Episode 71 - Breaking Down Ayurvedic With Justine Lemos, Phd - Do You Know What Dosha You Are? (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 71 - Breaking Down Ayurvedic With Justine Lemos, Phd - Do You Know What Dosha You Are?

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: 0:18

and I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation Welcome to the show Nirvana sisters. We are sitting down today with Justine Lemos, Justine is an IU VEDA practitioner, PhD and founder of Shakti path. Today, Justine is going to help us better understand IU beta practices and all that it entails, we're going to touch on a few other really interesting topics like Tantra and Kundalini and so much more. But we want to get into the nitty gritty of what IU beta is, and Justine, what you do for your clients and how it helps people improve their wellness, their health and their well being. So thank you for coming to the show.

Justine: 1:10

I'm so excited to be here. Thank you so much for having me. Yes. And I really appreciate it. Yeah,

Katie: 1:16

we're gonna take a step back really quickly, because we like to start our show with a nirvana of the week or of the day, whatever your Nirvana may be. So I'm just going to kick it to me first. What was your Nirvana Ami?

Amy: 1:28

Oh, let's see. Well, I think my Nirvana from today was Katy and I had a really great meeting this morning with someone that we just totally vibed with, to talk about some future stuff for Nirvana sisters and retreats. And just, it's always nice to meet someone that's in your space and who's like minded and it just kind of like rejuvenates all your ideas and creativity. So it's just like really nice to meet her. So that was my nirvana of the day. Just connecting. What about

Katie: 1:56

that? Yeah, I love that. That was a great moment. I think mine was just right before we got on, as you can tell, I have my bathing suit on which is not super professional, but I just did like 10 laps in my pool. And it was my exercise for the day and I felt really great afterwards. It was just kind of invigorating woke me up. So it was good. I don't I don't do laps. Often, though. It's hard. It's really, really hard. But I know it's such a great workout. So it was good. It was very nice. What about you just seeing what was yours?

Unknown: 2:25

I got up really early like as the sun was just rising and just had this really beautiful glowing meditation like in the early early Amrit nectar hours of this morning. So that was just really nice.

Amy: 2:39

Wow, that sounds lovely. And for our listeners, we were just talking before we got on Justine lives in Northern California near the redwoods. So we were just listening to her the dreamy landscape that she's around. So super, super cool. Okay, so let's get into it because I've heard this word and I've heard people talk about it, but I really don't know what it means and what it entails. So kind of give us the one on one tell us about the world of IR VEDA if I'm even saying it right and what it all means.

Unknown: 3:07

So I You're a why you are i you it means life. And Veda means knowledge, or teaching or science we could even say science. So I or Veda is the science of life. It's the knowledge of how to live life with the most joy and bliss and radiance possible. And joy and bliss and radiance and health in iron VEDA from an Ayurvedic perspective, is really a state of equanimity, a state of balance, but also a state of deep engagement. It's not like we achieve some ivory tower that then we're like crystallized and we don't do anything. No, it's the science of being alive and how to live well. Really, how do you live well from birth until death, like having the most juicy and wonderful life possible. So this is what I Aveda is it's a science of wellness but more than just the science of wellness. It's not just a philosophy of how to live but practice of how to live and it's sister sciences are yoga, and Jyotish Vedic Astrology, also Tantra. And so, in that knowledge of how to live under that umbrella, it's inclusive of lifestyle, daily lifestyle routines, and tips and things that we do to move throughout the day things that we do to move throughout a week. Things that we do through to move throughout a month, a lunar cycle, things that we do to move throughout a season or a time in life. We're very different when we're children. We need different care when we're children, and we do when we're in middle age than we would do when we You're old. And so under that vast umbrella, it includes nutrition. It includes herbal remedies, it includes essential oils, it includes cleansing, it includes all ways to process emotion. It includes all of these things because it really examines the person as a whole. So it has under its rubric, forms of psychology as well as forms of nutrition. And, as I Aveda has come into the West, mostly via yoga and Yoga Journal, unfortunate unfortunately, it has been, like categorized as just another diet system, like the Paleo like some people like I'm paleo or I do keto, or I do this or that and instead it's like, oh, no, I eat pie or basically, well, that's great. I'm glad if you eat from an Ayurvedic perspective that is wonderful for your health and wellness. But I Aveda is not just that it's a whole science of being alive.

Amy: 6:02

And is it's kind of a lifestyle that one would practice which would include all different types of elements.

Unknown: 6:09

Um, it can be yes, it can be a lifestyle, it can also be used to remedy you know, as a practitioner of Ayurveda, I'll have people that will come to me because you know, they have eczema or they have hot flashes, or they have difficult menstrual cycle or whatever it is. And then we can use it to remedy imbalances in the body, much as you would use Chinese medicine or another, so called alternative practice of health and wellness. But then once things are in their balance, then yes, we live an eye or Vedic lifestyle to maintain balance and wellness and radiance in the body. Yeah, in the body and in the mind,

Katie: 6:57

where does it originate from?

Unknown: 6:59

So the origins of Ayurveda are in ancient India, it's a system that has been around for about 5000 years of experimentation and trial and error. And we pull that knowledge through from about 5000 years to the modern day era.

Katie: 7:18

Okay, is there any connection, I recently started doing Transcendental Meditation and there's a connection there because it's the TM is basic is that, if

Unknown: 7:27

so, like, all of the sciences, that have their origins in ancient India, are all intertwined. They're all intertwined, like the, like the branches of a tree. And so Maharishi Mahesh Yogi who brought Transcendental Meditation, TM to the west, was also very involved as a vida as an Ayurvedic practitioner. And he actually has a whole school of Ayurveda, and a whole product line that I think is a very, very good product line called Maharishi Ayurveda products International. One reason why I think that that product line is so, so great is because they tripled, test their herbs for heavy metals, which is not frequently done. And sometimes people can get into like taking ashwagandha. And it might not be the most pure, even if it says organic because of how testing is done. And that company has the formulas that were created by some very great either Vedic by just AI or Vedic knowledge holders, or Vedic doctors, if you will, it's more than just a doctor, and they sell those particular format formulas rebranded. And so yes, there's absolutely an overlap between TM and Ayurveda. That said, just because we're practicing TM doesn't mean we're practicing IR Veda and just because we're practicing IRB doesn't mean we're necessarily a TM practitioner like that. Yeah.

Katie: 8:59

Yeah, that makes sense. Okay. All right. So it's very vast and broad, as you said, and I, I want to think of the best way to kind of tackle it to bring to our listener to help them understand how they could use ionic practices for themselves, where do you think is a good place for someone to start?

Unknown: 9:23

So, thank you for asking. One of the wisdoms that we have inherited from Ayurveda is the wisdom of the doshas, and this will probably you may have heard of or your listeners may have heard of that, Ayurveda talks about three universal intelligences, that manifest in the universe that manifests through us that manifest in all of reality. And these three universal intelligences are Vata, Pitta and Kapha. And so, this is becoming more and more frequently found term analogy. Now, what are these doshas? How do they manifest? How do we figure out which dosha we are because we all carry a predominant dosha something that is like our cardinal blueprint. And if we can learn to live well in that blueprint, then we then our body, and our mind does really well. So Vata dosha is like air and ether. It's like air and ether, it's very rough and light and dry and movable and changeable. And people who have more Vata dosha in their constitution, tend to be very thin ectomorphic Very wiry, very creative. But because air is always moving around, they tend towards anxiety, they tend towards dryness in the body, they can tend towards constipation, they can tend towards disrupted sleep, all these types of things are typical kinds of vata, dosha, aggravation, pitta, dosha, people are like fire and a little bit of water, the really intense, they're really penetrating, these are the type A personalities like you find them in the boardroom, you find them as the, like intense athletes, you find them doing extreme sports, and they tend towards problems of too much heat, like hot flashes, like rashes, like anger, like irritation, like frustration, all these things are pitta, dosha, typical imbalance, and then they're Kapha dosha people, I'll empathize with people that are like muscular, they're athletic, you know, they're like the strong gymnasts, etc. Ca for those who people are like earth and water. So this is very steady, very slow, very sweet energy. And these people tend to have larger bodies and tend towards, towards the laziness, like, they just want to relax and enjoy. And they're the sweetest people to be around, they don't put any pressure on you, and they give you like the best hugs, like we all have a Kapha dosha Fred, and we're like, oh, that person and they're just so nice to us, right. But Kapha dosha people can tend towards weight gain, it's like very hard for them to lose weight, they can tend towards like hoarding and greediness and real emotional repression and these types of things. And so, how these three doshas interplay in each of us, and how one is more dominant for each of us, and knowing which one is most dominant for each of us, gives us a clue for how to live our life. Because, like increases, like, like increases like this means, and like, I have a lot of Vata dosha. Go for a Vata dosha. Person travel is really Vata dosha. aggravating because it's more movement, or being at elevation is really aggravating or cold weather is really aggravating. So like the worst thing a Vata dosha person can do to keep them is to go up to a mountaintop in the winter and try to run a marathon, like that's a no go. And if that person does it, when they finish that marathon, they're going to be all depleted, and they're going to be out of balance, and they're not going to feel good, right? They need to be like covered in warm blankets and eating warm soup and oiling their body so that they don't get all dried out. So at the at the most simple level, which is just working with opposites and like opposites and similarities to create balance in the body and in the mind. And at the soul level.

Katie: 13:53

It's It's interesting as you're I was thinking of all the people that I know, that are each thing, right, weren't you, Amy? Were you doing the same thing?

Amy: 14:03

Yeah. And then I was thinking, what am I and that's, that was my, my next question was going to be so there's the three what are they called, again? dosha shares? So does everybody have all three? Or is it just like there's one that's more dominant? Because I was thinking like, I'm probably a combination of a lot of Yes, yeah. So how does one like kind of figure out what one's more prominent or

Unknown: 14:27

so we all have all three. If we didn't, we'd be dead. Okay, the Kapha dosha is our immunity and our strength and our stability, Pitta. dosha, is how we transform things, how we digest things, how we digest food, and Vata dosha is our nervous system. It's how we communicate, it's how we move, but it's like, you know, one of those like graphs, were like one of those bar graphs where you've got a lot of one and less of the others. Yeah, and so most of us have one or two that's like, really pumped up, and one that is just less in All right, so you probably have a lot of Pitta and some vata and maybe less Kapha. Like that. I'm just if I had to guess just looking at you because we can look at certain things in the body and the face and the eyes that give us a clue. As to those doshas, right now, we can do like a quiz online, I have a quiz, there's like these different ways, the best way is to go to a practitioner, because they're really going to be able to tell you, we can do some self analysis, like, really, if we look at our bone structure, our body shape, like there's stuff like if your finger overlaps around your wrist, like how it, you know, that will give us some clue, like, if you're very small boned, you probably have more Vata dosha. Like, I'm a very small person, but that but I'm not completely Vata dosha I definitely have some Pitta dosha I definitely have like muscular strength and like I'm slightly athletic. And truly, truly Vata dosha people can appear like emaciated. It's like the Twiggy model, you know what I mean? Like those people who are just like, Oh my God, you're like bone sticking everywhere, not because of an eating disorder. That's just who they are and how they are. We can also feel it in like the handshake of a person like, like if the hands are very cold and kind of a limp handshake. That's a Vata dosha person like very strong warm handshake that the Pitta dosha person, like a warm, soft pillow, or just a soft pillow around your hand, that's going to be a more Kapha dosha person. The other thing I like to say, which is probably not PC, but it's okay, I'm gonna say it anyhow. Is that like, but shape is a really clear indication of dosha and this is not about shaming at all. Let's hear this right. Vata dosha people like have no but like just disappears they've got no booty, like they can't shake it.

Amy: 16:58

Okay, that's not back there. Right? That's

Unknown: 17:01

the the Pitta dosha person there but like sticks out at you. Like they've got a really nice shelf spot, right? It's like, like that, you know, that like in its in its exalted form, it's like a really great gymnast but that perky and like it's not right, no, I do have pitta, dosha, you're probably pitta, dosha and the Cappadocia, but tends to go wide, like Kapha dosha, butts can be like this very beautiful round,

Amy: 17:30

that's me.

Unknown: 17:32

Know, maybe it could have picked us up kapha, right, you definitely have something to dosha that's there in the Constitution. But there are these ways of determining. And so then, like, you think about that, that bar graph, right, that's like, I have a lot of vata and I have some pitha and I have less cough up, but then we can get imbalanced. So we can be a Vata dosha person, but we can have an extreme pitta, dosha, balance, imbalance, rather, who are Vata dosha person, but all of a sudden, we've got a huge Pitta dosha imbalance, like because we're eating tons of garlic, and tons of chili, and we're sunbathing all day long. And we're just doing all these things. And we're angry, we're angry about our job that is looking into a computer screen, which is really fiery to the senses. And then all of a sudden, we get imbalance, we get hot flashes, or we get rashes, or we get anger, or we get irritability. So you can be a constitutional type and have an imbalance that is from a different dosha.

Amy: 18:34

Yeah, it's funny that we were saying that, because I was thinking like, my wrists are really small. And then I've seen my butt's on, like, it's not the shelf. But so it's like, it's interesting that you're saying that so essentially, is it like, you have maybe two dominant one not as dominant, dominant, and then you, you basically work, you do practices to make sure that you're staying in that balance. And then if it gets off balance, there are things you can do to get it back in that balance.

Unknown: 19:00

That's precisely the right back in that balance for you. Right, not for somebody else. And that's the magic of the whole system is like, you know, if we go to the Western doctor, the Western doctor gives the 250 pound man the same bed that they give to me as like, extremely small woman, right? Yeah. And that that's like, I mean, maybe they'll reduce the dosage but it's essentially the same medication, I Aveda says no, like, you are different. You are unique. You need the medicine that is right for you. And that meant and that everything in the world can be medicine. It's very beautiful.

Amy: 19:38

Yes, that is beautiful. And you were talking about hormonal balance and hot flashes and things like that. And so that also leads me to believe that based on what type of woman you are, yeah, treat those types of things differently, which is so interesting, because I was talking to a friend the other day, and she's 50 and she was talking to me about she's like, well, I don't have any like Nana plus symptoms, but other people that are my age that are doing this and they're gonna happen. She's like, I don't know if any of that and so right that just made me think that they're doshas are different. Yes.

Unknown: 20:10

Does she more Kapha dosha in her body?

Amy: 20:14

Which one is that? The third one? You

Unknown: 20:15

mentioned that the third? Yes, yes and water and more grounded and a bit heavier in the body. Yeah, because she doesn't have that heat pumping through, and she has more grounding. And she has more what we call adjusts, which is like this beautiful life energy, which can also go sour and become toxic. But because she has that grounding, and actually, that fat layer creates a buffer to some of the hormonal imbalances that women who are more vata, more really skinny, more pitha more athletic and really intense, tend to get so there's this really, yes, you're exactly right. That's so exhausting. Now you now you've got it, you've got the whole thing.

Katie: 20:59

If you're, if you're imbalanced, what are some things that you can do to balance?

Unknown: 21:04

Yeah. So it really depends upon that particular person, what their imbalances, how much capacity they have for change. And one thing that I'm always looking to do in my practice, and in my courses is like, I could give you a list of like, 25, things to do, and things to eat and not eat and like, but if you don't do any of them, that's not going to work well. So instead, I want to give you like three things that will create massive shift for you. And then you'll feel so successful, and you'll feel better, and then you can take more change and make more shift, right smart, and, and so thank you. So it's really unique to what that imbalance is, and who that person is, right? We always have to be matching the the remedies to that person's constitution and to what the imbalance is, and looking for. This is the difference between a clinical practitioner which I am and like, a kind of lifestyle consultant or something, like I'm looking for how did this imbalance come to be? What are the deep roots of this imbalance? Like, is this an imbalance that you've been working on for 25 years? Is this an imbalance that actually has its origin in the relationship to your mother? Like, where did this come from? And go to the source of that and create like, deep profound change at the source of that?

Katie: 22:37

And do you have a lot of patients or clients that come to you that are dealing with things like autoimmune disease, or Lyme disease, like you know, these all of these different afflictions? Do you see a lot of that,

Unknown: 22:50

um, I do see some autoimmune, I do see a lot of hormone imbalance, how hormones shift like, that's a time when women are suddenly like, it can be a really a crisis time for women. And so, I see a lot of that. I also do a lot of work with sexuality, and, like sexual radiance, really, for women who are like, Wait, my hormones are shifting, I don't want to have sex or I have vaginal dryness or I have like, like, all these things going on. How do I how do I move through this? Like, what is this new pattern of being? So that's some somewhere that I really work with a lot to

Katie: 23:36

know. Does that touch on Tantra? Is that?

Unknown: 23:40

Oh, yeah.

Katie: 23:44

So tell us Yeah. All right. My only knowledge of it is hearing about sting and his beautiful wife practicing tantric sex. That's really all I've ever heard.

Unknown: 23:57

So, so, so Bali, oh my god, I love it so much. I forgot about that. Okay. So Tantra means to weave it means to weave together and Tantra is that we have to talk about Neo Tantra which is like kind of like westernized soulful sex, which is cool and great and why not like great up level your sex life. Go there with some incense friends, have a lot of fun. And then we can talk about some fat as a, as a philosophic current from ancient India. That presupposes that every aspect of the manifest world is divine, and is a pathway towards experiencing divinity and bliss. very radical, like everything, the trash dump pathway to divinity and bliss, like every single thing is a conduit. And therefore that contrast do teach us that sex and sexuality is one such pathway. And that it is fundamentally intertwined with our health well being and our radiance our vitality. And so that's what I'm gonna say about that.

Katie: 25:24

That's it. That's all you're gonna give us. Give us more. The GSC What do you want? Yeah. I mean, I, okay, so what I took from that was that your sexual desire, how much of a sexual being you feel how radiant and feminine you feel, is all part of your wellness, and to be able to tap into that, you know, for if a woman is struggling and going through hormonal imbalances, and has no sex drive. And then you just start to feel like you don't feel feminine anymore. And you start to feel like you're losing a softness to you and that it is a desire and a passion. That's all part of it. So you're saying Tantra, that's part of, of well being that's part of life. And that's the focus.

Unknown: 26:16

Exactly right. And then we I mean, in, we can talk about, I mean, there are advanced rituals and practices and all sorts of all sorts of voodoo Juju that we can, that we can talk about a little bit, and a lot of it is, is secret. That said, working with vital winds and energies in the body and in the mind is and working with energetic alchemise, right, to transform and transmute energetic states in the body and in the mind and to not be contained in this mundane reality is all part of the teaching. They probably teach

Amy: 27:03

differently again, based on what type of what's the name, Miguel take the doshas. Yeah, totally. You are so yeah, right. Interesting. So

Unknown: 27:16

we're gonna have a friend of mine, a dear colleague and a friend, we're gonna actually teach a course on contra for women suit that's like, involves many of the so called Secret practices, etc. That's on like, the chakra system. You guys know the chakra system, right? Yeah, blah, blah, blah. It's on the chakra system and sex. It's on like Jade egg rituals. From a Taoist perspective. It's on like, bliss drop practices in the energetic body where you're moving inner winds and channels to experience like deep, overwhelming bliss in the present moment when you're not having sex. Right. And then you're like driving through the pickup line trying to pick up your kid and you're like, Oh, my God, I'm having an orgasm right now. School. Never happened. Never happens. It doesn't happen, right?

Amy: 28:05

Oh my god. That's hilarious. That's great. I want to go back to what you were saying just before you were saying about how you, you know, you prescribe like three things, let's say or give someone three things to do based on their what they're struggling with or whatever. Are those two things like? Is it food related? Is it like, like a

Unknown: 28:26

are slowly person to person? It totally depends, like, person to person. And we haven't talked about Vedic Astrology. I'll talk about it a little bit. Yeah, I want to hear about. Yeah, I want to talk about it in just a second. But it depends, like, what level needs the remedy. Like if if it's something that's actually in your mind, but the problem is originating from I can give you and this happens with weight loss all the time. I have to just be straight with you guys. I'm pretty straight with you guys. I've already talked about orgasms in the pickup line. So we're like, really good. That is, right. It's like in your mind now. I'm sorry. We're just we've gone. They're really great friends. So what the heck was I talking about?

Amy: 29:11

You were talking? Yeah,

Unknown: 29:13

weight loss, weight loss. It's my least favorite thing. In my practice, I pretty much don't do it anymore. If somebody comes and says, I want to lose weight, I'm like, why is that because nine times out of 10 I can put them on any diet in the world. They won't lose weight, because it is something in their mind and it's a deep seated fear. And it's like all of this pent up emotion and like all of this stuff, that unless they address that what is keeping it in place, then the diet doesn't work right. So it depends like What remedies we need depends upon like, where where you are and which level of the self we are addressing. Is it just the physical body? Is it the mind? Is it the energetic body like we're just how Talking about the chakras, maybe your heart chakra needs to be really opened. Now we can do that through some rose essential oil, or we can do it with like specific sexual positions, if that's where you want to go, right? Or you're open to, or you know that we, there's all these different remedies depending upon that person and what they need. And it's my job to like, see that person? Yeah, to see that person and then then understand that remedy, which will bring them to a layer of awakening to themselves, right

Katie: 30:34

to where it all starts to work, and then start things start falling into place, you would appreciate this. And I wonder if you've heard of it, if it's related at all, but I just recently signed up for a 30 day course, a hip opener course, because I have had a lot of hip pain lately. And I was reading that you hold trauma in your hips. And yeah, I thought I'm gonna give this a try. So right, so yeah, just yeah, I'm gonna start it tomorrow. But is that is that? Yeah, totally

Unknown: 31:03

second, second chakra Sacral Chakra is is the water element. And it absolutely relates to emotions and emotional flow, and how we contain and hold emotion and how we process emotion. And so hip openers are great.

Katie: 31:20

Very cool.

Amy: 31:20

I have a question. Because this might be something that's on a lot of people's mind, just like over the last few years, there's been so much anxiety, you know, all over the place. And so and when you were saying before, if something's more in the mind, it's not physical, but it's like anxiety or things like that. How can I mean, I know, this is so broad, and it depends on person, what type they are. But is there something someone could do in their daily life to like, ease anxiety? I'm just trying to think of something that a lot of people Yeah,

Unknown: 31:52

absolutely. You know, there's so many different things. But the most, the easiest remedy for that is to walk slower. Like when you are going to your car, you know, we get into that like, Okay, I'm going out of the grocery store, and I'm getting into the car, and I'm just filling in, I'm checking my phone, and I'm in like the radios on and like all of this, just walk slowly, between point A and point B. And that's it. Like even like, feel like you're a gorilla. Like what? Because get back into your body. Because anxiety is when we are in the future or the past. And if we can come back right now. Like into any mindful state, then it dissipates. Right. So that's one like totally simple remedy. Just walk.

Amy: 32:50

That's great. That's good for kids. When kids get all crazy about something, yeah, but for

Unknown: 32:55

kids, like, I'll do this with my kid, I'll be like, okay, Name five things that are present right now. They'll be like, Hey, I know. They'll be like, No Name five things and they'll be like, I see my shoe. They see the picture on the wall. And by the time they've done five, they're done. Right because they're back they've like they've like Soul retrieved with some crystals and like recite

Amy: 33:17

Yeah, yeah. Right now.

Katie: 33:22

All right. I was great. I want to hear about it was the Vedic Astrology. Yeah, yeah, that's, yeah, we can't we can't miss that. So help us better understand.

Unknown: 33:35

Okay, so it's another one of these huge sciences that has its origins in ancient India. And I use Vedic Astrology as an Ayurvedic practitioner. Most many Ayurvedic practitioners do not practice Jyotish, which is another name for Vedic Astrology. It's the science of light. So it's how light manifests in the universe through you. And so, Vedic Astrology is accurate to what is actually happening in the sky right now. Whereas Western Astrology is accurate to what was happening in the sky 2000 years ago. Oops. I Western astrology really triggers me. So I'm just gonna put it aside right now. Because it's not accurate. That's why it's like

Amy: 34:20

horoscopes and like that kind of stuff.

Unknown: 34:22

And it's not accurate. Like, like, oh, the moon is in cancer. If you look up Astro logic astronomically at the sky. The moon is not in cancer. Right now. It's actually we just had a New Moon in Gemini, right? It's just not right. So that's a problem for me. Yeah. Anyhow, people love it. So I'll let them do their thing. I'll do my thing. Okay. So it's accurate to what is actually happening in the sky and how we, it shows us the blueprint of the karma, that that soul has come into this lifetime to work on So really big stuff, really big stuff like Have I come into this lifetime? To learn how to be better at relationship? Have I come into this lifetime to learn about addiction? Like that's pretty heavy karma, right? Have I come into this lifetime to learn about cancer? That's some pretty heavy karma, right? Or have I come into this lifetime to learn about money? Like, think of these things as good or bad, they aren't good or bad. It's like, What has my soul chosen, or be been propelled in this lifetime to learn to learn about? Wow. And so when we look at that, then that gives me a picture. That's where I usually start when I'm working with a one on one client, because, you know, why is one child born perfect, and another child is born with a deformed arm, right? That has no reason? There's no reason except for if we look at these bigger karmic pictures, so why have you manifested in this particular way, this particular slice of light coming into the universe, right? And those karmic lessons that we're learning, it's like, we go to a climbing gym, and like the first time we climb the wall, we're like, Oh, my God, that's so hard. All of my muscles are like jello, and I'm exhausted. But then we go back again, and we climb it again. And it feels better. But we're still learning about this new territory. And similarly, this is what we do over and over and over and over in our lifetimes, right? We know this, we like this guy who's an asshole. We dated this guy who is not very nice. And and then we're like, okay, thank you. I didn't know what kind of podcasts are on. There. But so we did this guy, and he's unavailable, right? unavailable, man like that karma, right? And then we're like, I'm not going to do that. So then we did another guy, guess who do we date? Another unavailable guy, right? Because we, it's like these things that we're getting a PhD on in this lifetime. It's not that, like, we just get better and better and better and better at this thing. But when we look at the chart, we can provide, we can provide the wisdom, it's so helpful to be seen in this way to be like, Oh, that's who you are. I see what you are working on.

Katie: 37:14

Like, it helps you understand the why. Yes, there's how it gives you the why.

Amy: 37:19

So how do you? How do you do it? Like, what is it? Like? How does one?

Unknown: 37:24

Yeah, yeah, so we need the birth date, time and place. And then there are charts within charts within charts. And like, I use a software that that pulls up the chart so that you can see all of these. I mean, it's a system of signs and symbols, and then it's it's our job to interpret those. So you do

Katie: 37:47

their meetings. Yeah.

Amy: 37:49

And then that then informs that person, kind of what their

Unknown: 37:54

Yeah, so if I'm, if I'm doing just like an IRB, I don't mean just but if I'm doing a health console, I'll look at it and just be like, Okay, this is the picture. And this is this will tell me a great information. And then I leave that and then we're going into like, what are you eating every day? And when do you go to sleep? And how much alcohol are you drinking? And like, what are these other factors, but then if I'm just doing a chart reading, we'll spend an hour and a half or two hours just looking at like, what are the what are you working on in this lifetime?

Amy: 38:23

And then what is suitable sorry, then what are people I'm just trying to, like? For lack of a better word, like dumb it down for myself, like, what did people like you read there? You do a reading for them, like based on their birthday or all that, then like, they learn kind of what they're here for. Then what do they do with that doomsaying?

Unknown: 38:48

Yeah, yeah, no, I do. We do have remedies for when there are difficulties in the chart. And then there's also the fact that like, there's the time that you were born, and that's like your blueprint, and then there's stuff that's happening right now. Right that overlays that the end so we can see when times are going to be difficult for you. And that's really helpful to know, like, wow, that's gonna be a really hard time for me, right? I'm going by I'm gonna lose my job and my boyfriend is gonna break up with me, whatever it is, right? That's gonna be a hard time and just knowing that is like, okay, yeah, it's not the end of the world. This is what is happening right now. And it's also a framework for understanding reality, understanding reality, that is incredibly potent.

Katie: 39:40

It also seems like it would be you know, so many people say they're searching for their why and like, why are they here? What is their what are they supposed to be doing on this planet? And if this is giving your karma then I'm kind of telling you that exactly what that insight. Yes. And then you can do something with it.

Unknown: 40:00

That's exactly right. It's like that knowledge and then you

Katie: 40:03

just say I'm gonna get a reading. It sounds very cool.

Amy: 40:06

It doesn't cool.

Katie: 40:07

Yeah. Amazing. It's, it's all very like, it's, I mean, it's much more vast. Like we talked about it

Amy: 40:16

all. Yeah, I know. I was gonna say that too. Yeah. It would be so interesting to just have like deep dives on each one of these things. Because we just start like scratching the surface. It sounds like there's just so much underneath to, to learn about. So. Yeah, we'll have to like, have you back to talk.

Unknown: 40:36

Come back. I like you guys.

Amy: 40:37

Maybe we do a section on Tantra. And we do a section on,

Unknown: 40:42

like on the pickup line at school.

Amy: 40:45

Yeah, exactly. Like there's just so much to get into. And I feel like we could do a whole session on Vedic Astrology. Yeah. Which is super interesting. Yeah. Okay, awesome. Well, we're gonna want to

Katie: 40:59

hear but yeah, go ahead. So you do some you do retreats as well. Right. Justine, tell us about your summer. Last

Unknown: 41:08

summer, I do a summertime retreat, and I do a winter time retreat. Summertime bliss retreats coming up here in July. It's in California, near Nevada City, which is like this super, spiritual, yummy place. And we do a five day retreat. And we dive deep into all of these things. And into practice. And it's I don't know, if you have you ever been on a retreat, like a spiritual or yoga retreat before?

Amy: 41:38

I know. I have, but not like, not that, like more.

Unknown: 41:45

So it's so relaxing, because you don't even have to think about what you're going to eat. You know, like, even if you're on vacation, you have to be like, Okay, that's your restaurant, whatever. It's like, that's one of the most relaxing things about retreat is like your food is like this amazing organic food and it appears before you. And so it just like takes away all of this pressure. And we just we do yoga and alchemical practices and fire rituals and water healings and Slike. Really? Amazing. Yeah, super fun. Yeah. So my summertime retreat is there in Nevada City, I think I have one space left. And then in the wintertime, generally I do like a kind of invite only retreat, which means like, if you're if you if you contact me, and you're cool, you can come by summertime.

Amy: 42:37

just from looking at someone where they fit

Unknown: 42:41

out and then I read their mind and use my psychic skills. So wintertime retreat is going to be a women's Tantra retreat this winter. I'm super working on the details of it. Very cool.

Katie: 42:54

My husband would buy me a ticket tomorrow.

Unknown: 42:57

All right, let's do it. I'm sending you I want you to comment, it's gonna be so much fun. Very cool.

Amy: 43:05

Love it. Okay,

Unknown: 43:06

I know I was like this upcoming Tantra course that I that I'm going to do in the fall. It's a six week course for women about tantric sex and sexuality. We'll touch on some of the Neo Tantra stocks, but it's very much from this kind of rooted position and place. I was talking to my friend who does marketing and I was like, Can I just mark it towards men? And like get them to buy it for their wives? Like he was like, Yeah, you can probably do that. He was like, you might pick up a few.

Katie: 43:34

Yeah, sounds very Yeah, it sounds like the way to go. Alright. So where can our listeners find you if they want to reach out and work with you and your retreats?

Unknown: 43:46

I'm just in limos.com is my website and I'm on Instagram, Justine Lemos, Ph. D. And you can find me there you can reach out you can send me a DM I'm super responsive. They're like, I also really enjoy like that. I also have a UI I also run a mighty network which is like free social media the the base level is free. And I mean, they're like everyday that's the bliss the dash bliss.mn.to You guys I think, Oh yeah, I'm on Gaia TV. I've 12 shows on Gaia and actually a big course coming out through Sofia yoga International. But the best way is like on Instagram or on my website, send me a message. I love personal contact with my students and clients and like people like if you message me you're gonna really get me like not another person.

Katie: 44:43

Nice. Yeah, well, this was a lot of fun. This is something we should get. Yeah, we should get into our rap session because I'm really curious to hear some of your answers. is what is your favorite wellness or beauty hack?

Unknown: 45:00

So it's what we call a younga, which is a complete body oil creation that I do almost daily.

Katie: 45:08

What does that entails more? Yeah,

Unknown: 45:10

so you get warm oil, it has to be warm and you warm it up. And it can be like verbalized oil or oil for specific reasons. Or for specific purposes and you oil your entire body, you can do your hair. You don't have to and then usually you're taking a warm shower afterwards and like rubbing the oil into your body. It's this wonderful, amazing self care ritual.

Amy: 45:33

Sounds lovely.

Katie: 45:34

Are you doing this at like a certain time of day? Is this a morning ritual in

Unknown: 45:38

the morning? Or night? I usually do it at night. Yeah,

Amy: 45:42

yeah, I was like a wind down. That sounds so relaxing.

Unknown: 45:45

Yeah. Jazz gets oil everywhere. I'm fine with it. Yeah.

Amy: 45:49

Yeah. Love that. Okay, so the next one we call our five minute flow. So you just got out of the shower, you dry it off. Uber or your friend whatever alerted you. They're five minutes away. They're picking you up. What is your quick beauty routine? Like what are your go to Holy girls had to get ready and get out the door on time? I mean, ideally, it wouldn't be five minutes because we want to slow down but if you have Right, right, totally,

Unknown: 46:13

but like I like I if I've oily ated like I'm ready. Like I'm ready to go. I'm like no frills, like, Yeah, I mean, make sure my architecture shaved spray on some deodorant. Like, if it's a fancy, I might have some like, mascara on. Yeah,

Amy: 46:34

but other than that oily ated and good to go.

Unknown: 46:38

That's right. I'm ready to walk out the door. Love it. Yep.

Katie: 46:42

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

Unknown: 46:50

Well, I think we've talked about most of it, like, you know, I practice physical yoga daily. I practice meditation daily, I do all of these Ayurvedic rituals and internal and external alchemy. So that's good, fun. Love it.

Katie: 47:10

Justin, I feel like you probably have some really cool mantras. We'd like to close our show with a mantra. Do you have any that come to mind? And I know that's I know that term. We use that term very loosely here. Obviously, we're not using it as Sanskrit mantras, not necessarily speaking to that. But more just like something we like to end, on a note, a reminder, an affirmation, something along those lines. So if you don't have anything, no pressure, but I just thought I'd ask right.

Unknown: 47:40

And of course, like to me, I'm like, oh, all of the Sanskrit mantras come directly out. I'm like, oh, yeah, Mantra. We can.

Katie: 47:49

Yeah, please. I would love a Sanskrit mantra. I just didn't want to put the pressure on. Oh, there is

Unknown: 47:55

no pressure. So first, I'm gonna chant a Gayatri mantra that invites in seven forms of light, like into us. So it's like an invocation of luminosity. Where we're like pouring sunlight down through us and then like, emanating sun out through our pores, like so. This is the globe on track. This is the like, track Okay, yeah,

Amy: 48:23

ready

Unknown: 48:29

for move us VA server tour. Training knee bar go live. Yes. Yeah, daddy nahi the you're not proud to die.

Amy: 48:54

Can you know that was your voice is gorgeous. It's like went through me.

Katie: 49:02

It's very grounding and relaxing. That was beautiful. Thank you so

Amy: 49:07

much. That was so special.

Katie: 49:10

That we appreciate so grateful for your time.

Unknown: 49:13

I had super fun hanging out with you guys. You too.

Amy: 49:16

Thanks 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 will continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.

Episode 69 - Product Junkies September, Back To School Edition - Things We Are Loving Now And Putting In Our Cart (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 69 - Product Junkies September, Back To School Edition - Things We Are Loving Now And Putting In Our Cart.

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: 0:18

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

Amy: 0:29

Hello, September. Welcome back to Nirvana sisters podcast. It's Amy and Katie. And we've missed you all. We've been doing a best of series in August, which has been so successful. We've gotten so many downloads on all of our favorite episodes. So thanks, everyone, for continuing to listen and support us. We are here to talk about product junkies for September. And the theme is really back to school and in my opinion, streamlining at least the products that I have to review with you today, Katie, so

Katie: 1:00

it's funny that you say because of streamlining that's genius for like back to school and fallen everything I mind was leaning a little bit more towards, I don't know, just doing the little things for the kids to help. kind of nudge them along and get them into their groove. It's like not really streamlining so I've got some beauty. I've got some some like self care, so it's a little mix up. But my first one this morning Reese woke up and she came to me in the very first thing she said to me is Mommy, my lips are chapped. Which is crazy, because she's only been in school for two days, but she doesn't have any ever chapstick or anything with her and so I'm gonna get her. My new I'm obsessed with this product. I'm gonna get her and Maddie. This. It's the elf right or die lip gloss. Have you tried it? Oh, no, it's, it's really, really. I'm obsessed with locks. It's a lip balm. It's called Lip Balm. Actually, I'm wearing it now. Lip Balm. Okay, it has really nicely. Yeah, it has a glossy, glassy finish, but it's not tacky, like lip glosses. So it's just kind of like a nice consistency. It's very smooth. They have a bunch of different colors. This is the clear one, and has like a little mint to it. Oh, and I love it. This is a really, really good product. It's only $6 I got it at CVS. It's It's solid. It's really good.

Amy: 2:19

They have the best Yeah, the best product. So I have a question Does that like, Can you taste it at all? Like, you know, sometimes with a bomb you it kind of like gets in your mouth and you can taste it?

Katie: 2:28

Not really, I don't taste it that much it and I think it has a bit to do with the consistency of it. It's just a really good, thin consistency. That's not tacky. So

Amy: 2:38

good. Yeah, that's a good one. That's probably a good one to to like keeping your car because I feel like I'm always looking for chapstick or something in my car. I don't know. You're sitting there and you're like my lips are dry and then you don't have anything. Okay, that's a great one. I love that. Yeah.

Katie: 2:53

I'm obsessed with it. It's really good. What do you have for us him?

Amy: 2:56

Okay, so I'm starting out with a gift that Katie gave me. Thank you very much. So sweet just sent me a surprise gift one day this summer. And I wanted to share with everyone what a good gift this was. So there's a brand called Urban stems that sends out really beautiful flowers, really modern flowers, really chic flowers, and they have all these different fun ways you can do it. So Katie had sent me dry flowers. And the specific ones that she sent me are called the Kayden. And they're so pretty, because they're kind of like white with pops of hot pink. And she knows I love my hot pink. So it was just so beautiful. And I put it in my office right away with a really pretty vase. And then the coolest part is you can do an add on and so they have a collab with glow recipes. So she also sent me this Glow Recipe, watermelon glow pink juice moisturizer. And I think I had reviewed their other products and one of our product junkies like the nice and my serum, which I love. And this sort of has the same consistency but it's more of a moist, it feels so good on the skin. And so it was such a good combo and such a nice treat to get it I was so surprised and it was so sweet. And if you have a gift to give a teacher or a friend or something like that I would highly recommend this specific setup from urban stems or the site in general. The Kaden right now is on dollars plus the Glow Recipe ad is like 20 bucks, but they have so many good combinations. So urban stands highly recommend great for gifts.

Katie: 4:29

Yeah, and you turned me on to urban stems. We've sent urban stems to some of our listeners and our I mean some of our guests rather right. Yeah, we love urban setting, right? Yeah. All right, and it's so many yet sticking in the theme of beauty. This doesn't entirely have too much to do with our like back to school theme but it's such a good one. You know, how Bethenny Frankel on tick tock does all of this comparisons of like the high end low end product, I'm obsessed so she got me into it that I might have I've always used Nars Radiant Creamy Concealer, which we all know is like a holy grail. Right? It's great. I think Lauren we've been using it for years. So I picked up the elf hydrating camo concealer and the satin finish the other day the same time I got this lip gloss. It's almost identical.

Amy: 5:20

Yeah, it's very hydrating. Like was it easy to match your shade?

Katie: 5:24

It was they do they have, they don't have, you know, a million colors, but they do have a decent selection. And it's very hydrating. And the nice thing about it is that like very little bit goes a very long way. You don't need a whole lot like for under my eye. I do one, maybe two dabs and I get full coverage. So it's it's a really good product. And this was you know, also I mean, alphas like such a great price point. Yeah, this was and it's thin, because it's really hydrating. And it doesn't get in your creases and it holds up. Yeah, it like lasts throughout the day, and I paid $7 for it. So I mean, that's it, you know, it's so bad. I'm always gonna get my Nars concealer because it's just like, I can't live without it. But this is a good substitute, you know? So yeah, that's good one.

Amy: 6:14

Yeah, it's funny you say that because my Nars I have but it's old. So like, I need to replace it. And I was in the store the other day because I had wanted to try the closest concealer I tried it I didn't like it even though a lot of people love it. And I exchange it because I love that brands but then when I came home for some reason it was like the wrong color. So now I gotta exchange that. I've been trying tons of concealers we could almost do like a whole show on concealer. I feel like we are both obsessed. Yeah, well speaking of Bethany Frankel. Brechtian I found on her channel as well and I ran out to buy it or I went online to buy it, it was sold out, and then it finally gotten stuck. Its solvency Oh glassy. So the brand is called Express. It's a highlighting blush, the texture reacts with the pH of your skin. So it makes it provides a dewy blushing tint, and color, but it varies depending on your skin tone and your pH. So it also contains a dose of caffeine which gives that extra boost in hydration for your skin. So I'm going to show you, I'm going to show you it and I have been using this since I got it is so cool. Again, you don't need a lot. You just need a little bit, but I'm going to show you. We're just gonna put a dab here and adapt here and see how it goes on clear. Yeah. Can you see how it's turning into like a rosy?

Katie: 7:37

Yeah, I've seen this on Instagram. So it really does do what it says it's gonna do.

Amy: 7:42

It's amazing. And it's like really hydrating, and it feels good. So you could literally speaking of streamlining just leave the house wearing this. So I can see that nice. See that glow. And it's clear. It's like, Look at this. Like, wow, oh, I don't know how it works. And what's interesting is I know that it works because some days the color is different. So it's different for everyone. So I think it just depends how your skin feels that day or something. Like sometimes it's even more of a 10 sometimes it's less of a 10 It's very interesting, but I love it because every time you put it on it looks good because you're not trying to like match your blush. So anyway, highly recommend

Katie: 8:20

it. It's amazing. It looks just like the sun stock.

Amy: 8:24

Yeah, it's I'm telling you, it is the best like Bethany's video of it is hilarious. She, you know, she's so dramatic. She was like, saw it. Flash like, yeah, it's great. So it's $26 I got it directly on their website, great product. Okay, what do we do next?

Katie: 8:40

So I have one that you know, this is kind of for the kiddos and I use it myself and it's to help them get back into the you know, the back to school routine of going to bed earlier. The sun is still up, you know, it's not these, like long, I can stay up as late as I want summer hours anymore. So we're trying to get them to wind down and get into the bedtime nighttime routine. So every night I'm spraying this on their pillow. It's called calm sleep mist. And it's the same brand that makes the magnesium supplements. Oh yeah. Called a magnesium alga.

Amy: 9:12

Yeah.

Katie: 9:14

It smells it's it's an elixir of lavender chamomile, Clary Sage and frankincense. And it's a very, like it's a very dreamy, relaxing scent. I've been using it nice for your girls. Yeah, that thing.

Amy: 9:29

Do they like it?

Katie: 9:31

They love it. Yeah, they love it. And it's $20 I got it again at CVS. Can you tell that I'm obsessed with our CVs? We were really good. CVS. CVS,

Amy: 9:40

CVS CVS beauty is like killing it. They're the best

Katie: 9:43

solid. Yeah, it's good. So but yeah, I love it. It's very like relaxing scent. And

Amy: 9:49

by them and by boys. I wonder if they'll even notice, but I can try to get their routine of them not staying up so late. So speaking of nighttime, my next product is the care estas ate our magic night serum. I don't know if you've seen this first of all, How gorgeous is that glass just makes me happy. It's just so pretty. What it is, it's like the serum that you put on your hair. At night it smells really good. First of all, it's almost like a it's a it's not really a mask because it's not heavy but it's a serum and it's a hydrating treatment. So essentially you just put it on at night like all over your hair, I really focus on the ends because that's the driest for me. And my hair I've been using it I haven't been using it as consistently as I'd like to but I have been using it in the days that I use that I do wake up with softer, kind of more silky hair so I think if you do it every night your hair will really start to improve so I just started trying this but I really really like it so far and it smells really good too. It really did long time you only need like a little pump and especially if you're just kind of doing it on your hands it's great so I John and I go to bed sell fairly good. Yeah and Karis das a lot.

Katie: 10:58

There Karis. Das is steep price wise, but they deliver. I really feel like that brand that are solid. Yeah. What do you wake up with less tangles in your hair? Because you know, Maddie has the care like you do doesn't help with that.

Amy: 11:12

It probably does. I mean, I don't wake up with tangled hair. Because I've always slept with my hair like this on the pillow up. Sleep with my hair down on my face. So for I don't know, it's just more company. So my hair is kind of, I never get tangled. But yeah, I would imagine it doing wonderful.

Katie: 11:28

You just gave me some insight into how you sleep. And now I'm really interested to sleep flat on your back the whole night with your hair up over the pillow.

Amy: 11:37

No, around constantly. But even if I'm on the side, I automatically kind of move my hair like it. I started my back and it's sorry. If I start on my back and my hair is up like that. And they move to the side. It just kind of moves. Yeah, yeah, I don't know. And then at night, I just done that. It's just comfortable because I don't like anything on my face.

Katie: 11:58

Yeah, I know my hair has like literally wrapped around my neck before.

Amy: 12:02

Yeah, like drives me nuts.

Katie: 12:04

Okay. All right, I have another one here. And this one I have just recently this is kind of for like health and everything. I've just recently started to try to get the girls into it. I put it in their smoothies. It's something that we've you know, people have been using and hearing about for a very long time. It's collagen peptides. But what is special about this brand for me, it's the brand is called Suzu I think that's how you say it. There's no added anything in this collagen. This is just straight bovine collagen, which means it comes from a cow. So there's no like sweeteners, there's no flavorings, there's no artificial anything. And when I've tried that before, you can usually like It tastes bad. This just has no taste, it completely dissolves into my coffee and dissolves into the smoothies. So I'm starting to get the kids into it because it's really good for your gut. And as we know, your gut affects your brain and all of that and it's good for your hair and your nails and your skin and the whole thing like it's, there's like there's really no reason not to use it. So this is a good one. It's $30 I got this on Amazon.

Amy: 13:13

It's between like collagen and collagen protein or is that the same thing?

Katie: 13:17

It's the same thing. Some of the collagen protein powders might have added protein like like a whey protein or an aqueous college

Amy: 13:25

or that have protein in it.

Katie: 13:27

So this yes, this does have 10 grams of protein. So it shows the percentage of all the amino acids and it looks like there's a little bit of everything in there. So this might be a complete protein and it's for bone health, joint mobility, skin and cell health essential amino acid source there you go hair and nail strength and healthy gut support. Okay, so

Amy: 13:44

I have two things that I'm going to review together because they can go together when you're thinking about your morning routine. So as I was mentioning earlier on the episode all about streamline so that door to you know, I'm going back to the office now a few days a week so it's like you know, get ready get the kids out the door do a streamline routine. So this is something I haven't reviewed it necessarily on product junkies but I probably post about it a million times which is the necessar which is a natural deodorant and I have found it very hard to find a good natural deodorant I don't know about you, but I've been using necessar for the last few years and I there the reason why I'm reviewing it this time is because this is a new way that they formulated it which is so much better. The first one was like a thicker bottle and like white so when you put it on it wasn't like cakey and get in your clothes but it wasn't didn't like slide on nicely and it worked but I didn't like love the texture. This texture is it just a deodorant gel, and it just slides on so easily. It's cooling and it really in my opinion for all the natural God instead of this is the best one I've tried and it's necessary and the free you can get an answer but this one is eucalyptus, which I like because it's an but it's not. And yeah, it's great on to get it on sofa or website, I think it's first. So yeah, really good product. I've been very happy with the reformulation and the way they've done it and I highly recommend the job if you're into natural deodorant. And then the next thing I'll recommend, which is my last thing is actually very funny because it's something my husband bought that I have now started using. So you know, I love a body oil to put on your body after the shower. And I still love the OSA and I have one other one by skin and senses and those are my two like go to his however, he bought this one. It's this brand Jr Watkins. And this one I love because number one, it's a body oil mist. So if you're talking about doing things quickly, like the other ones are pumps, which is fine, but the mist obviously is quicker. So you just missed it on, takes two seconds, rub it in for one second. And you're done. This one is coconut honey. Smells so good. It's free from silicones and mineral oil. It's 98% natural says, and it's great. So he was using it and I started using it. And now I've like taken over and started using this bottle, so I'm gonna have to buy more, but it's 899 on Amazon. So highly recommend great product like get out of the shower, just spray it on smells good. Rub it in one second and you're done. So love it. That would be my last reco streamlining your routine.

Katie: 16:27

Well, my last one is definitely going to school motivated. It's, it's a company that I love. And it's I bought the girls backpacks from them. And they also have like regular handbags and travel things and everything the brand is called state, they use recycled products. 45% of their backpacks are made from recyclable goods, which is incredible to me like the inside of the lining, it says like this was once a water bottle, which is just really cool. And the other great thing is that a pretty large portion of the proceeds goes to charities that they're involved with. They're involved in Seeds of Peace time's up Bottomless Closet, they provide backpacks for children that that can't, you know, get backpacks themselves, so on and so on. So I just really love they're also like super durable, great quality, they hold up mountains from last year, it's still in really great shape. We do a new backpack just because it got nasty a camp. It's held up but it kind of stinks from the wet towels and everything. So we go you know when again this year and you know, they're the price points a little steep. It's $95. But it's it's a it's a really good bag. It's really cute. And again, I love that piece of it goes to charity. But having said that, I just want to say this is something that I saw a friend of mine posted I thought it was really smart. You know, just because you get the new backpack doesn't mean like the old pack backpack doesn't carry all the same amount of dreams and hopes and everything so kids can show up to school in new backpacks, old ones new shoes, old shoes, it's all great stuff. They all carry hopes and dreams and ambitions. So yes,

Amy: 18:05

and you know what you can you can use I have like old backpacks from the kids that we'll use for like sports or you know other things. So it's not like they're not being used. I love that. Yeah, and I feel like I've seen that brand online and they really cute designs, right?

Katie: 18:19

Yes, yeah, I'm obsessed with the kids of backpacks. I can I'll share pictures on social when we move

Amy: 18:25

okay, so that was our that was our back to school slash streamline September product junkies episode. I'm so excited to try all the products you recommended Katie and yeah, hopefully this was helpful for you all. Let us know what else you want us to review. We're continuing to look out for for all these fun new products that we're loving lately and see you next time. Thanks, everyone. 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 63 - Greens, Water, Move, Repeat With Ahmi Health Founder, Rachel Johnson (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 63 - Greens, Water, Move, Repeat With Ahmi Health Founder, Rachel Johnson.

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: 0:18

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

Amy: 0:28

Welcome back to the show Nirvana sisters family. It's Amy and Katie. And we're so excited to be here with Rachel Johnson, who's the founder of Ahmi health. She is a corporate lawyer by day and an entrepreneur by night. So I can definitely relate to that. And we are super excited to hear about her growing business and hear about the community of women that are figuring out the healthy life together. So welcome to the show, Rachel.

Rachel: 0:51

Thank you. I'm so excited to be here. Actually, on my morning walk this morning. I was listening to Lisa, the founder of Kroma wellness episode you guys just did because a lot of our members have been doing her five day cleanse and like trying all her products. So it's like so curious.

Amy: 1:07

Oh, that's awesome. But what is their feedback? Ben, we love it.

Rachel: 1:10

You love it. They I think, you know some of them have done at prolong, which is like, Oh, you're one which is really rough. I can just enter my friend. I've done it bombers with me. And she's like, I'm so frickin pissed. I drink her all day. I've lost like less than one pound. But she was yeah, it's

Amy: 1:29

horrible. I've done it a few times. Yeah. From us, like, a million times better and healthier. Yes.

Rachel: 1:35

And the people that are doing Kroma just like they're like we're eating like they have like almond butter or whatever that cookie butter is. And so I think it's really great. I really want to do it. I am trying to have a third kid so I'm like I shouldn't really do a write always. I love experimenting with that stuff. You know, I was a girl like 10 years ago that was doing a juice cleanse like just with my friends because I feel like I was the one person that would actually commit with them. Yeah, we're doing it like five days.

Amy: 2:03

That's awesome. Well, we're so happy to get all into it. But before we get into it, let's do our nirvana of the week and kind of take a step back and talk about what brought us joy this week or today or anything little we're big at why don't you start so funny.

Katie: 2:17

Thank you Amy. It's so funny that I'm so my, my my nirvana of the week was going to be that my inlaws are here. We're here but as Amy knows, Amy's parents, my parents, they just tested positive for COVID last night so are on their way home.

Amy: 2:36

They're okay though. Yes,

Katie: 2:37

they are. Their bodies are handling it very, very well that so they're doing I think they're going to be just fine. But we did have like some great little Nirvana moments with them this week with the kids and everything and just relaxing having dinners together. It's nice. I was loved having them here. So it's a shame it got cut short, but that was my What about you, Amy?

Amy: 2:57

It's so cute. Yeah, my my dad was telling me that they went to see the Michael Jackson show in on Broadway in New York City like a couple of nights ago and Katie's daughter Maddie went and it sounded like she was in heaven thought it was amazing. And I heard the I heard the guy Wait, or when they were young and she Yeah, she I

Katie: 3:15

mean, she goes on never be the same after.

Amy: 3:20

Yeah, my dad said she waves back and I was like, okay, she's gonna be that the rest of her life. That was actually one of my Nirvana's I was gonna say because that was like the cutest thing because I can remember being that little and something like that happens even now you're like, Oh my God. That is really funny that you said that. Totally.

Rachel: 3:35

I remember catching Justin Timberlake, Timberlake. glowstick at a Encino remember it and I saved the glow stick was like on my shelf for so long.

Amy: 3:45

So funny. Yeah, that's a sweet. So I would say I've used versions of this before, but I've been like, I feel like in a little bit of a funk lately with like, I mean, I'm always working out. But just like in you know, you get into the routine. And so this week, I've been just doing a lot more walking outside because it's been beautiful out. So it is just amazing how much it changes your mood. Because, you know, sometimes you're like, you get up and you're like, you don't feel like getting your bed you get like a little lazy, especially today. It's like, you know, before a long holiday weekend, and I was just like, and then I forced myself to get out of bed. I took a half an hour walk with my dog and like, I felt so much better coming in and I was just like, um, it's just, it's just amazing how much like fresh air and the sun in your eyes and like a good walk and sweat can do for you and change your perspective. And I wasn't even like running. I ran a little bit but mostly just walking and I just felt so good afterwards. But um, so that was my Nirvana, love. Okay, what about you, Rachel?

Rachel: 4:40

Um, so my nirvana is probably the opposite of health and wellness. But I was in the Bahamas this past weekend. And I think minder, Ivana was just being at this like really grungy dive bar with a group of two other couples. We went to the Bahamas with and we were like taking shots at tequila and see like free fall and winter. So fun, grungy all these like, posters were in there and I was just like this like reminds you of like the good old days and I really I mean it's terrible but like I feel like alive and I remember like this is heaven. This is like, you know that happiness. I love that feeling yeah fun and actually went with two couples that are dating there. All four of them were recently divorced. And it's something that you know, I usually go with like married couples or others but these people were down to like YOLO have so much fun. Second Leisha life and it was like so fun and really fun for me and my husband did just like get that renewed energy from that. That's so

Katie: 5:39

great. I love that. Yeah, that's Nirvana's can be wild and crazy and fun. And that's a great things for you to like, it's so important, right? The balance I think tonight I'm gonna probably be having a couple spicy margaritas. And that will be when nirvana for tomorrow.

Amy: 5:54

Exactly. Alright, well, let's get into it. So tell us all about AMI health and how to get started and kind of like what the name represents.

Rachel: 6:05

Yeah, so AMI is a play on the French word for friend. Because that's really how it started. I had had my second baby, I always kind of let it go. When I'm pregnant. I like order bloomin onion from Outback Pizza Hut. Like I live it up. And I've never been into like health and wellness. I've always like been interested in what other people are doing. And like doing juice cleanses here and there. But nothing like I've never looked at nutrition labels or ever really feel like I could live a healthy life. And after my second baby, I had about 60 to 70 pounds to lose. And I was like shoot like I need to do something and I need to like join something. And there really wasn't a company out there that I felt like spoke my language when it came to getting healthy. There was a new Weight Watchers which are great. But I just wanted something like fresh, elevated sharing all the healthy products. And I realized like what motivated me was seeing other busy women doing it like seeing somebody that's similar to me, maybe she's like the head of Burger King or something going for a run at 6am. I'm like shit if she can do it. I know she's getting on a flight somewhere. I can do it too. So I got a group of six of my girlfriends together. And you know, we'd all get together. We're like, Oh, I gotta get healthy. And like none. Nobody ever done anything. And I was like, Guys, we're committing for three months, we're going to like eat really simple recipes, share them with each other, and just work out three days a week, because like three days a week, you can do even when you're having a shit show week and like, let's start there. And we did it really stuck to it. Like most times you would be like alright guys, I'm like going on vacation. Good luck with your like little healthy thing. Let people do that with you. I know you're sticking to it. Because you can still like, do three days a week on vacation like, yes, you're right, eating the healthiest, but you can still do something. So they we really stuck with and we all saw huge changes. Like I lost 25 pounds. My single friends were happy again, they were like back on the dating apps. Like we were just all different. And so great work, you know, and everybody started asking us like, What the heck are you guys doing? Because naturally when you start looking and feeling good people want to ask you and it's like, what the hell and they want you to say it's $1,000 Shake that they can do to. And it's just like, we didn't have a magic to it. And so people were like, well, I want to do it too. Or like I have a group of girls like we want to do it. And I was like there's nothing to do you like just get together and do it. And I finally then there were like strangers coming to me. And they were like, I don't have a group of friends to do it with but I really want to do it. And so I started setting up these groups on WhatsApp, some were like already groups of friends, but some were just complete strangers, and I like matched together. And they ended up having 16 different groups, like almost 100 Women on WhatsApp doing this together. And it was like there's definitely something here. Like I feel like the people want this they want something to start and they don't necessarily want it to end like there's a reason why Weight Watchers has lifetime members. Like you need that constant reminder to be healthy. And if you could do it in a way where like sharing healthy products like Chroma and like all the cool you know collagen stuff that's out and what do you like to use? Like that's what we all like to know anyway. And like it's kind of different than just having like a newsletter or content where you're seeing it and not really seeing people use this or talk about it in their everyday life. So about a year ago, I started that so that was like three years ago the WhatsApp group I was like holy shit like going to a coffee shop. I have a full time job being a corporate lawyer and managing partner of a law firm. And I was going to a coffee shop on Sunday setting up these WhatsApp groups. I two little kids my husband's like you are freaking insane. Yeah, like, what are you doing? I just loved it. And I was like, I feel, I was like, glad I feel like there's something here. And he's like, okay, like, I trust you, because you always like, somehow figure it out. And so about a year ago, we I finally saw, like, there was a need, and there was a market fit for what we were doing. And so I transferred to a Slack community. And now anybody can join anytime. But we do have like three big launches throughout the year, where a lot of new members joined together. So it's a community of, you know, mostly busy women, whether working or not working, just trying to figure out how to, like consistently live that healthy life together. And we do little like challenges throughout the time, we have a registered dietician that like helped us create AMI, and now we're partnering with other registered dieticians. But we have you know, a lot of content like a one week reset menu that you know, probably is like a $90 grocery store run that can really reset you for the week, and make a lot of really cool content to keep you motivated. So when you log on, you get like a member dashboard, you get access to our community. And we have a lot of like exclusive interviews to have, like people we want to talk to you and know things about and our members who have had really big changes.

Katie: 11:20

That's amazing. It's so smart, because it's all about the accountability and motivating each other and the experience and sharing it with someone and just as you were talking about, it reminded me so much of like, our journey together, Amy and I, you know, it sounds very similar to what we do with each other, and why we want to share it with people and everything. And I love that you make it very accessible. And that's part of it, all of it. Right? It's like it's accessible. It's for anyone that wants to get started on their wellness journey. They don't have to be a marathon runner. They don't have you know, it's it's easy, right?

Rachel: 11:53

Yes, yeah, we like we're very big, like, we have total newbies, but we also have like, health and wellness freaks that like just want to be out of this because they like to like, be in the know. And they and honestly everybody needs motivation. Whether you're like, I've been doing this for years. Yeah, I'm up. So and it's really nice, because some of the newbies are like, See, I need people like this, my friends are not motivated. I need people more healthy than me showing me what the hell to do. And like it's true, you kind of need in your life, people that like are a little more motivated than you. So like you told us back, like if everybody it's so true, whatever you're gonna be like, alright, well, let's just not go on a walk today on vacation. Right?

Amy: 12:35

Right now i That's so true. Because I know like years ago, you know, before Katie and I started the same thing. Like, she would motivate me because she's like, Oh, I just made this amazing salad. And I like literally I still have it like in my notes, you know, where then I'll be like, Oh, I found this cool. Whatever. Katie got me like really eyes open to a lot of healthy eating stuff. And I have another friend who lives in LA and Janine, I don't know if you're listening Janine, but she's super healthy and always has been. And I feel like she's always telling me what's new, and what good workouts to do. And just like different things. So I think it is really motivating to have people that are around you that can give you all the tips and trips and your tricks. You're right, that is true. And you're on vacation, because you can be on vacation and not have to be so gluttonous, you can have your drinks, but you can also get up early and go on a hike or, you know, make your vacation active as well. Because then you come back and you feel horrible for like, totally not paying attention. So it's like, it's all about that balance. And I also love how it's very real. Like, I know you're speaking to that just like it's like a group with your friends, which is so nice, because you just it's a little bit more casual and loose. It's not so regimented, like some of these programs can be

Rachel: 13:40

yes. And I think it's good because you are seeing like other real women, like I said, I think a lot of us are seeing on social and Instagram, like people whose 24/7 job is health and wellness. And it feels very intimidating sometimes. And for me, I just would always like write it off. I'm like that shit is impossible for me. Like I could never make a collagen latte in the morning. Like that's not my life and now I forget to do it. Or you get to college and you know, and I think you just have to like, be like wait, no, I can freakin do this I can work out you know every day and move my body I just have to figure out what works for me. And I think that's the thing like that intimidation factor of you know, I can't do it or if I do it I have to do some like 30 Day sprint and make it be everything that you know our goal is like to stick with this life forever. Our motto is greens water move, repeat. And that is what I stuck to like especially in the beginning. I'm like did I have one cup of greens today whether it's in like a side child with dinner in a smoothie? Did I drink 90 ounces of water because like before I was living dehydrated I honestly don't even know how I'm alive or like got through law school being so dehydrated And then move, let's just move your body like you said, even a morning walk on a vacation with an iced latte filled with almond milk or sugar, who cares? Like enjoy your walk, but at least go on a walk on vacation in the morning and move your body. And I think focusing on like, the simplicity of that kind of makes it feel easy, rather than the counting, and then this and then that. And obviously people have to do what works for them. And I think food tracking counting is like so important for some of our members. But I think they're like overarching, they're still having that like greens water move, repeat in the back of there.

Katie: 15:37

Yeah, I love it. It's simply like that. And then you have tell us what your nutritionist what role she plays. So or he or she I'm sorry, what?

Rachel: 15:46

So we actually, our plan is to partner with a lot of nutritionist. So we do feel like nutrition is that one thing when I talk to people? It is like the personalized aspect of it like yes, we can all be in this group together. But I do think having one on one personalized nutrition is so important. Like everybody's different, how often are you going to the bathroom, maybe you're not having a fiber. So we are now starting to partner with registered dieticians, who you know, our community has like discounts and perks with it, offer that one on one personalized nutrition to our members. And I'm working with one now who is amazing. And I have never worked with a registered dietician. Even in my three years of having on me, I always was like, my mentality, which I feel like it's a lot of people was like, I know what, like eating healthy is like I just need like work. I make excuses. And I just can't stick with it. And after even just two sessions with this registered dietician, I'm just like, I'm like, I needed to know that education behind it. What was missing, you know, a lot of us are under eating and like we're so ravenous and open all the pantries at 6pm. Because we skipped like that crucial 3pm snack that can't just be like the bar, it has to be like the bar an apple and like you really have to be scientific about filling yourself up. So it's been I'm like really excited for that next chapter of on me of really bringing like one on one personalized nutrition. And then we can all share with each other. I'm like, Oh, my dietician told me to get these like bestie crackers on Amazon. And I never heard of those. And I'm like, Oh, I actually just ordered them this morning. Yeah, but

Amy: 17:28

have you heard, we've interviewed Jen Silverman on our show twice. Jen Silverman nutrition. She's amazing. And she's given us a lot of like, good hacks and snacks and recipes. So you should listen to her. But we should also connect you with her because she'd be really valuable for your group. She has great, great, great recipes and recommendations. But yeah, it's so important to and I agree, it's like it's all about your your body and like how your body reacts to things versus just like this general plan. And I love that. You have this group and you're all sharing it. So it's not like this, like, oh, well, this is I'm not going to tell you like oh no, get this snack or get this to this

Rachel: 18:02

cool. It's like some people join. It's like, I have five pounds to lose. And like somebody else is joining. I'm like, I've 45 pounds, or somebody's joining. And they're just like, I'm freaking depressed. And my therapist told me that I need to get healthy. And so I found on me, and I feel like it is true. And you guys I know I'm probably like preaching to the choir. But like once I really started getting healthy, I feel like work got better. Like I wasn't so agitated on like, having all this stuff to do, because I had the energy of feeling good. And I feel like for me that was like, so my day is like most people I'm at my computer from like 9am to 6pm. So I need like the same energy is probably like 80% of America that are in, you know, jobs where email is your life. Yeah.

Amy: 18:54

It's so true. It's so true. And I do. You were saying this before, but just wanted to comment on it. I love that you're making this so accessible, like he was mentioning too, because that's where we're all about to like taking the intimidation out of well being because you're right, you see these people on Instagram and you're like, oh my god, that's so unattainable. It just doesn't feel relatable. And it's demotivating in a way. So we have that same ethos around this is like the real 101 And like, these are little things that you can incorporate and not to make it intimidate anybody can. It can totally be that way. Yeah, exactly. Yeah.

Rachel: 19:30

It's hard, right? Like, I feel like everybody's like with Jennifer Lopez has like, you know, multi million dollars and these people aren't millions of dollars, but like she's frickin working. It's hard. Like she's being very regimented.

Katie: 19:44

Ya know, it's available to everybody. It just depends on like, what level you want, what your what's accessible. Like, what it's easy for you. What are some of the challenges that you you said you have challenges within the club, the health club, what are some of the challenges that you guys do? I

Rachel: 20:01

think the Oh, like different groups, just so we now starting to partner with like trainers. So we just had a trainer do a four week strength training challenge because I could I also like hear the chatter of the community like, that's where I go to find out what people want. And people kept talking about weights and using heavier weights can be like a really good bang for your buck, because you could do 20 minutes of like, heavier weights, and really feel a difference if you're consistent. So we found a trainer that did a four week strength training program in June, for a group of our members. You know, it's like, not everybody choice chooses to do everyone. But we had about 20 of our members do it. And it just finished, it's finishing on Sunday. But like, if it wasn't for the group, I honestly, probably I would have signed up for that thing. But I would have like, probably trickled out after two.

Amy: 20:56

Do they like, and everyone keeps each other accountable?

Rachel: 20:59

Yeah, yes. And me like, I think this is like the most on a scale I've weighed. But even being in the Bahamas on a bathing suit, like, I was told I had abs I was just, and that was from the weights. Like I did not look like that before. And so I think like, all these little experiments are so good to be like shit, I really need to be incorporating heavier weights, if I want to feel tone,

Katie: 21:22

and also just like playing around with what works for your body. And this is, it sounds like a forum where your people are gonna be introduced to different things, different methods, they can figure out what feels good for them and what works for them as well. But yeah, it's so true. You see, like all over social media lift, heavy lift, heavy, lift heavy. Right?

Rachel: 21:39

Right. And you're like, Yeah, it's like, can we actually like, do it because they have these five pound weights. But are they talking about like eight or 10 pound weights? Right?

Amy: 21:47

It's so true. And I used to have a trainer Katie, and I do yeah. And she was amazing. And I did so much weightlifting. But like, I didn't really love the way it looks. I felt like it made me thicker, but not necessarily like, like, like long and lean.

Katie: 22:02

Like it didn't work for you. It doesn't work for me either.

Amy: 22:05

It didn't really. And I liked it because I felt good. But then I was like, to your point. Well, I have to come into the community. So I can see like, what can I do with like lower weights, but more reps? So maybe like a little bit? Yeah,

Rachel: 22:15

so this group of members are doing Melissa would help summer school. Yeah. Oh, yeah. We do that now. I think yesterday with a new she's switching up her monthly challenges, which again, I've never been able to stick to her freaking calendar. I'm like, I want those long, lean lines. I know a lot of work. But we all are doing her summer sculpt calendar for for

Amy: 22:40

her I didn't know that released. I look at that.

Rachel: 22:43

She switched it up a little. And we each put in like our small group on the Slack channel. What our personal goals are for from for me, I'm not going to do something every day. But I could commit to her for like five days a week and I'll mix in like a bunch of walks and like five days a week of really being consistent with her workouts. I feel like I'm gonna feel like I for sure

Amy: 23:03

it makes a difference. Like I mean, what I can do now compared to what I could do when I first started doing her workouts is unbelievable. Like I never thought I could do like the challenging ones. And now I'm like doing that I'm like, oh and like if you're consistent with most of what health like it really does. That's like the one thing that has made like I feel like the biggest difference I'm gonna check out the strength training I know she was doing

Rachel: 23:23

about the summer sculpt and ABS I think some are booty and abs.

Katie: 23:29

And then so are you introducing essentially this is in the club and so there's there's members that are in the club that maybe have never heard of MW health and now they have and you're exposing them and it's like this great new world, right? That's also very cool. Amy,

Rachel: 23:45

Amy. Yeah, somebody was like I thought she was like your local friend in Boca and I looked her up and she's like a male. She's not my friend. I just thought we talked to her like,

Amy: 23:57

I know everyone thinks everyone's like friends with her because she's so like, sweet. You feel like you know we're that resistant

Rachel: 24:02

to her because right she is like, she looks like a supermodel and she's big are coming in and trying her workouts and like Okay, those are always frickin talking about her. I'll try it for 999 a month and do this thing with rib eyes and hope convert, because I feel like she is so zen and peaceful that even my mom who's in her 70s and part of our me we do have like very a lot of age, right age.

Amy: 24:25

Yeah. Get our moms involved in that. That's so good. Like moms

Rachel: 24:29

need like my mom needs something like she thinks she's healthy but she then eats so much. And so much wine and like this has really helped her and having she's like one of our members that actually like does every menu to a tee dramatic Rachel you forgot the blackberries on page number two. You're the only one like paying as close attention. But she loves Melissa would help. She's like she does like a 4550 minute one. Oh my god. It just really Help. So

Amy: 25:00

I'm like 20 minutes

Rachel: 25:02

shortest one today. That's, that's easy.

Katie: 25:06

Let's talk about your members then what? What's the like age range? And what do you find is your demographic.

Rachel: 25:12

So I think so we are pretty much like I would say we're 30s, mid 30s To like, however, won't be a 50s 60s 70s doing it. And I think the one common denominator is like most people are really busy, whether that's being home with the kids and just not being able to get like a moment for themselves, or like wanting that community of people that are living a healthy life so that they can feel motivation, or it's really a lot of busy professionals, we have a lot. My law firm is in the startup like venture space. And so I just through my network have connections with a lot of people in this space. So it's a lot of like women working on startups that are super busy. And you know, I think everybody that's in it kind of likes to know the new healthy things like I love the idea of brand partnerships. We just did a big partnership to third love the bra company. Yeah, all of our members, their new like active wear slacks kit, so I'm hoping to do more partnerships like that, which basically gets our members free stuff from, like, all our favorite brands, and like helps these brands amplify themselves in a way that it's not just going to influencers but going to like

Amy: 26:26

real, right. It's like a real community of women. Yeah.

Rachel: 26:30

Social, you know, they just they don't have the hundreds of 1000s of followers but yeah, but we'll still get the word out

Katie: 26:37

and love it after picturing a clever with maybe a Nirvana sisters army retreat somewhere. I think that's

Rachel: 26:45

literally that Katie totally do that. Because while the Mesa on your guys's podcast I wrote down that reset plays Yeah. She says it's dying. And I'm like, wait, I feel like I need well, I need to figure out like how frickin expensive is it is

Amy: 27:00

it's expensive. And I was like, I was like, maybe we can get, maybe we can bring a whole group. If they're listening and breathe flat. We could bring a whole group of people and maybe they

Rachel: 27:11

are on social that everybody needs to go here with their friends or their husband to get a reset. Let's work on and we

Amy: 27:17

could invite some of our guests that are kind of reoccurring guests that always give us all the good nuggets like agenda man and whoever else, Kate, how cool. Oh,

Katie: 27:26

absolutely. Yeah, no,

Amy: 27:28

yeah. All right, listeners, whoever is listening. Please DM us and let us know if you want this to happen. And we can do a collab that will fit we'll start planning. I'm all about it and

Rachel: 27:38

do it. I was literally on my list. So look into it.

Katie: 27:40

That's amazing.

Amy: 27:41

Yeah, absolutely. So what are the things that you're seeing across your community? It sounds like you know, ranges broad age range, which is amazing. Is there like one thing you're seeing that everyone struggles with? Is it the motivation to exercise not knowing what to eat? Is there like a shared challenge that everyone's facing?

Rachel: 27:58

The biggest thing? And even like before me, I didn't know this was possible is the consistency like yeah, my friends are like, how the hell have you been doing this for three years? Like, I've just been consistently healthy, because like, life gets in the way you get sidetracked, you go on a vacation and forget about everything else when you come back. And like the biggest thing is getting back in the saddle. And like, you'll see our chat on Monday. Everybody's like, so back in and you always have to get back in it. You can't like I just don't let myself get into those two to three month funks that I used that used to be my life. Like I would be really healthy for a month and Ambiga busy life socks,

Amy: 28:42

but then you break the seal. Like

Rachel: 28:44

yeah, that's and I just, I feel like not doing that is so important. I also think food is like so intimidating, especially if you're not a cook or don't like cooking. And we all know and a total like people that asked me this too. I'm like, for me the biggest thing was food because like no matter what I have to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner. And like if you're busy and working like you got to get something and so instead of like ordering delivery dudes Chick fil A spicy chicken sandwich which like I want and love every single day, I'm just like walking down stairs and go to get a salad or I really try and bring leftovers. And so as part of our health club, we have over 100 easy simple recipes that are six main ingredients or less that are like curated by our community when somebody like when your friends share a recipe and they go I put this together we actually turn it into a Nami official recipe and have it on our site we have you know it's not like a long blog post of how to make the right what to get what to do and like some tips and that's really it until a lot of our community make that we also have like a recipe shares channel on slack so like you guys said like when somebody makes you saw healthy recipe you want to make people LIKE share their favorite recipes from the New York Times and from Divine dish everybody loves. Yeah, go twos, even Melissa wood and her recipes are so great. So

Amy: 30:12

it's so funny. It's so true. Because I do that with my girlfriends. I have like this chat with my high school girlfriends that we've had forever. And we all talk about a million things. And we always do that with recipes. Like I'm like, I'm making salmon tonight, like, give me the easiest way to do it. And someone's like, oh, just put it you know, and if two steps I'm like, great, and then I write it down because then I'm like, Okay, here's so I have like a note like I should I'll come into the community and just dump the note in but it's literally like recipes from Katie recipe for my friends that are easy, because I don't I'm not a good cook. So it's so straightforward. And it's real people giving it to you that are busy, so you know where you're

Rachel: 30:45

coming from and be like, Why the fuck did I choose to make

Amy: 30:49

wine later?

Rachel: 30:51

All like, you know, you can have a crazy day and still make our recipes. And I feel like that's what I needed. Because I also have never knew like you said if I was going to make a recipe is going to be like, a two hour thing or can this be like an 18 minute thing? Yeah, bringing glass of wine.

Katie: 31:06

Does your community get together? Like do you have groups that are local that you do things with? And do you find like you have different pockets of people that get together?

Rachel: 31:15

Yes, we have people all over from like Oregon, California, New York, down in South Florida. So really like everyone is welcome. We are just starting obviously with COVID Like it was interesting because I was like oh well I started this before ko read and then COVID hit I was like Oh this is nice. We like have this community that is just a virtual even though it happened by chance. And now we're starting little pockets we'll get together. We just this week on Tuesday did like a tacos and Margarita. We all just met for happy hour so far. And we shared all this healthy stuff. And now we're doing the recap it's gonna go to our whole community of like the vibrator from goop everybody swears by like this The are a girl in our community that did prolong this past week and wants to share like that she's now going to do the one week on me reset menu because you like that stuff that just like that sharing. I feel like it's so important. But yes, I would love to continue to do more like in person events. Also like collabing with other brands and maybe going to a yoga class and then to lunch. I want events that like I want to go to I feel like my work that you wanted to Yeah, my work is like very, like long dinners and all that. So like my Avi me event I want to be like okay, APM like we're all going to bed, like first meet up just to be like we all go get our beauty rise when you have a five year yeah,

Katie: 32:46

that's so funny. That's I'm learning because it just sounds like such a great place to hit. First of all, it's like you're with like minded people that you can, you know, Riff ideas back and forth with and then learn so much as well and gain motivation and gained a sense of community. It's, it's a really great idea. And I have to tell you, I'm kind of a Francophile. So I love the little French spin on it then blue health club. Very cute.

Rachel: 33:13

So, um, but yeah, what is something that people would also be proud to wear, we always have like, a summer on me hat. And I want people to just be like, that just means I'm like, really healthy, and like take care of myself or like, at least try. Like it doesn't have something.

Amy: 33:29

It's so great. So how do people so people are gonna listening to Thursday are definitely going to want to be interested in joining. So what happens like what's the

Rachel: 33:37

night you can join, I can send you guys after a code so that trainers can join with a little discount, and you just get into the community and then three times a year you we do launches. Our next launch is our plant based fall reset, where we really try and be plant based for a month. Obviously, like you can still eat meat just majority plans, and share all healthy recipes. We'll do interviews with really healthy people that are plant based. And it's just to really try and get into that mindset. So that we have a fall plant base, we have a super clean January, that's always like our really big one which is no booze, and people put their spin on it. I'm like no booze during the week or whatever their lives on the no booze, but it makes it really fun because you always want to like do something come January 1, and then we just finished our summer of strength which is a month really focus on movement. So those are our big launches but you can join any time because like our big thing is like when you're ready your frickin ready and like you want to go now you don't want to wait for like that next program to come out. Like get all our stuff you can get our one week reset menu which I show serious results if you really stick with it. It is like insane what people see from Justice one week of clean eating and it was prepared by everyone Just your dietitian. So like I'm really big on that. Like, I'm not going to prepare your menu. But I will test it out and I will tell you if I forget. Yeah,

Amy: 35:10

yeah. What? What are your what are some favorite brands that you're seeing? Like the community likes right now? Like, do you have any good favorites?

Rachel: 35:17

I was just gonna when I heard about your salmon, there's just one kind of, um, some Oh M SLM. It's like, seasoning blends. That's really cool and trendy and people are really loving that. People we have like a product RX channel where people share like, all product X people are really liking this Ithaca hummus. Yes. Have you guys know, recess? CBD drinks? I

Katie: 35:44

saw I almost bought them the other day? Yeah.

Rachel: 35:48

Careful, because I had one. Because like, Oh, I'll have one. I was like a Friday. And you can feel that. Oh, really? Really? And I was like, yeah, definitely. I was just thinking I was gonna be like, chill, and I was like, I definitely felt like fuzzy but Zen and like a good way. And so stuff like that. We also have a Trader Joe finds channel. Oh, that shares like all the best things from Trader Joe's because you know, it can be a little overwhelming just seeing everything. But a lot of members share like their favorite salad. There's like this superfood burrito that's filled with quinoa and sweet potatoes. It's in like their pre made section that somebody recently tried and loved so many.

Katie: 36:32

It's so funny. I feel like our brands are so aligned. Right, don't you, Amy.

Amy: 36:38

And Rachel reached out to us, Katie, I was like, I literally looked on your website and read all about me. And I was like, this is like such a amazing union. I don't remember Rachel, I wrote you back. And I'm like, your brand ethos is so similar to ours. I love it. And it's so it's just so nice meeting, someone that's like, has the same shared mindset, which I'm sure your whole community is like, and it's just, you know, it's just been Katie and I and like our friends. And we started this really because we were telling each other same thing, the exact same kind of things. And we're like, and other people want to know about it. So we're just gonna talk about it and like, do reviews? And do you know,

Rachel: 37:14

doing less? Yeah, I think this is my like, natural conversation. Even when a me I'm like, How are you doing it? Like, how are you working out like that? How are you eating like that? Like, I was always so curious. Because that's how I would get motivated. So like, it's natural, like, now I have on me, and people are like, how do you do on me and have your law firm?

Amy: 37:37

That's what I was going to ask you. Because being that I also have like a full time, you know, executive role to big brand, which I love. Also doing this is I mean, it's a lot. It's just a lot of work. And again, same as you like, I love it. This is my natural conversation. And this is like what Katie and I are super passionate about. So it's not it's not a job, but it's still like, you know, a lot of time

Rachel: 38:00

and like yourself, like do taxes and pay invoices. And like, it's not just talking about health and wellness like 20. Exactly, there would be like, millions of them, right, like, yeah, so a business and I think that's a lot of my friends, like, want to start something. I'm always the biggest encourager, but then they're like, damn, this shit is hard. And I'm like, I know. Right, right. Like not that many.

Amy: 38:22

It's not a it's an What's that phrase? It's not a sprint. It's a marathon. It's

Katie: 38:27

not a sprint. It's a marathon.

Amy: 38:30

Yeah, whatever that is. That's

Rachel: 38:31

my goal is like really slow and steady. Like I don't. If I'm going to start any business, of course, I want it to be successful. And I want it to be big and like, I want it to make an impact. So I'm not like, you know, playing small here. But I'm also just being realistic that this isn't my full time job. I love it. It's like feeding this passion of mine. Like I don't want it to go away. Because there's definitely been days and I'm like, should I not do this? Like should I kind of like I don't need to Should I just like close it down. And I'm like, but I like it really fills up My Cup. Yeah, we happy and I feel like, it's so different than my day job. That it's like refreshing in a way. Whereas I love my day job. I love working with founders, I love being a lawyer like I'm so Intuit and get fired up by it. And we have a team of 20 and it's just, you know, I love it. And this is just different. And if I need for a week to just put the brakes on on me, I can put the brakes on me. I can't You can't do that with your full time job. You're in it right in it. But find something that's a low lift to find something you're passionate about. I always you know, people are always asking me about side hustles and I'm like, it truly has to be a side hustle passion like,

Amy: 39:53

right it's like a side passion more than because I like I used to Yeah, yeah, like I just it's so funny when You say hustle like the hustle culture. Because I think like, a few years ago, I was definitely like hustle like, and now it's like that word bothers me so much. Because it's like that idea of like hustling where like you never rest, like, to me, it means like, you're grinding and you're getting burned out versus like, a side passion where it fills your cup to your point. So then it's like, easy to do. And yeah, you might not have all the time in the world for it. I mean, we don't but but you can and

Katie: 40:29

yeah, and slow and steady wins the race. And it's just like the consistency like keep going and and keep motivating each other. And yeah, for sure. I love it. Congratulations on on all of your success. It's really It's such a really fun, great idea. And I just think it's going to be I mean, you guys are already huge. It's going to it's going to be really massive. So that's, it's really exciting. And I kind of

Rachel: 40:54

have an impact and create a brand that like shows people what is possible to be healthy. Yeah. Because at the end of the day, that's all I want. I want to share with my friends, but I also want to share it with strangers too.

Katie: 41:05

That's amazing. And love it.

Amy: 41:07

Love that a bit. Alright, let's get into our rap session. What is your favorite wellness or beauty hack?

Rachel: Waking up at 5: 41:14

30am I know I feel like if I did this is just like a three week ago, Revelation, I have actually interviewed one of our members who would always talk on the community about waking up early. And I'm like, Okay, I gotta like talk to you about this, because I just can't imagine it. And now it has been a complete game changer and like all sometimes just wake up and go on a walk. And I took little kids and I want to be there for getting them ready and like I liked that morning of getting them ready and being there. So like, if I can be done with like, my working out and you know, moving

my body by 6: 41:53

30am that's ideal for me.

Katie: 41:56

Yeah, I completely get that right. And really quickly to and I just wanted to mention this because Amy, you said earlier your Nirvana was getting up and going for a walk this morning. And also Rachel you just said you do that as well. There is science behind like when you get up in the morning, the very first thing you do is get out in the sun it sets your internal clock and it gets your body like everything physiologically working in the way that it's supposed to naturally to be like optimized for the day so there's a lot of science behind that. There's a reason why you feel so great when you do that. So listeners go walking in the morning sun. Alright, so the next one we call it your five minute flow you just got out of the shower and dried off and Uber pinged you they're five minutes away. What are you going to do to get into that Uber as quickly as you can what are your holy grails your go to to get out the door?

Rachel: 42:45

So I'm going to use I don't know if you guys have heard of GE beauty but they are a beauty shop they have shops in Miami and Canada and they have a primer that is amazing. I use it every day. So I would use it my G beauty primer I would put on mascara and I would put on workout clothes with a jean jacket this is a new Zara crop it's So Jackie it's

Amy: 43:09

really what I was looking at it going like

Rachel: 43:13

I have so many jean jackets it is like my go to and I like some conference calls. I kind of just like put them over you can't even see I'm in workout but yeah for sure. draped over my shoulders with a big hoops like I always wear like big hoops or something so I have so many jean jackets were like scams on Instagram, by them favorite daughter that foster sisters have a really good one too. But that's kind of my five minute jam and I'm out the door. Love it.

Amy: 43:46

Love it. And how do you maintain your daily nirvana?

Rachel: 43:51

I think by like following my greens, water move, repeat. I know it's back to me. But that really I know that is what makes me feel good. And if I feel good, I am like a rock star at work. I am happy with my husband. And like I want to play with my kids when I get home and like be with them and not be irritated.

Katie: 44:13

Yeah, I need to do I love

Amy: 44:15

that. Well you can tell it's working because your energy is amazing and like you just seem like you just feel really good. And

Katie: 44:22

I want to start to I have to add the greens I do the the water and the move out the greens every day. I need to remember that.

Amy: 44:29

It's okay, I have a recommendation for you that I'm going to talk about and then the next time we record product jump

Rachel: 44:38

because a lot of us even before I was like two to three salads a week I was like every day like I thought it was being held. Right. But like it makes a difference. Yeah,

Amy: 44:47

it really does. Okay, well thank you so much, Rachel for being on the show. We love talking to you. We can't wait to join AMI health ASAP and we're going to close out with a mantra from Katie this mantra

Katie: 44:59

for For this episode I think is just kind of, it's relevant because we're talking about people starting a journey with me and, you know, trying new things. And so anyway, I'll just say it. Trust the weight. Embrace the uncertainty. Enjoy the beauty of becoming. So. Oh,

Amy: 45:22

that's so nice.

Katie: 45:23

And then also I feel like Rachel's mantra greens water move repeat. Is that it? Yeah.

Amy: 45:33

That's gonna be my mind now. I

Katie: 45:34

love thank you so much Rachel says great.

Amy: 45:36

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 62 - Do You Know What Chi Means? We Didn’t Either. Breaking Down Traditional Chinese Medicine With Dr. Jenelle Kim (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 62 - Do You Know What Chi Means? We Didn’t Either. Breaking Down Traditional Chinese Medicine With Dr. Jenelle Kim.

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: 0:18

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. Janelle Kim. She's a doctor of acupuncture and Chinese medicine, a ninth generation doctor and herb ologists, which is very cool. We're excited to hear what that means. And the founder and chief formulator at J. B. K wellness labs, Janelle helps her patients incorporate Eastern philosophies into western lifestyle for optimal health. So I can't wait to dive in and hear what all of that means. So thank you for for coming to

Dr. Janelle Kim: 1:05

having me. I honored to be here. And so excited for our conversation.

Katie: 1:09

Well, we'd like to start off with our nirvana of the week, just a little something that brought you joy today or this week. Just a little highlight. And I'm gonna go ahead and ask Amy, what was your Nirvana that start with you him?

Amy: 1:22

Well, let's see. Um, well, I would say so my kids go to summer camp. And it's been like a while June just with the end of school and getting them ready to go to camp and all the stress and anxiety and just craziness but they left for camp over the weekend. And it was definitely bittersweet. And it's definitely quiet in the house. But I would say my Nirvana was just getting those first pictures of them enjoying and having fun. And I could like exhale and be like, okay, they're doing, they're doing good. They're in their nirvana. They're running around. They're outside and super happy. So that was definitely my highlight and nirvana of the week. What about you, Katie?

Katie: 2:05

That's really sweet. Because I feel the pressure and the stress of like saying goodbye to them on the plane, I'm sure for you. And this isn't the first year so it's probably getting a little bit easier. But to see them happy is I'm sure such a nice relief. So mine is camp related as well. The girls that for the first year are going to day camp and we dropped them off on Monday. They're there all day nine to four, which maybe isn't like the longest day for my eight year old but it is probably for research is for But picking them up. That was my Nirvana the first day and then hopping in the car like smiling ear to ear so happy. had the best time felt great about it couldn't wait to go back tomorrow. It's just like a sigh of relief. We're doing the right thing. They're good. So that's, that's nice. What about you to know, we're

Dr. Janelle Kim: 2:48

certainly all on the same page. Because right when you said that the first thing came to my mind was also my two young boys. And there is something about picking them up. I every single day, I get butterflies in my stomach. It sounds interesting or funny to some, but I have a feeling you both totally understand what I'm saying. And just see their little faces, especially the little one, you know, because he still hugs me and gives me you know, a huge embrace and tells me how much he loves me. And it's funny, because now my nine year old is kind of similar, but in totally different way. And it's so interesting to watch them, you know, at different stages, and it's definitely something I'm so grateful. It's very grounding in pretty much brings me into the very present moment, no matter what's happening in the day. So I would completely agree that that's my

Amy: 3:30

sweet.

Dr. Janelle Kim: 3:31

You have a night always nine and five. So yes.

Amy: 3:35

Nice. Yes. Awesome. I know. I love that. I have two boys as well. Yeah, they are 12 and 14, so are no more than 15. Sorry.

Dr. Janelle Kim: 3:44

No, tell me about it. I just turned nine and five. April and May so fast. It flies.

Amy: 3:52

It really does.

Katie: 3:54

Alright, so let's get into it. I'm excited to hear about this because I don't know about you AMI D I don't know a lot about Chinese medicine. And I definitely don't know a lot about our biology. Am I saying I'm saying that correctly? Right or biology or about to be in our biologist. So Dr. Ken, would you prefer us to call you Dr. Kim or Janelle or Dr. Janelle. But Janelle? Absolutely. So Janelle, help us understand, like, what are the cornerstones of Chinese medicine? And what does it mean to be an apologist? So

Dr. Janelle Kim: 4:28

those are definitely big questions, and I love them. So the cornerstone of Chinese medicine and understanding the body, the way I would describe it is understanding how everything functions and flows as one whole body right? So mentally, physically, Eastern medicine actually even gets into spiritually not so much like the outer realms of spirit necessarily, but that we connect in many different ways with our body. And it's how we, the way I like to explain it and when I speak around the world, is how we can make our body function at its optimal and flow. And that's how I would break down Eastern So it might not be exactly how everyone else does, but especially to the outside world who doesn't know so much about Eastern medicine. I love that explanation. And so then it utilizes herbal medicine, and acupuncture other modalities as well. We hear about cupping, and guasha, and all these different techniques that are now coming into the Western understanding. But it's using all of these modalities, these ancient practices that have existed for 1000s of years, again, how to make our function, how to make them our body functions, optimum and flow properly, because I always say, if everything functions and flows, even your skin cells, to your organs, to your muscles, and joints, then you have longevity, and that to myself, in my humble opinion, should be all of our goals. So I love that.

Amy: 5:44

I love that. So is it sort of like, and we're I think we're seeing we've actually interviewed a lot of people on many of those subjects. And so is this sort of like this Mind, Body Spirit, holistic Well, being when you hear the word, Chinese medicine or Eastern medicine, I think that's

Dr. Janelle Kim: 5:58

very inaccurate. I do every single aspect of it, because everything comes from, you know, Chief, everything comes from the universe. And we're a macro, we are microcosm of the universe, and the universe is a macrocosm of us. And so yes, when you kind of look at it that way, you start to break everything down. And it is very holistic in that manner. So that's where I said, you should go ahead, I think you're taking the risk.

Katie: 6:22

What is, yeah, help us understand what she is, I've heard the word. But what was amazing,

Dr. Janelle Kim: 6:28

because 20 years ago, when I started in the beauty and wellness industry here in the United States, if I said she people would look at me and wonder what in the world is she talking about? Right? So she, again, exists everywhere around us and within us, from the Dow or the universe, for those that resonate with this understanding, right from the universe came Qi first. And that's how everything breaks down, then we're speaking of the universe, and our bodies. One other principle, you're here that you'll you will hear about is yin and yang, right. And so I don't want to go too far into detail. But a greater kind of a bigger perspective way of understanding is that from chi, then came that symbol of yin and yang. And that is the dichotomy, that duality of everything in our entire world. And it's really important to understand that duality, that dichotomy of the two when understanding our human body as well. So what I mean by that is, we have our universe, for example, a very simple principle to understand, Yin and Yang is like day and night, right? Yin and Yang is loud and soft, even youngest, feminine and masculine. And within each is the other is they're constantly changing. And that's why if you are familiar, most people are nowadays, with that symbol, it almost looks like two fish, and on one side is black, and one side is white. And then they have two little eyes almost. And that literally symbolizes what I just said that there is constant duality all the time. And so now looking at the human body, we have that in our bodies as well, we have those components of yin and yang. And what I mean by that is, Yin is more substance, right? It's like our body fluids is our blood. Yong is activity. That's our chi. And so when you kind of think of it this way, you could almost imagine that, of course, the Western way of understanding, we have circulation, and we have our arteries and our veins and our pumps. And that's everything keeps moving. There's so much more of course to it. But we have that understanding, then Eastern medicine, one way to understand it is that chi is exactly what makes blood flow. That's why I'm talking to you right now. Right? So and when it comes to movement, which is one of the three kinds of EMS are the three pillars I talked about medicine, meditation, and movement, through movement, especially through chi gong, people can actually feel cheap. So it's not really something so, you know, it actually can be tangible. It's not something you necessarily see. But every single thing on this desk at tree, you know, you and I, we all have CI, and so I hope that's a easy way to understand she is. Yeah,

Katie: 8:48

I kind of took it as it's the balance of the energy and the physicality that we have within ourselves. And that's all around us. Is that absolutely kind of

Dr. Janelle Kim: 8:59

defined as vital energy, you'll see that a lot. So, so Exactly, right. Okay.

Amy: 9:05

So interesting. I never that that symbol, the black and white symbol, I think you just said it means chi, the US that yeah, the Yeah, I never realized that. I guess I've just seen that symbol in the context of yoga or meditation and sort of knew what it meant. But the way that you just described it totally makes sense with like, the, the black and the white. And it was very

Dr. Janelle Kim: 9:27

interesting. My favorite thing is to, you know, have things make sense. That's my favorite thing as well. And that's actually one of the reasons I love Eastern medicine and Eastern philosophy. It can be a little different sometimes from the ways in the western world about what we understand. But it always goes down to principle. You know, we're all human. We all are born into this world, no matter what our beliefs, what our ethnicity, what are age, all of that we all it all comes down to principles. And so I find that when I share those principles just as much as I enjoy, and it just resonates make sense. I see that No matter where I go in the world, so I'm so glad that you see that as well as well.

Katie: 10:04

Yeah. And what are the three M's that's part of your philosophy and your practice, right.

Dr. Janelle Kim: 10:10

So the three M's are basically like the pillars that hold up the whole house, right? And they are medicine, meditation and movement. And so medicine to me, is ultimately the formulation, my lab, everything that I've devoted my life to on the herb ology end, right. Meditation is actually the book I just put out, for example, it's the philosophy, it's the way of life, I call it living meditation. Right? So I'm sure we can go into that I won't go too far. But just as we sit down and practice different meditative techniques, or want to be in that certain mindset, living meditation, there principles that have been passed down my lineage for centuries upon centuries, of course, not just my lineage, but they exist, right for 1000s of years. And it's ways to look at every single moment with a certain kind of mindset, knowing that you will always have a choice, right. And so that's kind of the philosophy of life. And finally, it's movement, right ways to truly move our body, it can be any kind of exercise, but particularly movement, again, that's kind of been passed down by our ancient sages for centuries, as ways to really not just exercise externally look good, have strong muscles have a sleek body, but also to really exercise your internal organs and strengthen that chi. And so what I say are those three atoms, medicine, meditation and movement, if we incorporate those into our daily life, constantly, because that's the way it really is, then we can achieve longevity, happiness, health, balance, no matter what is happening in our life, doesn't mean we don't have down days or hard moments. But we realize that through that we can get ourselves out of it. Right? So

Amy: 11:45

I love those three pillars, because they're easy to remember. And it's something you can always think about, if you're just kind of like your Yeah, she is off or you're feeling, you know, just different, you could kind of go back to that which which I like. One of the things I was reading about when I was reading about you was that your father was a Korean monk, and raised this remote mountain raised in a remote mountain tempo, which is incredible. So I want to hear about that. But then there was something else that I thought was so interesting, where you said he taught you about, I don't know if I'm saying Right, right, but don't cheat or drunk on your thoughts. And I'd love to hear one

Dr. Janelle Kim: 12:22

of my favorite principles. So in the book, I break down kind of the practice or the way of life, the living meditation, it's my young son, just to be clear, the Korean art of living meditation, and young son translates as meditation. But to me at that living meditation, that's why I keep discussing that, right. And so the way I break down the book is into chapters, of course, but I call them keys. And there are eight keys. And those are the keys that we can practice in our daily life to achieve that constant state of loving meditation. Right. And so key number three, is absolutely one of my favorites, which is what you just said, Amy, it is stop being drunk on your own thoughts. And the Korean phrase is Don't cheat. And especially in this day and age, in my humble opinion, I think that if we all were aware of this, how much different our lives our world, our relationships, everything would be. And ultimately what it means is just like we can be intoxicated by alcohol, for example, we can become drunk, we can, we have to be aware that we can become drunk on our own thoughts, that it's, that's why I love that we started with that yin and yang. It's always a state of balance, and we hear it all the time. But again, if we stop for a moment, and really think about what that means balance, even looking at that symbol, it means every moment we have to be aware of ourselves or not, it's our choice. But if we choose to be aware of ourselves, we have to be careful that even if we feel so strong about something that we don't become, don't worry about it, we don't become so extreme in our thinking, How often do we see that, of course, we might not agree with something, and we feel know what you're doing is incorrect. But there's a fine line where all of a sudden, you're in that same boat, and you don't even know you're standing there. It's always important to expand our perspective, put ourselves in someone else's shoes, how do I know how that person feels? And I may not know completely, but if I stopped for one moment, whether it is our children, whether it's our spouse, whether it's a good friend in business, and I stop and think for one moment, I want to see where you're coming from, it does something to our minds. It's a self discipline that creates different habits. And again, at the end of the day, it's our choice if we want to take it to be dolci and become totally drunk and stuck on our thoughts. Not bendable. You know, it doesn't mean we can't be steadfast, right, of course, but just see the other side. And that's what that key number three, stop being drunk on your own thoughts.

Amy: 14:38

I love that that's so powerful. And I love the phrase that you just said, Don't become dodgy about it. Because I'm totally going to use that with people and they're not going to know what they're talking about the startup company.

Katie: 14:49

Does that also, does it also apply to like becoming drunk on your own thoughts of things that your self obsessing over like if there's something that you get Just incessantly or like picking on yourself about or thinking about something you're going through or constantly being in a negative state, is it? Does it apply to that as well, not just in regards to going back and forth.

Dr. Janelle Kim: 15:12

I really love that you say that, you know, you may be one of the first people who have brought it up in that way. So direct in that manner. And that's exactly right. We absolutely can can also have it pointing back to us that that, that negative effect, right, almost like the symptoms of getting too caught becoming too extreme. Absolutely. And so once again, we see how these tools, because that's what they are, you know, that's why I feel very compelled to share them. These are, yes, I am part of this lineage, I'm the first woman in this lineage, I'm the first to ever share it, you know, east and west, I probably should have shared Well, my father did grow up for a period of his life in the remote mountains of East Asia and Korea. It's like a movie, it's my own father. And it seems like that sometimes, you know, my mother, on the other hand, is American. So I believe, you know, I came into this world. Again, it was my choice, but but I've taken it on almost as a duty to realize that I am able to have that east west that I come from this lineage of 1000s of years, then a little bit more easy to grasp centuries of these tools that help us to see a little bit more clearly, and hopefully make them relatable to as many people as possible, you know, so I love and like you said, see. So

Katie: 16:24

it's really beautiful. And you are I love, I love the relatability that you're bringing with your books and everything as well and the one of the M's medicine, so that is where the the apology comes in. Yes. And so what kind of herbs is this? Are you using adaptogens, and things of that

Dr. Janelle Kim: 16:43

sort. So adaptions is something that I have spoken about for quite some time now. I will backtrack a little bit, that makes a little bit more sense for everyone. So of course, I was born into this, but it wasn't until Fast Forward seriously. I was a young adult that I realized, and it just hit me like that, that this is the direction I wanted to go in my life. And it was just like that you hear people say that I certainly had that experience. You know, it was that moment in time. And I had to make a choice. And that's how it felt to me. And I chose I was actually on the direction to study Western medicine. And I decided, You know what, my whole life, I've seen things and it didn't hit any kind of until that moment. I've seen so many things treated, or how can I say I want to say it properly. But I've seen so many conditions balanced, let's put it that way that people were not aware of or in my surroundings. And it kind of hit me as a young adult, I have to share this people have to know about this in this part of the world. And so that's where I kind of went into Eastern medicine and got my on my road to becoming a doctor. That didn't happen until a couple of years ago when I was about to have my second son actually holding that doctorate. But But yes, in our country, we understand Chinese medicine, I often refer to Eastern or traditional oriental medicine because I come from a lineage of Korea, right. And so of course, I've devoted myself to understanding Chinese medicine existed there before it moved into Korea, but Korea is known for certain acupuncture techniques and definitely known for advancement in herbal medicine. So just kind of putting that out there. Now in this country, we think of them kind of one in the same acupuncture herbal medicine. In East Asia, they're a little bit more while they completely come from the same route. As I've kind of already explained, you choose. And then this country you see that a bit to usually go like to the Department of acupuncture or to the Department of herbal medicine and my lineage are we definitely have acupuncture techniques, secret ones as well that have gone through my lineage, but really my family my lineage focused on that herbal medicine aspect. And so to kind of break that down a little bit, answer your question in a moment about adaptogens Katie, you know, I speak around the world about different herbal ingredients. So important. We have so many I mean, every medicine to some extent, could be traced back to plants, right plant medicine, but also super important is the understanding of formulation. And that's what I really devoted my life to. That's what my lab does. We contract manufacture products from skincare, body care, internal medicine, meaning supplements, tinctures, you know, topicals, for muscles and joints. And all of that is really based on certain formulas. So of course, the understanding those individual herbal ingredients, but like the recipes, the perfect and secret recipes that have been passed on for centuries. And so that's something I think is really important and I've certainly, I hope I've made some headway. I believe I have definitely been at kind of the forefront in the beauty and wellness industry. Having people understand that in any product. Again, internal external topical skincare haircare you can have the best ingredients, but if they're not formulated properly, if the ingredients don't synergistically work together, it might not be as good as people may think. And there's so many products out there that are just kind of put together. I don't want to say thrown together, but that's what I probably should send. Right. And so so that's kind of the understanding of herbal Medicine. And then finally, you speak of adaptogens. That's something I definitely talked about for 20 years. 20 years ago when I brought this up again, that, you know, talking about herbal medicine was over everyone's head. I mean, I started in the spa industry. You know, we were creating products that were in four seasons, Ritz Carlton's, you know, all of the your beautiful hotels and resorts. And I remember being at the forefront of natural products, which first of all, it's hard to believe there was a time that natural products like people didn't even really get it. What are you talking about? It wasn't that easy to make them. There weren't a lot of options of ingredients, herbal ingredients, are you kidding me? People would come over literally and tell me, you know, Janelle, at the time, I wasn't a doctor, this all sounds great, but I don't think people are gonna get it, I'd get rid of the Asian thing. And I would kind of just look and smile. And I went back to you know, we're all human. And I know that what I have to share, if I do my job properly, it's going to make sense. And it's going to make a big difference. And here we are 20 years later. And you know, Korean beauty is the biggest, you know, beauty industry, basically, in the world and eastern and western, it's all integrating. So it's such a funny thing. And adaptogens were part of that. It's a way another way to understand. So adaptogen adaptogenic herbs can be traced like that word to like the 1940s 1945, if I remember correctly, but definitely in 1945 1947, around that time. And it was by Dr. Lazarus, and this understanding that there's these plants that help us to adapt, because when they grow in the earth, would they have to go through their adaptability, how they survived how they lived, when we put them into our body, it helps us to do the same. Create that balance, right. And that's, again, I can go into many details, but I think this is the best way to understand it. That's what an adaptogen is it helps our bodies adapt under stress. And there's a certain category of herbal ingredients that go into this category of adaptogens. Now, why I said 20 years ago, I I wish to utilize that understanding as a way to help people understand herbal medicine. That principle exists, you know, since the beginning of herbal medicine, that is herbology. And so if we want to understand it as adaptogens awesome. And I think we're still at the very beginning of that, you know, so I use a lot of adaptogenic herbs in our formulations, again, from skincare, to capsules to tinctures you name it because of those particular herbal ingredients in that category. Their ability to help us balance they're very powerful. A lot of certain adaptogenic mushrooms I speak on a lot. I've been reading a lot of articles about that, you know, mushrooms are a hot topic. And certainly there's different ways of understanding the different types out there. But I still think we have, particularly in our country, not even scratched the surface of adaptogenic mushrooms, you know, your ratios and Chaga and lion's mane and, you know, and then you have your beautiful your stragglers, ginseng, Angelica. I mean, I could keep going, but those are some of the important ones. So

Katie: 22:57

yeah, that's why I brought it up. Because there it seems like in the last few years, it's become just more prevalent. And, I mean, you see it all over social media, it's it's gotten to be pretty trendy, and it's found in a lot of really beautiful, natural clean products and people seem to be loving it. And that's, it's really the only verb out of the herb ology that I was familiar with. So that's why I started there. But I'm sure there's a massive abundance and you actually reminded me while you're while you're speaking about her biology, I was doing acupuncture years ago when I was living in the city and it was in the summer and I was kind of like intolerant to heat and my acupuncturist I believe. I believe she was Chinese, she gave me a tea that she said if I drink this tea will help my body to like, expel the heat that I'm not able to process and it it did. It worked. I loved it. I drink it all summer, really hot summer in the city, but I completely forgot about them.

Dr. Janelle Kim: 23:58

And that goes it's fascinating like our very first minute of conversation that there's there's hot and cold to you and then Yan Yan is more cold Young is more hot, you know, and you constantly have to balance that. Sorry.

Amy: 24:12

Yeah, what I was gonna say which was also interesting just for like breaking it down for for people who don't know the space as much. I think when I hear adaptogens or herbal medicine, I think of it as like something you ingest. It's more like like supplements and things like that. And it really just opened my eyes to like wait, that's actually in beauty products and so many other products not just like things you're ingesting for your health. So that was Yeah, I guess naturally those things are in other products. I just just really think about it that way about like

Dr. Janelle Kim: 24:48

a medical doctor correlation. You can have these incredible ingredients and you hear on many different platforms or ways of understanding for lack of a better way of putting it that it does it depends on how much it can penetrate right how wash your body absorbs it. And that's where I talked about that importance of proper formulation. Because when you ingest an adaptogenic herb it goes in it literally simulates through your digestion, right? And you, you take out the nutrients, again, if it's formulated properly, and it agrees with you, so on and so forth. And so the one thing with topical, is there is a little bit more attention that has to be put on that understanding of making sure it penetrates and absorbs into the body, if that makes sense. You know, so it's even more

Amy: 25:31

of a question. And this might be hard to answer, but I think our listeners might want to know, so if you were talking to someone about, you know, using herbal medicine for different things, like could you name something that most people would benefit from? Like, it's something they're ingesting for their health, something for their skin, and like, okay,

Dr. Janelle Kim: 25:51

absolutely learn hair. And so, please remember, like I just said, it's one thing to have just one ingredient, it's another to have proper combination, right? Because, and I will answer your question, Amy. But I really, this is really important, because often, or almost always, almost always, because there are situations where taking just ginseng, for example, you know, all by itself can be so powerful, right for energy, depending on what kind of gyms and especially for women's for balancing hormones, right. So there's one that I just named, but you have to be careful, especially when it's just one herbal ingredient different than some of our drugs, if you will, because those side effects can be a lot more extreme in comparison to most plant medicine, but plant medicines are still very powerful and important. And what I mean by that is you can have Korean Red Ginseng, which is one of the most powerful ingredients, I think now around the world we notice and in Korea that is so prized. I mean, one small root of Korean Red Ginseng could be easily half a million dollars, I'm talking about how powerful it is in the body. Right, especially for for example, as being woman on the phone today, balancing different hormones, printing, energy, libido, whatever that might be so many different aspects. But here's what's interesting, if someone who has high blood pressure takes a whole bunch of Korean Red Ginseng, it could be really not so good for them because it increases your chi and raises chi. And with with a high blood pressure is a really kind of easy one to understand. That's why I'm giving this example, you can see where raising your chi strong is not really the best thing to do. And so that's where I just want to note that. So Korean Red Ginseng is a huge urgency in general is one of the most it's Ren Shen in Chinese medicine and Ren is human. And so literally, if you look at a ginseng root, they say it looks like a human being, which is really interesting. If you look at it, you can see it like the arms, the head, the leg is really interesting. And that's how herbal medicine 1000s of years ago, that's how they came up with these names and this understanding. So that's a really important one. For hair one in general, would be hibiscus I put that in a lot of our hair formulas for skin as well. I mean, skin and hair are kind of an extension. It's kind of one in the same. But hibiscus is so good for blood circulation. Right. So I mean, there's so many more, but I'm just kind of calling those that come to mind Angelica.

Amy: 28:09

I haven't heard about that already. And so that's a new one. I mean, I've heard of it, but not in the sense that you're describing.

Dr. Janelle Kim: 28:14

And then remember all your examples. Example For immune. Oh, yeah. Skin. Yes. So struggle is Angelica, you know, those are ones that you'll definitely find in the formulas that that I create at the lab.

Katie: 28:28

And I love that you're mentioning that you still have to be mindful and careful. Like even though these are natural, and they're herbs, they can be very powerful. I know not to completely go back to the adaptogens. But part of the reason why I'm so familiar with them is because I have to be careful because they affect your cortisol and I have a condition where I don't produce cortisol. So I actually can't really use adaptogens much like my other person could, which is kind of a bummer, because there's so many great products of the minute that I you know, read but but yeah, it's a good thing for the listener to pay attention to and to maybe check with your doctor first before starting something,

Dr. Janelle Kim: 29:04

you know, after Yeah, another great thing when you're out there looking for supplements like one thing because people asked me that often. And you know, we contract men, we work behind a lot of brands. And so we that means a lot to us, we keep that confidentiality, but you know, you kind of can see our stamp when you will see these formulas out in the world. But another great thing for people to do is to really look into who these companies are, who they're formulators are, you know because then you can start to trust a company. You know what I mean? A brand otherwise it is overwhelming. You know, there's so much out there. And if something becomes especially nowadays trendy, everyone jumps to doing it, you know, and

Amy: 29:40

so were the formulators is that noted on the packaging, because that's interesting. I always think of like brands that I like that I think have good ingredients from what I know but I've never actually looked further than like what lab is actually formulating. It's

Dr. Janelle Kim: 29:55

not always listed. To be honest. Usually you'll find if it really matters, I'm thinking of a few of our Our clients right now, usually you'll find that we really care about their formulas, their ingredients, they really have a purpose for that product. And now more and more you see it, because it resonates with people's everyone's kind of catching on, you look into their story, you know, who is the person behind it? Why are the happiness? What's their unique thing? You know? Is it high quality ingredients? That's a great one. Is it? I know some of our clients will speak on. It is the synergy between the ingredients, you know what I mean? And that is super key. So, yes, it is definitely something a good practice. Because again, I totally acknowledge it can be very overwhelming, stepping into a beauty store, a supplement department, whatever it might be, because there's just so much.

Amy: 30:42

Yeah, I was gonna ask that. If someone wants to go in their town or city to start utilizing some of these herbal medicine, what would you suggest? Like if they are already going to acupuncture would most likely that acupuncturist maybe have I know, my old acupuncturist that I used to do? I need to go back to this is reminding me had like, all these herbs raised on kind of what you needed. But like, if someone's not seeing an acupuncturist that has that as their like, where would you go to find good quality or charm,

Dr. Janelle Kim: 31:12

I mean, I'll just kind of make it as simple as possible. It is true acupuncturist will, or biologist, for example, they will look at your individual condition and really start to balance. Of course, every just like there's doctors who are so great and skilled at what they do. And there's some we're not as skilled. And so I want to acknowledge that the same thing happens with acupuncturist or biologists, you name it any kind of practitioner, right. And so that's a good way it's a little different. Like the formulas that we I create at my lab behind the brands are ones that can be handed out in general, right. So there's certain herbal ingredients like you kind of mentioned, Katie, I don't want to get too far into this. But it's important for people to understand that you know, if you have a certain cold, like, say you have a cold and what your cold is presenting as as a sore throat, well, technically, the way you treat that cold with a sore throat is different than treating a cold that doesn't have a sore throat, and you seem to have a really runny nose, I hope I'm not getting too detailed. But it's important for people to understand there's a difference in symptoms, because one cold has hot symptoms, that's the sore throat. And so you're not going to use a much a hot herbs, you know, too. And so that's how in depth herbal medicine can be. So for those types of more specific imbalances, cold is a little different, because we can put out supplements that can kind of boost immune system in general, right. That's a great place to start that kind of your acupuncturist or biologist, certain practitioners, you can then go to other places that offer it and really look into the supplements that exist and have people on the floors and what I mean is like Whole Foods, I think we have all over the country for the most part, especially east coast, west coast, right? Your your natural markets, I don't know if you have, for example, Farmer cup, but that's a great place and in the West here, that we have the I will definitely send people there when they're looking because the people I know that that are biologists, the herbalist on the floor are very, very good at what they do. It's very important to them. So that's kind of I hope this is answering the question, but you find good natural products store or if you're searching, if you don't have that option, and you are kind of looking online, do a bit of research and find I mean pharmerica is on for example, you know, I should you think I work for pharma guy keep saying your name. Because this was coming to mind right now. But that's where going back to what we just said, look into the story of that company, look into where their ingredients, you know, what matters to them. And that's how you can kind of narrow in on what works for you. And at the end of the day. Yes, so in Whole Foods. And I would have liked a bit, this is really important. At the end of the day, pay attention to how you feel is the most important thing. It goes back to that living meditation and those three pillars, you know, so often we look to our experts, which you should, in our practitioners or doctors, our yoga teachers, for example, and do that because they studied and they have, they have things to share. But at the end of the day, you need to be aware of yourself. So that means if you take what you think is the best ingredient and everyone says it's the best, and you take it pay attention week with something new into your body. And if after a couple of days or even that day, you start to have a headache. And you cannot figure out why all of a sudden, you know, I never get headaches and now I have a headache. I do not care how great that ingredient is. It's not balanced with your condition at that moment. And we really have to watch that the anatomy and then you start to become in charge of your own health. So I just wanted to say that super important.

Katie: 34:31

Yeah,

Amy: 34:31

yeah, we talked about that a lot on the show like really listening to your body and if someone is saying like oh, it's just this or it's just that don't worry about it. You're like no, I you need to. It's that mindfulness and that intense intentionality you have within yourself where I think a lot of people seem to be kind of chewed into that now, more so than before and I think people it seems like are asking their traditional doctor I was like, Well, what about this? Or what about this? You know? Because, yes, there's a lot more education out there. And there's a lot more people talking about, like attitude with the West, and

Dr. Janelle Kim: 35:11

even, you know, Western doctors, you know, yeah, you know, I don't know, I'm often on panels with, you know, Western Eastern. And I believe that any good doctor is just going to want the best for that patient, you know, and some of us, it's easier to get that advice than others. And that's, that is the way it is, you know, but in general, for sure. You see the world I, like I said, much different than 20 years ago, or maybe a little more when I first began and, you know, which harder path?

Amy: 35:38

Yeah, I hope that some of these more Western traditional doctors start getting into more, I mean, the good ones already do ask those questions that aren't outside of like, right, they're willing, because it really does make a difference. And they're looking at Mind Body Spirit, not just like

Dr. Janelle Kim: 35:58

the integrative cynics are a serious thing. I mean, it's happening, you know, and definitely, when you walk into certain Western medical doctors offices, you're definitely seeing doctors who are doing exactly that, you know, opening expanding their mind and recognizing, you know, these medicines have existed for 1000s of years. You know, it's so interesting when, because it yes, 1000s of years ago, they were not doing clinical studies. This is true. They did not put it down in that manner. But there's something to say, right? I mean, I think more and more people are seeing that now more than ever, especially after last couple of years, we've all walked through that there's something to say about these medicines that have worked on humans for literally 1000s of years. You know, so yes, there might not be this, what the Western Way, which is a very good way, don't get me wrong, having clinical studies, finding every single fact. But sometimes there's a little bit more to it. But that's holistic, also the way we look at everything. So there's three, absolutely. It's funny.

Amy: 36:54

Katie and I both had COVID Around the same time, and one of the things we both saw, I think was floating around Tiktok was, and I don't know if this is, well, I guess it's horrible, but it's different, like the oils. So it said, if you had no taste or snide, neither of us did to us. I think it was peppermint oil, and rose oil, rosemary, Rosemary oil every day in your nose and like she did it and it both worked.

Dr. Janelle Kim: 37:19

Stimulating to your tea. It makes everything function again. So it's an interesting thing.

Amy: 37:23

Right, exactly. Yeah. That was like, amazingly, yeah. And I

Dr. Janelle Kim: 37:27

think a lot of writers world is seeing more and more options is, you know, there's certainly some negative aspects which we're not trying to go down this path of social media and how small our world is with technology. But it does certainly at the same time, there's that duality, that dichotomy, again, of the yin and yang, are certain ways now that through being closer through technology and the internet and social media that we're learning these you just have to fact check that a bit, you know, in fact, that's one of the things that my team certainly has to say, you know, Janelle, Dr. Kim, if you can speak on this, do you agree or not? That happens a lot, actually. For different things, trends that we see whether it's a trend, or it's real, yeah. So

Katie: 38:10

that's, yeah, and nothing. And parents do that. And, you know, I feel like, we could talk about some much of this for hours. And I would really, really love to have you back to talk in detail about acupuncture. Because I think that is such a vast topic, right. And I've, I've done it, and it's worked for me, and I know so many people that have helped. So we'll have to do that another time. But before we let you go, tell us just a little bit more about what Jay JBK wellness labs does. And also, do you have Is it a branded CBD luxury skincare

Dr. Janelle Kim: 38:43

JBK wellness Labs is not named after myself, which many people think is named after my great grandfather, those are his who was an incredible practitioner of herbal medicine, and acupuncture for that matter. And we are contracted manufacturers, which means we make the products behind the brands. And again, I kind of touched on that already. But you know, they're our clients are carried in your high end resorts and spas, to your whole foods to now actually they're having like prestige and luxury departments and target and Walgreens. And so it's an interesting way for exactly what we're talking about to be, you know, to be available for more people, which is kind of neat. So brands kind of spanning all industries. And so that's what we do in everything that we do is rooted in that understanding of herbal formulation, of formulation of products in general clean beauty, of course, you know, natural health products, of course. And so that's basically what JBK what we do, so we're not a brand, so we're behind brands. And so when you talk about the first ever Yes, I created the first ever CBD luxury skincare. I mean, basically I started the CBD industry myself in my lab with the people who started CBD back in. My first son was almost ready to be born so over 10 years ago now, which is a long time in the cannabinoid industry. And that's a whole other conversation to network. that I jumped into right away. But then another thing where I thought, you know, this is going to be something and I'd rather be educating about it properly. But I didn't really want to be like the queen of cannabis, you know, so, but an alternative. And so so not to go too far down that road. But that's so JBK we do a lot in the cannabinoid industry because we kind of helped to start it. So we were the first to make the sav muscle and joint role on so on and so forth. And all these, it's a beautiful thing, because every time someone comes to us to make formulas, it's always unique, it is truly the most amazing thing. So we, they come to us, oftentimes with an idea, they'll come to us with formulas that they kind of want us to improve upon, for example, or they'll come to us with a really important ingredient. I mean that and that's just to name a couple of examples. And then we formulate and then we produce the products. And that's the headquarters are in San Diego, right where I reside. Right now, we have a lab in Orange County. And actually, we have one in Portugal, in Europe for our European clients. So yes, and we just started actually, we're really excited about this, and I'm happy I'm remembering to share, because for over 20 years, I've been in this industry. And when you when I say contract manufacturing usually have to have higher minimums. So we don't have to get into all the details of it all. But in order to work with us, or to make custom products, you have to order a couple 1000 of one product at a time. And that's not easy for everyone. And this has been on my mind for a long time. And so over the last couple of years, and one of the things that, you know, during the pandemic, I don't always think of it this way. But it's the truth that we were able to create a JBK was a private label a white label division. And that means a lot to me, because what that means is more and more people are able to put their brand on some of our most favorite formulas that I've created over 20 years of my lab. And so, you know, that's kind of a big thing. And so I'm really excited about that. That's kind of a new thing that we've done in my lab. So

Katie: 41:54

congratulations

Amy: 41:55

for future when we come up and your bonuses, maybe the product.

Dr. Janelle Kim: 42:03

I want to create a formula to help women balance their, you know, emotions, balance their hormones, to have more energy, whatever that is. That's exactly how it starts. And people trust you and then that's how it goes. So

Amy: 42:15

I love that and what is your book called again? And where can people

Dr. Janelle Kim: 42:18

you my book is called the young son, the Korean art of living meditation. It's kind of a long one. That's why I just remember Dr. Janelle Kim, living meditation, bright blue simpler. It's basically through Penguin, Random House and Watkins. And so you can find it on the Penguin Random house.com website on my website, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, basically, anywhere books are sold. So I'm very grateful that has come out, you know, just in January, so

Amy: 42:45

very excited. Thank you, Amy. Hi, congratulations. Okay, so getting into our wrap session before we close out. Janelle, what is your favorite wellness or beauty hack? I can. That's that's a hard one at my I do have so many.

Dr. Janelle Kim: 43:03

If I had to pick one right now, one of my favorites is remembering and understanding that true beauty does come from the inside out, you have to use very clean important products topically because it is our largest organ, our skin. But also we really have to pay attention to improving our condition internally, increasing our circulation, increasing our chi. And of course, to me, that means supplementing with herbal formulations. You know, being aware of my body knowing when to take certain ones. So I don't want to go too far. But yes, it's inside out which we're seeing much, much more in our beauty and wellness industry right now. So I'm so happy for that.

Amy: 43:41

Yeah. 100% Yeah, that's great. Okay, the next one, we call our five minute flow, which I guess could contribute to your CI. But here's the scenario. You just got out of the shower and dried off and Uber pings you and says they're five minutes away. So what is your quick beauty routine?

Dr. Janelle Kim: 44:00

That's funny, right? My locks up. I have one

Amy: 44:03

you just got out of the shower and dried off. And Uber just alerted you there five minutes away. So how do you you know, what's your quick beauty routine? What do you put on what are your kind of go to? And I'm shaking my head or that's every day forget?

Dr. Janelle Kim: 44:17

Yeah, that's called children. And podcasts Even my kids had to camp at 9am which is exactly when we were supposed to be on so that was literally my morning. So I do I get ready in five minutes. And that's just the truth today. We're lucky I put a little eyeshadow for you ladies to look, you know, all dressed up. But the i Everyday I use my herbal toner. It is one of the most important products I think I mean, again, that's so hard. I have the whole I'm Korean beauty right so I have the whole every step. But I always use a toner in the morning if I don't work out rather than just washing my face. There's no alcohol, it's all herbs. So it's just basically, you know, cleansing with a cotton pad, but at the same time all those good herbs onto my skin. So that's what I start with. And then honestly, I like a little concealer because it just makes me look a little brighter and a little natural blush. And I go on with my day. Like literally that's that

Amy: 45:11

and are these all brands that you make in the lab so it's not like a brand skincare for sure. Probably

Dr. Janelle Kim: 45:17

another one I love it's my later again, that's the I keep making a joke. It's the Korean beauty that is a Korean beauty hack and I very much stand by exfoliation is key. And so those are all products that I create my bathroom looks like a lab literally I have a little bottles everywhere. But as far as makeup, we we keep wanting to go down a direction are a little bit too busy. So I do I go for brands out there and the ones that I like, right now. I like RMS beauty. So very clean. I find that you know I don't like to reapply like don't look at myself in the mirror throughout the day because I figured what what in the world can I do anyways? This is how I

Amy: 45:55

layer your skin's unbelievable so

Dr. Janelle Kim: 45:59

yeah, like a little blush just because I'm all skin tone. And that's about it. So and then maybe a little lip gloss. Some

Amy: 46:05

love that. Okay, and how do you maintain your daily your bond I

Dr. Janelle Kim: 46:09

love by the way, that that is what you call your entire platform on everything that you do. And so how to maintain that is through living meditation. I mean, we're totally on the same page living meditation is the ultimate goal of reaching that state of Nirvana that state of honestly balanced, we started this way and I suppose well, and this way that you know, everything comes from the doubt and for those who are not familiar with the Dow, I suggest that you become familiar in some way because it is a really powerful and was people love it. And it really is just the universe, right? And the universe is everything and nothing. It is literally that Enzo circle which is on my logo. It's that like kind of brushstroke and that's to me, also is nirvana. Right. So to that state of from nothing comes everything and from everything comes nothing. And so I am able to constantly keep purifying myself creating good habits, having a self discipline through living meditation, which is why I put it in the book.

Katie: 47:05

That's beautiful. I just want to say before we hand the mantra over to Amy that you can just you really exude Janelle such kind of peace and joy and you're glowing from the inside out. So you are living proof of everything that you can say. So we're really grateful for having you on. Thank you so much for for being here with us today. And I think our listeners are gonna love everything you taught us and, and really, I would love to have you back and we can dive into it. I'm

Dr. Janelle Kim: 47:32

really grateful to be here. It was a wonderful conversation. I would absolutely love to come back. So I hope that was helpful. That's for sure.

Katie: 47:39

Was Thank you. All right, Amy. What's our mantra we'd like to close with a little something to end on.

Amy: 47:46

Yeah, so I don't know if this is a mantra or saying something I found on Jay Shetty, Instagram, but it's very appropriate to what we were talking about specially we were talking about being drunk on your thoughts, which kind of stuck with me. So here it is. If you want to be happy, don't take stuff personal. Let stuff go. Let people be focused on you. Your mental health, your spiritual health, your well being physically and financially.

Katie: 48:11

I agree. Yeah, yeah. All of the above agreed, right.

Amy: 48:15

So thank you so much. Thank

Katie: 48:19

you.

Amy: 48:20

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 61 - Product Junkies July Edition - Things We Are Loving Right Now (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 61 - Product Junkies July Edition - Things We Are Loving Right Now

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: 0:18

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

Amy: 0:28

welcome back to another episode of Nirvana sisters, product junkies, it is July and we have some fun reviews for the month. So I'm going to kick it off to Katie, we're just gonna get right into Oh,

Katie: 0:41

I didn't expect that. I thought you were going to start us out. Okay. I'm going to start I'm going to start with food because Okay, I have had this product. It's been around for a while. But I just really want to give them a shout out because I'm a dairy free girl. And being a dairy free girl, you still love cheese. You still love yogurt, you love all the things but you can't do it if you're lactose intolerant like I am. And all of these brands have been trying for years to make a good like copycat. And there's finally our legitimate brands that do and it's Kite Hill. Kite Hill is my like number one go to and I just know that. It's like the word needs to get out there. If you can't do dairy. They have dips. I'm a dip person. I love a good oh, I've had their damp the Kite Hill. Yeah, you love a good caramelize or French onion dip. They have it Suzuki, they have a ranch and now they have a queso. That tastes so much like real queso. It's insane.

Amy: 1:46

You Oh my God, I didn't have a sofa. You can eat

Katie: 1:49

it cold. You can eat it hot. It's like I feel like a dairy eater again. So Oh, and also, I have to try to make butter. They now have a plant based butter that I bought last week. That's really good. And my cholesterol is kind of high lately because of my genetics. So it's good for me to switch to the plant based butters. So anyway, it's not the most exciting product review, but I just felt like I really needed to shout it out. Yes. No, I think that's really refreshing and just nice to be able to like enjoy dairy again. Even though it's not dairy that sort of feels like to

Amy: 2:21

me Yeah, I need to I I've had some other chips. I've had the French onion and there's like another one. That's good. I can't remember what flavor it is. And I forgot I haven't gotten those in a while. Oh ranch. I think they've branched up that's good. And then I used to have their yogurt. What's the nutrition like? Like, because usually they're pretty low in sugar

Katie: 2:39

too, right? They're actually Oh, they also have a spinach and artichoke dip. That's the one that I tried recently that like blew my mind. It's it's really clean. It's awesome. And they're all made from almonds. Like some of the products that you know like the mica knows brand is made from cashews kettles made from almonds. They do better with almonds and cashews. So for example, Spinach artichoke dip, it tastes so spot on it's almond milk, spinach, coconut oil, artichokes, modified corn starch, salt, garlic powder, yeast extract, onion pattern, natural flavor, locust bean gum, lemon juice concentrate, guar, gum and cultures. So it's it's like it's the common stuff that you're seeing in a lot of these products. I think without a lot of the garbage. It's dairy free, soy free, gluten free, vegan, kosher, non GMO, no artificial colors or preservatives, and made from live and active cultures, which means it's going to have some probiotics in it as well. So I think it's good. Okay. And, and, like, calorie wise, it's like, also really nice and guilt free. I mean, you know, not that it matters. But for two tablespoons. It's only 30 calories. It's like two grams of fat. It's no saturated fat to carbs. It's easy. No sugar, one gram of protein. You know, it's like, it's, yeah, that's going on. Around.

Amy: 3:53

Okay, good. Love code Hill. Good. Good. Good product mention. Okay, the next one I'm going to mention. We talked about it, I said it I was hinting this to earlier today. And I've been using this for months, but I was saving it to tell you about it. And it is athletic. Oh, I know. I've converted myself. I mean, athletic greens is all over the place. I feel like I've seen it everywhere. And I never tried it. And I was listening to Andrew Huberman who I love. And he talks about athletic greens all the time. And he's been using it since 2012. Those of you has so I always hear Andrew Huberman talking about it on his podcast, which is the Hubert Huber Minh Lab, which I've spoken about before. He's a PhD, neuroscientist professor in the Department of neurobiology at Stanford. So I trust everything he says, and he's his podcast, just as an aside is so good because he breaks down really kind of complex things into like, ways that you can understand and he always provides context to an issue he's talking about and then gives you really good insight, recommendations, etc. But anyway, he always talks about ethics. greens. And so finally I was like, Alright, I gotta try it. Since I've tried it, I've had it everyday sense and how do you feel on it, it has really helps me I feel so much better. Because what I've been doing is well, just for everybody to know athletic greens, if you go to athletic greens.com, you can read all about it. But you can do it on a subscription. Or you can just buy a one, you know, one time package, I bought a subscription thinking I would just cancel it if I didn't like it. And the subscription, which is $79 comes with the starter kit. So this jar, which I like, because you have to you have to keep it in the fridge. So this jar with the scooper. And then it also comes with this, like shaker. So I just use this every day, I have a system, which you know, I love a system and travel packs, which is great. So I'll bring it with me on my trip next week. So I've been feeling really good on it. Because what I've been doing now instead of drinking my coffee, first thing is I get up in the morning, and I have athletic greens. And the reason why I like it is because you only need like eight to 12 ounces. So it's not like a whole thing of water, it's like maybe like a half a jar of water, you know, 12 ounces, whatever. So I do that. And then I just feel like very hydrated and like good. And then I have my coffee maybe then or an hour later. So it's like a good start to my morning. So I really like it then. But it has every mineral nutrient you could need from greens. And so especially like if you're traveling, it's like the one thing that he talks about. And I've heard other people talk about it too. It's like the one thing they bring with them because they know they'll get all their minerals. And so you know, you're getting everything from it in one place. So even if you have a salad and stuff like that, whatever, but at least you know, you're getting it all in one place. And it's also I believe it prebiotic and probiotic. So my digestion has been much better on it, which has been a big one for me, because I never find anything that like really helps with my digestion. And this has helped with my digestion. So I've been taking it like every day for three months. I haven't missed a day. Well, I was I enjoy it. I think it tastes good. Yeah, I was looking back and I've gotten it. This is like my third month. And I'm almost done with this. And my fourth one is gonna is being mailed today. So I really like it. It's easy, it tastes good. I mean, it's like not sweet, not, it's just kind of like, it just feels good. It's very hydrating. And I've just gotten into the routine. And what I do is I just keep the jar in the fridge like in this one spot that I have. And then I use this shaker like the thing that comes with it every day. It's like a plastic bottle. You just put the greens in, put the water and shake it and drink it. And then I just clean it right there and put it right back in with like a little water. So it keeps it cool. And I just do the same thing every morning. It's like no big deal. And I love it. It's actually been making me feel a lot better.

Katie: 7:42

I have to tell you, I've used it. I was ordering athletic greens, like at the very start of the pandemic when I got into podcast and DAX Shepard's podcast. So they advertised, so I ordered a time. And I liked it. But I had some other stomach stuff going on. So I didn't we weren't simpatico at the time, but maybe I need to try it again. Give it another go.

Amy: 8:04

Yeah, and like I think these things are interesting because I think certain things work for some people and certain things don't like I remember we were talking about in another one of our shows the secara metabolism powder, which you love. I used it and I didn't like it. I mean, it was like fine, but I didn't it didn't make a huge impact on me where you love it. So I think it's just like you have to find the things that are right for you. And I was like, super excited to find something that actually like, I can feel a difference. And I feel better on it when I drink it. And my digestion is much better than it used to be. So that's huge. And then I feel like I'm getting all of the superfoods and vitamins and minerals that I need. So huge support. Athletic Greens, right? Oh, so the subscription is $79 a month. But if you do a one time I think it's 99. So I just do this subscription because it's cheaper and then you don't have to think about ordering like a jar that they send you and it's great. I like the jar Yeah, it's nice and I like the scooper. It has like a good weight to it. And I like the shaker like it's all good. So I'm really excited about athletic greens. So that's, that's that one.

Katie: 9:08

What do you got? Mine is a supplement kind of ish. It's electrolytes. The brand you know the brand I've given it to you before, but we haven't talked about on the show yet element T or element. It's I love this brand of electrolytes. It's actually was created for the ketogenic community. I can't remember exactly the name of the people that started it, but they did that because if you were doing keto, you had to have like more sodium. It's just like keto it's really important to watch your electrolytes. So this group started this brand of electrolytes and it's 1000 milligrams of sodium which is high for electrolytes. Most electrolytes don't have that much 200 milligrams potassium 60 grams of magnesium and they come in all of these great flavors but what I love the most about it is that it comes in raw and flavored one because of favorite ones typically have.

Amy: 10:01

That's the one that yeah, the flavored ones. The one that you started like

Katie: 10:05

super delicious, but they always have like stevia, which a lot of people do find with stevia, I don't like me and sugar alcohols or whatever, it's just, it doesn't match. So they have an unflavored one that has no stevia, and it's just the straight up electrolytes which I love it and I subscribe to it so I get it every other month for $39 And then if you just do it one time, it's $45 but it's a huge box of 30 packs so you have you eaten up one a day and they have grapefruit salt. I feel like you would love that flavor. Yeah, oh great. Salt citrus salt, watermelon, salt, orange salt, raspberry salt, chocolate salt seems kind of weird but whatever. Lemon habanero mango chili. So yeah,

Amy: 10:54

yeah, interesting. I didn't know they had all those flavors. I actually just got the unflavored one that you got me on, which I love and whenever I'm feeling dehydrated, I drink and it makes a huge difference. That's yeah,

Katie: 11:04

great. Good. lm n TLM. N

Amy: 11:07

T. Great. Okay, so getting into beauty a little bit I have a few things. So my first one is this Tom Ford lipstick and gloss which are so beautiful. They are like the perfect nude. You know we're always looking for the perfect nude. I found this I think I saw it on Tik Tok when Mikayla recommended it a few months ago. I think it was her. And this lipstick is called blush nude. It's a soft pink beige. It is like the best color it's so luxurious too. It feels so good on your lips. It's so moisturizing. It's $58 so a little pricey for lipstick but honestly this lipstick lasts forever so it's such good quality. And I love the color and then you match it with the glass Luxe lip gloss and this color is called in the buff which is like a nude with a gold pearl if you can see this and that combo it is like the most gorgeous nude and this is $58 as well. I wear it I get so many compliments all the time people are like what are you wearing? What is on your lips it's just such a good year rounds great nude and also the packaging is already a full on like heavy and luxurious you know highly recommend Do

Katie: 12:32

you know if they have like different various nude shades of that same one Do you know because you know some like some nudes are it depends on your skin tone to find the right nude like I wonder if Yeah, I could wear the same nude that you could wear?

Amy: 12:46

I don't know I mean they definitely have like a lot of lipstick colors and I'm sure they have other nudes I just this is the one blush nude. That seems to work for a lot of people because I've seen a lot about it online but there's probably other nudes as well. And then the the the glosses they have tons of colors too. But this one in the buff pairs really nicely.

Katie: 13:08

Check it out. So yes, I love it. Yeah. All right. Well, that was a high I have a low high low little drugstore find. Oh my god, I love it. That's great. So this is L'Oreal True Match Lumi lotion, natural glow enhancer. And it's 1599 I think I actually got it CVS for like 1399 this is on alters website that I'm looking at right now. It's a great little bottle of like very highlighting luminous lotion, and I actually use it as highlighter on my cheekbone. But then like if I'm going out and I've got a you know, like a tank top or something I'm like I put it on my shoulders and I put it on my chest like lotion. You can use it either way. It works really really well though, as a highlighter, and it's a nice consistency. It's really pretty. It's like I don't know it's kind of hard to see here. But this is light glow. Number nine Oh,

Amy: 14:16

okay. I think I have that one. It's so funny that you have that because I literally just bought that one and the darker one because I wasn't I bought it online so it was like hard to tell. But that's interesting that you use that as a highlight and on your body. I never thought to do that. I've just used it on my face just Oh really? Like always. I wasn't Yeah, I just like one day mixed it with my sunscreen and used it just as a moisturizer idea, but I guess you could use it really

Katie: 14:43

funny. It's I mean, I don't even know like I didn't even realize that it was considered a lotion until I looked at it today for this exact purpose. I thought I bought it for a highlighter but it says instantly hydrates eliminated this for an all over fresh, healthy naked skin glow. So There you go.

Amy: 15:01

Yeah, I'm gonna use it as a highlighter though so now that I got the two colors that's actually good because maybe I'll use like the one of them as a highlighter and one is like, you know exactly like the darker one for my body and 100% I never thought to put it on like your chest and shoulders. Yeah, it's a good idea like, and it feels really good feel not at all.

Katie: 15:19

It's it's very light.

Amy: 15:21

Yeah, that's a great drugstore. I love that. Okay, next, I put this on our Instagram a couple of weeks ago when I was stocking up on all my favorite products. And I always you know, as we love beauty shamans, one of our favorite brands, so I tried her soul veil SPF 25 Because I needed a new moisturizer. And it is delicious. I love it so much. It's $75 and it's the it has such a good feel to it for moisturizer specially for the summer. It's not heavy, but it's not light. It's like that perfect texture. And the smell is so good. Again, it's not strong, but it's just like this light smell I honestly every time I put it on my face I like put it in my hands and smell it it's like a little and then I put it on my face. It's just so good. And I was worried about the 25 because you know I'm super into some protection and I thought 25 wasn't enough, but I actually recently went to the gym and I was like Is 25 okay to wear and she's like yeah, it's fine to wear on a daily basis she's like, but if you're going to the beach or like you're outside all day like playing golf or at the pool she's like wear something more but she's like for an everyday moisturizer 25 is totally fine. So I was like Okay, great. So anyway, I highly recommend that if you need a moisturizer with an SPF. I also love which we've talked about a million times Supergoop but Supergoop is just the sunscreen so sometimes when you just want to like have one stop and moisturizer and sunscreen together it's like hard to find a good one I know Elta MD we've talked about a lot too but this one I'm obsessed with

Katie: 16:52

I have to get it I love this because I feel like so I have drugstore fi and so I feel like you are definitely on the high end today and I'm on the low end Yeah bringing you both spectrums listeners. My next one is another drugstore find in fact I have found it at the grocery store. And recently I my hair has felt so good. It's been really really silky. And I don't I mean I didn't necessarily do anything differently other than I've just been using this religiously for some time now. So it's the brand is Haske and this particular product is a keratin protein smoothing hair oil and it says it softens and renews its for damaged over processed hair which obviously you know, I get my hair highlighted. It's alcohol free and instantly absorbing and it's just like a really nice finishing smoothing oil in the littlest amount I mean I really use like barely even what's the bride HASK h a s k so I use this I use scene haircare we love our seen haircare right shampoo and conditioner. I'm like, religiously. That's all I use. And then I use this and I can just

Amy: 18:11

and you use that when you're hurting wet or dry or like

Katie: 18:14

it's like a finishing oil. And I don't have to do any just put it on your end. Yeah, I don't even I don't blow dry it. I don't curl it anymore. It just like falls with like a nice, smooth wave. And sometimes it's that and you reapply it every day just to like to be hydrated or you don't need to. But if I need to I don't like like right after I get my hair highlighted. Yeah, I

Amy: 18:36

probably use it more. Okay, and you got it.

Katie: 18:39

I've heard this one in particular, I think literally at the grocery store, but I have bought it at CVS before I've seen it in a ton of places. It's $2 $2 $2 I swear up $2 No kidding me and it works. It's legitimate. That is like you know, Moroccan oil brand like more expensive. It's it's really good. It works.

Amy: 19:01

Okay, I gotta try that. Love it. Okay, well I do have a good drugstore finds it as my last beauty category product. So another brands that I love, which is sun balm, love is the sun bum face mist. That's funny, refreshing face mist mist sunscreen, broad spectrum, SPF 45. Do

Katie: 19:22

you have stairs and I almost brought it for review.

Amy: 19:26

So funny. Don't you love it? It's great. It's so good. So for our listeners, it's like this 3.4 ounce bottle. First of all, it has that some bomb smell which is like that coconutty whatever. Smell and I just love that it's a mist because it almost feels like you're putting like a rose water on your face and it's just like such a good refresher. So I always have it in my beach bag or like if I'm out you know at the pool or something and it's just like cool and refreshing and gives you that coverage and you don't have to like reapply sunscreen. I love it so much. So anyway, it's some bum 59 denying and it's just yeah, refreshing, faceless and you know what? SPF 45

Katie: 20:04

And using that on the kids all week this week for camp because it's, I'm getting them out the door in the morning. The last thing I have time for is like smoothing out the face lotion sunscreen. It takes forever. So I've been splitting this on them and they're totally fine. It's not bothering their eyes. I mean, it's made for the face of course, but it's kid friendly to Ray just

Amy: 20:24

spray it on there and go. Yeah, you don't have to rub it in. So nice. Love. Alright, my

Katie: 20:29

last one is another drugstore find. It is by NYX you know that brand NY X? Yeah, and it's their jumbo eye pencil. And I have it in two shades. This is like a pearlescent white that I put on, you know, like the inside and what do they call them area? The water? Yeah, like inside. Right, exactly. And then also like right in here right where your eye corners. And then I have the most beautiful deep purple that I use as eyeliner and kind of like smudge it around as like an eyeshadow. But the font they have, like really fun colors and pinks and purples and greens and blues. And you could get really funky with it. But super cheap $5.50 and at last I worked out one night and it lasted the whole night. And it just felt like gave my eyes a good pop and a sparkle. So it's a fun one.

Amy: 21:25

Yeah, I love that brand that they have great stuff. What's that color called?

Katie: 21:29

That was white color is called. Not the best name cottage cheese. They could have gone with anything and they went with cottage cheese. Yeah. But it hasn't got a nice.

Amy: 21:48

Alright, well, that's easy to remember. Oh yeah, that's really

Katie: 21:55

my purple one in the other room. But the purple is really beautiful. It's like a deep eggplant purple. Whoo. Okay,

Amy: 21:59

so well, we'll put that in the show notes. Because a good purple is hard to find now Good to know. Okay, well, my last product is like super random. But it's a really good hack. So when I went skiing over spring break, I bought this. You're gonna laugh. I bought this boot bag. from Amazon. It's a boot bag. And it's really Yeah, like it's literally for ski boots. So you put your ski boots on the side and you put your ski clothes in the middle. And it's a backpack, and I bought on Amazon, it's 5999 Okay, $60. And the materials like on I mean, it's like cannot rip, it's so tough the material and the brand is called outdoor master. So random. I know, because I just bought it and I was it's not like cute. I mean, they have like Navy, black and whatever. It's not a cute bag. However, it is the best replacement for toiletries and shoes. So what I've been doing so I used it in when we went skiing, like what it for what it's for. But then we had another trip for like, I don't remember like a weekend or something. And I just threw all of my because for me shoes and toiletries are like the worst thing to pack. They never fit. It's so annoying. I can never fit in. I'm always carrying on. I never have the right bag. So what I do now is I put all my shoes on the sides here. And they fit because this is tall. And so you can get like a couple pairs of shoes and each side depending on what you're packing. And then in the middle, I put my toiletries and I just stack them up. And it's like the perfect bag shoes and toiletries and I just bring it on the plane and you're like on a weekend trip. Can

Katie: 23:33

you close up the sides or you can't close up the sides? Like like when you're when you put your shoes in? It's inside. They're not like sticking out. Oh, yeah. Very cool.

Amy: 23:44

It's it's a huge deep pocket like massively deep. So you put it in here and then yeah, just zipper it up. And then there's also on there's a lot of like pockets. There's also a pocket here, like on the side. So what I do with here is I'll just like throw in like what we were just saying before like an athletic greens packets or like just different things I need. And then the middle pack getting in there. There's a pocket up top here for whatever, cell phone passport, stuff like that. And then this sorry, this is loud mic, but has this whole deep section. But the reason why it's so good is because it's all so you can really get a lot in there. And so I actually used it to go on a weekend trip and that was all I brought. So I brought like a few because it was like a beach trip. So I just brought like a few things that I put in the middle through my toiletries on top threw some shoes in and I was good to go. So anyway, it's such a good hack to use it as a traveler like

Katie: 24:35

also. And it's a backward it's Oh, it's a backpack, but also I feel like it would sit nicely on top of your suitcase as you're like rolling it through the airport. It looks like it has like a nice black bottom when it could sit there nicely. Yeah, but I like that it's a backpack

Amy: 24:50

and it's got these pads for the back. So it's um it's comfortable because I've I've patched it before and it's been pretty heavy but it's been comfortable. So it's like a funny shape because it's like like a kind of like a triangle you know like a half triangle so it looks a little odd but who cares it's one of those like really convenient good things so anyway random one but I thought as people are traveling and they need like a weekend bag it's a great one or carry on that okay all right well that was fun good product junkies Jul episode talk to you guys in the next one have a good day we 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 58 - How To Reset And Detoxify Your Body In 5 Days With Kroma Wellness Founder And CEO, Lisa Odenweller (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 58 - How To Reset And Detoxify Your Body In 5 Days With Kroma Wellness Founder And CEO, Lisa Odenweller.

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: 0:18

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

Amy: 0:27

Welcome back to Nirvana sisters Nirvana sisters family. It's Amy and Katie. We are here with Lisa Odenweller, the Kroma Wellness CEO and founder who is a visionary entrepreneur and we cannot wait to talk with her. We are also sipping our afternoon beauty matcha lattes from Kroma and it's fabulous. And I'm loving it in our special Kroma mugs, which are also beautiful. So we wanted to meet with Lisa because we wanted to hear all about Kroma her new brand, and also her background because she has an incredible background and well being and wellness and all holistic wellness type things and you've probably seen Kroma for our listeners, you've probably seen Kroma all of our Instagram, like I definitely have. I've seen a lot of celebrity endorsements and you can't miss the beautiful packaging. So anyway, welcome to the show, Lisa, so happy to have you. And you're joining us from Colorado at a beautiful wellness retreat. So how great is that?

Lisa Odenweller: 1:25

Perfect timing. Thank you, Amy and Katie, thrilled to be here. Excited for the conversation.

Amy: 1:30

Awesome. So before we start, we want to go into our nirvana of the week, which is just something that happened this week, or today or yesterday that brought us joy and made us feel good and make us kind of step back and appreciate those small moments. So I'm going to hand it to Katie to do her nirvana of the week.

Katie: 1:44

Thanks, Amy. Let's see. I was thinking about this. And I think it had to have been last weekend. Usually, I'm always with the kids and my husband on the weekend, which I love. But I had kind of a hectic week and I needed to like really wind down and recharge my batteries. And we moved into a house that has a pool. And it was the first day that my husband was like, why don't you just go relax, lay by the pool. I'll take the kids for the day, he took the kids into the city into New York. And I just hung out and read a great book and listen to my music and went swimming and just had the whole day of quiet self care like downtime. And it was really needed. And it was to be able to do it in my backyard. And my pool was so fun. And so cool. So that was my that was my Nirvana this week. What about you, Amy?

Amy: 2:32

I love that. Well, it's been definitely crazy with the end of school and getting my kids ready for camp and all the craziness. And my other child, which is my puppy dog Skye who everybody on the show knows because I talk about her all the time, who's now nine months, I took a walk with her the other day. And she's finally like walking better, which for those of you that have a puppy understand that they just don't walk straight, and they're all over the place. And you kind of just like an enjoyable walk. But she's learning and she's getting better. And all the training we've been doing with her has really been panning out. So I took a nice long nature walk, walk with her. And it was relaxed, and it wasn't pulling and she wasn't pulling. And I was like, I just feel good right now. And I came back and I was refreshed. So that was my little special moment of the week. What about you, Lisa?

Lisa Odenweller: 3:21

I love the question. And I think it's such an important thing to do, because we often forget to. And so in thinking about the question, I think there's probably if I can share two maybe. Course. So the first one my son, my middle child, who's 18 just graduated last week. I mean, you and I were talking about that earlier. And congratulations. Thank you. And it's it's such a I have three kids and my youngest is 17. So my oldest is 24. So I'm getting close to being an empty nester, which is freaking me out. So going through all sorts of emotions around that. But what was really so special within his graduation was he wrote a letter his freshman year, it's a project at school, and it was a letter to himself. And I had prompt with questions and zipped six page letter and they gave it back to him him the senior year. Oh my gosh, he gives you the letter and he was like, mom read this. And, you know, actually it was laughter It was you know, like emotional everything. But there was a point in it that said Who is the person that you admire the most? And his answer was me. And his answer was, you know, my tenacity and my resilience and how hard I work and how I won't give up and you know, I'm just I believe in you know, the ability you know, possibility right and and then it was so funny because he's like, you know, and and that's what keeps me up at night because he's always tinkering in the kitchen making something superfoods. And but it was just like, you know, as a parent, we, you know, there's so many I'm a single mom, right? And I started my last brand beaming when my kids were little was 1012 years ago. Right? And I was going through divorce at the time and my everything I did was all about the business and I missed a lot of moments, right I was just so frantic to build beaming and we opened 10 locations I think it took off like wildfire and and then I was living in LA and San Diego and my kids are in San Diego with me and I just hearing that made me really just pause because I think as parents we just have, I don't know, for me, I carry like the, the guilt of God. You know, I wish that I had played Legos one more time or right now I wish that when, you know, my daughter asked me to play picnic, you know, I played pickup more likely there's just you can't help I think as a parent to reflect on the woulda, coulda, shoulda us. And so hearing how much he admired me and looked up to me, and really and respected me. You know, despite the fact that maybe I didn't, that I missed a couple days or whatever it was was just really warmed my heart that it wasn't, you know, a total loss. And I've been entrepreneurial now for 12 years.

Amy: 6:01

Yeah, I think that's so special.

Lisa Odenweller: 6:03

So that was that was really, really special. And, and then I guess the other thing to just mention, as I'm you kind of touched on it, I'm at a wellness retreat in Colorado, called reset. And they invited me to come they're brand new, and it's hiking all week and healthy food and everything that I love, and I'm from Colorado in the mountains. So I'm in like, I am in Nirvana. And but what's been so special about it is I've been going so fast for three years building Kroma that, you know, I don't get the time to just Yes, I exercise. And yes, I eat well, but you know, I'm on a conference call, I'm on the spin biker, I'm on a power walk, you know, on a conference call, like I don't really disconnect. And so to be here this week, and have the opportunity to go on for our hikes every morning and not have your phone except just to take pictures. And and has been magical on top of the fact of just connecting with people. And the group that we've been with this week has been in absolutely amazing. And it's been mostly men, these guys, and then my girlfriend came with me. And we have laughed all week. And one of them's a comedian, I think they're all comedians really, but one is actually a professional comedian. And so it's just been, so what I needed to feel recharged going back in. And I think that's also something that we just, life moves so fast. And it was really hard for me to disconnect and come here and allow myself to do that. And then now being here, and it's our last day. So tomorrow we go home and just really being in gratitude for the week, and really how magical it has been. And this is really where your mind opens. And you not only get to recharge and sort of like fill your heart, but you also get to like, kind of come back fresh, and able to create even better. So.

Amy: 7:55

Yeah, and we're really it's incredible, and we're

Katie: 7:57

grateful that you're dialing in during your disconnect with us, we really appreciate it. Because I mean, honestly, it's to, to be able to shut out the rest of the world for a time of self reflection and everything that you're doing and just taking care of yourself. It must be heaven, it must be complete nirvana. So thank you for dialing in with us letting us interrupts that

Amy: 8:21

everything that you just said totally resonates with Katie and I because that is so much of what we think about and we're all moving so quickly. And I think when you do things like that, you're you're there and you're probably thinking to yourself, can I really need to do this more because it is so juvenile eating you just don't think about it if you're not doing it and then you're like, gosh, I need to like really intentionally make sure I do this so Katie, let's make a note we need to go to recess and I'm having Nirvana's sister retreat. But I love the mountains in Colorado and yeah, everything you're saying like totally my vibe

Lisa Odenweller: 8:56

oh my god that hike we went on today and I've been to Telluride so many times I'm from Colorado was so spectacular like I was just like you just there's nothing like nature

Amy: 9:05

to nothing like it I totally am on the same page we both are we love it. Okay, so tell us about this three year project you've been working on Kroma wellness and kind of tell us like what gap you are seeing in the market and kind of how it started and how you kind of came up with the idea

Lisa Odenweller: 9:23

Well I started before then a little bit or ice I've been in the industry for 14 years and really around food as medicine and how to make healthy tastes amazing and approachable and and sexy and you know make it something that really speaks to a rock buff broader audience I last grand beaming was a series of healthy Grab and Go cafes super food cafes in Southern California we grew it to 10 locations mostly in LA. And I've always had this just bigger vision of just how do we really wake people up to the power of food as medicine and and understand how What control we have over our health? Right and, and to, to challenge, you know, do I really need that medication? Maybe I'm allergic to gluten or maybe I'm having to add sugar or alcohol or whatever it might be. And I think we take for granted our health. And so for me, it's really that's the underlying kind of mission and why and everything that I've done over these last 14 years, starting with beaming What was amazing about beaming, it's beaming, changing vibes. And people were obsessed with this brand, or food was amazing, are we I was the first person that really kind of changed the juice cleansing because I would make me crazy. I was like, why are we drinking 222 grams of sugar a day? Like, yes, it's fruit, but it's still sugar. And so I came up with a food cleanse. And it was incredibly culinary inspired and partnered with lots of different chefs and, and really just elevated the experience because I think healthy has to be something that be being healthier, making healthy choices should be something you look forward to. So while beaming, was doing all of this good, and was such an amazing brand. And I sold it years ago to Earth bar. So that's why it's a was

Amy: 11:07

what I always I read that and it's so fun. I didn't realize that and I love our

Lisa Odenweller: 11:10

bar. So yeah, and it's not what I had with binning anymore, but I'm very proud of the brand that we built. It was really, uh, it still gets tough on the street everywhere. Like, aren't you the founder of being made? Because people Oh, that's so cool. That's with it. It was very special. But I had a vision of how do we take all the good, what beaming is doing, I was doing and really reach more people because we're not going to open cafes everywhere. And when you're dealing with perishables, it's very difficult business, you know, it's something that goes bad the next day or whatever that might be. So really wanted to take the good at what beaming was and reach more people. And so the birth of Kroma came from basically recreating beaming in a powder base form, and in many, many ways, I mean, you can't make salads at a powder. And you know, wraps and kelp noodles. But what I could do is take the nutrients, the super foods, all of the the nutrition of binning, and really recreate that in a powdered rice based format that is on the go. That is just requires no thinking. It's all nutrition foods and beverages where it's as easy as it gets. And you feel satiated and nourished and, and it tastes amazing, which is not easy to do when you're dealing with powders. Because I've been working with super foods for 15 years, 1415 years, I am just a geek in the kitchen with them, you know, and I get obsessed on what Tumeric we use or the plant protein from Ecuador that we use called choco or the organic ceremonial grade matcha, or the bone broth from Australia, like every single ingredient, it matters. And myself and my daughter are the ones that created every product of Kroma. So the three years was the two of us in the kitchen. Formulating we have 19 products. So we launched with we want with 14 products, late July last year 2021. So we've been around now for about well, 10 months, and you know, everything that goes into building a business, right, but you know, from the creative products to the brand to the packaging, to raising the money, all of the things we went to go raise money the day before the day before COVID, like hit in my gosh. And you imagine it was you know what, a march 3 or something in 2020. And, you know, you we pivoted, we can come back to that. But, you know, I thought we would launch faster. But you know, things just happen as they're supposed to it gave us time over the three years to not only create all the products, but also we did a beta with our five day reset, which is what we're most known for. So with all of the 19 products that we created, they're all 19 are in the five day reset, which is really about resetting and nourishment and teaching people how to eat and doing it in a way that you're not starved and that you're really like it in fact, people always complain and say our five day reset has too much food. And that's intentional. Right? We you get over 10 things a day, right? Whether it's a matcha with collagen and tumeric and ginger and that's what I'm drinking. That's what you're drinking. My favorite thing I can I literally like it everyone here has been drinking it. It's so delicious. But that is how you start your day or the porridge or the bras for lunch and dinner or the smoothies or the afternoon lattes and the elixirs. It's an abundant amount of food. It's customizable so that you can add what you want and you know add some protein and veggies if you need that everyone is different and so we've really designed it such that it meets your unique needs. So to create something that was very, very different in the market, you know, took a long time and a lot of thought and whole supply chain and just the intricacies of building a business, let alone that launching with this many products and a very complicated packaging system and raising money. So that was really all that has gone into really bringing us to our launch date of July 22 2021. And it's been an incredible crazy wild ride.

Amy: 15:23

Yeah, we Well congratulations, first of all, because that's just such an inspiring story. And I can't believe you're only I knew you're new but I didn't realize you were that new or not even a year yet from launch and it's funny because I had seen Kroma I probably just have like a really targeted Instagram feed but I had been seeing ads and like you know, celebrities influencers showing the packaging and the brand. I was like, Oh, that's so beautiful. What is that. And then Karla from Vogue was on our show, and she talked about she was raving about Kroma. She was saying Karla Martinez Desalas as she was saying she was on it. And then her husband was on it. And she we a lot of times we'll do product reviews on the show. So she was like giving us a whole review of it. I'm like, we got to try it because I had seen it but I hadn't like talked to anybody about it. So she got us really excited about it. And thanks to you and your team, you sent us a one day and I to your point, the one day I didn't finish the packets either like this is still leftover from the Wednesday because I found it the same thing. So satiating that I wasn't hungry, I couldn't eat the whole thing. And I was like, the food is really delicious. And you're right, very, very different than anything we've seen. Yeah, just Congrats to all your success so far. Well,

Lisa Odenweller: 16:34

I just wouldn't listen, I'm gonna close on that with like, I just, I think healthy has to taste amazing. And so, you know, the passion that has gone into creating those products and, and also changing the conversation, I think for women has been a really big one. And it's meant to, but really, for women that we don't have to starve ourselves to look and feel good in our bodies is is really important to me, it's something I've myself has struggled with, you know, my own kind of, you know, just were so self critical and and, you know, dealing with weight things and have I got too much weight on or how do I lose weight and starving myself and doing all of the crazy things that we have we do as women. And I really decided to change sort of the psychology of that and really focus on the nourishment and teaching us that putting really healthy good food our bodies actually is how our bodies thrive. And probably our our bodies look the best. And of course, how we feel are our best. So just a side story on that when I when I was doing the beta, so the 130 people went through it. And I was amazed in the process, how many women asked me, they would always ask how many calories is it? And when I would say and this is just our culture, right? When I would say well, you know, you can choose between the lifestyle, the lean, or the active protocols. And depending on how which format you choose, it's really about intuitive eating. But realistically, you're going to have somewhere between 1300 You know, likely and 1800 Probably in that window. And every woman that asked me that said, Oh, that's too much food. Wow. And it was such a pause for me because I realized that that was me too. Like I was afraid of food. You know, I didn't know how to eat. And I thought they said Well, I've been trying to lose weight, you know, for five years and nothing's working. And I said, Well, we you trust the process. And sure enough, you know, by adding the nut milks to their lattes, or their porridge and maybe adding some protein and veggies to their bras and not restricting themselves, and and listening to their body, every one of them lost at least five pounds, some of up to eight pounds, nourishing themselves. And it was such a beautiful moment for them, you know, and then of course for me because it really is changing people's, you know, relationship with food. And I think that's just an important part of the conversation as far as just why we exist in Kroma. Yeah,

Amy: 19:00

it's super important. And it is it is a good mindset mindset shift and it's good to remember that because I think you're you're so right kidding, we were just talking about that earlier today. Like a can't lose like that pound or two or whatever. And I think to the older you get like I'm noticing the older I get it is just your body changes so much and just reacts so differently to foods that like I don't even know what to eat half the time because it's like I have a car by gained five pounds I don't have a car or I have a car by lose weight. Like I just it's really hard to know if what you're eating for your body is right or not right so like focusing on not that but the nourishment piece and making sure that you're getting what you need. It's like that constant reminder and that's really important.

Lisa Odenweller: 19:43

It is and it's also like I mean because we become we can become erotic and I'm like no one of them right. But then you know we I also have a mindset that it's not like we're going to live on Kroma all the time. I mean, I do have Kroma, you know, 567 times a day. But I don't worry if I go out for fun, you know, festive dinner and you know, have some wine or tequila or something, you know, I really look at it more of a balance. And I think that's just also an important part of that conversation. Right? It's it's not about that restriction. Interestingly, I was in New York a few weeks ago for work, and I was there for like, eight days. And every night you know how New York is when the food's amazing? Yeah, eating dinner, I don't think we ate dinner before. 930. Now I eat dinner at five at home like but no later than six. Right? We ate dinner at 931. Night was at 1230 after a show. And somehow I lost weight. And I was and I didn't wasn't restricted, like I ate anything I wanted, right? I had Kroma in the day. And then I did the dinners at night. And it was such, like, I just laughed, right? Because it was also because I was having fun. We were walking a ton, you know, and it was just like, just allow ourselves to enjoy, like, not be so neurotic about it. And, you know, it, it just is a constant reminder to me, you know, and my Kroma for sure definitely has helped supplement, you know, and works very well. Well, for me, and especially as I've gotten older, and Amy like you said it things change. Children and everything starts to change. Yeah, I think

Katie: 21:15

the the idea also of nourishment, it, it just allows your body to receive what it needs to be balanced, and to do all of the jobs that it's meant to do physiologically, in order to have the ability to stay healthy and to lose the weight and to for the metabolism to function properly and everything. It's really a genius idea. And you know what, I love that you did this with your daughter. And that's that's the coolest thing. I mean, working with her, what's that experience been like?

Lisa Odenweller: 21:44

Well, what's even cooler is she's 24 now, and she's been working with me since she was 13. So she started gaming with me, and you know, labeling bottles and, you know, packing teas and stuff when we started gaming out of the house, and you know, with her friends, and then working at the first Cafe when she was 14. And then at 16 She's She homeschooled herself by choice. And I moved to LA with me to open all the cafes there and manage to the Santa Monica location and at 16. So she's been on this entrepreneurial journey with me, you know, for now 11 years. You know, she did the, the she did College Online, and, you know, started to Kroma with me while she did that. So, I mean, we laugh. I mean, they that's probably almost my favorite part of creating this, this business has been doing it side by side with her, and all the experiences we get to have together, and the laughter and hopefully, you know, she's also learning a lot of things, you know, being side by side, the thing is, I do investor pitches, or I do podcast interviews, or all the different things that you know, she gets exposed to, because she

Amy: 22:51

also Yeah, it's an incredible experience. Oh

Katie: 22:53

my gosh, it's and also you're raising her with such like healthy values for body image and caring for herself and taking care of her body. And, you know, those are, like young girls are very impressionable, and it's very confusing, as they're, you know, my daughter's eight going on nine, and she's already starting to talk about going

Amy: 23:16

on 25

Katie: 23:18

You know, the word like, I'm fat, or I'm too skinny, or I'm gonna, you know, it's like the self image stuff comes out early. It really does. Yeah,

Lisa Odenweller: 23:25

that's Jeff with her body and food and much better than I did, you know, younger and, and so I She's got so much wisdom. And hopefully, you know, I'm part of some of that. But no, that has been a really great part of this whole experience.

Amy: 23:41

Yeah, that's now that she helped you with all the branding and packaging, which is gorgeous, and, and sexy. Like I said earlier, it's sexy. Yeah,

Katie: 23:51

sexy. And it was like that. That's exactly what it is. It's so beautiful. And it's sexy, and it's edgy, it's great. It's very enticing.

Lisa Odenweller: 24:00

I mean, we wanted you to have that sort of Apple experience, right. And we have, you know, we've got simpler packaging. And then we have the WoW with the drawer and the ones with the wheels and what's on Instagram. But I want health to be something that you are excited about that you look forward to. And so often, it's something we dread, because it's like, Oh, I gotta do this program for five days, and I'm going to be miserable, and I'm not going to eat. And I'm going to be a raving bitch, excuse my French. And you know, I'm not going to show up for my kids or my work or all these things. And that's sort of the mindset of what cleansing and detoxing has been over the years. And, and so, you know, all of our investors invested because they had done another program. I won't name it that they hated, but it was the only program on the market and they had an extra box in the pantry and they were so thrilled that there was something else that they actually got the same results actually better. And it changed habits and behavior, which is really what we're doing. It's not about a quick fix. So to get that Bob's going back to your question, Amy really is that Experience of, I get to do this, right? I want you to feel like this is a gift to yourself. And every one of the sachets, the 45 little packets, who has a message of education and inspiration that I wrote, you know that that is really just part of those little kind of little surprises, right, surprise and delights. And Lexi was part of all of that. She didn't design the branding and stuff, but she's been part of all of it, you know, through through every step of the way. So it's pretty cool. Yeah, I

Amy: 25:28

like that idea. You're right. It is like opening up a gift. Because it's so beautiful. It's not like all like, the palette of colors is gorgeous. And the packets, it's like, it's fun to open and you're like, Ooh, what's next? So that's, that's very smart. Question about so there's the one day which Katie and I did there's a five day is the five day that was pepper like, How do you How are people using Kroma? Are they using it as just like a detox or reset? Are they on it more often? Or they like How are people using it, and what's the best way for like someone to get started, if they don't, if they haven't done it,

Lisa Odenweller: 26:00

it was designed for lifestyle. So as I touched on earlier, I mean, I think of it as the five day leads to the every day, or leads to the habits, change of habits and behavior. i And I've always cared more about what happens after than, than the five days, because the five days is really where the awakening happens, you do the program for five days, you we all want that quick fix, you know, to kind of like look better, feel better, fast, right? And so it gives you that, but you're doing it in a way that you're also changing, like kind of having these awakenings through the process of like, God that tastes really good. Like I could eat this porridge every day, or you're a big coffee drinker. And but we didn't take caffeine away from you, because I know that that's going to give you headaches, you're gonna be miserable. And you'd go right back there on day six. So we're gonna give you caffeine, but we're gonna give you a healthier caffeine, we're going to give you matcha with all the college and the tumeric, and the mushrooms and all those things that hopefully, and seems to be the case people love it. And they end up converting to it after because they felt the difference. You've experienced it for five days in a row, you felt what it felt like to drink Matcha instead of coffee, I don't have an issue with coffee. But the point being is, I know that matcha is so much better for you, right and improves the mood and you don't have that crash and you have this kind of sustained energy and your mind is clear. I mean, I think it's the best mood enhancer on the planet. And it tastes delicious. So if that's how you get to start your day, you actually look forward to it and the porridge is delicious. And the cookie butter of course we're very famous for is to die for, to die for. And then the bras and so what happens is, is people are doing it, it was designed so you find the things that you love on the program, you get that quick fix, you know you feel better look better fast, but then you have all the tools to continue. And so you fall in love with the Masha, it's available to buy in bulk after you can use the porridge after you can incorporate the broth and the Greens powder and elixirs or smoothies or whatever it might be that you loved from the program that you could easily incorporate into your life. And so it becomes very lifestyle and easy transition. So that you have these new kind of hacks or tricks to to look forward to adding into your day, right. It's not an obligation, it's something people are excited to do. So the way people come into Kroma is really usually the five day that's, you know, our number one selling product. It's what people sort of have seen on Instagram for one, but it's also just sort of like, it really speaks to people wanting to to reset, you know, or start better habits or maybe lose a few pounds for something or just know that they've been off track and they need to get back on track, whatever the reason is, so that is our number one. And then that leads into those. Those lifestyle products. We call them daily essentials. And, you know, there's there's the favorites of many, which I mentioned that people love, and we just try to make it as easy as possible to transition. Because for someone who has been in the industry for so long, and I've watched these cleanses, the question I've always asked is what is the point? Like? Are we cleansing just to lose weight? Like to me, it's about a lifestyle wellness. It's not what you do five or 10 or 15 days a year because you did A a box cleanse for five days and you lost five pounds? Who cares? Like that's not where you have true? Well, you know, wellbeing and vitality and it's about like how do I transition this into my everyday life? So that is something that just sort of weaves into my life as opposed to this thing that I do, you know, a few days a year right? I've always really approached it beaming cafes with the same way is it started with a cleanse that led to this cafes that led to people incorporating it every day and and that way I think it just makes it much more approachable and realistic. And it's actually where real transformation happens.

Amy: 29:59

Yeah, I was going to say, I mean, I'm a healthy eater. But sometimes, you know, like you said, you get off track, like, especially now it's a summer, I feel like we're going out to dinner more, and I'm drinking more and eating more. And it's just like, sometimes even though I eat healthy, I still want something where I that I can always go back to like a reset like that, where I'm five days, and I kind of like, get it all out. And then I start integrating. I love that idea. And then you kind of take like, the porridge was amazing. And yes, the cookie butter is phenomenal. And the problem is, it's like how do you not eat the whole jar? Because I was just like, oh my god, this is incredible. I can't stop eating it.

Katie: 30:38

The cookie butter is really like an energy boosting, mood stabilizing, like sustained blood sugar balancing, like I would take some of that take a spoonful of it. And like 20 minutes later, half an hour later, I felt really good to go. And so are they they're called goji berries. Is that right? That goji berries

Lisa Odenweller: 30:59

in the porridge and in the cookie butter,

Katie: 31:01

it's so I love I've tried to eat them on their own before because I know they're supposed to be a superfood, I think are loaded with antioxidants or something you would know better than I. But in that cookie butter there, it's there like a game changer. It's so good.

Amy: 31:14

I know. It's like it's like the perfect technique.

Lisa Odenweller: 31:17

So it's almond butter, coconut butter, coconut oil, plant protein from Ecuador that I mentioned earlier. Goji berries, hemp seeds. So those are the main ingredients. And then there's just a little bit of maple sugar, a little bit of coconut sugar, and just enough to kind of give you that little kind of sweet fix. But yeah, being you know, high sugar because everything we do is very low sugar.

Amy: 31:40

And exact, it's a good thing to have after dinner too. Like if you just feel like you want a little sweet, you just have a spoonful and you'd like

Lisa Odenweller: 31:46

like I do the I had the beauty matcha. And then I have a because you can, I don't know if you guys do it when it's gooey, and just have it like a like a cookie butter batter. Or if you put in the fridge, you can have like little little protein mites. I love it gooey. So I have a bite of that, then I'll usually do an exercise, you know, whatever my workout is going to be. And then you know later because I'm pretty sustained at that point, then I'll have the porridge and weave into my day. But it is it's a fun product. And it's again, we're just trying to make healthy something that you really look forward to that it's a little bit of a surprise, like I get to have this really?

Katie: 32:17

Yeah, you're doing an excellent job of it. Because it's that's exactly what it feels like the plant protein. I haven't heard of that one. Can you tell me why that you've chosen that specific one? What did you say the name of it was again,

Lisa Odenweller: 32:30

it's called choco okay. So why I love it, and I'll kind of backstory to how I found it. But it's non isolates. So not, you know, doesn't have the processing that you know, protein and somebody that are proteins have. It's also non lectin. And a lot of people are really sensitive to lectins and don't even know it. And the problem with pea protein, which is the main plant protein that's in everything is most pea protein is highly, highly processed, you can find some that are not properly sprouted, but that's like few and far between. And it's really, really cheap product, which is why everybody uses it. And it's easy to formulate with. I am not a huge fan. So for me, I was on a mission to find other sources of plant protein. And yeah, there's so many now, Sacha inchi, and there's pumpkin. And there's hemp, and chia and rice and all these things, but each one of them have different kind of pros and cons. And so I just decided I sort of like put up to the universe, like, is there another option, and randomly kind of came across this choto. And it's all the things I was looking for, like really easy on the digestion, nine out of nine essential amino acids.

Katie: 33:46

It was my next each and that's amazing.

Lisa Odenweller: 33:48

And it's and it's it, it's so pure, and it's grown at 10,000 feet elevation in Ecuador, like it's not as easy to work with as pea protein, you know, from a from a flavor, it's pretty bland and flavor, which is a good thing. But as a kind of superfood chef, I guess it's harder, you know, to kind of get some of the flavor. So there was a lot of doctoring if you will to try to get some of the smoothies to taste really good because it's pea protein just a lot easier and a lot cheaper than Jojo, but the way I've approached Kroma and beaming has always been the best of the best. And so I will scour the world for the best ingredients and find things that people have never heard of, and then put combinations together that really bring together that flavor and function, you know, with the highest integrity, and that's just been something that's sort of a personal mantra of mine that I will I won't sacrifice.

Katie: 34:46

And that's also I'm sure why you've had so much success with it and why so many people keep coming back to it right the product is the quality is yeah, the utmost importance. It's amazing.

Amy: 34:56

I was going to ask you to what I noticed with the products is that or at least I haven't tried them all. But the ones that I tried, they're all like kind of soft and soothing, because let's like the broth and the elixirs and the matcha. Which I love. Is that intentional?

Lisa Odenweller: 35:13

Yes. I mean, I think it's designed to be a menu that easily fits into your day, right. And whether you have your matcha warm, iced or hot, it's totally up to you. You know, whether you you know, have your porridge warm or cold, it's totally up to you. So we sort of give it the flexibility versatility also seasonally, you know, so that you can sort of make it up. But I would just really want you to feel nourished. We want you to feel like when you drink that bone broth, right? I mean, it's so incredible, or the veggie broth, I think because that's in the one day, you just feel like you're doing something good for your body. Like you drink it. You're like God, I feel like satiated, I feel nourished. And you just sort of feel like it's a gift. And we want you to feel that way. So yeah,

Amy: 35:56

yeah, it's really filling. I was surprised. very filling. And yes, Si Si Si satiated. That's the right word she is.

Katie: 36:06

So I want to know what the future plans are for Kroma wellness. I mean, you guys are about to hit your year mark, which is amazing. Congratulations. So what's on the horizon?

Lisa Odenweller: 36:17

Well, I think when you launch with 19 products, I mean, we've got a new power mine performance coffee coming out in a few weeks, which is coffee with MCT oil and some oat milk and mushrooms and you know, sort of our super enhanced healthy coffee instant, of course. And we have our travel kits coming out which I'm so excited about. Oh, that's awesome. Yeah, amazing. With and a lot of people buy our five day, we have a new refill that they buy, and they get the 45 sachets, and then they just take them with them, especially for the summer. It's perfect for travel. But the little the travel kits are something that we'll be able to have at airports, and we'll be able to have it, hotels and you know, different flex, obviously online as well, that are just your, you know, I think it's six sachets, and there's gonna be a little shaker thing that goes with it that just makes it so easy to travel with. So with travel kits coming out. And I think you know, the bigger vision obviously, for the brand, as we're just getting started, you know, when you not many people try to launch with 19 products. I don't recommend it not. Over we have five co packers and a very complex packaging system, as you guys have seen, and we have 45 Different color sachets, and someone has to hand place them in there, every different color. And so we didn't we didn't do this easy. And I think there's just so much more just on the education side. And really helping people understand, you know, what they're putting in their body, why they're putting it and you know, what, why, how to live this lifestyle. We have an app that we launched a few months ago. And we'll continue to build on that. And it's really there to support people in the five day in the one day. But we'll continue to evolve that and the educational side of this, for me is very, something I'm very passionate about. And will continue to innovate. I mean, I'm I'm a creator. So there's a lot of really cool products in in the mind that, you know, will will start to get teased out, you know, over the course of the year. And we'll continue to expand on that. But, you know, it's a lot. I mean, we having only been here for 10 months, and users just with learning the marketing side of DTC and even the way that I approached fundraising was very, very different and right, because you

Amy: 38:34

went from the physical world to the digital world completely. I mean, it's a

Lisa Odenweller: 38:38

very different world. Yeah, and I joke about that. I mean, there's, there's some not dealing with perishables and dealing with non perishables is much easier. But in a cafe, like, I know how to create an experience in a cafe, creating an experience online is very, very different. And people are, you know, short, short, short attention spans, you have two seconds to get their attention. And then they're getting, you know, getting hit from something all sides. So even just, I've been drinking out of a firehose, learning the DVC world and trying to build that team, you know, has been a different challenges than say, you know, running 10 cafes. And then I love the challenge of that, but definitely, you know, we're just, we're just building our team right now. Getting excited for the next chapter, we have the most incredible group of investors. They've been a huge part of our success to date and our go to market strategy, which was also part of my strategy when I was raising money and wanted to raise money from highly influential people. Whether it's a big celebrity like Gwyneth or Amy Schumer, you know, some of our other investors or the mom and the community, you know, people who would get excited about telling the world with us, and and they really all have and so a lot of our success getting it out there, as you mentioned early on, Amy and seeing it on Instagram has been just the support of that investor community. you and them telling their friends, it's very hard to launch a brand. It's getting harder and harder to do that. And so I really took it from a very different approach. And, and that's worked very, very well, to just getting getting the word out there. It's it's not easy to build these days.

Amy: 40:18

It's really smart. Let me speaking of your team, so the advisory team that you have I saw on your website will Kol and some others really notable people in the wellness space? Are they all investors too, or they play a different role in your company? Yeah,

Lisa Odenweller: 40:31

they do, actually, Dr. Will Cole, medical director. So he's also an investor, and just very committed and dedicated to to what we're doing. You know, even the celebrities, everyone was asked me well, like, do we pay that? Like, no, they actually, like they invested in the company, I woke up to an email one day from from Gwyneth saying that she had heard that I had a new wellness company, and that could I, you know, come over and share more, because she loved my last brand, you're like, Okay, well, then I'll say and it was it was a, it was a, it was sort of a dream moment, was not friends with her at the time. So through one of our other investors, they connect with us. And, and so it's just part of even bringing something to life is just being surrounded by such good positive energy, and we're 90% funded by women. And that's something I'm super, super proud of. And, you know, just having that support has been, you know, credible, because we have, you know, as we're, as we, you know, things are going really well, that's always amazing and having their support. But then also, as you have challenges come up, we are we've such incredible experts of all different, you know, facets that we're able to tap into that, to really help us kind of navigate through different challenges.

Amy: 41:46

It's also so nice that everyone it sounds like is in the same, what's the word I'm looking for, like ethos, and, like around wellness, which is nice to be around like minded people that you can have these conversations with and create things and everyone's sort of on the same page, which is unusual, because a lot of times when people invest in a company, it's it's just they're doing it for, you know, the financial return, but they're not doing it necessarily for the passion around wellness, or whatever it may be. So that's really special show,

Lisa Odenweller: 42:13

ya know, it makes a huge difference. And every one of the investors did the beta program, fell in love with the products, the experience of it, and then invested, you know, from from that. And so they are, you know, invested in, in the vision of the company, and what we're doing and the impact, and then of course, the upside potential as well. But it definitely makes a difference I have now having raised money for two companies, I made some big mistakes on my first one. And you know, I was new to raising money, I'd never done it before. And so I got to learn some hard lessons that I made sure not to repeat, you know, this time around. So

Katie: 42:50

it's very inspiring. I want to know, for our listener, because they're all gonna want to hurry up in order Kroma. Where should they start? Should they start? What do you think is? Or do you find most people go right into the five day? Or do you have a lot of people just dip their toe in with the one day what's what do you think?

Lisa Odenweller: 43:08

I think so again, it was designed to meet you where you're at, right? So if you're curious about launch, and you just want to try and launch because you've seen it, people talk about it, or we obsess on it on this podcast, it's a great place to start, you know, or the cookie butter or any others. But I really think that the way that you experience Kroma and then of course, the benefits of Kroma is to the five day. And there's three options. Now in the five day, there's the deluxe with the drawer and the really fancy version, which is an amazing, that's always how I recommend starting because you get the mug and the frother and the little hemp purse with a beautiful poem po on it, and you get a spoon and you get the coconut cream. So you get sort of the full experience and the chai, there's also the the signature, which is also the same program, it just doesn't have the drawer with all the extras. And then we have the new refill, which is a very, very simple packaging design. Mostly for people who have who've already done it before, and they've just really want the program they don't need the big experience. So yeah, I mean, any one of those, I mean, you guys got the one day and the one day is great. I think it's a great way if you're not fully ready or committed. And it was designed for people for that purpose. It was designed that maybe every Monday you do it, use it for travel, however, you know you that best fits for where you're at. But I think the five day it's really special. It is more expensive, you know, than some of the other programs out there. But it's also like we've been talking about very, very abundant, so you're going to have plenty of food leftover and you probably can keep going for multiple days. And it was designed for that versus you know, starving and you know, finishing day six and you can't wait for burgers and fries. So Right.

Amy: 44:52

Yeah, exactly. I mean, it's all about that. nourishments before we get into our rap session, I wanted to ask you so outside of perma wellness Being that you've been in this space superfood space for so long and healthy eating and you know, all good foods, what have you, like? What's a tip you've picked up through the years like, for healthy eating that kind of would be helpful you think, to our listeners? Well, the

Lisa Odenweller: 45:18

basic like a basic one is I think that we don't. This is what came to mind. We, we trust marketing too much. And so when something says it's organic, or it's, I mean, you don't it makes me crazy, like hydration. I think I have him over here that these are not mine that came in the room. And this hydration company is super, super popular. And you look at the first ingredient, and it's cane sugar. And you know, and that makes me crazy. Right. And I so I think one of the great places to start is just read your labels. I mean, look at what's in your food. And, you know, understanding that it most stuff is not actually made very well, sadly. And to really kind of just take health into your own hands, like, ask questions, be informed, right, you don't have to be an expert. But you know, be, you know, be very curious about what's in your food. You know, something else I'll layer on to that is, I'm sure you guys and others have heard of all these glucose monitors, whether it's levels or it's neutral scents. And those are very popular. I cannot recommend enough how to get one and try it for two weeks or do it for a month. Because what you learn I have one on right now and I wear them all the time. Because I love I test my food, right we did it when we tested Kroma to make sure it didn't spike your glucose levels. Because the other program that's out there right now that's very popular spikes your glucose levels to 161 ad, which is really not healthy. Again, you think you're doing something healthy, and it's sending your glucose levels to through the roof, which is anti anything we want, right? Things that you'll learn, you know, you'll learn about everyone's bodies a little bit different, but there's things that you think are healthy, like oats, like oat milk, and oatmeal will send your everyone's glucose levels through the roof, right. And you don't want that. And I love oat milk, it tastes delicious, but I don't drink it because I know what's going to happen. And I may not physically feel it, a lot of times people can feel it. But I know it's working against me in my own health. Whether it's aging, weight loss, or just weight management even and you don't want these huge spikes. So I think the more you are educated, and just understanding how food affects you is is really a lot of what Chrome was about, but my own sort of personal awareness of just, then I can then I have control that I know and can make this you know, as opposed to just assuming that it's healthy, that it's good for me because a lot of times it's not.

Amy: 47:56

I never thought about wearing a glucose monitor. But Katie, this is right up your alley. You've been dealing with this for the last couple of weeks,

Katie: 48:01

I've been checking my blood sugar constantly all day long. And I'm about to order which one are you using on your arm?

Lisa Odenweller: 48:08

I haven't nutritions on right now. But levels is probably the more popular one, either one are great levels or neutral cents. And I there's a couple other ones that I'm thinking I'm blanking on now. But I think it's like even testing the food here. You know, I've been sort of educating the at this at this wellness retreat I've been educating them about as like, I think you should wear other monitors because you want to understand what the who is doing, you know, to your guests.

Katie: 48:36

The stabilizing of the blood sugar, right for the listener that maybe isn't aware like that's that's the point of knowing what food is doing. Like you said earlier, the spikes up and down. Because when your blood sugar goes really high, you then can crash very quick. Right? And then your body craves more sugar. So if you're getting like the wrong signals, right, is that is that how you would describe the reason?

Lisa Odenweller: 48:59

No. And it's and it creates this horrible cycle? You know, I mean, I love rice crackers, right? So cheese board with rice crackers like heaven, right? Those rice crackers will send my glucose I still choose to have them sometimes, right like, but I understand that that was a choice. And so just even having the awareness of it because that up and down cycle is really affects your kind of your metabolic flexibility. It affects you know, insulin levels, the impact is so, so much more significant than than we even understand. So what you want us to stay in that range, really in that 70 to 120 Most people jump I mean, I

Amy: 49:38

you could jump Yeah, I can imagine what minds that I'm sure it's all over the place.

Lisa Odenweller: 49:42

And if you see that on your chart, you're like, I don't think I'll read that again. And you know, and sometimes you will at big you know, right but at least you're educated or educated and yeah, sir, are those things I mean to kill a lowers your glucose levels, so that's exciting. So

Amy: 49:58

that's a good excuse. Have a

Lisa Odenweller: 50:02

modulo or is it? So there's definitely a few tricks tricks in here. But there's a long answer, but hopefully a little bit helpful.

Amy: 50:10

No, that's really interesting. I'm definitely going to try that. Katie, the product that you were talking about a couple shows ago illumine does that monitor your blood sugar, glucose to

Katie: 50:21

that, that just measures your co2, which tells you if you are in a fat burn state or carb burning state, so it's different than a blood sugar monitor. But yeah, I mean, also another amazing tool for data points. I do yeah. Yeah, I do like it. It's great.

Amy: 50:38

Do you like the loom? And Lisa? I haven't used it yet. But I think they commend sitting here. And we used to

Lisa Odenweller: 50:42

do there. Yeah. I mean, it goes back to the point of this conversation. And all that times. I'm like, because I'm working so much, and like, barely come out, like see the world. But I think that the point is, it's just that there's so many tools out for us, there's some of the problem is that there's so much information that we get overwhelmed. We don't do anything, right. So Trump just starting with a few things. Because, you know, being educated as is power, right, and then you're making mindful choices, you know, in all aspects of life. So, you know, I don't think you have to dive in as much as maybe we all do. But I think that there's enough tools out there. And that's part of what we do with promos, like, we're going to do it for you. We're gonna make it so easy. You don't have to think right. You don't have to think about like, Oh, here's the recipes I have to make today. Right? It's like, let's just make this simple. Because what I want you to do is have the experience that that inspires the curiosity for more.

Katie: 51:37

Before we go into our rap session, I'm just really curious, was there something in your life in your health journey that got you into that? What was it that that made you so passionate about this health and wellness and providing it for, for people for a greater cause?

Lisa Odenweller: 51:55

Yeah, no, thanks for asking. I think so. Starting with when I was, I don't know, probably as a teenager, I always wanted to feel like I had control over my health. Like I was always afraid, like, I wanted a doctor, and then they tell me something bad. And so I think I didn't really understand what that meant. But I didn't like not having control. I wanted to feel empowered with my health. Fast forward to about 38. And I went to the gynecologist and she, this is before, I mean, quite a bit older now. And I we weren't as educated as we are now there's still a long way to go. I went to that ecologist and I was gaining weight, my hair was falling out, I was having total brain fog. My work, I've always been very, very fit and very mindful about what I eat. But you know, I had a lot of inflammation and other things going on. And she laughed. I said, you know, what, what do you think's going on? Can we do some blood tests? And she laughed at me and she said, Oh, Lisa, you're just getting older. This is part of and I like I still like that makes me furious when I think about that. Because that was the answer of the of the Western doctor. And I was like, ya know, that answer doesn't work for me. And so I sort of many things kind of happened along the way that kind of led me on my journey to really understand food as medicine. And starting with just kind of making some simple changes, removing gluten and sugar and dairy, and things that are inflammatory. And in triggers that can that will absolutely impact everyone, especially as we get older that when we don't digest as well. And the body is not as optimized as it was maybe when I was younger, right? So just starting to make those simple shifts and seeing the impact, like all of a sudden, like I didn't need an indeed hormone medication, right. Like I actually never have taken hormones ever. Like I use food as medicine. There's a place for Western, but I just you know, I do take thyroid medication, I couldn't fix that one with food. But there is like we're so quickly go to the medication. And so for me, it was an awakening, I was able to heal myself and reduce inflammation, the foggy brain, the weight, gain all the things that she told me I was getting old, right, basically. And then there's another big catalyst one and for anyone who's a mom, and you guys can probably really will resonate. My daughter who I've talked about, she went on to add medication when she was nine. And at the time, I was not educated at all, she was 24. So this was you know, 15 years ago, and it made me crazy as a mom, I just thought this is not right. I don't why does she have to take medication I went to five doctors every one of them said there's no choice she has to take the medication. And in intuitively I knew it was wrong. But I didn't know what to do. So fast forward go she's on the medication for a year and all of a sudden it causes a mood disorder. So now the answer is we're going to put on mood disorder medication and now as a mother I'm like everything about this is wrong. So of course she goes on a mood disorder medication and now my daughter is like I mean I use the word catatonic like literally had no like bliss for life was just like robotic. And that's where you just say, No, this is none of none of this is okay. And that's when I really dove into really dove in. And that was the catalyst for starting beaming, actually was sort of it started with me things, but it really led to understanding that food, the food can either be medicine or it can be poison, right. And in the case of anything where there's add, or anything, you know, in the brain, it's things like gluten and sugar and dairy, and processed foods. I mean, we were feed their kids goldfish wholegrain. Goldfish, we thought it was good for them or weekends, right? We didn't know. So when you remove those things that are inflammatory triggers, or, God forbid, those, those goldfish and all the colors and the dyes, right, or sodas or something, right? You remove all of those, her brain worked fine. Within two weeks of taking all of that out of her diet. She never she she's never gone back on any medications. And he can feel a difference. She knows if she goes out and has pizza or pasta or something, she'd I feel the same to we, if we get in touch with our bodies, we actually can we know how we feel and how food affects us. And so that moment for me and seeing it was it wasn't I was angry, actually, I was angry at and medicine. But at no point in any conversation was there, hey, why don't we see if she's sensitive to food? Why don't we start there first, before we started medicating her. And that's a very, that's very common. I mean, we're making some breakthroughs. But we have so much further to go. And that sort of goes back to the beginning of what you asked me my, my why is I want people to be educated, I want people to take health into their own hands and to challenge and realize that it doesn't always have to come in a pill. And it probably starts with food, and we can do so much more healing with food. So it was through that, that I realized I have to I have to do something with this information. And I have to share it in a way that I can really have impact without being preachy, you know, without being you know, annoying, because then that's going to turn people off too. So I thought, well, I'll just create really delicious, healthy food that is really good for you and help you feel the difference. And then hopefully that builds on itself. But those that's really was some of the backstory of of how I dove into wellness, as is sort of my mission and why in life.

Amy: 57:30

It's actually a really interesting concept because both Katie's daughter has ADHD, and so does my son who's older now. And he did take medication when he was younger. And same thing, I didn't want him to be on it. But I didn't know what else to do. And I had heard about the food stuff, but I wasn't really sure. And as a boy, it's just like really hard to get him to do any of that kind of stuff. So he was on medicine for you for a few years. He didn't like the way it made him feel. And he went off of it. And he's able to use older and I think going through puberty and maturity, he's able to like now have strategies that help him. But I would love to I mean, I don't know how I get him at 15, almost 16 years old to like, listen to me with food, but you know, he eats fairly healthy, but then you know, it's also like the junk and the whatever, that all the teenage boys are eating. And it's like, I know that if he took some things out of his diet, like the sugar and the whatever, he would have so much more focus. But what I was thinking as you were saying this, I'm like, there's so many children with ADHD that are on medication that their parents don't want them to be on. Like, it's almost like you could have a Kroma Jr. for kids that same idea, but like more kid focus, where like they would want to take it because I think kids and parents would want to do that. There's just not a lot out there about it. It's like you can read stuff online, but you're not really sure. And to your point, none of the doctors asked that question. They're just like therapy and drugs. I mean, and it's, it's horrible. It's

Lisa Odenweller: 58:53

horrible. It's horrible. And I yeah, I know, you're, I understand sort of the pain of this and too, and yes, I mean, we don't know where to go. And it's it hasn't made it easy, and they're not. They're not helping us make the better decisions, right. So we have to go figure it out on our own. The way that I did it just sort of as an idea, because I have two teenage boys and one of them nosey as ABD. And it's very, it's been very difficult with him. But what I what I've done with the kids is, let's, let's, let's, you know, let's play a game. Let's let's have Let's experiment, like what would happen if we removed the gluten and the sugar and the dairy for two weeks? Because it's done in a in a in a controlled space, then they're like, alright, and they know, and then they get to feel how different it is. They get to experience Oh, wait, like my brain. It was a lot easier to do that test or it was a lot easier to read that that book. So they feel like they're part of that process. That's one way to do it. That's a great idea. Yeah. So you know, then then it's not like just taking it away. They get to really, you know, experience, you know, right.

Amy: 1:00:01

And then they can decide like, oh, that actually does make me feel better. And yeah, it's an accident

Lisa Odenweller: 1:00:07

on a conversation of add is that there is a clinic called the online clinic. And they have, I think they have in New York and they have long beach, it's a couple different things done, Daniel, Dr. Daniel, amen. But you can actually go and have your brain scanned, and find out that there are six types of ADD. And if you can understand what type you have, it also then influences the type of kind of healing or therapy for it. That's interesting, that's something that you know, you have access to or the means to do, I think that is the most, the, the most amazing way to sort of approach it and really have a knowledge, the food is foundational, right across the board. But then there's different things like omegas, or different supplements that you can use to actually help with the brain function that will kind of further further accelerate the the healing of it, and you can get to the point where you don't need it anymore. So there are a lot of tools out there. It's just unfortunately, not as is spoken about as we'd like. So

Katie: 1:01:15

I feel like we could talk about this for the next three hours. But we're excited to get to it. And I think way more important. Yeah, we need to have you back.

Amy: 1:01:25

Yeah. Let's give you our quick fire. Questions. What is your favorite wellness or beauty hack? Even though you've told us a million? What's your favorite?

Lisa Odenweller: 1:01:33

I've such a broken record, the macho, like, says it like it just completely changes my day. And it's changed my health, and I have a mission to get the world to drink much. So that's it, love

Amy: 1:01:47

it. Love it. Okay, the next one we call our five minute flow. So you just got out of the shower, dried off, Uber alerted. You get the ping on your phone, you have five minutes to get ready and get out the door. What are your go to is like, What products do you throw on to just kind of like, get ready and get out of the door quickly?

Lisa Odenweller: 1:02:03

Oh, that's great. Um, oh, my gosh, what do I do? I'm the worst with brand. If it's brand name brands, I couldn't tell you what brands. So I started like the I did a podcast with Molly Sims. And she was like, I'm not going to tell you the beauty things like, you know them, you told me. So I always will have I mean, I have this new I wish I had it here like I have this new face stuff that I've been using that is like, changed my skin. And this was so mean for me to say this, because I cannot tell you what it was like the biggest tease. I'll try to remember that you can put in the notes. But what does it look like? I probably don't even know. It's like from France, and Georgia Louise. She's a esthetician that works with a lot of my investors. And so I had a thing with her. And she basically put all and I've had bad skin my whole life. So this has been like transformative, the matcha. And this has been transformative. And so whatever these products are, that will add in the notes later. I have to have mascara, I have to have lipstick. And I always put some sort of like tinted, you know, sunscreen moisturizer on like, those are like yeah, and then my eyebrows. Those are like my, if I only have a few minutes to get out. Lots of times I'll have my hair in a ponytail. Just because I don't have time to do it. And I live in VR clothes. Like that was my my go to if I don't have to be like, you know, fully dressed up which these days I think, you know, we don't

Katie: 1:03:33

the expectation none of us do. Right?

Amy: 1:03:35

Oh, I know. Like totally.

Lisa Odenweller: 1:03:39

I don't know if that was helpful, but I will find out the name of some of these products. Yeah,

Amy: 1:03:42

no, no, that's great. Fun. It's always just fun to hear different routines. And then how do you maintain your daily nirvana? You're so busy?

Lisa Odenweller: 1:03:50

Oh, I don't know that I do, honestly. And so I think what I try to do is, is it my days are crazy, you know, and as passionate as I am, you know, doing what I'm doing and being able to have impact as we are. It's hard, you know, and it's, it's stressful. And so, for me, I have to constantly, you know, be in gratitude, you know, for the support we have from my business partner who's Rockstar, and I could never have done this without him for being able to work with my daughter side by side, you know, for all the good and the magic that happens every day. And so, amidst the stress and other frustrations of just building a business and running a company. I do I do try to laugh a lot. Which that's like sort of a huge go to for me for nirvana. Because exercise doesn't matter. You know, like I find the time I find the time for connection with people like that fills my soul. So I guess these are my Nirvana moments. I mean, being here with these people and laughing and making these friendships has been magical and seeing my girlfriends, I will make time for that, you know, going for a walk or hike with a friend. It, the list of to dues will never end. And there's always a million more things that I should be doing. But I do make sure to take that time to to take care of me. Otherwise the stress would be too much and and then I can't be well, I can't be in wellness, I can't take care of me. So that right that's

Amy: 1:05:28

so true. Well, we we end the show with a mantra always. So Kate is gonna get her mantra ready. But I just wanted to thank you so much for all the time you've given us. We feel like I said, we could talk for hours. But we'd love for you to come back one day and keep educating about super foods and healthy eating and all of this stuff. Because it's just so important. We want to keep talking about it. And just really, really appreciate all your time and all the knowledge and value you've given us today. It's been so inspiring and exhilarating.

Lisa Odenweller: 1:05:54

Well, thank you I've loved the conversation. And I just so appreciate getting to know you guys and having the opportunity to share and and hopefully, you know, there's some tidbits of of ideas or information that people can walk away with as well. And I'd be honored to come back.

Katie: 1:06:10

You left us with so much. So this one I think really speaks to your passion Lisa and your ambition and how hard you've worked and everything that you've created. It's I can hold both contentment, and ambition in my heart. I think it's a good reminder, like we don't always have to be just because we're shooting for something doesn't mean we're not happy where we are. And just because we're happy where we are doesn't mean we can't try for more. So there you go. So Lisa, thank you so much. I love that.

Lisa Odenweller: 1:06:40

Thank you so much. That was beautiful. I love that.

Amy: 1:06:44

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.

Episode 53 - Nutrition Tips And Healthy Tricks For Summer With Holistic Nutritionist Jen Silverman (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 53 Nutrition Tips And Healthy Tricks For Summer With Holistic Nutritionist Jen Silverman.

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: 0:18

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

Amy: 0:28

Welcome back to the show Nirvana sisters family. It's Amy and Katie. And we're here today to do a quickie episode with Jen Silverman, who was on our show back in episode 16. And for those of you who did not listen to that episode, you should it's called no label as the best label. But Jen Silverman is a holistic nutritionist. She's an expert in nutrition and intuitive eating and we thought it would be fun to do a quickie episode with her just to talk about some stuff for this summer as we're getting ready. The warm weather's coming out. It's spring, summer soon. What do we need to know? What are the tips? What are the snacks? What are all the things from the fabulous Jen? So welcome back to the show. We're so glad you're back with us. We missed you.

Jen: 1:07

Thank you. I'm happy to be back.

Amy: 1:09

So starting off with our nirvana of the week. I'm going to flip it to Katy to tell us. What was your Nirvana this week, Katie?

Katie: 1:15

Well, thanks, Amy. Hi, Jen. So excited to have you. Let's see my nirvana of the weekend. And yesterday, I had the whole day in the city, like a big girl without the kids and without the, you know, the like running around school pickups, and all of that stuff. So it was kind of fun. It was it was the first time since we've lived in Connecticut that I've done that where I've gone in for the entire day, just myself doing my thing. And then I had dinner with a great friend that I hadn't seen in years. So that was it. It's like, I don't know, it's just fun to kind of step outside of your normal life and do something different like that. That was my old life. You know what I mean? That's yeah, I was. Just to have times, yeah, well, yeah. 100% Like, I wasn't necessarily working. I had some pampering and some shopping. And it was great. It was fun. What about you, Amy?

Amy: 2:09

I have a little Nirvana from this morning. So our puppy Skye who accounts they talked about on the show, she's eight months now. And she's still crazy, but she's getting a little bit more mellow. And she jumped in bed this morning with me. And we were spooning and it was so yummy. So and she's so big now. So like, our whole body was like against me. And we were just like, cuddling. You know, granted, it was for like a minute until she like wanted to do something else. But it was so sweet. Because she never really does that. So I loved it. That's so huge. And

Jen: 2:38

my birthday was last week. And so I would say I just feel like, and I know, it's sad that it only happens on your birthday or not sad, but I just felt really loved in general. lately. I had, you know, dinner with my college friends and I got to be with my parents and my mom made me dinner. I always laugh because I feel like when I was little I always wanted to go out to dinner. And now that I'm older and I can pay for my own dinner, I'm like, can you just cook me dinner with someone to cook me dinner? So I felt like I had a really special week. Just with a lot of celebrations and seeing people I don't get to see as much and I'm glad that even that was the reason but that brought us together.

Amy: 3:18

That's so nice. Yeah, happy belated.

Jen: 3:21

22. Right. Can you believe it? Exactly. Three actually, it really it just outlines.

Amy: 3:29

Solid state of mind. It's all state of mind. Okay, so let's get into it. So summer's coming up. What do we need to know, like, give us some quick things that you're thinking about for kind of while you're already in shape, but like, you know, getting in shape and getting prepped for the summer.

Jen: 3:42

So my favorite part about the summer is that you can eat fresh foods. And I should not imply that you don't eat fresh foods year round. But you've probably heard you know, the term eating seasonally. And generally, this when someone is telling you to eat seasonally, they mean like there are certain fruits and vegetables that are in season, winter, spring, summer fall, right. So if you're getting strawberries in the summer, they are that much more delicious than if you're getting them in the winter because they're you're getting them from somewhere else or writing to when they're picked, you know, in California, you're kind of waiting and that nutrient density and even the taste is kind of all being depleted as it finally gets to you in Maryland or here on the East Coast. So that is all very true and I love eating seasonally. But my what I mean by eating seasonally and I think it's what's overlooked a lot is that in the wintertime especially you're eating more warming foods, right like you're eating like soups and stews and broth and things like that, and naturally we crave those and you actually should like really lean into that. But in the summer everything's fresh and delicious and even salads and juices and fresh fruit and like it actually tastes really good versus like you're going like okay, this is fine. So I would say like from a food standpoint, number one like leaning into summer. It's amazing if everything's now seasonal and delicious, and we can eat salad without being depressed wishing we were eating something warmer, in my personal opinion at least that's so

Katie: 5:09

true. I definitely 100% do that. In the warmer months. I want the cold crispy crunchy salad, the fresh veggies and then when it gets cold, I crave the warmer stuff. And I like occasional material. I feel like I should really be eating a salad because so much better for me. Why am I not eating the salad? Is it I don't, I don't want it because I'm freezing my body's cold it needs to be warmed up and be it's just not as like crispy and crunchy and fresh as it shouldn't be. So that's a really great, great tip. I love that one.

Jen: 5:37

Thank you. I feel like I never think of that. Or not that we don't think about it from that side. Which is Yeah. A Grom for a workout standpoint, I mean, get outside like there is nothing better than like fresh air and like that not be not even just like not staring at a screen not in not. And that's not to say that there aren't wonderful at home workouts or if you are comfortable going into a gym or into a fitness class if those aren't beneficial. But there's just something about being outside. I think the term that I heard somebody uses called Nature bathing, and it's literally forest bathing.

Amy: 6:12

What is it? Nature bathing or forest bathing, I've heard

Jen: 6:15

are both there. I think they're both really like actual things. But yeah, but nature bathing in general, just having that even if it's like walking outside versus on a treadmill, like, yeah, your calorie burn isn't going to be different. But let's be honest, like, I really hope that you and everyone listening to this is not working out for the calorie burn. Like I hope that they're working out for all of the other benefits of exercise. So I mean that alone, just whether it's a walk of bike ride your gardening, I mean, I plan to garden, I'm doing it on, it's my Mother's Day gift every year on missions every year, it's the second year in a row because I used to live in a city and I didn't have a garden. But we're going on here to where we're planting my garden. i Yeah, that is also something that I love about like coming into summer and spring and stuff like that.

Amy: 7:00

That's funny that you plant a garden, I actually my mom and I, on Mother's Day usually do that too. We go to the store and we get all the flowers and we plant all the annuals for the week, the spring vegetables and like herbs. And you know, I haven't gotten into that territory. I would like to actually Katie and I've talked about having someone on the show to like tell people how to do it because we don't know how to do it or to do it where they actually grow and like animals don't eat them. Like the whole thing seems very intimidating shape, but in theory, I would love to

Jen: 7:30

do it. My mom um, the advice I will give you now in year two, but I was when I was younger my Mom did whatever year so I do know a little bit you do things eat like tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, they grow like weeds, like in a wonderful way. Like it's simple, you won't feel like you're failing. You literally water them once a day, no big deal. Put them in a sunny spot, not too sunny. The tomatoes need that like a cage because they grow up. The rest of them don't and they're fine as is I had because we moved into a new home I had like the landscaper when we were doing our landscaping like put in boxes for me. So it was proper, but you don't need that. That's just me being fancy. Um, herbs and spices separate container because they not like cross contaminate, but it's hard to contain them like men will I'm still growing mint from last May. And I'm like it's crazy. I wish that I ever planted that I'm really upset about and not that I don't love mint but it's like overtaking my yard. It's not that hard. I think a lot of people definitely. It seems like a daunting task, but it's not that challenging.

Amy: 8:36

So cucumber or just like put it in the ground and like tomato like go

Jen: 8:40

to home. I really, and they have organic and regular like you can choose which one and you buy the pot itself and you buy like the plant or soil and then even you could they'll tell you like I walked in there and I'm like this is my first time doing garden. My mom's like we know what to get, don't worry. And there's different planter soils, there's the organic one, there's regular one, you know, you it's one of those things that I would recommend going up like a higher price point because if it's a lower price point, not only is this soil now it's a bit thicker and chunkier and you want it to be more smooth, but it's also that there'll be other things mixed into it. This is gonna be a gross comparison, but it's almost like meat. Like if you buy good meat, like you know you're eating meat versus if you're buying right like something like crab carrot, better example. It's like real crab versus breading. I don't.

Amy: 9:28

Okay, you've inspired me I need to try it. Well, the animals get into it.

Jen: 9:33

No, but I've spent in my yard around my Yeah, I

Amy: 9:36

do too, but okay. All right. The other

Katie: 9:39

thing also I have read a lot of studies about like actually having your hands in the dirt and how gardening is really good good for you. It's grounding, it's good for the soul and there's like good bacteria in there that it's okay if it makes its way into your system and all of this stuff. So yeah, it's it's what's up

Jen: 9:59

probiotics? specifically, specifically about it. Yeah,

Katie: 10:01

yes thing. Yeah. Yeah, that's great. I love that. That's also

Jen: 10:05

a holistic functional practice going outside barefoot. So my daughter has to refuses to wear shoes, and is constantly people constantly make comments. And I'm like, listen, she's grounding. This is a practice, but it is like it's part of a meditation process for a lot of people.

Amy: 10:22

I've heard that that you should go outside with no shoes on and like grounding. I keep hearing about that. And it's funny because I do like to be outside with my shoes off. And I didn't know it was like a thing. And Jackson, my older son also walks around all the time with new shoes on outside and say, I'm gonna I'm like, that's good. He's getting the Earth. He's feeling Yeah,

Jen: 10:41

you can join the compound because we're total hippies. And we're gonna go, yeah.

Amy: 10:48

I love it. I also was just listening. I put it on Instagram this week. But I don't know if any, if you listen to the podcast, the Huberman lab

Jen: 10:58

I do. Andrew Yang and Dr. Mann. Yeah, he's best with him. Obsessed. He's

Amy: 11:03

unbelievable. But he was on the skinny confidential this week. And I listened to both of those. And he was talking about so many different amazing practices. There's a part one and part two, and I'm just in the middle of part two, it's so good. But he was saying also a good thing to do in the morning is to go outside, no sunglasses, nothing and just like, be outside and let the light hit your eyes for like 10 or 15 minutes. And it's sort of like that grounding thing. It's like wakes up your body and it like sets your circadian rhythm and all this stuff is so interesting. But anyway, so yeah, I love that. Okay, give us some because I'm a snacker, good snacks, easy snacks, healthy snacks that we can, you know, think about packing in our bags or grabbing on the go. So you don't

Jen: 11:43

want me to just say fruits and vegetables.

Amy: 11:49

And mean, you can grab a banana or an apple, but like, anything new any like, I mean, because we grabbed them or like fruits, veggies nuts, but like,

Jen: 12:01

okay, means I'm really into beans. So there's, it's a blue package, I want to say it's called the O Bean on Amazon. And it's at a mommy. It's just dried roasted at a mommy. But it's like 11 grams of protein, I want to say at 90 calories. There's some fiber in it. And it's a blue package. And I used to give it to my kids for their lunches. And now I'm like I'm bringing these to sporting events because you guys make me sit here for six hours. They're absolutely delicious. And Amazon has I mean, like the single servings. I'm also really into Brahmi right now, which neither of these are like new for the record there. Joe, I know that brand, the BR AMI and it's lupini beans also but these are not dry roasted. So the edamame one, they're crunchy like that texture. I'll throw them on a salad if I'm not eating them plain because they're delicious. Whereas the Brahmi you actually could also throw in a salad but they're I mean, they're they're like there's a big

Amy: 12:52

beans, right like the big white beans or fava beans.

Jen: 12:57

They're lupini beans, I think lupini beans, but fava beans is also a good one. But the Brahmi has single serving ones also. And they have different flavors. So I'm really into they don't require refrigeration. And you can eat the content like it's you know, it's probably this big the packet itself.

Amy: 13:15

That's good. That's good.

Jen: 13:17

Um, she I mean, I'm still in the snack islands and snapin has a salt and vinegar ring

Amy: 13:21

I love by now I saw that on your feed and I need to get those because I love snack length. And I haven't had them in

Katie: 13:26

a while. It's absolutely I mean, is that the what is that? Yuka Okay, yeah,

Amy: 13:32

but they're really light and crunchy and so yummy.

Jen: 13:36

One of my clients compared it to a vegan pork rind. I've never had a pork rind because I grew it is like that. But it looks a bit like that. But they're very fluffy. And what are those? Did you see those water? Have you seen the water lily puppy things?

Amy: 13:52

Right if you tried every snack known to man Yeah,

Jen: 13:55

yeah, I peed. I have clients that are into them. I personally, I'm not sure if I've ever tried them. I should though. I mean, they're

Amy: 14:02

good. They're a little like sweeter. I like the I like the snack ones better, but they're good. They're good. It's good to have a variety of things and those beans I've had before but I had like a bigger bag and I ate too many of them. I didn't feel well, so I was like, I'm gonna get the snack bags. I'm not like overdosing on them. Yeah. Jen, what's

Katie: 14:20

your position on like these healthy popcorn brands? Like the 100 Calorie pack skinny pop popcorn? I mean, are you pro corn anti corn? Like what's your thing? Just curious.

Jen: 14:32

Okay with corn. I feel like the issue with corn in this country is just more so like that. It's what what it it's bad to cows and almost kind of going back to the beginning of our conversation. It's not only corn, there's there's like candy in it and like all of this crap. And then when we are if we are I'm a meat eater like I'm not an exclusive carnivore but I eat meat. And then if I am eating that, you know, I believe we are not the You are what you eat, but you eat what you ate ate. Does that make sense? Like if my cow was eating grass, and then I'm eating the meat from the cow.

Katie: 15:10

Oh yeah. You're eating? What? Yes. Yeah, I totally get what you're saying. It's like the chain.

Jen: 15:16

Yes. Chain. Yeah. So the to me the gross pneus of corn is that it is in cow feed, but there's so much other crap mixed into it. But like I eat corn on the cob. I eat what are those? This is actually good snack those like big, like corn things from

Amy: 15:36

Whoa. Oh, those

Katie: 15:38

Oh, the corn kernel. Like the crunchy? Yeah.

Jen: 15:41

Those are delicious. Yeah, like very I love I love adding things like for texture, like into salads and stuff like that. Like that is a great added great pop of. So to go back to your question. I'm not anti corn had the lesser evil popcorn before that was delicious.

Amy: 15:58

That's the one you had at my house. Katie recently? Yeah. Like, yeah,

Jen: 16:01

yeah, I think I don't think smart pop puts anything in there stuff. I mean, I have like a bit of a negative association with anything that's like, like 100 Calorie packs, just because I don't know, there's like a psychological piece to it. But I also think it's really beneficial. Because quite honestly, we eat what's put in front of us, like, at every age. I mean, I see even with my children, I can give them a bag that's this big or a bag that this big. And they think they need to eat most, if not all of it. So there's something really beneficial about the single serving despite the fact that it's not really good for our environment.

Katie: 16:33

Yeah, that's so true. And to your point, the chain of like, you're eating what what you ate, had for breakfast. It's very true, because I haven't, I have an egg intolerance. And I was told find chickens that are not fed soy, because I'm highly intolerant to soy, because a lot of them are given soy feed. And so it's like, it's not the egg that's bothering me. It's the soy that the chicken ate that's in the egg that's bothering me. So yeah, this is

Jen: 17:01

not along exactly like that. But I was actually having a conversation with a friend who she was saying she can't drink wine anymore. And she's like, why can't I drink wine? And I'm like, I bet you there's so things in your wine, and there's still dates and all wine and you can buy organic wine and it's lower and sulfates but you know that they have filters now can buy single filters. You literally throw them in your glass of mine and you can enjoy your vine without getting a headache and feeling

Katie: 17:27

really. That's interesting.

Amy: 17:30

So yeah, I drink usual wine, which is an organic wine single serve and supposedly there's much lower sugar in it and no sulfites or maybe it's just low sulfites. I don't know, but I want to try those discs. I haven't heard of that. That's cool.

Jen: 17:46

They're like, they kind of like a silver package. And they're just like, a filter, and it filters them out. Because it's almost, if you're buying organic wine is definitely better than non organic wine. But it's similar to and I feel like I'm always using comparisons, but coffee. If you have decaf coffee, there's still little caffeine in it. Not much. Right? Right. So a little bit of it. And that's my assumption is it's pretty comparable from a wine perspective. If you're having organic wine, it's still gonna have some salt base just a lot less for the lower sugar. I mean, that mean that's huge. Like if you I don't know if how if you're a wine person or not, or how even gotten this direction, but I think Summer Wine, it makes sense. Yeah. You get really, you sleep poorly. You're sleeping more basically, it's the sugar because the sugar is waking you up because your blood sugar's spiking, dropping and then that's what's wake you up in the middle of night, there's sugar in the wine. So I would actually imagine from that aspect as well, the organic wine would be really helpful.

Amy: 18:46

So on that topic of cocktails and drinking in the summer, because we tend to be out more and drink more and all that. What's your go to for like low sugar, like as clean as you can get? Cocktails?

Jen: 19:01

I got this. Tequila, soda water and three limes. I can't tell you if you're nervous to go really like just I would to ease into it. I would say a splash of grapefruit juice, but ideally like fresh grapefruit juice, because that also cuts it really well with like the sourness

Amy: 19:22

of grapefruit juice and what kind of tequila Do you like?

Jen: 19:25

If I'm being a snob? I'll go like class at school but that should not be mixed with soda water. I actually did it once and was yelled at. Oh, good like casamigos Um, that episode. Oh, probably.

Amy: 19:38

Yeah, yeah, that's a good one.

Katie: 19:40

It sounds good. I'm a wine drinker. And I do I have read that wine and white wine and champagne are lower in sugar than a lot of other, you know, alcohol options. So I feel like if you can't do the hard stuff that tequila, then I think actually Champagne is the Is champion the least amount of sugar? I think I've heard that the dry the really dry champagnes

Jen: 20:05

really dry when I would say not like a Prosecco, right dry one.

Amy: 20:09

But we love percent.

Katie: 20:13

I'm not gonna say no to champagne though, either.

Jen: 20:16

Every day the celebration. I would say if you want to pace yourself, I would put, I would make it into like a spritzer bow. Like I've done that before. If I'm going, like, for example, I told you, I have a winery visit tomorrow. My plan is to get the wine with soda water to cut it, so that it's more of a spritzer and that I can you know, I can last longer and be cool.

Katie: 20:41

Very smart. Yeah,

Amy: 20:42

that's a good idea.

Katie: 20:43

I love and you know what? It's also really refreshing in the summer by the pool outside a white wine spritzer. Yeah, it's yummy.

Amy: 20:51

fruit in there. Yeah.

Jen: 20:53

Right. Kind of ruined it with them. I'm just getting like they are. They're really, I mean, they like they add so many calories. Like, I think we've talked about this. Maybe I have a client, a man who he lost like 11 pounds in a month. And the only change he made because he gave up alcohol. Like he's like, I just want to see and he No and, and I'm like, that's insane. Like he was still eating everything that he loved. And just crazy. Like how how it creeps up and you don't even realize

Amy: 21:25

Yeah, he's also he's also a man that was gonna say the exact same Yeah, like, if I cut out alcohol for a month, I would lose like half a pound. I mean, let's be honest. But I was actually going to give one fun hack, which I did like I remember I read about this years ago, and I haven't done it in a while. But you just reminded me of the champagne in the spritzer if you take blueberries, raspberries and put them in the freezer. They become like ice cubes. And then you can put them in your spritzer or water or whatever, and they're yummy. So

Jen: 21:54

you're now reminding me that's a great tip. Thank you. You're reminding me of last summer. I made my kids love watermelon. I always buy watermelon and we can eat like I mean a half a watermelon in a day in our house. I took the leftover because it was it was like two or three days and I was worried it was gonna turn froze the watermelon. Then I took it and put it in a blender with like fresh limes. And meanwhile, like it wasn't a sorbet texture was more like an icy texture like a Slurpee texture. I mean, I've never had I had mine. passerby I mean nutritious but yeah, it was like a watermelon Slurpee. It was literally just like lime juice and the watermelon but because it was frozen, it was that beautiful. But I should and had every intention of trying to put alcohol in that because I think that would also be delicious.

Amy: 22:42

Ooh, that sounds so good. And how did you freeze the watermelon? Like in just like little balls?

Jen: 22:46

Yeah, like I don't even have a pretty ball thing. It was like I cube the watermelons for my kids anyway, so I had like an a glass Tupperware thing and then I put it in my freezer.

Amy: 22:55

Yeah. Oh, I love that. That sounds so good. Yes. And you could mix them a little vodka tequila sounds

Jen: 23:01

amazing. I have to try it and I will let you know when I do. I will invite you. I love it.

Katie: 23:07

What about I have a question for the next recommendation. Do you have any like detox teas? I mean, you see people that are making these things with the ginger and Tumeric like what's what's your jam on? Do you have something?

Jen: 23:20

I do? So it's funny because again, you're like every word is really triggering for you Jen you're very specific picky. I hate the word detox like our livers job is to detox right like we don't need to go on a detox like we have an entire organ that does that for us that said and this is more of a not I feel puffy, although I think it would benefit because it will it's it will it's anti inflammatory and will lower inflammation in your body which is generally can manifest as just essentially puffiness in your skin. But I actually more take it if I'm not feeling great for an immune boost. So what I do is hot water. Fresh ginger, so fresh grated ginger, a little bit of honey because honey is antimicrobial. Oh half juice from half of a lemon and then Ceylon cinnamon,

Katie: 24:06

Ceylon what's Ceylon cinnamon?

Jen: 24:09

So there's cashes cinnamon, and Salem Ceylon is d Y L O N That's just the one that's I mean, I should say supposedly because the science of nutrition is just so interesting and I feel like there's always new articles like I'm literally always on PubMed and I'm like like finding and you can which is really sad probably find any you could find a study that will prove anything you want at this point if I'm being perfectly honest, I don't know if I'm supposed to say that but Ceylon cinnamon is supposedly the one that is actually anti inflammatory versus the cash is cinnamon, which I think is not as I want to say not as it's not the word not as fresh but not doesn't have the same properties so Ceylon cinnamon is as you can imagine a higher price point it's almost like that manuka honey thing versus like regular honey right?

Amy: 24:54

What do you store Yeah, I was gonna say like, if you just pick up cinnamon How would you know what kind it is?

Jen: 24:59

If you Pick up red ocean and then assume that it's not Ceylon but like Whole Foods like what's the brand if frontier it's like the Black Label the frontier like that they haven't say a lot. It'll say Salem cinnamon.

Amy: 25:11

Okay. All right, so we got some really good tips there. There's probably a million more, but we're gonna go to Katie because she's got some summer products she wants to tell us about. So I'm excited to hear them. Yeah. So

Katie: 25:23

I am super excited to share these because they're like game changers for me. And I just discovered them recently. And I'm obsessed. Well, Amy knows one of them. One is the secara Matt metabolism, super powder. I just started using it recently. And it definitely is all that it's cracked up to be like it. It helps with bloat. It helps with digestion, it helps with puffiness. It also gives me energy and kind of like, helps with mental clarity as well. It's super yummy. And I just think it's great for going into summer because I know Jen doesn't like the word detox, but it kind of feels a little bit like that. And also like it's just it just kind of like speeds up your metabolism, which is what it says it's supposed to do, which helps you know, flatten the tummy and things like that. So I really love it. It's a huge bag, you can get a 30 serving pouch for $90. A little steep, but I use like half of a half of the scoop every time I use that. What do you think about a Gen?

Jen: 26:25

I have a question I want to Yes. Okay. I mean,

Katie: 26:29

I would love to. And just

Amy: 26:30

while she's getting that out, I've used this metabolism that I've used. I use it a while ago. And I used it for a little while and I put it in my coffee and I think it was fine for me. I didn't really notice that much of a difference. And it was funny when Katie was getting it she asked me and I was like yeah, for me. It was okay. Like it wasn't bad. It wasn't I didn't. I didn't notice a major difference. But Katie has noticed the difference was which is great. So I think it just works maybe for some people and not for others. Yeah,

Katie: 26:55

I think so too. The ingredients are raw cacao powder, coconut milk powder, l glutamine, horsetail extract, kelp extract, tonight. Gymnema sylvestre extract, coconut sugar, it has a 1% blend of stevia and low how gow extract

Jen: 27:19

Chinese that's from traditional Chinese medicine. That's an herb that's commonly used in TMC.

Katie: 27:25

Okay. And then the last Oh, and TMC, which is bad. And is that no traditional

Jen: 27:29

Chinese medicine?

Katie: 27:30

Oh, I'm sorry, I got something else.

Jen: 27:36

Very common herbs in traditional Chinese medicine that it's okay.

Katie: 27:40

And then the last one is black pepper fruit extract. So, I thought it clean suckers.

Jen: 27:48

I mean, it's our glutamine that's giving you the metabolic effect. Okay. And the others are probably to make it palatable, but also like ingredients that aren't going to hurt you.

Katie: 28:00

Yeah. And they said that I think it's the horsetail extract that kind of helps with, like, like, helping you with bloat and puffiness, kind of getting rid of like extra water weight and things like that. But yeah, so I love that one. Alright, here's the next one. It is it's a red bag. Yep, exactly. I'm sure you've seen it all over social media. Alright, so get ready to have your mind blown. Whoa, there's this new tool that I have been wanting to get for years, but it was so expensive. Three years ago, I was like, alright, this isn't in my future. It is, I think just more available to the public now. So the price is more palpable. It's called the lumen. The lumen metabolism, hack, or hacker?

Jen: 28:48

You're gonna see a jade roller, I'm not gonna lie.

Amy: 28:51

Oh, yes, come on. Alright,

Katie: 28:54

so this is it. And what it does is it measures your co2 output that tells you if you are burning fats, or carbs, you blow into it. And the reason why I know that this is legit. Years ago, when I first started with my autoimmune stuff, my husband, I didn't know what was going on. We went to this very, like intense clinic in New Jersey with legitimate doctors and all of the tests and everything. They run everything under the sun. And one of the first things they had me do was blow into a device to see what the strength of my metabolism was. I think it was like my, like resting metabolic rate or something like yeah, so that is, yeah, so that is via checking your co2 output, and that's exactly what this does. So I blow into this. It's connected to my phone, and it tells me what I'm burning and then it gives me a plan for the day should I eat some more carbs today? Should I stay away from the carbs and the whole So is to get you to what they call metabolic flexibility. And it's where engine knows. Alright, Jen just perked up, you know,

Jen: 30:10

metabolic flexibility? And I bet you

Amy: 30:12

do. I would like that I definitely don't

Katie: 30:14

have it. Yeah, so that's what I'm working towards. And that's where your body, Jen, help us understand what that what that is,

Jen: 30:22

oh, that literally means what you think it means, which is that your body can metabolize all of the macronutrients, so fat, protein, and carbs. So what happens is with diet plans, like if you went on keto, for example, you're only eating fat, so your body and it's there. So there's, this is actually harder to explain than I thought, there's nine calories and one gram of fat, there's four calories in one gram of protein and carb. So when the concept behind keto not to get too into it is like if you're fat fueled, and you're only eating of a high amounts of fat, and you're limiting, like severely limiting, like under 10%, your carbs and proteins, then your body is living off of ketones, but you need to eat a lot less because there's so many more calories in that like, that's why it works, right? Like if there's only if there's nine calories and one gram of fat, you can eat a lot fewer, like more than half the amount than if you're eating if you are fueled by carbs and proteins. Does that make sense?

Katie: 31:21

Yeah, and also, go ahead. No, no, continue.

Jen: 31:25

I love that about the flexibility means that your body can digest all of those versus like you having to go on some specific diet plan or like your body really only knows how to digest one of those macros, because yeah,

Katie: 31:37

yeah. And also I read as well, that when you like, stop eating carbs, you stop making these enzymes that help you break them down, and all of that. And, Amy, I don't know if you remember we Amy years ago, before we knew better Amy and I were like really into keto for a while. And then when we tried to come off of it. It was crazy. It's like we couldn't eat a carb without feeling like we were going to put on five pounds. And I think it's exactly that. Do you remember that? You said, I feel like this screwed my body up. And I can't even eat a piece of bread anymore. So that'd be the piece of red. And again, like three rounds. Yeah, that's like exactly what the opposite of metabolic flexibility is. So this is a tool that you use to basically collect data and you have to be engaged, you check your you check, you check it multiple times throughout the day. And eventually using the data properly and applying it to daily life, it should get you to metabolic flexibility. So I'm all about like, you know, give me the data. And I'm a biohacker I

Amy: 32:33

love it. That's so cool. Wait, so explain how it works. So you blow in it. And then what? What's the output? What does it say

Katie: 32:40

in an app in my phone, it's Bluetooth. And it tells you it's like a little scale. One is your burning fat five is your burning carbs. And then there's in betweens, and the goal is to you know, like wake up at a one so you know that you're burning fat through the night. i This morning, I woke up at a five because I had pasta and wine last night. So you know that makes sense. But yeah, I'm still learning it. I've had it for a week. And it is complicated. It does take commitment. But yeah,

Amy: 33:15

but it's interesting, very cool. I think it's hard to know, like, I have no idea that you don't really know how your body is working unless you're super in tune. So that can really help to guide because I don't like you're right, like sometimes you eat something you feel a certain way. And like, yeah,

Jen: 33:32

I will interject and tell you that your body will always choose to burn carbs. First of all right? Like, that's why when you're running, if you're running a marathon or something like our bodies are smart, they know that as a quick source of energy. That's why every four to five mile marker, if you're doing a race, they're gonna have gummies and things that hit your bloodstream really quickly. Those are carbs like sugar is a is the literally the most accessible, digestible form of carbohydrate, it's not so good for you, because then your blood sugar spiking and your cravings are all over the place. But your body will definitely choose to digest carbs. So it sounds like this is helping you know what to eat so that your body is like, Hey, listen, we're not only digesting carbs, we got to like, move on to the other stuff. I'm concerned.

Katie: 34:12

Yeah. And also the other thing too, is like I'm attuned to my body, but just because I'm attuned to my body, I might crave carbs, but that doesn't mean my body needs carbs. There's other factors like hormones and things at play that could be making me crave carbs. So to have something tell me whether or not I really need them in that moment. Is is a tool that's a very useful tool. Yeah,

Amy: 34:34

so for this what's a cotton muddiman No, no, but the flexibility metabolism, linear metabolic flexibility. That is what when you can eat things without like gaining or losing weight, like you kind of stay the same and

Jen: 34:53

raising your blood sugar. So like if you were a diabetic, for example, and you were really obsessing over your blood sugar being in a healthy range, that would also be beneficial. So metabolic flexibility just means that no matter what you're eating, you're not, it's not going to affect not only your metabolism, but also your blood sugar and other like biometric factors.

Amy: 35:12

Interesting. So by using a tool like that, you could see how you were that day and then kind of like base your meal plan essentially on that,

Katie: 35:19

then it gives you a meal plan macros and everything. Oh, that's cool.

Amy: 35:24

Based on like, it'll tell you how to eat Yes, off of your

Katie: 35:27

score. It gives you a meal plan, like oh,

Amy: 35:28

that's so cool.

Jen: 35:29

The illuminator the lumen

Katie: 35:32

l you, me and for the listeners will have it in the show notes. So I went is this Jen Silverman approved? Are you

Jen: 35:41

interested in it? I'm totally going to DM them and ask them to send me one for free so that I can post about it. Yeah,

Amy: 35:46

maybe I need to do that again. Yes,

Katie: 35:48

it's it's not I mean, it's not super affordable, but it is up to I believe it was 299. And then you have a four month subscription to the app that does all the things and then pay another 299 to keep in that program. Or you can be like my goal where I'm trying to really use it, learn it. Right figure out ways to like personally hack it into my life. kind of love that. Yeah.

Amy: 36:16

Okay, that's really cool. And I definitely want to research that more. And Jen will circle back with us and give us her yay or nay on it, but it sounds pretty legit. Very cool. Yeah, it is.

Jen: 36:27

We're a numbers nerd.

Katie: 36:28

I'm also like a research geek.

Jen: 36:31

Metrics person then

Katie: 36:33

metrics

Amy: 36:34

are whoop. What's up? Like just listening? Yeah,

Katie: 36:38

I need one of those. No, that's

Amy: 36:39

the sleeping thing. I know. Well, there's

Jen: 36:41

the aura, raise their aura. And somebody gave me a whoop, and I don't want to activate it because I'm not like you in that regard. And that I don't want to wake up and see that my whoop is at 10% recovery and then not like move my body because I'm like, Oh, but I feel okay, but it's telling me that I shouldn't like I would read too much into it. Like I've had rice like Christmas time and I will not activate it and everyone's like learn

Amy: 37:06

and it tells you what is it do it measures your sleep and like and how well you

Jen: 37:10

Yeah, and not it's not as much like how many hours although will tell you that it's more like your recovery because you know, there's the sleep where you actually like get decent sleep and then there's a sleep that you're restless and you're waking up and you're you know, I don't know, I guess show REM sleep but it tells you like how are you burnin output and

Katie: 37:29

oh, I want one. Yeah,

Amy: 37:30

yeah, I was just I keep hearing about this and it's very interesting. But sometimes it's like ignorance is bliss because you don't it's you could get crazy with it. But I Katie, like when I get like blood tests or different things with the doctors I like give it to Katie she's like my metrics nurse. Like she'll be like, oh, yeah, this this. I'm like, oh, okay, like I don't even pay attention.

Katie: 37:50

But like, yeah, I have the teeniest tiniest wellness hack for like helping with bloat and a flat stomach that I think is great for summer. Right? Okay. Yes, peppermint tea with lemon. But prior to that the Trader Joe's No joke, Ginger shot. If I take the if I'm bloated, you know, gasoline, whatever. I take this. And then I drink peppermint tea with lemon. I'm doing it now. And it helps get rid of all of that. So that's just one nice little treat to Joe's lemon. The Trader Joe's organic, no joke. Ginger shot. It's a blend of coconut water, ginger, lemon juice and a little bit of cayenne pepper. And then pepper. I used to Trader Joe's organic peppermint tea with some lemon slices. And it like it really helps

Amy: 38:38

with that's good to know, especially on a day after you've had pasta and wine sounds like exactly.

Unknown: 38:43

Yes.

Jen: 38:46

She has a breathalyzer and

Amy: 38:49

I know I'm like I'm imagining her

Jen: 38:51

pulling that out like in a publicly

Amy: 38:53

No, no, she's totally. Yeah. She's like, literally probably going to be at a restaurant and be like, Hold on. Let me take meglumine Okay, I didn't order salad or pasta.

Katie: 39:03

It's 100% the truth and people think I'm vaping it's ridiculous.

Amy: 39:07

Oh, that's so funny. That would be that would That's very funny. All right. Let's do okay, I'm going to end with a quick this or that summer edition. You ready? Yes. Okay, blueberry or raspberries,

Jen: 39:24

raspberries twice as much fiber by the way as blueberries.

Amy: 39:27

That's nice to know that okay. Next one. Beach or mountains.

Jen: 39:34

Each. My heart belongs to the beach.

Amy: 39:38

Like failure. I feel you Okay, hot coffee or iced coffee.

Jen: 39:43

Iced year round which is not in line with what I said about wow, I know but I would rather drink iced coffee around and then have hot water to warm myself up in the winter after

Amy: 39:54

okay. Okay and last one sweats or judged up

Jen: 40:00

Oh, sweat. I'm a natural beauty. Yes, you are. And I'm not. I don't look, you're already Asian. Like I don't. It looks weird. I got my makeup done once for a wedding. And my David looked at me and he was like you look like, like Trump like he's like

Katie: 40:19

well, you are very naturally gorgeous. Thank you.

Amy: 40:25

Awesome. Well thank you for your this or that. This is so much summary. Thank you for being on the show. This is so good. I love all these tips and tricks. We'll have to digest and put it all in the show notes because there's so many good things to get everybody ready for the spring and the summer and the roses and the tequilas and the snack lens and whatever else we talked about, and don't forget your Luna thing that one of us has gotten me. Oh, we all need to make this frozen watermelon situation and do some videos and like share them with each other.

Katie: 40:53

Good idea.

Amy: 40:54

Put them on Instagram. Okay, I love it. Thank you so much for joining us and so good to see you too. 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 52 - Common Chiropractic Myths, Helpful Tips To Stay In Alignment With Dr. Debra Block - Part 2 (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 52 Common Chiropractic Myths, Helpful Tips To Stay In Alignment With Dr. Debra Block Part 2.

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: 0:18

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

Amy: 0:28

Welcome back to the show Nirvana sisters family. In this week's Part Two episode with Dr. Debra Block, we really get into the details. So last week, we talked about why chiropractic care is good for you and all the benefits. But this week, we really go deep into things you can do on a daily basis that can help you what to expect when you go to the chiropractor, what to look for, and more. So enjoy this episode. It's full of tips and tricks that we think will be really helpful.

Katie: 0:59

Amy, I'm curious why you were so scared of the idea of being adjusted. I mean, I love going in and getting my neck adjusted. And I know like something like, didn't you tell me that like that the whole thing kind of freaks you out that whole the whole neck adjustment?

Debbie: 1:13

I just want to say that Amy has asked me to rob her and touch her and examine her.

Amy: 1:17

I love a good massage and hands on my neck. I mean, always yes, yeah. Our whole moving your bones into a different place. Like only because and I'm sure people that are listening feel the same way. Like you've heard the horror stories of like, oh my god, I went to a chiropractor, I got my neck adjusted and like, I can't move or like you hear these. And it's miss. And that's one of the things I wanted to ask you, Debbie, like those common myths that people hear about. And I think that's why it was always because it's not just like, you know, you're you're adjusting the body. And if you don't go to someone good, something could happen. I mean, you're super qualified. And of course, I trust you with everything. So like, I felt so good. And it was funny, Katie, because Debbie was like, Oh, I can refer you to someone closer. You don't have to like, drive, you know, half an hour to see me. I'm like, No, I'm not going anybody. Like, you know, it's it's it's intimate to your point, and you want to trust the person you're with. And so I think that's why I tend to get over the fear. And now, I would happily go back to do it. But I think there's probably a lot of people that feel the way that I do. So Deb, what are you seeing as like myths that you can dispel for people, there's

Debbie: 2:21

lots of people who feel that way. And I do a tremendous amount of work. You know, my psychology degree really helps me with every single person I can sense and pick up on that even when someone's not telling me. So I really learn how I've learned how to and it's one of the I think it's one of the things I think every doctor should have is an understanding of where their patients coming from and being able being able to sense their own comfort or discomfort. But ya know, I do I do a lot of communication and explanation. And if I have to go really slow with people I do, we have non aggressive options that if I have to start out, you know, with an instrument instead of my hand so that they're not feeling the vertebra moving, then I will do that. But I do a lot of communication and a lot of explanation to get patients to feel more comfortable and you know, ease into it slowly. There are a lot of myths. Some of them are kind of laughable. My favorite one is Hey, Doc, you know, I've watched Jackie Chan movies, and he always breaks people's necks. And are you going to do that to be? Him? I want to be like, how dumb are you? Like, I don't say that. But you know, I first thing I say is okay, that's a movie, you know, like, that's fake. And I never took that class in school. Like, you know, I never learned how to break next, I only learned how to fix them. Now, I mean, are there any, you know, concerns and real reasons to be concerned? It's few and far between. And I will tell you that malpractice insurance wise, this is always interesting to people. When you look at health care providers, we have the lowest malpractice insurance cost of any health care provider because it's relative to the amount of injuries that are caused by the people in your profession. Wow. So the number of malpractice suits for somebody having been injured by a chiropractor are very, very low. So chiropractors malpractice insurance, like in comparison to a gynecologist and OBGYN who's I don't even know what the numbers are. But, you know, really exorbitant chiropractors are really, really very low rates because we really don't have many, many injuries. There are myths, the biggest one probably is besides this, you know, one that I just shared before is stroke. That's you know, people are like are we gonna have a stroke? And where that comes from is that there are patients with stroke symptoms that present like lots of other chiropractic patients neck pain, headaches, fatigue, range of motion restriction, those are typical for stroke for stroke patient, and they walk in. And they are most likely going to have a stroke sometime within the next few weeks. And if I were to do a Doppler ultrasound on those patients, which would evaluate the arteries in the neck, I would most likely see a clot what's called the thrombus, sitting in the artery waiting for that moment. And so if we don't properly screen for those patients with those issues, is there a possibility that we could adjust them and they could end up having a stroke a couple of days later, and then thinking it was the chiropractor? Who did it? Yes, that's happened. And chiropractors have had issues, you know, with that before, but it has been proven that it is not the chiropractor that caused the stroke, the stroke was going to happen. But the patient came in with symptoms similar to neck pain, headache, you know, patients, and the chiropractor that treated them didn't catch it because a Doppler ultrasound is not something you're going to order. Unless there's, you know, a very clear reason to do so.

Katie: 6:11

Yeah. So let's talk let's talk about that. Let's talk about when a patient comes in as a new patient, the screening that they go through the diagnostic processes that you do, to decide, you know, what they need, etc.

Debbie: 6:24

Yeah. So, obviously, patients fill out a lot of paperwork before they come in, they give me their whole health history, as well as their genetic family history. And have they had chiropractic care before? Have they had traumas have they had car accidents, you know, athletic injuries. So we get a little bit of a picture just from what they've filled out on paper. And then we sit down and have a detailed consultation where I asked all of those questions and we talk about them in depth. You know, what, what your family history is, is important. If you're a smoker, if you're a drinker, if your job requires you to be on your feet, or physical or sitting at a desk all day long, what your stress levels are, what your sleep and hydration and nutrition and exercise look like, what your pain is now, how you're describing it, you know, some of those descriptors can be really red flags for us, you know, worst headache I've ever had in my life is a big one that's refer out to hospital, they're most likely about to have a stroke or about to have potentially an aneurysm. I've, I've caught some scary things in my time. I actually just had a patient who came in post colonoscopy with a whole bunch of abdominal pain. And she was 41. Works out seven days a week in amazing shape and was coming to me for maintenance care to keep her spine in good alignment. She went for her, went for a colonoscopy routine and ended up having all of this abdominal discomfort two weeks later, and both of both her gastro her gastro and her regular doctor told her Don't worry about it, you know, give it some time. I was alarmed. There was something off about it. I said you need to go right away and have a have an ultrasound down and let's see what's going on. Turned out she had a ovarian tumor the size of a grapefruit Wow. emergency surgery within the week. Wow, I just got a while I have that kind of case walk in my office. I have referred out probably four or five strokes and my time. Usually they walk in and they're usually they're pretty obvious. I'm usually it's an older person. It's somebody who is slowed. I mean, I literally had a woman once years ago come in in a wheelchair. And she wasn't feeling well. Her husband pushing her in a wheelchair. She was in her 60s. And one of her feet. You know how in a wheelchair, you've got those foot pedals where you put your feet on, the foot pedals were up. And she was able to hold her left foot like you know, holding it still, but her right foot was literally dragging behind the chair. And I'm like 911 like something's not right. So yeah, I mean, we do have things like that walk in. So yeah, being a good diagnostician and not just looking at the spine. But looking at everything, you know, to the to the point of you guys talking throughout your podcast about kind of an integrative health care approach, which I think is ultimately part of your message. It's really hard to look at someone nowadays especially and not take into account their gastrointestinal health, their cardiovascular health, their gynecological health, their endocrine, health, and all of those things, play a part in what I'm doing. If I want to be a good doctor, talk to people about all of these things. And then once I get a really good understanding of what they're experiencing and what they're feeling and where they've been. Then I have them go through a range of motion. I'll look and see how they're moving and their lower back and their neck and their upper back. I'll do some orthopedic testing to see if there's an eye via sign of problem in the spine, and if they're having neurological symptoms like numbness, tingling, burning, loss of loss of muscle control or weakness, then I'll do some neurological testing. We also will palpate the spine and feel the areas that are bothering them to see what we can pick up with our hands. And, and then if necessary, depending on the age and the issue that's going on, and the history, I'll often refer out for either x rays and or an MRI, depending on what what they're dealing with. If I'm referring out for films, I bring them back and we go over the films once they've come back, we go over the findings, and then I'll treat them if there's no if there's no contraindication based on examination and history, then I'll usually treat on the first visit.

Amy: 10:49

Okay. Yeah, and what I was gonna say, I mean, you're obviously extremely thorough, and you I would hope that most other chiropractors are, but they probably might not be so like, How does someone find a trusted good chiropractor? Like, what would be the best way to do that?

Debbie: 11:05

That's a good question. I wish I could say there wasn't differences from one chiropractor to another. But I think that's probably true

Amy: 11:12

for every house, every kind of

Debbie: 11:15

industry, you know, there are some that are going to be you know, more in tune and aware and concerned and focused, and others who are going to kind of treat you more like a number and get in and get out. I always tell people who are moving to other states to ask, you know, I mean, nowadays with technology, there's so many great places like, you know, besides Facebook and neighborhood listservs there's also what is it that neighborhood app?

Amy: 11:42

Next door next door, thank

Debbie: 11:44

you. So there's lots of good ways. I mean, where I am, there's always people asking for, you know, who's a good chiropractor in town, and I'm always watching to see what people are saying. So there's lots of referrals, I would look start there, look for who else other people are seeing and you know, talk to them, especially if you've got something specific going on. Like I think you mentioned earlier, I treat pregnant women, but many chiropractors do not. So you know, if you're pregnant, you would want to look for other pregnant women who have seen a pregnancy trained chiropractor, because we are, you know, a unique bunch. And it's not something that everybody is well versed in. So looking for referrals, looking at people's websites, you know, what somebody puts into their website, I think really makes a difference and reading, seeing how that resonates with you, and then honestly going and meeting them. And if after that first visit, you don't feel like they're a good match for you, then you need to move on and go somewhere else. Yeah. Trusting your own intuition about how that person feels when they do they make you feel comfortable. Do you feel trusting? Do you feel like they're not what they know what they're talking about? Those are the things that I would recommend?

Katie: 12:50

Can I get? That's good advice. Yeah, that's great advice. Can I ask personal questions? Can I can I get a little diagnostics? I?

Debbie: 12:58

I'm very, very honest and revealing. So ask whatever you want.

Katie: 13:03

Well, I'm just curious. So and we talked about this actually, you're the Debbie's the whole reason why I went to a chiropractor recently, because I we chatted on the phone not that long ago, and I found a great chiropractor that I'm thrilled with there. I felt like that. They went through all the processes that you just explained, I feel, you know, really good feeling about them. So she did an x ray. And we found out that my hips were like, misaligned, and I'm thinking is I guess I'm just curious, like, is this something that I was born with? And it's just now aggravating me? Is this something that is happening over time? Like, like, how do these things? How does that even happen?

Debbie: 13:37

How old is your youngest? Okay,

Katie: 13:39

my youngest is four. My oldest is eight. Okay,

Debbie: 13:43

were you somebody who carry your kids on your hip? A lot? Yes. On your side? Yeah. Okay. And do you remember which side you carry? I

Katie: 13:51

carry them on the side all the time on my left, which hip is which hip is high? I don't remember exactly. But that makes perfect sense. Makes better. Zero. Yeah, that makes perfect sense. But it's just bothering me so much. You know, because you spent

Debbie: 14:06

eight plus four years carrying

Katie: 14:08

your children. Yeah. Yeah, no, I

Debbie: 14:10

mean, I don't know how long you were carrying your older one, probably, you know, probably, up until your younger one was born. I would imagine you've probably spent about four years, you know, off and on carrying each of them. And that in and of itself, you know, it's amazing. One of the reasons I got into pregnancy workers because I saw this huge void for moms, both pregnant moms and women after they give birth. I mean, in my opinion, that's the most physically taxing thing that we go through. And there's not much you can do to relieve your discomfort while you're pregnant. And post pregnancy after you give birth. Oh, my God, you're barely sleeping. You're changing diapers constantly. you're breastfeeding or you're bottle feeding. You're bending down and the biggest thing is that and this is what I think is amazing about moms women We forget about ourselves because our maternal age is so, so strong that whatever our children need, our needs are like, we don't even hear them. So if you have something in your head that says, Watch how you're bending, forget it, my kids crying, I'm picking them up and putting them on my head. So I watch moms every day put themselves into compromising positions at, you know, at the detriment of themselves for their children. And that I think, is just part of our DNA. So if you're not going to someone, or exercising, stretching, doing yoga, doing all of these things to counterbalance what you're doing on a given day, especially when your children are young, you will feel it and you will have issues and I I have like a kids free policy in my office where I say, you know, bring the kids if it means I can fix you, and you don't have to pay for a babysitter. Just bring them and I've got toys in my office. And sometimes we have lots of smart kids, but it's okay, because I'm there to help them off. And I sometimes help the kids too.

Amy: 16:00

Yeah, that's, that's a really good message. Because you're right, when you first make it, you're thinking about that, right? And so it's like, the last thing you would think about is like, going to get drafted or

Debbie: 16:10

when you're walking into your kid's room and they're crying on the veranda and you're like, are you thinking about how you're leaning into the grave? Or like 20 pounds, and you're like, great,

Amy: 16:20

and it's like, you're you're not doing a phase where you're thinking about taking care of yourself. I feel like that comes a little bit later. So you're not even thinking like all the things like maybe if you knew it, you knew now you would, maybe Ben differently or whatever, but I remember to when my kids were born, and I was holding them so much my like, wrists and forearms were like killing me. And I was like, This is so strange. And I was like, oh, whatever, right? You just ignore it. Right? Yeah, that's so interesting. I never thought about that I

Debbie: 16:48

educate my new moms about create space for you to you know, let your kid cry for an extra 20 seconds, so that you can put yourself in a better position before you start breastfeeding. Or, you know, don't change your baby on the floor. You know, let your baby you know, have a poopy diaper for another couple minutes, you know, and take them to a more ergonomic place for you to change their diaper, things like that. Just thinking about you know, doing things differently. So you're not harming yourself. So yes, Katie, your head, I would look to that. But one of the things that I do a lot with hips like that, especially if you see on X ray that there's a misalignment and you can ask your chiropractor, this, sometimes there's just like a little insert that you can put into the shoe. It's like cork and it can be anywhere from, you know, like three millimeters to nine millimeters, but goes under it can go underneath the insert to your shoe. And it'll just take your low hips. So if your hips are like this, you put it in this shoe, so that your hippo come up in balance. Oh, that's interesting, okay. And it's just a very benign, something that in you know, like I usually sell, especially for someone like you, you probably need a bunch of them for all your shoes. Like,

Katie: 17:58

I was gonna say, Do I have to switch it every time I've wear a different pair of shoes, because that would be a problem.

Debbie: 18:02

I just stick it in your shoe. And then you don't even have to think about it.

Katie: 18:05

Yeah, no, that's interesting. That's a great tip. I'm definitely going to ask about that. Because I like it's the alignments. And the adjustments are without a shadow of a doubt helping, but it's, it's not fixed yet. And I can tell and my other question for you is like, they want me to come three times a week. So when someone is first coming to you with a problem, how frequently do you like to see them? I can't get in three times a week. I'm trying but it's like, really once? What do you suggest?

Debbie: 18:30

So, you know, it's that's like a kind of a common, that's also a common myth. Or, you know, one of the things I had, I had thought about when you asked me that question earlier was, you know, do I have to see the chiropractor for the rest of my life, like, I don't want to become an addict, and you know, feel like I need this forever. That's, you know, a very common myth. When somebody first starts care, depending on the issue, and depending on what's going on with them, having them come twice, or three times a week is usually what's recommended for the first four to six weeks. And the reason is not because we're trying to get as much money out of them as possible. But it's usually because the chronicity of the problem has been there, especially with someone like you and your what you just described, it didn't just happened overnight, or over the last couple of months, it wasn't like you slipped and fell two weeks ago, and now your hips been bothering you, it's probably been building for quite a number of years. So to correct it is not something that's going to happen with one or two visits. And if we see you once a week or once every other week, you're probably going to return to the lifestyle habits that you're doing that are aggravating it. And so you're kind of like a bandaid instead of really trying to address the underlying problem, which we can do more readily if we see you in a closer together period of time and then we're telling the spine once it's coming out of alignment note you got to go back to this position and then we're also encouraging you while we're working on you to talk to you about how are you sitting and how are you sleeping and tell me when you sit down on the couch and watch TV Are you like you know holding your legs underneath your hips? Or are you you know, thinking about where your legs are, are you walking around the house barefoot, or, you know, like, all of these little things about your daily life are going to impact your your healing. So I want to both treat it regularly for the first four to six weeks. And I want to educate you so that you're doing the right things when you're not with me to help facilitate the healing, okay,

Amy: 20:26

someone would potentially go four to six weeks, and then they're kind of in maintenance mode under that we,

Debbie: 20:31

we have, everybody does it a little bit differently. But we have three phases of care. And I call acute for the first four to six weeks where I'm really trying to get you out of pain. The second phase was another four to six weeks, but we're seeing you less frequently, once a week, once every other week. And that's called stabilization, where I'm trying to just stabilize the issue. And then we move to maintenance, which is typically once a month or once every two or three months. And then I'm just maintaining what we've done kind of just making sure that you're still staying where you are. And you know that frequency can extend out if you're if everything seems good, but periodically, I just want to check your issue. And make sure that like the dentist that you're coming in and that your spine is aligned.

Amy: 21:10

Yeah. And I think it also depends on the severity of the issue, right? Because when I came to see you I came in a few times, but they weren't in the same week. I think it was like once every few weeks until I felt better. Yeah. And you know, now I haven't been back. So I think it also depends on feeling. Can I ask fine? Yeah, totally fine. I think, you know, just sometimes my neck will be in pain, but I'm a little bit more aware of it. I'm trying to stretch. And that's what I was gonna ask you to for listeners. So I love all the tips you just gave before. What are some tips like good stretches are things that people can do every day, to keep their body in alignment, a lot of people are sitting on computers, like what are small little things that people could start doing today.

Debbie: 21:49

So my biggest recommendation, and I do this every single day is to foam roll. I absolutely love foam rolling. And I think it is good for every single spine. We spend so much time compressed, you know both at the computer at work with our children, you know, we're in this compressed forward flex kind of state. And if you can open up your spine and expand it and have a foam roller that kind of is rolling across it and helping you to just elongate and extend. I think that's an awesome tool. And there's so many videos on YouTube that can show you how to foam roll. And that's a really inexpensive, something that you can buy at Walmart or Target. Yeah,

Amy: 22:32

that's a great tip.

Debbie: 22:34

So foam rolling number one, number two is when you are someone who's sitting in front of a computer all day or really anything at any job, I recommend stretching your neck, and I recommend stretching it in six different parts. So actually eight different positions you both have both are doing it. So she's posted lateral flexion. So left and right lateral flexion. Then you've got what we call flexion, which was going forward extension, which is going back, and then you've got rotation, which is turning to each direction. And then my favorite one, which is I call sniff the armpit where you're wearing the nose to the armpit and put your hand on the crown of the head

Amy: 23:12

and pull. Yeah, I love that one. Oh, yeah, that's a nice way you show me these, and I haven't been doing them. Yep, so

Debbie: 23:18

that's gonna really help both with the lower neck and the upper back and PT. What I then say is check your nose and take a deeper sniff. So go a couple degrees further. And then pull down towards

Amy: 23:29

this video out so people can see it. This is hilarious feel the upper back,

Debbie: 23:33

it's also a good opportunity to make sure that you're not smelly.

Amy: 23:37

Yeah, that's, that's really good. Because you just sit at your desk and do that when you're on a call. I yeah, I haven't been I forgot about those, I need to

Debbie: 23:45

recommend when you're in the car, and this is good for like, you know, my stage of life where I'm constantly driving my kids to a million different places, is all you know, just periodically, I recommend doing add a light not while you're driving, but I'll just retract my chin into the headrest, and just push and hold. And that helps to strengthen the anterior neck muscles. And we spend so much time on what we call forward head carriage with the phone and the computer. That by doing that and kind of using your head rests in your car, it really helps to remind your neck in your head that they Your head should really be right on top of your shoulders ear should be right on top of the shoulder within here. So kind of pulling back retracting like a chicken and pushing the head into the headrest and holding for five and then relaxing. That really is helpful. Yeah, I

Amy: 24:35

love all these tips because it's I think integrating these things into the things you're doing in your daily life. So it's not an extra task. It's like you're in the car anyway, you're at a light do that right? That was like one nostril breathing one amount of light just to relax. So I love that. Okay, so quickly before we get into our rap session. Deb, I want to hear about you know running your practice as a businessman. Then because not only are you taking care of people on the daily, but you're running a really successful practice, and it's a lot, so give us your kind of POV on that. I know you'd like that side of the business, but it's very different. It is,

Debbie: 25:11

it's hard, it's great. And I love it. And I think I love it because I like people a lot. And I think what makes you good at it is, is, is being good to people and knowing, knowing what you how people want to feel. So I think, you know, I've always been a people person. And I knew that I wanted to go into a field where I was working with people. But there's a difference between working with people and really being in the right space, in terms of helping them to feel both not intimidated, welcomed, you know, my patients, I mean, I have a community of people who, most of them come in and hug me hello. I mean, even you know, now we asked, like, is it okay, if I hug you because of the pandemic, you know, I have an environment that's really friendly and warm. And so that part of becoming successful was easy for me, the part and I'll just back up and tell you that I have a father, that's an entrepreneur, so I kind of grew up in your office and, and watching him build multiple businesses. And so one of the boxes that I wanted when I was in college and trying to figure out what my career was going to be, was a job in which I could be my own business owner someday, knowing that I could be a mom, and that I could have a family and I could also have a business. And in healthcare, that's a little hard because I didn't want to be on call. I didn't want to be, you know, needed on the weekends, I didn't want to deliver babies in the middle of the night. So this field fit for me in that regard that I knew I could create my own practice in my own business. But yeah, it is hard, I definitely have a lot more gray hair as a result. You can't tell because I highlight but but yes, it's stressful. And the hardest part is probably just managing people, staff management. And right now in the pandemic. I mean, this has been the hardest two years of my life. Being a healthcare provider through a pandemic has really been challenging. I think health care providers have very much been on the frontlines. with teachers, you know, we we've I mean, teachers were, I don't want to talk about teachers, they went through their own, you know, challenges, but I was, Amy, Amy and our other two closest friends and I have been on a text thread since a couple days before the pandemic really hit. And I was the only one going to work every day, they were all home working from home and their careers. And jobs continued in the comfort of their home and I was home for six weeks, and then back in the office with a ton of PPE on having no idea if I was gonna bring COVID back into my home. But having too many people in pain and hurting that I had no choice but to go in. So it's that part of the responsibility of, of being available for people, you know, in a snowstorm like I usually open and I'm usually there because I feel a responsibility to be. So it's an awesome it's an awesome reality that I've created this business and that it's successful. But it definitely comes with a lot of stress and a lot of burdens. That, you know, people who don't own businesses don't really know from right, but you wouldn't change it. No, I wouldn't, because I absolutely love the freedom and I could never imagine having someone tell me what to do now.

Katie: 28:35

Totalling? Yeah,

Amy: 28:36

I feel you on that. Okay, so we're gonna get into our rap session. So besides keeping your spine aligned, what would you say is your favorite wellness or beauty hack?

Debbie: 28:49

So I told you about the foam rolling, that's definitely number one and number two that you made that we didn't really touch on. And this is a big one for me, is I take a CBD gummy every night before bed nice. And I started doing that over the last six months six to nine months or so both because I feel more discomfort physically than I used to. And hormonally I am in a stage where I was like waking up in the middle of the night, every night at like three in the morning like on the nose and wide awake and couldn't get back to sleep and so that insomnia was something really new for me. And the CBD which has really awesome anti inflammatory benefits helps me to stay asleep and I have an awesome night of sleep because of a brand. So I actually saw this brand in my practice. It's called noetic nutraceuticals. And it was created by a friend of mine who I believe you know wholeheartedly in his science and in the process in which they went through to create it and that's probably a whole nother podcast in and of itself. But not all CBD is created equal.

Katie: 29:57

Yes, I agree with that. Go ahead. Yeah. Yeah, but

Debbie: 30:00

no, that's probably my best health hack besides the foam roll

Katie: 30:04

that's a good one. I'm gonna have to try it because I was doing CBD like tinctures for a little while at nighttime. This was a couple of this was like during the pandemic in the beginning, and you're right, they're not all created equal. Like I I had to stop because I don't know it just it wasn't working for me, but I would really love to try that one. Okay, sure. The next one, we call it our five minute flow. Just got out of the shower. Uber ping do their five minutes away. What are you going to do to get into that? Uber on time, get yourself ready? What are your holy grails your go twos?

Debbie: 30:33

You know, Amy's gonna totally laugh at this and she could probably answer this for me and the answer is Ubers gonna have to wait. That's like never a possibility for me to get out the door in five minutes. There's a joke. I'm I have an issue with punctuality. Getting out the door to five minutes. Uber might have to wait an extra minute or two. But yeah, what would I do? I I don't ever ever get dressed without putting body cream on all over. Face Cream. legs, hands. I think I'm like a little dry. So like if I don't do that, I feel weird. So that's number one. Number two would be hair gel. I have curly hair as you can see. And so like just throw hair gel in and then run out the door. And mascara lipstick even during masking lipstick.

Katie: 31:24

Wow. Really? Yeah. They make you feel good. Yeah,

Amy: 31:30

I mean, if you felt like finished, yeah,

Debbie: 31:32

finished or like, you know, like going out lipstick.

Amy: 31:35

Yeah, that's good. That's good. Okay, and how do you maintain your daily nirvana?

Debbie: 31:41

Oh, that's a good question. And to be totally honest, there's lots of days where my nirvana is missing. I think it's hard. Being a mom business owner chiropractor. I am often needed by everyone else. And so the biggest challenge for me is creating space where I get to exist without anyone needing me. Some days I can accomplish it. And other days I cannot exercise. Nice weather this morning. I went out for a walk and oh my god, it's so gorgeous out. And honestly, this is gonna sound really ridiculous. My dog.

Katie: 32:17

Yeah, that's.

Debbie: 32:19

That's an unconditional constant. And I love that she doesn't really need much from me.

Amy: 32:24

That's yeah, sweet. What

Katie: 32:25

kind of dog kind of dog is she?

Debbie: 32:27

A beagle Collie max. And she's just

Amy: 32:30

as like the best dog you've ever met. She has the best personality. She's like a human. And she is like, so sweet and so friendly. And like, she's such a sweet.

Katie: 32:39

I love puppy Snuggles. That's great. I love that. Nice. Yes.

Debbie: 32:43

And that's probably what brings me my Nirvana more than anything is coming home to her because she is just always super happy and only wants to just

Amy: 32:52

she's obsessed with you.

Debbie: 32:55

And I'm obsessed with her. So it's I don't blame you.

Katie: 32:58

She's the sweet. That's

Amy: 32:59

awesome. So I have a quick product review that. I think Debbie, you might have an opinion on, which is why I wanted to review this today. And I haven't I don't have a full review because I'm still trying it. But I recently got this LED lights, like this red light. I'm gonna put it in the screen. I

Katie: 33:18

saw that in your bedroom. And I was like, Wow, is this contraption I'm not surprised. Amy is the one that has it, of

Amy: 33:25

course. So I've been wanting to try red light forever. Because I've heard it has really great benefits anti inflammatory, it's really good for so many different issues. And this one I got on Amazon. But I had seen it because I got a facial a couple of months ago or something and the woman when she had my mask on or something did this red light, but it was like a portable one. So we'll share a picture of it on our Instagram. But it's kind of like a small little LED light that's flexible and can go over your face. So you just sit there for 10 minutes or 20 minutes and it goes on your face. So I've I haven't carved out enough time to do it. Like a lot of people do it daily a couple of times a week. I have noticed that when I do it. My skin does look good, but I know it's cumulative. But I would love to hear your thoughts, Deb on red light therapy because I know it's very much like in vogue right now. And a lot of people are starting to use it. But I have heard it has incredible benefits, but I want to hear your point of view on it. Well,

Debbie: 34:14

I don't really know a lot about it and in terms of facial rejuvenation, but I would love to come over and try it at your house. But I know that my acupuncturists, we have red lights. We have red light lamps in my office and I dry needle and they do acupuncture and when I have the needles in the person's back, we put the red light on top. Yeah, and it's supposed to help further the benefit of the needle into the tissue. So I know that there's definitely some, you know, Eastern philosophy that the red light is really helpful and that it really can benefit you know tissue and wellness and reduce inflammation and all of that. So I would imagine it should be good For the face, I've never tried it.

Amy: 35:01

Yeah, and this one actually I use it for my face. But like if I had, you know, joint pain or something, they say, this is flexibles you could like put it on your arm, you could put it on your leg, you can really put it anywhere. We were actually thinking, forgetting one, but we've been researching like the red light saunas, like the big ones that you can walk in, because it's supposed to be just so good for you like for every part of your body. So anyway, I'm testing it out. I'll keep I'll keep the audience informed on it. But so far, so good. Just gotta carve out a little bit more time for it. But that's, that's a fun one. And

Katie: 35:29

Amy, the brand and the name of that and how much was oh,

Amy: 35:33

yeah, sorry, this one I researched. This one's on Amazon. It's called hydras, skincare PD, PDT, LED light photodynamic facial skincare rejuvenation, photon therapy machines $279. I will put a link to it, but I had researched this one. And I feel like this was the one she had recommended, etc. So we will talk about that. And just for everyone listening, if anybody wants to reach out to Debbie, I would say to go to your website. Right, Deb? Is that the best place for people to find you? It's blocked? chiropractic.com?

Debbie: 36:05

No, it's actually as Laurie chiropractic center.com. Sorry, Chiropractic Center. And there's a contact on there where you can just click and send an email and it'll come right to us that you're at if you're interested.

Amy: 36:18

Okay, perfect. Yeah. And then you're gonna close that. Go ahead.

Debbie: 36:22

No, I was just gonna say that. Besides chiropractic. There's also acupuncture and massage therapy, too. If that was something else, that somebody wanted to look for it, we can do a podcast in the future talking about those things.

Amy: 36:31

I know I would love to. And I was saying to Debbie, when I was there, I'm like, I need to spend a whole day here. I need to get adjusted, then I need to get a massage. These are all the things that I love. This is like, no mana day for me. But in Okay, and we always like to

Katie: 36:44

go Yeah, I was just gonna say like, that's something that I love so much about what you do. It's like it's holistic, you're approaching the body holistically. And I just, I think it's great. We were when we first started doing thinking about doing this episode with you. You know, you can think like we were saying before, like could the chiropractic care, it's just adjusting the bones in the spine, it but it's so much more than that. And I love that our listeners learned that today. And I just love your approach and everything. So thank you for being with us today, Debbie.

Debbie: 37:17

Yeah, you guys. I really appreciate you having me. All right.

Amy: 37:20

And we always like to close out with a mantra to set a tone for the end of the episode. So Katie has one for us today.

Katie: 37:26

I do and it is Be kind to yourself. Your body is a temple and You are the Goddess that resides within it. So to carry your body and go find a Kyra

Debbie: 37:41

episode. It's perfect. Thank you.

Amy: 37:43

Good one. 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 49 - Product Junkies - April Edition (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 49 Product Junkies - April Edition.

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: 0:18

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

Amy: 0:29

Welcome back to the show Nirvana sisters family. So Amy and Katie here and we have a special episode we are starting to introduce something called our hashtag product junkie sessions. And this is the first one this was based on a lot of feedback from you all saying that you love to hear other product reviews at the end and the different things we talked about there. And so we're doing a bit of a we're gonna do a quick quick flash round of a bunch of products that Katie and I have been loving lately. If this is something that you like, we'll continue to do it monthly. Katie and I are always trying out different products. I want to make sure that we're bringing you kind of like the goods and the bads of all the things starting with a quick round I'm going to I'm going to send it to Katie to give us her first product reco of this episode.

Katie: 1:15

All right, this is great. I'm super excited because I have some products that I'm like obsessed with the first one here the first one all right, I was looking at pictures of myself from years ago and I was thinking why does my skin look like that? It was really like really clear my pores are really small gonna have a pore on my face and I was I just couldn't understand what had changed. And then I remembered I had this product that I was obsessed with back then and for whatever reason it just fell out of rotation and I totally forgot about it. So here she is again, or the company rather good old Sunday Riley I don't know how many times I've talked about them I'm upside I do love Sunday Riley Yeah, love it's there Martian mattifying melting water gel toner and interesting gives your skin this really nice matte look. And it also really legitimately minimizes your pores so your face just looks I know it's like the smoothest and my skins ever looked and I don't know why I stopped using it I have no clue maybe I like couldn't find it one day and I was too lazy to order it online and then forgot about it. But as soon as within probably a week of using it it my skin game was

Amy: 2:30

back on like it okay so it's Sunday Riley and what's it called Martian

Katie: 2:34

Martian mattifying melting water gel toner.

Amy: 2:39

And is it in the morning or at night

Katie: 2:41

I use it in the morning I use it during the day for like how I want my skin to look during the day and it says it's for oily to blemish prone skin which lately mine really has been in this is helping instantly transforms from a cooling gel to a water toner as a clarifies removes oil and tightens the appearance of pores for clearer cleaner skin. And let me tell you, it delivers. It really does.

Amy: 3:05

I need to try it. I'm

Katie: 3:06

as much as that it's $25 and they have it that's it. Yeah,

Amy: 3:11

that's very reasonable for Sunday. Riley it is.

Katie: 3:14

But also I should note this is for 1.7 ounces. It's a pretty small thing. But if you're only using a little like dime size once a day dime size does that it's all you need. Okay, and yeah, and they have other things in this like Martian family that I haven't tried yet. But yeah, um, I like this will never go out of rotation again in my life.

Amy: 3:39

That sounds great. It's funny, my friend Erica. I was talking to her about products the other day and she said she got a product similar to that by Clinique that minimizes pores I don't know if it was a toner or a CRM or something but interesting, I will have to try that. Okay, next product let's give each other and this week take a picture. Take a picture of this one because it's a fun bottle, we'll edit the sound texture spray. So first of all, the packaging is so cute. I love it. It's so colorful. But this is actually like a really good spray if it's like second day or third day or whatever and you just want to like judge up your hair and give it some volume and texture This is great. So my hairstylist Teresa shout out introduced me to this not this brand but this specific spray she had introduced me to another spray years ago from aura bay that I still use, which is good but I actually like this one better. It's just a little bit more texture II so whenever I use it, it adds like volume in it's great. I think I might have used a little bit today but it's it's great. So it's a mica undone volume and matte texture spray $27 You can find it on Amazon probably Sephora, etc, etc. So good little hair hack,

Katie: 4:47

do you so do you use it on like clean just dried hair or do you use it like a couple days later? Like a dry like a dry shampoo?

Amy: 4:58

I think you can do both. I think it works better on dry hair I'm looking at the directions and it says dry finishing spray builds instant fullness and matte texture for perfectly. How do you say this word to us led Taos Walsall. Okay, for perfect not editing

Katie: 5:18

that out.

Amy: 5:21

I can't say the word Telcel high volume hair, use it shake spray in sections all over dry styled hair tarsal is so you I use it like you could use it after you blow out your hair. I've done that too. Like I've blown out my hair and then just use it to like judge it up. And then I'll use it like day to day three, whatever. So you could use it anytime. But you do use it on dry hair. Yeah, I mean, it's almost like a dry shampoo or conditioner but more of a texturizer

Katie: 5:46

right. So when I wash my hair, I let it air dry and then it doesn't get that good texture for like a day or two. So that would be a way to do that. Because I had never washed my hair the same day. I have an event for that reason. I need something like that. Yeah,

Amy: 6:00

I always do second day hair too. I find it always looks better the second day, but this definitely helps with that. It just like pulls that texture out. Yeah. Okay, what do we got next?

Katie: 6:07

All right, well, speaking of hey, this. So lately I've been getting a lot of compliments on my hair, you wouldn't be able to tell right now my roots are so grown out. But this actually fixes that problem. I like I just said I washed my hair and then I have super thick hair as Do you. So really I wash it like once or twice a week max otherwise it gets dried out. So the way that I keep it going and fresh is with dry shampoo. And I've tried a billion different brands. And this is my new fav This is a super cheap drugstore. Find. It's Batista. I use their Oh yeah, they're brilliant blonde. Which is great, because when my dark roots come in, it actually like hides my roots. So the great thing about it is that obviously I can stretch the washes and but it also it also gives me volume. And like covers up the roots and makes it really fresh and great. Yeah, I mean, I'll show you right now.

Amy: 7:03

Wait, is it sorry, did you say it was a dry shampoo?

Katie: 7:05

It's the Batista dry shampoo blonde blends smells like our color tracks. Yeah, look, watch.

Amy: 7:12

Okay, cool. Demonstrating

Katie: 7:16

look like I mean, I mean, like blended a bit, but no more. Wow. Isn't that wild?

Amy: 7:22

That's so cool. I need to get that ASAP. Yeah,

Katie: 7:25

I'm obsessed. And they have got like CVS, yes, CVS, you can get it literally at any drugstore. I feel like it's I mean, and let me see. It's $10 and then they How

Amy: 7:36

does it How does it wear? Like if you put it in your hair today? Like is it still in tomorrow? Is it like get weird and gross are

Katie: 7:43

wears really well. I'll put it in sometimes, like a couple times a day, I have to do it. And the only thing that I do notice is that when I do go to wash my hair, I really need to do like a double rents to clear up any just like product residue, you know, right? If it gets a little sticky or something. Yeah, but like, because it's dry shampoo. It keeps your hair going for a long time. Like I mean, I can get away with one wash a week with it. And then totally it's

Amy: 8:12

it frustrates me it's like playing double duty. It's like doing your roots plus it's a dry shampoo. And I don't I don't use dry shampoos that much because my hair like I could wash it once a week and it never gets oily but I do use a dry conditioner which I've mentioned before from dry bar which is really good. But I want to try that because I My roots are I feel like the older I get the more and more my I need to get my roots or like my highlights done more often. So that's a great one.

Katie: 8:36

Yeah. And they have like they have it in brown. They have it in different colors they have they also have dry conditioners, which I'd never heard of until I was on their site earlier. So I need to look into a dry conditioner, especially for metal anything could be really good for her. So yeah, there you go. Yeah,

Amy: 8:52

I love a dry conditioner. It's not it's just as a different feel than a dry shampoo. It's not as like thick. It's just a little bit more smoothing. Okay, so speaking of hair than and getting out all of the dry shampoo that makes your roots blonde. I have another products. This is a hair scalp massager. I've seen this. So I actually got this shout out to Taylor rose aka healthy who got who we had on our show because she's doing a lot of content lately about hair and using Rosemary which I started so I'll report back to to get the results on that. But on her site, she had a link out to this specific hair scalp massager I got on Amazon, it was $6.98 and it's great. I've never used something like this before. First of all, it's nice and big. So when you put it in your hand it has like a good feel and then you literally just like massage your hair with it. First of all, I love the massage part. It feels so good, so much better than just like washing your hair and like scrubbing with your fingers. And I do feel like it does a better job at cleaning my hair because I usually just do it so quickly and Ramona veers fingers through it, but this really like gets in there and I think it like stimulate your hair follicles. It's really good. So I just put shampoo on this now and then I wash my hair with it and use the conditioner with it too. It feels really good. It's a little little little Nirvana in your shower. So what's it called this product? It's called I'm sorry if I didn't mention it. It's called just the hair scalp hair scalp massage shampoo brush, by Mack soft scalp care brush. So we'll we'll provide all the links of all these products so you all can check it out. But great one

Katie: 10:28

nice. Okay, hair. All right, well, I'm going to pivot to skin back to where we started. Alright, Trader Joe's find supergene love it. It's always there. Their dermatologists formulated hydrating Hyaluronic body gel cream. Oh this is my new like everyday go to body lotion. And it's really it's really nice like it's definitely moisturizing and it leaves kind of a nice I don't know just like a cooling effect on your skin. It's not super heavy you know solutions you put on there like really thick and it feels like you got to rub them in and rubber man and rubber men right

Amy: 11:09

and then like you have to wait to put your clothes on because they get sticky exactly that

Katie: 11:13

this is not that it's nice and light and and it really is very hydrating. I mean it's like still winter where I live which is shocking. And my skin is really never dry because I'm using this so it's from Trader Joe's and it's only 699

Amy: 11:30

I love Trader Joe's so on we've been finding so many Trader Joe's products frankly like we I think we talked about the the eye cream and the rose spray. Yeah, they just randomly have like good products. Is that product thick or thin?

Katie: 11:41

It's kind of it's funny, it's like in between it's kind of hard to explain. Yeah, because it's a gel cream. A gel cream like that's fine like the little cooling Yeah, like it's I mean you can see it's on my finger right now. And it's looks like it's thin and I guess it kind of is but it's like it was clear. It's as hydrating as a healthy a heavy one would be Yeah, I love it.

Amy: 12:06

I definitely want to try that. Okay, so speaking of body lotions and oils I've been using this one for a while and I haven't talked about on the show. It's the OSA undara Algae body oil nice. Have you seen this I love this body oil. It feels so good on this skin. It's $48 you can get it at Credo Ulta Sephora etc but let me talk about the the oil so my skin is really dry so I do use moisturizer but sometimes I like to use maybe a couple times a week in oil just because I feel like it's more hydrating and my skin doesn't get as dry when I use an oil but a lot of times I like what will what I do with this is because sometimes I don't like to put the thick oil on my skin it just feels like too sticky. So what I do is I put a pump of this and a pump of moisturizer and mix it together and then it's like a smart combination of like cream and oil and it my skin feels so good when I use it it feels so like just plump and moisturize and I love it so I've been using it for a while as you can see it's helpful and it's a really really good one a little goes a long way so it is $48 But it does last a long time. I also have another one that I don't have in front of me and I can talk about it on the next episode. There's another bottle oil that I have from skin and senses which I think is a little bit less expensive and I also really liked that one so I can talk about that one but anyway really good finds. Again it's the Osia Undaria Ondara algae oil

Katie: 13:33

and what lotion do you mix it with?

Amy: 13:36

It's funny I don't have I don't have it to show you but I can send a link to it. And it's I found this suave lotion which is super cheap because I used to use you remember the and you have a to the bliss butter and Shea cream like that thick moisturizing cream I like love that lotion I used to buy it all the time. But I was like sick of buying it you can't like find it in the stores to buy it online. It's it's they would sell it in these big jars is really expensive. So the suave stuff that I found is almost it's not a dupe for it, but it has similar it has a similar smell. It has shea butter and has coconut and it's paraben free you know all natural it's like from the suave naturals collection so I really like it and the consistency is perfect for me. So that's what I've been using lately and I mix it with the oil so I'll put a link up for

Katie: 14:24

that tonight. So do you know what say I feel like our listeners have heard sky bark so many times that we need to give them some sky can assume your office. Take a picture she is let's get her in there

Amy: 14:34

crazy woman topic she has to she's so bad cashmere. She just got something in our mouth Put on Skype probably wants to go outside. Oh here she is.

Katie: 14:50

I cannot believe she's like quadrupled in size since I saw a huge

Amy: 14:54

Yeah, look at her. She's a big girl.

Katie: 14:55

Oh, she's so cute.

Amy: 14:57

She's like 26 pounds now.

Katie: 14:58

Oh my gosh.

Amy: 15:00

Okay, all right, I max on the skin route.

Katie: 15:03

I'm done on square one, actually. But I have. So I have a product that I promised I would review a long time ago I story about it. Actually, I posted about it, it's volume. It was their, their health intelligence test that I did, that you they send you a kit. And they take a stool sample and not the funnest, and then a blood sample. And then you send it back. And they have all of this amazing technology that tells you exactly what pre and probiotics your system is missing and needs, and what vitamins and minerals and antigens your body needs. And then they customize and send you probiotics and vitamins. So it's not cheap. I mean, when you when you think about what it actually is, I think it's a very good price. It's 199 to do the testing, and then the supplements and everything that come back, I think the first go around, they give it to you for like $70. But it's a lot. It's like, for example, this one package. I'm supposed to take this whole thing in a day it has eight in it, there's no way I could take eight vitamins, like one in here does the job. I feel it working.

Amy: 16:24

What what vitamins. So when you do the stool sample and the blood sample, what does it tell you about your store? Because I know we talked about that on the period guru episode and I was like, oh, I should do I should do that testing to see like what I'm missing or all of that. What is it? Does it tell you anything or just recommend something, it tells

Katie: 16:40

you so much information, it's insane. You download the app, it gives you all of these scores, whether or not your gut microbiome is like a good average optimal or not optimal, your cellular cellular health, your mitochondrial health, immune system, your stress response health, your what's your biological age, mine's 35, thank you. And it's and then it goes deeper, and it tells you foods that you should be eating and foods that you shouldn't be eating. And then in regards to like the stool test, it basically tells you like what your microbiome like what the imbalances are, and it gives you what you need to balance that in the customized probiotic. And then and so

Amy: 17:28

with the probiotic has that been helping you?

Katie: 17:30

It has, you know what the probiotics really heavy and actually, my stomach's been pretty good lately for like the last year I've taken out eggs kind of like was it a huge life changer for me. So for the probiotics, I'm not using them that much because my stomach has been doing very well. And when I do use them, it did feel a little bit heavy. But the disclaimer is they say you have to give your system kind of some time to adjust to them, which I think is fair. The vitamins, like for example, in my vitamin is 300 milligrams of curcumin, 35 milligrams of B 649 milligrams of a Kobo manera extract 201 milligrams of vitamin C and it goes on and on. And apparently this is like the exact dosage of what my body needs. While meanwhile, they're pretty strong. And I'm also just you know, I'm hypersensitive to stuff I put in my body. So that whole like trying to do aid, no shot, so I paid Yeah, like $75 for all of these. And I'm taking one pill from this pack a day. And there's 30 of these pills 30 of these patterns. So it goes it's gonna go a long way.

Amy: 18:34

How did you find out about this company? Like, what's the

Katie: 18:38

it was in that's kind of embarrassing, but it was really good Instagram advertising. But it was targeted me properly. But I went in and I did loads and loads of research and qualified them and read all the reviews and everything and the science and it's like it's backed. I mean, there's there's a lot of like peer review studies that are backing all of it. So it's legit. Okay, that's good. Great. Yeah.

Amy: 19:00

Okay, so speaking of. I have a the a bunch of skin stuff. But since we're in the supplement vitamin space, I'll talk about this brand, which is my new favorite semiotica Oh, yeah. So I have mentioned this brand before. And I've heard the founder interviewed several times on, I think it was the skinny confidential podcast and he goes super deep into the science and all of the backing and so totally legitimate. And these two supplements, one of them is the symbiotic aka b 12, and B six cellular energy. And the other one is the D three plus k two plus CO Q immunity and heart health. And these two I picked because I take B and D Anyway every day, but this is according to the founder and this company which I heard the whole explanation. The way that this is administered is lipids. somo which means through the mouth, so it's a pump, and you just put it in your mouth and it tastes yummy. You just do like 12 drops a day of each. And so that, I guess is a better way to take these types of vitamins. The other thing about this and I'm gonna butcher this as I don't really know how to describe it, but this b 12, mix with a B six, it's a better way to administer the B like it, I don't know, there's some rationale. They help each other i But if you absorb, they help each other. And that is the same thing with the d3. So I was just taking d3, but this has the k two and the CO Q and I think co Q is what you just I forgot what the it stands for like CO

Katie: 20:42

it might be co cretin. CO Q is maybe yeah, so Oh, no, I'm sorry. Coenzyme Q 10. So yeah, so this

Amy: 20:51

one with d3 has k two plus CO q 10. And the K two is a vitamin, which I don't know much about, I just like listen to the guy. And it's, you know, made sense to me. So, and essentially it says Like if you, you know, take these together the d3 Ketu and CO q 10. With the B 12. They help each other. So the d3 supports immune health support strong bones by assisting in the regulation of calcium and supports cardiovascular health by reducing arterial plaque. So that's the D three and then the B 12. So the B 12. It's the beach of plus B six can help with boosting energy improving your moods supporting heart health. And again, it says you know to take 12 pumps daily. And these two so when I was listening to the episode, he basically talked about his whole company and all the stuff they had about a few other things I bought like a vitamin C supplement, I bought magnesium supplement a few other things. But these were the two that like he said appeal to most people and that everyone should use so because they asked him on the show. Like if you had to pick two or three, what would you pick and it was like these jewels, something else. So anyway, I tried it two months ago, and I really like it, I replaced my I usually take like a gummy vitamin because I don't like to swallow a big pill. So I replaced my gummy vitamins with these. And I can definitely tell a difference with my energy, my mood, everything, I think it's definitely made a difference. In fact, I've ordered it now. I had one I ran out of it, I ordered another and now I just started I subscribed to their like bundle and save. So I get it every month. The only rub with this company is it is not cheap. So the vitamin B 12 is I mean, it's not too bad. But it's like if you do this, Subscribe and Save. It's like $43. And it's you know, not a huge amount. It's it basically a month, a month's worth the d3 is $69. So it is quite expensive. But if you've read and do the research and listen to some of these episodes I listened to I think it's worth it. I've also eliminated all my other vitamins and supplements. I literally use these two and it's like the vitamin C and whatever a few other things, but it's sort of equaled itself out because I'm not buying all of this like gummy vitamins and things. So yeah, I'm really, really into this synbiotic A company I think their stuff is it's super clean the way he describes all the way that they get their minerals. It's super legit, and I love it. So that is my supplementation product reco lately,

Katie: 23:16

I think you know, investing your money into a quality supplement product that you know the source and you know, what's in it is really important because supplements and vitamins are they don't go through like FDA approval. So you can buy a supplement and it can just be complete garbage. So I don't the price doesn't scare me so much. And the really cool thing about the fact that it's a spray that I heard you say it like was so long, I don't know if that's like a cell wall. Yeah, so part of that is the perk behind that is because they can they can give it to you with less filler with less junk, it's more of a straight shot and then just the way that your body absorbs it is faster, it's more readily available in your system. So I think

Amy: 24:02

I can I can definitely tell a difference and these are both I know the vitamin B says it's keto and vegan. I think the other one is too nice. So really, really quality quality product. Yeah,

Katie: 24:13

I love that. Well I just have one last super quick one that is just kind of like a fun little bit. It's my new favorite candle. It's the it's the root brand I find it here at Fresh Market. I don't know I mean they have their own website root candles.com part of their aromatherapy seeking balance like capsule collection and you can get a you know, an eight ounce candle for $23 It's a little steep but it lasts a really long time. It's a scent of eucalyptus now

Amy: 24:42

I think that's a good price for our candle. Yeah, those

Katie: 24:44

are right, like I pay $65 for my favorite Diptyque candle. But the cool thing about this is that it increases overall brain activity and relieves congestion. And I swear when I like this sucker during the day when I'm working, I don't know what it does, but it stimulates something like it helps me With my flow the scent in the air I really like I kind of spares if I can't light it when I'm working so anyway it's just a fun one it's a good thing to have in your house

Amy: 25:08

yeah that's a good one and I think that's a reminder any like I have so many candles and I never like think to put them on I just like we put them on sometimes at night for having dinner but like it is a good thing to do while you're working put you in the zone. Yeah, for sure to in a good flow. So I have a few products and we're gonna go through them really quickly because we all gotta go. So first one I'll recommend is this Glow Recipe watermelon glow, nice cinnamon dewdrops, obsessed, obsessed, obsessed. I've seen this like all over it's something I've wanted to try. It's like a serum you put on that basically, it's it can serve as a primer or just a serum. But as soon as you put it on, it's like your skin is glowing. And I love that glowy dewy look. So highly recommend $34 Sephora, you know glow recipe.com another one and this is like an amazing dude. So everybody, listen to this one. We all talk about the SkinCeuticals vitamin C and folic acid. This is a dupe of it. It's called the Dr. Brenner C serum vitamin C for like I think is around like 160 $170 this Dr. Brenner C serum is $20. Wow, got on Amazon. And I found it through, I had posted about a site which we'll put the name in the show notes because I can't recall the site right now. But there's a website that you can put in certain products and it takes the ingredients and it matches it with other products that are very similar. So this was a match by like 99%. And I've been using it and I don't see a difference. I actually almost like it better. It's it's a really, really nice quality product. So highly recommend this for do for this SkinCeuticals vitamin C E for reliq. And two other things quickly. So this I got from our friend, Shelley, a beauty Shaman. So this is one of her tools. She posts about it a lot, but it's called the this is called the obsidian rock roller. And I am obsessed. I use it all the time. So I just brought this out skiing with us with all the altitude I was so puffy. And I use this every day. I used it on my kids, they loved it. I mean, it's on my neck though. It's basically like it's kind of like a guasha and like a cupping. I'm feeling all at once and I just feel like it's like a lazy guasha. So for me, I just sit here and I use it all over my face and it's so like it kind of sucks in your face and it definitely works for swelling and just like to get kind of like stuff out of your skin. I use it on my neck first like Shelly always says and then I also use it on my shoulders when they're sore to like massage my shoulder. So I was just using it on my kids the other day on their shoulders in the back of their neck. It's such a good one. So I've been using this a ton of time. It's the obsidian rock roller on beauty shamans website. It's $98 Such a great beauty tool. I love it. And the last thing I will say is I've been using for a while now this L'Oreal True Match nude Hyaluronic tinted serum. Okay, so this is a serum but it's tinted. The only thing is is doesn't have SPF like the there's a another one that I have to that's not to say but the other brand that I always mix Ilya, Ilya, I always get those two brands confused and that one has SPF and is good, but I actually like this one better because it's a thinner formula. So this is by L'Oreal. And again, it's just like a serum. And so you put it on your hands like a serum and you just rub it in and it just kind of smooths out your face. I mean, I don't really wear foundation and this is like a good like, I'll wear this at night. Sometimes you could just you could wear it every day. It's super light. It's just kind of like, you know, puts puts together your luck almost like a tinted moisturizer but it's a serum so it's not so thick and you just like put it on and it really makes a big difference. It's

Katie: 28:40

great. It just smooths out so drunk so I lie and write Did you say L'Oreal?

Amy: 28:43

It's a drugstore fine. Yeah, it's, it's $15 Target Amazon, wherever and it's a great one. So it's great one to put on after you've done all your glowing tools and everything else. So that's it. That was our episode. And we hope you enjoyed it. Definitely give us feedback and we'll be sure to do another product junkie section session next month. 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 41 - Real Period Talk With Jenna Longoria, The Period Guru (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 41 Real Period Talk With Jenna Longoria, The Period Guru.

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: 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 super excited to introduce you to Jenna Longoria, aka the period guru. Jenna is a board certified functional nutrition practitioner specializing in women's hormones. She was listed by Huffington Post as one of the top 20 new health writers to follow in 2017. That's so cool. And her work has been featured in mind body green and BC the elephant journal. She's also an author. Her book is the period solution 28 Day hormone balancing guide. Through her virtual private practice, Jenna helps women reclaim their hormones and digestive health with a multidisciplinary approach combining functional medicine, nutrition and diagnostic lab testing and her results driven root cause program. She's a firm believer that the right diet and lifestyle can put any hormonal condition into remission. And I think that is super exciting. I just can't wait to hear all about it because it's gonna be so helpful for so many people. So welcome to the show. Jenna.

Jenna: 1:30

Thank you. Thank you so much for having me on today, Katie. Thank you, Amy. Happy to talk about hormones, periods, and anything else that we're guided to discuss today. That's

Katie: 1:40

great. Well, we usually start our show with our nirvana of the week. So it's just a little moment that brought you joy. So I'm gonna I'm gonna kick it to Amy to let her get it started.

Amy: 1:51

Sure. Well, my Nirvana this week might be similar to Katie's because we had a baby birth in the family. So my cousin, Matt and his wife just had their first baby girl. And they we haven't met her yet, but they she was born, I guess, like last weekend. So it's just really cute to see them. You know, have a new little family. They had a little girl named Cora, Cece, for sure. And it was just really exciting. I'm excited to meet her. We'll probably meet her in the next few weeks. But they got married during COVID and just had the baby during COVID. So it's just interesting time. But yeah, it's just cute to see them with a newborn and all excited about parenthood. So that was my nirvana. And I'll pass it to you, Katie.

Katie: 2:39

Yeah, that's, I mean, definitely part of my nirvana. It's so great to have another little baby in the family. And, like maybe the last one for a long time until, like, grandkids, right? Until they have a second which hopefully they do, fingers crossed. But I also had a little moment of Nirvana this morning about an hour ago. I I'm just I'm feeling really great today, physically, mentally, just having a great day feeling like myself after being little under the weather for a while. And after I dropped my daughter off from preschool, I just jammed out to want my new favorite song in the car. I blasted as loud as I possibly could. I didn't care that people thought I was an absolute idiot in the, you know, waiting at the stoplight, and I just had a moment of euphoria, where I just felt the music and my body and my soul. And it just brought me so much joy and kind of you know, woke me up and started my day. So that was mine. What about you, Jenna?

Jenna: 3:30

Well, so for the week, right? Or is it today

Amy: 3:32

to be anything we any day? Yeah.

Jenna: 3:35

Well, I've you know, I've practiced in a yoga Sharla for the first time this Wednesday, so I practice Ashtanga Yoga in the mornings. And before locked down, it was like an everyday six day a week I would practice with my community every morning rain or shine six in the morning. And it was a little bit of soul crushing when all that closed during COVID. And so I just moved to Amsterdam. And this Wednesday, I finally found a new home Sharla. And I joined the program and I practiced and it was just the best feeling ever to unroll my mat and just practice with people and get all sweaty and leave and feel great. It says that the best way to start start the day for me personally. So that was I was really grateful for that to practice with people in the community.

Katie: 4:21

That's great and you're glowing. I can get that yoga glow. Well, I've never what is a Shahla? And you have to explain that to me, because I'm a yogi, but I don't know this one. Yeah, so

Jenna: 4:29

Sharla is like a home for yoga. So when like the yoga Scripture, the yoga by the Hatha Yoga predict kappa or yoga sutras by Patanjali they call it a Shahla. So it's like a home for yoga instead of a studio. It's like I guess the Sanskrit word yoga Shala.

Katie: 4:46

I love that. Okay. Very cool. All right. Well, let's get right into it because we have so much to talk about. We've got a few quickfire questions for you. First, let's just start out with the basics. How long have you been a functional nutritionist and And what were you doing before you became the fabulous period guru?

Jenna: 5:03

Yeah, oh my gosh, it was just such a crazy road that led me here. So I've been doing this for about eight years now. And I this is definitely not wasn't I didn't wake up when I was, you know, little and say, I'm gonna be the period guru and I grow up. But I actually originally was in grad school in Washington DC at American University, and I was an associate producer for a political radio show. And that was like my first life. And I had horrible period problems and hormone issues. And they eventually just got so bad. And, you know, they started when I was 14. So I really think our pain is our purpose, you know, I always had issues. But at 14, I was put on the birth control pill to mask the issues. And turns out, I have polycystic ovarian syndrome and endometriosis. And I was just kind of trying to stay on the birth control pill and just, you know, ignore my body. And then one day, I just had this Wake Up Calls, I need to take care of myself, and I want to, so I did before I quit grad school, before I quit my job in DC, I started to look into more into holistic, holistic modalities, got off the birth control pill. And then I realized that that's actually what I wanted to do, I wanted to share this with other females, because I knew that there was another way than just taking the birth control pill to solve every problem. And so I did that, and I went back to school, became a nutritionist and have devoted my life to helping other women balance or hormones.

Katie: 6:32

And you have been practicing as the period guru for how many years now,

Jenna: 6:36

you know, at first, I was just a nutritionist, and I just, you know, my, my business was healthier notions. And I just was kind of I saw, I just really, people were coming to me for the kind of common weight loss kind of thing. And I would always ask them about their periods. And one day, one of my clients lovingly and jokingly said, You're the period guru, you know, you always ask what are my period, and they should call you the period guru. And I was like, ah, that actually clicks, you know, so about, I guess that was about four years ago, now, I completely rebranded and changed my focus to just serving women. And more about hormone balance became the period guru, because I realized that, you know, first of all, weight loss is just a symptom of inflammation and as a symptom of an imbalance. So when I help my clients achieve hormone balance, fix their digestion issues, you know, optimize their gut, then weight loss is just a side effect. It's not something we're really focusing on.

Katie: 7:37

Yeah, that's, that's actually really interesting that you say that, because I've had a kind of a personal experience with that recently. But yes, okay. So so you, you touched on it a bit. So you have endometriosis and PCOS?

Jenna: 7:53

Correct? Yeah. How old are you? I'm one of the lucky winners, I get, I get

Katie: 7:57

the double right, of course, how long? When did you was that in your teens that you really

Jenna: 8:03

don't you know, I never got a diagnosis until I was in my 20s. Because when I was I started menstruating on 13. And then at 14, I was just having these horrendous periods. And a lot of, you know, those polycystic ovaries and the little over, you know, but they're not really sis. They're their little follicles and large follicles. But I was having that and the doctor put me on birth control pill, he's like this will fix it. He never gave me a diagnosis or anything like that. And so as a child, I was my hormones were cut off completely. And I had a lot of side effects from the birth control pill like I really reacted negatively to it, I gained weight, I became depressed, having crippling anxiety. Then at 15, I had to put me on Prozac because of that. And it turned out that I'm not a depressed person. Actually, as soon as I got off birth control pill a decade later, that kind of went away. And so you know, that's why when I got off the birth control pill, we were able to discover the real issue, because it silenced the symptom when I was on the birth control pill at 14 and got Yeah, okay, I didn't have painful periods anymore. I didn't have a period. So if you're on birth control, you don't have a period, you have a withdrawal bleed, so I wasn't having pain anymore. I wasn't having you know, those issues, but I was having tons of other side effects. So when I finally got off of it, we were able to realize, oh, wow, you have endometriosis. So they see knows that an average of 10 years they get a diagnosis and that's absolutely true, because I didn't get an official diagnosis until I was actually not until I was like 27. So more than 10 years. I knew I knew when I got off the birth control pill and then and started having painful periods. I'm like, I know I have to have endometriosis like and the only way you can get official diagnosis is through a laparoscopic procedures they have to cut you open and they have to look so you know, that's a lot of that that can cause scar tissue. That's a surgery you know, so not everybody wants to have that diagnostic tool done, but When I was on my honeymoon when I was, I think, yeah, so I yeah, my honeymoon, I had an ovarian cyst rupture and it was it ruptured around my it hemorrhage actually tore off a piece of my ovary. And I had to go to the hospital in Thailand and get an emergency surgery in there, they were like you're riddled with endometriosis. Wow. And I was like, That makes so much sense. I've already known this, but it confirms it. So yeah, you know, and that's what I took, really, I just knew that I had to figure this out. Because the only option I went back to the doctor, like we'll just get back on the pill. And it's kind of don't want to do that. There has to be another way right? Quick Fix It is in allopathic medicine. It's like if you haven't had kids, but you don't want to have kids yet and you have issues. They put you on the pill to fix it. If you can't get pregnant and you have issues, then they immediately send you to a fertility clinic or want to give you Clomid or Metformin or whatever. And then after you've had kids and you have issues, they just want to give you a hysterectomy. Like that's really the three top.

Katie: 11:03

That's why it's so true. Yeah, yeah. Western medicine, it's like that's let's just put a bandaid on instead of digging deeper and seeing what the root cause of it is, which hence, there you go. Root Cause program, I assume that's

Jenna: 11:16

because I was told that I would never cycle naturally and never ovulate naturally, I was told that I wouldn't be able to start a family without lots of drugs and interventions. I mean, I don't have kids yet, but I haven't tried. But I but I ovulate regularly every month, I have painful periods. For the most part, there's a few years that maybe might be a little bit painful. But I'll take that from my periods every single month of the year used to just put me in so much pain, pain medicine did nothing, I would get nauseous because there was so much pain, I thought I was gonna have to go to the emergency room. So yeah, like it's possible in all of this, which is diet, lifestyle changes, doing the right functional labs and supporting my body and giving it what it needs. So I can get back.

Amy: 11:59

That's what I was going to ask you. So you've been able to manage this all through what you were just saying diet, lifestyle labs, like, can you tell us a little bit more about that journey? Because Katie, and I will talk later, but Katie has an autoimmune and other things. And I have. So it's just interesting to hear, like how you kind of get there? And then we'll kind of take you through some of the experience that we've had.

Jenna: 12:23

Yeah. Well, you know, first of all, it's like Western medicine looks at everything in isolation. That's just how they're trained. And they're trained to diagnose, and it's just a different type of medicine. It's not bad, it's not good. It's just, it's good when it's used for when it when you need Western medicine, like if I was in a car crash, or when I had a surgery when my ovarian cyst ruptured, and I almost died because it tore off a chunk of my ovary. I am so glad I had a surgeon there that was trained, absolutely thrilled, like it saved my life. But for the most part, when we're talking about preventative care, or talking about nutrition and supporting our body before there's a disease before it becomes like the severe issue. Western medicine fails us, and especially women, we are, we are grossly underserved. In we are in the health industry. Like, If a man goes in and complains that his, you know, testes are hurting, or his you know, he can't have an a jet, you know, he can't get an erection, they're gonna, like run every single lab under the sun on him. They're gonna give him Viagra, which, you know, like, they're gonna just really take it seriously. But a woman comes in and she complains of painful periods like I did growing up and they're like, we'll just take the pill, or that's just part of being a woman, which actually, there was a research study showing they were measuring the pressure of women who are having a period cramps, versus the pressure on women when they were have contractions and labor. And I don't know the exact number, but it was something like, like 10 times more on these women's period, cramps who had endometriosis. So I have literally had clients who have told me that they would after they had kids, it confirmed that their worst period pain was worse than a contraction. There were like, my labor was nothing compared to my period pain. And so it's invalidated, you know, our pain is invalidated in the doctor's office. So there's that there's that like, you know, we're missing you know, we're not given the it's not given the attention it deserves going back to like what I did and how I supported my body is really just by kind of try stop going to the allopathic medicine. I'm always looking for something else. So insanity, the definition of insanity is trying to do the same thing, right, expecting a different outcome. So I was going to doctor to doctor and they're all telling you the same thing, and I was frustrated and I was like, Well, if I want Thai food, I'm not going to go to a pizza restaurant and get mad when they don't give me Thai food. You know, go to a Thai restaurant. So right If I was looking more into the functional world in which we look at systems and and in functional medicine, we're looking at all of your systems together, not in isolation, not like just the liver and the eyes and the ovaries and the hormones, we're looking at everything together and supporting that it's a mix of, you know, the right functional labs. So I find a lot of doctors, they don't test the right markers, they don't get adequate testing. insurance doesn't cover adequate testing. So there's no way going to your conventional doctor that you're going to really dive deep and really understand what's going on with it with your thyroid with your hormones, because the testing is really outdated. And then,

Amy: 15:39

and it's also just a moment in time. So like one day, you could have something but the next day you may not right, yeah, it's

Jenna: 15:47

true. And now I mean, there are some, there's that's a whole nother thing. A lot of doctors don't understand the the timing of hormone tests. So I'll have clients that come in, they're like, Oh, my doctor did all my panels and my progesterone is low. And I'm like that they tested your progesterone on day five, like, of course, you'd have an ovulated yet, like I don't understand, like there's there's a precise time to test certain hormones. And there's and there's a you know, so it's, and usually that that doesn't happen when you go to just a regular OB. And so with functional medicine, you test you use the right labs, you test it the right time, you test the right markers, and you look at everything in a hole, and then you're also supporting your body through nutrition. So a lot with hormones, I will say like especially polycystic ovarian syndrome, the number one thing you can do to make a difference is to change what you're eating, support your blood sugar levels, because insulin is a hormone and that's where it all starts. Insulin is a hormone. And if we have too much insulin for insulin resistance, then there are going to be big problems with the rest of our hormones. Because it influences cortisol and influences influences your sex hormones. And so what's up with women with polycystic ovarian syndrome, most of them are insulin resistant. So when we put them on a kind of, you know, a lower carb nutrition plan, and we support them with enough protein and fat, then their blood sugar balances and their symptoms go into remission. And so it really is about what you eat. And so supporting all of that, you know that and that's really what I did, you know, I just had to go I was like a detective and functional hellebore, detectives are looking at everything. And I will say I have not had one client who has come to me that has had a normal thyroid. Their doctors have said that they had their thyroid is fine. I have not had one client who sired was actually fine. The worst case scenario I had I had I had a client and she had been going to fertility, really like in Orange County. But one of the creme de la creme of fertility clinics, okay spent, I don't know how much money on how many rounds of IVF young she's only like 29. And she comes to me and she's like, none of it's working and toxic that you know, and so I'm like, we need a thyroid lab. And she's like, Well, my, you know, my doctor has run these labs. And I'm like, that's, you know, doesn't tell us anything. But then I did happen to look at one of it and it was her TSH, and it was like, the highest TSH level I know, I won't get too complicated and test markers that I've ever seen. And I was like your doctor has never asked for further thyroid testing after this. This TS I didn't want to alarm her. But I was like after this TSH, TSH reading, she was like never. And I was like, how many rounds? Have you heard of IVF? She's like three. She had never had a proper she had Hashimotos, you know, and I was like, we did more testing found out she had Hashimotos I'm like, No, I cannot that is a crime. They took her money, her husband's money, let them do all these rounds of IVs. But never gave her a simple thyroid test to find out that she had Hashimotos. And that's why she wasn't getting pregnant. So as soon as we fix that, literally the next month she got pregnant. Yeah, wow,

Katie: 18:42

that's amazing. I have Hashimotos as well. And it's the thyroid, I know how impactful it can be. And also so many of these doctors, they say that you're you're doing well, because your labs aren't maybe necessarily like in range, but not ideal and optimal. And I think that's also a big thing. Do you have you noticed that in your practice? Yeah,

Jenna: 19:01

I mean, I have definitely so I use functional ranges, not conventional ranges. Conventional ranges are the aggregate of like the standard American. So really what we want is functional, like right there in the sweet spot in the middle. And yeah, so most conventional doctors will use the conventional ranges, and then they won't, they won't test all the thyroid markers that we need. As I said, they usually just has TSH, which is a brain hormone. It doesn't tell us what's going on with the thyroid. Sometimes they'll test total for T four, but that's something that I never test was my clients. So in Hashimotos, you know, it's very common, it's on the rise. I have Hashimotos too. And you know, there's and there's also usually when you have one autoimmune condition you have more than one that it's like kind of this you know, and you know, polycystic ovarian syndrome, there's a lot of research out there pointing out that it could actually be an immune disease which is an autoimmune disease, which I I'm kind of think that is is right.

Amy: 19:55

Question for you on that. So like something like Hashimotos I know a lot other people that have that and they take, like medicine for it Synthroid or whatever, like, since you have Hashimotos, are you taking anything? Are you doing more of like your functional strategy and not needing to take those type of medicines?

Jenna: 20:13

Yeah. So here's the thing. I do think that it's over prescribed, I think medicine, I think thyroid medicine is over prescribed, and it's used as like a, you know, it's, it's just like, okay, takes off and fix all and now we're getting to the root cause why is your thyroid under functioning. So about 80% of the cases of hypothyroid is actually Hashimotos. The estimate and, and so that's a lot of, you know, so chances are, if you're listening to this and you have thyroid issues, you have a 80% chance that you have Hashimotos. I've seen people with Hashimotos, reverse or symptoms and not have to take thyroid medicine, I see it in my practice with my clients. But alternatively, I see it to where we reverse your symptoms, but they still have to take some thyroid medicine for I don't know how long because it is an autoimmune condition and their body's literally attacking their thyroid. And if their thyroid medicine actually works and that's winning, because there are some people who actually motos it, the thyroid medicine doesn't even work. And so I do take a little bit of thyroid medicine. You know, it's the only pharmaceutical I take but it's a glandular is bioidentical. And I'm just grateful that my body responds to it, and I, I, my blood levels i It doesn't even look like I have Hashimotos I have no antibodies, and

Amy: 21:22

I'm sure all the other things you're doing is contributing to that. So it's really like the best of both worlds in a way.

Jenna: 21:27

Yeah, it is. But every it is an eon like I'm grateful for it. And I would like one day, I'd like to get off of it. And I that's the end goal and working towards it. But I also accept the reality that that might not happen. And I'm just happy that it's here for me.

Katie: 21:41

And stable and stable. Yeah, yeah. My thyroid has been unstable at times. And now it's stable. And yeah, it's something to be very grateful for. Yeah, it's

Amy: 21:52

funny, Katie, because she knows how to read all the labs much better than me. And I had a physical one year was a couple years ago. And my thyroid was like a little bit increased. It wasn't bad, but it was like, increased from where it was. And I said to Katie, I'm like, Oh, the doctor said, it's fine. She's like, Yeah, might be, but you should ask for XYZ tests. And remember what what tested was Katie. And so I went back, and I asked for that test. And they ran it. And it looks really good. So I was thankful for that. But I wouldn't have even known as like a normal average person that goes the doctor to even even ask because the doctor says fine, but Katie, since she just is so deep, and knows this world much better than me. She was like reading my labs. And she's like, No, you should push on that. And I was so thankful that she knew that. But most people don't even know that. And so I think it's like, being an advocate for yourself. And if something doesn't feel right, don't always listen to the doctor, like keep going further.

Jenna: 22:42

Listen to your body.

Katie: 22:43

Do you teach your your clients that about self advocating? Oh, absolutely.

Jenna: 22:47

That's the part of the program. You know, when I work with my clients, like I always tell them, I'm not the gatekeeper to health. I'm just showing you the roadmap there. And so working with me, my program is a lot of that education based to to have the tools so that you can be your own best health advocate moving forward, learn how to interpret your labs, read your labs, and and also speak up for yourself. Like, I love it when my clients are like, if I you know, say, okay, I'd like you to do this, but why? Why am I doing this? And I read something about this. I don't get offended. And like, why are you just listening to me? I told you, this is what you should do. And you should just, you know, that's what a doctor sometimes does. You know, I'm always like, I'm so glad you researched that. And you have questions, and you're advocating for yourself, you should always advocate for yourself like that in any with any healthcare practitioner. And so yeah, I mean, that's, that's part of it. And I think that's one of the things that is wrong with the healthcare system is we go to the doctor and we treat them like gods like everything they say, is gold, the golden rule and goes is like the truth. You know, a lot of times we know, all the time we know our bodies better than they do.

Katie: 23:49

Yeah, of course. It's interesting. My mom, she worked in as a surgical nurse worked with doctors her whole life. And she'll always say to me, they're also just humans like that, you know, they you have to remember that what they say is it you have to take it with a grain of salt. Yeah, not always. Yeah. So I want to get into a little bit some of the symptoms that the listeners should look out for. Be, you know, if someone's listening, and it's all sounding very familiar to them, what would be some things to watch out for that would lead them to, you know, figuring out if they have endometriosis or PCOS or just

Amy: 24:25

hormonal hormonal issues in general, right?

Jenna: 24:28

Yeah. Well, I think the first step is, you know, being aware of your menstrual cycle and tracking your period, you're in your menstrual cycle. You know, your menstrual cycle is a whole event. So it's anywhere from 25 to 35 days, that's a healthy menstrual cycle. You should be bleeding anywhere from three to seven days. That's a healthy period. You shouldn't lose more than 80 milliliters of blood. You shouldn't lose less than 25 milliliters of blood. You shouldn't have an app your charting, ideally even better, you're tracking ovulation even if you're not trying to get pregnant, tracking ovulate. To see if you are ovulating. And then you know a lot of times we're tracking your ovulation, you're tracking your basal body temperature that gives insight into your metabolism. So if you start having really low temps that could signify an adrenal or thyroid issue. So it's a free diagnostic tool that you have every month. And it's free. And, you know, by doing that, you know, if something's off, something goes off one month, that's not a big deal. It's normal to have one or two, you know, weird periods a year. But if you're having it like three months in a row, then that's an issue and you should get some heart your hormones tested, investigate work with a practitioner. And so that would be the My First I'd say the first step is to look at your period because expect, you know, like women with polycystic ovarian syndrome, they might have two periods a year, three periods a year. So that's a really big sign. If you're having irregular periods. And women have endometriosis. You can have period pain all day, every day of the menstrual cycle. It doesn't just have to be on your period. So noting down when you're having this pain and symptoms and sensations.

Katie: 26:00

Are there other hormonal conditions that you focus on? What about like, like perimenopause and things like that. Do you work with women in that realm also?

Jenna: 26:11

Yeah, I mean, I always say perimenopause is a natural state and more than a condition like that's just a natural phase of life. Menopause is a natural phase of life. But there are some women who have really bad transitions. Their perimenopause symptoms are awful. But it doesn't have to be that way. And so I do work with women going through perimenopause. But ideally, the those are the women who never address the period and hormone issues at a younger age. And that's why they're having really bad, perimenopause. Oh, that's interesting. So the earlier you address these period issues, hormone issues, the more smoother your transition through perimenopause and menopause is going to be I say, because it is the root cause of these issues is not going away, you can mask it with birth control, you can mask it with whatever you know, but it's gonna be there. Later, at some point, you're gonna have to deal with it. Whether it be when you're trying to get pregnant or whether it be during menopause, you know, perimenopause or menopause.

Amy: 27:04

Our listeners know this, and I've talked about it a little bit, but I have a stapler migraines, which started to appear for me about five years ago, or so. Which is when I really started tracking my periods. But I am still convinced and have told all of my doctors, that it's definitely related to hormones, because I noticed that, I mean, I haven't had symptoms in a long time, you know, knock on wood, unfortunately. But when I have had those symptoms, they're more dramatic, right before I'm about to get my period, like, I get that dizzy, sort of, like vertigo feeling and all of that. Typically, before I get my period, and it doesn't, it doesn't go away after it's still, but it's much less, but it's much more intensive. So I kept asking, like, can you test and they tested my hormones,

Jenna: 27:46

everything's fine, but then they tested your hormones, so like,

Amy: 27:50

everything was fine. So then I went to functional like more integrated doctor, and he tested my hormones within a specific timeframe, I can't remember if whatever was passed my period or before May have like 14 or 17 days, whatever it was, and then actually checked out at the time. Pretty good. So that was good. But I still know that it's related to some sort of hormonal,

Jenna: 28:15

yeah, the he or she wouldn't have been able to figure it out the blood test, I see that I see that hormone issue with headaches related to the hormone cycle all the time. But a blood test isn't going to show the show the way.

Amy: 28:26

So how to test is very sad on a blood test.

Jenna: 28:29

I use a dried urine test with my clients at a specific time of the cycle. And it shows how the hormones are breaking down. metabolizing or not the different pathways shows the different types of estrogen because there's more than just one. And blood tests just shows like really static.

Katie: 28:46

Is that the Dutch test? Yeah, yes. Okay. I've heard of that.

Jenna: 28:50

That will show especially with people that have a lot of migraines around menstruation and ovulation, that Dutch test will is really needed to show the estrogen detox pathways to because there's a lot of correlation between estrogen issues histamine and liver function. But it's a very common, you know, it's a very common pattern I see. Yeah, and headaches, and they're awful. I mean, it's just awful. I'm sorry. Like, it's just like,

Amy: 29:18

Yeah, well, I'm on medication for the vestibular migraines, but I would like to get off of it. Yeah. So it's, like, you know, from a lifestyle standpoint, I think I'm doing all the right things but who knows, I should probably talk to you offline offline and figuring that out. But I would like to get to a point where weaned off of it because I don't obviously want to be on something forever, but it does help with the vertigo symptoms, which are like literally if you have them you can't function so ya know, it's it is helpful, but I would like to get to a point where I'm like, really understanding because I do track my period like I've always had. I mean, my periods have always been regular, but I would say they're between like 35 and 40 days, my whole life so I started tracking everything another Oh, interesting, slash random related thing I think was when I started getting this vestibular migraines five years ago, I also around that time was spotting, which I'd never spotted before. So I feel like it was all related. I'm not anymore. And yeah, all kind of going away. I mean, a lot of it, I think too was like stress and different things, who knows, but it's just really interesting. So that's when, like, my eyes opened up about this whole field, which I don't know much about. But I ever since then I've been tracking my period, I have an app that like tracks, the grades and all of those things, but it clearly I need to learn more. And I'm sure our listeners do too, because you sort of like, it is great that we do have a free diagnostic tool, our period we know if we're getting it every month, we know how we're feeling. And that's like your North Star, you know, like, Okay, I'm like a little bit moody, because I know I'm getting out of here, but it's like your way to track everything. But other than that, it's like, it's hard to go deep if you're if you're not really seeking out the right kind of help,

Jenna: 30:53

kid it's so great that you even knew and it was great that you even had the awareness that you're like, Oh, I these these headaches become worse right before my period. I mean, that's huge that you've got that awareness.

Amy: 31:04

And the funny thing was back to your point about the birth controls when this was first happening I did get a lot of different tests done and spoke to a million different doctors if but my OB was like Yeah, go on birth control it'll it'll it'll help and I didn't give me the prescription but I never did because I was like I don't want to go on birth control so I just you know, trying to figure out you know, other ways but you're right it's that's like the catch all Oh, just go on this and I will be fine.

Katie: 31:28

Yeah, it's true that my quick fix was surgery. They I had such horrible periods after pregnancy that they suggested hysterectomy and I was finished with having kids and I also had other issues from having babies like so this is actually the first time I've mentioned this on the show. So that's that was the route that I went with and I was perfectly okay with it. It took me a long time to come to terms with it. But knowing I was finished having children and just being able to remove some symptoms, I have so many symptoms from my two autoimmune diseases to be able to have my hormonal cycle just a little bit more balanced out. It it was really a great move for myself personally, but that's it's very drastic and evasive and someone that isn't ready for that and that's their suggestion and their only fix is really scary and very sad. And you know there are repercussions. I have horrible scar tissue pain that I get that can be debilitating in my abdomen. But for me personally it was the right thing. I asked

Jenna: 32:29

them castor oil packs where you're wearing those like three or four nights a week. This what is it castor oil packs, they QUEEN OF THRONES makes them these like ready made castor oil packs and it's castor oil and you put it on this like sheepskin, like Pat like a wrap you know and you put it on and you wear it at night over your you can wear over your liver or your ovaries and your uterus and it breaks up scar tissue soil gets through castor oil goes through all the layers of your skin and it actually breaks up the scar tissue and increases blood flow to your to that area.

Katie: 33:04

That's amazing. Thank you that is the

Jenna: 33:08

scar tissue pain, I would definitely get some castor oil packs. And

Amy: 33:11

you know you mentioned earlier and I totally forgot you were talking about your ovarian cysts. And I have one when I was younger too, which I always knew about because they you know, caught it during a regular visit. And I remember them saying when you get pregnant, you'll see that it'll probably get better bigger and it'll fill with liquids. So when I first got pregnant with my first child, they monitored it the whole time and it got like it was like tiny and I got huge like to the size of like a grapefruit. So I actually had it drained during my pregnancy. And it was literally like two saline bags of fluid of what was filled right back up. And it and it ruptured, like late into my pregnancy. And speaking of the pain to your point, it was awful. And I was pregnant. It felt literally like I got stabbed in the side, but it ruptured and I was so worried about it rupturing my whole pregnancy because like they said that could have been a possibility ruptured, it was brutal, but then it went away. And for my second I didn't have any pain like I always had this dual pain in my right side with my first child or with my second and have any of it because it ruptured. So it's just so interesting how these things just come and go. I mean, again, I was aware of it, but if I wasn't I wouldn't have known what was going on.

Jenna: 34:23

And it's actually really common for women of childbearing age to have a cyst once every few years or something like that. Yeah, it's like a what we call functional cyst. It's very common and then they can rupture with your period. You know, a lot of doctors will say just get on the birth control pill to shrink it but you know, a lot of times they just go away with your period when you start treating and my case it I was one of 1% of women where the the cysts not only ruptured but it went into torsion around my ovary and took off a chunk of my ovary that only happens to one Yeah, that was like that I've had I've had other cysts burst before rupture. Having gone torsion was like having 1000 cyst rupture at the

Amy: 35:04

same time. I don't even know. And that's so scary. You weren't even in this country.

Jenna: 35:08

No, it was like so scary. My husband like rushed me to the hospital like an hour away to like the private hospital in Chiang Mai. And it was, you know, and there was there's, there's really good health care outside the US a lot of people think that there's not but actually just better and cheaper. Yeah. And so yeah, I was fine. But yeah, I mean, so it is so you know, there's so much but I'm, you know, the pain of the of the ovarian cyst. And then doctors, they'll say, get on birth control pill and all this stuff. And it's like, I don't under like the birth control pill to them. It's just like, let's be nice. And let's be easy. You know, I'm just wondering if they should just have a recording doctors, here's a prescription for the birth control pill, like no matter how serious, they really need the person they're moving, we could just have like an avatar, birth control, birth control,

Amy: 35:53

right? Right, just hitting the button to your point like adapters, whether it's an OB or your regular doctor, whatever, no one is asking about your period, or they do it to check the box, but they're not really going into the root knows of all of these things. They only

Jenna: 36:06

care if you're trying to have a baby, right? Yeah, baby. Then they give they care so much. They want to give Oh, okay, fertility panel, all this stuff. It's like, so I, you know, so I, you know, I remember before I could run my own labs, when I was first kind of starting out, now I can get all my blood work and all my labs and stuff. I wanted to get a full hormone panel, and I went to the doctor, and they're like, why do you want this? And I was like, because I'm gonna check my hormones. Well, no, we can't give you that I go. And then I just put on my thinking cap, and I go, I'm trying to get pregnant. And they're like, Oh, sure. So Oh, yeah. I'm like, you shouldn't have to be trying to get pregnant to find out what's going on with your hormones. It's not like we own our health only matters when we're ready to host a child. Like, it's just, it's ridiculous. It's absolutely ridiculous.

Amy: 36:56

What are your thoughts on these home? Like, I know, there's a bunch of companies like Everly well, that that do different sort of home tests for hormones. Is that because I think like being able to take it into your own responsibility is so empowering, like to be able to just have blood every month and not have to ask your doctor and have to rationalize it like are those? Would you recommend those home sorts of tests? Or what do you think about

Jenna: 37:22

that? Yeah. Okay. So first of all, this is kind of a long winded answer. But this is the best, like a three pronged answer. But yeah, first of all, I feel like the for like thyroid, I think that's great. I like let's get checked for that they have a thyroid test. You know, that's something that every six months, we should be checking our thyroid, because it can change overnight. So every six months, check your thyroid, if you have Hashimotos, maybe every four months. It's so easy. It's like, you know, you can order it online, you take it at home, you don't have to faff about with your doctor and be like, I need the full thyroid panel. But no, all you need is TSH, no, I would like to full thyroid panel. Now now TSH, and you don't have to like hassle and our you know, just like beg and plead with your doctor. And so for blood type thyroid as best as blood. So that's why I think that's great. Now maybe like a full thyroid panel, you know, through letsgetchecked or something like that, or everlywell once a year is great, you know, but what we really want to be testing besides the thyroid, what we really want to be testing more than the hormones is our gut. So I think everybody really wants to test the hormones. But hormones is really it's important to do every once in a while. But the gut is really something that that most people never test their gut. And you can't have healthy hormones without a healthy gut. That's why with my clients, I always test the gut. First we do a comprehensive gi you know, stool test, the GI map, because we have to fix the gut infections before you'll ever have a healthy thyroid or hormones and, and so that's what I would say would be the most important and then it is and then once you get everything in checked, those tests are very empowering to just monitor your own health. And check in with those and do those. That's so how do you do that?

Amy: 39:03

How do you how do you test your gut? I don't think I've ever done that.

Jenna: 39:06

Yeah, so it's um, it's a stool test that you take at home. Okay, they gave you all the instructions and stuff. It's not the most glamorous but it's

Amy: 39:16

what's the what's the site or product that does that?

Jenna: 39:20

Well, they don't you have to have a you have to have a license to order it. You have to go through a practitioner. Okay, so it's not like I really well in all of

Amy: 39:26

us, we can do a blast. So you have to go to a doctor and you ask for what we are Yeah, it doesn't

Jenna: 39:31

have to be a doctor. It can be someone like me a nutritionist or dietician a functional dietitian or you as far as I know I don't think allopathic doctors run this type of you know, usually if they do anything with the gut they do like they look for structural issues, you know for polyps and things like that and they don't or maybe they run sometimes for like certain parasites but they don't do a comprehensive gi essay which is like this looking your immune system function your bacteria levels, whether you if you have a gluten sensitive tivity is looking at for parasites and h pylori and virus viruses. And it's just

Amy: 40:06

so you would go to a functional doctor or nutritionist and ask for a comprehensive gi function. I'm like writing it down because I,

Jenna: 40:13

you know, honestly, a good a good, a good way to determine if if the practitioner is, is good, basically, is it? That's what they're offering? Yeah, that's where they want to start. I had

Amy: 40:27

no one's either, like, ever tested that on me,

Katie: 40:29

right? Well, most. So I went to a GI gastroenterologist, and it was, you know, like, during the height of the pandemic, the summer and I had horrible SIBO. And of course, it took me a long time to figure out what SIBO was, and I was doing all this research trying to figure out if I could get some answers and found out that that's what it was. It wasn't through a doctor that I got that diagnosis, but she, the only tests they did for me was a colonoscopy. And then she said we can we can attempt to this right, Faxon. And we did that. And then it revealed a candida overgrowth that she refused to even acknowledge as real. So they they will do nothing. But to your point what you were saying they it's just like it's for polyps, it's, you know, yeah, it's

Jenna: 41:12

not like pathology, think about it, they're looking for cancer, they're looking for structural issues. And that's great. And it's great to have those routine colonoscopies after you get a certain age. But when we have these people having heartburn and then all the doctor wants to give them is protein pump inhibitors, which suppress your stomach acid, which is the worst thing you could possibly be doing for someone, then they get addicted to it. And they've been taking it their whole life and they have osteoporosis and all these issues later down the line. Why don't we test their gut and just figure it out? You know, it's just like, it's, it's it's so easy. You know, I've had I've I remember this 135 year old, a friend of a friend and he was like, had all these colonoscopies and all these issues because he had such bad heartburn and IBS. And the doctors kept on saying there's nothing wrong, there's nothing wrong, you know, nothing. And I'm like, why don't it just stool tests like, there is something wrong if you're complaining of this, and they were like, well just take Prozac or take these, you know, what are the you know, what are those protein pump inhibitors? Like the standard drugs that Zyrtec No, not Zyrtec allergy. What's the one that demand tax? Zantac? Yes. And I mean, just like that is just such lazy medicine. It's like, let's just silence a symptom and not figure out what is going on. And so the gut is really the best place to start. And when you have a Candida, Candida is like the third tier that's like that's a side effect of bacteria and balances, possible parasitic infections. And it's not where you you start treating somebody's with the Candida, because if you just treat the Candida that superficial, it's going to grow right back, if you don't get rid of the other imbalances in the gut.

Katie: 42:40

That's interesting, because that's me, that's my life. I have I have repeated candida overgrowth, and yeah, fluconazole it literally once a week, which to manage it, it's like it's and also with diet diet does help

Jenna: 42:52

you exactly. But you can be doing all the right things and be frustrated, and do all the right things and do a Candida diet or all these things, but it's not going to, you're going to hit a plateau, you're never going to go right or if you don't investigate the other issues.

Katie: 43:05

So that that is a great segue into what you do. Because I would love to hear a bit about your root cause program and your coaching that you do so the listener can, can reach out to you.

Jenna: 43:16

Oh, yeah, well, I you know, I love it. I love working with women in this capacity. And it's a form of program. So, you know, I found over a lot of trial and error. And after working with hundreds of clients that you can't amazon prime your health, unfortunately, everyone wants, you know, like, a quick fix, and I still get messages Oh, do you can you just do a one session, I just don't do that. Because it's unrealistic on both practitioner and patient to think that you can get these results when you've been having these health issues for years. Some of these women decades coming to me, we can't fix this in one session. And I want people leaving my program happy. And so that takes about three to four months. And we do the GI map, which is the gut test that we talked about, we do the Dutch hormone test, which is the hormone test I discussed. And we have five sessions over the course of these four months. And we we tackle every system in the body, you know, the liver neurotransmitters, you know, our estrogen metabolism, we look at our blood sugar, you know, diet, all of these things and support the detox pathways and look at everything in unison and at the same time. They're being empowered themselves because they're learning this new language. They're learning this body literacy. They're learning how to be advocates for their health and understanding what's going on. Maybe learning some propensities that their body has towards certain illnesses or certain you know things so that they can be proactive and take care of themselves and then also just know their bodies better, you know, so to continue out of advocating for themselves so they can be their own health advocates because no one can give you back your health if someone's advertising like Hey, I mean, that's not possible. no doctor, no nutritionist no one can give you your health. Do you have to do that yourself? We're just kind of it's just a roadmap, and we're helping you get there. And we're supporting you. And we're able to

Amy: 45:06

test and proactive versus like reactive based on something terrible that could Yeah, right. Yeah. So I have a question. So you do that over the four months, and you evaluate and then based on like, all of the data and all the conversations, you then what do you prescribe someone like a program? Like What? What? Yeah, what happens after that?

Jenna: 45:26

So well, in the four months working together, it's it's, you know, we I first start off with like, an initial health session, and we make some foundational, you know, recommendations with diet and exercise, and with maybe some targeted supplements or herbs, which I use therapeutically in my practice, because that's another thing I see a lot of naturopaths. And I see a lot of nutritionists out there, just throwing supplements that people like, that's also some take a probiotic. Yeah. And like that, and that symptom care relief to just take all the supplements just as much as a doctor is prescribing all these pharmaceuticals. So it's like, kind of same, same but different. And so, you know, so therapeutically, you know, maybe I'll be like, for 60 days, you need to take this supplement for this, for what we found on this test, like XYZ, we're going to take this supplement for 60 days, here's why. And then we go over the gut testing in a second session, and we I design a protocol for them. And they and I help support them over the GI protocol, we have a follow up session to see how things are going. The fourth session, that's when we go into the hormones, because that's fine tuning as much as everyone wants to do the hormones first interest, everyone's always so excited about the hormones, it's really the last place to start. That's we're really fine tuning things there. And and then we have a follow up after that. And then generally, you know, I really pride myself in not having repeat customers, because we're able to get to the root cause. So they'd love to check in with me, I have my clients check in like once or twice a year just to see and go over their their lap, you know, to retest and just see how things are going or give them some support. But really, you know, my goal is to have them have their own wings to fly and just kind of be able to advocate for themselves moving forward.

Amy: 47:03

Yeah, this is so eye opening, I need to do this program with you. Because I've never really looked into my guide, because I really haven't. I don't know, I just never thought about it. Like to your point. It was always like, Oh, the hormones, the headaches and the this and that. But it could be my God, who knows. I mean, I definitely don't have a regular

Jenna: 47:22

if you're having headaches too. I was, that was my first.

Amy: 47:25

And I'm not I've never been like regular as you would say in that department. So

Jenna: 47:30

and you know, to be honest, it's not just you, it's every human being on the planet. So it's a gut test at some point, because we're bombarded with pharmaceuticals and our water and our drinking water. We've taken antibiotics growing up, you know, birth control, pollution, pesticides, toxins, or cosmetics. I mean, like our liver needs a tune up. I mean, yeah, and liberty to tuna, you don't need to tune up.

Amy: 47:52

I think that's really important for our listeners, too, because I think you hear everywhere, that health, gut health, but I actually don't really know what that means. Like, I didn't really know that this test you're talking about exists where they can actually where you can really look deeper into what that means. Because you hear things like gut health and take this versus like doing these tests to figure out what you actually need. So I think that's something that everyone should be looking into, including myself. I have a question for you. Just on a side note, when we're talking about hormones, period, gut health. So I wasn't on birth control. I never took the birth control that the OB wanted me to, I ended up and this is not this wasn't for my hormones, but really just for birth control, getting an IUD, which is something I wanted since my second kid and I just like never did it. And I did it. Maybe like a year ago. Do you think that that's like, what are your thoughts on that? I know, like the hormones are less than whatever. But it's a little I was saying this to Katie, it's a little hard to track your period because I can kind of tell like I'm in like, what's week I'm in just based on how I feel. But you don't really have that definitive because there's nothing you don't really get your period. You just get like a wipe of something and you're like, Oh, I guess that's my period, but it's a little bit harder to track. So kind of what are your thoughts there and like, how does that relate to getting this gut test and all of that?

Jenna: 49:13

Yeah, so the IUD. Do you have a copper IUD Do you have it? You have the hormone like the Skyler that Kaylee

Amy: 49:21

I forgot what it Mirena it's not Mirena, but it's like a newer version of that

Jenna: 49:24

the key is it the Kaylee Kaylee asked whether

Amy: 49:27

or not I actually have it anyway. Just quick

Jenna: 49:29

what do you do what did your headache start around then are both there were they already happening before though they

Amy: 49:33

were happening way before I just got this recently my headaches I've had probably for five years and then this like that just recently more so from like a birth control letter. That's what a

Jenna: 49:45

letter okay? They're always these like, you know, sweet girls names to make a noun so like, I know why. So first of all, having less hormones is still the same thing as having some hormones. It's like drinking half a cup of poison versus a full cup and Not saying birth control is hormones. Is that that hormones? Well, synthetic hormones are kind of, they're an endocrine disruptor. That's what they are. They're a hormone disruptor. And so it basically it's not like, they'll be like, this is a low hormone to make it sound better. It's the same thing.

Amy: 50:14

So you see in birth controls essentially the same well,

Jenna: 50:17

it, isn't it. The low dose pills and the low dose IUD. Yeah, same, the same way. Okay. And then and then the IUD is the other method doctors always used to say and still say today, which I don't understand how someone who went through eight years of education and then fellowship can still say this. That's because it's in the uterus. It's localized. It's localized hormones, it doesn't spread anywhere else in your life. That's

Amy: 50:42

what they told me. Exactly, I'd

Jenna: 50:43

say. So that's the biggest BS. And I've been saying this for a decade, and then actually a decade, like seven years. And finally we got validation. There was an article and some science journal that came out in December of 2021. That was say, Oh, we found out that the hormones are actually systemic, they spread systemically. And here's this MRI, this woman's breasts did prove it and yada yada yada. But women symptoms are being dismissed for so long. They were saying like, I'm having all these issues. I know, but the hormones are local and IUD. So they're not local. They spread. Yeah, it really is. Because like, let's it goes into your bloodstream, so they should know better because they're freaking doctors. They know how the body works. And so so it is, it is low, it is systemic in the body. Now I will like it's one thing I like about the IUD. I mean, I out of all of the birth control methods, one of the reasons one of the pros of the IUD is that you still ovulate or may ovulate. You know, a lot of women don't because of the inflammation from the IUD. But ovulation is really what we want to be doing ovulation is how we make progesterone. Progesterone is what we need for heart health, bone health, thyroid health, healthy, healthy mood. And when we don't ovulate, we don't make that. And so that's really important that we make that so with the IUD, you have a chance of ovulating. Even though you're not having a period you're not seeing blood, what you can do is you can track your cycle by taking your basal body temperature. And then when you and that's one of the fertility signs that we use in the fertility awareness method, which is my form of birth control that's hormone free. And I know after my temperature spiked and it's remained elevated for three days that I've ovulated I also observed my cervical fluid. So it didn't matter if I had a period or not, because once you ovulate, you will start your period within 14 days or you're pregnant, it's coming or you're writing it so right then you kind of know okay, I ovulate it my temperature spikes, I ovulated. And then you also kind of feel it, you know, sometimes people have, you know, but But you may not also be ovulating on the on the IUD, I have a lot of clients who haven't ovulated on the IUD. Now with a gut, the IUDs have been shown to create imbalances in the gut, especially with Candida overgrowth. So that also can happen not always, but that can happen so but it's kind of with the birth control pill and hormonal birth control is pick your poison. Like what, that's why I'm like, which one is so that I you know, I gave a while back and I still have it on my website, I have a free birth control masterclass. And you can go on my website wants you to have like 45 minutes, and it breaks down every single type of birth control hormone, and hormone free, conservation, unbiased, non judgmental, and it's really just kind of pick these what's right for you might not be right for me and might not be right for you know, your friends. So it's like it's, we all have different needs and different. We're in different places in our lives. And so that's why I'm all about informed consent. So instead of just being told, this is what you need, yeah, being these are your options. And here's the pros and cons. And now you are, you are a grown ass adult, why don't you go home, think about it, make a decision and choose for yourself and with now that you have all the information present. And that's not that's not happening in medicine that's not happening with most female patients today.

Katie: 54:00

I love I love everything that you're doing what you're offering and how you're healing women and what you're just bringing to the forefront. These women's issues are so hush hush in so many cultures. I mean, even just the fact that like this is the first time I mentioned that I had a hysterectomy and I was embarrassed about it. Like there's no reason for that, you know, so the awareness that you're spreading and teaching these women to self advocate and everything you're doing is it's just it's really phenomenal and we're so grateful to have you and I know our listeners are going to learn a lot and potentially you're going to really help some of them just from an episode so

Amy: 54:35

yeah, and Europe by the way, I love your Instagram and I love all the videos you do they're so helpful for our listeners if you check out her Instagram page, it's it's at a period your period guru and you've got all these great videos just like little bits of information that are super helpful about diet and lifestyle and hormones. So anyway, I love it. So good job. Yeah, yeah, she like that. It's really helpful. Share it, share it on our pages. Yeah,

Katie: 54:59

yeah. How can our listeners find you? Is that your website? Just yeah, so

Jenna: 55:03

on Instagram at the period guru, and my website is Jenna longoria.com So those are great places I have so many free resources I really do I have tons of free resources on my website I've got a pain free period book I've got a ebook I've got a period solutions masterclass a birth control recording so pick your pick your jam and

Amy: 55:25

quiz in terms of your program. If our listeners want to sign up with for your program, and you do it virtual I know you're based in Amsterdam, but do you work with anyone?

Jenna: 55:34

Yeah, I work online. And I actually only do enrollment twice a year. So I'm currently my enrollment starts Hint Hint, actually, next week. Oh, I don't know when this podcast is going out. But I enroll in the spring, early spring and I enroll in the and in the Fall Enrollment Period is usually two or three weeks or whenever the spots fill up. I work with 11 women because it is a four month program. So I can only see a certain amount of women each enrollment period. So there are options out there.

Katie: 55:58

That's great. All right. So let's hit our rap session really quickly because I have a feeling you have some some good ones for us. So just a few questions. How what is your favorite wellness or beauty hack?

Jenna: 56:10

For me? The lemon water first thing in the morning, I couldn't imagine starting my day without 16 ounces a warm lemon water and I put a little bit of sea salt in there. That just I mean, hydrates, you makes your skin look great. It's great for the liver and detoxing, you know, toxins away from the body endotoxins hormones and yeah, I think that would be probably be my wellness hack would be the lemon water.

Katie: 56:34

That's a good one. And I've heard that that's good for your gut to kind of

Jenna: 56:37

absolutely to get moving. Yeah, it helps with motility. So in the morning gets things moving and it helps stimulate the liver. It helps make your bile not because our bile but that our gallbladder releases to break down fats sometimes can get kind of sludgy, and then it can't do its job and lemon water can make it kind of thinner and consistency. So it's kind of and it's just and they're hydrating. The sea salt, the sea salt is has, you know, minerals in it like sodium and potassium, which a lot of us are deficient in. So I always recommend people add a quarter teaspoon of sea salt to every liter of water to remineralize re mineral mineral wise. So I do that first thing in the morning with like a little bit of sea salt and lemon, half a lemon squeezed and 16 ounces of warm water first thing in the morning,

Katie: 57:24

hey, yeah, I need to try that. Alright, so this is what we call your five minute flow. You just got out of the shower and dried off Uber. They do have Uber and Amsterdam. Yes, yes. Uber just alerted you. And they're five minutes away. What are you going to do? What's your holy grail is your go to your routine to get out the door and get into the Uber in five minutes.

Jenna: 57:44

Oh, wow. Okay, so usually, I Well, I'll go to the bathroom one last time before I get to the Uber. Oh, yeah. And I guess I don't know, like, make sure I have everything in my purse. I guess that would be the thing. Make sure have like my chapstick and my phone and all of that jazz. And yeah, and then I'm always running late. So forgetting something and then coming back inside to go get that off my shoes. And I'm getting that thing and then putting my shoes back on. And that would be it. Yeah.

Katie: 58:14

That's great. That's all right. And last one, how do you maintain your daily nirvana?

Jenna: 58:20

Oh, man, meditation. Absolutely. I love to meditate first thing in the morning and I have a this infrared near infrared red lights and I sit in front of that lamp while I meditate, and that really just helps me just start the day and just ground and at some present, you know, just kind of calming nervous system. I love that. What

Amy: 58:41

brand red light Do you have? I'm looking into getting one. Yeah, I like

Jenna: 58:44

the bio light. It's not advertised that much. And so then you don't pay all their like the price for the advertisements and stuff and other companies. So really? Yeah, like the bio light. That's a good one.

Amy: 58:55

Okay, nice to know, good to know, Ray noted. So thank you so much for being on our show. Jenna, this was amazing. I learned so much. Thank you for answering all of my detailed questions. But I think I'm not alone in saying that, you know, we all need to be more educated. And I think this will be so helpful for our listeners. So thank you so much for coming on the show. We definitely will probably want to have you back for a second round of questions. I'm sure our listeners will have a lot of questions for you. So thank you so much for spending time with us today. And I will kick it to Katie, we always like to end with a mantra to set the tone.

Katie: 59:27

Yes. Thanks, Amy. And thank you, Jenna, this was such an illuminating session. So it's very exciting. All right, our mantra for this week. Everything I am going through is planting something valuable. And me. I think that is a really powerful one. And it's so hard to remember when you are going through things but yeah, just repeat that when needed some Yes. Good one. Yeah. All right. So thank you

Amy: 59:53

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 will continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.

Episode 38 - How To Cook Healthy, Family Friendly, And Fast With Kat Can Cook (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 38 How To Cook Healthy, Family Friendly, And Fast With Kat Can Cook.

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. And I'm Katie Chandler. So let's get into some real conversation Yeah, so nice to meet you. Nice to meet you, too. We're obsessed with your content. It's so good.

Kat: 0:35

Oh my god, I love you. Thank

Amy: 0:37

you.

Katie: 0:37

It's so your tic tock. We first like I just discovered the whole tic tock thing recently, Amy's been into it forever. But you're like I was I went into like a Kat hole on

Unknown: 0:48

a Kat hole that I've never heard of Kat hole. Thank you. Yeah, it's been it's been really wild. I feel like I don't consume enough. I was just talking to a friend of mine about that this morning. I feel like I don't I want to consume content again. And I you know, because of my bandwidth restrictions, you know, creating and going in putting out content you know, conversing with, you know, my community and then I'm off again, but I miss like actually consuming like Tik Tok in particular, but

Amy: 1:21

I know I am. I know, I have weeks where I have more time where I'm like, I go down the rabbit hole, tick tock, and I love every second of it. And I just like learn new things or get ideas. And then there's weeks where I'm so busy, that you just don't get a chance and it's so nice to be able to do that. But anyway, thanks for joining us. All right. So I will I will start us off. Welcome back to the show Nirvana sisters family. We are super excited to chat with Kat Ashmore today, aka Kat can cook on Instagram and tic tac. She is a tick tock chef, a blogger a producer a mom. She is a classically trained chef, a TV personality and Emmy award winning food television producer and recipe developer focused on real food recipes and cooking tips for busy lives. She's got a 1.7 million following on Tik Tok, which is well deserved because we were just talking before we started recording and how incredible and user friendly her content is. Super engaging, really high quality video and Kat is known for incorporating unique tricks and creativity into everyday meal preparation. She aims to empower the home cook to make delicious healthy meals for themselves and their families and have fun doing it. And I will say I love your bio, which is that mom friend you asked for healthy recipes because it makes it very approachable and accessible. And that's what we're all about as the show. So welcome to the show. Kat so nice to have you here.

Unknown: 2:49

Thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to talk with you.

Amy: 2:52

So we are going to start out with something we call our Nirvana the week which is really just a way to step back and think about our week and what brought us joy this week. Whether it was a moment a day, whatever thing that spark joy so I will let you Katie, give us your Nirvana the week.

Katie: 3:10

Okay, great. Thanks, Amy. Hi Kat. We're so excited that you're here and i i should say we live in the same town if it was like a pre COVID world we can be together. So but eventually we will meet in person I look forward to that. Mine are one of the week just happened which is why I look like I do which is kind of a mess. But I just came from being back on the reformer and doing Pilates for the first time in eight weeks. I had I had like post COVID syndrome. So I have been out of commission and now I'm back and to do what I love. It's like my happy place. I mean, I love being other informer my brain goes completely clear. And it just it feels so good. It felt so it was like I felt like the first time my body moved in like two months. That's really what it felt like so it was fantastic. That was my nirvana for sure. What about you, Amy?

Amy: 3:58

I love that Katie you're radiating I can tell you feel really good. So I love that. I would say probably yesterday's launch. So cat we launched one of like my favorite people. Alli Webb. We launched her podcast yesterday, her interview with us and it was sort of a first full circle moment for Katie and I because we've always looked up to her. I've admired her for years. And she's sort of been my inspiration for like starting a business in the first place. Starting my own thing in the first place. It's to be able to launch our episode was was really fun. And I think it was a good like reflection moment for Katie and I because we we launched a podcast a year ago. It was just like a nice moment. So that was great. What about you, cat?

Unknown: 4:38

I was thinking about this. So I think my Nirvana moment was going to the diner with my going to the diner with my kids and my husband and actually enjoying a meal together because they're at those ages where they're three and five. So I'm like I get these glimpses have like, oh, like, this is what it's gonna be like when, you know, they're not running all over the restaurant and going through people's purses. And, you know, we can actually have a conversation and I can finish a meal was really, I mean, the diner might as well have been a palace. I mean, it felt really, really good to be able to just connect and soak it up and I'm managing my expectations. You know, I I know that next time might be a complete disaster again, but I'm very grateful for those. Those glimpses of joy and calm and normalcy when I get them.

Katie: 5:40

That's lovely. We was by chance Sherwood diner in Westport, because in last night, because I almost took my kids last night to the diner.

Unknown: 5:48

Oh, that's so funny. It was Southport diner. So very, okay. We

Katie: 5:51

almost went to Southport Diner because we were in Fairfield for the dentist. Anyway, I digress, but isn't really

Unknown: 5:55

funny. Okay, our favorite place?

Katie: 5:58

That's great. Yeah, that's a good one. I totally get what you mean by that, by the way, like when the kids are at that age, or they sit down and they want to have conversations with you around the dinner table. It's a lot of fun. Right? She's Amy has an older she has teenagers. So she She's their

Amy: 6:12

preteen and a teenager. Yeah. 12 and 14, almost 15. But yeah, when they start becoming like real people and are able to talk and like enjoy a meal together. It's such a milestone, right? Because when the kids are little, you're like a mad person you can never eat. That's the worst. It's like the worst going out to dinner is horrible. It's awful. And now they're starting to get That's great.

Unknown: 6:35

Yeah, great.

Katie: 6:36

Sweet. Well, let's kick it off. I want to get right into it. Because we want to get to know you a bit like we've been following you on social media and your content is so fun, like Amy was saying it's so accessible and easy to follow, easy to do. So tell us a little bit first about becoming this insane social media and blog sensation, you maybe we should back up, what were you doing before you were cat can cook.

Unknown: 7:05

Thank you for that, by the way. So the couple of years prior to starting, can cook, which was in July of 2020. It was you know, a few months into the pandemic. And I had been a stay at home mom for three years, I was in a I was in a pretty dark place. And that and I think, you know, as the pandemic started, it exacerbated, I think whatever state was kind of like, you know, humming along within a lot of people, it kind of just forced things up, right. So that really was where I was when I started getting creative again, and I started the website. And I think when you're at a hard moment in your life, you either kind of get kicked down the stairs or up the stairs. And that really was a bottom that I was able to spring from and I took action and I'm grateful that I did. But um, prior to that I had, as you said, you know, I had gone to culinary school. And I had sort of worked in almost every area of food media and business. So from, you know, being a food television producer, to a recipe developer to Food Products Manager to a buyer to you know, so I had kind of run the gamut in it. And so I'm, you know, making the choice to stay home with my kids. And we'll probably get into this. But it really didn't even feel like a choice, if I'm honest. And I think a lot of women deal with this. Because being in the suburbs, and knowing that my career really exists in New York City. There really is not a career for me here. So my choices at the time seem to be commute into New York City every day, which my husband also did, and never see my kids and probably not really see my husband, or stop working. And those were the only two options really available to me at the time.

Katie: 9:10

Absolutely. And I mean, we should note, it's an hour's commute. So eat for short, like my husband does it and he gets home often at like eight o'clock after the concern. But so I completely can understand that. When you were doing television producing what were some of the shows you were contributing to on your on?

Unknown: 9:26

Sure. So right after culinary school, I ended up getting a position with Martha Stewart. So that was really amazing. She had been my idol. It still is very surreal to kind of talk about even though you know, I had a great sort of close relationship with her. Yeah, but my I was notorious in my family for I would bring cookbooks with me on vacation all the time, like six heavy cooks. And my dad was like, you know, are you serious? But I would go on vacation and I'd be Reading them in like a hotel room like novels at night. And my mom thought I was, you know, he's like, where

Amy: 10:06

are you cooking like,

Unknown: 10:07

we're in a hotel room. But I just I couldn't get enough. I love to consume the content. I love the story of food. I love the connection. I love the community. I love the creativity of it. So I used to read her entertaining books, you know, those are some of the ones that I read all the time. So it was really very surreal to be able to work for her. But at a time where most of my class, graduating from culinary school was going into a restaurant, which was highly encouraged by all of my instructors at the time, it was really like you need to be in a restaurant, you need to get hands on experience, my instincts were just like, that is not going to be good for me, that is not going to be good for my mental health. That's, you know, I had been like a waitress in college, I kind of knew what that life was like. And it's so much admiration for the people that do it because it is a lot of hard labor. It's very long hours. It's hard on a lot of levels, especially now. But I interviewed for an externship. It's called it's sort of the last leg of your education at the Institute of Culinary Education. There was one spot on the Martha Stewart show. And I ended up getting it, which was great. And within like three months, they offered me a full time position on the show. So I was one of the people that produce the food segments. So anytime you saw Martha cooking with, you know, celebrities, you know, chefs or celebrity chefs or you know, sometimes ourselves, I was on television as well doing things like Thanksgiving hotlines and product reviews and that kind of stuff. So cool so much. It was very cool.

Katie: 11:42

It was I've always wondered about that world. Like, I mean, there's a lot that goes behind the scenes there. Right. And you guys are like all of these other people are actually doing a lot of cooking. Not Martha, right like she does on screen cooking. But right. Isn't there a lot of behind the scenes action?

Unknown: 11:57

Yeah, 90 98% of it is done before the camera starts rolling? Absolutely. You know, you've got swaps you've got and you know, now of course, I'm seeing how so much of that plays. So much of those skills that I had almost forgotten about when I went in a different direction started working for her at corporate and developing recipes. That production side, you know, I've been a storyteller my whole life, right. And the way that I look at it now is that now I'm storytelling on social media in short form video, right? And I'm calling for brands, but I've been a storyteller my entire life. It's just different platforms that I've told that story. So yeah, it was, yes, it was an unbelievable, an unbelievable experience. I also think that I I grew up very fast. Really living in New York City. I almost feel like everybody should live in New York City for like,

Amy: 12:54

three runs. Yeah, no. Both lived in New York for Yeah, over 10 years and totally agree. It's an education.

Unknown: 13:01

It is such an education. And I don't know if you agree with this, but the way that I looked at it was like, I got there. And I was like, Okay, I really need to figure out who I want to be. Because you can be anything like it is it is a place where it's not like a lot of other cities where there's a general direction that the tide flows in, right, like New York, there's everything. So you really are forced to carve out, like what direction is it that I want to take? Because everything is at your disposal. And I that's the time that I really got a backbone. And I'm I mean, I'm so grateful for that. Yeah, it was, it was amazing.

Amy: 13:43

So great. So tell me a little bit about I know you said you started creating your own content and storytelling on Tik Tok and Instagram in early 2020. So how did you kind of figure out that you wanted to do that? Were you just watching tick tock and then saying, Oh, I could do that with my stuff. Like, how did you like actually start because I think that's also the hard part. Just like identifying that this is something you could actually do and make a living doing?

Unknown: 14:08

Mm hmm. Yeah, that's a great question. I didn't. I didn't really even think that far. I had never been on Tik Tok. So the way that it all happened was that it was at a time where tick tock was, you know, again, the pandemic had started and tick tock was at a place within the organization where they were had a priority of leveling up the platform and maturing the platform and making it really heavy on educational useful content. Right. So it was at a time where a friend of mine who is model and actress out in LA she had participated in this program with tick tock called the creative learning fund, I believe it was called and where they brought in education creators and you worked directly with tick tock for a period of time. So like weekly content meetings, and you learned about the platform, and what was great was that you were really accountable. You had to post a certain amount of videos, you know, per month. So I just said, Yes, I was again, I was not in a great place. I didn't feel like I had a whole lot to give.

Amy: 15:26

So tick tock reach out, to where your friend connected you and

Unknown: 15:30

my friend recommended me for it. That's amazing. Yeah. It's so funny, cuz she texted me the other day. And she was like, she just had a baby. She was been in that haze. And she was like, like, I just looked at your page. Like, I knew that this would happen, you know, but it didn't happen overnight. It seems like it happens. Yeah. But I've had these spurts where, you know, which informs me what kind of content my community really wants to see, of course, but yeah, so I said yes. To this program.

Amy: 15:58

What a great program. Well, yeah.

Unknown: 16:00

I mean, it was an amazing opportunity. And I really didn't feel worthy of it. And I, I remember my husband kind of going like, well, what are your goals with? And he would like, throw these things out there. Like, do you want to write a cookbook? Do you wanna have a product line? Do you want to make $100,000 Next year, and I was bristle, because I was like, I felt this pressure. Like, I'm not gonna do that, you know, it just felt too big. Yeah, that way. And now those things are happening, which is so cool to me to see. But um, yeah, it really saved me in a lot of ways. That sounds a little dramatic, but

Katie: 16:39

it's not amazing. It's okay.

Amy: 16:42

Yeah, congratulations. And it's,

Unknown: 16:43

I work with Tik Tok a

Amy: 16:44

lot through my other job, which is marketing. And I know they're really invested in their creators. I didn't know they had a program like that, and what a valuable place to learn, like how to do it. And now that you're saying that, I'm like, okay, that's, that must have been such a good foundational way to start because, I mean, obviously, your videos are so great, but like, I'm sure they gave you a lot of good tips and tricks. So yeah, speaking of your videos, so let's segue into some meal prep, like go to healthy family friendly. I mean, obviously, there's tons of this on your, on your on your feeds, but what are kind of your favorite things to make and like easy things because I am not. Katie is an amazing cook and I always still recipes from her, but I am not a good cook at all. So I'm always looking for quick ways to like have weekday meals or snacks on the go. What are your favorites? Well, do

Unknown: 17:34

you want to start with like weeknight dinners? Are we sure? Yeah. Yeah, cuz I feel like dinner time is is the is the troublesome time for most of us. Right? Always, like, especially being a mom, even for me, like I cook for a living and sometimes I feel really burdened by getting dinner on the table. So I completely get it. So I think I like to batch cook as much as possible. So oftentimes, when I'm making something, I will make a good amount of it and I'll free some of it. Like I'm always thinking about like, I have to cook right now. Anyway, I might as well like stock away some right so like last night, and this doesn't really apply because my kids wouldn't touch it to be honest, but I made like a minestrone, right so I made like this like beautiful winter minestrone with all this like great stuff in it. They like pick the pasta out, that's fine, whatever. But I made like a huge batch of it. And then you know, I froze, you know, probably like three really good sized containers. I made a double batch. So I'm like thinking about it's an investment in your like future busy. Yeah,

Amy: 18:45

I'm really bad at that.

Unknown: 18:46

I'm always thinking about that. And really, it's the other thing too is that like I'm big on meal prep, but like meal prep light, so not the, you know, little segmented containers and that kind of thing, but I'll be making batches of pesto and I'll freeze it I freeze it in ice cube trays right and so then you've got these, like little cubes of pesto. You throw it into a sauce you put into a blender when it's thought you've got a salad dressing like you've got it awesome. I love that idea. Not your freezer stocked with it. I don't. I'm very big on not throwing things away. I'm sure we'll talk a little bit about that. But my family's big meatball family. I don't know about yours, but something about kids and meatballs. They just it tends to just work. So I make a lot of different kinds of meatballs. I do these like chimichurri meatballs. I do these teriyaki meatballs with like roasted broccoli, sheet pan situations can be really really easy. And very, very simple to do. So. We are big. I mean my my kids like flavor it very much like me. They'd like big flavored food. So I do a lot of different marinates I have teriyaki knee, so marinate on my website. And I love to do it with like grilled chicken or grilled salmon. You could also do it in the airfryer. So you could just like marinate it in the nice oh teriyaki marinade, and then throw it in airfryer or boil it or whatever it is during the winter months. It's just like flavor bombs and then you've got it taken care of like it lasts for a while and your fridge, grab a piece of protein from the freezer, get it to frosting, and you've got your dinner done.

Katie: 20:30

As you're passing my home is my kids don't all want to eat my food and like thank you if you're saying I'm a good cook, I'm not that good. But I think I do all right. And as I ended up being like a short order cook Yeah, and cooking one meal for one kid one meal for the other kid. That has really made me not want to cook as much anymore. You know me? Yeah, well, I guess it is frustrating. But you're I mean, it's of course your kids are, you know, three and five and eating your food. You make amazing food. And did you always like from the time they can eat? Was it always like you're not getting kid food? We're doing this like you're like, I'll eat my meals.

Unknown: 21:09

No, I am not any better than you let me just I mean it like my first I don't know if you if you saw this tick tock but my first truly viral tick tock. Was this like jokey? I mean, it's ridiculous. But it's just like joke that I need because I say to my friends where I'm like, you know, when people find out that I'm a trained chef, they're like, Oh, you must never give your kids frozen chicken nuggets. And I'm like, obviously not Janet, I cook them first. You know, like, literally a million views on Instagram, like, you know, I am like very honest about the fact where I'm like, I will give my kids a box of Annie's macaroni and cheese. And I will put cauliflower rice in it. And they will smart with it. Like cauliflower takes on whatever flavors you put it with. Right? It's a very neutral thing. So I put it in pancakes, I put it in meatballs like you could put it in. That's a great idea. I never thought about that. My superfood pancakes are like, literally they're like banana oats. I put almond butter in there for fat because like, my kids won't eat almond butter or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches like they won't eat sandwiches? I wish they would never mind. They won't do it. You know, they're not easy on me. So I completely get it. So my approach is this. I make sure that there is one thing maybe two that I know that they like that they don't like absolutely despise. So they're like safe foods, right. So whether it's like, you know, sourdough toast with some butter on it, or like some carrots with some dressing, I make sure that there are a couple of things. And then I'll serve that, like I know that they're not going to eat salmon. But I will put salmon on their plate. And I just manage my own expectations of it and say, if they eat some carrots, and they eat a piece of bread, like that's different. Yeah, yeah, well, good. So like a big part of it for me has been letting go of this idea that they have to have a balanced meal and looking at like, I just aim for like a balanced day. Yes. Like, I just aim for a balanced day. So that is why I like those, these superfood pancakes I make. If I get them eating a few of those pancakes, I'm like, I don't care if they have Pirate's Booty the rest of the day, like they had all of the nutrients and healthy fats that they need, you know, and it just takes the pressure off. Because I'm like you like doing the short order cook. That's not fun for anybody. And I've done it too. I've done it too.

Amy: 23:50

So let me ask you a question about snacking stuff. Because my family including me tends to be big snackers and especially with teenage boys like they don't I mean, my older one will, is starting to eat like real good foods and like flavors. My younger one is super picky. But they tend to snack all day long. Literally, my teenager, my older one will go downstairs at midnight and have five bowls of cereal. I mean, he's crazy. And he's eating phase and they'll just eat cereal and junk. And like my little ones like with candy. And so I just want to have like little snacks that they can eat that are sitting in front of them that they don't have to do anything to because I'll be like, oh, there was this in the fridge and they're like, Oh, I

Unknown: 24:32

didn't see it. I'm like it's in front of your face and you put it in the microwave for 10 seconds. So like what's like an easy thing to prepare that they can just grab? Yeah, that's a great question. Um, so the first thing that comes to my mind is not necessarily a food suggestion, but it's more of an organizational suggestion. Love Oh, yeah. So a friend of mine. Her name is at home with Shannon I don't know if you follow her but she's known for like herself serve for fridge situation and self serve stations. So she has like self serve stations for everything. She's got four kids. And like having a section of the refrigerator that is like their section where they know it's like, their snacks, their food. I don't know, like, I think when they're young, depending upon the kid, I think the the benefit is a little bit different. But when they're young, there's that like pride and like, who is my cooling? I can have anything in this area, right? Like something that's really accessible. And it also is like, yeah, it keeps food from kind of going to the back of the fridge to die. And yeah, never getting seen and being like, I didn't know that that was there. I'm realizing I probably need to do that for my husband. Because you know, for the most part, I'm like,

Amy: 25:46

Oh my God, it is everything. My husband does that all the time will be like, Oh, we're out of XYZ. And I'm like, What are you talking about? It's right there. He's like, Oh, I didn't see it. I'm like, if this is not on the front shelf directly in front of his face, he won't see it.

Unknown: 26:00

I just have to put like, like a PBR label on it or something. So I don't know. I gotta do something about it. But yeah, so I mean, my first question would be, what kinds of snacks do they tend to want? So what do they reach for currently?

Amy: 26:17

Cereal? Cereal? I would say cereals number one maybe like popcorn or chips. Or for my little one candy, which we've got sucker. He's like, addicted. Or like, you know, I don't I try not to buy them but like gummy snacks or fruit strips or bars? Like things like that.

Unknown: 26:36

Yeah, yeah. Yeah. So yeah, I mean, we do. Honestly, we do all of that same stuff. Yeah. A big thing for me that I'm aware of is that if I can make try to get whatever they're snacking on, if it has some fat component, it's gonna keep them full. So that in Yeah, half an hour. They're not like, I want more of this. I want more that, you know, they're just constantly eating and then they're not hungry for dinner or whatever. So it can be a challenge for sure. I do a lot of like smoothies for them. But we'll do I mean, we do like the Lara bar route like yeah, like those chopsticks like the turn? Yes, I

Amy: 27:17

have those. Okay.

Unknown: 27:19

I'll do like knots. Would they do nuts? If you made like a?

Amy: 27:23

Maybe? Yeah, you know, I do have tons of nuts, but they don't. They won't.

Unknown: 27:27

I think yeah, maybe I should mix up like a nut like situation for them. Because they do have tons of nuts, but they don't like grab nuts like I would but yeah, maybe that's like my hair. But what I do is I'll do like maple glaze pecans. And then I have Yeah, so you mean literally it says you just tossed them with maple syrup and like a little bit of flaky salt in a saucepan, and then it hardens. So it sounds so good. Yeah. So I mean, it's great for me too, because I could throw it on salads. I could, whatever. But um, yeah, it's that sweet component, because they're not going to grab like a handful of Brazil nuts. Like, yeah, you know.

Amy: 28:03

So I do I do have a section in the pantry for them. I not in the fridge. That's a good idea. But in the pantry, I do have a section but it's kind of evolved because now they're older. So they just kind of take everything but I'm gonna I'm gonna think of some good nut ideas. I like that because it's a healthy fat. And

Unknown: 28:19

it's like, mimicking what, you know, do they have like, my daughter has a wicked sweet tooth, right? So like in loves, like fruit. So anytime that I can, I can incorporate like some kind of sweetness in there. And also, like, I don't know if this is a whole other thing, but I think we can get so dogmatic about like, Oh, sugar and kids and this and that. It's like, for me, you know, if it's going to get them to eat something healthy. Like it's not covered in chalk. It's, it's all worth it for me. You know, it's, it's real food too. So

Amy: 28:52

yeah, actually, my older one loves fruit. And he's hilarious. Like, I'll get to two things are raspberries at the store. They're gone. Like an hour. He eats great, both of them. But I mean, it's great. But it's like he's telling me you have to go to the store. We need more fruit. We need more of this.

Unknown: 29:12

I'm like, can you just go to the store and like, get what you want? Because I can't I can't keep up with the amount of food and it's not the kind of thing you can buy in bulk like, right? It's not Yeah, it's not like a Costco thing where

Katie: 29:24

you could Yeah, a teenage boy you're out of house and home. Oh, sure.

Unknown: 29:29

Right. Yeah,

Katie: 29:30

so I speaking of your content I saw you have these really amazing food hacks to keep in your like produce longer and to reviving it. I saw something strawberries and something with Romaine and I'm gonna let you tell us and then do you have any other ones?

Unknown: 29:45

Yes, yes. So I really it really hurts my feelings to have to throw like anything out. I mean, sometimes my husband's like, what are you doing? Like why are you saving? You know, you're getting like a little Same here, but it really I do not like throwing anything out. So what I do with berries when I'm buying berries, I'm not buying them a ton right now, but what I do with berries is because raspberries in particular, I mean, if you don't have a son that is eating them within like 20 minutes, they tend to go bad really quickly, right? They get bad really, really fast. So if you soak it in a mixture of one part of vinegar, like your everyday white vinegar, you could also use like an apple cider vinegar or whatever, don't waste your expensive stuff. one part vinegar to four parts water, and you just soak it does not make it could be anywhere from four to 10 parts water, if you're really adverse to any kind of vinegar thing, you could just rinse it off. But what it does is it kills the mold inside of the berries, and it keeps it so you can in the summertime, I mean I've had strawberries last, like up to two weeks, if I buy like a big Wow, big package of them. Yeah. Or if I go strawberry picking or whatever. And I'm like, Okay, I can't like be making jam and freezing and all that stuff now. So that is really, really helpful. And when it comes to vegetables because I buy a ton of veggie quick question,

Amy: 31:15

how long do you sell get? How long do you sell? minutes? Okay, and then rinse it off and store it. Okay, Natalie, go ahead, vegetable, sorry.

Unknown: 31:23

Clarify, um, when it comes to vegetables, so you can revive most vegetables with ice water. I tend to when I when I get my veg, I often do this to an online farmers market. Based in New York, I often will order from them. But if I'm going to the store as well, oftentimes, I'll prep some of my veggies when I get home. But if you've got veggies that like you're grabbing a head of romaine, and it's like really sad and wilted. You don't have to throw it out, you can just put it in some ice water. And you will find that it really perks up for you. I have it's amazing. I've even had like carrots where like, I could not even snap them like they were like, I mean, like they were like yoga carrots, you know, it was like, I was like this thing. But then I put it overnight in ice water. Like I peeled it, I put it overnight and ice water and the carrots were perfectly fine. The next day, they were chopping up crying. Oh, yeah,

Katie: 32:27

that's amazing. It makes so much sense. Because the there's so much water content. That's what vegetables and fruit are like, right and you feed water to flowers to bring them alive. Why wouldn't the same thing I've never thought of that. And the other thing was strawberries and the fruit and killing the mold is genius. Because you can accidentally ingest berries that have molded someone and it's really bad for you like it's bad for your gut and all of that stuff. So that's just a great health hack as well. I love that.

Unknown: 32:54

And it's easy, and it's cheap. And it's stuff you already have on hand, it takes two minutes. You know, same thing with herbs with the water, like I put them my favorite way to store herbs like fresh herbs is to put them in like a mason jar filled with water, and then put like a bag on top of it. So like a stash or bag or whatever, and then put it in my refrigerator door and they're gonna last week's for you that way.

Katie: 33:20

That's great. Your your food waste, like how much it really, really bothers you. I mean, I can greatly appreciate it. And I think everyone these days is trying to lean towards reducing that. But I'm so curious as part of that drilled into your own culinary school because I know that in restaurants like chefs and everything, I've heard that like, no food is thrown out like you do something with even the scraps of the scraps. Is that Is that a thing from school?

Unknown: 33:47

You know, that's, that's a really interesting point. I actually think it's more from I mean, my parents were not wasteful people at all. So I grew up with that, you know, my grandfather, like he would lose a shoe and like, hang on to the other one. Like it's so good. Like, come from that. And But Martha also is very much that way. She will not I mean, if there's one drop of batter in a bowl, she's like, No, no, no, like, she will not let you rent it out, you know, and she grew up quite poor. So we had that professional sit like standpoint as well. So I think that that, that that made a difference to it. Thank you for asking that because I hadn't hadn't really considered that before.

Katie: 34:32

I'm super curious. What are your top five pantry staples for healthy meals because I feel like there's things that as long as they're there, we can always go to them and turn something out. That's like, you know, somewhat healthy aside from always having the fresh produce and everything on hand. Entry staples.

Unknown: 34:50

Yes, yes, yes, yes. Yeah, there have been times where I have even you know, I've been recipe testing a lot and then I look in my refrigerator and I'm Like, I don't really know what I'm gonna do for dinner. So, one of my favorite so the first thing that comes to my mind is chickpeas. So all lagoons really like I've always got, especially white beans and chickpeas in my pantry, like I do a lot with lentils as well. If you've got lentils, chickpeas, white beans, ie you are well on your way to a meal, one of my favorite. Okay, so I need to answer your question first because I can go on a tangent so I would say I would say lentils number one. Chickpeas, white beans, I'm going to bunch all of that in together. Number two, some grains. So whether it's rice, or Pharaoh or something like that, and then I would say two big things would be in the realm of some kind of a cooking paste sauce, things like that. So for me, kimchi is always love kimchi. Obsessed. Kimchi is always in my fridge. And then some kind of pesto, curry paste, tomato paste, something like that. And then coconut milk, canned coconut. Oh,

Katie: 36:20

yes.

Unknown: 36:21

I always have those. Those are big ones for me. So

Amy: 36:24

I never use coconut milk. I don't even know what to do with it. Oh,

Katie: 36:27

it's like soups. hurries, like all right. Oh, my goodness.

Unknown: 36:31

I've got a number of recipes on my website, but one I'm going to look up. Yeah, so one of my actually a recipe for when I did a little bit of private shopping when I was just starting at Martha and when I was in culinary school, and I would make this pasta that is it's a spicy fusilli pasta with tomato free, but you're actually using coconut milk so it's dairy free. And you combine tomato paste with coconut milk. Like you cannot taste any hint of coconut is just a really luscious, creamy like nibble of vodka but healthier, delicious. You know,

Amy: 37:08

and I never use tomato paste. I always just use like a sauce. But I feel like a paste is probably like a better texture, right?

Unknown: 37:15

It's that mommy, it's concentrated flavors. So those are those like secret weapons kind of I call them that I have on hand it is like flavor, flavor flavor. It's really complex. All of the work is done for you. I make these coconut spice chickpeas using tomato paste, some spices, some coconut milk, chickpeas, sorbet over rice over cauliflower rice, so good. And then the other night, it was one of those days where just you know, work was insane. I got home at like 530 The kids had eaten already. So that that was helpful, but I literally made Oh, I had lentils in the fridge from the night before. I cooked two fried eggs and olive oil and then like a big heap of kimchi. And that was made. And I was like, Oh, good. I was so happy. You know, like you don't, you can still eat really well, with really minimal time, if you just know how to put things together. And so that's what I'm learning.

Katie: 38:15

Affordable. Also, like all the stamp staples, rather that you just said are super affordable. I know so many people say oh so expensive to eat healthy. And I know. That's not true. Everything you just says you get rent prices.

Unknown: 38:29

Yeah, very affordable. And that's really important to me with my content in particular is that I am I really want to be I want as many people making these recipes as possible. So I am always like, if you don't have this, use this, if you don't have this use this, like I try and make it so that things are very, very accessible to people because not everyone lives in a community where number one they can afford it. Number two, they've got these specialty stores that carry stuff, right like most of the stuff, Walmart, like you know,

Amy: 39:02

so you know, we love your hungry lady salad series that we like went down the rabbit hole watching them because first of all the salads look incredibly amazing. And second of all, they look like fairly easy to me. So I like watching those videos because I'm like, okay, that's like a thing to have. And then you can eat that over several days. So how did the inspo for that come out? And those on imagining are super popular and like on your channels?

Unknown: 39:24

Yeah, yeah, it's been. It's been really amazing. I mean, that series, I so I posted a soup. It was and I'll never forget because I had I hit a million followers on Tik Tok January 8 of 1.7. So it's all pretty much been because

Amy: 39:44

like January 8, like a month ago this year, yeah.

Katie: 39:47

Oh, wow. It's amazing. Working somebody having more. Congrats.

Unknown: 39:51

Yeah, and I mean, I think I have like 60,000 followers on Instagram, and now I have like 130 And it's so in four weeks. So Clearly, like, one thing that I've really learned is, I think a lot of the success that I've had is because I really shifted my focus to, like really listening to my community, you know, and I tell a lot of content creators, my friends, and you know, marketing in this way, like people will tell you what they want to see from you, you just have to be listening. Because I used to have this whole content plan. These are the recipes I'm going to make and Baba and I had a whole plan for January, and all of these recipes that I had either already made and shot and are still ready to go or not. And I throw it all out the window because I'm like, the way that this one salad resonated with people I called it The Hungry lady salad. It's a kale chop salad with like a lemon tahini dressing. And people were going crazy over it, they loved the name. And I was like, there's really something here. And and so I just was like, this needs to be a series. And you had posted like, 10 episodes so far. And yeah, and I have actually shot one this morning. So I mean, I can make salads all day, like I yeah, I am like very much about like, what are you? What am I adding to my plate rather than what I'm taking away? Like, I love this feeling of like abundance in my life. And it really, like especially entering this month that is like the month of like deprivation, January where everyone's like, wait, I need to do that, like, let's look at it in a little bit of a different way. I have personally gotten a ton of food freedom from viewing food that way, you know, really just focusing on, like, what makes me happy? What are how can I add more color, more texture, more interest? Rather than like taking it away? You know that the perspective of lack and restriction is not one that serves me very well.

Amy: 42:04

I think a lot of Yeah, and I think your salads too, in that series. They're very hardy. So I was looking at them. I'm like, Okay, I need to make because they're not just like, oh, having this little salad. I'm gonna be starving mean they're like, a full on meal. I mean, super hearty so and they're, yeah, I, I they're all like, Look, I

Unknown: 42:21

know, I need them. I just

Amy: 42:24

watched them, like, oh my god, I have to make this immediately. Katie, you can do like a salad off and try to make it better.

Unknown: 42:33

It's been amazing. And it really has. Again, just like really helped me pronounce my mission further of just getting people excited about food, not taking ourselves so serious, adding a whole bunch of stuff to our plate, eating with huge spoon, you know, just the whole concept of like, what it means to eat like a lady and what you know what it means to eat healthy, and it's, it's fun.

Katie: 42:59

And I really love your approach to it. And you know how you're saying, like, switching the focus from restriction and everything. Some people might look at you and think like, oh, you can eat anything you you know, like, you're one of those girls, but you actually lost 25 pounds. And you've been very vocal about this on social media, getting the way you love and the way that you promote and share and everything. Tell us a little bit about that journey.

Unknown: 43:25

Yeah, so I do, I've talked about this a little bit on social, I don't talk about it often not for any reason in particular. I also think that right now, we're in a very sensitive world. And so anything having to do in inevitably, I get tons of comments with like, you know, that like accusing me of promoting diet, culture, you know, all of that stuff. So, it's a, you know, it's not a narrative that I talk about a lot. But yeah, I mean, I was I was a good 2025 pounds heavier. Yeah, like a year ago, then or a year and a half ago, than I am now. And I think in a lot of ways, my my passion for food never left, just like in the absence of creating food, I just ate food and ate. And so, you know, it was nice to be able to redirect my passion a bit into, you know, creating food as well. But, um, yeah, it really started with that mentality of what can I add to my life and, and it's been very, very, very rewarding. I get messages every day. I mean, dozens of messages a day from people that you know, have said like, You've helped me look at healthy eating a different way. I've lost this amount of weight. Like, I don't really ever talk about calories. I don't really, like ever talk about that stuff. Because for me When you just really start falling in love with like beautiful real food like hearty food, interesting food, that that that stuff like sorted itself out. I didn't have to go that route. I'm not saying that that's the way it is for everyone. But from what I'm hearing, I'm not alone in that. Yeah, but

Amy: 45:22

when you say when you say adding, so you're obviously like not creating an eating more. So when you're when you kind of started creating and lost weight, and obviously, it probably wasn't intentional. It's just because you probably were in the creative mode. And that's sitting around like we all were during the pandemic eating. But when you're adding, so you're saying because I love that that's really a great way to think about it, because I never thought about it that way. Like what am I adding? When you say that? You mean in the sense of like, what am I adding that can be more nutritious? Like, am I adding another might add like something to fill you up? More? Like explain that theory? A little bit?

Unknown: 45:58

Yes, yeah. So when I look at what I'm adding, like when I'm creating a salad, for instance, right, like so, I am always looking at like, Okay, here's the base of it. And here, maybe a couple of other things that are pretty normal to put on it. What like cucumber, tomato, like chirp has has a place there for sure. But like that's a pretty boring salad, not something I'm going to be excited to eat every day. And if you love food, the way that I love food, I need to be excited about what I'm eating. And so I'm going to be excited to be eating an amazing new haven pizza or delicious croissant, like that's gonna make me excited. So I need to come up with stuff that is as exciting as that. And so that is really about layering in textures and colors. And, you know, understanding I talked about this a good amount in my videos like understanding the yin and the yang of a great run, like how the sweetness plays off of something that's acidic, and how the creaminess plays off of something, you know. So how different elements of the salad make the other element more pronounced.

Amy: 47:13

Yeah, and it's probably just experimentation to like, I'm just not experimental because I'm like, oh, maybe that won't taste good. And then whatever. Katie actually taught me that though, when she's making a salad, she does that, where she'll just like, go through the pantry be like, oh, what else can I add? Let me add like some cheese. Let me have some nuts. Let me and so I sort of I learned from her like to throw like nutritional yeast in the salad, like, give it a little bit of like, of that texture. So anyway, yeah, it's good to hear that. It's a great way to think about really anything that you're making, like what can you add to make it more? You know, yummy and nutritious. And I love that. Yeah. Okay, so we could talk all day. There's so much more I think to talk about, we probably have to have you on for around two, because there's so many like, there's so many hacks who want to know, let's get to dessert quickly. Like what are your favorite swaps for making healthy dessert? Because I definitely have a sweet tooth and I'm always looking for a yummy dessert.

Unknown: 48:07

Yeah, for sure. And I have dessert every single night like I have. I my freezer is filled with cookies, brownies. blondies. Like, if I don't have bags. So I am with you. So a couple of things. So I mean, I have the fudgy avocado brownies that one of my most in my clothes. Yeah, those look amazing. Those are really, really fun and really big and great. I love to make like chocolate puddings and chocolate mousse is with tofu. It gets a lot of volume and creaminess to the chocolate mousse. And I would never know that it was in there. Sometimes I'll do like a roasted sweet potato mashed sweet sweet potato. I'll make the chocolate mousse out of that. So yeah, so those are those are the big ones for me. And then I have these vegan chocolate chip cookies that I just love and they're really delicious. I'll be posting the recipes soon. So good. Yeah, yeah, it's really just a matter of stepping back and asking yourself like What purpose does this ingredient serve in the dish? And what can replicate that? And and it takes practice to know that but

Katie: 49:20

I need your chocolate chip cookie recipe because that is my all time favorite dessert and I can't eat eggs. So I need that.

Unknown: 49:25

Oh, this is it. I've been I'm still like perfecting it because it's very temperamental. Sometimes it spreads too much. Sometimes it doesn't, which is fine for me because I'm just eating them. But I haven't shared it yet. So I'm like it's not perfect, but I will share with you and maybe it'll be good for you to give me feedback too.

Katie: 49:42

Okay, great. All right. Well, tell us quickly about your ebook because that's so exciting. When did that opportunity come about and

Unknown: 49:51

Well, it's interesting too, because I just submitted my finished my proposal for an actual cookbook yesterday. Awesome. Yeah. So yeah, my literary agents sent it out to publishers last night. So that is like, very exciting. It's so exciting that when this when all of this happened in January, I had like three publishers email me directly, like, we want to do a hungry lady. cookbook. It's not going to be bad. Exactly. But that'll definitely be the tone and the element of it. So yeah, recipe development, it at my core is like what I love to do. It is my favorite thing in the world. I just would create recipes all day, every day, if I could. So I wanted a place where I could, I could package things in a more structured way. So many people have been asking for cookbooks and cookbooks take a while to produce, there's a you know, it's a whole thing. So it was a way for me to just easily get something up for people. And then when I started seeing photos on Instagram of like, you know, people cooking and they have like, bound together all of the pages in like a binder. And I'm like, because they're like, basically like, Oh my God, it was really funny. I'm like these four people. They're, like, printed out and they're, like, laminating it. And I'm like, they're like, it's like a DIY cookbook. Yeah, it that is on the horizon.

Amy: 51:15

Very cool. And if you think about it, you're tick tock and Instagram is basically like a virtual cookbook, because cookbook, because I tend to find recipes that way. And just watch the videos and do them because it's so much easier for me to like visually see it than to like read through the whole recipe. So yeah, that's greater. Awesome. So we're going to get into our rap session was just some fun questions we like to ask every guest so what is your favorite wellness or beauty hack? Hmm, wellness or

Unknown: 51:41

beauty hat. So I will say two things. First thing is not a hack, but I do I do TM, I do Transcendental Meditation. And that has like, changed my life. And as far as my skin goes, because I get a lot of questions about my skin have gorgeous skin. Yeah, thank you. Thank you so much. I did not always but um, I put some three main things so I stopped washing my face in the morning. So I don't wash my face at all morning first, so when I am done with my shower, I do like a minute of ice cold water, which takes some getting used to but I think that's really good for my skin and it just wakes me up. It's like good for your endorphins. It also kind of calms you down at the same time. And then the other thing is after my moisturizer at night I do like a pea size of Vaseline all over my face. Oh yeah,

Amy: 52:38

yeah, that's that's so funny. We we had this other we have this tick tock or on the healthy Heuga who does all these beauty and wellness stuff and she told us that she puts vaseline or Aquaphor over her face and like it gets everything Yeah,

Unknown: 52:51

it makes a difference. Yeah,

Katie: 52:53

yeah. Are you literally like dipping your face in a bowl of ice?

Unknown: 52:57

No, so I finished with ice cold water in the shower shower.

Katie: 53:02

Oh, gotcha. Okay, I misunderstood that entirely. Yeah.

Unknown: 53:05

All right. I mean you can definitely like if you just put an ice cube run it all over your face. It's amazing for your skin. I just like yeah, I have an ice roller freezer in my yet. I could do that too. Yeah, weird. Keep it in the freezer and then you go from your bathroom to the freezer.

Amy: 53:22

I keep it in the fridge or the freezer Yeah, and I just grab it like sometimes if I just go downstairs I'll just and I have like a little freezer in my or little fridge in my room in my bedroom in my bathroom like a mini one and so I just use it there.

Unknown: 53:34

Yeah, one of the I need to get one of those. I've been thinking about that. So maybe it's

Amy: 53:38

Yeah, I don't know. I mean I've heard though that doing cold water in the shower a lot of people a lot of like wellness people say that. I don't know if I could stomach egg but I heard it like totally get you going. Yes, it does. Okay,

Katie: 53:52

cool. Are five minutes low. You just got out of the shower and dried off your ice shower. And Uber just alerted you they are five minutes away. What is your quick beauty routine to get out the door like your go to is your holy grail but you're gonna throw

Unknown: 54:05

on to get a car? Yeah, so So the first thing that I'm going to do is probably like use a little bit of dry shampoo. So like Korean or whatever. And then I probably won't do anything to my hair. I'll just like judge it up a bit. And then as far as bass goes, like the biggest things for me are, I've been loving. I've been I love the milk primer. So it's like, you know Milk Makeup the clean Yeah, I love that. It's not like silicone based. You don't feel like it's like clogging my pores. And then I've been using the Ilia super serum. Yes. I have it tinted serum. Yes. Yeah. And it's just like it's light coverage. So if I'm like running out the door, it's like nothing crazy. It always has SPF makeup on. It has SPF. So it's like you're covered. I would throw on some concealer for sure. A little bit of bronzer probably and then Like never go without mascara Thrive mascara is my favorite thing in the entire world.

Amy: 55:06

I haven't tried that I keep seeing it online, it is

Unknown: 55:09

the best. I also think my eyelashes are better because I stopped curling them like I haven't curled them in a long time, like probably year and a half or something like that. So that is really essential for me. Nice.

Katie: 55:21

What did you say thrive?

Unknown: 55:24

Mascara? T h r i v e. Amazing. Amazing. Amazing. Yeah, so yeah, I

Amy: 55:31

see so many videos about that. Great. I'll have to try it because the mascara that I use is the Ilia mascara. It's like the I forget which one it is like the full, whatever. And it's great, but I'm always looking for a good one. So that's that's good to know. And let Yeah, and last question of our rap session is how do you maintain your daily nirvana? I know you said you do TM so I'm sure that's a big one. But any others?

Unknown: 55:54

TM is really is it's like an essential for me. I do it first thing in the morning it. Yeah. So I would say TM for sure. And then also I wake up very early. And I think that that is really essential for me and setting my day because my kids start to wake up by 636 3645. So if I don't have some time before that I'm in a funky headspace like I'm a sensitive creature. I'm an empath, I tend to take on the energy around me if I don't like ground myself in something pretty significant first thing in the morning, it is not good for anybody involved. So I wake up and usually like 430 Wow. Which is, but I just wake up, I just wake up. Now. I mean, now I literally just wake up and I do my TM, I do like a 20 minute workout. I get a little bit of work done. And by the time they wake up, it's all behind me.

Katie: 56:57

Yeah, that's the same. I don't do that much. But I have to if I don't have

Amy: 57:02

an hour to do that.

Katie: 57:05

Like right before the I need an hour before anybody in my house is awake. And even when my parents are here, my mom with me to have the coffee. I'm like,

Unknown: 57:13

so I need my time, my time and when people act like I'm doing something that is you know, so virtuous by waking up so early. I'm like, I'm doing it so that you don't see me on the news, like I'm doing like I'm doing is so that I am like a good member of society like not for any reason that you should be, you know, like, I just I require a lot to just be steady. You know, that's not my I'm not aware life like a loose garment kind of gal. So I need to I need to send it again.

Amy: 57:45

Yeah, so important. Love that. You love that. All right. Well,

Katie: 57:49

cat I appreciate you so much. You. This was so fun. And we for sure need to do a second round.

Amy: 57:55

Okay, so, cat at the end of the show, I like to just one of us will talk about kind of what we're loving lately. And I'm just curious to know if you know this, so we were just talking about desserts. So I had my new favorite dessert, which I found didn't make it but I found it at Trader Joe's which I was saying on another episode. I don't go to a lot but when I go I somehow sometimes always find like a fun thing. So I found these I've a picture on my phone. I don't know if you guys can see it. But it's the Trader Joe's vegan cookies and cream, vanilla bean bond bonds. And they are made with coconut non dairy frozen dessert. And so it's a coconut non dairy frozen dessert enrobed in a chocolatey coating. They are so good. They're these little bond bonds. And they're non dairy, which is great. So you don't feel like and they're not like you know, you don't get all the dairy side effects. And they're so yummy. And they're really not that bad. Not that we need to go through the calories or the fat or the sugar, but they're pretty low and all of those things. So I happen to find them lately. It's my new favorite things. Are they they're frozen, actually, I'm literally in like frozen section cookies and cream vanilla bean bonbons.

Unknown: 59:04

I'm telling you there's so indulgent knows, like 20 minutes, so I'm going to pack them.

Amy: 59:08

I want to hear what you think about them because I had them and then my my husband loves them. My parents were over recently they went to Trader Joe's and bought them. They're so yummy. And they're just like a good little treat. And that's

Unknown: 59:20

for my kids too. Because they're like, they're not enormous. We're like the ice cream is melting. All right, and they taste like ice cream.

Amy: 59:26

I mean, they're so good. I love that. So really Yeah, take a look. Give us your expert opinion on what you think of it. So that's my favorite thing I'm loving this week. Yeah,

Katie: 59:37

we had a lot of fun talking to you and any smarter.

Amy: 59:41

Yeah, thank you and congrats on all of your success.

Katie: 59:44

Where can our listeners find you you just want to mention

Unknown: 59:47

it Yep. So they can find me on Instagram. I'm Cat underscore can underscore Cook, tick tock. It's cat can cook and then my website is www dot Kathleen ashmore.com

Amy: 1:00:00

Yeah fantastic. 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 word 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 34 - 8 Well-Being And Beauty Trends To Buzz About In 2022 (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 34 Well-Being And Beauty Trends To Buzz About In 2022.

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: 0:18

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

Amy: 0:28

Hello, Nirvana sisters, and welcome to 2022. Katie and I are actually coming to the last week of the new year. We have some extra time this week, because we're both home with COVID Unfortunately, but fortunately for you, we are able to now take a fun 2022 wellness trends episode earlier than expected. So, with that being said, it's been quite a winter break for Katie and I so we're gonna just start with our nirvana of the day week. Katie, I'll hand it to you.

Katie: 1:00

Thanks, Amy. Well, Happy New Year. Family, it's great to be back. We missed producing for you guys and everything. But we needed a little bit of a break. So we're excited to come to you with new and fun content in the new year. So my Nirvana I think, this week, because like Amy said, we have COVID circulating in our entire family, we've all pretty much taken a turn. And it's forced us to quarantine. And as dull and as boring as that can get. It's actually you know, it's done like the same thing that it did when the world shut down a year ago, we've just really been focusing on family togetherness with my kids and my husband, and we're cooking together and we're playing together and we're watching movies together. Just we're really, there's no distractions, essentially. So that has been my nirvana. It's we've we've all been really present and focused with each other. It's been great. What about you, Amy?

Amy: 1:57

Awesome. Yes, I would say that. And I would also say that I've been watching a lot of TV and binging on a lot of shows and like laying in bed with coffee and watching TV on interrupted, which is like amazing. So that's been nice just to like have some downtime, and also some time to myself to just like literally do nothing and space out on TV and shows. So that's been fun. So getting into our 2022 trends. So Katie, and I've been doing some research and over the last few weeks, and there's a lot of new trends. Katie, I'm sure you've read to coming into 2022. I picked a few that I particularly liked and wanted to talk about, and also some ones that I think are appropriate to our show, because we have some guests coming up that tie in with our trends. And so I can start if you want me to do the first one I found Yeah,

Katie: 2:50

that's here. And

Amy: 2:52

okay, so I was reading through the Whelan, goods wellness Trends report. And one of the things that popped not surprising is at home beauty tools and devices. So we talked about this a bunch last year, I know we had our Shelly Marshall episode we have we've had two episodes with her, our resident beauty shaman and we talked about microcurrent devices, specifically the new face. But essentially what I was reading in the well and good report was that led masks might go current devices, they've all you know existed before 2020. But there's just going to be even more higher rates of use of this stuff. Because I think what they're what they were saying is people got used to doing this stuff at home. And we're experimenting this through 2020 20 and 2021, since they couldn't see their facial list and take care of their skin as much as they would prior to so there's going to be more use of this and people. They call it a trend forecaster from wgsn termed it tech septons. So meaning that people are getting more comfortable with these kind of devices and doing it at home and mixing it still in with their esthetician, etc. But just more people are continuing to be using these devices. So I definitely agree with that. I've been trying to use mine more. One of the stats I found two, which I thought was interesting is as of 2020, the global home use beauty device market was valued at approximately 9.5 billion in 2020. And according to this report by a market research firm, PNS intelligence it's expected to grow to nearly 90 billion in the next decades. So this is just a growing category that we'll continue to take a look at. I know one of the things that I have on my list to buy this year is a red light, I guess it's there's this there's this product called Juve that I've been reading about and it's like red light therapy where you can get a small one for your desk or people have large ones in their home. And I think it's something that you can stand in front of for like 510 minutes a day. And it has all the benefits of red light therapy. And it's funny because I remember in the show that we talked about algae with Katherine aaronson. She had has come from doing her red light therapy, which she definitely mentioned as being a trend and something people are gonna be really interested in. So I've been seeing a lot more about that. So I'm excited to research that and just overall more at home stuff. Okay, moving on, what is your number two trend? Katie will

Katie: 5:15

really quickly I think, also in regards to your Trend at home stuff, do you think also that there has been a hole filled in the market where they're making more of these at home items that are just like maybe more readily available, they're not quite as expensive as maybe they were a couple of years ago. It's just more accessible to the consumer.

Amy: 5:36

I think it's more accessible. I think a lot of brands I've seen are like jumping into this space, because it is so popular, but I think you have to be careful because I think there are some that are FDA approved, and some that aren't. So I know that the one the new face that I bought from Shelley is FDA approved. So I feel good about this. I know that Juve is FDA approved. So I think you have to be careful with which ones you buy, to make sure that they're approved. And they work. But yeah, I've seen I feel like more of this stuff on the market over the last year, and I'm sure it will continue to grow.

Katie: 6:03

Yeah, yeah, definitely. Okay, well, I have a couple of trends that I find interesting. And some I use, some I haven't used, but I know people that do. And mine is the use of psychedelics for therapy. I actually have a friend that has done this to get over post traumatic stress. And also she happens to be a doctor. And so she is studying up on it herself, and, and potentially getting certified to be able to administer psychedelics herself as a therapist. So the reason why people are doing it is because these drugs are believed to work by affecting neural circuits that use neurotransmitter serotonin. So it puts you into a very relaxed state, it gives you all of these like senses of improved well being, you feel very introspective. So it makes it easier for someone in the right scenario with a doctor in a very safe environment to open up about things that maybe they've repressed or that they just have a hard time talking about, to process all of it. So drugs, I mean, I shouldn't maybe drugs is not the the best term to use. But when I think of things like MDMA, and ayahuasca, that's what I think of, but those are these are the psychedelics that they're using MDMA, Ayahuasca, they're also using LSD Sylow, psilocybin, better known psilocybin is also magic mushrooms. So I think it's more or less like micro doses that doctors are giving people. Now, it needs to be noted that these are not legal yet. It's all in like, trial studies, or doctors that are, you know, a little bit progressive and willing to go out on a limb. Like it's not necessarily easy to find this right now. But it's coming. It's we're getting very close to to this being more readily available. What is legal, are ketamine clinics, ketamine, is what I was reading about to yeah, there's actually a ketamine clinic in New York City, that is having really great success with treating patients with it. So I don't know, I don't know that something I would ever be interested in doing. It makes me a little nervous. But my friend that did it had massive, massive benefit from it. I mean, she processed an incredibly traumatic event in her life that she wouldn't have been able to handle otherwise. But again, something that you're going to want to be very careful with and talk to doctors about. And it's not something you're gonna just experiment with and do at home on your own. This is like a whole other ballgame than tripping out on, you know, LSD, it's, it's not the same thing. So be very safe. If you are interested in doing it go about it the right way.

Amy: 9:07

Yeah, I am. It's funny, I have that as one of my trends as well. And what I did read also, which I thought was interesting, and you just mentioned it was that ketamine is the only psychedelic legally available that is available for mental health patients, which I keep hearing more about that. And then the other thing that I had read about this movement is that they've shown significant promise and treating certain mental health conditions like depression, anxiety, etc. And then it said, also for some stats here, it said, the US depression rate has tripled since the start of COVID-19, with nearly 33% of adults reporting depression symptoms according to the Lancet, regional health, America's anxiety is on the rise, as well as symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder, particularly among healthcare workers and COVID-19 survivor survivor so I know that we've been trying to get a gasps just to learn more about this, I agree with you, I don't think I would ever do this. This like, totally freaks me out. I don't like to be out of control. But I guess if you did have a traumatic if you had something traumatic that you couldn't get over, I would definitely do this or if someone in my life was having depression and wasn't able to get over it, I would recommend it. I just think that it's I don't know, it's scary, but I see a

Katie: 10:21

thing. It's not go ahead. And you just said being out of control. I understand. I get the fear of that as well. I think the whole point is, is that it's done in an extremely controlled environment.

Amy: 10:33

Right. So a doctor's with you the whole Yes,

Katie: 10:35

yeah. Yeah, but still, but still like freaks me out nonetheless. I mean, you know, it's

Amy: 10:40

totally i There is an episode I think I was mentioning this to Katie, there's an episode there was this some show on Netflix called goop labs or something like that. And they had a series of different new types of treatments. And one of the episodes was all focused on psychedelics it was out a few years ago, and I watched it and they all were all the people that were trying it went I think you watch to to Katie went to this retreat and like Costa Rica somewhere and tried it, and it really helps a lot of people. But anyway, if our listeners if you guys want to learn more about it, there's that episode on Netflix, but just an interesting trend that I'm sure we'll start to read more about. Moving on. Okay. One of the things that I read there is a report from Pinterest every year called Pinterest predicts, which I thought was really interesting and had like tons of different trends. So we'll we'll put the link up, because it's basically based on searches that people are looking for in Pinterest. So one of the trends that they labeled under wellness trends was called level up. And this is basically saying that Gen Z are looking for ways to raise their vibration and searching for spiritual awakening, and even aura colors. So the searches that are trending here are how to raise your vibration, which is up 145%, how to protect your energy, which is up 60% and frequency healing inquiries, which is up 35%. So this is a good segue because Katie and I interviewed someone named Athena Bari, which we're really excited to have that episode, I think it's going to be launching after this one. And she just launched a book called raise your vibration. So it was good to see that this is something that people are interested in. So stay tuned for that. What? What other trends are you seeing Katie?

Katie: 12:19

So this next trend is something that I do that I i actually have to do it for my health. But at one point, I had to go to the hospital for it. And now I can just go to a spa, it's IV therapy. So IV therapy, and also the use of an A D IV therapy is becoming very trendy, it's very readily available. There is a spa near me called Restore hyper wellness there, they have like 100 locations all over the place, they offer it and you essentially just go in and you get IV fluids and they have all of these different boosters. Depending on kind of like what you think you feel what you feel you need. You can get vitamin C boosters, vitamin D boosters, you can get, like collagen and all these things for your skin, your hair, your nails, like things for muscle recovery. I do it just because of my Addison's disease, I go in and get fluids just to rehydrate. But I asked her I said, you know how many people come in here to like get over a hangover. And she said, shockingly, that's not all because she said we get a lot of people that are very health conscious. And they come in they do it once a week because they want to feel great. They want to be hydrated, and they just want to be like starting their week out. Right. So then I find interesting because I literally used to have to go to the emergency room to get that done. Now I don't have to So yay for that. But the other awesome. Yeah. The other really cool thing though, is that they're offering with the IV therapy is an A D IV therapy. And a D is a coenzyme. There's many benefits to it has it's helped people aid in addiction recovery. It's reduces pain, it affects like inflammation and everything. It can improve your cognitive function, it can boost your energy, it can improve your athletic performance, it's good for weight management, it reverses signs of aging, it can also delay or prevent the onset of certain diseases. But it's much more I don't want to use the word invasive. It's just a much bigger process than going in for IV therapy one afternoon like I do, what I do is I go to this place they hook me up to an IV I sit in a massage chair and I look at Instagram for an hour. This you're going in and you're there for the entire day. And you have to do like three or four you know visits with it and it's incredibly expensive. But but the nurse that that did it she told me that people come in, you know, like if someone is if their health is deteriorating, maybe they're like have autoimmunity kicking in or something like that. This is a good way to potentially stop that and like do an overhaul in your body and become healthy again.

Amy: 14:55

Yeah, I think I just heard a podcast about this. I think it was skinny confidential. Lauren and Michael Bostick were talking about this with these doctors. And they said it's I think he had done it and she wanted to do it he said he felt so incredible afterwards I think it was the same thing. So yeah, that's interesting. And I have a restore wellness near me, which I've been meaning to go to. My friend, my friend Sherry goes all the time and I've been wanting to go with her just haven't had a chance, but it's right around the corner for me. So I definitely want to try that and start incorporating that into my wellness this year. Because I think that will really help to kind of keep keep you your immunity up, especially now that we have both of COVID I think it's important to to keep that so that's awesome that it's near you and near me too. So yeah, for that I've only done it once. And it was for a hangover when I was in Nashville.

Katie: 15:40

Yeah, I've done it when I've been hungover too but there it's it's available in a lot of places. When I when I moved out of New York City, it was just then becoming available where you could actually have someone come to your house and do it for you. But now it's like everywhere I mean med spas have it and I feel like it's reasonably priced at this restore hyper wellness, they actually provide memberships so membership now so it's great. It's good. I think we're probably going to see a lot more of it. So yeah, so yeah, I

Amy: 16:09

think I think it those types of med spas or restore on one's like it they have like those hyperbaric chambers Yes. Like the cold therapy and they have those LED light boots and all that stuff. Yeah, that's fun. Yeah. Okay, so moving on. I was reading some nail news in a lor laura.com And here are the eight biggest manicure trends to expect in 2002. So I'm just going to read them off really quickly. Multicolored digits so essentially like all different color nails in one set, which is cute. French versus American manicure. So like the classic versus you know a lot of those American manicures you see and I didn't even know it was called American manicure and I've done it before where you have like fun colors on the tip or different ways to do the manicure not just like the straight line but it's like a diamond or whatever. So that is going to be trending next year. Neutrals neutrals and more neutrals, they said time to DIY DIY sees me which I think definitely got a resurgence over COVID I know that I review the product man me which I still love and use here and there. And I've seen so many nail companies coming out with press on nails, sticker nails, etc. So more of that. 3d decals so fun like pearls and diamonds on like little things to put on your nails to judge them up. Waves work swirls, waves and swirls on nude bases. So really cool designs related to that category. And then the last one they talked about was mixed textures, like you know, a solid on one nail and lines on the other and zigzags on the other and just kind of like playing with fun, different textures. So I'm always looking for new nail fun designs when I go in. So that's what I read on the lore about nails.

Katie: 17:52

My Girls would love that. I'm usually like I either go dark or either go super neutral. I don't like it too funky with it. But I think it's so cool when people do I think it's really cute.

Amy: 18:02

Yeah, I like to go funky with it. Yeah,

Katie: 18:04

I love it. Sometimes it looks great. Yeah, so Did your mom your mom always has like blues and purples and that she gets like yeah, just like playful with it. It's great. Alright, so my next one is something that just kind of popped up. It's funny, I was like inadvertently doing this. And then I stumbled across that this is a trend and we're gonna start to see it more. So we've all heard of veganism. We've all heard of vegetarianism, have you heard of reduce a terian ism, reduce it now. Sounds made up but it is not. So essentially what it is, it's eating less eggs, dairy meat, for the betterment of the planet for your own personal motivations. It's basically you know, people want to push being vegan and vegetarian for you know, the environment and reducing our carbon footprint and, and cleaner water and all of these amazing benefits that eating less meat, dairy eggs would do for the world, but it's very daunting. A vegetarian or vegan diet can really freak people out, right? I mean, who doesn't love a nice ribeye steak I do. So right, this is a way that is really approachable to participate in, you know, trying to improve the environment, reduce your carbon footprint, everything like that without going you know the full monty without totally giving up all the eggs. If you eat eggs for breakfast every day, eat eggs for breakfast once or twice a week. If you put milk in your coffee and your cereal, put almond milk on your cereal, like just like little minimal switches that actually make a huge, huge difference. So this is just a small little way that you can contribute. And also it's good for you. Oh, we all know that eating more plants is really good for you. It fights diabetes, it fights cardiovascular issues. It's good for weight management. So Yeah, I started doing it to help with COVID, I just cut back the amount of meat that I was eating in the last few days just because I feel like I get inflammation when I eat too much of it. And the more plants I eat, you know, the better I'm going to feel sooner rather than later. So that's inadvertently I'm doing reduce at Arianism.

Amy: 20:16

Yeah, it's interesting that you say that because I know we did that episode on plant based diet, which was really educating about if you want to be plant based, here's how to do it. But this is just kind of like a toe in the water. To that it sounds like you're reducing it, which I think you and I probably do intuitively, but you're reducing it instead of not having it at all. So you still get a little bit of it. But you're thinking about ways to reduce it more so for the planet and your health, of course, but I know we talked about in that episode, just egg, which I just wanted to bring up again, because that's a great way to still have eggs, but it's not made from eggs. And so I know that company is kind of exploding right now. I've seen it all over the place since we talked about it. And they're also coming up with new technology. I think, like they have the egg products, but I think they're coming out with chicken. Oh, wow. But I know that they have some new innovations coming out in that space. So it's interesting to see all of these brands and companies coming out to help to embrace the plant based lifestyle and reduce the terian ism. So interesting. Okay, so the next one, I think is relevant for all of us and a lot of women specifically and it is called. This again is from the Pinterest predict study that I read. And it's fin powermat. So managing your money like a boss in 2022 people will take money matters into their own hands as they set out on new journeys towards financial literacy. So millennials are driving the searches behind investment tips, financial education and investment property for beginners. So investment tips was up 195% This year, passive income tips are up 35% financial education was up 155% Financial Planning bullet journal was up 90%. And investment property for beginners was up 45%. So super important. We have someone coming on the show a lot of fun and a couple of episodes that is going to talk all about fin Powerman. But I think it's interesting to see that this is a rising trend. I think obviously this category has always been important. But I think more and more it seems that younger millennials and people just coming into the workforce are not only looking to save money through or 401k. But they're looking for how can I invest and there's all these apps now people aren't using like the traditional banking methods anymore. They're using all of these new apps like Robin Hood, and Katie, you are seeing you're using one name Alibaba, there's all these new ways to manage your money. And I think it's interesting that people are looking now for a lot more ways to not only diversify their income, but even make more money side hustles, etc. So any thoughts on this one? Katie?

Katie: 22:55

Yeah, I mean, I just I think it's great. I think it's so empowering. I know, as a young 20 Something I was never really taught money management from my parents, it was not really my dad's strong suit, like even my brothers and I, we all had to kind of learn that on our own. So I found myself kind of leaning more towards my husband to take the reins on that. And then a couple years ago, I was sick of being in the dark. And I educated myself on all of our finances. And now you know, I can look into our portfolio whenever and I know everything that's going on constantly, and it is so empowering. It makes such a huge difference. I just I think it's I think it's brilliant. I'm, I'm very happy that the world is going in that direction instead of people just kind of flying by the seat of their pants, hoping that their paychecks are gonna make ends meet and everything's gonna be okay. So yeah, I think that's, that's great. I'm excited to talk to this guest this that's coming up about it.

Amy: 23:53

Yeah, it's interesting that you say that I think growing up, we probably I don't think we talked about like financial planning so much. But we did talk about managing money, somewhat. But I think now it's much more open and relevant, because Stu is always talking to the kids about different investments he's doing or different ways were diversifying our money. We both talked about it. And I've been getting more educated as well. I mean, I've always been somewhat, you know, financially savvy, but not in the way that Stu is. And he's taught me a lot. But I've also invested in a few companies myself this year, and just in a way to teach myself how to do investing or how to follow companies or startups and different things. So yeah, I'm excited to learn more about this.

Katie: 24:36

Those are great trends and very exciting. And I am super pleased to say that we have a lot of guests that are going to touch on most of those topics, actually that we just covered. So look forward to that. And yeah, Amy, you have one more

Amy: 24:52

Yeah, I have one last trend just like I did a nail speed round. I'm going to do a beauty speed round. I did some researching here. I'm quoting a website called Pure Wow which talks about nine beauty trends that they're predicting are going to be big next year according to the pros that they interview so the first one is glitter so glitter and shadow and makeup you know that's still I think that's been around but I think more so that they're gonna we're gonna see more of that line lips so this 90 is inspired trend like the welds of my life and it's funny because I've been looking at a lot of, I don't know tiktoks Instagram rails lately of people using like a new liner with a new lipstick and I actually just saw this yesterday and I wanted to get this Tom Ford lipstick because it was so pretty and of course it's sold out but that's definitely starting to trend so like that lined lips with lipstick look, double winged liner which I've seen here and there. It's kind of cool. I don't know how into it I will be but definitely fun to see and really creative looks people are using with double winged liner statement blush. So different ways to use blush, whether using it not just on your cheeks, but using it for contour. I also read about people using purple for blush, so people just playing around with a lot of blush, which I love. Peekaboo highlights, so people doing highlights, but more kind of like under their hair or on the bottoms. Just fun little ways to put highlights in your hair. Modern day mullet which I hate. You're seeing celebrities kind of embrace the mullet look, which I think is yeah, I've seen it like they were showing an example of Rihanna with some like mullet look which I can't stand. But anyway, it was on the list, long layers, which I think have been kind of in style, but like the curtain bangs, then the long layers, so that's a fun one. Another one is textured hair, which is kind of like that look where you have waves, but it looks kind of wet and texturing. So that's another one that I read about. And then the last one I read about was gender fluid beauty. So products being launched that are gender inclusive, which is great. So that is my beauty Speed Round, nice, I guess our trends Nirvana sisters family, like Katie said a lot of this stuff we'll be covering over the year. And I think there are so many more that were exciting. But these were the ones that kind of popped for us and things that we thought were relevant to our audience. But we'll put in all of these links in our show notes, you can read more about all these trends and different sources to find them. So super fun. It was I love doing this and kind of going in and reading about stuff and coming back as a reporter and talking about all these different trends. So so this is our first episode doing trends, but I think it's something that we should probably look to throughout the year to do little short episodes around trends or little, little, you know, topics that our listeners might be interested in. So if there's anything that you all are interested in that you want us to do some reporting on, let us know. And we'll do some research around that. Yeah,

Katie: 27:47

I like that. Some of those quick round trends that you just noted, I some of them sound great. And some of them freak me out like the purple blush. I don't know if I'm going to be. But yeah, I'm sure to look fabulous on someone. All right. So that was a lot of fun. Let's wrap with a mantra as we do. And you know, it's a new year. It's a new start. So how about this? Today is a fresh start, I welcome each positive opportunity with a thankful heart. I set my own pace, always moving forward. Even amongst chaos, I can find my own peace. And that was a few mantras and one but I like it because you know, New Year New Start. Lots going on. So good one to remember.

Amy: 28:33

Yeah, that is a good one. And I think we're recording this week after Christmas right before New Year's and I think that's always a week where I try to write goals and try to think about things I want to do for next year. So that's really relevant and good to remember. And hopefully you all enjoyed this episode, and we look forward to next week's episode. Thanks, everyone. 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 33 - Gratitude, Self-Care, & Pausing To Be A Better You (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 33 Gratitude, Self-Care, & Pausing To Be A Better You.

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: Welcome to Nirvana sisters, where we discuss all things health and well being to help you achieve your highest state your nirvana. Hi, I'm Amy Sherman, a marketing exec with a passion for wellness and beauty.

Katie: 0:19

Hi, I'm Katie Chandler, a form of fit model that has a passion for health and fitness. We are

Amy: 0:25

sisters in law who share the same love for well being ready to sift through all the self care noise and bring you a splash of what we think is fun. So let's get started. Welcome back to the show, everyone. It's Amy and Katie today. And before we get moving with the show, I think we all should just take a quick breath. So I'm going to do it and you follow me because I know that I need it today. So ready, go. Okay, I really needed that guys, because I am feeling very overwhelmed lately. Katie knows this. It's towards the end of the year. There's so much going on, I feel like so many plans to be made. And I just got a new puppy. And you know, it sounds silly because it is amazing having a new puppy. But I have to say it is like having a newborn again. Except I'm much older. And I feel like I have to keep my eyes on her every second. And I have no time to myself. Because every time I try to go to the bathroom, take a shower, she's either in my room all over me has to go outside. And so I just feel like I've had no time to myself. So I was telling my family last night, I'm feeling very overwhelmed. And I need to take a step back. And I need them to help me do that. Because I've just been all over the place. So our episode this week is really about moving into the new year, taking a pause, looking back on the year and trying to balance and organize ourselves. So we're going to the New Year strongly. And I know Katie and I have been having a lot of these conversations offline because we are loving our podcast. And we love all of our listeners and all of our guests. But we do need time to take a step back and kind of think about next year and who we want on the show and what you guys want and how we want to kind of grow this community that we love so much. So we're taking time over the next few weeks to do that. And in this episode, we're going to talk about kind of balance, we're going to talk about some holiday weight loss things that we've been thinking about just a urine review a little bit, take a moment of gratitude, and just talking about how we can take care of ourselves over this busy season because the holidays are great time. And I'm really excited to move into Thanksgiving and the holidays. But they can also be somewhat stressful because you got to plan things, and you're going out a lot and seeing people which is all great, because we haven't been able to do it. And I think everyone's excited to do it. But it does have this feeling of moving quickly. And I just want to enjoy the moment and be kind of at peace and be in the present. And I'm just trying to do that. So Katie, can you help me with this? What are your thoughts? Yeah, I

Katie: 3:05

mean, also the holidays brings on more fun and partying than we probably any of us really, truly need in our lives, like as fabulous as it is. And as exciting as it is to see our friends. And to do these things, it can just totally throw us out of whack. Like I already feel in the weeds to begin with. I feel unorganized. I feel like you know, there's so much going on, we can't get on top of it. And now we've got to throw the holidays into the mix. And then there's the holiday parties and all of this and then I'm dragging and I just don't feel good. So it's a very difficult time I find for people to tune into themselves and to take care of themselves. And that's kind of what we're here as your reminder to try to do like, we're not saying beat yourself up if you aren't able to do it. But just try to remember to also take care of yourself through the wrap up of the end of this crazy year.

Amy: 3:52

Yeah, I know that I since I got the puppy. I haven't been working out as much. And I think that's why I feel so unbalanced and unorganized. Because I've been taking the time for myself to work out. So that's really getting on my nerves. So I need to start, like ASAP getting back on schedule with working out because I think that will make the rest of my days and weeks better. What about UK? Yeah, it just shows you moved. You were saying

Katie: 4:16

since since we moved, it's like really, really hard to get on in a routine. And it just goes to show like a major shift in anyone's life. Like whether it's a new baby, a new puppy, a new house, a new job, anything. It can really throw you out of whack, and it can be really hard to get back on track. I mean, it's our whole thing. And just so everyone knows, like we struggle with it, too. So yeah, I mean, I have only been able to get my workouts on like maybe twice a week, and I could feel it and I definitely feel like I'm edgier. I have a shorter temper. I am just not like a peace and present and calm as much as I would like to be. So yeah, I agree. I'm really I think us taking this cause is, is is gonna be great on so many levels, not just for Nirvana sisters, but personally also,

Amy: 5:06

yeah, I am feeling good about it. And I just need to set some mini goals for myself like, with working out, I definitely feel like I need to be doing at least five minutes of meditation, I've been totally off that practice and I need to be doing like my five minute meditation, I need to do some gratitude practice. And I feel that when we do get busy, those are the things that fall to the wayside. But then it almost makes it worse because it makes you more stressed out. And we know this because we talk about it all the time. But when you're in a busy time, it's good to just remember so this is our way of remembering and telling our community to remember to do this too, even if it's five minutes of walking five minutes and meditation. So with all this being said, let's do our nirvana of the week. Katie, why don't you start?

Katie: 5:50

So mine is kind of funny. And it's like a little unexpected for me. But do you ever have like, Have you ever had a song where you've heard maybe in a TV show, or you've heard it on the radio? You've heard it in a movie, like over a year's time, and every time you hear a little bit of it, you're like, I love that song? What is that song? Yeah, I had a song like that for I don't know how long like the better part of my life. And I'm always whenever I hear and I'm like, oh, I need to figure out what that is. I figure out what it is. And I never do. Well, the other day, the song came on the radio at like on Sirius. So it had the title and the artist, and it's hard. Oh my god. Do you know Harvest Moon by Neil Young?

Amy: 6:32

I think so. It's really listening to that. No way. Like, I feel like you told me about it or something.

Katie: 6:38

It was after you left? And uh, no, because this was all after you left. And I have probably I want to say this was on Monday because I was going to the grocery store. I have probably listened to it 100 times. It's the only thing I've listened to since I heard it. I'm playing it on repeat like a psychopath. But it's brought a young boy. Yeah. Like, honestly, I should play I'm just gonna play like a second or two of it. Ooh. And you're Yeah, and you'll know it but

Amy: 7:15

don't know if I know the song.

Katie: 7:17

Very like the first line is so good. I'll stop it after that.

Amy: 7:27

Oh, yeah, I know the song. So it reminds me of the Grateful Dead actually, it has that kind of vibe. And I feel like I heard this. Maybe Adam played it when I was there. Because I'm telling you, I heard that song with you when I was there this weekend. And it's a great song. And I'm gonna download it and it's definitely a mellow vibe. I love it.

Katie: 7:44

Yeah. And it's also like, it's about Harvest Moon, which is the fall and I'm of what I really like about it. It's about a couple that have been together for years and years and years and years. And they're still in love. And it's like, huh, like, like they're trying to spark that like young love feeling again, you know, it's good. So anyway, it's probably nirvana. Yeah, it's been like epic. Oh, I

Amy: 8:05

love it. I'm gonna definitely do that. I'm going to add it in. Maybe I'll listen to it when I do a little workout later. Yeah. Meyers, Ana, there's a few things I would say I was visiting Adam and Katie, my brother Adam and Katie obviously, and the girls last weekend, which was fabulous, because a I had like a little time to myself, but be I'm just really happy for you, Katie. And so happy with your move and your new community. I just felt really good being there. And I felt really happy for you and settled and that made me happy and that made me feel Nirvana because you guys really chose the right community to be in and Adam had this vision and he was right and it's such a nice warm community where he moves and I just felt so good for you that you guys were starting out in such a positive way with the girls that are really good age to move. So that brought me a lot of nirvana. We also have a special guests that were booking that I won't say that will probably be into the new year. So that also brought me a lot of Nirvana being that I pretty much manifested this person to come on our show, so I'm really excited about that too. Yeah, let's move on to some holiday eating weight loss. So when Katie and I were together, I had told her that I recently lost about 15 pounds

Katie: 9:23

doing lose my mind because you don't even look like you have 15 pounds to lose ever.

Amy: 9:28

Thank you. I felt that I put on a lot of quarantine weight and it was really I felt like more water retention and inflammation just because I wasn't paying attention I was eating I was I mean for the most part eating clean but definitely probably indulging more and then when I was indulging probably not taking a step back and like trying to eat healthy again. So I was just like off you know how sometimes you just get off and you get into a stage where you just feel bloated and you look at pictures and you're like oh, I don't like the way look and I don't like the way they feel. So I did this thing called Octavia which I was very against actually because I've known about For years, I know people that have done it. And you can lose a lot of weight from it, but I was very against it. Because you know, I actually don't think the ingredients are that bad, but it's packaged. And I was like, it's not organic. It's not fresh. I like to eat everything fresh and whatever. But Nicole, honestly, and Whole Foods Exactly. But honestly, I've been so busy that I was like, let me just do this and see. And I also am not one to make like, meals for myself so much, because I'm always on the run. So I do like to grab things and have more snacks throughout the day. So I was like, You know what, I need to lose a quick way, you know, 10 pounds, let me just try it. So I the way that the program works is you have a coach and my friend Stephanie, when I was visiting her over the summer had been doing it and she told me her coach, and I was like, set me up with her because it was someone I don't know someone that lives in Texas. She's so sweet. I've asked her a million questions. And she's sort of my Coach and Trainer along the way. And the reason why I personally thought that was helpful is because a lot of people this has become like a, I don't know what they call like multi level marketing, or whatever they call it, where people do the program, and then they become coaches. And it's a whole thing. But it is good to have a coach. But I did find that it was really helpful to have a coach that I didn't know, because there are people in my community that sell the products that I know. And I just didn't want to have to like, talk to someone that I knew and tell them my ups and downs and ask them all my silly questions. So it was actually really nice to have a somewhat anonymous person in my life that I could just ask a quick question to like, Hey, am I eating the right this or my eating right that so anyway, though, I'll probably do a full review on the program. And we were actually talking about maybe having one of our nutrition experts or contributors to the show to talk a little bit more about it. Because I know generally speaking, it's not good to lose a lot of weight in a quick manner. But I do have to say I have been on it since probably, I would say August, September, October. So it has been three years. It's not like I lost 10 pounds overnight, so I have lost 15 pounds, I'm looking to lose a few pounds more. So that way, when I gain some holiday weight, it won't be so drastic, but it has really helped because I do feel 1000 times better. I was telling Katie, I do not feel bloated at all, my stomach is flat, I feel so much better. So I think I just my body kind of flushed out all the things that I didn't need and that weren't serving me. And this will be a really good basis moving into the new year. So we'll probably go more in depth on it. But it was just something I wanted to mention because it was definitely one of these things where I was like, I'm not sure if I want to do a program like this, but it has actually been really helpful. Another one that I've used in the past is called proline, which I did a few years ago and I've done it a few times. And it's kind of like a one week almost fast. And it's more like soups and like very minimal food. It's almost like mimicking fasting but you are eating and I've done that too. And that's good for like a quick cleanse, you lose a few pounds and you kind of feel good, but that's just like a quick thing to do over the holidays that I know some people do to kind of get a you know, flush out if you will. But Katie, I know you have some some tips for holiday eating as well.

Katie: 13:08

Yeah, well really fast. I just want to touch on Octavia because, I mean you look great and what's most important is that you feel great. But we also know other people that have had really good success stories on it. It's kind of like this little hidden secret I feel like so, you know, listeners let us know if you want to learn more about it. And you know, next season we could probably do an in depth episode on it like you were saying but I think it could potentially help a lot of people that are you know, like stuck with some stubborn weight. Mine is was so my go to, you know, like I said because of the move I was just like out of whack and not really eating very well not on a great routine. So my reset is Pete's paleo. It's this fantastic, like food ordering service that I found during the pandemic when I was just so sick and tired of cooking and then I would not cook so I would end up just like putting a mishmash of random things together for dinner and it would be just like a really unhealthy dinner and I would feel like garbage the next day. So I ordered this. It's pizza paleo.com And

Amy: 14:14

basically you might have reviewed this or talked about and

Katie: 14:17

we talked I think it was one of my miliar it was one of my Nirvana's because it was it Yeah. My meals are so good. So what you do is you you order by Monday and then they have these weekly menus like here's here's an upcoming menu, white truffle and portabella chicken thighs with chives, mashed potatoes and roasted broccoli, thyme roasted turkey with artichoke and phenyl don't know how to say that word and roasted red rutabagas so on so the they're really really tasty meals that they prepare fresh and then shipped to you fresh within days times. And this is a chef, this is an actual chef This is his company and he he puts it together and the meals are So like savory and delicious, it's not it's not what you would think when you get like something that's pre packaged. They're really, really, really good and satisfying.

Amy: 15:09

And they're How do you meet them? Yeah, get in the microwave anything. It's like literally microwave like how does it come as a come frozen it comes,

Katie: 15:18

it comes fresh, but with like a freezer ice pack that keeps it fresh until you can put it into your refrigerator or freezer. And like these black things that are vacuum sealed. And so I toss mine in the freezer, you can keep them in the refrigerator. And then I just stand to

Amy: 15:35

put them in the microwave like in that the whole data that comes in, you just pop

Katie: 15:39

it in. And it's like it steams inside of the bag and reheat it. And it's really, really like the meat is super moist and juicy and fresh. And the flavors are always great. And so the reason why it works for me is because a it's a perfect portion size. It's a perfect balance of like protein to, to veggies to like starch. And it's paleo which is for those of you that aren't familiar, the Paleolithic diet is it's really geared towards people with autoimmune disease, but it just essentially helps fight inflammation, which is like the bane of my existence. I'm always dealing with inflammation because of my autoimmune stuff. So there's certain foods that are not like there's never any dairy. There's never What about gluten? There's never any gluten. There's never any like this child mashed potato is probably not a white potato. Like there's not you know, like there's certain starches that are not in there. There's never any preservatives, gums fillers, like none of that stuff. It's super so you feel

Amy: 16:46

like when you eat it, you feel you don't feel bloated at all, because that's how I guess thing, right? Not

Katie: 16:52

at all. And it's very filling and satisfying. And it's it's whole foods like so you'll look at the most and it's every single item is a whole food. You know, there's a Yeah, and

Amy: 17:00

is it? Is it just dinners or is it lunches and breakfasts like what's the You Can

Katie: 17:05

Do they do have breakfast they do have I think the lunches are probably just it would just be the same meals like you just use them however you choose to use them. They do offer breakfast, I've never done it. And you can get all different packages you can get like this past two weeks, I've just been getting a delivery of five every week. But I before I've done deliveries of 10 and like Adam eats them and Madeline eats them. So

Amy: 17:27

I think do it eat that too. I'm gonna try that. And it's, it's paleo like you can't order vegan if you're vegan or vegetarian, they

Katie: 17:33

don't have they do have like some food options. But I think it's more like AIP, which is really hardcore, an autoimmune protocol that I've tried to do, it's just been even more restrictive at one time, they did have like ketogenic offerings and things like that, but I don't, I don't think they're doing that anymore.

Amy: 17:49

So it just sounds to your point, like a healthy balanced meal. And honestly, with Octavia, the way that you do it is you eat these, what they call fueling. So basically little meals or snacks, you eat like five of them a day, but one of your meals is a regular meal, which is essentially protein in grains. So they call it like a lean and green, but you basically eat a lean protein and a lot of greens. So this sounds like it would be a nice way so I don't have to make it and I could just heat it up. And it also sounds like it might be a good transition for when I start to eat more like maybe I would have one of those for lunch instead of a salad or, or instead of a snack or whatever.

Katie: 18:26

Absolutely. It's, it's great. It's really good and seasonings always great. And you know what we really like? It's like the perfect amount of salt. Sometimes you get those kind of meals. And it's like they're they can be bland, like these are really well seasoned. They're really good. So I highly recommend no surprise,

Amy: 18:41

you really use that to keep on track and to keep it as an easy way to get healthy meals. So when you're feeling off and you've eaten crappy, like you'll go back to just eating that every day. And you'll feel like it's a good way to get you back on track eating healthy. Yeah, yeah. And I feel really good. It's early for weight loss, but in a way clean. Like is very clean and healthy eating.

Katie: 19:00

Yeah, good cleaning. Like I mean, you know, like I'm more regular when I do it. And I just feel better. And yeah, I don't wake up like puffy or bloated. I don't feel bloated up. Yeah,

Amy: 19:10

it's good. I'm going to try this. I'm going to try this over the holidays and moving into the new year because I think that's really good. I think it's good for Stu too, because especially for lunch, he's always you know, he'll run to Balducci's or Whole Foods or wherever the grocery store and just get something prepared and eat it. But I feel like something like this is probably better because you know what's in it and a bit healthier. So yes, sounds great. All right, awesome. So we'll keep you guys posted on how the how the holiday goes in terms of our eating. But I think if we're incorporating and we're thinking about what we're eating, obviously, like I also think it's healthy, to have fun to drink to eat, and all the and all the fun things because that's the fun part about the holidays. It's about being present with your family and friends. It's about having good food and celebrating and we should be doing all that but then on the days that we're not doing that we should be making sure that we're better liking and like eating healthy again, just to, you know, set it apart. So you're having just certain days where you're not eating as well. And then I think that makes makes for good balance. And so I think being really intuitive about that is helpful as well as you know, meditation and movement. I also I was listening to a podcast this morning, I only got five minutes in, but I'm going to listen to it later, when I go for a ride to do some errands. Brooke Dillard on naked beauty planet, she has her naked beauty podcasts. And I love her. She's awesome. And she was really good content on her shows. And the one that launched it was either, I think it was this week was around organization. And she's doing a bunch of episodes from now to the end of the year that are basically kind of like setting you up for the new year. And as you go into the holiday in the new year, different things to be helpful. So this one's on organization, I think she's gonna have like a bunch of different people come in and talk about different things as they as you move into the new year. But the person that was on her show started talking about Oregon organizing and organizing all your skincare products and all your beauty products because we have like a million and they could cause a mess. And my son is organized, but I call it like organized chaos. Like I know where everything is, but it's not super neat. It's kind of neat, but there's just like a lot of stuff. So anyway, I was listening to her and I'm excited to listen to that episode. Well, we'll post it because it sounds like this woman who's on has a lot of really good tips around not only organizing your beauty staples and your products, but also closets and all that. So I always holidays try to get really organized like Katie knows I do my pantry. And that's like I love doing it. But sometimes in where I had stopped in the podcast, which I listened to later was she's talked about getting in the mindset of organizing, because I think too, you get really overwhelmed with the thought of organizing and then you don't do it because you see all the clutter and you see all the stuff you have to do. And it's just like you don't know where to start. So I'm really interested to hear what she has to say about that. Because you do have to kind of psych yourself up to do organization project. Yeah, it's super organized Katie, like much more organized than I am. Yeah, but still,

Katie: 22:04

I could be better and like, like, you know, I mean, you saw we were saddled with the house except for like my closet. Right? I haven't taken the time to do the thing that is like my thing. And it's a

Amy: 22:15

drain. I'm sure it's overwhelming. Yeah, it is

Katie: 22:17

very overwhelming the thought of getting into it. But yeah, you have to get it's funny. So you'd like to organize around the holidays I like to I always like tend to organize in the spring, like the spring cleaning thing. But I mean, I still need to do it. I like when I when I have

Amy: 22:30

well, like when I have time usually between Christmas and New Year's I'll usually like go to The Container Store and get like fun containers and just try to organize because it's funny, I really actually love organizing. And I like doing it for other people to like I did it in my parents house. Like for my dad's library I've done like I do people's pantries like I love to actually do it once I'm in the mode. But it kind of takes me a little while to get into the mode and to do it myself, like my office is a disaster. And I feel like I need there's so many areas of clutter that I need to organize and clean up. I just haven't done it because I can't get my head around doing it. But that's one of my goals to do over the holidays. But I usually do like want to do organizing projects over the holidays or I try to we shouldn't she's

Katie: 23:13

a picture of your dad's office. It was so good. I want to do that with my office.

Amy: 23:16

Yeah, there's something like cathartic about doing it, because I think you should really good afterwards, and the person feels really good. That's actually what this woman was saying on the podcast this morning that she really she was like he used to be a beauty editor and all these different things. And she got into the organizing space. And she found that when she started doing this for people, they felt like like a weight was lifted off of them. And she loved giving them that feeling. So I need to do some organizing projects, for sure. So yeah, lots of organizing projects. I'm sure Katie, you have a lot of stuff to do around the house that you're excited to. Again, depending on

Katie: 23:46

how you said like you it's really it takes a weight off of you. So this past weekend, when you're at my house and your girlfriend and her kids came over, like the girls totally had the best time with our playroom, but it looked like the absolute bomb exploded afterwards. And it's been like that for the last few days. And every time I look at it, I'm like, Oh, it's so much it's too much. I don't have time for it. And like Frankie walked by it ever a million times. It was on my to do list every single day this week. Finally, this morning, I just did it. I just got up and did it. Reese helped me before she went to school, it did not take nearly as much time as I thought it was going to and now it's like light and airy. I can breathe. I feel like a normal human again. Because that one room isn't haunting me. You know, it really is

Amy: 24:31

so true. And that happens to me all the time. And there's so many things where I will look out for literally a year and be like, I can't get my head around doing it. But um, I know what I was gonna say before what I was gonna say is this woman was also talking about which is so true, is it's easy to be organized once you have a system. So I remember when I first moved to my house I had someone helped me organize my kitchen and she set it up and I've literally use the same system ever since. So it's like once you have that system, even if you're not super organized, you can be organized so I just set up Some stuff in my bathroom, like some ways to have my products out. And now I have a system. So I know where to put my wash at night. I have my wife, like, as long as you have a system, I feel like it really helps with organizing. So yeah, it's good. We'll get to some organizing. And then what about just kind of like, our year, we've had the show for a year. I have, like so many ideas, and so many growth plans. And we're so excited. And just thank you to everyone who has supported us from the beginning and listening and helping us to grow. We're so great. We're so grateful. Katie, what were what have been some of your kind of highs over the last year of launching and sustaining this podcast and brand?

Katie: 25:39

Yeah, it's been. I mean, we're so grateful to everyone that's been on the show. It's been such a highlight of mine. Finally, doing something aside from motherhood, has really given me so much confidence. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love being a mom. It's the most amazing gift in the world. It's also a very hard job. But like I needed something more I was a career woman at one point, and it just feels really good to, to be like mentally stimulated and creative. And it's also so fun talking to these people and learning so much. And also it's funny. It's given me like better people skills, like just moving to a new town. And now I have no problem meeting somebody and chatting it up with them and asking them about it. It's like I'm like, naturally an interviewer now, which is so funny. It's not a byproduct that I expected. But it's been great. I mean, I feel like we've learned so much. And it's been just such a joy, being with you every week and then getting to know these new people. It's brought me a lot of nirvana. I mean, just last week, Amy and I had a meeting when she came in town with Ann fryer who was a guest on our show on the first season. And I was like the coolest day because we sat with an fryer and talked about growth and expansion. And then we went to see another guest, we went to see Meredith Quill from Beckett and Quill and went to her trunk show and I literally felt like a career woman again, which is a feeling I haven't had and I don't know, nine years. So so fun. It's been it's been amazing. What about you?

Amy: 27:09

Yeah, I feel the same. I mean, I, there's so many things, I think being able to launch my own thing has been so amazing for me personally, because I work full time, I have a really busy demanding job, which I love. And it's creative, and it's great. But it's a big company. It's very corporate. And I've been there a long time. And I felt like I needed an outlet, and a way to be entrepreneurial again, because I tried to be entrepreneurial within my organization. But it's hard. It's just big, and it's great. But it's great in different ways. So I it's so nice to have my own thing with you that we can create ourselves, that we can edit ourselves that we can press that button, it goes live globally, we can talk about what we want to talk about, we can do the creative we want to do, it's just nice having my own creative outlet, that's a passion for me and to be able to talk about and be connected to it and talk to all these people and learn so many things that I'm so interested in. And it's just been a really nice outlet for me. And I feel like it's made me so much more well rounded, because it's interesting. And I feel like people want to hear about it. And it just I think it really has rounded me out because I have a really big corporate working marketing background. But now I have sort of this content creation creative side that I still do at work, but some of it has been lacking. So it's just nice to be able to have that outlet for myself and to be able to start building this brand together. And of course doing it with you makes it a bazillion times better. Like it's so funny, even though we're close before now. I feel like we're so bonded. We talk all the time, like I don't even talk to my brother. My parents are always like, Oh, if you talk to Adam and like, Katie, they're like Katie told me this. I'm like, yeah, now she texts me this morning like we're so synched up. Yeah, and it's really rare, because everyone I've talked to is like, Oh my God, that's so amazing. You have a podcast with your sister in law, and you guys are so close. And I was like, Yeah, it really is amazing, because it is unique. Yeah. And it's such a nice way for us to connect, but also to build a business and to like, build this brand and community together is so much fun. And we have all the same interest. So it's just been really meaningful. And I think it's brought me obviously a lot of Nirvana and joy, to keep it going. And I think we also have to give ourselves grace. Because Katie and I have these conversations all the time. We just we have so many ideas for this show that we want to do, which we will do and we have so just so much going on. And we definitely need time to take, take that pause and reflect and move into the new year with a really good plan of action and being rested. And even though this is like a it's an enjoyable thing for us to do. I'm all about momentum as Katie knows, I feel like we have to keep her Do swing and miss moment every week did it. But it's but it's stalling me from really taking a step back and thinking about okay, what guests do we want to have on next year? And who do we want to, you know, go after and, you know, just a shout out to all of our guests too, because everyone that's been on the show has been truly part of our Nirvana sisters family, and I've really an entire aligns with what we're all about, and have inspired us, but also have said, Yes, and there's a lot of people, it takes time to do this. I mean, you know, it takes half an hour, hour, whatever it is out of the day, but I think people say yes, because they look at it as a really good time to connect with people. And the way that we do it is very comfort, conversational and fun. So I don't think it's looked at upon as a chore. I think people actually like to get away from their day to day and talk to new people. So thank you to all of our guests who have been on the show and have been helping us to grow. And thank you for the ones that have come back. And you'll be still coming back and contributing to the show for years to come. So just feeling really grateful that we've now have, this will be I think, Episode 3233.

Katie: 31:04

This is our 33rd Yeah. Which is incredible

Amy: 31:08

over a year. I mean, so many people that I've talked to that knew us when we were first launching this a year ago, and we were trying to come up with the name and we were teaching ourselves how to do everything. They're like, Oh my God, you have all these downloads, and you have this whole show, and you have so much content. It's incredible. And I really loved this episode and this product. So it just brings me a lot of joy. And I feel very well rounded and happy and really in my creative zone when we're doing it. So yeah, long story short,

Katie: 31:35

it's uh, it's amazing how like, we've had a lot of hurdles it hasn't been easy. We do everything soup to nuts. I don't know if people know that. I mean, we do we do all the editing, we do all the bookings, we do the whole nine. And there's been times where it's been so stressful to try to make it work, but I think having each other and this is like something that people should should take on if you're if you're trying to get on do something on your own. Go find a partner because having Amy to like, keep me in the game when I'm not and and to bounce ideas off of advisor. Yeah, like, it's It's crucial. I mean, it's crucial. It's been so uh, Kevin, you know, a partner. And we have, we're very fortunate and blessed. I think we have like a really healthy working relationship, in addition to personal sisterhood. But yes, it's, it's definitely, it hasn't been easy. And the exciting thing is, is that we're now we're like growing and expanding. And so true, you can be so in the weeds, you can be so in it, that it's hard to see outside of it, and what else you have to do to make it bigger. So like Amy said, we're going to step back for a few weeks, I had to twist her arm to get there, but Miss momentum, I gotta agree to it. And we're going to focus on bringing you bigger things, new things, exciting things, and we're just gonna keep keep growing. And we would love to hear from our listeners, like, what do you guys want from us? It would be really exciting, you know, like, let us know. And instead, I think, yeah,

Amy: 33:02

we'd love to hear your ideas. And I just to echo what you were saying, Katie, I 100% agree that having a partner has completely changed the game for me, because yes, we have each other's back, we motivate each other, we keep each other accountable, and props. And, you know, shout outs to my husband, Stu, because he was the one when I was talking to him a year, year and a half ago. And I was like, I definitely want to start something I don't know what it is. And he was like, you know, you really need a partner. Because you have so many ideas that like you, you need someone to bounce them off like another woman who can really connect with you. And obviously Katie was like the first person I thought of like, this would be such a good idea for us to do together because we're always talking about this stuff. But I didn't recognize it myself. I always feel like I have to do everything myself. And then it never happens. Because it's just it's too hard to start. So having a partner for anyone listening that's wanting to start a business wanting to start a whatever it may be. I think having that partner is crucial to talk through things and get in the nitty gritty because you know, your husband and your friends don't want to hear about it all the time that like you'll talk about it with your partner every second and get into the minutiae of everything. And it's just so, so helpful to have and excited and it's fun. Yeah, it makes it more fun. Exactly. 100%. Moving on. As we close out the episode, I think Katie might have a nice mantra for us. But again, just wanted to tell our listeners to have a great holiday season, take care of yourself. We are going to be every day intentionally trying to do that. I definitely feel better after having this conversation. Katie, I've been so stressed and I feel like I can breathe again. I feel a lot more relaxed. So I'm going to take this energy and move it into like the rest of the holiday season. I hope you feel the same way and I hope our audience feels the same way. And yeah, we'll continue to be talking to you all on Instagram and email and however you want to reach us. We're here at Nirvana sisters. Um, we're going to be producing a lot of content over the next few weeks to that will will launch in 2022 at the start of the new year. So we're really excited about that. But definitely keep in touch. And we'll continue to be, you know, putting out a lot of social content and tips and tricks and all of the things.

Katie: 35:15

Yeah, and look out for us one on Instagram, because our past guests, they have a great exciting holiday things going on that we're going to share with you. So yeah, definitely tune in for that. Okay, so

Amy: 35:27

just closing out with some thoughts. I don't know if this is necessarily a mantra, it might just be a quote, but I was on LinkedIn yesterday, and this woman who I don't know, I'm following her, her name is Sarah Kay. She is a creative thinker, brand innovation. She's an author of the book brand new world, which I'm going to try to read. And she put out a really amazing post, which I'll share on our social, but it was really about embracing your uniqueness. And it was a whole paragraph about when you get feedback from people how that can, you know, you take it so seriously, and then you don't defend yourself and you become someone that you're not. And anyway, there was one part of it, which I really liked, which said, your uniqueness is perfect, never apologize for it, on the contrary, dial it up. So I just love that because it just basically is saying, Be yourself and don't apologize for it. And I think it's a good thing for us all to remember because we sometimes hide who we are, depending on the environment that we are. So I think that is so helpful. So that's my kind of words of wisdom. And thank you, Sarah, if you're listening from LinkedIn, I will definitely share this. It's a whole paragraph and I thought it was super empowering.

Katie: 36:38

I love that. Yeah, that's very true. All right. Well, I love what you said, because it's very true. It's yeah, it's like don't dim your light around other people and everything. I mean, I feel like I'm guilty of doing that from time to time. So it's a good reminder. But let's suppose let's close with a little mantra that I think is on par with what we have going on right now. So it is I'm slowing down and creating space to rest replenish and take care of me. And I think we're both going to do that and we're also going to do that for Nirvana sisters. So yeah, deeper 100%

Amy: 37:15

in and out. Thank you so much everyone and we will chat soon. 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 28 - Fitness, Self Image + 6 Effective Skincare Products for Men with Model and Personal Trainer, Alon Reitchuk (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 28.

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: 0:07

Welcome to Nirvana sisters, where we discuss all things health and well being to help you achieve your highest state your nirvana. Hi, I'm Amy Sherman, a marketing exec with a passion for wellness and beauty.

Unknown: 0:19

Hi, I'm Katie Chandler, a former fit model that has a passion for health and fitness. We are

Amy: 0:25

sisters in law who share the same love for well being ready to sift through all the self care noise and bring you a splash of what we think is fun. So let's get started. What's up Nirvana sisters family it's Amy. Before we get into this week's episode, I wanted to thank you all for your support. We are so grateful and we would love for you to please rate and review us wherever you listen to your podcasts. Apple podcasts Stitcher. castbox pod chaser and podcast addict I know all have ratings and reviews. So if you would take the time and do that we would be so so appreciative. I hope you enjoyed this week's episode. It's a good one.

Unknown: 1:05

Welcome back to Nirvana sisters. So this week I'm so excited as as Amy because we have a first happening. We have our first male guest of the entire series ever. So he's going to be our honorary Nirvana brother. And he also just happens to be a very dear longtime friend of mine. He is a model that's how we know each other. And now a very successful personal trainer and influencer and his name is alone, right? Check. Hi, alone. Hello.

Amy: 1:40

So nice to meet you. I've heard so much about Thank you for having me.

Unknown: 1:43

Thank you for having me. So I learned I met in the modeling industry. what seems like forever ago we were in our early 20s and wild and crazy in New York and he's a very successful model. You have walked in fashion shows for Dolce and Gabbana, Valentino, you've been in vogue USA, you've been modeling for magazines, billboards, etc, for years, and then you moved on to your professional personal training career. At some point, this is actually super cool. Adidas sponsored you as one of their professional athletes. And he did the Tel Aviv 2014 Adidas marathon campaign, which is pretty epic. And now your main focus is being a certified personal trainer and Nutrition Advisor. And you are highly specialized across the board. You work with pregnant women post postpartum, you work with women coming out of plastic surgery, and so much more. And at one point, developed your own unique training technique which we will dive into and opened your own hips studio, so I can't wait to hear all about it. We're so happy you're here.

Amy: 2:50

Very impressive.

Unknown: 2:51

Thanks for being here. Bam. Aim. What was your nirvana of the week?

Amy: 2:55

Well, this is sort of a I was telling Katie before we started recording, alone, my dog, my little baby dog is 16 and a half years old. And he's kind of in the last chapter, I would say. And it's kind of a weird time because he was doing well. And then all of a sudden, the last few weeks, it's just been not great. And so and I have two boys, and it's been a little bit emotional. But anyway, he's a great dog. And he just had an episode last night, which was so sad. He like, couldn't get his bearings, and he was off balance. Anyway, I literally slept on the floor with him last night, I created this bed and I slept on the floor with him. And even though it's kind of sad, it was sort of this bittersweet moment because he was like, literally in my womb, He was like, in my belly. He couldn't relax because he was nervous because of all this stuff going on. But I finally was able to relax him and he was like, literally in my stomach. I was holding him and he just like, let our breath out and just like relaxed, and then he ended up going back to sleep. But I laid there with him for hours, which I haven't done probably since he was a puppy and it was just like a sweet, cute moment. One on one with Him, which I never get. And it was an older night, which is why I'm exhausted today. But anyway, it was kind of a it was a Nirvana because it brought me joy because it was just I was making him feel better. And it was just a sweet moment. He's my firstborn. He's 16 and a half of my other boys are 14 and 11. So you know, I feel very,

Unknown: 4:16

very good to just about to. I was just about to ask, I guess you had to put the dog before you had your babies before you educate dad.

Amy: 4:24

So he's my first baby. So it's, it's, yeah, it's an interesting time. But yeah, so that's me. What about you, Katie?

Unknown: 4:31

Yeah, that's I mean, that's really sweet. Has your first baby. I know how that is a teddy on my nirvana of the week happened this morning. I took a kundalini yoga class this morning, which I don't know. Are you you're familiar with Yeah. And Amy, are you familiar? You've heard of it. So I've never taken one before but it was a 90 minute Kundalini class. And basically, it's like a meditation with yoga asanas and you can hold a pose anywhere from two minutes. for five minutes, not like an a yoga pose, but, you know, meditation poses. And I think at one point I even held on for maybe like 20 minutes, but it was just really, really cool. They also did a gong sound bath at the end. And it was a you went to a class. I went to it. Yeah, that's Yeah, yeah, it was really, it was really cool. It was I had like, I feel like I had an emotional release. So it was just, it was really super special. And I'm excited to do it again. So I'm definitely going to sell them on JIRA nirvana. So I'm currently in Paris, I went to my husband, family, brothers and sisters, I met these parents, but it's gonna be it was the first time I met the sisters and brothers. And it was really nice and happy. It's also the Jewish holidays. So Katie, happy Jewish holidays. I woke up this morning, and I felt a bit tired and gloomy outside today. And like yesterday was really sunny and beautiful. And I went to the park and I ran eight miles. And it was beautiful. I sweat it out. All the bad energy. I cleared my body. And I feel I feel way better. Where we've arrived. And yeah, so that's my Nirvana off today.

Amy: 6:13

That's on I have. Yeah,

Unknown: 6:15

I think I have a little moment of Nirvana every day. Something that I really love to do. That really puts me together and makes me feel good with the rest of my day, even if things don't go smoothly. Just this little moment. Always. Always bring me back to, to my conscious and yeah, so today, the 10 kilometer, a eight mile run was the was this Nirvana moment for me. It's green and beautiful in Paris. And it's a gorgeous city. And it's also a way to, to view and explore this beautiful place alone is originally from Tel Aviv, and you've lived in Tel Aviv, New York, London. Now, you did live in Paris at one point. I lived in Paris. I lived in Paris briefly because I've been in and out just on jobs. And also I've lived in Germany, in Hamburg, and in Berlin for a while. I was racing born raised in Tel Aviv. And then when I was 18, I moved to the UK to the US, sorry. And then I moved back to Israel. And then I traveled around Europe working for modeling agencies and doing some major jobs. And now I'm in London, the past two and a half years. Yeah, I moved to London. First, because I basically wrote a trademark, I had a concept of hit fitness, that include boxing, rowing, lifting, and cycling. And I just travel around the world, doing presentations about my concept until I found an investor in the UK. And two years ago, we opened a studio, this beautiful multi million studio, and unfortunately, did not survive. COVID. So I'm back to basics. I'm on my own again. And currently, I'm doing some private trainings, I see some clients and also I train some clients on Zoom. I have couple of clients that I train in Dubai, and in New York. So yeah, I keep myself busy. Yeah. So how when did you start personal training? At what point? Did you transition from modeling into personal training? Basically, I never stopped modeling. I take jobs all the time, but more. Right now I'm more like my own agent. I don't have an agency for modeling because I have quite a big platform on my Instagram. So I get I get modeling jobs, and I started to be a private trainer. I think 10 years ago after I finished my study, I studied in sport Institute in Israel called Wingate. I studied sport and nutrition. I started to be a private trainer. And yeah, since then, that's what I do.

Amy: 9:01

Speaking of Israel, Katie and I, hopefully will be going on a trip next year to Israel and we'll be going to Tel Aviv for my son's my, my youngest son's Bar Mitzvah, we're hopefully planning student Israel so we'll be able to visit your hometown.

Unknown: 9:15

I did not realize you Jewish as well. So happy support to you as well. We've touched on how you started your your modeling career, personal training career and also you have an insane social media following. I mean, obviously, it's because you're absolutely gorgeous. And you're incredible in front of the camera, but how you have like, what over 200k followers on Instagram, is that right? I have I have 200k overall actually on Instagram. I have 150k Currently, but I have another platform, which is Facebook, and I'm starting my YouTube page. So it's altogether 200,000 on Instagram at the moment we have 15 It goes up and down all the time. How did you do you feel like it's just because you're super consistent with posting and sharing and that that has a lot to do with it. Like how did you make that happen. You know what, I've never invested any money on growing my social media platform, I think I was always authentic and true to who I am. And my style, what I believe in, I was always slightly different than others, I always had my opinion about things, and I always lead in my own direction, and ever want to follow me. Great ever not. It's also great, you know, and I was just authentic and honest about who I am. And I also grew and evolved and changed with the years, you know, and it just organically grew. Just just being myself and being honest to who I am sharing my life sharing my journey. Also, like we did deep awareness, this social media is not our real life. And we are choosing choosing to share what we are choosing to share, but it doesn't reflect who we really are for, for you know, 100%. But yeah, I think I think authenticity and honesty about who you are, for me is the key. Absolutely.

Amy: 11:04

I agree. So I have a question for you. So tell us your favorite thing about personal training, your favorite thing about modeling and then to tell us your least favorite thing about both of those things?

Unknown: 11:15

Okay, so first of all, I like I like fashion, but let's start with modeling. I love fashion. And I love climbing up. And I love that people actually make want to make the best of themselves, you know, visually and to look at the best. And I think fitness and, and fashion, they are very much aligned. And they may very much be together. Because for my clients, for example, I always tell them, if you look in the mirror, and you satisfied who you see, and just go out of the shower, look in the mirror, if it makes you smile, that's a good. And I also think that like clothes should not cover who you are, I think you should be happy with who you are. The clothes is just fabrics, you know, to make us happier. But if you are glowing from the inside, and if your aura is positive and good. So that's what's most important about fashion, I have a love and hate relationship with it because I have I have some very bad experience with fashion and some good experience with fashion. You know, I started really early. And I think it shaped my personality in many aspects because I didn't always had a good experience with it. You know, I started as a 717 year old kid, I was thrown in Milan, I did the first show that I did was Dolce Gabbana, everybody was older than me, I was treated like, you know, like an adult, which I wasn't, you know, and the things that will say to me sometimes hurt me, and I think shaped my personality and subconsciously I built walls. And you know, I made me very, very, I don't know, sometimes separate, like, separated from my emotions. And you know, you put up a line how to protect yourself, it can be an ugly industry. Yeah. And it reflects on anything on anything in my life, you know, especially on my relationships because we knew are trying to protect yourself. Sometimes you cannot be very vulnerable and honest and transparent with your feelings and with your emotions, and especially when it comes to love and relationships with any type of relationship on the scale. If it's romantic relationship friendly relationship, family relationship, I think all these boundaries that they subconsciously build harm me in a way. On the other way. You know, I've made a lot of money. I traveled the world executed my love for fashion and for style. It helped me grow my role, my style, and you know, know exactly what I like and what I don't like be involved with people that are very much like me, meet very interesting people along the way, like JT about everything that I've done in all my journey. I don't regret anything because I'm at the end of the day, I'm a happy person and I'm very happy with who I am. What about your love hate for personal training? Do you is there something you love the most about and something you just like the most about it, I cannot say that there is something that I don't like to buy personal training to be honest with you. I just love to take people and show them the way to make a better version of themselves you know and take people as a project start started at some point in the finishing point have this person blog to see them blossom in front of my eyes and you know, be happy with their achievement and be happy with their new lifestyle and the new routine. And see this transformation is just fascinating. Never gets old really. So you told me that you're focusing a lot right now your expertise you're working with a lot of women that are either post pregnancy and post plastic surgery. Let's touch on that a little bit. What what is something for our listener that just had a baby? What would you what would you say to help them get back to where they I'm gonna be so first of all, I train girls that are actually very progressive in a pregnancy, I have two girls that I train now that they are in the eight months, but they're still training. And I must say, like people that have a training routine prior to their to their pregnancy can carry on training. And it's actually very good for the particular cardiovascular and it's very healthy for the baby. On post training. I currently don't train any girls, but I've had a lot of girls that I that I've trained in the past have been after like couple of pregnancies, actually after two or three babies. And you know, it's a process. But some girls can get into a better shape than they were before their pregnancy, and into results that they actually did not believe that they will reach after their pregnancy, girls with pregnancy, after pregnancy, after they give birth. The most important is to get the strength back to their core to midsection, a lot of concentration about the area of the pelvis, about all the core muscle, oblique and abdominal area that needs basically to be refurbished if you can, if you can say that way, because this is the most areas that are being damaged after pregnancy, I can say that you can see very, very good results. And some girls again, get to a better shape and to a better physique than they were before the pregnancy. Basically, I start with them, I start with them from a very, very, very foundation of like really simple aircraft, exercising of even breathing, you bring you know, it's exhale, and inhale to get the strength of the of the core back to the body. And then I start like a little bit more and more and more harder exercises, planks, abs exercises, a lot of bridges of the pelvis, you know, there, I can basically do a Mat Workout for an hour with the girl with bunch of different exercises to basically rehabilitate this area. That makes sense. And then is it kind of somewhat similar for these plastic surgery, post plastic surgery clients that you're working on? It depends what kind of plastic surgery if it's a tummy tuck. So basically girls with a tummy tuck, it's a super, super difficult surgery, you know, it takes like six months to just recover from, from the surgery and to recover from all the wounds and you know, the stitches and all of that. And a lot of girls that do atomic tag, they do a bob boob job at the same time, I guess because they open already. They want to

Amy: 17:40

get a two for one.

Unknown: 17:42

Yeah, yeah. So a lot of girls, I don't know, I think I, I see this in in London, for example, I've trained, I think it's fourth, the fourth person that I trained with tummy tuck and boob job that this procedure done at the same time. So basically, you know, tummy tuck is just like, you know, it takes the skin and stretching it back and put it back on. So you don't really have problem with it with the muscle area there. So it's very individually depends what each person needs some girls, you know, they have a tummy tuck, but they still have access fat in different areas in their body that they need to work on. Some of them have a very bad Cellulite is in the legs. So you need to even out and you know, make the body of the best version of itself. I currently train a 55 year old woman, she had a tummy tuck and a boob job. And you know, this area looks great, but she's very weak, she needs a lot of work on the core area because also if your core is weak, you get that big belly because there is nothing to protect the the, you know, the intestines, the inside part of your body. If you make it stronger than everything stuck in it looks firmer and smaller. So yeah, we work on that. She you know, she has a lot of similarities in her legs. So that needs to be executed and work on very aggressively, you know, but it's really it's really individual because girls after Tomita can do job. Each girls is individual they need different things. So you can't really I can't really give you one solution or one remedy of what I do with them.

Amy: 19:18

What are you doing? What are you doing with that one client about cellulite? Is it more strength training? Is it Pilates like what types of things help to make it look better? I know you can't get rid of it but what things help it help?

Unknown: 19:33

So I'll be honest here satellites if they really did, you cannot entirely 100% Get rid of them. Especially when you're in a progressive age after 50 It's very it's very hard to reverse it but if you make the muscle stronger, you make the skin stretch and then it looks smoother and better. You know, cellulite is usually comes in the hamstring area in the back of your legs. This is the most common area to have cellulite just They do a lot of squats, a lot of lunges, a lot of deadlifts, a lot of bridges on the floor. And you know, like really working specifically on this area, you get some good results, but you cannot get 100% rate of cellulitis, unfortunately, where does cardio come into into play as well? I mean, I would imagine, do you, of course, there's, there's got to be a balance of having both to really achieve results. So yeah, you know, a lot of girls that believe that they want to lose, they believe they want to lose weight, they think the cardio is the answer. But girls don't believe don't understand. Also, guys don't understand that. Like, if you do only cardio, it's actually not good for your muscles. And it doesn't make your body look firm and tight and strong. So what happens is, some girls or guys do five sessions of cardio a week, and then they lose all the fat in the body, but their muscles become very, very soggy. You know, so it's a very, very specific, gentle balance between cardio and strength, which need needs to be executed together. I would imagine just all body types are different. Like there's no, you have to have, essentially, you have to have a balance of building muscle mass, and also cardiovascular exercise. And then what about in regards to like stretching and leaning out and yoga and things like that makes? A question came up when you're talking about say, like, when you use a roller like you rolling out the Maya fascia, does that do anything for cellulite at all? Or not really, I think that like the normal traditional sports are the most helpful for cellulite. So that's what I'm talking about. I'm talking about strength. I'm talking about cardio, and I'm talking about proper stretching every time after workout, and even have like the have half an hour, once a week of proper stretching, because this is very important, very rewarding to your body. Otherwise, if you don't stretch your body accumulate a lot of lactic acid, which is not allowing you free mobility of your muscles. It makes the muscles really tight and stiff. And we don't want that, in my opinion. Muscles should be sorry, my long and Leander Yeah,

Amy: 22:20

exactly. Especially for men, there's they just most men I know can't like touch their feet. Like they're just so much tighter than women who do more like stretching. And so what's your stance on so

Unknown: 22:34

I tell you that a year ago, I'm I'm not a big lover of stretching, but I have to do it. A year ago, I was working out. And I was doing deadlifts with really heavy bar in the gym. And I felt that something cracking in my back and on the way out of the gym, I fell on the floor without the ability of getting up the floor. Oh my god. Luckily, luckily, I didn't you know, I didn't do any river, a river irreversible damage to my body. But I had like, proper muscle spasm in my back that didn't allow me to stand up straight for like two months. Wow. Horrible, horrible, it was super painful is the most excruciating pain I've ever felt in my life. And since then, I realized that even if I don't like it like any other thing that sometimes we don't like in life, and we have to do this is one of them. I don't like it, but I have to stretch otherwise, I will not be able to, you know, to execute the kind of workouts that I do the long runnings that I do. And if I have to do a little something that I don't like in order to execute all these great things that I love to do, that's what it is. Stretching is super important and super, I think crucial to people that are working out on a daily base. And even if you don't like it, you need to give it the time. Otherwise it will retaliate at some point right up to my, my husband, Adam, he, he couldn't touch his toes at all. Like he couldn't even come close. He couldn't even touch like mid Shin almost for a really long time. And then he started boxing. He's going to a boxing studio, where they also box and then they also do hit routines. And then they also stretch. And now he's super flexible. I mean, it's amazing that he's got all of that from one program. But

Amy: 24:27

yeah, I mean probably helps us back to that for sure he

Unknown: 24:31

has he has had a lot of really bad back. Yeah, it's helped him a lot. Today for example, after my run, I really felt shortness in my lower back, you know, because the impact of your foot your feet to the floor. Makes this make this muscle really tight. I guess I'm also in my late 30s now so you know when you're getting older, it's you feel these things more than in the past. So you have to give it attention. I was in the shower. I didn't have time to work to do a proper stretching but that We're standing up in the shower, and forcing myself to stretch myself in these three minutes that I have in the shower. So I don't feel I don't feel my back later on today, if you have to, you have to and you can always find time for it. And to be honest with you people that working out four or five times a week, it's crucial and super important to do yoga. Because yoga, balance it out. The cardio, the heat workouts, the boxing, they're running the strength, whatever you do, you need to do the stretching. Yeah, so we Amy and I both kind of like rotate everything right like I do. reformer Pilates yoga. And then like, like cardio, I don't do intense cardio. But Amy, tell them what you do.

Amy: 25:42

Yeah, I mean, I kind of do whatever feels intuitive that day, I try to move at least 20 minutes a day, sometimes more, sometimes less, I run, I spin, I do a lot of like floor Pilates type work, yoga, just kind of depends. I've just tried to mix it up. Lately, I've been doing more yoga, pilates, because I've been more in that mode. I haven't i i was actually running a couple weeks ago, or actually it was over the summer. And I felt the next day my knee like the outer part of my left knee was hurting. And I was like, it's gonna take a break because it made me a little bit nervous because it's happened to me before. And it's like I could hear it when I was like going up and down the stairs as I'm going to labor. So I haven't really run since then I've just been like, walking, but I'll do a lot of times I'll do a conference call. And I'll just like go on my treadmill and walk the whole time. And it's great. You know, I like burned a lot of calories, they feel good. So just kind of depends on I feel Katie and I talked about this last time, I feel like the older you get, the less like of this intense cardio is appealing because I used to do tons of intense cardio and I like, I just want to do that. Now. Oil is good. When you

Unknown: 26:45

get older, the recovery is very important in order to maintain like good health and good workouts. Also another tip that is important to say, if you do a lot of cardio, and if you go walk on the treadmill, going in incline on the treadmill is much healthier for your joints, especially for your knees than going down. Yeah. All flat or downhill is not very important for your knees. Because I mean, it the movement is invisible. But basically, when you when you're going downhill or you're going flat, the you lock your knee in a way that is not very, it's not very good for it. When you're going uphill, it's actually not happening because you're not blocking your knees entirely. And then you kind of protect them. So the movement is much healthier. If you do incline or one incline, it's very important to keep the gradient because it's really protecting your, your joints. I've done marathons in my life. And you know, if I had a long distance of running downhill, I really felt the impact after on my knees. Yeah, I try to walk always with somewhat of an implant, even if it's just like a one or a two. Just something right.

Amy: 27:59

Yeah. And it helps your hamstrings too.

Unknown: 28:01

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Also, if you do a lot of cardio, it's really good. It's really important to do some strength workouts on your legs because your muscle, if the fibers are strong and firm, they are really protecting your bones and cartilage and it's really important to balance it out if you do only cardio, and you don't actually give some effort on your muscles. You want to feel it on your bones sooner or later. And it's really important to make the muscles around your legs super firm and strong and make the fibers hold your bones you know? So yeah, this doesn't have to be done with strength training. Can you do that? I mean, can you achieve that through Pilates and yoga and things like that? Or do you are you like a firm believer that you can only gain muscle with weights? No, no, you can. Very hard workout you can definitely achieve it but you can also you know you can also do some squats and deadlifts and and you know in some lunges at home and achieved just with your bodyweight. You don't need a lot people can achieve a really really nice healthy, fit body with nothing. That's the thing I want to blow all that meet people can really have a healthy body with nothing just a body weight, and their their ambition. That's it. You know, it's great to do a great workout at home especially for girls. They don't usually don't want to grow, grow muscles. If they are really ambitious about it, you can achieve amazing workouts without nothing just you and your yoga mat in your living room set right

Amy: 29:33

it's I feel like it's just all about commitment and consistency and if you're just absolutely now

Unknown: 29:38

just consistency commitment and you know, believe that you can become a better version of yourself and we all can

Amy: 29:44

just so want to move into nutrition and just want to hear about kind of like what your diet is or what you recommends to your clients like because that's least for me getting older diet has become whereas before I didn't think about it as much diet has become such a bigger Do because they feel like everything you're eating, you can just feel it the next day or you know, it's just harder the older you get, like you eat one thing and you gain like two pounds, and you're like, what I just had like a piece of whatever you know, love to hear your thoughts.

Unknown: 30:14

Okay, so just a general thing about, about nutrition, I recommend to all my clients when they first wake up in the morning to drink at least three or four cups of water. If you have them a minute to boil your water, let them let them cool off for a second, squeeze a lemon into it, clear out your body start fresh today. That's amazing. That's a very simple hack that you should, everyone should execute to be honest with you. Also, you know, when you drink a lot of water in the morning, it makes you feel fuller, it helps you go to the toilet much easier because your body is full of fluid. Everything goes smoother, clears your body, the lemon is acid cleanse your your stomach's cleanse your system. And then you start on a fresh foundation. So this is something that I recommend to all my clients. Second of all, I divided them into two parts. So let's say you're awake for 16 hours a day, okay, on the first eight hours, I would recommend you to eat your carbs to eat your pasta to eat your rice to eat your bread. But on the eighth, the second eight hours, start eating all of that and take and consume protein, which is fish, can be lentils can be meat can be chicken, all of that, okay, and fresh fruit, fresh vegetables made in any way. Stir fried ovan, whatever you like. So, you know, I would suggest to eat your carbs during the first time or the first hours of the day. So you use these carbs as a fuel to function during the day. If you eat your carbs in the second part of the day, your body turn tends to store it and keep it inside, especially when you have heavy dinner, let's say 9pm. And then at midnight, you go to sleep, your body does not use these carbs to fuel as a fuel to function, but your body wants to store it. And then the following day, you're waking up uncomfortable, because you had like a very heavy meal. And you actually heavier than you were the previous day. Yeah, I don't believe I don't believe in not enjoying food. I love food. And I eat from every I eat everything to be honest with you. But you know, yesterday I had a heavy meal. So I will balance it out. And I will go for a run today. So I actually you know, I'm actually in a good place because it balances out. Also like you have to consider how much you burn compared to how much you consume. Because if you eat 1500 calories a day, it's just an example. And you just burn 1000 Of course you're gonna gain weight. It's very simple. But to be honest with you the the hack of dividing your data to and take the first half of the day, and eat carbs and eat everything you like, and let your body use these calories as a fuel. And then the second the second part of the day, just try to eat protein and vegetables and as much less carbs as you can. This is a this is a hack that works for everyone.

Amy: 33:21

Yes, easy to remember.

Unknown: 33:23

Yeah, I I feel like though, it's probably key for a lot of people. For me, especially I have slow digestion. So finding the carbs that I can eat in the first half of the day that aren't going to weigh me down or bloat me all day is crucial. So I typically end up doing the opposite of what you say because yeah, sure, like I want to have some some some bread or some rice or whatever. But if it's going to weigh me down and make me feel bloated and feel lousy, then it's going to make me drag all day. But I have found that if I start my day with a giant bowl of fruit, which is it's carbs, it's carbs and sugar, that it gives me great energy and I feel I feel really good. So and then I do find that I like naturally want to eat less heavier carbs later in the day. But yeah, I don't think like some people just you have to find what works for your body. Right? We are very individual and very different. But I think what you say is very true, but it's all about portions. If you sit and eat like a full bowl of rice Of course it's going to make you bloated and exhausted. But if it's going to be monitored and you're going to have I don't know portion of chicken with the sauce and then two or three spoons of of rice. I don't I'm not sure it will make you feel the same way. Okay, yeah.

Amy: 34:33

Yeah, I think portions is such a big I've been focused on that lately just like not because we just these these meals that especially Americans are used to the rough. It's just it's too much. You just need a little bit.

Unknown: 34:47

You don't need it. You really don't need it. We have as modern people as best in the Western world. We have big eyes, we consume way more than we need. You know. For me Like, you know, I never refill my plate. You know, I eat whatever I want. I enjoyed the food, but I never refilled the plate because I know that if I will refill my plate, afterwards, I'm going to feel heavy and tired. And I will not be able to carry on with my day. Lightly smoothly, you know, because it's going to be there, it's going to be stuck in my stomach, I'm going to be too full. Also, if you eat a lot right away, you feel tired, you want to sleep, so your brain is not functioning properly. So a little trick though, just to say, You know what, I'm not going to refill my plate. That's just a good, that's a good little trick. You know, I like

Amy: 35:39

and what about alcohol? Do you drink alcohol,

Unknown: 35:42

I don't drink during the week, it all I usually have one day in the weekend, not more than one day, because if I pour it when I need a recovery, a full recovery time after I drink alcohol, I drink one night, I would even hate the thought of drinking alcohol The following night. So I will find one day, one night in the weekend, you know, especially usually a day that they don't work the following day, because when I drink alcohol out there, I drink

Amy: 36:10

you're all in.

Unknown: 36:13

So I will find one night that I'm drinking and that will be the only day during the week that I actually drink alcohol. And every six months, I take full months of that I clear my body. I don't drink at all. And you know, it gives about it gives you the energy to to you know, to start again. Also, I you know, I just I think I haven't changed in terms of how I look for I think 10 years at least. And I'm the same way as well. I can say it I mean, I'm sorry if it sounds pretentious, but it's true. You you look at because it's amazing. Because I make sure that I drink and this is the easiest, simplest act so that I can you know, that I can recommend to everyone I drink between 20 to 30 glasses of water every day. You know, and this is like I think this is the only thing that really says definitely rejuvenating keeps your body young and healthy. Yeah. Yeah, I agree with that. So in regards to drinking, too, just to circle back really quickly. Like, we're not even saying, you know, lots of drinks every night. I mean, I know from personal experience, even just like one glass of wine during COVID I would have one glass of wine almost every night. But still, I was like trying to lose the COVID weight afterwards, but still having that one glass of wine and I couldn't lose a pound to save my life. And then finally when I was like, okay, you don't need this one glass every night, chill out. Then I started losing the COVID weight. You know, it's like I put on a few extra pounds. It started to come right off. It's like especially I feel like for women and as we get older, that like one little extra glass Samia block is gonna really screw you over. Right? You know, we? Yes, absolutely. We are very different. You know, each one of us have different needs. And you know, for me, I don't need a glass of wine. You know, I have like a pipe of CBD oil that I take to puffs and I feel great after it relaxes me. It ends my day in a proper way. It fits my brain. You know, it makes me more mellow. And yeah, so for you. It's a glass of wine. It's for me. It's the CBD. It's all

Amy: 38:22

sugar. I know. You don't tell me from that.

Unknown: 38:25

Tell us what that is. What brand are you using? No, really well. So this is the brand that I use. Now someone bought bought it for me. And it's blueberry and raspberry flavor. It tastes amazing. Not harsh. And it's nice and smooth. So yeah. Thanks.

Amy: 38:46

That was definitely a better way to relax. I yeah, definitely had to put in. So before we get into our rap session alone, I gotta hear something about Katie from her younger days, because you know, I hear starting, I hear I don't know if I should open it here. Let's be very careful to X rated but you know, like, we got to hear something juicy. Because let's be real. I didn't know Katie back then. And I have a feeling it was a good time. So

Unknown: 39:15

he and I were actually very close. Very, very close. We were kids in New York, just like trying to figure out our own identities. We did a lot of bad stuff together. Alongside with a lot of good stuff together. We had the time of our lives. Yeah. We had a time of our lives who made amazing people we all we were the most amazing who circle of friends. I have such I have goosebumps just talking about. We lost some amazing people along the way. Our friend dear friend Lisa left us earlier the day she was there she was supposed to but have only good memories from Katie and also also like every time that they seek it at every time I see Katie I feel like the time the time stopped and I see the same girl with the same smile and the same attitude and that's what I love about her nothing changed her nothing touched her. And I hope you feel the same way about Of course I do. Like why is so fast we have so many great memories. Know what go ahead we got some beauty hacks because I prepared my beauty bag.

Amy: 40:32

Oh yeah,

Unknown: 40:33

I love that but first Okay, so just really fast though. How can our listeners find you if they want to work with you? Um, well, they can reach out to me on Instagram and I can leave my phone number with you. I don't have my website right now. It's not an error to be honest with you. I'm working on a new website. So the best way is just go on Facebook on Instagram you'll find me right away alone dude. Right? Definitely. So I prefer I prefer my bag here. Oh my god, I love the shows. I can show you what I what I use you know after all, I'm gay. I'm gay and I'm a model so you know I need to have that tag with

Amy: 41:10

me. It's like a win win of products. I can't wait.

Unknown: 41:14

Let me find just like the the most crucial most important ones and I'm with you in a second okay. Yes, this is your favorite. Okay, beauty. So I must I must say that I don't believe in us is super expensive skincare. I believe in using skincare that have minimum ingredients in it. And each ingredient have like 20 or 30% of the actual product because I find it working way better than product that combining many different ingredients in it. And then it touches many many things but in the end of the day it does nothing. Okay. So I'm gonna start with this. This is company I just I just found out about it. The name of it is the inky list.

Amy: 41:57

Oh I know that brand. Yeah.

Unknown: 41:58

Oh nine caffeine. And this is actually incredible. It well it recommends to use it during the day but I put it at night as well. It is basically just like a caffeine, D puffiness. product. It works amazing. And it's super smooth. It has a lot of moisture in it and it's great for your eyes every time I put it I see the difference right away was the brand what was the first inky

Amy: 42:27

list in the

Unknown: 42:28

list? Nice. Okay. This is the collagen booster of the same brand which is amazing.

Amy: 42:36

Oh, is that like a serum or?

Unknown: 42:39

It's a serum? Okay, it's a very simple product it cost maybe $12 like nine nine in British pounds, but it's amazing. I go to sleep with it at night and I wake up and I literally feel that my skin is smoother

Amy: 42:51

Wow Yeah.

Unknown: 42:54

Now this one is if I want to glam up a little bit or I go out or before photo shoot. The name of the Charlotte Tilbury yeah Charlotte Tilbury and it makes your skin like marble literally.

Amy: 43:12

Is it is it a serum or is it like something you put on top of?

Unknown: 43:18

No no you put it first and then you put your lotion? Okay. Also this all the stuff that I showed you? This is like the foundation you put it first and then you put everything else? Yeah. Okay. No, this is my night. My nighttime mask that I use every like every other day to be honest. Say what it is I slipped at it at a clinic monstrous surge overnight mask of hydration. We are we are facing we are facing the winter now. It gives you a lot of motivation. It's amazing. Super good. Simple, you know cheap product. Nice. And then I have something else I wanted to show you just one moment. Sorry. So there is this brand. I don't know if you ever come to us but it goes face gym. Yes, Jim. I haven't heard of it. Yeah, they have stores. I have this. It looks like clips. Okay, when I put this at night, I take this and I literally massage all the muscles in my face. Yeah. Yeah, like this, my forehead, my cheekbone. All of that. I guess this is like $40 but it's actually very useful. And after you use it for a couple of weeks, you see the difference? For sure. Yeah, we love quassia Nice. Okay. And this is when I'm going out or I want to look super nice for an occasion but it's fashion week now. So I need to play I need to play the game. I find this the best makeup in town girls. This is the best stuff you can ever get. It's amazing. It absorbed into the skin. You cannot see that you wear anything. And it makes your skin look like

Amy: 44:58

marble literally. It It Cosmetics CC cream eight because

Unknown: 45:02

it cosmetics CC cream and then you need to choose your tone. I'm a medium, okay? But it's amazing. And it's also not expensive. It shouldn't cost more than $45.

Amy: 45:13

And it looks like that too, right? Yeah.

Unknown: 45:17

In one drop in one drop, you are covering your whole face you don't need a lot at all. So a tube like this, let's say that you use it twice or three times a week will last for five for four or five months. It's amazing. Honestly, this is the product that I recommend the most. Wow. So yeah, this round of applause

Amy: 45:39

those are all great. We're gonna put them on the show notes for all the listeners.

Unknown: 45:42

Amy's going to turn around and purchase all of them as soon as we can. Because that's a

Amy: 45:49

well since we're talking about products maybe I should give you guys my product review this week. Yeah, let's hear what is your review so my product is called the hot mess ice roller. Okay, I don't know if you can see it. I'm trying to get it close to the camera see? It's by the skinny confidential the skinny confidential is the brands by Lauren Bostick, who's like a fashion lifestyle blogger influencer. She has a podcast her husband Michael owns I think your media Podcast Network. And she this this was her first product that came out and so you put it in the freezer, or the fridge or nothing and it's just a roller and it feels like Yeah, I had it in the freezer overnight and I'm putting it on my skin. It feels amazing. If your face is puffy in the morning, like mine and I know Katie's is all the time like just from it feels so good and it really brings down the swelling in your face so I use it

Unknown: 46:43

look somewhere between like shaver and massager.

Amy: 46:46

Yeah, exactly. It's so it's it's $69 and they say it's a preventative skin tool that uses the power of cold therapy to contour Titan and Depop your skin. The hotness eyebrow is all aluminum roller gets cold fast and stays cold longer than those those are ice roller so I never knew what an ice roller is until this came out. But apparently it's like something that they have like that they sell but they're more like medical, but this one's like more fine. It has a little groove here so you can put your thumb there so it just makes it easy. Oh just kind of go like this and I just

Unknown: 47:21

haven't I need it.

Amy: 47:22

Oh good. I actually do it on my sometimes too. It's my neck is always sore. And I do it on there but it's fabulous. I love it. I do it morning and night so it really helps with the puffiness. So that's tinny, confidential hot mess eye roller and it's it's really fun and I think it just came out recently and I'm looking on their website they just won the 2021 Readers Choice Beauty Awards from InStyle so anyway, yeah good product after you get all your products off and you just do that feels good right in the morning after a night out of of the one day that you drink so

Unknown: 47:56

so now I don't want to skip out on our rap session. I definitely want to hear allowance five minute flow and his Yeah, I mean kind of told us how you maintain your nirvana. But alright, here's what we call our five minute flow. You just got out of the shower. Uber pinged you there five minutes away. What are you going to do to get out the door? Like looking amazing, like you'll always do in that time? Bing bang, boom. I mean, you're a guy so it's so much easier. But what are you okay, so I'll probably well if I'm, if I'm be honest, like in real life, I would probably put you'd sunglasses and a hat. Yeah, I would probably I would probably drink lots of water. Put my vitamin C serum on my face and you woke up? Nice. That's what which Vitamin

Amy: 48:42

C Serum do you use? Was it I use the

Unknown: 48:45

No, no, I don't have it here. Actually, I have it back in London. It's a basically simple. It's a simple clinic drops that I put on my face makes your skin look glowing and refresh. And you know, breasted. Yeah. Plenty guys are working they should be hiring you to do I honestly, I honestly don't. I mean, I change products all the time. Because I believe that your body will your face, get your skin get used to a product, it stop reacting to it. I try things all the time. And also because I'm an influencer, I get I receive a lot of products. So I get to try new things and to see what I like and what I don't like. I also I also must say that like I suffer from a slight rosacea that actually appears in the summer. So yeah, I have to consider that when I choose my product because some some products in really inflame it and make it worse. Yeah, that's I get that from time to time also, so I know exactly what you're saying. Okay, all right. And then how do you maintain your daily nirvana? I mean, you kind of said it earlier. You What do you do you exercise every day?

Amy: 49:51

What's your day so keeps you peaceful? Yeah, yeah,

Unknown: 49:53

I think I think I really like I'm meditating my brain when I run and when I work out And this is the things that I do for my nirvana. I'm usually, I'm usually very calm, I'm not a very stressed person, and I Let life be very politic to my thoughts and to my been, and I don't get too involved. You know, I can think about someone something or something that stresses me out. But I know how to keep it all and don't get too involved with it. And this is what keeps me calm and you know, relaxes me, basically. But, yeah, but basically sports and fitness. And yeah, this is my therapeutic time in my Nirvana time, like this morning that I went for 10 kilometres one, I'm not gonna lie to you. It was a bit hard today, but I've done it. And you know, after I finished it, I'm a whole new person. Yeah, for sure. So yeah. Sorry. It's very simple. Yeah. Yeah, we all kind of do similar things. And it doesn't make such a huge difference. Alright. So before we say goodbye, let's wrap with our mantra. And I thought, since I did this kind of lean D, I'm probably saying it wrong. Yoga this morning, that I would bring the Sanskrit mantra that we used. So nice today, because I had such an emotional moment with it that I almost I had tears rolling down my face at one point. And it's Sat Nam. And what that means is, this truth is my identity. And I mean, I'm just, you know, I'm going through a transitional phase in my life and trying to be really, really true to myself. And like you mentioned, you spoke to it earlier alone, like, knowing who you are and being true to who you are. How important that is. So such nom

Amy: 51:50

Satnaam All right, well, nice to meet you. Oh my

Unknown: 51:57

gosh, yeah, it was so good. Dave. It's so nice. To see you face you to be live soon. Yes. So nice to talking to you girls. And taking part in your show. And we'll speak soon.

Amy: 52:11

Yeah, absolutely. Thank

Unknown: 52:12

you, man. Bye. Bye bye.

Amy: 52:15

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 5 - Family Series - Staying Young - It’s All A Mindset (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 5 .

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: 0:07

Welcome to Nirvana sisters, where we discuss all things health and well being to help you achieve your highest state your nirvana. Hi, I'm Amy Sherman, a marketing exec with a passion for wellness and beauty.

Katie: 0:19

Hi, I'm Katie Chandler, a former fit model that has a passion for health and fitness. We are

Amy: 0:25

sisters in law who share the same love for well being ready to sift through all the self care noise and bring you a splash of what we think is fun. So let's get started. Welcome back to our family series, part two, which we are calling staying young. It's all a mindset. So I am honored to be joined by my parents, Alan and ADA Chandler, aka mom and dad. And we wanted to take some time while we're home for the holidays Katie and I to talk to them about how they stay young how they keep their minds sharp and a little bit about their love story perhaps. So I will let them introduce yourself, Dad say hello.

Unknown: 1:08

Hi, Amy. Hi, Katie. It's fat. And Alan for TV,

Amy: 1:13

Mom. Hi,

Unknown: 1:15

I'm Amy, Amy's mom, and Katie's mother in law,

Katie: 1:19

the best and most ever. Alright, so we wouldn't kick it off with asking you to tell us about your nirvana of 2020. You know, I was doing weekly nirvana. But since our family series we want to hear your high of the year.

Unknown: 1:33

Ellen Show my heart of the year would be unbelievable timing. My grandson's Bar Mitzvah, his bar mitzvah was on February 22, we went to the bar mitzvah, everybody was drinking, dancing, having a great time not thinking about anything till 10 days later, where the country in the world froze on and we're still in the COVID 19. Virus. So that was my high of the year.

Katie: 2:01

Data. What about Yeah,

Unknown: 2:02

that's a good one. What high the year is happened twice. Once this summer, when we went to the beach with everybody family, my daughter's family, my son's family. And then we right now they're all here for the last of the year, and just being together live as opposed to phone calls and FaceTime and stuff like that. We've done a lot of virtual but I'm very, it's just excited. You know, I get motivated just by being with you guys.

Katie: 2:34

It's great. Yeah, I couldn't agree with you more. I wanted to start with just a few quickfire questions just to get to know you guys. Because first of all, this is about hire keeping it young. So how old are both of you? Oh, Ellen help. Me six. Ada. How

Unknown: 2:47

old are you just turned 74.

Katie: 2:49

Wow. Okay. 74 and 76 going on? 25 each? Definitely. How did you meet? Give me a brief story. Ada. How did you meet?

Unknown: 3:00

We met the very first time he doesn't remember it. in Atlantic City on the beach. He and his best friend came and sat next to me and my girlfriends. And that's the very first time we met.

Katie: 3:12

Okay, that's great. And

Unknown: 3:14

I remember that.

Katie: 3:17

So what's your story?

Unknown: 3:18

My story is we went to the University of Maryland. And I was drafted into the Army because it was the Vietnam wars in the 60s 1966, actually. And so when I went into the service, I came back. And I had my I was dating a gal who I wasn't dating when I came back six months later, and I went to the go to a to a party for my fraternity. I asked a girl between if ADA who I knew because she was dating, one of my best friends also went into the army. So she was fair game. And we started going out. And one year later, we were

Katie: 4:01

engaged. Oh, that's pretty fast. I don't think I realized that two years. And how many years have you been in wedded bliss now?

Unknown: 4:14

51. Exactly.

Katie: 4:16

That's amazing. Amazing.

Amy: 4:18

So I was gonna take it all the way back with how you were born or the circumstances in which you were born dad, because the story is actually unbelievable. And I tell people all the time, but I'd love to hear it from your voice and kind of the first couple years of your life.

Unknown: 4:34

But it's interesting because we were just talking about the Vietnam War. You know, me sir. I was a National Guard. The big deal, but my father was in the regular army. And back then, I guess was 1940 I guess it's 1941 around there. They then take people to draft them if they had a kid, or they were over a certain age. My father was 29 I am I my mother was pregnant, and he was drafted. And he went to the Philippines. First he was in the United States drafted when you're pregnant. She wasn't pregnant when he was drafted. She was like pregnant, like, a month later. So what happened was, she became pregnant. And my mother was very kind of hyper got this thing, because she wasn't seeing my father. My father said to her, I'll be there when Alan me when I'm born. So he wasn't, he was on a ship heading to the Philippines for two years. So I was born, my father and transit, my mother thought he would be there, because he told her to keep her calm. But of course, he was on a ship. And he didn't see me for two years. So my mother raised me for two years by herself, single mom, and my father and mother were letters to each other every day. And there's like 1000 letters we have. And I've yet to, because, you know, just talking about it makes me emotional. But eventually, I'm going to open these letters. And who knows, maybe there's a screenplay in there. So

Amy: 6:08

I always say you are born from love. Because Bobby and pop up, my grandmother and grandfather wrote letters every single day and talk about the picture of pop up in your crib or help number every day, she would show you the picture. Oh, yeah.

Unknown: 6:26

So mother returned me, my father everything like one. I don't know what's going on everything. Anything I know, is I remember the first time I saw him, was at night about the room was dark, and it came out. I knew he was obviously, you know, from the picture. And it's just a real love story. My parents had a wonderful marriage. Just one of the reasons he married me because we'll come out. Parents are just really in love story. Starting with that they both grew up. It's a whole nother story. But they both grew up in dire circumstances found each other and it's, it's beautiful story

Katie: 7:01

in both of your parents were married the whole time the whole time. Yeah, that's really amazing.

Amy: 7:07

Yeah, so Gaby was how when she passed away 1995

Unknown: 7:13

And my father's 92. They were married 65 years. Yeah. And he had a love story. They really did.

Amy: 7:20

Yeah. And what about your parents? Mom?

Unknown: 7:26

Your prayers, right? Yeah. I don't really know too much about how they got together or who introduced them? Or, you know, I? I didn't think to ask good questions like that back in the day. So no

Amy: 7:43

one probably talked about it as much.

Unknown: 7:45

It just isn't. life threatening. Oh, yeah. My brother was born about 10 years after they were married. And she had a tough time with him. And they said not to get pregnant again. And then I know they went to Atlantic City, where I came about by accident. 20 years ago, not 20 or 20 years ago for the American nine years. Wow. Something like that. My brother was born either. He had actually been born on their, like, 10th anniversary on the same day, June 26. I was born another nine years later. How was your mother? When you were born? When I was born? I think she was about 38. Wow.

Amy: 8:26

Pretty old. Yeah. Now that's normal. But then that was pretty old to have a kid.

Katie: 8:31

She must have had the ability to keep herself young if she could have a baby at 38 years old.

Unknown: 8:35

I don't know. I never really got into those questions with or have no idea.

Katie: 8:40

How long do they live? How old were they when they

Amy: 8:43

were about 85. So moving into how you stay on your mindset, your body, your health, all that stuff? I asked mom first what are what are the thing I know you're not super focused on it all the time. But you obviously look beautiful and young and have a young mind. So what do you do to kind of stay that way?

Unknown: 9:07

I don't know that I do anything, mentally to stay young that I couldn't think of you know, you know, I didn't realize I was old until this pandemic came about. We called Well, according to the pandemic they say well, any you know, senior citizens, older people, anybody over 65 And then I realized oh, I'm in that generation. When did I get old? I don't know.

Katie: 9:32

I think you do more than you realize though. Because I see how you to live and versus how my parents live or or you know, anyone that I know like my grandparents watching them when I was younger and something that I've noticed that both of you do that I think keeps you young so you both are very tech savvy. You always stay up on the latest of everything. It seems you're tech savvy or pop culture savvy Alan you listen to Drake with with Adam with my husband. that, I mean, you're always wearing like the greatest fashion, the coolest thing far

Amy: 10:05

is open at your house, right?

Katie: 10:07

You keep it all the time. It's a it's a mindset, right of like you've never told yourself you're old, like what you

Amy: 10:13

just said, right? And I think too, we were talking about this earlier. It's not. It's just intuitive for you to stay young and feel good and enjoy life, which is the best way to be because I think now a lot of people are intentional about what they eat and how they exercise. And it's very planned where I think with you guys, it's just that's how you are, which is the best way to be

Katie: 10:35

right? Did you win in your, you know, younger years, or 20? To 3040s? Were you physically active? I assume you word tennis and exercise and everything.

Unknown: 10:46

I mean, I have a whole history, I think I think as far as trying to stay younger, the main focus for me, is positive thinking. So I really think if you can do something positive every day, I don't care what it is, right? You know, I can fix your computer, okay, or buy a pair of shoes, or just feel good about something, I think, you know, when I say to be are and all that stuff, it's just all about feeling good about being alive. You know, and as far as you know, exercise, I agree. I mean, I walk when I play golf, not real hard exercise, and I need to exercise more. But I think I think eight it provides a great diet. For us, we always have vegetables and green with our meal, she cooks healthy meals, I think a lot of it has to do with genes, obviously, you know, if you have good genes and your parents live along, finally,

Amy: 11:38

my dad has a full head of hair, which my husband's do would like to always mention.

Unknown: 11:45

I really think in everybody's life, if you can just do something positive. I learned from being in sales all my life, and working with young people all my life, that just by saying the lid would make their day. Right? Really, or just by complimenting them, or just telling a to something great, you know, or just all of you, you know, if you just say something that people say, Say something nice, I say say something positive, and people and do something positive, and that'll make your day better. And that's,

Amy: 12:18

that's fine. I think you have the glass half full mindset, which is what has carried through to me which I appreciate because not everybody is that way. So it's good to always think on the bright side. Think on the positive side, even if it's a small thing. And Mom, what about you? I mean, my whole life I always did aerobics.

Unknown: 12:37

Zumba, Zumba, Zumba and dance jam. I don't like to actual exercise, you know, like do 20 reps of this and 20 reps of that that makes them like oh, so boring. But when you were little Amy and Adam was already in school, I used to take you to Jackie Sorensen, which was the original aerobics creators. I remember that she was a dancer and she realized she was always never had a problem with her weight. And she realized it had to do with a robic exercise, right, which is constant motion for at least 15 minutes. And I did the Jackie Sorensen aerobics twice a week. And I liked it because it was fun because you were listening to music and it was current music and said, Well, I would learn words to all the music and I would remember all the dance steps. So again, that's mental practice. That's good for

Amy: 13:22

Yeah, and you guys like to dance and you often will just dance around the house or do a dance

Unknown: 13:28

for dance this way. When you dance to me that thing from Apple, I Earth Wind and Fire. UAS, you asked her the question, you said play petty tender gris.

Katie: 13:43

Okay. You mean? Yeah, that's great that you guys took a moment and dance this morning? I mean, I just don't think every couple out there and storing that. At all age. Yeah, yeah,

Unknown: 13:58

his parents used to do that too.

Amy: 14:02

Well, so another thing I also noticed is that both of you had long, successful careers and had great relationships throughout your careers and stay in touch with all the people that you've worked with, whether it be mentors or colleagues. So talk about how that has helped you stay young.

Unknown: 14:21

So I think, you know, when I was growing up, a lot of the guys that I grew up with, a number of them became attorneys. And, you know, we just got through school, I mean, we're not great students, they're, they're able to get to University of Baltimore, go to school, become lawyers. And so I looked at it and I said, you know, I don't want to really sit in an office. I don't take the money out. I just don't want that lifestyle. So I got into management. And being in management is the greatest way to stay young. If you're into it. And you know, I work with all young kids. And, in fact, I work with so many young kids, I got to the point where Every time I talk to a kid, they have perfect teeth. Okay, when I come up, nobody had perfect teeth because nobody was worth it. We couldn't afford it. So I say to that, I don't know if you remember this, Amy, I see you. I can't take this anymore. So I actually went to an orthodontist had a couple of teeth 123 Move had a bridge name. All right. So my t look completely different than they did. But at least I can talk to somebody, right? You guys don't feel like what's wrong with me. So, but I think when you're in a leadership role, it gives you a lot of confidence. And it gives you a lot of values just to work with people. And that's been a great career. For me. That's all I ever wanted. I was when I was in school, in elementary school, I was vice president school. When I was in fraternity, I was a steward of the kitchen. I was in boards, charity boards and stuff like that. I just like a leadership position. And you don't think about it while you're doing it. You really think think, Hey, I mean, what's while you think about it, but when you think back about it, you say half of I'd really love it so much. And I work 48 years for the same company, really? And

Katie: 16:11

now, how many years? Have you been retired for four years? But you started your own company? Right? You're

Unknown: 16:17

consulting? I have a small company. Yes. Right.

Katie: 16:20

And you part of the reason why you did that is because you'd love what you do. And you want the stimulation of people. Right? And that's without a

Unknown: 16:30

doubt, especially surely fascinates me. Yeah, yeah.

Amy: 16:34

And what about you, Mom,

Unknown: 16:35

I was just going to bounce off of what he said, a lot of the things you did are similar to my job. While I was in a classroom, I was sort of a mentor to the younger teachers. And I taught for 30 years here, I was sort of like, then I changed to be a stiff Development Teacher, which meant means I worked with all the young teachers and older teachers as almost like a cheerleader, someone to give them confidence, somebody to model whatever, but I used to hang with them, you know, like at lunch or whatever. And, you know, tease them and walk in their classrooms, and they'd start laughing. And, you know, they will say, how would you do that, you know, that kind of thing. But I know you were like a cheerleader, as a manager, and you had names for people. And he wouldn't, when they would walk in the office used to tell me, he would say something like, he's huge. And everybody start laughing and call on that and make that person feel special. Right. And that's really, really fun. But as far as how it makes you stay young, is that my mother used to say your children make you young. But like when you hang out with young people, you know what's going on, you see what they're wearing, right? Kind of have fun together. You know, we had parties, and we would be dancing together. I mean, we had holiday parties, we used our house, in my first school, my second school and my third school, which are the three schools I worked in, out here. And, and and at the parties, we would all do stuff and make, you know, they did this Hawaiian thing and they were dancing. And we just had a bunch of a lot of fun.

Amy: 18:00

And I just have to say too, when I always meet people that have worked with my mom or worked with my dad, they both say the same thing. They go your Dad Your mom is the greatest. So cool. So Young. So hips, so the times are the best. So here's

Unknown: 18:16

the story. So Dana was saying back big nicknames. I had, I think names for people who work with me all the time. But one thing I showed you like, it's funny, had his kid that worked for me, and his name was Ron. And he was like 22 years old, and very competitive. And we were working on one floor and office building, okay, and a parking lot was in front of our building. And my car was always parked in the first five nearby park, and I bought some come in this one kid. He was good. He was very, very good salesperson, but will motivate them every time he came in. He that's all by my office. And I was here every day. 830 right, even though it sucks. And every time I saw him, I guess being just like that. And I'm here with suspenders with a tie in a suit, canalway suit all dressed up and everything. I'm sitting in my office talking to life as him well. Anyway, he left to move to Florida. And basically, if to find anywhere from five or six, he's almost in tears. He says yes. I don't want to miss big. I'm not gonna miss anything else. That made me feel good. He said that made my day and I picked her up and look forward to seeing the next morning. Oh,

Katie: 19:33

that's great. And you you bounce off of that positivity that you've seen him. He gets it back to you and makes you smile on

Amy: 19:41

his face. Yeah. So we could talk all day. There's so many great stories, you know, maybe we'll do a part two one day, but in the meantime, we're gonna do a quick rap session which Katie is going to start with.

Katie: 19:51

So Ada Alan ladies first I'll start with you. Aiden. What's your favorite wellness or beauty hacks? Just something that's been true. tried and true. For me personally yes for you, personally, to Nino to Nino to what is

Unknown: 20:07

Nino is a organic hair straightener. And I've been growing here my whole life and always tried. I always like to blow it out straight. It's a pain in the you know what? And the Tenino makes it easy. You know, you wash your hair, it comes out straight. You blow it dry as no friend beautiful. No Frizz. That's the other piece of it. So that's my beauty. That's

Amy: 20:29

great. And well. Yeah,

Katie: 20:30

Alan, what's your beauty or wellness hack?

Unknown: 20:32

Or conditioning deal? I mean, I my hair. Got her so called is relaxed. I do that I walk

Amy: 20:41

by your skin now because your skin is like, Oh, you say

Unknown: 20:45

your skills for probably 30 years. And I shave? Yeah. And yeah, just kills me all the time.

Katie: 20:53

Okay, what do you do Aida to maintain your daily nirvana? How do you keep your balance your peace?

Unknown: 21:00

I like my coffee in the morning. And I like to play Words with Friends on my phone so I can keep up with my friends. Because that takes me forever. Sometimes I can't think. And I mix the letters around. And that's the two things I do consistently

Katie: 21:15

nice. And Words with Friends. It's also a mental sharpness tool, right? I would imagine it's got Yes,

Unknown: 21:20

it's like Scrabble. You know, it's similar, but you're limited to what words you can make because you only have like seven letters.

Katie: 21:27

That's great. Yeah. Okay, Alan, what about you?

Unknown: 21:29

I think what 100% is if I can walk between two or three miles, when I walk, I feel my best. And I feel that I did something positive and do something good for my body. And it's it just clears our mind. And when the weather's I mean, you can stay apart and walk. But that's, that's my something I look forward to.

Katie: 21:49

That's fantastic. So Amy, I want to hear about this week's product review. It looks like a really good one.

Amy: 21:57

So in the spirit of doing family series, my mother in law Judy always gets me these fun products, either techy products or beauty products are tchotchkes. It runs the gamut. And I'll probably review them many times throughout your vana sisters. But the first one would be this product, which is called the finishing touch flawless brows, eyebrow hair remover. It's $15 on Amazon, or at your drugstore. But basically this has gotten me through quarantine because what it is, it looks like a pen. Okay, it's actually like a really pretty rose gold and it looks like a pen. But when you open the cap, it's a little machine. And it shaves or it cleans up. Yeah, it cleans up under your eyebrows. So if you turn it on, and you go like this, it just gets the little specks so you don't have to pluck your eyebrows. Wow. So it's a great tool. I actually have taught a lot of people about this because it's was a savior over quarantine. And it's also good when you're just doing your makeup and you see a couple little things sticking out, you can just get them off with this thing. And you don't have to pluck your eyebrows and get them all red. It's just a great little product.

Katie: 23:08

What's the name again, I'm gonna buy it on Amazon as soon as

Amy: 23:12

the show notes, but it's called finishing touch flawless brows, eyebrow hair remover, it says what it does. And again, 15 bucks, a great little invention. And it's battery powered. You can just change it anytime. And it's less man. I've probably had it for a couple years. And I use it all the time. So

Katie: 23:26

great product. Love it. All right. So I love that product review. I'm excited to order. So let's hear your what's our mantra this week. So

Amy: 23:36

this is a statement, I guess that my mom has said my whole life and I still use it today with my kids. And it makes perfect sense. And the saying is everything in moderation. Right? That's kind of your slogan. Like you don't want to eat too much sugar. You don't need too much alcohol but just a little bit good. So everything you do in moderation, you'll be fine.

Unknown: 23:57

I like that. Yeah, I got that from my mother and my mother in law was there we go. What's it been a thing back in the day it's

Amy: 24:02

been passed down and then I say that to my kids. That makes sense. So thanks for joining this week. Hope you enjoyed the family series. If you do, we could keep doing this and thank you again. Thanks mom and dad. This is great. Thanks for having

Episode 4 - Family Series - Part 1 - Fit Model To Fit Life (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 4.

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: 0:07

Welcome to Nirvana sisters, where we discuss all things health and well being to help you achieve your highest state your nirvana. Hi, I'm Amy Sherman, a marketing exec with a passion for wellness and beauty.

Katie: 0:19

Hi, I'm Katie Chandler, a former fit model that has a passion for health and fitness. We are

Amy: 0:25

sisters in law who share the same love for well being ready to sift through all the self care noise and bring you a splash of what we think is fun. So let's get started. Hi, Amy. So we are actually in person today, which is amazing because we normally do this over our internet and we see each other virtually. And so we are together for the holidays. And we're doing something called a family series. So this is going to be family Series Part One and Part Two, we're gonna do another day and it's gonna be very exciting. So Katie, now you're in person, we're going to talk all things Nirvana sisters, and have some special fun while we're home.

Katie: 1:07

Yeah, home for the holidays. And I'm so excited to be here we have our whole family with us and the kids. And that's gonna kick it off. We're going to bring in our children and and we're going to pick their brains a little bit and see what their nirvana is.

Amy: 1:22

Yeah. And before we do that, Kitty, and I've been reflecting a lot on 2020 and thinking about how fun it's been to do this show and so excited for 2021 where we have a whole lineup of special guests in the wellbeing and beauty and business space. And we're excited to share that with you. But before we do that, let's bring in Jackson who is 13 Jules, who is how are you Jules? That's right. I always forget your lovin Natty. How are you? I'm southern. And Reese. How old are you? And re Wow. Okay. So for our new listeners, and for those who already listened to us, you know, we do something called our nirvana of the week, which is our high point of the week and we talk about it on the podcast. So this week, we thought we would do it with our kids and talk about the highlight of the year. So we're gonna start with Jackson, what was your highlight of 2020?

Katie: 2:21

Well, since COVID happened, I got this. I mean, I got to play video games, all my friends. So that's good. Okay,

Amy: 2:27

good highlight of the year and what are you looking forward to in for next year? Maybe the vaccine? Oh, that's a good thing tonight for that. I like that. Okay, now we're gonna turn to miss Mattie.

Katie: 2:38

Man, I'm what was your highlight of 2020? What was your nirvana?

Unknown: 2:43

Okay, so probably since this virus thing happened. I would probably just in now zoom. What's one my friends? Oh, yes.

Katie: 2:57

Zoom. calling your friends. Yeah.

Amy: 3:00

That's a great one. And what about next year? What are you looking forward to next year?

Unknown: 3:04

Well, doing like, we're not adding this

Katie: 3:09

virus. Yeah. So just being able to be with people be back in school and everything. Yeah,

Amy: 3:15

I agree. Good one. Okay. Next we have Jules, who is 11.

Unknown: 3:21

Okay, so my high of the year is probably when we went I went to the beach with my cousin's. Because I don't know, I just love the beach and everything.

Amy: 3:37

Good. Okay, and Jules, what are you looking forward to in 2021?

Unknown: 3:42

I'm looking forward to the virus stopping because I can see my friends in person. And I'm still seeing my best friend. But all my other friends I'm not allowed to see. So I would like to see them. That's a good,

Amy: 3:57

that's a good one. I like that. Okay. Hey, Reesie. Do

Katie: 4:00

you think you want to answer the question? So let's see. I think maybe I could say for you for for 2020. I thought one of your highlights was also being intimate with your cousin. So it was so much fun. And I know you're looking forward to being able to go to preschool next year, right. Oh, you're

Amy: 4:15

going to preschool next year racy. Okay. Thanks, guys. So, Katie, I am super excited to have this conversation with you. Because I feel like we've had this conversation over the years, but I've never gotten the full story. Because we're always distracted or always running around. We never get to sit and just chat. So I want to hear about how you became a model kind of how it all started, what the journey was, and kind of take us back to where it all began for

Katie: 4:47

you. Yeah, I would. I would love to share with how I started because it was a little wild and bizarre how it happened from my perspective. So for whatever reason, I'm really not sure why but at some point when I As a younger teenager, I started to get this vision of wanting to move to New York someday. And I don't know, I guess I didn't think I had that much more going for me. So modeling was like the way to do it. So literally every single night before I would fall asleep, my way of falling asleep at night, I close my eyes. And I like Daydream in my head. And I would imagine exactly that happening like delay starting modeling in Cincinnati and agency picking me up. moving me to New York, we started your career in New York as a model. Like I would vividly detail. Imagine it happening, like every night, and now it helped me like law into asleep. So it was like a manifestation. It was like a manifestation. It happened the exact same way that I jumped at it like glad literally the exact same way.

Amy: 5:51

I never knew that. Yeah. So So you just naturally just that was just in your dreams, and sort of in your hopes and wishes and you just start thinking about it. And then it happened. It happened. That is so cool. I

Katie: 6:02

remember I heard that. But I think it was my first year in college, and my boyfriend was saying you should get into modeling. And I said always wanted to so I got an agency. And I had a couple small jobs in Cincinnati, Ohio. Wait, backtrack?

Amy: 6:12

How did you get an agency like how does it work? Thursday,

Katie: 6:15

I literally just went to an open call for an agency where they say like, you know, this Saturday morning, if you want to be a model come to our agency, and you wait in line with a couple of other people. Yeah, and they take your picture and they just interview yo, and then they set you up with a photographer after that if they like yo and the photographer was shoot, yo. And if they think you have something they pick you up. Cool. And so that's what they did. And I started getting small jobs. I had like a billboard on the side of the expressway. I heard about that one. So random that made you think that's kind of

Amy: 6:48

everyone knew from that? Yeah, what was it up?

Katie: 6:51

It was for a hair salon. Okay, her local hair salon, makes a giant picture of my head with some gray hair. And then one day an agency in New York, this is what they do. They look for models by going to smaller town agencies and seeing you know what kind of talent they have. And then they pluck them and take them to New York and give them a shot. So that's what happened. I had an agency move me there and put me up in the hole.

Amy: 7:19

So how did that because that's always amazing to me. And I feel like you hear about that. But you don't really know anyone that that's happened to so the agency did they like call you one day and say, Hey, a New York agent is interested in you. Yeah. And they're gonna move you to New

Katie: 7:32

York, pretty much. They said we have someone that is showing interest. It's not a guarantee yet. And I counted them every single day until I got my answer. I was like, You need to let them know that I am all for it. And I want it and we're going to do it. And so finally, you know, they said, Yes, let's take her. And it was a small little agency wasn't that great of an agency? And when did

Amy: 7:57

they move you to New York? Like after that first year in college, or what was the timeframe?

Katie: 8:00

I left? My sophomore year of college. I moved in May. It was May right after 911. Oh, wow. Okay. Yeah. And my very first apartment was on Fulton Street and actually lived right down at Ground Zero. It's kind of wild. But yeah, so they moved me and put me up in an apartment with three other models. One was also from my hometown, so we knew each other. Oh, that's interesting. Yeah. And that's my one of my best friends. Hillary who owns boom cycle in London and we will be interviewing also

Amy: 8:31

that's so funny. I did not realize she was from your hometown. Yeah. I thought you met her in the city. Yeah, no. Okay. And Hillary now lives in London and started

Katie: 8:41

and started a cycling gym. Yes, super successful cycling. And I started getting better. It was her and another mother named Kendra. And then you know, model apartments girls come and go. And we were in this beautiful, like three bedroom with a balcony apartment. You know, so nice. Unheard on women first moving to the cities. Yeah. But here's the kicker. I was there for two months. And then they took all of us and put us in a shack of a studio crammed us in bunk beds. Oh, that's awful. Had like mice and cockroaches and shuttered in shuttled in the next round of girls and put them in that nice apartment.

Amy: 9:25

Oh, interesting. Yeah, that was their that was their deal. They put you up nice and then once they have you they like yeah, bro. You in a regular apartment. Exactly. What a T Yeah, it was a bit of a sketchy Oh, yeah.

Katie: 9:36

I didn't love them. So I was only with them for I want to say maybe like the first six months and then I started looking for an agency and I landed one of the biggest agencies in the city of New York Model Management. Oh, wow. So that was great. But I honestly was not working that much. I was doing like a little bit of catalog work and showroom. I don't know if you know showroom is. That's when you try clothesline for buyers of like Macy's He's, and they decide what they're going to put in the store. Okay, and what was the catalog for

Amy: 10:04

the catalog printer?

Katie: 10:06

Yeah, I was doing print. I also did some magazines I was doing like, it's honestly like, not super proud of it. I was getting like men's magazines who Maxim. You know, like I and that's the thing, I didn't like it right? I was really

Amy: 10:21

I want to be like a sexy type you wanted to be more? Yeah.

Katie: 10:24

And I was not I didn't, the more I was put in front of the camera, the more I realized I actually hated me in front of the camera. So what I thought I was going to love, I started to resent and not like, and I was really kind of unhappy. And then I don't even totally remember how I fell into fit modeling. I got with a different agency for one reason or another. And this was the Fit modeling agency. And it was like the perfect niche. For me, it was it was what I was meant to do, and explain to our audience what a fit model is. So fit model not to be confused with a fitness model, a fit model is a model that's literally used by the designers to drape the garment on to fit the garment to to make sure that you know the shoulder width is correct. And the sleeve is the right length and the the neck is the right width and things like that. And like how the kind of the pant looks. And for a specific size or a specific size. And they started an average size. Like you know, I was never like a five foot 11 runway model, I'm five foot seven, an average size, I was a size six. So that's what they like they like kind of like middle average size so that they can grade the garment the sizing up and down from that base point. And the whole reason why I was able to do it just because literally, it's just because I'm proportionate. That's all an interesting

Amy: 11:53

video for people with even proportion, even proportion. So then they can scale up or scale down depending on the brand. And it's funny because when I first met Katie and I didn't know what fit modeling is, and she explained it to me, I was like Oh, so that's why a size four six in. You know, I don't know, the gap fits different than J Crew fits different than a designer brand. It's all based on the Fit models. Exactly. So that's why your size may change based on brand. Yeah,

Katie: 12:20

100%. That's exactly what it is. So yeah. And that kept me busy.

Amy: 12:25

Then how was that lifestyle? Because I remember when we met when you first started dating my brother, it was a lot of you had to stay the same size. And I remember that was hard. Yeah. So talk about how that worked and what your requirements more were to stay doing fit modeling.

Katie: 12:43

Yeah, that's and really that is what started me and my like healthy life journey, my interest in taking care of myself and exercise and everything because I was measured almost daily. By multiple clients. I could walk into any client any day, and they would measure me.

Amy: 13:02

So nerve racking.

Katie: 13:05

They're also taking photos of you not like modeling pictures where you're posing for the camera, just like we're like standing like mannequin and they're taking pictures of you. And I'm going I did launch Ray, I did swimwear, I did everything. So I had to be really mindful of it. I had to watch what I was eating. I had to educate myself on nutrition, I had to understand macronutrients and micronutrients and why it's not a great idea to exist off of pasta and cookies. And I had to start exercising. And you know, I was on my feet all day long. That's literally you don't sit down you're standing

Amy: 13:39

from Yeah, I was going to ask you like, what's the daily life? Like, what time? Did you have appointments? Was it all day? Like how did it work,

Katie: 13:45

I had appointments, I had back to back appointments. So once you obviously build up your clientele, I would start probably at 9am. And I could see a client for as brief as 30 minutes, or as long as all day. Wow. And it just depended on what the client needed. And that's where every agent came into play. Because, you know, they would put your schedule together like a puzzle every day to accommodate your clients. And so you're running

Amy: 14:06

around on your feet all day. And so when did you eat? Like how did you take care of yourself during that time?

Katie: 14:11

You know, I frequently did not have lunch breaks because I was a hustler. So it was my agency. So you would just kind of grab and go I did a lot of like smoothies on the go or you know quick sandwiches from had a major that you know had like really healthy cut options on the go. Yeah, but I was always really mindful to eat a really healthy big breakfast before I left. And it was kind of nice to be eating light through the day because you obviously don't want to feel heavy right bloated, right? So that also taught me like small meal space throughout the day to keep my energy up, right. But yeah, cuz I would go from 9am to 6pm Back to Back client, go, go go.

Amy: 14:52

And this is all day, every day. All day. I

Katie: 14:55

worked. I worked five days a week. Yeah, I mean

Amy: 14:58

that that sounds awesome. You're exciting in many cases, but also exhausting. It was yes, you're talking to people all day long. And I know you mentioned this too, which I thought was interesting about the fit modeling world as you sort of, were able to consult a bit with the designers in terms of what fit what you liked what fabrics, whereas in your old world, it was sort of like, you're, you're just like,

Katie: 15:20

you're just a face and a body. Yeah. And you definitely have clients that want you to just be a quiet mannequin. But a lot of my clients would take my opinion on not just the technical aspects of it, how it fit, but also the styling, which was fun. You know, I really enjoyed it. Yeah, I did pride myself in being a very technical fit model. So I could work with like, the pattern makers, and, and the fashion techs, the ones that are doing all of the grading and the sizing, and, you know, I worked very closely with them. And they, they took everything I said, and used it. So it was

Amy: 15:57

a power fit. Great. So you had like, say, and what came out, which is so cool.

Katie: 16:01

My voice mattered. Yeah. Whereas in other modeling, they really I mean, your voice is like they that's the last thing they want. Yeah. So it was, I enjoyed it. But like you said, a nonstop Go, go go doing that for about 10 years. I mean, I was burnt out, when by the time I got married and was ready to have a baby, I was ready to retire, which is exactly what I did. I got pregnant and I was like, Alright, I'm out of here. But I do miss it at times. And it taught me a lot. It taught me a lot. I was gonna say what did you learn, I learned how to work with all different types of people. I learned how to the fact that you always have to keep it extremely professional. And one of the biggest lessons that I took away from it was being on time was, was being punctual because I'm getting paid a load of money for 30 minutes of time. Five minutes late. Yeah, a lot of money. And then they don't want to work with me anymore. Right. So it's actually kind of made me become super crazy about punctuality. Yeah, but it's a good thing to have. Yeah. And then obviously, it taught me how to take care of myself and how to be healthy and stay in good shape. And you know, the fact that as a fit model, they want you to be an average size six, I was never pressured to, like starve myself. I was never pressured to, to be thinner than my body was able

Amy: 17:20

to be. So that was just really healthy. Yeah,

Katie: 17:23

yeah. And I mean, I think that's why a lot of these models that are successful that are like these runaway girls that are really tall and slender, that's because that's natural for them. Right? You don't have to kill themselves to be that way. Yeah. So, you know, that's, that's the way to do it.

Amy: 17:39

And then what we're, I mean, you sort of talked about the lows and the bad parts, but I want to hear when you lived with those girls, like, what were they doing and what kind of shenanigans went on like, tell me a funny story or what just can only imagine.

Katie: 17:54

It was wild. I mean, one girl that we left with was literally a gypsy from Turkey. And then I got her way to New York and landed an agency but she had that like gypsy mentality like the nomad lifestyle, and she didn't care about what you thought what you said what you needed, she would steal your things. She

Amy: 18:14

was just really very shady. Like, we had a lot of very shady.

Katie: 18:19

Girls come and go and then we had some of the sweetest, you know, like I a girl Her name was was che she was from the middle of Montana. And she's like, biggest heart and such a sweet girl, get these new girls come in. And you you want to kind of protect them and help them out a little bit. I mean, it was fun. It had its ups and downs. It was a little bit like a party, like an ever revolving door. Yeah, if it never felt very, like settled or safe. But you know, I was 20. Yeah, I mean, yeah, it was fun, what a

Amy: 18:47

good time to do it in New York City, where everything's going on. And it's like the best time to do it. Amazing. Well, I just wanted to hear more about that. So thank you for sharing that story. I felt like I got bits and pieces of that over the years. But I've never heard the full thing. And I think it's so interesting. And I'm glad that you did it for the 10 years that you do it. I think to your point, it's probably a really hard career to be doing long term once you have kids and you're married, because it's just the schedule is brutal.

Katie: 19:12

This schedule is brutal. But you know, it's interesting. It's one of the only parts of the modeling industry where some of the most successful fit models are in their 50s. I mean, think about it. All right. So you never know you never know. They're producing clothes for for all ages of women. So they need fit models of all ages.

Amy: 19:29

You could always go back to it if you want. Really Yeah so much. I liked the point in that it taught you how to eat how to mindfully watch her body without getting obsessive making sure your exercise and kind of staying fit on a daily basis. So super cool. And then and then she met Adam and you know,

Katie: 19:51

yeah, and the rest is history

Amy: 19:52

and the rest is history. Now

Katie: 19:53

here we are in Nirvana system.

Amy: 19:54

Here we are in our manifest. Here's the kids the whole deal. Awesome. Well, thanks for sharing that. I love the story. It's really inspiring. I just think it's a part of the business that people don't hear a lot about. And I think it's really interesting. And I know there's so many people that do that. I know I was looking at sculpt society Megan group who's like a big fitness person online. She, I believe, started as a fit model too. And now she has a whole fitness app. And this super influential in the space of fitness and well being so and I know she had started I think she said, as a fit model doing athletic athleisure and athletic wear. So it's just, it's really interesting to see where people's careers go after that. So being that your first big gig was a hair salon, and you had that amazing billboard that you became known for. I have a really fun product review that I've been dying to tell you about. So I'm going to demo it for you after this is over. But I'm a little late to the game. But I do have to say that this product that I recently purchased as a definitely a splurge is a game changer. So it is the Dyson complete. And before I open it and show Katie all of the stuff and do the unboxing for her. This is like so silly. But every time I go to a public bathroom, and they had those crazy dryers that were so strong, I'd always be like, Oh my God, I wish I had this for my hair because it's so strong, and it would like dry my hair in five seconds. So PS, the Dyson complete air wrap comes out. And I think it came out a few years ago, maybe in 2018. But I just didn't really noticed that I heard about the hairdryer. But I didn't realize there were other parts of it until recently. So I splurged over the holiday season, got a little bit of a deal. And I found the Dyson air wrap. And I think when it first was released a couple years ago, it was like impossible to get. So this was easy to get. But anyway, so here it is, it comes in this beautiful case,

Katie: 21:51

just say it's kind of gorgeous brown leather box with the loveliest little stitching and the Dyson Yeah, it's like so nice, super

Amy: 22:01

luxurious. And so these are just the directions on the shop that I keep here. And I'll show you that so you can help out work. But when you open it up, it's this really nice case, there's this leather kind of pad that you can put down which you can put all your accessories on when you're blow drying your hair. So essentially what this is, it's a hair drying and curling system. So first, it's this hairdryer and it has all these different attachments. It comes with nine different accessories, starting with the hairdryer. So this is the hairdryer is talking about that when you turn it on, it is so strong my hair, which by the way, which I've mentioned before, in the podcast, I've been like a product obsessed junkie for years, we're all products with specifically hair products, because I think curly hair, this dries my hair in like five minutes. It's crazy. It's so strong. And I think with this system, they also say that the heat that it produces is not damaging for your hair because there's a certain technology involved where it doesn't damage your hair. So the first step is you put this dryer on and you dry your hair and they want you to dry it. So it's like a rough dry, they call it like a damp dry, you do that then you can put on there's two, there's three brush attachments. So there's this one, which is kind of like a paddle brush, but it's just a brush with sort of plastic hardens, I don't know how to describe it. Then there's another attachment that has kind of like the plastic balls on the end. So there are two different looks one, the one that I mentioned before that doesn't have the little plastic balls on the end, it's just a straight brush really makes your hair silky and smooth and straight. So if you were to put that on as the attachment if you do the rough, dry just really like gives that luxurious straight hair. This one is more than this is the one with the ball on the end of it gives you more of that kind of like bouncy salon polished look. And then this one, which is the round brush is really good for me for curly hair, because it gives it like a lot of volume and a lot of kind of wave. So there's three different brushes, you can try and like blow out, what you can also do is there's two different barrels. So this is the larger barrel, which I believe is a 1.6 inch barrel. And this smaller one is a 1.2 inch barrel. And what you do with this is you put this on and see how there's an arrow here, you and I'm going to demo it afterwards. But when your hair slightly damp, you put it on there and there is wind that wraps your hair around this war. And then you just basically put it to your head and it dries so you don't even have to like twist your hair or curl it. It's just like this technology whipsawed around this roller and you just stand there and then your hairs in amazing curl. Oh my God, it is so cool. And there's two different sizes and these are just regular size barrels. I also have a long barrel coming which is good for longer hair. And essentially the directions are here, but what they call it is it's this Coanda air. I think that's how you pronounce the Coanda and it's this technique algae that Dyson made where it literally just whips your hair around this barrel and dries it. And it is so cool because I love all things tech. And of course, I love all things beauty and hair. And so when this combination came together, I was like, this is the coolest thing. And it's expensive, you could probably find it for around 550. But it replaces all of your tools essentially replaces your hairdryer, it replaces your flat iron, it replaces your curling iron. So it's really an all in one. So now what I do is I have this really beautiful stack of accessories. And that's all I use. And I put my curling iron and some of my other styling tools away. And I don't really need them, maybe here and there, I would need them for things. But I pretty much can use this for everything, which is super cool. And I feel better that it's not damaging my hair. Like all the other products, I feel like these hot tools really can damage your hair and your ends suck. I'm obsessed with this Dyson complete air wrap, I am still learning how to use it, there's a little bit of a learning curve. And of course, being the beauty nerd that I am, I've watched every video on how to do it. And all the people, there's all these hats that people use it, you know, they use the straight brush, and they do this and they do that and they get this look and that look. But it took me like a couple times to really figure out how to use the curling iron part because it's so different than what you would normally do when you curl your hair and you like put your arm around and you're and then one side is easier than the other. And it's a whole thing. This is like no work. And it just wraps around. But it's such a strict, it's just so different than anything I've ever used that it took me a little while to figure it out and still learning how to do it. So why are

Katie: 26:32

there there's two more barrels are they just doubles of the same thing double.

Amy: 26:36

So basically, it's two barrel. So see there's two different arrows. So you basically when you look in the mirror, the arrows that go out are for one side and the other, which is confusing, because when I first started doing it, I couldn't figure out which way the arrows went. I was doing it the wrong way. And then I did it the right way. And I was like, Oh, this is how it works. Oh, that's cool. So some people, which I've seen online use both these barrels on the same side, like they'll do a couple strands with this one going out, and then they'll use, they'll do a couple strands with this one going in. So it's like they get kind of a textured look. So it's really fun and creative. Because you can kind of create your own luck with it based on barrel size based on the direction of the barrel. So it's kind of fun, and I'm still learning how to do everything. It's it doesn't come natural. So it takes like a few tries. But once you get through that it's just the coolest thing. I just think it's so fun. It's amazing.

Katie: 27:25

And Dyson is a is a vacuum company. Right?

Amy: 27:28

That's so cool that they Yeah. Technology for those Exactly. So I think you know, they got into this beauty space a couple of years ago, just because they have amazing technology with their vacuums. And the power that those vacuums. I mean, I have a Dyson vacuum for 15 years ago, that still works. I mean, it's an amazing technology. So I think they've been working on this for years. And they came out with a hairdryer and I saw they have this air wrap complete set. They also have I believe a flat iron that's wireless and few other beauty tools, which I haven't tested yet. But all of their beauty tools have a purpose. They're not just doing it because they can they're using their technology and they're making it better for hair. So hair is not getting destroyed and fried in the process of you know, blowing out your hair cuts. So when I first just to say is when I first used this, I didn't even use the curling iron or anything. I just used it to dry my hair. And I looked like I just walked out of a salon getting my hair done. Like I mean, so you'll use it. We'll see ya you looks like a full on blot. So anyway, super fun. Love it. And I'm excited to use it more when we can actually get out of the house and go somewhere. Yeah, I can have my hair done looking like I stepped out of the salon.

Katie: 28:37

I'm for sure gonna use it while I'm here. Yeah, I want to curl my honor with it. Yeah, I wanted to try that. It's really

Amy: 28:42

cool. Thank you for joining this week. Our this this episode, actually, we're going to do part two later this week where we're going to talk to my parents and talk about how they maintain their young spirit and it should be a really fun interview. And we're really looking forward to that and being home together.

Katie: 28:59

Lastly, before we say goodbye, we have to leave you with your mantra of the week. It's a good one aim, give it a go.

Amy: 29:07

When you focus on the good, the good gets better. And like that. Yeah, so sending some positive vibes out there to the universe. And with that, thank you so much for listening to Nirvana sisters.

Katie: 29:19

We'll see you next time. Bye friends. Bye

Episode 3 - Food Sensitivity Testing… Yay Or Nay? (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 3 - Food Sensitivity Testing… Yay Or Nay?.

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: 0:00

The reason why I really liked this is there's no additives. There's no added sugar, and there's no sulfates. And for me that's great because I love red wine, but I have a hard time drinking it because it gives me headaches for sure. So when I drink this one, I do not get a headache the next day Welcome to Nirvana sisters, where we discuss all things health and well being to help you achieve your highest state your nirvana. Hi, I'm Amy Sherman, a marketing exec with a passion for wellness and beauty.

Katie: 0:36

Hi, I'm Katie Chandler, a former fit model that has a passion for health and fitness. We are

Amy: 0:41

sisters in law who share the same love for well being ready to sift through all the self care noise and bring you a splash of what we think is fun. So let's get started.

Katie: 0:52

This week, we have a lot of fun discussing our experience trying the Everlywell food sensitivity test. I was drawn to it because I seem to be intolerant to almost anything these days. So we gave it a try the results were interesting.

Amy: 1:06

Definitely listen in on this one because I reveal my results to Katie, and it's very surprising. So enjoy the show. Welcome back to Nirvana sisters. Hi, Katie.

Katie: 1:17

So today, we thought we would start things off a little differently kind of just to set the tone and to get us in our groove and have some fun, we want to kick it off with our weekly nirvana. So ame What's your weekly nirvana? How what happened to you this week?

Amy: 1:35

So my weekly nirvana is that I have been helping my dad organize his office because he's got a beautiful home office. And he's got a lot of stuff that he's collected over the years. That's great, but it's kind of all over the place. And every time I walk in there, I just get so cluttered because it's just like these books and all these pictures, and it's great stuff. But it's just so cluttered. I'm like, I don't know how it works in here. So every time I go in there, I'm like, Alright, I want to reorganize this office, because you know, I love organizing and doing all that stuff. So finally, we did it this week. And we pulled out all his books in his bookshelf, there's probably hundreds of books. And so what I did is I put them on my parents kitchen table, and I organized them by color, and by size. And then we did the whole bookshelf. And it's so cool. And it looks so good. I'll I'll show you the picture of the before and after. But it was just fun because my dad loved it because of course he had like one on one time with me. And then he also was telling me about each book. He'd be like, Oh, this book I got 20 years ago when I was doing this job and he was just kind of going through it. And then he was just saying like, all these books represent his whole life and all these books he bought and he's just really proud of his collection. So anyway, it's just fun to spend time with him and organize it. So I would say that was my nirvana of the week. That's so nice. It sounds like Yeah, it's fun. I can't wait for you to see it. What about you?

Katie: 2:55

You know, I was sitting here thinking about it. It's been kind of a rough week we started homeschool this week. And as you know it just really throws a wrench into your whole routine. So I've been kind of digging trying to find my Nirvana just because I felt like I was high stress all week but honestly, I think that the one thing that caused me so much stress actually produced or Nirvana and that was that I didn't have to wake up five days this week at 6am to get out of bed get Madeline ready for school drive her to school the whole thing like that was one little perk to NTI was that we can our mornings were just like a little bit more chill and relaxed and instead of having like a rush breakfast with her we were a little bit more rested and could enjoy breakfast together. starve to death Nice. So yeah, I think I would say that that was it. It was it was much nicer way than our usual like get up and go and out the door.

Amy: 3:47

Right rushing, you know, that's a good one. Yeah, my kids have both been home as well. They're I think they're home until mid January. So same thing or morning's are a bit more relaxed, which is nice. Yeah. So good. So this week, we are going to be talking about a company called everlywell. And for those of you that don't know what it is, I'm gonna have Katie talk about it and I will let you use the reins on this.

Katie: 4:12

So everlywell is a food sensitivity testing company and I was super excited to give it a try What kind of got me in the direction of joining the test. As you know I have digestive issues. I react to a lot of foods I always have and I was doing this insane elimination diet called autoimmune protocol AIP which is like the gold standard for finding out what you're sensitive to. But it's so intense. I barely lasted a week you're supposed to do it for a month. The AIP diet is like no gluten, no dairy, no grains, no legumes, nuts, seeds, coffee, alcohol, seeds, spices, various spices like black pepper and nightshade eggs. I mean, well, so I was trying to do that. And the first week it was great. My stomach felt great and I could tell that I was eliminating issues, but it ended up being just torture. It was the parameters how restrictive it was was way too hard on me. So cue the everlywell test, which just kind of felt like a shortcut. Essentially what it does, it measures your IgG antibody response to certain types of foods. What that is, is your body's immune reaction, the delayed immune reaction to food versus like an immediate reaction, an immediate reaction would be an IgE, which is a food allergy. So there's a difference, right food. People go into anaphylactic shock causes hives, right? food sensitivity is delayed, so you could anywhere from instantly two hours two days later, develop brain fog, bloat, fatigue, joint pain, headaches, acne, digestive issues, migraines. So it can be very, very disruptive to your life, obviously, that people don't necessarily think about it, maybe because it's not an allergic response. It's hard to pinpoint which which food is is giving you the issues.

Amy: 6:13

That's interesting. So is the idea that if you are sensitive to a certain kind of food, you would then eliminate that and see how you feel based on that.

Katie: 6:23

Yeah. But being that these are delayed responses, it's hard to know what you're sensitive to, right. So what would happen with me, for example, I would eat eggs for breakfast. And I always thought, oh, eggs are fine, I don't react to it, I can eat it. And my stomach is still flat, and I feel great. And then in the afternoon, maybe like six hours later, I started having all these digestive issues. And I'm thinking, Wait, that must have been from a snack I just ate or for lunch. Meanwhile, after eliminating eggs while I was doing the the AIP diet, I realized that I was in fact reacting to eggs like six. That's

Amy: 6:55

interesting.

Katie: 6:57

Yeah. So yeah, having said that, the everlywell test, you know, I've done a lot of research on it. And there isn't a ton of efficacy behind the IgG testing. So there are skeptics, but I have talked to people directly that have done the everlywell testing and had great success with it, like, eliminated the foods, got rid of all their digestive complaints, lost 10 pounds, really was the absolute life game changer for them. And then I've talked to people that it wasn't super effective for. So I don't know, with as difficult as the AP test was I just thought alright, this is nuts. Like, let me let's give it a try. Right. Like, let me invest in it and give it a try. It's not cheap. There's two different tests. Right? You did the food sensitivity test that measures 96 foods, and I did the comprehensive food sensitivity test that measures 204 foods. My test was like $259 I think yours was what like

Amy: 7:55

159 159. Yep. Yeah.

Katie: 7:58

But you know, I think it's worth it. What did you think about the experience of like, the actual process of the test?

Amy: 8:06

Yeah. So when you introduced me to this company, I think I had heard of it, but I hadn't really looked at it so much. But I thought it was a cool experience. So just from actually ordering the test, which is really easy to do, the website is clean and super user friendly, easy to do, ordered the test got it a few days later. And the packaging the way that they do it is very simple. You open it up, it has very clear directions on how to do it. It has a few things in there. It has lancets to do your blood, it has gauze pads, it has directions, really simple and easy directions. So I took everything out and followed the directions little by little very simple directions. The only issue I had is Katy nose because I caught her in the middle of myself doing this I had a really hard time getting my blood out. So I use the lancet to prick my finger. But I like could barely get the blood out. I was like pinching my finger to get the blood on like what's going on with me. And they tell you to like move around a little bit and get your blood going before but I couldn't get enough out you basically have to at least for my test, I had to put it on five different circles. And I could only fill like two of the circle. So then I was like trying to do it again. So then I use the other Landsat and I like broke that one. So then I couldn't do it. And so they tell you not to do this. But I did it. My husband came because he's really good with this stuff and helped me do it. And he just put a pin in my finger and that helps it bleed. And then I got the rest. So I know you're not supposed to do that. So don't Don't copy me. But it did work. And I got all the blood. And so essentially, you just put your blood on these things you'd like put it in an envelope and send it back. So it was super easy to do other than actually getting the blood because I'm not good at that. And I called Katie in the middle of going crazy. And then she talked me through it. How was your experience doing it?

Katie: 9:44

It was fine. It wasn't as rough as yours. I had to collect for I think eight spots. I mean, I had to try a few different times and a few different fingers. But I got my blood flowing and they worked out But I thought it was fine. I had the turnover time was a little slow. But I think that has more to do with, you know how things are going with the post office and everything with males just moving slowly right now.

Amy: 10:13

Right? And all the people getting testing done, etc. Yeah, yeah, but they're

Katie: 10:17

there. The company is super cool. They offer so many different types of tests. They have hormonal test and thyroid testing. And now they're even offering a COVID at home at home COVID test. So

Amy: 10:27

that's interesting.

Katie: 10:28

Cool. Yeah,

Amy: 10:29

yeah. So Katie, and I have not shared our results with each other. So we're going to do the big reveal on the podcast to talk about what our results were.

Katie: 10:39

So I want to hear yours first. Okay.

Amy: 10:42

So I get this email. It says your results are in I'm like all psyched. I, I click on my results. And here's what it says I'm just gonna read it to you. It says your tests showed an IgG reactivity above normal to 32 foods. Foods in the high moderate or mild reactivity ranges are good candidates for an elimination diet to help identify your food sensitivities. So I was like shocked because I don't really have any sensitivities to food, at least that I know of. I mean, I've gotten a few things done in the past a few blood tests just with normal blood testing. And doctors have told me different things but nothing major. So I was very surprised, but I do have a theory, but we'll talk about at the end. So I'm gonna go through the things that were my high reactivity, my moderate and my mild so the high reactivity, which is it says here, high reactivity foods are measured as the strongest immune response in your blood sample. Not all high reactivity foods cause symptoms, but they may be the most likely to. So these are good options to target in an elimination diet. So one with cow's milk. One was egg white, and one was yogurt. So I thought that's interesting because I actually don't drink milk a lot. I usually drink almond milk or hemp milk or something like that. But I do have eggs a lot and yogurt I had been eating more recently, but that was a very new thing. So I'll tell you my theory in a second. Okay, so the moderate reactivity says it's moderate moderate reactivity foods class two foods can cause symptoms as well. So these were almond, egg yolk, mustard seed, pineapple, rye and wheat. Interesting. And then the mild reactivity foods were. So these say my own reactivity foods create a smaller immune reaction, but they can be sneaky. They can be a sneaky symptom. causer. So these were banana, barley grain bell pepper, black walnut, Bran, cantaloupe, cashew, chicken, cinnamon, Coco. Coconut, eggplant, garlic, gluten, green, pea, kelp, mozzarella, oats and orange. Oh, wow. Oh, wait, there's a few more I'm sorry. Net, soybean tuna and winter squash. And then it said all the rest were normal. reactivities.

Katie: 13:09

That's wild. First of all, because you eat cheese?

Amy: 13:12

Mm hmm. Right. Yeah. I mean, yeah, not a lot. But I do like you

Katie: 13:16

can without the problem. And what was on the what? You had cheese? I've seen you yogurt.

Amy: 13:24

Yeah, the high reactivity were three things cow's milk, egg white and yogurt. Egg whites.

Katie: 13:30

So I feel like you never have a ton of complaints about your stomach.

Amy: 13:36

Yeah, I don't know. It's so weird. And then the moderates were the Allman egg yolk, mustard seed, pineapple, rye, wheat, and then the mild. There was like a million of them, which was interesting. But

Katie: 13:47

it's also not just stuff. It doesn't just cause stomach symptoms either, though, like you do get headaches and you

Amy: 13:53

do get migraines. Yeah. All right. The thing is, is I've, I've eliminated dairy, probably. I mean, recently, I've been having dairy again, because I've been eating more yogurt like Greek yogurt. But in the past, I've eliminated dairy for like a year. And I don't really think I felt any different. I mean, granted, I didn't like do a journal every day to say how I was feeling. But I don't remember feeling that different by cutting out dairy. That's why I've sort of introduced it again lately, but I don't really have much dairy. It's very limited. It's really just in yogurt. And so yeah, that was interesting. And then also the moderate reactivity for almond because I drink almond milk. So I have this theory, and I don't know if it's true, but my husband says this a lot too, because he's gotten a lot of these food tests done. It feels like sometimes when you're eating a lot of one food. It shows up in these tests as being sensitive. So for example, I had moderate reactivity to pineapple. I never eat pineapple, but in the last few weeks I've been getting it because I've been seeing fresh pineapple at the store and it looks good. And so I've been eating it. So I'm like, is it just showing up in my blood because I've been eating a lot of it and same thing with almonds like an almond milk or eggs, because I've been eating more eggs and yogurt. So I'm like, is it related to that? Is it pulling that? Or is it just random? I don't know it. I just think it's weird.

Katie: 15:08

That's interesting that you say that because that is like the number one reason why there's not a lot of validity to these testing is for that exact reason. Because people, the more exposure you have to something, the more likely you're going to respond to it. So that if you do any research on the IgG test, that's like the one thing that pops up that affects the efficacy of the testing. So yeah, it's totally possible. It blows my mind because I swear, I think I think you got my results and I got your tell me yours. I came back with like nothing, no, a no high reaction, no moderate reaction, all mild. And all it was was black tea, which I never drink clothes, which I don't use but they're like sneaky can be in things. Cow's milk, you know, I don't do dairy. Emmental cheese, dairy again, garlic I eat every day, almost at every single meal. So if that's like low lying, and always there, I could see why can always cause a problem. marjoram which is not something that I eat, but I found that it's in sausages. And sometimes I eat like chicken breakfast sausage, Pacific oyster, processed peas and yogurt. So, you know, the dairy stuff is spot on. I can't handle dairy at all.

Amy: 16:30

Yeah, and you don't, you know,

Katie: 16:32

I don't eat it. Yeah. But the other stuff like I was super shocked that eggs weren't on there. Because from the one week that I did the AIP diet, I without a doubt realized that I was having an issue with eggs, like when I eliminated eliminated eggs, I my acne went away. My stomach inflammation went away, like my digestion got better, but then it didn't show up on the test. So weird. I know. It's tough. You know, I really want to be a huge advocate for this everlywell testing. And maybe it is totally spot on. I haven't gone through and done the full elimination yet. Like I ate garlic this morning. You and

Amy: 17:11

me. That's what I was thinking. I'm like, should I eliminate cow's milk, egg white and yogurt for the next few weeks and see how I feel I just haven't gotten there yet. So I think I think I may do that at some point. And then I think what I do need to do though, is write a little bit of a journal or write something in my phone to say like, I don't know, do I feel bloated? Do I feel this to feel that? Because I do feel bloated? A lot. I do have to say, and I'm not like, quote, as regular as I probably should be. So it could be related. But I don't know. So I may try it. I may try. Like I don't, I don't want to be skeptical in the company, because you said you've heard a lot of people done really well with this. So it is possible. And I did have a test once from another doctor, like an integrative health doctor who said that had a mild sensitivity to dairy and gluten. So I'm sure there is some sort of sensitivity, but I think I really need to do more of an elimination diet and report back on this podcast.

Katie: 18:06

And I think that's exactly what we should do. I say after the holidays, Let's enjoy ourselves. Yeah, exactly. Let's enjoy the food and deal with the digestive discomfort and headaches for a couple more weeks. That was super healthy January and do elimination, and then we should report back.

Amy: 18:25

So would we eliminate just the high reactivity foods or moderate? I guess I could do the high in the moderate and see,

Katie: 18:31

yeah, why don't you do the high and moderate and then I'll do all of the ones that I reacted to. And also I should add a really well does have a disclaimer that if you take steroids, it could affect your testing. And as you know, I take glucocorticoid steroids from disease. So you know, again, like I want to be an advocate for them. So there it could, in fact be that, you know, the steroids are were blocking a lot of my reactions. And that's why I came back with little to no reactivity. But yeah, I still want to give it a go. I'm going to do it in January.

Amy: 19:03

Yeah, though, it'll be fun to report back. And also they do as Katie was mentioning, they do have a lot of other tests, which I think would be interesting to have a hormone test, they have a COVID test they have, there was like a bunch of them. And I think the what the other tests that they have are probably a little bit more, I would guess straightforward. I think food sensitivity is hard, because it's really hard to like eliminate one thing and be like, do I feel this way because of this food? Or is it the weather? Or is it this or it's just more subjective? I feel like unless it's an allergy to your point, but I feel like some of the other tests might be more straightforward because it's more science sciency I don't know that's probably doesn't make sense. But absolutely like the thyroid testing

Katie: 19:40

is is just straight up blood hormonal testing. That will mean you can have your doctor run for the reasons why people would maybe go through everlywell for like thyroid and hormonal testing versus your doctor. I'm not 100% sure either that just maybe convenience. We might not have that great of insurance. Yeah, so yeah. So

Amy: 19:58

yeah, and then and then It's interesting because then so they give you the results. And then after they give you the results, they say, you know, decide what's next. And then they kind of tell you how to do an elimination diet. And they give you steps to do that. And they have a lot of Q and A's. And then the other thing that I thought was nice is they have, I don't know, if it's, I think it's doctors you can speak with that can help you through the process that you can talk to a little bit more. They have it as clinical and lab teams that you can talk to about questions about your specific specific results. And then the other thing I don't know, Katie, if you saw this, I printed this out, I'm gonna show it to you. They you can print out a report like a more kind of clinical report for your doctor. So I actually like the way that they do this for, for regular consumers, they break it out in a really easy way to read, like, they just say, you know, here's your high reactivity, here's your moderate, here's your mild and list out the things like all the foods, but you could also send this to your doctor, and it's printed out like a lab report. So it shows which foods are abnormal and normal. So I think like I could send this to my doctor and talk through it with her, which I think is great. So my review of this is a mixed review. I think it was interesting, and we'll continue talking about it because we're gonna do this fit elimination and see how we feel. Keep our food journals.

Katie: 21:11

Yeah, definitely. Okay, that was great. Now, Amy, let's hear about your review this week. I'm excited to hear it.

Amy: 21:19

Yeah, so I'm doing a review on a company called usual. U S, u a l so usual wine. And I discovered this brand over quarantine. I feel like I discovered so many brands for quarantine. But this is a company that produces wine in California. And they do it by the bottle, but it's a nice large glass by the bottle. So it's for those days when you want to have a glass of wine, but you don't want to open up a whole bottle because you're not going to be drinking the bottle but you just want a nice glass so they sell red Rosae Brut, and they come out with different kinds of types of wine throughout their season. But the reason why I really like this is there's no additives. There's no added sugar, and there's no sulfates, and for me that's great because I love red wine, but I have a hard time drinking it because it gives me headaches, for sure. So when I drink this one, I do not get a headache the next day, which is awesome. And it's really good wine, the red wine actually, they describe it as it having notes of cocoa dark cherry and I don't even know how to pronounce this word, cassis CSSI s, but it's really good. It almost tastes like a like a Cabernet Sauvignon or something but a lighter version, and it's really yummy. And then the rose is delish, and that you can buy as well. So essentially, it comes in a box of either 612 or you can get larger cases of it. But a box of six is $48. And a box of 12 is $96. And what I like to do is I'll buy like six reds and six roses, and I just put them in my fridge. And when I want to have a glass of wine, I do it and I feel really good drinking it because it doesn't have that extra sugar or it doesn't have the sulfates there's no additives. So it's really clean, really well made. And I love it. So I have been recommending it to everyone. I talked to you because it's super yummy. And I love it.

Katie: 23:13

It sounds delicious. And if you break that down, that's like $8 A glass of wine. I mean, that's cheaper than what you would get at a restaurant. Right? You know exactly.

Amy: 23:23

Yeah, that's awesome. Yeah. And I forgot to mention the glass that it comes in is really beautiful. So it's just a very chic experience the whole thing. Yeah, I have to send you some so you can try it. So highly recommends that glass of wine on a cold, chilly night love it and I will be drinking it all winter long.

Katie: 23:47

So something different this week, we wanted to send you off with a mantra to carry through your week and help bring you some nirvana. And to keep us in mind. So you can tune back to the next episode. Take this one, say it to yourself and just you know, push through the next week with a smile on your face. Because here it is, you will get to where you need to be.

Amy: 24:12

Oh, I love that. I like that I'm gonna I'm gonna do that. I'm gonna listen to that this week. I'm gonna say that to myself, and it's very relevant for what we talked about today. Exact so thank you for listening to today's episode. And cheers.

Katie: 24:27

We'll see you next time.

Amy: 24:28

Bye friends. Hi, 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 1 - How To Live A Plant Based Lifestyle & Introducing The Nirvana Sisters - Birth Day (Full Transcript)

This is a full transcript of the Nirvana Sisters podcast Episode 1 How To Live A Plant-Based Lifestyle & Introducing The Nirvana Sisters - Birth Day.

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: 0:07

Welcome to Nirvana sisters, where we discuss all things health and well being to help you achieve your highest state your nirvana. Hi, I'm Amy Sherman, a marketing exec with a passion for wellness and beauty.

Katie: 0:19

Hi, I'm Katie Chandler, a former fit model that has a passion for health and fitness. We are

Amy: 0:25

sisters in law who share the same love for well being ready to sift through all the self care noise and bring you a splash of what we think is fun. So let's get started. Hey, welcome to episode one of Nirvana sisters, our first episode so we did it, we're here and we are calling this episode our birth day because it's our first episode. And it's been talking about for ever. So I'm glad we're finally here. And we doing this thing and

Katie: 0:57

it also happens to be your birthday. So happy, happy birthday.

Amy: 1:02

Thank you. So our goal was to get this taped on, get this recorded on my birthday and use that as our launch date. So anyway, let's get to it. So today's episode is talking about plant based diet. It's like the trendiest thing you feel like you hear about it from every person on Instagram, and it's just like, sort of this thing that everyone's doing, but you're like, what is it? Is it? Is it vegan? Is it? Is it

Katie: 1:30

terian, right? And Katie,

Amy: 1:34

always is up on all the health trends. She's always paying attention to her body and her well being. And so she started doing plant based. I've done it, I've been on it, I've been off of it. But I just thought this would be a good time to kind of talk through what it means because I think there's a lot of confusion out there about what it actually means and what it is. And it seems intimidating, but it's really not. So Katie, can you just tell us? Well, you know, tell us why you started. But before that, can you give us like the audience a one on one on what plant based is and what it isn't? Because I think there's just a lot of confusion.

Katie: 2:07

Yeah, sure. So plant based is not quite vegan, and it's not quite vegetarian. And the reason for that is because veganism is drawn really, it's driven mostly by people's morals and values. It's more about protecting animals and the planet. And then vegetarianism is when you still can eat some animal products like dairy or eggs. So plant based is actually the most strict form of eating as you know, plants only and that you don't allow for dairy and you don't allow for eggs. You eat more whole foods. But it's not so much about your moral compass. It's for your health. Okay, the reason why

Amy: 2:53

the fit of being good to the earth.

Katie: 2:57

Yeah, that's a bonus. The reason why it's so super popular and trendy right now is because of obviously, you know, the COVID era that we're in, people are more focused on their health and their immune system being, you know, boosted and super healthy. And the best way to do that is by eating a lot of plants,

Amy: 3:15

right? So when did you start eating plant based and take us through your journey with it.

Katie: 3:20

I started probably, like three months ago, I did it for a solid two months I for me, I was driven mostly because of gut health, I was having a lot of stomach issues from kind of eating, you know, poor diet through COVID, all the stress eating eating junk food, and a totally screwed up my microbiome, my gut, which in turn was starting to affect my immune system, and I was getting sicker and just not feeling well. So I thought it would be a good way to just kind of reset things. And I actually really enjoyed it. But it's not, it can be a little bit. It can be a little intimidating. I think that's why a lot of people don't do it.

Amy: 4:02

But where do I start?

Katie: 4:04

Yeah, and it's easier now and more accessible than it ever has been? The the, you know, the food manufacturers are on to the trend. And they're making more products, more plant based products that are whole food driven, more convenient products. So it's not as unaccessible and difficult as it once was. You don't have to cook every single meal from scratch. But it is yeah,

Amy: 4:32

yeah, no, that makes sense. And so how did you learn to eat plant base? Was it did you research was a trial and error like how did you kind of get on a routine?

Katie: 4:41

I learned to do plant based really on my own trial and error. But I also did work with a nutritionist which is highly suggested if you can because there are certain things that you want to do to keep yourself from almost getting sick before you get healthy right so we When you transition from a plant based from your standard American diet to a plant based diet, it's really important that you kind of do it slowly, maybe change out one meal at a time, so that you are not all of a sudden bombarded with a ton of fiber. Eating a lot of plants comes with an extreme amount of fiber, which is exactly what you want. That's good for you that's going to boost your immune system, it's going to bring prebiotics into your gut, boosting your gut health 70% of your immune system lives in your gut. So eating all of that fiber and prebiotics is is the reason why we are driven to the plant based diet. But if you all of a sudden go from eating very little fiber to a ton of fiber, like 1520 25 grams a day, you are going to get very bad stomach issues like of course bloating, and gas and constipation, all that stuff. So they tell you to slowly introduce it, replace one meal at a time. And then also a few other key factors are eat a huge variety of plants. It sounds daunting, but they suggest 60 varieties of plants a week, or but you have to keep in mind that's not just like vegetables, right? That's fruits, that's lagoons, that's grains. That's nuts, that seeds, tubers, like there's a white there's actually a wide variety when you look at all of the plants, what are tubers. tubers are like root vegetables, things like you know, like parsnips and rutabagas.

Amy: 6:30

Okay, so, so this is a dumb question. But can you eat eggs or you can't eat eggs,

Katie: 6:39

you can't know if you want to be truly plant based. You can't eat eggs, but there's also a great egg substitute one of the best on the market now it's called just eggs. It's made from beans. Best products right now that are on the market are just eggs is phenomenal to me from mung beans to beyond meat products. There's a little bit of like a mixed review in the vegan world on them, but they're actually really pretty clean. They're made from pea protein. So less products are being made from things like soy, which there's nothing wrong with soy, but some people handle it better than others. And there's also great things like you know, almond milk, yogurt, coconut yogurt. Cauliflower based Depp's like one of our favorites in this house is case out but it's made from cauliflower has no dairy and it's so good.

Amy: 7:23

Yeah.

Katie: 7:24

What have you tried,

Amy: 7:25

I've tried all a lot of those things. And I've done the beyond burger, which you know, and I, there's something about it, I just like I've had it. And then every time I have it, it has this taste. And I think it's the soy that I react to. And then I have the same issue with just ag but they recently took their soy out. So now I can have all of the patties and the liquid and all that stuff. And it's great. But the beyond burger for some reason doesn't agree with me, as well as some of the other ones. But I love all the cauliflower made products like cauliflower crust pizza, and all of that stuff is awesome that you're right. There are a lot of alternatives that I'm thinking about if you're going to the store all the almond milk products and coconut milk. And so can you see so the idea is you want to start small, so you want to introduce it one meal a day over what like a week's time,

Katie: 8:14

it really over a few weeks time, the slower you do it, the easier it's going to be on your system. Some people once you have like fully transitioned to eating only plants, you're still without a doubt going to have a bit of discomfort there's going to be a transitional period. Some people it goes away in two weeks. Some people it goes away in three months, I mean your body's detoxifying, right, so you've been eating animal products, you've been eating processed foods, so your body's getting rid of chemicals, hormones, antibiotics, all of these things that are added to our standard American diet. So as you're flushing that out, you're probably going to have a little bit of fatigue and not feel so great. And in the meantime your stomach's also going to be adjusting to all of this extra fiber. The great thing about the fiber though is that it is helping you flush out toxins fiber actually binds on to all those toxins in your body. Like if you have extra estrogen, it's going to flush that out of you every day, every day that you go to the bathroom. If you've eaten an appropriate amount of fiber it's going to pull all of that out which is phenomenal. If you have health issues.

Amy: 9:20

Yeah. And then so you must feel like after doing it for a few months you must feel so good and like clean and help like your skin looks great. I'm looking at you know and you just probably feel really like different.

Katie: 9:34

You do once your body adjust and you're running on what I like to call clean fuel. You feel phenomenal. You have so much energy. You don't go through a lot of the like highs and lows that you get with the standard American diet with like glycemic index jumps and everything blood sugar highs and lows. Your energy is very, very steady and I don't really know why I think my theory I could be wrong. It's a very zen energy. And I think that's because you're filling your body with a lot of like all the minerals and antioxidants and nutrients that your body is supposed to get. It gives you a very just xem, calm, steady state of energy. That was my favorite byproduct of it, besides, of course, it being good for the planet and my immunity.

Amy: 10:24

Yeah, and the thing is to, if you like, really think about it so simple. I mean, it's, it's foods that are coming from the earth, that they're organic. And you know, there's nothing at it. And so it's really going back to basic, which, you know, there's just so many things made nowadays with chemicals and all these extra ingredients that we don't need. And it's really just going back to basics. If you think about it, do you find that you are hungry?

Katie: 10:52

No, no. And that has, again, a lot to do with the fiber fiber is really filling. And actually you can eat, you eat a much bigger up larger portions that are more nutrient dense, but less calorically dense. So you get really full eating buckets of vegetables, it's what it can feel like you're eating, I mean, very small calories. That's why a lot of people that eat plant based diet are pretty lean, too. So if if somebody's trying to lose weight, it's phenomenal for that. It also is phenomenal for people that have diabetes, hypertension, you can literally reverse type two diabetes, within weeks of starting a plant based diet, you can lower your cholesterol levels. It's phenomenal for just kind of doing an overhaul on your body and getting you into your peak performance your peak state.

Amy: 11:47

I love it. You're nirvana. Yeah, exactly. I mean, I think the key is, and I probably didn't do this, well, when I tried to eat plant based, it's really taking your time and doing it for the long haul versus just like all of a sudden being like, I'm gonna be plant based. And I'm going to do this for a couple of weeks. Like, I think it's more about taking your time. Like, if you're trying to lose weight, one would say, you know, you need to do that over months time. It's just like, if you want to go plan pace, it sounds like you need to do it over time. So your body adapts, and you it's like a gentle ease into it versus just like, oh, let me just switch real quick and try to do something. So I think that's an important lesson. I mean, I have done Sokar life, which you know, for, I don't know, probably the last year or so. And I actually love it. I started doing it because I wanted to eat more plant based and I had read about it and might heard amazing things about it. So I tried it and I love it. I just don't get it every week anymore. I used to get it every week for a while. But then it was just I stopped and then all this pandemic stuff and I just kind of took a break and now I kind of get it maybe once or twice a month. But for anyone who's listening who has thought about Sakara life I know Katie, you're probably gonna try it at some point. I mean, you're plant based now. But the thing was Sokar life is, I think if you transition to plant based, it's great, but the thing was Sokar life is the recipes are so amazing. I could never make them at home. And every time I get a meal from them, it's so nutrient dense and rich like to the point you're saying like you know, I'm so full after every meal. It's amazing that I just had like all plant based meal I mean, it's so like, satisfying and so flavorful. I was talking to Katie already our vacation this summer and I was just saying like You're like eating and enjoying it so much because the recipes that they put together are just so flavorful and yummy and like you feel like you're getting really good nutrients and you just feel so good on that like I'm every time I have Sokar I'll do it for a week I'm not bloated, I feel like hype so much energy. So for anyone listening who has wanted to try it, I highly recommend it I it's a great way to kind of start to transition I do it sometimes like three days a week so I'm just like slowly introducing plant base. I just haven't gotten fully plant based yet even though I'd like to just because I don't know I haven't gotten

Katie: 14:09

better at doing it right that's that's the right way to do it as you're slowly kind of

Amy: 14:14

Yeah, I go through phases with it. But anyway Sokar is great. They have like a beautiful website and gorgeous photography. But not only that, the the the product is really really good really fresh. It comes in a like box with frozen ice packets and then you take it out and you just it's really great because everything's labeled for each day based on freshness and like they want you to eat certain things Monday versus Wednesday, and then everything's labeled and all the containers that they're in are nesting so it's really easy to put in your fridge. So anyway the the meals are great, the granola is great. Everything about it is amazing. I'm obsessed. I'm getting

Katie: 14:53

they get really creative with the recipes right like things that you somebody might want to cook at home, it's probably a bit too much because they have so many different ingredients and the way that they pair them. It's really special. The meals are it's like dining at an excellent restaurant. Right, exactly.

Amy: 15:14

That's a good comparison. 100%. And so it's really a treat. And the thing that I also like about it when I first started secara is I was like, oh, what's the calories? what's the, what's the macros, and I was like, all crazy with that. And I called and they're like, we don't really share that. I mean, we can tell you, you know, it has X amount of protein per meal, and whatever, but they're more like, it's more about the nutrients you're getting. And it's really have the mindset of not thinking about that stuff. And not thinking about the macros and the carbs, because it doesn't matter. If you're eating plant based and really good, fresh, organic from the ground, food, Whole Foods, then all of that stuff doesn't matter, because you're going to feel good and feel fit. And Sue the philosophy is a bit different. So highly recommend this plant based idea. Katie is definitely more of an expert than I am. But it's really interesting to hear about it. And I just wanted Katie to kind of talk through it on this episode, because it does feel like a trend. And I don't really think it's a trend. I think it's just something that people have been doing for years is now just more people are talking about it. But I mean, if you think about it, it's very simple. It's probably how our parents ate back in the day when there wasn't all these like crazy, packaged foods. So it's really just like simple Whole Foods, which is really back to basics. So I love it. All right, moving on something that we want to do in every episode, which is oh, you know what, before we do our nirvana of the week, or our favorite moment of the week, I forgot there was something I wanted to share with Katie I was waiting to tell her about it. So I'm a major sweets person, I'm obsessed with candy and all things bleep. And you know, I try not to eat it too much. But I'm always looking for hat. So my favorite hack are two candies that I found that one is plant base, which I will talk about first. So I'm showing Katie it's smart sweets, which is their kind of tagline is kick sugar, keep candy so it only has three grams of sugar. And it's plant based. It says it on the label and it's free from sugar alcohols which it says on the label I mean ingredients. I won't go through all of them there's not many but it's like prebiotic soluble fiber from tapioca rice flour, pectin, sugar word. Is that how you say it? Yeah, chicory root fiber, malic acid, etc, etc. But anyway, it's so yummy. You can have a bunch and it's really not doesn't have a lot of calories. And the one that I'm looking at right now I'm showing Katie is called peach rings. But it's great because if you are doing plant based and you want a little treat or you want to get that something sweet, smart sweets highly recommend love and then the other one, I have actually had the gummies they're delicious. Yeah, like I love it. Now they're coming out with like sweetness fish and all this stuff. So it's like if you're gonna eat candy, right? It's like, it's so much better for you. Totally. And then there's another brand that's new and emerging. I went to brand week a few weeks ago and it's called behave I'm showing Katie I have a little postcard that they sent me they sent me some samples. And it's a really cheap brand. It's called behave with like a slash in between the behave it's eat behave.com You can order it online. And these are gummies I don't think they're plant based yet. I think I was going through the ingredients with Katie earlier and they're not plant based, but they are low sugar. Same idea. With Smart sweets, and I think they're it's made from monkfruit. But there was something in it.

Katie: 18:34

It was a jello. Gelatin is deceiving, but it's made from collagen, which is an animal product.

Amy: 18:40

Yes. So I think this brand is probably working on a plant based version. But it's a new kind of emerging fun brand. And this one tastes a little bit different than smart, sweet, smart sweets. Kind of tastes like regular candy, which is great. And this one is more of like a gourmet type candy like it's made by chefs. So it's a little bit of a different spin. So smartsuite is kind of like your basic candy. But this one's like, really Gourmet and curated by chefs. So the founder partnered with some chef she knew in New York and put together this candy but it really feels like or may and my thought and

Katie: 19:16

what are teas and Oh, candy.

Amy: 19:18

That's exactly right, perfect word and it's really indulgent. So I highly recommend it. I'm gonna get some more of it. Because from a sugar standpoint, it's really low in sugar. So that's my my two favorite product reviews of the week. That was great. Okay, so the last thing we wanted to do before we sign off is just to talk about our nirvana of the week. So our high point of the week. So I'll start and my high point is actually today because it's my birthday, and we got to record our first podcast and I'm so happy about it. We've just been talking about this idea for so long. So I'm finally glad we got to do it and it's on my birthday and it's super fun to spend time with Katie and talk to you every week and I'll pass it off to you Katie. What's What's your no nirvana of the week?

Katie: 20:01

Well, I have to say not to be too unoriginal or anything but it's mine is totally my nirvana. It's so fun to be able to talk to you and to just be creative and express ourselves and it's great and I'm so excited and looking forward to everything that it's going to become and and yeah, and then I have one little other Nirvana which I'm think you'll think is funny was when I was on my way home from dropping my seven year old Madeline off at school this morning, my two year old Reese asked me to put Madonna on the radio. I was pretty impressed with that. And that gave me a little nerve on there.

Amy: 20:38

That's so cute. I love that receipt girl. Anyway, thanks, everyone. Thanks, friends for tuning into today's episode. For more information on this episode, check out our show notes and find us at Instagram at Nirvana sisters, and if you liked what you listened to, or you know someone that you think would like it, please share we are just starting and we're loving all of the feedback that we've already started to get and we just want to break things down and make them real and that's it. So tune in next week for a fresh new episode of Nirvana sisters, and we'll continue to watch out for all things wellness so you don't have to. Bye.