Unlocking Hormonal Mysteries: The Secrets Every Mom Needs to Know with Stefanie Adler

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Are you getting a little confused and overwhelmed with all the hormone content online? Me to. Which is why I am so excited for our guest today, Stefanie Adler who is a women's health and hormone expert. I am someone who deeply cares about my physical health and wellbeing and yet this conversation was such a wealth of information. 

So whether you are an expert or newbie to this conversation, I know you will learn a lot from Stefanie. Stefanie shares her insights as a certified nutrition consultant, revealing how understanding your unique hormonal cycle can lead to improved emotional wellbeing and vitality. 

We discuss hidden health blocks that may be impacting you, including vital nutrient deficiencies and how that interplays with gut health. Listen as we break down the phases of your menstrual cycle, providing practical insights on how to align your physical needs with your hormonal changes. How do we prioritize health without getting obsessed? Is there such a thing as an unhealthy pressure to be perfect when it comes to feeding our kids and ourselves- or is there permission to have high values and standards? 

Together, we’ll explore how nourishing yourself isn’t a luxury, but a necessity. We aim to inspire mothers everywhere to prioritize their health as a crucial part of nurturing their families.

This episode is a must-listen for any mom looking to elevate her health and wellbeing. Let’s reclaim our health journeys together! If you enjoy the episode, please share it with others and leave us a review to help spread the word!

About Stefanie:

Stefanie is certified Nutrition Consultant, Birth Doula, and Hormone and Fertility expert. 

FInd Stefanie:

Website

Instagram 

Podcast

Chapter Markers:

0:00 Welcome to the Motherhood Mentor Podcast

3:00 Meet Becca and Today's Guest, Stefanie Adler

10:00 The Importance of Moms' Health and Self

18:00 Understanding Hormonal Health and Stress

30:00 Hidden Health Blocks and Their Impact

45:00 The Role of Nutrition in Hormonal Balance

56:00 Cycle Awareness: Understanding Your Phases

1:15:00 The E

If you’re ready to stop living on autopilot and start leading your life with deep presence, I’d love to work with you. Book a free interest call here: Click Here

💌 Want more? Follow me on Instagram @themotherhoodmentor for somatic tools, nervous system support, and real-talk on high-functioning burnout, ambition, healing perfectionism, and motherhood. And also pretty epic meme drops.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to the Motherhood Mentor Podcast.
I'm Becca, a somatic healingpractitioner and a holistic life
coach for moms, and thispodcast is for you.
You can expect honestconversations and incredible
guests that speak to health,healing and growth in every area
of our lives.
This isn't just strategy forwhat we do.
It's support for who we are.
I believe we can be wildlyambitious while still holding

(00:25):
all of our soft and hardhumanity as holy.
I love combining deep innerhealing with strategic systems
and no-nonsense talk about whatthis season is really like.
So grab whatever weird healthbeverage you're currently into
and let's get into it.
Welcome to today's episode ofthe Motherhood Mentor Podcast.

(00:47):
I have a really awesome guestwith me, stephanie Adler.
We are going to talk all abouthormones, health, stress, just
talking about cycles and howthey impact us, especially as
busy mothers who are doing a lot, who you know all of my
audience, all of me, all of myclients.
We are so devoted to our healthand wellness, but I think a lot

(01:08):
of times it gets put on theback burner more than we're
acknowledging, like we thinkwe're doing the right things but
it's not really working.
That's a very common like Ithink we're doing the right
things.
Are we what I was doing?
Is it working?
So I'm so excited to have youon.
Will you introduce yourself?

Speaker 2 (01:24):
Yeah, I'd be happy to Thank you so much for having me
, rebecca, and I love what youwere saying about like we feel
like we're doing the rightthings but it's not working, and
I definitely want to make surethat we're talking about why
that is today, because that is asuper common thing that I see
happening to women and it'sreally frustrating.
So a little bit about me.
My name is Stephanie Adler, I'ma certified nutrition
consultant and functionaldiagnostic nutritionist and I

(01:46):
help moms optimize their healththrough data-driven root cause
solutions.
So, like, what does thatactually mean?
How do I make that a little biteasier for you?
I help women figure out whatare their hidden health blocks
that are preventing them fromreaching their full potential,
feeling the way they want tofeel and show up in the world,
in their relationships, andsupport their bodies and healing

(02:06):
so that they can really enjoytheir life.
We only get to do this onceLike we want.
I want us everyone to feel gooddoing it.
Um, and how I got into this workis my own path.
Started with my own healthchallenges as a kid, actually,
and I struggled with digestivediscomfort as a kid for many,
many years, was in and out of adoctor's office who eventually I
actually found out from and youmight find this interesting in

(02:29):
the work that you do but, like,I found out from my mom as an
adult that the doctor thought Iwas making it up and doing it
for attention and like said thatto my mother.
My mother's like what am Isupposed to do with this
information?
My daughter says she hasstomach aches and I'm picking
her up from school because she'sin the bathroom like all the
time Anyway.
So I had to take my healing inmy own hands at a very young age

(02:50):
, 12 or 13.
I changed my diet, even thoughmy doctor said it wouldn't make
a difference for me, and itcompletely changed my life.
Symptoms I'd been having for 13years went away in three months
and so I just really became soinfatuated with food as medicine
and understanding how food canbe a catalyst for disease.
And it kind of translated as Igot older.

(03:13):
I went to school for conflictresolution, like something
completely different.
I got a degree in politicalscience and my mom was like you
should become a nutritionist andI was like shut up, mom, you
know nothing about me.
And then, of course, I wentback to school because mom is
always right nutritionist and Iwas like, shut up, mom, you know
nothing about me.
And then, of course, I wentback to school because mom is
always right, uh, became anutritionist and just really
wanted to focus on the femalebody and everything from
preconception through firstfoods, because the gift, the

(03:35):
biggest gift we can giveourselves and our children is
the gift of generationalwellness and I, you know, having
struggled as a child, that wasso important to me.
So I just love doing what I doand getting to help people feel
really good in this world.
Thanks for having me.

Speaker 1 (03:51):
You said so many.
I love when you were sayinglike food and just this, like
you said that generationalwellness, because I think for so
many women they at least for meI didn't really think a ton
about health until I waspregnant.
And I think I think that's whenI started thinking about

(04:11):
nutrition and then after afterbaby was there, you know,
thankfully I had midwives whowere like all about like what
are you eating and how is itfeeling and are we getting the
right amount of nutrients?
And like I was so grateful forthat Because I think otherwise I
would have had a very differentmotherhood If I wouldn't have
been paying attention to food.
That was like one of the mostbasic building blocks that I had

(04:33):
early on.
I'm curious for women who arelike I'm doing all of the right
things.
I think there's so muchconfusing information about
nutrition and especiallyhormones.
I feel like hormones are one ofthose things where it's like
every other content piece isabout some other hormone.
It's like cortisol is beingtalked about constantly right

(04:54):
now.
I'm curious for you and yourclients what does hormone health
look like and what are some ofthe signs that you have really
optimal wellness?
The word you used was like yourfull potential, which I love,
cause it's like, especially thewomen I work with we already
have baseline, we we've got thelike basic needs accomplished,
but now we're going okay.

(05:14):
Now I want like really I wantto like optimize this.
I want to see how good I canreally feel.
So what are some of thosethings hormonally that we don't
really know about?

Speaker 2 (05:25):
Totally, and I love how you said how good I can
really feel, because the gamethat I'm always asking my
clients to play in myself evenit's show me how good it can get
Right.
And I want to just really holdspace for people who are like,
but I'm working out and I'mdoing the thing that Cosmo says
I should do in terms of likeintermittent fasting and this or
whatever it is Right.
And you know, they actually,until very, very, very recently,

(05:49):
excluded menstruating women, sowomen of menstruating
childbearing age, from nutritionstudies, from medicine studies,
like truly from like, if theytesting medications, from
everything from like mentalhealth, all the way to like
sleep studies, because ourhormones interfered with the

(06:11):
efficacy of the trial.
So, like, it makes sense if youfeel like you are doing all of
the things and it is not workingbecause most of the quote,
unquote science or data that youare being fed information,
therefore making decisions aboutin terms of how to exercise,
how to eat, et cetera, how muchsleep you need we're not studied

(06:31):
on women who have bodies likeyours, right, like in
menstruating bodies.
So, yes, it makes sense if youwere doing all the things that I
want to just like.
Really hold space for that,because it's very frustrating
and also there, I think, are alot of people don't realize that
hormone issues.
And so this is where we'llcircle back to your, like, very
direct question that I totallywent off on a tangent about,

(06:52):
that hormone issues are neverthe root cause of what's going
on.
They're always a symptom ofsomething deeper.
And so a lot of times whenpeople are, you know, in this
information overload and they'relike, oh okay, so like maybe
I've figured out, I think I havelow progesterone or I have, you
know, estrogen dominance or Ihave too much cortisol, whatever
it is, and they try and dealwith that problem.

(07:14):
Maybe it gets a little bitbetter.
But then another symptom popsup somewhere else or it doesn't
really get resolve itself andthat's because it's not actually
the prop, the root of theproblem.
It's just a symptom of theproblem, whereas a lot of times,
like those hidden blocks tohealth, are rooted deeper in our
body.
So that could be like in thegut.
I always say pooping problemsbecome period problems.

(07:36):
So if you're dealing withanything in the gut, it's going
to lead to hormone issues,mineral imbalances or something
that I so commonly see that willmanifest as hormone issues, but
really it's at the baseline,like your body just doesn't have
enough minerals.
And I see this really commonlywith moms, because there's such
a massive mineral transferduring pregnancies than if you

(07:57):
choose to breastfeed.
And we say, generally speaking,it takes about two years to
rebuild those reserves withintentionality.
And most women are not waitingtwo years between pregnancies
and are not being as intentionalas they could be about
replenishing.
So we'll see a lot of thoseissues come up.
And so what are some of these?
Like hormone imbalances.

(08:18):
You know it really variesperson to person.
Yes, like a lot of people areeither running on way too much
or way too little cortisolbecause they have depleted their
reserves over time.
And so that wired and tiredfeeling, like if you get laid
down at night and you're like,okay, like I'm exhausted but I
also can't sleep, that's usuallylike a sign of too much

(08:39):
cortisol in the body, likeyou're just like running on, you
know, like adrenaline all thetime.
If you experience a lot ofanxiety, if you kind of feel
like you're just like very typeA a lot of people don't realize
that like type A is just nervoussystem dysregulation, so that
can be like a sign of too muchcortisol we're outside of the
spectrum is where we have likeadrenal fatigue is what it's

(09:00):
sometimes called, but it'sreally just HPA access
dysregulation where your body isnot able to keep up with your
cortisol needs.
Right, cortisol is supposed tohelp us create energy and so,
you know, for moms, I feel likethis one is hard because it's
like yeah, but I'm like tiredbecause I'm not sleeping.
You know very much, but evenstill, it's really that like if
you feel like you need caffeineor a sugar, you know, boost to

(09:23):
get through the second half ofthe day, or if you just feel
like you're not able to bereally present or you're maybe
more irritable than you want tobe.
I see this a lot with lowcortisol, where it's just like
you're like quick to snapbecause you're just like so
running on low reserves thatyour body like doesn't have the
patience and capacity to be theperson you want to be in the
world.
So that's where we like startto see some of those cortisol

(09:44):
pieces come into play.
We're on the more reproductivehormone sides.
I mean there's a big spectrumof you know ways that this
manifests for people.
I feel like the most common onethat I see is low progesterone
and low progesterone.
Progesterone is thatprogestation hormone and you
know she I like to call hergrandma progesterone.
When she comes to town we likefeel calm and she like bakes

(10:07):
cookies and like, do you want tostay home with me?
Like, if you go out, pleasedon't stay out too late.
Like she's like that nasty,like grandmotherly energy,
whereas estrogen is like thatfun flirty.
You know I call her like yourfun aunt estrogen.
You know she comes to town andis like do you have a fake ID?
Let's go dancing, you know.
And so she's like that.
They balance each other.

(10:27):
But on, when you have too muchestrogen, it's the.
It's like the.
It's the same thing as havingnot enough progesterone, and so
we'll kind of see these gotogether.
It's like the same differentside of the same coin.
And then your fun ant estrogencan very quickly become like
crazy ant estrogen if she's hadtoo much to drink, and that's
like a really good analogy,because alcohol really increases

(10:49):
our estrogen.
So then we're able to actuallysee how that correlates.
And then she becomes like yougot to put her in a cab and send
her home from Thanksgivingdinner, you know, it's like it's
just too much, whereas on theother side of the spectrum, if

(11:10):
we have low progesterone, we'regoing to feel anxious and we're
going to feel like ungrounded.
And you know, some signs ofthat imbalance can be like
spotting before your period,really like hormonal PMS, really
tender breasts, maybestruggling to lose weight around
the middle, specifically acnebefore your bleed.
There's a few other signs of it, but those are kind of like the
two camps of hormone imbalancesthat I often see.
But again, it's important toremember that most of that is
not a root cause.

(11:31):
It's the symptom of whatever isactually out of balance in your
body.

Speaker 1 (11:36):
Yeah, so I'm curious you haven't mentioned
testosterone, and I feel likethat's the one you hear women
talking about.
Well, maybe six, seven monthsago you heard so much about
women having low testosteroneand wanting to supplement it.
Where does testosterone comeinto play?
Yeah, so testosterone.

Speaker 2 (11:55):
I actually think that the low testosterone piece is a
little over exaggerated, ifanything.
I mean the more that we have astronger number or a larger
number of women who areexperiencing PCOS than ever
today, and that's actually wherea woman has too much

(12:15):
testosterone, and so I actuallysee that more frequently than I
see low testosterone.
The reason I didn't mention ittoo much is because I think
again, it's kind of like asymptom of all of these other
things, but some of those likelow or high testosterone
symptoms usually go along withalso like if you have too much
testosterone, then you'reprobably and you have PCOS and

(12:36):
you're probably not ovulatingand you're probably not.
You don't have enoughprogesterone, and so you're also
feeling the the longer termeffects of like never having
enough progesterone, and soyou're also feeling the the
longer term effects of likenever having enough progesterone
.
Um, so it's almost like asecond tier of it.
But yes, I mean lowtestosterone.
I see it translate to like lowsex drive, a lot low libido and
low desire when it comes to, uh,like how that's manifesting in

(13:01):
your body, struggle to like feelmore toned, but I also think
that some of those can be likenot having enough desire can
also be low estrogen.
So the cool thing about I feellike the way that I practice
that's different is I really aimto blend ancestral wisdom and
modern science, and so when weutilize functional lab tests,

(13:25):
they're so validating andthey're so interesting.
You know, you have a woman who'slike I've been talking to my
doctor for two years andexplaining these symptoms and
they tell me nothing.
You know just to I'm anxiousand to go home and then I can
show them very clear lab workand say, hey, your hormones are
out of whack.
Right, like, we can do that.
And I think sometimes we getlike so wrapped up in, like what
the numbers are, if it's lowtestosterone or high estrogen,

(13:47):
that we miss the point, which isyour body's talking to us and
it's just our job to listen.
And we can, without actuallyknowing exactly what your
hormone imbalance is, put yourbody back on the track to
healing itself without youactually needing to know that.
So we can do the test and findout and you don't have to have

(14:08):
you know the spend all the, allof the resources gathering all
the information, because it'sonly as helpful as so far as you
can implement.
You know the, the strategiesand you don't always necessarily
need to know what your hormoneimbalance is to fix it.

Speaker 1 (14:23):
Yeah, so if hormones are the symptoms, what are those
like hidden blocks that aredeeper than that?
Like you mentioned, digestion,what else is usually like
creating that off balance?

Speaker 2 (14:35):
of the hormone.
So digestion, or not justdigestion, but gut health in
general, cause a lot of timesand I'll just say this because I
feel like I see this all thetime when people are like I
don't have any gut issues.
You know I poop every day,never have any stomach aches,
never have any bloating, andthen we'll.
This is one of the ways thatlabs can be really helpful.
We'll run some labs and we'relike girl, you have some like
major dysbiosis and it'smanifesting as immune issues or

(14:58):
it's manifesting as neurologicalsymptoms, and then you know we
heal their gut and they're likeoh my God, I don't have any
brain fog anymore and I don'thave any anxiety, right, so it
doesn't always actually meanlike you have problems in the
bathroom, but gut issues I meanHippocrates said this so many,
so many years ago all diseasebegins in the gut, and so there
are a lot of things that canquote unquote like go wrong in

(15:19):
our gut.
I mean it is an ecosystem andwith the overuse like disgusting
overuse of antibiotics in ourmodern society we are seeing so
much gut imbalance with, I meanlike we're inheriting it from
our parents, like it really iswild, like it's not just how

(15:42):
many rounds of antibioticsyou've had.
It's how many rounds ofantibiotics you've had.
It's how many your parents hadbefore they had you were born,
and the same thing with whenyou're passing it on to your
children, because everygeneration is getting a more
weakened, less diversemicrobiome where overgrowth and
opportunistic bacteria and yeasthave an opportunity to thrive
because of the imbalance.

(16:03):
So that is like a big part ofit, for sure.
It's just like that are themicrobiome in our gut, which is
like three pounds of gutbacteria.
At the low end it could be upto six.
So think about like a threepound weight or a six pound
weight and think about all ofthat are living bacteria that
we're living in heart, aresupposed to be living in harmony
with in our gut.
And when we eat food that haspesticides on it, that's like an

(16:25):
antibiotic.
What are pesticides or what arethey aimed to do?
Kill microorganisms, right?
It's like we're basicallygetting doses of antibiotics
every time you go out to dinnerand they're serving you
non-organic food.
So, like we have medication, wehave pesticides, we have all
these things that areinterfering with our gut, and
then we also have our modernlifestyles, which are very
stressful, and stress really caninterfere with the lining of

(16:46):
the gut, and so some people heremight've heard of leaky gut.
What does that mean?
It's when the intestinalbarrier of the gut becomes
compromised and so thoseepithelial cells don't have
these really tight junctions,and so things like food can get
through and cause immunereaction.
So it's not like bananas arebad, right, but when bananas get
through the lining of the gutwhole and not digested, then

(17:09):
your body can have like animmune response to them.
And so then, when people willstart to see food sensitivities
and things like that but it canalso again all of these things
can manifest as inflammation,which then translate to hormone
imbalances, because the bodywill always be trying to write
itself and to come back tobalance and tell us about it.
So that's a big I'm findingmyself.

Speaker 1 (17:31):
I'm sitting here, so I'm someone who there was a time
where I was.
I would have told you that I wasvery intentional with what I
was eating and what my daughterwas eating.
But, like I was, I was sostressed about like all the
pesticides and non organic andthe dairy and the gluten and

(17:51):
like it created this hyperfixation and not like in a
healthy way, like it wasactually, like it took so much
energy and emotional energy andlike time and honestly like
money to like.
And I'm just curious, wheneverwe I get into conversations with
people about health, I havethis like really hard place in

(18:13):
me where it's like I want to domy best and so when I hear
things like this, it's like, ohmy gosh, I want to do that.
And then it's like what feelsrealistic.
So I'm curious to like if anyof your clients are you like
what your approach is with?
Like, especially with organic,non organic pesticides, like
ingredients and stuff like howdo you help people find this

(18:36):
doing your best?
And what feels like applicableor like what's your stance on
that Like?
Maybe you're like do better, Idon't know.
I'm curious what your approachwould be.

Speaker 2 (18:44):
You know, I think it's a really good point and
everyone is going to have youknow their own circumstances was
which influenced the way thatthey come at this.
Here's a little bit of my takeand the way that I use that to
inform the way I live my lifeand help guide my clients.
And, all to say, like you know,a lot of people come and work

(19:05):
with me and they're eating fastfood and they're like totally
not in this world and we're ableto really slowly, over time,
make those shifts so that at theend of six months they're able
to look back and be like, oh myGod, that's like a total 180,
but it didn't feel so crazy toget here, and I do think that
stress is something that weshould be minimizing during this

(19:26):
process and so, absolutely like, everyone will need to take it
at their own pace.
But here's what I think,especially when it comes in.
I thought it was reallyinteresting how you said, you
know, I didn't really thinkabout this until I had kids, and
that's like a pretty commonthing, because it is our most
primal instinct to want toprotect our children.
Right, and unfortunately, inthe world that we live in now,

(19:47):
you have to be a prettyconscious consumer to protect
your children, consumer toprotect your children.
When we look at indigenouscultures around the world, what
we saw there's not that manyleft with them.
But when they were doing thisresearch in the early 1900s,
what they found is that everyindigenous culture had sacred
foods for preconception,pregnancy, postpartum and

(20:10):
children, and they went to greateffort and great length to
secure them.
And I think about that all thetime.
When you ask people who are intheir 80s or 90s what was the
best time of your life, almostalways they'll say when I had
young children.
Now, anyone listening to thiswill know that having young

(20:31):
children is a lot of work andit's really hard, but it's
really rewarding, and I don'tthink that that is a coincidence
that the thing that is mostchallenging is also the thing
that is most, therefore,fulfilling and rewarding.
And so when people are alwaysthinking, I think in this world
that we live in now, we're sofocused on convenience and it's
like at what cost?
Right?
And so when we think about whatis realistic, what is the

(20:53):
simple thing to do, sometimes Ithink we need to reframe the
question Like what is going togreat effort and great length
mean to me in my modern life tosecure these tools that are
going to gift myself and mychildren that gift of
generational health right.
And when we reframe it a littlebit, I think it allows us to
come to it from a place of deepabundance of like I get to do

(21:16):
this, like I get to drive 20minutes or 30 minutes to the
farm and pick up my veggies andpick up my meat and my eggs and
know that I'm getting it fromlike a really good source and I
feel really good about that.
Like how lucky am I to get todo that?
As opposed to like oh my God,this is just like another hard
thing that I have to do so.

Speaker 1 (21:36):
I love that because it takes it from being this like
pressure thing of like I'mdoing a bad job, and I think I
mean don't get me started on momguilt I just did a podcast
earlier this morning where wetalked all about it, but it's
just like I think women are soafraid of acknowledging that,
like when I notice I'm doingsomething that's not in

(21:56):
alignment with what I value,there's this deep feeling of I
feel bad versus this.
I have an opportunity now thatI've witnessed the contrast, now
I have this opportunity andthis permission, so I think of
it.
All of the time ofperfectionism is really just,
instead of this constant, I haveto be better.
It's this I can be, I havepermission, I have this room

(22:19):
versus this pressure that is soexhausting.
Like when I think of thatpressure like it was burning me
out and I like it wasn't justfood, it was other things too,
but it was just this, I have todo this versus the internal.
I have to do this and it'sgoing to be worth the effort,
and I think you're so right.
Our culture is so focused onfaster and easier and more

(22:42):
convenient, and I think thecosts are so much greater than
we even know, and it's, and it'shonestly it's it's only getting
worse, unfortunately, it seemslike, and so at this point I
think it's only getting worse,unfortunately it seems like.
And so at this point I thinkit's countercultural, and I
think sometimes health is seenas this, like why would you even
try?
Or like what's the point?
Or like you're being crazy,like you're looked at as this

(23:04):
crazy person.
So I really love yourperspective and your take on
that, not just for our kids, butfor ourselves as women, for
ourselves as mothers.
Because I'm curious, I think,you know, early in motherhood I
was so focused on the health ofthe baby and then, all of a
sudden, like she became thistoddler and I, all of a sudden I
realized like, oh, her healthis going to be dependent on my

(23:27):
health.
Like, oh, I'm trying to teachher emotional regulation.
I can't regulate my emotions,like she's having tantrums, but
like so am I, I'm going to haveto up.
I'm going to have to up thething because, you know, while
I'm telling her, here's thesenourishing, beautiful, wonderful
foods, I'm over here not eatingthem.
Like that doesn't make anysense, that's not going to work.

(23:48):
So I'm curious how you approachthat when it comes to mothers,
like what you see in them takingcare of themselves versus their
kids.

Speaker 2 (23:56):
I mean, before I became a mom, I had this like
blog post that I just I neverfinished because I kept going
back to all the time from allthe women that I was working
with and seeing what was goingon, and I felt like I couldn't
finish it until I became a mombecause it was just like a
little bit out of my place,right, and I titled it

(24:17):
Motherhood Not Martyrdom, and Ireally think that that's kind of
what it is.
It's like we have this and Iget it, I feel it.
I look at my son and I'm like Iwould give him anything right
to be well and sacrifice myself.
But when you really know thatone our children are always

(24:38):
watching and that our actions,not just our words or what
they're going to adopt, right,and so, for example, and the
example you shared, like itdoesn't matter what you're
feeding her.
If she's going to watch you noteating it, then that's going to
be the way that she learns toeat.
I mean, I work, you know, withall these women who when I'm

(24:59):
asking you know in my intake, Iask like, tell me about your
diet growing up, and I can'ttell you how many women share
with me.
You know, I grew up in a really, you know, diet obsessed
culture.
My mom was always on WeightWatchers or this or that, and so
it totally informed my ex aboutfood.
And then I have the people whoare like, yeah, you know, my mom
cooked dinner every night andit was pretty healthy, and dah,
dah, dah, dah, and they don'thave as much of a hangup around
food and they're so much easierable to like, succeed in the

(25:22):
work that we're going to dotogether, and so I really think
that it's like, if we want togift our children a good
relationship with food or a goodnervous system or whatever it
is that we're trying to passalong, yeah, we have to model it
first, and I deeply believethat a nourished mother is a
nourished family.
It's like trickle-down wellness.
It starts with the matriarchand then it goes into everyone,

(25:46):
and I mean it's really powerfulto witness.
I have worked with a lot offamily systems and you know,
some of whom their children areolder, right, and are not, are
already, you know, used toeating certain things and used
to certain habits and practicesin their home that are being

(26:06):
changed, and it's really amazingto see where they come around
to it.
I mean, I've had, like I'mthinking of this one woman in
particular who has two daughters, and they were probably like
nine and seven or around thatage when we started working
together and her daughters, youknow, also like struggled in the
bathroom a little bit, wereconstipated, had stomach aches,
were anxious, whatever you knowkind of things that have been

(26:27):
quote unquote normalized now forkids that are not normal.
They might be common but theyare not normal and through these
changes that they were makingtotally started thriving.
And her mom used to listen tomy, like my well-woman
collective, which is my groupprogram, the recordings, like in
the kitchen while she was doingstuff and they were listening,
you know they would sit down todinner and she would pour water

(26:48):
and she'd be like, oh, butremember, mommy, we're supposed
to have most of our waterbetween meals so we digest
better, and like little thingslike that that they were picking
up.
But one of her, her olderdaughter, came to her one day
and she said, mom, when I growup and I have kids, I'm going to
make sure that they eat wellfrom the beginning so they don't
have to, like be sad when theylose you know whatever lose
their Oreos, but they're goingto feel really good from the you

(27:10):
know from the beginning,because it changed so much over
the course of a few months howher daughter was feeling and
this is totally not why thiswoman came to it.
So I think for moms sometimes itneeds to be like the incentive
of it's going to still be thebest thing for your kid If you
do it too, and then once youstart taking care of yourself,

(27:30):
you're able to be like oh yes,this is why it's so important.
And one just quick thing I wantto add to this, because when we
were talking about the rootcauses of, like, hormone
imbalance, I really focused onthe gut piece, but minerals are
a huge part of this and I and Isee moms specifically are very
under mineralized and it's.
And when we're talking abouteasy and fast and quick fixes,

(27:52):
whatever it's actually like,you're fast track to feeling
more energized, to feeling morelike yourself, and it's so much,
there's so much potential there, and so there are ways Like
it's not all, like oh my God,okay, so I have to do this like
poop in a vial and send it to alab and then I have to take, you
know, all these supplements orwhatever.
Sometimes it's really just likehow do I switch a few things

(28:18):
out for more mineral rich foodsand to maybe, you know, really
prioritize that?
And it can be simple sometimes.

Speaker 1 (28:23):
Yeah, what are some of those mineral rich foods that
you suggest women consume orlike some of the ways that we
can get more minerals in if theyneed one of those like?

Speaker 2 (28:38):
I need to do something, but I don't have the
energy quite yet.
Yeah, so the two minerals thatI see most people need well, I'm
going to say three.
The three minerals that I seethe most people need more of are
sodium, potassium and magnesium.
Some of the others, like we'llget into a situation where
someone has too much ofsomething and we actually need
to bring it down, or a lot oftimes, like prenatal vitamins
and like multivitamins areactually messing people up a lot
.
So I don't like to recommendtoo much outside of these three

(29:00):
that I really see most peopleneed more of.
Not that you shouldn't always beeating minerals, but I don't
want people to like get thewrong idea and start
supplementing.
So, anyways, potassium is foundin like people are always like
bananas, yeah, but bananas arealso really sugary and so you
don't want to be eating likethree bananas a day to get your
potassium.
So coconut is an awesome sourceof potassium.

(29:20):
So it's like, surprisingly,there are things like lamb.
Lamb is like a great source ofpotassium, so like switching out
ground beef for ground lambsometimes is like a really easy
swap.
This is a random one, but creamof tartar, the you know spice,
basically it's basically justpotassium, and so putting a
teaspoon of that in like asmoothie or just something that
you're already making, can giveyou an extra 500 milligrams of

(29:42):
potassium.
So that's like a really easything to just add in.
It's very affordable.
Um, also with potassium,avocados are a really great
source.
So, just like, if you needanother reason to eat a full
avocado a day, that's good.
Always need more reasons foravocado, and sodium is simple
Sodium.
Everyone needs more sodium.
As long as it's coming from theright source.

(30:04):
You should be eating like twoteaspoons minimum of salt a day,
so Himalayan salt is okay,celtic sea salt, redmond's real
salt.
It needs to have like color andbe natural.
Like if you're using Morton'stable salt or any sort of like
processed salt, just toss it.
It's not worth finishing thebottle.
Just throw it away and get realsalt and make sure that you're

(30:26):
getting an abundant amount of it.
I mean you'll slowly want towork your way up, but most
people are very, very, veryunder doing it with sodium and
it's a simple way to get it.
Obviously, this is not the sameas like the sodium in Cheez-Its
, right, like?
We're not even comparing fruitto fruit there.
So it does matter what kind ofsalt it is.
But everyone can be doing alittle bit of salt in their

(30:48):
water, adding more salt at thetable, things like that.
And then magnesium and magnesiumis a tough one because it's
really our soil is very depleted.
I actually did a littleexperiment on myself recently.
Um I so I run hair mineralanalysis tests for my clients
and for myself, and I have beenrunning them pretty consistently

(31:09):
since having a baby, so I canjust kind of track how things
are going.
And on my last test, like twotests ago, my magnesium was
coming back almost perfect and Istopped supplementing with
magnesium just to kind of seewhat happened.
And I also had a bit of astressful season.
We are like having some housing, like we found mold in our
house and we're having to move.
It's just stressful.

(31:29):
And when we are in a state ofstress, we burn through
magnesium at pretty high rates.
We also burn through potassiumand sodium at high rates, but
magnesium is hard to get throughfood these days because our
soils are super depleted.
And I did another HTMA onmyself very recently and my
magnesium came back really low.
And so magnesium is one that Itypically find people benefit a

(31:51):
lot from supplementing with Likethis is my life, this is my job
, I'm super intentional about itand my magnesium came back
really low even eating acompletely whole foods diet with
, like, a lot of intentionalityaround minerals.
So cacao is a good source.
Leafy greens are a good source,but it's like you could eat
leafy greens all day long andmaybe not get enough these days
especially, you know, dependingon where your produce is coming

(32:12):
from.
So, but, generally speaking,those are the three like and you
can.
The one thing I have to say chatGPT is amazing for things like
this.
I will type in you knoweverything I ate in a day and be
like how many milligrams ofpotassium did I get?
And it gives me a prettyaccurate number when I compare
it with you know, like mynutrition software that I have.

(32:34):
And so I look at the end of theday I'm like, okay, great, did
I get my 4,000 milligrams?
If so, awesome.
If not, maybe I'll take alittle bit of you know more
cream of tartar supplement orsomething, but that can be a
really helpful way to just belike am I getting enough
potassium?

Speaker 1 (32:54):
Am I getting enough sodium?
Like, check it out, I don'tthink I've ever paid attention
to potassium.
I don't I just other than likeI've worked with, I've worked
with like a holistic hormonecoach and I'm pretty sure that
was something she was payingattention to and therefore like
that was helping.
But even then, as you weretalking, I was like, oh, I've
never even thought about that.
Um, I'm curious how nutritionmight change through our cycle,

(33:16):
like in the four differentphases, and if you could just
like briefly explain the fourphases, because I think when I
go to start talking about cyclesyncing I don't know why, but I
forget that like there's still avery good majority of women who
haven't learned about all ofthe different phases of our
cycle, which just makes me soheartbroken one that it's like I

(33:37):
was 25.
Maybe, like maybe a little bitearlier than that, when I
learned that like it wasn't justlike PMS period, not period
Right, like that was.
That was like and I had, I hada mom who did a really good job
teaching me about periods andstuff, but like she didn't even
know, like I'm still teachingher, like I'm luteal and she's

(33:58):
like which one is that?
But can you give just like abasic overview of like the cycle
, the cycles and like why thatmatters for us.

Speaker 2 (34:09):
And so when we're talking about it from a cycles,
you know, I call it cycleinforming actually, just because
it creates less pressure,actually, like I don't have to
sync every single thing withwhere I'm at in my cycle, but I
use where I'm at in my cycle toinform the choices I'm going to
make around my food, around howI'm going to exercise, around
what kind of date we're going todo, whatever, so I think it can

(34:29):
just release a little bit ofpressure.
So if I say cycle informing,I'm talking about the same thing
, just different language.
So when we're talking aboutcycle informing from a
energetics perspective, which iswhat we're doing here, there
are four phases.
If you were to go to yourdoctor and say I'm in X phase,
they're going to be like what?
Like there's really two phaseswhen it comes to a more medical

(34:51):
presentation of this, and so Ithink that's just helpful for
some people to know, so thatyou're not like showing up for
your OBGYNs, you know, and beinglike so when I'm in my
ovulation phase, I did it andshe's like you mean your face.
So from a medical perspective,it's follicular and luteal.
There are two phases for us.
Yeah, for us, from an energeticperspective, we have
menstruation right, which is themost obvious one because you

(35:14):
have blood coming out of yourvagina.
You know that it's happeningright.
It's like very easy to figureout when are you in your
menstrual phase and like ahealthy, normal menstrual phase
should be anywhere from likethree to six days usually and
energetically I actually andthis will differ than if people
have read Alyssa Vitti's booksbut I was learning about cycle

(35:36):
informing before she wrote herbooks and so my seasons are a
little bit different and I justthink they make sense, but like
we have the shedding of ourlining during this.
It's our inner fall, like whereyou know the leaves are falling
, and it's kind of like thatwhen fall comes and it's soup
season and you start gettinglike cozy and sweaters, and it's
that time to kind of start tolike look inward and think a

(35:57):
little bit more energeticallyabout like what's happening also
in your brain.
During this time is the rightand the left side of your brain
have more access to each other,equaling more of that sense of
intuition, and so it's a reallygreat time to just kind of like
take stock of your life and yourworld and make decisions around
like or not actually makedecisions, but like plant seeds
and think about, likeintuitively, where do I want to

(36:19):
go from here?
And just really start askingsome of those like bigger
questions.
Spending time alone to journal Ithink this is a big one too
with moms, like making sure youhave extra help during around
your bleed so that you have timeto do this, communicating with
your partner so he can go andtake all the kids to the park in
the morning and you have extrahelp during around your bleed so
that you have time to do this.
Communicating with your partnerso he can go and take all you
know the kids to the park in themorning and you have like a
couple hours alone to like be ina warm bath.

(36:39):
It's really important to staywarm during this time of our
cycle and that translates tonutrition.
So we have, you know, like warmsoups.
Warm, well-cooked things areeasier to digest and sometimes
during our period we'll havesomething called prostaglandins,
which are like inflammatorymarkers basically in our system

(37:00):
that make it like you know,people have like the period
poops right Like.
So the more well-cooked andeasily digestible your food is,
the better.
So like meat, stock stews, lotsof iron rich foods to replace
the blood that you're losing isreally important.
And heme iron is like bloodiron is the only kind that's
really absorbable, so like,don't eat spinach for your iron

(37:20):
at this time in your cycle.
And also minerals.
So we, your body, is doing thiscrazy thing every month where
it thinks you might have a baby,and so it sends all of these
amazing minerals and resourcesthat you've been building up
over the month to your uterinelining, expecting that to like
eventually start to nourish ababy, and then, if you don't get
pregnant, you bleed it all out,and so we really want to be

(37:43):
replenishing minerals.
So I love seafood is a reallygreat thing to be eating around
this time and seaweed and all ofthose like trace minerals are
really helpful and important.
And then we move into thatfollicular phase, and it's
called the follicular phasebecause we have FSH, which is
follicular stimulating hormonethat starts producing, which is
basically telling your eggs,okay, start getting ready, like

(38:07):
one of you is going to be picked, and so all of your eggs are
like, okay, let's mature and seeif we can become the one that's
going to be chosen, and at thesame time, your hormone levels
are actually very low duringyour period.
I think it's a funny thingPeople always talk about like
they're so hormonal, but it'sreally actually your hormones
are at their lowest point duringyour cycle and they're slowly

(38:28):
starting to rise as we enter ourfollicular phase, specifically
estrogen so remember fun andestrogen.
She makes us feel confident andflirty, all of those things.
So it's starting off pretty low, but as that phase, which is
typically around like 10 daysfor the average woman, starts to
rise, you're going to feel alittle bit more social.
As it goes up, you're going tofeel a little bit more confident

(38:51):
and all of those things.
This is a really great time forlike brainstorming, for really
starting to like get organized.
It's it's like almost the mostmasculine of the phases, um, and
so it's really like a good timeto like ask good questions,
like your brain is starting towork in a specific way.
As far as motherhood goes, Ireally think about it from like

(39:14):
a.
The theme is curiosity and likebringing a fresh eye to like
domestic projects.
You know, with like with yourpartner, trying new activities
as a family, cooking new meals,planning meals out for the rest
of the month, going somewherenew and like planning out the
family calendar.
Like it's really that kind ofyou know, like soccer mom energy

(39:35):
, of like let's get all thisdone.
Um, and as far as food goes, asthis phase goes on, we want to
start to think about balancingestrogen a little bit, and
estrogen so there's an entirecommunity of um microbes in the
gut circling back to the gut,cause everything always has to
come back to the gut, called theastrobalone, and the
astrobalone is like specificallythere to help us deal with and

(39:57):
manage estrogen.
And so, like eating morefermented foods if you're not
already doing a lot of fermentedfoods.
By the way, guys, fermentedfoods are not optional.
Like they're not like you haveto be eating fermented foods.
We evolved over thousands ofyears without refrigerators.
We were relied heavily onfermented foods and our bodies
got used to it.

(40:18):
Like you need, we need that tofeed those that microbiome and
the gut.
So making sure that you'regetting your fermented foods.
Sometimes things like rawcarrot salad can be helpful in
balancing out estrogen in thisphase.
But generally speaking, likepeople will kind of start to
lean towards like maybe lighterpreparations of food.
It's always good to stay warmif you're dealing with any sort

(40:39):
of like hormone imbalances orfertility things, but so still
cooked, but you might leantowards a little bit more
lighter, and then we enterovulation, and this is the thing
.
This is the point of the cycle.
You know it's like, and for alot of people it's hard to
identify when it's happening,right, but this is the most
optimal time to harness all ofyour feminine energy and put it

(41:00):
out in the world.
A couple of things arehappening.
One, your language skills arespot on.
You're most articulate at thistime, so it's a really great
time to like schedule podcastinterviews or, to you know, like
, have a hard conversation atwork.
You're also more attractive toboth the opposite sex and the
same sex.
Your face is becoming moresymmetrical.

(41:22):
You're getting a little bit ofa rosy tint in your cheeks that,
like flirty, funny on.
Estrogen is coming out and yourpeople are more likely to give
you what you want.
Seriously Like.
There's actually like apheromone thing happening.
They did a study on um in instrip clubs many, many years ago
where strippers who were onhormonal birth control made less

(41:42):
money than strippers who werenot, and they attributed to the
pheromones that their body putsout when they're ovulating.
When you're on hormonal birthcontrol, you don't ovulate Like
you, it's a, it's really asuperpower.
So like, do the thing you know,like, go out there and be
present in the world.
From a parenting perspective,there's so much more playfulness
that like comes naturallyduring this time.

(42:04):
So like, and also the desire tobe in community and be social
is greater.
So this is like a great time tolike schedule birthday parties
or to like prioritize play dates, be in community, be playful in
the world and with our partners.
I think you know we can reallyharness this to to like revive
and bring back some of that likefun, playful, flirty sexual

(42:27):
energy if that's feeling alittle bit stagnant.
And then, from a from a foodperspective, nutrition
perspective, you know, if thereis a time of the month where
cold and raw foods do okay withpeople, it's this time.
So, like, smoothies, salads.
If you're like oh my God, Ilove acai bowls.

(42:47):
Like if you're going to do itat any time of the month, now's
a pretty good time to do it,whereas if you were going to do
that, like in your late lutealphase, it can equal more cramps.
Like, think about you put awarm heating pad on your stomach
right when you are cramping.
So like, internally, we need tobe warm too.
Like eating cold foods duringand before our bleed will

(43:07):
oftentimes equal more tensionand therefore more pain.
So this is an okay time to dosome of those cold foods if you
really like them.
And then we move into luteal Um,and our luteal phase is the
longest phase.
It's around two weeks and a lotof people have like a lot of.
I feel like it's like the stepsister, like there's a lot of
like negative connotations withour luteal luteal phase and I

(43:30):
think it's just misunderstood.
So one we can kind of break itdown into two parts.
The first half of your lutealphase is going to more resemble
like a little bit of ovulation,a little bit more of that just
like higher energy.
You're able to work out alittle bit harder still, whereas
the second half, you're movingmore into that like nasty phase.

(43:51):
Generally speaking, like I don'tknow if anyone's ever had this
experience where you're like mycloset is a disaster.
It's a disaster.
I'm looking at it.
For two weeks I don't doanything and then one day I'm
like I have to fix this Right,like and you spend all day
cleaning your closet.
That's luteal phase.
Like hitting you.
It's like you have to likedomestic projects, like over in
your brain.
You're just like feel like youneed to get things organized and

(44:12):
I think this can be reallyhelpful from like for moms, like
using this as a time to getothers helping around the house,
doing chores, you know.
Like planning, you know we'regoing to clean out the garage,
like during this time, and justlike really kind of focusing on
those domestic product projectsthat you need to get done.
And then, food wise, this is aninteresting one.
So what happens when we ovulateis that our body starts

(44:35):
producing that progesterone, andprogesterone raises our
metabolic rate, meaning that weburn calories faster.
So you're going to spurn anextra like 80 to a hundred
calories just sitting on yourtush doing nothing, and that
will make people feel hungry.
Now, 80 to a hundred caloriesis like not that many calories.
And so what?
Sometimes what we'll see peopledoing is they'll eat a lot more

(44:58):
during their luteal phase andover time.
If they're not balancing thatout or being intentional about
the way that they're eatingbecause a lot of times people
are also starting to crave saltythings or sugar or carbs during
this time then we can see thattranslate to undesired weight
gain and things like that.
But if you're really justintentional about like, okay,
like I know, my metabolic rateis increasing, I am going to
need more food.
I'm going to be reallyconscious about eating more, but

(45:20):
eating foods that are reallynourishing to me.
We typically just see peoplefeeling really good.
It's important to um to eatcomplex carbs during this time
and maybe increase that just alittle bit, whereas you don't
need as much of it in the firsthalf of your cycle.
Things like butternut squash oryou know, like rutabaga, like
whatever you know, whatever yourstarchy veggies are those are

(45:42):
the ones I have in my fridgeright now, so they first came to
mind.
Eating a little bit more ofthose are going to keep your
mood and blood sugar a lot morestable and you'll experience
less PMS.
So we do kind of see there'slike this nutrition cycling that
happens your cycle.

Speaker 1 (45:58):
Yeah yeah, I'm curious, if people are having
really, really awful luteal orlike pmdd, like what does that
usually point to and like howcan they support that?
Or is it a more complex issue?

Speaker 2 (46:12):
yes, and like I mean usually there's some nuance to
it.
Pmdd, I find, is typically veryrooted in blood sugar
imbalances and like not, and allof this comes down to like.
Blood sugar, specifically, isthe foundation for everything in
the body, for every singlesystem to work the way it's
supposed to, and if it's, not?

Speaker 1 (46:32):
Is that one of the blocks then?
Is that one of, like yourfoundational blocks?

Speaker 2 (46:36):
So like digestion and like blood sugar Again, they
get a little like convoluted inthe sense where, like sometimes,
if our minerals are imbalanced,like, let's say, we don't have
enough magnesium.
Magnesium is so important forblood sugar stability.
So you could be following likeall of my blood sugar rules of,
you know, eating 30 grams ofprotein first thing in the
morning, not drinking coffee onan empty stomach, you know, no

(47:02):
naked carbs, so like not eatinga banana alone as a snack,
making sure you pair it withsome cheese or something.
But if you don't have enoughmagnesium, your blood sugar is
still going to struggle.
So like, yes, and it's alsoconnected to mineral imbalances
and things like that but yeah,blood sugar is so important,
like it is the foundation thatyou build your house on.
So if it's wonky, like theentire house is going to not be
super stable and not feel safe,and that's really what it comes

(47:23):
down to.
Like if your body is kind ofgoing on these up and down blood
sugar rollercoaster all day, itdoesn't feel safe to balance
your hormones Right Like it'snot a priority.
If I, if my like foundationisn't stable, then I don't care
about the like window treatmentsyou're trying to put in
upstairs foundation isn't stable, then I don't care about the
like window treatments you'retrying to put in upstairs, right
?
So, yeah, that is a big part ofit and I feel I see that a lot
with PMDD, but we also often seelike gut issues and mineral

(47:46):
balances being part of that.
One thing I will say for a lotof people is really
intentionally creating space forlike slowing down and stressing
less can help a lot with someof that PMS.
A lot of it is also like we'rego, go, go, go go all the time

(48:06):
and, just like the seasons innature, have this like need to
slow down and rest.
If we're not doing thatconsistently and that's one of
the reasons I love cycleinforming is it really offers
the opportunity and theblueprint for how to slow down
more.
I tend to see PMS and thingslike that get a lot better
because your body is yelling atyou.
Take rest and if you're notdoing it, it'll just keep

(48:29):
screaming louder and louder.

Speaker 1 (48:31):
Yeah, I mean it makes sense on so many levels to have
.
If you're just constantlyrunning too ragged and you're
not honoring, like, the ebbs andflows of what you need, you
know, and that's hormonally,that's nature that cycles.
If you're not honoring thatlike, eventually your body is
like you.
I think one of the things thatI've noticed with women is like

(48:51):
when they're luteal they haveless.
So I work with a lot of highfunctioners who are able to like
function over the symptoms,like they can still produce and
achieve and things can lookpretty good even when they don't
feel great.
And one of the things that I'venoticed is, like luteal and
menstrual can be a gift becauseit's when you realize, like what

(49:12):
are the things that you maybehaven't been paying attention to
and it brings attention tothose things and so softening
into them at least a little bitand finding some rest, finding
some ease, some grace, which,let's be honest, like is still
really hard for a lot of women.
But when you do honor thatcycle, when you're, when you're
in that like faster mode, itfeels better because you're not

(49:34):
constantly in hyperdrive, youfeel safe to go fast and slow.
It's not that you can't ever gofast, it's that you also need
like periods of like that sloweror more internal.
Yeah, yeah, I'm curious, likewhat have we missed in this
conversation?
Like what else is like reallyimportant information about

(49:55):
hormones that, like women, tendto be misunderstanding or that
you feel like would be reallyhelpful for people to understand
?

Speaker 2 (50:02):
Yeah, I think it was kind of what I.
I said this a little bit whenwe were talking about, you know,
just digestive issues for kids,but there's a big difference
between common and normal, andso much of what is common is not
normal, right.
Even you know, period pain like, kind of going back to the,
your body is talking a whisperright, is normal feeling a

(50:24):
little bit of like, oh yeah,like I like I feel a little bit
of, maybe, pressure in my uterus.
Normal If you're feeling likeyou need to take a Midol or
Advil or like, feel really likeow, this is really really
uncomfortable.
That's your body trying to talkto you and saying, hey, like I
have some inflammation here andI need some help, right.

(50:44):
It kind of goes back to some ofthe other pieces around, like
fatigue or or, um, digestiveissues, whatever it is, and so I
think the biggest thing I wantpeople to take away is like,
just because you're experiencingsomething and maybe your friend
is too or something that youknow you like see a commercial
for like, just because you'reexperiencing something and maybe
your friend is too, orsomething that you know you like
see a commercial for like, oh,you can take this, and you know,
then go swimming more on yourperiod, whatever.

(51:05):
I feel like the Midolcommercials are just kind of
funny to me.
It doesn't mean that it'snormal and it doesn't mean that
you should be not listening toyour body.
Like, listening to your body isthe most important thing and,
more than anyone, you are theexpert of your body and that is

(51:25):
so important for you to rememberthat, like, more than your
doctor, more than your holistichealth professional, like you
are the expert of your body andthat's something that I think is
really important to nurture andpull out right Of like.
Hmm, like I'm going to reallylisten in and if this doesn't
feel right, then I'm going toseek support, sure, or resources
on how to deal with it, but I'mnot going to outsource that
power right Of like.
What is what is right for me,what is right for my family,

(51:47):
whatever it is translates to,because so often I just see
people who come to me who'vebeen dealing with things for a
long time that the conventionalsystem has just either been like
oh, you can take birth controlor, you know, just like, kind of
like dismissed, and it doesn'thave to be that way.
Again, we live this onebeautiful life, feel good in it.

(52:10):
You don't have to feel anxiousor sad, or, and then those can
be symptoms of hormones, thosecan be symptoms of gut.
Again, we don't have to beobsessed with finding out what,
why that's happening.
We just need to get the righttools and put your body in the
right environment for it to healitself, and I think that is
something really important toremember.

Speaker 1 (52:30):
That's so, so important.
And I'm oh, I'm trying so hardto remember where I heard this
from, cause I know I heard itfrom someone.
But they were talking about,like if you're lost in a forest
and like a magical fairy comesand they're like you have one
question or one wish.
You're not going to say how didI get here?
That wouldn't make sense.
You'd say, like, tell me how toget out.
Like, show me the way to getbetter.

(52:50):
That's not I'm not saying itexactly right, but essentially,
like I think I think our wholeculture is obsessed with like
disease and like we're obsessedwith the symptoms of like let's
cover it up, let's fix it, let'smake well, not even fix it.
It's like let's cover it up,let's make that go away, but
it's never fixing the underlyingroot thing.
And it's so it's interesting tohear, like where you come from,

(53:14):
because, like, I'm coming fromthe other side of like the
mental and emotional and likethe relational stuff that comes.
But I think it's so easy for usto get lost in the like what
created the problem?
Like where did this come from?
Whose fault is it?
Like, where can I point thefinger?
Versus like what can we do?
What can we do to like not justget you to like baseline

(53:36):
survival, but like also likeoptimal, like right, coming back
to like where we started ofwhat is your full potential of
well being and health?
And I think you know we didn't.
I won't open Pandora's box ofdiet culture, but there is this
like everything changed for mewhen I stopped believing in the
diet culture stuff because Ithink for so long it took me so

(53:57):
long to heal from diet cultureand disordered eating.
But then I went to the otherside where it was like, yeah,
but I also don't want to ignoremy physical well being and my
health, and I had to reclaimthis new way of like.
How good can I feel, how likemy loving my body and self care
is not just like eating whateverthe hell I want, like it's not
just giving myself whatever Iwant, because that's actually

(54:19):
not love and care.
I need to figure out what mybody wants and needs and what
it's telling me isn't workinganymore, and so that's such a
powerful concept.

Speaker 2 (54:29):
I love how you share that and I'm so.
It's so interesting how we,like we'll swing to these sides
of the pendulum in our culturethese days, and there there is
like a difference between theblack and white.
We can live in the gray right,like in that black and white is
where so many people get stuckand really there's like so many

(54:49):
beautiful shades of gray andjust you know, our bodies are so
wise.
They are divinely designed.
They're always working for usand trying to heal us and I
think that we forget that andlook like I feel like I flared
this line, because I get a tonof value out of labs, right,
like functional labs give me alot of insight into somebody's

(55:12):
hidden blocks to wellness, right, and can help us remove some of
those blocks so the body cancome back to balance.
But it's a little bit like aPandora's box, like you said.
It was like once you open thisup in this test and this test
and this is, and it'sunnecessary in my opinion most
of the time.
Sometimes you know additionaltesting is needed, but like, for
example, I use two tests witheveryone in my practice a gut,

(55:34):
you know, a stool sample to getlike a comprehensive view of
their gut, also recognizing thatwe have thousands and thousands
, maybe millions, of bacteria inour gut and we're looking at 35
of them in this test.
So it gives me an idea, but,like it has its limitations, it
also looks at other things andminerals, so that we get
somewhat of a roadmap.
But our goal is to just likeremove enough of the obstacles

(55:55):
so your body can get there onits own Right.
Like just remembering that ourbody is so wise I think is
something that we've become sodisconnected from Um and like
learning to trust in yourselfand in your body again, we'll.
We'll get you further than anyyou know protocol out there.

Speaker 1 (56:17):
Oh, I love that.
I feel like that is such agreat place to end, because I
think it just brings us back tothis like taking taking that
authority and that autonomy andthat like personal
responsibility from a permissionstandpoint, not this pressure,
not this like you need to feelbad, like you're doing it wrong,
or like trying to figure out ifthis is your fault, versus like

(56:39):
what can I do to make this evenjust like a little better?
What's like doable, what's likeone small thing, even like your
potassium thing.
I'm like so excited to like gofigure out potassium and
magnesium.
Like it's so cool to understandthat like there's just so much
potential and how good we canfeel and especially in
motherhood, how important thatis.

(56:59):
I think, especially you know, Ithink of my life and especially
the last like five years doingmy business.
I realized like I'm pouring outso much, like I can't get by
with baseline if I don't want toburn out, if I don't want to
burn out in motherhood or in mymarriage or my own well-being or
especially in my business.
I need more, like my body needsbetter, more optimal health if

(57:23):
I want to do this and do it well, and it's like it's a need, but
it's one that can be a joy tomeet and feel better in.

Speaker 2 (57:30):
Amen, I love that.
Yes, and I'm so excited forpeople listening to this to
recognize that it is not selfishto need more and to want more
and to take more.

Speaker 1 (57:41):
Yeah, especially cause there's, there's.
It's so often when, when, whenwomen are like I'm, I'm doing
all of the right things and it'snot working anymore, and it's
like, okay, then it's notworking.
But I really think it's likethat diet culture, mentality of
like I'm hungry but I've eatenenough, and it's like no, but
you're hungry.

Speaker 2 (57:56):
It's like you're and you know, I thought I was eating
enough, and also sometimeswe're not eating the right
things and it's hard to knowwhat the right things are
because the recommendations thatare out there are wrong.
Like the diet that I transitionpeople to is so yummy, so full
of butter and you can have dairy, and like so rich in nutrients

(58:20):
and minerals that I have peoplewho, after a week on you know
eating this way send me amessage like are the snacks on
the meal plan optional?
Like I don't need them, right,and I'm like, yeah, totally like
, if you're not feeling, youknow, hangry by the you know the
time you get to your next meal,then yeah, like that's fine,
but I think we forget that likeour body is going to signal that
we are hungry if we areundernourished.
This is why people can eat likeendless amounts of processed

(58:44):
junk food.
Right, because it's they'reempty, it's there's no nutrition
in them, and so you're going tocontinue to feel hunger, or you
like feel full, but that fiveminutes later.
So also like sometimes askingourselves, like am I eating the
things that my body is actuallygoing to be nourished by, is a
big part of that too.

Speaker 1 (59:03):
Yeah, yeah, and I think, too, it's this whole
mindset of getting by with aslittle as possible versus
witnessing like what will giveme the most optimized well-being
and health and functional likeinput so that I can have quality
output.
This, this conversation, was sogood.

(59:23):
Stephanie, I have, like, I'm soexcited to go binge your
podcast and like listen to somefun episodes.
Thank you so much for beinghere.
I'm, if you guys listen to thispodcast and you love it,
definitely share on social media, tag us, send us a question,
send us an aha moment or like ifyou're going to start looking
at potassium too.
But, stephanie, thank you somuch for being here.

(59:43):
This was such a funconversation.

Speaker 2 (59:44):
Yeah, I loved it, and I also really love when people
reach out and say what theirbiggest takeaway was.
So please, please, do it.

Speaker 1 (59:51):
Yeah, it's always my favorite, Like when someone
reaches out and they're likethis one moment or this aha, I
was like someone's listening.
It's always so impactful andhelpful to know that it's making
a difference for someone.
So thank you so much.
Thanks for joining me ontoday's episode of the
Motherhood Mentor Podcast.
Make sure you have subscribedbelow so that you see all of the

(01:00:13):
upcoming podcasts that arecoming soon.
I hope you take today's episodeand you take one aha moment,
one small, tangible piece ofwork that you can bring into
your life, to get your hands alittle dirty, to get your skin
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(01:00:35):
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So I hope you have an awesomeday, take really good care of
yourself and I'll see you nexttime.