Latest / Limitless Living with Fredricka Davis / 088: What to Eat When Pain and Inflammation Are High and You’re Too Tired to Cook.

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088: What to Eat When Pain and Inflammation Are High and You’re Too Tired to Cook. · Limitless Living with Fredricka Davis

0:32
SPEAKER_00: There is a particular kind of frustration, we'll call it, that happens when you don't feel good, when you are just not feeling well or like yourself.
0:43
SPEAKER_00: And you know, of course, that you need to eat something decent.
0:47
SPEAKER_00: You should eat something decent.
0:49
SPEAKER_00: You know, you probably need to have more than just coffee or whatever you could grab out of the cupboard or on the go.
0:56
SPEAKER_00: But you're tired.
0:57
SPEAKER_00: You're just tired.
0:58
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're hurting and in pain, or your brain's just fogging, you can't think straight.
1:03
SPEAKER_00: And the thought of figuring out dinner, going to the store, chopping everything, cooking things, all the cleanup afterward and everything just makes you honestly want to sit down, turn Netflix on, grab a book, or whatever.
1:18
SPEAKER_00: Then you go online looking for something that might help, and suddenly you find yourself with another job.
1:23
SPEAKER_00: One person's telling you to stop eating gluten, another one says stop eating dairy.
1:28
SPEAKER_00: Someone says tomatoes are the problem.
1:30
SPEAKER_00: Another person says, okay, take this particular supplement or do a detox or an entire new way of eating.
1:36
SPEAKER_00: And now, on top of not feeling well, you're wondering whether everything in your refrigerator is wrong and you're wondering where to start.
1:43
SPEAKER_00: And it's a bit overwhelming.
1:45
SPEAKER_00: So if you've ever stood in your kitchen feeling that way, this episode is for you.
1:50
SPEAKER_00: Because what do you actually eat when pain and inflammation are high and you don't have the energy to turn feeding yourself into a project?
1:58
SPEAKER_00: On that note, welcome back to the Limitless Living Podcast.
2:01
SPEAKER_00: I'm Frederica Davis, and this is Wellness Reset Thursday.
2:04
SPEAKER_00: This is where we talk about practical ways to support your well-being and your body and your health in the life that you actually are living.
2:12
SPEAKER_00: So today I want to let you into my kitchen a little bit.
2:17
SPEAKER_00: And I'm going to talk about what I reach for, what I cut back on, and how I make feeding myself a whole lot easier when I am not feeling my best.
2:28
SPEAKER_00: And if you've been listening to the show for a while, you know I live with autoimmune conditions, one of which is psoriatic arthritis.
2:36
SPEAKER_00: And I know what it feels like to wake up and realize that the day you planned and the body you woke up in are having two very different experiences and conversations.
2:49
SPEAKER_00: I know what it's like to feel like you want to do better and you want to do something great for your body.
2:54
SPEAKER_00: You want to be able to do it quick and easy.
2:56
SPEAKER_00: I also know what it feels like to want to do something helpful for yourself without having to do a deep dive research on 47 ingredients.
3:03
SPEAKER_00: I promise you, this show is not going to be a list of miracle foods.
3:06
SPEAKER_00: I'm not going to tell you that something that works for me must work for you, because that's not always the case.
3:14
SPEAKER_00: It's simply not.
3:16
SPEAKER_00: But I will tell you beyond a shadow of a doubt, food matters.
3:20
SPEAKER_00: It gives our bodies the materials that we need to function.
3:25
SPEAKER_00: And when you are already dealing with something like pain or fatigue or brain fog, you really want to give your body something it can use to help itself improve, something it can work with.
3:41
SPEAKER_00: And when I'm in that position, when things are uncomfortable in me or I'm having a flare for some reason, because literally I can have a flare in my body simply because the weather and the barometer changed.
3:52
SPEAKER_00: I can have a flare because I got sick and a virus entered my body and it's really pushing everything hard.
3:58
SPEAKER_00: There can be lots of things that can trigger symptoms or conditions or diagnoses that are outside of our control.
4:05
SPEAKER_00: That said, food is inside of our control.
4:09
SPEAKER_00: And without a shadow of a doubt, it has a power to influence whatever is going on in our body and even potentially help it heal or feel at least better.
4:19
SPEAKER_00: Now, when I'm flaring or when I'm in pain or uncomfortable, I know I want to make things as easy on myself as possible.
4:26
SPEAKER_00: And I'm betting you do too.
4:27
SPEAKER_00: So I'm gonna walk you through five things that I really pay attention to.
4:32
SPEAKER_00: And you can borrow what fits, leave what doesn't, and choose something you can actually use this week.
4:37
SPEAKER_00: I go a lot deeper into things like this in my whole woman reset program, but this is a great place to start.
4:44
SPEAKER_00: So first, when I say a meal helps me feel better, what I mean by that could be that it just makes me feel more comfortably satisfied, or that I have steadier energy, or that my digestion improves.
4:59
SPEAKER_00: Or for me, because I do get the psoriasis on my skin, sometimes my skin will show what I have eaten as well.
5:07
SPEAKER_00: Or I'm not spending my afternoon looking for something else to eat because I've eaten what my body needed.
5:13
SPEAKER_00: Maybe the right meal for me will mean that I have tons of mental energy and clarity for the rest of the day.
5:20
SPEAKER_00: These are all really incredibly powerful improvements you can make with just food.
5:26
SPEAKER_00: So they're also useful observations.
5:30
SPEAKER_00: And I personally will notice a difference in how much discomfort I'm experiencing.
5:36
SPEAKER_00: Regardless of whether that's digestive discomfort, joint pain, um, energy, brain fog, fatigue, sleeping issues, all sorts of areas.
5:47
SPEAKER_00: I can tell you firsthand, food influences, and you can likely improve those things for yourself as well.
5:56
SPEAKER_00: You can have a sluggish afternoon for many reasons.
6:00
SPEAKER_00: I can have a painful day for more than one reason, too.
6:05
SPEAKER_00: Food is only one part of this picture.
6:07
SPEAKER_00: Of course, sleep, stress, movement, uh, whatever the underlying condition is that you have, whatever you have going on, and the medical care that you are or are not choosing to do, they are all part of all of it.
6:21
SPEAKER_00: I don't want to ignore any of those pieces.
6:23
SPEAKER_00: And I don't want to make the food piece the only piece, but it is a very substantial piece, I will say.
6:30
SPEAKER_00: So here's where I would start.
6:31
SPEAKER_00: The first thing I do is I make sure I'm eating an actual meal with a meaningful source of protein.
6:39
SPEAKER_00: When I'm really busy or I'm tired, it's very easy to end up eating around a meal.
6:46
SPEAKER_00: A bite here, a little something there, a taste of this, a handful of this, a little more coffee, or maybe something sweet because I need to get through the next thing.
6:55
SPEAKER_00: That's what I used to do.
6:57
SPEAKER_00: And that happens.
6:59
SPEAKER_00: I know so many of you are experiencing that right now.
7:02
SPEAKER_00: But then suddenly, if that's what you're doing, you notice in the late afternoon that, yeah, you technically had things to eat, maybe some of them were healthy, but you have not actually fed yourself well.
7:16
SPEAKER_00: Can you relate to that?
7:18
SPEAKER_00: I've been there.
7:19
SPEAKER_00: I know how it is.
7:20
SPEAKER_00: When you get busy and you grab and you go, you're not necessarily sitting there thinking, okay, I'm going to skip lunch today, but you just keep doing things.
7:29
SPEAKER_00: And then before you know it, lunch never quite happens, or you're eating it while you're working and you're never giving your system a chance to quiet down, fully digest it properly.
7:38
SPEAKER_00: When I'm already run down, that is something I pay attention to.
7:43
SPEAKER_00: So for me, having a real source of protein in the meal makes a difference in how satisfied I feel, how much energy I have, how much clarity of thought I have, how much or how little brain fog is gonna creep in.
7:57
SPEAKER_00: Now, for me in the morning, it's going to be eggs.
8:00
SPEAKER_00: Okay, I'm not giving you any news here.
8:03
SPEAKER_00: Eggs go well in the morning, although they can go well at any time of the day, in my opinion, but I am on the go certain mornings of the week.
8:10
SPEAKER_00: There are certain mornings of the week I know I'm gonna be in a hurry.
8:13
SPEAKER_00: I'm not gonna have time to make breakfast and have a meal.
8:15
SPEAKER_00: So I have hard-boiled eggs ready and waiting.
8:19
SPEAKER_00: I add additional collagen to my coffee.
8:21
SPEAKER_00: So I'm getting complete protein in the eggs, and then I'm getting additional collagen for joints and additional levels of protein, though it's not a complete protein.
8:31
SPEAKER_00: And that's my grab and go scenario that I have always available to me.
8:38
SPEAKER_00: So there is no temptation.
8:40
SPEAKER_00: Pickled eggs, hard-boiled eggs, make your eggs, omelet eggs, on and on and on.
8:45
SPEAKER_00: And that doesn't have to be your source of protein.
8:48
SPEAKER_00: It could be a protein shake, it could be many different things, but starting the day that way, I really pay attention to that.
8:55
SPEAKER_00: And it might be another protein for you, whatever it is that works and fits into whatever you're making or the time slot that you have.
9:02
SPEAKER_00: But that's how I approach it for me.
9:05
SPEAKER_00: And it does not have to be elaborate.
9:07
SPEAKER_00: What I'm giving you here today are things that are not elaborate.
9:09
SPEAKER_00: So for those of you who are foodies and you want every meal to be different all day long, this is only one approach.
9:15
SPEAKER_00: You certainly can do that if you have a lot more time.
9:18
SPEAKER_00: So eggs with vegetables can be a meal.
9:21
SPEAKER_00: And that I will tell you when I start my day out with just eggs or just protein or just eggs and veggies or an omelet or whatever.
9:26
SPEAKER_00: Now, this is me.
9:28
SPEAKER_00: I skip the carbohydrates in the morning, other than the organic soy or almond milk that I put into my coffee.
9:34
SPEAKER_00: When I do that, I notice.
9:36
SPEAKER_00: So experiment with this.
9:38
SPEAKER_00: I notice that I have a little bit more bounce in my step.
9:42
SPEAKER_00: I don't get the brain fog.
9:44
SPEAKER_00: My energy stays consistent all day long because I'm likely cooking those eggs with a little bit of fat.
9:50
SPEAKER_00: Eggs also have a little bit of fat in the yolk, and that keeps you satiated, keeps you energized.
9:55
SPEAKER_00: It's good for your cells and so on.
9:56
SPEAKER_00: There's a whole host of reason.
9:58
SPEAKER_00: Now, I'm not trying to sell you on eggs.
10:00
SPEAKER_00: The whole point here is protein and thinking simple.
10:04
SPEAKER_00: And if your breakfast is mostly just coffee right now, and something you just grabbed, then it's a good chance that it's not lasting you.
10:15
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're having highs and lows.
10:16
SPEAKER_00: That's why your energy might be dipping.
10:18
SPEAKER_00: It could also be why you are experiencing more brain fog and so on.
10:22
SPEAKER_00: So lunch.
10:23
SPEAKER_00: If your lunch is a few crackers while you're answering emails or a yogurt that's pre-sweetened or something like that, perhaps the helpful change here is going to be making sure that your lunch is an actual lunch.
10:38
SPEAKER_00: So sometimes I'll go back to my eggs.
10:40
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes if I make an omelet, I'll make a gigantic omelet so that I can take half for this morning's breakfast and half for tomorrow.
10:46
SPEAKER_00: So I'm not cooking twice, or so I can take the other half for lunch, whatever works for you.
10:51
SPEAKER_00: Because when you're tired, when you're in pain, when you have a lot of brain fog and you're just not feeling well, you don't have the energy to cook every meal.
10:59
SPEAKER_00: So if you can teach yourself to be okay with having some go-to items on your list, having some things that you can cook and share for another day lightens that load for you.
11:13
SPEAKER_00: We often get so focused on avoiding the wrong foods and labeling things good or bad that we kind of forget to give ourselves enough of the good foods and what's useful to us.
11:25
SPEAKER_00: So that's my first habit.
11:26
SPEAKER_00: I build a meal around a protein source instead of hoping that grazing will sometimes carry me through the day.
11:33
SPEAKER_00: The second thing I do is I make room for vegetables and other whole plant foods that work for me.
11:40
SPEAKER_00: Now, I want you to hear those last few words that I said that work for me.
11:48
SPEAKER_00: Because seriously, there's no prize for forcing yourself to eat foods that consistently make you uncomfortable simply because somebody called them superfoods.
11:55
SPEAKER_00: I believe that anybody can learn to drink a green drink.
11:58
SPEAKER_00: I believe anybody can learn to like vegetables if you choose to.
12:02
SPEAKER_00: However, if somebody says, hey, this is a superfood and you eat it and it makes you feel uncomfortable another way, just because it is doesn't mean you should eat it.
12:11
SPEAKER_00: I'll give you, for example, um mushrooms, all these different mushroom coffee blends and things.
12:16
SPEAKER_00: I would love to be able to do that.
12:19
SPEAKER_00: However, my autoimmune condition does not respond well to adaptogens.
12:24
SPEAKER_00: And that's what mushrooms are.
12:25
SPEAKER_00: So I noticed that even though they are a superfood, wonderful for some people, they are not for me.
12:30
SPEAKER_00: So this is what I'm talking about: vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, beans, if you can tolerate them.
12:36
SPEAKER_00: Different foods offer different kinds of nourishment for everybody.
12:40
SPEAKER_00: And while certain foods can be great for one person, they're not always going to be good for the other.
12:44
SPEAKER_00: Like beans, I don't eat beans, I don't digest them very well, and then I get tired and I get uncomfortable.
12:49
SPEAKER_00: So that's not the best whole food for me.
12:52
SPEAKER_00: So I replace that.
12:53
SPEAKER_00: Same thing with a lot of nuts.
12:55
SPEAKER_00: I can have a little bit, but not a lot.
12:57
SPEAKER_00: So what is your body telling you?
12:58
SPEAKER_00: You want to be thinking about bringing in fiber and vitamins and minerals.
13:02
SPEAKER_00: I want you to be thinking about the brightest, most wonderful, big, bold, beautiful, vivid colors because they're going to have lots of nutrition in them.
13:12
SPEAKER_00: It's a great way to do this.
13:14
SPEAKER_00: And fiber.
13:15
SPEAKER_00: So when I'm not feeling well or I'm just simply busy, I need to make it as easy as possible.
13:21
SPEAKER_00: That means buying pre-washed vegetables.
13:24
SPEAKER_00: That means buying frozen vegetables.
13:26
SPEAKER_00: So think pre-washed vegetables.
13:29
SPEAKER_00: If that's what you need to buy to make sure it's easy enough for you to do it, do it.
13:33
SPEAKER_00: It's worth extra 25 cents.
13:36
SPEAKER_00: I know it might seem like your grocery bill goes up, but your health is going to go up.
13:40
SPEAKER_00: It's going to improve.
13:41
SPEAKER_00: Frozen vegetables, they absolutely count.
13:44
SPEAKER_00: In fact, sometimes they actually have a little bit more nutrition because they are frozen immediately after they're picked.
13:49
SPEAKER_00: The point here is to get the things you can put into a pan or into a bowl without a lot of preparation, because it's going to make it easier on you in the moments where you just don't have the time or you really just don't have the energy and don't feel like it.
14:03
SPEAKER_00: If the choice is going to be between using the convenient version and never getting around to making the meal, go for the convenient version.
14:12
SPEAKER_00: You're still feeding yourself and you're going to be feeding yourself whole foods if you do it this way.
14:17
SPEAKER_00: So I have occasionally bought the pre-chopped onions.
14:21
SPEAKER_00: I purchase the pre-washed organic foods, always organic wherever possible, but I buy the pre-washed, pre-chopped, ready-to-go foods.
14:32
SPEAKER_00: And I don't mind spending a couple extra pennies for that because it means I'm taking better care of myself instead of it going to waste.
14:40
SPEAKER_00: Think about all the food you buy and you think you're going to prepare.
14:43
SPEAKER_00: And then at the end of the week, you have to throw it out.
14:46
SPEAKER_00: So does it really cost us more?
14:48
SPEAKER_00: Probably not.
14:49
SPEAKER_00: Comes with this whole new set of moral requirements and this, you know, whatever.
14:52
SPEAKER_00: And it really doesn't.
14:53
SPEAKER_00: It can be very simple.
14:54
SPEAKER_00: And if you can grow your own, fabulous.
14:56
SPEAKER_00: But most of us don't.
14:58
SPEAKER_00: Most of us can't.
14:59
SPEAKER_00: I think sometimes we make healthy eating feel like it should be this whole giant production or even feel like it comes with a whole set of moral requirements.
15:07
SPEAKER_00: Like you should have grown it, you should have bought it at a particular place.
15:11
SPEAKER_00: You should have bought local, you should have chopped everything yourself, you should have made the entire meal from scratch.
15:17
SPEAKER_00: Okay, let's get real.
15:18
SPEAKER_00: First of all, if you have a busy schedule, this is not usually realistic.
15:22
SPEAKER_00: Second of all, if you're dealing with pain, fatigue, and a full workday or all three, that can make the whole thing feel like it's completely out of reach.
15:31
SPEAKER_00: And then you're grabbing things that don't help you and you're getting worse.
15:34
SPEAKER_00: This does not have to be complicated.
15:37
SPEAKER_00: I will absolutely again tell you I use the pre-washed spinach.
15:41
SPEAKER_00: I buy things that are chopped up sometimes, ready to go.
15:46
SPEAKER_00: I'm looking for nourishment and I'm looking for how easy is it going to be for me to follow through.
15:53
SPEAKER_00: Nourishment that I can access.
15:56
SPEAKER_00: Also look for variety, a little bit of variety over time.
16:00
SPEAKER_00: I tell you both to have your favorite go-to, grab and go easy peasy things, but also try to have a bit of a variety in them.
16:10
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to fit every color of the rainbow into one lunch.
16:14
SPEAKER_00: And if you've been eating the same two things just because you're exhausted or you've just gotten into this rut, maybe you can start adding one more vegetable somewhere into the mix, maybe a different colored vegetable.
16:25
SPEAKER_00: Or maybe you keep some frozen options that are easy and ready to go.
16:30
SPEAKER_00: I just made a whole bag of French green beans so that I would have them for the next several days.
16:36
SPEAKER_00: I had some for dinner last night.
16:38
SPEAKER_00: Today I made asparagus at breakfast, but I made extra.
16:41
SPEAKER_00: So now I've got a couple of varieties going on.
16:44
SPEAKER_00: It's just to give you an example.
16:46
SPEAKER_00: Maybe put some fruit on the counter where you're gonna actually see it so that you can grab it.
16:52
SPEAKER_00: Maybe pick two varieties and go for different colors instead of just one.
16:55
SPEAKER_00: This is just a simple way of getting more nutrition in your body and serving your body.
17:00
SPEAKER_00: And I want to talk about avocado as I'm talking about Whole Foods here because I think avocado deserves its own conversation.
17:05
SPEAKER_00: It's that good for you.
17:06
SPEAKER_00: An avocado can be an incredibly useful addition to your diet if you can find a way to enjoy it.
17:11
SPEAKER_00: I know some of you don't like it.
17:12
SPEAKER_00: I like it right out of the avocado.
17:14
SPEAKER_00: I put a little bit of Jane's crazy mix-up salt right on it.
17:17
SPEAKER_00: I slice it, I dice it, I put it into the salads.
17:19
SPEAKER_00: I even use it as a base for a healthy homemade frozen dessert kind of ice creamy thing in the Vitamix mixer.
17:28
SPEAKER_00: Avocados give you healthy fat, which your skin, your organs, your everything, your brain needs, and it gives you a big bang of fiber all at the same time.
17:38
SPEAKER_00: So it keeps you satiated and it can help Neil feel a lot more satisfying.
17:43
SPEAKER_00: So I will often combine a protein with an avocado or a salad with avocado in it with my protein.
17:51
SPEAKER_00: And I highly recommend learning to love avocados.
17:55
SPEAKER_00: They're just so good for you and have been shown to positively influence things like inflammation.
18:01
SPEAKER_00: Now, again, you don't need all of these things all at once.
18:03
SPEAKER_00: I'm just giving you some ideas and some options.
18:05
SPEAKER_00: Now, when I'm not feeling well, I want to open the refrigerator and I want to see some things I can eat right away or I can use right away.
18:15
SPEAKER_00: I don't want to see things that are going to require a lot of effort.
18:19
SPEAKER_00: Can you relate to that?
18:21
SPEAKER_00: One of the things I did getting multiple different colors in and nutrients in is I made a big stock pot of homemade beef vegetable soup.
18:30
SPEAKER_00: It did not take that long.
18:31
SPEAKER_00: I bought the frozen organic vegetables, you know, and it had the carrot, the corn, the green beans in it.
18:37
SPEAKER_00: So you got three colors right there: some protein, a combination of beef, bone broth, beef stock, a bunch of seasonings that are so good for us, and a soup bone.
18:47
SPEAKER_00: So a little bit of protein, lots of nutrients, satisfying as the weather changes.
18:52
SPEAKER_00: Think about things like that.
18:54
SPEAKER_00: Now, the third thing that I pay attention to is my hydration level.
18:58
SPEAKER_00: And maybe I should have started with this one because one of the things I do before I even hit that protein breakfast is I make sure that I have hydrated before my breakfast.
19:11
SPEAKER_00: The moment I wake up, one of the things I teach is what I call front loading your water intake.
19:16
SPEAKER_00: Why is this important for inflammation?
19:18
SPEAKER_00: Being dehydrated can contribute to inflammation and it can contribute to pain.
19:23
SPEAKER_00: It will potentially put your body in a situation where it wants to retain fluids because it's not getting enough.
19:30
SPEAKER_00: So you don't have the right hydration levels in your body, and then inflammation goes up and we can get headaches from it, and it can increase the pain, brain fog, all sorts of things.
19:41
SPEAKER_00: So hydration is really important.
19:43
SPEAKER_00: But for those of you who have a hard time getting enough of your water in, and I do say, in a general guideline, half your body weight in ounces of water a day.
19:50
SPEAKER_00: So it's a little customized to you.
19:52
SPEAKER_00: Of course, all these things can vary based on medications you take and different medical conditions.
19:57
SPEAKER_00: But generally speaking, so for a lot of us, that's a lot of water.
20:02
SPEAKER_00: What I suggest, this is what I do, is I front load the water.
20:06
SPEAKER_00: If I start drinking water after I've had coffee and breakfast, I will likely not get enough water in a day.
20:11
SPEAKER_00: So I take every night up to bed with me a large glass of water, 20 to 30 ounces.
20:16
SPEAKER_00: I don't drink it before bed, of course.
20:18
SPEAKER_00: If I happen to wake up in the middle of the night, I'll take a swig after I go to the bathroom and go back to bed.
20:23
SPEAKER_00: But in the morning, the moment I wake up, I start drinking this.
20:26
SPEAKER_00: And it's gone before I have my coffee.
20:30
SPEAKER_00: Now, typically what that looks like for me is I have 20 ounces in me from the glass I took upstairs.
20:36
SPEAKER_00: I come downstairs and then I do something else.
20:39
SPEAKER_00: I boil my water and I do a half a cup of warm lemon water before my coffee.
20:45
SPEAKER_00: I sip that while I'm making my coffee or my breakfast.
20:49
SPEAKER_00: This is what I do most mornings because the act of doing that calms my nervous system, which indirectly helps with pain, inflammation, and all the other things, the brain fog, everything.
21:02
SPEAKER_00: The more a nervous system is in fight or flight, the worse everything else feels.
21:07
SPEAKER_00: So that calms it.
21:09
SPEAKER_00: I will sip that.
21:10
SPEAKER_00: It also stimulates my digestive process, which also things are linked to the gut.
21:16
SPEAKER_00: When your gut is out of whack, we often feel worse.
21:20
SPEAKER_00: And that can again show up in brain fog and pain and headaches and all sorts of different things.
21:25
SPEAKER_00: So again, I've hydrated.
21:27
SPEAKER_00: Now by now, I've had 20 ounces of water before I even came to the kitchen.
21:32
SPEAKER_00: Then I'm sipping and I'm having my 10 ounces while I'm making the rest.
21:35
SPEAKER_00: Then I have my breakfast.
21:36
SPEAKER_00: I have a massive head start into my hydration for the day.
21:40
SPEAKER_00: This is a particularly good habit if you are in any of the professions that are medically related or even teaching, where you have a hard time drinking the water throughout the day and works very well for that.
21:53
SPEAKER_00: Now, the other thing I'm going to say about hydration is that I also pay attention to my electrolyte balance.
21:59
SPEAKER_00: And I will tell you why.
22:00
SPEAKER_00: When I am retaining fluids or I am low on certain electrolytes, pain is worse for me.
22:10
SPEAKER_00: Swelling can sometimes appear, the pain can go up, the inflammation can go up, the brain fog can go up, all those different things.
22:19
SPEAKER_00: So if you are not perspiring all day long and you're getting enough minerals and sodium and things like that in your diet, and you actually know that, then you might not need them.
22:30
SPEAKER_00: But for a lot of us, if you exercise, At all.
22:33
SPEAKER_00: I don't exercise hard, but I do exercise and walk and often crack a sweat, so to speak.
22:40
SPEAKER_00: My mother would have said, no, ladies don't sweat.
22:43
SPEAKER_00: They only perspire.
22:44
SPEAKER_00: Every time I say sweat, that comes into my head.
22:46
SPEAKER_00: I digress.
22:48
SPEAKER_00: But here's the thing: if you feel like you are having an issue with hydration, you may be getting, and I've actually seen this too, where women are getting too much hydration and they're flushing their electrolytes out.
23:00
SPEAKER_00: You may need either more water or electrolytes or both.
23:05
SPEAKER_00: So really thinking about this can make a huge difference in how you feel throughout the day.
23:11
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so the fourth thing that I pay attention to is how satisfying is the meal actually to me.
23:18
SPEAKER_00: And you might not have thought I would say that is one of my most important things, but this is where I look at the whole meal, including the fats that are in the meal.
23:26
SPEAKER_00: I've spent enough years around dieting and hours in nutrition classes to know exactly how easy we all can get caught up in making a meal as small, as light, and as low fat as possible.
23:37
SPEAKER_00: And then all of a sudden, an hour later, we wonder why we're hungry again and we're looking for something else.
23:43
SPEAKER_00: So for me, I want a meal that is actually going to feel like it's done its job.
23:49
SPEAKER_00: That means, number one, it's enough food.
23:53
SPEAKER_00: That means protein, and it means something that brings fiber and nutrients into the meal and then some fat too.
24:01
SPEAKER_00: Maybe not every meal, but enough throughout the day at my meals.
24:05
SPEAKER_00: Now, this could be olive oil that is with my vegetables or in my salad.
24:12
SPEAKER_00: It could mean avocado, as I mentioned, or nuts with whatever I'm eating.
24:16
SPEAKER_00: And another option is fish, which brings in healthy fats, if it's say a salmon or something like that, a fatty fish along with protein at the same time.
24:25
SPEAKER_00: And that brings in omega-3 fats into the meal.
24:29
SPEAKER_00: Now, there's a lot of research looking at omega-3s and how they benefit inflammatory conditions.
24:36
SPEAKER_00: It does not mean necessarily that omega-3s and fish oils are going to be your cure.
24:42
SPEAKER_00: However, I think it warrants looking at that as part of what you think about when it comes to your nutrition.
24:47
SPEAKER_00: I actually take those in a supplement as well because I don't eat fish every single day.
24:51
SPEAKER_00: And I want a higher level of those in my diet every day.
24:55
SPEAKER_00: So as I'm talking about all this, please don't get overwhelmed.
24:57
SPEAKER_00: I'm not sitting there looking at every single meal with this long checklist or anything like that.
25:01
SPEAKER_00: I'm just kind of doing a mental check-in, like, what's in this meal?
25:05
SPEAKER_00: Is there enough nutrition?
25:07
SPEAKER_00: What might be missing?
25:08
SPEAKER_00: What do I need to add in?
25:10
SPEAKER_00: What will this do for me?
25:11
SPEAKER_00: Or what will this not do for me?
25:14
SPEAKER_00: And how am I going to feel afterwards?
25:16
SPEAKER_00: That's really what I'm thinking.
25:18
SPEAKER_00: So I want to feel comfortably satisfied.
25:21
SPEAKER_00: And that's different from full.
25:23
SPEAKER_00: I don't want to be really full at the end and feel like I need to go take a lie down.
25:28
SPEAKER_00: If a meal you're eating consistently leaves you uncomfortable, it warrants your attention desperately.
25:36
SPEAKER_00: It might be the amount of what you're eating, it could be the ingredient, something that's in it.
25:42
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you have sensitivity to it, might be the way it was prepared.
25:45
SPEAKER_00: And there might be a bona fide digestive issue you need to have looked at.
25:48
SPEAKER_00: Don't force a particular way of eating just because I told you to or it looks fashionable.
25:52
SPEAKER_00: Now, what do you do if you feel hungry afterwards?
25:54
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it just really means that the meal wasn't enough.
25:58
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it wasn't enough quantity, or maybe it wasn't enough of the right balance of nutrients to satisfy you.
26:05
SPEAKER_00: That is really useful information for you.
26:07
SPEAKER_00: So when I'm feeding myself on one of these difficult days where I'm just not feeling well, I'm asking myself, okay, is this something that's going to make me feel better?
26:19
SPEAKER_00: Am I going to feel satisfied enough with it?
26:21
SPEAKER_00: Or is it going to put me back in the kitchen an hour later looking for something else?
26:25
SPEAKER_00: Now, the fifth thing is what I cut back on.
26:29
SPEAKER_00: And this is where I want to be really honest.
26:31
SPEAKER_00: I never say that you can never have this ever again in your life because it's just not realistic.
26:37
SPEAKER_00: But I've noticed that when I'm relying more heavily on fried foods, restaurant foods, sweets, carbohydrates, or just the kinds of snack foods that are out there that are easy to keep picking up, or stopping at a convenience store on the way to or from something.
26:59
SPEAKER_00: All of that makes me not feel as well.
27:02
SPEAKER_00: And it's probably affecting you the same way.
27:05
SPEAKER_00: This is my experience.
27:07
SPEAKER_00: If I had to bet, it's probably yours.
27:09
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't mean that one cookie will ruin your health.
27:13
SPEAKER_00: And it doesn't mean you can never have a piece of birthday cake again, or that every pre-packaged food is a problem.
27:19
SPEAKER_00: It does not mean you need to become afraid of eating outside your home and not living.
27:26
SPEAKER_00: So that's not what I'm talking about here.
27:27
SPEAKER_00: This should be simple and livable.
27:29
SPEAKER_00: My approach to everything has to be that life is still enjoyable and it's livable and it's making a positive difference.
27:36
SPEAKER_00: That said, when I'm having a flare, I do look to see what has become my default.
27:41
SPEAKER_00: It's easy to fall off the wagon, it's easy to get lazy, it's easy to grab something for convenience and all of a sudden find that it made you crave more and you keep doing it.
27:49
SPEAKER_00: There is a difference between enjoying something occasionally, though, and realizing that because you're exhausted, you've been piecing together most of your meals from whatever is easiest to grab.
28:01
SPEAKER_00: Now, I understand this happens, it happens to the best of us.
28:05
SPEAKER_00: When you have less energy, convenience becomes more important.
28:09
SPEAKER_00: And so often the most immediately available option, it's not the one that leaves you feeling good.
28:14
SPEAKER_00: It just simply does not leave you feeling the best.
28:17
SPEAKER_00: So rather than making a long list of foods that I'm never allowed to eat again, I would never tell you that.
28:23
SPEAKER_00: What I do, also what I teach, is to look at the meals that you repeatedly sit down with.
28:31
SPEAKER_00: How do they serve you?
28:34
SPEAKER_00: Are you repeatedly sitting down with heavily fried meals?
28:38
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're going too long without eating, and then you're having a whole lot of sweets later in the day.
28:44
SPEAKER_00: Or maybe you're just having a whole lot of too much of whatever later in the day.
28:48
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're grabbing something that makes you feel like it gave you a little lift, like a soda or a candy, or a cup of coffee, but then it leaves you feeling more tired after you come back down from that.
29:01
SPEAKER_00: Pay attention to all these things.
29:02
SPEAKER_00: These are the things I pay attention to.
29:04
SPEAKER_00: I also try not to confuse processed with automatically unhealthy.
29:09
SPEAKER_00: Frozen vegetables have technically been processed.
29:12
SPEAKER_00: Plain yogurt has technically been processed.
29:16
SPEAKER_00: A bag of pre-washed spinach has been handled and packaged.
29:20
SPEAKER_00: Those things can make feeding yourself much easier.
29:24
SPEAKER_00: You just have to know which ones you're choosing.
29:26
SPEAKER_00: So I'm not going to tell you that anything in a package is something you should avoid.
29:30
SPEAKER_00: I mean, if you can, that's great.
29:31
SPEAKER_00: But for most of us, not realistic.
29:34
SPEAKER_00: I'm looking, though, when I don't feel well at what the food offers, start thinking, what does this food offer me?
29:43
SPEAKER_00: How much of it am I having?
29:45
SPEAKER_00: And how often is it taking the place of a more nourishing meal?
29:51
SPEAKER_00: That is much more useful than standing in the grocery store feeling guilty about every convenient thing that's in your car.
29:57
SPEAKER_00: And if you notice a particular food that repeatedly seems to bring on symptoms, take that really seriously, seriously enough that you explore it.
30:05
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you eliminate it for a while and bring it back in to see exactly if there is a direct correlation.
30:12
SPEAKER_00: You can write down what you ate and what you noticed.
30:15
SPEAKER_00: You can do it in an app.
30:16
SPEAKER_00: I use the My FitnessPal app when I am recording and doing a double check on things.
30:21
SPEAKER_00: You can discuss it with a coach.
30:23
SPEAKER_00: You can reach out, ask me for help if you need to.
30:26
SPEAKER_00: But I am not suggesting you remove five entire food groups because somebody online, even me, said that they were inflammatory.
30:35
SPEAKER_00: Especially if you're already struggling to eat enough or struggling to find meals that you tolerate.
30:39
SPEAKER_00: The goal here is to make your choices more supportive and your life more workable.
30:46
SPEAKER_00: So I want to give you a bonus here.
30:49
SPEAKER_00: And I know I said five things, but we're going to go with six.
30:52
SPEAKER_00: The sixth thing that I do, this one actually might be one of the most practical things that I do.
30:58
SPEAKER_00: I make food a lot easier to access before I need it.
31:03
SPEAKER_00: Because knowing what you want to eat and having the energy to make it, oh, two totally different things.
31:09
SPEAKER_00: And I can know exactly what would make a I can know exactly what would make a good breakfast, lunch, or dinner, but if it's two o'clock, I'm hungry, I'm hurting, and every ingredient is still, and every ingredient still needs to be washed, chopped, cooked, or assembled, it's more than likely that I'm not going to do it.
31:26
SPEAKER_00: And I'm going to choose something else to eat.
31:28
SPEAKER_00: So I try to remove some of those steps.
31:31
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes I have my groceries delivered.
31:34
SPEAKER_00: And before you say I would never have that done, I used to say that.
31:45
SPEAKER_00: I don't get to the store and think, oh, geez, I would like this, I would like that.
31:49
SPEAKER_00: And my eyeballs get bigger than my stomach.
31:51
SPEAKER_00: And it saves me time.
31:53
SPEAKER_00: And I have given myself time back in my schedule, all things that are really good reasons to give grocery delivery a try.
32:02
SPEAKER_00: And often I buy already prepared or partly prepared things, such as grilled chicken strips that I can toss in if I haven't had time to make some meat.
32:16
SPEAKER_00: I keep packages of those actually in my freezer for those weeks or days where I ran out of whatever I made or I just didn't have the energy to make it, but it's already there.
32:24
SPEAKER_00: Is it quite as healthy as if I made it at home?
32:26
SPEAKER_00: No, but it's pretty close.
32:28
SPEAKER_00: So it's a shortcut.
32:29
SPEAKER_00: And when I cook, as I mentioned earlier, I often make more than one meal.
32:35
SPEAKER_00: In fact, very often, I will make one, two, three, four meals.
32:40
SPEAKER_00: I don't always want to spend my time in the kitchen cooking anymore.
32:44
SPEAKER_00: My daughter's in college.
32:45
SPEAKER_00: I'm busy.
32:46
SPEAKER_00: I have a lot of things on my list.
32:47
SPEAKER_00: And I actually love to cook.
32:49
SPEAKER_00: I'll be honest, I actually love to cook sometimes.
32:51
SPEAKER_00: And I'm a good cook.
32:52
SPEAKER_00: People tell me I'm a good cook.
32:54
SPEAKER_00: However, it's not what I want to do, spend my days and nights doing anymore.
32:57
SPEAKER_00: I simply don't.
32:58
SPEAKER_00: These days, I want food that tastes really good.
33:02
SPEAKER_00: I want it to support me and help me on my path of wellness.
33:06
SPEAKER_00: And I do not want it to take over my time.
33:09
SPEAKER_00: And I know I'm not in that alone because so many of you might be thinking might be thinking the same thing too, but maybe haven't admitted or haven't figured out how to do it better.
33:19
SPEAKER_00: You can actually be somebody who values your health and still does not want to cook every day.
33:25
SPEAKER_00: I get it.
33:26
SPEAKER_00: There's a lot of hidden things though in restaurant foods and a bigger budget.
33:29
SPEAKER_00: So if you can find workarounds, which is what I'm hoping some of these help you with, it's going to make a world of difference.
33:35
SPEAKER_00: You can be somebody who values your health and still not want to cook every day.
33:39
SPEAKER_00: You can be somebody who is on a budget and still find ways to eat healthy.
33:46
SPEAKER_00: I know for so many people, they often don't eat healthy because a lot of the healthy fresh foods are a lot more expensive than the prepackaged convenience type foods.
33:57
SPEAKER_00: And it's really just crazy how our food system is, but that's just the reality of it.
34:01
SPEAKER_00: That said, Letle, Aldi, Costco, uh sometimes Walmart, depends on where you live.
34:07
SPEAKER_00: Uh, a lot of these stores, they have really good options for healthy, fresh foods and even organic foods.
34:14
SPEAKER_00: And they're gonna have a little bit lower prices.
34:17
SPEAKER_00: So start thinking like that.
34:19
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes the frozen foods will be less than the fresh foods and just start looking around.
34:23
SPEAKER_00: Don't let that be an excuse for you.
34:25
SPEAKER_00: And when I talk about making food easier and preparing more than one meal at a time, I think most of you have probably done this if you've raised a family, but but a lot of you may not have.
34:38
SPEAKER_00: So, like the big thing of soup, which gave me some for the week, gave me some for the freezer for maybe two months from now when I want it and I don't want to cook or whatever.
34:47
SPEAKER_00: And doing something like that, making an omelet and making it a triple omelet.
34:51
SPEAKER_00: Now you've got three, you can split up and you've only cooked once.
34:54
SPEAKER_00: I made a giant bag of green beans that will last me for a few days with meals.
34:58
SPEAKER_00: I made a giant bunch of asparagus, last me for a few days.
35:02
SPEAKER_00: So when I make meat, I won't just make whatever portion I need for our dinner that night.
35:09
SPEAKER_00: I will make a double, triple family size portion, even though it's just me cooking for me or me cooking for my husband at the moment and my daughters at college.
35:19
SPEAKER_00: I will still do that because it's time effective.
35:23
SPEAKER_00: And if I can get those moments back, stay healthy, feel good, that gives me more opportunity to do the things I love and less time in the kitchen.
35:34
SPEAKER_00: So here's a question that might help you.
35:36
SPEAKER_00: What is the part of feeding yourself right now that you've been noticing keeps kind of falling apart?
35:43
SPEAKER_00: Is it deciding what to make?
35:45
SPEAKER_00: Is it not having the right groceries in the house?
35:48
SPEAKER_00: Is it the preparation or is it the cleanup?
35:53
SPEAKER_00: Or by the time you realize you want to eat, that you have nothing left to give, not an ounce of energy to prepare something, because the answers will tell you where you need to make the adjustment.
36:04
SPEAKER_00: If deciding is the problem, choose two or three meals that you can put on repeat.
36:10
SPEAKER_00: If groceries are the problem, keep a short list of things that you regularly use, maybe start meal delivery.
36:17
SPEAKER_00: If chopping is the problem, buy the chopped version.
36:21
SPEAKER_00: If cooking every night is the problem, cook enough for another meal when you can.
36:26
SPEAKER_00: And if money is a constraint, work with that too.
36:29
SPEAKER_00: You don't need a refrigerator full of expensive specialty products to begin this.
36:35
SPEAKER_00: Frozen vegetables, eggs, uh, beans if they work for you, quinoa as a grain, other basic ingredients, they can all be really helpful, useful places.
36:45
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes I'll make the ingredients for quinoa bowls.
36:49
SPEAKER_00: If you haven't eaten quinoa, it's kind of like a cross between rice and oatmeal.
36:54
SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
36:54
SPEAKER_00: Best way I can describe it.
36:56
SPEAKER_00: And it's a really healthy grain, good fiber, protein, excellent grain.
37:01
SPEAKER_00: I'll make a pot of that.
37:02
SPEAKER_00: I might do a pound or two of ground turkey, and maybe I'll do some peppers or onions and maybe another big batch of a vegetable.
37:10
SPEAKER_00: And I will individually put them in the fridge.
37:12
SPEAKER_00: So they're already cooked, they're already ready to go.
37:16
SPEAKER_00: And what I can do for the week, if that's what I'm gonna do, I can take them out and I can create a bowl.
37:23
SPEAKER_00: So one might, it might be a scoop of the quinoa, and it might be some chili lime seasoning on the quinoa and the ground meat, and I might add fresh cilantro on top of it, a dollop of Greek yogurt instead of sour cream for added protein and probiotics, a squeeze of lemon along with whatever the vegetable is.
37:48
SPEAKER_00: Well, now that's a delicious bowl.
37:51
SPEAKER_00: And another night I might take those ingredients and season them totally different.
37:56
SPEAKER_00: And another night I might say, you know what?
37:59
SPEAKER_00: Wish I had something sweet.
38:00
SPEAKER_00: I wish I had some rice pudding.
38:02
SPEAKER_00: I might take the quinoa and I might put over that some coconut milk, a little stevia, and some vanilla, and boom, I have a version of that.
38:13
SPEAKER_00: It does not have to be complicated.
38:15
SPEAKER_00: You can see this does not take long to do by listening to what I'm doing.
38:18
SPEAKER_00: But having things there pre-cooked makes it a lot easier.
38:21
SPEAKER_00: So the point to all of this is the solution, it has to fit your circumstances.
38:27
SPEAKER_00: Otherwise, it's just gonna be another lovely idea that somebody told you online and you listened to or sounded good, but you just could not fit into your world and it didn't work for you.
38:38
SPEAKER_00: And that's pointless.
38:40
SPEAKER_00: Now, let me bring these habits all together.
38:43
SPEAKER_00: I prioritize protein in my meals.
38:47
SPEAKER_00: I make room for vegetables and other whole plant foods, whatever I can tolerate.
38:55
SPEAKER_00: I make sure I'm well hydrated and my electrolytes are balanced.
38:59
SPEAKER_00: Make sure the meal is satisfying and it includes some healthy fat.
39:04
SPEAKER_00: I cut back on the meals and the snacks that repeatedly leave me feeling worse.
39:11
SPEAKER_00: And I make the next meal easier to get to.
39:16
SPEAKER_00: And that is the practical foundation of how I approach my food when I'm not feeling well.
39:22
SPEAKER_00: It can look different from day to day.
39:24
SPEAKER_00: On a day when I have more energy, I might cook.
39:27
SPEAKER_00: And that's when I'll make things a little bit ahead.
39:30
SPEAKER_00: On a day when I have less, I might assemble something simple.
39:33
SPEAKER_00: I'll give you one more example of how I do something.
39:36
SPEAKER_00: So I've noticed as the season has changed, as the seasons have changed into fall, that I've had less energy in the morning.
39:43
SPEAKER_00: And I've just felt a little bit more sluggish.
39:45
SPEAKER_00: My allergies tend to get a little worse in the fall.
39:48
SPEAKER_00: And something that I started doing when I came home from Costa Rica, now I have coffee in the morning.
39:53
SPEAKER_00: I do an organic, uh, mold-free coffee in the morning.
39:56
SPEAKER_00: I was making it in our coffee machine, but while I was in Costa Rica facilitating the retreat, the place that I was at, they were making coffee in this little material bag, like drip coffee, in this teak wooden little stand.
40:14
SPEAKER_00: And it was basically drip coffee, very simple.
40:17
SPEAKER_00: You boil the water, pour it over and everything, and it went through this reusable fabric bag.
40:22
SPEAKER_00: Anyway, it was so good, partly because it was Costa Rican coffee, partly because we were there.
40:28
SPEAKER_00: And it was such a novelty way to make it that I bought one.
40:31
SPEAKER_00: So I came home with it, and I actually make my coffee like that every single day now.
40:37
SPEAKER_00: Well, my husband, sometimes he wasn't having time in the morning.
40:40
SPEAKER_00: He gets really, really early.
40:42
SPEAKER_00: So I noticed that as I was making it, that uh I could make a stronger cup.
40:48
SPEAKER_00: I like a stronger cup, he likes a weaker cup.
40:50
SPEAKER_00: And then there was still enough left to make a weaker cup.
40:52
SPEAKER_00: So I started making him his at the same time.
40:55
SPEAKER_00: So then I started noticing as I was going through the fall, my energy was dipping a little bit.
41:01
SPEAKER_00: In the busiest days of the week, I was not winding up with enough time to make it the way I wanted to.
41:05
SPEAKER_00: So what I started doing, and I did this this morning, I make the coffee in one shot.
41:12
SPEAKER_00: This method, now you don't have to do all this, but it's I'm just giving you an example.
41:16
SPEAKER_00: You can think, gosh, Freddie, you're crazy.
41:18
SPEAKER_00: But really, it saves time and it saved money on the coffee.
41:22
SPEAKER_00: I didn't plan on it that way, but I'm getting more out of the coffee I'm using, and it's actually creating more cups of coffee throughout the week than it originally would if I was making one every day.
41:34
SPEAKER_00: So I'm saving money.
41:35
SPEAKER_00: That was just a sidebar little benefit.
41:37
SPEAKER_00: So you never know until you start trying these things.
41:39
SPEAKER_00: So this morning I made the coffee for each of us for the next three or four days, our busiest days of the week.
41:45
SPEAKER_00: And that works.
41:46
SPEAKER_00: And then in the morning, what I do is I heat it up in a saucepan with whatever else I want to put in it.
41:50
SPEAKER_00: And it saves me one step.
41:52
SPEAKER_00: It takes a little less time, and boom.
41:55
SPEAKER_00: So this is just one more example of things that you can do that make it easier for you in the moments that you don't have an ounce of energy or time to give to something and you're just not feeling well.
42:09
SPEAKER_00: On the days when my appetite or my digestion is just a little different, I may need to adjust.
42:15
SPEAKER_00: And I don't want every meal to look exactly the same, but having some go-to meals that I don't mind being on repeat is extremely helpful.
42:25
SPEAKER_00: I just need a few dependable ways that I can nourish myself without it being a big production.
42:32
SPEAKER_00: And maybe this will work for you too.
42:34
SPEAKER_00: It's worked for countless clients like this when you start really approaching things a little differently.
42:39
SPEAKER_00: I want to say something else here too, because if you live with pain or you live with any kind of chronic condition, this matters.
42:47
SPEAKER_00: You can eat a nourishing meal and still be in pain.
42:50
SPEAKER_00: It's not the answer to everything.
42:52
SPEAKER_00: It's just a big piece of the support for yourself.
42:56
SPEAKER_00: You can make thoughtful choices 101 ways and still wind up having a flare because something else triggered it.
43:02
SPEAKER_00: That is not proof, though, that you didn't try hard enough.
43:06
SPEAKER_00: And it's not proof that the food you ate was useless.
43:09
SPEAKER_00: There are things your food choices can support, and there are things that require additional care.
43:14
SPEAKER_00: So if your symptoms, I will say, are new or changing or really significantly interfering with any daily life or anything, please have them checked with the appropriate professional.
43:24
SPEAKER_00: This episode is about the part you can work with in your kitchen.
43:28
SPEAKER_00: It's not the reason to ignore the part that might need different medical attention or whatever.
43:33
SPEAKER_00: And I don't want you to turn all of this into a full-time job.
43:37
SPEAKER_00: While this can be helpful, you don't necessarily need to start recording everybody and analyzing every feeling that you're having.
43:44
SPEAKER_00: If you're getting a little bit more aware and you're listening better and you're a little bit more curious, that can be very helpful.
43:50
SPEAKER_00: If I'm trying to understand a pattern that's happening, I might make a simple note in my phone, on a paper, in a notebook, wherever.
43:57
SPEAKER_00: What did I eat today?
43:59
SPEAKER_00: Or what did I have yesterday?
44:00
SPEAKER_00: Because sometimes these things are latent.
44:03
SPEAKER_00: Was I already overtired?
44:05
SPEAKER_00: Had I gone too long without a meal?
44:07
SPEAKER_00: How did I feel afterwards?
44:09
SPEAKER_00: And did it happen again?
44:10
SPEAKER_00: Was it a one-off or is it starting to become a pattern?
44:13
SPEAKER_00: One meal does not tell you everything, but repeated observations, they give you something more useful to work with.
44:21
SPEAKER_00: They can also help you have a better conversation with whoever it is that you might look to to help you.
44:28
SPEAKER_00: So instead of saying everything bothers me, which I can tell you.
44:32
SPEAKER_00: Three, four years ago, I was at that point where I felt like, geez, you know, even the healthy stuff is bothering me.
44:37
SPEAKER_00: Everything I do seems to be bothering me.
44:39
SPEAKER_00: What I want you to do is be able to say, okay, here's a few situations I've noticed this happening.
44:46
SPEAKER_00: Here's what I did or was going on before that happened.
44:49
SPEAKER_00: That may not diagnose the problem, but it gives the conversation somewhere to begin.
44:53
SPEAKER_00: And honestly, sometimes what I discover is very ordinary and simple.
44:57
SPEAKER_00: It was just that I was either waiting too long to eat, or I made my previous meal too small, or I'm too tired, or I was relying on whatever was available because I hadn't stocked or prepared anything, or that I was trying to follow advice that did not fit me right here, right now, for what's going on with me.
45:16
SPEAKER_00: Now, those are all things I can adjust.
45:18
SPEAKER_00: Those are things you can adjust.
45:20
SPEAKER_00: So here's your wellness reset for this week.
45:24
SPEAKER_00: Choose one meal that tends to become difficult when you are tired or hurting.
45:29
SPEAKER_00: Just one.
45:30
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's gonna be breakfast for you or lunch during the workday or dinner when you finally get home, whatever it is.
45:37
SPEAKER_00: Just choose one to start.
45:38
SPEAKER_00: Write down an easier version of that meal.
45:40
SPEAKER_00: What vegetable is gonna work for you?
45:42
SPEAKER_00: What fiber-containing foods work for you?
45:45
SPEAKER_00: What makes it satisfying?
45:47
SPEAKER_00: And what can you have ready so it takes less effort?
45:50
SPEAKER_00: What healthy fat will be included?
45:52
SPEAKER_00: Have it delivered or go buy what you need for that meal.
45:55
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to overhaul your entire week.
45:58
SPEAKER_00: Try making the one meal more dependable and notice what changes for you.
46:03
SPEAKER_00: What is it was it easier to put together?
46:05
SPEAKER_00: Did you feel more comfortably satisfied?
46:08
SPEAKER_00: Did you feel more energy throughout the day?
46:10
SPEAKER_00: Did it reduce the amount of time that you're wondering what you're going to eat?
46:14
SPEAKER_00: Did you feel better?
46:17
SPEAKER_00: And if it didn't work, what do you need to change?
46:20
SPEAKER_00: If it didn't work, it's not proof that it isn't worth trying again.
46:25
SPEAKER_00: You're allowed to make adjustments.
46:27
SPEAKER_00: That's just part of figuring all of this out.
46:30
SPEAKER_00: And here's the question I will leave you with this week.
46:33
SPEAKER_00: Ask yourself, when I'm not feeling well, does the way I've organized my food make taking care of myself easier or harder?
46:41
SPEAKER_00: Because honestly, sometimes you already know a lot about nutrition.
46:43
SPEAKER_00: You probably know or have seen or listened to or watched a video on what to do.
46:50
SPEAKER_00: Knowing isn't usually the problem for people.
46:53
SPEAKER_00: What you really need is a way to use the knowledge when your energy is low and your life is full.
46:59
SPEAKER_00: This is part of what we do in my whole woman reset, where we look at food, yes, but we also look at movement and rest and stress, your responsibilities and what is realistically available to you right now.
47:14
SPEAKER_00: Now, if you're local to the Lansdale area, I would also love to invite you to the Midlife Reset Experience live on Saturday, October 17th.
47:23
SPEAKER_00: It's an in-person day where we will make space to look at what you need in this season of your life and begin building a practical plan that you can take home with you and that will be individual to you.
47:35
SPEAKER_00: We're not spending the day trying to turn you into a different person.
47:38
SPEAKER_00: We're making room for you to hear yourself, consider what needs attention, and choose how you want to move forward.
47:46
SPEAKER_00: Of course, there's lunch and fun and laughter and connection and a whole host of other things like grounding and movement.
47:53
SPEAKER_00: It's just a fun day.
47:54
SPEAKER_00: You can find all the details on that at fredericadavis.com.
47:57
SPEAKER_00: Look for the experiences tab.
47:59
SPEAKER_00: I'll put the website in the show notes so you can take a look.
48:02
SPEAKER_00: If you know someone who would enjoy listening to today's show, please share this episode with her.
48:07
SPEAKER_00: If you haven't already, I would appreciate a review.
48:09
SPEAKER_00: It helps other people find the show.
48:11
SPEAKER_00: And remember, you deserve to be nourished and supported on the days when you have plenty of energy and on the days when you don't.
48:20
SPEAKER_00: Start with one meal you can make easier.
48:22
SPEAKER_00: And until next time, be rooted, be resilient, and be limitless.