The Vitality Feed

hello? Hello, this is your host Caroline Schafer. Today. I am not going to welcome a guest today. I am doing my last episode and this podcast has been all about change. And I have recently discovered that a lot of people are super opposed to the word change. So from here on out, I would like to call it growth mindset or better. For years, I have told the three daughters, this little phrase that I will always row the boat as hard as they do, but if they stop paddling, I also will stop paddling. It's made three outstanding responsible children now who are adults and it worked well. But the other day I heard somebody talking about you may be in the wrong boat. And I was really thinking about that. And that is so powerful. What a concept to think about that. You could be putting all this energy into trying to move something forward and you might be in the wrong place. And I think that's where I am. I was putting a lot of effort into the health and wellness industry. When I'm such a super creative person. And I think marketing is where I need to be, to make my big change. So I hope maybe some of my listeners out there will join me in my new platform. And I'm going to be partnering up with Michael Gabriel with Mach 10 agency. As my daughter has named my office, the world domination room. We're going to do this together, Michael and I, and I'm super, super excited. I hope to crush your path again, and I hope to find your support in the future and thank you to all my listeners and all the people that have allowed me to interview them and, and share their knowledge. That's been awesome, made some amazing friends, and I just really, really am grateful for that. And the whole experience on. It was trying very trying in the beginning, but I'm thrilled that I'm past that. And I have really gained some insight, so farewell all of my listeners and remember life has no remote. So get up and change it yourself. And thank you again.  

Hello? Hello, this is your host Caroline Schafer. And today I have a very, very interesting guest. Her name is Carin Andresen and her company is Face Yoga New Zealand, and she is a facial yoga wellness coach. How cool is that? I have never heard of. But being a woman in her middle ages here, I think this is a perfect idea and it makes a lot of logical sense to me. So welcome, Karen. I'm so excited to have you here today. This is going to be so fun, so different. I've never seen anything like this, so thank you for being here and please tell us your story, how you got into facial yoga and, and a little detail about. Thank you so much, Caroline, for having me. And it's really exciting to share my story with you.  When I was younger, I was always interested in beauty and health.  So I grew up in a small village north of Germany and it was kind of unheard of, and I needed to get out of there. So I went to Milan and did some modeling when I was about 18. And discovered the whole beauty industry. There were a lot of products that were pretty harsh on my skin and they didn't agree with me so well. And so I just kind of started having those problems. So I started developing range and wanted to be really kind of to my skin. As I grew older, I went to south India and I discovered Ayurveda. Which I totally fell in love with and a little bit more spiritual and overall yoga and wellbeing. And I think then with COVID  when we were locked down, there was a lot of soul searching, a lot of thinking, what can I do with my life? How can I help people? How can I move forward? So I just came across facial yoga. And to be honest, when I first discovered it, I. Laughter did not thought of maybe just people pulling some exercises, how's that actually working, how can they possibly make a difference? Right. But the more I got into it, the more I read about it, the more it made sense. I mean, we often serve busy to exercise our body and we forget about the face, you know, and we've got around 57 facial muscles. They're either overused or underused. And as we get older, you know, with gravity, everything is pulling down and it's often a muscle that we don't use enough. So I just explored it. And then I love the thing that it's a lot of breath work. It's mindfulness, affirmation. So in the whole routine only does take about 10 to 15 minutes per day. It's really easy way of integrating into your life. So, yeah, I absolutely fell in love with it. I did my course, then I was a little bit shy because I've had not much online experience. So I practice on friends and then I thought, right, I need to go out to the world and New Zealand, a lot of new people in New Zealand. I've never heard about it. So I'm returning to New Zealand. Perfect opportunity. Absolutely. Absolutely. And I, and I love that it doesn't take long. And I know we've talked before and we discussed one thing that I just love, and that was, um, piggyback habits. And you had suggested that, you know, you don't have to add it to your day. It can, it can be merged into something you're already doing. Can you explain that a little more? Absolutely. Well, we all need to go to the bathroom for example, several times a day. So why are we in the bathroom? We can actually, we look in the mirror, we do our hair and after we wash our hands, you can actually do a few exercises. They are, and then while you're in the car, you know, you can pull a few, but probably other people will look at you and think that's a bit strange, but that's right. You'll be looking better than them in a few years. Anyway. That's right. So, yeah, and that's what I love about it. I mean, I do it often, first thing in the morning, because personally, before I even get out of bed, I like to have it out of the way. That's the other beautiful thing. You can actually do it while you're lying down. You don't need to sit upright to do the. Okay. So, um, yeah, it just, and as I say, because it's 10 to 15 minutes, right. Just easily be done. I love that idea. I'm all about using your time? Well, another thing like when people are watching TV and there's a commercial, that's a perfect time for you. And do your facial yoga or, you know, maybe I'm half-time at a sporting event, go to the restroom, go to the car and get it done. It's important. I think it's a great idea. It's funny. I got my hair cut once from this guy who was actually a model photographer. And I learned something. Then he actually took a couple pictures of me when we were done and I raised my eyebrows and scrunched my forehead up. And I never knew I did that, which over years of doing that, you know, that mannerism, that's terrible for your skin. So, I became conscious of it. And you're only conscious about things when you learn about them. Right. So tell us. A little bit, like how do you teach this as an classes at one on one? Is it online? At the moment. I like to do it online on a one-to-one and I like to teach it to give you a personal program, especially for your needs and what you want and the exercises that work really well for you. So I demonstrate them basically. You repeat them. I don't make it very complicated. Very simple. You record the session we are doing, so you can watch it later on. You do have it for life. So I start with about five exercises and then every time over month, we meet weekly one or two on and at the end. I asked you to demonstrate them all back to me. And if there are any problems, any adjustment, if you want to replace some exercises, that's absolutely fine. So you are totally happy with it. You liked the exercises, so therefore you will do, on a daily basis. So my aim and my goal is for every client that I teach, that they will do it basically for the rest of their lives. So that's awesome. And I, I really think it's great that you want to implement things that they'd like, because if you'd, like you said, you're not going to do it. If you don't like it, like, I don't know. If running is the best exercise in the world. If you hate to run, then, then that is not good for you. That is not a good choice because it will not work in your world. And also I love the quality control concept where they do it in front of you, because a lot of people just aren't very detailed and they just miss a lot of components. So I think that's super, super smart. Um, so that people are getting it right. Right. Cause your face is not that big. It's not like you're moving in the arm where you can see a big movement there. So it's a small thing. Absolutely. And often, you know, when you've got it on the air, it's demonstrated, you can see it all very well, but you don't know the pressure. So the other day, for example, I had a client, we did it for the first time around the mouth area. She put far too much pressure on. So later on, she kind of said to me, how did I do it? It kind of didn't feel right, so I can adjust it and I can explain. You know, and the skin around the mouth, it's very thin, very delicate. You don't need to use a lot of pressure. It's the same around the eyes, you know, you do it Featherlight and so, yeah. That's probably true. I know I'm, I'm not the most gentle thing in the world. And I know around your face that light pressure is always a good thing like around your eyes and you're not to scrub, scrub . Your skin around your eyes is the thinnest skin or something. So, yeah, definitely under your eyes. That's why you call it off. Now we say use the ring finger because you have less pressure the ring finger and, and work with that. Yeah. Should I say, and the same thing with applying makeup it's same, the same principle. I know you were a model at one point, so I'm sure you have plenty of experience with that. Tell us a little bit about the breath work. Cause I, I. I don't feel like people know the value of, of breathing correctly. I taped my mouth at night. I know my own fear familiar with that, but it is an amazing thing, what it does chemically to your body. And when people do it to children who are little, it can remove the need for orthodontic work. Like it's an it change. You can change your nose shape, it can change your jaw. It's insane. Like the more research you do it, and it sounds like utterly crazy when you say tape your mouth, but it is true. So breathing and how you get your oxygen. And it all is very, very important. Uh, totally. Um, and we all don't breathe correctly. Very few of us because we get so busy, we forget about our breath. And so I like to start every session, um, close your eyes. And take a few deep breaths in and out through your nose, because if you close your eyes and then you aware what's really going on inside of you and you are in the now and you cut the outside world out. And that's really important because often when I start at the lower part of the face, I start with shoulder rolls and with the neck. And if you, if you're not in the now, and if you're not aware of your breath, you can hurt yourself. You do too much use, you're busy, you're stressed you, and this is not the right thing to do. So, um, as I say, that's this kind of, and it's positive thoughts. Aging habits, it's lifestyle. So I try to integrate everything you get the most out of it. My most benefits. Absolutely. And if anybody knows a little hesitant about this, watch a newborn baby breathe, look at their stomach and they breathe their stomach's going in and out because they're breathing correctly. Then look at a three-year-old. They're not doing that anymore. Somehow they've learned the bad behavior of how to breathe incorrectly. And they're now doing shallow breaths through their chest, which is really sad. So then we all have to relearn how we were born we were breathing was correct. And you said something too about the thoughts, like affirmations, you have to think about what you're thinking about because beauty actually does come from the inside out and I know that. I took a picture in a car once and I had a good thought going through my, my mind. And I took this picture and I have so many people liked it. And I was like, wow, that's so odd. And then I realized why, and I think it was an inner thoughts spurred the genuine happiness that I was feeling. Um, and that was visible. And, and that's what was getting commented on. So I think it's very interesting thoughts really do matter. Um, and they are reflected on the outside. Could you show us maybe something, maybe one little tidbit on something facial yoga that everybody? Sure. So,  often when you've mentioned before about the forehead, you know, the front end of the semester, we keep so much tension in there. So we get tension headaches. As you say, we raised our eyebrows, we create lines and wrinkles. So, um, I love just simply by tapping on your forehead. So just use your finger and just tap and close your eyes. So that brings the circulation and blood flow into the skin. So it's just something really basic, but so effective exercise. And you can so do this on the party. So do this at the traffic light or in the middle of absolutely. And you can do it all over the face. You know, you start basically from your, for it, and then you just go down and your face it light underneath your eyes. Use your ring finger, and then just all go down and, and just lift up your head a little bit. So when you lift up your hands, Already you stretch the front of the mouth. I mean, we spent so much time looking down, our posture's become so bad and you can actually do that with Patriot. It's a lot about posture. We don't pay enough attention of sitting up right. And, you know, shoulders down and looking up and then you can, we can just do slightly with our fingertips. Um, just slide around here. And just close your eyes and just feel a sensation, you know? Um, yeah, you basically ironing out your wrinkles and you breathe in and out through your nose normally. And I say, when, when people get used to it, just close your eyes and just enjoy, you know, the effect of it all. And then you with your ring finger, you know, just around your eyes slowly, often you out, we still have got clean hands and you apply a little bit of serum. Or oil and then just ever so lightly. So this is really good for lymphatic drainage when you wake up and you've got fluid on your eyes. So to do that and ever so lightly around my dad, we have that in our family, for sure. I might add that to my morning routine. Um, I do my little.  And if you got an eye gel, you know, put it in the fridge, you know, cold, pull it together. It just all makes a difference. It really does. And obviously you, you are a very beautiful woman and I appreciate that. Tell me  what  clients comment on the most about this. I think they really, really enjoy the personal touch. They really like to engage with someone. They really liked the sensation. They like that. They can ask me questions every time they're stuck. They've got, got a person they relate to instead of. At an app or, you know, someone automated. I, a lot of people become very lonely and very isolated, although with social media and, and I think results of course, I mean, I've got before and after pictures and it's just incredible that, oh my God, you know, this is better than what I ever caught with no filter. And. I think also awareness that our remind people, do you drink enough? Do you sleep enough? How do you sleep? You know, all the basics that we all know, but of often forget about. So I agree with that and I love so custom tailored, because everything today is good enough and tossed out to the masses. And it's nice to have some people who want to add that, that personal touch and do what's best for the client and show that kind of customer service. It's rare. I find it very rare. Everybody just wants to do the course online and be done, but like you said, some people were applying too much pressure. They would never know that if they were doing a course online. So that is really awesome that you, you know, you show them, they replicate it, make sure they're doing it right. And it's custom tags like it. And also, you know, you know how often when you get something online, you, you get by in, at. And no one reminds you, no one pushes you. And I've had so many clients, they said, oh, I actually bought the app. You know, months, months ago, I've never looked at it. And I think I forgot. So that's what I mean. It isn't anything. There's no one that reminds them. You don't have accountability. Yeah. I counted. There's a very low percentage. I forget what it is. I can't remember. I learned it from Tony Robbins about how many people buy courses and actually go through with them. That is so fantastic. So I've last question is, my signature question. If there was one thing that you can eliminate in the world, what would it be and why? Definitely war and there is there no witness there. And, I think it's just so sad. I mean, look at the situation we've got now.  No one wins and, um, war together with evil. There's no place in the world where that that's. Yeah, it is very scary and no. I wish people could figure out how to do sit at like a meeting, you know, can we just sit at a table and hash this out, but I guess people are not rational enough. I wish you could do that too. That would be lovely. tell our listeners where they can get ahold of you so that they can get some facial yoga instruction. Well, I'm absolutely I'm on all the social media and otherwise I've got a website. Paste yoga.co dot and Zed and Facebook, Facebook page, Instagram, YouTube. So if you give them Face Yoga New Zealand, you will find Carin Andresen at Face Yoga New Zealand. I love it. And,  I have two reasons now to get to. Well, ah, this was so fun and so awesome. Um, and everybody could use this, including men. I know most people are gonna affect a woman's thing, but you know what men need to do their beauty regimen too. In fact, I've been following this guy. Who's a pretty burly guy and he talked about putting facial cream on the other day. And I was like, wow, that's probably a lot more time in the bathroom then they used to be. And why not? Like, why not wash your face in the morning and put a little cream on and do a little tapping of course your face, like, oh, what would that take a couple minutes? You know? And if it could make you feel better, For the rest of your life. When you look in the mirror, that's an awesome thing. So thank you, Karen, for coming on the vitality. Um, absolutely. It was a pleasure to have you, and I hope everybody takes advantage of her expertise here because I think it's really fascinating and I never knew this existed, so I'm happy to share it out in the world. Thank you.

Hello. Hello, vitality seekers. This is your host, Caroline Schafer. Please help me welcome Dustin Hughes. Dustin has an incredible story to tell about his triumphs in his health history and what he has overcome. I'm really pleased to have him here today on the vitality feed. Welcome Dustin. I read your story. And by the grace of God, I think you said you're still here and I agree. That's pretty amazing what you've gone through and experienced, and you're still here to talk about it. And I truly hope we can inspire somebody else who may be going through a really hard situation that there is hope and it is doable. I love that. That's very true. Thank you. So my story I haven't shared in a long time, but I originally kind of got over it and decided that it's important for me to share my forward because there's a lot of people out there that, like you said, I think can relate to what I've gone through and, you know, it's important to help others let each other up. Who knows who this can reach. I'm 44. I'm married had a blended family. I'm a detective with a local police department here in Washington.  I've been an officer for I'm going on 20 years now. I started out as a reserve and worked my way through a couple of different agencies and came back to the department of. And I've been with them about seven years now. And so I start my, my story of my health. I at about the age of six weeks old I started having ear infections and my parents put me on antibiotics for that. I ended up having about four or five different surgeries on my ears for tubes because of the, my, I was born with little small eustachian tubes. It would collapse and I get your infections and it just was an ongoing problem. So at age two, I was diagnosed with ITP. Basically it's a bleeding disorder. And so that's been something that I have dealt with my whole life. At age six, I had a splenectomy because or my explain wasn't taking, attacking my platelets and became very, very dangerous to the point where my blood wasn't clotting correctly and it was kind of touch and go. So they removed the spleen and my. Yeah, and this was a very six, it was a very experimental surgery. They didn't really know what the long-term results would be. And so they put me on because of that, I ended up going on penicillin for a very long time because my immune system was compromised at that point because it's also works to help support the immune system. I'd see. At age 10, I had. Some massive trauma to my skull so we were at some friend's house for new year's Eve and we were out in the barn playing and a tractor step got, got knocked out of the loft and came down and crashed on my head and crushed my skull. And it was about, I don't know, 25, 30 pound tractor step. And the part that hit me on the head was it was the eye that bolted onto the tractor. So it was a piece of metal sticking out of it, of the gas and that's what actually punctured into my skull. And so I ended up making my way back to the house and I was in shock. I couldn't feel anything. I was just in a daze, long story, short. Having two major brain surgeries, one where they removed a whole bunch of fragments out of my brain  and I had to have a transfusion. And that was right when aids was really a big, a big issue. And then they also removed that very giant blood clot that was in. Section of my brain, because it was so polarized from the, from the massive problem of, they just couldn't save it. So what's that about six months later they went back and I had this little pivot in my, in my brain, in my skull. I could stick my finger down inside and create my parents out with right. So they put like a little helmet on me. I had to wear all the time. About six months later, they went back and stitched me up and put it in like a, a plate in my head. And I'm good to go now. So that  that was the, the surgeon, the neurosurgeon told me that if it had been in either direction, I would have either been dead or paralyzed. And like, by the grace of God, literally I was the, his angels protected me. I know that. That's a, that's a lot of surgeries for such a young kid. I mean, that's and a lot of different things. You had several did four or totally different things. Ear infections, the blood disorder, spleen, your brain. I mean, those are all different things all by what? 10, 12, that's crazy. I was like one of those kids that. Some parents have those kids that are always accident prone. I was one of them for whatever reason I was, of course I grew up like we were,  our favorite song. We moved from Oregon when I was pretty little to Washington and growing up, our theme song was John Denver Blew Up The TV, Throw Away The Paper. That was, that was the song that might be. We loved it because they were, they were like, we're pioneering outta here. We're getting out of this crazy mess. We're going to Washington. We were I'm one of eight kids. And so we were Rugrats. I mean, we were running around all over the countryside and we were homeschooled. And so, oh my goodness. Eight kids homeschooled and all this medical stuff to, yeah. And so dad works that worked the saw mills. He worked all day. He worked at a bunch of different things. Always, always had food on the table. We had a humongous garden killed deer turkeys, whatever it was, the majority of the food on our table was from what we worked for. So let's say that that might've helped you. If, if anything, that might've been a huge benefit to aid you with all this trauma that you've gone through medical. I think that was definitely it's funny. Cause you probably looked at it, but more of a hindrance back then, but now hindsight, it was a definitely a positive, a positive factor for your health. Well, it's funny you mentioned that because I finally come full circle. So growing that was, that was, you know, we were the poor family. We always, we couldn't afford anything and it came out of the garden or  the woods. Now at 44 years old, that's what I'm striving to do again, because I understand why it's so important. You get the why yes, exactly. So then after my two brain surgeries, I did construction for quite a while. I was a carpenter before I was in law enforcement. I was on a job and I was pulling on a big, heavy spike galvanized nail and then they all came out of the post and went right into my eyes. It was my right eye and it punctured my eyes completely with my eyeball deflated completely. It was just like a little raisin. Oh, oh heck wow. That's boom. I got rushed down and ended up going to have eye surgery that day. And the doctor did an amazing job. He stitched me back together and I have 2020 vision. I lost a little bit of the color portion of my eye. And so it's a little, it gets a little irritated with light, but. And that, you know what, I, I get my eyes checked regularly and I still have 20/20 vision. That is incredible. You are like a cat, you have multiple lives and somebody in heaven is watching over you. For sure. I'm thinking at this point, I believe that for sure. So how are you turning your life around? So my dad passed away in 2020 of breast cancer. You know, really cancer is there's never been an of our family, my mom or my dad's side. Can we reiterate that? Because a lot of people think that breast cancer is only for women, so he's, so he said breast cancer, his dad passed away from breast cancer. Man and it's more prevalent than people know or understand. So cancer is just a vicious thing and it affects everybody and has no boundaries. So I'm sorry to hear about your dad. Oh, Thank you. Yeah, it was a real surprise when dad found out he had breast cancer.  That's been my hero my whole life. No, he, he was an incredible hard worker. He was a man of character. He was a man of God and he fought it. He, he had such an amazing attitude and. He beat the cancer, but it was the chemotherapy that really got him because he ended up with pulmonary fibrosis because of the treatments and that's real. And once he couldn't breathe anymore. Ever since I had my, all my medical issue, my doctors told me, they said the only way you're going to live through this, if you get strong and you work out and you exercise because your body has been rattled. And so I did from a very young age, I started exercising and I spent a lot of time in the gym and I worked out and that's really, a lot of my saving grace was mentally as well was I kind of had that warrior mindset of, I can do this and I, I just battled it and It really has exercise and nutrition is really after dad passed that really just kind of got a switch flipped in my brain. And I realized how fragile life really is by almost 69, which is not that old at all. And I have a 17 year old and a 14 year old and another 14 year old stepson.  I got a ways to go, but I thought, you know, I made it to myself and I commend it to God that I will be everything in my power to do as much as I can just to stick around as long as I can. But I, you know, that, that means that I have to commit to living a healthy lifestyle right now. I used to chew. I've never smoked, but I gave chewing up about eight years ago and. I didn't want to have cancer. I didn't want to die. I wanted to be around for my kids and I wanted to be healthy. And so that was just, this is just kind of the next step in that process, but I always chewing the first thing you gave up was that the first step it was. Once I had kids, it really I just want not about me anymore. You know I just want them to have a better life than I did and I want to be there. I'm going to be there for my grandkids and maybe great grandkids, you know? Absolutely. There's a lot of longevity on my mom's side. So maybe we'll fall, fall somewhere in the middle of. I don't know somebody is looking out for you. What are some other things that you, that you changed to get your, your life on a healthier track? So fitness was the main that I've had to focus on and be in state committed with go into the gym, running biking. I do a lot of, we have lots of mountains and Hills over here that we can hike nutrition. My side of the family, we've all been, we're not obese, but I'd say heavier. And so my metabolism doesn't work like it used to most, most adults that that's the way it works, but struggle to stay in really good shape and be fit. If I look at something fattening, it seems, it feels like I gained a couple pounds, you know? So I really have to be diligent about that. And Supplements is a big part of what I do now, supplements because there's so much we can't, we can't right. You don't have your big garden in the backyard no more. That is true. I know, I know you have a Neo life business and a friend of mine also does, I am a proponent for that company. But that, that is true. Unfortunately, people don't understand and I used to be more opposed to them, but now that I understand, like how depleted soil is how old our food is in the grocery store. Even if it's fresh in the produce area, it sits so long and oxidizes so much by the time we get it in our bodies, it's like pretty depleted. It's kind of sad. Tell us a few things about, your physical feats? Cause I know you've done some pretty cool things, so I ended up, the other other thing I had was I had, I had sole surgery year and a half. On my shoulder surgery from care. And so they went in and did a whole bunch of work on it and it was it was quite a process. I've never had shoulder surgery and the recovery was a whole lot longer than I ever wanted it to be our expected it to be. So I've been hitting it pretty hard in the gym and I've been able to do a Murph challenge I've also got involved in doing CrossFit about two years ago and that's been amazing because it's, it's a full body workout. I have a lot of Spartan races and that's really, it's been a blast because it's all different terrain and it's like, you're running through mud and water and all kinds of stuff, climbing over mountains and Hills and walls and running through fire. But it's just, I find it, if I don't push myself, I'm just kind of trotting along doing nothing. So I'm very goal oriented and so I've always got something set in front of me that as long as I push on myself, I'm moving. That's very true. I find if you, if you don't have goals and you don't push yourself, nobody else will, you know, people can explain things to you, but you have to dig deep and find that motivation down inside of you to want it bad enough to do it. And it is sad that a lot of times it is like a death of a loved one, or, you know, my mom had brain cancer. The same thing as you, once she started that chemo, she was lifeless. And, you know, it is what it is, but it, it does enforce those ideas that, wow, I get one body. This is not a rehearsal. This is the real thing here. And how I treat it, it's going to serve me or it's not going to serve me. And I always say, you know, whatever food you put into your body, it acts like a soldier. It's going to fight for you. It's going to fight against you. You can pay for better food and better supplements, or are you going to pay the medical facilities! You know, it's one of the other so, so you started doing spark and that's really cool. CrossFit Murph challenge explaining what a Murph challenges. Oh, Murph challenges. It's, it's one of the workouts that was created by a former Marine and. So it was, it was the exercise that he would do. And so in memory, every on Memorial day, that's typically when, when all the CrossFitters will do it is, is I can remember what it is. I believe it's a one mile run, a hundred pushups, a hundred hundred pull-ups, 300 squats, and then a mile or mile and a half run to complete it . It's quite a push. Ah, yeah, push-ups I don't think I can get through, unless I gave me a lot of time. I, the most I can do in like one situation is probably about forty. We have teams and so you can break it up into quarters or halves or whatever, but we'll think about it is it's, you know, You're there working, working out together, and you're doing that as a team and you're remembering the fallen heroes. Right, right. That's really cool. I'm familiar with Spartan. It's funny. I just was in a business situation with somebody who was like bad-ass in the Spartan world. She traveled the world and did Spartans... hello? Hello, Shelley. But yeah, that is a really fun thing. I have been toying with that idea and she's like, that's what I do.conversation withAnd I was like, no way. That's just awesome. So how do you feel compared to now, like now compared to when you search stop chewing say... how do you feel when you get up in the morning? The things you want to do during the day? You know, whenever you stop, whenever you stop something like that, there's, there's the cravings, you know, for whatever reason, smoking chewing, it's like after a meal, you want to throw that DEP in or have that smoke. And, and when you, when you cut that out, it takes, it took  me awhile. And I, and I failed several times before I finally just completely quit it.  I started asking myself, why was I doing. What was it that I was trying to replace or satisfy at me and, you know, it was a crutch. It was just an, it was something that I was using to dull something in me that I wouldn't want to do. I love that you had the conversation with yourself. Like, why am I doing this? Like, cause a lot of people don't even stop to think like, what am I doing to myself? Why am I doing it? Like  how is this making me feel?  Is it being done to alleviate something else I don't have to think about or do or whatnot. Like you said, a crutch and I think that's, very big of you to say,  a lot of people I don't think would but I think that's most vices, right? Most vices are like that. And addiction is a real thing. And as an officer I deal, I see, I talk to people on the daily and I really, I dig in and I want to know, you know, I ask him what's how did you get started? And you know what addiction is. I truly try and understand because I want to be empathetic. And so it's, you know, whatever that, that, that need is that we're trying to fulfill is real. And so now I don't even think about it. It's not even a second thought to me when I get up in the morning.  I, you know, I feel amazing. I, and ,it's a process. This is not, I'm not going to get there overnight, but. And the commitment you know, and as long as I stick with my goals and I've got things ahead of me every day gets a little bit easier to get up in the morning, go to the gym and the wiser I'm going to be at. So if somebody is sitting next to you and they were having weight issues , is there a piece of advice that you could give them to get maybe that first domino rolling in their lives to start their journey in more of a healthy way? Good question. I think first of all, you have to love yourself self care, mental health, and you have to be right upstairs and in your hearts. Not good there. You're not going to be good anywhere else. And I think once you deal with that, then the outward, the outward is going to show. And you know, if you're dealing with your weight and your high blood pressure and heartburn, which I had all those things, you know what? Right. And nicotine, I cut off the alcohol, I cut out the caffeine. My heartburn went away. My weight went down. My stress went down. I started taking supplements. I was exercising. My blood pressure dropped immensely isn't it amazing, like you, you start doing one thing. And then I think once people start feeling a little bit better, then you're like, okay, I'll do this. And they're more willing to do the next step because they start feeling the positive results of, of the first thing that they did. And then they just gained momentum. I find that very often and it's like, you just, you just need to take that first step. Right. That's the hardest part. That's really important taking that leap of faith. You know, it's not easy because nobody wants to fail. And as humans, we would rather not take that step and not fail. Then have the fear of failure and you know what, everybody that's successful in life. You got to take that step if you want change. I there's a quote that I have in my office. And it says, don't expect the results from the work you don't put in. That's very true. And my vision of what failure is, it's just that you've given up. It doesn't matter if you've tried and didn't succeed. You just keep trying until you do. And if you just stop trying that's in my mind failing so I have one last question is a little bit deeper. And it's, if you could change one thing in this world, eliminate it forever, what would it be and why? If there's one thing that I can eliminate in this world, we cancer, I hear you absolutely that, you know, and I know that they're working hard to find a cure and maybe they will someday, but I just know that it's a very terrible disease and I lost a loved one to it. And. If I could do it, if I can eliminate. And that's one thing I would do cause dad still be here. Well, I think that living a lifestyle that you've chosen to do  all different kinds of exercises and goal-setting, and talking to yourself, getting clarity and all that self care that is fighting cancer because you're putting yourself in the odds of your health in a better position. Then other people. And I think that sends a message to people who look to you. You know what I mean? Who look up to you, your family, your friends, the people you work with when they see you do that. I personally view that as kind of a fight for cancer because you're, you are trying to do something to prevent it. And I think that's really awesome and commendable. And I thank you for your service because I think it's very important. My niece and her husband are both police officers in New York. So, yes, I appreciate what you do in it's hard job. And there's a lot of stress there, so I'm sure it's very easy for people who serve like that when they have to deal with a lot of trauma all the time. And a lot of people who aren't friendly and nice that it's very easy to come home and do things that you know, aren't the best for your health. So yeah, it's, it's kind of an easy, an easy path to go down, but you didn't do it and I'm so proud of you for that.  I thank you for being on the vitality feed. If somebody would like to get ahold of you, do you have like any kind of social media you'd like to put out there for them? I have a Facebook page. Okay. And I have a, I have an Instagram page as well. Yeah. It asked me questions about my business.  Dustin lee. Okay. And my Instagram is B loves. The K D loves the K Kesha. That's my wife. So cute. Okay. That sounds good. All right. Vitality seekers. I just want to remind everybody life has no remote. Get up and change it yourself.

 hello, vitality seekers. This is your host, Caroline Schafer. Please help me welcome Jenn. Jenn is a registered holistic nutritionist, a functional diagnostic nutritionist and a medical exercise specialist. She specializes in women's health and hormones and is a best-selling author as well. Her book is called the simplicity project. She is the founder of the global and revolutionary women's health programs. The hormone project. And these programs that are dedicated to teaching women all about their bodies. She also, has a YouTube channel called simplicity and she sits on the advisory board for numerous magazines and TV programs. Welcome, Jen, how are you today? I'm good. Thanks so much for having me. Absolutely. Give us just a little backstory about how you got involved in this whole health arena, especially like in more in the hormone  part of it. Well, when I started off, I've been active. My whole life, been in a, in a gym environment, my whole life, you know, with my dad growing up. And, I worked with athletes in the beginning. So I worked with a lot of men. I worked with a lot of teams, so there was already this built in support and network of like, you need the nutritionist, you need the chiropractor you need, like, we got it for you. And at the same time, I was ppersonal training women in a gym I lived at or live near at home. And I was just so much more interested in what was happening with the women. I was training because they did not have this support in this community. And they went over, carving out the time they were raising kids, they were working jobs. And, you know, there was, we would get to a certain point with movement and with nutrition. But then we would always hit these roadblocks where it was like they would get results. They changed their body composition, their health, their energy, but their hair was falling out. They weren't sleeping. Well, there were all these different, you know, notes that were showing up about hormones. And I was like, I need to go deeper. I need to understand more of this. And I didn't have children at the time. And so, um, you know, I went back to school again and started to dive deeper and had a greater understanding of some of the diagnostic pieces. I'm looking at blood work and different functional testing. And then I became a mom with my first child. And that for me was just. I knew that we weren't being told the whole story as young girls and women, what was going on in our body. But when I became a mother for the first time, I felt ripped off in the education department and I was like, I went to school for this and I still, I still was not prepared to know and understand the changes I would feel. Not just physically, but mentally and emotionally and on my nervous system and the guilt and the shame and expectations, and that lit a fire under my ass. And I just, you know, I decided to stop working with the athletes. I dedicated my career to working with women. And, you know, I went on to have another child. I opened up a brick and mortar business. I started to run and create these programs. And in 2015, I sold my in-person studio and clinic and I transitioned everything online. And now I work, oh my gosh. You know, I have said a little prayer of gratitude because I wouldn't have been open for a lot of reasons. I would have been one of the businesses that didn't survive. Uh, and just because of who I am as an individual, not fully because of the circumstances, but I just wouldn't have been able to make some of the decisions. And so I am very grateful that I am online. But now I work with women all over the world and I have a team of all functional medicine coaches and we specialize in women's health and hormones, digestion, inflammation. And ultimately what we specialize in is educate. That's so awesome. Like I said, I have thyroid condition, since I got pregnant with my first, so that's twenties almost seven years, so she's going to be 26 and they're all telling me I was tired because I was pregnant and I'm like, I can't keep my head up, like at all. And that was so scary to me when I learned that. It could affect her limbs being made with the,  thyroid being way off. And I'm like, I don't have six weeks to regulate this. I mean, it was a very scary time. So I welcome all this information, because I am also at the age where my hormones are going a bit wacky. So this just perfect timing being totally selfish.  One of the things that I saw that you are more inclined to talk about is female cycles. What can you just explain what you mean by a female cycle? So for those of us as women, We are still menstruating. We still have a bleed, a period. We go through four very distinct phases that lead up to the period. So as women and girls, we were taught that your period was the main event and that's all you had to focus on is like, when is it coming, survive it, get through it and get to the other side. It's actually a build up the period is the end result of the three other phases. Our body goes through to prepare for this. We have a follicular phase, which is where hormones are on the rise again, where the follicles are ripening and getting ready to release an egg, which is the second phase, which is oblation. Hopefully we all relate. That's how we produce our progesterone. That's what supports us for the third phase, which is our luteal phase. And there's all different energy, energetics, nutrition, movement, lifestyle support for each of these phases as a woman that then lead us into our periods. So we're not, you know, saying things like, I don't know who I am the five days before I bleed. My PMs is so bad. My mood is all over my cravings. I'm retaining water. My boobs are so sore. Like I'm not sleeping. All of those things happening. They've become ubiquitous of being a woman and like that's normal. It's very common. Nothing is normal about any of those symptoms and especially the swinging severity now for women who are in that transition of going into menopause. So they're, peri-menopausal, the cycle is not regular. The timing of it, the type of it, the mood of the other hormones. So thyroid and ovaries and adrenals, like they, they are part of a system they're part of an ACCE that's communicating. And so when one of those areas. Is being stressed or as being, uh, you know, over asked to over-deliver and to show up in a way that it doesn't have the support you talked about, you know, your thyroid starts to show up in pregnancy. It is one of the most common times for women because a lot of women, there are things going on behind the scenes, in their. That they dismiss that they're like, I can do this. I can get through it. And then you either get pregnant. And one of two things happens where you feel worse or you feel a whole lot better because you have this surge of all these incredible hormones and then you give birth and it's like, as soon as you birth the baby and the placenta. It's like the rug has been pulled out from underneath you. And there is postpartum thyroiditis, which is on the rise. A lot of women are having major thyroid issues after baby. And again, just get told if you have a new baby, you're tired, you're stressed do that. And yes, that can be true, but she deserves better care than that. And she deserves to be taught how to take care of herself. So. You know, thyroid can impact the peri-menopause, uh, just as much as it can when you've been pregnant, but that perimenopausal transition for women, they might be listing and go, well, I don't understand these phases because I don't have, you know, I can get a period 25 days from today, but then I can get 1 35 days from then, or I could go months without one, because that is really that runway towards menopause where it's been a full year without a bleed. I just learned. Yeah. And it's, this is like, and again, we're not broken. This is by design it menopause is our second puberty. When we go into puberty as a young girl, there's lots of signs and symptoms we have in our body that many of us aren't taught about cervical mucus, showing up in our underwear shape of our body, changing, smell, hair, mood, emotions, all of that. And that's as that, the hormones are coming on the scene and they're hyper trying to figure out how to regulate. How do we start to. The pituitary gland to signal to those ovaries, they need to release an egg. How do we do this, that or the other? Well, in menopause, it's the puberty in reverse. The OBS are like, I am taking the final bow. I'll do some shows, but not every single month. I will obviate sometimes, but not every single month. And now you're starting to get disruption in how much progesterone, how much estrogen, how much testosterone, how well your body produces cortisol, DHA. Regulates these hormones, our blood sugar going into menopause also takes us on a wicked ride because we become more insulin resistant. So we don't manage the same dietary principles, the same food, the way we did years ago, which is why women get into menopause. And they oftentimes find themselves over dieting, which is a huge no-no over fasting, which can be a huge no-no or trying to go back to the old tricks of the trade that they used to do to drop those couple of pounds, get their tummy feeling good again, and it doesn't work. So there's a lot that can happen. And I was, I was teaching a live class yesterday and I was asked the question that I get it, why women asked, but they're like, okay. So what do we do to balance our hormones? And I'm like, I could spend the next year teaching you because it's not one thing. And then everybody's different. Everyone is different. And to understand how you can best support a woman, like you talking to me and saying, I had an underactive thyroid now I've got Hasimoto's, I'm going through menopause. Okay. So that's where you're at today, but we need to understand the decades that led up to today. We need to understand, like, tell me more about the lineage and the history of what your body has experienced, stress, nutrition, sickness, medication, pregnancies, whatever it may be. This is where the functional piece. We are really detectives, honestly. That's what I feel like I do. I feel like I'm a detective that is doing triage when I'm working with women. Because you're trying to get them to a place where they feel a difference fairly soon in terms of like, okay, I can take a breath now I can see the light, but it's complicated. It is very complicated. I know I'm just from the thyroid. It is like just trying to get blood out of a stone to get straight answers with the endocrinologist. They're still doing just like the one test  and there's like six of them that really are helpful It's just such a grueling experience to try to get answers. So that's what I love about the functional health part of it. Yeah, because it shouldn't be that way. It is actually, it is, it is the bane of my existence when women are not given the appropriate blood work, when they have. They sign and symptom of thyroid test TSH is a signaling mechanism. All that is telling us is how well your pituitary gland in the brain is communicating and tapping into the thyroid. If we aren't measuring free T4 and free T3, we don't know from the perspective of the gland, how well you are producing those hormones and then the next step. So it goes. Production then what has to happen is the thyroid is like, I got the message. I produced the free T4 and some T3, but I'm going to need a whole lot more of that T3 because that's a metabolically active thyroid hormone. I don't think for a lot of women that they understand  these are hormones we are talking about that are chemical messengers and where that conversion happens is in your liver and your. So, if you have a woman who has gas, bloating, constipation, chronic digestive issues, liver is not functioning all that. Well, she doesn't have a gallbladder and that makes things more difficult. She's really going to struggle with her thyroid unless someone teaches her that in the case of Hasimoto's well, we have to look at what is your immune system's response, and the only way that you can actually get a  of Hasimoto's is you have to test thyroid peroxide and thyroglobulin, and I like to see reverse T3 as well. Your family doctor is going to say, no, they're going to say, we're going to test TSH. If it's normal, I'm not running any more tests. This is where you havetwo choices. You become more educated, you become more empowered and you say, look, I'll pay out of pocket for these tests or you say, thank you very much. And you now go work with a functional practitioner who can actually give you the blood work that you need, and you're still going to pay out of pocket for it. But now you're going to get answers and answers to the cause that does treat the symptoms. And that's a huge thing in mind. Because I've spent so much time just trying to fight the system, trying to educate myself.  I had one doctor kind of get aggressive with me because I was asking questions is if one of my kids, my body, it's like, I need to know these things and I want to test it for them. So I have better answers, but they're getting defensive and angry because here's the thing at the end of the day. So I have a huge. A lot of network, my network RMDs, they are medically trained doctors or they're their functional medicine doctors who were medically trained and they will be the first to tell you, they are not taught all of these tests. They don't know what to do with the results. They're also, they're handcuffed by their governing bodies and they're colleges. And the healthcare system that they work in as to what they're allowed to test. And I truly do believe that a physical, every year, every human being should have the ability to get all of these things tested because how do we know what is starting to become an issue? I don't want to wait to help a woman when her hair is falling out, she's exhausted. She's cold all the time. She can't poop. She's not sleeping. Like we have done her a disservice. When, if she's at that point, the medical system has totally couldn't concur more. Absolutely. I'm just curious,  what's your go-to remedy? I'm a big foodie, so I always think food and environments and excellent resource to remedy things. But what do you think about, um, my hormone replacement? What are your thoughts on. I think it's great for some women, but you have to start by doing the foundational things first. So if you have a lot of digestive issues, if you're not eating a very healthy diet, if you're not eating enough at all, if you're not hydrated, you aren't sleeping. Bio-identical hormone replacement therapy, Western medicine, hormone replacement therapy. It's going to give you this short-term window of feeling like things have changed, but, but they're not. If we're going to start to take any hormones, we want to make sure that the body as a whole is healthy and can actually use those to the best advantage. So you want to start on gut health. You want to start making sure you're eating whole food. Please balance your blood sugar before you get on hormone replacement therapy. And then yes, it can literally be. Change women's lives. When you are working with a practitioner who is testing your levels to see what you need, not just throwing you on the run of the mill. So I really do like bio-identical hormone therapy because you're working with a compounding pharmacy that is working with your practitioner And then what is actually needed for your Mount. So, yeah, I think it's when used responsibly, it can make a big difference. And then Dutch testing. Is that something you also recommend to try to give, give headway of what your numbers are, where you're at? I recommend Dutch and blood work for those types of things, because we do want to see certain serum levels. Like we want to see testosterone in your, in your blood. We may want to test things like your sex hormone, binding globulin, DHA, before it's been sulfated, but what's so great about the Dutch test ,we're going to see the hormone levels from a different lens, and we're going to see how you are breaking them down and that's the missing piece. Blood work is a snapshot. It's like a selfie in that moment. What we have available circulating it is time-sensitive. So depending on what you're testing as a woman, the day that you test month matters, if you're a woman that's testing for progesterone versus a woman who's testing for follicular stimulating hormone. You're testing on like day three progesterone. You're testing five to seven days after you've ovulated. So if you don't test on the right day of the month, now your results are not going to get certain recommendations based off that. So it's really important. Yeah. It's misleading. If you're not doing it the right way. It's. It's kind of almost irrelevant information. The other thing I would say on, yeah. The other thing I would say in that too, is that it's all great to go get all the testing done, but please make sure you're working with people who understand the test. Right, right. Because they're there translation is everything, right. A hundred percent. I was tested for Hashimoto's years ago. And I only discovered it since my records went online, like a couple of years ago. Um, and I was looking back and they put all the records online and they actually tested me and I had no clue. I was just walking around going. Okay. I know if I had a frigging nickel for every woman who was told she was fine. And then we asked to see her blood work and it is literally identified. Sometimes it is literally bolded in black or red marked LO for low or H I for a high or A for Abnormal. And no one has told her. It's a very frustrating condition. I feel like a lot of people understand it.  I think a lot of the understanding is very old school. It's not very functional minded. And so it is, it is very hard to get answers. So,  tell our audience where they can contact you. Yeah. So Instagram is where I spend most of my time.  I don't know when this is going to air, but our whole month in February, it's 28 days of hormone education every single day. Um, and so. Jenn pike, it's Jenn with two NS. So Instagram is great. my website, Jenn pike.com. And then we have a team of wellness advisors where we actually offer complimentary calls to any women where they're just like, I, I think this is what's going on. I'm not sure. Or this is what my experience has been, um, because I really liked to make sure the women that we're bringing into our practice are women. are women we can help. Right. And, and we're not like doers of everything. We have a very specialized focus on, on women's hormones and digestion, so they can always slide into our DMS, ask about how they can book a call. I think what you're doing is so important. I wish I knew that you were a long time ago. I will definitely become a patron of your podcast. I didn't even know that a menopause means a year without periods. And why don't you start with. You have to wait a hundred the whole year, like I had. And I'm like, I've had my body a long time. I know it's a crazy thought. Um, okay. Last question. Um, if there was one thing in this world that you could eliminate, what would it be and why? Oh, just one. I know there's a million of, and especially right now with the side, that's it, you know, there's really, there's really two for me actually at this time in the world.   one is divisiveness. Uh, it's like, it's heartbreaking as an individual to witness just how much division has happened in the last couple of years. I'm in Canada. There's been a lot of it. And so. Division would be something that I would really just I'd love to, to not have. Um, the other thing is I would love for there to be this end of women being dismissed by the medical system and being dismissed by their primary care practitioners. I really, I am on a huge mission to spread as much education and empowerment for women for them, but so that they can also help their girls, their daughters, their granddaughters, and, you know, We don't have the village and the communities that we used to in the way that we used to, but it doesn't mean they can't still exist. So those of you listening, those of you who feel like you've learned something, you've had an experience, please commit to being an ambassador of sharing that information with other women. You know, it's, we, I want to move out of this era of like clinking our wine glasses over the complaints of our life and our body. And instead coming together on a walk or whatever it may be and sharing. You know, like, this is what I learned. Did, you know, this happens in our body, this is a thing. And so, yeah, that's my answer. That's that's perfect. It's so true. I felt dismissed a lot, with the Hashimoto's, especially, and with even thyroid is you have to get that checked all the time. It's just kind of a grueling experience, but I am so happy and I feel privileged to have met you today. So I thank you for coming on because I think what you're doing is spectacular out there.  So I just want all of our listeners to remember that life has no remote get up and change it yourself.

hello? Hello, Vitality Seekers. This is your host, Caroline Schaefer. Please help me welcome Allan Knight. Alan has a master's degree in counseling psychology and is an author of Soulmates Revolution and he also has a Facebook group called Zen Zone Mindset. He is a former Zen monk of nine years. And I can't wait to get into all of this because it's fascinating as half. How you doing there Allan? Well, now that I'm speaking to you, how can I not be perked up? You're so bubbly and enthusiastic. So I feel fat by the way. Just not a correction, but I've written two books. One is called "Mind Gone Wild". So in mindset and the other one is soulmate, right? Wow. Okay. I'm interested in both of those. I definitely probably have a wild mind. It doesn't seem to ever shut down.  That's awesome.  Tell us a little backstory, give us a little heads up on how this all evolved. Well, I'll be really brief when I was 13, my mother was diagnosed with cancer and told she had six months to live and she lived for 15 years. my mother Was really my first role model of the power of the human spirit. When I was 19, my father died. I was taking a bachelor of psychology at the time, and I knew I wanted to help people and teach and coach and speak, but I didn't know what the hell I was going to do. So I decided to take a year. Get to know myself travel the world, which I did country to country, to country city to city. Oh, oh, okay. That was beautiful. That was beautiful. That was, is that all there is, is that all there is, is that all there is, there was some void missing inside me. And then I had my first life-changing experience where I came very close to dying. Which freaked the hell out of me. And I was really scared. Came back to Montreal, met some people that have these calm, clear eyes. They were living at what was called the Zen den meditation center. And they invited me there and there were about 35 of them all calm, clear. And I said, I want that. I moved in, became a Zen monk for nine years until I missed women too much. And then I left the monastery. That's a damn good reason. Oh my goodness. It is a fascinating lifestyle though. I just find though the whole premise of that simplicity, you know, the bare minimum, all the meditation, and the cooking together and the community, it's fascinating to me. It really is. So you did that for nine years and then you came back and tell me a little bit about how you got involved in the book writing. You're right. Well, what happened is when I reentered society, I realized that you don't need to be a monk or nun to get in what I call the Zen Zone. That calm clear state which I live in most of the time now I'm so grateful. But then I realized I was a bit of a bastard case as it was living my life out in the world. So I realized quite quickly that unless you connect the Zen zone with every aspect of life, it was going to be limited. So I went back to get a master's degree in counseling psychology, and my thesis was the quality of relationships with it's founded on the quality of relationship you have with yourself. And that was always my modus operandi. I knew intuitively being an Aquarius and a visionary that I was going to work both in the entrepreneurial world from a business point of view. And in the personal world, soulmate, the concept of soulmates always attracted me for some reason. And I knew that I was destined to create a unique program because,  when I moved out to Vancouver, I kind of started my, my profession as a coach and something, you know, I had quite an experience because as people were coming into my office and I was doing my assessment and evaluation, many of them admitted to me that they had spent five, 10, or even $25,000 on self-development. Many of them still were procrastinating, still had a hyper active mind. Like you just teaching still had social anxiety, not like you lack of confidence, lack of boldness. And the list goes on and I said, something's wrong. They're spending all this money on self-development. They might go to seminars, get pumped up by the speaker, come back. And then within a short time, they're back to the same old, same old, or they read a lot. A lot of books gather a lot of information and information. But knowledge when it is sometimes not power, heart is power. Presence of mind is power. Compassion is power in freedoms. And  the mind of course is adds to it. The light bulb went on when I realized that I needed to create a program that was more of an inner fitness and verbal fitness system. And I always wanted to connect self-development with communication mastery, because I felt like in the self development. Everything's mindset, mindset, mindset. It's great mindset. Great. But it's not the whole thing. Unless you connect the mind into emotional commitment into consistent action into effective communication is limited.  Over the years  I developed a fast track program. It's my nine-step formula that I use, where if someone goes through it within 90 days, they actually get to quite a high level of inner freedom mental toughness, inner confidence, focus and start mastering their communication skills because when you feel great inside 80% of it oozes out into your communication anyway. Right. And that's what I've developed over the years. So that's how I got into writing and training and coaching. I love that I call it transformational vocabulary. I define that as the conversation that you're having with yourself. And I know about 80% of that is a negative space and that is not good. I do believe most of us do, stay in that space too. It's kinda sad, but, I always tell clients things like. You don't say I have to go work out, it's  I get to go work out. It's just a couple little words that you shift around in your head , to really change the outlook of what you're doing.  It brings on that gratitude and it just puts things usually from the negative into a positive. So I think,  we're on same page here. It's very interesting and I'm such a big believer in everything starts in your mind. And I love the term verbal fitness. Talk to me a little more about verbal fitness.  I'm big into fitness itself for health, but, I also love words and it just makes sense that they go together. Well, it's interesting because when people actually say Alan, what's unique about your program and what's unique about you. There are a lot of people that are coaches and of course there's a lot of overlap. But I think the two distinguishing features of what I'm about versus maybe what a lot of people are. I don't know, at this point is that I've created a system that's duplicatable. The problem is that a lot of people spend a lifetime in self-development and still don't get to where they want to be. So this is fairly rapid and to use your word transformational program, that if you go through, once you continue on, on your. When you get off track, you know, exactly which step to get back on track with and get back into what I call the 10 zone, the super highway of life.opAnd so it becomes a self-coaching system and we become less dependent on more teaching and more knowledge and more information. Not that it's bad. It's good. It's all great. But now we start to live it and be it. And I always wanted to be a person on a walk to talk. I don't want to just be a teacher. I want to be a master. Now the verbal part is that I always had a bit of the gift of the gab I was told. And so communication was key to me. And even though a lot of people have gone to tons of self-development, including myself at some point, and even recently, a friend of mine who's highly spiritual, highly evolved. She doesn't know how to break up with her boyfriend. So she's asking me for advice on how to communicate, cause she never really taught some of the communication skills that are very, very important to complete the self-mastery journey. So that's why I teach a lot of selling skills, presentation skills, public speaking, skills, networking skills. But I realized, when I started out that most of it comes from the inside out and that's why I combined the two. I agree a hundred percent. Oh my goodness.  How you think about everything? Effects All facets of your life, your businesses, your relationships. It's one of those things like with finances, they really need to teach it in school because you need it for everything. Sorry to interrupt you. No, that's fine.  Yeah, here's the thing about communication, which I discovered, which is an interesting point. It depends on where the person's at. There are people that I know that are quite highly developed in their own spiritual, personal development, and all they need is to Polish up their communication skills and learn some of the basic back and forth skills. Others, no matter how much you teach them, these communication skills. I know a gentleman that I met recently, that's like, that is no matter how much you teach them the communication. It won't work now because he hasn't done the work on the inside. So you could teach them all the communication skills in the world that it won't be effective. I again, I brought the nine steps. So a person sees exactly where they are on the mind map, and then they know what they have to focus on what they don't have to focus on. So it's very important to have that discernment. What does this person need at this time? It comes back to other people's experiences, define them and how they think, and then how they hycommunicate and it all is a trickle effect. And even though you might not agree with the word somebody saying, or the actions , it does come back to that verbal fitness and why they're coming up with those words and those terms and those thoughts, and it's, you know, usually their history and what they've been fed. It's kind of fascinating. Tell me a little more about this hyperactive mind. I'm always scared to go into this because I feel a little guilty already. I have a feeling that I'm definitely, the poster child for this . do you think just for fun, is your mind really hyperactive or it's just very active in a stimulating positive way. If I probably had to call a spade a spade here, I would probably say it's a little hyperactive.  I can rest, but if it's very hard to just shut it off. Do you have trouble receiving? No, I don't. I wouldn't say that. Are you. It depends on what it is. I'm impatient when it's technology or mechanical. I'm very creative person and I have a lot of patients with that but anything mechanical and technical, not so much. Interesting thing about the hyperactive mind. Cause a lot of people think because I was a monk at some point that I'm going to, I always suggest meditation, which is not true. There's some people that I would suggest meditation is very good for them. At this point, others, I would recommend not do meditation. They're not ready for it. Other people, the reason they can't meditate is they need to work through some of their emotional stuff before they can even meditate. There was a wonderful twin soulmate sister of mine who passed away 10 years ago. And I, when I first got into meditation, I wanted her to meditate because I knew it would help her. The more she meditated, the more angry she became because she had a lot of unresolved anger inside her. She had to deal with the forgiveness of stuff before she can ever think of meditating. I feel so much better. Cause I meditate every morning and I love it. And I would do it for two hours straight if I could, because I just enjoy it so much. So that made me feel better. So I guess I'm at peace with some things. You are definitely at peace with something. There are some subtle things related to impatience or whatever, or you have trouble relaxing.  That's a different story. That's not necessarily because you don't meditate. Well, it might be that there are things in your life that as they harmonize and balance out, you will balance out more. Just one fun thing, when I teach my introduction to the strategy of the nine steps, I paint a picture of a circle down here. I call it the Zen zone. Now the Zen zone is that calm, clear mind, just like the blue sky. You go outside blue sky. It's always there, even if it's cloudy and rainy, you know that over is the sun and the clear sky, same as the eternal mind, the Zen zone mind, then connect it to the Zen, mind his emotions, then the rational thinking. Physical body that leads to communication with people and living our dream lifestyle. The problem is that a lot of us are run by the emotions and the mind in a negative way. Either the mind could be negative because we have negative belief systems, or we have a hyperactive mind that gets in the way of tapping deeply into the Zen zone on a consistent basis or the emotions become turbulent, sadness, anger, fear, hate I, you know, whatever, start to fill the air. And that cloudiness of the emotional psychological turbulence gets in the way. And that's going to affect all our communication. Guess what, why are most relationship dysfunctional? Because they're related there's with yourself as this. So, what I do in my system is I helped you to harmonize all of it. So you live more and more in the Zen zone, you transform negative beliefs, you channel your emotions, which is very important into enthusiasm and passion action, harmonious balance action. And then all of that leads, the Zen zone guides it, the higher self guides that not the rational mind and the neck and the negative miner, the high productive emotions. There's an expression by one of my mentors, many years ago, the the mind, the rational mind is a great servant, but a terrible master. And I think we live in a world where we give way too much attention to information and knowledge. It's good, but it's not the master. You know, I am probably a little guilty that I do read a ton, but I read and I need to, utilize what I'm reading more instead of just keep gathering and gathering and gathering. Right. Yes. You have to, you have to implement what the knowledge that you're pulling. And the more I'm hearing about you, the more I'm convinced you're a highly developing being already. Ultimate Zen master. You remember present master than I am. Actually really want to learn to do meditation even better. Sorry to interrupt you. I got a great idea. You and I started a monkery and nunnery. Alright. I don't know about that part. I, I think I just liked the meditation and the lifestyle. Well, most of the lifestyle I'd have the same problem. Yeah. But I do love the psychology end of things a lot. How people tick is very fascinating. Personally, I think communication. The biggest culprit for everything, because the way you communicate with yourself and then B the way you communicate with others and you can't compete with others until you learn to communicate with yourself. So totally agree with you. Yay. That's awesome. Tell me more about this soulmate revolution. Okay. The interesting thing, it's funny. I was on a podcast two days ago, and the woman who made it. She said, Allan, this is your main passion, why aren't you doing it? And I will be focusing in on 2022, but soulmates, the concept of soulmates always fascinated me, even when I was 19 years old. At that time I had this vision that I would start the nightclub, my name kn RGH team bring chivalry back into the room, which I think is a little bit, so it changed into the soulmate revolution, but the concept that. Is that, you know, obviously people ask me all the time, do we have one soulmate? Or many of course we have many. So what does a soulmate? Somebody it's a heart-centered connection. You and I have a heart-centered connection. So we have many soulmates. The thing is we have business soulmate, friends, soulmates, uh, family, soulmates, but we also have romantic soulmates and twin souls. Most people are not up at night thinking. I can't wait til I meet my business soulmate. That's why in my book it says, finding all your soul mates, including the one, I attended a lot of training and webinars and they all talk about drawing in the one drawing into one. And I think to me, Way too much pressure. I don't think it's the works like that. The way I teach the soulmate revolution, the first seven of the nine steps is your inner soulmate. If you learn to tap into that, accept adore, respect and love yourself unconditionally, then you walk around as a love machine without these psychological needs of control and manipulation and fears. And then you just attract organically amazing people. And there'll be many soulmates. There'll be different levels of soulmates. And if, if you want and it's part of destiny or whatever you want to call it, that romantic one will come into your life. I have, and I've had many wonderful soulmates. And if I'm destined to have my next romantic soulmate. Great. If not, that's okay. If they come into my life and we want to do the soulmate revolution together, I always wanted to be a soulmate minister, but by the way, in battery, Mary soulmates off, oh, that's a cool concept. It's relatively a new term in my world. Um, I recently was talking to a friend of mine who does is, uh, is a life coach. And she was recommending that, the men are from Mars. Women are from Venus book and it w she's the one who brought up, was it twin flame, soulmates,  something like that?  This was a new concept to me, but when I read a definition, I was like, wow, that's amazing. I've read a lot about, so much over the years and Kubler Ross, who was, was pretty wise woman about soulmates. She said something interesting. If you want to attract ordinary relationships, they're all around dysfunctional relationships are all around, but if you want to have a high level soulmate, it's not for the faint of heart, you better raise the bar and raise the bar of your own self because soulmates, when they come together often it's not just an ordinary relation to go jogging and bungee jumping, which you could do of course, but it's to help each other to grow you mirror each other, you grow, it can be difficult, can be challenging and often you have a compassionate motive for coming together and you want to make a big difference in the world, so that what elevates the quality of the soulmate connection. It's a bit beyond, let's say the average. You could be an average couple. That's not supposedly soulmates and it's wonderful if you're happy and that's what you want, nothing wrong with it. You don't have to, but some people, I would never be in a relationship unless it had that quality. And I know that. And I'm sure once, once you know what that quality is like, yes. You can't go back. I'm sure it's like tasting something homemade. That's, you know, the I'm a foodie, but you know, completely from scratch and top quality ingredients and then trying to go eat like something from a grocery store. No, you can't, you can't exchange at that point cause your taste buds know better. Yes. Yes. That is wild. Wow. That is definitely a fascinating, fascinating area I didn't ever hear. I don't think about there's many kinds of soulmates. I always thought it was more of a romantic relationship rather than a business, but that makes sense because you can like totally jive with specific people. And I've learned that through podcasting and through networking with people. And I always say I invite people to my table and I think that's a similar correlation, um, that when I really connect with somebody, we seem to be very much on the same page that you feel that commonality. And, and I guess that Zen quality. I don't know, but you are, I'm not saying just because you're an attractive lady, but which you are, but would you agree that we have a good connection? So our second conversation, we have a pretty good connection. Yes, yes. So we have connection of whatever it is. It's a connection and I don't have that. Same connection that's free flowing deep and wise as this is. Right? So we're so in my mind, we're soulmates. How, what a staple that doesn't matter. It's, it's heart-centered connections is what it is. Yeah, and that's such a beautiful concept. And so one of the things that I want to do for 2022 is I want to stop all that surface-y kind of communication. I think, yearn for it more because cOVID and all this lack of personal connection, you know, people work from home and you can't go out and you can't do this.  And I think that for me, and I hope for most other people, it's like when you do have the opportunity, connect with people, I don't want to talk about the weather, you know, I mean, I want to go deeper. I want to know really what makes people tick? How do they really feel, you know, what? We can maybe help each other with and things like that.  That is my goal for one of my goals for 2022. it's interesting because people that are interpersonal growth and spiritual growth often talk about, I'm really committed to eating well, I exercise, I take care of my body. I take care of my environment. I take care of this. I take care of that, but then they spend hours and hours and hours in patterns of relationships, which doesn't serve them very well. And they're allowing that toxicity. And that's why I keep coming back to you got to connect self-mastery and self-development. There are amazing people in my life, but I, I earned it because I attracted it through my own energy. And also because I have my own standards, not that I'm so wonderful. I don't mean that, but I want to be careful that who I'm bringing in, just like I'm careful not to have poison come into. I don't want poisonous relationships. Not only is it going to affect me negatively, but it's going to keep me from having very high level relationships. Right. And I actually made a necklace. And on one side of it, it's like a little broach and it has a clear glass on both sides. On one side, it says, conquer yourself. And then the world. Which is so true. Yeah. It's the same thing. Yeah, exactly. I think that's why we connect because we both are on the same page with how people communicate and think.  I'm a big health advocate, but I do think it starts in your mind.   It's funny how we tell ourselves things to justify things and make things right when they're really not. And it triggered me to question whether I should go get my chocolate croissant today. Yes. Well, there's always the better option and not meaning to change the option, but even if you take a cookie to standard cookies and ones in the grocery store, and one you made in your kitchen where you use unbleached flour and aluminum free baking powder, and, you used grass fed butter, those things, just like all the words you put in your mind. All of those components make up a better product. Having said that I'm going to challenge a little bit of what you just said, if that's okay. Is that it could go to the other extreme to a friend of mine's father, always a fascinating story. He told me he had Alzheimer's at some point in his life, but for years he was obsessed with what he was eating. And he tried to eat perfectly and healthy and everything. And then he got elsewhere. And all of a sudden something clicked and he started eating whatever he want. Then he gained a little weight. He was looked better but he did it by just letting go of this obsession. You know, actually  I don't think we're disagreeing at all, because when you obsess about anything and try to make everything perfect, it's unhealthy.  I'm all about whole health. Um, I think if you do the right thing, most of the time by your body and your mind, then you're in a good. I'm just saying that if you want to deviate off the path and that's quasi unhealthy that if you think about it, you can make it better than what you might be going to reach for. We agree. Yes, we agree.  But yeah, I. I do think that on your birthday, you should eat birthday cake. I don't normally do it on an everyday basis but I don't deprive myself. I don't have that mental thing saying no, there's no exception. And I think that's what your friend did. And that is very harmful. Dr Joe Dispenza he says that, and he's the one who actually got me thinking about that. Cause I think I was more on your friend's path of trying to make the diet and the health perfect.   And that's why I believe in the whole health it's about your mind and your environment and the exercise and the diet. It's all inclusive. It's not one or the other and you can only control so much. And that's where the perfect has to go out the window because you cannot control everything. Perfect does not work because you end up that mental stuff. It eats at you. And it's true. I used to flip houses and, the psychology of it was very apparent to me. People would get a divorce. Um, and then they'd lose their house or they'd lose their house. It was like a, several things in a row divorce they'd lose their house and then inevitably illness. It was like the, the perfect trio of a storm every time. It was God awful to listen to and heart wrenching, but it was amazing to me how one domino would hit and then they would just stack, you know, and they couldn't pull themselves out of it. And I've really. A lot of that had to do with mindset, you know? Absolutely. Very cool. So tell our listeners where they can find you and, and how do you get into your program and all that good stuff. Well, one thing I've just recently giving away as a free gift to any of your audience at all. It's a new URL that I have. It's called shyTobold.com and because over the years, I've helped a lot of people overcome shyness, timidity, and insecurity. And transform that into confidence. So they get a free five audio confidence pack of visualization, a meditation visualization. They also get other free video gifts. Cause I'm going to follow that up with free videos that they'll get to learn about the nine steps as well. So shytobold.com would be a start if they want to go to Allanknight.com, a double L a N K N I G H T. That's my main website. And my focus in 2022 is going to be to bring on trainers who are going to teach my program a nine step program and their own audience and their own personality. So if anyone out there is a coach or wants to be a coach, but doesn't have an existing program, they'll get some information on my website. And by the way, I absolutely love your logo for your podcast. The Knight talk live. It's beautiful. I'm very rarely impressed. Oh my God, that me, can I do an interview of view next? Not now. Can I do, can I interview. Yes, absolutely. You'd be a fantastic person to interview. Thank you. Well, I'm learning how to receive, so I'm going to take that as a compliment that I appreciate because I'm picky. God, I feel you made me feel so good. So I have one last question. It's my, it's my signature question.  If you could eliminate one thing in this world, what would it be and why? If I was going to eliminate one thing in this world, here's what it would be the source of most of the problem, which is in my estimation after 25 years of coaching, when people say. There are a lot of things holding people back, but what's that one thing that jumps into your mind when you think what's holding people back is that I would eliminate people being so self-critical and hard on themselves so that if they can release all that crap and start to accept and adore themselves like their own. The World be a great place. That is so true because that's what hinders most, isn't it? Wow. The same question. What would I eliminate? Um, I would eliminate, Ooh, that's tough. I've had so many answers. I'm trying not to use previous answer and I guess it's not as deep as most, but one thing I would love to eliminate is all the heavily processed food. The more I find out about what goes on, especially in America, and what they allow to go into our food, knowing that it's harmful and then people have to deal with all of the health ramifications. Thank you Alan. For being here today. So awesome. I do believe that we are some kind of a soulmate, we have a fabulous connection.  You are a great inspiration today. Well, you were an amazing inspiration and let's not, let's, let's stay in touch and so. Absolutely. Sounds good.  Thank you. Thanks so much. Okay, vitality seekers, please. Remember, life has no remote. Get up and change it yourself.

hello? Hello. Welcome to the vitality feed. I'm your host Caroline Schafer. So glad you are here with me today. And I thank you for joining us. Today. I want to share a concept with you.  So I called today's concept transformational vocabulary. Basically, it is the conversation that you have with yourself. They say that most people have around 50,000 thoughts per day and for some people it might even be up to 80,000 and have those thoughts 80%. Yes. That's 80% of those thoughts are negative. That is just so sad. Why is that? Why are we so hard on ourselves? Why do we choose this day in and day out? Well today, I hope to offer some tools to reduce that number, to reduce that 80%. There's a new year coming and how about we create a new mindset to go with it? What are you feeding your mind?  Today's episode is all about negative thoughts with some helpful tools on how to change 40 to 50,000 negative thoughts that you have every day into better ones. Enjoy. I follow several people who have taught me the value of communication. It started out a very long time ago when my children were little with a program called Love and Logic, it's a parenting program, but in actuality, it is a communicational program on how to get your children to want to listen to you. That's the key word want? I have used it on many people, not just children, lots of people well over 18, and it works all the time. The fantastic program. About two to three years ago, I discovered Marisa Peer through Mindvalley University, a place where I have taken numerous courses. Marisa is a world renowned speaker and a rapid transformational therapist. She was named the best British therapist by Men's Health Magazine and also was listed in the top 250 best doctors of Britain. She focuses on the power of belief, clearing your mind blocks and she is the queen of promoting the" I am enough" campaign, which I do have those words on my bathroom mirror. And I do have these words on my bathroom mirror, which I do see every single morning. I have also given these words to my daughters so that they see them as well. I think it is a wonderful campaign and I think everybody should be promoting. I mentioned Love and Logic... well, thanks to COVID Dr. Amen, who I also follow joined up with love and logic and they are working together now, professionally and personally, I cannot think of a better business pairing than the two of them . Dr. Amen is a psychiatrist who speaks on mental health, has been on all the TV shows like Dr. Oz, Today Show,  Good Morning America, all of that.  Most known for being the psychiatrist who has viewed over 180,000 brain scans from about 155 different countries and that makes him a leader in this field. He helps celebrities as well as professional athletes and  literally can help patients, mend holes in the brain. Yes. You heard that, right? He literally can get people who have holes in their brains that is visible on a scan and go through his program and mend those holes. It's truly remarkable. He too speaks often of negative thoughts. Dr. Amen calls them A.N.T.S. And that's an acronym which stands for automatic negative thoughts. Negative thoughts, meaning the patterns and the beliefs that infest our minds like ants in your house. They cause havoc. When you have a negative thought, there are some things that you can do to maybe guide you to better thoughts. First thing you need to think of is, is it true? Is it really true? What you're thinking or do you just assume it's true. The second thing you might consider is are you in a all or nothing mentality? Does it have to be so black and white? Number three, are you fortune telling, are you trying to predict a negative outcome? I hope not, but a lot of us tend to do that before we have all of the facts, but a lot of us tend to do that before we have all the facts. Number four. Are you mind reading, assuming you understand someone else's position. Ask for clarification, that's always a great idea. Ask people, what did you mean by that?  That's always a good way to get rid of a negative thought that might not be true. Number five, are you blaming or shaming? Usually it's never a hundred percent any one person's fault.  It's always better to just err on the side of not having to be. Make a commitment to yourself, commit to being kinder and nicer with your thoughts. Remember, your brain is always listening. Monte Campbell is another person that I also follow and he is more of a money investment guy, but he too speaks of negative thoughts. Are you seeing a pattern here? I hope so because there definitely is one that's success leaves clues, and all of these people speak on the same subject. Monte proposes this concept. We love to hear ourselves talk. We love our own voice and we love our own thoughts. Have you ever thought about the possibility that something you have already rationalized and thought about could be so wrong? Maybe it is. It's a great question. Be aware of thoughts that make things happen in a positive way, and what thoughts are not working for you. Take note of this, a lot of indicators of the thoughts that are not working for you have the same words used. They are should,  should not have tos.  Like I have to go to the gym instead say, I get to go to the gym. I can't, another one. I must, I won't, I need to, all of these words havenegative feelings attached to them because they're sound more mandatory. There's always a better option. Another way of looking at that is to replace the non-working thoughts with better ones, act like a scientist experiment with yourself, what thoughts or mindsets are working and what does not work. Take note of the good as well as the bad. It's important to document and figure out what actually is working for you.  Look at this like the best and the biggest DUI project on yourself. You are worth this investment of time and thought. Starting today, try using opposing thoughts. See what happens? It will better your health. It will better your happiness, your business, your relationships. It's a positive thing. There are some ways that you can trigger yourself to spark some of these better thoughts. I like to call them piggyback triggers. And this is a term that I've also learned from all my studying all these gurus. Tony Robbins is another biggie for me. And piggyback triggers are wonderful because they add no more time to your day.  They are a trigger that's attached to something you're already doing. For example, when you brush your teeth or when you stopped for a red light or when you go to the restroom or when you go get a cup of coffee, all of these can be set as a trigger for you to take a mental check about what you're thinking. I have some examples here. So say when you wake up in the morning and your feet hit the floor right away, maybe you can think of three things that you're grateful for. A second one would be making your bed. That takes a few minutes. So you could go over three people that you're grateful for, and maybe even text them during the day and tell them why you are grateful for them. Another one is during meal prep, or when you're looking at a menu, maybe you can think about what I'm about to eat and how is it good for my health? How about when you get dressed, that can be a trigger. When you change, you can change your clothes and change your mindset all at the same time. What's one thing that I could have handled better yesterday. How about that? Every time you put your clothes on, think about the day before and say, Hmm, what could have been done better? What thoughts could I have improved on from the day before? How about when your cell phone rings, that's a constant, or when you get a text, be grateful for something. Gratitude is a direct link to happiness, be grateful for your body and all the minute things that work within it. Passwords. That's another great trigger. Every time you put in a password, you can also have a positive thought, maybe something that you've done well in the last 24 hours. Also, too. One of the things I like to do with passwords is make the actual password, a trigger, use a positive word. We're positive phrases, like "stay focused". Choose your hard. That's something I say with health. I am worthy,  incorporate positive words within your passwords so  you are typing it and reading it and thinking about it. So it will happen more automatically. How about when you put your PJ's on at the end of the night? Maybe reflect on one good happening during the day. And brushing your teeth, can you name something that you are proud of? It can be a memory doesn't have to be big. Just has to be something that you're proud of. Maybe you drank more water during the week. Maybe you got up and exercise three times. Maybe you did a stellar job at work. Maybe somebody complimented you maybe something that your kids did. Nonetheless, it's a good time to take sides. How about even using the restroom. Maybe that little flush with the handle can be an audible clue to think a positive thought. Maybe you can think of somebody that you even don't like, and you can find something good about them. That really is a lovely thought to try to take something that's very negative even if you find a little bit of positivity in there, it'll do you more good than anybody else? Some other ways that you can use wording. I found this I believe it might've been in Facebook, but to change up your wording instead of saying, I have to go work out, you could say, I get to work out and make my body healthy and strong. Instead of saying I have to clean the house. You get to say, I have a safe place to live. Instead of saying, I have to do the laundry. Say I get to wear clean smelling, beautiful clothes. Or the dishes need to be done, Think of it as I get to eat the most amazing food that I've prepared on these plates. How about grocery shopping it instead of thinking of it as a chore, I think of it as I get to provide this for my family, because I have the means to do so Even bathrooms, I get to have indoor plumbing. Not everybody gets to say that we take it for granted every day, but it is true. There are a lot of places in the world where that is a luxury. So we need to be grateful for that. And it will set us in a better state of mind. Maybe there's a lot of noise and instead of getting aggravated by it, think of it where the noise is coming from. I bet you it's coming from your family. And just think that you're not lonely. You have people in your life. And lastly being exhausted in bed, you get there and you had a full day instead of looking at it as a bad thing, look at it as that your life is full and you're grateful to have all these experiences. How about these? I hate my body and try this. My body allows me to do amazing things. Eating healthy is hard. Yeah, it is hard. I always like to say that I said before, choosing your heart either can choose to be eating healthy is hard. I like that expression. Choose your hard.. You can either choose the hardofthe the healthy lifestyle, or you could choose the hard of living unhealthy and being sick and going to the doctor and having all those medical bills and those things. So I always say, pick your hard, but eating healthy is hard. But you can think of it as nourishing my body,  keeps me energized and gets me to do the things that you want to do. Another is I don't have time for self-care. That's a negative thought. I'm more positive way to look. That would be my wellbeing is a priority and that is true. It is just like that airplane mask. It comes down and you're supposed to put it on you first, for our reason, you need to make yourself a priority because if you don't then negative things will happen. Usually you're with your health and then you are of no help to anybody. So that is imperative. Another one is I'll be happy when I, and this could be any fill in the blank here, lose weight, get a promotion, get married, find a partner. It could be anything. But a better thought would be. I choose to be happy regardless of blank, or I choose to be happy now. So these are some ideas to help you. And I really hope that you can implement some of them. I want you to remember that, it is important to make a commitment to yourself, to be kinder and nicer that your brain doesn't shut off. So it is always the listening , what are you feeding your brain? I hope today you have some new nourishment to give it, and until next time I hope everybody remembers life has no remote get up and change it yourself.

Hello? Hello, this is Caroline Schafer, your host at The Vitality Feed.  Today, we're going to talk about fashion, to help men with their style which is not usually on my agenda, but I am having a challenge in January.  Today's  podcast is geared towards that challenge. So I hope everybody enjoys. Please help me welcome Sarah D'Arcy. Sarah is a celebrity stylist and I personal stylist. She has experienced in editorial work as well as commercial and her website is SarahDarcey.com. Welcome Sarah! Thank you Caroline for having me. Absolutely. I'm so excited. I think this is kind of a perfect timing to do this with all the holiday parties right now. Hopefully people can utilize this and maybe especially the men who I'm going to focus on more today and get some good tips to, to knock it out of the park with their style. So give us a little backstory about how you got involved in the whole fashion thing. And I know this is audio. Sarah is so styling right now. Hopefully you can see the snippet on Facebook, but she looks great. . So Sarah, how did you get involved in fashion? So I always knew I wanted to work in fashion and I, I initially really wanted to be a buyer, but I really discovered that I was terrible at math and buying as much about math as it is about, you know, choosing great things. So I fell into styling and I went to George Brown college in Toronto and I interned for Dress For Success. And that's where I really discovered my love for helping people find confidence through what they wear. Fast forward a few years, I moved back to Vancouver where I'm originally from, and I opened my own styling business. And I've worked with celebrity clients. Like you mentioned, I work with people of all walks of life to help them find confidence, you know, through what they wear. that's awesome. I'm a firm believer in this. I don't think most of our listeners know that I actually have a fashion background, but I also love fashion. And I do think that when you put on nicer clothes and you do your hair and your makeup. I feel better than throwing on those leggings in a big sweatshirt and just a messy bun, you know. So I know you've been working with some clients. Tell us about a client story. I worked with the really amazing client recently. His name is Alex . He is in the new Marvel series with Jeremy Renner called Hawkeye and cool. Oh, he was fabulous that he was actually a really I wouldn't say difficult fit, but he had really, he has really interesting measurements, so he's six, five 250 pounds. And he, his measurements were just, when I first got them, I, I had a little bit of concern, especially in Vancouver because, you know, it's more geared to kind of a street style market. And so we worked together to do a magazine cover. I, I just really enjoyed working with him and the challenge of bringing in clothing and finding clothing that we're really going to fit fit his frame and also really accentuate and look really beautiful because he told me at the outset, oh, you know, I have a really hard time finding clothes, just so you know, I'm not an off the rack kind of guy and, you know, through preparation and finding some really great pieces through some partners the magazine cover turned out really great. And so the magazine will come out in February. So I'm excited for that. I think that's so cool that you get to have something tangible for your work. You know what I mean? Like most people that they do, the work and stuff, and a lot of it's remote, but you actually can like go by the magazine cover.  View it online. You're like, Hey, I did that. That's really neat. That's really interesting to walk by, you know, a store and see your work or online and see it out there. And, you know, know the process that happened behind what, what went in exactly into that, that work. And I'm sure it's much more lengthy than most people have any clue. It certainly is. And with that project, lots of research, lots of ordering things in and lots of you know, just really hoping and praying it would look fabulous and it did. Fantastic.  So I know the holidays are coming. And I would especially like to target the men out there, women can usually resource things a little bit better, but what are the top three things that men can do, to put their look together? Absolutely. So the first thing that I always tell my clients, including the men, is that they really need to set a foundation for their wardrobe. When you have this foundation in your wardrobe, you're able to go in and pull out those key pieces with ease and you're not scrambling, you know, to get to that party. So the first thing that I always say is that you need to edit your closet. So that includes donating, or consigning anything that you haven't worn in over a year. When you do this, you'll edit out all the stuff that doesn't work and you'll only see the things that do. And then as well in that process, if you take your measurements, when you go in to drop things off, to have them tailored, it'll be a very seamless and easy process because you know, your proportions. That's genius. Absolutely because it's just really important that people know what their body type is and how clothes fit them. So you have self-awareness when you take your measurements and you're able to go into your tailor and have really have a conversation about what clothes tend to fit you best. I always say as well, when people are starting out on this process with setting the foundation, it's important to focus on developing more of a classic style to set yourself up for success before you really delve deeper into what could be your personal style. Because when you have these classic pieces that are in your wardrobe, it just sets that foundation. So if you tend to like a trend that's out there, you can move one or two pieces in, but you still have that classic set of your foundation. You made me think of home decor and always liked the concept of keeping the big pieces classic, like the furniture and maybe the throw pillows or the throw blanket make that more trending, like a pop a lime green and red. So do you think that's the same thing like with dressing? Do you think that the trendy could come in with the accessories and to keep the classic part that, like you said, the standard basic pieces that you keep in your closet, the good suit and the good pair of khakis and a crew neck and things like that, the white shirt and all that. Absolutely. It's a brilliant comparison, you know when you think about it through throw pillows you can change up your throw pillows. Maybe you go for a lighter, more pastel color for spring, but then you get into maybe a more tartan hue into winter. It's exactly like that. So when you have those core investment pieces and then you add in You know, accessories like a belt or you know, a pocket square. It's just a really brilliant way to for it to be one economical. And you're not having a lot of garments that are just sitting in the closet. So therefore it's good for your pocketbook and it's good for the environment. Perfect. I love that you hit on those three things and I like fun socks. I love, I think it's such a good conversational starter too. Cause there are some, and there's sock companies, I saw one little boy and he's like killing it and he produces this whole sock line and it does a charitable thing attached to it. I love that. I think can also be like a little personalized touch to your wardrobe. So maybe. Really cool, positive things. So what are some big don't do's? Some definite big don't do that, I see out there all the time.  Is men wearing gym shoes when they're not in the gym and it's not, you know, the fun, new balance casual you know, that athletes are trend is, are white sneakers that you see men out there wearing with with their regular wear. Having the right footwear is really something that will elevate your look and leaving those white gym shoes for the gym.  So I was a formepr commuter in New York and it was commonplace to run to your job in your sneakers, and then change at work to legit shoes. But today there seems to be this whole, I see it in catalogs and every. The white sneakers with dresses, which I find is a little bit odd and even suits, you know, formal suits, the button up suit with, with sneakers. So what do you think about. I think if it's the right sneaker, it can look, it can look really, really nice. It just depends on also again, knowing your body type, knowing your proportions. Say for example, a man wearing a beautiful suit and say he's a goddess sneaker. If the sneaker is in the right style, it's more of a casual but elevated option. It can look really cool, but if it is actually intended for training or it's those kinds of, you know, white guy speakers that we all kind of know. So it's really important to look at what is the cut of what you're wearing and how do you tie that shoe in and. There are a lot of great examples on, you know, places like Pinterest, magazines, a lot of celebrities wear kind of an elevated sneaker on a red carpet now, but elevated sneaker. That's a cool term! And that's true. You can look at resources out there. Absolutely. And I kind of, what do you think about the concept of. Personality and pulling things off because sometimes don't you feel like some people can get away with that and then other people put it on. And you're like, I think when you try to wear sneakers with a suit, you have to have like that definitely extrovert outgoing kind of personality to pull that off. Absolutely. You really have to own it. And when I say to my clients, when they, I really like to ask them, you know, what do you like, what do you like to wear? When, how do you feel most comfortable? And a lot of them say to me, you know, I don't know if I have the confidence to wear it and what I always say back to them.You know, if you really like something. Wear it, but you really have to own it. And so you really have to have that, that confidence behind what you're wearing. And on the flip side, if you don't like something don't wear it or don't buy it. That's, you know, that's absolute too. I don't even think about that because you can tell, especially men, like if they never wear a collared shirt and a tie and they're like at an outing and they have that. They look like somebody like hanging them. They're like pulling at it and they're moving their neck and head around. Like, they're like somebody get me out of this straight jacket soon. So that, that is true. So, what's a second thing people can do. So he had gym shoes. So the second don't that I always say, and I always see men out there doing this is wearing a backpack when  they're businessman. Wearing a backpack to carry all your files, whether it's your lunch or anything. There's so many beautiful briefcase options, kind of shoulder bag, and it's really. Great way to also, again, I'm all about elevating a is to elevate their look, to really look the part. If you're a CEO, you have the means to get a great briefcase or right. And I think it's important too, to look at the, yeah, I agree. I think when you got that full look, I think people look at you differently and you know, people say don't judge a book by a cover, but I'm sorry, BS on that. It just, is what it is and people do it, whether you want it to be that way or not. It is what it is. And that's what the whole fashion industry and Hollywood are all about. fashSo yeah have your whole put together. I don't see that very much, but I got that image in my head and I'm like, yeah, that would look really bad. I think I felt, so you think about the pandemic and a lot of people are very casual and you know what they normally might not wear.They did where, and now they're tired of wearing these casual outfits. They're looking to say, how do I go back and be the best version of myself and what do I wear to do that? And I think just completing the look, whether it's a man or a woman having the right pieces to fill out that whole look is so simple. So you're not a proponent of the pajamas underneath the table and that golf shirt for zoom calls. I have to say, I may have done it. We got the dirt now. That's awesome. I know a lot of people do that and I've even seen people stand up and be humorous about it, which I think kudos that's that's cool, but it is a whole new era that we're dealing with. All right. Number three. Don't. So number three, I always tell my clients don't wear anything that's a bad fit. If you have done an edit to remove all of these pieces from your closet, you, you likely won't be able to write. So many of the time we have, we see pieces that are either too big they're too small. They're, they're old. And a great example of it is I see a lot of men wearing belts that are long past their prime. That they're crap is so true. Oh my gosh. And yeah, they, they like you take them off. They naturally make like a C you know, Absolutely. And then you see also where a lot of men haven't taken the time to go into their shoe person, and they've made their own holes. They were in a pinch and we certainly can understand, but that is a huge don't wear a belt that's past due.  Absolutely the belts and wallets I think are in that too. A lot of people take wallets out and they're like, okay, they're really past their prime. They needto get replaced. And you know what other one gets to me too. And I guess maybe because I have spent some time in New York city, and this was so accessible, which now that I live in the Atlanta suburbs, it's not so accessible, but shoes shining. I like wearing the shoes that are clean and polished, and there's nothing worse to me. And people throw on dress shoes that are full of dust on top, or they're all scraped up. And even women I've seen. With the heels, just look like their dog got at em and that does not look okay. And the other thing that I find and I've actually left comments on like videos, I did one the other day. Really cool dancer. He wore a a men's jacket. He's very young and I'm sure he had no idea, but men especially and I used to work in events and I used to do it there too. Men, some women do it in skirts, but men, especially with the the vents in their jackets, they don't clip the basting  stitch. That's just for packaging and getting it to the store, you need to clip that. You don't wear that out like that. And one lady I saw, she literally could hardly walk because she had this skirt , you know, the slit in the back was closed and she's like, oh, it's like, wow. There's no excuse because we had the internet. There's the land of YouTube. Like just spend 10 minutes. It's something you have to do every day. You got to get up and get dressed every day and you feel like you said, you feel really good when you get, you know, all your pieces lined up and you know, you look good and everybody knows when they look good. You know, you put something on. Get that extra energy! Comment to that. It's kind of in line with the belt. Tip is we all know Seinfeld and George Costanza and immense wallet. And I always say every week, take some time to clean out your wallet every week, because how it sits, whether you put it in the breast pocket of your suit or in your back pocket, it has a big effect on how the clothes look. So take that time to clean out your wallet. And it'll also be easier when. I purchased something. I think that's just a great hack for life just to get in the habit. Some people keep like two years worth of receipts in, in, on their person. And I'm just like, there's no need for that.  And when you pull that out in public, I just don't think it sets a good look either. And it's like, I'm disorganized, I don't have any kind of system in place here, but that is a very good point. And I appreciate that. And so, okay. Hopefully our listeners. Have some tactics here to utilize for their holiday wear and go to those parties, looking a little sharper. Tell us a little information about how our listeners can get ahold of you. They can go to my website @ sarahdarcy.com and I have a contact me field there. They can also email me at  Sarah @Sarah Darcy. And I'd be glad to help anyone that's listening. That's awesome. So my last question is my signature question. If there is one thing in this world that you could eliminate forever, what would it be and why? If there was one thing I would eliminate, I thought about this a lot and because this is my industry and I'm very passionate about this is I would eliminate fast fashion. Fast fashion. That's a new one for me. You always have fast food but fast fashion. So explain what that is. So that is companies that are using an ethical practices to create garments, whether that's the, the, how they're producing the clothes the materials they're using, the unethical labor practices that they are using. I really believe that fast fashion has such a effect on consumerism and also our environment. And we're seeing, especially now such a, a crisis with the environment. And so I just really believe in supporting local business people using ethical practices. My whole mantra is to create and curate a closet of fewer better things. So quality over quantity. And that's also another tip that people can use for their holiday ware. And so not having all those practices and all of those clothes that spend so much time in landfills, like  so much clothing goes to landfills and. That's true. That's true. I always tried to donate my clothing and there's an orphanage, not too far. With COVID, it's been a little bit problematic, but there are people out there who could use clothing who have nothing. So yeah, please always donate. I love that idea. Actually when I had a corporate job, I did a thing and I think it was called Dress For Success and yeah, and we pulled together all usedclothing that was corporate or business oriented. So like belts and suits and dresses and things like that. And high heel shoes  and whatnot and, and did like a fair and also had people come and we help them with their resumes, and interviewing skills. It was really cool. But yeah, I am a firm believer in recycling it's just a good idea. Like you say, there's no reason to fill the landfills like that. I love it. Oh, Sarah, you've been a wealth of information and I hope everyone can take these tidbits that you offered. Through their holiday parties and the holiday season, even for themselves, even if you don't go to a party, just do it for you. It's always better to overdress than underdressed, that's always my theory. A lot of times people like you don't have to get dressed up for this and I'm like, I don't get out much. I'm going to get dressed up in here. Absolutely. I love to wear sequence out just in the day. There you go. Alright, so I'm good. Then I'm going to call you up for my, my comradery here. Thank you so much. And I just want all our listeners to remember life has no remote. Get up and change it yourself.

Hello? Hello, this is your host Caroline Schafer. Please help me welcome Marisa Moon, a National Board Certified Health Coach and an Intermittent Fasting Coach at Marisa Moon.com.She's the host of The Foundation Of Wellness Podcast, as well as a fellow culinary trained official foodie. Please welcome, Marisa, how are you doing Marisa? Hi Caroline. It's really great to be here. And I was going to say we do have a lot in common, so I hope your listeners know, like we're definitely going to geek out on this today because I never thought I'd be an intermittent fasting coach. You're right. I am a foodie. We both into the whole health arena, and we both have the culinary background, I'm all about intermittent fasting. so yeah, we are definitely on the same page for sure. Well, welcome to The Vitality Feed. I am so excited that you're here. Give our listeners a little backstory. What luredyou into this arena? Well, there's kind of like two separate backstories and I'll just try to merge quickly and easily. You know, I found my way into more nutrition and the paleo field, which is really just about eating whole foods that we as humans have eaten before modern conveniences and civilization. I learned a lot from that diet because I was going through some digestive health problems, undiagnosed IBS, and I was really embarrassed by a lot of those symptoms. It was tons of gas. Yeah. Trips to the bathroom. And I was like, this cannot be the way my body was designed. I got to figure out what's going on here. And I just fell in love with the information I found in the paleo type part of the industry, because I was raised on a lot of whole foods and my family really liked making food from scratch. And my dad would get mad if the ingredient list had a lot of stuff we couldn't pronounce, you know, couldn't have. Fruit by the foot. Like all my friends could have and you know, all the pop and stuff. I wasn't really allowed to have it at home. And so it really resonated with me when I learned like, geez, our food system has changed so much. And so I started to slowly adopt the diet. Willing to go gluten-free that resolved my IBS and that shocked me because I was really hesitant to give up gluten. Once that happened and my life was so improved and my symptoms were virtually gone. I just fell in love with it and started food blogging. And I went to culinary school for fun. That's what you were mentioning. I slowly started presenting on the topic of eating for longevity and prioritizing whole foods. And I was also looking for alternatives for ADHD. I was diagnosed with ADD the inattentive type when I was in my late twenties, probably 27. And. I was thinking about career change. I was a bartender at the time and it was just a pivotal moment in my life. And I just decided, you know, what else can I do with my diet and lifestyle? That's going to support my brain. So it doesn't get in the way of me pursuing my goals and following through and things that I want to do. And I eventually had the courage to try intermittent fasting because that also is really prized in the paleo primal ancestral world. And I heard of it and I understood the benefits, but I was like, I really love food. I really love eating. You're a foodie. I get it. I totally get it. I just put the pieces together though. Almost like, you know, I skipped breakfast on accident a lot. Yeah. A little disorganized in the morning and my schedule is not always the same. I was like, what's going to hurt to try. And, uh, I took to it really naturally. And, I felt my brain was just a lot more on, I had more mental energy and I loved the way it made me feel. So it just became a part of my life. And I started teaching it, since 2017 and here. Wow. So you've been doing this a while. So I would say it's been less than a year for the intermittent fasting for me, but the more information and I have read and listened to a million. It is so amazing what it does for your body. For me, I work mentally better with the just not eating then trying to just do less. It just work mentally for me, that works good. It's funny talking about gluten, you know, I tell everybody if I can give up gluten, anybody can give up gluten. I have a professional baking background, so like I literally had a jar of gluten in my refrigerator. Well, not the same one, but yeah, it was always a jar in my refrigerator. Um, because I used it to bake bread and pizza and, and I'm Italian and I'm from New York. So , Gluten is like in my veins, you know? Well, I'm Italian, a hundred percent family like restaurants on both sides. I was like, how is this going to be possible? I didn't even want to touch it. Yes. And I gave up the gluten. I don't, I don't cheat on that at all. I'm a hundred percent gluten free. Wow. Yeah, I'm very stringent on that.  I do sweet potatoes. I'll do regular potatoes once in a while.  So I'm so onboard with you. We have so much in common. Um, I'm curious to know about the intermittent fasting. So, what do you do with intermittent fasting and what do you suggest when people first want to start intermittent fasting? What kind of time table do you. Yeah, I, I started fasting the way that I do everything in life, which is never consistent and, and regimented it's just to me like exploratory and that's what it was like. And it fit my life that way. And I started teaching it that way, because from what I understood and understand now is that intermittent fasting works because of its unpredictability. It's essentially baked into our DNA because humans would go through times. Plentiful food in times of scarcity. And so to think that we need to be fasting every day, every night from 7:00 PM until 11:00 AM, like clockwork is not tapping into those same genetic switches that we want to get all these benefits from. And, and so I've used that sort of to help people understand that this is not just another diet that you need to follow perfectly. This is something that needs to be integrated into your life. If you are someone who wants the freedom associated with it and wants the flexibility you can achieve with it and wants to weight maintenance or weight loss that can come along with it and health and all sorts of reasons. People are really excited to hear that it doesn't have to be rigid. When I started speaking on it in 2017, people were like, I thought this, I thought that I was teaching Bulletproof fasting, which, which really implies that you're drinking Bulletproof coffee during the fast. And for anyone listening, who hasn't heard of it, it's unsalted butter blended with your coffee in a blender, often with MCT oil, which is extracted from coconut oil to be the most ketone boosting brain boosting parts of the fat that that can help you get through a fast, more easily and feel more satiated without packing on the pounds. Right. And so, uh, people thought I was crazy, you know, in the fasting world, they were just like, no, there's only one way to do it. And it's black coffee or water. And I was like, well, I'm living proof because me and a bunch of my new clients are now seeing great success. Even with Bulletproof coffee. Now for a lot of people, that's just a stepping stone. It's like, How can I introduce fasting to my life, to where I don't feel like I'm deprived or I don't feel like I want to quit, you know, while I'm early on. And cause you got to get adapted to it. Intermittent fasting is something that is going to be a shock to your body. If you're the kind of person who's been eating until you go to sleep and eating first thing, when you wake up in the morning and snacking all throughout the day. Right? So for some people just starting with 12 hours is a really big accomplishment, first of all, and the ideal first step, you're trying to figure out things like how is my life going to be changed by this? If I don't eat at this time, when do I eat? And if I don't bring my food with me, am I going to have something to eat? And if I can't have sugar in my favorite creamer in my coffee, I'm going to have to stop drinking coffee. And it's like, no, there are solutions. It just takes a lot of personal experimentation and patients, as you shape this into being the new way that you will eat for the rest of your life, because that's how we're designed. And in one way, shape or form, it can fit into your life to really no matter who you are. It is so customizable. You can really mold it to whatever your needs are and you just got to find stuff that works for you. When you tell people that it has flexibility. That is music to people's ears, because everything seems to be all or nothing and when people want to change their diet, they immediately go to, I'm going to be like miserable  and that doesn't need to be the case, you know? And my other big gripe about the health industry. Well, people need to use their spice rack because when you eat healthy, you need to add flavor. And it's like, no, one's going to exist on a broiled chicken and steamed broccoli cause that just sucks. You know what I mean?  No one wants to eat that. I love intermittent fasting and the more I read about it and it is. It is really good for losing weight and that kind of thing, but it's also like longevity, like you said, there's so many health benefits to it. Absolutely amazing and to me, that just means we're doing something right for our body, if there's that many health. I See it like as just sort of a baseline thing. Now, you know, if you're not doing at least 12 hours daily, that's just general daily maintenance that you're supporting your body with to prevent disease or to help your body deal with inflammation and disease states that you're already have, and to help you more easily maintain whatever weight you're at, if you're not ready for a weight loss journey or to push it, that's helping you so that you don't feel like you're losing control any further. Absolutely. I know,  there are a lot of misconceptions about intermittent fasting. What do you think is the biggest misconception out there? Well, I already said that, it has to be very rigid and yeah, but I think the next one is that. It has to be like all or nothing. It has to be clean, totally clean, just water and black coffee.  That's already been proven false. When you look at the fasting mimicking diet, for instance, the ProLon diet or the Fast Bar created by Valter Longo, the researcher that's been looking at fasting for 20 years, he sees, you know, people who are fasting. Randomized clinical trials who are eating his Fast Bar for instance, which is a nutty granola bar. if they eat that while they're fasting for 15, 14 hours versus people who don't eat it and they measure their ketones and their glucose levels, they're exactly the same. And it does not break the fast. And so there is evidence and it's time tested that there are different ways that you can modify fascinating to fit your life. And it's not a, a ticket to eat whatever you want. You know, the Delay Don't Deny sort of part of the fasting industry. That's a book by the way, which I don't usually recommend. I love the author. I love her. And she's written about. But, but that book can be troublesome for some people, because it's really about just fast, longer, so you can eat like crap. That's why it's called Delay Don't Deny. And it's a really dangerous spiral for some people because they just always feel out of control. Like it's just a game of willpower and discipline to get through the fast. So you can go to the drive-through or eat the extra large pizza. And it's, a vicious cycle to get caught in. Just like you were saying, it's like that to me is not freedom. When you feel deprived from not eating and getting into a fast, and then you feel like pure crap, excuse me, after you eat all that junk. And then your body's feeling miserable on both ends of the stick there. That is not good. Food freedom, that is a beautiful term. Please talk to me about that. Yeah. And it has many meetings, like depending if we're talking about people with a history of disordered eating or just so much yo-yo dieting or, you know, negative self-talk around food discomfort around decisions related to food, but also for some of us, it's like perfectionism that can come from dieting or finding a diet that works or that you like or battling a disease or condition. Like both of us came to this out of sort of desperation because we were like, I just want to feel better and I don't want to have this condition anymore. And so when I first went gluten-free and paleo, I was like afraid of everything. I thought everything was going to give me cancer. I thought everything was going to give me a leaky gut. And, I really lost a big part of who I am as a person, because I am a foodie really, to my core. And I socialize around food.I like to share things with other people, as freely as possible. I like to express myself through food and entertain myself through food. And so to, to have so money boundaries and limitations about what is acceptable, meant That I needed to be someone who I'm really not at my core and my friends and family and everyone started to notice, like it's not as fun to be around Marisa anymore when we're eating. And that made me uncomfortable. And I had really challenged myself, like, how can I go through some sort of like, You know, reevaluation of like what role food plays in my life and how that matches up with my identity and the person I want to be the person I know I am. And that's where I got into food freedom, because I was like, how can I still be a foodie who loves food, but I can't have gluten. And I try not to eat a lot of fried foods and I try not to eat a lot of grains and all of this stuff. Well, I can be that. And I am an intermittent fasting really helps me achieve that as well, because I believe that, everything in life and your body is about balance. It's just not so easy to implement balance. Naturally, because there are too many things that make us feel like we lose control. Like for instance, it'd be great if I could eat three French fries, but I can't stop myself, once I start eating three, I want to eat all of them. And then I want to order them the next day. And then I want to wear them the next day. And so there are certain things I'm better off abstaining from like those. Once you learn that about yourself, you know, the things that spin you out of control, then it's not even a question I don't have to wonder... should I get the fries or should I get the side salad? I don't have to wonder, should I get, you know, the bun on the burger or not? It's just, for me, it's a way of life. These certain things don't work for me. And then these other ones I'm free to choose because it's not right or wrong, whether I have it or not. And that's. A lot of people are missing this, this idea that what is acceptable is just as good as what is ideal, depending on what circumstances you're dealing with in your life at the time. And Everybody's different!  Everybody's different. And you might be very different this month than you are next month. Maybe Christmas it's tearing somebody up and driving them absolutely mad and they feel like the only place they can express their freedom is by eating whatever they want after 8:00 PM. And yes, it does suck to feel like you're losing control, but what's more important is the acceptance. Like I am in a chapter, you know, this is just a season and I have every intention of taking care of myself. And right now this is the only way I know how, but as long as I stay present, knowing that I play an active role in. And think about what I really want in my life and the life I want to live. I know I'll get back there. I will. Exactly. And that's kind of how I think of vacation. It's like, okay, I'm, I'm not on the steadfast, you know, rules of what I normally do, but it's vacation. And then I knew as of today, That I'm back on the stick again. Um, yesterday wasn't so good because refrigerator was really bare. It was a lot of glass shelves in there.  Yeah, that's true.  And you were talking about triggers with the French fries, and that's how I feel with certain things, which is why it's easier for me to just abstain. Like you said, not indulgent certain things cause you know, once you start, you can't stop. So that's my whole concept for why I intermittent fast too. It's easier for me not to eat me too, eat a little bit and try to maintain that little bits thing. Like I would just rather do the hours of not eating and, and there's even, science that say, if you ate 1500 calories in a six hour window and 1500 calories in a 10 hour, 12 hours, It's still behooves your body to do it in this smaller timeframe. And another thing is like, when you sleep, the first thing I try to get people to do is to give up the food after dinner. Um, because when your body's not working, it can rest better. And people will never think about that. Cause they don't see their insides going at it, trying to digest everything that just plowed down. But your body's still trying to get through that and you're trying to sleep at the same time and it doesn't really work out so good for you. That's so true. I love that. Tell us about a client success story. Well, I think, you know, one that is still a big part of my life right now. We're still working together is someone who has a history of extreme dieting. You know, she's lost over a hundred pounds doing liquid diets and can really stick to them well, but of course, as soon as you're done with. It all comes back, right? And this client really wanted to do things differently because I told her I'm not a weight loss coach. I can help you lose weight and I can coach you through it. But I do things differently. Like I, having weight loss attached to a date is just not my thing because too many people are wrapped up in seeing a certain number or a certain bit of progress. In a specific length of time or they want to quit. And I teach intermittent fasting as the long game. Okay. This is about. Totally re strategizing your relationship with food and how it's going to fit in your life forever. And with this individual client, we have been working together over a year now and she's lost 60 pounds and that's great in a year, but you know, she hasn't done a single food log for me, like journaled what she's eating. We didn't even take measurements until we were six months in. We're trying to take things in a totally different way because. She doesn't just want to lose weight. She wants to change her relationship with dieting and her body and herself. And so over time, she's just mastered these moments of self-awareness that are so critical and changing your behaviors. And especially when it comes to eating, because in the moment, you know, her finger could be. Ready to order something on the Chick-fil-A app. You know, that used to be her weakness was Chick-fil-A and she can look at it and say, If I order this, how am I going to feel an hour from now? Am I going to be glad I did this? How great is it really going to be? All of that. She talks herself through. That's hard for people to do, but she's worked towards it as one of the main things we've been working towards. And now she's says, I don't remember the last time I've ever ordered it. She hasn't had the app on her phone and over a year, and she's, you know, hasn't been through a drive-through and she's just can't believe what her life could look like from now on. Right? Isn't it amazing? It's like, you shared an awareness, she's now aware of understanding before it was always, you know, you did it and then you have the remorse afterwards, but now you like go into it with forethought going, Hey, you know, if I eat that. Yeah, that's lovely to share.  Thank you for sharing that. That's a beautiful story because that's really cool that you're going to change your life.  I am not the get your perfect body in 20 days, girl, either I am on the slow, the slow wins. You do slow habit changes.  I love piggybacking things and habit tracking just for a psychological benefit. But like you said, you have to work with the person and what their Achilles heels are and, and go from there.  We really, we really have very similar thought process. Not a lot of people I find on that much of a parallel cause a lot of, a lot of people are on the do fast and it's something that I'm having trouble with with challenges. I want to do some challenges with people, but people want to do everything in 20 days. And I don't believe in that, it's just not part of who I am because it doesn't last. It just the most like the biggest loser program, that's all great, but it doesn't work. All the people gain their weight back and then someone, and they've had like quasi best instruction in the world. So if our listeners wanted to start, let's say intermittent fasting, what would, what would be something that they can do? Yeah. Even if you already have tried it, but you want to restart, that's really important because it's kind of like if you used to be a runner, but you haven't been running in a long time, you have to work your bait back up to it. As a big mistake. People make, when they think they're going to start intermittent, fasting or restart, they start with 16 hours. You get frustrated things don't go. Right. Whatever. So I created something called the reset method. The reset manual is, is free to download. You can grab it Marisamoon.com /IFFreedom. And that is the acronym. RESET is stands for the R is reduced carbs, and it's not, you don't have to go keto. You don't have to go low carb. It's just low carb compared to what most of us have been eating. Like. Um, so it's the card moderation. I recommend around 130 grams of carbs or less if you're eating three meals or more in this initial phase for a lot of people that. Weaning off of that carbohydrate dependence that makes them more capable of longer, fast. So back to the acronym, the R is reduce your carbs and the E is eat nourishing foods. So that's helping you understand. When you're not eating the bread or the fries or the dessert, what else is filling up your plate and your meals that is nourishing so that you don't feel out of control and you're capable of fasting longer? The S and reset is start with 12 hours. So again, all these things are kind of happening, happening simultaneously to help people become more fat adapted. So their body learns to use fat for energy instead of depending on your next carbohydrate for energy. So start with 12 hours, then learn to extend your fast gradually, and then learn to trust your instincts, which makes it something that can fit your life for women. You know, the week of your period, the, especially those three days leading up to it for most women. And the week that you're ovulating, you're going to be hungry or you're going to have more cravings. You're probably going to have to shorten your fasting window and eat more carbohydrates or more fruit. And that is what I mean by trusting your instincts. If you're like, I don't know why this just isn't working. Like, I feel like I'm watching the clock all day. It's like your body is trying to tell you something. Okay. And if it's not emotional, like it's not just because you don't want to be working on what you're working on or because you're really stressed out. Um, it's still a stressor you in your "PMS"ing saying when you're approaching your period, your body is under stress. And so you have to think of fasting as a stressor as well. That's why it works. It's a hormetic stressor, like exercise. It challenges the body just enough for the right amount of times that your body responds by becoming stronger or smarter or faster so that it can handle that challenge next time. But when it's in the context of too much stress, like you're not sleeping, your life is in shambles, you're working too many hours, you're unhappy and you're on your period fast. It's going to be really, really hard. And that's why the reset method comes in handy because every time you find yourself off track, or I don't know what happened. Go back. See if you can replace some of the bread in your meals so that you're not always having so many carbohydrates and see if you can fast 12 hours and then gradually start to extend your fast, little by little . Each increment comes easy. So for instance, if you're starting at 12 hours and it's easy for three or four days, you might be excited. I want to try 14. I suggest you try 13 first, because 13 already is a change. Like your schedule, things that are going on, there's going to be variables that are affected by that choice. And then when 13 feels good for three or four days, you try 14 hours and then you might notice, like it was great. One day it was easy for 14 hours, but then the next day, I don't know why it was so hard because there are a lot of things that are influencing your ability to do that consistently. And so you're training your body, like you're training to run. You're going to start with a mile. You're going to do two miles the next week. You're going to work your way up to five miles. And so that's the mentality you really want to have when you start intermittent fasting. That is so true. Um, and so we got the R for refined carbs, the E for eat nutritious foods. And, I call that, optimized nutrition, same concept, and then start with 12 hours. Extend your fast and what was the last and I trust your instincts. Yes. And you know, you can also do, like Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and those are busier days, it's easier to fast on those days because you don't have to meal prep and get it out the door and just, you know what I mean? So you can work it that way. People think that, okay, I have to do 16:8, and then I have to do it every day. No, you don't. You can mix it up throughout the week, so you have a girls night out on Friday. It's not the day to fast, you know what I mean? So you that's, what I love about fasting is it's so,  custom to the individual. That is awesome. So the last, question is my signature question. What's one thing that you would, eliminate, in this world, if you could and why? Ya know,, I couldn't talk about stuff that's like diet and nutrition centered, but what always comes to mind is like how some people just were dealt a bad hand in life, you know? And I, I think like if every kid could have parents that loved them uh, yeah, yeah. Just help them have a better future. You know, even if you're in poverty, if you have parents who love you a lot of times you have just as promising of a future because somebody made you understand that things are possible and that you're loved and supported. So maybe it would just be. You know, all of the absent parents. I wish I could eliminate that for, for kids to grow up with stronger goosebumps. Beautiful. I love that. Oh, that's what I love about that question. People just pull it in so many directions. I had no idea when I picked that what a lovely thought, oh, that's really sweet and made my day. I was just lucky to have loving parents. And, you know, at anytime I think of poverty or all the things that really strike the world, even mental illness and things, a lot of those problems would be diffused with people who felt like they belonged somewhere and that they were important. Yes. I. Couldn't agree with you more. I think a lot of things could be eliminated from that. It'll be a trickle effect for sure. All right. Tell our listeners where they can get in contact with you, please. Absolutely. Please visit Marisamoon.com and that's like Marisa with S. And my last name's moon, like the moon in the sky. So you can find me there to schedule a consultation. If you're interested in health coaching, you can join my online program, intermittent fasting freedom, and find the podcast. You can download the free guide. And there's plenty there. I hope for you to, to connect with me. That'd be awesome. That is great. And like I said, sometimes I concur with my guests, but boy, we really have very, very similar beliefs.   So nice to talk to somebody who's watched on the same page as . Thank you for coming on, thank you. And I want all of our listeners to remember life has no remote. Get up and change it yourself. Love it.

hello. Hello, vitality seekers.  This is your host Caroline Schafer. Today. I'm doing a very special episode and I am not having a guest and we are going to talk about the naughty and nice lists. I know lists of very prevalent this time of year with the holidays. And I thought it would be very appropriate to discuss that today. I'm hoping it's helpful for your holidays and we'll add a little peace throughout them.   We all have these lists. I probably have more than most. I have lists upon lists everywhere I go and I even joke that my lists have lists, but seriously, this time of year, we all have holiday gift lists.  Christmas lists, party to do lists, Christmas card lists, maybe a list of things that you're trying to accomplish before the holidays. But nonetheless, these lists that we're going to talk about today are naughty and nice list, they can help you feel better and manage the holiday season with a little hopefully kinder mindset. So let's talk about the nice list. The nice list is maybe six or eight things that you can put on it, for the holidays to bring you some peace and happiness, some small items that would benefit you personally. This holiday season is so stressful for so many and I think that most of us forget that it should be based around joy and we get caught up and all the craziness that gets put upon us commercially. So I have 12 items, like the 12 days of Christmas. some ideas you can put on your nice list, the be kinder to you list.  Maybe there's a restaurant in your area that you've always wanted to try and you never took the time. That's a good one. Number two, buy yourself a favorite cup of coffee or tea or a brand of specific tea that you always enjoy. Three- call a best friend, or maybe someone that you've lost touch with that you've been meaning to contact. Number four, get a massage, a Mani and peti, and those feel good things. Get your hair done.  That's always something kind for yourself. Number five buy your favorite meal. And this could either be going out or it could be even better. I liked the idea of buying the ingredients, maybe things that are not normally on your weekly grocery shopping lists and making something special, either with a loved one or a family member or you can do with friends, but take the time to enjoy without rushing a meal that you really, really like.Number six, 10, extra minutes, taking maybe a shower or a sauna or 10 minutes extra working out, or if it's something you really enjoy, but just put 10 extra minutes buffer somewhere on your schedule to add in some goodness for your health. Number seven a bath. Baths are very relaxing, especially at night.  They do help and promote good sleep. It is not as much for the relaxation as you think it is more because when you get out  your body core temperature reduces, and that is beneficial for REM sleep. But nonetheless, a nice bath with maybe a favorite playlist or a favorite audio book, add a candle. that hopefully will add some peace to this crazy time.Number eight, go for a walk at maybe a beach or a park or in the woods. There, a science behind that, that backs up the concept of walking in nature is better for you than just walking in a street. So maybe you could take advantage of. Number nine, meditate start if you have never done so or maybe add five minutes or 10 minutes to your normal regimen, meditation has so many wonderful benefits.  If you haven't enjoyed the  tranquility of that, then I hope that this will give you the incentive to do so. How about number 10, a date night?  It can be with a girlfriend, a partner, husband, parent whatnot, it doesn't have to be complicated. It can be as something as doing Netflix and a pizza, but as long as you put it on the calendar, because when you do so you actually look forward to the event and that also releases endorphins as much as being in the actual event itself. Same situation as vacations.  They have done studies and it's not just the vacation, but the planning, and the activities of looking into it actually is beneficial for your health as well. Number 11, hire someone for a task that you normally do yourself. Maybe one night, you could have a personal chef or at your house clean. Maybe you can get somebody to do your lighting outside and it doesn't necessarily have to be a company. Maybe some teenagers in the neighborhood. Then there is wrapping the gifts, I know a lot of people don't like that, that happens to be one of my favorite things, but, maybe you can hire your babysitter that normally watches your children to wrap your gifts and you can make cookies with your kids instead, that would kind of be fun or a home delivery for your groceries. If you don't normally do that, maybe this is a good idea this time of year to do something like that and try it and save yourself a little bit of time. These are all things that I hope add value or make deposits in your life.  This time of year, there's so many withdrawals on our time, on our finances, on our emotion, mindset... we get so caught up with the negativity that we forget that it is supposed to be a time for peace and good things.  I'd like you to schedule them, specifically with a day in a time.  For instance, Monday morning at 9:00 AM, I will go to the farmer's market. So that is the nice list. All right. Then we have the, not to do lists the naughty list, I'd love for you to think of this as a peace protector. This is a list of things that don't add value to your life. It is not something that means you're bad, but it means that the act of doing this is negatively affecting you. So things that waste your time or distractions like social media or a long-winded person that you know. Or things that stress you out, maybe, you can limit time with those kinds of people that stress you out.  I like to categorize people as either energy givers or energy takers and you really need to hang out with the energy givers, especially this time of year. So limit if you know, people that are drainers limit your time with them and have protect yourself. The next one,  things that are not imperative, you want to get them done, but maybe just take a second and think this is really have to have to have to be done before the holiday. Can it wait until after the holiday and pull this burden off of me and make my life a little bit easier would that joy of not having that on my list outweigh the benefit of having it done. Think about that a little. And then things that you feel obligated to do. Learn to say, no, thank you.  Learn to ask for help,  lower your bar for expectations, don't try to be the Superman or the superwoman. Less can be more simplify things as much as possible and reduce that self pressure. And lastly, think about what is in your control. This is huge. Most things fall into this category. You really only can control yourself. You really can't control your kids, your partner, your employer, or any of those things. Examples of things that should be put on the, not to do list. I have 12 again; don't look at your phone may be for the first hour of the day. A lot of times that causes people undo stress. I meditate with my phone, so I use it right away, but a lot of times people, look at email and negative social media and they get a lot of angst right up and out of the get, go in the morning. That is not a good thing. Don't read those specific emails from specific people that you know, that are going to cause you aggravation, try to at least give yourself an hour to get up and get awake before you tried to ingest that. Number two, don't multitask, most things go faster with focus. I know everyone tries to multitask a million things. I am guilty as well, if it doesn't relate to other people, I will sometimes multitask. If other people involved, I try harder to keep focused with that individual. Number three, don't sit at your desk for more than an hour.  It is proven that if you take breaks, it is much better for productivity. Then there's, if you have your head Hanker down and just keep at it. So, look up, make your eyes stared to something in the distance. That's good for your vision.  Get up, shake those legs around. Tony Robbins says,  Move your ass and you get happier, even 30 seconds. Um, they had surrounded. It definitely makes you feel better. Number four, don't stay up too late. It is best to get to bed by 10. The first two hours of sleep from 10 to 12 are equivalent to four hours of sleep after that time, because they help restore and regenerate all the healing in your body. So you're doubling up on your restorative benefits from getting to bed by 10.  If you can keep a consistent schedule through the holidays, that will also help you keep focus and have more energy during your day and get more things done rather than stay up and keep pushing. Number five, don't go over your holiday budget. I know finances are a huge thing for people. I'll just say that something that I've been doing for years, and it's funny, cause it involves a list, but  I keep index cards with everybody's name on the top. I write,  ideas of gifts on one side, what I have bought and then I total it on the right side and keep a tally. It works great for kids and keeping things balanced. Um, but stick to it, track it. Number six, don't get caught up in the commercialism of the holiday. It's so easy to do the heck with the Jones is and make the cookies instead of buying the bigger gift, your kids will appreciate the time spent with them, then that gift that's going to end up getting dusty, and thrown in the corner. So time is the most important thing, not the object. Number seven, don't go off your routine. As we talked about with the sleeping same thing, and especially with exercise and diet, a lot of you hear people say you deserve it. It's a treat Baba. Um, treating yourself to depression. I never see a benefit in that. One of the ways that people do that is going off their diet, especially this time of year, a lot of sugar gets involved. That's a sure-fire way of having things go down a negative path. Number eight. Don't spend too much time with those energy drainers. We talked about that. Um, the negative Nellies the downers, the people who always al every story into something that makes you feel bad. Um, keep those assigned if their relatives keep those Conversations limited, excuse yourself, find something to do or when you get on the phone  specifically say upfront that you have something to do in five minutes or something so that it it's limited right out of the gate. Number 10, don't go to all the parties or all the invitations you get. Um, if it's an enormous amount, some people have a very long list of invites, um, and it gets to be a job in itself. So learn to say, no, thanks. And it'll be okay. It actually will make you a little saner through the positive, through the process. Number 11. Don't try to do it all alone. Ask a friend, ask a neighbor, ask for help. Asking for help is such a beautiful thing. People like to feel wanted. And a lot of people hesitate to ask, but asking is a gift on both ends.It helps you and the other person usually enjoys giving. So, try, try to do that. It's a little bit of an uncertainty muscle for most of us, but asking is a good number. 12th don't hold onto grudges or negative feelings. This is very important. It probably the best one. I forgive fast and move on. I used to think that forgiveness equated to condonement. But it doesn't, actually when you forgive somebody, it helps you more than the person that you forgive. It's like taking the burden of weight off of you and you no longer have to think about. So remember that forgive fast and move on and put it behind you that it's not worth carrying around that extra weight. That a lot of times grudges and negative feelings carry, it's the holidays. It's the best time of year to do that. hopefully you guys all got some great ideas, some holiday hacks, if you will, that will result in less than usual signs of mental and physical fatigue. Please send me an email. If you utilize some of these and tell me what works best for you. I would really love that feedback. Um, And it would just be great to hear from all of those listening out there. And I very much appreciate you listening. So I thank you.  Please send me an email. If you have implemented some of these ideas and let me know what worked best for you, I really would love the feedback.  You can email to info@fitframeworks.com. Again, that's info I N F o@fitframeworks.com F I T F R a M E S. Dot com. Thank you. And I want everyone to remember that life has no remote. Get up and change it yourself. Happy holidays!

hello. Hello, vitality seekers, this is your host Caroline Schafer. Please help me welcome Natasha Wiebe and International Life Strategist and the founder of Fix Your life solutions. She grew up with polar opposite parents and household as the youngest sibling to neuro diverse and different physically abled foster siblings. She experienced many perspectives early on. She became fascinated with relationship dynamics through all of this, and she studied psychology and also bartended through her education, which is an education all in itself. She questioned her patrons while they were still with their partners when they were so unhappy. She then became a certified ICF Coach. And NLP Practitioner has spoken at and hosted workshops, volunteered with at-risk youth and those who have been sexually assaulted or abused and taught them how to reclaim their minds. Natasha has worked with people such as JT Fox and Jillian Michaels. Natasha has a huge passion for helping people to understand one another and to be understood, so their homes are filled with happiness, confidence, love, and this world is one of kindness, acceptance and peace. Welcome to the Vitality Feed, Natasha. Thank you. Thank you for having me. Absolutely. I have a daughter who was a bartender. There's a lot of interesting information that you can learn about how the mind works during those vocations. Tell us a little bit about your background, especially with growing up in such a diverse environment. Yeah. So it was two different households. On my dad's side, I was an only child who was very old school farmer, John Wayne kind of personality. And then on my mom's side, she was very new agey. I had my, yeah, my foster siblings. I have an adopted sister from Guatemala. I have bio and step siblings. So I really got to learn how to communicate with each person individually. Um, especially with neurodiversity and different physically abled. We learned sign language before we learned English, because it's a lot easier for infants to communicate through body language versus verbal. So those micro facial expressions, the body language, all of that, I was so in tune with even as early as five years old. It just spurred, spurred this whole life and people go, oh, what got you into? I'm like, literally my whole life has been geared towards relationships, connection, communication, and the aspects of confidence came into play. With the different challenges, of course, having two polar opposite parents, um, who had different focuses as well. Like I said, my dad had his farm. There was always something to fix on it. He was working full time. My mom had my different siblings who I helped out with. They had their own insecurities. Now my, one of my adopted sister and my bio sister are the same age. But because one's neurodiverse and has some learning difficulties and the other one would be what we call neuro-typical.  I remember one year her asking me and going, you know, why is so-and-so and I so different, we're the same age? Even her ability to pick out and notice that there were challenges. And so it's like, okay, How do we communicate? How do we empower? Especially people who are neurodiverse and who have different abilities. Because even if, you know, it's the same way in school, even if someone doesn't have say books smarts, there's street smarts, there's emotional IQ. Like there's all these different skills and talents we have. But because we're not the same as someone else. Sometimes we can internalize that. I love that I have to interject something. I you're the first person who has ever verbalize that because I always say the same thing. Smart is n interesting term. There's so many facets, you can be smart in one thing and not smart, nothing that doesn't make you smarter than the other person somebody could, you know, get on jeopardy and kill it. But that doesn't necessarily. You know, if you got on a stranded island that they're gonna survive better than somebody. You know what I'm saying? So everybody has their knowledge base, one's not better than the other. It's just different. Absolutely. One of my closest friends has three kids and they all think so differently. And because of that, they don't always get along, but one is very strategic, very book-smart like ha incredible mind, the way that they perceive things and everything. Another, the youngest is so creative and the ability to draw, the aspects that she picks out of life. And so they get along very differently because they don't understand the way. Right. There's the middle child who has the most amazing heart. And it's just, again, a person who's very, very quiet, not very book-smart. And when it comes to she, I guess, but heart compassion, the concepts that they pick out and I'm like, you three might not get along right now, but I'm like, but when you learn how to understand each other's perspectives and work together on it, you three are going to change the world. And they'll have that diversity of experiencing that and, and those relationship building skills of all the years growing up to be able to handle when they get to be an adult, all the diversity that's out there that they're gonna, meet every single day. And I think that, you and I were talking about relationship building as well. And part of that has to go to communication, you know, to not deny people's experience or perspective, just because it's not one a say the most typical or natural modality, it's the same way as people talk about. VAX, uh, VAX as  in visual auditory, kinesthetic, you know, which way that we see the world. Some people are very visual. I were to get you to explain a story and say, and you, and I'd be like, oh, did you like, can you see how that would happen? You, if you're not visual, that question might not resonate for you. Absolutely. If you are kinesthetic and I go, do you don't you just get that sense of, and when you say it like that, if a person's kinesthetic, they're going to understand it. But if a person's visual they're like, well, no, I don't feel like that's not my go-to modality. So, it's all these different aspects of personality, of learning of world interaction. You make a valid point about all the different ways. And I think that is problematic in school systems.  Things need to be taught in all the various ways people absorb. I'm a very visual learner, I have an art background but I had a difficult time in school. I did. Okay. But, um, it wasn't until college where I figured out how I needed to learn. Um, and pick teachers just don't provide the different types of learning. Most teachers teach through auditory. Like sometimes it's visual through drawings and things, but very rarely is it kinesthetic and most people are kinesthetic learners. It is a problem. Cause I think that's why a lot of kids just struggle so much in school. I know that you have, a three-part foundations of relationship program; trust, confidence, and communication. Can we talk a little bit about the trust factor? Absolutely. So they all go hand in hand trust. What a lot of people struggle with trust is that they don't trust themselves. They experienced an event. And they blame themselves for not being able to handle it or for getting themselves into that situation when really each and every person does the absolute best they can in that given moment. And you know, when you get into a, we'll say a discussion or debate with someone, and then sometimes it's an argument. But afterwards you leave that discussion and it's like, I could have said this. I could have said that, or I shouldn't. And there's all these could've should've would've right.  There's also when people react to a say trauma or stress, right. Stress shuts down the brain's ability to think it goes into fight flight freeze or fawn, fawn being people. And all of those are perfectly natural responses. The thing is once we get out of that adrenaline, We go, well, that's not how I typically act. Well, no, because your brain basically went down to its most basic function of survival. Right? So whenever you need it to survive. So when it comes to trust, a lot of that has to come to trusting ourselves. Which again, ties into confidence. If we have confidence in ourselves, we're going to trust ourselves in the decisions. Um, and then we also have the ability to trust other people more.Cause we know what, how that's like, we know how we experienced that. Again, if we don't have proper communication with other people, there's going to be a sense of mistrust because something's misunderstood. Right. So if, if you and I were having a discussion and I'm telling this story and you don't fully understand it, but you don't have the confidence to be like, Hey, did you mean this? So one of my favorite recommendations for people to check in with someone is if you don't understand something. Or if, if you're offended by something instead of reacting right away, come from the space of, and ask the question. What was your intention with that statement? Or what was your intention with that action?By asking the intention, we then get to be able to clarify what that person's real meaning is because most people are not trying to tear down another.  That is such an awesome piece of information, I want to put this on a billboard, so many arguments would be ruled out like the amount of happiness that that could inspire if everyone, oh, that just blew my mind. If everyone did that, just clarified what peoples, especially with texts, And, um, I have a good friend, Rory shout out to him that he's been pushing me to do audible texting because this way, your voice messages, vocally, your inflections are heard, and the message usually gets delivered better than the message would if you just texted out. Cause a lot of times that can be portrayed in a bad. Yeah,  I find that my sentences tend to be quite blunt or abrupt. And whether that's because of sign language and there's not a word for every single thing signed for every single word, uh, or. When you're communicating with neurodiverse people to it's typically basic very, to the point sentences. So I love voice notes and audible messages because yeah, people can hear my smile. They can hear my laughter. Whereas when I text her, like that person was a, B TCH.  I agree, but I grew up in a household with communication. I was almost on the comedy level because nobody ever listened, nobody cared about their words and everything got miscommunicated. It was just a given, it was literally just a given. Boy, I can't imagine growing up as everybody understood and actually put that into action. It'd be completely a opposite. Well, not to mention that we're also only at the moment talking about people who are speaking the same languages, right? When we, when we start to include people who have English as a second language or who have different cultures. So one, one example being I was at. Beautiful. Three-day business coaching event. There was about 30 of us. There was one woman, such an amazing spirit, absolutely adored her. We got along so well the last day. And, and I was, I was watching her. She was just going from, you know, each person chatting a little bit, and each person was lighting up. When, when she came over to them, I refer to those as energy givers. Yeah, well, and so she came over to me and I was like, I appreciate you so much. I was like, you remind me of this beautiful butterfly and a weird look crossed her face. And she was like, thank you. And, and I caught the little. But at the same time, I was like, well, I also don't want to check and be like, you got a weird look on your face. Thankfully. So this was the last day of the workshop, but thankfully she trusted me enough that as we were leaving the hotel the next morning and checking out and she comes up to me, she's like, I have to ask you something. What did you mean when you called me a buttercup? And so I told her, I was like, because you know, when, when you're going to each person, you bring, you have this grace and this beauty, and when a person sees you, they laid up and she's like, oh yeah, in Chinese culture, it means a slut. Oh, my gosh. That's hysterical. I did not know that. That is such a perfect example story. Like you can't get any more perfect than that. Holy, I had been like her husband was there. She's very conservative, but she'd been married for like 12 years at this. And I was like, and I just had to say it, as soon as it got over my shock, I was like, thank you so much for, for checking in and asking me and trusting me to ask. I was like, I would have never known. And you would have thought that I was insulting you in some way. So, yeah. Wow. You know, it's so funny because when we had that talking point of trust, Nothing that I had envisioned came up.  The first thing he was talking about, trusting yourself, who thinks of that, that is beautiful. Always better to look inward than outward because people are so much more tempted to blame others. So that was really neat. And then such a great nugget to clarify what people's statement or questions are their intentions. Um, Gosh, I love that so much. So our second talking point here is confidence. Talk to me a little about that. Yeah. So when a person has inner confidence again. So for me, I always focus on building the relationship with ourselves because, and happy and empowered person does not tear down another. And so we get to create change by, and this kind of goes to my, my signature has tags, um, fix their life, or sorry, fix your life. Fix. Yep. And this goes to when, when people are confident, they raise confident, empower children because they know how to build up. And so with confidence when it comes to inner confidence, again and again, the three of these tied together. So when it goes to trust, but confidence ourselves is about knowing our core values and living. So when we know our core values, it's that inner sense of integrity. So for example, my three core values are determined, curious, and true. These three things come across in everything I do. And even if something doesn't go according to plan, say I have good intentions and I try and help a friend. But they don't receive it that way. And I go, okay, well, I was curious about solutions. I was acting true to myself and I was determined to help them, you know, or I was determined to at least try and find solutions. And so when anything that we do, if we. If we act from our own internal values, that gives us confidence. Because again, even if something doesn't work out, like if we chose one job over another, well, that one aligned with my values. It didn't work out in the end, but at least I was as true to myself as I could be. And now I just take those lessons moving forward. The moment that confidence breaks down is when we step out of integrity. So when we step out of integrity with ourselves and this can be when we're settling in relationships, you know? So if we accept a partner saying that's so stupid, why would you do that? You know, if I have confidence, I'm not going to tolerate someone speaking to me like that. And if I'm living of my own values, I'm going to stay true to myself and I'm going to be like, okay, you can ask how silly that was, or you can ask me why I would do that because it doesn't make sense to you, but in no way, will I ever accept or tolerate being called stupid or having stupid referred to me? Because again, we all think differently. We all have different experiences and perspectives, right? Part of that is having the confidence and also setting those boundaries. Each kind of nugget, so that trust, confidence and communication, each of those breakdowns come into their own three separate individuals too. So when it comes to confidence, typically, it's what are someone's values?  Helps them set their boundaries. And it's about knowing the roles. We play, the roles that we enjoy playing the roles that we tolerate playing and the ones we don't like. So roles of all sorts. If you think of a parent, you know, they are a parent, they are a partner, their mentor, their taxi driver chauffer me. So there's all these different components and who we act with our partner is not going to be the same that we act towards our boss or our employee. So none of those are any less authentic. They're just different facets of her personality.  Again, part of that is being clear on the roles that we play. Are we attributing certain characteristics? You know, when it comes to say a certain coworker, am I putting myself as less than because of an insecurity or am I raising myself to be an equal. When it comes to, say a boss, am I allowing myself to be treated as less than, or to be talked down to? And what type of role do I need to adapt in order to make sure that that's still an empowering one that is very true, a hundred percent I'm right there with you.   Gosh,  I don't think most people think about, I mean, I guess that's why you're here. Right? Most people do not go down these avenues in thought they don't think about this process. And then the last part is communication, which I just think is pretty much the key to life. Because if you don't communicate well, which I think is just heading down such a horrible path, more in this generation than any other, just because of people hide behind their phones and the laptops. We talked about before you don't get. Choose those of the inflections in your voice or  the nonverbal communication so it makes it a lot harder. People can falsify information a lot. And a lot of people aren't confident to be themselves. So yeah, it truly is a breakdown, so you are very much needed, but what are some things, that can aid in communication? Communication, so again, it goes to intentions. It goes in to knowing people's modalities. If you can find out what the people that you're closest with, whether they are visual auditory, kinesthetic, you kind of look for those keywords and that can be challenging to do if you're not trained. So that definitely helped by working with someone, if you are struggling with a relationship. The other aspect is love languages. People look at love languages as just for romantic. But if there's a friendship that I really want to nourish, I want to know their love language so that I can show them that they're appreciated. That they're important to me, same thing with our kids. If we know their love language, when they're really stressed out, we know how to speak to them, and we know how to communicate in a way that they're going to receive that love or appreciation. Another part of it. One of my favorite things to get clients to do is. If they find that there's a word that their partner is saying quite often, is asking what they, what their partner feels the opposite of that word is? So for example, And I just went through this exercise and, it was really interesting. So, I asked a friend or doing this, doing a journaling exercise, and I was thinking about family and I was like, okay, so what, what does family really boil down to for me? Like what would be the one word that I would associate as its synonym? Or it's equivalent. And it wasn't until that I realized that the opposite of family to me is isolation and the synonym is belonging. Because I found that when I was thinking of family, I wasn't just thinking of my immediate family. I was also thinking of my clients, my friends, the support team. And so this is, so it was community. Again, community boil down to belonging. When I asked my friend, I was like, okay, what, what would you say is the equivalent of family and what is the opposite to you? And so they said that the opposite of family is disconnect and the synonym would be unity, which is really interesting because when I had also done this exercise for the word relationships, those were the two words that I had for relationships. Wow. That is wild. But I love that exercise. Like we all need to implement this. So that is really neat.  Something that I don't do, but I definitely am going to try to implement. I actually heard another neat little strategy this morning.  During, during a podcast I was listening to, and they said that you, when you think about people  try to come up with 10 positive things about them. And I think it would be a really cool challenge if everybody like two, a day, two people a day and find 10 positive things about them. And  things like that, communicating well and your intentions and thinking of people in a better way. It just all adds up to good relationships, which is what you are all about. So last question is our signature question.  If there was one thing in this world, that you could remove from this earth forever, what would it be? I would say insecurity because again, when insecurity removed, you don't have greed. You don't have someone trying to control other people. You don't have worse being started because everyone's just happy with what they have and with helping other people, because there's no need to compete. There's no need to compare, there's no need to hoard. So I would say insecurity goes, goes to all of it. There's no need to bully. That's true all the things that you've talked about, the trust, the confidence, the communication.  And I'm thinking of some specific people, their insecurity gets worse and worse and worse if, they're on a not so good path. And then if you're on a better path that just grows and grows and grows because you surround yourself with better people.   When you're insecure, I felt like it almost domino effects. Do you feel that? Yeah. And the other thing is if insecurity was gone, there wouldn't be assault or abuse. Right? So when you take that away, people know that  be able to have the relationships that they want or that they're comfortable waiting until they're. It's just that they want, or again, they are empowered. And so they don't go into my dynamic. To add to the exercise that you had mentioned about the 10 things that you appreciate about someone. If you really want to change your relationships with people that you don't necessarily get along with and send them and send them three of them. Whoa, boom. That. That is the season of what it's all about. Isn't it?  That's a giving of the heart and that's beautiful.  Cause it's real easy to find things up from which people that you like. But not so much people that. That's not even like, but just maybe have a little more of an agitation with, and then to tell them, and you know, that's the domino effect too. Like once you start doing that, hopefully the other person would reciprocate and then they might tell somebody else, and it's kind of like buying someone's coffee online, you know what I mean? It starts that that whole funnel effect thing and that's really awesome. And a beautiful holiday thought, and I'm hoping all our listeners will take part in that and do some of these activities because it truly can help you so much with your mental state and building relationships in such a good way. And gosh knows we all could use that, but,  tell our listeners where they can contact. Yeah, so I can be reached if you want to do it through email@infoatfixyourlife.ca or you can connect with me on LinkedIn, which is linkedin.com/in/fixyourlife. Or Natasha Wiebe you can search on there. And,  or if you're on Instagram, it's the Eggless Perspective. The Egoless Perspective, that's a really cool name too. I love it. Thank you, Natasha.  You've been fascinating to have on our show today.  So much good information. Like I said, I really hope people implement this. That's what it's all about. It's about change.  And speaking of, I want everyone to remember, life has no remote, so get up and change it yourself. Thank you. Thank you.

hello? Hello, vitality seekers. This is your host, Caroline Schafer. Please help me welcome Andrew Gelbert. He is a transformational and personal development coach, as well as an energetic practitioner. He is a certified advanced hypnotherapy practitioner who has also studied relationship mastery, tantra, holistic energy and intimacy. Andrew has a crazy backstory, so please help me welcome Andrew. Thanks very much. Yes, you too. I know we talked before, you have such a powerful story. It is mind blowing. Would you mind telling our listeners, just the insane amount of things that you went through to get where you are today? Yeah, like how you turn that interesting. Uh, uh, that's one way to, one way to explain it. I guess people have gone through what you have gone through. So definitely I do understand that it's quite unique, but certainly gives me more, I guess, connection to what I'm currently doing now, obviously living my passion and my purpose. So, coming from the background  of a broken family environment, um, you know, after mum and dad split and at the age of 17, mum went looking for love in all the wrong places and tried to find it, I guess, in, in broken relationships. And one particular relationship was quite abusive, and culminated in me watching my mom's boyfriend, hanging himself and try to commit suicide in our backyard. So. Obviously it had a profound effect on me as a young man. I was about 11 at that time when I watched mum go through that. And, um, here, so that, that for me really, I guess set the tone and the foundation for, I guess, a lot of heartache and a lot of anger, a lot of, a lot of deep seated issues that I went through as a, as a young boy. And I left the army, left for the army as quickly as I could after, after my school, served my country overseas and was a holiday reconnaissance, not the soldier, that experience was good for me. The structure and that environment exposed to that environment. I ended up getting out fairly quickly. After I returned back from overseas duty. Uh, and that really was more broken and more damaged and had the signs of PTSD, after getting out of the army. So, yeah, that, that really took another turn I guess, in my life. And I fell into partying and the arms of enamel motorcycle club. During that time, I was shot twice in a, in a bikey brawl once in the chest and another through my neck.  In that adventure, alternate adventure. So I become in broad, in undercover police operation, and that netted me for my involvement in, an international cocaine, dealing entity uh, to which I was sentenced to seven years. During that time, I was lucky enough to have enough time to get to the bottom of exactly how I'd gotten myself to this position. I took the time to go back through my past and went back to that innerchild, so to speak and to understand that I'd become the product of my broken environment. Hmm. You know, it was a very beautiful journey for me, my prison sentence. And luckily enough for me, I've got onto a prison farm out in the land where I was able to deeply connect to my sense of self and my journey and decode that I found some really beautiful people that were able to walk me through the journey of becoming vulnerable to my journey, and exposing the deep, deeply seated issues that I was carrying and projecting, projecting those emotions outward. And that were really determining. how i was living my life and the choices that I was making. So for me, I worked very, very hard during my time to understand a lot of those components that made me up, to balance myself, spiritually, mentally, and physically.  I studied very hard and focus my time on, um, getting some additional skillsets. I completed three diplomas in it. Uh, bachelor of business university degree whilst I there and really got out at a different man with a different perspective of life, a different understanding of who I was and my place in the universe. And, getting out, I was able to achieve some pretty high success, in the corporate world, owning my own business, being the managing director of my own multi-million dollar construction business. But look, it was just unfulfilling and I knew I started to reflect on where I'd come from and what I've been through and just what I'd survived, how much adversity that I've overcome and what journey might not be different to, to many other little harder, the, you know, on the saying, Andrew. That was quite the uphill journey. I mean, it's impressive, no matter how you slice and dice that it is very impressive. That is a very hard road that you traveled. Just touching on there that, you know, post my prison journey and becoming really, really driven to succeed in the corporate world, just being unfulfilled. So that then led me to, again, reflect on what journey. And I really felt that I had something to give back, and that led me to what I'm doing now, and obviously my coaching and mentoring and, and it energetically, you know, the role that energy plays in your life. No doubt. We'll talk about that, but it's been a really Fantastic place for me to be, and that is connected to my passion, my purpose and now giving that back to other people. Well, you, you've definitely learned a monumental amount on your path. And, it's really beautiful that you could take all of that, those negative happenings and spin them around. You know, I mean, not, I don't think a lot of people can do that.I think most people get swallowed. That's really cool. Kudos to you because, now you're here helping other people, and that's what it's all about. you mentioned that the energy and tantra, I know that you have a background in, can you explain to everybody what tantra is? Sure. So tantra is a beautiful philosophy it's based off Buddhism and Hinduism. So it's a form of,  philosophy and understanding, it teaches self actualization and self awareness, um, and really brings the essence of the life force, you know, our own consciousness back into our internal universe. We're so busy as people, as human beings. We're so dependent on our, on our site, uh, hearing, you know, the feel and the touch of everything. So tantra really brings people back. In and the philosophy brings people back into the internal universe. It's the union union inverse, right? Where inverse the universities is inside of us. We are the universe observing itself. Right. So, um, in understanding through the tantra philosophies, that we are the universe and that we are a divine manifestation of a divine creation. Yeah. An individual gets to connect very, very deeply, very, very spiritually to again, their divinity and, and just to be able to love themselves wholly and completely, and that being able to cultivate that energy, which, which they say lifts the vibration. By doing so internally, we then are able to reflect that in our external environment. So, um, tantra goes into the unification of Kundalini, Shakti and Shiva, which is the masculine and feminine energies that every person has, whether you're male or female, we both have a masculine, feminine. So, again, it unites that within us, it gives us a really whole and complete understanding and love of ourselves. So yeah, it's a, it's a really, really beautiful way that people can understand their energy and again, their, their role and their position in the universe. That that is very intriguing. Um, so what's the difference between tantra and like energy what's compared to energy? Well, it is one and the same it's Tantra. Yeah, absolutely. Tetra encourages that connection to the life force energy that that effectively helps us to live, breathe that understand that you have to understand, to comprehend that is the life force energy, that, that he's keeping us awake. So tantra terms as the Kundalini, which they say is, is, is the energy that gives, gives us birth. You give us life at birth and then. Absolutely. It's a form of energy. So they call it a life force energy. Yes, and it encourages us to awaken that energy, and cultivate and use that energy. And tantric can sometimes be looked upon as some form of sexual practice and in the modern world, it has got this reputation, it does get deepen your sexual experience and relationships. Absolutely. Absolutely. And it does, and it's a very, very beautiful part of tantra and what it can do and enhance your life. but it's so much more, it's so much deeper. It's so much more profound than the actual sexual part of the practice. So it's finding that deep space within, and then relating it to yourself and others around you. You get into different brain states like the Theta, Delta, Alpha is that part of tantra? Yeah, absolutely. So tantra, you've got tantra yoga, you've got mantras, meditation, breath, work, birth control, massage, and different forms of spiritual awareness and the mental, the thought aspect of tantra. So there are practices that, you integrate into your life to enhance cultivate. That Kundalini energy within you. So yes, there are different forms of different ways to go about generating that. So, and it is you're right. It's such a people that we're so busy in our lives, looking for that external gratification, that external validation that we're all seeking. It's not, it's not an external. It's an internal entity and we talk about love and we talk about connection. We talk about energy. It doesn't matter if you're spiritual or not. Right. If we are seeking love externally. We are always going to be disappointed or let down. Why? Because we don't have the love for ourselves right. Yet by going by going within connecting with their own life force energy, we're connecting to the energy of the universe that gives everything life. So by doing that and taking yourselves through the tantric philosophy, that again, we connect deeply to our own divinity. We get that self-love right. And then all of a sudden we start living our life with the self-love practices. And that might be a physical self-love, I want to exercise and get the best out of my body because I love my body. My body is a vessel it's taking me through this universe. It's taken me through his life. It could be, my diet, I show myself self-love through eating, you know, healthy, alive things because that's a form of self-love. We love ourselves because we are a divine creation of a divine source. Uh, and again, that comes to the heart of, of what tantra is all about and that it's coming back into the truth and the understanding of, of our own energy and, and our own divinity. So it's a really, really beautiful journey. It's it is very interesting. I knew nothing about energy,  until I went to unleash the power within, at a Tony Robbins. And I tell you my partner and I, we  had this meditative experience. They asked us to do specific things with our hands, and then we held our hands and we weren't touching, but you could feel that sensation there and it blew my mind. It's been two years. I still like I'm a little like mesmerized by the whole experience. And I didn't, I walked in there with a very open mind. I, I went there to change, and I was determined to walk out a different person and it was mind boggling the things that I witnessed and listened to and heard, and practice. It was, it was very cool and has changed my philosophy.  Thank you for sharing that. I love that idea. I do believe that we limit ourselves very much to what we're capable of and what. What we  allow ourselves to be vulnerable to. Absolutely. This is, you know, people being exposed, this sorts of stuff, it's like, oh, is it wacky user? You know, what is this energy stuff? This is now being backed by science, you know, and really high-tech instruments to, to show the aura, to show that there, you know, that the heart space and the body's actually projecting in energy field. So, this is not, we're starting to understand  the cultures of thousands of thousands of years ago that have now passed on, and we're looking at their scriptures that they were deeply connected to without having the technology to back up. They knew it. Now we, as a modern society, you're just starting to understand that we can cultivate this energy and that we can add the body has an immense, unbelievable capability to heal itself its own mind and its own body. So we're just getting tapped into that. And I think it's a,  really, really powerful journey. And I think the further down the track we get, and the more that we'll understand. Um, you know,  there's some really bright people out there advocating for this at the moment. And, I think it's only going to be a growing practice and, and, uh, as, as we get better at being able to cultivate this energy now and our connection to ourselves and, and the divine universe, that's why I integrate into my coaching. it's a really, really key, fundamental concept in, in people, being able to step out into the best version of themselves. I love when you said about self-love through diet and exercise. I believe, your body's a gift because it is truly capable of so many things we really don't tap into. And I think most of us take it for granted. You take it for granted that you breathe every second, you know, and all your blood's flowing in your heart's going and all of that. It truly is a gifting. And like I said, a vessel and it, you should take care of it. And I think self love does start there. And that's, and the more we love ourselves, the more effectively Quinn love and other rights. So, and I've got so many clients and I'll say, you know, you're in a loving relationship. Um, and you know, there might be different stages in the relationship, whether they're deeply in love, or they're not on saying, have you actually stopped and gazed into your partner's eyes. I mean, I mean, not just looked at their pupils, not looked at the surface. It's a window to your soul. Have you stopped at, and for minutes on end, a courage is practice. Put your partner's hand on your heart. You put yours on, on theirs and you stop and you look and again don't look at the pupils, look into the soul. It's the most amazing quick technique to connect with another person. And I do  it in my workshops too. We do eye gazing. And sometimes it's a man to man and a woman. And especially as men, we get really uncomfortable with that. It is, I did that. So I did that and yeah, and the two of us were bawling at the end of it. I have a question about that because, That if you look into the left eye, you know, about that, that you're supposed to stare to the left inf for different reasonings for that.  They say it's easier to fixate on one eye than it is two some people, say the left eye goes to the right brain. What is your philosophy on that? Both eyes, left them. It certainly is a lot easier for a person to be able to focus on one eye. And look, there is a myriad of different theories behind that, you know, the left side being the feminine side, the right side, being the masculine side. Oh, I haven't heard that one. Um, yeah, so there's all sorts of these links, but, um, look, I don't advocate for one or the other. I certainly advocate for, for looking at one eye because to be able to focus, uh, but you can dance between both eyes, whatever feels comfortable for you. It's the key for me is, is, you know, when we look at something, we're looking at the surface level, the colors we're not looking when I'm trying to look more deeply. So to look into the pupils as, as a window to the soul and go with these is the key component for me. You know, don't look at the colors of the eye and you try and look into the on and seek the soul because we all have a soul. This is, again, goes to the heart of tantra. Is that, that we are, we are in. energetic entity living a physical existence. I encourage everybody to do that eye challenge with their partner.   It is uncomfortable in the beginning And we did it for two minutes. And most of us try to look people in the eye and, we have a hard time with that let alone just full on stare in somebody's eyes for two solid minutes. It's very hard, but it is transformational and it makes you think and come away,  as a better person, a more loving person. So I encourage everybody to try that. So the connection to another soul is through the window of the soul and that is the art. So, yeah, and again, it's just a very, very beautiful, but very, profound and compelling as you found it to actually do that and, and make connection with the partnership and love. And,  again, you get those little components, right and also. Well sudden a tree looks different. All of a sudden a bird looks different and feels different because you you're feeling that energy. You starting to cultivate the AGR, understand just half phenomenal is like you say that we live in that we breathe and, and from a foundational perspective, That then gives a person the ability to build all these other components and a lot of other coaches, you know, they're trying to coach these, these methods and these systems and these strategies that sit on a surface level that might give you instant gratification, no long lasting sustainable change to your life. And that's why, again, why I brings tantra in. And we go right back to the foundations and the truth of, of what it needs to, to understand and live life and love. And then we bolt on the other components of planning and strategy and business and all these other things. And, you know, I've got a coming course. It's an energetic alignment for personal professional and relationships master in success. When you've got the foundations right. Of how you feel all of a sudden, you know, they talk about the law of attraction and manifestation, all these other things. Again, if you think that you want something a thought can, can then manifest it, but only when you've got the foundations, right? And that is when you start loving yourself, yourself, feeling confident and all the fear drops away. And then we can start really. Cause there's two components of manifestation is thought, and then there's action. We can't just sit here and manifest a different life. There's definitely two components. And then when you're feeling love, when you're feeling in alignment, when you're living your passion and your purpose magic can happen. It's walking people through exactly why they are an energetic being and the truths and going into the science of what energy is. And again, bringing that back into ourselves, understanding that everything is energy and then walking people through how to cultivate that and use that. And , the outcome is, and I touch on these components in a personal professional and relationships perspective throughout the course, and then people get to go away integrate that in their lives. And I've got some really, really fantastic stories of how, just how people have absolutely changed their understanding, but also changed their external reality, changed their lives. And Taken that the law of attraction, which so many components are missing, throughout the course outline that out. And it's, it's a beautiful place for people to take that next step in their life and become aligned to what they're passionate, purposeful about and just who they are and what they are. And again, it's a beautiful way for people to be able to generate outcomes in their life. Would you, would you mind sharing one of those stories of your clients. Yeah, absolutely.  There's so many, but, you know, from a personal perspective, you know, guy was really down now in his relationship, and through the practices and through the course, he's gone back in here. He's integrated that into his life and, and rekindled his, marriage. They went through a recommitment ceremony. I've got to be a part of that and see that incredibly inspiring and a credibly, beautiful journey. You know, we've got high level executives. We were talking about high-performing, very high functioning,  people who , you know, stuck at a particular level, you know, they held back by fear, that they come to see me. Like they've gone through the course that they've gone back to. And all of a sudden, you know, received a promotion,the guy was a high-performing CEO, it has become the director of multiple different companies taking the next step because, you know, the, the fear folded away from him  he's his own self worth, his connection with the fulfillment. He was. So he was achieving everything in his life, but was lack that fulfillment. Right. So he's gone away because he's more fulfilled. He's able to achieve more success. Right. So all the blockers, all of the fears drop away.  Again, that's where real success comes in.  It's not just external success, it's the fulfillment of your humanness of your self-love that you can take into everyday life, whether it's sweeping the floor or cooking dinner or relationship or whatever it is, all of these components start to click together holistically. Again, when you, when you start to come together as a, as a complete human being and your understanding of what exactly that is. So,  yeah, the outcomes are a phenomenal. I love the idea of this, self-love. It is become aware to me recently that like with broken relationships, to fix a marriage, to fix a relationship, you have to fix yourself. Cause that's what happens with so many people they get a divorce, they take the same person. And they probably tried to put it in another relationship and it doesn't work and it's not the relationship that's not working. It's you, you need to fix yourself and learn these things about you and then take that person who has been transformed and then put it in a good relationship. Otherwise you just keep going from relationship to relationship. It's a very different philosophy than most of us are attuned to. It's usually couples counseling and that kind of thing. Um, but I kinda like this new concept that's out there about fixing yourself for you and then, and then you can invite others in after that and it just makes really good. So, so important. I mean, you're in a relationship, you know, you've gone through these beautiful connection, this honeymoon period. And then, on the other side of that, we have these, programmed expectations about partner. They don't meet that. These are the expectations that you've met when really the expectations that you should be having, not just for your partner, but for yourself. So I love the term. I love the term, and this is key, if you want more of something, become more of that thing. Right? So you own the responsibility to become more of what you expect of your partner. So that I think is really, really in the context of what you're saying is you become more of what you want. You want more love, become more love. I was just thinking that exact same phrase, if you want, do you want more love, become her love? That's it look inward before outward. I really like Marisa Peer.  She has this big campaign going, especially for women.   And I gotten it from my daughters and we put it on the bathroom mirrors so that when you get up in the morning, you have a positive, reminder of who you are and that you are worthy. . And that's exactly what tantra teaches. It's, all about the fundamental understandings of the components that make you up in the beauty that makes you up. And that, you know, part of tantra is he's exactly that his mantra and the subconscious mind, when we look at that, from that perspective, that's 95% of your your mind is subconscious. I mean, look at all the thousands of processes conducting, pumping your blood, reproducing your cells you, your thought, your site, it tastes. So these things, there's so much going on at the subconscious mind. So, uh, and, and to simplify though, the external world, it has a program. And it's, and it's been running that program for very long time. The only way you beat that subconscious mind and get yourself out of depressed states of mind and anxious states of mind, and the falsities of just how little you are, how much you lack, which is installed into us over,  many, many years growing up and by the world limits us to, to jobs that limits us  to saying that we need to conduct their laws at the certain way. So to break that down, repetition. Mantras are the key, uh,  flooding the mind with positive, reinforcing, loving messages to say that I am, I am all in existence.  I am my own universe. Right, right. I coined that, as transformational vocabulary. And it's like people say, I have to go to the gym and it's like, no, you get to go to the gym. And that little tweak on the words, really changes your Headspace.  It's so much better to think that, instead of saying, I forgot. You know, I say, I just remembered. It's just little, little tweaks on your words, I always say the best conversation you can have is the one between your own ears. And it really influences how you do everything. That is so interesting, thank you for sharing that. So my signature question is a little bit deep, so " if you could eliminate one thing in this world, Andrew, what would it be and why?" What a beautiful question. Uh, if I could eliminate one thing, it would be the falsity around separation. So we get so diluted around the fact that I think so many of our issues as a holistic or collective human race  is around the separateness of us. The differences between us, the color of our skin, the nationality of the cultures. When in essence, we are divine creations. We are all human. We are all living entities. Doesn't matter if it's an animal or a tree or a dog or a cat or a human or an American or Chinese, or, uh, that just the separate , it's an illusion. Uh, there's, there's just such a oneness that I think could bring us all together. Uh, you know, spending, this is a whole, another issue, a whole other podcast here, but I'm going to say it anyway. You know, it's, there's billions of dollars of expenditure in defending ourselves against ourselves. When as a human collective, I think we're getting that so wrong. And it's taking us that it's spiraling us down this,  down this channel, um, when, when really the one that could bring us all together, you know, this COVID, it's just splitting us all apart. This is an American issue. This is it's it's again and here we are defending the south China sea. Spending billions and billions of dollars on how to, how to, how to eliminate each other when that fall, when that folds away. And we come together as a collective and work together against COVID and work together against sharing the season. I just think that if that one issue could fold up. For me, I think we would be as a collective on a whole complete different trajectory to walk currently on. So there is for, for me to get up and talk for another hour on, on that, on that alone though. tell our audience where they can connect with you. So I'm currently just underway redoing my website, but it is,  www.Andrewgeldert.Com that I use.  Reach out to me on, on Facebook messenger or WhatsApp business, you find.  Under Andrew Golden. So, uh, look, I'll welcome. Any questions welcome any of you use to, to reach out, just starting to build a global audience and, I have a vision to impact the lives of a million people in the next two years. So that's my grand vision and continue to build myself and along the journey. Well, I think you're a very compassionate person and I love your journey that you're on to help so many people. And I think it's definitely needed in our society. There's a lot of disconnect out there. And it's getting worse and not better. So hopefully people will take advantage of your services and change their life. So just want to remind everybody with that thought life has no remote, get up and change it yourself. Thank you. And. Love that. Thanks very much for having me on Caroline and all the best all y'all your listeners and for yourself in the future.

 Hello, vitality seekers. This is your host, Caroline Schafer. Please help me welcome Josh Hicks. Josh is an Army veteran who has a crazy, amazing personal triumph story. He has lost 60 pounds and went on to competitive bodybuilder. Please go to my Facebook page and see his transformation picture. It is unbelievable! He is an independent certified health coach and the owner of Hicks Health Coaching. Josh has been transforming bodies and lives for two and a half years now. And I can't wait to share his story. It is truly inspirational. Welcome, John. Hey, it's good to see it. Thanks for having me on today. Absolutely, I love your story. I love the idea to help motivate people that change is possible, and you are such an exemplary example of this. So please, let's start there. Let's start with your story. I know you are a veteran and I thank you for that. Let's start where it all began.  Wow. What a story, you know, , I'll take you back a little bit. I really want to encourage you as listeners to just really hear this. You know, a lot of times as we go through life, we all have a lot of life happening that sometimes we miss some key elements of a conversation piece that could really help us move forward in our own journey. So I really would encourage you today, just unplug a little bit and disconnect from where you currently are, the things that might be limiting you and your own disbeliefs of, obstacles that you're facing to really hear this message, because I'm going to tell you I was at a place for a very long time, where I felt like everything was happening to me and nothing was happening for me. And this can be such a crippling factor that holds you back from what's really inside of you that's great in each and every one of you that hear this There is something incredible and unique that's with you. That sometimes it's just a length of time and period of time that passes before you actually tap into that. And I want to take you down a memory lane with me and where I've really started and how I became to the person that I am today and really finding that greatness within myself. And hopefully by hearing this will compel you to challenge yourself to become that best version of you. As a little kid, I can remember, you know, always having insecurities. Insecurities crippling me from as long as I can remember, and we all have them, but just like we have insecurities, we all have a safe place. It could be physical or in our minds. And we go there a lot more than we care to admit if we're really honest and vulnerable with ourselves. For me, one of my safe places was running to my grandparents' house. I grew up in a very abusive home. I saw my mom beaten from a young child and to my early adult life, really. And it was a really hard thing for me to cope with.  I saw some things that you can't unsee.. See, it was really difficult for me to really challenge my way of thinking and overcome those obstacles in my own mind. So I became very insecure. And I would deal with that stress and unhealthy ways, really. And if we're honest with ourselves, we can really relate to this areas in our lives, that we are stressed to the max , and we've run to a safe place that may not really be serving us very well. I never really dealt with these insecurities and it followed me, you know, until I became a young adult, really just trying to find my way. I became a person that didn't want to ever experience a broken home. I went through a divorce while I was able to break that generational curse of domestic violence. I wasn't able to break the generational curse of divorce. So I had a separated home for my children, and I had to figure out how to cope with that. I grew up in church. I had a praying mother and I'm so thankful for that. I didn't have the opportunity to have a relationship with my father, but that doesn't limit to me for what I can do for others and how I can be the father from mine. So I want you to really meditate on that. The things that you may or may not have had in your past, don't limit you from becoming or having in your future. It's a choice we're always faced with choices every single day but I want you guys to understand that it's not easy. It's not easy facing those adversities and facing those areas where you've tried to kind of just sweep them under the rug, but it's necessary because it really defines and molds who you will become or who you won't become, really. I love the expression. Choose your hard. You know, you can either pick feeling horrible, about yourself, eating the wrong things and when everyone else is eating Doritos and you're eating celery sticks and working out in the gym at 6:00 AM that,  you got to pick your hard and I know where mine lies. That's 100%. I mean, you absolutely do. And I, and I say in this. Ordinary is a choice, but so it's extraordinary. And we get hung up on that. We get hung up on complacency, keeping us in an average lifestyle when we desire so much more, but we won't contend for what we desire because we take what we can have at the moment. And it holds us back. And often times, when we take what we can have at the moment versus what we desire a little piece that was hangs out in that safe place. I ended up finding myself one day, really struggling. I remember having a Sunday school teacher one day telling me just as a young boy. Wow. You have so much positivity inside of you. And I didn't really know that Sunday school teacher. Well, and she didn't really know me very well, but it stuck with me that someone saw something in me that I didn't see. I'm telling you there's something in you. I started with that and I really want to leave you with that today. My life didn't turn out exactly how I anticipated it to be. I got lost along the way. And that's okay. Because it all came together for the greater good, and that is what counts most. So that Sunday school teacher said something that was impacting and resonated with me to my bones. The power of words, right? Words have meaning words have meaning. And we tell ourselves things all the time. We don't realize how crippling they really are. You don't even have to voice it, that little voice inside your mind. That's verbalizing all the time, internally you're telling yourself things as a mind monkey. Yeah. You know, it, it stops you from getting up with a certain attitude. Some days you get out of bed and you, and you anticipate to have an attitude of gratitude, but really you had stinky thinking you started catastrophizing and realizing all the things that you had to deal with versus what you had to be grateful for. Right. And this kind of mindset can really move a person. Or keep wanting to digress. You're not meant to digress. We need to continually move forward and become better each day. And it starts with the mental piece. You fast forward in my life. I went through some obstacles there. I went through a divorce yet life happens, but how do you recover from it? It's a choice. It's a decision that you make. So I ended up not doing what I thought I was called to do. I would want it to be a pastor.  I wanted to lead people, but I got divorced and, you know, I wasn't able to churches didn't really adhere to that calling from me because of my past. So it kind of felt like it was limiting me. And this is where add though, that makes that, that makes me sad because you learn best from your mistakes. I feel like you you've learned and then you can help others with your new found knowledge, but people won't let you. It's a hundred percent, right? I mean, you learn. That's why history is so important. We learn what not to do from the mistakes that we made yesterday. Absolutely.  We can't control our circumstances sometimes, but what we can absolutely always control is the feeling that's attached to that circumstance and feeling bring results because your feelings will actually give you the tendency or the commitment to act on. And this is where you've got to take your thoughts captive. Now, for me, I couldn't figure out how to overcome this. I was depressed in a lot of ways, disappointed in myself for failures and not being able to do what I really felt like God was calling me to do. But if you look at where I'm at now, 10 plus years, I'd say I'm doing a pretty big thing for God, and that's awesome, but you can't always see things when you're in the middle of it, but you have to tap into this greatness that's inside of you. You it's a must. This is starting with your mental piece. You have to get really intentional in the mind. I ended up running so far from what I wanted to do, trying to fill those voids with other things that were just picking me further on a digress. I love that I got to serve in the military. There was a lot of great things that came out of that for me, a lot of personal development. But I remember when I went into the national guard, I was in bootcamp and I remember them telling me something the fastest way out is through it. And that stuck was me, oftentimes we're looking for the fastest way to something or the fastest way out of something. There's no easy way to get to where you want to be, you have to be willing to do what's necessary in order to win. It goes without saying that everybody that's listening to this call today, you want to win. Rather that's in a financial matter, whether that's in your relationship matters, whether that's in your personal health journey somewhere, you have some areas that you are really just surviving and you want to be thriving, stop waiting for that, to come to you and figure out exactly what it takes. So that way you can get there. It will not be easy all the time, but it will absolutely be worth it every time. I remember being on that. And I was when I was serving and my insecurities came back in a big kind of way. Many people don't talk to you about  their fears. So outspokenly, they put on this facade that they've got to be this hard person, but we all have a vulnerable side too. You have to be able to identify with that so you can overcome it. Otherwise it will lean into you and not you lean into it. I  was telling you. was a deployment that was supposed to be pretty easy until the tempo changed drastically. And I was hugging my pillow and I was crying, asking God, why am I here? What is the purpose of this? Why, how did I even get to this place that I am? And I got to that place for a reason. But part of that reason that brought me there was because I was running and trying to fill in voids with something or anything didn't even know what it was. And you fast forward, I got through that deployment, right? Because we get through the things, even when we feel like we can't, you might be in a situation right now. Like, how am I going to get through this? You will get through it. I got home. I have a beautiful wife. I started in construction business. I named this business Godly Installments. I created this business with my wife. We knew nothing about running a business. I new construction. Well, because I had a background. But when it came to running my own business, there was a lot to learn a lot of room for growth, but there was a whole lot of error along the way. The business grew faster than I anticipated, which was a good thing in one way, but it became a hindrance in a lot of other ways. I wasn't liquid. I didn't have the financial backing. I couldn't get loans. I wasn't mature enough in the business world for banks to give me those loans. And I was looking for ways. To make quick cash to support the business that I had grown because I had people working now that I couldn't figure out how to make payroll every Friday. I couldn't pay these, these subs and these workers every Friday. Right. So I did something, I looked for the fastest way out of a mess and it got me into a bigger mess. I took one of those quick payday loans. And while I'm not saying they can't be beneficial, For me and where I was in my maturity with the business, it wasn't beneficial for me. My wife would look at me on Thursday evening and say, we've got this bill due. We've got these people to pay and we don't have the money. Monday through Friday, every single week without hesitation, I would pray and I would ask God to continue to provide for us. Now it required action. You can ask and ask and not get nowhere. If you think I'm just going to ask or hope for something to happen. There was a lot of action, even if it wasn't necessarily. The greatest action steps in order to get me to a more successful venture. But I was praying and I was moving in faith and doing everything I possibly can. And he does a lot with a little, because every single week by Friday, sometimes checks didn't clear or they might've bounced. But by Monday there was something in there from a deposit to cover and keep the cashflow, there was enough to keep these workers going. And I remember people asking me why won't, why won't you just file bankruptcy?  It was so deep, the mess that we were in with contracts that needed to be fulfilled and what needed to happen. That we couldn't just take the easy road out.  Just takes care of it again, the fastest way out of it is through it. I told you in the very beginning, I struggled from a childhood just being insecure, being scared, seeing and be exposed to physical abuse. I remember standing in the kitchen and I heard this loud thump and my mom crying and saying, look what you did to my face and she asked me if I would come into the kitchen real quick, being the older brother, I had to take one of those wind up cameras and take a picture of my mom's eyes and she could send it to the commissioner. She got kicked so hard that her entire side of her right side of her face, her eye was swollen shut. She walked around with the sunglasses on for days. There's some things you just can't on. See, it sets those insecurities in further. When I got out of the army, I now had kids and I felt like I was failing at all areas trying to make a better life for me and my family start a construction business insecurity set in trying to find a safe place to go to can't run back to moon pub hops, where I used to always run. When I was scared. You have a safe place in your mind that you run too. You can't always run there. It's not going to serve you and move you forward. You have to lean into those moments. You have to identify the fears with the facts and start telling yourself the truth and not identifying with stories because the stories that we put in our minds are not the realities that have to be, unless we choose to. So I remember getting through this, this business escapade and I went three and a half years, praying that same prayer every single day, doing the actions, staying awake, Saturdays and Sundays thinking, how am I going to get through the next week? How can I possibly continue to keep jobs coming in so we can keep the cashflow move and to some degree to get, get the current jobs and contracts that we have done complete it and satisfied customers. It was sleepless nights, was stressful. My body was really just, it was taking a toll on me. I came home from a deployment , struggling with anxiety, depression, PTSD, you know. Here I am trying to get myself together, mentally. My physical health is struggling. Now. My finances are down the drain. Meanwhile, my wife, I can't even look at her with any kind of pride because I feel like as a husband, I'm not giving my family what they need. I remember being in the gym one day, I was working out in a small gym right here in Maryland, just trying to outwork the bad diet. And I'm going to tell you right now for any of you that are, are in that situation once your health, and you think that you're going to go to the gym, you're gonna your cardio and you're going to combat the weight loss. Let me just put a disclaimer on that for you. You cannot work a bad diet. It starts with your food. I didn't know that nor did I care about it. I was eating my feelings many times. We definitely bring food in as comfort to mask other situations we don't want to deal with. Well guess what?rsThat was the day in March when my life was going to radically change. And this is one of the places where people get hung up so much on really moving forward and propelling to the place they want to be. They are so afraid to fail that they won't even try. They will live on the excuses and the victim mindsets that will hold them back from becoming the best version of themselves because they see everything as. Not an opportunity for them. It's nice for some, but not for all. Well, I can tell you, I was at a place where I was desperate to change. Didn't know what I needed, but knew I needed something. There was a guy from Malaysia, it was traveling through Maryland happened to be in the gym at the same time I was, that was a divine appointment. He came to me and he said, oh, sorry, I get a little emotional because I know where I was. He said, um, you remind me a lot of myself and, um, I want to talk to you for a minute. I gave him a short answer because I didn't feel like talking to anybody. I had no money, so I didn't, wasn't interested in some sales scam, and I wasn't in a place mentally where I had any interest of talking to anybody that wasn't going to serve me well. So I gave him the short answer and gave him my business email and figured I'll never hear from this guy again anyway.  Now, financially struggling. I'm 60 pounds overweight and my mental health is just in the tubes to a stranger coming from across the globe.Walks up to me at a random has a conversation about how I reminded him a lot of himself. That's power. That's a call for change. And I'm telling you right now you have signs and opportunities right in front of you that you're missing because you're so buried in the feelings that you can't see the facts. I got home, I looked at that email. And I don't know why, but I was moved to do it. I knew I want to change. I knew I certainly wanted to look better than I felt. And I went ahead with a complete stranger and signed up for a program. Now my wife was not happy. She's looking at me like you just bought a box of food from a stranger, you know, nothing about, you're probably never going to eat and we cave and pay our workers. Much less our own bills. Look at my van. She said she had a Honda Odyssey van and this thing had been through it. The driver's side door would fall off the hinges if you open it. So we knew not to open that side. I took the van to the carwash, but I forgot to tell the people at the car wash not to open the slider door when they vacuumed it out, the door was ripped off the hinges and there was a string of traffic behind me. I was so embarrassed and ashamed. The owner wasn't their fault, but the such a graceful guy is so humble and kind, he came over to me. He gave me a $10 gift certificate and said, I'm really sorry that this happened now at the time, I was thinking, God, when is enough enough? I've been through enough already. Can we move on from this life? And I remember like it was yesterday. I picked up my pride and my ego got the van door back on the hinges and it took about 35 minutes. It felt like it took 10 hours because you got all these people staring at you and it's like, so embarrassing, but you know what? I didn't do. I didn't run from it. I let them vacuum the car out that day. I finished what I started, even though I was ashamed, I was holding my head down. I didn't want to be there any longer. And from that point forward, I got very intentional. I started doing extreme things to make extreme growth in my life, my finances, my personal development and my physical transformation I bought this program. It was the best, thing that I could have ever did because I need to change. It's not about the program. It's about the habits that I change using the program as a tool to really get me where I want to be. I started dropping weight, feeling better, having energy and really getting to a better place and better frame of mind because I started being intrinsically awakened to bad habits, bad mindsets and routines that really needed to change. And I started slowly changing these patterns and habits, and I started coaching this program to, I want to inspire others with my journey. I didn't even have a Facebook at the time. So I was like, I was telling my wife, I'm going to use your Facebook. I was taking pictures and putting them on Facebook, showing my transformation week by week because I wanted to help other people feel the way that I felt. That's awesome. And it was, it was so amazing. It was so freeing because I felt like for the first time, in a long time that I was doing something that I knew made me feel good. I put all kinds of structural tension in place. Here I am an overweight construction worker. I signed up for a bodybuilding competition at the same time. I went in for this all natural bodybuilding competition. I had some, some judges that were looking at me before I was even remotely ready and telling me you don't want to do this. You're going to look emaciated on stage is you need to give yourself another year or so. I decided at that point in time that nobody tells me I can't become what I desired to become. And you need to tell yourself that take a second right now and look at yourself in the mirror. Wipe your eyes out for the tears running down in the pain that you have, and the shame that you have, pick your chest up, pick your chin up and say it. Nobody tells you that you can't have the life that you deserve. Because you can, if you choose to. Right, I love Gary V., He is on that parade about, you know, don't worry about what everybody else thinks and nobody should be judging anybody else. And I love that, it's so true. And we all tend to do that, but you really got to get that out of your head or otherwise you can not move forward. So this story comes to some breakthrough in March of 2019, I said yes to a bodybuilding competition as a 60 pound overweight construction worker with a failing business. Really my family is failing in a lot of ways and I wasn't there providing the way that I had anticipated to October of 2019 walking on stage for the first competition ever in my life took first place in an all natural men's classic physique competition. And that was the beginning of great things starting. I said yes to a program that I knew nothing about, but I knew I need to change and change requires doing things your, scary to do at times it's the necessary. From that point forward, I continue to be very intentional about what it is that I wanted to create for myself, from my family, my friends and people that I'd never even met yet. So I continued to this day to help people all across the nation really become awakened to what their goals are, what their why is and show them a vehicle that can really help them. If they are really ready to make them changes. I will post that picture of your before and after, that is an incredible transformation that you made, I must say and that should be very motivating for our listeners. You don't have to do bodybuilding competitions, but, if you lose the weight, you feel better, you're guaranteeing your health, and future. So much better of an option, because most people choose to try to make a decision when they get some kind of verdict from the doctor. That's not a good time. So do it now! So, yeah, you fast forward 2021, I'm so grateful, I'm humbled and honored to say that, uh, God installments is a business that no longer exist, is a. And it was a connecting flight to bring me to where I am now. Sometimes we can't see the things that God's doing, but he's doing big things in our lives and he's just preparing us for the journey. It's a preparation. And so we're honored to be here on this call today with you. We live a completely different life today.  The grind is worth it, but you are worth it.nautAnd that you need to understand. I love when we talked earlier, you said, giving people an awakening or having an awakening yourself, would you speak more on that? Yeah, a hundred percent. One of the leading causes to death, across the cross, the globe really, emotional mismanagement. You know, we are so emotionally mismanaged. And the biggest reason for that is because we keep measuring our lives. Current reality on the stories that we tell ourselves and stories are not facts, feelings are not facts. That's so true. It's so true. And I, you know, the more I learn about psychology and neurology and all those things, that is what amazes me is that we get any. Tony Robbins say release things publicly. It no longer hold you prisoner. And yeah, I think that's such an awesome thing to think about and When they do, it's like so many people can resonate now with that and feel comfort in knowing that they're not alone and look at how they pulled themselves together and that. There is a possibility of some happiness and good times. I had a, if you just choose to make the change, I love that emotional mismanagement. So love those words. That's awesome. So, tell me, about maybe a client of yours, maybe one quick success story. You know, I have so many of them that I love to celebrate, but I, but I'll tell you one. You know, a lot of people, um, again, are looking for a short, quick fix. They want to take some pill. And I mean, what about, we're talking about real health here. We're talking about this is your body. You get one body and how you fuel it will determine the state of health it'll be in, you know, if you're really looking for ultra health and I want to say this real quick, this is so important. I hear people say, I'll do anything for my family. I'll do anything. But when it comes to taking care of yourself, will you do that? We look, we don't think twice about going through a quick, fast food joint or getting something off of a grill menu. We don't look at the research of it. We don't look at how processed it is or high-glycemic it is or how it can lead to be addictions to food. We just do it. But when you tell somebody, I want to give you a, an opportunity to really help you, with good dense nutrition that's made from whole food. Well, I got to research that. Yeah, Amen to that thought. So true. Yeah. So, one person that comes to mind for me is, a lady named Denise. She's just an awesome, awesome person. And I got so many of them, but, you know, we got to celebrate with her in a lot of ways, because not only did she get healthy, she became a coach as well. You know, when she got, she became a coach during her journey, just so you understand. Yeah. A lot of people have this common misconception. If you don't have six pack, abs you can't coach somebody that's, that's not remotely true. Okay. I would be, I would venture to tell you that if you're that vein and you're in body image that you feel like you have to have some ultimate physique before you can lead somebody else, I would tell you that I would really re rethink that because it's not that couldn't be further from the truth. In fact, The accountability and structure that will hold for your own self and accountability level to coach somebody else, it will actually measure your own success to help you stay successful in your own health journey. Now, I'm not saying that you can't have to be in some different kind of frame of mind, right? If you have a bad relationship with food, you probably shouldn't be trying to tell somebody else to have a better one. But my point to that is that there's a time and a place for everything. And sometimes we limit where we can actually be based on the conclusion that we need to be. Beyond that first, right? Yes. Sorry. And don't yeah, it doesn't have to be perfect. I've learned all about that in the past year. It's not my natural go-to. but yeah, I've learned that. Just kinda jump and build your wings on the way down. So. Yeah, but she's optimizing her weight, which is amazing. She's a school teacher, you know, and here she was, last year,  on a mountain top in Arizona, you know, climbing a mountain top because she was in a place in her health where she could do that. And we were with her and we were there to be able to celebrate and be part of that with her. And that's amazing. You know, and how many of mountain tops do you guys that are here in this right now? How many mountain tops do you have in your life that you want to climb physical or emotional? Spiritual. Right. But you're not because you feel like you're not in a good frame of mind, not in good mental or physical health to do it, but what if you could change. Yes, so true. And that that's very symbolic is the, for the mountain, everybody has their mountains. And, but if you just stick one foot in front of the other and start, you know what I mean? That that's how you'll get there. You're not going to get there, just standing at the bottom, looking up, you know. Okay. So my last question, my signature question is, if there was one thing that you could eliminate from the world, what would it be and why? If there was one thing I could eliminate from the world, it would be self doubt. It will be self doubt. Uh, you know, I, I say, I tell you that $10 gifts to pick a card because I want you to put a $10 gift certificate in your wallet and say no more, no more. Do you need anybody to discount your greatness? Ooh, that's so perfect. I love words. And that was so awesome because you have a discounted card and you don't need a discount in your life. That is good. A lot of really successful people have those little reminders I call them triggers, um, that you carry around with you. It could be a mission statement, it could be a picture.  Wasn't it. Jim Carrey, who wrote a million dollar check and he carried it in his wallet or something. One of those things are very powerful. Don't discount them. They truly do work, but that is such a great answer. I love that. Josh tell our listeners where they can contact you. You guys can find me on Facebook. If you're a mutual friend here with Caroline, you can just find me right through there, but Josh Hicks, I'm public. I'm easy to find. I have a transformation picture. Um, one that if you really search me out, you'll find it and know that Hicks Health Coaching right there on my bio I'm public. So it's easy to find me.  You guys can also send me a text message if you want it.  My cell phone and we can put that in the comment. Absolutely. I will do that. And I'm going to stick that picture right on my Facebook page, because that speaks volumes, you know, that how much change is possible. And that was a pretty quick turn to on your end. Pretty amazing. Like most people take is years to get there. But you had a man on a mission. You were on a mission. I thank you so much for sharing your story.  It was truly inspirational and I hope people got value from that. Um, please like, and subscribe if you did. And I just want to remind all our listeners life has no remote. Get up and change it yourself. Thanks Josh. Thank you.

hello? Hello, this is your host Caroline Schafer. Please help me welcome Robert Radnoti. Robert is a certified master hypnotherapists at Hypnorad by Robert Radnoti. Studied life strategies at Anthony Robbins, master university, and a trainer and consultant for Dr. Joe Dispenza, Neuro Change Solutions, which I am a huge fan of Dr. Joe and his amazing meditation work to change minds and your reality.  And talk about self-healing, Robert also is a senior leader with Tony Robbins,  and he has worked with Marisa Peer. Boy, Tony Robbins, Dr. Joe, Marissa. I still want to pick your brain Robert like for days on end and you are a life coach as well, which makes perfect sense with all of that background under your belt. And now you're the CEO of Radnoti Research Institute.  Let's start with hypnotherapy, always curious to know about how our brains work. Welcome Robert to The Vitality Feed. Well, thank you so much. I'm honored to be here. Well, let's start from the beginning. Tell us how you went from the engineer to a track and field coach at a division one school to a hypnotherapist. That definitely sounds like an entrepreneurial path, if I've ever heard. Well, I think I was thinking about this on my run on the beach today. I'm thinking about what I could provide to your audience. And I think one of the key things is, is managing risk and, you know, some people are risk adverse. Some people are risk tolerant, and depending on really your family and your culture and where you grew up. Pretty much determines or patterns, um, kind of how you feel about those kinds of things. And in my family, my family came from Hungary and they escaped from the Russians and came here and, and then they ended up in Las Vegas. School at UNLB the rebels, they were rebels, they became rebels. And I think I'm kind of rebellion. And I think that that's where it comes from specifically to hypnotherapy. What happened was I was at Pepperdine university, which I thought was my dream job. I, I was always into running, always into organizing. Since I was a little kid. I was a guy that ran around the neighborhood and organized the baseball and football and basketball, depending on the season. And I loved running and wanted to coach people. So I quit my engineering job at Exxon to become first, a high school coach for $2,000 a year. When my then wife wasn't working and we had a big house and two kids, and I just did it.  I was day-trading in the.com run-up and thought that would last forever, but it didn't. But anyway, I did pretty well at thousand Oaks high school, we won a state championship and, we raised a bunch of money. And when we left, we had more national record holders than any school in the nation. And I thought this is going to be easy. I moved on to Pepperdine University. Unfortunately it was a very minimally funded program. And I thought I could change that and all the different ways that I tried didn't work. And finally, I decided I want to beat UCLA. We were a division one program, UCLA and Oregon, and some of the big time schools. And on the 1 0 1 freeway to my home, there's been a sign that I've seen for probably 30, 40 years called HMI hypnotherapy. I had no clue what it really was. And a lot of people that drive through the valley see that sign. And I said, gosh, I wonder if I could hit my ties, my athletes to run faster. And so I went to one of those introductory sessions at HMS. Hypnosis meditation instituted Tarzana, California turns out it's like the world's foremost hypnotherapy school, Dr. Joe Dispenza and graduated from there as did Marisa peer as did many, pretty famous hypnotherapists. It's the, I think the only accredited or at least the first accredited college of hypnotherapy in the. Wow. And so it's not like a workshop. I was traveling quite a bit. So it took me 18 months to do it. What was interesting was that, once I got to the point where I could hypnotize my athletes. We went to a track meet up at San Luis Obispo and the kids knew what I was doing. And I got six brave kids that said they're willing to try to be hypnotized, um, to run faster than it. So we, we did this, we set this up, the whole team was watching and it was so interesting because back then I was using, what's called the arm raising technique. And that's how we put people on hypnosis and it, part of it's building confidence. And what you do is you have the person put their arm. I know you can't see here, but you put your arm on a table. And then I start just talking to them and saying that your arm is filled with helium. And before, you know, you're not even going to be able to stop this, but your arm is going to start to raise and it raises, and it, it takes like five to 15 minutes and the arm will raise until they hit their face. And this is you, do you snap your fingers and you'll say deep sleep and they're out. And literally I've done this a hundred times. I think only once did it not work. It just it's mind blowing to me that it works every time. And so I just hypnotize each of these athletes to run faster, to be more relaxed, to be more confident, et cetera, in their race. And then the next day, all six of them set huge personal records. PRS. We call them in the running world and then on the Monday following my athletic director called me into the office and I thought, oh, this is going to be great. He's finally going to say something good about something that I've done. And he said, I heard what you did on Friday night. And then how the kids ran on Saturday. I'm saying, yeah, it was so cool. And he goes, you know, you can't do that. And I said, what? I mean, I was like, and he said, we're a Christian University. And you were playing God. And I go as soon as he said it, I kind of understood it, but I, I didn't think of it up until that point. I was really buck. The good part was because initially I went to hypnotherapy school specific for My athletes and, or other athletes eventually, you learn how to deal with 146 different issues that people have. And I found that I was able to help people worldwide because essentially my,  internships started the day everything's shut down for the Corona virus pandemic. And so I had to learn this new thing called zoom and hypnotize people over zoom. So I put in a post on my Facebook saying I'm looking for seven brave people, let me practice hypnotherapy with them over zoom. And within a week I had 56 people and I kept saying, yes, I only want to seven, but I said, yes. And literally I had, four to eight clients every day, seven days a week for several months. And it was interesting because by the time I graduated, one of the things they told me is they said you're, you're, you're graduated is that I actually had more clinical hours than anyone in the 54 year history of HMI. Because typically, you did it in the office. We have an office and you get one or two clients a day, three or four or five days. I was doing it seven days a week with up to eight clients. So it was really great and I practiced in practice and it may be a better hypnotherapists in fact, sort of one of my claims that I really like is that I was working with this cancer patient in Australia and on her third or fourth session. Her dog was running around her chair, where she needed to be, in a peaceful, calm place. And I said, put that dog up on your chest. I'm going to hypnotize your dog to stop barking. She said, you can do that. And I said, sure, not really knowing, but while she's running around getting the dog, I Googled, how do you hypnotize a dog? And it turns the world's foremost, cat and dog hitting a therapist. Is one of the instructors at HMI. And so I read a script, Princeton, her dog was sitting on her chest . I hypnotized her and the dog. And the next day she did a testimonial on her Facebook saying how excited she is that Princeton isn't barking at all thanks to Robert Radnoti and the hypnosis he did yesterday. Amazing stories. gosh,  I think one of the coolest parts about that is that you taught those individuals on your team, the power of opening your mind. And I think that is the best gift that you gave them. Was that. They came, they're willing to try something new and it proved to work for them. And then they're going to take that away and use that concept in probably a million things for the rest of their life. So as you probably know, in sport, you know, we use a lot of visualization techniques in training. It was consistent with everything. I had been teaching all along and have been since I, I started coaching. So it was just a little bit of a stretch and actually a big stretch because some people are afraid of hypnotherapy. They think that, you know, I'm going to make them run around like a chicken with its head cut off or quack like a doctor or something like that. And that's not what hypnotherapy is. That's stage hypnosis. Okay. And that's very different and hypnotherapy, we have a code of ethics and we are bound to help the client get what they want. So it's not even what I want. I'm just a facilitator. So, you know, in the first part of a session with someone, I just interview them and ask them, what do they really, really want? And then all hypnosis is, is putting people into a state. Where they're the most open to suggestions and the suggestions actually come from the client. So when I'm interviewing somebody, I'm writing down on my paper, here's what they want. And exact words to suggest into the subconscious. And it's become such a powerful thing because by the time we're in our mid thirties, 95% of all our thoughts, behaviors, habits, patterns, attitudes, feelings, and emotions are programmed into our body. They're in subconscious. And so that's why change is so difficult. And many of these, the gurus that you talked about, they have various processes to get into the subconscious. Just allow people to go in that hypnotic state, dropping them from the beta brainwave frequency that they're in during the normal course of the day, dropping them to alpha where their internal environment becomes more important. And then into theta where they're in this light sleep, where the door between the conscious and unconscious mind is open. And that's where we can make some suggestions to serve people. That is so good. I do know I do meditate in the morning first thing as soon as I open my eyes, I go get my phone and I plug in and I meditate right away because I in that in the alpha stage. And that is much better timing to do then than getting up for an hour and then trying to meditate.   I was going to ask you if you could explain what hypnotherapy is. So you're in the theta state. You're in the theta state. And when you're first born, all your mind knows is fight or flight but as you're growing up between birth and about eight years old, literally every experience you have gets stored in your subconscious. So you have thousands of positive experiences, thousands of negative experiences, but they're all stored there. And many of them, if not most of them, we don't even remember somewhere around eight years old you develop, what's called the critical mind or the analytical mind. And that's a piece of the mind that now starts to filter and decide. From the experiences or the learnings, is that really true? Do I want to store it in my subconscious? And the best example I have of that is, is Santa Claus.  Did you believe in Santa Claus at one point. We all did. Right? And then somewhere around eight years old, a parent, a neighborhood kid, someone said, now, hold it. Do you think this fat guy with a white beard really makes presents for every kid in the world with some elves. And your analytical mind that started to develop. Huh? I no longer believe that. Right. That happens around that eight years old or so. And so between eight and about 12 years old, 13 or so,  you develop your conscious mind, your analytical mind, your subconscious mind, and a lot of the things that we have program or kind of set. And so hypnosis allows us to drop below and through that critical mind and the subconscious, and then we can either strengthen a positive experience or we can weaken lesson or even eliminate a negative experience, or we can create a whole new experience because the mind doesn't know whether it's real or not. And a real good example is as I mentioned, my parents were from Hungary in growing up my sister and I, we always wanted to have a dog and my dad never wanted to have a dog. We couldn't understand everyone in the neighborhood. I had a dog, but he just said, I like dogs. I don't want it. And it was many years later, we were at a family reunion in Budapest and there's dogs running all over the place and I'm just kind of remarked, Hey, what's the deal with all the dogs. We weren't allowed to have dogs. And she goes, well, I know why. And everyone turned to her to say, well, why? And she said, when your dad was five years old, he was bitten by a dog and he didn't remember it. But it made sense. It was programmed in his subconscious because he couldn't explain why he didn't like dogs. He was a very loving, caring person that you would think would really like dogs, but he was afraid of. And so, you know, it, we all have these things and I'm guessing that you, I all your audience, we probably done somethings in our life, maybe every day, where we go. I wonder why I did that. And it's because of things in our subconscious that we just don't even know about. And that's why hypnotherapy can be so powerful because we can go in and we can discover some of those things, or we can create new things to serve you. And that's what the, the profession, the business, the mission is all about is serving people, helping them become more vital in their lives, live rad and love contagiously. That's kind of like my thing. It is just so fulfilling to be able to do this. That's why I'm excited to, to come on here  and share this message. And I'm so glad you did. Cause I find this fascinating. I really do. And I know about you are your experiences. I always tell people, make sure you're asking yourself. Why, why do you do things? Because it is important to think about, is it really what I believe or is it really what I've been told to believe? That is so true. Um, this is a crazy idea,  I know we had talked about this and I think it's really cool about maybe doing a general session for our audience and hypnotherapy. Can we do that? We can do that. I had one other thought as you were speaking, if I could just share this. This is kind of interesting to me. And this comes from Dr. Joe Dispenza. one of the things that we teach in this program, so now I'm teaching his, his program it's called,  Change Your Mind, Create New Results. And it's based on his book, Breaking The Habit Of Being Yourself. We have a two day class that we teach. Now there's about a hundred or so of us worldwide that are teaching this program. But one of the hallmarks from this is, is that your personality, creates your personal reality or your life and your personality consists of how you think, how you act and how you feel. And that most people want to change their personal reality or their life as the same personality. And it simply doesn't work in order to make a change. If you want a different life, you have to change. You have to become someone different. And so what you just said, I'm asking the question, why that's an important thing, because it's becoming metacognitive thinking about the thoughts that you have, because what happens is we're in a program if 95% of every thought every action, every feeling is programmed into it. We're doing things unconsciously. And so we have a familiar path and we're not making any changes because we think 60 to 70,000 thoughts per day. And 90% of them are the exact same thoughts we had the day before. And so if we're having the same thoughts, those thoughts are creating the same choice. And those same choices then lead to the same behaviors. Those same behaviors create the same experiences and the same experiences produce the same feelings and emotions, and they then influence the same things thing. And we keep doing the same thing over and over again. And our life doesn't change. Because we haven't changed. And our biology, our neurochemistry, our neurocircuitry, our hormones and even our gene expression stay the same because we are the same. For people to understand is they've got to change if they want to change. Right. And it's very difficult for most people. It's that uncertainty muscle that Tony Robins I know talks about.  I loved his analogy with marriages and how people get divorced and they get remarried and that doesn't work out and it's because they haven't changed. It's not the marriage. It's that you're just taking the same person that didn't function well in a marriage prior and sticking them into another marriage that's not going to work well either.   What I got out of Tony Robbins around relationships and a lot of different areas. Not only do you not change, but we literally don't know the strategies on how to have a successful relationship or how to have a successful business or how to a lot of different things.  We weren't programmed or we didn't learn how to have a relationship. Right. You know, we have parents and they're doing the best they can, you know, in our generations, they kind of stuck together a lot of times for the kids, but were they really loving? Do we have many examples of these great loving relationships? We don't. I've been married 40 years. What are you happy? There's a big difference between being married for 40 years of being happily married. That's one of the things I think that I take from Tony is he's got brilliant strategies every aspect of life, whether it's relationships, emotions, time management, your purpose, finances, your contribution, spiritual life, there are strategy. So let's get back to our hypnotherapy session for everybody out there, listening. Okay. So here's what, there's something really, really super important in. Everyone's got to agree to, this is you cannot participate in this. If you are driving or you are doing something that if we set you into or put you in a state of hypnosis, that you could be a danger to yourself or to somebody. You have to be in a place where you're by yourself undisturbed. So you can't have kids running around, you can't have dogs running around, you can't have spouses running around nothing. You have to do this when you're in a quiet place. Ideally you're in a chair that kind of reclines back a little bit where your head is supported and it's quiet. So if someone's listening in any of those kinds of situations, they should just stop this. If they'd like to do this, they can then start it back when they're in that situation, is that agreement for everyone? So everyone, that's a disclaimer, so please, please be in a safe location before you try to do this hypnotherapy. We want to keep everybody safe and we want it to work well for you, so do it in a safe setting. That there'll be no injuries. Okay. And are you going to do it, Caroline? Absolutely. Okay. So get yourself in a place where you can sit back and you're undisturbed. All right. So what I'd like everyone to do is go ahead and close your eyes. And If you're wearing glasses, go ahead and take your glasses off. just start with three deep breaths, deep cleansing breaths.   Three deep breaths, cleansing breaths, breathing out any pressure or tension that might be in your body. And breathing in the feelings of peace and serenity and tranquility, breathing in thankfulness and gratefulness, breathing in through the heart, joy and happiness and freedom. Letting any tension in your body then kind of do a body scan. And if there's any pressure, tension, anywhere in your body, just allow that to sort of gravity feed and go out through your toes and breathe in the feeling of love and bliss and ecstasy. And just allow yourself to now call on your beautiful, creative, imaginative, amazing mind, and say, I'm open to this experience. I want to create some amazing images and visualizations as we go forward. And this is with my permission and for the purposes of hypnosis education only that we do. And so what I want you to do is imagine a white beam of light coming down from the heavens above and entering the crown of your head and flowing through your whole body, calming, relaxing, and allowing any tension in your body to just dissipate and flow out of your. And as this beam of light comes and enters the crown of your head, I want you to now just command your face to relax a little bit more, your forehead, your cheekbones, and your jaw. Just relax your whole face and moving downwards. Those little tiny neck muscle. Well then to relax this white beam of light, as it comes to the base of your neck, it splits into three, two pieces going to your arms and one into your body and the light, the goes, your arms, feel your shoulder, relax a little bit more relaxing, your biceps and triceps. And it flows through your forearms and into your hands and out through your fingertips. And you wiggle your fingertips a little bit, just visualize that light beam by continually flowing in through your head and out through your arms and through your fingertips. And now come back to the base of your neck and feel that larger beam of light go into your body, cavity and swirl around and calm down and relax your heart. Slowing down your heart rate into your lungs and slowing your breathing. Swirling around your spine and all those beautiful vital organs, your stomach and intestines and kidneys and everything in there. Just relaxing as you go further and further into a calm, peaceful place. The beam of light now goes down past your butt muscles, your gluteus Maximus, minimus, relaxing those muscles and into your legs. As you relax your hamstrings and thigh. Lycos, pastor knees relaxing. Now your calves and your shins and into your feet and out through your toes, maybe wiggling your toes and all the pressure and tension in your body, in your life in your day. At least for this session, just fade away. As you go into a very peaceful place. Now, what I want you to do from here is I want you to visualize or imagine yourself on a beach, actually on a wooden, um, landing where there's 20 steps, 20 wooden steps down to the beach, down to the same. And you're on this platform is very safe. There's handrails there, you feel safe, but it's a beautiful, beautiful day and beautiful as whatever your creative imaginative mind wants to create. And you can create the beach scene down in front of you. And it could be that a beach scene of California or of the east coast, maybe with those darker sands or toward the south, toward the Caribbean where they've got the white Sandy beach. Or maybe in Hawaii, the lava fields that dark, dark sands, or maybe even in the baldies where they've got the pink sands, whatever you want your imagination to create, go ahead and allow it to be created and allow there to be vegetation and Palm trees and eye biscuits and whatever pops into your imagination. Just allow it to be as you stand on this wooden platform above the sand. Feeling very safe, feeling, very calm. And as you look down to the beach, to the sand at the base of the stairs, you see a person down there, you can't quite make out who it is, but they look familiar to you. And you're drawn to them in a moment. We're going to walk down the steps to meet that person. But for right now, I want you to bring yourself back up to this platform and I want you to. Place yourself in your imagination, in the body of you. So you can't see your soul wholesale because you're inside yourself. So if you look down, you might see your thighs and maybe your feet, but you can't see your face because you're inside your body. And I want you to place your left hand on the left railing. And I want you to put your left foot. Down this step, number 20, we're going to walk down together, your right foot to step number 19, your left 18, your right to 17. You're left to 16. And so on 15, 14, 13, 12, 11. Ten going further into your subconscious 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 and Deep sleep. And just allow yourself to go to the optimum place. In your subconscious, where you're the most open to suggestions, suggestions to serve you, to benefit you. And this is for the purposes of hypnosis only. And with your permission each and every time I say deep sleep and snap, my fingers, you'll go further into your subconscious where we can make some suggestions this for acute. And so now, I want you to feel the sand below your feet, your shoeless feel the sand between your toes. You're down on the beach down, maybe about 20 feet or so away from the water, but the person that you sort of recognize from the top comes now in front of. And without speaking word, either one of you, they come into view and it's you of your future and you have, your future is smiling and you look at him or her left eye to left eye because the left eye connects to the right side of the brain, your emotional side of the brain. And you want a good connection. And you can feel the love that you have for each other, because this is you have your future looking at you. It's an emotional experience. And you want a good connection And you can feel the love that you have for each other, because this is you have your future looking at you And the, you have your future finally starts to speak and says to you, I have been waiting for this day ups and the downs, the challenges and the joy. And I'm here to tell you the next phase of your life. is going to become truly amazing, truly remarkable as you grow into the man or woman that you were designed and destined to be my God or the universe or the source or higher power, whatever you believe in spiritually, the next phase of your life is going to be truly amazing. And I'm here to give you a message and this is the most important message that you can receive today. The message to you is that you are worthy for what's coming the next phase of your life, that you are more than enough that you deserve the successes coming your way. In every aspect of your life, it's among the most important things to know deep in your subconscious is that you are worthy. You are more than enough. You are loving, lovable, and loved. Sure. You like every other human as flaws has made mistakes because you are human. And I want you to remember this new word possibly for you. And it's flawsome, you are awesome with all the flaws that you have because too, oftentimes we make a mistake or we have a flaw and we beat ourselves up. We're no longer going to do that. Every time that happens. We're just going to simply say stop. And reflect back on this moment where you understand that every human being is flawsome. Every human being makes mistakes. Every human being is worthy and more than enough, and these deserving and loving, lovable, and loved. Once we remember that. Once we integrate this into every cell within your body, the magic, the mystical, the unexplained begins to happen in your life. And as you have the future talking to you of the present, I'm here to tell you I'm here to suggest into your subconscious how important this truly is. And I want you to reflect on this throughout the day and days. And I want you to repeat any time you question yourself, anytime you need to stop. I want you to tell yourself the short ancient, Hawaiian tribe, whole Pono Pono, short prayer. Just saying it to yourself and repeat this with me now. I love you. Thank you to your subconscious. I love you. Thank you to your inner child. I love you. Thank you. I love you. Thank you. I love. Thank you with that. You have your future goes quiet. You know, eventually you go to hug each other and as you pull the, you have your future into you, they meld into your body. You pull them into you because after all that you have your future is you. The worthy, the loving, the deserving, the flawsome you the future is you, right? You pull that all into you. It feels good. It feels loving. It feels right. It feels blissful. It feels freedom. It feels joy and happiness, peace and joy and tranquility. You're grateful. And with that, we're going to bring you out of the state of hypnosis by counting you out from zero to five and at five you'll come eyes wide open, but at zero, I want you to look out at this beach scene that you've created. Right now, We're going to bring you out of hypnosis again by counting you out. And it one, I want you to know that we've made some suggestions into your subconscious to serve you, to benefit you that are very, very powerful and it to have faith in yourself, trust in yourself. Believe in yourself. You've got this that you have programmed into every cell in your body, the feelings and emotions. You've just experienced from the, you have your future and it three, fill yourself up with hope and excitement anticipation for this next phase of your life. Now at four become aware that you're in your room on a chair and a couch on a bed and start to come back, come back and at five eyes wide, open 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 eyes wide open and come back. And if everyone fell asleep, take yours out. How awesome. That's just the first part of it. Usually I take people down to the beach and there's an experience there. And then we come back, we sit down, there's another experience there, but I'm watching the time so I wanted to kind of close things up it was awesome. Thank you so much for doing that. That was really neat. I have one little last question. It's my signature question, if you could eliminate one thing in this world, what would it be and why Robert eliminate one thing in the world? Oh gosh. There's so many things right now that, uh, eliminate aren't there. Um, I would eliminate the negative fixed mindset that so many people have so that more people could be open to people like myself, to people like you, you know, we are creating an army of people that really want to change the world. Yes that want to feel the world with love and joy and happiness and create the kind of environment and lifestyle and culture that we're proud of. That we're honored to be part of that we can grow from and live in a state of bliss and joy and happiness and all those beautiful feelings that, uh, that we want that. I love that. And I probably would answer that question very similar, because I think when you go to these kinds of events that you partake in all the time, a lot of people go there with a fixed mindset and then they leave pretty much the same way. And I'm like, no, that's what this is all about. You come here to open yourself up to new ideas and leave a different person so that you can grow. Where can our listeners connect with. I've got a website, Robertradnoti.com. Um, another website, radnotihypnosis. I'm on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, all those kinds of things.  thank you so much, Robert, for being with us today, this was a really cool experience. Something very different I've never done before. And I really appreciate your time today and investing with our audience and sharing your gifts. So thank you very much. 

hello? Hello everybody. This is Caroline Schafer, your host. And today I am so happy and pleased to welcome Josh Dech, Josh Dech, is with Josh Dech Fitness Incorporated. In his early twenties  he was a paramedic. He is into weightlifting strength training. He's an athlete and a personal trainer and six years ago, he made the jump to the entrepreneurial world. He loves functional medicine, and I can't wait for today because we're going to get into all things about gut and bacteria. Welcome Josh. Thank you for having me. That was quite the introduction you should consider radio. Thank you. That's hysterical. If you knew where my brain was at a few months ago, I will so take that. so the more I learn about the gut, the more fascinating I find it. I think one of the most interesting facts is that we are made up of more bacteria than cells. That's so cool because I don't think many people know that. they call it the second brain now and how important that is. So tell me a little bit about you and how you got into. Wow. Okay. That's quite a journey. So my first career, as you said, I was a paramedic and it actually happened more by fluke how I became a personal trainer. I moved across the country and I was trying to get my paramedic's license transferred. Now it is only province to province. Whereas doctors and nurses are more national, sometimes international, depending on designation. So my testing just wasn't going through and I wasn't able to transfer my license. It wasn't just the medical exam. So I hit a bunch of things. Picked up a job at a gym, just working as a personal trainer there. In the meantime to pave my licensing sort of fell in love, ended up at this business conference. And, from there the rest is history. I decided that weekend it was a three-day conference. I'm quitting my job, starting a business, fell in love with it. And I've been doing this now six years. And over the course of all of this, I've made that transition. Really fell in love with the idea of moving from reactive medicine as a paramedic to proactive medicine as a personal trainer operating in the space of functional medicine. Oh, I love that. I love that proactive. That is my kind of words.  I know you're a big proponent of the book, "the Oxygen Advantage", tell me a little bit about the oxygen advantage, fantastic books written by Patrick McComb. I'm not sure his exact designation, Irish fellow work somewhere in whether it's sports therapy. I forget exactly what it is. However, the book talks about the importance of breathing. Something as simple as chest breathing versus belly breathing. How, when you breathe through your nostrils are actually produced nitric oxide, which helps create basal dilation. It dilates the blood vessels, lowering blood pressure. It's healthier gas exchange. It actually warms the air. It's not as hard on the lungs, but it does to relax your body, actually just nasal breathing versus breathing through your mouth. Even the little things. When you breathe through your mouth, you're prone to breathing in your chest. Which creates tightness in the muscles, in your pecs, your neck, your shoulders, your traps, which can inhibit a bunch of nerves. Create stress responses. Breathing in the belly can also help stimulate and call the Vegas nerve, which is a big one in relaxation. It governs the heart and all your organs, the digestive system. And so the simple act of breathing through your nose. Creates this entire cascade of things in the body where we do our health has just amplified by just breathing differently. It's amazing is so amazing. And I'm so a proponent of that, and I'm going to blow everybody's mind right now. So I do something a little bit crazy at night but it's because I've read up on all of that.  It is so funny to me, how before, like your one and a half, two, you breathe correctly and nobody instructs you, but somehow we mess it up and we go from naturally breathing as an infant through our nose. Somehow we start breathing through our mouth, which is not good so I tape my mouth to sleep and it is wonderful. , I learned from Mike Mutzel, with High Intensity Health and it does crazy things, it changes jawline structure. Like you said, all the chemistry within the body, the stress, like w like a million chemical changes happen, it's mind blowing. It's such an like autonomic thing. It just, happened. Nobody, instructs you to breathe, but we're all doing it wrong. Like, it's so crazy. Well, how can you do something wrong when you just do it intuitively it's true. I mean, they recommend that the book you tape your mouth closed when you're sleeping to force you to breathe. Now I've dealt with a more of a histamine issue. It's like a mass cell activation issue where my body, through my gut and other issues that I've had struggled with over the years before I learned to correct. my body would produce histamines, produce mucus, all kinds of stuff. So I dealt with this chronic rhinitis where my sinuses are always plugged in. Just even the act of forcing myself, even when it was hard. It almost made me panic a bit because I couldn't breathe. My sinus has just opened up, but I mean,  I'm 29 years old my skull is not going to change an In structure, a growth, right. It's more popular and they talk about this in the book. It's more popular in tribal countries, African countries, where there will actually force the baby to start breathing through his mouth. They will hold its lips close to force it breathe, to a sinuses over here. We call it barbaric over there. But you'll notice it's not just a genetic thing, but a lot of tribes, pygmy tribes, African tribes, some of it's a genetic lineage thing, but you'll notice a wider,  nasal cavity, larger sinuses, larger air passages through the nose because they are breathing properly. That's a human should look like, but the development of your nose, like you and I talked about this a little bit. I know you're jumping at the bit for this one. It's so funny to me that people call them third world. And yet they know how to work their body better than all of our intelligence over here. You know what I mean? That's kind of a scary thought. It's like something as simple, something as simple as breathing. That we do every single second of our life that we can't do for more than a few seconds without, and we just mess it up. when you breathe through your mouth, your whole throat gets dry, which is not good for bacteria but when you tape your mouth shut, you can't breathe. There, it doesn't get dry. Then I don't drink water. Then I don't have to get up and use the restroom in the middle of the night. So I just get one big continuous sleep without any interruptions. But I just think it's glorious. And when I have researched the information, there were so many benefits to it. The first time I saw it I was like, okay, that's really crazy. Crazy. Like, why bother? Just no way. It's too crazy to be true. It looks nuts. I mean, when you see somebody with their map taped, you're like, whoa, that's really strange. Yeah. Right. It looks a little off, but if you do the science, I tell you why it's so. Amazing. And it's like, if you try it, it takes a few nights because your first you're like, what is this thing on my mouth?  It helps all the asthma, sleep apnea and snoring like it is such a godsend for all of these things. I wish people had more of the mindset of those third world countries, because it is truly amazing how many healing properties it can have. So I can't wait to get more into this and those jokes, we talk, well, first world problems, but what is the first real problem? Is it that, you know, my modem, I can't reach to my house is so big or is it that my body is so screwed up because we don't understand the basics of medicine. Yeah. We really need to get more simplistic. We've overcomplicated everything. ? I never knew  asthma is a disease of luxury, it's not in third world countries. If they don't have it, we've created our own diseases because of that clean and antiseptic we are. And, everyone's driving me crazy with the hand sanitizer, cause that stuff is so darn toxic and most people use in Purell, which is bacterial, not viral. So it does nothing for COVID and it just makes. Crazy. I've tried to even like tell managers of stores. I'm like, this does nothing. You're not helping anything, you know, but, uh, it's people just don't understand. But, talk to me more about gut bacteria, like DNA versus gut bacteria. Ooh, good topic. Okay. So something that I think is not so commonly known as every person in the world, no matter who you are, where you're from, we'll share an average about 99.9% of your DNA. We've always looked at DNA as a thing that makes us it as it's who we are. It's what was passed down from generation to generation, from your parents. To me, it's how I came to be with blonde hair, blue eyes. Right. My height's all DNA based, which is true. However, DNA and genes, all there's variables between them. What's really interesting if we shared 99.9%of our DNA, and we all look as different as we do. What's more interesting is you and I, we had these ecosystems living on our skin and inside of our gut, like billions of billions of bacteria. In fact, we have three to five pounds of bacteria living in our digestive system. Okay. So we it's super crazy. That's yeah, this is all full of bacteria. If it was the wrong kind of bacteria that would kill a population. So we share 99.9% of our DNA, but this entire ecosystem that lives inside of our bodies, digesting food, absorbing nutrients and vitamins, and creating vitamins for us, balancing hormones, we only share about 10% of that genetic makeup of our gut bacteria between you and yet we should have 99.9% of our DNA. So my question is what really makes us is that our. Or is it a gut bacteria? If you have what we call dysbiosis or imbalance in gut bacteria, poor gut health, poor gut bacteria. You can have almost any medical condition under the sun. You can have diabetes, MS, autism or autism like symptoms, ADHD, anxiety, depression.You can have all. Hashimoto's your gut and your thyroid have a direct connection. You're getting your brain a direct connection. And that brings into like leaky gut leaky brain toxins, getting into the brain causing inflammation that you just it's endless. And we'll, we'll dive. However far you want to dive today. I know we don't want this to be a six hour lecture, but that's the gist. It's amazing. The brain, the body, the gut. It's just incredible. It really is. I heard an interesting quote the other day and they're like, no doctor, even all the doctors cumulatively. Have any clue on really the depth and an insight of all the things that go on on the human body. It is just so impressive and amazing. Like the more we keep finding out. It's so complicated. It really is such a miracle. Like it is amazing to me as a mom that all the babies that come out. Okay. Because of, so there's such a variety of things that could go wrong, I mean, it's millions of things. It's mind blowing as many of us come out as good as we do to me. I mean, even like your gut health, as it relates to your liver and liver toxicity, Now the EWG, the Environmental Working Group has all kinds of studies. They have a list. They call the clean 15 and the dirty dozen, the dirty dozen, it's all your fruits and vegetables that have the most pesticides and additives and GMOs. Whereas your clean 15 or your best 15 options like avocados, hardest stuff, your dirty dozen is always spinach, strawberries, other berries, soft things. Now they've also done studies followed parents and babies and all kinds of stuff. They've done these testifying chemicals and chemical additives within the body. And they found an average it's 252 or 56 chemicals inside the umbilical quarter of an unborn fetus that makes me want to cry. It should, it's not chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, rocket fuel petroleum products inside our body. And then in an average adult, it's over 500 and some odd chemicals. And it's amazing that still a baby can come out. This is why I believe we had all these autism and learning disabilities and things that are getting worse and worse as we develop. But these are diseases of a developing country. And so. It's amazing that the human body could still produce a healthy, functional baby amongst these hundreds of like rocket fuel and your why it's stuff it's soil, it's everywhere. It's amazing. A lot of people like rice and it's a staple but there's a amount of arsenic in rice and it's so crazy. Like you think rice is such a normal staple for so many people in the world, but it's like the contaminants are so high. I personally go gluten free and the more grain-free that I am the better off I am. The only two that I seem to have no repercussions from are cassava root and coconut flour. I've mentioned this before about the bacteria. As a mom, I've had twins and they say babies that are born vaginally, get to have that bacteria as they go through the birth canal. And it really jump-starts their whole gut health c-section void that and they never get that. And it's like stealing from them in my mind, which is really sad. And the C-section babies usually have more asthma allergies and all those kinds of repercussions and I literally have that in my life. I have twins, the first one was born vaginally and second one was born C-section first one doesn't really have allergies. Oh, when she played softball, she looked a little frog. Her eyes would blow up in our thing, but I'm like, I have scientific proof of that theory right in front of my eyes. It's amazing. What's really interesting. Is there are some doctors who are more on board with this stuff than others. Cause as far as a lot of them are concerned, it's pseudoscience and booty witchcraft. Right, right. I mean, we, we can prove it. We have the studies to back us up. So what some doctors will do, thankfully, is if you are born, C-section, we'll actually take to a vaginal swab and wipe it inside the cheek of the baby, which will actually start to culture and produce that gut bacteria. So get that biome, but one of the issues, I mean, this is how sensitive the gut is. This is why not only because babies don't have teeth, you should be feeding them solid through and say six months, eight months where there's, they start to be able to digest it. But it's not just. Because their gut bacteria is still developing. Their immune systems are still developing. What happens. You can actually create leaky gut in an infant, creating food sensitivities and allergies and battle the digestive issues in it as an infant before that, even an adult. And so they're already predisposed to asthma allergies, histamine issues, gut health issues, because you've fed them solid food too early. Like it's just such a delicate process. That's so funny that you say that because my daughter is about to have a baby and I did not know about that swab. And I literally just wrote that down. So many doctors are so jumpy about doing that darn C-section and I hate it because it is so important to go through that. God knew what he was doing when he made this whole process, you know? And it's so vital to them for the rest of their life. I will still be passing that information along.  Thank you for that.   You talked about the dirty dozen, you talked about the clean 15, so you had to pick two foods, let's just say for like gut health, what would you pick? Wow, that's a crap question, but gut health. Yeah. What would you pick for a food or two as a generic? 'cause a lot of people, we look at probiotics and prebiotics, right? For, for the listeners who don't know the difference, a probiotic is things that are your bacterial cultures, things like, you know, kefir or yogurt, or it was when I was thinking I was like cabbage juice, sauerkraut so those are your probiotics. Prebiotics are starches and things fibers, non solubles that will actually feed them. They can feed the bacteria . So not everybody can have dairy. So I'm a big fan, big fan of like cabbage, for example, fantastic. For the gut. It's really great fiber. Fiber, it goes so far beyond anything else. Let's say that for gut health would be dietary, not supplemented, but dietary fiber binds on to toxins and binds onto extra hormones and pulls water into the colon. Eases the pressure, the stress on the digestive system, decreasing inflammation prevents helps ease blood sugar into the body as well. So don't get these peaks and valleys of prevents diabetes, dietary fiber from fruit and vegetable sources would be the number one thing I would use for gut health. Um, so one of the things that I try to do from my gut house does I'm convinced that Hashimoto's thyroiditis is all gut related. I try to do one fork full of sauerkraut every day.  They say that that's all you need is one forklift. I also heard that olives were really good. They are. Okay, good. For the importance of gut health,  as the second brain, what can you share with that? Oxford, have you repeat the question in a sec? Because my ADHD brain is you're actually talking about the importance of gut health and thyroid, and is very much directly connected and important point to note is, are you familiar with what's called goitrogenic foods? Yes. Okay, perfect. So anybody with a thyroid condition, low thyroid or hypo thyroid Hashimoto needs to avoid those goitrogenic foods cabbages and broccolis things like that because it actually binds to the iodine molecules in that we call your T3 hormones. They don't want to change that. So that's where we get this, what we call T3, reverse T3 iodine, molecule shifts a little bit, and it actually changes the active. T3 hormone. That's your, your reverse T3 is an inactive version, right? I mean, 97% of your thyroid is T4. It's inactive. 7% is active T3. And if you have low thyroid, you getting high conversion to this inactive form called reverse T3. You're eating high, like iodine binding foods, these goitrogenic foods, it's going to increase your thyroid hormone issues. So something to watch out for people with thyroid conditions and got. So one of the things that I've heard and I try not to eat a lot of the broccoli, the cabbage or the cauliflower kale, brussel sprouts are in there. I have heard that if you cook them, it is better. So that, that is an aid cause unfortunately with broccoli is so good for you. It happens to be one of my favorite, but I don't need it very much.  But do eat the one fork full of cabbage, but I do know about that and it is interesting. And I do also know about the gluten-free is very important. I think gluten-free most people should just do that because it's just such a, like gluten you're on them, for sure. Like gluten unequivocally across the board creates leaky gut for everyone. Right like celiacs, but for sure, yes. Well, it, I find it interesting. I don't think people understand. I've been out to a meal people and they make faces when I'm trying to question people about what's in the food, but I don't think they understand the ramifications, like one bite of anything with gluten and it makes my own thyroid attack itself for like months on end, which is pretty crazy. If you start thinking about your body attacking itself for six months, cause you had a morsel of something and to me, it's just not worth it. I don't, I'm a hundred percent gluten-free I don't vary it.  what is  interesting is the amount of gluten that we intake today. It is nothing like our grandparents. I forget the percentage, but it's a mere fraction because it's in everything. They will think, oh, bread, no, it's in your toothpaste. It's in pretty much anything. That's in a bottle that as some kind of coagulation, the salad dressing dressings, the barbecue sauce, all condiments and that kind of thing. I used to do corporate events and I used to be in charge of dietary issues. I think it was gluten that you could find them they're like 23 names. So it's really hard on labels to decipher all this, which makes going out to eat very problematic. So many things relate to it, I know we had mentioned Parkinson's, I mean, 85% of what we call your neuro-transmitters are made in your gut. And so neurotransmitters, they're the things that allow nerves to communicate. It's not all one big band, right? I mean, there's these heads at the end of the nerves and they need to send these chemical messengers across, but the other nerve to pick that up in a drag it across the signal to carry it down the body to wherever it's going, but we have 85% of your neuro-transmitters, those communicators are made inside of your. And if you have a dysbiosis or gut health issues, inflammation, bloat, whatever it is, you're lacking those neuro-transmitters. And so to an extreme degree, it can create things like MS, parkinson's other stuff. I mean, you look at your dopamine, serotonin dopamine, or lack of dopamine causes Parkinson's and that's made mostly in your gut. Wow. I did not know that. That is really scary. I know you're a personal trainer. Tell me about a success story.  One of my favorites and, all of  my current clients might get sick of me talking about it, but it's the greatest success we had because their starting point of dramatic. So I work with Lynn and Lynn was a client of mine. She came in to see me when she was 57 years old. And so she had just had a gastric sleeve done. They took up 76% of her stomach and she had this black hole. Yeah. And so it was, it was that the bariatric surgery, right. To wait. And I am entirely every sense against weight loss surgery every way. There's no justification for medically, scientifically speaking for it to be a thing ever, ever. I agree with you, people just take out everything today and I don't believe people know what they're doing when they do that. No, they really don't. And without going too much a rappel isn't the top of her gallbladder. So anyway, so she had her, her stomach part, part of it removed. And so this created a bunch of issues for her. Of course she couldn't eat. She was having gut health issues, whatever. Once you started with me at age 57, she was on 17 pills and a shot of insulin for breakfast. She was on nine more pills and insulin before bed. She had a C-PAP machine, high blood pressure, borderline cardiac. Uh, we call CHF congestive heart failure. She was on the disability list at work, but they had a fire drill and she's up on the 30 whatever floor. And she had to stand there and wait for the fire department to come and get her because she couldn't get down the stairs. Oh my God. I was aged 57. We started working together. Uh, this was actually early in my career by age 59, she was doing phenomenally. She was almost off all of her medications except for one, because of her surgery, no C-PAP or nothing and she was getting into weightlifting after the first, you know, eight months to a year now. So weightlifting is just, it's a fountain of youth. Lynn. I said you're 59. I said, you liked this weight lifting thing. I really like it like her dead lift was coming up this little lady at five foot, nothing 59 years old. And she was dead with, higher and higher weights, which we'll get to in a sec, I said, Hey, what do you, what do you feel about like entering your first power lifting competition? Right. And there's just, it's just squat bench and your deadlift, that's your powerlifting right. And she says, well, I don't know. I said it doesn't matter. It's a sign here. Perfect. So we signed on, but three months later, four months later, we drove up to Madison Hat's at three hours out of Calgary here. And so we got her up there and she did her first powerlifting competition. And she actually at age 59 broke her first ever world record. As a weightlifter and her division, she dead lifted at our all time peak. She ended up breaking like six world records, this woman who was on pills and insulin. And C-PAP the works after two years. And this is just the power of the body to heal itself. We treat it properly. She broke as a total, her career between 59 to 62 years old, she broke six world records. She holds something like seven nationals and two provincial records for her weight and age division in the raw powerlifting category, which is amazing... amazing. That is wicked cool. Oh my gosh. What a story? Holy cow. That is tremendous. Well that legacy got passed pass, like her kids, like her, her daughter got into weightlifting. Who's getting who then started adjusting her food who gave that to her daughter. So now her grandchildren are eating better and performing better because grandma's started something amazing. It didn't go well, I'm old, it's too late. She went, I need this. My body will still heal itself. I can recover. I can do it. And we got her on these programs and got her moving. And we'll shit before. Yeah, she's off all of her medications. She's breaking world records as a strength athlete in her late fifties. So it's never too late to change people. People always use the excuse. I'm like, no, no, no. You just gave me chills because so many people do the opposite. They impart bad habits into their children and their grandchildren, you know, the sugar and the snacks and the eating all day long and going to sleep with iPads and all that nonsense. And this woman. Put the bull by the horns in her late fifties, totally changed things up that often  her medication cured herself with your help of all of these ailments that she had and, and then breaks world records. That is freaking awesome. When you talk about habits, right. And how we pass these onto our children and our grandchildren, there's an old story. It's my favorite story. And a girl goes to her mom's house. Why don't we cut the ends off the ham. So she says, I dunno, your, your grandma did it. So she goes to her grandma she's she's asked her mum. She says, why do you cut out the ham? She goes i don't know, my grandma did it. Well, her great grandmother was still alive. She went to her and said, great grandma, why do you cut the ends out the hand? She goes, well, you know, back when I started in my early twenties, we didn't have a pan big enough. So we had to cut the ends off to fit. So we're doing all these things where we're moving, we're doing you're changing, making change in their lives and habits structures, just because somebody else did it. We don't ask why we're not the power of why. Why do we think we are, especially with the craziness that's going on in the world, we don't stop to ask why we're all a bunch of puppets. And we just do what we're told, ask why use your God-given brain and use some common sense and figure these things out. The people who are dictating this stuff are getting paid. They're getting paid. It's the food and drug administration, it's the big pharma. And it's like, they're the ones who are making all this information available. To make us believe things. And  their pockets that are getting lined. So is this exactly factual? And if you dig deep enough, it's not, we won't be too much of the rattle Hawks, you know, where we're kind of on gut health today, but there, there is a theory it's more spoken about in the conspiratorial atmosphere, but it's called the medical industrial complex.  And so if we actually look at medicine as an industry, sick people are revenue. War is profit, everything's profit. So if you actually trace back, when you can verify all these, you want to go and do your own digging critical thinking goes here. This is where it gets really interesting. Your food, Kellogg's all your branded stuff, your packaged stuff, Ramen, all, whatever you're eating, doesn't matter, it's all owned by the same couple of corporations, Pepsi, Coke. It's all owned by the same people. Apple or Microsoft or all the shareholders of these overarching companies are owned by the same people. It used to be a lot of it was Berkshire Hathaway, but now if you look at the top two for everything, it's Vanguard and it's BlackRock, the two companies who own basically the planet, they own your food, they own the new. They own the medicine medical school is paid for by pharmacy. 20% of it, 25, 20 6% is paid for by pharmaceutical companies who tell them what to learn, what studies they do, what medications treat, what in those. Who make the money. They produce the things that make you sick. They put the chemicals in your food. They sell you the medications. They sell you the hospitals. I take your tax dollars. I take everything. You can verify all this BlackRock and Vanguard are the two companies that own everything and this monopoly that makes you sick and keeps you here, that's the medical industrial complex. We are viewed as revenue, but a patient cure is it client loss to customer loss? Yep, absolutely. Absolutely. That's so that makes such sense. Love the way you sum that up. It all comes down to dollars and cents. That's it we're we're profit. We're cash cows. I mean, they it's so sad. It is. It is literally heart-wrenching to me to think that we've come to this kind of a place, but, but he's really fed GMO foods to rats and they'd grow tumors the size of their entire body, where it's just GMO based. We know GMO's are bad for us. They said, well, no, no, it's fine. It's fine. But we have the data. We have this, we have government studies and go to NCIB you can go wherever you want and you'll find information on it, but we're told something different. So it's so crazy. And it just, it really, it upsets me and it upsets me for like younger kids to who are never going to experience the freedoms that, that we did once growing up and be able to do things, but okay. Since we're in a heavy mode here, I'm going to ask my heavy question, so if you could eliminate one thing in this world, Josh, what would it be and why? One thing now on a food basis being of gut health, I would remove aspartame hands down unequivocally. I love that answer. Um, and it's known to be a neurotoxin. There've been reports coming out of the states, people who drink four liters of diet Coke a day presenting with MS where they just literally lose feeling in their hands and legs. And they come off a bit. Aspartame is poison and they come off as aspartame and they get back. That's my food answer. My other answer would be human greed, but it's, it's part of human nature. It's our sin nature. It's whatever you want to call it. But. A hundred percent. That's what we'll segue to is everything that we do if it's not for personal gain, right. The whole world collapses in on itself because of people chasing power and personal gain. And if we just did something we're generous, we just gave, we just worked with somebody else, did something for someone just out of the kindness of our hearts, everything. I mean, everything will be better. They've done studies just to show you what. They gave, different amounts of money to someone said, buy something for yourself with $5 up to a thousand dollars and buy something for yourself or $5 or for someone else, or $5 up to a thousand dollars. They hand this money, have them do these things. Now the self-reporting system, when they thought back about that deed or what they did or what they bought people who bought a $5 coffee for someone are happier than somebody who bought a thousand dollar item for themselves. Yep. Power of giving those far beyond just the little things it's chemical, it's hormonal, it's in our nature. We're made for that. Don't give themselves the chance to experience that because by far when you do and you get hooked on that, like a drug of choice because  that high of giving and feeling good about yourself is priceless. It really is. It's amazing. Tell everybody where they can get ahold of you and JoshDech Fitness. Well, if people want to get ahold of me, you can definitely get ahold of me on my website. That's Joshdech.com, DECH. And we also started a Facebook group a couple of weeks ago, which is of course entirely free, always will be. And the entire idea behind this Facebook group is to create a space where people come in and learn. I've been part of these keto groups and weight loss groups where people just. It's unfortunate because if you don't know an answer, you ask a question you get made fun of for it. And we're absolutely not this is a space where the group members are here to teach. They're here to learn. And the group it's actually quite a long name.. But you can look up Restoring Strength and Vitality for Men and Women, age 30 to 60 is health and fitness, restoring strength and vitality for men and women. And what we're doing is we're educating, we're doing lives every Friday. We're taking questions from our group members. We don't just create content because I think you should learn this. We see what's going on. We talk to you. We ask questions, we take polls and pick a topic and we teach because I want people to get out of this medical industrial complex, into a space they can learn and understand and critically think for themselves, heal their bodies from within and do what they need to do to get better because medicine is way too complicated. Now we have all these issues. We were playing catch up all the time. We're creating problems. And then creating medications to band-aid these problems will not the medication caused problems. So he's another medication for the problem caused by a medication it's crazy. And we just, we want to help. We want to spread the message we want to help people think critically and holistic and functional spaces and heal their bodies. So if you can find me @joshdech.com, where you can get to that health and fitness, restoring strength and vitality for men and women, age 30 to 60, I know it's a, quite a mouthful. It's all for SEO purposes.  I know. I come to, and it's much easier to name a child than it is to find a website name. I will link that, that name in the notes. So hopefully people, if they would, you know, access that they can find it easy. And, I love you have the word vitality in there. That's so awesome.  I thank you so much. I'm so big into gut health, and I think it vitally important out there and the breathing and all the things we talk about. They're overlooked in general, people know about, fried foods and things like that but I think people are really missing that link between breath and gut health. So thank you for sharing your wisdom today and your story. We greatly appreciate that. And then especially about your client. No wonder you do bragging rights on her. I mean, that is just phenomenally cool. But yeah, we, we appreciate you being here today and I want all of our listeners to remember life has no remote, get up and change it yourself. It's been a pleasure, Caroline. Thank you.

hello? Hello, this is your host Caroline Schaefer. I am so happy and pleased to welcome back Shawn Thorncraft. Sean and I have spoken many times now. We are becoming really good friends. He is a wealth of information, such a smart man. He's snickering, so, so true. Um, he really is like, he just knows so many facets of health and I'm really pleased to have him back with us again today. And we're going to discuss all things supplement. Sean is a nutritional advisor. His company is called Vitalnewu. And he goes under the umbrella of NeoLifeAfrica, a company that works with supplement. Happy to have you back, Sean, and I can't wait to divulge your information because you are truly full of awesome nuggets. So how are you today? I am great. Thank you. It's evening over yet, but it's wonderful to be back again. Thank you for. Absolutely. Like I said, you are just like an encyclopedia to so many things. I'm medical and health. I love, I love picking your brain. I really do. It's it's always informative and such a great welcome anytime. So supplements, that's a big topic and it's such a confusing one. And I feel like out of most topics, it's deceptive. It is really exhaustive  as a consumer to, to try to make heads and tails of all of this craziness that's out there. Money is the driving force and so it gets a little bit diluted on what's good and what's needed and why, and all of that.  I know your company has amazing stats of why you should use them. And I've looked into that and it is truly impressive. I have yet to find another one like that. Explain to us why we may need supplements. Big topic at the moment, as you were saying, because I think most people have come to the conclusion that we do actually need supplements in our life. And the supplement is in conjunction to your diet. So you go to your doctor, you go to your dietician. Now tell you, you don't need to supplement because you can get everything you need from a balanced diet, which in theory is correct. The question is are  we getting everything that we need from a balanced diet and also what is a balanced diet. So the way that things were done back in the dark ages, know you had your plants that were organically grown. You had your meat. That was. Technically organically grown and things weren't polluted, but with today's lifestyle, we living in an instant lifestyle and everything is processed and even the farms are commercial. They want things grown as fast as possible to get it, able to be reaped as fast as possible. I mean, back into the market as fast as possible. They're using a lot of synthetic growth hormones in animals are using antibiotics in animals are using synthetic, they're using pesticides and herbicides and, synthetic fertilizers to boost crops to grow them. So the plants are not getting all the nutrients that they need from the soil, which means that we are not getting everything that we need from the food.I just, I just want to interject a second.  I also heard that a lot of times farmers are not rotating the crops like they should see that I also depletes the soil. I think we're just getting hit from all sides, but please go ahead. So, they trying to get as much profit out of a smaller piece of land as possible with the end result is that we are suffering because we not getting everything that we need now in order to give our body everything that it needs, you needing a whole wide variety of different foods and possibly you're not getting the correct seasonal foods where you are, or some people have food intolerances like gluten or food allergies, like dairy and that sort of thing. So you're not always getting what you need. So therefore, in my opinion, again, you need to supplement now, as we spoke about this before, there are generally three basic types of supplements. You get your synthetic version or plastic supplements, which is manmade. Okay. And it's put together quite often by the pharmaceutical companies. So they taking laboratory made ingredients, putting it together in a supplement and saying, well, there you go. You wanted to supplement, you didn't want to drug this as a supplement, but it's almost as bad as, as having the drug because it's entirely synthetic and your body has to, first of all, figure out what the thing is that you've put in. Break it down and figure out what can it use, what content you use and what is considered poison, as far as the body's concerned and get rid of the waste product. It's like a recipe made up of false ingredients. It's manufactured, supposed to be an equivalent to something that's already supposed to be in our food, but it's all man. Yes, it's made in a plant instead of by a plantand then you get the next type of supplement, which is, which is an asset. So they'll take a, a vitamin E for instance, a natural food based vitamin E actually has a chain of eight different E's. Yeah, the alpha beta gamma, Delta tocopherol, and the same tocotrienols, but an isolet will take the all because it's the cheapest and easiest thing to process. Now in nature you don't find an ingredient on its own. So you will not find a vitamin B 12, for instance, on its own. It will be part of the greater scheme. So if you're eating a plant or food, you've got your main ingredient, plus a whole lot of trace elements in different forms. Now with when a manufacturing isolate, they would take one of those things out and they will concentrate it. So you'll have a concentrated with them and B 12 or a concentrated vitamin E alpha tocopherol, for instance, and we losing the rest. Nature always likes complexes. So it will never just utilize one thing at a time. It will use them in conjunction. So B12 works with B6. B3 works with B. That was a, B six works in B two. I always get confused with all the different things they work together, but everything works together in nature. You'll never find anything working only on alone. So exactly. And He made our bodies in an intricate way and He's made, made the food to feed the body to give us nutrients as well as allowing it to heal itself. So we need all of those things together. So if you're not getting it from your food, You're falling short. So therefore in order to stay healthy, you need to get it from a supplement. So you'll based form of supplement, not this synthetic, not the asset, but one that is actually made from food and not any food, but organically grown food. I remember that organic is a bit of a buzzword and organic doesn't just need all organic really means is that your pesticides and herbicides on the outside of the plant, not the inside of the plant. So they don't put your pesticides in the soil. They put it on the plant. So organic can also mean that you're still getting the pesticides if you're juicing, and if you're not cleaning your produce. Okay. You're rocking my world right now. Huh? That is a very interesting concept. Wow. So when they're growing plants organically, the farmer will put the pesticides and herbicides and things, and also the fertilizers on the plant. But when it rains, you know what they have to grow and reapply it. So they put what they call wetter stickers onto these things spread over the plant. So when it rains, your pesticides, stay on the plant. Now you go along and you buy your organic food, take it home, rinse it under the tap, which is like a rainstorm. Your pesticides are still on the plant. You're going to be juicing, juicing the plant with all the pesticides. So, I don't know the rules in South Africa because that's where you are. So do you guys have certified organic or do you just have the term organic? So supposedly here in America, we have certified organic and it's supposed to be, and I say all this very light handedly, uh, you know what I mean? That it's supposed to be a third party who follows through on verification that they're doing things on the up and up. You know, my theory is you can worry yourself sick about all this. Unless it's in your backyard and you grew it with your hand, you really don't know what the heck's going on out there. Um, yeah. So is, is there a certified organic in your world? In theory, yes but certified is a very loose term because if it's 40% organic, it's certified organic. Right. Okay. But what's, what's in the other 60%. So therefore. It really is. It makes me so mad. This stuff makes me so mad comes down to commercial money. Money, money, money, show me the money. That is where my umbrella company come in. And when they put together a product, they do have an independent source that verifies everything and they purchase raw produce from organic farmers. But then they process it in a correct manner. They clean those products. They oscillate them, they put them in quarantine before they start to process them and they do millions of different tests on these things. So that at the end of the day, we know that we getting a pure product it's in our system. So if you are buying organic produce, you should be washing it as well, but you also need to be careful what you washing it with. You needing, a detergent. That's not going to poison you, but it's going to take all the poison of the plant.  We've got a product called LDC, which is, it's got a coconut oil basis and that dissolves oils and pesticides and things like that. Andwash us at all. And we've got quite an interesting demonstration with broccoli.  When you wash broccoli, The water just runs off the top of it. That's part of the wetter stickers and part of, the natural Silicon that the plant has. So with the LDC that we use or,  in the states, they've got a thing, that's got a, that's a seaweed based product called Green, you can wash your produce with that. It is non it's biodegradable. And as soon as you just put a little bit on your, on your broccoli, It goes, it actually changes color to a more Emerald green, as opposed to a more of a purplish hue. And then you put the you're on the water over it, and water now runs through it instead of over the top of the plant. That, excuse me, that.  Product is called Green. Like the color it's called green, green in color. Everybody runs out and buys that cause we all need to be washing our vegetables better. Okay. I know I'm already making that change. I just like thought about the organic and just like did a rinse rinse. Now sometimes I will use like a green scrubby, 3m makes some of those really course, it's kind of like a sponge, but I will on cucumbers and apples, I will use that and it literally like scrapes the surface. And for some reason in my head, I think that's better. I don't know. But hopefully, yeah. Okay. But now I know to go buy some Green. Okay. Right. So then once you've cleaned your product, you, you now getting a closer to a balanced diet and this is where the supplements come in. What I've learnt over the years is that when the best source of supplements is obviously whole food, but also be careful of where that food is coming from. And that's why I like the Neolife company, because that done an incredible amount of scientific research into this whole deal, to the extent that they developed an artificial stomach, so that when you take the supplement. They can see exactly how it's being broken down by the body and dissolved and disseminated throughout the systems. So that at the end of the day, yourselves, and we are all made up of trillions of cells and we are only as healthy as ourselves. So the end of the day, your cells will be able to obtain the optimum amount of correct nutrient, utilize what it needs, what it doesn't need treats waste product and get out of the system correctly because if food backs up in your system. So if you suffering from constipation, for instance, that is all that digested food that backing up in your gut and poisoning you. Right, which leads to illnesses. Now, the average diet is very inflammatory, in style because we eating the fast foods, the junk fats and it's instant. So there's a lot of synthetics in the food that we're eating as well. Whenever you have inflammation in the body, that is where disease kicks in. You know, people were so surprised with COVID.  The number one group of people that were affected were people who were obese. And I'm like, that makes total sense because their whole body is inflamed. It's not like somebody has diabetes where that those specific things are inflamed. Obesity,  your whole body is inflamed.  So that makes sense. Things like your diabetes and your cardiac issues and your cancers, because there's a lot of toxins that sit in the fat, the fatty tissue. So when you have a detox, if you go, if you doing a detox session, there's toxins come out of the fat cells first. And that's why people often feel more sick when they do a detox. That sounds like, that sounds like episode number three with Sean. Yeah, we can continue the series. Um, the horizon people, ears just went up. Yeah. That's going to be episode number three with Sean Thorncraft. Yeah, we need to counteract the inflammation with an anti-inflammatory diet. Okay. Some of you anti-inflammatory products or things like your Omega 3's, your salmon oils is an anti-inflammatory. Part of the problem, we don't have access to those fatty fish because your best source of omega three is the fatty fish found in very, very cold waters. Now we know how polluted the oceans are. Yes. Yes. Even worse because they are getting fed with synthetic things. And there are actually extremely toxic, and also fish that are caught off river mounds, near cities, where there's a lot of industry or farming happening, all those toxins, going to the river, going into the fish, we eat the fish and well, surprise. You end up with cancer. Sean, I am going to rock your world. I had this revelation recently. This is literally insane my dad and I wouldn't say my dad's 94. He's never going to hear this. Um, and my mom's gone, but, um, so my dad worked for a nuclear power plant. Okay. And he would fish by the nuclear power plant and we consume that growing up and I'm sitting here thinking, what did we eat? You know, I'm the runoff from that big works on water. Hello. Oh, my gosh, no thought there. Okay. The thing is with a lot of omega-3, everybody knows that you need to meet at three. So of course, industry has climbed onto the bandwagon and there's a lot of omega-3 on the market these days, but they don't test them. And most of omega products, we know that they are two, um, three products, which is your EPA and DHA, but actually there's a chain of eight. Oh, those are those omega-threes. And so most of these places will come along and they'll take the offcuts. When the, the fishing boats come in, they keep the bass fish, obviously for the market restaurants in those places. And they go down to the pet foods and they take what's left over and they crunch it up and they squeeze up. Whatever's left over and they say, well, there's your omega three oil. You have no idea what's in it. It's it. It's going to be a good three. And that's why I like about Neolife is because number one, they did the research and found that they were a chain of all eight of the immediates. Um, and then they, what to do you say only allow fishing from certain areas in the Arctic ocean. And then it tastes every single batch for over 200 known contaminants with a detectable rate of zero. So there's no DDTs is no mercury, there's no lead, there's no oil, crude oil and that sort of thing in that product. So when you get it, you know, That it actually is an ultra pure ultra processed product with all eight of the Omega threes in it to get a pure product. And I must say having used numerous different types of Amigos over the years, I could feel the difference. Once I started taking the pure, the pure product, you can actually feel the difference. It's a, strange thing to say, right? That is very interesting and definitely alluring cause now I want to try that.  I do know heavy metals are problematic out there and so if people don't know this, I just wanted to share this. Cause it kind of relates that to eat the smaller fish, the large size fish, because they stay in the ocean longer before they're caught like the big tuna and things like that. That swordfish, that's not good for you. You want the smaller fish. You have people who live in cities are exposed to a lot of extra lead, even though we've got the unleaded guests these days. And, and leadpaint too, but you still like that you still get it correct. And a lot of herbal supplements actually have lead in them as well for better absorption, scarily enough. That's okay.  So like things like herbal teas or have lead in them more, the more the herbal supplements, but it also. Yeah. So you're depends on, on your source of the hubs as well. And do you know where it's coming from and how potent was it product at the time? When was it picked? How long was it in storage before it was processed? All of those things affect the street. Oh, the herbal product. See we just talked before this episode started and I said, I just bought some Ashwanga. And I said, I know I'm going to regret that after I talked to you and here it is there regrets happening, right. This was gonna happen. Um, okay. So I am going to have to look into, um, Neo life because. I did not know that that's so crazy. And I do think all these things, you know, people like, oh, they ate so healthy and I'm like, yeah, it might look like that. And if you broccoli every day, let's say, if you don't wash it, or if it's not organic, or if people like, oh, he was a runner, he was so healthy. Well, running is not necessarily the best formats. So what people conceive as healthy, unless it's like all aspects, you know, the mindset, the diet. Truly good and whole and pure, which is like almost impossible to get at this stage of our, our mass produced life, and the environmental factors. It's really hard. I mean, it's a battle every day. It is, it is how we all actually survive. I don't know. And one of the big things is we know most of us are not getting enough. Vitamin B. And vitamin B is one of the things that helps to detoxify your body. And if you're not having enough, vitamin B, you're having a buildup of toxins. Are you familiar with nutritional yeast? So I just really not a huge fan of meat. I know I listened to all these things and now they're even finding out that Organ meat, which makes me want to just, Hmm, Nope. Um, but yeah, they're finding out that. If you eat the hearts of things, that's actually good for your heart. If you eat the liver of things is actually good for you. I'm like, wow. I  get chills thinking about having to eat liver as a child.  Swallowing it whole wrapped in bacon and doused catch up just to try to get it down. And now they're coming out with some statistics that it. Actually really. And I'm like, how can I think of you? It's like a filter. How can this be good? But lo and behold, I was wrong, so I do do nutritional yeast and it does have those vitamin BS in it, so that, because I know I'm probably not getting enough of those. That's my meat sources limited, so I'll have to, we'll have to discuss that offline more. Well, I guess if I took my Neo life vitamins, I probably would need to worry about my B's and probably I'm sure it's in, but remember as well that vitamin D and vitamin C are water soluble means that the flush out of your system very quickly as well. And if your stomach acid is low, your body's not going to be able to synthesize the vitamin B either. So you're not always getting the optimum amount. And as we get older our stomach acid  becomes weaker and less. I wonder is that like, people like bland food when they get older? I wonder, that is so interesting. Wow. You are just so full information. Okay. Well, ah, ha moment there.  I know we talked about so much, so whole foods and the problems with that and getting your vitamins from there. And I know we touched a little bit, I'd love to get more into supplements that have to go together. Two things you need one to get the other, you can't just do one vitamin.  Isn't it, them in D  D needs k, is that right? Yes. And  Iron need vitamin C  and your calcium and magnesium needs to be together. Um, and ideally coupled with vitamin D three as well, to get an optimal absorption and enhancement of the. , what was that like? The vitamin D vitamin D and calcium, magnesium, and vitamin D together to give you your body based absorption rate over there and perspective This is why having a good multivitamin is also a good idea. So in my opinion, everybody should be taking on a daily basis, a good multivitamin with minerals and whole grain oils in one thing, whole grain? Whole grain oils. We not getting enough whole grain oils because people are also getting issues with gluten these days, gluten addictions, or gluten intolerances. Are they staying away from whole grains, but we need oil from those grains to work on your cells,. Cause those are your lipids in steroids. Yeah, it was a good fence, so, okay. So this is funny. I have, hypo thyroid, and Hashimoto's, so I have given up gluten, which is absolutely crazy because I'm from New York, I'm Italian and I have a professional baking background. So if I can do this, you still could do this because like, gluten was such a part of my world so much.. Within the half an hour, I'm like, this does not feel good. And even dry. Yes. It is amazing to me. I had such a passion for baking bread and I baked bread on a weekly basis for probably 25 years. My kids went to school with homemade bread in their lunchbox every day.  I learned that if you ground the wheat berries, And then bake the bread and you actually ate it within a 24 hour period had like so many nutrients in it that you're supposed to sustain your life off of just that grit. But the problem is that it oxidizes after 24 hours and you kind of lose all that. . . . So one of the couples, or the more than couples besides the, so we got D and K and iron and vitamin C calcium, magnesium vitamin D with and half that, the K two. So any other ones. All of the vitamin BS. So you'll be 12, uh, the 3d six feetB2's or all the, all the vitamin BS in a complex vitamin E in a complex, meaning that it's got more than just as I say, with vitamin E more than just the alpha tocopherol, it's got the alpha beta gamma Delta. So it's the whole lot put together.  Your Omega 3 not just one source of fish, but two or three different sources of oily fish. So you can get the best combination over there as well. Question on that, I've read some good things on krill oil. It is a good source of omega three, but it's only got, I think one of the eight of the omegas in it. Ah, that's not little bit. So what, what if you had to do three different fish oil or two different, what would you gear towards? Well, the ones that, you know, the ones that Neolife uses the salmon, tuna and mackerel, I heard a lot of things. Yeah. Mackerel is always on the list and tuna very, that surprises me. Wow. Okay. Interesting. It must be from, from cold water, right? The warmer water doesn't work. We got our Omega's, fish and our E anything else you'd like to add? Um, no. Well, there's, there's a couple of different sources of vitamin D as well. So even if it's just the vitamin D you need different sources of it. So a good combination is vitamin D two and D three. Yes, I have had heard that too. You know, my favorite source of vitamin D is it's your butt out in the sun. And especially before 12 o'clock, get some sunlight's sets your circadian rhythm, you will sleep better. So you're killing multiple birds there. You know what I mean? Go outside 10 minutes, take a walk. You get some exercise, you get some sun, get your vitamin D.  And it takes literally it's within 10 or 15 minutes. All you need. Your whole, the vitamin D. I know sometimes it's been raining a lot here and then it's hard and then no, it doesn't work through windows. People ask that and the other glitches, people wear sunscreen, you cannot wear sunscreen. It blocks the vitamin D. If you're having a sufficient source of carotenoids, you will have less risk of developing a skin cancer and burning when you're out in the sun. I know nothing about that. So the carotenoids come from your colored fruits and veggies. Okay. So you, peaches, papers, bell peppers, strawberries and things. So that's where your carotenoids come from and they are fat soluble antioxidant, and then you get flavonoids as well. Okay. Two other water soluble antioxidants. I want you to base sources. There is red wine, but a lot of people don't want to drink the red wine. Clean red wine. I did a podcast with Scouts and Cellar, and they make clean red wines. So it is much better to do that.  You just gotta be careful if you're diabetic that the sugar content isn't too high, this is what Scouts and cellar they actually, we went through that. I want to off the top of my head and I could be wrong, be like a third of the sugar. It's a lot less sugar than a regular wine. So diabetics can drink this wine. I hope you listen to Stephanie. Your body will convert carotenoids to vitamin A, is also very good as an antioxidant in the skin.. So skin problems, Lyme issues, vitamin a is a good source to over there, but a diabetic can't convert carotenoids to vitamin a, so there again, that's where they need to supplement. I did not know that. See, and I've never heard vitamin a with your skin. I've always heard vitamin E and I've heard vitamin C, but I've not heard vitamin that's interesting. Okay. Okay. Have been a dermatologist often will do a vitamin a treatments on skin, but your vitamin a taken internally also works really, really well as an antioxidant for the skin. I'm going to be okay. Let me see how I can get a mess. Most vitamin a what foods contain the most vitamin D I'm going to start their fish oil. It's okay. That is really cool. I guess I need to start eating more Salmon cause it's just going to behoove you in all ways. That is really interesting about the vitamin a, I am definitely doing that! when a and D is also very good for lung issues. So things like asthma really? I know, I know several people with asthma. Okay. So a and D okay. That's good. And you want me to get Omega 3'sis also very good for, especially children's asthma. Okay. So with the,  I'm going to give you a plug here. So with the Neo life, they're multivitamin. Like how many boxes can we check off essentially? Can we check off a majority of boxes in the multivitamin. Pretty much all your BS or your a C D zinc, your, uh, calcium. Um, and I know the bottle in front of you so I can tell you exactly, but it's also got the lipids and steroids with the whole grain oils. It's it's a full, the full-factor multivitamin mineral. I think there's 21 vitamins and minerals. In call it formula 4, uh, together with the lipids and steroids, which is, um, your whole grain oils and then the minerals as well. So you've got this complete factor four, four factor, supplement in one thing. I'm going to ask a really funny question that I know is going to make you laugh. So I want to know this. If you take their multivitamin, does it make you pee funny colors? Okay, good. And I know, they do that so it's like the psychological effects. Like I took that look, it went through my body and now I have like line green, fluorescent yellow pea. Okay. Good. All right. That makes me happy. It's more of a confirmation probably for most, but what I think in my head was they've got color in there. And it's, it's doing bad things in my body. It's important to read labels. Yes. Good. Yes. You're welcome. You're welcome. I did read up on it and it is very impressive how they test. The sources and the validity of everything and the quality of things like that, nobody does that, which is probably why exactly that is exactly what got me originally from a medical background.  I liked the science because it made sense. And once I started using the products, I could actually feel the difference and. I've never heard really people say that! This is what, what is so good about it? Is that, it's not a, nobody has to happen. Nobody has to rag about what's it's got this and it's got that. And it's got these new unique things because it just works. And, you know, you've made me read. The whole way I think about that. Cause now it's like, yeah, it's got vitamin B. It's covered. Well, yeah. Where did that come from? How is it sourced and, and all of the things that we've talked about just because it says vitamin C now. Well, that doesn't give me enough information to see if I'm getting everything I really need. So big acid or is it a vitamin C that comes from. That's so good. I just hope everybody is, is picking up what you're putting down here. Cause it's holy moly. Is it really good? I know that you enjoy advising your clients on diet and finding the holes and then filling the holes with the supplementation  that's truly a gift , because it is such a confusing world supplements and it is  so driven by money. I'm glad that you opened my eyes, that there's some good things out there and some amazing knowledge that you have you shared with us today. Is there anything that I overlooked. No, I think the only other thing that I would suggest, so for most people, I would suggest a good multivitamin mineral and an Omega 3 and then also a probiotic because our gut is so vital. Um, and there again, be careful about what sort of probiotic you're having whatsoever. Does it come from? Is it a live bacteria? Is it a dead bacteria? Where are they getting the probiotics from? And that sometimes give you last spinoffs of, give you 10 billion of these, of these bad bacteria in the right. Or the label will say at manufacture, they were 5 billion of whatever, but now that you using it, how many are still. How many live bacteria still lift in your supplement when you actually ingest it eating through. Right. So I have a question about probiotics. I know,  some natural ways to do that, pineapple is good for that. I know sauerkraut is good. What about like kefir? Very good source of that. Okay. I just bought some today. but I think Greek yogurt, raw Greek yogurt, not sweetened sweetened yogurts, kill off the bacteria. Yes. And, usually if it's. flavored too, you have to watch out for, and then the colors and all that other nonsense you want plain, plain, plain, old, natural fruit in there. I like to even just stick some vanilla extract or almond extract, you could do cinnamon. Um, there's lots of ways. and I know they even said like a fork full of sauerkraut every day is like amazing. And I know that  you have more bacteria than you do have cells. And so we're mostly made up of bacteria you know, people take antibiotics like crazy and I'm like, you're gonna ruin your gut bacteria for six months now. Like we have to start working on this and they look at me like, It's not a big deal, but it is. It's like, I say it kills all the soldiers, the good and the bad ones. So now you have to build up the good ones because it doesn't know the good ones from the bad ones. So it just kills off everything. What is your thoughts on that? I'm curious about taking antibiotic, especially like the precautionary ones. Like when you go to the dentist sometimes, or prior to a surgery, people take the say about it, cause you need to do this, you know, and I have such mixed emotions about that because I'm like, you just screwed yourself for six months. No, I'm not a doctor, but my feeling is antibiotics have they uses? I agree. And for an infection, they brilliant, but you take a course and you get off it. I think the last time I had antibiotics was it was about 11 years ago.  I was doing something silly in the garden and I got. And when the red strap reached off way up arm decided to do something about it. And I had a five day course of antibiotics took care of it. That was the last time I actually ever had any antibiotics. Right.  But I do not daily, but really to pretty regularly take also Rico's, of probiotics.  Now the probiotics that we use, they've got five different sources in there and because it's a live bacteria, you keep it in the fridge. And what they've done as well is that they've put an acid proof covering over those bacteria particles so that it goes through the stomach and the stomach acid doesn't kill it. Well, the good bacteria and it goes into the small intestine. So you get a much better benefit out of it as well. So one's gotta be careful and read labels. Yeah, which is very hard. I usually ask people my signature question. And I've asked you before about, if you, if you would eliminate one thing in this world, what would it be? So I'm going to switch that up. If there was one supplement that you could only take one supplement for the rest of your life, what would it be and why? The formula the whole grains. It's got the vitamins, it's got the minerals. It's got everything that it needs. It doesn't have theOmegas. If I could add in anOmega 3's, I'd be happy. Right? The question is sake. Well, just go with the mate with the formula for interesting. Now, a solid multivitamin that you treat. So have a food source, multivitamin and mineral with whole grain oils for the lipids and sterils. Said so eloquently only you can do Sean. I thank you so much and I'm totally serious by doing a detox episode.  And I'm sure we could learn again from all of your wisdom.  It has been a pleasure to have you on today and I just want everybody to remember life has no remote get up and change it. Know. Thank you. Thank you. This was awesome.  

hello? Hello. I'm Caroline Schafer, your host today on The Vitality Feed. Please help me welcome Gordon Brodecki. Gordon is the owner and CEO of Garage Fitness, as well as a personal trainer who has been in the fitness industry for 23 years, which explains the size of his biceps.  He is also the best-selling author, Unleash The Ultimate You; Change Your Mindset, Change Your Body as well as coauthor a Flashpoint, Your Turnaround Story. We did a Facebook live the other night together, and that was exercising my uncertainty muscle, but we got some really nice comments that really made my week. So I'm so happy to spend some more time with you today, Gordon. Welcome to The Vitality Feed. Thank you. Thank you for having me on. I'm so excited to be on today. Alrighty, I'm ready. You said you had these questions for me. I'm like this high energy today. We got to two personal fitness people here. Um, so tell everybody how, first of all, how you got in the whole fitness. Okay, so I got the fitness arena at a very, very young age at the age of 13 years old. And prior to that, before I started training what I was into was comic books, toys, the Incredible Hulk. And I remember having a little toy, Incredible Hulk, and I remember watching you on TV and watch all the superheroes. And I just wanted to be like that. Right. It was something like that. I don't know if, as a boys and boys, we tend to gravitate more towards a, you see guys with muscles and you want to be built like that. And I just remember thinking, uh, yeah, this is really cool. I want to definitely be, built like that some day. I want to be athletic and my brother brought home this weights. When I was 13 years old, that's how I got into it. He was working out and he was pretty built. So I remember one day I sat on that bench and I did my first bench press. It was a good form at all. It's absolutely horrible, but I fell in love with it. Like the Cold feel around my hands. And I remember, I think I benched they were like 95 pounds. Yeah. I jumped up. I was outside. So there for 13 I'm 46 years old. Now I've been working out ever since. I mean, I had some many breaks here and there. That's how I got into the health and fitness industry. That is such an awesome story. I can understand falling in love with that. I love weights myself and I think it's where it's at and it makes the most sense. What is your three favorite exercises. It used to be the bench press. The bench press was one of my favorite exercises. I compete it in bench, press competitions.  I'll take for a first, all natural and a competition, I was 18. Maybe I was made at 19 years old and it's a bench press would be one of them. And even though I don't do them that often, I like I do like the squat. It does, but I don't do anymore because I have herniated disc degenerative disc disease from playing sports and lifting heavy weights and doing things. And now I teach everybody to do things the right way. So squatting is really good and you know, pull-ups to. Pull ups for another good exercise too, for the back, if you're even looking at the lats, I used to do a lot of rows. I like the basic compound movements a lot. So what do you actually went to my three favorite are? I don't think I have like favorites. I have things that I gravitate towards depending what I'm working out that day. Sometimes it's high reps. Sometimes it's low rep and I stay away for injury the best I can by varying it up and doing things that rest times all that. So believe that I was just speaking to someone the other day we were talking, she owned some gyms as well as a personal trainer and a chiropractor, and we're discussing about variety. It's so important to vary things up and constantly stress your body in different ways. Don't get set in such a regimented discipline that you're always stressing the same thing. And I love the all natural word, my ears perked up when you said that. So what's your favorite framework for macros? I'm assuming that you count your macro. Yeah, I count macros. I've been doing that forever. I've been doing this since somebody's kid. I literally used to have a book that looked something like this, and I would just write down my macros every single day. Right. Every single day. And as we advanced, we have this, but by my fitness pals, what I use now, so I had it sitting here and I actually opened it up just as you were talking about it. So I have all my macros on there. Um, it depends what I feel like doing from gaining weight. I'll add more carbs in, if I'm trying to lose weight, then I'll lower the carbohydrates, but I don't go crazy. It's not super like right think, low carbs need to be the answer, it's not. I am, I like a 40, 30, 30 diet or 40, 40, 20. What that means is 40% of my diet will cover protein, 30% carbs and 30% from fat or 40, 40, 20. Protein 40 carbs, 20% fat. I like that ratio breakdown really nice and works really nice me. And,  so you're a man, so, that's probably good for men. Does it change for women? And it's it change for age though? It doesn't change for women. I don't think people think that a lot. And they think that you have to eat differently for a woman to man. Now there's no differences where human beings, the only thing, the only thing that does change, you know, do raise the question, but the amount of protein you need for the amount of muscle that you have, and that equates for men or women. So it doesn't change. All it does is you find out how much muscle that person has by taking their body fat. And then when you take the body fat. Then you can find out where your, how much muscle best they have when you find out their muscle mass. And then you can find out how many grams of protein they need to eat. According to that for the muscle mass. That makes sense. So, it's depends on how lean you are is what you need to consume. Not necessarily gender, because you can get a man out of shape and a woman like with a 10% body fat and that's going to be vastly did. Yeah. When you first start out, you actually went men and women. When they first started looking at ways to add more protein, unless you actually, as you get more advanced, you have a propensity to not need as much, you don't need as much protein intake. Believe it or not. It's like approach you when you first start working out. That again, it all depends on age. Like you said, as you get older, you do want to add more protein in there. So you can get that anabolic effect that you were looking for to build muscle.You got age to age. A lot of people think age is such a factor where I had this question the other day. You might like this one, somebody goes, oh, once you hit a certain age that you kept a muscle anymore. I said that is total BS. Yes. And your metabolism slows down. I read this article. I was like stopped reading these articles, like Dr. Google out there, don't do it. I said, no, you keep it muscle at any age. Yes. Does it declined slightly, yet declined and a little bit, a little bit, a little bit, but you still build muscle, right? Don't use that as an excuse to not work out. That's that's what people do for you could so build muscle through your mid eighties, like severe muscle. I've seen guys where if you kind of covered up their head, like you looked at their body, you're like, holy crap they look like they could be 50 and they're like 80 and it's amazing. So it's a wicked. And women too. There's a lot of women out there that are, you know, really high up there. And the number 78, I wrote about a woman. I can't remember her name. She started bodybuilding like in her fifties, like she's never even entered a gym, never done it in a life and then went to compete and she's like killing it.So I think it's great. You know, you have the time when you get older compared to a lot of times when you're younger, so it's never too late to change. That's always my theory. Oh a hundred percent. I totally agree with that. So talking about the macros, what about your top three food choices for trying to stay lean and fit? I just asked you what I like for, for staying lean and fit there's up. You know, it's not like I do like eggs , I don't eat too many of them anymore because I noticed that to get a little gassier on them. I do like protein shakes ,  salmon's one of the big staple. I was a big oatmeal person for the, I haven't believed as much I do the cycles. Right now, the high fiber mission reps. So it's funny you brought up something that I want to touch base on. And you touched it's something about, you said something that you don't like refined, processed sugars and carbs. Do you ever hear? I I F Y M, if it fits in your macros, it's a, it's an acronym, do I hear that? Yeah. So basically you, can you allow yourself a little wiggle room to have something else fit within your macros? Okay. So, if you want to have a little bit of Spanish rice at the end of the night, and you had 30 grams of carbs leftover, you can have, you can have that Spanish rice at the end of the night, and you'll still lean out. I've trained people to get ready for shows where they were. It gives them a little room because there's people out there let's let's face it. They're not, they don't want to be that strict. We're also what'll happen. What'll happen is we'll go right back the other way. So what I do is I allow a little bit of wiggle room for my clients and I do it myself sometimes to a slice of pizza here or there. I had this conversation yesterday with someone I'm coaching that once in a while, you have to go to that thing that you really want, not every day, you know, I don't think shepherd cheat thing every single day, but maybe once a week you have something, but because, some people just like start undermining all of their work that they've done for the whole week. They can do that like almost an a meal. Yeah, I think, in general I try to stay away from the white, anything. Like the refined carbs and all that.  Once in a while, in fact, just this morning, I made, lemon, blueberry muffins. I made them gluten free with almond flour and with Cassava flour, which is the bomb to bake with. Cause I used to be a professional baker and it's really hard when you know how to bake well, and then you have to go gluten-free. But I made myself that treat this morning and I don't usually do carbs at breakfast, but I did today. So, uh, yeah, do that. Otherwise you get that deprivation mindset and then you go hog wild, you know, I agree. I agree. You ever cook with oatmeal and sweet potatoes. I used to make like little cakes out of it.  When I competed in bodybuilding too, I did three shows, I got took first and second at them. And yeah. So yeah, it was big contrast the trophies out there. So I sick, there's a oatmeal and, I would use sweet potatoes and I would blend it all up and I'll pull up protein powder. I would macro it out. And when I competed the reason I brought it up, I would have perfectly everything mixed and matched up, so that was like my treat. I was using some Stevie. I don't like the taste Stevia has and the funny taste. So I don't really eat that many sweet stuff. I'll be honest with you. I'm more of a savory salty person. Yeah. I get in my I used Monkfruit this morning. But for years, I used so much canola oil and like vegetable oil, so bad for you, but I just threw organic butter in there this morning and it was lovely. Purely self is question. I know that your glutes are a great thing to exercise because they have that long burn afterwards. Um, they're the biggest muscle, right? So what is your favorite glute exercise? Squats, goblet squats. I love it. That's actually my, I just want to replace regular squats with, I hurt my back. I do a lot more goblet squats, and then you go pretty heavy on those things. The only thing you have to while it's just resting in your hand, you're really taking a lot of weight. I like Calvin squats, but you got to go deep because that's where you really activate the glute muscle. And one of my all time favorites is a Bulgarian split squat. When I do it, I have a bar and I put a paddle, the bar and I hooked my ankle over it so I'm not putting my toe on it. At least a lot of people at the gym do it where the toes on the bench. I like that. So I, I. I have it where I fabricate this piece of equipment and I just put the paddle on it and then my ankle sits over nicely.  That way I'm not wobbling ankle, just enough. I'm not pulling any weight on that, really. So, my knee is a password, my toe. And as I go down, I really pushed to my heel, push through the glute, squeeze it. When I do that, I feel the activation. I'm not like, you know, full by self with hot air, but I have a pretty, pretty good glutes. That's so great. Stand up, turn around. Let's get on the Facebook feed. I do have a question with the Bulgarian split squats, your back foot raised.  I would say maybe they'll write about me and my brother. You do that. And I have, I have some wooden boxes in my gym, and I used a smaller one for just that. Uh, so I'm glad to hear that. That's one of your favorite. So now I know to do more of those. Yeah. They're great. Over reverse lunges, reverse lunges. Another little one too. That's a single life. Single leg reverse lung though. I liked that they do one leg at a time. And take a rest under the other leg. I like walking lunges the only thing is a lot of pressure on the patella tendon. And if they're good, it's got to be really careful. It gives them sparingly, maybe every third workout or fourth.   You said, you had a bad back. I have had back surgery, but they didn't correct the disks.  They just but I call clean up the shrapnel I have nerve damage and I was losing sensation from my hip to my foot, if I didn't get surgery, I was going to lose the whole feeling of my leg.  And the hardest part about that surgery was not exercising. I hate it. , but I walked like a banshee, I think they made me do it for like nine months. Was excruciating, but now I lift and I don't go crazy. But I can do clean and presses and kettlebells. I don't do a lot of that, but I'm very cognizant about my position, but it amazes me my range of motion and I do 20 pound dumbbells and I'll do a 40 pound kettlebell, but it amazes me how my back does not hurt like whatsoever. Awesome exercise is really good for that. You know, it's, it's a double-edged sword. You get hurt yourself doing it, which I did. And then you can heal yourself with it. Right? So I say, heal yourself with it. Be mindful of it. My repetitions are a lot different. My range of motion, my speed and my reps are a lot different. Now. I don't, I'm not real faster or balistic. I like tempo training a lot. I don't know if you know what tempo training is? So tempo training is when you'll do like a 3, 2, 1, count that, pause that two one so for instance, let's take the bench press with dumbbells, to one pause that's one to one, pause one, three. And you don't like that and you can't use this heaviest weight. It's a great way to use a weight that you don't become heavy for you with a lot less weight and BFR trains and other one tool. Can you dive into that... I love that.  I'm a big fan of Mindvalley and I watched this really cool segment that they did with the owner of Mindvalley with his dad who was like in his eighties and they did weights with him and basically they were preaching heavy and slow and like he's ability and strength, like in a very short time was crazy.   A lot of times you get to the gym and you see these guys, bam, bam, bam. They slamming these and it drives me nuts. I'm like, that's not the way they do it. Plus you're going to injure yourself and then really screw yourself up. But I loved that idea. That 3, 2, 1. So the first exercise you do into a count of three, the second exercise you do to do a count of two. And then the last one you do to counter. Well, well, no, it's just, it's like, as you're doing it, the negative is the, is this the long part? So if you're doing a bench press it's 3, 2, 1, pause, one at what? The one's a pause. And then here, two, one, the pause from one, the negative is slower to the positive, the concentric. It's a little more ballistic, but not in the way where you're just throwing it up there. Just a little faster. That's tempo training. And that's really good for people who have injuries, higher reps, tempo training. Another one, I really liked a lot is BFR training, blood flow restriction. Have you ever heard of. I have I had tied off at the tourniquet at the highest point, either. You're doing your leg, you're tying it off here or here to get you I'll use like a knee wrap. And I wrapped them around the highest part of the appendages. And what is it about a seven out of 10 tightness? You don't want it too tight. You don't want it to loop. So what that does is it creates you can use less lot less weight. I've actually had my brother dokes. He heard it. He just recently heard his shoulder and I should do a BFR training. And you just use dumbbells. And what that does is it stops, it traps the blood, the blood in your muscle, the venous return that goes back to. It creates a metabolic damage, which builds muscle at a lot less weight. So you can only, you only need to use like 20 to 30% of what you normally do. A weight with weight wise. And the first set you do for 30 reps, you take 32nd arrests. The next three steps you do 15 to 20 reps, 30 seconds rest between each one. So you do four sets total. First, one 30 at the last, the last three are 15, 15 to 20 and only 30 second rests. I'm telling you. It is insane, really hard because you wanted to stop, but I only go from one exercise. You only need it for one exercise you can do at the edge of the beginning, the middle pick this pick one exercise. That is really cool. Tell me about a couple of success stories. I have one client who was over 380 pounds down to 215 pounds. Wow. I had one client, she was 185 pounds. She had a baby. She at her wits end and she came to the gym just to work out. And then she had a complimentary session with me at the time when I used to work in corporate and she came up to me and we sat down and we worked out and she goes, I have to go home and think about it. Now, usually when that happens, 99.9% of the time when people say that they're not coming back, they're not coming back. Oh, I got to talk to my husband or whatever. It's total BS. Right. So she called. I was at a friend's house. I remember the phone call and she called me and we started training. Now she had hypertension, she was hyperglycemic, she had a slew of problems, she had all  problems back problems. You name it. She's with me now, 15 years later and yes, for sure. 135 by a hundred. I mean, she doesn't have a lot of weights on him, but we don't worry about weight anymore. She goes to a holistic doctor. She totally changed her diet around. You think you're strict, you probably are just as strict as her. You guys would probably be able to talk to each other for hours and eat anything with gluten in it. she dove intothe lectins and how elected is called. We have, we have conversations and conversations and now she's teaching me stuff. Oh my God. Wow. Uh, it's our client even see for 15 by that, that speaks volumes.  That's crazy a hundred, like in the low hundreds, compared to what she was and said, just how gratifying is that to know you help somebody get past all those labels, medical stuff. That's just amazing. Right. And do what the funny thing is, it's not about losing the weight because there's some people that lose just a day lose maybe like 20, 30 pounds, and it's considered a bigger, right. That doesn't matter. They're exercising. I used to do cardio to lose weight or stay lean but now I do it to feel good and helps by dopamine levels by testosterone levels. What was, I'm not overdoing it either. So I used to overdo it. I used to work out six days a week, three times a day because I read the whole method called the Bulgarian method worked really well when I was younger, started trying to tax me, wait till I'm older. Now it's way different. Now I traded a system that that's built out for people to optimize their time in the gym to get exactly the same results as somebody spends every single day. And in three times a week and three times. I do it three times a week. That's how I don't work. Holy crap. All right. Show me your bicep. We should make a three X on your bicep and then "week" on the other one. Like that, that won't stop people from scrolling and checking Garage Fitness out, I don't know what would. tell us more, I know you have an upcoming summit, cause I'm in it and I heard that you have some great speakers it's a personal training summit. It's basically what it is. That's not a space. It's going to be intense. It's going to be awesome. It's a three-day summit and I'm hitting 30, getting gathering 30 speakers entrepreneurs that are going to help out personal trainers, build their business up. Get more clients, leads, clarity which is really, really key and much more. And what we're doing is I'm getting people from all walks of life that are entrepreneurs, not just personal trainers of people in the fitness industry. Yes, I do have that. I do have those people, but at the same time, I also have people that are real estate people are and just to get their nuggets of how they, how they did it and what I'm really find out. And you probably already know this is that the mindset is everything. . If you get anybody successful, put them in another business, they'll be successful in that business too. That's what, that's what I'm teaching them. That is my avatar. And that's the exact verbatim concept that I'm doing is you find somebody successful in their business and you can take that success and you can put it into their health. That's what I'm trying to do, trying to make people healthy, who kind of just ignored that discipline for a while, but who had the discipline? yeah. So  I'm going to teach trainers to do that. And on top of it, that I'm licensing Garage Fitness, I'm coming up with a program. So the summit meeting is a gateway to my programs to teach other people to do exactly what I did out of my backyard. I open up a gym called Garage Fitness as we were just talking about eight years ago because I didn't want to work for corporate anymore. They cut my pay and a third, uh, I, I just bought a house, right? LA fitness, bought out Bally Total Fitness. I work for  Bally Total Fitness for 10 years. LA fitness bought it. When I was coming back from vacation, and I can all these messages from my PT directors. Cause we have PT directors back then that would get him in the clients and oversee all the trainers. So I come back, I see on my phone and the lights up because you're in airplane mode and I land and I see. Oh, LA fitness bought them out. I said, okay, I guess I work  LA Fitness now. Oh, by the way, I was on the contract buying a house that week, great timing. Oh, raising a daughter. Oh my Gosh. Yeah. Yeah. So what I ended up doing was working for a year and then I worked at my brother's garage on the side part-time training. So what happened was they laid me off. Because they wanted a different certification. I had a decent certification and NASM certification at the time. I've bunch of certifications over the years.  ACE American Counselor Exercise. Says good one. Yeah, that was my first one. So what happened was they laid me off and  I went right into my business. We modeled my garage.  I was living my brother for about a year when I was remodeled, put 30 grand into my garage and my backyard right out there.  For the last eight years, it's earned me over six figures, six figures plus, now I want to do is teach other trainers, do exactly what I do know, little to no overhead and walk out of the backyard. They can walk 10, 15 feet like my commute is like 5 seconds or so maybe what, like five seconds or so almost pajama worthy. Right, right.   my Jeans on and I had this shirt on and my client says, you're out of uniform. What are you doing? I have to wear my sweats at all. What a great way to go to work. That's awesome. So what's the dates for your summit. We're holding it at the end of November, November. Yeah. We don't know. We're going to look at the exact same black dates instead of make them up, but we're getting all the speakers are gathering now and I'm interviewing each and every one of them. And then we're going to put them all together as prerecorded, and then it's going to go right. Live on that. The summits can be three-day live, it's free for the first three days. So get on it if you want to watch. That sounds lovely. I can't wait to be a part of that. I'm so excited. tell our listeners where they can find you on social media. You can find me just search up garage fitness. You can look at me up on IG garage fit underscore one. The number one. Okay. So it's garage fit. G A R A G E F I T   underscore the number one. That's my Instagram.  You can look me up at Gordon Brodecki. That's my name. There's not too many of them out there.  Also the, if you want to look at my book, you can look up Unleash, The Ultimate You; Change Your Mindset, Change Your Body on Amazon. You can get all Amazon that puts on there and you can, and you can also call me too or text me. And I do scream my phone call. So if you want to leave a message, you can leave a message or a text. So my number is 2 6 7- 3 2 2- 1 0 1 1. I'll put all that in the show notes so people can get ahold of you and such a variety of ways to work out too. And I love that and I love that you are big into diversity and you got the natural word, which just makes me so happy. Just cause I'm just all about that. The big tough weighty question here. If you could eliminate one thing in this world, Gordon, what would it be and why? Okay. If I can eliminate one thing in this world, and it's actually gives me goosebumps, just even thinking about and talking about it's addiction addiction. I had a brother who died from a heroin overdose when I was 18 years old. I came home. Um, me and my brother were out and we saw these cars. We thought it was my mom because my mom's real sick at the time. And we walked into my, um, cousin both up to me and said, I didn't know what was going on. And she had said your brother died. And I knew right then and there that it was, I knew it was drugs. Addiction is crazy. Cause you can be addicted to a lot of different things today. You know, like years ago, addiction was. Right, right. I totally agree. Right. So addiction spikes this crazy amount of dopamine. Now we do need that to get us up and moving. I'm not saying get rid of dopamine or that it's the, it's the it's the addiction part, it's the part where you're addicted to these bad habits. I wish we were only addicted to good habits right now. Our brains aren't wired that way though, because the brain is all to restrict good or bad only knows when you're taking them. What information you allow in. Right. When we were talking the other day, we talked about self-talk and why that is so important when you're, so anything you take in at your environment, if your environment. You're going to be disorganized up here too. So it's it's I mean, your surroundings or the people you talk to, the people you hang out with, that's why they say the sum of the five people you hang out, it's who we become right.For a lot of people have heard of. So when that, when you, so that's why, that's why I picked the diction for that answer, because it's, it's, it's so hard and I go, listen, I battled with it myself,  when I was younger, drinking and drinking more. And you drink one day, drink two days and I didn't start drinking until I got older, my twenties, but it started taking a hold of me and really, really put a strain on relationships and that's so much friendships, but more relationships. I'm sure my friends noticed it was a good thing if they were hanging out with me too. So what do they care? Right. But at the same time, it's putting strain and it's putting a strain on your heart. And it's addiction sucks, man, this sucks, but I think if people are out there and they should more awareness and be more vulnerable and not be afraid to talk about their issues, when you hide. When you hide the addiction is when it becomes worse, when you put it out there in the open, he tell people about it, Hey man, I'm looking at, I am addicted to alcohol. I drank, I drank too much. I need some help, but I think it's important. I think that's instrumental. Tony Robbins talks about that, when you release that publicly, it no longer holds you hostage. You know what I mean? It's like, once you get that out, it's off of your chest. Thank you for sharing that such as story.  I understand I've got people in my family addicted to things.  It is not a good place. you've been a wealth of information today. I'm so inspired. I think this week to vary some things up in the gym. And since I met you, I've been really working on my bicep status. Yeah. I want you to keep reaching out to me too.  I think it's great just to stay collected. You've been such a pleasure to speak to.  What I say is I get to have you at my table. That's what I referred to the people that I hang out with my close knit people group, people, because I'm a foodie. So I have people who at my table. So Gordon, welcome to my table. And I want everyone out there to remember life has no remote. Get up and change it yourself. Yes.  I love it. All right, I'll see you later. Bye.

hello? Hello, this is Caroline Schafer, your host, please help me welcome Shelly Burns. She is a doctor of chiropractic and the owner of active health chiropractic, a gym owner, and a fitness expert for over 20 years at CrossFit, H V L and nomad athletics. She is also a life coach and creator of the Fit Menopause Blueprint. She's always been very passionate about health , fitness and wellness. She strives to be a guide for women battling the hormonal obstacles. She feels no women should be staring at themselves in the. Wondering who was looking back at them or feels alone with their struggles. Women need to help women. Amen to that. Um, I bet you have a ton of friends because who wouldn't want you in their back pocket with an arsenal of information like that. Welcome. Welcome. I'm thankful to have you on the show. Thank you.  It's nice to be here. Finally meet you. I know we've been going back and forth for a little while, but we finally got it together. We do have a ton in common, but, um, tell us a little bit about your story. So as far as getting into the perimenopause and menopause scene, um, I've always been athletic. I've, I've been a trainer, uh, and right before COVID I started getting this mild sense of,  anxiety. And I'm a little high strung, but I never really, it never really consumed me where it stopped me from doing anything. And then kind of COVID. Um, my gym got shut down and everyone's like, oh, you're probably have anxiety because of the gym being shut down. And I was like, you know what? I'm so relaxed. This is the first break I've had since high school. You know, I went right from undergrad to grad school to opening up businesses and I've been never really taken a break. Right. So. I went to the doctor and he's like, oh yeah, here's some anxiety meds. Two months later it had gotten worse. And I was like, okay, it's worse. They gave me more, a higher dose. Then the next time I went in, because I still wasn't feeling good. He said, all right, now we're going to add one and we're going to increase the dose of this one. So by the time it was eight months, I was more anxious than I'd ever been. I was having a hard time focusing, sleeping. I was exhausted. Um, in all aspects of my life, um, my relationship was going down the tubes and I gained 20 pounds. Oh my God. I know. And as a fitness person owning a gym, I was beating myself up mentally. So this was very hard and I started having panic attacks, like shutting down type panic attacks, which I had never had in my life so those were scary.  I went in and I was like, listen, there's gotta be something else, like either I'm going crazy or something, but like the fact that I feel out of control, and when I look in the mirror, I don't recognize who I am like, that scares me. So he was like, oh, just go to a therapist. Well, I was done with that. So I was like, I'm going to find another doctor. So I actually went to a psychiatrist cause I'm like, I'm, I've lost it. I'm losing it. She said, let's, let's do some blood work. So it came back and she's like, oh, you're in peri-menopause. My immediate reaction was  I'm not over 50 and I'm 44 and I'm healthy. And, um, you know, these are things we don't know. Right. Uh, so she she's like, okay, we're going to put you on a very mild dose of HRT, which I was hesitant because you do hear bad things about it, which is from a study done years ago. She's like, I'm worried about you because  your amygdala and cortisol so high that you're, you're burning the candle. You're not getting any rest, and you're not, you're not gonna be able to bring yourself down with mindfulness because I was trying mindfulness and exercising more, even though I was not getting anywhere. So I went on that dose for two weeks, the minimal dose, and I have not had anxiety or a panic attack since, and it's been over probably about a year and a half. It completely changed my life. And then since then I started researching perimenopause and menopause and because I wanted to lose the weight, I was like, why am I not losing this weight? I need to get this off. So CrossFit five times a week, and then also running wasn't working. So I started researching on different ways of working out over 40. So I switched to high intensity training with total body and dumbbells. And not for me, not more than 15, 20 pounds, which for me is light singing and CrossFit, I'm doing 115 pounds over my head, you know, so I went lighter and I started focusing on full body movements and shorter workout. So 15, 20 minutes where I push really hard. And then I was doing yoga and recovery stuff, like mobility and flexibility. And I started dropping the weight and I also switched my diet, um, which I had done research too. So that's kinda how I got into it because I ended up seeing results with, um, me changing everything that I'd ever done from 40 and before that makes such good sense. I'm so happy to hear that hit was included in that. Cause I don't believe in working hard, I believe in working smart. So, you're preaching my kind of words. That's awesome. Well, good for you because I feel like so many people, they go to the doctor for answers and all they do is write out that prescription and it doesn't help. And you were looking for solid answers and they didn't even tell you, Hey, you know, like let's run some blood work and see where some of your numbers are at, and then getting them a lot of times to run the numbers that you want to see too, is another whole chore. I'm sure you have a lot of that from the big sigh. Well, it's hard seeing other women go through this all the time now. Like, because they'll come to, if I post something on my face. Hey ladies, like, do you even know what the symptoms of perimenopause are? Cause I didn't. I was like, I did it. And so many women that are Mike my age, or I graduated high school with started commenting like, Hey, so what is this? I think I'm going through this. And it made me realize like women out there don't know. So that's kind of also where my passion came from. I'm like, listen, I can use what I've learned in my expertise in the last 20 years and come up with something that can help women when they're in this 50, you know, 55 year old range where you can feel lost and not even sure what the heck is going on with you. And, we need to be educated earlier in life that this is going to happen. It's not just pregnancy to menopause. There's an in-between in there. Tony Robbins calls it make your mess, your message. I think you have slam dunk that. Um, so I know you have something called the Fit Menopause Blueprint. Can you talk about that. Yeah.  I basically took what I did and turned it into a 12 week program. Cause it took me about 10 weeks to get back to where I was before all this craziness happened. So, um, women at my gym were like, what are you doing? I want to do what you're doing. Cause they're, they were probably in their 50, 55 area. And they had been at my. Come in three, four times a week working out hard. I could see it, but they were like, I don't, I'm not getting any results. My body's not changing. So I said, well, listen, why don't we put you on this program? I just put myself on like a beta group and put you through it. Sure. So they started dropping weight, sleeping better. Um, and this is without HRT sleeping better digestion stuff changed. All these effects started happening and they were like, this is so good. You need to take it outside. What we're doing here in little Hendersonville North Carolina. So that's kind of when I started expanding and put it online . And it's basically four pillars, fitness, which I kind of went over. I use HIIT training, but it's delivered via an app where there's videos posted. So you don't need to guess, uh, what, what that is that I re written there, there's a video demonstrating awesome trainer who did all that stuff and then with that there's glutes and abs daily, uh, there's a recovery day where, um, You get a foam roller and I'll cross ball and everything in this package with the it's called a FIT package. And then on Sundays, there's like a 20 minute video where you're using things to recover. So fitness is like kind of whole body. We also do yoga for the warmups. So it's kind of a little bit of everything, but it's not like CrossFit where, I mean, you're exhausted every time you're done Cross Fit. Cause if you don't do it that way, It's it almost feels like you're not doing it right. So in my head, it's like, you've got to push to that zone. Well, with this, it's like, you're still pushing hard, you're sweating, you're, tired, but you're not stressing your adrenals and your cortisol levels. So it's, it's a better recovery and it doesn't, you're actually going to get results. So that's the fitness. The nutrition part. I use My Fitness Pal. Oh, the other thing about the fitness part. So at the end of that workout, you have to hit complete. So I get alerted. So it's a ton of accountability each day, I'm looking for that." I've completed it." And if I see like two, three days, cause it'll show me how many they've completed for the week. So if it's a red, like, Hey, where have you been? So if somebody struggles with accountability, this is like a really good way of doing. It's not just going to be workout delivered and I don't ever see again, the other thing is the nutrition. I use My Fitness Pal, cause that's what I like to use. And every night at the end of the day, they have to send me a picture of their macros.  I use macros to help ladies, cause you got to start getting more protein. The older we are, so got to kind of switch that carb protein balance. And then some ladies, we include a little bit of intermittent fasting because the macros aren't quite enough. So, and I've used both and I intermittent both of those actually. I don't ever do like a full day of fasting though. I feel like I'd be an angry woman. So for me, for me, a full day of fasting does it kind of, but I can do like 12 to eight eating and then not eat for that, whatever that is, 16 hours. So. That's kind of how the nutrition works. So a lot of accountability with nutrition, if you're having a struggle and you're like my fats too high, I don't know how to get it down. I can go in your diary and say, Hey, this is what you ate that day. This is really high in fat. Maybe try to find something else that switch out. So it's a lot of back and forth. And then mindset.  We do weekly calls as a group. So as a group, we work through different issues and we start those zoom calls with wins,struggles and goals for next week. So there's a lot of accountability in the group. And with the mindset part, we talk about different things each week. So like one week is menopause and anxiety. Um, another one is menopause and decreased libido, um, things like that, so that we can talk about them. People can talk about their issues and then we work on them. And then the last pillars self care. I'm a big proponent of taking care of your body and not necessarily doing it yourself, massages, acupuncture, anything where you're getting worked on and you get to lay there and relax,  get your nails done. I'm not, I'm not to get your nails done type person, but some people find that relaxing. Creating an environment where you're changing your lifestyle. Everyone thinks that like they have to do endless cardio. That's not true. The more cardio you actually do and less weight training, you're just offsetting any,  any gains you're going to make. So you can't just go and do cardio nonstop. That's not going to get you there as far as eating. You also don't want to do a restrictive calorie diet, right? Like those are not, they've shown that those are not good. You end up getting more weight when you come off of those or you start craving things and then you, you end up cheating and then bingeing. So I have to have a big fan of that. I literally learned this morning they've done a study on that it was about restricting your calories and , that success rate was 0.01% point. Oh, this is what America is preaching. And your success rate people is going to be 0.01. That's so pretty crappyodds. Yeah, and a lot of people do that and doctors tell you to do that. Exactly. They don't have nutrition degrees, and they'll tell you, you got to work out more and eat less. Yeah. That's like the worst advice you could give anybody. That's like setting them up for failure. No wonder why people don't like to diet. That's that's the other mindset part is working on women's nutrition. I like to go out and have a good dinner somewhere once a week but a lot of women torture themselves if they have a bad meal or bad day, and then it ends up turning into a weekend and then a week, and they're like, okay, I'm going to start Monday. I'm gonna start Monday. But so in this, it's very, very important that we teach the mindset around; it's okay to go have a bad meal. It's okay to have some glasses of wine that night, wherever you want. But the next day you need to get in, in a workout. Even if it's a 30 minute walk, whatever it is you want to do. Eat healthy that day, because then you're not gonna, you're not gonna ruin anything you've been working on. Exactly. I tell you your meal, same thing. If you have to have that slice of pizza, it's not the greatest thing for you. I know that, you know what? I always think. I always tell people there's always better options too. You know, like if you, if you make it yourself, you can use organic cheese and things like that, but whatnot. But because. You just, you end up eating 30 things that probably a more caloric than the thing you wanted to eat in first place. And, you know, it's like just eat it and you get that satiety and then you can move on and tomorrow's another day, you know, but it hasn't totally do deprivation. Yeah. Don't be nice. You have a bad meal that day. And then the. Don't beat yourself up and move on because yeah, you're still going to see results that way. I know people won't say that, but you will still see results if you're putting in the time and you're cause you want to enjoy food. I mean, that's the other thing why women quit is they're like, I'm starving myself and I'm only living once and they go on this whole tangent. I've heard, it's like, no, I want you to enjoy something. I want you to enjoy what you like. You just can't enjoy it every day. I mean, it's just exactly. I have a culinary degree, I'm from New York and I'm Italian. So yeah, food's been a major priority in my life. So I understand everything that you're saying,  don't beat yourself up, have something that you enjoy.  If I packed my suitcase, I might cheat , so that's my self-care rule. If I really want something, that's just going to make me feel really good, then I will do it. Um, so what, um, we went through the whole blueprint. I have to ask a question. Purely selfish reasons. I'm curious to know, like with women in menopause, the macros with your proteins and your carbs, what kind of ratio are you at? I found what works with  85% of the people I've put through this 40 protein, 30 cards and 30 Fat. And we start off with just getting those ratios. And then after two, three weeks, we work on cleaning up, what's making up those ratios. So the tricky part is just getting to those ratios and then once you're there, it's cleaning it up and making it more whole foods and, you know, healthier options that are making up your. You know, a carb is not a carb, you know, like a sweet potato sure. As heck isn't, you know, a bag of chips, you know, it's just not, not the same thing. I'm always saying you can always look for better options. What is a question that women often ask with menopause? Maybe there's something maybe that they didn't know about? Like, what is maybe the aha. Cause One that comes to my mind pretty quickly is. Just like I did when she said I was in peri-menopause. All I heard was menopause. And in my head, my mom hit menopause at 56. So I was like, what? I'm 44. So there's actually stages. So like, that's the thing, like there's menopause, which is one year of not having your period. Perimenopause can happen , I've heard numbers anywhere from five  to 10 years before menopause. So that's important though, because if people want a menopause, the average age is 51. So if you go into menopause, peri-menopause at 41, most women are not going to have any idea that a lot of their things going on, lack of sleep restless, exhaustion, night sweats, which it happened to me during COVID. So I would wake up every morning and take my temperature thinking I had COVID cause the bed would be soaking wet. And I thought I had a fever. That'll help your anxiety too. Yeah. So things like that, or decrease in sex or even sometimes painful sex starts happening in your forties to where. They just start not wanting to have sex and they don't really realize why, but there's there is help out there. And again, I'm more on the natural side where, you know, with exercise, nutrition, and mindset, you can actually decrease a lot of these symptoms and live, uh, you know, a healthy, well balanced life with, even though you'll have the symptoms, you can't get rid of them, but they can be managed to be right and make a manageable lesson than not, not so severe. I agree. We are really on the same page.  I think people don't put enough stock into the diet, exercise and mindset. People want the quick fix and  that's a hard thing to work with. It is not going to take a week 10 pounds. It's going to take a week now that we're over 40 to lose a pound, maybe a pound and a half. It's not that three pounds that you, we used to lose know in our thirties. So yeah, we've got to be educated earlier in life, basically. Um, to know that this is time because a lot of women will struggle the whole 10 years and then they'll hit menopause and they'll, there'll be like, oh, Oh, you were facing those symptoms, but you can, 35 year olds can start experiencing perimenopause. It depends on when your menopause data. So, um, and everybody's different. So it's, it helps to know this stuff before you actually get there. Being educated on your body and what it's doing is very important. When I was going through this and I had no idea what was happening to me, I kept forgetting things, I used to be able to read something and then be able to write it down over here. Like really good memory. In the gym. I would walk over to write something down on a post-it and I get over there to like, what was I going to write down? And then I'd walk back over here and I'd remembered. And it was like this weird, I couldn't remember things. Somebody would say something. And I was like, I got to remember that. And I couldn't remember it. And I was like, what is, I was like, I'm getting early onset Alzheimer's. And that happens too, in that 40 to 50, things just slip your mind. And you're like, whoa, like, whoa, it scares me before, you know, they go for it. It scares you before you know that you're in peri menopause cause you're like, what is going on with my brain something's happening? And you're scared that it is something like Alzheimer's or my mom died of, geo blastoma brain cancer, which is a beast. It scares the bejesus out of me,  and I have the thyroid, which is always related to memory. Woe is me with between both of them now. Holy cow. Um, but, um, so like maybe let's pick something. I know that women with the hot flashes, I had a sister who I remember visiting once and I never took off my coat because their house was blooming 50 degrees. It was like, is it cold in here? I was like, can I see my breath? I'm like, geez.  Do you have any hacks that can help women be more comfortable? let me think about this one.  I know about a thing called a chilly pad that they make that goes in your bed. Um, but is there anything else. Is there any food cause more? Oh, there are foods that cause more it's spicy foods can trigger hot flashes. I think caffeine, uh, a lot of caffeine can trigger hot flashes.  I never had a hot flash during the day, mine are always at night and I know some people have them during the day. But, I know it and work places. It's hard cause you can't quite communicate with your employer, but having a fan, having a fan around you during the day, I've heard women talk about that. But a  a lot of women will sleep with like the temperature very low and it, it like freezes their significant other super good for your health and your sleep quality. So I don't think that's a bad thing I also know about they make a fan and it, it is L shaped and it sits between the fitted sheet and the flat sheet and it kinda more on one person, um, than the other. And it kinda get it from the toes up. Um, I, my sister went through the hammers of hell with, with the hot flashes. I mean, to this day, I'm not real sure. Um, it's kind of like when they happen, they they're going to happen, but that's the thing fitness, nutrition, mindset as you can, with incorporating that into your life, you are going to be able to, have decreased amount of those and less debilitating. Um, there'll be shorter, they won't happen as often,  and there are some natural things, which I'm not a big speaker on, but there are some natural supplements which, um, we'll go over my summit in a second. A lot of things mentioned about things that will help with hot flashes and getting better sleep and things like that. I agree with you though that again, I think they're the best hack is the diet, the exercise and the mindset. And if you can reduce  the frequency, the duration, and, any of that. That's awesome. I mean, that, that's a huge hack. So  another kind of personal selfish question here. What are the changes since you're like exercise queen and menopause lady here, um, women over like 40, what needs to change in the gym. A couple things, one, you need to let you need to lift weights. I mean, gone are the days of just cardio because also when you hit 40, your, our bone mass and our muscle mass starts to naturally decrease. So if you're not doing anything, you're going to decrease at a faster rate compared to those of us that are active lifting weights. We are gonna, we are going to offset that degeneration change. I mean, is it going to happen ultimately? Yes, but like, we can slow it down, try to maintain a level where it's at, but you have to lift weights in the gym. It doesn't mean you've got to go out there and lift 500 pounds over your head. Dumbbells, like even any amount of extra weight that you want to use. You can also do body weight, but it's not going to be as good as resistance training and weight training. Plus do weight training increases your metabolism longer? Spending an hour on the treadmill. So that's important. And then,  you don't want to go and spend two hours in the gym and you also don't want to do things like called two-a-days, where you do an hour of cardio in the morning, and then a weight session at night.  Your body's not going to be able to recover. You're going to exhaust it. And your cortisol is going to raise your stress levels are going to raise and your body's not going to get the results that you want it to because it's not having enough time to recover. So you got to look at it as you want to get a good workout in, but you do not want to go out firing on all cylinders. I love that. And you just confirmed, like everything that I believe. It just makes sense if, if you're going to do cardio and then what is your burn last an hour or two, whatever and you can do something that could last six or eight hours. Hello? Like why would it shorter, shorter workout? You can do a 20 minute weight workout compared to endless cardio. And you're still, they're still not going to have the advantage that the person lifting weights. Does.I didn't know that tidbit. That's awesome. But yeah, it just, it's just, it's smarter. It's just smarter and it's its face and it's less boring.  And you don't want to get stuck in a routine that's the other thing. Yes, this is where the CrossFit comes in. Constantly varied. High-intensity interval training. You do not want to do the same workout. So to me, gone are the days of chest and tricep days back in bicep days, and then leg days, like you need to be doing total body every time you work out, not the same exercises though, different exercises and different workouts. So variety is also going to get you better results than doing the same workout. So trainers, there are good trainers out there. There's trainers, you've got to have a certain skillset for my thinking. Like you can't just have a personal training certificate. I feel like my chiropractic degree made me such a better trainer because we worked on cadavers. I got to see the muscles and where they connected, and I have a better understanding . Not every, trainer's going to be a chiropractor, but there are some out there with kinesiology degrees, with sports medicine, all sorts of different degrees, other than just a personal training degree, you want somebody who understands what that exercise is doing to your body, because then if you're doing it wrong, you're not going to get injured where you can't work out or if you're injured, they can rehab you the same time you're working out. So I'm a big proponent of find a trainer that knows what they're doing and it's not just about, 20 years experience. It's what, they've what they've learned in that process. Like what other degrees have they brought to the. Right. Just because you've done it a long time doesn't make you good at what, at that. I've always believed that regardless of the industry. you know, it's funny, sometimes I don't run often, but I do find running really good for my, my mind. I definitely get that runner's high. And if I'm really stressed out, instead of like going to see a counselor, I will run and I'll usually maybe do like twice a month. I don't do it very often. But, um, when I do see other people running their like form is so off, like I just really want to run up to them and I'm like, you are so messing up your hips, you know, it drives me crazy. People don't take the time to like, everything is on like YouTube today. It's just right there.  Don't take one person to. Find like 10 that are consistently saying a very similar thing. Um, but like learn how to do things so that you're not injuring yourself.  It's very important. Yes long-term so that you last really working out as a lifestyle, like there should never be a point in your life where you're like, I'm not working out, like at 90, at 90. I want to be able to be active. That doesn't mean. Slam dunking a basketball or anything, but I want to be able to move around it and enjoy life and, and take a hike if I want without having to be on a Walker and a wheelchair. So it is really important to embrace it. This is just, you got to get out of the mindset of, I hate this or this is torture, it's gotta be something you're enjoying and it's doing so much for you on so many levels. It's, it's just a natural therapist. I agree with you. I take off Sundays and I do this the excess amount of time that I gained in the day, but I don't really like it because I really like working out and knowing that I did that for myself, it's purelyhead game thing. It is.  But regarding getting older and whatnot, I know that you can regenerate muscle growth in through your eighties, which is so cool. People like, oh, I'm 50 it's too late. No, no, no more excuses. That is not true. And I love finding YouTube videos of people who are doing extraordinary things in their later years. Like I saw this lady 101 doing a split. I was like, that's so cool. She did actually, she was like a yoga instructor for years and she could do a backbend that like 101. That is what I want to do. I can't even do a backbend now.  Don't know if I'll ever be able to do that. I just have never been flexible and I've had back surgery, but it was wicked cold to me that if you stay mobile, you know, and they also say about less falls,  when you do walking lunges and things like that, it keeps your balance going and then you'll have less falls later on. But all this is so important to know. Ah, yeah. And don't don't, I don't want people to think. I, I hate running. I actually love running. I love, uh, endurance. I do obstacle course racing, which is anywhere from nine to 15 miles. So I love running, but I, because of, I feel like you can run, you can overrun and again, stress. If I'm running a train for something it's maybe twice a week, I'll do one shorter run during the week because I enjoy it. And then one longer one on the weekend. So I just don't overdo the running but running. Right. It still makes you feel good. It releases your endorphins. So if you like running, go for it, just, you just don't want to do it every day. I agree with, and it is not the best exercise. I am a huge proponent in HIIT.  I just personally think that's where it's at, but I do vary up my routine. One of the principles that I learned in my personal,  certificate class is that your body is a tent pole and they said, you need to stress it from all sides equally. Well, you fall over and that makes really good sense. And it's a really good analogy for people to grasp on because it's true. You need, you need to work out everything. It shouldn't be exclusive of. Oh, I just like leg. Well, yeah, yeah, yeah. Or women that are like, I just need to get rid of my bye-bye arm. I have here. I'm like, I just want to do. That's not going to burn any calories full body is what's going to burn the calories. So yes, absolutely. So tell me about the summit. It looks very interesting. I've been spying. Um, I'm like, this sounds cool. So I interviewed 30 speakers experts in perimenopause, menopause, nutrition, fitness mindset, self care, and intimacy, even which are the we're the fun ones. Um, yeah. So it's October 25th through the 27th, it's free the initial parts free. If you just want to hear the base interviews are free. We do have some bonus interviews that get just a little bit more in depth or one lady had a show and tell I'll just say that.  Which caught me off guard, but like I loved it. The first initial interviews, which are about 20 to 30 minutes are free, and there's 30 speakers.  You can watch it at home at work it's virtual. And not only that, but, um, so that day you have 24 7 access to those videos without the upgrade. Each speaker gives like a free ebook or a free, linked to something that you're really gonna love, like a bonus. And this, is at www.maneuveringmenopausesummit.com. And again, you just sign up, it's a couple of weeks away and invite your friends. You can watch it together, but I feel like this is also good for anybody in their thirties, because you're going to be so much more. Because the fitness and nutrition stuff, you can relate to your life now, no matter what age you are, let's, let's face it. Any of that you can, or even mindset. Yes. Um, we got hormone experts talking about HRT, non HRT, you know, natural things. There's just so much good, good stuff in there in such a wide range of topics that you will get something out of it. And again, you might as well sign up it's free and. Yeah. And like I said, invite your friends, have a glass of wine. Don't tell anybody I said that.  But you can go online or water.   I got so many good speakers on board and they just, they were so fun to interview.  I learned so much and I was the one interviewing. It just made me better at what I'm doing. And I feel like it'll make you better for your own journey that you're on and you'll learn so much. Cause they're really knowledgeable and been doing this for so long. So, right. I just want to add to the audience idea that I think like if you get two glasses of clean wine and you go with your partner to the event, because like they need to know too, because it giving them the insight of like what the heck's going on in my world. They will look at you vastly different, you know what I'm saying? Like you're giving them some clues as to, Hey, why is she acting like that? Why is she sweating all the time? Why is she getting moody? Or why is she forgetful? But to hear it from a professional perspective like that I think is just a game changer, you know? So I think everybody should go. I think I will definitely help you market that because I, I do think that there's a lot of ignorance out there, unfortunately. It's just something people don't talk about. We, and we need to educate ourselves, you know, it's your body. Um, and, and you need to know it's that simple. And again, you can get there, you can get there two ways,  the maneuveringmenopausesummit.com or DrShelleyburns.comnot not spelled out Dr. Shelley burns.com. That's the other way to get there. Um, but again, it's going to be fun. It's going to be fun if you don't want to, if you don't have time to sit there and listen, like I said, you can upgrade to the All Access pass, which just gives you 24 7 access for up to a year. So if you don't have time to sit there and watch 10 interviews in one day, and then there's also notes, um, I'm going through myself and taking notes on each speaker. So I'll be able to, there'll be those too. It sounds really, really cool. So one last question. My signature question.  If you could eliminate one thing in this world, what would it be and why? And it can't be hot flashes. Well, I don't have those. That probably wouldn't be something I'd say. well right now with how crazy I think the world is  me personally I feel like even though it drives my business, social media is, A place that's opened up a place for people to be mean hurtful lower other people's self-esteem and confidence. And bully kids, and not only that, but like pedophiles and stuff. Like they all, they all use social media as a means to hurt people.  If you could get rid of that, I feel like people would start having, connections again and conversations without just sitting on their computer in their rooms, typing all day. I feel like we're starting to lack connected. I agree. I agree. And especially with, with the distance thing , the no hugging, and the no touching.. I  do a lot of social media but I love it because I don't get into any of that. And I have like 5,000 friends. It's very rare when I have to like kick somebody off my list, you know? But, um, it's that when you see like a relative though, right?  I don't engage with, I engage with healthy conversations or just worry about promoting education to people. I don't worry about. What other people say or, or anything like that. But when you see like a relative post something and you're like, okay, I didn't need to know that that was a, your opinion of that, right? Like you're like, yeah, my mother-in-law say  you can only pick your friends, you can't pick your relatives. So what are you going to do, limit your time and your conversation. That was always my answer. Uh, Shelly you it's really great to have you today. Thank you so much for all this information.  And I can't wait for your summit to come out on the 25th of October, maneuveringmenopausesummit.com, maneuvering menopause summit, maneuvering menopause, summit.com. I will put all that in the show notes.

Hello. Hello and welcome to a very different vitality feed. today we're going to be discussing Alzheimer's.  My 94 year old father has it and my mom, died of a brain tumor, which runs very similar symptoms. And so this is something that I would just like to make everybody aware of Nobody thinks about eating and their diet as participating in the health of the brain , memory and cognitive function. And I think it's really important that we make people aware.   I'm going to give everybody a little Alzheimer's 1 0 1 and interview my dad as well. So I hope you enjoy this episode. A lot of people think Alzheimer's is something to people 65 plus, and it is not.  Recently  I read, the earliest documented case of Alzheimer's started at age 31 for Becky Barletta and she is from the UK and she became the youngest case of dementia. And she has what they call is that early onset Alzheimer's because she's under 65. There was a study done where they found evidence of beta amyloid plaque or amyloid buildup in the brain of people as young, as 20 years old. So if you're thinking I can eat Oreos, Doritos and fast food, because I'm only 30, I have news for you because they are already finding physical characteristics in people's brains, starting in their twenties. So I hope this wakes some people up to realize it is important to start taking care of yourself, always including people being in their twenties. The study that I'm referring to, about the 20 year olds is research that was done by a professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. His conclusion was that "we need to intervene much earlier than we had thought and to try to get rid of that amyloid very early in life." So what are some of the things that you can eat to increase your chances of warding off dementia and Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and all those diseases that impede your brain. One of my favorites, and then at the top one in most sites that you can research is omega threes and of course I always list fatty fish. If you're a vegan or vegetarian, you can go with seaweed, hemp, and flax.  Chia seed is also one of my go-to favorites, chia seed is amazing for your hair and your nails if you eat it every day, I guarantee you will see the effects of that. But for the fatty fish, the best ones to eat are, Mackerel, Salmon and Sardines. And then number two on the list is coffee. I'm not a big proponent of coffee just because of the stimulant, but it has to also be clean. Coffee is very high in pesticides and I know Kion Coffee. K I O N is a very good coffee company is one of the purest cleanest coffees in the world.  It's pricey, but you get what you pay for. I make pour over coffee with almond milk, it's pretty yummy. And the third thing is blueberries. I would love to see everybody eat organic . The smaller, the item is that you're consuming, the more surface space it has, which means the higher the pesticide so I prefer organic. And then a fourth is turmeric. I wish I liked this more. I do sprinkle it in my eggs for color cause I do some whites. Um, but if they make turmeric tea, that's another way you can ingest it.Number five is broccoli. I love broccoli. It is awesome with some garlic and red pepper, Saute' it in a pan. And number six is pumpkin seeds. I like to have mine raw and organic. And I sometimes make a trail mix with them... I probably pumpkin seeds every day.And number seven is dark chocolate. Interesting note here. Chocolate is good for you, but it has to be dark. I think it's at least 70%  or higher.  Dark chocolate is also really good in the morning. I know that sounds really crazy, but, and even crazier is dark chocolate in the morning can reduce your insulin levels. How nutty is that? But it is true.When you get up in the morning, have some dark chocolate and Brazil nut. Brazil nuts help you with thyroid in two ways. they're a good source of iron, but they also extremely rich in selenium and actually one nut is all you need for your whole dose of selenium for your day. So in the morning, every day, pretty much about 10 o'clock, I have my Brazil nut and my dark chocolateand speaking of nuts number eight is nuts on the list. Again, I prefer raw and organic because they're small.And number nine is vitamin C. They set an orange in the study that I read, but oranges are not the best source of vitamin C. And actually the part that is the highest in vitamin C is the peel, which I do do a lot of lemon zest, and things like on my salad and in my tea.  Kiwi is also extremely high in vitamin C.Then number 10 is eggs. Eggs have choline in them, which is super good for you and vitamin B's, especially cause I don't eat a lot of meat, I do eat eggs and you have to keep that yolk in there. That fat in there is super good for your brain as are avocados. Another really good fat for brain. Just an awesome thing to do, first thing in the morning as well.3 million us cases per year are diagnosed, that is just staggering and such a sad statistic. Alzheimer's destroys your memory and other important mental functions. The brain cell actual connections, and the cells themselves degenerate and die.  They destroy your memory and a lot of your mental functions.Memory loss and confusion are the main symptoms of Alzheimer's and there is no cure. I do believe diet is your answer. And I just wanted to give everybody, some symptoms,  to look out for, to know when your relatives are exhibiting these things that you maybe shouldn't start investigating and seeing what's going on with them. Because a lot of people don't know, we did not know with my Mom, what was going on.Brain health is super important and close to my heart between my mother and my father, both having issues. It's very scary to me.  It is a progressive disease so the first thing is memory loss, which disrupts daily life and it's things like forgetting recently learned information and asking the same questions over and over.Number two challenges in planning or solving problems, difficulty in finding a plan or directions,  and working with numbers if they do a  checkbook, things like that. My mother, if I had looked in her checkbook, it would have been a huge indicator that something was wrong with her brain, but nobody knew.Number three, difficulty completing familiar tasks like grocery shopping or driving to familiar places, or trying to remember the rules of something that they know how to do like a specific game.Number four is confusion with time or place.  They can lose track of dates, seasons, passages of time, sometimes forgetting where they are or where they live and how they got there. My Dad literally asked me this yesterday; Where am I? When am I going home?  Whose house am I in? How did I get here? He asked where my mother was. My mother has been dead for eight years. Which is very troublesome when you think about it and very scary.Number five is trouble understanding visual images and spatial relationships. These are vision problems that people have, and they can cause bad judgment with balance and judging distance. And sometimes they're unsteady. So it's always good to have a handout and help them.   It also can make reading difficult.Number six is communication issues, new problems with words and speaking, or writing and having trouble following or following along in a conversation.My mother absolutely exhibited these, although she did not have Alzheimer's, she did have a brain tumor. And I find a lot of parallels between these two.Number seven is misplacing things and not able to retrace. Often putting things in unusual places the other night, my father was hiding shells in his pockets and then he will swear he didn't do that. It's pretty interesting how they like to do repetitive action and they will argue with you that they have not done things that they have.They are not able to retrace their steps and then accuse others of stealing. It makes living with somebody who has these symptoms, very challenging and very difficult. It's important not to argue. It's important to accept what is.Number eight is decreased or poor judgment. Maybe with regards to money, cleanliness or grooming. Number nine is withdrawal from work or social activities. A lot of times they become very quiet. They don't want to engage in conversation, and it usually stems from a lack of being able to hold the conversation.And number 10 is a change in mood or in personality, and they become confused, suspicious, depressed, fearful, and anxious.I hope that helps maybe give some people some ideas of symptoms to look out for. It is such a problematic disease that is running rampant. I do believe that diet and exercise both, can contribute to warding off that tremendously. I really do hope that many of you will consider your daily diet and exercise regimen and changing it and adding the above foods that we discussed and remembering too, that early onset Alzheimer's can start in your thirties.Next is the interview with my dad. I'd purposely left in the long pauses to show the impact of Alzheimer's on communication, as well as the fact that I tried to discuss those familiar family stories that were retold hundreds of times while I was growing up. I'm sure you have your own stories in your family. Here is the interview with myDad.Tell everybody what your name is?William Musso.And how old are you?69 close. Well, most backward. 94 94. Amazing. Right!Do you remember why you grew up?Richmond Hill. That's it! That is absolutely right, in New York. Although he has a Brooklyn accent, we don't know why.What do you think that made in 94? What do you think you did in your life to manage to get all the way to ninety four years? What am I doing? Like what do you think you say? What do you think being a carpenter helps make your life good? Right that physical exercise. Yeah. Yeah. A lot of hard work. Anything else you think made you live so long? Because 94, is pretty impressive. That's pretty cool. Your parents live long ago.Okay.  Good living.What's probably one of your favorite memories?, Maybe with mom or with us kids, maybe remember when we went cross country? My Children. Yeah. What about when we went across the country and all the campers and the trailers? Camping with the family and the children, was nice- I enjoyed that. Yeah. Sometimes it was miserable. I remember it being really hot when we were out west, it was like 120 was really crazy.You remember the time that the bear came in, the campground, you remember that? And we were all banging on the door. My dad was in the bathroom at the back of the trailer. Yeah. You were in the back and we were trying to get into the trailer because we were all scared. Cause I know it was very scary. It's crazy.How did you meet mom? Do you remember? How did you meet mommyat a bar?I i introduced myself and I think we hit it or.And did you ask her out again that nightshe looked up and said, I don't know.Yeah, except when she gets annoyed.But you feel good. Right. But you feel good, right? Walking around on your own, eating on your, all, doing all your stuff.to live up to 94 years old? ?Well, thank you for answering my questions. I appreciate that. And, um, um, you're welcome. Right or wrong.So what you do today matters for tomorrow as well as long term.Invest in you.And remember, "life has no remote get up and change it yourself."

Hello. Hello, Vitality Seekers, please help me welcome Kimberly Baca, a Holistic Health Strategist at Legacy Holistic Health. Kimberly was a former fashion designer is a certified living foods. Chef, a Tony Robbins crew member, a best selling author, and the host of the 365 Health podcast and she is best known as the Naked Veganista  so love that. Welcome Kimberly. Thanks Caroline. Thanks for having me. This is going to be so fun. Like, I don't know if we could have any more in common. We both went to fashion school. We both have a culinary background. You got to be a crew member. I have yet to do that, but it's on my list, cause I love Tony Robbins. This is going to be so awesome. I love your title, The Naked Veganista, the fashion inspired name. Tell us a little about your journey because I really find it fascinating. Well, I, you know, always wanted to be a fashion designer since I was little. And I saw one day that movie with Lindsay Wagner, which was called Scruples and I'm like, that's what I want to do. I want to have a beautiful establishment on Rodeo Drive, wherever that was. Cause I was a Michigan girl. So I had no clue where that was. And I was like, I'm going to do that. And I grew up with a family where, you know, blue collar, my dad worked for the steel industry and worked his way up. And eventually he actually bought the steel company, but we were blue collar and traveled around and settled in Michigan. And I grew up just a regular person, but my mom and dad got divorced. I was 12 and they said, You know, oh, we don't have money for you for college. So he could just forget about that. Right. And so what I did was I said, you know what? I going to find a way I'm going to find a way. So I put my mind to work for me and figured out a way I ended up going to a school because I got a scholarship that wasn't for me. I ended up switching to Michigan State University. I graduated with a bachelor's of science and then a minor, which was clothing and textiles. So my degree is in clothing and textiles. And then I was like, how am I going to do this? So I've found before I graduated, I actually was in my fourth year, ready to graduate. I found they had an Institute in Detroit where all of the fashion schools were coming and I said, you know what? I'm going to go there. And. Had to have a portfolio of something, but I didn't, all I had was I had, I was good at drawing. So I created some drawings. I took some new drawing classes in my spare time at night between working three jobs and going to school. And then I presented it and they were like, Do you know what? You're not, you're not Parsons material. You can't, you know, she just like picked it up and threw it. Didn't even really look at it. And I had spent all this time creating this portfolio. I had a three paneled folding screen, long story short. The director was like, you know what? Poopoo on you. I mean, I didn't have the look. I didn't have the money. I didn't have the whatever. And I wasn't from New York. So I was like, I was devastated. You know, I was 22 years. And I was like, this is my dream. You know, I am a great designer. I knew I was a great designer. I just didn't know how to express it. Long story short, I ended up getting into the school, I ended up winning the designer of the year award. I got hired out of school for fortune 500 company as their director of merchandising, uh, as my first technical job, even though I got a summer job and I was making $60 grand a year, I ended up. performing well then the year after that, the competition hired me away from there and we won the designer of the year award again. Wow. And that was for hosiery company. I ended up working for  first and then I worked for a Hue, top designer, director for that company. And what happened to me was my work and all of this caught up with me working three jobs, putting myself through school the designing. When you're in a design career, in a school it's, it's all nighters, you know, you really don't sleep much. You don't eat well. I had no idea what to eat, to keep myself healthy or anything. I just ate whatever. And like, Kids do. Right. Uh, and it all caught up to me. So then in my mid twenties, I became completely debilitated and they diagnosed me with what was called fibromyalgia auto immune disorder. And I couldn't even lift my arms. I couldn't walk nothing, so I couldn't even .Work. So my entire dream life, my house, my marriage, my everything pretty much was stripped from me. And that was because of lack of awareness. I changed my whole life to become a health coach, help women specifically to never be put in that position where they have to make a choice between their health and their job or their health and their family, but to really live authentically living healthy every day. And I've been a vegan since the 1997, when I went to my first Tony Robbins Event. I was like completely mesmerized that half the people left for the health day and they didn't count their health as more important than their business and most people don't. And so that's why I have targeted my coaching to people, specifically, women who are overworked,  over-busy don't know how to take care of themselves and they're going to eventually lose their health because they've put their business in the forefront of, of everything that needs to be important. I love that and I know exactly what you mean about the Tony Robbins health day,  which was probably one of my favorites out of all of them. I went there with such an open mind. It was really excellent.  Thank you for sharing all of that. I ended up working in a lingerie company. You end up working in hosiery! Really really crazy. I loved your story. And that is so true, what you said about how people put their health, in the back seat, or they don't even recognize it as something that needs to be in the forefront of life. Um, and I am doing a similar path with trying to help people who've been successful. I'm on the opposite side, I'm trying to head towards the male client, but it is so true. We just don't realize what we have until it's gone. And you know had the fibromyalgia.  That must have been just so awful. I can't even imagine being that young. You're a fashion designer. You're doing all that stuff, doing all the things you want to do. And then all of a sudden you can can't hardly walk or feed yourself or do any of those things. It must've been devastating. I can't imagine. Work with the people who are very similar to me, really independent. You know, let's say Type A, wants to be in control, need that structure to keep things together. But really when it comes to health, most people don't know how to do that. They don't know how to integrate it in an effective way, that's sustainable. They can do a first book period of time, the 30 days, the 90 days. But then they pretty much fall apart because some other life event happens and it interrupts the flow and they don't know how to get back to it. So that's what I do. I really help people get that congruency I agree with that too. They know what to do, but it's don't know how to implement it. And then there's a huge difference you can know, but that doesn't mean you can actually make it work. Today, we're going to talk about how to feel 10 years younger, who doesn't want to do that. Um, and, and you need some kind of like a banner, a title or something, because I know you had a baby at 50 and you look fabulous and we're the same age.  It's mind blowing so what would you say on how to regain your youthfulness? I think the key is I, I know one of my secrets and people are like, what do you do? How do you do this? You know, I mean, I really don't wear much makeup. I really just do everything naturally. I make all my own products for my hair and my skincare and everything. And I've been doing that for years since I didn't want to put anything toxic in my body or on my body. So make sure that you're aware of what you're actually doing now that could be causing advanced aging or from you from actually looking your most youthful.. And the other thing is, is that. I have a mindset that I have had since I programmed myself to believe this and I continue to tell myself, and now it's just part of who I am. It's not like a mantra I have to say every day, but it's like, I look and feel at least 15 years younger than my chronological age. That's just who I am. So I will always look at least 15 younger years younger than my chronological age. So to begin if that's something that you can't really believe that the affirmation is not going to be effective, you actually have to believe in affirmation. Part of it has to be true. So. Somebody starts out with five years. Okay. And they can, they can grab that. They can grab hold of that 10 years. Right. And then build up a mine used to be 10 years. Right. And then everybody comes, kept telling me, I looked at least 15 years younger. So I'm like, I'm changing my belief. My belief is actually working better. So I, I had said originally 10 years younger and I changed it about four or five years ago to at least 15 years younger because I seem to look like that getting younger. And I think the other thing is, is that to enjoy what we're doing more. I know that I'm guilty of that. Like I'm just too serious, a lot of the times in the past, up until now. So changing our words as well, catching ourselves with what we say and up until now, I've been pretty serious about most of the things, because I'm very direct. And very, you know, one minded when it comes to certain things. So to, to that effect, I was talking yesterday to somebody about it, really. I think having my daughter at 50 years old has actually contributed to my youthfulness because I am more playful. I am more like in spur of the moment. I do more things that are active in terms of like, just play things. Laughter things that I wasn't doing before too serious, all the time kills our joy and kills our liveliness. So I think that is a super secret. So besides believing, creating a belief structure where we believe we look and feel at least whatever age you want to feel, right. So  I felt my best, not in my twenties, I don't want to feel bad again. That was painful to me, but in my thirties, right? So in my late thirties I felt looked and it was absolutely the best. And that's where I want my belief to stay. How I'm looking, how I'm feeling. I'm still able to do everything I do, even though I went through cesarean pregnancy. I was debilitated cause I had two herniated disc twice. I had herniated disc in my back and those have healed. Okay. So how do these things heal? We have to program our mind to do the healing. We have to tell ourselves, even if we just barely believe it or even don't believe it yet, but by reprogramming over and over again, we will program our brain to begin to take root of the truth and begin to create and manifest it in a solid form. That's such a, what? I've heard that so many times that it's like, it doesn't even necessarily have to be real, just like a smile, just slap one on and soon enough it'll, it'll turn to be the real thing.  But in the meantime, your brain really doesn't know the difference. So just do it anyway and have those affirmations. You definitely do not look your age and I would say 15 years, maybe even still a little conservative. Uh, yeah, you definitely can preach to the choir. So vegan since 1997 and then you tell yourself, " I look and feel 15 years younger" than my biological age. I might just have to adopt that there, Ms. Kimberly. Um, and I at least, yeah, at least. So it's 15 or more. Okay. Okay. At least I'm writing that down. All right. And enjoy, I agree with you that I am guilty of the taking life too serious. And I did that for way too many years, but I'm on a new path now. Whew. Give us a couple of success stories of clients maybe that you have dealt with and, and how they have benefited wonderful concept that you have. Well, I'll take a current client. She's actually 74 years old. And, her cardiologist after one month of working with me is blown away. He actually focuses on a plant-based to help his clients to, uh, reduce the cardiological damage or whatever is going on for them. So he was just really blown away because he promotes it already, but he does not see results like this in people over 70, put it that way. First of all, in a month, she had a weight reduction of 16 pounds, which is great cause that weight reduction is not only inflammation, but also the unhealthy accumulation around vital organs, especially at the, in age, past the age of 60, but vital organs start to accumulate fat and they start to accumulate toxic residue. If it hasn't been, focused on as a healing protocol consistently for that person. And most people, it's not been a consistent focused protocol to get toxins out. So she has been moving these very healthfully in the timing over four weeks and now is in a momentum. So her body now is in a momentum and we slowly add things in our program that we focus on with Legacy Holistic Health. Isn't a deprivation mindset. We do not teach the body about deprivation because whenever you deprive something or you resist something, it will persist. And if you deprive the body, it goes seeking for what it's being deprived of. More of it now. So our goal is to add things in it's an additive type of perspective, where we give the body, we give the mind, we give the craving what it's asking for, but in a healthy way. And so I add things in for. And then we slowly do things to increase movement. So now she, where she barely could even move any limbs before she's jumping on a rebounder, she's doing hit workouts, which is high intensity interval training workouts that are designed specifically for her, where she's doing high knees and high kick. Like literally, we don't have to work out an hour to get results. So most of the people that are over the age of 40 think I got to work hard. I got to work long. I got to be in the gym wall one to two hours, but that's not true. So we've just created a customized program. And that's what I do in my one-on-one coaching, so that everything is geared to exactly what you can do, stretching just enough to get results and then moving in, in a guided fashion. So you accelerate those results. As we moved through the coaching. That is so crazy good. I don't know what I'm more excited about either that you've helped us 74 year old person or that a 74 year old person. Was wanting to change at 74! I think. Talk about a win-win, that's fabulous. I absolutely adore the whole concept. And it is a lot harder, at that age and, and may lose that much weight. And then astounded her doctor, !   Any other success stories stand out? Really, I mean, I have a client who really began as a high level executive, multi six figure executive. And, uh, she decided that was that the life for her anymore. She really wanted to follow the path that God had chosen for her. And really. Uh, the money wagon, wasn't the wagon. And she wanted to spend time with her or her family. And at 40 years old, she became pregnant with another boy and, she wanted to make changes, but really didn't know what to do. So I guided her. The type of lifestyle she could have if she focused on healthy things that she puts in her life, getting rid of the toxic elements, surrounding her and putting in nutrient rich foods and having a system to be able to do that while she was working.But then as she transitioned out of working, she was able to implement even more. And as she did that, She changed her whole lifestyle and all of her kids too. And now they all eat healthy foods. They love it. And which they're astonished actually that the kids love eating this way versus eating the old burgers and fries and chips, take out the things that they were doing. And I think part of it has to do with when you're intentional and this is something I train people when you're intentional about it. How you live, there's this high level of vibration energy that comes into your life that brings in community, brings them love. It brings in just joy that wasn't there before. And I think that's the difference is when you actually focus on your health and make it part of how you're actively integrating life in a healthy way, everything else changes too. So good, that amazing you can transform lives like that and, and do it like one-on-one and really custom couture. I'll use the word couture for you because you're the fashionista.   Talk to me a little bit about the certification and the living food chef that piques my interest. Maybe do you have like a favorite recipe or something that our listeners could make themselves at home try to get that nutrient density? Yeah. I became a living foods chef because I wanted to understand the implication of food on our health and how we could get more food nutrients instead of supplements or, uh, you know, just what the normal people are used to doing to get vitamins and the elements that we need in our body. Instead of using it in a pill form or a bottle form I really wanted to learn and how to integrate that in meals. So we don't have to make extra time and we don't have to spend extra money. That is what it is about saving time and money. Is what I help people do best,  while they get healthy and stay that way. And so, uh, one of the best things to do is get avocado in your diet. Every day. A lot of people are like, oh, fat, fat, fat. They're so afraid of fat, but you have to know, you have to have fat for your brain to function. You have to have fat for your ligaments and your joints to have the lubrication. They need to not only feel healthy, but to avoid things like arthritis. Arterial arterial issues that will clog the body. We have to have healthy fat. We have to have healthy nutrients. So my favorite favorite recipe to trick people with is avocado pudding and it's chocolate pudding. It looks and feels like chocolate mousse, but it's using avocado. And my secret ingredient, it's not the avocado. The secret ingredient is cayenne pepper. So you take avocados, make sure that they're, you know, very soft, how you pick a ripe avocado. If you don't know, is I usually like to pick an avocado that has the little, Naval on it already in it, and you just flick the little navel out. And if it's a light, brownish color to darker brown color, Okay. light brown or greeny. It's not right. Okay. You feel soft or something, but it's not ripe. The whole thing isn't ripe. So some parts might be harder, whatever. So that's one of the best ways. And I don't like to buy avocados that don't have that because that is where mold can grow. Ah, grow in that. So, um, if it doesn't have it, make sure you look there. Um, and if you don't have the little Naval part, it's okay to buy it. If you think it's ripe. Again, you want, do you want a soft avocado, but then you don't want to take your knife through the avocado Naval part because then if there is mold there, it will drag them all through your whole avocado. So that's a chef tip. Okay. So go to the left or the right of the little Naval card and cut your knife all around in a circle and then twist and open the article. And get the pit out by taking her a knife, gently tap, tap, tap, stick it into the pit, turn your avocado and the nut at the same time. And the nut will be stuck in the knife. Slide it off of the side of the sink. And then you can scoop out with a spoon, just scoop it out, throw it in a blender. Then you're going to put in a quarter cup of cacao powder.  Cacao powder is raw  cocoa powder. Um, you don't want the alkalized cooked cocoa powder because it has less nutrients in it and usually a higher level of potential to have fillers put in that. So get cacao powder, spelled C a C a O cacao, and one quarter cup of that. Then you're going to put. What I use as no sugar. So you can either use a food as your sugar, which would be two dates. You want to get the medjool dates that are rich. They're really delicious and smushy and good. You open them up, you take the pit out, make sure you count your dates and put your pits aside, not in your food, cause don't go in your whole pudding. Right? And then, uh, one to two tablespoons of water and blend that up and puree it. That is your avocado pudding, simple and super easy. Now you put one teeny weeny, pinch of cayenne pepper in it, and it makes it taste like cooked pudding. That's the secret. Now, if you don't want to use any sugar at all, you can use a Lakanto. You can use a maple Lakanto, a sugar-free option and they have Lakanto L a K a N T O in a maple syrup type of container. And you can just put a tablespoon of that in there. Now. Uh, Lakanto is a monk fruit, sweetener, and monk fruit can be up to 10 times as sweet as regular sugar. So you can try a teaspoon to see if that sweet enough for you up to a tablespoon. If you're using pure maple syrup, you can use a tablespoon. Um, so test it out. Less is more initially with every recipe and then blend it. If it doesn't have enough to blend it. Cause if you don't have a high speed blender, we shipped down a little bit, take the spoon out, blend it again, smush it down, blend it again, or put a teeny little bit more water in it. You don't want it to be running. You want it to be fluffy. And that is one of the best recipes you can dehydrate that and make a fruit roll-ups. Oh, my goodness, 50 rolls with that. It tastes so good for kids and it absolutely no chocolate. I used to substitute for a child was a client of mine, he couldn't have chocolate, it's a Carob, Carobpowder powder. Gotcha. Cara powder doesn't have any caffeine in it. Doesn't have any cocoa in it. People could be allergic to that. So use Cara powder and it tastes equally as delicious. Well, I have everything, but the avocados and I'm going to whole foods in a little bit. So I'm so picking up some good avocados and I'll be whipping up some of that tonight. I did not. I use Monkfruit but I have never heard of the Lakanto. Lakanto that's a brand, correct. Okay. That's a brand. That is so cool. I do know that it is sweeter, than sugar. So thank you for that amazing recipe. And I know, you know, some secret about black Sesame seeds... So this is a secret for all women who don't want gray hair. The secret is you grind up your black Sesame seeds. It needs to be black Sesame seeds. Okay. There's nutrient in the black Sesame seeds that help with hair. The minerals remineralizing the body. So it helps with much more than hair, but actually right here is caused by the stripping of the minerals out of the body. And as we age, our body uses more minerals. And it doesn't process minerals as well. So we need to increase the level of minerals we take. So we can get that in the black Sesame seeds, grinding them up and we can make a tea, like just soak them in water and then drink that. Or we can make a paste. We can make a black Sesame paste, like a hummus, and we can eat it with. Okay. I don't have a recipe off the top of my head for that, but if anybody wants it, they can message me and get the recipe. But that is a black Sesame has higher minerals than the white Sesame. So use the black Sesame. And so you can use that any time, uh, for increasing, if you want to do that, you want to drink that every day. It's just a black Sesame liquid of, uh, soaked in the success. Me and you drink the water or eat the paste, a tablespoon or so a day, make a black Sesame hummus. There's many ways you can do that and have some hair transformation. You will definitely see that. And your body will be remineralized very quickly. Okay. I have black Sesame seeds, and I know organic black Sesame Seeds, aren't the cheapest in the world, but you know what? They are a whole hell of a lot cheaper than going to get your hair done . I hate getting my hair done cause I know how toxic it is. It is just not good for you. So that's just like a double win. You are just such a wealth of information.  I do have one last question for you. If there was one thing in this world that you could eliminate, what would it be and why? You know, there's so many things, there's so many things. I, I'm not sure I can pick one, pick two, two. I think, I think the first one would be. People's " lack of awareness". And what I mean by lack of awareness is people seem to want to believe what they want to believe. And if people were just open to possibility, I think the world would be a different place like this with a doctor telling somebody they have to do something or a doctor telling somebody they have so much time to live or a doctor telling somebody you have this illness and you'll have it for the rest of your life. If I were to believe that I would never walk for the rest of my life, I would be on drugs and medication and having somebody to have to take care of me for the rest of my life. That's where I was when I was 27, 28, 29 years old dealing with figuring out how to. Through this illness, which I felt was toxicity and poisoning of my body. If I wasn't of the right state of mind to tell these doctors to keep their diagnosis, to keep what they're claiming for me, that would be the rest of my life and keep their drugs. Cold Turkey. I'm not taking any more of these things. I know they're poisoning me and you can just take it all. And I'm going to figure this out. If I wasn't strong enough in my mind to have that openness to know, there's another way I think I would be. I wouldn't be here today. I wouldn't have impacted the lives I have. So we all have this power in us to impact lives. But if we don't let ourselves be open to possibility, then we don't. And then the second thing is, is really, getting rid of limiting beliefs. When people have these limiting beliefs of who they can be, what they can do, what people have said to them. If people said I couldn't go to college, I wouldn't be able to go to college. You're never going to be a fashion designer. Like that woman told me that I won the designer of the year at her school while she was the chairman. You know, I mean, if I would have let them to put their limiting beliefs on me, I would've never be where I am and have the impact that I've had in my life for people. Right. You're such an inspiration and you have so much knowledge... i,  concur and  I'm wondering if I feel the same way because we're both Tony Robbins fans. When I went to UPW. That is truly the essence that I came away with was that I don't need to understand everything. All I need to know, like from here forward is like, if things help people like be open, be open to information that I might not have deemed, um, worthy of listening to at one point in my life. But, um, that, that is what I walked away with was change. Can be super good, to try different things and like you said to be open-minded and that boy, if more people were like that, Ooh, this world would be a nicer place to live. Tell our listeners where they can contact you. Well, I have a free gift. If anybody wants to go to recipe hacker secrets.com, you can get, how to set up your healthy kitchen. So it'll have everything in detail or over 30 pages of how to get things in order for what you need to do all free. And. You know, there's other things that are available for you to get there as well, for purchase, but definitely get that for free. And you can go to my business page, which is legacy holistic health on Facebook, and you can go see me, Kimberly Baca on my Facebook personal page or Instagram, the Naked Veganista. I recommend people go see this woman because she is beautiful and she totally does not look her age. She's just like a walking poster child. What you're doing is working. I think it's really cool that you, as Tony would say, "you made your mess, your message" and you're doing obviously a phenomenal job with that. And I thank you so much for sharing your story and all your insights. Cause, I learned a few things today. I can't wait to implement black Sesame Seeds and go make some chocolate avocado pudding. Can't wait to do that tonight.  Thank you, Kimberly. It's been awesome. And I will put in the show notes all your information so people can contact you. And I just want to remind our listeners out there that "Life has no remote. So get up and change it yourself."

Hello? Hello. This is your host Caroline Schafer. Please help me welcome Pearl Cicci. She is a nutritionist health and fitness coach and the founder of Pearl Cicci Wellness Coaching. Welcome Pearl. What a pleasure it is to have you here on The Vitality Feed. Hello. Thank you so much, Caroline, for having me, I'm super excited to be on here to chat about my favorite topic. That would be health and fitness. Right? Tell us a little bit about your history, your backstory, and why you're choosing to spend your career trying to help people in their health. Yeah, great question. So it started out being young. I was always fit active in sports, doing track and field swimming, whatever you name it. Right. I was always in some sort of activity. And then growing up eating food, we ate relatively healthy as a family. So I eat salads every day and eat apples every day. And one thing that always sticks to my mind is that. At lunch one time at the high school, people would ask me like, Pearl, why do you eat apples every day? They're like questioning that. And in my mind, I'm like, why don't you eat apples every day? Like, for me, my reality around health. I ate healthy every day. And I was norm for me, but as I got older, I realized it's not the norm for people to, you know, eat salads every day at dinner, eat apples every day for their snack. And there was a big discrepancy in how people showed up. Like I started noticing things and my friends and my family diseases. And as I learned more about health and then we'll hear the news, I realized like I'm really passionate about food. And I want to help people be healthy and, you know, feel energized like I am, because everyone will always ask me, like, how do you have so much energy, Pearl? Like, wow, you always so energetic. And the la la la and I bring it back to just me properly nourishing my body. And my family had a big influence on that, which I'm grateful for. But so I was like, I want to help everyone understand how to feel good in their bodies, understand food and health and prevent any chronic disease or prevent further suffering from lifestyle. So that's kind of, what's evolved into I am today. So I went to school for dietician, for dietetics, and I was a dietician for a bit. And then I evolved into being a nutritionist and fitness coach, a health coach. That sounds great. Well that, I think that's awesome because so many people do not grow up with that kind of atmosphere and then it's such a battle and that's what makes me so sad when you see little kids who are so overweight and they're going to have to self-correct that, and it's so hard when you already have those habits and you grow up in no, nothing. Um, or then you just live with chronic disease .For sure. Yeah. Um, one of the things that I saw on your website is you mentioned you have a free resource that offers three steps to master your health. What would those three steps be? And what have you witnessed when people actually take action on those things? Yeah, that's a good question. You can do research. So three steps are, especially the framework that I live by and I coached by, and it's my MNM framework. So it's the mindset, nutrition, and movement. So the three steps are, first of all, being aware of where at mastering your mindset. Right? Next step is your nutrition. Being understanding what is going into your body and why, what you need to eat. And then the third step is your movement, right? Are you getting your movement in every day? Are you being active and moving? So that's something I coach on and something I live by as well. And those three steps that you take, and if you implement them and you actually fall through and are consistent, you're going to see all the results you want. You're going to see if you want to lose weight. The weight will come off. You'll feel more energy. You'll have clearer skin. You will, you notice, feel really good in your body and have a better understanding of what makes you feel good as an individual. And that's why the goal for most people. Mindset is the utmost of importance when it comes to health. Because if you don't have it there, it just can't start or exactly. That's huge. Yeah, it is. Yeah. I know. We talked about energy. It's a compliment. I get all the time and I'm curious to know what you would suggest for our listeners to keep their energy levels up, maybe with nutrition and movement. Yeah. So when it comes to energy, there's lots of different areas and things that we can talk about, but I always focus on the two main things and that would be nutrition and movement. So when you probably nourish your body, Your body's going to respond with energy and with the right foods, of course. And one thing that I noticed, a lot of people I work with doing they're not eating regularly. So the number one tip would be to eat regularly throughout the day and  and the other thing  be having bad meals. So making sure your meals contains carbohydrates, proteins, fiber, and healthy fats, and that also helps maintain your blood sugar levels. And then the second part of that is your movement. Like, are you getting your movement in? Are you taking movement breaks during the day? Are you staying down for a 10 hour straight? Right? Are you exercising, going for a walk because movement is one of the best ways to energize your body. So that's why I would say when it comes to energy levels and when you implement that consistently, it's a game changer. Like even just the meal. Cause our blood sugar levels are really underlying, really important to understand how to manage them so we can have those consistent energy levels throughout the day. So those two things are key for us. Right. So routine really important. I'm big into routine, especially for my morning and my evening. And I guess everybody's learning a new routine these days with working from home and the kids being home and trying to homeschool. It seems  to focus on anything is so much harder than it once was. Um, what foods can people eat to help them with their ability to focus and why those specific foods. So I won't say these ones help you focus, but these foods help fuel your brain, which will help you focus and be more productive and be Maureen on top of things and really give your brain what it needs to function. Because when you're thinking about the brain, it's one of the most, I think I'm really into neuroscience and I think the brain is one of the most amazing Organs, machines and our bodies, it's like all the things it does. All of a sudden naps is all the different connections and how we have the ability to have neuroplasticity, right? Like our neurons can grow and we can learn new things. Anyway, I won't ramble too much, but our brain is amazing. So being able to given what it means and nourish it is very important. And a lot of people don't know this, but our brain uses about 20% of our total energy needs. Right. That's quite a bit compared to like the size of our body and what the brain needs. A plane percent is a lot. And you want to think of, okay, what am I eating? That's going to help me nourish my brain. And aside from energy, our brain also is about 60% fat. So you want to think about the fats you're eating and how they're going to power and fuel your brain. Want to make sure those are really healthy fats, those omega-3. So I want to talk about some few foods that you can eat and there's more of course, but these are the top five. There are really good for our brain and we should, research has showed that these can help with our memory, our functioning, our focus. So the first one is going to be fatty fish, right? So fatty fish, such as salmon. Tuna trout, right? These are rich in omega threes and mega threes, composable half of their brains fat content. And these are the major building blocks of the brain. So if you know anything about the brain, um, there's something called a  myelin, sheath, and myelin is what actually. So naps is the communication of the brain to occur throughout the body and the myelin needs fat. So really good part of that will be omega-3. So this is what's used to build in their cells, which is also myelin. And this is also important because omega threes have anti-inflammatory protein. To our body. And when we eat more and mega threes, one reasons people might experience things called brain fog, right? Something called brain fog. They aren't thinking clearly now they wake up and they're just not in a zone where they can really focus. Maybe they get distracted a lot. They're just foggy. So, and being able to increase your intake of anti-inflammatory foods will decrease inflammation, the rain, and also decrease your recurrence or your risk of having brain fog during the day. All right. So that's fatty fish. Second one. So one thing to think about when you think of food is what it's shaped, like often represents what it's good for. And I think that's so cool. How maitre did that? Yeah, I just actually read this like, like a week ago about if you look at a Walnut, it looks like a brain and it's so funny that you're saying that. And I just read that. Yeah. Low. Great. So walnuts are really good for our brains shaped like your brain. And this is also because of the omega-3 fatty acids. Right? So you're going to get trend in some of these students because our brains do contain so much fat and MegaFoods are a key source for that. So one that's have a mega threes and also they have other. Um, anti-inflammatory properties are going to help decrease that inflammation and help with our bodies and our brains functioning. Okay. And the second one or the third thing is blueberries. Blueberries are great food for the antioxidant properties. And there's also something called anthocyanins. I will repeat that anthocyanins and blueberries, and this compound actually has both anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. So this has been shown actually to delay brain degeneration. So when people get older and they get Alzheimer's and dementia, this is actually a cause of degenerating nerve cells in our brain. So to prevent this,blueberries is amazing source. And the antioxidants also don't take any oxidative stress that's in the body and decreases the cell damage that happens, which thus prevents your nerve cells and breaking down. So blueberries are something that I recommend people try and get almost every day, if they can, fourth one is dark chocolate and people are like, oh my God, chocolate. Yeah. But when we're talking about dark chocolate, like 70% or more, not that sweet, but you know, having some portions, maybe like a square or two, a dark chocolate every day is so good for us. Cause it also has antioxidants and other things called flavonoids, right? And these are things that protect our brain, keep the health going and promote the functioning of the cells. And also these compounds are used in areas that promote and enhance our memory. And when we eat this, of course, we want to have a good memory. You remember things and they'll be able to be productive, focus, especially into old age. Like one thing that I always think about is when I'm older and while my brain to be functioning almost as much is right now. So that preventative thing and thinking of that future. So dark chocolate is one thing that can really help with that. And last but not least, we have eggs and eggs can be controversial because everyone thinks that eggs increase their cholesterol level. And oh, there shouldn't have eggs, but eggs actually are really important source of something called choline. Specifically choline is found in the egg yolk and the egg yolk is probably the most nutrient dense source of choline that is found in a lot of foods. So when we eat the choline, this is part of a neurotransmitter called acetyl choline. For those of you that are into neuroscience, you'll know this neurotransmitter, and this is important because neurotransmitter helps us regulate our mood and memory as well. So, again, your mood, when you're in a good mood, you feel more energized and more willing to do more things. And your memory we've talked about is so important to the task and for our future selves as well. So people that eat more eggs and more choline will have that really important nutrient to help us and to help the neurotransmitter function properly. So those are top five just to go over them again. So I know that was a lot. We have fatty fish such as salmon. Walnuts blueberries, dark chocolate and eggs, especially the egg yolk. Awesome. Well, I think everyone should make salmon dinner with a spinach salad and an egg on it, and then make some bar chock, dark chocolate bark with walnuts and blueberries in there. And you will just be, there you go. You'll be rocking. Exactly. I recently heard a really interesting thing that if you eat the chocolate in the morning, It actually works better for you than if you eat the same amounts, same percentage of the dark chocolate in the evening. It actually behooves you better just to eat in the morning, which I did not know. I learned. Oh, that's interesting. But I mean, I couldn't make sense in that because it's actually really important for us to start our day. Well like meals that nourish our body well. And so our body can utilize that during the day when we're most active. So it makes sense that that would be a good time to eat nutrient dense foods. Dark chocolate or other foods, so we can utilize it during the day Every day, I eat a Brazil nut because oh, yes, I love is on that side. Selenium is really important. And one Brazil, nut has all the selenium I needs. So I eat a piece of dark chocolate with Brazil nuts literally every day. That was all nuts. I used to eat one every day to actually hard to find where I'm at right now. So I haven't, but I used to eat one every day.   So, well that was awesome. I loved all those foods and I totally am a believer in all those foods. I have had a mother who died of brain cancer and a father who's presently 94 with Alzheimer's. Um, so I too am very conscientious about brain health. Love neuroscience. So I was all ears. Talking about brain and mindset, what do you feel is the relationship, to get people on a better page to help them with their health? Like how can they adopt a mindset that's going to behoove them. Yeah, man, this is a big question. I'll try to keep it simple because mindset can be very complex depending on the person's background, how they grew up, like what their previously conditioned with. And a lot of things come up also when it comes to food and health, it's very emotional in some ways when people have a lot of emotion tied to food and like their habits and where they're at their self-esteem. So like can be deep. What I would say when it comes to what your mindset around food would be asking yourself questions that are going to make you think about what you're putting your body. So the questions can vary depending on the person. But for example, one thing I always encourage my clients to do is to ask themselves, okay, What's eating this food. They'll make me feel like, like, what is my intention for eating this food? Why would I want to eat this food? Cause when they stop themselves and ask them, like, if they're reaching for the chips, it's like, oh, why did I want to eat this food right now? Like, I know it's not good for me. What is the internal factor that's making you reach for them? And they're like, oh, maybe I'm sad. Actually I haven't ate all day. Maybe I'm hungry. Maybe I'm in a bad mental state. I'm reaching for this to comfort me. What else can I use? So I think it's asking yourself the questions as in like how linking it to, how it's gonna make you feel, linking it to how, what it's going to do to your body and how you want to feel to this. Most people want to feel really good. So is this food going to make you feel good? Or is it gonna make you feel bad? Super simple question. I don't like using the word good or bad, but in that case, it's applicable because feeling good is subjective to many people. And then that's a really good guiding question for you and your food choices. Of course it goes deeper, but that's one really good place to start. Something interesting that I heard somebody say that they were at a meal with somebody and they knew that they weren't didn't really have like a religious background, but they closed their eyes and put their head down and they asked them if they were praying and they said, no, they're Making an intention that their food will nourish their body, like kind of sending a vibe out there. And that's a cool thing take a second, and be grateful for the food you have in front of you and kind of wish it well to do you good? Yeah. I love that. I also practice gratitude, um, before my meals as well, because actually the research shows that when you practice gratitude for your meal, Actually absorb more nutrients and you're more receptive to the food is so cool. And so gratitude for meals, no, it is really cool. I mean, it's the weirdest little things that people aren't aware of that can make a difference. Compacting, all these little things in it, it ends up, you make a significant health change in your life. So it just starts like a domino effect, right? Yeah. Tell our vitality listeners a couple of success stories that you had with success stories, man. I've had quite a few. So one, I will put my best one. Yeah, I'll do my best one. I teach plant-based eating. I am plant-based, which is not a hundred percent vegan, but I really encourage people to have flexibility in their diet and leaning more towards what they like. But of course. Not restricting if you want to eat other things, animal products, but thinking of the quality of them. Anyway. So this one client, she wasn't vegan before and she wanted to eat more plant-based but she didn't do it in a way where it felt good for her. Like she was still feeling really bloated. Her acne was still really bad, low energy levels. So she ended up coming off of vegan and going back to being omnivore, eating whatever, but she still felt not great. So. She reached out to me, wanting to work with me because my approach is a little bit different and I focus more on like your health, how you feel and internally getting your nutrients and making sure your body's properly functioning. So we worked together. She went through my 12 week program. Where I educate people on all the things that I've learned, and I know about nutrition and what we need mindset, you know, gut health and  inflammation, like all the things that I truly believe all humans should know. And eventually I want to get everyone out there to learn this information. And she went through that. She implemented the key thing is she implemented that she understood why she did the modules, did the homework and her results were incredible. And not in the weight loss sensewhen the way that she felt absolutely the best shape of  her life, her skin was clear, you know, she's an RMT, but she also is building her business on the side. She had energy to work on her business. You know, she was feeling like she could do that. And she had the understanding and felt empowered by her food. She wasn't guessing anymore. She wasn't like. Oh, I'm not sure when I'm eating, she knew that for her, this is what combination worked best and she would eat that and she makes the most amazing meals too. She's very creative in a sense, but the framework, I get people it's more of like a aim for eating this, but how you make it is up to you. So it's like, Hey, make sure you get your greens in, but if you don't like Spanish, cool, eat some kale. So then she took that and made her own way and figured out a way to make all these amazing healthy meals. Tastes amazing. She sends me pictures of her food. Like it's beautiful. So for her, it's just like her quality of life has exponentially increased. And she also found that how she was disciplined and plan things and with her food and just motivated for her health actually trickled into other areas of her life. So with her business, with her job, you know, how she showed up, how she built her habit and this all really affected her. She's still plant-based after eight months and it's a long-term lifestyle that I teach. So that's really good. And she's on my favorite clients. So I think about her. I do think, that you hit a nail on the head or she did with the creativity, because I think a lot of people associate healthy food with bland, you know, broiled chicken and steamed broccoli. Well, yeah. I mean like, you know, I'm like use your spice rack, get creative, put multiple meals together at the same time so it's not so laborist, but yeah. I like to push plants, it's so important because I think that's one of the key factors out there where people are lacking. The people are not, they might be eating better and healthier. But, I heard statistic last week that we really should try to strive for 50 different vegetables and fruits a week. That's a big number. I don't know. I don't think I do that cause I pretty much just use a lot of spinach with everything. And, um 50 different. Yeah. I mean on their accessibility too, and like right. We just shifted different available from its most people. The concept was that there are specific nutrients and they're different in most everything. So to give yourself the widest range of what your body can utilize, cause I really just think we know a thimble full of how our body actually works. It is quite the miracle but I think we need a lot more knowledge into know exactly what it needs. So the, I guess the more diversified our diet, the better, because how many things like an apple has or how many thingsa tomato has in it. Crazy. Incredible. Yeah, for sure. Really? I love that you helped her. And I loved that she had the domino effect. Cause I believe in that, that once you got the discipline of that in your life, it. Folds over into other areas of life and it just starts behooving everything. Um, and it's kind of like the oxygen in the plane. Right? You put it on your face first and then all the people around you can get help. Tell our listeners where they can find you. Yeah, they can find me on Instagram, on Tik talk was my main two platforms right now. And my handles are  @PearlCicci. So my first and last name together, my last name is C I C C I , people often spell it wrong, but that's where you can find me. And of course, feel free to DM me, ask me questions. I love chatting with people around their health and anything they find interesting or where they want to learn more about. Sounds good. So my last question,  if there was one thing you could eliminate from this world, what would it be and why? Yeah, it was a great question. And, you know, I thought about it for a second. The first thing that came up for me was the need for wanting more. And I think that really tied into a lot of things. So for example, I believe lots of things have happened in this world are because we want more, more money, more space, more,  cars, more greed, more and more whatever. And that really takes us away from our, I believe our real purpose on being here is to. Find our purpose and live that and serve the community. In that way also, when I think that comes up is the meaning more, for example, more of XYZ will make me happy. More of this, make me happy when really people are feeling like they're not enough. And they don't, if they don't have more than not enough, and that's enough, this "not enoughness" makes people do things that , might not be good for the planet or for people around them or for themselves. So the idea that always wanting more and needing more, um, if that was eliminated from the world and we were content with what we had and like didn't have to destroy the planet and you, tear others down or be greedy and spiteful, all these things that are negative things happening that are quite big in a lot of corporations. Just the general society and how it's operating. I believe the world be a much better place. So that's my answer. That's interesting. I look at that two fold because, Tony Robbins always says, be hungry and I liked that. I liked that idea for wanting more, but there's the, the negative aspect of it. And I was just speaking to someone recently about this it's that sometimes like, especially with entrepreneurs, We never feel satisfied. We finish a goal and we immediately have to go to the next goal. There's never that, that gratitude and that appreciation of just staying in the moment and enjoying the fruits of your labor and what you've accomplished. It's always that bigger, better, so I can see why you say that. But,  stay hungry and accomplish things, but also appreciate them. Yeah. There's a fine line there. You know, I want to add like more, more of what thing? More of the right things like yes. More happiness, more self-love more acceptance, more of that stuff. Less of the greed money. So it's like more of the right. Yeah. Um, Marisa, peer she's, um, big. Yeah, promoting her. You ended up that in common too. So at both plant pushes and Marissa fans. All right. Very good. Well, thank you, Pearl.  I really appreciate you getting together me. I know it was, it was a little trying on my end but I appreciate all your insights today. It's been a pleasure to have you on The Vitality Feed. I do hope everyone gathered some health nuggets to take forward. And if you did find value, please like, and share this with your friends and family. So we all may benefit from a life of better nutrition. Again. Thanks Pearl for sharing your background with us and trying to make us all healthier. Thank you so much for having me. It was a blast and I hope you go out. You guys all enjoyed that. Took some notes and can implement it as soon as possible. Thank you so much, Caroline. You're welcome.      

Hello, this is your host Caroline Schafer. Please help me welcome Lunide Adeeko a world renowned psychologist, specializing in habit, building and neuroscience. Founder of the best morning routine ever, how to get up, dress up and show up. She helps high performers create winning routines to optimize performance with minimal time and effort. I loved every morsel that that's so awesome. Welcome Lunide. Um, what a pleasure to have you here on the vitality. It's my honor, Caroline. And thank you for the opportunity. I'm looking forward to our chat. Absolutely. Um, would you share your backstory and what lured you went to the arena of psychology and neuroscience. Two of my favorite subjects. Such a nerd. They do. Yeah. I'm a nerd. I'm right there with you. They go hand in hand. I started studying psychology and then realized there was something missing to actually ingrain change that I took on,  new science to see how the brain works, how the brain builds habits. So we'll talk more about that for sure. But my background is, you know, I am an immigrant. I was born in Haiti, um, migrated to the United States in 1995 with my mom and saw her struggle. I saw her struggle raising three kids, single mom,  a language barrier. I decided, okay, this is supposed to be the land of opportunity. I need to figure out how to make it,  here in this great land. So I did. Was the, the thing. So I would, that's why I have my PhD and that's why I, you know, I've written books and done all that. But in the midst of that journey, there was still something missing. Right? So for me, I didn't have any structure. I didn't have any routine in place to actually help me be successful. So it was until I graduated and I was actually working in my nine to five and I really. Like, I am burnt out, you know, I am 25 years old, but I feel like I'm 45. Right. And if you are a psychologist, you take on a lot of people's burdenine n. You took on a lot of their hurts and take it home with you.  And so I started asking myself, People doing that makes them successful. That, that thrives beyond just the regular nine to five. And that was the question that sparked everything for me and started looking into people like Tony Robbins, Oprah Winfrey, to see what they do on a regular basis and do it for free because I did not have, um, capital to go invest in anything things. So I wanted something free that I can do to actually see change. And that's where the morning routine starting. I wanted to learn more about habits. I wanted to learn more about successful people because that's what I want it to be as well. I love that because I'm a self-learner and Read a million books on self-help and , I do believe, like you said, you follow Tony Robbins and Oprah and all these people who've nailed it. It's like, why not? Why not follow those people? That makes total sense.   I applaud you for your efforts. That was so smart of you and that's wicked cool about your mom, that takes a lot of strength to do that. I mean, it's hard enough moving to a country. I think that in itself is like kudos then to have three kids and do it, it's like holy cow. But then he had the language barrier, Wow. So I don't know if she's still with us, but it was quite a struggle. Yeah. I mean, that's just so impressive. So how has your knowledge base with the psychology and the neuroscience? How has that influenced your morning routine? Yeah, absolutely. So it has helped me to hack the brain almost to build a habit. So understand the habit loop, how the brain creates habits. There's a cue, there's a craving. And then there's a reward as a result. Right? So once I coupled that with neuroscience and understood how the brain working was a lot easier for me to build habits. Now you know, I've tried before and it didn't work, but it was also stemming from the fact that we have to, change our identity. We have to change the ingrained subconscious dialogue that is happening. That is driving out directions that is driving out every behavior. And I'll tell you a quick story. Caroline is my story was, I'm not enough. I don't belong. I'm not lovable. And that's because at a very young age, as I told you about the struggle with my mom being a single mom and growing up in New York. Well, I was molested as a very young age because of that. My mom was busy working. My mom was busy and leaving us home with, you know, anyone that could. Right. And so, because of that, I was molested. And because of that molestation, it kind of took a toll on me too. So to create this conclusion that I am not enough and that drove my every decision in life. And so I had to actually heal that piece of it first full I can easily build habits. And so that was the psychology piece. And then the neuroscience science is understanding how the brain works. Once you eradicate those limiting beliefs, then you can start from a clean canvas per se. Right? Because we are, we are operating 95% of the time out of the subconscious mind. Right. So it's autopilot so sad, right? We're like a bunch of walking robots. We just opened our mouth and automatic things, but we don't even think we just, everything just happens. Yep. Well said that thinking you're referring to is only 5% of the time during the day that we allow for creative thinking to actually realize, Hey, what did I just say? What did I just do? How did I get home? I don't remember taking the left turn on to my house. You know, I actually tell this to a lot of clients all the time. I'm like, you have to think about what you're thinking. It sounds weird at first it's like, what is like a tongue twister, but it's true. You, you truly, because it like you said, it goes on automatic mode. I love the term transformational vocabulary and I try to catch myself using words that are not to my benefit and change them because it's a better thought. That's what I mean affirmations do. And so being at that space, the brain does this to protect us. Imagine if every decision you made and it was well thought out it was lengthy. That would be exhausting. Right? So the brain moves out behavior.  It automates our behaviors so that we can free up that 5% so that we can think and solve other problems. So it's, it's working for our benefit, right? It's designed to help us, but we have to be able to change the programming because if it's already bad programming, then by the results are going to come. And which was the case for me, because I, I didn't think I was damaged goods. Right. I didn't think I had anything to offer. And because of that, I wasn't taking care of myself. I still come to alcoholism. You know, I still come to a self-sabotaging behaviors. Like I couldn't make it. I didn't have what it takes to make it. And that, that negative dialogue really is toxic and accomplishing anything. And so that's why. I felt stuck. And so when I started,  transforming, um, my mindset and my world and started in, I noticed the shift because now I was applying, neuroscience hacks with psychology. And I was actually following these success stories of, of people who has paved the path before me. And that's when the real change started to happen. What is something somebody could do to try to alter their beliefs? Like, if they're having a negative thought, funny, I have on my bathroom mirror, I am enough. So I see that every morning when I get up, brush my teeth, brush my hair and all that. But say you catch yourself, like one of the things I'm always trying to correct for me is that, I think I have a bad memory. So I keep telling myself, instead of saying I forgot. I have to try to remember to say, I just remembered to try to spin it to a positive mindset, what is a way that people can, can aid themselves to do that? That is the power of affirmation. Anything that you put after the words I am becomes your truth becomes your reality because the brain doesn't know anything. Right. He just takes command. And if you say, I forget a lot, the brain's like, yeah, of course you do. And then you reinforce that if you said, I just remembered, then the brand will actually help you remember the little things. And so for me, what is the thing that people can do? And I started doing was mirror. Mirror work similar to having the, in that mirror saying I am enough, is to look at yourself in the mirror, look at your mic, make eye contact and says, I am beautiful. I am capable. I will succeed today. I have what it takes again, the brain is going to take that command and actually manifest that and actually lead you to take the behaviors necessary to make that a reality. Because if you say you imagine we have automatic negative thoughts and the dialogue is I'm not enough. I don't have what it takes. I suck. This is terrible. That's what you're living, you're creating it. You're the creator. And so be very mindful and cognizant about the words that you use. And so I would suggest mirror, mirror talk. That helps a lot, but also I do habit wiring section where I actually go in and actually we pluck out the negative beliefs and then we reframe it. We replaced them with the positive affirmations. And it's in your own dialogue, it's customized to you. We go in and find out where it started as a child. Again, the psychologist we find out, you know, five to five years or two years, or somebody said something that has stuck with you and you don't even know it's driving your, your, every move you every step. So what I do is I get into the subconscious mind with my clients. We go in and we, we actually identify when it happened, what was said, who said it. And then we started the, we start. Right in that moment. And so now you become a parent to the younger child, to the, that was abuse. That was hurt. That has been rejected. And then that that's when now in reality, you can start living in this truth. You can start living in this power of being empowered, being strong, and also being a go getter. As I like to call it, being that bad-ass, that you truly are designed to be. Thanks, Brett. You guys can't see me, but I got my bad ass hat on. So this is so appropriate. That's the habit we wiring is one way that I do it with my clients. It's super efficient. You get results within a week. And then last for 21 days, I mean your thinking pattern, your new pathways have been changed. And this is with your program, The Best Morning Routine Ever. Yes. So the best morning routine ever, is the podcast where I do chat with entrepreneurs, about the success stories and what their morning routine look like. And then out of that was the birth the Morning Routine App, because there was similarities with all the entrepreneurs. Like they did nine things in the morning that set them apart. So I was like, man, I have to make this accessible to everyone else. So I developed the app and then from the app, there was still more one-on-one assistant that was required. And then that's where the habit you wiring was born to help those who want to go deeper to actually find the root cause of why they are not achieving. The implementing the habits with ease as they should, because it has to be done on a subconscious level. But yeah, that is the program. That's how it all started. I think that's awesome because people, people need that. I always say you have control of your morning. The rest of the day kind of gets crazy and I think it's just have a ball gets rolling. It's like, you know, if it starts off in a good way, I think it's a game changer. Flying out of bed, hitting the alarm, jumping in the shower. And you know, I always do my meditation first alpha stage. And I do a prayer and then , I do get up drink a lot of water. I work out, I  go through this whole thing.  . My morning and my night, the day I'm more flexible with, but my morning it's like, don't be messing with my routine. Yeah. You have to be intentional, which you are. And then it starts the night before, because you have to think, how am I going to wake up tomorrow? What are the first things I'm going to do? Because you're right. Caroline, when you said, if you wake up and you jump out of bed and you're running and rushing, that's the vibe you set for the day. That is the energy, because that sets the tone for the rest. Which is a terrible way to start your day. It is, or the worst part is actually checking out your phone. Going to check social media, going to check emails, we're always still connected. That's one mistake you don't want to do because that actually eats up your productivity because you're now giving you an agenda over to everyone else. But your own, which is your morning routine, your prime time, your you time you time to let, and I've never heard anybody say this mirror work.That's such a cool concept.  I'm not the best at this. I have a similar story to you. , and I'm not good at that, but I looked in the mirror and smile. I genuine smile. Yeah, which was abnormal. Usually it's more forced, but they say that doesn't even matter. You can just, as long as you're smiling, it's all good. You used the word ANT  the automatic negative thoughts.  Are you familiar with Dr. Daniel Amen? And back then, after that funny , I used to be a parent coach for a program called Love and Logic. Yeah.  I called them up recently. I was going to try to have him on my podcast and they just joined forces with Dr. Daniel amen. And I was like two of my favorite things have come together. How awesome is that?  It's a match made in heaven. Thinking about your clients, can you talk a little bit about maybe a success story or two? Yeah. Yeah.  So I won't share her name, but I had one client that came to me after a horrible breakup and she's in her mid, mid thirties. And. Working, you know, she, um, she's a teacher, she's, she has all these good ideas of business ideas, but never is able to implement any of them. She just felt stuck. Not either, not that they didn't have the capital, they think she was able to do it, uh, capable of doing it. And what triggered her to come see me was like, she just got out of a relationship and was just. Oh, she was broken and distraught and then no, which way up, she didn't know where to go. And then, um, she came to me and we're talking and what it was is as an identity crisis.  It's, it's not finding, um, not knowing herself and finding herself and who she is. And so when she came to me and I went through the process with her, we did the, the,  rewired, her habits and her mind frame and her thinking. And did the tour session. She comes out feeling empowered. She comes about feeling, um, ready to take on the world. Now I tell you, Caroline and she goes off to start, not one business, but three successful business. Oh, yeah. Okay. Within, within, within a nine month period, she started three successful business, a coaching business, a kombucha business, and all of that  was buried in. It was innate, but then have the confidence of the power of the will to go after it. And that's what the power of changing your habits on a subconscious level does it? 'cause, there's, there's a great quote that says you, we first created our habits and then I'll quit I'll habits make us, yeah, I love that. I have that quote written somewhere. Quote junkie it's on my website. I love that quote. And I, because I totally believe that.  I try to coach people and I'm like, if you, in the morning, when you get up, most, most people don't want to get from work out. But I'm like, ah, and I have on occasion when, when things are kind of more crazy in life, I have slept in like my t-shirt and my you know, short clothes here that when I get up, there's no excuse. I'm ready. You know? Put them at the bottom of your bread with your sneakers. So this way, there's less thinking you just do you get in the do mindset and not the contemplating mindset, but yeah. Yes. And in the contemplating piece of it is your willpower, right? Because your willpower is finite and you know, it's not infinite. You run out of it. Um, at the end of the day, you're strongest in the morning, but at the end of the day, you run out because of all the decisions that you and you have to make its decision fatigue, that's what takes place. So that's why when you wake up in the morning, you don't want to have to worry about. Um, what are you going to wear to go work out? Whether you're gonna drink water or not? Or what clothes are you going to wear for the day? You set that up the night before you play in the morning within stocks the night before, like Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Jobs, they were the same color. They was the same outfit because they don't want to waste their precious brain, that they're going to run a successful business. On what to wear today, or is there a shirt going to match their shoes? Will power. It's not at your making call. It's not at your will. So you have to know that. So you can maximize on that effort. So you are more productive. It's funny cause I have a fashion background, but I still appreciate that concept. It's just like one less thing to think about. It's just on autopilot. Uh, Dean Graziosi also does the same thing. He wears like a black t-shirt every day. He says I can go to a $5,000 deal. I can go to $5 million deal. I've done matter. I have my black t-shirt on no questions asked. That's just the way he rolls. And it is true though, that if you just set all those things into place, you can put your attention. To some other things. I'm really big into fasting and that's another benefit to fasting is like, it's just something you don't have to think about during the day. Cause you're in a fast, you don't have to make food choices, which out of my 95 automatic percent of choices, probably 90 of those are bad food. I'm a foodie. But when you fast, that's just one thing that I think about it. Yeah. It, it doesn't take any brainpower on these days, you get more productivity done. And so that's kind of another added benefit. I've never really heard anybody speak of that, but I look at it like that just because of what you are, you already doing that. Yeah. And even with fasting, you get ketones. And so which enhances your creativity with senses your clarity and mental thinking. So again, you're not worrying about the mundane and you're more focused on the bigger things, which is cool. Right? I want to share with you another story with one of my clients, I'm single, she's a mom of three, came to me because she just felt lost. You know, she she's giving her all her life to the kids, raising the kids and she didn't, she herself was just not in control anymore. She didn't know what was happening with her. And so she needed help. And when I asked her why she came on, what she was like, God asked me to reach out. That was her response. She was like, I might've crossed in my life where everything's out of control and I don't know who I am in a, how to control anything around me. So it goes to show you this works for everyone from all walks of life.  And so with her, she comes in and then she, she had issues with controlling issues and, and releasing relinquishing control. And also she had a traumatic background as well, growing up. And so she worked super hard to make sure her kids have everything they need. And in the midst of that forgot about her. In the midst of that, forget about the self care and, and what is it that she needs and what, what goals that she wants to accomplish. So after we met and had an hour session within 21 days, um, not only she was, we drew related and like a whole new person, she goes off to lose 30 pounds in like three months, something that she struggled with for 10 years. It's almost like the veil has been lifted. I feel I've been really released. And then it's this step, that, that moment where we're stuck, where if we can clear that, that, that, that very subtle piece of where we're stuck and then we can just thrive. Everything and everything we watch, she, it was so easy for her to implement better eating habits, working out. She was running now. She never worked out a day in her life and she was doing it for her now, you know, that's why we changed. We changed on the identity level. That's why we change on a subconscious level because. Feed all the diet plans and meals, but until I'm blue in the face, but it won't resonate. It won't sink in until you get to the subconscious level and says why you want to do this? Why it's important for you and actually get rid of the ant the, those negative thoughts that trying anything that could be keeping you stuck. And then once that was we've lifted, the sky was the limit for her. I like to tell people you have to have your own ah-ha moment no. Like you can show them and that's that new level of thinking, once you get past that, then they can have their own aha moment, which will  give them the ambition to do all of those things that they've been trying to do on successfully. That is a beautiful story. That's what I do. And that's what I do with the psychology. And the neuroscience is that I give you, uh, I expedite that ha aha moment for you, right? I go in and show you subconsciously what's working behind the scenes and how you can tweak it. So that it works in your favor. Oh,  that's so helpful to people. What a, what a blessing, um, tell our listeners how they can find you. Yes, absolutely. So wherever you're listening to this podcast, I have my own podcast called best morning routine ever. I chat again with entrepreneurs like Caroline, about their successful stories and their morning routines and how it has contributed to their success because morning routines are crucial. For you to be successful , to thrive. And of course, all my handles on social media, IG and Facebook is Best Morning Routine consistent across the board. That's how you can find me also,  bestmorningroutineever.com website. I have a, freebie it's called 'five ways, you can wake up without whacking the snooze button in the morning.' And that's, uh, I love that. So if anyone wants a copy of that, it gives you ideas on what your chronotype is. When is the best time for you to wake up? When is the best time for you to go to sleep? When is the best time for you to be productive? Because everybody, every BODY  is different, right? So you gotta tailor, it's customized, I've customized it. So, you know, your body type and you know what works for you. So you're not pushing against the grain type of thing. So that's available on the website bestmorningroutineever.com. You can find your copy on there. And I love that you have a routine with your, with your handles, your all your social media handles. You have it all the same. That's very smart. I need to, I need to follow suite  with that. Ah, gosh, you're a woman after my own heart. I love talking with you today. Um, I'm a junkie on habits. I just think they're invaluable. Um, they just give life some structure and it's crazy as life is today. It feels good. Kids are not the only ones who need structure. Adults need some structure to, it feels, it feels good.  It's something you can rely on and do a check-off box in the morning when you accomplished it, but it is a favorite subject of mine. Last question, if there's one thing you could eliminate in the world, what would it be and why? This is dear to my heart. If I can eliminate anything in the world, that would be human trafficking. Oh, good. One human trial, fucking for sexual abuse and, you know, selling it, young girls bodies for sex. I mean, every time I see that on TV, I shake inside because it it's such a. Big in our community that it happens and it goes unnoticed. And still trying to find a way to, to, to eradicate that altogether. But you got to think what the trauma does to a young girl. Or boy. These days, what the trauma does to their psyche, the subconscious mind we're talking about it starts there. When, when molestation takes place, when rape takes place, when, human trafficking, sex trafficking, all that happens, it really changes how the world, the next generation lives. It really changes because they don't, you, you just go on a downward spiral. You're not enough. You don't deserve this. And therefore you do self-sabotaging behaviors. I was lucky to get out of it, but a lot of people don't survive it. Right. I actually live in Atlanta and it's one of the highest, areas because we have the world's largest airport and that's a significant problem here and I worked in the hotel industry and we were actually trained on what to look for when people come into. Cause people think that people will go into the red roof Inn. That ain't true. That is not true. You they're everywhere. I know I've heard of flight attendant. Um, scouting people out on a plane and actually being successful. So everybody, everybody can partake to help that mission. And I it's such a worthy cause I got goosebumps, I have three daughters and eight, eight nieces. And, but, yeah, it is boys too, but yes, I love that answer. That is so important to pay attention to. And we all, like I said, we all can help in that arena. So I thank you and I appreciate you taking time out of your busy schedule to share your insights with us today. Yes. Yes. It's my absolute pleasure. Okay, vitality seekers, please. Remember, life has no remote. Get up and change it yourself.  

Hello? Hello, this is your host Caroline Schafer. Please help me welcome Sean Thorncroft, a certified, Orthodist- Prosthetist, who is very passionate about nutrition and as creator of "The Vital New U" welcome Sean. What a pleasure it is to have you here today.www.NeoLifeAfrica.com/vitalnewuThank you, Caroline. I know you have a very interesting backstory. Can you explain what your certification is in regards to the medical community and how it inspired you to start your business? A certified Orthodist- Prosthetist, that's hard to say, but it's very interesting. And I had not heard of that title before, would you explain what is. Not a problem. I'm in the medical field that most people get to meet me. I always say by accident because being a certified orthotist and prosthetist means that when I meet you, you've probably been involved in some sort of trauma, whether it be a motor vehicle accident, whether it be you fell down some steps and broken ankle and you've come to me for what's commonly known as a moon boot or a pair of crutches. You would see me for things like that. If you've developed a thing like a defiant thrombosis or blood clot, and you need in compression stockings, you'd come and see me for things like that. If you feet or what I call your wheel alignment being at. So your foot is a flat foot, or you've got a very high arch and you needing, uh, innersoles or foot orthodics to correct. Foot problem. We do Neck collars and spinal braces and that sort of thing. So we, part of the, you could say the rehabilitation team after a traumatic incident. I worked closely with the orthopedic surgeons. I work closely with the physiotherapists and occupational therapists. We part of, of the team. And then if you've lost an arm or a leg, we replace those things. Yeah.   That is very interesting.  Talk about, giving help to people. I but, um, that's what, uh, filling job though, to know that somebody had a major impact in their life and you're trying to give them something to guide them something very tangible, really neat. So in, I know that your family history is very medical, that you grew up in a very medical environment. You have shared with me that this is kind of a natural decision for you to follow suit in the same path. So how did that influence your medical career and how did that spur into this new business that you're venturing into? All right. So healthcare and prevention of health care. I suppose two opposite ends of the extreme and yes, my whole family is involved in the medical field. We've got no doctors, but, um, I grew up with my family being involved with first aid and I've got a sister who's a qualified paramedic and another one who is a radiographer. And my parents volunteered voluntarily ran an ambulance service way back in the dark ages before ambulance services were more of a professional setup as they are today. Um, Slowly, but surely I've gotten into the nutrition side of things because being in the medical field, I don't have grown major dislike to any medication. I know medication has its uses. And I do believe personally, my personal opinion is that it is over prescribed and probably overused. And I know a lot of doctors especially here in South Africa, the, the medical training for doctors and dieticians is very much on a treatment basis and not a preventative basis. And in my day job in the orthotics, I'm a, I'm the sort of person that wants to look for the cause of a problem. And if I can identify the cause and correct it, or prevent a problem further on ,I find that a lot better than actually fixing a problem. Once it's developed, I love that that's our sowhere I'm at. Medicine has its place, but, I think too many people just  jump in that route cause they want that, that microwave kind of treatment. But so much of it is preventable and doable, so you're on a mission now with an inspiration from nutrition to help people prevent disease. How did you use that on your own personal arthritis? All right. Good. So. Over the years I've started developing this interest in nutrition and seeing how it can prevent problems. And as a child, uh, uh, work contracted measles. Later on in years effected the joints specifically in my left wrist. And I got to the stage over over the years, it was almost like a party trick where my joints, my wrist used to make a grinding noise. And as I got older, it started to get painful and seeing patients on a regular basis who have got arthritis and I see the sort of medication that they are forced to live on and if you go to a rheumatologist, for instance, they are going to put you on chemotherapy drugs in a lot of cases. And I've worked in, yeah, I've worked in oncology units and I just don't like the side effects of chemotherapy or radiation. I started going into this and I looked into it and I thought, you know, there are alternatives. And I started to use omega-3, which is the source that I used was Salmon oil. And then glucosamine, I learned that glucosamine can help to regenerate the cartilage. Now arthritis simply means inflammation of the joint in the way that it works is that it tends to chew away. The cottage between bones now, between every bone there's cartilage and for one of any better description, it's like Teflon and, you know, the Teflon makes joints or anything fairly smooth. And when that cartilage wears away, It's a little bit like having send in a bearing joint or rubbing two pieces of sandpaper together, which is where the inflammation and the pain comes from. So by taking the glucosamine on a regular basis, not just when I feel the pain,  I started to take it as a chronic medication and I found that within a fairly short space of time, the omega three, which has anti-inflammatory propertiestook the pain away. But I still had the noise in my joints, but over a period of about six months, I noticed that the noise had disappeared. Now that tells me that the cartilage has regenerated. It's not never going to regenerate to a hundred percent. Right. But it certainly regenerates to a sufficient amount that I now have a smooth articulating surface between the two bones in my wrist. I'm now pain free. I have no more noise and I'm able to carry on life as normal as I had done in my younger years without having any pain, not taking any painkillers and yeah, I've got a good lifestyle once again. That's amazing.  People just don't emphasize enough what you put in your mouth and how it can affect your body, especially when it concerns pain. I mean, how cool is that you have a wrist that doesn't make noise is pain free and it's just by adding some glucosamine and omega threes into your diet.  That's extraordinary, um, kind of use yourself as a Guinea pig and did the research and tried something and it worked. So that's just such a huge blessing. That's just awesome. Can you tell her, if I tell you, listen to us about a couple of success stories that you've witnessed and including that leukemia, when you shared with me yes. Uh, we had a gentleman here. Uh, he lived in my area he's since relocated to America. Um, and at the age of roundabout 26, he was diagnosed with leukemia and went through all the radiation and the chemotherapy and he wasn't getting any better. And his oncologist who has a family friend eventually said to him, listen, I'm afraid we can't do anything more medically. So you're going to have to go home and prepare your days are numbered. And a friend of his at the time had offered him some nutritional supplements and he said, no rubbish. The doctors have told me that nothing is going to cure me because not being on all the drugs. How can these nutritional supplements actually make a difference? Whether he got to the stage where he knew I'm going to die anyway. So what have I got to lose? And he started taking the supplements and the particular supplements that we use are organic and made from food. And what he discovered was that in a very short space of time, he started feeling better. He started feeling more energetic. And started having a closer look at these supplements changed his diet, changed his lifestyle, got involved with juicing, started to increase the amount of supplements that he was taking and remembering that supplements do not cure a problem, but they give you a body that correct tools to heal itself. Well, that particular gentleman is not in his sixties, really late sixties. If I'm not mistaken. And runs around like somebody in his twenties, he has traveled the world. He is pain-free and completely, f never say you cured of cancer and leukemia is a cancer, but he's in total remission and has been for many, many years and has made it now his mission in life to educate people on the power of nutrition. And he's just one of many, many stories I've seen of people who have had cancer, people that had arthritis. People have had all sorts of chronic diseases who have been able to reverse those conditions. Not only arthritis, rheumatoid arthritis, as well as osteoarthritis and numerous conditions have been reversed or at least become tolerant over the years. I know a couple of people who have overcome strokes. We're, I think if they hadn't have had the nutrition probably would have been in a significantly worse state of mind than what they are now. You can still see some remnants of the fact that they've had the strokes, that if you were not told of their history, you probably would not know that they'd had serious strokes. Wow. Um, because, and they both, both of the gentlemen that I'm referring to are now in their seventies, uh, the one is going to be turning 80 early next year. You would never know that they had ever had any problems in the earlier years. That is so impressive. Oh my goodness. I've gone through culinary school and I've had the same amount of college instruction for nutrition as a doctor. And I just find that utterly so sad. Um, and at this point I know probably 50 fold, but most doctors know about nutrition, but what disturbs me most is that people believe everything the doctor says, it's like, I can't do anything for you anymore, which is in my mind, not true because even if you're there with some empathy, that's better than nothing. And a lot of times people give you a date, which I think is just horrifying. Um, really right. It's you have six months to live and they die like on the day because they've been told that and they get in their brain and they make it happen. There is hope in nutrition and I liked the way you express that it's not necessarily a cure, but it gives your body the tools. I always refer to nutrition as like soldiers. And when you put them in your body, they're either going to fight for you or they're going to fight against you. So you must put some good ones in and have them fight for you, right? That was so awesome. One of the things you said I thought was hysterical was that, I quote unquote to, you says I'm doing myself out of a job. Can you explain that? Yeah, because in a lot of cases, a lot of the patients that I see specifically in hospital, um, are they because of diet related conditions and even some of, or in fact, quite a few of the amputees that are see all day because of diabetes and diabetes is a nasty thing. As you know, a lot of people are diabetic these days and those figures are just rising and that. A vast majority of cases is diet related. So things like obesity, which in turn leads to diabetes and problems with knees. So you ended up with knee replacements and hip replaced. All those sorts of things shouldn't actually need to be happening if their diet was correct. The one particular gentleman that I'm referring to who is in his eighties, When he was younger, he had sinus issues and he was a smoker and a drinker. So in theory, he should actually have been dead by now, but that man is probably fitter than what I am. He runs on a daily basis. He works out in the gym on a daily basis. He is on absolutely no medication. He no longer wears glasses and absolutely amazing person. Um, in, in fact, the founder of the company that I work with nearly died when he was a child, he says he vividly remembers his mother finding the priest one night saying you better come and pray for Jerry because I don't think he's going to see the morning. And that was because he had asthma. And he says he is sitting there in this house going, I don't want to die. And once again, the doctors said I'm sorry. There's nothing more that we can do for you. And his mother's refused to accept that and started studying about the power of nutrition, which was known. I mean, we're going back to when he was 14, he's now 80. So it's going back a few years and through good nutrition, he was able to reverse his asthma. And again, today at 80, you would never say that he ever had a problem because he's fit and he's healthy. Also regularly runs regularly, works out and he is on no medication. And when he has his medical tests on an annual basis is figures are all in an absolute normal range. There is no problems with cholesterol, elevated blood pressure or anything along those. That is an amazing story and I hope that inspires some of our listeners. Gosh, good for that guy, that's so awesome. It's hard to hear those kinds of words coming from somebody's mouth and then having the the self discipline to, absorb that and make change when, when it seems like such a sentence, you know, that's, that's really beautiful.  I love that and I love that he's helping other people. Oh, what a good one? I heard you say something about the relationship between fiber and your appendix, which was a really cool thing for me. I had never heard of this. And I'm a big fiber advocate. So can you talk to us a little bit about that relationship? Yeah. Fiber is, is crucial in our diet and I do believe in today's lifestyle with the processed foods and the fast foods, we're not getting that fiber. When we talk fiber, there's actually numerous different types of fiber. There's soluble. There's insoluble is, Pectins is all different types of fiber. And we need that full spectrum because some fibers, um, are there to work as a broom to clean up toxins out of your system. Some fibers are they to absorb excess sugar specifically in diabetics. Uh, if your fiber levels are too low, You're not going to absorb the excess sugar in your system, which in turn affects the kidneys, um, appendicitis, which I think growing up, it was known that at the certain age you had your appendix removed and you had your tonsils removed because that was what was, it was part of the course of life, right? This is it.  Both essential items to our immune system. And an appendicitis is generally caused by lack of fiber in the diet because you the toxins that build up because it's not being able to be flushed out of your system, which then blocks up in the appendix, which in turn becomes inflamed. And if an appendix bursts, well, that is a life-threatening condition, correct? If it's, if it's just inflamed, it's just very uncomfortable. I do agree. I'm a plant pusher, so I do agree with fiber and it just makes logical sense to me. It's it's cleaning out your whole system. It's like a broom, the one part that is interesting about the diabetes too, and how it can help regulate sugar. I did not know that, but it also, again makes sense. Cause it's absorbing. Um, so that is, that is really fascinating. And the other thing with the fiber is it helps the bacteria grow and you'll gut, which helps your immune system. Yes. And there are certain nutrients, specifically your vitamin B's that won't break down. If it doesn't have the correct bacteria to break it down, that's a whole big involved system. Yeah. I'm, I'm also very passionate about gut health because I personally believe like 95% of everything happens there and it's amazing. Um, What we can do to aid our gut and the bacteria in there. Um, I know one of the things that I'm doing is I'm eating sauerkraut, a bite every single day. I tried to have some chia seed or flax seed, olives, all that good stuff, and it's all to help my gut bacteria. People need to think of it as a garden, right? You need to plant the good stuff and then you're going to grow and you're going to produce good things that are going to aid you nutritionally. So that's it. And diet is what you eat. Nutrition is what your body absorbs. Sadly enough. Cut off where we don't get the nutrition. We've got the diet, but we don't know the nutrition. That's good. Ooh, that's a good, I love that statement. Ah, tell our listeners how they can get ahold of you and learn more about The Vital New U And it's U not YOU.. That's correct. So I named my particular business vital new u, because I believe that we can change and become new. And the vital is the new nutrients that we need. That are vital to our life. And then obviously you, so I'm based in South Africa and I know this is being broadcast around the world, which is quite daunting for me, but, uh, I do have a website and I am an independent distributor for a range of products. And some of the website is part of that company, but you'll find it at www. NeoLifeAfrica.com/vitalnewu,  V I T A L N E W U, and I will put that in the show notes for everybody. So they can refer back to that.  But definitely, worthy of getting the information. And hopefully to inspire others to take action and do some good things with their nutrition. Okay. So my last question for you, Sean. The heavy one. If there was one thing you could eliminate from this world with no parameters, what would it be and why? I think I would like to eliminate greed because greed causes so many issues. And that's one of the things that frustrates me quite often in my job, because I am in private practice. And even though. Yeah, things revolve around money. There's a lot of people I would love to help, but I can't. And I suppose you can't really call it greed, but it, because of money that I can't help them. Right. And if we could get rid of greed, everybody would be able to help everybody else. And I think in a lot of cases, people look down on some people. They say, no, you can't help me. So I'm not prepared to help you. And to me, that's greedy. Why does one person have more than somebody else? So I think if we could eliminate greed, it would make life a little bit more pleasant to them. You know, and we all have gifts and we all can help people. Unfortunately, I believe like you said, greed gets in the way. And that's so sad because there's help being offered. Um, and it can't be taken because, money drives the path. So very sad, but, but very true. Well, I thank you such an interesting story. Yeah. A lot of nuggets of great information. You are obviously very good at what you do and have a wonderful knowledge base. And I thank you for sharing that hopefully my listeners, you vitality feeders have also. Enjoyed this as much as I have, and I hope you can share it with your friends and family to maybe inspire them and maybe benefit their life with better nutrition to aid them in their pain or their medical journey. That would be lovely. Again. Thank you, Sean, for sharing your insights with us. It's my pleasure. Thank you, Caroline. For hosting me, it's been great.    

Hello? Hello, this is your host Caroline Schafer. Please help me welcome Laura Medrano, a speaker Reiki Master Intuitive Coach, and a newly published author of "Becoming a Master Dater": Seven Steps To Rewrite Your Love Story. Her clientele is more often women over 40 who feels stuck. And one of my favorite quotes that she said is " I lead with experience, not credentials." how cool is that? Welcome Laura or better known as "The Activator"? Hi, thank you so much for having me. Absolutely. It's a pleasure to have you here and The Vitality Feed.  I know you've had a whirlwind of a journey, to this point in your life. Would you share with our listeners your story, and how you got into this entrepreneurial endeavor? Yes. And most definitely it happened by default. There was no plan when I was growing up that I wanted to even write a book, even thought that I would be a leader to help other women and to encourage them to love themselves first. And the reason being is because I, myself struggled on that journey of having, you know, self-respect, self-worth, self acceptance and I just lacked all those things. But one thing that I was always attracted to was self-help. I knew personal development was a way that I can help guide myself. And I was actually my ideal client because I found myself so broken down. After toxic relationships and unhealthy patterns, and I'm not even going to just blame, you know, the people that I was involved in, but I, myself didn't feel worthy of any life that was going to be better or profitable or happy. I didn't feel like I deserve those things. So fast forward into my thirties, I started writing, I started journaling and I kept diaries. What I found is that a few years later going back into those journals, that I had acquired methods and skills to help myself out of my, you know, out of my low. And I'm like, wait a minute. I think I can help other people. Other people have to have some kind of same struggle that I do. So that's why I say I don't lead with credential because I didn't go to school to learn. I actually lived it firsthand. So it builds that empathy and that compassion for other people going through the same struggles. I love that you took action with yourself and now it's somebody else's path. That is awesome. That's admirable too, to share you to share your story. I know you have a very interesting story about your soulmate. How did you manifest your soulmate and what is that one little important step that you did to make that happen?Well, I like to say that there's a lot of pieces to that pie, so it's not just this magic pill, magic answer that happened for me overnight. Oh, a lot of work. And it took a lot of inner work because what I realized is that the common denominator was me and how can I change something? And I knew in the long run that I really wanted a strong, healthy love, but the way to do that. And I say, I manifested my soulmate by doing this one important step. And before I even say that important step. What I realized is that I was taking the wrong approach into looking for Mr. Right. And so once I changed my mindset and shifted, I like my own self-worth and I've learned to love myself first, and that was the catalyst to cultivate a real soulmate love. And I think a lot of women there are so used to being everything for everyone else. So,  they lose sight of themselves and yes, Amen to all of that, so that is incredibly powerful And so true. You know, Tony Robbins talks about that and he says the reason, um, that people after they have their first divorce, they have usually a second divorce is because they take their same problems with them to the next marriage.There's no self-correction and I love the fact that you own up to, like, you gotta, you gotta fix you first and love you first and then take that better package and move it on to the next relationship. I think that was genius really! Exactly that, exactly that. And I have a series of whole steps and that's, that's what I wrote the book about and it's seven simple steps. And I did them in a certain order and it's just something I compiled that I'm like, you know what, wait a minute. This can help somebody else do the same thing. What a beautiful gift.  I mean, everybody's looking for that. Right. I know you and I previously I've talked about a very powerful concept that I'd love to go back to right now and you call it being aware of your dominant thought of the day. Can you explain that a little more? So I think thoughts are so powerful and we lose sight on whatever it is that we're thinking. It creates our reality. And that's when it comes down to it. Your creates are. Perspective on the world or perspective on ourselves. And I like to say, what is the one most dominant thought that you were thinking of most of the day? And is it actually serving you or is it sabotaging you?Is that something that you knew wake up? Cause I'm huge into morning routines? Is that something that you, when you wake up, you go, what is my dominant thought of the day? Or is that something more when you go to bed? What rained my day. Is it more of a, it be used as both. It could be used as bookends, of course, at the end of the day, looking back and, you know, perspective, you can use it there because it has already had your day has already happened. But it's what it comes down to is just being mindful and having that mindfulness. And that's something that I lacked like many years. I had no idea what I was really doing on the daily basis. I was just kind of a robot, just repeat all my habits. And I realized that that wasn't serving me. I always say my light switch was off and you just get in that robotic mode and you just do, and you're not really thinking, you're not really feeling, you're just kind of going through the motions and then you wake up hey, 20 years of just past, wait a minute. It's, it's pretty incredible. Um, so talk to us a little bit about letting go of control. I know you had mentioned, let the universe take over and have a little bit better of a plan with timing. Talk to me about that. So a lot of us like to control the outcome. It's kind of like when you're holding something in the Palm of your hand, so tightly you have that grasp so tight that it actually falls, like it slips through your fingers. And when you let go of that control, the universe actually has a better plan for us, allowing it to happen on the universe's is timing. And I say, universe, it could mean anything to you. You know, I'm not trying to tell you what to believe in it's, you know, it's God, it's source it's whatever you you believe is out there that is bigger than yourself. Are you familiar with Marisa Peer?  She works a lot with people with infertility issues and she says the same exact thing that sometimes the focus has such a stronghold on things that people can't get pregnant. And then. That she teaches him to relax and let things happen at time. And she says by and large, actually she's really good at it, they get end up getting pregnant just because the pressure that likes to that strong old is released and you stop trying to force things and you just let things happen. All the stress that you internalize, why you have that strong hold on, it kind of wreaks havoc on what naturally could be, especially for something like infertility. All those negative hormones definitely can do, some injustice in there, but that is, that is so interesting. And I know we just spoke of loving yourself and why that's so important. Why do you think we neglect to do that so much? I think it's just a natural tendency to worry about the kids, worry about the house, worry about the job, paying the bills. We have so many things to worry about that we forget to fill up our own cup and even going back to what you were just saying, With the girl that helps, you know, people with infertility, I feel the same thing about attracting your partner. So when you're chasing somebody, they can feel that energetic genetic vibration of that, that desperate needy and the minute you stop chasing them usually that's when you get a phone call. They feel that energy. So instead of chasing, you need to learn how to attract. I couldn't agree more because I see so many YouTube things, "how to get the guy to love you". And I was like, if you have to force it, like, is it really like a good thing? Is that really what both parties want? Are you going to really end up being happy with that, after you  forced the way? I'm not too convinced on that. I like your idea about let the universe takeover and all in good time. What, is supposed to happen happens, right? Yes. And disclaimer, because even with myself, it took years. It does. And I agree with you, especially with moms, you automatically, stick yourself in the back seat. Especially now with COVID and trying to homeschool and hold a job, like so much has changed. It's so much pressure. I have eight nieces and they all have children and it's hard, what people are trying to endure today too much, too much change, too fast all at once. And I think more women are going to suffer now then even before, just cause there's no out, you know what I mean, before it was like, go so much, you could go out to dinner, you go, you know, now, now it's getting better, but I think we're a little nervous again, but it, for a while, there, there just seemed to be no out for them. There was no release. There was no escape. There was no me time. Yes. And that brings up a very, very valid point because in my teachings, I teach that less is more.  We're in this like information overload society where you have to constantly get, you know, input with all this information, and I feel like it does such a disservice and we need to kind of chip away at the layers that are already there and just tune into ourselves. And there's, you know, it's a lot about the energetic response that you feel in your heart instead of like, oh my gosh, I need to accomplish a, B, C, and D. You know, we really, we really don't, that gets us into overwhelm and anxiety. And I feel like we need a lot less of that nowadays. And it's. Incredible how our bodies work, because once we get into that overwhelming anxiety, it ends up coming back to haunt us. I know someone  who was feeling that, and then they got really, really sick had to go on antibiotics and I, you know, I'm like, I don't have time for this. I'm like, well, nobody has time for this. But, you know, if, if you would take a little bit of that self care, self preservation upfront, it ends up, behooving you. Absolutely, and that brings up another point because when people say, I don't have time to meditate, I'm like, well, then you probably need them meditate even more. That's a good one. That's a, that is something I do. I'm really big into my morning routine. I'm so gonna use your dominating thought of the day. And I actually do like the bookend idea too,  at the end of that, you can think to yourself, how did I do? It's kind of like an accountability, self-accountability. Yes. And it's all, that's how we manifest. And we're always manifesting things into our life, whether we're aware of it or not. So when you are aware of that dominant thought, and is it serving you then that's how you can be in direct alignment of your manifestation,  instead of allowing all these things to come at you that you're thinking about, oh my gosh,  I'm worried about this, or I'm in fear of this. Well, guess what, you're going to attract more of whatever you think about. Yes, that is so true for so many women too. You worry about money or you worry about the kids' health. And so many times it ends up going the opposite direction that you really want, but it's because you're so focused on the negative. Ah, such good thoughts. I know recently you were on chasing the insights podcast with Vince Warnock. Love that, man and you shared your experience about being a new author. Congratulations and I think you said this is not something that was planned, but, um, what has that accomplishment taught you about writing your own book? What did, what did you learn from all of that? I'm always searching for the new, I want to check off my bucket list. That is just one of my missions. I want to say. I've tried that I've done that. And I used to do it in a way that didn't serve me, but now I use it for my benefit. I'm like, you know what? I want to try new things. Writing a book did not come natural for me. I never enjoyed school. I never enjoyed English class. I'd never took a journalism class. None of that. So for anybody out there who like wants to write a book, cause a lot of people say they want to write, but only 2% actually do. And. Honestly, what it came down to is it ended up being a lot of my own personal journal entries that I didn't even realize I was writing a book at the time. It just happened because I had so many journals on my own personal healing journey that I'm like, wait a minute. I think I have a book in there. And so I'd come together and I am really big on networking and connecting and I found people that helped me and I still struggle with these things because we can't wear all hats in every department. So I knew it was going to be something that I needed help with and there is help out there. And like with Vince, he's so good at wanting to promote people and their gifts. And  I'm big on that too, because whatever I'm really good at does that mean, you know, that that's what somebody else's, but they might have an amazing gift. I'm all about like trading, bartering and just not organic connection on how can we help each other. Because when we come together, we actually rise up. I tell you, I put a summit together. I haven't launched it yet because of family reasons with health but, one of the things I've learned, some great lessons from that. And the biggest one was the people that I have were just such genuinely awesome people willing to share their talents. And I mean, they just were such giving people. It's so nice to have those kinds of people in your life.   It's people who just genuinely care and you can help each other get to a better place together, instead of just trying to promote yourself. And surrounding yourself with those kind of people, because we can complain and sit here and soak all day up. This person did that and not person did this. And it's like, W wait a minute, you have a choice of who you get to be around. I, I understand the family dynamic too, but there's a thing called setting boundaries that I have a whole other teaching about. So, you know, it's just learning these like hacks and tools, like to navigate your life and to put yourself in a situation that actually shines your own inner life. Tell our listeners how they can find you. Well, I'm my website is my name, so Lauramadrano.com. And then of course I have my book on Amazon. And if you just type in my name or the title of the book, which is Becoming A Master Dater and It's seven simple steps to rewriting your love story. And one of the objects that I just want to reiterate that is to love yourself first, right? Oh, I'm all about that radical self-love and it comes from a loving space. Non ego attachment is very worried that we're full of ourselves, but really we need a filler cups up. And so that way we can help them serve other people at max potential. Uh, expressions about people is that that people are either cut in two categories, they're either energy givers or energy suckers, that fits that very well there. So my last question is if there was one thing that you could eliminate from this world, what would it be and why? oh, that is just so easy for me to answer. And honestly, and I'm very open book, honest about things. So I kind of have no filter and that would be to eliminate anybody who has ill intentions to her other people. Oh, I love that. Yes, because sometimes. You know, we're human beings. We learn from our mistakes. So we're unaware that maybe we are hurting others in the process, but we learn. And if you don't learn from it, then obviously that lesson has to present itself again. But it's the people who have that direct. Yeah, just vindictive intentions to her other people because that, that really like, it hurts my heart. And I know like there's a saying out there that says, "hurt people, hurt people". And so I loved that. Yeah. So whenever I see that happening, I always think of that quote because I think of how they must be hurting inside and how they probably need their own healing lessons in life. It's so true because when people are like, the bullies is because. They are having issues with themselves first and that they're trying to push their hurt feelings onto somebody else. That is such a good expression. Wow. And a good answer. I love that question because everybody answers it so differently. Wow. You are such an inspiration and a pleasure to have. I just love speaking with you and I loved learning about the self-love. So with your book, is there one thing that we can do to help our relationships maybe going forward? Well, I'll tell you right now, because what I said earlier about trying not to be information overload, right. This book is a very easy read, like great to the matter of fact, bullet points, cliff note version. So it's, you know, it's a short, under an hour. So there's no like, oh my gosh, I have to read another book. Right, right, right. That no simple. I think it's smart. There is too much information out there and. So bloomin' complex and that's how I approach my health, um, for clients is that I try to make it as simple as possible and when you get confused, then you stop taking action. Exactly, exactly. And another thing that I weave into it. Humor and fun because when we're in the state of joy, that's when new opportunities and doors open for us, you know, the, you know, the universe doesn't want us to be miserable. It doesn't want to act like life is such a chore when we're in that seat of having a good time and, you know, doing,  activities that make you feel joy inside. Guess what? It's, you're probably going to be presented with a lot more opportunities that are in direct alignment for your purpose. Funny that you just mentioned that because I just posted a little video this week. A snippet, I was skipping through a path and I put on like, you know, "fun is important". I feel that it's, it's undervalued out there. Um, and it's important to promote that we all need to take some time to have fun because life is just too short. I thank you for all your time and your insights and your willingness to share your story. You're such a joy you're so smiley. I love it.  And,  I appreciate you being here. Thank you so much. That means a lot to me. Absolutely. Okay. Vitality seekers, please. "Remember, life has no remote. Get up and change it yourself."    

Hello? Hello, Vitality seekers. This is your host Caroline Schafer. Please help me welcome Stephanie Flores. She is a consultant for Scout and Cellar, a clean crafted wine company based out of Dallas. I am so happy to have you here. Stephanie, we are been long time friends. Our daughters played volleyball together many moons ago. Thank you. It's good to be here, Caroline. Just recently, I'd see you on social media and the bell just went off about a couple of weeks ago about exactly. What you do with Scout and Cellar, and it's the clean, crafted wine, which is so up my alley. I'm not a huge drinker, but when I do it, It always crosses my mind about what's in there. I don't like drinking soda. I don't like drinking funny colored drinks. So I just love this concept that I know that wine offers probably some of the healthiest things in it, if you're going to drink. So, my concept, if I pack my suitcase, I'm going to indulge. So I'm getting ready to go away soon. I want to learn all about that I can go and have a good time with my sister in New York. Tell us a little about your story and how this came to fruition. Well, thanks.  I guess I would have to go back to my why, why did I even venture into this business in the first place? And I would have to say that a couple of years ago there's well, let me start over. There's nothing more that I love to do than to gather together with friends and family over good food and good wine. And I guess that just comes from my Greek and Italian background where we just love food. And we love to add a specifically some  red wine. And  over time I found that I just couldn't drink the wine. I couldn't drink as a red wine unless I had a fan or a glass of ice water next to me. And, there came a time where I just said, no, thank you. And then I went to go visit some family in Texas. And my nephew's wife. Who's like you very much into health. She's very health conscious, she works out, she has her own gym, and she said, hold on a second. Stephanie, I need you to try this wine. I have partnered up with Scout and Cellar and it's , crafted. Well, I said, okay. But I didn't know what clean, crafted meant. I just thought, well, let me just try the wine and see how it goes. So, I tried it and of course it was all good things. I finished it and, and the wine came to an end and I said, okay, well, I didn't feel anything like I have in the past. So is it me? Or is it. Something else.  So I thought, well, let me go ahead and test it. Let me just, let me just see how this really works. So I went to the local store. I picked up a bottle of wine,  and lo and behold, and, and again, this is a true testament. The water came out and the fan came back out. So I knew that this must be something, there must be something in the why that is affecting me. And, I needed to do my research. I needed to find out what this company was all about and what is clean, crafted wine. There's a guru out there. His name is Tim Ferris and he always makes himself a human Guinea pig to like the 10th degree. He does some crazy stuff. But that's super cool that you did your own self-experiment you tried the new wine with friends and then you were like, well, let me just see and go. We went back to the old stuff, same reaction, but does, do not have that reaction with Scout and Cellar. That is so cool. Unless you try it for yourself and you see the difference, then you really  believe it. So you have to, you really have to experience. Well, I will, I've ordered my first bottle, but it's, didn't get here before this podcast. I'm very excited, maybe I'll bring it to New York. You were saying, you didn't even know what clean, crafted meant, and I'm sure a lot of people don't. So what is clean wine? In order for wine to be clean crafted, it has to go through a very rigorous process to make sure that the chemicals and the additives are not present in the wine and that it begins with our growers and our farmers. They, they also embrace our philosophy of not adding any pesticides or chemicals while growing the grapes. We also test the soil periodically, just to make sure that there's nothing in the soil.  And then those grapes are handpicked at night, uh, and that is going to slow the fermentation process down so that you don't have that added sugar and this fermentation process, it's a little bit slower, so that all that deliciousness from grape to glass goes directly into that bottle of wine that you're going to enjoy. But the big thing for me was, yes, there are no added chemicals or pesticides, but also no added sugar. So, you know, some companies can add up to 16 grams of sugar in a bottle of wine. We don't do that at Scout and Cellar, it is residual sugar, which means that it's just sugar coming from the great naturally. And I think that was big news for me. And it was also a big deal for some of my friends who are diabetic, because if you're drinking that glass of wine that has 16 grams of sugar in it, That's going to have some effect on you and probably not in a very good way, you know, it's funny. Just to give everybody a little comparative here, 16 grams of sugar is what you will find in a jelly donut which is crazy. That's a tremendous amount of sugar. It's no wonder you needed a fan. It's no wonder you want water. You, you get that headache after drinking a few glasses. That's just too much sugar. And grapes are very high in sugar , It's amazing, they're like, oh, let's just throw some more sugar in here and make them a little more addicted to this substance because sugar will definitely do that. You were talking about the grapes and  they pick them at night.  Can you explain the difference in how they pick the  grapes traditionally like clean grape picking compared to the way they do it now. We hand pick the grapes at night. Only the good ones are selected. And again, it slows the fermentation process down. So that what you see is what you get in that glass of wine. You don't have to throw anything on the grapes to slow the fermentation process down because of our process of doing that at night. And we only bottle the wine in small batches for that very reason. So, we're not a mass produced wine. We don't claim to be. We can make sure that we have that clean, crafted process from grape to glass. Right. I also believe when they pick the grapes normally todays ways, um, that they spray them down because they're in the sun and they'd start deteriorating immediately in that hot sun. So they start spraying them with toxic chemicals to, to preserve them. And that's a preservative, which we, we have said that we will not add. This is like music to my ears. You have no idea. I love, I love, I mean,  they've done these processes for years and years and years and then greed took over and mass production took over and then science took over, you know, for, let's see how we can addict people to this. And it's so sad. They took a good thing and then they ruined it. So, yay. I'm glad that I'm glad that somebody is out there trying to reverse back back to what once was. So smart, loved that. And you will find Caroline is that, this is kind of what sets us apart. We've known this all along. We've known that adding chemicals, an added sugar to wine  is really not a good thing. So you're going to see other companies popping up here and there one gram of sugar, no sugar, this, that, and the other. And they're just following what we've all always known all along is that the cleaning crafted wine commitment, um, is something that we started a while ago. And we'll continue to. I just think that's fantastic and I love supporting companies like this, cause they're trying to do the right thing and they're fighting against the mass production that they see everywhere. So what don't they allow in their wine? What does Scout and Cellar  not allowing the wine compared to like normal companies? Well, we don't. So, you know, normal companies can put up to almost 350 parts per million in sulfites. Now I will tell you that sulfites keeps the bacteria at bay. And so everybody really has to put that in their wine, including scout and cellar, but we put the lowest amount possible, usually less than 100 parts per million in order to still keep your wine free from bacteria. So we do allow that and that's it. We don't add synthetics. We don't add pesticides. We don't add any of those things that you can't really pronounce in our wine, two ingredients, that's it. One of my interviews, I just did they said that if there's more than five ingredients, don't consume it and this fits in there and then some more than double. So that's really good. So it's just better, it's lowered. It's much lower, you have to do it. You have to keep your wine safe and the bacteria out, right? The lowest amount possible in order to still keep your wine safe and not compromise taste. Do you also have to let this wine breathe like traditional wines? Like what do you recommend on that? Well,  the white wine I usually just put right in the refrigerator, that's a personal preference for me. Uh, I like my wine's a little bit cooler and then after you opened up your white wine, you will  want to put it back into the refrigerator. Red wine, you don't have to do that in. And it's just, again, my personal preference. I like my wine a little bit cooler, but I open it up. I let it breathe, you know, the flavors kind of open up a little bit and then, then that is, and then you're going to get that delicious glass of wine. I just curious, how long should you wait for, for the breathing to happen there? So he opened up my wine about 20 minutes, but that's again, that's me. A lot of people put it in a decanter and let it open up that way. So either way is absolutely up to you. It's your personal preference? I know we talked about the sugar levels and is this something that diabetics can maybe partake in? Oh, absolutely. I mean, if you have one gram of sugar and you're watching your sugar intake, you know, that's probably just minimal compared to all the other things that you're probably eating and drinking. So for example, if you have a glass, a five ounce glass of red wine is a hundred calories, less than a gram of sugar in that. So it depends, I guess, on how much sugar a diabetic can have in a given day. But if you're just going to have one, five ounce glass of wine, you're really still going to be okay. To me, I think one of the highest selling features that the wine has. Sugar is put in everything else, even things that people don't even realize. So if you can eliminate that and at least with another thing that you're consuming, I think that's great. We're not eliminate, but reduce significantly. I know in the summer they have something new on the menu some spritzers, do you want to tell us about that? Oh, absolutely. The summertime is so much fun because we, um, we reintroduce all of our canned spritzers and there's so much fun because they can go anywhere. Anytime you pack them up, that you can take them to the beach, the pool, the lake on the boat, whatever it's, they're easy and, they're so popular. And so I've got a couple of them here that I'd like to introduce to you. All of our epic pursuit wine spritzers have been wonderfully popular. And this one is my, is the rosacea furniture. If you can see that, and this one has, only seventy-five calories and one gram of sugar in it, and you can kind of tell just from the can really what it has in it. So we've got some. Uh, or blood orange, cranberry, strawberry, and peach in this one. And as you can see right here, there's also a little Bee and 1% of our proceeds go towards the conservation of bees because we know how important they are to our ecosystem. So you're not only getting something really good for you, but you're making a contribution to the bees as well. That combination really does sound very enticing.  And I love the bees cause that's such a huge thing today. People have no idea the ramifications if we lost the bees. We're trying to do our part and keep that, you know, the conservation of the bees going. So 1% for the bees, we also have the 14 K bubbly wine spritzer as, well, the can is just a little bit smaller. This one has a little bit more alcohol content, but this is crisp and clean as well with lemon and peach and white flowers in this one. So this one is really delightful. We also, which is really kind of fun is we introduced three new wine spritzers just last Wednesday and this is a wine alternative. Um, and you might be asking us what in the world is a wine alternative, but for those people who don't really like wine or the flavor of wine, we've come out with, um, something that's really kind of fun. And it's, it's called a wine alternative because it is made from wine, but we filter it through charcoal to give it a very natural, neutral flavor and then you can add flavors to it. So for example, this one is called wilderness road and anything that you add to vodka, you can add to this because of the natural and the neutral flavor that it has. For example, one of the things that I love to do is I'll put equal parts of wilderness road, some lemon,  simple sugar, mint, and you can just put it all over ice and you can shake it up and you've got yourself a really refreshing drink for the summertime. Lemon and mint. I make water like that.  That's good for all. You can add a little bit of that wilderness road for a little kick. Absolutely. It has a little bit higher alcohol content, but it's lower than vodka because again, it's a wine alternative for those who a want a little something different. With the cans and the cans are a hundred calories, one gram of sugar, and again, super easy and fun for the summer, we've got the peanut colada flavor. We have, the citrus soda and then our botanical and tonic flavor. So those have been really fun and popular. I liked, I liked that. Everything sounds very refreshing to me. You know what I mean? Like doesn't sound heavy. It sounds perfect. We're both in Georgia so it sounds very, very good for people in warmer climates too, that's nice. It is because again, you know, and I, I often kid my children because of the millennials, you know, they like everything that's simple and easy. And these are, these are easy. You pack them up, you go. And, um, you know, that's why they've been so popular is because you  can take many where you want to know. Absolutely. So, where do we find scout and cellar products? Well, you can go online and you can shop, uh, and begin your clean, crafted journey by just logging into scoutandcellar.com. You can find me. Scoutandcellar.com/sipandtime.com so it sip and time, and you can just shop around and you can take a look at all of our wine spritzers, uh, this summer, we also have some specially curated wine kits for the summer. And that just, that's kind of neat because it, it gives you a little sampling of a lot of different things. So you can, you get some cans, you get a white wine, you get a Rosie and you get a red wine. So that's kind of fun if you're not really sure what you want, you go for the little kit and then you've got a little something for everybody. I think I missed that, that sounds like a little sampler pack. It is exactly. So you can go ahead and shop around. You can shop the cans, the white, the rose, the red wines, and just kind of see, what speaks to you. How can our listeners connect with you? Well, I'm on Instagram under sipping time, and you can connect with me there. You can click on the link in my bio and you can, it'll take you right into the website. Fantastic. Okay. My signature question for you, if you could eliminate one thing in this world, what would it be and why? Well, that's, that's an interesting question.  I kind of was thinking about that and I had been traveling, you know, I moved away from, from the big city into a kind of a rural area. And then just driving back into the city, I thought. If I could eliminate one thing, it's going to have to be the traffic. My goodness. I think the metroplex is pretty well known for their traffic. I've had a really good distaste for it. When you move out and then you come back, like you just, you get numb to it when you live here and then when you moved back out, they have to redo it. You're like, oh, I don't think so. And a lot of people think that Atlanta, traffic's not that bad compared to New York, Atlanta rates really high in the United States. I think it's like top three. Pretty helacious here. Well, if you look at New York, you've got, you know, you've got a good transit system, so everybody's in their car and everybody's trying to get someplace at a million miles an hour down here. Then at least if there's traffic, you're going really slow here. It's like bumper to bumper at 80. It's scary. It absolutely is, I was having heart palpitations the whole way in, and I just think there's gotta be something that we can do about this. I love that answer, but it is true. And. Raise a lot of cortisol on people. People get very stressed out in the traffic. We'll, eliminate traffic, that'd be a great thing in, in Atlanta., I thank you for coming on the show today. It was so great to have you here on the Vitality Feed. It's been a long time. I'm glad we caught up and I'm glad that I know about this. Cause I think this is also a fabulous gift. I was thinking about this. All my kids are. Grown up and I'm like, this is like a great gift idea. Like for Christmas or something or an Easter basket or something like that, or house-warming gift. I think it's a great idea. Cause I'm always trying to push healthier alternatives and especially to delete some sugar out of our lives. Oh, absolutely. And if you just, you know, in this, in the winter time, around Christmas time, we've got some wonderful gift boxes. So if you're just kind of thinking about that it's never too soon to think about, you know, the Christmas season. So for all your viewers out there go online and in the fourth quarter, we're going to have some really fun stuff coming up. Oh, well, I appreciate your time and thank you for sharing your personal testimony on the, how wine can affect people. And this is a great alternative. I love it. I I'm so excited to try it. Okay. All my vitality seekers, please remember, life has no remote, get up and change it yourself!

Hello? Hello. I'm your host, Caroline Schafer, please help me welcome Karen Sammer. Karen is the owner of Your Power, Your Health, Nutrition and Health Coaching and she works as a nutritional consultant and health coach. She also volunteers as a Womenheart Champion Community Educator at Womenheart, the national coalition for women with heart disease. Welcome to The Vitality Feed. Karen, it is such a pleasure to have you here. I know your story. It is a crazy, amazing story and it is really an honor to have you. Thank you, Caroline. It's an honor to be here. I really appreciate your inviting me to talk to you today. Tell us a little bit about, about your story and, some background and your amazing triumphs. In 2009, I was going about my marriage. But I was not living it wasn't a healthy life. I was under a lot of stress. I was working at a corporate job. I was raising some kids, two kids, and I was very overweight, drank too much, ate too much work, too much, all that type of stuff. And I went from my annual mammogram and you can probably guess how that story goes. I ended up finding out that I had an invasive ductal carcinoma, which is breast cancer, but it was a very aggressive form of breast cancer. So that meant that had there not been a particular medicine that I was able to take, I would have had an 85% chance of recurrence. So fortunately there isn't a drug that was part of my chemo protocol. And so for a year I was on it, a treatment plan, I was doing chemo. I did radiation and I had to have surgery. I had to have a lumpectomy. So in that time it was a, it was kind of a challenging period of time because I felt lousy the whole time.  I decided I didn't want that to happen again. So I decided to take some steps to take control of my own health. And when I did that, I determined that processed sugar is a huge contributor to the development of certain types of cancer. One of them being breast cancer and cancer cells love sugar. So the first thing I did was I eliminated processed sugar from my diet, and that was a complete game changer. So what that did is it took away my cravings. It took away my aches and pains, and it really put me on the right path to taking back control of my health. And I lost 135 pounds. Woohoo and I changed my lifestyle completely. So I started exercising and I was fortunate enough that my employer put me in a less stressful job than when I was in prior I, prior to having developed the cancer, I was director uh, federal and state compliance and a tax department in a big pharmaceutical company. And so when I came back from having been sick, they made me director of federal audits, which was a much more manageable position. It was less deadline sensitive, and it was much easier for me to deal, which was, you know, to their credit. It was a great thing to do. So I, uh, developed this, you know, this, this healthy lifestyle, right. I was exercising. I was eating well. I was, I had eliminated initially I eliminated processed sugar from my diet, and then I incrementally took other things from my out of my eating protocol, like meat.  I don't eat meat anymore. I'm not a vegan, I'm a pescatarian. So I do eat fish. Occasionally I'll eat eggs. I don't eat any dairy. And I, uh, I also eliminated gluten from my diet because I feel better not eating gluten and there are never reasons why most of us should consider that, but we can talk about that later. So I'm going about my life and then in 2017, I was sitting in a meeting and I started to feel a sensation in the middle of my chest. That was like a burning sensation. And so, I wasn't quite sure what it was, cause it wasn't really painful. It was just kind of. And then it started to radiate out to the tops of my arms. So I happened to be in the meeting. I was in, was Toastmasters that was meeting in my local hospital. The luck of God right there for you. Right? Well, he wasn't done with me yet, apparently. So, I asked somebody to walk out with me to find some help because I figured there was something a little bit sinister going on there. So he walked out with me, found somebody that worked at the hospital. They took me over to the ER and I was having a hard time. And when they took me to the, the cath lab, they were going to, they thought they were going to have to place a stent. But what they found was my arteries are clear, but I had this weird thing happened. It's called a spontaneous coronary artery dissection, that almost always happens to women. There are some men that it happens to, but mostly happens to women. They don't really know what causes it because there was no, I had no prior symptoms, you know? So oftentimes when you have a cardiac event, you have prior symptoms, you have some pain or you have some shortness of breath or whatever. So other stuff I not a bad. It just happened and, you know, spontaneously, which is why it's called that. Right. So I went and I was in the hospital for a few days. I was, apparently they had a hard time stabilizing me and then when I was released from the hospital, I found a cardiologist who I absolutely love. And she and I have, become friends. We became friendly and we were chatting a lot. So she decided that I would be a good candidate to be a WomenHeart champion. And so she sent me to the Mayo clinic to be trained, which is the mothership of, of women's heart health. And, um, they trained me to be a WomenHeart champion and community educator. So now I get to go into the community and I talk about these issues, women in specific, you know, women in heart health and what to do to prevent cardiac events because 80% of heart disease is actually preventable through lifestyle and nutrition, but also to recognize it when it's in your body, when something's happening, because we don't necessarily know what's going on ourselves because our symptoms aren't necessarily the same as men's are symptoms may not be as severe, or we just kind of power through and get through life and ignore what's going on and much to our detriment sometimes. Seems scary. It really is. Yeah. But, but I, you know, I became a health coach after my cancer diagnosis because I wanted to help other people get healthy as well, because I felt so incredibly good. I felt so I was 52 when I was diagnosed with cancer. And after I had lost all the weight and taken all those things out of my, out of my eating. I felt better than I had in probably 25 years. So yeah, it was, yeah, it was amazing how much better I felt and how, how vibrant, energetic, and just, you could bottle that and let people have like, just a spoonful of it. So that it would give him the motivation to do the work. You know, that's the ticket. That is the ticket. It's that feeling that, that, that vitality, that good energy that you've had forgotten about because you're so used to how you feel you've kind of become numb, but go ahead. I'm sorry. I just love that. Oh, that's fine. But it, but you're absolutely right, because you know, it becomes your way of life and you're just trying to get through one day at a time. And so you don't even really realize how lousy you're feeling until you don't feel that way anymore. And it's incredible the difference. Oh my gosh. I just can't even describe how, how different it is. So, I became a health coach after having the cancer and I was really working through working with people, but I had not really narrowed down who I wanted to work with, but once I had the heart attack and I found out all this stuff about women and heart, I really wanted to make that my people, you know, those are my people that I want to help, because if you are on the path of developing chronic illness, like heart disease or diabetes or any even cancer, you know, if you're on that path, you can, you can reverse course and possibly prevent, you know, if you haven't gotten too far down the path, you could prevent developing those illnesses and those chronic conditions. And so that's what I really want to do is I want to help people to not have to worry about having to take cholesterol medication or blood pressure meds, because if you can avoid going on them, it's a lot easier to avoid it than it is to convince your doctor that, to take you off of it. That's like sounds like music to my ears. My goal is to help people avoid taking medication I've had, I've had clients who have been able to do that, have brought cholesterol down by double digits by working with me. Wow. Yeah. I had one client who got her cholesterol down 70 points working. I mean, there's double digits  at 10 and there's double digits at 70. That's a huge amount of difference. Yeah. I mean, she was, it was so good. She was really good to keep it a great job. Kudos to you too, because she obviously had damn good health coaches there. That's a lot of points that really is, that's like more than make or break things, you know? Oh, absolutely significant fender off the medicine, you know, it helped her to stay off of the medication.   I know you're big into mindset and so am I, how do you keep yourself grounded and on the right path? One of the things that is so important to me is that I don't want to go back to the way it was and it, and that is still, I mean, here we are 11 years out and it's still very clear in my head how that felt when I was, well, first when I was diagnosed because the earth stood still when I was diagnosed. I got the goosebumps. When you said the world  stopped.Because I hate that people wait to that point of getting to the diagnosis cliff, don't wait to that point. Your taste buds do change and it drives me crazy when people say, oh, you deserve the piece of cake. No, you deserve not to have the piece of cake because that's worthy of you. You need to do better things for yourself, for your health, for your future, for your family and just the everyday of feeling good. Right. And the envy, just the unreal feeling of it, but also having to go through the treatment. But then even before that, like the way my body felt and not being able to get out of my own way and not just feeling uncomfortable in my own skin. And now I don't feel that way. I mean, you would never, in a million years been able to get me in front of a group of people to talk, 10 years ago. Now you can't shut me up now, you know, I'll go and I'll stand in front of anybody and talk about this stuff because I'm so passionate about it. And, you have such a great story, it's so worthy to listen to. Gosh, it's so inspiring and I'm  hoping to inspire people to make the changes that you've made. But you know, so the way I stay grounded is by remembering how good it feels to be where I am right now. It's been such a long time since I've eaten this stuff that I stopped eating, that it doesn't bother me anymore. You can put it on, you can lay out a whole table full of junk food or fast food or sweet whatever. And it really does not impress me.  I don't want to go there. I don't want to feel that feeling in my body. Like you say, that's truly what drives is that that feeling of you can get up and go because yeah. I can, I can get out of bed in the morning and my body doesn't hurt. I'm not stiff.  I got up this morning at five o'clock and took a walk for, I don't know, two and a half miles or something like that, but I've been trying to do that now. I want to get my walk in before it gets too hot, but like, it's not negotiable for me. This is not. And taking care of myself is non-negotiable because that, and that's another thing, like, you know, I have a program that I use with people and one of the things that I tell them, You need to do to take care of you before you take care of anybody else, because you can't pour from an empty cup. I mean, I know that's a tired adage, but it's, it's so true. If you've got no reserves, you have nothing to give to someone else. So you are completely depleted. And you just don't, you won't have it for them. And then, and then something like what happened to me 11 years ago can happen to you or even what happened to me in 2017. I mean, you could have a heart attack due to the heart disease. Mine was different, but, but you could have, from neglect and lack of care and overstress being over stressed, because stress is a huge contributor to all of this. Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, it's just important to, to make sure that you put yourself at the top of your priority list and as women, I think we're really not very, we're not very good at. No, we are not we're pretty bad at. I'll go there and say what a pretty bad at it.  I definitely am guilty of that only up until two years ago at UPW, did I start prioritizing me! So I understand completely, I know we both have done that. With a new lifestyle, I know you've made a lot of eliminations with your food: dairy, gluten, sugar, you sometimes do eggs and whatnot. I'm pretty much on that same page as I just think plants is where it's at.  How can you explain the difference in the feeling like you said with the gluten? I also do not do gluten. How, how can you explain to people the difference before and after? So gluten, it does a number of different things to your body that may not be testable and the way you find out that it's doing these things is by taking it out of your diet and once you've taken it out and you start to feel like your digestion is a little better, your head's a little clearer, you sleep a little better. Maybe your joints don't hurt as much. There are a number of things that gluten does to our body that you don't necessarily have to have celiacs disease. Correct, uh, to be sensitive to gluten, it could just be, it's a, it's a continuum for me. It's like, it goes from sensitive to intolerant, to you're going to die there, and many levels in between, but, but we don't need it. We don't need wheat gluten.  And, and the way the food is manufactured these days, if you're eating manufactured food, which to me is like an oxymoron manufactured in food should not be in the same sentence, if you're eating stuff out of a box, chances are pretty good it's got gluten in it just because it's in the preservatives, it's in the coloring, it's in the flavoring and if it has wheat in it on top of that, it's got even more gluten. So gluten is so prevalent in everything that you eat. If you're eating from a shelf, that you were probably getting way more than you. And, and it could be having an impact on your body could be causing leaky gut, where your is leaking out through perforations in your intestines. So you're not getting nutrients, they're not being properly processed to get the nutrients. And I don't think people realize it's in makeup, it's in toothpaste, it's in a lot of condiments.  And I always say  food is like a soldier. You put it in and it's either going to fight for you or against you. So it's up to you, but gluten is definitely fighting against you. It's hard , I'm Italian, from New York, you're from Jersey and I'm a professional baker. And if I can give up gluten and be Italian and from New York and a professional baker, like anybody can do it, but you're right. Your taste buds do change. People don't realize that when they start. It has such, a strong hold over you. Uh, and, and talk to me a little about the sugar. Cause that's, that's the thing that has the biggest stronghold over you is the sugar. Yeah, for sure. So the sugar is a drug. It really should be regulated. I think because there have been studies done that when they addict lab rats to sugar and cocaine, and then those rats have the choice between the sugar or the cocaine . They will always go to the sugar. What does that say? Is even more addictive than cocaine is? Although it does light up, the same part of their brain is cocaine. So it's not, you know, it has that same impact, but it has such, it has such a, an addictive quality to it. That, and it, and the food, the food that's manufactured. That'd be, they, they hire scientists. To, to hit that spot. That's going to make you come back for more . Cause if you're not coming back from where those food companies aren't gonna stay in business. So their, their goal is you'd make you come back for more and want to eat as much of their stuff as they can possibly sell you. Everything that you buy on the shelf, not almost everything I sugar in it in some way. Spaghetti sauce, uh, salad dressing. soups, Ketchup and then of course the sweet stuff, you know, a lot of it has high high-fructose corn syrup, which by the way, they have changed the name of so that you don't see high fructose corn syrup, one labeling, One of the things I give to my clients is a list of, 257 different ways that sugar is re represented on a label.. So you look at yes. Oh, holy cow. Over two in 257. So you look on a label and if you recognize these names, you will see the sugar is probably represented seven to 10 times on, on a label of something that doesn't necessarily even taste sweet to you, but because you've gotten so used to that, that tastes that refined taste. But, but also, uh, not only. Sugar as it's added, but things that are refined carbohydrates that convert to sugar in your bloodstream, very quickly things that where, where you have the flour that has had all of the nutrients taken out of it too. Cute. Yes. Bleached flour, enriched bleached flour, I know about my flour because was the baker, but yeah, all that stuff. That's, it's, it's, it's equally as bad as just having the cake. It really is. Um, people don't realize that. Bread is also your number one source for sodium, people don't realize that as well.   Your program, I know has five pillars in it. Can you explain what those are? And a little bit about that? Sure. So I have my program is, is the Five Pillars For Sustainable Weight Loss And Taking Back Control Of Your Health. And so they consist of mindset. We start with mindset because if you don't get your head in the right place, You're going to rollercoaster and yo-yo diet all over the place, you know, like everybody's just, just like we've done, many of us have done all of our adult lives is, is just going up and down the scale and great numbers. So if you don't get your head right then it's, you're probably just gonna stay on that same path. So mindset is number one. And then we do, we do talk about nutrition. So when I was in health coaching school, they gave us the concept of primary food and secondary. Secondary food is the food that you put in your mouth. The actual stuff that you put in your mouth, primary food is the other stuff in your life. It is your relationships.  It's your lifestyle. It's your exercise. It's the stress. It's the, it's all of it. It's your, it's your career, it's everything else is your primary food. Oh, that's so powerful. I love that. Yeah, that was, that was very impactful for me when I learned that it's really true. I mean, all of this nutrition, when I, when I work with people, nutrition is a small part of it. It is a very part because a lot of people don't understand how to eat well or eat the right things to, to support their body. But it's all the other stuff in your life that causes people to choose, the wrong things, you know, whatever. So nutrition, well it's. It's an important part. It's not the main part. So I have mindset. I have nutrition, lifestyle, you know, stress management, exercise, getting enough sleep, all of these things, these all play into support of your body and making the good food decisions and correct drinking enough water, that type of thing. And these are all, these are all components of, of making sure that you're nourishing yourself. And then their emotional health taking care of your emotional health. And one of the things that I realized when I lost the weight, because I was, you know, I lost the equivalent of another human. Yeah, exactly. It was like, I was carrying you around all, literally. So once I lost that weight, it was like, I took the suit of armor off and I was not wearing anything. I felt weird. It just felt so it's really important. To understand that you don't need that armor any longer, but, but to take care of your emotional health, your emotional health in a different way, not stuffing your feelings. So, we do work on that as well. And then self care, as I said before, you know, self-care is, should be primary in your life. I don't care. I don't care if you work with me or not. Self-care should be number one on your list of things that has to happen, because if you're not taking care of you, you're not taking care of other people that. Everybody's going to burn out. So it's really important to, um, to make sure that you are putting yourself at the top of your priority too. That's why, that's why they tell you when in the plane, when the oxygen masks comes out to do you first, but somehow as moms, we were really negligent in that area. Another question here into the self care.  I know we can neglect ourselves, what's a simple strategy that you use with your clients to, to help with self care. So for self care, I think one of the things you need is some me time, just time by yourself, or just time to do stuff with your girlfriends or date nights or whatever it is that that just kind of fills your cup. Okay. Take a hot bath with candles and soft music, or meditate. Uh, take a walk by yourself. It's really, you know, spend some time with yourself. Especially if you're a mom, a mom of a busy, active family, or even just a wife or a spouse, or a partner. Uh, it is important still to kind of nurture yourself without the influence of someone else. I really think that that's important. I couldn't agree more with that. And I was not very good at that at one point. And it does build up and then wreak havoc one day. Where can our listeners find out more about you? They can go to my website,  www.Yourpoweryourhealth.com and they can find me on social. I'm not really active there. I occasionally will post on Facebook, on Instagram, on LinkedIn. I'm trying to get better. I'm working with a coach trying to get consistent with that. last question here. All my foodie people, I'm making them do two questions, but if you could eliminate one process food in this world, what would it be and why? I think it would probably be almost anything in the interior of the grocery store, anything from a box or a cake. Wow. That's a lot of it. Is there one specific thing that you find is more of a culprit for people or hang up for people? I think sweet stuff, there's some people that are more salty, some are more sweet, but it's, it's the, it's the stuff that is manufactured with the express goal to get you addicted to it. So that's going to be that and the crackers and the cookies and the bags of stuff. You know, the stuff that you can stick your hand in and just keep going. Then my normal question is if there was one thing in this world that you can eliminate, what would it be and why? And it doesn't have to relate to food or anything. Tangible and intangible to heavy. There's so much hatred in this world. So much divisiveness and hatred. Yeah, that's a good one. So why would you pick that? One of the reasons I don't spend much time on social media is because of all of the nastiness and divisiveness and hatred and, and, you know, and especially in our country, even, but even across the world, I mean, this is not, it's not unique to our country. But we can eliminate hatred if we wouldn't have a lot of the problems that we have. And, you know, hatred leads to that scarcity mindset, there's enough for everybody. We just need to learn to share it better. And so I think if we didn't hate each other, if we didn't have the hatred in the in the world, I think we would be much more supportive of each other and it would be a much nicer place. After the show, I'll hook you up with some great places on social media. Cause I love my social media. I'm not very good at it, but I love it. Cause I think I'm in so many positive groups, very affirming groups that, I literally I have people asking me about my family's health and I'm going through some things right now, but it's such a nice feeling to have almost complete strangers really be so empathetic. It's it's a beautiful thing. So I'll hook you up. No problem. And thank you. Thank you for sharing your incredible journey. Gosh, I hope this really inspires some people. I mean, if you can lose 135 pounds, that is literally more than what I weigh. That is an incredible amount of weight and to keep it off, which is another whole achievement, because lots of people lose it, but they gain it back. But you are on a mission, like you said, you never want to get back there. That's extraordinary and so powerful. I absolutely love that.  That in itself is monumental, but then you overcame a heart attack and cancer!  It's mind blowing what you have overcome and you sit, sit there with a smile on your face, helping other people to inspire them to do the same. Uh, it is such a pleasure to know you and to befriend you and I am grateful. I thank you for sharing and your story. Thank you. Can I just, can I make an offer to your absolutely absolutely like to offer a free consultation to anybody who's interested. They go, if they go to my website, there is a BOOK NOW or something button on there, they can click on that and they can schedule a consultation with your website is again, www.yourpoweryourhealth.com. And I will put that in the show notes, my dear. That was lovely. Thank you again for sharing your personal journey. This has been impressive, not many people can make that many triumphs in one life. It really is crazy. And I just want to remind all our listeners out there  "Life has no remote, so get up and change it yourself!"

Hello. Hello, please help me welcome Kristen Coffield, author, educator,  and culinary disruptor, who disrupts food patterns and habits to create lives and bodies that love us back. She is the founder of the culinary cure. A how to on utilizing food as fuel to live your best life. She recently released a new book entitled how healthy people eat; an Eater's Guide to Healthy Habits, which explains how to turn our food into fuel for health and happiness. Welcome, Kristen. So thrilled to have you here. I can't wait to learn all your little habits and hacks. Thank you so much. I am honored to be here and I always love sharing my story, my journey, and, you know, giving people things they can use to actually start improving the quality of their, their lives right away. I love that. Cause I think that's so important because a lot of people make it so complex, people just get overwhelmed.  I know you do have an amazing story. Yeah. And I would love to know more about that and how it led your desire to be the entrepreneur, into helping women get healthier. Thank you. Um, you know, I always like to say my story is a little bit of every woman's story and I would have told you when I was in my forties, that, you know, I was kinda like living the dream. Right. Uh, you know, I married a guy that I met, um, early in my life. We both went to good colleges, you know, he, he had a good job. We got married. Kids were living in a nice community. Our kids are going to good schools. I'm a pillar of the community doing lots of volunteer work. I've got my own catering company and from the outside, it looked like everything was great.. You know, it just people would've looked at me and said, oh, you know, she's got it all. So what happened in my life is pretty typical of what happens to so many women. It doesn't happen overnight. It happens over time. And it's these small things, because it's always the little things that add up to these huge, you know, uh, sort of nuclear events in our lives, whether it's good or bad. But there were kind of like little things happening in my life. Um, I'm married to a giver. He's an attorney. Everybody he's dealing with is in trouble. Um, he's partnered with a taker, so that's a pretty bad combination right there. My mom's cancer came back and there was a journey with that. My parents were divorced and my dad who was a strange from all four of his kids starts exhibiting even more upsetting behavior to us. So we find out he's got Alzheimer's, and we're in financial trouble. You know, these things are just sort of happening over time and, and any one of them would have been hard enough to deal with, but they kind of keep, keep layering on. So we're, we're starting to have some financial things where I've got to like Rob Peter to pay Paul and sell jewelry, to make some tuition payments and, you know, max out credit cards . And then, you know, my last kid goes off to college and that is a very profound time in our lives because all of a sudden, you know, when we got the kids at home, it's this buffer and we got to keep it all. We got to keep everything, you know, all the balls in the air, you know, for the kids. So the last kid goes off. I'm diagnosed with thyroid cancer. My big world, this great big world that I described early on has gotten smaller and smaller and smaller. Um, and now I've got to confront the fact that my mom's dying of cancer. My dad got Alzheimer's and somebody has got to deal with that. My marriage is in trouble. We're in financial trouble, I've got cancer. And then my dog dies and I'm just like, oh, My God, right? The rope was long. The 10 years that it took for me to get to this place where I am hanging. And I'm like, oh my God, there's no rope left. And it's a thrive or die moment for me . I've got to make a decision. I can't believe that the universe, this is what the universe has in mind for me, that the rest of my life, that shitty is my new normal and that the rest of my life is going to be where I am now. I can't control all of that stuff. And, you know, I can't, I can't cure my mom's cancer or make my dad's Alzheimer's go away or fix all of our marital problems, but I can control what is on the end of my fork. I can control this one thing. So you might've heard me say I had a, um, a catering business. Uh, I catered congressional fundraisers. Food is my medium.  I was the girl. I catered part of my own wedding. If I was your girlfriend, I was dropping off at cheesecake to woo your parents. I'm bringing you the, the dinner or the chicken soup. So food is my, is my love language. It's my medium. And I have to turn to food to help me heal. So one bite at a time I start building my life back up. Um, it's, it's the only thing I really can control at all. So I make sure all the input, everything that I am putting into my body serves me. I love that. I actually have a saying, and I say that all the food that you put into your body is a soldier, it can either work for you or it can fight against you. Right, right. There's no, there's no neutral habits there they're either helping you or hurting you, nothing in between people. So I start with the food and I start becoming better able to just get through each day because you know what had happened, even though I knew all this about food, even though I was the woman giving her kids probiotics 30 years ago, um, I had slid into these, these really sloppy habits. So when you're stressed out, you're not sleeping and when you don't sleep, you're going through each day impaired. And so the first thing I was doing was reaching for coffee. I was having a couple of coffees. You know, in the morning and then another coffee mid-morning and then I was kind of having some food cravings. So I might grab some carbohydrates, something maybe yet, a sandwich or a bagel. And then, you know, I'm pretty stressed. So I'm having a little wine in the evening and one glass leads to two, which leads to nibbling. You know, cheese and crackers or something, and then I'm not really hungry for dinner. So I'd slid into sloppy eating habits that were not serving me. And when your stressed stress is a form of inflammation, When we are eating foods that inflame us caffeine, alcohol refined carbohydrates, added sugars, artificial ingredients, things like that. They create this low level IGG inflammation. Many people are walking around with this inflammation. You don't even know it, right?Because again, it didn't happen overnight. It happened over time and you just kind of get used to feeling kind of crappy.It's like a ticking time bomb.Yeah. So I changed the input with the food. I'm still not sleeping well, I'm awake in the wee hours because now I'm ruminating, you know, my brain is like a filing cabinet that's flying open and all the stuff is shooting out and I can't get it back in. So I start going to the gym at 5AM. So now I'm eating right with intention. I'm eliminating the things that don't serve me in my diet. I am going to the gym, which is creating all these feel good hormones. In my life. So now I'm feeling better.I'm changing my body. My body starts to change and respond and look better. My skin looks better. I'm getting muscle tone. I'm getting this resilience. So I started on the end of my fork and it became the tipping point for changing my whole life. And to kind of bring you up to where we are now. I did repurpose my husband, um, you know, through a lot of work and effort.We saved our marriage and it was a lot of work and I will say it's, it was not, every husband can be repurposed. I am fortunate. I could repurpose mine and we could make, uh, make our marriage good. Um, so it's kind of like I'm in my second marriage to my first husband.Aw, that's so cute.My mother did die of cancer. My father did die of Alzheimer's. I did have my thryroid removed , which is a good thing. I now know a lot about the endocrine system and how important taking care of our, our thyroid is and knowing the symptoms and signals of an underactive thyroid, because that was a huge contributing factor to my inability, to function in the world.I'm right there, I have Hashimoto's hypothyroidism. I completely concur with everything that you're saying.So that's kind of the journey that brought me to this place where I realize nobody's really written the handbook for how you pivot when you're in your fifties.So I'm 62 now. Um, you know how you pivot. And rebuild your life want itall and I know every woman's got a story. This is mine. There's a lot of every woman's story in my story. I know your, your story as well, has many of the same components as mine as do many women's. So that's where I founded the culinary cure.As a place for women to go, to get resources that they could use to start rebuilding their life on the end of their fork. And, it's led to all kinds of amazing things like connections with other women, like you!  We are living longer but the goal isn't to live more years it's to live more high quality years.Oh, I love that. I say that all the time. It's not the number, but it's the quality of life that you're living.And you know, these last kids go off to college, kids get married, women find themselves with a lot of bandwidth and so we need to be ready. We need to have bodies and brains, the bodies and brains we deserve, to take advantage of this time for whatever we want to do. You know, maybe we maybe you're like me, maybe you, you want to build a business or write a book, um, you know, start a company of some sort. Maybe you want to travel. Maybe you just want to pick up where you left off in your life because for women, there's kind of like, there can be this hiatus, where we step out to raise our families, pretty typical, we give up a lot of our earning power. We give up a lot of our control and our relationships and all of a sudden, listen, the years between, you know, like right now I'm 62. I'd like to think 72 looks a lot like this and it can! Absolutely. And this is the really exciting thing, it can, we can avoid this Inflam-aging, this decrepitude that comes along with that, because that's the thing that ages us. That's what kills. That was awesome. Yeah. It's but it's really true. It's that low level inflammation that you live with for years, you don't even know you've got it. And it's linked to every lifestyle disease you don't want to have. Exactly. So the culinary cure is about taking back your life one bite at a time, but it's so much more than that. It is about building culinary resilience. And once we get that part, right, we can do all this other stuff, because if you're even feeling crappy, you're not going to have the bandwidth or the energy or the interest or the passion to do anything. So, this is about giving you back that kind of energy you had when you were young, the morning of your life, right? When you're first starting out and you're like, oh my God, you know, look at all these opportunities. Well, as women, we can get this second chance in our lives to, to pick up where we left off to go back in, you know, to align our passion with our purpose and all that experience. And whether your experience was, you know, in your community, raising your family, it's money, ladies, it's still experience and we're all meant for more. We're all meant to align that with this, with what we, we still have the work that's undone that we're ready to do. Now. To find the value in what you've done that's some  great wisdom there. So, can you tell us a little bit about mindless eating?  I love this quote, " "mindless eating is the enemy of mindful health." Oh, I want that on a t-shirt. So , 43% or more of what we do every single day is mindless repetition. We don't think we just do. We just act right. And so that's 43 at a minimum. That's 43%. That's almost half of what we're doing every day.  There's no neutral habits. Everything you do is either helping you or hurting you. So what we want to do is we want to flip the switch and this is nothing I am talking about is expensive. Any woman can do this. Um, and you can start today. So we, what we want to do is we want to kind of get granular and look at our habits and figure out what are the easiest ones that we can pivot. Right. So if you're a coffee drinker, let's say you're in that, that place that I was you're drinking the coffee, you're drinking the wine, you're eating the carbohydrates. The tip that I like to start with as, when you wake up in the morning, the morning is so crucial. We've got to harness the power of our mornings because they set our day in motion. So you've got to control. Your words and your thoughts, and those first thoughts in your mind in each day are powerful mojo. So what we've got to do is set ourselves up for positive thinking. So pick your word for the day. So today, actually the word I chose is "intention". I am going to focus my intention to accomplish the things I want to do. So you pick, you pick a positive word and you just, you're lying in your bed. Lying in my bed. I'm thinking about my word for the day and the first thing I'm going to do is not have that cup of coffee and I love coffee, don't get me wrong. I have one cup a day. I enjoy every minute of it. But the first thing we need to do is rehydrate after the fast that occurs during sleep. So I meet people at the intersection of lifestyle and wellness. All right. So here's your lifestyle. You're getting up in the morning, you're going to put something in your mouth. Make sure it's water. So when we're asleep, all of our organs go through a circadian cycle and they detox. So our spinal fluid comes up, you know, the Vegas nerve and it does this power wash on the brain. And then it takes all that metabolic waste, takes it back down, dumps it in our lymphatic system. The lymphatic system is the garbage can of our body. So we've got. We've got lymph glands here. We've got lint lymph glands here in our stomach and our groin, all of these end up with this metabolic waste. The first thing we want to do when we wake up is simply rehydrate. After the fast that occurs during the. So, if you read Tom Brady's book, he starts with 24 ounces of room temperature, water, and he adds, you know, I'm all about the electrolyte drops. These are the trace minerals. You can go to my website, it's in the resources. Uh, you know, there's lots of good brands out there, but, um, he starts with 24 ounces. I say eight to 10 ounces. Of warm or room temperature, water. You can add the juice of half a lemon and in aerobatic medicine, lemon is considered warming. So in the winter I add the juice of half a lemon in the summer, add the juice of half a lime, lime is considered cool. If you travel, this isn't that this is a great hack. If you get, high quality lemon oil, it's gotta be really high quality. Not that not stuff you pick up at the drug store, but like from a brand you can put a couple of drops of lemon oil in your water. If you're traveling and you're not going to have those lemons with you, why we add the lemon or the lime is because they go in acidic and they turn alkaline in the body. Remember when we went back and we were talking about inflammation and that low-level IgG inflammation and how stress is inflammation. So acidity is inflammation in our body, alkalinity dials down the inflammation. So this is why if we're stressed, we're amping up the inflammation in our body. So we're, we want to do all these little habits that dial down that inflammation that serve us and nourish us. So here's, that's just like the one easiest thing everybody can do is start your day with water. And you'd be shocked at how many people don't do that. And it's it's especially for women too, because it's really good for your skin as well. I Think that's all superb advice. What about when it comes to hydration? Where do you draw the line on, what's really hydrating you  what just a beverage? All right, okay, so this is such a crucial part of this conversation. And if you follow me on Instagram at Kristin Coffield, I'm always talking about water and the power of water and hydration, because I call that the low hanging fruit of wellness. When we can get the hydration part, it's so much easier to get all the other parts to fall into place. most of us are walking around partially dehydrated and we don't even know it. Right. Because shitty is our new normal. We got used to feeling kind of crappy eating those foods that create that IGG inflammation. We've got these 43% of what we're doing every day, that's maybe not serving us. So when we hydrate, we have to think of it. Um, in terms of the big, the big picture, all of our organs, including our brain require water to function.  Many of the things that we do, um, eat dehydrate us. So caffeine in and of itself is not dehydrating, but it is a diuretic. So it does make our body expel Liquids,um alcohol is dehydrating. Artificial sweeteners are Dehydrating.    If you're drinking sodas, we really need to talk, so message me on Instagram. I can help you get off of that because that is, that will age you faster than anything else. Um, Salty foods, all kinds of things in our refined carbohydrates, you know, all these things that create this low level inflammation, you know, are also things that we need to address as how they fit in with that, the hydration component. So our water is processed. All of our water has been through a municipal processing plant where they've added chemicals because they've got to, cause there could be dangerous bacteria yeah. In the water. But our water is processed. We as human humans, as omnivores are actually designed to drink water that's live, that's got, you know, micronutrients and minerals and electrolytes and um, elements in it that benefit. But our water's dead. So it makes it a little harder for that water to get into ourselves. It takes two weeks to get properly hydrated. So you can't do it. I know he can't do it in a day. That's why it's so important to make it a practice, a practice because we can improve on it. So what this looks like to hydrate in a day, it's eight to 10 ounces of water an hour for eight to 10 hours a day. And I don't want anybody drinking a hundred ounces of water at four o'clock. You'll be up all night. You will be up all night because think of it like that. You know, when you water your lawn or your garden, and it's just parched, it's so dry and you bring the hose over and the water goes everywhere except for the ground. It just, that's what you're like when you're partially dehydrated. So, what we want to do is we want to add a little water at a time, so it doesn't go through us. It gets absorbed and our organs can start to use it to function. So eight to 10 ounces an hour for eight to 10 hours a day, you know, work your way up to that hundred ounces. Don't drink it all at once. Maybe set a little alarm on your phone. That's a great way to remind yourself. And again, the electrolyte. These are great because what we want to do, they help us turn that dead water into water that can get into ourselves, where we need it. So do you put the electrolyte drops in all water? Yeah, I pull it drops in all day long. Cool. You can also add it. Let's say you don't have the electrolyte drops. You could add a pinch of Himalayan pink, sea salt. That's been harvested. You really want the sea salt that comes from the Corolla mines in India. So this is sea salt that was formed before pollution. So many of the pink sea salts on the market, you know, are actually made, um, from sea water, there's microplastics in the seawater today. So all we want, we want sea salt that was formed before pollution. You can go to my website in the resources and I've got a bunch listed there. You know, boosting your water with, with slices of fruit whole, would you hold up your water please?  Yeah. So you've got mint and lemon. You can put berries in there, you know, any Basil is delicious. Cucumber is wonderful. So you can boost your water. Really one of the best ways to hydrate on top of water and herbal tea, herbal tea is another great way. If you have high blood pressure, you can drink, hibiscus tea, which helps naturally lower high blood pressure. It tastes really sweet and delicious. Um, but herbal teas are a wonderful way for people who are like, yeah, I don't really like water. Then I go the herbal tea route or boost your water. Um, so the best, absolute, best way to supplement your water is by eating a largely plant-based diet . Fruits and vegetables are water dense. Right? You're getting micronutrient, nutrients, macro nutrients, phytonutrients, all kinds of really beneficial things that come with when we eat and vegetables. So that's another way to up your hydration is by eating a plant rich diet. And the bottom line is a plant rich diet is better for us and better for the planet. And as women, if we want to live younger, longer and better, we've got to eliminate the things that are easy to eliminate, the added sugars, the refined carbohydrates , conventional dairy. And that includes conventional eggs. You know, if you can get your dairy. You know, from these small batch farms and your eggs from some at the farmer's market find great, enjoy that. But conventional dairy is filled with hormones and antibiotics that we don't want, and those animals do not live a good life. So we don't need to align our consumer dollars with practices and businesses that don't share our values. And people don't realize that the stress hormones, that those animals endure, that's  filtering into us. We're ingesting all of that. Like we don't have enough stress for eating our stress. Yeah. Yeah. So, so those are my tips. Start each day with eight to 10 ounces of warm or room temperature, boosted water. Drink eight to 10 ounces an hour for eight to 10 hours a day and move towards a largely plant-based diet. And you can visit me at the culinary QR. I have 200 recipes, you know, for how to eat better and I'm not a vegan or vegetarian, you know, we're just talking when you can makehealthy delicious because why would we eat it wasn't delicious, right? Exactly. And you're a caterer, so I have spent eight years in the event industry and I have a culinary degree , make it delicious! I also like to refer to myself as a plant pimp, cause I'm always pushing plants and I'm not a vegan or vegetarian, but the majority of my diet is plant-based. And when I go out to eat, I'm more vegan, dairy, free, gluten free, you know, I try to do all of that. But yes,  I so agree. We are so on the same page. Yeah. And you know, and I just want to reiterate to people not only can healthy be delicious and we're talking about these making these micro habitual changes. Right. So besides the lemon water, go to my website and get my simple lemon, shallot, vinegarette, salad, dressing recipe. I make a jar of this each week. And when you make your own, every time I serve this, people are like, oh my God, why does your salad tastes so good? It's five ingredients. It's super simple , one-third lemon juice, two thirds, olive oil, salt, pepper, and chopped shallot. That's it, it's delicious. It's great on grilled vegetables, it's great on fish and chicken and it makes every salad so delicious. You can't eat enough salad. You just love eating salad because it tastes sogood. Now bottled salad dressing is listen, don't buy anything with more than like five ingredients. And if you can't identify an ingredient, don't buy it and buy less food with labels. We should be eating like our great grandparents. Sugar was expensive, protein was expensive , so they ate more plants. They ate in season. They didn't eat a lot of sugar and they lived longer healthier lives because one, our body develops that resilient wellness, when we get something , your body is going to be in a better position to heal. One of the expressions. I like if it doesn't have a mother and it doesn't grow out of the ground, don'teat it. Okay. So being the culinary guru, what is one of your favorite go-to snacks? Cause I know snacks is a lot of times where people go off the path of health. So what would you recommend for a good snack? Yeah, I'm a big snacker. So this is where avocados are wonderful, you can literally just cut an avocado in half and take a fork and scratch it all up and put a little of that , trader Joe's everything, but the bagel seasoning on it and scoop that up with some celery or carrot or maybe you've got some of those Mary's gone crackers, those seeded crackers. So I love avocados. I love hard boiled eggs. And what I actually do is make, these dairy-free deviled eggs and keep them in my fridge and you know, they are delicious. I love hummus, hummus is great, but probably not easiest thing for most people is, you know, go to trader Joe's, get yourself some nuts, some raw nuts, make your own nut mix and have that in little bags that you can throw in your purse.  Apples are great for underestimate the power of an apple, an apple a day. All those old wives tales. So much truth in them, an apple a day will give you the fiber, your gut needs to function properly. So I do non-dairy and I love apple with the smoke non-dairy Gouda cheese or apple and butter, those are two of my favorites.   There's lots of good nut butters. That sun butter is really good. The other thing that I really wanted to ask you about was this whole natural wine. What is that all about? Women love their wine, finding myself doing a lot of public speaking and every time I would give a talk, I would ask people if they had a question at the end and without fail and somebody would say, what wine should I be drinking? Like, is there a wine that's better for someone who wants to move in the direction of a healthy lifestyle? So I was like, it's probably organic wine, you know, so I started to do some research about wine and I was pretty shocked with what I actually found. I used to sell wine ,I actually managed a wine program at a restaurant, and then I transitioned from that into being a wine sales rep. This is back in my twenties, so, you know, 30, 40 years ago, so I know a fair amount about wine. And what I didn't realize was how much the wine industry had changed since then and how industrialized, like so many of our farming practices it had become so commercially produced mass produced wines. Many of these are brands that you can buy in the grocery store or wine stores. So grapes are always on the environmental working group's dirty dozen list, meaning we should always buy organic grapes. Don't ever serve your kids conventional grapes, because grapes are grown with more pesticides, herbicides, fungicides, and fertilizers than just about any other produce. Not to mention when you look at the grape, the surface of a grade. They're getting sprayed with all of these chemicals that absorbs into the grape. So commercial wine is grown is made from commercial grade. Which are not harvested by hand, they're harvested by these giant machines that basically shake the vines. The grapes fall into this like trough the ripe grapes, the rotten grapes, the bugs, the twigs, all of that. And this is done in broad daylight. Traditional wines are hand, you know, the grapes are hand harvested. It's done at dusk when the temperature's gone down. And these commercial wine, these grapes are hot, now they're sitting in the hot sun and they've got to be sprayed multiple times with sulfur. So there now to be clear, all wines contain some sulfites. They should only have like a sprinkle of sulfites at the end because it's a, it's a preservative. So otherwise you're making fancy vinegar. So commercial wine starts with these commercially grown grapes that are then sprayed with high amounts of sulfites and now this dirty juice is turned into wine in the lab, so anything you think you know about commercially produced wine, if you've been on wine tours, you see the romantic part, you don't see the lab. So anytime you buy certain bottles of wine, they always taste exactly the same, this is engineered in the lab. Winemakers can use up to 250 allowable, different allowable additives. Some are natural, some are not natural. Oh, that makes my stomach turn! Right. And one of the commonly used additives is you got it. Sugar, they add sugar for two reasons. They add sugar because it creates consistency in this product that they're engineering so every bottle tastes the same and sugar is also highly addictive. So sugar is one of the most addictive substances on the planet. And whenever rats are given a choice of like sugar or opioids or cocaine, they go for the sugar every time. That's that is so true. And I tell people that people just don't understand the power of sugar and controls your life. Especially, I tell that to people who are experiencing symptoms of depression, I'm like, if you just get the sugar and the refined carbs, turn to sugar in your body. People just don't realize like how weak it makes your body. That, that is so interesting. The question everyone's like, oh, all right , what do I drink? The best wines that we can drink as consumers, wines that are better for us and better for the planet are natural and biodynamic wines. So these wines are, grown with no chemicals, no growing chemicals are used and no additives are used in the wine making process. So they're minimally manipulated by the wine maker. People can, reach out to me and I can tell them more, I work with a company called Scout and Cellar and they sell great wines. Because I drank and I love it. And, so you can also go to wine stores and ask them if they have natural wines. The problem is it's hard to find a nice selection . You have to be prepared andorder, correct? Correct. I'm on an island in Maine and you know, I get it delivered right to me here and it's great.  What we need to be doing is aligning our personal values with companies whose values align with our where we're doing things that are better for the planet. I try never to give a business , my business, if I know they're not treating their people well, they're not treating the planet. Do your research, there's actually an app you can get for your phone called Buycott, B U Y C O T T. And, if something's got a barcode, you can scan it and you can find out more about whether this company is doing the right thing. Oh, that's awesome! This is where this is such valuable information. You know, we, as women are consumers, we have a lot of buying power. So many of these industrial farming conglomerates are owned by the same conglomerates that own the pharmaceutical companies. So the very foods that are linked to lifestyle diseases that are inflam-aging us causing decrepitude, leading to lifestyle diseases, these same people own the drug companies, making the drugs to treat. Isn't that convenient! Your quote, "what is at the end of my fork is as important as who I let in my life", and I was thinking mindful eating and a mindful glass now for the wine. I'm going to think of it that way. I always say, it's who's at my table, but so now I get to put that together with what's at the end of my fork and who's at the table because both of those are equally important. All it's all input.  We have to control the input in all areas of our lives, you know, and to bring it back to my story, that's where I started. I started on the end of my fork. I started controlling the input. I could control my food. I could control the thoughts in my mind. I could control the people I spent time with. So that's where I started and that led to, regular TV segments. It led to my book how healthy people eat and Eater's guide to healthy habits. It led to my business, the Culinary Cure. It led to my next business, which has Meant for More , we're doing a series of events for, for women, who find themselves feeling they're ready, they have the bandwidth, they know they're meant for more.  When you start where you are and use what you have and do what you can, which is one of my favorite quotes from Arthur Ash, you can change everything. Yes, I so agree, my last question for you, which is, I'm making you work twice as hard as I make everybody else work.  I usually ask if there's one thing you can eliminate from this world, what would it be and why? So that's one question and it has no parameters, but the other one, I'm going to throw a little bit of a restrictor on and ask you if there was one food that you could eliminate in the world, what would it be and why?. Well, if there's one thing I could eliminate it, I think greed is the root cause of all the bad things, all the bad business practices, the putting money above human value. So I think I w I would eliminate greed. Your second question is, is the harder one, because, obviously sugar, sugar is the logical thing to eliminate because it gets you the biggest results, the fastest, if you can get rid of it. But I think putting it in a bigger context, is I would just eliminate, it's not a food, but it's, it's these bad food habits. I just can't stress enough that that habitual behavior, the 43 or more percent of things we do each day have this huge power and impact on our lives. Nobody who dies of Alzheimer's or neurological decline started that disease when they were diagnosed with it, it started years ago. So the power of our habits, the power of our every day routines is this wellness goal. So instead of Lim eliminating a food. I would say you have to eliminate them, those, that mindless behavior that that's really getting in the way of what we want, because who doesn't want to look great, who doesn't want great sleep, who doesn't want to have, you know, boundless energy, who doesn't want to avoid illness and disease. We all want it. Right. Those things that we are mindless about are the very things that take us down and hurt us. That is so true. And I just recently heard something about with like, Alzheimer's that they're actually finding, I don't know if it was like a cell gene or whatever in people in their twenties, you would starting in their twenties. People think that, you know, they don't have to worry about this stuff for years and years and years. That's not true. What you're doing today is going to have ramifications forever more. So start with what you're doing mindfully. And I think that goes with so many things, besides even just food, like  people, and the first thought of the day exactly what he was saying before Such good wisdom. Oh, this was so awesome. I loved it. So insightful and such needed information. Like everybody needs to put their ears on this. Your every day quality of life is determined by what you're consuming in all aspects. So tell our listeners how they can find you. Thank you. I hope, oh, and also, I'm sorry, but tell us also about, the "made for more". Oh, Meant for More, the link is on my Instagram, it's on my website. You can, you can read more about it, but there's only 150 tickets available,  it's gonna sell out, but just check out the link because the speakers are amazing. The location is amazing, but we curated this entire weekend around women owned brands. So when I talk about aligning, I just got a chill, aligning our consumer dollars with our values. First we have to value ourselves and then we have to surround ourselves with people who lift us up and support us on our journey. So Meant for More, we are staying hang at the , Innisbrook resort in Palm Harbor, Florida, which is owned by Sheila B Johnson. And she is the founder of BET. She is one of Oprah's friends, she's a billionaire so we picked a woman owned hotel. All of the women speakers and brand sponsors are women owned companies or companies that put a high value on the needs of women and you know what women want, because let me tell you over 40. A lot of brands are not paying attention. We have the spending, the money, but we don't, we are not getting marketed to and treated with the respect we deserve. So we have carefully curated businesses and companies that value us as the women consumers we are, and the speakers are incredible. It's like nothing out there and after the year we've just had aren't we already to come together and be in person. Oh, so true.  That's priceless, put your money where your mouth is, you know, I mean, literally in all aspects of that, that is that's so awesome. And there will be a virtual ticket, as well and you can find me@theculinarycure.com. And you can order my book. It's on Amazon, "How Healthy People Eat"; an Eater's guide to healthy habits. You can find out about the Meant for More weekend and who the speakers are. And I'm just so honored to be on your show today. Thank you so much. This was so awesome. One of my favorites by far. I just think we're just so giving in the amount of information to help people get on board on a better path because  your mental health starts with your physical health and it's the first domino to everything.  Thank you so much for your story, for your wisdom, for sharing all the information, I really appreciate that and I wish you the best in your event and for your book, which I will definitely be getting and I appreciate you very much, thank you. Back at you. I'm so glad we found each other. And that's the power of connection with women that we support and connect each other. And, especially during COVID, my whole world changed from people that I was seeing to people that I was meeting through other people and in this, this whole friendships developing it's really been amazing. Thank you. You are most welcome , it's been my pleasure. I just have loved every minute of this. Thank you so much.

Hello. Hello, please help me welcome Dr. Ross Carter, as he's been in private practice since 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, and now resides in west Palm beach, Florida. He's a specialist in helping minimize suffering from joint and spine pain, regenerative and chronic disease due to hidden weaknesses in our bodies. He does this by using regenerative nanoparticles to find and heal those weaknesses before they become problematic. He works as a health consultant at the world famous Hippocrates Health Institute, which is the largest natural food health Institute in the country. He has one of the largest regenerative medicine podcasts in the world, The Regenerative Warrior Podcast and Show, which can be found on YouTube and Apple podcasts. He is a number one best-selling author of: Doc Stem Cell: how stem cell therapy can eliminate knee, hip, and shoulder pain and the Million Dollar Business Card- create your authority, attract ideal clients and 10 X your income, no matter what your business is. He's also a national and international speaker. He has received his fellowship in stem cell therapy from the American Academy of Anti-aging Medicine in 2017. And he is also a doctor of indigenous medicine, which is a holistic approach, which considers your body as sum of physical, emotional, spiritual, and intellectual wellbeing, as well as your place in the community. His expertise involves teaching on restorative sleep and sleep coaching as well as many other kinds of regenerative medicine procedures. Welcome Dr. Carter. It's such a pleasure to have you here today. My pleasure to be here. Thank you for having me. Can you explain to our listeners what exactly, what are stem cells and why do we hear about them so much? Well, to give you basically a definition of stem cells, it is an undifferentiated cell that can become any other type of cell that it wants to become, whether it be a muscle, a ligament, a bone cartilage, blood cell. So it's, it's really a blank cell that that can become something else. And we have them in our body and they're there to help our body repair itself. Our body is constantly getting damaged and when we have cells that die every day, we have about a hundred billion cells that die every single day. And if you pick up your phone, basically that's about the weight of the amount of cells that need to be replaced every single day. So the stem cells are really in charge of that feature of our body to stimulate the repair and replacement of all the damaged cells. So that's the essence of what a stem cell is. That is so interesting.  You're saying it can be molded to a specific use. Right, that's that's its purpose. It can become more of itself or it can delineate into one specific cell line. So for example, we're completely made out of cells and we have skin cells. We have eye cells, we have, T cells. We have cells that are for our blood, We have lung cells, we have liver cells. So we have a variety of different types of cells and those types of cells need to be replaced with the same type of cell. So, these blank cells get us some type of information or signal, and then they become the type of cell that is needed,  to replace , the damage. That is so fascinating. So where do you get stem cells from and what's the difference between human embryonic stem cells and then adult stem cell? Where do we get stem cells from? Well, we have them naturally in our body that if they weren't working and we didn't have any, we would die. So we naturally have a storage of a lot of stem cells in our body. As we get older, the amount of stem cells that we have definitely goes down a lot and it does, affect our ability to heal ourselves. So, there are tons of different cells. Now, when you're talking about treatment, there's really two areas. You can either get them from your own body or you can get, um, donated from somebody. So for example, we have a lot of different stem cells in our, in our bone marrow. So that's a commonplace for where we can get some stem cells. Also, we have it in our fat as well, or adipose tissue, and we can get those regenerative cells from those locations. But there are other locations, the primary areas that we typically get them from our own self. Now, sometimes as we get older, the ability of ourselves to repair and stimulate repair, um, definitely decreased tremendously. And because of that, that's when re other sales from other people may be of better benefit. And the most common place that we get them is from placental tissue back about 20 years ago, there was, there was some controversy, regarding in the use of embryonic stem cells and an embryonic stem cell is after the egg is fertilized. The cell starts to grow into a mass and they usually get those cells at a very early stage, you know, and that's obviously going to prevent the, the cells from becoming a being . And they use these for different experimentations. It's sometimes is used now, but very, a lot less common. Um, so that was very controversial because it obviously killed the potential baby. Now there's something called adult stem cell. And an adult stem cells is a little misleading because it's, when, when you're born, they're now considered adult stem cells, even though you're not in an adult, but it's post pregnancy, I guess. These adult cells, typically only become one different specific type of tissue and not like an organ system or another body. Like they can with embryonic, they can create a whole new body, like a clone for you. So, the adults stem cells are the ones that we get from our body. Now, the placental ones, um, typically come from a placental tissue. So when a woman is having a baby, the placenta is surrounding and protecting the baby. And when the baby comes out, the placenta does too. And that's usually either discarded or a lot more times it's saved w  than it was before. And those cells, that's little regenerative factory that, that comes out. We can utilize those again and recycle those so that we can get a lot of the benefits, from those cells and those are placental. That's funny that you used the word recycle because that's literally what I was thinking of. I think that's kind of cool. Something that was going to go in the trash can actually be recycled and help people , give him less pain and live a better life. That is amazing. And then it's like kind of being a donor without having to die. That's awesome. I love it. Why did doctors and scientists use stem cells? and tell us about the body's ability to accept or reject the stem cells. So why don't we use them? I've mean they stimulate repair and regeneration of the body is the prime. That's their primary reason.  So that's what they're utilized for, but we can in laboratories, they can do a lot of things that don't naturally happen in the body.  They can regenerate and create a whole new organ system and, and things like that, that's not what usually happens in the body so they can do a lot of things with science now that, you know, as, as time progresses, they, they just develop various new techniques and new methods of using these stills. And actually, what what's really cool is recently they've they figured out how to. The cells function in the body, which was different than, than what most people used to think. Now, what most of the majority of people in this industry used to think is that a stem cell itself would be the cell that repairs. The damage, but actually it's not exactly how it works. It actually stimulates the repair of damage and it doesn't actually do the repair itself. So it, we have what are called progenitor cells, which are really the tissue specific, stem cells in this case, but they're called progenitor cells and they make more of their own type of tissue. Meaning you'll have skin cells that make more skin cells, right. It doesn't want to make a heart cell. So those are very specialized types of cells and a stem cell basically orchestrates the repair. So if you damage your skin, the stem cells come to that area and then they tell all the spells, uh, what to do and how to repair. And they use little signaling to do that. Almost like a domino effect, it gets in there and makes a reaction like causes the other cells to do a repair job. Correct. It does. It stimulates the other cells. It sends information. It sends like a recipe of what needs to happen. this cell is going to communicate to this cell these little tiny chemical messages. And they're in, they're in a protective little bubble and it travels from this cell to this cell and it just floats over and that cell takes it in and then it has instructions or a recipe of what that cell wants the other cell to do. And so that's how cells work cells are primarily protein factories. They create proteins constantly, and that determines the function of the cell. So. You the cells say, okay, this is what we need you to do. And it sends the little instructions and that, that cell text and the instructions for each the instructions, it says, okay, now that this is what we're making and that's how the cells actually function. And they stimulate repair is through these instructions. So what's cool. Is that recently we found that we can just take the instructions and not even use the cell itself. Wow. And take just a concentration of a bunch of instructions or recipes and inject that into an area or the body. And just with instructions, it will stimulate that same type of response without a live cell. Because when we take cells from one part of the body and put them in another, they don't like that so much. Another thing, if you take someone else's cells and putting them in your body, Your body is going to kill those, they're going to be rejected. Maybe not initially, , but they will be found by the immune system and they're destroyed, but they have the ability to stimulate, send those little tiny bubbles I was telling you about so that it, they can stimulate the repair of the cells that are damaged. So fascinating. Holy cow! It's a, it's a new that's where we talk about nanoparticles. Nanoparticles are the things that are, that that really are molecules that stimulate the, are the recipes, it tells the cells what to do. That's incredible. And I love, I love the fact that you can do it without the cell, which seems to be the hinderance of it. It is, it's the most common problem because when you take cells and if you take a lot of them, you, your body's going to have a reaction and a rejection component, and that's, that's a problem. But what, you know, what's interesting is they're using stem cells and these signaling factors to decrease the host reaction when you take on other cells from other people. So they, they have a way of modulating the immune system, basically it's changing it so that it doesn't, it doesn't attack immediately. Like, if it was just a regular cell, it would be immediately, identified and attacked. I know people will drugs to try to help prolong that. And is it a time thing where the stem cells enter and that the message is trying to get out there and you don't want the body to reject it. Well, when someone has a transplant of an organ, that they have to take a lot of drugs for the rest of their life, so that the body doesn't reject that organ because it naturallywill. And what kind of risks are associated when you get stem cells? Well, it depends a lot of factors that go into that. What the type of cells you're using, where are they from? Are they from a laboratory or are they from a person? How have they been processed? There? There's a lot of factors that go into determining, you know, What's going to happen. Overall, the safety record for most of these, products and used as a therapy is really super high they're they're fairly, they, they don't usually cause a stimulation of problems that usually help enumerate them.  And people can donate correct, like the bone marrow ? Yeah, there are companies that do except, donations of different stem cells  and yeah, I don't do that. One other question,  I just want to get into the sleep a little bit because I love, I love that whole thing. People don't realize how valuable sleep is to their lives.  So what are your favorite tidbits one that you can share that most people probably haven't heard of in regards to protecting that quality sleep ? The primary problem that I see the majority of people have is they've messed up their circadian rhythm. The circadian rhythm is a natural rhythm of the body. And, um, because of technology like computers and televisions and light bulbs and these things that we utilize at night,  it affects our circadian rhythm. Our circadian rhythm is really controlled by the rising and the setting of the sun . And it's really the light that we're getting in our eyes. Ideally, what should happen is that when we wake up in the morning, we should get, you know, bright sunlight. It tells the brain that it's daytime not to create any melatonin. And then as the sun goes down, the, you should be in a dark place where the melatonin,  is being produced because the brain says, Hey, it's time to get ready to go to sleep. The challenge we have in regular society, and our society is that we have lights from phones, we have lights from our TV. We have just our light from our regular bulbs.  And what that does is it tells the brain that it's still daylight outside. Uh, even though it's not, and it tricks our circadian rhythm to believe that it's not time to go to bed and then it throws it off. You know, most of us as, as children, we're able to sleep pretty well. And we unlearn that ability, a lot of us over time because of things that happen as stresses that happen in our life. And then we screw up our ability to sleep well. And so working when, when you first start working on, uh, your sleep, the best area to start with is working on the light and dark that you receive throughout the day. So here are the easy ways to do, that when you wake up in the morning and you should wake up at the same time and go to bed at the same time. Easier for your body to stay on that rhythm. When you wake up in the morning, you need to go outside, get some air, gets them sunlight. It's the blue light, really the primary light that you're, that you're wanting to get that into your brain so that it can clear up some of the, some sleep that you may, you may be feeling a little sleepy going outside helps that, but when it comes to night, If you go to bed, let's say at 10 30, ideally what you want to do about two hours or so before you go to bed, you want to put it  sunglasses like a light blocking glasses, blue light blocking glasses are usually the best and make sure they're tend to not like these clear ones, because you'll see some, they say blocks blue light and, and it'll be these glasses. And then you get something blue and you can see it's blue. And you're like, well, that's not blocking can get very effective. True. The funny thing, the way to test your glasses. Put them on and look at blue light. Like if you're, if you have a microwave oven with time or something , if you look at that, if you put your glasses on, can you see it? If you can see it, it's not blocking all the blue light, right? If it does, if you don't see anything, which is what you're wanting. Nothing definitely is doing a good job. So that's a good way to test those. So put those on two hours before you go to bed every night. Every night before I go to bed, I have you, you create routines as well, routines and rituals to turn down your body, to relax your body so that it's not overly stimulated, don't watch scary movies or a lot of crazy dramatic TV before you go to bed. It just good for you. So decrease the stimulants that you're doing in your life. So you wind down, put our routine in, maybe should read or do yoga, or those are the things I do, or like a hobby, like, I like to play my guitar. That's my practice time. Every night I have it scheduled. And so I go through these routines every night and that way I can go to sleep really easily. And then I get plenty of sleep because my body is in a rhythm. As long as it keeps in this rhythm, then you're doing a lot better. It's when you stay up really late or go drink, a lot of alcohol drink, too much stimulants, do things that you shouldn't, eat a big meal. Uh, things like this, you should not do before you go to bed. Right. These things can really affect your circadian rhythm. And so the easiest way, like I said is to, to work with the light and that will help dramatically improve the ability of your body to go to sleep. Are you a fan , I believe it's red light, isn't it? A lot of people will use red light at night. I'm like put a red light bulb in table lamps and not use overhead lighting . So they're more red. Yes, absolutely. And they don't affect, your circadian rhythm. So there's true dark has a light bulb, I actually used that one in my room at night when we're going to bed. I'll turn that on so I don't have to wear the glasses. Right, right. Yeah. That's a, that's a good way to do it. Yeah. Another question about melatonin, I know, when your circadian rhythm is correct that your body releases out at the correct time in the evening. Um, when you take melatonin like an artificial supplement of melatonin, I've read that, that messes up your body's natural ability to then produce melatonin. But how do you feel about that? To some degree? That could be the case. It's really, I haven't read a lot of things. That say negative things about use of melatonin, but you want to keep your dosage kind of reasonable three milligrams or less. It is a great antioxidant in addition to helping you sleep. So I've seen many clients that use melatonin every night, for basically their entire life and they don't really have any challenges with that. So can it affect your ability to make your own probably, but just as long as you don't get crazy with it, I think it's okay. Well, I have definitely big time rituals and routines, but, I drink tea that has passion flower in it  and I take Ashwaganda. And I tell you what, it's like shutting off a light bulb within an hour. My lights are out. It works beautifully every night.   Well I'd say I take those supplements actually passionflower, uh, ashwagandha.  The other one  chamomile.  There's a lot of them, there's even, some that help with the rise of cortisol. If you, if you're a little bit stressed, there are something called milk, milk, peptides, or casein peptides,  which you could get the supplements for online. And those are good for reducing the, the cortisol response to increase cortisone, I'm saying that wrong to increase melatonin supplement that I like, that's natural that makes your own has to do with sour cherry powder. Sour cherrypowder is good to stimulate your own melatonin production. If you're low in melatonin, this'll help stimulate it. I've heard a lot of things about the sour cherry. I didn't associate it with the melatonin production. That's very interesting. So would you kindly tell our listeners where they can locate you so they can get more information? Sure. Sure. They can just simply go to my website. This is my name, Dr. Ross carter.com. There they can, they can find everything they need . If they have questions, they can set up a time to chat and, yeah, it's really simple. Such an exciting arena, the whole stem cell thing. I mean, what a cool job to have to try to help people stay out of pain and live better, longer, that must be very rewarding. I it's all such a blessing. Let me, let me throw something in.  If your listeners are really interested in learning about, uh, regenerative procedures, as well as stem cells and the signaling factors I mentioned, because medicine is going in the way of regenerative or RNA is really the major driver here and that's what our vaccine is made out of. It is an RNA in a protective coating. So you want to learn how more about that in a, in a simple way. I just published a book about it. It's called Bio Hack Aging, and it just became a best seller yesterday, actually on. Yeah, very happy. I did a launch yesterday and it became a bestseller quick. And, uh, so it's called Bio Hack Aging and right now I have a special on it, the ebook, I have it at 99 cents. It'll go back up to $10 for the ebook, probably tomorrowor the next day. But if you go now that you can, uh, you can get it for 99 cents. It's on Amazon, just type in BIOhack aging, and you'll find it. I spent two years researching for this. That's like the deal of the day people.  I will so be going to do that right after we get off the air here. I definitely will be purchasing that! You know, I love when, when you can find out the things that make you live better, it's not necessarily how long you live, but to me, it's how you live with the energy and the quality of life, that's so important. So I hope, my listeners do as well. Well, they want to learn how to stop the aging process, this is it, I'll give you a quick summary. There's three things that cause us to age. The three things are this, your daily metabolism, meaning your cells are functioning that causes damage to your body, stress, which is physical, emotional, and chemical, and our epigenetic changes or the, the changes of our genetics over time. Right? All three of those combined cause damage to our body. As, as we get older, the ability to repair that damage decreases, eventually it reaches a threshold and then we start developing conditions like, you know,  like back pain or arthritis or some type of conditions. And that is really when we're truly aging is when our, our repair system can't keep up with the amount of damage that we're sustaining. So I teach a way it's simple one procedure that can undo that, that can stimulate our body to repair like it used to when we were younger and not like, if you want, like, not like a 51 year old. Right. That's awesome. Okay. Last question on my question. Um, if there is one thing you could eliminate from this world, what would it be and why ? So one thing I would want to eliminate in this world, um, I mean, fear is what stops us from doing pretty much anything in our life. Uh, I would say that would be one of them that would be. Uh, but you know, fear does stop us from killing ourselves a lot of times from doing something stupid. So if you took away all fear, then everyone would be fearless and we would be dead. So that would probably not be the best one. So how about this? I'll go with something simple. If we could eliminate sleep problems, that would be the ultimate, I think because we have to do that every day. And if we could always just go to bed and wake up and feel refreshed every morning, I think that that would solve a lot of problems. It's all around the world. Nobody's ever said that and you know, it's so true because I feel like. Most of us are so sleep deprived. And I think that irritability out there, the loss of patience, the lack of kindness, the ability to focus, productivity, parenting. Yeah. Yeah. Your whole mental state and your positivity. It affects all of that. And what else do you spend doing a third of year? You know what I mean? Like that's, it's, it's a tremendous part of your life and nobody focuses on it at all. Um, and yeah.  I agree with you. That is one of the best answers I've ever gotten. So thank you for that. Okay. Vitality feed listeners. I hope everyone got some notes and I will put all the details in the show notes because this one had some, a little more technical information in there. Uh, but this was really fascinating and so informative. Thank you for sharing what you do and for your ability to help people and improve their lives. This was so awesome. I just want to remind our listeners that life has no remote. Get up and change it yourself.  

  Hello. Hello, please help me welcome Donna Chappelear. She is a long time friend, Donna and I have known each other for about 22 years. Um, our kids have played together so much. It's incredible. We each have three and there were a million sleepovers and playdates in the cul-de-sac and they just had the best upbringing together.  It's been a pure joy to have her in my life. And I'm so excited that she's here with me today. She's had a personal medical journey that I have found very fascinating, and I wanted to share it with all my listeners about iron deficiency, especially for women. Iron is a very important thing and I want her to share her story and hopefully inspire somebody else Welcome, Donna. Thank you. It's hard to believe it's been 22 years. I know, I probably shouldn't say that because that's gonna make us both feel older. Awesome, great, great memories for sure. I still picture the girls outside, play in and one of the reasons we love living you're too.   Tell us about your symptoms and what was going on that why you, tried to get some medical help ? Sure. Well, I guess,  I was sitting here the other day thinking exactly what year it was, but it's probably been about seven years ago that really this started. And, um, I. It, you know, it was such a slow thing. That was that.  I think one thing with,  IDA, they call it for iron deficiency anemia, is,  it's a gradual thing. So your body can adapt to, if you start dropping, then you just kind of adapt to that. But you don't, you don't realize, you know, It's really iron, you know, I'm thinking, oh gosh, I'm just getting older. You know, I was going to the gym. I'm like , wait, I used to, could do this. And now I can't. I remember coming home one day after a class and just literally laying on my bed and going, I am exhausted. Why am I so exhausted? So I went, um, I went to my doctor and he's like, wow, your iron is 8.5. And you know, your hemoglobin, which your hemoglobin for women is normally around 12 or higher. And I'm like, wow. Okay. So he said, you know, I'd really like to do some tests to see if there is anything going on internally that we don't know about. Um, which I did have some intestinal inflammation, which that's normal for me, not, not anything out of the ordinary for me, but all the tests came back fine. So he's like, you know, just take some iron supplements and I did, and I did fine, you know, I got my iron up. Didn't think anything about it. And probably a year later, I'm like back at that same place and Did test again and okay. We'll take some iron and, kind of got it back up again and it, it began to be a cycle. About once a year. And so then it was like, um, I took the supplements, the iron, and after a couple months, I'm like, I'm feeling worse. So I went back to the doctor and she said, you know what? I'm going to send you to a hematologist. So I went and they said, you know, obviously you are not absorbing the iron, so sometimes you need an iron infusion. So I'm like, okay. So I did the iron infusion and that kind of has became my life, you know, for the past off and on for the past seven years here and there . Iron infusion in where they they inject it. You have an IV with iron, so it goes, you get the iron right straight in your body because we absorb iron in our small intestines. Um, I wasn't absorbing it and even taking the iron, orally. I was not absorbed. So that's like, you know what, sometimes people just have to have an infusion just to get the iron straight to the body. So I like an IV? It's an IV. Yes. It's called an iron infusion. So I did that thinking, okay, this will solve everything. And then, you know, my iron would be fine for a while and then it would start dropping again. So last year I got really frustrated and, I've been going to a gastro to send my hematologist was like, well, your, your hemoglobin is 12, which is great. Let's see what your ferritin is now. Your ferritin stores, your red blood cells. So I look at it as like checking account and savings accounts. So your savings account is what would be your ferritin that stores your red blood cells and, I think it's like every 30 days you replenish those cells. So anyway, I was taking more out of the ferritin, depleting my ferritin, which then would delete my checking account basically. So that's kind of like the best way to explain it. And she said, well, your, your hemoglobin, which would be, let's say, it's my checking account. It's normal. It looks great. Let's see, when you get your ferritin results back, let's see what it is. Would they like for it to be 50 or above? So she called me and she said, well, your ferritin is 30. And he would like to do another iron infusion. So we're talking within what, four months they went to do another one. And I'm like, what are you kidding me? So I'm like, okay, well maybe I'll go see my gastro to see if there really is something else. He said, well, you know, let's do an MRE and I'm thinking if we just did that two years ago, you know, it didn't show in it didn't show bleeding or anything. So I got really frustrated. I left my gastro going, I am thinking either I had to pay a bunch of money for the irony infusion or bunch of money to have the MRE. And I'm thinking I am tired of just, nobody's getting to the root of the problem. And that's what I want to know is what is going on. So I got my car and I'm just like, I remember driving it and I'm like, you know what, God, I need some answers. Right. And my phone rings and lo and behold, it is my niece calling me. She said, aunt Donna, I have been to Savannah to a functional medicine doctor. She had been diagnosed with hypothyroidism and she had been on thyroid medicine that was creating all kinds of side effects. Like it was affecting her vision. I mean, it really wasn't leveling off her thyroid. Um, well, her sister who is also, my niece is a nurse practitioner in Charleston and her sister said, look, this has been going on. I'm going to recommend, why don't you go to a functioning medicine doctor? They're going to, they're going to run more tests than a regular doctor. So she went to Savannah. So she said, listen, I sat there for an hour. And listened to this doctor explained so much to me that I've never heard of. And she said, they're going to run all of these tests that I've never had run on me. So she said, I thought about you and I'm thinking maybe you need to go, well, I pondered over it for a couple of days and I really I'm just like, okay, God like, oh, here we go. Like, I don't have the money. Cause I know I knew my insurance wasn't gonna pay for it. Exactly. So I called Progressive Medical in Atlanta. And I did know of a couple people that had been there and found out that the root to their problems and got it solved. So they said, if you come we will do a consultation, you just pay 150. If you want to go through with the tests , we'll continue and we'll tell you the price. So I made an appointment and I knew when I sat down and I met with this doctor, first of all, he is a medical doctor. He took a sabbatical and went and got his, I guess, more holistic approach, uh, of medicine. So he was actually an ER doc. Oh, wow. He asked me all sorts of questions that nobody ever asks me and I'm thinking, okay, what does this have to do with this? You know? I think you hit the nail on the head though. And the difference is that you wanted to know the root of the problem and all the regular doctors were just band-aiding. Yeah, that's what I told the gastro. I said, look, I just, we're just treating symptoms. Everybody's putting a bandaid on this. I want to know the root. Right. Said, well, I think if we do this test, And I'm thinking this one test we did two years ago that we still don't have unlike now. I mean, I really got mad about it. It's frustrating. It is. But when I sat down with this doctor, he just told me, he said, Donna, I think you have several things going on. I think you have a low functioning thyroid, I think you do have some inflammation going on in your small intestines. I believe that you also, your adrenal glands are probably off and he said, and I believe that you have a delayed food allergy. And he said, most people do not realize that you can have a delayed food allergy. He said we associate food allergies to an instant reaction, but he said there are lots of foods that may not show up until several days later. So,  I agreed to go through all the tests and, what I found is that with these tests, it takes longer to get the results because they are testing for everything. And, sure enough, he nailed it, I had all those things that he thought I had, so it was about five things and, we changed my diet. I was allergic to gluten, I was allergic to chicken, I was allergic to Turkey, I was allergic to iceberg lettuce, to oranges, to bananas, to, asparagus. I mean, it was a long list of things that I was allergic to. And I'm thinking these are all the foods I eat . Uh, you meet with the nutritionist there and you do a detox basically. Then they give you supplements until you're waiting for all. Cause it takes about six weeks to get all the, the stomach tests, all of those back. And, um, when those came back, I think you have about five good bacteria in your gut. Well, only half. Two that were functioned. And the other three, there was just no good bacteria, which was lot of the reason why I was not absorbing as well, as well as having it did show a small amount of some inflammation too. The more I find out about gut health, it is mind blowing. How many things relate back to your gut and all the ramifications, if you don't have that correct bacteria ratio going on in there., I  try to do some kefir. I try to do a fork full of sauerkraut every day, trying to do there's certain fruits like pineapple that are really good for you. So yeah, I I'm privy to that. It is vital that people take care of their gut. There's actually more neurons in your gut than in your brain. There are, and you, you know, we don't think about that and you hear that saying you are what you eat, but you know, that's true. There's a lot of truth in that.  But I got my iron up, so, um, I had, it did have a little setback in May but I had an enormous amount of stress in my life. My father had passed away and then we had a lot of family just. Just some things that kind of uncontrollable . Sure. So that kind of put me in an inflammation, um, factor with that. And they were very understanding about that and we, you know, had to regroup a little bit and do some things differently. Um, which was fine, but, but I, I feel really good now and, um, you know, I'm really just thankful. And I don't want to dismiss the fact that we do need medical doctors by any means you have to be an advocate for your health. And if you don't feel good with one doctor, go to another, you get as many opinions until you really have peace. But also there are other things that you can do to heal the body besides pharmaceuticals and I know that's a big, controversial issue now, but you know, just learning about some of the foods and just even the supplements that I take, that are all natural. They actually, I think kind of have their own compounding, I guess pharmaceutical place that, that compounds a lot of these supplements and you can actually order off Amazon too . I take ultra inflow max, which I drink that every day. And, there's, it's called GI health, which is for the macro biomes and your gut. Um, all of that to try to balance that, take a tablespoon at that. I was also very low in vitamin D. before 12 o'clock noon, you got to get signed. It's not only good for vitamin D, but your circadian rhythm, and you will sleep better if you can get in the outside by noon, which is better for sunburn anyway, but you can't do it with sunblock on because I've had to Nope right now, but it's really good for your whole body. It has a lot of benefits and it always gets tabooed about skin cancer, but it really does have its place . Well, and then to, you know, relate to a lot of the sunscreens are not truly what they're supposed to be. My niece, just told me some of the best sunscreens to use. And, um, you know, so just even things like that, that, that I've learned, that, Hey, Stay out in the sun for a little while. And then, then I put the sunscreen on, you know, yeah. 10, 15 minutes is all you need. Actually I just read a study, they came out when they said it's kind of more toxic for your body. They should do sunscreen a little bit before you go outside, but do it once only, and if you're out there longer than you, then actually cover up don't reapply because very toxic the chemicals that they use in there . If anything that I would encourage in this podcast would be for people to do your research. Don't don't fall for everything. And, and, you know, I told my niece, I said, you know, I think, um, You know, when we go to a doctor where we're entrusting them, because they've been to medical school, they had the knowledge for that, and we're entrusting them with, we're really putting our hand. I, you know, I bought it in their hands. I've been trusting that they're going to do the best for me, but what I have found is that. They're really good for just treating the symptoms. I mean, you've got all these specialists in it and in that, that specialty, if they can't find something, will they send you to another specialist? And I think one thing that I loved about going to progressive medical is they treat the whole body. And you're looking at everything and, you know, our body is so detailed and it's so, and I don't, I don't know much about how it all works, but I do know every little thing affects everything. And everything serves a purpose, you know, and the thyroid is huge . I always tell people with food, food is a solider. And you put it in your body, and they can fight for  just going to fight against you and you can either pay for the better food or you're going to pay for the doctor bills, that's the way I live. That is, that is the truth and, and sadly, Sadly, you know, they have to know this. You have to know that the chemicals that are in the foods are toxic. Oh, they do. It creates, you know, it, it, you know, it's like my husband just said yesterday, um, a week. We went to a very nice restaurant. It's our favorite restaurant in Atlanta. And they had eliminated some things on the menu and, he had asked for half and half tea, sweet tea, unsweet. Cause in the south you drink sweet tea. And he said, well, could you bring me the, just the sugary water? She said, sure. And so Caleb's like, okay,  why don't they have sweet tea? You know, we're here to in Georgia and, you know, we were kind of talking through that in my husband's like; remember, everything is always about money, Caleb. You know, there's some truth in that, unfortunately,  in the medical industry with big pharma, you know,  it's yeah, it's all a money making business. So I couldn't agree more with that. And it pains my heart because it's such a sad state of affairs. Um, that money governs life and death, you know, it's kinda kind of really crazy.  I agree with you  you know, medical doctors have their place and they're good for emergencies. They're good for the symptoms, but for the cause there's other answers out there. and I love that whole body approach. I think that's so smart because most doctors look for one reason and like you ended up have several and nobody would have ever known that for you unless you went the route. You did. Yeah. I mean, I, would've never known that. I mean, I did question my thyroid because my oldest sister has Hashimotos. Um, and then my other sister does have a Goiter that she's watching on her thyroid. She was supposed to get surgery. So my mother had thyroid issues. So there is obviously some sort of a genetic connection. But I, and you know, this doctor explained to me that he said, uh, what was happening with my body is he said your body's actually using the iron as a food source. So, and I said, that is, that is how I feel. I feel like something's eating it. It truthfully, it is it's taking it and using it as a food source. So, um, I should have gone back cause I do ask them on video and listened to everything. Cause he's. Crazy smart. Um, but it, it was, you know, it was very intriguing, but it was also very comforting to know that okay, you know, there really wasn't there was a root cause for all of this. And yes, I may flare again, it may, you know, drop again, which you know, but there's also things that contribute. Now, we kinda know what can contribute to that. And it's great that you have the power to handle that yourself. Like you don't have to go somewhere and get a prescription or get drugs. It's like, it's right in your pantry and your refrigerator and the grocery store, like the majority of your answers to help you help yourself, which is very empowering.  I mean, to feel that way that I have control too,  which is it's very self satisfying. Well, thankfully we had more whole food places that are opening up and, and you have resources available online that, that now deliver, you know, a lot of that. So, you know, and I, my sister was talking to me earlier today about it and, and I said, she's like, it's just so expensive. And I said, you know, Debra, I know there are people that probably can't afford to eat all of it, but I said, You can pick and choose. Yep. Just do the best that you can. If you can eliminate, like know he doesn't, there's like the dirty dozen. I know my niece sent me that list of dirty dozen and she's, she's a huge advocate.  It's so interesting because here she is a nurse practitioner and, and she has a story in herself,  with her journey and things that she's been researched in the past several years. And, she is very much an advocate,  the foods that we eat and, that we can eliminate a lot of illnesses, about what we eat. But we also, if there was more being taught about building up the immune system, you can fight a lot of these things.  So, you know, we're in a position now that, I mean, you know, it just, I just feel like we're kind of in a day in time where it's going to be one illness after another, that's going to be. You know, constantly hearing about it and let's push this, you know, better take care of yourself. I mean, find the things that that will boost your immune system. Get sleep, get exercise and yeah. Advocate asleep sleep is the number one thing. People have no idea. How many things that, that affects it's actually the number one thing to do for weight loss, nobody ever guesses that, or knows that no, you're right in the gym, you will lose weight I get their head on the pillow, because it does so many clean-outs and replenishing of things, right. And just because you're sleeping for eight hours, doesn't mean you are a quality sleep. It's ed. My I'm a very big proponent of quality sleep. Absolutely. I couldn't agree more with you. Donna and I caught back up with each other on the street, not that long ago. And we probably sat out there, I don't know, an hour or two. I kept you from walking. I felt bad. No, no, no, no. I know everybody can't see Donna, but Donna has always been extremely fit. She's always walked and been physically active. So, for her to feel like she has to lay in bed , you know, that she was definitely not feeling like herself, for sure.  I'm thrilled that you went the route you did and that you you've got a handle on this and I hope other people are inspired to  utilize all the resources because it's A against B it's, it's using them both. Um, I love that you tried to find the root of the issue and instead of just the symptoms. So I have one last question for you, if there's one thing that you could eliminate in this world, what would it be and why? I know it's a tough one. Goodness. I know,  you asked me that I needed to sit there and ponder over it. So, I'm going to give you something that everybody probably is going to laugh, but because we live in the south and, you know, we've had a great summer so far and I'm so, so thankful, but I have big hair. Um, and when it is very humid, I can't do anything with my hair. It just grows bigger and kinkier, I would love to eliminate humidity, however, I know we need humidity, the moisture helps her skin, but it doesn't do anything for my hair at all. I love that answer. It's so fun. It's fun, but it probably makes a lot of irritability out there. Nobody I've ever heard of, likes humidity. Yeah. I mean, that, that was, you know, I mean, there are a lot of things I would love to eliminate. Right. Um, I'm like, I'm just going to answer a fun one because I know I complain about it. Like it I'm like, okay, I can do my hair, but the minute I walk out the door, it's just going to get bigger. It doesn't matter what, but I love that. I think that is fun and we all need levity laughter and playing around and all that is,  just as good for your health as anything else. I just want to say thank you, to our listeners for listening and then for Donna for sharing her story. I hope everyone got some value out of this today. And, uh, that was really inspiring what you did. And I think brave too, because a lot of people just don't venture that route. You know what I mean? They just think doctors have all the answers and they never seek to find different ones. Because they just think that they've gone to medical school, they know the answer, but there are other answers out there. I will say this, um, I would just really encourage your listeners that if they, if they have continued to go into different doctors and can't find an answer, a functioning medicine doctor, you will find that a lot of them, we're former, I mean, they're still doctors, so there's a, you know, there's a misconception about that, but, um, a lot of them are, they had just gone in this direction, a more holistic approach, um, because really they're trying to prevent a lot of things too. And, um, so, you know, just kind of go with your gut.  Look, we, we all had that for a reason, if that's a God given thing, and if you don't feel good about something, then it's okay to go somewhere else and talk to other people, you know, also seek out other people if you know, somebody in the medical field, you know, I mean just, or somebody it's a nutritionist. I mean, just, you know, just seek somebody out. And another thing I would encourage to Caroline is, you know, we all want quick fix and that's the thing that's probably for a lot of people, not better is because they want a quick fix. This is yes. I mean he told me it could be almost a year, I'm actually began to add back a lot of those things. Um, I cheated during the vacation, my vacation time just to see how my body would respond. Sure. Um, I am, you know, back off of that and I'll get back in my, you know, eating, eating better. You know, and, and that's another thing too, we need to have some, some cheats here and there and that's okay. Right, exactly.  I just came off of a girls' trip and yet I'm like, back on the bandwagon here, but yeah. You just, you, you have to indulge in life a little bit here and there, not every day, not the whole day, but like a cheat meal a week I like to recommend, is great. I think that's just awesome. And I'm just so happy that you're feeling better. Thank you, me too.  And you need to share some of your recipes on these podcasts, because if people don't that are listening, do not know what an incredible cook you are. thank you. You are. So I know you want to give a shout out to progressive medical. I know that they were instrumental in helping you on your journey, and I think that's fabulous. They were, they are the kindest people. I'm going to say this. I had an appointment the day, my dad passed away and I had to call them that morning and say, I'm so sorry. Cause it was on a Monday. And I said, I can't, I am out of town. My father has just passed. And they were just so understanding, oh, they called me the next day. They just, you know, when I'm like the fact that took the initiative. I got goosebumps. Yeah. Well, how many people, number one are going to remember that. And then number two, reach out and just say,  we're just checking on, on you and want you to know that we're thinking about you and you take your time when you, you know, need to reschedule. And that meant a lot to me. Absolutely. That's so beautiful. I mean, like I say, not many people do that and they think of it. They don't usually act upon it. So they did both. . So I'm glad we gave them the shout out because they'll, they deserve it and I will put them in the show notes as well. Um, but thanks again, Donna, this was such a hoot catching back up with you. So glad we ran into each other after all this time. I know! We need to get out more. So, all right, so thank you so much. And, as I always say, "life has no remote, so get up and change it yourself." That's right

 Hello. Hello. Life challenges make a person, and Rachel Shumway is no exception.  She has gone through relocation, depression, divorce, and eating disorders. She created victory for herself. She's originally from Oregon and presently is living in China. She is the creator of the bad-ass academy. Please welcome, Rachel Shumway. Welcome Rachel. Hello? Hello? Hello. How you doing over there? It's evening time for you, morning over here. So wild. Give us some background because that's an awful lot.  Relocating to another country, depression, going through a divorce, eating disorders. That's a huge amount of things to tackle. So give us a little background and then maybe tell us like how you decided to make the transition to help other people with their confidence. Okay, for sure. Yeah. So sometimes I, I wake up in the morning and I look at my life and I'm like, oh my goodness. For how old I am. I'm 27 turning 27, this year. I've gone through so many different things. I've been married for more years than most people my age.  Yeah, from a background perspective, you know, the boring stuff is, you know, went to university and studied exercise and wellness and all of these things. Let me start over. So, yeah, my background has always kind of been from the time that I've been young in thinking and pondering and trying to make random connections in different ways of thinking different areas of life. I've always been a very, very curious person. And sometimes when I was younger, I would just kind of go around and go on walks and be like, What does time, you know, as an eight year old, I remember walking to school and asking, asking, um, my sister, who I walked to school with, like, what is time? And like, who invented it? And like questions like this from an eight year old, like do not ever happen on such a deep level. And so from that perspective, I guess who I've always been, has been someone that's. Seeing something, seeing a problem, seen a little question and just kind of ran towards it. And so that's probably why I have ended up in so many different random areas of my life. You know, I've lived in four different continents by the time I was 23, like I said, yeah, I was married, had been divorced. And, um, just from this kind of place of being someone that I see a challenge. And then there's something there that's like, that looks fun. What kind of torturous wonderful, evolutionary growth can come out of this. Um, and I guess that's kind of the spirit of bad-assery. That's always been inside of me from a young age. So eventually, um, you know, I was living in Sacramento. I'd been married for five years at the time. I'd already lived in China for a year. And, you know, the relationship that I was in, the marriage was completed and I decided, you know what, what's the next challenge that I want to take on. I really didn't know who I was. I didn't know who I was outside of this relationship. I was very much relying on, um, eating behaviors to kind of keep me feel like I keep me feeling like I was a float. And so it was like, you know what? I don't want this relationship anymore. It's complete. I don't know who I am without food. I don't know who I am spiritually. None of any of this makes sense. I need to kind of destroy the walls that are around me. And so that's why I decided to pick up and to move to China, which is kind of an external representation. If you will, of going into a place where I felt so lost, lost externally to match the lost internality of my world. And so from that place, it was just kind of like. We're going to do this. This is the challenge. Let's see what we can learn here. And so yet picked up and relocated over here. I love your analogy of feeling lost and I also liked the way you said that your marriage was complete. It was a beautiful way of putting it. Yeah. I don't like to think of anything like ending. I've never heard anybody speak to that before and I applaud you. I think it's beautiful. So go ahead, go ahead with your story. Yeah, so kind of rebuilding, I look around, I don't know what the Chinese characters mean.  I don't know anybody in the city. I like one friend. And so I learned how to find myself in a place where nothing made sense. I didn't have any expectation of who I was supposed to be. I could all of a sudden, like it was okay. I could go and have a couple drinks. My family wasn't there telling me, um, that I could or couldn't do that. I grew up, um, just in a, in a place where alcohol wasn't really a thing until it was like, wow, I have all of these choices now, what do I want? Right. Instead of what do I have to do? So. That was kind of just the process that I went through. And then I found who I was, I was able to discover that who I was was already there all along. It just had a little fuzzy, like lots of clouds and expectations and, you know, habits and addictions that once all of that was cleared away, it was like, ah, yes. Thank you, true self for showing yourself. You've been here all along and if I can figure it out, like there's literally nobody else in the world that can not figure it out because I feel like I kind of checked off, like, I don't know the big six or whatever of life, things of transitions. And so it's like, I cannot be quiet about this anymore. There's so many people that feel like they're lost, but it's like, Yo, you're not lost and I can help you with that. So that's why I decided to transition more into coaching, especially it was actually during when COVID hit. I was living in Shanghai at the time. Um, and so of course, everyone in China was freaking out. We're like, okay, great. It was kind of paradoxical because in that moment it was like, the world was kind of freaking out my circles, my social circles with like, what's going to happen to us. Are we going to have to, you know, leave and be relocated? And it was just like this sense of calm steadiness that came to me. And it was just like, Rachel, the world is uncertain, but you are certain in who you are. And you need to bring that to life and you need to start speaking of that. So that's when the bad-ass academy was born and here we are today. I love how that you just got up and went to a new place. I think that's super cool and very bad-ass. And in honor of the hat  i have on  on which our listeners can't see, it says beautiful bad-ass I had to wear it tonight in your honor. Can you define Badassery for me? I know it's like my favorite word ever. So, I'm sure a lot of people are familiar with Renee Brown and Glennon Doyle and Pema Chodron, those are the three people that mentored me in this journey towards my own definition of badassery, which is using to live in the discomfort of vulnerability and fear and courage that comes when you're living an authentic life. You don't settle for cheap counterfeits because who you are, what you really desire is a life that's filled with truth and passion and vision. And those things are not possible. When you settle for settle for a quick fix and instant gratification and closing yourself off. So it's kind of those three things of authenticity and vulnerability and commitment to the life that, that you have those desires in your heart, that they feed off of each other to create bad-assery. And it's not perfection. It's messy. It's ugly. It's lots and lots and lots. Of yucky and negative emotion, but at the end of the day, it's true. It's the human experience. And you're a stronger, better person for it. And I'm going to get a poster that definition and put in front of me every day. That is just an awesome way to live. I've been really trying to develop my uncertainty muscle, so this couldn't be any more appropriate for where I standing at this very minute so I thank you. One thing that I really like about your program, I applaud your efforts, for not treating everybody as one size fits all. You try to do a unique coaching concept, can you explain how you go about that? Yeah, so, I mean, badassery or just having a goal in general. Like there are so many different ways that experts can help people. Right. I believe that at the end of the day, 95% of the time, people already know exactly what they need to do, they may not know, you know, exactly every single strategy and skill and step from A to B of where they are and where they want to go. But they know what's in front of them. They have the foresight to take one step ahead of them. So for example, a client that I'm working with is working on losing 50 pounds right now. She doesn't know exactly what her food protocol is going to be when she achieves that result. She doesn't know exactly what kinds of foods fuel her body. She doesn't know, you know, should I eat cashews or almonds? She doesn't know exactly. But she knows right now that she needs to stop eating sugar. She knows that right now, eating four meals a day, isn't working for her. She knows that right now she's making a plan for herself and then not following through with it because she feels uncomfortable. So she knows she needs to learn the skill of allowing urges and loving herself through that process and that where she is right now. That's the only thing that she really needs to know. She knows who she's going to become, and she has the steps in front of them. And so for me, it's, first of all, it's like a weight off of my chest. Cause it's like, I don't, I don't know what you should do. And what I know and what I help my clients with is helping them to discover. That, what they do know is enough who they are is enough. And if I can teach them that and if I can teach them how to view their challenges, not as something to fix so that they can be worthy and loveable. Then they can take that and they can apply it to weight loss. They can apply it to business. They can apply it to their relationships because it's who they are. It's who they've become through the process of creating this goal and creating this result for their life. And I love that. On my bathroom mirror, I haven't vinyl letters, I am enough.  People don't realize that. They just need to look in the mirror and take what's there. Cause it's kind of all there, but sometimes they need a little guide there to show them what is there. So I'm glad you were there to guide. With your badassery program, you have three pillars. Would you talk to us about your three pillars? Yeah. So kind of going back to the definition, the three pillars are vulnerability, authenticity and playing big. So with vulnerability, the way that I kind of just that I, that I like to think about it is like, you've got this Coliseum shaped thing, like that big triangle on top and then three pillars. And then if your vulnerability is low than your authenticity or playing bigness kind of tend to like pick it up. So for example, like if you're feeling really, really incapable of feeling vulnerable, you're going to see that manifest not only in the way that you, are resisting emotion and kind of trying to,  play smaller, but you're not dreaming for bigger goals. So it's like as one pillar is kind of affected is stronger than the others, it always balances out. Like the first pillar, there are four skills that you can use to increase your ability to embrace vulnerability. So spiritual connection is the first skill. When you connect to a higher power. God angels universe. She highest self Buddha Krishna. It doesn't matter what it is. But when you have a foundation of this idea that there is some power that is greater outside of you, that loves you. That believes you are enough, then all of a sudden, you're able to embrace vulnerability a little bit more because you're not doing this alone. It's not like you having an experience of negativity or shame or whatever. It's not anything wrong with you, but it's like, okay, there's someone here, deeply lifting, guiding and supporting me. So it makes that vulnerability a little easier.  There's the physicality of it strengthening your physical body. So this is nutrition. This is exercise. This is mind, body connection, knowing how to meet your physical needs, just at a very, very basic level. And there's emotional management. Obviously, this is a huge one, right? People want to feel better. I would just, I just don't want to feel anxious anymore. Um, so it's understanding, okay. What causes anxiety for you? Where does anxiety come from? And anxiety is a feeling. And what I teach is that your feelings are always caused by your thoughts. So if you feel anxious, it's not because you lost your job. It's because you lost your job and now you have a story about how you're not going to be able to provide for your kids and you're worrying and you're spinning around and all of these thoughts that are producing anxiety, but it's not because you lost your job. It's because the way that you're perceiving the circumstances around you. And when you're able to get into that place, right. Then all of a sudden it's like, okay, I'm feeling anxiety, but where can I take my power back? And then you actually move into solution finding mode instead of crap. I just feel anxious that what am I going to do about it? It's like emotional management here is creating a routine. Or you're proactively caring for yourself proactively, um, going into the garden of your brain, if you will, and taking out the weeds, making sure that it's, that it's a clean area and that you're also planting seeds of love. You're planting seeds of joy and intentionality in there, so that the garden of your mind is filled with the plants and the flowers and the fruits that you want to be there. Because if you don't do that, Then it's going to, you're going to absorb those things from the world around you. I liked the way you was talking about the balance and how, one of the pillars might need to be a little stronger to keep the balance, everything's a balance. When you have success in one area, you take physical health, for example, you borrow confidence from that. So one of the things, that, that I do is like, when I go to the gym and I have a really good workout, I just notice the thoughts that I'm having about myself. Oh my gosh. Rach, you're so strong. You're a, bad-ass, you are resilient. This pain is worth it. Like, how can I make this fun? How can I play more? And those are like the power self-talk that I give myself in the gym, which is like, where I totally kill it. And then I go into another area. So like I'm on, um, I'm like learning clubhouse, for example. And I'm kind of like, I noticed myself going on. I have no idea what to do here. It's okay. But wait a second. How is it true? That I'm strong here. I'm strong in the gym. How is it true that I'm strong here and you can kind of transfer it into other areas, even if like you're not really good at something yet. It doesn't really matter. Cause like babies aren't good at walking, but they keep trying. You can feel more confident in areas of your life simply because of who you are. That's so funny that you just said that I literally just. Narrowed my avatar and I'm niching it to successful entrepreneurs and healthy habits because they understand discipline and business  and I just want to use that to transfer it into their health. That is karma right there happened in live people. Um, that's awesome. I tell you what, I'm glad I wear my hat. Um, give me a couple of, of clients stories, for success. So just to kind of a general example, I just finished up, a program with, oh, I'm going to miss this client so much because she. When she came to me, she came to me just for, you know, general things. She was struggling with a little bit of anorexia also over-drinking and she just came to me and she was like, you know what? I don't even know what I want. I just want to feel better. I feel angry all the time. I feel stressed out. I feel like. I go into this relationship with my boyfriend. She was having a lot of people, pleasing things where, you know, her boyfriend would want her to come over and she's like, well, I don't want to, but okay. I guess I will. And then she'd spend the whole evening like angry and upset at him. Cause she's like, you made me come over here. Which of course, you know, he didn't. And so what her and I worked on together is she just decided like, Cause it w with the emotions, when you say, I just want to feel better, it's really hard to measure. It's really hard to track that. So what I do is I use a tool that's called like the emotional set point and your top three feelings. So on her, her emotional average scale, basically what she was feeling was indulgent and angry. And resistance. Those were like her top three emotions that she was feeling on a day-to-day basis. And so we set the intention that what she wanted to feel was more self regard, more peace and more groundedness. So, yeah. So throughout this process, we worked on unmemorized the feeling of anger shifting from not reacting to anger, but allowing it to be there, not judging herself for having those feelings when things didn't go right. And it's going to make me cry. But at the end of this package, um, what we, what we got to was like, She's like, yeah, I feel anger still, but it's not a reflection of anything that's wrong with me. I am a human that's feeling. Anger. Sometimes things happen in the world. Like, um, she, she worked at a school and she was like, I see parents hit their kids or I see the children being neglected and I choose to be angry about that because it's injust, I'm not making my negative emotions mean that anything's wrong with me. I love myself and I have this human experience. And what I think is so beautiful about that is she was able to get to a point that yes, she did change her emotional, um, her emotional set point. She had that sense of self regard and gratitude and peace and calm, which of course at the end of the day, We all would love to feel good all of the time, but we're humans, right? So not the way that the world works. If we wanted to feel good all the time, then that means everything in the world would have to be perfect all the time. And it just isn't, but we can embrace that as part of the human experience. And that's where she got to. At the end of the day, she was like, you know what? I. Know how to feel. I know how to create emotions that I want, and I know how to be there with myself instead of leaving, instead of turning to alcohol, instead of turning to anger and reacting and hiding under the blanket and watching Netflix all day, I'm able to show up for myself in my life from that place. And I think that it's a wonderful success. It just makes me really happy. Ah, it sounded like she really could understand her feelings and know how to navigate through them. Cause a lot of do, they just get lost and then they turn to something that's not healthy for them, whether it's alcohol or food or whatever, not conducive to a good life, so good for her. And that's awesome that you get to help people like that. That's that's a really nice feeling. I'm sure. Very rewarding. My signature question for you.  If you could eliminate one thing it from the world forever, what would it be and why? Um, I think loneliness. Oh, that would be the number one thing. I don't think it's the purpose of our life here to eliminate challenges to eliminate. Uh, chocolate to eliminate alcohol. Um, I mean, on, on an, on some level, you know, that would solve some of the problems, but the worst and most toxic thing that I ever see myself, I see as the, myself, I think in everybody, is this idea that nobody else understands where I'm going through, what I'm going through. And I'm totally alone in this journey. And that is never true because I have lived. I have lived in a place where I didn't know anybody. I had nothing, but like this numb fog of depression sitting over my body all of the time. And I felt. Completely alone. And there is nothing more discouraging and disempowering than believing that lie. That is so true. And there's always ways, you know, a lot of people expect the loneliness to just go away, but you have to do something about it.   One of the things Tony Robbins says is, action cures all. And it's true. You'd have to go out there and find somebody social media, especially with the lockdown. A lot of people experience a lot of loneliness. I heard somebody say was just talk to somebody. Like if you're sitting on the grocery line, learn something from everybody you meet. And it's a great way to just engage with others. You know, I mean, just pipe up a conversation, you knew what they probably want to talk to. So it's just a win-win. That is a stupendous answer, loneliness. I haven't got that one yet. So, way to go. Rachel, I know you were perplexed on what you were going to say, torn between so many. That and Frito-Lay, but I decided to awesome. Oh my God. I am right there with you but yeah, that was that's funny one. Yeah, that is true. So, um, loneliness is, is very hard, but I think the cure to that is people just have to put that foot out and take that first step on their own. Uh, and when you can't get yourself to just, you know, like push yourself to do it, I kind of made a challenge for myself too, is like, you can make it fun.  I'm a musical theater person and so sometimes I like to just step into this other character. When I go out, it's like, okay, today, this is who I'm going to be. I'm going to make eye contact with 10 people, ohh I love it, different reactions I can get from them based on energy that I present with it, because I mean, what's the worst thing that's going to happen. You develop your strength in your uncertainty muscle, which is always a great thing. That's so fun. I love that so thank you. Um, but yeah, you've got to put yourself out there, right? I mean, you just, you have to go places that you're not comfortable in and because if you don't, you're never going to change from where you are, right? Yeah. Yeah. And if you know that, you know, you're going to put yourself out there, you're going to like start a conversation with somebody in the grocery line. Okay. You probably are going to feel scared doing that, but. So what, like the worst thing that's going to happen. If you can get the skill of like, just feeling scared all the time for going out and doing the thing, then it's like the world opens up. I love it. Ah, such good wisdom, I tell you what. Not everyone can pick themselves up and move to another country or live in several countries. That is really pretty neat. I've been meeting a lot of people like you lately. It's opening my eyes to some very interesting, perspective things in the future. Audience where they can contact you. Yes. So you can find me on Facebook, Rachel Shumway. That is where I hang out. You can add me and send me a message, or you can also find me at thebadassacademy.com. There's a little button there that says, apply to the bad-ass competence program or just book a free 30 minute call. I do offer consultations for anyone that wants to have a chat, whether you want to, you know, find out more about working with me or if there's something that you think I can help you with on this free 30 minute call also totally cool. So you can find me on either of those things. And I will, of course put them in the show notes. No problem. And I thank you for, sharing with us, your history and,  your great academy, because I think that's so important to help people that are feeling that needs a boost their confidence. So hopefully people will connect with you and you can share your wisdom and, and your expertise in that arena. And I appreciate your time today so much. And thank you for having me. How cool is that? We live in a world where we can meet 12 hours apart and still have this call still recur record this podcast. And yeah. Absolutely. You're like in a different day. It's like so bizarre to me. I don't know. I behind me, I can done in the side here. I have all my world class. I'm always trying to figure out where people are and what time it is. It's like a constant challenge, but, um, this has been great and I love it. You and I are going to keep connecting because I feel like we're in the same page with so many things and it's been a complete pleasure. Thank you so much. Thank you And I just want to remind everybody out there. Life has no remote. Get up and change it yourself. Ooh, I like that.

Hello, beautiful people today on the Vitality Feed we have Paula James. Paula James is a movement specialist at the Art of Moving Well. She is a wealth of information and I'm thoroughly impressed with her knowledge with movement and I can't wait to dive into this today and share with you all of her knowledge to help you go throughout your day, working in a better posture. Please help me welcome P aula James. Hello, Paula. Hello, Caroline. Thank you, it's so nice to be here with you. Paula, can you just go through your background a little bit ? Sure, Caroline, thank you. It's such a pleasure to be here with you today. So I didn't start out in movement at all. I was a literature major and a freelance musician and having a marvelous time,  with music and culture. And then I was in a minor vehicle accident that left me with 10 years of low back and neck pain. So I made the rounds of doctors and chiropractors and PTs, a whole bunch of professionals, and I still hurt all the time. It was a few months of a regular yoga practice that took me out of pain. It was really learning how to move differently, how to distribute effort and movements throughout my body. And so I quit my day job and I went off to yoga teacher training and I, during that 10 years that I hurt, I really set the intention that wow, if I have to go through this for this long, but I didn't know how long it was going to be. It just kept going on. I thought, well, I at least want to map the territory so that I come out of it able to be useful to other people. So when I came out of pain, I went off to teacher training and  then I started training in the Feldon Christ method. And so everything was great. I was teaching yoga. I was out of pain. I was training in some other things. And then I was driving home one day from the studio and I watched an older woman cross the street and a few yards up on the sidewalk. She tripped up. And she didn't get up right away. So I parked and I went over to sit down next to her. It was the second time in a couple of weeks that she had fallen and it really came home to me. How so many of the things that I took for granted, not everybody has, and this woman wasn't likely to put on spandex and come to a yoga studio. And even if she did, I wasn't sure what I had that would really meet her. So I started shifting my focus for training to look at well, what's going on with arthritis with multiple sclerosis, with stroke survivors, with the pelvic diaphragm. And I shifted from teaching at a yoga studio to teaching at a rec department so that I got a different, you know, a wider cross section of the population. So I really been looking at well, what, what do we know from movement and alignment that will help people who've got real pain or limitations bridge back to being able to be active. And what have we got that will allow people with arthritis, osteoporosis to continue moving and exercising safely. So that another couple of decades from now they're still mobile because there's no value in pushing really hard now for the sake of burning calories and then doing irreparable joint damage so that you're not able to walk later or you're managing chronic pain. So I'm really looking at that longevity piece. How can people restore movement and ability and how can they remain safely active for the longterm? I mean, we're living like 80, 90 years now. How do you prep for that? And hence why you're on The Vitality Feed.  Basically to sum that up, you took your mess, and you made it your message, took action, and now you're spreading your message to help others. I have the best job. I get to meet people in their tender moments and together we get to find things that help resolve that. That they can really be out in the world again, doing things they enjoy. It's just, it's really fun. That is a very fulfilling  job for sure. Tell us a little bit about that statistics of the lack of movement, because I feel like there's an epidemic especially since all this pandemic . So, you know, it's interesting, I did a little looking into statistics in preparation for today, and I don't know if these are updated for, since the pandemic, but then the national institutes of health estimates that 25% of all north Americans suffer from chronic pain and that's across socioeconomic measures and including children That was when I was looking for statistics, I found some from earlier years. So in, in 2012, which is a, now, you know, a while ago that the NIH estimated that about 14% of adults in the United States had neck pain or problems, 20% with low back pain. 22% with arthritic conditions. And in general, any musculoskeletal pain disorder was 54%. Like, if you don't know, if you don't interact with people around pain, this is what surprises me. Then you don't know. Cause people, you know, they might say, oh, my neck hurts a little bit. Yeah.  I talked to people around physical pain all the time, and I can run it like an auction, you know, go into a group. Who's got neck pain. How about shoulder pain? Low back. How about knees? Hands go up all over the place. That's hysterical. You don't interact with people around that they don't know because nobody wants you to know that everyone wants to pretend everything is fine because they don't want to be perceived as weak and they don't want to not get invited to events. That's true. That is true. I guess most of the time we'll do try to hide that kind of thing, but it's amazing today, more than ever, because so many of our activities are stagnant. And I even noticed that with my kids growing up at sporting events, the big sisters and brothers would be doing the events, but the little they all hung around the outlets and it broke my heart because they weren't moving. They weren't out in the parking lot, throwing the football. They were sitting there playing games with each other, fighting over the plug and it's like, our bodies were meant to move. So thank God for people like you, because we need to get this country back into shape. Yeah.  And that's one of the things that I'm hearing consistently from folks.  Until the shutdown in, in March of 2020, I was teaching 12 classes a week in person. I saw about a hundred people a week. And then when everything shut down last March, I shifted to teaching online. And so I know because I've stayed in touch with a lot of the people, even though that did not continue with me over zoom, you know, a lot. They were going out for walks or to the gym. And also a lot of them were seeing people like massage therapists or acupuncturists or chiropractors. And of course, all that went out the window in the early days of the pandemic. So. Any of the extra complimentary care, anything that people have been getting to help them manage was gone. And, and then a lot of folks were working from home, so they didn't necessarily have a good ergonomic workstation. They were using their laptop sitting on the sofa and, and like you say, not, not getting out and moving very much. So I think any statistics I have from the NIH, if there, before. You know, a month ago, they're probably way out of date as far as what the current reality is like. I'm sure there's going to be its own epidemic of, of pain management. It's really kind of scary. And I think the average person has gained at least 15 to 20 pounds as well.  It's a sad state of affairs. Well, and I think too, the amount standing. So like one of my longtime students, um, is a high school teacher and I'm familiar with her posture because she's been, she's been coming to my classes for years, but she hasn't been coming since the shutdown because now she's teaching high school over zoom. But I've seen her a couple of times out in the world and her posture is much slumpy lumpier. Now she used to teach, standing up when she was teaching in person. And I'm sure she's mostly teaching, sitting down right now. And just, a lot of the uprightness really, you know, being in line with the axis of gravity right over her feet has, uh, it's, it's just really shifted in a way. That's not setting her up for a good next five or 10 years. I think I might've shared with you I've had back surgery. Um, it was really for nerve damage because I was completely losing my left, left leg sensation from my hip to my toes.  Yeah, no, never thought I'd agreed to back surgery, but the surgeon I had was super, super conservative. And he didn't do a lot of work in there. He just basically fixed the nerves. So I still have my three herniated disc, but I, when I worked in corporate, I petitioned the first standup desk. Well, if they offered me a standup desk, of course, they had to offer everyone stand up desk and the general manager used to walk by and he used to say, I spent thousands of dollars on stand-up desks and nobody uses them, but you. And I literally would stand up seven hours of the day. Yeah, it takes off, I don't remember the exact percentage, but it takes off a significant amount of pressure off your spine when you stand up. And I went home with less pain, which is what it's all about. Well, can look at this in the summit when I have the opportunity to share screen and hold up a skeleton and do visuals. The, um, so I used to be a musician, right? And if you think about any string instrument, it doesn't no matter how good you are, how hard you try, how much you practice if the instruments out of tune, you can't make it sound good. And sitting shortens the tissues in the front of the hips and lengthens the tissues in the back. And it doesn't matter how expensive or fancy your chair is or how well you're sitting up. You are setting yourself up for that kind of tuning and standing, has you in a much better balance of the tissue length front and back of the hips. Now, there are going to be some things again that we can look at in the summit about how can you stand up so that you're standing well and you're not creating new troubles. But, um, boy, I stand up as much as I can when I'm, when I'm working on the computer at home, because I feel less tired at the end of the day. Right. I'm less achy. And I'm less tired, if I stand rather than sit. It really is about this tissue length. So if muscles on one side of the joint are too short, then the muscles on the other side will be too long and they'll all be tight. You won't have as good blood flow. You won't have as much responsiveness. You'll just be in kind of a clench. And when the muscles are at their just right length, you're at the best place for having muscles that are supple, responsive, having good circulation, no trigger points, nothing pinching on a nerve. You're just in you're, you're just in a good tone for the tissue so that everything works well. So being too short and too long is going to create tension. And then that tension will interfere with circulation of blood, of lymph, of nerve messages. It's not an optimal situation. Not at all, it sounds painful. And speaking of which, what do most people complain about for pains or aches; like the three biggest issues ? So I'm teaching weekly classes right now on zoom and I kind of run some of them as an improv. And I just ask at the beginning of class, you know, so what do we need tonight? Who are there any body parts, any functions that need attention and the big winners are usually neck and low back. And since the arch of the neck is really closely related to the art to the low back, I really consider those the same request. You might be feeling the trouble more in one place or the other, but it's the same imbalance and it's the same set of activities that's going to address both and then hips and shoulders and then knees. And so those are the big winners that I hear. That makes sense. I totally agree with that. I tell people when I coach, I'm like little things, like, instead of looking down at your phone and when you're reading, looking down at your laptop, raise that up so that your eyes are parallel, and then you're not craning your neck because you just, I don't think people realize if you do this stuff, hours and hours every day, day after day, what kind of effect that's going to have on you longterm. Right. And you know, one of the effects that it has is actually on your bones. There are, there are images that are just scary, especially of young people cause they change faster that are actually growing, like horny deposits at the base of the skull because the head forward posture is so great.  You will deposit bone in response to pressure. And it could be the pressure of a push or the pressure of the pull. And if your head is forward so that the tissues are pulling at the back of the head to keep your head from falling down, you will actually deposit extra bone back there. So yeah, you can change the shape of your bony structure, as a result of posture, how you're sending pressure through and boy, well, you could change it back, but you might not live long enough to reverse some of those changes. And that would take a lot of effort, right? So you're, you're then going to be left with how do you, with the soft tissue team, you have managed the new shape of bones and you shaped those bones from postures. That just blew my mind. Holy cow. That is, that is crazy.  It just makes sense. Your body is an interesting, how it adapts to the pressure of your head leaning forward all the time. I did not know that. Wow. That is so interesting. What do you think about stretching? Stretching, cold stretching, warm? Like what, what is your opinion on it that, you know, what I'm much more interested in is to give a reset to the tissues? Um, so yeah, so before I was a movement teacher, I was a literature major and so I tend to relate to a lot of things. Situations in terms of characters, if your muscles have been holding you in a specific shape for awhile individual muscles might think they're on a mission to maintain a certain length. For example, if you're slumpy and your shoulders are forward, your pectoralis muscles might have concluded that it's their job to keep the upper arm close to the sternum. So now if you go in there right away and try to stretch, you basically setting up a fight and you're trying to ask that muscle to fail at its perceived mission. If you use the other arm to pull that upper arm in closer to the sternum so that you slack in those muscles, in the front of the chest, the pectoralis major. And if you hold that slack for a minute, the muscles conclude. Oh, mission accomplished. Okay. and I don't have to do the work, someone else is taking it over and now the spindle cells reset and they're ready for a new idea. And so now you can go into inviting length and stretching. But I think to, um, to just immediately jump into stretching or strengthening, you're setting up unnecessary conflict and a much kinder way is to go in and reset the tissues. It's very gentle. It doesn't take a lot of time. And then your arms and legs will feel much lighter. You'll be much more available for an upright torso and the muscles will be much more available to work together as a team. So then you can go about your run or your workout in the gym or anything, and you'll have a much more available and coherent team. That is also some new information for me. That is really cool. Wonderful. I took a risk because I have a set of these slackening activities for the hips in particular that I did with my adaptive class last week. And, um, and that's a chair class, so we mostly do things sitting in chairs in there, but I asked them to stand up for a good chunk of class. And I had someone email me that evening saying I'm standing straighter now than I have in eight years and was less pain. Wow. Yeah. And the other people say that they had less pain in their hips and today, cause we're doing this interview also on a Tuesday, a couple hours after I met with that group again, um, they wanted to review that same sequence of things because so many of them got such good results last week. So we, it is, a way of working with the tissues. That's very friendly and gentle and available. Even for people who are very compromised. Like I have people with multiple sclerosis in there and hip replacements and all sorts.  But I've also had people who come in like one young man that would come to class with his mom and then go to the CrossFit gym. And he said his best CrossFit workouts were always on Tuesdays after he'd had a gentle class with me. That doesn't surprise me whatsoever because I  a firm believer in what you put into things is what you get out, with movement and like I say, a reset, I'm going to have to learn about this reset, cause my curiosity is way peak. Oh yay. So, most people are always trying to get the best chair. Can you share your thoughts  a good chair? Yeah. So I'd be delighted to look at this in the summit. It's, you know, images of good chairs and, and good sitting postures. But what I really want to get across is, well, first of all, you need to be sitting well, you can slump on any chair, no matter how expensive or fancy or how many seconds. Adjustable things it has. So you need to use yourself well, and you really need to have at least three to four good sitting options. There's not one perfect way to sit that will solve all your problems. After 10 to 15 minutes in any shape, some of the muscles will start to fatigue. So at  again of the summit, we can look at what are some of the guidelines for a good sitting posture. And then you're going to want to have several in rotate among them. And I really like. We'd love people to be rotating between sitting and standing , because that is really going to be the best of all. But if you are sitting like I've gone to all day trainings that are not movement trainings and we're sitting all day. And so I have several different postures and I usually bring something to sit on to raise me up against and to lean back against the chair. Cause hotel banquet chairs are not any great example of ergonomics support.  So I just do a little preparation to take good care of myself. And then on lunch breaks, I can go for a walk. And at the end of the day, I'm ready to go play. Right. I don't have to recover from the day of training. I'm from the event world and you're right about those chairs that are they're hard. Um, I'm an event junkie, so when I go to an event, my main objective is to get an end chair because I will go stand at the wall and come back and sit at the wall and then come back. So I, that is my goal is to always get an end chair. So I'm not disrupting people. I do the same thing either to get an end or to get a back row and especially right in even just emotional. Is, there's a lot of information coming at me. I feel like I can just handle it better if I'm standing up on my own two feet. If I'm sitting down the, the chance for me to feel overwhelmed is greater. If I'm standing and shifting my weight from foot to foot and I'm just more upright, then I feel a little more like, you know, I'm rising to meet the occasion instead of getting just deluge coming down on topof me. Yeah, I agree with that. More like a power pose. You're standing up you're at attention. I, that makes sense.  I just wanted to share with you one of the things for events that they're trying to implement  in the world is varied seating. So,  the objective is we used to do bean bags, standing tables, and then your typical rows of chairs at an event. The new age concept was to offer the three styles of seating.  I think it's hard to get focused when you're just in the same exact spot for me, it is, I need to move and vary it up. Otherwise you just, I don't know. I kind of fall asleep and you know, it's easy if you just keep moving around a little bit, it keeps the blood circulating, I guess. For me, I just get cold in there. I'm just sitting still on a banquet chair in a, in a hotel room that's cooled off to keep me awake and  I'm just cold. And then when I'm cold, my muscles are tensing up. And, for me, for attending events, the pandemic has been a real blessing because I can do a lot of it from home and I can be standing and I can be wiggling around and I have temperature control. And so  it's made a lot of things very available, in a very comfortable way. I, agree, I like to have multiple screens cause I can watch on one and type on the other, so yeah, there are a lot of benefits. Paula is going to be appearing as part of my summit and, she will be of course, presenting on the art of moving well , she is the movement specialist. So I'm excited about this because I think we all need this, human beings are meant to move, we're gathers and herders and hunters, and we need to move and we just do not and it's a sad state of affairs presently. So  what's a thing or two that we can start implementing? Well, one really quick, simple thing is your eyes are meant to move too. And so one of the real downsides of the pandemic and doing everything online is you're not looking at people across a room or down a hallway, and you're not walking across the parking lot to get to another place. So to give your eyes some breaks during the day, and be looking out the window, look across a Vista, right? Like it have a focal length. That's more than two feet in front of you and, and allow. Allow the eye muscles to adjust to that, get some sunshine for your eyes. To let your eyes rest on something in front of you, but be very aware of what you can perceive with your peripheral vision, so that you're aware more of the context and not only focused because that, that sharp focus , goes a little bit more with the sympathetic nervous system being engaged, right? That you're very focused where as the parasympathetic system, which is set up more for rest and digest and repair of tissues allows you to take in a bigger context. So if you can, a few times during the day, Well, certainly look out the window, give your, gave yourself a distance in a natural view, but also, um, just be aware of what you can proceed with your peripheral vision. It, um, it will be good for your eyes. It'll be good for your posture. And it also just be good for the nervous system to shift into. Oh, right. There's a larger context to my world. Not only this problem that I'm focusing on. That's so cool. I love that, that I never would have guessed that in a million years, you're just such a wealth of information for me. You know, and if I was going to get one more, I would say to, to take a few moments now and then to let your breathing be unhurried because not, not to necessarily be bossy and try to breathe, especially slowly or deeply or anything, but to allow yourself to breathe in and keep breathing in until it feels complete. So that you're not rushing the breath cycle to breathe out and keep breathing out until that feels complete. If a pause arises, allow all the time you need for the pause, because again, it's another cue for the nervous system that there's some leisure. There's the luxury of time here again. Quicker breathing tends to go with danger with the sympathetic nervous system being in charge. And even if you're rushing, especially if you're driving, right, you're not going to get anywhere faster by breathing faster. So even more stuck at a red light, you can be breathing slowly and then you don't have to arrive late as a crazy person. You can arrive at whatever time you do calm and at least well-regulated yourself. And so, um, just taking a few opportunities during the day to let your breathing be unhurried, to take all the time you need. For each moment in the breath cycle can also help give a big reset. That's a fantastic idea. Good point about your breath and something that I've noticed for me right before I got a breathing app was, um, I would hold my breath and I was not conscious of it until I started listening to all this information about breath work, which we will have, a meditation guru coming to the summit. We can look at this in the, in the summit because I can hold up the skeleton, but, and show you. I've been fascinated, the more that I regulate the tone of the tissues in the front and back of my hips, the deeper and easier my breathing because there are so many connections along the muscle and connective tissue between the back of the legs, back of the hips, up the spine, where the ribs connect and up that deep front between the hip flexors, the front of the spine, the breathing diaphragm. And so the more, I actually restore balanced tone to the front and back of the hips, the easier and more free my breathing becomes. You're like Google for the body movement. I seriously this has been amazing. I've learned so much . I can't wait to dive deeper with you during this summit. So my last signature question here for you, Paula, if there's one thing that you can eliminate from this world, what would it be and why? And it doesn't necessarily have to relate to our conversation. I said, I'm going to give you free reign of whatever you wish to say. Well, doesn't not relate. It's the impulse to have power over. And that is partly,  people to people, right. Person to person, the, the impulse to have power over another, I think is a way to not and not create with them. So there can be power with, and you can be powerful as an individual, but, but that desire to dominate and the way I see it, and in my work with individuals with pain is, is that idea of, you know, mind over matter, this power over the body, trying to boss it around is such a stupid way to approach this marvelous, intelligent organism that you could work with beautifully. Um, but I certainly have seen a huge difference in the quality of my relationships with other people who are willing to do power with, and we can both negotiate how we're going to interact and what's going to go on and the power over people who are usually stuck, if I use the writing analogy, they want to be the writer and the director and the producer of any interaction. And I have a bit part, and I'm supposed to read my part of the script that they wrote. Um, but other people who are more into power sharing, we can actually create things and there can be a lot of fun. Better for everybody. Again, then Paula,  good food for thought, for sure. I loved that, hmm. Interesting. Very interesting. Please tell,  our amazing listeners where they can connect with you. And I will also include this in the information for the show notes. Fantastic. I have a website art of moving well.com and I am on Facebook. I have a Facebook page art of moving well with Paula James and a Facebook group, which they can find by checking into the page. And also I'm on LinkedIn, Paula James art of moving well. Oh, right. And I want to thank you, Paula, for coming on the vitality feed today, you have been incredible, I mean, the amount of information that you shared and that isn't even privy to. I love learning, so this was stupendous for me.  I can't thank you enough for taking the time to share, your story and your knowledge with our audience. I really appreciate you. And, I am so excited that you are going to be joining me for my Home Office Hackathon to share with all our remote workers out there , some great hacks to make their day less painful and more productive the in their space. We do promise to offer some good tools and resources for everybody listening and until next time my friends remember,"Life has no remote get up and change it yourself." 

 Welcome to the Vitality Feed. It is such a pleasure to introduce Jillian Flodstrom, a seven figure entrepreneur who has created, launched and built five different businesses in three different industries. She is the founder of FND Insurance and Financial Services, LLC. Her current business is one of the elite few, right that was chosen in all of the state of Washington to be a preferred provider by the Washington health benefit exchange and has been featured regularly in the media. From a forensic biologist to a health insurance broker and entrepreneur to international business owner, Jillian specializes in helping her clients migrate the feelings of overwhelm, chaos and confusion when it comes to leading and growing your business. She also is the host of the podcast Scale Your Small Business, and frequently does presentations for small business organizations. Jillian is relentlessly passionate about efficiency, organization and strategic planning. She has dedicated her time and her business to help inspire small business owners to becoming more productive, more aligned and more in control of their future. She also was a help to me when I was trying to incorporate numerous things into my business, especially the organization of my calendar, through the use of Calendly. She not only handheld me through every step of the way, but she actually showed me what my clients sees and shot me back some screenshots, which was just over the top and awesome  and I think our every single time I see that Calendly open.   I greatly appreciate her and appreciate all the things that she has shown me to make my daily operations move on a little smoother. Please welcome Jillian Flodstrom. It is so awesome to have you here today. I'm so excited to be here with you.  You're just so inspiring , you just don't meet people every day that can juggle what you can.  I can't even hardly do this one business and you're just got all these. It totally blows my mind how you've built and scaled multiple businesses at the same time. Just tell us a little bit about your story and maybe highlight an obstacle . Well, I will tell you, I had a turning point in my business when I was in a fender bender car accident. And at the time it wasn't that big of a deal. I really didn't think it was that, that big of a thing, but it turned into a huge thing. And I got diagnosed with a severe concussion and it changed my life because I went from working, you know, 16, 18 hours a day. I mean, my business is my life. I love it. Like, I love to work like that is. That's what I love to do. And so when the concussion happened, I had to relearn how to talk and I could only, only had enough brain power to work on my business for one hour a day. And that is really where scale your small business came from was because I realized that I cannot do it all. I don't have enough brain power. I physically cannot do it. And normally I'm one of those people that are, I'm like, listen, walk it off. You got this, you can do it power through and adjust. My brain was like, no, we're not going to do that. So that was a huge turning point in my business in my life. But I feel like it's always one of those things when you look back and you're like, that was a defining moment. That is when things changed for the better. And when I was in the thick of it, it was absolutely miserable. But now looking back on it, I'm like, it was the right thing. It changed my path into the best decisions that have ever come about. And I think sometimes we get so focused on looking at those negative things that happened, that we don't see the open doors. If you just turned your head a little bit and, you know, had faith that you were going to be walking through the right door, you just had to get over this, you know, one horrible thing. And then there was going to be so much more, so much more waiting for you. It's just, it's been an amazing experience, but it is something that, that changed my life. And I really share with people to not wait. Don't wait until there is a serious health event. Something happens that prevents you from working on your business, get someone to help you. I think delegation is key in any business that I meet with so many entrepreneurs that are like, I don't have the money. I don't, I don't know how to do it, all these different things that prevent us from moving forward. And really those are just mind blocks in our own minds. There are so many talented, amazing people that would love to help you in your business. And quite honestly can do the things that you do every day so much better and will love your business. You know, maybe not as much as you do, but with a lot. A lot of tenacity, we'll love your business and we'll take you to, higher levels than you ever thought possible. So that's definitely a turning point in my business, for sure. I understand that cause I was very pig headed about things years ago and I had a few surgeries, literally like having to ask my daughters to help get my panties on, you know what I mean? And absolutely. You, you get a humbling experience. Yes it is. And there's nothing like learning that lesson. But I think when you look back on it, you're like, okay, I was Tony Robbins says you don't create your mess into your message. If you hadn't gone through that, you wouldn't grow and be where you are today. Even though at the time it's like, whoa. Totally, absolutely. You're right about that for sure. Yeah. What would you say is, one of the number one key factors to your success? I never give up. Like when someone says, no, I don't even hear like when most people hear, no, they hear it a certain way to me. I don't even hear it as a, no, I hear it as a, not right now. So I think me continuing to never give up, keep moving forward. It doesn't matter what your trying to achieve. You just have to keep going. And if you want to do something with someone and they're like, no, I'm not available. That can come back to you. It's we never write anything off and be like, oh, that's never going to work out. It's just, it's not right now. So keeping being mindful of that, making sure that you know, that it will happen. It's just not right now. And that's okay. It's just not meant to be. That's funny because one of my latest mantras is Never Say Never! You know , you think one way, and this is the way I'm going to be and then life throws these curve balls at you and, all of a sudden you have a whole different perspective. And the next thing you know, you're like, Wow. I'm thinking in a whole different way. Yeah, absolutely. It's kind of refreshing . I'm starting to really embrace uncertainty. And I think with that comes those trials that if you just, like you say, you push your way through, I love that relentless mindset.  I tell people there's no plan B for me. So people too, I'm like, they're like, what do you want to do with the rest of your life? And I always say world domination and they laugh and it's funny and we giggle about it, but I'm like, no, for reals, like, I want people to know that there is a way out of this entrepreneurial thing that you're going, like, you can bring the joy back to this business of why you started this business. It is possible to get out of the minutia and do the things that you love to do and why we became entrepreneurs in the first place. I so agree. That's one of the things that I do love about Russell Brunson is he's a firm believer in,  entrepreneurs can change the world. We don't need to depend on government. We don't need to depend on politicians. We don't need to depend on corporations. There's enough people with enough buying power and drive out there. That it's it's doable today, especially now. I think that's one of the cool things about the pandemic is that it, I was from the event industry, it showed lots of people, hey, you really don't need to all collectively get together in this one space, you can do it from the comfort of your home.  And companies are going yahoo because it's a lot less expensive. I think it's shown us a whole new place and you just have to embrace change cause you just never know. Right? And working together with each other too. I think that that's shown us all, you know, for a lot of us as entrepreneurs, we only really saw each other when we went to an event where we were physically together and now it's like reaching out to each other during what we've just went through and been like, what can I do to help you? Something that is very small to me. Like you mentioned earlier early about your Calendly. That's not a big deal for me. I'm pretty good at it, so I helped you, and it's like, what you're going to do the same thing for the next person. And pretty soon that ripple effect is going to help all of us entrepreneurs and we all can succeed together. There's enough business out there for each of us. We don't have to battle each other and cut each other's heads off to get the business. We all can win together. And I think making sure that we help each other and say, listen, oh, you're struggling with that. Let me help you. It'll take like 10 minutes. Let's just knock it out so you can move your business forward. It's just, it's awesome when we can come together and just take care of each other because the world meet needs more of that. For sure. I couldn't agree more. That was so powerful. And I loved every word of that because that's. So how I think as well. In fact, I heard recently on a podcast, this lady she's a business coach and  she dedicates about an hour of her week to helping somebody who's behind her in, in the steps of business. And I'm like, that's a really, I didn't that didn't Dawn on me until you can do, but you did the exact same thing for me with Calendly. And I plan on doing the same thing, but the next person, and I tell you, the people sitting at my table for this summit that I'm doing, have been instrumental in that. And I've been so blessed and all of the giving attitudes that I've been surrounded with. And I so agree that there's enough for everybody.  We can have that mindset of goodness. And, helping each other. It feels good. You know? Absolutely, I don't think it does it, it has more of a benefit for me than the other person, because it's just, it, it fills my tank. Like it makes me feel good that somebody is one step closer to accomplishing something, if I was able to help with that, like I just, that's such a good feeling that I enjoy. I love that and I live for things like that. It's one of the reasons why  I like this is because you get to talk to people and share these great tidbits of wisdom. And this is if everybody did that, it's kinda like, you know, you buy somebody's coffee and then the person it's the same, same exact principle. Um, so what do you think has been one of the most invaluable lessons that you've learned maybe that would help the next person in, in their struggles that entrepreneurs go through. I think the first thing that came to mind was that no is a complete sentence. So I just did a whole podcast on this because I think that it's tough for us. As you know, a lot of times we, as entrepreneurs are wearing multiple hats, whether that's family spouse, multiple businesses, whatever that is, we all have a ton of stuff going on and it's really easy to get in the habit of saying yes, and I'll do that for you. I'll take that on, you know, and so mate, reminding yourself that it's okay to say no, and you don't have to give a reason why, you know, you can, you know, come up with a little something, you know, oh, I can't dedicate the amount of time that. That task requires. I wouldn't want to let you down by not doing an appropriate job, whatever you want to say. But I think the most important thing to remember is that it's okay to say, no, you don't have to do everything because sometimes your plate gets so full that you're doing a disservice to yourself, because then that here comes the stress and the I've got too much on my plate. Now I'm overwhelmed. And you know, all the things that come along with having too much. You know, I, I know, I know you like lists like I do.  So I have a funny list that, that fits perfectly with this analogy and it's called the Not To Do List, you put things on there that you purposely do not want to do and I think delegation, as you're going to speak up with the summit. That is something that can also be put on there. Stop doing the things that you can let somebody else do. It can be a game changer. So tell me about a little about your daily lists. Like, how do you decipher your top priorities. I have so many lists. I love, I love a good list may. So I, I have a couple of different things that I do that kind of our overall. So I plan in 90 day chunks. So I follow if you've ever read the book 12 Week Year, I love it. Like I sing its praises , whoever will look at me and I can talk about it. I love it. But we plan in those 90 day chunks. And so what we do is we look at our list of tasks from those projects, we put those onto our calendar that we schedule block. And then we really just figure out what's less than two minutes. What can we delegate to somebody else? I think the delegation is key. That is so huge. And being able to trust someone else to get those tasks off your list, but it just propels you that much farther, faster, because it's not only you working on the team towards that goal. It's multiple people. And so I think that's something that is. So huge. I mean, I feel like sometimes entrepreneurs are, you know, I'm doing this all by myself and look at how awesome I am. Cause I do everything and that's just not the right way to be because it just leads to burnout and overwhelm and exhaustion. And I don't know about you, but those. Traits come out in my body in the way of hives and you know, all these horrible things that, you know, it's not good illness. Yeah. All those things. Warren Buffett, he also is a list-maker, but I think this is very interesting. Supposedly he makes the list and put everything on there and then just literally takes the top three and throws the rest out, throws it in the garbage doesn't even save for tomorrow, throws the rest of it away. I think because they changes. And then tomorrow's list is going to be different. And that's true. That's very freeing. When you think about that, you just put the thing on the day and your task, that hand. You know what somebody told me, they said that whenever they go on vacation, so they set up their out of office, you know, thing that we do on our email. Right. But they said when they get back from vacation, they delete everything. They don't even read it. They just delete that box that I was like, that's giving me heart palpitations. And they're like, cause you know what, whatever emails come in,  if it's something important, right. That person's going to send another email. And say, Hey, I going to follow up with you on this. And I was just like, that is a very interesting idea. I have not got the courage to do it yet, but I love that. Oh my gosh. That takes chutzpah. Yes, that is true. Wow. Okay. What do you think your secret sauce is for being such a master at efficiency? I think it's just never never given up that, no matter what, whether it's over the box around the box, under the box, through the box, there's always a way to get something accomplished that whatever it is, no matter how big, crazy audacious that goal is, or always, there's always a way. And there's always people that can help you get to that goal. And so just reaching out, telling people about that goal, never giving up on it, maybe adjusting it if you need to, but never giving up. I think that's, that's something that a lot of people are like, oh, I could never do that. And I'm like, why??? Are you familiar with the marshmallow test?  So they put kids in a room and they put two marshmallows on their plate and there, they told them that you can have one marshmallow now, but the other one you have to wait or you can have the second one if you wait, but, or something to that effect. But basically it's like a delayed gratification. So they tracked these kids and the ones who waited were so much more successful in life.  So if you get the, no, you can't have that marshmallow, right this second, but  you can figure out a way to get it. That delayed gratification. You just have to be a little more creative and think about it a different way or find the right person. So I agree with that. Um, what software or apps you use to help you keep on track of all these businesses that you run. I love Asana. So Asana is where we manage everything. So every single thing that we do in the business, it's all done in Asana. All of us have access to it. We all have multiple boards that we collaborate on, but we also have multiple boards that are our own. So I think, a general place to organize everything. And this is another thing that I talk about too, is that having what I call an idea notebook. So when you first start your business, you've got all these things rattling around in your head, write them all down, put them in a notebook, but make sure it's somewhere where you save it. Because I made that mistake and I was like, oh man, if I could go back a couple of years, To all those amazing ideas that were, you know, not the right time. And now they are like, it would be incredible to have that. And so I have lots of notebooks, but I also scan them into Evernote. So that way they live forever and an electronic place. And you can also search for them. Um, rather than I was like, oh, I don't need this notebook anymore. I'll just shred it. I love Evernote and I agree with you about the searchability because sometimes as much as it feels good to write things out, when you have like a book, a year's worth of notes, where was that? That note I had, but I agree with you because sometimes you look back and you're like, that would have been so perfect then, you know, or now, for now. And the fact that we can't remember a lot of stuff, like just the other day somebody asked me something and I was like, oh, was that last week? And they're like, it's six years ago. I'm like, there's no, like, you've got to have some sort of like cataloging system, right. Go back and look at that stuff because you will need it eventually. So get those systems created in the beginning. So that way it's just, you know, by the end of the day, you're turning off the lights, you're taking a picture of your planner for the day. It goes and lives in Evernote and you can move on with your life. That is invaluable information. I, I love the idea of getting it right from the start too. It's hard when, when you're just in that learning phase to try to get in on the right page of things, literally.  But Evernote, I used to use that like a feign but I haven't since I've started my business, which is kind of sad, but I have so many notes in there. Oh my word. But I, I do like the ability to search. That's why I tend to do  like Excel because things are searchable rather than just journaling. Although I just started journaling yesterday.   But you know, you can search with your journaling, like your handwritten notes. It can still search your handwriting. Ah, ah, you have to upgrade to the pro version, but it's totally worth the money. Which is huge because like all in one of my businesses and somebody will be like, well,  I don't remember what day I called, but you can search by their name and then boom up pops. The date that you wrote, like your scribbles in stuff. That's just so efficient. Oh my gosh, what a time saver that is. Oh yeah, because we can't keep it all in our head. So we gotta make sure that it's in someplace safe that, you know, no matter what happens, it's always going to be there. I agree with you. It's a freeing feeling right. Well, Today everything's so much more complicated too, that you literally can't keep it all in your head. There's just no way to decipher it all. Um, and I, I love, I'm trying to embrace the notion of imperfect action. I've come from the events industry, where everything was you know, customer service to the upteen for level, always perfect and do whatever they want.  So imperfect action and just being one step ahead of people and it's all you need to be, but it's very hard to go from that, those are two bipolar opposite concepts that I'm trying to embrace it, it's really been very difficult, but I'm trying Can you give us an example of how you've helped a small business owner? Trying to think there's so many? I think that. Being able to reach out to people. And I think a lot of times, you know, when we go to these events, we talk about like, oh, how's business. Oh, I'm killing it. And we don't really talk about, you know, Hey, I'm struggling today. Hey, I'm having a hard time with this. I think that we as entrepreneurs, we don't want to be perceived as having a weakness. And so. But by sharing that with people, like how you shared your struggles with Calendly. And I was like, oh, I got you. Like, I know how to do that. Like imagine if we all did that with all of our weaknesses, like we would be so much further ahead, so much stronger just because we helped each other. So reaching out to those small business owners and saying. Listen, I have been through this. I have been in the trenches. My businesses are all completely different. None of them are similar. So I really have this grasp of like, you know, you got to Bob and weave, you know, it's Dodge ball every day. And so being able to sit down with a business owner and say, I get it, I've been there. Let me tell you how I fixed it. And then you can take that or a portion of that and build it into your system, into your life and see if it will work for you. That's an important distinction to make, and I think that's more on along the lines of authentic communication, real being real. And it's so smart because then you're like, okay. The other person's giving you information, makes them feel good, but you're also solving something for you that gets you in a better way and then if you have employees, it's also helping them too. So it's like really like a triple win, but yet we still don't do it. For some reason we don't want to be, we don't want to, I don't know if it's being perceived as having a weakness or not wanting to be collaborative because, you know, we think in order to win, the other person has to lose. And I. And very much in the camp of we all can win there's enough business out there for all of us, even, you know, some of my quote unquote competitors, I'm very close with. Like we're very dear friends. And I think that that enables us to help each other again. So, you know, in my insurance brokerage, if for some reason we can't insure someone, I will call one of my four girlfriends that are in the same business as me. And that person can be helped by one of them, because not only is it helping the client, but it's also helping me because I have a resource to give them. So I'm not just like, well, good luck to ya. You know, we're actually solving that person's problem and saying, unfortunately, I can't help you, but I know for other people that can, who are freaking incredible human beings, that I call friends . And , it's a win-win for everybody. Um, so Brunson calls that like a syndicate where you kind of have like a customer that you can each can utilize or what you can pass along to somebody else that they can work with. I think that's super smart and I love that, that idea of sharing the customer because it helps them and I think that totally comes back to you. Right? You did the right thing and that person's been served regardless. You have so many great hacks that people can add to their business frameworks. This has been so awesome, Jillian, and it's been such an honor to speak with you today, and I really appreciate your time. Tell everybody where they can find you on social media. So you can find me everywhere @jillianfloodstrom.com and my website,  hijillian.com or at the Scale  Your Small Business podcast. Awesome. So my last deep question here, my signature question. If you could eliminate one thing in this world forever, what would it be and why? So this is going to be a little controversial. So hang onto your hats, but eliminate. Daylight savings time. I just said it Yay for you because my daughter's in Hawaii and they don't do that. So I have to remember, is it five hours, six hours. Right. And you accidentally call them at the wrong time when they're sleeping and you know, then Arizona's over there and they don't even have daylight savings just, yeah, I so agree. Let's all get on the same page.  Again, it's all about simplicity. yeah, I'm a fan. Cause it just makes another thing more confusing, right? Yeah, absolutely. And we've, we've talked about time changes and zone changes and trends on a global basis. And that's just one less thing to think about. So kudos my friend, I think it was a great idea. And thank you again. And all you vitality seekers. Remember life has no remote... get up and change it yourself.

Today, we have Rory Mitchell, the creator and host of the Mitchell Report Unleashed podcast. It has truly been a privilege as I get to know Rory, and he will be speaking at our Home Office Hackathon Summit on July 28th through 30th. I'm so, so happy he's a part of our team. He has been a huge blessing to me since I met him. So giving very authentic, you will find him to be a total energy giver. And he has been extremely helpful in my endeavors, including all things, podcasting. His voice, obviously a God given talent for podcasting, but Rory is also highly talented in the social media arena for building content, which is why we are here and what we will be discussing today. And I'm so excited because this is not my forte. So I'm going to be learning right here with you alongside my Vitality Feed audience. Rory has positively impacted my communication and podcasting skills. So let's get right into the social media skills. Welcome to the Vitality Feed Rory. Hey Caroline, how's it going? We used to touch down into Atlanta, remotely, you know what I mean? So I'm happy to be here, you know, and I got to take that intro. I feel like anytime, you know, we see these introductions and things like that. I got to take little pieces and stuff like that for me, you know, and make it my own thing, but I'm happy to be here. How are you? I am doing well. I will take that as a compliment. That's awesome. I know that you're an entrepreneurs spirit , tell us how your journey began in that route. And I always like to know if it started at a young age? You know that it's,  it's always a buzzing question, you know, and I've always been in this entrepreneurship content creator realm. I actually created my own blog back in. 2008, 2009 when I was going to community college. So I, you know, a lot of you don't know this, I basically have a certification with, um, what do you call it? Computer programming. Right? So I was sitting in the computer lab this one day, decided to say, Hey, like, listen, I need to create something new. I like music. I like sports. I like video games. I said, let me create a blog, create this. They created this thing. Sorry. And it hatched off. And it brought so much abundance and positivity in my realm. And a lot of people were just like, holy, like this guy just created something from scratch. Right. So content creation has always been inside of me and then speeding up, you know, when I decided to pull away from the blog back in, I would say about 2013, right? Roughly. Yeah, 2013. I pursued health and fitness. Pursuit of health and fitness decided to say, let me jump into that realm. You know, training, friends, training, you know, helping train family members, things like that. Acquaintances work colleagues. And then I decided to say, listen, put that into a certification. Fast-forward a little bit more. 2016 came, and I said, listen, the podcast sat in my backyard, give a 20 minute 20, 20 to 25 minute conversation piece. Whereas it's like, Something's coming a podcast. I didn't know what a podcast was, but four and a half years later, we're here. And we were five years, five years on October 31st. You know what I mean? So it's been quite a journey, quite a ride, but entrepreneurship content creation is always been here and I'm happy to, to really say there's, um, a lot, a lot of ups and downs, a lot of turbulence in the airplane. You know what I mean? But I'm here to fly the plane, but when we get to the end, I'm going to land the plane. You get what I mean? Absolutely. I love that.  Things that I, I have to look forward to, and you've been doing this for five years. I didn't realize that now. I understand. It's all clear now, Rory. Yes, it is. Yes, it is. Well, you know, I'll say this, you know, I've always been that hustle has always been in me with the blogging, like every single morning. Right. I used to wake up five o'clock in the morning, not because of my job. My job started when I used to work for apple retail, uh, at seven o'clock in the morning. So I would had posts queued up throughout the day and I was working inventory. So what I used to do is some of the times is I used to go on the one computer logging into the blog and it's post post post, Hey, I had to do it. I had to get the job done because. The audience needed the content. You know what I mean? So I've always adapted to my surroundings now, you know, still working a nine to five and things like that. I still have the opportunity to really just present a sense of urgency when it comes to the Coliseum, which would call social media and content creation. Also too. I'm no guru, right. But there's a lot of things that people miss. You know, little quick, little tips, little hints that they miss, but we're going to get into that anyway. You, my guru. I appreciate you. For Instagram, I know that that's your, one of your big things that makes good communication for Instagram. It's transparency. Right? It's so funny because when the time we're recording this, I'm actually going to be doing a little bit of a reel that, that deals with my, "A" words and my "T" words. Right. And when you have the A words and the T words, a lot of people are going to see what that means. So stay tuned for that, but you have to be transparent. Now, a lot of people will want to run a yeah. T word, transparent and or transparency, but I say transparent. You know, social media, there's so many different realms to it. There is the family, friends, or orientation to it. People putting up their like wedding photos, engagement, photos, family photos, kid photos, dog photos, food photos. But if you're a business, why are you not on social media? So many people, I really truly feel sleep on opportunities. They miss the boat. Right. I like to use a lot of sports analogies. You have to put up as many shots possible to see the consistency start happening, leveraging the things that you need to do. So if you have a business or a content creator or a public influencer, you can be able to use Instagram , as a movement, as a elevation process for you to spruce up your content. Podcasting is one, an untapped market. It's a $1 billion franchise. Right. And there's no overhead because we're seeing a lot of people finding the ways to, get brand deals, get sponsorships, right. Get any type of collective data to help elevate yourself, which could lead to a book, which could lead to a course of some sort, it could lead to a certification of, of, of you becoming a life coach is what I've done. So I've intertwined a lot of other things, right. But posting with transparency, you get what I mean, especially if you have a business. So with that in mind, what do you think something that you see that people should not post. The million dollar conversation. Right? So here's what I'm going to lean forward into this. You know, I always say this is that you always want to make sure your message matches what you're posting and you see a lot of people just throw up a little things for attention, because they want those clickbait materials, but you're not impacting right. I see a natural tactic that a lot of people do, they turn off their comments, especially if they post something that's soliciting. Maybe not your message, different strokes for different folks. If you want to post yourself, you know, half naked, that's on you. If you want to post yourself beside the pool, that's on you. I'm not going to knock it different strokes for different folks. I, in the past did, because I had just said that a lot of people were just there to, for attention. When you turn off your comments, you know, if you're a male or female, people are going to slide right into your DM and start asking you questions, right. They're going to probably reshare your picture and your DM and comment, give you the heart eyes, maybe those type of type of those type of things. But yeah. What I see people do a lot of times is their message is not clear. We're in a world of story telling through what you've been through. Storytell it's a lot different if you're posting your wedding pictures or you're posting your dog, are you posting your food? There's foodies on Instagram that post your story with a recipe, with directions of how to cook or bake or prepare the meal. You see what I'm saying? Now? If you are a, if you are a coach, a health and fitness enthusiast post, the workout post the workout, don't just post your body. You see what I'm saying? Yes. Now, if you want to post yourself lifting weights and saying like, listen, motivation Monday or flex Friday, that's on you. I agree. That's fine. But always make sure. Your story is matching who you are being transparent. You know what I mean? That's the T word for today. I love that . All right.  So to build a strong social media portfolio, I know you mentioned a good profile picture, maybe like a scroll stopper , do you gear that picture towards your avatar or what, what do you think makes a good picture? This is a million dollar question because I'll use the clubhouse approach from this. It all depends on what you want to do. Now. I feel I've been wanting to do cartoon pictures. I don't see anything wrong with it, but if you want to stand out, always make sure you have some sort of a photo. That represents you as a person, you can dress up in a suit, it can be in a tie, it could be an dress, you can be a sports apparel, right? It's it's what you want to do, but always make sure it's clear. Crystal clear all your photos should be clear. None of this low lighting photo. You know what I mean? Like you can go out there and get a ring light for like, 30 40 bucks. Yeah. The upper high ended ones are like a hundred to $200. If you really want to get down to it, you know, but stop taking low light photos.  And then I'm not knocking it, but you have natural light sources. Right? I was on an interview for my podcast the other day. And. The, the lady turned her desk towards a natural light substance. You get what I mean? So that's just basically through the window. So if you're taking photos and you're using your camera or something like that, use natural light, none of the lowlight grainy, like picture looks like it was taken on an iPhone for us. Like we can't, we can't be doing that because quality, over quantity, right? Quality over quantity. And that's a lot of missed opportunities that you see happening, like quality when you're eating good food. If you want to be healthy quality over, you know, your podcasts, that you're building quality for the photography that you're taking quality with the brand representation that you want to do, not always all about the quantity. Somebody will want to throw up things on social media and it's it doesn't match. It's not, it's not. It's not aligned with your purpose. You get what? I mean, always make sure everything is through quality and transparency. Like I can always know when I go in and I edit my little videos, right. From my podcasts and cues and those little, side scrolling with the messages and stuff. If there's an alignment that's off, I sometimes can catch it right away . But it's what it looks for my visual appearance. And if my visual appearance can catch it. I'm always making sure somebody else can catch it also too I agree with you with quality over quantity, for sure, as well as the storytelling and representing you.  I guess it's a good idea to stop and remind yourself, does this picture tell a story?  Is it the mission that I'm trying to portray? What about the bio?  I tell you, I struggled on this. I still don't like it. Well , maybe one of three things you can include, maybe three things, not to include. I always say is who you are. Right. And if you're okay, let's stick in health and fitness. If you're health and fitness enthusiasts, you have to put that in your bio. Don't be like, oh, I, I do stock exchange and I'm a financial advisor, but you're not promoting that on your social media, your health and fitness enthusiast. So I'll always make sure it has something to do with that. Or if you're a professional basketball player or semi-professional basketball player or whatever, always make sure it matches what you are into. So I deal with a lot of people that do photography, always put photography in your bio and even better, create another Instagram. I know some people are like, oh, it's too much to handle, create another profile. Cause that way you can put your @ symbol in the profile and it goes back to your creation tools. You get what? I mean little things. So the @ symbol. So say that one more time. The add symbols. So basically at your secondary profile, if your photographer and I'm using that as an example, or if you're a foodie or if you're a podcaster, or if you're an investor or a financial advisor or a doctor or a surgeon, or, you know, the laundry list of different things, you know, because. You then have another avenue that people can go to. People are always looking at your Instagram, especially now use your Instagram as your resume, right? Use it as your new visual resume because there's so many different apps that we have. And one of the, I say, I spent say one, two of the biggest apps that I feel like. Or the most misused and have not a lot of opportunity is Instagram and LinkedIn. Why say Instagram is because Instagram is your social proof. LinkedIn is going to be where everybody can read where your credentials are, because you can't put all your credentials on Instagram. You can only put a certain tidbit. Right? Right. So those are the two, right. Especially when you look at social media right now. And one of the things I'll also say too, When we're on these apps spread yourself between your app. Right? So for myself, I use Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and a little bit of Facebook. And you have clubhouse, which you always want to make sure you can bring people to the certain landing spots. I've started to put my podcast on my LinkedIn, as long as it, my Twitter. You want to know why I put it on my LinkedIn? Yes. The reach. There's a lot organic reach that's out there. Right. So whatever you are into use that method, bring it over to a next place, because then what you have the ability to do is you can tap into a new market. Every single time I post on LinkedIn every month, they're like, oh, you've populated so many people's search results. Oh, sign up for the one month business, gold package, things like that. And I'm like, not really, you know what I mean? Because I like to do it. Organic, organic reach. A lot of people say, it's not on Instagram. It's still there. You know what I mean? But we'll get into all of that. So good to hear. You're going to be so proud of me. So I've actually a few times now have posted my podcast on Facebook. So happy about that. And then I even tag people, which I've been learning to do that too, so that they know on the other end. I love it. Here's something that a lot of our podcasters don't know. And you know, if you've been paying attention to Facebook and content creation and how things are moving, Facebook is now about to release their own in-app version of clubhouse. At some point, we don't know when it's coming. What this is allowing to do is it's going to have the podcast integration aspect. So if you're a podcaster and you're on Facebook, however, they it's in a it's in a article. I don't know, word for word, but I believe if you have a podcast, people can actually listen to the snippets, uh, or they can listen to the full episodes through Facebook, but you still get the credits through Spotify or apple or whatever. Right. So they're making it like that. One-stop hub. And then they're going to have the clubhouse aspect where you can host host rooms and things like that. And you know, it all comes down to the product of monetization. What app can you stand out on? You know, Instagram's coming with monetization, Facebook's coming with monetization, clubhouses that monetization Twitter's eventually going to have monetization, you know, YouTube as a monetization. Like there's so much things that you can monetize through as part of this being the 1% as a content creator.  I always say is. Don't look at the monetization aspect first, look at the quality of building your content and then get into the monetization because you can't monetize without an audience. Right. Audience love that. I love that.. Yeah. Yeah. And I know Gary V gets a lot of flack because a lot of people, you know, look at his methods and they're like, oh, he's just capitalizing on, you know, things that. That a lot of people don't probably know and to charge, to talk to him or do some sort of conversations like 10 K, well, he's built a whole enterprise for himself and you know what you're paying when you go into a lot of these big,  coaching, aspects and things like that, like you think of guys like Grant Cardone, like some of their marketing packages for real estate, it's like $15,000. You know, a lot of people are like, well, that's a lot of money, but think about the value that they get it. Where did they come from? How did they learn what they learn? And how fast is that going to make you from getting from a, to B with their wisdom that they've already acquired? 100%. Here's what, here's what I say at some point in time in life, you buy all these coaching packages, you read all these books. You listen to all of these people on YouTube or clubhouse or wherever you have to apply the work. Right? I say this so much to people. I say it to this blue in the face. I say, listen, Consistency now we're going into that C word consistency. You have to be consistent with what you're doing. You can't start and you can't stop. You can't start and you can't stop. Like if a platform like Instagram says, I can give you a hundred followers for posting for seven days a week, post seven days a week. That could be video. That could be audio. That could be picture content. You know how many people post for two days, three days life happens and then they take a step back and then they're like, oh, where did my a hundred followers ago? Because you didn't want to show up because you didn't want to put the work in. Right. It's like running. It's like working out. You're not going to lose weight or you're not going to build that muscle if you don't put the work in. And I see it so many times where people want to start and they want to stop, you know, people post Instagram rules and all that sound like I'm ranting. I see people post. Instagram really want to get like the biggest way that you can get organic reaches through Instagram reels. That's that's no secret. It's on YouTube. It's on Instagram. It's like, you're handing you a platform to say, listen, create shorter clips, tap in, and be consistent with that. And you can be able to get a following. I see people posting Instagram real say today, tomorrow, Wednesday, and they disappear for a month and they're like, well, I don't see any reach happening. You're not consistent. You make consistent the most perfect analogy for me. I don't know if you realize that, but it was, was the training. Cause I am religious about working out at least six times a week.  Because I just don't feel good unless I do. Boy, that was a good one hit right in the heart there. Boom. I am not consistent in Instagram, and I know I need to be.  That was a great push. I thank you. No, no. And you know what it's, it's not to, it's not to come across like aggressive it's to come across honest. It's a reality check for me. It's like what you should be doing and I'm not. So, I thank you for reminding me . No, no. And you know what, like I say is, as long as, as long as it takes, there's 24 hours in a day and it's like text messaging. It's like talking on the phone, it's like eating your breakfast, eating your lunch, eating your dinner and going to work. Take some time. Yup. You know, many, you know, many photographers. I know that take self portraits of themselves and build content from month end, and they have pictures that they can just reuse repurpose on any every time they're ready because you stay ahead of the game, it's like podcasting, batch record on all your audience out there. Batch produce your content. Because you never know when you need it. You could take one month, sorry. You could take one month and do whatever realm that you're in. If you're a cook, if you're a chef and you do vegan dishes or vegetarian dishes, you could shoot all your content for one month and start that next month and post., I've done that with the podcast thing and I've done that with Facebook but never Instagram , but that makes sense. Just be consistent through everything, get a little pool of stuff together so that you can dish it out as, as needed. , it is a good idea to batch and you already have to get X amount of things done, the lighting and the setup and all that kind of stuff, so why not when you start rolling, just keep the momentum going. Okay. So I have a funny question. No, well, here's what I was going to say about podcasting real quick. You know, when you batch record, think about if you have four to five episodes on your thumb drive that you need to go edit. That's almost a month worth of content to be released every single week. Yeah. So now think about this. If you have four to five episodes, that's going to last you for a month. What else can you do in that month? It streamlines? Sure, absolutely. So there you go, you know, so it's those little, little gems, those little nuggets. No, I so agree with that. So I just want to know what's the funniest thing you ever saw in a bio? Do you know? Um, I'll tell you why let's go here. No, no, no, no. Let's go in. Cause that's a great question. I'm trying to think. I feel like there's a lot of bots on Instagram, right? And there's a lot of make-believe people on Instagram. So this is not a personal attack, but this is what I starting to see a lot. And I get a lot of these conversations and it's those, you know, binary, Forex traders, crypto and everybody seems to be in that realm, in that Coliseum. And it's not for me. So if it's not, for me, I'm not going to do it. But what I realized that I know that they're bots is because they get, make believe people like I'm like, where are they getting these people's pictures from? And then they slide in your DM or they slide in your comment and it's like, oh, I've got an opportunity for you. Reach out to me in the DM. No. Because if you really were going to sell something, you would introduce yourself. I'm such and such and such. I'd be such and such and such. I have an opportunity such and such and such. Let's connect . And it's always interests me about how people tried to sell you. And they don't even know if you're a customer.  Basically wasting their time and your time and they don't even know if that has any interest. I keep interrupting you You're fine. I was just say one of the cutest things I've seen in a bio Jenna Kutcher, who I think is an amazing,  influencer, she writes macaroni lover, the Mac and cheese lover. That's what she writes in her bio, but that fits her branding. Cause she's like corky like that. You know what I mean? She has the best conversational voice. , Like you just feel like you're sitting there having a cup of tea with her, the way she talks , all her emails, it's very consistent. I know exactly what you're saying about the consistency. She's ultra transparent. So I think sometimes works to be corky, but sometimes I think people put information out there and you're like, what's this about? What do you see, maybe one thing that is a given for helping people draw traffic on Instagram. What's a given? Can you be a little bit more specific? Maybe something like with Instagram reels, is there like a better way to do that, to make people stop scrolling?  I always liked that term scroll stoppers. So one of the things that I've been seeing a lot constant movement, right. Constant movement, but being precise. Eight to 12 minutes is the sweet spot, it's hard to catch.  You can overlap to about 15, but you have to have constant movement because it's set up that way. Now I know some people that I can just talk in the camera like this, and then they'll get a boatload of views. But if you're looking to get that viral moment, you have to know how to really, really tap in. And the thing is, again, it's about listening now. I see people shoot fitness content and they go way over. People are just looking at you and people can look at you do four to five, six different things. But as a 45 minute clip at that present time, my mind is somewhere else. You gotta know how to stand out right from the get-go. So if it's like you did, Burpees into like jump tucks instantly. Somebody's going to catch that people going to stay there and mesmerized or wait, I'm there. That's like five, eight minutes in. What's the next workout he's about to come with because not everybody can do a burpee into coming up into a jump tuck. And I know a couple who that can do that. Right. So right. When you see that people are looking and they're on you or they're on your page. Now, if you were to do say pushups for five seconds, And then you go into jumping jacks. I'm not saying, I want to say this. Not sounding like I'm disrespectful, but that's basic. It's basic. Now, there's camera editing sequences that you could do, right? Because if you were to do like a pushup and you cut right away to, to a jumping Jack. You may be able to get, grab that person's attention and then having the effects and things like that. Because what I realize with Instagram reels, like Tik Tok, you have to be able to stand out right away. If you're trying to go viral, because I've seen people go viral of some of the most silliest things! Isn't it crazy? Like you just never know sometimes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So what I always say is. Is try to, you got to grab the attention from the jump, from the jump. Even if you create your own trademark, maybe you have your own thing where you're like waving in the camera right away, and then you flash and you pan or something else. Then 100% do that. But I feel like so many people. Don't ever want to put the work in because they're looking for those instant viral moments, right? Caroline, they want that instant viral moments, but they don't want to put the time, the energy, the work to create the efficiency to get to where they want to get to, you know. It does take work. You're absolutely right. Yeah. You just got to play around like figure out what works for you, because it could be a trending song, which is another hack. Right. So when you go into see what the most trending songs are, instantly, that's going to be that beacon where it's going to be. Oops, let me shoot you up when you should get shot up. Oh wait. Then you start seeing that viral moment and things like that, you know? Absolutely. I know you recommend using all the different platforms offered by Instagram. Besides the reels. What else is there? Is there anything else I'm missing? Cause I don't know. Oh, so he, this, I love this and I'm like, again, I want the people to listen. Like I'm not no guru in this, but I use what works. Now because Instagram has this funny, funny way of showing your likes and your views. If you do something out the ordinary. So like repeating hashtags, you get shadow banned. Right. If you, I swear. I feel like when you post shadow banned shadow band means that they push, so you don't boost on the algorithm anymore. They lower down your traction. So only less people see it. So you'll see the same hashtags don't ever use the same hashtag try not to try not to because if you do you then get burned. Right. So you have to it's I always say this Instagram is like the modern day Thanos. They're always finger snapping ways for you to be able to either trend up or low-risk and suppressor content. I remember I used a, um, it was a Drake song that clearly wasn't cleared by Instagram right away and Warner brothers, because of the feature came on my thing and goes, oh, this is violation copyright law. Right. So I had to delete it. And then I was like, okay, there goes, there goes your, there goes the shadow band right there. So I know when I'm shadow Band. And I know when I'm not shadow band, but it's just tricking the algorithm. Right. Here's what I'll also say too. You know, when we think of Instagram, you have your stories, your stories only appeal to the people that are following you. Right. Right. And I've heard different things about using the hashtags and the stories and they can create reach. I don't think that's necessarily true. I'm not a social media guru. Like I, okay. I'm a guru in a realm. Yes. But when it comes to the marketing aspect, there's a lot of different things. You know what I mean? That I still don't understand yet. Um, One of the ones that I w the ones that, yeah, the ones that I'll say to people that they really need to tap into is Instagram TV. Right?  Instagram TV is very tricky because if, again, if you have a podcast, right, this is what we're talking about, podcasting. If you can take a clip that you and your guests are talking about, you can make that into a two minute. You know, get a good overlay going. And then there's something that somebody can watch as adding as a snippet to the podcast. Right? The other thing is Instagram live, one of the missed opportunities. If you're wanting to be a podcaster that's your avenue, because you can record all of that content and use it for later. Explain to our audience what the difference is between the Instagram TV and Live from my understanding. Think it's a timeframe. Live, me and you could go Instagram live right now. If we really want it to, if we want to end this podcast right now and we wanted to bring it to Instagram live, we could have it on Instagram live. You have two boxes. Now it can hold up to four people and you could have a four to three, four way conversation, which then later saves that you can repurpose it and post it on your Instagram wall. Or you could take that same Instagram thing and then post it into the TV portion, right. Where it's like, it's just like watching it again.  A lot of people, I feel like don't use Instagram live because they find it annoying. They get that notification, which you can then turn off and says, oh, Rory or such and such went live, things like that. But it's, it's uh, it's I realized that when we were in the, in the first lockdown, And people went Instagram live just to talk, you'd see a lot more eyes and traction. Cause you got to remember if me and you both go Instagram, live, your audience sees you, me. And then my audience sees me and they see you. So that's the no brainer situation, right? That's how you be able to build your tribe because somebody might, somebody might on our respective sides may say. Oh, she said something that was stand out let me hit a follower. Or he said something that stand out, let me hit a follow. And the thing is what we can't do in social media. We can't, we can't act bougie or stingy. Right. If somebody likes your stuff, like it back, if somebody comments on your post like it and leave a comment underneath . Don't just like it. And I see a lot of people do that and it's like, Are you a real person, comment. I appreciate that. Or thank you, or build a talking point in your comments, right? Because once you do that, that's when people say, oh, that person values me as a person, that person, that doesn't look at me just as a, as a like, or comment or something like that. I have a rule about the comments. And if somebody took the time to make a comment, I will always respond not with a like, but with a reply. Like, I'll always make sure that I give them kind words back. It's transparent. It shows you a real  and I think more than ever right now, people just need that, that little bit of empathy to know that that somebody is out there to care. Yeah. Yeah. Like, okay, if you're LeBron, James, you're not going to respond back to every single comment. Cause he said he gets like anywhere between 2,000-5,000 comments or Drake, you're not gonna be able to respond to every single comment. Like it's physically impossible, but if he was, oh my God, you build even more. Connections, if you think about that, right. But then we're talking about guys that are mega stars in their respective realms and things like that. But I feel like if, you know, as long as you're not over the, the a hundred K mark, take that time, even it doesn't have to be real time, but take that time to just like, and just appreciate people, anytime, anybody comments on my thing. Thank you. I appreciate that. I'm not going to respond back to emojis because that's just, that's silly. And people do what they want to do. Like I don't care if you want to comment on my posts and emoji. Amazing. Cool. Thanks. I'll give it a, like, I may hit you back with another emoji depending on how the connection is there, but as long as I acknowledge you and things like that, too know. Acknowledgement, that's a perfect word. I love that because you're showing people that you're not just scrolling through and whatever people say is fine, you're actually acknowledge the presence, that's really cool. Um, I actually say that on one of my, uh, auto emails for my Calendly, because I appreciate when people are taking the time to make an appointment with me, that's their time. And I want them to know right out of the gate that I appreciate them giving me, cause it's a gift to get someone else. We are on the same page for that one. How do you,  keep focused on your message inside of your content? Just being clear , just being clear and knowing why I'm here. And I'm going to say something to a lot of people offering free content. I give that I have two platforms that I give free pieces of content to. It's a no brainer. One is Instagram two is the podcast. Right. And I have an e-book. So you get three pieces of content for free. I mentioned, I'm a life coach, but what I've done, because what I'm doing is I'm using, what's gotten me to the dance for the last four and a half years. See, now this is the art about storytelling. So with me having this podcast and I'm giving free content ,free teachable content, it allows me when, at the time to be able to bring to you a one-on-one course. Now, what does that mean? Well, he's going to bring on a course. Well, you've had all this. Free content that I've given you to build a trust with the audience. Now that I've built trust with you. And I release it. If I release a course or I release a, a click funnel or something like that, right? You have something that now can draw you in and say, well, wait, this guy I've watched him give so much extreme value. That's his mission statement. What's that court's going to look like exactly.  Here's the thing, a lot of what I post already relates to real life, right? I'm not going to give the hint of what I'm going to, what I'm going to release. I think we've talked about it off air and things like that, but I'm eventually going to, but it's, it's the, when that time is right, time is right, right now I could 100% release it, but I want to, I want to do it where I want to be different than any other coach or anybody that's giving some sort of lifestyle and I'm not knocking the prerecorded. Contents where people want to do with coaching. What I realized is that even with anything that we watch, people's attention span is not there. It's not there anymore. Right? Honestly. I'm here in 30 minutes. Sometimes we were saying five minutes. Yeah, actually I know a crazy statistic on that. I've heard that, um, it's three seconds. A lot of times, like when you, for social media, you have three seconds to get someone to stop. And this is the funny part of this, that this study, they said the average goldfish attention span is seven seconds. So I'm like, okay, we're worse than a fish. Yeah. So. What I realized is now is if I can lock people in to a one-on-one where you do have that click base, where I do have those videos, you see me talking, saying whatever it is I need to say, but then when it comes back around, it's you getting me one-on-one right now, I have a, something that I've piloted already in a corporate world. And the response rate was crazy, but I couldn't do a checkup. But I did that in one hour and everybody was blown away. Like, holy, I could use this. It's an interesting approach right now, if I fine tune that to 45 minutes, but my gift back to you use that you have 15 minutes to have any conversation that you want to have with me. I know I did myself, the service. Right? I love that. I think that's a cool, The act of the act of life, as we know, it is about serving. How you serve the next person, all it takes is one person. You inspire one person through your story, through your message, through whatever your, your, your delivery, right? When you impact one, you can impact many. So many people are out here trying to impact, you know, the many, but don't want to impact the one takes one. Ooh, that was, that was good, I agree. You have to start with the one. And, and I think people it's like crawling before you walk, you know, you have, you have to start there. Um, that was so beautiful. I just loved that. Uh, tell everybody, um, our vitality feed listeners, where they can find you. Wherever they can find me on social media. Right? So Instagram is the easiest channel. I'm officially that Rory Twitter is officially Rory because I can put the dot because just the way it is, and then Mitchell portal, each podcast, right? That's on all podcasting platforms, apple podcast, Spotify podcasts, wherever you want to listen to your podcasts. So my last question, my signature question, if you could remove one thing from this world forever, what would it be and why? Hmm. Do you want me to rant?   You want me to rant? Do you want me to rant? All right, so we're here. One thing I could remove is fake, inauthentic people. And what that means is people that feel like they're in your circle, but they're not. They're just watching you. They're not really there. They're not there for the, they're not there for the journey. They're not there for the wins or the losses. You see this happen a lot in life. Doesn't matter if you work a corporate job, doesn't matter. If you make an 40, 50, 60, 70 K you're an entrepreneur. When you elevate and you change. People look at you and say that you switched up. So it's not true, you just elevated. Right. And there's a lot of people that will resent you for that because they want you to be the same. They want you to still be beside them. In my life, I've been through a lot. Okay. But I never slowed down for all my people that are God-fearing. God gives his angels the strongest toughest battles. The universe will always give you the strongest toughest battles. And if you don't elevate from those challenges that you see come up, come forth, you're not going to be able to learn. And what you gotta do in life is you got to learn because you always will get that repeat test. Right. Self love, self care work. I agree so great. That's such a Tony Robins concept too. It's like, you gotta take action. You gotta take your mess and make it your message. You gotta learn pivot, move on, you know, and if you don't, what are you left with? It's just the left with that sad story and you never get anywhere. I love the concept of change. And that is my mission is to people exactly that, that they can take whatever has happened to them. No matter how ugly it is, they don't have to stay there. Absolutely. And to flush it out even more, when you see you elevating yourself and sometimes the people behind the scenes are just looking at you and it could be family, it could be friends. They always will have a lot to say, just ignore it. My grandfather said the exact same thing. He goes, don't watch what other people are saying. Just continue to keep doing YOU because the right people will come in your life. The right people come when the time is right. Real recognize real. Okay. And it takes real people to walk that journey and to walk that road. I can get biblical real quick. Before we get out of here, Moses led the people through the sea. You put his staff in the water and part of the sea, and then he went up on the hill to get the 10 commandments. What did he end up seeing? Came down with the two slabs of rock. And he saw them hustling, running around with the golden calf. That's what they were idolizing. They walked with him till he got them to safety. But when he went up on the hill, they changed and they switched up and then he shattered the shattered the stones. Why do you think he did that? Because he realized that his He felt that his mission was failed to those people. Right. What I'm trying to say is that when you're leading yourself to go to the right direction, through the higher power or whatever you've been through, there's going to be those same people that walk around the golden calf and Ray and rant and rave. And that's what they praise that's. Okay. We'll continue on your mission. Continue on what you believe in and everything turns out for the greater good. That's why I like you so much is that I definitely feel there's this real energy between us, that we're both on the same page, we're genuine people. We just hit it off right from the start. And you've been so wonderful today. Thank you for being so giving and, and sharing your message.  I've learned so much as I always do when I spend time with you. And I hope everyone out there got some value and are taking the nuggets that Rory has offered and I just want you to know that I, so thank you so much, Rory! Anytime, anytime I'll do this again with you anytime, you know what I mean? Just call me up and let me know and I'm there. Right? All right. Sounds good. All right. All you Vitality Feed listeners, please remember life has no remote, get up and change it yourself.    

chelseacoachesyou.comchelseacoachesyou@gmail.com Hello, and welcome to the vitality feed today, we have a very special guest Chelsea Weiner. Chelsea and I are friends on a Facebook group called Women, Helping Women Entrepreneurs. What drew me to Chelsea was her mission on how to lead with your strengths and make that a habit. Habits and routines are definitely a worthy topic of discussion as they are a top priority for me and I hope that they will be a top priority for you as well. Please help me welcome Chelsea Weiner. Thank you so much for having me. I'm super excited to be here today. Tell our listeners a little bit about your background and how you got into the whole entrepreneurial space. Sure. So, uh, thanks again for having me, my name's Chelsea. And I say that I am a leadership and communication coach and consultant, mostly for different businesses, focusing a lot on nonprofits and boards. But my overall goal is to help people see the potential that they already have within themselves and just help them reframe that thinking. And like you mentioned, make it a habit. To help them lead with their best life. Uh, so with that, I have a few certifications under my belt. So I'm a Myers-Briggs type indicator, certified practitioner. So, you know, the Myers-Briggs assessment, that's one of the most popular ones that tells you if you're extroverted or introverted, uh, how you make your decisions, how you. Trust information, different things like that. And I'm also a Clifton strengths, which used to be strengths quest or StrengthsFinder coach as well, which is the one I'll focus on mostly today. Um, but I was able to use those trainings, really see the value that different companies and entrepreneurs were able to have by knowing their different strengths and by knowing their personality styles. So that's a little bit about my background. I've been a leadership advisor and in the leadership world for around eight years, but have focused a lot on my own business and company in the last year and a half. Very neat. There's a gentleman that I follow named Ray Dalio and he's in the finance world and he's been doing personality tests, and he takes those results and he actually makes his teams accordingly. What do you think about that? I think it's interesting when people use it to almost put people in a box. I, I think that there's definitely pros to that because we can see which types of teams might work more cohesively together. And that's my whole goal is to help a team with those team dynamics and help improve communication. But I also think that there's so much more to us than. Just a personality. So I like to see us as holistic people, so incorporating our personalities, plus our strengths, plus a few other, you know, workflow type of areas. Um, so I think it can be. Dangerous. If we do it for people that we don't know, uh, or say, you know, based off this personality style, you should be a doctor. You should be a teacher because there's so much importance of bringing in new thoughts and new creativity to those spaces. I think it can be helpful if you know the team already and know the different personalities on your team in order to. Figure out how to make the most successful. So don't use it solely as to base a decision on, but he's a collectively with other criteria. That makes sense.  How do you feel about the validity of the them? Do you think some people answer the question to what they think that they should do versus should yes. Versus what they really are? Right, we get stuck. We say "shoulding" on ourselves. Right. So what we should do. Um, and so with that, I mean, you can obviously manipulate the, the assessment if you want. So if you want to be more organized, you can choose the answers that. We'll give you that more organized type. But then when I work with my clients, they say, you know, I answered it, who I wish I was and not who I currently am. So the information won't be as useful. So I always tell people, try to take the assessments when you're in your most clearest mindset. Uh, you know, when you don't have a ton of different stressors that are coming onto you. So when I work with students, for example, I say, let's not take this during. Finals week when you probably have so much additional stress on your plate, let's take it in a more typical week in your life. Um, so I do think people can manipulate it. I try to tell them not to, cause it'll give you the personality of who you wish you are versus who you are, but regarding the validity.  I am very happy with the two assessments that I focus on because they are very valid and reliable. Uh, they are some of the most widely used Myers-Briggs is the most widely used assessment worldwide. And there's so much validity behind it. Where again, like you mentioned, if you take it correctly, you actually should get the same results over and over again. Uh, unless you have a really big life change. So something like a near death experience or, um, becoming a parent or maybe a pandemic can be a new life experience that we add to the list that we didn't know about before. Um, so they are pretty valid and reliable compared to a lot of the other ones that are out there. That's interesting that you mentioned that because I was thinking about that. I've taken the Myers-Briggs a long time ago. But I know I've changed and I should probably take it again. It's kind of the fun, I think, to take it again, to see if I've really had to, because I've had some big events happen from my life.   I would love to give you the assessment and guide you through your, your different personality types, your results. That would be fun. We should do that next time. Totally, let's do that. I'm so on board with that, that sounds really fun. Um, Tell us a little more about the lead with your strengths. You know, I heard something about this once about, I'm big into efficiency and time management, and they were like, don't spend a lot of time trying to develop those things that are not natural to you, you don't like... trying to hire those things out and I'm thinking that you're on a similar page.  Tell us more about leading with your strengths and how they become a habit. I think what you mentioned is so great of what the Clifton strengths assessment really tries to get at is let's see what we do well. So it came from an era of positive psychology. I have my master's in educational leadership and my bachelor's in psychology. So I love combining the psychology aspect with the leadership aspect. Um, so seeing the world of psychology used to be very. Negative. And there still are some psychologists that practice that of let's go dive deep into your past, figure out all the trauma you may be had. And, you know, sometimes it can be triggering to relive this. And then there came an era of positive psychology. So saying, this is who we are. Let's focus on that and let's use it to our advantage and let's focus on what we do well versus focused on what we want to try to change. So with that, the Clifton strengths. It fits that, that model perfectly. So if you take an assessment, it's really fun, you know, you get to say, um, what different types of answers you feel more drawn to? You know, it's all about you and the assessment. So when you hear that word, sometimes it sounds so boring to people, but it's fun to learn about yourself. So you take a little inventory or survey about yourself and it tells you your top five strengths out of a list of 34. So a lot of research went into what those 34 words are. You know, figuring out the most common strengths that people can have, and you get a list of your top five. And then what, so anyone can have access to that assessment. You pay for it, and you can have access as a coach. I try to take it a step further. So you can read that you are good at communication communicators. One of your number one strengths or relaters, one of your number one, and you can read about it. And that's great. What the assessment doesn't really tell you. And what I like to. To talk about with my clients is this is actually a talent that you have, and we need to work to make it into a strength. So what I mean by that is naturally, if communication is your number one, strength, which communication took the Clifton strengths assessment means that you like talking, you like storytelling, you like being verbal with how you explain things. Yeah, I don't mean to have me do it. Right. That's why we were drawn to the podcast world versus writing blogs, probably. Um, but if that is your number one, strength, according to this, the assessment, it means that you naturally do it well. It's a talent that you have. We actually have to work every day in order to take that talent and make it a strength. So strengths have what they kind of call a dark side of a strength. So for example, If you don't actively work to develop that talent into a strength, it can go awry. So you can be a rambler or you can over-communicate or overexplain something, uh, or you're not getting your message across clearly and effectively and concisely. So you can see that's one example. Another great one is empathy can be a strength as well. So if empathy is an overdrive, We feel those emotions of someone else so much that it becomes somewhat stifling to our own, you know, our own development. So it can be some somewhat of that dark side. So I help my clients say, this is what you do. Well, let's make sure that we can productively apply it to your life. I've always heard that empathy is the number one emotion that's most needed out in the world today. And that's probably true more than ever right now. Do you feel that's correct and it's probably gotten worse from the pandemic. Is that a fair statement? I think it is. I think it is one of those the personality traits that we value a lot in some of the top leaders. So I don't think it's the only of course leadership trait that someone needs. But I do think seeing where other people are or seeing how a decision might impact or affect someone is a trait that's really helpful. Again, I think being empathetic, but knowing. Where to draw the line of not being overly empathetic, because sometimes that can staple our decision making process because we care so much about how everyone's gonna react, that we feel like we can't make a decision. It paralyzes us. Sometimes I do think during the pandemic, people have both become more and less empathetic about specific topics. So I think people realize that a lot of. A lot of the world is experiencing hardships, whether financial or emotional, or, you know, literally experiencing deaths of some of the people that might be closest to them. So we approach different scenarios with kindness and compassion, but I think the pandemic has also made us agitated and annoyed and want to get out and get answers. And sometimes that frustration can bubble up more negatively around other people too. I think patients ,has really gone awry just because there's so much stuff not being produced and, and so many changes. And I just think people are having a harder time with the empathy because they just are lacking the skilled. How do people go about maybe trying to find their strengths and then use that to lead? So I love working with clients so I can work with anyone to help them find their strengths through the Clifton strengths and then figure out how we can incorporate those into all aspects of their life. So it works really well aligning in the business world. So I, I work with individuals, managers and whole teams in businesses to figure out how can we align your job duties with your strengths? And there's a great research that Gallup who's the organization that oversees the Clifton strengths assessment that they've done showing workplace retention, employee satisfaction, employee relations those percentages are so much higher when a company does encourage their employees to lead with strengths. So I love that. And there's the 34 different options as I mentioned, but those 34 words are organized into four. I like to call them larger buckets. So people are either executing, strategic thinking, relationship building or influencing. So all those 34 words are then categorized into those four areas. And kind of like what you said is, should we create teams that are, you know, more diverse and have different personality types or different strengths on the team? Or should we hone in and say, you're going to work well together. Let's create a team in that way. I do think that the diversity of thought can be really helpful in this way. A lot of times we'll see the CEOs or some of those top managers be really great with strategic thinking. That's like some of those words that are very futuristic or very visionary figuring out where the company is going to go. And then we see that they like to bring on people that are. Executing. They actually get the work done. They enact the vision, they carry out the vision and then the relationship building person on the team is going to, of course it makes sure that the team is happy, that people feel wanted and included, and the influencing team, a lot of times it's marketing and how can we get our message out there and get our message across and drive up those sales. So in this scenario, having someone on the team in each of those areas can be really helpful. And I think the best leaders know their own limitations. So they say I'm very good at coming up with a vision, but I'm not good at actually enacting that vision. I think removing that ego, so saying, let me hire someone. Who's going to be really good at enacting that vision is where the best leaders I, you know, I can see both sides of the coin there. I can see where like, if you have very opposing personalities where that might be a little frictional. But then I can also see where if everybody has a different shrink, how that would make the ball roll better. So , I never really thought about that before. That is super interesting. And what do you think,  if you find that your strengths, what are maybe some helpful ideas about how to take those strengths and make them a habit? When I work with my clients, I try to ask them what in your day-to-day life do you really enjoy doing? So it can be any aspect of your life. It doesn't necessarily have to be about work, so it can be, do you enjoy interacting with other people? Do you enjoy researching different things on the internet and going down those rabbit holes and you realize, wow, you know, three hours have passed, whether that's good or bad, do you like. Coming up with larger concepts. Do you like being creative? What, what do you do where you, the time passes? And you're like, I can't believe I just spent this much time doing something. Right. And that's a great way to start with your strengths. So I know I mentioned, I worked a lot with businesses. I also work a lot with students and this is a great way for students to figure out how, you know, how do you help figure out your major and what you like doing what comes naturally to you? So seeing how we can then incorporate those into our everyday tasks. So of course there's some job duties that we just have to get done, whether we like them or not. Right. But you know, some of those may be more administrative tasks or some of those things that we have to do, but how can we focus on incorporating the strengths more so into those job duties that we like doing. And how can we make sure that we're utilizing ourselves the best? My number one tip is to talk with your manager. So I work a lot with managers to figure out how to empower the people on their team, to lead with their strengths. So I also encourage team members to talk with their managers and say, I really enjoy creating presentations, or I really enjoy public speaking or whatever that might be. And I don't feel like I do it as much in my job, but is there some way I can do that. So figuring out how you can try to incorporate some of those additional tasks into your day-to-day jobs, which will make you enjoy your job and feel like they're utilizing your abilities even more. Absolutely. I, that is exactly my philosophy on, employees is that if you find their strengths and you utilize them, if they enjoy that, they're happier employee. And then they'll  take that happiness and they'll transfer it to the customer. You know what I mean? It's like, I, it's not customers first and mine world. It's happy employees first. And then that parlays into the happy customers and it just a trickle down effect. And I think it works really good, but, um, that's interesting that you have the same kind of concept there.  I have  a little deep question here if there's one thing in this world that you could eliminate, completely, what would it be and why? I love that question because it helps us, you know, figure out what do we like and what do we don't like about the world, which is obviously a huge question to me, the concept of imposter syndrome, which if your listeners don't know what that is, I'll give a quick explanation, but I wish I could eliminate that. So imposter syndrome is wondering if you really deserve the accolades or deserve the job position. Deserve what you've been getting in life. Uh, and a lot of times we second guess it. So maybe you got a position or you got into a grad, a grad school program, or you got an award at work and you wonder, did they really mean to give this to me or did they make a mistake? A lot of times. We don't know that there's really a term called imposter syndrome or the imposter phenomenon. That's affiliated with that. And I worked so much, especially with entrepreneurs to say, you earned your seat at the table. You earned this spot. Let's. Let's take away some of that insecurity, which is easier said than done. Right. But let's try to figure out how you can realize that you really earned this position. You're here. Let's validate you. Let's empower you to know that you have a seat at the table. So I wish I could eliminate that. Cause I feel like if, if we don't have that imposter syndrome, we would feel like there's so much more that we could accomplish. And of course that's where. All these creative ideas come from and how we make our world a better place. So I wish I could eliminate that imposter syndrome. I definitely think I had that when I first started my entrepreneurial adventure and I've come full circle because  I got into the health arena and then that took a hold of my brain and then I got out and then I'm back. It is, um, paralyzing because you, you just, but there's some really cool people out there who are like, you know, no, one's going to say your message like you, um, and so you need to voice it from your experience and you never know like who that can help. Um, that actually happened to me. My very first podcast. I had somebody reach out to me and was like, you've inspired me so much. And I literally was floor.  It just reiterated the fact that I need to have better communication in between my ears. Um, I love transformation of vocabulary. I'm very big incident, but it is even being aware of that it's still gonna happen. So it's, it's, it's definitely a thing that would be really cool to eliminate. So tell our listeners where they can get ahold of you. Is Chelsea. Yes, I would love to work with any and all of you, whether it's an individual setting or more for a team building activity for your jobs or your corporations and companies. So you can reach me at my website, which is Chelsea coaches, you.com. And on that, you'll see the information to contact me. I do free, uh, consultation or kind of onboarding calls with people to see if I can help you meet your goals. Cause my. My overarching goal is to make sure that you're able to achieve your goal. So I want to know that I can help you along the way. Uh, and then I have access to the Myers-Briggs assessment and the Clifton strengths assessment. So I could administer those out at and provide the coaching that follows it. So my website, Chelseacoachesyou.com or you can email me at Chelseacoachesyou@gmail.com or my Instagram is Chelsea coaches. You tried to keep it pretty consistent and easy. I will absolutely put those in the show notes. Um, and I thank you so much. This was so awesome. And I'm really going to take you up on be doing my Myers-Brigg or maybe even that Clifton strike. That'd be super fun. I love all this, like all of this stuff. Um, So I just want to thank all my listeners out there. And until next time my friends remember life has no remote Get up and change it yourself.

Hello, vitality seekers today. I am super excited to have Vince Warnock as our guest. He is the podcast host of chasing the insights as well as has authored the book, chasing the insights. And of course, creator recently, I had the honor of being interviewed by Vince on his podcast. He doesn't know this, but I had a major aha moment during that interview, I found him to be such a delight, so genuine fun and kind. Plus he had an amazing entrepreneurial spirit. It was truly contagious. Our time on his podcast totally confirmed for me that I was truly in the right space for business purposes, because if I could hang out with people like Vince, I knew this wasn't even going to be considered work. It was almost like a proclamation. I had arrived where I belong after years of searching and it felt like home. I could not be more genuine when I say it is an honor to have him on the Vitality Feed. He's a beacon of light for the marketer, the entrepreneur and small business owner, as he offers the insights from the best gurus in the industry, giving his listeners the unfair advantage. I am thrilled to announce, he is also a speaker as part of my team for the Home Office Hackathon, which will be going live July 28th through the 30th. We have an incredible lineup of dynamic experts from around the globe. If you work from home, you don't want to miss it. And don't worry. If you can't make the dates, we're offering an all access pass with unlimited viewing summit highlights, plus bonus videos. And now please help me welcome Vince Warnock. Welcome to the Vitality Feed Vince. Oh, my goodness, Caroline, that at first of all, it is an absolute honor to be here. Second. I'm now hiring you to be my hypeman. You are going to read my bio. I keep listening to it. Go. Damn. I want this guy. That's awesome. Oh my goodness. I'm so happy to have you here. I am doing well very well. In fact, um, yeah, especially as I get to chat with you, I know we're doing a podcast, but I feel like it's just us catching up. So sorry to all your listeners, this is just you. And, um, tell our listeners a little bit about your background, maybe where you grew up, your education, things like that. No, one's going to want to hear about me growing up. Cause I, I grew up in a not very nice environment. So I grew up in abuse and I grew up in poverty, but broke through all of that and kind of found myself on my career path where I thought I knew what I was going to do. Um, I was going to be an electronics, computer and software engineer. I was going to be the guy that made all the gadgets for James Bond or Batman then discovered that not actually real. That was a shock to me. And then, uh, so I trained in all three disciplines and thought, right, this is it's going to be my, my amazing career. My first job was literally, they locked me in a lab with a long lab coat. I had long hair at the time as well. Uh, tied up in a ponytail is not the greatest look and, and along goatee now, now I'm completely bald, but my job was designing, um, incubators and plant growth chambers. And I thought this is going to be the dream job, you know, like everyone wanted this. Um, so. Yup. Fast forward a few years in that role. And I realized I am insanely bored and I am completely unfulfilled. Uh, and then that's when I kind of had an epiphany , because I realized I'm super passionate about technology, right , ever since I was a kid, I built my first kind of electronic circuit when I was four, a built my first crystal radio with no schematics when I was seven and computer systems with some of the first year of a personal computer systems when I was 11. So I'm like, okay, this is something I'm passionate about. But then I realized that's not the part I'm passionate about. I'm passionate about how technology helps people. And it's the people element that was more important to me. So that's when I realized I need to make a change. I need to shift to that. Um, so you've got more into like leadership and management and things like that. And then starting to understand people and find out why they tick and, and why they behave the way they do, why they do certain actions and don't do other actions or those kinds of things. Uh, and then I kind of, my career then took some weird turns. It kind of in and out of both entrepreneurship and, uh, corporate culture, uh, then found myself doing my dream job. Oh my goodness. So ever since I built that crystal radio, when I was seven, I wanted to work on radio and I'm like, that's a, this is like, these people are paid to play music. To joke around and to talk to people and like, how could this not be everyone's dream job? Uh, and then I actually secured their time, ended up becoming, um, one of the announcers, one of the only, or announces at our top radio station here in New Zealand. And, and it was almost everything I expected. Like it was an incredibly fun job. I really, really enjoyed my time there. But the one thing I didn't count on was they pay so poorly, like really, really poorly. And I'm like, I can't live off of this. This is insane.  So I had to make some changes there as well. And, and that's when I realized there's this convergent point like this convergence, which is this love of technology and this love of people. So how technology helped people and how people's behavior work, the kind of middle ground there as marketing is digital marketing. And I kind of fell into that accidentally. I'm doing some projects for some people turns out I was really, really good at it because of my kind of dual careers. Um, and then that launched the next stage of my career. So I was in and out of marketing roles in corporations then doing my own startups, um, created a number of companies and sold them. And then finally credited by the huge company that we had, uh, with a co-founder called Common Ledger. I went through a crazy four year journey. I think it was with that. We raised a million dollars worth of seed funding, a million dollars a day round. And, and then we had grown really big and I realized, I'm done. Uh, I don't want to be in that anymore. I'm not feeling as fulfilled and I'm loving it. There was so much tension in the organization that, which, you know, just is natural when you're an early stage startup. So I decided that said, I'm going to move on. Um, and then we realized there were a whole pile of people wanting to buy the business. So we went through an acquisition and then I joined the team at Cigna as the Chief Marketing Officer. And you'll notice the cycle here to Carolyn joined the air. Absolutely loved it. Took that company from, uh, like from basically no online sales through to that being a huge portion of what they do and doubling the revenue of the organization. So it had a massive impact on there. Um, and then went, yeah, I'm feeling unfulfilled and most of it was. The fact that as a C-suite executive, you are quite far removed from the impact that you're having. So you're quite far removed from people and that's something that I need to be around. I need people that's part of my personality. It's part of why I do what I do as part of what motivates me. And so I kind of had the easiest, hard decision in my life, um, kind of end of 2019. I decided to have a conversation with the CEO and say, yes, I know things are going well. And yes, I know we've had massive wins and yes, I know you guys pay me an obscene amount of money, but I need to move on. And she goes, what are you going to move on to? You know what I mean? I'm going to write my next book. Did you wait, but wait, you're leaving all of this to go and basically not get paid for anything. That's right. You guys. Okay. See, she even offered me psychological help. She's like, do I need to get a counselor for you? Don't need to get a psychologist. I'm like, come on. I know what I'm doing. I said there a lot once I know that this is the right thing to do, it's unfair on me, but it's also unfair on all of you if I don't do it because the moment I realized I don't want to be here. I shouldn't be here. I should be doing something else. I'm not going to be turning up as my best self. Um, so she agreed. It was awesome. We had a really nice farewell. So January, 2020, that's a pre COVID days. I was out of there. I thought I'm going to be a full-time author. I'm going to write my next book. Uh, got bored within a week. So that became two books at the same time. And then I thought about I'm going to launch my podcast, but then of course COVID happened through all of this. And that was when I was dealing with all these different entrepreneurs, you know, for my book, talking to them and they said, look, Vince. We would love to continue helping you, but we're kind of freaking out, like all of our revenue streams have dried up. I was dealing with a range of businesses from the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, where some of them broke some water. Some of them, some of them weren't online businesses and everything, and they go, we've got no customers right now. We've got no way of making any kind of income, but we've got all the same overheads. We don't even know if we're going to be in business in the next two months. That was a kick in the gut. Because these entrepreneurs in general are an amazing breed of people. I just love entrepreneurs so much, but I just looked at them and went, these are just awesome people who really want to make a difference. They really want to impact others and they're questioning whether or not they're going to be around. So I had to shift it up at that point and went okay. I currently, I can't let this go. I need to be, I need to come alongside you. I need to help you. Let me, let me, and basically to give you some guidance, we can turn this around and was very fortunate. We had absolutely no casualties through all of that. Through all the businesses I was dealing with, they all became profitable very quickly. Very impressive. Oh my goodness. I was very fortunate. That's not always going to happen, right. There are going to be times where there will be a casually through, you know, circumstance and things like that. But I was very blessed through this to go, okay, well, everybody survived. Three of them actually doubled their revenue, which didn't surprise me because they really didn't know what they had fully there anyway. And there was a massive opportunity they were missing in amongst it.  And weirdly one of my, my strange superpowers is going okay. Here's your business, but there's a secondary business based around this. That's sitting right there that you're missing. There's a whole revenue stream. That's right there that you're missing and I can see it so clearly. Um, but then I had my little star pupils, um, and they hate me calling them this, but there's these two little old ladies in Melbourne. So they had a knitting cafe business and. Uh, every revenue stream dried up and I said, right, I'm going to help you get alongside. You taught them. E-commerce taught them how to set up the site themselves. So they did it. They thought they couldn't. In fact, I had to bribe them. I said, look, give me a weekend. I'm going to teach you everything about e-commerce. I'm going to teach you how to set up a website and how to, how to get all your products on there. And if we fail, I'll buy you both a bottle of gin and they, so they came along the ride, they launched the website on the Monday. Um, went out to their community and things and told everybody about this, what they didn't anticipate was they, they thought they had this niche little business in Melbourne, right. And then the area around them, where, where people would come from and come and use these services and learn to nerds and buy their supplies and have a glass of wine and all that cool stuff. But actually what they didn't realize is most of Australia was waiting desperately for what they had to offer. So as soon as they did that, they ended up tripling their revenue and I'm like, man, so they pivoted their whole business down. I'm so proud of them. Um, so that made beautiful, maybe cut out, completely shift my focus. I went, this is it. I can't like, how, how did I not do this anymore? This is my new business. Now I need to just help as many entrepreneurs as I can. So that made me an accidental coach. I call it, um, and then launch my group program. And now I get to talk to you. So there you go. Here's my whirlwind journey. After after that, I'm even more excited to talk to you because , you, you have definitely some wonderful characteristics that I am lacking. So that is fantastic. I agree with the timing on their business, like, I don't think it could have been more impeccable with COVID . It was perfect timing, but what a great job to have is does it help people and make them prosper? That's just so beautiful. Well, it is the most fulfilling thing I've ever done.  I know that. Yeah, timing's important and everything is in its own time and things, but part of me is going, wow, why didn't I do this five years ago? Like this would have been insane. I'd just be so fulfilled. But of course the timing wasn't right there. Exactly.  It does take sometimes a lot of entrepreneurs and I find that they  reach their goal and then they're unfulfilled. They it's like almost like the hunt they get the game and then they're like, Okay, what's the next . Cause that is the thrill for us is get there. I know you offer a masterclass called the ultimate landing page. Who is this for and what is the offer? This, this is for anybody who is being completely misled. No, one of the things I noticed, the more entrepreneurs I talked to they, like, there's this common misconception around landing pages. Like everyone feels the pressure. They've gotta be, you know, like if you were to print them out, they'd be 40 pages long and you've got to have all the social proof on there. You've got to have all this different copy and you've got to make sure that the offer is only at the end. So they've got to scroll through this, all this information, or they think that, you know, it has to have my entire life story on there. There's just all these misconceptions and all this pressure from people going, I don't know how to do a landing page. I'm just going to copy what other people do. But what they, miss is actually a landing page is really, really simple, right? There's just a few kind of core elements that you need to make sure are aligned. Uh, in fact, and I said to them in the masterclass itself, we gave some examples in there and I'm going okay. If you want to know how long the landing page should be, the answer is as long as it needs. And by that, I mean, I've seen landing pages that if you printed them would be 40 pages long, they have incredibly high conversion rate and they're landing pages that are literally a couple of paragraphs and a call to action. And they speak directly to the need of the person that's on their page. And when you can do that, when you can achieve that and you speak directly to the need, the conversion rates really, really high. So I teach them how to actually understand what the customers actually need when they get to that page. So how to tap into, like, we call it the Bridge Method, but it's how to go from , like coming to your own conclusion as a customer of where you are now, and then painting this preferred future, getting them to actually imagine what life is like, if they didn't have the need or the gap will the, the, you know, the thing that they're missing right now, if they had that fulfilled, what would that look like? If you're gonna achieve that on a landing page, you are 90% of the way there. Because the moment you do that, they go, I don't want to go back to my current state.  I want this now! Kind of helping them have, find their own aha moment and pulling out the confusion. A confused mind, always leads to no, you don't make the sale. So make it simple and precise and to that customer, that makes really good sense. And then sales would go up because of that. Yep. Yeah. I'm all about,  kind of, yeah, generating and converting leads, but in a ethical way. And that's really, really important as well. Right? Some of the stuff I teach has never, ever mislead people. You actually have a duty of care as an entrepreneur, right and this is a bit, a lot of people forget is it's not just about making money. It's not just about selling. It's actually about helping other people. And if you can actually come from that framework, if you can come from that way of thinking and go, okay, there's all these people out there that just really need my help. And whatever it is I have with it's a product, that's an offering. It's a service. That is the thing that they need of, you can come from that point of view of just wanting to help people. Then you'll never get into unethical marketing techniques, but also you are going to find you deeply connect with these people you are going to like, okay. There's a contrary kind of view in the market. So a lot of particularly digital marketers, um, a lot of my peers in the industry. Uh, I don't agree with, we have, we have lovely arguments sometimes when we're on stage. Um, I so want to name some of these people, but I can't, because that would be terrible, but there's a pretty high profile digital marketers out there. They're well-known and we, we often speak at the same conferences or we used to, when you could actually do that. And one of the things we would find is people get confused, cause they're up there going, it's all about trying to get people to take that first action. So charge them as early as possible and then take them up the value ladder and continually charged more or more and more and more and more. And I'm going wrong. Like that is our way to look at it. Sure. But what you're doing when you do that, as you're creating a transaction, you're going, okay. There is an individual out there I'm convincing you, or even slightly manipulating you or slightly misleading you into making a transaction. And then I'm going to try and squeeze you for more and more and more to take you out the value letter. But actually what I teach is don't focus on that at all, focus on impact. And that means, and this is the bit that tends to get the backup of a lot of my peers. This means giving away as much as possible. This means, this is why I do the master classes. This is why I do all these things. Add as much value as you can to them for as, as much as you can. And then the money follows. And this is a bit people forget, like instead of creating a transaction, instead of me going, okay, I'm going to sell a course on landing pages, for example, instead of going right, I'm going to sell a course on landing pages. I can make it low ticket, and then there's going to be a bump offer and a couple of upsells in there as well. And then I'm going to Mack it to them. We put them in a neutral cycles that we continually continually get all this money from them, you know, when they convert. But the reality is I'm doing this transaction and if they like it, they're happy and they might buy from you again. If they don't like it, they won't buy from you again. Right. Whereas what I'm doing by giving away as much as possible for free by actually helping people and focusing on adding value to them. You don't create a transaction, you create a fan, you create somebody that goes, I've already seen how much Vince has impacted me and my business. I've already seen what he's done for me. So now I want to be a part of that world. I want to stay in that with, oh, that's a selling something now. Okay. I I'm in, oh, he's selling something else. You know what? I'm in on that as well, because they know they're going to get the value from you. Right. That there's a huge differentiation between the two. I love that. Creating a fan, creating a customer for life.  I don't know if you follow Gary V. He is of that same accord there. He believes in giving it all away for free and to just make such a following that you can't be ignored , because you're, you're helping and offering so much. She didn't align with that. We're very much in align with those values too. I definitely believe that.  It just feels good on the receiving end of that when you're the customer and when you feel good, you're more likely to pursue things further down the line, and they say it takes a lot more money to find a new customer than it does to keep the old one. I have a history of superior customer service. So that has been bred into me. So that will work. I knew this is why you and I get on so well, it's like, this is a no brainer. We're cut from the same cloth. Yeah, we really are. Um, I know one of my favorite subjects is about mindset. In your book, Chasing The Insights, you talk about the Experimental Mindset. Can you explain what that is and how it can benefit people? Yeah, sure. Well, I'll take you back to one of my previous startups. So when we launched Common Ledger, we knew this was going to be a really big deal. I was in a very well paying job at the time. My wife Leanne, was in two very well paying jobs as well. So between us, we, we had a pretty good living. We got two kids and I saw this opportunity there and my co-founder keep coming at me going Vince. I think this is big. I think this is big. So we did our market research for almost a year. Like no joke, like almost a year, we were just interviewing accountants, finding out more information about what their needs were. And the more we did this, the more we realized we can't ignore this. This is here. So I remember we have this joke Leanne, and anytime we go to a kebab shop, we've got to have a cabana. We ended up making major life decisions. So now we avoid kebabs shops, but we went to go and get a kebab. We was sitting there and I said to her, you know what? I think the time's right. There's this huge opportunity that it's going to mean six months of no income. Right, because we won't have any money to start with. We're just going to be using our own savings to pay ourselves, to make sure that, you know, we can put food on the table, but it's going to be six months before I can raise a seed round and get a million dollar in. So we can, we have a bit of roadmap. Right. Um, and she was like, oh, interesting timing. I said, why? And she goes, she was trained as early childcare teacher, but she had this passion to help people with addictions. And she was like, always kind of on the edge of going let's make the leap and go in and retrained at a later stage of life, learn this so I can help people, but all the self-doubt of, but can I learn because I hated school anyway, maybe I'm beyond the point of learning something new and she finally got into the right head space and went now's the time to do it. And it was the exact time I was leaving mine. So we were leaving all of our well-paying jobs and realize we will have absolutely no income for six months. And we thought what we're going to do this. And we did it anyway. It was a quote from her. She just turned around and said, yeah, but when did we never landed on our feet? And I went, that's a really good point. And to know where together in this, and we've got each other's back. I mean that no matter what came to us, we can always deal with this. But then you approach a company like that and you're like, right. We're building this company and we have no money, none at all. So how do we market ourselves? And I realize, yeah, I'm used to the corporate environment where you would throw money at a problem and you go, okay, I need to, I need you to throw money at this, build an audience and get ourselves out there. So we had to get really good at some guerrilla tactics and, and low cost things. And one of the things I had to do was bring in experimentation. And it was, if we're going to try something, I'm not going to throw money at it. I want to be able to try it first, see if I can prove or disprove my hypothesis. And then from there, um, if it works, we will then put more money behind it. So that was how we grew commonly that we got a massive response from there. Um, and then I started refining that. And even when I joined Cigna, I thought I'm going to bring this experimentation approach in here. But the problem with experimentation is it's great on paper, but you get in your own head. The moment you start doing experiments, you start doubting yourself and you're like, well, it's not going the way I wanted. So therefore you look for every aspect to try and prove that it worked. And you see this in marketing a lot, a lot of marketers will go, right? I'm putting a campaign out there. It fails miserably, but you don't want to admit it. So you look at every vanity metric that you can find every way to kind of prove that, Hey, this was a good idea. I'm not a complete failure. But then if they do that, they're missing the entire point of an experiment. And this is where the experimental mindset comes in because an experiment is not around success or failure. In fact, there is no failure in experiment. There is proving or disproving a hypothesis. And if you can approach not only your business, but life like this, we can go, you know what? I have a hypothesis. I'm going to test this. If it doesn't work or it doesn't, you know, if it just proves the hypothesis, then I'm just going to try something different. Uh, and just this continual kind of, um, journey of, of improvement, you know, like we call it the 1% improvement every day, 1% better, 1% better, 1% better. Um, so I realized if I'm going to be teaching people, this I'm going to be bringing them on the journey of experimentation. I need them to understand what the mindset is going to be, that they have to cultivate. So this is like building fortitude in your life. You know, knowing that things aren't necessarily going to go the way you expect and how to keep pressing in, even when you're doing that, um, how to remove your own cognitive bias, um, how to get rid of expectation, bias, clustering, illusions, confirmation, bias, all these kinds of things that affect the way we look at an experiment, but then came the biggest one, which was curiosity. And the thing I realized is the things that make experiments successful is the gold that you can extract from them, the insights that you can right now, you can drag out of them. And the only way to do that is to get insanely curious. So, and in fact, we, this is the thing that really interests me, we are born curious, like every kid, every parent knows it's like, all you ever hear from your kids is why, why, why, why, why to the point where it's really frustrating. So we're born into this world. Super curious. We want information, we want to understand things, but then it gets beaten out of us. Um, hopefully not literally beaten out of you in the sense that you get to the point where you're like, if I keep asking these questions, people are going to judge me. Or people are going to go, oh, but you should know that. Or you don't know that. Oh, well that's embarrassing. So we get fearful of actually asking questions because we think people will think, we don't know what we're doing. And so then we get less than this curious, but I'm saying it should be the counter that we should be comfortable being the dumbest person in the room. We should be comfortable going. I don't care what people think of me. I need to ask questions about this. And honestly, if you can cultivate that curiosity, not only will experimentation work, I genuinely do believe this. You will just be a better human being. Like imagine, you could get to the point where, you know, you disagree with someone politically. There's a good, good current example in the world. Right now. There's so much political division. Um, but what happens is we go, you don't agree with me, so therefore I'm shutting you out, but you don't agree with me. So I'm pushing you away rather than go. You don't agree with me. Let's find out why that is. Let's find out what your world's like, like, what are your fears? What are your concerns? What are the things that are feeding your decision process? Like why do you behave the way that you do? Why you like the things that you like, why do you side with those particular people? Because if you can get inside the head of somebody else, if you can get insanely curious about them, you remove those barriers. It's it's one of the weirdest things. We had an election over here. So we have a, we have a pretty moderate government in New Zealand. Like most people see us from a phone and they think Coke. Yeah. Cool. We've got it really good over here. We don't have much extremist politicians. We've had one who, most politicians here are actually pretty good people. We had one who was a bit of a moron, but he, uh, he's no longer a politics, some quite happy there. Uh, he was just really self-centered and, and racist, which I just do not like. Right. Um, and so for most of the part there, they're pretty good. Right? All the politicians here. But I went, I remember going to the shop and I walked into the shop and I was buying something and the guy had the radio on and the policies that we had at the time, it was one of our previous prime ministers came on and he was saying something to the gun shop goes, ah, and he turns off the radio and he goes, I hate them man, so much. And I was like, oh, have you met him? Have you. And he goes, no. I was like, oh, but how do you hate this guy? And he goes, oh, I just do. I hate him so much. And I said, why? And he gets he's so condescending. He thinks he's better than me. He always talking down and I was like, But you've never met them. Yep. So how do you think he, how do you know he thinks he's better than you are? You can just tell. And I realized at that point, you don't understand this man. I'd made our prime minister many, many times I've met most of our political posts. I trained a lot of the PR people, a lot of the marketing people that worked for government. Um, and I was like, actually, they're all pretty decent human beings. I don't understand you how you could hate somebody that you've never met before. Right. And that's when I realized there's this lack of curiosity there, because when you know someone it's very hard to then hate them, you can hate the behavior, but actually you realize that we're all human beings, we're all flawed. We all have our own insecurities and our own fears and all that kind of thing as well. So. Yeah, it does. So that was the kind of Experimental Mindset, which then rolled into a whole way of life, basically.  I do find that to be true with people. When, if you just can hold your tongue and let them speak their mind. And go in with an open mind, first of all, you'll learn something. Um, and then secondly, who knows they could change your opinion or your mindset about something. And not that that's their intention, but to at least, you know, empathy is the number one emotion that people are starved from. And just to listen to people is in itself a gift and it who knows it might impart something that you hadn't thought about before.   It  doesn't matter anymore how smart you are. It's if you can, you can be creative enough or  curious enough, you can find answers. You can find people and get things moving and solved and that kind of thing. Oh my goodness. It can, it can even go further care on it because,  if you look, there's a whole pile of studies around IQ,  and ETQ and all the different, all the different cues, there's even a CQ curiosity question. One of the things. Yeah, that's, it's the whole number or letter than Q, um, community is very divided anyway. So most of them don't agree with each other, but one thing they did find was they did a huge amount of study around young people, like in kindergarten saying play schools. And one of the things they found was. The children that were more curious in the class to coach children to ask more questions, their IQ tended to be higher than the other kids in the class. So IQ, it's a flawed method, but it's basically just a measure of intelligence, a measure of your way of problem solving, like your ability to be problem-solve. Yeah. So, what they discovered was they, they found this connection between the two. Now it's not causative. They're not saying that if you're curious, you're going to be more intelligent. And they're not saying if you're more intelligent, you're going to be more curious. But what they said is this co this correlative link between the two things. Now, one of the things we know is you can't really increase your IQ. You kind of can, and that you can keep training your brain and training your brain. But the reality is it's very hard to increase your IQ. That there's your problem solving ability. Right? However, we do know that you can increase your curiosity. Yeah. So at a base level, if you go, and like, if you just start asking questions about everything, have you started just getting insanely curious and getting past this whole fear we have of being judged, then you can increase your curiosity. Now, if you, if we know that there's this correlative link between curiosity and intelligence. And we know that it's hard to increase the intelligence, but easy to increase your curiosity. Why wouldn't you want to do that? It makes you smarter. That's what I'm trying to say. Like it's not causative, but it will increase your, like, it'll increase your IQ. There's also a study at there's called the marshmallow study. I don't know if you've ever heard of that. And they took the kids and they made the kids who delayed eating the marshmallows, got two versus one. And they, they found later in life, the kids who were patient enough, who, who could wait for their reward, ended up doing much better in life, just because of their personality and disposition.  I know during our Home office Hackathon, you'll be speaking on the term Imposter Syndrome.  How would you define that? Well, basically, if you're an entrepreneur, you probably have it. So imposter syndrome is that feeling that, that, that kind of fear of being exposed and the sense of, um, you think that everyone's going to see through you, everyone's going to realize you have no idea what you're doing and they're going to call you on it. Like there's fear of being judged. Um, and there's studies studies are kind of showing, I don't know when they'd coined the term. I remember the research piece by, it can be what year it was, but there was a study into particularly high-performing woman. And how they perceive themselves. And, and I hope our research has been done around, you know, like if you, you know, if you're a person that suffers from imposter syndrome and something good happens to you, you think it's coincidental versus somebody who just blindly goes into things that something good happens, you go, yeah, that must be because of my own ability. So it's that sense of that feeling that you're going to be called out that sense and feeling you don't belong, that you're getting recognition, you don't deserve. Uh, and what the research has shown is I think it's a minimum of 72% of humans deal with imposter syndrome at some point in their life. Right that 72%. But when you boil that down into  subsections like, like entrepreneurs, for example, that number is basically 99%. And the 1% of sociopath, we don't really care about them. Amanda sociopath. Cause I definitely went through this myself and I.  You know, I pivoted a few times and it was definitely that imposter syndrome is you start having those negative conversations in your head yesterday, I spoke to someone and then they called it the monkeys in your mind. And I'm like, yeah, that's, that's pretty much it. Yeah, it really is. Yeah. But for me, what cured it for me was that they said that everyone has a unique message and that your customer needs to hear your message said in your way, because it'll align with them directly. And that's exactly what they need to hear at that time. So I never really thought about it like that. That before. And that really helped me get over that and give me enough courage to say, to take it on, but it is, I do find it's it's especially an entrepreneur's term. Um, but I think a lot of people do do have that. I have children who are all going out into the adulting world, getting the big girl jobs, and I'm sure I know my nurses. Daughter. I, I know she feels this because the COVID has eliminated a lot of her practical studies, so I'm sure she's feeling this.  Okay, Vince,  that was fantastic. Um, I would like to know one last question. My signature question. If there is one thing in this world that you could eliminate forever, what would it be and why? And it doesn't have to relate to anything we talked about. I was going to say calories so I could eat what I want, but I'm going to go with that one. Yeah. Um, for me it would be, and this is going to sound so cliche, but it'll be division. And this goes back to the curiosity thing I talked about. Um, one of the things that we like, the world that we live in now, it's just so heightened compared to what I grew up with. You know, like in my day, when you were younger, if you disagreed with somebody, you couldn't go online and do that. Cause we didn't have online. You actually had to have a conversation and you were in a group of people. And if you disagreed, you would get counter views, you would get people, you basically had a conversation and you could disagree with someone and still be friends with them. You can disagree with someone and still hang out with them and everything. It just means you disagreed. Um, but in this day and age, what we've had, what we have now is we have all these bubbles. We live in these little, little, you know, kind of, um, areas where we just hear from other people like us, these little echo chambers. So I want to eliminate those echo chambers. I want to just get us back to having been able to have a civil conversation. So in other words, a conversation with somebody disagrees with you, but you can actually learn more about them. And a good example of this for me is, so this is why I talk a lot about curiosity, Carolyn, I'm really, really big on making sure you understand why people do what they do. And for me, the best example of this was growing up. So as I said, I grew up in abuse. I grew up in an abusive household, um, for that. So for me, school was a happy place. It was the place I would escape to cause, uh, you know, you wouldn't get beaten at school. So that was a good thing. But then at age 11, I discovered I went to what we call an intermediate school. So it's like a transitional school for two years before you go off to high school. And I'm like, right. Okay. I get there. And I discovered something I'd never seen at school before a bully. And I'm like, okay. And this guy made my life hell for two years. For two years of my life, I had a bully at home. I had a bully at school, so I had no safe space whatsoever. I was just anxious, Rick. And then we got to, you know, bout to turn age 13 and we're going off to high school and the got the best news ever. He was going to a different high school to me. I was like, yes, I'm free. This is going to be awesome. So, so we parted ways. He went to his high school. I went to mine. Uh, and at that point I decided I'm sick of being a victim. I'm sick of people being able to abuse me and being able to, you know, hurt me. So I learned martial arts and boxing. I kind of threw myself into this. I studied non-stop every day for years and we got to the last year of high school before we go off to university. And yeah. Uh, I know I found out something, he got transferred to our school, so he got transferred from his school to ours and I'm like, oh my goodness. Now I grew up on 80 movies. I grew up on all these things where, you know, there's the underdog and Sunday, he comes down at the top and everyone's cheering. Yeah. It was like, this is going to be the moment I've been waiting for late. I'm going to finally not be the victim. I'm going to come out on top. Um, so I built this up in my mind and I saw him walk past me one day and night. Here's the opportunity. So yelled his name. Few explosives in there as well. We were, you know, we were teenagers, uh, and then he turned around, he did what he normally did. He turned around his struts over to me and he took a swing, but this time he missed and then he took another swing and I'm like, ah, he must again, in my mind, it's this eighties movie playing out, you know? Exactly. So finally I thought I'm going to end this bam. And I hit him and he went down and he went out like a light. And I'm just so anxious now going yep. Here it comes here, comes this elated, feeling nothing. Actually, I don't feel good at all. And I'm like, what just happened? I don't, I don't understand this. You know, like every movie lied to me essentially, but I ended up in the principal's office, which is what happened when you fight, you know? And the principal pulled me aside and he look Vince, do you know why he got transferred to our school? And you know, I'm, I'm a 17 year old trying to be cool. And I'm like, oh, thank you. I thank you. And he goes, well, you should care. And then he told me his story and he said, this boy had been abused since he was a baby. Like his father had beaten him and his sister and the mother consistently for years and years and years. And it got so bad. It got to the point where the father beat the mother so badly. She actually passed away in front of the kids. So basically they saw their dad murdered the mum. And at that point, I'm not feeling great by the way. Um, and then he said, so what's happened is the founder's going to jail. Rightfully so. And the kids have been put into the care of their auntie and uncle, which is why they're now coming here. And I said, yeah, but I didn't know that. And the principal said, yeah, I wouldn't expect you to, but I would have thought of all the people that would understand what he's gone through. You would have been the one. And that was the point where I realized. Um, I wasn't the hero in this story at all. I was the, I was the bad guy. I was the one person that had the opportunity to try and understand him, understand where he's coming from. And it may never have worked. I may have gone on-site him. And he still tried to beat me up, you know, but the reality is I could have made an impact on this guy's life and I didn't. Okay. I need to, first of all, I need to stop watching eighties movies. They all lie to us. They're rubbish. Like any movie that tells you the victim comes out on top by beating the other person, is wrong? Yeah. But it also made me realize I need to get so insanely curious about people. I need to get closer to people. Not further away. I need to try and understand why they're doing what they're doing, because we are all the same. Right. Everyone's one stupid decision away from doing something dumb, but everyone's insecure. Everyone's flawed. We're just these human beings, these meat sacks on this world that are completely utterly flawed. So why not actually like help each other rather than just create division? It's a choice, right? It's truly a conscious choice. I listened to a lot of , podcasts  and I heard, I remember exactly where it was, I was literally rounding the corner to pull in the driveway where I work. And they said, no matter what the person is doing at the time, whether it's beating their child or doing something terribly wrong, they're literally doing the best that they can do because of the events in their life, the circumstances, how their mind has been programmed. And I stopped and thought about that. And it was a very empathetic way to think about that for somebody, but it, it made you appreciate the differences out there and made you stop and say, don't judge others because you haven't walked their path. Well, you were really young, that's an incredible story. And I absolutely love that. All right. Tell us where our listeners can get ahold of you.   And. Oh, man. I, I make it super easy. So,  everything is at the one place. Just go to chasing the insights.com. It's the home of my podcasts, where I have amazing guests like Caroline, funny enough. Um, but it's also,  where I have my book and where you can find me on all social media platforms. So everyone can connect with me. Just connect with me everywhere. Like seriously, I never turned people down unless you spam me. Then block. Yeah. But generally connect with me on social, but also on chasingtheinsights.com. You'll see , like I said before, I like to give away stuff for free. I like to help people as much as I can. So you've got the option on there to book a free strategy call with me where I'll give you a huge amount of clarity over any marketing issue and any entrepreneurial issue that you're struggling with. Um, don't struggle alone. There's a whole pile of people in this world that genuinely want you to succeed. I know Carolyn's one of those, I'm one of those. So, so jump on a free strategy call and I will help you get that clarity. You are just an inspiration and I am just so, so happy and thrilled that you have crossed my path and I get to continue my entrepreneurial journey with you. I absolutely love spending every minute of this podcast with you. Um, and I hope our listeners reach out. I will absolutely put that contact information in the show notes and I can't wait to continue to work with you. And I thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything that you have offered already. Um, it's been invaluable. You've been so patient with me and given so much already, and this is just the beginning, so that's fantastic. And I do, I greatly appreciate it. Lastly, I just remind our listeners to remember that "Life has no remote so get up and change it yourself." I love that. 

Growthspire.co On the vitality feed we have Kanwal Jehan and she is the founder of GrowthSpire. Growthsprire is a holistic wellness education company that focuses on holistic healing, coaching, and inspiring transformation through self-love. Her services include meditation, breathework, holistic healing, transformational, and meditation coaching. I'm thrilled to have her here. She is such a beautiful person inside and out welcome. Kanwal. How are you today? I am wonderful. Thank you Caroline. For having me today. I'm so excited to be talking all things, holistic healing and meditation. I'm really, really excited to be here.  Thank you for inviting me to speak and to have a wonderful discussion with you, on the vitality feed. Oh, it's my pleasure. Um, so there's a lot of questions out there and I think there's a lot of confusion out there. And I was hoping today we can kind of debunk some of the myths and the beliefs that people have about maybe meditation being so difficult and hopefully giving people a little inspiration to get this practice into their life. One of my initial factors for having you on the show was that all the people that I ever have studied, that I feel have been successful, not necessarily in business, but just successful in life, have all had that foundation. So it's really important to me. I do it every morning and I would love to get a little more clarification. There's a lot of questions out there. And one of them that I thought was relevant was how do you find the time to meditate? And there's there a specific time you should. That's a great question. Well, what is a great time to meditate or ,is there even time to meditate are some of the questions that a lot of people will have, and when they're really starting to, like, let's say you get to know about meditation and someone tells your care, meditation's relaxing is really good to reduce stress levels and you'll get excited. You're like, okay, I want to do this thing, but then you don't know how to get started. It's  highly recommended that you do it in the morning, in the morning hours, right after you wake up. And if you have a yoga practice in your morning ritual , it's recommended to do it in those early morning hours. One of the teachers, um, this is Yogi and mystic that I follow Sadhguru. Uh, he highly recommends that in the morning times of that 6:00 AM 7:00 AM, but if you can't wake up for that, like that's okay. But if you wake up early anyway, why not do  five 10 minutes to get, to see where, um, what state you're in when you make up. Because our mind, the minute you wake up, it starts rushing. It starts doing these things that it has been doing for so long. And we just don't know how to, uh, really calm it down. So you could wake up in chaos from the dreams that you have had from the nightmares that you have had, or from the things that you slept with. And so really there actually is no better. Like, like best or worst time to meditate. You can meditate at any time. Um, but highly recommended to do it in those early morning hours, because then it sets you up for your day in a very nice way, in a smooth way where you can feel,  grounded. You can feel that sense of connecting to nature. That sense of being a little bit more integrated in yourself. It's better to do it at any time, then not do it at all , but I also do it in the morning in that alpha stage, as soon as my eyes open. It's the very first thing I do. I think it's a lot more calming because your brain, like you said, hasn't had a chance to rev up and start thinking about 8 million things that you need to do during the day. What positions would you say, I know I do mine in probably the most bizarre one out there , but is there a better position to meditate? So I think just traditionally, it has been recommended and it's beautiful to actually I sit in the cross-legged position, keeping your spine straight. So anyone who might not be able to sit in a cross-legged position and by cross-legged, I mean, that Lotus position that we see that so many,  meditation or yoga practitioners do so beautifully. , if you can't do that, just keeping your spine street and keeping your chin a little bit down is the way to do it. So if you have. , sensations in the body or any injuries and you can't sit on the ground and it's extremely uncomfortable because of an injury or an accident. You can sit in a chair and keep your spine straight your feet on the floor. And that's super simple, but if you want to sit in the most traditional yoga posture and that often. Um, they'll all just all this teachers and the way monks do it, then, then to sit in the cross-legged position, and just going into that stillness and into that calmness. Yeah. I think if there's parents out there, if you have children, I think they call that the pretzel position. Oh, very cool. All right, what happens if you're in the middle of a meditation and you start to fall asleep, any suggestions? In the beginning of your practice, in your meditation journey, trying to get into it, just allow yourself the first couple of times to let that feeling sink in and just allow it to. Go and fall asleep if needed and see how that feels, where vs when you actually stay awake throughout the five or 10 or 15 minute meditation, and you'll see the difference that when you truly meditate, what we're actually trying to do is we're going inward. We're just listening to the thoughts, the feelings and the sensations, and we're being in the seat of the observer and the seat of the witness. So, if you fall asleep, you're not witnessing anything, you are falling asleep and that's also relaxing.  But that doesn't actually show you what's happening within your mind within what's happening in your body and it just is happening as a result of the first couple of times because your body is relaxing. So what you want to do throughout your five to 10 minutes meditation, even the briefest ones, even two minutes is just to breathe in and out, breathe in and out. And what that does it, you bring your focus and awareness to the breath. And as you do that more, you actually don't fall asleep. Then you truly fall into this beautiful place of, um, just relaxation. And then you actually want to be there and you actually no longer want to fall asleep. That sounds very lovely. Does meditation actually improve your health? Absolutely. So meditation is known to raise your awareness. You know, raise your awareness levels and self-awareness, uh, it helps to bring you into the present moment. So imagine if you're thinking of things in the past and the future, you indulge in worry and stress and anxiety. And a lot of people fall into depression. Let's say you're in college and you're getting started or you're a founder of a company or a startup, right or they can entrepreneur and there's just a lot of stress. A lot of responsibilities are not just professional, but personal as well. What it's doing is it's just trying to bring you back into this present space and you can actually , become more aware. So it improves memory, it improves your concentration, your imagination, your creativity. That's how it's improving your health. It's increasing your patients and your tolerance levels. So imagine if you're on a go, go, go, go, go. And you don't know how to balance yourself or ground yourself. Um, How beautiful is it that meditation can increase your patient's levels and tolerance levels. And one of the biggest things that has been said, and scientifically proven, even it actually, uh, it helps you manage with stress reduction. So it builds the skills and this memory muscle, um, to reduce, um, stress and anxiety. So, what you're telling me, is that I need to meditate more, totally need to meditate more. I think I have an extend my time because patients and memory and stress, this all things, I have good stress and there's a difference.  I need to change my morning habit a little bit. One of the other questions that I had was how do you deal with a lack of focus? Yeah. So lack of focus comes from when you are a little, all over the place, you have a lot of things on your plate. There's a lot of stuff happening and it can come from a place of that. Not being clear on what you want and what you need. So in a meditation, a what. In order to, you know, get the focus back or concentrate. What we do is we tap into the senses. So hearing listening, smelling, what does it feel like, tasting. So getting in touch with your senses, helps you to focus.  When we first do meditations,  even the first two, five minutes ones with any teachers, you will see that they get you to focus on different parts of your body. And that focus really also means raising a level of awareness. So when you actually start to focus on different parts of the body, you just hone in on that area.  What it does is that then there is no way for you to have a lack of focus on anything or distracted. You are focused on your third eye. You're focused in your heart center. You're focused in your belly and you get to watch what is happening . If you're like a founder or an entrepreneur, or which a lot of us are, we can get into this state of procrastination and the state of like, Ooh, like I have to do more and more and more. And then you actually lose focus on the most prioritized items in your life. And in order to do that is to just concentrate on one thing at a time, whether that is, in your meditation when you go inwards or that is when you go outwards externally, your eyes are open and you're living the life that you're living. That is such good advice because being focused, you get so much more done and faster.  That's it an interesting concept , when you focus through your meditation, you can bring that same discipline outside of that and utilize that in the rest of your life to behoove you as well. I love that. Can we do a little meditation? Would you mind? I would absolutely love, love to lead you all through a meditation. Okay. I will hand it over to you whenever you're ready.   So when you're ready, what I'd love for you to do right now is to find a comfortable position, whether it is cross-legged or you're sitting on a chair, keep your spine straight your feet on the floor. And when you're ready, close your eyes and take a long, deep breath in, fill up your belly, fill up your lungs and fill up your chest. An exhale from the mouth, releasing everything you don't need. Fill up the belly again, inhale the lungs and the chest and exhale from the mouth. Let's do it one more time. Inhale through your nostrils, filling up the belly. The lungs and your chest taking in the air and exhaling through your mouth. Just taking a moment now to arrive here in this space, going inward, coming into this present moment. Breathing in, through the nose and breathing out . Our focus is simply on the breath. Breathing  in through the nose and breathing out, take a few more moments as you just bring your focus and your awareness to your breath, breathing in and breathing out. Beautiful. Continue at your own pace. Remember there's nowhere to be, and there's nothing else to do. Right now, you're here in the present moment in your most internal sacred space, connecting with the most important thing, your breath. So focus on your breathing, breathe in and breathe out. In and out through the nostrils, beautiful, Bring your focus and awareness to your belly. And as you inhale, watch your belly rises. Then as you exhale, watch your belly faults inhale again and watch your belly is rising. The next Halen, watch your belly is falling to this for a few more moments. Good focus is on your belly. Your awareness is in your belly. Relax your belly, relax your internal organs, your liver, your kidney. Just relax. Breathe in and watch the rising to the belly and the falling, with every exhale as you do this. Your body is relaxing. And now just offering gratitude For this practice and when you're ready, you can open up your eyes, come back into the space That was very relaxing and refreshing. And I definitely learned things that , I don't think I've been doing, as clearly as I should with my breath work. We all focus on food. We focus on water. We focus on exercise. How long can you sustain yourself without breath? But food is days and water is also, you know, uh, such a long time, but we don't focus enough on breath, and it should be on the priority list, because like I said, we focus on all those other aspects, which obviously isn't as important to our bodies since we need breath first and foremost. So thank you so much. That was really cool. I always ask everybody my little signature question.  If there's one thing that you can eliminate from the world, what would it be and why? For me, I care about the youth. And I care so much about feeding the children. And so we have, around the world, millions of children who are homeless and who live in poverty and who don't have, who don't have, you know, the basic necessities of life. And so for me, what's so important and so close to my heart is to get these children off the street and for them to be fed for them to have the education that they need and deserve . And so. Eliminate poverty, eliminate the hunger. What is important for me is if I could, do any through the efforts that I'm launching now and in the near future is to add on to this area, to get our children off the street and to give them homes, to give them food, give them shelter, give them education, gives them every single thing that they deserve, uh, because they're worthy and they're loving. I'm doing it already, but I'd love to do it on a much, much bigger scale and leave a huge impact. That that was beautiful. Um, couple of things with that, Tony Robbins, I know is huge into feeding people and he has a mass mission, and I know he's fed millions, on a personal proud parent moment here. I'm going to brag, my daughter,  it was during, I'm not sure if it was hurricane Katrina. It was one of the hurricanes in the United States. She saw the news that was disturbing to her about all the people who needed food. And she asked if we could do a food drive little did I know what I was venturing into? Um, and I said, yes. Um, and it got very big. And in fact, she held the record for the Salvation Army for the single largest donation of food in their history. She was written up in the Atlanta. Journal Constitution , as well as the Washington Post.  And I had her articles framed.  It was really neat. But we made many trips. Filled my big suburban many times it was, it was really awesome. But I agree with you, that is such a bare necessity. Like breathing people don't think about it and we waste so much food. Yes. We're taking a lot for granted and like you had already. I want you to agree with you on how breath is taken for granted and how, how breath is so important. It's so vital to our living that it's so important. So consequential, and that if we were to focus on this every day in and out, we weren't actually see that we get to be grateful for a lot of things. Uh, and yeah. What, what a beautiful job like your daughter taking on this project and caring and wanting to make an impact at such a young age. Uh, so the future looks bright, not just for her, but for children, um, even younger than her. Show compassion! I love that.  Where can our amazing listeners connect with you? And I will also include this information in the show notes. They can connect with me on my website, on Instagram, Facebook we're on YouTube and LinkedIn. So you can just look us up on Growthspire, G R OW T H S P I R E and you will find us and we'd love to connect with you. We'd love to help you on your journey. We'd love to get you to connect with your breath and find that relaxing, calm, peaceful states that maybe you have been looking for for so long. And it's so easy you to get, there are only a few allow and only if you're open to it. Thank you for coming today on the vitality feed and I know you're in Thailand,  we've had some weather issues, but we've gotten through this. . And I really appreciate you. And,  like I said, you're such a wonderful person. And I'm so glad that I have met you and get to share this journey with you. Kanwal and I are going to be working together in my three-day summit in July. It's called the Home Office Hackathon and it'll be focused on optimizing YOU  and your productivity. We promise to deliver some much needed tools, including meditation and resources. That'll help you in this challenging space that many of you are in. So thank you so much to my listeners who are all over the globe. It means the world to me to have you tune in. And until next time my friends, "Remember life has no remote. Get up and change it yourself". 

Hello today, I'm the Vitality Feed. We have such an amazing entrepreneur. Her name is coach Tiffany Taylor, and she specializes in productivity hacks for entrepreneurs. Originally she's from Miami beach, Florida, but she has an incredible journey to share as she has traveled the world . She's totally my idol in this area because that takes some serious courage. I am really honored to have Tiffany also as a speaker at my home office hackathons summit in this coming July, she is an outstanding person, thoughtful and tremendously giving . I can't wait to share her story and wisdom with you. Are you ready to increase your productivity, please welcome coach Tiffany. Thank you so much for having me. I'm so excited to be here. Me too. First of all, I love the whole concept of productivity and time management.  Did this a little background about yourself and how you have traveled the world? Yeah. So actually I traveled my first time abroad when I was 16, when I was just old enough to get my passport. And  I took a trip to Italy. That was absolutely life-changing. It was my first time seeing, you know, a civilization of people where they didn't have experience stress on a day-to-day basis. Whereas in the States, everyone's, you know, we're running around trying to do all these things. And in Italy, they're all piano, piano, relax, you know, eat three, five course meals a day. It was just such a, it was a crazy experience for me. And after that I was pretty hooked and I knew I wanted to travel. So I ended up moving to Italy on my 19th birthday, but through those series of,  I don't want to say unfortunate, but unexpected events. I ended up not getting to stay in Italy and that prompted my trip to see 20 countries before turning 20 and now world travel is really just kind of, it's a part of me. It's a piece of me and it's really made me a lot of who I am today. Is so crazy and I'm so jealous. , ah, Who does that? I mean, before you're 20, that's amazing. That's more like a retirement journey, 20 year old journey, but I'm sure you've learned so much from all of that traveling and the culture. Tell us a little bit about, um, how you've gotten started in your entrepreneurial journey and coaching in productivity, specially. Right. So when I learned about traveling, the world is one, I love people. I've I really love people. And I love going deep with people and having those deeper conversations, something I really appreciated about traveling alone around the world was that when you met someone, it wasn't casual small talk because someone's in a rush to go somewhere. You would meet someone for the first time and you would. Get to know their whole life story and everything that's happened to them and everything they've done with their life. And it was just such an intimate way to understand the human condition. And in the end of the day, you learned that we are all one in the same and how we think. Very few differences separate us. That's beautiful and that is really a nice thing people love that they enjoy that. Especially now. So that's really neat. But go ahead. I'm sorry. I was just . So, I mean, that's helped me a lot about people. And then when I met, I always wanted to do some sort of motivational speaking or something. I just didn't know what the avenue or I guess the niche would be. And I just kind of let that simmer. And then I met my first life coach when I moved back to Miami after traveling and I was like, wow. I was just mesmerized. Like, wow, she gets paid for this. That's so cool. So , you know, in my mind from that day, I definitely wanted to be a coach. I didn't know what coaching was before that pretty much. Um, and from there it was, I still have on my first YouTube videos, I have all the post-it notes in my wall behind me of what a coaching business model looked like. And that was four years ago that I was working it out.  I just really took my time on building the foundation and making sure of exactly what it is I wanted before I executed. And that's something I was able to do. While working full-time in corporate and collecting a lot of experience, experience and marketing experience and sales experience, logistics, you know, all the things that are going to help really propel me forward when I did start off as an entrepreneur, but productivity comes in because I was diagnosed ADHD. And it's one of those things that usually those two aren't good together, but because I've had to work so hard at it, I've really accumulated a lot of. Different techniques, tools and mechanisms, and just really all the industry standards that come second nature to me now. And I recognized that a lot of people end up coming to me, asking me for help with this stuff anyways. And it's just so natural to me, it was kind of under my nose the whole time, always trying to sort out what kind of coaching I wanted to do. So it was very smart though, that first you got your feet wet in the corporate world, took all those learnings and then took your passion. And then took your mess and made it your message. And now you're helping so many people better themselves. What's a couple of things that most people sabotage themselves with for productivity. What are the productivity killers? What's the most common ones. Okay. So productivity killers are basically all of the symptoms that we try to change. So some of the really common ones are imposter syndrome. I think it's around 75% of entrepreneurs face this. I don't want to be perfectionism. The one to be procrastination. I have a few different types. Distraction would be another one. And there's different ones that have different names and some are different each person, but those are the main things that would be based on productivity killers. Like the behavior that blocks you from doing what you need to do. That's an awesome definition. It's funny the perfection one, I definitely suffered from that for a lot of years and I worked in a facility for eight years where that was everyday normal.  And now I'm in a program that is not like that. They're just like, get the ball rolling and tweak as you go along. And it's really hard to change. I'm struggling a little bit going to be honest there. Uh, it's not the easiest to change that habit, but, it makes more sense to do it the other other way, because it can be self sabotaging to try to get things perfect. So there's a difference there as well when you're shifting from being an employee to being an entrepreneur, because when you're an employee, that's rewarded, when you're a perfectionist, you get a reward from that and you get kind of like a negative association. If you make any sort of mistake as an employee. Whereas if you're an entrepreneur, you have more of a risk by making it perfect because it means it's coming at a cost of something else. So I think that's also a shift when you're moving from employee mindset to entrepreneurship mindset as well. That's a perfect word, a cost because it truly is some something else is diminishing in place of making progress.  And, it's usually time because it takes so much more time and you tweak things and change things and pivot things. And you could do that forever. Endlessly. I did that with my first funnel and it's still not anything like, but I'm proud of myself for sticking it out there.  Okay. It's not perfect. Then you still did it anyway.  I completely understand that. I know you also talk about like energy and your mindset. Can you talk a little bit about those? Oh, definitely. So whenever I go to work with clients on productivity, it's kind of like a three-part system, but a lot of clients come to me saying I want to be more productive. So I need, a calendar and a planning system and time management. Right. And I always think that's so interesting because  the first thing that you do with productivity is you work on mindset and it's what is causing the behaviors, right? So that's a mindset is the first thing. And the second thing is looking at your energy because a lot of times what I find with clients and potential clients is that the come to me operating at maybe, maybe they start the day with only 60% charge and their battery for the day. And they want to make the most of that 60%. Whereas when I work with clients who said, no, we're going to get you some that 60% to at least 90 to a hundred percent. When you wake up, then we can start optimizing when you have a hundred percent of your energy. So really it's taking a step back and looking at the foundation of things, mindset and energy management will always come first before the technical stuff, when it comes to prioritizing or doing task and time management. I couldn't agree more. My, I agree with the mindset, especially because that's what I also tell my clients that for health and for change, it's all about mindset first, because if you don't have the right conversation going between your own ears, correct. Then it's, it's not going to work. Mindset is key no matter what you're trying to change, which is kind of a neat concept, whether it's health or productivity. First, you need to have a better conversation with yourself. Absolutely. I mean, I love that analogy and to bring it back to productivity,  when it comes to associations, one of the biggest associations, I see that kind of really stumps people and gets in the way of their growth and their transformation is I see a lot of times people associate productivity with high stress. I'm really productive if I'm highly stressed and it will be a subconscious association. So if someone's, you know, getting work done and they're making progress, if they don't feel stressed, they say they don't feel productive. And they'll actually work in overdrive and compensate to get to the point where they're feeling stressed so that they can also get the pride of saying that they're productive. That is so interesting. Wow. Okay. That is kind of like the concept that I've been focusing on a little bit about, are you busy or are you productive? Cause lots of people, it's almost like bragging rights that you're busy. But that doesn't necessarily mean a good thing. It doesn't correlate to good.  You could be rocking in a rocking chair a hundred miles an hour, but you're not really going anywhere.  I love that. What is something that you can recommend that maybe you can start people with the mindset. With mindset. I would just say most people I've met don't have enough self-awareness to see exactly what their challenges are. And it's really hard to make any progress towards anything or make any changes if you don't know what needs to be adjusted. So I would say one tip is if your example, you're finding yourself procrastinating or you're finding perfectionism coming up. Going deeper and saying, why is this showing up for me? What does this remind me of? What am I avoiding thinking about right now? Why is this overwhelming me? It going a step deeper and going to the root will have the most impact, you know, across any sort of time management, energy management, anything the most impact for you is going to come from getting to the root of what's causing that behavior. Don't do the typical thing and try to just change the behavior on his own. Don't look at yourself and say, I'm a procrastinator, but I'm going to force myself to work right now because you're always that resistance is going to come back to bite you or it'll show up as something else. Have you ever heard of the book eat that frog? It's a very cool concept and it's basically like take the ugliest objective you have for the day and do it first. Do you think that's a help? I would say it very much depends on the person. And I think that's the biggest challenge with all productivity books and courses is that they try to just have one system that works for everyone.  To me, that's like asking me what I think about the miracle morning that everyone should wake up at five or 6:00 AM and have that routine. Like, it's great in theory, but in practice, Everyone has different circumstances. So I don't want to hold one thing like this is the Holy grail of how to be more productive because it really depends.  A good example is like time zones can play a good part of that. Like personally, I, the first thing I do in the morning, my client calls start at 6:00 AM. And sometimes because the new time zone change, my last client call will end at 10:00 PM and I only have a short windows where I'm able to work. So it was waking up at 4:00 AM and doing a whole routine, you know, before it could be optimal for me. Absolutely not.  I use a different strategy, where I look at tasks, uphill tasks and downhill tasks. So the tasks that are take the most focused and intense energy, and then staggering those with the kind of like. Mindless tasks that are really easy to do and stagger it kind of uphill, downhill, uphill, downhill. That way it sustains my energy. I love the idea that you said that it's not a box, a box system for everybody that you have to go with their personality. And it's the same thing with health too, but some people want to lose 20 pounds, you know, like really quick. And other people, most people I find is more of a slow process to keep things sustainable. But I agree with you, you have to work with personality because the box system doesn't work for anything for productivity, for health, or just about anything you can name. Really good information uphill and down. I've never heard anybody say that before. , The other think about is  as well as like the natural circadian rhythm and just how different people are. Not everybody wakes up fully alert, first thing. Right? So just being mindful, this is where energy management comes in being mindful of when you have peak energy throughout the day and what you're doing. Cortisol cycle naturally looks like day to day. You know, the hardest task should be paired with whatever time you have the most energy. If you, if you wake up and you ready to start working at 7:00 AM, but you don't have the most energy until nine, it makes more sense to do something easier, seven to nine, and then saving that hardest task for when you know, you're going to have the most amount of energy That is so smart, it makes so much sense. I could see where if you utilize a concept like that, you would absolutely be more productive because otherwise you're fighting yourself.  I thank you so much for all your wisdom. Um, tell me one thing, if you could eliminate it from the world, what would it be and why something intangible, tangible, not related to this necessarily. I would take away, um, I would take away pain. I would say, I'll take the edge off of pain so that people are able to see, you know, whatever situation circumstance, you don't life situation, nice scenario, and look at it objectively and in a way where they can start leading with more kindness and compassion towards others rather than taking everything. So personally, I think that's a global issue. And I think if we could do that and we change and shift a lot of things around the world, everyone would, should just, all of a sudden started leading with kindness and compassion. More mental pain than physical pain. Right, right, right, right. Okay. Not, not all great thing. You know, growth comes from pain. Everyone needs to experience. It always has an out. So I would say the edge to where people hold on to it. To the point where everything is like personalized and subjective and you don't spiteful and anything like that, anything that would take away someone's ability to be kind or compassionate towards others. Boy  can we all use a little more kindness and compassion these days? We're in a crazy world right now and there's not enough. There's not enough connection. I recently heard somebody on a podcast say that, she gives an hour of her time every week for free to somebody who just needs help.  That's a beautiful thought, cause we all could use that kind of kindness. I want listeners how they can get ahold of you, your contact information, and I'll be happy to also share that in our show notes. Oh, thank you. So the best way to get in touch with me would be either LinkedIn or Instagram, either way. It would be  coach, Tiffany Taylor. So linkedin.com/coach Tiffany Taylor,  facebook.com/coach, Tiffany Taylor, and same thing, instagram.com/coach Tiffany Taylor. Okay. Consistency. I love it. Well, thank you so much to our listeners for listening and thank you, Tiffany, for sharing your story. It's very inspiring.  I'm going to be a traveler that's why I'm doing this laptop life. I want to be just like you. Um, remember that life has no remote to get up and change it yourself.