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Transform Your Health: Mastering Gut Wellness with Wilma MacDonald · Work It Like A Mum

• 0:00
  Wilma MacDonald: about looking good and feeling good.
• 0:01
  Wilma MacDonald: I think the two go hand in hand and like the transformation you can undertake by making small changes to what you eat, how you hydrate, how you move.
• 0:12
  Wilma MacDonald: Sometimes it feels it can feel really huge and overwhelming, but, like anything, like when I worked in finance, we, you know, we broke down big project plans into small, tiny steps, and this is why I do now.
• 0:24
  Wilma MacDonald: We break down your big health goals into real small, tiny steps that you can do every day.
• 0:29
  Wilma MacDonald: That will build on one another and eventually get you to where you want to be and, most importantly, keep you there, because this isn't just about here and there.
• 0:36
  Wilma MacDonald: This is about you when you're 85 and trying to get out of your chair and making sure that you have a long, happy, healthy life.
• 0:42
  Elizabeth Willetts: Hey, I'm Elizabeth Willetts and I'm obsessed with helping as many women as possible achieve their boldest dreams after kids and helping you to navigate this messy and magical season of life.
• 0:55
  Elizabeth Willetts: I'm a working mom with over 17 years of recruitment experience and I'm the founder of the Investing in Women job board and community.
• 1:04
  Elizabeth Willetts: In this show, I'm honored to be chatting with remarkable women redefining our working world across all areas of business.
• 1:11
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• 1:26
  Elizabeth Willetts: And how they've overcome them to define their own versions of success.
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• 1:31
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• 1:39
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• 1:49
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• 1:50
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• 1:52
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• 1:59
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• 2:34
  Elizabeth Willetts: Now back to the show.
• 2:35
  Elizabeth Willetts: Hello Wilma, thank you so much for joining me today and welcome to the podcast.
• 2:41
  Elizabeth Willetts: Delighted to be here.
• 2:42
  Elizabeth Willetts: Thank for having me.
• 2:43
  Elizabeth Willetts: Oh, I'm really excited because I know today we're going to explore gut health and obviously get all your wisdom regarding nutrition and how we can eat well to live our, you know, healthiest lives.
• 2:55
  Elizabeth Willetts: You know that we will hopefully enjoy for a long time as well.
• 2:59
  Elizabeth Willetts: But before we dive into all your brilliant advice, could you give people a bit of an overview as to who you are and what you do and what your business does?
• 3:07
  Wilma MacDonald: Absolutely so.
• 3:08
  Wilma MacDonald: I'm Wilma.
• 3:09
  Wilma MacDonald: I'm a qualified nutritional therapist and before I did this, I spent about 10, 12 years in corporate finance and banking before I had a drastic career change and retrained as a nutritional therapist, had a drastic career change and retrained institutional therapist.
• 3:26
  Wilma MacDonald: My main areas of expertise and areas of focus is working with working women, women who have children and women who are going through the paramenopause.
• 3:34
  Wilma MacDonald: So that's where the main area of my work is focused and it's life changing stuff and I absolutely love it.
• 3:42
  Wilma MacDonald: And if anybody is interested in what I do, my website is marwickmotherhoodco and you can go over there and connect and get to know what I do.
• 3:50
  Elizabeth Willetts: Do you help them really transform their lives through nutrition?
• 3:54
  Wilma MacDonald: Yes, so I used to work in these huge big transformation programs when I worked in finance and now I'm working on the most important transformation ever and that's helping women to transform their health, because we've all been there where we've been unwell at some point in time and we can't like, if you don't have your health, you don't have anything, and I know it's kind of a cliche thing to say, but, like I say, we've all been there.
• 4:17
  Wilma MacDonald: When we put on well and you just can't, you can't do anything.
• 4:20
  Wilma MacDonald: And when you've got small humans, a job and life and laundry baskets and whatever, you need to be feeling good.
• 4:28
  Wilma MacDonald: And it's not just for me, it's about looking good and feeling good.
• 4:31
  Wilma MacDonald: I think the two go hand in hand and, like the transformation you can undertake by making small changes to what you eat, how you hydrate, how you move, move Sometimes it can feel really huge and overwhelming, but, like anything, like when I worked in finance, we broke down big project plans into small, tiny steps, and this is what I do now.
• 4:53
  Wilma MacDonald: We break down your big health goals into real small, tiny steps that you can do every day.
• 4:58
  Wilma MacDonald: That will build on one another and eventually get you to where you want to be and, most importantly, keep you there, because this isn't just about here and there.
• 5:09
  Wilma MacDonald: This is about you when you're 85 and trying to get out of your chair and making sure that you have a long, happy, healthy life, yeah, but I guess you know we do.
• 5:14
  Elizabeth Willetts: I mean, I don't know, like life expectancy, hopefully, is getting you know longer, but then it's like the quality of life then, isn't it for a lot of people you know, after they're retired and want to enjoy retirement, and it's just.
• 5:26
  Elizabeth Willetts: I guess it's like investing in your future, isn't it?
• 5:28
  Elizabeth Willetts: But like putting into a pension every time you eat.
• 5:31
  Elizabeth Willetts: Well, it's sort of that, that's a really good analogy.
• 5:34
  Wilma MacDonald: It's kind of like investing into your future because you do get returns now yeah, because you'll have the energy, you'll have a focus, you're.
• 5:41
  Wilma MacDonald: But there's a stat I read recently that really hit home was that women spend 25 more of their lives in ill health than men do.
• 5:50
  Wilma MacDonald: Now I may have missed that step, but I was like, oh my goodness, I don't want women to live a 75 life.
• 5:56
  Wilma MacDonald: I don't want the last 25 of your life to be feeling that you can't do all the things that you want to do.
• 6:03
  Wilma MacDonald: So, yes, so it's about investing yourself now and in the future so that you're not hit with all these kind of like ailments that we expect to get when we're older.
• 6:13
  Wilma MacDonald: Because, yes, life expectancy is getting longer, but we want to make sure the quality of life doesn't decline as you age yeah, and absolutely you know.
• 6:22
  Elizabeth Willetts: We all know what it's like when you don't feel very well on the day and whether that's through a lot of it.
• 6:27
  Elizabeth Willetts: For me and I'm sure I don't know if this is the same for your clients it's just when you're really tired and you're run down and you're susceptible to things and then you can't work.
• 6:35
  Elizabeth Willetts: I know that my work suffers.
• 6:38
  Elizabeth Willetts: I'm snappy with the kids, just want to go to bed and they're not very good days, I guess I you know.
• 6:44
  Elizabeth Willetts: I know how important it is through speaking to you so much, how important it is to eat well.
• 6:49
  Elizabeth Willetts: So I mean, what would be your, some of your advice?
• 6:51
  Elizabeth Willetts: You know, because you said it's all about the small things.
• 6:53
  Elizabeth Willetts: I know we're going to go into gut health in a minute, but you know what would be some of the small things people could do now.
• 6:59
  Wilma MacDonald: So the small things so this is what I get quite a pushback on is to eat before you caffeinate.
• 7:03
  Wilma MacDonald: So eat something before you have tea, coffee, matcha, whatever you have in the morning that's got caffeine in it.
• 7:10
  Wilma MacDonald: And to make sure that whatever you eat has got protein, fat and fiber in it and that's for breakfast, lunch and dinner, like, honestly, if you did nothing else other than we also need to be drinking plenty of water.
• 7:21
  Wilma MacDonald: If you did these three things, you would see a market difference in your energy levels quite quickly, I would say in the space of like a week, 10 days.
• 7:30
  Wilma MacDonald: If you did these three things and nothing else, you would notice a difference in how you feel I get the eating things, you know.
• 7:37
  Elizabeth Willetts: You know, sometimes if you have a really heavy lunch quite half heavy lunch, I always you feel quite tired in the afternoon, don't you feel quite?
• 7:44
  Elizabeth Willetts: And you're processing that.
• 7:46
  Elizabeth Willetts: Why should you not eat?
• 7:47
  Elizabeth Willetts: Why should you eat before you concinate?
• 7:51
  Wilma MacDonald: because it interrupts.
• 7:53
  Wilma MacDonald: But it's a couple of reasons and I always get pushed back on this and I'm kind of like you know what, if you have coffee in the morning and you feel awesome, your energy is on point all day, you don't have any dips and you're bright, you're alert, you're where you want to be, knock yourself out, keep going.
• 8:09
  Wilma MacDonald: But most of the people who come to see me and they're having like their espresso or their match or something first thing in the morning and they're like I can't function without my coffee.
• 8:17
  Wilma MacDonald: It spikes your cortisol levels, which are your stress hormones.
• 8:21
  Wilma MacDonald: So that's what's giving you the big boost in the morning.
• 8:23
  Wilma MacDonald: It's not actually that you've got a boost of energy, you've got a boost of a stress hormone and what that then does is, when it goes high, it kicks in your insulin response.
• 8:32
  Wilma MacDonald: So it releases a whole big pile of insulin, which is your blood sugar, to bring down that cortisol response.
• 8:39
  Wilma MacDonald: So you've got a double boost.
• 8:40
  Wilma MacDonald: You've got a boost of blood sugar and you've got a boost of cortisol.
• 8:44
  Wilma MacDonald: And that's why you're like well, I can do anything, check me out, but then a wee while later because you've had such a boost and then your body's responding to bring it back down.
• 8:53
  Wilma MacDonald: It has such a big response and it comes crashing down and then you're like, oh, I need something else.
• 8:59
  Wilma MacDonald: So I was like I need a coffee or a can of coke or a bar of chocolate or some toast, and mamma or something like an hour and a half later, so you have that boost again and then you're like, oh, I'm crashing down, she's on this roller coaster and you kind of stay on that all day and I was there.
• 9:14
  Wilma MacDonald: I mean, I like breakfast wasn't really a thing for me when I worked in finance.
• 9:18
  Wilma MacDonald: It kind of was laterally, but I used to have like a double shot skinny latte with two sugars and a chocolate croissant was my breakfast, and then I'd have another double shot skinny latte, probably around maybe 11 o'clock and then maybe I'd have another one in the afternoon.
• 9:31
  Wilma MacDonald: So that's like three double shot skinny lattes with two sugars in one day.
• 9:34
  Wilma MacDonald: And then I wondered why I was really and she was all over the place and I had insomnia and I'm like, well, no one does.
• 9:40
  Wilma MacDonald: I mean six shots of coffee throughout the.
• 9:43
  Wilma MacDonald: So it's just it's kind of listening to you and watching feedback as to how your body's actually reacting and if you eat before you caffeinate, there's something in the stomach that tempers that cortisol and insulin response, so it kind of slows it down.
• 9:58
  Wilma MacDonald: So instead of having a big spike, you have kind of more of a balanced response, and we're always going to have some kind of blood sugar response after we eat, because we're designed to be that, but we just don't want the peaks and lows.
• 10:09
  Wilma MacDonald: We want it to be a more balanced response and that's why we want the protein, fat and fiber.
• 10:14
  Elizabeth Willetts: Brilliant I love that.
• 10:15
  Elizabeth Willetts: Do you know you're in?
• 10:16
  Elizabeth Willetts: So you, I wish I may have a chat with you.
• 10:18
  Elizabeth Willetts: Okay, we're all inspired, so three things is to drink more water.
• 10:22
  Elizabeth Willetts: Is it six to eight glasses a day?
• 10:24
  Elizabeth Willetts: Is that what?
• 10:25
  Wilma MacDonald: yes, so this year this is a liter water.
• 10:28
  Wilma MacDonald: So I am especially case because I have I have a hereditary kidney condition so I need to drink lots of water.
• 10:33
  Wilma MacDonald: So I think between two to three liters of water a day.
• 10:35
  Wilma MacDonald: So I would say if somebody could drink about two of these a day.
• 10:38
  Wilma MacDonald: You start in one and then you will pee more, but that's kind of the point.
• 10:43
  Elizabeth Willetts: So I would say about one half to two liters of water a day, okay, protein, fat and fiber for breakfast, lunch and dinner, yep, and they eat before you caffeinate and that, and then you, then you know that's up, you're on your way to, yeah, and I would say I'll be honest.
• 11:00
  Wilma MacDonald: I live with a chronic caffeine drinker, my husband, and he doesn't always eat before he caffeinates, and he's like why am I feeling so tired?
• 11:07
  Wilma MacDonald: I'm like, but you don't listen to me, even though I've been married to you for 10 years, so it's not something that necessarily happens overnight and not everybody listens.
• 11:14
  Wilma MacDonald: But honestly, and then if you could delay your coffee just to have it between 9 and 11.
• 11:18
  Wilma MacDonald: So what I say to people is try and have some kind of breakfast, maybe before you leave your house, and if you're commuting to an office, grab your coffee on the way in and have it, or get some, you know, have it kind of mid-morning, because that then your body has a natural waking mechanism, so you're not interrupting that and setting you off onto the roller coaster at the same time.
• 11:38
  Elizabeth Willetts: Great.
• 11:38
  Elizabeth Willetts: So gut health is such a buzzword at the moment, isn't it, and why are people becoming so aware?
• 11:45
  Elizabeth Willetts: Do you think of gut health?
• 11:46
  Elizabeth Willetts: I?
• 11:46
  Wilma MacDonald: qualified nearly 10 years ago and it wasn't really a thing.
• 11:51
  Wilma MacDonald: But definitely I have noticed an uptick in it and I think as people become more aware, as the wellness world has kind of developed quite rapidly over that 10 years, I think people are tuning into more of what actually going on with their body Because I mean, we weren't like.
• 12:09
  Wilma MacDonald: I mean I'm now nearly 45.
• 12:11
  Wilma MacDonald: I'm of the generation where you didn't really talk about what was going on with your body and you know you were.
• 12:16
  Wilma MacDonald: If anything was going wrong you'd go to the doctor.
• 12:19
  Wilma MacDonald: They prescribe the pill or whatever.
• 12:21
  Wilma MacDonald: You just weren't tuned in.
• 12:23
  Wilma MacDonald: So I think, because of what's coming from other countries, we are becoming more aware of what's actually going on physically and gut health is one of these things.
• 12:33
  Wilma MacDonald: That is a big topic, yeah, but actually what?
• 12:38
  Wilma MacDonald: The solutions are actually quite simple, but they can be made more.
• 12:42
  Wilma MacDonald: You know some people like it's marketing.
• 12:46
  Wilma MacDonald: You can make it more complicated, but the actual solutions are actually quite simple and the effects are can be quite profound and will have a complete systemic effect on somebody, and you all know that if we have you know, if you have any kind of gut issues, they can be quite life limiting.
• 13:04
  Wilma MacDonald: They can have a massive impact on how you live your life, what you do, where you work, how you work all that kind of stuff.
• 13:11
  Wilma MacDonald: And I've come, you know, I've had clients who have developed not fear, but, like I've been a bit nervous around food because they don't know how their body's going to react and you've got that IBS or things like that yeah, if they've got IBS, it's kind of like it's IBS is kind of like this big umbrella term that I've never heard of until I until I kind of finished my nutrition degree.
• 13:32
  Wilma MacDonald: It's like a big umbrella term that is kind of given.
• 13:35
  Wilma MacDonald: If it's kind of unknown, what's going on.
• 13:38
  Wilma MacDonald: It's kind of like, oh, you've just got IBS, so it's irritable bowel syndrome, but there must be.
• 13:43
  Wilma MacDonald: For me it's kind of like, well, something's causing that, something, what's going on, something's causing it.
• 13:48
  Wilma MacDonald: And it's like figuring out what's going on with that individual and why their gut is so unhappy and what then can be done to get a bit more back into balance.
• 13:59
  Elizabeth Willetts: So what is gut health?
• 14:01
  Elizabeth Willetts: If people don't know, if people have never heard the term gut health, what?
• 14:05
  Wilma MacDonald: gut health is basically, it is relation to your digestion and your absorption, elimination, and, as a nutritional therapist never did, I think that I would spend my days talking about poo.
• 14:16
  Wilma MacDonald: But here we are and I am.
• 14:18
  Wilma MacDonald: You know I'm quite comfortable with now and that's one of the biggest things that people don't really pay attention to their bowel movements, and that is something that I would like lots of people who are in this nutrition world want to change, because actually it's really important to recognize how often you go, what they look like, what they smell like, are you bloated, are they difficult to pass all that kind of stuff because it can actually tell us a lot of information as to what's going on with your gut.
• 14:44
  Wilma MacDonald: So your gut is basically anything like your digestion, your absorption, elimination, and it has a systemic effect as well, because 75% of your immune system sits in your gut, your gut.
• 14:55
  Wilma MacDonald: Your gut is called your second brain because it helps produce serotonin.
• 14:59
  Wilma MacDonald: So unhappy gut sometimes means low mood, all that kind of stuff, and it can hugely impact hormone balance, stress, all this kind of stuff.
• 15:09
  Elizabeth Willetts: It's a biggie.
• 15:10
  Elizabeth Willetts: How can you tell if your gut is healthy or not?
• 15:14
  Elizabeth Willetts: The first thing I always do with somebody is, I get them to try.
• 15:17
  Wilma MacDonald: I do a bowel movement diary.
• 15:19
  Wilma MacDonald: So for the space of four days you are going to track your bowel movements.
• 15:23
  Wilma MacDonald: That's one of the quickest ways to recognize also but how you feel.
• 15:26
  Wilma MacDonald: Are you bloated?
• 15:26
  Wilma MacDonald: It's all about tuning in to what your body is regularly like, not how you want it to be, but what's actually like right now.
• 15:35
  Wilma MacDonald: How do you feel after certain foods?
• 15:37
  Wilma MacDonald: Are you bloated?
• 15:37
  Wilma MacDonald: Are you bloated certain times a month?
• 15:38
  Wilma MacDonald: Are you bloated certain times in the day after you eat something?
• 15:41
  Wilma MacDonald: How's your mood?
• 15:42
  Wilma MacDonald: How's your immune system?
• 15:44
  Wilma MacDonald: Do you catch colds regularly?
• 15:45
  Wilma MacDonald: How often do you go to the bathroom?
• 15:47
  Wilma MacDonald: What do they like?
• 15:47
  Wilma MacDonald: Are they smelly?
• 15:48
  Wilma MacDonald: Are you farty?
• 15:49
  Wilma MacDonald: Are you windy?
• 15:50
  Wilma MacDonald: How often?
• 15:50
  Wilma MacDonald: All that kind of stuff, and it's all the stuff that nobody wants to talk about.
• 15:54
  Elizabeth Willetts: But it's actually really, really important.
• 15:56
  Elizabeth Willetts: Yeah, it's your body.
• 15:57
  Elizabeth Willetts: I guess just feeding back, isn't it?
• 15:58
  Wilma MacDonald: yeah, it's huge, it just give it.
• 16:00
  Wilma MacDonald: It's actually just, your body is giving you feedback all the time and it's learning to tune in and listen and interpret that feedback.
• 16:09
  Wilma MacDonald: And that's one of the big things big messages I get from my clients, as I've actually taught them how to listen and tune in and interpret what's going on, and then they can you can make tweaks as and when you go.
• 16:19
  Elizabeth Willetts: So, for instance, when I go on holiday, my bowel movement has changed hugely just because I'm eating things that I wouldn't, yeah, and I think that would be quite a lot of people would recommend that, wouldn't they?
• 16:29
  Wilma MacDonald: and even getting on a plane.
• 16:30
  Wilma MacDonald: Sometimes you know you're, you know, in a tin can in the sky with like a few hundred other people.
• 16:34
  Wilma MacDonald: There's going to be lots of germs flying around, so that can have a huge impact on gut health as well.
• 16:38
  Wilma MacDonald: So it is just learning to recognize what's normal for you, what's regular for you.
• 16:43
  Wilma MacDonald: But if you, if there's any way that is making you feel awful and life limiting, and even if you've had that for a long time, does not mean there's nothing that can be done.
• 16:55
  Wilma MacDonald: Because I remember I had one client and she she came to me for energy and then she was like, oh, but I've got IBS and I've had it for years.
• 17:01
  Wilma MacDonald: I don't expect you to do anything like that.
• 17:03
  Wilma MacDonald: I was like, wow, just watch me.
• 17:05
  Wilma MacDonald: And we managed to resolve the issues that she's been having.
• 17:08
  Wilma MacDonald: So I think there's always something that can be done and it's just personalizing it and sticking with it to see the benefits yeah, so what does gut health affect then in your body?
• 18:13
  Wilma MacDonald: everything.
• 18:14
  Wilma MacDonald: So one of the big things so as I it's like, a lot of people come up to me with like low energy and hormonal stuff going on, and it's always one of the first things I look like is how you are eliminating, because if you are not pooing regularly, that means you're not eliminating used hormones and then they're getting reabsorbed and that's when issues become across and then so it can impact your hormone balancing, it can impact your mood, your immune.
• 18:42
  Elizabeth Willetts: That could just systemically it's huge and it's just food that affects gut health, or is the other?
• 18:48
  Wilma MacDonald: stress is one of the biggies.
• 18:50
  Wilma MacDonald: Stress is because I've had people who are kind of like you know they eat perfectly.
• 18:55
  Wilma MacDonald: There is no perfect way to eat, but you know for them they've kind of like changed and you know they've changed how they eat and they're drinking plenty of water.
• 19:02
  Wilma MacDonald: They're moving, but there's still some issues going on and stress is one of the big things that can have a massive impact on your gut health because when you think about it, when you're excited or when you're nervous, you know your butterflies in your stomach.
• 19:16
  Wilma MacDonald: I, for instance, like if I get really stressed out, I just can't eat it, just like it feels like a brick in my stomach if I eat.
• 19:23
  Elizabeth Willetts: Yeah, I get that.
• 19:24
  Elizabeth Willetts: You don't have an, you lose your appetite, don't you?
• 19:26
  Wilma MacDonald: you lose your appetite and some people go the other way and some people there's always something.
• 19:29
  Wilma MacDonald: So stress management.
• 19:31
  Wilma MacDonald: And another thing we're not here to eliminate stress, because that's impossible, because we live in 2024 and we have small humans, we have jobs, we have laundry baskets, we have dogs, whatever it's.
• 19:39
  Wilma MacDonald: You know we're not looking for stress-free existence.
• 19:41
  Wilma MacDonald: We just need to figure out how to manage the stress that we have in our lives and even, like you know, sometimes when, like other people, when they get stressed out, like they need to empty their bowels immediately or other ones get completely bunged up because they're kind of clinging on to everything.
• 19:56
  Wilma MacDonald: So it's a bit about what your personality is like as well.
• 19:59
  Wilma MacDonald: So it's stress like I can't stress that enough that it is it'll have a huge, huge impact on gut health.
• 20:07
  Elizabeth Willetts: So is there any things you tell your clients on how to reduce stress levels or manage the stress that's in their lives?
• 20:13
  Wilma MacDonald: It's also individual because it depends on what their life is like and what their temperament is like, what they like doing.
• 20:21
  Wilma MacDonald: So personally, for me, I go boxing twice a week and that's one of my big stress relievers.
• 20:25
  Wilma MacDonald: I also try to meditate and dance around my kitchen.
• 20:28
  Wilma MacDonald: So basically, you just need someone's big thing, excuse me, it's getting moving, it's actually complete.
• 20:33
  Wilma MacDonald: What we sometimes don't do, and something I've learned over the last few years, is completing the stress response.
• 20:38
  Wilma MacDonald: We're not holding on to it and a lot of that's about somatic movement.
• 20:41
  Wilma MacDonald: So when you see dogs, when they're stressed out, they shake at the end of it and that's them completing the stress response, actually eliminating the stress on their body.
• 20:49
  Wilma MacDonald: I find this like fascinating when I learn about it, whereas we humans we don't do that.
• 20:54
  Wilma MacDonald: We kind of almost like play on to it and it's almost like we just need to kind of like do a Taylor Swift and shake it off, like somehow, like yeah, completing the stress response and actually moving it.
• 21:05
  Wilma MacDonald: So that's why I find boxing so effective, but it suits my mood and my temperament.
• 21:09
  Wilma MacDonald: That is just.
• 21:10
  Wilma MacDonald: It physically just shifts everything away, sometimes like going outside for a walk massive, and sometimes we don't, sometimes we don't do very often hanging out with people we love, even kind of just like my sister gave me a bean bag and there's my new favorite place in my house and like I sit on that and the sun's shining and just like, don't do anything, even for like five minutes, because when you're constantly on you know you're constantly like just you're in your fight or flight all the time.
• 21:35
  Wilma MacDonald: We need to get you into rest or digest those kind of finding stuff that works for you, whether it's meditation, movement, walking outside, shaking it off, boxing, whatever, pilates, yoga, something that helps you move, funk basically, and complete that stress response, and we're not looking to ignore it or dismiss it, but we want to make sure that we don't retain it in our guts basically, yeah, do you know, it's interesting.
• 22:02
  Elizabeth Willetts: Well, I think the phones are really.
• 22:04
  Elizabeth Willetts: I personally, I think having your phone is all close to you and it's actually nice to put it in another room it's a real like.
• 22:12
  Wilma MacDonald: I have my own stylus all the time because I find notifications just like trigger and they get me distracted.
• 22:17
  Wilma MacDonald: And then I'm like, oh, half an hour late and like, oh, my, and then that's because that starts getting me stressed out.
• 22:22
  Wilma MacDonald: So it's kind of like, yeah, so even stupid things, little things like that, put in another room while you're working or don't have it in the bedroom just so that you is not interrupting your sleep, or anything like that.
• 22:32
  Wilma MacDonald: So there's, it's just trying to find.
• 22:34
  Wilma MacDonald: I'm not saying go on a silent meditation, retreat and meditate for an hour every day, that's not realistic.
• 22:39
  Wilma MacDonald: But what can you do in the time that you have to support your stress management response, because that again has a systemic effect on gut health, hormones, thyroid, energy, all that kind of stuff yeah, you've been great tips.
• 22:54
  Elizabeth Willetts: It's like the protein, fat and fiber.
• 22:56
  Elizabeth Willetts: I'm just going through it in my head because I'm definitely going to carry on.
• 22:58
  Elizabeth Willetts: Drink more water.
• 22:59
  Elizabeth Willetts: Eat before you caffeinate.
• 23:01
  Elizabeth Willetts: Think about what stress levels are like and how you can reduce stress in your life.
• 23:06
  Elizabeth Willetts: What any tips for somebody that wants to improve their gut health?
• 23:11
  Wilma MacDonald: well, again, you want fiber, but you want to introduce fiber really, really slowly, because what I sometimes find is that, well, hey, we, like you, know we've read that we need to be eating more fiber, so we eat lots of fiber and then we're like, well, why am I bloaty, farty and windy?
• 23:24
  Wilma MacDonald: And it's because you've introduced too soon, so we want.
• 23:26
  Wilma MacDonald: So when you?
• 23:28
  Wilma MacDonald: My theology that I use sometimes is you need to make the logs, and to make the logs you need food, and one of the things that we need to make the logs is fiber.
• 23:38
  Wilma MacDonald: So we want fiber because they feed our gut bacteria and they kind of help kind of move things, help kind of move the poo along and they bulk it out.
• 23:46
  Wilma MacDonald: So we want fiber for that, for the two reasons.
• 23:48
  Wilma MacDonald: But we also need the water to move the logs around because we need the flowing stream.
• 23:53
  Wilma MacDonald: So protein, fat and fiber again is very supportive for gut health.
• 23:57
  Wilma MacDonald: So we want the fiber in there, definitely, but we introduce it really really slowly.
• 24:01
  Wilma MacDonald: So we're looking at beans, pulses, vegetables, that kind of thing, but introducing slowly, because I know some people with gut issues don't tolerate things like beans very well, but that's sometimes because we're eating too many too quickly.
• 24:13
  Wilma MacDonald: So we want to talk like maybe a little tablespoon a day, and then we want the water to help move everything along.
• 24:19
  Wilma MacDonald: So that's my biggest thing is like always like look at your fiber, your fiber intake, when you're looking at gut health, and it's not all brown.
• 24:26
  Wilma MacDonald: This is not your granny's fiber, this is all new.
• 24:28
  Wilma MacDonald: It sounds like marx and spencer when I say this, but this is like.
• 24:31
  Wilma MacDonald: All this is kind of like fiber for 2024 and it's food based.
• 24:34
  Wilma MacDonald: So that's what?
• 24:35
  Wilma MacDonald: Um, one of the big things for gut health is like how much fiber you're getting in your plate.
• 24:41
  Elizabeth Willetts: Interesting I've been reading as well like you can get.
• 24:44
  Elizabeth Willetts: I think you can get yourself analyzed as well, you know.
• 24:46
  Elizabeth Willetts: I don't know if you've seen the Zoe.
• 24:48
  Elizabeth Willetts: Yes, is that something people need to do or do you think there's some just universe?
• 24:54
  Wilma MacDonald: so there's somebody you don't need to do it.
• 24:58
  Wilma MacDonald: I think it depends on.
• 25:00
  Wilma MacDonald: I'm one of these people that kind of does answer quite a lot of questions.
• 25:03
  Wilma MacDonald: It depends, but this is very much again, it's a personalized thing.
• 25:07
  Wilma MacDonald: I think the thing with some kind of apps and things like that not thinking any individual is that they sometimes stop you from tuning into your own innate body wellness because you're focusing on what the app is telling you rather even like I remember, like before I got pregnant, I was tracking my cycles and it said to me you're going to be moody and tired today.
• 25:24
  Wilma MacDonald: Oh, okay, then I'm really untired, so it's okay, and that is.
• 25:28
  Wilma MacDonald: I'm not really really untired, though.
• 25:30
  Wilma MacDonald: So it's kind of like we're giving over our body intelligence to these apps.
• 25:35
  Wilma MacDonald: And I'm not saying they don't have a place, but it's just kind of be mindful as to how we are using them and how we are using the information they give us, because we can, with blood sugar balancing, you can listen, you can see quite quickly in your own body as how your body reacts to certain foods, and you don't necessarily need to have continuous glucose monitoring to tell you that.
• 25:56
  Elizabeth Willetts: Do get you on that, because I remember when I was trying for a baby and it'd be me seeing like the ovulation sticks.
• 26:00
  Elizabeth Willetts: But actually and I know when I'm ovulating because your body tells you.
• 26:05
  Wilma MacDonald: Your body tells you and that's the thing.
• 26:06
  Wilma MacDonald: But, as we like, the education we got around our bodies when we were in school was more about don't you dare get pregnant, rather than what does your body actually need and what, how does it function and what does your hormone cycle look like?
• 26:19
  Wilma MacDonald: And that's a key bit of education I think that was missing for our generation is that what does an actual cycle look like?
• 26:27
  Wilma MacDonald: How do you actually feel?
• 26:29
  Wilma MacDonald: When can you actually get pregnant?
• 26:30
  Wilma MacDonald: When are you ovulating?
• 26:31
  Wilma MacDonald: Did it?
• 26:32
  Wilma MacDonald: All these kind of things has been hugely missing.
• 26:34
  Wilma MacDonald: And then we're kind of moving into the next stage where we kind of look here the periods are winding down, what does that actually that actually feel like and look like for us and you know it's not all hot flashes and bad tempers, so it's just like tuning in and learning what our body is actually doing and how we can help regulate it as much as possible.
• 26:52
  Elizabeth Willetts: Really good advice, wilma, really helpful.
• 26:55
  Elizabeth Willetts: So remind me how you work with people and how you support them on their transformational journey.
• 27:00
  Wilma MacDonald: So at the moment I'm working as Marble Motherhood.
• 27:04
  Wilma MacDonald: I have six month one-to-one program where I work with each person individually, because we're talking a lot about it.
• 27:10
  Wilma MacDonald: Very much depends on personal requirements, so it's very much deep dive into you, your health, what got you to where you are now, where you want to go to, and putting that overall transformation plan in place and breaking it down into small, actionable, accountable steps to get you where you want to be, because it's very much kind of like I don't just like give you a plan and off you go.
• 27:31
  Wilma MacDonald: We want to make sure the plan works for you.
• 27:33
  Wilma MacDonald: We can chop, we can change, and it's all about delivery and accountability and making sure that you get what you want and get to where you want to be and, most importantly, know how to stay there, because I don't want somebody to work for you for six months and then everything goes out the window.
• 27:51
  Wilma MacDonald: I want this to be something that you take away and you can work with it for the next 40 years.
• 27:56
  Elizabeth Willetts: for, however, long, and it's so true.
• 27:57
  Elizabeth Willetts: Isn't what you said about your health really does impact the rest of your life?
• 28:00
  Elizabeth Willetts: You know, I know, that if I feel good and I do better at work, I'm a better parent.
• 28:04
  Elizabeth Willetts: It does have such a ripple effect, doesn't it?
• 28:06
  Wilma MacDonald: it's massive and I like I hear people say your most, your most important thing that you have is time, and I'd be like no, the most important thing you have is your energy, because it doesn't matter if you're all the time in the world.
• 28:19
  Wilma MacDonald: If you're tired, exhausted and grumpy, nobody wants to hang out with you.
• 28:24
  Wilma MacDonald: It doesn't matter how much time you have and it's kind of like you don't.
• 28:27
  Wilma MacDonald: You won't have the focus to do the things you want to do if you're knackered all the time.
• 28:31
  Wilma MacDonald: There's kind of like what are you know and we're so used to.
• 28:34
  Wilma MacDonald: I don't know about you, but sometimes when you ask somebody how are you doing, and they're like on time or I'm okay, you know.
• 28:39
  Wilma MacDonald: It's kind of like sometimes it becomes a default response and I just want to move away from that default response being tired all the time because we have so much life to live that I don't want us to be living a 75% life and, you know, being pissed off, and that could have the time of it absolutely and I'm looking at the lovely face that has your um face.
• 28:59
  Elizabeth Willetts: So you've got New York and Italy and it's that.
• 29:01
  Elizabeth Willetts: Isn't it just enjoying life, basically?
• 29:03
  Wilma MacDonald: yeah, and I mean I have these words.
• 29:05
  Wilma MacDonald: I used to live in New York, so that's why I have that, and I got married in Italy.
• 29:08
  Wilma MacDonald: I'm a big Italy fan.
• 29:09
  Wilma MacDonald: Italy is in my future, in my future somewhere.
• 29:12
  Wilma MacDonald: So, yeah, it's kind of like absolutely.
• 29:14
  Wilma MacDonald: It's kind of like what?
• 29:15
  Wilma MacDonald: What is the actual things that you want to do outside of, like your work and stuff like that.
• 29:20
  Wilma MacDonald: And even I know myself that if I'm grumpy at small human or I kind of get gnarky with him, it's because I'm tired, it's because there's something going on with me.
• 29:28
  Wilma MacDonald: It's generally not him.
• 29:29
  Wilma MacDonald: It's kind of like I don't want to be that grumpy, pissed off parent who is knackered and doesn't have the energy to go hang out in the play park or whatever.
• 29:39
  Wilma MacDonald: It's about what I want to do with that energy.
• 29:41
  Wilma MacDonald: That's one big thing I get people to do is like what really tune into your why?
• 29:45
  Wilma MacDonald: Some people come to me and say I want to lose weight and I'm like, well, why?
• 29:47
  Wilma MacDonald: Or I want you know, I want my energy back.
• 29:50
  Wilma MacDonald: It's like, well, what are you going to do with that excess energy?
• 29:52
  Wilma MacDonald: So it's going to always look into why you are doing something and look into the real why not the surface reason, the real nitty-gritty detail of them and then, yeah, that's a really good motivator yeah, well, that's what's going to keep you going.
• 30:03
  Wilma MacDonald: When you know you haven't had breakfast and you're faced with the double shot skinny laki with two sugars, you're like don't really want that, but you know, it's kind of like you will make better decisions when you think of future you and who you are actually creating, because all your actions today are going to create that future person.
• 30:18
  Wilma MacDonald: And it's like who do you want that future person to be?
• 30:20
  Elizabeth Willetts: yeah.
• 30:21
  Wilma MacDonald: I love that.
• 30:21
  Wilma MacDonald: That's really good advice.
• 30:23
  Elizabeth Willetts: So where can people find you?
• 30:24
  Wilma MacDonald: connect with you so you can collect with me.
• 30:27
  Wilma MacDonald: On LinkedIn it's Wilma Montand, marvel Motherhood.
• 30:30
  Wilma MacDonald: Instagram underscore Marvel Motherhood and my website is marvelmotherhoodco.
• 30:36
  Elizabeth Willetts: Well.
• 30:37
  Elizabeth Willetts: Thank you so much, Wilma, for joining me today.
• 30:39
  Elizabeth Willetts: Thank you very much.
• 30:40
  Elizabeth Willetts: Thank you for listening to another episode of the Work it Like A Mum podcast.
• 30:47
  Elizabeth Willetts: If you enjoyed this episode, please rate, review and subscribe, and don't forget to share the link with a friend.
• 30:54
  Elizabeth Willetts: If you're on LinkedIn, please send me a connection request at Elizabeth Willett and let me know your thoughts on this week's episode.
• 31:01
  Elizabeth Willetts: You can also follow my recruitment site, investing in Women, on LinkedIn, facebook and Instagram.
• 31:06
  Elizabeth Willetts: Until next time, keep on chasing your biggest dreams.