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343-Courtney Garner: Why Testosterone Matters for Women Too · Stuck No More Voices

• 0:00
  theresa: You've been told your numbers are fine, your labs are normal.
• 0:03
  theresa: Nothing is wrong.
• 0:05
  theresa: And still you do not feel right.
• 0:08
  theresa: Our guest knows that road because she walked it herself before she started walking it with other people.
• 0:14
  theresa: So welcome back to the Stuck No More Voices podcast.
• 0:17
  theresa: I'm Theresa Croft, a visibility specialist and the creator of the Story Gold Method.
• 0:23
  theresa: It's where the stories God has written into your life become the message so you are called to carry, and the bridge to the people you're meant to serve.
• 0:32
  theresa: This is The Calling Tables.
• 0:34
  theresa: It's a special part of the Stuck No More Voices podcast.
• 0:38
  theresa: It's where I take women's stories, the joy, the grief, and handle it with care because their story deserves to be seen and heard by many, but it deserves to be handled with care.
• 0:51
  theresa: So without further ado, I'm so excited about this interview.
• 0:54
  theresa: Help me welcome Courtney Garner.
• 0:57
  theresa: Courtney's a board-certified family nurse practitioner with extensive training, and we're gonna get to talk about that training.
• 1:04
  theresa: So first of all, Courtney, thank you.
• 1:05
  theresa: It's so awesome to see you.
• 1:07
  Courtney: Yeah.
• 1:07
  Courtney: Thank you so much for having me.
• 1:08
  Courtney: I'm excited to be here.
• 1:09
  theresa: Yeah.
• 1:10
  theresa: So you know, Courtney, on The Calling Table, we like to go back to the story of where you are.
• 1:16
  theresa: So just, can you give us a little look at why you are where you are?
• 1:20
  theresa: 'Cause obviously you've gone through some health issues yourself.
• 1:23
  theresa: Can you give us a little bit about- Yeah
• 1:25
  Courtney: your story?
• 1:25
  Courtney: You know, sometimes I think God allows us to live a few things, and then ends up repurposing our story.
• 1:32
  Courtney: And so my story health-wise probably began when I was in my early 20s, and I had a lot of gut health concerns.
• 1:39
  Courtney: Wow.
• 1:39
  Courtney: Uh, heartburn, I had, um, bloating.
• 1:42
  Courtney: I had a lot of symptoms that I think I probably somewhat ignored in my earlier years, but it just became more and more pronounced to where I could no longer ignore it, and I ended up with a couple of stomach ulcers.
• 1:54
  theresa: Oh,
• 1:54
  Courtney: wow.
• 1:55
  Courtney: I was gaining weight.
• 1:56
  Courtney: I felt really terrible, but I was 22.
• 1:58
  Courtney: I'm like,"I shouldn't be feeling this bad." In all fairness, Theresa, my diet was an absolute train wreck.
• 2:04
  Courtney: And, uh, and so, you know, there was a part to that where I needed to steward some things differently.
• 2:09
  theresa: Okay.
• 2:10
  Courtney: But, um, I went to the gastroenterologist, and at 22 years old, I had an upper and lower scope.
• 2:17
  Courtney: Wow.
• 2:17
  Courtney: And the nurses were looking at me and said,"We've never seen someone your age with a double scope." And I'm like,"Uh, this is, does not, I do not want this to be my story." And I get out of the procedure and they tell me,"Your stomach, genetically you were born with it, but it's misshapen, and really the only thing that we can do is punch you to University of Oklahoma to the pediatric or specialist division-
• 2:39
  theresa: Wow
• 2:39
  Courtney: and let the, uh, the students cut you open," which sounded like a terrible idea.
• 2:44
  Courtney: Yeah.
• 2:44
  Courtney: "And, and reshape your stomach, um, and you could also take this medication for the rest of your life and keep your symptoms at bay." Wow.
• 2:51
  Courtney: And I said no to both.
• 2:53
  Courtney: Yeah.
• 2:54
  Courtney: And I was like,"Okay, I gotta figure out how to do this."
• 2:58
  theresa: Right.
• 2:58
  Courtney: And I drastically changed my diet and started studying functional medicine.
• 3:02
  Courtney: I was an RN at the time, or wrapping up- Okay um, nursing school.
• 3:06
  theresa: Wow.
• 3:06
  Courtney: And, um, in, in traditional setting I was working trauma, neurotrauma ICU.
• 3:11
  theresa: Ooh.
• 3:11
  Courtney: And, uh, and so totally traditional and needed, um, part of healthcare, but I began discovering that maybe there was a way to get to the root.
• 3:23
  Courtney: And so I healed myself.
• 3:25
  Courtney: Hmm.
• 3:25
  Courtney: I lost the weight, and totally transformed my wellbeing, and then a couple years later I was diagnosed with infertility.
• 3:32
  theresa: Okay.
• 3:32
  Courtney: And I, God supernaturally healed me of that.
• 3:34
  Courtney: I have three kids- Wow with no fertility treatments.
• 3:37
  theresa: Come on.
• 3:37
  Courtney: Which it's just amazing.
• 3:39
  Courtney: Um, and then, uh, a few years later I hit major stress in my life.
• 3:43
  Courtney: My adrenals cra- crashed.
• 3:44
  Courtney: Oh.
• 3:44
  Courtney: My thyroid crashed.
• 3:46
  theresa: Okay.
• 3:46
  Courtney: And I gained 15 pounds in 10 days.
• 3:48
  theresa: Oh, wow.
• 3:49
  Courtney: And so, um, and I was a nurse practitioner in functional medicine at the time, so I realized it right away and, and was able to shift back.
• 3:55
  Courtney: But anyways, all that to say that, like, I have real empathy, and the book that I just- Yeah wrote is- Wow not just me reiterating science.
• 4:02
  Courtney: It's me living and bringing my authority into things that I've experienced and lived- Awesome and healed from myself.
• 4:09
  theresa: Wow.
• 4:10
  theresa: It really is sometimes your misery becomes your destiny, just the stuff you go through.
• 4:14
  Courtney: Uh, you're right.
• 4:15
  Courtney: Absolutely.
• 4:16
  theresa: Yeah.
• 4:16
  theresa: That's, that's fascinating.
• 4:18
  theresa: Now- Just hold me back.
• 4:20
  theresa: I've got so many questions.
• 4:22
  theresa: Yeah.
• 4:22
  theresa: And I think the listeners in, are in that age bracket, I might be on the older version, but, uh, that we have questions.
• 4:29
  theresa: So thank you for that background, though.
• 4:32
  theresa: That really shows me that God's brought you through.
• 4:36
  theresa: And, you know, I think He brought you through the way He's designed it.
• 4:39
  theresa: I don't like the idea of being on medicine the rest of my life, although I am on thyroid, and I realize I need my thyroid medicine.
• 4:45
  Courtney: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 4:46
  theresa: But what you went through, wow.
• 4:48
  theresa: So I think my favorite three questions, we may get four I think this one a lot of women can relate to.
• 4:56
  theresa: Mm-hmm.
• 4:56
  theresa: What if the exhaustion I've been ca- calling normal is actually my body asking for medical attention?
• 5:03
  theresa: What would you say that about fatigue and a diagnostic evaluation of that?
• 5:09
  Courtney: Yeah, you know, I think there's this dichotomy of frustration that so many women have.
• 5:13
  theresa: Yeah.
• 5:14
  Courtney: A lot of people dismiss what's common as normal.
• 5:17
  theresa: Okay.
• 5:18
  Courtney: And I just always wanna tell people, like, what you feel and those signals, whether they're hormone changes or cycle related changes- Yeah sleep disruption, fatigue, drop in mood, or drop in motivation, those are things that we need to pay attention to.
• 5:35
  theresa: Okay.
• 5:35
  Courtney: And God designed our bodies to heal, repair, recover.
• 5:39
  Courtney: Our endocrine system was miraculously and meticulously made.
• 5:45
  theresa: Wow.
• 5:45
  Courtney: And so we're in an era where, thank God for it, we have, you know, some advancements and some things that we can really do to just bring our body back into alignment.
• 5:57
  theresa: Yeah.
• 5:57
  Courtney: Some of that is our personal stewardship.
• 5:59
  Courtney: Sure.
• 5:59
  Courtney: And then I love the topic of bio-identical hormone replacement- Yeah and just, not just trying to put somebody in a normal range, but giving them an optimal range-
• 6:07
  theresa: Yeah
• 6:07
  Courtney: and helping them match where their labs and their symptoms can kind of connect.
• 6:12
  theresa: Right.
• 6:13
  Courtney: And, you know, we can bring somebody through the journey of,"Oh, this is what I'm supposed to feel like," or,"This is what I'm supposed to- Yeah I used to feel like and here I am." Mm-hmm.
• 6:21
  Courtney: And, and so many people on that also have had this moment where they've went to doctor, at least one doctor or at least one practitioner- Yeah and experienced this version of,"Well, you're normal," and, you know- Yeah"You're just a mom," or,"You're just this," or,"You're just that.
• 6:36
  Courtney: You're probably just too busy.
• 6:36
  Courtney: You probably just need more sleep." And you're, like, internally going,"No, something is wrong."
• 6:41
  theresa: Yeah.
• 6:41
  Courtney: And, um, and so I live in that space of I'm the person that gets those pat- those patients who have been to provider after provider- Mm-hmm and experience all of those frustrations.
• 6:54
  Courtney: Yeah.
• 6:54
  Courtney: And it's unfortunately real, but things are improving, and I think, you know, there's a lot of women I see taking things into their own hands finally.
• 7:02
  Courtney: Yeah.
• 7:02
  Courtney: And, and it, coming equipped to appointments, and they've read a little bit.
• 7:06
  Courtney: They may not understand it all, but they at least- That's good have a baseline level of knowledge of knowing- Yeah this could be better.
• 7:13
  theresa: Yeah.
• 7:13
  theresa: You know, Courtney, I remember I just had my second child, this is 2022, and I was, I was getting up at 5:00.
• 7:22
  theresa: I was at, on a radio job at the time, and I was just exhausted.
• 7:26
  theresa: Well, I happened to go to my doctor to see if I was pregnant again, and they did a test for my thyroid, and when I came back, she had two results.
• 7:37
  theresa: And I said,"Why are there two results?" She goes,"Tee, they couldn't believe how low you were.
• 7:42
  theresa: In fact, they had to test- Mm it again'cause they thought they may, did something wrong." And she goes,"I don't even know how you're sitting on that table." So that was a journey of taking thyroid medicine.
• 7:53
  theresa: And you know what, Courtney?
• 7:54
  theresa: I, like, good Christian, I shouldn't be on medicine.
• 7:57
  theresa: It's all nonsense.
• 7:59
  theresa: But I tried the...
• 8:00
  theresa: Actually, I think I was more forced by my abusive husband than anything.
• 8:03
  theresa: And when I got off that stuff, I have pictures, and I'm like,"Oh, I look so bad." So all that- Mm-hmm to say, I know the harm, the thyroid can be healed, correct?
• 8:15
  Courtney: It absolutely can be.
• 8:16
  Courtney: I think it's important to know why, try to find out why we got there.
• 8:21
  theresa: Yeah.
• 8:22
  Courtney: Because there's a lot of undiagnosed autoimmune thyroid.
• 8:25
  theresa: Okay.
• 8:26
  Courtney: And things like chronic viral load, chronic infections-
• 8:30
  theresa: Yeah
• 8:30
  Courtney: um, stress.
• 8:32
  theresa: Hmm.
• 8:33
  Courtney: You know, poor, it just, even, even acute viruses, I have seen peop- send people into a tailspin if their body just didn't properly-
• 8:39
  theresa: Wow
• 8:40
  Courtney: um, kick it out the door.
• 8:41
  Courtney: Toxins are a big reason why.
• 8:43
  Courtney: I think gut health- Mm-hmm and just chronic inflammation-
• 8:45
  theresa: Yeah
• 8:45
  Courtney: are a big reason why we see a lot of women have some form of autoimmune.
• 8:50
  Courtney: And then there's always, like, the mineral depletion, an overwhelming- Okay toxin load.
• 8:54
  Courtney: You know?
• 8:54
  Courtney: Yeah.
• 8:54
  Courtney: There could definitely be some why.
• 8:56
  Courtney: And we don't always have to Avoid medication-
• 9:01
  theresa: Right
• 9:01
  Courtney: in order to treat the why.
• 9:05
  Courtney: It could be a little bit of both.
• 9:06
  theresa: Yeah.
• 9:06
  Courtney: You know?
• 9:07
  Courtney: But what I find is, like, if I can stabilize somebody's thyroid numbers- Okay and get them feeling better, and get them- Yeah moving a little bit, and then go back and try to repair whatever damage has been done or whatever toxins have been let, I usually can help lower their medication over time.
• 9:21
  Courtney: Yeah, yeah.
• 9:22
  Courtney: And I've had some people that have been able to successfully get totally off of it.
• 9:25
  theresa: Yeah.
• 9:25
  theresa: I'm not against-
• 9:26
  Courtney: But I'm al-
• 9:26
  theresa: the medicine.
• 9:27
  theresa: I'm not against it.
• 9:28
  Courtney: I'm not either.
• 9:28
  Courtney: I'm on it.
• 9:29
  Courtney: Um- Yeah I've gotten my doses down.
• 9:31
  theresa: Yeah.
• 9:32
  Courtney: And I still do everything else to maintain really, really well.
• 9:35
  theresa: So
• 9:35
  Courtney: good, yeah.
• 9:35
  Courtney: But you know what?
• 9:36
  Courtney: God isn't angry with us for taking a medication.
• 9:39
  theresa: Very good.
• 9:40
  Courtney: But the medication isn't to be an idol.
• 9:43
  theresa: Right.
• 9:44
  theresa: Right.
• 9:44
  Courtney: A lot of people begin just saying yes to medicine after medicine without ever going through and being a good steward of what God gave them.
• 9:54
  theresa: Yes.
• 9:55
  Courtney: And that's, I think, the point where, you know, we as Christians just need to do a better job of-
• 9:59
  theresa: Yeah
• 10:00
  Courtney: stewarding and partnering in a little bit of a different way- Yeah with how God designed us.
• 10:05
  theresa: That's good.
• 10:05
  theresa: I love that.
• 10:05
  theresa: You know, um, I went...
• 10:08
  theresa: I've been in the process, I'm, like, maybe four years into some good neuroscience, uh, mentoring to get over 26 years of, um, abuse in my marriage, and I took a picture of my old...
• 10:23
  theresa: I, I just sent it to my mentor.
• 10:24
  theresa: I took it, it was of me before I got healing and then after.
• 10:29
  theresa: Mm-hmm.
• 10:29
  theresa: And it's just, like, night and day.
• 10:31
  theresa: And to top it all off- Yeah I'm on the lowest dose of thyroid, of the thyroid medicine.
• 10:37
  theresa: So I just said- Yeah"You know, God, okay."
• 10:40
  Courtney: Yeah.
• 10:40
  theresa: Okay.
• 10:40
  theresa: This-
• 10:41
  Courtney: And what impact- Yeah does trauma have?
• 10:43
  theresa: Oh, shoot.
• 10:44
  Courtney: I mean, it's, it, it is there.
• 10:46
  Courtney: Come on.
• 10:46
  Courtney: Yeah.
• 10:46
  Courtney: And it is the glaring problem in medicine that is ignored over, and over, and over again.
• 10:53
  theresa: Thank
• 10:54
  Courtney: you.
• 10:54
  Courtney: Thank you for
• 10:54
  theresa: saying that.
• 10:55
  theresa: You
• 10:55
  Courtney: know?
• 10:55
  Courtney: But what do we do, right?
• 10:57
  Courtney: That's the question.
• 10:58
  Courtney: Okay.
• 10:58
  Courtney: How do we work backwards in that, right?
• 11:00
  Courtney: Yeah.
• 11:01
  Courtney: I think you've, obviously, you probably could speak into that a lot from your own personal work.
• 11:05
  theresa: Yeah.
• 11:06
  theresa: I just, yeah, I just know it's made such a difference- Big deal you know, to have freedom- Absolutely to be able to trust myself.
• 11:12
  theresa: And to, uh, get back to, you know, on the treadmill.
• 11:17
  theresa: I was doing light weights, but we moved, and I kinda gotta get back to that.
• 11:20
  theresa: Just things, I mean, um, I don- I wanna live a long life.
• 11:23
  theresa: Yeah.
• 11:23
  theresa: And I don't...
• 11:24
  theresa: This is something I w- I wasn't planning on bringing up, but my mom is suffering severe Alzheimer's.
• 11:31
  theresa: I'm not going to get that, because I'm in a different- Mm-hmm world.
• 11:34
  theresa: Mm-hmm.
• 11:35
  theresa: And I don't know if this is right, but, um, getting a good night's sleep and letting the toxins get cleaned up and your mind rewired is some of the best things.
• 11:44
  theresa: So that's a whole nother story, but it's very- Mm-hmm it's very tender on my heart,'cause she's kinda in the last stages, and it's just really hard to see.
• 11:51
  Courtney: Mm, I'm sorry you're going through that.
• 11:52
  theresa: Yeah.
• 11:53
  theresa: So this
• 11:53
  Courtney: is why my- The key there is to prevent the...
• 11:55
  Courtney: Yeah.
• 11:55
  theresa: Yeah.
• 11:56
  theresa: There, there are, and, and, and I'm interested in that,'cause I've got it on-
• 11:59
  Courtney: Mm-hmm
• 11:59
  theresa: both sides of my family.
• 12:01
  theresa: Both
• 12:01
  Courtney: sides?
• 12:01
  Courtney: Uh-huh.
• 12:01
  theresa: And- Yeah my, so far my brother's the oldest, 67, no signs of it, but oh, I got a ter- Yeah I got a terrible history if I look on both sides.
• 12:10
  theresa: But-
• 12:10
  Courtney: Yeah
• 12:11
  theresa: but I know, like, for my mom, she wasn't doing the things I'm doing today of studying and-
• 12:18
  Courtney: Right
• 12:18
  theresa: spreading the word.
• 12:19
  theresa: Right.
• 12:19
  theresa: But really studying and c- you know, I'm on the radio part-time now, and just constantly my mind has to be on par, or I wouldn't, wouldn't be able to do my radio show, so.
• 12:29
  Courtney: Yeah, yeah.
• 12:31
  theresa: This one I- Yeah, that's a
• 12:31
  Courtney: big deal
• 12:32
  theresa: okay.
• 12:32
  theresa: Yeah.
• 12:32
  theresa: This one I know a lot of women, I, I really wanna know more about this,'cause I believe in it.
• 12:37
  theresa: We talk about t- testosterone in men all the time.
• 12:42
  Courtney: Mm-hmm.
• 12:42
  theresa: Why aren't women t- uh, in into it?
• 12:44
  theresa: 'Cause I think some of them think,"Oh, I don't want muscles." But no, testosterone- Yeah is so valuable.
• 12:50
  theresa: Tell us about
• 12:50
  Courtney: that.
• 12:50
  Courtney: It's so much more than that.
• 12:51
  theresa: Yeah.
• 12:52
  Courtney: So it's a male dominant hormone.
• 12:54
  Courtney: Okay.
• 12:54
  Courtney: That's their number one hormone.
• 12:56
  Courtney: You know, even in situations where a man comes in and I see a sluggish thyroid, not hypothyroid, but just- Okay sluggish, like slightly below optimal levels, and their testosterone's off, their blood sugars are off, they're this, they're that- The number one thing they, makes the biggest difference for them is the testosterone.
• 13:14
  theresa: Wow.
• 13:14
  Courtney: Right?
• 13:15
  Courtney: And even the testosterone helps their blood sugars too, right?
• 13:18
  Courtney: So all of it feeds together.
• 13:20
  Courtney: So I think that people recognize that part, but they don't realize that it's a natural hormone that women also have.
• 13:28
  theresa: Yeah.
• 13:28
  Courtney: We just don't have as much of it.
• 13:30
  theresa: Right.
• 13:30
  Courtney: We're naturally more estrogen and progesterone dominant, and we need really key balance between those two hormones.
• 13:36
  theresa: Yeah.
• 13:36
  Courtney: But testosterone is important.
• 13:39
  Courtney: Yeah.
• 13:39
  Courtney: And people will feel absolutely terrible if their levels drop.
• 13:44
  Courtney: Most of the time for me, I see it below 25 and they're exhausted.
• 13:48
  Courtney: Wow.
• 13:48
  Courtney: And they're- Yeah irritable, their brain isn't working as well, their cognitive clarity and- Yeah ability to fire quickly is not there.
• 13:56
  Courtney: Their motivation is lower.
• 13:58
  Courtney: And, um, and it's not just libido.
• 14:00
  Courtney: We think of that, but it's way beyond that.
• 14:03
  Courtney: Yeah.
• 14:03
  Courtney: And, um, and so every woman should be considering testosterone with their medical provider.
• 14:10
  Courtney: What happened is that the FDA shut down- Um, uh, pretty much estrogen and testosterone for women.
• 14:18
  theresa: Wow.
• 14:19
  Courtney: And they basically started putting black box warnings saying it cause clotting, it causes cancer- Oh it causes this, it causes that.
• 14:25
  Courtney: Well, now they're starting to repeal that information, and I think that we'll see in the next 12 months testosterone, that label being lifted off of a lot of the testosterone for women.
• 14:36
  Courtney: Okay.
• 14:36
  Courtney: But there's still not great options in terms of smaller microdosing for women- Yeah that comes t- commercially available.
• 14:45
  Courtney: So we've always compounded those into smaller amounts.
• 14:48
  Courtney: There's injection, there's creams, there's pellets.
• 14:51
  Courtney: Right.
• 14:51
  Courtney: But we're talking about a much smaller dose than what men need.
• 14:55
  Courtney: Yeah.
• 14:55
  Courtney: And when we can get a bioidentical hormone, it's very important.
• 14:58
  Courtney: And not every commercial hormone is bioidentical, and so that's- Okay important to really understand.
• 15:03
  Courtney: Wow.
• 15:04
  Courtney: And bioidentical just means the molecular structure- Yeah is identical to what your body would produce.
• 15:10
  theresa: Oh, that's so good.
• 15:11
  theresa: Wow.
• 15:11
  Courtney: So you're gonna receive that at the cellular level- Yeah in a healthy, natural way, and the side effect and the danger risk is dramatically lower.
• 15:21
  theresa: Okay.
• 15:21
  Courtney: You know, we can never say no one's gonna ha- have an issue, because we live in a toxic world where there's a lot at play.
• 15:27
  theresa: Right.
• 15:28
  Courtney: But the, the studies are all more pro than they are con.
• 15:33
  theresa: Wow.
• 15:34
  theresa: Okay.
• 15:34
  Courtney: Your longevity is way better on the hormone than off.
• 15:37
  theresa: Yes.
• 15:37
  theresa: You know?
• 15:38
  theresa: That's why-
• 15:38
  Courtney: So
• 15:39
  theresa: as I started to hear...
• 15:40
  theresa: And I don't say read, but I started to hear, uh, from someone who has proof of it in her own body, and she starts talking about these testosterone levels that I'm like, oh my God, I, that just doesn't sound right.
• 15:52
  theresa: But I, I listen to her for another reason, but she just happens to be really big on hormones and all the- Mm-hmm the injections, and I, I'm still like, huh.
• 16:02
  theresa: I noticed something.
• 16:03
  theresa: Uh-huh.
• 16:03
  theresa: I will say, uh, I s- I started watching YouTube on, for some programs, and all of a sudden they're really big on, uh, advertising one of my, G- DPLs?
• 16:14
  Courtney: GLPs
• 16:15
  theresa: Yeah, what is that?
• 16:17
  Courtney: GLP-1, so it's a peptide
• 16:19
  theresa: Okay
• 16:19
  Courtney: And it, uh...
• 16:21
  Courtney: And peptides are an amino acid chain, and they elicit different functions in the body.
• 16:27
  theresa: Okay.
• 16:27
  Courtney: So there's a lot of these we naturally have a form of within us.
• 16:31
  Courtney: Okay.
• 16:32
  Courtney: As an example of that, BPC 157-
• 16:36
  theresa: Okay
• 16:36
  Courtney: is a natural amino acid chain that helps lower inflammation- Okay and it usually sits in our gut.
• 16:42
  Courtney: So they've made, like, a bio-identical version of this that we can inject or use orally, et cetera.
• 16:49
  Courtney: Right.
• 16:49
  Courtney: It helps lower inflammation in other ways.
• 16:52
  theresa: Okay.
• 16:52
  Courtney: Right?
• 16:53
  Courtney: So, so there's some function that way.
• 16:55
  Courtney: Now, GLP-1s, their main functions primarily are to increase insulin so that blood sugars decrease.
• 17:03
  theresa: Okay.
• 17:03
  Courtney: And then they also increase ghrelin, which is our satiety hormone, our fullness hormone, so they help us not be as hungry.
• 17:12
  theresa: Ah.
• 17:12
  Courtney: So they're studying them some for inflammation.
• 17:15
  Courtney: Yeah.
• 17:15
  Courtney: I've even seen a few early reports, if you will, of potential cancer lowering benefits- Mm um, on, on some cancers.
• 17:25
  theresa: Okay.
• 17:25
  Courtney: But it's been an amazing tool if used correctly-
• 17:29
  theresa: Uh-huh
• 17:30
  Courtney: for helping break food addiction, lower inflammation, and kinda getting women back on track with their weight.
• 17:36
  theresa: Okay.
• 17:36
  Courtney: But I do- Right.
• 17:37
  Courtney: Yeah I don't think that they should be abused.
• 17:39
  theresa: Okay.
• 17:39
  Courtney: Right?
• 17:40
  Courtney: And, and there's times where I think people get put on them, and then they're, like, chasing the number on the scale, and they're going up- Mm up, up on their dose.
• 17:48
  Courtney: And I think there's a propensity that we can make somebody's pancreas kinda dependent upon having the push.
• 17:54
  theresa: Oh, wow.
• 17:55
  Courtney: And so I'm a fan of, like, building good foundations first.
• 17:59
  Courtney: Okay.
• 17:59
  Courtney: Have we worked on our nutrition and we've given effort to that?
• 18:02
  theresa: Yeah.
• 18:02
  Courtney: Are we working on our hormones?
• 18:04
  Courtney: Are we getting someone sleeping well?
• 18:06
  Courtney: Yeah.
• 18:06
  Courtney: Are we handling stress and inflammation, and laying good foundations for weight management-
• 18:10
  theresa: Sure
• 18:11
  Courtney: before we go dump something extra on it- That's good that has put some potential risks and potential- Yeah like, you know, dependency in a way.
• 18:20
  Courtney: And if I lay good foundations and I get people's hormones better and- Yeah thyroid better, and we're just at least making progress, if I get them a little bit there, and then I come back and four to six months later add the GLP.
• 18:30
  theresa: S- so smart.
• 18:31
  Courtney: Amazing results at a tiny, tiny dose.
• 18:34
  theresa: Yeah.
• 18:34
  Courtney: And so it's much easier to get off of successfully.
• 18:37
  theresa: That's so good.
• 18:38
  Courtney: Right?
• 18:38
  Courtney: It gets a lot of flack because, you know, people...
• 18:41
  Courtney: There's, you know, weight loss clinics and things popping up left and right.
• 18:44
  Courtney: People are getting put on diabetic doses when they're not diabetic.
• 18:47
  theresa: Mm.
• 18:48
  Courtney: And then they don't eat, and they lose their muscle.
• 18:51
  theresa: Yeah, yeah.
• 18:52
  Courtney: And then their natural metabolism isn't as good, and they get off.
• 18:56
  Courtney: Right.
• 18:56
  Courtney: And they rebound their weight, and they rebound their blood sugars.
• 18:59
  Courtney: So they can be...
• 19:00
  Courtney: Those kind of things can be amazing, but there's a time and place, and there's an order to it.
• 19:04
  theresa: I love the order'cause, um, I'm...
• 19:07
  theresa: I don't...
• 19:08
  theresa: I'm skinny.
• 19:08
  theresa: I don't need to lose weight, but I struggle with not being hungry, and so does my son.
• 19:15
  theresa: So, you know- Yeah, yeah I don't know.
• 19:17
  theresa: I just, I think it might be more hor- hormonal.
• 19:20
  theresa: Um-
• 19:20
  Courtney: Mm-hmm
• 19:21
  theresa: how many women are, like...
• 19:26
  theresa: They're pushing through their symptoms instead of really finding out what the cause is.
• 19:31
  theresa: Do they just think,"Oh, well, it's in my family.
• 19:33
  theresa: My mom was always this.
• 19:34
  theresa: My dad was always this"?
• 19:35
  theresa: Do you see that a lot or, I mean-
• 19:38
  Courtney: I, yeah, I do.
• 19:39
  Courtney: I mean, I'm, I...
• 19:40
  Courtney: They're coming to me having made the decision to pursue help.
• 19:44
  theresa: Okay.
• 19:44
  Courtney: Right?
• 19:45
  Courtney: Um, and- Yeah but sometimes they're skeptical of, like- Is this gonna work?
• 19:50
  Courtney: Is there something here?
• 19:51
  Courtney: Yeah.
• 19:51
  Courtney: Or am I, is this just in my head?
• 19:53
  Courtney: Should I just chop this up as menopause and it is what it is?
• 19:57
  theresa: Yeah.
• 19:57
  Courtney: You know, I'm getting older.
• 19:58
  Courtney: Do I just live with it?
• 19:59
  Courtney: You know, they're, sometimes they're in that place.
• 20:02
  Courtney: But a lot of women are beat down because they've just had so many other providers say,"You're normal.
• 20:07
  Courtney: There's nothing we're gonna do."
• 20:09
  theresa: You know-
• 20:09
  Courtney: Even, like, you know, GYNs and things like that, right, who you would think would be versed in hormones, but they don't wanna touch it.
• 20:15
  theresa: No, I don't even wanna go to a OBGYN.
• 20:17
  theresa: And my own doctor, my, my general doctor, I love her for so many reasons, but I asked her about this, and she goes,"Oh, there's just too many studies out there." I'm thinking,"That's not the answer."
• 20:28
  Courtney: Yeah.
• 20:28
  Courtney: Yeah.
• 20:29
  theresa: Yeah.
• 20:29
  theresa: I just, she didn't wanna touch it.
• 20:31
  theresa: I mean- She didn't wanna touch it she was great through my cancer and through everything else.
• 20:34
  theresa: Yeah.
• 20:34
  theresa: I even asked my surgeon, um, I said something, I text him, I said,"Should I be concerned about some, uh, you know, hormone treatment?" He said,"No, we got this.
• 20:45
  theresa: We got that." But the, you know, that wasn't what I was asking.
• 20:48
  theresa: Yeah, thank you for finally getting the cancer out of me, but that wasn't what I was asking.
• 20:52
  theresa: Is there, is there...
• 20:54
  theresa: I'm gonna be a patient now on you.
• 20:56
  theresa: Wait, one more question I gotta ask before that.
• 20:59
  theresa: Functional medicine talks a lot about getting to the root cause.
• 21:02
  theresa: Mm-hmm.
• 21:02
  theresa: How do you determine what's truly causing a symptom, and how do you make sure the testing and treatments you recommend are supported by good medical advice?
• 21:12
  theresa: That's a mouthful.
• 21:14
  Courtney: Ooh.
• 21:14
  Courtney: Um, well, I think there's biochemistry, and there's a lot of understanding cellular health with what we do.
• 21:23
  theresa: Okay.
• 21:23
  Courtney: Right?
• 21:23
  Courtney: And so instead of thinking...
• 21:26
  Courtney: When we're trained in medically,'cause I had to go through all the traditional training- Yeah as well.
• 21:30
  Courtney: I'm sure you did.
• 21:31
  Courtney: And then I had to pivot and learn all of the functional things.
• 21:35
  Courtney: When we're trained medically, we think symptom or sign, diagno- lab, diagnosis, medication.
• 21:43
  theresa: Okay.
• 21:43
  Courtney: There's four steps to that.
• 21:45
  theresa: Yeah.
• 21:45
  Courtney: Follow, follow up on the potential side effects.
• 21:48
  Courtney: There's the fifth step, right?
• 21:49
  Courtney: Like, follow up to look at the liver numbers again or whatever, right?
• 21:52
  Courtney: You're just thinking through, what are you gonna do to safely manage the prescription drug you just man- you just prescribed.
• 21:59
  Courtney: Okay.
• 21:59
  Courtney: When you're in functional medicine, you're thinking symptom, history.
• 22:05
  Courtney: What's the person's story?
• 22:06
  Courtney: We're digging backwards a little bit into that.
• 22:09
  Courtney: Okay.
• 22:09
  Courtney: It could be lifestyle.
• 22:09
  Courtney: It could also be trauma.
• 22:12
  Courtney: It could be-
• 22:12
  theresa: Mm
• 22:13
  Courtney: a lot of history, right?
• 22:14
  Courtney: Yeah.
• 22:15
  Courtney: When did you start feeling this way, and what was the exacerbating factor?
• 22:20
  theresa: Yeah.
• 22:20
  Courtney: We're looking at the labs, and then thinking through a strategy.
• 22:27
  theresa: Okay.
• 22:27
  Courtney: An exam- uh, or a potential root causes of what we're finding, and how that correlates.
• 22:34
  theresa: Yeah.
• 22:34
  Courtney: So an example, fatigue.
• 22:37
  theresa: Yeah.
• 22:38
  Courtney: Right?
• 22:39
  Courtney: As a broad one.
• 22:40
  Courtney: Okay, where's cortisol?
• 22:42
  Courtney: Where's thyroid?
• 22:43
  Courtney: Where's vitamin levels?
• 22:44
  Courtney: Where's our blood sugars?
• 22:45
  Courtney: Are we sleeping?
• 22:46
  Courtney: Where's our hormones?
• 22:48
  Courtney: Wow.
• 22:48
  Courtney: Right?
• 22:48
  theresa: Yeah.
• 22:49
  Courtney: Is there toxin load?
• 22:50
  theresa: Yeah.
• 22:51
  Courtney: All of that, right?
• 22:52
  Courtney: And so a lot of times there's an adrenal tug of war that's at play.
• 22:56
  Courtney: Sure.
• 22:56
  Courtney: And that can be connected to high blood sugars or low.
• 23:00
  theresa: Yeah.
• 23:00
  Courtney: Inflammation, poor rest and sleep and recovery.
• 23:04
  Courtney: Um, again, toxic load, um, pain, surgeries, illnesses.
• 23:09
  theresa: Okay.
• 23:09
  Courtney: So those are the reasons that people's bodies are trying to dump cortisol to keep homeostasis.
• 23:15
  theresa: Wow.
• 23:16
  Courtney: Eventually, they can't keep up, so they'll pull on the thyroid.
• 23:19
  Courtney: They'll pull on the sex hormones.
• 23:21
  theresa: Yeah.
• 23:21
  Courtney: And your blood sugars will start raising to compensate for the chronic stress.
• 23:25
  Courtney: So it's like, what comes first, the chicken or the egg?
• 23:27
  theresa: Yeah.
• 23:27
  Courtney: So instead of just looking at the lab and being like,"Your blood sugar's high, your testosterone's low, and your T3's low"-
• 23:34
  theresa: Mm-hmm
• 23:35
  Courtney: I'm looking at that and saying,"Was there adrenal damage?"
• 23:38
  theresa: Wow.
• 23:40
  Courtney: Can I replace your minerals?
• 23:42
  Courtney: So good.
• 23:42
  Courtney: Can I replace the testosterone and do a little bit of that refill of the bucket, but I need to go fix why.
• 23:48
  theresa: Yeah.
• 23:49
  Courtney: Are you inflamed?
• 23:50
  Courtney: Are you getting good rest?
• 23:52
  Courtney: You know, how is your nutrition?
• 23:53
  Courtney: That's so good.
• 23:53
  Courtney: Are you addressing your trauma?
• 23:55
  theresa: Ooh.
• 23:55
  Courtney: And are you in counseling or whatever, right?
• 23:57
  Courtney: Come on.
• 23:57
  Courtney: And I'm helping people plug the- It's so good the holes in their cup-
• 24:01
  theresa: Yeah
• 24:01
  Courtney: while I refill their hormones.
• 24:04
  Courtney: So there's some people who will just go refill your cups, and they'll say,"Over time, your hormones will refill." Wow.
• 24:10
  Courtney: It's fine, but I don't love taking that long Sure.
• 24:14
  Courtney: Because it's a, it can be a one, two, three-year journey.
• 24:17
  Courtney: Yeah.
• 24:17
  Courtney: And then there's the part where, like, for women, our ovaries just aren't gonna make some things anymore at some point, you know?
• 24:23
  theresa: Yeah.
• 24:23
  Courtney: And so I like to do a one-two approach, once...
• 24:26
  Courtney: I call it my one-two punch.
• 24:28
  theresa: Okay.
• 24:28
  Courtney: I'm gonna start plugging the holes in the cup.
• 24:31
  theresa: Okay.
• 24:31
  Courtney: And then I'm gonna refill where you're deficient.
• 24:34
  theresa: Oh, so good.
• 24:35
  Courtney: And then over time, as I plug the holes in the cup, I can probably decrease how much I'm using on what I'm refilling.
• 24:41
  theresa: Really good.
• 24:42
  Courtney: Right?
• 24:43
  Courtney: But that takes somebody from taking years to heal to taking two or three months before they're at least telling me,"I can see a difference."
• 24:51
  theresa: Okay.
• 24:52
  theresa: Sure.
• 24:52
  Courtney: You know, the full healing journey can be longer.
• 24:54
  Courtney: Yeah.
• 24:54
  Courtney: But they're at least saying,"I'm sleeping better, my energy's coming back, I'm feeling more like myself."
• 24:59
  theresa: So good.
• 25:00
  theresa: You know, I was, uh, talking with my, uh, mental coach, uh, last week, and I noticed that my energy currency was going down, but at that particular, what we were particularly studying is I was doing something extra in my business that was putting a strain, so I didn't like,"Oh, I need help," I just knew I needed to maybe back off on some things on, on my work, on my, this work.
• 25:25
  theresa: And but I love the way you, you give us the cup example, because- It just seems like the, why aren't doctors doing this?
• 25:33
  theresa: I mean, that just seems like the way to go.
• 25:36
  Courtney: Yeah.
• 25:36
  theresa: I'm definitely gonna-
• 25:37
  Courtney: It's sen- sensical, you know?
• 25:38
  theresa: Yeah.
• 25:38
  theresa: I'm definitely gonna sign up after this interview to be- But so, uh, how does that work?
• 25:43
  theresa: It's like you need blood, uh, bl- uh, so do you work with our doctors to get the labs, or how does it actually work?
• 25:51
  Courtney: I have my own medical license as a nurse practitioner, my own prescriptive authority, and I own my, ended up starting my own company, and so that way- Yeah I can kinda operate how I want to.
• 26:00
  theresa: Um- Yeah, I
• 26:01
  Courtney: saw that and yeah, and so I've been, I've owned this company for six years now.
• 26:06
  Courtney: Good
• 26:06
  theresa: job.
• 26:06
  Courtney: And so we do an initial consult.
• 26:08
  Courtney: Okay.
• 26:08
  Courtney: We take about 45 minutes to an hour, and we go through all the history.
• 26:12
  theresa: Okay.
• 26:12
  Courtney: Where your lifestyle's at.
• 26:13
  Courtney: Are you on any medicine, supplements?
• 26:15
  Courtney: What's your goals, et cetera.
• 26:17
  theresa: Okay.
• 26:17
  Courtney: We do an exam.
• 26:18
  Courtney: Um, we draw labs, and we go way more in depth.
• 26:21
  Courtney: I got, kind of was getting kicked out of traditional medicine and, and insurance-based programs-
• 26:27
  theresa: Yeah
• 26:27
  Courtney: because I was ordering too many things, and they weren't- Oh having it.
• 26:30
  Courtney: So I was getting hate mail- Gosh like threatening me to kick me out, so I've been cash pay for 14 years.
• 26:35
  theresa: Sure.
• 26:36
  Courtney: And that has allowed me the freedom to order whatever I think will help us find the answer.
• 26:42
  theresa: Yeah, yeah.
• 26:42
  Courtney: And so, and then we meet back together, and we take- Yeah another 45 minutes or so, maybe a little bit longer.
• 26:48
  Courtney: Yeah.
• 26:48
  Courtney: Sometimes it goes a little faster just depending on what we're working on, and just deep dive.
• 26:52
  Courtney: Yeah.
• 26:52
  Courtney: And help you understand where your symptoms match your numbers.
• 26:56
  theresa: Okay.
• 26:57
  Courtney: Talk about the root cause, and then we kinda work together to figure out what we're gonna do about it.
• 27:02
  theresa: That's so cool.
• 27:02
  Courtney: And I'm gonna bring my expertise.
• 27:04
  theresa: Yeah.
• 27:04
  Courtney: But people have a say, and they should have a say.
• 27:06
  theresa: Yeah.
• 27:07
  Courtney: Uh, that feels right or that doesn't feel right.
• 27:09
  Courtney: Okay.
• 27:09
  Courtney: Or can I try this and this first before we go there?
• 27:12
  Courtney: Yeah.
• 27:12
  Courtney: Sure.
• 27:13
  Courtney: And so it becomes a relationship, right?
• 27:15
  Courtney: Yeah.
• 27:15
  Courtney: Ooh, I like that.
• 27:15
  Courtney: Where we work together.
• 27:17
  Courtney: And then I see people back every three to four months in most cases- And, and you've
• 27:20
  theresa: got- fine tune a great team too.
• 27:22
  theresa: D- uh, are they each one specialized in a certain thing, or it's just part of your supporting team that helps you manage your patients?
• 27:30
  Courtney: Yeah.
• 27:30
  Courtney: So I have picked up skills along the way.
• 27:34
  theresa: Mm-hmm.
• 27:34
  Courtney: Um, but I just added a nurse practitioner six months ago who she's coming in as a specialist on longevity medicine.
• 27:40
  theresa: Nice.
• 27:40
  Courtney: And, um- Beautiful and she's phenomenal.
• 27:42
  Courtney: Her name's Jackie.
• 27:44
  Courtney: Um, she's phenomenal.
• 27:45
  Courtney: And so she's doing a lot of the hormone support, and then helping, um, really, you know, through that perimenopause, menopause- Yeah transitions or andropause for men, and just thinking through, like, okay, how do we prevent dementia, cardiovascular disease- Yeah.
• 28:01
  Courtney: That's- cancers, and how do we support people through those processes?
• 28:04
  Courtney: 'Cause we're not a sum of our genes, but we also have to create the right environment-
• 28:10
  theresa: Sure
• 28:10
  Courtney: and be proactive because- Yeah everybody's story and tendencies are going to be different.
• 28:15
  theresa: Yeah.
• 28:16
  Courtney: And so it's a progressive, um, faith-forward but proactive approach- That's cool in what we wanna do with people.
• 28:23
  theresa: I love that'cause, um, having a mother that's in the last stages of Alzheimer, Alzheimer's and-
• 28:29
  Courtney: Yeah.
• 28:30
  Courtney: Yeah
• 28:30
  theresa: and just saying,"No.
• 28:32
  theresa: No, it's not gonna be me."
• 28:34
  Courtney: You know?
• 28:34
  Courtney: Yeah.
• 28:34
  Courtney: Can I give you that?
• 28:35
  Courtney: Like, you know, I mean, there is a component of this that's faith and mindset.
• 28:39
  Courtney: Okay.
• 28:39
  Courtney: You got that.
• 28:40
  Courtney: Check, check done, right?
• 28:43
  Courtney: There's a component of that that's blood sugars.
• 28:45
  Courtney: Oh.
• 28:45
  Courtney: Um, there's c- w- being very aggressive.
• 28:47
  Courtney: Okay.
• 28:47
  Courtney: Toxins, you're right about.
• 28:49
  theresa: Yeah.
• 28:50
  Courtney: Cellular health and mitochondria, you're right about.
• 28:52
  theresa: Okay.
• 28:53
  Courtney: Um, hormones I think are a big deal.
• 28:55
  Courtney: Yeah.
• 28:55
  Courtney: And you're a unique case in that'cause of your history.
• 28:58
  theresa: Right.
• 28:58
  Courtney: Um, but that's a piece of it.
• 29:00
  Courtney: And then the other thing that I think gets missed by medicine is loneliness-
• 29:04
  theresa: Ooh
• 29:05
  Courtney: and the need for connection and community.
• 29:08
  theresa: Oh, you're
• 29:08
  Courtney: hitting me.
• 29:08
  Courtney: Um, the, you know, there has been- You're hitting me there's a lot of that.
• 29:12
  Courtney: Oh my gosh.
• 29:13
  Courtney: And there's a lot of studies that have backed that up.
• 29:15
  theresa: Wow.
• 29:15
  Courtney: And so, um- That's amazing you know, I made that part of my, I made that part of my pillars.
• 29:20
  Courtney: I mean, I don't get to medically, you know, sit here and help people connect, but I'm like,"Hey, it's a piece of your life." Yeah.
• 29:26
  Courtney: Like, what are you doing for fun?
• 29:28
  Courtney: Yeah.
• 29:28
  Courtney: And are you, do you have a friend or two- Yeah in a community that you can lean on?
• 29:32
  Courtney: 'Cause it is important- So good as we go through life, and there's a lot of studies behind that.
• 29:36
  theresa: That is so good,'cause, uh, being 26 years isolated, if I did get a friend, he'd be jealous.
• 29:42
  theresa: I know- Oh, wow uh, my, after I found this one neurocycle, um, she's alongside Dr.
• 29:48
  theresa: Caroline Leaf, and I remember- Yes, I know who you're
• 29:50
  Courtney: talking about
• 29:51
  theresa: after about 10 sessions, I'm like,"It says here you only give me an hour and 15 minutes." I said,"You're giving me two hours." And he goes,"Oh, Tee, you need it to talk." And then on a rare side, we just happened to connect, so she's also one of my best friends.
• 30:06
  theresa: But we know, we know when to put- Aw the mentor hat on, and I, and then we know just how to, you know, have fun, drink lots of coffee.
• 30:12
  theresa: So that to me was the one single healing thing, and being restored to my kids.
• 30:19
  theresa: Mm-hmm.
• 30:19
  theresa: I do deal with loneliness.
• 30:21
  theresa: I don't feel alone, but my friends, two, two really good friends, they live far away.
• 30:26
  theresa: So I have to process that, um- Mm-hmm with my time with God.
• 30:30
  theresa: And it's funny, I was really- Mm-hmm feeling it a couple days ago, but what, it fits in with what I'm doing in my business, and that's teaching women how to write stories.
• 30:40
  theresa: Yeah.
• 30:40
  theresa: 'Cause stories will sell as a business person more than-
• 30:44
  Courtney: Mm-hmm.
• 30:44
  Courtney: Mm-hmm
• 30:45
  theresa: So it actually becomes, doing that story technique on me actually helps me get it out.
• 30:51
  theresa: And then I feel better.
• 30:53
  theresa: Mm-hmm.
• 30:53
  theresa: Because I'm not, I'm very happy.
• 30:55
  theresa: I love my life.
• 30:56
  theresa: Yeah.
• 30:56
  theresa: I love where I'm living.
• 30:57
  theresa: I love my son.
• 30:58
  theresa: Mm-hmm.
• 30:58
  theresa: I get to work part-time on the radio.
• 31:00
  theresa: I, after, uh- Amazing 18 years, they hired me back, so I get to do things that I absolutely love.
• 31:07
  Courtney: Mm-hmm.
• 31:08
  theresa: But you know, I don't want another husband like that.
• 31:11
  theresa: But there is that component where it's like you were used to coming home to someone, a body.
• 31:18
  theresa: So I've had to work through that, and, and I think- Right that might even affect my health to a certain extent, so.
• 31:24
  theresa: I'm signing up after this interview.
• 31:26
  Courtney: That's amazing.
• 31:27
  Courtney: I wrote a whole chapter on that, and I gave my testimony of a- Oh period of time in my life-
• 31:31
  theresa: Yeah
• 31:32
  Courtney: that I ha- was lonely, and I didn't realize in the moment how much it impacted my health.
• 31:39
  theresa: That's-
• 31:39
  Courtney: And then later I've had awareness like-
• 31:41
  theresa: Okay
• 31:41
  Courtney: oh, that probably was- Yeah 10 times worse than it should have been-
• 31:46
  theresa: Yeah
• 31:46
  Courtney: had I had a solid friend or two that I really could have-
• 31:51
  theresa: Yeah
• 31:51
  Courtney: leaned on in that season.
• 31:53
  Courtney: And, you know, you can't go back now, but-
• 31:54
  Yeah
• 31:55
  Courtney: you know, you, you do have to manage the, the, the time that we have on earth and- Yeah realizing that, uh, relationships are a part, and-
• 32:03
  theresa: Yeah
• 32:04
  Courtney: we gotta give time and effort to it.
• 32:05
  theresa: That's so good.
• 32:06
  theresa: I, I just, that's just so unbelievable that you brought that up.
• 32:11
  theresa: I think, um, that I work on the weekends, so I don't go to church, but I, I was interviewing someone, and I was like,"I'm not in a church body.
• 32:19
  theresa: I know I need community," and she's like,"No, wait a minute.
• 32:21
  theresa: What are we doing here?" Like, we're having community.
• 32:24
  theresa: I may be interviewing, but we're in community.
• 32:26
  theresa: So she helped me- Mm-hmm broaden my aspect that I think God invented Zoom, and I think it's okay- to communicate on Zoom.
• 32:35
  theresa: Your friends live in Canada and Texas, you can meet together.
• 32:39
  theresa: A- and then on top of that, this is a whole nother subject, you s- just read some really tough stuff with religion, and you think,"Oh, man, another church, another..." Mm.
• 32:49
  theresa: So, and I come from a, I, I love God, I love the Word, and I, I love community, but, and I also went through some spiritual abuse, so you know, you gotta get healed- Yeah of that control.
• 33:00
  Courtney: I give you, I give you total grace for that.
• 33:02
  Courtney: Yeah.
• 33:02
  Courtney: We owned a gym here in town, and- Yeah um, that gym is, was one of the greatest examples of community-
• 33:11
  theresa: Wow
• 33:11
  Courtney: that I have ever been a part of.
• 33:13
  Courtney: Wow.
• 33:13
  Courtney: Like, those people...
• 33:15
  Courtney: And it wasn't, I mean, it was the culture we created, but those people just, like, they sweated together.
• 33:20
  Courtney: They, they endured together.
• 33:21
  Courtney: That's so good.
• 33:22
  Courtney: They laughed together.
• 33:23
  theresa: Yeah.
• 33:24
  Courtney: And, you know, there would be times where someone, uh, one time I remember this couple had a cert- a sudden family emergency, and they had to take, um, a adoption or, or- Mm uh, custody of two family members'- Okay uh, family members' children, two younger children, and they just were basically brought to their front door, and, like, they don't have any supplies.
• 33:48
  Courtney: They don't have anything.
• 33:49
  Courtney: And wouldn't you know, that gym rallied.
• 33:52
  Courtney: Within a matter of- Mm hours and days they had beds.
• 33:55
  Courtney: Ooh.
• 33:55
  Courtney: They had comforters.
• 33:56
  Courtney: That's good.
• 33:56
  Courtney: They had towels.
• 33:57
  Courtney: They had...
• 33:57
  Courtney: And that's community.
• 33:58
  Courtney: Yeah.
• 33:58
  Courtney: Like, it could look like a lot of different things, and, you know- That's just, wow but we do need some sense of that.
• 34:03
  theresa: Yeah.
• 34:04
  theresa: That's a great example.
• 34:05
  theresa: Maybe I need to join a gym.
• 34:06
  theresa: No.
• 34:08
  theresa: I see my daughter and her fiance, and I see them go regularly, and I think it's as much as talking to people and supporting each other.
• 34:16
  theresa: It's
• 34:16
  Courtney: social, 1,000%.
• 34:17
  Courtney: Yeah.
• 34:18
  theresa: So of course, you know, my daughter's 28, wants to have a cool bod, so.
• 34:23
  theresa: Man, though.
• 34:24
  theresa: Okay.
• 34:25
  theresa: So I'm gonna sign up when we're done here.
• 34:27
  theresa: So if someone's like,"I'm too, Theresa.
• 34:29
  theresa: How do we do this?" How would...
• 34:31
  theresa: I know someone listening is gonna wanna do the same thing I wanna do.
• 34:35
  theresa: Mm-hmm.
• 34:35
  theresa: Yeah.
• 34:35
  theresa: What's the steps?
• 34:36
  Courtney: Go to Wellspot-
• 34:38
  theresa: Okay
• 34:38
  Courtney: FM, stands for functional medicine, fm.com.
• 34:42
  theresa: Okay.
• 34:43
  Courtney: And you can click on the top right-hand corner, Get Started, and my team- Okay.
• 34:46
  Courtney: I just found that fill out a little form.
• 34:47
  Courtney: My team will call you, answer all your questions- Yeah make sure it's a good fit, and help you get going.
• 34:51
  theresa: Does-
• 34:52
  Courtney: And we can...
• 34:52
  Courtney: Right now we're on, like, you know, we can see people in a week or two, so it's not too bad right now to wait.
• 34:55
  theresa: Okay.
• 34:56
  theresa: Yeah.
• 34:57
  theresa: I was gonna ask you the wait list.
• 34:58
  theresa: Are you pretty active on...
• 34:59
  theresa: S- I see you have a Facebook.
• 35:00
  theresa: Are you pretty active on communicating on social, or do you see a need for that?
• 35:05
  Courtney: Yeah, I'm on, uh, I, I like and enjoy Instagram.
• 35:09
  theresa: Yeah.
• 35:09
  Courtney: I don't know why, I just kind of like gravitate to it.
• 35:11
  Courtney: I
• 35:11
  theresa: like it too.
• 35:12
  Courtney: Probably, like a lot of my people are m- like my, I would say, my ideal target audience are probably more on Facebook.
• 35:18
  theresa: Okay.
• 35:18
  Courtney: Um, but I...
• 35:19
  Courtney: And they are a little bit on Instagram.
• 35:21
  Courtney: I just enjoy Instagram.
• 35:22
  Courtney: Yeah.
• 35:22
  Courtney: I don't know the functionality of it, so I'm there.
• 35:24
  Courtney: Oh, I get it.
• 35:24
  Courtney: We have a YouTube channel.
• 35:26
  Courtney: Um- Right we do LinkedIn.
• 35:28
  Courtney: But a lot of times I'll just let my team post in those places.
• 35:30
  Courtney: Oh, that's cool.
• 35:31
  Courtney: Yeah.
• 35:31
  Courtney: And I'm more engaged between Instagram- Yeah and Facebook probably.
• 35:34
  theresa: That's cool.
• 35:34
  theresa: 'Cause you seem like you have your fingerprint on how to share what you have, your story, and, and draw people in.
• 35:42
  theresa: Thank you.
• 35:42
  theresa: Well, I can't thank you enough for taking time out.
• 35:45
  theresa: It was great.
• 35:45
  theresa: Thanks
• 35:46
  Courtney: for having me.
• 35:46
  theresa: Yeah, I was looking forward to this for a long time because I, you know, you came through an agency, which I think is pretty cool.
• 35:54
  theresa: Most the people just see me ask, and it's, uh, something God told me to do is open the...
• 35:59
  theresa: Let's hear some stories.
• 36:00
  theresa: So thank you.
• 36:01
  theresa: Oh,
• 36:01
  Courtney: that's amazing.
• 36:02
  Courtney: You get- That's amazing.
• 36:03
  Courtney: And if you don't mind real quickly too, I want to share my new book just because if people- Please.
• 36:06
  Courtney: Oh,
• 36:06
  theresa: I meant to
• 36:06
  Courtney: say this next still live in our area- Please that's the base for your...
• 36:09
  Courtney: It's, um, called Where Faith Meets Medicine.
• 36:12
  theresa: Okay.
• 36:12
  Courtney: And it's a woman's guide to health, hormones, and longevity.
• 36:16
  Courtney: Oh.
• 36:16
  Courtney: It's out on Amazon.
• 36:17
  theresa: I will link it.
• 36:18
  theresa: And
• 36:18
  Courtney: if you look me up, it'll, you'll find it.
• 36:20
  Courtney: You'll find my- Okay my personal brand page and all the things pretty easily.
• 36:24
  Courtney: Nice
• 36:24
  theresa: But- I, I will link that and link your w- we- your website definitely in the show notes'cause I think- Thank you this is gonna be, uh, it's really gonna be needed.
• 36:34
  theresa: I just can't thank you enough.
• 36:35
  theresa: I, I, I could have asked you a lot more questions, but your time's valuable and so is mine.
• 36:40
  theresa: So listen, listen, guys, if her story, if Courtney's story has moved you, do two things.
• 36:46
  theresa: Go to our website.
• 36:48
  theresa: Get check, get a checkout, or go buy her book.
• 36:51
  theresa: You know, or share this episode with a woman you know who really needs to hear the raw truth.
• 36:57
  theresa: Y- some stories are not for scrolling past, and this is definitely one of them.
• 37:01
  theresa: So I'm Teresa Croft.
• 37:02
  theresa: I'll talk to you in the next episode of the Stuck No More Voices podcast.