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Surviving Trauma: Stories of Hope
Surviving Trauma: Stories of Hope
Reclaiming Vitality through Nutritional Interventions for Women
Struggling with anxiety, depression, or an eating disorder can feel like a relentless battle. However, Laurie Hammer, a neuro-nutrition expert and functional nutritional therapist, is proof that there's hope. In our latest episode, she shares her intimate narrative of triumphing over these challenges and a rare cancer diagnosis. Her journey isn't just a personal victory; it's the foundation of her mission to empower women through her podcast, "Take Back my Brain," and her own practice, where she uses targeted amino acid therapy and brain detox to bring about monumental changes in health and wellness.
We've all heard about the importance of nutrition, but Laurie takes it a step further by highlighting the intricate relationship between our diet and our brain chemistry. Discover how simple changes in what we eat can affect everything from mood swings to energy levels. Laurie's approach is not just about eating right; it's about understanding how the very building blocks of our brain function, like serotonin, are affected by our nutritional intake. She also shares her Calm Mom Method and introduces a group program designed to offer personalized solutions for brain balance, all within a nurturing community environment.
Perhaps most inspiring are the stories Laurie brings to life — tales of women and their partners who've experienced profound transformations through nutritional interventions. These anecdotes offer a fresh perspective on women's health, particularly during the challenging phases of perimenopause and menopause. They serve as a powerful reminder that a decline in vitality isn't inevitable with age and that, with the right support, we can all reclaim our zest for life. So join us as we celebrate the resilience of the human spirit and the extraordinary power of a balanced and holistic approach to health.
It has been my pleasure to have Laurie join me, and I know, my listeners, that you will enjoy the episode.
If you wish to connect with Laurie, check out her website and social media links below.
Website: https://lauriehammer.com
Instagram: https: //www.instagram.com/thecalmmomcommunity/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lauriehammer/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/takebackmybrain/
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/@takebackmybrain9073
Please, head to Amazon, Takealot or Audible at the link and get your copy of my E-book, paperback book or audiobook edition, of Ray of Light, and please leave me a rating and review. It would mean the world to me.
Please support the show on Paypal: PayPal.Me/marlenegmcconnell
Hi there, I'm your host, marlene McConnell, and welcome to the Surviving Trauma Stories of Hope podcast. In this week's episode, I am thrilled to welcome Lori Hammer, who joins me all the way from the United States. Lori's story started when she was a young adult who struggled with an eating disorder, anxiety and depression. This was a dark and isolating time for her. Her finances, family relationships, health and energy levels suffered immensely. Known as the calm mom across the internet, lori is a neuro-nutrition expert and functional nutritional therapist dedicated to helping women, from stay-at-home moms to business owners, resolve their anxiety, depression and deepest stresses faster than they thought possible through practical and nutritional methods. She specializes in balancing the brain through targeted amino acid therapy and brain detox from life stressors, whether they be physical, chemical or emotionally driven. She is also a homeschool mom who loves to share on the love of learning and how to provide the best environment and family culture for their kids to thrive in. Lori is a fellow podcaster and hosts a popular podcast called Take Back my Brain, which is ranked in the top 5% of all podcasts globally.
Speaker 1:My listeners, I have a major announcement this week. I recently launched my YouTube channel. My videos will include relevant inspirational content, positive affirmations, meditations and visualizations to support my listeners and my viewers overall when it comes to healing from trauma and understanding the consciousness when we are experiencing life. So please check out my channel on YouTube called Marlene McConnell. Thank you to all my listeners for joining me on this journey. Comment on the post on Instagram, facebook or LinkedIn and let me know what you think of this brilliant episode. Also, head to Amazoncom, takealotcom and Audible and get your copy of my book, ray of Light, and please leave me a rating and review. It would mean the world to me. Also, please check out my website and download your free journal prompt and relaxing meditation on the resources page. As always, stay tuned and keep listening. Stay tuned and keep listening. Hi, laurie. Hi, welcome to the Surviving Trauma Stories of Hope podcast. I'm so happy to have you join me today. Thank you so much.
Speaker 2:Thank you so much for having me, Marlene. I appreciate being here.
Speaker 1:You're very welcome. I am just so taken by. You know your story and the work that you do and I've enjoyed so much just looking at your pages your Facebook page and your Instagram pages and your website here because it's such an interesting field that you practice yes, and so I can't wait today to sort of get diving into that and unpack that a little bit for the listeners and to shed some light on the work that you do.
Speaker 1:Thank you, I'm excited to share. It's a lot of fun. Yeah, exactly so. On the internet, as I was browsing, you're known as the calm mom right, who helps many women resolve anxiety and depression and the deepest stresses faster than you can actually think possible. So I know that's the public persona of Lori, but do you want to kick us off and sort of give us a little bit of personal background to who Lori is?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I am a wife, I'm a mom of two. You know I'm a nutritional therapist. Of course I do homeschool. We have two dogs, two cats, two rabbits, three horses and we just, you know, crazy, busy, fun life is what we have. We live in small town, iowa, and I love helping moms, I love helping women in general.
Speaker 2:I'm called the calm mom just because there's nothing better in life than for me personally, than being a mom and most of my clients come to me with, you know, anxiety, depression, and I've been there, I've been through the trenches. I overcame an eating disorder, you know, after 12 years, and I'm and I'm doing the exact, pretty much the exact same things with my clients that I did to overcome that. I've overcome a cancer diagnosis. I've just, you know, life kind of throws things at you and you learn how to navigate through all those challenges with yourself, with your kids, with your spouse, and come out really strong on the other side.
Speaker 2:And I want to provide that environment for women, for moms in general, to know that they're not alone and that I've been there, I've done that and you know, I just hit 50 this last year and it's kind of like you hit that stage in life. You're like I just hit 50 this last year and it's kind of like you hit that stage in life. You're like I need to do more. I just really want to mentor and love on people now because, you know, my youngest is 17. And I feel like I have more brain space to do some more mentoring and those kind of things other outside of just you know the nutritional aspect of everything, because we're so multifaceted and women need to know that they're not alone and that they can make it through all stages of mommyhood whether they've got, you know, illnesses or their kids are ill or whatever it might be that there's hope and there's healing and God created us to thrive and so that's why I do what I do.
Speaker 1:Wow, that's beautiful. I love how you've just weaved your journey and your path into what it is that you present to your clients and taken your personal experience actually to develop that. You know, I think you kind of reach the pinnacle of healing when you're able to do that, when you're able to give back, even now, when you say, okay, I'm moving even beyond that. Now, now I'm actually, I can now mentor, I can now actually teach others how to, how to do that, and that's a very empowering place to be. You've overcome so much. You mentioned an eating disorder. You mentioned that it was coupled with anxiety and depression, and then you also mentioned the cancer diagnosis. I mean, you know the reality, lori, is that bad things happen to anybody. You know we don't choose what happens to us and when we are faced with illness, sickness and disease and disorders, you know we just have to navigate it. Do you think the fact that you have had more than one obstacle in your life has made you more resilient?
Speaker 2:Oh, a hundred percent, yeah, beyond a shadow of a doubt.
Speaker 1:So you basically are able now to bounce back faster than you did before.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, because you know what to do. Yeah, you know what to do. You know that that it's okay, it's going to be okay. You know you've navigated one thing. You know it increases your resilience, it increases your endurance, your your faith, right. And so, in your mindset, knowing that you know God is coming alongside you and walking through you, like he doesn't cause the hardship I think that was a big thing for me to come to realize that God doesn't cause hardships, right, but he walks us through what we experience here on earth and there's nothing, there's nothing better. I mean, when you grow in your faith, you're like I got this. You know I'm a woman of victory and so you can throw. You can throw at me what you want, but I'm going to be victorious on the other side.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and that's a very special place to be, that place of really surrendering to that higher power and saying, okay, you know, I understand that this was. You know, the environment that I'm in or the people that surrounded me or the circumstances were the catalyst for what happened. But there really is a higher power at play and if, in those moments, you can walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we should know that we're safe if we surrender to that higher power.
Speaker 2:Yes, yep, yep, there's green pastures out there.
Speaker 1:I love how you know your faith and spirituality play such a big role in recovery and the resilience. A big role in recovery and the resilience. Was that something that you had previously, or was it sort of brought on by the different obstacles that you faced?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I mean I grew up with a foundation of faith. My family always went to church.
Speaker 2:I played the organ in church, helped with Bible school, all that kind of stuff I was involved in youth group and all those kind of things and I didn't really understand what my own faith meant and what our relationship with Jesus actually meant, until I was really in the depths in college of my eating disorder. And then I really understood. And then once I understood that, really understood, and then once I understood that, then doors opened up for me to heal. So that was a big deal. So, yeah, I had a foundation.
Speaker 1:You know, my parents provided that, but I still had to own it for myself and it wasn't until I was in college until I really got that, yeah, yeah, and I think it's something that you just have to embrace for yourself and you need to have that conversation and a personal relationship with God and know and have that faith and that trust that, whatever you're going through, you're not alone. You have not only everybody in the physical world that's with you, but you standing with the power of everyone in the spirit world, the Holy Spirit that lives within you, and Jesus and his father. Yes, yeah, that's awesome, that's beautiful. I think that in many people, the trauma or the obstacle act as the catalyst for that awakening, almost if they had struggled with it before, and perhaps for some, not immediately, but eventually. I think it's a very important component of healing to have your religion and your spiritual beliefs lean on, because I think it helps us to make sense of what happens and to sort of find purpose in the unknown, absolutely.
Speaker 2:Exactly, exactly. I 100% agree with that, marlene.
Speaker 1:So you've overcome your eating disorder, so can you maybe give us like a small peek into what that experience was, like it was at while you were at university?
Speaker 2:So yeah, so I've been struggling since I was like 1211, somewhere in there, and I was in nursing school at the time and I had an amazing psychiatric nursing professor and she just kind of like took me under her wing. I was really depressed, I was really anxious, I was not doing well in nursing school. I didn't like being there for one. But you know, you do stupid stuff in college. You're drinking too much, eating too much pizza, which doesn't do anything for your brain, right, but just I, I was just not doing well and she kind of took me under her wing and I would stay at her house and stuff sometimes. Anyway, she got this random article in this random GNC magazine that says you are allergic to what you're addicted to, and then it talks about, you know, food cravings and those kinds of things and it just talked about eating disorders and she's like Lori, we have to call this place Cause she tried to get me into some eating disorder clinics and I wasn't suicidal enough. I wasn't underweight, I was bulimic Most bulimics. You don't know that they have bulimia because they're normal weight. I weighed the same weight as I was in high school, like I just I knew what I was supposed to weigh. I didn't look bad, you know all those kinds of things, and so I couldn't get into an inpatient eating disorder program in in around us. Anyway, she's like you need to call out there. And so I called out to Mill Valley, california. I was run by Julia Ross. She still has, you know, an office and everything there she's. She's a great lady, pioneer in everything what I do.
Speaker 2:But I found out that, hey, severely, severely depleted. I definitely was allergic to what I was addicted to. I had celiac disease. I had allergies to, you know, to gluten and to dairy and yeast, overgrowth, thyroid issues, you know all those kinds of things. So, long story short, I found out what was wrong with me. We fixed the deficiencies in the brain and in the body and then I overcame my eating disorder and then the challenges that I was having because I wanted to control everything right. So that's what an eating disorder is is you want to control life because you can't deal with it on life's terms. You know, I was saved, I was healed from this and then all of a sudden, then I could deal with the emotional pieces of it, you know, and then heal from that too. So that's a long story short.
Speaker 1:Wow, and it's interesting how we get these angels that just come into our life and how the synchronicities of life, you know, brings everything together at the right time when you need it.
Speaker 2:Yep, absolutely, because I mean, if you've been struggling for years but this one professor helped you with that breakthrough. Yeah, I mean she was definitely sent by God. You know, in my life she and her husband were both amazing, and I'm here. I mean I was having seizures. I was, you know, I should be dead. My eating disorder was that bad. I was so imbalanced, I mean I that depressed, that anxious. I should be dead from that. And I'm not. I'm here and so grateful, so grateful.
Speaker 1:So you, so you were studying nursing. How did it come about that you ventured into neuro nutrition?
Speaker 2:come about that you ventured into neuro nutrition. So after I went to outpatient clinic and stuff, I realized like I, I don't want to do this, I don't want to be in nursing school. So I quit, wasn't my thing, I wanted to be a psychiatric nurse. And then I realized that I don't get to help people. I don't get to get to help them heal, you know, I'm only the person navigating drugs and stuff with them. So I quit nursing school in my end of my third year.
Speaker 2:Did not make parents happy, you know those kinds of things. So then I then I was definitely on my own after that Um. So um, I had to move. I moved and I ended up going back to school. I thought, well, maybe I can get like a sociology degree or you know. And then I'm like I don't really want to do that. So I got a degree in psychology because that was super helpful, right? So you can't do anything with psychology unless you get a master's degree. Well, then I got married and then I had a baby and then I had a divorce. So like all these things happen, right, you know. So like one thing after another and like I've got to finish something. Anyway, I ended up finishing my bachelor's in psychology through an adult learning program, which was fantastic. And then I. It took me a few years so I ended up getting remarried, which was fantastic, and two years later.
Speaker 2:Thank you, yeah, we'll have 20 years this year, so it's been amazing.
Speaker 1:Wonderful.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and then we had my daughter and started homeschooling and then about four years into that I'm like I really want to go back to school because I love nutrition, right. So I was always helping people with amino acid therapy. I was always helping people balance their brain and nutrition and those kind of things. Um, but let me back up just a step.
Speaker 2:When my daughter was five months old, I got diagnosed with a really rare form of cancer and so that kind of, you know, I was the healthiest person I knew. So I didn't think that I would ever get diagnosed with cancer. We just thought it was some weird growth. You know, after pregnancy, whatever it might be tended up, you know Mayo Clinic hadn't seen it in the last 21, 22 years. It was really that rare, wow.
Speaker 2:So my options were pretty bleak because there wasn't really any treatment for it. So everything would have to be experimental. And I'm like, okay, god, I remember going into my car, you know, after I got my stitches out because it was a growth they had to remove and my husband wasn't with me, you know, none of those things because I didn't think it was any big deal and they told me and I went to my car and I'm like I have my hands on the steering wheel and I'm like, okay, god, you know that I can't do any of that right, like that's not in my wheelhouse, it's not in my paradigm, I don't, I don't agree with you. And so I always knew if I ever got a diagnosis I wouldn't do, I would be a very bad medical patient, so I wouldn't do those things. And I said so one you're either going to have to heal me or you're going to have to provide me another way out. You know, alternative health, wise, those kinds of things.
Speaker 2:I said so I'm just counting on that. And that's really what I said to him. I said, okay, we're going to make the most of this, it's going to be fine. Went home to hold told my husband you know, my son was eight the PET scan. So I was healed before the PET scan happened. So during that whole week like my understanding of healing and who God is like went to the full next level, to the full next level, and I was radically healed.
Speaker 2:I was completely and radically healed. So not only did he heal me, but then he opened doors for me to go and see some really amazing practitioners. As to the reason why I got cancer in the first place, because I was the healthiest person I knew. So when you're helping people with healthy or the healthiest you know and you get cancer, people are like well, you don't know what you're talking about kind of thing.
Speaker 2:So, anyway, that took my health paradigm, you know, even deeper for myself and my family. And then I was like I've got to figure out a way to go back to school. So, and my family, and then I was like I've got to figure out a way to go back to school. So I researched for a few years. I wasn't quite ready because I had a baby, you know, I was recovering and I was trying to get my health, like you know, super optimal. Then I went back to school nutritional therapy, you know. Then I became an NTP and then I got additional certifications in neuro nutrition and, you know, other things as well. So that's kind of what took me to where I am and it's been so much fun. It's been a crazy, crazy ride.
Speaker 1:But it sounds like you had wonderful support between your family and the church.
Speaker 2:Yeah, there was a few people in my life that were super supportive when I knew that I was healed. I don't want to say anything negative about my church or other people in my life, but not very many people believed that, and so that was actually. The hardest part of getting a cancer diagnosis was having other people not believe you were healed and the most stressful.
Speaker 2:So I actually had to remove myself from things for a bit, from certain family members and activities and those kinds of things, cause I honestly couldn't handle the stress of everybody thinking that I had a death wish and I was going to die. So that was a, that was a, a spiritual attack I hadn't expected.
Speaker 1:But I mean there are very many forms of cancers that only intervention really is, or treatment is surgery. And you know I mean surgery usually is one of the first treatments, you know. Chemotherapy is another another treatment, radiation is another one, endocrine is another one. There are so many different treatments. So you know, in certain circumstances the treatment is the surgery and that's it. And if, if all that cancer is taken out with it, that's, that's it. And I've heard Laurie of so many people. I just spoke to someone last week that had lung cancer and the only treatment was the surgery. Everything was taken and you know they're living a healthy life now. So maybe, maybe people didn't quite understand the treatment at the time. Yeah, so I'm sorry you had to go through that. Yeah, I can imagine how stressful that was.
Speaker 2:Well, that's okay. It made me stronger, and you know more resilient again and deeper belief, absolutely deeper faith, deeper understanding of the human body.
Speaker 1:Yeah, for sure, Okay. So let's sort of get into sort of what a neuro nutritional expert and functional nutritional therapist does.
Speaker 2:So I concentrate on the brain, so the neuro nutrition. I am brain first. So I honestly believe if we balance the brain first, everything below the neck gets a lot easier to deal with. When your brain is balanced, you can make changes better. When you're not anxious, depressed, you don't have guilty feelings, you're not OCD, you're not all these things, then that's balanced. You can look and go, you know what. I can cook a meal, or I can take that out of my diet, or I can go for a walk today, you know. So it just becomes easier for people to make the other necessary changes so that they can get their health back. So that's why it's neural nutrition first, yeah, and then we go to the gut and then we go to you know other things, autoimmune conditions and things that people have on, get to the root cause issue, but I always start with the brain first and when you say like an imbalance in the brain, that is a physio, is that a physiological or a psychological state of being?
Speaker 2:um, I like to start with the physiological. So there's a, there's a deficiency in the brain, so deficiency, say, in serotonin. Serotonin is our sunshine neurotransmitter and when you don't have enough serotonin you don't feel very sunny, you know, you're depressed, you're anxious, you have those kinds of things. So if we can build that back up in the brain, your outlook on life gets so much better. So it's a deficiency. We work on mindset, you know, and those things too. But I always address the physical first because I feel like when you can address the physical, then the emotional, spiritual side becomes easier.
Speaker 1:Okay, and then? Where does that amino treatment fit into this?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so that's, that's the neuro nutrition part of it. So I use very therapeutic doses of specific amino acids to rebuild pieces of the brain so that you get the sunshine, you get the joy back, you get your focus back, you know all those different kinds of things. And we really work on glucose balance in the brain too. So balancing your blood sugar for brain health.
Speaker 1:Wow Makes me think of the Tao you know the yin and the yang being in that centered space. Being in that Because I mean, laurie, if you're not in this balanced space that you talk about, everything you do is from a place of desperation, and if we focus on anxiety and we focus on depression, that is a place of desperation that you are in right, because you want to feel better or you can't get up, but you've got to make yourself get up and search for answers everywhere. So it plays such an important role to be in that balanced space and it's interesting for me that through nutrition, we can actually do that by focusing specific foods to do specific things.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah exactly. You can't talk away a nutrient deficiency, right. You can't talk away a deficiency. You can't medicate away a deficiency. You have to actually fix the deficiency in the brain. So so many women are walking around, just you know, are so defeated because they're like I keep trying. You know, I just need more willpower, I just need more of this.
Speaker 2:I just that, you know, if I only tried harder and it's not that at all you look at their lives and you know they're taking care of their kids and their husbands, they have a job, their home, all those kinds of things, but they feel like they're a mess internally, Right, and so if you can give them that gift to fix that deficiency in their brain, they're like oh my gosh, I wasn't crazy, I really really was deficient. And I think we as women have a hard time saying I'm deficient because we're supposed to push through, we're supposed to do it all and we get depleted in that process and we need somebody to come alongside and help us rebuild.
Speaker 1:So for someone as a client that will come see you, they will just experience that everything in their life is very overwhelming, that they are struggling to cope, but that they still keep everything together. Would you say that's sort of accurate Right If they have to self-determine? You know when do I reach out to Lori?
Speaker 2:So if you're feeling that way, it's time to reach out. You don't have to keep struggling.
Speaker 1:So if you're feeling that way, it's time to reach out. You don't have to keep struggling. And I like that you talk about calm, mom, because again, this balanced place seems to be a place of calmness, it seems to be a place of empowerment, seems to be a place of control and peace. Yes, definitely. Do you think there's a difference between calmness and having inner peace?
Speaker 2:I think they go. I think they're intertwined.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I think so too. I think if you can get that balance, find the calm you can, you can have that peace yeah.
Speaker 2:Yep, Absolutely Yep, and I think that's grounded in faith. So you get, I mean there's physical, emotional, spiritual side of it, but the ultimate it goes with faith.
Speaker 1:Yeah, so I was looking on your website and you talk about the calm mom method that you use with your clients. Can you sort of expand a little bit? Tell us how that works?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I'm actually just creating something new for everyone too, so I can reach more people at a time and we can create more of a community. So I'm creating a group called Mom Program, which I'm super excited about. But in that program we learn how to balance our brains. So everyone involved gets specific supplements and then we just to see what works in our brain so that you can find what works for you. So it's individualized, but yet it still is a group, and so once we can balance our brain, there's some things that we do is work on mindset.
Speaker 2:I teach people some different therapies that they can do, whether it's a castor oil pack or different breathing techniques. And then we work on the guts, because if your gut is imbalanced, your brain is going to be imbalanced. So we want to make sure we've got that gut-brain connection going on and we want to make sure we've got that gut brain connection going on, and we work on that for a good 90 days or so, and then, if people want to dive further than that, you know, then we'll dive into, you know, more of the autoimmune conditions you know, addressing thyroid and those kind of things. But the basics good, 90 days worth of time is really working on the brain, your mindset, breathing and your gut.
Speaker 1:And the gut just plays such a big role in the overall body health.
Speaker 2:Yes, I mean, if you, if your gut's upset, then it just throws everything else out yes, exactly and it's so intricately intertwined with our brain, so when you're feeling something, you can usually feel it in your gut. You're like oh, my gut feels bad, and then you just have a stressful event, or you get butterflies when you get sighted or you know whatever.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah yeah, so there's definitely an intersection when it comes to healing between the mind and, well, the body, in this case, the gut specifically. Yes, yeah so how do you see that intersection between nutrition, the body, the mind, the brain and religion?
Speaker 2:right. So they're all, they're all combined, cause we, this is a temple, right, this is temple, the Holy spirit, one body. So it's either going to be you're going to feel good and do what you're designed to do, or you're going to feel bad and not do what you've been designed to do, right, so if your body is sick, you can't, you can't carry out the calling in your life, and so I think those are really intertwined, and so I was. Diet is always foundation, but I found that you, you know, the more toxic we get, the more issues that there are in our world. You know, a good diet generally doesn't get people well, but you can't get well without a good diet, right? You can't have a change in mindset. If you're all you're putting in is garbage, you're going to get garbage out. Mindset. If you're all you're putting in is garbage, you're going to get garbage out. You know we wouldn't go into, you know, our sacred temples and dump garbage all over, right? Well, we are a temple of the Holy Spirit, so we don't want to dump garbage.
Speaker 2:And so, teaching people to eat the highest quality food that you possibly can, because you really are what you eat and digest and your cells reflect that. Your brain cells and your gut cells everywhere right cells reflect that your brain cells and your gut cells everywhere right. So it's all interconnected. So we really have to hone in and be probably more diligent and more picky than most people really want to be about their food, just because our food system is so toxic and it's been so inundated with things that are harmful to our body. So just teaching people that, and then when you get your physical body in alignment, then you can really carry out.
Speaker 2:You know your spiritual, your emotional pieces. You're a better wife, you're a better mom because you feel better, right, and then you have more desire to go do what God has called you to do, whether it's, you know, run a ministry or to take food to the neighbor next door who's sick. You know, there's a whole host of different things, but some women feel so bad they can't even take their neighbor, you know, a pot of soup, and so that's not what we're called to do. We're called to love on each other, but if you don't have enough energy to love each other because you're physically sick, have enough energy to love each other because you're physically sick, then the emotional, spiritual pieces is hampered as well.
Speaker 1:I think about when you said that, the mind and the body and religion, spirituality. It's sort of like a holistic approach to this, but it starts with nutrition. It starts with balancing the brain, getting that right, and it made me think. We power through so many things in our lives all the time we say, oh, I've got this pain over here, but oh, I'm going to deal with it tomorrow. You know, before you know it, it's like three months later I feel so bloated, oh, I don't know what is wrong with me. In the afternoon, you know, but in the morning I feel fine. Oh, but on Saturday morning I woke up and I was completely bloated, but I'll get to it.
Speaker 1:And I remember that a family member just went to the doctor about something else I think that cold and then said oh, by the way, you know, I was feeling bloated and I was feeling like this and I was feeling, and the doctor said okay, here is a list of food and I want you to eliminate these. Okay, and when you get to the one that makes you feel better, then come see me. You let me know. And you know what it was was onion. And don't we start everything with onion. Onion is for most things that we do onion in salmon, onion and the base for a curry onion, you know, when we roasting our vegetables in the oven and so, and so we would not never think of the basic food groups that we eat every day can cause that havoc. So that was sort of a major eye opener, right. And so you know, I would imagine that if you sort of take your clients through that, that they would have a similar experience.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely we would. We all do all the food, fundamental stuff, like, okay, what's bothering you, we can even do testing if we need to, but a lot of times you can just do it through. You know your own eliminations.
Speaker 1:Yeah, oh, I wanted to know sort of what are some of the outcomes, that and feedback that you get from your clients, sort of you know, after the 90 days, because we know, we know what they experience when they reach out to you and they say, lori, you know, this is what I'm experiencing and you didn't take them through the program. What are some of the feedback that you get?
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I'll tell you about one, like a very recent client. I've only been working with her for a couple of weeks and we got her on two specific therapeutic doses of amino acids that she needed and three days later she's like I don't have my chest pain anymore. I don't have that inner shake, that inner vibration. My brain is calm. You know these are things that happen. You know, all the time I've had women come like my husband won't let me drive afternoon because I'm so tired. You know. Six weeks later, you know they drive six hours away and it's not an issue for them, you know. So there's lots of profound changes that happen. But most of the women are like they leave my office or leave the Zoom call feeling better after we've trialed the, the amino acids, right, um? So most of the time that happens, they're like they have hope. So you gain hope right away and then you're on the supplements for, you know, a week, 10 days. You're like why didn't I know about this sooner? Right, because you know.
Speaker 2:I have husbands that have called me while their wife is in my office, Like thank you, Thank you so much for loving my wife, Cause this has really made a difference in our marriage. You know, she's not irritable anymore. Nobody wants to be irritable. You don't wake up in the morning and say, gee, I really want to snap with my husband all day, you know, but your brain's imbalanced and all of a sudden you have this like outer body experience. You're like who was that? J've been on and we haven't even touched hormones yet, but all of a sudden they're like I got my period and I didn't even know I had my period, you know. So there's lots of amazing things that can happen for, you know, anyone who decides to work on their health, especially when you balance the brain, because that affects everything from head to toe.
Speaker 1:And I think we, speaking about you, mentioned periods, but I'm thinking of even people who are pre-menopausal or, you know, can also benefit greatly from this program and treatment that you Definitely We've normalized dysfunction in our society.
Speaker 2:So we're like this has to be really hard. Oh, you're in perimenopause, it's just going to be hard. Oh, you're in perimenopause. Oh, you're in menopause, yeah, just going to be hard. Oh, you're in perimenopause, it's just going to be hard. Oh, you're in perimenopause. Or oh, you're in menopause, yeah, Just going to be hard. You're just going to gain weight. You're just going to feel this way, emotionally, physically. You lost your sex drive. No, that might be common, but it's dysfunction and we can't normalize that Right. So we can come along and we can. We can support the body in a way. I mean, I had a woman. She's been working with me about eight months but about four months in she comes. She's like guess what? I'm not dry anymore. You know what a big deal that when you're intimate with your husband, I'm not dry. Yeah, I mean.
Speaker 1:I can't imagine that yes yes, you know.
Speaker 2:And then you're like, oh my gosh, I do have a desire. Yet I mean, does that not change your relationship with your spouse? Oh, wow.
Speaker 1:I mean, and I mean all the endorphins that you create, you know, when you encounter in the in, in, in that act is um, it's very healthy for the body.
Speaker 2:Oh, very healthy, Right. And so I mean, yeah, I can't even, like I, get so excited.
Speaker 2:I've been doing this for, you know, over two decades, and I still get excited when people tell me you know, I had a client online the other day and she told me something very specific. And I'm like whoa, we got to stop because we got to dance right, because we're working on this forever. And you're like yes, I got it. This is, this is changed in my body and it's just so much fun. And that's what happens when your brain is balanced you can dance, you know, and be joyful for other people. It's just fun.
Speaker 1:And I think you know it's like you know, I got my groove back. You know I, you know I think most people in their lives they feel like they've lost who they are. And it's just you know, you get your groove back.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and when you lose your sexual desire, you lose, like, your mind, you're in your brain fog. You know, especially when you're going through hormone changes and it seems to hit people younger and younger, right, you know, so late thirties, early forties you're like, whoa, what did just happen to me? You know, when you can clear the brain, you're like, oh, I can accomplish anything, Right.
Speaker 1:You know, you can.
Speaker 2:You can do 18 things you know in a day and not be tired. What would it be like for you to get to the end of the day and not be dog tired? You know it can happen Like you can fall asleep by 930 and you wake up at six and you feel good, you know, to start your day again. But you know I feel so bad for the women who are struggling right With the fatigue, brain fog and the lack of sex drive. And you just look at yourself in your mirror and you're like I don't like who I am and we've got to change that. We've got to change that because you're still a beautiful, vibrant woman, whether you're 30, 40, 50, 60, I have 70-year-olds that come to see me, so yeah we can get their group back.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I mean this is sort of a story that I hear often. You know people who are struggling like this, who don't know what's wrong with them. They experience this brain fog. They can't, you know, get through the work. They can't concentrate when they've got to do reading work at while they at their jobs. They put strain on their relationships with their husband and the kids at home, and I think the fact that they don't know what's wrong and that they are experiencing their body in a different way for the first time in their life, one that is completely unknown, is very unsettling and scary. We hear that way too much and so, yeah, I mean my mind is just blown by the work that you do and how it has such a positive impact on women and in their lives. I mean, you know, it's about getting the word out so that people can know if this is how I feel, there is a solution and they could reach out to you, Lori.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and you have to be committed, like I always tell women. Sometimes I feel like I'm talking women out of working with me because I'm like you have to do the work right. You have to decide that you were worth doing the work for and you know, and if you don't do it, it's not going to work Right. So you have to make the changes. You don't do it, it's not going to work right. So you have to make the changes. Willing to put in the time and all those kind of things, because we're putting the time and effort into things that are actually killing us, so now we need to put the time and effort into things.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's like you know to get a trainer at the gym. You still, you must do the job. Only 10 happens at the gym, the other 90 is happening at home. It's you and you have to commit. Yeah, exactly yeah. You have such. You have such a vibrant, positive attitude. You know, considering everything that you've overcome and all the obstacles that you've had to navigate in your life, like, how do you keep this positive and maintain this positive attitude?
Speaker 2:Most of it stems from faith. You know I start my day with the Lord every day in a walk. I walk my dogs four miles every day. You know it's my prayer time, it's my quiet time. Four miles every day, it's my prayer time, it's my quiet time. I've learned to work peace into my day so that it's always part of my day, if that makes sense. Sometimes you just have to be intentional about that and then it becomes a habit and then it's just part of who you are.
Speaker 2:I'm not going to say never have a bad day. Honestly, I was just sick for a few weeks because we've had some mold issues in our house and it really, really affected me, yeah, of course, and so you know coming out of that, but I wasn't discouraged and I wasn't angry in any of that. It's just like you know, even when I was in college, I had mono when I was in college and my roommate, she's like you are so irritating and I was like why, you know, I've got this mouth full of cold sores and my mouth is just like bad. I'm just really like. I'm feeling really bad, she's like, but you're still positive, and I think part of it is just that's just kind of who I was, even when I was anxious and depressed. Most people didn't see that piece of me because I didn't want to be that influence on people. So I love life.
Speaker 2:God is good all the time, and once you know that bad things don't come from him, how can you not be excited about life? Because, and if you know that you have the power to be victorious, you know you just have to keep taking the territory, just like in the book of Joshua it's one of my favorite books. In the Bible, you know, he says I have given you victory over all of this land. You have to go, take it, but wherever you step your foot, you're going to be victorious. And so I look at my life.
Speaker 2:I know the vision the Lord has given me and so as long as I keep going forward and putting my foot in that territory, I'm going to have victory there. So you're going to have battles, we're going to have trials, but you're still going to have victory there. So you're going to have battles, we're going to have trials where you're still going to have victory. Right, because he already promised us. So I try not to look at things as like defeatist attitude. Don't always succeed at that, but I get myself out of it, or you know what I mean. But just remember that we are victorious because God created us that way.
Speaker 1:We're created in the image of God and when you know that, yeah, life is good, incredible, that is incredible and such a good reminder for all of us. You know, yeah, wow, so yeah, lori, I'm going to link all of your links in the show notes. Do you feel like telling us a little bit about your podcast?
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, my podcast, because your podcast will take back my brain. It's a lot of fun. Most of it is geared around health. I'm going to do some special podcasts, just really specific for women, for Mother's Day month, you know, the month of May. I want to really encourage women and build that up just because we've been under attack. So I love my podcast. We're coming up on the 52nd episode in two weeks, so it's been around a year and I would love for you all to subscribe and to listen. You know, each and every week and your podcast drops every Saturday. Um, we'll be dropping two a week in May just for mother's day, celebrating all of the women, and uh, it's just a lot of fun, just a lot of fun.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, I'm getting some really incredible guests on there. I'm like you're coming to my little podcast. It doesn't really have a lot of. I do. I feel so blessed, like yesterday I interviewed Dr Jack Wolfson. He's the paleo cardiologist Like you're on my podcast. I'm so excited. Well, yeah, I'm like. Well, you know, usually those bigger known people don't come on to our tiny little podcast that I have, so but it's growing. It's growing a lot and it's a lot of fun. If I could do it full time, I think I might do that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, fantastic, okay, so I'm going to link that also for the listeners in the show notes below. You can also listen to the podcast on any of your favorite podcast directories. Lori's podcast is called Take Back my Brain, lori. Thank you so much. Thank you for the work that you do, thank you for being here today, thank you for sharing with us and thank you for getting us excited about health and wellness and balance and just being that reminder for everyone out there. Thank you for sharing your beautiful, wise and timeless presence with us.
Speaker 2:Thank you, Marlene. This has been a lot of fun. I've enjoyed you. I enjoy being on this podcast and God bless you.
Speaker 1:Thank you, and the same to you. Thank you, bye. Bye. That wraps up this podcast episode. Thank you for listening. If you enjoy my podcast, please take a minute to give me a rating and review in Apple Podcasts. Please subscribe in your favorite podcast directory so you don't miss an episode. Please consider following my scented life on facebook and instagram for daily inspiration. Thank you so much for spending this time with me. You can catch me again in the next episode, same time, same place, sending you lots of love and light. Bye.