124//Do you Keep Getting Told Your Labs Are Normal - Here’s What to Do About It!

What To Do If Your Labs Are Normal Mini Course

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AUDIO TRANSCRIPTION

(00:02):

Hello, you guys. Welcome back. Today we are gonna be talking about blood work, <laugh>. So in the previous podcast I briefly mentioned or spoke about the importance of getting blood work done and how I recommend doing blood work every six months to a year, depending on a few things. So if you didn't listen to the last episode, I recommend getting your yearly checkup and, you know, getting your annual, annual labs, your CBCs, you're looking at your liver, all of those things. But if you're on thyroid medication every six months to just make sure and evaluate that things are going really, really well. So in today's episode, I wanted to talk a little bit more about labs and the importance of your labs <laugh> as well as how to evaluate functional labs versus conventional labs and what to do if your labs are getting are, are normal and you ge getting told that everything is normal. And just some, just some other things that I think is really important. Now I'm gonna give you guys a brief overview of these things, but if you want to join our course, what to do if your labs are normal, I suggest heading over to the show notes and checking that out.

(01:51):

Welcome back to the Thriving Thyroid Podcast, where we choose to become empowered patients and take our health into our own hands. Hi, I'm Shannon Hansen, a Christian entrepreneur, a mom of three. And after dealing with my own health mysteries, I made it my mission to learn everything I could about the thyroid. I soon became certified as a holistic wellness practitioner, a functional nutrition practitioner, and a functional diagnostic practitioner. And so much more after that, I founded the Revolutionary Thyroid Program, the Handsome Method. As a health professional and a mom, I fully understand the importance of having a fun, simple, and sustainable plan for achieving a responsive thyroid. So I share actionable and practical strategies for developing a responsive thyroid so that the ambitious moms and women can gain freedom from fatigue and lose the thyroid weight once and for all. Each week I will be here for you, along with my guest experts. We will be sharing simple and

(02:58):

Tangible tips that

(03:00):

Work for not only your thyroid, your hormones, your family, and your mindset, so that you can get back to living the life that you envisioned for yourself. Welcome to the Thriving Thyroid Podcast.

(03:12):

All right, you guys. Welcome back to the Thriving Thyroid Podcast. We're talking about what to do if your labs are normal. And I wanna share just a quick background to my story. I feel like it's been a while since I've done that. So having thyroid imbalances can be very, very difficult to navigate, especially when your doctors or your physicians or your natural paths are telling you that everything is normal and that just normal things in your life are affecting it. You're a mom, you're a teacher, you're, you're busy, you're a caregiver, you're a woman, you're a menopausal, whatever it is. All of these things have been, quote unquote, normalized by society. And let me give you an example. So I was on the phone earlier this week with someone who was interested in learning more about the program. We were talking and she's like, you know, I, I asked her something about, well, how's your sleep?

(04:11):

And she's like, oh, my sleep's great. You know, I just only wake up at night when I have to pee. And I was like, well, how many times a night are you waking up? And you know, what times are you waking up? Tell me more about that. And it turns out she's waking up usually one to two times a night, which is quote unquote normal for her age. And she's like, you know, I get up, go to the bathroom, and I go back to sleep. And as we were talking about this, I sh wanted to share with her some just valuable information. And that may be normal to wake up talking to your friends who are perimenopausal postmenopausal. Waking up in the middle of the night to pee is quote unquote normal. However, it's not that's a sign or a symptom that your body is out of balance, especially the time of night that she was most likely waking up.

(05:09):

She said she didn't always look at the clock, which is fine, but she's, she said it was around maybe two, three o'clock in the morning. Well, during that period of time, that is when our liver is trying to detoxify. And so if our body doesn't have what it needs, it's going to try to search it out and it will wake us up. It will, you know, whatever. This is also a really big sign if you're waking up in the middle of the night, a blood sugar imbalances. Anyways, we could, we could go into all of that on another podcast episode. So I once had an endocrinologist tell me that if I was, so, well, actually, let me back up before I get in here. I, I went to an endocrinologist because I, this was after I had seen a naturopathic doctor for several months, and then I wasn't, things weren't clearing up the way that I wanted to, and I was having digestive imbalances and a hernia and things.

(06:15):

And so I was like, okay, I'm gonna go get this checked out. Well, the gastroenterologist, the GI specialist was like, oh, you're having a lot of bloating and this, that, and the other thing. And I was like, yeah, you know, I really was, I really am. Well, he was like, okay, well here, here's a low fo map diet. You could go do that. They did some imaging and whatever. Everything came back normal, of course. And I was like, you've got to be kidding me. And I was like, I am not finding answers anywhere. I had spent months and hundred, hundreds, thousands of dollars working with a natural pathic doctor wasn't getting anywhere. And so finally I went to an endocrinologist and I was like, okay, let's figure this out. If all these people aren't gonna help me <laugh>, maybe you will. And I have a family history of Hashimoto's hypothyroidism as well as thyroid cancer.

(07:11):

My mom had a full thyroidectomy many years ago. And so I went to this endocrinologist and we did all the blood work. They did imaging on my thyroid. They said, oh my gosh, you know, we can see the vi visible damage of like holes, right holes in my thyroid, and you guys wanna know what, like, they're like, oh yeah, we can see that, you know, your thyroid is whatever on this, on the ultrasound. They, we also found some masses, so some nodules that they wanted to biopsy because my mom's family history and I went back in, scheduled that appointment, went back in, and I was basically told everything was normal. You're fine, you're good to go. You know, and they did the biopsy. The biopsy came back clean and clear. And so I, when I went to this endocrinologist, I would keep track of all of my symptoms and I like kept a little journal on my phone as I popped up.

(08:21):

So I just had this list of things, and I was once told by this endocrinologist if I was having heavy periods and a lot of clotting to let her know, because that was becoming an issue with my thyroid and will need to start on medication. I, I said, I replied, I told her I do have heavy periods and a lot of cla cramping and clotting at the time. And then her response really kind of blew me away. It shook me a little bit. She said, oh, you'll need to go see your ob gyn and talk to her about that and run some tests. And I was like, but you just said if I was having symptoms to let you know, and essentially I was being bounced around from specialists to specialists without the acknowledgement of what was really happening in my body because all of my labs were borderline or normal.

(09:12):

And that same endocrinologist told me, because my la my thyroid labs at the time were borderline. She was like, you know, it is a little bit high. I was above 2.5. And so she's like, I would put you sh on medication if you were trying to get pregnant. And I was like, well, I'm not trying to get pregnant. But I was like, it kind of gloo me away. I was like, the only way that you would gimme medication or the only way that you would quote unquote help me was if I was trying to get pregnant. I'm not trying to get pregnant. I'm just trying to feel good before I go get pregnant. It's the craziest thing. It is, honestly, the craziest thing, and this is why I have developed the handsome Methodist, is why I am working with people the way that I'm working with people.

(09:55):

Because it is not okay for us to be going to doctors and be getting conflicting information without the acknowledgement of what is really happening inside of our body. So western medicine is, it is not healthcare. You guys, I'm, it's not healthcare. It is sick care. They cannot do anything because most of them were never taught what to do or how to do it as a preventative. So I, my my dad was an occupational therapist, my uncle is a, a doctor, a surgeon. And I had the privilege of working in his, in his office, and I have had the privilege of talking with my dad, my uncle, you know, other people who have gone through doctorate school, <laugh> and things like that. And the consensus during one of these conversations was like, yeah, we had 12 hours of nutrition and they shoved that class in with a lot of the really hard and difficult classes because it was an easy pass, right?

(11:17):

Like it was, okay, we're gonna take this because it's an easy still meeting. The what are the credits that they need while they're taking these really other hard courses? And I find it so interesting. In addition to that, when I was helping with scheduling people in the office, we would schedule five people in an hour. Like we blocked off 15 minutes for the first person that could be a new patient, and then the rest of everybody else got what was left over. So let me, let's do the math really fast on that. So well, 45 minutes divided by four people, your doctor has scheduled 11 minutes for you, 11.25 for you. That doesn't include them going to the bathroom, them getting a drink, you know, <laugh> anything else. So their goal is to get in, see you as quickly as possible, and get out, get in, look at your labs.

(12:32):

Everything's fine. Everything's normal on your way. Oh, something's wrong. Here's a lab. Okay, here's a medication and they can adjust your dosage and do whatever they need to do. It is not set up to talk about all of the steps in between. So what I mean by that is they're not asking you about your stress, they're not asking you about your inflammation. They're not asking you about your indigestion or mineral displacement or mal-absorption. It is literally what is on the paper. Okay, let's move on. The functional approach is something much more intricate. And this is what I like to <laugh>. What I like to do, and what I really focus on with my clients is tell me about your stress. Everything you're saying to me, and I told, I told a client this the other day, said everything. Actually, she wasn't a client yet. This was prior to her deciding to work with me.

(13:37):

I said, everything you're explaining to me is inflammation is the root cause. I don't know why it's coming up yet, but we're gonna, we're gonna figure it out. As we continued our conversation, we were talking about mineral displacement, we were talking about mal-absorption and why these things were happening. We have to work with the body in the right order. You guys, your most people go from like the health desire. So let's just say acne. I want my acne to be cleared up and they just want a pill for it, right? Like, clear up my acne, take away this issue. Let me take Accutane and be on my way. <Laugh> versus taking the steps in between to look at mineral absorption, look at mal-absorption, look at inflammation in the body, hormones, all of those things that could be causing some of those hormonal things. Now you guys, I'm gonna find this picture one day and I will share it, but I had a really, really bad acne, and I don't think I realized how horrible it was until saw this picture, and this was like many years later, but I took Accutane and because I took Accutane, I had to take birth control.

(15:00):

You guys, those two medications deplete your body of nutrients and minerals so hard and have lasting effects, like I'm literally years later and I still can feel the effects of some of the medications. Had I known it would not have done it had I known, I would've taken a more functional approach. And what I mean by that is we have to look at your bowel movements, you guys, how, and when, how frequently, how infrequently are you having a bowel movement? A lot of thyroid people have constipation or what I see is they're bouncing back and forth between constipation, diarrhea, constipation, diarrhea. And so that has to be addressed first before we can get into the liver and the gallbladder. And the big reason for this is, yes, it is thyroid hormones, but your thyroid sends 93% of it to your liver to be converted.

(16:09):

Your liver then sends it to your intestines to be absorbed into your body. So if you are not having bowel movements and if your liver is congested, your medication and your thyroid hormones, even if it's quote unquote normal in your blood, is not being absorbed and utilized properly. It's not, it's not, it's not, it's not. I will die on that horse. Okay? So those two things have to be worked out, and this is a big step that people miss. Okay? Then in on top of that, so after we address a bowel movements, then the liver, then we go to the lymphatic system. Your lymphatic system is the drainage. It's like the sewer system for your body. So if your body isn't draining properly, you're not sweating, you're overly sweating, you're gonna have issues, then we can go to the organs and the glands, right? Then the thyroid, and then we go for cellular health.

(17:10):

Then we go back to that state of homeostasis. This is what is missing in modern medicine. Functional the toxic load theory. Okay? So maybe you guys have heard of this, maybe you haven't. When we are looking at functional medicine, the toxic load theory is something to take into consideration. So very low toxic load is going to allow the body when toxins and when the environmental things come in it, your body is able to process through it and move it out. When we start getting more stressed, when we start the perception of stress, right? Somebody is mean to you, somebody cut you off at work, somebody you, maybe you're having financial issues, this is where that stress gets a little bit heavier. This could be mal-absorption, this could be that anxiety, the depression not sleeping well, not sleeping at all, not sleeping enough, <laugh>, too much exercise.

(18:13):

Those that kind of acute stress begins, especially when it happens over and over again, can help us to lose function of our body, organs and systems. And this is when we start to notice the fatigue, the weight gain, the dull skin, the hair loss, those types of things. Usually you're not going to the doctor at this point. Once you get to that compensatory stage, this is where things are getting worse. This is when you're running to the doctor, you're saying, Hey, like my hair is falling out in clumps. I'm gaining, you know, 50 pounds in a month and this, this, and this, right? So then your doctor's gonna be like, whoa, that sounds really bad. Let's, let's get you tested. And in that stage, a lot of times things still come back normal. It's not until you hit that cellular death stage that your body is overloaded and you are finally diagnosed, you are losing function of your body. You may have to quit your job. You may not, you may be struggling to do simple tasks like laundry or dishes or cleaning the house or things like that because your body is designed to keep you safe. It's designed to keep you healthy and your body will fight like hell to preserve that for you.

(19:39):

You guys, like I, I've been there, I know what that feels like and I know how important it is to get your health back so that you can prioritize the things that are most important to you. For me, kids <laugh> are at the top of that priority. Maybe your kids are grown and maybe you're looking forward to grandkids. Whatever it is, it's important that you're taking care of your body. Okay? So in addition to that, we have to look at the thyroid or the hormone restoration process, okay? Or the pyramid. So our hormones build on top of each other, and these are just the basic ones. I can't even tell you, and I did not include these ones on here, but I can't even tell you how many times clients have come to work with me and say, well, I don't feel hungry. Well, I'm just hungry all the time.

(20:41):

The, those are two important hormones as well called leptin and grelin. So ghrelin, think of like your stomach growling. That is the hormone that tells your body you're hungry and leptin is the hormone that tells your body you're full. And it takes time for those hormones to signal properly. And so after, I don't know, usually about 30 days or so, the clients are like, I woke up and I'm feeling hungry, <laugh>, or, you know, I, I I feel full, I feel satisfied, I feel good after I eat. And those are the things that can tell us that our body is with imbalance. Those two hormones aside, when I am working with somebody, I want to look at their blood sugar and their cortisol. How stressed out are you guys? So embarrassingly enough <laugh> I had, I have done some functional testing on myself cuz I practice what I preach and I did a saliva hormone panel and my cortisol levels recently have come back.

(21:57):

Not good <laugh>. They have improved, but they're still not very good because I have felt like I have been in a constant fight or flight situation for years for different reasons. And so as I look forward to 2023, my, like, my answer to things are no. Like I am no longer going, going to stress myself out. It's really important for me to prioritize my stress levels. And one of the things that helps me deal with stress is acupuncture. I feel so much more peaceful and less stress when I do acupuncture. And so I literally schedule an appointment today for January 2nd. So this is actually, this episode is coming out after <laugh> after the new year, after I've had acupuncture for the first time. But I'm like, we are starting the year off strong and managing my stress. I am going to prioritize managing my stress and my cortisol because going up from the blood sugar and the cortisol is sex hormones.

(23:16):

Now my sex hormones, they're a little off, you know, I'm still nursing and things like that, and I just know that that's how my body works. It takes time. I just got my cycle back at least consistently it's come back since having baby. But when you exclusively breastfeed, some of those hormones are just, they do their <laugh>, they do their own thing. And so for my health for 2023 balancing cortisol so I can and blood sugar to build a strong foundation for my sex hormones so that my thyroid can continue to reach that state of homeostasis and feel good. All right, so moving on from there, you guys, one of the things that I want to share with you is that our thyroid is in every single cell in the hor in, in the body, every cell in your body is dependent upon thyroid hormones. So if your body does not have thyroid hormones available to you, you are going to be outta balance. You are gonna feel it in one way or another.

(24:32):

So what I, I wanna give you guys I'm gonna give you guys some homework, but we're, I'm gonna share one more thing with you guys and how I'm such a visual person. So I'm, I'm sitting here looking at this image and I'm like, how am I gonna describe this <laugh> to people? So if you think of like having like a linear bar, and then, so let's see if we can explain functional ranges versus those conventional ranges. So when are our area, our region looks at normal ranges or conventional ranges. They look at 95% of the population and they, and, and they put them into a category and they consider if those people are considered quote unquote healthy, that's the range that they're looking at. So that range can be much bigger and much wider than what is actually optimal. So it's really important that when you are getting blood work done to look at functional slash optimal ranges to better assess what is happening inside the course what to do if your labs are normal.

(26:03):

You guys, I have a five page document that lays out conventional ranges versus conventional ranges versus functional ranges. So I'll give you just one example. Conventional ranges for your ts h is gonna be 0.3 to 5.7, okay? Functional ranges. So this is a range that is highly studied. This is a range that they're saying no, this is really, really good. Is your ts h would be 1.8 to 2.5. If you were trying get pregnant, your doctors will most likely want to put you in that range and give you medication to help you get into that range. I'll give you one more example. So vitamin D conventional ranges is 32 to a hundred more functional ranges is gonna be 55 to 80. And please don't supplement with vitamin D especially, I mean, obviously I can't tell you what to do, but one of the things that I would talk to your doctor or your physician about is vitamin D is first and foremost a hormone, okay?

(27:27):

Low vitamin D levels can obviously impact the body. It, it packs the immune system. It you know, impairs calcium absorption and things like that. So if you are trying to supplement with vitamin D, it can actually make some of your thyroid hormones worse, okay? So it's really, really important to make sure you're working with someone who was qualified to look at other minerals in addition to just that one. Okay? So anyways in, in the, in the, the course that I put together, I have broken down a lot of those ranges. Something that I think honestly, everybody should have <laugh>. I just think that it's so important for, for all of us to know what we're looking at when it comes to these things. The second thing that I am going to recommend that you guys do is create a medical timeline. Quickly jot down when things have occurred and transpired in your life.

(28:41):

And I share this with you guys. So for me specifically, I told you guys that I took Accutane and birth control and then I can literally look back at that point in time. So I took him around, oh, I think I was like 20, maybe, 19, 20. It was right before I got married. And as I look back, my husband and I were newly married and I just remember like yawning all the time. I didn't realize that I was fatigued. I just remember yawning all the time. And I look back and I'm like, yeah, I was tired and I, I really attribute it now to the birth control and the Accutane that just depleted my body of the minerals and the nutrients. So Accutane impacts your kidneys, your birth control is gonna impact your liver and mess up a lot, a lot there. And so I'm like, man, if I were to go back, I wouldn't have done that because, because so little things like that, as we learn and as you have a medical timeline, you can say, oh my gosh, this, oh my gosh, that like, and start to put together some of these puzzle pieces for yourself.

(30:02):

The next thing that I think you should do is set some goals. Set some goals for yourself for the new year and what you want to achieve. Do you want more energy? What do you need to do to get that energy? Do you need to invest in yourself? Do you need to work with someone who's qualified? Do you need to try something a little bit different than what you have done in the past? Excuse me, what you have done in the past and write down ways of, well, couple things. Number one, you wanna write down why that goal is important to you. And number two, you want to have, you want to be able to measure the outcome you want it to be. And I think this is why a lot of people do weight loss for the new year is they're like, well, you know, I'm 200 pounds and I wanna be 150 pounds and so I need to lose 50 pounds.

(30:56):

Well, yes, you know, maybe that's true, but is it the weight or is it the body composition? Is it body fat percentage? Maybe that is a better way to measure things and you know, go from there. All right, so I wanna give you guys five steps to helping you improve your health overall. And I'm gonna tell you these <laugh> and it's been my experience that you guys will do this for a little bit and then you will get off track. And this is why, in my opinion, it's really important to work with a practitioner until these things become so ingrained that they're just second nature. It's just habit, it's just a pattern, it's just what you do. So the first one is cellular hydration. So this is really, really important for our thyroid hormones overall. And you want to aim to drink half of your body weight and ounces.

(32:03):

So if you're 150 pounds, you wanna drink 75 ounces of water per day, give or take. If you live in the desert, if you live in certain climates, you might get more dehydrated and you might need more. If you're nursing, you might need more. If you are exercising a lot and you sweat a lot, you might need more. Okay, <laugh>. So look at the color of your urine and just make sure that it is a pale yellow. We don't wanna be over hydrating and we don't wanna be under hydrating. So just keep that in mind. Okay, number two, light movement. We don't wanna overly stress the body. So yoga, stretching, walking, low impact exercise, ideally two to three times per week. What I tell all of my clients, especially if they don't have a exercise routine, a regimen, go walking for 30 minutes two to three times a week.

(33:00):

I'm pretty sure most of us can fit that into our schedule for the most part. Whether you're walking on a treadmill, whether you're walking outside, whatever it is, the next one is getting at least 10 to 15 minutes of sunlight. First thing in the morning. Even if it's just opening your blinds, because this really helps to set and recalibrate your circadian ri your circadian rhythm. If you eat breakfast and it's nice outside, go sit outside and eat your breakfast. Like, don't sit, don't sit inside. You know, just small mo small things like that. Even eating outside at work, if there's an outdoor place and the weather's nice, like go, go eat outside, get some of that early morning sunlight, 10, 15 minutes. It doesn't have to be overly hard, but it will have a huge impact on your hormones. It's gonna help with helping to kind of recenter you.

(34:06):

There's some benefits in grounding, there's benefits in hormone balancing. I mean, honestly, 10 to 15 minutes of sunlight every day is life changing for a lot of people. Next one, what is this? Number four is chewing your food, chew your food to break it down into mush. This is going to help with the enzymatic function to help you to better absorb your food. Now you can do this little experiment with your kids or with your husband or just with yourself. The next time you go into the kitchen or the pantry, or maybe you wanna go do it right now, go get something like processed food, whatever it is, maybe a cracker, maybe a chip, maybe some kind of processed food. Watch as you chew it and break it down, okay? See how many chews it takes to turn into mush and then go eat a cucumber, a carrot, a whole food chicken, beef lettuce, <laugh>.

(35:15):

And then see how long and how many chews it causes you or it takes for you to break it down into mush before swallowing it. Okay? This is just kind of a fun little experiment that you can do, and I'm not gonna ruin it. I'm sure most of you guys can like guess what's gonna happen, but we're looking for ways to better improve that absorption that, you know, doesn't cost anything. All right? The last one, number five is sleep. You for women, you guys, all of the science and all the studies say, you know, eight for six to eight hours of sleep every evening and, you know, establish a good healthy eating or eating sleep routine, sleep hygiene to help with your hormones. Women are going to need closer to eight to nine hours, seven at a minimum. Okay? It is not okay, <laugh>, and I'm talking to myself, it's not okay for us to think that sleeping five hours or four hours a night is going to be beneficial.

(36:29):

And I know many of you out there are like, but I ju there's just not enough hours in the day. I promise you, I promise heal that if you prioritize your sleep, you will have more hours in the day, your body's gonna have more energy and you're going to be able to get more done. If you would've told me that a couple years ago, I would've laughed in your face, but I promise <laugh> promise it works. Okay? I said five, I actually have a a six tip this tip. <Laugh> is nutrient dense foods. So eating whole foods, foods in their most natural unadulterated state. This is gonna be fruits, veggies, meats, whole grains. Okay? That's it. Like things, I told this to my mom the other day and she laughed at me and I was like, why is that funny? Anyways, we were talking about Whole Foods and I said, yes, anything that comes from the ground or has a mother.

(37:45):

And she's like, what? <Laugh>? She's like, that's a weird way of explaining it. And I was like, well, you know, think eggs had a mother, chicken, had a mother beef, has a mother, like, you know, those types of things are things that we want to fuel our body. All right, you guys that would be my tips for you on what to do if your labs are normal. How to get back on track for after the new year. I, I highly recommend that you guys prioritize getting some labs done and focusing on that. Now, if you guys want to take the mini course, the course is normally $20. I'm gonna put it sale through the end of, or actually January 15th. Actually I'm gonna extend it. Let's do the 30th. So through January 30th, I will put a, the link to purchase the course in addition to a promo code to give you guys 10% off.

(38:58):

So in this mini course, what to do if your labs are normal, I'm walking you through hour. I think it's like two hours of training on what to do, lifestyle things to do. You're gonna get a 20 plus page workbook as well as the it's like an Excel spreadsheet on reference ranges. I break down all of the ranges things to consider when, when you are getting those tested. So for example let's just take hemoglobin. This may, if you're hemoglobin is off. So it may be high with a B6 deficiency, adrenal issues high, high RBCs or diarrhea, or it may be low with if you're anemic, if you have a B6 or a B12 deficiency as well as digestive issues or a lack of vitamin C. So I really, really put a lot of time and energy into this to make it easy for you guys to understand and what some lifestyle things that you can do beyond just like, well, I don't really know what this means and I don't really know what this means.

(40:16):

I want you guys to understand some of the implications and why certain labs are important to do and what it may mean for your physical body. So that is included in that course. In addition to that, you guys, I have given you a breakdown of two done for you meal plans that include grocery lists and prep guides, everything that you guys need to be successful, they're anti-inflammatory, so they're just, they're great for people overall to be doing and it's a great way to start off the new year. Honestly, like it, all of the guest work is taken out of that for you. And I've also broken down some of my favorite supplements as well as giving, giving you guys like a discount for those high quality supplements. I've really just tried to put together this course in a way that is so valuable and can really help give you some insight as to what you can do, what needs to be done in order to help support your body. And I have talked for a long time, so I'm gonna let you guys go. I hope you have a great time and I'll see you guys on the next. Before you go, if you guys are interested in the what to do, if your labs are normal, head over to the show notes and click the link, make sure to use that discount code, purchase the course and go through it. I promise it's gonna be well worth your time, energy, and your financial investment. I'll see you on the next

(41:57):

Wait. Before you you go, please subscribe. If you found value in today's episode, leave us a review and share on Instagram and please tag us. We love your please.

 

123// 4 Ways to Get Back On track After The Holiday's

Register for the Kitchen Clean Out. 

.

SHOW NOTES AT 

 

Get on the Hansen Method waitlist. Click here. We open up the Hansen Method 2-3x a year so that we can fully support our clients to the highest degree possible.

 

Thinking about using nutrition and holistic health for restoring thyroid function? Learn EVERYTHING you need to know by joining our Free Facebook Group. Thriving Thyroid Balance Community.

 

Are you interested in learning more about your thyroid and finding answers? 

 

We got you! 

 

We have several different opportunities to work with us at several different price points and opportunities. 

 

Our signature 6-month program is called The Hansen Method, we offer this in a VIP setting with personalized plans and protocols, individual one on one coaching and incredible bonuses that change regularly. You can schedule a complimentary thyroid breakthrough call with one of our thyroid advisors. Click here.  If you have questions about the Hansen Method and want to discuss your specific situation and make sure this is the right program for you you can schedule a complimentary thyroid breakthrough call with one of our team members. schedule here. Hurry, my schedule fills up quickly and we only work with limited amount of women at any given time.

 

 Join hundreds of women who have improved their symptoms by 80% and lose on average 30lbs in the 4 months.  

 

Not ready to schedule a call, no problem. Learn more about the Hansen Method to see if it’s a good fit for you. Click here to learn more. 

 

We also offer The Hansen Method as a Self Guided option. 

 

Option number 1 for self guide is where you are totally on your own to go through the program content, make the changes and execute them on your own. Click here to purchase. 

 

Option number 2 includes group coaching and access to our members facebook group that will allow you access to our Thyroid Success Coaches and testing with personalized protocols. Click here to purchase.   

 

But one of our favorite ways to work with us is our Thriving Thyroid Coaching Membership Opportunity.  This is where many of clients first begin working with us. It allows you to get to know us, our system and start making changes before making a larger financial investment. Click here to learn more

 

CONTACT LINKS

 

DOWNLOADABLE RESOURCES

 

PAID RESOURCES

 

AFFILIATE LINKS

 

Xo,

Shannon Hansen

 

P.S. Make sure to schedule our Thyroid Breakthrough call with one of our thyroid advisors. 

AUDIO TRANSCRIPTION

00:00):

Welcome back to the Thriving Thyroid Podcast. We are talking about four uncommon ways to get back on track for the New Year's. So this is something that I deal with every single year inside the Hanson method because all of the women, I don't subscribe to the diet mentality where we can't enjoy the holidays, we can't enjoy life and birthday parties and whatever, like we, we have to be quote unquote good in order to lose weight. Welcome back to the Thriving Thyroid Podcast, where we choose to become empowered patients and take our health into our own hands. Hi, I'm Shannon Hansen, a Christian entrepreneur, a mom of three. And after dealing with my own health mysteries, I made it my mission to learn everything I could about the thyroid. I soon became certified as a holistic wellness practitioner, a functional nutrition practitioner, and a functional diagnostic practitioner.

(01:10):

And so much more after that, I founded the Revolutionary Thyroid Program, the Hanon Method. As a health professional and a mom, I fully understand the importance of having a fun, simple, and sustainable plan for achieving a responsive thyroid. So I share actionable and practical strategies for developing a responsive thyroid so that the ambitious moms and women can gain freedom from fatigue and lose the thyroid weight once and for all. Each week I will be here for you, along with my guest experts. We will be sharing simple and tangible tips that work for not only your thyroid, your hormones, your family, and your mindset, so that you can get back to living the life that you envisioned for yourself. Welcome to the Thriving Thyroid Podcast. All right, you guys. Welcome back to the Thriving Thyroid Podcast. We are talking about four ways to get back on track.

(02:07):

So, like I was saying, I don't subscribe to the men. The the mentality of the diet culture, and the big reason for this is I don't think and believe that having a piece of cake at a birthday party or some cookies around the holidays should equal weight gain or an inability to lose weight. And I want to give you like a very real example. So this was probably like seven, eight years ago. I was having a conversation with a friend of mine who was a personal trainer, and I was like, I can't even eat a cookie without gain seven pounds. And she was like, yeah, haha, you're so funny. And I was like, no, legit. Like if I eat a cookie and I step on the scale tomorrow morning, like I'm gonna be up seven pounds. And I remember being and feeling so frustrated with that.

(03:18):

Well, little did I know or even realize at that point in my life that that seven pounds wasn't true weight. It was inflammation in my body. My body was heavily reacting to the cookie, right? And so I subscribed to the the diet mentality where I thought like, I can never eat a cookie. I can never enjoy food, which only left me feeling like I want all of the cookies, <laugh>, right? It doesn't matter if I eat one cookie or 10 cookies, the weight gain is gonna be the same. And so that was obviously really frustrating and really hard. And now that I've had more time, more experience, more education a better understanding of not only my body, but also the clients' bodies that I work with, I now realize and recognize it for what it really truly was and is, which is inflammation. And inflammation is our body's way of protecting itself from harm danger, right?

(04:32):

Same thing as like when we stub our toe, our toe is going to be red, it's sore, it's gonna be puffy and inflamed because our body is, is drawing attention to that area to protect that toe because it was injured. Our body will do that with food, it will do that with environmental things. It will do that for all different kinds of reasons. And so it's really important to not just blame the cookie or the sugar or the cake for that. When our body is in balance, when we are in a place of homeostasis, we can have one or two cookies and have little to no side effects from that. That should be our, our norm. Okay? So I want to just kind of open this up and be really frank with you. This is also, well, actually, let's go into the four ways to get back on track.

(05:44):

Nope, I decided, okay, <laugh> I'm gonna share something with you guys prior to sharing these four steps. So to be very honest and very frank with you, 2022 wasn't the year that I had planned out. I had planned and set out to have these big audacious goals. I was gonna triple my, my revenue. I was gonna do this, I was gonna do that. I was gonna do all of these things. And I thought I knew I was gonna have a baby end of December, early January last year, right? Or slash this year technically. And so I thought I had put into place things that would do couple, a couple different things. One, allow me to take a maternity leave and two, be able to have the, the, the work people in positions that would allow for that kind of growth and expansion. Well I had my baby, and about the same time I had to let go of somebody that was working for me.

(06:57):

And I also was informed that someone that I had that was gonna be in charge of sales was no longer able to perform her job and her duty. And I hired a new person to for that, which didn't work out. And so I hit a lot of bumps in the road despite my best planning. There were things that were so far out of my control that just didn't, didn't work out the way that I had planned. And so, as I initially, so a week or two ago, beginning of December, I start reviewing my previous year, what were my goals? How am I doing now? You know, did I hit them? Did I not hit them? Did I, you know, did some of the things turn out better? Did they turn out worse? Did they shift halfway through the year? Like whatever it is, like I, I started to take that inventory for myself.

(08:05):

And initially I was pretty disappointed with myself. I was pretty disappointed with the lack of accomplishment that I achieved for my goals for this year. And I was feeling pretty down. I was feeling pretty bad about myself. And I was like, man, like, what did, what did I do wrong? I must not be X, y, z. I'm not this person. I'm not that person. I, you know, and I was upset with myself because I also believe that in business leadership comes from the top, right? Good people come from the top. And me currently <laugh> being the top of the business, I was like, this must be some kind of poor reflection on me personally. Well, as I began to reflect on this a little bit more, what I ultimately realized was that the goals that I set for myself for 2022 were not part of the reason I didn't, A big part of the reason there was like, I explained all of these external factors, but the bigger reason of why I didn't accomplish some of the things that I had wanted to accomplish was not because I was a failure, not because I was bad, not because I was a terrible leader or, you know, fill in the blank.

(09:35):

But the reason for it was because they did not align with my core values. And those core values was family. And I had just had a baby. And because of outside circumstances and situations, I wasn't able to take any kind of maternity leave, right? Like, I had this brand new baby, and I'm still trying to sit there and work and record podcast episodes and, you know, manage a team and do sales and, and, and, and, and, and, right? And as I sat, I have sat there in, in that realization. Something else that I have been struggling with for a while, which I'll tell you guys at the end of this episode made me really examine just other areas. And so part of the reason that I share that story with you is because I want you to give yourself some grace and understanding for the holidays.

(10:47):

And I tell my clients over and over and over again in the handsome method, it's not, you're gonna get off track. I know that you know that, but the most important thing is the recovery. How quickly can you recover? How quickly can you get back on track? How quickly are you balancing your body and your life out and readjusting to match up with those core values? Or allow yourself the grace and the understanding if a goal doesn't align with your core value? So I think I said it before, my, one of my core values will always be my family. And anything that takes away from that in a negative way, that doesn't put something back in it is gonna be a no for me. And that's what I had to sit in for this year and realize that it is, it was, it is, and it was more important for me to be present with that baby than to hit certain metrics and goals.

(11:59):

With my business, obviously I'm still here. I still, I, I was able to sustain what I needed to in order to remain in business, but my focus and my drive was no longer a revenue goal. Okay? So let's go through four ways to get back on track. Number one, evaluate the last time you had blood work. You guys, I can't even tell you how many conversations I've been having lately. I'm like, well, when, when did you get your, your thyroid labs last drawn? Well, it was two years ago. Oh, it was three years ago. Oh, it was, you know, whatever. And I'm like, no, you should be doing this all the time. Well, you know, I wasn't formally diagnosed with hypothyroidism or this, that, and the other thing. And I'm like, it doesn't matter. Our blood work is a way for us to track and monitor what is happening internally.

(13:05):

And you should be <laugh> doing an annual checkup, right? At a, at a bare minimum, you should be doing an annual checkup. And this is also a good reminder to myself because I haven't done one in a little bit of time. I mean, I have, because I was pregnant and then postpartum and whatever but my birthday is also in January. So I'm like, okay, this is a good reminder for me to get back in, get back on track and prioritize those, those annual well checks. And to get those yearly blood labs drawn. And anyways, so at least yearly, I do recommend doing every six months, especially if you are on thyroid medication. Because you want to be evaluating what is happening with that, right? Making sure that your dosage is correct, all of that. And with that, you guys will also hear me advocate for keeping record of these things.

(14:10):

Literally, you guys, I know this is like so old school and everybody's like, well, there's digital copies. No, get a printout of your blood labs and your medical charts and whatever, whatever information you feel like you need and put it in a binder, keep track of these things because I p I guarantee, unless you like have to, you're not gonna go look at your blood labs from a year or two years ago, you're just not going to do it. But if it's printed out in a binder, you might flip back to 2019, 2015 and be like, oh, hey, my cholesterol was really bad and now it's doing, doing better. Like, those little reminders can make a huge impact. Or you can start to see trends of like, oh my gosh, little by little since 2015, my cholesterol has gone up, or little by little, you know, my a l t has gone off or whatever.

(15:09):

And you can catch things much earlier. This is part of being that empowered patient and realizing and recognizing your own habits and patterns. Okay, so, so important. So important. So when is the last time you had blood work? Make an appointment. That is number one. Number two, journal. I know journaling is time consuming. I know it can be a pain in the butt. However, there is so much valuable information that you can learn from yourself when you are journaling. And I, I know I've talked about this before, but one of the things, so when I was going to school back in for the first time back in like 2000 13, I think 2012 it must have been 2013 one of my class assignments for one of my nutrition classes was to keep a journal like for seven days or three days.

(16:17):

I don't even remember what the timeframe was, but that was the literally the first time that I saw the pattern of every day at like one or two o'clock. That's when I was diving into the chocolate chips. Like I didn't keep a lot of candy, but I always kept chocolate chips in my house. And that's when I was, that's when I would start. And a lot of it was in anticipation of my daughter's afternoon nap. She was an awful napper <laugh>. And I recognized from journaling that that was one of my coping mechanisms to deal with the stress that I was about to encounter because of the afternoon snap, the afternoon nap. He was like, I, I just didn't want to even wrestle with it. And not only, and I knew that this was more of a coping mechanism because I did it again before bedtime.

(17:22):

So I would do it like 30 minutes before her nap time, and then I would do it 30 minutes to an hour before bedtime in anticipation of the napping. And so for me, realizing and recognizing that I was able to work on different, better coping mechanisms versus using food to cope, right? So that is the power of journaling, even just in yourself is recognizing and realizing, oh, hey, I actually eat more sweets and processed foods than I thought. Like I've had clients who have come to work with me. They're like, Hey, when as I journal over these last couple weeks, it's really brought awareness to my habits and patterns. I eat out more than I thought I did. I eat more processed foods than I thought I did. And so they, they themselves have put into mechanisms or, or lifestyle habits and patterns that support their body better.

(18:34):

I remember, you know, I used to pack lunch or I used to meal prep or, you know, whatever it was. And they, they get back to some of those easy basic lifestyle things that they've just gotten off a little bit of track with. So whether you decide to journal for the rest of your life, you don't have to, but even just journaling for the next seven, 14 days, whatever it is, can be super, super important. All right, tip number three. We all know that's, you know, the, what am I trying to say here? <Laugh>. So we all have those sweets or those goodies that are on the counter, and I want to share with you that it's okay to throw them away, right? Which was super difficult for me because I never wanted to be wasteful. I never wanted to be like that person. You know, growing up and being told, you know, you better finish a food on your flight, your plate, cuz there's people, you know, other kids around the world that are starving or, you know, you whatever, whatever those things that are, it was really difficult for me to wrap my head around like throwing something away and oh my gosh, this is so embarrassing.

(19:55):

I, I knew anyways, one of the big turning points for me was I spent like a hundred dollars on a kid's birthday cake. I was a special Barbie cake, whatever. We were supposed to have family come over, they got sick, they ended up not coming, you know, whate like, it was this whole thing. So I had this like a hundred dollars cake and I w maybe it wasn't a hundred dollars, it was like 80 bucks or I, whatever. And it was huge. So I thought we were gonna have family come over and help eat this cake, and they ended up not showing up. So my family all had like one or two pieces, but because I spent the money, I like ate that cake for breakfast, lunch, dinner for like days. And I was like, oh my god, what sh what am I even, what am I even doing here?

(20:48):

And I threw it away. And that was like a really big thing because I was like, that's a a lot of money <laugh>, like seriously a lot of money that I just put in the trash. But it was also very empowering in that same, in that same breath. Since then, I have realized one, it is okay to throw things away or two, it is okay. Like if you're not to the place or the point where you feel like you can throw them away, you can freeze a lot of things. I could have frozen that cake and, you know, pulled it out an eight o on it, you know, a week or two later, whatever it is. But, and even still, like I can freeze cookies. You can free, you can freeze a lot of things, okay? Just do a quick Google search, figure out how long it's good in the freezer, you know, package it up and preserve it correctly or whatever.

(21:43):

But that can be a really good option if you are like, oh my gosh, I gotta finish this and you don't want to, okay, number four, you guys can probably hear baby, she's napping and she's kind of allowed a loud sleeper. Number four, you guys can perform a kitchen cleanout. So over the holidays, a lot of us are home for the holidays. If you're not traveling. We have kids home, like our, our routine and our, our schedule isn't as strict or rigid. And so one of the things that I like to do is to perform that kitchen clean out, go through my fridge, my pantry, my freezer, take inventory of what I have, throw away things that are old, throw away things that are stale or yucky or expired. I actually was just looking at my pantry and I was like, I think I've had this can for a long time.

(22:39):

And I looked at the expiration date, you guys, 2019. Why, why, why do I still have it? Like why <laugh>? Why is it still in my pantry? And I think part of it was, I know where I got it. I don't, I don't remember exactly when I got it. I don't personally buy canned beets. I do enjoy beets, but I buy fresh beets and then I cook them. And a few years ago, I don't know exactly when, a few years ago, a friend of mine gave me a can of beets and I, she was like, you like 'em and whatever. And I just, I've never used them. And for whatever reason I've held on to them <laugh> thinking, oh, I'll use them. Okay guys, clearly I haven't in all of these years. And <laugh> and there's an expiration date that has already passed. So they went in the trashcan.

(23:38):

So all of that to say you guys can do that as well. And I have put together, together a little mini course for you. It walks you through the steps that I use to, to clean up my kitchen and just gives you some accountability. So it's totally free there. Like I am, I mean, just put in your name, your email, you know, create a username, password, whatever, and you get access to it. It is a self-paced course and super easy, super simple. I mean, obviously there's gonna be work and effort on your part, but you can, you can literally go through everything probably in like 15, 20 minutes and what you're going to do. So the the big parts of it is you're gonna do like a pre kitchen cleanout evaluation and a post kitchen cleanout evaluation. And this is just really for your own self-awareness.

(24:41):

And then as after you complete the course, I have a special gift for you. And I'm not, I'm not gonna ruin what the gift is, but it's pretty good. It's gonna help you guys get started in the new year with your, your health goals. It's designed to reduce that inflammation that's so important that we talked about earlier in this episode. And you're just gonna feel good and you're gonna be happy that you did it. So all you have to do head over to this show notes and register. That's it. I don't need your card information, I don't need anything else. And then just get started. Okay? All right you guys, I will see you on the next

(25:32):

Way before, before you, you go, please subscribe if you found value in today's episode. Leave us a review and share on Instagram and please tag us. We love your yes,

(25:46):

Please.

 

122// You need to pay attention to adrenaline so that you can reduce your ADHD, Thyroid Symptoms, Fibromyalgia and so much more with Dr. Michael Platt

A lot of people struggle with hormonal imbalance or adrenal fatigue. That’s where Michael comes in. He is board-certified in Internal Medicine and president of Platt Wellness Center and one of the most well known specialists in natural hormone replacement – successfully treating thousands of patients all over the world!

 

Michael is also a renowned author, with his book ‘Adrenaline Dominance’ being the only book ever written that explores how excess adrenaline affects our body. Michael has also written other books like ‘The Miracle of Bio-identical Hormones’.

Numbers wise, in 1995 Michael E. Platt opened a clinic in Palm Desert, California where he began employing his Platt Protocol - a natural approach to hormone balance and wellness. In 1997, the Platt Wellness Centre became a leader in the research and advancement of the therapeutic use of progesterone cream, as well as other bioidentical hormones.

 

Contact Dr. Michael Platt. 

https://plattwellness.com/ Use code: Mom10 to save

https://www.facebook.com/plattwellness

https://www.instagram.com/plattwellness/

 

.

.

.

SHOW NOTES AT 

 

Get on the Hansen Method waitlist. Click here. We open up the Hansen Method 2-3x a year so that we can fully support our clients to the highest degree possible.

 

Thinking about using nutrition and holistic health for restoring thyroid function? Learn EVERYTHING you need to know by joining our Free Facebook Group. Thriving Thyroid Balance Community.

 

Are you interested in learning more about your thyroid and finding answers? 

 

We got you! 

 

We have several different opportunities to work with us at several different price points and opportunities. 

 

Our signature 6-month program is called The Hansen Method, we offer this in a VIP setting with personalized plans and protocols, individual one on one coaching and incredible bonuses that change regularly. You can schedule a complimentary thyroid breakthrough call with one of our thyroid advisors. Click here.  If you have questions about the Hansen Method and want to discuss your specific situation and make sure this is the right program for you you can schedule a complimentary thyroid breakthrough call with one of our team members. schedule here. Hurry, my schedule fills up quickly and we only work with limited amount of women at any given time.

 

 Join hundreds of women who have improved their symptoms by 80% and lose on average 30lbs in the 4 months.  

 

Not ready to schedule a call, no problem. Learn more about the Hansen Method to see if it’s a good fit for you. Click here to learn more. 

 

We also offer The Hansen Method as a Self Guided option. 

 

Option number 1 for self guide is where you are totally on your own to go through the program content, make the changes and execute them on your own. Click here to purchase. 

 

Option number 2 includes group coaching and access to our members facebook group that will allow you access to our Thyroid Success Coaches and testing with personalized protocols. Click here to purchase.   

 

But one of our favorite ways to work with us is our Thriving Thyroid Coaching Membership Opportunity.  This is where many of clients first begin working with us. It allows you to get to know us, our system and start making changes before making a larger financial investment. Click here to learn more

 

CONTACT LINKS

 

DOWNLOADABLE RESOURCES

 

PAID RESOURCES

 

AFFILIATE LINKS

 

Xo,

Shannon Hansen

 

P.S. Make sure to schedule our Thyroid Breakthrough call with one of our thyroid advisors. 

 

AUDIO TRANSCRIPT

(00:02):

All right, you guys. Welcome back. I absolutely loved this interview. I have a Dr. Michael e Plat with me on today's episode. So a little bit about Dr. Michael Plat. A lot of people have struggled with hormonal imbalances or adrenal fatigue. This is where Michael comes in. He is a board certified inter internal medicine and the president of Plat Wellness Center, one of the most well-known specialists in natural hormone replacement, successfully treating thousands of patients all over the world. Michael is also renowned author, his book, adrenaline Dominance, being the only book ever written that explores how excess adrenaline affects the body. Michael is also written the book called The Miracle of Bioidentical Hormones. Number Wise, in 1995, Michael e Plat opened a clinic in Palm Desert, California where he began employing his glat protocol, a natural approach to hormone balance and wellness. In 1997, the Plat Wellness Center became a leader in research and advancements of therapeutic use of progesterone cream, as well as other bioidentical hormones.

(01:21):

And I think at the end of this podcast, you'll hear us kind of talk about he sent me two bottles of Progesterone Crate and you guys, and I've been using it, and I also bought <laugh> a third bottle for myself. I have them all over my house. I have absolutely loved my results with employing the, the progesterone creams. You can use my code. All of the information will be in the show notes, but you can use my code 10 or mom 10 and receive 10% off. I don't get a commission off of it. It's just a gift to you guys to get a little bit of a discount. I would say also check their website. Of course, you're gonna go there, <laugh> because there are some other deals that they have from time to time that might be better than, than my discount.

(02:18):

But definitely if this episode resonates with you, go, and this is not something that I say about supplements at all. I always tell people to get things checked out before you start supplementing. However, this one, I feel very strongly that pretty much all of us <laugh> women, especially if you have thyroid, if you're struggling with fatigue this is something that's gonna be helpful for all of us. And because it has such a short lifespan, it's not going to really impact a lot of other areas. So okay, let's dive into today's episode because it is fire. Welcome back to the Thriving Thyroid Podcast, where we choose to become empowered patients and take our health into our own hands. Hi, I'm Shannon Hansen, a Christian entrepreneur, a mom of three. And after dealing with my own health mysteries, I made it my mission to learn everything I could about the thyroid.

(03:23):

I soon became certified as a holistic wellness practitioner, a functional nutrition practitioner, and a functional diagnostic practitioner. And so much more After that, I founded the Revolutionary Thyroid Program, the Hanon Method. As a health professional and a mom, I fully understand the importance of having a fun, simple, and sustainable plan for achieving a responsive thyroid. So I share actionable and practical strategies for developing a responsive thyroid so that the ambitious moms and women can gain freedom from fatigue and lose the thyroid weight once and for all. Each week, I will be here for you, along with my guest experts. We will be sharing simple and tangible tips that work for not only your thyroid, your hormones, your family, and your mindset, so that you can get back to living the life that you envision for yourself. Welcome to the Thriving Thyroid Podcast. Hit record. All right, you guys. Welcome back to the Thriving Thyroid Podcast. I have Dr. Michael Plat with me on the call. I'm super excited to have this conversation because we're gonna be talking about adrenaline and all of the wonderful hormones and how they all come together. So welcome, Dr. Do you go by Dr. Plat or Dr. Michael Plat, or how? Either

(04:48):

One.

(04:49):

Okay. <Laugh>. Alright.

(04:51):

Whatever. Whatever you're pushing.

(04:54):

I don't care. It's, it's up to you. So we'll just say Dr. Plat, how about that, <laugh>?

(04:59):

That's fine.

(05:00):

Okay. Well, welcome to the call.

(05:04):

Thank you.

(05:05):

Yeah. So give us a little bit of introduction about your, your background and who you are.

(05:12):

Well born and raised in New York City. Went to medical school in New York became board certified at Internal Medicine. My mother died around I guess 1980. She died of breast cancer at the age of 61.

(05:30):

Oh

(05:31):

Man. Right. Right after she died, I realized that I had inherited her hormones. You know most people don't realize that men and women had the identical hormones. And and so ha having breast cancer, I knew she was low in progesterone. She had a belly on her, which is from increased insulin. So I knew she had a lot of insulin. And so at the time, you know, I used to have to slap my face when I was driving, trying to keep my eyes open. Hmm. And that's a l that's a low blood sugar. And so I started using progesterone. And ever since I started using progesterone, I have never gotten sleep in a car. Ever interest. Interesting. Yeah. So I, yeah, I know that progesterone blocks insulin. You know, people don't realize that, you know, they, they think of it as a, as a hormone that blocks estrogen, and, and it does.

(06:25):

But but it also blocks insulin. But the main importance of progesterone is that it also blocks adrenaline, which is a hormone that nobody ever talks about. In any event, I started getting interested in biodentical hormones and, you know, try to learn as much as I could. And I, my practice evolved into one dealing with hormones, and I had the luxury of being able to spend at least, you know, one or two hours with every one of my patients. And when you are able to sit down and talk to a patient, this is how you learn about who they are and, and what, what drives them. And in, in any event it became, I became aware that adrenaline is a very important hormone in terms of health. And this is a hormone nobody ever talks about. Yeah. You know, I, I wrote a book called Adrenaline Dominance. It's the only book ever written that talks about the clinical consequences of too much adrenaline. And, you know, so, so people will say, well, well, what's, what's the deal with adrenaline? You know, why should I be concerned? Well, you know, you, you may have heard of babies that have colic.

(07:38):

Yes.

(07:39):

That's adrenaline. It's, and these are the babies that do a lot of kicking in the womb, by the way, which is also adrenaline.

(07:46):

Yeah. I, I had one kid, I would say was more colic. My first, and her movement was a lot. I had never, I had never realized that. So that's cool. Well,

(08:00):

Well, who does? And, and then you may have heard of children that have bedwetting. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> and bedwetting is also caused by excess adrenaline. And then, you know, you have all these millions and millions of children with a D H D, which is, again, you know, excess adrenaline is the only cause of A D H D. And, and there are a lot of conditions, you know, like anxiety and insomnia, people that grind their teeth at night. Fibromyalgia. There are millions of people in this country with fibromyalgia that's also caused by excess adrenaline. So I, so it, it's a, I think it's, it's important to your listeners to realize that adrenaline is an important hormone. And you know, people think of it, you, you know, they call it the fight or flight hormone. And, and that's true because when people are in danger, the body does release adrenaline.

(08:53):

But that's a very rare reason why the body produces adrenaline. But, you know, one of the big problems with our whole medical system and <laugh>, we have a lot of their problems. But one of the biggest problems, doctors are not trained to treat the cause of illness. I people realize that, you know, they're trained to give out bandaids. Yeah. You know, so you have a high blood, take a high blood hip, you know, you know, hypertension pill, and you're depressed, you're taking antidepressant, but nobody talks about what's causing these conditions. And the other thing, you know, hormones control everything in the body is controlled by hormones. Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative> doctors get no training in hormones. Yeah. So, yeah, <laugh>, and I'm, I'm talking, I'm talking about all doctors, which includes gynecologists and, and endocrinologists, believe it or not, that, that their specialty. And it's, it's very tough out there.

(09:48):

But, you know, but when people realize that our home medical system is controlled by the, by drug companies, and needless to say, drug companies have no interest in people being healthy, it's the last thing they will want. And so people can understand why the United States is on the bottom of a list of healthcare, of all civilized countries. We have the worst healthcare system of all civilized countries. People don't realize that they think we have a good medical system, but in any event, let me go get off my shoebox and we'll talk about hormones. Okay. So, yeah.

(10:22):

Yeah. Well, I mean, I feel like just from that little tidbit, I had a few aha moments for myself, some of my kids, you know, people that I work with. And so let's start at that very base level. What is adrenaline for people who don't know really more about that? Cuz I feel like adrenaline, we hear the term adrenaline junkie. Junkie. And so people think they're seeking that high from the adrenaline. So let's start at that base level of what is adrenaline <laugh>.

(10:59):

Okay. Adrenaline is two things. Number one, it's a hormone. And the way hormones work, they, they attach to receptor sites. And adrenaline is also a neurotransmitter. And and this is why it has such a tremendous effect on the body between its being a hormone and a neurotransmitter. You can, you know, this is how it affects moods and stuff like this. And it's an anger hormone. You know, you may have heard of people that get road rage, that's adrenaline. But just so people understand, you can actually get rid of road rage in 24 hours just by lowering adrenaline. Adrenaline. And

(11:40):

How do I do that?

(11:42):

Ah,

(11:43):

<Laugh>, I don't have road rates, but <laugh>,

(11:46):

Well, 24

(11:46):

Hours seems good.

(11:48):

Okay. So if somebody has excess adrenaline, and, and we'll go over some of the symptoms of that. But you know, what I was saying before is that in order to get people better, you're gonna have to treat the cause of their problem. So if somebody has excess adrenaline, you have to approach it from the reason why the body is releasing adrenaline. And what makes it relatively simple. It's basically only two reasons. Two major reasons why the body puts you out adrenaline. You know, one is if you're in danger, but that's a, that's a very rare reason, you know, unless you live in the u Ukraine. But the but what, you know, what people don't realize is what the primary function of adrenaline is to raise sugar levels for the brain. The brain actually uses more sugar than any other tissue in the body.

(12:41):

And any time the body detects that the brain is running out of sugar, it puts out adrenaline to raise sugar levels. And this is a survival concern. You know, you may have heard of people that fall asleep when they're driving, you know, they can go off the road and hit a tree and kill themselves. So, so you can understand that the body wants to make sure the brain can function at all times. So, and, you know, so it releases adrenaline and through a process code glucogenesis, the adrenaline raises glucose sugar levels. So if you understand this, if you provide the fuel to, to the brain, you know, the two, you know, that it needs, then the body doesn't have to use adrenaline to do it. Now, the brain uses two different fuels. You know, one is glucose, you know, that's a type of sugar.

(13:34):

And the best source of, of glucose sugar for the brain actually comes from vegetables. The you know, all vegetables are carbohydrates and they break down into sugar, but they're the type of sugar that, that, you know, they don't produce a lot of insulin. You know, candy and soda are great sources of glucose, but they stimulate a lot of insulin, which lowers blood sugar levels and defeats the purpose. Okay. So the other fuel, which is probably even more important for the brain, are ketones. And people hear, you know, they've heard of a ketogenic diet, which i, I don't recommend because it's a very difficult diet to accomplish, but you can get ketones directly from coconut oil or something called mc t oil, and which comes from coconut oil. So if you add the vegetables, the coconut oil, the MCT oil, you within a day or two get an an a tremendous drop in adrenaline.

(14:36):

Now, the only other thing you have to add to completely control adrenaline is a hormone core progesterone. And, you know, people had to be careful. You know, when I talk about progesterone, I'm talking about progesterone cream. You know, progesterone unfortunately also comes in a pill and, and troves. But people need to understand that anytime they take progesterone orally, it gets absorbed by the GI system and goes straight to the liver and it converts into a different hormone, both allopregnanolone along. So oral progesterone is not progesterone, and people have to understand that doctors don't understand that PE people should mm-hmm. <Affirmative>. So what I, what I'm talking about is a cream and the and now it comes, progesterone cream comes in different strengths. What people need is a 5% progestin cream. Now, 5% means that each pump is 50 milligrams, and that's the exact strength they need to block adrenaline. And, you know, and I'm talking about within minutes, you know, when people have a lot of anxiety, whatever, and they just put some cream on within minutes, they feel nicely relaxed and they can focus better. So now, you know, we talked about A D H D

(15:55):

Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>,

(15:56):

You know, the most intelligent, successful creative people in the world of A D H D is not a bad thing to have. And it's not a learning disorder. You know, the A D H D, what that means, means is that a person has trouble focusing. And the reason why they have trouble focusing is that the, the adrenaline working as a neurotransmitter makes the mind go very quickly. So if they're not interested, they get distracted very easily. But once you lower adrenaline, then they, they can focus on everything. And you can actually actually get rid of A D H C in about 24 hours just by lowering adrenaline and blocking it with progesterone cream. So but instead, you know, they had millions of children on drugs like Ritalins, stratera, Adderall, and, you know, and you know, and peop if kids didn't have d h adhd, these drugs would give them D H D because their pure adrenaline. And that's why sudden death is one of side effects of these drugs. But side, you know, but a side effect of, of death in children is an acceptable side effect for the drug industry,

(17:05):

Not for anybody else. As a parent, <laugh>, I would beg to differ.

(17:09):

I I hear that. Yeah. But, you know, pupil are not aware that, you know, they're not even aware that you can actually get rid of conditions by treating the cause of them that, cuz nobody ever talks about it.

(17:23):

Yeah. Yeah. Well, and, and I think you're, so I, most of my listeners are moms, right? They're moms women. Maybe some of them are like perimenopause, so they might be empty nesters. Usually I have like a little bit younger demographic people, women in their thirties early forties that listen to the podcast. And I think in that demographic, I'm kind of noticing, I don't know if it's a trend or a cool thing or <laugh>, so I don't know what it is, but I see a lot of them talking about a D H D, well, I just have a D h D. This is just how my brain works. I, you know, and it's been really interesting to watch that. And then to listen to you explain the need for the, the carbohydrates from vegetables or the sugars, I should say, from vegetables, the ketones. And then the need for progesterone. Because again, a lot of the women that I work with with thyroid have low progesterone levels. They're still within that normal acceptable range according to blood work, <laugh>. But they're having symptoms of low progesterone. Do you wanna speak into that a little bit?

(18:47):

Yes, I do. Fir first of all, you know, a lot of people have excess adrenaline. And, you know, adrenaline is a stimulant. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> and thyroid is a stimulant. And this is why when people have a lot of adrenaline, they don't tolerate thyroid. So what happens is when they take thyroid medication, they start getting palpitation. And they're not aware of the fact that this is because they have a lot of adrenaline. So when people have a, you know, but probably the majority of people that have a lot of adrenaline are, are low in thyroid to begin with. And the reason for that is that, you know, again, adrenaline's a stimulant, th thyroid is a stimulant. So when people have a lot of adrenaline, it creates stress to the body. The body responds to stress by putting out another hormone called cortisol. And most people don't realize cortisol is an antithyroid hormone.

(19:48):

Yes. What it does, it, it prevents T4 from converting into t3, and it caused the T3 to convert into what's called reverse t3, which has no activity. So when, when people have high cortisol levels, they're also gonna be low in thyroid. And, you know, I don't think people realize there's a connection there. So, and, and the other thing about progesterone, it actually helps the thyroid produced thyroid mm-hmm. <Affirmative>. So, so people are low in progesterone, which is the majority of women actually, and men the they very often have an undirected thyroid. So, and, and the thyroid is important because it, it, it controls metabolism and every cell of the body, you know? Yep. The you know, they, and unfortunately,

(20:47):

You know, because doctors don't get a lot of training in hormones, it they, it, it's difficult for them to interpret thyroid tests, you know? And you know, they always look at T s h. Yep. And I, are you familiar with a condition called secondary hypothyroidism? Well, pri primary, primary hypothyroidism is where the thyroid just doesn't produce enough thyroid. A classic example of this is Hashimoto's thyroiditis. Okay. But there's a, another condition called secondary hypothyroidism. And secondary is where the pituitary doesn't put out enough T s h. So what happens is these people have a low T s H level, and because of this, they have an underactive thyroid. But very often doctors only, you know, order tssh levels so they can see somebody with a low tssh level, and they think that they have plenty of thyroid. And yet this is the reason why they don't have enough.

(21:48):

You know, why the thyroid is low. So when doing thyroid tests, you always have to look at the hormones cells, you know, T3 and t4. So, and you know, if people are interested, T t4 is the, is what the thyroid produces, is t4. And when people have an elevated T S H, it's mostly a reflection of the T4 level. So so when people are replacing thyroid, it's important to replace both T4 and t3. And, but a lot of people take drugs like armor or nature thro, which don't have enough T4 in it. Cause you know, they bi biodentical for pigs, but not biodentical for human.

(22:37):

Yeah, yeah.

(22:39):

But in any any event, you know what's interesting? In the old days when I did my training, I just goes back a long time. They used to call cholesterol the poor man thyroid test. And people may not be aware that the thyroid controls cholesterol metabolism. And wouldn't it be a lot easier and safer to give somebody thyroid to reduce cholesterol than it would be to put them on statin drugs? Which I won't go into all the side effects, but

(23:10):

I re that was one thing that I remember when I was taking my courses, is I was like, I am never taking a statin drug. Because yeah, it was like, I just remember thinking, oh my gosh, this is terrible. This is so bad, <laugh>. You know, so, yes.

(23:28):

Yeah. So anyway, so, so people should be aware that thyroid does a big relationship with cholesterol. So the, the thing about problems related to excess adrenaline, you know, people need to, you know, people may say, well, how do I know if I have a lot of adrenaline? Well, first of all, you know, when people have a lot of adrenaline, they have trouble sleeping. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>, they may have trouble falling asleep, they may have trouble staying asleep. A lot of people grind their teeth, you know, the teeth grinding is always adrenaline. They might toss and turn, they, there's something called restis leg syndrome, which is also caused by adrenaline. And you can get rid of that in 30 seconds, by the way. And then also adrenaline get people that urge to urinate on television, they call it an overactive bladder. But, but again, when people have a lot of adrenaline, they very often have to have to get up at night to urinate.

(24:28):

And during the day, they find that when it's time to urinate, that when they have to go, they have to go. You know, they, they call that urgency and that's adrenaline and, and all these things where they were easy to get rid of. So, but other symptoms that people have when they have a lot of adrenaline, they, they carry tension in the back of their neck. And that can cause ringing in the ears and it can cause headaches. And, you know, they have a, a special headache called occipital neuritis and occipital neuritis cause excruciating headaches 100% of the time it's mistaken for migraines. 100%. And <laugh>, these, these are the kind of headaches that very often shoot right into the back of the eye. And if people have it, they can take their thumb and press it on the back of their neck and they'll find a very tender spot. And that's occipital nerve sheet. It's like a little baby <laugh>.

(25:31):

Yeah, we got a little baby join us. <Laugh>,

(25:36):

At first I thought it was your husband, but

(25:40):

I wish Nope, he is, he is working a lot. So,

(25:45):

Okay.

(25:47):

Go ahead, continue. Sorry, <laugh>

(25:53):

The, you know, we, we talked about children with, with colic, you know, all the, you know, all the mother has to do is get some 5% pro projection cream and rub it on the baby's belly, and about three to five minutes it'll be gone.

(26:08):

And I wish I would've known that with my first, because I did not sleep for like three years with her <laugh>.

(26:15):

You should have called me. Do you have a dog? Do you have a, do you have a dog?

(26:21):

Not anymore.

(26:23):

Okay. You've heard of separation anxiety in dogs?

(26:26):

Yes. Yep.

(26:28):

That's also caused by, that's also caused by adrenaline. And you can eliminate that in about one minute by putting progestin cream inside the dog's ear. You know, proje just, it's just not a known hormone. Have you ever heard the, have you ever heard the term P M D D

(26:48):

N V D? It's n

(26:51):

Well, you've heard of PMs. You've heard of PMs? Yep. PM pmm d D is premenstrual dysphoric dysphoric disorder.

(26:59):

Okay. Yes.

(27:00):

And it's founded about 8% of women. And these are the women that for 10 days out of the out of the month, nobody can live with them because they have severe anger issues and severe mood changes. It's considered incurable. The treatment is always antidepressants and birth control pills, which do absolutely nothing for this condition. The birth control pills, of course, we'll make it worse because they prevent women from ovulating so they don't stop making progesterone most important hormone in the body, birth control pills takes away. But anyway, the yeah. But P M D D can be, again, eliminating about 24 hours just by lowering adrenaline, you know

(27:43):

Lemme change.

(27:45):

We have a tough medical system and it's very hard to change it, you know, because and, and the reason for that is because, you know, drug company control our whole medical system, they control what doctors are in a medical school. They, they, they control the medical boards, they control the F D A, they control everything, and they have no interest in people being healthy. Yeah. And so going up against the medical boards, you know, the medical company, it's tough. It's, but but, you know, I wa I wanted to change healthcare in this country at one time, but I ran into so many obstacles.

(28:24):

I think, I think there's enough of us now that are hoping to change the system that if we all work together, <laugh>

(28:35):

Well,

(28:35):

Maybe, maybe things will change eventually. But I remember, oh, go ahead.

(28:41):

No, I was gonna say, hopefully in his lifetime things will change.

(28:44):

I, I sure hope so. I have a, so my dad was a physician, and my uncle is a physician. And I remember sitting around the campfire one time, and I was studying homeopathy. Hi, dear. I was studying homeopathy at that point, and I don't even remember what it was. We were talking about something and I was, we were arguing. I was like, no, it's in the homeopathy book that this and this, whatever. And they're like, no, it's not, you're wrong. And, you know, they're like, show me, show me where it says at. And I'm like, I will, I will get out my book and show you. But it was very easily dismissed because they had not learned natural remedies, natural treatments you know, and, and thankfully my dad started to look towards alternative medicine later in his years and introduced me to naturopathic medicine and, you know, that kind of thing. But I mean, still very <laugh> very early in, you know, in the pursuits of everything. So

(30:03):

I I like, I like naturopaths. I have one problem with naturopath. They have a tend tendency to do what are called saliva test to test hormones. I see. And the pro, the problem is that when people have a lot of adrenaline, you cannot do a saliva test. And the reason for that is that adrenaline is a survival hormone cuts off blood supply to areas of the body not needed for survival. And that includes a salivary gland. They're not needed for survival. So, so they cut a, the adrenaline cuts off the blood supply to the salivary gland, so hormones don't get into the saliva. So when they do a saliva test and they get a low cortisol, they, they diagnose adrenal fatigue, which is a condition that doesn't exist. Adrenal fatigue is really adrenaline dominant. But, you know, but that low cortisol in, in the urine in the saliva is because the adrenaline cut off the, the supply. So that's my only problem with naturopath. They're saliva test.

(31:04):

So it, it, yes. Absolutely. So, I mean, that's a really good point. What kind of testing would you recommend to get your adrenaline tested then, if you're not, if you're not doing saliva? Well,

(31:18):

Well, you know, I I I always prefer treating people rather than tests. And

(31:25):

So mean symptoms, is that what you're saying? Well,

(31:26):

Well, when people have a lot of adrenaline, it's not subtle. I mean, they have symptoms, you know, they, they an, you know, anger issues and anxiety and trouble sleeping and, you know, urinary time. But the but if somebody wanted a test, the, the best test for increased adrenaline is, is actually a morning blood test for cortisol before nine o'clock. Now, the reason for that is that adrenaline peaks at two 30 in the morning. And in fact, a lot of people get up at that time for urinate. And, but when the body releases adrenaline, remember it's a very powerful hormone, a neurotransmitter. It creates stress to the body. Now, the body respond to stress by putting out cortisol to deal with the stress. And, you know, and people should understand two things. Number one, that the reason why the body's putting out adrenaline is to raise sugar levels for the brain.

(32:28):

And, and the thing about cortisol, the first thing cortisol does when it's released is to raise sugar levels to deal with the stress. So, so here, adrenaline is peaking at two 30 in the morning while people are lying in bed. And now they're putting out not only adrenaline, but cortisol and both his hormones raise sugar levels. And the whole thing about sugar, it doesn't matter whether you're eating sugar, if the body's making it, if you don't burn it up, then all that extra sugar gets stored in your fat cells is fat. And I am 100% convinced that excess adrenaline is the number cause of weight gain in this country, number one cause. And nobody ever talks about it. You know, these are people, you know, they died and excise during the day, and they, they put on fat while they're sleeping. You know who, who even thinks about that?

(33:20):

Yeah, so, well, and I, I can speak into that from personal experience. The last couple years I've had some major stressful events happen. And the first year I put on 30 pounds and then <laugh> you know, it's been difficult to lose because I would say it's probably still a little bit of that exit cent adrenaline happening and because of the, the fight or flight response. Right. That is seems well,

(34:01):

Let <laugh> would it be, would it be fair for me to assume that you're a very creative type woman?

(34:06):

I, I, yes I am.

(34:08):

Okay. I should let you know that creative people have the most adrenaline. And you've heard the term a d d you know, they have a D H D and they have a d d, yeah. And a, a, you know, k kids with a d d, these are the ones that have trouble focusing, and they're not hyperactive. Kids with a d h, ADHD have trouble focusing, but they're hyperactive. But the creative, the creative people, creative children are the, are the ones that have a, a, d D. So if, and if you think about, you know, the creative people in, in, in mu the music industry in Hollywood, you know, very often they get involved with drugs and alcohol and, and the reason why they're doing that is just to relax. You know, just to chill out. You know, adrenaline, like I said, is a very powerful hormone. Looks like he's getting started on something. <Laugh>, I don't know.

(35:07):

Yeah. She's, she is ready to run away <laugh>.

(35:11):

Oh,

(35:12):

She's supposed to be napping, so I know she's in yellow. It's, it's confusing

(35:18):

<Laugh>. Okay. But yeah, so, so the thing about a, you know, as I mentioned, a d h is all about adrenaline. But it's easy to fix. And like, and like I say, everything is easy to fix if you treat the cause and you know, so yeah. So but you know, we're talking about this kind of symptoms that people would have if they have tumor adrenaline. So, as I said, they have trouble sleeping, they'll be quick to anger, will short fused they will carry attention to the back of the neck. You've heard of pupil that get cold hands and cold feet. That's a adrenal. Yes. You know, it's cutting off blood supply to the hand, but it also cuts off blood supply to the intestines cuz they're not needed for survival. And that causes what's called ibs, irritable Bowel syndrome. Now some people wake up with low back pain, and again there's another condition called fibromyalgia, which is, and they have about anywhere between four and 8 million people in this country with vi fibromyalgia, again, considered incurable. And you know, the, it's a pain condition. The pain is due to a built up of lactic acid in the muscle tissue. But again, it's a condition called by access adrenaline. The so

(36:52):

What

(36:52):

Would, it would be nice,

(36:53):

Oh, go ahead. I'll let you finish. And then I had a question. Is any of this genetic, like is there any genetic components or genetic SNPs that I don't know Yes. Or is it all environmental

(37:09):

<Laugh>? No, no. Excess adrenaline is 100% genetic. In other words, if you, if you are created, that means that one or both parents were afraid also and they would've had a lot of adrenaline. All doctors have a lot of adrenaline. You know, they have, all doctors have h adhd. I, I had classic d h adhd, I used to get up and walk outta class. I couldn't focus at all in school. And it wasn't until I got into medical school that I started studying. And the reason for that, I had no interest in classes in high school and college. None, none whatsoever. So I had trouble focusing on them and it never studied until the night before a test. But w but but when I got into medical school, cuz I was interested in medicine, I could study so that Yeah. But, but, but, but once you lower adrenaline, then people can focus on everything. You know, like I say, it's not hard to give people will, it really isn't.

(38:13):

Yeah.

(38:14):

You know, just,

(38:16):

Well, I love that. And in, I I feel like I could keep going and keep talking to you because I feel like I'm learning a lot <laugh> about adrenaline and, and how it's impacting the world and people, and I mean, a lot of what you have mentioned is essentially the women that I work with. And so I feel like a lot of the listeners are gonna get a ton of value from everything that you shared. Let's go ahead and wrap this up. Where can people contact you and learn more about what you do and how they could possibly work with you and all of those wonderful things?

(38:58):

Well you know, I don't see patients anymore. Okay. But, but, but I'm always available to answer questions and and I have a website, it's called Plat Wellness, p l a tt plat wellness.com and pe and there's a, and people can send email to questions pla wellness.com if they have any questions. They can always call me. When people call the office number goes straight to my cell phone, so I'm very easy to get hold of. You know, I'm, I'm trying, you know, I, I know how abused people get, especially women when it comes to medical care. So I try and make myself as available as possible, but to sort of compensate, you know, compensate for what's missing. But and then on my website, you know, I have my two books. I have a one book for the Miracle of Identical Hormones the experts for the Medical Board in California.

(40:02):

But the ideas in this book were so dangerous, I shouldn't be practicing medicine. And, but that should tell them something, you know, remember, they don't want, you know, the medical board's completely funded by drug companies and they don't want people to get better. And what this book talks about is how hormones can give people. Well a a very simple example, you know, people with asthma, progesterone takes away asthma. You know, and there's some women that if they cough or sneeze, they have trouble holding out the urine. That could be fixed in three, that could be eliminated in three days. And the book talks about this. But in any event, then my other book is Adrenaline Dominance, and there's a meal plan to lower adrenaline, and plus there's a 5% pro projecting cream available on my website that, that they don't need a prescription for. And that's, that's amazing. It's a, it's a exact strength that they'll need to dr to, you know, to block adrenaline. So you know, I, I try to make it as easy as possible for people to get better. There's a lot of information about progesterone on the, on, on my website. So, yeah. So again, it's plat well plat wellness.com. So

(41:17):

Perfect. And we will have everything linked up in the show notes. You also, I, I'm looking at the notes right here, so you're also on Facebook and Instagram, I have that people can go follow you at Plat Wellness as well. And I definitely recommend people go check this out if you are struggling with, with any of these symptoms. Thank you. Yes. For being on Dr. Plat and I am gonna go check out all of your website and continue to learn. I hope

(41:52):

<Laugh> I hope it wasn't too depressing. So

(41:55):

Not at all. I think, oh, I mean, at least not for me. I feel like there, it gave me hope and I, I feel like once, you know, I, I always live by the motto of, once you know better, you do better. So if this is resonating with the women, she wants to come see Hi, hi, hi.

(42:17):

Hello.

(42:19):

If this is resonating with any of the women, you know, definitely go check out the website and it sounds like you provide a lot of free or inexpensive education and knowledge is power. So once we know better, we can, we can do better and change our story. So

(42:37):

You got it. Well, it's been, it's been a pleasure talking to you, so

(42:42):

Thank you.

(42:44):

I I, you know, you have your hands full, so I can see that

(42:48):

We we're supposed, she's supposed to be napping. I told you this, this week has been run through the ringer. I tried to plan all of these appointments and meetings around nap time and

(43:01):

Well,

(43:02):

I

(43:02):

Just keep me remember, adrenaline is genetic and if sh if she turns out to be creative, she's gonna have a lot of adrenaline. So just, I just wanna let you know that,

(43:14):

You know, <laugh>, my oldest is very creative. She's very artistic. She plays a piano, she plays the harp, she's in her room. She just sits and reads books and, and you know, just very creative. And she's the one that I struggled with with Poly. She's the one that had some bedwetting issues. <Laugh>. And I'm like, oh, okay, <laugh>, this is, well,

(43:43):

Well, she's gonna, she's gonna have some anger issues now.

(43:47):

She is. So she's 11, she's almost 12, and we're noticing some sh she does not slam the door. My second daughter is

(44:00):

A

(44:00):

Door slammer and she's the one that is a little, I don't know, I would classify her as more angry. My oldest is a little more like silently defiant <laugh>.

(44:13):

Well, she, she, she may, she may internalize anger.

(44:16):

She does, yes.

(44:19):

Yes. But the an the anchor will be there. But you know, if you have any questions, you can always call me. Yeah,

(44:27):

I'm sure I will. I'm gonna go see what all I can learn and then probably reach out to you and <laugh>.

(44:35):

Okay. I'm gonna send you a meal plan to lower adrenaline, by the way.

(44:39):

I, I'm excited. Yes.

(44:42):

And, and I think what we'll do, I'll send you some pro projection cream which will become your new best friend, by the way.

(44:51):

Well, I was thinking I would order it <laugh>. I was like, that sounds like something I need.

(44:56):

Well, yeah, but unfortunately everybody in your family is gonna need some okay.

(45:05):

What I figure out how to dose them on your website.

(45:09):

Yeah. What's nice about progesterone, you can't, you can't overdose on it. It's a very safe one. It's a very safe hormone. That's why you can give it to babies to get rid of colic. You know, when they're in the wound, they get exposed to incredibly high levels of progesterone. So, so they, they like progesterone. You know, you've heard of women that get postpartum depression?

(45:31):

Yes.

(45:32):

Okay. Well, again, that, that, that, because, you know, when they're pregnant, the placenta is pouring out progesterone, which is a natural antidepressant, but once you deliver, then you get an immediate drop in that progesterone. That's why women get postpartum depression. And that goes away immediately with progesterone. I, you know, it, like I say, it's not hard to get pupil. Well, it's just a matter of knowing how the body operates. And, and unfortunately doctors don't know that, you know, they just gave out bandaids. But that's the way it is. Anyway yeah, I if you know, if you know, if, if you could maybe email me your address.

(46:15):

Okay. Yeah,

(46:17):

I will. We'll send you out this stuff. Okay.

(46:20):

That's amazing. I would love to, to use that. And I've been taking a oral progesterone and you taught me that I need a cream, so I'm like, all right, <laugh>, I'm gonna, I can get that changed.

(46:38):

So you've been listening. That's good,

(46:40):

<Laugh>. Yes, I was taking lots of notes actually, so Oh, okay. <Laugh> learning and yeah, I will, I will send you over my information and I would Okay. Love to, to try out the progesterone and try out the meal plan and anything. I mean, I have, I think I, my listeners know this, but I have four girls and you know, just listening and thinking about all of them and part of the reason I do this is so that we can change their story. That they don't have to follow in my footsteps and have the same health challenges and struggles that I have been dealing with over the last couple years. Because, you know, I did all of the standard practice of birth control and medication and you know, left me, I

(47:35):

Just, I understand, you know, your listen should also, you know, men have, you know, men stop making progesterone around the age of 50.

(47:43):

Okay.

(47:44):

And, and after that is when they start developing prostate cancer and putting on weight around the middle because they no, no longer have progesterone to protect them. So and men also getting, have anger issues and road rage and stuff like this. And that's a, that's always adrenaline. So, so men need progesterone, just like women need progesterone. Yes. It's not a woman's hormone.

(48:08):

Yep. Okay. Absolutely. Well, thank you so much. Like I said, we could probably talk for hours <laugh> on this. I appreciate you for being on, and we will get everything linked up in the show notes. Definitely go check out the website, you guys, and you know, contact Dr. Plat if, if you feel inclined to get, you know, a little bit more information and so forth. So we will see you guys on the next.

(48:38):

Okay. Aios

(48:43):

Did, oh, there it is. Okay.

(48:48):

Wait. Before you go, please subscribe. If you found value in today's episode. Leave us a review and share on Instagram and please tag us. We love your please.

 

121// How are your hormones playing a role in your anxiety and depression around the holidays with Andrea Jones

Andrea Jones

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AUDIO TRANSCRIPTION

(00:00):

Welcome back to the Thriving Thyroid Podcast. I am so excited to be sharing with you my, one of my business besties. I would call her. We have not met in real life but she is a person that I turn to talk to all the time when I am dealing with things in my business. Her name is Andrea Jones. She has been on the podcast before and she runs a Happy Hormones program online. So, Andrea, in today's episode, we are gonna be talking with Andrea about how your hormones are playing a role in your anxiety and your depression around the holidays. And I know I loved <laugh> this conversation because Andrea's just so real in her approach with every, with everything she does, she is Christ-centered, and it's just a very refreshing conversation. You can also, if you love this episode with Andrea, you can go back to episode 25, and we talk about four steps to clearing your painful periods and mood swings.

(01:12):

But I am just so excited to have this conversation with her around the holidays, and I know you're gonna love it just as much as I'd have. Welcome back to the Thriving Thyroid Podcast, where we choose to become empowered patients and take our health into our own hands. Hi, I'm Shannon Hansen, a Christian entrepreneur, a mom of three. And after dealing with my own health mysteries, I made it my mission to learn everything I could about the thyroid. I soon became certified as a holistic wellness practitioner, a functional nutrition practitioner, and a functional diagnostic practitioner. And so much more after that, I founded the Revolutionary Thyroid Program, the Handsome Method. As a health professional and a mom, I fully understand the importance of having a fun, simple, and sustainable plan for achieving a responsive thyroid. So I share actionable and practical strategies for developing a responsive thyroid so that the ambitious moms and women can gain freedom from fatigue and lose the thyroid weight once and for all. Each week, I will be here for you, along with my guest experts. We will be sharing simple and tangible tips that work for not only your thyroid, your hormones, your family, and your mindset, so that you can get back to living the life that you envision for yourself. Welcome to the Thriving Thyroid Podcast.

(02:43):

All right, you guys. Welcome back to the Thriving Thyroid Podcast. I have the lovely Andrea Jones. She is the first person to be reappearing on the Thriving Thyroid Podcast, so we are super excited to have her. Welcome, Andrea.

(02:59):

Thank you for having me. I love getting to connect with you and just talk about all things thyroid and hormone health, so I'm excited to be back.

(03:07):

Yeah, absolutely. And if you guys don't know, Andrea runs the Happy Hormones Program. Do you call it program or method or what is the

(03:17):

Official I kind of, the, the official word is the Happy Hormones program, but sometimes I, I say method, it just kind of depends on the day and when you ask me <laugh>

(03:25):

Yeah. Okay. Yeah. And so she deals all with all things hormone related. And because this is close to the holidays, I wanted to address kind of the elephant in the room that nobody wants to talk about, and that is anxiety, depression how that plays a role in us through the holidays and how that can be related to thyroid hormones. But also just everybody wants to be happy around the holidays, and we put on these kind of fake smiles and pretend that we're happy <laugh> unless you really are. But usually it is a fake happy Yeah. Until, until you find more happiness. So, Andrea, would you be willing to share with us about women and their hormones and their cycle and how irritability may be part of a bigger picture?

(04:20):

Absolutely. This is actually one of my favorite, favorite things to talk about because it was probably one of the biggest parts of my story. My mood was impacted so severely and nobody could really piece it together for me. And since I had, you know, a history of mental illness in my family, that was the first thing that doctors would say is, oh, you just need to be on antidepressants. And I would say, you don't understand. It's only like seven days before my period that I feel this way. Like, and they would just say, yeah, we'll just put you on mood stabilizers, you know, and I didn't, I was like, I'd rather just push through then, you know, be on a medication that makes, doesn't make me feel really any better. And so so for me, that symptom went ignored for a really long time.

(05:10):

And I will say for, you know, the majority of the women that I work with, that's the case for them as well. That it's just, you know, the doctors will talk to them about, you know, their period, how long is your period? Is it crampy? Is it heavy? But the whole mental health, emotional health aspect of it is like largely ignored. Yeah. And so, and to me that's a really big issue because I think as practitioners, we're starting to understand, and science is really starting to catch up with us, that you really cannot separate the two, not separate your physiology from your mental health and your emotional wellbeing. And so so understanding that, hey, maybe my mood and maybe my irritability and maybe my fatigue and maybe my sadness is pointing to something else going on. And so for women, this is why cycle tracking is so important.

(06:03):

It's a foundational piece for, you know, any woman that works with me gets the dreaded assignment of tracking their cycle. They hate it, but eventually they learn to love it because they're able to look back and see, oh, I'm only moody right around ovulation. I only feel like fighting with my husband the day before my period. So it's not me, the person Andrea, that's ripping my husband's head off. It's, there's something going on below the surface. And so and so really looking at it from that frame of mind is, yes, there absolutely can be emotional things, right, that impact our mood and irritability, but for women, we also can't neglect the fact that a, a large part of how we feel is driven by our hormones.

(06:48):

Yes, absolutely. And so I wanna touch on something because as you guys know, I feel like I'm a broken record. I had a baby <laugh> recently, and so my cycle has not, so before I was very regular. I was every 28 days, pretty much like clockwork. Sometimes give or take a day or two, you know, like a day before or day after, right? Yeah. But very, very, I would say systematized. And I could plan on ovulation, I could plan on my menstrual cycle. That wasn't the story for many, many years. And I didn't know, I wanna say it was maybe even like two years ago, like fairly recently that a heavy period was considered like, I think more than three tablespoons or two tablespoons mm-hmm. <Affirmative>. And I was like, I'm filling up like two or three cups a day. Yeah.

(07:47):

<Laugh>. Yeah. Right?

(07:51):

Yeah. That's way more than it should be. Right? And so I, I got to work doing that, but I found that information because like you said, I was tracking things. Yeah. And I started to learn, oh, maybe try this. Oh, maybe, maybe tampons aren't the best for me. Maybe switch to a cup or period panties or, you know, whatever these less toxic options are because I was collecting the information. So for you, when you're working with a client, what is one method or your favorite method for having people track their cycles?

(08:27):

Yeah, so my go-to is always what can they be compliant with <laugh>. So whichever tool they can be compliant with, that's what we usually use. Now, I will say that very similar to you, we track a lot more symptoms than the standard app. You know, we're tracking if they're pooping regularly, we're tracking how well they're sleeping throughout the month, when really most of the apps on the market are they only allow you certain, like, to track certain symptoms at certain times. Whereas we're tracking them for the entire cycle. Because it's really that whole picture that I'm able to kind of zoom out on and be like, okay, we're seeing a pattern here and this pattern of, you know, constipation anxiety, irritability, leading up to your cycle is your body's not clearing estrogen. And when it's not clearing estrogen, progesterone will constantly be hitting up against this ceiling.

(09:25):

And we need progesterone to have a balanced mood to feel like calm and stable and happy and sleep well, and feel bonded to our partner and feel connected to our children. Our hormones do drive a lot of those connections. And so we're looking at that whole pattern over the month because it, it actually is what helps us to identify not just where somebody's stuck, but like, oh, this is low progesterone, and now we need to figure out why you're having low progesterone. Right? Is it connected to a thyroid, you know, dysfunction of some kind? Or 99% of the time it's that gut brain connection that we talk about all of the time, <laugh> mm-hmm. <Affirmative>. And so if we can figure out the, what's going on at the root, then that makes the whole process so much easier for people.

(10:15):

Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Well, and I think you brought up a good point is we don't realize that, well, I didn't realize until I came a practitioner that our hormones go up and down throughout the month mm-hmm. <Affirmative>, right? And so maybe speak into that for like the new listeners really quickly. Like what does that look like?

(10:37):

Yeah. So so that's really good because it actually kind of brings up two points with that. So your hormones do fluctuate throughout the month. You have a period of your cycle that you're gonna have higher estrogen and a period of your cycle where you're gonna have higher progesterone. This is like overly simplified, but since I don't have the map to show you all as you're listening we're just kind of, kind of very keep it very simple to that. And so some women depending on the level of deficit that's happening in their body or dysfunctioning, that's ha dysfunction that's happening in their body, they're gonna feel those dips really significantly. Women who tend to have low progesterone as a baseline throughout the month are going to feel like they're falling off a cliff three days before their cycle because there's like, the bucket's already empty.

(11:25):

Does that make sense? Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>. And so what I'm hearing doctors tell women that I personally as a practitioner would disagree with is that yeah, it's normal to feel those shifts throughout the month. And I'm like, really? You shouldn't though. Like, you, you should notice some subtle shifting of symptoms, meaning like most women notice, you know, that they are more interested in intimacy around ovulation or they might feel a little bit more fatigued a couple days before their period. But it should not be so significant that it's impacting your activities of daily living, your function, your ability to parent, your children, your ability to go to work. Like there's a difference, right? And so what I see women is saying, yeah, I'm having these shifts around my cycle, and my doctor said that's normal. And I'm like, shifts are normal. Suffering is not. So we need to like differentiate those two things because I see a lot of women normalizing symptoms that are not normal. Did that answer your question, <laugh>?

(12:31):

Yeah, I think so. I mean, and I tell women the same thing I tell people in general, just because something is common. Like you may be talking to one of your friends and they're like, oh, yeah, I have that too. Doesn't mean that that is normal. Right,

(12:44):

Exactly.

(12:45):

Right. Like, I remember growing up, me and my sister, we share a lot of information and she's like, yeah, like when I'm on my period, I poop all the time, and it's like diarrhea and, you know, whatever. Yeah. And, and I'm like, oh yeah, me too. Like <laugh>.

(13:05):

Right?

(13:06):

And that was, I don't know, like you just normalize. I

(13:11):

Think it's normal.

(13:12):

Yeah. We, we and you guys hear my baby and I remember my mom telling me that she would wear two tampons at a time and a pad and bleed through them. Yeah. Like, wow, that was her normal. And I was like, oh, mine's not that bad. So in my mind, I thought my menstrual cycle was like light, you know? Right. It wasn't until I started learning more that I was like, oh, this stuff is not normal. This is not what you should be experiencing. And I think that that is super important to experience. So let's speak into, you said before your cycle, right? Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>, progesterone drops

(13:58):

Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative>,

(14:00):

How does progesterone play into people being irritable?

(14:04):

Yeah. I, I love talking about this <laugh> because the science part of my brain just like explodes. So progesterone, if you think about it, is it's a hormone and hormones we know communicate with all the cells in the body. But progesterone in particular communicates pretty strongly with with our, our nervous system in our gut but also our neurotransmitters in our brain, primarily serotonin and melatonin. So if you think, you know, if somebody's coming in and they're having some low progesterone symptoms like mood swings, spotting like really, really, really short periods insomnia, anxiety, some of those type of symptoms then we're gonna wanna be looking at like, okay, what's, what's going on in the communication with the neurotransmitters specifically? Because if, again, if you're having low progesterone symptoms, there's not gonna be anything for serotonin to grab onto and make more serotonin, right? Because you need, you need progesterone to make serotonin, you need serotonin to make melatonin, and then that whole cycle gets disrupted if there's no progesterone at play to work with. Does that make sense?

(15:21):

Yeah.

(15:22):

Yep. And so a lot of times the doctor will put a woman on a an S S R I or an antidepressant and even just say, oh, just take this, you know, seven days before your period, which f y i, that does not work just for those listening, because it takes, you know, several weeks up to six weeks to get, you know, a neurotransmitter medication actually working. But it's also not addressing the root cause of why does this person have low progesterone? So I, for, in my own personal story, I actually had an undiagnosed brain injury from hitting my head. I'd fractured my skull on a emissions trip, like when I was super young. And they never investigated that. They're like, oh, you know, you know, you're functioning fine. So we're not gonna look into that. Well, where I hit my head is right at the th the h p a axis, so the thyroid adrenal pituitary axis. So it completely disrupted the communication between my, my brain and my ovaries to say, Hey, we actually need you to be making more progesterone, so no amount of progesterone supplementation is going to resolve that issue. We have to address the brain. Does that make sense?

(16:33):

Yeah. Yeah. And well, and I just to kind of stop you from there, I don't think most people realize that a head bon, you know, a bump on the head, a

(16:44):

Big

(16:44):

Deal is a big deal. Yeah. And how that can impact your hormones, how that can impact your gut brain connection. The vagus nerve, right. The vagal nerve, you know, all of those different things because society, medicine, whatever, I don't, I don't know who's to blame here. We, we've learned that you have a brain injury, you go to a neurologist, you have GI issues, you go to a gastroenterologist, okay, your thyroid, you go to an endocrinologist. Like, you know, if it's just your everyday cough and cold, you go to your general practitioner like

(17:22):

<Laugh>, right?

(17:25):

But our body is an ecosystem, like Right. Everything works together and everything is connected. Right. And it's a fallacy to think that it's not, I don't know, interconnected, I guess to

(17:44):

Absolutely.

(17:45):

It's isolated, I guess.

(17:48):

So. Exactly. And that actually I think is a really good segue because I, I got really lucky that I found the first doctor I found, well, I went to my regular gp and that was just the whole thing was a joke, which I know we talk about, like, if this is happening, don't go back, like find somebody new. And I got so fed up with that system that I was like, I have to find somebody else. Like, I don't care if it's out of pocket, whatever, like we don't have the money, but I also don't have time like at this point to continue to feel miserable. And so the doctor that I happened to find was he, he was a neurologist and a homeopath and a naturopath. So he had multiple degrees and literally put together a PowerPoint presentation after looking through my history and talking to me and saying, this is why you're suffering.

(18:40):

Like, we have to put the pieces together. You know, you had you on antibiotics for the entire duration of your childhood, and well into my early adulthood for acne and different things. You had a lot of emotional trauma as a child, and there's no way that that didn't impact your brain, you know, and how your brain processes emotions and and that gut brain connection just from stress alone is gonna be impacted. So there's multiple layers of healing that, and he was very upfront with me, like, there's multiple layers of healing that have to take place here in order for us to get you better. And, and I just remember like weeping because I felt like finally somebody had put, put it all together for me. And I wasn't just like, oh, just go to the thyroid dock, or, oh, just go to, you know, if you're having tummy issues, you go to your GI doctor. And I it's such a frustrating thing to have to walk out in the current medical system the way that it is right now.

(19:40):

Yeah. Yeah. I can't even tell you how many times I've walked out of a doctor's office, incomplete tears calling my husband, cuz I'm like, they're telling me everything is, you know, it's

(19:53):

Fine.

(19:54):

It's fine. It's, I don't feel fine. And, you know, I'm a mess <laugh> and Right. You know, thankfully my husband is very supportive, but he, I I think a lot of husbands out there are fixers and he's like, I just, yes. I don't know what to do. Like,

(20:11):

I don't know how to sit for you.

(20:13):

Yeah, yeah. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative>.

(20:16):

Absolutely. And I think, you know, and I know, I know that you and I talk about this in our individual like communities and stuff, but it's, once you begin to recognize that feeling of like, I shouldn't leave a doctor's office empty-handed. Like, I shouldn't be leaving with less information than I came in. I shouldn't be the most educated person in the room. Like, I'm paying you to be the most educated person in the room. And once, once you recognize that feeling, it, it becomes a lot easier to advocate for yourself. And so, you know, I know that, I know that we talk about that all the time, but just for those of you listening, that if that's you and you're in that position, like pay attention because it shouldn't be that way. And as you know, I'm a nurse that was trained in conventional medicine and eventually left the medical field for that reason. So the care that is being provided I is not even like, not even in the same decade as where science is <laugh>. Does that make sense? They're a good like 20 to 30 years behind. So yeah. Pay attention to that gut, I guess is what I would say to that one.

(21:26):

Yeah. well, and obviously people who are listening to the podcast are, are seeking out answers, right? Right.

(21:34):

Like they're, yeah.

(21:35):

They're trying to, to figure out what's going on and what they can do. But what advice would you have for someone who is struggling with anxiety, depression mood around the holidays? Like

(21:51):

Yeah.

(21:53):

How does that flare up and are there some things that they can do to help prepare for that or not allow those things to get worse?

(22:02):

Absolutely. This is such a good question because I, I think that, you know, the first thing that I would say is get your expectations in check, right? Because a lot of us have some unresolved pain, like when it comes to the holidays, emotional pain, not necessarily physical pain. And, you know, we're feeling the pain of disconnection from our families or certain family members or, you know, we're like, I wanna give my children the thing that I didn't have. And maybe we're not able to do that for numerous reasons. And so my thing has always, has always been like, check my expectations and do my expectations line up with what's currently going on in my family and what can I do to find joy, even if those things are unresolved. So that's the first one. And this is a big one that I see. Because those expectations of having a perfect house or the perfect family get together when your relationship with your in-laws is dysfunctional or toxic you're not gonna have the magical family get together without some serious work.

(23:10):

And so letting go of that expectation and creating ways to find joy with some really healthy boundaries is one thing that I would look at from like an emotional, psychological standpoint. The second thing is, what you do for your body to nourish your body in the first half of your cycle will impact the second half of your cycle. So for most women, where we see mood issues the most is that like seven to 10 days, sometimes 14 days before their period where progesterone should be spiking, but it's not for numerous reasons. And so supporting your body with, you know, proper nutrition, making sure that you're getting lots of vegetables, like at least a handful with every meal making sure you're getting good fats and good proteins and eliminating those things that are really inflammatory. So I feel like there could be a really long list here.

(24:05):

I know you've got really good resources on this, so I'm gonna let them lean into your resources on this one. But avoiding the things like sugar and those things that really do inflame our nervous system, they inflame our digestive tract, that that will exacerbate mood issues if you have them. I mean, we see it in our children, right? Like, my kids hardly ever have candy. If they do, it's like they turn into different people, you know, and our bodies are just maybe a little bit more dysfunctional in that they're used to compensating for some of that stuff. So that would be the other thing. If you know that the wintertime around the holidays tends to be really stressful emotionally then look at the areas that you can give yourself support. Do I need to be in counseling? Do I need to be working with a coach? Do I need to process some stuff? Like those are real valid things. And not addressing our emotional health will also impact our hormones. So it's like we gotta support the physiology, right? By making sure we're eating proper nutrition, supporting, supporting our body, reducing inflammation, but then we also need to make sure, like, am I ignoring real emotional stressors that are going to throw my hormones out of whack if I don't keep 'em in check? Those are kind of the two avenues that I look at.

(25:26):

Yeah, no, it's so good. And I, like, one of the things that I learned about myself, I ki thankfully early on in my marriage, is that like I had a lot of unresolved, like tr I, I don't even know, negative feelings and experiences around the holidays. Not because the holidays were necessarily bad, but because my parents had financial issues, right? Yeah. And I, it didn't impact me because I, I mean, they, I guess I kind of knew there wasn't money, but I thought I believed in Santa, so <laugh> Yeah. <Laugh>, you know, and my parents were always able to pull off some magical, you know,

(26:14):

Right.

(26:15):

Holiday, Christmas, whatever. But for them it was stressful. So there was more fighting and there was more. Yeah. And I was like, I got married and I was like, I hate Christmas, Christmas sucks, you know? And my husband's really talking about it. It's like magical and amazing and, and <laugh>. And I was like, no, it's not. And so leading up to, so between Thanksgiving and Christmas, it took me a long time to realize that the reason I'm feeling down in a slump is, is because I had this pre thought that you're supposed to fight or that it, like the holidays had to be stressful.

(26:55):

Yeah.

(26:56):

That wasn't part of my husband and my story Right. Thankfully, you know, and it was, I don't know, it was a different experience. And now I'm like, I freaking love Christmas <laugh>.

(27:10):

Right? Like, yeah,

(27:11):

Christmas is amazing. And, and now it's more of like, how are we gonna top next year? You know, how are we gonna, how are we gonna do what we need to do or want to do every single year Right. Year after year? And, you know, that's, that's more where the stress comes from. But I've, I've also learned for me, Santa brings one gift and stockings and everything else comes from mom and dad. And I can explain to my kids like, Hey, we don't have, you know, enough money or whatever. Right. Like, so I've set my family up in a different way to also reduce the amount of stress instead of making it so that my kids expect Santa to do certain things.

(27:59):

Right. Right.

(28:01):

So that's

(28:02):

Really good

(28:03):

Inventory on that. H so speaking of like mood stuff around, so we're kind of Christmas holidays, we're going into that like dark time of the year mm-hmm. <Affirmative>. So does sunlight impact mood and emotion? And if so, how?

(28:23):

Really good question. Yes, it does. For some people more than others, I will say that my clients that either formally or informally have a diagnosis of, you know, seasonal effective disorder, which is very common in the Pacific Northwest just because we get a lot of rain and dark, dark months whether they think they have it or they've actually been diagnosed with it we see a tremendous improvement in their symptoms because we're addressing those root causes, you know, primarily of the gut-brain connection. But also because we spend a fair amount of time working on the liver. So the liver actually plays a huge role in synthesizing vitamin D. So what you or your body absorbs from the sunlight or from supplementation, your liver then has to take that and actually make it into a usable form. And so for women, when we're seeing like heavy periods, really painful periods, endometriosis menstrual migraines, breast tenderness, that all points to the liver is struggling.

(29:28):

Number one, it's not metabolizing estrogen number two. So as a byproduct of just addressing the liver, we're getting this increase in vitamin D synthesis, right? So we're now getting that nice robust immune supporting hormone that plays a big role, not only in like reducing inflammation to the brain, but how it interacts with all of the other neurotransmitters. So that's one thing. We can support that by, especially if you live in a, like a dark, darker area. So those that are in the Pacific Northwest that don't get a lot of sunlight in the winter a sun lamp is amazing. There are alarm clocks that you can get that actually act like the sun. And they have the same like UV type I don't wanna call it a ray cuz that's not really what it is, but maybe that is what they call it, UV light that hits your pineal gland and your pituitary gland and it actually creates that neurotransmitter synthesis. So there are things that you can do, you know, to make sure that you're getting the nutrients your body needs, even if it's not getting it directly from sunlight, that can have a huge impact.

(30:40):

Yeah. Yeah. I love that. And I, when we lived in Idaho, that was one of the things a lot of the women did is they bought lights. And I was like, I don't know if at the time I was like, I don't know if I believe in that <laugh>. Yeah,

(30:53):

<Laugh>. Yeah. There's quite a few studies on it, but yeah, if you Yeah, it's, it's, you kind of have to try it out for yourself and see if that's the the thing. But especially for people with severe seasonal depression or seasonal anxiety even, it can be just enough to kind of pop 'em up, if that makes sense.

(31:15):

Yeah. Just to bring you over that threshold mm-hmm. <Affirmative>. okay. Well it, let's, let's wrap this up. Is there anything people need to know about the holidays or do you have any tips or just anything that you've learned along your journey dealing with irritability and hormonal stuff that would benefit the listeners?

(31:45):

Yeah, so I would say the biggest piece, which is probably the harder piece because we want, you know, we all want the magic bullet. We all want the magic pill that like, hey, just hit the magic button and everything will work out perfectly. Is actually really paying attention to your stress. That's the biggest one. Because I will say, you know, even the women that I work with in the Happy Hormones program, when we get to like November, December, I see them, you know, o overloading their schedule, not prioritizing sleep. And then, and then they get frustrated, which is totally valid, but they get frustrated cuz they're like, ah, I had one sweet thing and then I was just a rage monster for the whole day. Well, it wasn't probably the one sweet thing you had that was the issue. It was the fact that there's all this compiled stress and there's not enough sleep that just kind of set your body up for being easily tipped over.

(32:37):

So and I also tell them, you know, we can do all the things. I can teach you all the right things to eat, but if we're not constantly learning how to build stress, resilience, it's gonna be a problem. So that would be the biggest thing I would say is, you know, manage your expectations, deal with that, like the emotional internal world. And you know, and plan for the Christmas that you want because, you know, that might mean setting some really good boundaries with people, but I guarantee you that it's gonna, it's gonna pay off to have a reduced stress and then not having to feel like, okay, in January I'll get back on track. Not getting off track is the goal. <Laugh>

(33:22):

That one. Yeah, I love that. And I remember I have a friend and a couple years ago she told me, she's like, I love my family, but I'm not going over there for the holidays. And I was like,

(33:35):

How dare you. Yeah,

(33:37):

Yeah, yeah. And she's like, we just had a really nice relaxing time at the house with the kids instead of trying to, you know, rush Christmas morning and then drive 45 minutes across the town and then, you know, try to go to the next in-laws and then, you know,

(33:56):

Yeah,

(33:57):

Whatever, whatever, whatever. And I was like, wow. You know, like <laugh>, uhhuh, <affirmative>. It was so eye-opening and I'm like, it really makes sense. Like you have your own family, you can, you don't have to be there on Christmas. Like you can set your own traditions and, and if you want to, like, great. My husband, my mom. So the way that it works, I live 15 minutes from my mom and maybe even 10, it's like between 10 and 15 minutes it's, we live pretty close and then we live like three minutes away from my husband's family.

(34:32):

Awesome.

(34:33):

And my mom, because they don't have kids, they make the rounds to all of our houses. Wow. And I'm the closest she comes to our house and I typically, depending on when they have a relaxing morning, they just come whenever. Right. <Laugh>, you know, they're they're up and ready. Exactly. And I'm like, you can eat breakfast here. And they have breakfast and you know, they go to the next person's house and then whenever we feel like it, we head over to my in-laws. And thankfully theirs is super relaxing too. They're like, yeah, whenever we'll have leftovers, I, I mean, yeah, usually it's not leftovers, but it's, it's something super easy that nobody has to tend to or, you know, and we just get a be together as a family and I Amazing. I think that's so important for people to realize. Yes. Like

(35:31):

You can,

(35:32):

You can, you know, a big ham dinner with mashed potatoes, like of course we do that, but we don't do it on Christmas day <laugh>. Yeah,

(35:40):

Yeah.

(35:41):

You

(35:41):

Know. Exactly. So make it what you want it to be and then, you know, and then create the parameters around that, you know, communicate about what that needs to look like. And you know, for some people, just depending on where they're coming from, that means there's some work that needs to happen as far as like, I could never say no to them. That's probably a sign that there's some stuff <laugh> that needs to be taken care of there. But it's, it's a game changer. And we start working with our clients around like the end of October to really start, you know, talking about what are your plans for the holidays? Like, how can we help you manage your stress so that you know that this gets to look the way that brings peace to your family and isn't a huge, you know, external stressor. So I love that you shared that.

(36:28):

Yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. so good, I have enjoyed this conversation. And so for our listeners, do you have maybe a guide or some kind of support with for them? Yeah,

(36:42):

Yeah.

(36:43):

Tell us about that.

(36:44):

Yeah, so I would say probably one of my most popular guides is, it's my freebie, but it's actually, it's the, your free guide to getting rid of p m s and mood swings. So our mood swings related to P pmms, so I'm sure that we can find a way to drop that in the show notes for people to grab if that's easy or email it out. But that's probably the best place to start because we actually help you to identify like what's going on underneath the surface that's causing your symptoms. And that's a little bit different for everyone. So identifying that is a, is a great foundational place to start.

(37:19):

Yeah. Perfect. All right. We will link that up in the show notes for you guys. And if you wanna connect with Andrea on social media, where can they find you?

(37:28):

Yeah, so it's just at Abundant Wellness with Andrea on Instagram. That's probably the best place to find me.

(37:35):

Awesome. Well thank you so much.

(37:37):

Yeah. Thanks for having me, Shannon.

(37:39):

We'll see you guys on the next

(37:45):

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AUDIO TRANSCRIPTION

(00:01):

If you often feel hungry, you are not alone. There are many reasons to feel hungry. And of course, the most obvious one is that you are really physically hungry. Perhaps your stomach is empty, your blood sugar has dropped, and your hungry hunger hormones are having a party. But other times, hunger may not be physical. It could be a craving or an emotional trigger. There are common reasons why some people eat too much, and this could be brought up by certain types of diets or stress or other things in your life. It's really easy to mistake physiological hunger to, for like a, a physical hunger, right? Sometimes it's more in our head or us needing something. And so I wanna talk about the differences between both types of these hunger and give you some tips to help you figure out which one it really is.

(01:00):

Welcome back to the Thriving Thyroid Podcast, where we choose to become empowered patients and take our health into our own hands. Hi, I'm Shannon Hanson, a Christian entrepreneur, a mom of three. And after dealing with my own health mysteries, I made it my mission to learn everything I could about the thyroid. I soon became certified as a holistic wellness practitioner, a functional nutrition practitioner, and a functional diagnostic practitioner. And so much more after that, I founded the Revolutionary Thyroid Program, the Handsome Method. As a health professional and a mom, I fully understand the importance of having a fun, simple, and sustainable plan for achieving a responsive thyroid. So I share actionable and practical strategies for developing a responsive thyroid so that the ambitious moms and women can gain freedom from fatigue and lose the thyroid weight once and for all. Each week, I will be here for you, along with my guest experts. We will be sharing simple and tangible tips that work for not only your thyroid, your hormones, your family, and your mindset, so that you can get back to living the life that you envision for yourself. Welcome to the Thriving Thyroid Podcast.

(02:21):

All right, you guys. Welcome back to the Thriving Thyroid Podcast with Shannon, your host, myself. Today as per the intro, we are talking about the difference between physiological hunger and physical hunger. I wanna share a story with you. This is about a client of mine, and she came into the program, obviously with thyroid, obviously with a whole bunch of <laugh>. Not a whole bunch of issues, but like the, the common stuff, the inability to lose weight, the fatigue, the muscle aches, pains, digestive issues, all of those types of things. And as we have worked together, as time has gone through and passed by and, and whatever, I have a begin to really understand this person on a different level. They have been through a lot of trauma and a lot of like, just emotional baggage, right? Like most of us.

(03:37):

And I've really been speaking into her about addressing some of the emotional trauma that she has gone through over the years, over her lifetime, because that is one of the biggest things currently that is holding her back. She can, you know, follow her protocol, take her supplements, eat all the right things for a week, two weeks, maybe three weeks, maybe even a month and a half, and she starts to see results, and then all of the sudden some kind of emotional trigger will trigger her to fall backwards. And so it's really this kind of yo-yo type situation. And I think that can be true for a lot of us. I think a lot of us find that we can, I, I'm using air quotes here, <laugh> be good and follow all of the right things until something emotional happens. And this for me, plays a huge part in with thyroid as well, because one of the, there are, how do I say this?

(04:53):

There are some commonalities with thyroid, right? We, we talk about the underlying ability to speak your truth. But what most people don't understand is that these emotions get trapped in our body and they get stuck. So thyroid is, like I said, un un being unavailable <laugh> to express your truth or maybe swallowing the anger of something that has happened in your life. I know that is very true for me. I didn't want to express anger or expressing a lack of self-confidence. Liver also is part of the conversion of T4 and to t3. And that can, the liver is associated with anger. So this is why we see a lot of, not a lot, but we see those angry alcoholics and things. And so the Hansen method and working with my clients, it is about diet, nutrition, supplementation, lifestyle, all of those wonderful things. But it's also about the emotional aspect of it.

(06:15):

Because if we're not addressing the mindset <laugh> behind what we're doing, we will continue to repeat in the same cycle. Now, if you guys follow me over on Instagram, I know I've posted this before over there, but the belief cycle, how many, I'm curious, and I would love feedback. <Laugh>, the belief cycle is really this cycle of, you know, our thoughts become our beliefs and our beliefs become our actions and our actions become our results. And we end up repeating this cycle over and over and over again because we're, we're validating the belief that we have, right? The belief of losing weight is hard. And then that becomes like our thoughts, right? Losing weight is hard. Losing weight is hard. I can't lose weight. You know, I have hypothyroidism. I can't lose weight, I can't lose weight. Well, then that becomes like our result. So like the client that I shared, she will do all the right things and start to lose one, two pounds.

(07:30):

And then she backslides again, validating her belief of losing weight is hard. And so without addressing the, the beliefs and the emotional components of this, we're gonna be stuck for a long time. So our physical hunger is regulated by the body through hunger, hormones, leptin and grelin. So grin, think of it as like growling. It's that hunger inside of your body. Leptin is the fullness. So of course we have hormones, yay hormones, <laugh> that regulate this. And you don't want to be completely drained of fuel and nutrition for a long time. So this is one of the reasons I don't advocate for intermittent fasting, because it actually has more metabolic damage. Now for short periods of time. There can be some wonderful benefits to it, but long term, intermittent fasting really reeks havoc on hormones overall. So we are programmed to seek food for our body when we, when our body physically needs it.

(08:46):

And some of those physical needs that your stomach is empty is your blood sugar is gonna drop. And so to be very vulnerable and transparent here <laugh>, I find it hard to eat. It's not that I don't want to eat, it's that I am trying to do so many things in my day and last year, one of my goals for you know, what, what goal am I going to do to take care of myself, to grow myself and <laugh> the first one I put in that was prioritize sleep. And I feel like I did a really good job with that, having a new baby. But the second part of that was regular meal times. I know that this is something that I have struggled with, and I'll be honest, I don't like, we're, we're pretty much in December right now and I don't feel like I accomplished that.

(09:46):

The sleep part, yes, great. I, I mean the best of my ability sometimes, like last night the baby had a fever and that part is out of my control <laugh>. But I do prioritize my sleep, do prioritize, regular sleep, schedule, timing, all of that, cuz I know that is a big component for me and my hormones. The second part of this is regulating my meals. And so I just actually started implementing a few things that I'm hoping will help me with more regular meal times. So for me, lunchtime is probably the hardest one. Breakfast pretty easy most of the time. And I've had to modify my shakes a little bit. So I drink protein shakes in the morning. I have tons of recipes for them. Even in the show notes, you guys, I have a hypothyroidism recipe book that you can go purchase and download and use.

(10:50):

And it does come with like 12, I think 12 or 14 or something along those lines. Smoothies. And this is your fruits, your veggies, your greens protein. And what I have found to be most successful with the women that I work with is between 25 and 30 grams of protein for breakfast. And so my protein powder that I use is about 25 grams. And then I add in another form of like protein. So some hem parts, hem parts are really high in protein or some collagen like a the vital, what is that? Vital collagen, vital protein, collagens, whatever it is. And I add in instead of two scoops, I add in one scoop, which ends up being about 35 ish grams of protein. And that will sustain me to lunchtime. And so <laugh>, this is where I struggle because I start working like the baby's napping and I start working and I'm trying to like get all of the things done while she's napping and then she wakes up and then we go pick up sisters from school.

(12:03):

And so I don't prioritize the lunch time because I'm trying to get all the things done and I don't even wanna stop and break to go heat up food or get food. So some of the things that I'm implementing for that portion is portioning out, like my, my lunch the night before. So usually I heat reheat leftovers or something, you know, whatever, make a salad or whatever, but I don't, I don't know, I, I'm just, that's what I'm playing with now is, is starting to prepare it the night before and maybe even giving myself two options. One that can be heated and one that doesn't have to be heated or you know, whatever <laugh>, whatever it is, so that I can prioritize that. Because what ends up happening is if I skip that meal when I get home from picking up the kids, it's usually about 3 34 and I am so hungry.

(13:10):

And then I want to eat all of the things because my blood sugar has dropped and I'm nursing and I'm hungry and I'm already in a calorie deficiency. So there we go. There <laugh>, there's a little tidbit about me and what I am currently working on to help support my blood sugar and help support that physiological hunger. So first things first, we need to stop and evaluate what we're doing. Scarfing down like a protein bar at the first sign of hunger isn't necessarily going to help you. And that was one of the other things that I would do. I would put the baby to sleep and I would go to the pantry and just grab like a protein bar or grab a lar bar or something along those lines, which is not enough food. When you have hypothyroidism, it is critical. You guys, it is absolutely essential critical.

(14:11):

If I could tell you one piece of advice, it is going to be make sure you are eating enough calories, okay? Because hypothyroidism, if we peel back all of the layers, all of the layers, like to the very teeny tiny, like everything, it is a mineral and nutritional deficiency. And a lot of that comes from us following this diet mentality of cut calories, eat less, exercise more. And just this week on Instagram, thriving Thyroid I posted an image and I put up a poll in the Facebook group and I, I gave kind of a, I don't know, a statistic. So a woman with hypothyroidism in her thirties of her basal metabolic rate. So her, her resting metabolic rate, so meaning she wakes up and she lays in bed and she does zero <laugh> activity for the rest of the day is about 1600 calories.

(15:27):

Okay? So literally think of like waking up and not even going to the bathroom, just waking up and laying in bed and breathing, okay? Then that person goes to exercise and throughout the day they end up burning almost 1100 calories. So over a thousand calories, and she's only eating about 900 to 1200 to 1500 calories per day. This is going to end in weight gain because the body thinks that it is in starvation mode. And this is honestly what I see happen so many times with my clients, their doctors tell them to cut, cut calories to go on a diet, to cut out gluten to whatever. And oh, anyways, I I could rant on that <laugh>, just make sure you're eating enough food, prioritize your sleep, that is one of or not prioritize your sleep. Prioritize regular meal meals that are nutrient dense. So what do I mean by nutrient dense?

(16:39):

I mean vitamins, minerals amino acids, proteins omega fatty acids, all of those important, not just the macronutrients. So protein, carbs and fats, but the micronutrients, the vitamins, minerals, okay? The second thing that you need to do is really stop and evaluate. Am I hungry? Is, is there a growling nine sensation happening in my stomach? Or where is that coming from? Did I skip a meal? Have I not eaten in hours? Are you smelling something delicious or perhaps you're bored or sad or stressed? So take that physiological evaluation and that emotional evaluation of what you have going on. And again, I'll be a little vulnerable here with you guys. I, we've had some major life things happen and I wish I could talk about all of them, but they are unfortunately like, not, not my story to tell, and I know that it would deeply hurt this person, but it has brought up a lot of emotional baggage that I thought I had worked through and not so, and I like this part I can share.

(18:09):

So my dad passed away of lung cancer about six years ago, and it was pretty rough. From the date of his prognosis to his passing was like 30 days exactly. And I, he passed away on a Friday. I had a plane ticket to be out there on Tuesday, so I missed it just by a couple days. Like, he just went downhill really, really fast. And that was extremely difficult. And I have a nasty <laugh> stepmom and just did some really mean things around that. And then also bringing up some emotions with my brother and his passing. He, he completed suicide 25 years ago and just all of these things. And I've noticed lately that my desire for food has heightened not, let me see if I can explain this. So I eat dinner and I'm like, man, I feel full. I feel satisfied, I feel good.

(19:17):

But then it's like five, 10 minutes later I'm like, but I still need something, right? I still need something. It doesn't necessarily have to be sweet. It doesn't necessarily have to be whatever. It's like I, I still need something. And so as I took inventory of myself, I realized that some of the emotions that I've been dealing with lately are causing that physiological, so like mental hunger because I've been craving a relationship with my dad. And so it's really important that we take stock of that. And I had a conversation with a friend last night and her poor daughter is going through something really difficult and her mom was like, or her daughter told her mom, she's like, I just don't like to feel negative emotions. And her mom was like, but it's okay. Like, you can feel them. It doesn't mean that feeling them is bad.

(20:17):

Like, it's okay to feel sad and it's okay to cry and it's okay to be disappointed. And her daughter was like, no, <laugh>. And I'm like, I can totally relate to that. But we as adults, if we don't learn how to deal and cope and manage these things, we're gonna be dealing with this physiological hunger, psychological hunger. I keep saying physiological psychological hunger that will never be satisfied, never be satisfied. So for me personally, I am journaling about my feelings. And it's interesting because sometimes the things that are coming out on paper are not necessarily the thoughts that are coming that I have conscious awareness of in my brain. So it's, it's been really interesting still something that I'm currently working through and it's something that you guys can work through. There's a ton of different methods, eft, talking, counseling, therapy, whatever. But it's really important that we are addressing those, those, those those feelings as well.

(21:31):

So number three, I have a big glass of water, okay? You guys will often see me in lives and coaching calls with my big 40 ounce Stanley cup, drinking and sipping on water. I just took a sip of water because after sometimes hunger is because we're dehydrated. So take a drink, a big glass of water, observe how you're feeling for at least a minute and dig into those sources of feelings. It can be easy to jump to the conclusion, but may or may not be the right one. So listen to your body and mind deeply. If you find that you are feeling that your feelings may be a source of what is going on, face them, acknowledge them, observe them. Feelings are, they're not bad. And with this friend that I told you, her daughter was like, I don't like feeling big emotions. So we were talking, kind of talking through this cuz we have kids and she has four kids.

(22:37):

I have four kids. And funny enough, two of our kids have the exact same birthday and <laugh> anyways, so we we're just talking and she's like, feelings aren't necessarily a bad thing. So just imagine being in a big field, big field, maybe your backyard, maybe you have like a hundred acres or whatever, and you're, you're out there and you see this big bear and that bear being your anger or your emotion, right? Whatever emotion that is. And then all of a sudden you become obsessed and hyper focused on this bear being in the field. The bear's not doing anything, the bear's just hanging out. Just, just a silent observer, <laugh>. And oftentimes we make that bear a bigger deal because we become hyper focused on the fact that, oh my gosh, this bear is here and I want it to just go away. But that's not necessarily like, it's just there.

(23:49):

It's just there. And that can be our emotions, our emotion, our emotions, our feelings can just be there. They can be neutral. And I know, I know that is way harder to actually practice, but take what I'm getting at is just acknowledge 'em and observe them because by allowing ourselves to feel them and work through those things, we can overcome it instead of becoming hyper focused on that thing, okay? That elephant or that bear, so to speak. Sometimes they just need to be noticed, even if they sound like they need food, chocolate, ice cream. I ate a lot of ice cream with my dad. My dad was actually the person my dad was practicing being gluten free for like a year before I was over 12 years ago, <laugh>. And so he was a person that I called when I was like, Hey, the doctor told me I need to go gluten free.

(24:56):

I have no idea what I'm doing. You know, what branch should I buy? How could I, like, how do I buy these things? How do I cook these things? And my dad didn't really know, but <laugh> he, he did have some advice for me. He just basically told me fruits, veggies, and lay meat. And I was like, okay, I can do that. But take a deep breath and recognize those emotions and give them a chance to speak back to you and tell you, Hey, I need more connection with my husband. I need to be more present with my kids. I need a better paying job. <Laugh>, right? And then we can act on that. Like, one of the things that I've really been trying to express sometimes I just need a hug, right? Like, I just, I'm feeling a lot of emotions, especially lately, like I told you, and I've just gone to my husband, I'm like, I just need a hug.

(25:55):

And my husband's like, great, I can give you a hug, <laugh>. And he's able to fulfill a need because I'm able to express myself and I'm able to convey, hey, this is, this is a need of mine right now, and then I feel better, right? Like sometimes, like even with our kids, like, I don't know if you guys, if your kids have ever done this, my kids will come up and be like, mom, I just need a hug, okay sweetie, like, I will hug you, I will kiss you, I'll let you climb up on my lap. We all have those needs and they don't just magically go away because we become adults. That's just not how, that's just not how it is. So if you're pretty sure that your body physically needs nourishment, it's you're feeling the warming, the nine, the turning sensation, wait for just a minute to make sure, grab a glass of water and then think about how can I nourish my body on that cellular level?

(27:00):

How can I give it fruits, minerals, vitamins proteins, those types of things to nourish my body, not just like feed the hunger, right? Not just like stuff some chips in and like be on the way, but to actually nourish the body. And I'm gonna pause right here because I feel like this just needs to be said. You are worthy of taking care of yourself. You are worthy of nourishing yourself. Because I've also, for, I've experienced and the clients that I've worked with for whatever reason, they don't feel good enough or they feel like I need to focus on everybody else and everybody else's needs ahead of my own. And that's, that's not, that's not the way that it should be. Okay? So if you are pretty sure that we already talked about that, okay? So now that you can be fairly certain that you are hungry and you're not just dealing with emotions or boredom or thirst, but you are actually hungry, if it's actual hunger, then feel free to eat something. Like I said, get something high in protein, high in fiber, high in water, eat slowly and be mindful, chew well and savor every bite of it. We had a guest on a while ago, and I don't remember what episode, but we were talking about emotional hunger.

(28:40):

And one of the things she talked about was sitting down, anytime you eat, just goes like, get a plate, get a fork, get a knife, get whatever it is, and physically sit down at the table or at the countertop or the bar or whatever, because a lot of us women, and I love these Instagram and TikTok things where the mom's like hiding in the pantry, snacking and eating, trying to like hide from her kids, right? Like, she's like, I just wanna Oreo without <laugh>, without the kids. And I, I, I totally resonate with that. It's so easy to just go eat in the pantry or just go eat at the, at the refrigerator, but taking the time to put it on a plate, to put it in a bowl, to get a fork, get a knife, sit down. I think for most of us, we will recognize that we don't need <laugh> the food if we just make that a habit or maybe the food will become that's too much work, okay?

(29:47):

Then I'm not really hungry, right? <Laugh>, that's like little kids, they're like, oh, I'm, I'm full. I'm, I'm not hungry anymore, right? They had two bites of dinner, you clean up dinner and they're like, I'm hungry. Can I have a a cookie? And you're like, no, <laugh>, right? You're like, you, you just said you were full. And maybe it's because they don't like what they ate or whatever, right? We don't have to get into that. So take those, take those, take notice to that, right? Feelings of hunger can be mess manifested for many reasons, like we've talked about today. And of course, if you're physically hungry, absolutely go feed, nourish your body. That's what it's for. But oftentimes there is that underlying physiological or emotional reason that we feel hungry. So now you have these steps that we've talked about to figure out if it's physical hunger or if you're just feeling bored, stressed, sad, you're missing something emotionally.

(30:55):

And use this process over and over and over again to help you evaluate what's really going on. And I wanted to share this with you guys in this month specifically because of the holidays. Oftentimes holidays will bring up and trigger thoughts, emotions, patterns good, bad <laugh>. And it's really important that we pay attention to what's going on. I know growing up for me, the holidays weren't always the best of times. Not that they were bad, but I could always feel the extra stress, the the financial burden for my mom. And that was so I didn't, I didn't like Christmas for a long time until I had kids. And then I'm like, oh my gosh, this is the best thing ever. <Laugh>, I, I don't know if you guys do the Elf on the shelf, but it's seriously like my favorite, my tw my 11 year old.

(31:56):

She's over it. She's like, I'm pretty sure she, yeah, it, it's not interesting to her anymore. But my other kids, my my six year old man, she like, she doesn't love school and she was so excited to go to school <laugh> and talk to her friends about the elf, like what their fri, what their elf did, and what her elf did. And you know, so anyways, it can be very magical, but a lot of it for me had to, I had to reframe what Christmas meant and find ways around it. And I think that that is true for all of us. These emotions aren't gonna go away, but we can change our focus and change our direction and allow those emotions to just be, be present and be there. So if you want to dive more into understanding emotions, understanding, I don't know all of the things I would recommend two books feelings Buried Alive, never Die.

(33:05):

And then I'm trying to remember the second one that I the body keeps the score. That one is a little bit newer and it's a little bit more sciency and geeky. There's stuff in there that I'm like, I don't know if I fully understand that because I haven't studied that part of like, psychology <laugh> and stuff, but I can, I can generalize and I think that's gonna be the same for most people. You guys are gonna be able to get the nuggets that you need from, from that specifically. So go check out those books. They're on Audible, you can read them if you love like physical copies. I would love to read more, but audible is my friend right now at this busy stage of my life. So go check those out, learn more about your emotions, learn and find tools to work through them. And I'll see you guys on the next.

(34:04):

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AUDIO TRANSCRIPT

00:00):

If you often feel hungry, you are not alone. There are many reasons to feel hungry. And of course, the most obvious one is that you are really physically hungry. Perhaps your stomach is empty, your blood sugar has dropped, and your hungry hunger hormones are having a party. But other times, hunger may not be physical. It could be a craving or an emotional trigger. There are common reasons why some people eat too much, and this could be brought up by certain types of diets or stress or other things in your life. It's really easy to mistake physiological hunger to, for like a, a physical hunger, right? Sometimes it's more in our head or us needing something. And so I wanna talk about the differences between both types of these hunger and give you some tips to help you figure out which one it really is.

(01:00):

Welcome back to the Thriving Thyroid Podcast, where we choose to become empowered patients and take our health into our own hands. Hi, I'm Shannon Hanson, a Christian entrepreneur, a mom of three. And after dealing with my own health mysteries, I made it my mission to learn everything I could about the thyroid. I soon became certified as a holistic wellness practitioner, a functional nutrition practitioner, and a functional diagnostic practitioner. And so much more after that, I founded the Revolutionary Thyroid Program, the Handsome Method. As a health professional and a mom, I fully understand the importance of having a fun, simple, and sustainable plan for achieving a responsive thyroid. So I share actionable and practical strategies for developing a responsive thyroid so that the ambitious moms and women can gain freedom from fatigue and lose the thyroid weight once and for all. Each week, I will be here for you, along with my guest experts. We will be sharing simple and tangible tips that work for not only your thyroid, your hormones, your family, and your mindset, so that you can get back to living the life that you envision for yourself. Welcome to the Thriving Thyroid Podcast.

(02:21):

All right, you guys. Welcome back to the Thriving Thy Podcast with Shannon, your host, myself. Today as per the intro, we are talking about the difference between physiological hunger and physical hunger. And I wanna share a story with you. This is about a client of mine, and she came into the program, obviously with thyroid, obviously with a whole bunch of <laugh>. Not a whole bunch of issues, but like the, the common stuff, the inability to lose weight, the fatigue, the muscle aches, pains, digestive issues, all of those types of things. And as we have worked together, as time has gone through and passed by and, and whatever, I have a begin to really understand this person on a different level. They have been through a lot of trauma and a lot of like, just emotional baggage, right? Like most of us.

(03:38):

And I've really been speaking into her about addressing some of the emotional trauma that she has gone through over the years, over her lifetime, because that is one of the biggest things currently that is holding her back. She can, you know, follow her protocol, take her supplements, eat all the right things for a week, two weeks, maybe three weeks, maybe even a month and a half, and she starts to see results and then all of the sudden some kind of emotional trigger will trigger her to fall backwards. And so it's really this kind of yo-yo type situation. And I think that can be true for a lot of us. I think a lot of us find that we can, I, I'm using air quotes here, <laugh> be good and follow all of the right things until something emotional happens. And this for me, plays a huge part in with thyroid as well, because one of the, there are, how do I say this?

(04:53):

There are some commonalities with thyroid, right? We, we talk about the underlying ability to speak your truth. But what most people don't understand is that these emotions get trapped in our body and they get stuck. So thyroid is, like I said, un un being unavailable <laugh> to express your truth or maybe swallowing the anger of something that has happened in your life. I know that is very true for me. I didn't want to express anger or expressing a lack of self-confidence. Liver also is part of the conversion of T4 and to t3. And that can, the liver is associated with anger. So this is why we see a lot of, not a lot, but we see those angry alcoholics and things. And so the Hansen method and working with my clients, it is about diet, nutrition, supplementation, lifestyle, all of those wonderful things. But it's also about the emotional aspect of it.

(06:15):

Because if we're not addressing the mindset <laugh> behind what we're doing, we will continue to repeat in the same cycle. Now, if you guys follow me over on Instagram, I know I've posted this before over there, but the belief cycle, how many, I'm curious, and I would love feedback. <Laugh>, the belief cycle is really this cycle of, you know, our thoughts become our beliefs and our beliefs become our actions and our actions become our results. And we end up repeating this cycle over and over and over again because we're, we're validating the belief that we have, right? The belief of losing weight is hard. And then that becomes like our thoughts, right? Losing weight is hard. Losing weight is hard. I can't lose weight, you know, I have hypothyroidism. I can't lose weight, I can't lose weight. Well, then that becomes like our result. So like the client that I shared, she will do all the right things and start to lose one, two pounds.

(07:30):

And then she backslides again, validating her belief of losing weight is hard. And so without addressing the, the beliefs and the emotional components of this, we're gonna be stuck for a long time. So our physical hunger is regulated by the body through hunger, hormones, leptin and grelin. So grin, think of it as like growling. It's that hunger inside of your body. Leptin is the fullness. So of course we have hormones, yay hormones, <laugh> that regulate this. And you don't want to be completely drained of fuel and nutrition for a long time. So this is one of the reasons I don't advocate for intermittent fasting, because it actually has more metabolic damage. Now for short periods of time. There can be some wonderful benefits to it, but long term, intermittent fasting really reeks havoc on hormones overall. So we are programmed to seek food for our body when we, when our body physically needs it.

(08:46):

And some of those physical needs that your stomach is empty is your blood sugar is gonna drop. And so to be very vulnerable and transparent here <laugh>, I find it hard to eat. It's not that I don't want to eat, it's that I am trying to do so many things in my day and last year, one of my goals for you know, what, what goal am I going to do to take care of myself, to grow myself and <laugh> the first one I put in that was prioritize sleep. And I feel like I did a really good job with that, having a new baby. But the second part of that was regular meal times. I know that this is something that I have struggled with, and I'll be honest, I don't like, we're, we're pretty much in December right now and I don't feel like I accomplished that.

(09:46):

The sleep part, yes, great. I, I mean the best of my ability sometimes, like last night the baby had a fever and that part is out of my control <laugh>. But I do prioritize my sleep, do prioritize, regular sleep, schedule, timing, all of that, cuz I know that is a big component for me and my hormones. The second part of this is regulating my meals. And so I just actually started implementing a few things that I'm hoping will help me with more regular meal times. So for me, lunchtime is probably the hardest one. Breakfast pretty easy most of the time. And I've had to modify my shakes a little bit. So I drink protein shakes in the morning. I have tons of recipes for them. Even in the show notes, you guys, I have a hypothyroidism recipe book that you can go purchase and download and use.

(10:50):

And it does come with like 12, I think 12 or 14 or something along those lines. Smoothies. And this is your fruits, your veggies, your greens protein. And what I have found to be most successful with the women that I work with is between 25 and 30 grams of protein for breakfast. And so my protein powder that I use is about 25 grams. And then I add in another form of like protein. So some hem parts, hem parts are really high in protein or some collagen like the vital, what is that? Vital collagen, vital protein, collagens, whatever it is. And I add in instead of two scoops, I add in one scoop, which ends up being about 35 ish grams of protein. And that will sustain me to lunchtime. And so <laugh>, this is where I struggle because I start working like the baby's napping and I start working and I'm trying to like get all of the things done while she's napping and then she wakes up and then we go pick up sisters from school.

(12:03):

And so I don't prioritize the lunchtime because I'm trying to get all the things done and I don't even wanna stop and break to go heat up food or get food. So some of the things that I'm implementing for that portion is portioning out, like my, my lunch the night before. So usually I heat reheat leftovers or something, you know, whatever, make a salad or whatever, but I don't, I don't know, I, I'm just, that's what I'm playing with now is, is starting to prepare it the night before and maybe even giving myself two options. One that can be heated and one that doesn't have to be heated or you know, whatever <laugh>, whatever it is, so that I can prioritize that. Because what ends up happening is if I skip that meal when I get home from picking up the kids, it's usually about 3 34 and I am so hungry.

(13:10):

And then I want to eat all of the things because my blood sugar has dropped and I'm nursing and I'm hungry and I'm already in a calorie deficiency. So there we go. There <laugh>, there's a little tidbit about me and what I am currently working on to help support my blood sugar and help support that physiological hunger. So first things first, we need to stop and evaluate what we're doing. Scarfing down like a protein bar at the first sign of hunger isn't necessarily going to help you. And that was one of the other things that I would do. I would put the baby to sleep and I would go to the pantry and just grab like a protein bar or grab a lar bar or something along those lines, which is not enough food. When you have hypothyroidism, it is critical. You guys, it is absolutely essential critical.

(14:11):

If I could tell you one piece of advice, it is going to be make sure you are eating enough calories, okay? Because hypothyroidism, if we peel back all of the layers, all of the layers, like to the very teeny tiny, like everything, it is a mineral and nutritional deficiency. And a lot of that comes from us following this diet mentality of cut calories, eat less, exercise more. And just this week on Instagram, thriving Thyroid I posted an image and I put up a poll in the Facebook group and I, I gave kind of a, I don't know, a statistic. So a woman with hypothyroidism in her thirties of her basal metabolic rate. So her, her resting metabolic rate, so meaning she wakes up and she lays in bed and she does zero activity for the rest of the day is about 1600 calories.

(15:27):

Okay? So literally think of like waking up and not even going to the bathroom, just waking up and laying in bed and breathing, okay? Then that person goes to exercise and throughout the day they end up burning almost 1100 calories. So over a thousand calories, and she's only eating about 900 to 1200 to 1500 calories per day. This is going to end in weight gain because the body thinks that it is in starvation mode. And this is honestly what I see happen so many times with my clients, their doctors tell them to cut, cut calories to go on a diet, to cut out gluten to whatever. And oh, anyways, I I could rant on that <laugh>, just make sure you're eating enough food, prioritize your sleep, that is one of or not prioritize your sleep. Prioritize regular meal meals that are nutrient dense. So what do I mean by nutrient dense?

(16:39):

I mean vitamins, minerals amino acids, proteins omega fatty acids, all of those important, not just the macronutrients. So protein, carbs and fats, but the micronutrients, the vitamins, minerals, okay? The second thing that you need to do is really stop and evaluate. Am I hungry? Is, is there a growling nine sensation happening in my stomach? Or where is that coming from? Did I skip a meal? Have I not eaten in hours? Are you smelling something delicious or perhaps you're bored or sad or stressed? So take that physiological evaluation and that emotional evaluation of what you have going on. And again, I'll be a little vulnerable here with you guys. I, we've had some major life things happen and I wish I could talk about all of them, but they are unfortunately like, not, not my story to tell, and I know that it would deeply hurt this person, but it has brought up a lot of emotional baggage that I thought I had worked through and not so, and I like this part I can share.

(18:10):

So my dad passed away of lung cancer about six years ago, and it was pretty rough. From the date of his prognosis to his passing was like 30 days exactly. And I, he passed away on a Friday. I had a plane ticket to be out there on Tuesday, so I missed it just by a couple days. Like, he just went downhill really, really fast. And that was extremely difficult. And I have a nasty <laugh> stepmom and just did some really mean things around that. And then also bringing up some emotions with my brother and his passing. He, he completed suicide 25 years ago and just all of these things. And I've noticed lately that my desire for food has heightened not, let me see if I can explain this. So I eat dinner and I'm like, man, I feel full. I feel satisfied, I feel good.

(19:17):

But then it's like five, 10 minutes later I'm like, but I still need something, right? I still need something. It doesn't necessarily have to be sweet. It doesn't necessarily have to be whatever. It's like I, I still need something. And so as I took inventory of myself, I realized that some of the emotions that I've been dealing with lately are causing that physiological, so like mental hunger because I've been craving a relationship with my dad. And so it's really important that we take stock of that. And I had a conversation with a friend last night and her poor daughter is going through something really difficult and her mom was like, or her daughter told her mom, she's like, I just don't like to feel negative emotions. And her mom was like, but it's okay. Like, you can feel them. It doesn't mean that feeling them is bad.

(20:18):

Like, it's okay to feel sad and it's okay to cry and it's okay to be disappointed. And her daughter was like, no, <laugh>. And I'm like, I can totally relate to that. But we as adults, if we don't learn how to deal and cope and manage these things, we're gonna be dealing with this physiological hunger, psychological hunger. I keep saying physiological psychological hunger that will never be satisfied, never be satisfied. So for me personally, I am journaling about my feelings. And it's interesting because sometimes the things that are coming out on paper are not necessarily the thoughts that are coming that I have conscious awareness of in my brain. So it's, it's been really interesting still something that I'm currently working through and it's something that you guys can work through. There's a ton of different methods, eft, talking, counseling, therapy, whatever. But it's really important that we are addressing those, those, those those feelings as well.

(21:31):

So number three, I have a big glass of water, okay? You guys will often see me in <laugh> lives and coaching calls with my big 40 ounce Stanley cup, drinking and sipping on water. I just took a sip of water because after sometimes hunger is because we're dehydrated. So take a drink, a big glass of water, observe how you're feeling for at least a minute and dig into those sources of feelings. It can be easy to jump to the conclusion, but may or may not be the right one. So listen to your body and mind deeply. If you find that you are feeling that your feelings may be a source of what is going on, face them. Acknowledge 'em, observe them. Feelings are, they're not bad. And with this friend that I told you, her daughter was like, I don't like feeling big emotions. So we were talking, kind of talking through this cuz we have kids and she has four kids.

(22:37):

I have four kids. And funny enough, two of our kids have the exact same birthday and <laugh> anyways, so we were just talking and she's like, feelings aren't necessarily a bad thing. So just imagine being in a big field, big field, maybe your backyard, maybe you have like a hundred acres or whatever, and you're, you're out there and you see this big bear and that bear being your anger or your emotion, right? Whatever emotion that is. And then all of a sudden you become obsessed and hyper focused on this bear being in the field. The bear's not doing anything, the bear's just hanging out. Just, just a silent observer, <laugh>. And oftentimes we make that bear a bigger deal because we become hyper focused on the fact that, oh my gosh, this bear is here and I want it to just go away. But that's not necessarily like, it's just there.

(23:49):

It's just there. And that can be our emotions, our emotion, our emotions, our feelings can just be there. They can be neutral. And I know, I know that is way harder to actually practice, but take what I'm getting at is just acknowledge 'em and observe them because by allowing ourselves to feel them and work through those things, we can overcome it instead of becoming hyper focused on that thing, okay? That elephant or that bear, so to speak. Sometimes they just need to be noticed, even if they sound like they need food, chocolate, ice cream. I ate a lot of ice cream with my dad. My dad was actually the person my dad was practicing being gluten free for like a year before I was over 12 years ago, <laugh>. And so he was a person that I called when I was like, Hey, the doctor told me I need to go gluten free.

(24:56):

I have no idea what I'm doing. You know, what brand should I buy? How could I, like, how do I buy these things? How do I cook these things? And my dad didn't really know, but <laugh> he, he did have some advice for me. He just basically told me fruits, veggies, and la meat. And I was like, okay, I can do that. But take a deep breath and recognize those emotions and give them a chance to speak back to you and tell you, Hey, I need more connection with my husband. I need to be more present with my kids. I need a better paying job. <Laugh>, right? And then we can act on that. Like, one of the things that I've really been trying to express sometimes I just need a hug, right? Like, I just, I'm feeling a lot of emotions, especially lately, like I told you, and I've just gone to my husband, I'm like, I just need a hug.

(25:55):

And my husband's like, great, I can give you a hug, <laugh>. And he's able to fulfill a need because I'm able to express myself and I'm able to convey, hey, this is, this is a need of mine right now, and then I feel better, right? Like sometimes, like even with our kids, like, I don't know if you guys, if your kids have ever done this, my kids will come up and be like, mom, I just need a hug, okay sweetie, like, I will hug you, I will kiss you, I'll let you climb up on my lap. We all have those needs and they don't just magically go away because we become adults. That's just not how, that's just not how it is. So if you're pretty sure that your body physically needs nourishment, it's you're feeling the warming, the nine, the turning sensation, wait for just a minute to make sure, grab a glass of water and then think about how can I nourish my body on that cellular level?

(27:00):

How can I give it fruits, minerals, vitamins proteins, those types of things to nourish my body, not just like feed the hunger, right? Not just like stuff some chips in and like be on the way, but to actually nourish the body. And I'm gonna pause right here because I feel like this just needs to be said. You are worthy of taking care of yourself. You are worthy of nourishing yourself. Because I've also, for, I've experienced and the clients that I've worked with for whatever reason, they don't feel good enough or they feel like I need to focus on everybody else and everybody else's needs ahead of my own. And that's, that's not, that's not the way that it should be. Okay? So if you are pretty sure that we already talked about that, okay? So now that you can be fairly certain that you are hungry and you're not just dealing with emotions or boredom or thirst, but you are actually hungry, if it's actual hunger, then feel free to eat something.

(28:17):

Like I said, get something high in protein, high in fiber, high in water, eat slowly and be mindful, chew well and savor every bite of it. We had a guest on a while ago, and I don't remember what episode, but we were talking about emotional hunger and one of the things she talked about was sitting down, anytime you eat, just go like, get a plate, get a fork, get a knife, get whatever it is, and physically sit down at the table or at the countertop or the bar or whatever, because a lot of us women, and I love these Instagram and TikTok things where the mom's like hiding in the pantry, snacking and eating, trying to like hide from her kids, right? Like, she's like, I just wanna Oreo without <laugh>, without the kids. And I, I, I totally resonate with that. It's so easy to just go eat in the pantry or just go eat at the, at the refrigerator, but taking the time to put it on a plate, to put it in a bowl, to get it for it, get a knife, sit down.

(29:34):

I think for most of us, we will recognize that we don't need <laugh> the food if we just make that a habit or maybe the food will become, eh that's too much work. Okay, then I'm not really hungry, right? <Laugh>, that's like little kids, they're like, oh, I'm, I'm full. I'm, I'm not hungry anymore, right? They had two bites of dinner, you clean up dinner and they're like, I'm hungry. Can I have a a cookie? And you're like, no, <laugh>, right? You're like, you, you just said you were full. And maybe it's because they don't like what they ate or whatever, right? We don't have to get into that. So take those, take those, take notice to that, right? Feelings of hunger can be mess manifested for many reasons, like we've talked about today. And of course, if you're physically hungry, absolutely go feed, nourish your body.

(30:32):

That's what it's for. But oftentimes there is that underlying physiological or emotional reason that we feel hungry. So now you have these steps that we've talked about to figure out if it's physical hunger or if you're just feeling bored, stressed, sad, you're missing something emotionally. And use this process over and over and over again to help you evaluate what's really going on. And I wanted to share this with you guys in this month specifically because of the holidays. Oftentimes holidays will bring up and trigger thoughts, emotions, patterns good, bad <laugh>. And it's really important that we pay attention to what's going on. I know growing up for me, the holidays weren't always the best of times. Not that they were bad, but I could always feel the extra stress, the o the financial burden for my mom. And that was so I didn't, I didn't like Christmas for a long time until I had kids.

(31:45):

And then I'm like, oh my gosh, this is the best thing ever. <Laugh>, I, I don't know if you guys do the Elf on the shelf, but it's seriously like my favorite, my tw my 11 year old. She's over it. She's like, I'm pretty sure she, yeah, it, it's not interesting to her anymore. But my other kids, my my six year old man, she like, she doesn't love school and she was so excited to go to school <laugh> and talk to her friends about the elf, like what their fri, what their elf did, and what her elf did. And you know, so anyways, it can be very magical, but a lot of it for me had to, I had to reframe what Christmas meant and find ways around it. And I think that that is true for all of us. These emotions aren't gonna go away, but we can change our focus and change our direction and allow those emotions to just be, be present and be there.

(32:48):

So if you want to dive more into understanding emotions, understanding, I don't know all of the things I would recommend two books feelings Buried Alive, never Die. And then I'm trying to remember the second one that I the body keeps the score. That one is a little bit newer and it's a little bit more sciencey and geeky. There's stuff in there that I'm like, I don't know if I fully understand that because I haven't studied that part of like, psychology <laugh> and stuff, but I can, I can generalize and I think that's gonna be the same for most people. You guys are gonna be able to get the nuggets that you need from, from that specifically. So go check out those books. They're on Audible, you can read them if you love like physical copies. I would love to read more, but audible is my friend right now at this busy stage of my life. So go check those out, learn more about your emotions, learn and find tools to work through them. And I will see you guys on the next

(34:05):

Way before you, you go. Please subscribe if you found value in today's episode. Leave us a review and share on Instagram and please tag us. We love your please.

 

118// 4 Tips to Improve Hypothyroidism



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AUDIO TRANSCRIPTION

(00:00):

Four strategies to improve an underactive thyroid. Let's go. Welcome back to the Thriving Thyroid Podcast, where we choose to become empowered patients and take our health into our own hands. Hi, I'm Shannon Hanson, a Christian entrepreneur, a mom of three. And after dealing with my own health mysteries, I made it my mission to learn everything I could about the thyroid. I soon became certified as a holistic wellness practitioner, a functional nutrition practitioner, and a functional diagnostic practitioner. And so much more after that, I founded the Revolutionary Thyroid Program, the Handsome Method. As a health professional and a mom, I fully understand the importance of having a fun, simple, and sustainable plan for achieving a responsive thyroid. So I share actionable and practical strategies for developing a responsive thyroid so that the ambitious moms and women can gain freedom from fatigue and lose the thyroid weight once and for all.

(01:06):

Each week, I will be here for you, along with my guest experts, we will be sharing simple and tangible tips that work for not only your thyroid, your hormones, your family, and your mindset, so that you can get back to living the life that you envision for yourself. Welcome to the Thriving Thyroid Podcast. All right, you guys. Welcome back to the Thriving Thyroid Podcast. We are talking about four lifestyle tip and tricks that you can use to improve t4 or improve underactive thyroid hormones, because obviously that is primarily what we use or what most people have when it comes to thyroid. They have an underactive thyroid or maybe they were hyper at one point and now they're hypo. Again, super, super common when it comes to thyroid. And so I wanted to talk about four strategies that you guys can be using to improve and support an underactive thyroid.

(02:06):

So one of the things I like to do on these podcast episodes is just do a quick overview of, of the things which, if you've been around for a while, some of this is repeat for you, <laugh>. So what are the factors that affect thyroid health? Just like many different functions, the thyroid plays a huge role in the body overall, and this can affect health and help our body properly function, right? So amongst some of these F factors, it's going to fluctuate hormones, especially during pregnancy, throughout your menstrual cycle. Even if you are postmenopausal, and I think this is a common myth out there because women are grossly uneducated about their cycle. Even when you are premenopausal and postmenopausal, your body still goes through the hormonal fluctuations throughout the month. So you still may be experiencing breast tenderness, you still may be experiencing some fatigue or food cravings or things like that, even though you're not having a cycle.

(03:18):

So it's really important to be paying attention to those symptoms and understand that they could be telling you something that you may not be un like you may be missing just because you're not having a cycle. Okay? The other things is stress and sickness, lack of sleep or poor quality sleep dieting or changes in your diet that may include an overabundance of goitrogenic foods. I, I personally do not have my clients avoid goitrogenic foods like Brussels routes and cauliflower and broccoli and kale, because one, you have to eat an extreme amount <laugh> of them and lightly cooking them, lightly sauteing them takes out that goitrogenic effect. And I mean, to be honest, most of us aren't going to eat a raw brussel sprout. I know I, for me personally, I'll eat some brussel sprouts in a salad, like a raw brussel sprout in a salad where it's shaved down with some kale and things like that.

(04:22):

But that is not my everyday norm. And so anyways, just making sure we have a variety, making sure that we're eating foods and, and things in the right amount in, and not just focusing on eating only those things, but they are super important for helping to support overall liver function inside the body. Other things that can be considered gorgen are peanuts and cassava and sweet potatoes. Once again, this is, you have to eat a lot of them <laugh>, so keep 'em in your diet. You don't have to take them out. I have a lot of women who say, you know, they want to take them out or they did take them out, and I'm like, the benefits outweigh it. A big part of this is also balancing out your iodine levels, balancing out other minerals in the body which leads me into the ne the next factor that affects your thyroid.

(05:23):

So that's going to be mineral levels, namely iodine and selenium as well as parasites and leaky gut. And I wanna give you just a real quick example. So I had the privilege, I've been working with one of my clients for almost two years now. And she's in like our alumni program where she gets, you know, a certain level of support and she has decided to test her entire family and do some htm a testing. And, and so I've been working with the entire family across the board and the interesting things. We were doing these things and I'm looking at each individual person, but then I'm also looking at them as a family collectively. And I'm like, man, all of these people, all of the people, three kids, the hu well, we haven't done the husband yet, he's a little reluctant, he's gonna let me do it <laugh> now, but I was looking at her and I was like, they're low in this, they're low in this, or, you know, across the board.

(06:25):

And as I'm putting together their protocol, I was like, boom, all of these minerals, all of these nutrients that are being depleted from this entire family shows signs of parasitic activity and leaky gut. And so after the holidays, we are going to do an entire family parasite cleanse if this initial protocol does not yield the results that we're looking for. So her kids are, I'll give you just a little bit of a background. So her kids have a d d adhd one of them may be on the spectrum. Another daughter is having, she's nine and having like some hormonal acne on her face which is pretty young. And just a few other things, poor sleep across the board. Some of the kids are just super, super hungry all the time, but still not putting on weight, just things like that. And so I'm like, yes, like we should definitely look at that parasitic activity and that can lend to that underactive thyroid.

(07:32):

Other things that we've talked about is certain medications can interfere with thyroid hormone levels or their actions with TSH and the overall compensation for for the body. And if you head over to episode, let me, I'm looking right now for you guys. There's, there's two. So there's episode eight and episode nine of the podcast is, why is your thyroid medication not working? There's a part one and part two. And then in episode five, there is prescription medications that block thyroid hormone. And this is so surprising to me, it shouldn't be surprising, but it always is. In that episode, I break down different medications that block different parts of thyroid hormones. So some of them block tsh, some of them block the conversion between T4 to t3. And unfortunately, when you go into your doctor, doctor, they're just gonna give you more and more medication.

(08:44):

It is my <laugh> that is my nemesis right now, and something that I can definitely rant on quite a bit. But I see a lot of metformin, I see a lot of SSRIs, so anxiety, depression, medication and caffeine, right? We love caffeine for giving us energy and unfortunately that's also blocking thyroid hormone. And a lot of us use caffeine to just like make it through the day <laugh>. And obviously that's, that's an issue. So we, that is why when I work with my clients, we start with our clean energy blueprint. I want to give you good, clean, fast energy as quickly as possible so that you don't need to have caffeine. If you want to have a coffee, great, I'm gonna teach you. Cuz I have some women who are like, I just love the taste. Like I just, please don't make me give up coffee.

(09:44):

You know what? My job is not to tell you, you can and can't do something. My job is to coach you through the process and help you make the changes. I had one client before she even joined the program. She was like, Shannon, her name is Rachel. She's like, Shannon, I love coffee and I will not give it up. And I said, great, we're gonna just teach you the right way to do it and so that you're, it's not causing the energy crash later and it's not gonna be blocking thyroid hormone, blah, blah, blah. Well, after about two, three months, and maybe it was about a month and a half, two months into the program, she started having energy and she's like, you know what? I, I don't love coffee the way that I thought I did. I don't need coffee the way that I thought I did.

(10:30):

And she decided to give it up on her own. She, you can see many testimonials of her all over our page where she's dropped 20 pounds with celiac, she has multiple autoimmune conditions and her liver would hurt. So she would have these aches and pains on her right side up under kind of her rib area, and she didn't know what it was before working with us. Well, after working with us, all of these things started to change because her body was no longer blocking and the pathways were starting to open up and things were starting to work and flow the way that they should. So some common signs of that underactive thyroid are gonna be tiredness. Sometimes super extreme to the point where I've had some clients where they're like, I, on the way to work, I have to pull over and take a 15, 20 minute, like power nap or between, so I had one lady who was in sales, she did some sales for salons and between going from one salon to the other salon, she would pull over and take a nap or you know, whatever it was.

(11:41):

Or some women have to go to their car in the middle of the day and take a nap instead of having the lunch break because things are so severe. Or you come home from work and you just sit down and you're like, I'm done, I'm done, done. Like, my body is just, is done. Okay, so next thing, weight gain or resistance to weight loss. This is the resistance to weight loss is something I've been dealing with postpartum, and it is a wonderful reminder, <laugh> of what my clients are going through it and the emotions behind it, especially this time of year, taking family pictures. I'm like, oh my gosh, like, this is so defeating and I have to remind myself I'm being very vulnerable here. I have to remind myself that the scale is moving and it's going down and it's actually at a really healthy rate.

(12:30):

I'm at like a pound to a pound and a half every single week. So after like six months of not being able to lose weight, which that is, I'm gonna say my mo I've had four babies and that's been pretty consistent for me. Nursing and all of the things I, I envy the women who can nurse and just drop weight like crazy <laugh>. Anyways, so I am, I am being reminded of how it feels and I also, I told my husband literally just this morning before recording this, I was like, it's moving. And I, I'm pulling, you know, a four month report every time I, or a four week report, every time I feel discouraged in where I'm at, I just pull the report and I'm like, okay, over the last four, four weeks, keep saying four months, the last four weeks, everything is trending down.

(13:24):

Everything is doing what it's supposed to be doing. My bmi, my body fat percentage, the number on the scale, everything is trending in the area that it should be, but it can be so, so difficult when you haven't been able to lose weight for a long time. So I want you to know that I love you and I see you and I hear you, and I feel you and I, and I understand, and I also know what it takes to overcome those things. All right, so other signs of an underactive thyroid is gonna be depression or mood swings, cold sensitivity, you guys, I live in Arizona and it doesn't get very cold here and I'm so thankful because my toes are cold. I have to wear socks around my house. We have like tile floors and I'm like, yep, I <laugh> I sympathize with people who live in much colder climates than I do.

(14:23):

Dry skin, dry or dry skin, hair loss muscle and joint aches and pains. I've had clients say, you know, I wake up in the morning and I feel like I'm stepping on glass. So again, who can develop an underactive thyroid? Both men and women can have underactive thyroid. And although it is more common in women, children can also develop these conditions. And some babies are even born with it. We, I've had a client who, she was actually one of my very, very online clients. She was like I think she was eight, I think she was eight or nine when she was diagnosed and had her first like, thyroid storm. And I was like, oh my gosh. Like, that's so young to be dealing with. So there are other conditions that deal with thyroid and every, I I get this question a lot is who do you work with?

(15:23):

You know, is it just Hashimotos? Is it just hypothyroidism? Those are the two big ones. You guys, I work with all of them. I work with hyperactivity, I work with Graves, I work with Hashimotos I work with Gors, I work with thyroid nodules, I work with thyroid cancers. People have had partial thyroid ectomies and full thyroid ectomies. Just the wide range. So there are four lifestyle tips that I encourage all of my clients to participate in to help manage that underactive thyroid. And the first one, da, da, da, da is regular exercise. And keeping that body weight in check. So this can be super difficult when you are gaining weight and you have some weight loss resistance, which we talked about. But I had to reframe in my mind years ago that exercise was not for weight loss. Okay? Exercise is for body composition, it's for your heart, it's for lymphatic.

(16:31):

There are so many other benefits because it can be really, really discouraging to go to the gym 3, 4, 5 times a week and not see the physical changes. And as we, we are speaking as I'm recording I actually think this is gonna be going live the week that I'm in training for becoming a peer bar instructor. And so one of the things I encourage all of my clients to do is find some kind of low impact exercise. So what is low impact? Low impact is where at least one foot is on the ground at all time. Okay? so jumping squat, well, I guess squatting, you have it, but like jumping or jump roping or things like that where your feet are off the ground, both feet are off the ground, that is considered more of a high intensity exercise. I was a dancer, and so pure bar just feels very comfortable in my body.

(17:40):

The movements feel like things I've done for years it's lower impact, it gets my heart going. I do get a little bit of a sweat. However, it's also something that I feel like I can go get a workout in and just, you know, do a quick refresh, put on, you know, clean out my armpits and put on some new deodorant and, you know, touch up my makeup if need be. But usually I, I mean, I don't really need to touch up my makeup <laugh>, maybe if I was going out on a date or something, but for every day, you know, I get a light glisten. There, there are a few different classes. There's a classic and empower and anyways, all of all of those things. So some of them are more intense, but I, I'm a sucker for the classic. And there's a rumor if anybody, if any of my listeners out there do bar there's a rumor that a new a new format is coming out, which I'm super excited about.

(18:43):

I'm like, I was, the morning before I found this out, I don't know if I'm supposed to say, but I was telling my husband, I was like, I really want this as part of my exercise regimen and routine, and I just don't feel comfortable and confident to like, figure it out myself. And so I was looking, I was, I was trying to figure out what I was gonna do, and then I went to a training and I heard, I heard this rumor and I was like, that's exactly what I'm looking for. So anyways, super exciting stuff happening with that. But regular exercise, I, a lot of my clients are like, I just don't have the energy to do it. So I tell them, just walk, you know? One of the best things that we can do after eating you guys here, here's like, if you wanna lose weight, try this.

(19:40):

Okay? So eat your dinner and then go on like a five to 10 minute walk. This could be like in Arizona, a lot of the mailboxes are kind of down around the corner. They're not in front of the house. Go walk and check the mail and come back or go walk around the block really quickly and come back and then clean up dinner or maybe go walk on a treadmill if you have one or go you know, if you're in your house quickly pick up dinner, put it away, and then go to laundry and then come down the stairs and do the, like, just move your body for five to 10 minutes because that's going to help stabilize blood sugar levels and it's going to help you lose that weight. Now here's what I'm not saying, <laugh>. I'm not saying eat really quickly and while you're standing and then go do that.

(20:35):

We need to rest and digest while we eat our food. So sit down, take your time, chew your food, chew, chew, chew, chew, chew your food and then get up, go walk, move your body because that's gonna help with the insulin levels. So if you are insulin resistant, if you also have P C O S, that is going to be a lifestyle thing that you can incorporate that will have really great benefits for you. Okay? So number two really goes along the lines with number one. So manage your stress. So there has been links that meditation, yoga have been proven to positively impact hypothyroidism when we rest and digest and allow our body to just be, we can see some really, really big benefits for our thyroid overall because we're not gonna be burning through those minerals for high stress the way that we do <laugh> when we're just under a lot of stress.

(21:52):

Because as mentioned in previous podcast episodes, our body doesn't know the difference between real stress and perceived stress. And so incorporating some good practices, whether that's journaling or meditation or yoga or I don't know, taking a bath with no music or writing in the car with no music. I mean, even still writing in the car you can, there, there still can be stressful things happening, right? Like somebody's cuts in front of you and you've gotta respond or whatever. But finding those moments, even five minutes a day is going to improve mineral levels and it's going to get you in an overall rested state. Number three, eat food supporting your thyroid and mind your minerals, okay? Especially be careful with supplementation when it comes to thyroid, especially iodine in particular. Taking too much, not taking enough. Iodine, I'll be honest, is not one of my favorite things to supplement with.

(22:59):

I choose to coach my clients a lot on food nutrition and our body being able to break down and absorb the food and then obviously get your iodine ch levels checked and, and do some comparison. Again, best way to test test that is through that htm a to see where those levels are. All right. Number four, everybody's favorite and something to think about through the holidays is decreased alcohol intake. So we all know in general that alcohol is not the best. I've had lots of clients who, not lots, I shouldn't say lots. I've had, I've had a fair share that don't drink alcohol at all. They gave it up years ago, they just didn't feel good on it. And then I've had a few clients that are like, I'm not giving up the alcohol <laugh>. So we will not go into all of the all of, all of the, what am I trying to say?

(24:17):

All of the do's and don'ts when it comes to alcohol. In episode 46 and 47, we talk about alcohol in the thyroid and how it impacts it, but the big things that you need to know and understand is that alcohol is filtered through the liver and thyroid hormone is also filtered through the liver. So learning how to manage alcohol consumption, learning different ways to consume it and not experience the negative side effects can be really, really important. So go, I mean, go check out those podcast episodes. There's a lot of really good information in there when it comes to, to alcohol and, yeah. Okay, so let's, let's keep going here. Something that you guys need to understand is that medication may be necessary for your thyroid, even if you're doing all of your due diligence above, right? Partial thyroidectomy, full thyroidectomy. However, a qualified and knowledgeable practitioner like myself can help you manage these conditions through lifestyle.

(25:36):

I, many of my clients have been able to reduce medication, get off medication get rid of thyroid symptoms, because when you go into the doctor, they are telling you, you know, here's your thyroid medication. Some of 'em will say, go on a diet or cut carbs and lose weight, <laugh>. And I was like, I, I always just look at the person because, and, and I watched their facial expression because there's so much in that in the face, right? When a client tells me, you know, my doctor just said, here's your medication and cut carbs, or here's your medication and go on a diet and just lose weight, and you can see the defeat in that person because I know by looking at them, they've cut calories, they've cut carbohydrates, they've quote unquote dieted and done all of the right things and they're not getting the results.

(26:35):

And it makes them feel like a shell of a person. It makes them feel defeated and de deflated and, and their self-esteem really takes a huge hit because they think something is wrong with them when it's not wrong with them, right? It feels like your body has betrayed you in, in this. And to have a doctor, to have a professional tell you, well, just do, do this and well, you must not be taking your medication, right? Or you must not be dieting or whatever. When, let me tell you, these women that I work with when it comes to thyroid, they are some of the most dedicated, restrictive, compliant people that I've ever met. Unless I get them to a point where they are so beat up and so downtrodden. I mean, then it, then it takes some coaxing, right? But overall, you guys are amazing.

(27:41):

You guys are incredible. And it takes a professional to just show you just a few things, a few tweaks, a few hacks that are gonna make a really big difference for you specifically. And that is one of the things that I really pride myself on when it comes to the way that I work with women. I don't put you in a shoebox. I don't put you in a cookie cutter program. Everything we do with the testing is customized to your body. And we make adjustments as needed and as necessary because it's really, really important that we're not just following one one way of doing it. Okay? As many underlying causes of thyroid can be an autoimmune condition. There are, I don't even remember the statistic. I think it's like 70% of women with hypothyroidism also have Hashimotos and that underlying inflammation. So again, a lot of you guys have 20 to 30 pounds that you wanna lose.

(28:52):

That is inflammation. As soon as we can get the body to calm down and not be so inflamed, the weight is, is really effortlessly. And it's such, it's such a beautiful things because the body doesn't hurt. You're not in pain, you're not inflamed, your digestive system isn't hurting, inflamed in pain all the time, and you're able to just settle into eating the right things and participating in the right lifestyle activities that make a huge difference. All right? Today has been a little bit of a rant <laugh> for that underactive thyroid. And this week is the last week to jump into our thyroid our black Fri Day thyroid special. So what that looks like is I'm gonna be coaching you through the middle of January and giving you everything you need to know about food, nutrition some lifestyle things if it comes up on some of the coaching calls.

(29:58):

And we're gonna be doing group coaching. I'm gonna teach you my exact blueprint for the Clean Energy Blueprint, okay? I want to, I was gonna pull up my little cheat sheet here and I can't, okay, that's okay. I remember <laugh>, I remember most of it. So it's really going to be everything you need to know about food, nutrition and what I've been teaching my clients for several years when it comes to learning how to optimize your metabolic function, balancing your mineral levels. So in that first section, I'm gonna teach you how to combine food. I'm gonna teach you how to do that so we can maximize the absorption and diminish digestive discomfort and inflammation in the body. So I don't want you experiencing gas, bloating, buring, constipation, diarrhea, any of that. That is like key, right? When we are experiencing those digestive issues, heartburn, indigestion, like it's going to block your body's ability to absorb and assimilate the food properly.

(31:12):

The next part of this is getting it in those key thyroid nutrients. I am going to dispel all of the myths that we talked about today and help you learn how to fill in those new nutritional gaps so that your body has a nutrients that it needs to make the hormone, create the hormone, convert the hormone and absorb the hormones, thyroid hormones properly inside the body. And then lastly, I'm gonna teach you how to detox from any dirty energy foods. How to get rid of the dairy if you can't, how to get rid of the gluten in a way that is not deprivation based and actually gets you results because those foods can be highly inflammatory. But I also want you to understand that you may not have to be dairy free for the all of your life. There is ways that we, you can learn how to eat and support your own body and get the nutrients in the right way.

(32:15):

A lot of people, I, I don't know if anybody follows west Westin Price. I, I believe in a lot of those methods of eating. I do believe again, after working with tons of thyroid women, that we have to cut out inflammatory foods, but overall we can get back to eating the old way, right? We can get back to eating those really nice clean grains that are non gmo, that are non spray, you know, all, all of those things. And that's one of the things that we can talk about and I can teach you inside of there. So just so you guys know what to expect Sarah said, I'm part way through week three. I weighed myself this morning and I'm down 12 pounds crystal after four months she says, I'm feeling amazing. I'm so productive. I've been so productive this morning.

(33:12):

I woke up feeling tired, or I woke up feeling rested for the first time in 20 years, went on a walk and didn't need coffee. Then I cleaned out my pantries and medicine cabinets. As of today, I've lost 20 pounds. I'm over the moon. And then my lovely Tara who works with me she had her best thyroid labs after her thyroidectomy in 10 years, and she had her life back. And last but not least, Amy, in three months, my levels have gone from 0.018 to 2.15. I can't believe it. And she started having energy. She started feeling good. Inside this program, you guys, I'm gonna be giving you a 32 page DNA hair analysis. This provides a really quick turnaround. It also provides tons of valuable information on what nutrition your body needs in order to balance out the minerals, restore thyroid function.

(34:13):

We're looking at environmental things like parasites and fungus and mold. And the best part about this is you're gonna get that individualized protocol that is valued at over $250, just as is. You're gonna get lifetime access to the curriculum. So you can go back to the done for you meal plans and recipes and prep guides. You're gonna get support from our community with group coaching. You're also going to get that customization. This is, like I mentioned before, this is not a cookie cutter program. And I'm gonna be doing individual assessments on you to help understand where your imbalances lie and so that I can better coach you and support you. So this is a, an incredible program. You guys, there's a one time payment of $497, or you can do two easy payments of 2 49. I have 20 spots available and with over 7,500 members in our Facebook group and online and in our emails and all of the things, I do think these will fill very, very quickly. So head over, check it out. It's in the show notes, you can purchase it, and I will see you on the next

(35:32):

Wait. Before you you go, please subscribe. If you found value in today's episode, leave us a review and share on Instagram and please tag us. We love your gift,

(35:46):

Please.

 

117// How Mineral Balance Will Help You Overcome Hypothyroidism

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Our signature 6-month program is called The Hansen Method, we offer this in a VIP setting with personalized plans and protocols, individual one on one coaching and incredible bonuses that change regularly. You can schedule a complimentary thyroid breakthrough call with one of our thyroid advisors. Click here.  If you have questions about the Hansen Method and want to discuss your specific situation and make sure this is the right program for you you can schedule a complimentary thyroid breakthrough call with one of our team members. schedule here. Hurry, my schedule fills up quickly and we only work with limited amount of women at any given time.




 Join hundreds of women who have improved their symptoms by 80% and lose on average 30lbs in the 4 months.  




Not ready to schedule a call, no problem. Learn more about the Hansen Method to see if it’s a good fit for you. Click here to learn more. 




We also offer The Hansen Method as a Self Guided option. 




Option number 1 for self guide is where you are totally on your own to go through the program content, make the changes and execute them on your own. Click here to purchase. 




Option number 2 includes group coaching and access to our members facebook group that will allow you access to our Thyroid Success Coaches and testing with personalized protocols. Click here to purchase.   




But one of our favorite ways to work with us is our Thriving Thyroid Coaching Membership Opportunity.  This is where many of clients first begin working with us. It allows you to get to know us, our system and start making changes before making a larger financial investment. Click here to learn more




CONTACT LINKS




DOWNLOADABLE RESOURCES




PAID RESOURCES




AFFILIATE LINKS

 

Xo,

Shannon Hansen




P.S. Make sure to schedule our Thyroid Breakthrough call with one of our thyroid advisors. 




AUDIO TRANSCRIPTION

(00:00):

 hey, hey, hey guys. Welcome back to the Thriving Thyroid Podcast. We are talking about minerals, minerals, minerals, minerals. They are your friend, and I ask myself over and over again, why are the doctors not checking this out? More? Welcome back to the Thriving Thyroid Podcast, where we choose to become empowered patients and take our health into our own hands. Hi, I'm Shannon Hanson, a Christian entrepreneur, a mom of three. And after dealing with my own health mysteries, I made it my mission to learn everything I could about the thyroid. I soon became certified as a holistic wellness practitioner, a functional nutrition practitioner, and a functional diagnostic practitioner. And so much more after that, I founded the Revolutionary Thyroid Program, the Handsome Method. As a health professional and a mom, I fully understand the importance of having a fun, simple, and sustainable plan for achieving a responsive thyroid.

(01:08):

So I share actionable and practical strategies for developing a responsive thyroid so that the ambitious moms and women can gain freedom from fatigue and lose the thyroid weight once and for all. Each week, I will be here for you, along with my guest experts. We will be sharing simple and tangible tips that work for not only your thyroid, your hormones, your family, and your mindset, so that you can get back to living the life that you envision for yourself. Welcome to the Thriving Thyroid Podcast. All right, well, hello, my lovely friends. We are talking about the importance of minerals and how this can really dictate much more about ourself than we realize. So as I'm working with clients, a lot of times <laugh>, I don't know, I might know a little bit about their medical history, but I don't know things about their day to day life.

(02:04):

If they've told me they have anxiety, I might know that. Um, but whether they are quick to anger, a lot of times they don't tell me little things like that. They don't tell me that <laugh>, I don't know, just random stuff. And, and I'll, I'll share little pieces because oftentimes you don't realize how much this is really playing a role in who you are and how it's affecting you. And so one of the big things that we do in the hands of method, and in all honesty, you will see a lot of thyroid practitioners use mineral testing with their clients. Now, mineral testing is, in my opinion, super important, but the other thing about it is it gives us so much data and information, what that we just wouldn't have otherwise. So one of the things that it tells us is it tells us how your metabolism is, whether you're a fast oxidizer, whether you're a slow oxidizer, whether you do better with higher protein or lower protein, or more fat, or less fat or whatever.

(03:15):

That's why you may have a friend who has done keto and had incredible results, and then you're over there in the corner and you're like, yeah, I did everything that person did and I gained weight, or <laugh>, whatever, right? Like, this information is just so important so that you know how to better support your body and your metabolism. So let me give you, um, an example. So if you are a slow oxidizer, then what we're, what you're gonna experience is you're gonna experience fatigue. You're gonna need to sleep longer at night, then maybe your husband or a friend. Um, you're still gonna wake up feeling tired or groggy. You're gonna need caffeine or sugar or chocolate, um, to help increase the energy, especially that mid-morning or that midafternoon. You're gonna have cold extremities, you're gonna have more constipation or diarrhea or hypoglycemia where it's like, oh my gosh, I just gotta eat right now.

(04:16):

And you get that like, hangry. You might experience asthma or thyroid, hello, thyroid <laugh>, um, like low thyroid or diabetes. You might also have a history of viral infections like Epstein bar or yeast infections, or fungal infections. You're also going to tend to be a perfectionist and a project manager, <laugh>. You're also, um, this slow metabolism. It can also lead to that emotional shutdown or that withdrawal. So for me, <laugh>, when I'm stressed out, when I'm overwhelmed, like I just wanna, like, I don't want, this is so embarrassing. It feels very vulnerable to say, I don't wanna be around other people. I wanna kind of isolate. I will, but I I, I don't want to be, if I can go wash my face, if I can brush my teeth or something, rather than being around my kids or my family, guess what? Like, I'm going to do that if I can choose that.

(05:20):

And it's, it's almost like I have to force myself to get out of my shell and go be a part of that. Even though I love community, I love my kids, I love my family, but sometimes it just feels like too much. Okay? A lot of auto autoimmune conditions also comes from this. And so it's really important, important that we learn to say no. And I know I've talked about this on other podcasts before, but one of the things that I started to do and implement was, I, I have a really hard time saying no. And I would just say, yes, yes, yes. And I, you know what? Here's a secret. I did it today, <laugh>, my kids have an event down at the school. I signed up to help all of 'em. And then I look at my calendar as like, I have coaching calls, I have client calls, I have all of these other things.

(06:13):

Oh, and by the way, I'm feeding like 15 to 20 people <laugh> for dinner tonight. And I was like, why did I do that to myself? Thankfully, it all worked out. My husband was able to step in for part of the day and we kind of tag teamed. But one of the things that I have to do and helps me, and I didn't do this <laugh> for today, so again, lesson learned and, and a reminder that sometimes we have to go back and revisit things. Um, but I would say things like, let me check my calendar. Oh, I would love to do that. Let me check my calendar. Or, you know what, I know I have something going on that day. I can't feed, you know, people from church or whatever, you know, bring in a meal for them on Wednesday, but I can do it on Friday.

(06:59):

You know, and I'm not necessarily saying no, I am just setting those good healthy boundaries for myself. So other things with the slow metabolism, actually we're not gonna go into that. I wanna, um, maybe share, let's think I I'm gonna do this a little bit different. So typically what I see is slow oxidizers, um, to begin with. And then we work on it and we, we get back into a state of homeostasis and my clients do better. So I'm not gonna go into a fast oxidizer. I was gonna do that. I've decided not to, cuz I wanna keep it more, more about minerals. Um, for today, if you guys love this episode, come tell me on Instagram and I'll talk about a fast oxidizer on another one, and we can dive in depth on that. But today we're gonna be talking about, um, mineral ratios.

(07:59):

Now this is super, super important. And to be honest, this is not something that I feel like I fully understood until several courses. <laugh> of information, obviously we know that nutrients and minerals is really important. We get caught up in this macros, right? Protein, carbs, fat, um, and that is all really, really good and important. But we forget these micronutrients, we forget the vitamins, minerals, you, omega fatty acids, the antioxidants, all of those things are more important, in my opinion, <laugh> and more critical to our overall health and wellness. So the best way to test for this is through a hair trace mineral analysis. So we use your hair, we look at how, um, well the lab, I, the lab sends me the report and I look at the report. Um, but we look at these different nutrients in these different minerals and that tells us what is being absorbed and absorbed and utilized in the body.

(09:06):

Okay? So the first one that I look at is calcium to phosphorous ratio. This is your autonomic balance inside of your body. So calcium, potassium is that sympathetic or that parasympathetic system, whether, so sympathetic is that fight or flight, and parasympathetic is at rest and digest. So the, this is also lends to the metabolic state that our body is in. Calcium is in control of that parasympathetic branch, and phosphorus is in control of that sympathetic. So if the, if phosphorus is too high, then you're gonna be in fight or flight, okay? Your nervous system is going to be, uh, like vibrating. Like you're gonna just be on that high alert all the time. And we get into that, that stressful state <laugh>, your body thinks that you are being attacked by a bear all the time. It is. And our body can't tell if it's really being chased and attacked by a bear or if it's like, oh my gosh, I don't know how I'm gonna pay my bills.

(10:22):

Or oh my gosh, someone just almost hit me. Like, our, our brain cannot tell the difference. It just knows, oh my gosh, stress, ah, freak out. Okay? So that parasympathetic, the rest and digest part is where you're gonna feel calm and relaxed and nourished and rested and and nurturing, and you're gonna be in that anabolic state. So the sympathetic, you're gonna be in a catabolic state. And this is one of the things that I have to explain to my clients all the time. They're like, what does that mean? So catabolic is where your body is breaking down. It's breaking down muscle, it's breaking down tissues, it's breaking down bones and minerals and it's, it's just breaking down. And this is why you're like, I just feel like garbage. Like, I just feel, someone said to me the other day in messenger, they said, I feel like a shell of a person.

(11:16):

And I was like, oh, like it hit me so hard. And I was like, I know what's wrong with you <laugh>. Um, and unfortunately, I I can't coach that individual person without having full medical history, right? Like, I wish I could. And that is probably one of the hardest things is because people tell me things and I'm like, let me help you. Like, I know I know what to do. I know how to help you. I've been there, I've done this, I've worked with hundred hundreds of women who have been dealing with this. And I was like, it's, it's your calcium de phosphorous ratio. That's why you feel like that shell of a person, okay, sorry, rant over <laugh>. Going back to the parasympathetic where you're in that rest or digest, this is where your, the body balances between these two systems and the minerals associated with this.

(12:20):

So animals are actually really, really good at this. So healthy dogs and cats, they can run fast and fight really hard, but they're also equally as comfortable spending time taking a nap. Humans, us humans, however, have difficulty balancing this autonomic system. So many of us are compulsively compulsively in that fight or run stage all the time, and others are in the give up mode. I don't want any do, I don't, I don't care. Do whatever you want. How many, how many of you have said that <laugh>? I'm totally guilty over here where it's like I just, I just can't fight anymore. Um, I had a conversation with my brother this last week and I was just feeling like really rundown. I had a lot on my plate and I was really stressed out about a lot of things and I was taking time for myself. I was in the bathtub.

(13:17):

My brother called me and he's going through a really hard time too. And I, he said something and I was, I hate the word triggered, but I was kind of triggered by it. And I was like, listen, I I am not in a place to fight you <laugh> right now. Like, I just, I just can't argue with you. If that's what you wanna believe and that's what you wanna think and feel, then, then great. Like, I'm sorry you feel that way. And this is really important for us to understand. And it is closely related to the adrenals and the thyroid glands because we fluctuate between being in that sympathetic and that parasympathetic, but genetically we tend to be more dominant on one side or the other. This, because of this, the autonomic balance includes chemical imbalances. One is born with, okay? So diet can affect it.

(14:20):

Using stimulants can affect this negative thinking, structural imbalances, physical and emotional trauma and, and being exposed to toxic metals and chemicals can also affect the hypothalamus in the pituitary gland, which is going to regulate all of these hormones. So when I am working with my clients, this is one of the big ratios that I see as being off. So I'll give you you an example. One of my clients, um, so optimal levels is 2.6 and she's at a 3.8. And so that means she's in that parasympathetic stage. Um, too much, right? She's too much in the, like, I just wanna give up <laugh>. Um, I don't wanna fight kind of deal. So she is, her metabolism is slowed, she's carrying more weight around her hips and her thighs and her butt and she's just, she's had a lot going on with her kids. And so it makes sense, right?

(15:30):

The second ratio that I wanna talk about is sodium to potassium. And this is another one that I actually see outta balance a lot. And this is our stress ratio. So sodium and potassium ratio is one of the most important ratios, um, to evaluate because when we look at both of those, it's gonna control movement in and out of every cell in the body and every cell membrane in the body. So if potassium is low, what's gonna happen to your thyroid hormone? This means that you could have thyroid hormone, like let's say you're taking thyroid medication, you could have thyroid medication free floating in the blood, but if your sodium to potassium ratio is off, your body is not going to be able to absorb and utilize the thyroid hormones properly. So nothing can exit and nothing can get into the cells without sodium and potassium.

(16:35):

This ratio tells us about the potential of the cells, the kidney, the liver, the adrenal function, and sodium is also linked to aldosterone and potassium is linked to, um, cortisone. So this is something that we need to keep in mind as well because this is also going to dictate how we're breaking down and metabolizing and utilizing food and how we're dealing with stress. Okay, so the third hormone is calcium to potassium. This one ladies lean in <laugh>, this is how, this is your thyroid ratio. This is how I know you truly have a thyroid imbalance or not. And let me tell you, I have worked with hundreds of women and every once in a while someone comes in and I'm like, my friend, you're on thyroid medication and you don't really have a thyroid issue, <laugh>. So we want to be looking at this ratio. So let me give you another example.

(17:49):

I had a client come in. So optimal levels are 4.2, okay? Um, this client of mine has multiple autoimmune conditions. She has ulcerative colitis, um, and Hashimotos and her levels for the sodium to potassium ranked at 40, 44. Remember, optimal is 4.2. So she's way, way, way high. So the thyroid gland, as many of you guys know, helps to regulate your metabolism in your body. The thyroid hormone controls calcium in the body. This is also why we see down the road, osteoporosis, osteopenia, um, other imbalances with calcium because it starts to pull from the muscles and the tissues, um, the calcium, okay? So the higher the calcium and the, the lower the thyroid gland activity is going to be. So for this client, her calcium is super high, potassium is super, super low. That's why she's ranking there. And this is why one of her goals is getting off thyroid medication, but we're not there yet because this ratio is too far off.

(19:08):

So when the thyroid ratio is abnormal, the efficiency of energy production in the body, it decreases. So it's like an engine that is getting turned up too slow or too fast. And an htma result doesn't always correlate with blood tests, okay? Because the htma is a tissue test, often blood tests will be normal, but the hair analysis will indicate an impaired thyroid function or activity. So this is why I, and this happened to me <laugh>, this is why I turned to nutrition, turned to lifestyle because this is something that I could control and support my body in when none of the other doctors or nobody else would help me because I was being told that everything was normal and I knew that I was not normal. All right, the next one, and I lost count <laugh> of, I think this is number five. Um, um, okay, so ratios number five or six maybe, um, is zinc to copper.

(20:19):

So this one is your hormone and energy regulation ratio. Okay? So zinc to copper ratio is much more of an effective method of evaluating zinc and copper levels considering either zinc or copper levels alone. So zinc and copper actually need this nice, really delicate balance. And so we want to be looking at them in a ratio. The ratio can be indicative of copper deficiency or copper being unavailable to the body. So sometimes what I see when testing clients is they might have copper toxicity and it doesn't show up on the first test. Okay? Um, for me personally, I had, um, the copper i u d many of you guys know if you've been around for a while, I had the copper i u d taken out and within a month, da, da, da da. I got pregnant <laugh>. Um, which was a shock. We thought we were, I dunno, being careful, but <laugh> apparently not.

(21:35):

Um, zinc also correlates with progesterone in women and testosterone in men. So we copper roughly correlates with estrogen and men and it also correlates with estrogen and men and women. So when I'm looking at this, I'm looking at, hey, um, what, what are your hormones also doing? So for me, because my copper is so high or has been so high, my progesterone has been really low, so that has made it difficult for me to lose weight postpartum. It's made it difficult for me to feel energized, um, all of these different things. And so I actually recently started, um, supporting my body in its ability to balance out with the, with the progesterone. So keeping that in mind, we want to have a really nice balance in that. Um, if you have a high cholesterol, if you have skin issues, if you have female issues, meaning like heavy periods, painful, um, breast tenderness, um, cramping that your to copper ratio may be off.

(22:49):

Now again, typically women have a lot of this, um, because we get excess copper in things like birth control and medications and even thyroid medications lead to higher amounts of copper. So yay, <laugh>. Okay? The next one is sodium to magnesium. This is our adrenal health ratio. So aldosterone is a mineral corticoid, adrenal hormone, super fancy word. It regulates the retention of sodium in the body. So in general, the higher sodium levels and the higher aldosterone levels inside the body. So this, this ratio is really measuring the energy output because the ad adrenal glands are a major regulator along with the thyroid for our metabolic rate. And this is also super interesting. I work with a ton of menopausal and perimenopausal women and they're like, man, as soon as I started going through menopause, things got worse. Or as soon as I got started going through perimenopause, I I was diagnosed with thyroid and I was diagnosed with all of these other things.

(24:09):

This is why ladies, because when you go through menopause, all of these hormones then go over to the adrenal glands to regulate because it's no longer being reliant or dependent upon your ovarian, oh, your ovaries. Um, I almost said something else. Ovarian cys. I was talking to someone just a little bit earlier about P C O S. So anyways, okay, so the ratio in this, these tissues is um, will often again not match your blood test for adrenal hormones. Usually the blood test will be normal, but the tissue, the hair, tissue mineral analysis will show some abnormal adrenal functions. However, um, they often tend to kind of correlate. We can see some correlation with the hair analysis. This next ratio we're gonna talk about is one that I also see off when it comes to like thyroid and the women that I work with. And that is calcium to magnesium ratio.

(25:23):

That is, when I look at those levels, I'm looking at blood sugar. So if you are having insulin resistance, if you are, um, pre-diabetic, if you are type two diabetes, this is one that I know is gonna come off. Or if you tell me, oh my gosh, I'm having all of these sugar cravings and I can't get 'em under control, um, I've got weight that I can't lose, I know that most likely calcium to magnesium is gonna be off. This is why around our menstrual cycle you might crave more chocolate because your body is looking for that magnesium. So calcium is required for the release of insulin to the pancreas, and magnesium is necessary for both the action of insulin and the manufacturing of insulin. So for me personally, when I was really struggling several years ago, one of the supplements that the, the biological doctor that I was working with put me on was magnesium.

(26:32):

And I noticed a big change in my overall sugar cravings. It helped me with food and, and all of those different things. Um, however, over time magnesium has become unavailable to my body. So my body wasn't utilizing it properly and so I had to once again make some adjustments. All right. Now the next one we're gonna talk about is iron to copper. This one is our infection indicator ratio. So if you've had epstein bar, if you've had, um, other viral or bacterial infections, this is, this may be off, this may be low, um, in this, uh, and again, this is one that iron may show normal in your blood labs or it may be high or you may be anemic. Um, but we wanna see that ratio and see how, how you do, um, with those ones as well. Okay, the next one, this is the last one we're gonna talk about is copper to malign.

(27:50):

Um, this one is a copper imbalance ratio. So copper to malign is really important marker for us to look at. If copper to malign malign is is low, this is going to indicate that imbalance with copper, it's gonna be indicative of being a slow oxidizer. Meaning your metabol metabolism is going to be low. And so again, we we're gonna want to support the body and support the nutrients in the minerals properly so that you can, you can feel better. Um, copper when it is low or outta balance, what's gonna happen is you're gonna have anemia, you're gonna probably be iron deficient, you're gonna have inflammatory, um, diseases like rheumatoid arthritis or arthritis. You could have bacterial things, you could have celiac disease or hypertension. Um, emotional disturbances and insomnia. So this is one that you're gonna want to definitely pay attention to. If you guys are, if you guys liked today's episode, I would love to hear from you over on Instagram, thriving Thyroid. Come check us out and let's chat. Let's have a conversation. I will see you guys on the next

(29:24):

Way too. Before you go, please subscribe. If you found value in today's episode, leave us a review and share on Instagram and please tag us. Love your.

 


116// Thriving with Migraines and Hormonal Imbalance with Debbie Waidl

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Get on the Hansen Method waitlist. Click here. We open up the Hansen Method 2-3x a year so that we can fully support our clients to the highest degree possible.


Thinking about using nutrition and holistic health for restoring thyroid function? Learn EVERYTHING you need to know by joining our Free Facebook Group. Thriving Thyroid Balance Community.


Are you interested in learning more about your thyroid and finding answers? 


We got you! 


We have several different opportunities to work with us at several different price points and opportunities. 


Our signature 6-month program is called The Hansen Method, we offer this in a VIP setting with personalized plans and protocols, individual one on one coaching and incredible bonuses that change regularly. You can schedule a complimentary thyroid breakthrough call with one of our thyroid advisors. Click here.  If you have questions about the Hansen Method and want to discuss your specific situation and make sure this is the right program for you you can schedule a complimentary thyroid breakthrough call with one of our team members. schedule here. Hurry, my schedule fills up quickly and we only work with limited amount of women at any given time.


 Join hundreds of women who have improved their symptoms by 80% and lose on average 30lbs in the 4 months.  


Not ready to schedule a call, no problem. Learn more about the Hansen Method to see if it’s a good fit for you. Click here to learn more. 


We also offer The Hansen Method as a Self Guided option. 


Option number 1 for self guide is where you are totally on your own to go through the program content, make the changes and execute them on your own. Click here to purchase. 


Option number 2 includes group coaching and access to our members facebook group that will allow you access to our Thyroid Success Coaches and testing with personalized protocols. Click here to purchase.   


But one of our favorite ways to work with us is our Thriving Thyroid Coaching Membership Opportunity.  This is where many of clients first begin working with us. It allows you to get to know us, our system and start making changes before making a larger financial investment. Click here to learn more


CONTACT LINKS


DOWNLOADABLE RESOURCES


PAID RESOURCES


AFFILIATE LINKS

 

Xo,

Shannon Hansen


P.S. Make sure to schedule our Thyroid Breakthrough call with one of our thyroid advisors. 

Audio Transcription

(00:00):

Welcome back to the Thriving Thyroid Podcast, where we choose to become empowered patients and take our health into our own hands. Hi, I'm Shannon Hanson, a Christian entrepreneur, a mom of three. And after dealing with my own health mysteries, I made it my mission to learn everything I could about the thyroid. I soon became certified as a holistic wellness practitioner, a functional nutrition practitioner, and a functional diagnostic practitioner. And so much more After that, I founded the Revolutionary Thyroid Program, the Handsome Method. As a health professional and a mom, I fully understand the importance of having a fun, simple, and sustainable plan for achieving a responsive thyroid. So I share actionable and practical strategies for developing a responsive thyroid so that the ambitious moms and women can gain freedom from fatigue and lose the thyroid weight once and for all. Each week I will be here for you, along with my guest experts. We will be sharing simple and tangible tips that work for not only your thyroid, your hormones, your family, and your mindset, so that you can get back to living the life that you envision for yourself. Welcome to the Thriving Thyroid Podcast cast.

(01:23):

Welcome back to the Thriving Thyroid Podcast. You guys, I am super excited to have Debbie. She is one of the only people that has been on the podcast twice now. And we're talking, I'm

(01:36):

Honored.

(01:37):

Yes. Yes. We are talking about migraines and the inflammation and stress and how it all comes together because I think in modern society, we piece together, We think I need to see an endocrinologist for my thyroid. I need to see a neurologist for my headaches and and neurology stuff, and I need to see a gastroenterologist. And we're not looking at things at that deeper level and how it all comes together. So Debbie, why don't you take a second to just inter or introduce yourself and welcome to the podcast.

(02:14):

Thank you. Thank you so much for having me here. So, as Shannon said, I'm Debbie Weyle. I'm a certified migraine health coach specialist, and I work on supporting women to find their migraine freedom without having to use pills, quick fixes, and all of the risky surgeries that conventional medicine is offering them. Because we 100% believe that there is a root cause that migraine really is just a symptom of your body telling you that something is wrong. And we know that thing that's wrong is chronic inflammation. So every single thing that we do works on helping women reduce that inflammation so that they can find the reduction in severity, duration, and frequency of those migraines, but also ensure that there aren't gonna be worse symptoms later on in their life so that they can live the life they want pain free.

(03:03):

Yeah, absolutely. And Debbie, I know on the the original podcast, I would have to go back and look at what number. Maybe I'll do that while you're talking really quickly. We talked about distinguishing headaches and migraines, so let's speak into that for just a second for the listeners.

(03:23):

Absolutely. So I talk to hundreds of women a month and it amazes me how many times they come to me and just say, you know, well, I just have this little bit of pain here or there, you know, I just have maybe a couple headaches a month. And then when we start talking to them, we, we've realized this really our migraines, you know, when we look at migraines, we look at a scale of one to 10 of pain, one to three being that pain that most of the women that I talk to, just, they're pushing through, right? They're going to the baseball game, they're going to the concert, they're in pain. They're not really focused on what's happening, but they can manage, they can keep working. Four to six is that pain where I'm pulling the medi the medication out. You know, I have to keep going through work, I have to do it.

(04:03):

So here's my Imitrex, you know, here's whatever else the doctor gave me that month, you know, to try to get through. And then 7, 8, 9, we're in bed, You know, we're really just under the covers. We can't do anything. And then 10, these are the ladies that are heading to the hospital, you know, heading to the ER because they're in so much pain. You're feeling that symptom, you know, of that head pain, that throbbing. But everybody feels it a little different, right? Some people have nauseas, some people have dizziness, some people have stabbing head pain. Some people have, you know, the big one is always the neck, right? You know, your upper back into your neck. You know, I can't tell you how many people say they need to go to a, I just need physical therapy, I just need a massage. I'm like, No, let's your body letting me know that that's a migraine coming. So doesn't matter what the symptoms are, it doesn't matter. The combo, you have them. Again, this is all about chronic inflammation and reducing that so that we are not feeling these migraines.

(04:56):

Yeah. And, and I love that. So I, as you guys should know, if you don't, cause I know we have new people all the time so I feel like I am a broken record. I'm sure you feel that way, Debbie <laugh>, but I'm like, everybody should know this, but I, like, we get new listeners, we get new people all the time. And I used to, I have struggled with migraines specifically. Like I remember my very first one was five years old and I'm throwing up in pain and I'm mm-hmm. <Affirmative>, like my head just hurts so bad. But I'm like five. And I didn't have the language to say, Hey, I need medication. My parents are like, Oh, you're sick. You know, got a virus or whatever laid down. And I'm like, It hurts. And they, I will say they're, they're not as frequent, but there's been over the years where I've had to call my husband or call someone to take care of my kids or to the point where I can't function. And I think this is, what am I trying to say? Sometimes we start out at that 3, 4, 5, you know, we're making it through the day and then we're, okay, now I gotta take medication. What did you say? Like six? That a five, six?

(06:15):

Yeah. Yeah, usually. Yep.

(06:18):

And then if we're not addressing the real inflammation and the real problem behind it, then we end up 7, 8, 9.

(06:29):

Yep. Absolutely.

(06:30):

Unable to function.

(06:32):

Absolutely. Cause cuz we think we have to push through, right? And this is more so with women, you know, we think that we are super women, we are invincible, that the world cannot run without us. That our children are gonna, you know, go crazy if we're not there every single second of the day. So we push, we push, we push, we push. And by doing that we're increasing that inflammation, increasing that need for medication and keeping us in this like hamster wheel of just back and forth. You know, we get a migraine, we take the me then we're gonna, you know, because of the inflammation from taking the me, we're gonna get a migraine. And it just doesn't stop. It just doesn't stop until we get to that root cause and we actually stop and think about ourselves for a moment and do a little self care for ourselves.

(07:15):

Yeah. Yeah. So let's kinda dive into how stress is related to inflammation. And I'm so excited to talk about this because I have some personal people in my life that I'm like,

(07:33):

I, yeah. I am so excited about this topic. And really the reason that we are focusing on this selfishly is because this has really hit my life in the last few months. I, you know, am a business owner. I'm a mama two and I now am the guardian to my 75 year old uncle who has down syndrome. Cuz my father passed away in May. So lots of changes in my world, lots of stress. And very quickly I noticed things start creeping back into my world that I didn't like. I started noticing how I was feeling Now I did not get a migraine. I was able to keep the migraines at bay for everything that I've learned. But I started noticing that neck pain. I started noticing the heart palpitations more. I started noticing the sleep not be good. The weights stick on a little bit more, a few more, you know, joint aches and pains and realize very quickly how much is this impacting me as a health coach.

(08:29):

Then it's gotta be massively impacting women that don't live brief and eat health every single day like we do Shannon. Right? Yeah. So I knew this had to be a topic that I needed to look into and when I did some research, I found that 75 to 90% of doctor's office visits are related to conditions caused by stress. That number is astronomical. But I'm sure just like you, Shannon, if you ask your clients or potential clients what they think the reason is for their illness, they're gonna say it's food, it's genetic, You know, those are the top two I get. And we kind of poo poo the fact that stress is having a massive impact on our overall health. Cause it's so much easier to fix your food right. Than to fix your feelings <laugh> and to fix how stress. Right?

(09:21):

I, yeah. And I also hear, well it's just normal. Like yeah. It's just,

(09:26):

Yeah,

(09:27):

It's just my kids. It's just, you know, what I've been dealing with for the last 10 years, It's just my job, you know, I'm a nurse, you know, it's just me having young kids. But I think a lot of that comes from doctors also telling us, Yes, oh, you're just a busy mom. Oh, you're just a nurse. Well, yeah, of course you're a teacher to 30 kids, you know, or whatever, <laugh>, whatever it is. Oh, it's just normal. But what I, and maybe you have better language around this, what I'm coming to realize is sometimes it's the perception of stress.

(10:11):

Absolutely. Absolutely. Stress isn't going away, let's face it. Right? We're living in totally different times. You know, the, the world is heading in a little bit of a different direction, which sometimes can be very stressful up and down, right? So we can't get rid of those things. We don't have control over changing that in a day. So we really need to learn how to perceive the stressors that are coming into our life differently and how we can actually use that to our advantage. Because they really do think that stress a lot of time gets a bad rep. You know, we actually need stress to survive. If we didn't have stressors, we would not be motivated to be the people that we are. We wouldn't be motivated to try to change the world and make things better. But it is the chronic stress, the day to day stress that we aren't really working on that's causing the health issues versus that acute stress that kind of comes in, we fix a problem and then it goes away.

(11:06):

Right? I kind of talk about inflammation the same way where it's kinda like sitting on the shelf, you know, sitting on your shoulder ready to come in and help you when it needs to, but then it needs to go back and have a rest. It can't be going 24 7. And when it does, it reeks havoc with our bodies and our hormones. And if your clients are anything like mine, we talk about hormones all the time. <Laugh>, this is not helping your hormones ladies at all when we can't find a way to work on the stressors in our daily life.

(11:38):

Yeah. And I find that it's also, like you said, it's it's balance of dealing with life. You know what, what I wanna call this is like coping skills. Mm-Hmm. <affirmative> coping skills to deal with the stress, whether that be journaling or taking a bath or, you know taking some adrenal supplements to help support, you know, the, the, the overworking. And there's also a balance between the mind racing to get things done and find a solution versus repetitive thoughts that are not serving you and not helping you to find solutions too.

(12:27):

Absolutely. Absolutely. And each and every person is a little bit different, you know, so we can list off, you know, 15, 20 things to try to do. You just listed a bunch, you know, to help with stress, but you really need to find what works well with you. And I'm sure you do the same thing with your client, Shannon, but when we work with people, this is actually a huge part of our program and we have a specific coach, you know, a mindset mentor that really works with women to help them figure out what the best way is for their life. Cause the way, the way a woman that has three kids deals with it in comparison to someone who's retired, it's gonna be totally different. Totally different. Yeah. And if they both try to do it the same way, neither one of them is gonna have success. Right. You know, that'd be like taking a doctor's patients, like I said this the other day, if a doctor took a hundred of their patients, put 'em in a room and gave them all the exact same plan, health plan, who's gonna be successful? <Laugh>, you know, nobody because they're all different. Everybody's coming from somewhere different. So it's so important to look at that person as an individual and figure out what they need.

(13:31):

Yeah. Well and this is something that I talk a lot about is breaking away from that standard practice of care because that's usually what happens. And I think you can agree with migraines. It's like, okay, we've got this medication, this medication, this medication, all right? Like there's no mention of how are you sleeping, how is your diet you know, are you exercising? What is your physical environment like? Are you around a lot of chemicals that are triggering some of these things? You know, it is okay, you're having this symptoms, here's this medication.

(14:08):

Exactly. And that those are the exact things that we focus on. And so excitingly that we're gonna be focusing on, including with you Shannon <laugh> in November, is it okay to leak it? Now we talk about it.

(14:20):

Yes. Yeah, absolutely. I was just getting ready to go there. So,

(14:24):

Perfect. So I am so excited to announce that in November the ninth, 10th and 11th we are hosting a summit surviving to thriving Migraine Freedom Summit. And Shannon is gonna be one of our expert speakers that's coming on. And this whole summit is 100% focused on all of the different areas of stress. So we will be going into each and every area that Shannon just mentioned, you know, whether it's, you know, stressors from eating the wrong foods to stress from not, you know, looking at our circadian responsivity correctly, you know, how are we sleeping, what are we doing? Same with movement every single area of your life because it all boils down to looking at the things that you're doing and making little tiny, small tweaks in those areas to ensure that we are giving our body everything it needs to be able to function properly.

(15:17):

Our body can do all the work. It's just up to us to make sure that we give it the things that it needs to be able to do that. And that's what the summit's gonna be all about. So it's gonna be 10 amazing interviews from women who are experts in their fields covering all of those areas of stress. So there will be something in here for each and every one of you. This is not a cookie cutter plan or approach, but you can come in and take what you need, leave the rest. And I can tell you by the time you're done, you're gonna have a whole different perception of what stress is and actually an appreciation for it as well. Cuz again, it's not an evil word, we just need to learn how to use it wisely in our world.

(15:58):

Yeah. Yes, absolutely. So give us going into the the summit. What are some of the topics and what are some of the things people are gonna be talking about?

(16:10):

Absolutely. So we're gonna kick it off the first day. Genie is actually gonna come in and kick off our summit and talk about how to avoid migraine triggers from stress. She's actually gonna really break it down super simple for us, telling us what stress actually is, the process of already our body endures when we are stressed and how that sets the stage for migraines. You know, I think it's important when we start the summit that we really dive in and get a full understanding. So we'll kick it off that way and then we're gonna move into other areas like talking about foods and food sensitivities and how that can trigger GI inflammation, increasing toxicity, you know, which is gonna bring us to the migraine, you know, causing levels. Cuz let's face it, so much of what happens in our body goes right back to our gut, right?

(16:58):

You know, everyone talks about the gut being the first brain in our brain being the second brain. I'm a full believer in that, you know, I'm not saying that we have to go super crazy and start eating cardboard in our diet. I love the food that I eat. But it's an essential part of everything we do for health. So we will be hitting on that quite a bit in the summit. And then I know this is gonna be a favorite <laugh> of everyone. So Shannon, you really have one of the best topics in the summit. Everyone loves talking about hormones, <laugh>, everyone loves talking about that. So Shannon's jumping in with her expertise, you know, your expertise and your thyroid information and talking about stress hormones and we're really gonna jump in and reveal that common mistake that women make when trying to clear up inflammation in their body.

(17:44):

Cuz let's face it, we throw this word around, but what does that mean? What do we do? How do we balance the hormones? So I know that's gonna be one that is really well attended. I'm super excited about that. Plus a few other guests coming on. We have a doctor who's coming on who, a Chinese medicine doctor who's actually gonna walk us through some pressure and acupuncture. Things that we can actually do when we're in pain. Cuz let's face it, migraines aren't, don't go way instantaneous. That's so, I'm so excited that we can get some tools right to use while we're working on ending pain. We have a, a yoga master coming in who is gonna actually take us through some breath tests and explain that to us so that we have some more additional tools. And Andrea jumping on with more home hormone talk and Alicia with more food and inflammation. So it's gonna be amazing. There are so many different aspects of stress that we're gonna cover. I think that we'll be able to fully, fully engulf the whole topic by the end of our three day summit.

(18:43):

Yeah, absolutely. So just so you guys know, and I did find my podcast sheet, so Debbie, if people wanna go back and listen where we talk more about migraines and the breakdown of different types of migraines and things like that that is in episode 45 on a Thriving Thyroid podcast. And then Jeanie was on an episode 43 where we were talking about adrenal fatigue. And even still to this day, that is one of my most downloaded podcast episodes for, for everything everybody wants. In my world, everybody wants to know about adrenal fatigue.

(19:26):

Yeah. And

(19:27):

So, and hormones, it's, it's

(19:29):

Crucial, right? Cuz we're all exhausted. We're all exhausted, we're so tired. So, and it all pieces together. Which is why I love jumping on and doing podcasts like this with people like you, Shannon, because everything that we do, it's so encompassing. Yeah. Our women have so many of the same symptoms, right?

(19:47):

Yes. And in 25, 30, even 40 minutes, we cannot take everything that's in our brain and give it to all of you guys. And this is something that's been kind of frustrating for me lately because I'm like, I just wanna help every single person. Yeah. But when I'm preparing a podcast or alive or whatever it is, I am not speaking to the one, I'm speaking to the masses. Mm-Hmm. <Affirmative> instead of, So it's like I have to be careful what I say in certain things because I'm like, well if this person has gallbladder issues, then I would do this. But if they don't, then I would do this. You know? And like my mind just starts going, Well I would do this for this person, but not for this person. But you know, and, and so when I recording these things, I want to give you as much value as possible and also give you solutions. But it's like I almost can't dive into all of the things.

(20:53):

It's hard, right? Cause there's a foundational approach, you know, and I know you have the same thing in your program. You know, where, you know, we, we do as much as we can and we give a very foundational approach to everyone. But then you need to build on that foundation. Once you have the foundation, each and every person, like if you think about a house, everyone decorates their house different, right? Yeah. Everyone has a different style, a different look on the inside. And that's where that individualized approach comes in. And you know, people who have thyroid issues working with you, Shannon, that's when they need that support is to be able to make the inside look beautiful and figure out what exactly they need. Because 100%, one of the big ones you mentioned gallbladder, that's something we deal with all the time, you know, and and our clients who don't have a gallbladder versus those that do, you cannot treat them the same.

(21:38):

You cannot support them The same if you do, you are not gonna get results for that person that doesn't have a gallbladder anymore. So it is so imperative to get that foundational work done and this the summit things like this Shannon's podcast that so helps with the foundation but then you gotta keep going. Nobody wants to live in an empty house, right? <Laugh>. Yeah. You gotta keep going and take it to the end and get that support that you need. You specifically based on your health, your lifestyle and what you're willing to do. You know, that's another big thing. What's everybody willing to do? You know, some people are willing to work, work out a half an hour a day. Some people not so much and you have to help each one get where they need to be.

(22:18):

Well and speaking of working out, not every kind of exercise works for everybody. Like I haven't done hit training and well I love it. I'm like, I don't, it's hard for me to be consistent but put me in a bar class. I'm like, I love it. This is my happy place. Here's a little like insider secret. I'm gonna go be certified in teaching bar because I love it so much.

(22:49):

That's amazing.

(22:51):

<Laugh>, you think you're

(22:52):

Crazy to do <laugh>? I think that's amazing. And that's what we talk about all the time is find that right exercise for you. Right? Cause if you're trying to do something that you hate an hour a day, how long is it gonna last A month or two? Maybe you can push yourself to do it, but once you find something you love, then it doesn't seem like work anymore. You know? Which I think is the same with you and I with this, with what we do as a career, why we're business owners. Because it doesn't feel like work. Because the joy that we get from supporting women on a daily basis to get rid of those symptoms that they're feeling and actually live their lives is absolutely amazing cuz we've lived it and we know what it's like not to be able to do that.

(23:30):

Yep. Absolutely. So one of the last things that I want to talk about before we wrap this up here is when I'm looking at the overview of all of the people talking, two of the big things that I'm seeing is nutrition and stress.

(23:53):

Yeah.

(23:54):

And I wanna just tiny hit on nutrition and how, what happens when we're stressed out with our nutrition?

(24:07):

Hmm. <Laugh>. Well let's see when I'm stressed, what's the first thing I wanna go to? <Laugh>. Let's see, chocolate wine. What do we like? Ladies bread chips. You know, let's think about it. It's comfort food, right? When we are totally stressed, the last thing we wanna do is go make a beautiful plate of brussel sprouts and broccoli and you know, other food like that. Plus when we are fully stressed out, our body actually takes in food differently, right? We, you know, if we're stressed and our heart is racing and we eat food, our body is thinking man, why she's so stressed. She's trying to keep herself alive right now. So I'm really not really worried about digesting the food and getting all the minerals and nutrients out of it. I'm just worried about keeping her alive in the moment. So it's kind of a twofold thing here, right?

(24:56):

We need, we, when we're stressed we don't eat well, but then our body doesn't use the food that we eat even well. So it is so imperative. It's so imperative to work on that stress piece first so that that nutrition piece can actually work for you. Well you know, we already know that our food isn't as good as it was a hundred years ago due to soil erosion and all those other things. So every single bite of food that we put in our mouth, we need to make sure that it is gonna be serving our body the best. Right? So we need to give our body everything that we can to ensure that happens.

(25:33):

Yeah. Yep. Absolutely. And I think that's a great place to leave this off because well yes, we're gonna leave it there.

(25:45):

You and I could talk forever, Shannon. We could go on for a week so

(25:49):

We could, but the point of this is for you guys to hear more about the summit and register for the summit and come listen to all of these different experts in their field of genius when it comes to stress, migraines, nutrition, inflammation, even if you don't have migraines per se mm-hmm. <Affirmative> still come because you're gonna learn so much about the human body that it's going to be well worth your time. I like, I'm looking at this list and I'm like, yeah, that person and that person and I've had this person on the podcast and I follow this person and I love what this person says. So you know, if I'm loving these women, I know, I know you guys are going to as well. So any last things that you would like to share about the the summit, Debbie?

(26:43):

Absolutely. So I kind of just wanna hit off of what you just said. You know, I joke all the time with women that I could really name my program, you know, let's reduce your inflammation program. But it's not sexy. It doesn't sound good. You know, the freedom for migraine method sounds so much better. But really at the end of the day, all we're doing is supporting women to reduce that inflammatory load so that they don't end up with something worse than a migraine. You know, I'm almost actually happy when I meet women who have migraines because we can help them with that. We can help them reduce the severity, duration of frequency by working on their inflammation. But when someone comes to me and they've already lost their gallbladder, they have type one diabetes and you know, you can't fix the pancreas that's already broken, right?

(27:27):

Or they've had a heart attack or stroke or cancer. Those things have already happened. We can't take that back. But when you have migraine, we can 100% work on what is causing it so that worse things don't come. You know, I mean I actually probably should just mentioned Hashimotos. You know, when I had migraines, I ignored them and because I ignored them, Hashimotos set in then eosinophilic esophagitis. So I ended up with two autoimmune conditions. So this summit is for everyone. It is not just for women that have migraines, even though that will be a focus and things we talk about, but it is for anyone who does not feel good, who feels that their health is not where it needs to be. Because this summit will really move you forward to actually taking the control back that you need to of your help and putting yourself in the position to be able to live your best life and live to the age you want too. I dunno about you Shannon, but I'm living to over a hundred amazingly. And I'm gonna be on the beach doing yoga <laugh> in my nineties. You know, that's the life I'm living. So if everyone else wants that life, make sure you get the information from Shannon, join us for the summit and make sure that you take her up on our offer to, you know, jump on a call, chat with her because stop the cookie cutter approach. Get the help that you need. You really need that individualized help.

(28:43):

Absolutely. And I talk about my husband's grandma all the time. She's 99 and she still golfs you guys. She's amazing. And I'm like, that's what I wanna be. I want to live on my own. I don't wanna live in a care center. <Laugh>. Yeah. I don't want my kids to have to take care of me. I mean, her kids come and like make meals and spend time and stuff with her. Like she's very well taken care of, but she's also very independent. And I'm like, that's what I want. I don't want to

(29:17):

Well she's probably a happy woman, right?

(29:19):

She's so happy. Yeah.

(29:22):

So there's the key right there. She is found a way to manage the stressors that come into her life. She is super happy. Stress, I should have mentioned this sooner. Stress has actually been proven to cause more inflammation than most inflammatory foods. Let that sink in. You wanna go check it out on PubMed? It's in there. I don't remember where it is right now, but there are so many studies right now that are showing that stress. It would be more like if someone came to me and said, what should I work on stress or my diet? I would 100% say stress first. And I kind of just mentioned that a minute ago. You know, if you can eat all the healthiest food in the world that you want to, but if you're stressed, your body is not utilizing that properly. Stress. That's it.

(30:05):

I'm going the beach. See you in two years.

(30:11):

Let me know where you are. Be right behind you. Right behind you. So yeah, its the people who live to a hundred look at their lives. They're happy. They may, they may drink, some of them might even smoke here or there. And I'm not saying those two things are okay, but what I'm saying is the, they are so happy that they're keeping their information low enough that that's why they're living the way that they're living at 90. I don't wanna live 90 and be in the nursing home. I wanna live to 90 a hundred and be on the beach. And that's why these people can do it. Cause they're happy. Yeah. They found a way to manage, to perceive their stress differently. So this is gonna be amazing. I cannot wait. Everyone makes sure you get to Shannon's. Shannon puts you

(30:49):

Are coming on what, on those really quickly?

(30:52):

Yeah, so it's November, November 9th, 10th and 11th. There are different times each day cuz of course we have different amount of guests each day. So you can grab that info from Shannon. I'm sure she can share that. But Shannon's interview is November 9th at 4:00 PM Eastern time. So make sure you don't miss that.

(31:11):

All right, great. All right everybody, we will see you guys on the next. Thanks Debbie.

(31:17):

Thanks so much Shannon. Take care.

(31:23):

Before you go, please subscribe. If you found value in today's episode, leave us a review and share on Instagram and please tag us. We love your.

 

115// How to Build a Strong Immune System This Season


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AUDIO TRANSCRIPTION

(00:04):

All right, you guys. Welcome back to the Thriving Thyroid Podcast. We are talking about your immune system and how to create a strong immune immunity.

(00:19):

Welcome back to the Thriving Thyroid Podcast, where we choose to become empowered patients and take our health into our own hands. Hi, I'm Shannon Hanson, a Christian entrepreneur, a mom of three. And after dealing with my own health mysteries, I made it my mission to learn everything I could about the thyroid. I soon became certified as a holistic wellness practitioner, a functional nutrition practitioner, and a functional diagnostic practitioner. And so much more after that, I founded the Revolutionary Thyroid Program, the Handsome Method. As a health professional and a mom, I fully understand the importance of having a fun, simple, and sustainable plan for achieving a responsive thyroid. So I share actionable and practical strategies for developing a responsive thyroid so that the ambitious moms and women can gain freedom from fatigue and lose the thyroid weight once and for all. Each week I will be here for you, along with my guest experts. We will be sharing simple and tangible tips that work for not only your thyroid, your hormones, your family, and your mindset, so that you can get back to living the life that you envision for yourself. Welcome to the Thriving Thyroid Podcast.

(01:41):

All right, you guys. So let's dive into the importance of a strong immunity. Now, one of the reasons that I'm sharing this episode is because we are getting ready to enter into the lovely time of year of cold and flu and viruses and germs and yuckiness. And I feel like the last couple years it has changed people's perspective on our immune system. And for a lot of people we've become more aware of <laugh>, our immune system. And hopefully you've learned more about it. And let me be very honest and frank with you guys. When I had my classes on the immune system specifically, I was like, This is, I hate this stuff <laugh> because your immune system, it lives everywhere and nowhere all at the same time. Like it's not a step by step process. First. This happens and this happens, and I mean obviously like I got the information and now I understand it, but I was like, what are all of these B cells and T-cells and this cell and that cell?

(02:53):

And but where does it live? Well, it doesn't live anywhere. Like, but it lives everywhere. <Laugh>, okay, It really wasn't that way, but that's, that's not really how it works. But that's how it felt at the time is I'm like, I just want this, this happens, then this happens, and this happens because I feel like that is much more of health and that is why our immune system is still constantly being discovered and we don't fully understand all of the things about the immune system and why people develop autoimmune diseases and why this, this, and this happens. I mean, we have some really good foundational information and understanding and you know, I think especially over and over again, we are able to make these logical conclusions about, So here's Shannon's I guess more or less theory <laugh> of why, let's say the thyroid attacks itself.

(03:57):

So one of the things that I have seen over and over again with the hundreds of women that I've worked with and you know, other people that I've talked with, when I start talking to them about you know, their history and you know, I'll ask them, Well, have you had neck trauma? You know, maybe you were in a car accident or whiplash. Or some of another big one is, you know, did you have chronic strep throat growing up? Okay, well, how was it treated? Well, it was treated by antibiotics. And so one of the conclusions that I have more or less come to is that the body becomes confused and thinks that there is probably still a virus or something happening in the thyroid for it to continue to attack it because I don't believe the body would just attack itself to attack itself.

(04:53):

I just don't believe that the body is somehow for some reason confused. Okay? So that there's Shannon's little theory and we could go into that maybe another day. But the part that I wanted to focus in on is how the importance of building a strong immune system and what we can do. And so our immune system is our body's defense in a mechanism to fight bacteria and germs that can make us sick, right? And cause disease. When it comes to staying healthy or shortening an illness, it is really important for us to have a good, strong, healthy immune system. And with thyroid, we see, I don't wanna say it like deteriorate, but we are more prone to infections and things like that. So most of us generally have an idea of what our immune system, but not so much as what our immune system is co comprised of, which can make it really difficult for us to maintain a good healthy body if we don't understand all of the components of it.

(06:03):

So there are four. The first one is going to be our skin. The body's physical barrier system stops bacteria and germs from entering into it. So having good healthy skin is super important. Number two, the gut. So most of the good bacteria in our body is held in the gut and having a healthy gut with balanced bacteria levels can help fight off infections and illness and germs and all of those things. And then the next one, number three is mucus membranes. So the mucus lining inside of our body is designed to catch germs and bacteria before they have a chance to essentially attack the body. So this is the mucus in your nose, in your lungs, all of those things are that mucus is designed to in encase the germs and help destroy it or prevent it from taking hold somewhere. The fourth, and I, I don't know, I think probably I was gonna say the most important it's not, they're all super important <laugh>, but the lymphatic system.

(07:19):

So the lymphatic system is comprised of our lymph nodes and the marrow and the spleen. And this can help or this does carry oxygen, food and water throughout the body and acts as I like to call it, our body's sewer system. So it's gonna help flush out toxins and bacteria and germs. So now that you guys have hopefully a little bit better idea of the immune system and how this works together at fighting off bacteria inside the body, let's dive into food and nutrition and supplements that can help support our body in strengthening the immune system so that we have less sick days. So before I dive into food and, and things that boost the immune system, I also, so at the day of this airing, it should be Halloween. Watch what happens from Halloween on. So all a sudden this time of year, and I swear it's like November 1st, okay?

(08:26):

<Laugh>, we are, we get introdu. So well, okay, let me say it this way. So sugar is more prevalent in our diet. We have it in our home, we're snacking on it. We've got leftover Halloween candy and three tablespoons of sugar suppresses our immune system for three to five hours. So to put this into like perspective for you, the, like a mini Snickers bar has I think 10 grams of sugar. So you're so essentially with that, you're so oppressing your immune system for about five hours, just from one little teeny tiny snic snicker bar where if you're like me, you usually eat two of them <laugh>. And you know, we enjoy those things. So what's happening is we are weakening our immune system for several hours at that point. And then we're going to work, we're going grocery shopping, we're going to a big large gathering of friends, with friends and we are weak.

(09:39):

We are walking into that situation with a, a weakened immune system. Okay? So here are some of the top foods that help build and boost a strong immunity. So citrus fruits, they're not only good and delicious, but they're also loaded up with vitamin C. And this is, as you guys know, <laugh>, I feel like everybody knows vitamin C is really, really beneficial for boosting our immune system and aiding in that and aiding and fighting the infection. So citrus, lemons, orange limes seed clementine, blood orange, all of those citrus things in that family are really beneficial. I like to tell my clients to pair that with some nuts or something along those lines. Or even just a little bit of lemon water in your drink and sipping on it throughout the day can help. Number two is cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, especially lightly cooked or sprouted broccoli contains high levels of vitamin A, vitamin C and E as well as a sulfur rich compound that is shown to have numerous immune boosting benefits.

(10:58):

Mushrooms. So mushrooms give us the mineral selenium as well as those B vitamins to help boost the immune system and help fight off. They promote the pro the body's production of pathogen fighting proteins. Okay? So super important, if you can hide them in food for yourself or your family, you're gonna be doing everybody a huge service. One of the things that I have done in the past and and like to do is I like to grade up the mushrooms and I cook it in the spaghetti sauce cuz my kids don't necessarily like mushrooms. So if I use like a cheese grater, kind of grade them down and cook them into the sauce, then nobody knows <laugh>. All right, the next one is garlic. So garlic is used in a ton of different cri cuisines, different plates around the world, and garlic is rich in sulfur.

(12:01):

And sulfur helps contain an immune boosting substance called Allan. I think I said that right. So use up that garlic and make everything taste super yummy. Oysters. I'm not a fan of oysters, but I will still share with you oysters are an excellent source of zinc and iron and also contain vitamin A. So zinc can help create and activate the white blood cells as well as helping to heal wounds and is a really great way to support a good healthy skin. Turmeric. So turmeric is a root and it is a widely known anti-inflammatory. So you can sprinkle turmeric on vegetables that you're roasting to help support that immune system. Watermelon, watermelon is really, really great as an antioxidant. It has a lot of glutathione when it's ripe and it helps fight off infections and things like that. However, this isn't really in season right now, at least in the us maybe other parts of the world, <laugh> maybe.

(13:12):

But it's bright red color helps fight off the, the inflammatory responses and respiratory issues. Spinach, it is known as a super food because of its full late and in that it helps our bodies make new cells and repair the dna. So spinach is also has fiber antioxidants like vitamin C in it. Ginger, one of my favorite things to make currently is a Thai coconut ginger curry thing. And oh, it's delicious anyways, so find ways to incorporate some ginger, some ginger tea. When I make elderberry, I elderberry syrup for my family. I use fresh ginger in there as well, but it is highly concentrated with antioxidants and it's also known for its anti-inflammatory properties. Okay, now let's get into a supplementation for our immune system. So one of the different vitamins and supplements can help boost our bodies natural immune support.

(14:31):

So we're providing the body with the new nutrients that it needs to build a strong immune system. So vitamin C that we talked about is an antioxidant and it works to protect cells from damage that are caused by free radicals. Vitamin C also helps our body produce collagen, which in turn helps improve the absorption of iron. So some foods rich and vitamin C are oranges, strawberries, broccoli, kiwi, cauliflower, red bell peppers and cantaloupe, Vitamin A, this is a strong system regulator. Vitamin A helps protect against infections. So eating things like carrots sweet potatoes, red bell peppers and broccoli vitamin D. This is also known as the gift from the sun as it is absorbed into our body through the sun's raise. Vitamin D is a hormone but it doesn't alway, but it also helps with muscle movement and maintaining strong bones. So there it is in two forms, vitamin D two and vitamin D three, which both increase levels in the blood so you can find natural vitamin D in the sun as well as in foods like fatty fish, egg yolks and cheese b6.

(16:00):

You guys, I think for a long time I underestimated the power and the benefit of b6. But B6 is amazing. It helps it pro, it plays a big role in protein metabolism and you can find B6 and a ton of multivitamins, but you can also find it in food like beef and eggs, fish, poultry. So it comes in a lot of like purine. So purine is the like animal protein, okay, vitamin E. This is also a vitamin that I underestimated <laugh> for a long period of time. But vitamin E is really important for our immune system and is considered a powerful antioxidant. You guys, it has amazing benefits at also helping to balance out women's hormones and making that just nice and wonderful. So you can find vitamin E rich foods with dark leafy greens, avocados, broccoli, hazel nuts p peanuts, almonds and sunflower seeds.

(17:13):

Okay, the last two supplements that we are gonna talk about, probiotics, <laugh> probiotics, you guys head over to our Facebook group or Instagram. You can find both of us at Thriving Thyroid and send me a message. I'm currently working on a new document about probiotics and how to find the right probiotics for like how to distinguish which, which strands you need and how to distinguish what you should be taking at certain periods in your life. So whether you are menopausal or perimenopause or if you're pregnant or all of those different things. And I can send that guide over to you eventually, it will probably be like a link you could visit to download, but it's not yet <laugh> cuz I'm still working on it. But I think probiotics, or I'm gonna say one of those underrated things we hear a lot of people talk about, Oh yeah, probiotics, but we underestimate the power of finding the right strand.

(18:23):

And I'm gonna give you an example. So I have a sister-in-law and she has terrible allergies and she's like, What can I do for these allergies that are natural? I've tried this, I've tried this, I've tried this, you know, she's listing all the things. And I was like, Well, have you tried this probiotic? And I'll be honest, I don't remember what it is. It's gonna be, it is in the notes already. For the probiotic thing document that I'm making, but she just told me a couple weeks ago, she's like, I did not need to take any allergy medication this entire summer. Normally when her allergies are crazy, she didn't need to take anything because she was taking that probiotic. And so she swears up and down that it was a winner. And since then I've continued to tell people, Hey, if you're struggling, why not get on this probiotic?

(19:24):

And I can't wait to hear what other people have to say about it, <laugh>. But it was really finding allergies are are inflammation in the gut, It's what it is. And so if we can balance out the gut with, you know, good proper probiotics, I don't see why it wouldn't work. Okay. So they are also known for sub, so pro probiotics are also known for supporting digestive health. But some strands are good for our immune system as well. And so we want to be making sure that we are getting the right probiotics for our immune system. And there are probiotics that are available in different supplements and also formulated with vitamin C, vitamin D, vitamin and zinc, vitamin zinc <laugh>, mineral, zinc. You can find these probiotics also naturally in fermented foods like yogurt and keer and miso. There's like a ton you guys kimchi, <laugh> and also fiber.

(20:35):

You guys, I think we also underestimate the importance of fiber in terms of how that plays a role in feeding the good bacteria in our gut as it is. So increase those fiber, that fiber intake. And then last but not least when it comes to supplementation is zinc. Zinc is really important in the metabolic processes for the human body and plays a critical role in carbohydrate metabolism, glucose utilization and insulin production. It also helps the body's natural resistance to germs and bacteria. And you can find a zinc in nuts and seeds and legos. All right, you guys, the last thing that I wanted to touch on is essential oils and the power of essential oils. I am a huge fan. I've been using them for almost 12 years now. It's like 11 and a half years <laugh>. And I only know that because of my daughter's age and I started using them anyways because really I wanted to use natural products.

(21:53):

Like here I had this brand new precious little baby and I would clean my bathroom and I didn't understand all the chemicals, but I'm like, if I, I don't think this is right, I don't think this is good. And it never dawned on me until I was pregnant. And I remember telling my husband, I'm like, I'm in this tiny bathroom with all these chemicals and it smells and I probably shouldn't be cleaning the bathroom cuz women while they're pregnant shouldn't even be cleaning kitty litter boxes. And here I am just like huffing in these chemicals, right? And my husband's like, Yeah, I'll, you know, I'll take over cleaning the bathroom. Well, you know, me staying at home <laugh>, that didn't last very long because he's working 40 hours and you know, adding one more thing to his plate just didn't seem fair. And so little by little I started finding more and more natural options and solutions and one of those being essential oils.

(22:50):

And I could tell you story after story after story and benefit after benefit of benefit that I have personally experienced when it comes to essential oils. But there are three main ways to use them topically, aromatically, and internally. You want to make sure that if you are ingesting them, that you are finding a brand that does recommend internal consumption. It needs to have a nutrition fact on the side of it and you need to know what you're doing. <Laugh>, we're not gonna go into all of that, but you know, please be very, very, very, very, very careful if you decide to do that. But typically topically, so topically meaning means like on top of this skin. And then aromatically means smelling. Okay? So those are the two main ways that I recommend people use them. And yeah, anyways, if you want more education on essential oils and things like that, send me a DM on Instagram and I will, we can get you plugged into more specific training on essential oils.

(24:10):

I have a whole other team that, that handles that portion of it. And there's just tons of education and information and probably more than you will ever want to know about essential oils. <Laugh> if you are interested in that. Okay. So while there are dozens of essential oils that benefit our health, some of my top favorite ones are for immunity are tea tree, peppermint, regno, lemon and cinnamon bark. And I'm gonna add in, I didn't put this on my list, Eucalyptus on there as well, and I'll tell you a little bit about each one of them. So tea tree is very versatile. It has antimicrobial properties such as a decongestion, decongestant, <laugh>. And you can also use this for cold and flu season for coughs on the chest, on, you know, and helping to, to do that. Tea tree is amazing.

(25:10):

It smells disgusting. I absolutely detest the smell, but it works really good. <Laugh>, okay? Peppermint is also very common. It's gonna help with headaches, it's gonna help relieve any digestive, not any, a lot of digestive discomfort and it helps, it has some detoxing properties, so it, if you're feeling gassy or bloated or like your stomach is turning, peppermint is going to be an in an incredible benefit for you if you're experiencing those, those symptoms. And it's also believed to help reduce sugar cravings as well. So peppermint tea peppermint tea or you know, if you wanted to use the oil, that's totally fine as well. A reno oil of a REO is rich in antioxidants and super effective when fighting bacteria, viruses and other microbial things that can cause disease. It's also very beneficial in treating various health concerns. Now I'm gonna give you a cautionary thing on a regno.

(26:23):

It is a hot oil. So mix it. All of these oils you should really mix with a carrier oil like coconut oil or something like that. You're actually going to get more benefit. They call it diluting. But what actually happens is when you dilute the essential oil, you're magnifying the benefit of that said oil, that oil is gonna go much further. You're covering more of a surface area, but you're also using that coconut oil and that fat to help drive the benefits of properties of that oil further into the skin and into the cells of the body. So I always recommend diluting your essential oils especially, especially especially with <laugh>, a reg because it is a hot oil and it can be very, very uncomfortable. Which brings me to the next one, which we're gonna talk about. Cinnamon bark. A cinnamon bark is also the same as a reno.

(27:25):

It is very hot. But it, it works incredibly well at boosting our natural defense mechanisms against those seasonal germs. It's also antibacterial antiseptic properties and supports the immune system. So this is another reason why people use a lot of cinnamon this time of year. Yes, it tastes like fall and Christmas and stuff, but it, it, it's also meant to help support our immune system. Okay, and the, not the last, cuz I added one extra one that I forgot to put on my list. Lemon oil. Lemon oil is an anti-inflammatory antibacterial and aids and detoxification. Now lemon essential oil is made with the peel or the RH of the lemon. And if you do use that one internally, that one helps with stage two liver detoxification. So it's gonna really help break down that fat that is around your liver, making it kind of congested and not working super well. So I love using a little bit of lemon in my water. You can also use lemon you know, when you're cooking and baking this time of year, make sure you're using just a little bit of that lemon zest as well.

(28:46):

It's natural.

(28:47):

Perfect. And

(28:49):

Describe if you've found value into episode.

(28:51):

One of my,

(28:53):

That I forgot put on

(28:54):

This

(28:55):

List is eucalyptus. I

(29:00):

Love eucalyptus. I've had so many wonderful benefits from using it along my spine, along the kids' spines in terms of overcoming viruses and yucky nasty germs. So I hope you guys learned something from today's episode. I hope you are now more aware of what is going on with your immune system and how you can take these small measures to better support your immune system and your family's immune system. I am going to be continuing this conversation and giving you some more I don't know what the right word is, protocols on Instagram. So head over to Instagram at Thriving Thyroid and I will see you guys on the next.

 

114// 10 Ways to Naturally Increase T3

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Our signature 6-month program is called The Hansen Method, we offer this in a VIP setting with personalized plans and protocols, individual one on one coaching and incredible bonuses that change regularly. You can schedule a complimentary thyroid breakthrough call with one of our thyroid advisors. Click here.  If you have questions about the Hansen Method and want to discuss your specific situation and make sure this is the right program for you you can schedule a complimentary thyroid breakthrough call with one of our team members. schedule here. Hurry, my schedule fills up quickly and we only work with limited amount of women at any given time.

 

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(00:00):

Welcome back to the Thriving Thyroid Podcast. You guys, lots of changes and a lot of things are coming in the pipeline, and today I'm so excited to be chatting about you, about with, about <laugh> lifestyle, things that help improve your teeth. Three. And if you aren't familiar with t3, that's okay. We're gonna dive in. Welcome back to the Thriving Thyroid Podcast, where we choose to become empowered patients and take our health into our own hands. Hi, I'm Shannon Hanson, a Christian entrepreneur, a mom of three. And after dealing with my own health mysteries, I made it my mission to learn everything I could about the thyroid. I soon became certified as a holistic wellness practitioner, a functional nutrition practitioner, and a functional diagnostic practitioner. And so much more after that, I founded the Revolutionary Thyroid Program, the Handsome Method. As a health professional and a mom, I fully understand the importance of having a fun, simple, and sustainable plan for achieving a responsive thyroid.

(01:12):

So I share actionable and practical strategies for developing a responsive thyroid so that the ambitious moms and women can gain freedom from fatigue and lose the thyroid weight once and for all. Each week, I will be here for you, along with my guest experts. We will be sharing simple and tangible tips that work for not only your thyroid, your hormones, your family, and your mindset, so that you can get back to living the life that you envision for yourself. Welcome to the Thriving Thyroid Podcast. All right, you guys. Welcome back. We are talking about T3 and the importance, importance of t3, what it does, why we want levels, why you wanna get them checked, all of those different things. So first and foremost, hopefully you guys have been around for a little bit where we've talked about different thyroid hormones. If not, you can head over to the show notes and download the, uh, thyroid panel guide.

(02:14):

It will break down what those levels are, different things to have testing, what to ask for, all of that. Okay? So T4 turns into T3 in the thyroid gland, and T3 is the active form of thyroid hormone. And it's going to make you feel energized. It's gonna regulate your body temperature, it's gonna help you lose weight. It's gonna, it is really like the life force of your thyroid. And so it's super important that you are getting this tested, because if you're not, this could be why you're feeling cold or confused or have a difficulty in speaking or remembering those words that are categorized as brain fog or dizziness, or double vision or headaches, irritability, The list goes on, even feeling lightheaded. Um, all of those are impacted by t3. And so if you have had a full thyroidectomy or even a partial thyroidectomy or your thyroid can't regulate your hormones, you may need to look into getting some synthetic forms of, of T3 through like cytoma or something along those lines. Okay? Today we are talking about 10 lifestyle tips, tricks, hacks, um, that you should begin to incorporate if you want to improve t3, which is going to help drive down thyroid symptoms overall. Okay? So you may wanna get a pen and paper <laugh> and jot down some notes or, or if you're driving, don't do that, okay? Or you might wanna like listen to it a little bit later. Okay? So here we go. Let's dive in. Number one, practice daily Exercise.

(04:14):

Exercise is a really key part in helping to increase our metabolism. Everyone should be exercising for just overall wellness. And I will say I started with this one because I've, you guys know me, I, I hired a personal trainer, I went to the gym, I did all the things. I, it hurt my thyroid and my adrenals even more, and I gained weight. Now, when I talk about exercise, yes, sometimes we need to be careful about the exercises that we're doing. I always recommend people start with low impact type stuff. Um, I do peer bar, you can cycle, you can do yoga, pilates, swimming, walking, all of those different things. Okay? Um, for those of us who have hypothyroidism or at risk for hypothyroidism, we should be exercising at least three times a week. Exercise should be done for at least 40 minutes per workout. This is for the lowest people with thyroid disease, okay?

(05:21):

Um, but for long term improvement, you really should aim to do, um, some form of exercise seven days a week. Now that might be, you know, pure bar three days a week, and then the other days you are maybe doing some lightweight training, or the other days you are walking your neighborhood or cycling or whatever, right? So we <laugh> we are all living more of a sedentary lifestyle than we ever have before. And so getting up and moving is really, really important because several health studies have shown that exercise can increase T3 and T four levels naturally in addition to helping to stimulate thyroid hormone production. So exercise will prevent many side effects of hypothyroidism such as weight gain, muscle loss, depression, low energy levels, and exercise also helps burn calories and helps you lose excess weight. So I know <laugh>, the struggle is real.

(06:30):

You guys, especially if you are a mom of young kids, I find that it is very difficult to get to the gym sometimes cuz it's like literally one more thing, literally one more thing when I feel like my plate is super full. But as I have been very consistent in my exercise, uh, for the first time in like two years, <laugh> for about two months now, I feel so good, I can show up better for my kids. And it, it has just been a huge blessing in my life, um, giving me a community of other people and it's been great. Okay, number two, manage your stress. There is a relationship between adrenal health and thyroid health. So it is wise for us to maintain these stress levels when you are under a lot of stress for a long period of time. Adrenal fatigue comes, excess stress on the adrenal system can trigger your body to secrete hormones to as a way of coping with this.

(07:36):

And the chronic stress may make your thyroid symptoms worse, causing hormone levels to be unbalanced. You guys, this is probably the biggest area that I am currently struggling with is managing and balancing my stress levels. And I did just make one change this week that it's only been day two. Yeah, day two. And I feel a lightning in in my body in my stress, and I'm like, is this too good to be true? This is working a hundred times better than I ever imagined. And I'm like, why did I not do this sooner? So, um, I will let you know, <laugh>, but you also may notice slow metabolism and weight gain when you are consistently under a lot of pressure and this stress can further lower your T3 and T4 and cause, um, the, the T4 to convert into t3, into reverse t3, which is the negative t3 and it's gonna deplete you even more.

(08:48):

So for this reason, you should find regular stress management practices to increase T4 or T3 and T four levels naturally. And you can do this by yoga, meditation, journaling, eft, also known as tapping counseling. Uh, like I find a lot of, um, self care and stress management by going hiking, going on walks, being outside, camping, whatever it is for you, just focus on your mental wellbeing. Regular walks in nature, um, also called earthing or forest bathing have been shown to reduce stress levels really well. So go spend some time at the beach <laugh>, there's really some truth behind that. Okay, number three is consume iodine rich foods. Iodine is an important mineral that you need to add to your diet to increase T3 and T4 levels. So our body will not be able to synthesize thyroid hormones without iodine. And this can lead to the hypothyroidism, although it is a trace element to produce thyroid hormone.

(10:09):

It is one of the most essential building blocks for thyroid hormones. So T3 and T4 both contain iodine that is absorbed in our gut. So it is obviously very, very important to maintain good gut health. Um, many of the ladies that I work with have gut, I don't know, I call 'em infections, pathogens. So they're dealing with like cbo, they're dealing with candida, they're dealing with mold, they're dealing with all of these things and they don't know because this stuff isn't being tested regularly. <laugh>. And yeah, anyways, I could go on a rant. We're not, we're gonna stay on track today. So it's really, really important in main making sure that you have good at gut health, that you're doing things to help feed the gut flora, fiber, prebiotics, probiotics, um, you know, making sure that you are having good regular daily bowel movements at least once a day. Aim for two times a day. Um, it's not my favorite to add iodine to our table salt, I prefer sea salt or pink altan salt or something along those lines.

(11:31):

But you can add iodine rich foods. So shrimp or, um, noni, what is noni, seaweed, um, those types of things into your diet. However, taking too much iodine can also damage your thyroid gland. Um, but you know, just do some research. Do a quick Google search and make sure that you're eating I iodine rich foods. Number four, we are talking about nutrition. So <laugh>, so let's go into zinc rich foods. Zinc is linked to thyroid function in a multiple different ways and plays a great role in the activation of thyroid hormone. So in case in the cases of low levels of zinc, TSH is not produced resulting in low T3 and t4. If tssh is not produced, it will not be able to tell our thyroid gland when to release the T3 and the t4. So we need to be getting zinc into our diet.

(12:40):

Now here's another little tidbit that is not widely known. So there are copper and zinc and they play this wonderful balance inside of our body. Now what I have seen more and more and more, especially lately is when we do htma testing, we see some interesting patterns on the first test. The first test usually shows what is called a calcium shell. So calcium is super high on the levels, but what it's actually doing is it's pulling the calcium from the tissues, from the bones inside of our body, and it covers up these high levels of copper. And the, those high levels of copper are throwing our zinc levels really far down. Hopefully you guys are still following me, <laugh>. Um, basically to sum it all up, you don't have to remember all of that is there's mineral imbalances. Okay? So that's usually what we see on the first one.

(13:47):

We don't see high levels of copper until later, until we start putting the calcium back into the bones and the tissue and the minerals or like it the bones and the tissue inside of your body where they're supposed to be. And then we start to see this, these high levels of copper. And this is what I was dealing with, um, right before I got pregnant <laugh> and why I had my copper i u d taken out because I was like, this is just, I'm battling these copper toxicity levels. And so I have driven up my zinc, um, supplementation zinc foods over the last several years. And I've noticed many, many benefits from it. But when, again, when zinc levels are low, you could be experiencing a lot more food sensitivities, food allergies, food doesn't taste good. Um, different things like that. So number five, consume fatty acids.

(14:46):

It's also really important to include fatty acids in our diet. Some essential fatty acid foods include avocados, unsal, unsalted, and nuts seeds. Um, one of my favorite seeds are those rob pumpkin seeds or pepitas, um, extra virgin olive, excuse me, extra virgin olive oil, <laugh> fish oil. And eating these essential fatty acids can really help improve those thyroid hormone levels. So eat fat foods. <laugh>, No, just kidding. Um, eat foods that are high in fat to help with our body's cellular absorption for thyroid hormones balancing. All right, number three or number six, balancing our body with cold therapy. Dun dun da duh, <laugh>. Okay, so I have a friend locally who does like ice baths and she has an autoimmune condition. She has Hashimotos with it, but she has another one, um, ulcerative colitis. And she's been doing cold therapy for a long time for at least, I don't know, probably two plus years.

(16:04):

And when I was pregnant I was like, Oh my gosh, I so want to do that. Well, I didn't. Um, I talked to my doctor about it and they were like, uh, probably best if you didn't. And honestly, when I Google searched it, it was like 50 50, Yeah, you can do it while you're pregnant. No, don't do it. And I was like, I'm gonna just go with the safer side <laugh> of that, um, and not not do it. And then we were gonna get together and do ice bath and I had to leave early. So, um, I have not done an ice bath, but there are other ways to do some cold therapy. One of those that we recommend is wet sock therapy, and I'll give you some instructions on that here in just a second. But what it does is it stimulates your adrenal glands and they work with the thyroid gland or your adrenal glands works with the thyroid gland to make the hormones.

(16:57):

This therapy can involve taking baths, um, the wet sock therapy, especially in the lower part of your back, exposing that area to cold <laugh> ice. Um, and then after a warm bath, or if you are like me and you have a sauna, you can go sit in a sauna. This is a proven method to help increase thyroid hormone production. Okay, now onto wet sock therapy. So essentially what you're gonna be doing for wet sock therapy, um, is you're gonna be getting socks <laugh>. You're gonna get an organic pair of socks, an organic cotton pair of socks, um, that come midway up the calf, right? We want long socks. You're gonna get a bowl of ice water or use the freezer. So like get your socks wet, put 'em 'em in the freezer. You want the socks to be super, super cold. And then you want a pair of thick warm socks, preferably something like wool that also come up mid-calf.

(17:59):

So again, long socks, which, and then you also need a bucket which will reach mid-calf. You're gonna fill with hot water as hot as you can stand without burning yourself or your kid. If you're doing this, like make sure you're testing. You're also gonna need some absent salt, about two to three cups. This is totally optional option, optional. That word is hard for me, <laugh>. Um, right now. So what you're gonna do is you are gonna take the pair of socks and you're gonna soak them completely in ice water. Be sure to ring out the socks thoroughly. Um, so that they're not damp. We just want them like, or we want the, we don't want them dripping, we want them just damp. Okay? Um, and then you can put them in the freezer. You can use ice water, however you wanna do that, then you're gonna warm your feet first.

(18:52):

So this is really important as the proceed for this process, um, because if you don't do this, it's not gonna be as effective and could harm your feet if they're not warm first. Okay? So one of the things that I like to do is, I grew up doing this and so it, like, it's kind of nostalgic for me is heat up the oven and um, sit there with like a chair or whatever with my feet on the thing. It's on a very low temperature. You're not putting your feet in it, you're putting your feet like on the door. We did this cuz we lived in Minnesota and we didn't have a fire. And I don't know, sometimes you just need to warm up. Okay, <laugh>. So, um, let's see, where was I at? So warm up your feet, you're gonna warm them up however you want.

(19:42):

Um, and then you're gonna place your lower legs in the bucket of the hot water. Again, caution with the temperature to avoid burning, which you have prepared. So be sure that the water is pretty hot, it's warm, um, but it's not gonna burn you. Then you're gonna soak the lower half of your legs in the bucket for two to three minutes, or take a warm bath beforehand, you know, to accomplish this. Then you're gonna dry your feet with a dry towel. Then you remove the socks from the ice bucket, ring them out, or have someone help like remove the socks from the freezer and bring them to you and you're gonna, um, put them on, right? So <laugh>, if this is the first time, try without the freezer and build up the tolerance. Okay? So start with just like an ice bucket or something like that.

(20:38):

You're gonna place them on your feet cover with thick wool socks and then go to bed, go lay down, go watch a movie, read a book. Um, avoid anything like, avoid getting chilled. Like don't go outside where it's super cold and you're gonna keep the socks on overnight. Um, place the second pair, place the second pair of pajamas next to your bed if you have a desire to do that. And then during the night, you may wake up with your whole body covered in sweat and that can be completely normal. Just get up and change your clothes, go to the bathroom, do what you need to do, Um, and then you can do this nightly if your symptoms aren't, um, improving. So try that out and let me know what you think about that, but really what you're looking for, um, so some symptoms or things that can be give you a good idea on like, hey, should I do this or not?

(21:42):

If, if you're having regular headaches, migraines, insomnia, a lot of stress and anxiety, um, or in a weak or, um, a weak, weak immune system, hopefully you guys know what I'm saying. <laugh>, um, number seven is apple cider vinegar. Apple cider vinegar is very beneficial for the body. It's not one of my most favorite things because I find that it's really hard for people to be really consistent with because of the taste, but it is also very effective if you drink it for detoxification and hormone regulation for the body to improve thyroid activity, you're just gonna take a spoonful of, um, apple cider vinegar, the organic with the mother kind of deal, apple cider vinegar with some warm water. Um, and this helps with hormone balancing as well. It's gonna restore the nity balance in your body. It's gonna help aid and weight loss and improve your metabolism.

(22:40):

Okay, number eight, we are getting close to being done, you guys, the fish oils, Okay? So fish oils are also thought to be really good at boosting thyroid hormone intake. This can also help maintain your healthy thyroid function. So rich in omega three fatty acids, this is gonna help fight the inflammation and boost your immune system. You can take it as a fish oil supplement. Um, but just make sure that you're talking to your doctor or if you're working with a practitioner or something like that, you always want to check with a physician. All right, number nine, you guys eat well, <laugh>, that's what it is. There is no single diet for thyroid, but there are foods that help with overall health and function in the body. So fruits, veggies, fatty fish, beans, whole grains, lean proteins, and then just avoid unhealthy empty calorie foods.

(23:46):

We should all be doing this <laugh>, right? Um, because those are really gonna increase the feeling of fatigue or being lazy due to thyroid problems. So just avoid processed foods, candy, sugar, junk, um, sodas, those types of things as much as possible. And I typically recommend people start with more of a crowding out method. You know, make a decision. Hey, I'm drinking three Dr Peppers a day. I'm gonna cut back to two. Okay, now I'm gonna cut back to one. Now I'm gonna cut back to every other day. And if you don't have to do that, like every day, you can, you can go from three to two and be there for two to three weeks and then go from two to one, you know, be there for two or three weeks and then go to every other day and then every third day. And then, you know, before you know it, you're decreasing that.

(24:44):

Um, I've used that method a lot with our clients inside the Hansen method, especially when it comes to coffee. They're like, I know coffee is so bad for me, but I, I know that I want it and you know, but I know it doesn't make me feel good and we just go on this, this hamster wheel because sometimes, sometimes it's really stinking hard to give up things that you love. Coffee may be one of them. Dr. Pepper may be one of them <laugh>. And so if we go with this, let's slowly decrease. I find that people are much more successful and it lasts a long time. Okay, last one. Uh, number 10, take more vitamin D. Now I'll be honest, I have a love hate relationship with vitamin D because vitamin D is not a vitamin. It's actually a hormone. And so if you are taking, well, let me, let me say this and then we'll get into the solutions. Okay. Vitamin D deficiencies have been linked to a variety of diseases including thyroid disease, especially early exposure to sunlight. Um, not especially you guys, ignore that part. I didn't say that early exposure to sunlight in the day is a good way to make or increase vitamin D levels inside the body.

(26:19):

So make it a habit to expose your body to early morning sun for at least 15 minutes. One of the things that I have done for years and I got, I honestly got away from it when I got sick last year and I'm, I'm trying to get back there, is going outside like first thing in the morning. Like I, I usually have a water next to my bed and so I start drinking water, get up, go to the bathroom, brush my teeth, whatever. Um, and then even really before I get dressed or do too much, I like to go outside and just sit there for a second and just collect myself, collect my thoughts. Um, I know that that's not the case. <laugh>, that's not always the case, especially if you have little kids, but I find that I feel much better when I do that.

(27:11):

Um, and it gives you a healthy immune function and also helps maintain, um, good calcium metabolism. So that goes in with calcium shell that we talked about earlier. And so you want to be making sure that you are getting all of the vitamins and minerals and nutrients balanced correctly so that the body can do what it needs to do in order to make the root hormone. And as we mentioned earlier, make sure that you are talking with a physician or a nutritionist or a practitioner or someone, um, about supplementation and what they recommend based off your, your levels. Because we really want the calcium and all of these other nutrients to be where they're supposed to be so that you feel completely energized and good and ready to go. So thank you guys so much for joining me on today's episode. I hope you found value, and if you did, please share this with your friends, with your social media or head over to Instagram and give us a like and follow. I'll see you on the next

(28:24):

Way too. Before, before you please subscribe. If you found value in today's episode, leave us a review and share on Instagram and please tag us. We love your.

 

113// Should You Follow the 80/20 Rule with Hypothyroidism?

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AUDIO TRANSCRIPTION

(00:02):

Welcome back to the Thriving Thyroid Podcast, where we choose to become empowered patients and take our health into our own hands. Hi, I'm Shannon Hanson, a Christian entrepreneur, a mom of three. And after dealing with my own health mysteries, I made it my mission to learn everything I could about the thyroid. I soon became certified as a holistic wellness practitioner, a functional nutrition practitioner, and a functional diagnostic practitioner. And so much more After that, I founded the Revolutionary Thyroid Program, the Hanon Method. As a health professional and a mom, I fully understand the importance of having a fun, simple, and sustainable plan for achieving a responsive thyroid. So I share actionable and practical strategies for developing a responsive thyroid so that the ambitious moms and women can gain freedom from fatigue and lose the thyroid weight once and for all. Each week, I will be here for you, along with my guest experts. We will be sharing simple and tangible tips that work for not only your thyroid, your hormones, your family, and your mindset, so that you can get back to living the life that you envision for yourself. Welcome to the Thriving Thyroid Podcast.

(01:24):

All right, you guys. Welcome back to the Thriving Thyroid Podcast with Shannon Hanson, myself. Today we are talking about the 80 20 rule, and how does that pertain to thyroid or does it even pertain to thyroid imbalances? And by 80 20, I don't mean eating 80% clean and 20% junk food. What I mean by 80 20 is 80% nutrition, 20% exercise. Okay? This is, there's a lot of 80 twentys out there. And one of the things that I want to, well, before we go there, <laugh>, I want to fill you guys in. So I am recording from the car, and I, part of the reason for this is many, many moon ago, before I even had my business online, before I even knew what I was doing, I remember listening to a podcast in my kitchen, at my kitchen sink, and I just had this overwhelming feeling of, you're gonna have a podcast today.

(02:36):

I didn't know what my podcast was gonna be about. I didn't know <laugh>, I didn't know anything, right? And as time went on, as little by little, I learned and developed like my thyroid story and found ways to overcome it, and started wanting to work with people and on and on and on a podcast just made logical sense because a lot of listeners, a lot of consumers out there, we want different forms of long form content, meaning video, right? Like a YouTube channel, meaning like a blog where you can go search the person's blog information, or in my case, a podcast. And I chose a podcast because I remember listening, I think it was to the Gold digger, Gold digger and maybe a few other people like Stephanie Gas and, and whatever. And they all talked about recording podcast episodes from their car because they were busy moms and they were commuted, and they were doing driveline, and they were doing all of these things.

(03:50):

And I was like, That is the lifestyle that I want. I want to be able to make money, but also maximize my time. Like, what else am I gonna do in the car? I mean, come on, <laugh>. I, well, really what I have been doing as I listen to audiobooks or I listen to podcasts some of my trainings that I do professionally, if some of the trainings can be just listened to in an audio format, and then I can go home and take the quiz, like, what a great use of my time. And I'm all about getting stuff done, right? I probably why I'm where I'm at. And in that burnout adrenal exhaustion phase is because I love to get things accomplished. And that feels very satisfying for me. And as the years have gone on, I've, I'm learning to slow down and take time for myself.

(04:47):

And there we go. So let's dive into this 80 20 rule. Now, I believe that health encompasses five main areas, four areas, the five, right? Like, I'm gonna throw five in there because, because of the modern society that we are in. So first, diet, diet, diet, diet, we can do so much with our body simply by changing what we are putting into our body, okay? We have tons of podcasts where we talk about diet and the importance of nutrition. And when I mean diet, I don't mean deprivation, I mean nutritional intake, okay? And everybody's body is so vastly different. My nutritional needs are different than my husbands. Both of our needs are different than our children. My needs are gonna be listened to Jessica, the, you know, out there listening to the podcast, her nutritional needs, even though we may be similar age, right?

(05:54):

Early thirties, mid thirties. I, I think I have officially gotten into the mid thirties this year. I don't know, 33 <laugh>. Is that mid thirties? I don't know. Okay. Side note you know, early, mid thirties, thyroid, adrenal four kids, right? Like, even though we have a lot of similarities, there are going to be different nutritional needs for each one of us. I live in Arizona, it is hot outside and I sweat, so I might need more water than she does. She may be a slow oxidizer, and I'm a fast oxidizer. Like the ratios of protein, carbs, and fats are gonna be different, okay? The second component of this is rest. Now, I am <laugh>. I am going to say this, and I've worked with a lot of people and people are like, Oh, yeah, I sleep fine, you guys, y'all aren't sleeping good.

(07:09):

<Laugh>, it may be your normal and you may talk to your friend, but it's not normal. It may be common, but it's not normal, okay? So sleep is vitally important. Rest is vitally important at allowing our body to restore itself and repair and rejuvenate. And for many, many years, I, after having kids, my sleep got put on the, on the back burner. I was running the business from the basement of my home, and I was staying up till 1, 2, 3 o'clock in the morning only to be woken up in the middle of the night by babies. And then up at six, maybe seven o'clock, and I was freaking exhausted, okay? And I did that for way too long. And that, once again, has impacted my health. And even, so let's say you're out of the baby making phase. Maybe you're in the menopausal phase where you either have insomnia or you're waking up frequently in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom.

(08:19):

That may be, like I said, common. You may talk to a friend and she's like, Oh yeah, I have that. My, my doctor's not worried about it. Or, you know, you're sitting at the table and five out of six of your friends, same thing. Just because it is common does not mean that it is normal, Okay? So please make that separation and prioritize your sleep. So prioritizing your sleep means like seven to eight hours of sleep at night, restful sleep. You should wake up in the morning feeling rejuvenated, ready to go. Okay? The third part is exercise. Yay, exercise <laugh>. And that can feel overwhelming, it can feel daunting, it can feel time consuming. I felt like I was starting to get in a good exercise routine. And then I got pregnant with baby number four. Y'all know, I got super sick lots of food reactions, very tired. I had a lot going on externally in my life. And then later in my pregnancy, I got even more sick where I was pretty much in bed for a good six months. Or not six months, six weeks I walking, I, I did not go upstairs for more than four months, okay? It was too exhausting, took too much out of me. And that really left me in a bad situation because my laundry room is upstairs.

(09:54):

And exercise at that point was not an option for my body. However, I coming after postpartum, and it was really difficult to get back into the swing of things, I'll be honest. It was, it was extremely challenging to go back to that because I spent so long being pregnant and so long in the bed not using muscles, it was like, Oh my gosh, I am so weak. But I didn't wanna go back to the gym because I didn't wanna be sore. Okay? But exercise is super, super important. And I'm gonna tell you guys another quick little side note about exercise for me recently is I started doing pure bar. I was a former dancer, I love dancing. And I was like, this is something I can get behind. It's not dance, but there are similar movements and techniques and things. And I was like, it would be as close to dance for me as possible while still getting in a good exercise, low impact lots of stretching, lots of movements and, and building muscle.

(11:15):

And so that was definitely something that appealed to me. And they just opened a studio right by my house and I jumped in and I did a couple classes, and then guess what? It was Friday night, one kid's at softball, another kids playing with friends. It is dinner time. I had probably, it was a really challenging workout. And I remember thinking halfway through, I should just give up. Like, this isn't worth it. I don't know if things will ever change or ever get easier. And then I was like, No, Shannon, keep going. Like, if you give up now <laugh>, you're not gonna gonna be any further ahead, right? And so I did, I pursued, I persevered and after class, I got out to the car and immediately it was like, I feel bad. I'm not at the softball game. I feel bad that I'm missing this kid's activities and, and I need to go pick up this kid.

(12:13):

And so immediately I'm on, I'm back on the phone making calls, making arrangements, trying to figure out dinner, you know, putting all the puzzle pieces together. And I broke down, I broke down crying to my husband on the phone, and I was like, Why do I feel so guilty for, for going and exercising? And he's like, You shouldn't feel guilty. I'm like, But I do. Where is this guilt coming from? And I think for so long, and society tells us that our job as women is to take care of everybody else's needs and to prioritize everybody else's needs ahead of our own. And this can be very confusing to the brain, right? Like, I am trying to take care of myself and exercise so that I have a good, strong, healthy body and I can participate in activities with my kids and I can be around as a grandma and I can play on the floor with my grandkids and I can do simple things.

(13:19):

You guys, I have a friend who is a personal trainer and she focuses on strength in a, in a realistic and functional way. She's like, I just want some of these people to be able to carry in their groceries from from the car to the house. I want them to be able to sit down on the toilet and stand up. And that has always been something that I have held onto because I'm like, Yeah, what if I can't do that? What if sitting down on the floor and getting up becomes challenging? I don't want that, right? And so it's not about going to the gym and getting skinnier, it's about maintaining function of my body that is more important to me. Okay? Of course, I wanna lose weight. I think all of this women, you know, whether it's five pounds, 10 pounds, 15 pounds, like most of us could be there.

(14:18):

Some people with hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism, they're like, Yeah, I wanna gain a couple pounds, right? But either way it's something to, something to keep in mind. So exercise for me is more about the functionality of my body and the range of motion that I have. I want to be able to go on a hike with my kids and not be exhausted. I want to be able to climb the 1500 million stairs to take my kids to the biggest water side and slide down and not feel completely exhausted and out of breath. I don't wanna take them to these water parks where you have to all step on the scale and be worried if I'm gonna be the person that's gonna put them over the weight limit, okay? And that comes by physically moving my body that comes from the exercise and the care. And so yes, I'm still working through the mom guilt of I shouldn't be, shouldn't be you know, exercising.

(15:27):

Which in all reality, for me to spend three to four hours every single week, exercising outside the home should not be that big of a deal. But I think for many of us women, it is a big deal. And let me just say pure bar, if you guys know, you know, it's kind of expensive, like a monthly membership for me. I don't know about all of the areas and all of the places I got in cuz it's a brand new place, so I think they're doing like a, a discount or whatever. It's like $140 a month that is not cheap. And it, I think that might be where some of the other guilt it for me is coming from because I <laugh> that is a consistent expense that I now have and now I now cure. I, I accrue, right? But I don't get my nails done the way that I used to.

(16:25):

I don't get my hair done. I don't do fake eyelashes and and stuff anymore. Like, so why not prioritize that money into myself and my physical body? Hopefully you guys, and I, and I'm saying this to the listeners out there because I know there are other women who feel and think the way that I do, I could spend $180 on horseback riding for my kid and I not even a month, right? And I wouldn't even blink an eye because it's for them, okay? It's more expensive. But for them, I would do it. I would find a way to, to do it and to make it happen and whatever. But for myself, it's like, ooh, that's uncomfortable. Yeah, I don't know that. I don't, I, here's what it really is, you guys. I don't know if I am worthy or worth $140 a month and time, but oh man, this feels big.

(17:36):

I'm having a breakthrough on <laugh> on this podcast. I would not want my kids, my daughters to ever think or feel that about themselves. I would not want them to grow up and become an adult and have children and not think that they were worthy of taking care of themselves and spending $140 a month on exercise and whatever. Okay, so you mama's out there, you are worth it. You are absolutely worth the time, the energy, the finances, all of it. More money can be made, things can be sold. I mean, don't go crazy. I'm not giving you permission to go crazy, but I am giving you permission to forget the Starbucks and to spend time exercising or doing whatever you need to work on. Okay? All right. So that's number three. Number four is stress management. I had a blank <laugh> stress management. Oh my goodness. I think many of us and listening to the podcast

(18:59):

Can relate to high stress, whether it's long term, short term, but a lot of us can relate to, to stress. I grew up in a very stressful environment growing up and I think there's still a part of me that is holding on to the residual feeling of being stressed out because that's all that I know versus my husband who was like, Oh, that's fine, no big deal. Oh, they'll all work out. And I'm thinking, what are you talking about? Like this is no, no <laugh>, you know, And guess what? He's right. It always ends up working out and it always works out okay. It may not be what I thought, but this is where stress management comes into play, is sometimes that stress is perceived stress. It's not actual stress, it is perceived stress based on external factors. Some of these things are in our control, some of them are out of our control, right? In control would be, I just went and spent a thousand dollars on, I don't know, new shoes, but my mortgage is a thousand dollars and now I don't know how I'm gonna pay my mortgage. Perceived stress. That would be something in our control

(20:33):

Versus an external thing that, I'm trying to think of a a good example. Somebody hits you in a car accident, right? Like that is out of your control and they weren't paying attention. It wasn't you not paying attention. Now you're having to fix all of the <laugh>, all of the other pieces and so on and so forth. Okay? And the last one is gonna be supplementation. So I I, I've gotten this question from my clients are like, am I gonna have to supplement for the rest of my life? And the answer is yes and no. Okay? <Laugh>, I I have a love hate relationship with supplements. I love taking supplements, especially ones that make me feel really good or that I feel like I working or I can see kind of some kind of result from taking said supplement.

(21:41):

On the other hand, sometimes I don't like swallowing pills. Sometimes I don't want that to be part of my routine or my ritual for the day because I'm exhausted and I'm burnt out and I just don't wanna deal with it, right? <Laugh>. So yes, I, I, and I'm, I'm trying to like be careful with what I say only because everybody is so different. But one of the things that I like my clients to consider is at least taking digestive enzymes when you're going out to eat. Because while it may be gluten free, while it may be you know better for you or you know, whatever, there's usually things when you go out to eat that you don't encounter at home. For example, they put certain preservatives on salad stuff for a salad bar. And that's something that's not necessarily in your control, right? And not that those, well, I mean ideally we don't want the preservatives, but it might be a little bit harder on your stomach to digest and to break down.

(23:02):

I had a client a while ago, she sent me this picture and it was like, you could tell she was at a super nice fancy restaurant. It was like a flame and yon with asparagus and thick mashed potatoes or something along those lines. And it was like this beautiful beautiful plate that had this, some kind of sauce drizzle around the edges and it just looked incredible, right? And she took a picture and she sent it to me and she said, Why did I feel so terrible afterwards, <laugh>, she's like, There shouldn't be any thing on this plate that I shouldn't be eating. And I was like, you know, it might be the oils that they're cooking, the things in the, maybe even if they're using butter, the butter could have been at too high of a smoke point and then it went rancid and then now you're eating it and not feeling good.

(23:56):

Like, I don't know cuz I don't know all how everything was cooked and prepared. And so my advice to someone externally is to take digestive enzymes. And my other advice is probiotics, you guys, those are my two, two big ones that I'm like, yeah, everybody should at least have those in their closet or have not closet, but like have access to those two things to use. There's different enzymes, there's different probiotics, you know, and, and different probiotics are used for different things. If you guys head over to the Facebook group Thriving Thyroid Balance Community and Search Probiotics, I have a graphic that I think it says something like Best probiotics and then there's like a list of probiotics and which strands are used for what. And I have a friend, a family member that was like, What can I do for allergies? And I was like, consider taking this probiotic.

(25:06):

And she did all summer and she came and told me a couple weeks ago, she's like, I did not have to take any allergy medicine. I didn't have to do zertech, I didn't have to do, I don't even know all of the allergy medicines Claratin or Benadryl or anything like that. She said it was by far my best, best allergy season. And I was like, amazing. So she is a believer in that and it's just so important to know what we're doing. And our body goes through different phases and has different nutritional needs based on different points in our life. My nutritional needs while I'm pregnant in nursing is gonna be different than someone who is going through menopause and supplementation can fill in those gaps because sometimes food is going to leave us with gaps, especially if you are a picky eater, especially if you don't like certain things.

(26:07):

All of that is totally fine. But then we also need to take a wider picture and a wider range and say, you know what? These supplementations are helping to fill in those gaps so that I can have good, healthy lifestyle. Okay, so I have rambled on more and longer than I thought I was going to about those five things, but I want you guys to consider the 80 20 rule abs I are made in the kitchen. It's going to be dependent upon what you are eating. And I will tell you currently one of the big things that I am working on is getting in enough protein. I am drastically deficient in protein every single day. And it is a, the struggle is real. The struggle is real and I find that I do really good for breakfast and dinner lunchtime is my struggle because I don't necessarily want to cook something for lunch.

(27:13):

And what ends up happening is everybody takes my leftovers cuz they look amazing and they taste amazing and that's what they wanna eat. And so I don't have enough protein for lunch and like, and in, in all honesty, I do best with animal protein. I could do hep seeds and things like that, but it's not the same for me as like chicken or beef or something like that. And so one of the big areas that I am personally working on is getting more protein in my diet, being more prepared with extra protein without getting myself burnt out of the same thing. And one of the things that I have found the most beneficial for me to do that is crock pot. I can make really yummy, delicious crockpot stuff that is fast and easy and is good for that day and then, or like that night, right?

(28:18):

And then I can make extra and pair it with some kind of vegetable or something super easy. So I am going to be sharing this really delicious recipe of chicken on my Instagram very, very soon in a reel. It's got like a nice smokey flavor and you guys, it was so easy, it's so, so easy and the flavor profile is incredible and so long story short, head over and follow me on Instagram and you guys can check out that Real at Thriving Thyroid and I will see you guys on the next. Before you go, since we're talking about nutrition and the importance of diet, I wanted to share with you guys that in the show notes, you guys can head over and purchase the Hypothyroidism recipe book. It includes over 12 recipes for smoothies as one book, and then I have breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks, and sweet treats, all of them hypothyroid friendly. So if you are looking at giving your body the nutrition that you need to help fill in those nutritional gaps using food and nutrition, head over, check out that ebook and start incorporating those recipes because they are delicious and you will love them just the way that I love them and my kids love them. I'll see you on the next.

(29:52):

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112 //Does your cycle dictate how you feel throughout the month with Christa Elza

In August of 2020, Christa launched her virtual health practice, Elive Health, and is now able to provide help to women around the country via webcam. As a functional-medicine expert, she specializes in clinically investigating underlying factors of fatigue, hormone balance, thyroid issues, digestive issues, and more. Christa uses breakthrough diagnostic testing that’s rarely done in conventional settings to uncover the hidden causes of why women feel the way they feel.

 

www.instagram.com/christaelza

 

We talk about: 

  • How does our cycle dictate how we feel throughout the month?

  • How can you improve hormone balance naturally?

  • How can I improve my energy?

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AUDIO TRANSCRIPTION

(00:01):

All right. Welcome back to another episode. You guys, I have the privilege of interviewing Christa. So in August of 2020, Christa launched her virtual health practice, a live help, and now is able to provide help to women around the country via webcam as a functional medicine PR expert. She special specializes in clinically investigating underlying health factors for fatigue, hormonal imbalance, thyroid issues, digestive issues, and more Christa uses a breakthrough diagnostic testing that is rarely done in conventional settings to uncover the hidden cause of why women feel the way they do. So please help me welcome Christa to the call.

(00:47):

Welcome back to the thriving thyroid podcast, where we choose to become empowered patients and take our health into our own hands. Hi, I'm Shannon Hansen, a Christian entrepreneur, a mom of three. And after dealing with my own health mysteries, I made it my mission to learn everything I could about the thyroid. I soon became certified as a holistic wellness practitioner, a functional nutrition practitioner and a functional diagnostic practitioner. And so much more. After that, I founded the revolutionary thyroid program, the Hanson method as a health professional and a mom, I fully understand the importance of having a fun, simple, and sustainable plan for achieving a responsive thyroid. So I share actionable and practical strategies for developing a responsive th so that the ambitious moms and women can gain freedom from fatigue and lose the thyroid weight once. And for all each week, I will be here for you along with my guest experts, we will be sharing simple and tangible tips that work for not only your thyroid, your hormones, your family, and your mindset, so that you can get back to living the life that you envision for yourself. Welcome to the thriving thyroid podcast.

(02:08):

All right, you guys welcome back to another episode of the thriving thyroid podcast. I'm excited to have Krista on with me today. So Krista, welcome to the show.

(02:18):

Thanks for having me. I'm excited to be here.

(02:20):

Yeah. So give us a little bit of background as to who you are and what you do and all of the things that we need to know.

(02:28):

Yeah. my name is Krista Elza. I am a family family practice trained nurse practitioner. But I am now a online virtual functional practice practitioner mainly focused on women and helping them with gut health and hormone balance, thyroid issues energy levels. And I got here because my my past job was in an office. It was in a brick and mortar, and we primarily focused on weight loss and hormone replacement. And I just found that people were coming to me for issues that we weren't really able to resolve, or if we were fixing the issue, it was very short term. So, you know, maybe with hormone replacement, they felt better for three months, but then they were coming back feeling, you know, low energy again with, you know, maybe testosterone replacement and, you know, for women in their mid thirties and weight loss, you know, they would lose a little bit and then they would come back or they just couldn't keep it off.

(03:29):

And so that's what kind of got me interested in root cause medicine got trained at school of applied functional medicine to really start to study root cause why are people not able to lose weight? Or why did they not have energy? Or why do we have a hormone imbalance in our thirties? Yeah. Long before menopause should be happening. And, you know, once I got that information, I decided I wanted to take this virtually where I could work with women outside of my physical space and really be able to spend more time with women and also do different testing to get more information to help us get targeted solutions to what's going on.

(04:06):

I see. And, and I find this so interesting that a lot of people started off in this space with traditional medicine. At least for me, the way that I grew up, right. My, my dad, my uncle is a doctor. My dad was an occupational therapist. I, and very, we have nurses. We have all of these people who are traditionally medically trained. And then at some point it's like, mm, something isn't clicking here. Mm-Hmm, <affirmative> like, I'm giving this medication and people are still coming back. Like you said, a little bit later with other issues or

(04:44):

Mm-Hmm,

(04:45):

<Affirmative>, it's not really addressing these things. So I just find that that's super interesting.

(04:51):

Yeah, it is interesting, you know, my core value is in being able to fix the problem, right. Like I, I wanna really be able to make a difference and where I started out as a registered nurse I, I worked in ER, trauma centers and ICUs. And so I felt like I was making a difference because I was using you know, Western medicine in that sense where you really are fixing something you're fixing the problem. Yeah. When I ex you know, got more educated and became a nurse practitioner, went into the family practice setting. And that's where I really started to see that chronic issues aren't really being addressed with the Western medicine model. Just giving somebody a pill for blood pressure. Isn't really getting to the root cause as to why they are. And I think the frustrating part too, is that you recognize that people are also wanting that quick fix that bandaid. And so educating them that it's not just a matter of, oh, your blood pressure's high now. So now you need this pill. It's how did you get here and educating them on ways that their lifestyle or their stress management, or, you know, their what's going on in their life is actually causing the problem. So part of it's educating people.

(06:02):

Yeah.

(06:03):

And, and so, yeah, if I really wanted to fix the problems in the space that I was at, I knew I had to go beyond what we were currently doing. <Laugh>.

(06:12):

And so I had a conversation with a friend recently and she eats super healthy, right? Fruits, veggies, lean meats. Like they, they have a pretty good diet. However, she was going through a lot of emotional <laugh> stuff. Like her, her life was kind of on fire in terms of just stress and overwhelm and all of those different types of things. And that was causing her hormones to go outta balance. It was causing blood pressure issues. And her doctor was like, this is weird. Like you guys, I can tell by these labs that we have run, that you eat pretty good. You exercise, you take care of your body. So it wasn't a matter of, I'm gonna say, like diet, which I think mm-hmm, <affirmative>, at least for me, that's usually the first place I go, okay, what are you eating? You know, mm-hmm <affirmative>, is there some quick fixes here, but it was, it was a matter of stress. So I think that's also important for people to keep in mind is there can be other components besides just

(07:25):

Mm-Hmm, <affirmative>

(07:26):

Eating nutrition.

(07:27):

Yeah. We, we want to blame something, you know, you know, something, something sexy, something like there's gotta be some big reason why I can't get out of bed in the morning or why I'm so tired or why I have hormone balance. And there must be some fancy pill to fix it. And it is interesting. And it's fascinating how our body is still wired for the fight or flight for the survival. And when we are under chronic stress, when we're drinking too much alcohol to cope, like it's not anything wild, it's your lifestyle, it's your way of thinking. It's, it's a situation you're in, it's the relationship you're in. And we don't, you know, we don't go to that often, but you know, when I see women with a pretty significant hormone imbalance in their late thirties and yeah, they eat well, they work out, we have to address other things because high cortisol, which comes from high stress really can start to displace the priority in the brain as to what hormones to be producing. Am I producing cortisol or am I gonna be producing, you know, the progesterone and the, and the estrogen. So it oftentimes is taking a look at the whole picture because we are mind, body spirit connected. You can't treat one without treating the other. It just doesn't work. Even though we, we wanna ignore it and say this doesn't, you know, but it, it does. It makes an impact.

(08:45):

Yes, yes, absolutely. So let's, I think this is a good segue into really today's topic where we're talking a lot about hormones for women which I'm super excited about just because I was pregnant for so long and I'm kind of my hor I can feel my hormones balancing back out. Right. I was telling my husband the other day, I'm like, I'm hot and I shouldn't be hot. Like I'm sweaty and I'm sticky. And I feel weird, but I know that that is a normal transition after having a baby <laugh> mm-hmm <affirmative>. And it wasn't, it hasn't been nearly as bad with some of my other pregnancies before I started, you know, working on my hormones. But I remember I would wake up just drenched and sweat this time. It's more like, and okay, in Arizona, it is in the high nineties, we're getting into the hundreds this week. So I'm like, maybe that also has something to do with it, but <laugh>, but when you're in a house that's set at 76, which I know for the rest of the world is like hot. <Laugh> but in Arizona it feels great. It, it's just kind of an interesting thing. So let's dive into hormones. I think we wrote down, let me, let me make sure about sinking your cycle with your diet. And I started doing this before getting pregnant, and then

(10:19):

Yes. And

(10:20):

I'll turn out the window. <Laugh>

(10:22):

Yeah, it is hard. You gotta get back on track, but the cycle syncing is really, really a cool awareness, because then we, as women can start to acknowledge where we're at instead of fighting against where we're at, because that's where we, you know, we get into self beat up and we, we start to fight. What's just naturally occurring in our body. And so I can just kind of briefly go over each week. Yes, please. Yeah, the, the weekly the week by week can be really helpful. So week one is considered what I'll be talking about week one is the week that you start your period, and this applies to women who are cycling on their own. So if you're on a birth control pill, that's not a normal cycle. And so this won't necessarily you know, you won't be as in tune because the brain and the ovaries aren't talking anymore with the birth control pill, however, you are a woman and you can still, you know, follow the moon cycle.

(11:18):

So if you're menopausal, if you're not having a period, for whatever reason, you know, you've had hysterectomy maybe you are still ovulating, but you don't have a period for ablation or, you know, partial hysterectomy. So week one of a regular 28 to 30 day cycle is when we start a period. And that's when most of our, our sex hormones are very low at this point. And so you wanna look at all of this is kind of a rollercoaster <laugh> it literally feels like a rollercoaster sometimes. And it also looks graphically like a rollercoaster. So at the bottom of the rollercoaster is where you start and it's normal to feel antisocial. It's normal to be a bit more tired, all of those things. And you may not be sleeping as well either because these hormones help us sleep. So you might feel tired and you're not sleeping that great. So, you know, for some people it's just not a fabulous three or four days. And

(12:09):

Okay, hold on. I'm gonna pause you right there for just a second. So yeah, I have women that I work with where their cycle is like eight days, 10 days long. I know that's not normal, but they're like, what do you mean? That's not normal? Like I've always had that. So what is a normal duration? That's a good for a cycle.

(12:29):

Yeah. Five to seven days should be the max. You know, and most, most people have heavier flow the first two days. And then really it should be tapering off. So the, you know, day five is almost nonexistent. So if you're having 10 day periods that is out of the range of normal and you know, that would be something like maybe estrogen is dominating the show. I like to impersonate my hormones because it makes it more relatable. Mm-Hmm <affirmative> Esther is who I named estrogen and she's the wild sister. She's we need her, we love her. But if left to her own devices, she gets a little crazy, right. We have heavy periods, we have breast cancer, we have migraines. We have, you know, she gets wild and she's gotta be balanced out by her sister, Peggy progesterone. And if Peggy doesn't have a say in what's going on, then Esther's just on the loose.

(13:17):

And so if you starting to notice, you know, the migraines, the weight gain, the the heavy periods, the sweating, sometimes that's, you know, estrogen gone wild up and down, she's all over. Yeah. So ideally your first week, you should be wrapping things up around day five and around day four to five is when you should also, you know, you're starting to incline on the roller coaster. So now foods, we, we can actually go longer periods of time of intermittent fasting this week because our body is currently letting go and shedding, it's not building anything up. Yes. We need to replace, you know, maybe iron and things like that. With Greenleaf, vegetables, warm soups, you know, things like that can be helpful this week, but we can go longer with intermittent fasting and we can also go lower in carbohydrates. So if you're following a keto diet, I would say definitely cycle it.

(14:05):

And this would be the week that you would go full on keto. So you can do lower carbs, more intermittent fasting the week of your period. Okay. Now going into week two, those hormones are on the rise and they're starting to, they have a purpose. They're already planning the next ovulation, you know, preparing your uterus again. And so we need to be eating, you know, more complex carbs, probably can't intermittent fast as long. So you may wanna back it up to 14 hour, you know, fasting period this week, but you can also, you feel better. And so you feel a bit more social and you can work out harder in week two. So this is a week that you could take advantage of rising hormones by mid, you know, the end of week two is ideally when we should ovulate. Right. That's the, that's the, actually the star of the show right there is yay. You know, that's that

(14:53):

Whole healthy ovulation. Yeah. Yeah.

(14:56):

And so once ovulation happens, this is when progesterone Peggy comes on the scene. So if we don't ovulate well, and there's a variety of reasons that maybe we don't but in a perfect, you know, cycle, we should ovulate. And that's the only way that we produce progesterone. And that's really what we want to happen because we need her to kind of suppress and kick estrogen out for a bit. She needs to go on a walk because she's, you know, she's filled up

(15:23):

The calm down.

(15:25):

Yeah. The uterine lining is fluffy. We're ready to go. And now progesterone needs to kind of take, you know, maintain it, but not, you know, keep the growth down. But after we ovulate, we generally feel more calm. We should have less anxiety. We feel more sparkly. We can get on stage. We can do big projects. We feel like, you know, we can lift heavier in the gym. This is really that, that two week two and week three is really where we feel most of the time, most energetic. So don't compare yourself there to where you feel at the end of your cycle. That's just not fair to your body, right? That's not fair to us mentally because hormonally, we are different. Yes. So week two and three. So week three is where we, once again, can, you know, do a longer, fast, go back to more of a ketogenic lower card.

(16:13):

Our body does pretty well with that. As we enter into week four, this is the whole week before our period energy can be up or down because the hormones are slowly declining. And so some days you might feel like, oh, I can do a great workout. Other days, you might not feel it. And look at your calendar. Oh, I'm in week four. This makes sense. I might eat, sleep a little more. I might feel a little bit more irritable. And I'm also craving all the carbs. <Laugh> this is where you are hormonally. It's totally normal. So knowing that you want to, you know, kind of prep your diet, I'm going to eat more sweet potatoes. I'm going eat more complex carbs that are nutritious to my body so that I'm not as tempted to go for all the junk food this week. Yep. And then workouts, we wanna kind of taper them down.

(16:57):

This is where you wanna do longer walks. Maybe this is the week that you do the yoga class. If you're lifting weights, you wanna go lighter on the weights because hormonally, we just don't have a lot of hormones anyway, to support a good amount of muscle growth. So it's kind of wasted energy, right? Like we're not, we don't have that good boost that we did a week and a half ago. And that's okay. That's who we are cycling. Naturally. When we can be aware of this, we give ourselves a lot more grace in workouts, in our mental capacity, in how much we wanna sleep and how much energy we have and how social we feel. Right?

(17:29):

Yes. Yes. And I, the, like I said, this was something that I was really working on prior to, to having a baby yeah. Was getting these things balanced out because it does make a huge difference. And I, I, when I started learning about cycling your cycle <laugh> or like syncing things up, that's the word that I was looking for. You start to be like, why did nobody tell me about this earlier? Why was why? When I learned about my hormones, did nobody talk to me about all of these different phases? Because I remember knowing that I had an ovulation, obviously, knowing that <laugh>, I was menstruating mm-hmm <affirmative>, but I didn't realize that the ebbs and flows of my hormones

(18:27):

Mm-Hmm <affirmative>

(18:27):

And kind of my personality, right. Being more reclusive, being more outgoing, all of those things throughout the month was a sign of what was happening internally inside my body. Mm-Hmm <affirmative>. And I think it's just a confusing time as women. And it's frustrating for me as a practitioner to see that, like, these things are not being taught, you know,

(18:51):

They're not being taught. And, and you're right, when we know about it, you can just, oh, I'm feeling frustrated and you look at the calendar and you're like, okay, this is where I'm at. And this is how I'm going to flow with my body. And when we do that, we tend to have easier periods because we're not forcing the issue. We're not taxing our adrenal glands, stressing out, you know, doing a workout. That's more intense than we physically feel like we're capable of, but we're pushing through it anyway. And when you look at it hormonally, you're like, okay, this is, this is why I read an article just yesterday on the, and this was an article that was done in the eighties. But you know, when things are small studies and they're just not well known, they don't go very far, but this was on concussions in women. And how generally we have like more symptoms than men when it comes to concussions. And interesting.

(19:42):

Also they did a study on women who had a concussion experience during different phases of their period and the women who had a concussion between in weeks three and four. So after ovulation in their progesterone was high, actually had worse symptoms. And that's because the signal in the brain to the ovaries were, were kind of shut down. And there was a rapid drop in progesterone and progesterone is very brain protective, it's calming. And so when there was that rapid drop, you had more headache, more nausea, vomiting, more confusion. So really interesting how even our hormonal cycle can, can, you know, make or break an injury. And along those lines, estrogen makes our, you know, when you're pregnant, you have more stretchy limbs, right? It serves a purpose. Like we, we, we need to be more flexible for eventual birth. Well, when your estrogen is really rising, let's say week two, where the rollercoaster is really on the rise and estrogen is, is peaking right before ovulation. It's actually a fairly dangerous time to be doing, hit doing, you know, high intensity exercises, like box jumps and things like that. You're more susceptible to strains and pulls in the ligaments and the tendons because they are a bit more flexible because of that estrogen effect. And so it's fascinating when you start to understand your body, you can pinpoint when it, when it's the correct time to do exercises and, and yeah. All of the above

(21:12):

And certain kinds of exercises. So obviously me just getting over, being pregnant, is there a better kind of exercise while pregnant, cuz I know a lot of people say, oh yeah, you can continue doing hit and you can continue lifting weights and, and things like that. For me personally, I just, I walked, I didn't, yeah, I might have rode my bike until I got to a certain bigness and then I was like, all right, I'm done cycling <laugh> yeah,

(21:43):

Yeah, no, I did the same thing. I mean, when I was pregnant, I just continued my normal workouts. And for the most part you can, but you need to be mindful of, yeah. Maybe not that, you know, the strenuous hit or doing higher reps, lower weight. So, you know, maybe doing 15 reps and a little bit lower weight so that you're not putting that much pressure because if, if you've ever had that round ligament pain, when you get up out of bed and you have that pain, you know, I mean your ligaments are shifting and pulling and and that ity going on there is not happening just in those ligaments, it's happening all over your body. And so being mindful about that and workouts is important.

(22:20):

Yeah. Okay. Let's switch gears here and talk about nutrition during the cycle. Are there certain things, I guess you kind of hit on that. But is there anything else that we should be mindful of as we are eating foods during the month?

(22:42):

Yeah. I mean, like I said, week one, you can do more keto ketogenic and I, I, you know, subscribe to the healthy keto, not the, you know, grab a cheeseburger and just eat the burger. You know, you gotta, we're talking about ha healthy fats here, avocado you know, grass fed, butter oils, nuts and seeds, all of that. You can really cut down on carbs that week. But you do wanna focus on more iron rich foods because we are bleeding, you know, and we do wanna have mineral rich foods because that endometrium has been storing all sorts of nutrients there. Right. So so nutrient rich, but you can do more keto and you can do more intermittent fasting there. So if you are doing, you know, if you're one that is doing intermittent fasting, it's important to recognize the, you know, keto and intermittent fasting have all been kind of studied on men.

(23:32):

And so it's not that it's not healthy and beneficial for women, but we do need to keep our hormones in mind because we can't do it straight through the month. Long term like men can, you won't have as good, you know, it can put a bit more stress on your adrenal glands and put you in more hormonal imbalance or cause you to actually hold on to weight because of the stress of the body. Yeah. So, but that, that week is a good week to do longer fast. If you're playing around with the idea of doing 24 hour fast, you know, that's the week to do it. Week two, you wanna add more of the carbohydrates in complex carbs and vitamin E is important to follicles. Vitamin E is important. If you're struggling with infertility, you wanna make sure that you are taking a vitamin E supplement.

(24:17):

It really nourishes the follicles and that's the goal of week two. And so foods high in vitamin E would be you know, sweet potatoes eggs, that kind of thing. So you wanna, you wanna be more focused on that. You don't wanna have long intermittent fasting, so maybe 14 to 16 hour max on week two and you know, more carbs. So your macros wouldn't be quite as ketogenic this week. So you may not be in ketosis week two and that's okay. Week three, you can go back to cycling. So kind of mimics week one longer intermittent fasting, more more of a carb high macro situation there. And then and then week three, I mean, I'm sorry. Week four is where we go back to adding carbs, your body craves the carbs there. And one thing I have found in week four is resistant starches can be helpful.

(25:11):

An example of a resistant starch would be potatoes that have been cooked and then cooled, okay. Or more commonly would be rice. That's been cooked and cooled as in sushi. And there is a chemical change in that starch. So the body doesn't quite absorb it until the large intestine and that can not only curb carb cravings, but it also helps the gut lining. So that is where we wanna really start to use resistant starches. There's something called green banana flour. You can get it on Amazon. You can add that to your smoothie week for, and just a teaspoon. You don't wanna go overboard with it, but it does feed healthy bacteria in our gut that can help curve some of those cravings, because if you're gonna fall off the wagon of whatever diet you're following week four is generally where it happens. And so we don't wanna push our body to long fasting week four. You know, you might only be able to make it 10, 12 hours of a fasting window before. You're just like, I'm gonna pull my hair out if I don't eat something and listen to your body that week your body does not want to fast one periods of time there. So that's kind of in a, you know, as a summary, how you should sort of cycle. So week one and week three are very similar and week two and week four.

(26:20):

Okay. I know for me coming out of being pregnant and stuff, I am increasing my dark leafy greens to help with liver function and stuff. So is there a better time during your cycle to be eating those or should you just be eating them throughout the month?

(26:39):

Well, we really should be eating them throughout the month, but I will say that weeks three and week four we are really needing to detox the estrogen that we've made week one and two, right. Where that, that roller coaster was going up. And now we kind of utilize the amount of estrogen that need, but our body has to do something with it. And that primarily happens in the liver. So focusing on detoxification, focusing on you know, less alcohol, the second half of our cycle, because the liver will prioritize medications and alcohol through the liver. And it's got a big job. I mean, you know, Esther reads hav she did her thing. And so we've gotta do something about that. And so eating foods that are more supportive to the liver eating less processed foods can always, you know, that's supportive to the body. So green leaf fees all the time, but when we're talking about liver support, we really need more support week three and week four.

(27:36):

Okay, good to know. <Laugh> because yes. Yeah. It's just,

(27:43):

Yes. Yeah. It it's, we don't think about what's happening behind the scenes. I mean, most of the time we're thinking about just our period and that's really not the, you know, there's three weeks behind the scenes of what's going on in our body. So when we become aware of that, we're like, oh, we can support our body better when we know.

(27:59):

Yes. Yeah, absolutely. Alright. So as we kind of come to wrap this up, what are some ways that we can improve our energy? Because I, I find at least for myself in the past, I would have these high highs and then these crashes. So I think that would be really important to, to talk about.

(28:23):

Yeah. I'll, you know, there's many different ways, many different factors as to why we're having energy crashes. And it all comes down to foundations first. And so that's kind of where we'll, you know, we'll start, I'll share like four primary foundational aspects to focus on. So, you know, again, these aren't like necessarily really sexy interventions. They're, <laugh> being aware of. What's what we really need to be focused on. So number one, hydration, a lot of women don't drink enough water, you get up, you have your coffee, you have, you know, you have Cokes, you have tea all day, but not many of us are really drinking the amount of purified, clean, plain water that we should. So most women need, you know, at least 90 ounces of filtered water a day. So I would start there when our bodies are dehydrated, our brain is made mostly of water.

(29:17):

And so when we are dehydrated, that can be kind of a signal of stress to the brain. So fatigue, anxiety, all the things can actually be from chronic dehydration. So I'd start there. And then breathing, we don't think about breathing, but yet we are, you know, we're walking around with a lot of dysfunctional breathing and taking time to take deep breaths more often throughout the, the day being aware of our breathing, what is that it's called some kind of like cyber apnea or whatever, you know, where we're looking at our email or we're looking at social media and we're actually holding our breath. So becoming more aware of, of breathing and and taking those slow, deep breaths more often can be really helpful to our overall energy and then cutting out crap foods. So we don't recognize that the food that comes from a box or a bag really causes a lot of stress on our body and our body has to do something with that.

(30:13):

And it impedes our ability to detox our normal bodily functions. Well, and when we have a lot of toxic buildup in our body, it's fatiguing. And so starting with nutrition, starting with organic, where you can, because, you know, it's less pesticides, less toxins to our body. So definitely looking up the dirty dozen and at least buying those foods organically can make a huge difference. And, and then I would say the last foundation that I'll touch on right now is sleep. We can't often change the morning routine. It is what it is, especially, you know, during the school year. And we have to be up with kids or our job, but we can often have more control over the evening. And so I know it's tempting, especially when kids are little to save late, cuz they're finally in bed, but prioritizing sleep can make such a difference. And we actually get more deep sleep, which is the most restorative sleep. The, you know, before midnight mm-hmm <affirmative>. So the bulk of, if you have something, a tracking device, I wear an aura ring. If you have a whoop band or an aura ring and you start to track that, you'll notice your bulk of your deep sleep is before midnight. And so going to bed, prioritizing seven hours of quality sleep, those foundations that I just mentioned can make a huge difference and you have control over each one of those aspects.

(31:36):

Well, and I, I love that you brought up the importance of sleep because for me, once I, I was, I was totally guilty. My kids are in bed. I'm gonna stay up and do all of the things that I couldn't get done today. And just have a minute to myself, without people climbing all over me or needing me or mom, mom, mom, you know, and once I was like, you know what, I'm gonna leave the dishes in the sink. I'm gonna leave the unfolded laundry. I'm gonna leave all of these different things left undone, and I'll get to it tomorrow was really when my, my body shifted. Right. Yeah. And it was magical. And I know, I know, I know the struggles of it and

(32:26):

Yeah, it's, it's a decision, right? It's prioritizing, I get it. I, I was the same way and I tend to be more of a night out anyway. So once the kids were in bed, it was like, yay, get my own time. And before, you know, it, it's 11 o'clock and you know, the baby's getting up at, at five 30 or six or your job, you have to get up for work. You know, it, it really is it, it is something you have in control or more control than you think that you do. And so when we start to take over and understand the power of hydration, of sleep, of nutrition, of breathing, get those foundations first before you start looking for pill solutions, like that's where we start.

(33:01):

Yes, yes, absolutely. I wanna touch on this just really briefly, because what about the women who say things like, well, I just have insomnia and I can't fall asleep.

(33:16):

Yeah, yeah. That, you know, that that is a real thing. And when we go back to the cycle, when our estrogen is lower you know, at the beginning of our cycle or at the, the end of week four, the beginning of week one, sometimes we do have more trouble sleeping hormonally, and that can become particularly true when you hit menopause and you know, those are just they're low. And so our body acclimate a little bit, or even if, you know, just having the lower estrogen can be really can affect our sleep. And so sleep hygiene is big, you know, shutting off the electronics, using blue blocker glasses, if you need to be on electronics you know, turning down, Dimmi using dimmers in your room in your house gives that circadian rhythm. You know, that signal that it's it's bedtime. So the, the brain is very stuck on that cyclical, you know, light and food equate being awake and not, you know, low food after we've eaten and darkness equate to rising our melatonin.

(34:13):

And so not eating really close to bedtime, having di lights triggers the brain to increase melatonin. The other thing though that competes with melatonin is cortisol. So if you have racing thoughts, if you have a lot of stress, it's a, it's a decision. And I know it's not always easy. And sometimes it's a skill that we really have to develop, but not, you know, not indulging in the thoughts that upset us or the tasks that are due the next day can really do a lot of good for calming that down and keeping that cortisol down. And so sleep hygiene with our thoughts. I like to do box breathing. Yeah, I, if your listeners don't know about it, it's really simple and it's breathing in for count of four, hold that for count of four, breathe out for count of four and hold it at the bottom for count of four and you can insert different numbers, but I, I like to keep it simple at four and that not only physiologically calms us down, but it gives us something to meditate on and focus the numbers.

(35:09):

You're not at like, think about only the numbers, not anything else and keep repeating that until you find yourself a bit drowsy, more calm, that can be really helpful, you know, making sure you've got a cool room, a dark room, a fan animals out of the room. I mean, if, if there's a living being that doesn't need to be in your bed, get 'em out. Like <laugh>, they need to have their own sleeping space. Yeah. And then supplements have their space too. Melatonin supplements can be helpful. Start at the lowest dose, you know, one to three milligrams and see how you feel. And then magnesium. So a lot of us are low in magnesium. Magnesium is a calming mineral, and I would start with magnesium Bly eight, that form, and that can be helpful at night you know, 300 milligrams.

(35:56):

That's what I take at night. It can really help you calm down. So take it about an hour before bed. So, and people do that sometimes in teas. So magnesium and melatonin can be where to start as far as some supplementation, there's many others that we could get into later, but, but that's where I would start with, you know, the sleep hygiene, the thought processes, the breathing, and maybe some supplements to help you really get that good quality sleep and keep in mind that if you're waking up between two and four, that's generally where cortisol starts to kind of peak a little bit. And if we don't have a good, strong amount of melatonin sometimes you'll find like, I don't know, I wake up every morning at 3:00 AM and that's, that's that cortisol, you know, and that's a signal that you know, maybe throughout the day, doing deep breathing exercises and addressing stress throughout the day could be where to start.

(36:49):

Yeah. I love all of that. That is all so good. And I think I I'm, I feel like I hammer this in to all of the listeners, but a lot of times it's the small, simple things. It's the sleep, it's the hydration. It's, you know, if you've mastered or gotten at least pretty good at some of those things, you're gonna notice that the body will start to balance out by itself. Practitioners, obviously I'm a fan of them. And they can, they can help you accelerate some of those things and help you figure out the right form of magnesium and the right dosage. And you know, when to take it and how to take it and all of those different things. But if you are in a place where you can't afford a practitioner, or maybe you're not ready to make the investment, just start prioritizing your sleep, drinking the water. Whoa mm-hmm <affirmative>

(37:50):

Yes. The foundations is definitely where to start yep. On your own. And we all have control over these things and you know, lifestyle is free. Lifestyle switches are free. We just have to be aware of what to do and how to do them. Right. And, and you're right. I like what you said about the body will come back to, it's not that we have to change anything. Our body wants to heal. Our body is, is naturally in a state of function and imbalance. And so it's just doing some of these things to get back and, and yeah, exactly what you said. There's definitely testing. We can do. There's definitely a deeper dive, but when you at least have the foundations, you you're at a starting point. Right. You're, you're making progress in the right direction. Yeah.

(38:33):

Yeah. And I mean, I I'm sure you've had experiences with this as well, but when I got to the point where things were not working well, I did invest a lot of money in working with practitioners, cuz I, I thought I was doing all of the things and for the most part I, I was doing pretty good. My diet was pretty clean. I was exercising. I was not prioritizing sleep. So <laugh> yeah. You know, those types of things. And, and it, it did take someone to point that out to me and just say, Hey, yeah, make, make this a point, make this more of a priority. So yeah, this has been a great conversation and little one now is ready to play and do all of the things. So <laugh>, we'll, we will wrap this up. Any closing thoughts, how can people find you and get to know you and the things

(39:36):

I think the biggest you know, statement that I want to leave everyone is that you, you, your birthright is to be empowered in your body. And, and so, you know, my goal for everyone is to understand their body better, to really feel like they are, they have the power and the control to really make decisions that serve their body. And so that's my that's always, my goal with a client is for them to, at the end of our time together, to always understand where to go when they start to feel symptoms again, mm-hmm <affirmative> and to know their body and understand their body better. So that's what I wanna leave you with, but I am most active on social media. And so my Instagram is Krista Elza at Krista Elza first and last name all combined. I'm the same on Facebook. So send me a DM. I have links in the bios there to, you know, schedule a call together if you wanted to. And yeah, I'd be happy to answer any questions that your listeners may have.

(40:34):

Awesome. Well, thank you so much and we will see you guys on the next episode.

(40:40):

Thanks.

(40:43):

Wait before, before you go, please subscribe. If you found value in today's episode, leave us a review and share on Instagram and please tag us. We love your please

(40:57):

Pre.

 

111// How to Understand Your Unique Metabolic Rate and What to Eat to Ramp Up Your Metabolism

We discuss Metabolic Typing in this episode stand the different types of metabolisms.

 

If you are in a sympathetic state you will probably be experiencing disease like

  1. anxiety

  2. RA

  3. allergies -histamine responses

  4. diabetes

  5. bacterial infections

  6. hypertensition

  7. hyperthyroidism

  8. hypoparathyroid

  9. parkinsons disease

  10. Multiple sclerosis

  11. peptic Ulcers

  12. PMS

  13. immuno suppression

 

Parasympathetic

  1. depression

  2. arthritis

  3. allergies (low histamine)

  4. diabetits

  5. viral infections

  6. hypotension

  7. hyperthryoid

  8. hyperparathyroid

  9. lupus

  10. false MS

  11. aids

  12. gastic ulcers

  13. PSM

  14. Yeast and fungal infections

 

.

.

.

SHOW NOTES AT 

 

Get on the Hansen Method waitlist. Click here. We open up the Hansen Method 2-3x a year so that we can fully support our clients to the highest degree possible.

 

Thinking about using nutrition and holistic health for restoring thyroid function? Learn EVERYTHING you need to know by joining our Free Facebook Group. Thriving Thyroid Balance Community.

 

Are you interested in learning more about your thyroid and finding answers? 

 

We got you! 

 

We have several different opportunities to work with us at several different price points and opportunities. 

 

Our signature 6-month program is called The Hansen Method, we offer this in a VIP setting with personalized plans and protocols, individual one on one coaching and incredible bonuses that change regularly. You can schedule a complimentary thyroid breakthrough call with one of our thyroid advisors. Click here.  If you have questions about the Hansen Method and want to discuss your specific situation and make sure this is the right program for you you can schedule a complimentary thyroid breakthrough call with one of our team members. schedule here. Hurry, my schedule fills up quickly and we only work with limited amount of women at any given time.

 

 Join hundreds of women who have improved their symptoms by 80% and lose on average 30lbs in the 4 months.  

 

Not ready to schedule a call, no problem. Learn more about the Hansen Method to see if it’s a good fit for you. Click here to learn more. 

 

We also offer The Hansen Method as a Self Guided option. 

 

Option number 1 for self guide is where you are totally on your own to go through the program content, make the changes and execute them on your own. Click here to purchase. 

 

Option number 2 includes group coaching and access to our members facebook group that will allow you access to our Thyroid Success Coaches and testing with personalized protocols. Click here to purchase.   

 

But one of our favorite ways to work with us is our Thriving Thyroid Coaching Membership Opportunity.  This is where many of clients first begin working with us. It allows you to get to know us, our system and start making changes before making a larger financial investment. Click here to learn more

 

CONTACT LINKS

 

DOWNLOADABLE RESOURCES

 

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AFFILIATE LINKS

 

Xo,

Shannon Hansen

 

P.S. Make sure to schedule our Thyroid Breakthrough call with one of our thyroid advisors. 

 

AUDIO TRANSCRIPTION

(00:00):

Understanding your metabolic type and how to hone your metabolic type to help with weight loss. Welcome back to the thriving thyroid podcast, where we choose to become empowered patients and take our health into our own hands. Hi, I'm Shannon Hanson, a Christian entrepreneur, a mom of three. And after dealing with my own health mysteries, I made it my mission to learn everything I could about the thyroid. I soon became certified as a holistic wellness practitioner, a functional nutrition practitioner and a functional diagnostic practitioner. And so much more. After that, I founded the revolutionary thyroid program, the Hanen method as a health professional and a mom. I fully understand the importance of having a fun, simple, and sustainable plan for achieving a responsive thyroid. So I share actionable and practical strategies for developing a responsive thyroid so that the ambitious moms and women can gain freedom from fatigue and lose the thyroid weight once.

(01:09):

And for all each week, I will be here for you along with my guest experts, we will be sharing simple and tangible tips that work for not only your thyroid, your hormones, your family, and your mindset, so that you can get back to living the life that you envision for yourself. Welcome to the thriving thyroid podcast. All right, you guys welcome back to the thriving thyroid podcast with your host myself, Shannon Hansen. And we're gonna be shaking things up today and talk about your metabolism and metabolic typing. And of course, this plays into our overall theme about weight loss and how to lose weight when it comes to your thyroid. This is an episode I feel like whether you have thyroid or don't have a thyroid, you need to listen into so that you can better understand how to get off the, the hamster wheel of dieting once.

(02:06):

And for all right, like we have grown up in this diet culture and you guys, I can't even tell you how many times I've gone to the store lately. And I'm looking at the subtitles on the titles and the subtitles on these magazines. And it's like thyroid boosting and weight loss and, you know, spit out or insert diet to try and how it's this magical pill. And you're gonna lose a hundred pounds in 10 days, you know, like all of these ridiculous claims that are happening. And I'm like, and I have never, I'm gonna rant for just a second. Before we get into the heart of this, I have never believed that there is a single diet that is right for every single person. And even when you look at my work that I've done with thyroid, I don't, don't say blank diet is the best for thyroid.

(03:03):

You know, I don't say, I mean, usually I say something like an anti-inflammatory diet but again, there's, there's some pieces in there that need to be examined, but generally speaking, gluten-free dairy free are the places to start people off. And of course, sugar, cuz we know sugar is highly inflammatory, but other than that, I'm not gonna spout nonsense about eggs or you know, good, good or eggs are bad or, you know, putting things into these categories of good verse versus bad is terrible. You guys terrible? I just, I can't get behind it. I don't know what else to say <laugh> okay. So in my opinion, if you were following someone on social media and that practitioner is saying keto for thyroid or anti-inflammatory for thyroid is the only way like, please, please, please, please run the other way. Or maybe not even anti-inflammatory cuz I, I believe anti-inflammatory is good for everybody.

(04:14):

We should all be eating pretty close to that. Cuz inflammation is really at the root of, of a lot and we know that sugar and things are inflammatory. So if you're struggling with your health, a great place to start is going anti-inflammatory. But if they're saying keto or low carb or south beach or paleo or whatever these buzzwords are, is the only way to fix X problem. Ugh, I cringe. Okay. So hopefully <laugh> in today's episode, you guys can learn a little bit more about why I believe what I believe and why I have such a tremendous success rate working with our clients inside the Hanson method. So we are going to talk again, metabolism and metabolic typing. So have you ever asked yourself why there are so many different ti diets and why do they work for one person and not for another person?

(05:15):

This is because there are two main categories of metabolic typing. We have fast oxidizer and slow oxidizers with subcategories in each one of them. And we're gonna be breaking those down in today's episode. So you might wanna have a pen and paper ready, or if you're driving, you might wanna just listen and then come back to, to the episode and write down certain things to keep track of, of this stuff. So in addition to that, we need to understand that the person's Audi autonomic Sy system or autonomic type. So for example, if you're living in a parasympathetic state or in a sympathetic state, this will determine how your metabolism is responding. So in this situation, knowledge is power. So if you are in a sympathetic state, you will probably be experiencing diseases like anxiety, rheumatoid arthritis, allergies, like histamine responses, high histamine, diabetes, bacterial infections, things like SIBO or H pylori, hyperthyroidism hypoparathyroidism Parkinson's mul multiple sclerosis, peptic ulcers, PMs and immune suppression.

(06:34):

If you are in a parasympathetic, you could be experiencing depression arthritis, allergies, so low histamine diabetes, viral infections, hyper hypotension, hypo hyperthyroid, oh, excuse me. That's supposed to say hypothyroid and hyper or hyper parathyroid. There we go. <Laugh> lupus false, Ms. Aids, gastric, ultra ulcers, PMs, yeast, and fungal infections like candida and things like that. So the best way to be living in is in a balanced state between sympathetic and parasympathetic. Okay. So let's talk about the differences between sympathetic and parasympathetic. The sympathetic nervous system function is to mobilize the body into that fight or flight response while the parasympathetic nervous system helps control that homeostasis. What I have seen happen too often when people are in that parasympathetic is they begin to hit that quote unquote burnout phase. This is when they're in that sympathetic state for too long. So have you ever been under chronic long-term stress for an extended period of time?

(07:58):

If so this is something that needs to be examined for you. Okay. So now that we understand that part, let's talk about the two different categories and subcategories of fast and slow oxidizers or fast and slow metabolic types. So we're gonna first start out with fast fast metabolism or fast oxidizers are associated with the sympathetic dominance and a type a personality. This will increase the availability of glucose for rapid metabolism via neuro epinephrine response. This will increase that response from the adrenal glands. The adrenals will stimulate the other areas of the body and that are not directly related to that area. So they're gonna create havoc essentially all over the body. This will impact the person's CREB cycle. So the CREB cycle is an essentially an eight step process that helps the body produce ATP, which is really a fancy way of saying energy for the body.

(09:05):

<Laugh> okay. You guys don't need to know all of the different things. And if I'm being truthful here, I have to pull up the CREB cycle to remind myself of the process every time <laugh>, but really it boils down to ATP, which is really the body's energy source, which gives ATP gives the mitochondria energy and, and what we need to have sustainable health. Right? It's an, it, it really is an important process. But for you guys, a high level understanding is perfectly okay, so this is pretty important, right? Having good energy, good ATP function, good MI healthy mitochondria. So fast, oxidizer usually experience considerable amount of stress physically, emotionally, or even a combination of both. And they often enjoy, I say, enjoy in loose terms, enjoy stressful events or situations. And they almost even seek after them or will create them in your life.

(10:10):

If you, I can think of a few people in my life currently that I'm like, you always seem to have drama in your life. Like why do you always have drama? They're always creating something and this could be, this could be part of it, right? Is just how their body and their brain is working. So they press sugars, processed sugars at an extremely high rate. Now this doesn't mean that they can eat a whole bunch of sugar and it's gonna be fine. No, this just means that they break it down really quickly. And so if they're not getting adequate amounts of protein and fats, then they're gonna be eating all day long, those snackers to help keep that blood sugar level stable, stable. And this type of person is usually late for appointments. They are often agitated or irritable. They are offer often highly excitable something, you know, glass of spilled milk and they're overreacting.

(11:12):

And you're looking at 'em like what just happened? <Laugh> you like, that's a just pick it up, you know if often, or could be categorized as workaholics, if the metabolism becomes too fast, they begin to experience more emotional stress, especially anxiety about the future what's gonna happen. I don't know, dah, dah, dah, you know, like their mind is always racing about what if this happens and what if that happens? How many of you moms out there are guilty of this? <Laugh> I know I have definitely been guilty of this. This also may cause blood pressure rises, dental problems and excess sweating. This will increase the need to eat in order to develop and maintain those high levels of energy. And we will see weight accumulate around the abdominal region, right? That, that cortisol belly or beer belly type thing that is a general overview of fast oxidizer.

(12:15):

So let's quickly examine these subcategories. And before I explain that, many of you are probably already wondering like, well, how do I find out if this is me? Or you might even be saying, oh my gosh, this is me to a T <laugh> the one way that I have found to accurately test this is through metabolic typing and functional testing. So we have a metabolic typing score card, essentially that we use with our clients. I may make this open to public, but right now it is not. And through functional testing, right? Functional testing is the best way. And you guys I'm, I'm sorry. Google is not going to be the answer for you. You could maybe Google it. And I actually tried <laugh> I was trying to be like sneaky and bypass all of the certifications and everything and metabolic typing. And I tried to like find a free thing online and I couldn't find one.

(13:19):

Maybe I wasn't searching the right thing, but I couldn't find a free option for this metabolic typing. So typically you have to be certified in it. You have to be trained in it you know, to, to do this and this will also help guarantee better results because there there's a lot to it. So the way that I work with my clients and the best way that we have found to evaluate this, I, if you are a slower, fast oxidizer is to do an HTMA testing and this HTMA testing will help you categorize where you fall, but also into the subcategories. And that is the fastest and most accurate way to do this. Now, with that being said, this can also change for you. So I was a fast two to oxidizer when I, when I first did this. Okay. And, and it can change.

(14:22):

I'm still in the process of evaluating myself and making changes to see if balancing out these minerals and doing some of these things, if my metabolic typing changes, because it's also like a radio dial, so think way back. And hopefully we don't have really young listeners. I don't think we, we typically do. We usually have people in their thirties and up and they, they know what I'm talking about. So it's like a radio dial. Remember when you had to like dial it into whatever station and if you went, you would kind of like push it to see like, oh, if I turn it a little bit more, will the sound get a little more clear? And then you're like, well, okay. And then you go back and, and that's the way that it is even inside these fast and slow oxidizers with these subcategories is we are literally dialing this into each person individually to help them learn how their body responds to specific things.

(15:26):

Okay. All right. So this is what we are also focusing on in the month of September inside the Hansen method. And this is my focus because I want my clients to learn how to get this right. Essentially to learn how to build their plate correctly so that they never have to quote unquote diet again. Okay. Anyways, okay. So let's dive into fast ones. So these are gonna be categorized as sympathetic dominance, and we will see an increase in adrenal and thyroid activity when imbalance, these people will have high levels of energy. However, if IAL an imbalance happens, they will usually develop adrenal and thyroid imbalances. We can see early on these patterns starting to develop per PE four people through functional testing and help detect if they are, if they continue down this path, if they may end up with a diagnosis of thyroid or adrenal insufficiencies.

(16:35):

And, and that's a way for all of these different typings. So we really do see a lot of people fall into this category working with them. So number two is fast twos. This is also categorized as a sympathetic dominance and we'll increase adrenal activity and lower thyroid function. This imbalance of the neuroendocrine combination reflects the quote unquote alarm stage of stress. The adrenal cortex becomes dominant over the thyroid activity. Energy will fluctuate and it will become dramatic. Okay. So you may have either periods of time during the day where you're like, oh, I'm on cloud night. I can do all the things. And then you have these major crashes, or you could experience like high highs and get a whole bunch done for a week or two, and then crashes <laugh>. So you'll kind of see those swings happen in energy and no energy.

(17:37):

And this is often accompanied by significant mood swings. So it's like, ha ha. Everything is great. Life is good. And then all of a sudden, your kid drops something on the floor and you're yelling at them and they're looking at you, like what just happened, you know, or maybe somebody in your life is like, oh my gosh, are you PMSing? Because you are literally going crazy and being back and forth. And I notice, I, well, I didn't notice this pattern until after baby number four, but I am usually pretty levelheaded. I'm pretty calm, pretty easy. I wouldn't say easygoing. <Laugh>, I'm pretty calm in most situations. Now I've gotten, I've gotten to that place in my life, but after baby number four, I'm like, holy crap. I could I'm back to being snappy and irritable. And I, I don't like it because I know myself on the other side.

(18:36):

So I don't believe that a fast two is my correct metabolic type. I think that has to do with some mineral imbalances that have come post-pregnancy. And so we are working on balancing those out to see what my, my true metabolic rate is. A fast, slow is also categorized as also a sympathetic dominance with depressed adrenal activity in connection with an increase in thyroid function. This imbalance, this imbalance has the neuroendocrine combination is indicative of the resistance of exhaustive stage of stress, and is often associated with depression or irritability. If chronic fast fours are also classified as a sympathetic dominance and will increase adrenal activity and decrease thyroid glandular function. These neuroendocrine combination is associated with an extreme level of stress and is often reflective of extreme fatigue. So you may be diagnosed with something like chronic fatigue syndrome, depression and anxiety.

(19:52):

So like I said before, when I first tested not too long ago, postpartum, I was a fast two. I believe that I'm still in the quote unquote fast department. I've always done better with like steak eggs for breakfast, instead of like a bagel <laugh> or even like toast and eggs. Like I've always done better with high, high amounts of fat and, and protein for breakfast. So what I also recommend, and like, this is what I'm doing, this is what I recommend to all of my clients is testing every three to six months, because just like I said, you may test one way the first time and then test differently the second time. This is why you can also see great success with a diet in your twenties. And then you try it again at 25 or 30 and it doesn't work. Okay. I hope you are already having some aha moments here.

(20:56):

And I promise I will give you some high level action items at the end of this episode. So let's talk about slow oxidizers. So they are typically parasympathetic dominant. They have type B personalities and generally speaking slower metabolic rate, meaning their glucose, meaning they metabolize glucose at a lesser rate, so that glucose gives them more sustainable energy throughout the day. We, they also, it's really important for them to also maintain good blood blood sugar balance throughout the day. So if they are having an imbalance in any way, like the, the molecules of the glucose are being split, this will result in a malfunction of the CREB cycle. And again, that's their energy throughout the day. So they would be ex experiencing higher, low energy levels. They're also often well organized. They can be categorized as methodical. They tend to start projects and see them all the way through to completion somewhat regarding that perfectionism and they perform best when they're not under a lot of stress.

(22:21):

If the metabolic rate becomes excessively reduced, they become subject to fatigue. It requiring extra amounts of rest. They eventually experienced depression, often dwelling on the past, I used to be able to do this. I, you know, this used to happen that used to happen. Those types of words will be coming out of their mouth. Blood pressure may decrease below normal, along with the development of cold hands and feet, weight gain, usually noticeable around the hips and thighs. If the metabolism de continues to decrease protein foods, especially meats may become intolerant intolerable <laugh>, which will increase their tendency towards veganism. So slow type ones. Again, they are categorized as parasympathetic dominance with a decrease in adrenal activity and a decrease in thyroid activity. When in balance they will experience sustain sustainable energy. So these may be people that are running long distance, no problem, right?

(23:29):

Like they can just run and run and run. However, when it's out of balance, they can experience one of the four stages of stress. A slow type two is they will experience an increase in adrenal activity and a decrease in thyroid function. The adrenal cortex is dominant in that situation and is relative to the thyroid. So they'll experience energy fluctuations. And those again will become more pronounced. They will also experience both elevated and depressed levels of energy, and this can contribute to the mood swings, right? So when they're tired and irritable, they're gonna be more snippy and agitated type threes. They will see a decrease in adrenal core core to call <laugh> activity and an increase in thyroid function. This imbalance is indicative of the resistance to the exhaustive phase of stress, meaning they are burnt out, especially when it is chronic long term stress.

(24:42):

Slow type threes is also associated with depression and irritability type fours, so slow type fours. They will experience high adrenal activities in connection with elevated thyroid function. This imbalance is usually a result of an acute alarm stage of stress. So this is like maybe they were in a car accident. They've spent time in the hospital. It's cost them money, time, energy. So it's a short period of time. It's not a prolonged divorce. It's not a prolonged death of a loved one or something along those lines. Okay. This can develop into prolonged stress and become more of that resistant stage of stress as well. So how do you uncover you if this is a true thyroid issue, because we've seen it over and over again, <laugh>, it's really about mineral balancing, right? All of these different types of people have adrenal and thyroid imbalances.

(25:51):

And this is why adrenal and thyroid issues are so rampant right now. And they manifest in very different ways. So it is imperative that we get the right minerals in the right balance for our body so that our body can self correct. It's it's simple. <Laugh> at least on paper, it's a little more complicated, complicated to put it into practice. And again, this is why I recommend working with myself or another practitioner to get ahead of this. So I wanna give you an example of this, our client Tracy. She, when she came to work with me two years ago, she was on 225 MCGs of LeVox. When she started her doctor told her he couldn't give her any more medication, her body wasn't responding to medication. And that she essentially needed to take radioactive iodine treatment to kill her thyroid. And then they would manage it for the rest of her life on medication alone because her body couldn't do it.

(26:55):

And it was quote unquote broken. So out of being extremely desperate, she joined the Hansen method. We did some testing, got her on a protocol and her doctor tested her again. A couple months later, they removed a ton of her. They reduced her medication significantly, and her doctor was blown away with what she was doing and how she was doing this because he had never seen these type of results before. And I, I remember having this conversation with Tracy and I was like, well, he's welcome to reach out to me. This is, you know, the best email he never did, but I know that she told him what testing they were doing, what supplements she was taking, the lifestyle and dietary things that she was also doing. She was also able to get off blood pressure medication and cholesterol medication with her doctor and is, was well on her way to get off thyroid medication.

(27:56):

So you see, when we did the testing, we discovered that it really wasn't a true thyroid imbalance for her body and that her body didn't need that quote unquote, thyroid medication. This isn't the case with everybody, but this is also why I am such a firm believer in breaking that standard practice of care for the women that I work with, meaning we need to stop doing a pill for an ill. So let's look at things differently to help a person gain their body. We need to look at the, hold on, let me say this a different way. We need to look at each person's body differently and help them gain the right balance in their unique body, help them figure out the diet, the lifestyle, the supplementations that are really, really important. And I wanna give you just another quick example. I had a conversation with a family member the other day, and they're working with another practitioner and this person's a nutritionist and a PA and da, da, da, whatever.

(28:58):

Right? And she's got some nice fancy things behind her name. And she made recommendations for this person, this family member to take. And my, my family member <laugh> was like, well, why am I taking these? And the person was like, because they're just really good supplements to take. And there was no real education around, you're taking this for this, you're doing this for this. And my family member was sitting there asking me, well, why am I taking this stuff? And I'm like, I don't know. <Laugh>, I mean, I can tell you generally what they're used for, but I, I'm not, not all up in your, in your treatment plan. I haven't looked at any of your testing. I really, I really don't know. You know? So anyways, going back to the radio analogy, when you look at your plate, and this is where the action steps come in.

(29:57):

Okay guys, <laugh> so this is where you might wanna take a mental note, or if you've kind of started to wander off in your brain, come back and focus in on this stuff. So when you're looking at your plate, there are three categories of food, protein, carbs, and fats. I personally do best with about 50 to 75% protein and fats with 25% or less in carbs. And the carbs for me are not like rice and grains. The carbs for me are veggies, right? Like I do best with vegetables. So to begin this experiment for yourself, you're gonna start with a third, a third, a third in one third protein, one third fat, one third carbs, and all of these areas and track how you feel immediately following the meal. And then again, one hour later and then make adjustments for there. So if you're like, wow, I feel really, really good.

(30:57):

You could be a combination of the two that we've talked about and you can have a nice little balance if you're like, oh, I didn't feel so good. <Laugh> maybe you felt really good after the meal, but you're really tired. Following it, you may want to increase the protein and the fat and decrease the carbohydrates a little bit. So maybe you're like 75% protein and 25% fat, 25% carbs. Okay. And then again, do that over and over again and track how you feel immediately following and, and hour after you feel after, after you eat. Am I hungry? Am I looking for foods? Do I have the little munchies? Am I, you know, all of those things can give you a better idea of how these things are playing a role in your life. And of course there are more complicated factors such as food, sensitivities and so on and so forth.

(31:58):

This is why, again, I always recommend working with a practitioner because otherwise it seems to be a lot of trial and error. So if you were like, I am done doing this stuff, I am sick of feeling this way. I just wanna get answers, reach out to myself and my team. This is what we are doing all of the month of September. We are working with people to help them dial in their radio essentially and help them get back on track. So they don't have to diet anymore. You can schedule a complimentary meaning, no cost to you, breakthrough call with myself or one of the team members. Super, super simple. Just head over to the show notes, or if you aren't tech savvy and you don't know how to do that, head over to Instagram and search thriving thyroid. And we will. And just tell me, Hey, I wanna schedule a call with you and I'll send you the link and we'll, we'll go from there. So that being said, you guys, I hope you found value in today's episode. If you know someone who is on the dieting train and can't get off of this, you may want to send this to them as well, so that they can evaluate their own eating habits and patterns and begin to understand their metabolic rate and so that they can hone in and lose the weight once. And for all. All right, you guys I'll see you on the next.

(33:30):

Wait, before you go, please subscribe. If you found value in today's episode, leave us review and share on Instagram and please tag us. We love your

(33:44):

Please.

 



 

 

110 // 6 Ways to Bio Hack Your Sleep to Help Balance Your Hormones and Lose Weight

When was the last time you woke up without an alarm, refreshed AND didn’t need a big bucket of coffee to get kickstarted in the morning?

 

I think the resounding answer for most of us is, “not in a long time”, so there’s no doubt that we’re all chasing after that elusive good night’s sleep!

 

But, with all of the distractions, and stresses of daily life - it’s a wonder how any of us sleep at all - ever!

 

I blame this on our “rise and grind” culture. We’re in a constant state of digital stimulation, hustle and bustle. I mean, it can be downright embarrassing to tell people that your bedtime is 10 pm - or earlier! Haha!

 

Truth is, not getting enough good quality sleep impacts our brain health and memory in the long term, and even our body’s ability to detoxify and renew itself.

 

Lack of sleep also messes with our hormones - and you know what happens when hormones aren’t happy!

 

Speaking of hormones - did you know that we have 400 times more MELATONIN (the body’s natural “sleep hormone”) in our gut than in our brains? That’s reason enough to focus on gut health as part of a healthy sleep routine!

.

.

.

SHOW NOTES AT 

 

Get on the Hansen Method waitlist. Click here. We open up the Hansen Method 2-3x a year so that we can fully support our clients to the highest degree possible.

 

Thinking about using nutrition and holistic health for restoring thyroid function? Learn EVERYTHING you need to know by joining our Free Facebook Group. Thriving Thyroid Balance Community.

 

Are you interested in learning more about your thyroid and finding answers? 

 

We got you! 

 

We have several different opportunities to work with us at several different price points and opportunities. 

 

Our signature 6-month program is called The Hansen Method, we offer this in a VIP setting with personalized plans and protocols, individual one on one coaching and incredible bonuses that change regularly. You can schedule a complimentary thyroid breakthrough call with one of our thyroid advisors. Click here.  If you have questions about the Hansen Method and want to discuss your specific situation and make sure this is the right program for you you can schedule a complimentary thyroid breakthrough call with one of our team members. schedule here. Hurry, my schedule fills up quickly and we only work with limited amount of women at any given time.

 

 Join hundreds of women who have improved their symptoms by 80% and lose on average 30lbs in the 4 months.  

 

Not ready to schedule a call, no problem. Learn more about the Hansen Method to see if it’s a good fit for you. Click here to learn more. 

 

We also offer The Hansen Method as a Self Guided option. 

 

Option number 1 for self guide is where you are totally on your own to go through the program content, make the changes and execute them on your own. Click here to purchase. 

 

Option number 2 includes group coaching and access to our members facebook group that will allow you access to our Thyroid Success Coaches and testing with personalized protocols. Click here to purchase.   

 

But one of our favorite ways to work with us is our Thriving Thyroid Coaching Membership Opportunity.  This is where many of clients first begin working with us. It allows you to get to know us, our system and start making changes before making a larger financial investment. Click here to learn more

 

CONTACT LINKS

 

DOWNLOADABLE RESOURCES

 

PAID RESOURCES

 

AFFILIATE LINKS

 

Xo,

Shannon Hansen

 

P.S. Make sure to schedule our Thyroid Breakthrough call with one of our thyroid advisors. 

AUDIO TRANSCRIPTION

(00:01):

If you haven't listened to episode 1 0 9, go back and listen to that. Before listening today's to today's episode where we are talking about six ways to biohack your sleek. Welcome back to the thriving thyroid podcast, where we choose to become empowered patients and take our health into our own hands. Hi, I'm Shannon Hanson, a Christian entrepreneur, a mom of three. And after dealing with my own health mysteries, I made it my mission to learn everything I could about the thyroid. I soon became certified as a holistic wellness practitioner, a functional nutrition practitioner and a functional diagnostic practitioner. And so much more. After that, I founded the revolutionary thyroid program, the Hanon method as a health professional and a mom. I fully understand the importance of having a fun, simple, and sustainable plan for achieving a responsive thyroid. So I share actionable and practical strategies for developing a responsive thyroid so that the ambitious moms and women can gain freedom from fatigue and lose the thyroid weight once. And for all each week, I will be here for you along with my guest experts, we will be sharing simple and tangible tips that work for not only your thyroid, your hormones, your family, and your mindset, so that you can get back to living the life that you envision for yourself. Welcome to the thriving thyroid podcast.

(01:36):

All right, you guys welcome back to the thriving thyroid podcast with your host Shannon Hansen. I am so excited to talk about sleep. You guys sleep in poop. Those are my jams because they make the biggest difference when learning and working towards balancing and optimizing your thyroid hormones. All right, here we go. So when was the last time you woke up without an alarm feeling refreshed and didn't need a bucket of coffee to get you going in the morning? There is no question that we all want better sleep, but with all of the distractions and all of the stresses of our daily life, it is no wonder how many of us struggle to get good quality sleep. Now, I blame it on today's culture, where we've gotta rise and grind and get more done and be more and be better and more successful in our life when there is this constant stage of, and in addition to that, this constant stage of digital stimulation and hustle and bustle, and I know if you're anything like me, I'm eating lunch, trying to answer emails and checking emails and scrolling through Instagram to make sure I didn't miss any of the things right.

(03:06):

And the truth is though that that is <laugh> so terrible for our hormones, right? So the truth is not getting enough. Sleep really impacts our brain, our health, our memory, and our body's ability to detoxify and renew itself through cellular turnover and repair. And one of the best things that I have learned, and I'm still practicing. It is how to slow down, how to just be present in the moment, instead of always thinking about, I need to do this and I need to do that and I need to do this. And then, and then after I finish that, then I can do this and blah, blah, blah. You know, like stacking my day with all of these things. And really, it's no wonder that we're seeing this exponential increase in disease, things like obesity and heart disease and Alzheimer's and autoimmune disorders like Hashimotos and adrenal dysregulation.

(04:10):

In fact, the lack of sleep is messing with many of our hormones. And as you know, when that happens, our hormones, aren't happy the other day in our Facebook group, I asked the question, you know, what would be one thing that you would fix about your hormones? And <laugh> one lady I love this. One lady was like that. I wouldn't have any <laugh> and I was like, what? You don't want any hormones? And she was like, no, because they just keep getting messed up. So anyways, I got a good kick out of that because I can totally resonate with that. <Laugh> yeah, just take 'em all away. That would be great. Just make everything all balanced. Speaking of hormones though, did you know that there are 400 times more melatonin? So the body's natural sleep hormone in our gut than in our brain. The reason enough to focus on the importance of our gut health and taking good probiotics and establishing that good, healthy sleep routine, little known facts about what happens to our hormones when we don't get enough sleep.

(05:23):

So number one, grin. So grin is our hunger hormone, which increases by 15% after just one night of poor sleep. And it can also drastically impact our leptin. So leptin is the hormone of satiation, meaning I'm full, I'm satisfied. So it is no wonder we want to eat a big pile of sugar and carbs and all of the yummy food. When we are tired, we're looking for this big fat energy fix and our body will look to those, but it impacts our, our hormones, leptin and growlin K, number two, chronic sleep deprivation correlates with that elevated evening time cortisol. So our stress cortisol, this is why a lot of us will quote unquote peak at night and have that energy rush or surge in the evening. So when cortisol is elevated, you're not only more hungry, but you tend to store more visceral fat in that abdominal area, AKA that dreaded belly fat you guys, if you wanna get rid of that, manage your stress and get to sleep.

(06:48):

Okay. Number three, the production of growth hormone. You guys, I feel like I have missed <laugh> the mark for a long time on how important human growth hormone really is. So that is your H G H, which is dubbed the foundation of the youth hormone. So this is at its peak during the first half hour of your sleep. And this is also known as that Delta stage sleep. So when we get into our deepest sleep and restorative sleep is in that first, that first half of our sleep, okay. It protects our muscles from breaking down. It aids in building leaner muscle tissues. It gives you energy. And this means that you're able to lose weight more efficiently and maintain that leaner body mass, but only when you sleep well. So yes, getting to sleep is important, but we also need good deep sleep throughout the night.

(07:54):

So here are the six ways to use sleep to boost our body's biological rhythm and improve the balance. So, number one is the key nutrients. This is a whole unit that we talk about inside the HandsOn method. But those key nutrients that your body needs, our body needs a diet rich in both pre and probiotic, rich foods. As the bacteria in our gut can interfere with the melatonin and also eating foods that are high in sleep nutrients. So for example, potassium potassium helps us stay asleep and can be found in bananas or coconut water. And avocados. Magnesium is a relaxant and helps us to fall asleep. But 80% of us are believed to be deficient in this multitasking mineral. So one of the tips that I like to share, and one of my, I guess, evening routines for a long time has been to take magnesium and a probiotic right before I go to sleep.

(09:10):

And that is what we recommend inside the Hansen method. We recommend a therapeutic dosage to our clients as well as good quality probiotics to aid in that. Because we know that sometimes diet is not enough. All right. Number two, tip for biohacking. Your rhythm is a balanced dinner. So spa pay special attention to the last meal of the day. Make sure it is a balanced dinner, which includes ample amounts of protein, veggies, and good fats, as well as a small amount of slow digesting carbohydrates, something like sweet potatoes, wild rice, or quinoa, number three, limit alcohol. We have talked about this, a ton on the podcast, go back to, I believe episode 47 and 48 or 48 and 49. And then we had an episode a couple weeks ago about alcohol as well. And I believe that was episode 1 0 3, but alcohol inhibits deep REM sleep.

(10:27):

So if you ha are having a cup of wine, a glass of wine before you go to bed, this could be impacting your sleep. This is when so REM sleep is when we dream as well as when our memories are get solidified from that short term to long term memory, even just one glass of wine can affect REM sleep. So enough said, <laugh> you guys limit that alcohol, especially right before bed, number four, practice, good sleep hygiene. I love, and I have a hate relationship with this. So in the evenings you create a ritualistic or routine that you follow around sleep. So sleep hygiene is like going to bed early, before 10:00 PM, practicing that good hygiene, washing your face, brushing your teeth, sitting in an absence, all bath. For me, that includes taking a good probiotic and magnesium before bed. You know, snuggling my kids, reading books, whatever, whatever is part of that routine, make it the same, try to do it in the same way, the same fashion every single night.

(11:47):

So that your body can start winding down for me also. I'm, I'm remembering as I'm putting together this podcast. So part of my sleep hygiene is we eat dinner. We clean up dinner, kids get on pajamas, take showers. You know, we brush teeth, do all of that thing. But then as that is starting to happen, I am going around the house and I am turning off the lights, turning off lights, turning off lights you know, all because when you turn off lights that signals to your brain to start making melatonin. The other thing that I like to do is I start diffusing essential oils. I take my supplements brush my teeth, brush my face, put on my pajamas, you know, all of those types of things. And I try to do it in the same habit, the same fashion every single night, so that my body is like, oh yeah, it's sleep.

(12:43):

We know what to do now. <Laugh> that kind of thing. Okay. So whatever that routine looks like for you, if it includes exercise, if it includes journal, if it includes reading a book you know, make that part of something that you are doing over and over and over again. And don't deviate from that, at least <laugh> for a short period of time, number five, and this leads into number five, because number five is ditch those devices. You guys, it is not part of that good sleep hygiene. And I know, I know the struggles of devices. I have my own <laugh> love connection, especially in the evening. My husband and I talk about this all the time. One of my ways to wind down in the evening and to almost, I, this is embarrassing to admit, but I use TV oftentimes as a numbing, right?

(13:43):

If I am super stressed out, or if I'm dealing with some hard things in my life, I would rather like watch a TV show or, you know, scroll Facebook or Instagram or TikTok or whatever. And that is, <laugh> not something that is supportive to our sleep. So set a curfew for yourself. I have a timer. I, I don't know if it's a timer. I set it up on my phone to wear every night at 10:00 PM. I have to intentionally put in a pin to allow me to be on my phone. I should probably move the time up a little bit, but I haven't gotten that far <laugh>. But that is one of the things that you guys can also do is put on, do not disturb limit that. You know, there there's a lot of things that can help make this happen.

(14:40):

But set a screen curfew for yourself at least an hour before bed. My aim currently is to be in bed by like 9 30, 10 o'clock. And so for me, that would be eight, eight thirty, that my phone would be off the blue light, admitted from our devices, lowers melatonin production. By up to 50%, you guys, 50%, it is no longer <laugh> okay to fall asleep in front of the TV. It is time to turn off the TV. And I say that with all of the love in my heart. Okay. Number six. And the last tip is using essential oils. So those essential oils can help calm the body. I used to have diffusers in all of my kids' rooms. They still have them. We haven't been using them as frequently as we should, but things like diffusing, lavender and V ever, and frankincense and sandalwood and Roman camo mill in those diffusers or even putting them in a hot bath before bed or on your pillow case, those can all work wonders to help you drift off you guys.

(15:59):

I use those, especially when my kids were really, really little, I would put the oil on my chest and as I'm holding them, rocking them, you know, singing to them, whatever, whatever I did for their sleep routine, I would have them smelling it on me. And I noticed every time I did that, it was like their brain. And there's tons of science behind this too. But essentially what happens is when we smell things, it brings back memories, right? So that warm apple pie reminds you of grandma fresh cut grass reminds you of, you know, summer, whatever the smells are. It's like all of a sudden that O factory that our brain is like smelling and it's like, boom, triggers memories. And this is when, one of the things that really got me believing in essential oils amongst other reasons. But my husband would use essential oils when he was studying for tests many years ago and going to engineering school.

(17:07):

And he was on a fast track. He was taking tons of credits and all of that, but he would use certain essential oils while he was studying. And then when he would go in to take exams, finals, midterms, whatever it was, he would use that same smell and the same scent to recall his memory. And he did so good on all of his tests. And anyways, so same thing with sleep, right? When we, if we always use a combination between lavender and V ever, or lavender and Roman came meal, or a combination of all of it, our brain, our kids' brains will all of a sudden go, oh yeah, I'm tired and start producing that melatonin. So there is absolutely no question that getting enough sleep is one of the most important things that you can do for your overall health. It does take some practice and perhaps a few biological trips, tricks and hacks to help you balance your body's natural circadian rhythm, but the better sleep that you are getting, the better you will feel, the lower your sugar cravings will be all of those wonderful things.

(18:26):

The last little tip that I wanted to give you guys is tart. Cherry juice helps with melatonin production as well. One of my biggest recommendations for my clients is usually to have an ounce, maybe two ounces of like something like a Turkey, right before bed, pumpkin seeds, all of those things can really, really help with the body's ability to produce melatonin naturally inside the body to help give you that good restful restorative sleep and balance those hormones. All right, you guys, I will see you in the next be before you go. I wanted to share with you guys about an online platform called Fullscript. Fullscript is a platform where you can purchase high quality supplementation, including brands like thorn, pure encapsulation, Douglas labs, Genestra Claire labs. And so many more. We use this platform to help our clients purchase these top quality supplements at a discounted price.

(19:31):

You can also set up auto shipments where these supplements come into your home automatically without you having to think about it. It is one of the things that has taken the most guesswork out of my health for me currently, as I have just set up an auto shipment for my prenatals and my organ meets and all of those wonderful things for myself and for my kids. And you can go in and change it at any time. Now, if you enroll under my link in the show notes, you will get a bigger discount and you'll get access to my online protocols, protocols for painful menstrual cycles, protocols for headaches, pro protocols for your immune system, all kinds of things. Now, if you're looking for something in particular and it's not there, send me a DM on Instagram at thriving thyroid, and I may be able to put something together for you guys. So head over to the show notes, set up an account with full script. You will get all of the information and all of the details of upcoming promotions and additional savings.

(20:48):

Wait before, before you go, please subscribe. If you found value in today's episode, leave us a review and share on Instagram and please tag us. We love.

 

109 // Can Lack of Sleep Cause Weight Gain? ... Is My Sleep Messing With My Weight?

Are you stuck trying to figure out why you’re gaining weight — or why it’s so difficult to lose those extra pounds that just seemed to sneak up on you despite not changing your diet or exercise habits?

 

This is often referred to as Weight Loss Resistance - and it’s exactly how it sounds: weight that just won’t budge no matter what you do!

 

Here’s one surprising reason why you might be gaining weight or experiencing weight loss resistance: lack of good quality, restorative sleep.

 

In fact, there are actually science-backed reasons why a lack of sleep can be a strong contributing factor to not being able to maintain a healthy weight.

 

So, why does lack of sleep causes weight gain anyway?

 

Well, if you thought unsightly dark circles under the eyes were the worst outcome from cutting corners on sleep, you might want to think again. Sleep is of the utmost importance to nearly every bodily system, and losing out on it, even just a little, creates a vicious cycle in your body.

 

But, could your bad sleep habits be messing with your weight?! Let’s explore all of the different ways this concerning phenomenon could be going on in your bedroom every night!

.

.

.

SHOW NOTES AT 

 

Get on the Hansen Method waitlist. Click here. We open up the Hansen Method 2-3x a year so that we can fully support our clients to the highest degree possible.

 

Thinking about using nutrition and holistic health for restoring thyroid function? Learn EVERYTHING you need to know by joining our Free Facebook Group. Thriving Thyroid Balance Community.

 

Are you interested in learning more about your thyroid and finding answers? 

 

We got you! 

 

We have several different opportunities to work with us at several different price points and opportunities. 

 

Our signature 6-month program is called The Hansen Method, we offer this in a VIP setting with personalized plans and protocols, individual one on one coaching and incredible bonuses that change regularly. You can schedule a complimentary thyroid breakthrough call with one of our thyroid advisors. Click here.  If you have questions about the Hansen Method and want to discuss your specific situation and make sure this is the right program for you you can schedule a complimentary thyroid breakthrough call with one of our team members. schedule here. Hurry, my schedule fills up quickly and we only work with limited amount of women at any given time.

 

 Join hundreds of women who have improved their symptoms by 80% and lose on average 30lbs in the 4 months.  

 

Not ready to schedule a call, no problem. Learn more about the Hansen Method to see if it’s a good fit for you. Click here to learn more. 

 

We also offer The Hansen Method as a Self Guided option. 

 

Option number 1 for self guide is where you are totally on your own to go through the program content, make the changes and execute them on your own. Click here to purchase. 

 

Option number 2 includes group coaching and access to our members facebook group that will allow you access to our Thyroid Success Coaches and testing with personalized protocols. Click here to purchase.   

 

But one of our favorite ways to work with us is our Thriving Thyroid Coaching Membership Opportunity.  This is where many of clients first begin working with us. It allows you to get to know us, our system and start making changes before making a larger financial investment. Click here to learn more

 

CONTACT LINKS

 

DOWNLOADABLE RESOURCES

 

PAID RESOURCES

 

AFFILIATE LINKS

 

Xo,

Shannon Hansen

 

P.S. Make sure to schedule our Thyroid Breakthrough call with one of our thyroid advisors. 

AUDIO TRANSCRIPTION

(00:01):

Can the lack of sleep cause or lead to weight gain. Welcome back to the thriving thyroid podcast, where we choose to become empowered patients and take our health into our own hands. Hi, I'm Shannon Hanson, a Christian entrepreneur, a mom of three. And after dealing with my own health mysteries, I made it my mission to learn everything I could about the thyroid. I soon became certified as a holistic wellness practitioner, a functional nutrition practitioner and a functional diagnostic practitioner. And so much more. After that, I founded the revolutionary thyroid program, the hands, a method as a health professional and a mom. I fully understand the importance of having a fun, simple, and sustainable plan for achieving a responsive thyroid. So I share actionable and practical strategies for developing a responsive thyroid so that the ambitious moms and women can gain freedom from fatigue and lose the thyroid weight once.

(01:05):

And for all each week, I will be here for you along with my guest experts, we will be sharing simple and tangible tips that work for not only your thyroid, your hormones, your family, and your mindset, so that you can get back to living the life that you envision for yourself. Welcome to the thriving thyroid podcast. All right, you guys welcome back to the thriving thyroid podcast with me, your host Shannon Hanson. I am super excited today and the episode coming out on Thursday, we're gonna be talking now sleep. This is an, if you guys have been around here for any length of time, you have heard me talk about my journey with sleep. I will do some recaps, but when I was really, really struggling with my hormones, when my energy was the lowest, when I was having fibromyalgia type symptoms, just this deep muscle ache and pain and feeling, not myself and not really knowing what to do or how to change.

(02:10):

And I remember over and over again, telling my husband, I just need to take care of myself. I just need to take care of myself. And he is like, yeah, do it like do whatever you need to do. I'm here to, to help you and support you. And at that time it was like nothing was working really. Like, it really felt like nothing in my life was working. I was eating healthy. I was eating clean. I was taking supplements. I was quote unquote doing all of the right things for my health, except things continued to get worse for me. And looking back, I now realize and recognize that a lot of it had to do with the lack of sleep that I was participating in. I had had three kids about five, six, and under, right. So the oldest was like around that five, six mark and my <laugh> baby.

(03:11):

Her sleep was really inconsistent. She was a good sleeper when she slept, but sometimes the, the lack of schedule and routine really messings up. So if she took a really late nap, then she'd be up in the middle of the night and guess who's with guess who's with the babies, right. Still having to get up and get everybody dressed and ready. And, and thankfully it wasn't a long period of time, but, but that played a role in my sleep. There was other periods of time where maybe I wasn't doing all of the right healthy things, but again, my sleep was suffering. I was my husband was going to school full time. Money was pretty tight, especially going from what we were making before to him going back to school full time and not working in his trade and profession. And, and honestly, you guys, it was the best move for our family long term, but it didn't mean that there wasn't some struggles along the way, and to help with the financial situation, I started a business and I sold things, handmade items on Etsy and all of those fun things.

(04:23):

And so because of that, I would also stay up super late at night, working after everybody else was asleep. So once again, these different points in these different periods in my life sleep was a big key player. So it didn't matter if I was eating healthy exercising, you know, doing all the quote unquote right. Things. If your sleep is off, it's going to impact things. And once I started to prioritize my sleep, which was super hard to do <laugh> because I I'll be honest. I enjoy those moments in the evening when it's just me and nobody is thinking about me or touching me or wanting me or calling my name, you know, it's those quiet moments that I'm like, ah, yes, like I can watch the TV show that I want to watch and I can do what I want to do at this point.

(05:25):

And having a new baby again has brought back a lot of those same feelings, thoughts where it's like, but I just want peace and quiet where nobody wants me and nobody needs me, but I'll be honest. I haven't been the best with prioritizing my sleep, but I am much better than I was with previous kids and not staying up till nine, 10. I'm like the kids have to go to sleep. So I have a couple minutes <laugh> by myself uni essentially uninterrupted. So I did make it in bed last night by 8 39 o'clock. Which would have never happened before. So counting that as win. So let's dive into can the lack of sleep cause weight gain. So if you guys are stuck trying to figure out why you're gaining weight or why it's so difficult for you to lose those extra pounds, that just seems to sneak up on you and not budge, regardless of changing your eating habits or your exercise.

(06:35):

This is often referred to as weight resistance. Talk about this a lot. And this is exactly how it sounds weight that won't budge. No matter what you do here is one surprising reason. You might be gaining weight and experiencing the weight lost resistance because of, so number one, lack of good quality and restorative sleep surprise, surprise. In fact, there is actually science backed reasons why the lack of sleep can be a strong contributor to not being able to maintain that healthy weight. So again, when we're looking at thyroid, if you guys are struggling, please, please, please prioritize at sleep. We have a client right now inside the Hansen method and she is struggling to prioritize her sleep. And we've talked to her over and over again. We're like, you have to do X, Y, Z. These are the things that are going to contribute to better and improved sleep.

(07:39):

And until you do those things, it, weight is going to be very, very difficult for you to maintain. So getting off the phone earlier wearing blue light glasses, I'm actually wearing them right now while I am recording having a good sleep hygiene you know, all of those, all of those contributing factors. And we'll talk about those more. So if you thought UN dark circles under your eyes were the worst outcome from cutting corners. When, when you're sleeping, you might want to think again, sleep is the utmost important to nearly every system in the body and losing out on it. Even just a little creates this vicious cycle inside your body. So for example, when healthy weight healthy, hold on, for example, where a healthy body weight may be, the concern, the more sleep deprived you are, the higher, higher, your levels of stress hormone, AKA cortisol will be, which tends to increase your appetite.

(08:52):

You guys are going to be craving those processed carbohydrates because your body is looking for fuel. And where do we get our fuel from, from those carbohydrates and the processed sugar, which of course will lead to more cravings throughout the day and then a crappy night's sleep. <Laugh> right. So and okay. So here is an additional tidbit. When we raise our insulin levels, when our blood sugar is out of balance, you're also gonna be waking up in the middle of the night, possibly hungry. Okay. When my clients tell me, Hey, I wake up in the middle of the night and I'm so hungry, don't go grab some chips or carbohydrates or crackers or something quick and easy. No, if you're waking up in the middle of the night, your body needs extra protein, protein, you need protein. <Laugh> protein, especially in the form of trip tofa trip tofa is a protein that will convert into number one, serotonin and serotonin is that happy feel good hormone. And then it will convert into melatonin, which helps you sleep. So, and additionally, when we are overtired the mitochondria, those little cellular factors that turn food and oxygen into energy, which equals your metabolism center, right? So when that mitochondria is overtired, it actually starts to shut down. This causes glucose to stay in your blood, and then you will end up with higher blood sugar levels.

(10:40):

So when our body, so let's say the mitochondria, right? These tiny little factors when the mitochondria becomes damaged, because of the lack of sleep, the lack of eating healthy food, all of these things, the mitochondria is actually very, very sensitive to damage. And when they aren't working properly, you will suffer from low energy memory, loss, pain, rapid aging. So this is one of the things that we're looking at when we work with you inside of our program, do you experience premature aging, gray hairs, wrinkly skin, you know, all of those different things. And fatigue is probably the most common side effect when we are looking at poor mitochondria function. And in fact, the reason that we poop out at, you know, different ages, menopause perimenopause even earlier, is because this constant insult salt and injury to our mitochondria, this is why we see women go at perimenopause and postmenopausal begin to have more and more thyroid dysfunction.

(11:50):

Okay. So when we tune up our metabolism, that's the first order of business to, to finding out or fixing the damage of our mitochondria things like toxins and infections and allergens and stress. But the biggest insult over time is eating too much high calorie foods that are low in nutrition in short meaning empty calories. So when the body is burned or metabolized with oxygen in the mitochondria, our body processes is processes. This waste in the form of free radicals, which creates this chain like reaction of resting or oxidation, unless we have enough antioxidants in our diet, where do antioxidants come from? Whole foods, fruits, vegetables, those types of things that help build up those antioxidants and thus protect our body and our cells from that mitochondria damage. Okay. Let's flip back over to insulin. So insulin is that blood sugar that we need to be looking at and can rise from the crappy empty calorie type foods.

(13:15):

It can also rise because we're not sleeping well. So insulin is that hormone whose job it is to signal the muscles and the fat and the liver to can to absorb the glucose or the sugar from the bloodstream to be used as energy. So a study at Ann L's internal medicine reports that skimping on sleep can cause fat cells to become less insulin sensitive up to 60%, meaning they lose their AB ability to absorb and to utilize that insulin inside the body. So yet there is another reason that you might be packing on the pounds when you are lacking. Sleep is because your body goes into that survival mode much like when we are depriving our body of too little energy and two little calories, therefore our body goes into that survival mode and that equals ex extra <laugh> extra fat storage. And the body thinks that it's better for, for this to happen and for you to be fat than dead.

(14:32):

And our body at the end of the day is just trying to keep you alive. It's just trying to keep you protected. And so going back to the client that we're working with, she is eating foods that she's struggling like essentially empty calorie foods. She's not sleeping. And so she's currently in this rat race <laugh> right. Of repeating the same cycles. And this is once again, where we have to work on that mindset of how are we going to break these, these chain reactions and she'll do really, really good right now. She's actually in a really good place. Things are going really, really well for her. A lot of her stress has come down, but then in six months, three months, two months, it really just depends. Life will take another turn. And, and then she's kind of right back into that same cycle. And so this is where, and I, I think we can all agree that we've been in these places where we're doing really, really good, and then life happens and stress happens.

(15:40):

And then we fall into old habits. And the big thing that we need to focus on in situations like this is being able to get up and to consistently move forward, right? The place that she's in now is significantly better than where she was before. And even this last time that she kind of relapsed and started eating junk food a little bit more, and wasn't sleeping as much and all of these different things, she's still coming out further ahead. And she's still noticing all of these other wins, but to the point of her, she's she, her son's getting married and she wants to lose weight. And so she's really putting forth the energy, the effort to, to make this happen. And she, so we have a, a journaling part as part of our app, and we were talking about what she was eating. And I was like, my friend, you are not eating enough.

(16:42):

This is not going to help contribute to weight gain. So yes, the quality of food is very good, but what's happening. As we look at this, she's being quote unquote good all day long, cutting calories, you know, eating four olives and, you know, three ounces of chicken and veggies, but at nighttime is when she's noticing those carbohydrate cravings and then she'll give into those cravings and that will not contribute to a good sleep. And then, and then, and then, and then, okay. Hopefully that makes sense for you guys. And let's start talking about some of the basic things that you guys can do to improve your sleep. Before we do that, I did wanna share with you guys that research says that just 30 minutes of a loss of sleep per day could make you more likely to gain weight. You guys, 30 minutes is not a lot.

(17:47):

Okay. <Laugh> and this, this is again, why I tell my clients, if you need a nap, go take a 30 minute power nap. You know sleep could argue, arguably be the most important thing that a person can do. If they're ready to start a new health optimization plan. And the first step is to prioritize your sleep sleep. Isn't just time to rest. There's actually, it's actually nourishing our body just as, when you just, as much as when you're eating healthy foods, it may require some behavioral and mindset shifts on your part, but your body and your booty will thank you for that. And what a great time of year as kids are going back to school, they're getting on a schedule, they're getting on a routine. It is perfect for us moms to also take time to prioritize ourself ourselves. So here are a few little tips that I have used for myself.

(18:52):

Number one. So when I, okay, so really quickly there is something called a reverse curve. So some of you guys are essentially peeking or you have the most energy at night. So that's when you're cleaning your house when your kids and everybody are asleep. And that's where I was, and I was stuck on that cycle. So one of the first things that I had to do was to essentially force good caffeine or good energy into myself, first thing in the morning. So I took B vitamins and a few other things that I'm not gonna tell you because you need to make sure that you're working with a professional to help you with that. And so I took, took some supplements and some herbs that gave me a good boost of energy in the morning. It didn't fix things overnight, but it was significantly better.

(19:46):

So I did that. And then at nighttime, I would drink things like Kamaal tea, or I would take a warm absence bath. And I really, really tried to, I would start turning off the lights in my home around seven so that my body could start producing that melatonin. And I would start signaling to my body that it was time to wind down. So things like camel tea peppermint tea, or lemon balm, some lavender, passion, flour, all of those things can go in there. I also like in a, in a sleepy time tea, so you guys can make your own, or you can, you know, obviously buy one from the stores. They have a few sleepy time teas that I've seen. All of those are great. The other thing that I would start doing is I would diffuse or put on some lavender essential oil V ever is one of my absolute favorites.

(20:45):

If you guys send me a DM on Instagram at thriving thyroid, and just ask me, you know, what's your essential oil sleep blend. I will tell you how to make it. But essentially it is like lavender, Roman, camo, mill V ever. I use the serenity from doTERRA and I oh, and Franken sense. So there's five oils that go in there, make the blend. And I either diffuse it or I put it on myself or the pillowcase. And that again for me signals, Hey, it's time to, it's time to go to sleep. So anyways, I hope those were super, super helpful for you guys, make sure to prioritize your sleep because you can get better sleep and that will aid in the body's ability to lose weight. All right, I'll see you on the next B before you go. I wanted to share with you guys about an online platform called full script.

(21:46):

Full script is a platform where you can purchase high quality supplementation, including brands like thorn, pure encapsulation, Douglas labs, Genestra Claire labs. And so many more. We use this platform to help our clients purchase these top quality supplements at a discounted price. You can also set up auto shipments where these supplements come into your home automatically without you having to think about it. It is one of the things that has taken the most guesswork out of my health for me currently, as I have just set up an auto shipment for my prenatals and my organ meets and all of those wonderful things for myself and for my kids. And you can go in and change it at any time. Now, if you enroll under my link in the show notes, you will get a bigger discount and you'll get access to my online protocols, protocols for painful menstrual cycles, protocols for headaches, pro protocols for your immune system, all kinds of things. Now, if you're looking for something in particular and it's not there, send me a DM on Instagram at thriving thyroid, and I may be able to put something together for you guys. So head over to the show notes, set up an account with full script. You will get all of the information and all of the details of upcoming promotions and additional savings

(23:24):

Way before you go, please subscribe. If you found value in today's episode, leave us a review and share on Instagram and please tag us.

(23:34):

We love your review, please,

(23:37):

Please.

108// Take the Shame Out of Eating with Jessica Setnick

Jessica Setnick is your favorite kind of dietitian - she knows her stuff but doesn’t take herself too seriously. She blends her personal eating disorder recovery story with 24 years of experience in the eating disorder field as she writes, speaks and interviews worldwide, sharing the message that everyone needs a safe place to talk about their eating and everyone who wants help should be able to get it. Her advocacy work knocking down insurance barriers to treatment and systemic bias in healthcare has made a difference, but she’s not done yet. I'm excited that Jessica is joining me here today and can't wait to hear more.

 

Connect with Jessica: 

www.FoodFairyTales.com is the link to my workbook (discount code

www.EatingDisordersBootCamp.com is the link to my professional training

www.JessicaSetnick.com is my homepage

Instagram: @understandingnutrition instagram.com/understandingnutrition/

Facebook: @jessicasetnick facebook.com/jessica.setnick/

Twitter: @jessicasetnick twitter.com/@jessicasetnick

Linkedin: @jessicasetnick linkedin.com/in/jessicasetnick/

 

We talk about:

1. Why is it so hard to change our eating?

2. How do we know if our eating is a problem?

3. How do we separate food and feelings?

1. How do you define or envision body image?

2. Can you change your body image?

3. What if you can't accept your body?



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SHOW NOTES AT 



Get on the Hansen Method waitlist. Click here. We open up the Hansen Method 2-3x a year so that we can fully support our clients to the highest degree possible.



Thinking about using nutrition and holistic health for restoring thyroid function? Learn EVERYTHING you need to know by joining our Free Facebook Group. Thriving Thyroid Balance Community.



Are you interested in learning more about your thyroid and finding answers? 



We got you! 



We have several different opportunities to work with us at several different price points and opportunities. 



Our signature 6-month program is called The Hansen Method, we offer this in a VIP setting with personalized plans and protocols, individual one on one coaching and incredible bonuses that change regularly. You can schedule a complimentary thyroid breakthrough call with one of our thyroid advisors. Click here.  If you have questions about the Hansen Method and want to discuss your specific situation and make sure this is the right program for you you can schedule a complimentary thyroid breakthrough call with one of our team members. schedule here. Hurry, my schedule fills up quickly and we only work with limited amount of women at any given time.



 Join hundreds of women who have improved their symptoms by 80% and lose on average 30lbs in the 4 months.  



Not ready to schedule a call, no problem. Learn more about the Hansen Method to see if it’s a good fit for you. Click here to learn more. 



We also offer The Hansen Method as a Self Guided option. 



Option number 1 for self guide is where you are totally on your own to go through the program content, make the changes and execute them on your own. Click here to purchase. 



Option number 2 includes group coaching and access to our members facebook group that will allow you access to our Thyroid Success Coaches and testing with personalized protocols. Click here to purchase.   



But one of our favorite ways to work with us is our Thriving Thyroid Coaching Membership Opportunity.  This is where many of clients first begin working with us. It allows you to get to know us, our system and start making changes before making a larger financial investment. Click here to learn more



CONTACT LINKS



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PAID RESOURCES



AFFILIATE LINKS

 

Xo,

Shannon Hansen



P.S. Make sure to schedule our Thyroid Breakthrough call with one of our thyroid advisors. 

AUDIO TRANSCRIPTION

(00:00):

Jessica set is your favorite kind of dietician. She knows her stuff, but it doesn't take herself too seriously. She blends her personal eating disorder, recovery story with 24 years of experience in the emotion in eating disorder field. As she writes, speaks in interviews, worldwide sharing the message that everyone needs a safe place to talk about their eating and everyone who wants help should be able to get it. Her advocacy work, knocking down insurance barriers to treatment and systemically bias in the healthcare in healthcare has made a difference, but she is not done yet. I'm excited that Jessica is joining me here on the thriving thyroid podcast. And I can't wait for you guys to hear more.

(00:56):

Welcome back to the thriving thyroid podcast, where we choose to become empowered patients and take our health into our own hands. Hi, I'm Shannon Hanson, a Christian entrepreneur, a mom of three. And after dealing with my own health mysteries, I made it my mission to learn everything I could about the thyroid. I soon became certified as a holistic wellness practitioner, a functional nutrition practitioner and a functional diagnostic practitioner. And so much more after that, I founded the revolutionary thyroid program, the Hanon method as a health professional and a mom. I fully understand the importance of having a fun, simple, and sustainable plan for achieving a responsive thyroid. So I share actionable and practical strategies for developing a responsive thyroid so that the ambitious moms and women can gain freedom from fatigue and lose the thyroid weight once. And for all each week, I will be here for you along with my guest experts, we will be sharing simple and tangible tips that work for not only your thyroid, your hormones, your family, and your mindset, so that you can get back to living the life that you envision for yourself. Welcome to the thriving thyroid podcast.

(02:20):

All right, guys, welcome back to the thriving thyroid podcast. I have Jessica Nik with me on today's podcast. I'm really excited to hear what she has to say about dysfunctional eating behaviors and maybe how we can notice some trends and topics, or, you know, better evaluate our own relationship with food. So welcome, Jessica.

(02:42):

Thank you. Glad to be here.

(02:44):

Yeah. So give us a little bit of a background as to how you got started in working with people with eating disorders and those dysfunctional eating behaviors.

(02:55):

Sure. So I'm an accidental nutritionist. I didn't know what, what I wanted to do with my life or career. And so I was in college and I was working on a degree in anthropology, not really knowing what I was gonna do with that career. And someone said, oh, here's my nutrition book. You should take nutrition. It's an easy a, so I took nutrition as an elective and I did not remember it being an easy a, but I do remember being so entranced by the idea of what happens to food. Once it goes inside your body, it was just something I had never given a lot of thought, right? Because it just happens automatically. And not only that, but that from the anthropology perspective, which if you don't know, and I wouldn't know if I hadn't been an anthropology major anthropology is the study of human development, whether it's over time or in cultures or physically.

(03:42):

And so to me that brought this perspective of not just what happens to food, once it goes inside your body, but why you make the choices you make, why you pick certain foods over other foods, what your cultural messages are about foods. So it became a really interesting combination for me. And so when I was in school graduate school to become a dietician, even though I feel like it, you know, that sort of aspect of the psychology of eating and why people make the choices they make and you know, why people sometimes feel regret after they eat, or, you know, that kind of thing that really, to me belongs in every aspect of nutrition. But at that time, this is we're talking about the 1990s, really the only area of nutrition where it was really talked about was in eating disorders. And so that became the place where I felt like I got it.

(04:30):

Like that made sense to me, even though I didn't realize at the time that I had had my own eating disorder, because like a lot of people, when I was doing my studies, I looked at those criteria in the books and I was like, well, mine was never that bad. It was plenty bad, but just because it didn't meet those exact check boxes, I felt like, oh, I didn't count. I didn't really have an eating disorder. And so it it's like I, I realized it during my, my education and, and really more even during my career that a lot of people feel that way, that, that, that your eating disorder isn't or your eating isn't bad enough. And so that became sort of, my mission is to help people recognize that no matter where you fall on the spectrum, if there are problems happening related to your eating, then you deserve to get help. And so the more I spoke out about that, the more I became sort of known as a speaker on the topic. And so eventually I closed my private practice in 2013, and I became a speaker full time to try to educate people about eating disorders.

(05:30):

I love this. And I, I don't know why this kind of triggered you introducing that way into what it brought to my mind. But I, I was sitting here thinking about emotional eating and, and how maybe, maybe, and you can correct me if I'm wrong, how some people associate their eating behaviors to emotional eating. Is there a connection there?

(05:58):

Yeah, absolutely. We all have feelings, right? We all have multiple feelings a day. It's I think of it as a roller coaster. You can't see my hands if you're listening to the audio, but I'm thinking I'm using one hand to sort of make the dips that in turns that a roller coaster might make, on the other hand, your, your food is your needs for nutrition are pretty stable. So the problem happens when, and I'm putting my two hands together. Your food is on the roller coaster. If your food tracks with your emotions, then depending on how you're feeling, it's gonna make a big difference in how you eat. And our bodies need a little more consistency than that. There's nothing wrong with eating for emotions sometimes. I mean, the classic example is eating ice cream out of the container. Yeah, <laugh> right after a breakup it's in every romcom sitcom, whatever novel.

(06:46):

So who cares if you eat ice cream outta the container on Saturday night? Cuz you're after your breakup, you be hungry, you're eating for sure. But the, the problem is if not because of that breakup that happened nine years ago, there's the aspect of, yes, you're eating food that your body maybe doesn't need for fuel, but also you, you obviously have some emotions that haven't been dealt with. And so eating for emotions is not necessarily is not a good or bad, like moral value and making no judgment on it. But I'm saying it's not a, an effective solution. It doesn't actually feed your body what it needs and it doesn't actually help your emotions the way you need. So it's important to, to look at why we're eating and determine, you know, what's our motive. And if it's really successful in that way, you know, it's kind of like answering the phone when it's not ringing. Like, you know, we pick up our phones all the time trying to get something out of it, but sometimes you're just like, okay, no, one's calling no one's texting. No one's Instagramming me. You know what I mean? It's like, there's nothing there and it feels kind of empty. It's the same thing. If you eat food for emotions, your emotions, aren't getting solved. So you either give up or you eat more food, thinking more will be better and the emotions still never get solved.

(07:59):

Yeah. So I, I really appreciate that. I wanna kind of dive into and define what dysfunctional eating behaviors look like.

(08:11):

Sure. Okay. So one thing that's really important to think of that is that food is a mood alter chemical. And we don't think of it that way. Usually. I mean, we think of substances of abuse, right? But if you think about being hangry and you're snapping at someone you love, and then you eat something and you feel better, that's an example, right? Food is a mood altering chemical, well, different people are more susceptible to that sort of mood altering approach than others. And so it can become a, a misuse of food. When I say dysfunctional eating behaviors, I guess I think about a misuse of food. So either eating or not eating or exercising or over exercising or self harm or, you know, compensatory behaviors. So meaning someone trying to get rid of their food after they eat those kind of things, all fit under dysfunctional eating behaviors.

(09:03):

To me, it could be anything, anything anyone's doing with their food. It is not actually supportive to their goals or productive to their life. So I'm not too picky about what the behaviors are. They could be anything that anyone doing. It could be hiding food or eating here alone. It could be eating one way when you're with your friends in a different way when you're with your family. So any of those things that sort of feels, I'll say inauthentic to you and your body and your needs, I would count that as dysfunctional eating, eating everything on the plate, because you feel like a bad person. If you leave over food or if you throw away food not ordering what you really want, because you're scared. You know, any of that falls into the category of dysfunctional eating to me.

(09:46):

I, I love that because I love that you talked about eating alone or, you know, eating one way in a certain environment and then flip flopping to another environment. And I have friends <laugh> who, because they're like, well, I know you study nutrition. I know all the things they're like, I'm gonna order this because I don't want you to think I'm whatever. And I'm like, I don't care what you are ordering. You know? Like, I really don't care. I want you to get what you want, but they feel prejudged.

(10:18):

Yeah.

(10:19):

Because I'm sitting down and eating with them. And so I, well,

(10:23):

What's fascinating about that to me is first of all, they're judging themself, right? They're just projecting it onto you. But also the fact that any actual competent nutritionist knows that what one person eats at one particular time is not reflective of anything. It's what you eat over days, weeks, months, and years, that makes a difference. Right? So it's so ironic that they're thinking you're a nutritionist. So you're gonna be judging me when really only a very crummy nutritionist would be judging someone based on one meal that they eat.

(10:53):

Yeah.

(10:54):

So they're basically insulting you. <Laugh>

(10:58):

I, I mean, I don't take it as an insult. I just take it as like, you know, I, I want you to love what you're eating and if we're going out to eat. Yeah. Then, you know, it's one, like you said, it's one meal and we need to be able to move past that judgment. Yeah.

(11:15):

But that's the number one predictor of dysfunctional eating behaviors is if someone eats differently when they're alone or doesn't eat when they're alone or feels guilty when they're alone. But there's, yeah. If there's a difference between how you eat with others versus how you eat alone. Now, granted, you know, if you ask me, Jessica, do you eat differently when you're alone? I would say yes. When my husband goes outta town, I eat sardines and trikes for dinner. Cuz I love that my grandparents used to eat that with me and my husband hates the smell of sardines. So that's not necessarily dysfunctional eating behavior, but you might follow up and say, well, are you scared to eat sardines in front of your husband? Like, do you have to buy sardines and hide them in your sock drawers? Or your husband doesn't know you bought that. Like, you know what I mean?

(11:55):

It's like kind of, you know, you can sort of follow up and say just because I might eat differently without my husband doesn't mean I'm scared of my husband or scared of him knowing I eat sardines. It's just sort of a courtesy. Let's say if I really, really wanted sardines when he was around, I would, I would achieve that somehow. But, but there's a lot of things that aren't quite as benign when you're talking about what you do differently. Like in front of other people, I eat keto, but when I'm alone, I binge on a whole pizza. You know, those are things that I hear from people. And they're so ashamed of the things they do in secret. When really, you know, again, I said that was one of my missions is to take it off of being ashamed and say like, why do you think that happens?

(12:37):

And really look at it. And then other people are, are the opposite to eat a pizza in front of other people. But when they're alone, they maybe won't eat or they'll only eat, let's say fat free. You know, people have so many different eating quirks and I felt like we should just be able to talk about them and, and evaluate them. And that's kind of what I tried to do in my food fairy tales workbook is just say here, why, why not look at all the messages that you've got gotten throughout life about food. And then you can make a decision as an adult of which ones you actually wanna follow, which ones make sense to you in your life now, as opposed to what are just beliefs that someone kind of stuck on you when you were younger and you just carried it all the way through with you.

(13:14):

Yeah, I can totally appreciate that. And that kind of leads me to the next part about why is it difficult for us to change eating habits and patterns? Because I feel like when we think about the, the diet roller coaster, right? Where people jump on the diet and then they fall back into their old habits and then they jump back on another diet and then they fall back, you know, and they're only following that diet plan or that nutrition plan, whatever you wanna call it for two to three weeks. And then it gets too hard or life sets in or, you know, whatever the excuse is. So why, why is it so difficult for us to change some of those behaviors?

(13:55):

Yeah, well, we all love a new project, right? We all love to get the supplies for a new craft or something like that. And now it's gonna be our new hobby and then, you know, the enthusiasm sometimes falls away after a while. And I think that's sort of the allure of diets to me. It's not surprising at all that people can't stick to most diets. It's more surprising that we keep trying the next one, that we haven't learned our lesson, that we can't think of that. Right. So the reasons are, you know, there's a lot of reasons. One reason is because most diets don't take into account what you're already doing. And so as you know, a good nutritionist is gonna say something like, well, tell me about your patterns. Tell me about, you know how do you decide when to eat? How do you, how do you decide how much to eat and let's work from that and, and make a new plan based on the way you already think.

(14:47):

But new diets usually are based on someone else's way of thinking. Like either someone else thinks based on calories or someone else thinks based on exchanges or someone else thinks based on food groups or avoiding a food group. And so it doesn't necessarily mesh with our own kind of system that's in our brains, even if our schedule is fine, you know, it's like the way we think is just so ingrained. And if you think about thoughts, that's sort of going down path, you know, you start, you try to have a new thought and it's like, you're going down an unpaved road. And you know, it's always easier to jump on the super highway and just go 85 miles an hour. And so that's the same way our brain pathways work is, you know, we can just automatically be in the middle of a behavior and then realized suddenly, oh, I'm not supposed to be doing this, but our brain sort of auto piloted onto our old habits. And so it's really hard to change habits and especially with a new diet, you're trying to usually change a lot of habits at one time. So it's not even like driving down an unpaved road, it's like driving down an unpaved road on Mars. And it just, you know, we cannot sustain that much. Let's say drama in our lives, I think on an ongoing basis. That's why small changes, you know, over time almost to the point where you don't even notice that they're happening are usually more sustainable.

(16:05):

That was gonna be my question is how does someone start down that path? And I, in my mind, what I would've told someone is, you know, start by drinking water. If you're drinking diet Coke all the time, or Dr. Pepper is kind of my thing, but, you know, start with reducing the amount of, let's say caffeine and increasing the water until it becomes like, oh, I just always go to the water tank,

(16:30):

You know? Yeah. And, and, and expect, expect, don't expect rapid change. I mean, I just heard on the radio today, this commercial for, oh, I don't even know what, but the gal goes and I lost nine pounds the first week. Well, yeah, everyone gets dehydrated their first week on a new diet and you never lose that same amount of weight again. So basically you telling me, you lost your first week on dial. That's your sustainability of your weight loss at all. And that's where I think we, we want these big effects. We wanna make big changes. And so little changes sound like kind of stupid and boring, and that's not gonna have any big effect, but that's honestly the way to make sustainable change. And so you have to kind of look big picture at yourself in two years. And yeah, if you, you know, maybe your weight's only changed by, you know, 10 or 15 pounds in two years, and that sounds awful to you, but then you never have to look at those 10 or 15 pounds again, versus you could follow diet after diet and lose that same 10 or 15 pounds and gain it back five more times in the same two years.

(17:33):

Yeah. But we want big results and we want them back

(17:36):

<Laugh> well, <laugh>, I think a lot of that comes from how fast we can get other information, right. We're in a, a day and age where it's like, I can pick up my phone and Google something and I've got an answer, right. My kids will ask me, mommy, why does whatever? And I'm like, I don't know, let's look it up. You know, mm-hmm <affirmative> or one of our famous ones is mommy, how did drafts do drafts fight? And I was like, I have no idea, you know? And we looked up on, on YouTube. Yes. Drafts fight. And they swing their necks and they hit each other. And, you know, we were able to instantly, I mean, pretty instantly, less than 30 seconds have not only an answer, but a video to back it up to show us because we don't live in

(18:20):

Africa. But it's so interesting that you use that as an example, because when it comes to something like eating or weight or nutrition, there's so many different opinions that you can't just watch a video and be like, there's my answer. You have all the opinions from different people and you have to take into account. Who's gonna make money off you. And right. And, and what is their vested interest in giving you information? That's actually more like a sales pitch kind of preying on your desperation in the moment. And unfortunately that's where like, something like Noom comes in where they are just known for praying on people's desperation and don't really have answers, but they use the right words in their ads that make people think like this is gonna be the new thing. This is gonna be the answer. And then they just give you like red light, green, light, yellow light calorie restriction, just like, you know, glamor magazine in 1975 that you, you know, but you're on a recurring credit card payment now.

(19:14):

And yeah. You know, it's that kind of thing. That's why they just had to settle a hundred million lawsuit because, you know, they're basically saying here's new information, but it's not new information at all. And so I feel like there's, there's such a, like a weight phobia in our world that, you know, it does make us feel like, wait, if I'm feeling bad about myself, I can change my weight and then feel better about myself. And that just leaves us open to being so deceived. And so there's just so much more of that. I think you're right. There's so much more information that sort of alluring and not enough. And, and yes, there's messages that say things like you're good enough the way you are and that kind of thing. But it's the messages in our heads that also get in our own way. So if you're trying to change and you have, you know, these sort of underlying thoughts that haven't changed, just changing behaviors when you haven't changed.

(20:02):

Thoughts is really hard to do. It's like, you know what, someone in recovery from alcohol might call white knuckling it like you're just sitting there going, I will not eat carbs. I will not eat carbs. I will not eat carbs. I will not eat carbs, but you know, willpower, isn't really a good solution for, you know, your body's human needs. And so obviously one of those is gonna win out by the end of the day. So often people can maintain, you know, a certain restrictive diet for part of the day or for a few weeks, but, you know, normal human survival often takes over. Now the exception of course is when someone develops anorexia and they're not able to ever, you know, start eating up again. And so that's a real concern, of course. And I have heard people say things like, oh, I wish I could just develop a little anorexia and then I could just lose the weight and keep it off. And I just feel so sad because that is such a misunderstanding of what anorexia is. It's like living in a hellish situation that no one would wish on the worst enemy. So I don't judge the people who say that because they're just saying what they, you know, have what they imagine is true, but it makes me realize we've done a terrible job sort of explaining what eating disorders are in our society. If people in any way would admire, you know, or say they want to have one.

(21:21):

Oh yes. A lot of thoughts in that, in that little will nugget, I guess, because number one, right? If we look at the, the belief cycle and as you guys listeners, you can't see <laugh>, I wish this was almost like recorded and you guys could watch it live and see some of the things, but our beliefs create our thoughts and our thoughts create our emotions. Those emotions dictate our actions, which gives us our result. But then that, that result that we get fuels the belief that we have. And so we end up on this like circle and we keep going down this path. And so Jessica, for someone who's trying to maybe break that cycle of I don't even know what to, to label it, but a poor, let's just say a poor relationship with food or a relationship with food that might need to have some healing to it. How could, how could they start to maybe move off of that belief cycle and yeah. To start to change those patterns.

(22:27):

So the first step is to accept that you don't do weird stuff or unhelpful stuff or unuseful stuff with food because there's, you're a bad person or anything like that. Like just get the shame out of there, whatever it is just, you know, you don't have to eat around people. If you feel ashamed, I'm just saying, start getting the message into your mind that I do the things I do with food, because in some way they serve a purpose. And that's number one, it's not about you being a bad person or a failure or anything else. I do the things I do with food because they serve a purpose. And so your goal is to figure out what purpose that is to try to figure out what the feelings are. Now. Granted, there are some eating disorders that don't really have anything to do with feelings.

(23:08):

Excuse me. Like for example, I'm thinking of someone who came to see me because she was feeling really compelled to eat all the time. And she would, if she was in line in the carpool, even though she knew, if she left the carpool line, she would be late to pick up her kids. She just felt like I have to get something to eat and she would drive into drive through somewhere and then be late to pick up her kids and just feeling really compelled to eat like that. And after I did an evaluation, I felt like she really needed to see an endocrinologist. And she ended up having a tumor on one of her glands that was surgically removed. And then voila, she didn't have those compulsive eating habits anymore. So there are physiological things that happen, right? Hyper and hypothyroid and hypoglycemia, concussions.

(23:51):

There's all kinds of things, migraines that can cause people to eat, not eat, you know, try to find the, the food that's making the problem and not eat it anymore. And so there, there are physical things. So not every eating disorder is triggered by emotions, but if you're feeling ashamed of what you're doing with food, just to know that it's not a shameful thing, you're either responding to something physical or something emotional. And to try to start to figure it out, usually means either writing it down or talking with someone. And so talking with someone is probably the best especially an expert like an eating disorder specialist, even if you're not sure you have an eating disorder and I'm a dietician. So I'm personally a fan of eating disorder, dieticians, cuz I think we're really good at sifting apart. What might be good to talk about and talk therapy versus what you could actually change about your eating.

(24:40):

But if you're not ready to talk with someone about it, start writing it down, whether it's in your phone or in a journal or on a legal pad or in the food fairy tales workbook and start figuring out what are the feelings behind what you're eating and the way I approach it in food fairytales is to go back in time in a timeline and look at how long ago things, you know, what were the messages that you got about yourself and food. And it's really easy for people to say that happened so long ago. It's not affecting me anymore. But unfortunately the longer ago something happened to you, the younger you were when it happened, the more of your life has developed around it. And the fewer coping skills you had to explain, you know, why it was happening to you. And so a lot of times when you're feeling ashamed about eating, it has something to do with a message that you've gotten far back in your past that might take a while to even identify because it seems so unrelated, right.

(25:32):

That thing that happened so long ago seems so unrelated. And I'm thinking of when I was in kindergarten, I remember very clearly that my mom was always late to pick me up and maybe she wasn't late every single time, but that's the, the way it seemed right as a child. And this was in the seventies, this was where the kindergarten teachers would just lock up and be like, okay, I'm sure your mom will be here soon and leave. And maybe tell the secretary, like there's still a kid here. Don't lock her in overnight. And so, oh my goodness. I would literally be alone waiting for my mom to come pick me up. And I remember I would, each kindergarten classroom had a kitchen, little kitchenette and I would climb up on the countertop and I would look through the cupboards to find something, to eat some Graham crackers or some animal cookies or something like that.

(26:14):

And I, you know, a equate that now and look back and think maybe I was hungry. Maybe I needed a snack that's certainly possible. But I also was probably looking for comfort, something comforting, you know, and, and food is a, a good proxy for comfort when you don't have comfort. And I think we've all seen a lot of that in, you know, COVID 19 times that it's really, you know, there's isolation and loneliness and confusion and concern and anxiety and worry. And sometimes food is, you know, something we can turn to. And so it's something that I now can look back and say, wow, you know, there may be a connection between me comfort eating at five years old and me developing bulimia, you know, in my twenties. And, and to be able to look at that, but it's really hard sometimes because you think of these things that happened when you're younger as just like either a one off or, you know, not a big deal or kids will be kids or things like that.

(27:08):

And you don't realize that you're the same person. I'm the same person that climbed up on the counters, looking for food, just, you know, I carry that five year old with me, wherever I go. I, my body looks different and I'm older, but I'm a product of those experiences. So I think it is important to look back. Sometimes it's more painful than others. And, but to, to try to identify what we're still carrying with us, that maybe we might be willing to either let go or to say, you know what, that information served a purpose for me at a time. But I, as an adult now I'm choosing not to continue on in that path, but it's tough to do. It's tough to do. And you have to take the shame off. Otherwise you don't even wanna look at it. Like if I felt ashamed of being in kindergarten, climbing up on those counters, which I, I did for a long time, I wouldn't be able to talk to you about it and just talk about it.

(27:55):

Like it was, yeah, it was an incident and it was a bummer and you know, I will never be late if I can help it to pick up anyone ever airport kindergarten doesn't matter because I was hurt by that experience. And you know, it sticks with me and you know, luckily it's not impairing my functioning. But you know, for the most part, I I'm, I'm not ashamed of it because it just was, it was just an experience. And that's what I'm trying to bring to people that instead of, I mean, the things people have told me, they're embarrassed about what they're eating. You wouldn't, you wouldn't even think someone could possibly be embarrassed about it, but it's like if they were traumatized or if they were punished for doing that thing, you carry that with you.

(28:38):

Yeah. Yeah. So I, I wrote down some notes because I felt like that was so good. So <laugh>, so the first thing I wanna talk about is how experiences, and this is something that I had to learn. And I guess what triggered this was for me in this, in this moment was working on inner healing, that inner child, cuz all of us have experiences that as a child, we, like you said, we don't have the words. We don't have the life experience. We can't adequately express ourselves, you know, to maybe our parents, Hey, you left me multiple times. And that really, I was scared I was alone. You know, whatever those feelings were, we didn't have that. So obviously healing that inner child and going back and doing that work. But then later as an adult recognizing and realizing that the experiences that we have they're neutral and this was really hard for me to grasp because everything is just neutral. It only becomes good or bad when we compare them to something else. Right. So being left alone, that would be a negative because we compared it to all of the other kids getting picked up on time. Sorry I'm using you as an example. Hopefully that's

(29:56):

Okay. That's okay. That's okay. I'm safe. I'm safe in my own home. It's 20, 22 it's Akay

(30:02):

Yeah. Okay. You know, but you know, compared to, you know, the kids that were picked up on time and not left alone, then it becomes a negative because for whatever reason, right? Yeah. We can make up

(30:15):

All the stories you stories ignored unsafe. Yeah, exactly.

(30:18):

Yeah. Yeah. All the stories I'm gonna get locked in here alone, you know, like what, what if something happened to my mom? And so even for myself, I've had to do that inner work and look at some of those things happening in my own life and say, okay, was this really good or bad? You know, maybe it was that person said that thing. And I internalized it as a bad thing, but it really wasn't. Right. They were maybe saying it because they didn't know because they were trying to show love and compassion, but it wasn't in a way that I thought was nurturing, whatever. Right. so anyways, things are experiences are neutral. They become good or bad when we compare them. The second part to what I was thinking and I, I hope everybody took notice of what you said, Jessica, because I feel like this was so good.

(31:08):

Number one, writing things down and, and like in a food journal, right. Just taking notice of behaviors. And then the second part of that would be create a timeline of events that have happened that could be feeding or fueling this relationship that you have with food. And I've, I, I obviously I work with thyroid, but those are actually two things that I, I have my women do is to create what I call a medical timeline, where we're looking at some of those antecedent before we get to the thyroid. And it's the same thing as what you're recommending, but from an emotional standpoint, right. Mm-Hmm, <affirmative> so, so good. And it's easy to start doing so

(31:57):

Well. And you know what you you just made me think of something. I made a note to send you a link to an article. I wrote about food diaries, because I think I called it originally. I'm not sure what it's called now, but at the time I think I called it food diaries stink because I feel like the way people sort of envision food diaries is like, I was good today. I was bad today or they keep track of calories or something like that. And so I kind of reenvisioned what a food diary could contain and I wrote an article about it and how it could be more helpful because I think a lot of people, when you say not you, but when, when they hear food diaries, they're like, oh, I don't want anyone to see what I'm eating. And to realize that you can actually have a really effective food diary, even if you don't write down what you ate, but if you go down when you ate and why you ate like those things give you good information too. So I'm gonna share that with you so that you can link to that in the show notes.

(32:47):

Yeah. I'm really excited to see what you said. And at least for me, one of my class assignments when I was going through school was to, to keep a food journal and or food diary, whatever you wanna call it. And I wrote like, I didn't write down how much I was eating. I didn't write down, you know, how I was feeling or anything like that. What I, all I did was wrote down the time and then what I ate and I've talked about this on other podcast episodes where I noticed <laugh> that every day around 12 o'clock one o'clock I was starting to eat chocolate and peanut butter and things like that. And that was my coping mechanism to deal with my daughter who was a terrible sleeper. And I'm preparing myself emotionally to wrestle her to, you know, to, but I was using the chocolate and the peanut butter to cope with that. And that was, I, I, it was something that I was doing unconsciously and I didn't even notice until I started keeping those keeping track of that. And that was like, oh, okay. And again, neutral <laugh> right,

(33:58):

Right.

(33:59):

And then I could change the behavior and you know, I, we, we could get into that later, but <laugh>

(34:06):

Well, it is shocking to realize how much we are not in conscious control of our behavior, cuz we think we are, we're like I walk to the cupboard, I got the peanut butter out. So we don't realize how much of that is unconsciously driven. And I can share with you that I once was at the grocery store as a young employed person who was like shopping for myself for, you know, the first time and had my own money and that kind of thing and saw this giant Mr. Goodbar. And I was like, and now you kind of see those big candy bars sometimes more often, but I had never seen this giant Mr. Goodbar. And I was like, I want that. And I didn't know why, cuz I didn't even really wanna eat it. But I was like, I'm a, I'm I'm a working person.

(34:47):

I can buy whatever I want. And so I spent whatever, 2 99 on this, Mr. Goodbar, cuz my parents couldn't tell me, I couldn't have a chocolate bar that big, you know? And so I took it home and again, I, I wasn't really interested in eating it. It wasn't one of those things that you like get in the car and immediately get excited and start eating. I just put it on the counter. I was kinda like, I wonder why I want that. And all of a sudden hit me like a ton of bricks, but the day was May 19th. That was my dad's birthday. My dad died when I was 12 and the only candy I ever saw my dad eat was Mr. Goodbar. He loved the Mr. Goodbar. And so it was like this totally subconscious way of my, of, of connecting with my dad on his birthday.

(35:25):

Yeah.

(35:25):

And I, I mean, I wouldn't have believed it if it hadn't happened to me because I was like, whoa, like the idea that there's something that, that sort of drew me to that behavior that I had no conscious understanding of. And it didn't hit me until a while later why it was so if you can figure out your unconscious motivations, that's amazing. I'm impressed that you, I I'm curious if you know how you made the connection between what you were eating and your daughter's sleep pattern because that's just, and another thing is no one can, can do it for you. Yeah. Because no one knows what the links are for you. You know? I mean someone can help talk you through it and coach you, but ultimately it may be really surprising.

(36:06):

Yeah. I don't know why the chocolate and peanut butter <laugh> I, I mean, I just know, well I have some suspicions. I was so yeah, we won't go into all of, all of those connections,

(36:17):

But that's okay.

(36:18):

<Laugh>

(36:20):

Go too deep. Your personal life.

(36:22):

I no, no, no. I don't mind sharing that part. I, okay. I'll just share a little bit, I, I don't wanna go too much into detail cuz I, I don't know if it's, you know, if the listeners really care, but so one thing I would start in high school two days before my cycle is I would eat chocolate chips because that was like the only chocolate in our home. You know, every, all the, the sweet treats and goodies my mom would hand make. So if we had brownies, she would make 'em from scratch. If we had cookies, she would make 'em from scratch. And so chocolate being high in magnesium. I know like looking back that I was probably most likely deficient in magnesium. So it was my way to kind of get that magnesium that I needed

(37:09):

Mood altering chemical. Yeah.

(37:10):

Yes, yes. So I think that was part of it and because there was like comfort in that time where I could, I stayed home from school because my menstrual cycles were really bad and I could take a nap if I wanted to or relax or, you know, like I had a lot of freedom, so there's probably a connection there. And then in the house that I was living in there was black mold now, peanut butter. Oh. Being <laugh> mold related, I think it was just like the salty with the sweet, but then also almost fueling the mold that I was living in, in that environment. And so I think there was some environmental triggers where it was like, well you're already, I don't know. Somebody else can maybe tell us. Yeah. So it, it is just kind of interesting. And I, like I said before, I didn't even notice that I was doing some of these things until I brought it to, to the awareness through physically writing down what I was doing. And that, and so to kind of wrap this up, Jessica, what I'm thinking is about the listener, cuz they they've probably listened and hopefully had a lot of aha moments themselves, but what if they can't accept their body? Because I think one of the things is accepting the way that we are in order to be able to move forward.

(38:42):

I'm so with you on that, and it's really hard and you know, I will confide that at 49. My body's different than it's been before. I sort of just thought once I become an adult, like you're no longer growing out of clothes or things like that, you know, but no, not correct. Your body still continues to change. And then there's aging and the whole, you know, the society that tells you changing. Isn't good. You're supposed to look the same. So there's two pieces of an answer to your question. One is that I feel like you cannot like your body and still take care of it, right? Just like you cannot like your, your couch, but you don't rip it up or you cannot really like your car, but if you don't put gas in it, it's not gonna work. So if you don't like your body, I can't make you like your body, but I hope that you'll take care of it in some degree.

(39:32):

And it might actually be easier to take care of if you like it, but it also might be easier to like it if you take care of it. So hopefully it's like a cycle that builds on itself. But even if you don't like your body take care of the body, you've got cuz it's where you live. So that's sort of the downer kind of piece of advice. But the other aspect of it is that accepting your body. Isn't the same as saying like I love my body or I condone my body or I want this body forever. You're basically just saying, I accept it. It's kind of like, you know, mistakes happen. Like once I drove home from Fort worth and I was really tired and instead of driving east, I drove west for an hour and that meant, I now had a two hour drive to get back home to Dallas.

(40:16):

But if I oh, ma'am but if I hadn't accepted that I was in Fort worth and I was just like in denial, I could just be like, I'm almost home. I mean that doesn't actually help you. So accepting, only means accepting where you are doesn't mean staying where you are. I was not gonna spend the night in Fort worth just cuz I or wherever Palo Pinto county, just cuz I found myself there. But I had to accept that I had made a mistake and that's where I was in order to be able to turn around and get to the right place. And so that's that's my other piece of advice is don't put so much pressure or power into the word accept. Don't make it sound like accepting my body as is means it will stay exactly like it is forever because that's not correct. My body, your body, all of our bodies are gonna keep changing. We're just trying to accept where they are now. So it doesn't take up so much of our brain space and so much of our time wishing we had something else.

(41:07):

Yeah. Well and that, that kind of triggered something for me that I, I talk about with my clients is having these nutritional seasons where our body is evolving. Right? We go through different when you're 12 years old and you start your menstrual cycle for the first time is not the same as when you're, you know, 50, 40, 50, 60, and start menopause. You know, your nutritional needs are gonna be very, very different. And so it's not about I don't know exactly what I'm trying to say here, but it's about being okay with where you're at, but also knowing that the, the body is changing and evolving. Yeah. Maybe you can send that up a little bit better.

(41:51):

<Laugh> well, I think you just, you summarized what I said, like the idea of accepting your body doesn't mean it will always be this way. Like kind of like when you get a haircut that you don't like you, I mean, you can just pretend you didn't get a haircut, but it's not reality, right? This is the hair you've got and you have to accept it and try to work with it and try to care for it until, you know, hopefully you can see some growth. But your hair won't stay that in that style forever, it will grow. It will change. And you know, you have to accept it in order to be able to figure out how to make the best of it.

(42:23):

Yeah, absolutely. This was a wonderful conversation. I almost said lovely. And I was like, why would I say lovely? That's not, <laugh> normally in my vocabulary, but thank you Jessica. In closing, is there any last thoughts or anything you would like to share?

(42:43):

Yes. My main thing is get the shame outta there. There is nothing broken about you. You may feel broken and I'm not gonna tell you. You can't feel however you feel, but you are not the problem and telling someone else what you think makes you broken is actually the best thing you can do. If you're not ready to tell someone else, write it down, then you can at least look at it as if it was someone that you cared about or had compassion for. But the stuff that we do with our food does not make you a bad person. It's okay to feel like you regret it, but don't make it convince you that it's because you're a bad person.

(43:20):

Yeah. Wonderful. Thank you so much for being on. I really appreciate it and we will link everything up for you guys in the show notes. Perfect. And why don't you just tell the listeners where they can find you on social media and then we'll have all the links in the show?

(43:38):

Sure, sure. So Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook are all Jessica Nik and Instagram is understanding nutrition.

(43:46):

Perfect. All right, well thank you. And we'll see you guys on the next,

(43:54):

Before you go, please subscribe. If you found value in today's episode, leave us a review and share on Instagram and please tag us. We love your.

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We got you! 

 

We have several different opportunities to work with us at several different price points and opportunities. 

 

Our signature 6-month program is called The Hansen Method, we offer this in a VIP setting with personalized plans and protocols, individual one on one coaching and incredible bonuses that change regularly. You can schedule a complimentary thyroid breakthrough call with one of our thyroid advisors. Click here.  If you have questions about the Hansen Method and want to discuss your specific situation and make sure this is the right program for you you can schedule a complimentary thyroid breakthrough call with one of our team members. schedule here. Hurry, my schedule fills up quickly and we only work with limited amount of women at any given time.

 

 Join hundreds of women who have improved their symptoms by 80% and lose on average 30lbs in the 4 months.  

 

Not ready to schedule a call, no problem. Learn more about the Hansen Method to see if it’s a good fit for you. Click here to learn more. 

 

We also offer The Hansen Method as a Self Guided option. 

 

Option number 1 for self guide is where you are totally on your own to go through the program content, make the changes and execute them on your own. Click here to purchase. 

 

Option number 2 includes group coaching and access to our members facebook group that will allow you access to our Thyroid Success Coaches and testing with personalized protocols. Click here to purchase.   

 

But one of our favorite ways to work with us is our Thriving Thyroid Coaching Membership Opportunity.  This is where many of clients first begin working with us. It allows you to get to know us, our system and start making changes before making a larger financial investment. Click here to learn more

 

CONTACT LINKS

 

DOWNLOADABLE RESOURCES

 

PAID RESOURCES

 

AFFILIATE LINKS

 

Xo,

Shannon Hansen

 

P.S. Make sure to schedule our Thyroid Breakthrough call with one of our thyroid advisors. 

 

AUDIO TRANSCRIPTION

(00:00):

Today is going to be short and sweet. And we are talking five thyroid, thyroid friendly foods to help you lose weight, cue musical intro.

(00:24):

All right, you guys welcome back to the thriving thyroid podcast. Today is gonna be short and sweet as we are talking about thyroid friendly foods that you should be eating if you want to slim down the waist line. All right. So often we hear the word weight, loss and snacks, and they often appear in the same sentence, but that might also bring the thoughts of cardboard, tasteless, feeling, unsatisfied, feeling like deprivation, all of those things, right? So let me give you some of my favorite thyroid foods to incorporate in to help you lose weight that are not only nutritious for you, but they're also nutrient dense. Okay? So they have to be nutrient dense foods because a little bit will go a long way. Okay? So foods that contain protein and fiber are some of the big ones that I like to incorporate in for snacks.

(01:37):

If you need one, all right. So number one is nuts. It is true nuts, contain calories and fab, but they are not fattening. You guys, they actually have the opposite effect. Is they help you slim down? Well, I'm not talking about like the honey roasted nuts. You guys I'm talking, cuz those could be fat mean cuz they're covered in sugar and yummy delicious stuff. But studies are showing that people who eat nuts tend to be healthier and also leaner. So by the way, nuts contain protein and fiber, which means that a small amount can go a pretty long way in terms of keeping you full, not to mention the vitamins and minerals that you get from those nuts. Things like Brazil, nuts, Brazil, nuts have selenium in them. And selenium helps to make glutathione for the body. And glutathione is the master detoxification, which is going to help balance hormones because we as women during certain times of the month, we are getting rid of extra hormones and we need that Glu ion to get rid of the extra hormones, to help balance out and even out those hormones.

(02:58):

So Brazil, nuts are great. Cashew nuts are great. Almonds, all of those did you know that almonds have been shown to help with weight loss? This is why almonds are on like every single diet plan I've pretty much ever looked at. <Laugh> at least 10% of the fat and them is not absorbed by the body and the almond can help boost your metabolism. So put a handful of unsalted, unsweetened, nuts into a small container and throw 'em in your purse. You guys, I literally keep nuts in my diaper bag and my purse and my car all the time in case I ever get caught in a situation where I'm like, I'm so hungry, I have nothing to eat because they they're great. They're fast and easy and can provide you with some sustainable energy really quickly. Okay. Number two is fr fresh fruits and I actually love to pair nuts with fresh fruits.

(04:03):

It is an amazing snack that will help keep you full. It'll help keep you satiated. It is fun, right? And you don't feel deprived. It's like this little like sweet treat that you guys can have. So as with nuts, studies have shown that people who tend to eat more fruit tend to be healthier. And I'm sure this is like a huge shocker to all of you guys, right? Just kidding. Okay. So yes, fresh fruit contains sugar, but whole fruit. And I'm not talking about like juice or sweet dried fruits like Craisins they contain a fair amount of water and fiber, not to mention their nutritional value with vitamins minerals, antioxidants, and these fresh fruits are low in calorie, right? So we're getting a wide range of nutrients when we eat fruit. And when we pair the nuts and the fruit together, we, it is helping to keep our blood sugar level stable and helping to keep you fuller for longer.

(05:12):

So fiber is one of those things that also that not only helps you feel fuller, longer and satiated, but it also helps to release or to slow the release of the fruit sugars that are present into your bloodstream and reduces that notorious blood sugar spike causing you to crave more sugar, right? If you eat a cookie or some chocolate, it's like, oh, I need some more, oh, I need some more and you can't get, you can't stop. So fresh fruit helps with that. So it's really a, win-win try a variety of things. Apples pairs, berries, and pair it with a handful of nuts, like I said, and you will, you will be so happy with that. There's a tip here. If you, if fresh fruit is difficult for you to get or whatever, you can always try frozen, frozen things. Our coaches inside the Hansen method, they love like frozen cherries.

(06:18):

They love frozen pineapple. And that can also be very, very cost effective on your grocery budget to get those things when they're on sale and freeze them yourself, I actually just bought, like, I split it with a friend, but we got about 40 pounds of cherries. It was a ton of Cher, no 20 pounds. It was 20 pounds of cherries. We got a ton of cherries and it ended up being like 90 cents a pound. Well, of course <laugh> my family. Couldn't eat them that fast. So we pitted them and we froze them and now we can snack on them. We can put 'em in smoothies, we can do whatever we want. So it was very, very cost effective for us to be able to do that in bulk, but also have them for later use as well. Number three, are those chia seeds, chia seeds, flax seeds.

(07:13):

I'm gonna lump a few things in here. Chia seeds, flax seeds and hemp seeds are, are incredible to add over like a salad or put in your smoothie. Chia seeds are not only high and fiber and I mean high, you guys like super high, but they also contain protein and omega-3 fatty acids and yes, those omega three fatty acids are good as well as antioxidants and calcium and magnesium. So can you see how these little tiny, how amazing these little tiny guys are you guys seriously? Like Hep seeds are all also one of my other favorites to add in because of the, the nutty flavor, but hemp seeds. And I'm trying to remember correctly, but like three tablespoons of hemp seeds equals 10 grams of protein. So they are tiny, but they are mighty. You guys might wanna fact check me on that one.

(08:21):

<Laugh> I'm trying to remember, but I'm pretty sure I got pretty close on that. So put two tablespoons of cheese seeds in a bowl of about a half, a cut cup of nut milk. We really like like coconut milk or something like that and add some berries, chopped fruit and nuts and CI, and you can enjoy, it becomes like a pudding type deal. Actually. I shouldn't say pudding. It becomes more of a tapioca kind of deal. I don't love the texture of tapioca, but a lot of our clients inside the handsome method do. And so if you are one of those people that love that, try it out. It, it would be great. Number four, boiled or poached eggs. I make these not all the time, but pretty frequently because they're easy for me to hard boil eggs, peel them. My kids can eat them on the way to school.

(09:19):

Pair them with a muffin, pair them with fresh fruit. You pair them with just about anything. So easy <laugh> and eggs are packed with tons of nutrition, mostly the yolk of them. They do contain a lot of good high quality protein, especially if you're getting past pasture raised, oh my goodness, free range chickens that are eating a lot of bugs and nutrients that way. And they have a good amount of vitamins and minerals as well. And a recent research shows that the cholesterol in the yolk is not associated with high cholesterol or linked to any kind of heart disease. Just have to put that out there. <Laugh> so keep these in your fridge for a quick easy snack kind of deal. All right. Number five. Are those vegetables you guys, I don't need to tell you how great vegetables are for you, but just maybe I need to sell you on how delicious and snackable these things are for their nutritional powerhouse, veggie veggies contain fiber and water to help keep you full.

(10:31):

And you don't need meat to tell you about their vitamins and minerals and antioxidants, right? Like I, I hope this isn't new information for you. You can easily open a bag of baby carrots or cherry tomatoes and give them a quick rinse. And they are really bite sized. If you are the kind of person that sits at your desk all day and you like to snack on M and Ms or Skittles or almonds or something like that, this may be a great alternative. Are those like little bite size things to snack on and you can always pair them. Of course, with Nu butters, almond butters almond butters, <laugh> celery. You can try hummus. You guys can try ranch. I have, if you send me a message on Instagram or Facebook and you want my dairy free ranch dressing thing, it is delicious.

(11:32):

I absolutely love it. It's one of the things that I like to send my clients, because most of us, we like to dip. I have a few family members that are not dippers and I'm like, you're so weird. Just kidding. But one of the other things that I like to do for my kids and this may help you guys going back into school is I make veggie trays. After I go grocery shopping, I like to go grocery shopping on Mondays when kids are in school, because I find that Mondays, you typically have a really good high quality produce that is being put out because all of the weekend shoppers come Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and then they restock everything Monday. And so you get really fresh, delicious stuff that typically lasts a little bit longer. So if you can go to grocery shopping on Monday, maybe try that out.

(12:26):

But I buy a bunch of fruits and veggies. I have a really awesome like resalable veggie tray that I found on Amazon. And it's super cool. You guys can go check it out or again, you can send me a DM and ask me, Hey, which one do you have? But it has a lid, the individual compartments come out. So you can rewash and like re restock one section at a time if that's the case, but it's seriously, like, they're so easy. I will put in fruits and veggies. Sometimes I will put in other things in there like nuts or something like that. And so for after school, my kids are hungry and they made a snack and dinner's not ready. I'm like, here you go. <Laugh> right. I can put in hard boiled eggs. I can, I can do a lot of different things.

(13:26):

And that prevents my kids in the afternoon from snacking on chips and crafters and things that aren't necessarily nutrient dense if they need it. So I think that is all, these are five things, five foods that will help support your thyroid and help you lose weight. If you are trying now, before you go, if you are looking at getting more specific help on your meeting, your nutritional needs, I highly recommend you guys come over to the show notes, schedule a free call with myself or one of our th advisors. And we can discuss in detail, if you are a good fit to work with us in recapture your thyroid or in the Hanen method and help you make some, some good decisions so that you can accomplish your goals because kids are going back to school and it is a great time to prioritize yourself. Once again, after taking care of all of the little munchkins all summer long, all right, you guys, I will see you in the next, you guys, before I forget, you can also head over to the show notes and check out. I have a thyroid recipe book you can buy with tons of snack, ideas, meals, smoothies, breakfast, desserts, all of those types of things that you may want to support your thyroid. I'll see you on the next

(15:06):

Way before you go, please subscribe. If you found value in today's episode, leave us a review and share on Instagram and please tag us. We love your.

 

106// What are the Triggers for Your Thyroid and How to Deal wit Trauma You’ve Experienced with Your Thyroid -

Whitney Morgan is the founder of Morgan Nutrition and the creator of the Thyroid Reboot Method. She’s helped dozens of women with chronic Hashimoto’s, and other autoimmune conditions, bust through the obstacles keeping them from the life they want by uncovering the root causes of their symptoms and eliminating their unique triggers. Whitney is a licensed acupuncturist, a functional nutritionist, and a certified gluten-free health coach. In addition to her private practice, she serves as a clinical advisor and instructor for the Association of Functional Diagnostic Nutrition Practitioners.

 

LINKS:

Website: https://www.morgannutrition.com/welcome

Linktr.ee link to all resources: https://linktr.ee/morgannutrition

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/whitneymorgannutrition/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/whitneymorgannutrition/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCFT_ackL2_KfYd-RJXosS2A?sub_confirmation=1

Free Resource:

Thyroid Lab Test Interpretation Guide: https://www.morgannutrition.com/thyroid-lab-test-interpretation-guide

 

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.

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SHOW NOTES AT 

 

Get on the Hansen Method waitlist. Click here. We open up the Hansen Method 2-3x a year so that we can fully support our clients to the highest degree possible.

 

Thinking about using nutrition and holistic health for restoring thyroid function? Learn EVERYTHING you need to know by joining our Free Facebook Group. Thriving Thyroid Balance Community.

 

Are you interested in learning more about your thyroid and finding answers? 

 

We got you! 

 

We have several different opportunities to work with us at several different price points and opportunities. 

 

Our signature 6-month program is called The Hansen Method, we offer this in a VIP setting with personalized plans and protocols, individual one on one coaching and incredible bonuses that change regularly. You can schedule a complimentary thyroid breakthrough call with one of our thyroid advisors. Click here.  If you have questions about the Hansen Method and want to discuss your specific situation and make sure this is the right program for you you can schedule a complimentary thyroid breakthrough call with one of our team members. schedule here. Hurry, my schedule fills up quickly and we only work with limited amount of women at any given time.

 

 Join hundreds of women who have improved their symptoms by 80% and lose on average 30lbs in the 4 months.  

 

Not ready to schedule a call, no problem. Learn more about the Hansen Method to see if it’s a good fit for you. Click here to learn more. 

 

We also offer The Hansen Method as a Self Guided option. 

 

Option number 1 for self guide is where you are totally on your own to go through the program content, make the changes and execute them on your own. Click here to purchase. 

 

Option number 2 includes group coaching and access to our members facebook group that will allow you access to our Thyroid Success Coaches and testing with personalized protocols. Click here to purchase.   

 

But one of our favorite ways to work with us is our Thriving Thyroid Coaching Membership Opportunity.  This is where many of clients first begin working with us. It allows you to get to know us, our system and start making changes before making a larger financial investment. Click here to learn more

 

CONTACT LINKS

 

DOWNLOADABLE RESOURCES

 

PAID RESOURCES

 

AFFILIATE LINKS

 

Xo,

Shannon Hansen

 

P.S. Make sure to schedule our Thyroid Breakthrough call with one of our thyroid advisors. 

 AUDIOTRANSCRIPTION

(00:00):

Whitney Morgan is the founder of Morgan nutrition and is the creator of the thyroid reboot method. She has helped dozens of women with chronic ha Hashimotos and other autoimmune conditions bust through the obstacles, bust through the obstacles, keeping them from the life they want by uncovering the root cause of their symptoms and eliminating their unique triggers. Whitney is a licensed acupuncturist, a functional nutrition, and a certified gluten free health coach. In addition to her private practice, she serves as a clinical advisor and an instructor for the association of functional diagnostic nutrition practitioners. You guys, I absolutely loved this conversation with Whitney, and I know you will too.

(00:46):

Welcome back to the thriving thyroid podcast, where we choose to become empowered patients and take our health into our own hands. Hi, I'm Shannon Hanson, a Christian entrepreneur, a mom of three. And after dealing with my own health mysteries, I made it my mission to learn everything I could about the thyroid. I soon became certified as a holistic wellness practitioner, a functional nutrition practitioner and a functional diagnostic practitioner. And so much more after that, I founded the revolutionary thyroid program, the Hanon method as a health professional and a mom. I fully understand the importance of having a fun, simple, and sustainable plan for achieving a responsive thyroid. So I share actionable and practical strategies for developing a responsive thyroid so that the ambitious moms and women can gain freedom from fatigue and lose the thyroid weight once. And for all each week, I will be here for you along with my guest experts, we will be sharing simple and tangible tips that work for not only your thyroid, your hormones, your family, and your mindset, so that you can get back to living the life that you envision for yourself. Welcome to the thriving thyroid podcast.

(02:08):

You guys welcome back to the thriving thyroid podcast. I have Whitney Morgan with me on the, on the call today on the episode. And you might hear baby for just a second, but we're gonna be talking about mindset. We're gonna be talking about possible triggers when it comes to your thyroid. Maybe some trauma in here, we decided we're gonna just kind of see where this call goes. So welcome Whitney.

(02:35):

Thanks for having me Shannon. Super excited.

(02:38):

Yeah. So give everybody a little bit of background as to who you are and what you do.

(02:43):

Sure. I am an acupuncturist and a functional diagnostic nutrition practitioner. I know that's a mouthful. So I really got on this path because of my own health journey, which started in 1997. I was diagnosed with my first autoimmune disease by 2010. I had collected three additional autoimmune diagnoses. So, you know, like a lot of women, I am an autoimmune collector, right? Not something I really aspire to be. And for most of that time from 1997 to 2010, I was walking a very traditional medical path. I, I, I come from a family of, of medical practitioners. I, I was raised with a very strong sense of medicine, has the answer to everything. So I was seeing specialists after specialist and you know, for years and not really getting anywhere and consistently getting the message that, yeah, we don't really know why this happens.

(03:45):

There's not a whole lot. We can do you know, Hey, we can manage symptoms, those kinds of things, but this is kind of the way your life is gonna be. And then one day I was, I was in the office of my urologist because I one of my diagnoses was interstitial cystitis, which is extraordinarily painful bladder, autoimmune bladder disease. And so most women and men who have this disease, they're in pain, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. I mean, it is just excruciating. And so this doctor who was the head of urology, and he says to me, you know, this isn't gonna kill you, but you'll die with it and it's gonna get worse. There's nothing that can be done. We can try and manage the pain, but you should join a support group. So in that moment, I, that was kind of my rock bottom moment, but it was also looking back on it.

(04:45):

Now it was what liberated me from the path that I was on and kind of catapulted me towards something else. I didn't know where I was headed, but when I walked outta that office, I knew that I wasn't accepting that. And, and actually when, when that happened, I, I literally felt and heard like every cell on my body screamed, no, I mean, it wasn't even my conscious thought. It was just like my entire being completely rejected. That message. And thank goodness it did. And that's when I jumped into naturopath and homeopathy and Chinese medicine and trying to just look at different modalities in the alternative holistic medicine world and applying everything that I was learning to myself. I fell in love with Chinese medicine and decided to go to acupuncture school. So that completely changed my professional trajectory. Once I graduated from acupuncture school, I went to functional diagnostic nutrition certification.

(05:48):

And it, to me both of those things are, are kind of doing similar things, you know? Yeah. Chinese medicine is one of the original functional medicines out there and what we call root cause medicine and modern functional medicine is that same way too. So being well versed in both disciplines, Bo both ancient and modern really gave me, I think, a really nice perspective. And, and the ability to kind of switch back and forth between two different languages because we have to talk about these medicines differently. So in Chinese medicine, there's a lot of, you know, you're really relying on energy medicine and, and you know, it's kind of hard to grasp for a lot of people because the way we talk about dysfunction and Chinese medicine is very different. But in, in functional diagnostic nutrition, we're relying on a lot of data functional lab tests, hard data, and putting those two things together for me, really transformed my own health and put me on this path to help other women do the same.

(06:59):

And you know, now, I mean, it was a long road, you know, 1997 to 2010. And it wasn't really until 2013 that I, I feel like I reclaimed my own health. And I wanna shorten that journey for other women. I, I don't want it to take that long, but now I, I don't have interstitial cystitis anymore. And my Hashi photos is in remission. I know my celiac disease is in remission and my small intestine is beautiful and healthy and normal. Psoriasis is 99% in remission. So these are things that in the conventional world were not possible for me, or at least that's what I was told. Yeah. But it is possible. And so that's another thing is like, you know, I'm kind of living proof to the women that I work with that, Hey, you know, we can reverse engineer this mm-hmm <affirmative> it is possible to get better and to reclaim, you know, a, a, a relatively normal, healthy, vital life that is symptom free.

(08:01):

Yeah. I there's so much, I love in this. So while I was pregnant, I, one week I would have a massage done in one week, I did acupuncture in one week. I would do massage and acupuncture. And I, I mean, I loved acupuncture before, but during pregnancy it, yeah, I'm gonna get emotional here. I was not ready and not prepared to have another baby, baby. Number three, the birth was very traumatic for me. And even, so I got pregnant and the same month that I got pregnant with my third, I found out my dad had stage four lung cancer. He had a brain tumor. He died literally 30 days from his diagnosis to the day of his death and which that anniversary is getting ready to come up here very quickly. And I was not in the head space of wanting to have another baby, because I was so much in this trauma state.

(09:03):

Yeah. That I was like, I can't even handle this. <Laugh>, you know, and I like, I have three beautiful kids, you know, like everything was great. And so when I found out I was pregnant with this one, I had a little bit of, oh my gosh, what am I gonna do? How am I gonna run my business? I don't wanna do this again. I'm scared. I'm, you know, like, how is life gonna look? And I really believed that the acupuncture has helped me in a lot of ways emotionally, and then also preparing my body to give birth again. It was my fastest labor. So from start to finish, it was five hours. Wow. Which my other ones were 30 hours. So it was amazing for me. <Laugh> and I, I really blame it on preparing my body in that emotional state and then also physically and nutritionally and all of those things. Sure. So that part, and then also, I hope all of the listeners heard <laugh> that your autoimmune conditions are going into remission or they are in remission is a better word. Yeah. Mm-Hmm <affirmative> and I've heard from a lot of the women I'm gonna have this forever. Yes. You're gonna have it forever, but you don't have to deal with the symptoms of it. Right. You know, you're always gonna have to be mindful. So maybe, maybe you can share a little bit about what does remission look like in autoimmunity?

(10:30):

Sure. I, I think it looks well, it depends on where you're starting from. How much tissue destruction has taken place. You know, where you are on that journey. So for instance, interstitial cystitis, I don't even put that on my medical history anymore. It is not in my body. I don't consider it being in remission. It is, it is gone. It is, there is no way it'll ever come back. And I believe that with every cell in my body, and I know that that is true. So you know, I can't, I can't say, Hey, I could cure that, but yeah, I, I am cured of that. That is gone. Hashimotos is in remission, I'm completely asymptomatic. And so for women out there who have been living with Hashimotos for a long time, you know, the pattern is you have good days and bad days and, and, you know, you have energy one day and then the next day you hit the wall and, and you're fatigued and you can't get through the day or you're, you know, you have bouts of constipation and you have no libido and, you know, you're gaining weight and you can't lose it and you can't recover from exercise.

(11:42):

And, and it, it kind of goes up and down and up and down, but you're always plagued with symptoms. That's that's, you know, and, and so I think we get into this, this rut of like, this is the way it's always going to be.

(11:56):

Yeah.

(11:56):

But I can absolutely say yeah, for me Hashimoto's remission means that yes, I'm on a small amount of thyroid hormone replacement, and yes, I have to avoid those things that I know are triggers for me. And as long as I do those things, I have no low thyroid symptoms. I have no Hashimoto symptoms. So that's what remission means to me being symptom free. And the same with celiac disease. It's like, I, you know, as long as I avoid gluten and I maintain a healthy gut lining, I am completely normal, you know, I, I, I feel like the non celiac population, I, I have the same type of life as any non celiac person. So you know, I think that for most women, the most important way to think about remission is how can I live? Where 90% of my time, I am symptom free.

(13:00):

You know, if, if you can say that, you know, that 90% of the time you, you just feel normal and healthy, then you know, there's that 10% that's Al you're always gonna get hit. If you come down with a cold or you have a big stressor in your life, like a divorce or a death in the family, or something like that that's enough to trigger a small flare, but those flares will pass. And mm-hmm <affirmative>. So I consider that a success, if you say, okay, yeah. 90% of the time, I'm good. And that's totally doable.

(13:32):

Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Well, and I love that you shared, you may experience flares, but so a lot of my clients with Hashimotos, they will experience flares a couple times a month. Right. Mm-hmm <affirmative>, which is, let's even say 50%, 25%, 30% of their life where, and, and they're long lasting, right. They come and they last for days, weeks, months at a time, instead of maybe these small bets spurts of flares, when you're under a lot of stress, or maybe you haven't slept a lot or yeah. Something is happening in your world. That is, that is triggering that I did have a question for you about gluten free, cuz I feel like this is a hard transition for a lot of people. Yeah. and having celiac, how was that transition for you in being diagnosed with celiac and then going you're you're half I have, you have to be a hundred percent gluten free, right. That's right. With silly track. So forever.

(14:42):

Yeah.

(14:42):

Forever <laugh>. Yep. Yeah. So how was that transition and what kind of mindset work did you have to do to get there? Or was that an

(14:50):

Easy thing for you? You know, I, I was fortunate. It was extraordinarily easy because that was the last diagnosis I got. And by the time that I, they found my celiac disease as a fluke, we weren't looking for it. I'm a, I'm a silent celiac, meaning I don't have any digestive issues when I consume gluten. That's not how it manifests for me, for me. My, my celiac symptom was panic attacks and anxiety and that's not uncommon actually. So so by the time that I got my celiac diagnosis, I was already walking this alternative health pathway. And I had been trying things like the body ecology diet and paleo. And so it's not that I was ever intentionally going gluten free, but I was experimenting with therapeutic diets that were just naturally gluten free. Yeah. Or grain free. And so I would get better.

(15:51):

I mean, so much, so much would improve. So when I got my celiac diagnosis, one, I already had experience living a gluten-free lifestyle because I was paleo or I was doing body ecology. Right. It wasn't a huge stretch two. I had enough knowledge about autoimmunity and how autoimmune diseases are all connected. Mm-Hmm <affirmative> and kind of originate from the same place. And when, when my, when my GI doc, when I woke up from my, my procedure and the GI doc was like, oh my God, I can't believe this, but I'm almost a hundred percent sure you have celiac disease that my small intestine was basically like a slip and slide. There was nothing there. Right. So when I got that diagnosis, I was like, aha, that makes total sense to me because, you know, he says, you know, you're one of these silent celiac. I've never seen it before.

(16:48):

And I was like, okay, so I've been celiac this whole time, which is why I got the Hashimotos. It's why I got the psoriasis. It's why I got the interstitial cystitis. I finally found this like first domino that fell. So, you know, he's got this look on his face. Like he's given me the worst news ever and telling me you're gonna have to give up gluten. I'm like done easiest thing you could have said to me, this is like, I was so thrilled when I walked out of there. Now I realize most people who get a celiac diagnosis, they're coming at it from a totally different space because in my experience that's a huge shock and people tend to follow almost a grieving cycle where they go through period. They go through a period of time where they're in denial and they, they just can't even accept it for, and that, that usually takes a couple of days for it to really sink in for them to go, okay, I've got this thing.

(17:49):

And then moving into this very difficult phase of longing for the life you had before lamenting nothing's ever gonna be the same again, it's incredibly isolating. It can be depressing. Folks can, you know, stop socializing, push away friends and family stop getting joy from things that they, they usually participated in. And then, but, but then they move through this place where they start to get educated, hopefully, and the more they educate themselves and the more they surround themselves with a supportive community. Now that's the bridge to that better life. That's waiting that glorious gluten-free life. And you finally get to this place where you look back and you go, oh my God, that's the best thing that ever happened to me. I'm so glad that I'm living this life now. Right. but it, it can take a while and everyone's different.

(18:49):

So I recognize that my story is kind of a unicorn story. I was super happy to get my diagnosis. But I, I tell you, I, I am so thankful for that journey. And I'm actually thankful that I didn't find a celiac disease earlier, even though probably would've been a better prognosis for me because my journey and the way that it played out has brought me right. Where I am, which enables me, I think puts me in a position to really empathize with, with women and well, well, I, I usually work with women, so, and to be able to say, Hey, you know, I've been there and, and I know the way out and I've, I've walked the path already and it took me a long time, but I know the shortcuts so we can get there faster. Let's go. And that's, that's kind of how, how I look at it.

(19:46):

Yeah. And well, it's kind of interesting that you talk about being, having silent celiac. So my dad I'll share a little bit about, I guess my background. So in high school, my parents got divorced when I was super young and I was living with my mom, my mom got custody and we were just bumping heads. We just could not see eye to eye. And I think for both of our safeties, it was best that we, we parted ways for a little bit. And so I went to go live with my dad, my dad, I was he did pass away. So he was an occupational therapist and he worked with a lot of patients, I with neuropathy and type two diabetes and things like that. And it's actually really cool. He did a whole bunch of research on red light therapy. This was years and years ago.

(20:37):

And so he was starting his journey into <laugh> the natural health. So when I went there, it was around my 17th birthday. So for my well check, he sent me to a naturalpathic doctor and nice, but we still, and I laugh about this, but there was a pharmaceutical size. His brother is a, is a doctor as well. And so we had this pharmaceutical size of like penicillin in, in the cabinet. So your throat's scratchy here. It takes some antibiotics, like, you know, here, here, here, you know? Yeah. And that was my first introduction to supplements holistic health, diet nutrition, you know? And so I feel like my journey was made easy because I realized in high school how much nutrition is affecting your body. And my dad and, and the reason I bring this up is because my dad would always react to dairy, okay.

(21:39):

Air quotes here, dairy, but it wasn't until he took out the gluten that he was no longer having issues with the dairy and he was able to eat dairy. And so it's interesting sometimes how the body, it doesn't, it's not a one for one, right? It's not a, you eat dairy and you have a reaction or in your case, you eat gluten and you have the typical digestive symptoms. It was manifesting in a different way. And I think, and I'm sure you can attest to this. Sometimes. That's why it's important to work with practitioners to help you decipher what all of these things mean. And with you, with Chinese medicine, being able to understand and look at the meridians in the body and why certain bodies might be in, or certain parts of the body might be inflamed and how that corresponds to organs and systems and, and things like that. So this is, this is amazing. <Laugh>

(22:47):

<Laugh> yeah. You know, and, and when it comes to gluten, I think that unfortunately it, it's still true today that most people think, okay, well, I don't have a problem with gluten because I don't get gas and bloating and diarrhea and abdominal pain. And they don't correlate that, oh, that headache, you know, those headaches that I get are related to gluten or the skin issues that I have, or, or, you know, like in my case, the anxiety, the panic, or the depression, or and what the research is telling us now is that the organ most impacted by gluten is actually the brain. So you know, it, it just makes sense that honestly, in my opinion, everyone, with a panic disorder should be screened for gluten sensitivity and celiac disease. And there are, there are other triggers too, like women who, who are, you know, maybe have unexplained miscarriages or fertility issues. That's kind of a red flag for celiac disease and non celiac, gluten sensitivity. So, you know, it, gluten is really powerful protein and the adverse impact of it is systemic. So I just want, you know, your listeners to understand that just because you don't have digestive complaints doesn't mean that gluten is okay for you.

(24:14):

Yeah. Yeah. Well, and, and that was gonna be my question does every, and maybe you can answer this very directly. Does everyone, in your opinion with thyroid issues need to be gluten free?

(24:25):

Yes.

(24:26):

Okay.

(24:27):

Yep. Short answer. And, and honestly, I, I, I mean, I, I would say any practitioner who tells you differently they're just telling you what you wanna hear. I mean, I, because the truth is that number one, gluten causes a leaky gut in everybody. You don't have to be sensitive to it. That's one of the things that it does, it increases Zen in the intestinal lumen. And Zen is an enzyme that regulates these tight junctions between the cells of the small, of the lining of the small intestine. And when Lin goes up, those tight junctions get dysregulated and they, they are stuck open basically allowing a lot of stuff to get through the gut, which shouldn't, and we call that leaky gut or hyperpermeability that happens every time you consume gluten. I don't care who you are. So leaky gut is one of those first dominoes that falls when, when someone gets on the path to autoimmune disease, right.

(25:29):

Mm-Hmm <affirmative>. So if you're walking around eating gluten all day, your gut is leaky. You've just increased your risk risk for autoimmune disease. Okay. So now let's talk about the thyroid. So there is leptin inside the wheat protein it's called wheat Germa glutenin, it can dock basically on any tissue in the body. So it really likes the thyroid. So what it does is it gets through the gut lining because gluten's just given you a leaky gut. Now this lectin gets into the bloodstream. It can go to the pancreas, the joints, the breast, the thyroid, the brain. But it, it tends to go to the thyroid a lot. So it docks into the cell receptors on the thyroid gland. The immune system sees it and goes, wait a minute, that doesn't belong there and goes after it starts to try and destroy that lectin. And when it does the surrounding thyroid tissue gets destroyed in the process.

(26:24):

And that's what we call autoimmune disease by collateral damage. So again, you don't have to be gluten sensitive to get Hashimotos from wheat. Okay. So then the other thing that happens is the gluten protein itself has molecular mimicry with part of the thyroid tissue. Yeah. And so when it gets into the bloodstream, which it will, the immune system goes, wait a minute, that's a bad guy. So now the immune system is patrolling for gluten and it sees the thyroid tissue, which looks look so much like the gluten protein, it mistakenly tags it as gluten. So now your immune system is attacking your thyroid clan because it thinks that it's going after gluten, but it's not. So that's why anyone with a thyroid issue it's like gluten is so bad for your thyroid. There's just so many ways it can screw things up that it doesn't make sense.

(27:24):

So even if someone's lab work, if I run a wheat Zoomer, which is, which is what I run on people to look at their level of gluten and wheat sensitivity. If I run, if someone is consuming wheat and gluten, and I run a wheat Zoomer and it's completely clean and negative, which has never happened by the way. But let's just say it is, let's say I found a unicorn who is not reacting to any part of the wheat protein. I would still tell that person, you have to eliminate it because it is so potentially dangerous for your thyroid and you already have a thyroid issue. It just does not make sense.

(28:06):

Excuse me.

(28:07):

Yeah.

(28:08):

So let's we're getting towards the end of our time, and I wanna talk about trauma and how that corresponds with thyroid. And I know I've shared some of my trauma head trauma, neck trauma, all of those things in previous episodes, but I would love to hear from you about trauma and triggers when it comes to thyroid dysregulation.

(28:34):

Yeah. Well, from a Chinese medicine perspective when we're talking about the root causes of disease the fundamental root cause is always energetic. And so there's one rule. The rule is matter follows energy. So, you know, Chi, which is your life force, that is the energy that runs through all the meridians. And we absorb it from the environment. And that has to flow in a certain way through all of the organs and tissues in order for the body to be I balance. So when there is disruption in that energy, ultimately that correlates with a disruption in matter, so matter, follows energy. So there is basically there is liver Chi, right? And if there's a lot of dysfunction in your liver Chi, eventually your liver, the actual organ will be impacted by that disruption and energy flow. So the primary, the primary driver of how our energy flows in our body is our emotions.

(29:47):

And that includes our trauma history. So when, when we store emotions and trauma in the body, which we do as human beings, that is an energetic signal. It's, it's energetic information that over time impacts the actual matter of your body, the tissues and the organs. So this isn't thyroid specific, but it certainly is autoimmune specific for sure. And that's why, you know, like when I work with women, of course, we work with nutrition and sleep and exercise and supplements, and all of those things are super, super critical, but the most important thing, actually the primary thing that allows all that other stuff to work is mindset and being open to releasing or processing trauma, limiting beliefs negative patterns of ways of thinking and feeling that don't serve the body a lot of, lot of negative or hurtful self talk, those kinds of things. If you're not working on that while you're doing all this other stuff in the world of matter, right.

(31:11):

Diet and supplements and all of that you're not gonna get the results that you want because matter follows energy. So if you really wanna speed up your healing, focus a lot of your energy on that energy medicine. Right? So, yeah, I always recommend tapping to my clients because it's such a fast track to, to dealing with a lot of this stuff and getting a lot of these limiting beliefs and these energetic patterns out of the body without having to really process it intellectually. Right? Yeah. It's a lot like giving yourself an acupuncture treatment. And the beauty of it is when you're dealing with acupuncture needles, or you're dealing with tapping there's a wisdom inside the body. You don't have to know what you're working on. Really. You don't have to, you don't have to understand what's going on with the energy flow.

(32:09):

Once those needles go in, the medicine has nothing to do with the acupuncturist. The acupuncturist just is just the vehicle mm-hmm <affirmative> right. The medicine is between you and the needles. And it's your own body's wisdom. Same is true when you're tapping it's your own body's wisdom that is really clearing all of that emotional, energetic stagnation. As long as you're doing the work consistently. So for anyone listening, if you're not familiar with tapping, go to the tapping solution.com download the tapping solution app on your phone, learn how to tap. It's an easy tool. I think of it as like, you know, the multipurpose tool, like a, like a Swiss army knife is just good for everything, right? Or if you can, if you can get regular acupuncture, treatments, go find a community acupuncture clinic in your area where they offer affordable acupuncture treatments get two or three treatments a week. I mean, it's just, it, it's just a magical medicine that has a wisdom that far exceeds our intellectual capacity to understand it.

(33:20):

I have to agree with this on so many levels for me, I feel like once I started in the mindset, work money, finances, business, personal development just anything and everything in my life that is when my health changed. And I remember, and I've told this story a million times, but I'm gonna hammer this into everybody. My husband and I were, it felt like every single day he was coming home from work. And I was like, you need to do this and you should do this. And you need to, and, you know, I was putting all of the blame on him for life, not being quote unquote, perfect. Now my husband is pretty close to perfect. Let me tell you, and I remember sitting on the bed, the kids are playing and were having some kind of disagreement and he just looked at me and was like, will you ever be happy?

(34:22):

And I was like, in that moment, I was like, of course not, you know, you know, but it was so triggering to me because I was like, he's right. Like I'm not happy. And that was the start of my pursuit in happiness. Yeah. Because growing up, I grew up with, you know, a lot of trauma. I think a lot of us can agree with that. A lot of trauma, a lot of abuse, a lot of yelling and screaming and fighting and uncertainty and, you know, instability and, and all of those things. And for the first time in my life, I had stability, but I was creating my own drama <laugh> yeah. Around the things, because I was attached to the drama that I was experiencing before. And so I had to take all of these steps to work on myself internally. I used a lot of journaling.

(35:19):

I did use EFT energy work, you know, and I've, I, I remember <laugh>, I've told this story too, but I went to like a conference and I took a class on trauma and they taught a trauma release technique. And I did it. I was there for the experience and I decided that technique was not for me. <Laugh> mm-hmm <affirmative> I did not like it. And, but for the listeners, sometimes you have to experience different modalities to kind of figure out what works for you. I love acupuncture. I remember one of the first times I did it he put the needle, I think it was like in my shin ish area. And I just remember feeling so much anger. I was like, get these needles out of like, and I was like, what is this? Where is this coming from? And I kind of, I had to allow myself to feel the anger. Yeah. And then I was just like, I'm gonna let go of it. I don't know. <Laugh> what it was or where it came from, but it brought up something and I was ready to like punch somebody in the face. It was a good thing. Nobody was in there.

(36:41):

<Laugh> oh, yeah. And I'll tell you something really quick when I was in acupuncture school, you know, we needle each other and there's this one point in, in the glute, like right on, right on your butt cheek, basically, that is super, super deep. So we use these seven inch needles, no joke. Right. And, and you put the needle in and you're inserting it like probably four or five inches into the butt. When it, when it hit that point. So it was my turn and my, and my friend, my colleague was needling me and I could feel the needle when it grabbed into the point. I was just this huge, like, like, like, like the needle was just connecting was a really powerful thing. And about 30 seconds later, I just start to weep. I mean, my, my I'm just crying. Silently just streaming tears. I had no clue what was going on. I, I couldn't, it wasn't like I was having memories or there was, I had no conscious, you know, idea of why I was crying, but I could feel this real release. And it was this deep, deep grief and sadness. So, and this happens in acupuncture. Mm-Hmm, <affirmative>, I've seen it happen to patients over and over again, but boy, there was something stored deep in that acupuncture point that was released. So, and, and that's a beautiful thing. We don't have to know what it is

(38:11):

Yeah.

(38:11):

To get it out of the body.

(38:14):

I, yeah, I absolutely agree. And that brings up another time where I, I was having acupuncture though. This was a very first time and I'm laying there and I'm just, I'm crying. And I'm like, I don't know what's happening right now, but I'm gonna just let it come because yeah. At this point I knew enough about emotions to let them come and to feel all of the feelings. Yeah. And bless it. And you can release it, you know? Yeah.

(38:41):

And didn't you feel lighter afterwards?

(38:44):

I did. And

(38:45):

Yes, <laugh>,

(38:46):

It was actually really interesting. I was going through a really difficult experience with a family member at the time of that, that specific event. And I was able to forgive the person. Oh, wow. So, you know, and there's certain things about that situation where I'm like, I hold onto it more for a protection of, I'm not gonna get too close because, because I have to have some kind of boundary mm-hmm <affirmative>, you know, but we are able to hang out and talk and, you know, do all of the normal things that we did before. And so I, you know, acupuncture, I think for me has been, I would say more powerful than EFT. Only because I, I, in EFT, I have felt in scene shifts, but in acupuncture it's like a complete and full release

(39:41):

Of it. Correct. Yeah. Yeah. And the thing is though, is that most people can't afford to get acupuncture consistently. And the way that acupuncture is practiced in this country, it's, it's very kind of boutique spa oriented where, you know, 85 bucks, a hundred bucks a visit, something like that. So community acupuncture is different though. So there is an organization called the people's organization of community acupuncture. You can Google that, go on their website. You can find a clinic in your area. These are gifted practitioners. And whole mission is to provide acupuncture the way it's supposed to be provided very, very low cost to everyone in the community who needs it. Right. And that, and it's a group space. So it's not private. You get your own little room for an hour. No, you go into a group space, hang out in, in an easy chair and just have the best nap of your life for an affordable cost. Yeah. <laugh> just let the magic happen, you know?

(40:48):

Yes. Yeah. Oh, I love that. I did not know that. I mean, I use my HSA card, so we've been very blessed in, in having that option. So I'm gonna check that out and see what's around me. So thank you. Yeah.

(41:02):

It's, it's great. That's, that's the kind of acupuncture I practice and I love it. It's it's, it's beautiful. It's fantastic.

(41:11):

Yeah. Amazing. Yeah. Alright. In closing, what other, is there any last nugget that you feel like the listeners need to know before we give them all of the links to contact you?

(41:27):

Sure. Well, I, I, I think that, you know, anyone listening to your podcast is, is working on their right. They've got thyroid issues and they're, they're interested in transforming and feeling better. Many of your listeners probably are DIYing their health. Yep. Right. They're Googling their way to health, which is very difficult. So I would say if you can afford private coaching, definitely look for a coach. And in my mind, there's two kinds of coaches, the coaches that test and the coaches that guess the coaches that guess are super good guessers. They're, they're qualified, they've been through their programs. They're certified. They have a lot of clinical experience, but they're not working with the hard data that's specific for you. So if you want the most expedient way, look for coaches that are using functional lab tests and really have experience interpreting them.

(42:22):

But unfortunately, a lot of women can't afford that level of, of consistent coaching. So I am very excited. I'm working with a colleague of mine, Paula re who's also a functional diagnostic nutrition practitioner, and we're developing a free space for women. You don't have to have a thyroid issue. But women who are currently DIYing their health and not getting the results they want, and they, they really want access to quality expert coaching, but they can't afford the ticket prize. Right. So I would say, go to my website, download my ebook. That will get you on the invite list. We're gonna launch in may. We're gonna have courses and challenges and actually free coaching office hours that people can sign up for little one-on-one sessions with us. So we just want to bring the quality of, of one-on-one coaching to women without the price tag, to the best of our ability. So I'm super excited about that. And I would just say, keep your, you know, keep, watch this space right. And download that ebook. And you'll get notified when we launch

(43:39):

Amazing. That is awesome. So where can people find you on social media and all of the places to learn more about you?

(43:48):

Yeah. my website is Morgan nutrition.com and across all social media. So Instagram, LinkedIn, Facebook, I'm Whitney Morgan nutrition.

(43:59):

Amazing. And I see you also have a YouTube channel. So tell us a little bit about that.

(44:04):

Yeah, my YouTube channel I do a couple of videos a month and they tend to be educational sometimes about mindset, a lot of times about functional labs and nutrition and, and just, just different functional medicine concepts. So it's a great place to to go if you're interested in learning a little bit more about a topic. But I always replay my YouTube videos on Instagram and Facebook, so you can catch 'em there too.

(44:34):

Amazing. Awesome. Thank you so much for your time, Whitney. It was so fun. I feel like I was able to learn a few things and also make my own connections, which is super fun. Yay.

(44:46):

Yeah. Well, thanks so much for having me. I, I, I loved it and had a great time and let's do it again sometime.

(44:52):

Yeah, absolutely. All right. You guys, everything will be linked up in the show notes. You guys can connect with Whitney when you're ready. All right, we'll see you guys on the next bye

(45:03):

Everybody.

(45:04):

Bye.

(45:06):

Wait before you go, please subscribe. If you found value in today's episode, leave us a review and share on Instagram and please tag us. We love.

 

105// Can I Really Lose Just My Belly Fat, or No...?

Belly fat, belly fat, belly fat! Ahhh!! Aren’t you just so sick of hearing about how to get rid of it, only to be disappointed that it really just comes down to healthy eating & exercise?

 

Well, here we go again with the age-old question: Can you really lose just belly fat?

 

The quick ‘n dirty answer is Yes...and No.

 

You see, it truly doesn’t matter how many crunches you do or the number of ways you exercise your abdominal muscles - you’re not going to suddenly be equipped with a 6-pack unless you focus on the bigger body composition picture - and that’s a combination of exercise AND nutrition.

 

But, the real question should be this: why are you seeing excess fat on your belly in the first place? Perhaps it’s your genetic predisposition to have a belly pouch or it’s due to advancing age, but it could also be due to two other key players: STRESS & HORMONES.

 

Let’s jump in and address both of these questions and give you some actionable strategies for naturally slimming down that belly pouch without any of the slick marketing gimmicks!

 

We’ve got a super easy “detox” water recipe for you too - it’s so refreshing that you’ll want to trade out your plain old water for it every day!

 

.

.

.

SHOW NOTES AT 

 

Get on the Hansen Method waitlist. Click here. We open up the Hansen Method 2-3x a year so that we can fully support our clients to the highest degree possible.

 

Thinking about using nutrition and holistic health for restoring thyroid function? Learn EVERYTHING you need to know by joining our Free Facebook Group. Thriving Thyroid Balance Community.

 

Are you interested in learning more about your thyroid and finding answers? 

 

We got you! 

 

We have several different opportunities to work with us at several different price points and opportunities. 

 

Our signature 6-month program is called The Hansen Method, we offer this in a VIP setting with personalized plans and protocols, individual one on one coaching and incredible bonuses that change regularly. You can schedule a complimentary thyroid breakthrough call with one of our thyroid advisors. Click here.  If you have questions about the Hansen Method and want to discuss your specific situation and make sure this is the right program for you you can schedule a complimentary thyroid breakthrough call with one of our team members. schedule here. Hurry, my schedule fills up quickly and we only work with limited amount of women at any given time.

 

 Join hundreds of women who have improved their symptoms by 80% and lose on average 30lbs in the 4 months.  

 

Not ready to schedule a call, no problem. Learn more about the Hansen Method to see if it’s a good fit for you. Click here to learn more. 

 

We also offer The Hansen Method as a Self Guided option. 

 

Option number 1 for self guide is where you are totally on your own to go through the program content, make the changes and execute them on your own. Click here to purchase. 

 

Option number 2 includes group coaching and access to our members facebook group that will allow you access to our Thyroid Success Coaches and testing with personalized protocols. Click here to purchase.   

 

But one of our favorite ways to work with us is our Thriving Thyroid Coaching Membership Opportunity.  This is where many of clients first begin working with us. It allows you to get to know us, our system and start making changes before making a larger financial investment. Click here to learn more

 

CONTACT LINKS

 

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AFFILIATE LINKS

 

Xo,

Shannon Hansen

 

P.S. Make sure to schedule our Thyroid Breakthrough call with one of our thyroid advisors. 

 

(00:00):

Can you really just you'd lose belly weight? How many of you guys are struggling with the belly weight and your thyroid? Let's dive in cue musical intro. All right. You guys welcome back to the thriving thyroid podcast with myself. Shannon Hansen. We are talking about, can you really just lose belly fat? The quick and dirty answer is yes and no. <Laugh> okay. Let's dive in the no part is that spot reduction or losing fat from just one area on your body has officially been labeled as a, as a myth, right? Fat just can't choose to come from one and only area one and only AR area <laugh>. So it truly doesn't matter how many crunches you do or the way that you exercise your abdominal muscles. You are just going to suddenly be equipped with, you're not going to be suddenly equipped with a six pack, unless you are focusing on the bigger body composition picture and this, and that's a combination of exercise and diet.

(01:26):

Okay. I've got some like really good hints here. So just stick around for a while. But the real question should be, why are you seeing excess belly fat in the first place, perhaps it's your genetics, right? Your genetic predisposition to have that belly pooch, or maybe it's due to aging. It could also be due to, especially for women the oh diastasis recite, where you've had babies and the abdominal wall separates, and you have a gap in those, those core muscles. There are things to be doing with that. So that would lend into the exercise component, but there are two key players in this number one, stress, number two, hormones, shocker, <laugh> you guys, this is a huge shock, right? I think that's what it feels like. Every episode, that's all I talk about. Stress, hormones, stress hormones, maybe some gut health in there, stress hormones <laugh>, especially lately too much of our body's stress hormone hormone cortisol is the one reason that you could be storing excess fat around your abdominal area.

(02:49):

So addressing it can be more of it can do more for your body than crunches and planks and all of those core muscles. Okay. Not only does cortisol tend to drive fat disposition in the stomach area, it's more of that deep visceral fat around your organs. And when you are chronically stressed, you tend to over overeat out as it is. And so it's a double whammy for your health. So thank you stress. So I wanna share with you guys really quickly, something that most of you probably don't know, and in all of my education and all of the years that I have done functional nutrition and holistic nutrition and holistic practitioner and herbal medicine, and all of these certifications that I have done, we have not talked about something that is very real. You guys, it took me a long time as a practitioner to learn this information.

(04:00):

And I'm so thankful that I have, and that is there are. And, and really when I share this information, you're gonna be like, well, duh <laugh> because I was two, right? I, I was two, I knew this information, but I didn't know how to test and apply this information to each individual person. And I've said for years, if you've attended any of my trainings, if you've listened to the podcast at some points, you've heard me say that we are all genetically and metabolically different. And so there is no one size fits all diet plan regimen, exercise regimen. This is why there's Atkins. This is why there's low carb and keto and south beach and keto. And I think I said, keto <laugh> and all of these different eating styles and methods and veganism and vegetarian, like really, we could be here all day listing different types of eating.

(05:09):

And there's a way to test for your metabolic type. There are ways there are multiple ways to test for your metabolic type. And, and this is really important for us to begin to understand and grasp that your thyroid may be out of balance. It may be out of whack. Your, your weight may be climbing and yes, there are some quote unquote general rules rules. I say that very loosely. When it comes to losing weight, we know sugary sodas and drinks. Aren't good for us. We know that only eating cookies and cupcakes isn't the best for us, but, but if you're like me, when I don't, when I eat really healthy and I don't see results, it is very defeating. And I'm like, give me the pizza, give me the Coke, give me a, you know, root beer, float and cookies and cake and chocolate chips and whatever, right on the side, like, let me just have a binge Fest.

(06:19):

And I wanna give you a very speci, specific example. So years ago, I wanna say like six or seven years ago, I was friends with many other people in my community and practi practitioners and all of these different things. And there was, I feel like there was a big trend between vegetarian and veganism. And I was like, you know what? I need to lose some weight. Like can't hurt. Right. It can't hurt. And I had already been incorporating, you know, meatless, Mondays and things like that to make sure that I was getting a lot of fruits and veggies in my diet. And you guys, let me tell you, I did about three days and I literally felt my body starting to shut down. Okay. Literally like from the inside out, I was like, I just feel tired and lethargic and broken down and, and weak.

(07:25):

I like, it's hard to put into words, but like the brain fog. And, and I was so utterly confused as to why all of my friends and all of these other practitioners around me were like, this is the best thing I've ever done in my whole life. I feel amazing. I'm losing weight. And I'm like, I feel a breakdown happening inside me and come to find out later. So actually I wanna share one more teeny piece of this story. So I have another practitioner friend. She is Rav again, she's written cookbooks. She's amazing. And she introduced me to several different things in the health and wellness industry. So I, I have the utmost respect for this practitioner. And she was telling me that she was closing down her business. And I was like, well, Hey, send your clients my way. And she's like, well, you know, you don't practice raw veganism.

(08:32):

And I was like, well, yeah, <laugh> essentially, and she, and I was like, you know, I've tried it, I've tried it multiple times. And it just didn't feel right for my body. And she said something for whatever reason I cannot get outta my head. She's like, well, I have have a lot of suspicions then about whatever your body. And I was like, well, please tell me, like, what are, what are these missing pieces that I need to know about my body that are preventing me from essentially eating this really good, healthy way? And I think I was kind of turned off by that because I was like, you're not gonna help me find answers as to why this is happening for me. You know, there was, there was literally no guidance. And you guys know if you message me on Instagram or Facebook, I will, I cannot coach you.

(09:38):

I can't be like, do a, B, C, D because I don't have enough medical history. And I am, would be out of compliance <laugh> of what I'm supposed to do as a practitioner. But I would tell you, Hey, here's a list of tests to go get from your doctor. If you can't afford to work with me. Here's, you know, you can start with this, maybe consider doing this, like, you know, maybe consider a probiotic or <laugh> like, I would try to give you at least a little tiny piece. Okay. Because I believe in that so much, like to my core, I believe in helping you as much as I can. And that is why I do the podcast. That's why I put out so much, quote, unquote, free information out there to, to help you guys. But please also know that as I'm doing these things, I'm also speaking to the masses, right?

(10:37):

We have hundreds of downloads on each podcast episode. And so there is literally no way for me to give each person specific advice, right? Because again, we are all genetically metabolically different and this can change. Okay. So through testing and when you work with me and my, my, my coaches and my practitioners, we do testing and we are oftentimes able to see, and we're, I'm actually working on a new test to help you, not a new test. That's not the right way, a new evaluation. That's a better word to help, better identify how you break down and process your food so that I can not only tell you, Hey, eat this, this and this and this, but I can also say, eat this, this and this in this quantity. Okay. And this is not the same as counting macros. You guys it's, it's not the same.

(11:45):

And I don't know how to explain this other than like, so there are fast oxidizers and slow oxidizers. Those are, are the two main categories. And it really goes back to your genetics. It goes back to stress levels, and it goes back to how your body is breaking down and processing food. And so me specifically, I am a fast oxidizer. So what that means is I need slow metabolizing foods, which means I essentially need more fat and more protein in my diet, because if I eat a carbohydrate, I burn through it way too quickly. And I'm hungry, like 10 seconds later. <Laugh> right. And my husband on the other side is a slow oxidizer. And so, as the years have gone on and developed and things, I have adopted his way of eating because I, in my mind thought, oh, I'm a good wife. I'm making what he likes to eat, but our genetic breakdown, I don't know what the right word is and how we process through things is very different.

(13:02):

And it's also very exciting because <laugh> in a lot of ways I can eat more than my husband. And that's kind of crazy, right, because of how my body breaks down foods. And so anyways, I want to go back to the belly fat area and how stress and hormones play a role in this, because I'm gonna be sharing information with you guys, but please also know that there are metabolic typing things that also need to be considered. So if you have tried quote, unquote, all of the diets out there and something isn't working for you schedule a call with me. Let's, let's talk about this a little bit more in depth, one on one, and have more of a conversation about how I can help you. All right. So there are really five ways to help your tummy appear slimmer without relying on the mythical spot reduction method.

(14:06):

Okay. So number one, eat a balanced diet, rich and whole foods because abs are not built because abs are built in the kitchen. And I'm sure you're sick of hearing that one because there's plenty of truth in it incorporating the following daily things that I'm gonna share with you guys can help slim down the midsection. So number one is eating high quality protein sources. Now, if you're like me, I would look at my husband's plate and I'm like, okay, I'm going to eat a little bit less chicken. My husband can get buy by eating like two to three, maybe ounces. I'm gonna say like two to three ounces of chicken and be totally fine. Ladies. I need like four to six ounces of chicken. And as I have been doing that I wake up feeling so much more energized. Okay. And it was really hard to kind of wrap my head around because I'm like, well, women should not eat more than men.

(15:16):

<Laugh> okay. So choose your carbohydrates very carefully. Okay. So for me as a fast, oxidizer one of the best grains that I can eat oats quinoa Arant spelled even wheat on there. Commute is on there, but some of the worst things for me to be eating is rice, wild rice, Bosma, rice, brown rice, COOs COO. And not, I have to say this because I know some of you ladies out there <laugh>, that is not for everybody. Okay. I still eat rice. I, this is another question I get asked a lot. Well, can, you know, can I eat something other than brown rice? Absolutely. You guys abso freaking gluten brown rice is actually really high in arsenic and some heavy metals. And so I choose typically if I do make something with rice, for my family, I typically make it with a white rice, like a Jasmine or something like that, so that we can avoid the arsenic and the metals that are associated with that.

(16:30):

And so, again, knowing how your body breaks these things down is going to be really, really important for knowing what your tolerance is. Because like I shared earlier, I thought being a vegetarian and vegan was like the holy grail of health for a long time until I learned this information. Okay. Number three, whole fruits and veggies. Again, there are gonna be certain fruits and vegetables that are better for your body. Okay. So some of the best ones for me are peas, asparagus mushrooms cauliflower, some of the worst ones for me, which makes me sad. <Laugh> are carrots and celery and potatoes. Some of the best fruits for me to eat are avocado coconut apples, pears, things that I should kind of limit are gonna be berries, which is really surprising because everybody tells you that berries, especially on keto is like super good for you.

(17:39):

And you know, those are like the only kind of carbohydrates you should have. <Laugh> not for me. Right. And then to limit even more than that is like, I should, should only be having citrus twice a week. So there are pieces of the puzzle that if you were struggling to figure out there may be more of a reason why you're struggling to figure these things out, because you don't understand what your body's ability to break down these foods are. And you guys like, it's not that I can't eat these foods. Okay. Please understand that. It's not that I can't eat these foods. It's that my body needs a different level of nutrients in a different amount than the next person. It's, it's an empowerment thing. Yes. I can still eat. Citrus. Yes. I can still eat rice. Yes. I can still eat Coose Coose and whatever else we wanna throw in there.

(18:45):

But if I focus on the ones that support my body, the most, that is going to be the best. Okay. Number four, <laugh> a healthy dose of good fats like avocados and olive oils. And again, I need more of that than other people. My husband could go probably low fat and be totally fine. And then number five, which builds on last week is limit alcohol consumption. All right. So number two, besides diet is, did you know that excess sugar consumption may be the primary nutritional driver for excess belly fat in the belly and in the liver? This is particularly true of sugary drinks, like soft drinks, or a lot of our women drink coffee and add a whole bunch of <laugh> sugar to them. And things that also contain high fructose corn syrup or glucose. So ditch the sugar you guys, I know it's extremely to, to give that up and to get away from, you know, the yummy, delicious drinks, but I promise your body is going to thank you.

(20:01):

If you focus on wa on water because these extra drinks can create that belly bloat, which is you know, obviously uncomfortable and gives you that little pooch that makes you look like you're pregnant. And then in addition to that, those sugary drinks leads into insulin resistance, which is a classic contributor to those love handles. All right, number three, digestive support, be sure to support your body. Your body is complex digestive processes and keep bloating and gas to a minimum by doing some or all of these things. So number one, eat a balanced whole food diet. Okay. If you don't know how your body breaks down foods, just focus on fruits, veggies, and meats. Okay. Your body will thank you. Adding grains, you know, and just kind of look at what your tolerance to that is. Number two, stay away from foods. You may be sensitive to.

(21:11):

I am getting ready and I'm so excited and also super nervous <laugh> to do this, but I am doing the food sensitivity testing on myself. When I have done them, it's been over five years since I've done them. When I've done them in the past, my sensitivities have been low, generally speaking, compared to other people. So I'm excited to see if that's still the case or what I can learn from that information. Number three, eat fermented probiotic, rich foods. This is gonna be like your sauerkraut, your kimchi Chi, your kombucha, your water. Keer, those types of things are super good for your body. Number four, and probably my most favorite is eat slow and be mindful. Chew your food. We like to say chew for the poo <laugh> and of course, watch your portion sizes. You guys, like I mentioned earlier, I would look at my husband husband's portion size, and I'm like, okay, I'm gonna take less than that.

(22:17):

When really I needed more protein than that. So watch your portion sizes. This is why you guys, I'm a huge advocate of journaling. Look at your journal, see what happens, see what trends are happening. Do you notice that if you eat a big fat steak and green beans and broccoli, that you feel amazing afterwards, and you're not hungry, or if you eat a salad and you feel heavy and bloated, like all of those things are signs of something bigger happening, and you can make adjustments in your body. If you are not ready to invest in a coach. All right, next tip. Consider taking digestive enzymes, talk to myself or another health practitioner before taking any supplements, your doctor, if you're in the care of your doctor, but digestive enzymes, you guys are incredible. Okay. I have seen amazing things with my clients just simply by them taking the right kind of digestive enzymes.

(23:26):

Even before we get any testing back, Hey, you have this, this, this symptom take this supplement. We'll see how it goes. Right? And they come back within two, three days and they're like, oh my gosh, I feel so much better. My digestive system, isn't bloated. I'm not having constipation. I'm able to go to the bathroom. Normally, all of the things you guys huge fan over here, if you can't tell, all right, number four, show your liver some love. This is also supporting of the digestive system as a whole. And it can be as simple as following some of the above instructions or the previously mentioned instructions when it comes to fruits and veggies, chewing your food. You know, those, those types of things also consider like a, some herbal teas that supports your detoxification pathways like dandy lion. Those can be really, really important.

(24:29):

The next one is decreasing alcohol consumption. Yes, it's, it's a bear, right? And we've talked about it last week in depth. But it does play a role in it. The other thing that I would consider doing and again, if you are not in my care, please consult a doctor or physician before doing this. But Castro oil packs are another way to love your liver. You guys, I currently have a client in one of our programs and sh don't tell anybody, but she is actually a thyroid coach and she's getting coached by us. So it's kind of funny, but she has been doing all of the right things. You guys, all of the right things, but her digestive system was not working optimally. She was struggling with constipation and we kind of went back and forth. And I was like, are you doing Castro oil packs?

(25:24):

And she's like, no Castro packs. And so anyways, I sh sent her some information on them. She started doing them. You guys, we were able to reduce and take her off some of the supplements that she was doing to help her have a bowel movement simply by doing these Castro packs, it has impacted her massively. She is choosing them to do, she is choosing to do them every night for my clients inside the handsome method or, and recapture your thyroid. We are doing them. I recommend two to three times a week pick what you can commit to and be consistent with. That is the most important thing. If you can do 'em every night. Great. It's not gonna hurt you. So, okay. Last tip. <Laugh> overall body fat with body training. Okay.

(26:21):

So this means include strength training in your workouts. Many years ago, my mom, that generation fifties, sixties, seventies, a big thing was cardio. Do cardio you'll lose weight. You guys, I'm here to tell you that having muscle is more important than cardio. So if you CA, if you can't, cuz this is very real for many of our clients get to the gym and exercise because it takes too much out of you cuz your body is under too much stress, just start walking. But if you can handle more incorporating weight training, lifting, not anything crazy. I'm not saying like CrossFit or be a competitive trainer, but you know, dumbbells, some squats with dumbbells, you know bicep, curls, basic movement for those is going to be important for overall body composition. All right? However, it is thought that certain areas have more metabolically, active fat cells than others as they respond better to exercise and eating healthy.

(27:36):

Okay. So there are certain areas that will respond more quickly. Those things are your chest, your arms and your stomach. So that is a huge win. If you are looking to lose that belly fat incorporating in the exercise, the body training hit training, that's going to help. Okay. But there are those that are especially that are not especially active and do not respond to diet and exercise. So those are gonna be things like your butt, your hips and your thighs, wah <laugh> right. <Laugh> ding it. Which I know for us, thyroid women, that's typically where we carry the weight is the belly hips, thighs booty. So here are some other ways to tackle your stress. That's gonna be get more sleep. You guys short sleep or poor quality sleep is going to lead into weight gain period. The end you can argue with me all day long.

(28:45):

I got a phone call from a family member just this last week. And they said, Shannon, I just keep eating uncontrollably. And I don't know why, and I know what's going on in their life. And I said, how's your sleep? And they're like, well, not good, but what does that have to do with my eating? I said, your body is trying to fuel itself and have the energy that you need to sustain yourself all day long. And so, because you're not sleeping at night, guess what? Your body is craving more food because it needs more fuel. If you would just give your body the sleep, your food cravings will slow down. Okay. All right. Next one, exercise and move your body all day long. I am currently in the process of like batch recording, several podcast interviews while my baby is sleeping and I am setting time limits on each one.

(29:48):

I am recording one to two podcasts depending on the length of it. And then I'm getting up and I'm moving my body. I'm going to get a drink. I'm sit, I'm going upstairs and changing laundry. I'm going to the bathroom. I'm walking outside to check the mail. I am moving my body intentionally and also using a standing desk <laugh> because that is going to help the body overall. It's gonna help reduce stress levels and is a good stress reliever. And it also makes you more productive during the day. You get more accomplished when you simply move your body, instead of trying to sit in the desk and get all the things done. Okay. And then last but not least carve out more time for self care. Things like meditation or yoga, a hot bath breathing, eating, or reading. <Laugh> listening to music, going on a walk, spending time with a trusted and supportive friend.

(30:48):

The list could really go on. I have a massage table in my home and those massage stones yesterday. I heated them up and I just nicely asked my husband. I was like, can you just place these on my back for me? Cuz it's really hard to do it yourself. And I was like, I just need 10, 15 minutes. And he was like, okay. And I laid there with the worm stones on my back and I just took several deep breaths and I got myself grounded grounded in terms of like balancing, <laugh> not grounded as in like your trouble.

(31:27):

And that is one thing that can help. And I mean, other things like I have a massage table at my home, I bought one because I have a massage therapist that was like, if you have your own massage table, I will come to your house instead of you coming to, you know, to my location. And I was like done, <laugh> sold. That is the best thing ever, because then I don't have to find a babysitter. I don't have to do all of the extra steps. Like she liter leave just comes to my house. And so I use that massage table freaking all the time. You guys, Amazon, I think it was like maybe it was under 200 bucks. I think it was between like 150 and $200. And I literally use it all the time for my kids. When they're not feeling good, I will, you know, rub their back and it's easy for me to, to, you know, rub their little hands and their feet while they're sick.

(32:26):

We use, I bought for my massage table, one of those big, it's a big heating pad that goes over the whole table. And I heated up in my kids when they're not feeling good will lay on that on their belly or on their back. So we literally use it all the time and I thought, oh, we'll set it up and take it down. No, it just stays set up. <Laugh> because we use it so much, but it's a great way for me to have some self-care. Even if somebody isn't there to put stones on my back or whatever, I love laying on a full body heating pad. It is amazing. It's so amazing. And Ooh, here's an extra tip that I wasn't planning on sharing. Another way to speed up your metabolism is like heating pads. After you eat, you guys can put a heating pad on your abdominal area and that can help speed up that metabolism.

(33:25):

And so when I was pregnant, I was really struggling with a lot of like nausea and just super uncomfortable. And my acupuncturist actually told me that and recommended that I do that. And it helped me a ton when I was experiencing like nausea after I ate and wanted to throw up and all of those fun things that we deal with when we're pregnant. So right. You guys, that is a wrap. I will see you on the next. And I just bumped my microphone. I will see you guys on the next, if you are looking to get help and support, I am back full force. My kids are going to school and we are ready to take on more clients. And we have the capability of doing all of the testing and all of the wonderful things. So head over to the show notes, book, a free call with myself or one of our thyroid advisors. And we will help you determine if this is a good fit for you and working with us or if you are not ready to do that, you can check out some of our free resources in this show notes. We have thyroid panel guides. We have the best foods for thyroid. We have so many amazing resources over there, so go check them out and I'll see you guys on the next.

(34:49):

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