Life Boost with Amelia

Ep. 71 | Cool Things You Didn't Know About Gut Health, Thoughts On The "Hack Your Health: Secrets Of The Gut" Netflix Documentary, and How To Make Sustainable Changes

• Amelia Knight Pinkston • Season 2 • Episode 71

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I have been meaning to make this episode about gut health for 2 years and it finally happened. 🙌🏻 I recently watched the new Netflix Documentary "Hack Your Health: Secrets of the Gut" and that was the motivation I needed to re-share an Instagram live that I did a couple of years ago that is packed with info that is going to surprise you when it comes to gut health. 

The reality is that most people are pretty hush hush when it comes to bathroom habits, which means most people don't even know if their normal is actually healthy. If we don't talk about signs of poor gut health, then how can we fix it? The best part about gut health is that everything you do either positively or negatively impacts your gut. When you know how to support your gut, you become empowered to create huge positive change in your life when it comes to your metabolism, cravings, hormones, immune system, energy, anxiety, depression, blood sugar regulation, digestion, and even your genes! 

What are signs of an unhealthy gut? What causes an unhealthy gut? What is optimal for bathroom habits? If you have an imbalanced gut (dysbiosis), how can you bring it back into balance?  How do you make changes that actually stick instead of watching a documentary or listening to a podcast, being excited for a week, and then going back to normal? We cover all of that in this podcast episode!

If you've watched the Netflix documentary, this episode has lots of new information that wasn't covered in that show. One of the things that I loved the most about that documentary is that they talked about the importance of all 3 Life Boost B's: Belly, Brain, and Blood sugar instead of only talking about the gut. Everything is connected and they totally got that right! They also highlighted why our current norm is leading to rising rates of obesity, mental health issues, and chronic diseases which is so aligned with my message that if you want to feel good, you really have to break the norm. 

If you enjoy this episode and find it helpful, please share it with someone you love or leave a review. If you write a review, let me know and I'll send you a guided mental rehearsal as a thank you (the same technique elite athletes, CEOs, top surgeons, etc use to improve performance).

Resources mentioned in the show:

Disclaimer: The information provided in this podcast is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as medical, mental health, or professional advice. I am a certified health and life coach, not a licensed medical or mental health professional. Please consult with a healthcare provider before making any changes to your physical or mental health routines. If you are experiencing a crisis, seek help from a qualified professional or contact emergency services.

Connect with me on your favorite social media channel: Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn!

To learn more about my approach and the programs and free resources available to support you, visit my website: www.lifeboost.today

I love to hear from you. You can always reach me at amelia@lifeboost.today.

Welcome to the Life Boost with Amelia podcast where we're changing the narrative around what true health and success look like. They should give you energy, not drain it. I'm your host, Dr. Amelia multi-passionate integrative health and life coach, entrepreneur, and recovered burnout veterinarian. Together, we'll explore the science behind how your brain and body work, including the unconscious mind while also connecting with what your heart needs in order to stand up to the norm of feeling stuck on a hamster wheel-working hard yet feeling exhausted and not where you want to be- and instead live a life that makes you excited to get out of bed in the morning and in love with who you see when you look in the mirror. The reality is if you do what everyone else is doing, you're not going to feel good. Let's break the norm. Hi friend. So last week I watched the new documentary on Netflix called hack your gut. And honestly, I was so happy listening to it. They did a really great job the entire time I was listening to it. I was like, yes, this is what I've been saying for years. And my hope is that now that it is a documentary on Netflix It will really get people talking about not just gut health, but our current approach to health and the way that we are treating our bodies and our gut. And that was the thing that I was most impressed with with this documentary. Even though it's about gut health, they recognized that it's not just about the gut right there. Everything in the body is connected and they really emphasized a holistic approach. They talked about continuous glucose monitors and blood sugar. And they talked about the role that our mindset and emotions and stress have, and look at that it's those three life boosts BS, right? Belly, brain, and blood sugar. With all that research that I've done and getting curious about what do we need to be focusing on in order to feel our best. Really, it can be boiled down into those three categories. And it was so awesome to see that this documentary was really recognizing that. It was also music to my ears, hearing them really calling out how the norm in our society and the typical messages and approach to health and wellness and weight loss, how deeply flawed they are and how ultimately that focus on calories and diet and supplements is really distracting us and setting us up to fail rather than really truly promoting health. So. That was awesome to see if you've been listening to this podcast for any length of time then you know, I'm so huge on creating a new norm. Episode 55 dives deep into why I am so frustrated with our current approach to weight loss. And then they also dove into some studies that I think are absolutely fascinating and really help to show how powerful our gut microbes are. So this is going to blow your mind. They have done studies with twins and one twin is obese. The other twin is a healthy weight and they took poop samples from each twin and they did a fecal transplant into two different mice. The mouse that received the fecal transplant from the obese twin became obese compared to the mouse that received the fecal transplant from the healthy weight twin maintained a healthy weight, even though they were eating the same amount of food. And that just helps to demonstrate how powerful the gut microbiota is. And that is very empowering because our food and lifestyle choices, they impact the gut microbes that we have. And so that is something that is in your control to change. In the documentary, one of the woman was doing her own fecal microbiota transplant, which is not recommended, but her donors were either her husband or her brother and she was sharing this really interesting correlation between when she initially was using her brother's samples he had acne. And when she started taking it, she also started experiencing acne. And so then she switched over to her husband who does struggle with depression. And when she started to use him as a donor, she found that her depression became more severe. And when she went back to her brother, it quickly went away. It's just fascinating how strong our gut is, and that is why they call it that second brain. So watching that documentary finally motivated me to do something that I have honestly been wanting to do for over two years. And that is, um, I did a, an Instagram live a long time ago, all about like, really key, important things to know about gut health. It's quite comprehensive. And I kept wanting to turn that into a podcast episode because Instagram lives just get lost, you know? But the logistics of doing that were enough that I just kept putting it off for a very long time, but I finally did it. You'll notice that the sound quality is not the typical quality when you're listening to this podcast. That that's just because I was recording the audio from the Instagram live onto my computer. So not super high tech. I played around with it to try to make it as easy to listen to as possible. Even if you have watched the Netflix documentary, you're going to be getting a lot of new information with this episode. And I dive into some topics that I think are really important. Like, what are signs that your gut actually is out of balance? What is normal when it comes to bathroom habits? Or I should say what is optimal because as you'll learn, the norm is not so ideal. And the beauty of short chain, fatty acids, which are really key to healing. And then at the end, I'm going to talk about exactly what you can do to start making these changes because the Netflix documentary was awesome, but when it came to like, where do you even start? That was something that they didn't really dive into. So my hope is that that documentary got people excited about gut health. And learning more. This podcast is just to continue that momentum and then to help you to leave feeling ready to start making changes to support those cute little gut microbes you have a, you're going to have a new appreciation for after listening to this. Alright, here it is.

MacBook Air Microphone & FaceTime HD Camera:

Gut health is so key to everything. And yet it's something that we as a society are not really talking about. Right. Like, I feel like everybody is just living their lives, having their, very private bathroom lives and we aren't talking about it because it's embarrassing or we're not supposed to be talking about things like poop. But. I'm going to talk about it because it's important that we start to normalize this because if we aren't talking about gut health or what's normal, then how could we possibly fix it? Right. So right now, there are two problems. One issue with not talking about it is that people who are experiencing gut issues. So whether you're experiencing gas or bloating, constipation, diarrhea, random stomach pains, you might be living with that and yet you are not being honest with your doctor. So either you're just too embarrassed to bring it up. Or you're like it's really, it's not like that big of a deal. Or you are not being entirely honest, so maybe you're like mentioning it, but then you're not laying it out. With what's really going on. The second thing that I think is happening is that so many people have just, you know, you've just been living your life, having your bowel movements. And your GI signs you think that that's normal because that has been your norm. However, that doesn't mean that that's optimal. And so you might be thinking that your gut health is totally fine, and in reality, that might be a huge component of why you're not feeling the way that you want to feel. So we really need to be normalizing talking about gut health so that you can do something about it. Because here's the thing, every single thing that you are doing just in your day-to-day life and the things that you're eating are either positively or negatively influencing your gut health. And if you're doing what is normal in our society, then you're promoting an unhealthy gut. And that sucks. And that's why the, the norm right now is honestly to be sick, overweight and or unhappy, right? Like if you really think about like, if you just look around or if you think about the stats, that's true. It's really sad. So. Your gut is not just this hollow tube. It's not like from your mouth to your butthole and only involved in digestion. There's so much happening in your gut. And your gut influences every part of your health. So your metabolism, your hormones, your immune system, of course your digestion, your brain thinking about like stress and anxiety, and even your gene expression. So, if you are, or if you have a tendency to blame some of your health issues, or like a reason why you're not losing weight on genetics I want to empower you that you may have more control than you think. So, your whole body, you have a lot of DNA, right? But 99% of your total DNA is actually coming from your microbes. Not you. And, when you think about like person to person and the variation, here's something to think about. 99.9% of the DNA from person to person is the same. There's not a whole lot of variation in that. And yet with your microbes, there can be up to 90% variation between the microbes, like the DNA, that your microbes have compared to somebody else. And this is really important because you have the power to influence what microbes you have and you also have the power to be influencing those microbes and the genes that they're expressing. So just because you may be predisposed to something doesn't necessarily mean that it's going to be showing up depending on maybe the food that you're eating or your other lifestyle factors. And that's really good news because you may have way more control over things than you think. Overall you are outnumbered by your microbes. So if you're thinking maybe not only with your DNA, but if you're thinking about the cells in your body, the number of microbes that you have is greater than that. So you really want to be partnering. You have this whole universe of all your microbes. They're microorganisms. So that's like bacteria and viruses and protozoa. Like all of those guys, they're really busy and you really you're the one where the brain, so you get to be deciding how you're influencing those. And with the microbes, we're going to split them into just two categories either. Either have the good microbes or the bad microbes. And if you are living life in this society and just doing what's normal, you're letting the bad microbes thrive. So what do the bad microbes like? They like processed food. They like sugar, highly refined, like refined flour, food additives tend to contribute to an unhealthy gut. Stress majorly impacts that, when you're not getting good sleep. Medications are huge ones. So antibiotics definitely are you going to take out the good gut microbes. If you have NSAIDs that can affect it and even oral contraceptives birth control can influence it too.. And then alcohol and smoking. All of those are really going to be creating an environment where the bad microbes are thriving and you don't have enough good ones. The reason why this is a really big issue is because those guys contribute to inflammation in your body and that creates what we call intestinal permeability or something that you may have heard thrown around called leaky gut. So I want to explain a little bit about what that is. So this tube that is your GI tract has a really thin lining and it's just one cell thick. And all those cells are packed in like sardines. So they are really close to each other, so that it's really hard for things to get through. Say you have like your gut on one side and on the other side, is your immune system and your blood. And so it means there needs to be tight security so that things can't get into your bloodstream or come in contact with your immune system that shouldn't. So you can kind of think of it as like TSA. Right. So if you are nutrient, then you may make it through TSA because you're not trying to like come through with a 50 pound suitcase. No, you're like a little nutrient and you have the right documentation, so yep. You can come on in. What happens when you have leaky gut, is that suddenly they are not packed so close together. And so there's these bigger spaces in between the cells. And so basically this is the equivalent of if suddenly like there's nobody at TSA at the security. Suddenly everybody is taking like all of their 50 pound suitcases through, they don't have their passports. Everybody's coming in and it's a free for all When that happens instead of the little nutrients and things coming in, that's when the bad bacteria are able to come in or even like pieces of food, more like food particles are getting into your bloodstream and coming in contact with your immune system. And your immune system is like, what the heck is this piece of food? And so it starts mounting an immune response to that food. And that's how you start to be getting food sensitivities. Now with inflammation so that is just contributing to inflammation all throughout your body. And you can think about inflammation it's not a bad thing always. So say you have a paper cut. Right? So that can be really painful. It becomes swollen. It's red. It's very sensitive. But that's because all these cells are going in and they're helping your body to heal and that's appropriate. But if you have ongoing inflammation, if you're gut is always unhealthy, then that inflammation is going to kind of be throughout your body. And that's where you're just not going to be feeling very well, because if you think about that pain and just that one localized area, now, you're just not feeling great everywhere. And so that is how something that can feel like a food intolerance. The food that you're eating can suddenly be having these effects that seems so unrelated. So if you're having like low energy or brain fog, if it's really hard to be focused, If you are having achy joints, if you're having sinus congestion, other signs of allergies, if you're having headaches or migraines... all of these signs, or even auto-immune conditions that can be a really big hint that you need to be addressing. your gut health. Now here's the good news. Everything you do influences either the good guys or the bad guys. And so you can very quickly make changes and start to kick those bad guys out and let the good guys thrive. Now the good gut microbes, what they really like, they like fiber and resistant starch. So basically plants, they like real food. I mean, when I talk about plants, what I mean would be vegetables, fruit, nuts, and seeds, soy beans, whole grains, herbs, all of those, they thrive on. And a big factor that you want to focus on is diversity. Because each of those little guys, just like you, they have their own food preferences. So you want to be eating a variety of foods so that you are feeding a nice diverse population. If you are just eating, like maybe if you like carrots or something or spinach, and you tend to just have that. Then maybe you're promoting those that one or two type of gut microbe but what happens if suddenly you have an antibiotic or something and they all get plowed down. Now you're left with nothing to be helping to protect you. So the greater diversity you have the greater ability and the more resilience you have to face this life of every day and the stress and like lack of sleep, all of those things and you can still be feeling good. One important thing to know is that right now you might be like, I'm eating enough plants. But 95% of Americans, at least aren't getting the daily recommended amount of fiber. So what that really means is that even if you think that you are getting enough fiber. There's a very good chance that you're not. So that's something to really check in with. Studies have shown that ideally at least having 30 different plants per week is optimal. And really ideally even more than that is going to really help you thrive. So that's something that I really want you to think about right now. Think about all the healthy changes that you're making and what healthy means to you, because we really want to be thinking about are these healthy changes, are they really encouraging the healthy gut microbes? Or are you still doing things that are really letting the bad microbes thrive? So if by being healthy, that means that you're having like lean cuisines. So let's think about it. It's really processed. It's also not making you feel very satisfied. It's also, probably not really good. So because there are all those additives, that's probably more, helping the bad microbes thrive. Thinking about some other things, like if, when you are healthy, if that means like sometimes you are incorporating more vegetables. That's awesome, but let's look at your life in a holistic way. So are you still having like a ton of stress in your life? Are you maybe not getting a lot of sleep? Are you still having a lot of alcohol or are you having a lot of like healthy" processed food in terms of like protein bars or like a nutritional shake or that type of thing. Now, when you're looking at it, like the number of plants you're getting compared to all of those other lifestyle factors, you may still be helping those bad microbes thrive. Again, that's so important to be thinking about because your gut health is directly influencing your metabolism and your mood and your hormones, and you really want that to be balanced. So it's a new way of looking at health. You know, with the diet culture, they're not focusing on what is in those calories. They're just focusing on calories and yet there's such a huge difference between what broccoli, and whole grains, all those really satisfying foods are doing compared to like a hundred calories of a lean cuisine meal. Another thing that I think is really important to talk about is what's normal for gut health and bowel movements. You know, again, we just, as a society are so hush hush about this, that I think so many people don't even understand what is optimal. And so my hope is that the more that I talk about this, the more, it can help you to start being a little bit more comfortable. And hopefully as a society, we can start being a little bit more open about bathroom habits because that's important. So, if we look around, there are a lot of signs that the norm is to not be having good bathroom habits, right? Like if you look on TV and the commercials, you are seeing so many ads where like Pepto Bismal and like IBS medications. Or Pepcid all of these things. And then even in homes, if you're going into a bathroom, how often do you see reading material? Really, you shouldn't need. You shouldn't be having that much time in order to be reading a lot. What is optimal is to have about one to three bowel movements per day. You want them to be quick, comfortable, and a really important key is that you want to feel like you've had a complete evacuation. It should feel kind of satisfying as if you're done. And kind of like a snake shape. I know it's kind of gross to talk about, but it's important to. So for some people, you know, we may be thinking like I am going to the bathroom every day. That's normal. Something to think about is that you can be constipated and you could still be going to the bathroom every single day. And you could even be having diarrhea and you could still be constipated. That's kind of mind blowing, right? And we don't have to get into the details of why. But if you are going to focus on one thing, just really bringing it back to, is what you're experiencing, like, are you having those daily bowel movements and does it feel like you're completely empty after? Again, if 95% of Americans are not getting enough fiber, then I think a lot of Americans are constipated and that's something that we need to change because that does not feel good for anybody. And we really want to be living a life that energizes us, right? So bringing it back to the good gut microbes you might be wondering like, okay, so there are good gut microbes and there are bad microbes. And how do you really know that they're good? Like, what does that even mean? So these good guys produce something magical called short chain fatty acids, and that's really where the magic happens. So the good gut microbes produce these short chain fatty acids that do amazing things for you. So one thing that they do, and if you look at their name and acids, they're produced in the colon. And they help to create an acidic environment. And what that does is that's helping to protect you from some bad bacteria that might be contributing to inflammation in your body. So already they're just creating a very protective environment for you. The magical thing is that these can heal leaky gut. So if you are listening to this and if you are maybe wondering if you are experiencing some signs of leaky gut, then the great news is the more you promote these good gut microbes, the more that you're going to be able to be healing, leaky gut, and you're going to be getting relief from all of those signs that could be affecting you, throughout your body. It also really influences your blood sugar. There's so much variation in the way like two different people could have say, um, a sweet potato and for one person that may cause a huge blood sugar spike and for the other, it may not cause a big blood sugar spike at all. And a lot of that can be related to those short chain, fatty acids. There are really interesting studies in that it even in, the meals that you're having, they are even influencing the blood sugar response that you have even in later meals. So there was something I think they call it the lentil effect. Where if one individual had lentils at lunch and the other had white bread. Then, if at dinner, they both had white bread, the person who had the lentils at lunch is going to have less of a blood sugar spike than the person that just had white bread. So you may not think that your gut health is very related or influencing your blood sugar much, it's actually having a huge impact. And so once again, everything is connected and you really want to be looking at whole body health. These short chain, fatty acids are also really helping you to feel more satisfied. And that's key if you're making healthy changes or if you're dieting or trying to lose weight, know that you should not ever feel hungry. You don't have to feel hangry. Like it should feel very satisfying. And the more real food that you eat, the more you're going to feel satisfied. And that's going to get your blood sugar under control, your cravings under control and that's going to help with your mindset. And research has even showing that those short chain, fatty acids, they do amazing things for your mood as well and your brain health. So, truly can't emphasize enough this is why we need to be talking about gut health. Because, it influences everything and you really want your body to be working with you not against you. If we don't talk about it, we don't know what we can do to fix it. So, what can you be doing now? Number one. Just eat plants, right. Really playing around and seeing if you can start making some swaps, you know, if you tend to have like a go-to kind of processed breakfast, how could you maybe make some easy spots? Have it be still a really quick, easy breakfast that's real food so that you can start promoting the good guys, not the bad guys. Another thing is that if you are listening to what a normal bowel movement is, If you're thinking maybe I am dealing with some constipation, then that's going to be a really important thing to be addressing, because if you are trying to introduce a lot of plants, But you're not getting things moving first then you could be feeling a lot of GI discomfort. So you don't want to go from like five plants per week to suddenly 30, that might make your gut microbes are going to be like, holy crap. Like, we don't know what to do with all of this. And you're going to be having a lot of like gas and bloating. But you just want to be gradually helping them to acclimate to getting the food that they really want and they thrive on.

Okay. So that's the end of what I'm going to share from that Instagram live and that recording. I talked about how the jumpstart program could really help with giving your body a vacation and tackled the mindset and the jumpstart program is now something that you get when you do my six month mentorship program. But I would love to focus a little bit more on what to do if you do think that you are experiencing constipation and then also where to start, if you do want to start adding more variety and diversity and plants and making healthy changes in your life so that you end this episode feeling like woo, ready to go! So, if you are experiencing constipation or even if you think you are, if you're experiencing gas and bloating, that is definitely the first place to start because it's really hard to feel good and motivated when you are experiencing that. That's really uncomfortable. And if you are trying to add more plants, when you're still experiencing that, then those healthy changes are going to feel really uncomfortable and That's a great way just to lose motivation to making healthy changes. The whole point of making healthy changes is to feel better and more energized. And so if you are incorporating more healthy food and it's making you feel really uncomfortable, then why would you want to do that? So fiber and plants are really important for having regular bowel movements, but that is not the only thing that matters. If you listened to my episode on the polyvagal theory, then you know that when your body is in a sympathetic stressed state, Then that can absolutely lead to constipation because if a lion is chasing you, then digesting and pooping is not a priority. Right? And so that is where that motility becomes decreased. So one of the biggest mistakes that I see when it comes to making healthy changes is that it actually adds stress. Adds pressure, adds more onto your plate. And that isn't healthy. If you're healthy changes are feeling overwhelming or like a lot, or you're judging yourself and putting a lot of pressure, then that is shifting you into a stressed state. And it's ultimately not going to lead you to where you want to go. And so just checking in with your life, thinking about are you noticing any of those signs in yourself of the stress response Are you in flight mode? Lots of things to do you have trouble resting you don't really like to slow down, even when you try to rest, your mind is just racing. Are you in fight mode? Are little things really irritating you, sometimes you overreact and then in retrospect, you wish that you hadn't reacted that way. Or are you in freeze or shut down? You are just feeling really low energy, low motivation. Low mood. Really would like to just be at home, not do anything. Maybe you think that you're lazy. All of those are signs that your nervous system is in an overwhelmed state. And so that's the first place to start really asking yourself. Okay. What is feeling overwhelming? And that could be mentally overwhelming, things are feeling like a lot in your life. But it is also important to think from your body's perspective, what could be stressful. Remembering that your body does have these basic necessities that it needs in order to function. And all of those are really important for normal bowel movements. So, I'm talking about rest, water, real food, of course, movement, and then sunlight and fresh air. So when we're thinking about bowel movements, hydration is huge. Thinking about, are you drinking enough water during the day? Are you getting enough sleep? Are you resting? And that movement. Movement is so important. And so if you are experiencing constipation, things like going for a walk. Going for a walk, the number of benefits are endless really because it is helping to decrease stress. It's great for digestion. It is great for your mood. It's great for your metabolism. If you start going for a short walk after meals, that has such a huge impact on all three life boost bees, it'll help to make sure you don't have as big of a blood sugar spike. It's going to help with digestion. It's also going to help with your brain and mindset and stress level. Yoga also is really helpful. You can even Google, yoga for constipation or yoga for digestion. And there are lots of short videos. You don't have to be a Yogi or flexible to do this, but twists especially can be very helpful to get things going. And then in my mentorship program, there's an entire course on gut health and the belly. So we dive into other things. Things like teas can help, like ginger or peppermint, camomile can all be good, in some cases is magnesium can be helpful. That would be something to talk to your doctor about, but you really can't go wrong by just starting to think about, are there basic necessities that you're ignoring? That is a good place to start because that's going to have a positive ripple effect in so many aspects of your life. You're going to be making it easier for your body to do what it wants to, which is just take care of you. Keep you healthy and safe. If you want support with that, I have a free one month life boost challenge where each week you focus on one thing there's walking, hydrating, and starting the day with a really nourishing breakfast. And then also practicing gratitude and celebrating your successes. So you get a daily email it's totally free. I'll leave the link to sign up for that. Now if you're good in the bathroom department and you are excited about adding more plants and diversity and really supporting your gut health then the LBCs for my life. Boosting change approach serve as a really helpful checklist So that you're actually making changes that you enjoy and you're creating a new norm that you're really excited about. So the three L's our love lifestyle and longterm. So love, you want to love what you're doing and the way that it's making you feel. As you are thinking about adding more plants, Play around and experiment, which ones do you love and which way do you love them? So when it comes to veggies, there are endless ways of preparing. And so I really encourage you to have an open mind and to be playful about it. Maybe you go to the farmer's market or the grocery store and you get to try something new. You look up a new recipe, a new way of using them. Even the way that you're preparing them, something as simple as cauliflower or zucchini. There are so many different ways that you can be preparing it. You know, both of those, you can even put those in smoothies. They disappear, you won't even taste them. You can roast them. You can steam them. You can get them frozen where it's super easy with zucchini you can do noodles Tassa. I've been to like a pesto or extra-virgin olive oil or with like some kalamata olives. I mean, there are endless ways to play. Plants are so colorful, so full of textures and flavor. So make sure that you are enjoying that experience. With lifestyle, you want to make sure that it is feeling doable for your lifestyle. This is huge because so often I see, like feeling the need to majorly meal prep and look at all these recipes. And then it's hard because you're going to the grocery store and you're not used to getting all these different things and all of a sudden making healthy changes is adding so much onto your plate. And healthy changes are supposed to be making your life easier and giving you more energy. So when it comes to adding more diversity, I don't spend any time meal prepping per week and I get way more than 30 different plants per week. The other day on Instagram, I was sharing. Like, I honestly get more than 30 different plants in a day. So some of my favorite tips would be to use frozen veggies. This makes it so easy because you don't have to wash it, you don't have to cut them. You can just either put it in the microwave or, you can even roast them too. I'll toss them in my ninja foodie and air fry or roast them. Those are such easy ways to get a variety. You can even get the mixed veggie packs. I use frozen veggies so much. And they are sometimes even more fresh than seemingly fresh produce that you can get at a grocery store because they're flash frozen right after picking. I also use a lot of jarred things. So I love like artichoke hearts. Hearts of Palm roasted red peppers, Kalamata olives, capers. I always have those in my fridge and pantry. And it makes it so easy to add veggies. So, if you're thinking about your breakfast and you're feeling pretty motivated to start something new, that's going to give you good energy, you're going to start the day with some plants. Then I want to leave you with some ideas. So one really easy, yummy option is an egg bowl. So this is for if you're really short on time and you don't want to take a pan out, you can cook eggs in the microwave and they turn out pretty well. I really do recommend aiming for about 30 grams of protein in your meals in order to feel satisfied. If you prioritize protein and plants in your meals you will feel hugely satisfied. So if you were to take like two eggs and maybe two egg whites, put them into a bowl that you have sprayed a little bit, so they don't stick and you add a tablespoon of water. Then you can cook that for like a minute and then you can stir it a little bit. You may need to cook it for another 30 seconds or so. Now you have those ready to go. If you want to add something super easy, you could add salsa because that has a variety of plants in it. And some guacamole for healthy fats and some black beans for even more veggies and fiber. That will keep you so satisfied and it is so fast. If you want to add even more veggies then all you have to do is you can take your bowl and before you cook the eggs, Get any frozen veggies. So I think that cauliflower rice works really well and frozen spinach, or you could do frozen kale. You can also find mixed veggies that would work as well, but just put those in the microwave to mostly cook them. And then you can add the egg. I wouldn't add the water that time because the veggies are going to release some water. And then you could have it ready that way. Honestly, there are just so many great options though. Like if you want something more on the sweet side, then doing like an overnight chia or like overnight oats kind of situation where if you meet mixed chia seeds and flax seed and oats together overnight, and I'd recommend a no sugar added like almond milk, then you can add mixed berries. You could add cinnamon, you can have some, maybe add some vanilla protein powder for the protein component. Maybe you add a little bit of nut butter. So good. You could do a smoothie if you want. And veggies really just blend right in to smoothies. So you could totally add things like cauliflower, frozen zucchini those both really helped to create like a creamy consistency, um, greens, like spinach just completely disappear. You won't taste that. Avocado works really well. There's so many great things that you can add into a really nourishing smoothie that is going to help your blood sugar to be stable. And then of course, if you want to be a little crazy. You can do what I do like a breakfast bowl of goodness. You know, like you don't have to only eat breakfast food at breakfast. You're allowed to eat any food that you want. And that really opens up all of the possibilities. So with my breakfast bowl of goodness, it has mixed greens, I do some frozen veggies hearts of Palm sometimes, artichoke hearts, capers, sauerkraut, black beans, sardines, avocado, apple cider vinegar, nutritional yeast. It's delicious. I share those bowls on Instagram sometimes. But if you can't tell, I get really excited when I think about all the awesome meal options when you are having real food. So. In my mentorship program, you have access to so many recipes. Plus I'm always loving, experimenting, and playing and coming up with new things. So for those that are in my mentorship, if there's like something new you're looking for, then I love to play around with that. Back to the life boost L's. The last one is long-term. So it really is so important that as you're making healthy changes and thinking about improving your gut. Thinking about the longterm, really thinking about creating a new norm versus thinking about making changes and then being able to go back to your old way. One thing I really liked with the Netflix documentary is they did emphasize that this is about making long-term sustainable changes. And especially if you are experiencing signs of an unhealthy gut or you're trying to really heal your metabolism support your hormones. This does take time. You will absolutely start experiencing a difference in the way that you feel quickly. But if you are really wanting to heal, you can't go into it in a, I'm just going to do this for a couple of months and then be done with it. It really takes a long time. If you think about how long you have been doing some of the lifestyle things or eating foods that may have been harming your gut. It takes some time for your body and gut to go back into balance. And so that's where the three C's come in. That is really helpful for problem solving. If you have had trouble with sticking with healthy habits that feel good in the past. Then turn to the three CS and they're going to help you to really problem solve. So the three CS are compassion, curiosity, and connection. So compassion. This is huge. You have to be treating yourself with kindness. Really noticing if you have a tendency to be self-sacrificing. Noticing how you have been talking to yourself. And then really thinking about the way that you have been treating your body. What do you say when you look in the mirror? If your healthy changes are motivated by self judgment. Or this feeling like you need to punish yourself. It's not going to lead you anywhere good. I know it can be so tempting to be like, no, I will love myself and I will take care of myself and feel good once I have achieved a certain physique or goal. But that has to happen in the opposite order. You have to decide that you are worthy of treating yourself with kindness and compassion now. And really starting to listen to your body and just remembering that your body is the one thing in this world. That is a hundred percent devoted to taking care of you. And just thinking it's so much easier to go through life when you are working together as a team versus thinking that your body is the enemy. If that sounds like an area that you've really been struggling with in the past, or that feels really hard right now. Then I think you'll love self-love month. So I just took one of the courses for my mentorship program. And I made it available to anyone individually. It is low key. It's self-paced, it's playful. There's a daily truth or dare. And it's only$30. So I'll leave the link so that you can learn more. And then the other two life boosts C's curiosity and connection. With curiosity, this is huge If you have ever made attempts at making healthy changes that haven't stuck, ditch judgment and embrace curiosity because those experiences are packed with valuable information about what doesn't work so that you can get clear on what will work. So think back to those times and think about. What were the parts that didn't meet those life boost, L's?. What were the things that you didn't love? That didn't fit in with your lifestyle? What happened at that point when you stopped doing it? Had you waited for your life to not be crazy until you had all this extra time. And then when your life went inevitably back to normal, like the normal craziness, is that when you didn't have time for those healthy changes? Was it suddenly you weren't able to resist cravings? Were you feeling deprived? What was it that happened that made you stop? I'd also recommend getting curious about what are the parts of making healthy changes that aren't desirable? What are the things that make your body kind of brace or resist Or give you end to vacation back to work vibes? It's so important that you're healthy changes. Give you a boost of energy, help you to feel expanded, lift a weight off your shoulders, that you're excited to do them. And so getting really curious about what were those areas of friction, the areas of heaviness, the areas that you resisted? That felt hard in the past so that you can do something different this time that's going to be sustainable. And then connection. Everything is connected. All aspects of your life influence all aspects of health, all aspects of your health influence, all aspects of your life. I love that this documentary really emphasized that. And so, as you were wanting to make healthy changes, it's so important to be looking at all aspects of life. How are they influencing? Where is your stress coming from? What are the areas that are just adding too much pressure feeling too overwhelming? What are the areas that you're avoiding? And I have a really simple exercise called the circle of life. Where I've added my own spin that makes it a really powerful place to start. If you're just like, I don't know, everything feels overwhelming or you're avoiding certain things. This is just going to help you to take a step back and start troubleshooting. And this exercise does not take a lot of time. But it is going to help you to have clarity by the end of it on where you want to focus, areas that you have to start doing something differently to start releasing pressure. It's so powerful. And I always go into it thinking, meh, this is, I already know what my circle is going to be like. It always gives me something really valuable that I wasn't expecting. So I'll leave the link to that as well. And then if you are like, you know what. I just, I finally want to do this. I want to put all these pieces together. I am really interested in gut health, but I also want to be making my life easier. And I'm so done with trying so many things, having so many supplements and things not working. Then that's what my six month mentorship is designed to do. We look at all aspects of your life. We look at the three B's belly brain and blood sugar. We look at everything because there's no other way to do it if you want sustainable change. And if you want it to feel good. And I'm going to make sure that you are treating yourself with compassion. That the very first thing that we do is address what is feeling hard, what is adding to stress so that we can lift a weight off your shoulder. Because when you release the pressure that you're carrying around and the judgment and the heaviness, that's where you get that internal excitement and that motivation. And you're naturally going to be making amazing changes as we start really getting to the bottom of why things haven't worked, why it's super understandable, and what you need in order to really thrive from the inside out. And I'm so confident in the results of this program, that there is a satisfaction guarantee. So as long as you follow the program and you participate, you reach out if anything is feeling hard, then if at the end of the six months, you don't feel like it was worth the investment, then you let me know, and I will refund the money. If that sounds like a journey you are ready to start, then I'll leave the link to learn more or to apply. You can also visit www dot lay foods. today slash mentorship. So I hope you have a new found appreciation for your gut today. Now it's up to you to take this information and to apply it into your own life. And my recommendation is whatever little tidbit gave you, just a little bit of hope or excitement or intrigue lean into that. The biggest mistake is thinking that little things aren't actually going to make a difference. In reality, the only thing that's not going to make a difference is if you listen to this and then you do nothing, or you talk yourself out of it. So even if that is experimenting with one new plant this week, Or maybe you trying one yoga pose. Just play and have fun and start listening to your gut. If you enjoyed today's episode, please share it with someone who you think could benefit. And if you're enjoying this podcast, it would mean so much to me. If you would take the time to leave a review so that others can find me. And as I thank you. If you leave a review, send me an email, letting me know, and I'll send you. A free guided meditation for mental rehearsal. So that is exactly what elite athletes, executives, incredible surgeons all use at the scientifically proven way to improve performance. And the reason this works so well is because when you are mentally rehearsing, the same area of your brain is lighting up. As if you were actually doing it. And so it's a safe and effective way to be preparing and practicing and improving your skills for when you're actually living it in the moment. So send me an email at a million at life boost. Stop today if you leave a review and i can't wait to share that with you cheers your inevitable health happiness and success