Episode 111 - The Power of Habits in Transforming Autoimmune Health with Amy Behimer
May 29, 2024
Kathy Chester
Habits play a crucial role in shaping our health and well-being, as I learned when I spent time with the incredible Amy Behimer. As well as having MS, Amy is a podcaster, a National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach, and a Doctor of Pharmacy.
Amy emphasizes the importance of habits in improving our overall health and how changing habits can lead to positive outcomes in our lives. She also introduces the concept of "disease-modifying habits" (DMHs) that focus on six key areas: mindset, food, movement, rest and relaxation, connection, and good stresses.
As you'll hear, habits are not just about the actions we take but also about how we tend to think and feel. By addressing these underlying aspects of habits, we can make significant changes in our lives. Amy mentions that habits have been proven to benefit our bodies, and by understanding the science behind habits, individuals can make informed decisions to improve their health.
We also explore the ripple effect of habits, highlighting how the habits we cultivate today can be passed down through generations, creating a cycle of well-being.
DISCLAIMER The information in this podcast is for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare providers with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment.
Habits play a crucial role in shaping our health and well-being, as I learned when I spent time with the incredible Amy Behimer. As well as having MS, Amy is a podcaster, a National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach, and a Doctor of Pharmacy.
Amy emphasizes the importance of habits in improving our overall health and how changing habits can lead to positive outcomes in our lives. She also introduces the concept of "disease-modifying habits" (DMHs) that focus on six key areas: mindset, food, movement, rest and relaxation, connection, and good stresses.
As you'll hear, habits are not just about the actions we take but also about how we tend to think and feel. By addressing these underlying aspects of habits, we can make significant changes in our lives. Amy mentions that habits have been proven to benefit our bodies, and by understanding the science behind habits, individuals can make informed decisions to improve their health.
We also explore the ripple effect of habits, highlighting how the habits we cultivate today can be passed down through generations, creating a cycle of well-being.
DISCLAIMER The information in this podcast is for informational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified healthcare providers with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or treatment.
Hello, I'm your host, Kathy Chester, and welcome to the Move It or Lose It podcast, a podcast about all things that move the mind, body, and soul. The Move It or Lose It podcast is for information, awareness, and inspirational purposes only. I am not a doctor and I don't even play one on TV. So please consult with your doctor before making any medical decisions. The views expressed by advertisers, guests, or contributors are their opinions and not necessarily the views of the Move It or Lose It podcast. Well, today's podcast, we have our guest, Amy Behimer. So Amy, we've had kind of a blooper just getting our podcast started. So let's just take a mental breath. Deep breath. It was a thing to get on today between sound I say I'm the perfect person for there to be a blooper because, you know, it So no worries. Anybody that has me on their podcast, I'm like, we're good because I am the most patient person A gift. I would say that's a gift of MS. Patience. What do you think? If you dish it out, then chances are when when you need it, someone's going to give it to 100%. Well, thank you for being so patient with me. And we just saw each other the other day. And now we're just seeing each other every day. I love it. I love it. Let's make it a thing. I do too. I think we already have. We're kind of involved in some things together. So I'm kind of liking it. Yes. I was in the hotspot the other day with you. So now I've got you in the hotspot on my podcast, Move It or Lose It. So I am very interested to now learn more about you. So talk to me about life for you before diagnosis and how Absolutely. My kind of autoimmune story starts at the end of high school. I started having white patches on my skin and as a high schooler, that was a big deal. But then I learned it was vitiligo, you know, my gateway autoimmune disease is what I call it. And so I started college. I started pharmacy school at University of Georgia and started to learn all these things about the body and autoimmunity. And I learned about how when you have one, you could have more. And so then I started worrying, well, what other ones could there be? Only a million. Yeah, exactly. Number two came in the form of Graves thyroid autoimmune disease. So I was driving in the car one day, I looked up and my eye seemed to be popping out of my head. And I'm like, is that's not my face. So it turned out to be Graves. And then the worry continued, what's next? So my, I guess I'll call it my whopper, but my big one, I was 27, 12 years ago. I would have thought you were 27 now. Oh, I'll take it. So I literally told my husband, I'm going to look like an old hag because I've been working out training and I got this girl on that's like Where do you? I thought you honestly were. Well, you look beautiful. And well, I'm going to talk about habits till I'm blue in the face. So yes, so habits hopefully are hoping to keep us young. But I did end up also getting a fourth diagnosis of IBD, inflammatory bowel disease. There's a lot of... Another fun one. Another fun one. One of my favorites. So most people experience trouble and disruption in life because of going to the bathroom, but paired with my MS, it was actually constipation, which still is a gift that I get to work with. So yeah, so four diagnoses, all of them are in remission and or not detectable in my body except for this beautiful thing called multiple sclerosis. So that is my journey. and it's absolutely shaped who I am as a woman, who I am as Give me one negative, one positive, how it's shaped you. Oh, that's I would say the positive. I always say I want to be healthier because I have MS than if I didn't. So before I had MS, I was eating standard American diet. I was drinking eight Diet Cokes a day. I was just not doing things with intention to treat this body like the beautiful machine that it is. So I like to look at, okay, maybe my gait is off. Maybe there are these things with MS, but is my metabolic health better than it ever could be? Is my mental and emotional health better than it ever could be? And I believe that it is. And so when you look at like health as the package, I'm like, okay, I'm gonna be healthier because of it. And that's what I want to bring everyone with me who wants to feel healthy again. Like, let's do it. The negative would be some trips and some falls and, some balance things makes it so it affects what I say yes to what I because I always have to think how you know how's it how am I going to get around and things like that so I am able to go through my day and work and do everything but always with that thought Yeah. Share with, physically, how has it affected you? Sure. It started as drop foot in my right foot. I was a runner back in the day. But since it's weakness on the right side of my body, I have more of a primary progressive picture. So, you know, slowly I've been able to I don't run and, you know, walking long distances, I'll get fatigued and my gait will, I say it's my MS swagger that comes and goes. But yeah, some upper body weakness as well. Thankfully, you know, again, with these habits, fatigue is not something that I struggle with commonly, but yeah, So it's a fun one when you're standing somewhere and you're like, oops, that happened. Sorry. Oh yeah. Sorry, but I would say you've not, you don't have MS unless you've peed your pants out somewhere. That is not, it's not a thing until you've embarrassed yourself and the people you're with and just peed somewhere I work in a hospital as a pharmacist and this was probably eight years ago, but I thought, okay, I can hold it. And I'm standing in a nursing station. Oh gosh. If anybody from work were to hear this, I don't know if I've admitted it. I've admitted it, but I looked in. Oh no, let it go. Bladder gone. Yeah. Yeah. I always say I'm Oh, for sure, for sure. That's a good one. Yes, absolutely. Yes, for sure. So you've been diagnosed and now you gave me the negative and a positive. When did you feel like, why MS? You're packing them on like Pokemon cards like I am with my autoimmune diseases. So why did you decide to really tackle MS as As a coach? Yeah. Okay. As a coach, I mean, honestly, it's such a shared experience that we have. I work with people with autoimmune disease, and I am so grateful that a lot of people with MS do come, but even other autoimmune diagnoses. I think that to be able to relate to people that not only are we trying to feel better today, okay, because we have some symptoms that are common, whether it's fatigue, or brain fog, or things that just impact how we feel today. But we have this added layer of the worry about tomorrow. And so like, that is, I think, something that I can relate and say, I get it. And I don't even know if I had to pick which one is more important. They're both so important. And thank goodness, the same things that we do with our lifestyle help Absolutely. I get asked a lot, like, why did I pick rheumatoid or that? And I'm like, oh, I do. Like I have lots of, like you do, lots of patients and clients that have rheumatoid and epilepsy. But for me, MS is so, berserker that there's not a lot of answers and we're still striving for like, okay, what's it doing now? Yeah, I think that's the unknown is what brings me to my heart is so big because we have it but there's so many patients just striving for like, I just want to understand something and no one's no one's telling me anything. So I think that's been so heavy in my I love that. I don't know if you see this as well, but even me, I had these other diagnoses that didn't wake me up, is what I say. I could take something to suppress the overactive thyroid or the vitiligo I just ignored. It really took a diagnosis where it affected ... I had a vision of, okay, I've got to get serious because we're talking mobility. you know, potentially independence. And so I think most people, like if people found me when they had Hashimoto's or some other really common, that would be amazing. Let's prevent, let's Yeah. Some people actually even come into my spaces and into my group coaching program that don't have a diagnosis. And I'm like, you are, you're amazing. I say you're, you're digging, digging the well before you get thirsty because, and But I love that. So you've talked about stories, strategies, questions, and stuff that we talked about earlier. Self-discovery and the science, which I love, of all the things, habits, which I love that word very much. Weekly podcast that you've got. You've got the habit. the habit hub for autoimmune health. Which is so cool. When did I'm about to celebrate a year. So nice. Your episode, you guys are going to have to come check out Kathy, because we're going to be talking about moving it or losing it. So yeah, I love it. Yeah, there's six spokes of habits that I used to call them energy giving inflammation, squashing, you know, cell loving, but but probably about three months ago, it popped in my head. I'm like, these are disease modifying habits. These are our DMHs. And so there's six key areas. One is mindset, one is food, one is movement, which Kathy is gonna talk with us about and rest and relaxation and connection and good stresses. And so I just love talking about them from where these really simple steps that And they really are. It's just the not understanding and the being overwhelmed to take one step. And if we could just breathe and it's one step at a time. And that's all we need to worry about. What even made you want to do this? And how in your beautiful brain did you think, like, oh, this I could Well, you know, it's funny you said, like, going back to your first step there, there's a study. I'll say the one of the reasons I wanted to do it was So I'm a scientist at heart, you know, going through pharmacy school and working in conventional medicine. Habits are so amazing because they are studied, not only like the lifestyle habits studied and proven to help our bodies, But the science of habit change is studied. And so what made me realize I had to do it is that so many people know what they want to do. They definitely know why they want to do it. They want to feel better. They want to be healthier, but not enough people are walking people through how to do it in a way that feels good, in a way that feels supported. And I was made to walk with you and make it approachable and not like you're feeling deprived. There's a study, it was, you just mentioned like looking at just the habits. I love the study where they measure, they hook people up to a different, a bunch of biometrics and they measure various things. And one thing that happens in our bodies when we feel motivated is our systolic blood pressure goes up just a little bit. It's kind of like it gets us ready to get up and go. And so they had one group of people who they had to think about their big dream, their big goal. Nothing happened with their motivation or their blood pressure. But if they thought about just the next step or the next habit or the tiny, they get a little bump in blood pressure and they actually felt motivated. And so that's just like a testament to what habits can I haven't heard that in so long. That just got me excited. Because one of the things I say as a mom, as a coach, is what is the next right thing to do? Love for you. I said that to kids as a life coach. What's the next right thing to do? Yeah, don't don't go here. Don't Because it's going to change like we're always we're trying to like plan. You know, I'm guilty of it even now, but I'm trying to plan like four steps ahead and I'm like, yeah, I'm a different person after Right. Exactly. We don't know what that's going to do. So I love that you do that. That's so awesome. Finding the synergy between conventional Yeah. Well, and I love that you say that because you said, why did I want to do this? I also think there are not enough people in this space that are able to not villainize one or the other. You know, sometimes people that are doing it naturally, not everybody, but they're kind of saying we should be able to do it naturally. And people come to me and they almost feel like they've failed because they're needing medication. And not that the way I'm doing it is right, but I share that I'm on a DMT. I am using conventional medicine and Yeah, I get that a lot where they want to pigeonhole me. So then you're all natural. Yeah. No, it's one diet. No, I'm doing what works for me. I'm doing a DMT and And I don't hate one or the other. I do them both what works That is so, I am right there with you. And I'm not serving as anybody's pharmacist when I'm in the coaching container and I have my coach hat on, but it's impossible to not have that lens of just looking at good science and really understanding the traditional healthcare field and some of the landmines that Well, I would assume even things like, I think a question I get asked, why is ice cream so bad for me? Why can't I eat it? Just because it's dairy, I would say read the label. There are some things that are so toxic, they actually say how bad they are for autoimmune diseases. The binders that hold it together are actually dangerous for your body. They actually cause inflammation. They cause horrific things in your body. As yummy as ice cream is, there are some ice creams and some brands that make things that are so bad, whatever they use to bond it, They say right on the label, bad for autoimmune diseases. So read But here's the cold hard truth, like cold pun intended. Cold hard truth is like it's affecting everybody's body that way. Absolutely. And just because we are these canaries that are getting feedback from our body that we don't like it, you know, it's almost like, okay, thank you, body. I don't, you know, back to that being healthier because of Because, you know, we think that because someone's thin, they're healthy. No, we know that that's not true. Yeah. So it is fine. We stick to that. What is what is good for us to We are so excited about our new program. It is not about disrupting the status quo. It is about empowering you to lead a life filled with strength, resilience, and joy. Join us on this exciting journey because disruption begins with you. Ready to make a positive change? Let's disrupt MS together. I can't wait to see you. Tell me what else. If you're coaching, talk to me about what does your Oh, sure. So I coach people in one to two ways. I do some one-on-one private coaching because I really do love that. Some people just really prefer privacy. They really prefer to be completely customized and go exactly where you want. The second way is that I do have a group coaching program. It's Club Habit Hub, which is a play off the Habit Hub. So if you have a habit that you'd like to make, and oftentimes we have one that we're we've been coming back to again and again. So you have a habit you want to make and you want to come make those changes in your lifestyle in a way that feels supported and you want to learn and you want to be in community and get coaching from me in a group setting. I, as a coachee, like, you know, the coaches that I go to and invest in, I love group coaching. You get, you get to see other people work through things that like magically, you know, we can apply to ourselves. So, so yeah, so I have a group and the neatest thing about the group right now is one of the things that tie us all together is energy, you know, is limited energy. And so I used to run it as a course and it used to be a membership. Finally, I realized I always am coaching, helping people minimize decision fatigue. You know, how many decisions do we need to make in a day? So when you join my program and when I'm your coach, you decide once it's a one-time investment and then you are in for as long as this program exists, which I hope is for decades and decades to come. So, so you always have a place to come. You don't have to decide over and over, but instead, you know, that you have somewhere to come to, to make these habits Yeah. So if someone was interested in that, do they just go on the website? They Yes. And I, and I have a call. I have a call with anybody. I love to make sure that, you know, I hear your story that I feel like this is something that you can get a benefit from. Um, but Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, if you're not ready for that, you know, come and have a listen. You're going to hear Kathy on the Habit Hub. And yeah, but I would I would love to anybody who's interested, you know, get in touch and talk a little bit about so they understand your program, the what, why and how. Talk Gotcha. So yeah, I always frame when I'm teaching or when a concept, it just helps me the way I organize things to always think of, okay, what are we talking about? What is it? Why? Because we all know our why matters, but then really we're going to spend some time in the how, how does, how does it, so each podcast episode is broken down into what is it, why and how. And the same thing when you come in, I love one more thing about habits that we really do. live inside Club Habit Hub is that habits are not only the actions that we're doing, the behaviors that we're actually doing. The two secret under layers of any habit are how are we habitually thinking and how are we habitually feeling? And so a lot of it is going a little bit deeper and going to the root of habit. And because when we are thinking and feeling different about the things we're doing, it absolutely changes our even how our bodies react I'm sure it's so interesting to think about like, why, you know, a habit that we've been doing forever, you know, to like, think about Yeah. And again, with studies, there's these studies where, let's say you are busy, Kathy, and you are, you forget to eat because you're just so busy. Your body, your, you know, your blood sugar and the biomarkers in your body will react differently than if you woke up and said, I'm going to fast today. Right. So your thought about the same action is happening. You're not eating, but the way you're thinking about it actually As someone who regularly fasts, I do fast. So it is so weird. exactly what you're saying, that if I'm not fasting at 1 p.m. and I haven't eaten because I've been busy, my stomach is like, rawr, and it's like, I'm fasting, none of that happens. My body knows, it's calm, it's And even, you know, with food. So, for example, people, a lot of people come when they're really ready to look at food because, you know, you can feel so good if with a few tweaks in getting more energy-dense foods. you know, the neat thing about when we're looking at food as medicine, when we're just changing the way we're thinking about it. Like I always say to people, I am excited for the day that we don't call it a food restriction. Is this really a restriction or is this a gift that we're giving to our bodies? For Yeah. Yeah. And all of that. It's like food movement. We're not seeing it as like something that is, I have to, or it's something that I get to, I get to do this and something that is exciting rather than a, You know, it's not restrictive that we eat this way. It's actually something that's keeping us healthy. It's something that I am excited for that point when It's something I call the ripple effect. And so, you know, if you join the program, I say that's good for your whole household. So if someone in your family starts to see the difference in you and they want to log in and watch a lesson or do an exercise, you start to get this, we can only change us, but we can start to see this ripple effect of diet and lifestyle and changing our habits is the only medical intervention that has the potential to change future generations. Absolutely. That's wild. that the habits you make today, your grandkids and great-grandkids could be influenced by that and never even know It's wild. It's really cool. I mean, think about it. Do you have kids? I don't have kids. Okay. So I have three and I think about it now and I watch them now and I think, even the way they eat like they're like they didn't grow up with like that stuff in the house it would be like on a vacation they'd be like mom got pop tarts you know something like that but they don't live like that they don't have that kind of food in their home and it's like the outdoor stuff they go outdoors they go do all kind of bike riding and camping the stuff that i did with them and it's so true that the stuff that i've taught them since being sick because i was sick very young. It's like it does, it is a habitual, it's a habit for them. They've seen it, they've grown with me. And so the stuff I watch them do, I don't say a lot, I just kind of watch Well, you created a ripple effect in your family, and your family and their kids are going to be healthier because of That's wild. It is amazing. That's something that we look at is so negative. If we can flip it, it can And if anybody's out there, you know, something I get in a rut of is, okay, if I'm measuring my health on the symptom that drives me the craziest, so if I'm measuring it on how you know, I'm not able to walk three miles anymore, or then I'm going to feel unhealthy. But if I'm measuring it on all these other, probably tens of 20 other markers that, you know, come inside of my coaching program, we work out what those are, you know, like, what are we going to measure so that we can actually like you, you shared that you celebrate with It's such a good time, like when we're stretching, I'm like celebrate today, celebrate what you did today, what you accomplished. Yeah, I love it. I love it so much. Well, I have a feeling your heart is very similar. Same thing. I can see your heart. I can feel it. And I know how lucky people are, you know, who get to work with you. It's just, you know, I just remember finding people on my journey that, you know, I'm like, Oh my gosh, what if I had never met this person? And, you know, we have the gift of being able to learn from other people's, you know, shared experience and what have they invested in their education and their training and really seeing it as, you know, there's no award given for being able to do it on your own. And it's just the process is way For sure. And the fact that I think in the MS community, there's so much love. I've never seen in any other community where there's so much wanting to really care for each other. And I love that. Even like the first time I met you, I was just like, wow, I just got done with you. I'm like, I It's crazy. And then I noticed, oh, well, you're friends with somebody that I have fallen in love. Like I fell in love with Julie. I'm like, wait, they're You know, you're like, oh, yeah, I kept looking at all these people. And I'm like, wait, she's I should have already known her. So it's really cool. But you really have a tenderness. You really want to help. And I want to jump in your program and see what you're doing in there and who's in there and how you're helping them. And I just I love the science behind it and the habits, which I love because I think it's just so smart. It's such a thing for us to understand that stuff we've always done doesn't have to Oh, you're so right. Yeah. Anytime you say I am something. So I'm not good at this. I'm, you know, I'm a worrier. Like you can replace that with, I have a habit of this. And then once it's a habit, we have control of it. We get to make it, you know, like I'm not good at following through. Oh no. You used to, you used to have a habit of not following through, but, but that's what we That's really, really great. So now you've done the coaching. When Before, before. Yeah. What I realized, yeah, I was, you know, I, I share emails and things. I'm like, I just love talking to people. So about half are solo episodes where I, I just want to share something that is really making a difference in coaching sessions with people and, or in my own coaching sessions that are, I love it. Sometimes I'm like, this is a habit I'm working on and I'm going to be real honest on how I'm trying to do it. And then about half of the episodes are getting to have people like you and other experts and other people living with autoimmune disease that, you know, get to actually, you know, inspire. It's just really neat to hear how other people think about things because, you know, like I always say, we can borrow people's thoughts. try them on. And if they feel good, then let's practice those Yes, yeah, for sure. Well, I can only tell you, Amy, I'm so excited about the stuff that we get to do coming up. We're going to be doing some fun things. I'm not sure at all, we can even talk about it. So you all will have to just wait and watch for. I know that we could talk for two hours. And I know that people won't listen past 30 minutes. So I'm like, dang it, I have to send you away. Just for the audience, when Sure. So it's anytime. You can come in anytime. So the way we do it is there's six spokes, six key areas of habits. Every month we kind of focus on another one. So every six months you're getting to travel the habit hub, a nice balanced approach to all the different areas that we can feel good. So whenever you're ready, you come in, you jump in where we are. We have weekly calls. We have a whole library of what I call curriculum, just waiting to dive in, depending on what area you're interested in. And then we have a private community of amazing people to help drive, you know, habit change Well, it's been just a beautiful honor to be able to be with you and get a better idea of what your coaching is, what the program is, the habits and how to really like how to kind of break away from those things that we think we just cannot. or how to even like heal our bodies with again, we are so strongly both of us connected to really truly believing that movement and and food is our medicine. And that with that, one of those habits, those just that alone is so big, is so huge to understand that. And how people understand that, just what you said that I am no, I used to I'm now I'm not that those are just such big and powering words that you use. Or this connection, this connection, Kathy. Like, you know, we always have to think of our energy banks, like how much energy do we have? Find the things that when you finish them, your energy is up. Like I'm leaving, it's, it's evening in my, in our, you know, time zone. And I am hanging up right now because you have literally filled my energy cup and connection is, you know, making habits in connection. It feels like I shouldn't have to do that. No, let's do it. Let's get real purpose. I love it. I think that's always when you're doing a podcast, it should get you excited with the person you're with. Yeah. So thank I love it right back. Beautiful girl. You're a beautiful soul. Can't wait. Well, I will celebrate your birthday with you. Can't I can't wait. I'll always be celebrating. I love it. Thank you so much for doing this today. Thank you, Kathy. You guys give me feedback. Let me know how you love this podcast today. Don't forget to not just listen, but make sure that you subscribe. Thank you so much, guys. And thank you, Amy, for being on move or lose it today. Thanks, Kathy. Well, thank you so much for joining us today on Move It or Lose It Podcast, where you can, again, find us wherever you like your podcasts, whether it's Apple, Spotify, and join us on that. And we can't wait to see you again. We're gonna have a lot of exciting guests and working together. And as always, you'll hear us say at the end of every podcast, we are stronger together. So let's do it. Let's become stronger together. Have a