April 14, 2025 • 44 mins
Mel is the founder of HEAL LIKE A MOTHER & helps mothers struggling with fatigue go from depleted to renewed through integrative coaching with a focus on gut healing, nervous system regulation, emotional intelligence & identity work. Through courses, masterclasses, group & 1:1 coaching she guides clients in understanding what is at the root of their chronic fatigue & mood swings so that they gain a real understanding of their body, heal from past conditioning & get
back into playtime.
back into playtime.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Braz No Chames, no one, Chame's not finding me, K
my hands and didi a no mony, ain't no money stuffing.
(00:20):
Hello and welcome to the show from Weeping to Warrior
Igniting Freedom with Roshan Nicole, where we talk about all
things mental health, awareness and wellness and interview amazing guests
from all over the world sharing their Weeping to Warrior
story of how they overcame obstacles and trials and what
they are currently doing to maintain not only their physical
(00:43):
health but their mental health. My name is Roshan Nicole
and if you know my story back in twenty twenty
one is when I was in treatment for two months. Friends,
I was struggling in silence for nine years. I was
struggling with PTSD, depression, addiction, and anxiety. And finally in
twenty twenty one is when I said enough is enough
(01:05):
and I went to treatment and for two months, and
during that time I was writing my music. Well I
didn't know it was my music. But when I left
out of treatment, I shared my story through song sharing
to churches and organizations and to groups and letting them
know that there is healing on the other side. So
I want to encourage you on today. If you are
(01:26):
suffering in silence, there is hope for you. And if
you need summer resources, you can call or text this number.
It is nine eighty eight. You can call or text
nine eighty eight and it is a twenty four to
seven hotline that you can call for support. All right, friends,
I am super excited for this episode. Welcome to episode
(01:47):
number nine. I'm so glad that you have joined us.
If you are new, welcome. If you have been watching
the other episodes, welcome back. I'm so glad you're here
or we're going to talk about mental health. If you
would like to be a guest on my show, I
would love to have you on. Please contact us at
info at roshan Nicolewellness dot com. I would love for
(02:09):
you to share your Weeping to Warrior story. So before
I introduce our special guest today, a disclaimer. I am
not a medical professional or a therapist, So anything that
I discuss on this episode or future episodes, it's simply
what I've done to heal from depression and anxiety. As
well as my guests, they're sharing their experience as well.
(02:32):
And trigger warning. We talk about mental health, so if
it's something that you are struggling with or dealing with.
We are talking about mental health challenges, and so I
just want to put that out there as well. All Right, friends,
So the health tip or the health information of this week,
we're actually going to talk about my guest a little
(02:52):
bit today. And before I read her bio, she is
a certified FDNP and that is a certified Functional Diagnostic
Nutrition practitioner. And that's the same program that I'm currently
in and almost certified. I'm almost there, y'all. I pass
my practicals, I'm in the written stage and have to
(03:13):
do a verbal presentation. So I'm hoping for maybe about
two more months I'll be completed and certified, just like
my guest today, and I just want to tell you
a little bit about that. So then as she talks
about her story, you kind of have some background. And
so a functional Diagnostic Nutrition practitioner we are not doctors.
We do not diagnose, but we are certified to read
(03:34):
functional labs. And so what we do is we send
functional labs to our clients. They do the labs in
the comfort of their own home, they send it off,
we get the results, we read it, and we interpret
the labs and we give our clients specific protocols tailored
just for them. So the protocol is not cookie cutter,
(03:55):
so it's not a one size fits all, right. We
tailored for our clients and it's not a band aid approach.
So we are not just saying, what symptoms are you having, Okay,
let me help you with that specific symptom. We look
for healing opportunities, and we look in the systems of
the body such as the hormone, the immune system, the
digestive system, detoxification, energy production. We looked at your nervous
(04:18):
system and also oxidative stress, and we look for healing
opportunities and give you a specific protocol. And also the
protocol will help to support your diet, rest, exercise, stress reduction,
and supplementation. So I was very I was intrigued when
I found out about this because I'm kind of like
(04:39):
a little health net and going through my journey of
healing of addiction and depression and anxiety. When I was
taking myself through that, I was going through deep therapy
or trauma therapy, and so after I went through all
of that, I knew that my body needed to go
through some type of cleaning and healing through through from
(05:01):
the alcohol and just not really taking care of my
physical health. And so my friend today, who's going to
talk about her journey, was posted on social media. I
was already feeling like I was a little health detective,
trying to figure out what was going on with me,
and so you know, I reached out to her and
I said, Hey, I'm interested, I want to know more.
I want to be maybe possibly your client. Well we'll
(05:22):
talk a little bit about that when she comes on.
And so I want to introduce my friend today, and
her name is Mel ward Off, and let's read her bio.
So Mel is the founder of Hell Like a Mother
and helps mothers struggling from fatigue go from depleted to
(05:42):
renewed through integrative coaching with the focus on gut healing,
nervous system regulation, emotional intelligence, and identity work. Through courses, masterclasses,
group and one on one coaching, she guides clients and
understanding what is at the root of their chronic fatigue
mood swings, so that they can gain a real understanding
(06:05):
of their body, heal from past conditioning, and get back
into playtime. Let's welcome this warrior queen to the show.
Mail ward off. Welcome Meil.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Hello, that was beautiful the way that you described your
work and FDN was so good professional already.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
Hello, Mail, Welcome, I'm so glad you're here. Welcome to
the show. Yes, well, Mel, I'm so glad you're here,
and you said yesterday, and I'm so excited for this
interview because I am like, I'm trying to get where
you're at. You know, I'm trying to be certified. I'm
trying to help clients. And so before you share your storage,
(06:57):
tell the guests, tell the audience. Is a little bit
about who you are, who you are, where you reside
in a little bit about yourself.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Yes, I live in Washington as well. I live in
this tiny little town, Buckley, where you know, it's we
have one tiny it's not even a grocery store, so
it's very kind of out there. I love it so much.
So I am sorry if my WiFi is awful, but
I do love it. But yeah, so I my husband
(07:33):
grew up in a small town, so Enumclaw, which is
really close, but I did. Actually I grew up in
Federal Way and actually Rashon and I have we met
each each other in high school. So it's been a
long time when we have a mutual friend. I won't
go there.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
I won't say I will say no, don't tell the year.
But yes, we did grow up in high school. Yes, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
We went to tenth grade together, I believe. So yeah,
so we kind of do have a little bit of
a history, which is so fun that we get to
do this right now. But yeah, so I have four children.
My oldest is this is he your year, and then
I've got one very you know young, like I've got
(08:14):
a schol that's my youngest, so kind of all ages
and in between. Yeah. So yeah, I.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Didn't realize that you live in Buckley. I knew, of course,
I knew here in Washington State, but I didn't know
in that small little town area. So yeah, yeah, So well, Mel,
I'm so glad you're here. So I would love for
you to share with the audience today. You know a
little bit about you know, a time that you went
(08:43):
through a major obstacle and I know you found functional
medicine and fd in, but let's talk about before you
finding you know, functional medicine with healing and going through
that journey.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
So yeah, yeah, so with me, my journey sounds like
it was quite similar to yours, Vishan. I, after my
second child, found myself in this very unfamiliar, like deep
depression that I didn't have words for. And I remember
the first time I picked up a drink for the
(09:18):
purpose of soothing this high emotion that I had, and
it was overwhelmed because we had At the time, we
were living in Hawaii, I was completely away from my family.
Having a toddler and a newborn was so new, and
I didn't even know what maybe postpartum depression was. I
(09:38):
didn't have words for it. But what I do remember
is the first time I walked to the store got
a bottle of vodka and felt such relief that it
took me years to be able to quit drinking. And
it was due to like having such big emotions. But
before that, honestly, I spent my entire life dealing with
(10:01):
digestive issues that no doctor could ever fill out. And
we know now that there is a very strong gut
brain connection. So it was a very frustrating time for
me because at the time I was eating vegan. I
was fully vegan at the time, which was easy in Hawaii.
It's nice and warm, you don't want to try stove,
(10:22):
so it was easy, but I didn't realize how much
that what I thought was healthy at the time was
not healthy for my body. So I found myself spiraling,
not just from depression, but then having these really strong
suicidal urges. And it felt very, very scary at the time,
and I just I honestly had nobody to talk to.
(10:44):
I kept it within myself. I didn't even talk to
my husband. Well, this went on for years and when
we moved back to Washington. We've been here I think
twelve or thirteen years now, But after my fourth child,
I found that, like my emotions were so out of
control and it didn't feel like me and I had
(11:08):
been I had been a year over at the time,
so I thought that that would help, which was a
struggle within itself. We all know that first year is
really hard, right, Yeah, And I did that pretty much
on my own, which was very hard to do. I
do recommend reaching out and getting help if you can,
because struggling on your own is hard. You feel very
(11:31):
isolated and alone, and there's a lot that goes into
recovery for sure, mm hmmmm hmm. And I found myself
just walking on egg shell or my children and my
husband walking on eggshells around me, and my mood was
so up and down, and I was using alcohol to
control that in the past because it made me feel good,
(11:51):
it made me feel happy, it made me feel like myself. Well,
that was no longer an option because I was I
was way over utilizing it. It was just beyond what
anybody would call a healthy amount. So getting off of that,
I had to learn how to deal with my emotions,
which was very new at the time, very new, and
(12:12):
I had a lot going on internally within my gut.
Like I said, my doctor's never what was going on.
I was bloated all the time. I was in extreme
amounts of pain my stomach, my joints, my back, and
there was never any explanation as to why. So here
I am doing what I think is healthy, eating this
(12:35):
plant based a diet, exercising, you know, to the point
of such fatigue that I couldn't get off the couch
for three days at a time. Afterwards, it would take
me a really long time to recover from an exercise.
So his body was breaking down. So by the time,
like my fourth kid came along, it was just it
was it was too much for me. To bear, and
(12:57):
I remember distinctly having this crying episode in my car
because I heard my husband say, oh, you know, here
goes another weekend again, because it was his day off,
and here I was in a bad mood as usual
for no reason, and that just drove me into like
going from feeling like these suicidal ideations that was able
(13:18):
to control to uncontrollable with it. And I found myself
going down one of my back roads nobody I had
ever been on before, and in my mind, I just thought,
this is like my way out, This is how I
can save my family from myself, which is an awful
thing to say, yeah, but it was like here I
found myself going like eighty miles an hour, and I
(13:40):
see myself just zoned in on this you know, sorry,
this is a little bit triggering. I just found myself
zoned in on this forest full of trees and going
through my mind is I just need to hit one
fast enough and they're free of me. So I don't
know what it was, but in the moment, I like
it was like this this flash like, okay, let's be realistic.
(14:01):
The possibility of being more of like a burden, if
that's the right word. Because you're stuck in a hospital
as a vegetable or something that's going to be really
hard on the family. So I had a breakdown moment
that was probably very much needed, where I was just
I pulled over to the side and I'm screaming and
I'm crying, you know, why, Why Why am I broken?
(14:24):
And a couple of days after that, like, well, I
came home, I told my husband for the first time
how I've been feeling, and you know, all of these
feelings I've been keeping inside for years, and he he
told me that I needed to go tell somebody, which
was hard, right, yeah, yeah, yeah, And there you know,
(14:49):
there is there is just a lot of stigma around it.
I feel like it's starting to use up, thank goodness.
But seeing my doctor for the first time, looking her
in the eye and telling her that I need he
was hard, right, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
So through his blessing, he was like, you need. I
don't care what you do, what you need to do.
You need to figure this out, and I'm here to
help you. And I just happened to stumble upon I'd
never heard of FDN in my life before. I just
happened to stumble upon it and I was like, this
is what I've been asking for. Like with my doctors,
I'm like I would tell them. I would be like,
(15:28):
I think I need my adrenals checked, Like I can't
get off the couch if I work out for three days, right,
And they'd be like, oh, my insurance won't cover that,
so we can't do it. Like there was all these
things that were so frustrating for me. I felt like
I couldn't get anywhere.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
So Mel, Wow, Wow, Mel, Oh my goodness wow. And
it's crazy because just looking at you, you would never
think that you were going through that, right. Have you
heard that from people where they're just like, wow, you
were going through all of that, you know, because I
remember when I was going through and then after you
share it, it's like wow. But I just knew that
I had to go ahead and put on a put
(16:04):
on a smile on my face, right, and just keep
doing my daily daily things. And so was that similar
to you as well, where you're just like I have
to keep pushing and have to keep you know, I
have to be a mom, I got to be a wife,
I got to do all these things, you know for
my household.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Absolutely, and that's what I was using alcohol for is
to help me put on that ask absolutely.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
M Yeah, so our story sounds a lot sounds similar.
You know. I remember when I reached out to you
a few years ago and you were writing on social media.
You were talking about your story and I would just
read from time to time just kind of read your story.
And then you were talking about how you were helping clients,
and you were helping with you know, different types of
functional labs and helping them get to the root cause
(16:46):
and all these things. So I would just read and
read and read, and finally, you know, I was like,
I'm just I'm so tired of going through all these
you know, digestive issues that I was going through similar
to you, where for what nine years, doctors, you know,
we're saying it's this, it's this, is this, is this,
don't eat that, eat this, And I was just like,
I'm just this is driving me crazy. I was like,
this is driving me nuts? What's going on with me?
(17:07):
You know? And then every time I give them blood
they're finding something else. I'm like, I am so tired
of this. So I became my own little health detective
and trying to figure out what was going on and
it sounds like the same with you, where you were
just like okay, you know, they're saying is this is this?
Is that right? You can't eat this? And taking this
test but not running this one, and you were kind
of being your own practitioner, right, your own detective, and saying, hey,
(17:29):
what about this? What about this? And they're like, oh no,
I'm sure it doesn't cover it. And it just comes
to the point where you become just very frustra frustrated
where we kind of just fire them in a way
anyway and just and like really just kind of take
it into our hands and say, hey, let's go and
figure out what's going on and our bodies. And so
that's what I did back in twenty twenty two. I
(17:51):
reached out to you and I said, you know, mail
your story resonates with me, you know, and you were like,
let's get on the phone call and let's figure out
what's going on. And so we had the one on
one consultation and so you were telling about your program,
which sound amazing. I was like all in, and so
I was like, well, let me think about it. And
then the next day and so this this you know,
(18:13):
story is funny now, but probably not at the time.
The next day I called mel I said, no, this
sounds great, but you know what, I'm going to join you, Like,
I need to do this. I need to learn about this.
I've been kind of learning about it. I need to
take myself through this journey because in the program, we
become our first clients and so you know, we run
our own labs and we're interpreting them, we're reading them
(18:33):
so then we can help other people. And so with
that being said, now, just what you're doing to help,
you know, people, to help women, you know, is just inspiring.
What you're putting on your social media and so I
just wanted to tell you that you inspired me, and
so keep doing your work. And so with that being said,
you talked a little bit about how you found FDN.
(18:53):
Tell us a little bit about the journey of going
from you know, your your weeping moment of you know,
alcohol and just trying to you know, regulate your emotions
and just life right, and then finding your husbands saying hey,
go you need to talk to someone, and then you
find FDN. Tell us a little bit about that journey
of your warrior side, your warrior moment.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
Yeah, well I would say that I thought that because
I was already solf minded, that I would zip through
the course like nobody's business. I was lo, give me
three months, I'll be good to go. No, there was
a lot more work into it, for sure, of course,
being I'm a four kids, and then I was dealing
(19:35):
with chronic illness what we would call what people would
call like this invisible silent illness, nobody has a name
to it kind of thing. But so I took my time.
I had to take a lot of rest for myself
because I was dealing with things like chronic fatigue. So
I went through it. I had to do complete minds
shift meant mindset and shift for myself, and I had
(19:56):
to learn how to rest and to be okay with
things being a little bit slower and the pace so
for me. I have really noticed that the shift in
my own household, learning how to regulate my emotions has
shifted the way that I interact with my children and
(20:18):
of course with myself, like the way that I parent,
the way that I come across with my clients. I
can hold space for people. It feels so good to
know how to tune into your body and give it
exactly what it needs, whether that is more rest, was
a diet shift change, whether that is as crazy as
(20:39):
a coffee enema because I haven't gotten into that, A
little liver support, right, yes, yes, And sometimes it's like yeah,
sometimes you just need community too, right, So it's it's
really about crafting in my opinion, and if the warrior
part is about crafting your life, where you are making
(21:02):
your life the way that you want to be. Whereas
before you were maybe just kind of going along with
you know, the waves, so to speak. You were like,
we're always trying to fight something in mind for like
it there's always something to go up against, Whereas now
I feel like, no matter what you throw at me,
like give it to me, I'm ready. I can handle it.
Speaker 3 (21:21):
Join us or From Weeping to Warrior Igniting Freedom with
Roshan Nicole, a podcast where we're discussing all things mental
health and wellness. Air and Fridays six pm Pacific Standard
time on Oklahoma Victorious Worship Radio, and on Mondays at
six pm Pacific Standard time on PGN TV. For full
(21:41):
details on air dates, networks, and how to be a
guest on the show, email us at info at Roshannicole
Wellness dot com or visit Roshannicole dot com.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
Pride Day.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
Well tell us a little bit about your program, because
I read you know in your bio you're the founder
of heal like a Mother and you're helping, you know,
struggling our mothers who are struggling with fatigue, you know,
go from depleted to renew through your coaching and your program.
And so first, how did you come up with your
niche and then tell us about your program?
Speaker 2 (22:26):
Yeah, so I was very hesitant to what we would
call niche down and I think, yeah, because when you
go through a program like this and you're just really thinking,
like I could help everybody, so why would I want
to help one person? Yeah? But the truth is I
found that I love working with moms because their story
(22:49):
is very similar. You know, if in the household, moms
run so much. So if you're not regulated, if you're
not feeling good, if you're not in pain, if you
if you are in pain, if you're not sleeping, you know,
then the whole household's going to off. So so that
was just kind of how I fell into that. And
(23:10):
I do feel like community is such a big deal
that I turned my one on one program that I
was doing with moms and now I'm making it into
a group program. And that's new this year is to
turn that one on one work and turn it into
that group because I feel like we need community, you know,
(23:31):
for mental health, for physical health. I feel like healing
happens in community. So that is my big goal.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
Absolutely. So, Mel, what do you want to say to
you know, those mothers or those who might be struggling
with alcohol or eating disorder or any type of mental
health challenges or illnesses, you know what, what what do
you want to say to them today?
Speaker 2 (23:57):
Mmm? I want to get across that you are not broken.
You heard me say like Maya, I had a big breakdown.
I was like asking God, like what's wrong with me?
And that's the other thing is that was not a problem.
My spirituality is not a problem. I feel like, if anything,
going through these hard times brought me closer to God
because it forces a relationship when you re lie on
(24:21):
something in yourself. So I want to make Yeah, I
want to get as that you are not broken. There
might be something wrong, your doctor might not know what
it is. There might be other things that you have
to excavate by using functional medicine maybe, or a therapist,
but you're not broken. And that brings me to a
(24:41):
scripture that I always come back to, which I believe
is in Psalms. I'm gonna can remember the book, but
you know it's the scripture where you are wonder each
one of us are wonderfully made. And so it really
just is about funding. What is it that's either triggering you,
do you have a nutritional deficiency? Is there thing going
on in the gut that's inflaming the brain or causing
(25:04):
these emotions? All of these things can play a role.
And advocating for yourself and finding that community is so transformative.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
Absolutely, absolutely, So, how would you say that functional medicine
or holistic health has changed your life? How would what
would you say about that?
Speaker 2 (25:28):
I literally don't think that I would be here today otherwise, truly, truly,
in one way or another. My mental health, my physical health,
everything has changed completely. The way that I look at
health in general has changed. Whereas before, saye, in high school,
my idea of health was starving myself all day until
(25:49):
I got home from school and working out, and I
thought that was help me, right. So, yeah, women can
tend to run themselves to the ground, and that is just,
you know, not how we want to do things anymore.
Speaker 1 (26:03):
Right, right, absolutely, you know functional mess and has been
truly a blessing. And I tell this to people all
the time, you know, I'm like, why don't you give
it a try? Or you know, of course I'm not
certified yet, but I'm always talking about it because I'm
hearing a lot of the same stories where it's like
this band aid approach, right what we've been hearing about,
or a cookie cutter approach, or giving something for symptoms
(26:25):
and not really getting to like what's really going on
in the body. So I just want you to share, like,
maybe what a testimonial if you can, I know you
can't say names, but maybe a testimonial with one of
your clients and the impact is made in their life.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
It's oh yeah, absolutely, okay, I have I have a
few in mind, but I will bring up this one. Okay,
I'll bring up a little girl actually, because hers kind
of blew me away. So I was working with this
four year old girl whose mom had taken her to
the doctor for stomach issues at four years old. They
did all these kinds to scan and never found what
(27:02):
was going on. She wasn't having bowel movements for like
maybe one every couple weeks, and even then it was
very small. So when I met her, this was an
in person I worked virtually mostly, but this was an
in person one and I met with them, and she
was just like lying on the couch. She didn't want
to move, she wasn't making eye contact. It literally was
(27:24):
under six months of working together, and she was underweight.
She had grown, She had grown two sizes in less
than six months. She had put on like ten pounds
of much needed weight. She had joined soccer, but she
didn't have the energy to do anything before besides drawing.
I guess she was having full convertions with me so
(27:47):
much so that it was hard to get through our
sessions because obviously I'm talking with the mother throughout them,
because she had so much energy that she was like
bouncing off the walls almost And it was just like
a total total shift in just a few short months,
and like just seeing her grow like emotionally, physically, literally physically,
and her mom was like just like in shock that
(28:10):
she went from like a size two te at four
years old to the size of a two year old
and she she got into her size where she should be,
like a size four or five, and it was just
like mind blowing. Wow. So that's that's one that always
sticks with me because I was just like that, the
transformation happens so fast. That's a good thing that we're
working with kids.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
Yes, yes, they're so resilient. They bounced back pretty quick.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
Yes, yes, yeah, yeah, but that's one of my favorites.
Speaker 1 (28:39):
Yeah, that is amazing. What an incredible story. Friends, you
heard Mel share her testimony, and if you are interested, Mel,
I would love for you to share with the audience today.
How can the audience know more about you, how to
contact you, maybe talk a little bit about your program
(29:00):
and yeah, let's hear about that perfect. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
On Facebook, I'm just Mel ward Off and the last
name I know, I know it's it's spelled wrong. I've
been told it's spelled wrong.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
It's w A R D h U g H.
Speaker 2 (29:15):
And then on Instagram you can find me at all
Underscore Gut Underscore Detective for the Primal Gut Detective. And
you know that's what I do. I like Rashawn is doing.
I toatally truly holistic approach where we look at functional
medicine labs, we look at the lifestyle. I personally love
(29:36):
to dive into some of the belief system, emotions and
whatnot because I feel like that was an important part
of my journey as well. But really it's like, it's
how do we integrate everything so that who you're being
really shines through? So that is exactly you know, what
I do. What I'm passionate about is helping moms really
(29:58):
be the person that they know that they are inside
and fill those missing gaps.
Speaker 1 (30:04):
Absolutely beautiful, beautiful, So contact mail. She would love to
have you, e mel Are you it's mothers? You're that
you're working with mothers? And is it children as well
or majority mothers that you're working with?
Speaker 2 (30:18):
Yeah, so I do work with children, I mean if
the Yeah, if I work with men once in a
while too. It's very rare that men get a hold
of me, but sometimes they do so. But yeah, I'm
the group program that I have heel Like a Mother.
The wait list for that one is open. And then
I have a very gut specific course that I'm doing
(30:39):
with doctor Hosada who's in Washington as well, and so
we have a gut health course coming out for health
coaches and preccheners, but then also for lay people who
are really trying to just hone in on what's going
on with their gut. So if you're interested in that specifically,
that will be a course that will be available as
well soon, Lovely.
Speaker 1 (31:01):
Yeah, tell us about your upcoming event with doctor Hassada. Yeah,
tell us a little bit more about that. When is
that going on? And you said for practitioners, for that's
what's for.
Speaker 2 (31:11):
Yeah, So we'll have one for practitioners, and then we'll
have one for lay people, so those that are really
trying to get into like the face of you know,
healing themselves and understanding what's going on with their own gut,
because it's it's such a big piece of the puzzle
that conventional doctors are just simply not trained in. And
there's no way around it. I don't care what you're
(31:33):
dealing with. It could be mental health, it could be
skin issues, it could be I don't know, having a
hard time getting pregnant, it could be anything. Your gut
is going to play a role.
Speaker 1 (31:42):
Yes, I went to talk a little bit about that
to how the brain gut connection. In a couple episodes,
I would share a little bit about I would say, like,
did you know and so I've been talking a little
bit about how there's a brain gut connection. So I
would love for you to speak a little bit that
to share that with our audience.
Speaker 2 (32:03):
Yes. Absolutely, Okay, So this one is just the most
fascinating thing. And if you haven't dug into it, if
you know or you know, asra Sean continues all of
her the little tidbits that you give you like, eat
it up, soak it up, because information that you're going
to learn from your conventional doctor or you're there. Unfortunately,
(32:24):
hopefully that changes soon and we can get you know,
more people on board in the conventional sense. But as
far as like say we're talking about mental health when
somebody's having a really hard time with say depression, A
lot of our serotonin, we know no is actually made
within the gut more than it is the brain, by
like ninety percent in the gut about the average estimate
(32:47):
with a lot of the stents that you read, and
when you have a lot of gut inflammation going on,
say a lot of pathogens in the gut that are
kind of wreaking havoc. Not only are you creating inflame
nation that then is going up through your vegus nerve,
which is what's going to connect that gut in that brain.
But you're also going to take any trip to fan
(33:09):
that you're eating. So trippan is an amino acid that
you might be getting from your your animal proteins in
order to make serotonin in order to feel those happy chemicals,
you know, so that you're feeling like you there's joy
in life. So if you're not breaking that down and
absorbing at one, there's an issue there. You might not
(33:30):
be sleeping also because that serotonin is then made into melatonin,
which is also made in my button. And then and
then your body could be choosing to use that trip
to fan when you have like a pathogen, let's say parasites.
Nobody likes to talk about parasites, but you're probably going
to hear a lot about it, so comed too, you know,
(33:54):
you can start to really use up that tripped fan.
So then you're just simply not getting the the raw
materials your body needs to make serotonin so that you
feel happy, so that you feel calm, that you feel joyayed.
And here we are self medicating with alcohol or maybe
you're on an actual medication or depression when you're just
(34:17):
simply missing the raw materials or you're not able to
convert it because there's something going on within the gut,
whether that is inflammation, a digestion issue, a parasite issue,
all of these things are possibilities.
Speaker 1 (34:30):
Yeah, So that love it. I love that information. And
you know it's not common information, right, So I'm glad
that you're able to, you know, talk about it and
speak about it, how the gut brain connection, because it's
not when I talk about that, people are like there's
a connection. Really, it's like absolutely there's a connection. And
(34:50):
so I'm so glad that you're able to, you know,
help so many people, mothers and children and men and
just help them with their healing going through that healing process.
So awesome, Mail. I appreciate you and I and just
all the work that you're doing.
Speaker 2 (35:06):
So thank you.
Speaker 1 (35:09):
Yeah, so, Mail, So, any shout outs that you want
to give to anyone, any shout outs and tell us
you told us about the course that's coming up with
doctor Hesada. Do you have any other events coming up
for you? So any shout outs and anything that is
coming up next for you.
Speaker 2 (35:28):
Yeah, if you are in the area in the spring
is usually when I will do a in person kind
of like you would get like a webinar, but in person,
so that would be being held in Buckley as well.
So if you're interested in doing that, it's it's going
to be all about women and hormones, So if you
(35:48):
are really into learning about your hormones, that will be
an event that you might want to join. But yes, otherwise,
keep a lookout for when that got Health course drops.
It's supposed to we're supposed to start filming next week,
so it'll be probably it'll be in spring when it's
totally ready, so if you're really interested in and the
(36:09):
first class will be completely free. So if you're interested
in that, you can go on my Instagram or Facebook
whatever you use, and our following so that when that
does drop and that class is ready, you're you're there,
ready to take it.
Speaker 1 (36:27):
Awesome awesome mel And you're also available mail for speaking
engagements as well as is that also available to the
public as well.
Speaker 2 (36:39):
Absolutely absolutely.
Speaker 1 (36:43):
Right, speak to speak to you, speak to your audience,
speak to the mothers about functional medicine and healing and
gut and hormones. It sounds like so yes, well, mel
I am so glad that you were able to come
on today and share your story. Any last words words
(37:03):
of encouragement to our audience that you would like to share.
Speaker 2 (37:08):
Yes, I think that especially as we talk about mental health,
and of course it doesn't just apply to mubs or women,
but it is so important to learn how to advocate
for yourself when you do go to the doctor and
you're like, I just don't feel like myself. But maybe
you're not getting like your blood ted is showing that
something is wrong, or maybe you're just getting more medications
(37:31):
and we're really not getting to the bottom of things. Yeah,
we really learning how to advocate yourself, and we can
do this gently. I know that a lot of women
kind of feel shy about it or something, but we don't,
you know, we can do it in a gentle manner,
I suppose, but still stand up for ourselves. I think
that it's really important to not get that I guess
(37:52):
white code effect where you feel like, oh, they're a doctor,
they know more than me advocating for yourself and if
you're not getting it from your doctor, it's just because
they're simply trained in a different way. And that's okay.
There are other people and practitioners these days. And thank
goodness for social media because we do things virtually now
so you can get the help that you do need.
Speaker 1 (38:14):
So yeah, absolutely, I say that all the time. Advocate
for your health, ask questions, write a list of questions down,
And I also tell people I'm like, you kind of
hired your doctor. I mean, you're paying your doctor, right,
so you have to advocate for yourself. Ask those questions.
Go on with questions, say well, what medication and why,
(38:34):
and let them explain everything in detail and have someone
with you so then you know they can also take
notes and hear as well. So I always tell people
advocate for sure. Yeah all right, my friend nel. So
before we say goodbye, we're gonna play this little quick,
little game that I play with all of my guests.
(38:55):
And this game is called would you rather? And I
give two choices, and you're gonna choose one and tell
the audience tell us why you picked that as your choice. Okay, okay,
all right, so would you rather? Okay, are you a
night owl or an early bird? And why what if
(39:20):
I'm neither?
Speaker 2 (39:21):
I would say if I'm definitely not an early bird,
I'm definitely not an if I had to say, I
would say night owl, but I forced myself to go
to bed by ten, okay, But otherwise I would say
a night owl.
Speaker 1 (39:39):
Okay. Okay, So you're a night owl and then you
force yourself to go to bed ad tuon Okay, okay, yeah,
I'm a night owl too, so but I'm working on
I'm working on that time now, so don't get me.
Speaker 4 (39:51):
I'll check on you, okay, right, okay, all right, So
let's see you.
Speaker 1 (39:58):
Would you prefer concert or musicals?
Speaker 2 (40:03):
Oh well, I'm not going to mention our age, right,
Oh man, I would say I would say concerts, but
depending on the person and then the amount of crazy.
Speaker 1 (40:20):
Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. Do you take your children
to musicals or or concerts? Do you take them?
Speaker 2 (40:29):
I have not?
Speaker 1 (40:30):
I'm oh yeah, okay, no no, no wor no worthy. Okay,
we're not touching now. I just want to ask, okay
two more? All right now? So would you prefer a
staycation or a vacation like going somewhere.
Speaker 2 (40:50):
Vacation. I've been staycationing with most of my life. I'm
I'm a vacation girl. I that my husband has gotten
over the fear of flying just in the past, yours,
so vacation.
Speaker 4 (41:02):
Okay, Okay, you're like, okay, let's go, let's go love
it all right, probably some more hot, right because here
in Washington we get a lot of the gray and
the rain and yeah, yep.
Speaker 2 (41:16):
Yeah yeah, bring me bring me this white sand and
beach for sure.
Speaker 1 (41:21):
Yes, yes, Hawaii where you were, where you lived, so yes,
all right, last one, so this one, this one might
be a little easy. You kind of talked a little
bit about it. But which season do you prefer? Summer, winter, spring,
or fall?
Speaker 2 (41:36):
I am a sunshine girl, so spring is my favorite,
and the summer.
Speaker 1 (41:44):
Absolutely, yes, absolutely getting that vitamin D from the sun, right, yes, yes, yes, okay. Well,
thank you so much, Mel for coming on today, for
sharing your story and you're weeping story to your warrior
story and how you went through that healing journey right
(42:06):
and how you're helping so many people, and so thank
you for what you're doing. And we're going to stay
tuned with all of your events coming up, so I'll
be you know, looking at your social media staying in
tune and checking out what's next for you. But thank
you so much for coming on the show today. Sharing
your story and giving us some knowledge on today.
Speaker 2 (42:25):
So thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (42:28):
Yes, thank you, and we'll see you next time. We'll
probably have you on again, so thank you.
Speaker 2 (42:33):
Wonderful bye bye, all.
Speaker 1 (42:35):
Right, seeya bye bye. Well, all right, friends, you heard
from my friend functional diagnostic nutrition practitioner mel. If you
are interested, please reach out to her on her social
media also on her website. I'm so grateful for her
to come and share her story and give us some
knowledge and some tidbits. I hope you found this encouraging
and inspiring on today. Well, I just want to thank
(42:58):
you for joining us. Rather if you are listening in
or if you are watching on YouTube, thank you for
joining us. And I also want to take the time
to think the producer of the show, and that is
doctor Teresa Jordan. Thank you for listening or for watching.
Thank you to my guest, and we will see you
next time. Stay tuned because I will have a episode
(43:21):
where I talk and share about my testimony and how
I went from weeping to warrior. I would love to
share that and how functional medicine has truly helped me
and my mental health helped my physical health as well.
So stay tuned and I want to send some love
and some encouragement for you to stay lit, keep shining
and ignite freedom. And I will see you next time. Friends, goodbye.
Speaker 2 (43:42):
So I'm the one to play well love me, oh,
thank you to me.
Speaker 1 (43:51):
On the stage.
Speaker 2 (43:52):
I'm thank you for tuning in too. From Weeping to
Warrior Igniting Freedom with Roshawan Nicole.
Speaker 3 (43:57):
To be a guest on the show, please contact us
at at Roshannicole Wellness dot com.
Speaker 2 (44:02):
We would love to connect with you, so please take
a moment or two like.
Speaker 1 (44:05):
Subscribe, and follow us on all social media platforms.
Speaker 2 (44:09):
We look forward to having you join us next time.
For Weeping to Warrior Igniting Freedom with Roshan Nicole, Shame
Braz No Chames, no one, Chame's not finding me, K
my hands and didi a no mony, ain't no money stuffing.
(00:20):
Hello and welcome to the show from Weeping to Warrior
Igniting Freedom with Roshan Nicole, where we talk about all
things mental health, awareness and wellness and interview amazing guests
from all over the world sharing their Weeping to Warrior
story of how they overcame obstacles and trials and what
they are currently doing to maintain not only their physical
(00:43):
health but their mental health. My name is Roshan Nicole
and if you know my story back in twenty twenty
one is when I was in treatment for two months. Friends,
I was struggling in silence for nine years. I was
struggling with PTSD, depression, addiction, and anxiety. And finally in
twenty twenty one is when I said enough is enough
(01:05):
and I went to treatment and for two months, and
during that time I was writing my music. Well I
didn't know it was my music. But when I left
out of treatment, I shared my story through song sharing
to churches and organizations and to groups and letting them
know that there is healing on the other side. So
I want to encourage you on today. If you are
(01:26):
suffering in silence, there is hope for you. And if
you need summer resources, you can call or text this number.
It is nine eighty eight. You can call or text
nine eighty eight and it is a twenty four to
seven hotline that you can call for support. All right, friends,
I am super excited for this episode. Welcome to episode
(01:47):
number nine. I'm so glad that you have joined us.
If you are new, welcome. If you have been watching
the other episodes, welcome back. I'm so glad you're here
or we're going to talk about mental health. If you
would like to be a guest on my show, I
would love to have you on. Please contact us at
info at roshan Nicolewellness dot com. I would love for
(02:09):
you to share your Weeping to Warrior story. So before
I introduce our special guest today, a disclaimer. I am
not a medical professional or a therapist, So anything that
I discuss on this episode or future episodes, it's simply
what I've done to heal from depression and anxiety. As
well as my guests, they're sharing their experience as well.
(02:32):
And trigger warning. We talk about mental health, so if
it's something that you are struggling with or dealing with.
We are talking about mental health challenges, and so I
just want to put that out there as well. All Right, friends,
So the health tip or the health information of this week,
we're actually going to talk about my guest a little
(02:52):
bit today. And before I read her bio, she is
a certified FDNP and that is a certified Functional Diagnostic
Nutrition practitioner. And that's the same program that I'm currently
in and almost certified. I'm almost there, y'all. I pass
my practicals, I'm in the written stage and have to
(03:13):
do a verbal presentation. So I'm hoping for maybe about
two more months I'll be completed and certified, just like
my guest today, and I just want to tell you
a little bit about that. So then as she talks
about her story, you kind of have some background. And
so a functional Diagnostic Nutrition practitioner we are not doctors.
We do not diagnose, but we are certified to read
(03:34):
functional labs. And so what we do is we send
functional labs to our clients. They do the labs in
the comfort of their own home, they send it off,
we get the results, we read it, and we interpret
the labs and we give our clients specific protocols tailored
just for them. So the protocol is not cookie cutter,
(03:55):
so it's not a one size fits all, right. We
tailored for our clients and it's not a band aid approach.
So we are not just saying, what symptoms are you having, Okay,
let me help you with that specific symptom. We look
for healing opportunities, and we look in the systems of
the body such as the hormone, the immune system, the
digestive system, detoxification, energy production. We looked at your nervous
(04:18):
system and also oxidative stress, and we look for healing
opportunities and give you a specific protocol. And also the
protocol will help to support your diet, rest, exercise, stress reduction,
and supplementation. So I was very I was intrigued when
I found out about this because I'm kind of like
(04:39):
a little health net and going through my journey of
healing of addiction and depression and anxiety. When I was
taking myself through that, I was going through deep therapy
or trauma therapy, and so after I went through all
of that, I knew that my body needed to go
through some type of cleaning and healing through through from
(05:01):
the alcohol and just not really taking care of my
physical health. And so my friend today, who's going to
talk about her journey, was posted on social media. I
was already feeling like I was a little health detective,
trying to figure out what was going on with me,
and so you know, I reached out to her and
I said, Hey, I'm interested, I want to know more.
I want to be maybe possibly your client. Well we'll
(05:22):
talk a little bit about that when she comes on.
And so I want to introduce my friend today, and
her name is Mel ward Off, and let's read her bio.
So Mel is the founder of Hell Like a Mother
and helps mothers struggling from fatigue go from depleted to
(05:42):
renewed through integrative coaching with the focus on gut healing,
nervous system regulation, emotional intelligence, and identity work. Through courses, masterclasses,
group and one on one coaching, she guides clients and
understanding what is at the root of their chronic fatigue
mood swings, so that they can gain a real understanding
(06:05):
of their body, heal from past conditioning, and get back
into playtime. Let's welcome this warrior queen to the show.
Mail ward off. Welcome Meil.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
Hello, that was beautiful the way that you described your
work and FDN was so good professional already.
Speaker 1 (06:33):
Hello, Mail, Welcome, I'm so glad you're here. Welcome to
the show. Yes, well, Mel, I'm so glad you're here,
and you said yesterday, and I'm so excited for this
interview because I am like, I'm trying to get where
you're at. You know, I'm trying to be certified. I'm
trying to help clients. And so before you share your storage,
(06:57):
tell the guests, tell the audience. Is a little bit
about who you are, who you are, where you reside
in a little bit about yourself.
Speaker 2 (07:06):
Yes, I live in Washington as well. I live in
this tiny little town, Buckley, where you know, it's we
have one tiny it's not even a grocery store, so
it's very kind of out there. I love it so much.
So I am sorry if my WiFi is awful, but
I do love it. But yeah, so I my husband
(07:33):
grew up in a small town, so Enumclaw, which is
really close, but I did. Actually I grew up in
Federal Way and actually Rashon and I have we met
each each other in high school. So it's been a
long time when we have a mutual friend. I won't
go there.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
I won't say I will say no, don't tell the year.
But yes, we did grow up in high school. Yes, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 2 (07:54):
We went to tenth grade together, I believe. So yeah,
so we kind of do have a little bit of
a history, which is so fun that we get to
do this right now. But yeah, so I have four children.
My oldest is this is he your year, and then
I've got one very you know young, like I've got
(08:14):
a schol that's my youngest, so kind of all ages
and in between. Yeah. So yeah, I.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
Didn't realize that you live in Buckley. I knew, of course,
I knew here in Washington State, but I didn't know
in that small little town area. So yeah, yeah, So well, Mel,
I'm so glad you're here. So I would love for
you to share with the audience today. You know a
little bit about you know, a time that you went
(08:43):
through a major obstacle and I know you found functional
medicine and fd in, but let's talk about before you
finding you know, functional medicine with healing and going through
that journey.
Speaker 2 (08:55):
So yeah, yeah, so with me, my journey sounds like
it was quite similar to yours, Vishan. I, after my
second child, found myself in this very unfamiliar, like deep
depression that I didn't have words for. And I remember
the first time I picked up a drink for the
(09:18):
purpose of soothing this high emotion that I had, and
it was overwhelmed because we had At the time, we
were living in Hawaii, I was completely away from my family.
Having a toddler and a newborn was so new, and
I didn't even know what maybe postpartum depression was. I
(09:38):
didn't have words for it. But what I do remember
is the first time I walked to the store got
a bottle of vodka and felt such relief that it
took me years to be able to quit drinking. And
it was due to like having such big emotions. But
before that, honestly, I spent my entire life dealing with
(10:01):
digestive issues that no doctor could ever fill out. And
we know now that there is a very strong gut
brain connection. So it was a very frustrating time for
me because at the time I was eating vegan. I
was fully vegan at the time, which was easy in Hawaii.
It's nice and warm, you don't want to try stove,
(10:22):
so it was easy, but I didn't realize how much
that what I thought was healthy at the time was
not healthy for my body. So I found myself spiraling,
not just from depression, but then having these really strong
suicidal urges. And it felt very, very scary at the time,
and I just I honestly had nobody to talk to.
(10:44):
I kept it within myself. I didn't even talk to
my husband. Well, this went on for years and when
we moved back to Washington. We've been here I think
twelve or thirteen years now, But after my fourth child,
I found that, like my emotions were so out of
control and it didn't feel like me and I had
(11:08):
been I had been a year over at the time,
so I thought that that would help, which was a
struggle within itself. We all know that first year is
really hard, right, Yeah, And I did that pretty much
on my own, which was very hard to do. I
do recommend reaching out and getting help if you can,
because struggling on your own is hard. You feel very
(11:31):
isolated and alone, and there's a lot that goes into
recovery for sure, mm hmmmm hmm. And I found myself
just walking on egg shell or my children and my
husband walking on eggshells around me, and my mood was
so up and down, and I was using alcohol to
control that in the past because it made me feel good,
(11:51):
it made me feel happy, it made me feel like myself. Well,
that was no longer an option because I was I
was way over utilizing it. It was just beyond what
anybody would call a healthy amount. So getting off of that,
I had to learn how to deal with my emotions,
which was very new at the time, very new, and
(12:12):
I had a lot going on internally within my gut.
Like I said, my doctor's never what was going on.
I was bloated all the time. I was in extreme
amounts of pain my stomach, my joints, my back, and
there was never any explanation as to why. So here
I am doing what I think is healthy, eating this
(12:35):
plant based a diet, exercising, you know, to the point
of such fatigue that I couldn't get off the couch
for three days at a time. Afterwards, it would take
me a really long time to recover from an exercise.
So his body was breaking down. So by the time,
like my fourth kid came along, it was just it
was it was too much for me. To bear, and
(12:57):
I remember distinctly having this crying episode in my car
because I heard my husband say, oh, you know, here
goes another weekend again, because it was his day off,
and here I was in a bad mood as usual
for no reason, and that just drove me into like
going from feeling like these suicidal ideations that was able
(13:18):
to control to uncontrollable with it. And I found myself
going down one of my back roads nobody I had
ever been on before, and in my mind, I just thought,
this is like my way out, This is how I
can save my family from myself, which is an awful
thing to say, yeah, but it was like here I
found myself going like eighty miles an hour, and I
(13:40):
see myself just zoned in on this you know, sorry,
this is a little bit triggering. I just found myself
zoned in on this forest full of trees and going
through my mind is I just need to hit one
fast enough and they're free of me. So I don't
know what it was, but in the moment, I like
it was like this this flash like, okay, let's be realistic.
(14:01):
The possibility of being more of like a burden, if
that's the right word. Because you're stuck in a hospital
as a vegetable or something that's going to be really
hard on the family. So I had a breakdown moment
that was probably very much needed, where I was just
I pulled over to the side and I'm screaming and
I'm crying, you know, why, Why Why am I broken?
(14:24):
And a couple of days after that, like, well, I
came home, I told my husband for the first time
how I've been feeling, and you know, all of these
feelings I've been keeping inside for years, and he he
told me that I needed to go tell somebody, which
was hard, right, yeah, yeah, yeah, And there you know,
(14:49):
there is there is just a lot of stigma around it.
I feel like it's starting to use up, thank goodness.
But seeing my doctor for the first time, looking her
in the eye and telling her that I need he
was hard, right, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (15:05):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (15:06):
So through his blessing, he was like, you need. I
don't care what you do, what you need to do.
You need to figure this out, and I'm here to
help you. And I just happened to stumble upon I'd
never heard of FDN in my life before. I just
happened to stumble upon it and I was like, this
is what I've been asking for. Like with my doctors,
I'm like I would tell them. I would be like,
(15:28):
I think I need my adrenals checked, Like I can't
get off the couch if I work out for three days, right,
And they'd be like, oh, my insurance won't cover that,
so we can't do it. Like there was all these
things that were so frustrating for me. I felt like
I couldn't get anywhere.
Speaker 1 (15:43):
So Mel, Wow, Wow, Mel, Oh my goodness wow. And
it's crazy because just looking at you, you would never
think that you were going through that, right. Have you
heard that from people where they're just like, wow, you
were going through all of that, you know, because I
remember when I was going through and then after you
share it, it's like wow. But I just knew that
I had to go ahead and put on a put
(16:04):
on a smile on my face, right, and just keep
doing my daily daily things. And so was that similar
to you as well, where you're just like I have
to keep pushing and have to keep you know, I
have to be a mom, I got to be a wife,
I got to do all these things, you know for
my household.
Speaker 2 (16:17):
Absolutely, and that's what I was using alcohol for is
to help me put on that ask absolutely.
Speaker 1 (16:24):
M Yeah, so our story sounds a lot sounds similar.
You know. I remember when I reached out to you
a few years ago and you were writing on social media.
You were talking about your story and I would just
read from time to time just kind of read your story.
And then you were talking about how you were helping clients,
and you were helping with you know, different types of
functional labs and helping them get to the root cause
(16:46):
and all these things. So I would just read and
read and read, and finally, you know, I was like,
I'm just I'm so tired of going through all these
you know, digestive issues that I was going through similar
to you, where for what nine years, doctors, you know,
we're saying it's this, it's this, is this, is this,
don't eat that, eat this, And I was just like,
I'm just this is driving me crazy. I was like,
this is driving me nuts? What's going on with me?
(17:07):
You know? And then every time I give them blood
they're finding something else. I'm like, I am so tired
of this. So I became my own little health detective
and trying to figure out what was going on and
it sounds like the same with you, where you were
just like okay, you know, they're saying is this is this?
Is that right? You can't eat this? And taking this
test but not running this one, and you were kind
of being your own practitioner, right, your own detective, and saying, hey,
(17:29):
what about this? What about this? And they're like, oh no,
I'm sure it doesn't cover it. And it just comes
to the point where you become just very frustra frustrated
where we kind of just fire them in a way
anyway and just and like really just kind of take
it into our hands and say, hey, let's go and
figure out what's going on and our bodies. And so
that's what I did back in twenty twenty two. I
(17:51):
reached out to you and I said, you know, mail
your story resonates with me, you know, and you were like,
let's get on the phone call and let's figure out
what's going on. And so we had the one on
one consultation and so you were telling about your program,
which sound amazing. I was like all in, and so
I was like, well, let me think about it. And
then the next day and so this this you know,
(18:13):
story is funny now, but probably not at the time.
The next day I called mel I said, no, this
sounds great, but you know what, I'm going to join you, Like,
I need to do this. I need to learn about this.
I've been kind of learning about it. I need to
take myself through this journey because in the program, we
become our first clients and so you know, we run
our own labs and we're interpreting them, we're reading them
(18:33):
so then we can help other people. And so with
that being said, now, just what you're doing to help,
you know, people, to help women, you know, is just inspiring.
What you're putting on your social media and so I
just wanted to tell you that you inspired me, and
so keep doing your work. And so with that being said,
you talked a little bit about how you found FDN.
(18:53):
Tell us a little bit about the journey of going
from you know, your your weeping moment of you know,
alcohol and just trying to you know, regulate your emotions
and just life right, and then finding your husbands saying hey,
go you need to talk to someone, and then you
find FDN. Tell us a little bit about that journey
of your warrior side, your warrior moment.
Speaker 2 (19:14):
Yeah, well I would say that I thought that because
I was already solf minded, that I would zip through
the course like nobody's business. I was lo, give me
three months, I'll be good to go. No, there was
a lot more work into it, for sure, of course,
being I'm a four kids, and then I was dealing
(19:35):
with chronic illness what we would call what people would
call like this invisible silent illness, nobody has a name
to it kind of thing. But so I took my time.
I had to take a lot of rest for myself
because I was dealing with things like chronic fatigue. So
I went through it. I had to do complete minds
shift meant mindset and shift for myself, and I had
(19:56):
to learn how to rest and to be okay with
things being a little bit slower and the pace so
for me. I have really noticed that the shift in
my own household, learning how to regulate my emotions has
shifted the way that I interact with my children and
(20:18):
of course with myself, like the way that I parent,
the way that I come across with my clients. I
can hold space for people. It feels so good to
know how to tune into your body and give it
exactly what it needs, whether that is more rest, was
a diet shift change, whether that is as crazy as
(20:39):
a coffee enema because I haven't gotten into that, A
little liver support, right, yes, yes, And sometimes it's like yeah,
sometimes you just need community too, right, So it's it's
really about crafting in my opinion, and if the warrior
part is about crafting your life, where you are making
(21:02):
your life the way that you want to be. Whereas
before you were maybe just kind of going along with
you know, the waves, so to speak. You were like,
we're always trying to fight something in mind for like
it there's always something to go up against, Whereas now
I feel like, no matter what you throw at me,
like give it to me, I'm ready. I can handle it.
Speaker 3 (21:21):
Join us or From Weeping to Warrior Igniting Freedom with
Roshan Nicole, a podcast where we're discussing all things mental
health and wellness. Air and Fridays six pm Pacific Standard
time on Oklahoma Victorious Worship Radio, and on Mondays at
six pm Pacific Standard time on PGN TV. For full
(21:41):
details on air dates, networks, and how to be a
guest on the show, email us at info at Roshannicole
Wellness dot com or visit Roshannicole dot com.
Speaker 2 (21:56):
Pride Day.
Speaker 1 (22:04):
Well tell us a little bit about your program, because
I read you know in your bio you're the founder
of heal like a Mother and you're helping, you know,
struggling our mothers who are struggling with fatigue, you know,
go from depleted to renew through your coaching and your program.
And so first, how did you come up with your
niche and then tell us about your program?
Speaker 2 (22:26):
Yeah, so I was very hesitant to what we would
call niche down and I think, yeah, because when you
go through a program like this and you're just really thinking,
like I could help everybody, so why would I want
to help one person? Yeah? But the truth is I
found that I love working with moms because their story
(22:49):
is very similar. You know, if in the household, moms
run so much. So if you're not regulated, if you're
not feeling good, if you're not in pain, if you
if you are in pain, if you're not sleeping, you know,
then the whole household's going to off. So so that
was just kind of how I fell into that. And
(23:10):
I do feel like community is such a big deal
that I turned my one on one program that I
was doing with moms and now I'm making it into
a group program. And that's new this year is to
turn that one on one work and turn it into
that group because I feel like we need community, you know,
(23:31):
for mental health, for physical health. I feel like healing
happens in community. So that is my big goal.
Speaker 1 (23:40):
Absolutely. So, Mel, what do you want to say to
you know, those mothers or those who might be struggling
with alcohol or eating disorder or any type of mental
health challenges or illnesses, you know what, what what do
you want to say to them today?
Speaker 2 (23:57):
Mmm? I want to get across that you are not broken.
You heard me say like Maya, I had a big breakdown.
I was like asking God, like what's wrong with me?
And that's the other thing is that was not a problem.
My spirituality is not a problem. I feel like, if anything,
going through these hard times brought me closer to God
because it forces a relationship when you re lie on
(24:21):
something in yourself. So I want to make Yeah, I
want to get as that you are not broken. There
might be something wrong, your doctor might not know what
it is. There might be other things that you have
to excavate by using functional medicine maybe, or a therapist,
but you're not broken. And that brings me to a
(24:41):
scripture that I always come back to, which I believe
is in Psalms. I'm gonna can remember the book, but
you know it's the scripture where you are wonder each
one of us are wonderfully made. And so it really
just is about funding. What is it that's either triggering you,
do you have a nutritional deficiency? Is there thing going
on in the gut that's inflaming the brain or causing
(25:04):
these emotions? All of these things can play a role.
And advocating for yourself and finding that community is so transformative.
Speaker 1 (25:16):
Absolutely, absolutely, So, how would you say that functional medicine
or holistic health has changed your life? How would what
would you say about that?
Speaker 2 (25:28):
I literally don't think that I would be here today otherwise, truly, truly,
in one way or another. My mental health, my physical health,
everything has changed completely. The way that I look at
health in general has changed. Whereas before, saye, in high school,
my idea of health was starving myself all day until
(25:49):
I got home from school and working out, and I
thought that was help me, right. So, yeah, women can
tend to run themselves to the ground, and that is just,
you know, not how we want to do things anymore.
Speaker 1 (26:03):
Right, right, absolutely, you know functional mess and has been
truly a blessing. And I tell this to people all
the time, you know, I'm like, why don't you give
it a try? Or you know, of course I'm not
certified yet, but I'm always talking about it because I'm
hearing a lot of the same stories where it's like
this band aid approach, right what we've been hearing about,
or a cookie cutter approach, or giving something for symptoms
(26:25):
and not really getting to like what's really going on
in the body. So I just want you to share, like,
maybe what a testimonial if you can, I know you
can't say names, but maybe a testimonial with one of
your clients and the impact is made in their life.
Speaker 2 (26:40):
It's oh yeah, absolutely, okay, I have I have a
few in mind, but I will bring up this one. Okay,
I'll bring up a little girl actually, because hers kind
of blew me away. So I was working with this
four year old girl whose mom had taken her to
the doctor for stomach issues at four years old. They
did all these kinds to scan and never found what
(27:02):
was going on. She wasn't having bowel movements for like
maybe one every couple weeks, and even then it was
very small. So when I met her, this was an
in person I worked virtually mostly, but this was an
in person one and I met with them, and she
was just like lying on the couch. She didn't want
to move, she wasn't making eye contact. It literally was
(27:24):
under six months of working together, and she was underweight.
She had grown, She had grown two sizes in less
than six months. She had put on like ten pounds
of much needed weight. She had joined soccer, but she
didn't have the energy to do anything before besides drawing.
I guess she was having full convertions with me so
(27:47):
much so that it was hard to get through our
sessions because obviously I'm talking with the mother throughout them,
because she had so much energy that she was like
bouncing off the walls almost And it was just like
a total total shift in just a few short months,
and like just seeing her grow like emotionally, physically, literally physically,
and her mom was like just like in shock that
(28:10):
she went from like a size two te at four
years old to the size of a two year old
and she she got into her size where she should be,
like a size four or five, and it was just
like mind blowing. Wow. So that's that's one that always
sticks with me because I was just like that, the
transformation happens so fast. That's a good thing that we're
working with kids.
Speaker 1 (28:31):
Yes, yes, they're so resilient. They bounced back pretty quick.
Speaker 2 (28:34):
Yes, yes, yeah, yeah, but that's one of my favorites.
Speaker 1 (28:39):
Yeah, that is amazing. What an incredible story. Friends, you
heard Mel share her testimony, and if you are interested, Mel,
I would love for you to share with the audience today.
How can the audience know more about you, how to
contact you, maybe talk a little bit about your program
(29:00):
and yeah, let's hear about that perfect. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
On Facebook, I'm just Mel ward Off and the last
name I know, I know it's it's spelled wrong. I've
been told it's spelled wrong.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
It's w A R D h U g H.
Speaker 2 (29:15):
And then on Instagram you can find me at all
Underscore Gut Underscore Detective for the Primal Gut Detective. And
you know that's what I do. I like Rashawn is doing.
I toatally truly holistic approach where we look at functional
medicine labs, we look at the lifestyle. I personally love
(29:36):
to dive into some of the belief system, emotions and
whatnot because I feel like that was an important part
of my journey as well. But really it's like, it's
how do we integrate everything so that who you're being
really shines through? So that is exactly you know, what
I do. What I'm passionate about is helping moms really
(29:58):
be the person that they know that they are inside
and fill those missing gaps.
Speaker 1 (30:04):
Absolutely beautiful, beautiful, So contact mail. She would love to
have you, e mel Are you it's mothers? You're that
you're working with mothers? And is it children as well
or majority mothers that you're working with?
Speaker 2 (30:18):
Yeah, so I do work with children, I mean if
the Yeah, if I work with men once in a
while too. It's very rare that men get a hold
of me, but sometimes they do so. But yeah, I'm
the group program that I have heel Like a Mother.
The wait list for that one is open. And then
I have a very gut specific course that I'm doing
(30:39):
with doctor Hosada who's in Washington as well, and so
we have a gut health course coming out for health
coaches and preccheners, but then also for lay people who
are really trying to just hone in on what's going
on with their gut. So if you're interested in that specifically,
that will be a course that will be available as
well soon, Lovely.
Speaker 1 (31:01):
Yeah, tell us about your upcoming event with doctor Hassada. Yeah,
tell us a little bit more about that. When is
that going on? And you said for practitioners, for that's
what's for.
Speaker 2 (31:11):
Yeah, So we'll have one for practitioners, and then we'll
have one for lay people, so those that are really
trying to get into like the face of you know,
healing themselves and understanding what's going on with their own gut,
because it's it's such a big piece of the puzzle
that conventional doctors are just simply not trained in. And
there's no way around it. I don't care what you're
(31:33):
dealing with. It could be mental health, it could be
skin issues, it could be I don't know, having a
hard time getting pregnant, it could be anything. Your gut
is going to play a role.
Speaker 1 (31:42):
Yes, I went to talk a little bit about that
to how the brain gut connection. In a couple episodes,
I would share a little bit about I would say, like,
did you know and so I've been talking a little
bit about how there's a brain gut connection. So I
would love for you to speak a little bit that
to share that with our audience.
Speaker 2 (32:03):
Yes. Absolutely, Okay, So this one is just the most
fascinating thing. And if you haven't dug into it, if
you know or you know, asra Sean continues all of
her the little tidbits that you give you like, eat
it up, soak it up, because information that you're going
to learn from your conventional doctor or you're there. Unfortunately,
(32:24):
hopefully that changes soon and we can get you know,
more people on board in the conventional sense. But as
far as like say we're talking about mental health when
somebody's having a really hard time with say depression, A
lot of our serotonin, we know no is actually made
within the gut more than it is the brain, by
like ninety percent in the gut about the average estimate
(32:47):
with a lot of the stents that you read, and
when you have a lot of gut inflammation going on,
say a lot of pathogens in the gut that are
kind of wreaking havoc. Not only are you creating inflame
nation that then is going up through your vegus nerve,
which is what's going to connect that gut in that brain.
But you're also going to take any trip to fan
(33:09):
that you're eating. So trippan is an amino acid that
you might be getting from your your animal proteins in
order to make serotonin in order to feel those happy chemicals,
you know, so that you're feeling like you there's joy
in life. So if you're not breaking that down and
absorbing at one, there's an issue there. You might not
(33:30):
be sleeping also because that serotonin is then made into melatonin,
which is also made in my button. And then and
then your body could be choosing to use that trip
to fan when you have like a pathogen, let's say parasites.
Nobody likes to talk about parasites, but you're probably going
to hear a lot about it, so comed too, you know,
(33:54):
you can start to really use up that tripped fan.
So then you're just simply not getting the the raw
materials your body needs to make serotonin so that you
feel happy, so that you feel calm, that you feel joyayed.
And here we are self medicating with alcohol or maybe
you're on an actual medication or depression when you're just
(34:17):
simply missing the raw materials or you're not able to
convert it because there's something going on within the gut,
whether that is inflammation, a digestion issue, a parasite issue,
all of these things are possibilities.
Speaker 1 (34:30):
Yeah, So that love it. I love that information. And
you know it's not common information, right, So I'm glad
that you're able to, you know, talk about it and
speak about it, how the gut brain connection, because it's
not when I talk about that, people are like there's
a connection. Really, it's like absolutely there's a connection. And
(34:50):
so I'm so glad that you're able to, you know,
help so many people, mothers and children and men and
just help them with their healing going through that healing process.
So awesome, Mail. I appreciate you and I and just
all the work that you're doing.
Speaker 2 (35:06):
So thank you.
Speaker 1 (35:09):
Yeah, so, Mail, So, any shout outs that you want
to give to anyone, any shout outs and tell us
you told us about the course that's coming up with
doctor Hesada. Do you have any other events coming up
for you? So any shout outs and anything that is
coming up next for you.
Speaker 2 (35:28):
Yeah, if you are in the area in the spring
is usually when I will do a in person kind
of like you would get like a webinar, but in person,
so that would be being held in Buckley as well.
So if you're interested in doing that, it's it's going
to be all about women and hormones, So if you
(35:48):
are really into learning about your hormones, that will be
an event that you might want to join. But yes, otherwise,
keep a lookout for when that got Health course drops.
It's supposed to we're supposed to start filming next week,
so it'll be probably it'll be in spring when it's
totally ready, so if you're really interested in and the
(36:09):
first class will be completely free. So if you're interested
in that, you can go on my Instagram or Facebook
whatever you use, and our following so that when that
does drop and that class is ready, you're you're there,
ready to take it.
Speaker 1 (36:27):
Awesome awesome mel And you're also available mail for speaking
engagements as well as is that also available to the
public as well.
Speaker 2 (36:39):
Absolutely absolutely.
Speaker 1 (36:43):
Right, speak to speak to you, speak to your audience,
speak to the mothers about functional medicine and healing and
gut and hormones. It sounds like so yes, well, mel
I am so glad that you were able to come
on today and share your story. Any last words words
(37:03):
of encouragement to our audience that you would like to share.
Speaker 2 (37:08):
Yes, I think that especially as we talk about mental health,
and of course it doesn't just apply to mubs or women,
but it is so important to learn how to advocate
for yourself when you do go to the doctor and
you're like, I just don't feel like myself. But maybe
you're not getting like your blood ted is showing that
something is wrong, or maybe you're just getting more medications
(37:31):
and we're really not getting to the bottom of things. Yeah,
we really learning how to advocate yourself, and we can
do this gently. I know that a lot of women
kind of feel shy about it or something, but we don't,
you know, we can do it in a gentle manner,
I suppose, but still stand up for ourselves. I think
that it's really important to not get that I guess
(37:52):
white code effect where you feel like, oh, they're a doctor,
they know more than me advocating for yourself and if
you're not getting it from your doctor, it's just because
they're simply trained in a different way. And that's okay.
There are other people and practitioners these days. And thank
goodness for social media because we do things virtually now
so you can get the help that you do need.
Speaker 1 (38:14):
So yeah, absolutely, I say that all the time. Advocate
for your health, ask questions, write a list of questions down,
And I also tell people I'm like, you kind of
hired your doctor. I mean, you're paying your doctor, right,
so you have to advocate for yourself. Ask those questions.
Go on with questions, say well, what medication and why,
(38:34):
and let them explain everything in detail and have someone
with you so then you know they can also take
notes and hear as well. So I always tell people
advocate for sure. Yeah all right, my friend nel. So
before we say goodbye, we're gonna play this little quick,
little game that I play with all of my guests.
(38:55):
And this game is called would you rather? And I
give two choices, and you're gonna choose one and tell
the audience tell us why you picked that as your choice. Okay, okay,
all right, so would you rather? Okay, are you a
night owl or an early bird? And why what if
(39:20):
I'm neither?
Speaker 2 (39:21):
I would say if I'm definitely not an early bird,
I'm definitely not an if I had to say, I
would say night owl, but I forced myself to go
to bed by ten, okay, But otherwise I would say
a night owl.
Speaker 1 (39:39):
Okay. Okay, So you're a night owl and then you
force yourself to go to bed ad tuon Okay, okay, yeah,
I'm a night owl too, so but I'm working on
I'm working on that time now, so don't get me.
Speaker 4 (39:51):
I'll check on you, okay, right, okay, all right, So
let's see you.
Speaker 1 (39:58):
Would you prefer concert or musicals?
Speaker 2 (40:03):
Oh well, I'm not going to mention our age, right,
Oh man, I would say I would say concerts, but
depending on the person and then the amount of crazy.
Speaker 1 (40:20):
Okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. Do you take your children
to musicals or or concerts? Do you take them?
Speaker 2 (40:29):
I have not?
Speaker 1 (40:30):
I'm oh yeah, okay, no no, no wor no worthy. Okay,
we're not touching now. I just want to ask, okay
two more? All right now? So would you prefer a
staycation or a vacation like going somewhere.
Speaker 2 (40:50):
Vacation. I've been staycationing with most of my life. I'm
I'm a vacation girl. I that my husband has gotten
over the fear of flying just in the past, yours,
so vacation.
Speaker 4 (41:02):
Okay, Okay, you're like, okay, let's go, let's go love
it all right, probably some more hot, right because here
in Washington we get a lot of the gray and
the rain and yeah, yep.
Speaker 2 (41:16):
Yeah yeah, bring me bring me this white sand and
beach for sure.
Speaker 1 (41:21):
Yes, yes, Hawaii where you were, where you lived, so yes,
all right, last one, so this one, this one might
be a little easy. You kind of talked a little
bit about it. But which season do you prefer? Summer, winter, spring,
or fall?
Speaker 2 (41:36):
I am a sunshine girl, so spring is my favorite,
and the summer.
Speaker 1 (41:44):
Absolutely, yes, absolutely getting that vitamin D from the sun, right, yes, yes, yes, okay. Well,
thank you so much, Mel for coming on today, for
sharing your story and you're weeping story to your warrior
story and how you went through that healing journey right
(42:06):
and how you're helping so many people, and so thank
you for what you're doing. And we're going to stay
tuned with all of your events coming up, so I'll
be you know, looking at your social media staying in
tune and checking out what's next for you. But thank
you so much for coming on the show today. Sharing
your story and giving us some knowledge on today.
Speaker 2 (42:25):
So thank you for having me.
Speaker 1 (42:28):
Yes, thank you, and we'll see you next time. We'll
probably have you on again, so thank you.
Speaker 2 (42:33):
Wonderful bye bye, all.
Speaker 1 (42:35):
Right, seeya bye bye. Well, all right, friends, you heard
from my friend functional diagnostic nutrition practitioner mel. If you
are interested, please reach out to her on her social
media also on her website. I'm so grateful for her
to come and share her story and give us some
knowledge and some tidbits. I hope you found this encouraging
and inspiring on today. Well, I just want to thank
(42:58):
you for joining us. Rather if you are listening in
or if you are watching on YouTube, thank you for
joining us. And I also want to take the time
to think the producer of the show, and that is
doctor Teresa Jordan. Thank you for listening or for watching.
Thank you to my guest, and we will see you
next time. Stay tuned because I will have a episode
(43:21):
where I talk and share about my testimony and how
I went from weeping to warrior. I would love to
share that and how functional medicine has truly helped me
and my mental health helped my physical health as well.
So stay tuned and I want to send some love
and some encouragement for you to stay lit, keep shining
and ignite freedom. And I will see you next time. Friends, goodbye.
Speaker 2 (43:42):
So I'm the one to play well love me, oh,
thank you to me.
Speaker 1 (43:51):
On the stage.
Speaker 2 (43:52):
I'm thank you for tuning in too. From Weeping to
Warrior Igniting Freedom with Roshawan Nicole.
Speaker 3 (43:57):
To be a guest on the show, please contact us
at at Roshannicole Wellness dot com.
Speaker 2 (44:02):
We would love to connect with you, so please take
a moment or two like.
Speaker 1 (44:05):
Subscribe, and follow us on all social media platforms.
Speaker 2 (44:09):
We look forward to having you join us next time.
For Weeping to Warrior Igniting Freedom with Roshan Nicole, Shame
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CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist
It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
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If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.