Studio Chat
This is where conversations about self care and life happens, to help you to become an expert in your own life when it comes to self love and self care. To trust your gut and have your own back and to strengthen your mind/body connection."To fall in love with yourself is the first secret to happiness".
Studio Chat
Embracing holistic health, healing, PMS & weight loss with Veda Leclerc
Have you ever felt like your health issues were a mystery that no doctor could solve? Imagine being a high school junior overwhelmed by severe fatigue, unexplained sore throats and panic attacks, only to find answers through sheer perseverance. Join us as we dive into the inspiring journey of Veda Leclerc, the 21-year-old founder of Wellness by Veda. She opens up about her relentless quest for a diagnosis and how discovering she had Lyme disease marked the beginning of her transformative journey towards health and wellness.
In this episode, Veda shares how her diagnosis led to substantial lifestyle changes, from dietary adjustments to better sleep habits and consistent exercise regimes. Her story is a testament to the power of self-education, perseverance, and embracing holistic health practices. We also unpack the misconceptions surrounding PMS, weight loss, and nutrition, shedding light on how processed foods and misleading health information can cloud our judgement. Veda’s insights provide a fresh perspective on navigating the abundance of health information available today while staying true to oneself.
We also explore the emotional and spiritual aspects of Veda’s journey, discussing the importance of vulnerability and faith in overcoming personal challenges. Learn how embracing these elements has not only helped Veda heal but also inspired her to help other women through her business. From understanding menstrual health to debunking diet myths, this episode is packed with valuable insights that encourage a balanced, authentic approach to well-being. Tune in for a compelling conversation that promises to leave you feeling informed and inspired.
A huge thank you to Veda for sharing your story and being so vulnerable and honest with us.
@wellnessbyveda
https://www.wellnessbyveda.com/
Welcome to the Studio Chat podcast, the podcast designed to be your companion in the journey of self-discovery. I'm Barbara Thompson, your host and a dedicated therapist. I'm the founder and owner of Self Care Studio, a private counseling practice With my clients and courses that I create. On this podcast, I'm committed to ensuring that you have the support that you need. I created this podcast as a space for you to feel a sense of connection and a reminder that you're not alone in this thing that we call life, this adventure. This podcast is your weekly reminder to trust yourself, live life authentically and embrace the path that is uniquely yours. Together, we'll explore ways to break free from people pleasing, overthinking, allowing you to claim your time and energy to live life on your terms. You'll be joined by myself as I take you through some episodes or, during the year, I'll have some special self-care experts as guests on my podcast. So, if you're ready to step into a life that's truly for you, join me on this journey. Let's navigate the twists and turns of life together and, more importantly, live your life for you. So thank you so much for choosing to spend some time with me today. Let the studio chat begin.
Speaker 1:Welcome back, guys, to another episode of the studio chat podcast. It's really nice to have you here today, and if you've clicked on this episode, something obviously has sparked your interest. Whether it's my beautiful guest, vader, which I'm going to talk about in a minute, or the taglines of PMS or weight loss, I think all of us out there will have a fair idea of what PMS is. Maybe so we're going to debunk some ideas, because I think a lot of people may think what they're feeling is normal and weight loss is something that's on topic, I think, for anyone in this world, especially today.
Speaker 1:I've definitely seen a shift in my private practice and with people that sit in front of me on a daily basis, we're so consumed with so much health and wellness, but I think it's gone the other way that, yes, we have so much information at our fingertips, but it's confused so many more people that they're like, oh my gosh, I either have to be perfect or I have to just live on takeaways and drink alcohol and vape, like there's no middle ground. And I think it's so lovely to have you here, veda, because I think, like I said to you before, you're 21, and it's nice that it's coming from someone in your age Rather than me saying it. It's nice that you're living it. I love your story, so I want you to share that with my listeners today. But first of all I want to introduce Veda Leclerc. She's actually living in Florida at the moment and her business is called Wellness by Veda, and I'm kind of going to throw the microphone over to you to welcome you to the podcast and say hello first of all.
Speaker 2:Yes, thank you so much for having me. I'm super excited to be here.
Speaker 1:And it's always weird when we're talking across the other side of the world, like I'm looking at her screen now and I can see that it's dark, but it's 7am in the morning and, uh, it's just after 9pm here the next day, so that always is something that's so fascinating. When we're podcasting, we're like looking at each other as if we're in the same room but we're worlds apart. It's so interesting, isn't it right?
Speaker 2:that's why we love technology? Because we can connect like this.
Speaker 1:It's so amazing. Okay, so can you share with my listeners, I think, a bit about Wellness by Veda and a little bit about your story and what you do.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I'll start off with explaining my story, because that's kind of what's led me to Wellness by Veda. But so I was in high school I was a junior at the time and I started to experience some bizarre symptoms. The very first symptoms I started experiencing was rashes, like weird rashes over my skin and a little bit over my body. They'd come and go. I went to the dermatologist and they were like, oh, your skin's dry, here's some moisturizer. So I was like, okay, hopefully this will fix my problem. It didn't, and this is like in the fall.
Speaker 2:And a couple months later, in December, I remember complaining to my mom. I was like I have such a sore throat like this is really weird. And she's like, oh, we'll just like go to the doctor tomorrow. And I was like, no, we need to go right now. It was like probably nine o'clock at night, like she just wants to go to bed, and I'm like we need to go to urgent care, like I just had an intuition that something else was wrong. So we went to urgent care and I just remember sitting on like a chair, them take my blood pressure, and next thing, you know, I wake up on a bed with like knees over my head, doctor screaming in my face, my mom shaking me being like beta, beta, wake up, wake up. And I went unconscious for like 30 seconds and next thing you know, ambulance is coming. They're like we need to get you to the ER. So I went to the ER. They ran a bunch of tests on me. Everything was coming back normal. They didn't know what was wrong. I was beyond weak. Like I walked to the hospital bathroom and like I had like six people holding me because I was passing out like on my way there and it was miserable. Um, eventually I went home and I ended up just being bedridden for like two weeks. I was clearly fighting something. I had no appetite. I had to crawl to the bathroom like it was absolutely miserable. Um, eventually I started to like get my energy back and I started to feel a little bit better, which was good, because right around Christmas time.
Speaker 2:But then two months later so now we're in February the following year I fell extremely ill again and I was worse this time. I didn't think I could get worse, but I was worse. I quite literally thought I was on my deathbed. Like I had high fevers every day. I was sweating profusely. I was just so, so fatigued, like it was horrible. I went to the doctors once again. Everything came back normal and I was like what is going on? Like there's something deeper.
Speaker 2:And the thing with this time around is I remember one night I just suddenly woke up from my sleep with a panic attack and I was like what? Like why am I panicking? Like I had that, like an elephant was sitting on my chest, like my mind was racing, but I didn't know what I was stressed about. Like I couldn't pinpoint, like why. I was anxious. And I remember calling my mom and I was like Mom, like I feel weird. Like why am I having a panic attack? It's fine, like go back to bed, whatever.
Speaker 2:Well, that one panic attack turned into hundreds of panic attacks. I had a panic attack almost every single day. I was, like I said, a junior in high school. I missed so many days of school. If I would try to go to school I'd end up leaving Cause I would just start crying in the middle of class and people would be like what's going on? And I'm like I don't know what's going on, Like I genuinely didn't know why I was sad and why I was having a panic attack. I couldn't go to like sporting events with friends. I actually I was playing ice hockey at the time. I had to stop playing that for a little bit. I was.
Speaker 2:It was horrible, like I basically felt like I had to stop living and I was just not only dealing with all these physical symptoms, but I was so like depressed, but I didn't know why, and it was very frustrating and like a frustrating cycle, cause when you feel like that, like you want to pinpoint, like okay, what's causing this and like let's get to the root of it, um, but eventually that turned into, um, my cystic acne. It turned into hair loss. My hair was falling out in clumps. I was. I couldn't even wear my hair down. I was so insecure because my hair would just fall out in clumps. It was thinning so bad. I was dealing with really bad gut issues. I just had so many symptoms that were just coming to the surface all at once. My fatigue was at an all time high, like I would sleep 12 hours. I would wake up and I felt like I could sleep another 12 hours, like I did not feel right at all. So throughout that summer I just felt absolutely horrible, to say the least.
Speaker 2:My mental health was deteriorating, my physical health was deteriorating and, long story short, I eventually one part of my health journey is I went to a church retreat, and I wasn't overly into that at all, but I was so desperate for help. I was like I need something to like pull me out of this funk, because I'm so hopeless I don't know what I'm going to do. So I went to that church retreat that changed my life mentally and I was actually able to get off my antidepressant. But my physical symptoms were still there and it was like okay, my mom eventually got to the point where there's like there were some, there's something missing, like I was 17. At the time, maybe like I shouldn't be experiencing these things. So eventually, like two years later about we went to a naturopath, so functional doctor, and she tested me for Lyme disease. She's like we're just gonna rule this out. So I was like okay, and I was.
Speaker 2:I was the fall freshman, my freshman year of college, when I was going in and I got a call from my doctor was like you tested positive for Lyme disease and it was almost like this huge sense of relief of like oh, my god, like this is why I felt this way and, like a lot of the times when people get diagnosed like that, it can be like oh my god, scary and sad and all this stuff. But I was like jumping with joy. I'm like, oh my god, I have an answer, like I know why I've been feeling the way that I have. But the journey of overcoming my Lyme disease and overcoming all these symptoms wasn't easy, because I had gone undiagnosed for so long that I couldn't just go on an antibiotic, like for say six weeks or something, to kill it off.
Speaker 2:I had to literally do a 360 to my lifestyle and it took a while because I wasn't not living a healthy lifestyle at all. I was staying up till one, two in the morning, I was eating whatever the heck I wanted, I was skipping meals. Like no health was in my life and I had to slowly integrate new things. Like I started off with doing some elimination food diets and then I would start off with going to bed a little bit earlier and then I would just integrate these health things here and there and I started to feel better. I was like some of my symptoms started to slowly go away.
Speaker 2:So eventually it motivated me to like go entirely gluten free entirely dairy free to start working out, like to really dig into my health, and I started to feel amazing, like all my symptoms started to start to go away and this just really sparked my interest in health. Like it just was like oh my God, this stuff works. I feel so good. I feel so good in a way that I never thought I'd get to, like when I was in my health journey. That was one of the darkest points of my life and I never thought there's a light at the end of the tunnel. Like I thought that was my life forever and the fact that this stuff started to heal me. I was like Whoa, like this is, this is cool.
Speaker 2:So I just started to dive deeper into how they started to follow those people on social media, educated myself, listen to podcasts, read books, and I learned so much about my body and I did have like the guidance from my naturopath, but I also had I learned so much about myself that I was like my own trial and error, like I would try oh, does this work? Does this work? And it just grew. I grew such a huge passion for it because I started work for myself. So that's what's led me to wellness by Veda.
Speaker 2:Because I am so passionate now about helping other women especially overcome some of the stuff that I went through. Because if I was younger, like looking back, my younger self I wish I had someone like me back then just to tell me like there is a light at the end of the tunnel, like you don't have to deal with this forever. There's always answers and a route to stuff. So that's just really inspires me every single day to go out there and to show women that it is possible to overcome any mental, mental or physical challenges that you're going through. And that's how wellness by me to sparked yeah, you're a powerhouse.
Speaker 1:I can see that you've done all the work and I can see how. You know how rough that was for you and even just talking about every time you talk about it, your body will feel a sense of oh my goodness, I went through all of that. I think how do you feel now sharing that story with us today? Like how do you feel right now, sitting there sharing with me how this journey will begin for you?
Speaker 2:yeah, I mean it's. It feels crazy, like almost it's like a pinch me moment type of thing, of something that, like I just remember myself laying in my bed and just I'm gonna, was a light at the end of the tunnel and the fact that I'm here today, it's just looking back like I'm grateful because it's led me to where I am today and it's like given me a relationship with God and all these things.
Speaker 2:But it's like I have so much empathy for my younger self, um, but it just feels so good to know that I've gone through something that I didn't think I could get through, um, and now it can help other people the same thing yeah, and that vulnerability you're showing through right now is do you know how many women are hearing this going?
Speaker 1:I want to work with her because she's real, like the fact that, um, there's so many young women your age that will not cry, will not? You know? They're like blocking it. I don't want to feel anything, I just want to move through it and and I can really resonate on a lot of things that you've shared.
Speaker 1:And those moments are very dark because not only as a 17 year old girl you're dealing with like why is my stomach sore or why am I feeling like this? I just don't feel right. You're also living daily life of the normal daily pressures of being 17. And you're not quite an adult. You're definitely not a teenager, but you're not quite an adult. And you're in that middle part where you're kind of finishing school, like who am I? So you've got a lot of things that are going on. No wonder it's, you know, and I could see it sitting there and I thought I know you'll feel better after a cry, but I could just see it sitting here how special this was.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much for just being so vulnerable and so honest of the things that people do not talk about, because it's so easy to look at where you are now from the outsiders and be like, wow, look at vader, she's a powerhouse, she's got wellness by vader, look at all everything, all the integrative medicine, and she's so knowledgeable. And I know a lot of women your age or any age would look at you and go, wow, like I want to be like her and look how healthy she is and and she's a model of health and. But it's really real and honest to go back to the time when this, what has brought you here and those feelings of what keeps you going in those moments, was it your connection with God that kept you going in those moments where I was like you know, how am I going to get through today?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I definitely think he played a massive part in it. I always say food healed me and sleep and exercise healed me and it played a huge component. But I think he was the number one healer in my life and he just really changed my mental perspective about everything and things that I used to worry about I no longer worry about and he's just guided me through it and, like knowing that he brought me through that in a time that I didn't think I could get brought through like any other future event. I know he's in my corner and I'm like, if you can get me through that, like you can get me through anything, so it almost like allows me to have a better perspective on other things in my life, because I'm like I didn't think I could get through that but I did, so I can get through anything.
Speaker 1:And what can you achieve? Oh my gosh, if you have no barriers and you go, I can do anything. That world opens up for you, doesn't it? You can do anything. You can be anything Exactly yes, you can do hard things. Can be anything, exactly yes, you can do hard things. That's exactly what you've shown us today. Everyone listening, everyone right now listening, is cheering in your corner, I promise you, and everyone can also do hard things.
Speaker 1:You're just going to believe yourself yeah, but thank you, your story is going to help so many people because we all look. It's so easy to look at anyone on Instagram or TikTok or whatever and be like, wow, they train every day. Or there's so much. When we talk about health and wellness now there's so much emphasis on it, which is great, especially in my space the mental side and your space of what you do. It's great that there's awareness and people are talking about it.
Speaker 1:But I think it's so confusing because people aren't honest and don't talk about the hard moments. We like to glide over them and we just want to look at everyone else and we think everyone else is doing so much better than us. Not that it's a competition, but it's like it's so easy to look on the outside and be like, wow, they've got this stuff together or they move their body every day and they're eating well. People that binge eat or people that can't exercise or get into a gym they look at everyone else and go. Why am I the odd one out? Why is this so hard for me when it looks so easy for everybody else?
Speaker 2:yes, I see that a lot, and social media is one of the biggest highlight reels, as you know, like it's don't believe everything you see, and it's so easy to compare ourselves.
Speaker 2:I mean, I've fallen down that rabbit hole many times. But just remember that you are on your own journey and you will get there when you get there, and that a lot of the times, the people that you're comparing yourself to are comparing themselves to other people and the stuff that they're posting like I've had women reach out to me to want to work with me and on social media they look perfect, like they have this perfect body and they have. They are into fitness and health and all these things. Then they message me and they're like I'm so bloated, I have the horrible PMS, I have a missing period, I have this, I have this. It's like that's just social media portraying what you're now comparing yourself basically to a false reality. So I think that's what people need to keep in their back of their mind is, use social media and those type of people to motivate you and to inspire you, but not to compare yourself to.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's a really important point. I like that For anyone that doesn't know. I'm not really too familiar with Lyme disease. What is it and how does it affect your body?
Speaker 2:for people that are listening, that are like I've, heard of it but I don't really know what it is. Yeah, so Lyme disease is when you get bit, it's typically by like a tick and because I was from Maine, it's very common in the New England area. But Lyme disease attacks the whole body so it literally gets into your blood stream and it just starts traveling and it attacks your cells. It attacks your gut, your hormones, your like literally everything and anything. Right when I got after I got diagnosed with Lyme, I did some other lab testing and I had like flagged, flagged, flagged, like I had so many things going on and Lyme is one of those things where you're always going to have it, like it's always going to be in your body, but you can bring it to a point where it's not affecting you and that's kind of where I brought it to today. And I do have Lyme flares, like if I were to start eating processed and sugary foods I would have a Lyme flare. Or like if I'm in moments of life where I'm super duper, stressed, I will have a Lyme flare. So I still have flares here and there, but I have it a lot more at bay and managed. But Lyme disease can really take a toll on your body physically, mentally, emotionally.
Speaker 2:And the thing is with Lyme is everyone can get different symptoms. So typically like, if you go to your doctors and you have, they'll typically diagnose with a Lyme by saying if you have a ball's eye rash or just like a rash that starts to grow on a certain part of your body, and if you don't have that, you don't have Lyme. Quote unquote. I didn't have that and I still got diagnosed with Lyme. My um, a few people in my family have Lyme and we all have extremely different symptoms. So it's one of those things where don't necessarily rule it out because you didn't have my symptoms or you didn't have that bullseye rash Like, you could still have it.
Speaker 2:It can affect everyone so so differently, um, some worse than others. And also, if you were to go to your doctor and get Lyme test done, they don't run a full Lyme panel. So it happens all the time that people get misdiagnosed and they're just sent home and they're just like, oh, you don't have Lyme, like sorry, we don't know what's wrong. But fortunately for me, I was going to a naturopath who ran the full panel and who was more of the functional medicine side, so we were able to detect it right away. But she even told me she's like if you went to your doctor your other doctor, western medicine doctor to get this tested it, you would have said that you didn't have lyme disease and it sounds like your arm was in your body for a while, like it really attacked all sorts of areas, didn't it like it was very severe?
Speaker 2:yeah, oh yes, yeah, it attacked me from head to toe, basically, literally yeah, gosh, that was yeah.
Speaker 1:I just couldn't think of you, know, when you just said there's so many things happening for you at that moment. So many things the panic attacks. Even I know a lot of people listening to this do experience panic, panic attacks. They're very scary and really annoying and scary and it's a really tough thing to hide as well yeah, panic attacks are no fun at all.
Speaker 2:Um it, like I said earlier, it feels like an elephant sitting on your chest. It feels like you can't breathe and you're losing your breath and it quite literally feels like you're almost dying. Like it's like you can't catch your breath and you're losing your breath and it quite literally feels like you're almost dying. Like it's like you can't catch your breath and you start just like like you breathe in and out, in and out, and you just freak out. You don't know how to calm yourself down.
Speaker 2:And the most frustrating part, like I said, for me is I didn't know why, like I couldn't pinpoint a time in my life of like I'm super sad about this situation, I'm super stressed about this situation. I couldn't pinpoint that and it drove me insane. Like I started going to therapy and she would ask me I'd be like I don't know why I'm sad, like I literally can't tell you why, and I think that was drove my hopelessness even more. Because I'm like, if I'm not sad about anything, what happens when I am sad about something? Like are my panic attacks gonna times 10, even though I feel like they're already the worst you can get?
Speaker 2:And it is something like I feel like mental health isn't talked about as much as it should and like, oh, you go to a therapist, like you don't, like you don't need that, or like it's just not talked about and encouraged as much as it should be. Like everyone needs a therapist, no matter who you are, what you're going through, what your story is. Um, and I think that my panic attacks just really also created this passion for my mental health as well, because I just knew that that was like really really destroying me in that time of life and I was like I know there's other people going through the same thing and I want to be that light for other people of like you are not alone. Social media might make it seem like you're alone, but there are thousands and millions and trillions of people that are struggling with the exact same thing that you're going through. You're just not hearing people talk about it.
Speaker 1:That's right. That's right. So if we start with, we're going to talk about PMS. So I'm just taking a bit of a guess here that with your flare-ups and stuff, does it affect your cycle?
Speaker 2:It did. It doesn't anymore, but it did affect it. I had a very irregular cycle, but it did affect it. I had a very irregular cycle. I was a woman who I went on birth control and the birth control got rid of a lot of my PMS. Like prior to birth control, I had severe cramps Like I was bedridden on the day of my period. I was taking ibuprofen. I had my heating pad on. I was like in so much pain I had super heavy bleeds, my skin would freak out. I was like in so much pain, I had super heavy bleeds, my skin would freak out all of the PMS symptoms.
Speaker 2:And when I went on birth control all of that went away and like my cycle quote unquote regulated. And fortunately enough, when I was on birth control is when I got diagnosed with Lyme disease. So throughout the process of being on birth control I was starting to heal my body. So by the time I came off of it, it was like the last thing I wanted to do. I was like I've done all the other things to heal my body, the last thing I want to do is get off this birth control pill. And fortunately, when I came off I had a very smooth transition and I didn't overly have any PMS symptoms at all because I did the healing process.
Speaker 2:But prior to that I definitely had a lot of PMS issues and one of the crazy things that also kind of indicated that something was wrong in my body is I went on birth control for acne. I had really really bad acne and it cleared it up completely and around the time where I started getting all these Lyme symptoms, my acne started coming back full blown and I was on that birth control. That helped it. I was taking all of the topical treatments you could possibly take. Nothing would get rid of it. So that's when that also gave me another clue of like okay, this is weird. This literally made my skin so clear and then now it's making me break out like crazy.
Speaker 1:So it's another thing that that Lyme attack, like my hormones and all of those things that were going on yeah, that's a common thing to a lot of people like I'm on the pill so it doesn't kind of you know, love it because it skips a period and I don't get my period. It's just so easy. Um and then and then I do hear that a lot. I think it's worldwide. If a female goes to a doctor and I've got heavy bleeding or I've got blood clots or I've got painful period, I'll just put you on the pill because it masks it, it takes it away. You don't have to deal with it as much. But when we talk about PMS, obviously it's the mood swings as well. Did you experience any mood swings that you can remember?
Speaker 2:yes, I was very irritable. I um I could recognize it too within my body. So like sometimes I felt bad, like when someone would talk to me and I would just come back with like a snarky comment. I was like that's my PMS, like I promise it's not me, um. But yeah, irritability is something I experienced for sure, and I see a lot of the time women who come to me experience that as well.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I hear that a lot too, and that was me back in the day when I was a bit younger that anyone listening to this any female, I'm sure you can resonate. It's like one particular day, someone's breathing funny. You just feel like someone, you feel itchy under your skin, like anything. The wind blows a funny way and you just get irritated or and that's just the small things, and you're just ready for a fight and you're on edge and then, maybe two days later, you go to the toilet and you wipe and you go. Oh, that's why and I think a lot of people listening to that like and people, and it's funny.
Speaker 1:But it's not funny at the same time that a lot of us yes, our partners or our husbands or people who have children there'll be one moment in the month where you're just going to rip someone's head off and you do it and you don't really know that you've done it until you go to the bathroom or then you notice you've got your pee and you go. Oh, that was why I felt really scratchy the other day and we kind of want to normalize today that that's not normal. The irregular periods aren't normal. Painful periods aren't normal. Heavy clotting is not normal. Is there any other not normal you want to add to that list of something I may have missed out?
Speaker 2:I feel like the extreme fatigue before your period and the bloating before your period or even during ovulation. I hear women are bloated during ovulation or have pain and cramping during ovulation. None of that is normal and I want to debunk that, because just because it's common doesn't mean it's normal. Just because everyone else has PMS and everyone else is on birth control does not mean that it is normal. And so many times women have so many PMS issues. Their first instinct is birth control. Okay, maybe that birth control helps, but you're going to need to get off of it at some point. And when you get off of it, you're likely going to rebound all of those symptoms. Because when you're on birth control, it shuts off the communication between your ovaries and your brain of communicating.
Speaker 2:Create these hormones. Create these hormones and our period is our fifth vital sign. So if you do not have a period or your periods are extremely irregular, that's a huge sign that something is wrong. Because we're, when we go to the doctors, we get our vital signs tested, like if our blood pressure is off, our oxygens off, we're going to be alarmed. We're going to be like, oh no, like this isn't good. Well, we should start looking at that the same for our periods is. It's literally a vital sign, and if you don't have one, start digging deeper, because that's a huge sign that there's something deep going on in your body that you should really be motivated to work on yeah, and I read somewhere that the hero of the period I always thought it was when you bled.
Speaker 1:You were like, oh yeah, I've got a period. I've heard that it's actually when you ovulate. So if you don't ovulate or you don't know when you're ovulating, that's. That's when the good stuff is happening. If you're just getting a period, great, but I think the hero is ovulation. Am I correct in saying that?
Speaker 2:yeah, that's very true is if you're not ovulating, the period bleed that you're having isn't fully um accurate. I guess I could say yeah, okay, so PMS is.
Speaker 1:It's not like people do joke about it, oh you're, so you're PMSing right now you're PMS. But I think let's just be honest anyone listening to this? It's not normal. And if you've got daughters or cousins or people you go to college with and you hear them talking, I'd love you to say, hey, that's actually not normal, rather than, oh, me too. It's kind of like any pain at all. Go, get it looked at. It's not rich. Start tracking it. If it's regular, great. And your body's always telling you something. Get that biofeedback. Find out, like you said, it's one of the vital signs. Be friends with it. I don't know why we hate it so much, because it's such a gift that every month we get it. It means that you know you can create life and it means that everything's working well. And it's so interesting that so many of us have been brought up, whether we're conscious of it or not, to this.
Speaker 2:Got this again because nine times out of ten it's painful, we get headaches or migraines or we're just feeling yucky exactly, yeah, and I think I mean, if I old me, when I experienced all those things, like I dreaded my period, I was like, oh my god, this is the time I'm mom and I would literally, um, look at my calendar and be like, are you serious, I'm starting my period on this time, like I have stuff I need to do, like all of this, and now I don't experience that anymore, like literally the. I just moved to Florida a couple weeks ago and the day I moved is when Florida a couple of weeks ago, and the day I moved is when I started my period. And it's like if old me was dealing with all those things of the PMS right now, heck no, would I be able to move. But I was like like sometimes like I'm very into my body, so like I have a very regular cycle, so I know like, okay, every 28 to 30 days I know what's going to come. But if I didn't track that at all or anything like, I wouldn't even know my periods coming because I have no symptoms like at all.
Speaker 2:And I want to remind people that some symptoms like you're naturally going to feel a little bit more tired before you start your period. That's normal because your progesterone and estrogen are changing. But it shouldn't be tired. We're like you can't get out of bed or like you can't go to work or you can't work out. Like it shouldn't be that type of tired and then, right before your period, you should focus on lower intensity workouts, like you're not gonna have energy to go for a tough run and hit PRS at the gym. Like that's when your body should slow down and that's when you should listen to it and slow down an aspect.
Speaker 2:And you're gonna crave a little bit more food. It shouldn't drive you insane, right? You're like if I don't eat this piece of chocolate, I'm gonna kill someone. Like it shouldn't be that bad, but it should be. Like you should have a little bit more cravings because our body actually needs more calories in that second phase of our cycle. So it's just your body's telling you like, okay, give me more food, give me more food. But I see all the time that women go against this aspect and maybe they don't eat enough or they run their bodies haywire because they're like, say, I need to lose weight and I need to go to the gym every day. That's why you have PMS, because you're not living with your body's cyclical nature. You're living with what society is telling you, and look how far that's gotten people.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it gets everyone far to a point where it doesn't work anymore and everyone's burnt out or has fertility issues or whatever. So that's really interesting. Yeah, okay, it's because a lot of women here I don't know if you have it in the states is they have that rod in the arm. Do you guys have that? Yes, yeah, we have that here. Okay, that was never an option when I was that age, but maybe it was. I was just always just the pill, so I had the pill. There was nothing really else around. But okay. So PMS, so not normal, and maybe where's a good place to start? Do you think just tracking someone, just working out how, what their cycle is and what it kind of feels like?
Speaker 2:yeah, I think that I would definitely start just being aware, like, listen to your body, see if you're ovulating. A huge sign of ovulation is you have, like eggy white substance that's coming out of you. That's like a number one sign that you're ovulating and that's something that you want. So be aware of that. Notice, like, throughout the month how many days does it take till I bleed? Like is it? Are you bleeding in 21 days? Are you bleeding in 40 days? Are you bleeding? Not at all? I'm starting there and also for people, if they like, follow up on my page I have a cycle syncing guide and it will show you how to live in according to your cycle. So it'll be like okay, during your follicular phase, you should work out like this, you should eat like this, you should do do this, you should do this and like things to look out for for um, your period and stuff. So that's a good way to start to kind of figuring out, um, what's going on with your cycle that's yeah, and that's how we've been created.
Speaker 1:That's. I think cycle syncing is just kind of making its you know way around the world of people talking about it and all that kind of stuff. Um, is there anything on periods or pms you want to finish up with before we talk about weight loss and food?
Speaker 2:um, I think the last thing I want to say is, like you kind of briefly touched on earlier, is every symptom that we have is a sign from our body that something is going on. And analogy I like to give is like thinking of a car, like, okay, you're driving, your check engine light comes on. Maybe you're like me and you're probably like I don't know anything about cars, I don't want to deal with that right now, so you just continue to drive. And next thing, you know, another light comes on and you're like, oh, shoot, like this isn't good. And then another light comes on and all these lights are coming on. And next thing, you know your car doesn't work the same and in order for it to now work properly, you need to bring it to the shop. So it's the same with your symptoms is oh, I'm fine, I just. I just have migraines before my period. I'm good, yeah, well, that migraine is just one check engine light.
Speaker 2:The longer that check engine light goes untouched, now you're going to have bloating. Now you're going to have missing periods. Now you're going to have these severe cravings and irritability and depression, anxiety. Now you're going to have all these things and it's going to get to the point where you have no choice but to seek help because all those lights are coming out and your body's no longer running. And that's when I see a lot of my clients. They eventually come to me where they hit their wits end and they're like I can't do this anymore and all their check engine lights are on. So I encourage people who are listening is to not wait until that point. If you have one check engine light on, start seeking your help.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I agree with you. Very well said. Yeah, it's going to help a lot of people. Oh, where am I going to start with our next? You know the second part of this episode.
Speaker 1:It's a big topic, like we're talking about weight loss, but obviously part of that is I want to talk about food restrictions as well. I think one of the main things it's been around ever since I've been on this earth too, is for women to eat like sparrows. Have you ever heard that saying Like women to eat? We're not meant to be hungry and we're only supposed to eat dainty little meals, and we're just supposed to be dainty. And when anyone talks about losing weight, I think now more than ever. I mean, you've got Ozempic and you've got all these pharmaceutical things that can assist us, but we've also got this confusion of, yes, calorie deficit, calorie deficit, but people.
Speaker 1:I think the best power for people to have is to educate themselves, because all our bodies are different. We have a fingerprint. I say this a lot on my podcast. We have a fingerprint, and why on earth? We've all got different fingerprints, so we need different foods. We are biologically all why differently, so why on earth are we following everyone? What everyone else is doing. We need to listen to ourselves and check in with ourselves. So, with weight loss, what do you see most in your business of women coming to you and, hey, I want to lose weight? Are they prepared to do the long game, play the long game, or do they want the quick fix?
Speaker 2:still me. And the main two things they say are I work out every single day, I eat healthy, quote unquote and I can't lose weight. I see that almost with every single client and they're like I'm doing all the things, I can't lose weight or off. Some people message me do you have a supplement that will help with weight loss? Or will this drink help with weight loss? Well, help with weight loss, or will this drink help with weight loss? Will this, will this help? And I'm like hold on, no, first off. No, that's not how that works.
Speaker 2:But then I see the woman that come to me, like, for instance, I just had a client recently who she came to me one of her main complaints which she's like I can't lose weight, like, no matter what I do, she was going to the gym four or five times a week, she was eating healthy, all of these things. And I basically told her I was like I want you to work out less. I want you to, instead of going to the gym, we're going to do some walks, we're going to do some light lifting, we're going to do some yoga, some low intensity workouts. We're going to eat more. We're going to eat more balanced meals. We're going to stop skipping breakfast, we're going to stop just grazing food throughout the day and she's lost like 15, 16 pounds just in a very short time and she's like whoa, I've never been able to do this. I'm like, funny how I said eat more, workout less and here you are losing the weight that you weren't able to lose.
Speaker 1:Something that's very interesting, something that I watched your face light up when you said that was a lot of women come to you and say I'm doing all the things and I'm eating healthy and, as you said, healthy. No one can see you, but I read your face as like, sure, sure, that's really healthy. What are the some of the? Um, what are some of the? Because I'm a nutritionist as well, but it's good to hear from your point of view what you see people coming to. I'm eating healthy. What are they eating?
Speaker 2:well one. They're not even eating enough to begin with. Um, for breakfast they're likely having like a bowl of oatmeal and they're most likely having their coffee before their oatmeal. They're fasting significantly drinking. Waking up, having a cup of coffee and then, oh, I don't add too much sugar cream to it, and then they don't eat until 11 o'clock. And then they're like, oh, at lunch they have, say, a sandwich. Oh, it's healthy, it has like green pepper in it, or like it has a piece of cheese and pickles and all this stuff. And then they go to dinner. I'm having protein pasta, like I'm getting in my protein sources. Or, oh, I'm drinking this protein shake that I found at the grocery store. It has like 30 grams of protein. Or, oh, I'm eating low fat yogurt and like all of this stuff.
Speaker 2:And I have my clients fill out a three day food journal and I'm right when they put they're like, oh, I've been eating healthy, I've been doing all the things.
Speaker 2:I'm like, have you and I go to their three day food journal and I was like, oh gosh, I'm like this is where we need to start.
Speaker 2:We need to go back to the basics, back to whole foods, back to balanced meals. Three balanced meals a day is what I encourage them to have. But as soon as I see, like all these things popping up of just not even eating whole foods but just eating things, oh, I got to get my protein intake, I got to get my carb intake, I got to do this, I got to have low fats, all of these things and they're just reaching for, like that, high protein pasta rather than a piece of chicken. Or they're reaching for this very processed protein drink, or this low fat yogurt because it has higher protein, or this huge bowl of oatmeal that's actually spiking their blood sugar and making them gain weight. So I see all of these things that are happening that they think are healthy because the world perceives them as healthy, but that's exactly why they're stuck in this route of PMS and finding it difficult to lose weight.
Speaker 1:What would you say to women out there that fast for long periods of time or really restrict themselves?
Speaker 2:I starting with the fasting. I think fasting can be helpful but it depends on the person, and so many women these days are in chronically fight or flight states and their bodies are under so much stress that fasting is just going to make that stress even worse. So I typically don't recommend fasting to my clients. I, if anything, it would be like okay, you finish eating at, say, 6pm the night before and then you go have breakfast within an hour of waking is what I typically recommend, which can be somewhat of a fast. But I'm not saying like don't eat till 11am noontime, like I always am encouraging an hour after eating, especially when you are on that second phase of your cycle. Your body cannot handle fasting like that's going to throw your blood sugar, throw your cortisol way off, make you gain that weight, and it's just not something that I overly recommend.
Speaker 2:And then, in terms of women restricting, I know a lot of people think like eating less is what's going to help you get to where you want to be, but that over time is going to make you lose weight. It's going I mean make sorry, make you store weight. It's going to make it very hard to lose weight and it's going to lead to metabolic dysfunction, where your body will no longer get the cues that it's in a safe place. And if your body doesn't feel safe, it is not going to lose weight, it is not going to give you a healthy period, you're likely going to lose that fifth vital sign and maybe even, down the road, you're not going to have a healthy pregnancy because of restricting yourself what about?
Speaker 1:um, let me have another guess of maybe what you may come across. I don't know. Do you come across people that drink a lot of coffee and vape and don't eat?
Speaker 2:Yes, yes, I definitely do. I see the coffee all the time of like I wake up, I drink a cup of coffee and I'm not that hungry so I skip breakfast. That's what I see all of the time and that is not good for you at all. Just to go into the scientific of it is cord. Coffee in itself spikes our cortisol levels, like it stimulates our adrenal spikes, our cortisol. When our cortisol is spiked in an unhealthy our cortisol levels, like it stimulates our adrenal spikes, our cortisol.
Speaker 2:When our cortisol is spiked in an unhealthy way, like that, that's what's putting our body into that fight or flight state. When our cortisol is increased, our hormones, our sex hormones, decrease, leading to symptoms of PMS potentially, and also that spike in cortisol. Eventually that can lead to a spike in blood sugar. When we get spikes in blood sugar later, eventually in the day you're going to crash. That's why people go have to have that second cup of coffee or craving sugar, craving processed foods, because that morning cup of coffee dysregulated their blood sugar so much. And then I see this a lot. But that cup of coffee it's not. It's going to bring your blood sugar up. What happens when your blood sugar gets up is it increases testosterone levels in your body. The more testosterone you have, the more likely you're going to have PCOS.
Speaker 2:And I see women with PCOS all the time and they're like my doctor just put me on metformin and I'm like, well, what's the root cause? Could it be something as simple as changing your coffee in the morning and that's what's going to help you get rid of your PCOS. So I think that coffee thing I see I always encourage women that you can literally start doing today is to wait till you're done breakfast to have your cup of coffee. And then another thing with like the restricting is I see people do that all the time because they think that's the true way to lose the weight, like that's what they really think is going to get them to where they want to be.
Speaker 2:And it's just not the case. Like over time, that's a huge, huge stressor on your body and your body is going to get that signal and when cortisol is increased it can actually make a store weight, like it can make it very, very hard to lose weight. So I think people need to start getting in the minds of eating less and working out more doesn't equal weight loss. Like you need to listen to your body. You need to care for your body, you need to fuel your body, and that's when it will lose weight, because the key thing to losing weight is your body needs to feel safe.
Speaker 1:And how many people feel safe these days.
Speaker 2:Exactly.
Speaker 1:That's a job in itself to make sure that your nervous system is. You know, it's parasympathetic, and when I learned all that stuff I found it so interesting. I was like how come the nervous system, the nice nervous system, why can? Can't that be sympathetic, like it's the other way around? It's so confusing, isn't it like when I was studying I was like that's wrong. Sympathetic should be good.
Speaker 1:One thing I want to talk about is processed food and sugar. There's a couple of things I want to mention on here. I'd love to get your opinion on that too. I think a lot of people.
Speaker 1:It took me a while to kind of click, even though I'd studied this. If I don't get enough sleep, but if I don't get enough good sleep, you better believe Barbara wants to eat processed food. Or I will eat processed food and sugar the next day, because when you haven't had enough sleep your body will want that hit and it knows it can go to the fridge or the pantry or the drive-thru and get it. So that's one thing. And the other thing I wanted to say is the less processed food you eat and the less sugar you eat, the less you want it. You find that because you said that you came from.
Speaker 1:You know what a perfect, what a great role model you are of someone that's like, yeah, I did all the things and ate whatever I wanted and then obviously slowly kind of winning your the drugs, you know, slowly winning yourself off that stuff. Uh, the less you eat, the more you. You don't want it, do you? But people find that hard to believe. Like, oh, come on, you must wanna. I don't know, I don't. What's the most common thing that people say when they know that you don't eat dairy or gluten or processed food? Do you get like a common thing that people go oh, I bet you just want an ice cream or something?
Speaker 2:Oh, they say I feel so bad for you. I hear that all the time. I feel so bad for you. I couldn't do what you do and I'm like I feel bad for you do what you do, and I'm like I feel bad for you because you're the one who has all these issues. And here I am living my best life now, like just waking up, going to bed at a good time, eating food that fuels my body little to no symptoms. Like I feel bad for you.
Speaker 1:Isn't that interesting. So if we're going to go the first thing with the sleep, obviously that's something that I don't think a lot of people still know that if they're not getting enough sleep, and enough restful sleep, that no matter how much your willpower, how much you restrict yourself, you will want processed food or sugar the next day yes, and that's very, very true, and I I feel that for myself too is if there are nights where I don't get enough sleep, the next day I'm just craving more of that sugary food, and it's once again.
Speaker 2:It's because it's a huge stressor in our body and if we're not getting those seven to nine hours of sleep every single night not just when you want to or not just on the weekdays, but every single night you're going to wake up and your cortisol is going to be extremely dysregulated. If your cortisol is dysregulated, your blood sugar is dysregulated and your body's just going to really want that process, all that sugary food. So, getting sleep it may not seem like, oh, it's not going to impact the what types of foods I want, but anything that causes stress on the body and a lack of sleep is one of them it's going to affect your cravings for food. So I see all the time of women like I can't. I can't stop craving sugar, I can't stop doing this. How many hours of sleep are you getting? All like five to six maybe. Well, that's why. So starting off with your sleep is going to be super helpful as well with reducing that want for that sugar and processed foods and, like you said, it does get better.
Speaker 2:Like I rarely crave processed foods and sugar, like I don't want anything to do with processed foods at all. Sugar, yes, I will crave it sometimes, but I notice that as soon as I have some sugar, like as soon as I have like a good old gluten-free, dairy-free brownie, I want 10 of them instantly. It's like my brain is now on alert and it's like, oh my God, this is sugar. But I'm like all the past three weeks I haven't craved a brownie or sugar, and now I want the whole box, so it is addicting. And to brownie or sugar, and now I want the whole box, so it is addicting. And I think what's so hard with sugar is, I like to say it's more addicting than other drugs because we're exposed to it all the time, it's in our face all of the time and that's very hard to discontinue using and to stop using when everyone else around you is using it. But it does get to a point where, once you start cutting it out, you don't, you don't crave it.
Speaker 1:It's hidden in a lot of food. So if people, if you turn your I think in the States you call it ketchup, here we call it tomato sauce, so any of your sauces, read the ingredients so I can guarantee. The second or the third word would be sugar. Sometimes it's the first and sugar has over like 50 different names, so anything ending in like O-S-E or something like that, or Google. Literally go to Google and all the names for sugar and you'll get like a little chart and it's quite big. And then I want you to look at all the backs of your foods and look, I was horrified when I had my puppy, who's 10 months old, and I feel sorry for my other dogs that aren't here.
Speaker 1:I even because of my knowledge, now I do that with my animals food as well and I turn it around and all this like little treats that I used to give my other dogs. Rest in peace. I feel so bad, literally. The second or third thing was sugar, and I was more. I didn't know any better, so that's okay, but now I do and I was just literally at, just literally at the pet shop in the supermarket. I go around and read all the things. I'm like, oh my God, that's got sugar. Oh my God, it's dog food that's got sugar, that's got sugar.
Speaker 1:And now, obviously, anything. I challenge you to go to the supermarket and just get curious while you're doing your normal shop. Sources anything that you think oh, this is healthy, something that you really love and you enjoy, and I know it sucks. Turn it around and I bet you it has sugar in it, because that's what gets us so hooked and that's what makes us feel like we've got no willpower. But you've got to remember that all this food, our body doesn't compute it as food, and so when we eat it, our body's like ah, something went, went in. I don't quite know what it was, but I haven't eaten today. But then also the flip side is all the cereal companies, all the biscuits, and I mean you have, like you know in your childhood, if you can have this like I'm not saying you, you've got to live your life too.
Speaker 1:So there is that balance. There's no one, no one in this world, is perfect, but everything that you eat that's from one of those big kind of corporate companies. Um, that food or that drink has been manufactured in a petri dish for you to like it, for them to make money. So it's got nothing to do with how smart you are or your willpower or how strong you are, or if you're a pig or not or anything. It's to do with a chemical reaction. As soon as it hits your tongue and goes to your brain, you're done, no matter how much money you make or how old you are. It doesn't discriminate against anyone. So that's kind of what I wanted to say. And yeah, just get your opinion on it. Is that kind of how you think about that as well?
Speaker 2:Oh, 100%, and they do that on purpose because they get you addicted. So then you go buy their product and you buy more of it and more of it. Like I don't see people getting addicted to like a carrot, like no one's like oh, I'm craving carrots right now Because it's literally a carrot. There's no sugar additives to it, and I definitely agree with that. And I think another thing I wanted to point out is, just because a product says no sugar does not mean it doesn't have sugar. It might say zero grams of sugar on the back, but guess what? It has one of those OSE words in it. Or it has high fructose corn syrup and guess what that is telling your body? Oh, sugar, and it's going to do the same exact process that sugar is going to do.
Speaker 2:And another thing is, like you said, how cane sugar is sometimes like the second or third ingredient is, when you look at an ingredient list, the ingredients that are listed first are the ingredients that are most prominent in that food. So if you see, sometimes I see cane sugar as the first ingredient and I'm like that's like pretty much what you're drinking is just sugar. You're not even getting like, say, it's like I see people drink like liquid IVs and stuff and I'm like you're not even getting the electrolytes or anything, you're just getting sugar. Like no, that's not going to help your issues. Like that's why you continue to feel like crap. No, that's not going to help your issues. Like that's why you continue to feel like crap.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, that's right. So, if we move on to the final phase of this episode, is, I think, well, what do we eat? And I think when we say balanced meal, we're looking at some form of carbohydrate, some kind of protein, some kind of fat. Is that right?
Speaker 2:Yes, that's exactly what I encourage my clients to do. It's one of the very first things that I do. I hand them a guide that I've created and I'm like I list out proteins, tons of different protein sources, tons of different carbs, fats, veggies, and I'm like literally pick one food from each meal, from each category, and you have your balanced meal. When you start to make like these fancy pasta dishes and all these fancy things, that's when it can get caught overwhelming and you're like, oh my god, I need 12 seasonings. I don't have all of them and it just becomes overwhelming. But just throw something in a bowl, that's my go to add some good seasoning, add a good sauce on it and you're good to go. And that's what people should be eating breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Speaker 2:And if you notice that you're hungry within three to four hours after eating, you didn't eat enough and that's a huge sign that you probably need to increase your protein intake, you probably need to increase your fat intake, and I like to tell people that if you're not hungry right when you wake up in the morning I used to never be like that and I used to think that was normal I was excited. I was like oh, I'm not hungry. I can not eat for longer periods of time, but that's a huge red flag that your body is in that fight or flight state. So for those people who are at that stage, what I encourage you to do is still get in the habit of eating within an hour of waking. But have a cup of bone broth.
Speaker 2:Have a like a protein powder and water good protein powder. Have a cup of bone broth. Have a like a protein powder and water good protein powder. Have a handful of nuts. Have like a beefsteak. Just have something small, so your body gets in the habit of like okay, we wake up. I give it a little bit of fuel rather than just running off of like fumes for the rest of the day okay, could you have maybe a boiled egg or something?
Speaker 1:yeah, yeah, that's great. Okay, so there's breakfast covered, let's take lunch. What's kind of like a could just be like chicken, spinach or rocket. What do you guys call rocket? I don't know what rocket is. What's arugula?
Speaker 2:Oh, arugula, that's how we say it.
Speaker 1:Is that the lettuce stuff that's very peppery and spicy?
Speaker 2:it's not spicy, it's like just a green little leaf, like a thin light, but it's quite um peppery right.
Speaker 1:I don't think. So hang on, I'm just gonna look it up now. Um rocket, it is also everyone's doing this real time with me. They're probably yelling Barbara, it's called this, it's called this. Um yeah, so we call it over here.
Speaker 2:Never, I mean, I always add arugula into dishes, so maybe I've never like tasted it solely.
Speaker 1:But that's interesting and so we've spoken before. So okay, so that's rocket, that's arugula. Then we've got, we call it capsicum and you guys call it peppers, yeah. And then there's one more that you've just said before. Oh damn, what was it? Oh, coriander. You guys call coriander something Like the seasoning, yeah, as in the herb Coriander. Other name Cilantro, cilantro, cilantro, coriander. Other name cilantro, cilantro, cilantro.
Speaker 2:Yes, that's what we call it cilantro. Okay, so we call it coriander.
Speaker 1:Oh interesting look at us swapping. Look at us swapping names. Oh, it's so interesting, isn't it? We all speak English and we and you looked at me like what's rocket? Um, okay, so lunchtime would be like a protein, so you could look at. Uh, and so many women I noticed. Just don't eat meat, yes.
Speaker 1:I see that so which is so interesting because, um, I do. But what the hell I have to eat meat is meat, is meat like it's just food. If I was to take it to where some people do and what, I wouldn't eat meat either. Like if I had to get my own meat I would be veggie, but because I have to decat, I just have to go. It's protein, it's good for my body and I'm just gonna eat it. I don't don't marry it up with anything. But a lot of women just say to me almost everyone that I see, oh no, I don't eat meat, or my iron's low. And I'm like, oh, get a good steak. And they're like, oh no, I don't eat steak, I'll have some salmon, I'll have some salmon.
Speaker 2:A lot of women will eat salmon and think that's healthy, but you can't overdo it with the salmon right no-transcript store that does process it in a huge factory that is ruining the environment, that is injected with hormones and antibiotics that you're then eating, then yes, that meat avoid. But if you're eating grass fed meat, if you're eating pasture raised chicken like if you're eating that the cows are literally just eating grass outside, there's no big manufacturing that's being involved. That's harming the environment, and then when you go eat that meat, you're just getting the meat. You're not getting injected steroids or the antibodies or any of those things. Like I eat so much red meat and my cholesterol is. It's amazing, like it's the levels of my blood cholesterol is great, my iron's great, and that's because I eat red meat. Like I don't. It's not contributing to any like heart things that are going on. But if I was eating that processed meat then, yeah, it'd probably be a different story.
Speaker 1:How often would you eat red meat in a week, would you say um, I would probably say every other day because you have.
Speaker 1:I saw one of your supermarket shops and I, oh, I can't wait to. I have lived in Florida for a little bit but I can't wait to come back because I love all the different supermarkets. I saw one of your blogs and you're like I'm going to this one and then I'm going to Trader Joe's and I was like I want to marry Trader Joe's. Like that shop just looks like I could live in there forever. And then you went to this other really specialized meat shop and then you and your boyfriend went to like a new eatery and then he I saw the other day he bought you like another package and I was like I want to live there.
Speaker 1:The food looks so good. Yeah, the food's been so good, it just looks very fresh. Yes, yes, it is okay. Well, there you go, you can eat meat. So some kind of meat at lunchtime, some kind of salad at lunchtime um, the fat that I probably would use would be maybe a bit of avocado or some olive oil or some nuts, or what would you suggest as your go-to for lunchtime?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I would say my go-to for lunch is just a random bowl. So I try to pre-make chicken or hamburger at the beginning of the week, just so I have that on hand. I put that in a bowl. I'll typically add, like some potatoes or some carrots or some beets or something like that, and then I pick a veggie. I'm like what's my veggie choice today? Maybe I'll do zucchini, so I add zucchini in and then sometimes I'll drizzle some olive oil. Sometimes I'll have some avocado on the side I'll drizzle some dressing. That's kind of my go to salads. I want to be cautious with.
Speaker 2:People are listening because people think that, oh, I'm eating a big salad. It's so healthy for me. Is there protein on it? One to begin with, to what dressing are you using? Like, have you looked at the ingredients on that dressing? Like it's probably very, very processed, it's probably low, low fat and if you're just eating basically the lettuce and some added toppings, like you're probably not even getting 100 200 calories and and just that one meal. So I think you can definitely have a salad, but just make sure it has protein on it and make sure it's a good quality dressing yeah, and some carbohydrates in there as well, okay, and and dinner time, like, yeah, what's a good dinner?
Speaker 1:I feel like I saw you make some tacos the other night and they looked so good.
Speaker 2:Oh yes, that's our thing for Tuesdays Taco Tuesday but I typically I do the same thing. I choose a veggie, a carb and a protein. I typically sometimes I do like a steak, I do some salmon, I do more chicken, I do some ground Turkey, sometimes I do shrimp I know you call it like prawns. That's what I do and then I literally just choose a veggie and I drizzle some olive oil over it. I normally do like potatoes, roasted potatoes or roasted carrots, carrots, um, and then that's my meal and I'm good to go and it fills me for a very, very long time so you don't need anything sweet afterwards chocolate.
Speaker 2:Chocolate is my go-to. I can't go a dinner without chocolate. Um, and I I do get healthier versions of it, like I do the pure dark chocolate. It's the dairy-free one, it's making sure the brands are tested for heavy metals, all the things, um, but chocolate is just my. Just a little piece is what I need and it just satisfies my soul.
Speaker 1:You, go people. People will be like oh, she is real and obviously you know what do you drink during the day.
Speaker 2:Mostly just water, filtered water. Normally when I wake up in the morning I have like some warm lemon water with a little bit of sea salt. That helps with digestion. I have a reishi spore-based coffee some days after breakfast. That's really healing for the gut. I drink electrolytes throughout the day. I'll add minerals to my just plain water. I drink some aminos, which is helpful, but I mostly stick to just water and then I will sometimes add some like, like I said, the minerals, the aminos or whatever that adds some flavor.
Speaker 1:So everything that you've shared? I haven't heard you weighing anything or measuring anything. You don't do that.
Speaker 2:Not, not really. Sometimes, the only thing I really measure is protein. Um, because I just want to make sure, like okay, is this, four ounces, five ounces, six ounces? Because that will give me a better feel of like okay, four ounces might be only like 20 grams, whereas six ounces is like 35 40 grams, so that I just want to make sure I'm getting in my protein every day. So that's one of the only main things that I weigh.
Speaker 1:Okay, is there anything you want to add about that, about food restriction, food, anything that we may have not touched on?
Speaker 2:I feel like, just for the listeners, is eat your food. Food is fuel. There's a reason why food is here, like it's made to be eaten. That's what our bodies thrive off of, and it doesn't happen overnight, like when I shared my journey, it took me a very long time to finally become to the healthy person I am today. It doesn't happen overnight, just trust in the process and then I'm always open, like for people who are listening, to chat more to help better, guide them or suggest them on creating a healthier relationship with food.
Speaker 1:I know that you've helped so many people today. This has just been such a beautiful, honest talk. I'm just um and I love your insight. For only 21, you've lived a life already, haven't you? You've really, you really have. So if anyone's listening to this because I have listeners all around the world how can they contact you to talk to you and find out a bit more about what you do?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so my main forms of social media are Instagram and TikTok, and it's wellnessbyveda B-E-D-A. I also have a website, which is wellnessbyvedacom. Those are the main three things that I recommend Like if you want to get in contact with me or check out my page or whatever it is to reach out there.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much. I think I know I'm going to have people already saying can you get Veda back? Get her back, we want to talk, talk to her more. We can maybe do a deep dive on something. I can put some questions out there and see what do you want to know. But thank you so much for your time today and for really sharing your journey and your experience of one of the probably the hardest part of your life.
Speaker 1:The hardest point and, and especially at that age, even our brains haven't fully developed. We're like 25. So even at that young age, you having the awareness of something's not right, and then you upon yourself I didn't hear anyone forcing you to do anything. You did this yourself. You need to pat yourself on the back and be like, wow, how amazing is that? No one actually needed to tell me.
Speaker 1:Because a lot of people it goes the other way. A lot of people get a health diagnosis, will go to the doctor and the doctor will say, as we love doctors, but as little that they know about functional medicine or or, um, like the naturopath side of things. But sometimes people get a diagnosis and you need to change your lifestyle and people kind of get hit in the face. Sometimes people get a diagnosis and you need to change your lifestyle, and people kind of get hit in the face with, oh my God, okay, I've got to change everything, where you stood up for yourself and you were like, and you were so honest that it took you a while. It doesn't happen overnight. It is hard, and I just want to thank you so much for sharing everything with us today. Yes, thank you so much for sharing everything with us today.
Speaker 2:Yes, thank you so much for having me, and I really hope that I helped some other people out there, so thank you.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much for tuning into today's episode. I hope this conversation has added a value to your self-care journey and inspired positive changes in your life. If you enjoyed this episode, consider sharing it with a friend who might benefit from this episode. Don't forget to subscribe on Spotify or on your favorite podcast platform to stay up to date on future episodes. Your support means the world to me. I genuinely love hearing from you, so please take a moment to leave a review. Let me know which part of today's episode resonated with you the most. Your feedback guides the direction of this podcast and I really appreciate each and every single one of you for being a part of this community.
Speaker 1:To fall in love with yourself is the first secret to happiness. To find out a bit more about the Studio Chat podcast, head over to my Instagram page, studio Chat Podcast. Or if you want to find out a bit more about my counselling private practice, head over to Instagram on self underscore care underscore studio. I'm really looking forward to seeing you on the next episode. Until next time, take care of yourselves and keep embracing the journey of self-discovery. We'll see you next time.
