life actually operates. And I bet we'll get a better solution not be wishing that you were like somebody else, you know, and I think I think that's really important to always come back to, you know, who are you and maybe stop overthinking it. Maybe just try the solution on first Yeah, and then go back and and then go back and look at your stuff. I'm not saying don't look at your stuff, but I'm saying why not look at your stuff from a place where you feel better and more confident to begin with. I love that. Thanks for listening to Nirvana sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes please subscribe and leave us a review. also find us on Instagram at Nirvana sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana sisters will continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.

Episode 94 - A Cup Of Wellness With Founder Of Big Heart Tea Co. Lisa Govro (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 94.

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here.

Amy: 0:06

Welcome to Nirvana sisters podcast where we take the intimidation out of well being and beauty to help you achieve your highest state your nirvana. We are sisters in law and your hosts. I'm Amy Sherman. And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation

Unknown: 0:28

Welcome back to the show Nirvana sisters family. It's Amy and Katie and we are here with Lisa Gauvreau, founder and CEO of big heart tea company and we are thrilled that she has joined us today to talk all about her company and her background and how her company started and the benefits of tea and how it affects our well being. So a bit about Lisa, she founded big heart Tea Company in 2012. And the company's mission is to help people feel good through healing herbs and tea. Lisa is trained in Ayurveda and combines her food medicine and culinary knowledge to create a growing line of herbal blends that taste good and make you feel that so Katie and I are drinking our big heart tea. I'm drinking the Rooibos if I'm saying that right. And Katie, what are you drinking? And I'm drinking the cup of sunshine, which is the golden tumeric and ginger and it is divine. Yeah, so we love it. And we love all the packaging. We have our little hearts hanging on our tea mugs. So I love that signature little branding moment. So anyway, welcome to the show. Lisa, thanks for being here.

Lisa: 1:35

Yeah, thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here. Yeah, we're excited to have you. So before we get started, we'd like to take a step back from our week and talk about what brought us joy this week, big or small, what made us happy we put a little smile on our face. So Katie, I will kick it to you to talk about your nirvana of the week. Well, thanks, Amy. I was trying to think about this earlier. And it was a very small moment that just made my heart sing so much and had to do with my five year old daughter she was sick last week she had strep throat and then this week, she started feeling better. And you can kind of really see when that like the sickness goes away, and there's they start to be themselves again. And we're just in the kitchen one day and the way she just asked me for something the way she said Mama and the way you know what I'm saying? Like it was it just kind of like made my heart sing she we have an Au Pair now who is amazing because she is she's like the MPP in this house, I wouldn't be able to go back to work and do all the things I'm doing without her but the kids adore her. That's a good thing. That's a really good thing. I'd much rather have that than the opposite. But so they want to be with her a lot. And they ask for her help a lot. So when I'm around and they come to me and you know, say mama like they did when they were littler. It makes me really happy. So that was my Nirvana this week. What about you, Amy? That's cute. Well, I have one home, one from the week. And then one future one. So the one from the week is similar to yours. My little one, Jules, he's 13. You know, he's like, in the teenage years, you know, like the drama, the school, all this stuff. And he's just not as like, you know, like, not that he's not loving towards me. But you know, he's not like a little kid anymore, where he like, wants to be around me that much. So the other morning he was like, he's like, Mom, can I have my morning hug? It was so small, like, Yes, I'm like you just made my day. So that was really sweet. So that was my little smile moment of the week. But tomorrow night, I'm also going to see Seinfeld and concert and I'm super excited because I've never seen his show. So we're going with friends and during dinner and going to see a show and love Seinfeld. So super excited about that. Yeah, that'd be great. Yeah, Lisa.

Unknown: 3:44

Let's see, um, I have been traveling a lot lately. So just since the year started, I've been at three different shows all over the country. I'm talking about big heart. And so I've been super homesick and missing my family, my little family at home. But I called in to the team here at Big Heart just to check in on things because we just have a lot going on. And the whole production team like shout it out and said hi to me. And it like made me cry a little. I don't. I just like I just felt so like, supported and like loved from afar by our teams like working so hard here in St. Louis. While I'm out. I was thinking I was in New York at the time at a at a show and I just was feeling like overwhelmed with gratitude and thankfulness about having just such an amazing team of humans that I'm lucky to work with every day. So I think that was my Nirvana moment. That's so special. I love that all three of our moments. Were all around, you know, the people that we love in our lives. That's really sweet. That's great. All right, well, let's kick it off. I am so excited to hear about Big Heart tea, and I'm really interested in your background with Ayurveda. We have talked to somebody with that. There's an Ayurvedic specialist before, but it's such a fascinating, huge world. So tell us a little bit about your food. And I'm sorry, your food medicine and culinary journey and everything that got you to where you are today.

Lisa: 5:18

Yeah, absolutely. So yeah, I'm not trained to like clinically evaluated just as a site. Like, just to put that out there. My training is more from a culinary perspective. But I got into it, I didn't even realize that is so funny. So I was studying yoga in Sedona, Arizona.

Unknown: 5:39

Yeah, same. I had just moved, I was in Seattle at the time, I'd been in Seattle for about 10 years, and just was over it like needed. So I just wanted to live someplace where it was sunny. And I moved to Sedona and I just unknowingly enrolled in this yoga teacher training program. And it ended up being absolutely life changing, it was very true and authentic. It was all HOFA a lot of lecture on sort of the esoteric parts of yoga, lots of mantra, and a lot of like our your Vedic cleanses, and the food component to the, the training was all REM Vedic and so every morning, the chef would come out, and she would talk about the medicinal benefits, or just like the health benefits are really just like the reasoning behind why you would eat your meal in a certain way. So we would always start with peeling almonds like soaked almonds, it would peel the skins off, because the skins were harder to digest. And you're just like kick starting your digestive system with your first meal of the day. And we'd always like have freshly made Chai, from fresh ingredients, also to help it's all about the gut and the digestion with that first meal. And anyway, so it was about a month long teacher training. And of course, like me, being me fell in love with the food part of the training more than anything else. So I decided to stay and I just decided to stay and live in Sedona and study under the chef. And so I did an apprenticeship. And that really got my wheels turning coming from Seattle, and just at that time it was 2012 actually was TSM 11, I believe. And health and wellness was like really sort of being held captive by the health and wellness industry like it was seemed like more exclusive sort of network and using like really like language, I feel I felt like that was like creating barriers from everyday people experiencing the healing power of herbs. And so I just started kind of playing with that idea, a little bit of like, how could we make it a little bit more accessible? How can we make it a little bit more fun? Because I originally I'm from the Midwest, where I have since moved back to St. Louis, no Midwest folks are just a little bit more conservative and trying new ideas, especially like we're talking 10 years ago, consumer consciousness has grown so much since we first started the company. But I just started testing some ideas. So I I found a little trailer. And I got it. It's a 1969 camper trailer. And I just started taking that around. And it really was just my way to like sort of like sort of like a venus flytrap in a lot of ways. Like I was attracting people with this like really cute kitschy trailer, they would come inside and then I'd pour them Tumeric tea and talk about healing the the healing power of herbs. And so it really all just started with like, as an art project more or less as a way to like, just talk simply about simple, everyday changes you could make to your lifestyle to improve your quality of health and well being. Yeah, I love that. And that's what then led you to growing your brand. Were you big Hardy at that time as well. No, so we had a name that didn't make any sense of week the name of the company was retailer because we were running out of a trailer. I don't know. That's bad. So we were retailing for about five years. And in 2017 I was sort of debating on if I was going to keep moving forward because we were so hyperlocal then and it was a struggle because the tea market nationally is pretty small. But just in our small community of St. Louis, it wasn't enough to support business or lifestyle. And so it's like man, how can we make this work? Like how could I keep doing this and that's when I just decided to kind of go all in I got a little loan from a family member to bison packaging, and we rebranded as the cart. But the first five years were pretty slow. Pretty quiet. Yeah. Very cool. And so what does direct trade t mean? This was I was reading this about the company. And I think most people probably don't know what that means. If you could explain that a little bit. That'd be great. Yeah, absolutely. So, as I mentioned, I got into the tea industry because of health and wellness and herbal healing. Over time, like we all do, I've changed. And I've learned new things about the industry about how commodities are traded. And so one of the things I learned is that herbs and tea just have a really dark and dusty history when it comes to trading and international importing, exporting. And there's a lot of mystery, a lot of questions couldn't be answered in those early days by the people I was buying herbs from, I decided I needed to like have a little bit more transparency, and the the value chain. So it was like if people are using these herbs to heal themselves, they have to come from a place of health. So rather than on a farm where workers are maybe underpaid or working longer hours working conditions, depending on what tea growing region we're talking about, we started working on our trade on our sourcing model, establish direct relationships with farmers. And that's what direct trade is. And so rather than buying our tea, or an herbs from an auction, or the marketplace, that's very like herbs or interior, and most commodities are sold traditionally at auction. And that dictates the price that the value and the price of the herbs are the tea isn't necessarily what it took to grow that it's what the customer is willing to pay. And so it oftentimes the farmer and the people at the bottom, like at the beginning of the value chain are the ones that are left, short cut short on compensation. And so when you do direct trade, we're paying the farmers what they need for the ingredient, rather than what the market pricing. And so, over market price, we also pay ahead of harvest. And so we'll put in orders, usually you're out before harvest season, and we'll pay for those upfront, they have the funds to do the work that they need to do. And so and then they're you know, we're able to have a better ear to the ground. And like what's happening with the harvest set years are a lot of rain isn't going to change the flavor profile. Because these are all like natural ingredients. So it's not natural for your tea or your herb just tastes the same year over year. And so that's that's what your trade means to us. It's just a way to have a relationship and have a direct line of communication to the people who are doing the hard work on the ground level. That's great. Yeah, let's get into the the organic certified organic herbs that you use and their healing benefits and why I know our listener is going to love your tea for so many reasons. And tell us a bit about the magic of the tea. Why isn't why are they so good? Well, like let's just take it one blend at a time. So our signature blend is the cup of sunshine, which you're drinking right now is tumeric, ginger, peppercorns, cinnamon and Tulsi. So every single ingredient in that tea is anti inflammatory. And it's really great for gut health and digestion. It's energizing, it's naturally energizing. There's no caffeine in the herbs, of course, but because they're so full of like healing power, like Tumeric has a ton of curcumin, which is just like curcumin just has like a that's what lends to the anti inflammatory aspects of tumeric. That's what gives us beautiful golden orange color. And makes it so energizing. And so and just hydrating. I mean tea is 99% water. And so for folks that are constantly trying to figure out how they can get that mandatory or whatever water intake that they need on a daily basis. Tea is a great option for that as well. But I mean, at the end of the day, it's a warm cup of love, like it just is the most nurturing thing you can do for yourself. Making a cup of tea is sort of meditative and a lot of ways because it's not instant. You have to heat your water and then you have to steep your tea and you have to wait. And then just like holding a warm cup of tea is is just so comforting. And so Oh, I mean, there's so many ways in which tea is good for you. I mean, just at a very basic level, it just can literally warm you from the inside out. Yeah, it's so true. I tried your Alright, so tell us how to say it correctly, ROI, ROI boosts ROI boosts. Roi goes and so I actually my pair that I mentioned earlier, she's from South Africa and she was the first person to introduce me to Roy Bose T. And I became obsessed with it. And then I found out we have a new on and use of yours and it's so good. I love it. I drink it every night. It helps me fall asleep. It helps me another really cool thing about I was kind of like digging into my own research and I read that it shuts off your IT HELPS shut down your hunger hormone, which and so like when you wake up in the morning, you're not as hungry maybe so like, for me, you know, like hormonal hunger happens all the time. I'm always hungry. So it's, I love the ribose love and you're drinking it right now. Me Right? Yeah, it's very good. It's very good. I'm definitely like, go in and out of drinking tea. Because I drink a lot of coffee. But I do every time I do have tea. I'm always like, why don't I drink this more? It's so good. Especially drinking this one. I love it. And I agree it does have that ritual feeling. And it is a good way to get water. I never thought about it that way. Because it's most a lot of your teas. It seems like our caffeine free so you can drink it throughout the day with no problem, which is great. You were talking about the preparation of tea and you sell the tea that we're drinking, which is in which are in the sachets, but I know you also sell loose tea, and never know how to make that. So for someone like me who's new to tea drinking to questions like hey, how do you make it and be like, what's the difference between the loose and the kind in the sachet? Yeah, absolutely. Well, loose tea is well, okay, so I have a lot of chips on my shoulder, right, like so I'm like health and wellness industry. And then there's like the specialty coffee industry that like has taught us that we need to have a piece of equipment to do a thing to brew something as simple as coffee or tea. And I do not subscribe to that I think we people have been drinking tea for generations and generations without having fancy bells and whistles. We tend to overcomplicate things anyway. So like, all you really need to make a good cup of loose tea is maybe a mason jar, and a wire mesh strainer. And in many cultures, they don't even have a strainer, they're just using their upper lip to like strain the tea. So it depends on how hard you are. But really, I mean, it could be as basic is that so you would sip your tea in your mason jar, strain it through a wire mesh strainer, and bam, there you go. The difference between the tea bag and like making it loose is generally the amount of space and room that the tea has to expand in the cup. Because essential oils are medicine, but they're also flavor. And that's what's were released when you're adding hot water to this organic substance. And so a tea bag can oftentimes be limiting and like how much flavor and how much medicine you're going to get. Because they're packing so much dry ingredient into this tiny little tea. And so we designed our tea bags extra bag so that the tea could expand and release all of its flavor. So it's kind of like as close to having a loose tea drinking experience you can have without the mess. So I like that and you also your product is 100% plastic free as well, which I found interesting. And I I did see something the other day that the tea cup tea companies that use plastics that can leach into your tea is that I assume that's the motivation behind it right? Yeah, well, there's a couple of motivations one, we're like avid about sustainability here. We reuse as much as we can. And we're always trying to reduce our carbon footprint and the amount of waste that we're putting out into the environment. Like we're moms here too. So we're just trying to create a company that we could sleep at night with. And so because of that we don't use any plastic in our packaging. Definitely our tea bags, so we don't use plastic in our packaging because we don't want to fill landfills with trash. We don't use plastic in our tea bags because it does have that potential to leach micro plastics and and plus it's just like the idea of having a nylon tea bag which is made from plastic. It just kind of in your pouring hot water on it. I mean, it just doesn't really make a ton of sense to us here. So our tea bags are made from non GMO sugarcane. We recently upgraded we weren't they were made from a corn product and we updated upgraded to a non GMO product and so we're even more proud of our tea bags now. But yeah, I just think there's been a lot of awareness and companies maybe portraying, or sustainability or more transparency. And we're actually, you know, showing that there's a reason why like these simple values of like doing the right thing in business are important for us to talk about because other people aren't doing it. So if they're not talking about their packaging, being plastic free, you're right to assume that there's a good deal of some sort of plastic happening in there. Yeah, and it's also really important to the younger generation, I think they are picking brands and you know, everything from food to beauty, etc, that are sustainable, that are doing the right thing for the environment. It's it's, it's impactful that you're doing that and notice that gap. You don't really hear it about a lot to your point around like coffee and tea brands doing that. So I noticed you have this good for you collection, which looks like it's a bunch of different teas that have what some have adaptogen some have anti inflammatory ingredients, which we talked about before calming and digestive effects I wanted to hear about gut health and tea I you sort of mentioned it before, but what ingredients are good for that and which teas you have for that specific condition when we first started so like we use Tulsi as the base of almost all of our teas, Tulsi and India and our Veda is known as holy basil are the queen of herbs. It's a sacred herb. It's a powerful healer. It's also an adaptogen, which is this like super sexy buzzword in health and wellness right now. We shied away from using the word adaptogen until probably about three years ago, when it started to become a little bit more common and consumer consciousness and vocabulary. Now I feel like most people have a general idea of what adaptogens are. But the good for you collection, it's just a way to sort of like highlight a couple health benefits of a few of our teas, so that we can give the drinker sort of a next level interaction with what they're drinking because like as you get our packaging, we don't make health claims on on our packaging. We don't even make health claims on the product page. And there's a reason for that. Mostly because of the FDA but also because we don't want to like confuse people or mislead people into like thinking that we're cure for anything. Like the good for you collection that we have for gut health and digestion. I mean, are you talking about kappa sunshine, but basically anything that's spicy, that's gonna like kick heart kickstart that digestive fire. So and I made it we talk about like the Agni or like the digestive fire, whatever it's like the energy that's helping you digest and process food, thoughts, emotions, like all of those things happen in the gut. And so another one that would be really good for I know you were saying that you're a big coffee drinker, we have our fake coffee. So coffee, like the coffee bean is amazing. It has caffeine, it's like got this beautiful, robust, rich flavor. But it also has a lot of acidity and can be really hard on your digestive track. And so we have a tea that we've blended called fake coffee, which is cherry cacao dandelion root and cinnamon. And not only does that coffee alternative have no acidity and no caffeine so it's easy in the digestive track. It also isn't blended with gluten. Gluten is like really common for coffee alternatives using barley as a blend in the blend for coffee alternative and we are an allergen free facility. So we don't use barley, we don't bring any gluten and anywhere near our facility. And so that's like another tea that's really great for the gut health generally, and like tea drinkers will tell you this an herbalist will tell you this, but like the little particulates that you get at the bottom of your tea cup, just that little dusting that like slips through the mesh of the bag, that is amazing food for your gut bacteria. And it's just like a nice little easy way to just sort of nourish all of the healthy bacteria that you have going on that's helping you process your stuff. I use your lavender mint I love for peppermint. I love that for when my stomach if I need to settle my stomach a little bit. So your lavender Mint is really nice, especially in the evenings as well because of the lavender and the relaxing properties behind it. What is the name of that one? That's our royal treat. Yeah. And we actually blended that tea for adaptogenic health. So each tea is blended for a certain thing. We have a certain thing in mind. In fact, we aligned our original T's to the the chakra system. And so that's something that We could go in totally different podcast and talk about that one that royal treatment was blended for, to help our little poor adrenal system sort of repair and restore. So yeah, it's great. I love it. Well, I want to know, what are your favorites out of your collections and it for someone that's new to tea, where would like what's a good starter kit or, you know, the best one to go for? Yeah, so my, I mean, our number one best selling tea, the first tea I ever blended, the only tea we sold for the first year of business is our cup of sunshine. And that's my go to still to this day, I was just on a business trip. And I drink like, probably four cups of tea that at night, just trying to relax. Just a really nice balance of tumeric and ginger, and it has told CNN, which Tulsi is my very favorite herb. And then my second favorite would be a cup of love, like another original from the collection. It's just two ingredients, is RoHS and Tulsi I say it's just like a hug from your grandma. I love that one at the end of the day with a big big spoon of honey and some milk and sugar. So, so nourishing, nurturing sounds so good. I love tolsey too. I'm definitely gonna try those ones later. So many good ones to try. And I love all the names of your teas. Like, just as a side note, I love all the packaging and the branding and the names because they're so like fun and upbeat. And I think tea feels sometimes to people like it's serious and like, you know, very, I don't know, sophisticated or something. There's no like fun kind of brands. So that was one of the things that we were really attracted to that it's like you're not taking yourself so seriously. And it's just like this great tea but with fun, bright packaging and cute names. So yeah, it's beautiful. The packaging is so great. It's beautiful. Yeah, yeah, it's just very vibrant and nice. So kudos, kudos. taglines is that we don't take ourselves too seriously. But we mean serious. So pretty and intentionality wrapped up in that like cute, funny, funky little package. But yeah, that was Thank you know, and I like I like that part at the ends. And it says you are awesome, which is super cute. Okay. That's just, it's just like a fun little surprise. So yeah, so yeah, we love it. So where can people buy this fabulous tea? Yeah, well, that's a great question. So the best place to buy it is on our website. So just calm. Otherwise, like your local independent specialty retailer on your main street. And we sell a lot a lot to mom and pops, gift retailers, and so much we don't have like a comprehensive list on our site. But if you if you are looking to find it someplace locally, just give us a call or an email and we'll we'll look, we'll look in our five different places where we keep that information and find it for you think just buying online is the best place right now or Amazon. Yeah. Okay. So on Amazon. Yeah, I was gonna say it's, um, it's a great gift. Because obviously the cheese, delicious, but the packaging is cute. It's just like a really nice gift to bring someone if you're going to their house for the first time or you know, something like that. So, and we are very grateful and appreciative of you because big heart T is going to offer our listeners 20% promotion. So listeners use big heart t 20. And get your big heart t as soon as possible because it's fantastic. And we love it. Yes. Thank you for that. That's exciting. All right. So let's get into our rap session. Lisa, what is your favorite wellness or beauty hack? Yes, I started doing this a few years ago, actually a long time ago. Like before, when I was like getting ready for a job interview or something like that. I would force myself to smile for five minutes. Before I would go into an interview or into like sort of a situation where I had a lot of anxiety or stress. And there's something that happens to your brain. When you force yourself to smile. It has to be like five minutes or more like it can't just be like a little bit. Like it has to be like uncomfortable like psycho smile. And I do it when I'm driving. I do it in the morning. And it really like it really puts me in a better mood just like just having a smile on my face. And then after what after a while I'm just authentically naturally smiling. And it's one way that I sort of like trick my brain into like taking me to a different state of mind. That's so cool. I've never heard that before. I need to try it. Yeah, it's funny because I have done something kind of like that where like you know how they say smiles are infectious. So you just like, if I'm ever like in a funk, I just I'll smile but I don't do like the whole five minute thing to try to like you know, shake me out of my phone. kind of thing. So it's true. It does work. It's really That's great. Yeah, I like that idea of zooming in in the car before you get to work. That's a great idea. Okay, the next one we call our five minute flow. So you just got out of the shower and dried off. Uber just alerted you. There are five minutes away. What is your quick beauty routine? Like? What are your go twos? What do you put on to get the car on time? Yeah, well, I mean, there's just a few things that I do. One, I have a rose water spray that I have to spray on my face, like I don't feel like I'm awake until like, I get that. And another thing I like to do is an iron rents. So I have this little iron Cup, where you like, put a little bit of water in it, and then you dip your put, like, throw your head back, and then you blink your eyes in the water. That's a really great way to get those like bright refresh dyes. It's something that we learned when I was doing my area of Vedic training. Just like a nice little I cleanse just was fresh, cold water, but you know, throw on a little mascara and a big heart t hat. And then I'm ready to try that. And then how do you maintain your daily nirvana? Well, gratitude. I'm really big into gratitude. Sometimes I call it procrastination meditation. Like if I don't want to get out of bed in the morning, I'll just lay there and send love and gratitude out. And also, don't forget to be like thankful to yourself for all of the hard work that you're doing every day. And all the things that you're doing that nobody sees that you see. But yeah, I think I think that is the number one thing that I practice every day, and I practice it with my family. My daughter hates it, she doesn't hate it. But one day, she'll love it just sending out love and appreciation to everyone that you can think of. I love that you said, Yeah, and it's so true. And it just puts everything into a positive perspective and fills you with positive light. And it's like Bruce shared that you said that because our closing mantra today happens to be about gratitude. And we'd like to close the show with a little reminder, affirmation mantra, call it whatever you will. But before we say goodbye to you, I'll wrap with this. Gratitude helps you see what is there instead of what isn't. Hmm, that's our wrap for today. So Lisa, thank you so much for being with us. We It was great to meet you. And we love big party. Oh, thank you. Thank you so much for having me and I couldn't have been more perfect. So thank you and thank you for the code. We'll make sure to put it in our show notes for all of our listeners. Definitely. Yes. Thanks for listening to Nirvana sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes please subscribe and leave us a review. also find us on Instagram at Nirvana sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana sisters. We'll continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.

Episode 92 - Our Top Wellness Apps To Support And Elevate Your Routine (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 92.

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here.

Amy: 0:06

Welcome to Nirvana sisters podcast where we take the intimidation out of well being and beauty to help you achieve your highest state your nirvana. We are sisters in law and your hosts. I'm Amy Sherman.

Unknown: 0:18

And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation

Amy: 0:28

Welcome back to the show. It's Amy and Katie Nirvana's sisters family. And today we are doing a quickie episode where we are discussing our favorite wellness apps for the daily meaning ones we use all the time, or go to ones that we're really excited about. And I we have some good ones to share with you. So I'm excited. Katie, do you want to start? You want me to start? Because I've got a good one that I'm so excited to share?

Unknown: 0:49

Yeah, I can start I'll start with Oh, no, you're super excited to share with them and then dive right into that. Go

Amy: 0:54

ahead. Go ahead. Go ahead.

Unknown: 0:55

This is a tried and true app that I have been using for years and years and years, it's pretty common. I think a lot of people know about it. But what I like about it is it's super efficient, and very easy to use, and it's my fitness pal, I don't always track what I'm eating. But I do from time to time, especially when I'm going through like a specific phase. Like right now I'm trying really hard to go through a body recomposition phase where I gain more muscle mass, and they get rid of some of the fat mass. And so I'm tracking, especially like my protein and things like that. And it's a great app. Because a there's multiple versions of it, the free version is just as easy to use as the one that costs money, the premium, you can easily plug in any food item, and it will come up with a gazillion options. It's been used for so many years, I think by so many people that it has all the brands, a lot of restaurant options. Yeah, it has everything. It's it's in there. So you plug it in what you ate and brings up all the macros and then you can track it. And it's just a really easy diary to use. And then in addition to that, they have great recipes. They have a section where you can plug in your own recipes, and it'll calculate the macro and micronutrients for your recipes. You can it helps you create your own custom macros and your goals and everything that you should be getting because of your bodyweight, and etc, so on and so on. So I highly recommend it for that. There's a lot of them out there. I've tried the other ones. I've tried like macro stacks, I've tried a couple others. My Fitness Pal is my go to always I was helping your parents with it last weekend.

Amy: 2:22

Yeah, it's a good one I haven't used in a while but I have it on my phone was funny. I was gonna I was gonna talk about that today as an option. Because I do really like that app. And I haven't used it in a while. But remind me what's the difference? If you pay for it or for it's free? Like what do you get? If you pay for it? You can just like customize more things?

Unknown: 2:37

Great question. So the premium has a really nice barcode scanning option. So you don't even have to like take the two seconds to write in that I just had turkey bacon from Trader Joe's and then you scan and it pops right up. So that's nice. And I'm sure there's some other options. I think there I think it gets more targeted and more specific and how you want to customize your macros and how you see it on, like the face of your diary. So it can just get a little bit more targeted and specific and a little bit more user friendly. But the free version is super user friendly. And it has it really has everything you need. My I mean, your friends, my in laws who are in their 70s are using it. I taught them how to use it. And it's like it's easy. So, I mean, it's definitely yeah, I

Amy: 3:22

hope my dad's been using and I told him he can't rely on my mom to track off his macros. Yeah, you have to do it yourself. So you can learn.

Unknown: 3:29

Yeah, yeah, she was doing his all weekend. It's like God for him healing them, like how many more grams of carbs he's allowed to eat. And so I was trying to,

Amy: 3:39

ya know, he like, wants someone to tell him what to do all the time now yelled at him the other day when I yell at him, but I was like, you have to do it so you can learn what to eat, what not to eat. So like if you're out, you can make a good decision for yourself. Yeah, so hopefully they're doing that. That's, that's great. I am real quick sidebar. What are you doing to you were just saying Re? Yeah, your body compositions? Are you focusing more on protein, like lifting weights? Like what's the I'm focusing

Unknown: 4:06

on, I saw, you have to eat higher protein, you still have to eat a sufficient amount of carbohydrates to fuel your body. And then the other two apps that I'm going to talk about today are helping me do it as well. So it's like, we'd love to hear about that. Yeah, it's a few its metrics and other things that help you get to that. What's your super exciting when

Amy: 4:26

I found out about this app earlier this week, is I've been using it every day. I'm obsessed, and I've gone down the rabbit hole and it's almost dangerous. But when I tell you about it, and when our listeners learned about it, you will be the same way it is called. I don't know how to pronounce it. Yucca yuk. Have you heard of this app? No. It is an immediate download what it does, okay. So you know when you think you're eating healthy and you're just like, Okay, you eat a healthy diet, you pretty much know the right decisions to make. This app tells you everything that you are putting in your body and it tracks your food and your beauty products. So all you do is you scan. So I'm going to show you this at lunchtime to show you on the screen, but you scan whatever you have. And immediately it comes up with. I'll give you an example. Let me find a good one. For example, I scanned my almond butter yesterday, it's the Barney brand and it got a 78 out of 100, which counts is excellent and it gives you the positive. So the reason why that rating it says no additives. So it has no hazardous substances in it. protein, fiber, like excellent amount of fiber, low sugar, no sodium, saturated fat, but low impact and then the negatives are just the calories but it still gives you a 78 out of 100 which is an excellent option. The reason why I did it is because I wanted to see what additives are in things like a lot of the other things you sort of know just by looking at the additives are like impossible to know. So a lot of the things that you think may be good or not. So let me give you an example of one that I was like, bummed out about a poor rating. And this is the organic Italian Romano vinaigrette from Whole Foods. It got a 49 out of 100. Okay, the reason why it says is because it has a lot of sodium, it says it's too salty soy immediately puts it in the poor category. And then it gives you the positives of organic protein, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. So the cool thing is a few things. First of all, if they put something in the poor category, they give you recommendations as to what you should eat instead, like so for example, this organic Italian Romain of Vinagrette. By the way, you can also make your own decision of whether you think that's poor if it's too salty, and you're like okay, it's fine. I'll have a little salt eat it. But the reason why I like it is because it had a lot of things that I didn't know that had additives, which I'll explain in a second. But anyway, this gave me like a couple recommendations. So instead of having that I could have this raspberry dressing and merit marinade from Lighthouse or this organic vinegar dressing from brag. So it is so helpful because not only is it telling you what's good and bad, but it's telling you what to eat instead. So it did some beauty products. The thing with the beauty products is it has to have the UPC to scan it so sometimes the boxes have that and the beauty products doesn't have that but you can go to the store and scan it which of course I'd started doing with food when I was at the store. So here's another one which I which I eat a lot okay, you know this super creamer. Have you seen this before in the store? This Yeah, yeah, okay. They sell it at Whole Foods. To creamer, right. Yeah, key to vanilla protein and MCT oil, super Cooper scan that the other day 39 out of 100 Poor. Here's why. It has two additives. Okay. One of them is called e 340. It's a potassium phosphate and it comes up as hazardous. Okay, so they rank the additives between like no risk, moderate risk, low risk, and hazardous. So this one came up as hazardous e 340. Potassium phosphate, and then you can click on it and learn why it's hazardous. It says it's a antioxidant, and it says it slows down the oxidation reaction of food. And then this one says phosphates contain phosphorus a chemical element that's essential to the body However, according to a n CES, our phosphorus intake is now two or three times greater than needed. excess phosphorus may increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases disrupt calcium metabolism and bone mineralization and negatively affect the kidneys, you know, right? Yeah, it's crazy. So I've been learning all about these different foods. And again, you can make your choices like like I put in randomly like mustard, right? And it came up as negative because it had too much sodium. And like this specific one was an organic honey mustard said it has a little bit too much sugar, but it just helps inform your decisions better even if you're eating healthy. I want so Aqua for my favorite thing ever comes up as bad 12 out of 100 because and I've read this before it ranks petrolatum as hazardous which is the Petrolia like Vaseline, Vaseline is simply a petrolatum derivative and belongs to the family of mineral oil. So like it says it's prohibited and food products mineral oils are allowed in cosmetics. These oils contain problematic residues such as mo as in motion. So anyway, it goes all into it. And then it gives you all the sources that the Sian list the FSA, like it's it's the company that creates this, all the information that it's coming from is from public health sources, CEC etc. So it's not like they're making it up. So all the sources, it's almost like crowdfunded in a way because it's a free app. But if you upgrade, you can start like you can't search for products unless you upgrade you can scan all your products. But if you want to search for like, oh, I want to get this, let me see what it has. You can't do that. But if you upgrade you can however, when you upgrade, you can donate as much money as you want. You could donate $1 You could donate $10 And you get the upgrade which is really cool. So it's so incredibly helpful. So like aquifer had this hazardous because of the petrolatum which I know is controversial but whatever but it gives you recommendations of doing. You could do Palmer's natural Vitamin E concentrated cream instead. And that's an excellent product at six out of 100. So the petrolatum or

Unknown: 10:03

petroleum, or is it? Are they the same thing? petrolatum and jelly like kind of like the same thing?

Amy: 10:10

Yeah, whatever's in Vaseline, it's, it's the same thing. So I've known that that's been controversial. I've heard about it, but to actually like, see it, a lot of the things I've noticed too, like, for example, I, I scanned, I had a native deodorant laying around, which I don't really use anymore. But that came back as poor because it has something called ozokerite. It shows us a moderate risk. So you know, take that with however you want it, but it says, you know, it's a mineral oil produced by the oil refining process. It's sort of similar to like this thing that I was saying before with the petrolatum. But it's not hazardous. It says memoirs, it has memoirs, which can act as a genotoxic carcinogen. So anyway, it's very interesting. A lot of things with scents came back really bad, I'm sure. Which was interesting. Um, just to do some of the things that I scanned,

Unknown: 11:00

does it do it? So it does food products and beauty products? Does it do like, like house? Cleaning products or anything like that?

Amy: 11:07

No. Okay, that'd be about doing it doesn't know that yet. But hope? Yeah.

Unknown: 11:13

That's a really Yeah. Especially if you're suddenly like somebody sorry to interrupt you, but to, to not know how to read labels, and a lot of people don't. And then also, just like you said, there was one one of the what the E two, three, whatever it was in that coffee creamer. They put they give like these fancy cover up names for things that we have heard more of that we would recognize. So you look at it, and you have no idea what what it is. So it's I love that, especially the beauty products, too. There's so many things in our food. And in our products that we're using that are endocrine disruptors, it can mess with your hormones and everything when you use them in excess, especially like sense like what you were saying.

Amy: 11:55

Yeah, like I scanned this son VM, three in one leaving hair conditioner, which my kids use, sometimes they just like spray it on their hair, again, you're putting it in your hair and putting it on your body. But hair stuff is a little bit different. Like when I skipped a lot of hair stuff, there was some tricky things in there. And it came back with like 1234, like six ingredients that were flagged, but they're all low risk to moderate risk. But like, again, the least you're informed, the things that I've been looking for a lot of things have like low and moderate risk. Unfortunately, a lot of things come back as excellent, which is great. And then the things that come back as hazardous like that coffee creamer is an example is like I'm not buying that again, because it comes back as hazardous. Like those were the things that scared me and some of the things I was trying to find an example. But I have so many things scan, I can't find it right now. But one of the things that came back, some some of the things I scan came back as hazardous. And it'll say like this has been banned in Europe, you know, by the EU. So you know, you hear about things like that. So, so interesting. So it really does the guests, it really does the guesswork for you because we all eat healthy. But still, there's certain preservatives that are in there that can impact what you're eating. And like at least you should be aware of it.

Unknown: 13:06

I just saw recently, the EU banned like six different types of sparkling water, one of which I use a lot because it has stuff in it that like this product would tell me exactly that. And you don't think something like sparkling water. Water is going to be problematic ever.

Amy: 13:24

Yeah, the I scan Lacroix. And that was great. It was like, Oh, good. Yeah, that's my top one, which was good. So And what was interesting too, is I scan some I was at work the other day and I liked wanted yogurt for lunch, and I grabbed like a trovati, which I normally wouldn't like and and if I want that, but scan is excellent. Like because it says it has protein. It has no additives, no saturated fat, you know. So it's interesting, because some of the brands that you don't always think about are actually good. So it's been very eye opening. The problem is it's dangerous because I've been a psycho all week, like literally scanning everything. Everyone's making fun of me. It's so funny, but it's so educational. I find it so educational and eye opening. And the last thing I'll say the thing that I thought was really interesting as I was showing my kids because they're always like making fun of me because I keep telling them not to eat like the junky cereal and the ramen and whatever. So we scanned all their crap that they eat and it was horrible. Like, yeah, we scanned ROM and it was like zero out of 100 like it came up as bad. literally zero out of 100 it has 12 additives of which three are hazardous. Like so much sodium, yada yada yada, so, and Jackson's like rolling his eyes, but he's like, Oh, let me see that and he starts scanning all his stuff. So like I felt like I got it a little bit into them that like no it's not that you can't have this bad food. It's just look what's inside of it. And then we scan this like fruit bar like this organic fruit bar that the kids like, and that came up as good. Yeah, they were I was like, Okay, eat as much as you want those gogo squeezes. Those came up is really good too. I think they were like 100 out of 100 So then I felt better that because my kids like pound those they've like Five of them at a time because they're crazy. But I was like, Alright, fine, eat them at least they don't have like bad chemicals, which is like my biggest concern. So all this cauliflower snacks that we eat, you know, I scan a lot of those and they all come back as good. The only reason they're flagged as negative is calories and sodium. So that's always interesting and a good flag. But anyway, yeah.

Unknown: 15:19

And that's something that you can you can determine whether or not Matt like you might need salt that day, you know?

Amy: 15:25

Yeah, exactly. And then at the end, it has the history. So it saves everything that you've scanned, and then it like grades, like all the stuff and it has it all broken out. And then you can go into your list and like, look at all the bads as an example. And then it gives you all the recommendations like what to do instead. All right, yeah, I'm getting it What's up, so you go, you're gonna go insane with this thing. It's crazy.

Unknown: 15:45

Good. I went alright, anyway, I'm excited. Check it out. Alright, so my next one, you were asking how I'm doing this, like body composition thing. And I have two more apps that will help you understand that. But the next one I am kind of obsessed with it's more than just an app. It's a scale that comes that that has all of these biometrics that that is also you have to have the app to use the scale properly. Because the scale tracks 17 metrics. And it tells you what you're obviously what your weight is, what your weight without fat, what your weight control is, what your weight control is, like where you should be for your age and your height and things like that. Your your contents of body water, and like how hydrated you are, tells you what your bone mass is, what your fat mass is your body fat percentage, forget all that your visceral fat, all of these things, your muscle mass, your muscle rate, your protein rate, your your basal metabolic rate, and then your metabolic age. Amongst more, there's other metrics as well. And it's from it's like biomechanics. I mean, it's science. I can't really totally explain it. But I've done a lot of research into what's

Amy: 16:56

the brand of the scales.

Unknown: 16:59

It is called Fit track. It's the Fit track scale, it's a little pricey, I got it on sale, I want to say like, I think maybe without the sale, it was like $90. But it's it's super cool. Because it tells you things that you can't just get from standing on a scale or measuring yourself like typically, you would have to go and get a DEXA scan to to learn like how much muscle mass you have. And it's it's a big process. I step on this thing every single day. And it tells you your fluctuations, it tells me if I'm dehydrated, it tells me if I need to drink more water, if my body waters low, I'm standing on the scale, I'm standing on a scale. I mean, listen, it's 2023. Wow, the science behind these things is amazing. So it is Bluetooth connected to the app. And as soon as you step on the scale, the app picks up all of the readings when you first get it, it you have to answer just a couple questions like your age and, and male or female and et cetera. And, and then it picks all of it up. And the app also offers other things like you can do. You can like track your your calories and all that as well. But like I said, I like my fitness pal for that. So how this has helped me get into my body recomposition goals is it has given me the metrics that I need to calculate my macronutrients how much protein I should be eating, how much carbs I should be eating to that day that well, yeah, I mean, it's not like I'm fluctuating that much. And that's the goal when you do body recomp. I'm not trying to lose weight, especially for my work. I can't lose weight. I'm just trying to recomp it. I'm trying to be more muscular, less soft, fatty tissue. Yeah. Do you know what I mean? Yeah, so yeah. And that's really hard. For me, I've tried to do this before. And it was so hard to tell if I was doing it, right. Because you're not like the scale doesn't tell you anything. Like it's you know, it's just whether or not it's starting to work is hard to kind of gauge. So having these metrics and applying them to my, like macros, calculators and everything that are teaching me how to how to get all those numbers that I need is really effective. And it's an it's working. I can I can tell like, I'm definitely I am a I have the energy to do really intense weightlifting workouts, because I'm eating the right amount of foods. b I'm recovering faster. And see I can I feel more toned. I feel tighter. And the scale is not really changing, which is a good thing for me right now. Yeah, yeah. So it's called

Amy: 19:29

it's the you look at the metrics, essentially. And then it kind of like helps you know what to eat, and then does it you have to tell you anything about your,

Unknown: 19:36

you have to use like macronutrient calculators that you can Google, there's all kinds of resources for that. Yeah. But I know because I have these metric numbers that I know are accurate that I can plug in, then I know that the numbers on the calculator that are coming back are gonna work.

Amy: 19:50

Does it tell you you're like BMI and stuff like that? Yeah. All of that. And you're trying to change that. Is that like, how do you measure this body

Unknown: 19:58

result? I'm trying to get It the it says that it says the BMI is an estimate of someone's health by measuring their body weight against their height and sex taken in isolation, BMI can be misleading, it's important to look at your other metrics alongside. So what I'm actually trying to get down is my body fat percentage, your body fat percentage is the percent of your total body weight that is made up of fat. Your rating is your fat mass relative to your total weight compared to your benchmarks based on your age, sex and height. So it's great because when you click on these things, it gives you all of this explanation. visceral fat index, so your visceral fat is the is like the the deadly fat, the fat that surrounds your organs, people that have like beer bellies, like the their tummies are loaded with several fat like that's what causes heart attacks and things like that. And I have hyperlipidemia it runs in my family. So keeping my visceral fat low is really important to me, so and then it also tells you your muscle mass. So like my muscle mass is 96.3 pounds. And it says muscle mass consists of three types of muscle, your skeletal, smooth and cardiac, your muscle mass value, it includes the total weight of all these muscle types combined. And then it goes into further. So I'm trying to get my muscle mass up my body fat percentage down. Very cool. Yeah. And so it's I am obsessed. It's a variable,

Amy: 21:16

peaceful Tactus brand, obviously, with all these other apps in the show notes. I want to check that out. That's, that's very cool. Yeah. Okay, obsessed. Next. My next app is a bit more of a fitness app, a friend told me about this, and I downloaded it over the summer, and it's called all trails. Okay, I know if you've heard of it all trails. And it's great because it has hikes near you or wherever you are. So a lot of times when I travel, I like to go on a hike somewhere, but you don't know where you are. This will tell you so like right now I open the app, and it gives you the top trails nearby. So it's telling me trails that are near my house, which exes some of them I didn't even know because sometimes you don't even know what's around you. And it'll tell you how far it is from you. And how long estimated the trail will take. So I'm looking at this one trail near my house. And it's it's like three miles away. But it says the estimated take, it'll take you about an hour and 15 minutes to complete. And it gives you like a little bit of description of the route like this one says, you know, generally considered an easy route, it takes an average of an hour and 15 minutes to complete, very popular for hiking, mountain biking and running. It's open your rounds, and dogs are welcome. So it's a really great way to get outdoors. I mean, now it's freezing out. But you know, once the weather gets a little bit warmer, it's really nice. And then here's this other trail that I found that seven miles from me, if I want to go to that one, and this trail is really long, it's 7.3 miles. But again, it's like an easier route a lot of people to walk and run on it open year round. Dogs are welcome things like that. So it's really great because I do like to do a lot of walks. And it's just makes it less intimidating, because you kind of know what to expect. Because I think sometimes you go on a walk somewhere and you're like how long as it like, When should I turn around? So and it gives you like, can you turn around or where it ends up and things like that. So it's really great for your own area. But I also think it's amazing for when you're traveling. Yeah. And when you're want to go on a hike or you want to go on a walk around the neighborhood that you're in, it just gives you a little bit of a estimate and know what to expect type situation. So I love it. I think it's really, really helpful.

Unknown: 23:21

Yeah, I like that you're a big hiker. I'm not so much of a hiker. I'd like to go on walks but like you would hike up massive hills and mountains and thing Yeah,

Amy: 23:30

but I mean a lot of the a lot of this is walking trails, like there's this trail near me that I'm seeing is in here, which is a walking trail. So not only is it like, you can search by like hard hikes, easy hikes. And when they say hikes. I mean, the easy ones are like walkable, nice trails, basically Nice. So yeah, it's a really, really great app, and it has like navigation and all these different things on it. So when you're on the hike, you can actually do you navigation,

Unknown: 23:54

anything like a safety score, anything like that.

Amy: 23:57

There probably is some sort of safety score or like it'll tell you, you know if it's crowded, or if people like this one talks about like, here's a moderately challenging Route near me, takes about 45 minutes to complete, popular trail for birding, hiking, walking, best times to visit March through October dogs welcome must be on leash, and it has tags that you can search by or, but I bet you it has like comments about that. It's all look around. But anyway, if

Unknown: 24:24

something's kid friendly, or stroller friendly, that also kind of helps you understand. I would

Amy: 24:28

write and it'll tell you if the likes are populated. So if it's like a crowded trail, you would know it's popular. So anyway, it's a great resource for anytime you want to take a walk

Unknown: 24:36

nice. I love that. Yeah. All right. Well, this is I have two more but this last one is the final piece to how I'm doing this whole body composition thing. And it's more than an app again, it's a massive piece of tech but I have to talk about it because it's insane. It's tonal, so we we got to tonal a few weeks ago, it's for listeners that you don't know it is basically like this giant thing that you attach to your wall that is all AI, and it has arms that come out of it that are weight controlled. And it this screen is programs like weightlifting programs and trainers. And it offers a massive variety of programs of classes, etc. When it comes to the bench and all these things and the weight on the arms can go all the way up to hundreds and hundreds of pounds. I don't know how it works, because it's just literally on your wall. But I it's the coolest thing. Because part of gaining muscle mass you have to do. It's called progressive overload. It's when you lift weights, but you have to constantly, like make it heavier or make your reps higher, you're basically from from exercise to exercise, you have to put more work on those muscles than you did the last time in order to actually gain the muscle mass. It's so complicated, it's really hard to do a lot of people can just like, sit down, take the time make their own schedule, like write out how many weights they should do, how many reps they should do this day, so on and so on. I don't have time for that. And I've been trying to do this for years total does it for me. It's it's connected to the total app. And you put in you know, it asks you the standard questions in the beginning. And then it also has you do this like introduction program where it tests your your strength, so it knows you and knows what you're capable of. And it's constantly adjusting that. And then they have different programs for if you wanted to lose weight if you wanted to gain muscle if you wanted to do a body recap. So right now I'm doing a four week body recon. And it's just because it knows me and it's artificial intelligence. It's really it knows when to put more muscle load on and it

Amy: 26:46

wow, it's it's really takes the thinking out of it

Unknown: 26:49

takes all of the thinking out of it. And it's a trainer. So she's like keeping you excited and keeping you

Amy: 26:54

so it's a class it's a classic kind of like a is that the one I get that the tunnel confused with mirror where like a person shows up? Like, like a virtual person.

Unknown: 27:04

Yeah, it's similar to mirror but I don't know if mir has the weight capacity? I'm not sure. But no, I

Amy: 27:10

think mirrors just classes. Right?

Unknown: 27:12

This is the there's a person in there showing you exactly how to do the movement on a tonal and they're walking you through everything. And yeah, I mean, it's there's a lot of different programs out I'm starting a different program than I'm doing.

Amy: 27:27

Yeah, it's so cool. Our neighbors, they rave about

Unknown: 27:30

it. I'm Yeah, yeah. And it's i It's accessible. Because it's is like a monthly you can pay like a monthly membership. It's not like you have to buy this thing for like $5,000 It's, it's something that you can so I think that they're starting to like like peloton subtotals. And all these things are starting to try to make more so you buy

Amy: 27:48

mass allotment, how much is the actual equipment?

Unknown: 27:50

I have to ask Adam but it wasn't it wasn't as crazy as I thought it was going to be because you pay you pay, you pay more monthly. It's like paying a monthly gym membership. And that's not got to like have access to the programs that's like to have the thing in your house, essentially. Oh, I

Amy: 28:05

say Oh, cool. And do they come and install it? Yeah. Yeah. That's funny. We we have like a more of a wait like an all in one kind of wait machine in the basement. That's stupid a couple summers ago, because the boys especially Jackson was starting to work out we thought about getting the tonal because our neighbors have it and they love it. But we were worried like the kids don't really like they won't. And it's just like different than just like lifting a weight. You have to kind of I don't know, we just weren't sure if like, I like it.

Unknown: 28:37

I think they would like it. Because it's it's it's like hardcore weightlifting. I mean, yeah, I'm like, I'm doing deadlifts with 50 pounds in each hand. And oh, my God, and like, I need

Amy: 28:48

to try this. I think it's so cool. Yeah, I really, I think that would Yeah, I'm curious to see like your journey with this and like, how it changes your body and like with the weights, because I've been trying to do different weight things too. But I really don't know what I'm doing. I'm just lifting weights, but I don't have any sort of guidance. And to your point, like you kind of lift the same thing all the time, you don't have a good understanding of what you should be doing next. So it sounds like this is such a good trainer and takes all the like guesswork, you just do it instead of having to think through like what am I going to do now? And yeah,

Unknown: 29:18

I mean, when you're doing I've been I've tried everything for years and years and years and don't get me wrong. Like I'm I'm in great shape, and I'm strong and everything, but I'm not achieving these results that I've wanted to achieve. And I know how you have to do it. And it's really complicated if you just do it like freehand or you have to pay to write help you do it. And this machine is helping me do it, which is amazing that I help you with the form to Oh yeah, 100% and even the machine will tell you, it senses if your form is cool, and it tells you like wow, like one step away from tonal. Like it's really it's really an impressive piece of equipment. I could not recommend it more. And it also tells me like on my rest days, it gives me active rest workouts as well. If I don't want to do my one day of my four week program, I go in and it pops up. Well, you should do this today instead.

Amy: 30:11

Sounds amazing. I need to I need to test it out for sure. i That sounds really great. I love it. Okay, so while we're on the exercise routes, I always have to give a plug to em who, Melissa what how my daily go to for all things. Love her so much love the app. I know. She recently upgraded the app. And I don't know if you've seen but like now she's got all these other people that are part of her community that are also teaching. I haven't taken any other classes because I'm biased to Melissa but I will. But she's got all these other people that do pilates and different things. But Melissa is just my go to like five minutes. 10 minutes, 20 minutes, whatever I have time for I love our and always have to talk about that. Because that's one I use on the daily.

Unknown: 30:52

Yeah, for sure. Love him. Wh Alright, well, my last one is a pretty fast one. It's something that I have been using for years I start well, I really started when like the pandemic crazy. It's when I first started to get into meditation. It's Insight Timer, which we've talked about before. And yeah, I have a TM practice that I do. But when I'm not doing my TM practice, I still use Insight Timer. And back in the day, when I first started it, I would use the guided meditations. But now I just I love they have a timer, and they have all of these different sounds that you can put in. It's what I use when I meditate with the girls in the morning. It's just like a very easy free app, you can upgrade it and get more and detailed stuff.

Amy: 31:32

But if you may have quick meditations to write Oh, yeah, yeah,

Unknown: 31:36

they have quick meditations, two minute meditations, 15 minute meditations, 30 minute meditations and everything. Or you could just use the timer, which is what I do. So if you're new to meditating, you don't really know where to start, it is an excellent resource for that. That's how I got into meditating. And then I'm sure people, you know, advanced, people are using it regularly as well. So highly recommend.

Amy: 31:56

Awesome. Okay, well, the last one that I have, since we're talking about all these different things to exercise is for the brain, it's called elevate. And this is a really, really good app for, like cognitive function. And so I have brain fog, like a lot of us do. And I use this tool to help kind of like, keep me sharp. So every day, it has a different brain workout. So it tests or not tests, but it gives you exercises in these different categories writing, speaking, reading, math, memory. And so every day will give you different exercises to do. And like today, I opened it up and it said your workouts ready, I'm just going to press start just so you can get an understanding. So like, the first exercise that it has, for me is a writing exercise. And if I play this game, it comes up and tells you the game. And it'll do like tell you how to do it. And like this one, for example, is called rounds. And so I'm tapping it to continue I'm doing it like it'll this one is it times you like see how this says lesson you put in the s. And so see how this timer goes down. So it's all timed. And it's like how quickly you can do things. So this is just like a simple spelling test where like this has the word for example, Odyssey and the S is left out and you put in the s so you know different little exercises, it has math ones, which are always challenging for me has memory ones. And then so I think it has like, I don't know, three or four exercises a day, it takes like a few minutes, it doesn't take long at all. And you get through it and it scores you and then you know at the end of the week, or whenever you can just go in and check your score. So it's actually a really great way to just exercise your brain on the daily, I haven't been using it, this reminded me I need to start using it and then it'll give you your performance. So like I haven't done it in a while. But for example, like my writing is at the top, I have the most points going into like the advanced stage for writing. So you can see all my bars there. Mine goes writing, then speaking then reading then math and memory. So my memory is like at the novice level. So then it gives you more exercises for that. So it's really good. I think it's good for older people to like I told my parents about it. And it told them they should do it everyday. It's kind of like my grandfather, he used to go downstairs every day and do like a crossword puzzle. Same idea, right? Like just keeping your brain sharp. So it's a really good way to get your brain. You know, like sharpening in the morning. Like if you're drinking your coffee, just do a little brain game. And yeah, highly recommend really good tool.

Unknown: 34:19

It's so like, for idle time, instead of just like sitting and scrolling and consuming and having like, tick tock, someone talk to us and tell us things. It's so much better for you like for your eye. I'm going to download it. I could do it when I'm taking the train when I'm commuting things like that. That's great.

Amy: 34:34

Yeah, and it gives you an A Yeah, and I think it's good too, because it's just a couple quick fun games and some of them are fun, you know, and yeah, it's a good way to pass the time. It's not too long. And I whenever I do this in the morning, I do feel sharper. Like I feel like it's a good way to start the day because it kind of gets your brain like firing and smart

Unknown: 34:52

startup. Yeah, highly

Amy: 34:53

recommend. Nice. Yeah,

Unknown: 34:55

this was fun. I'm glad we did this because i mean i i Adam is like Mr. techie tech. And so I feel like I'm starting to get into his realm of all the apps and all the tech and everything. And I mean, you're pretty techie too. So it's all Yeah,

Amy: 35:11

remedies things. Even, you know, I think some of the things we talked about are really cool, because they have the technology, the deep technology piece, but I think a lot of these apps are just like simple apps that our listeners can use everyday like this Yukka app, right? It's like you just scan your stuff just to get a better sense of how healthy your food is. Or like, if you want to go on a walk, I mean, these are simple apps that you can use on a weekly basis that are really helpful. And then yeah, if you want to go deeper into tech, you get the scales and all these other things. But there's just so many helpful apps out there that are free and so we wanted to make sure we were sharing it with our Nirvana sisters family. So hope everyone has a great week and we'll talk to you soon Bye. Thanks for listening to Nirvana sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes please subscribe and leave us a review. also find us on Instagram at Nirvana sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana sisters will continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.

Episode 89 - Peptide Therapy and Hormone Optimization with Katy Whalen, Co-Founder + CEO of Joi Women’s Wellness, What are Peptides? (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 89

[00:07] Amy Sherman: Welcome to Nirvana Sisters podcast where we take the intimidation out of wellbeing and beauty to help you achieve your highest state, your nirvana. We are Sisters in law and your hosts. I'm Amy Sherman.

[00:18] Katie Chandler: And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation.

[00:28] Amy Sherman: Welcome back to the show Nirvana Sisters family. We are so excited to meet Katie Whalen who's the co founder and CEO of Joy Women's Wellness which is an innovative peptide and hormone balancing therapy brand. I'm so excited because I just hear so much about peptides and aminos and omegas and there's all these buzzwords going around and we really want to get deep into what this is and how people can benefit from it. Your skin is glowing. So I'm already knowing that this is going to be a helpful therapy for our listeners. But I'm just going to give a little bit about Katie before we get into all of this. Katie started Joy because she knew she wasn't alone. She had a long journey through infertility miscarriages IVF. And finally giving birth to her little boy left her feeling fatigued, hormonal overweight and struggling with brain fog. I think we can all relate to this. She searched for a holistic solution that would help her feel like me again. And that's when she learned about hormone optimization and peptide. Therapies, the only problem is they were so hard to come by. So after both her and her husband began to experience amazing results with both peptide and hormones, he knew she had to share them with women everywhere. So Joy is a place where women can find answers, manage their health, holistically and truly start to feel like themselves again. Looking better too is just an added bonus because you know what? We all deserve to fear our best from the inside out. So welcome to the show, Katie. We're so excited to have you here. Thank you for spending your time with us today.

[01:58] Katy Whalen: Thank you ladies. I'm super excited too.

[02:01] Amy Sherman: Yeah. So let's get into it. Well, actually, before we get into it sorry, I'm just rushing right in because I'm so excited to hear about this. Let's take a step back and talk about our weekly Nirvana now. We are taping this right before the new year so I'm going to kick off with well, actually I'll move it to Katie or Kay. We're going to call her on this episode, Katie Chandler. Katie to talk about her Nirvana of the week.

[02:24] Katie Chandler: Yeah. Thanks, Amy. Well, Katie, we are so excited. I actually was with some friends last night and they know a little bit about this. So I was salivating being able to talk to you and then come back and say, well, I know a little bit about it too, so we're very excited to get into it. But my Nirvana this week I think was work. I've mentioned I've gone back to work, I'm a fit model and I was a little nervous about how that was going to pan out. Being a seasoned model these days, I didn't know if the work was going to roll in, but I have been manifesting work and abundance and it is happening. I worked. I had a full day job all day on Wednesday that just popped up and more work is popping up and go see and all kinds of stuff. So it's just exciting because it's going in the direction that I hoped but wasn't sure if it would. But if I look tired today, that's because I am exhausted at this whole going back to work, being a mommy, being a podcaster juggling situation. Not exactly like hitting it out of the park in all arenas, but it's okay. So that was minor. Van. What about you, Ave?

[03:36] Amy Sherman: That's awesome. Katie, I'm so proud of you. I know we've been chatting on text and it's just like it's so nice to see you kind of back in the game. And Katie, you had taken a break for how long, ten years? Yeah. So I was saying it just must be nice to have something for yourself where you're not having to attend to little people all the time. So I've had a lot of nirvana lately. We recently got back from an amazing international trip to Israel for my son's bar Mitzvah, so we'll talk about that another time. But I would say this week I had a nirvana at work, too. I had this big deadline looming over me and I finally completed that deadline this week. And so it just was such a relief to get this big project off of my brain. So I just feel relieved. And that was just like a nice moment to be like, okay, now I can do these couple more things and then kind of enjoy the holiday for the next two weeks. What about you, Katie?

[04:30] Katy Whalen: You know what? Mine nirvana is actually going to be this afternoon. I had emailed you guys a little while back and asked to move the podcast recording up because my daughter is turning five this month and with a new business and with two little kids, I constantly feel like I'm struggling to have quality time with my kids. So a couple of months back, her grandma Gigi sent her this American Girl doll catalog and she's been dreaming of this doll ever since. So I'm surprising her today. This afternoon took some time off work and we're going to go to the big store, get her a doll, and we're going to do the whole party with cupcakes and tears.

[05:12] Katie Chandler: Oh, that's so fun.

[05:14] Katy Whalen: It's fun. And I obviously feel like the whole week I'm excited. I'm like, I'm 43 and I'm like super excited to go.

[05:21] Amy Sherman: That does sound fun.

[05:22] Katie Chandler: That's great. I have a five year old and we did that with my older daughter when she turned six. That exact experience at the cafe and the whole thing with the doll and they have the little seat for the doll. It's the cutest thing and she's going to have the time of her life and so are you.

[05:36] Katy Whalen: It's really sweet.

[05:37] Amy Sherman: That is so cute. I haven't gotten to experience that because I have two boys, but I'm going to vicariously live through both of you and I need to see pictures because that sounds so fun and right up my alley. Okay, amazing. So let's get into your company Joy, and kind of I have so many questions about peptides. I don't even know what they are really other than I know they're really I hear they're amazing for you, but if you can kind of break it down for us, give us a 101 on what peptide therapy is, what peptides are, and about your amazing company.

[06:08] Katy Whalen: Yeah, so peptides, I didn't know what they were a little over a year ago either, but I used them to help me kind of like after I was done having kids to really help me propel my health and feel better. So now I'm obsessed. But what they technically are short chains of amino acids and they direct ourselves to perform specific functions. So I think of them as like a key to open a door. And of course as we age our levels decline. So peptide therapy is just adding back in some of those keys to open more doors. So you can help maybe with symptoms you have or even if you have no symptoms, there's lots of just benefits and overall vitality you can get from it.

[06:53] Katie Chandler: And amino acids, those are the building blocks to protein and to muscle building, correct? Is that right? Yeah.

[07:01] Katy Whalen: And so when we say short chains, it's literally from like two to 50 chains of these bonded together and a protein is over 100 chains of the amino acids. And that's about the extent of my science knowledge. Yeah, that's exactly right.

[07:21] Amy Sherman: And so are there all different kinds of peptides and do you use different ones for different treatments?

[07:32] Katy Whalen: Yeah, exactly, there's a lot of peptides and I think more peptides will be discovered in the future. I mean we have right now naturally occurring in your body like something like 7000 peptides. So we have probably peptides that we offer right now, I would say a dozen peptides for different things. And there's a peptide for gut health and inflammation. There's a peptide, a couple of peptides for weight loss that are super popular right now. One of my favorites is a growth hormone releasing peptide which tells your body to release more of its own growth hormone. We have peptides for skin health, hair health, basically you name it. I say there's a peptide for that.

[08:19] Katie Chandler: Amazing. So how did Joy tell us how you got started with Joy and what exactly Joy is doing for your clients?

[08:29] Katy Whalen: Yeah, I mean it was all based off my own health experience. I got married when I was 35 and right away, started focusing on a family and before that I was being single in my thirty s. I had time and resources and just took such good care of myself. Looked great, felt great. It was just a great time in my life. When I got married at 35, started on the you know, family train right away. Had a ton of you know, difficulty with my ability journey and really became this like warrior determined to make it through and have my family. I had four miscarriages and IVF and all the things that so many women do but when I finally had my babies I woke up at 41 and going holy moly. At the last six years of my life I haven't really taken care of myself. I was just focused on all the things and now I have two little ones and I'm overweight. I have brain fog, I have who am I and is this the new me or can I get back to some of those self care routines so I can feel good myself and have the energy to take care of these demanding little beings. So I started, the first thing I started actually was getting on testosterone because my phone was super low and I started to see some great change, more motivation at the gym. I started to be able to notice I was getting stronger. It helped me lose some of that fat and gain some muscle which was pretty exciting. And then I learned of peptides and started testing some of those out, did the weight loss peptide which I was amazed to get to my, I had a goal in mind and I was like I'm going to try to get there but in my mind I was like it might not be possible. Got there, actually went past it and I was just like this is insane and other women need to know about.

[10:26] Amy Sherman: Past, I need that ASAP. Okay.

[10:31] Katie Chandler: I have to say did you say you were 43? Is that how old you are? I was floored. Because you look like you are in your early 30s. Without a shadow of a doubt. Right Amy?

[10:43] Amy Sherman: Yeah, I was very shocked too.

[10:47] Katie Chandler: Those are the peptides then. Hard at work.

[10:50] Amy Sherman: Let me ask you a question just backing up to like when you were saying you were taking testosterone, who did you go to and why did they prescribe that? Like was it a regular doctor, a functional doctor? Just because I feel like and Katie and I talk about this all the time. There's this whole world of this more holistic well being that's super popular but there's not a lot of resources and there's functional doctors, there's regular doctors. Sometimes the regular doctors don't really believe in it. Like how did you establish your first step and then from there?

[11:19] Katy Whalen: Yeah, I mean you're so right and it's frustrating that some of these things are so hard to come by and unfortunately so many doctors aren't trained in this, and it's not their thing. And we even have patients that will come to us and be like, well, is my doctor confused or blah, blah, blah. So it is tricky. So for me, there's a little bit more of a backstory because my husband actually went through his own issues first with his hormones. While we were struggling with our fertility, we had a lot of stress and his testosterone tanked, and it was so bad. He had no libido and we didn't know what it was. And I thought, oh, it's me. I'm gaining weight. You're not attracted to me. We found out through his own health journey that it was his four months, so he started getting the help first. So I saw him, his struggles and his change, and then he actually started the men's side of our company first before Joy. That's called blokes. And I was able to then get treatment from the men's side of our company. That's when I was like, we need this for women. I was not planning on starting this. I was totally happy being in the newborn stages and not thinking about what my career would look like. And then I just 40% of our traffic on the men's side was actually women, so we were like, It needs to happen. But so that's how I was able to actually do it. Pretty quickly, my husband went through a couple of years of getting told that he was fine when he wasn't.

[12:56] Amy Sherman: And what doctor did he go to that determined it was his hormones? Because that's also, like, for men, probably even harder to find a doctor that would say that or identify that.

[13:09] Katy Whalen: Yeah, because they work in these ranges, these lab ranges that are the average person that goes in there with something wrong took a test, and that's where you are. And he was on the very low end of the average range of sick people, and it was fine. So it's really what we try to do is say, you know, how you can feel, how you're supposed to feel, and you really need to take control of your own journey, not get discouraged by a doctor that isn't trained in something that it is what it is. You have to take control of that.

[13:45] Katie Chandler: Men, I feel like, women, we've been told over hormonal health. Hormonal health, it's going to be a thing when you get older, it's going to be an issue. And I don't think men have as much of an awareness that they can experience it as well. And it's like they don't know that it's possible that that can happen to them sometimes. I think so. A lot of times, maybe they just go and deal with it and just think, I'm getting older just like so many women do, and that there's nothing that can be done about it. So I think it's amazing that you have this company for men as well.

[14:24] Katy Whalen: I think it's important for women to know that was my experience. My husband was like with no libido, he didn't really care because it wasn't an issue for him. It was me that was like, this is not working. So I think it's important for couples to both feel their best together and both kind of be on the same page with that because I know sex and marriage is a big issue. One of the top reasons people fight. Right?

[14:51] Katie Chandler: Right. Yeah. So true. Interesting. Okay so the peptide therapy, let's do a little bit of a deep dive because who would be a good candidate? I mean are you seeing women in their 30s that are needing peptide therapy as well or is it mostly just.

[15:10] Katy Whalen: As older age groups? I think anyone really interested in their health journey, their own health is a candidate. And certainly I wouldn't say a healthy 18 year old looking at peptides because it is something that levels decline with age. But I do think 30s mid thirty s and up is somewhere where people will really start to see some benefits. But it really depends. I think BPC 157 is like the Swiss army knife of peptides. It has a lot of uses and it's really great for people with autoimmune, people with chronic inflammation, gut health issues. It could be injected into the site if you are healing from some kind of a surgery, wound healing. So there's certain peptides that even younger people could benefit from.

[16:05] Katie Chandler: That one. Kind of like the society knife. Does that also address some of the other issues? Like is it kind of a broader spectrum where it'll hit the hormonal imbalances and do some good for your skin and hair and nails as well or does it get very specific when you start to target those things?

[16:27] Katy Whalen: I think it gets specific but I do think BPC is a great general one because it targets general healing, gut healing and inflammation. So obviously we know everything starts and ends in the gut. So I always thought I had good gut health and I wasn't really one I was interested in. But then just recently I started taking it because I realized that even if you're doing all the right things, all the toxins in the environment and just our basic lifestyle can really affect your gut. So I actually even though I feel like I have a decent gut health, I just started taking it because I feel like in your 40s things get a little wacky and beneficial for just inflammation.

[17:10] Katie Chandler: Sure.

[17:11] Amy Sherman: So I have a question, stupid question probably but how is the peptide ingested? Is it a shot? How does it work?

[17:20] Katy Whalen: Not stupid at all. So there's lots of options. There are definitely peptides that are injected and we use sub queue only. So it's super small needle, super easy to do and then there's peptides. So BPC comes in both actually an injection or a capsule, so you could do either. And there's different methods that probably we would recommend for different things. So if it's just general gut health, I would say take the capsule because it's absorbed better that way. But if it's actually like a wound or a soft tissue injury, then I would inject it. We have nasal sprays as well. There's one for mental clarity. That's a nasal spray. There's a skin cream that's just like a regular skin cream that goes on your skin at night. So there's lots of different ways applications for them.

[18:10] Katie Chandler: Interesting. And tell us about your team. You have a very impressive team of people at Joy. Are these the people that you go to that tell your client, this is the exact one that you're going to benefit from and you should be taking it this way? How does that work when someone wants to start with Joy?

[18:30] Katy Whalen: Yeah, one of our co founders, Dr. JC. Fulkers, he's kind of the petty guru, and he comes from a more functional medicine background and can tell you all the sciency things. So he's kind of the head of our peptide program. And then we have providers that you'll talk to during your Zoom call that a lot of them are on all these peptides and know them too. And then we have some medical advisors as well on our team. Dr. Melissa Loewski has been treating women and men. And then I'm super excited because I've been fan Darling over Dr. Amy Hillen for a while, and she actually just decided to join us as a medical advisor.

[19:16] Amy Sherman: Oh, amazing. Yeah.

[19:18] Katy Whalen: So excited about that one. We do have some great people on our team.

[19:23] Amy Sherman: I know you said you're based in Nashville. Is it a physical location or is it virtual? How does it work?

[19:29] Katy Whalen: Well, virtual right now, I think we've talked about in the future having some stores and some pop ups, which would be super fun. But right now we have our hands full. So, yeah, we're virtual. We do everything, all our visits via Zoom. And yeah, we're licensed in all 50 states, so it makes it easy.

[19:47] Amy Sherman: That's amazing. Okay, so our listeners can actually get a consultation with a doctor you just mentioned and then if they wanted to continue is it prescription or does it work?

[19:58] Katy Whalen: Prescription based?

[19:59] Amy Sherman: All prescription.

[20:00] Katy Whalen: It's a health history. Everyone has to fill out just to cover all the bases and then figure out what's going on with your goals, what's your symptoms, and then your therapy shipped right to your door.

[20:12] Katie Chandler: And what is insurance? Does insurance come into play? No coverage. Is it out of pocket?

[20:18] Katy Whalen: It is, yeah. Unfortunately, healthcare does not want to pay for. Right.

[20:28] Katie Chandler: What's the price point?

[20:29] Amy Sherman: I'm curious.

[20:31] Katy Whalen: It varies depending on which peptide. I would say average. So I have a face cream, and then I also do the growth hormone releasing have, and I think those are right around 200 each for a month supply and then our weight loss peptide is probably our most expensive and that is, you know, depending on dosage, could be 250 or 300 a month.

[21:00] Katie Chandler: Okay, got it.

[21:01] Amy Sherman: And then how long? And I'm sure it's very individual, but how long if someone was interested in doing peptide therapy, how long do you do it? Do you do it? Is it like you always do it or you do it until you feel better and then you do something else?

[21:14] Katy Whalen: Yeah, not up to you. You certainly don't have to be on it forever. It's something that you can just try see what's working for you. We actually recommend that you should cycle off every once in a while. Like I'll do mine for six months and then I'll take a month off and that kind of just helps you reset, also helps you figure out what's really working for you and kind of see the benefits that you're getting. But yeah, you can always try something else or just get off if it's something that you're not feeling is helpful.

[21:48] Katie Chandler: Tell us a little bit about NAD therapy because I have seen this at my wellness center where I get IB therapy infusions. Are you combining is NAD peptide or is it something different?

[22:05] Katy Whalen: It's not a peptide but it's technically a coenzyme.

[22:09] Katie Chandler: Okay.

[22:10] Katy Whalen: But we offer it and we think it's pretty cool.

[22:14] Katie Chandler: It's powerful. Right? And doing it in conjunction with the peptides probably does a lot for people.

[22:20] Katy Whalen: Yeah, it's certainly one you can try on its own too. So NAD is in every cell of our body and we need it to live and of course levels decline. But what it really mainly does is it helps with metabolism, it helps convert your food to energy and then it also protects our DNA integrity. So think of antiaging or think of disease prevention. So you can do it in an IV clinic? Through an IV. We send ours out as injections and it's kind of cool. It's one that you feel right away, you'll feel like a flush feeling and I like to kind of sit down and breathe and kind of relax and meditate for about 1015 minutes and I feel that freshness and you just have a little boost of energy.

[23:06] Katie Chandler: Nice.

[23:07] Amy Sherman: Yeah. I've heard a bunch of different podcasts and read a little bit about NAD and is that a more it seems to me from what I've heard and this could be completely wrong, but that it's like a more intensive treatment. Like, you only do it for, like, a short period of time, or no.

[23:23] Katy Whalen: I think when you're doing it with an IV, it's pretty intense. I think you have and I haven't done it that way, but I think you have to sit there and have you done it that way?

[23:32] Katie Chandler: Maybe I haven't, but it is very intense and you have to be monitored by a nurse when you do the IV. Way, and it takes a long time.

[23:42] Katy Whalen: It takes all day.

[23:44] Amy Sherman: I feel like that's what I've heard.

[23:46] Katy Whalen: That it can be uncomfortable. I think it's something that they really give you a lot of at that sitting. So what we do is we recommend weekly injections so you could do it at your home and it's just kind of 15 minutes of a flush feeling. So it's certainly a lot easier that way.

[24:05] Katie Chandler: More tolerable yeah, that makes sense. That makes sense. So you're also doing HRT or hormone replacement therapy, or is the peptide considered HRT? I was looking at your content. Is that what it is?

[24:26] Katy Whalen: They're two separate things.

[24:27] Katie Chandler: Okay.

[24:28] Katy Whalen: Yeah, we do HRT. We believe in a hormones as being like, such a foundation. I mean, each hormone has its own benefit and function and they all need to be in the right levels. I always think of hormones as story of goldilocks. You don't want too little or too much of anything. You want it to be just right for your levels, which is a little bit different for everybody. But if one level gets thrown off, then you can really a lot of things off in your body. And I think for women especially, there's such a gap in you're done having your babies and you're in your forty s and who's caring for you now and what's like I just think I'm excited because I think there is a movement to change that and a lot of companies that are offering support. So I'm excited for that. But I think a lot more is needed.

[25:22] Katie Chandler: It's so true. Our health care system just kind of looks at post baby years, like, periodopausal. Menopausal, women is just like, all right, well, you're all on your own, go figure it out.

[25:32] Amy Sherman: Oh, you're getting older, that's what happens. You're not supposed to feel great, right?

[25:38] Katie Chandler: Of course we love our OB gens and they serve a massively great purpose, but once we get to this spot, they're like, say in our go find.

[25:49] Amy Sherman: Somebody, come in once a year for your Papsmear. There's no continuity.

[25:57] Katie Chandler: Do you do lab work and testing as well for your patients? You send them off, they get their labs done, and then your team looks at the results, et cetera?

[26:07] Katy Whalen: Yeah, prescribing labs. And certainly if you're thinking of a hormone, you definitely need to do some labs. And then we continue to monitor people on treatment with labs. So we have a partnership with a few different people. LabCorp is one of them, so it's easy if you have a LabCorp menu. We also partnered recently with Get Labs and they come send a mobile phonomist to your house. So that's pretty cool. For people that are in urban areas, that's a really great option for convenience. And then we also partnered with a company called Tesla, which is like a device that sits on your shoulder and can test your hormones as well. Something that you do at home and then send back.

[26:47] Amy Sherman: That's interesting.

[26:50] Katie Chandler: Yeah, that's cool. Nice.

[26:52] Amy Sherman: I have a question about the hormones too. Do you see a lot of women taking hormone replacement and peptides at the same time? Or is it two kind of separate strategies?

[27:07] Katy Whalen: I mean, I do that, I believe in that for sure. If something is off with your hormones, then you should absolutely do that. And then peptides to me is just like icing on the cake. I think it really is woman dependent. I think there's still a lot of people that aren't educated on hormones, hormone therapy, or maybe dangerous, or think it's not natural to help your hormones. So I think that there's just different people who are looking for different things or have different comfort levels.

[27:39] Katie Chandler: Okay, I have a question that you may or may not know the answer to. We can edit it out easily, but have you heard of HMVs? Is that a peptide? Do you know? I've just recently started reading about HMB.

[27:52] Katy Whalen: HMV, I haven't, but I will definitely look that up.

[27:55] Katie Chandler: HMB as in boy. And it has something to do with leucine, which I think is an amino acid, and it helps with just muscle growth. And even if you're not training, it can help maintain muscle and prevent muscle waste as you're getting older. And then if you are working out and training, it helps build the muscle faster. Which, as you were saying earlier, part of the problem with aging that is a massive culprit is the fact that we lose muscle mass over time. And that is so important in maintaining all of your overall health, metabolism, hormonal, health, everything. So I've just recently been looking into that.

[28:40] Katy Whalen: Yeah, I'll ask JC about that. Personally, I haven't heard of it, but for sure I'm interested in all the things muscle related because that's certainly part of the key for vitality, sort of.

[28:52] Amy Sherman: Yeah, I was just listening yesterday to something about aminos, which again, I don't know the difference between aminos and peptides. I guess it's all related, but there was, like, some sort of amino someone was talking about who was getting older and saying that by taking this, it helped them. They said, like which is so true when you're working out a lot and you feel really toned, and then you take a break for like, a week, the older you get, all of a sudden you feel like, wait, I looked good a week ago, and then what happened to my muscles? Where to go, where'd it go? So by taking aminos, I guess, or peptides can help you sort of maintain that muscle mass a little bit better than was it, what, creatine?

[29:34] Katy Whalen: Maybe? I think that's an amino acid.

[29:37] Amy Sherman: I don't know, I can't remember. I have to look. It was a podcast I was listening to and it was a company that did more like amino kind of supplements, I'm not really sure, but basically. The same idea as Katie was saying, it helps to keep that muscle mass or your muscle more together than like totally.

[29:55] Katy Whalen: Yes.

[29:57] Katie Chandler: Funny sidebar. Total sidebar. But something interesting that I just learned about muscle growth and building muscle and exercising, there's like a mind muscle connection. And when you're training muscles because I'm trying to train my glutes, apparently my tush is a little on the flatter side. If your brain isn't attached to the muscle that you're exercising, it doesn't fire as much and you can be totally wasting your time. So I just learned recently that there's, like, with the bands for your legs exercises before you start to train and lift weights, that you do, like, two minutes of exercises with bands contracting that muscle and really focusing on the fact that you're contracting that muscle to help then activate the muscle so that all the work you're putting into it is actually efficient. And it can be a total waste of time if you don't have the mind muscle connection. Isn't that just the most bizarre thing you've ever heard? It seems like pseudoscience and absurd, but.

[31:02] Katy Whalen: It'S a fact that makes total sense to me, actually. I bar method or bar class. I feel like it wasn't until I have also felt like my butt has never been very muscley, a little bit flat. And I feel like I recently started I'll do some bar classes and it's really a mental thing. I'll have to think about contrasting that and I think it's exactly right. I feel like, okay, now I know how to use that muscle.

[31:33] Katie Chandler: So you get the results.

[31:35] Amy Sherman: Yeah, it's so true. I do a lot of Melissa with health, and in her workouts, she always says, like, if you're doing an arm thing, I was doing it yesterday, and she's like, be intentional. She like, think about what you're exercising right now. When you think about it, it sort of like fires it up because you're right, if you're not thinking about it or really intentionally targeting that muscle, it's just like you're doing the whole thing, but you don't get in that little area, which is so similar yes. To the Pilates and bar classes. And you're like, oh, that's the muscle. That's the little thing I never knew I had. So yeah, it's really interesting.

[32:09] Katy Whalen: Totally. Yeah, that makes sense.

[32:12] Katie Chandler: All right, well, before we get into our rep session, I would love for you to just let us know where our listeners can find you because I know they're going to be super interested in working with Joy and yourself.

[32:23] Katy Whalen: Yeah, you know what? We hang out on IG a lot, so would love to for you to follow us there. It's Joy women's Wellness. And Joy is spelled. Joi and then online, if you want.

[32:35] Katie Chandler: To consult, we are Choosejoy Co. Nice. Yes.

[32:40] Amy Sherman: And then if someone wants to consult, they just sign up and it's a zoom. Like the initial meetings. A zoom.

[32:45] Katy Whalen: Yes. Consults are just 25 and then just sign up online and then we'll have a patient coordinator call you to set that up and set up your labs if a lab is needed.

[32:54] Katie Chandler: That's great.

[32:55] Katy Whalen: What did you say?

[32:56] Amy Sherman: You mean I said I will be doing that. Okay. So I feel like there's so many more things to go through with peptides. So we may need a part two at some point because I feel like Katie and I are just starting to learn about this area and I feel like it's this emerging I don't know what's the word?

[33:13] Katie Chandler: I want to get like cutting edge.

[33:14] Amy Sherman: Yeah, you hear about here and there, but I feel like it's going to be mainstream really soon. So thank you for all of this information. So get into our rough session. Quick answers, ready? What is your favorite wellness or beauty hack? Peptides.

[33:33] Katy Whalen: I call it my whole body antiaging. I do a growth hormone releasing peptide. I just sit on my tongue every morning. It dissolves and then I have a ghkcu face cream that I use on my skin.

[33:47] Katie Chandler: Nice. This growth hormone that you use, is that HCG?

[33:58] Katy Whalen: H is growth hormone, but we're not actually putting growth hormone. It's actually growth hormone releasing peptide. So it's a peptide that tells your body to release more of its own growth hormone.

[34:11] Katie Chandler: Okay. I'm very interested in that one sidebar. All right. This next one we call it our five minute flow. You just got out of the shower and dried off and Uber is pinged you. They're five minutes away. What are you going to do? Your Holy Grail to get it together and getting that Uber on time.

[34:27] Katy Whalen: I'm a little bit hippy. I'm fine going makeup free sometimes, but I absolutely need my moisturizer when I get out of the shower. I'm addicted to that. So I have like a dry oil, a little recipe that I use. Quickly throw that on all over. And then I also need a hat. I'm a hat girl. I love my Chemo Savvy sets and hats. And I feel like you can get away with a lot more makeup free days and bad hair days if you.

[34:55] Katie Chandler: Can throw on a hat and you're in the right town for that hat, I tell you. We love a good hat in Nashville.

[35:04] Amy Sherman: Okay. And how do you maintain your daily nirvana?

[35:09] Katy Whalen: I'm always trying to work on that and it's a balance of getting in enough self care and spending quality time with my family.

[35:19] Katie Chandler: Yeah, amen to that. Right?

[35:22] Katy Whalen: Good answer.

[35:23] Amy Sherman: And you'll be spending quality time with your daughter today in America.

[35:27] Katie Chandler: That's going to be so fun.

[35:29] Amy Sherman: Yeah.

[35:30] Katie Chandler: Well, Katie, thank you so much for being here. This is a very exciting conversation and we can't wait to learn more about it. And we have to have you back on for part two. So thanks for being here with us. And Amy, you're going to close us out with a mantra and I think it's a mantra from Joy.

[35:44] Amy Sherman: Yeah, I found two quotes on Joy's Instagram that I love, so I'm going to say them both. So the first one is really funny. FYI menopause is not the end. That's what we should be telling our doctors. That's one. And then the other one I liked was just it's a quote that you have on the little billboard. There's a peptide for that, which I think is so cute, like a good saying. Because next time I'm feeling a certain way, I'm just katie and I are going to be like, there's a peptide for that.

[36:13] Katy Whalen: Peptide for that.

[36:14] Katie Chandler: We might need to call up Katie wayland.

[36:16] Katy Whalen: Exactly.

[36:18] Amy Sherman: Thank you so much for being on the show and enjoy your day with your daughter and we'd love to have you back anytime. Thanks again.

[36:25] Katy Whalen: Thank you so much.

[36:26] Amy Sherman: Thanks for listening to Nirvana Sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes. Please subscribe and leave us a review. Also find us on Instagram at Nirvana Sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know some one that would we've sherrod and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana Sisters. We'll continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye..

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here.

Episode 83: Product Junkies December - Holiday Edition - Things We Are Loving Right Now (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 83.

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here or view our podcast episode guide.

Unknown: 0:06

Welcome to Nirvana sisters podcast where we take the intimidation out of well being and beauty to help you achieve your highest state your nirvana. We are sisters in law and your hosts. I'm Amy Sherman. And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation back to the show Nirvana sisters family, it's December and you know what that means holiday time. And we are back with a product junkies episode for December. We're going to talk through some of our favorite latest products that we're trying and loving. These could be gifts, they could be gifts for yourself, they could maybe help with holiday travel. So with that being said, we will jump right into product junkies December. I'm going to start with you, Katie, what do you have on her? Right? Well, let's see. I'm going to start with things that you're going to need for your next holiday party. Oh, you're gonna go out you're gonna want to do your makeup a little bit, right? Like the fun of these holiday parties is kind of getting dressed and you know, going the extra mile and having like a fun fabulous night out. So for that I have a really excellent lipstick like very glamorous, neutral but sexy lips situation whooping and it is the beloved Charlotte Tilbury it's her lip Lester and pillow talk. And it's just like a very sexy neutral that has just enough pink just enough of a pop. And it's a really nice texture as well. It comes in like a lip gloss tube. It's not super shiny. So I kind of like when there's a little bit of a matte to it. Like it's not Yeah, super super glossy. Yeah, so it's they they're marketing it as a dreamy nude pink lip gloss for a luminous luscious Pillow Talk pout and it's $22 and it lasts it stays on which which I really liked. So this is just a really great like go to color for a night out. Yeah, you know, I didn't know that Charlotte had that in a gloss form or whatever they're calling it. I just knew that pillowtop lipstick and and like liner but I didn't realize they had Oh, that's so pretty. Yeah, that's a good news. Like I could put it on heavier and it would be a little stronger. Right Are you lying on top of something. Okay, and what's the product and the Charlotte Tilbury lip is that a gloss it's the lip Lester lip luster. Okay, love. Okay, so I have this new thing I did a little research at Sephora the other day because I've been looking for a bronzer that is a liquid because I feel like I have a lot of blushes that are liquid or cream but it's hard to find a bronzer because usually it's like more of a contour stick but the contour stick color isn't like exactly your bronzer. So I found this iconic London shear bronze formula and I know how to describe it and it's in this little tube like this. And it's a really pretty bronze and it's an it's somewhat shear very natural. But you literally just take a tiny tiny amount I mean this bottle is going to last forever. Take a tiny amount and just kind of put it here and it's just like a nice little bronzy glow. Tonight if you don't want to do a lot of bronze because I feel like on an everyday basis you know me I'm always looking for like every day. This is really good. So if you just throw this on and maybe throw on a liquid blush, it just it's nice. I've just been liking these liquid and cream blushes and bronze is more so than the powders because I just feel like they look nicer on the skin. They're not so dry. You could you could do a little right up here on your forehead to Yeah, just a little touch and it'll make your whole face look like he had been on the side yeah so and this is very buildable so you could just put on a little bit for just like that little funky skull but you could put on more just to like you know make it heavier or mix it with another with another bronzer. So this is again it's iconic London and it's $27 and this will probably last me like forever so really good purchase. I hadn't heard of it before I just found it as I was doing a major search around Sephora for liquid or cream. Bronzer. So good one good one for the holidays. Good one for holiday parties to to match with the pillowtop nude. What's next on your list ad All right, well, this goes straight into the same situation for your holiday party. I have a really great glamorous smoky eye that I found at the drugstore. It is Maybelline Color Tattoo 24 hour long wear cream eyeshadow say then it's only $7.99 I love and they have have some great colors. This one is high roller Oh print and I wear this when we were in Israel. It's very much like like when we went out to dinner it's a really nice creamy Chateau which I love because they're just so easy to put on. You can literally put them on with your with your finger. And it just has a nice like sexy smoking is so good and I love this hydrating. I feel like when it's a cream, it's more hydrating. It doesn't get Creasy Yeah, no, I totally agree. I mean, wow, that like what a big difference. It makes your eyes. Yeah, I like barely even putting any on. But I used it during the day as like an eyeliner with a really thin brush and then I put it on at night like a shadow and it's just a night it's a very nice creamy consistency. It's, it's I would compare it to like, NARS is Fimi eyeshadow really? doesn't last long. How's the stain? Yeah, no, it totally holds up. I mean, look like this half of my face is ready for a party and obviously looks so good. I love that. That's a good one. We love a good start fine. And it's one of alors best of beauty for 2020 You know, couple years ago, but still, it's holding up. Yeah, I love that. Now I have to even out my eyes. So I'm gonna do my other side. While you talk, what do you we can show our listeners what you're doing. Okay, so I have like, it's the same category. So I'm gonna do two reviews and one and one of them we've kind of talked about a long time ago, but I ran out of eye cream. So I was looking for a new one always looking to test new ones. And I remember that when we had a loan on the show, he talked about the inky list caffeine eye cream. So I bought this and it says it's best for tired eyes. And the inky list is so great because I think the ingredients are really good and it's also very affordable. So this is keyless caffeine eye cream, it's $10 really good ingredients. And I just started using it the other day. So this one says it's best for tire dyes that helps to reduce the appearance of tire dyes essentially so it has a really really nice feel to it. I also have decided that I can't stand when eye creams are in a pot and so many of them are in pots. So I always tend to default to the ones that are in tubes. I just think it's so much easier to apply so much easier to travel with. It doesn't get like in your nails. But anyway, this texture is really nice, really hydrating and I have noticed it does make my eyes look less tired. So depending on the day, I will use this or I will use this other incredulous product which I just got, which is the brighten eye cream. And this one says it's best for dull under eyes and it helps to brighten instantly over time. And this one I'll use like if I just feel more dull. So it just depends on the day. Because lately in the winter, I'm just feeling some days I'm tired. Some days my face just looks air. So this one again is in a tube. This one is $11.49. What I really liked about this is the applicator. See how there's like this? Oh yeah. So when you put it on, it's like even without the cream, it just feels good because it's cold because it's metal. So it's this metal applicator tap, you put a little bit in like literally just a tiny little drop. And then you'd like spread it around here. Hold on, I'll show you. There we go. Do you keep it in your in your little fridge in your bathroom, I don't I actually haven't used that for a little while I have to get a new one it kind of broke. See how you just kind of like put it on. And first of all, it just feels good. It's kind of like a nice little self care moment. And secondly, it really does help to brighten so I've just been using both interchangeably to see what I like better, but I have decided that I don't think that there's one eye cream for every day. I think it just depends on your vibe. So that's why I bought Chu and I liked doing it with brands like the inky list because they're cheap. The ingredients are good, good, good packaging like easy to transport. So I've been testing these to brighten eye cream and caffeine eye cream and I'm a fan. So that's what I've got an ice cream. It's a really good price point for an eye cream that exactly does what it does. If you want to try a few and you want to like have a little bit of a variety. Yeah, for sure. I'm gonna get that one it looks I have like sinus pressure today. So I feel like that would feel so good right now under my nails really good. Nice. Okay, yeah. All right, well, my next one, my next one would be a good gift for your sister, your best friend your mom. It would be a great item to purchase if you're going on a long trip for the holidays and you need to wear something comfy on the plane. And Amy, you saw me in this recently. I wore it coming home from Israel. And this is it's like it's such a good steal. It's a great find. I got it off of Amazon. It's called pretty garden women's 2020 To fall fashion outfits that the brand is pretty good. We will post the link to peace sweat suit. They have like a bunch of different colors, but it's really really cozy like medium weight fabric, not your traditional like sweat suit fabric that you think it is just very soft and kind of like silky. And the fit is really good. You know when you're good and the whole outfit looks so chic like it was cute pensive it doesn't look like an Amazon purchase. Totally. It was 38 Oh my god, half of them insane pants on top. And, like of course it's a Dolman sleeve which is like the big kind of like bat wings situation and then the sweats have nice little pocket and they're jogger with like the cup on the bottom. And they come in a million colors. I mean, like really cute stuff. And I went with black just because I feel like it's classic and no one could tell that I weren't on the plane there and on the plane. But yeah, yeah, I think I'm gonna get it for my mom for Christmas. I think she'll really Yeah, I was just but yeah, that's such a great gift for girlfriends or moms 100% Yeah, highly recommend. I love that. I'm gonna have to check that out how many colors like a million maybe you'll get one as a girl. Oh my getting a little prelude to the gifting. They have I'll tell you how many they have like a beige they have multiple green shades. They have multiple Gray's multiple blues they have pink they have like lavender, they have maroon I mean there's a whole array of really cute they have white which would be you know great for the summer. So yeah, okay, it was so good. I had a good head like a comfortable sports bra on under it and I felt like I was in my pajamas the whole time which was you know, yeah, so long for such a good fight. Yeah, well speaking of gifts, still in the eye subject there's one thing that I did want to mention as a holy grail for 2022 I've decided I did review this in a product junkies episode maybe in the beginning I can't remember but it's the Milani supercharged brightening under eye 10 This is Oh yeah. The best concealer I will say that I've used this year. So it's almost like a color correcting tint. But for anyone with dull dark circles under their eyes. I've just been using this like Katie as an example. I just use this in Israel every day when we were on our trip. I never put on concealer. I just use this real Yeah, your skin looks Yeah, so this is I just find that when it's more of a color corrector it takes that darkness out and it brightens your eyes so I found that I really don't need anything other than this. And the formula is so much it's almost like it's very hydrating so it's not you know some concealers are so dry. This is very very hydrating. So it's almost like a serum you're putting on it's almost like skincare in a way and it really covers up those dark circles and then you know if you're going out at night maybe put on a little bit more concealer but you might not even need it like some days like you know depending on the night before. I can just wear this would be fine. I would say 90% of the time I can wear this and be fine but I just had to mention it again because it's such a good good product. It's the Milani supercharged brightening under it when it's 1099 you get to Ulta they have a few different colors but it's again more of like a tint less of a concealer but I use it as a concealer and it's such a good every day and so like this is like such a fun gift for girlfriends because it works for everyone. And it's just a fun little gift to give away to give to friends family whatever. So anyway, just wanted to highlight this is like a 22 favorite. Yeah, I have that also and I have used it a lot and actually I forgot about it. It's in my drawer somewhere I need to get it back out now. It's like I forget about it too. And then I started using recently and it's it's so good for travel too. Nice. All right, well back onto the travel deal. This was another one of my hacks on our long flight so if you're going somewhere for the holidays, you're gonna want to order this stat oh it is the T RTL travel pillow. Of course it was like Instagram. You know marketing. I was like they're listening. They know that I was about getting this. Yeah, every five seconds and so I ordered it but it's like it's the coolest neck pillow because you wrap it around your head like a scarf. I'm gonna do it wrong because I'm on camera of course. It's like a scarf that you wrap around it has velcro on on each end. And on one end of the scarf inside is this shaped thing that cradles your neck and your like the sight of your way in your in your cheek and then you snap it on. Like a scarf that is so in your head. It's like looks like a half neck brace. That's exactly what is that's Yeah, it's like a half neck brace. That's probably where they got the brilliant idea. And your head just completely like stays in place the whole time when you're sitting on a plane. Oh my god, you know, you have to sit up, right? It's like because of this side is wrapped in like a scarf. Your head doesn't wobble. That way. We don't get those pains in your neck. Yeah, and you don't get woken up because you're going like this every five seconds. Right? You know what I mean? Just keep it like. Yeah, the ones that go around your neck, they're just like squishy. I just don't think they're that great. So and also what else? The other thing that was really cool. Like when I turned to lay on my side, it kind of conformed to the seat. So it was really, it was really comfortable. Yeah. And then you got some old time picking like me. I searched like a solid seven hours. Unreal. Like, how much does that cost? 4249. Okay, not bad. Right gift? Yeah, it's a really, it's a it's an essential like, anytime I'm on a flight that's longer than like, I don't know, four hours from now on. I'm taking cozy like it looks like it's warm around your neck. It is. It's the fabric is fleece. Ah, nice. So it is super cozy. Yeah, that is needed. That is such a good invention. I love that. You know, it's genius. Best Travel Pillow ever. That's a great gift. Okay, so I am completely switching topics. I'm gonna give you two things again, because they kind of go together. And it's very random. But it's a good find. So I think I told you about this. And I'm actually eating this right now. So I found Okay, so I love bagels. And I don't eat them that much, obviously, because they're so bad for you. But once in a while, you know, you get that good craving for a bagel. And sometimes they do just have that bagel. But if you want to bagel more often, I found this product at Whole Foods called the better bagel. I think it's new. I hadn't seen it before. I mean, here's what it looks like. I'm showing you my sandwich here because they made a little sandwich with eggs on top. But I've never had a bagel that tastes good. That's like, you know, low carb. So the idea is they call it this is what they say transforming the most carb heavy foods into the least meat the better bagel and so essentially, it has five grams net carbs, one gram sugar that you know high in protein. It's 40 carbs, but it's 35 grams of fiber. So really, it's five net carbs. And it's 26 grams of protein. So it's great. I know. So I've been obsessed with these. They have all different flavors like the one that I'm having now is an everything bagel. They have plain I think they have cinnamon raisin and chocolate. So she could find totally, I mean, it's not exactly like a real bagel, but it's the closest I've found and it's yummy. And so I've read a lot of what's in it. Okay, so the ingredient list I didn't think was very bad. So I'm going to read the classic. It does have wheat, okay. But here here's the ingredient list water, wheat protein isolate. Modified wheat starch, modified food starch, agave fiber, extra virgin olive oil, yeast, sea salt and enzymes. That's not bad. At least it's like stuff we can pronounce. Yeah, you know, it's not too many ingredients. It's not a list of 50 things. It was at Whole Foods. So I figure I can't be awful. So again, not eating these every day. But when I want to bagel this is what I'm eating now. So I'm obsessed. And by the way 35 grams of fiber is like nearly your daily nutrition need for fiber which so that's great. Yeah, I know. I guess the fibers coming from the the agave fiber which I've never actually heard of, but I know sounds clean. I don't know. And then yeah, they have classic which is plain everything cinnamon vegan chocolate chip. So I showed them so like a good fun product especially as we're like getting into winter and holidays and you want more of that cozy food a little heavier food. I thought that was good. And then with that, and we may have talked about this on the show before I can't remember but I've been topping it with the Kite Hill chive cream cheese. Yeah, favorite. So good. We've talked about this brand before we love all their products. The chive cream cheese is really yummy. So I'm currently having the better bagel with the Kite Hill chive cream cheese and a little egg on top. So kind of loving this situation so and does the bagel doesn't like because that's a lot of fiber for one meal. It doesn't bother your stomach or make you feel like crazy full or anything afterwards like probably no more than no I don't feel crazy full. I feel full. Like I feel like it's good because sometimes you just crave a car. It definitely feels like you're eating a good car, but it's you know, five net carbs instead of 40 like a normal bagel would be. Yeah, that's me. Yeah. So I am obsessed. It's my new favorite product at Whole Foods. Yeah, yeah. All right. Well, my last one. Interesting, because it's not our traditional recommendation. It's not really a product. But it is self care tool. And it is like totally in line with wanting to like, feel good and look good, especially like maybe at the end of the holiday season when you've done your party circuit. And maybe you ate all the holiday cookies and drank all the holiday drinks and everything. This is a good way to maybe just slowly get back into your routine and to feel really good. And to get your face snatched after shoving all of the junk food in your mouth for the month while you've been partying. And it's an app. This is my new favorite app. Oh, it's called. Hold on a second. Wait to go. Alright, one second. I had it here. And I accidentally extended it. Actually, I'm just gonna do it from my phone because I haven't on my phone. So it's the lovely app, l UVLY. And what it is, is it's a face yoga, and face massage. Oh my gosh, and genius. I'm obsessed. It's so genius. I started doing face yoga. Like last week when you know, we got back in town last week. And you and I were both just like, totally wiped out just like crazy. I couldn't do anything I couldn't work out. But I just sat there. I was like, I gotta do something i. So I thought, Oh, let me do some face yoga, because I'm about to turn 41. And I just, you know, let's like see if I can do something with these wrinkles. So I found this app 10 minutes a day of a different face yoga routine every single day. And then it also comes with a 10 minute lifting face massage, which is the same one all the time. But it feels amazing. And I use Shelly Marshalls fabulous face oil. And I follow and it's great because the app is it's a picture of it's a video of a woman sitting down and she's showing you everything to do while there's a voiceover telling you everything to do so it's very easy to follow. That's good. It's great. And they also have like one minute breathwork skincare insights like all of these great little tips for your skin. It's free. How to relax your face. I think I paid like, I want to say it was like I think 299 for the month or something. Okay, so I think it's totally reasonable. Yeah. And and it's worth it. I have legitimately noticed the differences. Well, yeah, I mean, I know we talked about this in our episode with Shelly Marshall. I don't know if it was last year or the beginning of this year. And it was all about face yoga. And she was saying like, what a big difference it makes. And I don't even think she was doing Botox and stuff anymore, because she's been doing face yoga so much and I follow her stuff on Instagram, but sometimes it's like, yes, that consolidated an app. So it's hard to find and know exactly what to do. Right. I because I think she has a web I think I think she has some exercises on her website too. But I love that idea of having an app that you can just show them and it's a day and actually but to plug Shelley because she I went she was the first resource that I went to because you know we love her and her website she does have a new subscription model where you can get all of her videos teaching you how to do everything and just because I've have my phone around me more often I just like an app was a little bit more streamlined. But like all day long we highly recommend beauty shaman Shelly Marshall, but yeah, so she I mean she she has kind of the reason why I wanted to give it a try and I noticed a difference in my fine lines around my eyes pretty instantly and my neck and feel like I have like this double chin several times and I've well no but it's like the it's this muscle I was doing all this research on it. This muscle right here the older we get it like loosen right and so it just doesn't look as defined. So I've been doing that and yeah and I'm obsessed so now it's like in the morning when I'm having my coffee when the house is quiet I might do my little 10 minute face you're like the lymphatic drainage in your face. Exactly. That's my age such like I am on the lymph train like I feel so strongly in it being very powerful especially for my autoimmune because your immunity lives in your lymphatic system and I have I just feel so much better after I do like my dry brushing and my shower and all of that so it would only make sense that it would help with the face and you know I get my face gets really puffy and everything is probably from lymph. So I'm inflammation. Highly recommend. Yeah. I was it's funny, I was watching, I'll try to post it if I can find it when we aired this episode, I was watching this tic tac the other day of this girl who's had been doing face yoga for the last year. And she showed her face a year ago now and it was looked so much different, like her face a year ago was like puffy or just looked a little bit more inflamed. Like she was holding fluid in it. And now it's a lot more to find. And so it was like a really good before and after, to really show that if you stick with it, it does work. Yeah, I think I think consistency is definitely key. Like, I don't think you can do it one day a week and expect to get results. I think consistency is like in every day. It's like folding it into your practice of whatever else you're doing. Just add it on to the list of all the other things we women have to do I know right. But then we've got to do it a couple of days a week, at least it's like, yeah, I mean, thank you. But I would say I would imagine that like the least like three days a week would give you results. Yeah. Yeah. That's a good one. And that's a really good takeaway for the holidays too. Because you're right, it's it's the season and all of a sudden, like the next few weeks are going to be drinking and eating and all the things which is so fun, but it will be good to come back and have tools to access like face yoga and like our from a reset that we love and all of those things to come back in the new year and start fresh. So good one. Absolutely. Well, Nirvana's sisters family hopefully this was helpful to get some gifts and some fun little things for your friends and family and hope you have a great holiday season. Thank you for everything over the last year. We have more episodes coming in December. But if we don't get a chance to say happy holidays, and thank you for all of your support and feedback. We love it. And we will talk to you soon. Oh, I'm gonna say this. Oh, we promised that we would give a little recap on our trip or Israel trip. So I think expect to catch up episode from us in January and we'll chat about the holidays and our trip and everything good and sure it's good wine with you because it was yes, epic. It was epic dress. We're still recouping but it was epic. Yeah. All right. Happy holidays. Thanks for listening to Nirvana sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes. Please subscribe and leave us a review. also find us on Instagram at Nirvana sisters. If you loved what you've just listened to or know someone that would please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana sisters will continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.

Episode 80 - Goodbye DIY Health! Functional Medicine & Nutrition Talk With Lahana Vigliano, CEO Of Nuvitru Wellness, Part 2 (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 80

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here or view our podcast episode guide.

Amy: 0:06

Welcome to Nirvana sisters podcast, where we take the intimidation out of well being and beauty to help you achieve your highest state your nirvana. We are sisters in law and your hosts. I'm Amy Sherman.

Katie Chandler: 0:18

And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation. I don't know because you tell, I think you know that hidden cause to bloat, I have a feeling you do. So tell us, what is it? What are some, you know, what's causing some of this split for all of us.

Lahana Vigliano: 0:43

So some things are simple, some things are just eating too fast. So you got to slow down, you'd be surprised how many times I have to tell people this, too, is also something simple up someone is eating, and they're constantly in a fight or flight. So they're eating on the go, they're eating in the car, there's two phases of your nervous system, there's sympathetic and parasympathetic. So there's your rest and digest, and there's your fight or flight. If you're in your fight or flight, you can't digest, a lot of people are in their fight or flight when they're trying to eat. So then they leave their meal and they're insanely bloated. Like of course, like you're not your digestive system is not working. So those are the simple things, the more intense things are usually the microbe. So having a parasite, which is also more common than you think bacterial imbalance, yeast overgrowth, those things can be happening and causing bloat. The other thing is problems digesting food, again, pretty common, having trouble digesting fats having double trouble digesting carbs and proteins. So that's why stool testing is helpful. Because we're looking at these enzymes, we're looking at fecal fat. So how much fat is in your stool, we're able to see like how you're digesting. So sometimes supplemental support is needed. But ideally, we don't want to rely on supplements forever, we want to make sure that we're optimizing just our gastric juices and enzymes naturally. And then food sensitivities. I'll say my last one, but I say this with like a huge asterisk, because I know it's super common. And everyone's testing, which is the conversation and of itself, of all the testing that I don't agree with that is 99% of tests on the market. But if you are being triggered by a lot of foods, yes, you can take out the foods temporarily. But most of the time, there's a root cause of why your body's reacting to the food. Usually it's something gut, so not being able to digest your food or bacteria, parasites, yeast, that is typically what's happening. So the solution isn't to avoid the food long term. It's to actually do a stool test and understand what's going on in your gut.

Unknown: 2:32

Yeah, that makes sense.

Amy: 2:34

That's so true, Katie, because we did an episode like in the beginning, and we both did a food sensitivity test by everlywell. Love your opinion. And it was so interesting, because I was like highly not highly but very sensitive to like, all these foods that I didn't even know. And I don't even know if it's true. And Katie had like a very limited amount. And I'm like, This is so weird. You're more sensitive to things than I am. So I was like, This is bizarre, but I don't know what your thoughts are on the I know, you probably that's probably a whole nother podcast all these at home tests. But

Unknown: 3:05

So real quick, I really well and 99% of that Mark market tests for IgG as a response to food sensitivities. Therefore, they assume that when IgG is elevated, inflammation occurs, that's what a food sensitivity is, it creates inflammation. Now, the thing is, is IgG is like the mailman. It doesn't always deliver inflammation as next step, it can just sometimes be elevated, because it's recognizing that you ate it and you eat it a lot. Now, food sensitivities can kind of happen if you overeat or eat something pretty consistently all the time. But that doesn't mean inflammation is the next step. There's also food sensitivities that are not immune globulin related, so it's totally missing those sensitivities. So I'm not a fan of IgG testing, because it just doesn't show the complete picture. It's kind of like my thyroid, like with TSH and the full thyroid panel, like it's just not enough information to actually take action on it. But again, you don't want to just be avoiding foods long term because some people that could be most foods that's not sustainable by any means. Is it true right?

Amy: 4:06

And would you then say the same thing sorry, Katie, the for the hormone tests like the like they have another one like that's like a women's health test. Is that the same thing? Are they not?

Unknown: 4:17

No, they're okay, but I know you brought up Dutch Dutch is the queen hands down like the best I do mine. I'm actually doing mine this month. I do mine every year. Because you get way more information. And then with the the women's health I think has estrogen and progesterone. And it just depends on your cycle because there's certain parts of your cycle that certain hormones are high so I just feel like it's It's okay. It's not the worst but like if you want to deep dive into hormones, do the Dutch Yeah, I want to do 100% Back to the bloating really quickly. Is it true that I've read this and tell us is it true that you make your digestive enzymes in your mouth and so that's why they essay, chew your food more. And don't drink water while eating because those digestive enzymes you like wash them out if you drink too much water. And if you don't chew quickly enough, if you chew, not enough, you don't produce them. Is that true? So digestive enzymes are made like all throughout. So like pancreas makes them, obviously you have your stomach acid, but there are digestive enzymes made in your saliva. And mostly, it's not really to break down too much fats or carbs, it's more so amylase, which breaks down carbs. Or I said proteins and fats. So it mostly breaks down carbs in your mouth. So that's why you do want to chew slow because it's like pre digesting carbs. And I'm not a fan of drinking water. I've never heard of that digestive enzyme, which makes sense. But more so can you know, your stomach acid is trying to ramp up, right? It's saying like, Oh, foods coming in, like, let's try to you know, optimize that. And water can obviously make you feel full when you need to be focusing on you know, eating because the under eating is an issue with so many women. So I'm a fan of like, don't try have to have any interference that can affect appetite pay. Oh, that's interesting. Why do you feel that way? Not 90% of women that come to us say I'm eating, I'm following my hunger cues. I'm eating good. I'm not starving. And then I look and I'm like, we're not huge on numbers. But we do like to take a little peek see, and have you tracked for maybe a couple days. And hands down. Women are eating like toddlers, they're eating 1200 calories. And I'm like, your body's just used to that. So your hunger cues are wrong. And so I That's my issue with intuitive eating. I do believe you can get there. But I don't think a lot of women are there to start. And maybe it's subconscious of diet culture. Maybe they've been dieting for decades. And they actually don't know how much they should be eating. And so just from experience, most women are under eating 1500 calories. And that's not okay. Like how do we expect to thrive as a woman create babies, and we're barely giving our body fuel, like our car wouldn't work if we didn't give it gas. So it's just crazy. Because some women just like, like, no, that's not me, I eat I'm not hungry. But their bodies are like, No, you girl you need like 1000 More like, that's how much more you need to be eating. And they're like, what, like, That's so weird, because I'm following my hunger cues. So it's interesting that the intuitive eating and the hunger cues because like if anything is out of whack the hormonal imbalances, it it your body thinks you're hungry when maybe you aren't, or vice versa. And like there's even hunger, hunger, hormones, leptin and ghrelin, and all of those things that tell you when to eat, and those can be totally out of whack as well, right? Yes, yes. So that's why I do believe you can get to intuitive eating, but you have to actually assess and look at my eating enough. So you may need to grow into that. So a lot of the times that's a slow process, it's just adding more slowly over time. Once you get there, once it feels good, then most of the time, your appetites up, it will trigger, it will trigger you and say, Oh, you are hungry. So that's just my little snippet there. I do believe it's, you can attain that, but it's not typically where I like to start, because women just aren't very off.

Amy: 8:20

Yeah, and this is like resonated by me so much, because I think I probably under eat even though I probably think I overeat because I've actually been tracking. So do you know that lumen device where you breathe into? So I've been tracking, I've been using it for a while just to kind of see different things and like, you know, you blowed into it every morning. And it's you know, I don't know how accurate it is. But it's it is very interesting, like when I'm burning carbs and fat. And I've just been doing it every morning and seeing how it changes throughout my week based on what I'm eating. However, with that it tells you like how many, you know, fats, carbs and protein to eat. So I've been following that. And I've just been really, really mindful of eating more protein because I don't think I'm eating enough. So I've been eating more protein, and I've been following the macros pretty much and to your point, it's probably not I'm not necessarily trying to diet but when I follow that it's probably around 1200 to 1300 calories a day just by what I'm eating. And again, to your point I'm like I don't it's I haven't been hungry or anything and I'm not necessarily trying to diet I'm just trying to see like how my body's working but I don't know it's strange because there's probably all these apps to your point including this one that maybe not giving you the right information about how much you should be eating. I mean my whole focus has been on just like training more protein but it's interesting to watch to talk more about that.

Unknown: 9:48

That's a goal for sure. I most women don't eat enough protein at all. So it definitely needs to be something that's worked on. Lumen actually does have a lot of science behind it. Yeah is typically the gold standard. I have like measuring metabolism in that way. And I was actually going to incorporate that and give people that in our practice instance, because I feel like it can get a little obsessive. And ultimately, again, I don't, I don't think people need to be obsessing over that to show how they eat in the long term. But yet, like I said, like you said, you might not give you the right information based on your whole person. So like, when we do our first session, we're going back to elementary school, you're telling me physical abuse, sexual abuse, antibiotic usage, you were always SEC like, I mean, we're looking back at the full person. And I feel like those type of apps are technologies, that can be great, but just take it with a grain of salt. Like, don't let that be your Oh, this is what I'm supposed to be doing.

Amy: 10:51

I've tried it myself, too. Yeah, I've been using it directionally. And I what I've noticed is, I've just been doing it in the mornings. And it's so interesting, because sometimes, like if I have a night where like, I just eat whatever, and I binge and I have wine and whatever, and I'll blow in it, I blow like a one. I'm like, How is that possible? And then on a day where I'm eating like, really good and protein and clean a blow when it's like a three and then most of the time, it's like a two or three, just depending on mostly a theory. And like literally everyone was telling Katie this every single day since I've had it and I flooded it. It's pretty much a good two or three, mostly three. And it's like today's a low carb day. I'm like, like, every single time I'm like, Alright, see?

Unknown: 11:29

I used to Yeah, same thing. It's very it's hardly day to

Amy: 11:34

day. I'm

Unknown: 11:34

like complicated. Yeah, nice. I don't know. I know.

Amy: 11:37

But it is interesting. It is just like puts you a little bit more in tune. But I think to your point Lohana. Like, if I knew more about what else was going on, then that would be a helpful tool. But now it's just kind of like I'm using it just to kind of like experiment. But yeah, I think in tandem with like, a real team of doctors, then it would be better for me.

Unknown: 11:56

Sure. Yeah. It's also interesting. I I'm really curious, you know, out of everything that you've told us, what are the some of the big takeaways like what are the keys to improving your metabolism and feeling good in your body and kind of bouncing your your hormones out. I mean, if you could just give our listeners a few pieces. Yeah, definitely eating enough. We'll we'll go through on that. If that's like my biggest thing, please eat enough. That is hands down. The most important thing you can be doing building muscle strength training as the anti aging key, that's the secret is building muscle, we lose it naturally as we age. So there's we can't go against that. It's just our natural aging process. So the more rebuild, it will boost our metabolism, and it will make us look good and eat good. So that's a huge fan. Optimizing protein amounts for sure. Most women, it's very different. But most women should be over 100 grams, at least. And then from there, it's just different based on activity and goals. Gentle walking, I think a lot of people like underestimate walking for metabolism, but it's amazing, and it's gentle, and we definitely should be active and then optimizing your thyroid. So that could be making sure you're repeating any nutrient deficiencies you have reducing stress because stress blocks going back to the stressor, it blocks thyroid conversion and thyroid production, addressing any gut issues that can be triggering for autoimmune thyroid, because your thyroid is the little gem to host your metabolism. So supporting that is really important. Okay, that's great. Yeah. And to your point earlier, you can have a healthy thyroid that is in range, but not optimal. And I know just from experience with hypothyroidism when I like I have my own optimal that is even like smaller than what maybe a functional medicine providers optimal would suggest, but I just know my body. So it's something to keep in mind because I know Amy, you've dealt with that with like higher TSH levels, and your doctor said it was fine, but Maybe for you it's not optimal. And something like something like like zinc or selenium supplementation. Lohana Is that where you point your patients to that are trying to optimize their thyroid with supplementation? We like to test we have a test that does all vitamins, amino acids and minerals. So I just like to test to see what you're even deficient in. And even things that might be borderline. I'm a huge fan of like food first and so just focusing in on those foods a little bit more. So that's typically our like next step because I hate blindly messing with like supplements, even though some supplements are kind of harmless. I just don't know. I just don't like wasting money and like potentially dangerous Yeah, yeah, just like yeah, yes. For sure. So yeah, I like repeating nutrients because you could even have perfect TSH, perfect thyroid hormone, but turning it into active thyroid hormone T three could be sub optimal. And every woman is different. So ideally, we'd like that to be above a three, but women who are like to point A can feel like crap. And to them that's really low and so optimizing that and they feel great once they get above 3.2. So every woman is different. So even with optimal ranges, there's still that bio individuality that roll.

Amy: 15:14

I have a last question about the hormone stuff for our listeners. So if someone is on birth control, or an IUD, can you properly test for hormones or your hormones kind of like screwy because of that?

Unknown: 15:27

No, it is impossible. And I don't do that a lot to balance hormones. When you're on a hormonal birth control period, it's always going to shut down your natural hormone production. It's exogenous form. So it just kind of takes on that. So even your bleed that you have, if you're on birth control to regulate things, it's not getting regulated. It's just truly a bandaid. So the moment you get off birth, control all your issues, you're gonna come back, so no waste of money, please do not test like the Dutch and stuff. I always when people want to do. I'm like, Nope, you're on birth control. It is a waste of money. Don't do.

Amy: 15:59

Okay, now, that's a really good note and even an IUD.

Unknown: 16:03

Yeah, if it's hormonal, yeah, interesting. Okay. Not the copper. The copper is not hormonal. So you could test right. And but obviously, that in and of itself can cause issues and heavier bleeding and copper toxic. So

Amy: 16:15

how do you then work with people? I mean, just because there's I'm sure a lot of people out there that are on an IUD or birthing, like how do you work with people that are on that? Or do you tell them to go off of it?

Unknown: 16:25

No, I feel like technically, most people that come to us are people trying to get off of it or are off of it, basically. But if they are on it, and they really want to stay on it, we just have to change expectations and say we're not bouncing hormones, it's impossible. But what we can do is support your body in different ways. We can be on top of nutrients, testing your nutrients regularly, because birth control depletes you of nutrients. We can support gut health because there is connections with birth control affecting intestinal permeability, which is leaky gut. So working on gut health and then optimizing liver, because there is a higher risk of liver disease and stuff for people taking birth control. So liver, gut nutrient depletion, that's where we'll focus. We can not focus on hormones, though. Okay, unfortunately, no. Okay. All right, well, Lohana where can our listeners find you you are at new V true wellness in Austin? Yes, yes. And that's our website and UV true wellness.com. We openly share how we work our pricing. So if you're interested in becoming a patient, we're virtual, feel free to check us out there. And then Instagram is our favorite. So Instagram Stories is where you see more behind the scenes, but Instagram is our favorite platform. But I believe that we're everywhere. Facebook, tick tock,

Amy: 17:39

I don't you do do virtual. So for our listeners who are all over, they can contact you. Okay, that's great. Yes,

Unknown: 17:44

yes. Yeah, testing is really easy. We can just ship you a kid, the only state that's a little bit funky as New York. They have very, very strict labs. So we can't run Labs in New York and stuff. So just FYI. Interesting. Okay. All right.

Amy: 17:56

Good to know. So before we close out, let's get into our quick wrap session. Okay, what is your favorite wellness or beauty hack?

Unknown: 18:04

Right now? Red light therapy. I love it. Yeah. Or ice rolling?

Amy: 18:09

Yeah, have a good ice good ones. Good ones. We love those. Both. Yeah,

Unknown: 18:12

this next one is your five minute flow. You just got out of the shower and dry it off and you over pings you there five minutes away? What are you going to do to get yourself together and out the door? eyelashes and just a vitamin seems nice? Which one? Do you? What's your fav Vitamin C Serum? I think I've used lately, the cocoa chi and I think I just grabbed that one from Target, which is great when I can find a good brain at Target. So I think that one's the one I've used mostly.

Amy: 18:42

And I hope some luck because you're in Austin. Yeah. Okay, and how do you maintain your daily nirvana.

Unknown: 18:50

Being in the word is really important to me, especially in the beginning of the day. It's that's my whole days. It's my whole week. So I'm connecting spirituality is probably my most important thing that I can do. That's nice. That's beautiful. Alright, so before we go, let's close with our mantra of the week. Amy, do you have one for us?

Amy: 19:10

I do have one. So this is one I saved from a brand called weather urban that I follow. And I liked this quote it was or this affirmation, I guess we could call it and it's the whole point of life is to change to evolve to grow. Don't resist it. Embrace it. Oh, yeah.

Unknown: 19:28

I love that. Yep. Hopefully this episode helps our listeners do just that. Much. I think it will. I Ilana, thank you so much for being with us today. Yes, thank you so much for having me.

Amy: 19:41

Thanks for listening to Nirvana sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes. Please subscribe and leave us a review. also find us on Instagram at Nirvana sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana sisters will continue to watch out For all things wellness so you don't have to buy

Episode 79 - Goodbye DIY Health! Functional Medicine & Nutrition With Lahana Vigliano, CEO Of Nuvitru Wellness, Part 1 (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 79

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here or view our podcast episode guide.

Amy: 0:06

Welcome to Nirvana sisters podcast where we take the intimidation out of well being and beauty to help you achieve your highest state your nirvana. We are sisters in law and your hosts. I'm Amy Sherman.

Katie Chandler: 0:18

And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation Welcome back to the show Nirvana sisters family. Today we are sitting down with Lohana vogliono. She is the CEO and founder of Nuvi true wellness and she's also a board certified clinical nutritionist. The hunter holds a Bachelor of nutrition science degree and a master's of human nutrition plus Functional Medicine degree which is all super impressive. She's currently a doctorate student in clinical nutrition. And she has so much passion in helping women realize that there's a root cause for their symptoms, especially when they have been dismissed by health care before which we've all been there. Her company knew the true wellness specializes in women's hormones and gut health and uses functional medicine lab testing to personalize the patient's journey. Goodbye DIY. It's so true. We're all our own science experiments, right? That's what it's Yeah, she is obsessed with creating natural remedies, researching reading romance books, lifting heavy and cooking meals for her family. Outside of work. She's a mother of two and a wife. So we all have a lot in common here. And her family was the inspiration behind New vitro and continues to encourage her through everything. So welcome to the show. Lohana

Lahana Vigliano: 1:43

Thank you. I'm so excited to be here and to talk about all the fun things. Yes.

Unknown: 1:48

We can't wait to get into all of it. But before we do, let's kick off our nirvana of the week. So Amy, I want to hear yours. What do you got?

Amy: 1:57

Um, so it was funny. I was thinking about this this morning. And it's the fall and it's busy season I feel like and I I feel like I've been running a million miles an hour and I haven't really stepped back and I was like, I don't even know. Like I don't even know what brought me joy this week. I'm sure there's there's been some little things and big things but I guess the other night or one of the things that was sweet was the other night I was my son came home from my younger son came home for basketball practice later and so we had dinner for him and he was just you know, kind of sitting eating his dinner I said you want me to sit with you while you eat? He's like yes it with me, which was sweet. We just had a cute little conversation one on one. So that brought me joy. And we're hugging afterwards and hugging the dogs. There's just as like a sweet little moment because I don't get a lot of time with I just feel like the kids are so busy too. We don't get a lot of that one on one time. So it was sweet. What about you?

Unknown: 2:51

It is really sweet. Those like little intimate moments that are hard to catch when they actually talk to you. You know? Yeah, exactly what I was thinking about this we've had a couple but I know you're saying it's like the insanity things are really busy. It's probably the days are flying really quickly. I came home from some family stuff. Last week I had to travel for to do peloton bike that my husband which was a year I was very surprised by it.

Amy: 3:21

I didn't even know you guys were looking at that I did I know

Unknown: 3:24

we were either. Apparently this is a plug for peloton but they have a good new membership model. So it's the kind of situation where I don't know if we're renting it or if we own it. I don't know what it is. But it's a membership model. It's just a it's more accessible for those that are maybe interested. And it's the new one where it has the TV screen that turns and you can access all of their classes. So you can do like weights and yoga. And like, you know, all kinds of other stuff off of the bike. So that was a little nirvana for me. I've been using it this week. It's it's that's a sense of price. Yeah. What about you? Lohana What was your Nirvana this week? I definitely agree with you guys. It has been pretty crazy. And it just last week was even crazier. So honestly, it was just some silence and some wind down like we had family in town. Work was busy. We were under contract for a house and that was unexpected. But a good deal just came up and so that it's a lot so honestly just slowing down and just doing low Netflix days. Like I remember earlier this week, I was like you know what, I'm gonna do my appointments. I have a couple. But the rest I'm just gonna like Netflix. I'm going to just enjoy I'm going to work out I'm just going to do me stuff. Yeah, I

Amy: 4:43

love that. I actually I had I had a good night to watching a Netflix show with my husband. We have like a lot of shows that we will end up watching at night. We tried to put our phones away and watch the show together and I saw the I don't know if you guys watch Handmaid's Tale Yeah, you've been watching you know, like This week's episode, literally, I couldn't stop talking about it was so good. I want to know, listeners haven't listened. But like, I was just I couldn't it was so good.

Unknown: 5:10

We all need those chills.

Amy: 5:13

I know, I know. Awesome. Well, it's so nice to meet you ohana. And I feel like there are so many questions that I have. And Katie has, and our listeners will have. But I think because I've actually been like, looking into this topic a lot lately, because I'm just feeling like off. And I think like, we hear so much about gut health and microbiome and hormones. And I'm just confused, like, Where does someone start? Like, kit? Is there a home test? You can do you have to go to a doctor, you have to find a functional? Like, where do we start?

Unknown: 5:44

Yes. Usually, for good testing, you will have to have like a good partner. And that could be a functional medicine doctor. That could be though we are not doctors. We are dieticians and nutritionists. But we have access to labs and stuff. So any functional medicine provider, you'll definitely want to partner up with because there is so much information and it's so confusing. And just because you hear something doesn't technically mean that's what you need to do. And so I'm all about like, not DIY in anymore and understanding like what does your body need and moving forward. But a great place to start with, which is something you mentioned is gut health. So if you do struggle with like bloating, or diarrhea, constipation, acid reflux, abdominal cramps, anything and anything in the gut, that is where I typically like to begin, because it really all does stem there, there's so many different connections of how that affects our hormones, sex hormones, adrenals, you name it. So if you had to, like narrow in on just like a focus got would be my favorite because while you are focusing on gut, you do end up trickling into other areas at the same time.

Amy: 6:48

And if you want to focus on gut like, what do you do you go to your doctor and you say, I want to get the I know we've talked about this before on this show the Dutch test or like, what do you say specifically

Unknown: 6:58

for gut you would want a comprehensive stool test. And if you're seeing someone who's functional medicine, there's a variety of them. A lot of practitioners do like gi map, but there's stuff from Genova. But if you just a comprehensive stool, a functional medicine provider will absolutely know what that means. Just to circle back quickly, you're saying you want to team up with a functional medicine provider? It's so interesting, because I think most women when they think hormones, they think OB GYN, right. And I I've been there, we've all gone to that doctor, and it's it really is not their purview, you know, they're there. They're like going there to like, keep your uterus healthy help you have babies. And that's it. So the hormonal stuff that kind of blew my mind. And I think I know a lot of people that were surprised and really kind of let down by their OB Gen, because they just say, oh, like, yeah, everything's good, you're fine. You're fine. So that's good to know, for the listener. Okay, so help us understand that gut health and hormone connection. So you, are you just saying that with gut health comes? Like, explain how that all trickles down? Yeah. Yeah. And I want to say to a lot of providers that are in the traditional health care field, they're looking for pathology. So disease, that doesn't always mean though someone has a disease, you can have like an imbalance or something a little off. And that's why things aren't caught, per se. So like, we hear all the time of like, Oh, my doctor tested thyroid hormone for an example. And they said it was good. But then when we look at it, when they only tested TSH, which is not the like, it's one marker of the full thyroid picture, not the form, you can't just rule out thyroid with just that. But that is hands down what most providers do. And then the second thing is maybe they do get a full thyroid panel, and then they look at it. And yeah, nothing's out of range like crazy. They don't have hypothyroidism. But you can see a little bit of sub optimal, like their sub optimal, they're not the best level that they should be, but they're not disease wise. So they typically will be you know, shoot off. So that's, that's a it's very, very different. And yes, I think if you're looking to just longevity and just be healthier, that's where you got to get someone more in the alternative realm. But gut health is my favorite thing ever. Because I feel like it it feels so like, how the heck is that even related to hormones because it feels so different, but it's not. So there's a couple different ways that poor gut health can affect hormones. And a lot of that is well one thing is your bacteria balance. So we always have our probiotics, which is our good bacteria. And then we have opportunistic bacteria, which is bacteria that will always be in the gut, E coli, Staph strep, but when they are at higher levels, it causes chaos. That's why they take opportunity to cause chaos and give you bloating and all the really fun symptoms. So when you have this imbalance bacteria, we call it dysbiosis. It increases an enzyme called beta glucuronic days. And this enzyme actually can reabsorb estrogen and toxins that have already processed through the liver, it reabsorbed them back into the body. So that can be a reason for things like estrogen dominance of having just too much estrogen in the body. So that's one way. Another way that it affects hormones, and the adrenal round, which is our stress hormone. When you have stuff going on parasites, yeast, bacteria, you name it, that is very stressful on the body. And so that will actually stimulate your adrenals that makes our stress hormone, and it will stimulate cortisol or stress hormone. So this is a low key chronic stressor in the body. So whenever we bring up the stress conversation, we have to not when I think, I think when people think of stress, they think of Oh, yeah, my boss sucks. I had a really bad day, my grandpa died. But no one's thinking the internal stressors, and those mean just as much as external. So if your body's stressed internally, it's going to affect your cycle, it's going to affect other things. And then the third way that gut imbalances or gut issues, cause issues is when you are not able to digest your food properly. And we do see this quite often, whether it's people having trouble digesting fats, proteins, carbs, you're ultimately not able to absorb your raw materials that is needed for hormone production, every single process in the body hormones, not hormones, you there's a nutrient related in there, and it's helping the process come along to producing the hormones from the raw materials, and then ends up testosterone and estrogen and progesterone. So if we're not able to get what we need from our diet, then we're gonna see a kink in the hormone production. So isn't it it's wild, how complex our bodies are. I mean, it's really it like blows my mind. It's really cool. Do you I've heard that, like eating a lot of fiber is good, because it helps flush out the excess estrogen that's in your bowels and in your stomach and everything. And so would that excess estrogen be coming from the liver? Like you said earlier that infiltrates the system? Is that how that works? Yeah, so I mean, we always problems we're done with it, we process it through the liver, or fiber does help. I know, raw carrot salads are a thing right now, to help kind of bring that bind it and take it out in the body. But I mean, if you definitely have some microbial stuff going on in there, it can definitely still influence any reabsorption later on, not just for hormones, but also for toxins, which I feel like is a woowoo topic, but it shouldn't be because there's a lot of research showing like phalates, and parabens and BPA, and all these environmental toxins do affect hormones. So it increases reabsorbs those so that can you know affect hormones as well in the long run.

Amy: 12:52

So I always feel like to I hear about inflammation, right? And when we hear about inflammation in the body, what does that mean? Is that like, does that have to do with hormones? Does that have to do with gut? Is it just like, I just feel like, again, that's one of those words where you're like, Oh, you have inflammation everywhere? Like, what does that mean? And like, how do you address that,

Unknown: 13:15

it's actually kind of like your immune system is being very over reactive. And you know, our immune systems, you can think of it like when you get a cut, and your cut gets inflamed, that's just because there's a lot of chemical processes that are attracting your immune cells to help fight off any, you know, disease and pathogens. So more on a cellular level, that's kind of what's happening. But then with inflammation in general, it does just like a cut, it gets like big and red and sore. And so internally, I guess you can think of it the same way. It's just like, you might hold on to water and you might not feel well, you might get headaches. So we want to make sure that yes, our immune system is always active, it's always fighting for us. But we just got to make sure that we're just not chronically asking for it to always be on and these are like gut health and all these other things that I feel like functional medicine, actually acknowledges is the root cause of why people are having chronic and this chronic inflammation can lead to all sorts of problems like autoimmune disease and everything. And that all can start with what you're putting into your body, what you're feeding yourself and how all these imbalances are manifesting right

Amy: 14:28

now. Go ahead and yeah, and sorry, one more thing. I've just I feel like I've been like listening to a lot of podcasts about this lately, too. And it's like, you know, there's what you're putting in your body and and also what you're supplementing your body with, but then I feel like there's all these other like you were saying Lohana environmental factors. As I was saying to my husband the other day, I'm like, I feel like we need to change all of our cleaning products. Yeah, like, right, yes. Yeah, like we need to do a full sweep of that because I don't know like, just like my husband has a lot of allergies and so I feel like Do we need to do a full suite? Because there's so there's all these other things that you're not thinking about? Yeah, which is scary, but,

Unknown: 15:07

and it's scary, because it seems like oh my god, there's just so much stuff like eff it, like, I'm just not gonna do anything, right. I'm a big fan of like, take control, like with what you have control over what you put in your body, what you put in your house that you're putting on your body, like your beauty products like that all matters. And if you just slowly change each thing, before you know it, you've taken a lot of risk and reduction of, you know, chronic disease in the long term. So I'm such a huge fan of doing that, because studies do show that it literally inhibits because it hormone production is like a little we always forget the term for this assembly line. And so along the assembly line is little enzymes. And so these toxins affect these enzymes, and they either can slow it down. And again, there's the kink in the system, or it can even increase certain enzymes, like there's an enzyme called aromatase that increases testosterone to turn into estrogen. So and that's all like BPA does that. So it is very much a thing and should be taken as seriously as diet. That's really interesting. This next question is a bit personal because I was dealing with this myself, I don't know if you know 100, but I have hypothyroid and Addison's disease, so my hormones are just always a mess. But I think I'm getting to that age where they're getting a little bit more interesting as we know, ladies. So all summer, I was dealing with blood sugar issues, and I've never had blood sugar problems before. I'm not like pre diabetic or anything, but I would just I would be eating carbs or the wrong thing. And I would be a mess. Whereas I used to handle it. And I wouldn't get like the big rush of energy and the heart palpitations and then the heavy heavy crash. So why why does that? How's that connected to two hormones and hormonal shifts as we age? Yeah, oh, I love blood sugar, because I feel like it's one of the foundational hormones that needs to be in balance, for sex hormones to be balanced for Yes, adrenals to be balanced, because it can it can drive inflammation, it can stimulate stress, and cortisol. When you're like on that up and down roller coaster, in an intense way. You're kind of always in a little mini roller coaster, but any too low lows too high highs are problems, but it regulates your energy gives us clarity, and then influences our weight ultimately, as well. So insulin is our fat storage hormone. So it's really important to make sure that this is balanced. And so we love doing like continuous glucose monitors and really like playing around with foods and how they react with the body. Hopefully they know the importance. Okay, it's interesting how you said I never thought about how to fix cortisol because I don't I don't make cortisol. So I have to take cortisol. So when I was having these ups and downs on these roller coasters, I thought it was affecting it was affecting my Addison's and I would need more steroid, and then that causes all of these other problems. So it was just this massive, crazy shift. But for the rest of the population that isn't as screwed up as I am. That blood sugar, you're up, you're down. And when you're crashing, you're thinking I'm hungry, I feel lightheaded. I feel I feel so sluggish. My brain fog, I should eat more. So it's just this like constant cycle, right of probably choosing the wrong foods and doing the wrong thing to feel stable and you never feel stable. Personally, the shift happened for me when I switched to paleo, and I was able to stabilize better. So that's just a tip for anybody out there that's dealing with blood sugar issues, could always try that.

Amy: 18:35

What's also interesting is Katie, and Lana, and if you've heard this, this episode, and for listeners, you can go back but we interviewed the founder of criminal wellness, Lisa Aden Weller, and we had a long conversation about blood sugar and like how it should remain stable because so many foods spike it like she was saying oatmeal can spike your blood sugar and then you're down again. Whereas like if you try to stay in that window of like in between, you don't get super hungry, and then you don't have those crashes. But we had a conversation about that and she was saying she wears a blood sugar or glucose monitor to really see how all of the foods are affecting her which sounds like it can be individualized for many people but

Unknown: 19:14

oh yeah, that's why I love the CGM is some people do fine with sweet potato and some people like no not fine so that's where a lot of the just because you heard like oh don't do potato it's so bad for you it raise my blood sugar that does not mean it's going to raise up blood sugar for the other person right there are more foods that are more likely to but I definitely firsthand have seen so many people respond differently to bananas and to grapes and to potatoes and to rice is very different so that's why I love it because it gives you that like inside feel of like oh this is what works right? That is your go to monitor the kind that you can put on your arm Do you suggest that to your to your clients? So it's constant which is super cool as opposed to the traditional diabetics, they just prick their finger and check occasionally throw of the day.

Amy: 20:00

So what is it, you just wear it and it tells you what your blood sugar is all day long.

Unknown: 20:05

It's a prescription. So you have to work with a provider to get it. So when we we have a doctor that prescribes it for us on our team, but it's so amazing. So it goes in the back of your arm, and it measures your blood glucose 24/7. So while you're sleeping all throughout the day, so 24/7 just seeing what it is. So you open up your app, and then you see like what's spiking, it's really interesting to see your nighttime as well, because it can be problematic if by chance you are spiking at night or going too low. You can do things before bed, eating certain things, doing certain things that can help like balance that out. So some sometimes people need like a bedtime snack that's really balanced like proteins, carbs and fats, some people don't. But I think it's awesome because it can also tell us like how you do with fasting because the adrenal blood sugar is very intertwined. Because if you're either running, if you're not eating breakfast, you're most likely running on cortisol, just FYI. Which is why I'm I think intermittent fasting and fasting can be helpful for women who have good hormones, and they're balanced. But a lot of people just want to do that. But you're running on stress hormone. So if you're already having adrenal issues, now you're just putting an extra burden on it. So we want to balance that blood sugar because the reason you're running on cortisol is it's tapping into stored glucose in your liver and in your muscles. Because that is what balances out your blood sugar levels. So cortisol is like crap, we're not getting into glucose. Let me knock on some cell doors. Let's bring it out. And let's balance your blood sugar. So that's why I say you're running on cortisol. If you're not, you know, eating breakfast, you're using up stored glucose, but you really got to tap in and use those adrenals.

Amy: 21:44

So is that the same thing for men like our men and women the same in that

Unknown: 21:48

area? Yes. And also Adrenal Fatigue is also a very real thing. It's not it's not an AMI, have you? Have you heard of adrenal fatigue? Because it's not I have adrenal insufficiency. So that's a totally different thing. But it's, it's it's kind of a hot topic, right? Adrenal Fatigue, and it's when people are like you said, probably running on spiked levels of cortisol and it can feel you just like you always feel kind of rundown and you think, oh, I need more coffee, but that actually makes it worse. It's that always feeling like stressed feeling right, is that yeah. And usually when someone gets to adrenal fatigue, the correct clinical description is HPA dysfunction, which is hypothalamus, pituitary adrenal dysfunction. And it basically just means that from a long term stressor, maybe you were just really busy for the last year just always stressed, eventually, your brain kind of takes a break from your adrenals. So the communication between those two organs are like, Hmm, let's go on vacation, let's just take a break. So when it then now people will tend to have low cortisol, because that brain, that communication of the brain to the adrenals is not functioning as well. So the adrenals tend to be very low, so then you're going to be tired and just feel like crap. Yeah. Yeah. So yeah, people want to drink caffeine and, you know, add on more feel better stressors, but it makes it worse, but you actually need to slow down. Yes, you need to slow down or body rest, don't be excessively working out. It's the opposite of what you should a girlfriend of mine has been doing the her functional medicine person caught the adrenal cocktail, and it's the pink Himalayan salt and lemon juice, right? And that kind of just like helps replenish things. Yes, typically, when adrenals are low functioning, it needs a lot of love and nutrients. So some adrenal cocktails, will be like a little bit of orange juice with collagen, some coconut milk to make it like more of a balanced carbs, proteins, fats, but then they'll add electrolytes because your body just needs extra amounts that needs extra amounts of vitamin C, when your adrenals are low, lots of B vitamins when they're low, because that's really what helps them work and thrive. So when it's low functioning, you just need extra nutrient lab support. So adrenal cocktails are a great way to get into like Dr. electrolytes, the orange juice can also provide a little vitamin C, stuff like that. So yeah, that's a really popular tool that even interesting.

Amy: 24:10

I have a question too. Because again, like we were saying, there's so much information out there and like, this stuff is so individualized and like the more and more I learn about it, I'm like, I just needed to have a functional doctor because there's so many things and it's like to your point, like no more DIY because you try to you try this one day you try it and you don't even know what you're addressing, really because you don't know what you have to work with. So I guess my question is, how do you find a good functional doctor? Like I have a friend and I asked her the other day, I'm like, some of your functional doctors. She was like, Why have one but the waitlist is six months and I have another one that's virtual, but I'm like, how do you vet a functional doctor because I think it's so important to have a regular doctor and a functional doctor. See you have a team's like always know what's going on with you, especially as you're getting older and your hormones and gotten all these things are changing.

Unknown: 24:55

Well, I'm your girl. No, I'm just getting.

Amy: 24:58

I was just gonna say are you for Jonathan Yeah, we

Unknown: 25:00

do work virtual, we're actually all virtual. So even if you're not, I'll discuss to see you again. And then but I it's just like any doctor, you kind of have to interview them because I've even seen functional medicine doctors, you know, just to make the theme more difficult that I was turned off because I was pre med. So I was turned off by a pill for every ill. Yeah, now I also see functional medicine doctors doing a supplement for every ill. And so I feel like even though it's natural, we're still prescribing like, Oh, you have inflammation? Here's turmeric, well, what the heck is inflammation occurring? Why is that even happening? So I see a lot of that in functional medicine space, so you still have to be careful. I feel like you just have to, like, if you're a practitioner is always asking why, like, Okay, I'm feeling like, that's okay. Why, okay, then this happened. Okay, so why, why, why why I feel like most of the time, then you're going to have someone who's going to dig enough and deep enough for the root cause. And that's what the most important thing is, you can start off finding, I think it's ifm.org their website you can find if you want someone close to I think you can search by zip code. So that's a thing, but I don't know I feel like most people find people based on like podcasts and obviously budget because it's functional medicines typically self pay, so that plays a role too. So yeah, I feel like people just kind of hear on like social media and then they reach out to them. So I don't know if there's like an official way. That's good to hear that and I have found with doctors that you just have to vet them yourself. Like you have to understand what it is that you're looking for. And you know, like for my endocrinologist I interviewed like five this year before I found somebody so yeah.

Amy: 26:38

Stay tuned for next week, where we continue our discussion with Lohana we talk about all sorts of things hidden cause for bloat how women are eating too little keys to improving your metabolism, the secret anti aging key and much more. See you next week. Thanks for listening to Nirvana sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes please subscribe and leave us a review. also find us on Instagram at Nirvana sisters. If you loved what you just listen to or know someone that would please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana sisters will continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.

Episode 75 - Eating For Mental Health - How To Fuel Your Brain With Natasha Coughlin, Part 2 (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 75 .

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here or view our podcast episode guide.

Amy: 0:06

Welcome to Nirvana sisters podcast where we take the intimidation out of well being and beauty to help you achieve your highest state your nirvana. We are sisters in law and your hosts. I'm Amy Sherman.

Katie Chandler: 0:18

And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation

Amy: 0:28

hanging around the sisters family hope you enjoyed part one last week with Natasha Coughlin. And if you missed it, feel free to check it out. Great episode lots of good information shared and in this short part two continuation of the episode, we finish our conversation on eating for mental health. We talk about top tips for improving gut health and digestion, how to know how much protein and fat you need, and Natasha's thoughts on organic food and more. Enjoy this part two episode.

Katie Chandler: 0:58

I'm curious what your top tips are for improving gut health? Because that's obviously the number one thing for you. It's when you start, do you feel like you start there with your with your clients as making sure that their gut health isn't as in place? What do you do to get there?

Natasha Coughlin: 1:13

Well, we test I mean, I usually do a stool test. I mean, it's not the most popular option with adults, but people kind of tend to do it. You know, they say if you know, I trust you, if you think it will be helpful, you know, I'll do it. So yeah, so we look to see kind of what they're you know, they have enough digestive enzymes, enough stomach acid, what they're, you know, the big thing now is the microbiome, right, kind of what the microbiome are doing, what kind of bacterial composition is there. So we look at all of those things, but, you know, ultimately, you know, gut health is depending on whether you're kind of where you're starting, if there's actually you know, repair that needs to happen, then we do, you know, we do certain supplements, some herbs and some vitamins, and nutrients that kind of feed that lining to make sure it becomes nice and impermeable, again, right, nice and tight. And, you know, again, foods like bone broth are really good. Anything with probiotics, right fermented, like the like, you know, pickles, sauerkraut, those kinds of, you know, yogurt, I'm not, I'm not a fan of dairy. So some kind of do not usually recommend non, some kind of non dairy yogurt. But, you know, really, gut health is so individual, like I do kind of approach it with, you know, based on test results, and really, you know, talking to a person. So, but yeah, so those are, you know, some of the foods like bone broth is very healing anything. You know, again, you know, the general formula is kind of your, your plant heavy, Whole Foods, you know, try to avoid pesticides, so organic food as much as possible, because I think there's not, you know, not a lot of understanding about, you know, what, what pesticides are, and they're really, you know, they're kind of meant to affect that it's almost kind of like combust the digestive system of pests. So you don't glyphosate right, in the in the pesticides. So So basically, that's kind of what it does to us as well, if we eat foods that are conventional, and, you know, it sounds a little too dramatic, perhaps. But yeah, it does, you know, eating conventional foods can contribute to that hyperpermeability. So you know, organic food as much as possible, and just, you know, real Whole Foods, and then, of course, you know, chewing your food really well and making sure we're eating in a mindful manner. And we're sitting down and actually, you know, looking at the food and smelling the food, and, you know, taking a few deep breaths to put the nervous system in that rest and digest state, because usually we're in a fight or flight, right, we're going and then, you know, then we sit down and we grab something while doing something else. So the brain actually has to catch up. Yeah, the brain has to ultimately send the signals to the digestive tract, the food is coming in and you know, the enzymes have to be produced, the stomach acid has to be produced. So if we are not even looking at the food, we're just kind of grabbing an eating, we are ready, you know, a couple of steps behind so digestion is gonna start after you've already started eating and that's kind of too late.

Katie Chandler: 4:24

That's so true. And it's also like it's, it's too late for your brain to tell you that you're not hungry anymore. Like I know when I'm on the go. I just I feel like I'm constantly hungry. It's because I didn't slow down and take the time for my brain to catch up with the fact that I've eaten and I enjoyed my meal and right you know, so yeah, that's interesting. I'm just really quickly how do you feel about collagen supplements? I have been taking one recently and I believe it's good for gut health as well.

Natasha Coughlin: 4:53

Yeah, yeah. Collagen I mean, that's what's in your bone broth because Bone broth has all the you know, vitamins and minerals as well, but I Um, I think collagen is good. I mean, I like to, I like to use collagen in kind of alternating with just a whole, you know, protein powder, not just the collagen because collagen is, you know, missing one amino acid. So it's not a complete complete protein. But, you know, generally I like it, I mean, it's good to you know, add to your smoothies mix into a yogurt and mix it into pancake batter. It is important to get that protein in the morning so, I do I do like to use collagen as you know, as a source of protein, but also I have some kind of a whole protein powder as well, you know, perhaps on like alternating mornings,

Amy: 5:43

do you have any collagen or collagen or collagen protein powders that you recommend?

Natasha Coughlin: 5:50

I use vital Vital Proteins, Vital Proteins collagen, for the collagen powder. I like that be well by Callie. Because it's you know, she, she says, um, and you know, of course I trust what What would her company are, are saying that it's you know, very, very clean, you know, it's breast that produced without any chemicals. So that's the one I like, I don't like vegetarian protein powders, because you know, brown rice again, there's so much to talk about brown rice, even organic being contaminated with arsenic. I just kind of thought, you know, and vegetable protein is not that bioavailable, so I would rather go with something like collagen or just a whole, like grass fed beef, you know, based protein, rather than any of the brown rice based protein powder. I mean, I can you know, something like a ham protein with very minimal ingredients is, you know, would be a good way to go. But otherwise I go with no animal. And yeah, cuz

Amy: 6:55

I keep hearing like a lot of controversy about pea protein, as well. And I don't really know, I can't remember exactly what they're saying. But I just feel like I hear noise about that.

Natasha Coughlin: 7:04

Yeah, again, it's, it's all about how it's produced, like, a lot of times it's, you know, heavily heavily processed, and how they sort of extract things, there's a lot of that, that it's not, it's not a very, you know, clean process. And again, you know, peas, you know, peas are kind of an issue for a lot of people, I actually, this sort of triggers a memory, I had a client who was a vegetarian and was just using pea protein bass powder every day. And when we did her food sensitivity testing, that was the first thing that came up was like peas was like in the red, the highest, you know, IgG levels of, you know, antibodies to that. And, you know, in her case, it was you know, she had digestive issues, kind of weight loss resistance. And, you know, one of the things we did was we swapped her people just she did start eating some seafood and fish. So I kind of took you know, she wasn't a strict vegetarian anymore. But we also replaced her protein powder with something else and just actually some real sources of protein not just you know, not just something that comes from a you know, from a bottle. And we saw some great results especially, you know, weight was like weight loss that was kind of almost miraculous and she she kind of lost all those unwanted pounds very quickly that were just they're not not budging, and nice. So, yeah, so, yeah, so pros. I mean, I think protein powders is super helpful. And again, there's, you know, a variety of when people mix them into coffee, certainly smoothie, yogurt, pancake batter, you know, things like that. So in chia pudding when I make my chia pudding, even though chia seeds have the, you know, protein, and you know, good fiber, too, I still put a scoop of protein powder, just to beef it up a little too. And beef up. I mean, like beef up on the coast.

Amy: 8:58

Yeah, I always go back and forth with protein powder. I feel like I'm really into it and making shakes and doing all those things, or I'm like, not at all and I like just try to eat protein, like real protein, but um, it just reminds me like, I should just add it to things as you're cooking, it's a really good reminder.

Natasha Coughlin: 9:15

I think that's how it goes. I think we all go through that right in the smoothies. I mean, sometimes you're just absolutely sick of smoothies. And again, like we are now going into colder months like I know I'll be making soup you know, a lot more soups and a lot you know, fewer smoothies so so there's really no right or wrong I mean food is you know, it has to be done for enjoyment Right? Like you have to be actually enjoying where you're eating. And we get sick of things you know, if you if you made them your sort of same smoothie all the time, you would definitely want something different and as I tell my clients, you know, there's no right or wrong. Usually breakfast foods seem to be the tough ones. And I always say you know there's no right or wrong if you want your leftover chicken with veggies from the day before like you can have that For breakfast, like who said you can't. So so anything, anything kind of goes as long as it's, you know, nutritious as long as it's, you know, something your body is enjoying. And, you know, again, this kind of breakfast makes me think of the whole intermittent fasting as well, and people, you're skipping breakfast. I'm a big proponent of eating breakfast, I think it's much better and then delaying eating until later in the day, like all the research says that finishing your eating window earlier in the day is much better than not starting until like two o'clock in the afternoon. So, so breakfast, you know, maybe not the most important meal of the day, because I feel like that was the Cheerios message, you know, but it is like it really is important and having enough protein, but breakfast is I would say kind of like, you know, protein and fat, right? Because we always get the carbohydrates somehow, you know, from fruits, vegetables some way, but it's getting enough of the healthy protein and fats, and especially to start your day like that.

Amy: 11:06

Do you have a recommendation? No, this is like, hard to do, because it's very individualized. But like, how someone can determine how much protein and fat they need, because like, sometimes I will eat a healthy fat like nuts or salmon or whatever. And then I like won't have something else that's a healthy fat because I'm like, oh, maybe that's too much. But without tracking, which is like I've done and I hate doing is there a way to just generally kind of know like, if you're having enough protein or fat?

Natasha Coughlin: 11:34

Well, protein, I mean protein is kind of is more straightforward. The general formula is one gram of protein per kilogram of body weight. So your, you know, you divide your pounds by 2.2. And that's your, your weight in kilograms. And so one gram of protein per kilogram. So for, you know, for me, it's about, you know, 4550 grams of protein. So I know it's an equivalent of like, two chicken breasts. And, and I know I may not have two chicken breasts, but you know, I always start my breakfast with protein. And you know, no matter what I'm eating, I'm kind of like, I know that I'm getting that 10 to 15 grams of protein with my breakfast, whether it's in like a you know, Greek yogurt with like an added protein or I'm having like a chia pudding, or I'm having you know, something with nut butter with like, extra seeds on top, you know, something so 10 to 15 grams with your breakfast, and then the rest will be divided between lunch and dinner. But yeah, whatever kind of whatever fits in, like a piece of animal protein that fits in the palm of your hand is about 20 grams, you know, can be 20 to 25. So and then what about Yeah, you know, fats, there's really no requirement for fats, we just know that they have to be healthy. So rum Satish, I know, you know, I know my if I'm eating salmon, you know, I'm getting my good omega threes, olive oil is a really healthy fat. So just you know, dressing your, I always Drizzle olive oil on either salads or cooked vegetable. So that's kind of always there. And I never measure. Again, if we're dealing with you know, weight loss, you know, you may kind of need to look at the total calories in calories and see how much of that is coming from fat. But, you know, some people overdo things on the nuts. So nuts are about like, 10 nuts as a serving, like, that's kind of what you want to have per day. So not just like, keep grabbing from a bag and then at the end of the day, you realize the bag is empty and you know, you know, 12 ounces or something. So, but otherwise, if if fat is healthy, you know, whether it's you know, half of an avocado, you know, tablespoon of olive oil, you know, a piece of salmon, you know, in you know, even something like coconut oil I know there's some controversy because it's a you know, saturated fat but I think coconut oil, olive oil, coconut oil is healthy and like, tasted delicious on you know, certain foods, so, so, ya know, a

Amy: 14:03

lot of people put that in their coffee in the morning to coconut oil.

Natasha Coughlin: 14:07

Yeah, I like MCT. So MCT oil is derived from coconut oil, but it doesn't have that flavor. And it's much it's digested. Like it doesn't go through digestion the same way as others. Yes. Yeah. So I have to do Yeah, I like MCT like powder in my coffee. Or I use it as a liquid just to like put on a toast or pancakes or in a smoothie actually makes a smoothie just like tastes. It gives smoothies, this sort of round flavor. If you're a little bit of MCT oil. It's a good it's a good you know, speaking of mental health, it's a good brain fuel.

Katie Chandler: 14:42

Yeah, I love my MCT oil. Is it every morning? Yeah, you

Amy: 14:45

got me into that.

Katie Chandler: 14:47

Just really quickly before we move on to our wrap session. I so I love that you have mentioned organic, organic, organic because I actually had someone tell me the other day that it is is like complete nonsense. And that it's just the like the organic farmers are all paid off. It was like this total, like ridiculous the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. I want to hear from your nutritionist mouth. organics the way to go yes, if you can do that.

Natasha Coughlin: 15:19

Yes, I mean, I don't think it's like some big hoax. I mean, there's certainly you know, we can't control how, you know, 100% exclusively, you know, organic food is because again, there's a water supply, right, there's a air, we can't you know, nothing is grown in a silo, right, you can't really protect your fields from anything that's possibly coming in. But if food is not sprayed with glyphosate, that's pretty much as much as we can control. And I think that's what, you know, that's what's better for us. So because, again, that, you know, glyphosate is a, you know, it's, it's actually meant to disrupt the digestive tract of, of the pests. So therefore, it kind of does it to us as well. So, so I would say, organic, organic, organic, I do follow the Dirty Dozen clean 15 You know, every year when they put out their list, because there's some things that are just too expensive, organic or not available, or, you know, I know something has a thick skin and it's on the clean 15 You know, I just peel it and I know that I'm you know, I'm not getting the I'm not getting the pesticides from that. So, so that's, I would say at least do the dirty dozen clean 15 and kind of by those by those foods organic because I certainly, I mean, I honestly hate to see people who are like juicing their spinach or salary in their conventional you know, when I see people buying big bunches of conventional celery or conventional, you know, bags of spinach, because they're clearly for some kind of mass, you know, either juicing or smoothies or something like that. You know, yes, you're you're getting you know, you're you're getting the good but you're getting the bad a lot of battle with Yeah, with the goods. So, yeah, so I do like organic, of course, if it's available, if it's not cost prohibitive. The way to go

Katie Chandler: 17:18

next, thank you. Okay, I'm glad to hear that up. All right. Well, really quickly. Where can our listeners find you Natasha,

Natasha Coughlin: 17:25

integrative health, rd as an registered dietitian, integrative health rd.com. That's my website. And then I'm on Instagram at Natasha Coghlan. Fantastic.

Amy: 17:38

And do you do virtual appointments as well as people are able to do

Natasha Coughlin: 17:41

most of my appointments now? Our zoom? Yeah, nice.

Katie Chandler: 17:45

That's great. Okay. All right. Well, we're gonna get into our signature wrap session, we just have a couple questions for you. We want to know the first one, what is your favorite wellness or beauty hack?

Natasha Coughlin: 17:57

I would say my favorite wellness hack is going outside in the morning. I mean, that is my hands down. That's what I preach. That's where I practice that, you know, we have to go outside and get that first morning light just to turn off the melatonin, get the you know, get the other things started. So really so much research on that, that we need that first morning light and if it's combined with movements, even better, so like, like a 2030 minute morning walk out, of course, you can't if you can't do 30 minutes, just do something like around your yard or something that just exposes the eyes to the natural light. And, you know, as far as beauty definitely non toxic, just non toxic, you know, clean beauty. I used to harbor quite a bit because she's a friend and you know, I've kind of got to try a lot of her products. But anything, you know, anything that's from the non toxic brands, I would, you know, definitely I've been in I've been doing that for like, you know, the last 15 or 20 years. So really not exposing yourself to chemicals through beauty. Because that's again, it's not just it's not just for skin health, you know, we expose ourselves to chemicals that are disruptive to their immune system to their hormones. So really watching that and you know, kind of going minimal I would say you know that with beauty it's you know, you want clean beauty and fewer products if possible. And you know, my big pet peeve is perfume definitely like fragrances you know, like the chemical perfume I just cannot do because I read somewhere there's five to 700 different chemicals mixed. So I was like, I don't want that I might try to do some kind of you know, essential oil blend or something like that.

Katie Chandler: 19:45

It's it's weird. I just like the last couple of years I've had a complete aversion to perfume and I used to wear it every single day I need to do just like I couldn't. It was always like so offensive to me for some reason. I don't know why.

Amy: 19:57

Yeah, yeah, I can't wear anything. I used to wear stuff

Unknown: 19:59

too because Yeah,

Natasha Coughlin: 20:01

yeah, well, you know what it is, again, I think we're so overloaded right our bodies are so overloaded with toxins that we have this you know, threshold of detox where we're just dealing with so much that adding this another kind of layer of of a toxic and that's just, you know, offensive sort of, you know, offensive to the body and the liver has to, you know, metabolize it in you go through it and get rid of it. That I think that's just kind of like the straw that breaks the camel's back. Yeah, you know, it's just to agree

Katie Chandler: 20:32

with that. Okay. All right, this next one, we'll call your five minute flow you just got out of the shower and dried off and Uber pink, do their five minutes away. What are you going to do to quickly get yourself together and ready and out the door into that Uber on time?

Natasha Coughlin: 20:46

Okay, so shower, I guess I've taken a shower, cold shower, the end, just you know, 30 seconds of like a super cold shower at the end. That's I guess I would say that's my other you know, wellness hack is the is a cold shower, you know, minimal minimal skincare or some kind of a you know, moisturizer and yeah, either like a touch of Harper or OSHA or Malibu or what else do I use? You know, I usually have a few so some Yeah, some kind of just a daytime moisturizer and mascara, usually just mascara, a little bit of blush, actual blush that I use on my lips as well, you know, like a one of those creamy, creamy blush things. So kind of a non toxic mascara, and Ilia or Pacific or something like that. And what else I'm I'm totally crazy about my theory, like jogger pants that I got, I got a couple of pairs two weeks ago. And now like that's what I put on in the morning, but like a white t shirt. And they're kind of cute and stylish, but they're still comfortable like joggers, almost so and I don't know how I lived without them until I bought them two weeks ago,

Amy: 22:01

but sounds amazing. Yeah,

Natasha Coughlin: 22:05

they're, you know, they're these high waisted. I mean, that's what I wear. Like there are pants

Amy: 22:11

but there's a really cute,

Natasha Coughlin: 22:13

very versatile anyway. Yeah. So that's, that's what I would do. Yeah, but I think just you know, again, having it's good having a schedule, having a plan, Ryan kind of like doing things consistently, like day after day. Like I know, I really went outside and got my little bit of, you know, a few minutes of sun I did my cold shower that always wakes me up. And that's kind of what it's meant to do. Right sort of grabs up metabolism gives you that jolt of energy. And yeah, from there, it's pretty, pretty simple, really nice. So it'd be prepared, I think being prepared, right? I really have my kind of my outfit in mind. I have my dis few, you know, skincare things on the calendar, it's all their glass of water, you know, always glass of water in the morning for mental health because again, like I tell my clients, you know, we all kind of feel slightly fuzzy and foggy in the morning because brain does shrink, you know, kind of microscopically overnight. So we do we do need a glass of water in the morning to kind of get get things going not just from the metabolism perspective, like it's good for for metabolism and sort of general energy, but the brain needs it as well.

Katie Chandler: 23:25

Get out of that morning brain fog. Nice. All right. Well, it sounds like you also gave us how you maintain your daily Nirvana from the outdoors? And would you say in your showers? Is there any other maintainer dealing?

Natasha Coughlin: 23:40

Oh, that's a tricky one. I don't know if I do we know. I think we covered it. It's hard, right? Yeah, it's just you know, things things happen, right? I mean, Life is stressful. So true. The things always happened. But um, well, I have to mention in this again, going back to mental health, alcohol, like I don't, I don't drink alcohol at all. And I feel like it does, again, there's research that you know, alcohol, lowers our stress resilience. So I feel like that's might be one of the things that's helping me you know, it's like you get up in the morning and you don't have that little bit of a, you know, hangover thing. And, you know, you can sort of deal with whatever life throws at you that day. Better. You know, because I kind of have a good start, right and sleep. I mean, I know we didn't even touch on sleep, but obviously, so huge. You know, sleep is like, disrupted sleep is the best way to drive someone crazy, right? Yeah, physically. So yeah,

Katie Chandler: 24:41

I can. I can everything. Okay. Yeah. All right. Well, Natasha, thank you so much for your time. This gave us a lot of great information. I know our listeners are gonna love it. We really appreciate your time. And before we go, we like to wrap with a mantra or an affirmation. So let's wrap up this one. I think it's appropriate. Good health is a practice and I have patients. So just to remember to set it right.

Natasha Coughlin: 25:10

All right, but like that, yeah, nothing nothing happens overnight. I mean, all of these practices that we've been talking about, like they only work if they're consistent, like you can't just do it for a couple of days and say, you know, throw in a towel, you know, this doesn't work.

Amy: 25:25

Consistency is every soldier. Yeah. Yeah, well, so nice to meet you. We could like talk to you for hours. I feel like we need to have you back safe like so many more questions in my head. But this has been so informational and helpful, and I know our listeners are going to love it. So thank you again for being on the show. We'll make sure to be thank

Natasha Coughlin: 25:41

you guys it was so while it was so fun.

Amy: 25:45

Thanks for listening to Nirvana sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes please subscribe and leave us a review. also find us on Instagram at Nirvana sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana sisters will continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.

Episode 74 - Eating For Mental Health - How To Fuel Your Brain With Natasha Coughlin, Part 1 (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 74.

Editor’s Note: Please know that this podcast transcript is automatically generated and may contain minor errors such as typos and word switches. For more information, be sure to listen to the podcast here or view our podcast episode guide.

Amy: 0:06

Welcome to Nirvana sisters podcast where we take the intimidation out of well being and beauty to help you achieve your highest state your nirvana. We are sisters in law and your hosts. I'm Amy Sherman.

Katie Chandler: 0:18

And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation Welcome to the show Nirvana sisters family. This week we are very excited to introduce Natasha Coghlan. Natasha is an integrative and functional dietician, nutritionist and holistic health coach. She received her Master's of Science and Human Nutrition degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. She's completed her master's thesis work at Weill Cornell comprehensive metabolic weight control center. And she worked with many clients ranging from endocrine issues, diabetes, prediabetes, PCOS, thyroid disease, and so on. Although Natasha is classically trained dietician, her personal and professional interests have always been in the field of functional and integrative medicine. She's received a certification of holistic health coach through the Institute of Integrative Nutrition and a certification through the creative and functional nutrition Academy. Her interest is in health promoting cooking. And it's brought her to the natural gourmet Institute in New York City, which is all very interesting, I want to hear about that. And, again, we're she's trained in allergen free diets. And today, we're gonna be discussing a lot of topics, one of which is eating for mental health. So these are all really interesting topics. So welcome to the show, Natasha. Thank you. Thank you, Katie. It's good to see you. It's nice to meet you, Amy. And Bill, nice to meet you. Yeah, have you on your background is really

Amy: 1:59

vast and exciting. And we haven't had anyone like you on the show. So we're so excited to get into it and hear all about your wisdom. Yeah.

Natasha Coughlin: 2:08

Thank you. Thank you. It's really good to be here. Yeah, I've, you know, I spent several years in school. And this is as a mom of three. So this is kind of my, I guess, second third career really after being a stay at home mom. So I've started my practice in 2019. So this kind of kind of recent doing this, but really studying health and nutrition has been a lifelong journey. And I think as so many functional medicine practitioners are kind of come to it from a personal place where I was struggling with my own issues, digestive mostly, kind of that feeling of never feeling well, and not finding any answers and answers from conventional doctors. So that brought me to, you know, looking for answers. And then my son's diagnosis with autism was definitely the impetus for just doing a lot of research. And you know, then finally getting my formal education and starting my own practice, and now, helping people with variety of different conditions, which I enjoy and love, and certainly getting that, you know, oh my God, no one has ever told me this before. Like, I feel so much better. So that's super, super

Katie Chandler: 3:16

rewarding. It's amazing. Alright, well, before we get into all of our questions, we have a lot for you. Let's kick it off with our nirvana of the week. So Amy, do you want to start us off with what your Nirvana was this week?

Amy: 3:27

Yeah. So I would say and this is probably a lot of people's nirvana. Over the last few weeks, my kids started school this week, which has been really nice to just get back into the routine routine. I feel like summer flew by and I wasn't quite ready for back to school, but I'm starting to ease into it. I'm just not used to the new schedule, even though we just had it a couple of months ago. It just feels like summer was long, but summer was short. So I'm excited for them to get back to school and get on a routine and just stick it back into their back into the swing of things. So that was definitely nirvana for me this week. What about UK?

Katie Chandler: 4:03

I think I had a couple of buddies. We had a party on Saturday, it was kind of like the Labor Day weekend party, if you will. And we just had some friends over and it was probably one. As Amy knows, I've mentioned this a few times that we did a lot of hosting this summer. It was probably one of the times that I hosted that I just like really let loose and didn't care and had a good time. I wasn't so good. You actually yeah, it wasn't so crazy about all the hosting duties and just kind of let loose and have fun. So that was really nice. And the kids had a great time. It was gorgeous. Yeah, what about unit Tasha?

Natasha Coughlin: 4:36

Well, I'm thinking of just yesterday morning, I came downstairs to pack my sixth grader for school. And she was already downstairs unloading the dishwasher. Like oh, I was like, are you okay? Do you want just make yourself breakfast and stuff I might come down and you know, pack your lunch but you look like you're all set. You know, it's still early. So I think I literally went back upstairs and you know, read a book for a little bit and then Add or some, you know, that was, you know, that was kind of fun. I was like, Okay, this is something new and new and different and and then last week I went to Vermont with my son, which was I just can't not mention that because we went swimming in this beautiful, what you're sort of waterhole with a waterfall and then we had the most delicious maple roast chicken at like a local diner minimally so. So seeing huge smile on his face, just kind of, and he's, you know, he's my guy with autism. So, as a mom, you're only as happy as your most miserable child. So he was smiling. I was happy. So definitely, definitely in Nirvana right there.

Katie Chandler: 5:37

So nice. It wasn't just the two of you that went to Vermont together.

Natasha Coughlin: 5:41

It was just the two of us. Me. Yeah, yeah. Yeah,

Amy: 5:43

that's, that's special of that

Katie Chandler: 5:45

time together. All right, well, let's dive into it. Because we have a lot to cover, I think the best place to start is to help us better understand this overarching kind of theme, I guess, that you have of eating for mental health, because this feels like a new approach that not a lot of people have maybe thought about. And I understand the respect of, you know, you're a well balanced meal, and it's filled with nutrients and vitamins and things. But it can seem like a big mountain to climb to really achieve that. So how how do you address that with your clients? And what does all of that mean to you?

Natasha Coughlin: 6:22

Well, I think when I was, you know, kind of preparing for this conversation, I thought of, you know, what are the messages that I want to put out. And the big thing that I just sort of kept coming back to is, you know, we need to demystify what mental health is, because I think the whole concept of the human mind that is so complex, and so dependent on what the outside world is putting out, right, or the chaos, the you know, con me political situation, you know, what the boss is doing, thinking, et cetera, we kind of have to, I think, get away from that a little bit and look inward. And I feel like a lot of times, mental health issues are more of a result of like, not what's happening around us, but what's kind of happening on the inside. And I think the whole concept of you know, the human mind sort of lives in the physical body, right, the human mind resides in the human brain. So we have to remember that, that the brain is, you know, it is part of our physical health. So we need to sort of think of it in the same way we think of supporting heart health, immune health, etc. So really making sure that we are providing the brain with what it needs, and you know, with the right conditions, and not sabotaging it, by doing certain things that are interfering it from being well, because ultimately, the body really does want to be well. And I really believe that, right, that whole concept of homeostasis, where everything has to work together just right. And, you know, when when something is, has gone awry in the body, the body really wants to get back to the place of health and healing, we just have to provide the right condition. So I think where I'm going with that is, you know, fuel just making sure as you were saying, Katie, the brain needs the fuel right? The brain needs that protein to make the neurotransmitters which are the chemical messengers that kind of sent the messages between the nerve cells back and forth and also between the nerve cells and the rest of the body, right? I mean, that's how we move our arm or, you know, whatever we do, it comes from that signal. So neurotransmitters, neurotransmitters do that. And they're proteins they're made from proteins or from amino acids, which are the components of protein that we eat so we have to make sure we eat enough of course you know I'm sure there's a lot of talk about protein just from other you know, for maintaining lean muscle mass and for you know, for healthy aging etc. But just on the most basic sort of brain level is we need adequate protein to make sure we can make those neurotransmitters and then things like healthy fats right omega threes everyone is talking about you know, your salmon and sardines and things like that brain is mostly fat, it's you know, 60 65% fat so we have to make sure what that we're getting those omega threes whether from eating those healthy foods or from supplements and a lot of times I mean honestly with my clients it is very difficult with especially with pollution by we're all hearing that fish is kind of contaminated so it's hard to get all the Omega threes that we need from fish. So I do supplement across the board from you know, children to certainly into you know, the older years and you know, with slightly different composition of the DHA and the EPA, which is a to name fatty acids, you know, in the the mega threes. So, that's really you know, that's, that's really kind of a big one, you know, and then of course, everyone Have other vitamins and minerals, which mostly come from all our plant foods. So you kind of need those, you know, you need the protein and fat for those main sort of macronutrients. And then you have to fill in everything else with fruits and vegetables, and, you know, all those all those things that come from, you know, mostly from plant foods. So I think that's really, yes, you know, brain is complicated, you know, feelings, thoughts, etc. But we really need to support the physical health aspect of

Amy: 10:29

it. I was going to ask about, so from a protein standpoint, you mentioned, that's my thing that correctly omega three fats? Yeah, I guess three fats, and what is the best kind of protein? So I just generally speaking, like,

Natasha Coughlin: 10:46

Well, I'm a big proponent of just, you know, variety, I feel like we really need to be a variety of different foods. And, you know, my clients hear me say about, you know, rotation and kind of making sure that you, and I think I know, you guys, you know, this will probably come up in the conversation somewhere, you know, when meal planning are usually planned for a different protein, you know, for dinner every night. So it will be you know, chicken, fish, Turkey, you know, red meat, maybe once a week, something like that. So, Amy, as you were saying, you know, something like chicken breast, yes, it has plenty of protein, it has some other vitamins and minerals, but it may not have the same as, you know, chicken thighs, which is dark meat, you know, we might have something different in that, you know, more collagen, which again, is kind of needed for, you know, immune health, skin health, certainly brain health as well. So I think the best way to go is to vary your sources, and, you know, eat kind of the whole animal. I love roast chicken, like organic roast chicken from Whole Foods, definitely, you know, at least once a week, it's easy. It's somehow it seems inexpensive. Now, actually, when you think about that whole chicken for $12. And like, I can't even buy a pack of organic chicken breasts for $12. Now, so. So yeah, so something like that. And then I would actually use the bones to make stock in my Insta pot. So that's that, then you get the minerals from the bones, and you get the college and all of that, especially as we're going into the winter months, and I do like animal protein, I'm not a, you know, I am sort of an advocate for the plant forward plant heavy kind of style of eating, but I'm, you know, not vegetarian, and I did not, you know, advocate for being, you know, purely plant based, because I think, you know, animal protein is important, it's very biologically kind of active and available to us. So that's, you know, that's kind of what I do. And that's, that's what I would recommend. So really big, you know, varying your sources. And as far as fish, you know, something more fatty like salmon, and especially if it's wild, right, wild caught is better than farmed. And much better, I should say, I wouldn't even do farmed salmon, really. So. But you know, fish can be hard. You know, with the kids, it's hard to kind of get it in all that much. But a couple of times a week is great. And then all the other times it can be you know, other sources? And I certainly do I completely Meatless meals, like a crispy tofu, or something like that as a sort of a once a week option. So I would say that's, that's kind of what I recommend and do with my family. And

Amy: 13:22

yeah, I was gonna say to it's hard to get a lot of protein. If you're more plant forward, I find to get enough protein in if you're not eating fish, or chicken or something else.

Natasha Coughlin: 13:34

Yeah. Right. And that's where that's where I see even kind of circling back to mental health. There's research that suggests that there is more anxiety and depression in vegetarians, because they don't get enough protein. Because a lot of times unless you're working with someone who's really creating a meal plan for you, or even cooking for you, it is difficult to really get everything you need. As a vegetarian and certainly vegan. I mean, being vegan would be really hard to get all the nutrients

Katie Chandler: 14:04

we I've I've tried a vegan diet for a very brief period of time, and I had to work with a nutritionist to try to make sure I was getting everything out. And it was it was not easy. So you you had mentioned your son has autism. And do you imagine apply the same aspects for his diet? As Do you feel that food can help with things like autism, ADHD? Like you said, Yes, you agree to anxiety and depression, everything. So across the

Natasha Coughlin: 14:36

board, I'm shaking my head as you can see, yeah, yes.

Katie Chandler: 14:40

What do you suggest or recommend for parents with children? You know, my daughter has ADHD and we've thought about trying to tweak her diet and everything to improve that. And actually her pediatrician, I was shocked, advised me against it. And let me I'll tell you exactly why he said really so because you The result that it would yield is nominal in comparison to the stress that I would put my child under by like restricting her and things like that, and maybe it would cause food issues. And, and, you know, I mean, I am British is I can understand that but I was a little I was a little surprised by by his stance on that. So what is your opinion?

Natasha Coughlin: 15:24

Well, I think a lot of times, you know, when people don't understand something or don't, you know, don't practice something, they they're much more likely to dismiss it and say this is too. I mean, just a quick example, I went to a talk by a surgeon of gastrointestinal surgeon who was talking about reflux, right, treating reflux. And to me, like, this is something I do every day we do it with diet and certain, you know, lifestyle modifications. Well, this person was saying, okay, medications, then diet, oh, no, no one wants to do that, okay, surgery, we have this really great, you know, and that was sitting there just, you know, in my jaw completely dropped. I was like, really, like, we go to surgery that quickly and completely dismissing what diet can do for something like reflux. So, you know, I'm kind of not surprised. I mean, it's unfortunate, you know, a lot of times people who have gone through medical school, you know, 2025 years ago, they did not get any hours of nutrition instruction, I mean, they kind of do now a little bit like 20 accurate about 20 hours of nutrition and four years in medical school. So that's certainly not something that doctors now but I, again, from my perspective, thinking of, you know, the brain and the body and how they're connected, you know, changing the fuel definitely changes the way the brain works. So, you know, giving it the right fuel and taking away those things that are, you know, we know that there are things that are excitatory for the brain and there are things that are inhibitory for the brain. And all those things come from the food that we eat. So I absolutely believe that you can you know, you can influence the the you can influence behavior through changing the fuel that we take in and how we you know, how we fuel our bodies. So, yeah, just to answer your I guess, the first part of your question, I mean, with my son you know, he eats a very plant heavy diet with you know, organic, grass fed animal protein, lots of fats, you know, coconut oil out like I'm a huge fan of olive oil and mega threes, both fish and supplements. Yeah, so very limited grains very limited processed foods, and that's sort of how he grew up and you were saying, you know, creating issues I have two other kids they you know, they're great eaters, I mean, they they don't have any issues with you know, we don't have soda in the house. So like we don't really have you know, cookies and this and that and that I mean, I do have cookies that you know, I tell my girls like okay, it's every couple of days or you know, don't make it a habit it's not really something that the body needs, you know, the body needs that all the stuff that's in the you know, the vegetable drawer in the fridge, or like in the fruit bowl and the calendar the body needs those and the body doesn't need the you know, the cookies and all the processed stuff but you know, all being said I have a little bit of those of course because sometimes you need convenience. And I don't find that you know, that can create any kind of issues unless you know, you become very restrictive and I think the best way to get kids interested in food is definitely by you know, giving them a chance to cook you know, to cook with you when kind of chop things and I always ask kids what they want you know, even though I really have a plan I mean I meal plan so it's not it's a bit of it, but an illusion, but I still ask them what they chicken or shrimp you know, I have both because I you know, I shopped for, you know, three or four days so, do you think you know eating kind of is close to all you know, the real foods that don't come out of the box is what can ultimately you know, make our behavior better and sort of prevent the you know, prevent the highs and lows and all those things.

Katie Chandler: 19:10

You say this is what the body needs, the body needs this the body doesn't need this it's a great way to say it to your child to better help them understand we need this to grow and to be big and strong. This is not going to do that for us. So I'm gonna have to start using that trick because all my kids went or like salty processed snacks when they ran home from school and I'm trying to like here have the have the fruit and have cheese and or the smoothie and you know, so it's definitely a transition that has to go on in this house.

Amy: 19:42

Yeah, I also think the the food as fuel is a good way to frame it too because they can envision like the fuel in your car or your cell phone fuel battery, like you got to charge up that battery versus like but yeah, I mean, I have teenage boys I mean, I'm not was 13 and almost 16. And it's very difficult to balance like last night for example, I made meatballs out of bison meat, which is good organic, but then I put it on pasta because I'm like, What am I? You know, it's either rice or pasta or like what else do I put it with to make it like a meal. So I always also find it hard to cook especially for boys where like they need like food do like you have to be really really creative. Like I'm like I'm not even sure what else I would give them besides rice or pasta with that even though that's not great, because it's grains.

Natasha Coughlin: 20:32

Right? Well I'm just because you mentioned the balls, what I do in my house for and you said you need volume, great veggies into your meatballs. So especially for something that's a little like dry you're like bison, greats and zucchini, carrots, like finely chopped mushrooms and just mix that with your you know, with your ground beef that actually makes you know makes volume but it just makes that meat so much juicy and make the meatballs or like sometimes it just like shaved them into like burger, you know, burger shapes, you get you get some of the vegetables right in with that. And you know what I do, I usually kind of, you know, I plan for a protein and then two vegetables. So I've been even with something like rice, we've been making a lot of fried rice like a veggie fried rice and I'm not you know, I'm not doing the whole like song and dance with the egg and all the steps. I mean just sotae all the finely chopped veggies. And then you know cooked rice that's a little you know, cooled a little and you just kind of mix it with that. And so you have your veggie rice to serve with the veggie, you know, turkey meatballs, or the veggie bison, bison meatball meatball. So you have, you know, you kind of have the best of both worlds there. And, you know, potatoes, sweet potatoes, like what kinds of roast you know, roasted veggies. I'm a big fan of, and always always something great. Like I tell my kids you know, green beans, broccoli, asparagus, you know, some kind of a green veggie, I have a lot of green beans in my garden right now. So I've been actually it's been super exciting.

Amy: 22:09

That's good. Yeah, my kids do eat green beans. So that's just me serving more.

Katie Chandler: 22:14

Well, this next bit is a little bit personal for me, because it's regarding paleo and you were just the you know, talking about veggie forward and in protein and not a lot of grains and everything. And that's very much a paleo as and I don't know, how you feel about the defined labeled diets as such. But I have just found it's easy for me with my autoimmune conditions to kind of keep inflammation down by following a, you know, like, a paleo heavy diet. And it really does make a massive difference. And it's funny because I go through these phases, when they go, I can eat all the carbs and whatever I want. And it doesn't bother me. And then I sit back and I realize, Oh, of course this is this is why I felt horrible that day, you know, so when I'm better about it, when I'm really diligent, it makes a huge difference. So is is do you do the Paleo diet with your clients? Or how do you feel about it?

Natasha Coughlin: 23:08

I do. I mean, yeah, for autoimmune disease. I mean, there's there's several different things, you know, it's kind of an AIP protocol, right, the autoimmune protocol, which is sort of your paleo but excludes eggs. So there's a little bit of trial and error and all the diets again, like I don't like to sort of subscribe to one thing. Because we again, we understand that grains can be inflammatory, they activate part of the immune system. And anytime there's immune system activation, that's inflammation, right? That's what that's, you know, what can create inflammation. So, with that, certainly with someone who has a diagnosis, definitely, that's for me, that's kind of a low hanging fruit, like, that's what we go with, you know, no grains, no legumes. And, you know, a lot of times we get good results for sure. I mean, sometimes you have to do the no eggs. I usually tried to do some kind of a elimination diet even further, just based on testing of, you know, food sensitivities. But but it definitely, you know, that's that's sort of what's documented. I mean, there isn't that much formal research, but anything that we're kind of seeing out there in literature is pointing out that, you know, Paleo style diet is helpful for autoimmune conditions and can not only treat them but also, you know, reverse them because as you know, conventional medicine doesn't believe in cure for autoimmunity. It's sort of one of those, you know, we're not sure why it happens, you know, your immune system attacks self. I remember I put something I posted something on Instagram about the, you know, the development of autoimmune disease and a lot of people were surprised that, you know, one of the conditions that are necessary for the development of autoimmunity is the leaky gut or the hyper permeability of the digestive tract, which again, to me, no matter what kind of condition a client comes to me with, we always look at Got, except, you know, I think I had one client where she was like, my digestion is great. And, you know, I go, you know, I'm super ideal and I was like, Okay, you're kind of a unicorn. So I am just gonna, you know, do other things. But in most cases, we'll look at gut health. And I really do believe that you know, all disease begins in the gut. So I think paleo diet works for auto immunity, because it is helping to kind of tamper down that inflammation and heal the leaky gut, which is normally the underlying sort of condition of why the autoimmune disease develops.

Amy: 25:34

I have a question about AI, get migraines, but vestibular migraines, and I'm wondering if any foods would be helpful for that? Because I don't know if that's related to the gut at all, or if it's more, I mean, it's more nerve related, I guess, but I'm just curious on your thoughts around something like that, like headaches, migraines, vestibular dizziness, vertigo type things?

Natasha Coughlin: 26:03

Yeah. Yes, headaches and migraines are kind of, you know, they're tricky because they seem so kind of removed from they certainly seem removed from the gut, right? That's kind of like what we call extra intestinal symptoms of something that might be going on in the gut. So I would I definitely look at gut health with anybody with headaches and migraines. And just just a couple of days ago, actually, I have a client with migraines, like three times a week, you know, debilitating. We've been working together for several months. And it was mostly on kind of taking things out of her diet, you know, really I mean, she's, she's sort of playing the detective and, and making sense of things for her, you know, scientifically. So we've been taking things out and you know, we started with any sources of glutamate, which is an excess, sort of, it's an amino acid that's excitatory. So a lot of times people with migraines and you know, migraine headaches are sensitive to glutamate in the diet. So MSG, certainly like you know, and Chinese food, processed foods, those would be an issue. A lot of some mushrooms a heightened glutamate walnuts behind glutamate, there's some you know, there's some foods that are high and glutamate that we kind of started to, you know, take out one by one that helped that sort of went down to, you know, one migraine every seven days. And then we started working on histamine, which again, is is you know, as an immune system reaction, right. And it's something that is also related to leaky gut. Interestingly enough, histamine sensitivity usually results when someone has that hyper permeability of their, you know, in the digestive tract lining. So we started working on, you know, reduction of histamine. And, you know, last I spoke with her, she said, 19 days without a migraine, so that was like, yeah, so food, I mean, food is, food is magic. A friend of mine was saying that the other day, you know, food is magic. We really, you know, when we change, how we fuel our body, we can really see the difference. One of the things like, you know, for instance, like ketogenic diet is a treatment for epilepsy, because again, brain is so receptive to changes in the fuel, right? You go from glucose to fats, all the sudden the whole kind of neurotransmission changes. So that's, you know, headaches and migraines. Definitely. I mean, they're, you know, they vary again, you were saying might be something more structural. I don't know if you've had, you know, scans to kind of see exactly what's Yeah, what's going on. But

Amy: 28:39

interesting, though, no one actually, this is years ago, when I went through the journey of like, figuring out all this stuff. No one talks about the guy ever, but uh, you know, I got scans, I did this test that test, blah, blah, blah. But I never did anything with the guy, which is interesting. No one ever talks about my diet now that I'm thinking about it. I changed my diet myself. Yeah, but no one really talks about it, which is actually interesting. And I was going to ask you about the histamine thing that you mentioned, what does that mean? Like what kind of foods have histamines in them?

Natasha Coughlin: 29:06

I mean, is something that we produce and need and we get from the foods, but some people just don't kind of lack the enzyme and sometimes, you know, sometimes it's genetically the genetic predisposition, predisposition or that leaky you know, there's the whole leaky gut condition but histamine is like an leftovers for instance, when you keep your especially animal protein leftovers histamine content builds up you know, seafood like you know, shrimp assign histamine bone broth, interestingly enough, you know, lead to healthy food, but a tiny histamine. So, yeah, there's, there's kind of a whole, you know, group of foods that are that are high and those, you know, they may be a problem for people who do not have enough of the histamine breaking enzyme that for example, if you've ever had your 23andme or ancestry done, it actually has your entire genome. So this is something that can be run through like a platform, and they can decode everything that has to do with your health that like 23andme doesn't give you and they actually look at the at the enzyme to which one is the it's a D. So it's the enzyme is called da l. But how do you get that tested? So 20? You say I can do it through 2323? And me? Yeah. And then they give you just defy like, the cola raw data file. Yeah. And then you can send it to me, and I would run it through this professional plateau. Interesting, and kind of

Katie Chandler: 30:34

that's very cool. Does it show you also if you heard is that the mother gene? How do you say it? I'm saying it wrong? It's Oh, they empty? Yes. Yes, yes, yes. Yeah, yeah. See, they're not?

Natasha Coughlin: 30:45

Yeah, well, they'd have I mean, we have, you know, 24,000 genes. This particular one, of course, you already have the raw data from 23. And me, and then the, you know, AI just scans it for any genes that are pertinent to nutrition exercise, you know, anything that's actionable, right? Because 23andme gives you silly stuff like is your ear lobe attached to detached? And I'm like, Well, mine is detached and I can see it and it kind of doesn't really give me anything. But if I see that, you know, I have a mutation and my vitamin D receptor, and my vitamin D just never budges you know, now I know now I know I need to be taking you know, twice as much or three times as much of my vitamin D supplement as I normally do to kind of move the needle on that. That's interesting.

Katie Chandler: 31:35

We hope you liked this episode with Natasha Coghlan. Stay tuned for part two, where we talk about gut health and much much more.

Amy: 31:44

Thanks for listening to Nirvana sisters. For more information on this episode, check out the show notes please subscribe and leave us a review. also find us on Instagram at Nirvana sisters. If you loved what you just listened to or know someone that would please share it and tag us. Tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana sisters will continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.